Fun and Frolic With Long-Term Love

My youngest daughter came over today to empty litter and she asked for my pasta salad recipe. OMG I forgot it existed and it’s literally one of the most delicious things I make to eat. lol I honestly have cut out pretty much all pasta since I was diagnosed with diabetes though I do have a scoop of Mac & cheese sometimes (1/2 cup is like 30 carbs so I have to be careful with it).

So I’m now salivating at the idea of having pasta salad. lol I Zelled her $50 and sent her to the store with a list of ingredients - I told her buy for me and I will pay for you. lol She was happy with that. DarkKnight said he will boil the pasta for me when she gets back, so hopefully I can rest up and be ready to cut veggies and stuff later!

It was too hot to sit outside this morning, but I did get dressed in real clothes and ate lunch in the dining room.

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This is a new romper I bought from Amazon. I had bought a new one last week but it looked like I was wearing a diaper! So I’m hoping to send that one back on Thursday, since I will be out when I have my doctor appointment. But anyway, I bought this one as another try. I like it a lot and it is sold in several patterns and colors, so when I get my refund I’m going to purchase at least one more.

My weight is still stable, I think. I haven’t popped on the scale since my surgery, to be honest. I’m definitely a size 14. I do feel like my abdomen is still swollen but it’s all good, overall. Hopefully getting on the HRT in a couple of weeks won’t sabotage that, but combining it with diabetes management, maybe it can just stay right where I’m at? I feel like if I lost more weight I would cry. I LIKE being curvy.

Wearing bracelets and other accessories is still too difficult for me. Just putting on shoes has me tired! I’m interested enough to look at my vanity table every morning, but I don’t have enough energy yet to actually try to do makeup yet. Which is fine, I guess.

I’m still attempting to give myself grace when it comes to being in recovery. I literally wore this outfit for two hours today, and then put my sleep dress back on to rest.
 
www.healthline.com

Cooling Some Foods After Cooking Increases Their Resistant Starch

Resistant starch is a carb with several health benefits. Interestingly, cooling foods like potatoes, rice and pasta may increase their resistant starch content.
www.healthline.com www.healthline.com

Quick note on resistant starch. Cooling your carbs (and it's okay to reheat afterwards) may make a big difference.
 
Evie said:
www.healthline.com

Cooling Some Foods After Cooking Increases Their Resistant Starch

Resistant starch is a carb with several health benefits. Interestingly, cooling foods like potatoes, rice and pasta may increase their resistant starch content.
www.healthline.com www.healthline.com

Quick note on resistant starch. Cooling your carbs (and it's okay to reheat afterwards) may make a big difference.
Click to expand...
Wow! Well, I always cool my pasta when making something a salad, so this is really great information! Thanks for sharing!
 
It has some good implications for reheating Mac n Cheese, too 😀
 
I had my 4 week post operative appointment today! MisterMoonbeam drove me, though he was still pretty rough from his poison ivy rash.

Blood pressure: 116/80
Weight: 196 lbs (I’m down another 3 pounds!)

I’m allowed to shave my stuff - thank freaking gawd because I’m a Sasquatch and I’m not used to this at all!

Swimming is now allowed. I don’t have any plans with this at the moment though! I’m to continue with light exercise (walking) but nothing too strenuous yet. I should listen to my body when it comes to sitting and to stop doing anything if it becomes unpleasant.

My three-pound lifting restriction remains for another 4 weeks. The internal stitches are looking good, but intimacy is still forbidden. He must have said this like half a dozen times! I was like, no worries - none of my guys have given me the least amount of pressure with that.

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I put on makeup for the first time in a month today, and bracelets too! I felt like me!

Right now I’m waiting for TheEngineer to come and see me. I’m tired AF right now but I am hoping to go out for lunch together before I take everything off and get back into my sleep dress and take a nap!
 
I had a very positive day yesterday and it was great seeing TheEngineer. We had lunch and went to a consignment store. I did stairs for the first time! It ended up being a little much - I went to bed at a reasonable hour and slept through the night!

I’ve had a lot of emotional ups and downs yesterday and today. Like, I just start tearing up and feeling sad. I know it’s my hormones and being in menopause now. It’s not fun.

Today MisterMoonbeam had therapy, so I took the car and went to a single yard sale while he was there. My first time driving in a month! It went fine. A friend of mine was hosting the sale, so I stayed and chatted for a bit. It was so very amazing to see someone new. Lol

Again, it felt so good to dress and put on makeup!

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I wore a tshirt that another friend gifted to me in a surprise basket earlier this week, along with the rainbow bracelets she gave me.

After picking MisterMoonbeam up, we drove by our old house to peek at it. Our old neighbor’s house is being sold so we wanted to see changes! Then we snagged Quiznos and came home. I’m back in a tshirt dress now and back in bed, but I am happy that I got a chance to go out again!
 
I spent a good deal of time last night and this morning, dealing with my Excel budgeting spreadsheet. I hate math and subtracting numbers.
 
I’m trying to budget the rest of the year’s trips and events. I’m fairly certain MisterMoonbeam and I are going to Texas to see our newest granddaughter in December - she’ll be turning one then! So that will be airfare, a car rental and a hotel, as well as food & spoiling the baby.

I definitely want to pay for a season again at the Kennedy Center for DarkKnight & I. We’ve decided to see The Life of Pi, the Sound of Music and Clue. That is like $600 but I also want to get a 3 pack of tickets to see &Juliet in December with my daughters, and a 3-pack for summer next year for my nesting partners and I to see The Twenty-Sided Tavern together.

There are numerous local productions DarkKnight & I need tickets for as well.

Then there are the dances and ren faires! I’m not dead set on going to Key City Steampunk in August, so we will see about that one. I need tickets to go to the Pa Ren Faire and PA Yuletide. Those are both definite. There is a Virginia Autumn Masquerade in September as well, and we will be going to the MidWinter Masq in January, followed by Mythicon in February. I have no idea what garb I have or what pieces no longer fit. All of these are just me & MisterMoonbeam, except for the PA Ren Faire with DarkKnight additionally. I am not sure about Maryland’s Ren Faire but that is still on the table. We’ll see!

I did decide today that I am NOT going to see Back to the Future - the Musical next month. We have had tickets for over a year but I am uncertain if I can handle that long of a drive and then sitting in a theater for that long back-to-back. So, DarkKnight booked a 2-bed room at our regular hotel and we are gifting a weekend getaway to my son for his birthday to go instead. He is very excited and we told him we will cover everything. He can’t afford to go on vacation and he doesn’t drive, so this is definitely a treat for him. He and DarkKnight get along great and I am super happy that my spot is going to someone I love and that he will enjoy it.
 
MisterMoonbeam had to go back to Urgent Care this morning as he was done with the prescribed steroids and the poison ivy rash had two new patches on his abdomen. My poor sweetie! They gave him a shot in the butt and prescribed two weeks of more steroids and more of the antihistamine. He feels so miserable!

He’s planning on taking a half day tomorrow, as the doctor gave him a note to stop work until Wednesday. He said he needs to get his stuff assigned to his team as audit season is coming soon. This will actually work out as his mom messaged me this morning and asked to stop over in the afternoon! His parents have been in Michigan for a week, visiting with MisterMoonbeam’s brother’s family. So they will be coming by on the drive home to where they live, in Virginia.

Ahhhhh! I talked to both guys, and DarkKnight has practice for a play he is in, so he said he can pause coming home before that if needed, and it might be! He’s still non-existent to MisterMoonbeam’s parents. It’s difficult to not be out to them as polyamorous, but we don’t have any intentions of sharing that info if we can help it.

I took some time in the afternoon to do some light cleaning in the sunroom, since we will probably be in there when they come over. It was nice to finally do some stuff around the house but I did run out of gas and DarkKnight mopped the floor and put the rugs back down. (MisterMoonbeam had washed them last week and they’ve been sitting on top of the dryer for several days!)

I’m going to try and spruce some of the rest of the house up a bit tomorrow morning but we will see how that goes. It’s actually not too bad so hopefully I can feel okay with how things look when they arrive.
 
I’m awake but still in bed - of course I’m in pain today when I have plans! It’s a different sort of pain and mostly in the lower right part of my abdomen. Ugh. Hopefully once I get up and get moving it will feel better.

I haven’t had any sort of pain meds - prescription or over-the-counter - in like a week. I’ve showered twice on my own with no assistance, and I drove the car by myself once. I haven’t been able to go out walking on my own yet because the heat has been so terrible - it’s been 99 degrees outside! Like, I had to stop going out to sit on the porch and under the front yard cherry tree. Ugh.

Today I am planning on getting dressed and doing my makeup, and driving over to see a friend. I bought a 3-pack of rainbow shoelaces from Amazon and only need one, so I am gifting two of the sets. One is going to a board game friend and she lives nearby so I am going to take it over to her this morning. I will probably pickup lunch to take back home to MisterMoonbeam. I figure after that I can freshen up the house before his parents arrive.
 
SEASONEDpolyAgain said:
Did they give you the OK to drive? I read somewhere that they advise not driving to men far less than women for similar surgery. Most women are told no driving for 6 weeks after hysterectomy. Maybe they are phasing this out.
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He said I could, but to not go long distances and to trust my body when it says to stop. :) I’m heading into week 5.

That said, I just got home and I am done for now. It definitely puts some stress on my abdomen in a way that isn’t normal these days!
 
Felt cute today - but still no waistbands! I know better than to even try. I’ve got two of these rompers from Amazon now - I think I posted the olive green floral one previously. Only $20!

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So I am down today. I definitely overdid things the last few days. I spent the morning reading a book (Ripe by James Hilder - very good!) and then I made some charcuterie for lunch, since MisterMoonbeam and DarkKnight are both working from home today. That was about the max of my abilities, and I had to eat my lunch in bed. I’m so tired!

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I have a lot of stretching in my abdomen right now and not a small amount of pain. I don’t feel like I need to take any heavy drugs or anything, but it’s not a fun feeling. Laying down feels like the thing to do and so far it has helped.

I am really depressed though - I feel so isolated and alone. I miss having MisterMoonbeam hug me at night, and this is definitely an up and down journey for me. This too shall pass, but right now it just feels like I’m spiraling.
 
In the afternoon yesterday, when DarkKnight was off of work, we kissed underneath the cherry tree in the front yard, for practice.

😍

I had seen a Reel that said men live longer if the kisses are at least 6 seconds long because that allows release of oxytocin. Ha! I can say it got me feeling happy, for sure!

We sat for a little bit but it wasn’t as nice out as yesterday because there was less of a breeze. Kinda muggy, I guess I would say. While we were there, MisterMoonbeam went to AutoZone and got an air filter for $20. The dealership the other day wanted $60! Fucking crazypants!

Apparently we also need new tires - which I was anticipating. The estimate for that is $800 for Firestones. I’m going to call around today and see if that’s the best price but I think that sounds okay. But they also want almost $1000 for a new drivebelt and a tuneup - we just hit 100,000 miles - and $350 for a brake flush, which is also apparently due.

The tires are going to be priority since that’s not preventative! I need to budget for this stuff today, I guess.

I did go ahead and try to get tickets to go to Texas this December. We want to visit our new grandbaby and they’re going to celebrate her first birthday while we are there. (She was actually born on Christmas so they want to do it early.) They had a credit card offer that looked good so I had MisterMoonbeam apply. We got a $300 statement bonus, which was half the cost of the tickets, an annual free club visit for two people, two free checked bags each flight and priority boarding after people needing assistance and premier flyers. Oh, and 5,000 miles if he added an authorized user (me). He qualified for a $21,000 limit so that was a surprise! It will definitely help flesh out his available credit.

Anyway, he initially had a hold on his credit reports, so he had to go online and release that, and then call United customer service to check it out again. So it wasn’t exactly “instant” approval. I ended up not ordering the plane tickets as I want to wait and put them on this new card. It should arrive in like 5 days they said, so no biggie. We discussed it and I think we’re going to go ahead and put the car rental and hotel cost on there as well.

Actually, now that I am thinking about it right now, I believe there was a 10,000 air mile bonus if we charge $3000 in the first three months. It might make sense to put the car maintenance stuff on this card as well, once I budget in how to pay it off right away. Might as well take advantage and score some miles.

Yesterday evening was depressing AF because my sister and I were messaging and she was clearly having an emotional crisis. Apparently my mom did finally get into a rent controlled apartment at the senior place again, last month. This is exactly a fucking year that she tore out of here and caused me so much grief! She has been living in a one-room motel with my brother all this time. Whatever.

My sister said our mom doesn’t look good and she won’t be around forever. My mom wrote me a letter, I guess, but I didn’t get anything. Maybe I will this week? I am not really anticipating anything. I mean the last letter she wrote me was a bible verse and a line saying she hoped god would forgive us.

I felt like I was getting a lot of guilt piled on by my sister. She is overwhelmed with life and feels it’s unfair that she has to handle my mom’s nonsense alone, especially since she has been the black sheep in the family for so long. She complained a lot about my mom not even asking about her kids. I’m like, mom straight up told me she didn’t care about my kids - that’s mostly why I cut contact!

Anyway, my mom doesn’t have a TV because my brother broke it apparently. I got the feeling that my sister wanted me to buy her one but that is not happening. I honestly felt so much pressure in that conversation and I don’t like where it was left. I do feel guilty that stuff has fallen onto my sister but I’m not inclined to put myself back into the nonsense after what happened last year with buying an entirely new house so my mom could live worry-free in my old one and have that dumped back on me.
 
I woke up today and did an insurance-requested blood draw here at home with a lancet. I had to take an online questionnaire and once I get this blood test sent into the mail, the company will send me a $500 deposit. MisterMoonbeam is doing this as well, but instead of doing it at home, he’s going into the lab. So he’ll get another $500.

This will definitely help with the trips and car maintenance that we need to pay for coming up soon! Even better, apparently he has an additional insurance that pays out $1000 for overnight hospital stays, so he took my receipts and submitted for that. So we should be getting a total of $2000 in the next few weeks! Yay for that.

I am still having some pain. It’s mostly gas as I am still not pooping on the regular. I’m back to taking Miralax once a day to make it happen, and then it’s a small amount. I also have stretching pain along the incision, and every now and then I get a sharp nerve zap along it. Ugh.

I spent the last couple of days in bed watching Relative Race (I’m on season 8 now), doing logic puzzles in a book I have, and reading. I started Sense and Sensibility last night - I’ve read it before but I was in the mood for a classic. :)

I’m planning on working on organizing my closet today after I finally shower. Both MisterMoonbeam and DarkKnight helped me last night to start on the right side shelves. It was a mess as I just had been throwing clothing up there that no longer fit, and I still had winter hats and random items shoved into places. Well, now it’s sorted out!

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MisterMoonbeam assembled these clear storage bins I bought to hold some of my purses, and DarkKnight handed over these white bins full of pants to me while I sat on the bed and sorted through them. The left bin is now size 14s and the right is size 16s. I am still too sore to try on the size 16s but maybe by the end of July I will be able to gift those to a friend! The ball caps in the center are just kinda there - I need to figure out a storage solution for them!

Today I would like to organize my shoes and maybe donate 2 or 3 pairs? I’d also like to sort through my hanging clothes but it might be too much to do them all at once. We will see! My jewelry is mostly in this closet as well and I need a better storage solution for my necklaces and earrings. Off to Pinterest I go!
 
Bluebird said:
I had a very positive day yesterday and it was great seeing TheEngineer. We had lunch and went to a consignment store. I did stairs for the first time! It ended up being a little much - I went to bed at a reasonable hour and slept through the night!

I’ve had a lot of emotional ups and downs yesterday and today. Like, I just start tearing up and feeling sad. I know it’s my hormones and being in menopause now. It’s not fun.

Today MisterMoonbeam had therapy, so I took the car and went to a single yard sale while he was there. My first time driving in a month! It went fine. A friend of mine was hosting the sale, so I stayed and chatted for a bit. It was so very amazing to see someone new. Lol

Again, it felt so good to dress and put on makeup!

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I wore a tshirt that another friend gifted to me in a surprise basket earlier this week, along with the rainbow bracelets she gave me.

After picking MisterMoonbeam up, we drove by our old house to peek at it. Our old neighbor’s house is being sold so we wanted to see changes! Then we snagged Quiznos and came home. I’m back in a tshirt dress now and back in bed, but I am happy that I got a chance to go out again!
Click to expand...
Love the shirt!
 
turnipprincess said:
Love the shirt!
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Thanks! I have a few Pride shirts now in my new size - including the one I wore today! Though, I guess you can’t see all of the rainbow dinos in this picture. I bought this one from TeeTurtle for $15. The rainbow ramen kitty I got as a gift so I don’t know where it was purchased.

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I am hoping to go and get a pedicure next weekend - where I go is on the other side of town and I’m not sure about heading that far out at this point in recovery. I need one though, OMG. No makeup today either. I showered and dressed, had lunch, took a walk around the neighborhood and then came home to put on pajamas and nap. Gah! I did have a little bit of fun parting my hair in the side today. Haven’t done that in a while. :)

Honestly, the only reason I dressed at all was because of the romper I am wearing - I wasn’t sure if it still fit so I put it on to see. It’s now in a box to be gifted to our busted triad friend who is coming to stay this weekend. I had credit card points so I bought a new one in the same style as the other two I purchased from Amazon recently. It ended up being free. Anyway, this one was too blousy in the leg holes and I know I can do better!
 
I packed up a bunch of my closet this morning. I didn’t realize how much more clothing I had that was way too big. It’s all been claimed by friends and I am so happy to pass it along to someone, but I wish I didn’t have to give away anything. Some of this stuff is super cute!

Right now I’m happy being a size 14, and honestly I’m a little nervous about the endocrinologist giving me something that will accelerate even more weight loss. I’ve lost almost 30 pounds since being diagnosed as diabetic, and I did it just by changing my diet. I know things like Ozempic and Wecovy are helping lots of people lose weight but stuff like that makes me anxious for myself.

However, with being catapulted into menopause while dealing with diabetes, maybe a GLP-1 will keep me at this weight? I’m going to trust the specialist, I guess. Most important is that it helps me regulate my blood glucose. That’s what I need help with right now. Tuesday will be here soon!
 
I’ve had terrible rippling gas all day today. No farts, just internal pressure and pain. No poops yesterday but I did take Miralax at bedtime. I had some again this morning, but still nothing. It fucking HURTS.

I did get dressed today and put on makeup. The guys and I drove around our neighborhood and went to less than a handful of small yard sales. I was hoping that the walking would help stimulate my bowels but it was not meant to be.

When we came home (after having lunch out) I went to sleep and didn’t wake up until after 5 pm. Ugh.

My broken triad friend did not end up visiting as the other triad’s member’s mom (that they live with) was admitted to the hospital with heart issues! So it sucks not to see her but we are all concerned with the situation. They think she will be released tomorrow, thank goodness.

I stopped writing this for a bit, and MisterMoonbeam helped empty and reorganize my dresser drawers. I bought some bins to finish arranging my closet when they get here tomorrow, and some of the stuff in my dresser will be moving into the closet - specifically leg warmers, boot covers and paint clothes, for now.

MisterMoonbeam also just gave me an enema because the gas was getting to be so painful. I haven’t had one for over a week and to be honest I thought I was done with them. Ugh. Everything is emptying out now though, so yay?

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