where are you shopping

Thursday… We are hunkered down today, out of the wicked wind and blowing snow. My view out the window is almost obliterated by the snow being pelted from the sky at a 45 degree angle. The trees across the hay field are faint through the wintery shroud.  I haven't been outside yet but will at some point, if only to experience the true fury of Mother Nature.

Yesterday we were blessed with a sunny, but cold day. I picked up visiting aunts from Kari's and met up with Kirsten and Mom at a cute village about 40 minutes from here. We had a lovely lunch in a little non-profit cafe, staffed with volunteers.

Tuesday was beautiful as well - imagine two sunny days in a row! Carm and I met up with friends in the village for lunch. We all agreed that we have to make it a more regular get together!

Going back one more day, Monday was snowing and cold, but we braved the roads (which weren't too bad) for our second Zumba class  😀 I still had two left feet but somehow didn't trip over myself and may have gotten some of the foot work slightly right.

I think it was Friday that I wrenched my back which left me decrepit for a few days. I took it really easy on Saturday, no treadmill or other exercise, just gentle movement regularly throughout the day. Luckily I felt a bit better on Sunday as we went to a birthday party for Carm's aunt who turned 95! We hadn't seen some of Carm’s family since before the pandemic! so it was nice to catch up with everyone.

Last thursday (a week ago!), Carm took the car into Subaru for a repair… it turns out that we were super lucky that the screws that came loose didn't fall into the engine as they would have destroyed it 😱  Carm's sister lent us her car so that we could leave the subie at the shop overnight as they had to order a part… 

But of course the big thing in our lives has been the threat of tariffs… we've been doubling down on shopping Canadian, or at least not made in the USA. We've found lots of substitutions. SHOP CANADIAN! I never paid much attention to where things were from but that has changed. The USA is imploding in front of our eyes :-(

Well, here we are and it's Friday. The snow has stopped but the wind is still blowing so I imagine the roads are still crappy. Carm is out wrestling with the snow blower while we wait for a call from the place we get the dog's chicken hearts  so may have to drive into the city but fingers crossed it will be next week! 

Meanwhile, I'm taking it easy again today with lots of gentle stretching!

Awesome!

“getting to know distant relatives”

“the fury of nature”

howling wind

 The wind is howling, its invisible hand thrashing trees and power lines. Luckily it hasn't started snowing yet (it's 2pm) but will this evening… it's going to be wild out there! Nature at her most dramatic.

As it was, even without snow already falling, the roads to the village were snow covered and icy but luckily we didn't have far to go… and what would get us out of the house on a blizzardy January morning? Our first zumba class!!

One morning on the cruise we had picked up coffees in the piazza where a zumba class was going on so we sat down to watch - it looked like a great workout and honestly, I'm all in for anything set to music! We decided then that we'd look into classes when we got back home… and as it turns out, our local municipality organizes all sorts of classes, one of which is zumba - and wouldn't luck be with us - they started today AND are during the day :-) Uncharacteristically,  we actually signed up and didn't just talk about it.

We were like a couple of bumbling idiots but everyone was really friendly and encouraging 😀 But oh boy - walking on the treadmill does not prepare you for an hour of jumping around waving my arms. I'm exhausted and my legs and arms are like rubber. Yay! I did have a long soak in the tub with epsom salts!

It's probably not a surprise that Carm was the only man in a room full of 25+ women but if you know Carm, that doesn't bother him at all - he has never been afflicted with fragile masculinity - hey, he didn't let living in a basically pink 🩷 house define him…

It's funny how the same phrase can mean two different things. I often say that I've pushed myself on the treadmill and yes, there are times when I push myself to exercise and to exercise hard, to test my limits. I might be tired but I still feel strong and can feel my muscles working - it feels good and I feel powerful (ha ha, relatively!). It’s a bit of a high… Then there are times when I have to push myself to even get moving. Those days are harder, both physically and mentally. But even on those days, or maybe especially on those days, I feel like I've accomplished something good for myself. 

A few hours later… wind has picked up even more and I can definitely tell that I used some muscle today, I'm a bit stiff and rubbery!

A few more hours… lots of roads have been shut down due to drifting snow ❄️ 

Awesome!

“zumba”

“snow holding off till we were home”

“subaru came through with an expensive ˋgood willˋ repair”

chilly

I haven't decided which is worse… hot flashes or cold chills… I've ‘enjoyed’ hot flashes for years and years now but they got a bit worse after I started tamoxifen, which is a selective estrogen receptor modulator… i.e. it blocks estrogen which feeds breast cancer… but also, when I started taking it I also started getting more and more cold chills and now I'm freezing all the time except if I'm having a hot flash!!! It's a crazy ride! Especially when they happen at the same time! I went from wearing a camisole and shorts to bed to cami, heavy flannel pjs and covers over my head. Yikes! It's very unpleasant! 

Poor Carm has done the lion's share of taking the dogs out for months now - between being exhausted and freezing to death I'm loath to go outside into the cold, instead I'm usually bundled under a blanket. Who knew that the quilt Jo Ellen arranged for me to get from Victoria's Quilts would be used on a daily basis!

But!!!! I'm coming out of the gloom and my energy is slowly coming back! On Monday, after months of struggle with my mood, I decided that I'd go off the tamoxifen until I see the oncologist mid February. My mood improved immediately! Obviously all the side effects have been wearing me down and just the thought of a break boosted me. 

Tamoxifen has a half life of 7 days so it will take forever to get out of my system - I'll need the 4 weeks before my appointment for side effects to go away. For my stage and type of cancer, I believe the benefit of the T. is only a few percentage points less risk of recurrence (your mileage may vary)… BUT! I was finding that my mood made it harder and harder to do the things that are healthy for me and that will ALSO reduce risk of recurrence. I was finding it too easy to binge eat chocolates and other sweets and there were days that I didn't exercise at all. My other food choices weren't always the greatest either. And let's be honest, sitting like a lump on the sofa with feelings of doom and depression nipping is not the best!

So, that was Monday. Since then I've walked 22 miles (34km) on the treadmill and ridden the exercise bike 3 miles! Today during my 60 minute walk I included two ¼ mile laps, with a slower break in between, of 8% incline (the highest ours will go) and 4mph/6.4kph. It was hard and the sweat was pouring off me but I did it! I wouldn't have been able to do even one minute at that intensity a year ago :-)  This week I've started using some weights with a bit more consistency and can see the faint beginnings of muscles :-) Give me another few weeks and I'll be kicking butt!

Tuesday morning Kirsten picked me up and we went to look at some Bernese Mountain Dog puppies… they were so gosh darn cute but not a breed for me - way way too much hair. But they were lovely! And the adults were equally nice :-) There have been periods in my life that I have been obsessive in my quest to hoard pets! Not anymore. I'm pretty sure that Carm isn't missing the relentless pressure 😜

On Monday I finished the 14 days of wearing the Holter monitor. Oh! Maybe I've been so darn cold this week because I don't have the warm battery pack against me 24/7…

My most recent food obsession is toasted pumpernickel topped with a mushroom spread, grilled tofu, sprouted lentils that I sauteed with garlic and chili peppers, some broccoli sprouts and then the whole thing is topped with a fried egg. So delicious! And a nice deviation from the buckets of soup that we have been eating.

Awesome!

“having a bit more energy”

“A few sunny days”

“it was still light at 5pm!”

“Lupa freshly shorn”