Me, Most Mornings

Here is where I start almost every day, with coffee and the ipad. Ranges from twenty minutes to two hours, with breaks for more coffee and to tend to the dog, who is at my feet but waiting to go out.

Differences are Already Noticeable

I went shopping today, for the first time in quite a while (aside from ducking into the grocery store). I made a pass through Kohl’s, PetSmart, Target, and Home Depot, all clustered together. For the first time ever, there was no wait for the cashier at any of them. Only Home Depot was showing any signs of life. The other three stores were nearly empty. People are staying home. The people that work there, probably can’t afford to stay home.

Time to make sure my elected federal representatives are clear that any extra corporate subsidies to make up for lost business need to be strictly pass-throughs to the employees. How can that be assured? I’m sure there are policy wonks that have that figured out already.

I was disconcerted today to find myself grouped by the way newspapers reported CDC recommendations into the “at risk population”. I decided I’m basically healthy, and except for washing hands and being conscious of touching my face, I’m not going to modify behavior much. I don’t feel old. But there was a very amusing segment on The Daily Show where the very young guy referred to “old people like you” as the only ones that should be worried. When Trevor Noah protested, “I’m not old” the guy laughed and said, “I guess we’ll let ol’ Rona Virus decide that!”  Indeed.

Home Refresh

The kitchen and office updates are (just about) done. There always seems to be this dragging 2% that takes forever - in this case, switch plate covers. But here are Before and After pictures!

Notice not just the drab counters but also the clutter!
The big flowers were from Ikea -
my girl and I brightened up a winter day long ago.

View from the other end- food stored on the counters.

I had started to store a lot of stuff out on the counters. After I cleared it out, I liked the uncluttered look and tried to keep it.

 I kept the cabinets, appliances, and floor. I changed the cabinet pulls, the countertop, the backsplash, and the wall color. I also had to do the sink, the faucet, and the disposal. Overall, it completely transforms the space!

The backsplash was where I put my energy, though the quartz countertop was the most money. I went to several places before finding the tiles I wanted. I had started with only vague ideas of what I was looking for, fueled by HGTV. I sharpened my focus on the internet, and found what appealed to me on pinterest.

This is as de-cluttered as it gets. A new fridge is in my future.
I also will get new dish towels.

At the tile shops, I found the ceramic tiles dull, and I knew I didn't want a busy pattern. Glass tiles added depth, and they change dramatically with the light. I finally found, on the internet, a local tile shop that seemed very promising. An opportunistic trip (it was a block from my dermatologist) led to the answer. I had brought a drawer front and a counter sample along, and agreed with the design rep on a predominate glass tile color salted with a complementary color in a random pattern. I drew out the pattern to scale on the computer one night, and I'm thrilled with the result.

My fresh veggies and cutting board will stay out.
The lower open shelves hold recycling staging and kitchen towels.

 The cabinet pulls are from Home Depot - I swear I looked at all 657 choices on-line. I informed my choices by looking at and touching the in-store stock, but on-line had a wider spectrum of choices. I ended up special order, but it was still just a couple of days.

My sink is really deep - I bought a sink with an added inch of depth, and then the mounting under the countertop adds more than another inch (which then required some jiggering to fit the disposal in). A small dog could go swimming in there. I can store my dish soap and sponges inside the sink to keep the countertop clear. The big, arched, faucet is all the style, but I find it splashes more than my old one.

As things went back in the kitchen, I scrubbed all the cabinet doors and insides. I got rid of a few things, but mostly I re-arranged. Items seldom used went to the basement (which may be staging for eventual disposal) and I moved things around so the most used item became more accessible. I treated myself to a visit to the Container Store and got some back-of-cabinet door racks to increase the amount of area easily accessible. And the huge Instant Pot, which I use pretty often, lives out of sight!

Just for fun, I moved the countertop appliances around. The microwave is where the toaster oven was, the toaster oven sits where the coffee pot was, and the coffee pot is by the kitchen door where I used to keep fresh veggies. My huge stash of dog treats and dog accessories has been either put away or put into nice canisters. Right now, I'm motivated to keep the place bare. I stroke the countertops and touch the backsplash, finger the substantial drawer pulls, and love being in there. We'll see how it evolves as I start really inhabiting it, cooking and just living there.

Before

The other project was the office. There, I had a formica countertop that wrapped around, and I wanted to get rid of the part that was designed to be a desk. I never use it, (now that I have laptop and don't spend hours working on documents or photos) and it just took up space.

During

I bought a standard-sized countertop from Ikea, which was (frustratingly) ONE inch too small to fit the existing layout of the lower cabinets. I knew this when I bought it - the contractors said "oh, it's easy to just slide the cabinet base over a couple of inches". Thus, the dominoes start to fall:  baseboards, flooring, what else is affected? We managed to contain the effort, and I love the additional space and light from the fresh color on the walls.

After. Still clutter to clear from the countertop

This room has a high shelf that wraps around - to pull in and make whole the space over the basement stairs. I had a small collection of birds picked up on my travels over the years. This was a tendency adopted from my mother, who had a large collection of birds. After the construction was done, I integrated the two collections and put them up on that shelf.

Like the kitchen, I also emptied out the cabinets and thought through what I needed to keep or toss, and how to organize it to make it accessible. (I spent a couple of hours in front of the TV trying all the ballpoint pens that were in a big box.) I've got the paper and file folders all squared away, but I have a lot of electronic bits, cords, and gadgets still to deal with. Many of them are in two other closets (and even the basement) and I'll need a long day or two to consolidate and sort out.

I also had the living room ceiling painted - it had been damaged years ago by a leak - I got a new roof, eventually new drywall, but the paint waited until now. So to close, pictures of the disruption during the work.

Home Ergonomics

“Before” - my cluttered office with morning light

I’m in the middle of getting an update to my office and kitchen. Much less than a full renovation, but exciting enough - for the kitchen, new countertops, backsplash, sink and faucet, new paint (with new colors) and new cabinet handles. For the office, new countertop and paint. There will be plenty of pictures, once I get to the “after” stage for before and afters. But right now, I’m thinking about any changes I may want to make as part of moving back in.

Since I kept all the kitchen cabinets and appliances, I didn’t need to completely empty the kitchen. But I did need to get everything off the counter and open shelves, window sills, any surfaces. Also, I emptied the top drawer of each cabinet bank, so there was room to demolish the old and install the new stuff. All of that stuff is now out on tables and floors in other rooms. I was struck by how much stuff I had out. It’s clutter, guys. The stuff that was out in the open tends to be the stuff I use all the time, but there is stuff in the cabinets that I hardly use at all. When I get to move back into the kitchen, it’s going be a process of making sure everything in there needs to be in there. And everything out in the open really needs to be out all the time. And, that things are placed where I want them placed, for how I will actually use the kitchen.

I just had a fun conversation with my contractor about where to put things when I go back. It’s good to be challenged. I’m going to need to find places out on the counter for my microwave, my coffee pot, and my toaster oven, all of which I use all the time. I’ve also had a jar for putting my most often used hand tools sitting out next to the stove. But I’ve had places for dog treats (need to be high up and out of his reach!), cutting boards, knives, water bottles and travel mugs, trays, vases, and non-refrigerated fruits and vegetables. I’ve had a cart that holds linen towels, a recycling staging area, and my instant pot. It added up to a lot of clutter. If I’m going to put all of these things away, I will need to pull things out of my cabinets or off my open shelves to make room.

I’ve got space in my new basement on open shelving, where I can put things I’m not willing to get rid of entirely. But definitely, it’s time to part with more stuff that I just don’t use. Things should only go in the basement if I am going to use them sometime. But things I don’t use too often. I found out a couple of years ago, when I wanted to cook more, that putting the cuisinart in a cabinet below the food prep counter meant I used it more than I did when it was stored in another room entirely. Going to get it was one more hurdle to cooking.

Should the microwave go next to the stove instead of across from it? Do I want to keep my longest stretch of countertop clear for food prep? Can I find an accessible, but out of view, place to put the cutting boards and trays? Do the knives go back in a drawer or will I find a place for my magnetic knife rack? Can I make room in a lower cabinet for the instant pot? (I already keep the cuisinart, rice cooker, and mini-chop down there.) Thinking systematically about this stuff will make my life easier.

Warring with my desire for clear, uncluttered surfaces is my awareness that I’m very visually driven. If I have cool things put away where I never see them, I don’t think about them. That’s one of the reasons I like to keep my fresh fruits and veggies out - so I remember to eat them before they go bad. Also, accessibility is crucial. I’m short. I’m getting older. My cabinets go up to the ceiling, but it takes a tall stepladder, not just a step stool, for me to reach the top shelves. Probably, there are things on the top shelves that have been there for years and not used, that could go away. But I couldn’t use that space for anything that will be needed more than a couple of times a year. The good news on things for entertaining is most often I am entertaining my family, all of whom are younger and taller than me. So, they get the job of reaching the inaccessible stuff!

I should be able to start this process of moving back in as early as tomorrow. This will be fun!

My Weight in the Last Year

I commented briefly that my weight in the last year was a total disaster. While I ended the year much heavier than I started it, there were in fact seasons to how it went. I find that interesting, and useful feedback on what “works” and what doesn’t. Here is a 12-month picture:

So I gained more than 8 pounds over the course of the year, but not in a steady line. While I was working, I was in a state of heightened tension and deferring any weight control till I had time. The summer, as you blog readers know, I was focused on myself, both eating and physical activity, and was doing pretty well. Things basically went to hell after my mother died in September - I was totally in a “eating is the least of my issues” state of mind. I did try to tamp things down, but the holidays got to me. Now, I’m back to thinking very mindfully about what I am eating and it is starting to have an effect.

Weight is only one small aspect of my well being, but it’s not nothing. In particular, it has a big impact on what clothes fit, and thus how I feel when I go out in the world. So understanding that my efforts last summer were not in vain is helpful. And weight is most impacted by what I eat, not what else I do. So, mindfully paying attention is important to managing this.

I want to mention that posting weight graphs nearly always happens only after some short-term success at losing, so almost every graph I’ve posted on this blog has a recent downward trend. I look all the time, but I don’t always share.

(This graph is from trendweight.com, which I have been using for quite a while. Since I have a wifi scale that sends the weight to a database in the cloud automatically, this site reads the data and plots it. It also does a trend, based on an engineering algorithm to separate “signal” from “noise” - it looks at weight over a period of time, with the most recent data carrying more weight (he he) in the formula.)

Wrapping up 2019

2019 was a shit-show of a year in many ways. It also had many good points, and high point, but overall it was year of unusual events and a struggle to find my way. But I can't be philosophical, not when there is data to post! Here follows my report card for the year as a whole.

First, fitness and activity. It's a mixed bag, and a constant struggle. Look for the darker green to see the good stuff.  I peaked in August, and have been slipping since. The dark days of November and December were not so great.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
Avg Calories Exp	####	####	####	####	####	####	####	####	####	####	####	####
Days >2,000 cal	6	7	7	10	16	14	12	13	10	12	8	8
Avg Daily Steps	####	####	####	####	####	####	####	####	####	####	####	####
Days <5 steps="" td="">	5	4	5	3	1	2	4	3	4	1	2	4
Miles Biked	-	-	-	-	-	-	5	9	-	-	-
Miles Walked	26	16	8	17	15	38	28	48	15	12	25	25
Miles Run	-	-	6	3	5	11	6	1	11	-	2	5
Workout Days	13	7	8	6	7	9	12	23				11

Weight is a total disaster, a steady climb. My main tool for fighting weight gain, tracking and consciously monitoring my food (with the intent to limit it), has started to come into play more, so there is hope.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
End Weight (week)	159	160	161	163	163	163	164	164	163	166	166	168
Days Food Tracked	-	10	-	-	-	-	-	16	4	1	7	7

Wellness measures are a mixed bag, things I do and the results they achieve.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
# Min Meditate	439	235	178	81	143	295	215	333	229	223	145	150
# Times Meditate	42	22	20	11	15	23	21	29	21	26	10	11
Migraine Hours	-	-	-	-	20	24	11	27	13	44	14	21
Sleep Hours	7.1	7.3	7.3	6.8	7.0	7.3	7.0	7.4	7.2	7.2	7.5	7.5
Resting Heart Rate	62	63	63	62	61	61	60	59	63	64	62	62

 
I am a champion sleeper, however, and getting better! And look - last January had an insane amount of meditation! I guess that's what I did at my desk during the government shutdown - close my eyes, and breathe - since I wasn't allowed to work at my normal job.

Fun and entertaining things certainly shot up after I retired. Though, as I went into my physical shutdown of the dark days at the end of the year, reading probably substituted for a lot of more active and useful things I could have been doing.

	Jan	Feb	Mar	Apr	May	Jun	Jul	Aug	Sep	Oct	Nov	Dec
# Books Read	8	7	4	1	0	12	11	9	3	4	7	10
# Blog Posts	6	8	7	6	3	6	8	7	10	7	6	1
# Trips downtown	--	--	--	--	--	1	5	2	1	4	1	0
# Days Boat	--	--	--	1	2	3	2	7	3	1	1	0

I decided spending was not useful to report here, because the data is so squirrelly. I have funeral and estate expenses mixed in with my money, as well as new bank accounts, etc.. I use almost no cash, and have connected Mint to track all of my electronic transactions, but it isn't "clean". For example, Mint thinks my hardware store is a coffee shop, though I keep correcting them. Wrangling the data into useful categories takes time. And there are such periodic unusual expenses even without a death - home renovations, property taxes, travel. Many expenses don't lend themselves to a monthly budget - like clothes, or electronics, which are lumpy. I am continuing to track my spending and play with it, but trends are not easy to pick out because of lumpiness. Going forward, I think I'm going to track and report my food spending, because that is one area where I think I spend too much and could do a lot better. Maybe also clothes as discretionary? But food should be pretty steady month-to-month, where clothes it would be more about an annual budget... Hmm.

So what have I learned from the exercise of tracking and looking at this data? I had a good summer, and then things fell apart. But not as steep a decline as I thought, and there are things I can do to improve.  I'll keep on tracking some of these things through this year.

How Much is Too Much?

Bags is the first of many issues in this closet.
I’m going in! Send help if I’m not heard from.

I am truly my mother’s daughter when it comes to bags. I have kept daypacks, briefcases, messenger bags, and tote bags all in a closet in my office. But it’s gotten ridiculous - I need to get rid of some of them. Eight daypacks is at least a couple too many, yes? But almost every one of them sparks some joy in me. Each has its good points, things that compensate for the drawbacks of one of the others.

So I did the Kondo thing and pulled them all out, added a few bags that had found other homes, and tried hard to divest myself of most of them. I invited my girl to take her pick, and she went for one of my favorites! But it was my fourth favorite, not my first or even my second, so I let her keep it. I’ve put some of the others into a bag, waiting for drop-off at the donation center.

But its hard. I don’t know why I like bags so much. I happened to be in the Container Store this week and of course I browsed the bags - they have some with features I like. But they are not substantially different from the ones I have, just colors and combinations I don’t have... But no. Not now.