Day 85: Reviving My Soul

“The beautiful spring came; and when nature resumes her loveliness, the human soul is apt to revive also.” ~Harriet Ann Jacobs~

Spring really does renew my soul. Winter just drags me to a dark place because it lasts so long and I hate driving in the snow. If I could just stay home all winter I wouldn’t mind the snow at all. I guess they call that retirement ! Although memories of the past sometimes sneak in I am usually able to chase them away and focus on the here and now. I have so much to be grateful for and life is good so there is no point in continuing to wring my hands over the past. I’m looking forward to green grass, leaves on the trees, open windows and summer breezes. I’m also looking forward to locally grown produce, pool days and barbecues ! Change is coming on the professional front but I’ve had enough time to process all of that and I’m ready for the next step, whatever it may be. One month from today I’ll be celebrating 34 years with AT&T. God willing I’ll be here next April 29th to celebrate 35 years !

Breakfast today was a 2.1 ounce 160 calorie cherry cheese roll. I probably didn’t get the whole 160 calories because half of the icing was attached to the wrapper and there was no way I was licking it off ! I had some Green Mountain Breakfast Blend coffee with it and my 2nd cup was french vanilla. I didn’t have a breakfast Power Fuel as I left my string cheese on the kitchen counter this morning ! My morning snack was a 155 calorie vanilla shake with peanut butter powder. Lunch was a 4 ounce 230 calorie four cheese melt. As a vegetarian option this one is a little boring for me. I had some raw carrots and cottage cheese (80 calories) with it. Without my breakfast Power Fuel and my a.m. snack Smart Carb I had a serious case of the hungries this afternoon. I either need to be better organized in the morning or store some nuts and crackers in my desk at work ! My afternoon snack was a 180 calorie Sargento’s Balanced Breaks. I forced myself not to eat it until after 3 pm ! Dinner was a 10 ounce 280 calorie salisbury steak with mac & cheese. This is one of my favorite entrees. I had a chef salad with it, for a change of veggies. The salad dressing added about 30 calories. I’m not sure what my evening snack will be. I’ll decide that at bedtime. I’m only at about 1120 calories for the day so I will look for a high calorie snack. I did do pretty good on water today - I only have about 12 ounces to go before I hit the 64 ounce goal !

Nutrisystem is having another 50% off sale on their food so I placed a large order last night – 20 days worth of food (80 items), most of which is frozen. I’ve opted not to “flex” meals unless I have to and my plan only provides 24 days worth of food each month so I need to have extra on hand in between shipments. The sales Nutrisystem has, coupled with the discounted gift cards from Costco, is really saving me a lot of money ! Shipping is super fast – it’s going to be delivered tomorrow !! I was going to spend some time tonight organizing the fridge to make room but I guess I’ll be doing that tomorrow. I also need to take inventory of everything I have and put together a plan to use it up. I still have non-frozen items that are aging so I need to make sure I use them before their expiration dates. I also have the option to delay my next shipment to make sure I don’t end up with a mountain of food !

I woke up this morning and felt better ! It wasn’t quite so hard to get out of bed and I made it through the day. However, I couldn’t wait to sit down when I got home and since I’ve been home I can’t seem to get warm and I feel shivery. Chills ? It’s 72 in my house and I’m wrapped in flannel and a blanket. I feel a little warm but I don’t know if I have a fever. My hands are like ice and I have a little bit of a headache. I’ll check my temp when I go upstairs to bed but I don’t have any symptoms of anything drastic like pneumonia. I’m not coughing that much, I don’t have any trouble breathing and my sinuses are actually clearing up. I’m not seeing anything green so there are no real signs of infection. Even if I do have a fever I’m pretty sure it’s just a nasty cold. Needless to say I’ll be resting as much as possible this weekend but I do have things like laundry and tidying up the house to take care of. I also have a bunch of fresh veggies to clean and roast for the week ahead. I thought I might be able to restart my treadmill exercise but I don’t think that’s going to happen.

On a more positive note, it was so nice to hear the birds chirping outside while I was getting ready for work. That tells me Spring really is here ! Oh, nature may still throw a cold day or some snow flurries at us but winter is definitely over in Upstate NY. It was 40 degrees when I left for work today. It turned out to be a cloudy day but it didn’t rain (or snow!) so that is a plus. My car stayed clean all week ! Prime example of the crazy upstate weather: forecast tomorrow is mid-fifties and rain … Sunday is mid-thirties and possible snow showers ! My car will be in the garage staying clean and dry until Monday morning !