Living Dead Weekend 2024

 CC and I went to Evans City, PA/Monroeville, PA this past weekend.  We visited the Evans City Cemetery where the movie Night of the Living Dead (original) was filmed and the Monroeville Mall where Dawn of the Dead (original) was filmed.  We lucked out on this weekend, because about 3 weeks prior I discovered there was a Living Dead Weekend happening at the mall!  So we eagerly bought tickets for that and it was a blast!

Most of the celebrities there were ghouls in Dawn of the Dead but there were some big names there as well:  Tom Atkins; Tom Savini and Greg Nicotero may be three you've heard of.   A big one for us was Russell Streiner.

Russell Streiner played Johnny in Night of the Living Dead.  He delivers the most memorable line of the movie "They're coming to get you Barbara."  He was more than happy to say that line for us!  He told us how they had no money to make the movie and how they begged and borrowed to get it done.

But, for us, the big draw was Greg Nicotero.  He's from the area so happily always comes to the yearly event when his job doesn't have him elsewhere.  Greg is a special effects person and was the walker professional for The Walking Dead.  He also owns a restaurant with Norman Reedus.  If you're a Walking Dead fan, you know who Greg Nicotero is, he's as popular as the all the characters.  He's also a very nice, down to earth person.  While CC was asking him questions about Daryl Dixon; he apologized for eating candy but he said he had felt lightheaded and needed something and if we see him laying on the floor; we'd know why.  I told him I was CPR certified; he told me he could only accept mouth-to-mouth; I told him I could do that!  LOL!!  Great guy!

So that was my highlight for the year so far!

A Product Review

After reading about how wonderful these are; I finally broke down and paid the high price for them:

PopTarts are very high in points on WW.  These are much lower in points and are high in protein.  People rave about them online.  They are pricy, it cost me $10 for a box of 4.  I would have preferred the option to just purchase one, but that wasn't a possibility at my Walmart.  Anyway, I just had one and must say I wasn't impressed.  It was nothing like a poptart.  It was more like a soft sugar cookie with icing and a smear of filling on the inside.  I ended up taking them to work and the ladies in the office didn't like them either, so we threw them in the trash.

And for the record, yes I did heat them up.  For some reason whenever you say you didn't like them someone always comments that you have to heat them. Weird right?  Also don't tell me I shouldn't expect a Pop-Tart as these are a "pastry".  Yeah, a Pop-Tart is a pastry too, says it right on the box!  And if I shouldn't be expecting a Pop-Tart taste....it shouldn't look like one!

The Healthi App

 Due to the recent changes with WW (weight loss meds, meetings being eliminated), I'm seeing members choose to give the Healthi App a try....and then I'm seeing people getting frustrated and mad that Healthi isn't exactly like WW and that Healthi is giving them a ton of more daily points then WW did and that the points of items aren't the same....  Please EVERYONE, say this with me:

HEALTHI DOES NOT OFFER THE CURRENT WW PLAN!!

Again....

HEALTHI DOES NOT OFFER THE CURRENT WW PLAN!!

And let's say this together:

ALL POINTS ARE NOT CREATED EQUAL AND DIFFERENT PLANS HAVE DIFFERENT WAYS OF CALCULATING POINTS!!

Now that THAT is out of the system....

If you need a plan that is closest to what WW is now offering...the best choice on Healthi is the Better Balance plan.  Better Balance is the old Blue Plan also known as Freestyle.  This plan uses the calculation for smart points (which is not the same calculation as the current one); so some items will be off a little when it comes to points. You may also notice that popcorn is not a zero food on Better Balance. It's different, but it's the closest you'll get.

Healthi also offers Sugar Smart, which is the old Green Plan and also the plan introduced in Beyond the Scale.  Sugar Smart uses the smart point calculation also.

Carb Conscious is the Points Plus plan.  Guess what?  It's calculation is entirely different than smart points and the current plan.

Conquer Cravings is the original point plan and it's calculation is entirely different than points plus, smart points and the current plan.

Different plans, different methods, different zero point foods.  You have to know what you're choosing.

I bring this up because I was just seeing someone whining that Healthi is no where near like WW because she's getting 15 pts more in dailies.  I asked the obvious - which plan are you doing?  Her answer? Conquer Cravings.  WHOA!  Conquer Cravings doesn't even have a zero point list!  It's not even close to what WW offers now.  That's why your dailies are so high, not because Healthi is a bad app, it's because you aren't paying attention to what you're doing!

It's extremely important that you read the available material and videos about the plans that Healthi offers, and they offer a lot!  Also, it's a learning curve...don't expect WW and take the time to learn you're way around the app.  You weren't always familiar with the WW app (and it's changed a few times).

Healthi is a good app though and if you're tired of WW or just want a different option; I recommend it!

2024 Hasn't Been A Good Year So Far

 2024 - what can I say? We're only 5 months in and things just haven't been good.  

The first week of the year my mom needed moved from the rehab center to a nursing home.  None of us were able to give her the 24 hour care that she needed.  However, during that time, the nursing home was saying she didn't qualify for a nursing home; nor did she qualify for assisted living.  You're reading that right, too bad for one - not bad enough for the other.  During that same week, my brother-in-law, unexpectedly, needed to have quadruple bypass.

Also in January, my one Aunt passed as well as my cousin's husband.

My parents live with my sister J and this was her husband needing the bypass.  No surprise she was very stressed.  She has my Dad, her husband needs serious surgery and Mom's in limbo. Naturally the rest of us-myself and sisters E & S, jumped in to help with Dad.  Brother-in-law came through surgery perfectly and has healed nicely fortunately.  

I got the flu in January....which led into my 60th birthday....which meant really no celebration.  Though my sisters did take me to dinner.  They went out afterwards, I went home to bed.  For my 60th year I decided to invest in me by rejoining Weight Watcher meetings and buying a walking pad...neither has gotten much use 😞.

Because my sister hired an Elder Law Attorney (if you have the money, so worth it) we did get Mom into a nursing home.  Mom had her good and bad days.  I never seemed to catch her on her good days and several times she didn't know who I was; sometimes I couldn't get her to wake up.  It was sad and the mother I once knew, was slipping away.  I hit a point that I didn't want to visit her anymore; I knew I had to, but I didn't want to (E felt the same).  I started going over during my lunch hour; it limited the time I could stay.

Unexpectedly in February, my dog Dexter needed put down.  We knew this was coming due to a tumor by his liver; but it just was another thing to happen in an all ready stressful year.  I miss my Dexter Doodle Noodle. 

The end of February my Dad turned 90!  A celebration finally! Not a big one, but we took him to his favorite diner and that made him happy!  (by the way, he and mom celebrated 70 years in 2023).

Then March started.  At 1:30 a.m. on March 7th, I was awakened by a phone call from J letting me know that Mom had passed away.  We knew this was coming; but you're never truly prepared for it.  And also, once again, I was 7 days in with a flu! (no meds as the doctor says it was viral).  My work is very good with bereavement leave, so I didn't have to worry there; but we had all the preparations, contacting family and such and it just seemed so whirlwind.  We went through a lot of photos, reliving the memories.  My Dad kept insisting the photos of him in the younger days weren't him.  We told him that that must be our real dad - the mailman (inside joke, my Dad was a mailman 😀).  

We get through that.  And then, Dad is in the ER with an UTI....he was very ill, but doing much better.

The day after the funeral I went to Urgent Care and finally an antibiotic for my flu!!  It's gone, but I've been left with a dry cough for a very long time.  And of course, allergy season started.....

We spent our first year without Mom on Easter.  There will be a lot of firsts this year.  Mother's Day was hard.

Last week, Dad was back in the ER with an UTI again!  He was there a week and they just moved him to a rehab center; but things are just not going well.  He has several medical issues that affect his mind and we just don't know if the craziness (for lack of a better word) is going away this time.  More than likely he'll end up in a nursing home.  J can no longer take care of him as he can do nothing for himself anymore; we're not sure he'll be able to walk again.

So 2024 hasn't been a good year.

But I'll Try

 Well I tried and got nothing done.....

It's been a bad month.  I found out a cousin (who I have not seen in years) passed and no one notified anyone.  I lost an Uncle this month; and in this past week I had to travel south to stay with my sister as my brother-in-law was ill and passed.  

No time for dieting.

But I haven't given up....hopefully things will be more consistent now and I can do a restart!  I still want to do all those "tries" from my last post.

And I still want to give the new WW program an honest try.  I can't get to my meetings anymore as 5:30 is too early of a start time, but I'm going to try some virtual meetings (though I don't really care for them at all).

But I'll try....

Loki

 Last month we adopted a new dog that we call Loki:

He's a bassett beagle mix and cute as can be!

Loki is a year old and came from a rescue we've dealt with in the past.  Loki's a year old and not house trained at all!

House training doesn't bother me, it's the fact that this dog is a year old and no one has taken the time to even give him any basics.  Looking through his paperwork this poor dog has had several names - which indicates that he has been adopted out before and returned (more than once quite possibly).  I can even go back through the rescues fb page and see that he was adopted under one of those names back in April.

I don't mind that the rescue didn't disclose any of this....but I do think it's helpful to prevent future returns by being completely honest with what the issues were.  We have no plans to return him, wouldn't even consider it; but I'm sure the house training issues has been part of the reason he's been returned.  This dog has no understanding of inside and outside.  To him, they are the same.  I partially blame the rescue because they free feed and let the dogs all wander around in an enclosed area where they just do their business and they clean it up.  That's not house training.

Loki's been getting better but the other night he peed in the bed!!  That seemed odd since it was a sleeping area.  So today I dropped him off at the vet so they could check his urine for an infection, give him an examine and check for a few more things.  I mentioned this on the rescue's fb page (I'm not the only one dealing with house training issues).  People gave some advice.  The rescue's advice?  Put a wrap on him.  Wait, what?????

A wrap???  If you're unfamiliar with wraps, they are diapers you wrap around the dog to catch urine. 

Wraps do serve a purpose - if you have an older dog that can no longer hold itself or leaks urine; however, that is not an option when it comes to house training.  I want the dog trained; not trained to think it's okay to go in the house.  

Anyway, hopefully the vet visit will help (I could tell from his poop that he did have tape worms) and we can get things back in order!!!

Hershel

 On Wednesday I had to say good-bye to my dear sweet Hershel.

Hershel was a stray neighborhood cat that followed me home on a dog walk one day about 8 years ago.  He never left.  We were never truly able to find who he belonged to though someone mentioned that they thought his owners had moved and left him behind.  Hershel ran the neighborhood, hunted the wildlife and made pit stops at our house.  He was much loved.

This past year Hershel began to lose weight; half his body weight to be exact despite lots of eating.  Though this was probably due to thyroid issues or diabetes; when you run the neighborhood making pit stops, there's no easy way to medicate.

I was concerned he'd wander off one day and we'd never find him.

So this past Wednesday I took him the vet and said good-bye.

We will meet again at the Rainbow Bridge.