Resolutions

My favorite: I blew this up for my wall

Bridges I have run across: the George Washington Bridge, Henry Hudson ,Verrazano, Pulaski, Queensboro, Marine Parkway, Willis St Bridge, 3rd St Bridge but never the Brooklyn Bridge. Well I didn't run on this one, much too crowded as you can see but I finally walked on it. Two of the races we ran covered most of those bridges.

detail  of a Central Park Bridge

Strawberry Fields near where John Lennon lived and was shot down

infinite staircase

hard to find a deserted section

Manhattan Bridge. Not sure if walkers can go on it

lower Manhattan

I spend maybe too much time in my bedroom. Aside from the feeder in which I can watch bird drama, more later, I have my fancy lights and photos on the wall. One section devoted to foreign travels, mainly Italy; an Asian section; an African section; aNew York section; an abstract art section; and interspersed, family. So there is, sort of, a method to my madness.

Almost 30 pounds are gone. I think of a pound of fat as a pound of butter so imagine 30 pounds of LandO'Lakes carved off of me. When I read recently the medical report of my reconstruction, it says a 150 g sample of my left breast was delivered to the pathology lab in which it is described in rather unflattering terms though the most important was that it was 'normal'. A third of a pound of butter right there. Not sure if that was all that was carved out of the mega boob, I would have guessed a pound but there you have it.

But there is more to lose. I am hoping without all the holiday parties and situations, things will go faster, Finally though, I have lost enough that people notice. The two months last year of not being able to lift more than 5 pounds had left me rather untoned so in between my runs and bikes (and soon an elliptical trainer), I lift weights. Flexibility has never been my strong suit so I am stretching much more. Also I am weaning myself off of Prilosec, which presumably has negative effects such as bone loss. I started on it during chemo as my stomach lining failed to repair itself. But obesity and alcohol aggravate heartburn too. With most of the fat and alcohol gone, I should be able to live without it. My stepdown drug will be Zantac and in a pinch, rolaids. If I stop using aspirin and coffee, it might be easier but the aspirin has too many alleged preventative qualities to ignore and I need my coffee.

Josh and Allie were over yesterday. Did I drink any alcohol on New Year's Eve? he asked accusingly. Yes I did. A glass of prosecco at midnight and some red wine before that and another glass the day before, so shoot me.

If I have the willpower to push my flagging body through marathons, certainly I can abstain from overeating, right? It has gotten easier.

Shouldn't I resolve to be a better person? Maybe, I will work on that later. Trying not to sweat the small stuff is hard enough. I want to travel more. I need to brush up on my Italian. Perhaps I should learn how to properly pronounce German (I took scientific reading for my chemistry degree, a rather different vocabulary. I know the words for urea and nitrogen (harnstoff and stickstoff) but not for common menu items).

Meanwhile a new grandbaby will be born Wednesday morning. I was banished to some distant waiting room last time. At least I want to be in a closer waiting room. At Shanna's hospital (much smaller but highly renown. Small world phenomen.my buddy Soulmate trained there) I could sort of watch through a series of reflections what was going on, panicking as I watched but did not hear Daniel struggle to breathe with masks over his little face (though a nurse looked up and give me the thumbs up sign). Oliver I heard much sooner than expected on the other side of the unit. I rushed over and could see his wiggly body being lifted screaming from Shanna. No such luck in this massive chop shop Julie seems unduly attached to. Extra annoyance: it is far away (though not as far as Cambridge Massachusetts).

Bird drama: I was lounging away per usual doing my puzzles. I had just put out fresh food for my flock. Suddenly panic as the birds in a frenzy tried to fly away as fast as possible.  What was left was a blue jay sized bird in my service berry tree. All that fuss over a bird the size of a mourning dove? But it was a hawk, a tiny one. I climbed in the bathtub with the fancy camera to ID it but it flew away without lunch. A sharp shinned hawk which looks like a tiny Cooper's hawk. Unfortunately, in the frenzy, a male cardinal and a chickadee flew hard into the window. The chickadee dead and the cardinal just lying in the dirt. I picked it up and placed it in the bluebird feeder (which has yet to feed a blue bird, I keep hoping) so it at least had a roof (protection from the hawk)  Nothing seemed broken and gradually the cardinal perked up. Another male joined him. For moral support or to see if there was some food there. When I went out ten minutes later to provide bedding, he flew off.