Day 46: Just Another Day

In Thornton Wilder's 'Our Town' the character of Emily asks the Stage Manager (narrator) "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it - every, every minute?" To which he replies, ""No. Saints and poets maybe... they do, some."

Today was an ordinary day, neither good nor bad, with nothing unusual or eventful. Hence the title of this blog. It's been just another day - but that's not a bad thing. Thinks me.

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I was reading through some Spark blogs earlier, and came across this one from Aspenhugger:

www.sparkpeople.c
om/mypage_public_journal_i
ndividual.asp?blog_id=4018556

She posted a link to a short video clip, and it's well worth watching.

I don't generally recommend YouTube videos and I don't often forward things that go around the 'net, but this one really touched me. I have added it to the top of my 'Keep' file of bookmarks. Beautifully done, lovely pictures - somebody creative must've done some real thinking to come up with this, for all its apparent simplicity.

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I'm about one-quarter of the way through the SP 8-Week Diabetes Challenge, in other words, starting Week 3 tomorrow. I like the concept and the format, especially as I needed something to give my motivation a shot in the arm - and it is doing that. What's starting to concern me is my own lack of 'progress.'

I happily (generally) go along doing my bits 'n' pieces of exercise - none of which, in truth, can be called strenuous, but given the (perpetual, seemingly) PF and the knee problem, whatcha gonna do, right? For the time being I'm settling with 'any movement is better than none' - and I nearly always follow my menu plan. It's working in some regards, especially in terms of my blood glucose numbers. I semi-plateau at times. I have lost as little as a half-pound per week, and there have been a few spells where a couple weeks go by with no loss. But I temper that with '--also no gain,' and I've been satisfied.

Now, though, I feel as if I'm not accomplishing enough, whatever 'enough' means. I've been reading what other people (can we call them 'challengees'?) have been posting in some of the discussion forums. Losses of two and three pounds a week are not uncommon; at least one person reported losing five pounds in less than three weeks. I have lost... I had to go calculate it, I have lost about a pound and a quarter in two weeks. This has left me disquieted.

I know, I know, no one can compare themselves to someone else. Situations are different, start weights are different, metabolisms are different, and in the case of diabetics, there's a lot more variables that come into play. But I'm dissatisfied with myself, and I don't like being dissatisfied with myself. My solution? I think I'm gonna try to stop paying attention to what others post in terms of timespan / amount of weight lost, and consider my achievements good enough for me.

Don't get me wrong, I WANT to cheer people on. I don't want to withhold encouragement in some way. Plenty of my teammates and fellow Sparklers have lost more than I have, or lose at a faster rate than I do, and not only does it not bother me, but I find it heartening. I'm not sure why this is bothering me now, with this Challenge. Maybe I'm not working hard enough at it? Maybe it's that I identify more with these participants because I wear the same label they do? Is it because this is the first 'challenge' I've signed up for?

Eh. At any rate, it's nagging at me. Not a lot, but nagging. Usually when something's nagging at me like this, I will come up with a 'meaning.' That is, determine WHY it's nagging at me, then decide if there's something I need to change and if so, what. Hope this turns out to be an oyster with a pearl.

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Himself is finally (finally!) starting to move to put the house on the market. He's setting up appointments with some local real estate offices, planning to get some figures to work with and see how that pans out. And he's considering the possibility of applying for planning approval to have a second residence built on our site - not in terms of US building it (and yes, he raised that possibility, and NO, I don't even want to take that on at this stage of my life) but rather that it will generally increase the value of the property as a whole if the approval is already in place. A few other houses in our neighborhood have done exactly that, gotten planning approval to put two residences on one lot, and so far three different places have sold and been 'mini-developed' to add a second 'home' (though one of them was just extended to accommodate two apartments). I told him it sounds like a plausible way to go - as long as he doesn't think WE should be the builders--! Lord save me.

Anyway, getting a greenlight, I looked around and thought, hmmm, got my work cut out for me. Empty out some closet space... clear out some kitchen cupboards... been meaning to tackle the garage... eGAD, that yard looks atrocious!... papers and boxes and books, o my. I'll be drawing up a new 'To-Do' list with some specifics on it.

So I got right down to business and spent the afternoon looking at the Greek Islands. I know, but - it's not my fault, really. I was cleaning out the emailbox, all unawares, when an advertisement ('spam' is such an ugly word) from 'Smithsonian Journeys' caught my eye. Nothing for it but I had to look, just in case--

There was a cruise for the Mediterranean generic. Eh. A trip for an 'unexplored corner of France' (the Dordogne). Hmm. Cruise for the Baltic Capitals - now THAT's been on my 'someday' list for a while. But the one that suckered me in was the 'Hidden Islands of Greece.'

Technically, that wouldn't include Oia, on Santorini. You don't know Oia? Yah, you do. You might not know the name, but you'll recognize it when you see the pictures:





The bluest of blues... a pristine white... and the phrase 'sun-drenched' was created for Oia. I've never been to Greece - I've never been on the Continent, which is patently absurd on the face of it, being as I'm so close in the as-the-jackdaw-flies sense. But after we drew up a rough outline for selling the house, and after the email ad caught my eye, and after looking at the descriptions, and after I looked up Santorini, and... well. There it was.



You go up the steps to the left of the terrace. And there you find - the gate to my house.



I suppose it wasn't the most productive of afternoons, but that warm sunshine surely made up for this bleak, overcast, cold middle of February.

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You see what I mean about 'Just another day'? But not a bad day. By no means a bad day.

So it's off for a little Beatleband,* then bedtime. Early start tomorrow: dentist appointment at 8 AM. *sigh* Why so early? 'cause I'm the first patient of the day (dark 'n' dirty job, but SOMEbody has to do it). Actually, I'm scheduled first because he's doing an impression of my teeth (I love that - 'And now, Dr Vic presents his interpretation of - KASEY's TEETH!!!' lol) so it'll be ready to go out with the courier before pickup at 9. Sheesh. Life is too complicated. Okay, maybe some of it is because I don't like having my routine disrupted, and getting up extra early is disruption.



*I've been informed its proper name is 'The Beatles Rockband,' from Nintendo. All I know is, I get a workout, and that's what counts.

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You see what I mean about 'Just another day'? But not a bad day. By no means a bad day.

Goodnight, Sparklers, wherever you are!