Good day Masters,

I'm headed into down on an overcast morning to do a short run with some friends. I'm getting in almost no regular training these days as I seem to be a  bit of a funk trying to finish up some recertification.

On the good news front, my divorced son brought a new young lady over last Sunday. Unlike his ex-wife, this woman was much closer to his age, super pleasant, and to top it off, they had just come from her 5K race that morning where she won her age group They met at a rock climbing gym and have been out camping together in the mountains. His ex was not into outdoor activities at all.

Even better, my youngest called on Mother's Day to announce her pregnancy. She is an ob/gyn and is moving back to Maryland in July to join a practice. Her husband is infertile and it has been really tough on her to deliver 100's of babies and be unable to get pregnant herself. Anyway, they decoded to use a service where couples who have undergone IVF and have leftover embryos that they won't be using, donate them to couples like my daughter and son-in-law. Lots of Zoom calls between the couples, Sarah and Pat gor to see what the conor couple's twop children looked like, etc. Pretty cool.

Have a great day!

Mornin' Masters.

Thanks for the start, Bioguy. I'm sorry for your funk, and hope it passes soon. And I'm glad to read the good news about your son and daughter! I hope everything goes very well for each of them.

After a lousy night's sleep, I go out a scootch after 4 for 4.28 EZ miles in muggy 66° temps: a little more distance than yesterday, with no regard at all for elapsed time - it was what it was.

On Monday, I ordered a lawn mower from Lowes to be delivered to our home. As of yesterday, (a day after it was supposed to be delivered), Customer Service couldn't even confirm that it had been shipped. So they put in an order for a reship. So now, according to FedEx, I have one scheduled for delivery on Monday and the other on Tuesday. I called Lowes, and they best they could offer, if I'm not here to refuse deliver, is to take one to a local Lowes store for a refund. They are taking no responsibility for the problem their lack of data  caused. Frustrating.

I have a few minutes before heading out to work till noon at our conservation commission's painted rain barrel silent auction, as well as at the next table, where our non-profit is giving away bird house kits and rain chains. Should be fun.

Have a greta Saturday.

Jay

 

Geeze Jay - keep both of those lawnmowers. You and your DW could have races! 

 

Sounds reasonable to me....

Re the HRT meds, they've been a life-saver for me.  I've tried to taper off them a few times, but I get a couple of weeks in, and the misery that still accompanies the lack of the HRT just isn't worth it.  I don't have a history of cancer, heart disease, etc., in my family, so the risk of having any adverse affect from taking them is very minimal.

 

 

The doc gave me a copy of an article she had written a few years ago listing 10 Myths About HRT that I found fascinating.  If you message me your email address, I will scan it and send it to you;

Karen - Guest of the Day - awesome!

Bio - what wonderful news about your children!  And I hope  you are able to get this recertification stuff done and out of the way soon.

I went to the BMV when they opened at 8am to get my license renewed, and there were already at least 30 people lined up at the door.  Suffice to say, I just got home....

The doc said no running or biking for two days, so I will wait until tomorrow for that. DH has a bunch of errands for us to run, so I will try to do some small workout later today, if I can get to it or have the energy after all the running around

Enjoy the day!

Bioguy-  that’s great news on both your son and daughter.  I know after my daughter’s divorce and when she met Michael, her current husband, we were thrilled.  It’s so nice when they meet someone wonderful for them.

Here I am in the vague-land near Valley Forge/King of Prussia, PA.  I got to run on the wonderful Perkiomen Trail which I haven’t been on since about 2016 when my sister sold the Collegeville, PA house and they moved the PA residence up to the Poconos.  It is a beautiful trail, but I did encounter a “Trail Closed-Danger” sign which I ignored.  Apparently it was due to flooding at some point, of which there was none currently and on my way back I saw plenty of folks on that stretch.   I did 13.3 solo miles, stopping at CVS at about 7.5 miles for a Diet Coke and to eat my gel.  I did well and enjoyed the beauty, although I had a couple of light rain showers.  It’s VERY humid.  I didn’t want the whole 20 ounce Diet Coke, but didn’t want to toss it, so I stuck it in the back of my shorts and made it all the way back to the car with the rest of it!   Went to Duck Donuts (my favorite) and then back to my beloved Wawa for some eggs.    All in all a good morning.  Now to get ready for the high school friends party which was my main reason for coming up here.

Have a good day of activity- or rest, Masters.

Happy Saturday all!  We seem to have sort of skipped a lot of spring and jumped right into summer—now 87F and sunny. 

Bio—maybe you could start running with new GF and help your funk. 

Before it got too hot, hound and I did a lake loop and then vegged in the backyard for a bit. Then headed downtown to visit a cobbler to fix Maggie’s collar. Which she blew out when she hit the end of her leash in a hurry to visit with another dog.

 

Leslie - are you okay to ride your bike to your heart's content and hike all the trails you like, maybe with DH too, especially if the trails are amenable and you want to use the year off to strengthen your feet by hiking barefoot when you can?

 

I'm okay to ride my bike, and once I can walk without aggravating the foot, I would love to hike to my heart's content.  Not sure I'm willing to hike barefoot, though! 

Good news from your daughter, bio. It sounds like the best solution for them and I hope it all works out well.

We also seem to have jumped into the middle of July, and I'm not a fan! Before it heated up I managed to take a casual ride on my bike to pick up a book that was on hold for me at the library -- something for me to read while on my upcoming trip. Having little to do and not wanting to do anything outside in the afternoon heat, I went back into the library for a couple hours and listed some used book sets for sale since neither of us has been doing that regularly lately.

So I'm leaving early Monday for a two-year-delayed trip down to northern Kentucky to catch up on some family history research. It's been a very long time since I was there and I think there are some new things to discover. While I'm there, I'm going to donate a family artifact to the regional history museum. I'm apparently the last in the line who has any knowledge or interest in this and I'd hate for this item to end up in a landfill after I'm gone:

This is a set of hand scales that my great-great-great-great-grandmother used to measure medicines out for her children in 1780s Virginia. In other words, it's been passed down in the family for 240 years and I'd really hate to break that line! I wonder if the tinsmith who made it had any idea of how long it would last. The original owner, by the way, was quite a character. When she was my age, she jumped on a horse in Flemingsburg KY and rode it to Culpeper VA and back. Later she was granted a divorce at 91yo, moved in with her daughter, and lived to 94. No telling what she could have done if they had Ultras back then! 

Bioguy, cool and exciting for your daughter.
I donated a extra batch of embryos from IVF about 17 years ago. The clinic was in Canada and it had to be anonymous. I checked off the box that said they could be used for research or donated to an infertile couple; there was no specifying specifically research or specifically donation. The only other option was destroyed, of course.

I grappled with that decision for a long time, at least a year. I knew I couldn't handle another child, and I was stupidly worried about what type of couple might end up with my biological child. Would they be good parents?  I think it is cool that your daughter and husband and the donating couple get to know each other, and feel good about the decision all round.  Recently I was in contact with a good friend of my sister who worked at the IVF clinic I went to and would have known, if anyone did, what happened to those embryos.  She said she honestly did not know what happened to them.  Still, I wonder someday, if a child had been born from that batch, if he/she may try to find me and come knocking on my door. I will see the resemblance to my kids right away and probably faint.

Now that I on an oversharing theme, we had to put my beloved dog Remi down on Friday.  Of course, there is no "had to" but it seemed like there were also no better options. The tumor on his chest had grown so fast, and the skin had broken in a couple places, so it became infected and was also starting to bleed out. I suspect it was also infiltrating his chest muscles as he was mostly unable to get up the 3 days prior, but could occasionally if highly incentivized.  He seemed to be in a lot of pain.

Mr. Blue Eyes came over and we went with my DD19 to the vet (this dog has been a huge part of her daily life for almost 12 years as we got Remi at 7 months, and he made it to 12 years and 2 months old). It was hard on all of us, but particularly for her, as she hasn't really ever lost a close friend.  Needless to say there have been a lot of tears yesterday and today.  Remi seemed very healthy until just a few days ago, apart from the obvious growing tumor.  Which made it harder.

Today I came home from the grocery store and had another huge boohoo as there was no excited dog waiting to greet me. Their personalities really infect your life.