More upbeat news, I think

First, let me start with the only downer: Yesterday was horrible for me. I just couldn't move. The good news is it wasn't because of any pain in my limbs. For some reason, I had none -- a rarity. But I couldn't stand up without feeling like I was going to faint or collapse, so I went to bed. Today, Praise God, I'm feeling better. Still weak, but better. Two more days and I see Dr. C.

Now for the upbeat news: I finished, yes actually finished, three NYT crossword puzzles, including the Sunday puzzle which is really large and difficult, usually. Maybe I'm beginning to think in a convoluted manner as most of the clues require. I finished yesterdays in less than 1/2 hour. Today it took me about one hour to finish. Sunday? Well, I have to say it took me several hours, off and on. When I hit a wall, I'd stop, then I'd pick it up later. Finally finished it at 10 pm.

Another good thing is that while they keep saying we're going to get snow (which was supposed to start yesterday), we haven't, or rather I haven't seen a flake. Just to let you know, I haven't really been looking out the windows consistently either, so there may have been a few flakes floating around and I haven't seen them.

Hopefully, Alan and I will get out to the drugstore and his hair cutter today. My day out is Thursday this week. We talked about how we're packing for our trip which will be upon us fairly soon. I really am looking forward to it, and hope that this latest physical problem isn't a problem but was a one-day event that will not happen again.

Another good thing is that I'm down another two pounds, which makes 16 so far. I can't remember when we started on this starvation diet, which I'm not minding by the way, but it seems to be working for both of us.

I am satisfied with one meal a day. Alan, of course, needs his three, and would rather have six small meals. Yeah, like I'm going to make six meals a day? I have enough trouble trying to make three diet meals and keep his calories under 1400 per day. I know that sounds low for a man, but he's pretty much stationery most of the time, and uses few calories. When and if he starts getting more exercise (i.e., walking the decks of the ship), he can eat more.

I know people think our taking cruises is an extravagance. I don't care. We enjoy them, and Alan saved for years for his retirement so he could travel. Maybe now that we're down 30 percent in our retirement funds, we'll have to stop cruising for a while, but until we're sure of that, we'll just tighten our belts, so to speak, and spend our monthly allotments carefully, and try not to touch the savings from our travel account.

ttfn