Hunkering down

Winter is approaching slowly and methodically. I know logically that weather cannot plot and plan, however I cannot help but feel that I am 10 moves into a chess game with the upcoming season without recalling that I even touched the board. And I’m fairly certain I’m about to lose my queen.

Even with all the work that has been done to the house this year, I’m still finding things inside that need to touched, worked on and perhaps just completely redone. And while I got the two major walls retuckpointed it is still colder in my house on the top floor than it is in the basement. Especially since there are no vents for the heater in the basement. It is a conundrum that has even baffled the hvac company that came out to look at the furnace to make sure it was ready for the paces I would be putting it through this winter. I cannot tell if the heat is escaping through the two walls I didn’t have the tuckpointing fixed on, or if it is the criminally small vents. Regardless I have already purchased two small room heaters to assist with the monumental task of trying to keep me warm and functional this winter. It is easy to stay warm under mounds of blankets, but it seems to be the height of unprofessionalism to take client calls that way. I haven’t taken any that way yet, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t tempted.

While I’ve been banging my head (figuratively) against the brick surrounding my house that refuses to keep the heat in this fall even though it did a fantastic job of it this summer, I’m still dealing with exhaustion that I cannot quite explain. The iron infusion should have taken hold by now so I cannot explain why I’m always so tired. I went to see my weight loss surgeon this week and one of his staff suggested I get my hormones tested. She said that since she started taking testosterone she has been feeling so much more energetic. I’ve heard others talk about the way different hormones can make this whole getting older, body shifting, random wiry hairs growing in new places part of the journey more tolerable but I had been hoping I could just slide into my swamp witch era with little disruption to my daily routine. Instead of just waking up with a hairy wart, mysterious brews in the kitchen and random muumuus filling out my closet, I’m on this zombie march to some other swamp I never mapped out with no reception to allow me to approximate the length of time it will get there. No landmarks, no rest stops and not one convenience store filled with questionable snacks and caffeine that expired months ago.

And the temperature keeps dropping!

And if someone can explain to me in terms I may be able to understand after the extra espresso shot that is ill advised why it is that I cannot regulate my body temperature while I’m sleeping? I get that the body will retain all that heat I’m generating under the 3 afghans and one flannel sheet, but why are my shoulders cold, my ass sweating and my feet confused? It should not be that difficult for everyone to get on board. I don’t care if all my body parts need a minute for a quick level set to know where we plan on landing at night, I will even provide the snacks, but this lack of communication is driving me batty and needs to be resolved. I’ll gladly intermediate if someone can kindly get me the emails of all affected parties.

The surgeon is concerned about how much I’m able to eat. Amounts of food that I could consume in one sitting this summer has drastically downsized. His first concern was that I was throwing up, but since that hasn’t been the standard we are going to wait a bit longer to see how I fair through the holidays. His worry is that I have built up scar tissue in my stomach which is limiting how much I’m able to take in. We will see how the progress goes. I see my other weight dr in a few weeks. I’ll be curious to see what his thoughts will be on the weight I’ve lost in the last 2 months since I saw him last. My surgeon has also suggested I start trying to get in 20 minute HIIT workouts. At least 2 a week is what he is looking for, but I’m just hoping for days where I can stay out of bed for longer than just work.

I have another 5K this week. I wonder how I will fair. I’d better start loading up on water and protein drinks now.