Tamara Unleashed

I lost 40 pounds nearly 5 years ago and have kept much of it off. I always intended to lose another 20-30 pounds using the same Weight Watcher diet but a couple of health issues got in the way: persistent loss of taste from Covid and onset of a variation of irritable bowel syndrome which makes eating the same foods I used for weight loss more difficult. I didn’t really gain back weight until I started cooking and baking for Craig.

I had my routine colonoscopy a month ago with a hope that colon biopsies might reveal a treatable cause for the IBS. The good news is that I had NO polyps for the first time ever. The bad news – no colitis. The cause of my IBS remains unclear and I will continue to manage it.

So after months of making attempts to eat less, the plantar fasciitis set in which curtailed activity for several months and I gained 8 pounds over the winter.

I have a couple of friends who had used GLP-1 receptor agonists with good results. They both talked about the significant constipation as an undesirable side-effect. For me that would be a benefit and not a bad thing. So at may annual Medicare Wellness visit a couple of weeks ago, I asked my doctor what she thought me using the GLP-1 receptor agonist for weight loss. She said the following – obesity is a chronic condition and if I am successful with getting off the 30-40 pounds I would like, I would have to work very hard to keep it off and may need the injections chronically to maintain it. In addition to losing fat, I would lose muscle mass and the potential for nausea, diarrhea or more likely constipation. She said she had avoided giving me a diagnosis of obesity so she was not sure if insurance would cover it. She suggested Wegovy, (ozempic specifically approved for weight loss) and I waited to see if insurance would cover it. I still wasn’t sure if I was going to ahead or not.

My main rationale for doing it is that this is my 70th year and while I hope to have a couple of more “healthy” decades, I am most concerned about the wear and tear on my joints as the major impediment to maintaining good health over time. The weight loss will be very beneficial for my joints and for my enjoyment of physical activities which are crucial for my mental and physical health and keeping the weight off. Also I am hoping for constipation and the potential of a “reset” to my dysfunctional intestines.

Insurance is covering 50% of the cost so I decided to “go for maximum health” in my 70th year. This is smart for my insurance company because if successful, I should be able to avoid a knee replacement.

Wegovy has weekly injections and I didn’t feel the needle at all. I wouldn’t have minded daily injections because if there are significant side-effects, they won’t last as long. Wegovy starts at half dose for 2 months and then dose is increased. So far I have not really noted anything – except perhaps a slight nausea after eating. I have decreased portion sizes as suggested and am doing some form of exercise every day to help minimize the muscle loss.

I am only going to weigh weekly.

The journey has begun.

I have not blogged since October and every time I approach doing some writing, I cannot figure out what to say. All I wanted for my birthday on November 6th was the election or likely election of Kamala Harris. It then became of weeks long exercise in sorting through the stages of grief and the many shades of depression.

Craig and I have arrived at the need to check in on our feelings about our microenvironment (us), environment (family and friends) and the macroenvironment (country and global concerns) separately.

We traveled for Thanksgiving and stayed local for Christmas. We did the best we could. I am between my first and second cataract surgery. All is going fine but the 4 weeks in between is strange with respect to vision. I have remove my corrective lens from the right side of the glasses that was done first. My vision is off in both eyes but in different ways. Hopefully when both eyes are done and my brain has adjusted to the trifocal lenses, I will have great vision without glasses.

I have had significant heel pain for about 8 weeks now. It preceded the election or I would say it was psychosomatic. I have purchased more shoe inserts, shoes, night splints for plantar fasciitis with no help. I have tried to stay off of it and tried to walk through pain. I am taking dicolfenac pills and tried the topical which made it tolerable. I then remembered a dear friend told me about arnica several years back so I got some of that about 10 days ago. If I apply it every few hours, I can periodically forget about the pain. I have an appointment with a podiatrist next week.

If I were to do a validated questionnaire about depression, I would not have depression so I have come up with a term for how I feel – slumpy.

I am alive, well and about midway on the slumpiness scale.

On our first day of sorting and loading wood, this shed had the 3 large lumber racks inside completely covered in wood. One rack was across the back and there was on along each side wall. There were 3 feet of walking space in between filled with random pieces of lumber. The first day we unloaded the wood on the racks and the second day we disassembled the racks. The floor of each of the shelves for the lumber were also pieces of lumbar.

Within an hour or so of getting started, I ran a nail sticking out from a board completely through the sole of my work boot. Fortunately the nail went between my toes. I stopped to examine my foot and make sure there was not blood. In the afternoon, with the ground covered in various piles of wood and steel that was being sorted, Craig lost his balance, fell and scraped his forehead. He broke the skin and it looked like he had a significant cut but it did not really bleed more that just at the edges. He did not even stop to get it cleaned up which I strongly suggested. He was right, he is healing fine with no signs of infection.

We were both incredibly lucky. Fortunately we are both inclined to let our bodies heal our injuries rather than seek medical care quickly so we are tolerant of that behavior in each other even though it might be uncomfortable.

We went from the “high” of Natalie and Craig’s Songwriter Round to 3 days of sorting, lifting and hauling old lumbar from a property that is being sold next week. Craig can not walk away from good lumber. We hauled out 3 pick up trucks and one 16 foot trailer of wood and steel. This haul is not only the lumber, but 3 steel huge lumber racks, steel saw horses. It was a great upper body work out.

It was very dusty work and after the first day we said we should have worn masks which we failed to do on both subsequent days. Not sure if this truck is more Ma and Pa Kettle or Jed and Granny.

Now we need to assemble the lumber racks behind the shop. The spot for the racks was occupied by an old RV that we have decided not to restore. So after spending 2 days loading lumber, we(he) spent Sunday figuring out how to move the RV. He tried Katie the tractor to tow her but she was not quite enough. Fortunately the truck was up to the task.

Here is the RV that was moved from the spot that is not being prepared for the 3 side to side lumbar racks with wood posts and steel horizontal bars to be reconstructed on top of this gravel. Once constructed Craig has a plan for how to make a cover for the racks to keep the wood dry. There is a large lumber rack inside the shop as well. Hopefully the goal is NOT to fill this storage capacity but to use the space to organize what we have so that we can easily find what we may need. We have a lot of lumber down under the trees where they do not get a lot of rain and perhaps we can move the good stuff up to this rack.

Hopefully we will have the opportunity to make use of all of the lumber that we have.

Craig was well prepared for this event. There was a decent size group in the restaurant where the Round is held. Natalie’s parents drove up to see it. It went by in a blink. They both sounded great and their two styles worked well together. It was so fun to hear Natalie sing one of Craig’s songs and to add violin. AMAZING. They each played 3 songs and it timed out at just under 30 minutes which was perfect.

When Craig came off stage he said “I was out of tune so I held back on guitar”. I didn’t notice either. He sounded great. Most important to me is to be able to hear his lyrics and follow the stories he was telling. Neither James or Natalie noticed he was out of tune. After watching the video a few times, Craig finally said “that was not as bad as I thought” and posted it to YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IMKZkPfx4_w

The pause in all of our projects was worth it. He got back on stage with Natalie’s support and the response of the audiences and other songwriters will keep him going. I am so proud of and happy for Craig. As he said on stage – This was like being a 5 year old in Disneyland.

The next post will explain why I am so behind in posting this.

This household has been balancing the pre-election anxiety with getting Craig ready for his Songwriter Round with Natalie on October 24th. We are less than 36 hours for the event. Last week he decided he needed to do an Open Mic in the venue where the Round with Natalie will be to get familiar with the stage – how it sounds to him and the lights.

Last Thursday we went for the Open Mic. He signed up at 530 PM and we watched 5 Rounds of songwriters before the Open Mic. Craig was the only one that signed up so it was just him on stage. The audience had been pretty attentive during the Rounds but did not appear to be expecting any more performers so Craig started playing to a lot of noise and movement. He was told he would play one song and then when he finished, it was announced he could play a second song but it was difficult for him to hear the instruction. He did his second song. I recorded it. He did just fine.

He came off of the stage convinced he was horrible and announced that he needed to do an open mic every night for the next week. After he watched the video he was able to admit he was not horrible. The Open Mic the next night (Friday) was run by a different organizer. The audience was bigger and there were a dozen songwriters signed up for the Open Mic. Craig was in the middle group of 4 and it was a much better experience. He was more relaxed and felt better about his performance. He got one audible shout out from an enthusiastic audience member. He felt good enough about this performance that he posted it on You Tube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JateFBWp_F8

He crashed (slept all day) Saturday and did not have energy for another Open Mic. He called it being “lazy” or perhaps a virus. I called it recharging his introvert batteries. He felt more energetic Sunday and I recharged my introvert batteries sleeping through football games.

Monday we were back to normal and we went to Nashville for a rehearsal with Natalie. She will be singing the female part in his song Misty Morning and harmonies on his other songs and adding some fiddle. It was amazing to watch a professional at work.

Last night Craig went back and did his 3rd and last Open Mic. He was on stage with 4 young songwriters. He played first in the round. He played 2 different songs – one about his grandparents and the audience was silent and attentive. A couple of women told him after that the song made them cry. The second song was about the factory worker/songwriter that longed to play in Nashville. He got several loud whoops from the audience after this one. He asked me if he looked like he was having a good time on stage and it was really hard to see his face under his cowboy hat that he wore working on his grandfather’s ranch.

I got asked for his Instagram account and a lovely couple from Dayton wanted to know where they could go to listen to his music. They were VERY disappointed that he did not yet have this available. He felt MUCH better and his overriding fear that he would embarrass Natalie during their joint Round on Thursday has been pretty much put to rest.

Does anyone get their big break in Nashville in their mid-70’s?????

I voted early yesterday. It would have taken about 7 minutes except that the printer jammed and my ballot did not print. So the printer had to be unjammed. I learned there are 2 different compartments and 2 different keys. Only the precinct lead had the key to the area the ballots were printed. My ballot was ruined during removal so they had to print another ballot for me. I wondered if they needed to make a notation as to why 2 ballots were being printed for me for auditing purposes or perhaps that is not necessary since only one ballot was scanned.

I voted for US President, US Senator, US House Representative, TN House Representative and a local initiative to support Nashville Metro Public Transportation which is sorely needed with the growth in the population.

I thought about waiting to Election Day in hopes of standing in long lines and getting a more viseral feel for our fragile democracy. I have done over 200 postcards and am going to move on to phone banking for the last two weeks. I have not totally ruled out going to North Carolina for the last few days.

The garbage disposal at the Condo stopped working. In oder for Craig to show me how to use the “magic tool” on the bottom of the disposal to help free the blades, I had to lay down in front of him on the floor and peer under the sink. It was quite comical so I decided to take a picture. Now I know how to take care of it if it happens again.

During our “virtual” courtship in the summer of ’23, Craig sent me one of the songs that he had recorded – Misty Morning. He had put it on YouTube. I was mesmerized by his voice and listened to it several times a day. After we met and he played for me in person, I couldn’t understand why he wasn’t performing and sharing his talent. I got to hear him perform in his living room with his friend James Peters and his joy was apparent. He has written several songs and he gradually shared them with me over time. His songs tell relatable stories. He has performed for many friends and family and he is a natural performer. He started playing in bands when he was 15 and over the years, has been on small stages at various times and spent a lot of time playing with friends around campfires and on back porches.

Craig retired to Tennessee to be in the environment of songwriting and performing a decade ago but far a variety of reasons his performances remained mainly in his living room and back deck. The last time I heard James Peters and Craig play together, as James was leaving, he said to me “I hope you will support and encourage Craig’s music.”. Apparently previous partners were not supportive.

Unfortunately James unexpectedly died two weeks later and Craig did not pick up his guitar for about 3 months. What he enjoyed most was playing with others. In a part of the country literally covered with singers and songwriters, it is not necessarily easy to find someone to collaborate with. We started exploring Songwriter Rounds in May and he has been gradually working up to participating. It has been clear to me that he as good as or better than most we have seen. It was tricky to figure out how to be supportive but not pushy – after all, it is not me getting up on stage. Songwriter’s Rounds are organized by an individual in various venues around Nashville. Rounds are typically 30- 60 minute blocks. 1- 4 individuals may be booked during each block. More well-know writers get more time.

After months of practicing on a performance stage in our atrium, the idea emerged to do his first Songwriter’s Round on the anniversary of James Peters passing. This led to a conversation with Natalie where she agreed to sing the female part of his duet and then to perform some of her own songs that she has never performed at a Round. with Craig. With a specific goal in mind – a round with Natalie on October 24th, Craig went about making it happen. While the venues were already booked on October 24th, he got the Commodore Grille to give them a Round at 530 PM – ahead of the already scheduled rounds starting at 600 PM. Performing with Natalie certainly helped make this happen. They will each get to play 3 or so songs.

Hopefully he will have a GREAT experience and this will lead to getting booked in future Rounds on a regular basis which will lead to meeting individuals he can collaborate with. I would love to see the music studio on the 3rd floor get a lot of use.

In the meantime, I am making slow progress on the bass guitar. I have 4 songs now that I can play – one of them is Craig’s.

Here are the first 25 of the 175 postcards I intend to mail. I am finishing my 5th batch of 25 today. These are all for down ballots in various states. There are many organizations that organize writing of postcards but none have been for the presidential election. I have been told that the more they look like done by real people (use crayons) the better. I am using a purple felt pen and no longer worry about making mistakes.

Craig and I have planned on going to a Swing State to help Harris/Walz but it ti hard to figure out where to go and how to make sure we are making an impact. A family member who has significant experience in democratic politics has suggested we can be most effective by staying home, writing postcards, phone banking and sending the money we would have spent going somewhere to the key Senate races.

Given our proximity to southwest North Caroline that was ravaged by Helene, I feel like there could be a real need there. We still have a bit of time to figure it out.