The lower photo is the one I mentioned yesterday. I was a month or so short of 50 (in 1983), a couple of months later I became a grandmother for the first time (Yay, Laura!). These are bike shorts with an overskirt, in case you are wondering. The photo at the top (which I managed to capture but cannot place properly) is me 37 years before; let's say there is a certain attitude in the look. I grew up in Buffalo, in a very tough neighborhood (and I think you can see that the setting is rather slummy). After I graduated from 8th grade, I learned that some boys from our school had tossed the principal out a second story window; he survived. But that is the way things were in our neighborhood.
When I look at the photos of me in the albums we are sorting, I am amazed at the range of my weight. It'll be nice to hide the evidence by tossing out the obese me. I consider myself an obesity success story, mainly through Overeaters' Anonymous. But there was backsliding at times.
Today Sergei finished panting the closet wall of the bedroom. I just love its lightness and brightness, though no one will agree that it is mango (like the Willemses' rooms that I love so much), but it is about as close as I could get.
I went to SPIN this morning, and it was even better and less stressful for my rib than last week's class (I only went once last week). We have a new instructor, Debra, a delightful young woman who has just earned her law degree and, I suppose, is working as a trainer till she passes the bar exam.
Yesterday, my pulmonologist and hem. consulted by phone while we were in the former's office about whether or not I should take a diuretic for my swollen feet, which get so bad sometimes that I can do nothing but put them up on pillows. Evidently the blood condition does not like diuretics, but the doctors decided that I should take them cautiously, no more than one pill in the morning and skipping days when I could. Merwin got the pills, but before I could even take one I noticed this morning that the roundness of the feet was gone; my tendons showed and I could put on my shoes without difficulty. I joked with Merwin that the feet had learned about the diuretic about to be administered and had decided to take matters into their own hands (so to speak).
I have begun tackling the two readers' comments for the essay that has been accepted. I see that they both misunderstood some things (different from each other, however), and thus I must not have been as clear as I had hoped to be. It is helpful to see what people think one is writing, especially when they differ from what one thought she was writing. I already ordered some books from Inter-library Loan. A library friend at NCC, Alicia Sanchez, is very helpful and persistent in getting me books and articles, so I am sure she will come through for me.
We have a big evening tonight, and I have been preparing by resting with my feet higher than my head, but soon I will begin seeing what I can wear. The event is in honor of our retiring president at NCC. Dr. Fanelli was very kind to me when I taught there (till 1999) and afterward as well.
My spleen is so huge it can not be hidden really. Notice how pregnant women these days proudly thrust out their 9-month's belly with skin-tight shirts or dresses? Somehow I think it would be a mistake for me to do that with my end-of-pregnancy-sized spleen. The great thing, though, about being old is that people don't look too carefully, and if they notice anything they are too polite to say anything. Anyway I smile a lot.
Love to all,
Bernice
When I look at the photos of me in the albums we are sorting, I am amazed at the range of my weight. It'll be nice to hide the evidence by tossing out the obese me. I consider myself an obesity success story, mainly through Overeaters' Anonymous. But there was backsliding at times.
Today Sergei finished panting the closet wall of the bedroom. I just love its lightness and brightness, though no one will agree that it is mango (like the Willemses' rooms that I love so much), but it is about as close as I could get.
I went to SPIN this morning, and it was even better and less stressful for my rib than last week's class (I only went once last week). We have a new instructor, Debra, a delightful young woman who has just earned her law degree and, I suppose, is working as a trainer till she passes the bar exam.
Yesterday, my pulmonologist and hem. consulted by phone while we were in the former's office about whether or not I should take a diuretic for my swollen feet, which get so bad sometimes that I can do nothing but put them up on pillows. Evidently the blood condition does not like diuretics, but the doctors decided that I should take them cautiously, no more than one pill in the morning and skipping days when I could. Merwin got the pills, but before I could even take one I noticed this morning that the roundness of the feet was gone; my tendons showed and I could put on my shoes without difficulty. I joked with Merwin that the feet had learned about the diuretic about to be administered and had decided to take matters into their own hands (so to speak).
I have begun tackling the two readers' comments for the essay that has been accepted. I see that they both misunderstood some things (different from each other, however), and thus I must not have been as clear as I had hoped to be. It is helpful to see what people think one is writing, especially when they differ from what one thought she was writing. I already ordered some books from Inter-library Loan. A library friend at NCC, Alicia Sanchez, is very helpful and persistent in getting me books and articles, so I am sure she will come through for me.
We have a big evening tonight, and I have been preparing by resting with my feet higher than my head, but soon I will begin seeing what I can wear. The event is in honor of our retiring president at NCC. Dr. Fanelli was very kind to me when I taught there (till 1999) and afterward as well.
My spleen is so huge it can not be hidden really. Notice how pregnant women these days proudly thrust out their 9-month's belly with skin-tight shirts or dresses? Somehow I think it would be a mistake for me to do that with my end-of-pregnancy-sized spleen. The great thing, though, about being old is that people don't look too carefully, and if they notice anything they are too polite to say anything. Anyway I smile a lot.
Love to all,
Bernice
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