BP & BP

Well, a marathon meeting it was. I got to BP's house around 11:30 AM and didn't leave til close to 9:30 PM. The general staff meeting itself was relatively short, maybe an hour, actually it wasn't much of a meeting. I didn't realize BP was planning a sort of mini-Christmas Party so there were a few decorations around and some "party" food. I, like a good DSer, did bring my food, a protein shake, some chicken wings and some pork ribs so I was good to go, or so I thought. BP made these little pizzas that were pretty good, she made cut English muffins in 1/2, then piled each half with about 1/2 - 3/4 cup of a really meaty pasta sauce and a slice each of provolone and mozzarella cheeses. When I first got there, I just had a bowl of the meat sauce because I was starving. A little while later, I had one figuring the carb count was probably only around 10-15 carbs and man, it was delicious. I had one more a few hours later and another bowl of meat sauce a little while after that. Closer to eight o'clock, I had about 4-5 oz of my pork ribs and I also had a couple of SF jello snacks mixed in throughout that time as well. She also had an array of Christmas treats -- cupcakes, candy, etc., but I didn't have any of that although I do have to say that the cupcakes looked tempting, but I could almost taste the "too sweetness" and it kind of made it easier to ignore (not to mention the fact that I want to be good until X-Mas dinner). I've mentioned that I definitely take after my mother and have a wicked sweet tooth, but post-DS even though I do sometimes crave sweet foods, they often disappoint because they just seem about 50% sweeter than what I remember and often are too sweet for me to really enjoy which is good because the less sugar and white stuff in my life, the better. I wish I could say I ate perfectly, but I think when confronted will kinds of options, I'm glad to have made some good, although not perfect decisions. When I plugged everything into Fitday, I still came in sub 50 grams of carbs for the day and that is definitely within limits. I didn't drink a gallon of water yesterday, more like 64 oz which isn't too bad.

The meeting itself was good, we talked about our company top down and I feel really good about our direction. I really feel that this is the year that we truly break out and I'm excited about it. It's 5:00 in the morning and just thinking about it caused me to wake up early. No big deal, it's exciting stuff so I don't mind.

BP also has a blood pressure gadget. She bought it because she was convinced the stress of running a company coupled with the drama of what was transpiring between her husband and his ex-wife and the whole custody nightmare was going to slowly kill her. I took my blood pressure twice last night to see if the diuretics were causing my previous good readings and a couple things of note. One, the regular-sized cuff fit my arm! Woo-hoo! No extra large cuffs for me anymore! Two, the first reading was 104/72 and the second was 102/78. How awesome is that. I'll be conservative and say that I should definitely be off the meds by the end of the first quarter. Gosh, I am so excited about that! Third, my heart rate is back up to around 50-55 bpm. It was around 40-45 a few months ago which made me a little uneasy, but this range makes me much more comfortable.

Overall, a very good day yesterday, the blood pressure readings just thrill me to tears, I can't wait to see my PCP in a couple of weeks. Today is going to be a little busy. I have some work I have to knock out this morning and early afternoon then it's off to have dinner with some friends and then we're going to go see I Am Legend. I won movie tickets at my support group meeting so why not get out there with the rest of humanity during this crazy weekend. I'm hoping we go to this really good seafood place close to the movie theater instead of the Italian restaurant that someone mentioned when we were discussing plans. It's much easier to order from there than from pasta central. I'm looking forward to some well-cooked shrimp and scallops. Yum.

I keep going back to that wonderful conversation I had with my cousin last weekend, I'm starting to realize, more and more, what a great blessing that was. One of the things she told me to do was to stay busy. Fill my life with things I enjoy to do, don't spend a great deal of time alone doing nothing. Such great advice. Metro Atlanta is a great area and although I do have one or two specific passions, a lot of things interest me so why not take advantage. What my cousin did was take a few classes, I think she mentioned flower arranging and something else, I forget what, but they were things she enjoyed in and of themselves, the social aspect of it was secondary. Definitely something else to mull over as I try to make positive changes in life.