Thinking colors and warm

Wow - did I sound like a whiner the last time around or what? Things are looking much better this week. The side effects of the new medication have eased considerably and my sugar has leveled off. I talked with the doctor this morning and things are not as dire as I thought they might be. He said my sugar levels are not bad, the medications are doing their job there. My A1c levels are a little high, but not in the dangerous zone. He also said I don't have to exist solely on greens and completely forego pasta and bread. I've been laying way off the starches for the past month and really miss those. I will slowly add them back in moderation.

In addition to that, we are gaining daylight and temperatures have warmed up to above 0. In fact, right now my thermometer reads 18 above.

I went with Cindy to a luncheon for Mae, a co-worker we've known for many years. She is heading off to a new job and adventures in the Netherlands. I'm very excited for her, but will miss her smiling face and calming nature. It's always good to talk with her, as she can always make me find something good in bad situations - or at least help me see there will be something good eventually. I wish her the best.

Our luncheon was at Gambardella's Pasta Bella (thank goodness I had the doc's blessing!) and I had fettucine Alfredo with mushrooms - wonderful. It was so good after a month of being "good." The dish wasn't loaded with sauce; it had just enough to make it tasty, but not so much that it was overloaded.

I've been trying to beat the winter blues by looking at photos of warm places and summery scenes. My desktop is a shot from Hawaii a year ago, which brings back memories of the wonderful 60 degrees (everyone in Honolulu was freezing) and the warmth of the place after a VERY COLD January in Fairbanks. We had 40 and 50 below for a 2-week stretch, so 60 was heavenly.

It was cloudy and breezy our first day there, but the gardens at the Hale Koa were spectacular - even with the tiny pocket camera (I left my favorite camera on the desk - remembered it as I cleared the TSA security point).

Just looking at those photos helps me focus more on the coming warmer months and less on the monochrome world we inhabit this week.

I've also been working with my (huge) files of photos. I 'm resizing them, sorting them and deleting those that are simply not good. That and the genealogy research are keeping my mind off the winter blahs.

I'm looking forward to taking some time off and picking up my granddaughters for a trip to the park or the river and just enjoying them.

My best friend Mae (different Mae from the Netherlands-bound one) and I are planning a train trip to Anchorage in May. I've been checking that out as well, and anticipating the great photos I might get from the train.

Now that January is nearly over, we're on the downhill slide to Break-up and then it's a short time until summer. I'm looking forward to fresh produce from the farmers' market, rides to nowhere in particular and the vibrant colors and warm sun of summer.

Life is good. . .