Today is the coolest day we’ve had in months at only 72F, 22C at 11:00 am. The humidity is somewhat high at 66% with a dew point of 65 which is still considered tropical. This will be the coolest day of the week with an expected high of only a few more degrees, although we can see the temperatures finally dropping as we get further into the Southern Hemisphere’s fall season.
With the black moths gradually disappearing to lay their eggs for more slimy black worms and the temp dropping, today, slightly overcast, is a perfect day. Vusi is here now, changing the bedding and cleaning the house. I already have tonight’s dinner made and ready to eat, leftover chicken salad with coleslaw on the side.
Today, I will update the month’s expenses and set up Bill Pay for the first of April. We are still waiting to hear about my visa extension, but we should hear something in the next 30 days. Once that comes in, we’ll apply to the US Embassy in Pretoria, South Africa, for our new 10-year US passports, which, if it gets too late, we’ll have to do in person. We aren’t looking forward to the long drive, but we’ll stay overnight and make it fun.
The cortisone tablets are helping tremendously. I no longer have allergy symptoms, and the pain in my head is less each day. I still have another week to take the meds and am hoping, along with the other allergy meds Doc Theo prescribed, that once I finish the cortisone, I will still feel well. Much to my surprise, I can sleep at night when typically, Prednisone (cortisone) causes insomnia.
Tomorrow morning Tom leaves for Nelspruit to Mediclinic for his chest x-ray and aortic aneurysm screening, which must be done on an empty stomach, so he won’t have breakfast before he leaves. I continue to offer to go with him, but he says he’s fine making the three-hour round-trip drive on his own. If he needs any further tests, I plan to go with him. It’s a good day, and we are very grateful.
Yesterday afternoon’s party in the bush at a friend’s house was fun and laughter filled. We knew everyone in attendance, and it was fun to be included in this group of lively partygoers. South Africans sure know how to have a good time, and although we don’t keep up in the drinking department with my 5% light wine and Tom’s few beers, we certainly can get in on the lively chatter and good times.
By 6:00 pm, we were back home and settled in. Tom cleaned the contents of the cooler box where we kept our chicken salad and coleslaw ultra cool, and since the bugs were getting bad outdoors, we decided to hunker down and stream a few shows. We’d eaten before 5:00 pm, 1700 hrs., but neither of us ate another bite in the evening.
Now that Tom has been off sugar for a while, he’s losing the weight he gained from the 10 pounds, 4.5 kg, of jelly candy he purchased in the US and ate back here in less than a week; he’s losing the extra weight rapidly. I restarted my diet, which I’ve been struggling with for months, and now I am losing again also.
I realized I was eating too many low-carb foods and having some sweet keto desserts, keeping me from losing weight. I am committed to sticking with this, which includes eggs on small pieces of keto bread for breakfast and a normal keto dinner (reduced portions) with no keto snacks after dinner. This way, I can lose weight at the rate of about two pounds, 1 kg per week. This way all my old clothes will fit me. I plan to lose all I want by the time we leave on June 8.
Not feeling well with this allergy stuff these past months has been a poor excuse for not sticking with my diet when a healthy weight is instrumental in my good health. Feeling bloated in tight clothes never makes me feel healthy.
Today, after three busy social days, we’re laying low while I tackle the financial stuff, and Tom continues with more research for our upcoming travels. Now, if Tom’s tests all come out with positive results and I continue to improve my sinus and head thing, life will be on track as planned.
Be well.
Photo from one year ago today, March 27, 2022:
