Saffy had her yearly visit to the vet.  She has elevated white blood cells and a slightly high SDMA kidney result.  As such, I was outside with her first thing this morning to collect pee.  It went better than I expected, I will say that much, and we dropped it off today for analysis.

She has gone through spurts of pee accidents, like 2 or 3x in a short period of time and then nothing for a while.  She has also been pooping quite easily in the house, even right after having been outside.  I assumed she was just slipping a bit and getting old.

I am hoping we'll hear that she has a slight UTI.  That is pretty straigthforward to deal with and may even explain some of the other issues.  You know how UTIs really mess with older people, almost making them act as if they have Alzheimers?  I wonder if that happens w/ dogs too.  Say a prayer for Saffy, we do not want this to be the start of kidney disease or even cancer.

Ah the new year, when there are all kinds of things available in the stores and ads everywhere to help you lose weight -- mostly by taking the money out of your wallet.

I gave in and bought mysellf a little something - Aldi had step counting watches for $5 or $6, so not much of an investment, and I have to admit I have been curious for a very long time.  I wore it today with the intention of truly doing what I normally do.

I am shook.  After getting Avery home I was still under 1000 steps for  the day.  That is embarrassing to note and I do so only in an effort to kick myself in the rear.  I did walk about the house for a while this evening and got myself up over 5000 steps.  I have started tracking my calorie intake again (after about 2 months off). I'm hoping to make numerous small changes in an effort to snowball.

The night before last we broke in the air fryer much to Avery's pleasing.

The good:  Yep, the nuggies and fries were pretty darn good.  The time to cook potato wedges is greatly reduced from doing so in the oven - and that's not even me thinking about the obscene amount of time it takes for my oven to get to temp.  It was pretty easy to clean.  No oil added for nuggets and only a tablespoon for the three potatoes I sliced into wedges.

The bad/lessons:  Don't trust the internet for times.  I'm glad I opened the fryer a couple of minutes early on the nuggies, they were slightly overdone and probably would have been burned had I waited.  Now I need to find somewhere to store this beast.

I wasn't going to buy myself a Christmas present this year, but I cracked and ordered an air fryer when I saw a good deal through Best Buy.  Avery had expressed sadness that I hadn't gotten one from Santa so I could "make her nuggies easier for her".  I guess it is a gift for both of us.

It arrived on the 1st.  I haven't tried it yet. I am trying to decide what tp make first, but I guess I should christen it with chickie nugs.

On a completely different topic:  I am always a bit down and distracted through the holidays.  This season I have also been struggling with jealousy.  I am so grateful for the comforts I have, why do we always feel the need to compare ourselves?

Nope, I don't get to be part of a dual income household.  With the ongoing and looming issues I postpone booking that cruise.  Having a circle of people to hang out with isn't in the cards right now.  I am lazy and don't have the stamina (or money) to take Avery everywhere and join everything.  I am not rattling cages to climb the corporate ladder.  It all is what it is and won't matter down the road.  What I really wish I had the balls to do is to cut myself away from fb, but I worry that I would feel like an island as a result.

What to do about it?  Pray, for sure.  Put it out there to maybe let someone else know they aren't the only one with those feelinga.  Press on.