Things I don't like to do anymore, and thoughts!

Life under the little top! The circus that was supposed to come to East Pete was caught up in the tornadoes in Western PA last week. They lost their tent and actually had people in it when it collapsed. Several people were injured and one seriously, so they weren't going to show up.
A very astute marketer in another circus was out in Missouri with the floods, and storms, and came back home. They saw the problems the one circus was having, and they contacted the venues they were scheduled for and were able to book themselves instead.
They didn't have much time to prepare but they showed up and did a decent job with what they had. They went over well with the kids, and had large crowds for both shows.
I still don't like circuses, or clowns, but they will be coming back next year with their full show.

Now for some lists:

• I don't like the coffee/protein drinks that come in the little bottles. They look like Starbucks, but they sure don't taste like it! If you are still new to the post party, you would be better off buying an extra large cup of Dunkin Donuts decaf, letting it cool in the fridge for a few hours. Then, add a scoop of powdered protein. I still like chocolate. It really makes your protein taste decent.
• I no longer watch that TV show called "American Pickers" where the guy travels all over in his van and searches through junk piles for treasures that he can fix up and sell. I realized that he is just another form of hoarder, and I am finished with hoarders.
• I am having trouble eating eggs by themselves. It's not because they are hard to digest, or anything like that. It's just that I've lost my taste for them. I can eat them with a salad as hard boiled, but hot eggs... well I need to take a break from them.
• I found out that I don't have any problem eating broccoli now. I hated it before. I have to get therapy!
  

The big thing:
I am getting tired of going to support group meetings. In fact, I am almost finished identifying myself as a post-bariatric patient.
I have had trouble before because after awhile of going to the support group meetings, I became and old "pro". So instead of getting advice about what I am going through, I was offering advice. It was the same advice over and over. I actually followed my own advice, but that didn't help me much.
So now, I am looking to distance myself from anything bariatric in nature, and start thinking of myself as a normal human being with a much smaller appetite.
When I go out to eat now, I have a cup of coffee, or glass of water before the meal. I sip a little and then just let it sit. When they come through to "freshen the cup, I just put my hand over and stop them. Or, sometimes, I just let them top it off. No one knows that I am a post if I don't want them to.

• I started taking CO Q-10 after doing some research and asking the dietitian about it. There are no firm studies that the stuff can hurt you and there are slight indications that it might help. I have this iron deficiency thing, and maybe it will help me absorb more iron to build up my strength again.

• I went to the circus and then that evening we had our concert in the park. The people who play guitar and sing in this area are, for the most part, extremely mediocre. They don't do anything special, and they usually don't play very well. But they do well enough for people to like them. As a guitarist myself, I hate to say it, but I can play circles around most of them. I have been trying to play, and I realized the other day why I won't play. It's because I don't want to play the same old music I played when I was a kid. The trio that played Saturday evening played songs that did just that. They are younger than me, so the music to them is somewhat new. But there wasn't one song they did that I hadn't already played to death.

"The first 300 times I heard the song, it was good. Now, it's getting kind of old." Know what I mean? Wasting away again in Margaritaville!

How many times do you hear a song before you can't stand to listen to it one more time? It doesn't mean that the song isn't good. It just means that it's time to put it on the shelf for another 40 years or so.
Islands in the Steam
Proud Mary
Anything by Van Morrison
Neil Young
Tom Petty

Some of us can apply this thinking to other areas of our lives in the same way. I am now very tired of driving, even though I enjoy driving. But, I've been doing it professionally since 1974. I don't want to do it anymore.

I envy people who can just keep doing something for their whole lives and not get tired of it. It would make life so much easier if I could have started working for one company 37 years ago and stuck with them all the way through. I could retire with a pension, or some savings, and go sleep on a beach somewhere.

By the way, I don't ever think I'll tire of eating the right food in the right way. I won't give up on that at all because there are so many different ways to prepare food, and I now have my health back so that I can complain about everything else!

• I still enjoy my solitude here. There will be a time when I hope to have someone to share my thoughts with again, but maybe we can keep separate residences?
• I set up my stereo this weekend and will be playing some of my old records looking for new songs (for me) to play. The last time I listened to records was in 1981, so it's about time to play them again. If I could stop driving professionally for another 30 years and start up again, I think I would get some enjoyment from it again, but I don't think you'd want to ride with me!
  

I now know some of the reasons why I can't play my guitar, and I will be confronting those "demons" directly. It's a process that is ever changing for me. I don't feel the way I did last week, and I hope to feel differently next week until I start making money playing guitar and singing.
I want to sing all new songs. I want to write some of those songs. I want to record them and I want to perform them in front of people.
By the way, I hate snakes!

Life is Good!