Sunday Morning Coffee Musings 4/8/18

March was a lost month for me. I will explain.

I have low thyroid function, possibly Hashimoto’s, but my doctor has never confirmed that diagnosis. Just my low thyroid function. It took a nosedive sometime between last July and the end of the year. I was constantly exhausted, I could not seem to lift my mental fog, and I could not function. With as many posts as I was pushing out, I am surprised I got anything else done.

I have a full-time job, a house to clean, a husband to maintain a relationship with, mental health of my own that I need to maintain on a daily basis as well as a spiritual life that requires constant attention. I have a son I am assisting because he’s a bit lost and has a bit of a developmental delay. I do some things to maintain my health, such as going to the gym, eating healthier, those kinds of things.

The first to go was the gym. No energy, not even to drive there and sit in the hot tub.  Next to go was healthy eating, because that does take focus and energy. The house has never been sparkling clean – now it has gone back to cluttered and needing cleaning and organizing again. I stopped doing the things I need to maintain my spiritual condition, which further aggravated my mood swings and drove me into a light depression. Which of course, spirals further into eating poorly because who gives a crap?

I only found out about the thyroid issue because I had to do biometric screening for work – it’s an incentive to lower my health care premiums. A day after I did the bloodwork, I received a call from the doctor’s office that they were increasing my dose of Levothyroxine and I was to make SURE I took it as directed.

This is the beginning of my third week on my new dosage. I’m feeling better, I’m a little more focused in the mornings and at work.

Now, my planned post for Easter Sunday, a week late – The difference between Lunch, Dinner, and Supper.

A long time ago, my mother asked me to help her cook Easter Dinner, back when I didn’t live with her. I agreed to help, and showed up at noon to a FURIOUS Mom who was getting ready to set the table for lunch.

Me: “Mom, why didn’t you tell me you were doing an Easter lunch?”

Mom, clearly pissed at me: “It’s an Easter Dinner, damnit! Dinner is always at 1 o’clock!”

Me, completely baffled: “What do you call the meal at the end of the day?”

Mom: “Supper!”

To give context – the year was 1989, we were born and bred and lived (and still do!) in New England, and my Mom was 46 at the time.

I have a Hobbittish sense of meals – In my head, there’s breakfast, brunch, elevenses, luncheon, tea, dinner and supper. That’s SEVEN meals.  These are the time frames and things I believe about these meals. (Please note, this is stuff in MY head.Your beliefs may be different. That’s cool.)

Breakfast is sadly a quick affair these days, just coffee and a bowl of cereal or maybe a sausage and egg sandwich.

Brunch is a leisurely affair, with more food, buffet style, and can take an hour or more to consume. Brunch is social. Brunch is what you do on Sundays.

Elevenses is a snack, which I usually have between 10 and 11 a.m. It’s a hot cup of bone broth, or some other protein because breakfast wasn’t enough.

Luncheon is also known as lunch, and for me, that is a substantial snack, not a meal, or I will end up snoozing.

Afternoon Tea may be a British Thing or a European Thing, but I think it’s a perfectly good idea to have an afternoon snack to carry me along until Dinner.

Dinner is served anywhere from 5:30 to 7 p.m.

Supper is a meal served somewhere around 7 p.m. to 9 p.m.

Mom was mad at me, for not being clear on when she expected me to be there. In the 29 years since then, nothing has changed.

Truly, I don’t care what you call each meal. Just tell me when you want me to show up.