Emma

Shoulder and elbow pain improving. Rearranged my work space in the van so I am not lifting heavy awkward things over my head. And being more careful not to let the X-ray machine get into a position were it might yank my arms behind me.

Went to the gym today. After reading starting strength realized the guy totally didn't get what I wanted, which is to GET STRONG! He had me on multiple reps with light weights. So I increased all my weights and decreased my reps and impressed myself.

Food's been okay.

Need to do more walks.

It has been so very nice to be getting enough sleep on a regular basis.

Existential crisis has passed. Thanks for the support guys.

And I do enjoy my alone time. :

Congratulations on not being promoted! I was also not promoted and remain very happy and grateful for it.

I get the impression you are not crazy about your job. Do you have any ideas about what you want to do with the time you have on this planet?

Jakkals, you have no excuse now. If you guys make it to Northern California I can put you up for a few nights.

http://www.nerdfitness.com/blog/2010/12/09/how-to-fly-35000-miles-visit-4-continents-9-countries-and-15-cities-for-418/

Congratulations on the no smoking. Several of my neighbors are potheads. And I am in a senior citizen mobile home park. Not really what I was expecting.

And moderation. For some of us it is difficult. Good for you.

Pay attention to how your clothes fit, not what the scale says.

Sounds like you are doing well.

Catching up on my comments here.

California is a "right to work" state. Serious double speak there. It means that any boss can fire any employee at any time for any reason or no reason at all. If I feel I was unfairly dismissed and have documented like crazy I might be able to find a lawyer willing to help with a lawsuit. But seriously, very few bother unless the issue is really egregious. SA system sounds like a lot of work, but a lot more fair.

I am trying to figure out how to download your video to my desktop so I can add a bit of music. I have an expert I can ask tomorrow.

Vonk sounds like a good dog and I am glad you can enjoy some of your time with him. How big a dog is he?

And thank you so much for introducing me to those periodic videos. Now I have to watch them. I hate you.

Not much exercise the past couple of days. 

Food's been good. Morning blood sugar the past few days is the lowest it's been in years.  I'm doing something right.

Existential purpose of life crisis. Been recurring a lot lately. Many many changes in my life the past few years and lately things have (finally) been settling down so that I actually have time to think instead of being just busy busy all the time. Empty nest, divorce, mom dying, (dad died many years ago) moving, new career, etc, etc. I'm 58 for pete's sake and this is the first time in my life I have been alone and taking care of myself.

Just read over that. My life has really gone inside out and upside down in the past few years. Be kind to yourself, Emma.

Fascinating. Kittens and puppies are boring. This was really interesting. Thanks for posting it. 

Great smile by the way.

Slow at work today. Ha. They have no X-rays for me to do so far. I am at home in my jammies trying to think of stuff to do that is not eating.

Meeting with contractor went well. He has had experience with odd people like me and didn't try to talk me out of what I want to do.

Cat is eating like a pig. Doing well.

Got my walk in before it got hot.

Didn't get to gym. Been doing extra backpack work and stretching since I have no X-rays to do.

Food's been okay so far. (Why do I keep writing fat instead of far? Argh.)

I enjoyed that video. Fascinating. So much I didn't know about steel making. Don't know why you posted it. You want to do something like that for your business maybe? If you do can I write the music?

Yay for pillows. The stress of not knowing is still stress.

Spoiler. Sigh. Oh, Jakkals.  It is so hard pretending to be an adult. And then pretending to be civilized as well. Oy. It can get to you after a while. Document, document, document to protect yourself while the incident is still fresh in your memory, yes? Just in case. But you've probably done that already.

Just saw your picture. Points for courage.

You have beautiful bones and features. Your eyes are gorgeous. 

Why do you feel you need to wear makeup at all?

Pain is better. Paying attention to my movements with this new equipment and set up. Heavy stuff in a small space makes for some awkward and pain inducing moves.

Backpack and stretching done. Walking, not much. My little place stays nice and cool even when it's hot out and it got really hot out before I realized it.

Food ok.

Today

Gym

Walk

Nap

Fabulous food

Meeting new contractor for kitchen and bath renovation. Previous owners were do it yourselfers and installed an insert for the shower in the bathroom. They covered up half the window. Half the window. Seriously. 

3 of 5 pregnant? What is in the water at your shop? Maybe you could advertise as a fertility clinic?

Spoiler: sucks. big time. and it isn't even your doing. Anything you can do to be proactive? What are the possible outcomes? Do you have a plan for the worst case scenario? Having a worst case plan helps me stress less. There was a time when I was threatened with homelessness and having a plan for it really helped even though I didn't need to use it. Good luck to you.

I understand poverty keeping spending under control. Been there. Good on you for managing it.

The only thing really not going well is my eating and exercise. Pbbbbbt. Better but still not really where I want it to be. And I don't have any excuses any more! Argh!

Saturday

still in recovery mode. angry about working all those hours on Thursday and Friday morning.

food not great.

Sunday

worked eight hours. Told dispatch I was really cranky (about Thursday) and had plans that night so I got out of overtime. I don't get cranky very often so they know it's serious when I tell them that. 

food better. started work early so no exercise happened (except weight lifting with that blessed X-ray machine).

Cat continues well. Got the antibiotics in her without getting scratched or bitten.

Today

pain in shoulders and elbows. will do backpack, not gym.

walking planned. lots. did not do much over the weekend.

stretching.

fabulous food.

Vet said is 80 in human years.

Yesterday

backpack workout at home

stretching

nap

laundry

tried to feed antibiotics to smart old cat who knows my tricks

short drive to the woods and a small walk

fabulous food

Today

gym

nap

stretching

meeting with director of local theater. I'm going to be  the music director for a small production of a show called The Last 5 Years. Me on keys, with a violinist and cellist. Will be much fun.

fabulous food

need to work on planning actual meals and getting them on automatic pilot the way breakfast is.

successfully got antibiotics into the cat.

Long time, no see. How goes it Bear? 

Worked 10 am to 4 am. i have not enough working brains at the moment to figure out how many hours that was.

No puppy run today. Rest and recovery. Officially not working today, keeping my phone off to make sure it stays that way. Plans for the day are fabulous meals, walk, workout maybe at gym, maybe at home, and nap.

Cat is home and perkier now that the tumor has been removed. She is 16, very old for cat, so we are surprised she is doing this well. Thank you for the energy spooky foot.

Cat is doing surprisingly well.

Yesterday

walk  yes

didn't feel like gym (not enough time) backpack workout at home

stretching not complete

eating okay during day, fell apart on the long drive for work. Pbbbbbt.

Cat almost died during surgery. Don't know yet if she made it through the night.

To do today

Meeting in the morning at the bank. Then meeting supervisor with my new (to me) work van That's the promise anyway. May not yet happen.

Walk

stretch

backpack 

cleaning (supervisor might be here!) talk about motivation.

fabulous meals

We are pretending to be civilized here. Killing people is not allowed.

"I have not failed. I've just found 10000 ways that won't work." - Thomas A. Edison

So now go find some other online sales things that don't work. 

Nice dogs.

Yesterday

Volunteered to serve lunch at a convention center, camp place out in the woods. Had to drive out there on the river road. Turned out to be a nice trial run for the puppy. Handled like a dream. A dream. Hugged the curves, gripped the road and would not let go. I have never driven a car like this. My vintage Porsche couldn't hold a candle to this beautiful machine. No regrets about buying this puppy instead of the nice practical SUV I was supposed to buy.

walk yes

stretching yes

eating okay.

My stretching routine began years ago with some stretches taught me by a physical therapist and I know they are yoga based. I have been adding in others over the years, some yoga, some ballet. It's not a formal routine of any kind.

Today

walk 

stretching

gym

cat to vet

fabulous meals

For Teros. My new puppy. We are going for a run on Friday on Hwy 1.

Week 1 review.

Goals for this challenge then.

1. Gym three times a week for strength training. I began doing this partway through the last challenge and this is the longest I have ever lasted at it. I am usually injured long before this, but this guy is starting me easy, so no injuries! Yay!

Pass. Injured, through work. His exercises do not address the issues I need to have addressed. Skipped gym, back to my old backpack workout, feeling better. 

2. Walk 20 minutes a day.

Fail. Not done every day.

3. Stretching for physical therapy. Sun salutation every day just because so many people say yoga is so fabulous. We'll see.

Fail. Don't like sun salute. Back to usual stretches. Not done every day.

4. Four small fabulous meals a day. Breakfast, lunch and tea will usually be at home. Late dinner on the road. Sometimes I'll bring it with me, sometimes I'll eat out. Subway, etc.

Okay. Not great, but okay.

I have been paying attention to my lapses this last time. The worst ones were:

1. eating in front of the computer.

        Just stop it Emma. Fabulous people do not eat sitting in front of their computer.

One day said fuck it and ate in front of computer all day. Otherwise, doing good.

2. cooking. I start cooking and get hungry and don't want to wait and start nibbling and keep nibbling.

       Start the cooking before you get that hungry, dear.

Good.

3. long drives. Sometimes on the job I have to drive long distances. I find myself saying I need to stop in at 7-11 for a snack, partly to keep me awake, and partly because I get bored on the long drives. And I am driving a company van instead of my fabulous car, whimper. 

Better. Since I am not covering so much territory anymore, not as big an issue.

      Need a good solution for this one.

Haven't done the balloon ride yet. In a couple of weeks there is a balloon festival near here. Will be going to that.

Saturday! Dawn patrol!

WTH kind of knife needs a battery charger? I am seriously intrigued now.

And I agree, pleasure does not have to be all big and bright.

Pleasure: a feeling of happy satisfaction and enjoyment. Official definition there. Is what you are doing enough? Only you can answer that, but it does sound good.

spoiler: Oh you introvert, you. You get one point per hour. I have never lasted more than 2 hours. Being in a room with others like a lecture or class I am okay for a whole day. But when interaction in a small group is expected, small talk or chit chat, one hour is my max, usually only half an hour.

What does Fiela mean?

And I want a picture of that knife with orange nail polish. I have not been able to figure out what that would look like.

Saturday rest day. took cat to vet, ate too much and enjoyed it until it started hurting.

Sunday worked, cleaned house, eating was better.

Googled increasing overhead press first thing that came up was two exercises I used to do all the time with my back pack, front and side straight raises. (and I thought I invented them). Have not been doing them since I started the gym. That has changed.

Next week, squats and front and side raises with dumbbells. And getting a pic of my car for Teros.

Love it. Worth the wait. Nothing more needs to be said.