CakeBanisher is banishing cake

[CakeBanisher]

I have gone to yoga studios, the gym, videos at home, and books, books are mostly to help me remember sequences. I have been doing yoga on and off since I was like 9 or 10. So I have gone many routes. They are all worth looking at.

 

I was reading some of your other responses and I wonder if the fact that you are so hyper flexible that your body is not supporting itself properly with strength and that may be why your back hurts. Not to mention when one side of your body is week it hurts the other more. For example, people who have lower back pain usually have a desk job and weak stomach muscles, or slouch which makes their shoulders and neck hurt.

 

Anyway, that is probably part of why your here and you seem to be having some great progress. It's great your looking forward to work out day!

 

I have come to the conclusion that I'm supporting myself wrong to try and find some sense of stability.  I've always had poor balance, and almost wonder if my flexible back is a contributing factor.  As a student, I sit at a desk a lot, have weak stomach muscles, and slouch, and my lower back, shoulders, and neck all hurt.  I've been working on posture, especially while sitting, and it seems to be helping.  Thanks for pointing it out, sometimes it really helps to have someone evaluating from a distance

 

 

Haha yes you can has English, and I can has English too

 

Idk if I'm freely interchanging hypermobility and hyperflexibiliy (sorry to all those who know the difference and are tearing their hair out at my ignorance !) - but I assure you bending your wrists at an angle > 90 (without putting external pressure like in the prayer pose you described) is definately leaving normal and approaching exorcist / gymnast levels of flexibility lol. Just for fun check out the wiki article on hypermobility - and especially the part about being physically fit for hypermobile people. Also as a cool mini-experiment you can ask your friends to do the same stuff in terms of joint flexibility and lol at the stares you get

 

Another thing that just occured to me is that you might be pinching a nerve at your wrists - Idk how much weight this theory holds but that "wet fire" sensation usually points to some sort of pinching. Annyhoo baseline - more muscle means stabler joints and less tendon pain. 

 

Keep us posted on your workouts ! Always inspiring to see someone making decent headway with their goals

 

Interesting article!  The person who told me I had hypermobility syndrome gave me a short article that says it's also known as Ehlers-Danlos syndrome type III.  In reading it, I don't exactly fit anything fully, but a number of the symptoms are things I've had issues with in the past, and I'm fairly certain I have dysautomonia (for years we thought it was a heart arrhythmia, which I did have, and anxiety issues, but dysautonomia covers a huge range of things I've struggled with).  And I just tried to fold my wrists back, and they don't go as far as they used to - without pushing, I can just barely get to 90, not beyond, and I could before.  So, maybe I've gained some muscle that is helping stabilize them   Win!  In the past, I would have tried to stretch it back out.  Now I'm not so sure that's a good idea. 

 

Thanks for all the support and advice!!!

 

Maybe I wasn't clear (again).  There are two issues I've been having.  One where the tendon "pops" and then hurts, the other that feels like a nerve issue (I had an extremely serious fight with a pinched nerve in my back last year, and have had a lot of issues with nerves, so I know what it feels like).  The one I had today was that, but usually with inverted rows, it's the popping.  Maybe I'm just a mutant.  Oh well.  I will continue with being careful, and you've just reinforced to me that I really need to get stronger.  So, thanks for that

[starbon]

ah...my bad. I apologise. I thought the 2 are interrelated. The tendon popping, according to my experience, is an issue of the weight you're putting on your joints being transferred to the joints with minimal cushioning from the muscles, instead of the other way round. For me, I've actually had to learn how to hold stuff differently so that when I carry stuff around, I put the weight on my muscles, and not my joints - I don;t know if I can describe the sensation to you, but if you play around you'll find that if you dangle something 5 lb-ish from your arm, you can feel when the weight is on your shoulder and elbow joints, and then the weight is on your muscle. Fun fact -  my knees used to crack every time I went down into a squat, and so did my shoulders during pushups. Now they don't - and I'm taking it as a sign of improving lol 

[CakeBanisher]

starbon - My knees and shoulders do that, too.  My right knee has done it for years, every time it goes past about 45.  Going down the stairs was weird for a while, until I got used to it (it doesn't hurt or anything).  Nice to hear yours went away - maybe mine will, too

 

Yeah, the tendon popping usually crops up when I try to go to failure on inverted rows, and end up taking some of the weight with my lower arms because the rest of me is too tired.  So, I don't go to failure on those exercises anymore, just close to.  I know what you mean, saying to put weight on muscles not joints.  I think I have extremely shallow shoulder joints (and hips - if I move wrong, they feel like I'm going to dislocate them, or get them stuck), and so I've come up with ways of carrying heavy things to not feel like I'm pulling my arm out of its socket, which I think has put an unhealthy strain on other stuff...man, I'm just a mess   But I am noticeably improving, so I will take that as a big win any day! 

 

 

On an unrelated note, I ate soooooo much broccoli with dinner...probably six cups, at least, with just a little hummus for added flavor.  It was good   Sadly, not a 100% paleo day, as I had a bite of non-paleo stuff here and there.  But I was over 90% paleo, which is my goal.  I wouldn't worry too much about it if I were at a healthy weight, but given I need to lose another 30 pounds or more, I really need to be in a calorie defecit, and I'm not managing enough of one right now (when I was counting calories, I aimed for about 12000 a day, and I suspect I'm well above that right now).  On a good note, my brother finished the muffins.  Huzzah!  Now I have basically no major temptations!  Didn't accomplish anything in my room.  I'm hoping tomorrow I can get all the stacks of stuff out, and relocate them to their proper homes. 

 

So, I'm thus far nailing my workout goal, I'm improving at push ups, I'm doing pretty well with paleo, and my room has improved pretty noticeably.  This is all going better than expected   And it has me totally pumped to get up in the mornings, which is something that I haven't felt in a while.  Another win!

[starbon]

cool ! but...12000 calories a day ? I mean.....

 

broccoli's yuck. Idk how you managed to eat 6 cups of it. If it were me my willpower tank would be at empty. I have to hide my broccoli among other veggies so that I can trick myself into eating them...I mean talk about fooling yourself. Also an interesting philosophical question - can one really fool oneself ? lol

 

annnnyhoo good work mate ! keep it up

[dbexx]

Some serious winning from you!

It's great that increases in strength will help with the hypermobility/flexibility issues and make it less likely that you're gonig to hurt yourself - even more motivation, right?

 

It's really inspiring to see you moving steadily towards your goals. Keep it up, we are rooting for you.

[CakeBanisher]

cool ! but...12000 calories a day ? I mean.....

 

broccoli's yuck. Idk how you managed to eat 6 cups of it. If it were me my willpower tank would be at empty. I have to hide my broccoli among other veggies so that I can trick myself into eating them...I mean talk about fooling yourself. Also an interesting philosophical question - can one really fool oneself ? lol

 

annnnyhoo good work mate ! keep it up

 

Whoops...somehow added a 0.  1,200.  Well, I feel sheepish...  I don't particularly like broccoli either, but with some hummus on it, it becomes instantly better   And it was literally sitting right in front of my face all through dinner.  Hmm...philosophy...the body can react to a sugar pill as though it's a perscription medication, but I don't know about fooling ourselves if our conscious mind knows the truth...interesting...

 

As always Tyr, thanks for the support!  Yeah, knowing that getting stronger will help me avoid the injuries I've delt with for years is pushing me to keep going when I don't really feel like it.

 

I did some yoga this morning, but my sinuses are so packed right now it's hard to balance   Still, my standing poses are improving.  I've been working on Warrior II, Extended Side Angle, and Triangle.  When I first started, I could barely do them, now I can get into them and hold them.  So, yay for imporvement!  Plus it makes my body feel good.  I'm also working on the progression for Dancer's Pose, which is decidely more difficult than Tree, Pigeon Pose, and doing Wheel Pose, because that one is fun for me.  Fun is good

[starbon]

cool ! but 1200 calories a day ? I mean... isn't that a bit on the lower side seeing as how you're keeping so active ? Anyways, You're the best judge of what's good for you so no harm done. Your talk of yoga reminds me that I have to revisit doing all that again lol. Last time I tried doing the wheel I collapsed in a steaming pile of misery lol. Weak shoulders are a bummer.

 

As for the blocked sinuses, might I suggest chewing on a small piece of ginger ? It's going to feel like someone shoved stinging fire (yes I just coined that) into your mouth, but for me it totally blows away any congestion.

[CakeBanisher]

I was doing 1200 a day last time, but I also wasn't exercising...like, at all.  Literally.  I just counted calories, avoided utter junk, and sat on my butt in front of a computer all day.  Which I suspect worsened the issues I'm now trying to fix.  Oh well.  Better late than never, right?  I'm really not counting calories at all this time around, I just eat when I'm hungry, stop when I'm full, and am trying to stay as close to paleo as possible.  I was at too steep a deficit initially, going by how I was feeling, and had to force myself to eat more, but I'm getting used to it.  I probably should track them for a few days, just to see what I'm actually eating.  I'm still not fully accustomed to this whole exercise deal   And you're right, considering how much more active I am now than I was, I should probably re-evaluate what I need.

 

Ginger, huh?  I've never heard that, but I can imagine it would work pretty well   My mom loves ginger.  I only like it in small amounts in my tea when I'm sick.  If they don't improve, I may have to try it, but your description sounds pretty much spot on, which is a tad scarly, lol.  I do a sinus rinse, sometimes three or four times a day when it's bad, and that helps a lot.  I forgot it last night, so was worse than normal this morning, and have thus far done it twice today, which has really helped.  Thanks for the tip!

[The Borg Queen]

Hello there! Very interesting discussion...

 

I've been eating a TON of broccoli lately, so I want to weigh in on the broccoli issue: It's all in the preparation. If you're willing to saute it in oil, such as coconut, butter, or *gasp* bacon fat, that makes it mouth-wateringly delicious. Add a little chili, garlic, and lemon... mmmm mmmm mmm.

 

If you want to steam it, I recommend putting the broccoli in a colander in a pot of hot water w/cover, or finding one of these thingies: _mkwid_IprHDH3A%7Cd%7Bdevice%7D_21061961485%7C-%7CIprHDH3A">http://www1.macys.com/shop/product/martha-stewart-collection-vegetable-steamer-11?ID=256779&cm_mmc=Google_DMA_Home_Dinnerware_PLA-_-PLA+Home+Brands+-+Dinnerware_PLA+-+Dinnerware+-+Martha+Stewart+Collection+-+2-_-21061961485__mkwid_IprHDH3A|d{device}_21061961485|-|IprHDH3A

 

I found my steamer at a garage sale for $2, and I talked them down to $1.

 

I love eating broccoli al dente. It's so delicious when it's soft on the outside, and still crispy on the inside.

 

And then there's cream of broccoli soup and roasted broccoli... so yummy. I could eat it all day.

 

Okay, I'm done.

[starbon]

You're totally right on the eating whenever you want and stopping when you're full. I used to be a portion maniac before and I was at what many would say is my ideal weight, but when I looked in the mirror, what I saw didn't reflect that (think skinny fat) . So when I took up the whole paleo / eating real foods way of life along with increasing my food intake, I was surprised that my weight ballooned by about 16 pounds in a week, but I kept going. 8 weeks later here I am still at 160 lbs and I'm starting to see some muscle definition (albeit when I'm squinting and ONLY when I hold my head a certain angle lol) - but hey, I can definately lift more than I used to when I was 145, and to me, that's progress. So, I would say don;t trust the scale too much, instead trust what you can do now and couldn't do before. Everything else is going to take care of itself.

 

I actually stumbled on the whole ginger clears your sinuses deal by accident - sorotof . My mom used to force feed me ginger and raw garlic everyday when I was a kid since I had asthma and supposedly it helps with that. Naturally when I grew old enough to vehemently protest all that stopped and the sinus blockage and all came back gradually.Lately I've tried to incorporate extra amounts of basic spices (like ginger, garlic, turmeric etc) into my food. Coming from a culture where those are actually ingredients for all major foods and not just flavoring agents helps in a way I guess lol. Let me know if it helps and I'll know that I'm perhaps not a one-off mutant

 

Sorry for the long rambling post

[The Borg Queen]

You're totally right on the eating whenever you want and stopping when you're full. I used to be a portion maniac before and I was at what many would say is my ideal weight, but when I looked in the mirror, what I saw didn't reflect that (think skinny fat) . So when I took up the whole paleo / eating real foods way of life along with increasing my food intake, I was surprised that my weight ballooned by about 16 pounds in a week, but I kept going. 8 weeks later here I am still at 160 lbs and I'm starting to see some muscle definition (albeit when I'm squinting and ONLY when I hold my head a certain angle lol) - but hey, I can definately lift more than I used to when I was 145, and to me, that's progress. So, I would say don;t trust the scale too much, instead trust what you can do now and couldn't do before. Everything else is going to take care of itself.

 

I think that ignoring calories is ideal on a paleo diet, but everybody's different. I've noticed on some of the other forums that some people are ONLY successful toward their goals with severe calorie restriction (even on a paleo or LC diet). On the other hand, some people only see results if they significantly increase calories, which gets them through a weight loss stall. As far as it goes for cake banisher, it might take a little trial/error to figure out what your body needs as it relates to your fitness goals... increasing calories might be something to consider.

[starbon]

I think that ignoring calories is ideal on a paleo diet, but everybody's different. I've noticed on some of the other forums that some people are ONLY successful toward their goals with severe calorie restriction (even on a paleo or LC diet). On the other hand, some people only see results if they significantly increase calories, which gets them through a weight loss stall. As far as it goes for cake banisher, it might take a little trial/error to figure out what your body needs as it relates to your fitness goals... increasing calories might be something to consider.

 agreed... Whatever works for her is the best for her. Progress by baby steps is still progress

[CB3]

I was going to say that You could also use a netttie pot to help clear your sinuses or just use warm salt water. It clears a sinus infection in days instead of weeks/months. I used to have horrible sinus issues as a kid and that kicked it slimy yucky little butt!  Just a thought. But you already are doing that so nevermind. I feel sheepish.

 

I agree with you on re-evaluating what you need. 1200 calories is just to survive but if your exercising it can make you insatiably hungry!

 

Good job on the eating paleo, even 90% is hard!

[CakeBanisher]

Lots of interesting suff going on here.  I like

 

Thanks for the broccoli cooking tips!  I like it steamed with a little season salt.  Or, what I did last night, raw with a touch of hummus.  Om nom nom.

 

I'm not really counting calories, but am sort of tracking.  I don't really have a goal, but I do think I need a change from 1200.  So, I'm trying to make sure I'm a bit over that, but avoid a surpluss.  Maybe aim for about 1500?  Man, this is confusing

 

I haven't weighed myself in six months or more, actually.  Our scale is broken, anyway.  I'm going by how I feel, how my strength is coming, and how my clothes fit.  Mostly right now I'm focusing on strength.  If I were closer to a healthy weight, I wouldn't worry so much, just kind of let it take care of itself.  But with 30 or so pounds to lose, I really need to figure out how to make that happen.  But I don't like counting calories, so I'd prefer to find an alternate method.  I'm still experimenting. 

 

Thanks for all the ideas and support!

[CakeBanisher]

This mornings workout:

 

Jump Squats:  20/15 - I'm thinking I may go back to 15/15 for a couple days, to work on form

Push ups:  11/11/5 - as usual, first one was real

Inverted Rows:  6/6/4

Hollow Body:  7//7/7/7 (seconds)

 

I really did not want to work out today.  I haven't slept well lately, so I'm tired, and I felt quite sluggish.  All I wanted to do was get a few more hours sleep, although even if I'd skipped the workout, that would have been impossible (two friends are having their grad parties at our house tonight).  But, I made myself do it, and I'm glad I did.  Also, the parties are likely to present bad food, but all of said food should be removed from our house by about 1:00 in the morning, thus eliminating the temptation after that time.  So, that's good

 

I didn't eat totally paleo yesterday, but I think it was within my 90% parameters, so I think it counts

[starbon]

Yayy for squeezing in workouts I always count it as a win, so Good Job mate !

[CakeBanisher]

Thanks starbon!

 

So, apart from being quite active yesterday, and managing to work out despite all the reasons I didn't feel like it, the day wasn't great as far as the challenge.  The food was the worst area.  Epic Failure may best describe my attempts at paleo.  So, whoops.  But I had fun, so I'm not counting the day as a failure in those terms, just in terms of the challenge. 

 

I did work out (added a rep of push ups, always nice ), and I was pretty active the rest of the day.  I basically didn't ever sit down until I went to bed at about 2:30 (which may not seem too late to some of you, but to me, it is).  I lifted heavy stuff to move it around, which was kind of satisfying because one of the things I helped move (a foosbal table) is really heavy and awkward, and I doubt I could have helped with it a few weeks ago.  So, that was a win.  And I did some swing dancing in the evening.  My brother and his friend are learning all sorts of lifts, which is really making me want to get to the point I can do some, too.  Unfortunately, you can't be 30 pounds overweight, and it would be helpful if I could do pull ups and handstands.  Oh well.  I'll get there eventually

 

My room isn't looking so hot, because I just stacked stuff from where it normally belongs elsewhere in the house in my room to get it out of the way.  But that should be remidied today, and shouldn't take too long.  I'm not too fussed about that.

 

As far as eating goes, I failed in pretty much every possible way.  The really sad thing though, is that I wasn't really aware of it.  I was helping my grandma through the line with me, and we were about halfway through eating by the time I realized what I had taken.  Then, later, I realized I was just standing around eating junk.  So, I had pasta, probably six little chocolate eclairs, and more sugar cookies than I can remember, along with a piece of chocolate cake (that totally wasn't worth it, but I was helping cut it - it was almost mindless eating )  I think it was the stress of the party, and the fact that I've gotten less than 7 hours of sleep in the last two days, along with having finished all the paleo food in the house that didn't A.) require cooking or B.) smell bad (think salmon).  So, I ended up way too hungry.  My mom, bless her, had to run out, and bought me two whole cooked chickens, which helped a bit   But still.  Yesterday was a total failure as far as food goes. 

 

I didn't get up until after noon, which I haven't done in a while.  And I'm all stiff and sore.  I'm thinking I need to spend some time doing gentle yoga on and off today, and try and eat totally paleo for the weekend, focusing on eating primarily vegitables.  That should boot me back into how I need to be eating.  Frankly, I need to really buckle down on this paleo goal.  The good thing to take away from this is a reminder of how bad I feel if I don't eat paleo.  I may be going swing dancing again tonight, we'll see how I feel.

[starbon]

Take it one day at a time mate. I'm going to say this in a zen master voice - the path is long and hard, and can be accomplished one step at a time. lol okay, end zen master voice.

 

look at it this way, instead of eating junk food everyday, in 2 weeks (ish), you only ate in one day, and that too not because you craved it, it was almost subconcious ! So if I were you, I wouldn't stress it. As much as people worry about eating bad once or twice, believe it or not the human body can metabolise a lot of things - we wouldn't be living on this planet if we weren't a hardy bunch ! That being said, I'm sure you have enough self control to not let it happen again

 

What sort of lifting do you want to do if I might be bold enough to ask ? Only because in my opinion there's not many types of lifts (apart from pull ups and chin ups) where your weight is going to be a limiting factor. If anything, extra weight means more strain on the muscles and more muscle building while you shed the weight ! so its like double win ! I honestly don;t know if I made any sense there lol

[CakeBanisher]

Take it one day at a time mate. I'm going to say this in a zen master voice - the path is long and hard, and can be accomplished one step at a time. lol okay, end zen master voice.

 

look at it this way, instead of eating junk food everyday, in 2 weeks (ish), you only ate in one day, and that too not because you craved it, it was almost subconcious ! So if I were you, I wouldn't stress it. As much as people worry about eating bad once or twice, believe it or not the human body can metabolise a lot of things - we wouldn't be living on this planet if we weren't a hardy bunch ! That being said, I'm sure you have enough self control to not let it happen again

 

What sort of lifting do you want to do if I might be bold enough to ask ? Only because in my opinion there's not many types of lifts (apart from pull ups and chin ups) where your weight is going to be a limiting factor. If anything, extra weight means more strain on the muscles and more muscle building while you shed the weight ! so its like double win ! I honestly don;t know if I made any sense there lol

 

 Thanks, man!  And lol at your zen master voice  

 

Overall, I think I've done a decent job with the eating, just yesterday and last weekend at the grad parties, and I was eating paleo for two weeks before the challenge started, so two (okay, sort of more like three) bad days in a month isn't too bad   But it bothers me that it was subconscious yesterday.  I've been working really hard to really notice what I'm eating, evaluate it, and make a conscious decision abaout if I'm really going to eat it or not.  I try not to stress the occasional bad day, last time I lost weight I would have a day (or two) a month where I just didn't worry too much, and it always seemed to help me (not as in, oh, hey, you just at about a thousand calories of ice cream and magic shell, lets lose 5 pounds) but it kept me on track, and I never gained weight from it.  Poor eating bothers me more because I know it makes me feel bad, and I would prefer not to   So, I'm going to hide all the cake and chips and stuff that they left, because I don't want it.

 

As for the lifting, I'm refering to doing swing dance aerials.  Moves where the guy picks the girl up and swings her around in various ways.  Not weight lifting in the sense of doing deadlifts at the gym   Sorry if that was unclear.  Because my usual partner (and teacher) is only an inch or two taller than me, he's already at a disadvantage, and my extra weight and lack of strength aren't helping matters, because he can't hold me.  I've done a couple aerials with my brother, but I don't really ever dance with him.

 

I'm not really interested in doing weight lifting for exercise, especially at the moment.  My own body gives me plenty of resistence   My hope is to just keep progressing to harder and harder body weight exercises as I get stronger and more capable.  Ultimately, I want to be a sort of Druid-Assassin cross.  And I understand what you were saying, no worries

 

Thanks for the support and advice!

[starbon]

No problemo. As they say, advice is always free lol

 

My bad about the lifts and all. Talk about thinking INSIDE the box hehe. On a side note you're making me want to join a swing dancing class...or ANY damncing class for that matter. 

 

You sure you don't to be a monk-warrior cross ? just sayingggg hahahaha

[CakeBanisher]

You should do swing dance (or any other dancing class that strikes your fancy ).  It is sooooooooo much fun!  And you can really get a good cardio workout, even without knowing a lot of moves.  Start adding in harder stuff, and you can end up panting like a dog after a three minute dance.  I can see how the word "lifts" could be confusing, especially in this context, where it usually refers to weights.  Some circles in swing dance call them lifts, some call them aerials

 

Monk-warrior cross would be pretty sweat, too...choices, choices...   For now I just want to be able to do more than one real push up in a row, and get to a weight where I'm not classified as "obese."  Because, ya know, that's kind of not healthy.

[starbon]

OI, no stealing !!! lol jk jk steal away mate. we're all in the business to improving ourselves, so always happy to help.

 

I used to dance salsa once upon a blue moon, but then there was a sudden influx of girls in the class ( I had and still have major self image issues) and I lost my partner to the big bad job world so me being the absolute dork I am , quit. I know I know, but hey what's done is done. Now I don't have anyone I feel comfortable with partnering up. Bugger.

[CakeBanisher]

Girls outnumber guys by an absurd amount.  I often end up with my brother and regular partner as the only guys in a group of girls, all trying to learn moves from them because there aren't enough guys.  Then comes the rather terrifying experience of my partner (who is far more experienced than I am) grabbing me to demonstrate a move I've never seen at full speed.  We've ended up walking in perpetual circles because I don't realize he wants me to fall over   And I totally understand not being comfortable dancing with anyone else...I'm the same way, and also have self image issues, although I am working at improving that.  So, I wish I could give you some advice on how to get back into it, but sadly I am not equiped to do so. 

[starbon]

I swear you're the entirety of your sympathy for me will evaporate when I say just 3 words - I am a GUY (ok that was 4)

 

You'd think that I'd be happy with the influx of girls in a dancing class, but noooooo . I'm weird.

[CakeBanisher]

Weird as it sounds...I was pretty sure you were a guy, from the way you write.  Guess my response could be taken either way.  And I actually understand being a little weirded out by having an influx of girls (if you're a guy).  I know people who are very touchy, and don't like physical contact save for a few people they know well.  It isn't weird to be uncomfortable dancing with someone you don't know!  A guy in the dance world cannot hide, either, which can be a bit freaky.  So, you failed to evaporate my sympathy

 

 

Update for the evening:

 

Very light yoga today, but that's okay.  I still like doing it.  Plus all the junk I ate yesterday is working its way out of my system, and I feel less sick.  My brain fog is also a lot better (not like I'm totally out of it, but I can feel a difference when I eat poorly).  So, yay!  On the downside, I'm getting kind of tired of eating sooooooo much broccoli.  Oh well. 

 

I went through the entire pile of school stuff I've had next to my desk since September.  Sorted all my notes, and have everything in neat stacks to put away...somewhere.  Ah, the joys of not having anywhere to put things.  But it is progress, and that was something I have been dreading for months.  So, I'm glad it's over with   I also sorted through all the notebooks and papers and random junk on the big shelf in my desk, and got that all squared away, which is something else I've been dreading.  So, I didn't really do anything big today, but I got stuff done that needed to get done, and I feel like I was productive.  So, huzzah!