laura705

Yay for Friday.  This week has dragged, so I’m glad it’s done. 

Yesterday was alright.  After work I relaxed a bit and then went to Joann Fabrics and bought my pj pattern.  I also bought some elastic.  I am planning on making a couple pair of pajama pants.  I have some fabric sitting around and a couple of the fabrics I can use for the pants.  The pants are a very easy project, but one of my fabrics has stripes, so that might make it more challenging if I choose to try and match the stripes.   Joann didn’t seem to have any t-shirt type knit fabric, so I’ll have to shop somewhere else for that if I want to make any pj tops.  I’ve only been in that particular store a few times, but the variety of apparel fabrics isn’t very large, however, it seems like they have whatever color and pattern of fleece you could possibly want.  I guess their focus is on crafts and home decorating. 

I also went to Trader Joe’s since it’s nearby.  Among other things, I bought some almonds and cheese sticks.  I like that they have monterey jack cheese sticks - I like them better than the mozz. cheese ones.  I like the Sargento cheddar cheese sticks, but they can be expensive.  Once or twice I’ve cut block cheese into sticks and wrapped them separately in plastic wrap.

Rain is forecast for tomorrow, so I might start my sewing project tomorrow. Also on my plate for the weekend is getting a chest x-ray.  I don’t need an appointment, but the hospital is saying they didn’t receive the order from my doc, while my doc’s office said it was sent - twice.  Grrr.  I’m also going to a class at the gym tomorrow morning.   Plenty of other stuff to do around the house - laundry, etc.  Last weekend I finally washed the curtain panels that used to hang in the DR and LR.  They are folded and packed for eventual sale or donation.  This weekend I think I’ll do a load of the throw rugs.  On top of my clothes.  Ugh.  I did a load yesterday, so that’s one less load to do this weekend.   Sunday is supposed to be nice weather, so I might nail down bf on doing some canoeing in the afternoon.

I think today was the 4th day I brought bank statements on the train.  I move through them pretty quickly, but there’s a lot of years, so it’ll be another week at least.  I forget how long you have to dispute suspected errors with the bank, but there’s really no point in keeping the statements after they’ve been reconciled. 

Today’s breakfast was cottage cheese w/ mandarin oranges, lunch was a turkey sandwich from quiznos & 1/2 bag chips.  Snacks…not good.  Dinner will be grilled pork chops. 

That’s about it.  Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

I phoned my doc for a referral to a pulmonary doc.  The referral’s earliest avail. appt was 9/23!  I made the appt, and I’m also on a list in the event of cancellations.  I left a message w/ my primary doc telling him this and that I’d like to go ahead w/ him for the xray.  Hope to hear back from him today.

Didn’t go to the gym or do any other exercise last night.  My only sorry excuse is that it was taco night. 

Kelly, re your comment - I tool another look at the group exercise schedule for my gym.  During the week, the only classes I could get to after work are the later ones, which are yoga on M & W, and a “Yoga & Pilates” class on Thurs.  On the weekend, there are a few cardio offerings each day.  I have taken a yoga class at this gym and it was a good one, but I wasn’t exactly looking to do yoga for my main exercise.  I would definitely be willing to get to a Sat. morning cardio class - I did that for years and it’s a good way to start my Saturday.  I’m disappointed that several of the weeknight cardio classes start at the same time I arrive home from work.  I’d have to change my schedule quite a bit to get to those.  Now that I just said that, I actually checked the train schedule and “quite a bit” turns out to be leaving home and work only 30 - 35 minutes earlier than usual.  It sounds so inconsequential in black and white, but for some reason, every minute in the morning counts and it’s very difficult for me to get out of the house early.  But getting into a new routine could be worthwhile. 

There are also a number of classes that start really early in the morning and I don’t ever see myself dragging my butt out of bed to get to a class that starts at 5:45 or 6 am.  The best I could do would be to drag myself into the basement for an exercise video session. 

So, I will plan on getting to a class on Saturday morning.  I’m a bit nervous about my options, because I’ve never taken a spinning class (8:15 am) and it’s been a long time since I’ve done a step workout, and there’s an advanced step class at 9:15.  But I’ll give one of those a go. 

Bf just phoned and told me the podiatrist office phoned to report my orthotics are in.  Unfortunately the office closes today at 4 pm.  I will phone and see if I can just pick them up or if they need to see if they fit properly. If they can just be picked up, maybe bf can get them for me.  Tonight I will go to Joann’s for the pattern sale and see if they have the pajama pattern I want.  (Tawna - here’s the link to it:  link to pattern )

Okay, I better get this posted and get to work.  I have two meetings today.  I’m totally not in the mood to work, and it’s only Thursday.  I need to just focus and get into a groove and hopefully the day will go by quickly. 

Oh, only Wed.  I sooo need some vacation time.  My cubicle is such a mess I think it’s totally put me off my productivity and motivation.  I truly need to clean it up.  I will allot at least an hour to doing this before the week is over.  I will try to use common sense and toss folders that I haven’t looked at in a long time.  I always worry that some day I’ll need something, but rarely does that occurr.  And I should take advantage of the two empty file drawers I still have.  Yes, I have stacks of file folders suffocating my desk while two drawers sit empty, LOL.  Just part of my illness. 

Yesterday was okay.  I sent the bulk of my project files off to the next person, so that’s a relief.  Next project isn’t as big as the last two, so that’s good.  I wanted to move my vacation to the week following this project’s deadline, but the other mgr is taking Mon & Tues of that week.  Huh.  A friend suggested I just take the Wed through the following Tuesday, and that’s actually a good idea.  It’s always nice to have short workweeks, and that would give me two of them. 

Last night two of us saw Night at the Museum - Battle for the Smithsonian.  Very cute and funny.  Nice change after My Sister’s Keeper.  I did, however, eat the theater popcorn.  Failure to plan.  But I have to admit that this theater’s popcorn is way better than the big chain’s, even though they probably use the same unhealthy oils.  Just fresher.

I didn’t phone the doc yesterday, so I’ll do that today.  I also need to follow up w/ the podiatrist re my orthotic - it’s been over 3 weeks now.  Hope they’re not holding it up because I didn’t pay my co-pay from my initial visit, hah.  Need to get that paid.

Today I brought another batch of old bank statements with me on the train.  I got a whole seat to myself on the upper level and went through the whole batch.  With these old statements, it’s pretty easy to go through them.  The statements will all be shredded.  As for the other stuff - at that time, I was still getting my cancelled checks back, so I flip through those.  I jotted down the mortgage companies and the related loan numbers because I want to be sure I have the proper release paperwork in my safe deposit box.  In this particular year, the name of the mortgage company changed 3 times, but the loan # didn’t change!  Not sure what that was all about.  Another thing about these statements is that it was back when you only used your ATM card at an ATM machine, and it wasn’t a debit card to use for all your purchases.  So there were checks, and then there were ATM receipts and that was it.  It was a simpler time then…

Food hasn’t been very good this week.  I need to get back to logging it.  I also failed to buy any cheese sticks and almonds this past weekend, and I need that because I need some protein in the morning.  I suppose I could also boil some eggs. 

I need to get back to more frequent exercising.  My legs have always been strong, and they have some muscle definition, but at the same time they look very doughy.  In spite of doing more strength training, I’m not as physically fit as I was when I did Jazzercise.  I sorely need more cardio activity than the 25-30 minutes of cycling/walking I do during my commutes to/from work.  I’ve come to realize that those sweaty Jazzercise workouts really helped my circulation and my skin, eliminated toxins. 

Nothing planned for tonight.  Shame.  I should be saying I’m going to the gym. 

I’m eating lunch at my desk (rf salami & cheese on rye).  I got to work a bit late today.  I woke up at 3 am and didn’t get back to sleep until after 5 am.  I’d gone into the living room because I was sick of tossing and turning in bed.  I flipped channels for a while and finally fell asleep on the sofa.  Without my alarm, I overslept by over an hour.  Not sure how I’ll feel by the time the workday is over.  May or may not feel up to the movie tonight, but it starts early, so I’ll probably still go.

Yesterday was nothing special in the evening.  I didn’t go to the gym, and we didn’t have tacos for dinner.  I had leftover pizza.  Not a stellar food day, and I haven’t finished logging it. 

This lung thing is still bugging me (but it’s not what made me wake up at 3 am).  I used the inhaler over the weekend, and I no longer have that ticklish sensation when I breathe.  But I still feel like I need to swallow, and when I do, I’m just swallowing air.  So weird and annoying.  I’m supposed to phone the doc today to tell him how I’m doing.  I’m going to tell him what I just wrote here, and then I’m going to tell him I’m stopping the inhaler and will see how I feel at the end of the week before doing anything further.  Bf is urging me to see a specialist, but I’ll just wait this week and then get a recommendation if I don’t feel better.   

I brought some old bank statements on the train with me and went through the receipts.  They are so old the ink on them is fading, but I do want to hang onto some of the receipts that are for things like home furnishings, etc.   Thankfully, most are just receipts for groceries, dinners out, and gas and I can just shred/dump them.  I dunno.  At some point I might actually video the contents of the house and have  receipts for some sort of home inventory just in case I need it for insurance purposes.  My friend lost everything in a house fire in June of ‘08 and her home still isn’t rebuilt.  Anyway, I’ve got a lot more of those statements to go through, but if I stick with it, it’ll eventually get done.  I just need to avoid feeling like I could get it done quicker if I did it all in one sitting at home instead of in dribs and drabs on the train.  This has happened in the past and the problem is I don’t do it at home. 

Okay, enough rambling.

Good Morning all.  Not much to report.  The weekend was alright.  Friday dinner was pizza.  Half was veggie.  Need to keep doing that, and then I just eat one piece with meat from the other side.  BTW, the paper actually had an article on pizzas sliced in wedges (very east coast) vs. squares (a midwest thing, I guess).  Ours was squares and I had six pieces and that includes a couple of the small “corners”, not that a round pizza really has corners, but that’s what you get when you cut it in squares.  Golly, I’m rambling.  Saturday morning the scale showed me down a couple pounds from Monday.  

Saturday was nothing much, but I did some laundry and watered the garden a bit.  Lunch was outdoors, had a turkey club and tater tots.  Afternoon was vacuuming what hair I could off of the dog’s 3 beds and 2 comforters, removing the inside pillows/filling and hauling the covers and comforters to the laundromat.  Glad that’s done.  Really should have done it a month ago when we bathed the dog. 

In the evening we went over to our village’s downtown summer event.  Live music, booths, food, etc.  Instead of eating food there, we went to a nearby restaurant for a drink and dinner.  Not that we ate any better than we would at the fest - we had beer and a sausage sandwich.  We never did find a couple who told us they were there - they didn’t have a cell phone.  Too many people to pick them out. 

One interesting thing we did was stop in at a women’s fitness facility down the street.  We had a nice chat with the owner.  A very cute little place, but it has everything you’d need - cardio and strength machines (including several versions of a total gym type machine), free weights, a class room area, locker room, sauna…nice.  Very close to home, but again there’s the limitation with the evening classes.  I guess I know by now what I need.

Meeting time - I’ll add more later.

Meeting and lunch are done (lunch was turkey sandwich and chips). 

Don’t want to work today. Monday’s are bad for me.  During the meeting (employee quarterly meeting), I was writing up some personal to do lists.  I hate that I don’t complete these projects on the weekend.  My list is mainly concerned with purging all the paper in the house.  I have some sort of hangup about that.  For instance - mortgage and refi paperwork from my condo (sold) and from the current house.  I think I just need to make sure I have the release paperwork for them and then I wouldn’t need to keep those papers or all the cancelled checks.  That’s the kind of thinking through I need to do to be able to “let it go”. 

Yesterday I didn’t do much at all.  I did want to go canoeing, but we got a late start and didn’t go.  We did some grocery shopping and exchanged our two empty propane tanks for full ones.  Evening was tv.  I have decided that I haven’t seen any pajamas at the store that I like, and I also want a sewing project, so I looked online at some patterns.  I found one I like and Joann is going to have a pattern sale starting Thursday, so I hope I can get that pattern then.  Otherwise pattern prices have gone up a LOT since I last purchased one!  I can’t believe the one I want is $15.95!!  Supposedly the sale is all Simplicity patterns for $1.99, so I hope I can get this one.  I have two pieces of yard goods from eons ago that I can use for some pajama pants.

Since touring that cute little gym the other night (not more than 6-7 blocks from the house), I’ve been thinking of what my next move will be as far as exercise.  I’m still thinking that classes are my best bet - specific place and time, an instructor and classmates to motivate me - I need that.  I’m going to revisit the park district offerings.  I wish Jazzercise were an option, but I tried it and just the thought of that one instructor - overbearing, and way too LOUD - I can’t do it.  And besides, there’s now some kind of joining fee, and monthly fees are now $40! 

Okay, have to do some work today, so I’ll save this again.

Yay - Friday!! :) 

Just got back from the doc and have about 15 min before I leave the house to get the train. 

Doc checked ears, nose, throat, thyroid, tummy.  Listened to my heart and lungs.  Found/heard nothing.  Didn’t discount what I was feeling, just didn’t come up with anything.  Options were to do nothing for about a week and see what happens, use an inhaler to help w/ inflammation, get a chest x-ray.  He admitted the chest x-ray likely would show nothing.  I decided to try the inhaler for the weekend.  Lying down, I feel this funny sensation more than when upright.  This doesn’t keep me from doing anything, including exercising and sleepig and I’m not in pain or having shortness of breath, so I’ll just do the inhaler, see if it helps and call the doc back early next week as instructed. 

Yesterday was okay.  Food was alright.  All logged in TDP.  The doc office’s scale, fully clothed w/ shoes, showed a lower weight than Monday, but I’m not going by that.  Linda - I agree the hunger is probably from lack of protein, since I haven’t eaten any w/ breakfast, and have skipped morning snacks this week (because I usually eat an early lunch), and so the only protein through early afternoon is the amount from lunch, which included a couple salads w/ chicken and a couple Subway sandwiches (turkey, chicken).  This weekend I’ll go shopping and buy some cheese sticks, and I have some cottage cheese in the house.  I think I’ll get some almonds too.

Nothing scheduled for this weekend  - yesss! 

Okay, better get this published and pedal over to the train.

Not feeling wonderful today.  Ever since my bike ride two Sundays ago, my lungs haven’t felt right.  I experienced some wheezing that first night only, but I still feel something’s amiss.  I have a call into my dr’s office.

Yesterday went okay at work.  I wasn’t as productive as I could have been, especially after I was affected by network problems mid-afternoon. 

Food was alright.  I was hungry too soon after lunch (salad at McD’s).  My snacks (orange & watermelon) helped a little bit, but not completely.  I ate a piece of wheat toast w/ peanut butter before bf and I went to the gym.  We only exercised 45 minutes, but better than nothing.  Dinner was leftover baked mostaccioli.  Everything was entered into TDP.

Had two meetings today, all done.  Finishing up the 2^nd major project, as well as a couple more loose ends with the 1^st project.  Now along comes the 3^rd project – learned of it yesterday.  Unfortunately the deadline falls right after one of the two weeks I was considering for a week’s vacation in August.  Maybe I should shoot for vacation the week following the deadline.  Sigh. 

Almost lunch time.  Nothing planned.  Maybe Subway.  Snacks are cottage cheese and watermelon.  I feel like doggy and I are eating that whole melon on our own because bf has only eaten a couple small wedges of it.  Next time, I’m only buying a half. 

Nothing planned for tonight, except maybe a dog walk.  I’ve asked bf to thaw some chicken for dinner. 

That’s about it for today. 

Pretty nice day out there.  On the cool side, but we’ve had some sun the past couple days, so I’m fine with the cooler temps. 

Yesterday’s food was alright, and all logged into TDP. Linda - I think a food logging software package would be good, but I’d have to have it on a cell phone or something because I enter info at both work and at home (and it would be nice to do it during my daily commute).  I’m totally behind the curve on all technology because I don’t invest any time into learning it, so I’m not in the market yet for something that would reside on a cell phone or iPod or whatever gadget is out there to accommodate such software…

Not tracking water in TDP yet.  I should start doing that too.  Speaking of water… when people lose weight, that first week, people always seem to say the loss is mostly water weight.  Now why is that?  If someone’s definitely eating fewer calories, it should be a “real” weight loss, shouldn’t it?  Just curious. 

But it’s too early into the week to be predicting a weight loss!  Renee, re your comment - my weigh in Monday morning was about 6 (!!) pounds higher than the weight I’ve been maintaining the past several years and two pounds higher than the highest weight I had previously recorded almost 4 years ago (I have a spreadsheet I’ve kept for about 5 years).  Not good, but I guess a wake up call was in order. 

Weight loss concerns aside - one of the movie/book club women has been bringing a yummy almond cake to some of our gatherings.  We all wanted the recipe for the cake, but she insisted we needed the special cake pan to bake it in – an oblong pan w/ a half-moon shape.  I did a quick search on this, and the cake is some kind of Scandinavian tradition. The organizer that she is, she’s placing a group order for the pans, so I told her to order one for me too.  Not sure what occasions I’ll be baking this cake for – not like I’ll be able to bring it to any of the book club, movie, or game night gatherings!  And thankfully I don’t do a lot of baking just for myself and bf.  I know all too well that bf will have one serving of something and promptly forget all about it, leaving the rest to tempt me. 

The movie “My Sister’s Keeper” was better than I thought it would be.  Definitely a tearjerker!    All the previews I saw last night for upcoming movies are movies I want to see.  Especially the one “Julie and Julia”, with Meryl Streep as Julia Child.  “The Time Travelers Wife” looks good too.  I think I’ll read the book before seeing it.  There’s also a Martin Scorsese movie called “Shutter Island” with Leonard Dicaprio that looks creepy and scary. Looking forward to them since it seems like there haven’t been many movies that I’ve really liked lately. 

Tonight needs to be the gym.  I’m feeling all creaky and need to move more.  I had lunch w/ a gf yesterday and we talked about exercise.  We both had taken Pilates classes and liked them very much.  Even though I’m pretty certain I’ll renew with the gym later this year, I might just take the Pilates classes at the park district again.  As long as I go to the classes, it’s not a waste. 

Okay, I better get back to work.  And I want to check the library’s catalog for “The Time Traveler’s Wife” and reserve it if I need to. 

The new admin called in sick today, so I have a bit of privacy today.  Not that she’s overly interested in what I’m doing, but still.  It’s nice. It’s a nice day outside so far, but supposed to cloud up later on. 

Yesterday food was okay, and I managed to get everything logged into TDP.  The site can be slow, so I expect frustration will be coming.  But I will carry on.  I need to do better with water today. 

I didn’t go to the gym last night.  Instead I set up some bills for payment online and then took the dog for a walk w/ bf. 

Today I’m meeting a gf for lunch.  We’ve decided on Corner Bakery.  I can get a salad there, but it will be a challenge not ordering a panini instead – I love those things!  I brought watermelon, rf wheat thins, and a wedge of laughing cow for snacks. 

Tonight will be the movies.  We’re seeing “My Sister’s Keeper”.  It’s not getting the greatest reviews and I’m not a huge Cameron Diaz fan.  Now I’m sort of wishing I’d gone to see Public Enemies last week and skipped this week. But at least it’s under 2 hours, lol.  I sometimes struggle with movie nights.  First off, I don’t really want to go every week.  I guess that’s not such a struggle for me anymore – instead of voting, I just say I’m skipping and that’s that.  The struggle is when I want to go and there’s nothing good (I want) to see – very tempting to skip on that basis alone, which makes me feel guilty because our “leader” will see anything (she just wants to get out of the house).  Oh well. 

Okay, too many interruptions.  I’m going to get this posted before there’s another one. 

I don’t have much time to recap the weekend – a long weekend for me, so I’ll try to keep this short.  I’ll start with this morning – another horrible number appeared on the scale.  Ugh.  I’m keeping The Daily Plate open for me to log my food.  I’m not good at all with logging food after work hours, but I’ll just need to work on that.  I’m not thrilled with something I consider akin to another job (okay, slight exaggeration), but it has helped in the past and so I need to do it. 

***

Thursday I changed clothes and left work about 15 min early.  I met bf by the stadium, and we found a place to have a drink and a burger before the show.  It rained briefly, but blew over, thank goodness – no rain during the concert.  The concert was fantastic – Billy Joel and Elton John.  It was a long concert – over 3 hours, so that was great.  I was tired by the time we got home, so my bike sat at the train station overnight.

Friday was my day off and I didn’t do much of anything.  The weather was very so-so.  I totally forgot about my bike at the train station, so it sat there overnight -again.  We had a late lunch (Italian), and stopped at petco afterwards.  They don’t have the food bowls or nylabones we want.  We’ll have to go online for those.  We bought some treats for doggy.  Our usual Walmart has been under construction/remodeling all summer, but it’s reopening on Aug. 5^th – YAY.  The other one in our area is a big zoo.  I imagine “ours” will be a zoo when it reopens, but hopefully it’ll be bearable after the newness dies down.  At night, I watched “What Not to Wear” and also the first 3 episodes of the first season of the Dead Zone on dvd from Netflix.  Bf and I liked that show, but we’d never seen the first couple seasons. 

Saturday was my hair appointment.  I had to ride my bike there, and I had to take the old one because the new one was still at the train, then the chain fell off on the way home.  Grrr.  Never happens in 8 years of riding it, but it happens now.  I guess it’s angry at me about being shoved aside for a newer model, lol.  I phoned bf and ranted (he gets blamed for everything) and he ended up retrieving my bike from the train.  Later in the day I bought what I needed for my book club snack.  I baked lemon bars.  Book club was fine.  We all disliked the book, but we discussed it, and “kid talk” was at a minimum, so I generally enjoyed myself. 

Sunday was not much of anything for half the day, but later I made a batch of brownies and brought that to my sister and BIL’s place (along with the leftover lemon bars), where bf & I went for a cookout.  We had a nice low-key time there. 

I brought watermelon to work for a snack.  Lunch will be subway.  Tonight will be the gym.