laura705

Feeling whiney and grumpy today. 

Weekend was alright.  Shopped some sales for groceries and household stuff since the list was long.  Not sure that I actually bought enough to really have food in the house (the 4 cans of soup don’t count).  I need to get into a shopping routine - read the sale flyers, plan meals, make a list, see if I have any coupons to use, then do the shopping. 

The part about this is what makes me grumpy - bf won’t bother with sales and coupons.  He just runs out for what we need. Sure, a sale on something we’re buying is good, but he won’t go out of his way to look for a sale and maybe stock up on a sale item.  So if I don’t do it, it doesn’t happen.  As it is, his idea of shopping is mostly hitting the deli.  Maybe that’ll be his job, getting what he wants from the deli.  That and maybe making the Trader Joe’s run. 

Skipped exercise class on Saturday and went to a Zumba class on Sunday.  Totally different instructor than the usual two.  And she was alright, except when she faced the front of the classroom (back to the students), she stood in the first row of students.  I was in the 2nd row off to the side.  It made it hard to follow her moves.  Jeez.  I get it when instructors don’t want to be on the stage, and I don’t mind when they get on the floor with us.  But stand in the front for Pete’s sake. 

I’m in a rut w/ the passport classes so I might not do any next session.  Gasp!!  I might just take Pilates on Mon/Wed and be done with it.  Or…they now offer a combo passport of 5 spin classes and 5 passport classes.  Curious about the spin classes at this facility.  When I took my one and only spin class at Bally’s, I for some reason felt obliged to go whole hog and that resulted in seriously sore quads for a WEEK.  Maybe I should take just one class before committing to 5.  If the instructors don’t offer modifications for newbies, I wouldn’t bother.  At one point, it was announced that we could take a spin class for two punches on our passport, but I think that was just a limited time offer… Eh, the mood I’m in today, I’m sort of ready to get out of my rut and stop the passport classes altogether for now.  Might just nag bf to take me to his gym as his guest and play with the cardio machines there.  They also have a separate section of equipment specifically set up for circuit workouts.  That interests me. 

Circuit class didn’t happen last night because bf was using the car.  Nor did I do an at-home workout.  I was wiped out.  That Pilates class I take isn’t the kind of exercise that leaves me sweaty and exhausted, but I can sure tell I’m working!  So the next afternoon I usually feel  some muscle fatigue.  And yesterday I also got out at lunchtime and walked, so I guess the soreness and all that fresh air & walking took it out of me. 

BTW, I finally remembered to wear my pedometer all day and I had 10,360 steps for the day.  Hoping to do more walking at lunchtime today since it’ll be in the 40’s again.  Maybe a different route though.  I stopped at a couple mini-mart type places during my walk, and at both, the deli was closed, and so I had to wait until I got back in the area by my office to buy my lunch (soup & sandwich).  That area where I walked is a bit of a no-man’s land, but I’d thought it was sort of coming along devopment-wise, but it seems the economy hasn’t been very kind to it the past year. 

Later today:

No walking at lunch.  It was windy out and I just didn’t feel like walking in it.  Of course once I got past the building formerly known as the world’s tallest, I realized that said building was probably causing the wind.  But by then I’d already made my decision not to walk.  So I only went a couple more blocks, over to a lunch place for a sandwich.  Steps are at 5,131.

Almost 3 pm.  C’mon weekend!!

Another Thursday that feels like it should be a Friday.  But I actually have quite enough to do at work, so I should be grateful for another day to get it done!

Well, I have nothing much to report. I finally received my new Margaret Richard workout dvd in the mail - I’d pre-ordered it and it took a while for the editing, etc. to be completed. That’ll be fun to try. Maybe I’ll do that tonight. Or not.

It was doggie’s b-day yesterday - 9 years old.  Bf decided to buy him a deer antler.  Yup, I guess that’s becoming a popular dog treat now.  Doesn’t sound good to me, but doggie sure liked it.  And we heard they are safer than bones from the butcher, which our vet told us many years ago were not safe because they could splinter.  So, doggie was still happily chewing away at it when I went to bed last night.  Bf was gonna give him a bit more time with it and then take it away because we could tell he was getting tired but that he didn’t really want to stop, LOL.

I’ve been thinking some more about getting more done around the house on the weekends. My conclusion- as I mentioned yesterday - was that after I go to my Saturday morning exercise class and go home to shower, most of the morning is gone and I don’t want to dig into a dirty project right after I’ve showered, or start a big project when lunch is just around the corner, lol. I’ve decided I might change up my Saturday routine and do a non-cardio workout at home on Saturday morning and then get right into the chores.

And maybe Friday nights would be a good time to get some shopping done. Not exactly what I have in mind after a week of work, but it seems like a good way to avoid all the Saturday crowds. That’s the thing that keeps me away from this one market we like - the weekends there are just crazy.  I suppose I might just get bf to go along with it if there’s the promise of having some dinner out after the shopping, lol.  

That said, I might just go to a Circuit class tonight so I can give the new routine a whirl this weekend.

Nothing much to report. 

Food hasn’t been very good.  Not much snacking at night, but I’ve fallen back into the bad habit of buying snacks during the workday.  For being somewhat thrifty/frugal, I’m sure if I added up what I spend on snacks and lunch im a week, I would not be happy.  Sounds like a good exercise to undertake for a few weeks.   It would be a win-win to bring my snacks from home because they are healthier and cheaper.

My last exercise class was Pilates a week ago.  Otherwise it’s been my walking during my commute (when I haven’t been picked up and dropped off by bf), dog walks, and some pool exercise last Saturday.  Tonight will be Pilates.  I might try and get to a class on Thursday night too.  Have to see how far behind I am on my fitness punch card - the session will be ending before I know it!

Saw the movie War Horse last night and liked it.  Bf did too, and so did the rest of our group (there were 6 of us last night).  I was braced for sad parts, and there were definitely some scenes that were hard to watch, but it was a good movie, and a lot of heartwarming parts to it.  Glad I saw it.

Well, big meeting coming up (all employee), so I better get ready to walk over to it. 

Update:

Meeting was fine.  Paid the cell bill at lunch.  Wrote out two checks today and mailed them.  I write so few checks now - it’s usually/maybe 2 checks in two months.  And I just ran out of stamps - another thing that doesn’t happen too often these days. 

Money’s been tight the past couple weeks, so now our shopping list, which I updated this morning, is very long. 

Feeling in a rut at the moment.  All of a sudden I want to be taking care of stuff at home - cleaning, organizing, filing, doing my taxes, shopping, painting.  I’m not sure what happens at the weekend that makes me never get anything that needs doing done.  I think it might be my routine (such that it is).  I go to an exercise class on Saturday morning first thing and after that comes a shower.  After that I’m clean!  Who wants to dive into dirty jobs when they’ve just showered, LOL.  And really, is it all that dirty?  Dusting, vacuuming, going through the mail, filing paperwork.  No.  So that’s just a lame-o excuse.  Those things aren’t like doing yard work, or heavy duty scrubbing like maybe the tub and tile.  So really - no more excuses. 

My weekend was very nice, just what I needed.  Friday, after I gave the software project conversion person the go ahead for the final conversion, became so much more pleasant, lol. But I was still busy as heck and didn’t get my lunch until nearly 2 pm.  The best part is that the timing worked great because with the conversion going on, we couldn’t access the new software to do anything and so my weekend jaunt didn’t cause any problems.  The boss left a bit early because of the snow, but I was busy and barely made my train. Back at home, I got myself packed and bf dropped me back at the train for my trip to my friend’s place.  We stopped on the way to her place so I could eat dinner, and then we kicked back and chatted.  Her sis is now living with her, as are her sis’s cat and two GIANT dogs. Wished I had more time to play with those two – so cute. 

We got on the road semi-early Saturday and arrived at our destination before 10:30 am.  It was nice we were able to check into our hotel room early.  We didn’t do any touristy stuff to speak of, except we did at least take the short drive to one major sight to see.   Definitely want to return again with my bf in the summer to explore some more. 

What we did do was some shopping, lunch, and some more shopping.  I didn’t get much except 4 casual tops that were on clearance.  After that, we met two more friends in town for the visit and shot the breeze for a bit before dinner.  Then it was dinner, hanging out in the hotel whirlpool & pool, more chat, and breakfast the next morning.  We didn’t do anything special or eat anywhere special, but it was just what I needed, when I needed it. 

Ha, and the timing worked great from another perspective: BF bought a one-year old desktop computer and spent a huge chunk of Friday and Saturday transferring everything over.  What a job!  Except for a couple phone calls, I didn’t have to hear the usual rants about whatever issues he was encountering, LOL.  Bf had been complaining for a long time about how slow our old one was, but I’d been resisting the purchase of a new one because he was using his laptop a lot – why bother?  But for the modest amount that he paid for this newer one, it saved having to buy a new card reader compatible with that new memory card I’d bought on vacay last year (which didn’t work in our old card reader).  And the nice big monitor bf’s mom gave us when she sold her computer didn’t work right with our old computer’s video card, so we didn’t have to buy a new video card either – if one was even available.  And this new one’s got a lot of hard drive capacity, so there’s plenty of space for the big software programs bf’s got loaded on there.  I’ll admit it was a good move to replace that computer, and I’m glad I didn’t have to be involved with it!! 

Back home Sunday I continued my de-stressed weekend – about all I did was take doggy for a walk.  Otherwise, I just read some of the newspaper, watched the movie Margin Call on dvd w/ bf, watched a bit more tv, and then it was off to bed.    

The boss is out of the office this week, so that’s nice.  Plenty to do, especially get my workspace back in shape after being ignore for the past couple weeks. 

Work is still busy, but at least I’m seeing the light at the end of the tunnel on this project.  Not that it’ll be all done after the cutover – plenty more work to be done.  But it’s been interesting I guess.  Maybe it’ll be more fun if some of the stress is gone after go-live.

I had my performance review the other day.  It was fine, and so I guess I’m okay for another year if I don’t do anything too dumb.  Raise was stingy, but then again one has to do something “commendable” to get anything above the usual very mediocre average increase.  And to do that, the way things work at our company is that the manager needs to essentially screw over another employee to give another one a good raise.  The bright side is that there is a good bonus being paid out this year. 

Went to my Pilates class last night.  It was good.  I’m really wishing I’d taken the Monday Pilates class as well as the Wed.  I’m feeling very lazy this session.  My Pilates is only once a week and while it’s challenging to focus on working the core, it’s not a strenuous, sweat-inducing workout.  And I’m only doing one passport class per week.  The new park district catalog came in the mail yesterday, so I have to decide what I’ll do for the next session.  It will definitely be more!! J  I wish I could say that I had the self-discipline to do workouts at home during the week, but no.  I haven’t, not lately.  I’m pretty sure this is due to the mood I’m in.  This big project at work is stressing me.  I’m not necessarily working many more extra hours, it’s just working against the deadlines (one project team member is pregnant w/ a due date a little over a week away, and the old software goes bye-bye at month end).  So anyway, I’m all “poor me” and then I go home and sit on the sofa all night watching tv.  I’ve had a cold the past week, so that just compounds the self-pity.  In reality, I always feel better after working out, so I should be pushing myself to do a workout when I get home. 

On the bright side, I think I’ve finally (almost) gotten myself into the new routine of getting that earlier train in the morning.  It’s still tough to get myself together and get out of the house earlier, but most days of the week, I manage it.  Looking forward to the time when I take advantage of it and leave work a bit earlier!  It’s not mattering much to me right now, but maybe when the weather is nicer and it’s lighter in the evenings it will.  Heck, maybe this next park district session, I can make it to some of the earlier exercise classes!

Tonight is a hair appointment, thank goodness!  Not that I’m looking forward to sitting around for 90+ minutes after a full day of work, and with a wet head of foils to boot, but I’m two weeks overdue for my touch-up, and I need my haircut too.  I’m tired of my current (non-)style, but too chicken to do anything different, lol.  I also need advice on a new hair brush.  My old one seemed to start causing static, and it had lost a good number of bristles too), and so I bought a new one, but that one seems to have the bristles too close together, and I still have the static problem.   Maybe it’s just the dry air at work and home.  The salon just phoned and asked if I could move my appt up a half hour due to a cancellation.  Definitely!

Friday night I’m staying out by my friend’s house so we can get an early start on our mini-trip out of town on Saturday where we’re meeting four other people.  Looking forward to it. Except the part where they like to use the hotel pool.  Not really looking forward to getting into a swimsuit, plus I’ll have to shave, lol.  On the other hand, I could use it as an opportunity to get some exercise - walk the pool and do some other exercises.  Maybe even bring my goggles and try some laps…  This swimsuit thing should be motivation to be eating lighter this week, but no.  Some things never change. I’m not logging this week either.  And the scale is reflecting it.  Sigh.

Nothing much to really say.  Food hasn’t been good.  I’m stressed about this big project and so when I go to lunch I don’t make healthy choices, I go for the “treats” out of self-pity.  Lame.  As usual, my food logging dropped off on Friday night to nothing.

Not watching the Superbowl, and bf is at a friend’s place watching it. I just did about 90 min. of work.  That’s what I get for waiting until late on Sunday to do it.  I was going to do it this morning, but bf got up early and I just know he would have hassled me about it if I’d done it while he was home.  I gave up a few minutes ago because I got frustrated trying to look at two screens side-by-side on my small laptop screen. 

This weekend:

Friday - book club.  Alright. 

Saturday - circuit class, puttering, dog walk, lunch, shopping, “The Ides of March” on dvd

Today - reading, puttering, laundry, lunch w/ bf & his mom, dogwalk, reading, internetting, work.

So annoyed - at lunch yesterday I noticed my debit card had expired.  No replacement had been mailed, or shall I say, I didn’t get one in the mail.  WTF?!  Very inconvenient.  This on top of the electric bill I never received, the one where it was TRIPLE the usual amount.  Not happy seeing that amount hit my checking account (automatic payment) when I hadn’t even had a chance to mentally prepare myself for it, lol. 

Another busy workweek coming up.  I hope the schedule goes as expected this week because then there will be no project work for the weekend, which will fit in with my plans to go away over the weekend w/ my friend.  Otherwise I dunno.  Might have to bring home the laptop and do work when I get home on Sunday.  Whatever.  Still looking forward to it. 

Okay, off to watch a dvd. 

Nothing much to report.

Weekend had the usual activities – a circuit class, a couple dogwalks.  Went out Sat. night to dinner w/ bf and a friend (Greek food – yum), then went to see a couple bands.  One was awful, the other was better, but after sitting through the awful one, we wouldn’t have been thrilled with much of anything unless they were stellar.  Which they weren’t.  So we left shortly into the 2^nd band’s set.  I worked from home a few hours Sunday morning.  I did several loads of laundry.

I didn’t log my eating all weekend, but I picked it back up Monday.  Not that my choices have been very good.  Need to spend more time with meal planning and shopping.  On the bright side, I keep looking in the “snack cabinet” (it’s actually just a shelf in that cabinet) and not seeing anything that appeals, so I leave emptyhanded.  It’s my eating at work that’s not so good, given I’m buying lunch and snacks.  That leaves me with too many opportunities to make bad choices. 

I went to the movies last night.  There was a change of venue that I totally overlooked in the e-mail.  So the movie I went to see started 10 minutes earlier than I’d thought, and when I alerted a fellow movie group member, she pointed out the correct time at the correct theater, haha.  Oops.  But by then I’d purchased my ticket and wasn’t about to try and get a refund and/or go running off to the other theater (there was only a 10 minute difference in starting times anyway). 

So I watched the movie “The Iron Lady” by myself.  Meryl Streep was very good (as usual), as was the actor Jim Broadbent, who played her husband.  The movie itself was alright.  Given the time constraints, they didn’t delve into any part of her life into too much depth.  I think I would have gotten more out of it had I known more about Margaret Thatcher and Britain’s system of government and history.  I will make a broad generalization and say that I don’t think people in the US pay much attention to other countries, or rather certainly not as much attention as other countries pay to the US.  

That’s about it.  Going to my Pilates class tonight.  This is the 2^nd day that the muscles on the lower front of my calf/ankle are sore.  I’m stumped as to why.  First off, I haven’t been walking any more than I usually do, and nor have  I worn anything outside my usual group of shoes.  Huh. 

Nothing much to say.  But one thing did occur to me last night. 

Last week I made an appointment for my annual physical and at the time it didn’t even spur one of those thoughts that I should really try to lose a few pounds to make a good showing at the scale.  Let alone thoughts about trying harder to improve my diet, and that maybe a combination of weight loss, good eating, and exercise would help my bp. 

And so I have gotten - what’s the word - comfortable? complacent?  taking that bp med.  And my weight is stable and not in the decade I lingered in most of last year - the one that  (in my mind) is just one step away from not just being rather overweight to being really overweight. 

Really??  Nice attitude.  I’m still 30 pounds overweight.  Maybe I should pick that up and carry it around and see if I don’t think it’s f***ing heavy.  Heck, I’m complaining about lugging home my laptop and files, and those aren’t as heavy as that.  Yeh, 30 pounds is a lot of weight!  I take bp medication.  Who am I to think that I’m just doing this to satisfy my doctor and that I’m okay because I feel just fine.  To ignore all the medical studies that have been conducted for years and years and think that my personal situation doesn’t increase my risk for heart disease?  To think my genetics will carry me through?

What have I got to be complacent about or comfortable with?  What I’m doing right now isn’t good enough.  Just because it’s better than some, it’s not good enough for me. 

Haven’t posted much this week because I don’t have much to report. 

Eating has not been good.  I continue to log it though.  My weight dropped a couple pounds a couple days ago and blipped back up again this morning.  Not surprising. 

Went to Pilates last night.  Good class, but it was cold in there!  I didn’t take off my hoodie the entire time, and I kept my socks on.  I was rather chilled by the end of class. 

Work has been stressful - this big project on top of my regular work, including an icky mini-project for the boss.  I think that’s finally done, so maybe the next couple days will be better. 

I have about 60 more pages to read to finish the book club book.  I’m not really enjoying it, so I can’t wait to be done with it.  Last night after class I picked up the 3rd movie made from the Stieg Larsson novels.  I’ll watch it this weekend. 

The movie One for the Money, based on the first Janet Evanovich Stephanie Plum novel is supposed to be released this weekend.  I’ll have to check the critic’s reviews and see what they say about it.  Okay, I’m back.  There are no critic reviews out there yet.  Huh.  It’s not usually a good sign when a movie is not being screened for the media in advance.  I might just have to wait for the dvd.

Okay, enough blathering.  Time to get back to work.