Still not feeling up to much of anything. Weather is truly weird -- started the day with snow and freezing rain -- now as the sun is going down the temperature is sitting at 11C/52F.

Hi again. Hey Linda belated Happy Birthday. I did manage to get to the gym yesterday morning. It was great. I had had a good sleep the night before. Thanks for all your suggestions. And you are all right. It is a slow process that I need to work at. I suffer from post traumatic stress so I have to work at turning off the worry button.
Spiny sorry to hear that the weekends are so tough. Not sure if you have commitments at home but maybe find a walking group or biking if you can. Or a city tour that you can go on. We have an upbeat newpaper that is free here in the city called the Georgia Strait. It is always full of things to do.
Or you could volunteer somewhere. Say the hospital, visit the kids. I know it is hard when it is just easier to stay home but it will help.
This is a long week for some reason. Seems that the rain has returned and we were having such great sunshine.
I am going for an ozone sauna on Friday. Can't wait..
Talk to you later. huggs....Jude

If anyone likes dogs I know the SPCA always needs a hand. They like volunteers to walk the dogs. I used to have great conversations with my dog when we walked. lol...

Hello again everyone. Nice to have you check in, hijude! Those are good ideas. Also, the Humane Societies often need volunteers to pet the cats and give them some people time.

I'm so busy--it will be like this for another month--agh!

Went to the gym. I did seated leg presses (among other things). One set of 12 reps at 75 pounds, the next set at 90, and the final set at 105. Oh yes, I can feel that I worked those legs!

Jay

Spiny -
I think planning your weekends might help. WHATEVER you do - job, exercise, volunteer, sightsee, take a class - just give yourself some structure to your weekends.

That being said, don't discount your sadness and sense of loss. You need to work through those, and bottling them up in hopes that they will go away isn't the answer either.

jude - what is an ozone sauna?

Jay - you are doing GREAT work with those legs! WOW!!!!

Well it is a steam chest with your head sticking out and it mixes ozone with the steam from a container. You can google it. It helps people with arthritis and fibermyalgia etc but it also helps clear up your skin. It is great for your skin. I have scratchy itchy skin that was a menopause symptom and no one can clear it up. So I tried this and it works very well. So I am hoping to do one a week for a few weeks and get rid of it. Would be so nice. No doctor has been able to help me with it. The ozone takes away any stiffness you have in your joints etc. It is one of those me things I am doing for myself.
Later.....Jude

Good Morning . . .

It's snowing again . . . wonder what will happen over the course of the day today. I'm still feeling a bit "under par", but do feel like I will live. No place to go but up and at 'em.

CD - I love the tissuemouse! Yep, that's me on the weekends - the mouse needs a bottle of wine though.

Seems to me I remember hearing about KISS coming to Cadillac - in 1975 I was at Michigan State U so may have heard about it from someone who was from around there. I had a friend in college who knew Gene Simmons, so maybe it was from her. She actually liked him, too, as I recall. Maybe I would have liked him too if he lost the face paint and kept his tongue in his face.

Jude - the ozone sauna sounds great. I don't think we have those around here, but I'd like to try one.

Observation: my "balance" - in quotation marks because I really don't think I have any balance - is even worse without shoes. I just flop around during the balance parts of Chi Ball class in my bare feet but I was trying to do some of the poses with shoes on and it was a lot better. I guess I need to practice with shoes as a baby step.

I never learned any of that "girl" stuff that a lot of girls do when they are young, things that involve grace and cooridination like dance and baton twirling (how's that for a silly activity) and jumping rope and I could never even do stuff like play "tag" without falling down. (That's redundant. Falling... down.) I've got a long way to go to learn any of that balance and coordination stuff now. But I'm trying. (No, I'm not going to start baton twirling. I am using a Chi Ball instead.)

Jude - that sounds really nice. I don't think we have one around here either. Something to look for when we travel

Linda - I'm glad you are getting better - even if it is slowly! Hang in there - there is so much creepy crud going around right now - some folk are going from one flu to another.

Spiny - OMG - small world! I started MSU in the fall of 75. I stayed until spring 77 when I transferred to be with DH (BF at the time). What dorm were you in?
And - recommendation - DON'T take up baton twirling. Another one of my mother's ideas to help me be "popular". Not only was she a cheerleader - but a majorette too - UGH! I'm sure my taking up the French horn instead of continuing with baton lessons was a major disappointment for her. We laugh about it now, but when you are a chubby shy kid, walking down the middle of main street in a leotard next to a bunch of skinny little kids just isn't much fun or affirming.

Gotta run - I still haven't gotten my 2nd workout in for the day. Maybe Tae Bo? Hmm...

Wow, CD - we had MSU overlap! I was there from fall of 74 till graduation in spring of 78. Summers included. I was in Mason Hall, and could only hack the mandatory one year of dorm life, till I rented one of those student-ghetto houses with some friends, then I was in Elsworth House Co-op for the last two years. My 2nd home was Lizard's bar.
2nd workout of the day - now that is a concept for me to grow into. I feel virtuous to do one, but apparently it is not enough.
Baton Twirling for Popularity -- HA - what a concept! Or at least an amusing book title.
What was your mother thinking? Could she imagine the long-term rewards? "Hi, I used to be a baton twirler."

Holden Hall for me. BIL was in Holmes. I changed majors 3 times in 2 years. Started pre-vet, but while my grades were fine, I couldn't handle all of the unethical behavior from my classmates. Sabotaging lab results, stealing notes - anything to get ahead. Vet school was harder to get into than med school back then - especially Michigan State.
Changed to a religious studies major - 16 of us on campus. Loved it. But not very marketable, so changed to a religion minor and a social work major. Which is where I stayed until I graduated. It is a long boring saga of how I ended up as a technology coordinator for a school district. Our computer classes back then were running punch cards through a mainframe system - which took a whole building to house.

Oh, and I updated it for you

Hey! I see it's "Michigan reminiscence" here in Active Folks! Sorry, I have never been in Michigan... Although I know a lot about shipwrecks on the Great Lakes. And, I used to work for a banjo player from Michigan. He was from UP though.

Just checking in to and say hi. Back tomorrow for more excitement on the weight loss front.

Jay

Jay - the UP in Michigan is so unique. I'd like to go back to visit again.
CD - now the tissuemouse is perfect. Thanks for giving me something to smile at.
So whereas CD is getting in 2 workouts a day, and I am striving for one, how much do the rest of you do??

Generally I go for a walk in the morning, 30-45 minutes. In the afternoon I go to the gym. I do a cardio machine (or two) for 30-40 minutes and use the weight machines for 15 minutes (different parts of the body each day). This is every day. After four or five days in a row at the gym, I take a day off.

This is my new routine since I rejoined a "real" gym.

Jay

Morning . . . well I guess it's way too early for most of you to even think of calling it morning . . . but I couldn't sleep, so here I am.

March is supposed to be roaring in like the proverbial LION around here and the roaring is going to get louder and louder as the day progresses. Actually I think I prefer the nasty start to the month as long as it really means we will get to see the LAMB later on.