Good morning from snowy Pittsburgh! We got pretty close to two feet of snow this weekend and there's a winter storm watch posted for 6+ inches tomorrow. We're shoveled out for now but I just don't know where we could put any more snow! And with two feet of snow on the roof already, more makes me nervous.
But we're lucky because we never lost our power, though 100,000 people around here did. It truly makes me appreciate a warm house!
Like everyone else, I'll trek off to the grocery store today to stock up for this next snowstorm. Cat food and kitty litter are priorities! The street in front of our house has one lane plowed but I haven't ventured out since Friday, so travel should be interesting. I hope to get to the gym, groceries, and get a few errands done before hibernating for round 2!
My weekend exercise was shoveling, more shoveling, and even more shoveling. The only muscles that got sore were my forearms, which I know are relatively weak, and my abs. Abs? I was trying to figure that out and then realized that shoveling is a classic full body exercise that requires a lot of core strength and stabilizing muscles. It's the total opposite of doing an exercise on a machine with core support that uses one isolated muscle group. So I guess I should be saying -- bring on the snow?
So that's life in cold, snowy Pittsburgh! How was your weekend? Who else got snow? Allison, want to give us the sun report?
I had a most excellent day yesterday and will have an excellent week this week.
I've been OP for 5 days and am under my red line again, for the first time this year for both things .
The slow cooker meal was good. I went to yoga in a reasonably relaxed state, knowing I didn't have to rush home to start scrambling for dinner.
The yoga class was amazing. It's called "restorative" yoga and that's what it did for me. I came out of it totally relaxed and calm. I made an effort to remember that state (it happens so seldom in day to day life for me) and will try to recall that memory whenever I get stressed this week.
Good morning! I am so happy to live in the south! Gym and grocery are on my agenda for today, too.
My son is still coughing but I am sending him to school. His birthday party is Saturday (at home! What was I thinking?) and then Sunday is Valentine's Day. Anyone have any special plans?
We had a nice weekend, although more rain than we had expected. DH wasn't feeling well Saturday so I got to do all the errands. He did the laundry, so it's all good!
We finally convinced our son to try Krav Maga class which is offered at his Karate dojo. It's the fighting system of the Israeli army. He liked the first class although it put him through quite a workout. I hope he'll continue, but really, that means more driving for me!
I think I've got my head around my dilemma (weight loss wise). I am going to continue with my morning super workouts (45-60 minutes treadmill OR 20-30 minutes elliptical) and combine it with a 1 hour walk each evening while watching Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy! That will be a more leisurely walk as I don't want to have to shower twice a day! But just moving will be better than sitting in front of the tv like I usually do. I'll let you know how it's going later.
My talk at the conference this weekend went well, and I got a big pile of resumes at the career fair. Got some networking done too. Unfortunately while I was driving down (in the middle of the snow storm) a chunk of ice hit my windshield and put a little ding in it. Irritating! I'm just glad that it wasn't worse though -- the sound of it hitting was so loud I thought someone was shooting at my car! DH is getting it taken care of for me.
My eating this weekend went off track with the conference (where I ate pretty well, actually) and a superbowl party. Back on track today.
Dagmar, glad your yoga went well!
Ward, good luck with the birthday party!
Allison, an extra hour of walking sounds great. If I had a treadmill at home I would totally do that!
No big V-day plans here. We're going out the following weekend to the symphony though so that will be our belated celebration (with fewer crowds!). This weekend I'm going to a jewelry party at a coworker's house (I'm not a big fan of parties where people sell you stuff, but I haven't met her dogs yet so I totally want to go to her place to see them! ), then there is a gallery walk at some local art galleries that should be fun.
I'm trying to put together a new workout schedule. I'm kind of annoyed because just when the sidewalks and paths finally got clear enough to run on them, we got another big pile of snow with more in the forecast. I brought my gym bag to work today and I'm planning to run on the treadmill at lunch time. Treadmill running is so horribly boring though! Ugh.
Sun report from Florida - it's pretty nice here, high's in the 50's, lows in the 30's-40's. After our cold snap in January it all feels warmer. I really enjoyed cleaning up the porch a bit and weeding the garden in the sun yesterday. My DS & her DH are at my parents in PA dogsitting (Mom & Dad are at a job interview in N Carolina), and were glad they were there b/c their place in DC was out of power all weekend. It looked very nasty on the weather channel. Stay warm everyone up there!
I've got a cold that might be changing into something worse... but I don't want to leave work because that will mean I have to also skip my book club tonight, and I don't want to miss my book club 2 months in a row! Silly I know, but I have so much fun with the girls. I was going for the "following your normal routine is better for minor illness" effect but the way I feel now I definitely shouldn't go to the gym. It's always something.
I did lay low at home most of the weekend, sleeping quite a bit. I got some minor cleaning that needed to be done, done (my fish were really happy I cleaned their tank), and started my tomato plants that will live indoors for another month. BF built another garden bed frame for me and hopefully compost will come this week. We watched "the Hangover" from Netflix Friday and it's really funny, if anyone's looking for a movie to rent. I did work out Sat. AM (felt a lot better then) but need a kick in the rear that being a little sick isn't an excuse to eat extra food.
Ward, my BF and I usually don't do more than eat a nice dinner together, and maybe I'll light a candle. He's always so broke this time of year he doesn't want to celebrate, and since we do celebrate our anniversary in the summer I don't mind a lack of Valentine's day. This year I told him fixing up my garden beds and installing new faucets was very romantic to me (I have weird priorities ).
Allison, extra movement can't hurt! I know for me that watching TV makes me want to eat, so I've got to do something else to stay busy. If I had any room I'd move the treadmill to the TV. I hope your son likes his new class.
Dagmar, I'm glad you enjoyed the yoga class, and being less rushed for dinner, so much!
Meg, good luck stocking up and staying warm. Shoveling is a great workout! Burns lots of calories!
I am so glad I live where it doesn't snow. I am complaining about the cold and the high is in the 50s and the low in the 30s. I would never make it back East where I was born.
Loved the Hangover Megan! Hope you feel better!
Dagmar-- so glad to hear you in such a good place both mentally and physically. It sure feels good.
Hi everyone else. I'm not going to type too much because I'm having major eye issues which is limiting my computer time. I am pretty much terrified. I've mentioned before that I have Graves Disease and Graves Eye Disease but my symptoms have been minor. The symptoms have ramped up and I'm having major troubles seeing. I'm seeing double and it is driving me crazy. I've made another appointment to see the specialist for Friday. I'm pretty sure he is going to put me on steroids to reduce the inflammation (the muscles behind the eyes are inflamed) and I really don't want to do steroids due to the side effects (weight gain specifically). I may need eye surgery so I'm going to try to get more info.
I also came back from Disney (chaperoning dd's choir). Trip was fun (with 150 kids!) but it was cold and rainy and I am sick now. Haven't been to the gym since Thursday and probably not going to make it until Wednesday as I work late tomorrow.
Today is dd's 15th bday and my dh has to work very late all week so I promised I'd take her to dinner. I don't even want to go because it is hard to drive, and I don't feel well. Oh well.
On top of that, my car is one of the Toyotas that is recalled so I'm not thrilled driving (bringing to the dealer Saturday) and I got a letter from the mortgage company saying our payment is increasing by almost $700 a month. I sat on hold twice for 30 min. each time and gave up. I'm trying to figure out what changed to cause the increase. So, I'm not too happy of a camper today but trying to think of something positive. Let's see.... my weight was actually down today but I'm suspecting it will be back up tomorrow after eating out today. Hopefully the week will improve.....
Hooray! Glad I can post a happy follow up to my last message!! I finally got a hold of the mortgage company and our payment did not go up-- in fact it went down just a bit. We have a complicated mortgage and they report the amount due in a strange way but I got it worked out! So glad. I was really panicking. Now if I can just get my eyes figured out. I can't really do my job if I can't see.....
michelle glad to hear the mortgage confusion got sorted out.That must have been quite a scare!
and take it very easy with your eyes...the immune system benefits from rest. I would gladly put life on hold for a couple of days to avoid eye issues later on.
michelle Sounds like you were having the worst day! Glad you got the mortgage sorted out. Hope you can avoid the steroids for the eyes but, if it's a choice between your vision and gaining weight . . .
I had a small setback last night. Sometimes (I'm being a drama queen here) living with my DH is like being underwater, swimming for the surface. I break through momentarily (like on Sunday) to light and air and happiness, and then am dragged under again (like last night). He is in a really bad place right now and he wants me to be there too.
I can't do that any more. I'm going to tell him I have to look for the positive in life and I'm going to suggest ways for him to do the same. We've been together for a long time (it'll be 14 years next month) and, if we're going to be together for the next 14 then I have to start making changes that he has to be on board with. He doesn't have to make the changes with me but he risks being left behind if he's not supportive of them.
His birthday is this Friday. I will put this discussion away until my birthday next month. That will be a good way to open it - by discussing how I'm trying to change, rather than insisting he do so.
Thanks for letting me vent here! I'm back reaching for the light today!
Dagmar Your DH sounds like he is in a depression. Is he seeing a professional about this? WTG to look for the positive. I heard this great motto recently: "pain is inevitable, suffering is optional"
Dagmar Your DH sounds like he is in a depression. Is he seeing a professional about this? WTG to look for the positive. I heard this great motto recently: "pain is inevitable, suffering is optional"
back to work,
rabbit
Great motto! And no, DH doesn't "believe " in any kind of doctors so he refuses to see anyone assoicated with any kind of medical discipline. I've tried to talk to him about that but run up against a wall every time. He can be difficult to live with sometimes.
Michele, I hope you feel better soon, both from your illness and your vision problems! What a relief about the mortgage though. Ours always sends us these ridiculous things that say stuff like "You are $1 short in escrow!" but when we talk to them it's always a mistake on their part. Have you considered refinancing to a simpler mortgage?
Megan, feel better soon! DH just found out that the coworker he was in meetings with all day yesterday came down with a stomach flu today, so we're crossing our fingers we don't catch it.
Dagmar, living with a depressed husband is tough. At least my DH acknowledges that he has depression, and I made him agree before we got married that if I ever decided that it was bad enough, he would see a professional. He also avoids doctors, even though his dad is one! He mostly doesn't want to take any medications, and his parents made him see a psychologist when he was a teenager and he felt like it was useless so he has no interest in doing it now. We keep it under control with diet and exercise most of the time. When he has episodes, sometimes I can get him out of it by forcing him to get out of the house and do something or getting him to eat something (when he is depressed he claims he's not hungry), but then sometimes there are those days where I just have to let him sit and stew and I go out shopping so I don't have to deal with it. Usually he feels better after sleeping all day.
I'm working from home today as we're getting more snow. It wasn't too bad when I got up, but it's been coming down pretty steadily all day so far and it isn't supposed to stop until tomorrow. On the one hand, I love working from home because I get to snuggle the dog on the couch all day and listen to music without headphones. On the other hand, my connection over our VPN is so slow that it makes it really painful to get any work done.
Dagmar, would your DH be interested in reading on the subject? I used "feeling good" by David Burns and I consider it the best 7$ I ever spent.
It has a self test that revealed to me that I wasn't just feeling lousy and tired and disfunctional, tha tthe world was treating me unfairly and nothing could make it better, but that I was ill, that the illness was called depression and that it was treatable. HUGE revelation to me at the time, and immensely helpfull.
peeking in... I have been busy with work and my new relationship, but I need to get back to working out!! I will read posts and check in this evening or tomorrow morning with a workout report =)
Maintainers Chat: February 8 - 15
We're shoveled out for now but I just don't know where we could put any more snow! And with two feet of snow on the roof already, more makes me nervous.
and will have an excellent week this week.
.
for me) and will try to recall that memory whenever I get stressed this week.
), then there is a gallery walk at some local art galleries that should be fun.
peeking in... I have been busy with work and my new relationship, but I need to get back to working out!! I will read posts and check in this evening or tomorrow morning with a workout report =)
