Good Morning

This morning I did an hour of cardio... and it was a well spent hour. I tried jogging, and went as long as I could, but when I wasn't jogging I was walking really fast at a high incline. It wasn't like I did anything new and crazy, but I felt really good while I was doing it, didn't hate every minute of it (I have felt this way recently), and when I was all done I really felt like I had accomplished something today. Especially after the pizza, breadsticks, and cake from last night... not to mention the glass of wine I had at 9:30 because when Don stopped at the store on his way home he decided he needed a glass of wine before bed and poured me one as well. Not that I objected. So if I can get in an hour of cardio tomorrow, two hours in on Wednesday (one of them being Pump) and another hour on Thursday morning, I should be in good shape for the fourth. This last week of work has put me in a good mood, so the workouts should kick some ass. I always work harder when I am happier.

Birthday Party

Today is my niece's birthday party. I'm pretty excited to watch her open her presents today, now that she's 3 she really understands birthdays and the presents that go along with parties. I worked my last Sunday today. It was very boring. And because I had to work and have the party to go to in about an hour, there is no time for working out. So, the next few days have to include some quality cardio, especially since my next chance for Pump is Wednesday. I'm hoping to get in 5 hours of workouts between Monday and Thursday. We'll see about the fourth of July, I don't know what time the party starts at Don's sister's house. One thing I do know is that I will probably not eat well that day. If it is hot I will eat less, but if it is that in-between temp where it is downright nice, I will pig out on things like doritos and hot dogs and cookies. This week is also filled with fun activities. After attending the open house for the Olympic swimming trials yesterday, Don and I decided to buy tickets for Wednesday's trials. I'm super excited about this, for some reason I love the Olympics and especially swimming. Since I probably won't ever have the chance to attend the Olympics in this lifetime, this is my one chance to see Olympians up close and personal. Then there is the 4th of July and the fun activities involved with that, and the next day we are going to Shakespeare on the Green. We can take a bottle of wine and some yummy, healthy snacks, and sit outside and enjoy ourselves.

Only 4 more days at Super Saver!! Yippee!

Square One

Looks like Don and I have to start all over again with the house search. The old lady hardly budged. Yesterday I was upset and today I'm just sort of angry. I know it's just a house, but it was my way out right now. I need to know when I'm going to move out of my parent's house and right now I feel like I never will. It's a little discouraging. Especially with the economy right now, If I'm going to be too poor to do anything or pay for the gas to get anywhere, I'd at least like to be stuck at home with someone I choose to be with rather than my parent's, whom I love, but I would rather visit them on my own instead of always trying to figure out how to spend less time with them so I can enjoy their company again.

What the Cheese?

I just ate half a jar of cheese dip because my anxiety is through the roof. This old lady couldn't reply to our offer until after her bridge game today, which was over at 2:00. First I had a doctor's appointment at 1:00 and had to wait 40 minutes in the waiting room and the only magazines to read were sports magazines.... It is a women's clinic!! Not that I believe women shouldn't be interested in sports and news associated with sports, but c'mon. I get home from the appointment at around 2:25. I drive by the house and there is a car in front of it, so clearly the lady is home from bridge. I distract myself for the next hour by watching the recorded season finale of Ugly Betty (yes, I just got to it, my parent's never seem to leave the house). No call. At 3:30 Don calls me to update me that he has received no phone calls. At 4:00 I head to the kitchen and pull out the chips (reduced fat) and the queso (not healthy in any way) and proceed to eat half the jar. It's not the biggest jar you can get, but I'm still pretty sure there was more than one serving in my one serving. Plus, I know if we get a good phone call we'll probably go out and celebrate with wine and food. I don't like waiting.

The Waiting Game

Well, we put an offer in this afternoon and should hear something back by noon tomorrow. I'm not good at sitting and waiting, especially at my parent's house where there is nothing to do. I don't want to go anywhere because I don't want to spend any money.... So I just sit and wait for tomorrow. I have no idea what is going to happen, the woman selling the house is old and I believe her agent is dumber than bricks. I'd go to the gym if I hadn't already gone today just to waste time. I did an hour of cardio this morning and it seemed to be difficult. But at least I did it. I haven't weighed myself in a very long time and tomorrow I have a doctors appointment and they are sure to put me on a scale. Hopefully it's not depressing! Shouldn't be, but in the afternoon it's hard to tell if my weight will have fluctuated due to food and water intake, etc. I'm just looking forward to getting this appointment over with!

House Hunting

Since Thursday I have worked out almost 7 hours. Yesterday I did not do much, but every other day has been filled with long, hard workouts. Which also means that my muscles are a little angry with me... I had taken a bit of a break before this workout surge. It's almost the 4th of July, which means swimsuits and also a lot of junk food. I need to be prepared for this!
Anyway, things are a little more interesting in other aspects of my life. Yesterday, Don and I went to an open house and for the first time we really liked it. Now, it is definitely not a nice, new, or redone home... It would take a lot of work to change things, but it is mostly cosmetic work that needs to be done. But the layout is just about what we want... Let's just say that the woman who lives there now is 85 and probably hasn't opened a window in the past 20 years or changed the wallpaper, light fixtures, or carpet in more than that. I felt like I was back in the 70's when we walked through. But, there are wood floors under the carpet in the bedrooms, which is a big plus, and a walk-in closet in the master. Nothing huge, but better than most. And the basement is unfinished, which is something Don really wants...and a laundry room on the main floor, which is something I really would like. We could really make this house nice over time. So we're doing some research and getting some things together, and if I have my way, we'll be putting in an offer this week. Houses in the areas we've been looking at have started to sell, and I don't know if I have it in me to keep hunting for the right find. We're both excited about this one, so I hope it works out. And now, since I'll be starting a full time job on July 7th, the extra money will really help out. It just seems like the right time. I'll keep everyone posted on what happens with the house this week. Maybe things are starting to move in the right direction? I hope I am not getting my hopes up too high!

The Moss Factor

Well, believe it or not, I should be starting a regular full-time job on July 7th. This is all assuming my background check goes through a-okay. This is also when I start worrying about Ms. Moss and how she has stained my life for as long as I will probably be alive. I also have to turn in a sheet with the info for doing the check and it has forced me to look up all of my past addresses because apparently this is required information. Luckily I had to do that background check last November for school and had a copy sent to me so I can forever remember all of the 10 addresses I have lived at since 1998. Oh the sweet memories. Anyway, the only information I will provide right now is that the job has a casual dress code (which is pretty awesome) and I can listen to music while I work. It's an entry level position but after a year there is a good possibility of moving up. I also had a really positive vibe about the place when I went to go interview.

Enough about that for now. Yesterday I almost did an hour of cardio, and today I went to the CWS after work. I will count the walk to and from the stadium as a small workout. Tomorrow, however, I am planning on hitting the gym, and hitting it hard. Thirty minutes or more of cardio and then Body Pump. Hooray! My body needs it.... Oh and with where my new job will be located it should be a pretty easy drive to the gym to make it to 5:30 classes after work. This makes me very happy because getting to the gym is very important to me (and going to classes forces me to get an actual hour of workout time in)....

I'm off to dream world now... Thank goodness because it has been a long day in what seems like a very long week. I am still very much looking forward to Saturday.

Is it Friday Yet?

It's only Tuesday, and I'm exhausted. I did make it to Pump on Sunday, and the lesson learned is that I cannot skip a week of that class again. I wasn't horribly sore from the class the next day, but I could definitely feel that there had been a break... I wanted to hit the gym yesterday morning, after my interview. I did not expect, however, to be at my interview until 10:45... I had to work at 1:00, so there wasn't enough time to workout, shower again, and eat some lunch. I told myself I would workout after work, but I had a raging headache by 7:00... Plus, I was upset because I checked the status of my stimulus payment and I'm one of those unfortunate people who is only getting $300. If you received $600, thank your lucky stars. As if I haven't struggled enough financially lately, and having to wait extra long to get my damn check, I was counting on the money to help pay off my credit card, and now it will hardly make a dent. I better get a new job ASAP, because I'm really on the verge of giving up on everything. Anyway, I have another interview today, at 10:00, so I went to the gym at 7:00 so that I got it in for the day. I did leave 10 minutes early because for some reason my skin was extremely dry and itchy and I couldn't take it anymore! I suppose 50 minutes is better than nothing. Tomorrow I work all day and then I am going to the College World Series, then on Thursday I work from 8-2, run downtown for a follow-up interview (from last Friday's interview) at 3:30, then run back to the gym so I can make it to Pump at 5:30. If I can't make it, I won't be able to go until Saturday morning, which I'm planning on attending anyway. Then I work from 11:30-7 Friday... Therefore, I am anxiously awaiting the time I walk out of that God forsaken place at 7:00 and have two days off in a row, and hopefully by then I'll have heard back from someone about a job (hopefully not for another follow-up interview, I only have so many interview clothing!).

Bad Week

This past week has been very bad as far as going to the gym is concerned. I have not been to Pump since last Saturday. I haven't even been to the gym since Wednesday afternoon (although, I did lift weights on both Monday and Wednesday to attempt to make up for missing class). I am planning on going this morning, when this crazy rain is over. My neighbor's tree is down and it parked itself right behind their two cars in the driveway. At least it didn't hit the cars! But my plan is to do some cardio before Pump this morning. I can't make it to Pump tomorrow, or really anytime again until Thursday evening (and I have another interview at 3:30 that day after work, so I'd have to rush back to make it to Pump at 5:30). This work schedule had been weird and trying to schedule interviews along with the schedule, well, it makes getting to classes nearly impossible. I need a better paying job more than I need to make it to class right now! I think I will start getting ready for the gym now and hopefully by the time I'm ready the rain will have settled down!

Crazy Times

I have been MIA...again. I apologize. Many things have occurred in the past week, some worth mentioning and some not. I did party it up this past weekend at a wedding. We attended both the rehearsal dinner and the wedding, lots of fun, folly, and drinks. On Saturday, I attended both Pump and Combat before getting ready for the wedding. Luckily there was not a lot of down time for me to become exhausted, otherwise I would have fallen asleep. The wedding was nice and the reception was good, even though I don't think there was any alcohol in the alcoholic drinks at the reception, I drank about 6 and felt absolutely nothing. Finally went to bed after an extra glass of wine at Stir (the reception was at Harrah's), we finally went to bed.... Only to be startled at 2:30 am when a man announced over a loudspeaker that there was a tornado coming. So we went down to the lower level of the hotel (along with all the other very interesting people that were staying there and/or just still out gambling). Luckily nothing severe occurred where we were, or where any of my family were. The tornado was really close to my workplace, but for some reason it left it undamaged, much to my chagrin. Anyway, we slept in way too late on Sunday, almost missing our check-out time... That afternoon we went to the Taste Of Omaha, which is always a good time, even though it was damp and yucky out.

As for the rest of the week, I have been bad with workouts. I have not gone to Pump all week. I plan on trying to go Friday at 4:30. I have a memorial to go to in the morning, and then an interview at 1:30. Instead of Pump Monday and today, I have been using the weight machines. Today I missed Pump because I thought I was going to meet a friend for coffee, but it didn't pan out, so I had to go in the afternoon. Monday I was just lazy and didn't want to be at the gym for 2 hours. I think I have worn myself out and taking it light this week will be good for me. I need to give my body time to recover.

On a side note, as stated above, I have an interview on Friday and I also have another interview on Monday morning. I need all the luck I can get!

Sex is Good

Okay, I knew I'd get your attention! What I mean is.... Sex and the City is good! I was weak and impatient... with a day off, I couldn't wait any longer... I went to the movie alone! Really big theatre with not a lot of people in it, just the way I love watching a movie! It did make me sad I didn't have my ladies with me, but I did watch a lot (and I mean a lot!) of Sex and the City by myself, so it almost seemed fitting. It was good... If you are a fan of the show (and since I'm pretty sure the only people that read this are, I know you're fans!) you'll love it!! You'll cry about 5 times... well, that's about how many times I cried. I cried when I first saw all four women walking down the street together with Carrie narrating over the scene. I am a big wussy though. So, of course, I had to go shopping afterwards! I was planning on going anyway to get a new strapless bra for my hot, wedding weekend. But I also made a stop at Payless (the only shoe store with my size in stock) and for once I found several pairs I liked. This made it hard for me... now that I'm broke I can't even buy two pairs of shoes at Payless. It doesn't help that I thought I needed to spend money on a soda and popcorn at the movie, making my movie trip $15. Plus, I bought two new workout tanks this past weekend, I really needed them and they were on sale. Oh well, at least I get paid on Saturday. Did I mention I also had a candy bar with my popcorn? I didn't think so. I stopped at Hy-Vee thinking I could get some better for you healthy snack to sneak into the theatre, but they don't sell those in sizes you can easily stuff into a purse. Unless you have a really big purse, and I just recently downsized. I also didn't want a big bag of candy, but I did want something sweet, so I bought a candy bar. I didn't know if that was too little to use your card for, so I also bought a magazine. I now wonder what the cashier thought when he rang up a Take 5 and then Shape magazine. Is that an oxymoron? I did do an hour of cardio this morning (the treadmill claims I burned 750 calories) and then I went to Pump. Lesley (my fav instructor) was back from training... she is now a certified Body Pump trainer. From this training she learned several things, one of them is that we should not lift our legs up during chest or triceps.... We may think we should do that to keep our back flat against the bench, but it keeps us from working our "stabilizers" and we are therefore shortchanging ourselves with our workout. Just suck that stomach in ladies! Okay that's all for now.... I'm like on some high from seeing the movie and shopping and popcorn and candy. Now I must go entertain myself without spending money.... Yikes!

Arthritis Sucks

I am trying not to feel guilty about skipping Pump this morning (we women are good at making us feel guilty for no good reason). The only thing I really feel guilty about is telling Don I wouldn't have time to stop at the bank to drop something off for him because I thought I was going to work out for two hours, be really sweaty and then have to rush home to get ready for work after dropping these documents off for him. But back to the title, my arthritis seems to always flair up when it is hot and humid, which is how it had been the past couple days. This is part of the reason I left the gym after cardio instead of sticking it out for class. Plus for some reason I have felt exhausted lately. I don't know how many times I fell asleep yesterday, but I did just about every time we got in the car and Don was driving. Then I did again later when we were sitting on the couch looking at the paper. I don't know if it was the heat and the long walk we took outside yesterday morning or if my body is telling me to slow down for a couple days. Because I skipped class, in order to make my 7 hours of workout time this week I need to get two hours in Saturday morning. I would like to do Combat then Pump that morning.... I am afraid though I will then be totally exhausted and I have a wedding to go to at 2:30 (I will be assisting in taking photos) and then dinner and dancing. The wedding is for one of Don's closest friends, so I'm sure we will be living it up all night long.

Tonight, after work, Don and I will be going out to dinner to celebrate our 2-year anniversary. We will be going to dinner at the Upstream, this site of our first date. I'm sure there will be wine and other food I shouldn't eat, but I am excited to be celebrating this milestone with him.