I have been having a lot of health problems as an adult. Sometimes those health problems have led to weight gain and sometimes they're a result of weight gain. As you may or may not know, I have difficulty dealing with stress without turning to food (especially sugary, chocolaty, delicious comfort food). And I also have a problem (more recent in nature) with depression (I have never been on anti-depressants). And I started having really irregular periods (skipping one every so often) starting the same year I started my internship for my master's program. I always informed my doctors, who always attributed it to stress and/or brushed it off as no big deal, even though it was very abnormal for me.
So I figured that if I could figure out how to get my stress levels down or just wait until things that were stressful (like my internship, moving, getting married, house-hunting, etc) calmed down a bit, things would resolve themselves. But so far they haven't. My new doctor (it's great to have health insurance and a doctor who doesn't appear to be more or less a quack like my last one) ran a lot of blood work. Most of it came out fine, but what didn't come out fine (plus my telling him I want to have kids one day in the hopefully near future), led him to refer me to an OBGYN. I have an appointment today, to rule out PCOS.
I just did some research on that and really hope that's not what I have. But as it talks about the possible symptoms (some of which I know I do have and others I know I don't), I'm really starting to wonder. If it is, I hope that it doesn't lead to infertility, as I do want to have kids one of these days. I don't know if I could emotionally or physically go through some of the helps for PCOS/infertility/irregular periods due to my health history, so that has also been weighing on my mind.
I still have the cough, so GERD has been ruled out as a culprit for that (taking the Prilosec did not help my cough at all). So I have also been referred to a ENT and an allergist for follow up there.
As part of the GERD recommendations, I was told not to sleep on my right side. I had been trying to avoid that as much as possible. And now I'm finding myself wishing I could feel more comfortable sleeping on my right side (or my back or stomach) than I do on my left side. I have been experiencing fairly frequent pain in my left shoulder. Unlike my knee injury or broken foot, I didn't feel or hear a pop. I didn't notice during any particular event when it started hurting. It just did. In fact, I was laying in the floor in my family room reading a book when I first felt it. The pain wasn't too terrible but instead felt like I needed to pop it (kind of like how it feels when you think you need to pop your knuckles or something). Massaging and the like have not really been helpful with getting it to go away completely. It's not a 24-7 thing, but it has been more noticeable on some days, almost the entire day starting with pain while sleeping (probably from sleeping on it). Shoulder injuries run in my family to an extent, and I'm hoping this is just something small that can be fixed fairly easily.
So, what I have been doing is working out and working on losing weight to see if that helps with any of the aforementioned issues. Now with the shoulder hurting, working out is tough to talk myself into doing for fear of hurting myself worse. I saw my PCP last week, have an appointment today with another doctor, have an appointment next week with a third doctor, and have 2 more appointments to schedule now (one with an allergist and one with my PCP about my shoulder). This is very disheartening and frustrating!
Anyway, if you have any knowledge to share, any words of comfort, or are willing to keep me in your thoughts & prayers, I would very greatly appreciate it. This has been a very tough time in my life and sometimes I wonder how I can get past these obstacles.
Tuesday, August 19, 2008
Sunday, August 17, 2008
Happy Sunday (misc. ramblings)
Today Joe and I got to sleep in. It was fabulous! I woke up several times over the course of the night, but I have no problem going right back to bed.
It has been hot the last couple days and sometimes a fan just doesn't cool you enough. It's amazing the temperature difference in our house from the first floor to the second floor on days like this. Last night Joe said that he wanted to buy an air conditioning unit one of these days so we have it handy for those handful of days each year when it would actually be used.
I woke up around 7 am but quickly went back to bed, only to be woken up again around 8:45 by my cell phone ringing. "Hi. My name is Mark and I'm with Dur Heck TV. I'm at your house. Is anyone home?" This is super annoying. So I told him that I am home (we didn't hear the door over the noise of the fan & air purifier in our room) but that I'd already cancelled this appointment... more than once. He said he'd let the company know and that was that. Then a few minutes later I got a call from a woman with Dur Heck TV (although the name of the company she gave me was something I hadn't heard before) confirming I do want to cancel this apointment. I told her yes and the call was ended.
You see, an hour or so after Thursday's debacle, I received an automated call telling me Dur Heck TV would be here on Sunday between x-and-x time to complete the installation. Apparently the system rescheduled the appointment for today. So, the automated message told me to "press 3" to cancel the appointment. So I did and had to talk to someone (and then someone else and then someone else) to get it cancelled and get the money I'd already paid refunded to me. I thought it was finally taken care of, and Joe even let me know that the money had indeed been refunded to our bank account.
I should've guessed when I got all the paperwork in the mail from them welcoming me that something wasn't right. But I figured maybe it'd been sent out before that call. GRRR. And Jest also dropped off some sort of installation disk at our front door on Friday (and I got some welcome mail from them too), which now has me questioning whether or not they really cancelled things on their end also. I really hope this is over now. It's so annoying.
So when we moved here, we got various little "gifts" for our house. We received a small package from the local country club inviting us to join and giving us a free round of golf for 2 and a complementary lunch dinner (up to $50 in value) at the lounge or restaurant. Yesterday we decided to take them up on their offer for the free food and dressed up nice (because it was a fun excuse to do so) to go there. The food was so-so, but the dinner cost us a $10 tip and nothing more, so that was nice. There was also a pretty nice view of part of the course and a live band performing in a nearby room to entertain us while we ate. We also got to check out some really nice cars right outside since they had a car show going on at the same time we were there.
After eating, we had a little time to kill, so we headed to Fred Meyer's to see if they had received any more boxes of the entry bench we wanted to get. We'd gotten a rain-check from when it was on sale but in our multiple return visits to the store, we still were unable to pick it up. So they called another Fred Meyer store that wasn't too far away and had them hold one for us.
Then we headed to the nearby $2 theater to catch a movie. When we arrived, it was just past the time the movie was listed as starting (previews anyway). We took a look at the line of people waiting to get in and changed our minds about seeing a movie there. Instead, we decided to drive to the other Fred Meyer store to pick up the entry bench. Afterwards, while driving home, we decided to swing by the grocery store and pick up a "few" groceries. By the time we got home, it was fairly late, so we watched an episode of 24 and then went to bed.
Those are the kind of "date nights" we usually have. We may go out to eat, or we may stay in to eat, but they seem to more often than not end in us watching a movie or something at home. Guess we just like our home sweet home.
It has been hot the last couple days and sometimes a fan just doesn't cool you enough. It's amazing the temperature difference in our house from the first floor to the second floor on days like this. Last night Joe said that he wanted to buy an air conditioning unit one of these days so we have it handy for those handful of days each year when it would actually be used.
I woke up around 7 am but quickly went back to bed, only to be woken up again around 8:45 by my cell phone ringing. "Hi. My name is Mark and I'm with Dur Heck TV. I'm at your house. Is anyone home?" This is super annoying. So I told him that I am home (we didn't hear the door over the noise of the fan & air purifier in our room) but that I'd already cancelled this appointment... more than once. He said he'd let the company know and that was that. Then a few minutes later I got a call from a woman with Dur Heck TV (although the name of the company she gave me was something I hadn't heard before) confirming I do want to cancel this apointment. I told her yes and the call was ended.
You see, an hour or so after Thursday's debacle, I received an automated call telling me Dur Heck TV would be here on Sunday between x-and-x time to complete the installation. Apparently the system rescheduled the appointment for today. So, the automated message told me to "press 3" to cancel the appointment. So I did and had to talk to someone (and then someone else and then someone else) to get it cancelled and get the money I'd already paid refunded to me. I thought it was finally taken care of, and Joe even let me know that the money had indeed been refunded to our bank account.
I should've guessed when I got all the paperwork in the mail from them welcoming me that something wasn't right. But I figured maybe it'd been sent out before that call. GRRR. And Jest also dropped off some sort of installation disk at our front door on Friday (and I got some welcome mail from them too), which now has me questioning whether or not they really cancelled things on their end also. I really hope this is over now. It's so annoying.
So when we moved here, we got various little "gifts" for our house. We received a small package from the local country club inviting us to join and giving us a free round of golf for 2 and a complementary lunch dinner (up to $50 in value) at the lounge or restaurant. Yesterday we decided to take them up on their offer for the free food and dressed up nice (because it was a fun excuse to do so) to go there. The food was so-so, but the dinner cost us a $10 tip and nothing more, so that was nice. There was also a pretty nice view of part of the course and a live band performing in a nearby room to entertain us while we ate. We also got to check out some really nice cars right outside since they had a car show going on at the same time we were there.
After eating, we had a little time to kill, so we headed to Fred Meyer's to see if they had received any more boxes of the entry bench we wanted to get. We'd gotten a rain-check from when it was on sale but in our multiple return visits to the store, we still were unable to pick it up. So they called another Fred Meyer store that wasn't too far away and had them hold one for us.
Then we headed to the nearby $2 theater to catch a movie. When we arrived, it was just past the time the movie was listed as starting (previews anyway). We took a look at the line of people waiting to get in and changed our minds about seeing a movie there. Instead, we decided to drive to the other Fred Meyer store to pick up the entry bench. Afterwards, while driving home, we decided to swing by the grocery store and pick up a "few" groceries. By the time we got home, it was fairly late, so we watched an episode of 24 and then went to bed.
Those are the kind of "date nights" we usually have. We may go out to eat, or we may stay in to eat, but they seem to more often than not end in us watching a movie or something at home. Guess we just like our home sweet home.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
Oh... my... word...
Guess who just showed up at my front door.
The installation man for Dur Heck TV.
I shouldn't be surprised. Really, I shouldn't. With everything else that has happened, you'd think I expected this. Maybe from one of the other companies, but they at least seemed to have their stuff together when I called and cancelled the installation. I had just enough time after hearing his truck pull into my driveway to compose myself before he was at the door.
When I told him I'd cancelled the installation and apologized (because he had to make the trip for no reason), he dropped his shoulders in frustration, hung his head, and said, "That's okay. The story of my day."
Wow.
The installation man for Dur Heck TV.
I shouldn't be surprised. Really, I shouldn't. With everything else that has happened, you'd think I expected this. Maybe from one of the other companies, but they at least seemed to have their stuff together when I called and cancelled the installation. I had just enough time after hearing his truck pull into my driveway to compose myself before he was at the door.
When I told him I'd cancelled the installation and apologized (because he had to make the trip for no reason), he dropped his shoulders in frustration, hung his head, and said, "That's okay. The story of my day."
Wow.
I am a terrible wife... I have been remiss
I realized I never posted about how awesome my husband is and the wonderful things he's done for me lately.
The day we were at Target shopping and I saw the ad for the Guitar Hero Aerosmith game, I told him I wanted it. I wanted to make sure that what I was seeing actually existed, so I searched online and found out it did indeed exist and would be coming out. I told him I wanted it. That day he went on Amazon.com and ordered it for me. I didn't know this and added it to my wish list and incessantly blabbed about it, excited as ever. About a week after the game was released, it was delivered to me, as a gift from him. We do little things like that for each other or give each other permission to buy things we want because we have been horrible about giving ourselves an allowance for such things, but it still was a very nice and appreciated gesture.
The other big thing he did for me happened about a week ago. I'd had a terrible day at work and was crying throughout and even after my shift. I told him I was worried I was going to get fired (I can be so dramatic sometimes, I know) and I was inconsolable. I finally decided to go to the gym instead of turning to food to deal with stress (like I normally d0), and that helped me feel a little better. But when I got home, he wanted to check in with me and it all came back to me. So I fumed and vented upstairs as I started to undress for a shower. I stomped up the stairs, right past a big vase of flowers (red roses & some purple accent flowers) he had left just inside the front door for me to see when I got home (I'd gone in the other door and hadn't seen them yet).
I was still mad but a part of me softened at that gesture. When I got into the bedroom, I noticed a vase of yellow lilies (my favorite flower) next to my side of the bed. I didn't acknowledge them and continued to rant then hopped in the shower, but another small part of me softened at that gesture. I had time to think and calm down a bit in the shower. I thanked him for the flowers after I got out. Then when I went downstairs again, I noticed the sweet & touching note he'd left on the vase with the roses. What a great guy!
Yesterday as I was running around frantic after work (going to the doctor's, working out, showering, getting ready for the book club), he was more than willing to help out. He helped me print some bookmarks I wanted to hand out off my printer. He talked to the Jest representative on the phone. He cleaned the entry way. He set up chairs downstairs in our living room. He vacuumed the living room rug.
I am so lucky to have him!
The day we were at Target shopping and I saw the ad for the Guitar Hero Aerosmith game, I told him I wanted it. I wanted to make sure that what I was seeing actually existed, so I searched online and found out it did indeed exist and would be coming out. I told him I wanted it. That day he went on Amazon.com and ordered it for me. I didn't know this and added it to my wish list and incessantly blabbed about it, excited as ever. About a week after the game was released, it was delivered to me, as a gift from him. We do little things like that for each other or give each other permission to buy things we want because we have been horrible about giving ourselves an allowance for such things, but it still was a very nice and appreciated gesture.
The other big thing he did for me happened about a week ago. I'd had a terrible day at work and was crying throughout and even after my shift. I told him I was worried I was going to get fired (I can be so dramatic sometimes, I know) and I was inconsolable. I finally decided to go to the gym instead of turning to food to deal with stress (like I normally d0), and that helped me feel a little better. But when I got home, he wanted to check in with me and it all came back to me. So I fumed and vented upstairs as I started to undress for a shower. I stomped up the stairs, right past a big vase of flowers (red roses & some purple accent flowers) he had left just inside the front door for me to see when I got home (I'd gone in the other door and hadn't seen them yet).
I was still mad but a part of me softened at that gesture. When I got into the bedroom, I noticed a vase of yellow lilies (my favorite flower) next to my side of the bed. I didn't acknowledge them and continued to rant then hopped in the shower, but another small part of me softened at that gesture. I had time to think and calm down a bit in the shower. I thanked him for the flowers after I got out. Then when I went downstairs again, I noticed the sweet & touching note he'd left on the vase with the roses. What a great guy!
Yesterday as I was running around frantic after work (going to the doctor's, working out, showering, getting ready for the book club), he was more than willing to help out. He helped me print some bookmarks I wanted to hand out off my printer. He talked to the Jest representative on the phone. He cleaned the entry way. He set up chairs downstairs in our living room. He vacuumed the living room rug.
I am so lucky to have him!
Books that have changed your life
I apologize for multiple posts today, but I wanted this particular topic to have it's own post. And this may not be my last one before the day is out either since I have today off (consider that your fair warning).
During my conversations last night in my book club and with Joe afterward, there was talk of books that have really had an impact on one's life. I LOVE to read but like to fill my time with quality books. I don't just like self-help/pop-psychology/counseling-focused/etc books. I do enjoy good fiction- suspense books, mystery books, etc. I always enjoy recommendations on every front. However, it was suggested to me by the woman who showed up for the book club that maybe people should share what books they find have been most influential in their lives and then we can choose from that list for our books to read. I kind of like the idea of discussing fictional novels (at least every now & again), but I liked her idea as well. She mentioned that there are 5 books she could list right away that she said have "changed her life." She then shared with me those titles. I have not yet read any of them, but here they are (in no particular order):
1. Personality Plus: How To Understand Others by Understanding Yourself by Florence Littauer (in doing a search for this one on Amazon.com to add to my wish list, I noticed the author also wrote a Personality Plus book for couples and one for parents)
2. A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose by Eckhart Tolle
3. Of Monkeys and Dragons: Freedom from the Tyranny of Disease by Michele Longo O'Donnell
4. Natural Cures "They" Don't Want You to Know About by Kevin Trudeau
5. (The title she gave me I can't find an exact match to) Wayne Dyer is the author and the title given was Tao Te Ching. I found a book titled: Living the Wisdom of the Tao: The Complete Tao Te Ching and Affirmations, so maybe that's it.
Like I said, I haven't read any of these books yet, so if you have and have feedback (they don't all have super positive reviews on Amazon.com), feel free to share that feedback with me and my blog readers by adding a comment below.
This got Joe and me to thinking about and discussing non-scripture books we'd say have either "changed our lives" or had a very strong impact on us and our perceptions.
Here's my list (in no particular order):
1. Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
2. The Miracle of Forgiveness by Spencer W. Kimball
3. Choice Theory: A New Psychology of Personal Freedom by William Glasser
4. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
5. The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work and Why Marriages Succeed or Fail: And How You Can Make Yours Last by John Gottman
6. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini (who incidentally was one of my psychology professors at ASU. He talked about some of the stories included in this book during the course of the social psychology class I had with him, and I am thrilled that just now I found he released on August 8th the 5th edition of this book titled Influence: Science and Practice. I had lent my copy to someone a while back and have been missing it ever since, so I may just have to pick up the new edition one of these days.)
In adding Joe's 2 cents, here is a list of books he says changed his perception:
1. The Law by Frederick Bastiat
2. Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman by Richard P. Feynman
3. The Illustrated Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
4. Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbott
5. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
6. Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki
Out of all of the books on Joe's list, I've only read the one that is on both of our lists, so I've got a lot more reading I can do! But before I get started on that, I want to finish reading Jane Austen's Emma and the 2 books I have checked out from the library.
What books would you say have had a strong impact on your life, whether life-changing, perception-altering, or the like? (For those who receive this blog currently via email, I'd love if you answered this one online so you can share your choices with others who read the blog and have a great place I can refer to when I'm looking for a good book to read. If you don't know how to post a comment here, let me know and I'll try to help.)
During my conversations last night in my book club and with Joe afterward, there was talk of books that have really had an impact on one's life. I LOVE to read but like to fill my time with quality books. I don't just like self-help/pop-psychology/counseling-focused/etc books. I do enjoy good fiction- suspense books, mystery books, etc. I always enjoy recommendations on every front. However, it was suggested to me by the woman who showed up for the book club that maybe people should share what books they find have been most influential in their lives and then we can choose from that list for our books to read. I kind of like the idea of discussing fictional novels (at least every now & again), but I liked her idea as well. She mentioned that there are 5 books she could list right away that she said have "changed her life." She then shared with me those titles. I have not yet read any of them, but here they are (in no particular order):
1. Personality Plus: How To Understand Others by Understanding Yourself by Florence Littauer (in doing a search for this one on Amazon.com to add to my wish list, I noticed the author also wrote a Personality Plus book for couples and one for parents)
2. A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose by Eckhart Tolle
3. Of Monkeys and Dragons: Freedom from the Tyranny of Disease by Michele Longo O'Donnell
4. Natural Cures "They" Don't Want You to Know About by Kevin Trudeau
5. (The title she gave me I can't find an exact match to) Wayne Dyer is the author and the title given was Tao Te Ching. I found a book titled: Living the Wisdom of the Tao: The Complete Tao Te Ching and Affirmations, so maybe that's it.
Like I said, I haven't read any of these books yet, so if you have and have feedback (they don't all have super positive reviews on Amazon.com), feel free to share that feedback with me and my blog readers by adding a comment below.
This got Joe and me to thinking about and discussing non-scripture books we'd say have either "changed our lives" or had a very strong impact on us and our perceptions.
Here's my list (in no particular order):
1. Man's Search for Meaning by Viktor E. Frankl
2. The Miracle of Forgiveness by Spencer W. Kimball
3. Choice Theory: A New Psychology of Personal Freedom by William Glasser
4. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
5. The Seven Principles for Making Marriage Work and Why Marriages Succeed or Fail: And How You Can Make Yours Last by John Gottman
6. Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion by Robert B. Cialdini (who incidentally was one of my psychology professors at ASU. He talked about some of the stories included in this book during the course of the social psychology class I had with him, and I am thrilled that just now I found he released on August 8th the 5th edition of this book titled Influence: Science and Practice. I had lent my copy to someone a while back and have been missing it ever since, so I may just have to pick up the new edition one of these days.)
In adding Joe's 2 cents, here is a list of books he says changed his perception:
1. The Law by Frederick Bastiat
2. Surely You're Joking Mr. Feynman by Richard P. Feynman
3. The Illustrated Brief History of Time by Stephen Hawking
4. Flatland: A Romance of Many Dimensions by Edwin A. Abbott
5. The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey
6. Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki
Out of all of the books on Joe's list, I've only read the one that is on both of our lists, so I've got a lot more reading I can do! But before I get started on that, I want to finish reading Jane Austen's Emma and the 2 books I have checked out from the library.
What books would you say have had a strong impact on your life, whether life-changing, perception-altering, or the like? (For those who receive this blog currently via email, I'd love if you answered this one online so you can share your choices with others who read the blog and have a great place I can refer to when I'm looking for a good book to read. If you don't know how to post a comment here, let me know and I'll try to help.)
In case you didn't notice...
That last blog entry was written by Joe. He has so graciously agreed to join this blog as an occasional author. I am glad he chose to do so, because I think sometimes he has things to say from his perspective that I know at least his family would like to read about.
When in settings for blogger blogs, you can make your blog private and only have certain approved readers be able to see your blog. I thought I was approved to see 2 different people's private blogs, but for whatever reason, I can't subscribe to see when they're updated, and I can't leave comments on there, which is a bummer. I don't know that we'll ever make this blog private, but who knows.
Another setting that I've enjoyed is the email option where you can have up to 10 different email addresses entered that are emailed whenever you post to your blog. I have entered 10 email addresses, but with my large family and Joe's family, I haven't been able to guarantee that everyone I want to read certain blog entries is able to do so. So, I think I'm going to only send the blog to myself and to Joe each time we post, and that way we can forward the blog entries to people we want to read the particular blog entries (I think that sometimes it's not necessarily a blog that anyone needs or probably even wants to read, and knowing that it is going to be emailed out to those 10 email addresses has kept me from writing some things I may have otherwise written). So (for those who currently receive my blogs via email), please visit my blog here if you want to read each and every blog entry we write. But if you prefer to just receive the general updates, those will be forwarded to you via email.
And on to other news...
After work yesterday, I just wanted to go to the gym, but I also had to prepare for hosting the book club. Only one person ended up showing up to the book club (annoying!), but we had a good time chatting for a couple hours so I didn't consider it a waste. I did get to the gym and burned about 550 calories (the most ever in one single workout for me) and am paying for it today! It felt good to workout after about a week of not doing it because of the trip and then my laziness. We'll see if my body & mind will be able to make it there again today.
While getting ready for the gym yesterday, I got a call from Jest yesterday. They wanted to confirm my installation appointment for today. And they were telling me that the installation would be in the window of 8 am - 5 pm. SO NICE OF THEM to narrow it down like that! After getting that automated phone call, I got the option to "Press 1 to confirm the appointment; Press 2 to change the appointment; Press 3 to cancel the appointment" but there was no option to reach through the phone and strangle the person/people responsible for me receiving such an annoying call after my ordeal the other day. Bummer. So I pressed 3 and was placed on hold for the longest "2-3 minute wait" of my life while my cell phone was dying and Joe was in the other room with the bank trying to add me as a shared account member on our credit card. The somewhat incompetent person he was talking to said he needed to speak to me, so we switched cell phones. Then he put me on hold. GRR. Finally, Jest came to the phone and Joe explained to them that we did NOT want those additional services and that I had called trying to tell someone that already. Well, the person he was talking to found out that the incompetent woman I'd spoken to who had set up the services had created a Brand Spankin' New account for me to add services instead of adding them to the account I had already had, which is why the other 2 women I spoke to later that day weren't able to find anything even listed for me. We finally got that resolved (I hope). It's almost "8 am - 5 pm" so I guess I'll find out soon enough if everything was cancelled correctly.
Now that I don't have to worry about Jest or Dur Heck TV coming over for any installations, I am enjoying my day off. In fact, I am contemplating not doing anything productive at all today (yeah, I like to dream).
When in settings for blogger blogs, you can make your blog private and only have certain approved readers be able to see your blog. I thought I was approved to see 2 different people's private blogs, but for whatever reason, I can't subscribe to see when they're updated, and I can't leave comments on there, which is a bummer. I don't know that we'll ever make this blog private, but who knows.
Another setting that I've enjoyed is the email option where you can have up to 10 different email addresses entered that are emailed whenever you post to your blog. I have entered 10 email addresses, but with my large family and Joe's family, I haven't been able to guarantee that everyone I want to read certain blog entries is able to do so. So, I think I'm going to only send the blog to myself and to Joe each time we post, and that way we can forward the blog entries to people we want to read the particular blog entries (I think that sometimes it's not necessarily a blog that anyone needs or probably even wants to read, and knowing that it is going to be emailed out to those 10 email addresses has kept me from writing some things I may have otherwise written). So (for those who currently receive my blogs via email), please visit my blog here if you want to read each and every blog entry we write. But if you prefer to just receive the general updates, those will be forwarded to you via email.
And on to other news...
After work yesterday, I just wanted to go to the gym, but I also had to prepare for hosting the book club. Only one person ended up showing up to the book club (annoying!), but we had a good time chatting for a couple hours so I didn't consider it a waste. I did get to the gym and burned about 550 calories (the most ever in one single workout for me) and am paying for it today! It felt good to workout after about a week of not doing it because of the trip and then my laziness. We'll see if my body & mind will be able to make it there again today.
While getting ready for the gym yesterday, I got a call from Jest yesterday. They wanted to confirm my installation appointment for today. And they were telling me that the installation would be in the window of 8 am - 5 pm. SO NICE OF THEM to narrow it down like that! After getting that automated phone call, I got the option to "Press 1 to confirm the appointment; Press 2 to change the appointment; Press 3 to cancel the appointment" but there was no option to reach through the phone and strangle the person/people responsible for me receiving such an annoying call after my ordeal the other day. Bummer. So I pressed 3 and was placed on hold for the longest "2-3 minute wait" of my life while my cell phone was dying and Joe was in the other room with the bank trying to add me as a shared account member on our credit card. The somewhat incompetent person he was talking to said he needed to speak to me, so we switched cell phones. Then he put me on hold. GRR. Finally, Jest came to the phone and Joe explained to them that we did NOT want those additional services and that I had called trying to tell someone that already. Well, the person he was talking to found out that the incompetent woman I'd spoken to who had set up the services had created a Brand Spankin' New account for me to add services instead of adding them to the account I had already had, which is why the other 2 women I spoke to later that day weren't able to find anything even listed for me. We finally got that resolved (I hope). It's almost "8 am - 5 pm" so I guess I'll find out soon enough if everything was cancelled correctly.
Now that I don't have to worry about Jest or Dur Heck TV coming over for any installations, I am enjoying my day off. In fact, I am contemplating not doing anything productive at all today (yeah, I like to dream).
Wednesday, August 13, 2008
Petition to remove front licence plate in Washington State
Not long ago, as I was reading through some threads on http://www.pstoc.com/ I found a thread about someone trying to get together a petition to remove the requirement to have a front license plate in Washington State. I found myself curious about this idea and went to investigate. The thread was old and it seemed that nothing happened with it. So I decided that a new petition would have to be written so....I wrote a new petition.The reasons for my desire to remove the requirement are many and can be found in the petition itself. From a suggestion from my wife, I have posted about it on this blog. I ask you to please read it and if you agree with it, sign it by following the link here:
http://www.petitiononline.com/wafrtplt/
I have been in contact with some Washington State representatives who deal with transportation issues. Unfortunately, it has become apparent that I need more support for this idea to be looked at with any seriousness. I would appreciate any support with this project. Thank you.
Tuesday, August 12, 2008
The lesser of 2 evils...
What are you supposed to do when you have 2 options, neither of which is all that appealing to you? Sometimes spending hours on the phone (like I have done) is not something that you want to do, when the end result is either poop dolled up on a plate or poop in a bucket.
I have a current bundle package for my cable, Internet, and home phone with a company I'll call Bombast. It's bombastic. Not only do we never really know what to expect as far as whether or not our cable will go out, we have features on our home phone we don't want or need, and we have TV channels we never watch. We want a DVR (we are spoiled with it and will probably have difficulty going without). We want few specific cable channels, but we don't need a lot of what is required to pay for in order to get what we want.
So, when realizing just how much we were paying Bombast to provide us with such unnecessary frivolity, we decided to see what other options are out there. That's when the phone calls started.
First I called Dur Heck TV. I spoke with a very persuasive salesman and was all ready to switch over to them, despite their 2 year contract that requires you to pay $20 a month for each month you terminate that contract early should you choose to do so and despite a couple other bothers (not to mention a satellite dish). In fact, I locked in to that deal by paying their $21.75 equipment shipping charge and was told I could call back and cancel the installation should I change my mind later.
Then I spoke with Bombast. I wanted to simply remove my cable from my package deal to shave off some money there. In trying to get me to stay with them, they went the route of it'll-cost-you-just-as-much-for-Internet-and-phone-because-you'll-lose-the-package-deal. This actually had an opposite effect on me. I started to think, "Well, then I guess I'll have to quit all my Bombast services."
So in came Jest. I called Jest to see if I could be hooked up with phone and Internet services. I don't know a whole lot about DSL versus high-speed Internet connections in a battle of annoyance/effectiveness, but I was willing to give it a try. Even knowing I'd have to pay $99 to have someone switch up some wires in my home so I could have a secondary line (that I already have) through Jest for work, and I'd have to buy a DSL modem and I'd have to jump through flaming hoops of fire, I was still interested, especially when they said I'd get a package deal because I was going to be going with Dur Heck TV for my satellite cable. It sounded like I'd be saving about $50 or more a month than what I was paying at the time for my Bombast package and even $15 or so a month cheaper than the cheapest comparable deal with Bombast.
I ran the information by Joe, and we decided Dur Heck TV and Jest were the companies we wanted to go with. I had already had an installation date for Dur Heck TV set up for this Thursday, so all I had to do was call back Jest and Bombast and I'd be on my way.
I tried to contact the Jest employee who had originally helped me, in case they work off commission, twice. He was nice enough to give me his email address and told me to email him when I was ready to sign up so he could then call. But when I emailed him at first to ask him a quick question, I got no phone call and no reply. Then I emailed him later telling him, "We have decided to sign up and I want to give you the commission (if' that's how that works), so please call me." No call. Then we went out of town.
So yesterday, I decided I'd better hop to it, hoping everything could be taken care of on Thursday. On my lunch break, I called Jest and talked to an incompetent woman. That call lasted about 35 minutes (5 minutes longer than my lunch break) and had me on hold quite a lot of the time. Even though Jest said that we'd have to switch our home phone #, I decided to stick with the plan. I even got a cool new home phone # from them. She gave me a confirmation # for my order and said I'd be getting a call from someone about setting up the phone lines.
So I called Bombast later and spent some time talking to a very competent and persuasive person there who didn't want to lose my business. She explained ways I could stay with them and save money. Plus she pointed out different reasons WHY I should want to stay with them. And when she knew there was an issue with their computer system, she asked if she could call me back instead of putting me on hold for several minutes while trying to figure out what was going on there. She called back and made the changes to our services, matching the offer with Dur Heck TV and Jest if not beating it because of extras and not having all those installation/equipment fees, etc.
Then I had to call Dur Heck TV and Jest back to cancel the upcoming installation and services. I spent a fair amount of time doing all this. But the thing that was most annoying and baffling was that Jest apparently didn't even have anything on my file indicating I wanted anything other than the phone line I already have for work. Apparently, the incompetent woman I spoke with never issued the work order, even after giving me that confirmation. Or so the 2 people I spoke with yesterday afternoon who were trying to figure things out said. That made us very happy that we chose to stick with Bombast, currently appearing to be the lesser of the 2 evils...
I have a current bundle package for my cable, Internet, and home phone with a company I'll call Bombast. It's bombastic. Not only do we never really know what to expect as far as whether or not our cable will go out, we have features on our home phone we don't want or need, and we have TV channels we never watch. We want a DVR (we are spoiled with it and will probably have difficulty going without). We want few specific cable channels, but we don't need a lot of what is required to pay for in order to get what we want.
So, when realizing just how much we were paying Bombast to provide us with such unnecessary frivolity, we decided to see what other options are out there. That's when the phone calls started.
First I called Dur Heck TV. I spoke with a very persuasive salesman and was all ready to switch over to them, despite their 2 year contract that requires you to pay $20 a month for each month you terminate that contract early should you choose to do so and despite a couple other bothers (not to mention a satellite dish). In fact, I locked in to that deal by paying their $21.75 equipment shipping charge and was told I could call back and cancel the installation should I change my mind later.
Then I spoke with Bombast. I wanted to simply remove my cable from my package deal to shave off some money there. In trying to get me to stay with them, they went the route of it'll-cost-you-just-as-much-for-Internet-and-phone-because-you'll-lose-the-package-deal. This actually had an opposite effect on me. I started to think, "Well, then I guess I'll have to quit all my Bombast services."
So in came Jest. I called Jest to see if I could be hooked up with phone and Internet services. I don't know a whole lot about DSL versus high-speed Internet connections in a battle of annoyance/effectiveness, but I was willing to give it a try. Even knowing I'd have to pay $99 to have someone switch up some wires in my home so I could have a secondary line (that I already have) through Jest for work, and I'd have to buy a DSL modem and I'd have to jump through flaming hoops of fire, I was still interested, especially when they said I'd get a package deal because I was going to be going with Dur Heck TV for my satellite cable. It sounded like I'd be saving about $50 or more a month than what I was paying at the time for my Bombast package and even $15 or so a month cheaper than the cheapest comparable deal with Bombast.
I ran the information by Joe, and we decided Dur Heck TV and Jest were the companies we wanted to go with. I had already had an installation date for Dur Heck TV set up for this Thursday, so all I had to do was call back Jest and Bombast and I'd be on my way.
I tried to contact the Jest employee who had originally helped me, in case they work off commission, twice. He was nice enough to give me his email address and told me to email him when I was ready to sign up so he could then call. But when I emailed him at first to ask him a quick question, I got no phone call and no reply. Then I emailed him later telling him, "We have decided to sign up and I want to give you the commission (if' that's how that works), so please call me." No call. Then we went out of town.
So yesterday, I decided I'd better hop to it, hoping everything could be taken care of on Thursday. On my lunch break, I called Jest and talked to an incompetent woman. That call lasted about 35 minutes (5 minutes longer than my lunch break) and had me on hold quite a lot of the time. Even though Jest said that we'd have to switch our home phone #, I decided to stick with the plan. I even got a cool new home phone # from them. She gave me a confirmation # for my order and said I'd be getting a call from someone about setting up the phone lines.
So I called Bombast later and spent some time talking to a very competent and persuasive person there who didn't want to lose my business. She explained ways I could stay with them and save money. Plus she pointed out different reasons WHY I should want to stay with them. And when she knew there was an issue with their computer system, she asked if she could call me back instead of putting me on hold for several minutes while trying to figure out what was going on there. She called back and made the changes to our services, matching the offer with Dur Heck TV and Jest if not beating it because of extras and not having all those installation/equipment fees, etc.
Then I had to call Dur Heck TV and Jest back to cancel the upcoming installation and services. I spent a fair amount of time doing all this. But the thing that was most annoying and baffling was that Jest apparently didn't even have anything on my file indicating I wanted anything other than the phone line I already have for work. Apparently, the incompetent woman I spoke with never issued the work order, even after giving me that confirmation. Or so the 2 people I spoke with yesterday afternoon who were trying to figure things out said. That made us very happy that we chose to stick with Bombast, currently appearing to be the lesser of the 2 evils...
Monday, August 11, 2008
Visits
Joe and I went to Oakley, Idaho on Thursday to visit his grandmother. We drove up with his parents and their dog. The trip took about 10 1/2 hours each way. I wasn't sure I was going to be able to make it with my poor circulation and with some other factors, but I'm glad I decided to stick with it and take the trip. All of his grandmother's children were able to make it to see her, and we were able to see some extended family as well. I met my nephew, Jace, who was born just about 4 months ago, for the first time and also got to see most of my other in-laws. We had some great conversations in the car with Joe's parents (we carpooled), and it was nice to get the opportunity to spend that time getting to know each other a little better. We got home last night a few hours before bedtime. We were exhausted and glad to be home. We really appreciated the hospitality of Joe's aunt Jane allowing us to stay in her home. With everyone who was visiting, we were still able to get our own room. We even had a kitchen where we were able to have shared meals with the rest of Joe's immediate family.
Joe's best friend, Jacob, is flying into town today and will be staying with us through Wednesday. So now that we're home, we have to settle back in and clean up from our travels quickly before he arrives today. I'm sure Joe will enjoy having some time to spend with him.
I will be hosting a book club meeting on Wednesday at our house, so it might be a little chaotic, but I am looking forward to it. I've wanted an excuse to make some more cookies without having to worry that I'll be the one eating them all, so this seems like quite the nice opportunity to do so. I may have to pick up a few more things from the store to nibble on, but we're really needing to carefully watch our expenses, because of the extra money we've had to spend on the trip and to take time off work for the trip.
I'm going to have to think more about what I want to do with my life, because I'm not really happy with my job more often than not these days.
Joe's best friend, Jacob, is flying into town today and will be staying with us through Wednesday. So now that we're home, we have to settle back in and clean up from our travels quickly before he arrives today. I'm sure Joe will enjoy having some time to spend with him.
I will be hosting a book club meeting on Wednesday at our house, so it might be a little chaotic, but I am looking forward to it. I've wanted an excuse to make some more cookies without having to worry that I'll be the one eating them all, so this seems like quite the nice opportunity to do so. I may have to pick up a few more things from the store to nibble on, but we're really needing to carefully watch our expenses, because of the extra money we've had to spend on the trip and to take time off work for the trip.
I'm going to have to think more about what I want to do with my life, because I'm not really happy with my job more often than not these days.
Saturday, August 2, 2008
My sister is getting married!
With so many siblings, there seems to be SOMETHING going on with SOMEONE at almost all times, whether it is someone moving, being pregnant, having a baby, starting school, finishing school, getting a new job, looking for a new job, injuring one's self, etc. It has been quite a hectic 12 months.
My sister Emily gave birth about a year ago. My sister Karla gave birth early this year. My sister Erin recently gave birth. Even my sister-in-law Jillena gave birth this year. I have had 3 different jobs in the past 12 months. Joe has had 3 different employers in the past 12 months. We have moved. Karla has moved. My brother Scott started a new job. My sister Karri started a new job. And on. And on. And on.
And now, the youngest sibling is getting married. Congratulations Karena (she's the busty one in the front)!
Friday, August 1, 2008
And we're walking... and we're walking...
My work recently provided me with one of these bad boys:
All I had to do was fill out a form saying I was willing to join the new "walking club" and use the pedometer. No obligation. Just the agreement that I would give it back if I don't use it.
Let's just say that when I received it, I was very impressed. It retails for about $60, so I'm told. It has a place where you enter the time. Then it has a place where you enter your weight. It also has you measure how long your stride is and enter that. It stores up to 7 days of steps at a time, resetting to zero at midnight every night. It even appears, as I just noticed right now, to tell you how far you've walked and how many calories you burn. Then you can scroll through previous days to see how your current day compares to your previous days. You see a USB cord in the picture because you can go online and download your information to track your progress and set walking goals based on how many steps you're actually taking. This thing is high tech and yet very easy to use.
So I have been obsessed with measuring how many steps I've been taking since I got it. I check out where I'm at often. Now, I didn't say that I have changed my habits to take more steps, but I am now fully aware of just how little I do walk. In fact, I can go a whole day, like yesterday (my day off) without walking a mile (less than 2000 steps). Yikes. Then again, even when I do work, if I don't get out of the house, I don't necessarily walk much then, as my office is less than 50 steps away.
Today I got a wild hair up my butt (not literally) and decided to walk to the gym. That is crazy thinking right there, I know! At least for someone as unfit as me. I mean, I made it through my first month at Curves and even got a little reward for going at least 3 days a week every week, so I'm getting better, but I'm still far from where I want and need to be. The directions from MapQuest puts the gym at about 1.2 miles away taking the shortest route, and I figure the walk there for me today was just about that much. Not a big deal. I started off with just over 900 steps in for the day and motivated that I could hit (or at least come closer than I have previously this week) my 10,000 recommended steps today. But when I made it maybe a little less than 1/3 of the way, I almost turned back to get my car. I'm so lazy sometimes! I stopped myself from turning back and trudged up the hill and along the route to the gym.
It felt like it took forever, but as I thought back to the days when I used to have to "run" a 15-minute mile in gym, I remembered that you could walk most of it at a brisk pace and then jog only a short amount and make it in that time easily. So I looked at the handy pedometer clock and realized I'd only been walking 10-15 minutes. I had plenty of time to get to Curves before the last workout started.
Once I arrived, I felt so proud of myself for making it without huffing and puffing or getting hit by a car or bicyclist or other aggressive pedestrian. In fact, I briefly wished I had brought my wallet so I could treat myself to Dairy Queen or Baskin Robbins so conveniently located near the gym. But no sense on dwelling on what I couldn't have, so I looked at my pedometer (close to 3900 steps at that point) and then worked out-- and worked out hard.
I typically burn from the mid-to-high-400's calories each workout, and a few times have broken the 500 calorie mark. I figure that's not bad, considering it's only about a 30 minute workout. Today was no exception to that achievement, even though I did feel a little bit more worn out during the circuit because of my brisk(ish) walk to the gym. I drank plenty of water before and after working out, checked out my pedometer (approximately 5000 steps) and then I headed home.
Maybe it was because I didn't have to walk uphill this time, or maybe it was because I didn't reward myself with a fattening and yet delicious ice cream treat after working out, but the walk home seemed to go more smoothly, quickly, and easily. I even stopped at the small park near my house and stared at the water and the ducks who were swimming and then waddling so boldly toward my direction while my thighs and calves tingled from the uncommon use. Then I headed home and sat down, away from my kitchen so I wouldn't blow that workout by eating homemade cookies or ice cream.
I'm at 8484 steps right now, and I do think I could possibly reach my goal today. I'm even thinking I might walk to the gym again at least once a week, although I might save those walking trips for when I'm really wanting Dairy Queen or Baskin Robbins.
All I had to do was fill out a form saying I was willing to join the new "walking club" and use the pedometer. No obligation. Just the agreement that I would give it back if I don't use it.Let's just say that when I received it, I was very impressed. It retails for about $60, so I'm told. It has a place where you enter the time. Then it has a place where you enter your weight. It also has you measure how long your stride is and enter that. It stores up to 7 days of steps at a time, resetting to zero at midnight every night. It even appears, as I just noticed right now, to tell you how far you've walked and how many calories you burn. Then you can scroll through previous days to see how your current day compares to your previous days. You see a USB cord in the picture because you can go online and download your information to track your progress and set walking goals based on how many steps you're actually taking. This thing is high tech and yet very easy to use.
So I have been obsessed with measuring how many steps I've been taking since I got it. I check out where I'm at often. Now, I didn't say that I have changed my habits to take more steps, but I am now fully aware of just how little I do walk. In fact, I can go a whole day, like yesterday (my day off) without walking a mile (less than 2000 steps). Yikes. Then again, even when I do work, if I don't get out of the house, I don't necessarily walk much then, as my office is less than 50 steps away.
Today I got a wild hair up my butt (not literally) and decided to walk to the gym. That is crazy thinking right there, I know! At least for someone as unfit as me. I mean, I made it through my first month at Curves and even got a little reward for going at least 3 days a week every week, so I'm getting better, but I'm still far from where I want and need to be. The directions from MapQuest puts the gym at about 1.2 miles away taking the shortest route, and I figure the walk there for me today was just about that much. Not a big deal. I started off with just over 900 steps in for the day and motivated that I could hit (or at least come closer than I have previously this week) my 10,000 recommended steps today. But when I made it maybe a little less than 1/3 of the way, I almost turned back to get my car. I'm so lazy sometimes! I stopped myself from turning back and trudged up the hill and along the route to the gym.
It felt like it took forever, but as I thought back to the days when I used to have to "run" a 15-minute mile in gym, I remembered that you could walk most of it at a brisk pace and then jog only a short amount and make it in that time easily. So I looked at the handy pedometer clock and realized I'd only been walking 10-15 minutes. I had plenty of time to get to Curves before the last workout started.
Once I arrived, I felt so proud of myself for making it without huffing and puffing or getting hit by a car or bicyclist or other aggressive pedestrian. In fact, I briefly wished I had brought my wallet so I could treat myself to Dairy Queen or Baskin Robbins so conveniently located near the gym. But no sense on dwelling on what I couldn't have, so I looked at my pedometer (close to 3900 steps at that point) and then worked out-- and worked out hard.
I typically burn from the mid-to-high-400's calories each workout, and a few times have broken the 500 calorie mark. I figure that's not bad, considering it's only about a 30 minute workout. Today was no exception to that achievement, even though I did feel a little bit more worn out during the circuit because of my brisk(ish) walk to the gym. I drank plenty of water before and after working out, checked out my pedometer (approximately 5000 steps) and then I headed home.
Maybe it was because I didn't have to walk uphill this time, or maybe it was because I didn't reward myself with a fattening and yet delicious ice cream treat after working out, but the walk home seemed to go more smoothly, quickly, and easily. I even stopped at the small park near my house and stared at the water and the ducks who were swimming and then waddling so boldly toward my direction while my thighs and calves tingled from the uncommon use. Then I headed home and sat down, away from my kitchen so I wouldn't blow that workout by eating homemade cookies or ice cream.
I'm at 8484 steps right now, and I do think I could possibly reach my goal today. I'm even thinking I might walk to the gym again at least once a week, although I might save those walking trips for when I'm really wanting Dairy Queen or Baskin Robbins.
Wednesday, July 30, 2008
Plastic Bag Alternatives
I have often found myself thinking about this subject. When grocery stores around me started selling reusable bags for 99 cents, I purchased 4 from my regular store. I have since added more to my collection- 3 from another grocery store and one from Ace Hardware (it was free with purchase- bonus!). I have come across coupons from various stores giving them away with purchases and offering discounts. In fact, I save 5 cents for each bag I use each time I go grocery shopping. But now I have an additional incentive to start using the reusable bags- not having to pay for plastic bags.
Seattle will start charging 20 cents a bag in January (story at this blog). The City Council recently voted 6-1 to approve charges for grocery, drug store and convenient store paper and plastic bags. That cost can add up quickly.
But I LOVE my reusable bags. I have learned that I can fit what might take up 3-5 plastic bags into one of those reusable bags, meaning less trips to and from my car. In addition, the straps are more comfortable carrying than the straps on plastic bags. And the bags are very durable. I just empty them out and put them back in my trunk so they're handy when I need them.
However, I have found it a little uncomfortable at times to pull out a bag for a store like Albertson's when I'm at a store like Target. So I have started looking for other reusable bags that are more universal (and no one has commented at all about my using bags from their competitors or other stores other than to thank me for bringing in a bag). Some of my favorites I've run across at Amazon (because of their low prices) are these and these. What are your favorites?
Are you already using reusable bags? Do you plan on using them in the future? I'm thinking that this trend will continue, and it's best to be prepared.
Seattle will start charging 20 cents a bag in January (story at this blog). The City Council recently voted 6-1 to approve charges for grocery, drug store and convenient store paper and plastic bags. That cost can add up quickly.
But I LOVE my reusable bags. I have learned that I can fit what might take up 3-5 plastic bags into one of those reusable bags, meaning less trips to and from my car. In addition, the straps are more comfortable carrying than the straps on plastic bags. And the bags are very durable. I just empty them out and put them back in my trunk so they're handy when I need them.
However, I have found it a little uncomfortable at times to pull out a bag for a store like Albertson's when I'm at a store like Target. So I have started looking for other reusable bags that are more universal (and no one has commented at all about my using bags from their competitors or other stores other than to thank me for bringing in a bag). Some of my favorites I've run across at Amazon (because of their low prices) are these and these. What are your favorites?
Are you already using reusable bags? Do you plan on using them in the future? I'm thinking that this trend will continue, and it's best to be prepared.
Monday, July 28, 2008
House Pics
I realize my blog needs more photos and I've been a slacker about taking photos of the house. It was nice & clean too, right before our housewarming party. But now that the party is over, it's kind of a mess in places again. However I've taken a few pics and promise to take more in the near future.
Here's a picture of the outside of our house with the updated landscaping in the front yard. We pretty much lost most of the plants we had there, but some weren't in great shape and some were planted too close to each other anyway.
Here's a view of the front of the house. I have mixed feelings about the front door and part of the front porch being obscured from view.
Here's one of the plants that survived the makeover. It is late in blooming but is finally starting to show some color.
And here's what each bunch of flowers will look like fully bloomed.
Here's a picture of the piano my wonderful friend Erin and her husband so graceously gave to us when we moved.
Sorry I don't have more pictures to share for now, but there will be more forthcoming.
Here's a picture of the outside of our house with the updated landscaping in the front yard. We pretty much lost most of the plants we had there, but some weren't in great shape and some were planted too close to each other anyway.
Here's a view of the front of the house. I have mixed feelings about the front door and part of the front porch being obscured from view.
Here's one of the plants that survived the makeover. It is late in blooming but is finally starting to show some color.
And here's what each bunch of flowers will look like fully bloomed.
Here's a picture of the piano my wonderful friend Erin and her husband so graceously gave to us when we moved.
Here's the wall in our family room. That's all you get to see for now. My mother-in-law was responsible for helping me figure out where to hang what in our home.
Here's our new range. It puts out 50 amps of power, and the existing cord is tested for 40 amps (as well as our electric panel being set for 40 amps), so we've had it short on us. It's been really frustrating at times, but when it's working, it works nicely. We're going to have to find a more permanent solution, though. I had to go into the electric panel at least 10 times while trying to make cookies for our housewarming party because I kept losing power. So frustrating!
Here's our dining room. We still have our teeny Ikea dining room table, but we would like to upgrade that in the near future so we can have people over for dinner. And the beautiful flower arrangement on the table was a gift from one of my wonderful new neighbors. I was surprised how many neighbors were able to show up to our housewarming party. And one family who couldn't make it stopped by a few days later to drop us off a card and gift card welcoming us to the neighborhood. What a great neighborhood!
Here's a painting my very talented, old co-worker Eric Hurley made for me to satiate my Italy obsession for a while. It's hanging on a wall where I can see it every day and think back to that Italy trip I took. I still want to go back, especially to Cinque Terre, where the photo that provided inspiration for this painting was taken.
Sorry I don't have more pictures to share for now, but there will be more forthcoming.
Why I Love Washington
There's a lot of this and a lot more. I'll have to try to be better at taking scenery pictures when things are in bloom.
Friday, July 25, 2008
Happy Dance
I got my laptop back today. The wireless connection appears to be working again, so they must've fixed whatever was wrong. And I didn't even have to re-configure everything from the beginning, which was nice (but I did remove sensitive information from it before I sent it out). I have missed it so much. That seems kind of silly, but now that I have become used to the convenience of using a computer wherever I want, it it something I don't like doing without. Also, after sitting at my desk all day working, I definitely do not like sitting there after work to check emails and other things. Having the laptop helps me really feel like I am able to separate my work day and the rest of my day. Plus, I will say that it is nice to do things like check email and write blog entries so much more easily between calls and on breaks.
Yesterday I got a new battery for my car. It was long overdue. In fact, the battery was leaking acid, which is never a good sign. Out of 2 battery options, I chose the more expensive one (by $20) and am loving it so far. I noticed that there are particular times when my driving wasn't as smooth as I would've liked it to have been, but that seems to be better now. Maybe it's all in my head.
So while I was waiting for my car, I walked around the mall here. It was much smaller and quieter than malls I'm used to going to. Perhaps that had something to do with the time of day and the fact that it was a weekday in the summer. But I was able to return a dress I'd realized I would never wear and instead buy a nightgown with a matching robe & slippers for cheaper than the dress (I wanted another dress but didn't really see anything that was catching my eye).
And when I got home, the landscaping company was over at the house. They asked questions about what plants I wanted to keep and what plants they should pull. There were a lot of plants well past their expiration date, as well as many more that would be dead soon. They ended up pulling up a lot of the smaller stuff and trimming and keeping the bigger stuff and the plants that would re-grow. Then they put down some bark to help with weed control, and I'm looking forward to that lower maintenance front yard now. It looks a little bare for the time being, but once things start to fill in, it'll start looking better and better.
We also figured out how to work the sprinkler system in our front yard. One portion does not appear to be working, but the majority of our yard is getting water from the sprinklers that do work, which is so much more convenient than the hose attachment sprinkler we were using before.
I talk on the phone using a headset at work, but it is dying on me and definitely won't last me through my shift tomorrow, so I have to drive into Seattle to exchange it for a new headset. Sometimes it seems like nothing can be easy, and sometimes it seems so hard to get a day off or even a break. I was hoping to veg out after work today, but now I'm thinking I might as well hit the gym after going to Seattle and then try to do some stuff around the house when I get home.
Yesterday I got a new battery for my car. It was long overdue. In fact, the battery was leaking acid, which is never a good sign. Out of 2 battery options, I chose the more expensive one (by $20) and am loving it so far. I noticed that there are particular times when my driving wasn't as smooth as I would've liked it to have been, but that seems to be better now. Maybe it's all in my head.
So while I was waiting for my car, I walked around the mall here. It was much smaller and quieter than malls I'm used to going to. Perhaps that had something to do with the time of day and the fact that it was a weekday in the summer. But I was able to return a dress I'd realized I would never wear and instead buy a nightgown with a matching robe & slippers for cheaper than the dress (I wanted another dress but didn't really see anything that was catching my eye).
And when I got home, the landscaping company was over at the house. They asked questions about what plants I wanted to keep and what plants they should pull. There were a lot of plants well past their expiration date, as well as many more that would be dead soon. They ended up pulling up a lot of the smaller stuff and trimming and keeping the bigger stuff and the plants that would re-grow. Then they put down some bark to help with weed control, and I'm looking forward to that lower maintenance front yard now. It looks a little bare for the time being, but once things start to fill in, it'll start looking better and better.
We also figured out how to work the sprinkler system in our front yard. One portion does not appear to be working, but the majority of our yard is getting water from the sprinklers that do work, which is so much more convenient than the hose attachment sprinkler we were using before.
I talk on the phone using a headset at work, but it is dying on me and definitely won't last me through my shift tomorrow, so I have to drive into Seattle to exchange it for a new headset. Sometimes it seems like nothing can be easy, and sometimes it seems so hard to get a day off or even a break. I was hoping to veg out after work today, but now I'm thinking I might as well hit the gym after going to Seattle and then try to do some stuff around the house when I get home.
Monday, July 21, 2008
Our Housewarming Party
We had a great time on Saturday and were excited so many people showed up to help us eat the food we bought (way to much of, by the way). Joe's step-dad showed up somewhere around 4:00 to set up the grill and bring us some wonderful housewarming gifts for us. Then, at just about 5:00, 2 of our different neighbor couples showed up, shortly followed by more & more people. We were cutting up hamburger fixings and doing some last-minute preparations but quickly stopped and found that it was difficult to get much of anything done other than socialize once people started showing up. In fact, It took me about 30 minutes or longer to finish my veggie burger because of the conversations I was having with guests.
Unfortunately, due to being so busy playing host, I didn't get the chance to take one single picture. However, I did spot my aunt walking around snapping some photos with her camera, so I'm going to have to hit her up for copies to post. We don't know how many people showed up overall, but I'd estimate somewhere around 50-60 by the time the night was through. And yet we still have over 40 hamburgers left. We've already decided to take them to a church potluck this Saturday so we don't eat them all.
In addition to the hamburgers, we also enjoyed chips, cookies, sodas, peanuts, grapes, carrots, and assorted fruits & salads & dips that others brought. Joe and I have a fridge full of fresh fruits & veggies to eat too, which is great! We had some angel food cake topped with raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries (plus a little whipped cream) last night and it was DELICIOUS!
We received some nice housewarming gifts from some of our guests. We got a few picture frames, a couple business-card sized wall hangings, some wine (which someone here drank one bottle of and someone else took the other bottle with them), lots of flowers, a couple gift cards, some greeting cards, and the aforementioned food. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family, friends, and new neighbors (who we already consider friends).
Other than house tours, socializing, and eating, we had some karaoke going on. We had placed a few games in some different rooms, but I don't think anyone touched any of those games because they were too busy eating and socializing themselves. Once the party had died down, two of Joe's cousins and their spouses were here, so the 6 of us played some Scene It and Guitar Hero on XBox. Around 11 pm they left and we cleaned up a bit before crashing, exhausted.
In other news, we got our new range, but are still having issues with it. For some reason, it keeps shutting off, and I had to go to the electric panel about 10 times when I was trying to bake cookies for the party because of it. Joe made a call today to the electrician who installed the panel, and we're just waiting to hear back from him to come take a look at it. Also, to help prepare for the party, Joe's mother came over and helped do a little furniture re-arranging and picture hanging. Our house is looking much better without the clutter everywhere and with some pictures on the walls, but we still have some organizing, sorting, and donating to do in the near future. And we still have to put together a wedding photo album and a scrapbook from our honeymoon.
Now that we have all of the big events of the summer over and done with (except my parents coming to town- but they are not planning on staying with us as far as I know), we are finally feeling like we may actually have some time to relax. And that is a good thing. I have lots of books just begging me to read them, and I have promised some people to post pictures of the house. Just let me finish cleaning up from the party first. :)
Unfortunately, due to being so busy playing host, I didn't get the chance to take one single picture. However, I did spot my aunt walking around snapping some photos with her camera, so I'm going to have to hit her up for copies to post. We don't know how many people showed up overall, but I'd estimate somewhere around 50-60 by the time the night was through. And yet we still have over 40 hamburgers left. We've already decided to take them to a church potluck this Saturday so we don't eat them all.
In addition to the hamburgers, we also enjoyed chips, cookies, sodas, peanuts, grapes, carrots, and assorted fruits & salads & dips that others brought. Joe and I have a fridge full of fresh fruits & veggies to eat too, which is great! We had some angel food cake topped with raspberries, strawberries, and blueberries (plus a little whipped cream) last night and it was DELICIOUS!
We received some nice housewarming gifts from some of our guests. We got a few picture frames, a couple business-card sized wall hangings, some wine (which someone here drank one bottle of and someone else took the other bottle with them), lots of flowers, a couple gift cards, some greeting cards, and the aforementioned food. We are so blessed to have such wonderful family, friends, and new neighbors (who we already consider friends).
Other than house tours, socializing, and eating, we had some karaoke going on. We had placed a few games in some different rooms, but I don't think anyone touched any of those games because they were too busy eating and socializing themselves. Once the party had died down, two of Joe's cousins and their spouses were here, so the 6 of us played some Scene It and Guitar Hero on XBox. Around 11 pm they left and we cleaned up a bit before crashing, exhausted.
In other news, we got our new range, but are still having issues with it. For some reason, it keeps shutting off, and I had to go to the electric panel about 10 times when I was trying to bake cookies for the party because of it. Joe made a call today to the electrician who installed the panel, and we're just waiting to hear back from him to come take a look at it. Also, to help prepare for the party, Joe's mother came over and helped do a little furniture re-arranging and picture hanging. Our house is looking much better without the clutter everywhere and with some pictures on the walls, but we still have some organizing, sorting, and donating to do in the near future. And we still have to put together a wedding photo album and a scrapbook from our honeymoon.
Now that we have all of the big events of the summer over and done with (except my parents coming to town- but they are not planning on staying with us as far as I know), we are finally feeling like we may actually have some time to relax. And that is a good thing. I have lots of books just begging me to read them, and I have promised some people to post pictures of the house. Just let me finish cleaning up from the party first. :)
Wednesday, July 16, 2008
RSS feeds and computer issues
I have come to LOVE RSS Feeds. For those of you who are unfamiliar with these, basically it is a way you can sign up to be updated from your favorite websites through Really Simple Syndication (RSS). The headlines from those websites are posted and you can click on links to take you to the rest of the article. I have signed up for these feeds for my favorite blogs and even news websites. It helps me feel more connected without trying to figure out where to go and when. I find I'm saving a lot of time now that I don't have to click on someone's blog every so often to see if they've posted.
But I am a little frustrated (yet there is hope). I am currently writing this blog entry on my desktop, which is the computer I use for work. My laptop was something I purchased originally to use as a writing computer. I updated the RAM modestly, but never expected to use it nearly as frequently as I had been. With the modest RAM on my laptop making that computer run far smoother than my desktop, it quickly became my favorite computer. But in order to work from home on the desktop, I had to upgrade my RAM on here, so my desktop is now running as smoothly as my laptop (or more smoothly, actually, despite the vastly greater storage on it). Anyway, a while back (probably several months ago), my desktop stopped connecting to the Internet wirelessly. I thought there might be a problem with my wireless card, but since I had a wireless USB adapter that Joe purchased for my desktop, I used that to still be able to connect to the Internet without having to plug my computer into the router.
At one point in time I contacted HP support. I spent quite some time on the phone with them. I tried removing and re-inserting the wireless card. Eventually, after exhausting ideas with them, we decided to send my old wireless card in and have it replaced since my laptop was still under warranty. Unfortunately, that didn't help. The odd thing is that on occasion, the computer WOULD recognize the wireless card, allowing me to take out the USB adapter for the time being. But once the computer turned off, I lost that wireless connection through the wireless card yet again.
Just the other day, I received an email from HP. Apparently this issue was not just one I was having. In fact, they are offering free service repairs for people who are experiencing one of 3 different issues (the issue I'm experiencing is one of those three issues). I guess they're going to replace the motherboard. So, I have to send in my laptop for repair. They're going to do a system recovery. Now, I'll be happy if everything is resolved by this repair. However, I will be losing all the miscellaneous things I have saved on that computer from songs to documents to my RSS Feeds and bookmarked websites. Bummer. That's going to be more work for me to do when I get the computer back. I just have to make sure I've backed up everything on the computer before I send it out and make sure I know what RSS Feeds I'm subscribed to so I can still get those updates. I definitely don't want to be out of the loop.
If anyone has any suggestions on ways to back up this information and clean off my computer before I send it in for repair, I'd love to hear those ideas (that means you, Dad). We do have an external hard drive and some thumb drives, so I can use those in transfer/storage of information.
Also, if you have a blog and do not have RSS Feeds enabled, I'd love for you to consider it, even if you don't have your entire blog syndicated, just so I'm aware when you post. :)
And if you have any other feedback, I'd love to hear it!
Thanks!
But I am a little frustrated (yet there is hope). I am currently writing this blog entry on my desktop, which is the computer I use for work. My laptop was something I purchased originally to use as a writing computer. I updated the RAM modestly, but never expected to use it nearly as frequently as I had been. With the modest RAM on my laptop making that computer run far smoother than my desktop, it quickly became my favorite computer. But in order to work from home on the desktop, I had to upgrade my RAM on here, so my desktop is now running as smoothly as my laptop (or more smoothly, actually, despite the vastly greater storage on it). Anyway, a while back (probably several months ago), my desktop stopped connecting to the Internet wirelessly. I thought there might be a problem with my wireless card, but since I had a wireless USB adapter that Joe purchased for my desktop, I used that to still be able to connect to the Internet without having to plug my computer into the router.
At one point in time I contacted HP support. I spent quite some time on the phone with them. I tried removing and re-inserting the wireless card. Eventually, after exhausting ideas with them, we decided to send my old wireless card in and have it replaced since my laptop was still under warranty. Unfortunately, that didn't help. The odd thing is that on occasion, the computer WOULD recognize the wireless card, allowing me to take out the USB adapter for the time being. But once the computer turned off, I lost that wireless connection through the wireless card yet again.
Just the other day, I received an email from HP. Apparently this issue was not just one I was having. In fact, they are offering free service repairs for people who are experiencing one of 3 different issues (the issue I'm experiencing is one of those three issues). I guess they're going to replace the motherboard. So, I have to send in my laptop for repair. They're going to do a system recovery. Now, I'll be happy if everything is resolved by this repair. However, I will be losing all the miscellaneous things I have saved on that computer from songs to documents to my RSS Feeds and bookmarked websites. Bummer. That's going to be more work for me to do when I get the computer back. I just have to make sure I've backed up everything on the computer before I send it out and make sure I know what RSS Feeds I'm subscribed to so I can still get those updates. I definitely don't want to be out of the loop.
If anyone has any suggestions on ways to back up this information and clean off my computer before I send it in for repair, I'd love to hear those ideas (that means you, Dad). We do have an external hard drive and some thumb drives, so I can use those in transfer/storage of information.
Also, if you have a blog and do not have RSS Feeds enabled, I'd love for you to consider it, even if you don't have your entire blog syndicated, just so I'm aware when you post. :)
And if you have any other feedback, I'd love to hear it!
Thanks!
Monday, July 14, 2008
Ruts and Misc.
I have found myself at times frustrated, feeling like the only person I interact with face to face on a regular basis is my husband, now that I'm working from home. I'm trying to do things with other people and am looking into getting a second job or volunteering or something just to have that opportunity. I am in a book club right now, so that provides some interaction (we are supposed to meet once a month, but it's been once every 2 months average so far). I'm also engaged in reading books through a group at church. I went to the first book discussion there, but there were only 2 other people in attendance at that time. Hopefully we have a bigger turnout in the future. 
So far I'm enjoying Curves. I like that working out only takes 30 minutes. It's been fairly easy for me in the past to talk myself out of going because of the time it takes to drive to and from a gym and the time it takes to workout, but I don't have those excuses here as readily. I'm aiming for anywhere between 3 and 6 days a week, hoping to get 4 or 5 realistically. I even took an hour lunch break on Saturday and went to the gym during that time because they're only open for 4 hours on Saturday (and it is during my work day that they're open). It did make the work day seem quite long, so I don't know how much longer I'll try that.
My work is starting a "walking club." It really doesn't mean too much, but they are offering free pedometers to people who want to track the number of steps they're taking each day. I got a pedometer for Christmas (yes, I asked for one), but I signed up to get one from work, thinking that maybe Joe and I can both get some use out of them.
I've also had a conversation with him about my short-term weight loss goal and how I plan on reaching that goal. He is willing to eat whatever I eat, which is good, because I don't want to do this by dieting or exercise alone but by changing my lifestyle to be more active and to eat a little healthier, as I think that is something I should be able to maintain long term.
I've had some (hopefully not too serious) health concerns. I think they are at least in part due to stress. I'm hoping that now that I'm feeling a little more settled in the house and the job and married life in general that my health will continue to show improvement. I have days where I feel really horribly, but those days seem to be less frequent the more time passes. I have a doctor's appointment this week and may schedule a follow up for a complete physical in the near future as well. We'll see.
I am meeting more people at church all the time. Sometimes I think I'm mistaken as a guest, but I have started to feel like I'm learning some particular people's personalities and some people are starting to learn my name (and the correct pronunciation and that I don't go by Debbie), which is always a nice thing.
On Saturday, Joe and I were busy. He did some weed pulling and put up a new mailbox and ran a couple errands during the day while I worked. Then, when I got off of work, we walked around the neighborhood and introduced ourselves to some neighbors we hadn't met. Two of those neighbors gave us their phone numbers in case we ever need anything (one neighbor had done that previously), and at each house we stopped at, we dropped off an invitation to our housewarming party this weekend. There is definitely a diverse group of people around here, but it seems like a pretty neat neighborhood. After making our rounds around the neighborhood, we drove to a few different stores to price new ranges. We decided we wanted a flat top electric stove and got one that was a pretty good price from the Sears Outlet in Tacoma. I never realized how much I use the oven and stove until this past week when I had none to use. Making skillet meals in the microwave and eating sandwiches gets old really quickly, especially when you have a freezer full of yummy options you want to make but can't.
Now we're just trying to get our house ready for the housewarming party this weekend (no, that's not our yard, but it doesn't seem like it looks much better). We're hoping everyone who comes has a good time, and we're hoping it's not too stressful for us. We are trying to figure out what different activities/games we want going on and where we want things happening, and we are trying to figure out what we're going to do for seating (especially in our family room where the karaoke will take place, since only a couple people can sit on the LoveSac).
Sometimes I fantasize about calling in sick to work so I can just stay in bed all day and sleep and read and do nothing. Yeah, that's some REAL dreaming right there. Until next time...
Monday, July 7, 2008
My husband is awesome
I was going to write about this in my last post, but I decided it needed a post of its own. Sometimes I think about how horrible things would be for my husband if he didn't have me around to take care of him. I mean, he would NEVER have an ironed shirt. He would have much more to do around the house. He's lucky to have me.
But I also realize I'm lucky to have him. He is quick to apologize when he has done something that is wrong. He is quick to help out around the house (and on occasion even does it without needing to be asked). He makes me laugh so much (often at him, but he doesn't care). And when I saw the Aerosmith Guitar Hero and said I wanted it, he bought me a copy online to have it shipped to me. We probably spent more time playing that and Guitar Hero III this weekend than we should have, but it was nice to spend some time together doing something we were both enjoying and in the mood for.
But I also realize I'm lucky to have him. He is quick to apologize when he has done something that is wrong. He is quick to help out around the house (and on occasion even does it without needing to be asked). He makes me laugh so much (often at him, but he doesn't care). And when I saw the Aerosmith Guitar Hero and said I wanted it, he bought me a copy online to have it shipped to me. We probably spent more time playing that and Guitar Hero III this weekend than we should have, but it was nice to spend some time together doing something we were both enjoying and in the mood for.
Back to work
It's been a while since I've posted, and I feel like a lot has happened since then. Last week was not a good week for me as far as work goes. I was completely unmotivated to actually work, and they are now allowing us to take time off without pay and request to end our shifts early. So, I took Saturday off (who wants to get up to talk about quitting smoking after a night enjoying fireworks and then driving home anyway?) and left early every day of the week that I did work except Monday. I forced myself to work a full day today, but it actually wasn't as hard as I was thinking it was going to be, thank goodness.
Yesterday Joe and I came home from church and started to prepare our dinner, but our oven died. Perhaps it's just a fuse that blew, but since we wanted to replace it anyway (it was definitely looking like it was on its last legs) and since we don't know much about fixing those things, we are going to have to scrape some money together to do that.
We also found out that Joe will now only get paid once a month. So we're really going to have to make sure we do a good job budgetting. It's weird to think that he's not going to see a cent from July until the end of the month. He's also not going to get paid for any overtime that he does from this point forward, which is a bummer. But I guess the good news there is since he's salaried now, he should see a paycheck that is the same from month to month. And the better news is that it'll be more money than he made before too.
We spent the 4th of July with his parents, watching movies, BBQing, and viewing slightly obstructed fireworks. We had a nice relaxing day and a (mostly) relaxing weekend.
Now we're preparing for the various events of this week and trying to get ourselves and our house ready for our housewarming party next weekend. We received a notice from the homeowners association telling us we have until Friday to take care of the weeds in our front yard and to remove the grass that is growing in the cracks of the sidewalk.
I had called the company that is mowing our lawn (temporarily, until we get a lawnmower) and asked if they could help out, since I was angrily greeted by a sea of spiders when trying to weed in our flowerbed (I have major arachniphobia and could've sworn spiders were crawling on me the rest of the day). Well, when the guy came last week to mow the lawn, I was running around taking care of some errands, preparing for a book club meeting that night and napping, so I didn't get a chance to make sure he did the work. And he didn't. I saw someone walking around in our back yard spraying the bazillion of weeds we have there, but when I was able to get to the front yard to check it out, the weeds were still there and he had left. So now we get to pay someone else to help with that.
Meanwhile, we went to Home Depot on Saturday and purchased some sort of magical weed puller that has helped with some of the weeds. Part of our problem with our flower bed (besides my arachniphobia) is that we're not entirely sure what is a weed and what is not. In fact, I'm pretty sure in my past attempts to spray weeds and pull weeds that I have killed a plant or two or dozen. Another problem is the ratio of weeds divided by the quantity of our motivation plus energy minus other errands and chores. We're hoping that it'll be easier to maintain a weed-free yard than it has been to get it to that point. But I guess we'll see.
In other news, I joined Curves last week. I really just wanted to see what was out there, and I was feeling pretty motivated. And when I learned more about the Curves program and the fact that the building is less than 2 miles from our house and would take less than 1 hour each day, I happily signed up. I joined last Monday and worked out Tuesday and Wednesday. Time got away from me on Thursday somehow, and before I knew it, it was too late to go because Curves was already closed. They were closed on Friday and only open for 4 hours on Saturday (during which time I was sleeping and otherwise NOT thinking about working out). So, I haven't been for a while, but I'm hoping to go 3-5 days a week and am getting ready to head over there after I finish this blog.
My weight-loss goal is to lose weight, feel healthy, have more energy, and feel more comfortable in my own skin. I have a pretty lofty long-term goal, but I'd like to break it down into more realistic and manageable goals to help me stay motivated and actually achieve them. I found it amusing that a lot of the questions they asked me the first day I went to check out the place were the same types of questions we ask people who want to quit smoking. Motivational Interviewing FTW (for the win, in case you don't know that abbreviation)! Anyway, I should get going before I lose my motivation today. :)
Yesterday Joe and I came home from church and started to prepare our dinner, but our oven died. Perhaps it's just a fuse that blew, but since we wanted to replace it anyway (it was definitely looking like it was on its last legs) and since we don't know much about fixing those things, we are going to have to scrape some money together to do that.
We also found out that Joe will now only get paid once a month. So we're really going to have to make sure we do a good job budgetting. It's weird to think that he's not going to see a cent from July until the end of the month. He's also not going to get paid for any overtime that he does from this point forward, which is a bummer. But I guess the good news there is since he's salaried now, he should see a paycheck that is the same from month to month. And the better news is that it'll be more money than he made before too.
We spent the 4th of July with his parents, watching movies, BBQing, and viewing slightly obstructed fireworks. We had a nice relaxing day and a (mostly) relaxing weekend.
Now we're preparing for the various events of this week and trying to get ourselves and our house ready for our housewarming party next weekend. We received a notice from the homeowners association telling us we have until Friday to take care of the weeds in our front yard and to remove the grass that is growing in the cracks of the sidewalk.
I had called the company that is mowing our lawn (temporarily, until we get a lawnmower) and asked if they could help out, since I was angrily greeted by a sea of spiders when trying to weed in our flowerbed (I have major arachniphobia and could've sworn spiders were crawling on me the rest of the day). Well, when the guy came last week to mow the lawn, I was running around taking care of some errands, preparing for a book club meeting that night and napping, so I didn't get a chance to make sure he did the work. And he didn't. I saw someone walking around in our back yard spraying the bazillion of weeds we have there, but when I was able to get to the front yard to check it out, the weeds were still there and he had left. So now we get to pay someone else to help with that.
Meanwhile, we went to Home Depot on Saturday and purchased some sort of magical weed puller that has helped with some of the weeds. Part of our problem with our flower bed (besides my arachniphobia) is that we're not entirely sure what is a weed and what is not. In fact, I'm pretty sure in my past attempts to spray weeds and pull weeds that I have killed a plant or two or dozen. Another problem is the ratio of weeds divided by the quantity of our motivation plus energy minus other errands and chores. We're hoping that it'll be easier to maintain a weed-free yard than it has been to get it to that point. But I guess we'll see.
In other news, I joined Curves last week. I really just wanted to see what was out there, and I was feeling pretty motivated. And when I learned more about the Curves program and the fact that the building is less than 2 miles from our house and would take less than 1 hour each day, I happily signed up. I joined last Monday and worked out Tuesday and Wednesday. Time got away from me on Thursday somehow, and before I knew it, it was too late to go because Curves was already closed. They were closed on Friday and only open for 4 hours on Saturday (during which time I was sleeping and otherwise NOT thinking about working out). So, I haven't been for a while, but I'm hoping to go 3-5 days a week and am getting ready to head over there after I finish this blog.
My weight-loss goal is to lose weight, feel healthy, have more energy, and feel more comfortable in my own skin. I have a pretty lofty long-term goal, but I'd like to break it down into more realistic and manageable goals to help me stay motivated and actually achieve them. I found it amusing that a lot of the questions they asked me the first day I went to check out the place were the same types of questions we ask people who want to quit smoking. Motivational Interviewing FTW (for the win, in case you don't know that abbreviation)! Anyway, I should get going before I lose my motivation today. :)
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)