Sunday, February 7, 2010
Thursday, February 4, 2010
Gracie
This is a delightful picture of our 13 year old cat. She is resting comfortably on a scarf I am making. She also seems to be examining one of the boutique burpees that I stiching. She is such a wonderful companion. Just a little spoiled.
Wednesday, February 3, 2010
Grants Not Blogs
It is almost midnight and I have been working on a grant but finally took a break and was reading and responding to some of my blog and bandit friends. Work is a little overwelming right now as two major grants came out last week and are due next Friday. I don't enjoy this part of my job as I get frantic when it comes to explaining my ideas and thoughts in "grantese". Oh well, it is funding and goodness knows we need that!
I have been really bad about exercising lately. I did go with Allison to a dance cardio class at Lifetime. One hour of jumping and jiving. I didn't have any trouble keeping up with the youngsters. It wouldn't have happened two years ago. I would really like to find a treadmill that I could put in the basement or upstairs and have to use when I want. It would save getting dressed, going out in the cold, and then coming home to shower as I currently do. I don't think I am making excuses. I could listen to my kind of music or watch my kind of TV while walking also. Got to find a great deal.
I just make a quick trip to Michigan to see my ex-father-in-law. He has been a part of my life since I was 13, They have started him on oxygen to assist with breathing and it seems to alleviate some of his fatigue. He will be 86 in April. Allison and the boys made his face light up and I do believe he enjoyed our visit. He is a dear man and wanted to tell him that.
The clock is striking 12 and I need to be up and at em at 7am so I believe I will sign off. Tomorrow is another writing day and I also do a workshop with high school teachers in the afternoon. This too shall pass and hopefully we will be successful in our endeavors for more work and monies.
I have been really bad about exercising lately. I did go with Allison to a dance cardio class at Lifetime. One hour of jumping and jiving. I didn't have any trouble keeping up with the youngsters. It wouldn't have happened two years ago. I would really like to find a treadmill that I could put in the basement or upstairs and have to use when I want. It would save getting dressed, going out in the cold, and then coming home to shower as I currently do. I don't think I am making excuses. I could listen to my kind of music or watch my kind of TV while walking also. Got to find a great deal.
I just make a quick trip to Michigan to see my ex-father-in-law. He has been a part of my life since I was 13, They have started him on oxygen to assist with breathing and it seems to alleviate some of his fatigue. He will be 86 in April. Allison and the boys made his face light up and I do believe he enjoyed our visit. He is a dear man and wanted to tell him that.
The clock is striking 12 and I need to be up and at em at 7am so I believe I will sign off. Tomorrow is another writing day and I also do a workshop with high school teachers in the afternoon. This too shall pass and hopefully we will be successful in our endeavors for more work and monies.
Monday, January 25, 2010
Continue the Frenzy
Wow time flies while you are trying to stay warm in South Dakota in the winter. What a winter it has been! The Interstate has been closed due to bad conditions very often and again tonight it is closed from the Missouri River to Albert Lea Minnesota and from South Dakota all the way north into Canada. We are having a blizzard.
Meantime, my knees are killing me. I walk on the treadmill but it hurts most of the time. I need to walk even more but it is so cold and dark when it comes time to go to the Rec that it takes a great deal of will power.
I believe we have finally figured out what has been at the root of my fatigue. I had a sleep study on December 9 and did not get the results until last week. I saw the Pulminologist about the results. He was surprised I don't have apnea. That is good. But I still have significant episodes of shallow breathing and that causes me to wake up (that too is good) and he believed I need a CPAC but was certain my insurance wouldn't cover it. So he ordered another sleep study and this time I had a sleeping pill so I would remain on my back all night and this time the numbers were high and indicated the need for the CPAC. I have been sleeping with it since last Friday and I really am much more clear headed and I believe I am catching up on my rest. Sleep deprivation has been a real problem.
Work is busy but it seems about the time I have a day scheduled in a school, they have to cancel because of snow. This has been a very different winter thus far.
I am reading the latest Jennifer Chiaverini's book from the Elm Creek Series. I lover those. I have been knitting and quilting and cooking soups for Vince and I. I went to see Extraordinary Measures with my gal friends yesterday afternoon. It was excellent. I also loved It's Complicated. That was great!
I promise I won't take so long to post. I read blogs everyday and love listening to you. I feel like I have this whole set of friends out there. When I went to the Post Office today to mail a baby gift to one of my daughter's friends, the postman asked me if I wanted stamps or postal supplies or a passport application. Interestingly, I said "yes" to the passport application. I have one that has expired. I know I won't be able to get Vince to go with me but I would love to return to England and the more I read blogs of my Aussie friends, I think a trip down under might be delightful. Stay warm.
Meantime, my knees are killing me. I walk on the treadmill but it hurts most of the time. I need to walk even more but it is so cold and dark when it comes time to go to the Rec that it takes a great deal of will power.
I believe we have finally figured out what has been at the root of my fatigue. I had a sleep study on December 9 and did not get the results until last week. I saw the Pulminologist about the results. He was surprised I don't have apnea. That is good. But I still have significant episodes of shallow breathing and that causes me to wake up (that too is good) and he believed I need a CPAC but was certain my insurance wouldn't cover it. So he ordered another sleep study and this time I had a sleeping pill so I would remain on my back all night and this time the numbers were high and indicated the need for the CPAC. I have been sleeping with it since last Friday and I really am much more clear headed and I believe I am catching up on my rest. Sleep deprivation has been a real problem.
Work is busy but it seems about the time I have a day scheduled in a school, they have to cancel because of snow. This has been a very different winter thus far.
I am reading the latest Jennifer Chiaverini's book from the Elm Creek Series. I lover those. I have been knitting and quilting and cooking soups for Vince and I. I went to see Extraordinary Measures with my gal friends yesterday afternoon. It was excellent. I also loved It's Complicated. That was great!
I promise I won't take so long to post. I read blogs everyday and love listening to you. I feel like I have this whole set of friends out there. When I went to the Post Office today to mail a baby gift to one of my daughter's friends, the postman asked me if I wanted stamps or postal supplies or a passport application. Interestingly, I said "yes" to the passport application. I have one that has expired. I know I won't be able to get Vince to go with me but I would love to return to England and the more I read blogs of my Aussie friends, I think a trip down under might be delightful. Stay warm.
Sunday, January 24, 2010
This is Crazy!
Vince said to me today that I have been writing on my quilting blog and not on this one. His question was "am I not motivated?" That is certainly not accurate as each day I try very hard to do right by my band. It has just been crazy. I promise a longer blog later tonight - in the meantime, Go Vikings!
Monday, January 4, 2010
Power Thinking
OK so I am not a resolution maker as I am old enough to know those don't work for me. However, I can be a power thinker and I have been doing some of that these past few days. I need to adjust my thinking and then match my actions to my thinking. Walk my talk! You see, I have been dancing around the 195 pounds mark for almost a year now and that stinks. It doesn't stink that I can stay at that weight and eat right and be comfortable with my lapband and use it as a tool for this weight thing. It stinks that I have not lost the last forty pounds I set out to lose in the beginning. So what is it going to take?
1. I need to drink the eight glasses of water everyday. Coffee doesn't count as water and although I am drinking, it needs to be water. I can do that if I put my mind to it and it feels good when I do. This #1 is easy for me if I plan ahead and fill the water bottle and take it with me where I go. DRINK
2. Eat three meals a day and no snacking. Hmmmmmm! As busy as I am that should be simple as well. I have mastered lunch at lunch time and I can plan ahead and carry a good lunch with me. There is no reason why I can't eat breakfast either in the kitchen or on the road when I am driving to the office or a school. I like yogurt and oatmeal on the run is not bad either. Supper is a challenge because I sometimes don't get home at a decent hour and when I sit down, I often grab for the wrong thing or too little of a good thing. You know what I mean? My "dine and dash" doesn't have anything to do with money and everything to do with planning ahead and eating the right things at the right time. Now this one is not difficult if I start planning some meals ahead and using the crock pot which would be of benefit to Vince as well. My schedule is what it is and unless I start planning better, #2 will not get better. PLAN
3. Exercise! This one is a real issue. I like to exercise when I get to the rec. I love walking on the treadmill and I don't mind riding the recumbent, and I even enjoy crunches on the big ball. I just have a very difficult time getting to the rec. Sounds like an excuse, doesn't it? It is so cold in South Dakota right now (sub zero outside both early in the morn and after dark). It is dark when I get home from work. It is dark when I get up and I don't like mornings! So what am I to do? I would rather read blogs, quilt, knit, or just sit with a great book than go out after I get home from my drive from whereever. So I now that I am writing I am thinking again. Maybe I should take my exercise clothes and shoes with me and never come home until I am done with the exercise. Perhaps that would work. Once I am home, I am done for the day because exercise needs to be part of my day and not something I go out to do after I am home. I will try that starting tomorrow. EXERCISE
4. I must continue to share my successes, my weaknesses, and this ride with my blogging allies. I know that may sound wierd but I do get counsel from many of you and you keep me honest in this quest. After all, every day is the first day of the rest of my life. BLOG
Stay warm and stay tuned!
1. I need to drink the eight glasses of water everyday. Coffee doesn't count as water and although I am drinking, it needs to be water. I can do that if I put my mind to it and it feels good when I do. This #1 is easy for me if I plan ahead and fill the water bottle and take it with me where I go. DRINK
2. Eat three meals a day and no snacking. Hmmmmmm! As busy as I am that should be simple as well. I have mastered lunch at lunch time and I can plan ahead and carry a good lunch with me. There is no reason why I can't eat breakfast either in the kitchen or on the road when I am driving to the office or a school. I like yogurt and oatmeal on the run is not bad either. Supper is a challenge because I sometimes don't get home at a decent hour and when I sit down, I often grab for the wrong thing or too little of a good thing. You know what I mean? My "dine and dash" doesn't have anything to do with money and everything to do with planning ahead and eating the right things at the right time. Now this one is not difficult if I start planning some meals ahead and using the crock pot which would be of benefit to Vince as well. My schedule is what it is and unless I start planning better, #2 will not get better. PLAN
3. Exercise! This one is a real issue. I like to exercise when I get to the rec. I love walking on the treadmill and I don't mind riding the recumbent, and I even enjoy crunches on the big ball. I just have a very difficult time getting to the rec. Sounds like an excuse, doesn't it? It is so cold in South Dakota right now (sub zero outside both early in the morn and after dark). It is dark when I get home from work. It is dark when I get up and I don't like mornings! So what am I to do? I would rather read blogs, quilt, knit, or just sit with a great book than go out after I get home from my drive from whereever. So I now that I am writing I am thinking again. Maybe I should take my exercise clothes and shoes with me and never come home until I am done with the exercise. Perhaps that would work. Once I am home, I am done for the day because exercise needs to be part of my day and not something I go out to do after I am home. I will try that starting tomorrow. EXERCISE
4. I must continue to share my successes, my weaknesses, and this ride with my blogging allies. I know that may sound wierd but I do get counsel from many of you and you keep me honest in this quest. After all, every day is the first day of the rest of my life. BLOG
Stay warm and stay tuned!
Sunday, January 3, 2010
My Bear
I think two year olds have it all together! My little G is holding his "bear" and when things go awry, he goes and finds his bear and everything is better. Bear is there to take away the hurts, to snuggle with when you are all alone, and to just hold when you need some comfort. I have a "bear", he is my best friend, my husband Vince. Yesterday we celebrated our 23rd wedding anniversary and as I sat today and tried to relax just one more day before I start the "hassles of work", I was reminded of how much he means to me and how I rely on his wisdom, commitment, and genuine concern about my health and well-being. I am so lucky, no blessed, to have Vince in my life. He is "my bear".
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)