Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Lots of Changes....

First things first...I got really tired of my blog look so I changed it. What do you think? I like it but I'm not the one looking at it all the time. Please give feedback!!

Sunday (as in the 25th) I started working 2nd shift! YAY!! It is from 4p.m. to 1a.m. This will be so much better for me and the family...I think??!! So far I am having a hard time sleeping at night (boo!! What is wrong with me??) and That Other Kid is having a hard time having daddy put him to bed. I approached my managers a few weeks ago and basically begged them to move me off 3rd shift. I haven't been able to accomplish ANYTHING over the past 5 months and there is no way I can homeschool That Other Kid. Now my plan is to sleep from 2 am to 9am. Get up eat, go to the gym, come home do school, fix big, family lunch, go to work. So far this week things haven't really gone as planned but I'm calling this my adjustment week.

Did ya'll catch that part about me going to the gym? Well it's true. Dh told me I could reactivate my gym membership so I have been trying to go 3 times a week. It will be a lot easier to this working this schedule. I'm planning to go Monday, Wednesday and Friday and follow the Couch-2-5-K training plan so that I can run a race with my brother and sister in law in October. I blame the Sisterhood for this sudden desire to RUN!! I have hated running as long as I can remember (even as a child) but I think training for a goal like this will help me stay motivated to keep working out even though my life is still not "normal". So far I am on week 3 of the plan and yesterday while I was at the gym I managed to run 90 seconds 2 times and 3 minutes 2 times! It is a challenge but I keep telling myself, "I think I can", "Just a little longer", "Almost to the time when I can walk again"!! Before long I have done it!!

I'm also planning to join in a Challenge at the gym that is basically a "Biggest Loser" type challenge for 90 days. The winner (which I don't really expect to be) will receive $$$ and free private trainer sessions. I talked to one of the trainers yesterday and it sounds like a great way to keep me focused and going to the gym with crazy schedules. We also get free assessments and advice from the trainer during this 90 day challenge. The only hard cost is $25, and of course the committment to stay focused for 90 days. That may be the hard part for me!

Speaking of challenges...have you heard about the new challenge over at the Sisterhood?? It is a new team challenge and they are calling it "Down & Dirty in 30"!! The team challenges are always so fun and you can find out more about it from the 'hood. It is the forum that the Sisterhood uses for challenges like this! It is a lot of fun...even though it has indeed been a while since I have done much with it!! I'm going to be participating in this challenge and will be expecting BIG things from myself...It ends the day before my 26th wedding anniverary and I plan to be different both body and spirit on my anniversary!

Saturday was That Kid's 20th birthday. Has it really been 20 years since I had my first baby? Sometimes it is hard to believe he has become a young man; but then I look at him and realize he is a grown man. Taller than even his dad, with a deep voice and defined muscles. Today he is a fine young MAN, who needs me less and less every day, even though in my head and heart he is still my little baby boy who needs me for everything. Where did the time go? Why do they have to grow up? Oh well, he is taking this semester off from school so we can get some more things caught up from our economic nightmare of the past year, so he will be home a little more. I know That Other Kid is happy about that! So am I, if truth be known!!

Today is my birthday and we will be going out to eat in a little bit for our traditional birthday lunch. I plan to eat MEXICAN -- salty and cheesy! Also planning to buy a dessert!! I figure since I'm only turning 45 one time in my life I should make the most of it! That's why I'm online right now, goofy off reading blogs and commenting on them and writing a post of my own. I have to work tonight so this will be my one chance to enjoy my day...I'm sure work will be just like any other night at work...Although it is A LOT EASIER working 2nd shift, than 3rd it is still WORK!!

Well I better get moving...I think I'm going to put some makeup on and make myself look a bit younger before we go out to eat!!

Sunday, July 18, 2010

A Bunch of Random to Catch Up With You

As the title states, I have a bunch of random info to share to catch you up with my life. Nothing special has transpired over the past 10 days since I last blogged but lots has happened. I'm sure you understand...

* I got a new phone Friday afternoon. I'm still learning how to use it, but at least it WORKS!! I had a Blackberry that I was absolutely HATING (mostly because the screen was tiny and it didn't work half the time!!)and I was due for an upgrade. I sacrificed some sleep Friday afternoon and went down to the AT&T store to look for a new phone. I'm not the kind of girl who can look online and decide what kind of phone to get. I need to go in and touch and feel it and get an idea of what it does by actually checking it out. My dh just doesn't understand that. He researches phones online for (literally) months and decides what he wants based on what all the forums, reviews and other users have to say about it. Then he orders it online, sight unseen. He's usually happy with his choice, too. That's not for me...gotta see it and hold it, ya know? Btw, my new phone is this one. So far I LOVE it...it is easy to use and has everything I need. Now I just have to figure out how to make it do everything I need it to and get all my info off my Blackberry which may be difficult since I can't seem to get it to do anything! Couldn't even get a text off from there that someone sent me while I was in the store upgrading! UGH!!

* Next bit of random, I am training for my FIRST 5K!! I am following the Couch 2 5K program....and I'm actually finding that it is kind of FUN!! Did I just say that?'
I think it is more fun knowing that I am going to run my first 5K with my brother and sister in law this October! Yes, that's right the 3 of us are going to do this together, because she started training this week too! I am just finishing my 2nd week of the training plan but already I can tell that I am progressing. Saturday I ran at 4.2 on the treadmill and walked it at 3.2. Last week I was only at 4.0 and 3.0. Next week the plan calls for me to run 3 minutes at a time....I'm kind of concerned about that, but I know that I can do it if I just focus on the final result not the actual time I am running.

* I am begging, pleading, whining the managers for a shift transfer. I have been working 3rd shift for the past (almost) 5 months and it has been a struggle to have any kind of life with That Other Kid. I am supposed to be homeschooling him but just don't have the energy or time to do it. He has been lonely and watching WAY too much tv while I sleep in the mornings. Not to mention I don't get enough sleep and am grumpy most of the time. But since That Kid is home now and will be taking this fall semester off from college we will have access to a second car so dh can go to meetings and such for his business and I won't have to worry about getting to work on time...I am working on getting 2nd shift, meaning 4p.m. to 1a.m. This is an ideal shift for me. I can work till 1 a.m. then come home and be in bed by 2a.m. I will be able to sleep till 9 a.m. and then get up exercise, do school and everything else that needs to be done before I leave for work about 3:15p.m. I know that 7 hrs of sleep is still not ideal but it sure beats the 4 or 5 I am getting now. Not to mention I will be able to spend some good quality time with That Other Kid and do school.
So far, I have been told that they have a position open but they just have to make sure with all the other managers that it will be a permanant full time position. This has been going on for more than 2 weeks and is beginning to run me insane. Please pray that they get everything worked out early this week. I want this so much and the indecisiveness is really stressing me out. Also pray that I can still have my weekends off. Right now that seems to be a big deal to them...but I don't really understand why I can't keep the same days off...It's not going to affect them in any way, since they don't have ANYONE in this position now...what difference does it make if I have the weekends off? Ya know??

* For my final bit of randomness, I have been eating crap, and consequently gaining weight over the past 2 months. I don't really understand WHY I am not eating the way I know I should. I know what I need to do, but seem to be at a standoff with myself. I want to eat right, but every time I go to eat I look for the worst things to eat. Just tonight I ate 1/4 of an Oreo Pie that That Kid's girlfiend made for him. I doubt that he ate ANY of it. I think over the past 48 hrs I have eaten 3/4 of the pie. Needless to say, the pie is gone now and for that I am grateful, just wish I would have let him eat it or thrown it in the trash instead...I think the lack of motivation comes from my stress and frustration level. But, since I am now training for this 5K I'm hoping I can make myself eat right because I won't be able to "really" do it if I am feeding my body junk.

Just tonight I was watching the last 2 episodes of Losing It With Jillian, thinking "Wow, if she came to my house right now what would she say about my food choices? Would she be disgusted and start screaming or would she look at me and say "no wonder you are fat and can't lose weight?" Don't answer that...She would do both! and she would totally kick my a** in the gym, too. So...my 5K training lasts another 7 weeks and during that time I want to be proud of myself for my progress with the running as well as the food choices, so I'm clearing out the junk and eating the way I know I need to....

Feel free to "go Jillian" on me if you hear differently! I need some help, seriously.

Ok..so that's enough time on the computer for the night...I need to get in bed so I can get some extra sleep for my new work week that starts at 10p.m. Sunday night and I've promised That Other Kid we would go swimming after I do my run so I will have to get up early enough to do that and everything else that needs done Sunday. Pray that it is my last week of 3rd shift!! Hope ya'll have a great week...

Tuesday, July 6, 2010

Confessions

Its been a while since I wrote a confessions post for the Sisterhood, but I feel like I really need to get some things off my chest that are weighing me down. (Yes, that pun is intentional!)

First of all, last week I had a great weigh in and overall a great week. I don't really know what happened this week. Maybe I just thought I deserved junky food. Maybe the stress of the past few weeks just got to me. Whatever the excuses, I have no REAL reason to just let everything go to pit, but I did.

I had coke 4 days out the past 6.
I ate some form of JUNK FOOD EVERY DAY of the past 6.
I consumed far too many calories most days of this past week.
I'm afraid to get on the scales Wednesday morning.
I have paid for my food indiscretions dearly in the bathroom.

I have however been to the gym 3 times since last Tuesday and followed the C25K training plan, and surprised myself by actually RUNNING on the treadmill according to week 1. Today I start Week 2 bumping my jogging to 90 seconds!! UGH!! I have to say I'm kind of worried but looking forward to the challenge.
Christy told me about Sugar Free Red Bull and I tried it for the first time to help me get thru the night without cokes and it seems to be working, so YAYBB Maybe I have found a solution to drinking Cokes at work.
I started falling into the pattern of complaining again and really need to change that again. Positive thoughts bring positive results.

So how has your week been? Do you have lots to confess?

Monday, July 5, 2010

Reflections From the Breakroom

I'm sitting here in the break room at work watching and listening to my "co-workers". Sometimes I really worry about the people in the 20-30 year old range. Sometimes I just worry about the state of our land. I am thankful that I live in the United States and can spend the weekend celebrating my freedoms that others have fought for so hard. But back to my original thought...the majority of the people that are sitting here have no concept of manners, courtesyn respect for others. I am sitting with a "girl" who started the lunch break by poking her finger in another co-workers cupcake, purposely. Then as the meal time continued she played with her food by putting icing on top of dill pickles, then belching as she is eating the "lovely" concoction she created.

At another table a group of "men" are playing dominos and yelling and cussing because the game isn't going according to their plan.

Just accross the room are a couple of tables of immigrants conversing in their home language. I can only imagine what they are saying. Probably something along the lines of "you stupid Americans you live in the greatest country in the world and yet you are the rudest, most rediculous people in the world." I wonder how my own son behaves when he is at work sitting among people that don't really know him. What impression do they have of him? Do they think he is rude and a disgrace to this country? Or Do they look at him and think that people like him make the USA a better place?