Data to the Dentist
My poor little baby Data-Lore has an appointment with the veterinarian on Monday to get his teeth cleaned, and probably some removed.
Who, me?
Yes, you. (My special little kitty who likes to chew on our grocery bags. And has rotten breath.)
I’m kind of freaked out, because he’ll be at the vet ALL DAY. And he has to go under anesthesia. Steven is going to be the one dropping him off and picking him up. I am just not emotionally strong enough to do that – leave him there. I have to look away now when the vet gives him shots. I even had to look away when they took his temperature! I don’t like to see his sad little face.
One time, while working on the cat shelter in Rome, I had to feed a cat with a broken jaw. We put soft food in a little plastic syringe and then would squeeze it into its mouth. Well, I accidentally squeezed it all over the cat’s face, and just starting crying.
So… I suck at stuff like this. I’ll have to keep myself very distracted on Monday so I don’t start to worry about him.
Hey, do real parents, of humans, get annoyed when people call their pets their “babies”? Tell me the truth! Muah ha ha! Because I’ve got to be honest with you, at home, Steven’s “daddy,” I’m “mommy” and Data’s “son” (and on special occasions, “shitbox”).
Where’s my appetite?
For the first time in my life, I find myself without an appetite. Food seems to be of no interest to me. The only reason I am eating is to fuel my body.
Eating has been becoming more and more about “fueling my body” for some time now. But I was still looking forward to eating. Since Friday, coinciding with becoming sick, food seems to have become a big nuisance. A pain in the butt. A chore.
Yesterday, I took my entire regular food stash with me to work, plus some extra, hoping I would find my appetite. But all I ended up eating during the day, unwillingly, was instant oatmeal, two bites of a banana, soup and a roll, and a homemade granola bar.
Then I got home and ran 4 miles.
That felt wonderful.
NOT.
So. It’s time to force myself to eat. I know this may be a common phenomenon for people when they are sick, but it’s not for me. I love to eat. I always want to eat. I would get out of bed at 3:00 am if it was for a legitimate, scheduled meal.
I know my appetite will come back when I get better, but right now, I can’t taste anything. The thought of food makes me feel sick.
Blah blah blah. Wah wah wah. I’m sick. Boring post. Boo. Sorry. Something better tomorrow.
Off topic, but making me crazy: Has anyone else’s google reader been re-marking things “unread” after you’ve marked them “read”? Mine has been doing this for a few days and it’s making me crazy. Sometimes it sticks, and sometimes it flashes for awhile then goes away.
Running on E
For your entertainment, here is a blog post I wrote about being sick while I was sick. Yeah… it kind of doesn’t make any sense.
My exhaustion finally caught up with me.
On Thursday I developed a small cough in the afternoon. On Friday, it was deeper, but I felt well enough to go to work. But by lunch time I started to feel weak. I had aches in my legs and couldn’t walk very fast. I left early and the aches spread to my hips and lower back. We had tickets to a comedy club with friends that night and were supposed to meet them for dinner first. Instead, I laid in bed all night, as the aches moved to my chest. Wonderful wife I am. $50 down the drain.
On Saturday, surprisingly, I felt somewhat better. Still weak, but not coughing as much, and not achy. We took Sir Data Lor to the vet, and cleaned the house a bit for friends to come over. I was terrified I would have to cancel our get together* with Kevin, Katie, Diane, E and Tori, but I felt great all day. Until about 9:00 pm, when they probably noticed me continually getting up from playing Wii Trivial Pursuit** to blow my nose, cough, and wash my hands in the bathroom.
On Sunday I felt miserable. I kept getting hot and cold, hot and cold. I would be shivering under the sheets, then they would be wet from me sweating too much. I had to go to Target to pick up a prescription. You know what the pharmacist*** said to me? “You look tired.” You know what it means when people say that to you? “You look like crap.” I DID look like crap. I laid in bed all day.
I thought I may go to work on Monday, but decided not to. It’s a good thing I didn’t. I could barely stand up when I was trying to make myself oatmeal in the morning – I felt too weak and dizzy. I had aches during the day again. Felt too weak to get out of bed most of the time. But the coughing had gone down. Hurrah.
On Tuesday, I think I’ll go into the office. What the hell. Should be fun.
You know what? I have been PISSED OFF this whole time I’ve been sick. I’m angry. This stupid sickness is putting a serious hamper in my exercise plans. Taking four days off is making me crazy. And I don’t feel like I should be sick. I eat well and I exercise. I’m healthy!
I know what you’re thinking, “Um, Kim, maybe it’s because you don’t get enough sleep?” Yeah, that has got to be it. From now on, I am going to recommit to getting 7 hours of sleep a night. I will set a timer for 10:00 or whatever, and when it goes off, I’ll stop what I’m doing, and go to bed, as often as possible. If that doesn’t happen, I am going to start sleeping on the train again.
I’ll do whatever it takes to get healthy.
And yeah, that includes finally going to the doctor. I’m working on that one.
*We had such a wonderful time having everyone over on Saturday night. We rarely get to spend time with friends, so it was a real treat. And I love that blogging has given me so many “real life” friends. I never thought that would happen when I started this blog! And I must say – I have a very real blogger crush on Tori. She’s even more awesome in person.
**I sucked at Wii Trivial Pursuit just as much as the tangible board game. What a surprise! Not!
***My pharmacist is pretty funny. The last time I was there, she was so excited to enter my new government insurance info in the computer because of the “awesome low prices!”
BONUS FOR MAKING IT THIS FAR: Anyone sick of me using asterisks all the time? Muah ha ha! Blame it on diane! I copied her’s! I love it when she adds little tidbits!
Friday Question #60
Are you more likely to exercise if doing so with a friend or family member?
For the past two weeks, I’ve gotten up extra early (4:30) so that I can leave work a bit earlier to exercise with a coworker* in the office gym. I’ve looked forward to these days so far. Yeah, it’s a hassle to wake up earlier, take a gym bag, shower at work, and get home more than an hour later, but it’s a fun detour from my normal schedule. It’s something different. And it’s fun to chat while working out.
This coworker is also participating in the Biggest Loser Challenge. She was telling me that she hasn’t been successful, so I suggested we exercise together once a week, and surprisingly… she agreed. This made me think, maybe SHE is the type of person who is more likely to work out if she is doing it with someone else.
I think I’m different. I start by doing it for me. I’ll always be doing it for me. Seeing someone else work out isn’t going to make me do it. Steven worked out during the entire holiday season and I would just look at him and think, “Meh!” then go back to wrapping presents and eating sugar cookies.
I am more likely to meet someone to work out if I’ve already promised I would, but I wouldn’t be making that promise if I wasn’t already invested in exercise. Does that make sense? I need to make the commitment to ME, not to someone else.
I think other people may be different though. Are you?
Checked off the to do list
Yesterday was my First Quarterly Panel review (the event for which I was writing the dreaded report).
Guess what? I ended up dreading the review in the same way I dreaded writing the panel report. I don’t get nervous about presenting things or talking to people, but this was just something I wasn’t looking forward to. A lot of emphasis is put on the importance of the presentation, so I was under a lot of stress and pressure, along with my other HUGE work load.
But, it went extremely well. I presented to 7 people, talked about what I’ve been doing and learning for the last three months, for about 2o-25 minutes, then they asked me a series of questions.
You know what? I actually enjoyed being up there, talking to everyone about my projects, and what I like about working for the company. One member of the audience asked me if there was anything I dislike and would like changed, and I honestly could not think of one thing*.
Everyone told me I did a great job, and one person told me he liked how energetic I am. My team leader stopped at my desk after the presentation (I got to my desk first, because they sit in the conference room after you leave to talk about you!) and told me I made her feel “very proud.”
I think I’ll actually look forward to my next panel report – that was a pretty good day.
But work’s still kicking my ass.
Do you have to do presentations at your office? Do you dread them or love to share with other people? I wonder if part of me is just craving some human interaction. I’ve been buzzing off of it lately.
*Oh sure, I have daily gripes and can bitch and cuss, but that would be at ANY job. I love my company and the way it’s set up.
30 Day Shred Review: Day 4, Level 1
I have to share two dirty little secrets:
- I am a runner who NEVER does strength training. (BAD BAD BAD!!!)
- I am a runner who NEVER gets sore from running. I push myself, but never feel the burn the next day. Lucky, I guess.
With that being said – for me to find a workout DVD that gets the strength training in, AND makes me feel sore as hell, that means a lot! And that’s not mentioning that is also gets my blood flowing and my heart rate up.
I’ve been doing Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred at Level 1 for four days now. For those of you who aren’t familiar with the DVD, it is split into three levels of workout intensity. You become comfortable with one before you more on to the next. I think the idea is that you do it once a day for 30 days straight, but it never actually explains that on the DVD… anywhere that I’ve found anyway!
Each level is a “20” minute (more like 30) workout with a warm up, then 3 intervals each of 3 minutes on strength, 2 minutes of cardio, and 1 minute of abs, and a cool down. It is fast paced and keeps your heart rate going the whole time.
Pros: Just doing this for four days has me walking around like I have stiff, sore legs. It hurts to bend over. My chest is sore. It feels great! I can really see this DVD changing my body in the next 30 days. And I like that it only takes 30 minutes of my time, can be done without leaving my house, and requires minimal equipment – just free weights.
Cons: I worry that the DVD is only going to strengthen my upper legs and chest/upper arms. I hope that we get to a calf exercise in the later levels. And I find Jillian annoying and fake. But I bet a lot of people say that. (In the last ab exercise of Level 1, she says “I know you feel that little knot in your stomach. That’s your body getting stronger.” Ugh. Every time she says that, I DO feel it. Those bicycle crunches ARE HARD.) And one more thing – the DVD doesn’t play nice with our DVD Changer. Oh well.
Overall, I really like it, especially being the first workout DVD I’ve ever tried. I hope that if I ever surpass Level 3, I will have a new found inspiration to continue strength training on my own! I really think anyone* could do this DVD – no matter what your exercise level is. It is tough at first, but even four days later, it’s feeling easier to me.
Side Note: I just remembered that Jillian Michaels has this game for the Wii. I don’t have the Wii Fit, but the game sounds kind of cool.
*Let me know how it goes if you try it! I know Tori is talking about it! And based on offline conversations with Denise, Mom, Courtney and Gina – I think you four would like it as well!
Unwanted filter
Do you ever have a strong urge to call a friend and let all of your emotions and frustrations out, but you hold back, because you don’t want to burden/bother them?
What is with the filter?
I had a day yesterday, that, let’s just say, didn’t make my sour weekend mood go away. Let’s just say it built on it. There’s a lot going at work. It’s nothing bad that reflects on me individually, but something that affects my organization. It was enough to stress me out after I left work and make me have dreams about it last night.
I needed to call someone last night and talk about it. I used to always call my mom first. She has always been my #1 go-to person, and probably always will be. She’s a great listener, and always gives me the reaction I need.
But she’s not always available. She has important daily commitments. And I don’t want to bother her when she’s busy. And quite honestly, I am selfish, and I don’t feel like I get the attention I need when she’s busy (makes sense – she’s busy).
So last night, I had the urge to call a friend first. Someone who is also a good listener. Someone who can relate.
But, I didn’t. I didn’t want to burden her with my work stress, when she already has her work stress.
Thinking about it now, that’s bull-crap. Our relationship is not set up on the premise that we both have perfectly wonderful lives with no stress. Yeah, we’re both generally happy and know we have a lot to be grateful for, but what’s to say I can’t call her and just let her know how stressed I am at the moment?
I believe it’s fine to say I am stressed out about my job right now, without having to justify it with “I am grateful to have a job.” OF COURSE I am. But for the moment, I let that hold me back.
I believe my friend and I are both the nurturing type. We have the tendency to listen a lot to other people’s problems first, before we share ours. It’s not that we don’t share them, just that we don’t prioritize them all the time. We maybe sit on them. I sometimes do, anyway.
This isn’t the first time this has happened. I’ve had strong urges to reach out and call her other times. Once, when I was having some food related issues. I just needed to talk to someone who understood. But still, I held back.
If I am lucky enough to have this wonderful, understanding friend that I can relate to, and who is also a great listener, why don’t I let myself be 100% MYSELF to her?
Strange energy peaks
Since I’ve started exercising so much, and not sleeping on the train in the morning, I’ve been having really strange energy peaks.
I get to work energized and refreshed. I feel great until about 3:00, when I usually start to feel a bit tired, dizzy and weak. I have a snack of veggies, hummus and fruit, to try to snap out of it.
If it works, then am pretty pumped the rest of the day. And I mean pumped – my heart is racing. If I don’t nap on the train ride home, my heart doesn’t slow down until late in the evening, sometimes around 11:00 or later. If I nap on the train, I am somewhat doomed. It takes me awhile to snap out of the sleepy fog when I get home, but then my heart starts to race again afterward, and I am still up too late.
If the snack doesn’t work, I can’t snap out of my fog – I spend the rest of the day in a daze. Whether or not I sleep on the train, it doesn’t matter – I’m going to be out of it.
This new energy pattern is alarming to me, because I am hitting so many highs and lows. I am fairly steady most of the day, but then my heart really starts to race, and I get anxious and excited and energetic. It feels great to be so energetic, but it doesn’t feel great to come down from it. I am trying to eat balanced meals throughout the day, and drink plenty of water, and am TRYING to get enough sleep, but I don’t know what else to do to normalize my energy levels.
And I doubt I will be sleeping much on the train anymore. I bought myself an HP Mini to use the internet while I ride. Yay! I have been wanting a smaller computer to take on the train for a long time.
Letting Data use the new computer – it’s more “his” size!
I’m no fun to be around this weekend
I can’t figure out why I am so angry/frustrated/anxious this weekend. I tell myself that recognizing something is wrong is the first step in solving the problem, but I am not going to get very far if I can’t figure out what is bothering me so much.
We’ve had gorgeous spring weather here all weekend, which means I got to do both of my runs outside. Yesterday was a quick 3-miler. Today, I did Level 1 of the 30 Day Shred*, then, after my legs quit shaking (approximately 20 minutes later), I did my 8 mile run. I used a hydration belt for the first time, and even brought along some sport beans to take for energy. The park in our neighborhood has a .48 mile (thanks to Steven’s Garmin for the calculation) oval sidewalk, so I just ran that 16+ times. It was a great run, and I felt like I could keep going. I felt great when I was done. I love running outdoors. I love that the breeze keeps me cool. I love watching people in the park, to keep myself entertained. I love the warm sun on my skin.
So why, after my glorious run, did that rotten mood come immediately RIGHT BACK?
I’d like to blame it on hormones, but I think it is more than that. My energy levels have been having some weird swings** lately, and I wonder if I have some sort of imbalance that might be affecting me. Yeah. That’s be great – if I could blame it all on biology!
*I’ll try to write a review of the 30 Day Shred later on, after I’ve been using it awhile. For now, just let me say – push ups and crunches kick my butt!
**More on that later too.
Banana donuts and the 30 Day Shred
I participate in an alternate work schedule at my office, so every other week, I get a Friday off. I use it as a day to get a lot of errands done so Steven and I can have a relaxing weekend. Yesterday, I ran 5 miles, went to the dentist*, went shopping for a suit (FAIL), picked up a DVD (more on that below) and went grocery shopping (at 2 different stores) all before 1 pm!
Then I came home, ate lunch, walked Data, got the mail, read blogs… and passed out on the couch for an hour and a half. Oops!
Anyway, I decided to surprise Steven by getting up early and making him some of those banana donuts** different people (Meghann and Mica) in the blogosphere have been making. Here’s the recipe, which I halved, making six donuts.
One minor problem with the recipe – it calls for egg whites, and I started mixing everything up before I remembered we used the rest of the eggs for Thursday night’s dinner. I had a little mini-panic and contemplated giving up and pouring the batter into the trash, then decided to improvise by using an extra tablespoon and a half of oil. Not the healthiest alternative, but it worked. The only other way I altered the recipe was by putting in a tad of banana extract flavoring.
I really wanted them to look like donuts, so I put all of the batter into a large plastic bag, then cut off the edge of the bag and squeezed the batter through to shape into donuts.
They look kind of “donut-y!”
I am estimating that one has approximately 200 calories.
I had to jump on the treadmill and run my 5 miles before I could try one. I was a bit worried they wouldn’t taste that good, but Steven LOVED them! He even took a couple to work so I could live up to my reputation as the wife who bakes things (formerly, “the wife who bakes cookies“). And I tried one after my shower – I LOVED them too! They make a very good breakfast, and are not too sweet.
I picked up Jillian Michael’s 30 Day Shred DVD while running my errands. I’ve been reading a lot of health and fitness blogs lately and I think about 50% of them are using this DVD to work out at home! I can’t wait to try it today, with Steven!
*I am SO EXCITED to have dental insurance now. I love going to the dentist. I hadn’t been since September of 2002. A lot has changed since then! Now they can take photos of your teeth inside your mouth and show it to you!
**I AM THE BONANA KING!!! If you have time, and a sense of humor, spend the 6+ minutes to watch this ridiculously silly video.
Hi! I’m Kim, a 40-something-year-old living in northeastern Illinois with my husband Steven, and our cats, Khaleesi, Apollo, Starbuck, and Eddard aka Ned. My current main hobbies are running, painting rocks, flying, reading, and eating. I follow a vegan lifestyle and work in an account management role. I write about a variety of topics and consider this a “life” blog – a place I can share anything that’s on my mind. Please visit the “About” page to get a better idea of who I am! 🙂
