Blogging for Amusement

Someone whose name shall not be mentioned, Jim Not Mike, remarked to me he liked reading the blog and commenting, but he also seems to be MIA of late as he hobknobs around NYC, which he doesn't even like.  But despite his lack of comment last week, and despite my lack of sleep last night due to 'roid issues (sorry, TMI, but we strive for truth here on Knitten Kittens) I felt guilty not blogging today.

Though I only slept about three hours at best last night, I went to the gym after work to run my final day on week five on C25K.  No kettlebells due to the above mentioned issue, but the run went really well considering I had not run since last Wednesday.  Wednesday morning, I'll look and see what week six entails.

From the gym, I came home to Christmas decorate as I already felt a little behind, though much better now.  I want to do some baking this year, both for our open house on the 27th of December and to take to a friend along with some Christmas cheer that she and her family needs.  So yes, I found a way to put some meaning into this holiday for myself and hopefully for my friend too.  My shopping is minimal; my kids, my husband, Robyn and I may give some baked goods to some other friends. I'm going back to some basics this year; baking gifts, maybe making a few things.  Most importantly, finding ways to enjoy this holiday once again in simple ways.  No more flying around to get shopping done; most is going to be done at the computer and delivered. I still have to buy Christmas cards, but I enjoy those.  Still hoping to escape with Paula one day for massages and lunch, as we did last year.  Christmas dinner will be done here and right now I am looking forward to it.  Amazing what happens when you start focusing on people and not on stuff.  Of course, I still needs gifts for the kids, but again, the internet is my friend.  Kids are different; Christmas is for them, but I am not going to go broke buying a bunch of electronics we can't afford.  They will learn to be happy with what they get and I am not going to feel guilty.

Thanksgiving rocked.  No stress, much laughter, good food, good company.  No expectations.  No disappointments.  No hurt feelings.  Supurb.  The way life and holidays should be.  Life is stressful enough; the fun stuff doesn't need to be.

Is it ever okay to give up?

Due to the flu last week and then my oldest son having the stomach flu on Thursday and Friday, I only got to the gym last Monday, so today was rough.  I had to start week 5 of C25K over again as I only got one of the three days in last week, so that had me running for five minute increments and it kicked my ass today.  Dang, I can tell when I haven't been working out even if only for a handful of days. 

But, even worse is that after a week of not exercising, the urge to forgo today was incredibly tempting.  They say a habit takes like 21 days to form or something like that, and I believe that.  But it certainly doesn't take long to break it.  I left work and had a mental argument with myself about all the stuff I could get done if I didn't go to the gym.  Thankfully, the lazy ass part of my brain lost the discussion and I went to the gym and busted my rear end for just over an hour. 

It is so easy to let it go, isn't it?  In a week I had managed to forget how much better I feel for exercising.  I had also managed to do some really bad eating over the weekend so I knew the gym needed to happen.  I just didn't want to go.  But then I remembered a few basic truths that I set for myself a long time ago.

The first is that I am never going back.  This girl...



...way does not need to come back. 

The other truth is that giving up is not an option.  Here's a fact:  I can eat more now than I could a year ago and I am hungry way more often than I was a year ago.  The honeymoon period is over and has been over.  But that doesn't mean I no longer have to bother with things; it means I have a focus more than I have since I had surgery.  I'm relatively normal now when it comes to the population of people who work out, and try to eat right to keep their weight in check.  Everything I put in my mouth is a choice and if I chose the item that is not the best food choice for me, my ass needs to be at the gym burning it off and then some. 

But giving up?  No way.  EVER.  I worked too hard to get apathetic about this.  I have seen too many people lose weight and then turn around and put it back on because they gave up or allowed themselves to fall back into old habits.  We have got to be responsible for our own actions.  We put weight back on, we are the only ones to blame.  The only way WLS surgery fails is if we fail WLS.  If you have one of these surgeries and lose weight and as soon as the honeymoon period is over, you quit trying, then you were looking for an easy way out.  Health is not an easy thing.  It takes work and commitment and responsibility.  You're not allowed to give up.  I tell myself that every single day.

And I need a new picture.  The last one was eight months post-op and a year has gone by since then.  I'm maintaining a 109 pound loss with hopes of eventually getting to goal.  I'm hoping becoming a runner will assist with that, but if not, it's okay.  I am happy.  I am healthy.  And I am way not quitting.

Sick or Just Tired?

So yesterday at work I had a headache, which is kind of a rare thing for me anymore.  Actually, since losing weight, sickness is a rare thing for me anymore.  Maybe due to the vitamins I'm on, the amount of exercise I do or just the fact hat I am healthier than I have ever been before, or all of the above, but since my surgery in April of 2008,  I have one cold that last two days.

Anyway, headache.  I found two Tylenol Cold tablets in my desk and took them and the headache eased up a bit.  I left work, went for a haircut and then to the grocery store but I felt a little bit foggy for lack of a better word.  I got home, unloaded groceries and then put hair color on my head.  About that time, I started shivering...and aching.  I got into the shower a little earlier just to stand in the hot water to try to warm up before rinsing out my color.  After coming to the conclusion that kickboxing with GBC would not be happening, I watched my temperature go from 99 to 102 in the course of an hour.  I remained on the couch wrapped in blankets and ordered the kids pizza for dinner (husband is in California till Saturday).  Mom brought me over juice, Tylenol and soup, because that is what mothers do. 

This morning, I felt better after 9 hours of sleep and got up to get the kids off to school.  After they left I fell back to sleep for two hours.  My temperature is normal, but I have a bit of a sore throat.  I'm confused...I thought if you had a sore throat, you had a fever.  Coughing a little bit.  Dragging a lot.  But I didn't work today which makes me feel guilty.

So if tomorrow there is no fever but still slight sore throat do I work or stay home?  No fever means not contagious, right? 

I hate being sick.

Hard to Believe...

...I used to blog every single day, huh?  Now I am the Absent Blogger! 



In my defense, I have been really busy.  I have been at the church every day for fourteen days tomorrow, tho that does include my normal work days.  Friday there was a funeral and I was there from 8:30 until about 2:00 as I stayed to help serve and clean up.  Wasn't much effort as I really like the church ladies who come out to handle these kinds of things and have come to the realization that I am now one of them!  Then today, we all met for our Fall Clean up day and got rid of a massive dumpster full of crap!  I was there from just before 9:00 until about 2:30 but left feeling a great sense of accomplishment.



It all kind of floors me when I really think about it.  I am so tangled up in the life of my church; the day to day things, the special occasion things, the youth functions...and it actually escapes me how some people only turn up on Sunday and never give a thought as to how things get done.  Sure, the stuff they see on Sunday, I get paid to do, but all the other stuff I do and all the stuff the music director does other than music and all the stuff the other handful of people do is not compensated with money.  Major things got accomplished today that the majority of people will not notice and it just amazes me.  Not that I want noticed, but let me explain better. 



People walk into a church on Sundays and the heat is on, the lights are on, they have a bulletin in their hand and music is played and sang for the service, but they really don't give it a thought.  The place is clean and tidy.  But if they walk in and lights aren't on and there is no bulletin and all the discarded bulletins from the previous Sunday litter the pews, they would notice that.  Many of the things that happen in your home have to happen at a church and in order for that to happen, you have to have people willing to make sure those things happen.  People hate thinking about the church as needing money weekly...some even say that their belief in God has nothing to do with money and in many ways they are right.  But to have a building in which to worship, bills have to be paid.  No money means no lights or no heat or AC. 



But today was a good day.  A really good turnout of people; better then in the last few years.  Lots of stuff got done and rooms are now usable again as there was un-needed furniture and all sorts of stuff in them.  There is still work to be done, but it will get accomplished.



So what have you done to support your church lately, other than showing up on Sunday?  What little tasks do you do to make a difference?

Weekly to Do List

I have been looking around me and seeing all this stuff I need to get done, but am quickly running out of time.  No, the world will not end if it doesn't get done, it is just stuff that needs to happen, so if I don't start tracking it and setting some goals, I will never get them accomplished.  So for this week:

• Wash curtains before I have to freaking Christmas decorate


• Paint mantle before I have to freaking Christmas decorate


• Deal with the fish tank


• Start reading "Master your Metabolism".  This book has been mocking me.  I want to read it but can't seem to stay off the computer long enough for it to happen.


• Rake leaves out front

Work Goal (s)

• Plot out launch of Rent a Kid and get it ready to go for Sunday.


• Start looking at entertainment for next spaghetti dinner in probably February


• Get stuff ready for elections

Misc:

 

• Find out what the kids want for Christmas


• Find out what JJ wants to do for his birthday


• Look at ticket availability for B'way for NYC trip in December with church

This weekend was really, really busy but it all went well.  The dinner was fabulous and we raised about $550 towards our summer mission trip.  My BFFF brought one of his roomies home for the weekend and this teen is going to go with us on our trip which is awesome.  He was a great fit into our youth group and as we have an extra space for the trip it is perfect.

Today I did major work outside with leaf raking and some clearing of branches as well as getting the deck ready for winter.  After such a hectic weekend, I am bushed tonight.

Have patience

Have patience with me, dear readers. This has been an insanely busy week
and the weekend is nuts too and I just realized I have too much scheduled
tomorrow and my workout is going to have to go and I hate it when that
happens. But my oldest has a yearly check up in the morning, then to work
to set up for youth fundraiser, aka spaghetti dinner and to finish my actual
work for the week and of course due to the doc appt I will be late getting
to work. Then after work, I need to meet my mother to go to Sam's Club for
spaghetti sauce for fundraiser and then my oldest has a therapy appt at 3:10
which I really wish I could cancel at this point but I can't. At 6:00, I am
meeting two friends to go see "Godspell" at the Playhouse and from there, to
the church to play with the youth who wanted to have a lock-in. Not staying
the night however; I want to sleep in my own bed. Saturday morning at
11:00, is a rehearsal for the entertainment part of the spaghetti dinner and
then home to cook sauce etc (hmmm...can I get a workout in on Saturday
instead? I hate to do that too but really hate missing one!) and then to
the church for the dinner by 5:00. After dinner I want to go out to hear my
friend Lana and her new band.

So way too much going on right now and not enough time to put too many
thoughts together. Work has been busy, youth group, busy, home, busy. I
was due for my second 4th week run tomorrow too, damnit! Monday it is going
to feel like Week 4 Day 1 all over again! Bites. I really need to plan
better.

--
"Miracles start to happen when you give as much energy to your dreams as you
do to your fears." - Richard Wilkins


Come blog with me at http://knitten-kittens.com

I'm Still Here

Hard to believe I went from daily blogging to a "now you see me, now you don't" status, huh?  I had briefly considered NaBloPoMo but as today is the second, that is out the window and I'm kind of enjoying the freedom to blog or not to blog.

I had a really good workout today, thank you Jerry.  I did my third run in Week 3 of C25K and then had a lesson in kettlebell from Jerry along with a few other lessons on effective crunches as the normal ones were no longer doing me any good.  I didn't even feel sore after 200 of them (and he informed me that was way too many).  So he taught me the right way to hold a medicine ball while crunching on the stability ball.  He also showed me some on the bosu which was really cool as I was just fantasizing about one in my last entry.

We went to see "This is It" tonight and I was rather surprised to find out that I was a bit of a Michael Jackson fan after all.  I had not listened to him in so long that I had forgotten just how many of his songs I liked.  So the movie was very enjoyable and enlightening to see him in a more personal way.

The weeks have been insanely busy lately and now the holidays are right around the corner.  I am not going to spend Thanksgiving at my mother's this year; just can't do it.  It's a day off for me and I'd rather not spend it stressed.  Christmas is also causing me a giant pain but I am still trying to find something to bring meaning back to it for me.  I posted something along those lines on Facebook and apparently, I am not the only one searching.  We are currently trying to find a local family who has hit a rough patch, maybe someone who is not involved or getting any other public assistance yet.  There are about six of us so far who are looking for someone to anonymously bring some cheer or some help to.  If anyone knows of such a person or family, please email me at kimbreknittergirl@gmail.com.  I want to be able to do for someone without recognition for it, just for the sheer joy of helping.  I know there are people out there who need it and I'm betting you all know of someone.  If so, please consider sharing with me.  A few of us are asking those we know for suggestions.  Sadly, there are sometimes people who "work" the system, but the real stories almost always seem to come from those around us.  So if you know of someone who needs some help due to loss of employment, illness,, etc, send me an email.  We aren't necessarily looking to help with money, but maybe with food or whatever the need is.  Tell me what you got and if you want to help, you can let me know that too.