Happy Easter

Happy Easter everyone. Hope your day is awesome. I started the day finishing up my decorating project. On Friday I picked up an old, wooden dresser off Craigslist. Yesterday I painted it black, it was dark brown and worn. This morning I put it all back together and we moved Hubby's clothes into it. We had this make-shift dresser with drawers from a water bed and milk crates, yeah, it was a bad as it sounds. In the process of moving from that to a dresser, I made Hubby purge. Hubby is a bit of a packrat, and I'm being nice in saying that. If I let him have his way, you would find us on an episode of hoarders. So purge he did and he did not like it at all. But the new dresser is so much nicer than before. So to recap my weekend to date, I built an Ikea dresser and moved it into the bedroom and put my stuff in it. I bought and hung new curtains in the bedroom. In moving the new dresser in, I had to rearrange the bedroom and it looks awesome. I purchased, painted, and moved Hubby into a new dresser. I cleaned the ceiling fan (gross) and the windows. The bedroom is now awesome. Oh, and I painted a new nightstand and lamp for me. My bedroom is now awesome. I did little things that make it soo much better. For example, our bed is right under a window, which is open 99% of the time due to the weather. The curtains we had previously were red (yuck) and long so they got caught behind the bed. I bought new brown curtains that I hemmed to just under the window. This way they blow and are over our head so we constantly get the breeze. Much nicer. Also, the brown curtains make the room much, much darker. Nice for sleeping. And, the old, red curtains had these tabs that hooked on the curtain rods and they were constantly coming open. The new ones have a channel for the rod and they stay closed. So nice. I am so happy with my bedroom now, I want to go in there and take a nap :) The only thing we need to do is fix the ceiling fan. The light doesn't work because the chain broke. We need to take the light part off and see if it can be fixed. Other than that, it is perfect. So now I am really happy with the bedroom and the spare room. The computer room is acceptable, I'm not in love with it but I can't figure out why. So it will do for now. The living room needs a little work but I need to find something that will make it work the way I want to, and I haven't done that yet. So that was my weekend.

I have decided not to return to Crossfit for the foreseeable future, and I am very happy with that. It feels like a weight has been lifted off of me. And, my knee is feeling amazing. I need to make sure that I don't just sit around, but lately I've been busy doing decorating stuffs. I need to get into a workout routine. I'm walking the dogs again, so there's that. But I also want to get some time in on the treadmill and do my PT exercises. I don't want to end up being completely sedentary. In this short time, I find that I have way more energy. I'm doing things that I normally would put off. I don't know exactly what is going on, but I like it. So for now, I'm happy with my decision. In June, I will probably go back just because I will have more time and can go to Crossfit in the morning. We'll see. Right now I know it's the right decision and I'm happy with that.

Okay, that is it. I want to clean my floors and bathroom, so I think I will go do that now.

Ultra low carb

After eating with abandon for almost 4 weeks, I'm back on ultra low carb. Specifically Carb Night solution. In this program, I eat ultra low carb for a few days, then have a really high carb night. Then back to ultra low carb for a few days. Some trainers call this carb cycling, whatever it is called I like it. It is not that difficult to eat ultra low carb for a few days, especially when I know that I get a carb night. I really like it. The problem, and there are a couple, is that the adjustment period can be absolutely brutal. I'm on Day 3 of the adjustment period and I woke up with a headache. Yuck. It happens as your body switches from carb burning to fat burning. I'm hoping, since I wasn't off that long, that it will not be as bad as the first time. Yesterday though, I was like the energizer bunny. I started in the morning rearranging the bedroom and I did not stop all day. I would sit down to take a break and five minutes later but up doing something else I thought of. I was insane. But I got a whole lot accomplished. That is one of the benefits of low carb - the insane amount of energy you have. Think about it, if your body goes into burning fat for energy, I have tons and tons of fat, I'll have tons and tons of energy. Woo hoo. But today and tomorrow might be brutal, we shall see.

In other news, I think I am done with Crossfit for a while. My knee is feeling amazing having taken this week off. I think I am going to skip the rest of April and May and see how it goes from there. I want to start walking the dogs again - they need it - and I want to take Boo to obedience classes. I want to get her CGC and her AKC obedience titles. She is a smart dog that should be doing something. I'm going to start doing it with her. Registration for training is on Wednesday, so I'll go register her and start her on her journey. That was my plan when I got her, but as usual, life got in the way. Well, this is something I really want to do, so I need to just do it. Besides, she will love it.

Okay, I have school work to do today, not much but I want to get it done.

Decorating

This is my new dresser. I'm very excited about it. It's an Ikea. We don't have Ikea here in Hawaii, so the fact that I managed to snag an Ikea dresser is awesome. It was not put together, so I did that. Anyway, this is part of a long, long story. I will try to make it as short as possible.

When we lived on the ranch, I basically became very depressed. I gave up trying to make things look nice and just went with what was there. I pretty much let Hubby do whatever, and while I love my husband, he should not be in charge of decorating. Plus he's a borderline hoarder. After we left the ranch, I got a little better and paid some attention to the home decoration but still, not a lot. I was happy to just have whatever and wasn't too picky about it. Since we have bought the house, that has been changing. Slowly. I want things to be nice, as nice as possible with 3 big dogs. I have a nice couch that I keep covered to keep it nice. I got a nice dining set. We did the kitchen counters so they look nice. We decorated the bathroom, it looks nice. The bedroom though has always been a bit of nightmare. We built this dresser thingee (not the one above) in the closet and it it very, very ugly. The other day, I took a TV and stand out of the bedroom and ended up painting the stand. Here is what it looks like now:

Originally I was just painting it for fun, I had no idea what I would do with it. Then, I liked it so much, I decided to make it my nightstand. I had been using an ugly, old, black end table that Nala had chewed the corners off - that tells you hold old it is. So I went and got a lamp at the thrift store and painted the lamp and the draw handle silver. It's in the bedroom and looks adorable. Well, that got me to thinking about our "dresser" in the closet. I hate that thing and started looking for a real dresser. Someone offered us this one and we jumped on it. I put it together yesterday and just got it into the room this morning. It looks awesome. Now, I still need to find a dresser for Hubby to replace that monstrosity in the closet. We will put the dresser in the closet but at least it will be a nice one.

So the moral of the story is that I have really gotten into decorating. Honestly, for a long time, I never saw the purpose in spending time and money on decorating. I figured any old thing would work. But I am finding the joy in it. I rearranged the spare room a few weeks ago and everytime I walk in there it makes me smile. Now that is what decorating is all about.

Pain free

I have taken the last 4 days off from Crossfit and as much as I hate to admit it, my knee feels awesome. I forgot my brace today and I didn't need it all day. I can walk down stairs unassisted. It still is a little painful to walk upstairs, but not as bad as it was. I was planning on taking the month of May off from Crossfit, but now I'm wondering if I should just stop now. I really does feel good. Hmmm...not sure what to do. I was planning on going for the rest of this month and then taking May off, but now......well, maybe I'll just take the week off and then see what happens.

What I do know is that I need to get my eating in check. I have not been going crazy, but I'm eating things I don't normally eat. Like rice. And bread 2 nights in a row. And lasagna. And desserts. I need to stop the desserts. So I'm going to work on that. I also need to do my PT exercises. I haven't worked them into the routine yet, so I keep forgetting to do them.

That's all I got. I wanted to document that I am pain free and have been all day so that I remember it.

It was a good day

I always hear Flo from Progressive singing that.....Anyway, yesterday was good. Things went well. I kept my promises to myself, all except the treadmill walk. I did not keep that promise because I started a project that took up most of my time. Since the point of walking on the treadmill was to keep busy and not nap and since my project accomplished that, I consider it a promise kept. So yesterday was a good day and I am happy.

Today was also pretty good. Again, I did not do something I planned on doing, but I did do something else equally important so it is a wash in my book. It is amazing how success builds on success. Once I got control of one small area of my life, all the other things started to fall into place. I love that. It's weird too because when I feel that I don't have control, I feel like I don't know what to do or where to start. For example, my classes. When I feel like I have no control, I have such a difficult time doing my assignments. I would struggle and worry and not know where to start. Then, inevitably, I would sit for hours on Saturday working and struggling to get it done. Now, that I feel I have regained control of my life, I read little bits during the week and by the weekend I'm ready to do the assignment. It is amazing how a small change and literally change everything. Awesome.....

Today will be........

Awesome, amazing, fantastic, productive, etc......... I have some new found knowledge and understanding and I plan to use it....Today.... I am going to make a couple of promises to myself, not too many, and I am going to follow through on them and I am going to empower myself. My promises are as follows:

• Complete two class assignments
• Do laundry
• Vacuum/Sweep/Mop the floors
• Iron my clothes for the week
• Look at some breakfast casserole recipes for something different for breakfast
• Do my PT exercises
• Walk on the treadmill for at least 30 minutes while I read or do something

I think that will do. Not too much, definitely things I had planned, but I need to build my promise muscle. 

In other, seemingly unrelated, news...I have made a discovery that I'm pretty sure is new to me or that I've never made the complete connection. Sugar makes me tired. And not just a little tired, but a full blown exhaustion, I need to lie down right now because I can no longer hold myself up, tired. I have had these feelings before, but quite honestly I never made the complete connection to sugar. I feel this way when I eat a lot of sugar, so that I knew, but I have discovered recently that one small piece of candy can create that feeling. That is not good. Clearly my body is not processing sugar correctly, or maybe it is and that is really how everyone feels...yikes.... So, for just one day, I will not eat any sugar. I will avoid it today and see how I feel throughout the day. 

Another thing I want to do today is to add something to my daily chores. I have keeping the kitchen clean pretty well down. I'm on top of the money by checking the bank everyday. I also did pretty well at prepping for the next day in the evenings. I dropped the ball on my PT exercises, I think I will add that back in. So nothing else, just PT. I will work to do them 5 times this week. That is my goal. More would be great. Okay, off to conquer my day. 

Bit the bullet

For the last couple of weeks I've been rolling around the idea of taking a break from Crossfit. There are a lot of reasons for this, a lot. First and foremost is my knee. I make progress and then it acts up. It seems to be getting progressively worse and I really need to get it better or just fix it. I was talking to one of the girls at Crossfit who had to take 6 weeks off for something else. Her knee got so much better in that time that it hardly bothers her now. That made me stop and think. Second is the money. It would be nice to have a break from paying out $200 a month for a little bit. Finally, it's just time for a break. I've been doing Crossfit almost 2 years and while I really do love it, it is becoming a bit of drudge. Some time off might just rekindle the love affair again.

So, with all these thoughts rolling around my head for the past couple of weeks, and the conversation with the girl this morning, I have decided to take the month of May off from Crossfit. May is going to be a busy month anyway with school ending, graduation, me leaving there, etc. I will have lots to do and not having the pressure of getting to Crossfit will just make life that much easier. Also, I want to start walking the dogs again. I know a lot of Axl's behavior issues are the lack of exercise. So for the month of May I will not do Crossfit, I will focus on ending school, I will walk the dogs, and I will do my PT exercises. This will relieve a lot of pressure from myself and allow me time to get the things done that I want to get done. If I enjoy the month of May, I may extend my hiatus even longer - but I doubt it. I will probably do WODs at home while I do my PT.

So I bit the bullet and I feel a huge sense of relief. One less thing I have to worry about next month.

April 15, 1959

On Tuesday I will be 55 years old. It is hard to believe. I never really thought I'd live to be this old. Seriously. When I was in my 20's and even my 30's, 55 seemed so incredibly far away, I just did not see it happening. But, here we are 3 days away from it. I am not big on birthdays, I don't think I ever really have been. Hubby celebrates the entire month - yeah, I'm not like that. Maybe one day or a meal, but really not that big on birthdays. Especially now as I'm getting older, I don't see celebrating the fact that I'm that much closer to death. I know it's a glass half full kind of thing. I could look at it as I made it another year - but to me that is still a weird thing to celebrate. But 55 is a biggee. My Dad did not live to see 55. My brother Joe did not live to see 55. My nephew Clifford did not live to see 55. I'm getting to the point where people do not live this long. And that's not to say that 55 is old, because it is not. It's just weird. I've been alive a long time and have outlived family and friends. It is enough to make me pause and think. But time marches on.....