29 September 2006

This is NOT political.

I'm a conservative. I'm NOT a republican because I disagree with them on many, many issues. But I am definitely a conservative. I don't believe in the welfare system as it exists now. Welfare should be a hand not a hand out. You should not be able to receive welfare for more than 1 year. I don't believe in abortion but I don't believe it should be illegal. Trust me, if I want to get an abortion, legal or not, I'll get one. It should also not be allowed for 13 year olds to get one without parental consent. I think the war in Iraq is just the tip of the iceberg. Did Bush lie to start it?? I don't believe so, at least no more than everyone else did. Our intelligence was lousy so not so hot decisions were made. I believe stem cell research could be the hope of the future but it can be done in an ethical, humane manner. I can't stand people like Al Franken, not because he's a flaming liberal but because he can not provide a thoughtful, logical, cohesive argument to support his views. He always resorts to name calling - I hate that. I HATE political correctness!!! Call a freak a freak, don't sugar coat it. Words only have power if you give them power. Okay, you get the idea, I'm Attila the Hun!!!!

For 10 years I was a real estate appraiser and spent 4-8 hours a day in the car. During that time I got into the habit of listening to talk radio. Yes, Rush Limbaugh and all those folks. Just for clarification, listening to them did not make me conservative, I been that way since my 20's. So that's a habit I've pretty much kept up over the years. Now there are lots more people than Rush to listen to, some good, some so-so.

We had our primary election last Saturday and if you haven't experienced election season in the socialist state of Hawaii you haven't lived. We elect dead people here as long as they are democrats. We have our first republican governor in 40 years. They also have this inane charming practice of sign waving on the side of the roads. See, we have no billboards so they have to get their signs out there some way. You have no idea how freaking annoying that is. You're driving to work at 6 a.m. and these freaks are on the side of the road waving and yelling. Give me a break.

So for the last 6 weeks to 2 months I've been just immersed in politics. Between the primary here and the talk radio I listen too. Well, I realized this morning why I have been feeling so down lately. Too much politics.

I was getting ready to go swimming and I noticed the time was 5 a.m. I said to myself, "Hey, it's 5 o'clock somewhere, he he he" Then thought I haven't heard that song in a long time. So on the way to the Y I played it. I arrived in such a good mood and had such a good swim, it was awesome. I then totally rocked to Jimmy Buffett on the way to work and am just in a great mood. So, for the next week I will be a political free zone. No more listening to that crap. The whole world can go to hell in a handbasket for all I care. I'm politically free for the next 10 days. Woo Hoo!!!!!

28 September 2006

I battle a lot of demons.

As I'm sure many people do but these are mine and therefore more important to me :)

One of my battles is my weight. I have no control in the face of pastry; cookies, cakes, pies, muffins, you name it I literally can't say no to it. This is something I have been struggling with for easily 10 years. Sometime the battle goes well other times, eh, not so much..... However, I feel like I'm making huge progress in the pastry wars.

One of my strategies is to bring my food with me. I bring breakfast and lunch to work everyday. I have found that if I stop at the store on the way to work I have zero willpower and will buy the pastries. Many times I'll buy 2. I will then eat them and pretty much feel like crap for the rest of the day. I'm also a secret eater. I'll eat these things in the car so no one sees me eat. Oh, this is not a pretty picture!!!

As this is a long standing battle I'm constantly looking for ways to win. The other day I made a huge discovery that I think may be the beginning of the end of the pastry wars.

Generally my morning goes like this; get up, get coffee, get smoothie (fat free yogurt, oj, fruit), workout, get ready for work, piece of fruit if hungry, drive to work, eat breakfast.

Well, Tuesday while I was rescuing the dog my schedule got all screwed up. On the way to the Humane Society I started to get hungry and I could feel my blood sugar dropping, my mind turned to pastry. I started spotting all kinds of places I could stop and get a muffin. Since that wasn't practical, I reached into my lunch bag and grabbed a piece of fruit.

After dropping the dog off I realized I was very tired and wanted another cup of coffee. I stopped at 7-11 to get one and ended up buying a pastry. I realize this does not sound like a success but what I realized when I got to work was that I didn't want the pastry. I purchased it mostly out of habit. It was then it dawned on me that the real reason I purchase those pastries is because my blood sugar is low.

I always stop on mornings when my schedule is not followed resulting in a blood sugar drop on my way to work and a serious pastry craving. This was a huge light bulb. It generally happens when I don't have the necessary food in the house and need to stop at the store on the way to work.

That brings us to this morning. I had nothing for lunch at home and decided to stop at the store. Immediately my mind turned to pastry. But, in a stroke of brilliance, I grabbed a banana on my way out the door, then put all thoughts of donuts, muffins, out of my head. I decided exactly what I wanted and headed straight for them. I actually left the store without pastry. This is such a huge success you have no idea!!! I have now made a chink in the armor that is pastry. Now that I've struck the first blow I will be able to defeat it. It won't be easy and it won't be fast but it will happen. To the victor go the spoils, in this case more energy, better body, and better health.

So today was a rest day. I have the hardest time taking rest days and I forced myself to today. Last night I ran and it was a really good run. I felt like I was flying, of course, it turns out I wasn't but it felt like I was. So today is rest and a non-pastry day.

27 September 2006

I'm a little down.

I do get depression and it's not really that, I'm just feeling a little bit down. I don't have the joy or excitement I usually feel when I get a good workout in. But, I'm still doing the workouts and that's really good.

So let's see what's happened the past couple of days.

Monday was swimming. It was good. I did some drills, some intervals, some distance. I ended up doing 2500 m. It was good.

Tuesday was weights and running. The weights went fine, no problems there. The run was another story. I took off and planned to do about 4 miles. I started out and felt really good. I was running good and moving fast. I hit the 1 mile mark 4 minutes faster than my last run. Woo Hoo!!! I got about 1.5 miles into it and a little dog shot out of the bushes on the side of the road and got clipped by a car. The hit wasn't bad, the dog kept running with just a slight limp. So I called to the dog to try and get it out of the road. It came running over and proceeded to adopt me. I spent the next 45 minutes walking around trying to find where this little girl lived. Needless to say, she had no collar and no tags.

After 45 minutes I really had to get home and this little girl just followed me the whole way. I got home and put her in a neighbors kennel while I got ready for work. I loaded her into my truck and took her to the Humane Society. Luckily she has a microchip and they were able to contact her owners, so there was a happy ending to this story.

Unfortunately, my run was aborted and I ended up walking mostly. So tonight I will go running to make up for yesterday.

This morning was swimming and I was really working on my form. I ended up doing 2250 m and it was good. I was really working on my extension and my distance per stroke. I discovered I have a habit of cutting my stroke short. At the end of the stroke you should be pushing the water at your hips. I was cutting it short and not pushing. So I worked on that.

It's been a good week so far I just have nothing to really say. ::heavy sigh:: I guess I'll go eat my breakfast and then work. I don't feel like sitting on the computer so I guess I'll work.

24 September 2006

Hi, my name is Flo and I have a problem.

I'm on my feet all day at work. Literally!!! I stand from 8 a.m. till lunch time then from lunch till 5ish. Most days I'm tired but not exhausted. A few minutes sitting usually revives me and I'm raring to go again.

On the weekends I invariably spend too much time sitting and by Sunday night my back hurts. Well, when I take 3 day weekends by Sunday morning I'm in agony. As I was today. My back is freaking killing me. If I stand up the pain will go away after a while. But who the hell wants to stand up on a 3-day weekend???? Not me!

Anyway, I just had to share that. It really pisses me off that I can't sit and relax and talk to people. NO!! I have to stand and move regularly or I'll be in pain crying like a baby the next day. Is it any wonder people think I'm weird????

Conversation with Hubby

 So yesterday morning I presented my idea of working out at home to the Hubby. Once I presented it to him, he said he was in. I told him I h...