14 April 2007

Another week down.

I can't believe it's Saturday already. These weeks seem to be flying by faster and faster. Well, tomorrow is the big day. I turn 48. It's really taken me by surprise how much this birthday is affecting me. It's really caused me to step back and examine my life. To really think about what I want, where I want to go, and what I want to do. And I've made some serious decisions.

I want to work at home. I do not want to go out to work everyday. I have done that for the last 30 years and I'm done with that. I will be working on a way to make serious money at home. I'm not sure what I will do, but I have some very good ideas on what I won't do. I won't do any type of MLM - that's just a giant pyramid scheme, I most likely won't do anything related to sales, just not my style. I am seriously considering medical transcriptions, they can make pretty decent money if they are good. Or possibly getting into real estate. I was an appraiser for 10 years but that got old. I'm thinking now of getting into selling it. There is good money to be made if you get in with the right company and are good at it. Since selling a house is not like selling a car (few people buy houses on the spur of the moment) I think I could be good at this.
Both of these things I can train for and work at while I keep my regular job so I can get established. I don't know. I have to talk it over with hubby and see what he thinks. But that's something I'm going to start working towards.

I'm going to do Honu 70.3 in my 50th year, that's 2009. My plan is running this year and getting my new bike before the year is over. Going back to serious swimming in October. Doing sprint and olys next year, 2008, and Honu in 2009. I made a decision earlier this year to stay away from tris this year (there was too much other stuff going on) and I was very comfortable and happy with that decision. In fact, the other day I was thinking that maybe I wouldn't go back to them. I'm really enjoying the running and that is where my heart lies. Then, in my dream last night (where I was yelling at Al Sharpton?!?!?!), I said to hubby that I missed triathlon. After I woke and thought about it, I realized it's true, I do miss it. So next year it's back to it. That's a decision I'm happy with.

Finally, my weight. Do you realize I have been battling my weight the vast majority of my life?!?! I started "dieting" when I was 18 and have been doing it in some way, shape, or form, ever since. I started doing aerobics when I was 19 and have been working out in some way ever since. Well, I've had it and I'm tired of thinking about my weight. So I've come to a decision about my weight. I am going to work very, very hard for the next 8 months to lose this weight. I will exercise, eat right, I will weight train and interval train, I will not let sugar cross my lips, I will do everything I'm supposed to. But, come Dec. 31st that's it, I'm pau (done). From Jan 1, 2008 on I will eat right and exercise, but I will not obsess or focus on my weight. If I have not lost the weight I wanted to I will just have to come to terms with that. But seriously, I'm tired of the whole weight thing and it's time to move on. I just have to give it one more good solid effort before I throw in the towel. In the spirit of "The Secret" I'm envisioning success, so wish me luck.

So that's kind of it. Those are the things that have been rolling around in my brain these last few weeks. That's a lot of the reason why my posts of been kind of light and fluffy, there were deep things going on they just hadn't fully formed yet.

Since hubby works tomorrow and we really prefer to go out to lunch instead of dinner (yeah, we're old fuddy-duddies) we are going out to celebrate my birthday today. We're going to the Yard House. They are brand new in Waikiki and they have the largest selection of draft beer in the world. How fun!!!! So we're going there for lunch and probably a little stroll around Waikiki and that will be my birthday.

I hope everyone has a good Saturday.

13 April 2007

HA!!

You are a

Social Moderate
(41% permissive)

and an...

Economic Conservative
(70% permissive)

You are best described as a:

Republican










Link: The Politics Test on Ok Cupid
Also: The OkCupid Dating Persona Test

A quieter morning

Well, there was no police busting in next door at 6 a.m. this morning. It was a quiet morning in the neighborhood and my workout was completed with no interruptions.

It was really quiet last night too with the murdering drug dealing neighbor gone. They don't get loud at night but when they're gone it's super quiet. That was nice. I hope it remains that way.

I spoke with a guy in the attorney generals office and he checked it out for me, they did find drugs in the house again. That's actually very good. It's only been 3 months since the last raid and that case is still ongoing, to be caught again makes the case even stronger against them. Also, even though the murderer himself wasn't home, because he lives there and there were drugs found, they can charge him. So yeah!!! I'm hoping this does it and he is put away for a good long time.

Other than that it's a quiet Friday. After my post last night about online education, I really got to thinking. A while back I was looking into taking a course in medical transcription (which is like the original work-at-home business) but got sidetracked and forgot about it. Well, I was looking at it again last night and I'm seriously considering it. I could take the course, do it nights and weekends, make some serious extra money, and then do it as my full time job if I want. I'm not sure. The courses aren't cheap and it would take 6-12 months to complete. Hmmmm........ Something to think about. Does anyone do this or know anyone who does this?? I'd love to talk to someone who's doing it.

Okay, that's it for me. I'm going to surf the web for a while then maybe get some work done :)

12 April 2007

Final thoughts for tonight.

I went to college at a late age. I had my daughter when I was 18 and was a single mom for most of her life. When she graduated high school and I was 36 I decided it was time to go to college like I'd always wanted to do.

When I began college I was all excited and, being older, I was the overachieving nerd in all my classes. I also really, really enjoyed college. I learned things I didn't' know I didn't know. It was great since I have always loved learning.

I decided fairly early on that since I took so long to actually go to college I was going to go the entire way. I wanted to get my PhD. Of course, as I continued on I got tired of going to school and after getting my BS went out and got a real job, thinking that was a good idea. And it was at the time.

But now, 6 years after graduating, I think about getting higher degrees but there is no way I would go back to school now - too old and tired :) The idea of getting an online college degree now has real appeal to it. There are over 8,000 degree and professional certificate programs available. I'm not sure what field of study I would pursue but it is something to consider. At this point I'm not doing it necessarily to increase my earnings but more as personal development.

I've been lying to you.

I keep saying how my eating is going so well and I'm really eating clean.... Well, it's been a lie. Not a total lie. But I have left off a vital detail. Okay, confession is good for the soul so here goes...... I've been having dessert almost every night. Hubby and I got into the habit of having dessert and it's gotten out of control. Initially it was a small bowl of Dreyers Slow Churn Ice Cream. Excellent stuff, lower in fat and calories than regular ice cream. We would have just a scoop which is a 1/4 cup, no biggie. It was like 60 or 70 calories. That's just fine. Then we added syrup, chocolate and/or strawberry. Then there was the whipped cream. For the last couple of weeks it's been cakes or cookies with the ice cream. A small, manageable snack has become a nightly monster. I was thinking it was one of the causes of my nightly flights out of bed.

So last Sunday I swore off dessert. I know myself, and when I'm having trouble like this the best thing to do is avoid it completely till I get the monkey off my back. So I did. Monday I had a piece of fruit for dessert. Tuesday I had a scoop of sugar free ice cream (that's all, I swear). Last night - nothing. Tonight will be nothing. Now I feel a lot better, not has tired in the evening or in the morning. I have not had once episode of night flight. Coincidence??? I'm not sure but I do feel a lot better without dessert.

Whew, glad I got that out.

I tell you, Florida is haunting me.

Apparently lots of English people visit Florida, who knew??? Well, I guess you knew if you lived in Florida :)

Anyway, a UK based company has been providing sales and rentals of Florida Villas since 1947. They now have an office in Florida (Kissimmee!!!) and have consolidated all the info you need to visit Florida onto their site. They can provide car rentals, air tickets, and lots of places to stay. You can rent single family homes as well as condos and town homes. This is great. I much prefer staying in a condo to a hotel room when I travel. I don't like eating out all the time so having a kitchen where I can fix my own food is a huge plus to me. Also, it makes the trip cheaper. You have a kitchen, so you can make your own meals and snacks, plus they sleep like 8 people. so if you split the nightly cost among 8 people it ends up costing much less than a hotel room would.

This really is a great site. I wonder if I could use it even though I'm not in England???

I'm tired?!?!?!

I thought I slept pretty good last night but maybe not. I was at lunch, sitting there reading the newspaper and I feel asleep! I did not think I was tired. I was reading the newspaper and just nodded off. How bizarre is that???
That's something my father used to do and we would laugh at him. Sitting there holding the newspaper, asleep. Now I'm doing it. It's just never fun when you realize you are becoming your parents :)

What a morning!!!

I got up this morning and was supposed to do some yoga poses but I really felt like running. I decided to just go with what I felt and run. Well, one look outside quickly dissuaded me from that idea, it was really dark and overcast like it was going to pour. Not to worry, I headed back to the studio and hopped on my elliptical machine. I'm cruising along, watching TV, really enjoying myself when all of a sudden I hear this loud banging and yelling. At first I couldn't figure out what was going on but I immediately assumed that my murdering drug dealing neighbors were fighting and I got pissed and decided to call the cops. I hop off the elliptical, turn the TV off and hear "Police, Search Warrant, Open the door!!!" Woooo Hoooooo, it was the police executing another search warrant. I look out the window and there are SWAT guys with big guns all over the yard. YES!!!! I went out front and there were about 8 vans full of cops there. Unfortunately the did not get the murdering drug dealer, he wasn't there. They did get his girlfriend and they took the drug sniffing dog through the entire house and every car on the property. I don't know exactly what they found because the cops won't tell me, of course, but I have a call into the Attorney General's office to try and find out what's going on. I hope they press charges and throw those people into jail forever!!!

So my workout was interrupted but that's okay. What a way to start the day.

11 April 2007

Florida on my mind....

I've heard it said there are no coincidences. If that's true I'm beginning to wonder what it all means. I've really been thinking of traveling lately and Florida keeps throwing itself in my face.

Websites for hotel bargains keep appearing before me. Like this one for Kissimmee Hotels. Seems that there are 52 theme parks around Kissimmee, who knew??? There is also the obligatory golf courses, this is Florida after all, there are more top rated courses within a 40 minute drive than anywhere else in Florida. Hubby would love that. Beaches are only 40 minutes away too. Everything you could want to do during a vacation. There is always the choice of doing nothing too. That's fun sometimes too.

So maybe I need to go to Florida for some reason. I don't really believe in coincidences.

Wednesday weights.

So it was weights again this morning. I was thinking about it as I was getting ready and I realized I'm a little bored with the routine. So, in an effort to stick with my program, I decided to up the weight some and see if that relieved the boredom. Oh yeah, that worked. My muscles were screaming by the end and the final reps were a stretch. That's good.

I've been having this weird sleeping issue where I wake up suddenly and find myself out of bed heading somewhere. I've just put it off to stress and worry over a couple of things. Last night I googled it and now I'm a little concerned. It sounds like a condition where your mind doesn't paralyze your muscles during REM sleep and you are actually acting out your dreams. They say people who do this wake suddenly (I do) and can recall the dream in exact detail (I can). This is generally associated with other sleep disorders and can be an indicator of Parkinson's disease later in life. I am not thrilled about this. However, instead of panicking and racing to the doctor, I've decided to keep a sleep log and see if I can spot patterns. Besides, when I do go to the doc they are going to want to know how often it happens (not sure), how many times per night (usually just once), where there other things going on, etc. So I'm going to gather that info before hand.

Well, that's it for now.

10 April 2007

A request.

I'm going to ask you to visit my other blog and click on the link at the bottom to sign a petition to support Duane, Dog, Chapman, the Bounty Hunter. Thanks.

My new plan.

Because of my back issues, I've adopted a new plan just for this week. Yesterday I did weights and interval training, today it's stretching - more like yoga. My back is feeling really good so I thought rather than overdo it I'd baby it just a little. Some nice yoga poses and I'm all stretched out and ready for the day. Tomorrow it's back to weights and interval training. I'm just going to do that this week and hope that by the weekend my back is back to normal :)

Vickie commented that for some exercise may be counter intuitive for back pain. I know that's a common belief, your back hurts, stop and rest it for a while. I've always been of the mind set that the human body was made to move. We were not made to lie on a couch and watch TV. We were made to be hunter-gatherers, constantly moving looking for food and trying not to become part of the food chain.

I look at a lot of things that way. We may live in the highly modern age with lots of technology and advantages, but our bodies are 10,000 years old. Face it, technology moves at a much more rapid rate than evolution. I think if more people kept that in mind they would be in better shape than they are. Move more and eat more whole foods. You know, if more people started eating whole foods, the food manufacturers would have to offer more whole food options. If people weren't swayed by advertising (whole grain Lucky Charms are still not good for you) and really paid attention to what they put in their bodies, the food producers would go out of their way to provide more of the foods we bought. Right now people buy and consume so much processed food that's that what they make.

Same with movement. I think the human body was made to be moving about 10-12 hours a day. I think we were meant to be hunting-gathering, looking for shelter, looking for water, etc. Not sitting on our butts in a chair at a desk. So yeah, when my back gets to hurting one of the first things I do is increase my movement.

Okay, sorry about that little tangent. You know what's happening lately, I'm really getting fed up with people. In general, people don't use their brains. There is so much stupid stuff going on in the world and it's really all because people don't use their heads. They either swallow the Kool-Aid offered by some idiot on TV or they react with their emotions. I'm just really getting tired of stupid people and they seem to be everywhere.

Okay, 'nuff said. I need to get my butt in gear and get ready for work.

09 April 2007

Cause and effect.

As a scientist I spend my days looking for cause and effect. If I add chemical A, I'll get B and that can be measured. I also try to not make connections that aren't there. Just because there is CO2 in the air doesn't mean it's causing global warming. So you could say cause and effect are my life. I also get good at seeing connections in obscure places.

Anyway, my point, and I do have one, is that I feel confident is stating this cause and effect. Last week my lower back was killing me. I would get these shooting pains that would bring me to tears. It was horrible. I finally decided I'd had enough and it was time to get back to exercise. Saturday I started my weight training again. Sunday I ran. Today I did my weight training. Guess what??? My back feels way better!! It's not a 100% but it's probably 85%. I'll be back to 100% by the end of the week. I am feeling so much better. I knew this would happen yet I put it off for other reasons. But I'm back and feeling better than ever.

So I got this post all typed up this morning and then we lost power. Luckily Blogger saved it as a draft - who knew?? So I hope everyone is having a good Easter Monday.

08 April 2007

Random thoughts

So I was watching the Discovery channel today, my usual Sunday TV viewing. I put it on while I'm cleaning house and it's good background noise. Also, it keeps the birds quiet since they hear people talking and I can actually get some work done.

Anyway, I was thinking how they think they found the burial tomb of Jesus. Okay, I could go on and on about why I'm not buying into this but I'll save that for another post. Anyway, they say there is material in the osuaries and they are going to do DNA test to see if it's Jesus osuary. What I'm trying to figure out is, who are they going to compare it to?? There are no descendants of Jesus so who are they going to us?? It's not really important, it's just one of those weird things I think about.

A comment...

I just had to address the comment left by anonymous on my Happy Easter post. I do love when anon leaves a comment and we can't chat back and forth.

I need to clarify something they said, the only products recalled by Nutro were the cuts and gravy pouches. It that's all you fed your animals that's not good. Dogs and cats should eat dry food. None of Nutro's dry food was involved in the recall because a) they do make all their own dry food, I actually visited one of the plants once; b) there is no wheat gluten in the dry food. Wheat gluten is used primarily as a sauce thickener so is not in the dry food (except some Hill's prescription cat food which uses it for some unknown reason); c) and the products used in Nutro food comes from this country.

I can explain why they may have taken the statement that they manufacture all their pet food off their website, it's basically a matter of the public not being smart enough to understand subtle differences. There is not enough canned food sold to warrant each food company owning it's own factory. Nutro contracts out to Menu Foods to manufacture some of their canned foods to their own specifications. Nutro did not use the tainted wheat gluten, but since it was manufactured in the same plant during those same dates Nutro decided to recall them as a proactive measure. Did you know Starbucks does the same thing?? They contract out with local bakeries to make their pastries to their specifications. Starbucks claims the pastries as their own but technically someone else makes them.

As for your back and leg problems, I'm sorry about that but it's not Nutro's fault. I did this job for 2 1/2 years and never had any problems. I'm on my feet 8 hours a day during my regular job so a couple of hours on the weekends doesn't bother me. In fact, the problems I'm having with my back now are directly related to sitting. When I stand a lot my back actually feels better.

As for changing the hours, that was actually because of the State of California changing their labor laws. The Socialist state of California has made it harder for a company to give part time people more hours. So, in an effort to make the entire company uniform in their practices, they changed the hours worked company wide. BTW, the management has been in place for 5 years, they didn't change in April (psss, April is only 8 days old). They may have changed locally but they do not influence hours worked. The national manager of the demo team is the same as it was when I left.

I started back with them literally, the day the recall was announced. I think they reacted the best of all the pet food companies. They had shelf hangers in the stores by the next weekend explaining everything I've said here. I have always found Nutro to be honest, fair, and more than generous with their employees. I really enjoy working for them. I was sorry I had to stop 5 years ago and I'm really glad to be back.

I'm sorry you had a bad experience with Nutro and I'm sorry you're so down on them. But the way I see it is, you generally get out of something what you put into it. I really enjoy this job, I have fun doing it, and I believe in the product, so my experience has always been positive with them.

FYI, all my dogs have been Nutro dogs since they were puppies. My beautiful Pit has none of the skin problems that tend to plague Pits and I blame Nutro for that :)



Here she is so you may admire her :)

Totally unrelated to anything important.

I've been very busy this morning. I ended up going for my run. Yea Me!!! I did 4 miles in 1 hour. I was going real slow because of my back and from my house to the 2 mile mark is completely uphill. So I was slow but it felt really good and my back felt awesome. I had picked up new insoles yesterday and they made a HUGE difference. So that was all good.

Xena's cage is in my computer room. As you may guess, with birds you get ants. She throws food all over the place and no matter how many times a day I clean I always miss some. I move her cage every night and sweep under it but still, there's ants. So today I decided to put her out in the living room, clean around her cage, and spray for ants. Now she has never spent much time in the living room. It's only the past week or so that we can pick her up easily. So I put her in the living room on her play set. She immediately gets down on the floor and runs to the full length mirror I have on the wall by the bathroom.



She just has to look at that attractive bird. Who is that good looking creature???



















Oh, look what's laying on the floor. How convenient, something to play with.




















Come on bird, let's play.

She then spent the next hour tossing that giant bottle at the bird in the mirror then chasing the bottle all over the house. It was pretty funny to watch.










So while she was occupied I got the house cleaned and her room sprayed. It was a good day.

So the other day I was talking about moving to Boston. Yesterday hubby and I were talking about an Orlando vacation home. We have friends all over Florida and just found out that one of them is back in Orlando. Who knows exactly what we will end up doing?? We are clearing up debts this year and then next year it will be decision time.

Happy Easter!!!

Why exactly are bunnies associated with Easter? Why are eggs associated with Easter? Why are eggs associated with bunnies? And what is that duck doing in the picture?????

For all of you that believe, Happy Easter. For you that don't, too bad :)

Yesterday I worked for Nutro and we go into pet stores and basically tell people about our food. Well, I could not believe the number of people buying bunnies for their kids. Do people not understand that this is a living creature that they are now responsible for and must take care of for the rest of it's life??? And to get it for a child??? Oh please!!!! Anyway, it was really ticking me off.

So I don't do the church thing anymore. I was reading another blog and the person commented that they don't believe in God. I stopped and thought how sad for them. Now I don't go to church because I have issues with formalized religion. But that in no way means I don't believe. And I believe how you live your life is way more important than how you spend your Sundays, or Saturdays, of Friday nights, or whatever.

I was supposed to go to my marathon clinic this morning but I decided not too. There are a couple of reasons why. First, I did not feel like getting out of bed. I was up and down all night with the dogs (I don't know what was bothering them but something was) and I just was in no mood to get up at o'dark 30 to drive 45 minutes, to run with the probably 3 people who would show up, just to drive home and clean house. So I rolled over and went back to sleep for a while.

Secondly, my lower back has really been bothering me this week. I keep getting shooting pains down my leg (sciatica, I know) and my leg will go weak. The low back feels really weak and sore. This is actually how my back felt when I weighed 225 lbs. I stepped on the scale this morning, I'm not back there :) So I'm not sure how my running will go. I don't want to slow the group down if I'm not able to keep up.

Finally, I did my strength training yesterday for the first time in a week and My Butt Hurts!!! I may have over did it just a little, cause man my butt is sore!!!!

While lying in bed thinking of all these things, I decided to stay home, go for my run here, if it turns into a walk because of the back that's okay, and get back on my running/weight training schedule. So there! That's my story and I'm sticking to it.

Do or do not....... Excuses are not acceptable :)


UPDATE: I was just cruising the net and read that bunnies were the symbol of fertility (I can see why) and new life in the spring. This is from pre-christian beliefs. See, you can't tell me man didn't put religion together.

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...