28 November 2014

It's Black Friday


and I plan on avoiding it all day. Yesterday was quiet and relaxing. I had eggs benedict for breakfast, a nap, long dog walks, and turkey dinner. It was nice. Today is going to be pretty low key too. I plan to go to Crossfit, though I don't know when exactly, and I plan to get all my grading done. My plan is to sit and watch Sons of Anarchy while I grade. I'm pretty sure I can get everything done in just a couple of hours. Then I can get it all loaded into the gradebook and I will be able to focus on my own school work. I would like to get all of my initial assignments done before Monday. I can and will keep ahead this quarter. I figure if I can start working on the weekend ahead instead of the weekend it's due, I should be able to keep myself ahead of the game. I'm going to try it this quarter. I have to do something because what I am doing is barely working.

In other news, I started taking this on Sunday:

It was recommended by one of the Crossfit people and I decided to give it a try. It is supposed to help your joints since it contains an acid that is found in sinovial fluid. Between getting older and the extra weight and the crappy joints I have, I decided to give it a try. The first 7 days are a loading phase, so I have been taking 3 tablespoons a day. Just yesterday I noticed that my joints don't creak and hurt when I get out of bed in the morning. My knee is feeling amazing, as are all my other joints. Hmm.... Maybe there is something to this. I'm willing to try just about anything when it comes to my joints. I'll continue to take it and see how it goes.

That's it for now. I'm off to shower and breakfast and start my grading. I want to get it done.....

27 November 2014

Organization is the key


It's Thanksgiving weekend. Yeah, for 4-day weekends..... But it is also the weekend before my new classes start. These are the next to last classes I will be taking. I am excited beyond belief. But I'm also nervous. These classes are requiring major projects at the end. The last few classes, I have not kept up on the projects and ended up doing them last minute. No cool. And not possible with these classes. In both classes I'll be in learning communities where we will be sharing our progress each week. That means that I have to keep up and keep on top of everything. There is also other assignments that will need to be done. It will be a busy quarter. I also have to work on my prospectus, though one of the classes will be helping with that. But I need to keep working on that. Plus I still have work and other life obligations. So the key to this is going to be organization. I need to plan and organize my time and my tasks in order to be sure they all get done. That means no more sitting for an hour playing on the computer. No more watching TV for 4 hours straight. Naps will need to be scheduled and not spontaneous. No more 2 or 3 naps a day. I need to be highly organized and highly motivated. I also need to use this weekend to get ahead of things. I have grading that needs to be done and I can start work on my class assignments. I need to be motivated and organized. I need to keep that in mind all the time. Okay, nuff said. I'm off to shower and put some sweats on because it is freaking cold here this morning.

23 November 2014

My plan for the week


I have only three days of work this week. Actually, only two and a half. I will implement my plan and I will stick to it this week. I will start forming the basis of the rest of my dissertation journey. Here is the plan:

5:00 - 5:15 - getting up, coffee, morning abolutions
5:15 - 5:45 - dissertation writing
5:45 - 6:15 - shower, dress, feed birds, etc.
6:30 - leave for work
4:00 - 5:00 - Crossfit
5:30 - 6:45 - Walk dogs
7:00 - 8:00 - dinner, clean kitchen, prep for next day
8:30 - 9:00 - get ready for bed


I did this on Monday and it worked out really well. I got some writing accomplished. I was awake and focused for the day. It was good. But I didn't repeat it this week. Since this week is only three days, I am going to do this every day and start the habit. I am also going to walk the dogs every night. That is another habit I need to get into.

It is all possible if I work at it and this week I will work at it. Once it becomes habit it will be easier, so I need to work on the habit.

Where she talks about poop and other body functions


This is the human GI tract. If you will notice the rectum is located at the very end - where everything comes out. I once had a human anatomy teacher explain that when the rectum said out of the pool, everything got out. I also know that when you have to poop, it is usually because of feces in your rectum. The feces in there has been processed and is normal poop. Poop that comes out watery or mushy comes from further up you colon and has not been completely processed. What you eat greatly affects your poop. Eat too much food, you poop a lot of mushy, watery poop. Eat too little and your poop is small, hard, and few and far between. Eat the wrong kinds of foods and all sorts of things can happen. For me, eating lots of sugar creates messy poops - loose stools - that are just yucky. Eating lots of wheat makes me go a lot, but it makes the poops hard. Weird.

Years ago I had irritable bowel syndrome. It was never officially diagnosed as that, my doctor insisted it wasn't, but I matched the symptoms to a T. I would have bouts of loose stools and constipation. It was horrible. My lower abdomen would hurt. Yuck. This was my first inclination that my diet was a problem. I started eating whole foods and worked my way away from processed foods and things started to get better. As long as I eat whole foods, I'm pretty good in the poop department, so that's what I try to do. Doesn't always work out, but I try.

For the last couple of weeks my back has been bothering me. I keep writing it off to being overweight with most of my weight in my belly. But lately I've been getting small bouts of constipation. I go in the morning, but then feel like I have to go again the rest of the day and be unable to. I've been trying to figure out what the heck is wrong.

In completely unrelated news, I have not had much sugar for the past week, I think I had ice cream two nights but that was about it. For the last couple of days I've been good about sugar and wheat and guess what? I don't have any constipation. My lower abdomen feels absolutely fine and on my walk last night my back hurt only a little. Hmmmmm....I think I may have hit on something. Eating right keeps me pooping right which keeps my back from hurting. Interesting, who would have thought?

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...