Blissful inactivity

I've remained blissfully inactive since the end of the semester...ok, yesterday I went in and did some work in preparation of my Christmas Break fast track, but it's not really working. Mostly I've been reading, eating, knitting, eating, crocheting, eating, listening to recorded books, eating, watching movies, eating, watching cheesy Christmas specials, and, oh yes, did I mention that I've also been eating? I know it doesn't sound healthy, but it's been very restful. This evening, I finished crocheting a Santa hat for my grandma's ceramic black lab...yes, you read that correctly. That's about as pressing as anything I've done in the last week or so.

Joey's also really enjoyed it. She gets downright indignant if I go anywhere for even a short period of time. My purpose in life is to provide her with a good scratch and a place to rest her head when she's feeling a bit drowsy. My knee is perpetually warm.

But this wouldn't be bliss if it lasted forever. It'll be just long enough to refresh and rejuvenate and not so long it becomes boring. My class begins in a little less than a week. And I will get back to dieting and exercising come the new year. So "Eat, drink and be merry, for next year we will diet." :)

Breathing

Yesterday and today, I've been taking it easy. It's snowing outside right now, which makes it a perfect day to curl up under a warm blanket and read. This is a necessary part of the process. When I've been working so hard at the end of the semester I have to learn what it feels like to be in my skin. I have to remember who I am. I know that may sound silly, but when you've gone full-bore for a couple of weeks on end you forget.

I'm also taking a holiday from the diet. One of the bad things about being on the diet, when I cheat, I binge. I have this mindset of "eat, drink, and be merry for tomorrow I diet." I try to get my full of everything even if I don't want it because I know I won't be able to have it when I'm back on the diet. So, I've decided to give myself my blessings to go off the diet for awhile, not just a day and eat what I want to eat when I want it and no more. Then, at the beginning of the new year, I'll start fresh. I feel a lot more relaxed since I've made this deal with myself, and I need that right now.

End of Semester

I'm sorry I haven't been here for awhile. I've literally been buried under papers. Every semester this happens. I can't even begin to tell you the number of papers I've had to read and grade over the last couple of weeks. I submitted grades this morning and I've spent most of the afternoon and evening just breathing in and out, trying to remember what it's like not having the weight of all those papers on me.

Unfortunately, the stress of the end of the semester always defeats my dieting efforts. I need to chomp on something while I chew my way through the papers. Peanuts and pistachios in their shells are the most satisfying. The janitorial staff at school isn't very happy with me. But I think peanut shells would be easier to clean up than the mess they'd have if my head exploded.

I did however do something constructive. I joined the Regional Wellness Center. I've only been able to go once, but I'm hoping to go again tomorrow.

I know the last time I wrote, I was complaining of joint pain. My tests all came out negative. The multiple doses of Aleve help. I still have my moments of pain, but it's better. Hopefully it'll get better the more weight I lose. Of course, I'm working of weight I've lost and regained and lost and regained. It's been a vicious cycle, but I know it'll be easier from the new year until spring break, as long as the weather isn't too nasty and I find myself trapped at home with the refrigerator.

Getting Back to Myself

I saw my doctor yesterday. He took some blood tests and I haven't received the results yet, but he also told me to take Aleve...6x the normal dosage! But you know what? I've been doing it and I'm ever so much better. I still can feel a twinge, and I know when it's time to take more, but I can move and I don't feel 110 years old. I'm back to my more moderate and agile 85.

I even took Joey out for a walk in the cold this afternoon, and shoveled a path to my back door. That I only did a half-ass path is my modus operandi. :)

This evening Mari and I her daughter McKenzie and I are going to the college's Madrigal Festival. I'm looking forward to it. I'm feeling a bit Medieval. Ok, I really think it's closer to the Renaissance, but people rarely recognize that. This should be fun. I know most of the students involved, and I know they'll be pleased to see us.

A Fresh New Start

Two dynamos came into my house last night and ripped up the carpet in my dining room. I'm referring to Mari and her daughter Maddy. They recently ripped up carpet in their home and they thought it was so much fun, they couldn't wait to tackle my floor. Boy, I felt my age. I really found it hard to keep up with them. Mari was so efficient at it, I threatened to knit right in her face. Knitting is one thing I do fairly well that Mari doesn't. It was my way of bolstering my ego. However, I really appreciate their efforts. As you can see the floor came out very nicely. There are a few stains and scratches. I'll have to sand and varnish, but not a lot of either one. And the floor is nice enough, I'll be able to put off those two tasks, and putting in quarter round until next summer. Mari will probably be wanting to get to the living room carpet even before the splinters in her butt heal.

On the dieting front, things are much better. I'm still dealing with joint pain, but I see the doctor on Friday. I think once that appointment was made, I was able to renew my efforts. In addition to starting fresh, Weight Watchers has changed their program. Whereas, the program counted calories, fat grams and fiber grams in the past, it now has us counting fat grams, protein grams, fiber grams, and carbohydrate grams. No calories are in the figuring. This has really enlivened my diet because it has made most fruit and vegetables free, and believe me, I tested it. I plugged in things like 20 apples and it still counted them as zero points. And although it's only been a couple of days, I can tell it's working. I've lost all but maybe 2 of the 11 pounds I put back on over the two previous weeks. And I'm full!!! If I feel the need to munch, I grab some carrots, cauliflower, an apple, grapes, or an orange. It's awesome!!!

Hitting the floor

I've been hating the carpet in my living room and dining room for some time. On top of that, Buddy really did a number on it when he'd go tearing through the rooms. My allergist told me years ago that I shouldn't have carpet, so I've mostly been staring at my carpet in loathing. I have made a few half-hearted attempts at pulling it up, but I was a little afraid of getting aggressive. I was afraid that the carpet was glued down the way it was in the porch. I was afraid there would be plywood or worse yet, linoleum underneath. So, when my brothers were here for Thanksgiving, I asked them to pull up a corner. And you can see from the picture above that we struck gold. Already last night, I started pulling up staples from the padding, and I'll probably work on the tack strip soon. I'm getting very anxious to see what these rooms will look like with the hard wood floors.

I also hope I have hit the floor with my dieting and weight. I've had a bad couple of weeks. I've been very achy since the weather turned cold. Going up stairs has been a special agony. I've only been comfortable under the heat of my electric blanket. I suspect that it's arthritis. So, not only has it taken a toll on my exercise, it's also brought me down emotionally, and I gave up there for awhile. But, I've made an appointment to see my doctor later this week. Hopefully, he'll give me a prescription to help the pain (I tried just about every product on the market and nothing has brought me any relief). Also, if my doctor thinks that I need to focus on low impact exercise, I'll get a membership at the Regional Wellness Center, and use the walking track and do some swimming. I really enjoy swimming. I just don't enjoy being seen in a swimming suit.

So, now I have plans for my floor and for my body. I hope I can accomplish both.

Happy Thanksgiving and Toilet Seats

I'm having Thanksgiving at my house tomorrow; therefore, I spent today cleaning. Well, this morning, while I was running errands, I decided to get a new toilet seat for my upstairs commode. I have to make a confession at this point, and because of Catholic guilt and the guilt my mother programmed into me, I find this very difficult to say, but I must. For you see, I am not a very good housekeeper. Oh, I've learned a few tricks, like always have a place to store things so the house doesn't appear to be very cluttered, but when it comes to deep down cleaning, I fall terribly short of the mark. So, undoubtedly because of my poor housekeeping skills, the underside of my toilet seat upstairs was stained and looked nasty. I tried all sorts of things to clean it and nothing did the trick, so this is what led me to think a new toilet seat would be a good idea.

I wasn't at all concerned about the installation, I had done this before and it was no big deal. So, on one of my many trips upstairs, I decided to tackle the toilet...more like the toilet tackled me. I could not get those damn plastic nuts off to remove the old toilet seat. I used every kind of wrench and pliers I could find. It would not budge. Then I got the brilliant idea of unscrewing the lid and seat from the hinges, which would allow me to turn the screw from the top as well as the bottom. That was actually a pretty good idea, and it did give me more access. It also committed me to the process. On one side I was able to hold onto the bolt from below and put a screw driver through the hinge hole and unscrew it from the top. However, on the other side, the bolt just kept turning in whatever I was gripping it with. After about an hour of this knee killing pain, I decided to take Joey for her evening walk. That was just what I needed. I remembered the small pipe wrench I had in the basement but had never used. It took me quite a bit of work, and figuring. I remember "righty tighty lefty lucy" but when I'm doing it at weird angles, I get very confused. But I eventually got that sucker off there. I would have made the most hardened sailor blush if he had heard the language I used on that toilet seat. But my throne is once again intact and I am proud of what I've accomplished.

I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving, and I can tell you that right now, I'm very happy and thankful that my upstairs toilet is once again functional.