Nov 29 2016

Workout done. Feel great. Had to run to the cancer unit for my checkup since i missed the bus so I got in extra workout...not what I had in mind, but thankfully I wasn't too late.


I met with my surgeon this AM for my yearly post mastectomy checkup and he said I'm doing very well and have healed up nicely. He said that fat grafting would make my foob look a lot more real by filling in the dips on the edges of the implant - I agree, but I am not willing to shell out 3K for it at the moment. He felt it should be covered by my insurance, but I told him it was not. Hopefully if he and other surgeons lobby them this will change someday, but for now I'll just be a little wibbly.  I have a lot of other things I'd rather spend 3K on that's for sure. With my clothes on I look fine.

He told me to keep exercising and that it was the single most important thing I could do for myself to stay healthy. So I will :)

Gotta run!

Still going -whaddaya know?

Twas a good weekend. Had fun with friends and got a lot of stuff done around the house. One major thing was to use the new jewelry box my dad built me (it's gorgeous) and put all my jewelry in one place instead of all over the room in random piles. I found the last Ben Aaronovitch book behind the head board (?? no idea??) -I've been looking forward to finish reading it for ages but couldn't find it. Tidying can be a good thing it seems.
I made a slow cooker of ham potato coconut soup for lunches this week so I'm set for good food for the week and after a nice sunday off without workouts I was back to it this morning again. Level 2 completed. I will see this through to the end...tough workout. But I'm noticing changes. It's encouraging.
Today we go pick up the new cargo van and I'm gonna hunt about for some cyber monday deals for potential gifts. I am trying to work with bodyrock tv ot get my order with them corrected. My mum in law kindly offered to buy me a bundle of gear for christmas on their crazy weekend sale, but their email link put me through to their american order site, so I was billed in american dollars and not canadian...and oddly enough that means that when you do a currency conversion it ends up being about $90 more Canadian. Weird...I noticed it saturday morning when I was hunting through the site...I've emailed their customer support to ask them to correct this. Their email link is what screwed me up. If I'd just gone to the site normally I'd have been fine so I hope they correct it. I mean it's her money but still - that'increases the overall price of the kit by ~1/3 and it's a problem from their end if you ask me. Now that I know this issue exists I can look for it, but the order is placed.
Anyhoo...I should be off. Things to do. Sciency things. Listening to the new Garbage album on youtube at my desk...they were old faves back in 2000...and this new album is pretty good. A good break from the vapid pop crap that seems to permeate the current music scene. Nice and dark...Shirley Manson's voice is glorious.
But I digress...Later taters.

The early bird gets the sweaty sports bra

Can't sleep in so I got up and got my workout of the way. Just sipping some coffee and having my breakfast now. Whew -Day 2 of the 30 day shred is HARD. Evil woman...I had just gotten used to the first one. Oh well - I suppose that's the whole point isn't it? It is done.

I've got lots of chores to get to today to get the yard ready for winter and a bit of tidying indoors too. Then I plan a bit of reading in a chair with my cats. Tonight a friend is having an Arbonne party - I'm going just to hang out. I have no intention of buying anything - I spent my monies on winter boots but feel like a visit. After I'm heading over to H's house and we're gonna have one last slumber party at her house with her family (play Tomb Rider, watch movies and visit all night like old times) before it goes up for sale on monday. I'll get home tomorrow right around when J does. Should be fun.

But - I should get to it. Have a great saturday!!

Bye Bye Day 1

This AM was the last of the Day 1 one of the 30 Day Shred. Woot! Tomorrow I try something new. :) Happy to say it's been working though - my pants are starting to fit much better now. Less muffin top. Less clapping of my butt cheeks when I do jumping jacks (TMI? Sorry not sorry hehehe...)

This AM I grated an apple into my oatmeal and it was pretty damn tasty.  I'll have to try it again. Tonight I plan to make something weird and elaborate for supper...likely involving fish and beets and a few other things J doesn't care for. Then I have a date with my craft room again. I did a bit of work on it last night but it needs a few hours of serious attention to get things organized. Then a movie with the cats and a well earned Canadian 67 IPA. It's gonna be a good chill friday.


Last night I had a pretty good consumer experience. I hate crowds, but a  few stores I know had their Black Friday sales starting a day early so I wandered downtown after work to hunt for a few specific things that I have been looking for for a while since I knew there would be sales and found them all. Lined leather gloves on sale for $10 - score. They aren't ideal, but they block the wind better than the cheap knitted gloves I've been wearing until now. I also picked up pair of new winter boots I've been looking at for a while (Sorel knockoffs  that are actually way more comfy than Sorels and have a removable liner that are rated to -40C) - they were marked down to $60 so I just caved and picked them up. I knew I (and my feet) would regret it if I didn't. I have a pair of winter boots but they're not waterproof, so there are times when I can't go out without soaking them and freezing my feet...until now heheh. I love to walk in the slorchy spring melt and these will be so good for that. I even found a pair of 14K white gold hoop earrings for $30. I've wanted a nice pair of simple earrings for a while now (I only have my original piercing studs from when I was 12 plus a few cheap studs from Ardenes that aggravate my ears) but couldn't bring myself to spend a tonne on them because they're earrings and really...I tend to lose and break things. So this was a happy find.

So yeah - I'm broke now but very pleased. Like Christmas came early. And in a few days I can start putting up the decorations. Meep.

And I should really get to work...break's over. Have a good weekend all you peoples :)


Almost there

I've been good at doing the workouts all week! And after tomorrow I get a new one. Finally. It's neat to feel myself getting stronger...I can do more than when I started...it's just pretty boring doing the same thing every day. Saturday will be a new workout. I can't wait.

J and I had a cheat meal on tuesday night but other than that I've been eating well all the time. We went out for thai food to celebrate him finding a really good deal on a cargo van for his home lighting and laser business. The smaller Japanese Delica we have is a Diesel and while it's good for camp adventures and good on gas it is a terrible winter vehicle and doesn't run below -10 C (which is most of our winters here) so his ability to take gigs with lots of gear in the winter is really limited. Cargo vans are stupidly expensive but he managed to find an older GM one with under 100000 Km marked down for $6900. It was a passenger van remade for the local power company to use so it has all it's papers and there are windows but no seats in it - so we don't have to find a place to store the seats in the basement (which I was not amused about - we already have the ones formt he Delica there). It's exactly what J needs for a decent price. Everything else we saw since we've started looking isn't even remotely close to what he needed with high miles and was over 15K so this is a real deal. I'm happy - he went to test it tuesday and was back to buy it wednesday morning before he left for the weekend with the guys.

I'm looking forward to some time alone this weekend. It is a friend's birthday tonight and he wants to meet for beers with friends so if they are going to where I can get to by bus I'll meet up with them for a while, but I'd honestly rather just get caught up on stuff in my craft room so I'm kinda hoping it will be somewhere I can't really get to. I spent last evening with my brother and it was a nice visit, but I was glad to get home to my cats and a nice bath. Slept diagonal on the bed with the cats and hogged all the pillows and duvet. Nice :)

I'm also happy to report that my mammogram went well. The scan yesterday was a bit odd because they have to do some adjusting since my remaining breast has an implant in it, but the scans showed nothing unusual. They were kind enough to meet with me after show me the scans so I could see them and know the results right away before I meet my oncologist next week. So yeah - I appear to be OK for another year, at least where my breasts are concerned. Quite a relief I must say.

And so - I must be off. It's my coffee break and I'd like a coffee.
Later taters! :)

Day 6 of the first 10

I took sunday off as a day off and it was nice to give my shoulders a break. They feel much better. SO far so good with the daily workouts. I will admit doing the same workout every day sure is getting kinda dull though. I can't wait for friday when I say goodbye  to day 1 and move on to day 2 of the 30 day shred. I could not do this long term...unless I rotated between the 3 workouts maybe.

 It's been almost a week and already I am finding I crave sweets less and it is a heck of a lot easier to eat well when you start your day with a workout. It's like I don't want to break my rhythm and work harder to keep on track when I start that way. I have definitely found having prepped & ready -for-munching celery, carrots and cauliflower in the fridge for snacking has helped me not snack myself out in the evenings. Soda stream is giving me my fizz kick...and I picket up a case of Canadian 67 IPA for when I just want a beer - only 67 calories and 2g carbs per beer. I am happy with how It's gone so far. Even with a crappy saturday I didn't give in to my usual eat the house and mope thing I usually do when I'm emotional - instead I worked out and watched some anime and had some club soda with lime and some vegetables...and it was OK. Made some delicious veggie chile. Read a good book and had a hot bath. Food is not therapy - it's fuel. It's tough to keep that in mind for me.

I feel good though. Really good.

I am pleased :)

SO. Tired.

Despite being tired I got up this AM and did my workout. I was tired from visiting with dad and staying up talking to JJ. I still did it though. Yay me. And I must say -it was freaking hard today. Way harder than the first day. Doing the same workout every day really doesn't give you time to recover so my shoulders are pretty sore - I had to modify the pushups todayand had real trouble with the front raises but I did my best. I am using 5Lb dumbells though, so I am considering finding my 3Lb for when I feel like I need to stop so I can keep going with a lower weight. I will keep doing this though. I've already lost 3 Lb and despite my stiffness I feel better mentally. It's tough to watch what I eat when it's hibernation season and I want to eat all the things but I know that this will work - I just have to keep going. I plan to take the 7th day off after workouts for a rest day - I have a feeling if I keep being stiff like I am that a rest day would definitely be good. I think doing the same workout for 10 days is gonna be hella boring, but I'll do it. It's a solid workout. Can't deny it.

I'm glad Dad came to visit. It gave J a kick to tidy up the house a bit. The main level looks a lot more human. I'm very grateful. A lot of the stuff was his from events and so I didn't know what to do with it other than make piles...so it'll be nice ot have a weekend where we can do things other than tidying :)

And - it's friday. Admittedly all I wanna do is snuggle and watch a movie and sleep tonight (woo) but we'll see what the night brings. JJ gets up 4 hours after I do so he's always raring to go out and do things and I wanna curl up and nap. Sometimes I am up to it, but last weekend was super crazy so I'm ok with a more relaxing time this weekend. It's a bit of a sore spot between us lately that I am not as social as I could be but I'm really content to be at home and don't need to go out much so I plan to leave it up to JJ to plan if he wants to do something. My big plans? Well I have a new book from the library that I plan to read with a big mug of tea and a cat. And there is a fun gathering sat night with friends so I will get out definitely. As for the rest - well, we'll see. Being social is exhausting sometimes...I'm an introvert so I need to make time alone for myself. I'm learning what my brain needs. It'll come.

Hope you all have a good weekend.

Success

It's true what they say - dress for success and it will find you.
I dressed up a bit today and I just feel better. More professional. More adultey. Being a manager it helps when I feel this way. I think it's gonna be a good day.

I got up and did the 30 day shred workout again. Tough, but I did it. I'm a bit stiff today in wierd places (mostly from the chest flys - I have implants under my pecs now so it feels....wierd...). I didn't overeat much at the potluck (which was a lot of fun - we've really gotten to know some neat new people the last 6 months or so) and today is another planned day of eating. It should go well I think.  My Daddyo is in town for a visit tonight because he has a doctor's appointment tomorrow morning so we'll have a nice visit with him.

Time to get busy. I have to build a website and update some documents in the next few weeks. Time to use my brain. I hope it still works...

meh

I mixed up my weeks and it turns out J is here all week and weekend. It's next week he is away. Yay. And we were invited to a potluck at a new friend's house so it's nice to have somewhere to go and be invited out. Talking to people and stuff. Hmmm. Yeah I can do that.

This AM, after a comment that really annoyed me last night (but honestly I couldn't defend against) about how I should stop whining about how my clothes fit wrong and I feel fat and just do something about it (yeah...not one of J's best moments) I got up this AM and did just that. I finished workout 1 of the 30 Day Shred. I am eating well today. It's on. F*ck this. I am tired of my clothes fitting wierd and am pissed off. I'll use the annoyance as fuel. Time to get serious.Tomorrow AM I will take measurements so I can see the changes - it really encourages me.

So yeah. Time to be stiff and hungry all the time for a few months.
Sigh.

Don't mind me. I woke up to a cloudy rainy slushy morning. At least I finished raking the yard yesterday before all this - J helped hold the bag when I put the leaves in. How helpful. I tried not to be pissy about it...cuz at least it's done. Unfortunately the city compost place is closed for the winter (as of sunday...sigh) so I will have to put the leaves in teh regular waste a bag at a time or spend $20 to go to the dump. This is what happens when you (ahem) procrastinate. Ah well...at least it's done. As for the having our snow tires on?? Oh haha. Don't even. I'm leaving that for him to figure out. I don't do that. I draww my line in the sand...

Hopefully the rain and slush let off. It's been unseasonably warm so I suppose we are due. It's wierd not having snow now.

And if you google space cats you come up with some pretty freaking awesome photos. Just saying.

Yeah I should get to work now. It's one of those mornings. Trying to cheer myself up so I can get down to business. I know I know. I'm going...

miss you

It's my mum's birthday today. She would have been 83.I've been thinking about her a lot lately. I miss her. She loved this time of year - thanksgiving gatherings and then getting ready for christmas. We're all getting together this christmas and I am really looking forward to it.

ah that's better

OK, for the most part the weekend was a lot better. Lots of great times with friends and the Krafty Kuts show was brilliant....danced until my feet hurt. Technobreakfast was a hell of a lot of fun and the french toast was superb. The movie out with H was fun and although it turns out that they must (unfortunately) sell their house we were able to talk a while. It sucks to have to make tough decisions, but you have to do what you have to do. Rather than lose their house they're gonna scale down. When she gets back from work next week we're gonna hang out more. Try some winter crafty visits with much happiness but little cost.

I also got to go to a big clothing swap on sunday too which was nice. I got rid of stuff I never wear and got a bunch of nice work stuff (some sweaters and cardigans and dress shirts) along with a nice bathing suit, a skirt, a great festival jacket (a giant fuzzy lined suede fur collared long monstrosity that will keep me warm...) and a great pair of silver trainers. Hee hee. No pants this time, but it was fun to just rummage and try on a bunch of stuff. I took home a few things I wouldn't normally wear to try cuz it's all free so why not?

This upcoming week I'll be alone without the car a lot since J will be out of town for most of it, but I'm looking forward to it. I fimd with him being home he gets bored when I am home from work and jsut want to relax or read and make stuff or watch TV...or (god forbid) do chores and work on the house. I'll get some serious down time for a while and I need it.  I always do work and then feel like I'm ripping myself off because instead of relaxing I spend all my free time alone doing chores...it's lame. So yes I'm gonna spend some serious time attacking the house and getting some yard work done (like the raking J said he'd do...grrr...) as well, but I want to get set up for a winter of crafting and working in the house. Yes J should be doing more around the house when he's home but I can't wait anymore - if I plan to work on my craft room so I have it back again and I can get work done I need to just do it- I'm tired of waiting.  I have some crafting and other ideas and I'd like to get to (some of which will be christmas presents)...so here we go...

For now it's another week.

Momma said there'd be days like this...

It's been a bit of a shitty week really. My personal life and health are fine. I have my annual mammogram at the end of the month so I can't say I'm not thinking about that, but really -I seriously doubt there will be anything amiss. I've actually worked out every day all week, not drank and eaten well. It's the rest of things that seem to be floundering as f*ck....what happened? Well these things:


I spent a good part of monday wondering if one of our oldest and dearest friends had killed himself. Thankfully he hasn't, but that's not something you want to experience. Ever. He is half a world away dealing with serious shit all alone and we can't help him and can hardly reach him. It's hard...other than sending him messages of encouragement and love we're stuck. J was devastated...and is now wondering if he can even be supportive right now...because what if the darkest of nights comes again and we can't stop him? I know that isn't on our heads really but you can't tell me that won't royally f*ck with your head for a long long time...so yeah. There's that.

My bestie H may have to sell her house because her husband lost his job months ago and they can't make ends meet...and I am trying to be a good friend. I'm taking her out for lunch, a clothing swap and to see Dr. Strange on the weekend to commiserate. She's doing OK under the curcumstances, but that just...well...sucks.

Then Trump won the election. I can't say I'm completely surprised...but I am appalled. He makes Harper look like a freaking archangel, so I don't have any idea what to expect...

Then this morning my old dear high school friend contacted me to let me know that her marriage is over...she and another close friend of mine will be separating soon. I am, quite frankly stunned. I had no idea. None. I wonder at how I could not have seen it. Just how a love like that can crumble...and I pledge to be there for both of them...and I wish I lived closer so I could just go over with a bottle of wine and talk.
It's odd. J and I have our ups and downs and sometimes I could just throttle him for being an emotional teeter totter, but deep down when it all comes together we've managed to weather the worst of things and still be here leaning on each other to get through the day. On my birthday he got me a few small gifts that reminded me just how well he knows me and loves me...and I feel loved.
:)

And so things go on.
Thankfully this weekend is going to refill our brains with some goodness. It's looking to be rather spectacular. A few good evenings of good music to go out to dance to with friends and J's friend's monthly "technobreakfast" gathering is tonight. An all night music party at her place with my friends DJing and breakfast and laughs in the morning. I'm on call for the guest chef breaky this time...I'm making baked french toast for the crowd. Maybe with rum sauce... yum. Here's to better days ahead.