Wagon? What wagon?

Back tonight for the first time in months...it was a painful experience. I'm literally icing a shin and hoping the feeling of lungs on fire will fade.

5 and 1s...ugh. 5 minute walks and 1 minute runs
5k in 49 mins

This is not my idea of personal growth

So for the last 2 weeks I have been chasing the wagon...meaning I have been back to the gym 3 times a week. And I've been watching what I eat; well mostly. However, I am still increasing in size. WTF?!?

I have weight in places I have never had before such as a muffin top and a belly going on. Initially I attributed this to stress weight gain since work has taken everything I've got for about the last 6-8 months. But now, although there is still some drama, the pressure is mostly off. Any time the jelly belly and muffin top want to go away so I can fit back into my clothes would be great.

I know in the past my routine of walk/run and weights worked so I'm hoping that it's just a bit early to see results and my body just needs a reset. I'm really not sure what to make of the ongoing increase that I feel in my clothes; I actually bought a size larger jeans today just so I'd have some that aren't cutting into me. Deciding to do that was extremely tough...I'd like to think that I'm headed back for some other jeans in my closet but at the same time, feeling like I have nothing to wear isn't working so well.

So....3 more weeks before I head home. And I'd like to be packing less of me and more of my "mid-range" clothes. Here's hoping that what's worked before will work again!

2.5 miles in 39 mins

Next week is 3 and 1's

Women and heat

What is it with women and heat? There are all kinds of expressions and concepts that revolve around women and heat, "slaving over a hot stove", "she's a hot babe" or what a "hottie", there's the concept of "being in heat" and then of course later in life we get to enjoy "hot flashes". And the witch in the Wizard of Oz cries out "I'm melting!!!" as she expires.

One of my favorite women is quoted as saying "Women are like tea bags. They don't know how strong they are until they get into hot water." (It's Eleanor Roosevelt in case you wondered.)

Or until the weather is hot for days and the need to haul up the 70lb or so air conditioner from the basement overcomes their disbelief that they can carry it from the laundry/storage room, up 14 stairs, across the dining room and get it in the window.

Last year this resulted in an air conditioner casualty - the air conditioner came from a closet upstairs but sadly jumped out the front window. So far today, this smaller cousin air conditioner seems happily perched on the shelf constructed to dissuade jumping.

30 degrees here today...and no lake or pool...but at least a chance now of not feeling like I am starting hot flashes a little early.

Missed Marketing Opportunity

I watched Nights in Rodanthe last night.

First of all, movies should come with a Kleenex rating. Nevermind the restricted and parental warnings. No single woman in her 30s renting a movie gives a rat's arse about those. But a kleenex rating? Now that would be helpful. We would still rent those movies but we would be prepared.

And because of this rating, movie rental stores could and should also sell kleenex at the till. Instead of asking about snacks (or maybe in addition to) the clerk would ask, "are you sure you have enough kleenex? and maybe you should take some extra chocolate too?"

I have The Reader and Bride Wars yet to watch this weekend...not sure if I'm stocked up enough on kleenex but we'll see.

PS - I also learned something valuable at boot camp this week. Resistance bands hurt like mad when they snap back at you but most importantly, they don't leave a mark for more than a few hours. And you should really make sure you don't just have them under the toe of your sneakers but are truly standing on the wiley buggers.

Bran...not just for Grandmas any more!

I am still dragging myself to boot camp. Today it was tough to go but after 5 days off I knew that if I didn't go I might fall right off the wagon. I do feel great afterwards...ah the benefit of endorphins! Too bad they aren't addictive enough to make it easy to go in the first place.

Last week at class I had my measurements taken. Ladies, this is not something for the feint of heart. Some parts of me have moved into the 40s...and it wasn't just my body's water percentage. And when asked for my age I couldn't remember at first. Oh dear.

My dad also visited for Easter and as often happens when I have friends or family around, I easily succumbed to temptation and ate wonderful tasting things that will not be helping those measurements. Today feeling sluggish and snug in a skirt that I didn't remember being snug in the past I realized that I hadn't really eaten veggies since Thursday (unless we count hot spinach dip). In the past this would not have been a big deal. And I like veggies. But the 30s are not what the 20s were and apparently I am heading towards needing my fiber.

By 80 I might just be eating straight bran while doing water aerobics at this rate. Does anyone have a recipe for bran brownies??

Ok Lion...you've made your entrance

I went to Home Depot around 6 o'clock tonight for some painting supplies (more on that later) and we had been melting most of the day. I could see brown grass, the sidewalk and most of the road other than some bits of ice at the edges.

Amazing what can change here in a few hours. I looked out the window here and it's snowing and apparently has been for a while.

Mother Nature has been playing the lion or lamb? game here since March began. Calgary weather is a bit like this all year round. Just when you think it's spring or a second summer compliments of a chinook, she wallops you upside the head with her purse and you get snow...possible in every month of the year here!

I used to think that long, cold winters were hard to take. Once I was here, I wondered how I had survived them even. But there is something to be said for predictability. In Winnipeg you know that winter is winter and summer is summer and all of the seasons are well defined. From November to March you'd better plug in your car and have snow tires or at least good all seasons. There is no walking out in crop capris with a spring in your step thinking it's spring and getting inches of snow and -18 under 12 hours later. And let me tell you that there is something cruel and harsh about thinking that winter is over and finding out that it's not...over and over again.

Some of you know I have moved a lot. And changed jobs quite a lot. So I can't say that I don't like change. Actually, I can say that I don't like it but that I have learned it's a means to something better...almost always. And the sooner you embrace that and get on with it - kind of like ripping off a band-aid - the quicker the painful part is done. Except for weather changes in Calgary. A lot of times the something better doesn't stay...which is just unfair!

....Back to the painting...today's warmer, sunny weather made me feel better about winter coming to an end. For me, that inevitably means that my spirits lift and I get more productive and back to renos and plans and all of that good stuff. Which meant that today I found myself hauling up paint from the basement and deciding the kitchen cabinets needed a refresh. I went to the depot for some paintbrushes and looked at other inspirations such as countertops and hood fans.

I came back home and dove right in...just like every other project. I took all of the cabinet doors off and decided to start with only the uppers - I did learn a bit from past jumping into everything at once experiences. I poured "Soho" into the paint tray and began painting the cabinet boxes noticing as I moved on that the paint was kind of acting weird but figured maybe it was the mini foam roller. And so I optimistically continued...loving the new color and congratulating myself for starting a project and getting out of the doldrums. I went over some of the weird looking spots from the beginning and the second coat looked more normal.

And then I thought...what if the cabinets weren't previously painted with latex. (Even though I had done a nail polish remover test that seemed to indicate that they were)

And the weird look is latex reacting over oil.

*&$*%#$@!!!

It was shortly after that I realized that Mother Nature was having a hissy fit of her own.

I wonder what she was trying to remuddle today. Maybe I'll leave her a bowl of chocolate ice cream on the steps...can't hurt.

I think the wagon is lapping me

Alright so I fell off the fitness wagon a while back...maybe even Octoberish. I was definitely off in November especially after I was the picture of grace at the Olympic Oval and fell on my knee..hard...I don't think it's supposed to turn black in under 90 seconds.

But now I have no excuse. After some physio to loosen up my neck and back post car accident (end of Oct.) and geting a little to fix up for the knee I really should have been back to the gym by now. And the last 2 days are showing me that I am way off track and going to need some serious work to get back to where I was at one point. Which still wasn't where I wanted to be!

Yesterday I decided to take my everloving hound for a walk. And because I feel guilty for not walking him more, I decided we would go big before we went home. We walked further than we ever have and were gone for an hour; I even threw in a few stints of jogging. I got home to discover that I looked like I did when I started exercising - the red v on my face and unattractive splotchiness. I also had hives - wtf?

So today I thought we should go again, but maybe not as far since I was hurting a bit. But then we got out there and I thought "you lazy woman - it's only dogwalking!" and so we repeated the same distance as yesterday. My best guess is it was somewhere between 6 and 7 km. I can't keep up with my dog in all honesty and he's been as lacking in exercise as I have.

Right now I'm realizing that you can get shin splints walking the dog, which means that you are in sad shape. And your HipHop Abs tape will probably kill you. And you shouldn't have ordered Chinese takeout on Saturday and still be eating it or you will be hauling it with you on the next walk and maybe the walking would be easier with less of you to haul.

The wagon analogy is sadly appropriate...I remember trying to catch up and get back on a hay ride once. It's so much harder than just staying on the wagon. In fact there is likely to come a day when you wish the wagon would just run you over on it's next lap...

Shell game

So this mortgage thing is not so easy. Rates are very low but I have learned a lesson about mortgage contracts. Apparently my penalty is based on the Interest Rate Differential (IRD) rather than 3 mos of interest. This means that as rates drop, my penalty actually increases...and not just a little...it's up about 40% from what it was in September. And as the market here slows and house values drop, I'd likely need to insure my mortgage which means CMHC fees. What all of this means is to move my mortgage, I would be backtracking with the hope of getting ahead in the longer term. This is a concept I'm familiar with having done it in other areas of my life and I think maybe I really am an optimist!

I'm meeting with a broker this week to crunch numbers some more. It looks like it would take me almost the full remaining term of my mortgage to break even. The perks would be lower payments (although I'm looking to increase those to what I pay now to try to make some tracks but with the flexibility to drop them if I needed to), possibly being in a position to be at a lower rate in the future when rates are predicted to be high and flexibility based on portability with an institution that lends outside Alberta as well. And of course a chance to renegotiate the terms and review the penalties more closely.

In the meantime I'm working away at the credit cards. They freak me out a bit but are far less complex than the mortgage. And yes, in case you didn't know, finances scare the bejeebus out of me. Change in general used to as well so I'm hopeful that if I keep jumping into the finance stuff it will become more doable...just like job changes and moves.

I'm making slow tracks on the resolutions but haven't given up. I even ordered Hip Hop Abs this week! And I have gotten back to doing the exercises from my physio. I'm hedging on the gym until it quiets down there a bit.

In other news, one of the rotten back gates attacked (blew against) the other side of the car one morning this week and a chip in the windshield turned into a big crack. One of my friends suggested that maybe this car is destined to be a beater...argh! I have also picked out a new color for the dining room. Yes, this room has already been painted once but that was to cover up Barney purple so I'm not sure that really counts. How does "Reflecting Pool" sound?

Technically it's Chinese New Year this week so I'm not really behind on the resolutions...

This week in review

Parking spot on closest bay gets "plowed" leaving a large windrow behind...good-bye parking spot. Proceed to dig out a space in the back yard and pry open the rotten wooden gates.

Get 5 cm of snow. Shovel space out again.

Slide into corner of gate with car and catch rim on eye-bolt. Go into house and cry about damage to newly repaired car.

Run load of darks in laundry. Go down to switch to dryer and wonder about the smell of bleach. Remember putting bleach in washer last weekend to sit before running rinse cycle....forgot to run rinse cycle! Casualties include 2 pairs of dress pants, many black socks etc.

Tomorrow...tgim!

ps. On the upside, I went to an auction on Saturday and purchased this lovely showhome chair for under $100.

Zoom zoom....boom?

Is there any chance that it's been a full moon for the past 3 or more weeks?

A week ago this Wednesday I smucked up my poor little Mazda. It had no zoom-zoom after I t-boned a young guy who thought he could make a left in front of me in his parents' Audi. They might be almost as unhappy as I was. After the accident I have to admit most things went well; the police showed up asap, the insurance lady set up a rental for me, the girl at Enterprise came in early the next morning for me so I wouldn't be late AND she didn't try to put me in an itty bitty car...I am driving a Buick Lucerne. Of course I do feel like I should be at least 20 yrs older to be driving that car but driving around in veloured luxury isn't hard to take!

Ironically (yes there seems to be a lot of that in my life lately) I was on my way to a doctor's appointment. So this week when I was rescheduled I had to cover off a bit of a sore neck and back before getting back to the reason for my original visit....hives. While I was in Boston I woke up one morning with my lower legs covered in them which I chalked up to some bad chowder the night before. But the stupid things keep appearing randomly and there has been no chowder since. And no, I did not change my laundry detergent - I have been asked that so often that I am starting to sympathize with detergent companies about the bad rap their products get.

The hives have been one issue but on top of that I loaded on a bunch of weight in about 2 weeks - we're talking about enough that even some of your fat pants aren't fitting! And I couldn't lift anything....I felt like a total weakling. And more shockingly, I was going to bed before 10 p.m. and was still exhausted. I think one night it was before 9!! Being as I'm a night owl by nature that may have been the thing that freaked me out almost as much as the hives. On top of those things I also had woozy moments where I probably couldn't tell you my name. And certain body parts seemed to attract more volume. I wondered how to ask the doctor if there was a disease that turned you into a cross between Pamela Anderson and Kim Kardashian? but itchy...

The good news this week is that my car has only $10,000 in damage. When you think that they may write it off for almost 10k less than you paid for it a year ago, that's good news. And considering replacing the driver's door last year when someone hit it on the street was $3800, suddenly $10,000 doesn't seem like a lot. The other good news is that I'm starting to feel better. Mostly I'm just not as exhausted and a little more clear-headed. And I can fit into my fat pants.

Last night's run: 2.6 miles in about 35 mins. It's bad but since I hadn't been there in more than a month I can't complain too much.

Irony

.... is when the part for your air conditioner is delivered on the same day as the first snowfall.

Don't try this at home

There are some things better left to the experts; apparently waxing is one of them.

You know that moment when you think, "Oh crap, I'm going someplace where there might be a pool" (or ocean or waterslides or whatever) and there are areas which will be exposed that are not otherwise out in the public arena. And of course these areas have not been made ready for this exposure and you have no time to find a professional to sort out that situation.

Well, that is not the time to think, "I'm sure I had a couple of wax strips from trying to do my legs left in the cupboard." Because that thought is what will result in you not only dealing with self-inflicted pain but also a mess of sticky goop stuck places other than on the wax strip where it belongs. Which means you will hobble into the shower and think, what were the tricks that mom used to unstick things? and then think, I really can't put peanut butter there when I have to drop the dog off somewhere with another dog and thanksgiving dinner in under 2 hrs.

Pool or no pool, the tears have stopped but there is no way I will be revealing greasy, bruised and bright red areas to the world.

Note to self, tip the esthetician extra in future.