Y'know how I said I was looking forward to summer? Yeah, it snowed today. All day long. It didn't really stick so there wasn't much accumulation but still. So I spent the day pretty much doing nothing. The snow made me want to hibernate. But hey, that's what Saturdays are for, right?
Yesterday, though, Jerbs and I went shopping and had sushi for dinner at Karma, and that was nice.
Mentally and emotionally I'm still feeling a little off.
I'm also in the mood to purge and organize and redecorate the apartment. Last weekend I shampooed the carpet in the bedroom and living room (just the spots that needed it, not the whole room) so that was good. I'd planned to work on more stuff like that this weekend but . . . yeah, snow and stuff.
I also still have a lot of stuff in mind to write here, but I don't feel up to it.
4.26.2014
4.22.2014
So
It's been 3 weeks since I wrote anything here. I think that's the longest I've gone without blogging since I started back in 2012.
Honestly, the past few weeks have just been kind of a struggle. Not consistently, it's been up and down. Not to bipolar extremes but I've had some really good days and some not so great days. In general, things just feel kind of off, and I'm not exactly sure why. I think an internal struggle is finally resolving itself and while that's probably a good thing, it's kind of . . . off putting? I'll write more about that part of it later. For now, a general catch up.
It's getting warm out, and for the first time in a long time, I'm not dreading summer like I usually do. (We'll see how I feel about it 2 months from now, though). It's actually kind of nice to be able to go outside and take the dogs on long walks and stuff. Jerbs and I have been taking the dogs to the duck pond near our house; we let them run around without their leashes for a little while every time and it's hilarious. Hollie loves to run and she's fast! Max--who absolutely adores Hollie--actually gets scared of her sometimes when she's zooming around and trying to get him to join her.
But it's great having Hollie here. Adopting her was definitely a great decision. She's very well behaved and happy, and aside from some stomach issues (her stomach basically shrank from all the time she wasn't fed regularly, and now we have her on a feeding schedule to slowly expand it so she doesn't throw up), we've had a great time with her. She's had a few accidents in the house but was mostly house broken when we got her, so that's awesome. She knows how to sit now and she jumps in the car on her own when we go out.
And most importantly, she's had an amazing effect on Max. Seriously, he is like a whole new dog since we got her. He's more confident (he even let a stranger pet him at Staples the other day!), he's happier, he's more playful, and he's better behaved. In fact, we've been able to stop crating him when we're not home--we even disassembled his crate on Sunday. It made me so happy. We're also starting to leave off his bark collar when we're not home and it's going well. I think with Hollie around he's too distracted to be anxious or destructive. I love it. The two of them play together all the time and it's hilarious. Like I said, definitely a great decision.
My little April fitness challenge is going so so. I'm not doing great but I'm doing OK. Which is pretty typical for me when it comes to this stuff. Last time I weighed myself (about a week ago) I had gained a pound and a half, but all my measurements (except arms) had gone down by at least a quarter inch, so that's good. My work pants are fitting looser in the hips too, so that's nice. Slow but steady. I'm making small improvements as I feel able to. I've definitely been drinking less soda and more water this month, and I've been trying new workout videos too. And even on days when I've eaten fast food I've stayed under my MFP calorie limit, for the most part. Weekends are still tricky but no big deal. One thing I've really been working on lately is getting enough sleep, and that's been incredibly helpful. Who knew that that 8 hours a night thing actually worked, right? I never slept more than 6 hours a night in college and then after I graduated and got sick my sleep schedule was a complete and utter cluster fuck, so I honestly think I'm just now starting to figure out what works for me where that's concerned.
Work is good right now. Busy and at times frustrating but good. I feel like busy and sometimes frustrating is fairly normal for any job, so I think I'm doing well. And really, the frustration is really passing. When I find myself annoyed with a co-worker I'm usually over it like 10 minutes later. So whatever. I'm looking forward to May, because I get three paychecks (woohoo!!) and they'll be bigger because my gym membership is finally falling off in May.
I think that's about it. For the moment, anyhow.
Honestly, the past few weeks have just been kind of a struggle. Not consistently, it's been up and down. Not to bipolar extremes but I've had some really good days and some not so great days. In general, things just feel kind of off, and I'm not exactly sure why. I think an internal struggle is finally resolving itself and while that's probably a good thing, it's kind of . . . off putting? I'll write more about that part of it later. For now, a general catch up.
It's getting warm out, and for the first time in a long time, I'm not dreading summer like I usually do. (We'll see how I feel about it 2 months from now, though). It's actually kind of nice to be able to go outside and take the dogs on long walks and stuff. Jerbs and I have been taking the dogs to the duck pond near our house; we let them run around without their leashes for a little while every time and it's hilarious. Hollie loves to run and she's fast! Max--who absolutely adores Hollie--actually gets scared of her sometimes when she's zooming around and trying to get him to join her.
But it's great having Hollie here. Adopting her was definitely a great decision. She's very well behaved and happy, and aside from some stomach issues (her stomach basically shrank from all the time she wasn't fed regularly, and now we have her on a feeding schedule to slowly expand it so she doesn't throw up), we've had a great time with her. She's had a few accidents in the house but was mostly house broken when we got her, so that's awesome. She knows how to sit now and she jumps in the car on her own when we go out.
And most importantly, she's had an amazing effect on Max. Seriously, he is like a whole new dog since we got her. He's more confident (he even let a stranger pet him at Staples the other day!), he's happier, he's more playful, and he's better behaved. In fact, we've been able to stop crating him when we're not home--we even disassembled his crate on Sunday. It made me so happy. We're also starting to leave off his bark collar when we're not home and it's going well. I think with Hollie around he's too distracted to be anxious or destructive. I love it. The two of them play together all the time and it's hilarious. Like I said, definitely a great decision.
My little April fitness challenge is going so so. I'm not doing great but I'm doing OK. Which is pretty typical for me when it comes to this stuff. Last time I weighed myself (about a week ago) I had gained a pound and a half, but all my measurements (except arms) had gone down by at least a quarter inch, so that's good. My work pants are fitting looser in the hips too, so that's nice. Slow but steady. I'm making small improvements as I feel able to. I've definitely been drinking less soda and more water this month, and I've been trying new workout videos too. And even on days when I've eaten fast food I've stayed under my MFP calorie limit, for the most part. Weekends are still tricky but no big deal. One thing I've really been working on lately is getting enough sleep, and that's been incredibly helpful. Who knew that that 8 hours a night thing actually worked, right? I never slept more than 6 hours a night in college and then after I graduated and got sick my sleep schedule was a complete and utter cluster fuck, so I honestly think I'm just now starting to figure out what works for me where that's concerned.
Work is good right now. Busy and at times frustrating but good. I feel like busy and sometimes frustrating is fairly normal for any job, so I think I'm doing well. And really, the frustration is really passing. When I find myself annoyed with a co-worker I'm usually over it like 10 minutes later. So whatever. I'm looking forward to May, because I get three paychecks (woohoo!!) and they'll be bigger because my gym membership is finally falling off in May.
I think that's about it. For the moment, anyhow.
4.02.2014
Introducing Hollie
This is Hollie. She's been with us for almost 2 weeks now, I just haven't had the chance to write about her.
I know Benji hasn't been gone very long, and I want to say that Hollie is in no way meant to replace him. I mean, Benji's irreplaceable anyway, but you know what I mean. A week or so after Benji died I started thinking about it, because A)I feel like if you have room to rescue a dog, you most definitely should, and B)Max was lonely. Seriously, I never realized how much he liked having Benji around, because they didn't really interact all that much, but Max was really bummed without him here. So I decided that IF I found a nice little adult dog that Max got along really well with I'd think about it. I found a couple dogs on Pet Finder that I wanted to meet but they kept getting adopted before I could.
Then the Wednesday before last I wandered into PetSmart on my lunch break (because I never eat on my lunch break, but I needed to get out of the office), and the Humane Society was there with Hollie. At first I thought she was a big breed puppy, but then I heard one of the volunteers say something about her being older, and it turned out she's 3. Same age as Max. I got to let her out of her crate, and she climbed into my lap and licked my face. So she definitely seemed to take to me. She was super super sweet and calm, and I walked her around the store and left thinking about it.
The next day Jerbs came with me to meet her, and liked her. I also found out then that she was found as a stray in Holbrook, and that she'd recently had puppies. They weren't able to find her puppies, though, which is depressing. She's a doberman blue heeler mix (they think).
Then on Friday I took Max to PetSmart to meet her. I wasn't expecting much but they actually did fine with each other. They didn't become best friends or anything, but Max didn't growl or snap either, which is a huge deal for him. So I decided to adopt her. She had to go get spayed and everything at the vet, which ended up being a huge ordeal because she had a nasty uterine infection (which would have killed her had I not adopted her and gotten her to the vet). I got to bring her home on Monday, the 24th.
She also had worms, and she's having a little trouble adjusting to having constant access to food (she tends to overeat and then puke, which is just lovely). But she's only peed in the house a couple times, and all but one of them was on the puppy pads we put down at night. When we left her alone for the first time she didn't destroy anything, didn't have a potty accident in the house, and was quiet! She's been going up and down the stairs on her own since the day after she came home. She also goes to the bathroom outside like a champ. So really she's leaps and bounds ahead of where Max was at that point. (Not that I don't love Max but still).
 |
| At PetSmart when I first met her. |
I know Benji hasn't been gone very long, and I want to say that Hollie is in no way meant to replace him. I mean, Benji's irreplaceable anyway, but you know what I mean. A week or so after Benji died I started thinking about it, because A)I feel like if you have room to rescue a dog, you most definitely should, and B)Max was lonely. Seriously, I never realized how much he liked having Benji around, because they didn't really interact all that much, but Max was really bummed without him here. So I decided that IF I found a nice little adult dog that Max got along really well with I'd think about it. I found a couple dogs on Pet Finder that I wanted to meet but they kept getting adopted before I could.
Then the Wednesday before last I wandered into PetSmart on my lunch break (because I never eat on my lunch break, but I needed to get out of the office), and the Humane Society was there with Hollie. At first I thought she was a big breed puppy, but then I heard one of the volunteers say something about her being older, and it turned out she's 3. Same age as Max. I got to let her out of her crate, and she climbed into my lap and licked my face. So she definitely seemed to take to me. She was super super sweet and calm, and I walked her around the store and left thinking about it.
The next day Jerbs came with me to meet her, and liked her. I also found out then that she was found as a stray in Holbrook, and that she'd recently had puppies. They weren't able to find her puppies, though, which is depressing. She's a doberman blue heeler mix (they think).
Then on Friday I took Max to PetSmart to meet her. I wasn't expecting much but they actually did fine with each other. They didn't become best friends or anything, but Max didn't growl or snap either, which is a huge deal for him. So I decided to adopt her. She had to go get spayed and everything at the vet, which ended up being a huge ordeal because she had a nasty uterine infection (which would have killed her had I not adopted her and gotten her to the vet). I got to bring her home on Monday, the 24th.
 |
| Her first night home. She was a little drugged up with pain meds and antibiotics, and for some reason she wanted to sleep by the door. |
She's a fantastic dog. She's so sweet and loving and well behaved. And calm, which is why Max and her are good together.
Really, her being here for Max is the best part. He is freaking ecstatic to have a sister. They play together all the time and he just seems so much happier than he did before we got her. They're definitely going to be best friends for a long time! They even go on walks together (on separate leashes), and it's so cute. And lately we've been able to stop crating Max when we leave the house, because Hollie keeps him in line. Or at least holds his attention enough so he doesn't chew on anything. It's great.
So that's the story of Hollie. I'm so happy to have her!
 |
| Max and Hollie on her 3rd day home. |
4.01.2014
Weigh In # 4 (2014)
Weight: 188
So I gained a half pound(ish) since last time I weighed in. It might not be totally accurate since my period just ended. Either way, I most definitely didn't meet my goal of hitting the 170's by April. But at the same time I'm not too disappointed because honestly, the way I've been doing with food and working out I thought the number was going to be higher.
But, that being said, more than a month of basically doing nothing, I'm feeling really motivated to get back on the wagon. So I came up with a challenge for April: fast food once a week, limit soda, work out at least 3 times a week, and come in at or under my MFP at least 6 days a week. For the entire month. I made a little chart for it (because I love to make charts and lists and have free time at work to do so!) so that I can keep track of my progress. I really want to see what I can accomplish in a month when I'm on point as much as I possibly can be. Because not only will the accomplishments be good in and of themselves, but I think it will be really helpful to see that I really can control what happens to my body.
I also came up with a list of weight loss/fitness goals/accomplishments and rewards for them. Nothing huge, just little things that I want. I mean, normally I just randomly buy little things like that for no real reason, so I thought it might be productive if I make myself work for stuff I want. It'll probably be a good idea for both my physical health and my financial health.
So we'll see how it goes. I'm feeling confident about April.
So I gained a half pound(ish) since last time I weighed in. It might not be totally accurate since my period just ended. Either way, I most definitely didn't meet my goal of hitting the 170's by April. But at the same time I'm not too disappointed because honestly, the way I've been doing with food and working out I thought the number was going to be higher.
But, that being said, more than a month of basically doing nothing, I'm feeling really motivated to get back on the wagon. So I came up with a challenge for April: fast food once a week, limit soda, work out at least 3 times a week, and come in at or under my MFP at least 6 days a week. For the entire month. I made a little chart for it (because I love to make charts and lists and have free time at work to do so!) so that I can keep track of my progress. I really want to see what I can accomplish in a month when I'm on point as much as I possibly can be. Because not only will the accomplishments be good in and of themselves, but I think it will be really helpful to see that I really can control what happens to my body.
I also came up with a list of weight loss/fitness goals/accomplishments and rewards for them. Nothing huge, just little things that I want. I mean, normally I just randomly buy little things like that for no real reason, so I thought it might be productive if I make myself work for stuff I want. It'll probably be a good idea for both my physical health and my financial health.
So we'll see how it goes. I'm feeling confident about April.
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