Job # 2

I got a second job.

After that financial unpleasantness I mentioned a couple weeks back, I'd been kind of kicking around the idea of a second job in my head.  But the only thing I could think that would work would be doing something in retail and working, like, one shift a week, on Saturday or Sunday.  But I really don't want to give up a full day of my weekend so . . . yeah.

Then last week Deb, the financial controller at MHC, came into my office and mentioned that she'd gotten an email from the owner of the gym we partner with (the one where I used to have a membership) and that they were looking for someone to do clerical work.  Super easy position, 6--8 hours a week, with a schedule that is completely flexible.  So I went across the street after work and got an application.

I interviewed this past Monday, got offered the job on Tuesday, and I started training today after I got off at MHC.  The work is simple and very doable, and I can literally work whenever I want.  Plus I get a free gym membership!

I'm so excited.  It's going to be nice to have extra money; between this and the overtime I've been putting in at MHC I'm going to be doing pretty well.  And the free gym membership, I'm hoping, will motivate me to get my butt in gear fitness wise.  Besides that, I'm just incredibly proud of myself for being able to do this--it wasn't all that long ago that I couldn't hold down one job, and now I have 2!

Buckling Down

I don't really know how to explain it, but I feel like the past two weeks have just been . . . weird.  I can't quite put my finger on why but things have felt off.  It's been frustrating and I'm really trying to shake it.

Some of it, I think, is the transition into summer weather.  That's never easy for me.  And I know I said I was going to enjoy summer this year (and that's still my plan) but lately the weather has been doing this awful thing where it's super nice and awesome during the week (y'know, on the days when I spend 9 hours a day cooped up in my office), and then as soon as the weekend hits we have ridiculous wind that basically makes it impossible to do anything outside.  Very, very annoying.  I've also been just this side of physically ill the past couple weeks.  Nothing horrible, just a dull headache--almost like the start of a sinus headache--pretty constantly, and my eyes have been hurting/itching quite a bit.  I really think it's allergies, which means there's nothing I can really do about it, because there aren't any allergy medications that won't knock me out.  And I obviously can't sleep through work.  And this off feeling has made me really hit or miss diet/workout wise, which I hate.  I can't even tell you the last time I really worked out.  That whole walking on my lunch breaks pretty much went out the window because lately I haven't been able to take more than a half hour for lunch.

But I feel like this week I need to suck it up, buckle down, and get my shit together.

I need to make an appointment with a psychiatrist.  That is, at the moment, a high priority.  Jerbs found some doctors that look promising down in Phoenix (because I can't find anyone closer), I just need to call them and set it up.

I need to quit eating fast food, both for the sake of my physical well being and my financial well being.  I need to drink less soda and more water.  I need to get better about meeting the calorie goal I have on MFP.  I'm also going to start weekly weigh ins instead of every two weeks, just to hold myself a little more accountable.

I need to work out.  I know that this week, between the allergy stuff and not drinking as much soda, I'm not going to get in any hardcore cardio.  My plan is to walk as much as I can during the day and then do a yoga workout every night before bed.

And speaking of going to bed, I need to go to bed at a reasonable hour (11ish) every night this week, wake up in time to get ready for work and make sure the dogs are all taken care of (Jerbs is out of town again), and not nap after work.

I need to write.  That's something that's been on my mind a lot lately--the fact that writing has always been my passion and my dream and that I've been completely ignoring it.  I feel like I've gotten so wrapped up in my serious, grown up job that I've lost sight of my more creative goals, and I need to get back to that.

What A Week

I would love to be able to say that this past week only got better after the flat tire fiasco.

But it didn't.  It didn't really get any worse, though.  Which I guess is a good thing.

Monday was the flat tire thing.  Tuesday I started feeling sick (head cold/sinus infection kinda stuff).  Wednesday I felt sicker and ended up being forced to deal with some financial unpleasantness . . . which is actually a good thing, in the long run, but still.  Thursday I finished dealing with the money stuff and Jerbs left for Phoenix for Comic Con (after a long debacle of her bus being canceled and having to buy a last minute ticket on the airport shuttle), which was good for her but I'm not a huge fan of being alone.  Friday I felt like absolute crap and had to stay late at work, so by the time I got home I was pretty dang miserable.  Friday night I took some nighttime cold and cough medicine and slept incredibly well.  Saturday my cold symptoms were mostly gone (yay!) but I had nighttime cold medicine hangover all day long, so I basically did nothing.  The weather was nice, too, and I wasn't thrilled to be stuck inside when I'd have rather taken the dogs out hiking or something.

Today has been uneventful.  I did laundry, cleaned, painted my toenails . . . all that usual Sunday stuff.  Jerbs will be home late tonight (hopefully with a super awesome present for me) and I'm excited to see her.

Overall this past week was not the best one of my life.  Not the worst either, I suppose.

Edited to Add:  Jerbs got Nathan Fillion's autograph for me at PCC!!  Freaking awesome present!

Why Mondays And I Will Never Be Friends

So today.

I woke up feeling good even though I didn't sleep well or enough last night.  I got out of bed early enough to take my time in the shower and do my hair.  I felt super cute and confident in my new shirt and shoes.  I left the house on time.

Needless to say I was pretty dang proud of myself when I got in my car.  I may even have thought to myself, "I am finally getting the hang of this morning thing!"  The fact that I thought that was probably a good indication that something was going to go wrong.

And sure enough, I was about half a block from home when I felt the car doing something weird.  It felt like a flat tire but I hadn't felt any kind of pop, so my initial thought was that I was imagining things and to just get to work.  But I decided to be safe and pulled into the little plaza at the end of my street and sure enough, my rear passenger side tire was flat.  Not just a little flat, but on the ground flat.  And my spare was also flat (which I kinda knew but wasn't too worried about . . . good job, Ica).  And of course there isn't a single open WiFi network anywhere in the plaza so I had to call Jerbs, who graciously texted me some phone numbers for towing companies.

So I waited for a tow truck to come and take me to Discount Tire (which cost me $65, yay).  Then the guy at Discount Tire who looked at my car was all, "Haha, hope you weren't on your way to work!"  Thanks, dude.  I waited and waited and waited at Discount Tire and fortunately, they were able to repair my tire.  I really thought I'd have to buy a new one and I wasn't looking forward to spending that much money.  There was a little staple in my tire, so I'm assuming it was just a slow leak that I didn't notice and it just happened to go out today.

I didn't leave Discount Tire until just after 10:30 and--because I just can't win--they were painting stripes on the exit I take from the highway so that added a good 5 minutes to my time.  By the time I got to work it was almost 11.  Because being 2.5 hours late to work is just the best way to start a week, right?

As aggravating as it was, I found myself feeling very grateful that I ended up not going to Kingman this weekend, because then I wouldn't have had much extra money and paying for the tow would have been horrible.  Plus, I don't know when I ran over that staple, so what if my tire had blown on the way to Kingman?  Just goes to show that there's a reason for everything.

I'm just glad my tire's fixed, glad my boss and co-workers are understanding about random BS like this, glad that I had the money to take care of it, glad that I can calmly handle these kinds of situations instead of completely flipping out, glad that nothing worse happened, and glad that today's over.

Happy Monday!

Weigh In # 6 (2014)

Weight: 189 pounds.

A little up from last time, but my measurements are all mostly the same.  Besides that, I've logged my food consistently enough to know that I definitely didn't eat the extra 10,500 calories that would have made me gain three pounds.  So I'm not too worried.

That said, May was not my best month.  It was just stressful all around--more and more duties at work, issues with my family, still not being able to find a new doctor, the weather getting hotter . . . just kind of a mess.  I felt really unmotivated all month.

Right now I feel better than I have in a few weeks so I'm looking forward to June.  My biggest goals, as usual, are to cut back on fast food as much as I can and to work out as often as possible.  One of my plans is to start walking during my lunch breaks at work, which I think will be an easy way to get in a little more exercise.

Retail Therapy

I had a rough week.

So today I went to Ross and spent $80 on clothes.  I cannot tell you the last time I spent that much money on clothes for myself.  I normally hate clothes shopping but between the shitty week thing and the fact that I've been feeling kinda frumpy in what I usually wear to work, it felt . . . necessary.

And since it was Ross, I got 4 work shirts, two sweaters, and a pair of shoes, so really it was a good deal.

I'm so glad it's Friday.

Things That Are Bugging Me Right Now

1.  How much I slept today.

2.  How much I ate today.  (Because eating an entire Little Caesar's pizza is most definitely a good decision).

3.  How little motivation I have to do ANYTHING around the house.

4.  The fact that I still haven't found a new doctor.  Blech.

5.  That tomorrow is the 2 year anniversary of the break up.

6.  Cramps.

7.  All the things I've been putting on my TO DO lists over and over and over again and putting off over and over and over again.

8.  That Benji's gone.

9.  That my sister lost her cell phone in Mexico.  I honestly do not understand how we're related.  You are a mother and have a job that literally requires you to save lives but you can't keep track of a freaking cell phone when you're on vacation?  It is mind boggling.

10.  Cramps.  Again.  Because they are just the worst.

Don't get me wrong.  I'm generally pretty happy with my life right now.

I'm also just annoyed about some things and I needed to get them off my chest.

Galinas Tank Trail Hike

I don't know if I ever mentioned it, but starting today I have a four day weekend from work.  The clinic is closed for Memorial Day on Monday, so I took today off to give myself a little mini vacation (I requested this off back in, like, February).  Initially my plan was to go down to Kingman to visit my family, but my sister is currently in Mexico and Austin is at his dad's house, so I decided to just chill out in Flagstaff.

By a random stroke of luck Jerbs also had today off (she did end up having to go in to work for a few hours but she was home by noon so it wasn't a big deal . . . plus her boss felt bad about her getting called in so now she's off tomorrow too!) so we decided to load up the dogs and go on a hike!

We set out to hike Bismark Lake Trail and find Bismark Lake.  We had directions but after awhile it became clear that they weren't completely accurate (we'd gone a lot further than the directions were said we were supposed to and still hadn't seen the turn off we were looking for), so we ended up just finding a random trail along Hart Prairie Road and hiking that.  It ended up being a really lovely hike.  The trail was easy and we had a beautiful view of the peaks in the distance and we were hiking through aspen trees.  About a mile in we found this abandoned/dilapidated old house off of the trail, which was really cool!  The trail skirted around this tall hill, and we decided to be intrepid and climb it; it was definitely a work out but worth it for the view!

The dogs, of course, had a fantastic time being off their leashes and running ahead of us on the trail.  Max surprised us by  being totally into it--he's not a very adventurous dogs and doesn't usually seem to care for long walks except to pee on things, but he was just all over the place today.  I was so proud of him!  He actually made it to the top of the hill first.  I'm glad to know I'll be able to take both of them out with me on more hikes this summer.

The view of the peaks from Hart Prairie Road on the drive out.

Aspen trees.

Aspen and flowers just off the trail we were on.

The front of the old house we found.

Stone steps ups to the front door.

The foundation of the old house.

The view through the front door from inside the house.
Because of course I went inside.

The house from the side.

The back of the house.

A view of the peaks from the hill we climbed, plus Hollie
looking very majestic.  Max is in there too, he's just blending in.

Max and Hollie were so worn out!  This was
roughly 10 minutes after we got back in the car.

After the hike we had lunch at Beaver Street Brewery and wandered around downtown for a little while.  All in all it was just a lovely day.  It made me feel very grateful that I live in such a beautiful place.  I'm looking forward to more summer adventures.