Archive for February, 2009

2009
28
Feb
21:39

paint, shop, repeat

   Posted by: arcanai    in home sweet home, pix

last night we finally tackled the laundry room.  hubby had emptied it earlier this week in preparation for its overhaul.  after work yesterday, i went to start taping the baseboards and door so that i could begin the painting fun.  i spent close to an hour searching for the painters tape that i know i had out on the kitchen counter just two weeks ago.  i looked high, i looked low, i looked to, i looked fro… the tape was nowhere to be found.  when hubby came back from kayaking, i asked him where he had moved it to since he is undoubtedly the one who removed it from the counter.  he looked high, he looked low… you get the idea.  i finally resigned myself to the fact that i was going to have to run to the store to get a new roll of tape.  i made a quick trip to target and, returning victorious, got the room taped up and the trim cut in. 

time for the rolling.  i made my first “m” and got it rolled in good but decided that my roller had seen better days and needed to be replaced to continue.  unfortunately, some idiot left the roller on the frame last time that she painted and broke the roller frame trying to get it off.  $%*$%!  a very frustrated me made another trip to the store, this time walmart since targets paint supply section was extremely limited.  i was lucky enough to get behind every snowbird in town all the way there (hello!  the speed limit is 45… 25 in a 45 is completely unacceptable no matter how old you are!).  i ran in to the store, grabbed a new roller frame and a three-pack of rollers, and hurried back home before the paint in the tray skinned up.  generally, rolling is my favorite part of painting but my second trip to a store put me in a mood and i was just ready to be done.  add to that the fact that i had also chosen to buy the cheap roller frame and the handle of it was very painful on my hand.  ugh!  about three hours after i had started taping baseboards, the room was finally painted. 

today hubby put the washer/dryer back in place and we put in the new shelving units and loaded everything back in there.  it looks so much better.  there’s still a bunch of crap but at least it looks more organized.  and since all of the boxes are now on shelves instead of stacked on each other, everything is much more accessible.  not to mention there is a lot of room left to store more stuff in there.  the color is a very muted yellow, kind of a buttercream hue.

2009
28
Feb
20:29

friday’s activity

   Posted by: arcanai    in getting healthy

lunchtime:

forty laps in the pool.  after such a crummy night, my body protested mightily.  when i started my first lap, my body did say to me, “wtf?!”  i was ready to quit at lap twenty, figuring after such a great week that was enough, but then i remembered that i was having a hellacious work day and there was no point hurrying back to it early.  so i went ahead and finished the other twenty.  you know that song running against the wind?  i’ve done that – i’m sure we all have – and it definitely slows you down.  well, i had never much thought of it, but swimming against the wind is pretty darned tough too.  i can’t believe how much the wind can push on me when i’m mostly submerged.  crazy.  half of my laps seemed like they would never end because no matter how hard i stroked, i didn’t seem to be getting anywhere.  that’s gotta count for a few extra burned calories right?

2009
27
Feb
5:14

way #17,379 that hubby & I differ

   Posted by: arcanai    in feelin bad

Hubby has been lecturing me for years that if I were more active and tired my body out, I would sleep better. I’ve always scoffed at the notion because i’ve been way more active since meeting hubby than I ever was in my life and the insomnia hasn’t changed. Well, these last few weeks I have been Wearing. My. Body. OUT! Seriously, folks, this swimming and running is kicking my butt. And since I started all of this new, more vigorous activity… I do not sleep. Period.

So, after hours of laying in bed tonight, tossing and turning and wishing horrible curses upon soundly-sleeping-hubby, I realized that it’s just one more of our differences. If you know us, you know that we have nothing in common. So, the difference is that his body is just more intelligent than mine. When his body gets physically tired, it knows that it needs to recharge. When my body is worn out, it gets ticked off and restless. My body has too much attitude and not enough smarts to recharge itself. Which makes no sense at all since mine is a newer model and I’m pretty sure recharging wasn’t even invented yet when his was built. He’s ahead of his time.

The alarm will be going off in less than an hour and a half. I rolled around in bed (and not in a happy-fun way), with no comfort in sight, all I could stand. I got up, peed, walked around the condo, ate yogurt, stood outside watching waves, and generally gave up on the hope of sleep tonight. With the exception, of course, of finally falling into a deep, peaceful sleep 10-15 minutes before the alarm goes off. You know… to ensure that I feel as crappy as possible for the rest of the day. I guess instead of hating him for his ability to effortlessly find sleep, I should just chalk it up to one more thing to hate about my body.

2009
26
Feb
21:56

thursday’s activity

   Posted by: arcanai    in getting healthy

lunchtime:

forty laps (lengths) in the pool.  i am going to be so bummed in the next couple weeks when it gets too crowded to swim day or night.  i really feel like i’m getting better at it.  not as far as technique but just pushing myself and overall speed.  and i’m getting a wicked tan.  no, i am not tanorexic; it’s an unintended (and not entirely welcome) side effect. 

evening:

three miles of the bridge run.  so far *knock on wood* my legs are fine.  i tried running really hard to get to the bridge (so that i could get to where i feel safe by myself quicker… mental note: find the pepper-spray that writersblock gave you and put it some place where you’ll remember it each time you go for a run) but i only made it about 3/4 of the way there before my life flashed before my eyes.  i let hubby go on, walked about thirty seconds, and then jogged the rest of the way to the bridge.  once i got to the railing i did intervals.  i walked/jogged to every other light post.  seemed as good a system as any.  the last two light posts coming back were jogging and i continued at a slow, comfortable pace all the way back to the parking lot.  i would estimate that i jogged 2/3 of the whole thing.  maybe a little better.  i’m hoping to feel confident enough in my legs to do a slow jog the whole way again next week.  and i am so anxious for the day that i can do a full two laps on the bridge like everyone else.  on the bright side, now that it’s warming up the group is growing tremendously and i’m hoping to find some slowpokes like me that i could keep up with for the two laps.  for now, i’m just trying to keep from pushing too hard and re-injuring my legs. 

2009
25
Feb
20:04

ihopme

   Posted by: arcanai    in home sweet home, Nuthin' Special

since we didn’t make it to ihop yesterday for free pancakes, i’ve had the strangest craving for… well… pancakes.  so tonight’s dinner was peanut butter chip whole wheat pancakes and scrambled eggs.  it was yummy, yummy comfort food.  sadly, i was already tired and dragging from the lunchtime swim and now that i’ve got a belly full of breakfast, i am downright struggling.  but it has been a productive night.  we’ve done a good bit of straightening up and hubby’s got the laundry room cleared out and ready for me to start painting.  it’ll have to wait a couple days because tomorrow is the bridge run but the laundry room should be painted, and reorganized this weekend – a long overdue project.

2009
25
Feb
19:02

wednesday’s activity

   Posted by: arcanai    in getting healthy

lunchtime:

40 – yes FORTY – laps in the pool.  although hubby has brought it to my attention that i count wrong as what i call a lap is one length of the pool and he calls a lap two lengths of the pool (down and back).  so, what i actually did was 40 lengths of the pool or 20 laps (according to hubby).  either way, that’s 2/3 of a mile also known as double what i would need to do if i had a bike and signed up for that triathlon that i really want to do. 

2009
25
Feb
7:50

what does it mean?

   Posted by: arcanai    in Nuthin' Special

during the brief time that i was asleep last night, i dreamt.  in my dream, i walked into a hospital and stole two beautiful newborn twin babies.  i have no recollection of why.  the strange part is that by the time i got these two infants home they were no longer babies, they were tiny ducklings.  i cuddled them and loved on them and didn’t seem to even notice that they were originally babies.  how messed up is that?  to make things even more fun, the babies i stole from the hospital were specifically targeted because they were my cousin’s.  and she was my roommate.  so after i got home with the ducklings, i was frantically trying to formulate a plan (can we say too late?!) for how i was going to keep them hidden from her when she got home so that she wouldn’t know i had kidnapped ducknapped them.  i woke up when i saw her element (way more futuristic one) pull up in the driveway.

2009
24
Feb
19:14

tuesday’s activity

   Posted by: arcanai    in getting healthy

lunchtime:

35-40 minutes of swimming.  thirty-two laps, my most to date. 

2009
24
Feb
9:05

recapturing our youth

   Posted by: arcanai    in Nuthin' Special

saturday night our running group had plans to go to a concert some sixty miles away.  they are friends with the band and were very excited about introducing new people to their music.  so, we drove six and a half hours friday night so that we would be home to go with them this weekend. 

we met up at scooter’s house where we finally got to meet his wife.  we hung out for a bit and had a small snack when mello showed up and piled into the car around 20:00.  the other group had already hit the road before we got there because they wanted to stop for dinner so we would just meet them there. 

we arrived at the bar shortly after 21:00 and were introduced to the band members.  it was about another hour of hanging out before the first band hit the stage.  i couldn’t tell you their name but they really weren’t very good.  the music was alright but the vocals – he sounded like a leprechaun.  i’m pretty sure they only did three or four songs before shamefully stepping down.  the next band was better and stayed on stage a good bit longer. 

the b@st@rd suns were definitely the big attraction.  the crowd around the stage easily tripled when they started.  they reminded me of an irish-influenced slightly stoopid.  they were much more fun than the two starter bands and a large mosh pit formed in front of the stage.  hubby and i stayed back enough that we just had to push people back in every so often.  i was happy to jump around a lot and bang my head around.  i also had some fun conversations with mello, cargo, and passion throughout the night.  mello was talking to me about his days in iraq and somalia and it’s possible that i freaked him out when i put my arms around him and hugged him tightly while thanking him for his part in protecting our freedom.  what can i say, i get emotional about those who fight for us.

we stuck around for a few minutes after the band played to show our appreciation and were back in the car around 02:30.  by the time we drove back to town, dropped the others off, got home, and got showered (why do people have to smoke?!), it was after 04:00 when our heads finally hit the pillows.  therefore, i have no idea whatsoever why i was awake again at 07:00.  my eyes and sinuses were killing me from all of the air pollution.  it’s really a shame but that’s the whole reason we stopped going out to places like that; i feel miserable for several days trying to detoxify my lungs, sinuses, and eyes.  not to say it wasn’t worth it because we had a great time but we certainly don’t do it often.  that’s why my favorite hang-out around here is an open air bar.  people smoke but it rarely bothers me with the nice gulf-breeze breaking it up.

sunday was definitely a shot day.  we laid around and that was about it.  there had been talk of hubby and scooter doing a bit of kayaking but that got called off around noon and was quickly replaced by more laying around.  about the only productive thing i did was a load of laundry, out of necessity, and i swear i can still smell the smoke.  and i put the new sheets on our bed so that i could take a nice comfy nap.  heavenly, they are.

2009
23
Feb
19:56

monday’s activity

   Posted by: arcanai    in getting healthy

lunchtime:

24 laps in the pool.  approximately thirty minutes.  i was far more tired than the last few times i swam but i guess that’s to be expected after two weeks of sloth.  the beautiful thing was that i had the pool to myself.  that’s never happened, especially in the afternoon.  and it didn’t make sense either because the pool was definitely warm enough for the snowbirds.  actually, it was a bit too warm for swimming laps as i was sweating in the water halfway through my swim.  either way, it was a nice lunch break. 

evening:

i totally intended to do some fiit tonight but a migraine got in the way.  just as well, i suppose.  i don’t know if i’m ready yet to hear it yell at me about my prolonged absence.  i’m sure it will punish me by declaring my weight to be twenty pounds higher.

2009
23
Feb
12:08

saturday’s activity

   Posted by: arcanai    in getting healthy

*NOTE* – i actually wrote this post saturday night on the iphone on our way to being young but the browser died and lost my post so i gave up and resumed being social.  happily, i just discovered that it was autosaved in my drafts so i can post without having to retype.

after the long drive home last night and not making it to bed until well after midnight, we were up at 07:00 to meet up with the runners. we walked to the plaza and i walked around while hubby ran with the group.  i did try running for a very short distance. there wasn’t any pain but my legs definitely didn’t feel 100% right either so i quickly went back to walking. i certainly don’t want to run the risk of reinjury after having already lost so much time on it.  so with the walk to and from the plaza, plus my walking around in the plaza, i easily got three+ slow miles in today.

2009
20
Feb
10:39

mundane update

   Posted by: arcanai    in family time, getting healthy

what can i say?  i’ve just had nothing to talk about.  it’s been a good week but i am so very looking forward to getting home tonight.  we’ve spent some quality time with my sissy’s family and my dad.  i’ve gotten to see a lot of my cousin, including a super fun poker-turned-karaoke night which another friend of mine joined in on.  i haven’t gotten much exercise but i never much expect to when we come down here.  i did walk two+ miles both saturday and sunday but nothing much since then.  on the bright side, my legs have been feeling perfectly fine the last couple of days so i’m hoping to walk and maybe even slow-jog a bit tomorrow.  just not much else going on.  for some reason, i’ve just been a bit blah this week.  i should have tried to get more visiting in – didn’t even get to see my brother (although, perhaps if he would’ve returned my call…) – but i’ve just felt a little worn out this week for some reason.  i am happy that we’re going home and getting back into our routines again.

2009
14
Feb
23:26

eye heart u

   Posted by: arcanai    in family time

happy VD to everyone.  i, personally, spent the day bonding with my BIL.  earlier in the week i had made an eye doctor’s appointment for today.  see, the only provider on my vision insurance in our area is sears and, as we all know, sears SUCKS!  so, since i’m still boycotting them, i needed to find an optometrist in orlando.  when BIL heard this morning that i was going to the eye doctor, he asked if i thought he might be able to tag along.  i made a call and, though all of their appointments were filled, they agreed to squeeze him in with me.  so we left the house around 14:00 and got there early enough to fill out our paperwork and help each other pick out frames before they blinded us.  the whole appointment took so much longer than my last eye doctor but we finally were both seen, dilated, and had our glasses ordered.  we then went into the blinding sun with our saucer-eyes and grabbed some food over at the mall while waiting for the glasses to be made.  i joked with BIL that it was wrong to take a girl to the mall on VD and not buy her diamonds.  about an hour later, we picked up our respective eyewear and finally got back home around 18:30.  with whom did you spend your VD?

2009
14
Feb
22:54

thursday’s activity – aka: walk it off!

   Posted by: arcanai    in getting healthy

i tried so hard to get my legs healed for thursday’s bridge run; alas, i was still a hobbled mess when we left the house.  we decided to go a little early and swing by and check out the guy’s store.  when we got there, his daughter offered to help fit me for proper running shoes and, before i knew it, i was purchasing the most expensive – and comfortable – shoes i’ve ever owned.  socks too.  unfortunately, this got me all hyped up to run the bridge and my legs just were NOT having any of that. 

we got to the parking lot and found there to be a much bigger group than last week.  since i was fully aware that i would have to walk, i gave hubby my blessing to run with the group and not be slowed down by me.  as i said last week, it is a little over a half mile from the parking lot to the beginning of the bridge (where i feel safer because of the concrete barrier that divides the sidewalk from traffic).  so, as the group started running, i brought up the rear pushing my angry legs to run until the start of the bridge.  i just know how ridiculous i looked.  in my mind, i was RUNNING!  i was swinging my arms and my face was filled with determination, but… my legs were barely speed walking.  it was pitiful.  and painful.  but i kept it up until i got to the bridge and happily settled into a comfortable gait.  i walked over the bridge and back as fast as my legs would allow.  before i was halfway back down, i had already been passed by half the group, done with their two laps and headed back to the parking lot.  as i neared the beginning of the railing, hubby caught back up to me and walked back to the parking lot with me. 

my legs were throbbing but not screaming as we left the parking lot and headed to the wing place.  we hung out for a good while and i thoroughly enjoyed meeting and conversing with the leader’s wife and some others that weren’t there last week.  i really like this group of people.  when we left to go home, my legs barely hurt walking to the car. 

i really was afraid that pushing my legs like that, after barely being able to walk around my little condo all week, i was going to worsen my injury.  friday, my legs felt great!  not pain-free but far better than they had all week.  i guess the coaches really do know what they’re talking about when they say, “walk it off!” 

sadly, six hours of being confined in a car was too much and they were hurting again by the time we got to orlando.  walking up and down the stairs at my sissy’s was excruciating last night and this morning.  since walking thursday night seemed to help, i accompanied my niece and nephew1 on their morning dog walk.  i also went over to my cousin’s tonight and forced her to walk around her neighborhood with me.  by the end of the second lap, the pain was tremendous again but after laying on her bed for a while with my legs elevated on her ginormous frog, they’re feeling pretty darned good again.   so, i think i am going to add a daily walk to my elevate, ice, and advil regiment.  hopefully by the time we get home next weekend, i’ll be able to start running with the group again.

2009
9
Feb
20:33

monday’s activity

   Posted by: arcanai    in getting healthy

evening:

swam 28 laps in 27 minutes.  shockingly, i wasn’t even exhausted.  i think i could have kept going but hubby was thoroughly done so we quit.  i don’t know how he can be so much more fit than me and yet have so much harder a time with swimming than me.  i was just pleased that my migraine had subsided enough to get some activity.  and that my still angry legs did not object to kicking water.