In a Hurry

I have an interview today so I only had time for my regular routine. I took out the shoulder stand yoga pose though. I can't do it yet anyway.

Regular Routine- 44 minutes
Yoga-

1. Deep Breathing
2. Half Moon
3. Warrior
4. Tree
5. Sun Salutation
6. Standing Knee
7. Palm Tree
8. Chair
9. Triangle
10. Downward Dog
11. Dance
12. Cobra
13. Bridge
14. Spinal Twist
15. Spine Extension
16. Gate

Strength-

1. Single-Leg Extension
2. Push-up and Side Plank
3. Torso Twists
4. Lunge
5. Tricep Extension
6. Arm and Leg Lift

Wii Fit Plus

I recently picked up the Wii Fit Plus after spending a few weeks using the regular Wii Fit. I had complained about the inability to create a routine with the regular Wii Fit and instead having to select each exercise through the menu. Making an hour of exercise take 1.5 hours with the menus and extra instructions. Now I have created my own routine with the Wii Fit Plus which consists of an aerobic exercise to warm up, 23 yoga & strength exercises and then aerobic, balance and training plus games to fill in the rest of the hour. Here is the routine I used today. So far, I'm loving the Wii Fit Plus :)


Warm up Aerobics - Basic Step

Regular Routine
Yoga-

1. Deep Breathing
2. Half Moon
3. Warrior
4. Tree
5. Sun Salutation
6. Standing Knee
7. Palm Tree
8. Chair
9. Triangle
10. Downward Dog
11. Dance
12. Cobra
13. Bridge
14. Spinal Twist
15. Shoulder Stand
16. Spine Extension
17. Gate

Strength-

1. Push Up & Side Plank
2. Torso Twist
3. Lunge
4. Arm & Leg Lift
5. Tricep Extension
   

Cool Down
Balance Games-

1. Soccer Heading
2. Ski Jump
3. Ski Slalom
4. Lotus Focus
   

Aerobics- Advanced Step

Training Plus- Rhythm Kung Fu

Homey

I've been working.. lots and lots of working lately. Almost 40 hours for the last 4 weeks. Doesn't sound that hard but a lot of it has been being called in on my day off or taking other employee's shifts. Plus it's Christmas and the store has been a mess, people are slobs, I've been asking for an armed guard to watch my bead aisles. People steal so much!!

Also been getting to hang out with more people from work, awesome people. Princess is warming up to a couple of them. I took her out to Petsmart for the first time yesterday, she was nervous in the parking lot and when we stopped by Michael's to say hi, but then she was fine in Petsmart. Must be the food smells.

School starts up again next Wednesday, for 1 4-hour class then off again for 2 weeks. I could have finished the class by the time we get to the second day. Annoying.

Everyone has been getting sick, I'm trying really hard not to, but some days I get no sleep. Tonight will likely be one of those nights. I've got to write a paper for the first class and I don't have any days off till the day of the class. We're also open till 11pm all this week and I close 3 nights, which means getting home at almost midnight. It's been nice having some extra money though, since I was barely covering bills before. My great-aunt sent me a check to help me out and I used it to buy some bookshelves so I could unpack the boxes that have been sitting in the bedroom since August. That made me really happy :)

A co-worker of mine lives 4 houses away and her teen son was upset that I had no furniture so he grabbed a friend's love seat and brought it over one night. So the house is getting homey :) Looks awesome with the Christmas Tree up in the front window too :) Next week I'm going to Ikea to get some floor lamps for the living room and 2 extra bedrooms. Then maybe I'll start hanging some pictures.

My brother, D, wants me to come move to Colorado soon. He makes a good argument but even if I wanted to go asap I couldn't till this class is over at the end of January. Plus I have to figure out what to do with my stuff and my parents have to deal with the house. I dunno!

I've been eating this song alive lately: Kings of Leon: Sex on Fire.

Slow Sunday

Last night: N came online at 11:30pm and said he had time to watch episode 19 of Haruhi which I've been dying to watch for the last month! That was super awesome, the episode itself was a bit of a let down, the end of a 8 episode groundhog day series, but I'm so glad it's over and we can get back to the real story :)

Went to bed sometime around 2am, woke up at 6am when R called, then back to sleep at 7am till 8am. It's Sunday though so I'm thinking I'll go get the paper and the light bulbs I need then call it a day and nap.

Lunch was the same as yesterday, 260 calories for Ham, Pepperoni, Cheese, Lettuce & Mustard Sandwich.

In order to be happy, you need 3 things: Something to Do, Something to Love, and Something to Hope For.

Took Princess for her walk, a group of little girls ooooh'd and ahhhh'd at her :) She loved it!

Just heard that my nephew, D, just got back from the hospital. They think he either has common pneumonia or swine flu. The doctor's didn't know which. Right now he's in quarantine in his room and has to wear a mask. If ever there was a time to send him lots of books & video games it would be now :/ I don't know if his PSP ever got working again. Last I heard they thought the battery needed to be replaced but didn't hear if that worked. Poor kid :( He's going to miss so much school and fall behind, and be bored.

Dinner is a new option. Healthy Choice Cafe Steamers Grilled Whiskey Steak with Roasted Potatoes and Vegetables. 250 calories. The size of the bowl is very deceiving, it's less than half full. The sauce is a nice and light tangy bbq, the meat over steamed a bit, I would have rather used my own meat, but the vegetables came out well. Corn, Green Beans, Red Potatoes, Carrots, Onions & Tomatoes. Not a bad option when I'm craving something heartier.

Watched Episode 5x02 of Supernatural. Excellent episode, great twist. <3 <3 Dean

Spent a little time trying to get a good picture of the necklace I made my Grandma for my mom. It's a long necklace so laying it down just didn't give it's length. So I hung it on the doorknob, moved my desk lamp to shine on it and laid down on the floor to get a good angle. Princess was amused by my antics. I got a pic of her from the floor after she got bored of trying to figure out what I was doing. :) Now my brother has commissioned a necklace and earring set for his former teacher. If only my sales would start up on Etsy :) I'd feel a lot better than just having family purchasing.

Gonna watch another episode or two of Blood+ and try to sleep. I don't know when I'll hear from work so I'll have to be ready.

Another Week

I went to the Orthopedist on Tuesday morning. First of all when I got there, the rather rude receptionist (RRR) informed me that my appointment was at 8am. I said that there's no way I made an appointment at 8am. I feed Princess and let her out at 8am. She just rolled her eyes. Anyway, I didn't actually have an appointment with the doctor but his assistant. She said there's a cyst (more like a callous) forming on the major joint and told me that the surgery would cost $1k for them, plus the anesthesiologist, plus the hospital fee, plus the pre and post-surgery appointments. It'll add up, the appointment on Tuesday cost $110 :/ As much as my first appointment in NH cost and that included a cortizone shot. I did meet the doctor, he came in to asses me for surgery. He said that he's not terribly worried about the cyst at this point, that if I have to hold off on the surgery for awhile then he sees no problem with that. So they gave me a small splint that I have to wear every night for the next 6 weeks then go back to get checked up. Or I can book the surgery.

I grabbed a bunch of anime now that I'm out of tv to catch up on. I grabbed Cowboy Bebop & Blood+, I still have Sexy Commando, Code Geass & my friend gave me Samurai Champloo. More shows start up next week, Heroes, House, Big Bang Theory, Castle, Criminal Minds, Law & Order, Law & Order: SVU, Mentalist, Flashpoint, Numb3rs.. wow that's a lot. So You Think You Can Dance Canada is down to 12 people next week, I'm not sure who got eliminated this week, I haven't gotten the results show yet :( The routines this week were so good! The guest judge this week was Karen Kain, I'd never heard of her before but she just seems to define CLASS, her comments about hip hop and stuff were cute. So You Think You Can Dance USA is still in auditions. Bones started up last night, though I haven't watched the episode yet, probably tonight. America's next top model is down to 12 I think, my favorites left are Jennifer, Nicole, Sundai, Ashley, and Lulu.

I've been playing Guild Wars a bit too. I joined a nice guild to try to learn more about the higher end game. I've been so frustrated that I want to finish the story lines but I'm at the max level and I've been failing missions with the npc henchmen. There's so many high level armor and weapons that I need to learn about getting. Everyone seems great so far!

I haven't heard back from Michael's yet, it's been 2 weeks since my interview. I need to call them today and check up on it, but it's saddening that they didn't call me themselves. :/ That's bad enough, but I applied online for Geico's call center and I have some call center experience, Geico is always advertising on the radio and billboards that they're hiring when no one else is, they have great training so no experience is needed.. I got an email the next day saying that I was not selected. :/ :/ :/ Come on!!!

I've got some chores to run, then house cleaning and Princess playing today. Feeling a little sniffly with all the rain lately.

Iron Tummies

Both Princess and I were sick today. We both threw up this morning, but I was the only one who had to clean up :p Damn her for not having thumbs, she can have mine. Hopefully she'll be all better tomorrow, I dunno if I will, I'm still quite nauseous and dizzy. I did try to go out and play with Princess, because she's still a puppy with a ton of energy, but even then she was just going through the motions. She ran after the ball but when she got to it, she just kinda of stood there and looked around or wandered off.

I haven't heard back from Michaels about when I can start working. I'm getting a little low in funds and more bills are due soon. The hours I'll get won't cover the bills at all but it'll slow the hemorrhage. I keep looking for more options, but I haven't found any in awhile.

My thumb has been triggering a lot lately and hurting too. I tried to pick up my plastic case of beads and I almost dropped it because my thumb couldn't support the weight. It happens randomly so it caught me off guard too, that and it hurts when it happens. I have my Orthopedic appointment next week and with my luck, like the last time I went to the Orthopedic in NH, it won't be triggering or hurting on that one day. :/ Maybe I'll mow the lawn the day before, just to make sure it'll be at it's worst. I've got to mow anyway but it's been rainy for the last few days.

I just finished catching up on Heroes today. I really liked the storyline for Season 3. Up and Down, Resolved then Twisted.. But now I don't have any more tv to catch up on except Ugly Betty and I can't find episodes 1-10 anywhere. So I'm tv'less at the moment, more shows start up soon, but I've been catching up on entire seasons per day so I doubt it'll be hard to keep up. I knew I'd be out of tv so I tried downloading some new sims to play with, but it kept failing and crashing the launcher/download utility, then the game itself was running so slow that I ended up quitting twice without saving my progress. I keep looking for a MMORPG to play on my Mac so I have something to do and can actually talk to people. I do have Guild Wars still, and that's free to play, but the people I've run into there have all been annoying kids. I tried dragging my friends, AR & F, into the game too but AR had her computer stolen and F never has time.

The people I talk to the most in the last few months have been my dad and my friend, R. Neither of them are people that I can call up and chat with but they're both good about calling and chatting with me on a regular basis. Still I need to find people that I can chat with when *I* need to kill the silence, or stop my brain from over thinking or just to tell about things that happen as they happen instead of having to wait until my scheduled chat sessions. Finding someone that I could actually hang out with, go to a movie with, would just be +++

I'm dying to do some fall activities. Everyone knows that fall is my favorite time of the year. I love things like hayrides, and fall markets, and preparing for Halloween. I may actually get to hand out candy this year! I haven't been able to do that in 7 years. I doubt that I'll be dug out of my debt crater by then, even if I were to get a full time, well-paying job tomorrow, so I won't be able to decorate the house or anything.

Still trying to figure out what to do about my mom's constant threat to kick me out of the house. She hasn't mentioned it again since the day she said it, but it'll keep happening anytime I don't do exactly what she says. I've lived under threat of homelessness for the last 9 years. First when I lived in my parents house in NY, then in Canada. The main reason I never felt at "home" in Toronto, even though I loved being there, was because at any time, the government or my husband could want me out and I'd have to go. Now I'm in my parents house in VA and the same threat applies. I'm just tired of living that way. I want stability and assurance that the only reason I'd ever have to leave is because I wanted to go. I just don't know what I can do about it in my current situation but I'm thinking.

Happy Birthday to me

Yesterday was a rough day. It was my birthday but my mother was having a lot of issues, so G and I spent most of the day trying to stabilize her and canceling our trip to Florida to see my other brother, D and his family.

Today G was supposed to drive himself to the airport but mom woke up and wanted to take him so I drove him to the airport and we had lunch. My tuna melt was far too greasy and upset my tummy a bit. Then mom and I drove back to my orthopedic appointment for my thumb. The doctor said that since it wasn't hurting or triggering today that he would suggest giving it more time to heal or if I couldn't live with it, getting the surgery. I told him that overall it had been much better but some days it ached real bad or I'd get a sharp pain if I pressed something with it. He said again that if I could live with that, it wouldn't be a problem, but if I couldn't to book the surgery. Kind of a let down but I'll have to wait and see if it's going to be bearable or not. Then decide about the surgery.

Mom was feeling really bad and slept most of the trip. I wasn't sure if I'd be able to get her upstairs to her room or not, but she made it and now she's sleeping with some valium.

Thumby Weather

Tuesday was my brother's birthday. Mom wasn't feeling well all day so we stayed home instead of going out to Longhorn Steakhouse like he wanted. I drove down to the grocery store and picked up some good hamburger, a small birthday cake and stuff and made him hamburgers. They turned out really well. Everyone deserves a good birthday.

That night I stayed up to keep an eye on Mom. She was sleeping in the recliner in the living room and my brother slept on the couch. I heard her throwing up so I ran down to help her. Then a little while later she decided to move up to her room because she's afraid of lightning and there was a massive thunderstorm. The living room has huge windows and doors that lead out to the porch. I personally thought it was gorgeous.

A few hours later my brother ran upstairs and said mom had been calling for help but I seriously didn't hear her. I don't have very good hearing with one ear anyway but I usually manage. I had a small fan pointed at me and it was hard even hearing people on the phone with it so close. So I moved the fan even though it's so hot in this room all the time. I checked on her a few times and she seemed to sleep well the rest of the night.

She had a doctor's appointment at 8am so we had to leave the house at 6:30am. She wasn't feeling well at all. The doctor said that a blood vessel burst, either from all her throwing up or just from the general diabetic retinopathy. He said that was what was causing all her pain and that he couldn't really see how the surgery was healing through all the blood. She had an appointment last week though and it was clearer then so he still felt good that it was healing well. He changed all her medications and eye drops again and gave her more oxycodone for the pain. Her next appointment is on the 6th and we're hoping she'll be well enough to fly to Florida on the 9th to see my other brother and his family for almost 2 weeks.

She's always in pain, she barely eats, she's often abrasive. It's been tough dealing with her. When I made dinner tonight, she was sleeping in her room. Since she hasn't eaten a real meal in almost 2 weeks and had been naseous all day I assumed she wouldn't want any so I didn't wake her. She then started yelling that we hadn't invited her to eat and that she would just eat an ice cream sandwich because no one cared to feed her. I had just made it, it was too hot to eat still, my brother offered to get her some but she said no. Yet she still complained for another hour.

Next Tuesday, the 7th is my 30th birthday. Which kinda sucks because I'd been dreaming of having a really fun party for once, ever since I planned my husband's 30th 2 years ago. I haven't had a big birthday party since I was really little. I always thought I'd be dead by 30, so I guess anything is better than that :) My family has been planning a party for me on the 11th at my brother's place, but while I'm sure it will be nice, it's not the same.

On Wednesday I take my brother to the airport at noon. He's flying to Texas to pick up our nephew from visiting his mother's family. Then they're flying to Florida to meet up with all of us. After I drop him off I have to rush back north almost 2 hours to get to my Orthopedic appointment for my thumb. It's my last shot (figuratively and literally) to avoid surgery on it. The first shot helped a LOT, but I still get shooting pain when I press something like the sleep button on the iphone or gps or turn a screwdriver. Sometimes for no reason at all it will just ache all the way to my elbow. I hope it works, luckily I can cross my fingers :p The shot is only $50 but the surgery will be expensive given that I have no health care or job.

I received my draft copies on Monday of my resume and cover letter from the Monster.com writing service. I think it looks pretty good. Certainly much better then I could have ever come up with. I've got to write them back with a few changes I think, then I'll start posting it everywhere and use the job finding company that my husband also got me for my birthday present. Crossing more fingers that they can find me something good, not just bareable.

We've been having so many strong thunderstorms here lately that the internet has been off for long periods of time. Even the cable went out a few times and the power shut off several times but only for seconds. The storms also carved out ditches in the dirt road up to the house and a giant crack between the driveway and the road. If they don't come fix it soon, I may have to go try to fill it in some. It's almost hard to get the jeep across the ditches, but my brother's car is barely able to make it.

Lastly I just want to say Happy Canada Day to all my (soon-to-be) fellow Canadians!

Temporary Insanity

Yesterday was a pretty rough day, not only didn't I get any sleep until a nap mid-afternoon, but it was extremely hot and muggy all day. There's no AC in the house and my room is so tiny that it seems to suck in all the heat in the house.

The electrician who has been working on the house for the last few months was over with 2 other guys working on my mom's room. They torn down one wall and rewired everything. The first thing he said to me was that he thought I was only staying here temporarily. I said me too. Then later we had a discussion about work opportunities in the area, aka lack of except for construction and repairs. The electrician also got freaked out when he found a big snake hiding under his truck. He and the other guys couldn't even tell what kind it was, just that it was big. So wrong. :/

The finished up their work around 2pm and I took a nap for awhile then ended up throwing up for an hour even though I hadn't eaten anything. I forced myself to eat a bowl of cheerios after and I felt awful and barely kept it down but then I napped a few hours more and finally started feeling better. My thumb has been getting worse too, so yesterday morning I took a naproxen which helped but I can't take it every day for the next two weeks until I can get another shot from the orthopedist.

I heard back from the monster.com resume writing service my husband purchased for me. They said I should have a draft by Monday. I spent a few hours the night before filling out their questionnaire and researching average apartment prices in various locations nearby. Nearby is pretty relative because the major areas I might find work are at least 1 to 3 hours away from my parents house.

I'm starting to feel a bit nauseous again, so I'm going to try to force myself to eat more cheerios then wait for the construction guy who is coming back to finish up the drywall in mom's bedroom. I have some chores I've been slacking on for the last week that I should get to as well.

--Repack a big box of books & magazines into smaller boxes
--Put together the two wood racks outside
--Bury the tv & internet cables outside
--Mow the lawn
--Use the weedwacker
--Make a grocery list for next week
--Do some cleaning

Just hope I don't run into any snakes :/