Overestimation and a Cut in Entertainment

I completely overestimated my endurance on Sunday.

As previously talked about, Saturday was really active as far as walking went.  I’ve been slowly building endurance, but I’m definitely not up to marathon walking. This is something I conveniently forgot when I decided that Sunday would be another “walk in the zoo” day.  I suppose it might not have been bad if we’d gotten out of the house earlier to do this. As it was, we stayed in the comfy house until after noon, enjoying the air conditioning and The Best Couch I’ve Ever Sat On. If those two reasons weren’t good enough, I had to finish “Sharknado” and then there were other movies to watch. Completely legit!

We then decided to have lunch before going to the zoo.  Delicious Mexican food. You know what makes walking less fun? A belly full of lunch. By the time we got to the zoo, it was midday, so while the heat wasn’t “that bad” at first, we were only shortly past the gates before we realized we may have made a mistake.

What frustrated me was that the day before, I’d walked around a whole zoo with just one rest break, and then 24 hours later I was so exhausted I couldn’t seem to remove my butt from a bench. It felt like a backslide to me. After conferring with my partner in crime and evaluating the situation, I realized that this wasn’t necessarily the case.

1. We did a TON of walking the day before, more than I’ve done yet, and so it was a given that I was going to be tired without a rest day.

2. None of the breaks had to do with back pain or knee pain or even foot pain. It was pain that was making me sit like it was 3ish months ago. This time, tt was just exhaustion and heat, plain and simple.

3. The heat, man. It seriously saps my energy.

We decided that near-future zoo walks will take place in the morning, before a huge meal is consumed, and not after a day where we’ve already logged several miles.  I say “near-future” because I don’t think that will be the case forever. I’m steadily increasing my walking endurance and my energy levels, and I think that in a few more months I will be able to walk long distances on consecutive days. But I don’t have super powers. I’m coming off of two years of limited mobility…this isn’t going to resolve itself in just a few weeks.

The day wasn’t a total waste. Some walking is better than no activity, even if it several breaks did happen. We got yelled at by a prairie dog and judged by a peacock. Jon made friends with a young Colobus monkey. As miserable as we were, we still had some fun.

Monday returned with a vengeance but its vengeance started on Sunday when we returned to the apartment to find that the post office sent Jon’s eBay items back to us instead of to their recipients.  In typical Amanda-anxiety fashion, I instantly assumed that they’d tell us it was our fault, that they’d charge us again for shipping and handling, that they’d stand over us in a black robe and judge us for doing something wrong (even though we did everything right). Turns out, all was well. They claimed it was their mistake and re-sent the packages today at no extra charge. Thanks, USPS!

Sadly, today we cancelled our GameFly membership. It’s nothing personal. We’ve enjoyed GameFly a lot, but we’re trying to cut some costs to get through the next semester, and this seemed one of the most obvious. Jon does a lot of PC gaming and we have some games at home that I can finish. For now, while we have a working XBox 360, we can take finished games and trade them in for new-to-us used games when the time comes.

I was feeling good about our very grown-up choice…until I went to actually cancel, and GameFly turned on the digital puppy dog eyes:

Are you sure you want to quit?

You won’t get all your perks!

Want to reconsider for a free month?

You have three days left for this month…don’t you want to use them?

You’re really going to cancel? Why? (to this I picked moving and traveling, because that’s partially true. I felt bad saying “Too expensive” because we don’t actually believe it’s too expensive in general, we just need to conserve money right now). 

We have a lot of shipping centers…please stay with us!

You’re going to leave? Well, okay. Make sure to *sniff* return your games in 7 days. 

Really?

Okay, then…

Good-bye…

…but click this link if you ever want to reactivate!

So I feel like I didn’t break up permanently with GameFly, but by the end of that ordeal, I kind of wanted to cry.

Adulthood is painful, my friends. Very painful.

A.

 

Friday Night Storms and Weekend Allergies

I’d debated going to see The Conjuring last night, but it didn’t happen.  The main reason was that once I got to my friend’s house, the AC and her super comfy couch were so inviting, I didn’t want to leave. The secondary reason was that it was opening night and I usually try to avoid crowds at the movie theater. Besides the social anxiety (which hasn’t been much of an issue as of late), watching the movie with a crowd leads to a greater chance of sitting near someone who does nothing but talk the whole movie.  When I went to see “Mama” several months ago, I actually moved seats because the people behind me wouldn’t shut it. I could still hear them five rows up. Last week at Pacific Rim, there was a parent who’d brought their  child to the theater. Don’t get me wrong…kids at a certain age are fine, and it’s actually kind of funny when they’re into the movie and get caught asking a question out loud about it. This kid? Not into the movie and not even of an age to say actual words.  Toddler babbling during a movie does not add to the experience in a positive way.

It’s also sad when a person pays for a movie and then can’t leave their cell phone off or pocketed for two hours. Yes, that’s directed at you, Guy Who Sat A Few Seats Down From Me and Had Their Phone Out Almost the Whole Time. Sorry to nitpick, but the glare from your screen was annoying. You made me want to throw something at your face.

So it seemed easier all around to stay at the house, and it was nice. I finished a book, I took a couple videos of the hail storm that came out of nowhere, and I played on the internet. My revised plans had loosely included going to the gym before picking Jon up at the game store, but then I had a flash of brilliance. My friend has Zumba DVDs, and I figured that the training video would be okay. I’d be moving and learning and no one would be around to see how silly I look trying to do Zumba. That happened for about 15 minutes before I gave up to watch the ending of the movie “Twister.”  Like eating kale, I will eventually either come to terms with Zumba and own it, or I will stop trying and accept the fact that it’s not meant to be. This may be a lengthy process.

The storms were rolling in while I was driving to town to pick Jon up and they hit their hardest just as we got back. They lasted for five minutes and then rolled away. Fairly anticlimactic, but I guess that’s what happens. I think they’re calling for more today, so it’s still debatable whether or not we’ll make it to the zoo.

This morning is rough. My cough seems to be getting worse and my throat itches. Before we head to Topeka, I’ll be stopping at Walgreens to get some Benadryl and cough drops. I want to enjoy my day, not spend it hacking up a lung. Oh sure, I could just stay home and rest and recover, but I’m a glutton for punishment. Besides, I’ve been looking forward to this weekend for a very long week. Come hell or high water, I’m going to enjoy it.

A.