Long Monday, Hot Apartment

Tonight is the first night in a week that we’re back in our apartment. It feels good to be in our own place again, even though I enjoyed the good air conditioning and cable at my friend’s house.  As expected, our place was hot when we got here since we turned the AC off for a week to save some energy.  Now it’s going to take a few hours for things to cool down again, but I’m okay with that. I just wish the fall weather would hurry up and get here. I want a nice cool apartment, and I want to start walking outside again.

Today felt like a pretty intense work day. I accomplished a lot, but it seemed like the work flow was never ending. This is good, because it makes the day go by fast. But by the end of it, my brain was tired.  I still managed to get some con stuff done after work, though. Jon had a test tonight. This will be a regular Monday occurrence until the end of the semester. While waiting for him, I went to Hastings to “work.” It’s become a game to see what I’m going to want that Hastings does not have.  Tonight, it was both cream cheese and butter, so I ate a plain wheat bagel since my lunch didn’t stick with me and I was starving. I also ordered an iced mocha and forgot to give the size I wanted, so they defaulted to the largest one they have.  I drank it, but at least there was no question why I felt nauseous before going to the gym.

Jon got done much earlier than I expected, and the gym was our next stop. He played the role of motivator tonight, because I would have found an excuse just to go home. But we went, and I’m glad we did. I felt much better for having gone, and I finished Eternal Sunshine. I also started Brick, which is already not what I was expecting.

After the gym, we walked to K-Mart to grab lunches for the rest of the week, then came home. The air is on and the fans are going, so hopefully it’ll cool down before too long. It wasn’t as unbearable as I expected, but it’s still not as comfortable as I would have liked.  It’s already late, and I did nothing in the way of cleaning or putting away stuff, but I’m not too worried about it. It’ll get done. Truthfully, I’m just trying to get through this week so I can survive TengaiCon.  Then I’ll be ready to survive the Being an Outdoors Woman weekend.  Maybe around that time I’ll be ready to institute normalcy at home.

For now, I’m off to peroxide my grass splinter, do some editing on a friend’s novel, shower, and get some sleep.

A.

 

Wasted Days and Running from Zombies

This whole day felt wasted. That probably isn’t fair to say, since things did get accomplished, but I’ve been spoiled with having weekends where Jon and I can go do stuff together and have a good time, and today wasn’t really like that.

We slept in a bit and had breakfast at home for once. We bought some sausage and gravy Banquet pot pies and each had one. They were really good and really filling.  On the way into town, however, Paradise Donuts caught our eye, and we decided to treat ourselves. I’m not usually a donut person, but I was feeling off this morning and kind of grumpy, so I decided to soothe the angst with a cocoa krispies donut and a frappuccino.

We started the day trying to geocache, but it was not a good day for us. We either couldn’t find the places we were supposed to be, couldn’t find a way to get to the place we needed, or just didn’t want to take the chance of being seen by muggles. We weren’t really up to much hiking today and had been hoping for some quicker grabs, but it just wasn’t happening. We did find one, but the other one we could get to we couldn’t find. The description said that no one had gotten it without help.  We’re going back before we claim defeat, but not until it cools down a bit, because I’m going to say the heat today had a little bit to do with my grumpiness.

We had a meeting for the gaming convention that went fairly well, other than the fact that I found out my updates to the site have not been posting.  I’ll have to re-update the schedule and then check with others to see if it’s working now. I suppose maybe this is my ball drop, at least the one I currently know of. However, if this is the worst that happens, we’ll be good. A couple people have had to cancel, but I’m keeping positive. We’re doing what we can do, and I think we’re doing it with relatively low stress.

After that we went to Game Hounds so Jon could meet with one of our friends to do some trading of sorts. We chatted with some people, walked to Dara’s to get some water, then headed across town to Manhattan Running Company where we finally got armbands to carry our phones in for our walks. The main goal was to not have to hand carry when we started doing the Zombies Run game, but the bands will come in handy for our regular walks too. They were a little pricey, but we’re trying to look at the long term investment. Now we just have to make sure to use them.

Though we were supposed to do our C25K today, we decided to just go ahead and try the Zombies Run. The program we started with is kind of boring, and our curiosity was getting the better of us. So instead of hitting the mall, we headed home early, figuring we’d go out later when it cooled off to walk the rec path. On the way home, we stopped at Ramblers for a later lunch. My craving for vegetables persists, so I ordered a side of steamed veggies, conveniently forgetting that I don’t really like veggies. The BBQ brisket sandwich was good, but I made the mistake of trying one of Jon’s fries. Man, there were regrets. On a good note, even though I don’t like green beans and broccoli, I did manage to eat about a quarter of the cup, so that’s progress on my part.

At home, I made playlists and laid down for a little while, procrastinating checking my website and doing updates. It’ll happen, but the day had already kind of worn on me. Finally the day got dim enough that we went out to the rec trail to take a crack at Zombies Run. Unfortunately, when we got there we realized we actually had to download the missions, which we hadn’t done at home. That was annoying, and a good way to make me feel like a moron. So we drove home to jump on our wifi, downloaded the first mission and went back.

Get ready for this drama.

It started out okay. The story was good, and I was really digging the immersive nature of it.  Every time it said I picked up something, I felt pretty cool. I got almost all the way around the track before feeling the need to rest, which is definitely an improvement. When I got to the end of the track, I was originally going to go across the parking lot to the beginning, but instead I turned around, figuring I’d just walk the loop the opposite way.  It was about that time when the first RUN happened.  My original plan of walking fast didn’t seem to cut it, as I could hear the zombie voices in the app. So I ran. Not fast. It was more of a jog, but it kicked my butt. I figured I’d be okay, and I told myself to just walk fast next time. But guess what? I ran again. The thing is, I know it’s a game, and it doesn’t feel real real, but it fuels the imagination enough that I really wanted to run and get away from the zombies.

When I got to the bench, I finally realized I needed to stop, not just because I was so tired, but because I’d pushed my lung capacity and couldn’t breathe right. I pulled the earbuds off, sat down, and then listened to what sounded like people rustling around in the woods behind me. That break didn’t last long at all. The noise could have been animals or birds, but I was already uneasy, so I booked it. I was so glad when the Mission Complete message came on. Instead of trying to make it around the track, I walked across the field, which wasn’t much easier.

Jon met me part way, and I just fell down in the grass. I didn’t faint or anything, but I was worried I was going to, so I just laid down in the grass. That was pretty major, because my knees don’t allow me to get up from ground position very easily. But it was a necessary action at that time.  I finally got up with Jon’s help and had one of those intense post exercise breakdowns where I cried. In reality, this was my best walk and considering I did run, I was kind of awesome. But in that moment, all I could focus on was that I’d failed because I couldn’t make it to the car without feeling like throwing up or passing out.

We stopped to get gas and something to drink and we talked about our future Zombie Run plans. I think we’re going to put in a little more time with the regular C25K we were doing as well as more gym time This was fun for the most part, and I know it’ll get easier in time, but I’m just not sure if we’re ready for it.

I will say, though, that for a wasted day, the walk did the trick of making me feel like I accomplished something. Now to shower and to bed. Tomorrow is an early day because….that’s right…we’re going on an adventure!

A.

Exhaustion and Homemade Hot Pockets

This day didn’t feel normal. It went by fast, like I arrived, and I did a few things, and then I went home. Early, even. I couldn’t tell you what I did though. I’m sure something got accomplished, but I was fairly under the weather most of the day, and by “fairly,” I mean I kind of thought I might pass out a couple times. I’m tired of dealing with the sinus and allergy and cold stuff. I’m not entirely sure if the long workout last night had something to do with it. I felt like I got enough sleep, but I was fatigued and shaky all day. If I had been feeling sick before working out, I wouldn’t have worked out. But I was feeling fine.

So I left early and didn’t go to the gym, since that seemed like the smart thing to do. We did hit up Dillons for some dinner food where we bought the makings of pizza pita pockets to make in our new toaster oven (work anniversary gift…worth it!). I also picked up some of my Dillons freebies. If you are near a Dillons or a Kroger and have not gotten in on this weekly freebie thing, do it! You have to register your card online, but then you can load all kinds of coupons to it, including the weekly freebie. I’m not an extreme couponer, but I’m all about something free. Tonight, I got popcorn and shampoo. Tomorrow will bring some toothpaste. Love it.

The plan was to go to bed shortly after I got home, but that didn’t happen. There were delicious hot pockets, then there was cleaning and laundry, and then there was me on the computer. And watermelon.  There was also a coughing fit that left my face numb. I don’t think that’s healthy. I hope I didn’t have an aneurysm.

You know what else is keeping me up? Muggle Hustle. Seriously one of the of funniest things ever. When Jon shot me the link earlier, I thought it was just random bro quotes. Nope, it’s a whole thing. Read it, but be warned: spoilers and swearing. And hilarity, so if you can’t handle that, then you might want to bunk down with some Fifty Shades or something.

Um…could we get the Muggle Hustle guy to give Fifty Shades the same treatment? Petition? Kickstarter?

Other news, other news….I have nothing. Shutting it down for the night for some drugs and sleepytimes. I’ve put out the notice that tomorrow might be a work from home day, or even a sick day if this coughing and grossness keeps up. It needs to stop. The weekend is coming up, and I have plans.

A.

Sittin’ and Sweatin’

Last Friday morning (against my first choice of just staying home) I took the Sit and Be Fit class at my gym.

Pic from examiner.com via Google Images

My endurance is still not great, and even though it’s improving, it’s improving slowly.   I can take the Zumba Tone class if I sit down every so often, but I was excited to try a class where sitting was part of the deal. I figured I’d have a different sense of accomplishment in getting through the whole class, and  even though I won’t be able to take the class on a regular basis, I was hoping to get some ideas for home and travel exercise sessions.

I knew it wasn’t going to be an easy class,  but knowing something and experiencing it are two different things.

The class started at 10 and  I was the youngest person in there. There were several other men and women, most of whom were clearly regulars. There was a rapport between the instructor and the others in the class that was really comforting.

Though I had nothing to add to the conversation, everyone was really nice. Many of the women approached me and introduced themselves and chatted with me, asking if I was going to come back on a regular basis. One woman even helped me with my ankle weights due to some flexibility issues and just general unfamiliarity with the things.

As for the workout, one might not think chair exercises are going to be intense, but this workout kicked my tail. In some areas, the chairs were optional, so there was still a lot of standing and moving around. The instructor incorporated walks down the hall into the routine, and I came in on a day where the focus was lower body. It was low impact, but effective, and I felt it the rest of the day.

I’m going to recommend this first to anyone with mobility problems, because it really is a good workout for anyone with limitations. I’ve heard of these classes before, so I’m guessing there are other places they’re held. Having said that, I think it’s a good workout for anyone. This includes people who kick it with hardcore classes because it’s something different, it’s low stress on the joints, and it’s inspiring. During the aforementioned rapport, some people talked about how they no longer had knee pain since taking the class, and one woman who had previously used a walker to get around could now walk without one.

My work schedule doesn’t allow me to take this class regularly. However, I do get a Friday off every once in awhile, and if I’m in town, I definitely plan on taking this one again.