July recap

This month was not as productive on the walking front. I only walked on 7 days. The extreme heat and rain did not inspire me to go outside. I did go back to doing Callanetics and managed to do it 13 times in July. I also did 1 The Firm workout which left me in pain. I lost another 5.5 lbs, which is rather surprising as I gained 4 pounds last weekend. This brings my total weight lost to almost 20 pounds since the beginning of the year. I lost another 9 inches which brings the total inches lost to over 23! 🙂 I think the inches are a result of Callanetics, which I will continue to do 3 times a week in August.

I read 5 books in July. I actually thought it would have been 6 as I got the new Karin Slaughter book from the library and I usually read them in 2 days. But I decided to be a good friend and help the friend I usually go fishing with pack up his house as he needed to be out by today. I enjoyed all the books I read last month, although the book on Fred Hampton left my blood boiling. I wanted to read it before watching Judas and the Messiah.

My cousin got engaged last Saturday and her fiancé planned a surprise congratulations party so I went to help set up. There were lots of adult beverages and I was happy to partake. This along with the 4 scoops of ice cream and slice of carrot cake consumed the day before, it was not a surprise that I gained 4 pounds in 2 days. What did surprise me is that I thought it would take at least 2 weeks to lose the weight. Reaffirming that so called cheat days can be recovered from in a timely manner and do not derail progress.

On the work front, a team lead from my former PT job contacted me regarding working for head office. This would be an hourly position that would require 20+ hours a week. I decided to throw my hat in the ring and have had 1 phone interview, 2 zoom interviews and a request for references. I should know by the end of this week if I am in or not. I do not plan to keep my current PT job if this new one pans out. My only concern is that I was trying to give myself Saturdays off and that does not seem to be possible right now with this new gig.

I booked the rest of my summer half days and will have most Friday afternoons off this month. Hopefully I can wrap up the 2 projects I am on before too long so I can leave with a clear conscience. I have no plans yet for my early leave days, except to maybe nap or read.

That’s all that is going on in my world.

Hope all is well with you and yours.

Feeling blessed

I really thought I would have posted more by now. Especially since I have more free time than usual as my day job laid me off 2 weeks ago. However in that time I opened up my schedule to the night job and they took full advantage. I have worked the past 29 days straight at one or both of my jobs. The last 2 weeks schedule at the night job had me on for 50 hours each week. Ordinarily I would complain but since it is my only source of income I am going to just smile and say thanks.

I have applied for unemployment benefits just in case these long hours do not continue. I have a bit of a break this week and am only working 33 hours and I have Friday AND Saturday off. Too bad I have no where to go. If I was a more productive person I would used those days to knock some chores off my list. We shall see.

I am still checking my day job emails daily to handle any easy fires. I am not obligated to but I am nosy and still a team player. Hurts to know that there are 3 people working reduced hours to try to accomplish what 9 people did full time. I will help out where I can.

In addition to this, I have tweaked my resume and have been applying to jobs. I have been feeling for a long while that it is time to start a new adventure but got complacent. Ideal this is probably not the best time but I have the time so I should make use of it.

With all my spare time, I have started exercising again. Leslie Sansone for the win!! I am hot, sweaty mess at the end of my 20 minute sessions and am starting to feel like I am getting back in shape.

Easter brought the end of Lent, so meat is back on my plate. It hasn’t happened yet as I think my body works better without meat. I am going to slowly introduce meat back into my diet and see what happens. Or maybe just eat meat twice a week as my new lifestyle choice.

Last week we needed groceries and braved the lineup at Costco. It took 30 minutes to get into the store and I stocked up on everything as the thought of lining up again just was not appealing. I am still out of some items I usually buy at a regular grocery store and will learn to get by without them for a bit longer. We have lots of meat, rice, bread and frozen veggies so we should be good for a few weeks.

The only thing that has suffered in this time is my reading. So this week, I am going to try to get up earlier and use that time to read. I am 4 books behind on my Goodreads yearly challenge.

I am trying to get current with my emails. I am a little embarrassed to say there are over 10,000 unread emails in my inboxes. 🙄 I am slowly catching up. There may or may not be emails from 2018 that I am still working on. So if I am commenting on old posts of yours please don’t judge me. LOL

Other than that, life is pretty relaxed over here. I’m avoiding the news a little as it is wearing on me. It is heartbreaking to hear all the tragedy. These are unprecedented times and it sucks feeling helpless. Despite all of this I still feel blessed. I have income in a time of such uncertainty. I have savings. My family is all safe and accounted for. We are all healthy for now. I really can’t ask for anything else.

Hope all is well with you and yours.

Living it up

If the busyness of this summer doesn’t kill me I will be shocked.

Now that I have Saturdays free from work, I am making the most of it. Every Saturday from now until September has something booked or penciled in. And I am still socializing in the week.

Last Wednesday my new friend P sent me a Groupon for Lionel Ritchie tickets for the following evening. As a huge fan of both live events and Lionel, I could not say no. So after working Thursday I was fighting traffic to get to my local mall to meet my friend so we could travel down together.

Lionel was amazing. I had a hard time wrapping my head around the fact that he is 70 years old. He preformed for 1.5 hours and it was fantastic.

Last Saturday, had me trekking across the city to visit my oldest cousin. It was a long overdue visit. I brought my Mom along and it was very reminiscent of my childhood. Complete with 50+ minute time line to leave her house. My cousin’s husband had a stroke almost 2 years ago and I have been meaning to visit for at least the past year. It has been a rough road for her but she handles it with such grace.

This past Tuesday, I crossed off another to do item. I FINALLY saw “Come From Away” and it was everything I thought it would be.

With just chairs and tables and 12+ people, this cast told one of the greatest stories of the best of humanity. It was very moving. This play tells the story of what happened on 9/11 when 7,000 people were forced to land in Gander, Newfoundland, town of 9,000. I had heard many stories about the kindness and hospitality of my country folk to the East but this story brought it all home for me.

Today, I was supposed to have a spa day but instead I am going fishing and will be playing hooky tomorrow. Shhhhhhh, don’t tell my many bosses. 😉

First Sunday

Well it goes without saying that I will need to adjust my weekend schedule now that I am working Sundays instead of Saturdays.

Yesterday I had a baby shower to attend for one of my cousins. It ran from 2 pm – 7 pm  by the time we were finished cleaning up. Sigh. I then met a friend for dinner and ended up going back to her place to hang. I got home after midnight.

This morning I met up with my Dad for breakfast before he ran off to run errands. I was to meet up with a friend at noon but she did not respond to my texts/calls in the morning so I went back home to cook and start my laundry only to have her call me around noon to let me know that she was now up and available to visit. Ordinarily I would reschedule by this friend is on palliative care so tomorrow is not promised. I did a load and put it in the dryer and left my sheets washing before running out the door.

I managed to have a quick visit before having to run off to work. The night dragged as the call center was not busy. I sent multiple texts to my oldest to remind her to wash the towels and put them in the dryer. Instead of drying the sheets and towels separately she put them in together. This has not worked out well for me as I have been home over an hour now and they are still drying … I just pulled the towels out to focus on the sheets as I only have one set that fits my bed …

I am thinking all plans to getup early to workout tomorrow morning are starting to look fuzzy.

Last week we had most of our North American sales team in HQ. It was a long, tiring week as I attempted to get to work on time. I did get in early on the only day that really mattered for a meeting I think I could have lived without attending. Overall the week was good but so many unnecessary meetings.

Coming up this week, I have no plans outside of work and will be using my time to relax and figure out my new schedule.

The past couple weeks

2 weeks ago, above was a short drive away. Went to Florida for my Grandfather’s 90th birthday party. It was attended by over 40 people who came from near and far. It was a great function. I am so very glad I went. I had lots of time with my Grandfather which is priceless. Seeing my Dad’s side of the family mostly all together was amazing.

I arrived on the Friday evening and soaked up the sun and family time for 5 glorious days. We severely over-estimated the amount of food needed for the party on Sunday and ended up with way too much food. Unfortunately I think most of it went to waste as we did not have any one to give it to and it was way too much to finish in the short time the majority of us were there.

At work we revamped our gym with 2 new Bowflex Max Trainer machines and a Peloton bike. I have been on the Max Trainer twice now and am recommitting to going to the gym at work on my days off. The preset workouts are 7, 14 and 21 minutes long. Right up my alley. So far I have only done the 7 minute version. Next week I will be stepping up to the 14 minute workout. This I will do for the rest of the summer just working on increasing the intensity.

My weekend shift change was approved a long while ago and yet I had to email the manager to ask her when it would take effect. Next week will be my first Sunday shift. This works out well as I have my cousin’s baby shower to attend next Saturday and a birthday party to attend the Saturday after that. I look forward to getting my social life back.

Next week my entire sales team is coming to HQ for the entire week. Going to have to try my best to get in to work on time. 😦 This will be a challenge for sure. But hopefully a habit I can keep up as I want to be able to leave at 5 pm with a clear conscience moving forward.

 

Happy Victoria Day

Today is a statutory holiday in Canada celebrating the birthday of Queen Victoria, which made yesterday feel like Saturday. Hence the lack of post…

This past week was a good week. I got in 5 workouts and am feeling myself. My oldest returned from Paris on Thursday and she has a great time. Other than her credit card being frozen because my girl decided to buy a pair of boots from Louis Vuitton for a ridiculous amount of money. So my brilliant child returned the shoes hoping that would take the hold off her card. It didn’t. So Tuesday I get a What’s up message from her advising me of the situation. After much back and forth, she was able to get in contact with her bank and get the card back in service.

I managed to have dinner with a friend I do not see nearly enough. We made tentative plans to go to St Jacob’s Market and do a waterfalls tour of Hamilton this summer. We both commented on how much we used to do when the kids were smaller and now we just let the 7 warm days of summer get away from us. Since we are both on a budget, exploring our local treasures is the way to go.

I’m excited to have rough summer plans. Along with hanging out with my friend, I am also planning a trip to Ottawa to visit with my cousin. We are going to do an “ice cream tour”. She found an article that lists the best 18 places to have ice cream in Ottawa.

And maybe this year, I can finally get to do the Whirlpool Jet boat ride down the Niagara Gorge with my kids. This has been on the to do list for far too long. This I hope will be an in the week event but with the way my oldest is working, probably not.

I think this summer is going to be a good one.

 

This and that

Exercise was lacking last week, but I’m getting on it this week. I am going to Florida at the end of the month and I want to be in better shape. Mostly so the clothes that are in my closet might fit nicer. Really don’t want to buy new clothes.

Last week’s win was that I stopped eating at 8:30 pm on most nights. If I am not exercising, I will have to control my eating. I still eat most things although the acne on my chin seems to suggest I should lay off the dairy. I will be eating “cleaner” until my trip.

I saw Avengers: Endgame … all 3 glorious hours of it. I stopped drinking liquids at 3 pm before the 8 pm showing and was able to sit comfortably throughout the whole movie. It was a good show. My oldest was a hot mess at the end.

Took my car for an oil change and ended up buying 2 new tires as the mechanic found a nail in one of the tires. It was recommended that I get at least 2 tires for evenness or something of the nature. So that was a bit unexpected. Over the past 2 weeks, I have spent quite a bit so I am going to try to lay low for the rest of the month.

I changed my availability at my part time job so hopefully in a couple of weeks I can get my Saturday nights back and start socializing again.

I went to see a friend who recently got some bad news on the health front. It was sobering to see her so low energy. I was only there for about 30 minutes before she looked like she was ready to nap. This whole situation makes me very sad.

Reached out to my Dad today and was happy to learn that he is going out and meeting new people. In fact he is so busy, it makes me look bad. He seems to be making great strides with getting out there. It might be time for his daughter to follow suit. 😉

Exercise recap

Monday morning:

Brain: “Girl, it’s time to get up and do a workout”
Body: “Are you sure?”
Brain: “Yes”
Body: “Ok”

Tuesday morning:

Brain: “Girl, it’s time to get up and do a workout”
Body: “Are you sure?”
Brain: “Yes”
Body: “Again?”
Brain: “Yes”
Body: “Ok”

Wednesday morning:

Brain: “Girl, it’s time to get up and do a workout”
Body: “Are you sure?”
Brain: “Yes”
Body: “Again?”
Brain: “Yes”
Body: “But I hurt”
Brain: “No pain, no gain”
Body: “Ok”

Thursday morning:

Brain: “Girl, it’s time to get up and do a workout”
Body: “But I hurt”
Brain: “Come on. No pain, no gain. Remember?”
Body: “#$%#$^% off”

I was doing so well, but then I felt like I needed a rest day and that turned into 2 rest days. Then yesterday I met up with some friends and we walked 4 kms, very slowly but I am feeling it. Today I did an ab workout with my youngest and decided we need to do that more often. My core is weak.

Went to a funeral for a distant cousin on Friday and saw a whole side of my family that I haven’t seen in 6 years. Sadly a few of them live in town so we have no good excuse. Took my Aunt and my Mom and was reminded that my family is getting older. I’m a bit concerned about my Aunt who lives alone in a senior’s building. Her short term memory is going. Twice on the way home she asked my Mom the same question. She is aware of it, but it still makes me wonder what the future may hold. This Aunt does not have any kids and I am the closest to her, so this may fall on me when the time comes.

I has a brilliant idea the other day to change my PT work schedule and instead of working Saturdays, work Sundays instead. This will free up Saturday evenings and I can regain some sort of social life. I was looking ahead to and there are so many events that I want to do that mostly happen on Saturdays. Trying to get my work/life balance to be a little more even. I will have to adjust my laundry and meal planning but I think it is doable and worthwhile.

 

 

Taxes and other things

So I finally did my taxes and for the first time EVER I owe money. 😮 I am not sure how I feel about this. The program I used doesn’t seem to be working like I think it should. So I will look at it tomorrow with fresh eyes.

The exercising is still not back to where it should be. This week is going to be different. There, I wrote it so it must be true! 😉

Since I owe taxes and my last credit card bill was a bit spendy as I had some yearly expenses come through, I am going on another no spend challenge. I have a day outing with my oldest on Saturday with her friend and her mother. So my goal is to get to Saturday without spending a cent. I will be shopping my freezers and cooking to make this happen. I will be strong on Friday when we usually have sushi lunch. And I will cross my fingers that there is nothing tempting on the menu at the cafe at work. The good chef is back and it’s been a slippery slope.

Today I baked some pork chops and made rice. Yesterday I baked fish and I have salad fixings. I should be good until Tuesday when I will cook again. I must say it is good to have meat back on the menu as an option. Especially since I have so much of it in the freezer.

My grandfather turns 90 at the end of next month so I am going to try to make this no spend challenge last until then. His party is in Florida, so outside of my plane ticket, I will keep my credit card in my wallet and my money in the bank.

Given my tax bill, I will be investigating additional ways to reduce my taxes. Short of having another child, I think that just looks like more retirement savings are in order. I will have to look at my budget and make adjustments.

I have lots of movies and a few books from the library and my PVR is still overflowing so there is lots to keep me entertained and out of trouble.

A quick update

Sorry I missed last week. I ran out of time as I took my kids to see their paternal Grandmother who was visiting from out of town and did not account for how long that visit would last.

The past few weeks have been a struggle on the exercise front. I am not doing as well as I use to. But tomorrow is a new day/week!

A family friend is coming into town tomorrow. This means I really need to get myself into a morning workout routine so I am free Tuesday night. We are going to meet up with my cousin downtown. I have not seen my cousin in years. His mom died earlier this year so it will be great to have some face time.

I am officially over my no meat diet and can’t wait for this weekend. I don’t remember it being this hard. The first couple of weeks and these last weeks have seem more challenging than I expected. I have craved for chicken which never happens. I think this might have to do with my struggle to find plant based protein. I have put dairy back in my life in an attempt to address this.

Ok, I need to find my bed so that I can get up early and work out tomorrow morning. 😉