The Signs of a Not Good Day or Two...LOL

A few weeks ago, the passenger side window on my Ford Escape stopped working.  No biggie.....how often do I need to open it?? But I did think WOW my SUV is only 6 years old and only has 89,000+ miles.  Well, knowing me why think about getting it fixed.....I can live without the window going up and down.  That was until Friday.....

Rainy, nasty, cold Friday......

I pull up to the gate at the office and the driver side window goes down so I can swipe my badge and open the gate.  It went down slowly and up even slower and then stopped with about 8 inches to go.  The rain is coming in and I am at a loss.  I park my car and grab my umbrella.  While trying to balance my umbrella, I try to push the window closed.  I get it up to about 3 inches from the top and then it stops.. It is not moving another inch.  I go in the office and plan to call the Ford dealership. 

Now I can't find my cell phone.  I tear my pocketbook and the bag I carry into the office apart....no phone.  I call home and ask Bob to look for my phone....no luck.. One of my team members calls my phone.....no ringing, no vibrating.  I call Jenn and ask her to use the find my cell phone app.  She calls back and says it is at my office.....maybe in the parking lot.  My friend checks the parking lot no luck.  I go out to the car and start ripping it apart.  I can hear a pinging.  I find it under my car seat (it fell there when I threw my bags in the car while I tried to fix my window).  The pinging is Jenn sending an alarm sound so I can find the phone.  I go back in the office and call Jenn to ask how to turn the alarm off.

I call Ford about the window motors.  The rep said it would take about 3-31/2 hours to get them repaired.  Oh and about $500!!  I ask if I need an appt and he says no just bring it in first thing in the morning and it will be taken care of right away.

I leave work at 2:15 for an eye dr. appt. in the rain.  Cold air is coming in the car and so is the rain.  I get to the appt which lasts over an hour since I had problems with my glasses from last year.  I get home at 4:30 and then have to run with Bob to get some docs notarized.  The first bank we stop at has no notary, so we head to the next one where we finally take care of the docs we need executed.

A quick stop at Walmart and we get home at 5:45.  Me........ wet and cold.

Saturday morning....up at 6:15.  At the dealership at 7:45.  First in line.  GREAT!!!!  They open the bays at 8:00.  I explain the situation and they say they will get right on it........right on it.  So why at 11:30 does the tech come to tell me how much the repair is going to cost.  I told him I had already gotten an estimate the day before.  He says they will get to it right away.  RIGHT AWAY????? I have already been there almost 4 hours.  I see people come and go.  Now when the service tech comes to talk to each customer he is no longer making eye contact with me at all.   At 1:15, he comes to tell me the repairs are done BUT I also need a new battery.  Yes, I am a jerk.....I asked how much....another $119.00.  Yes, stupid me got the DAMN battery. 

Now I wait again, the only good thing is the repairs shop closes at 2:00 so I know they have to be done by then.

Jenn had found me a ......ugh......Senior Citizen coupon (you only need to be 55 to use it) for 10% off repairs.  At least I will save some $$$.

At 1:45, I am told my car is ready.  I go to pay for it and they tell me the discount has a $50 limit.  I tell them it doesn't say that anywhere on the coupon.  I ask to see the manager,  of course he doesn't work on Saturday.  I can call him Monday.  Double ugh!!!

I ask the tech and the lady behind the counter did they know how much I had in my checking account because the repairs are costing about what I have in my account.  They didn't get my sarcasm......

Now I get in the car and am ready to leave when I notice that the panel where my window switches are has gashes in it like someone tried to use a screw driver on it.  I get the tech and show him watch happened.  He calls the guy who worked on my care who says he didn't do it.  I tell the tech I am positive those gashes were not there when I came in.  He says he will order the part and let me know when it come in so I can go back and have it replaced.

I am so looking forward to that visit......and I am sure my friend the service tech is too!!!!!

PS One good thing about today......I weighed myself this morning and was down a few pounds!!! So maybe my portion control, protein shakes and only eating what I feel like eating and not being confined to a specific dinner plan is paying off.  I also got to gym and jogged for a little over an hour. Oh and also.....it may rain again this week.....at least I know my windows will work.......

The Week-ends are for REST?????

The theory is we work from Monday through Friday.  Then on  Saturday and Sunday ........we rest.....yeah right.....we use those two days to get everything done we don't get done during our 40 plus hour work-weeks.  Take this week for example. 

I left work at 5:03 PM on Friday.  I raced across town to get a pedicure and eyebrows waxed (OK yes the full face waxed).  I got home at about 7:30.  Excess hair gone from the face and feet looking lovely but alas still no polish for the toes. While 9 of the toes look great, the nail on the big toe on my right foot still has a ways to go.  Now in addition to nail oil on my toes at night......I am now massaging my toe nail with Vicks.  Yes, Vicks......that stuff that smelled so horrible when my Mom would put it on us as kids.  Work on the bills that have to be paid in the next few weeks and balanced the checkbook.

Saturday morning......
up at 7:45 to the lovely sound of Jeter barking to go out.  Hit the gym by 9:15 for an hour jog in the pool.  Home for a few minutes then it was time to go to Walmart and take the dog to the vet for his bimonthly ear cleaning. Home again. Online shopping for a shower gift.  Now, Jenn and I are off to meet our friend, Mary, to catch an afternoon movie, Safe Haven.  After the movie, it is a quick stop at CVS to get Pampers to go with the shower gift (OK when did they come up with 9,000 kinds of diapers????).  Home again to change clothes, wrap the Pampers and off again to the baby shower.  A couple of hours of socializing and back home by 8:45.

Sunday morning......
wake up once again at 7:45 to the lovely sound of Jeter barking.  I watch CBS Sunday Morning and make the grocery list.  At the gm by 12:15.  Another hour of jogging in the pool.  Then a stop at the post office, gas station, CVS (yes again), Bi-Lo (diet pepsi on sale) and Publix for the rest of the groceries.  Get home after 4:00.  Unpack the groceries, throw in a load of wash, fold the laundry that is sitting in the dryer, iron for the week, clean the chicken cutlets, make chicken parm for dinner.  Helped with Bob's online job search.  Dinner should be ready in about 45 minutes.  I am trying to decide if I have the energy to make my lunch for tomorrow or if I will just not do it and complain in the morning that I should have done it now......

But I am fading fast.....I would still like to read the Sunday paper on Sunday and there are a few TV shows I would like to watch tonight.....

Before I know it it will be 5:45 and my work week will start again......well THANK GOD I had the week end to relax!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Milk Bone Underwear, The Gym and Me.......

On Tuesday this week, I must have been wearing milk bone underwear (one time of the TV show "Cheers"  Norm walked in to the bar and someone said "it's a dog eat dog world" to which Norm replied "And I am wearing milk bone underwear!!")....everyone was at my butt......anything I could do wrong I did do wrong......all I wanted to do was go home and not have to talk to anymore customers.

Then something wonderful happened......Wednesday and Friday.....both days were nirvana......everything went smoothly.  Even the customers that I had to call didn't yell or carry on. I was able to catch up on some things I had wanted to work on AND on Friday I had an appointment and left the office at 3:00.  WOW leaving the office in daylight....what a treat!!!!!

I went to the gym Saturday and Sunday.  Each time I spent an hour water jogging.  I was surprised that the Weight Watchers Online site listed water jogging as an activity and even calculated the points I earned from the workout!!!!

I wish I could spend my life in the water.  In the pool I am like everyone else and can do what everyone else does.  No standing out in the crowd there!!!! Well ......except the size of my bathing suit compared to the others in the pool........in the water I feel no aches or pains......I can run with out effort.  I feel so normal.  I am not huffing and puffing.  I pick up the pace and really move.  I am averaging 3-4 miles in one hour......WOO HOO!!!!!

To think by getting to the gym 3-4 times a week I could be jogging up to 16 miles a week......amazing!!!!!

Those 2 days at work that were far less stressful than usual and getting to the gym .....I could feel those endorphins doing there stuff....

I feel good.......real good......but uh oh here comes Monday!!!!!

Please let me experience some of those wonderful moments again.........please........

I Am Not An Athlete

I hated gym class or as it is now called P.E.........

I have no athletic ability.  I hated having to take the Presidential Physical Fitness Test.....there was no way I could pass it.  Pull ups, push ups, sit ups......all made me feel down.  Running a mile....in I don't how long....not.

I did not grow up in a family of athletes.  My brothers played little league.  My sister was a cheerleader. Mom and Dad played golf in their 40's. OK maybe it was just me....

When I am in the pool at the gym and jogging for about an hour in the water....I feel like an athlete.  When I am on the elliptical for a few miles....... I feel like I am an athlete. But there is no medal or trophy or ribbon with my name on it.  I was always afraid to try .....fear of looking foolish....... or failure..... my solution was to not try.

OK there was one sport I loved from day 1.....skiing.  From the first time I got on skis I felt like a natural!!!!! I did a fair amount of skiing in my 20's.  Not that I was great  but I was OK at it and I enjoyed every minute.  One of the first times I went skiing I was on a date.  The guy I was with was a good skier.  I told him to go up to the slopes he enjoyed and I would hang around on the "bunny hill".  Off he went and I went for a lesson and did the little hills.  After a while I got bored and decided I would go to an intermediate slope.  First, I had to get on the chair lift.  As I was riding up the hill I saw signs that made me think what I was doing was not too smart.  DANGER LIFT SKI'S!!!!  THE LIFT DOES NOT STOP!!!  I turned to the guy sitting next to me and said "Why isn't the lift stopping to let people off?" He said, "You ski off."  I said "Who skis off?"  Before I knew it we were at the top of the hill. I skied off and fell flat on my face!!! They had to stop the lift so I could get up and ski away.....UGH.....then I fell and fell and fell.  I felt like I was on top of a huge mountain.  Each time I would fall some little kid would go skiing by me.  Finally, when I hit the big curve heading down the last hill I could see my date waiting for me at the bottom.  I didn't fall once!!! When I met him at the bottom he told me how great I looked coming down the hill.  He should only know!!! We did go skiing many more times together.  Each time I got better and better.  I haven't been on ski's in years but still remember the rush I felt going down the hills.

The only other sports I participated in was watching them.......baseball, football and some basketball.  I watched Jenn swim in swim meets.  I am an arm chair quarterback.  I was raised on the names Y. A. Title, Sam Huff, Mickey Mantle........and some of my personal favorites Reggie Jackson, Phil Simms, L.T.......now Eli and Derek.  In our house the Giants and Yankees rule......they did in my Dad's house and they do in mine......

I guess the fact that it is Super Bowl Sunday made me think about sports and athletes......no World Series for the Yankees last year and no Super Bowl for my Big Blue this year.......but that's OK......the pitchers and catchers report in just a few short weeks.  Before you know it the football mini-camps will begin and my newest love college football will be back.  My dream year......World Series Yankees.......Super Bowl Giants.....SEC AND National Championship Gamecocks!!!!!

Hey I can dream can't I??? Like when I close my eyes and can feel the snow beneath my ski's and the wind against my face as I moved down the hills in my memories........

Quoting Me Back To Me.....

Early in the week I was in a managers meeting, one of my friends said to me "are you getting out early at the end of the day like you said you would?".....later in the week someone on my team said "don't forget you said you were going to stay positive this week." 

I haven't had someone quote me back to me so it was funny.  Hey, if I am willing to put my thoughts and words out there it is nice to know that someone remembers what I wrote.  Even if they say it as a gentle reminder of what I have committed to do.

I finally got to the gym this week for the first time this year!!!!! That nasty cold is finally gone!!! It felt so good to get in the pool and jog for close to an hour.  I remembered to charge my Aquafit  so I was a happy camper jogging in the pool to my favorite tunes.  A gentleman who had just finished doing laps stopped in front of me to ask me about the Aquafit.  I told him about all of the options it offers.  When I got out of the pool he asked me how long I had been jogging for....I told him almost an hour.....he said "that's great!!"  (He had gotten in the pool after me and was done with his laps before me.)

I read up on the Weight Watchers Mobile  about the new 360 program.  Sometimes it is good to go back to the basics and refresh my memory.

This coming week is month end.  In the mortgage business that means it is so busy.  My team has a big goal.  We have to clear to close 268 loans.....that is more than we have ever done before as a team.  Friday morning we have finished 200.  Usually, we get a report so I can keep track of how we do throughout the day but there was a system glitch so I wasn't able to keep track.  I am hoping when I get in tomorrow we will have another 10-15 done and just have 55 or so to go in 4 days.  On Friday, I can breath again for another 4 weeks until month end is here again......

I already got the results of my mammo back and everything is fine.  That's price you pay to see how flat they can squish your boobs.  They looked like big flat pancakes.  OK and why do they tell you to hold your breath??  What do they think I would do while part of my body is being squeezed between to pieces of plastic??


So mammo good......close to month end goal.....back in the gym.....able to wear make-up to work again (which is good for me and those who have to look at me too).  Still working on the toenails getting healthy.....

Not a bad week and really starting to feel more like me again.....and you can quote me on that!!!

What I Am Doing To Climb Out Of The Blues.....

Today, I purchased nail oil.  I need to put it on my toenails every day so they get back to normal so I can get them painted again when I go for a pedicure.  I am hoping to start to see an improvement within a week.  Not that I will get them painted in a week.  I have a few weeks before my next pedicure and I will see how they are then......if they still don't look normal, I will give it another 4 weeks and hopefully then they will be good to go.  Note to self.....do not go 4 years without letting my toenails breath.....

I am now sleeping in a reclining position for the first time in 3 weeks.....it feels so good!!!!

My eyes have stopped tearing.....so maybe just maybe I can start to wear make up again tomorrow.....WOO HOO!!!

I am still having some coughing fits but am planning to return to the gym next Saturday.  I so need those endorphins!!!!

I did not stay at work later than 7:00 any night last week!!! This week I am shooting for 6:00-6:30....hey the whole point of me going in early in the morning was to get out early.......by the next week I would like to get out at least 2 nights a week at 5:00 so I can hit the gym during the week too.

Writing my blog on Sunday!!! Another plus.....

I started playing with my hair and kind of figured out the way to have it lay right in the front but still have some height.....another good thing.

I am playing around in my head with a story......not sure if I could make it novel length but at least I am starting to think about it.  Also searching for some writing opportunities......

I bought an electric griddle for myself....it was $39.99 on sale for $19.99 and had a $10 rebate......just had a grilled cheese sandwich,.....made it with low calorie bread used brummel and brown instead of butter and just 2 thin slices of cheese....it was yummy.  Oh and that bean soup I made a few weeks ago....took some from the freezer the other night and had it for dinner....it was amazing!!!!

All this being said.......my blahs seem to be fading.....thank goodness!!!

Tomorrow I start my day with a 7:45A.M. mammogram.....LOL.....what a way to start the day and the week....but a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do......

I am also going to try.....yes try.....to complain less......this is hard but I think I need to give it an effort.......no one wants to be around a "Debbie Downer"  right.......

Oh and did I mention that I finally realized that I do not have to stay up until 11:00 or later each night??? Yes, I can go to bed earlier and the world is not going to stop turning.......why the heck did I think I must stay up until 11:00 or later......I have a DVR so I am not going to miss my favorite shows....right??

I also took time to get caught up on the magazines that have been piling up on the end table.......there was an article in Good Housekeeping about having a "journal of gratitude".....Hey, I have been keeping one for about 5 years now......some days it is so hard to come up with those 5 good things about the day.....

Today's 5 good things......hhhhhmmmm....
1.  Great grilled cheese for lunch.
2.  Reading the Sunday paper on Sunday.
3.  Blog entry for the week done.
4.  Recorded 2 parts to a good series about US Presidents.
5.  Starting to feel like me again!!!!!

Sorry for being such a drag.........hope I won't go there again for a long long time.......

The Blahs.....

I haven't written in two weeks.  That's a long time for me.  I mean I have skipped weeks before because I was busy and had a lot going on.  This time it has been a big case of the blahs......

The holidays are over, the one year anniversary of Mom's passing, a nasty head and chest cold or something like that for two weeks, oh and because of the teary eyes from sneezing and coughing I have not worn make-up in two weeks even to work......those of you who know me well know this is a major event.....me going to work sans make-up unheard of....  not stepping foot in the gym for over two weeks because of the chest cold, going to work early and staying late, I went to get a pedicure and since I have gotten pedicures every month for the last few years my big toe nails are dry and they need to breath so I had to go without polish......you don't understand....there is so little I like about myself physically.....at least my polished toes made me happy now I don't even have that....ugh...working on the week-ends and on and on.......blah, blah, blah.

Like Cher said in Moonstruck......SNAP OUT OF IT!!!!

The chest/head cold will fade and I will be able to get back to the gym.  I am trying to get out of the office somewhat earlier.  I have gone through one year of each occasion without Mom.  And the holidays......well they will be back again before we know it and there is a lot of fun to be had before then.

I think it just has been everything coming to a head and I was bound to crash. 

I am hoping to be back at the gym soon.  And I can get those endorphins making me feel good!!!!

I have been true to my New Years resolutions.....eating healthy (protein drink and oatmeal for breakfast), trying not to let my job be my life (OK a work in progress) and now need to get the gym part going. 

Time to look for new adventures, spend time with friends, take a nap on the week-ends and kick my self in the ass to get moving.

OK that was my little pep talk to me.....let's hope I listen.....