A laugh a day…

…yep, when you practically live in a zoo life is never dull.  I was talking on the phone last night when Spook decided she didn’t want Scout sitting on the couch behind my head…there they go…screeching, clawing, running through the house!  To listen to them, you’d think there would be at least a little bloodshed, but no, just a lot of noise and fur flying.

I woke up this morning with my knee throbbing so I decided to soak in a hot tub full of water before getting ready for work.  It helped loosen things up a little, so that’s a good thing, right?  Well, as I was drying myself off the water was draining from the tub.  All of a sudden I heard a splash quickly followed by a second splash.  Before I could turn around to see what had happened, the kitten jumped out of the tub and stood there looking at her feet. It was like she couldn’t figure out where all of that water had come from.  Then, as all cats do, she had to shake each paw to try to get the water off.  By the time she was done, the bathroom floor was soaked and I was laughing like crazy.

It’s a pretty good morning when you can get in a good belly laugh before you head out to work!  Crazy little cats!

ahh…relaxation after an unexpected bath!

Just in time for NaNo

Store managers ensure that visual merchandising is consistent with customers’ expectations of the brand. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

NaNoWriMo starts in less than a week…how exciting is that?!  I’m ready to go.  And I’ve had some interesting, exciting news about my job too…starting Sunday I’ll be the acting store manager at our store while my boss takes over at another store.  I’m looking forward to this.  I consider it to be another step on the right career path for me.

I told my boss today that I’m feeling happy and excited about work again.  (Is that the correct thing to tell your boss?  Is that like saying, “Hey, I haven’t been all that thrilled with my job lately, but now I’m feeling super excited!”?)  Anyhow, it’s a great opportunity…and I’m pretty sure he understood what I was saying.

I knew November would be a rough month to write 50,000 words…I just didn’t know that I would be tackling increased work hours and work load at the same time.  But hey, I think I heard somewhere, that if you want something done, find a busy person to do it for you…that’ll be me next month…more than ever.

It’s been a while since I’ve felt this good about how things are going in my work and writing lives…I’m going to enjoy every minute of it~And the picture I chose to post here really has nothing to do with anything in my life…I just thought it looked like a store I’d like to shop in…what about you?

Oh…and…has anyone heard about the Black Friday deals???  Get ready to shop your socks off!

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The long and winding road to fitness, day 124

I hate to be a downer, but I’m afraid that’s what I’m going to be tonight.  I had the weekend off work and didn’t really accomplish a lot.  I had lots of things planned, but only managed to get a few of them done.  I’ve got to snap out of this funk I’ve been in lately.  Okay, I know what I need to do is simply do the things I know I need to do…no matter whether or not I want to do them, whether or not I feel like doing them, whether or not I’m in the mood to do them.  It’s like exercise, you may not be in the mood to do it, but if you just start you’ll usually find yourself feeling better and better as you go along (not always, believe me, I know that). 

I didn’t bake the kale chips I intended to bake today.  I did kind of clean the kitchen though.  And I have my lunch and snacks prepared for tomorrow.  Unfortunately tomorrow starts super early…5 am again, blah!  So I really need to try to get to bad early tonight…try being the operative word…it’s not easy to go to sleep on demand, well, unless you’re a teenager, then you can usually sleep for 16 out of 24 hours every day.  Ahh…those were the days and we were too young to realize it!

And Halloween is coming…do you buy the candy early?  Aren’t you afraid you’ll eat it and then just have to go out and buy more?  Or do you buy candy that you don’t really like?  Hmm…now there’s a thought…oh…now if only I could come across a candy I didn’t like…

Image via Wikipedia

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The long and winding road to fitness, day 118

Image by cjzurcher via Flickr

Ay yi yi..what an exhausting day.  Well, maybe the day wouldn’t have been so exhausting had it not started with me already tired from lack of sleep.  I ended up with just a little over two hours of sleep last night.  Finally dozed off just a little while before the alarm went off.  Had to be at work at 5 this morning.  Big truck at 6!  We had a good crew working today though and managed to get a lot done.

Eating?  Oh, it was just okay today.  I ate too much of the wrong foods and not enough of the healthy foods.  I did read a suggestion about adding pumpkin puree to chili that I think I’m going to try tomorrow.  I can get another serving or so of veggies that way…and supposedly you can’t really taste it.  I’ll let you know how that turns out.

My only exercise for the day was what I got in at work.  It took us an hour and a half to unload the truck, so that involved a lot of walking and lifting.  And then just a lot of walking for the rest of the day.  I couldn’t force myself to do anything extra when I got home this evening.  All I wanted to do was go to bed…haven’t done that yet…got to get in my Monday night dose of Dancing With The Stars!

I have tomorrow off work…woohoo!!  I have some errands I need to do in the morning then I want to get a little housework done and cook a batch of chili (you know, with the pumpkin puree).  It’ll just be nice to be able to wake up without that alarm blaring in my ear.

So, was this a manic Monday for you?

 

 

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The long and winding road to fitness, day 109

Image via Wikipedia

Ahh…the work day is done, the weekend has begun!!  As you probably guessed, I have the weekend off and I’m pretty excited about it!  Don’t really have a lot of plans, but I don’t intend to go in to work and that’s good enough for me!

I worked all day today, but didn’t feel all that good.  At one point during the day, I thought about just going home, but I stuck it out and managed to get quite a bit of necessary work done.  I had a lot of really nice customers in the store today, cute  happy babies, people trying on little Halloween accessories and taking their pictures (who would have thought, 20 years ago, that you’d be able to take pictures with a phone?  Technology is an awesome thing), people just generally feeling good and being cheerful…that’s what I like, makes my day much better~~

I had Cheerios and a banana for breakfast again today.  (Have you noticed that I kind of get stuck eating the same thing for several days in a row?) Lunch was a Lean Cuisine that I won’t be buying again…some kind of chicken, veggies and noodles in peanut sauce…not very good…ended up throwing most of it away.  I drank my V8 fusion with my lunch, so got a serving of veggies and one of fruit there.   I did eat this cute Little Debbie pumpkin snack thing…not bad.  I also had yogurt with cherries and granola for a snack this afternoon, that was pretty darn good!!  Dinner was some bread sticks (that I made) and some lite Ranch dressing…not bad, probably should have had some soup with the breadsticks…think that’s what I’ll be cooking this weekend…maybe minestrone, with kale?!  Hmm…farmers market, here I come.

Exercise was strength training and range of motion exercises and some stretching.  Walked for only 20 minutes, I still was feeling the effects from yesterday’s truck.  I think I’ll do some walking tomorrow and maybe get some good pictures.  I noticed how pretty the leaves were tonight when I was coming home from work.  I just love fall.  And right now we don’t have to have the heat or air conditioning on…pleasant…and frugal!!

I saw an old school friend in the store today…that’s one of the things that’s pretty cool about my job…I manage to see people who I may not have seen for a long time, get to chat a bit and catch up on what’s happening in their lives.  I really should go to my next class reunion.  Can you believe I’ve never gone to one?  What’s up with that?  I just never really had the desire to go, but now I’m thinking I wouldn’t mind it…we’ll see…

What about you?  Have you attended a class reunion?  How was it?

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The long and winding road to fitness, day 100

Okay, to be honest, this may be day 101, but I didn’t want to miss the celebration of 100 days of working toward leading a healthier life.  I feel somewhat proud that I’ve done this for 100 days in a row, even if some of those days didn’t go as I’d planned…but then life often doesn’t go as we plan it, does it?  But to stick with it and at least make the effort is pretty cool.

I also just realized that this is my 300th post on the run4joy blog…wow!  This is so much fun, I’ve met so many wonderful people through this blog, and I’ve been able to reconnect with old friends (hey, Kim…wish I’d had more time to talk with you today when you stopped by the store…you look marvelous, girl).  I’m able to do something that I feel passionate about and (hopefully) improve my craft just a bit.

Another reason to celebrate today…our corporate visits are now over for the remainder of the year (unless that much feared auditor would happen to stop in for a surprise visit).  We had the head of HR in our store today…what a nice guy…seriously.  Totally different feeling with this visit than with the visit we had last week.  Oh yeah, and I almost forgot, we got an A!!!  High fives all around!!  The store really looks fab!  Now to just keep it that way!  I stopped at Kroger and bought some yummy looking brownies for Sean (the HR guy)…and no, I didn’t bribe him with them, I gave them to him as he was getting ready to leave!  Oh, did I mention, we got an A for the visit?  I did?  Well, I’m just trying to get it to sink in.  I’m just so darn proud of how hard everyone worked for this!!

So let me leave you today with a picture of something I noticed outside my kitchen window this evening…

The  rainbow after the storm…kind of speaks to life, doesn’t it?

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The long and winding road to fitness, day 99

Image via Wikipedia

ooh…big milestone coming up.  Just wish I could report that I was eating perfectly and getting lots of exercise.  It’s just not happening and I don’t know why.  I want it, I want to feel better, stronger, healthier, but I’m not working all that hard for it.  Not working anywhere near as hard as I know I need to be.  I need to decide on a plan of action and then go for it.

I guess you can see that I’m feeling just a tad discouraged with myself and my actions.  Last night I said I had my meals and snacks planned and that I needed to go into the kitchen and prepare them.  Surprise!  I didn’t do it.  Then, when I was getting ready this morning, I looked at the clock and realized I needed to leave in less than five minutes and hadn’t put my shoes on, gathered the trash, got my jacket and umbrella out.  So…I didn’t take all that healthy stuff to work that I’d intended to take.  And ended up eating lunch out as well as a blasted Snickers bar (ha, Diane…see, I’m not trying to hide anything here).  I finished the day with 2,125 calories and not a lot of exercise.  I walked twice for 10 minutes at a time, did upper body strength training and stretching before work, and a bunch of running around and heavy lifting at work.  So not terrible, but not what I need to do to get this weight off.

We’ve got another corporate visitor coming this week (I know, really?).  This guy came last year for the fall tour and was such a nice guy, very pleasant to talk with, would listen when we voiced concerns (actually took notes!), and wanted to meet everyone.  We still have some fluffing to do to get ready for the visit, but I expect this one to be much more enjoyable than last week’s.  And then I am going to do my best to make sure that Chris takes at least the weekend off (can I also get him to take Monday off?  I’m sure going to try.  This guy needs some time off.  Hello, Chris?  Do you hear me?   Dude, sleep for an entire day.).

Do you sometimes find your actions to not be in line with your desires?  How do you deal with that?

 

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The long and winding road to fitness, day 91

Image by Jon Person via Flickr

I really, truly had fleeting thoughts about not posting tonight.  I am so exhausted, worked 12 hours and we were busy, busy, busy…so busy, in fact, that we’re going in at 4 am tomorrow…ugh!  I bet anyone who never worked in retail is surprised to find out how many hours we work and how early we go in.  There’s just always so much to do.  But I’m here writing a little before I go upstairs to soak in a hot tub and then go to bed, hopefully to sleep.

I finished the day with almost 1600 calories and the only exercise of the day was what I got in at work.  I don’t really know what else I can do on days like today, days when I’m already tired and hurting when I wake up in the morning and I know that it won’t get any easier over the course of the day.  So I guess I’ll just have to let it be, do what I can do on the days I can do it and not stress about it the rest of the time.  I need to make it through the next three months and then I can get a little rest, maybe take a little time off, and spend that time improving my fitness level so that I don’t feel like this at this time next year.

So, did you do anything fun today?  Did you have good weather?  Do any shopping?

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The long and winding road to fitness, day 90

Image by craig1black via Flickr

I had the day off work today, well except for the conference call I had to be on this afternoon…but still…to be able to sit in bed and take part in a conference call is not a bad thing.  And it was a very informative call, I heard some useful info, so I’m not complaining.

I did finally manage to get my hair cut and styled today after cancelling two appointments.  My stylist is the best…she totally understands that my schedule is hectic and can change at a moment’s notice.  Before we started, I told her I didn’t care what she did with my hair, that I wanted it to be wash and wear so it would be quick to style in the morning before work.  Fortunately for me, I have thick, curly hair that does well with just some mousse after washing, then some fluffing while it air dries.  She kind of textured it a little more than we usually do, gave my some wispy bangs…it looks so darn cute.  I couldn’t believe how much hair there was on the floor when she was finished.  But I like it, I like it a lot!

Then I had to make a grocery store run to my favorite little neighborhood Kroger store.  I bought bananas, blueberries, apples (okay… to be completely honest, they were caramel apples…three of them…but they’re still apples, right?), grapes (really, there’s nothing easier to take to work than grapes and they make a healthy snack or dessert), carrots,  a few new potatoes, and an acorn squash…I love squash and fall is the perfect time to bake squash…yum!  I also bought Greek yogurt, some low-fat granola to mix with the yogurt and blueberries, some rye bread, some Fuze and diet Pepsi (I admit, I caved on that one…but I just really, really like it)..so anyhow, some really good things to take to work…looking forward to eating a little healthier at work…this will make it a lot easier.

I didn’t do a lot of exercising today, walked for 35 minutes and that’s really it.  I woke up with a headache and my body hurting all over.  Had I not had that hair appointment, I probably would have taken some Advil and gone back to bed.  But I forced myself to get up and get moving, took care of what I needed to get done today and didn’t do much of anything else…well, except for that conference call…and dishes…and laundry….and cat litter cleaning duties…and working on my book…and watching Days of Our Lives (does that count as doing something?).  So okay, not a wasted day.

What did you do today?

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The long and winding road to fitness, day 81

Image via Wikipedia

Wow..this was a long day.  We went in to work at 5 am to try to get some work done before it got too busy.  Oh, did I mention, this was my day off?  But I told my boss I’d come in for a few hours.  I had to cancel my hair appointment that I had scheduled for 10 this morning, but I was able to do some of the things I needed to do this afternoon.  I left work at around 11:30, so it still felt like I had the day off…well, except for that getting up in the middle of the night thing…  I was able to finish what I went in to do though, so one task complete, a million more to go…

I managed to eat pretty well today and walked, biked, did lower body strength training and stretching.  I stopped at the grocery store after I finished everything else and picked up some healthy food…spinach, peaches, sweet potatoes, cottage cheese (I think I’m on a cottage cheese kick right now), skim milk, whole wheat bagel thins, popcorn, turkey chili (with the cooler temps, I thought chili sounded good) and some Crystal Light raspberry green tea on the go things…little individual packets that you mix with water…pretty good.  I thought that would be a good alternative to diet Pepsi or other drinks at work.

I couldn’t believe it, today it only got up to about 64 degrees after nearly 100 on Saturday…crazy!  One thing about colder weather, I like making soup.  I make a pretty good vegetable soup in the crock pot…oh, and a minestrone that is delish.  Something to think about in the next few days.

Do you change how you eat when fall arrives?

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