Chasing Daylight & finding happiness

I'm reading a really good book, Chasing Daylight by Gene O'Kelly. Because of this book, I had one of the best days I've had in a very long time. The author, a CEO of a major global company, tells the true story of the last three months of his life. He had inoperable brain cancer. When he's diagnosed, he's told by two top neurologist that he has three months to live. I know this sounds terribly depressing, but it's not. It's one of the most uplifting and moving books I've ever read. It's about how to live your life. It's really making me stop and reassess my life.

I took the day off from work and decided I wouldn't feel guilty about it. I had a hectic weekend getting the final paperwork together for my guardianship implementation plan and inventory for my sister. I put the finishing touches on it this morning (it's about 100 copies), had seven copies made at the UPS Store. Had my original notarized and certified mailed to the Alaska Court. Then the four other copies sent to the the four interested parties. I'm so glad that's finished. It was a huge project and has been hanging over my head for two months. It's not due until May 28 so I'm getting it sent in a couple weeks early.

Today I decided to take my sister to have her hair done, color and cut. There's a 40% discount on Monday's at the salon for the month of May on Mondays. Since their services are rather pricey that's a great savings. I also had her brows waxed and tinted. She loves getting her hair done (something I personally hate), so she was very happy on the outing.

Before I left to pick her up, I read a few chapters of Chasing Daylight. It really put the whole sister thing in a different light. Instead of feeling like it was chore to be with my sister, it felt like a gift.I had a whole different attitude about it. We had a really fun time together. After her hair and brows were done, we went for a walk near her home (the assisted adult family home). It was a spectacular day. Sunshine and 75 degrees. We walked (well, she "wheelchaired") for at least 15 blocks, then turned around and went back to her home. There was a perfect breeze and it was a perfect day.

When I came home, I decided I'd do more of the following in my life. These pictures are from this afternoon.

Enjoy the cherry blossoms in our front yard. There have been years (and this one almost one of them) that I barely even noticed this amazing tree.

Enjoy the perennials that come to life without any help from me. The bleeding heart is so beautiful. Again, there have been years when I saw it from the window but never even stepped outside to appreciate it.

Look up at the sky, under the umbrella of our huge maple tree. I love this tree. 

Spend more time with this guy, Mickey (fondly referred to as Mickey Mouse...get it, a cat named after a mouse). This is the coolest cat I've ever met (but I say that about every pet I've ever had). But guy really is special. Comes when he's called, cuddles when I want to cuddle, and loves to wrap his paws around my ankles when I come home, forcing me to pick him up. Who could resist?

Work less. Yes, I mean that sincerely. This was my cubicle about two weeks ago. Someone put up police tape as a joke because I told them to all stay out of my cube! I had work that had to get done and couldn't talk to anyone! Yes, work less is one of my goals.

Eat great food. This was my dinner. And yes, that is a small hamburger in the lower left corner. It's grass fed, 1/3 of a pound of beef, and it did taste delicious. I rarely eat beef, but today I wanted beef, so I had beef (soaked the fat out on a paper towel - but really, didn't worry too much about it). There's avocado on the salad and olive oil and balsamic vinegar for dressing. It was my only meal today and it was wonderful. I didn't intend to only eat one meal today. It just happened. Not a big deal.

Ah, the sun. I love the sun. When it shines here in Western Washington, I want to stop and just appreciate it. We don't get enough of it, and I want to soak it up when it's here.

My bare feet in the cool, moist grass. It felt great!

Read more, and read better quality books. The last three books were stroke books (possible therapies, the details of what happens during a stroke and after, how to prevent a stroke, etc.). They were as depressing as it can get. I need to read books that fill my soul. Chasing Daylight is one of those books.

Eat fresh, perfect, sweet strawberries. These were incredible strawberries. 

There's a whole life to live. It's not a downer to be alive. My sister isn't a downer. In fact, she's an inspiration. To have gone through what she's gone through in the last seven months and still laugh at herself when she does crazy stuff (her world is a little upside down and backwards), well, she's nothing short of amazing.

I think I found my happiness.

Health and happiness - lacking both

I can't remember the last time I posted, but I know I didn't say much. I've been quiet because it seems like all I do is whine and complain about my life.

I've continued to eat poorly and not exercise. The result is continuing weight gain. My last weigh in on Friday was 202 pounds. I feel and look like hell.

Then there are the hives that are occurring more frequently. I had a hive breakout Thursday night, Friday morning and Friday night, Saturday morning and Saturday night. No hives on Sunday. Then this morning was the worst one yet, with big, red welts from my knees up to my breasts, and both arms.

I went to the gym this morning when the hives started and were only a few splotches on my stomach. This whole hive thing started when I started slacking with my workouts and eating a lot of processed foods. My workout was good today, but the hives got worse during my my hour at the gym. By the time I was done with my workout I felt like my entire upper body was on fire, and I was an itchy mess.

The hives also started exactly one week after I was made my sister's permanent guardian on February 28. This means I'm responsible for her for the rest of her life. She's 73 and in spite of having a major stroke, she's in perfect health. Even her blood pressure, without blood pressure medicine, is normal. She'll probably live several more years. I have mixed feelings about this. I love her to pieces, but I know she's not happy, trapped in a body that doesn't work on one side, and unable to communicate through speech or written word. Her life isn't easy.

Strangely, when I take a shower the hives calm down and disappear in about thirty minutes. I thought maybe I was allergic to our laundry detergent. I switched to a no dye, no perfume, made for sensitive skin laundry detergent a few weeks ago. It hasn't made any difference.

The funny thing about not having hives on Sunday is that I spent several hours with my sister. She was having a screaming, crying fit when I arrived because of an incident that happened at the home with another resident at lunch. An old man fell, couldn't get up, and the caregiver had to call the paramedics to help him. He wasn't hurt, and was resting in his room when I arrived.

My sister was furious with the caregiver for not helping the old man when he was on the floor, but he weighs about 220, and is a big guy. He refused to try to help himself and he was wailing his arms, hitting anyone that came near him. Then my poor sister, paralyzed on one side, in a wheelchair, tried to help him, and another resident screamed at her to stop because she could get hurt. My sister was extremely upset about this incident. I arrived about an hour after it happened and my sister wanted to make sure I knew about it. I didn't get the information from my sister because she's impossible to understand, but I got it from another resident that tells me everything that goes on at the home.

The caregiver came in and tried to calm my sister down, but it made it worse. My sister screamed at her, crying the whole time. This was very stressful, yet I didn't break out in hives. I never break out in hives when I'm with my sister.

My sister finally calmed down and let me do her hair and makeup so we could go to the movies. We saw The Avengers in 3D, and it was really good. I think she like it. She always seems to enjoy going on outings. She put her one 3D glasses on and when I looked at her I realized they were on upside down, which was pretty funny.

I still haven't seen my regular doctor about the hives, but I don't know what she can do for me anyway. The doctor I saw six weeks ago prescribed a heartburn medicine, Zantac, because he said it sometimes had the side effect of preventing hives. I've never had heartburn and it certainly didn't help the hive situation. After I gave the doctor a two-minute overview of my life, he was positive the hives were stress induced. He told me I needed to learn how to relax. I wish it was that easy to not worry about stuff and just take each day as it comes. Unfortunately, I haven't figured that out yet.

I thought about taking an anti-anxiety drug, but after I read about the common side effects, there's no way in hell I'm taking that stuff. I'm not much for taking drugs anyway, and these anti-anxiety drugs sound downright scary. I know a few people that take anti-anxiety drugs, two of my nieces and a good friend, and although they seem relaxed about things and rarely get upset or worried, it's changed them in other, undesirable ways. I'm sure someone reading this will tell me they take anti-anxiety meds and they're fine, and I'm sure that's true for a lot of people. I'm just not willing to add another thing to my life the might cause me harm. I've done enough of that already.

So, I need a plan. I need to lose weight, get healthy and hopefully, stop the hive outbreaks. 

1. Cut out ALL processed foods, count calories.

I didn't realize how easily I'd fallen into the processed food trap. SmartOnes, Lean Cuisines, when I'm trying to eat healthy. Then I eat junk when I just don't care what I eat (which is often!).  Portion control? That hasn't even been on my radar.

2. Exercise

I have to workout almost every day. I feel better, I eat better, I work harder at trying to keep my weight under control, and exercise is good for me, mentally and physically. I can't believe how easily I went from a minimum of five days a week to one or maybe two days a week of exercise. That's just insane. It's back to my routine of "exercise isn't optional, it's a requirement".

3. Yoga

I have nine more sessions of yoga left on my prepaid card. I went once and although I really liked it, it made me nauseous. It was that stupid "put your legs in the air and pretend your riding a bicycle. That exercise always make me want to throw up. Next time I'll just skip that one and relax instead.

Well, I guess that's enough words for today. I'm making up for lost time. I'm taking the day off from work. I have some legal stuff to take care of for my sister. It's a gorgeous day and since my weekend was spent either working on paperwork for my sister (12 hours on Saturday, and 4 hours on Sunday) or time with my sister, I need a little me time. Perhaps a yoga class is in my future today.

Things that made me smile today...

I've seen this before, but when I saw it on a grandniece's Facebook today it made me laugh out loud. She's 21, has a four-year old, going through a divorce, works 30 hours a week at a nursing home, and goes to nursing school full time.

After my 13-hour work day today, I can't sleep so I was watching Jay Leno (way past my normal beditme), and he mentioned this video. Very cool and very sweet.



Still hanging in there, trying my best to get through one day at a time. Work is killing me!

Love the sunshine

My two hours of working on my sister's paperwork and trying to organize her business receipts for the tax accountant for her 2011 taxes (just got her 2010 a few weeks ago)  turned in six hours! I hate paperwork!

However, I love our weather and I'm heading outside in a few minutes. I can't decide whether to get my bike down and go for a ride or go to the gym. It would my first bike ride since August 6, 2011, when I broke my scaphoid bone in my wrist and wore a cast for three months. I'm a little apprehensive about getting on a bike.

I'll let you know tomorrow if it's the gym or the bike ride. Tomorrow is definitely a picnic down by the water with my sister. I finally got the disabled parking placard last week so we should be able to find parking (I hope!).

I'm on track with the calories today and wearing my BodyMedia. It said I only slept four hours last night. That explains why I woke up exhausted this morning. Not sure how I'm ever going to fix my sleep issues.

I can't wait to go outside!

Worth the fight

I'm starting to get back in the groove, but I forgot how much time it takes to track my food. Oh my gosh! Weighing and measuring, writing stuff on pieces of paper then putting it into the computer at night. How did I do this for most of four years?

Actually, I know the answer to that last question. I wasn't the legal guardian for my sister that had a debilitating stroke six months ago. She left behind a very complicated, messy financial situation that I'm still trying to sort through and take care of things. The dust will settle eventually, but I can't wait for that day. It's that old story, if I don't take care of myself, how can I make sure she's taken care of?

Tracking my food isn't really that terrible or difficult. I use the BodyMedia software, which I highly recommend. They've even enhanced it since I used it several months ago. You can customize the table by selecting ten nutrients to dispaly from a list of 26. I love this feature.

Below is my food for today. It's certainly far from perfect, but it's an improvement over the past weeks and months. There's too much processed food, and wine for 211 calories? What was I thinking?! When I was eating the food, I thought I was being healthy. I had no idea that some of what I was eating was a really poor choice. The total calories aren't too bad, 1541, but I really need to watch the fat and sodium (processed food).

I didn't wake up early enough for the gym this morning. I only had 45 minutes to spare before I had to get ready for work. That's not enough time to get to the gym and complete a decent workout. Instead, even though it was pouring down rain, I convinced my husband to go for a walk with me. He's not a very fast walker so it wasn't my normal heart-pumping workout, but it was kind of fun. We were both drenched by the time we got home.

As I was getting ready for work I broke out in hives and my upper lip, left side, started to swell up. This is the sixth time this has happened in the past two months (sometimes it's the left side for the lip and hives, sometimes the right side). This time it didn't last long and was mostly gone by the time I got to work. It seems like each time it's less severe than the last time. Still, it's very disturbing. I feel like my body is attacking me.

On that note, I should mention the life coach/therapist I was seeing. I quit after three sessions. As much as everyone thinks I need some sort of therapy, it's just not for me. Even though I was an acquaintance with this person and really like her, I didn't feel like it was helping me. The first session I was excited and it was fun, the second session, not so much, the third session I walked out knowing I'd never go back.

I know this is going to get easier. I've been here before. Several times I've lost and gained weight. This time just seems harder than all the other times before, and I don't know why. What I do know is that it's not optional. This weight is killing me, and I'm worth the fight.

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An afterthought:  I just remembered my phone has the BodyMedia app on it. I conveniently forgot. That should make tracking my food a lot easier!

Obese...

199.6

I know how it happened. I just can't believe that I let it happen. This is 100% on me. I did this to myself. There aren't any excuses for gaining almost 30 pounds in the past five months. I was 172 the beginning of November 2011, now I'm almost 200 pounds.

I'm trying to claw my way out of this mess. It's really difficult. Everything is harder at this weight. I can't cross my legs. My clothes are all too small. I don't recognize myself in the mirror. Exercise is excruciatingly painful. The StairMaster, which was my favorite cardio machine is now a machine of torture. My knees hurt, my feet hurt, and most of all, my heart hurts. I've asked myself over and over, why?

The absolute worse part of this that on top of all the other things I have to worry about in my life, I added being fat to the list.

I'm working on it. Two days in a row at the gym, and I tracked my calories today (too high at 2,205). Maybe tomorrow will be a better day.

What happened to day 3, 4, 5 and 6?

My daily posting and getting back on track my exercise and dieting just went all to hell this week.

Sunday was a day with my sister, Joyce, which sucks the life right out of me. I love her, I love taking her places and doing things with her, but it's hard to be with her for a long period of time. I'm getting better with the wheelchair transfers, her odd responses to things and her constant post-stroke nonsensical chatter. I don't want to discourage her talking because sometimes I hear a word that's familiar. So I do a lot of nodding and pretending I understand when really I don't have a clue what she's talking about. It's still hard for me, and I know it's hard for her.

Then in Monday work hit me like a ton of bricks between the eyes. I still have to take a week of on-call every ten weeks. It's highly stressful. Getting called at odd hours to be told systems are down and there are flight delays and fees can't be charged to our customers is stressful.Tuesday turned out to be free checked bags day for several of our customers in several cities. It wasn't our software, but a vendor product we put into Prod that failed. Several other systems experienced slowdowns as well, unrelated to each other and it was just an all around bad Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday at work. At one point I had 34 tickets assigned to me. Very unusual.

Both Monday and Tuesday mornings at 6am I was ready for the gym, grabbing my purse to head out, and the on-call phone rang. That was the end of any thoughts of the gym as I started troubleshooting and making phone calls.

My eating has been out of control too. I'm not eating candy or anything unhealthy. Just too much food. Way too much food. I often work through lunch without even a break and suddenly realize it's 5pm and I haven't eaten all day, except for a small breakfast. I know this is wrong and very unhealthy. This has been going on for weeks because all co-workers on my project do the same thing. They don't even leave their desk during lunch. Since we're all sequestered in a room to hurry up and finish the project we're on, it's very heads down coding.  Very little talk, and no breaks. Sort of reminds me of prison. I can't wait until this project is over and I can move back into my little cubicle and eat carrots without people listening to my crunching.

Today I promised myself: 1.) take a lunch 2.) get up and stretch for 5 minutes every hours 3.) only work 8 hours and 4.) the gym. (which is where I'm going right now!).

Tomorrow is day 7, and I promise I'll have a better attitude and post. 

I'm off the on-call rotation today, and I'm dressed for the gym, ready to go.No excuses.

Today will be a better day.