It's Hell Getting Old

Thank you all for the warm welcome back!  As always I'm overwhelmed by how fabulous this community is!

I went for my walk last night.  3 miles in about 54 minutes.  Not bad...except for one nagging problem. I felt a little tug on the back of my knee as I started my walk last night.  I stretched a bit and figured it was just from lack of any activity in the last several months so I figured the more I walked, the more it'd stretch and it'd get better.  It was pretty sore by the time I finished my walk last night.  This morning...TERRIBLE!  I can barely put weight on it!  I have no idea what I did to it.  All I did was WALK!  So I'm nursing the knee today.  Can't find my brace (I know I have one somewhere) so I'll be running to the pharmacy to get one once traffic dies down.  I'm tellin' ya...it's hell getting old.

Otherwise it's just another day in paradise.  My next door neighbor was taken to the hospital Monday with chest pains and she's still there with no idea what's wrong with her.  She's only 34!  So scary!  So we'll be taking dinner for her family tonight.  We've become pretty tight since we moved in.

Random note...May is Brain Cancer Awareness Month.  Some of you may have noticed I changed my profile pic on facebook to reflect.  I'll probably keep it up for the month.  You may recall that my brother in law was diagnosed with terminal brain cancer in December 2010.  He was given between 6-12 months to live.  That was 2 1/2 years ago and he's still doing great!  His MRI's are stable and he's still working.  He goes into chemo every other week and other than feeling more tired, he's holding up OK.  You can see his most recent speech for MUSC brain cancer center on youtube - he's about 5 minutes in.  Link is here.

Hope y'all are having a wonderful Wednesday and I'll resurrect our Hump Day Happy Thought:

"You will never be happy if you continue to search for what happiness consists of. You will never live if you are looking for the meaning of life."

Albert Camus

I'm Alive...Barely

Wow...

OK...So I've sat down to write this post a number of times the past couple months.  Of course, the more time that goes by, the easier it is to let it go.  I had been thinking of resurrecting this blog the last few days and as if they could tell, a few very sweet bloggers reached out to see how I was.  Special thanks to Jeannette, Dawnya, the favorite AZ bloggers and my Texas sweetheart Ronnie.  So how and where have I been?

I am not as far off the wagon as you may think.  I am hovering right around 167 but I feel squishier.   The food is not good and exercise is nonexistent.  Yes, I have a plan which I'll get to later.  Right now we're just catching up.

So I moved to FL and how is it?  Fabulous!  The family loves Florida.  We've gone to the beach often and my kids can't get enough of it.  Our street has lots of kids and we're close enough to walk to school.  Right now we're just renting but I love this house and wish the owners would be willing to sell it to me.  Our house has become THE hang out house.  We often sit in our front driveway and neighbors will wander over with their own chairs and we'll have a few drinks and hang out.  We even had a cookout with our next door neighbor over the weekend.  Hard to believe that ME...the introvert...has created the neighborhood hub.  Weird, right?

Work is work.  I have the same job working for the same skinny bitch.  It's easier dealing with her from 2000 miles away.  Working from home is definitely different.  For someone who doesn't like people, I miss the interaction with my coworkers.  I was in Phoenix briefly a couple weeks ago (Sorry AZ Bloggers - didn't have a free minute!) and it was nice to be able to see everyone at work again and this way I know they don't forget about me out here.  I've been traveling a bit for work...New Jersey in February and Omaha last week.  I might have one trip out to Cali before the summer but then I should be home for awhile.  Hubby, the girls and I are planning a trip to Phoenix at the end of July to visit my parents so that'll be fun.

Alrighty...well, that's my life folks.  Not very exciting I'm afraid.

Why am I blogging?  I want to start over so to speak.  3 years ago, this all started with a very simple plan.  Get the portions under control and walk.  I was training for the 3 Day and all I did was walk and a little weight training.  True enough...I walked for MILES.  But you know what?  I find myself missing that walking.  I find myself missing having HOURS to just BE.  So I'm going back to my roots a bit.  The other thing I did?  I blogged.  Religiously.  And yes, it's easy to blog when it's new and you're obsessive.  Well...enough time has passed that it's new again.  I was successful when I was checking in.

Last night I decided to take a walk after the kids went to bed.  I had decided in the morning that I was going to start going for a walk every day.  Of course, it was pouring rain and thundering and lightning after the kids went to bed.  Not another excuse.  I grabbed my umbrella and out the door I went.  3.2 miles later, I was home.  Soaked but feeling so good that I had done it!  So that's the plan, my friends.  Eat as best I can but not obsess and walk.  And maybe throw in a few kettle bells once in awhile.

I hope all of you are doing well.  I am also going back to reading blogs because I know how much that support can mean and I apologize to anyone who has needed that support and hasn't gotten it from me.  I haven't been in a great place and I needed some selfish time.  I have no prayer of "catching up" so I'll start reading today and maybe see y'all around...if anyone is still checking in here.

Happy Tuesday!

Good Intentions

The road to hell is paved with...

You got it.

So I started off the morning with perfect intentions.  I got dressed in my running stuff, walked the girls to school and hopped on the treadmill.  I was feeling pretty good.  My legs were burning but breathing was holding pretty steady. **Side Note:  I'm sure I'm not the only one who does this but I cover the distance and time while I'm running so that I don't stare at it wishing it were over.  When I stop to walk, I look to make sure that I'm not walking for more than 60 seconds at a time...***  So I'm going at it for a little while and the phone rings.  I mute the iphone and listen and it's work.  Damn.

So I get off the treadmill, answer the phone and take care of business.  Well, by the time I was done, the treadmill had reset so I had no idea how long I had run or how far!  Ugh!!!  I got back on and ran for another 15 minutes.  (I'm aiming for 30 minutes of actually running...not quite back there yet).  I have no idea if that was enough but I was DUN by then.  The mid-run call just totally threw me off.  However, I felt REALLY good that I got back on.

I did weigh in yesterday as promised.  No change.

Weight Last Week:  164.5
Weight This Week: 164.5
Change: 0

I know I'm holding on to some water with returning to wogging so I'm not surprised by this and I pigged out Sunday so all's well.  :)

No big plans for the weekend.  My mom is coming out for a visit on 2/17 so must get my house in order for that.  We may also do a little car shopping if Hubby's up for it.

I leave you with a Friday Funny: