Wednesday, December 23, 2009

MY TREADMILL IS AWESOME!!!

I goofed around with it last night, but this morning is the first time I did a full session. Woo-hoo! I kind of took it easy, just 30 minutes, but I varied the speed and incline and got my heart rate up. Worked up a sweat. Tra-la-la!

It has built-in fans, which aren't very effective, but they're kind of nice. I'll move a bigger fan in there. It has a place to plug in an iPod and it has speakers. They're kind of wimpy, but I didn't get this thing for its sound system. It has lots of nooks and crannies to keep stuff in, like a water bottle (it came with a water bottle!) and some small weights and whatever else you might want to have handy while you're walking. Man, I love this thing!

After I walked I lifted weights and did some Pilates. Right now we're also using that room for gift wrapping, but soon I'll get that stuff out of there and make it a gym. Hoo boy, I feel good.

This is going to be good for me in so many ways. Paige likes it too.

Saturday, December 19, 2009

Painting

The treadmill is going to be here on Monday morning. I need to get that room ready. This afternoon I started painting. I'm not going to do anything fussy like I did in my room. I'm painting the closet and trim a creamy white and the walls orange. Yep. Orange. Well, maybe more like tangerine. I had bought that paint to use in the front bathroom but I changed my mind when I bought the new vanity and mirror at Ikea. I didn't really like the idea of a whole can of paint going to waste so I figured I'd use it in a room that I didn't care about so much. I toned down the color a bit and tried a swatch. I like it.

I'll make some nice shades for the windows (I'm thinking something like a print in citrus colors) and add some black accents. I wasn't all that enthused when I started this project but now I'm kind of digging it. I'll have a nice, pleasant, sunny exercise room. This will be a very good thing.

My stress level has been sky high. I've had a series of things go wrong (car stuff, money, more car stuff, buying insurance, Christmas, car, grief, the health care bill, money). They all just clumped together in a big, nasty Katamari ball. The other night when I was at the grocery store I discovered I had lost my teller card. That was the capper. I came home and asked Paige if she could go back to the store and pay for the groceries and bring it all home. Thank you, Paige. That day I had had as much as I could take.

This is why I need an exercise room.

I've noticed that my, um, emotional pain hits me in a different place now. It used to grip my throat at the base of my neck. Now I feel it in the center of my face and at the top of my throat. Kind of weird. I don't know what it means.

Last night Tracey and I went to the Huntington Beach uke jam Christmas party. It was pretty cool. The food was so good! They had too many people, not enough seats and no tables. The place was pretty packed. Next year we'll take a couple of tray tables. It's a drag trying to eat holding your plate in your lap. After dinner they had a show. It was mostly people from the group, but there were a few guests. There was this family group that was really good. We're talkin' some pretty young kids and they all sang really well. There was a wide variety of performers. I sang I'm Gonna Lasso Santa Clause by Brenda Lee.

After the party Tracey and I came back to Riverside and went to the Citrus City Grill for our usual after-ukeing drinks. The weather was almost balmy so we could sit outside quite comfortably. She had brought along this fun word game that's kind of like Scrabble. Um, Bananagrams, I think. We had a lovely time talking, playing the game, listening to some jolly drunks at the next table and getting a little buzzed ourselves. It was a fun night, which I badly needed.

I guess the paint is dry enough for me to do the next coat.

Monday, December 07, 2009

Real rain

Finally. It's really coming down out there. Everything's getting good and soaked.

I'm being lazy today. But I swear, any minute I'm going to jump up and do something productive. All those rainy day projects I've been saving up are calling to me. Gotta re-install those cupboard doors. I need to prep Lindsay's room for paint. Those will be good for a start. I can work on the cupboards while watching Mad Men re-runs.

But a nap sounds like a good idea too!