Attempting to get into shape

I'm a curvy girl, always have been. The best shape I was in was my senior year of high school through my freshman year of college. My first job was at a clock and rug store at the outlet mall. Between lifting and hanging rugs, climbing ladders, drinking a ton if water and living off popcorn and crackers, I shed a lot of weight. So much weight that my boss asked me if I glad an eating disorder. I maintained my loss through my freshman year of college because I was so shy I refused to eat or even go to the cafeteria alone. 

When I met my ex I got seriously comfortable and put on the pounds. I've pretty much continued on this no exercise struggle since then. When I worked at the hospital I walked all day so I didn't want to come home and walk more. I would occasionally take the dog for a walk up the road, but we had a large enough yard he could get plenty of excercise with out a walk. 

Then I started school again and was way to busy studying to do anything else. Plus we had plenty of yard still for Luna to play in when we got her. When I graduated I was so damn depressed with our living situation and not being able to land an assistantship or internship that the best I did was hike once a week and volunteer with the raptor center once a week. 

Now I have no excuse. Sure I have a ton of stuff to work on, but I only have two classes two days a week. When I got back from field season I started strong, walking Luna every day, drinking more water and less tea. First I twisted my ankle, then I hurt my back and I started on my downward spiral again. I wasn't walking as much and tea was my best friend again. 

One of my lab mates is a trail runner. That sounds fun, I thought to myself. I like trails. I have NEVER been a runner. EVER. Even at my best I only jogged. So I downloaded the couch to 5k (c25k) app. I have heard wonderful things about the program and wanted to give it a whirl for myself. Basically what it does is slowly acclimate your body to running. You only do 3 days a week for 30 min each day. The first week is 5 min warm up, 60 seconds of jogging, 90 seconds of walking for 20 min, then a 5 min cool down. 

The first day I tried on trail. I followed all but two of the prompts and was exhausted afterwards. The next time I decided I needed to ease into trails so I hit the pavement. My knees thanked me! Pavement offers less resistance so my calves didn't cramp up near as much. When it came to do day 3 I had so much school work (midterms) that I missed a week. 

I started back on day 1 (it's also ok to repeat weeks which I like) the other day and it wasn't near as bad as I thought it would be. My legs didn't cramp at all! So today I decided to go back on trail. Of course my second prompt to jog was mid hill (ugh) and the trail had a lot of hills, sand, and leaves (fall-duh) so there was much more resistance. My distance was only maybe 0.07 miles shorter than on pavement and I walked further after my cool down time. My legs cramped horribly and I thought about just walking the rest of the way after the third jog prompt. But I continued to do the prompts. I found that I was looking at my phone less and less to see how much longer my jog was and I would be surprised when it would prompt for walk because it didn't feel like I had been jogging for the full minute! 

I have decided to keep easing into trails so I'll only do c25k on trails on Fridays when I usually take a personal/errand day anyway. Saturday, Sunday, Monday and Wednesdays I'll either hike or do c25k on pavement. That way I'll have a "rest" day in between c25k but I'm still getting excercise and fresh air. 

As I get further into graduate school the more I realize how much a few hours of personal outside time is needed. It's good to get involved with your work, but not to let it consume you. Sometimes you need time to reflect on what you're doing and why. Zen moment! 

I hope you all have a great weekend, a happy Halloween, and until next time blessed be. 

My first aster bloomed after almost 2 months!!

Happy late birthday to me!

Buddy's been sick so I made us some hot spiked apple cider. It was yum. 

Back porch view while cooling off from c25k this morning. 

The Serenity saga continues...(and it's her birth month!!)

So, if you've kept up with the Serenity saga (starting here and updated here and here) we've had to keep track of here urinating on the floor, AGAIN. For about two weeks she was doing it every day if not twice a day. I can't stand even smelling a litter box, so this was driving me insane. I kept trying to catch her in the act just to make sure she wasn't hanging her ass out of the litter box or to see if she was straining. The first would be a behavioral issue and the second would be a medical one. But, every time I would stick my head in the bathroom to see what she was doing she would run out of the room.

Cats are both the simplest and most difficult companion animals ever. Simplest because if you give them food, water, and a litter box they are good to go. Hell, if you go one step further and give them a box with some cat nip, they are in heaven and may only bug you for some lap time snuggles or warn you that their food is low. Most difficult because they will NOT tell you when something is wrong with the exception of their food bowl being low. The only outward signs they show are weight loss or those that can be explained away as behavioral issues.

So, I called the vet again. I told them the meds worked wonderfully and she only had a few accidents after the meds were done, yet she was now urinating outside the box again. We were given 5 days of medications that only had to be squirted on the gums, which is wonderful for a cat who clenches everything up when you've got her held down in a head lock. All throughout the medication she peed on the floor! I was beyond exasperated! You can't punish them. It either makes them associate with the litter box negatively or just pisses them off.

Finally, on the last day of the medications, I did another total clean of the bathroom. Sunday is usually my cleaning day, but I went all out on the bathroom. I even emptied the litter box and sanitized it even though it had not been that long ago since I had previously did it. Instead of cleaning the floors with the usual floor cleaner I got the strongest "clean" smell I could find...Pine Sol. I HAND MOPPED the floor TWICE. When I put her litter box back I turned it catty-cornered so that the entrance was facing the entrance of the bathroom. I thought maybe if it's set up so that its easier to get in she'll do better.

I also grabbed a bag of catnip while at the store. Georgie was always the one that loved catnip while Serenity just sniffed at it and stayed out of Georgie's way. But she ate it up....literally. It's funny how cats change when they are by themselves.

YA'LL! I don't know which step actually did it, but it worked!! We went from every day while on medication to no days while not on medication! I am over joyed! It's crazy how finicky cats are. But I love them.

This month also celebrates her 7th birthday! She is officially a "mature" cat. I can't remember exactly when we got Serenity and Georgie, but I know its when the nights started to get cold enough for me to wear a coat outside, so I just sum it up to be late October or early November.

I hope you all are having as good a week as we are here! Here are some pictures from last time I left you. Have a great week and blessed be!
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Things I didn't learn

Last week I had a button fall off on one I my favorite pairs of jeans. The original button had been replaced by my mother-in-law about a year ago because 1) I didnt have a sewing kit and 2) I had no idea how to do it myself. 

I couldn't just throw these pants away. They are a little too long, but comfy and slimming. Two things every girl looks for in a pair of pants. I also had a few pairs that have torn from my thunder thighs wearing that area thin. 

So I stopped at Hobby Lobby Friday during my usual errand run and picked up some pins and a small sewing kit. I've patched pants before, but had to YouTube a video on how to sew a button. 

I was so excited when I did it on the first try!! Then I got to thinking. Why didn't I learn this when I was growing up? I remember my mother replacing buttons for me and my brother growing up. I even used her sewing kit she left behind when we were living in my childhood home. Then I remembered, she didn't like me using her sewing kit before because I would mess it up and make a mess. 

I know I was a very independent child. If I didn't know how to do something I wanted you to show me and then let me do it myself. I'm still the same way. It's how I learn. 

I also know we were taught some sewing techniques in high school in some antiquated home making class. That has been, oh god, ages ago. 

Maybe it was because I didn't show interest in it or maybe because my parents thought I would burn down/blow up/destroy the house. Or maybe there are some things you just learn as a necessity? I'm not sure. What I am sure of is I will learn and then teach my own children (if/when I should have them). 

Anniversary #6

It seems like so much was different six years ago. 

I was working third shift at East Alabama Medical Center in the lab and Buddy had been working for Auburn's transit for a few months. 

Our wedding party consisted of people we barely speak to now. One is on purpose because she is an idiot, some are due to me being a hermit (I'll explain eventually), and the others are due to life I guess. 

That day flew by so fast. I am so glad for pictures because it feels like I just blinked and it was gone. 

We have been through a lot these six years: from loss of jobs, loss of family members and friends alike, to me going back to school an getting my bachelors, new friends, moving three times (once with my in-laws), new jobs, car troubles, new (to us) cars, family drama, loss of furbabies and anything in between. 

My husband is my rock, my solid ground. I tease him occasionally by saying he doesn't get excited about things (which he doesn't), but I believe it's this trait that keeps me grounded when I think everything is spinning out of control. Occasionally it is frustrating when I try to surprise him with something I think he might like. But we all have our little quirks that our significant others finds frustrating, right? 

We spent our day lounging around, watching football, and eating not so healthy queso, like we wanted to. He loves my queso and I don't make it often. Our teams lost both yesterday (Alabama) and today (Texans). I think it's cause it's the first year our anniversary fell on a game day since the day we were married. That day we were blessed with a narrow win over Kentucky (I was wearing team colors, which I don't do any more) and an Auburn loss to Vandy. So in 6 more years when our day is on another game day, it should be better again. I know, I'm superstitious....but this I only football. 

To celebrate our anniversary, here are some of my favorite pictures from that day six years ago and one from this mornings walk with Luna. I hope you all have a great and blessed week! Get outside and enjoy fall!!!

We were up before the morning glories. 

Things I don't like about East Texas

This blog post is coming to you live from my office! I'm being a big fat procrastinator right now, mostly because I've had my ass kicked by stats all day. So I've taken a few (read 2) hours to make some blog changes and now to make my post.

So keeping with my previous post, here are 5 things I do not like about East Texas in no particular order.

1. Humidity

I just took this screen shot and it says the temperature outside is only 91 degrees (F). Feels like 100 degrees (F) with only 55% humidity??? Yep, it pretty much feels like a sauna out there. We have had a few days of fall like weather and there were amazing! But, then we had this. I can't wear my hair in anything but a bun with this crap out there. It's just plain redonkulous.











2. Conceal carry laws

yelp.com; google image search

Alabama is an open carry state, Texas is not. To get a conceal handgun licence (CHL) you must take a class which can not exceed 8 hours. In this class you will have a written exam and a range test. Buddy and I had our class this past Saturday and neither were hard. I was not pleased with my targeting at all, but I passed.

The sign to the left is one that is posted outside of businesses and other public grounds in which you can not conceal carry. Back home they were posting signs prohibiting open carry, here it's conceal carry. Coming from an open carry state, this makes no sense. I can understand federal buildings, public buildings where voting is taking place, bars, and to some extent schools and maybe even hospitals. But shopping centers and grocery stores? Also, if you have a CHL and get busted carrying in a place that has a 30.06 sign, you will be penalized more heavily than someone with out a CHL because you should know better.

3. No one understands SEC football

Yes, Texas A&M are now in the SEC and College Station is only about an hour away, but no one REALLY understands what that means. The loyalty, the brutality, the trash-talk on Saturday but love you every other day-ness.... They just don't get it.

4. Distance measurements

This isn't so much a complaint, but a musing. We are ~2 hours from Shreveport, LA; ~2 hours from Houston; ~3 hours from Dallas and Galveston, and ~4 hours from Austin. Here distance is measured in how many hours it takes to get somewhere. If the speed limits were not as fast then they would be exceedingly high. I knew Texas was a large state, but it didn't really hit me until I was here. It's quite weird. 

5. Where's my Waffle House? or Zaxbys?

The closest Waffle House (WH) is in Tyler which is about an hour away. If I were FROM Texas this wouldn't be so bad (see #4). However, I'm not FROM Texas and an hour seems an excessive drive for food. And Zaxby's? My wonderful yummy favorite food? Not here. I think there might be one in Louisiana, but I'm not sure. 

I haven't really taken any pictures this week except this one. 

This was at the Gayla Mize Gardens and I let Luna go off leash for our walk. I was so proud! When I would call her to come she would and when I would tell her to wait because I couldn't see her she would! I guess now I can trust her to be a good trail dog.

Well, that's all I have for today. I've arranged for Buddy to come pick me up in a few so I need to get my stuff together I guess. I hope you have enjoyed and let me know what you think in the comments! Have a blessed weekend!

Things I love about Texas

I had a running list of things I wanted to blog about, but my phone ate it...twice. I know this topic was among the few I had jotted down, so I'm winging it folks; bear with me.

 We have now been official residents of Texas for 6 months as of the 28th of August and I felt it was about time to compile a list (because I love lists) about the things I love about this humongous state. Don't worry, there will be a list (sooner or later) about things I don't love, but most of them are pretty obvious.

This picture outlines the different "sections" of Texas. We live in the Piney Woods area close to the n and e of piney. The description is quite accurate and it is quite piney out here. It actually looks a lot like back home to me. There's not much difference. We have driven into the prairies and lakes area, but not far and I went through the gulf coast area almost daily during field season, but I haven't had a chance to really explore like I want to (and I will eventually!).

Let's get to that list, shall we?

1. Speed limits

Texas has the fastest speed limit average of any state in the U.S. This can be both awesome and some what terrifying. I was only terrified at the speeds when it was 4 am and I was driving through the San Angelina State Forest trying to reach my field sites by sunrise. I do not imagine hitting a deer or other wild critter would be anything less than terrifying at those speeds. However, if the speed limits were anything like they are back home, I could have added upwards of an hour to my travel time. So, I'm very thankful for these higher speed limits.

2. Drive Texas Friendly
This one kinda goes along with the previous one, but I feel it should be separate. Plus, this is my list. Where we would have just a strip of shoulder on the side of the road, here in Texas they use it as a part of the road. I like to call it the "turn shoulder". For instance, if I were to turn right into our apartment complex and notice there is traffic behind me, I can get onto the "turn shoulder" to get out of the way before I cause the people behind me to slow down or hit their breaks. Also on highways, if I needed to turn onto the road but there is traffic coming, I can make my turn into the "turn shoulder" wait till the traffic is past to merge into the correct lane. Or if I am going much slower than someone behind me, I can merge into the "turn shoulder" so they can pass me in the lane and not have to pass in the oncoming traffic lane. What an amazing idea! I think this should be implemented everywhere!

3. Beer

When in Rome, right? I have tried the "official" beer of Texas, Lone Star, which you can't buy anywhere other than Texas and I have also tried almost every kind of Shiner made. I can now attest from experience that I am not that big a fan of Lone Star. A bottled 6 pack is about the same price as a PBR 6 pack of tall boys, and we all know I love some PBR. I can also now attest from experience that I really like Shiner Light Blonde, Shiner Premium, and Shiner Bock. I have tried others, but I wouldn't buy them again. They are just not my cup of tea, or bottle of beer as it were.

4. No tax on groceries
What?!? Coming from Alabama, I had only heard rumors of such things. It's real people and it's awesome! Granted, somethings are a little more than they were back home. But then again, a lot of the prices are comparable to back home. Mix that with my new found love of Kroger, their coupons I can load to my rewards card through their mobile app, and their rewards on gas and I'm in freaking savings heaven! This summer they gave double gas rewards for shopping Friday-Sunday and we were saving upwards of 0.60/gallon!

5. History
Texas is a state that is very proud of it's heritage. Just on my little tiny campus I've seen two historical markers. I can't begin to put a number to the amount of signs for historical markers I passed heading to Louisiana during field season. You could spend hours reading historical markers downtown, but then again we are living in the oldest city in Texas.

I'm sure there are more than these five things, but five seems a good number to stop on. I'll limit the 'things I don't love about Texas' post to five as well. If I can manage five other than my friends and family don't live here, that is.

Broke toe update: My toe was most definitely broken. I couldn't wear flip flops for over a week and even now if I do I have to be careful if my toe touches anything other than my shoe. But, the swelling and bruising is gone and it doesn't look too jacked up.

Serenity update: The special prescribed food took a little while to work it's magic, but we had managed days then weeks at a time with no urinating on the floor. However, she has peed on the floor 3 out of the last 4 days. I'm hoping today's was cause I didn't let her in from out on the porch when she needed to. I'm continuing to monitor her though and I even note the days she has went outside of the litter box on a white board.

We have an interesting day coming up Saturday as we will be going to an all day class that is required to have a concealed carry permit in Texas. I know those of you from back home are confused at this, but I will explain more in a later post. For now, here are some pictures I've taken since the last post. Enjoy and blessed be.

Texas doesn't play around with their rain clouds. These were amazingly beautiful.

Morning sun rays on one of mine and Luna's hikes at the Gayla Mize Gardens. This is now one of my most favorite pictures.

Gracie

Gracie was one the many pet names I had growing up. The only difference between it and the others was I came by it honestly. 

Clumsiness runs in my family. Well, at least my female cousins and I are by far the most clumsy of the bunch. I pretty much have scars on almost every part of my body from some accident or another. This includes my face. 

Last night I had another case of the clumsies when I was walking to my side of the bed from turning off the light. My middle toe hit the leg of the bed and either the bed or my toe make a cracking sound. It hurt so bad, I immediately put my face into the mattress to holler in pain. My hollering eventually turned into hysterical laughter cause that's what we crazy clumsy people do to push through the pain. I swear if I ever have children, everyone in the delivery room is going to be confused. 

I eventually pulled myself into the bed and turned on the flashlight of my phone to look at my toe. It was already swole a little but it didn't look broke. So I tried I curl my toes. If you can move it then it's not broke, right? At least that was what I was taught growing up. I tried some more and eventually it didn't hurt to curl, but hurt like a mother fucker when I straightened them out. (And yes, this kind of pain warrants a mother fucker or two.) 

Taking Luna out to potty this morning proved difficult in flip-flops, but the swelling was about the same and there was only a slight lavender hue to the toe joint. So, I put on my tennis shoes to go to school and even walked across campus to get Panda Express for lunch with some lab mates. We had been planning on Panda Wednesdays for a week now and I was too excited to pass up the first one. One of my lab mates found some ace tape in her desk (from a previous owner) so I taped my toe to the larger neighbor to help stabilize it. Boy did that feel so much better! I even passed my step goal for the day! 

However, come 230 my tennis shoe had to go. Every step hurt. I only put my shoe back on to go to the bathroom (gross) and even left the building for the day with my socks on. Buddy had to cut the tape of my toes cause I couldn't stand the pain of unraveling it myself. Quick aside here: I know this all makes me sound like a pansy, but I seriously have a high pain threshold. Usually I can push on through. But this, this is brutal. Ok, back to what I was saying. Once the tape was off, it was evident that my toe is broken. It's not black and blue yet. Just still this nice dark lavender at my top toe knuckle and down the side of my toe. So I've got a few days of hobbling ahead and it's really quite pitiful. Even for a Gracie like me. 

Serenity update: Ne-Ne finished her meds last week on the 3rd and we had two days of no peeing on the floor afterwards. I was about ready to call the vet again when the urinating started again, but I thought maybe I need to give the special food more time to work. I have now converted the white board on the fridge to a pee chart so I can keep up with pee free days. I've also been cleaning the litter box everyday to keep up with how many times she has peed in a day. So far it's been twice. I don't know if that's good or bad, but the monitoring will continue until it becomes as frequent as it was when we took her to the vet. The food is making her super soft an I don't know if it's related or not, but she's also been super talkative. She even woke me up this morning. 

I don't have many pictures to share from last time I posted, but here they are. Blessed be and have a great week!!

Jungle kitty

This little male ruby-throated hummingbird aggressively defends the two feeders I have on the porch.