- This check-in is for November 30th – December 6th.
- Since my apartment flooded again and I had to deal with the cleanup from that, I haven’t done much else outside of work unless it was Holiday-related. I went to a Holiday market yesterday, bought the rest of what I needed for Christmas dinner, and watched another Christmas movie while working on a jigsaw puzzle of Christmas books.
- I also watched some videos about Yule, as I would like to celebrate the Winter Solstice as well, and I found it interesting that many of the Christmas traditions that are still done today were borrowed from Yule. I knew some of that already, but there were a couple of traditions I didn’t know about. For instance, the 12 Days of Christmas were originally the 12 Days of Yule, starting on the Winter Solstice and ending on New Year’s Day. This time of year always gets me thinking about how there are so many traditions and practices we humans have that we don’t even know why we do them, or at least we don’t know the origins of them. Many times, the reasons and the meanings have changed, but they’ve been around for hundreds of years and come from multiple different cultures.
- Exercise Days: 1/7
- Steps: 43,586
- Miles: 17.57/16.31
- Total Miles: 757.25/850
- Zone Minutes: 50/150
#FitReaders Check-In
- This check-in is for November 23rd – 29th.
- In yesterday’s “Building the Book Fort,” I wrote about the continuing issues with my neighbor smoking in her apartment and how it messed up part of Thanksgiving day.
- My weekend has been restful so far. I didn’t do much yesterday, beyond some tidying of my desk and taking care of tasks that I hadn’t had the energy or time to deal with in the previous couple of weeks. I also got the majority of my Christmas shopping done and watched a couple of Christmas movies.
- Today is more rest and Christmas movie watching, but also getting ready for the upcoming week and possibly decorating for Christmas. I’m not sure if I’ll have the energy to get much decorating done, but I am switching over to my Christmas bedding since I need to wash the sheets today anyway.
- Exercise Days: 1/7
- Steps: 39,977
- Miles: 16.03/16.31
- Total Miles: 739.68/850
- Zone Minutes: 46/150
#FitReaders Check-In
- This check-in is for November 16th – 22nd.
- The issues with my neighbors smoking continue and I’ve contacted an attorney to see if they can help me get out of this place. In case I am able to break the lease, I started looking online at apartments to see what is available, since I doubt I would have more than a month to move out and don’t want to continue living here for a day more than I absolutely have to do so.
- I had to take three days off from work this week because of my back. Despite those three days of rest, my back was still bothering me mostly because of all of the coughing. Thankfully, I had my monthly massage yesterday. It was exactly what I needed to get me back into a better place physically. It also helped out my mental state a bit. I also have been meditating a lot and doing breathwork to calm my nervous system.
- Exercise Days: 2/7
- Steps: 27,065
- Miles: 10.93/16.31
- Total Miles: 723.65/850
- Zone Minutes: 91/150
#FitReaders Check-In
- This check-in is for November 2nd – 15th.
- Illness, stress, other health issues, exhaustion, and more issues with my apartment have caused me to feel like my life is a rollercoaster ride that is more nauseating than anything else. Just when I think everything is settling back down and I can truly rest and recover, something else pops up.
- I had just gotten over my sinus issues and was no longer coughing much when the neighbors decided to start up with the smoking in their apartment again. However, I was feeling well enough yesterday to go to the zoo with a friend. Even though we were being leisurely about walking around the zoo, and I enjoyed the warmer weather and fresh air, I was completely wiped out halfway through it. We left without seeing the rest of the animals, but today my back and hips are telling me that the trip wasn’t the best idea. On top of that, the neighbors have been smoking so much that my whole apartment smells like an ashtray, my cough has returned, and I’m strongly considering taking my cats and I to a hotel while I take steps to legally break my lease.
- Exercise Days: 0 and 1/7
- Steps: 36,282 and 43,598
- Miles: 14.62 and 17.16/16.31
- Total Miles: 712.72/850
- Zone Minutes: 13 and 23/150
#FitReaders Check-In
- This check-in is for October 26th – November 1st.
- This week has gone much better than the previous couple of months and I had enough energy on Saturday to go to IKEA. I’ve mostly relaxed the rest of this weekend. While I have done some organizing and putting things away, I’ve taken plenty of breaks and made myself stop any time I’ve gotten tired or just didn’t want to keep doing whatever I was up to in the moment.
- I’m going to continue to take it easy while I slowly get my life back together. It may not be Winter yet, but I need to do some wintering.
- Exercise Days: 0/7
- Steps: 36,366
- Miles: 14.64/16.31
- Total Miles: 680.94/850
- Zone Minutes: 22/150
#FitReaders Check-In
- This check-in is for October 19th – 25th.
- I feel like the universe decided to kick me while I was already down. My living room flooded, a couple of my books and a few art prints got ruined, and I had to deal with that and the cleanup after while I’m still sick and my back has been bothering me.
- I’m going to keep trying to get back up, though. I had a massage yesterday, and since I’m anemic again, I decided to treat myself to a steak at Texas Roadhouse after.
- Another issue I’ve been dealing with in my apartment is the neighbor’s cigarette and pot smells coming through the walls and stinking up everything. It gets so bad that I start coughing even more than I have been with being sick, so in addition to writing an email to the apartment manager about it, I bought an air purifier. It arrived yesterday, and does help with a lot of it, but not all of it.
- Exercise Days: 1/7
- Steps: 40,611
- Miles: 16.36/16.31
- Total Miles: 666.30/850
- Zone Minutes: 34/150
#FitReaders Check-In
- This check-in is for October 12th – 18th.
- I slowed things down considerably this week, just in time to come down with some sinus thing. Luckily, I had bought plenty of soup since I already knew the temperatures were going to drop enough for it to finally feel like Fall.
- The only activity I had planned for yesterday besides Dewey’s 24-Hour #Readathon was going to see “Harry Potter and the Cursed Child.” I’m glad I went, but it did mean I only finished one book for the readathon, and I also ended up having to take a nap shortly after I got home.
- It’s raining today and my stomach isn’t feeling well on top of being sick, so I’m ordering groceries instead of trying to venture outdoors. Since I’m not going anywhere, my plan for the day (besides resting) is making bread in my bread machine and drinking large amounts of herbal tea with honey.
- My A1C, cholesterol, and other numbers haven’t changed from last year! There was one test result that has my doctor concerned, though, and she’s referring me to a Rheumatologist.
- Exercise Days: 1/7
- Steps: 34,534
- Miles: 13.98/16.31
- Total Miles: 649.94/850
- Zone Minutes: 80/150
#FitReaders Check-In
- This check-in is for October 5th – 11th.
- This week was really stressful and I’m resting today and waiting until tomorrow to do anything else other than laundry.
- My doctor thinks the pain in my hands, particularly my right hand, is tendonitis. Which means I’ve been doing too much. Yes, I already knew this, but when your doctor tells you that, the best thing is to heed the warning. While I’m waiting for the results of the x-rays and the labs she ordered to rule out regular arthritis and rheumatoid arthritis, I’m taking a look at my To-Do list and cutting as much as possible.
- My garden gave me another giant eggplant and a whole lot more bell peppers, so I’m coming up with inexpensive ways to use them before they go bad. I still have everything I need to make an eggplant lasagna, which I’ll do either tonight or tomorrow night. Last night I cooked up a package of cheese tortellini, chopped up a couple of bell peppers, and added a jar of pasta sauce for a quick, easy, and comforting dinner after a long day of still doing far too much.
- The “far too much” was getting the rest of my gardening stuff from my ex’s garage, but I did at least get his help. The only thing left is my basil plant because I have no where to put it right now that my cats won’t be able to get to and destroy it. I did realize that I needed a break before I did anything else and took a nap, but then I decided to go to Costco. I only went so I wouldn’t have to go today or tomorrow, and I really needed to get laundry detergent so I could get caught up on my laundry.
- While I have to wait to find out my A1C, cholesterol, and other numbers, my blood pressure and weight were surprisingly really good. I haven’t gained any weight from the last time I weighed myself a couple of months ago, and I have no idea how that happened considering how much junk I’ve been eating. I’m still working on getting back on track with eating and exercise, but I feel much better knowing the past few months haven’t completely derailed my physical health. My mental health is a bit of a different matter, but I’m working on that as well.
- Exercise Days: 0/7
- Steps: 41,473
- Miles: 16.58/16.31
- Total Miles: 635.96/850
- Zone Minutes: 19/150
#FitReaders Check-In
- This check-in is for September 28th – October 4th.
- This week hasn’t been nearly as stressful as the couple of weeks before it.
- I’ve gotten most of my belongings unpacked, put away, and organized. The cats seem happy. We’re all settling into our routines. Now all I need are several bookshelves so I can unpack my books and get back into writing “Down the TBR Hole” posts, but that will have to wait until next month.
- Now that my life is slowing back down, I’m going to be working on returning to more healthy eating habits. I’ve eaten far too many meals from restaurants and fast food places. Even after I started “cooking” at home again, more often than not, those dinners consisted of Dinosaur nuggets, and other processed foods that I could easily throw in the oven or the microwave. I’ve had very few fruits or vegetables or anything else that didn’t come from a package.
- I have my annual appointment coming up and I know that my labs aren’t going to look good. I also know that I deserve a whole lot of grace for whatever the lab results are because I’ve managed to come through several major life changes without completely losing my mind. I will not allow my doctor or myself to beat me up for some numbers on a lab report or whatever the scale says.
- Exercise Days: 0/7
- Steps: 47,643
- Miles: 19.15/16.31
- Total Miles: 619.38/850
- Zone Minutes: 23/150
#FitReaders Check-In
- This check-in is for September 14th – 27th.
- This has been a stressful and extremely busy two weeks. I won’t go into detail here since I wrote about my move yesterday.
- I was supposed to relax yesterday and do nothing but read, drink tea, and cuddle the cats. While I did do some reading, drank a lot of herbal tea, and definitely cuddled the cats (I even took a nap with my oldest fur child, Dresden), I spent a lot of my time updating my address everywhere and fighting with my printer to get it connected. I didn’t get out of my pajamas or go anywhere, though, so better than nothing.
- Today is going to be busy and interesting since I’ll be tackling all of the chores and errands on my own and I’m not familiar enough with the part of the city where I live to know my way to and from places like the grocery stores I prefer. I also have to go to my ex’s house to do my laundry, and later this afternoon I have a massage appointment (and I’m very much looking forward to that!).
- Exercise Days: 2 and 2/7
- Steps: 52,886 and 55,974
- Miles: 21.43 and 22.58/16.31
- Total Miles: 600.23/850
- Zone Minutes: 70 and 64/150