Too Much To Do

Wow! 9 comments on my last post and 9 procrastinators! That is too funny. I guess it is a lot more common than I thought :)

Speaking of procrastination - I have put off so much stuff that I'll never get everything done that I want to get done before I leave for TX tomorrow morning. sigh. I'm really stressing over it. I know it'll probably all work out fine but ugh...

I still need to get a bunch of work done, write up an "If X, then Y" note to my coworkers who are covering for me while I'm out, go to the store to grab a new pair of jeans (I hope I have time), have dinner with R, spend some quality time with R before I'm without him for 4 days, do laundry, go to another store to grab some travel size stuff (though I could do that when I get to TX), and, um... pack.

I just want to go take a nap.

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Another 2009 pic - the most impressive rainbow I have ever seen in my life. I could actually see it come together in a full circle. Usually rainbows "end" at the horizon or whatever objects are in the way but this one was so clear that I could see it past the horizon and over the ground - it was amazing. The pics don't do it justice at all. If you look close you can see it was actually a double rainbow. The pic quality sucks because I was moving at the time and it was raining (duh) and the pics are taken through the glass.

Procrastination 101 and 2009 Pics

When I was in 3rd grade I got a "3" in "Time Management" on my report card. "3" stood for "Needs Improvement". (I also got a "3" that year in "Works and Plays Well With Others" but that was an isolated incident *cough*)

In high school and college I was STILL getting 3's and 4's in time management. I'm a hard core procrastinator. I would absolutely NEVER do a project or study for an exam until the day before it was due. I was ALWAYS behind in reading and doing homework. I would stress like crazy about it beforehand but not actually do anything. Then, in tears, I'd stay up the entire night before in a frenzied focus and get everything done. I usually did well - I had a fairly high GPA in hs and college.

To this day I'm STILL getting 3's and 4's in time management. I have gotten a bit more responsible and I rarely let it affect the work that matters (read: the work that I would get fired for or "written up" for if I didn't d0) but it still affects me in every aspect of my life. If I know I have stuff to do, I end up doing everything possible besides that specific thing. The litter boxes are in desperate need of cleaning? Uh, I'll do the dishes. The cabinets from our basement reno (over a year ago) still need painting? Um, I think I'll do some laundry and then read blogs. Those examples are not exactly what I'm trying to convey though...

Yesterday I had a project to do at work. It was not imperative that it be done until the end of the day so I put it off all day long and did other work (and read blogs). Which meant, last night, I COULD have been free to relax and go to bed early but instead I stayed up until 12:30am to finish this project. The project was just fine - it was done well and in plenty of time to meet it's deadline.

Right now I should be doing something for work that is due at noon. But I'm writing this post instead. I know, even if I don't get it done (which I won't) it doesn't really matter, so I don't do it. When it really matters I'll have to spend hours focusing to get it all done.

I do this all the time. It's the story of my life. I feel stupid for doing it over and over again but it's who I am. I have always been like this. Can someone change something that's so ingrained in them? I feel like the obvious answer is, "Yes, you lazy bitch. Just DO something about it." I SHOULD be able to change this. sigh
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Work is evening out a little. I'm still busy but not like I have been the last three weeks. If I could manage to just do everything I needed to do while I was at work, with this amount of work, I wouldn't have to do much from home unless a client email came in or a new project was requested.

I'm down to 88 new posts in my reader! Yay! I was so behind it wasn't even funny. It almost hit 300 a couple days ago. Thanks to everyone for all the wonderful comments to my last post. I'll be sure to check out all your blogs in the next few days (or weeks if work goes crazy again.)

In addition to work slowing down a little, I am going on a mini-vacation this weekend. I took this coming Friday and Monday off and will be flying to TX on Friday morning to visit my dad, his wife, my brother, and his fiance. I'm kind of stressing right now about all the stuff I need to do before I leave on Fri but I'm excited to be going. I love to travel and I can't wait to see my dad and give him a hug.
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In response to a comment - there is no story behind the flower pic in the last post. I took it while at a wedding I attended last summer. R was annoyed with me for stopping and clicking all the beautiful flowers but I got some good shots :) Here are some other pics from last year:


C (my sister) and I went strawberry picking in early July '09. The strawberry fields are in the far right distance in the pic and to the left of where I'm standing.

Strawberries!

For my birthday (also in July '09), my mom, and C and I went canoeing on a lake. It was a beautiful day. One of my dreams is to live on a lake and own a canoe. I love the sound of the paddles in the water.

Working and Shaking My Booty

If anyone was curious to know the tune to the "I am slowly going crazy" song - click THIS link. Beware though, it's one of those songs that can get stuck in your head. Like this one. Muahahaha ;)

Since 2010 began, and a little before, I have been going crazy. With work. One of my cases ramped up at the very end of December and I have been working my butt off trying to keep up. It's not the kind of job that you can leave behind when you go home. We are expected to work when we're needed. That means we have normal "9-6" office hours and then we work from home (or the office if we weren't lucky enough to sneak out) very early in the morning and very late at night. Last night I was on the phone with a client from 10:48pm - 12:00am and then I continued to work until 1:30am. I'm tired.

Working 10/11/12 hour days is just not something I can do for every long and still keep my sanity. I admire all the work-aholics out there (actually I think they're a little crazy but I'll keep that to myself!) but bleh, that's just not who I am.

I usually read blogs and write posts from work (or from home in the evening) so those things have seriously suffered so far this month. Since it's ICLW I am going to try to fit in a bunch of commenting and a couple posts this week. I have a picture-heavy one in mind and maybe another video of River :) I'm so far behind in my reader and I just can't catch up. I'm sorry I haven't been reading/commenting lately - you may see some late comments from me in the next few weeks.

Happy ICLW! If you are new to my blog, the sidebar has a very brief timeline. I started this blog just about a year ago after having read infertility/TTC/pregnancy blogs for about a year prior. I didn't know if I'd keep it up, and I've taken a lot of breaks, but I'm still here. amazing. I think of new posts all the time but I'm just not very good at actually taking the time to write. In terms of TTC I have no idea where I am right now. My cycles are wacky and extremely long. I'm trying my best to lose weight (check out my ticker at the bottom - 16lbs! I'm so happy.) in the hopes that and the glumetza I'm on, for suspected PCOS, will kick-start some ovulation. I'm also trying to get some new CD3 blood work taken but that hasn't worked out for the past two cycles. Here's why I couldn't get it taken the first time. I didn't blog about it but the second CD3 opportunity fell right in the middle of new years vacation. Screw you too, AF.

C (my youngest sister) and I totally fell off the running wagon. I'm sad but I'm really planning on getting back out there. Up until the beginning of December, we were jogging for 30 minutes, 2 or 3 times a week. We got up to a little over 2 miles per time (which is very slow, I know). Before last year, neither of us had ever jogged before and we are both very sedentary people.

Instead of running I've started going to a yoga class once a week. I had never done it before and I LOVE it! I'd like to do it 3x a week but it's not possible with my schedule right now. For xmas I got a Wii and WiiFit Plus so I use that as often as I can to practice some yoga poses, and do all of the other fun games and stuff that offers. Even though I'm sure it doesn't take the place of normal exercise, it's very helpful to get me off the couch in the evenings.

Last week my coworker said, "hey, do you want to go to a kick-boxing class with me at noon tomorrow?" I love trying new things and I rarely get a chance to so I said sure. Well, the next day we went and it ended up being a zumba class. Soooo very far from kick-boxing :) It was pretty funny and I spent the next hour shaking my booty doing this weird combo of dance-aerobics. It was tough but fun so I went again this week and I think I'll keep going.

I need to get to a meeting so I'll leave you with a pic I took in 2009. I have a whole post of 2009 pics and stories that I never blogged about - hopefully I get to write it.

Back-Burnered Blogging

I am slowly going crazy...

1 2 3 4 5 6 SWITCH!

Crazy going slowly am I...

6 5 4 3 2 1 SWITCH!

First Snow of the Year

A couple weeks ago we had our first snow of the season and it stuck. It was on a day off so I didn't have to go anywhere, which was nice. I don't like winter - I'd much rather warm, sunny weather, but it's still magical when it snows and to see everything covered with white.

River is IN LOVE with winter. It is his absolute favorite season. He adores playing in the snow. When it's cold outside, it is impossible to tire him out. He just wants to play forever.

Here is some during and after video of our first snow. And River of course, enjoying himself.


He is chewing on a tennis ball and "wrestling" with the falling snow.


I got him to put the ball down so I could video him snapping at the falling snow - so cute!

Not much accumulation but it was so pretty covering all the bare trees.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday! My Christmas was very nice: good giving, good getting, good food, good time with family :)

The Christmas Toy*

Woo boy my arms and shoulders ached the day after my yoga class last week! It was a good, sore muscle ache though. I have the bad kind of pain in my back, shoulders, arms regularly so it was refreshing to have meaningful pain. That sounds weird I guess. My next class should be on Jan 6th and I'm really looking forward to it.

I'm basically done with my gift shopping. But I have a lot to wrap. I bought C a bunch of things that fit together in a theme (kitchen/baking stuff) and I'm going to wrap each one individually. I bought her the cutest set of measuring spoons - I have to take a pic before I wrap them up.  C and I went in on a bunch of cooking/baking stuff for my other sister (S) too. I hope C doesn't mind having very similar presents! I'm sure she'll be happy with what I got her but it gives me a twinge of guilt that I wasn't more unique. I still have one very small thing to buy for C and I need to stop and get a gas station gift cert for S because she's a poor grad student. All presents are bought for my mom. R bought gifts for his mom and dad but they still need to be wrapped (by me). And that's it. R and I don't usually buy gifts for each other. He is extremely difficult to buy for unless I have thousands of dollars to buy him a camaro or some sort of new electronic device. The small thoughtful gifts are just not his style. We save the money we would have spent on each other and eventually buy something for our house instead.

We didn't put up lights again this year and we never bothered to get a tree. We both like the decorations but it just didn't happen. I used to be really into Christmas but not so much anymore. Christmas without children to share it with just isn't the same. We don't have any kids in either of our families and our few friends don't have kids either. I do like giving gifts though - it's fun to get someone what they want/need.

I did get to buy a toy for someone this year though! I bought it for a family our company sponsored for the holidays who have an infant that needs a kidney transplant. They also have a 2 yr old and I figured this thing would be great for both of them to use. It was so cute. I haven't bought a baby toy in a long, long time.

All our snow has melted. I don't think it will be a white Christmas. It would be nice to have some snow but please, don't snow on Thursday. We will be traveling to and back home from my mom's house (~2 hours each way) that day, as is our tradition, and bad weather would just make it annoying. Not that we couldn't handle it. We have a 4 wheel drive vehicle and R is a very good driver. Christmas day we are off to MIL's house (only ~ 15 mins away) in the afternoon so if it had to snow, that would be the ideal day. Have I ever mentioned how crazy my MIL is? I don't think I have. If there are any bizarre presents from her this year I need to remember to take pics of them. Corn on the cob handles anyone? Or how about a purple, plastic trash can? No? Then how about a staple puller and some blank diskettes? Oh it just goes on and on.

*One of my fondly remembered childhood Christmas movies. C and I were discussing this on Sunday (while baking about 4 different kinds of cookies for the holidays because it is one of our holiday traditions - frosted sugar cookies, gingerbread men, chocolate orange crinkles, and sugar-cookie-chocolate-peppermint bark) and now I really want to see it again! Maybe I'll order it on DVD. Whoa! I just looked and someone has put the entire movie up - the first part is HERE. I don't know if it's good quality but I'm off to watch it now!

Running Update and First Yoga Class

Sadly C and I have all but stopped running.  I definitely plan to continue but we are in a rut right now because of the holidays and the disgustingly cold, snowy, icy weather.

From when we completed week 9, to now, we've gone out about 2x per week, with at least one week off.  We regressed a little in our pace and then got better, our best time being slightly under 14min/mile.  I've also done my elliptical a couple times when it was raining or just generally crappy outside.  The last time I went jogging was last Tuesday - a week and a day ago.  I actually think about going a lot but jogging in the bitter cold is so very unpleasant it's all too easy to procrastinate.

I'm trying to figure out a good solution for us.  We just aren't going to be able to jog much outside in the next 2 months.  Buying a treadmill is not an option, especially because that would not allow C and I to continue jogging together.  I received a flyer in the mail recently for a fairly cheap fitness center membership that even claimed to have an indoor track (better imo than a treadmill) and I was hopeful that might be our solution.  This past weekend C and I went to check it out and we weren't impressed.  It was not a great looking place, the woman at the desk was not incredibly pleasant (though she wasn't really rude).  Besides the start-up fee, the flyer I received claimed membership was $10/month.  Well, apparently access to the indoor track area (which is suspended above the basketball court where smelly guys run around and sweat, and which only looked to be 1/4 mile or less) costs an extra $20/month.  This is just silly.  I don't think we'll be going there.  I'll be looking around for another indoor track but I suppose I would settle for just a nearby fitness place with a good amount of treadmills and a cheap membership fee.

I'm not counting myself as having fallen off the wagon just yet.  C will probably decline but I am going to try and get out there again tomorrow or this weekend.
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I've always been intrigued by yoga.  I've tried some yoga on tv at home but it's very hard to look at the tv and try to do the poses at the same time.  Also, it's hard not to get any feedback on if you're doing things correctly or not.

For some reason I've had a hard time finding any classes that would be easy for me to get to and not require me to spend a million dollars on a gym membership (though if I found a gym with a great schedule, I might pay a good deal to be able to attend the classes)

A few weeks ago I was excited to see a sign in the elevator of my work building for a once-a-week yoga class starting up on the 11th floor.  But then I forgot about it and ended up missing the first class.  The second class was supposed to be last week but was cancelled because of the weather.

So, today I attended my very first yoga class. I loved it! I wish I could take that class multiple times a week. It was challenging and relaxing at the same time. I worked on balance, worked my muscles, and stretched.  It was right in the middle of my work day and it was so nice to be able to get up from my desk and actually move my body.

The class is postponed now until after the new year but I can't wait to go again!