Bummers and Deals

Yes, I've actually been following through on the gym membership. I did about 2-3 hours of working out the first week, and last week I got over 4 hours. This week was only about two, because of. . . appointments? Getting sick? I can't quite remember. What I do remember is that my last workout was a little too much and a little too hard. I went close to 2 hours, including warm-up/stretching and cool-down/stretching. In that time, I nearly had an asthma attack and felt like passing out more than once. Yes, "They" say to stop working out if that happens and rest. But when one has Gunny Sgt. H--- yelling in your head about not giving up, well, it provides a bit of motivation.

Of of the "bummers" is that I've tweaked a knee (again), but I'm not totally certain when it occurred. I also have had foot pain for a while, probably because I'm not wearing shoes in the house like I'm supposed to. Today I noticed the swelling around my knee, and so I went to the local hospital (not Death Valley that screwed me up last year after my horse fall) to make sure I hadn't suffered an actual "injury." When one deals with chronic (and almost daily) pain, one gets used to going about one's business. But the swelling raised a flag. The verdict? Wear my knee immobilizer (that I got after straining my right knee this past August)--which thankfully can be used on either knee because this time it's my left knee-- take naproxen, keep my feet up, ice if needed (though ice tends to cause me pain); if continued/persistent swelling, go see regular doctor (which is through VA clinic) and have to have MRI done. I am glad this doctor didn't subject me to x-rays, which he said would only show bone injury and what's more likely in my case is tendon/ligaments.

It might be time to fire my "left side," because it keeps failing me. It's gotten. . . weird. My left eye muscles are sporadically twitching, I can't grip very well with my left hand and keep dropping things, my left lower back/upper butt muscles were sore earlier in the week, and now there's this knee strain/sprain (thank you so much for "hypermobility," aka, "double-jointedness") and my foot. BUMMER!

The kids' semesters ended yesterday (Friday), and both wound up with at least one "F," to our disappointment. Probably not going to have a whole lot of fun until those grades get brought up. Less money out of our pocket, since Hubby's pays them a certain amount per letter grade per semester; D's are worth $0 and an F means they have to pay him! :-)

The Girl and I have been enjoying the heck out of the kefir I've been making. There's almost enough grains for me to be able to start sharing them. That's pretty exciting, because I've almost killed them a few times. In case you don't know, kefir is a fermented milk that is a powerhouse of probiotics, among other healthy benefits. Also, it doesn't affect me the way uncultured milk products do (e.g. giving me burpy gas and indigestions). I drink my kefir with a bit of raw honey, vanilla flavor (real vanilla, and not the extract), and this past week with acai concentrate added to it. Yummy! Hardly 'crave' ice cream any more.

Okay, now for the "deals."

Hubby got notice this week of receiving his "bid" for a shift/schedule change. Yay! We've been waiting a year to get an answer! Since returning in 2011 from his last combat deployment, he's been working "swings" (2-10pm) w/ non-traditional weekends off. That means he's hardly gotten to see the kids, because they come home about 2 hours after he leaves for work, and they're usually (eye roll) in bed by the time he comes home. With this new schedule, he'll still have non-traditional weekends, but he'll be working day shift, which means he'll get home about an hour before they do. Yay! And that also means we can start having family meals again! Those used to be more regular, but waned in the wake of my  various. . . uh, health issues and accidents.

The bigger "yay" for me is I'll get the house to myself for a whole morning, not just two hours!!!!  I'll get very much needed "along time," and I'm very excited about it! You better believe I've got plans going through my head already of what I'll do with all that time. One will hopefully be to sleep better. But the other is to use the energy I'll have (because it won't have been zapped by the time hubby leaves for work) to really start "moving in" and making this our home. It'll be a fairly new experience, given my 30 moves in 33 years!

That topic naturally leads to the grand deal I scored today at the G-W- thrift store. Two awful gold chairs that I totally and very much unexpectedly love! They're very 1970's, which is fine with me for my very eclectic decorating. It'll be nice to have more than just the double recliner and the tall dining chairs for planting our butts. In particular, I like that fact that, with a decoration pillow behind my back, when I sit in the chair, my feet actually reach the floor. The low profile of the backs are perfect for our living situation. They're still solidly built and in pretty darn fine condition, save a little wear on the upholstery (you'll see the little bit in the pic). And at $14.99 each, I'm practically stealing the things. Slight bummer-- I have to have hubby get the chairs, since they won't fit in my sedan. :-( Hubby is, of course, pitching a fit about the purchase, not because of the money, but "where are they going to fit in the house?" Me: "Uh, honey, I'm working on the house and we need more seating. I love these chairs. They won't be going in the barn, they are for the house. MINE."

And here they are, the awful chairs I totally love:

Just the chair; and maybe that cabinet thing.

Just the so-awful-it's-awesome chair.

Okay, I'll try to get the other "deals" in before my meds kick in (they've already started, so I might get confusing here in a moment).

I crocheted two blankets this month. One is big enough that it tops my queen bed fairly well-- its name is "Nova Burst" and was made for a friend's son. Pic below.
umm.... internet not behaving and meds hit. I'll have to finish later.
~Cedeham~