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I'm impressed I'm actually posting before the end of August. Okay, it's the last day of the month, but it's something anyway...
Since my last post:
I discovered that Jul (Diadem Golden Jul) had cancer and was going downhill quickly. I called the vet, had a final grooming session with her, gave her lots of treats, and had her humanely euthanized. She's now buried next to Rho.
Diadem Golden Jul 1973-2010
My photography business is picking up a bit. In the past month or so I've photographed a dressage schooling show, a dog show, a high school senior, a rodeo, and plus sized model troupe after dark at a county fair. I need to get some more equipment soon, especially if I'm going to be doing more after dark and indoor shoots. On my list are one or two good flashes (I'm looking at the 580 Speedlites) and the 24-70 2.8 lens. I'd like the 100 2.8 macro as well, and I may get that first as it's a bit less expensive than the 24-70.
Bahim injured his leg while I was gone one weekend. When I got back, his whole leg was swollen. I cold hosed it that night and gave him some Bute for the pain, and made an appointment for the vet to come out the next day. The vet determined it wasn't broken but probably an infection in his hoof somewhere. She prescribed antibiotics and Bute, cold hosing and stall rest. He was fine the whole day, hosed him and fed him that night and he was in good spirits. The next morning he was dead. I think the infection went to his heart and he died in his sleep. He's now buried next to Jul.
CBA Bahim Shetan 1984-2010
I've been to Bristol twice this year, and it looks like we're going to try to get to closing weekend. We're also planning to go to the Minnesota Renaissance Festival in the next couple of weeks. I'm still hoping to get to the Michigan Renaissance Faire, as I won a family 4 pack of tickets, but I'm not sure when I'm going to get out there. I have until the end of September I think, so we'll see what happens.
I've been lazy and distracted, and haven't been keeping up with my diet and exercise goals. We signed up for a free month at Curves, went for two weeks and stopped going, at first because I was out of town for a few days and SBC 1 wouldn't go on her own. We decided that it wasn't worth the cost membership, because of the trip to town and the atmosphere and such. I got off track with my diet, my weakness for throwback Mountain Dew and burgers may be my downfall. I'm trying to go for salads, but it's tough. I am working more veggies into my meals, and trying to eat more fruit too. I am drinking more water, though, and adding a little lemon juice for flavor.
Weight this morning was 184.3.
I've been a bit lazy about posting lately. The past three weeks haven't been particularly busy or interesting, but I have been a little distracted and when I was online I just didn't feel like blogging.
Some things that happened:
SBC1 and I went to Milwaukee to Boerner Botanical Gardens, then to Southridge Mall to wander. We discovered that the old Yonkers/Marshall Fields/Gimbals building now houses an indoor glow-in-the-dark mini golf course. She pleaded, and I was curious, so we tried it. It was fun, even though halfway through our round we were invaded by a birthday party full of 7 year old girls who had no idea how to play and didn't really care.
We finished our round without incident, then had supper at the food court. We stopped at Borders, and that would have been our last stop before heading home, but I wanted SBC1 to meet a friend first. So, after a lot of texting back and forth, we finally met up. After about 5 hours of chatting and laughing, we headed for home. We pulled into the driveway at 5am exactly, I fed the stallions, and then slept for about 6 hours. :)
On Sunday we went to the Chippewa Valley Renaissance Faire and I got a lovely sunburn on my chest.
The next week I went to help Ken with building the shop at Bristol. I drove down Wednesday afternoon and bummed around Racine for a bit, waiting for them to pick up their other help from Chicago, as they got a late start. I finally decided at around 9pm that I was just going to spend the night at my moms, mostly because it was cold and I had somehow developed a rash/hives like reaction on my sunburned chest. I think it was my sesitive sunburned skin reacting to the fabric softener on my shirt. Whatever, I ITCHED!
Thursday I helped with the shop for a bit, until the itching drove me crazy. I went back to moms to shower and find something to ease the itching. Then later that evening I attended the last ACen meeting for a while, and had a great time as always.
And that's pretty much been it. We didn't go the the ren faire this past weekend, as I still itch and my chest looks awful. I've been a little lax on exercise, but my eating habits haven't been too bad.
Last weeks weight was 180.6, today's is 180.2. Holding steady, but I'm starting to exercise again, so hopefully I can drop down some before the end of summer.
I had a great time at Anime Central, fondly known as ACen. I didn't get a lot of sleep, drank too much Mountain Dew, and ate very little. There was a ton of food, but I just wasn't hungry. I was nervous, but once I relaxed I had a great time meeting new people and taking pics of just about everything. Some of the guys on our press team gave me a brief tour, as did SBC3 before she had to report for duty at dispatch. Later she and one of her team mates took me to a really great photo vantage point, where I think I got some good shots of the costume contest.
I got a lot of exercise this weekend, mostly walking. I took the stairs when I could, walked the long way to the exhibition room, wandered around looking for photo ops. I also did some heavy lifting and such when we were setting up and taking down, and I also enjoyed some extra curricular activities as well, so I'm finding sore spots and bruises in the oddest places...
All in all, it was a great weekend, and I really want to do it again!
Weight this morning was 180 on the dot. Not bad for all the soda I drank.
I didn't do much traveling this week, most of it was spent updating my website and redesigning my business cards. I did take a walk to the end of the block and back, and I've been setting an alarm so I take more breaks from the computer. I've been eating a lot more veggies, though fried foods have really been calling to me. I've also been craving hot and sour soup from Shaw Lee.
SBC 1 and I went to Parsons Trading Post in Wisconsin Dells on Saturday to get a dreamcatcher for a friend in need. I got a map and directions from Mapquest, so of course we got lost. We ended up stoping at MooseJaw for food and directions. I had the cajun chicken sandwich and SBC 1 had the BLT of course. Both were excellent, but we agreed that next time we'll try the pizza.
We found Parsons after that, and spent a long time browsing and trying to decide which dreamcatcher to get. I think I got the right one, I like it at least...
After that, we drove down and parked in our usual spot and walked the strip. We stopped at the Wizards Quest gift shop where SBC 1 got a crystal ball and stand and a flattened penny, and I of course got a fortune from the 'gyspy' fortune telling machine. We walked down to the gem panning shop, but got there too late. The Big Dogs store was gone, which was another disappointment. It was a good walk though, and I was feeling it a little by the time we got back to the car.
My weight yesterday morning was 186.4.
I was asked by a friend if I could come down this past Saturday to Libertyville, IL. He was filming an event and was hoping I could take some promotional pics for him and some documentary type pics for the organizer of the event. I said sure, even though it was a 3+ hour trip and I probably wasn't going to get paid. I was looking for an excuse to get out again, and I was so glad I went. I had a great time, hung out with fun people, laughed a lot, and slept in a clean, peaceful room for a couple of days. Total bliss, and my idea of a great mini vacation.
On the negative side, I weighed in at 188.4 this afternoon. I still haven't had my period yet, but I'm not totally worried as I don't really cycle regularly. I am, however, scheduled for a GYN appointment at the end of the month, so maybe I can get stuff figured out.
The weather this week has been beautiful, and I've been trying to spend more time outside. Misty and I have been taking more walks, and I've been stretching and doing leg lifts and such when I can. I still haven't been hungry, but when I do eat I try and go with healthy choices like baby carrots and such.
I did slide back a little on Thursday when I traveled to Kenosha for a meeting. I drank a 20 oz bottle of Mountain Dew in a 3 hour period, drank a large bottle of water, and many glasses of unsweetened iced tea for most of the night. I stayed up until 4am-ish, then gave up and stayed awake the rest of the day. I got home at about 5pm, then slept to 9am the next day. I can't seem to sleep past 9am, and that's a good thing. The horses would get pissed at me otherwise.
Weight this morning was 186.4. I think I'm bloating a little as it's coming up on that time of the month, so we'll see how things go this week and stuff...
Ostara was Saturday, and to celebrate my live in sister-by choice and I went to a 'mind, body, spirit' type fair in New Lisbon. It was smallish, but had some cool vendors. I got my cards read by someone other than my live-in sister-by choice (from now on SBC1), and they weren't too far off. I guess I'm supposed to be getting going on my businesses, and focusing on the stable first and the photography second. Don't know if that's practical, but we'll see. When given their names she said that SBC2 is a hinderance but managable, but SBC1 (who was with me) is a major problem. When SBC1, who was not introduced to the reader by name, asked if she was a problem or a help, the reader said 'a big help', so I'm taking her reading with a grain of salt. She never mentioned my love life, or lack of it, so I'm going to guess it wasn't important or it's always going to be non-existant.
I haven't really been hungry this week, but I have tried to make good decisions when I do eat. For some reason I've been craving leafy greens, broccoli, oranges, and yogurt. It must be a Spring thing. I'm trying to get walking more, and the belly dancing in the morning is still touch and go. I haven't noticed much difference in my shape, but my pants do seem to fit better.
Weight this morning: 187.6 Yay!
I've decided to do a weekly update to track the changes in my habits, weight, and endurance. I'm hoping that this will help me get more motivated and figure out what works and what doesn't.
I've been eating somewhat better this past week, but I'm having trouble arranging my schedule to get more activity worked in. The first two days I got up at 7am, fed horses, came in and did a 30 minute belly dance basics workout, ate breakfast, went back out to turn out the horses and feed hay, then cleaned stalls. The rest of the time I cleaned house and worked on the computer.
It was going well until day 3 when I got cramps. I managed to do chores and clean stalls, but then curled up in a tiny ball for the rest of the day. The next day I didn't get up until 8am, and the morning routine was pretty much broken for the rest of the week. I did keep my activity up during the day, though I haven't been walking the block yet I have been walking the stairs a lot.
I've also been watching what I eat, and how much. I've been eating more fruit and yogurt and drinking more water. My energy has its ups and downs, but I think that may even out once I get into a better pattern.
It's been easy going to movies. Jac gets a large popcorn, and I get a little bag and take a couple of handfuls for myself. We started doing this a while ago because she likes to put a lot of flavored topping on it, and I'm not a fan of the flavors she chooses. The meal deal we get includes a large soda, and she only really drinks Pepsi, so that's a bit of a problem that I haven't worked out yet. This last time I just didn't drink as much of it, but I'd like to avoid the temptation in the future.
In spite of all of this, I'm down to 192 lbs. It's probably water weight, but any loss is motivating. My goals for this coming week are to plan a workable exercise schedule and make more home made meals.
It's March 1st, and while there's still snow on the ground, you can feel that Spring is on its way. The sun is out, birds are singing, and the horses are starting to shed. There's a scent in the air that promises green grass and warmer days coming, and I can't wait.
With the coming of Spring, my thoughts turn to show and riding season. My list of goals in the side bar mostly deals with horses and riding, but I won't be able to accomplish most of them if I don't work on goal number 8: lose weight and get in shape. I'm currently 194 lbs, and at 5'4" that's around 60 lbs more than I should weigh. I also have no endurance and very little muscle tone in my core. This of course is a pain in the neck (and the back, knees, ankles, etc...), so I've decided to start up my work out routine again.
I'm starting out slow and easy so I don't hurt myself, especially since my back has been twitchy lately. I have a belly dance basic moves exercise DVD that is low impact with lots of stretching and isolations that I'll do every morning in the break between feeding the horses and turning them out. Once I can get through the whole routine without getting winded and overheated, I'll switch to another DVD.
After the morning workout, I'll finish horse chores and clean the barn (muck stalls, sweep cobwebs, scrub and fill water buckets and tanks, etc...), come in and clean the house, and then I get to rest and work in the office for a while
In the afternoon I'll be walking, starting with a short distance at first and working up to walking around the whole block, which is about 4 miles, give or take. I'd like to jog eventually, but I need to either lose weight in my bodice area first (I'm a 38 DD) or invest (and I do mean invest) in a high impact sport bra. It's so hard to find a really good sport bra for big chested women that actually fits well. You certainly can't find them at Wal-Mart.
I'll also be changing my eating habits, much to my roommate's dismay. I'm still researching meal plans, but I want to eat more fruits and veggies, drink more water, cut back on refined sugars, and avoid white flour pastas and breads. It means meal planning and organized grocery shopping, but it needs to be done. I'm planning my veggie garden for this summer, so that should help with the grocery costs and give me more variety.
That's the plan so far. I'll be blogging to track of my progress and to help me stay on course. And I'll try to have actual horse related news and updates as well!
Diadem Golden Jul 1973-2010
CBA Bahim Shetan 1984-2010
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