It's Snowing in San Diego

The east coast may have found Nemo, but San Diego seems to have found some snow! My sister lives a little over an hour away and she got snow that stuck around. While it didn't snow in my neighborhood, we did get hail. It's kinda like the same thing only you don't want to stand outside with your mouth open to catch it.

The house was nice and toasty this morning, the last thing I wanted to do was venture into the cold and windy outdoors. But I had to get my last workout of the week in. I've gotta log my miles for Relay. Though I won't be walking all 24 hours, I do my fair share of track time - at the least I get in 6 miles. There was one year I actually walked the length of a half marathon. My feet were definitely feeling that.


I wish that I'd had firewood lying around the house. This would have been the perfect night for it. Instead, I just turned the heat up a little, sat at a table and did a little valentine nail art. I'm not super good at it, but it's an enjoyable way to wind down for the evening, especially with some tunes playing in the background.

my valentine nail art

See, it's cold and rainy nights like this that I would snuggle up in a blanket on the couch and watch a movie. This challenge has really made me think of alternative ways to keep myself mildly entertained. What would you do if you couldn't watch tv? How would you spend your time?

28 Day Challenge - The first 6 days

If your significant other challenged you to 28 days of no TV or video games, would you accept?
I did. I accepted his challenge well aware of how much I would probably miss my TV shows. And do I? YES!!

We just finished day 6 and can I just say, I MISS MY TV!! While I don't miss it all the time, I do find myself craving it occasionally when I'm eating lunch or dinner by myself. The house is so much quieter. The first couple of days I was so crabby; snappy, even. It was like going through a detox. I kept telling myself "I'm bored. There's nothing to do." But it wasn't true. I have a lot of things around the house that could occupy my time, but I "needed" my TV. I needed the tv, not because I had to watch it, but because I couldn't. I'm perfectly fine reading a book, browsing the net or even finally getting to that project I've always been meaning to start/finish. TV was my background noise.

Here are a few things I've done since the TV has been off:
1. I've listened to my music a lot more in the last 6 days than I have in the last 6 weeks.
2. After 8 years of shelving a story I was writing, I finally pulled it out and started to finish it.
3. Took my dog, Zoe, to the dog park. She's in heaven.
4. Finished a book in 4 days and started reading another.
5. Walked to the library and spent my free time browsing their vast collection.
6. Actually used our Thai cookbook and tried my hand at Asian cooking. I made a fish curry. It turned out well enough that I would make it again!
7. Went roller skating. I haven't done that in years!

So I'm being a little more productive. I think I just need to make that list of all the projects that I've wanted to start or finish and pick something every day to accomplish. I've found that as long as I keep myself busy, I don't feel the need to watch TV or play video games. Being out and about makes this challenge a lot easier. It's the getting home and feeling the need to jump back into my old routine of vegging on the couch that has made this a little difficult. But I'm hanging in there and craving the TV a little less every day.

My original plan was to blog at the start of this challenge, but somehow that escaped me. So I will do my best to keep you all updated on the rest of my TV detox. Here's to weening off the things that rot my brain...

Horror Movie Junkie

I admit to loving horror movies. Mama comes out today, so as it is a friend's birthday and he LOVES horror movies just as much as I do, guess what we're doing today for his birthday?! That's right, going to see a horror movie. His girlfriend doesn't like that genre, so it's become our thing. My boyfriend will watch them with me, but he's been working like crazy the last year, so I had to find a new buddy.

So Happy Birthday, S! Let's so get scared! :)

Newborns make everything better

My friends, H & M,  had their baby yesterday afternoon. A healthy baby boy, born at 1:11pm, weighing 7lbs, 6oz. He is so adorable. I just want to put him in my pocket and carry him everywhere!

I spent the day at the hospital with them visiting and taking pictures of the little man. You can't have a bad day when sleeping newborns are in the room. He's just too precious.

Welcome to the world, Justin James!

Giant Headache

Have you ever had one of those headaches that just come on so quickly and out of left field and NOTHING seems to make it better? Yeah, that's what I have. It totally sucks. I took some Tylenol - that didn't help. I tried drinking some caffeine - that didn't help. Dehydration perhaps? Maybe. I've been drinking water all night and it's still killing me.
I got a hair cut today and my headache started there at the salon. So maybe it was the color treatment fumes from the lady beside me. Not sure. In any case, this headache is killing me.
I'm off to bed early to see if I can sleep it off.
Hope you all had a great day.

Winner

While my day may not have started out great - I woke up super sore from my intense workouts the last few days - it ended kinda awesomely. I got a free cupcake at Sprinkles and I got a call from my gym saying that I won a free month for their Member Appreciation Week. How amazing is that?! Going to the gym the last 3 days has totally paid off. Not only am I making myself healthier, I'm being rewarded for it! Generally when I put my name in one of those jars to try and win whatever they are offering, nothing ever comes of it. I can't say that anymore. It definitely was a good ending to the day.


So go to the gym! Maybe it'll pay off in good ways for you!

New Year's Resolutions

1st New Year's resolution: update blog more often. (we'll see how long I can keep this up)
2nd New Year's resolution: actually exercise and shed these 30+ pounds my meds made me gain.  (I have friends to go to the gym with, so it might actually happen)

I'm back into the +American Cancer Society's Relay for Life mode. The new season has begun. Thus kicks into gear my exercise regime to ready myself for 24 hours of awesomeness! And you all get to be a part of it here.  My team (all 8 of us) did amazing last year and I'm sure we'll keep up our awesomeness again this year. I'm not so thrilled with the theme this year; Passport to Relay.  Each team chooses a country to represent somehow and on the day of the event, people will get a passport of some kind to go around and get stamps to visit said countries. I think it'll be a challenge, but I'll find some way to make it work. I heard that another team has already chosen Israel, which is the country my mom will want. If not Israel, I vote for Belgium. I like their waffles. :) I'll see if the team is on board.

I got roped into being on the committee this year. I don't know how that happened. I've been asked to be the Team Captain mentor. I know that they want me to take over Leo's position as the TC Coordinator, but it's not my thing right now. Though I'm happy to help in this way. So I'll mentor the team captains and share my secrets to being awesome. :) As much as I may complain about it, I actually enjoy the company of all the people in the committee. They have become my extended family. So here's to good times ahead!

And on that note, I leave you with the silliness that ensued after dinner tonight.

A Message For Jennie

I know I've been a little lax on my updates and I need to catch you up on the outcome of Relay, but today I want to spread a little love to my friend, Jennie Grimes. She was feeling a little down today and I thought this post would lift her spirits a little. Her mets (metastatic cancer) friends are losing their battle one by one and it's taken its toll on her. I just wanted to let Jennie know how much she's loved.

My dearest Jennie,

You are an amazing woman. I'm not sure you realize how much you mean to everyone, especially to me. You make me want to fight harder for things; to not let my own disease dictate my life. I want to live life to its fullest; to not worry so much about what will happen, but what can I do right now and make this day amazing. 

My butterfly fundraiser to fight this horrid disease was a success. Your butterflies are here in San Diego. You are flying endlessly with them. This video is for you. 

With all my heart,

Deb

Frustrated

Ugh. I just want to scream and pull someone's hair out!!

I found out that my former employer never canceled my health insurance after they let me go a year ago. So now it's affecting my current medical bills. They won't charge my current health insurance because it's technically my secondary. I'm not the subscriber, my boyfriend is. They have my primary insurance as the one from my old work which I don't have. I need my Remicade infusion today. It's something I cannot miss.

So now I eagerly await the phone call from HR at my former job and hope they can retroactive the termination date to Feb 2011. This is not cool (enter company name here).

Feeling Crappy But Happy

So I seemed to have caught a cold a couple days ago and I woke up this morning feeling SUPER crappy. The last thing I wanted to do was wake up and go to the gym.

But I did it.
Yes. That's right. I went to the gym for the 2nd time. Wow. Go motivation. I don't know where it's coming from, but if I can somehow drag myself there while sick, then I think I can do this regularly while healthy.

I'm hopeful this lasts. Many thanks to my friends for their encouragement and support. It means a lot.

My GI doc called me today with good news. All my blood tests came back with good results. I'm no longer anemic, no thyroid issues, and no gluten intolerance. I'm celiac free. Woo! He did say that I should continue my food diary and keep up with the exercise and as long as I get my Remicade infusions regularly and don't miss any, I'll stay healthy. YES! That's what I like to hear.

Now if I can only lose some of this weight...

Gym Day 3. Here I come!