What? Blogging again?

Should I really write again tonight?  Yeah, I'm procrastinating; I should be knitting my O.W.L.  But here I am.

So, cool things: I discovered, thanks to one of my wonderful Ravenclaw sisters, ChoreWars.  Seriously!? (Interrobang!)  A D&D game where your chores are your Adventures!  David and I are both in; he's on the team earning points.  I totally beat him to making his lunch.  I told him he had until 8:00 to come volunteer to help me, and he didn't, so I got the 15 points!  Go me.

Is it silly? Er, yes.  But way more fun than doing dishes without battling a Water Goblin.

Other cool things... let's see.  I am Kitchener Stitch away from finishing an Elephant.

I made David some socks!

And that'll be 5 days tracking food on SparkPeople, thank you very much.

Less good things: David takes his very first ever installment of the MCAS exam tomorrow.  Joy.  And Netflix is not working.  Pout.  I wanna watch reruns of Xena Warrior Princess!

Streaks and Sparks

I don't even, as I start writing today, know what I'm going to call this post.  I think I'll wait to see what it's about.


Okay, I started back on SparkPeople again on Friday, and started trying to take walks during my break at work on Thursday, and it's been a pretty good run so far.  I have tracked my food every day--including today.  I walked Thursday, Friday, and Saturday.  Sunday was impossible: we had D's Blue and Gold Banquet and in between church and that, we cleaned the guinea pig cages.  By the time we were done, it was time to get ready.  So okay, I let Sunday go.


I didn't want to let today go, though.  I really didn't.  But it was snowing all day today.  And I'm sorry, I can't take my knitting and my iPod for a walk in the snow.  It's just Not Fun.  So I thought, okay, I'm going to go to the gym tonight.  When T comes home, I'll ask him if he'll hang out with the kid, maybe help him with that last bit of homework, and I'll go to the post office and fill my gas tank and go to the gym and spend 20 minutes, even, on a treadmill.


Except poor T is still at work.  It's 10:10pm, and he's still not home.  His fault?  Heavens, no.  He is working at keeping his business afloat and thus keeping us in a house and clothes and all that great stuff I appreciate so much.  But I really wanted to go for a walk today.  Someday we will own an elliptical trainer.  But right now we don't.


I think my only choice at the moment is one of my 20-minute Yoga videos.  I don't want to just give up at this early time.  So far, I'm on a "streak" and I want to keep it up.  I've finally chosen things I'm actually going to do to record, and I think I'd like to, you know, do them.  Every day.  10 minutes of exercise? I can do that each day, I can.  I've joined a Spark Challenge that has a trophy for doing 10 minutes of exercise every day.  Today, I start it.  I like trophies.  Trophies are wicked fun.  I need more pixelated trophies in my life.  It's like badges in the House Cup.  I will do a whole lot for a badge.


I'm reading The Spark.  I don't know why I resisted reading it for so long; I thought I knew everything there was to know by getting on the website.  But some of the things they ask you to do make sense now that I've actually read a few chapters, and, put in context, I now want to do them.  Spark Streaks are one.  


I'm adding a counter gadget--probably just me filling in numbers--for how many days I've been on my streaks.  Officially on SparkPeople I'm now on day one of most of my streaks, because I just set them today, but it's really day 4 for food tracking.


Okay, that's not the brilliant idea I had for a blog post this afternoon during lunch, but I can't remember that idea now and at least I've written something, right?


You wanna see my badges?

It ain't over when the fat lady sings.

As the two white horses make a headlong, mad dash along the road, one grasping hand clutches the wagon they draw.  Slowly, slowly, a second hand reaches up to join it, and even more slowly, the tired, wretched arms pull a head and neck over the edge of the wagon.


I reflect, when I am in this situation of repeatedly getting on and falling off again, that the damned wagon is trying to get rid of me.


But here I am again, determinedly starting afresh at the cusp of springtime.  Yesterday, I took my knitting for a walk during my lunch break--and again today. Today, I have eaten very carefully thus far, and plan to get it all down into SparkPeople before I chicken out.


I've undone the work I did in January.  This doesn't entirely surprise me.  I was sick for about 6 weeks straight, between upper-respiratory and crazy abdominal gynecological weirdness.  I'm over it now.  I'm less stressed about work than I was, and I am happily taking steps toward work-related dream-fulfillment.  Today we went to the playground without boots or snow pants, and despite the wind we didn't really need our coats.  So March seems a better time than January to try... though January seemed a good time to try when I tried. 


I could just give up, right?  I could accept that my body is carrying around a good 65 extra pounds and go back to the Oreos.  I could lie down and refuse to get up.  What good is it gonna do anyway, eh? I'm just gonna gain it all back in a month.  Or two.  


It's tempting, it really is.


But if we don't fight against osmosis, if we let the universe come to bits around our feet and don't struggle to put things back in their orderly places, then we might as well curl up and die.  I'm not ready for that.  My brain does horrible things to my body when I am battling depression, fatigue, and illness. My brain does not-so-great things to my body some other times too: when cake calls, or that fabulous cheesy ravioli in cream sauce...  But there's more than one side to my brain.  I'm a fairly smart gal, you know.  I might even be able to outsmart myself.


Moving my body, watching my food intake... things I really am not fond of, but I must do them in order to keep from an early grave.  


Back on the wagon.  Back on the bicycle.  Riding again.


Knitting pics, anyone?

Pirate Baby Hat for Steph!

Hufflepuff Earrings

Me... in my happy new Rainbow Phoenix Scarf