@MusicCandy @SadMe70 A place to communicate

I went to see the doctor at the pain place today and I really liked him. I am going to try a spinal steroid injection when school is out. I did that 4 years ago and it didn't help me, but I'm willing to try again. My MRI shows further degeneration in the two herniated discs since my 2013 MRI, and I have arthritis in my neck.

I had to take a half day off work to go for the consult ,so after my appt was over I went to Tropical Smoothie Cafe and got a huge chicken Ceasar salad. Ate half, and planned to put the other half in the fridge at work to have for lunch tomorrow. Forgot, and left it in the hot car all day! Doh! Threw it out tonight :( Also got a choc milkshake at Carl's, a Fredericksburg local favorite. Yummy!! Had a good curry for dinner from the freezer. Drank way too much wine on Saturday night and felt awful on Sunday morning. Had one glass tonight.

My restorative yoga class tonight was fantastic. It was just the set of poses my body needed tonight. I actually felt energetic when I got home. If you are familiar with yoga, we did a pigeon pose but with a bolster under our chest for support ,and held 3 min on each side. My right hip was so tight and I actually felt it loosen up some.

I like your idea of a series of plans for after school. I haven't figured out a schedule for myself for the summer. I did a bad job last summer of exercising and getting things done around here. I need to do better this year. Maybe I can lose the weight while I'm away from junk food central! What sorts of things are in your 7-day plan?

Our health insurance is through my husband's work, but it is offered to me through school too. None of it is very good, and it was bad before Obamacare. My husband will be 70 this year. He's got to keep going 2 more years. I have not done summer school because my husband wants me home to work on our summer projects, but it is definitely an option for after he retires.

I think my post-yoga energy is fading, so I'm going to get things ready for tomorrow and watch a little TV with him until bed. Have a great week!

I bet it was good for you to find out why your pain is just- well- a Pain! I hope the specialist has some good options, at least you have a better idea of the cause and potential treatments. I do a little yoga, and pilates. I'll have to look up the pigeon pose. I like some of the floor work and usually just do some on my own after my weights at the gym. I have a couple of DVD's for rainy days when I don't want to drive.

I have a pretty good routine for now, exercise wise. Rachael and my fiance and I go to the gym/pool every Mon,Tues and Wed . I get some water aerobics while she is in the pool for about 30 min and then 10-15 min on the bike while she shoots a few baskets.She loves the pool and basketball. Other days- I get in 2 strength(mostly upper body) workouts and stretching plus the stair climbing on weekends at work. I feel like I'm better on track with consistancy in that area at least.

Still thinking about my plan for after school, which for me ends mid-May. I want to do a 7 day no wine- smoothie/salad/fruit and vegetable eating plan. Then after the 7 days I will allow wine on the 3 days off-4 days on like I did before. I accomplished that well for over a month and then for whatever reason just slipped up and before you know it- no plan at all.I think I have to choose goals that I know are possible and practical for me on my busy scedule - and as we know belief is half the battle! I know you will help me stay on track too.

Do you have any specific goals now or are you waiting for school to end too? It should help with less junk food around . I'm with you whatever you choose. I love the warm weather and I am enjoying walks in the parks and at the river- that helps our mood for sure. Have a happy Friday and I'll check back in over the week-end.

Sounds like you have a great exercise routine! I would like to do more hiking before it gets hot. I've only made it to the park twice lately,. but I have at least done some kind of exercise aobut 5 days each week.

I like your plan. I should think about something like the 4 days on/ 3 days off idea for the wine. I do better without it. I don't have a specific plan figured out yet. I hope to lose some while school is out and I'm away from the junk. They had ice cream sundaes again on Friday. I didn't eat a sundae but I ate some candy from the toppings bowls.

My big news is that I'm getting my first new car. My husband and I have been talking about getting a car and getting rid of one of our 2 old pickup trucks. My younger son could then use my current car. He has a summer job an hour away, 8-5 every weekday. I really like my current car, a 2002 Mazda Tribute, and my husband has been looking online at CX-5s, which is the current version of the Tribute. We were looking only at used cars, having never been able to afford new ones, when he found a dealer in Richmond with some 2016s with hail damage that they discounted down to close to what he was seeing for used ones. He bought one as a surprise to me. I was in shock and didn't react very well to the idea of him spending that much and picking a car without me trying it out first. I never ever do well with getting things sprung on me, and I always react badly. Once I calmed down and listened to him, I found that he made sure it had lots of features to help me, including a backup camera since I cannot turn my neck very far and have trouble backing up. I feel like such an awful and ungrateful person. I don't know why I can't control myself and be rational. I just panic when something changes, especially if it's a big thing, and I fall to pieces and act irrational. I will be getting the car on Thurs or Friday (I haven't seen it in person), but I feel guilty and awful.

So that is your good news/bad news for the week. You are getting a new car but you didn't seem grateful enough- if that's the worst thing than can happen.. take heart. . Every person on the planet has something about their personality and traits that they wish they could change; AND I think it's perfectly OK to feel guilty and bad about your initial reaction. Still, it could be worse. Myself, I tend to be too rational and people see me as cool and detached. Like I don't care about their feelings. Even my fiance is much more affectionate and physically loving than I tend to be- unless I make an effort. It's usually the other way around, so there you go. I , like you, hate change but I do love surprises. Except with my previous marriage, my ex along with my young daughter would bring randome pets. so when they saud "Mom, guess what we got" -my first Q was "Do I have to feed it?" The young one's answer was "It will be my 'sponsibility" Right!

I'm sure your son will enjoy your car and I know you will love your car too- and you will make it up to your husband. Then you can stop feeling guilty.

I am gradually preparing my mental state for The Plan. 2 more weeks of school for me, preschool ends earlier than public school. They hatched 10 baby chicks in the 4 y/o room- they are so cute. Do you hatch chicks or just goats? As a child I remember my grandparents going to the feed and seed store and bringing a big crate of them to the farm and keeing them under warm lights for a few days. Funny the memories that stick with you.

It's Nurses week/ Hospital week so more food and junk for me. I am not trying to change anything yet, but getting ready for it. I will have to have plenty of healthy alternatives on hand when I start it. I'm here for the week-end so I'll check back later. Cheer Up-life is short.

I don't like the car. As soon as I sat in it, the forward-tilting headrest was pushing my head toward my chin. We googled that issue and found lots of people complaining about it, especially short people because it doesn't hit us at the right spot. This is exactly the sort of reason I wanted to try out cars before I picked one. The back window is much smaller than my other car, and the rear headrests block so much of my rear vision that I had to take them off and now they are just floating around the car in the way. Again, this might not be an issue for a taller person who could see over them. There are other issues too. I just want my old, comfortable car. Who buys a car without trying it out??

Last week was a bad week for me, between hating the car and anticipating my Dad's birthday, which was Sunday. I wanted to be with my mom and sisters but I was stuck here. I did see my sons on Saturday, which was comforting. I am feeling very off-kilter. I only exercised on Monday and Tuesday. I could not go on Wed morning, so I got to work feeling cranky. Then I had to run the K class just for an hour in the morning because the teacher had a meeting, but I was so grouchy with them. There was testing across the hallway and they had to be quiet, and they wouldn't (couldn't really) and I got really sharp with them. I felt awful.

This is my first day driving the car to work, and I really don't want to deal with people gushing over my wonderful new car that I ought to be happy about. At least I am going to the Y this morning first.

I'm sorry to have an entirely whiny post. I am just not doing well these last few days. Hoping this week will be better!!

When I got home from work that day I told him I didn't want the car. We had another huge fight, but now my son is going to buy it from us. He was going to buy a new car anyway. He wanted to look at a Prius, but I guess he's being nice to smooth out problems. I am grateful that I have your shoulder. I do need it, a lot lately it seems! I don't feel like I acted the best in this whole thing, since he meant to do something wonderful for me, but I can't spend the next 10 or 15 years driving a car I hate. If he had taken me to look at it first, I knew right away that it was not comfortable for me to drive.

I'm glad you had a good experience with your mom for Mother's Day! I enjoyed seeing my two sons the day before. Mother's Day itself was my dad's birthday. I can't remember if I said that above, but mom and my sisters were together for it. I kept myself very busy that day so I could distract myself from the sadness as much as possible. I am going to see mom the week after school is out. It turns out that the facility where dad was is having a memorial service that week, so I will get to go with her to that. We are still working on the tombstone, but I will go see his grave anyway for the first time since the funeral.

I will be done school next week. My heart is not in it these last few months and my patience is thin, so partly I am very glad it's almost over for a while. Partly I am also afraid of not having that daily distraction. I am mostly depressed or angry at home, but I feel good while I'm there. How did your music classes go this week? The foot soak sounds great! I hardly exercised this week and have no plan for summer yet, but I am going hiking this morning, hopefully with my son.

Hello, sorry for the long delay in replying! I have been really up and down all week. Yesterday was the last day of school, so I'm trying to get a grip now that I have time to breathe. I actually went out twice with work people this week. I rarely go out at all so this was unusual for me! Our paraprofessional team, about a dozen of us, went to lunch on Wed (half day of school). Last night, the kindergarten chair had a cookout (turned cook-in thanks to the storm!) for the K team. I enjoyed both, though I always feel awkward even when out with friends. In addition to generally feeling anxious, I sometimes get this very weird feeling of being super uncomfortable and wanting to leave. It happened only for a while at the para lunch, and not at all at dinner, so that was nice.

I have not figured out my specific exercise goals for the summer, but I figure my eating will be better since I'll be away from junk food central. I just need to get back on track with dinner planning and cooking. I've been doing a lot of carryout for about 3 weeks. I would like to lose just 10 pounds, shrink my belly back to where I can fit into the clothes that fit me when I started this job 2 years ago. Maybe if my clothes all fit again in August, I can be stronger about resisting the junk at school.

A big goal for the summer is to make sure I am productive. Last summer was my first one off since college, and I was very lazy, staying up late watching TV, sleeping in so that it was too hot by the time I was ready to think about going outside to do yardwork. This year my goal is to keep going to bed on time, but I will let myself sleep until 7 instead of my school-year time of 5:30. Then I can do outside stuff for a few hours in the morning, come in when it's hot and do my inside projects and cooking, etc. Maybe go back outside when it's cool again, water the garden, or go take a walk or something. I want to be active and productive, which will also help my mental health hopefully. I would like you to help me keep to my goal of not staying up late, so that I can get up and make use of my days. I have a lot I want to do! Even if I don't get it all done, as long as I am doing *something* every day and not wasting it like last year, I'll be happy. I need help sticking to that.

I thought about summer school but my husband didn't really want me to do it because we do have some outdoor projects we hope to get done. I have a LOT of trouble making myself get started on outdoor stuff, but once I do, I usually really enjoy it. Also, last year I planted a garden and then I didn't take care of it and got very little from it. I've got a few plants in, and I want to do a better job of that this year because I'd really like to have some stuff to freeze.

We sold our last two baby goats last Sunday, so both those 2 mamma goats are at peak production now, plus I have the one I have been milking all year. I am getting 4-5 quarts of milk a day. After I milk this morning, I'll have over 6 gallons of milk, so today and tomorrow are cheesemaking days. I have been looking forward to getting back to that. I hope for that to be one of my mid-day activities this summer.

On Tuesday I am going to visit my mom through Sunday. My sister is taking off part of the week also, and we're going to start cleaning out the basement. She was going to rent a dumpster but it's $600 for 2 weeks which seems awfully high, so we are going to wing it. The dump is an hour away, but we will make at least one trip with two vehicles to take stuff that can't go out in her trash, like electronics. She is able to put one large item out per week, so she's been making a lot of headway in the main part of the house. We plan to burn paper stuff. The facility where my dad died is having a memorial ceremony on Wed that week, so I will get to attend that. I'm glad since I missed his birthday. We are still going back and forth on tombstone sketches with the tombstone people, so there is no stone at his grave yet, but I haven't been to his grave since the funeral so I will probably go.

This post has gotten really long, so I'm going to stop and get myself up and doing. I did make myself wake up at 7, even though I have not done anything yet! It's a start!

It's me again. I forgot one more thing :) I also have been sleeping badly, awake for 2-3 hours in the middle of the night, and for months I've been toying with subscribing to calm.com because I like the short guided meditations they have available for free. I broke down and did it a few days ago, and have listened to the "daily calm" while going to sleep for 2 nights. I fall asleep before it's done, and have not laid awake for hours either of those 2 nights. I don't know if it's from that or not, but it's something to try! One bummer is that their "sleep stories" which I also wanted to use, are only available on the phone app, and not the regular website. There are lots of guided meditations though, so that should keep me for a while.

I had a busy week too, and now I can't ck. my e-mail at work( they blocked it because of that malware) so I have to remember to bring my laptop. YEA- School's out! I thought about volunteering to sub for summer camp preschool, but it turns out I'll be working an extra shift at the hospital every week again starting end of June. So I just have a few weeks to take it a little easy. I also Love working outside. I just have a few herb boxes and some flowers, but I haven't planted a full garden at my new house . There isn't much full sun since I have a lot of oak trees. I just like being out in my yard just puttering. That will be a nice break.

I am encouraged by your "plan", to commit to getting up at 7. I'll hold you to it. I was feeling down too about me not doing what I wish I would, in really any of my goals except exercising. Then I realized, of course that is happening since I don't have any plan written down to ck. off. I am going to do that starting next week. I am still thinking about the goals I want to include and be specific, but I really do have to write it down or I just won't do it and then I'll feel guilty. Spiral down from there.

I hope you have a happy time with your family- bittersweet I know. I'll be here at work the week-end so I may ck back in later, but it's fine if you are busy and don't get back here until next week. I don't like parties either unless there is some activity except standing around eating and talking. My boss is retiring and I have one of those to attend, but I won't stay long.

You sound energized and that is good. Get out in the sunshine!

Enjoy your few weeks before the extra shift starts! As always, I am impressed with how hard you work! I am good at starting a garden but my follow-through is not so good. I didn't water or weed very well last year. I got lots of squash, and my herbs grew well, but everything else was a bust. We don't get much sunlight, which doesn't help, but hopefully I will do better with the watering and will get more veggies this year!

I was very productive in the cheesemaking dept yesterday. I got 3 kinds of cheese and a yogurt going. I had to get up at 2:30 am to do something with 2 of the cheeses, so I did not get up at 7 but that's ok because 2:30 counts :) I never printed out my exercise/PT checklist for May. That was helping me make sure to at least get close to those goals. A list always helps me, but I haven't figured out what to do for summer yet, so I haven't made a new list. I'm like you - if I have a list in front of my face, I am more likely to do it.

My one bad thing yesterday was that I went out to the animal pen to find that a fox or raccoon had gotten in, the first time since we moved the chickens in with the goats last summer. My flock is decimated. I only had 10 chickens left anyway, but they took 3, killed 4 more. Of the 3 that are left, one is injured and the other 2 are completely freaked out. I have 5 chicks in a brooder box in the house and now I am afraid to put them outside. I thought the goats would deter predators but clearly not, so now I have no idea how to protect them.

When is your boss's party? Is that at the hospital? No chance of it being the preschool director retiring??

Last night we had "healthy" smoothies made of frozen fruit and veggie medley, but oops, we added rum :) Between the rum and the interrupted sleep, I am not feeling super energized this morning, but I am excited to work on my cheese. I might also go buy more chicks. Not sure yet. So there are things to look forward to!