Hello? Is this thing on? *taps mic*

Hey there blogheads. If anyone still reads blogs on blogger, that is. Did you all move to the Tumblr?

It's been ages since my last post, since just after New Year's to be exact. A lot of stuff has happened since then, but let's just narrow it down.

I work at a bookstore, and I love it. I also have been having severe issues with my ankle again. I went to the same surgeon/foot specialist I saw all through my teen years and I had some x-rays done today. My ankle is extremely arthritic, but other than that, it is all good. Nothing to worry about other than general weakness causing some severe pain. I got a cortisone shot and a prescription for some steroids. I have a couple of bone spurs on the right side of my left ankle, but they are not bone-on-bone, and asymptomatic, although they are moderate in size. All my pain is on the left side of my left ankle.

My doctor also heavily suggested getting in shape. I know losing the weight will help my ankle in the long run and some strength training will help it in the short term as well. I was given a list of physical therapy exercises to do, and I bought some of those elastic resistance bands at work. Hey, they are 30% off with my discount, so I am totally taking advantage of it. So I was told to do the elliptical on no resistance and 0 incline, and the stationary bike as well as doing some core work.

I've been doing the physical therapy exercises for a while now, and I do think it is helping, although I do not do it religiously, and I really need to. Same with the exercising.

I am on a work restriction for the next 6 weeks until my follow up appointment. I was so worried that I was going to have to have surgery or be told that I can't work, and I do not want to lose my job. I love it so much. I have never been happier in a job, my coworkers are awesome, I really love the management as well. They are super accommodating, especially to a newbie gimp like me. I only started there at the end of April so to have their support and seeing how willing they are to work around my disability... yeah. It feels awesome. Super awesome.

I have lost a little bit of weight since I started working there, but not a whole lot. Just 5 lbs. But hey, 5 lbs in a month is super awesome!

Part of me was really hoping I would lose 10-20 since I have not been on my feet much but you know what, I think a lot of it is water weight too, I have been swelling up in my feet, so I drink tons of water now.

We finally have insurance. It's through Obamacare, but I am happy to have it. We got the three of us covered for both health and dental and we only pay $70 a month for it. It is brilliant and I could not be more pleased.

Brian went to the Appleseed Comic Con 2 weekends ago and he had an artist table. He sold a lot of prints and commissioned sketches over two days and I am so proud of him. He also got an interview with a local university! We made a good bit of money too, which had me extra proud of him. I went into it thinking we were going to be at a loss, because it was our first convention and he is not that well known yet. I thought we were going to be rewarded with some exposure and experience, but I was (delightfully) wrong!

I think that we are going to do another one this year, probably in November. We will be able to do a little bit of traveling for it, and that makes me happy. Brian said that he had a lot of fun and if that is what he could do for a living, traveling and going to conventions and selling artwork, he would be so happy. So I am going to try and make that a reality for us.

Brian had gone to the dentist and needs to have a lot of work done on his teeth but thankfully we have dental insurance now and that makes me so happy that we will be able to afford to send him.

I work part time at the bookstore, but part time is around 30 hours a week, so I am making more money than I was at home and that makes my heart happy. I know I just started working there and I still am in the honeymoon phase of my job, but I have always wanted to be a librarian and this fulfills that dream of mine on some level. If I can manage to become full time at some point, they also pay for schooling, and I would love to go get my bachelors and eventually my masters in library science.

I have made so many friends with my coworkers too. It's nice having my own set of friends that I do not have to share with Brian. They all think (know) that I am crazy, but I don't think that they really understand the depths of my isolation before, and how utterly lonely it is not to have any real friends of my own.

These people are also insanely geeky and I love that about them. I find I have something in common with most of them, and that I can really relate. Some of my coworkers even live close by, so that makes it even easier to hang out with them. Have I yet? No. But it's going to happen.

I went in today to drop off my doctor's note and to talk to the managers, and all of my coworkers came up to me and asked me how my doctor appointment went, and I could see the genuine concern in their faces. I was so worried that I would have to have surgery and lose my job, and I could tell that they could see it and that they didn't want me to lose it either. Six plus weeks is a long time to request off for surgery, especially since I was only hired a month ago. I got a few hugs too, when I told them that I wouldn't be needing it. I told you they were concerned.

I almost cried then.

But I didn't.

I finally saw Frozen. Did not like it, it felt really loose in the plot. We are doing a Frozen party at work, and I totally did not volunteer to help out. I can't stand the movie, so I would not be able to handle all the parents and kids belting out "Let It Go" all day long.



ah well, I have to get going. I am meeting a friend at the gym. It's my first time going since I renewed my membership last week. I haven't been able to walk since then, so it will be nice to go.

Closing thought: It's really hard to drive a stick shift with a walking cast on.

Feelin' the Burn

I've decided that I am going to do Weight Watcher meetings as well as be an online subscriber. I think the social interaction and the accountability will be great for me. I love driving the car and going places now, so I think it will be some great "me" time to do it. I will have to wait until I can get paid to join up, but meh, I'm feeling very patient lately.

I started this squat challenge I found on Pinterest. One of my friends was doing it, so I decided to pin it and eventually give it a shot. I think she is on day 13 and Wednesday was my Day 1. What can I say, I want to do it at the start of the month :)

Anyway, here is the image, if you would like to join me on this challenge. I've decided that I am going to do half of the squats standard, and the other half are going to be wide-stance squats, to work the inner thighs more. Oh, I love the self-inflicted punishments.

I have another routine that I am going to start today (because I forgot to yesterday when I went to the gym) and that is Prevention's Shrink a Size in 14 days. Average participants lost 12 lbs and 22 inches off of their bodies, just by following the workouts and a sensible diet. What diet? Whatever yours is, as there isn't one listed or recommended. However since I follow WW, I'm just going to stick with that.

I bought a new scale, kitchen scale, and a new set of measuring cups and spoons. I got the official Biggest Loser kitchen scale, and I like it so far. It definitely makes it easier to weigh out pasta and protein, since WW counts fruits and veggies as "free".

The bathroom scale is pretty high tech too. It records your BMI, bone density, hydration levels, and body fat percentage. My hydration was crazy low. It is supposed to be in the range of 50-55% of my body weight, and I was registering at 38.5%, so I've made drinking water a priority.

I stayed under my points today, which is always great! In addition to eating right and drinking lots of water, I worked out pretty hard core too. I am definitely feeling the burn. My legs are very jiggly and like jelly.

I did:

50 squats
45 tricep extensions (15 per arm, then 15 two handed extension)
25 minutes on the elliptical at a 3.5-4.0 pace
100 each hip adduction and hip abduction at 130 lbs (or as I like to call them, the gyno machines.)
12 minute ab circuit.

Now, I am officially going to pass out for a few hours. It's currently almost 2:30 AM right now and I have to wake up at 5 to make Brian's breakfast and lunch. Although I did most of the prep work already. We are having a healthier version of french toast. He's also eating leftovers for lunch! Booyah!!

Movers, Inc!

My biggest problem with this apartment we live in hasn't been the location. It's great. It hasn't been the rent- it's reasonable. It's been the neighbors we are sandwiched between. 

Two old German ladies, who despise each other and every one else. One lives across the hall from us and the other in the next building (we share a wall with her). 

In the past 3 years, we have been verbally abused by both of these women. Harassed, harangued, you name it. One of them actually threatened to black mail us. I don't know what she thought she had to black mail us with, but it was over a parking spot. The other has told everyone that I plan to kill her, because I didn't say hi to her while she was in her car with tinted windows. Sorry lady, I don't care enough about you to even say hello, so why would I exert effort in trying to kill you? I honestly can't make this up.

Crazy German Neighbor, as she is known on Facebook and to family and friends, yells about everything. She complained about the road being too small then when they expanded it, she complained about that too. She complained that she broke her feet and then complained that the medical company wanted her to pay for her foot braces. She's complained about every neighbor we have in the building to my face, so I know she complains about me too. 

This last month was heaven though, she had gone away to Florida for a whole month. While she was gone, everyone was friendly. We all chatted and laughed, and the world was a little brighter. Brian and I caught ourselves saying "why did we want to move, again?" 

But one dark, rainy night, she came back. She immediately began to yell and scream (this time at her husband,  for not hobbling fast enough with her luggage) and then spent the rest of the night cleaning the carpets in the building. I am not making this shit up.

She also hates dogs. Ever since we brought Max home, she's glared, grimaced, and slammed doors in our face. If she's on her way to leave and she sees Max coming up the stairs, she runs back in her apartment, slamming the door. I caught her doing it more than once. Batty old lady.

But today she took it one step further. She called the office today and told them my dog was tracking in feces everywhere. We were in direct violation of our pet policy, but we had 24 hours to contest the complaint. And I contested. I told the owner that, no, there was not dog poo all over the hallway. There was mud from when the snow melted, and that got tracked all over, but I couldn't really do anything about that. I told her that I picked up his poo diligently and that Brian did, too. And once she heard my case, she remembered. "Oh you are the couple with that sweet lab puppy. Yeah we know you wouldn't do that. The complaint is removed from your file and we will send a cleaning lady to clean the hall for you"

I then told her how relieved I was, and I knew who it was who complained, she didn't have to worry about that. I told her how much trouble we have had with this particular neighbor and that she just drives us crazy. How she swore up and down I wanted to kill her, how she reads the notices left on the doors, how she snoops in everyones windows and digs through the trash. I said that we were happy she was gone on vacation but now we were miserable again. 

And then something miraculous happened. They offered to move us to a different building. And I accepted. We are moving the first week of March, a few buildings over. Hurray!!

Hallelujah!! Huzzah!! 

Hopefully we wont have any more trouble with our new neighbors! I have spent the most of the morning getting information on the new apartment, calling friends and family to force them to help us move, and spent some time figuring out how to transfer our utilities with minimum interruptions. I also have been doing laundry and sorting through clothes.