What I'm Reading This Week #35

The weekend is finally here.  I don't know why but it's felt like a long, draggy week. 

But let's get right into...

September Is the Perfect Time to Lose Weight  (Well, lucky us!)

How to look and feel healthier in one month, according to science  (Look out October 1st!)

How Many Rest Days Do I Need? Rest vs Active Rest; Overtraining Symptoms & How to Avoid Overtraining  (Good to know!)

Your Weekly Checkup: Chocolate Is Good for You  (Keep it dark, baby)

If We Told You Flossing Could Balance Blood Sugar & Decrease Inflammation, Would You Finally Do It?  (Okay, fine.)

10 Ways You Sabotage Your Weight Loss and Don't Realize It  (Well, I'll be danged)

The Best and Worst Foods for Sore Muscles  (Word to your mutha)

How to Keep Alzheimer’s Disease Out of Your Future   (Yep to all of it)

Here's What It's Really Like Living On A Tour Bus  (Totally how I'd do it too)

Husband edits emotional gender reveal for wife  (Get the tissues ready.  Video starts on landing)

Need a fun way to amp up spaghetti squash?  (Ole!)

I don't think we've got anything planned for the weekend so that's exciting.  Not.

Tell me you have more planned than we do(n't).

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Quick Hump Day recap

I feel like it should be Thursday.  It's Thursday, right?

Somehow I made it through yesterday after whiplashing my way through the previous day's workout.  When I say I have whiplash, I'm not even being dramatic or cute.  I know what it feels like and was seriously considering urgent care but my pride and frugality wouldn't allow it.  I knew I still had some ibuprofen 800 left from the great Valentine's Day leg lock up so I lived on that in appropriate doses yesterday.  (Not that it relieved a single thing.)  It's what they would've prescribed me anyway so I'm good.  I will never do that again...

...two times in a row. 

My neck was ridiculously stiff and sore but I was able to get in 35 minutes of HIIT.  It was a mother trying to keep my neck completely still but I did it.  It was turkey taco Tuesday.

Tacos always make the aftermath of HIIT better.

We rented two movies last night...Tag and Book Club.  It was nice to have some good movies to laugh at even if Tag was a little ridiculous.  It was based on a true story of a band of dudes who have been playing the same game of Tag for 30 years.  Isla Fisher really digs playing some screwed up characters.   I love that Book Club proves that the original ladies of comedy still rock it.  The plot as per IMDB is "Four lifelong friends have their lives forever changed after reading 50 Shades of Grey in their monthly book club."  Recommend them both!

Seen any good movies lately?  What was on your dinner plate last night?

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Well, that escalated quickly

I was reading a blog yesterday, and the lady was giving funny titles for potential alternate blogs.  I can say with certainty this would be mine...

I was doing my strength training session yesterday, and the first song after my warm-up was Bawitdaba by Kid Rock.  Well, there's no way I'm lifting weights to that.  Mama is putting on a concert of one with face high kicks and head bangs that put Metallica to shame.  It was loud.  I felt sexy.  I felt....dizzy.  I went on with the workout and got my 30 minutes in and was a sweaty heap.  

"Damn, I wanna headbang to that again."  

"My name is KIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDDDDDDDDDDD!!!!!"

Yeah.  I shouldn't have done that.

When I was done and made my way upstairs, I felt the familiar symptoms of whiplash from last year where I was lightheaded, couldn't properly hold up my own head very well and was pretty sure I was going to die.  I knew the Mr was in a meeting that would last the rest of the day, but this is the message I sent him. 

FYI- should you come home and find that I have either passed out or died of a cerebral hemorrhage, it's because I headbanged to Bawitdaba....twice.  Kinda feelin' whiplashed.  (For real)  So just make sure that's how people know I died.  I rocked out til I conked out.  No dating until I've been dead for a year, please.  I love you!  ❤

Then I fixed lunch which was interesting because I still felt a little dizzy.  I thought "I'll feel REALLY good tomorrow."  Oh no, that was you 20 years ago.  I should've said, "I'll feel REALLY good in 30 minutes." 

(Source)

At that point, I was afraid to shower because I was sure I was going to crash through the shower door.  Not wanting to die smelling like sweat and shame, I decided I'd bring my phone up and unlocked it for a medical emergency if necessary. 

I made it!  (Well, if nothing is written tomorrow then I probably didn't in which case you've all been a lovely crowd, thank you and good night!  I'll see you on the other side!)

Getting older is a bite in the @ss.

What things can't you do without consequence that you could do 10-20 years ago?

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When things don't go as planned weekend roundup

Good Monday morning all!  Another glorious week ahead!

So the Mr is not a plan a surprise kinda guy.  He's lucky if he can keep a secret a full day, much less a week bless his heart so when he said the weekend before last he had a surprise for this past Saturday, part of me wondered if he'd make it.  The man will babble with excitement and give it away.  It's both cute and maddening because as the usual surpriser, I don't mind being surprised but I'm also good at clues, so there's that.  He made it, and it required a very early wake-up, so we got started before the birds and got on our way.  He did his research and marked a donut shop to hit on the way there because donuts.  The people were friendly and the donuts were pretty good, but I could tell he seemed surprised with the way it took us.  So as we're driving to the destination and it told us to take a route that would've taken us the opposite direction, he pulled over to see what the deal was.  Now I could see he was nervous.  He realized that he hit a different location in the GPS that was labeled similarly and we would now be adding 30 minutes on that we didn't have.  But it was a beautiful drive in the country, so I didn't mind so much, and he said we weren't going to make our ferry.  Whoops.

Our destination was Put-in-Bay, Ohio.  We both had mentioned a long time ago the few places that we went on road trips with our parents as kids going to other destinations, and this happened to be one of them.  It has a reputation for being a drinking mecca so we weren't sure if we'd like it because drunks are annoying.  So I am glad he nudged us there so we could see if anything triggered our memories since we both remember being between 8-10 years old as kids.  Thankfully they took us on the next one, but the thing is, we couldn't bring our car because they don't take cars on Saturday, so you have to rent golf carts.  He waffled back and forth between going and canceling because the weather looked 50/50 and I could see him really struggling.  He made the decision to go, and this was the view from the ferry.

Now, I must say, that looks very benign but as we got closer, there was a HUGE dark cloud over the island and just as we pulled in...huge torrential downpours of sideways sheeting rain.   Did I mention this was our ride?

(Only $90!)

But it's okay because they give you this handy-dandy windshield wiper that you must take your hand off the wheel to operate.

We had to laugh.  We pulled into an arcade because not only was there rain but lightning and we were in a metal lightning rod, so we used the bathroom and got a souvenir penny.   The rain didn't let up for two hours between downpour and side sheeters.  I would put my umbrella up and try to shield myself while he attempted to see through the windshield with the wiper that didn't even touch the windshield to do its job.  One thing about islands like that that we learned real quick is they charge what they want, and you can either like it or leave.  We left most places.  Everything was $8 per person.  Want to enter a cave or two?  $16, please!  Want to see butterflies?  $16, please!  Want some chocolate from the chocolate cafe?  $23 per pound, please!   Perhaps they should call it Rip Off Bay?  We both decided none of them were worth doing and he said Yelp reviews showed we weren't missing anything cave wise. 

We decided to go to a bayside restaurant to ride out the last of the rain since we were both soaked.

Then the radar blob finally moved off, and we could enjoy ourselves.  We did some shopping, skipped every bar and every person coming out of them, found some penuche fudge (which is usually only in New England) and then walked to Perry's Monument which we both remember as kids.

I don't know if you can see the people there but what *I* remember from being a kid was dudes in costume firing a friggin' cannon several times and giving me PTSD.  It flared up when one went off, and we ran (okay walked fast) to the monument so we could see inside.

The sun decided to make an appearance.

We went up to the top, and I got to snap this pic before they closed down one side due to 45 mph gusts. 

Does that mean we get 1/4 of our money back since it's 1/4 closed?  The answer is no.  But we're both glad we did it, but we agreed nothing really set off our nostalgia radars much.  Everything looks different when you've got a couple extra feet of height and 30 years of change.  I'm just so glad the weather cleared up because it would've been miserable to be in that all day and the man would never plan anything ever again.  LOL

We headed over to a lighthouse and sat at the picnic table and just watched boats go by for a while.

We grabbed a pic of the lighthouse in between crowds.

I saw the ferry coming in and said it looked like we could make it or we could wait another 40 minutes for the next one.  We both agreed we'd seen it all at that point, so we returned the cart and got on the ferry after finally having the wind blow us dry naturally.  Of course, three minutes into the ferry ride, a huge wave rectified that.  *twitch*

It was a pleasant surprise, and we're both glad we got to see a place that we both had been as tots (kids, not tater), and we had about enough time to grab an early dinner and start our trek home.  When we got home, we were absolutely exhausted.  I mean I don't remember being that tired for a long time, and we were in the golf cart a majority of the time.  He thinks its because we were bracing so much and that's probably right.  Plus we've both got long legs, and those things do not have much leg room.

We spent yesterday still pretty tired but cleaned up a little, worked out and ate dinner before crashing for the night.  He learned some lessons on planning and said it won't be his last time which is good.

How was your weekend?

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What I'm Reading This Week #34

In case you forgot, I wanted to be the first to remind you:

(Source)

I had a wonderful afternoon tea with my friend the other day and it was just what we both needed.  Lots of good conversation, laughs and even a few tears, which seems to be our norm.  It's been a glorious few days here weather wise but I see that ends Sunday.  I'll just make sure to soak up today and tomorrow before the stank of summer sets back in...hopefully for a last hurrah.  

Now that the puppy has properly prepared you for the weekend, let's click on...

How Should I Treat My Sore, Tight Hip Flexors?  (Done and done.)

If You Want to Get More Done, It's Time to Stop Multitasking  (I have to agree)

All the Breakfast Foods That Contain Glyphosate, the Weed-Killing Chemical Linked to Cancer (Aww man!!)

How To Handle Anxiety At Work So It Doesn’t Destroy Your Whole Day  (B*tch slapping your boss isn't listed.  Hmm.)

15 Tips From People Who Paid Off an Incredible Amount of Debt  (Excellent pointers for those wanting to get out from under the money monster.   I remember getting the Mr's student loan debt reduced by 1/3 just by asking.)

32 Solutions for When You Can't Sleep  (Very good tips)

8 Things Everyone Should Know Before Seeing a Therapist  (Good things to know before choosing the right one for you)
 
Let's Clap It Up For Busy Philipps and How She Handled This "Body-Shaming Loser"   (Grammar and douchebaggery addressed all in one comment.  Boom.)

Old Navy Is Bringing Plus Sizes Back to Stores  (They got pretty self-congratulatory in that article.  While it's awesome for the 75 stores who will be getting plus size back in stores, that leaves 896 of them that won't so you'll excuse me Old Navy, if I don't see this as a real win.)

8 Travel Gadgets to Take on Your Next Road Trip  (Road trip!)

We’ve Got Chills! Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta Reunite for Grease's 40th Anniversary
(OMG, could she BE any cuter???)

25 Things We All Looked Forward to Doing When We Were Kids  (We have to remember the simple pleasures.)

The Mr has a surprise up his sleeve for tomorrow so no clue what I'm in for but its a road trip pretty early in the morning so I'm thinking I'll be sleeping in the car a bit.  Early to bed for us tonight!

Whatchu into this weekend?  

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Pulling back

This week, the Mr and I have been pulling back a bit on the heavy lifting.  We've been lifting heavier (for us) for about 2 1/2 months and have had mixed results with it.  For as long as I have this scar tissue problem in my arm, lifting heavy isn't going to be an upper body option for me.  When you actually drop a weight because you don't have grip strength and can't support the weight in your hand, that's just dangerous.  I got to the point I was doing 25 lbs per hand for bicep curls up from 20 and up to 35 lbs for stuff like rows or pullovers on the floor, up from 25 lbs.  The problem with that was doing a pullover with a 35 lb weight felt weird and I couldn't adjust my lower back properly before I tweaked it.  I tried rolling, the Mr massaged the area, stretches and nothing helped.  I couldn't even turn an inch or two much less lay on that side without a heating pad on and it was my sleeping side.  It took about 10 days to heal and the thing that put it over the top to heal was lowering my weights by 5-10 lbs.

While I saw some muscle gains in the beginning, I haven't been noticing enough on that front the past month to justify the pros over the cons.  My body needs to recover from the fall I took in May and I'm going to have to break down and see the chiro for a few rounds of laser zaps to aid in breakdown since it's not doing so on its own.  We've both also felt so broken consistently the past month and I think we're overtraining which can set you back even further.  We did a strength workout the other night and I didn't lift more than 20 lbs per hand and honestly, at times my arms didn't care for that either but I know that is the max amount I can control right now.  It still gave me a helluva workout and I was so sore the next morning we skipped the walk.   So I know I can still get good strength workouts in even if I'm not working on upping my weights.  For so long, I've been of the mindset to just push through pain or not be "wimpy" but there ain't nothing pretty about a weight to the face when you're trying to do a chest fly and lose your grip. 

I know I will get there one day but I need to let my body do the healing it needs right now and unfortunately, scar tissue is slow to break up and let go of those tendons.  I hopefully have many years ahead of me to lift heavier and I'm proving nothing to anyone by trying to push at a level my body physically can't handle right now.   Doesn't make it any less frustrating though.  :-\

What's your body currently telling you?

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Taking time for yourself

Today, I'm taking a little "me time" and doing so with a friend whom I love dearly but continuously overschedules herself.  She told me she was scheduling out until November between her regular job, her side job as a photographer and helping at a family business once a week.  I reminded her of the importance of taking time for herself because she can't give the best of herself to her jobs if she was burning out.  I gave her some examples of how she could take some time and offered to do an afternoon tea with her on a weekday but not as a way to put more on her plate but to force that time to focus on nothing else but slowing down.  (I told her I completely understood if she'd rather hide under a blanket for an hour or two.)

She jumped at the chance and said if she didn't schedule it now, she wouldn't have time to do it until November.  She's a millennial and the FOMO issue is very real for her.  There is pressure to build her business, be the best she is at her regular job (which requires long shifts), to post on social media a lot, to hang out with friends, to tend to her new(ish) marriage and do it all with a smile on her face.  She is well-intentioned, but I see such a burnout coming down the pike for her.  Since I'm 10 years older, I feel like it's one of the true life lessons I can pass on to her.  She often says she wishes she were like me in that I drop her a line to say hello and see how she's doing or send her a card to make her laugh.  She said she wants to do that, but it's truly finding that time because there always seems to be something needing her attention and she feels scattered.

I will have her over for lunch once or twice a year, and we always talk and laugh for hours.  She leaves telling me she feels so much better and is able to totally be herself around me which is a relief to her not having to be "on."  I know, like me, she has anxiety issues but does her very best to hide them because she always wants to be the happy, positive friend.  I've told her in time, she will realize that being everything to everyone is an impossible thing and she needs to surround herself with people who understand her circumstances and will take whatever time she is able to give.

Given the week we had last week and the month prior, it's something I need for me too.  I always like getting a younger perspective on things, and she is one of the few people in my life who I know without a doubt truly respects my opinion.  If I've said something in passing and she will excitedly tell me a few months later how she did what I suggested or will repeat something I said so I know she was listening.  It sounds so simple but just knowing someone is truly absorbing what you say really does mean a lot, especially from someone so immersed in the social media world.  When we're together, she will take her cues from me, and if I should happen to have my cell phone out for a picture,  I will then flip it over because having the screen flash a new message is distracting to me.  Then I'll see she will flip hers over then will only use it if she gets a call which is rare but will ignore texts.  I think it's her way of finally breathing and saying "nope, I'm with my girl, it can wait" because she knows I'm not succumbing to that pressure either.  I'm excited for today and looking forward to a little pampering girl time with one of the few in town friends I have.  It feels like playing hooky since its midweek too which is a bonus!

So let this serve as your friendly reminder that even an hour or two of downtime to do nothing but hang out with a friend, read a book, take a long bath, walk in the park, etc. can do wonders for your mood and overall health.  So often we only focus on taking care of our physical selves, but our mental selves are just as, if not more, important!

What's one of your favorite ways to take time for yourself?  How often do you make time for yourself distraction free?

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Finally...the patio reveal

It may basically be the end of summer before you guys get to see the whole patio as I envisioned it back in, you know, March when we started the whole process?   It was a real test for both of us to get through the frustrations this whole project brought, but somehow we're still standin'.  (Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! - points if you got the reference.)  You couple that with the crapfest weather we've had all summer of pop up storms galore and we've basically been able to only see it with covered furniture.

So without further adieu.  I am a stickler for detail, and when our 10+-year-old outdoor pics were looking a little flat, I looked to see if I found something I liked just as much.  When I found this pic, I knew I had to have it.  The look of our cobblestone matched with the cobblestone in the picture makes it feel like you can walk right off of our patio and into the picture.

This is my seat, I claimed it because it never gets any direct sun, so I don't start to smoke like the vampire I am.  I kept one of our old nesting tables from the former garden area, and it was perfect as a sofa table behind the chair.  I put some portulacas in a watering can and boom.  My nook.

The "beastbrella" we got back in June hasn't seen much action, but the base on that thing is HUGE.   I used our old planters (which were only a year old) to plant some flowers.  I didn't plan on putting them on the base, but when I saw how much they hid the ugly base, they stayed there.

Here's a shot of the "living area" The pic on the other wall matched the architecture of the first one, so I thought it complimented it well.  The curtains are always up when it's nice enough to be out back because we have neighbors that are close enough to mosey by and we can close them when we hear them out there.  I like how it makes it look like you're looking out of a window.

My DIY folding shelf on the gate was getting lonely, and with the other large scale pics up, it looked out of balance.  I thought about putting up an antique window, but Kirkland's came through with a lightweight chippy window frame.  I painted the raw wood part to match the shelf, but the chippy white part still comes through.

Here's our other beast...the grill.  It's in what was previously a garden area that just got irritating to deal with, and after 18 years of it, I wanted to gain the space.  Our previous grill was the same thing but half the size and no side burner.  We like the infrared from a health standpoint (fewer flare-ups), and I've always wanted a side burner even though I have no idea why.  Then I wanted the option to be able to cook more if we had people over.   The black table under the grill usually resided in the middle of the furniture because there was nowhere else to put it but it's SO nice to be able to have it out of the way.  Then if we eat out back, we put the table on risers, so it's not so squatty and have a nice place to eat comfortably.

Here's a shot of it open.

The hanging baskets used to be hanging by sisal rope, but one of them finally gave way after two seasons in the elements, so we replaced it with galvanized chain.  Not crazy about the look but I'll take it over worrying about whether or not it's going to drop.  The brown square behind the grill is a retractable shade to keep the other neighbor from peeking in.  We've actually caught her doing it so yeah, that was mandatory, and the old one looked like poop, so we got an upgrade this year.

When the beastbrella is up, we're almost entirely in the shade since it's 11' wide.

It is such a relief to be completely done with this.  (*waits for a meteor to drop out of the sky into it*)  Most would say it stinks we are only done with it toward the end of summer, but honestly, most years that's not when our patio gets a workout anyway because it's too hot to be out there.  So this is the perfect time to have it done and be ready for *hopefully* cooler days and chilly nights to curl up.  Fewer chances of rain so we can keep it uncovered for more than 12 hours 'just in case.'  Now if you'll excuse me, I've got a book to read.

Oh wait, it's raining.

What does your favorite outdoor space look like?

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Recovering weekend round up

Happy Monday!

Friday morning I woke up so broken. Mentally and physically.  The night before we spent more time than we should have getting the patio back in order so we wouldn't have to do it the day of company coming.  This was after a 30 minute HIIT that was settling into the joints.  I couldn't do much more when it was over than stare into space. We went upstairs and gave each other massages in the places that were most broken (calves for me- bicep for him) and went to sleep.  He slept like a log all night.  I was up from 1-3 am listening to God bowl strikes.

(Source)

That's okay, I don't need sleep.  I hadn't had it leading up to then, why start when I'm most exhausted?   The next morning everything hurt, I had a headache and felt like a zombie.  I cried because all I wanted to do was cancel and sleep for 12 hours.  Entertaining, even my best friend whom I only get to see once a year and her new beau was the absolute last thing I wanted to do.  I even saw she messaged me and I burst into tears and couldn't open it for a few hours.  I think all of the stress I've been under this whole year barrelled down on me at that moment and I couldn't take one more thing even if it was supposed to be a good thing.  The Mr was a superstar of the homestead and took care of basically everything still waiting to be done while I just mentally tried to get myself together.  The visit came and went, and I was glad I got to see her.   She seems happy, and that's all that matters.  The next time I see her will likely be at her wedding.

Saturday was a recovery day, and it was much needed.  After a visit to Grandma's and seeing how faded her flowers are starting to get, we went to Hobby Lobby, and I spent an aggravating amount of time looking for the perfect fall flowers.  I will put them on her grave on my birthday in a few weeks so we can still spend some time together.  I thought about maybe taking a picnic there with her that day.  We still had crap to get done since it was grocery restock weekend.  We had lunch near Trader Joe's so I suggested we swing by and go if it wasn't too busy.  It was at about 75% capacity which is better than usual, so we went for it then to Target and dropped the goods back home.  Later, we found ourselves at the final grocery store to pick something up, and I suggested we get it over with while we were already there, so we did, which meant nothing to do grocery wise on Sunday.  Woot!  I was in a bit of a funk recovering from all of the 'festivities' of the week and between spilling my guts to a friend, visiting grandma and the Mr and I curling up on the couch to word barf, I felt better by the time we went to bed.

Sunday, I was finally able to sleep in.  I woke up at 7am but didn't have much problem getting back to sleep.  Again at 8am and said "NOPE!" and finally woke up at 9:50am and declared it a victory.  I'm hoping for a solid 6 hours like when I'm at my optimal energies because I was exhausted every single day last week and can't keep that up.  I decided to reward the Mr for keeping his cool all week with a lovely big brunch.  We hadn't done brunch in almost a month, so we were due.

(Yes, I like my omelets well done)

I did an au gratin potato dish using only two russets and smoked cheddar, so we didn't need very much of it.  It turned out really good.  We relaxed a little then went to places we wanted to go and not places we HAD to go which was just what we both needed.  He wanted to go to a dude store and said he'd drop me off at a chick store if I wanted so I agreed.  I stood by this display for about 5 minutes and just breathed in the scent of my favorite time of year...

These are new and while I love green apple anything  (Airheads, Laffy Taffy, etc), I'm of the mindset that candy corn should taste like fall.

After going to another dude store, we stopped and got some hot day refreshments.

A kid's size mango cherry icee is just the ticket.  Then we grabbed yogurt from the store and two movies to rent and plopped our butts on the couch the rest of the night after our HIIT session and dinner!

How was your weekend?  Do anything fun?

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What I'm Reading This Week #33

The Mr and I went on our walk yesterday morning, and a quick check of the radar showed a blob moving into the vicinity so we knew we'd need the umbrellas.  We walked the first 1/2 mile in a bit of a mist, and it picked up to the point that it would've been fine had we been walking to our cars from the grocery or something but in two miles, we would've been soaked.  We passed a neighbor walking his dog, and he's like "you kayakers in the water all the time, and you've got the umbrellas out for a little rain?"  We laughed and walked on not really thinking much of it because the dude is burly and bald and we figured he probably just lets it roll off his head and bead up on his muscles to make them gleam as the single ladies drive by.  Then not even five minutes later, we pass our usual couple (umbrella-less), and they say something I couldn't hear, and they laughed and said "if we didn't know you, we'd think you were tourists!  Only tourists use umbrellas!"  We laugh and pass by.  What???  I was unaware of this tourist rule.  What does that even mean!?  The Mr is like "WTF, we're being umbrella shamed!!"  (In that sarcastic tone because we both hate the phrase
"(insert object/behavior here) shamed ")  I said "Eleanor Roosevelt yo!  No one can make you feel inferior without your consent!  I do not consent!!!"  Seriously people, I know it's not a torrential downpour but walking two miles in sprinkles will result in me entering a wet t-shirt contest at the end of 45 minutes.  Even when the rain let up to where we could've put the umbrellas down, we didn't.  I know my reasoning was "eff you, now I'm not letting you think you won by passing you and having you think you strongarmed me into putting my umbrella away."  We both agree getting a headbrella would be the way to go.  (affiliate link)

But enough about our wet weather antics, let's get to...

One Super-Surprising Strategy to Improve Your Workouts  (Something to think about.  I've felt pretty broken lately.  My back is tweaked and my scar tissue issue is getting worse, to the point I'm dropping weights due to it giving out.)

Why Eating More Might Actually Be the Secret to Losing Weight    (I've been reading about this a lot lately.  According to weight loss goals of 2 lbs per week (which rarely happens) and what my BMR is to my activity level, I should be eating 2200 cals a day.  That scares me and I can rarely sustain it without freaking out.)

How to Keep Alzheimer’s Disease Out of Your Future  (Honestly, that is the biggest reason I exercise now.)

12 Reasons You're Tired All The Time  (Because you wake up in the middle of the night wondering what fresh hell the next day will bring with the patio.)

5 Ways to Train Your Brain to Be Optimistic  (Not bad habits to get into anyway.)

Release Your Tight Calves In Less Than A Minute With This Triggerpoint Move  (Yep, I can vouch for this one.)

A Road Trip Workout So Your Body Won't Cramp Into a Ball of Sadness  (This is a joke, right?  I got all excited at first, but then I saw the actual exercises and could not stop laughing.  If I saw someone doing this shite at the gas station, I would roll my eyes so hard they could hear it.  I have a hard enough time not getting stares at rest stops just for touching my toes and doing gastroc stretches against the curb much less doing "suitcase swings.")

41 Reasons Fall Is Our Favorite Season Ever  (I sure as heck don't need a list but for those of you Fall-aphobes. Bring on the new seasons of your favorite shows! (36 days-squee!) )

This Grand Charleston Home Comes With an Equally Grand Price Tag  (I remember this place when we were sauntering the Battery.  (One saunters in the south, anything faster is just impolite.)  That porch, those moldings, that staircase!  *swoon*  Can't wait to go back!)

‘Back To The Future’ Cast Reunion Photo Is A Perfect Blast From The Past  (So cool to see them all together again.)

Today my friend comes and I get to meet her fiance for the first time.  It should go without saying given the week we've had that neither of us is in the mood for it but I suppose we'd better get in the mood.  *forcing smile*  I'm sure it'll be fine.  If not, we'll have interesting post visit conversation.
:-D

Oh and thanks for hanging in with our patio adventures this week.  I needed a place to vent and your jokes all made me laugh!  So thank you for that!

What's cookin' in your neck of the woods this weekend?  

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Only Thursday eh?

Yay...no jail time for me!!   I think from late afternoon on, we kept saying "is it really only Wednesday?"

The dudes came out a little late and of course, it was the same guys, not the original crew like we'd been promised could happen.  Whatever.  Just do the damn job and do it right please so we can all be out of each other's lives?  The Mr told him not to stick any sand in the corner because it was already high and we were told it was going to match exactly. 

It did not.

That picture does it no justice because some of you might be saying "I don't see much of a difference" but trust me when I tell you that it looks like static from an 80's scrambled adult movie between the stones.  This batch was not ground down as fine and is much chunkier so it looks like pink Himalayan salt mixed in with grey and black granules and it is VERY noticeable.  I am praying with time I will not be able to see only that when I look outside.  Or I may get some concrete stain and friggin paint between every brick.  I haven't decided for sure.  They offered to come out and seal in 2 weeks when it has a chance to settle.  Nope.  The manufacturer doesn't recommend sealing for at least 3 months and I'd rather go through the winter and spring settle before we lock anything in.  We'll do it ourselves, do not ever step foot on my property again.  My arms are about broken from having to lift that behemoth grill four times over the past two days.  Thank God, I remembered we had the forearm forklifts to help or I don't know how we would've moved that thing once much less four times in and out.  (affiliate link) 

About three hours later, we noticed the "non-hazing" sand that had already been washed with water twice was SO hazy that it looked like someone powdered a baby's butt over the patio.  So once again, after they leave when they "finish" a job, the Mr and I are down on hands and knees going over every square inch of the patio.  This time it was with a vinegar/water solution to wipe off said haze. 

Our date nights suck.

Then it was time to work out which neither of us wanted to do in the slightest but we did.  Then I made dinner and got to work on the next project...

Medicine cabinet here I come.  I don't know how it's going to look but right now I could give a rat's butt.  If I get to tomorrow without lockjaw (literally had to scrape my jaw open yesterday morning with my jade tool because it wouldn't open!) and a noticeable eye twitch, it will be a miracle. 

Also, happy birthday Elvis.

What's your favorite gadget you couldn't live without?

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Yesterday...in gifs

Where to begin.

We were both under the impression they were coming to power wash the sand out of all of the cracks with the crap sand they used and replace with actual sand that would cure...you know like we paid for?  The owner came out, chit-chatted with the Mr saying that is what would happen then pointed out to the guy coming out to "fix" what he couldn't do right the first two times.  (I think it's no coincidence my fingers kept typing shat instead of chat in the previous sentence.)  He removed the first few rows by the gate and fixed some low spots then a lot of spots in the back.  I'm not going to lie, he made me cringe quite a few times the way he beats those expensive stones back into place.

(Would be funny if he hadn't actually damaged a prominent stone)

Then he left for a bit.  We figured he was grabbing lunch before having to blow out all of the sand.  He comes back an hour later and starts power washing.  We assuming with how long he's washing that he's getting it all out of the cracks and especially given how long he spends washing off everything that's covered in sand from our siding (which freaked us out because we don't have the color to match that if he starts stripping it off of there) to the stairs (that he wrecked AGAIN with a huge gash) to the fence.

Then he knocks on the door as the Mr is outside doing me a DIY favor (remember that medicine cabinet mirror that fell off months ago?  Yeah.  Might want to try to get that done before company) and says he'll be back Thursday.

(actual footage of my brain scrambling upon hearing the above info)

I told him we were under the impression this was being done today, why is that not the case?  "I used too much water and it needs to dry."

(actual footage of my reaction)

I informed him that was not an option because we literally have people coming Friday to see the patio (and this is the second time he's pulled that crap with us).  I get the deer in headlights look.  "Well, maybe we come back next week then?"

"Um, if Thursday is too late, what makes you think next week is somehow better??"

(His actual reaction...for real.)

*I close the door and go get the Mr to give him the heads up*

You can see he's immediately regretting taking this on and wondering if it would've been better to just let it all sink.

He dealt with him and was not getting any answers or at least not ones that made sense other than he MAY be here today weather permitting.  (We established the weather would not be permitting the rest of the week, therefore, we'd better be seeing him tomorrow.)   When he left, the Mr sent the owner an email asking him WTF and we were led to believe this was a one day job.  Then we go out to move the monster grill back in and see that he, in fact, didn't power wash out ANY sand!!!

So let me get this straight.  You are going to come back out to put curing sand on top of sand that won't cure so that when it settles over winter and spring that the top cured sand will crack and crumble due to the base not being stable?  I'm not an engineer but that seems a pretty simple concept to us.  The Mr then sent pics of what we expected the patio to look like (where he pulled out the bricks and removed the sand) to what we were actually left with (exactly what we started with this morning on 85% of the patio.)

Someone will be here at 9am today.

If I don't write any more this week, I'm probably awaiting a hearing of some kind.

All gifs courtesty of GIPHY.com.

Tell me your favorite joke in the comments.

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What the hay and riled up redux

Happy Tuesday everyone!  The blah of weekdays.  Nowhere near as hated as Monday but not as revered as Hump Day.  Sometimes Tuesday feels like my spirit animal.

The weekend was full of need to do's.  Like a hanging plant fell earlier in the week and I thought it fell on the outdoor table.  Well, it did initially but then tipped over dumping everything into the cracks of the patio.  Yay.  It happened because of rope rot.  They had sisal rope and between weather and mini critters, it waved the white flag.  We decided to go with galvanized chain which isn't nearly as pretty but won't drop its contents either.  We headed to Home Depot and the guy who cut the chain for us was hilarious and sweary and I'm thinking he cut us a deal which was good because we got more than we needed.  We also headed to Kirkland's because as you know, I was crushing on the hayride sign last week.

Don't even look at me on the pumpkin patch one.  That was all Mr and who am I to turn down fall decor??  The Mr took care of some crappy jobs for which I am most thankful like cleaning the trash juice out of the trash can and trying to get the dirt from between the cracks in the patio...which leads us to the next story.

I've had a few people ask about when they're going to get to see the patio.  Well, let me clue you in on what's going on today.  They are coming to basically half redo the patio.  (Insert hissing here)  When we were trying to blast the dirt from the cracks with the hose, we wanted to scootch the water out of the back gate with our broom.  Nope.  It washed right back toward us in the middle.  That's a problem.  That means the required grading slope is not correct and that could spell big problems for us down the road.  The Mr wasn't having it and said he was emailing that douche and this was getting fixed.  He said he expected him out this week and this was his name on this project even if he subcontracted us out.  He is coming out and I'm not in it because the Mr said to let him handle it because I shouldn't have to stress out about it anymore.  Bless him.  Six effing weeks later we're still dealing with this crap.  The stone is beautiful but that's about it. 

So yeah.

This will be the THIRD TIME we've had to set up the patio again.  I'm over it.

What are you over this week?

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What I'm Reading This Week #32

Happy Friday everyone!  

Is it wrong I'm glad I'm taking my last walk for the week right now?  I don't know what it is but my morning walks have been particularly hard this week.  After declaring myself a rock star for being able to sleep until the alarm or get back to sleep if I woke up early and yesterday morning I was up at 5:30 am as usual and feeling like crap.  I feel like it's a real victory to have walked every day this week (including in the rain) because it was truly the last thing I felt like doing first thing in the morning.  

Enough about my walking woes, let's step up to...

Bride-to-be shamed by personal trainer on Twitter — and her response is perfect  (Douche nozzle is too kind a term for this guy.  Whoever taught him "shaming can be a great motivator" needs to be smacked firmly about the head and neck.)

Meal Prep Hack: This Is How Long You Can Keep Meat in the Fridge and Freezer (Or double the freezer time with a Food Saver.  I'm telling you...we just ate 18-month-old turkey a few weeks ago, and it tasted the same as the day I froze it!  (affiliate link))

10 Causes of Body Aches That Have Nothing to Do With Getting Old  (Good things to keep in mind.)

8 Signs You Need a Chiropractor  (So basically if you breathe.)

Selfies—Living in the Era of Filtered Photographs  (This is super sad, and the filtered IG or Snapchat photos look creepy, not cute...at all.)

Do you sit too much? Sedentary Lifestyle, Health Impacts, and Solutions  (I need to make sure I get up and just touch my toes every half hour.  My hips pay for it every single day.)

The Midlife Unraveling  (The first italics paragraph...learn it, know it, live it.)

This Is The Most Important Ingredient Of A Lasting Relationship  (SO true!)

How to Make This the Summer of Missing Out  (I didn't check a single personal social media account for three days last week, and it was heaven, and I missed nothing.  People aren't posting real life on there anyway.)

Panera is launching double bread bowls — and fans are already in love  (*puts on my eatin' pants and waits with baited breath for the first cold snap*)

‘We’re closed forever!’: How the search for the perfect selfie led to bedlam at an Ontario sunflower farm  (Reaffirming why people suck.)

The Lost Art of the Phone Call  (Sigh.)

No clue what's on tap this weekend which isn't a great way to start things out because we waste time playing the "I don't know, what do you want to do" game. 

What are you up to this weekend?

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Thursday Ramblings

Happy Friday eve, all!

I was doing a little experiment the week before last after reading the clickbaity titled "I Ate 1 Apple Every Day For 2 Weeks, and This Is What Happened."  Basically, she swapped her banana for an apple and started pooping like a champ.  You know because of my oversharing, I'll do anything to poop on the regular since I'm anything but.  Well, guess what?  I Ate 1 Apple Every Day For One Week, and This Is What Happened,  It made me so effing ravenously hungry that I wanted to eat everything in sight.  I was like Godzilla stomping down cities to get to anything that would satisfy my cravings.

(Source)

While I didn't go on a Taco Bell run, I ate everything in sight on our weekend away last weekend.  When I started back to the apple on Monday and felt that same ravenous hunger, I couldn't do it another week.  That banana holds me almost all friggin' morning and I always make sure to get small ones so it's not like some 5-ounce mondo nana.  So I declare that experiment not for me and I'd rather stay plugged up than feel that dangerously hungry no matter what I eat the rest of the day.  No bueno for this chica. 

One of my friends comes to town next week so everyone can meet her fiance.  Can I just tell you how weird it is to have someone you've known for 30 years and you're meeting the person they're going to marry for the first time after he's already proposed?  If you'd have told me that when we were in high school, I'd have said you were a liar.  It hit me kind of weird because I realized the last time we were together was the last time I'll ever be able to be the way we've always been together and I didn't really get to savor that.  I don't expect people to understand that or think I'm being dramatic but it's true.  The Mr. agrees.  She lives WAY out of state so it's not like we'll ever get to see them more than once a year and for more than a few hours.  So it kind of feels like a part of my childhood has died a little but I'm happy for her and hope it all works out.  There are some things that make us a little leery but I'm hoping our visit puts those things at ease.  If not, we just grin and bear it because what can you do? 

I found out Barry Gibb is going to be at Elvis week next Friday.  Do you have any idea how hard it is for me not to go??  That man was my first vapor on my Bee Gees lunch box...

(Source)

Look at that feathery goodness.  I know he isn't going to be around long and I feel like this would be my only chance to see him.  Sigh.

The Mr and I were going to do New Year's Eve in Montreal but after looking at rental sites, I have not found ONE single place I like.  They are all super modern and that is just not the vibe I want.  I wanted some character like the outside of the buildings.  So now I have to start a new search all over again to see what we can get or where we'd even want to go.  I suppose we can just stay home again...like we do every year.  Except when we went to Chicago for NYE 2011 into 2012 and went on a boat cruise at midnight under the fireworks.  Now THAT was a NYE!!!  I've seen so many damn cabins, my eyes are liquifying. 

Yesterday morning was my first walk in the actual rain.  I know I mentioned I liked walking after rain but walking in it is just irritating.  I'm still glad I did it though because I felt my doughy middle and said "no choice for you, missy!"  So I'm kind of proud I didn't punk out even when it was sheeting.

That's about it on my end.

Who is a childhood act you'd like to see before they go to the Hollywood Bowl in the sky?

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