Sometimes being sick has a nice side

The nice side to being sick...snuggling with the other sick person in the house. It totally stinks that the bf and I are both sick, but on the bright side, we snuggle more. On the down side, we're both drugged up when we go to sleep and end up hitting one another. On Monday night I almost elbowed the bf...last night, the bf hit me on top of the head and lightly punched my face. But we were still snuggly when we went to bed, and being silly (again due to the cold meds). He's such a sweetheart though.

Good mixture (in small dosages)
-Neti pot - morning & night
-Allergies meds (with pseduoepenephrine) - morning
-Allergies meds (nose spray) - morning
- Small peppermint schnapps with whiskey/bourbon - evening
- NyQuil - night

I don't know why, but I felt a bit better before feeling worse again. This morning I felt great when I woke up and lying down...then things got moved around and I needed to start the meds over again. Doubt that I'll have the schnapps tonight, but a small one of those does help clean out the sinuses!

Stockings/Pantyhose

Ok, I'm a girl, and I understand that I need to wear stockings/pantyhose. It's a fall day outside, I decided to wear a skirt and put on my stockings. These have been washed once before so I've worn them once before.

For me, I'm lucky to get more than one use out of my pantyhose, and I don't understand why. I mean, I don't know how to wear them I guess since I always get runs in them.

Today, it's 10:30 am, these have been on me for 3 hours, and now they have a hole & a run in them. How? I moved too quickly in my chair and I felt the rip.

How is a person supposed to wear these things? And at $4 a pop, are they really supposed to be this disposable? This is why I buy the $4 ones and not that $20 because I'm only going to get one good use out of them!

How do women do it? I mean, I remember this girl in high school would wear stockings everyday, and she NEVER had a run. Was I not taken into the secret classroom that explained the proper way of getting pantyhose to stay on with ripping?

So pantyhose today with me = fail

First fall feeling day

There were some strong storms last night in Chicago, bringing a cold front with it. I woke up, reluctantly, this morning and felt the cool air. We had left the windows open a crack so that we clean the "sick air" out of the apartment.

I did my yoga this morning and enjoyed the cool breeze that was coming in.

Though it was a bit windy (and will be all day) and a bit cool, it was quite refreshing. I don't like the cold, but I do enjoy the cool fall weather...of course coming into work and hearing people complain about it doesn't help my enjoyment, but I'm trying to realize that people complain about everything...so no reason to have them ruin my enjoyment!

Lazy Sunday?

I thought I was going to have a nice lazy Sunday today...instead I had a fun filled Sunday! I woke up early, well for a day I planned on sleeping in I woke up around 8. I checked on the bf (who was sick last night) and took the dog for a walk. I was all ready to go for a ride (something that doesn't happen very often since I was hit in April) and my back tire has a flat. So I make some breakfast, drive to do my errands (including getting a new tube and new patch kit) come home and fix the tire.

The accomplishment of fixing a flat was huge. I was missing my flat tire tool (which allows me to take the tire off of the wheel easily) so I used a flat head screw driver and a beer opener (my tigger one to be exact). I was frustrated at first, but I did it...changed it all by myself! So very proud of myself for that.

After fixing the tire, I needed to go for a ride...even if it was later than I planned. I am trying to build up the courage to bike commute again so I decided to ride down to work. Sunday's the traffic in the loop is not bad, my thought process is to desensitize myself to riding in the loop with little to no traffic, then build up to riding to work that way. Rode to work and wanted to ride more, so over to the lakefront. It was about 70 degrees, a light breeze, blue sky & sunshine. TONS of sailboats out, lots of people out enjoying the day, I was glad to be one of them. Rode around the museum campus (including this awesome new underpass!) and then back up on the lakefront trail.

Riding in River North & Streeterville on a Sunday afternoon is not a calm experience, so I was able to get some stressful riding in today as well, but nothing too bad.

12 miles all-in-all, not a huge distance, but the furthest I've gone by myself since April. When I returned home, I wanted to keep working out, so I did some weight training...now I plan to do some homework.

Funny, I have very little time for myself, and I thought I'd use it to relax more...but I love to ride and run and things so I can't really be surprised (I did run 3.4 miles last night too!)

OK, Bears are on, (Giants already won!)

Fall memories

Each year I become homesick. I'm homesick for my childhood home...well not exactly. I miss Vermont at this time of year. I was lucky enough to go to Vermont in September last year, but was unable to this year. I hope that in 2010 I'll be able to, but that all depends on if I run away to Europe after graduating grad school.

Vermont is a very special place, especially in the fall. One morning you wake up and the color is green, the next morning you start to notice a change, a few mornings later and the entire color wheel is all around you. I remember watching the mountains, the colors change in different layers. I miss the yummy smells and fresh apples that you just go and pick. I miss pumpkin picking (though I will do that next month in the suburbs of Chicago, Long Grove is a nice town that reminds me of home). I miss the cool mornings & evenings, with a nice temperature during the day. I miss frolicking around in the fall.

Hopefully I can go for a hike soon...but I'll wait until I hear about color's changing in the burbs :)

Just dive right in

So I am on my semi-annual diet spree...I typically start really watching what I eat and up my exercise right before the holiday's and then again right after. Sometimes I add a third before summer if I don't maintain the post holiday spree...but usually that one is just an huge increase in working out due to nice weather.

After getting sick last week and having a bit left over this week, I opted to still try for it. Plus I haven't really smoked much since I got sick. Yes over the weekend, while drinking, I smoked, but that was it...I haven't had a cigarette since Sunday night and it's Thursday night, no desire either...well at my shitty work day I did want one, but not to the point of actually really wanting one.

Anyway...I've done really well with keeping track of everything I've eaten this week (sparkpeople.com makes that easy). I've also done a great job at working out this week (Tuesday ran & abs, Wednesday yoga in the morning, Jillian Michaels 30 day shred in the evening, Thursday Yoga/Bellydance in the morning, ran in the evening, tomorrow yoga or the yoga/bellydance thing again). I was lucky because class ended up cancelled this week and tonight my internship is homebased (no one will be at the hospital) so I have some stuff to do here...that's allowed me to workout more.

I just get proud of myself for the little things...sticking with a routine for a week and not smoking and eating right...it all makes me feel pretty damn good. So tonight, we're indulging and getting Pockets for dinner!

Working out really does help with my stress level...this whole full time job with an internship and school doesn't leave much time for working out, but I must find the time...I'm a much happier person this way. Oh and the eating right thing helps too :)

Rules of morning commuting

Rule number one - in order to not feel totally squished, one must arrive on the train a good 10 minutes before or after the hour or half hour. 7:50, room on the el, 8:00, SQUEEZE in, 8:10, room on the el.

Rule number two - if a seat becomes available and you do not want to use it, be sure to ask those around you so more room is available to stand.

Rule number three - whenever possible, get off the train to let others off and then get back on as quickly as possible as new people will try to steal your place on the train.

Rule number four - at the mass exit stops (Clark & Lake for example) stay off the train at least 15 seconds to let people off, don't try to get back on while hundreds of people are getting off of the train.

Rule number five - if you can't deal with people potentially touching you or your bag while on the morning commute, find a different time to take the train.

This morning I had a woman next to me all pissed off that her personal space was being invaded. Actually, the more that I think about it, a few women were that way. One woman who got on before me was trying to keep a good square foot of space around her. It's the blueline, you're 3 stops from downtown, you need to squeeze in.

Oh and one more rule...

Rule number six - it's allergy, cold & flu season, if you hear someone cough and they are covering their mouth, please do not give them a dirty look! I'm guessing they feel bad enough already.