Monday, August 22, 2011

Ahoy, Hobby Lobby

  There it was, emblazoned across a building above the highway- "Hobby Lobby".  I spied it yesterday as I was making a trip out to the airport.  Today I decided I'd make the trek back out to that area and do a little browsing, as I'd often heard about but never been to a Hobby Lobby.
   The first bump came when my GPS refused to acknowledge that said HL existed.  No problem, I thought- I remembered it was near a Red Robin.  Surprisingly, GPS refused to admit there was a Red Robin in Robinson Township, either.  I fell back on the directions to the IHOP by the airport.
   I now know yet a 4th way to get to 376W from home.   There doesn't seem to be a way to get from the IHOP to the Hobby Lobby (or Red Robin) without getting back onto the highway, though...
   So  I went to lunch.
   I asked my waitress if she knew how to get to the HL; she didn't, but said she'd ask the rest of the staff.

Turns out, it won't be open for another few weeks.    Oh, well.  There was  a Michael's on the other side of the shopping center, so I went there instead.  Browsing achieved.

Friday, August 19, 2011

getting healthy...

...is bad for my health.
   It seems I've managed to tear the meniscus in my right knee.  I may have done this at the club, or I may have strained it a bit at the club and then finished the job while mowing my stupid angled lawn.   In any case, I'm advised to apply RICE  (rest, ice, compression, elevation) for the next few days while until I get the results of my xray.
   X-ray, you may ask?  Don't those just show bone problems, and not soft tissue injuries?  Why, yes, that's entirely correct!   However, my insurance company requires that I go through a process.  First I have to see my doctor to ensure that I actually NEED imaging.  (Never mind that a physical therapist recommended it.)
The first imaging needs to be an xray, just to make sure that there are no broken bones.  Now, I'm pretty sure that broken bones would show up on an MRI, too- they do on House and on Bones, anyway... but nevertheless, I had to trudge around about 1/2 mile in a huge hospital to have an xray done first.  It's Friday.   The xray won't be read by a radiologist until sometime Monday, most likely.  My doctor will get copies today, but I can't proceed until a radiologist signs off on the thing.
  Obtaining the xray in the first place was fairly frustrating.  First, it took me 20 minutes to find parking.  The first lot I tried was full.  There was also nowhere to turn my car around at the top of the lot, so I had to back up.   Eventually, I found the proper parking lot and got the car parked, only to discover that I needed to be on the opposite side of the hospital.  To make this even more fun, Radiology isn't called Radiology at this hospital.  They refer to it as "diagnostics".  Er...  Whatevs.
   I'm currently quite unhappy about this whole chain of events starting with the fact that I hurt myself walking.  (Again...at least I didn't fall off a bridge this time)  Walking is supposed to be GOOD for a person!   I'm also irritated and somewhat anxious about the fact that since I'm favoring my right leg, my left leg is also starting to hurt, now.
   The only marginally bright side to the situation is that since I can't do much in the way of exercise, I have no excuse not to do some stitching, so once I manage to hobble up the stairs, that's just what I shall be doing.

Sunday, August 14, 2011

building a habit

  I find it difficult to build and maintain good habits.  Several years ago, I got into the habit of walking every single evening, no matter what the weather.  It was great.  I lost a bunch of weight, toned up and felt much better.  Then I got diagnosed with something that required surgery and 6 weeks of recuperation; I got out of the habit of walking and generally turned into a sloth.
   This winter, after a sad canoe excursion, the hubby decided he wanted to join a health club and get himself more fit, so he signed me up, too.  (He thought I'd be upset, poor man)   I started working with a trainer once a week, then twice a week, and am now up to three sessions a week with her.  I haven't been going in on my own time, though.  So, while I'm very happy with the results I'm seeing from working out with my trainer, I could be doing better.    Enter the treadmill.
   When I first started going to the gym, I could manage about 4 minutes at a slow pace with no incline.  At the beginning of the month, my trainer asked me to start doing 15 minutes of cardio before each of our sessions, so I started that.  Only managed 10 minutes the first time.  Yesterday and today, I've done a mile in 20 minutes with an incline of 2, plus a bit of cooldown.  I'm going to walk at least a 20-minute mile every day for the rest of this month.  Hopefully, this will establish a good habit.  Also hopefully, I'll be able to increase my speed and distance a bit each week.  The long-term goal here is to be able to participate in a 5K walk next spring and to do well in it.  The short-term goal?  I'd like to be in a size smaller jeans and have less of a gut by October when I go to my stitching convention.

Saturday, August 13, 2011

Still ticking along

Once again, life has nudged blogging to the back burner.  It isn't so much that I've been busy as that I've been busy doing the same things, and seriously, how many times does someone want to hear "went to the gym, took a shower, went shopping, did a little stitching"?
  Our neighbors across the alley had a new curb put in along their property line.  It looks very nice, and hopefully will keep people from driving over their landscaping.  Of course, our property line now looks just that much worse...
   Working out at the gym is giving me some good results.  I still haven't lost much weight, but I did buy a pair of jeans in a size smaller along with a couple pair of exercise pants in the same smaller size.  Today I walked a 20 minute mile at incline 2 on the treadmill.  I'm pleased, as a few weeks ago I could barely manage 10 minutes at a low pace and no incline.  I'm getting stronger and I feel better, so the work is definitely worth it.
   Sewing and stitching have fallen to the back burner for a while.  I've been re-reading The Stand by Stephen King in my free time.  I've also got The Help and The Pirates of Somalia cued up on my Kindle.
Since I can't read and sew at the same time, the sewing is on hold.