Welcome April!

Yesterday was cool here, like Sunday.

Enjoy hygge days in the cold, blankets, books, movies...but this is harder I have decided when it is sunny out and looks like spring.

So,vi was a little restless yesterday and Sunday.   At least I did have good 6 Mike walk Sunday and good yoga session Monday night

Today I am relaxing this morning for a change, have had early commitments 2 weeks,  it seems.  Yesterday had early am doctor appointment.

Went to 2nd new doctor, I think I am going to like her.  She discussed options more, listened.  The 1st new dr i tried since moving here didn't listen as much, just changed my medicine and caused me a lot if adjusting the last 2 months.   Nothing terrible, but I have really struggled with sleep, body aches and weight gain last 2 months.  So I am weaning off new med he put me on...I already weaned off med he suggested, so I am literally taking 2 less and went to keep it that way after all this!

Prescriptions may seem to make life easier, but different doctors have different feelings, motivations, etc.  This phase has been a bummer.  Oh, well.  I am ready for spring!  Lighter by couple meds and ready to get few pounds lighter!

Have a wonderful Tuesday!

More Adventures at the Extended Stay

Negative complaining post...warning.  If you need a ray of sunshine, do not read.  Haha. 

I forget to mention that after our dog got bitten, his fur turned black on his bum.  But we looked him over and the skin was not broken, so we let it go.  Well, few weeks later, fur is black and the vet said that happens from injury such as a clamp, sort of like the fur is bruised.  Crazy.  It never seemed to hurt him, fortunately.

So I pull in to hotel last week one day after work and park.  Look in my review view mirror and see this!  What the heck!  We never heard anything about it.  The manager was standing outside later same day and made jokes but would not tell us what happened. 

Then Monday I went to hotel at noon to let pup get out and play a bit, walk outside.  And I see this!

Last night at 1:30 am, the fire alarm is going off.  I hear loud noises across the hall and look out the peep hole.  The door is wide open and there is smoke and someone is fanning a towel and people are stopping outside in the hall looking in the room, talking loudly. 

By the time I get my pants on and clip the pup's leash, they are shouting and laughing.  I can smell plastic-y type smoke.  I wake DH and tell him that I think alarm will stop soon but I am going to go ahead and take pup out to potty.  By the time I open the door the alarm stops, but there are about 20 people - all this same group (they have several rooms on our floor) all standing outside in the hallway talking loudly.  Same thing as I come back in and go back in our room.  I finally went back to sleep around  3am, woke up again 4am, then hard sleep until 5:30 when it is about time to get up.

The thing about sleep disruption constant over time, is I start to anticipate and dread sleep.  I am starting to have a low grade buzzing anxiety all revolving around sleep.  So is DH and so are our dogs.  The Chihuahua's do not even bark anymore at such nonsense.  They are used to it all around us.  The pup was doing so well, well she is now having accidents.  It is almost over, I keep telling myself.

I am just disgusted how rude and filthy people in this hotel are - they smoke right outside the doors, so you have to walk through it, discard their butts everywhere.  People don't pick up their dog doo.  Now there is even a broken bottle out in the grass where people walk their dogs - I just shake my head and want to go to my house and retreat.

So crazy.  Gotta get out of here. 

More Heat

First, I just want to say my DH and I are so happy the soccer kids and their coach were rescued!  So much bravery.  I am humbled and grateful for soldiers and civil servants who take risks everyday to help other people.

I keep thinking that I should be adapting to life in the Extended Stay and be able to sleep, but in practice...not so much.  Was up several times last night, mostly because of the limited space trying to sleep.  I usu sleep really good after sweating so much in hot yoga.  We are used to a  queen.  When we prepaid back in March for our hotel, we asked for a queen or double bed.  They never explained no queen, only double beds - as in full size.  But some rooms have 2 beds, which we would be ok with.  We also asked for 1st floor for ease in walking the dogs and wifi. 

We got none of these things!  We are on the 4th floor next to fire escape stairs where doors are always slamming.  We have a single full bed and the wifi is non existent.  After getting moved in, we asked for a week about getting a queen bed moved into our room - no one ever got back to us - it seems no one there knows much of anything, they all refer to the "manager".  So, when i finally spoke to the one manager, he said no queens exist.  OK, what about a 2 bed room - well, they are all taken and no way to know when one is available till the people leave.  Then, 2 days ago, they offered us a 2 bed room - but just on the 3rd floor.  DH said he wanted to wait to move all our stuff when a 2 bed room is on 1st or maybe 2nd floor.  Uggggghhhhh.  I will just continue to enjoy the air cranked wayyyyyyy down and very cool room.

Supposed to be 98 and 99 through Monday.  Tues high 80s.  We are going to RH this weekend to relax and spread out, do some cleaning and laundry.  We will enjoy taking our smaller car rather than our ginormous older SUV.  We have taken the SUV every trip to RH for the past year and a half.  It costs nearly $100 to fill it up with gas versus $40 for the car.  So, that is nice.  All we have left to move to RH (4hours away) is what we are currently using in hotel.  So, that is a nice thought.
Stay cool and enjoy your Wednesday!

How to Purge Stress

Nature
Ask
Meditation
Action
Sleep
Think
Exercise
Sorry this is so long.  But i guess i needed it.  Have been pretty stressed lately.  Situational stress I think.  But, stress is stress and many around me are stressed, so it has been on my mind...
I just had to google how to spell exercise.  It was because I hesitated on it.  If I just did it quick, I would have remembered, ha!  I cannot overthink or multi task anymore.  I think it is a product of age and overload.  I have this a lot, plus more and more senior moments!  Instead of letting this get me down, the past year or so since I almost lost my Granny - I include the thought that even though I am feeling my age more and more I am privileged to reach late middle age.
I read a post recently on one of my FB groups I like and the person was asking how to purge stress.  So I thought about it.  I have found myself thinking out this before I read this particular post.  I have thought about my own personal needs to try and figure out why I feel stress.  I use a coping skill.  I went through above and put some of my coping skills into an acronym.  These are not in order of importance. 
Nature - is what my mother used to tell me I needed.  When I was a young woman away from her in the city working on my career, she would sense on the phone if I was tired and say you need to go outside.  When is the last time you got out of the city.  Now you will even hear people put a label on this called "grounding".  My mother was ahead of her time.  I think the thing about nature is that it makes me aware the universe is much bigger than I - and that immediately changes my perspective.  Whatever problem or discomfort I have, I am not alone and I am not the center of the universe.  It will pass even if I do nothing.
Action - can I do something about the cause of the stress?  Can I make a list.  Can I figure out the worst case scenario and figure out a way to deal with that?  Hope for the best, but prepare for the worst.  Maybe nothing even close to the worst will happen, but if I have planned for it JIC, then I am more ready.  I wonder if I should give up this philosophy, but old habits die hard.  The best action I can take is to just plan sometimes.  Planning helps steer me toward thinking before I take action and planning is an action in itself.  Can I plan a reward now or later to get me through something hard?
Meditation is sort of the exact opposite of Action, although the better I get at harnessing my thoughts, the closer it resembles action to me.  Focus on my breath, my heartbeat, my place in the universe, being still and present and I am automatically calmer.  Google the vagus nerve and how important it is.  It is truly amazing how much this nerve impacts our wellbeing.  And it is amazing how just some deep breathing will affect the vagus nerve.  I mentioned this to my cousin who was diagnosed with stage 4 cancer and she laughed and said "Vegas?!".  Well, it does sound the same.  I do think humor is important and it an integral part of my demeanor - but if I am too stressed, I cannot find the humor at first. 
Ask for help.  Either from a person or from the universe.  To me, asking the universe is prayer.  I give thanks for my blessings and ask for God to help me.  Even if you don't believe in God, by being a living creature we can look to the universe and to science.  Energy is undeniable.  If you need to feel better, harness energy.  Energy from art, music, laughter, beauty, nature, love.  Read an inspiring poem, book, etc.  I swear just the power of classical music can reduce my stress.  I often listen to celestial space music to help me sleep.
Sleep.  I have a chronic health condition and I have been trying to learn how to deal with it for most of my adult life.  My condition affects my digestion, my skin, my joints and my eyes.  It also gives me brain fog.  I get very depressed about my condition sometimes.  I have learned that stress and lack of sleep affect me very quickly when I have stress and lack of rest.  I have learned that by resting, I feel better.  This was a very hard adaptation for me.  I have never been one to get 8 hours of sleep.  Most of my education and professional life I got 4 -  6.  Well, not anymore I regularly get 8 and sometimes I even get 10.  And it is ok, my arse did not fall off!  Isn't that something I deserve without anything more?  Certainly something I have earned after working so hard so many years.  I plan to really experiment with this, maybe even take a nap once in a while (gasp).
Think.  Think of what is causing the stress.  Not the cause of the feeling of stress, but why whatever trigger created a reaction in me.  Is it something real?  Am I in danger?  Am I doing something that is inconsistent with my values?  Am i in fear?  Am I angry?  Am I tired?  Do i have a need that is not being met?  I took a nutrition course through my temp employer about 5 years ago.  It had to do with making good food and eating choices.  Many of our food choices are made out of emotion.  It taught me that we all have essential needs and if we can tune into what these
needs are, then we will be better able to find ways to meet these needs without food or other harmful substances and behaviors.  My vital needs are:  spirituality, order/closure, financial security, give/do for others, personal time, being with people, movement.
Exercise.  For me, this has been such a part of my personal hygiene that it is as normal as bathing and eating.  If i do not move, i pay for it.  I have had an active program of movement since i graduated from high school.  When i was in public school, we had PE.  PE lead to some sports and dance in high school and that caused me to think about how exercise benefits us.  I have done it regularly every since - 30+ years.  Not only does it cause neurotransmitters to be produced in our bodies - but it causes strength and tolerance, confidence and helps me clear my head.  I can't live without it.  I plan to be doing yoga and walking as long as I am literally able to move.
I hope someone reads this.  I get so much inspiration and connection from the things i read, especially blogs because they are so personal and not agenda driven.  I hope someone can connect with me on this entry.  What have i left out?  What do you do to combat stress?

Hot Yoga

Had a great hot yoga session last night.  I needed it after schedule the radon inspection complication, instead of installing 2 days before reg inspection, they will come get Monday - after inspection.  I could tell my sinuses were affected by allergies though, because I could not do eagle or warrior three on my right side.  I usually sleep really well after yoga but I was wide awake last night.  I went down to basement and plugged in 2 fans to move the air for radon testing.  It really seems arbitrary and unregulated in our CH state.  I just hope they find nothing and we all move on.  I will open all the windows now that I am pretty sure it won't rain through Monday.  It was not supposed to rain last night, but it did - right at dog walking time, of course.  But I managed to get them out after it slowed to a sprinkle.  My male dog barked at the front door at 10:30 and then stopped but kept looking at the door.  I was creeped out, then I realized if someone were there, he would keep barking.  But he just sat there...then it dawned on me...he was looking for DH!  So funny how animals are.  They know when things are out of their routine!
So, DH will be home tomorrow.  I packed a couple areas last night, but that is all.  I separated out a few more clothes to pack and take.  We already have the load packed in our large SUV for the 5/18 weekend.  So, I guess I am working on the load for Memorial Weekend.  I think if we take a full load every weekend from now to June 27, we should be able to get it all without help and without a trailer (other than open trailer for the bikes).  I am pretty sure we do not have such an involved move "in us" again.  My DH seems to be really tired all the time.  I am worried about him, I hope it is just all this stress and anticipation and activity surrounding our renovating one house, selling the other and moving (and his retirement!).
Have a great Wednesday!

Last Conference

My DH is out of town on the last professional conference he will go to as an employee.  He left Monday.  Last night was just me and the dogs.  I usually don't sleep well the first night is gone, but I was so tired I slept deep last night.  I was going to stay up and little later than usual and watch whatever I wanted to on TV...so much for that plan!
Today I am waiting to hear from the radon inspection company...if they don't call me by tonight, then I am afraid they won't have time to get their equipment set up.  The regular inspection guy and I scheduled the inspection for 9:30am Friday and the radon people have to have their equipment in place 48 hours ahead of his inspection so he can collect it.  I hope this radon process does not become a sticking point.  We are already providing a $500 home warranty.  I tend to think my husband and I will not be agreeable to forking over $1000 for radon mitigation.  I guess we shall see...

Rest

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/?m=1
My friend at work has a funny saying "crank daddy out a hit".  We were just talking this morning about activity level, health and how sitting at work all day 8 - 12 hours a day is not good for us.  It takes years to build up strength and endurance.  I walked with my girlfriend last night, T.  We were reflecting how long it has been since it was nice enough outside in this long Midwest winter.  Our usual 4 miles was harder last night.  We also discussed our yoga over the past 6 years and how we see progress being made.  But it has taken 6 years!  And this morning my work friend and I were talking about how just the last year of overtime has sapped us!  Years to build up, months to lose.  But, the important take away is that it is NEVER too late to start.  If nothing else, working out benefits my state of mind.  I think it will be more easy to fit in and more important than ever to continue this in retirement.  My DH has been eating a little bit better and walking more with golf and he has lost 12 pounds in 3 months.  Funny thing is, our doctor told him his sodium was low, so to drink less water.  What?!  That is crazy, but makes sense because he and I have been obsessed with water and I think it is because of 3 things:  1)  our Y*@i tumblers.  I love them!  2)  we gave up diet soda and 3)  this sort of goes together, but I think he and I both are more sensitive to salt/medications may be making us thirsty.  Either way, good news...unless there is some underlying problem I need to worry about...too late, I worry proactively.  We are really focusing on getting our required sleep every night with these last couple years of hard work on both houses, at our jobs and with my health condition.  So, here's to not worrying...not worrying that this weekend will AGAIN be cold and rainy and so we still will not be able to paint our deck...not worrying that my dogs health is tenuous and they will get sick again...not worry that my DH has underlying health issue...not worrying that I will soon be moving away from my 99 year old dear grandmother...not worrying that we won't sell our house soon enough...or fast enough...No, I refuse to worry.  I will focus on gratitude, rest and turning it over to Him...and lunch and a movie with my 2 aunts on Sat.  Life is good!

J...Junction

http://www.a-to-zchallenge.com/?m=1
I am at a junction in my life and I can't wait to turn and start down the different path!  I hate the feeling of wishing time away and I have to be careful that I don't obsess on it.  But I am so ready for a change.  I have barely slept the past 3 weeks I have been so stressed about my dogs and about getting the house show ready and getting pictures of it to list.  Then last night I became obsessed with another thought - I need to get photos to make flyers to have ready for people who drive by!  Another thing on my to do list!
And my older male dog is just so restless and thirsty at night.  He whines and wakes me up several times a night wanting to drink water and go outside.  Well, in CH we do not have a fenced yard so I either have to put him on a leash or walk out with him and keep an eye on him.  Then the little girl dog wakes up and wants to go too!  Then we all have to try to sleep again.  A few nights when I have waken up, I can't get back to sleep because I am hungry...ugh.  Here I am at work today and I wish I had some of those glasses like Homer Simpson that he could put on and when he closed his eyes, the glasses looked like his eyes were still open!  HA 

Here is a photo of my two dogs.  The female is down below, the male on the back of my chair.  They love to be covered up.  Since they have been sick, they have both been very needing.  And Chihuahuas are pretty needy anyway, especially rescue Chihuahuas!

Anyway, it has got me to thinking.  Since we are moving for sure October 1st.  What big deal would it be if I move as soon as the house sells?  Then the dogs would have a fenced yard and I could get my kitty back from my friend who lives 3 hours away.  I don't think the kitty is doing well.  She is too old to adjust to other cats.  I really thought she would be ok, because she likes other people and animals so much, but she is just hanging out in their bathroom.  I really just think this is part of how I transition to such a big change...obsess and worry about it and brainstorm. 
It will all work out.  The important thing is that things are going to change BIG.  SOON.  I need to enjoy my day to day.  I am going to start with buying some puppy pads at the store tonight after work and see if I can persuade the male dog to sleep next to our bed, instead of on it.  Wish me luck.

Need to Bounce

This is when I really wish I had someone who would read my blog.  Maybe if I can figure out how to post photos and do more commenting on other blogs.  But, my phone is not working very well and my pc at home finally seems to be working better (maybe).  So maybe I will try again.  My Samsung phone is  almost 2 years old and it is not holding a charge and is super slow.  It is ridiculous.  I am going to get one final smart phone upgrade, but I am going to try the WalMart plan $55/mo unlimited.  Most of my apps and stuff is google based, so I should be able to get it all transferred.  I am a little nervous about all my contacts.  I will have to go to Walmart and scope it out before I pull the trigger.  My Verizon contract is up 1/27/18 and I can't wait!

I am very tired this morning.  I am so happy to have a calm, regular week after crazy last week.  Went to good yoga session last night.  Went to sleep easily last night 10pm, was very tired.  Then I was wide awake 3am.  Could NOT go back to sleep.  Now I am super tired.  My mind is restless worrying about my cousin, her mom and my DGM.

On another note.  No more houseguests unless they are neat and come stay because they want to see me.