So glad I'm home

I had one of those days at work that fly by, leaving you wondering if you actually accomplished anything, even though you stayed busy. In other words, I guess it was a typical Monday. But three things made me sad/bothered me today:

1. I did my weekly weigh-in and I weigh more than I ever have. I haven't broken the 300 lb mark but I'm very close at 297.
   
2. A chief of staff emeritus, who was very instrumental in creating the library in the first place, asked if the exploratory committee that is looking into moving the hospital had incorporated the library into their plans. I had to tell him that although I'm not 100% sure about the collection, my position is not going, and I'm assuming the library itself will not be either. He was sympathetic and more than a little disappointed, I think.
   
3. Given these two things, I decided to clear by head by taking a walk during my break around the parking lot. My, how sad. I walked only a half a mile in 13 minutes. My feet bothered me, but the real kicker was my lower back, which was awful. I averaged 2 1/2 miles an hour, although I started out a bit too strong at 4 1/2 (but that was downhill). After I came back in, I had some water and a V-8, but my head really bothered me. And I had to use my inhaler. So in other words I'm a total fitness wreck. I've never been in shape, really, but I've never been this out of shape, either. But I guess you have to start somewhere.
   

On the way home, I was really craving some fresh veggies, so I made an impromptu stop at the store only to miss the bus by seconds, and the next one wasn't for another hour, so I walked home, heavily laden. I got home just as the next bus was pulling out of the station, but probably about 30 minutes earlier than I would have otherwise.

So, all that plus being up from 6 am till 1 am yesterday (I cleaned my friends' house, we went to get mulch, we went to Kroger, and then we played until 11 pm or so, and then I talked on the phone with the game master till one in the morning as part of our weekly debriefing, if you will) means I'm very tired. I have things to do, but I'm going to lie down for just a bit to stretch out my back, with a pillow under my knees to help. The plan is not to go to sleep, but let's face it, I probably will. But with any luck I can get up and get things done a little later. We'll see. Carrying laundry is not going to help my back, I know, but some at least has to be done tonight or early tomorrow morning. And there's that book review, and I really don't want to put it off. For now, though, I'm going to take some ibuprofen and my foot medicine and prop myself up on pillows to try to get a little more comfortable.

I am spending a rare evening home

or at least from 9 pm on. My main excitement today was making my rent with pennies to spare. (It would have been a dollar and some pennies, but then I remembered the gas station prints out two money orders for anything over $500. Which mine was, unfortunately. My normal rent is $480 a month, but I had late fees on top of that. Which is sad, because I really expected to be fine this month, but forgot the stupid gym membership that comes out at the beginning of the month, so while nothing bounced, I was a small amount short for my rent, which then turned into almost being short with the late fees. Gah.

Speaking of the gym, the plan is to go back starting tomorrow. I'd like to shoot for 5 days a week, an hour at a time at first, in the hopes of doing 3 days a week. It'll have to vary with my store and Swampa schedule, though. My podiatrist told me at the end of December that I could go back but focus on bicycling before working up to treadmills, since my foot is still healing. And after all, I'm paying for it and it's costing money, so I should reap the benefits. Plus, there's a pool and a sauna. :) It's not Gold's Gym anymore, though. Basically the franchisee came to an agreement with Gold's and is now operating under the name Urban Active. Same facilities, same contract, same money coming out of my account, different name. (And yes, I checked to see if I could get out of the contract--that runs till next year--due to the change. No dice.) But I need to go anyway. So between jobs tomorrow my goal is to go do some bicycling and maybe a little weight lifting and pool action.

I think I'm going to go do some things with my off time. Bye.