working out for Disney

[Songbird76]

Today the front windows are being replaced.

 

[Sans Souci]

Checking in with sort of a work out. Life has been really "lifey" of late. I haven't had it in me to do much of anything. Work has been so incredibly stressful to the point that I'm making myself sick. Today should have signaled some improvement, but I woke up with a panic attack from a sound sleep and realized that something else was wrong. Logged into my work systems, confirmed my worst fears, sent messages to everyone that could help get us back on track, and then went outside. I don't know if it's really walking in the exercise sense, but I was so upset that I spent 30+ minutes literally pacing in the driveway and circling the yard before logging in for my actual workday. I had a few moments of increased exertion when the dog wanted to play. I'm not really in the mood to bike, but we're already in triple digit heat indexes and will be triple digit actual temps starting on Thursday. So, biking really is best. No, it's not that awful smoke some of you were having (the sun looked just like my cousin's pics), but it's not pleasant either.

I've been better about my eating and feel some differences. While I'm not doing it as strictly as before, I've cut out nearly all gluten and dairy again. I'd been experiencing so much gut pain that it was keeping me from sleeping through the night. When I would get out of bed, it made it hard to walk or bike because it was like I had an alien in my tummy. I've been doing much better since this change.

Beyond that, I missed out on a softball trip to Plano because I just had too much work to do. It's probably an omen that I didn't go. K had some issues with her truck. It was stemming from things she'd relayed to my husband, but he thought it was something she could figure out. I'm not sure why he thought that. In any event, while they were away, we had some issues getting it into reverse and it became very clear something was wrong. Turns out the hydraulic braking system had collapsed and the conventional braking backup system had gotten to critical level because of that collapse. I was really afraid it was the transmission, so I threw that service into repairs just to be safe. Same kid also thought she broke a toe the other night, but after doing some buddy taping splinting, icing, ibuprofen and putting her in a boot for a bit, she was fine. I, on the other hand, had it added into my stress mix. We're just obscenely busy. Between K's summer courses (college psychology and college environmental science), library volunteering, camp volunteering, choir prep and Sam's athletic schedule (tournaments, practices, lessons, high school strength and conditioning camp, high school softball camp, high school team work ins), there is zero relaxation. I take that back, while I've already seen it in its entirety, I've been watching The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel with K. So, my free time this past weekend was devoted to binge watching. Considering my stress levels, I need funny over real life stuff right now.

Is it possible for your girls to drop an activity/volunteering opportunity? Between your job and their activities, you don't get anytime for yourself. I don't mean to sound like I am giving a lecture or anything like that and I know it's easier said than done, but maybe you can prioritize yourself more often? What you've written doesn't sound great, physically and/or mentally. It doesn't sound very sustainable, either.

 

[Sans Souci]

Sounds like a rough week. Boy, do I know how that goes. Sending you soothing hugs and pixie dust.

We're renovating at the moment. This was our house yesterday.
View attachment 723613

They had a wall and a door and windows back in by the end of the day. Today, they'll do the front of the house, I think, and finish off E's room, and do the bathroom upstairs, then I imagine Thursday and Friday will be putting on the new siding. But it's been really stressful trying to get ready for this. I'm glad I have the new job though. It's so much better than the old one, and it's during the day instead of the evening, so I'm getting better sleep. I have to get up at 6 to shower and be ready before they get here to start work, and if I was still working evenings, I wouldn't get home until midnight. I'd be exhausted. So this is nicer. I'll be glad when it's all done, though.

Wow. Is this work part of the yellow cladding everyone wanted you to get to blend in? It's kind of crazy that they have the interior of your house exposed like that. It's like a giant dollhouse. This would stress me out to no end, too.

 

[Sans Souci]

Good morning

I did an upper body push/pull workout. I think I don't care for upper body workouts because I don't get the same calorie burn as a lower body workout. I seem to be horizontal a lot in upper body workouts, so that right there slows the heart rate.

I have my devices on Do Not Disturb from 10 pm-7 AM, so I can sleep in peace. I have had it like this for nearly 10 years. I don't know how this happened, but an alert slipped through to inform me that the Vegas Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup. I didn't even know the NHL expanded into Las Vegas. I was mildly annoyed that I was awakened by this. I'm just glad it was benign news.

 

[Figgy1]

How's your husband doing now?

Much better but he's home for 2 more weeks

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Sounds like a rough week. Boy, do I know how that goes. Sending you soothing hugs and pixie dust.

We're renovating at the moment. This was our house yesterday.
View attachment 723613

They had a wall and a door and windows back in by the end of the day. Today, they'll do the front of the house, I think, and finish off E's room, and do the bathroom upstairs, then I imagine Thursday and Friday will be putting on the new siding. But it's been really stressful trying to get ready for this. I'm glad I have the new job though. It's so much better than the old one, and it's during the day instead of the evening, so I'm getting better sleep. I have to get up at 6 to shower and be ready before they get here to start work, and if I was still working evenings, I wouldn't get home until midnight. I'd be exhausted. So this is nicer. I'll be glad when it's all done, though.

Thanks! I don't want to jinx it, but things are looking up!

Oh wow! That is a lot going on! While it's often great in the end, any kind of home renovations are really disruptive. I felt like we were living in a disaster area when we were renovating our last home for sale, and all of the projects in this house...especially gutting the bathrooms was crazy. I'm glad you're new job is better. Evening work is difficult, no matter what you do. Hopefully, this adds more energy and peace to your life.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Is it possible for your girls to drop an activity/volunteering opportunity? Between your job and their activities, you don't get anytime for yourself. I don't mean to sound like I am giving a lecture or anything like that and I know it's easier said than done, but maybe you can prioritize yourself more often? What you've written doesn't sound great, physically and/or mentally. It doesn't sound very sustainable, either.

It's not bad when K's truck is OK, both adults are in town, and work isn't in peak stress mode. With the truck fixed, K can handle Sam's camp transportation and can handle getting herself to and from volunteering. Anything where K may need parental help is also easier when everyone is in town. So, with them back from Plano, that has improved. While there are still some loose ends to clean up, some projects next week, and some catching up to get done...I should be past my big work stress issue that's been ruining my quality of life. Ultimately, it was a perfect storm of issues. I have a long weekend this weekend and nearly 2 weeks of travel after I get past the next work week. So, positive stuff on the horizon.

 

[Songbird76]

Wow. Is this work part of the yellow cladding everyone wanted you to get to blend in? It's kind of crazy that they have the interior of your house exposed like that. It's like a giant dollhouse. This would stress me out to no end, too.

Yes, I really wanted a different color. The one neighbor was pushing hard for the matching yellow, which I hate. But since it costs several thousand Euros more to choose a different color, DH said no way. So ugly yellow it is.
Yeah, someone has to be home every day. They don't leave it open at night. They only open up what they can get closed again by the end of the day. So they put in the new downstairs window and the new door and they replaced the bathroom window and the panel. It used to be wall-to-wall windows, but now the bathroom only has one window and the rest is a panel.



Now I just need to clean it up and we need to decide what to put over the window. For now, I have a cheap plastic tablecloth over it. I've got some pretty window foil, so we might do that. But nothing is open by the end of the day. So it's ok. But it IS stressful.

DH has been working from home this week because I still have to actually go to work several days, and on the days I don't work, I have other stuff to do. I had to go to the centrum today to get the tablecloths and some heavy tape to put it up with, and I needed to go to a different grocery store because the yogurt at my neighborhood store sucks. So I walked the mile and a half to the centrum to get stuff, then walked back home, then biked to the dentist with A for his appointment, and then back home, then biked back to the Centrum with E because I needed her opinion on some dresses I had seen. Then we biked home, and I've made 2 trips walking to the grocery store, but it's only a couple of blocks away. My fitness tracker says I walked 15,000 steps today, but it doesn't count my biking, so I actually got a LOT more exercise than that. I've been getting a LOT of exercise now with the new job that I have to bike to. I've built up my stamina a lot, so what took me 35 minutes to bike now takes about 25 instead. So I've improved for sure. I'm hoping I'll see the difference at my diabetis checkup next week. Hopefully I'll be down a few pounds and my sugar level will be better. Those were both up at my annual check in February, but that was because we spent about 2 weeks in the hospital with A when he couldn't eat or drink, and we weren't getting any exercise OR eating well. And we were stressed to the max. So my health took a dive. Then the whole thing with work blew up and I was just a mess. Now I've got a good job, I'm getting lots of exercise, and E has made sure we get some good healthy meals on the days I work and am not home in time to cook. DH's go-to is take out or deep fry and he can live happily without veggies. E and I can't, so she's been doing a lot of the grocery shopping and cooking. There's still stress, but it's a more healthy stress. So hopefully my levels are recovering.

So that's where we are now.

 

[Sans Souci]

It's not bad when K's truck is OK, both adults are in town, and work isn't in peak stress mode. With the truck fixed, K can handle Sam's camp transportation and can handle getting herself to and from volunteering. Anything where K may need parental help is also easier when everyone is in town. So, with them back from Plano, that has improved. While there are still some loose ends to clean up, some projects next week, and some catching up to get done...I should be past my big work stress issue that's been ruining my quality of life. Ultimately, it was a perfect storm of issues. I have a long weekend this weekend and nearly 2 weeks of travel after I get past the next work week. So, positive stuff on the horizon.

I hope you got some much needed rest this weekend.

 

[Sans Souci]

Yes, I really wanted a different color. The one neighbor was pushing hard for the matching yellow, which I hate. But since it costs several thousand Euros more to choose a different color, DH said no way. So ugly yellow it is.
Yeah, someone has to be home every day. They don't leave it open at night. They only open up what they can get closed again by the end of the day. So they put in the new downstairs window and the new door and they replaced the bathroom window and the panel. It used to be wall-to-wall windows, but now the bathroom only has one window and the rest is a panel.

View attachment 723771

Now I just need to clean it up and we need to decide what to put over the window. For now, I have a cheap plastic tablecloth over it. I've got some pretty window foil, so we might do that. But nothing is open by the end of the day. So it's ok. But it IS stressful.

DH has been working from home this week because I still have to actually go to work several days, and on the days I don't work, I have other stuff to do. I had to go to the centrum today to get the tablecloths and some heavy tape to put it up with, and I needed to go to a different grocery store because the yogurt at my neighborhood store sucks. So I walked the mile and a half to the centrum to get stuff, then walked back home, then biked to the dentist with A for his appointment, and then back home, then biked back to the Centrum with E because I needed her opinion on some dresses I had seen. Then we biked home, and I've made 2 trips walking to the grocery store, but it's only a couple of blocks away. My fitness tracker says I walked 15,000 steps today, but it doesn't count my biking, so I actually got a LOT more exercise than that. I've been getting a LOT of exercise now with the new job that I have to bike to. I've built up my stamina a lot, so what took me 35 minutes to bike now takes about 25 instead. So I've improved for sure. I'm hoping I'll see the difference at my diabetis checkup next week. Hopefully I'll be down a few pounds and my sugar level will be better. Those were both up at my annual check in February, but that was because we spent about 2 weeks in the hospital with A when he couldn't eat or drink, and we weren't getting any exercise OR eating well. And we were stressed to the max. So my health took a dive. Then the whole thing with work blew up and I was just a mess. Now I've got a good job, I'm getting lots of exercise, and E has made sure we get some good healthy meals on the days I work and am not home in time to cook. DH's go-to is take out or deep fry and he can live happily without veggies. E and I can't, so she's been doing a lot of the grocery shopping and cooking. There's still stress, but it's a more healthy stress. So hopefully my levels are recovering.

So that's where we are now.

I guess your exterior work is done by now? My husband keeps making noises about renovating the kitchen. It's a nice kitchen, but it wasn't designed for people who cook a lot. It has a weird flow to it, but I can live with it. The things he wants to do are intensive and I don't want to deal with the noise, the mess, and eating carry outs for weeks.

I hope your check up goes well.

 

[Sans Souci]

Good morning-

I switched gears today and did a kettlebell workout. It was a good change of pace. We had a low key Father's Day here yesterday. I made brioche burger buns, cole slaw, potato salad and banana pudding. My husband grilled burgers and the cat showed up just in time. So I gave her a little bit of a burger as a treat.

I am supposed to go to my husband's apartment tonight, but I kind of want to stay here again. I'll see how I feel later. He encourages me to go up because they changed the amenity fee from an annual fee to a monthly one and it's much more money now (even though they removed some of amenities ). I guess me using the gym makes him feel he's getting something out of it. IDK.

 

[Sans Souci]

Good afternoon-

I did another kettlebell workout today. I didn't feel like lifting weights today.

I ended up going to Jersey City. After dinner, I am going to sit on the roof top deck and chill. There's a good view of aircraft doing the final descent to land at Newark. It's kind of interesting to watch.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I hope you got some much needed rest this weekend.

Not really...but it wasn't stressful like things have been of late. So, I'll take it!

 

[Songbird76]

I guess your exterior work is done by now? My husband keeps making noises about renovating the kitchen. It's a nice kitchen, but it wasn't designed for people who cook a lot. It has a weird flow to it, but I can live with it. The things he wants to do are intensive and I don't want to deal with the noise, the mess, and eating carry outs for weeks.

I hope your check up goes well.

Nope, they didn't finish yet. They were supposed to be done a week ago Friday, but they aren't. I'm not a happy camper.

 

[Sans Souci]

Not really...but it wasn't stressful like things have been of late. So, I'll take it!

How are you faring with the temps? I saw how extreme they were and I thought of you and your family. Hope you're staying safe and cool.

 

[Sans Souci]

Nope, they didn't finish yet. They were supposed to be done a week ago Friday, but they aren't. I'm not a happy camper.

They must be done by now? When are you and your daughter going to WDW again? If nothing else, you have that in your horizon. It's such an exciting thing to look forward to.

 

[Sans Souci]

Hello-

I've been working out. I just got caught up in stuff going on over here. I did a lower body kettle bell workout. I was going to go for a walk today, but the smoke is bad again. I am not messing around with the stuff. My husband had to go to Washington yesterday for work and he said it was really bad there. He was struggling with coughing and mucus even though he wore a mask when he was outdoors. He is still not right today.

I am looking forward to the 4th. I bought stuff to make already. I am especially looking forward to the tres leches cake I am making. It seems like a good dessert to serve in hot weather, since it's served cold. We bought fairy lights for the trees in our yard and I am hoping the smoke is gone by then, because I'd like to sit outside at night enjoy the summer.

 

[MinnieM123]

Hello-

I've been working out. I just got caught up in stuff going on over here. I did a lower body kettle bell workout. I was going to go for a walk today, but the smoke is bad again. I am not messing around with the stuff. My husband had to go to Washington yesterday for work and he said it was really bad there. He was struggling with coughing and mucus even though he wore a mask when he was outdoors. He is still not right today.

I am looking forward to the 4th. I bought stuff to make already. I am especially looking forward to the tres leches cake I am making. It seems like a good dessert to serve in hot weather, since it's served cold. We bought fairy lights for the trees in our yard and I am hoping the smoke is gone by then, because I'd like to sit outside at night enjoy the summer.

Hoping the smoke clears, so that the two of you can enjoy some rest outdoors, during this holiday weekend.

 

[Songbird76]

They must be done by now? When are you and your daughter going to WDW again? If nothing else, you have that in your horizon. It's such an exciting thing to look forward to.

Well they finished the facade, and they were supposed to come at 9 yesterday to install the sun screens. They were 2 hours late and came without the cables because apparently the other company was supposed to do that part. And that company ALSO ordered the wrong screen for E's room. DH checked the emails and it's right in the emails, so it's their mistake. One of MANY. So now they are going to have to come back and fix that. The sun screens did get installed, but for some reason they ordered a manual one for E's room instead of an electric one, and the manual one has a thingy at the top, whereas the holes were drilled for the electric thingy near the bottom. In order to install the one they brought so at least she has A screen, they had to drill holes at the top. So when they come back to put in the electric one, there will be holes at the top. And when they did that back facade, they were supposed to shift the door over 10cm and make it wider, because the way it's always been, the heater sticks out from the wall several centimeters in front of the door, so we don't have the full width of the door to go through. So they were making it wider AND shifting it 10 cm so the heater wouldn't be in front of it. When they did the work, they forgot to shift it, but the new door opens the other way, making the opening behind the heater. You could JUST get the key into the lock, but it was awkward. So after those guys messed everything up and took forever doing it, this other guy was sent and he worked faster and better by himself than the other 3 guys did together and he ended up having to fix all their mistakes. They drilled the hole for the number box in the wrong place and had to cut a brand new panel. So he looked at the door and said what they COULD do is put in a lock that has a little turn dial rather than a key slot on the inside. You can still lock it and unlock it with the key outside, but on the inside you turn this little knobby thingy. This was after they had put in the new locks because the front door lock jammed and the keys didn't work. So we're already on our 3rd set of keys now, and the front door doesn't latch properly. You have to keep slamming it to get it to finally catch. So now DH sent an email to the company saying, "Look this is unacceptable. This the so manieth thing that got done wrong, and all of it was YOUR company that did it wrong. FIX IT!!!" So now they have to come Thursday to talk to us to figure out how to fix everything. The one guy did a really good job on everything HE did himself. But the other doofuses botched a bunch of stuff and then just kind of shrugged it off like "Oh well...oops." and at first we were willing to live with it. Like....the back door not being shifted we could live with with the turny lock instead of the key...it's not what we ordered, and it's not ideal, but it works. They fixed the panel with the hole in the wrong place for the house number (which is also different from everyone else's and it was supposed to be the same). We can deal with those things. But the fact that they were supposed to put in the cables for the electric sunscreens and didn't, and they ordered the wrong screen for E's room despite it being correct in the email we sent, and then now having to redo the holes for it....we're just done with their "mistakes". At this point, it's just plain unacceptable. They just aren't paying attention to what they are doing...so they can come and do it over. We're so done with it!

And we leave for the US on the 25th, but I'm getting nervous. We had to move everything away from the walls for this, and we can't put it back until they are done. E hasn't had access to her closet for weeks. She's been living with tshirts and jeans from the dresser and whatever dresses were in the laundry when she moved her bed against the closet. But we're going to need to get to the closet to pack for Disney, and she also needs to be able to use the sewing machine for some stuff she wants to make before Disney. We're running out of time.

 

[Songbird76]

Happy 4th of July! Hope you are all getting some nice weather and can celebrate how you want to!!