It's Hard Out There For A Nurse...

Dang, it was NOT good at work this weekend. As I sit here blogging , I am recovering from two nights at work.
That may not sound like much to you, but you just had to be there.

Seventeen years of this has been bad for me. I realized at 11p I needed to fill my water cup. Really? We spend a lot of time tending to the needs of others to our own detriment . There really comes a time when you realize you can be no good to anyone else if you don't take care of yourself. ( reread that last line ).
How do you do it?
You need to PLAN.
1. First : bring your food. Even if you find something decent, it will cost 3x as much. You need healthy carbs for energy and protein to keep you going.
2. Drink your water. And then drink more. Many times thirst is mistaken as hunger.
3. Get up and walk around every hour if you are stuck at a computer . You need it! Stretch , move , you will feel so much better after just a few minutes.
4. Get some sleep. You will probably never get as much as a day shifter , but get it when you can.

5. Last on this short list: get some exercise. You may like it before work, or like me, on the way home. I spent so many years convinced I was too damn tired to hit the gym after work. I had no idea how much better I would feel working out AFTER work. I feel like the stress and frustration just sweats right out of me. And that is no small task.

I guess I should also add that we all need to remember what a gift every day is. It's up to us to make it great, or the best it can be. There is no promise of tomorrow .

Instead of a word, how about a picture?

My Adidas pants I bought TWO years ago.... Just now fit.
YES!!!!!

Twenty One Weeks to Go

Until what? I am beginning a project , I LOVE this s...tuff ...in my continued search for direction, routine and of course success, I have devised a plan!
Uh, at least a partial plan. A plan to travel past this intersection of What and Now.
I have a birthday in about five months. Twenty one weeks and a few hours to be exact . And it's a big one. It's the first one I have been at all concerned with. Thirty came and went, forty the same. Maybe , I suspect because I USED to be old. My so called youth, in some ways never was. Wouldn't trade my three babies for the world , but I never got to be just me. My choice at the time, but who knew then?

But as the saying goes " it is what it is".
And i am so blessed by my kids. Love them beyond measure.
But back to the impending doom, uh event. I have decided it is my project to get it together. Wrap this UP.
The time is NOW pretty much and it's up to me and me alone. Guess what, it was always up to me. I just forgot that for a while.

There are some exciting things I have planned for this project. I hope they all fall into place and I succeed , for me.

I will keep you updated .
Project Five-0, is NEXT.

Thankful

It seems like everyone is posting about the things they are thankful for as Thanksgiving approaches.
I am thankful for my family, my health and the chance to be a positive voice in the world.
I am blessed to have some very special people touch my life.
I am thankful for the people in my life who are genuine and true.
I am a person who values sincerity . I am thankful for people in my life who do also.

We Rocked, We Rolled...

The Rock n Roll Marathon came and went yesterday . I did the " Mini". It should be called " Almost a 5k"as it's 3 miles. It was fun to be honest. Just enough to participate. I mostly walked, I jogged a little. I am not supposed to really. But sometimes I just can't help myself. What's the point of trying if you can't do all those " never could " things?
So I jogged some. And it was great . My knees were fine! I know they are basically junk, but yesterday , they were fine. And I wasn't out of breath, and I wasn't the biggest one there. You know we big girls look FIRST for that.

Strangely I felt at home. This from a girl who would do anything to get out of PE as a kid. I look around at an event, and mind you I am not the youngest, thinnest or fastest by any stretch of the imagination. But I belong there. Because I get it, and what it means. I am no longer uneasy in those places . Because i now know my biggest competition will forever be myself.

I do it, because I CAN , whatever it may be that day.

And yesterday , it was awesome.

November Already ? Really...

Well Blogworld, I again have been absent from you for a long time.

Somewhere down deep, I remember my Mom saying " If you can't say anything nice, don't say anything at all".  I would paraphrase to change that to "positive".
Hence the absence.

My favorite time of year has not gone exactly as expected. But I think it has been a true test of my committment and dedication. And you know how I love the tests! The truth is when all is said and done, any change needs to be for yourself and you are the only one who can do that.

Livestrong Challenge Austin 2012

I survived ! Ok, while I have spent many years telling the BabyDaddy that he just sits down for his sport, there seem to be some tricks to that sport of cycling.
1. There are others nearby WHILE you do it.
2.They are really close.
3. Cars travel within feet of your body.

All of that aside , I had a mostly great time with more than 4000 others doing the same. There were people from all over the world doing the same. I was not the biggest which is something a fat person looks for first. I had the free beer and wish I had two, LOL. ( And I don't even like beer).
Another personal win, another opportunity to show, "Yes, I can" .

Daily Grind.....

This is really where it happens. While it is lots of fun, to have a race bib,  packet pickup, Facebook postings of recent "badassness"....that is not the important part really. The daily get up and go do something is hard, after work , after not enough sleep. You get the idea. What you continue to do when there is nobody watching you or for that matter yelling at you. That's my favorite part you might remember.

So I am spending time planning: what I do each day, changing the plan and trying to cover all the bases so to speak and allowing for rest and recovery as well. That is harder than you might think, but that is the page I am on , so I plan on bringing it.


UP NEXT !!!

It is race week here! The Rock n Roll Marathon comes to town. My amazing daughter is participating in the Half Marathon ...13.1 miles she has trained hard for . I made certain to be off for this event. My daughter it seems has the tightest leg muscles imaginable and I am sure I will be stretching her legs on some random sidewalk downtown for a while that morning. Additionally I will be giving the verbal pregame portion ,with everything I can remember to tell her.

I got so wrapped up in Marathon Mania, I signed up for a new somewhat lesser participatory level. The Rock n Roll Mini Marathon. Yes, really. I wish it was called an "almost 5K". But it is not , so I will go after it and do my best as this is a sports medicine doctor approved distance for me  . And I get to participate with the before mentioned awesome daughter, at least a little.

More to follow SOON !!!!