First of all I want to update you on my progress. I am doing quite well as the medication I am on has finally gotten into my system and I feel really good. Not over the top, but my normal, happy self.
I have lost weight over the last few months - total of around 19 lbs. and I am working hard on keeping it off. I have energy and I take a lot of walks with our dog and I am hoping to start running this week. I am working on projects (most of it sewing) and other things around the house.
My husband has taken this week off for vacation so he could put up a cedar privacy fence for our backyard but we are in the midst of a rainy spell here. It is ridiculous. If we would have known that putting up a fence was all it would take to make it rain for several days, we would have done it last year when we were in the midst of a drought.
The purchase of the cedar privacy fence along with our son taking summer college courses has put us on a tight budget. I use a detangler for my hair as it is now several inches below my shoulder. Yes, I could go and use a coupon and get my usual Pantene Detangler, but even with a coupon it will cost $2.50. So I did some research and I have made my own. I put 1 tablespoon of conditioner into the 8.5 oz. bottle the Pantene Detangler came in and I filled it with warm water and shook it up. I spritzed it on my hair and it worked quite well. Just shake it up before each use and that is it.
I completed the beginner's Dog Obedience training with my dog Molly last Tuesday and decided to invest in the Intermediate Dog training class which began the next day. Classes are not frugal, but a life long well balanced dog is well worth it. Also, I have discovered that I really enjoy working with her. I have seen her progress from an anxious, unsure dog to a happy, more balanced dog. I can walk her and she will sit when I stop and anyone can pet her. When we walked past a yard where there were two dogs barking at me, she looked at me when I told her to watch me and we kept moving. Teaching a dog to watch you when they are anxious shows them that you are their leader and they can depend on you. Also people can come over and she will greet them and then I tell her to down and she stays down until I tell her okay.
She has changed so much since January and it is due to the training. Also, I have gained so much confidence and my anxiety has been reduced. When I walk Molly, I walk with my head high and I create an atmosphere of leadership. She trusts me because I am her leader.
So, I won't delay posting any longer. I just didn't want to post a whole lot until I was back to 100%. Hope everyone is enjoying their Memorial Day weekend. For us, we may not be able to get the fence up this week, but I am catching up on sewing and my husband is enjoying a much earned break. If he can't put up the fence, he can always enjoy watching baseball on t.v. After all - it is his time off, no matter if it is raining and we can't put up the fence or if the weather clears up and we are able to put it up. One way or the other, the fence will be up sooner or later - it will happen.
May 26, 2013
May 12, 2013
Life is Beautiful
These days have been spent watching my grandson in the morning and spending afternoons walking my dog, obedience training, working out and sewing. Everyday I feel better and better because of the drug therapy that I am receiving. Fortunately my doctor sees my quite often to make sure that the medicine I have been prescribed is working.
The hardest part of all of this is that I have suffered from anxiety since January and I have had to re-learn what is normal anxiety versus abnormal. But, with May comes sunshine which is medicine in and of itself and I am feeling better each day and more like I used to feel.
The other hard part of this is that I have not felt at all like I have been as frugal as I could be. When you don't feel well, you don't feel like making up a proper grocery list and such, but since it is just the two of us now, we are doing fine with what I have spent on groceries and eating out. Yes, eating out. The reason: the side effects of the medications have suppressed my appetite to the point that I have lost a tremendous amount of weight. In January I weighed 148 lbs. This morning I weighed 132 lbs. My thought is that with everything that I have been through there should be one positive thing that comes out of this. I have to be careful though because with no appetite, I need to make sure that what I eat is good, wholesome and healthy food.
I want to keep the weight off if at all possible so I am walking my grandson in a stroller a few miles a day and continuing to workout at Curves. The result is that I can keep most of the weight off and the endorphins are also great medicine. However, and I can't stress this enough, it would be easy for me to resort to an eating disorder if I am not careful. I am being careful as I don't need to lose anymore weight. My goal is to run a 5K perhaps this summer or in the fall. I have always wanted to do that as my husband and sons have run, my daughter in law runs and I have never done it. But if I don't feel like running a 5K there are always those 1 mile walks you can participate in.
Now I am busy getting ready for the busyness of summer. Thankfully I am able to look forward to the future. We need to paint our house this year. It has to be done. But I am having great difficulty with the colors of the house. Ten years ago we painted our Victorian house in a true color scheme. Three shades of gold, three shades of green and 1 color of rust. At my age I need to fine a simpler color scheme of 3 colors.
BUT - wait, wait, there is more.
We have made a decision to put in a vinyl privacy fence in our back yard. Yes, that picket fence that I painted some 2 or was it 3 years ago, is rotting and we have come to the point that we need to make our lives easier if we continue to live in our house through retirement. Saving up for this fence has been difficult while putting a child through college, but we have managed to do it. However, the main reason for this purchase is just what it says: privacy. We live on a corner lot so our backyard is right next to the sidewalk that everyone walks by and looks in. Our dog, Molly, runs the fence and people have been teasing her. We are tired of it, so tomorrow I will visit with the City engineer to show our plans for where we will be placing the fence - about two feet in our yard from where the picket fence is and we will only be fencing in the back yard and not the side yards. . In this way, the fence will be further away from the sidewalk (4 feet) and I can finally plant flowers in that area and in the side yards since they will be fenced off from our dog.
The other reason for the fence is that we are looking ahead to when our 3 month old grandson is walking and we can go outside and have the privacy that we need.
The vinyl fence is white. My house color scheme of golds, greens and rust will kind of funny next to a white fence so I have been busy trying to compile a yellow color scheme with some white accents.
We have new neighbors that moved in next door to us in late December and when the husband saw us in the backyard measuring where the new fence was going in, he asked if his kids had been bothering us. We assured him that no they hadn't but that this was in our 5 year plan of home improvements. There kids are nice.
One other thing that has been interesting is that since we have gone to being Empty Nesters I have enjoyed the fact that we can eat whenever we want to eat supper, we can eat sandwiches if we want and we can finally have fish - something both my boys do not like.
So, that is what is going on in my life. Sorry I haven't posted much lately, but I have deliberately waited the 6 to 7 weeks it takes for my anti-depressant to kick in. I am loving life again and ready to get back into my normal, daily routine of getting up, feeling positive about my life, my relationship with my family and God and ready to get projects done.
The hardest part of all of this is that I have suffered from anxiety since January and I have had to re-learn what is normal anxiety versus abnormal. But, with May comes sunshine which is medicine in and of itself and I am feeling better each day and more like I used to feel.
The other hard part of this is that I have not felt at all like I have been as frugal as I could be. When you don't feel well, you don't feel like making up a proper grocery list and such, but since it is just the two of us now, we are doing fine with what I have spent on groceries and eating out. Yes, eating out. The reason: the side effects of the medications have suppressed my appetite to the point that I have lost a tremendous amount of weight. In January I weighed 148 lbs. This morning I weighed 132 lbs. My thought is that with everything that I have been through there should be one positive thing that comes out of this. I have to be careful though because with no appetite, I need to make sure that what I eat is good, wholesome and healthy food.
I want to keep the weight off if at all possible so I am walking my grandson in a stroller a few miles a day and continuing to workout at Curves. The result is that I can keep most of the weight off and the endorphins are also great medicine. However, and I can't stress this enough, it would be easy for me to resort to an eating disorder if I am not careful. I am being careful as I don't need to lose anymore weight. My goal is to run a 5K perhaps this summer or in the fall. I have always wanted to do that as my husband and sons have run, my daughter in law runs and I have never done it. But if I don't feel like running a 5K there are always those 1 mile walks you can participate in.
Now I am busy getting ready for the busyness of summer. Thankfully I am able to look forward to the future. We need to paint our house this year. It has to be done. But I am having great difficulty with the colors of the house. Ten years ago we painted our Victorian house in a true color scheme. Three shades of gold, three shades of green and 1 color of rust. At my age I need to fine a simpler color scheme of 3 colors.
BUT - wait, wait, there is more.
We have made a decision to put in a vinyl privacy fence in our back yard. Yes, that picket fence that I painted some 2 or was it 3 years ago, is rotting and we have come to the point that we need to make our lives easier if we continue to live in our house through retirement. Saving up for this fence has been difficult while putting a child through college, but we have managed to do it. However, the main reason for this purchase is just what it says: privacy. We live on a corner lot so our backyard is right next to the sidewalk that everyone walks by and looks in. Our dog, Molly, runs the fence and people have been teasing her. We are tired of it, so tomorrow I will visit with the City engineer to show our plans for where we will be placing the fence - about two feet in our yard from where the picket fence is and we will only be fencing in the back yard and not the side yards. . In this way, the fence will be further away from the sidewalk (4 feet) and I can finally plant flowers in that area and in the side yards since they will be fenced off from our dog.
The other reason for the fence is that we are looking ahead to when our 3 month old grandson is walking and we can go outside and have the privacy that we need.
The vinyl fence is white. My house color scheme of golds, greens and rust will kind of funny next to a white fence so I have been busy trying to compile a yellow color scheme with some white accents.
We have new neighbors that moved in next door to us in late December and when the husband saw us in the backyard measuring where the new fence was going in, he asked if his kids had been bothering us. We assured him that no they hadn't but that this was in our 5 year plan of home improvements. There kids are nice.
One other thing that has been interesting is that since we have gone to being Empty Nesters I have enjoyed the fact that we can eat whenever we want to eat supper, we can eat sandwiches if we want and we can finally have fish - something both my boys do not like.
So, that is what is going on in my life. Sorry I haven't posted much lately, but I have deliberately waited the 6 to 7 weeks it takes for my anti-depressant to kick in. I am loving life again and ready to get back into my normal, daily routine of getting up, feeling positive about my life, my relationship with my family and God and ready to get projects done.
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