A simple thanks

I got an email today from a job applicant that I've been helping for a couple of weeks. He has been locked out of his account a few times and I've been working to get him back in. Had another message the other day and reset his password and sent an email. In his message he apologized for being a pest. I replied that he was not a pest - or at least he was the nicest pest I'd dealt with all day. :-)

Toward the end of the day today a message popped up. It was from Nathan - a name I have come to recognize! His message started out with THANKS! He was able to get in to the system and was thanking me for my help.

Thanks is such a little word but it means so much. I smiled, I felt appreciated - it was a great end to a Monday!

Let's spread that word around more! Thanks eveybody, for reading my blog and being a part of my life!

Take care!

Mr. NO! - Friend or Foe?

I had a wonderful after-hour chat with someone who is near to my heart. It started with him stopping by to ask why I'd dropped a 200 pound weight on his head today (or something like that). We went over what I had asked and quickly fell back into our old pattern of chatting. I threatened to put him in my blog and he came up with the pseudonym of Mr. No. Very fitting.

He didn't used to be that way! In fact when we first worked together, I had him wrapped around my little finger! :-) Then one day he came in and told me NO. We both just stared at each other. He said "I actually told you no, didn't I?" I think I congratulated him. Little did I know how GOOD he would become at saying NO to me! (And many other people.) Believe me, he excels now!

We have really butted heads over the last year. I know I've irritated him and God knows, he has driven me nuts many times. In fact, I'm sure we've been mad enough to spit if that wasn't such bad office etiquette...

But underneath all the anger and irritation lies a friendship. We've always been able to talk to each other about things that we don't often share. He's one of the few people I talk about my depression with. I never feel like he thinks less of me because of that. He listens to my stories and woes and I hope that I do the same for him. (It is definitely more him listening to me though!) If I lost my way, I'd look for him to help me back.

Friend or foe? While we can battle mightily, I hope that we will always be buddies.

Thanks for everything Mr. No!

Happy Friday everybody!

It's a beautiful day

What a gorgeous day today! I think we are all ready for spring!

Saying that statement - it's a beautiful day - pretty much always leads to me singing along with Mister Rogers. "It's a beautiful day in the neighborhood, a beautiful day for a neighbor, would you be mine? Could you be mine?" Got hooked on Mister Rogers when my son was a toddler. He grew out of it but I never did! I loved his gentleness and the lessons that you learned with each show. And of course I LOVE to sing the song!

Days like today tend to make me want to do road trips. One of my favorites is to head down to Lebanon. My favorite Hallmark store is there. Big Lots and a new Goodwill! Wow! On top of that they have my favorite barbecue place - Parky's! They have some excellent appetizers - especially love the black bean salsa. I've heard the salads are really good. Nothing has touched my own favorite though - "Make Mine Memphis". It's barbecue with cole slaw on top. Being a city girl from outside Chicago I had never tasted barbecue with coleslaw on it until the ex and I lived in North Carolina. Stopped at a little barbecue place - while on a road trip (this is where I got that from) - and had it there. A surprise at first but I quickly decided I loved it that way. I am a P.I.G. (watch it!) which is a Parky's Important Guest so I get email updates from them. Well, guess what? In their last email they announced that they have a 10% senior discount all the time! So take your road trip and visit them and get that discount!

Before I forget, thrifting buddy, Ann, told me that McDonald's now has a senior priced drink (coffee and pop). Get those bargains where you can!

It is supposed to be gorgeous this weekend so get out and enjoy!

I'm a great aunt!

Well, my little devil nephews would say I'm a "great" aunt anyway... :-)

But for real - my nephew Ian and his wife Lauren had a baby girl last night. Being a great aunt makes me sound old - but not as old as my younger sister the Grandma! ;-)
Congrats to all of you!

Made it to work out again today. Good for me! Met with Karen this morning. Congrats to you and Doug on your engagement! I am so happy you are happy! I had asked her for some info on lowering blood pressure. (She is a registered dietician.) She gave me a list of vitamins to take. Sort of opened my eyes as to why I really should be taking calcium! Also did her dietician "What did you eat for breakfast? Lunch? Dinner?" Whoa! You don't want to get caught in THAT situation unless you've planned for it!! I did do some good things but yesterday was definitely a high sodium day. Karen is a great coach though. Always rooting for me to pick up and get back on track.

Been a long week. You would not believe all the smiling faces I saw everywhere today! The sun is shining, it made it up to 70 and it is Friday!! Moods were high!

Time for a road trip! Going to be singing along to my favorite Stephanie Smith cd. It has some GREAT songs to sing along to! You can hear some on her web site www.stephanieisagirl.com Give her a listen then get yourself a cd!

Have a good weekend!

Reverse psychology

I went and worked out yesterday! And I was actually motivated to go!! I go to Miracles Fitness - a place that matches my needs and personality well. I have created my own little "circuit" that contains cardio, stretching, strengthening and balance. I enjoy it - sometimes I even manage to get that endorphin rush!

I have been bad at getting motivated to go though. Winter is always tough - going in the dark and the snow. I haven't been able to go for the last few months because of my flexor muscle. It was quite painful for a while. Once I started PT Dave told me I COULD NOT WORK OUT with my lower body - about 2/3 of my routine - until he said so. Two weeks ago, he said I could start back - slowly and gently - in two weeks. That was yesterday! So I was all excited about going! Packed my gym bag. Left the gym bag at home since I've gotten out of practice. Drove home at lunch and picked it up! The big hurdle with me is making sure I turn left at the bottom of the hill. When I leave my work building, I go down a hill. Right takes me home and left puts me on the way to Miracles. That decision is hard some days! Once I turn left, I am safely on my way. I've never once turned back after that.

So now I'm thinking about this whole exercise thing and being motivated. I was actually excited all week thinking about going back! As my son, who inherited his mother's dry wit, once said "Miracles fits because it's a miracle if you show up to work out!" (Bratty kid!) So what was different about this time? I could not go! Someone actually told me I could NOT work out!

I'm thinking maybe I need to hire someone or bribe my doctors to take turns telling me I can't go. That reverse psychology apparently was the key!

I'm planning to go back tomorrow so we will see just how long this motivation lasts. I'm thinking not long... But it IS good for me and I really do enjoy it when I can make myself go. Anyone want to tell me I can't???

Take care!

Why do people honk when it's a beautiful day?

Happy Monday! Not a bad one. Started out snowy and ended up sunny. Well, until the snow flurries started again. It IS April in Indiana!

Saturday Pam and I went down to Indy. Looking for spring purses, hitting Trader Joe's and Half Price books. It was a gorgeous day! Sunny and in the low 60s. So pretty after this damp and cold winter. As the day went on, we heard more and more horns honking. We decided it was "The day of the horns". People in parking lots, people at stop lights, people on the road... One person honked at us because we didn't turn on the red - even though there were cars turning left from the opposite lane! Once we got through, he sped around us and went right through the red light. (Don't you wish the cops would be there when THAT happens?) What was the hurry?

Saturday was truly a day to just relax and enjoy. We DID see some nice people who patiently waited for people to make turns. They showed the spirit of the day. For the rest of you - stop and enjoy days like that!

Take care!

Rainy days and Sundays

Oh my what a gloomy day today has been! I still can hear it raining and my wind chimes are tinkling. Sure made me lazy!

One thing I really enjoy about Sundays is they often have Monk marathons on channel 24. (I gave up all my extra channels to save money so it's special when I can get something GOOD all day!) I'm not a regular watcher so they are almost always new to me. Monk has sure brought out all the OCD people and made it okay! (Know a few myself...) It's a fun show to watch even as it keeps your mind busy trying to solve the mystery before he does.

Bad thing about all the rain is it makes all my arthritic parts ache. How about you? Are you one who can predict the weather with her/his joints?

Hope you all stayed dry today!

Directionally Challenged....

It's Friday and I am off - YAY! Still trying to figure out how to stimulate the economy with my $20....

I'm pleased to say that my PT for my flexor muscle is going well! Since my big breakthrough with the clamshell, I have been feeling less and less pain every day. Dave is back from vacation - tan and gloating. I saw him Weds. and let him know that he has already surpassed his goal of decreasing pain by 20% by almost 400%! I'm almost there! Still feeling a painful pulling when I do a high step like getting into the tub or when I have walked very far. I also find myself leaning forward when I walk. Turns out that slackens the tight muscle so I'm doing that to protect myself. Not a good move in the long run. So here is one lesson for the week - walk with a book on my head. I will be out on my front sidewalk doing that. :-)

My other assignment - which lasts FOUR WEEKS! - is to "paw". You know - like a horse or kitty, not like a lecherous LOL. Anyway... I am to do a step a week. First week is baby, then toddler, then teen, and finally adult. Baby is like a kitty and adult is like a horse - I guess I have to imagine what the other two might be. While the pawing doesn't sound bad, the trick is you have to be attached to a table with a rubber band while you are doing it. So Dave is telling me to do this in a nice fluid motion. Go up, paw the ground, go back and bring it up again - should look like an oval. So here is me going up, trying to paw and letting my leg jerk straight back. More like an odd triangle.... Dave is trying to encourage me and keep from laughing at the same time. I said "I'm directionally challenged - I cannot make these shapes." I also can't tell my right from left on a regular basis.

Being the "good" patient I strapped up my leg a while ago and tried to do my pawing. My cat was highly amused! It actually went a bit more smoothly - almost like an oval motion. I was pleased. Now Dave had said to do it to both legs so I can stand on the bad one. So I diligently strapped up the right leg. Got ready to do my stretch and realized that I had the band going in fromt of my left leg so if I had tried to stretch it, I would surely have knocked myself down! As I turned myself around I could just picture Dave trying not to laugh his head off. Have to say it made me smile.

Anyway... I am off to stimulate the economy and will be back to do more exercises.

Take care everybody!