Honestly

One of my good friends at work knows me too well.

He sent me an email with "your interview"  as the subject.

There was no text in the email - just the tidbit below.

Thanks, Scott:)

Victory is mine!

So if the scale at the NAT can be believed, I have lost 15# since I started visiting there in late July.

Yay me.

I celebrated with a fully loaded sandwich from Subway on the way out.

I couldn't help myself - it was so good:)

What was I thinking?

I had a moment last week....

Working through that this week and and working on taking care of me and my resolutions...

And working on a new path to success at work...

Lots going on in my small world.

Welcome to it.

It's the little things...

The last month or so has had its ups and downs - mostly ups.

And it is the ups that make me thankful for some wonderful people I have in my life, especially my three kids and their significant others.

We have FUN together.  Ok, I have fun - they may see it differently

They each do a lot for me, sometimes big, expensive things and sometimes little caring things.

Of course I appreciate the big expensive things - who wouldn't?

But the little things are what warms my heart the most.

• Gary spending the night before I left for Belize so he would be here in the morning when I was ready to leave for the airport because he knows how crazy I get about being on time (which translates to being super early).
• Carrie and Kevin offering their really nice luggage;  I accepted:)
• Larry making lists of everything I needed to know about getting through customs into Belize. I had the first time jitters.
• Larry and Margo taking me to all their favorite  places in Belize. I got to experience all the places I hear them talk about.  
• Carrie and Kevin picking me up from the airport in the middle of the night - after a two hour plane delay - and listening to me jabber all the way home about everything I did in Belize.
• Gary inviting me out last week to watch the Bucks beat the Ducks at a local bar with him and his friends.  I love Buckeye football, and I would have watched it myself at home, but it is so much more fun in a crowd of young people.
• All of them asking me regularly about making it to the gym....to the point that I know check in at the NAT just so they know I am keeping up with my activity goals.
• Finding a package with the note below on my doorstep Monday night.  I know you read my blog because that is the only place I mentioned that I wanted a kindle paperwhite.  And knowing you read my blog means even more than the kindle. (Though I love my kindle and use it every night.)

Yes, it warms my heart. And I felt the need to share the warmth.

  

Change is not always a good thing....

One of the resolutions I made at the beginning of this year was to visit the NAT 2-3 times per week.

Resolution FAIL.  I have been there exactly twice so far this year - once right before my monthly membership ended on Jan 4.

Second time was today.

I have an excuse or two - seriously.

I got sick after the New Year - sick enough to keep me in bed the better part of a week. Being in bed is not conducive to exercise.  I take that back.  But you know what I mean.

And then...a new gym came to town.  And as my son said "You should check it out; it has everything you need, it is closer to your apartment, it opens earlier in the morning - you could go before work..."

So I checked - online.  It does have everything I want and it is 20 per month cheaper than the monthly non-resident NAT membership - after a $99 enrollment fee.  .

Yeah that enrollment fee is a big red flag for me. 

$99 + 29.99 per month with the $99 plus 2 x $29.99 down before I can start using the place. 

I had already decided I would subscribe to the NAT for a year which would bring my monthly rate down to under $38.  With the enrollment fee spread out over a year, I am looking at about the same cost at each gym for the first year.

So I decided to look on online reviews for the owning company.  Like most gyms with an enrollment fee, there were a lot of complaints. Not lying -  I did not see one good review. Spas and saunas are left dirty/non-working for days at a time.  The required two month notice to end your membership more often than not turns into at least 6 months of fees still being withdrawn from your account. There is not an option to pay for a year upfront and have the membership end after the year. 

And then there is the issue of  employer reimbursement.  I can file one voucher  per calendar year for gym fees (80% or $240 (whichever is less) of receipt totals, excluding enrollment fees.  So I would be eating that $99. And I would need to wait 10 months to have enough receipts to get the maximum reimbursement.

Needless to say, I decided to stick with my original goal and enroll for one-year NAT membership - which just happened to be $100 less than the advertised rate, because this is the first time I have obtained a full year membership. What a nice surprise! I will forward my receipt to my employer this week; and I should  reimbursement in one of February's checks. 

WIN - WIN!

I do love the NAT.

Electronic FAIL

I had a great two weeks away from the office over the Christmas holiday - my electronics not so much.

First, I managed to lose my MISFIT Shine Activity Tracker.   I searched high and low for a few days before  I decided it was really gone.

I even prayed to St. Anthony - out loud, at the office -  because 3 of my (more) religious (than me) coworkers promised he would help me find it.  I was assured that (after I prayed) I should just go about my business and my lost Shine would show up.

I went about my business - for three days.  No Shine.

Maybe you have to believe.

I told my youngest that I was depressed, not being able to count my steps without my Shine.  H thought I should pray to St. Anthony.  Just kidding; I am not sure he has even heard of that gobble-de-gook. And he is more religious than me. But he did get me a MISFIT Flash for Christmas.  Just like a Shine - only cheaper.

I like the MISFIT trackers because they are waterproof and they track my steps when I am water walking.  Or they should.  Three days into my Belizean vacation the damn thing stopped working.  I opened it up.  Apparently it is not as waterproof as advertised.   I dried it out and replaced the battery...nothing.  I made sure I brought it home because I remembered Gary had said he bought some kind of protection plan.

Three days after I got home I had no clue what  I had done with it. I went through everything  I thought I unpacked.  I finally found it in the last place I looked - yeah, I stopped looking after I found it.

And the I noticed that it was flashing me...really.  I tried a sync...and it worked.  Take that St. Anthony.

The Tracker was not the only thing to stop working in Belize.  My Kindle decided to quit charging.  I tried every cord I had with me; tried cleaning off the USB connection; tried a computer charge - nothing.

Once I got home, I tried all the reset tricks I google found for me - several times; nothing.

Unlike the Flash, Kindle is still not working.  It looks like this...

I do have a Kindle Fire, but the Kindle allowed me to read by the pool.  Needles to say, I did not get a lot of reading by the pool done in Belize.

I will replace the Kindle before summer, because I like to read - by the pool, in the bright sunlight, anywhere.  I will most likely replace it with a Kindle Paperwhite.  That way if my Kindle Fire decides to die (it is 2 years older than my Kindle), I can read daylight or nighttime. I will be ready next time I have an electronic fail!

I made some good resolutions at the beginning of the year...

I did not think I was being unreasonable with any of them.

The daily activity resolution and the 2 per week NAT visits were tough, but doable.

Doable, barring unforeseen circumstances....

I started out good JAN 1 - got my steps in AND visited the NAT.

Then came the unforeseen circumstances.

I got flu sick AND winter happened.

I have not left the house since last Saturday, with the exception of making one half-assed attempt to get to work Tuesday.

I am so behind on my step count that, well, if I walked 8 hours today I might catch up.

Resolutions were made to be postponed, right?

I am finally starting to feel human again and I hope to actually leave the house tomorrow - only because my car needs an oil change.

After the oil change, maybe I will hit the NAT.

After all that, I will probably be ready for my couch and kindle again.

I am looking forward to warmer weather and feeling better.

I hope you are braving the weather and staying healthy this new year.