Ladybug Studio

Nothing much…

It's been over a week since my last post. Nothing super exciting has happened, so not much was missed.

The Zone diet went pretty well the first week. I made it all the way to Friday night before allowing myself to have two squares of Godiva Fruit Fusion bar. It was delightful. I enjoyed a few more squares, two cookies and a cupcake over the weekend. Not bad, not overboard.

I played a little bit of tennis on Saturday. I had fun, but my arm started hurting so I quit after two sets.

That was the last time I exercised. Because I got sick of the wavy hair on the back of my head, mostly underneath, and had a keratin hair straightening treatment on Monday afternoon. Salt breaks down the treatment so you can't sweat excessively or wash your hair for the first 24-48 hours. Originally my stylist told me I wouldn't be able to wash my hair for three days, but after a discussion with another stylist who does lots of straightening treatments, she found out it was less time. Thank goodness.

The process (for the brand Lori used) is thus:
The hair is washed squeaky clean, then the hair is dried. The solution is then applied to the hair, very small sections at a time. This took quite a while. Next, the hair is dried again. Then the hair is flat ironed in very small sections at a time. This seals the solution into the hair.

Don't be alarmed. This is actually very good for the hair. Very healthy. It smoothes, defrizzes and cuts the drying time almost in half. Which is awesome because I really, really hate blow drying my hair.

So far so good. I washed my hair on Wednesday morning, blew it dry and it was like silk and so shiny. I couldn't stop running my hands through it. The only downside is that my hair is sort of flat on top. But Lori said that it would be for a week or so. Here's hoping that I'll get at least a little volume soon.

So that's my story for the week. Because I didn't expect to be able to wash my hair until Thursday night, I had not planned on going to CrossFit. Since this lazy, decadent idea was well rooted into my brain, I couldn't muster up any enthusiasm for working out, even though I totally could. I'll have to put forth a concentrated effort next week.

So, I guess that's it.

Oh wait! I did do something else exciting! Along with four of my coworkers and my boss's boss, I got to go inside Endeavour's crew module on Wednesday. I even sat in the commander's seat! We had an amazing 1.5 hour tour of the orbiter. We were so lucky to be able to do that. Back in the fall, individuals or small groups could sign up to tour a crew module, but we missed out. I didn't even hear a thing about it until after it was too late. So I said something about it to Tom's dad and he used his connections to get us in.

In this first photo I am in the cockpit, or upper deck, and I am sitting in the commander's seat. Notice that my thumb is hovering over the Red Button. We were told not to push it, but I'm pretty sure that was a joke. Maybe.

In this photo I am coming through the opening to the mid-deck. See all of the signatures on the walls? They are the signatures of astronauts and KSC workers. We were allowed (encouraged, really) to sign too. I ended up signing on the ceiling as it's pretty filled up as you can see.

Looking back, I guess it was a more interesting week than I'd realized.

Day 2…

I managed another day without any sugary treats. I had a 1/2 cup of diced peaches in the afternoon and that was about it for sweet tasting food. Though I do chew sugar free gum throughout the day. I have heard that artificial sweeteners will cause sweet cravings, but I'm not finding that a to be true.

I did not have a Zone appropriate meal last night because I didn't make it to the grocery store and we're out of many things, most notably vegetables. I'm not planning on going to CrossFit tonight so I will make a trip to Publix a priority.

CrossFit was sort of amusing yesterday. It was a Rest Day so we can pick our own workout. There were nine or ten people there and everyone was milling about, chatting and warming up, but no one could settle on what they wanted to do. Trainer Billy kept walking around, asking what workout each had chosen and the answer was "I don't know" over and over. Finally we all settled down and made plans. I chose a workout that involved running, of all things. A 400m run, 5 power cleans (45#), 5 jerks (45#), and 12 burpees - 4 rounds. It also called for 28 double unders but my left calf was tight and sore from jumping rope the night before so I deleted them. I did okay and even though the weights were light, I definitely felt like I got a good workout.

Driving home I ended up going through some pretty heavy rain on I-95. Everyone slowed to about 50mph, which normally makes me nuts, but I was tired and mellow so I just cruised along with the crowd. It's great that we're finally getting some much needed rain, but I'd rather not be driving in it. At least I have confidence in my grippy new tires.

Sweet…

Yesterday, other than the cream and sugar in my one cup of coffee, I did not have any sweets. No candy, no cookies, no ice cream, cake or pie. Nada. For me, this is monumental. I am a sugarholic and always, always have some sort of sweet treat. When I get home from CrossFit, it is my habit to reach into the candy dish for a handful of Peanut M&Ms. Lately I've been hooked on Godiva Milk Chocolate Salted Caramel bars. (also the Fruit Fusion bar, but I think that one's been discontinued, dagnabbit) It wouldn't be too far off to say that my life revolves around sugar. But I'm reluctantly facing the fact that all of this sugar is really bad for me.

Trainer Allie has me trying the Zone diet. It's not as much about losing weight (though that would be awesome) as about inflammation. He wants me to try if for a month and see if we can't get my right elbow fixed up once and for all. I've done a lot of reading about the diet, which involves a specific balance of protein, carbohydrates and fat. It's complicated and scientific, which is usually over my head. But what I read makes sense, so I went ahead and drank the Kool-Aid - sugar-free of course.

I dragged myself out of my sloth state and returned to CrossFit last week. My first workout involved heavy dead lifts and I immediately killed my lower back and spent the next few days wincing and avoiding leaning over. But it was just sore, I didn't actually hurt anything and it felt mostly normal yesterday and just fine today. Yesterday's workout was a success. It involved snatches and jump rope. I got up to 85 pounds on the snatch (one rep max was 65) and managed quite a number of double-unders. I was able to consistently do 5 singles followed by a double, followed by 5 more singles, another double, etc. without getting all tangled up in the rope. I was grinning from ear to ear when I finished. Then I hung around and chatted with my pal Holly as we looked out over the very busy gym. I guess that's the new norm and I will have to get used to it.

Spring can suck it…

I've decided I don't care much for spring. I used to love it, with its sweet mild temperatures and the lovely breezes. But this year has changed my opinion. It's been warmer than usual, windy more than breezy, and the sinus headaches are ruining my life.

I had a horrible one on Monday. All day misery, but I couldn't go home because I had driven a friend to work and had to take her back home again. In the evening, once I could peel myself off of the couch in the spare bedroom, Tom took me to Walgreens for some better meds as the regular Aleve I had taken wasn't doing much. Got some Aleve-D, which I had to get from the pharmacist after showing my I.D. and basically promising that I'm not operating a meth lab. It helped, but didn't take the pain away entirely so I stayed home on Tuesday to lay around and recover. That sort of made up for Monday.

I haven't been doing much lately. No tennis (elbow!), no CrossFit, no running, just bicycling once a week. I think at some point the recovery period morphed into the sloth period. I'm finding it hard to get moving again. The headaches aren't helping with that either. But hopefully as April moves away from us and we get well into May, the pollen and such will fade away. Then it will be time for lovebugs.

Allergy season…

Still no follow through on getting back to working out. Today's not looking too good for it either. Now that I've gotten a taste of going home after work and having time to myself, I rather like it and want to keep doing it. Obviously, I can't continue on this lazy path, but let me just have the rest of this week, okay?

Yesterday wouldn't have been a workout day anyway as it was a headache day. I think it's allergies. Well, not exactly allergies because according to the prickle test at my asthma/allergy doctor's office, I'm not allergic to anything. But I am reacting to something and I'm not the only one. Lots of people are having more sinus trouble than usual this spring. Since I had pain and pressure starting at the nose and spreading out behind my left eye, I'm reasonably sure it was sinus related. Regardless, it ruined yesterday afternoon and forced me to take three Aleve and lay down for a while. Which I did not want to do. Most days I'd kill for a nap. Go figure.

…

I did something this morning that I haven't done in nearly a year. I made the bed! I know that sounds bad, but I used to always make the bed before I left for work in the morning. It just makes the room look so much neater and that way I can at least start out with some covers before Tom pulls them to his side of the bed during the night. Anyway, I haven't been making the bed because Tom was either still sleeping or was planning to go back to bed. So it was really nice for a change. While I was still getting ready for work, Tom came in and flopped down on the freshly made bed. I held my tongue, but it wasn't easy.

While taking time off to heal from my latest CrossFit injury, I sort of got into the habit of not working out. Now I'm having a really hard time getting motivated to do anything. I would loved to have played tennis yesterday and it was such a beautiful day, but that's out for a while. So I went home after work. Well, actually, I stopped by Publix because we were out of pretty much everything. Also, Tom had a ball game and I wanted to make sure he had something to eat before he left, since I don't think he had much to eat at lunch time.

I had the house to myself last night and that was really nice. Though it's funny because I spent most of the evening in the spare bedroom watching my recorded shows.

* * *

BTW - I've been getting a ton of comment spam, so I updated my comment moderation options. You now have to figure out what letters are displayed in a fuzzy, crappy picture. I really hate that myself, but if it will cut out the spam, I have to do it. I hope that doesn't turn you off of commenting because I really, really enjoy getting comments.

New employee…

Tom starts his new job today. But don't get excited, this is only a temporary position. It's not supposed to be a temp job, from the company's point of view, but the pay is really low (less than half of the salary he was making) and there's not much chance for advancement. But I think it will be good for him to have a reason to get up and moving in the morning.

All sorts of dire weather was predicted for the weekend, but we didn't really get much of it in our neck of the woods. It did get a little nasty for a bit on Friday night and we just happened to be out driving in it. But Tom was at the wheel so all was well. No silly rain was going to keep us from our Friday night pizza!

On Saturday morning I got up at 8:00, well before Tom who had come to bed at 1:30am. I enjoyed a cup of coffee while reading the paper. Then I set about making cinnamon rolls. I had run across a recipe for some easy, but delicious ones and was excited about trying them. Well, me and baking don't get along so well. Things often go wonky and I always seem to make a mess. This undertaking was no exception. Despite the super easy step-by-step fully photographed instructions, the cinnamon rolls did not turn out to be so easy, nor were they delicious. It was pretty much a disaster and I nearly cried from the absurdity of it all. Tom did eat a couple of them, but only because he felt sorry for me, I believe. I ended up eating a bowl of cereal.

Around 2:00 Tom and I went for a bike ride, the usual 28-ish mile Windover out and back. As we were cruising north on Grissom Tom called back to me, "This is too easy." And it was. Which meant the return trip would be anything but. So I was really grateful to have Tom pulling me throughout the ride. We were nearly back to the house when my body decided to let me know that a bowl of cereal four or so hours ago wasn't much in the way of fuel. Seriously, I'm so glad we hadn't gone for a longer ride. I was queasy and sick, no way I could have ridden further. After a quick shower I tried to eat, but was feeling too ill. I laid down for a while and finally felt well enough to eat a piece of peanut butter toast. I believe a lesson was learned.

It did rain during the night on Saturday. Enough that the baseball fields were too wet for play, so Tom had the day off. But we didn't end up spending it together. He had a bicycle parts project to do and I had shopping on my mind. I went to Florida Mall to get my earrings inspected (twice a year, per the guarantee) and, of course, visit my favorite stores. I don't mind going by myself. I can take all the time I like and not worry about getting texts asking me how much longer I'm planning to spend in Sephora.

I was actually home by about 3:30, which left plenty of time for working in the yard. But I didn't feel in the mood to get all sweaty and gross, so all I did was trim the robellini. And I got a big thorn in the tip of my ring finger for my efforts. Ouch. So I came inside and worked on the computer. Before I knew it, the weekend was over.

What a pain…

So my car has been really needy this week. Tom took her to the dealership on Monday because there seemed to be a windshield washer issue. He had noticed some red colored liquid on the garage floor and figured out that it was washer fluid. Then the Low Washer Fluid warning kept coming on (because washer fluid is so critical, right?). The windshield washer motor ended up being replaced and while the car was being serviced, the technicians also changed the oil and installed new wiper blades. All covered under warranty. Sweet!

Tuesday after tennis I was stowing my tennis bag in the trunk when I realized that half of the third brake light cover, which is about one inch high by 14 or so inches long, was missing. There was a crack down the middle of it when we bought the car and while it was not aesthetically pleasing, it didn't seem like a real problem. Now there was a hole that could easily fill with water if I drove in the rain. I called the dealership and explained the problem. This too was covered under warranty so Tom took the car back down to Melbourne today to have the part replaced. While the car was there, the technicians also changed the brake fluid. I have no idea why, but whatever.

Next up: new tires. Not under warranty. Coming out of my pocket. Ouch. Looks like Tom has another service appointment. Though this won't be done at the dealership (too much $). We ordered tires from Discount Tire and they'll call when they get them, then we'll set up a time and day.

So there is a small advantage to having an unemployed husband. He can run my auto related errands for me.

Well, my elbow is on the fritz again. I played tennis on Tuesday and thought I had mortally wounded myself. I was subbing for a guy on court 8, which is one of the top courts, with really good players capable of putting a good deal of pace on the ball. Not like Hard Hitting Guy. He just slams the ball, these people do it with finesse. But they understood my level, were very nice and didn't take advantage of me. My problem wasn't really my elbow. It was the pectorals on my right side. They were still smarting from a CF workout last week and it didn't take long for me to realize that I was in trouble. The pain! Was so bad! Every forehand stroke was miserable and kept getting worse as we played. I tried not to let on, but oh boy was I ever glad when we were done with three sets.

I'm so disappointed that it went that way because I know I would have played better. Somehow I made it home, though shifting was agony. Fortunately I still had some prescription ibuprofen from the elbow injury so I took one as soon as I got home. My chest does feel much better, but now that the chest pain has abated, I can focus on the fact that my elbow has resumed hurting.

Bittersweet…

Discovery flew over the Space Coast for the final time this morning. It was a beautiful sight, but also very sad. Our group was able to have our photo taken in front of Discovery yesterday afternoon. There were several astronauts from the final mission there for photos and such. I had to try very hard not to cry.

(I did not take the last photo and don't know who did)

Friday the 13th…

Happy Friday! I hate wishing the week away, but dang I love weekends! This one will officially start when I get home from CrossFit tonight. As I did the other day, I'm not going to check on the WOD in advance, I'm just going to go and deal with it, whatever it is. I hope it doesn't involve the same muscles I used on Wednesday because I'm still rather sore. I also hope there's no running. (fingers crossed)

I got my hair colored yesterday. No more gray! For now. Lori styles hair from her home and the garage has been converted into her studio. There are sliding glass doors overlooking her backyard, which is part structured and part wild. There are lots of interesting plants and she has several bird feeders. But yesterday they were squirrel feeders. At no time were there less than four squirrels in view. They were snacking on seed and chasing each other up in an enormous oak tree. Lots of fun to watch. A beautiful red headed woodpecker managed to spend a little time at one feeder and a cardinal stopped by briefly.