More of the same

I've been pretty lousy about what I've been putting into my mouth. Mostly because I'm eating too much, but I haven't been making great food choices either. Chinese New Year makes me want Chinese food, and Chinese food is relatively high in sodium. It doesn't need to be high in fat, but that's much of what I like and don't have as much the rest of the year. It's sort of like having Thanksgiving and Christmas again.

I finally decided that was the only way I was going to get over the coughing was to get enough rest. I still have a little something, but it's not too bad except for the pulled chest muscle. It hurts to cough, to sneeze, to laugh, and sometimes to twist or lift. But after over a week of spending 12 hours a night in bed, work and kids have eaten into my sleep allowance. As a result, my cough is somewhat more persistent.

More worrisome is Christopher has had a fever for the last two evenings. It was high enough (104.4F) on Sunday evening that I went to the ER for a kid for the first time. Of course, the nurses and doctor nicely told me that all we needed was ibuprofen and that it was normal for a viral infection. So we're all paranoid about catching another cold. Bother.

How Depressing

Just watched a Good Morning America segment on diet sodas. It was yet another study showing that artificial sweetners seem to affect the metabolism in an unkown way, leading to weight gain, metabolic syndrome, and other bad stuff.

I either have metabolic syndrome or am darn close to it - it's the current term describing the confluence of insulin resistance, high blood pressure, and weight gain. Hmmm, that sounds familiar. And I drink a lot of Diet Coke, in fact, I can't really get through the day without it - and it's not just the caffeine. The doctor on GMA said, "these individuals know who they are, that they should give it up." I know I should, but it's SO hard. It fits with everything medical I've been going through, but it's so hard to stop. I feel lousy when I don't get my fix and it really is a fix - an addict getting what she wants.

Now would be a good time to do this - I have 2 2L bottles of Diet Coke, and that's it in the house right now. I'm gonna try. Oh, this is so depressing - but if it makes the appetite and weight loss easier to deal with, not to mention the whole metabolism thing, I really have to give it up.

Surprisingly good

Well I found I actually had a pretty good day for fruits and veggies, which is the main area I struggle with. 3 servings of fruit and 3 of veggies. Not a usual day for me, but maybe my body will implode from shock. You never know!

Finally back to work at the quilting as it's been a series of errors since my quilting machines foot broke when a friend borrowed it two weekends ago. Then they sent me the wrong replacement foot (just like the different feet for a sewing machine). So... behind on work except that a friend let me use her machine and that was nice as I was able to get a few projects done. Now hopefully tomorrow I can be nice and focused and productive!

I was worried when I changed positions that the same thing would happen with the quilting that happened with the counseling and I'd have trouble getting business as networking isn't my strongest thing. However, quilters are social by nature and while I feel my quilting still has a long ways to go, I'm booked out into April at this point for customer quilts. My husband points out that must mean something!

17 Fitness truths

Found this at Zen Habits. I found it rather inspiring, and very realistic.

http://zenhabits.net/2008/02/17-fitness-truths-to-get-you-in-great-shape/#more-642

Getting well (I hope)

Hopefully I am on the mend. Jim talked me into going to the doctor today. One of the things that the doctor brought up was that it was possible my pertussis (whooping cough) vaccine had worn off and that that could be why I had a cough. I asked him if I needed a booster and when I said that my last tetanus shot (which is part of the same combo vaccine) was as an undergraduate he went ahead and had them give me a PDT (Which I think is pertussis, diphtheria, and tetanus). He said it wouldn't help this time but perhaps help some other time. So I guess this is a reminder that even as adults we need to think about getting the occasional booster shot.

Go Giants!

Sorry Jill, but I'm completely psyched. Not only do I usually root for the underdog in sporting events anyway, but the Giants are a team I actually follow (I've been reading the sports section of the paper all season) and they were REALLY not expected to win.

On the home front, I have William's cold, no fever but I'm completely stuffed up. Fortunately, the congestion moved out of my throat/chest, so I am no longer coughing a nasty, painful cough and feeling rotten, just stuffy and a regular cough. William is still congested and complaining of ear pain, although the dr. looked on Tuesday and saw nothing. I suppose that could have changed. I may give that another day or two before I go to the office AGAIN - that would be three times in three weeks.

I did join Curves officially on Friday. I was on a 30 day free trial, which ended up saving me $100 off the initiation fee in addition to the free month. But I went three times a week the whole month except for last week was only two. And that's with being sick twice in that time.

So we're pretty good - the house is pretty clean except for my office/craft room. The freezer is full of good food if I remember to thaw it in time for dinner. I have ambitions of sending out our very belated Christmas cards as Chinese New Year cards, so I have 4 more days. Maybe!

Checking In

I wish I had some big positive news to post, but I don't. I just thought I would check in with everyone.
I haven't been good about going to bed recently, but I have made significant progress on staying on track with my course work.
We haven't been doing very well at making progress unpacking lately, but I have been keeping up with laundry and dishes. We are also planning on tackling a couple of things on the house to-do list this weekend.
I am looking forward to next week. My schedule is going to change slightly because I will be sitting in and helping with a course one of my professors teaches. This means that I will work more of my hours on Wednesday and the way I have it arranged with my baby-sitter means that I will actually get to spend Friday at home with the kids. I don't know what this will do for me as far as getting course work done, but it will give me more flexibility with household things.
How is everyone else doing?