Week 4 - Exercise and Ikea

I woke up Monday so hopeful that UNL would be cancelled like the rest of the state already had on Sunday night. Nope. And it was so remarkable that it was open that the news basically said everyone but UNL is closed. It was already snowing at 6:00 a.m. and the forecast was for blizzard conditions so I stayed home. It was well worth the vacation day and my decision was validated by the white out conditions I watched from inside my cozy house. Then my cousin called to say it had taken her almost 3 hours to drive home from Lincoln and it had been harrowing. I happily sat inside knitting and streaming all day. I did run outside in my oh so inappropriate pink lounge pants to flag down the man in the bulldozer who was clearing half of the driveways on my street. I have him $20 and he did my driveway. The sidewalk would have to wait. I never once considered going to knitting at the library and don’t think anyone else did either. I’m not sure they were even open at that point. The snow stopped swirling before bed so there was that at least.

Tuesday morning was the first exercise class of the new Fit & Fueled program I’d signed up for at Campus Rec. It was the perfect solution to getting back to the gym. In addition to a weekly nutrition meeting, with weigh in of course, there were 2 morning workouts at perfect times – Tuesday and Thursday from 7:10-7:40. At just half an hour, it would ease me back to working out and it started late enough that I wouldn’t even have to set my alarm earlier. I was pretty excited to start. My morning routine was hosed, despite prepping things the night before, plus the snowy roads made for a longer drive in but I made it just a few minutes late and enjoyed the workout. I couldn’t do everything but I mostly kept up. I felt off all morning and just chalked it up to my disrupted routine, the extra exercise and a 600 calorie day. I taught all afternoon and went home absolutely exhausted but satisfied.

Well, I woke up Wednesday morning with horrible cramps and ran to the bathroom. Clearly the hinky stomach the day before had been something working on me because now my intestines were acting up. Sheesh! I took Imodium and emailed that I wouldn’t be coming in. I am normally racked with guilt calling in but not in this situation. I sat in the sun all day feeling punk and I ate next to nothing, going to bed early, pretty sure that I’d be OK to work on Thursday.

I had had a one-on-one session scheduled with the exercise person on Wednesday over lunch so rescheduled that for lunch on Thursday instead, cancelling with Dodie because shit happens. I got to class on time that morning and then had a one-on-one with the nutritionist after that so Thursday was all Fit & Fueled. We’d also planned treats for Lana, who was leaving on Friday for Alaska to see her new grandson so we had a nice breakfast in the office. I taught again that afternoon so the day was over in a flash. I happily went home to crash. At least I was feeling better.

Friday was uneventful, which worked because Saturday was a big day. I had a hair appointment at 8:00 and then was driving to Waverly to meet Cindy. We were driving to Kansas City for our 2^nd annual Ikea run. We chatted happily for hours and stopped in St. Joe, Missouri for Starbucks and some thrifting. There’s a lovely Goodwill right across from Starbucks but I’d also scoped out a DAV store that was on the way back to the highway. Holy crap! The DAV shop, called Red Racks, was enormous and having all kinds of sales that weekend. We happily spent an hour there and scored all kinds of finds. By the time we drove the last leg to KC, we arrived at Ikea at 2:00. We were starving so ate at the café then spend a couple of hours shopping. There was some finagling of items at the register so we’d both have enough to use the $25 off $150 coupon I’d downloaded but it all worked out. We then were so intent on our conversation on the way back that we almost missed our exit at Nebraska City. I walked into my house at 9:00, tired but satisfied from a fun day.

Sunday was a quiet day of chores and putting stuff away. I needed a day to recoup from Saturday and get ready for the coming week, which would be my first 5 day week of 2018. At least I hoped it would be. Time would tell.