SetBACK and Photo challenge: Workspace

My Workspace

So that's it! Photo challenge finished!  Thanks Fat Mum Slim (Chantelle)!  I need a little break from the rigors of everyday posting, but I think I'll definitely join in on this monthly challenge again down the road!  Oh and readers, if you can spare a moment, go and vote for Chantelle and her amazing blog to be the most click-able woman of 2013!  She's awesome and she dreams of creating an app for her photo a day challenge, which would be epic!  Read about this here and click the link on the post to vote! :)

So there it is!  July in photos!

So I woke up this morning and about 10 minutes later, my back started hurting.  I'm not unfamiliar with the pain.  I have had a bad back for a long time, since back in my skating days.  I was once told that the cartilage between my bottom two vertebrae has been worn away. I've also been told I have had pinched nerves and muscle spasms.  I blame the latter for my current pain.  A couple of times a year, I'll have an "episode" where it hurts a LOT for a few days.  If it's not too bad, I wait it out. If it gets very bad I got to the doctor and am usually given an RX for anti inflammatories, steroids, and/or muscle relaxers.  Usually the pain goes away in a few days.  The worst it's ever been, I was putting on a pair of shorts one morning and ended up on the ground in pain.  That was on the day of my second interview at a job I had right after we got married.   That one sent me to the ER, AFTER I went to the interview.  On crutches.  Yes, I got the job.

That was the worst.  Today at times has been worse than that.  I made it to work okay.  I was very stiff, slow, and hunched over, but I made it.  If I sat still it wasn't horrible.  Advil seems to have no effect at all, but I took it nonetheless.  However, late morning I got up, walked to the restroom, stopped to talk to my coworker and it got much worse.  My back was spasming and the pain was not easing no matter what I did.  At one point bending over and resting my head on my desk helped a little and my boss found me in that position.  The pain got so bad I was trying not to cry.  

Thankfully it eased a little and I was able to get through the day.  But it is obvious I am not going to be able to exercise today.  Hopefully it will be better tomorrow and I can get back to business but I can't let this defeat me!  Missing a day or even a couple of days will not give me a reason to stop!

Now can someone hook me up with a good masseuse?  And cheap? 

Photo challenge: friendship

This is an old picture but these two do not sit still for long! 


Tyler`s best friend is hia cousin Toby. 
Toby was born the month before i got pregnant with Tyler. 
They love to play together!



And Tyler is not throwing food at 
Toby in this picture.

Photo challenge: Perspective

Not an exciting photo, but this is my view during my ab workout.  Day 14 and counting!

Photo challenge: Everyday, black and white, this is new

Fail!!! I missed posting the last two days! Its been crazy! So here's a three in one! AJ's sweet little face for the everyday, Tyler at the park yesterday day in black and white and AJ trying mashed potatoes foe this is new.

Poor Gracie & Photo challenge: Ground

This is a pretty typical shot of our ground (floor) in our family room. Ugly plaid carpet with a few.toys sprinkled around. In this case, one of Tyler's stompie crocodile slippers, AJ's beads, Easter bunny, stuffed monster, and his feeble toy and way in the back, Banana, a monkey Aunt G (Twin) brought Tyler from Costa Rica. We are constantly picking up toys!

In other news, we had to take Gracie to the vet today. She has a lump under her eye. We were pretty worried but "luckily" it's just an abscessed tooth. She has a round of anti-inflammatory and antibiotics and then back to the vet in a few weeks to have the tooth pulled. Yuck. Poor Gracie. And poor bank account :-/
Well Gracie has had her meds and some apologetic scrambled eggs made by me, so off to play with AJ, since he has knocked all his toys on the floor now! Day two of level two of the shred later!

Photo challenge: D is for...

Believe it or not, Duckie here (the fuzzy blue object) was the first thing that came to mind. Duckie was won in a crane machine. The other little guys shown here are Gracie the beagle (named of course after our dog), Turtle (guess which one he is) and Coconut the monkey. And of course, Tyler. These are his core four animals, who must be present for every nap and night time, along with the special blanket from his baby days and a pillow with a case is made from Thomas the train fabric and ribbon trim. Coconut is the best buddy, who goes just about everywhere and is pretty much a member of the family! So there we have it! D is for Duckie!

Photo challenge: I drew this

Ok, so I didn't draw it and it's not technically a picture bit this comes from a doodle app on my phone. It makes little dots and circles based on how fast you move your fingers. Everytime you pick up your finger it changes color. After spending half an hour trying to draw something discernable with the other features on this app I gave up and stuck with this. Kinda trippy, huh?

Photo challenge: Gray

The sky was quite cooperative with this challenge today. Hubby and I were having a little lunch picnic while we waited for our tired to be plugged. Luckily it didn't rain until.about an hour later!

Photo Challenge: Favorite Food

My favorite food is actually more of favorite meal.  For every date night, anniversary, and Valentine's Day, Adam and I always go to the same place, Texas Roadhouse.  We've been going there since we started dating.  I always order the same thing:  Chopped Steak (call Roadkill-ew!) plain (usually served with mushrooms) and well done, steak fries (occassionally a baked potato instead) and a salad.  Also, these little puppies:

Carb HEAVEN!

DELICIOUS warm rolls.  OMG I'm dying just thinking of it.  I am a huge carbaholic and these are the best I've ever had! 

Photo challenge: Hot

I am currently using Tyler's giraffe fan to cool off after day 5 of the shred. Quite effective.

 

Edit: Just noticed Gracie in the background.  LOL! 

Photo challenge: Building

Here we have Tyler building a tower for AJ---who in the next second is demolishing it.

Photo challenge: Number

It is hot! Summer in Indiana!

NINE YEARS?! And Photo Challenge: Inspiration

Today is my ninth wedding anniversary!  I can't believe it's been 9 years!  Thanks to my awesome Hubby for always putting up with me and being the best husband and father in the world!

Since it's our anniversary today, I chose my inspiration along that line.  I did not take this picture, I was all of 7 years old when it was taken.  It's a photo of my Grandparents at their 40th Wedding Anniversary party.  When my Grandfather passed in 2004, they had been married for 54 years.  They loved each other very much, so today I use them as inspiration for longevity in my own marriage.  Marriage is hard, and I'm probably not the easiest person in the world to be married to.  Adam lets me be me, lets himself be the person that I can always dump on.  He almost never gets mad and is never in a bad mood for long.  I'm so lucky to have him as my husband!

My Grandparents, Mary and Ray, at our house for the 40th Anniversary. 

Photo challenge: Bottle

Not too exciting but this is the bottle most often in my hands these days. Its a freebie from work and I fill it at the water cooler every afternoon.

In related news, I just finished day two of Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred. Oh my stars it is intense. I don't know if I will make it through the program but I didn't even think I would return for day two, so I will take it one day at a time. Today also makes 4 workouts in 6 days. I walked Thursday and Friday.

Weigh in days will be Monday but first official one will be next week. I did take a peek last night and saw an unofficial loss of 2 lbs! I am excited to see the first official reading?

Photo challenge: Outside the window

Leaving for work the other day this pretty green moth was hanging out on our glass storm door. I knew it was perfect for today's prompt!

Photo challenge: Edible

Long day. But it's low cal!

Photo challenge: 4 o'clock

I picked 4 pm, because I am rarely awake at 4 am on purpose! Thanks to my sissy for the gift certificate from my birthday. we enjoyed a little pedi action today.

Walk #2 and photo challenge: Bad Habit

Walked again tonight! A little slower and definitely sore.  My left heel is really not happy. My doctor says it's planter facitius (too lazy to check spelling). It comes and goes on both feet but has been constant in this heel for a few months. I think my main issue right now is shoes right now. Sandals, even non-flip-flops, apparently don't offer enough support. I'm also sore from my walk yesterday, particularly in my shins and sides. But I walked the same route as yesterday with a slight detour. A large white dog came sauntering out of his yard and planned to follow me. I stopped to alert his owner, who informed me that he.can actually open the gate!

Todays photo challenge: bad habit
Mine is after dinner snacks. I have a terrible sweet tooth! Cookies, candy, whatever. I'm fighting this, because although my fitness plan doesn't include deprivation, eating junk late in the day isn't. I did, in fact, take this picture without eating any!

Sweating and Liking (?!) it and Photo challenge: What I'm wearing

So here I got again, back to trying to lose some of the pesky (and plentiful) weight.  It's funny, I don't weight any more than I have over the past 5 years or so.  I lost a little before I had AJ, but overall my weight has been consistent for 5 years or more. That being said, I feel like I LOOK like I weigh more now. Somehow it's distributed differently, even more concentrated at my belly and waist, although where I lost it to gain it in those places is a total mystery.  Anyway, I've been thinking about it for awhile and yesterday I had a "moment" of self-disgust and frustration, so my resolve is strong for the moment!  A friend of mine had mentioned that her doctor told her she needs to start trying to drop some weight and when she posted on facebook about it, I mentioned that I'd been thinking of creating a little facebook group to support each other.  Well, she liked the idea, so I posted a status about it to see if anyone else was interested.  That was just about 24 hours ago and so far we have 12 members including me. I'm super excited!

So I sort of failed on the calorie counting today (I use My Fitness Pal)--meaning I counted and it wasn't good.  But I still dutifully logged it and I resolve to do better tomorrow. I planned to walk at lunch, but Adam wanted to go out.  That could have been it for the workout plan, but instead, I waiting until Tyler and AJ were both asleep (about 8:30) and then I set out for a walk around my neighborhood.  The main loop of our neighborhood is just under 1 mile.  That was what I planned to do.  It was finally less than boiling hot here and it felt good to be out!  I put in headphones and listened to Spotify.  I waved to three kitties, one cute and large doggie with his front paws on a fence, and one little girl riding in a wagon with her baby brother or sister (too far away for me to tell) that was pulled by her daddy. That was cool to see, the mom and dad taking the kids for a walk together.  I noted houses for sale, cute yard decor (namely a little tree edger painted like a caterpillar).  I rounded the circle approaching my cul de sac and at the last second, I took the road to the right that leads to another smaller circle and I walked that too!  I even jogged/ran a little bit!  Probably .05-.1 mile, and I was huffing and had a stitch in my side when I slowed to a brisk walk, but I just wanted to see what it felt like!  My feet felt pretty good until about half way through the second circle, at which point I made a mental note that I now see the benefits to the popular "breathable", ultralight sneakers they are making now. Adam got me a pair for Christmas but they left my feet so cold I exchanged them.  Regretting that a bit now!  Anyway, by the time I got home, Map My Run told me I'd walked 1.71 miles in 31 minutes. Unfortunately, My Fitness Pal says that's only worth 196 calories (I estimated 3.5 miles per hour, which is actually a little less that what my pace was), but anyway, it's something and it's a place to start.

SO!  Two actual posts in a row!  And now for the daily photo challenge!

Cream cropped sweater with a lace back over a purple tank.

Photo challenge: Smooth

A slice of a rock souvenir I got at the state fair a few year ago.