Carry On

I am still here, plugging along despite Winter's best efforts to remind us that nature doesn't play around! Winter weather came on hard and heavy for us here on Lake Michigan, with loads of snow before December even came, and so many days of below zero degrees Fahrenheit weather. We have had windchills anywhere from -10⁰F to -33⁰F for two weeks now. It's just so hard when you have a dog, getting my boy out to go potty before his feet freeze it so challenging. He's about 25 pounds, so I carry him when his feet get too cold, but its not ideal for either of us. I have been walking him close to home in -15⁰F to -18⁰F, only because he won't do certain things without going for a walk. I have myself to blame, he is spoiled. So I am actually feeling like there is this dark cloud of dread hanging over me because it's just been so long since we have had normal temperatures. I miss my normal morning walks with my dog too. I can tell my body misses that cardio. We are supposed to get back to positive temperatures this weekend, and I am so ready for it! Last Saturday was during the -30⁰F weather and we had the bathroom faucets dripping so the pipes wouldn't freeze. Everything was going OK until I tried to do a load of dishes in the dishwasher and when the water went to drain, it ended gushing out under the kitchen floor into our basement. Luckily we were home when it happened and we cut the power to the dishwasher to stop the flow. We think the area where the water drains must have been frozen and backed up. Lesson learned, but it was a headache to deal with. Last weekend was the fist weekend in a while that we were able to get groceries at Pick N Save, our favorite store. We live in a small city with only one grocery store, its small and quite pricey compared to Pick N Save, but its only about 4 blocks away from our house. PNS is about a 20-25 minute drive away on a country highway that is subject snow blowing onto the road from open fields that run along the highway. So with so much snow the past few weekends, we ended up staying in town to shop. It felt great to get back to our favorite store. We Save so much money shopping there. We had our cart chock full and it was less than $300. They have a lot of BOGO deals. We also got to have lunch at our favorite Chinese buffet and hit up the sporting goods store so my husband could get some new gym clothes. It felt so good to be out and about. I didn't realize how the weather was really weighing on my mental health until we got out. It made it feel like things were "normal" again. I have been not necessarily keeping my weekends clean, what's new? Last weekend I ate some Crab Rangoon at the buffet and even had a little piece of a lemon cake roll type thing. I had rice with dinner on Saturday and elbow noodles in my chili on Sunday. But I didn't eat other off-plan things on those days. After 8 months without a period, one surprised me on Friday, and my mind was already in a not great place with the weather/winter blues, so I ate the food and I moved on. This week, being back on track but not fasting, I could feel my clothes getting loose and was surprised to see 175 in the scale today. I am not sure how or why, but I am happy my body is finally letting some of that weight go. This gives me hope that I can keep the scale going the right direction. I just don't put much thought into it right now. We have had some people leave at work and I have been asked to learn a few new areas. I am a medical coder, so my work consists of reading chart notes and capturing what happened, how it happened, and why it was done and translate that into codes that the insurance can use. For most of my coding, there is an office visit and maybe a small procedure like and injection given or a cast applied. The first new area I learned was coding echocardiograms. The heart is so complex and there are so many new diagnosis codes. But it is fun to me and I feel like I have caught on fairly quickly. The second area I am learning is Neurosurgery and neurointerventionists. This deals with the spine, spinal cord, the entire nervous system and vasculature. There will be complex surgeries and stoke treatments, with lots of equipment that is used to repair the body. Today I watched a few webinars to get familiar with the terminology and different procedures and their different methods of fixing issues, and my head was absolutely swimming after. I like knowing what I'm doing, so I know I will learn it and get good at it, but it feels really overwhelming right now. Fortunately, I have great people to train me, it will just take some time. It sure makes my Internal Medicine and Urgent Care charges feel simple after looking at the two new areas! Anyway, I have stuck to working out, mostly yoga and stretching, but last week and this week I have done some short strength classes. I also joined a Peleton challenge to take at least 5 Pilates classes before the end of February. I did one yesterday and holy cow, my abs are still sore! I know I need to do more strength training to see real progress, but I just feel so stiff in the morning, especially my back and hips, its like my body is begging me to stretch. Still, I saw a silly reel that was a test to indicate how good or bad your health would be in your 60's based on your ability to go from standing to sitting cross-legged on the floor, then getting back up to standing all without using your hands. I got down fine and sat cross-legged easily, then I got to the point of having one knee down and one up, getting ready to stand up, and boy it was a struggle to get up without using my hands. I could tell how weak my hip/glutes were in the lead leg. Who knows if it's a real test or meaningful, but it was an eye-opener. I want to stay mobile, so I need to regain some strength that has silently slipped away. I have toyed with the idea of joining the gym my husband goes to and going along with him in the evenings, but it would be a sacrifice because I usually paint after work, so going to the gym would take away some painting time. It's a thought I am kicking around anyway. Other than that, no new grand plans or big changes. I lost weight, finally, so I am going to carry on.