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stress

I miss vacation

Mar 3rd, 2009
by gazelle.
11 comments

Often, when I tell people that I would be perfectly content to not work & to be a stay-at-home cat-mom, they reply, “Oh, no – you’d get so bored.”

But honestly, I wouldn’t. I like my job – quite a bit, most days. But if I never had to go to work again, and could stay home writing & reading & exercising & working on my garden & doing other little projects all the time, I would be so happy.

However, since the architect is unemployed right now, it’s probably not the best time to be experimenting with unemployment myself. And, since I like things like “paying the mortgage” and “shopping,” it will be a while before I feel comfortable with the whole not working thing.

BUT – today is definitely a day that I wish we were there financially.

Work is not significantly less crazy this week – and tomorrow I have jury duty. Which sucks. I mean, I want to do my civic duty & stuff, but I do not have time to do my civic duty right now – nor will I for many months to come.

Also – my ankle still hurts, and is still a little swollen. I probably shouldn’t run. But I want to. I should probably just wait until Friday, but I brought my stuff, and could go out & do a little trail run. No one would ever know. Except you guys.

Speaking of running, I really want to do a trail race – maybe a 25K or 30K – in June. I am planning on doing a search, but if anyone knows of any good fairly local ones, let me know.

Um, Hi!

Jan 16th, 2009
by gazelle.
7 comments

So – here it is Friday. And there was NO CONTENT yesterday. Sorry. I know that many of you cried yourselves to sleep.  

This week has been intense! 

And changes are underway in the Gazelle work schedule. After previously thinking that it wouldn’t be happening, it turns out that starting on Monday, I will be going full-time for 5 weeks. Which means I have to work ON Mondays. And for FIVE WHOLE DAYS IN A ROW! Except, you know, next Monday – because it is a holiday. But, still!

And then, on February 20, the day this current round of insanity comes to an end, I am planning on canoodling with a martini. Possibly several martinis. I am a whore that way.

I have the entire last week of February off. I am planning on eating bon bons and watching soap operas. Or not. I might just sleep late (’til nine, maybe!) and workout a lot. Oh yeah, and turn 32. Although I may nix that last bit.

Starting March 2, I will be working Mondays-Thursdays. It does make sense, really, for me to work on Mondays & not Fridays. Except that I hate Mondays with a fiery passion, and love Fridays, so this is going to be a hard adjustment. 

As for other stuff – I have, with the exception of today, worked out every day this week, stress or no stress. 

Monday – elliptical
Tuesday – gym for treadmill & upper body weights
Wednesday – home stuff: squats, crunches, push-ups, one-legged squats
Thursday – gym for bike & lower body weights
Friday – a planned walk with the architect after work before dinner
Saturday – a shortish, very easy run around my neighborhood – 3 or 4 miles
Sunday – a longer run with Junk Miles 

I’m not sure what I’m going to do when I have to work 5 days a week – it’s going to change my workout schedule. Since I only have one more allowed day off in January, I think I will take it 1/26, so I don’t have to worry about a Monday pre-work workout.

Starting in February, I may just take Mondays as my rest days & not worry about getting a workout in (although I’m certainly WELCOME to work out, if the mood hits me).

Thoughts? Suggestions? Condolences for having to work a 5-day weekday? No? Well, fine then!

I did get to do a fun thing this week – I had knitting night with my girlfriends. We even did some knitting! Woo! And we ate cheese & drank wine & watched the New Kids from November’s American Music Awards (what? Are you saying you didn’t TiVo it? Liar!). A good time was had by all – and it was the perfect mid-week destressor.

Next week is likely to be fairly intense. I will still give you content (and definitely shoes), but there may not be timely updates – as I may have to write almost everything in advance. If I’m still alive & sane next Saturday, I’ll let you know how it went.

PS – scroll down to Tuesday’s entry if you haven’t yet entered the contest to win the performance grips. I’m telling you – they are pretty damn awesome!

Help?

Sep 4th, 2008
by gazelle.
4 comments

Yesterday I got a (figurative) gold star from my physical therapist. If she handed out real gold stars, I’d be doing even better. I’m very sticker motivated.

I know have 100% range of motion. However, she worked me hard yesterday. I was too exhausted/sore to do my walk last night, and ended up skipping weights last night due to the sore. I am, however, walking tonight and yoga-ing tomorrow, so I’m only missing ONE day of cardio. Hopefully my goals will forgive me.

I am starting to get nervous about January. January is going to suck. I will mostly likely be working full-time in January, which is unfortunate, because that has traditionally been the month I needed 3-day weekends the most. Every day, another January project gets dumped on me, and then I cry a little. But only on the inside.

I do really enjoy my job. And my boss. And most of my co-workers. I love my office and I love working in a hospital, because it makes going to the doctor very easy, and sometimes I share elevators with people who’ve recently had transplants – and that’s just cool.

I am going to have to be very careful to remember to take time for myself, once January rolls around. It’s easy to get caught up in the stress of work, and before you know it you’re chowing through the bowl of fun-size candy bars, sneaking out for smoke breaks (although not at my work – we’re smoke free), skipping yoga & not having enough time to run. January, with its never-ending dark is hard enough without making time for the healthy stress relievers.

I guess it’s good that I can plan for this. When I used to work in international relief/development as a fundraiser, I couldn’t plan for the stressful times. Between December 2004 & October 2005, there were three very large disasters: the Indonesian tsunami, Hurricane Katrina and a huge earthquake in Pakistan. There was no planning for that. No planning for the fact that I almost missed my own New Year’s Eve party because I was at work. No planning for the long hours and canceled vacation in the wake of the hurricane. And although we did a number of good things (more or less, but I’m not here to say bad things about former employers, no matter how deserved), and I wasn’t left dead, or homeless, or bereft, it wasn’t so much for me. Too much stress makes me go blind (no, seriously, I went blind one day at work when processing tsunami donations). I am a planner (the architect is rolling his eyes at that understatement) and I need a plan.

I don’t need it quite yet – although the next 5 weeks will be a practice run for January – but I will need something in place before the dark is really here. I need coping mechanisms and reminders to take a break, to go for a quick run, and to step away from the candy (that I don’t even really like anyway).

So, even though I’m only now slowly getting back into a cardio routine, I need to keep it going. And tell me – how do you prepare for periods of great busy? What coping mechanisms do you employ that don’t involve Parliament Lights & Peanut Butter Soy Delicious non-dairy frozen dessert (I hate, hate, hate this lactose intolerance thing)? Help a girl out (‘cause if you don’t, I’ll talk about politics some more).

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