Stormy Sunday

The weather is playing a number on us again here in Minneapolis. Last weekend, it was hot and humid, then we hit a high of 56, then it was back into the upper 70s and for the last 2 days it's been cool and rainy. It's supposed to rain off and on (more on than off) today, which is fine by me.

OK, to play a little catch up - last weekend I went to the Renaissance Festival and had a ton of fun. I had my palms read, and she was pretty right on. She told me that my job is secure, but I will be giving up some responsibilities and taking on new ones. She saw some domestic travel for Don and me, and an international cruise within 2 years. I saw her last year, and she said the same thing this year - I should be using my creativity to earn a living, and I should spend more time writing and practicing my photography. Besides that, my friend talked me into buying a full-on Ren Fest outfit - tiered skirt, flouncy blouse and a corset.

The last week I did a "back to basic" WLS diet where I really focused on the protein and the rules of the pouch (no drinking 30 minutes prior or after a meal, 15 minutes to eat, etc.). I lost 5.5 pounds and feel better - I am able to better identify head hunger vs. real hunger and I know when to stop eating. Once you're 2 years post-op, it's easy to slide back into bad habits - snacking, grazing, stress eating, etc.

We're doing some upgrades at Casa Seeholzer this week - we're finally upgrading to a HD dish on Tuesday. And on Saturday, we're getting new carpet for the downstairs (den, living room, dining room). That will be a bit of a pain because, although they will move the furniture, we have to store all the knick-knacks and empty the china hutch. I started on that this morning, but there is still a lot to do. Last weekend we cleared off the one big bookshelf in the den since that's about to fall over. We'll have to get a replacement (IKEA, anyone?), but it was about time. Our carpet is a very light cream, which is not a good choice with 2 dogs and Minnesota winters (and springs and falls!). We're getting a honey-colored carpet in the den and a subtle multi-colored carpet in the living/dining room. I think it will look great, and it will be so much easier to keep looking clean. We opted not to do the upstairs at this time since the only room we really use is the bedroom, and it didn't make sense to re-carpet 4 bedrooms, the hall and the stairway.

On top of all that, we're trading in our current Honda CRV for a new CRV this week. Our lease is up, and we just love our Hondas. Don picked a pretty dark blue, and I can't wait to see it! I am enjoying my Civic, but I know once the snow comes, I will be driving the CRV to work.

Work is really busy, and there doesn't look like there will be any break until next year, so I have to keep my nose to the grindstone. I have 2 huge projects on my plate, both of which will change how we do business. It's exciting, but daunting at the same time. My boss has hinted at some pretty major changes for me, but I'm feeling up to the challenge. I'm glad to be a part of something so big and so new. It won't be easy, and I know there will be some pretty stressful moments but the overall payoff is going to be huge.

I really am going to try and get better about updating and checking in on everyone. It's been hard with 10-hour workdays, but I need to make time for this.

A Week From Hell

Ugh - work is totally getting me worked up. In a lot of ways, it's exciting to see us move in such a progressive direction, but there is so much work to do in moving in a new direction and a lot of it is on my department's plate. I have so many projects going on, something is going to get lost and I feel so responsible for the success of each and every initiative. If every one comes off as a win, me and my team will look like heroes, but if any fail it will come right back in my lap.

Having said that, I really feel empowered to make huge decisions with the support of my boss. I have to bring my A-game each and every day, which can get exhausting. I get pulled in so many directions over the course of a day that there are times when I feel like I don't get anything accomplished. On top of that, the stress I feel is spread out to my fellow leaders and our office can look like a scene from "The Walking Dead." The next 3 months is going to be very important for me, and we will either sink or float. Whatever happens, how we do business is going to change radically and having to manage a staff through this will have its own challenges.

So, what does that mean for me? I need to get and stay healthy - emotionally and physically. I need to be brutally honest with my boss when things get to be too much, and let him know when he makes decisions that affects me and my staff in a negative way. I can't absorb it all and put everything on my shoulders. I need his approval for me to say no when it's getting too much without worrying about how it's going to affect the perception of me or my career. I need to be able to make time for appropriate outlets - working out, yoga, meditation. I need to fuel my body with healthy nutrition. When I get stressed, I want the quick "feel good" solution, which is often crap (chocolate, chips, wine etc.). With everything coming up, I can't afford to be sick and I need to give my body good alternatives to operate at my own peak performance.

In addition, I need to make sure I am having open conversations with my support circle - Don, my family and my friends. At times, I know it becomes a "vomit of the mind" where I just dump all the negative energy I hold on to, and I don't want to burden them with this, but that's what friends are for! Seriously, I hold on to so many negative thoughts because I don't want to unburden myself but my spouting off about my stress shouldn't really be more than me talking and them agreeing with me...

I am so conditioned to make my life look so rosy and look at life as the glass half full. In reality, my life has its ups and downs and I just need to figure out how to live it like everyone else does.

OK, on to a more exciting topic - Minnesota weather! Last night, I was going to an after work function. While my friend, Lynn, and I sat at a corner bar, a huge storm moved in with tornado warnings, lightening, hail, driving rain. The storm sirens went off, and the bar workers were trying to figure out whether or not to evacuate everyone to the bar's basement! Don, at home, didn't know how bad it was because our satellite dish was knocked out. It was quite the event, but typical of this time of year. It's currently really, really windy but nice temp-wise. I just hope a really bad storm doesn't hit over the weekend when Don is in Kansas City.

This weekend is going to be busy but low-key for me. I have some personal, feel-good appointments tomorrow - waxing, haircut/color, and a mani/pedi. I might even see about working in a massage! Don is off to Kansas City to cover the game by himself since his co-worker's wife gave birth 2 weeks early. I have plans to go to the local Ren Fest on Sunday, which will be good to get out and about.

Off to get ready for Don's birthday dinner - 2 days early because he'll be on the road!!

Four Seasons - One Month

Typical Minnesota fall - we've ranged from rainy (8 months of rain in one month in Southern MN) to warm (90 degrees earlier in the month) to frost (39 degrees in the metro this weekend) to flurries (snow in northern MN). I never know what to wear - shorts and sandals or sweaters and boots! Needless to say, I have quite the range of clothes in my closet right now!

Don's first road trip is this weekend. He is in Detroit, but didn't have to leave until late Saturday afternoon, so we got to spend some time together before he had to go off to the airport. I spent most of this weekend baking for my work potluck (I made my mom's friend's pizza bread, which came out great!) and watching the football games. Because the USC was on so late Saturday - 7:00 PM kick-off here - and I wanted to see the entire game, I didn't get to bed until very late for me, around 2:00 AM. The dogs could care less this morning and got me up at 7:00 AM Sunday morning.

I am struggling a bit with things that are going on with friends and people from the Obesity Help boards. I have one friend who is really depressed and talking of suicide, one friend who is wishing she didn't have the surgery (she has had a lot of medical issues and has lost too much weight) and one person who committed suicide (and killed her special needs daughter) because she couldn't get WLS. I didn't know her but the WLS community is pretty small, and when you hear about something like this it hits home. It seems like her insurance didn't cover the procedure and she didn't have the money to self-pay. She had a lot of medical problems plus she was taking care of her 20-year old daughter who needed 24/7 care and it finally became too much for her. She opted for suicide by getting into her car with the engine running and the garage door shut. Beside killing her daughter, she also killed her cats because the carbon monoxide got into the house. Her friend found the bodies, but it was too late. For whatever reason, these things are weighing heavily on my mind.

Anyway, I plan on doing some cleaning out of the closets & drawers. I thought I could start storing my summer stuff, but it's supposed to get back into the 80s this week, so I guess I better hold off for now. Plus, I need to finish some earrings I started beading yesterday. I know - exciting stuff happening here at Casa Seeholzer!

Autumn is Here

As much as I love fall, I just know what that means here in the mid-west. I woke up this morning at 6:30 AM (not my choice, but the dogs needed to go out), and it was 45 degrees and, with the wind chill, it was 39. I know this means I can break out the cute sweaters, coats and boots, but it also means I need to stash the cute sandals, short skirts and strappy dresses.

I'm even starting to plan my fall menus - lots of homemade soups and chilies. I'm off work today, and I've started my fall cleaning - I've changed my sheets from cotton to flannel and put on my down duvet. I have some general cleaning tomorrow but it's all about getting ready for gasp the cold. The deck chairs and table will have to come in. The gas grill will have to be covered up. I am so not ready for the pending cold!

Work continues to be my main focus. I did a list of everything I am working on and the weekly time I am dedicating to it all, and I realized I am giving over 70 hours to my job. Granted, that might mean I am on a conference call and working on something else, so that counts as "multi-tasking" but it means that I am producing way more than a 40-hour week. That takes time away from seeing Don, working out, cleaning the house, etc.

Don is off to Detroit tomorrow, but we have enough time to take the kids for a hike and do some more cleaning. I don't have any plans past that, although I might have some guests over for NFL Sunday Football.

I think it may be nap time - I don't get the chance too often, but it sounds like a good idea!

Stormy Thursday Night

Although I worked until 7:00 PM tonight, I thought I would try and actually blog about what the heck is going on in my life. We're in the middle of a big thunder storm and it's knocked out our dish, so we can't watch the Saints-Colts game very well.

First off, work has been really busy. Not in a bad way, per say, but there is going to be a lot of changes which will affect how we do our day-to-day jobs. It will be a major change for my group and I will have to deal with how to manage through this change. In some aspects, it's very exciting as we'll be able to really leverage our analytical skills, but it's going to take some people out of their comfort zone, and I will only be able to hear, "But that's not how we used to do it," a certain number of times.

We had a very nice weekend - the weather was great and we did a lot of outdoor activities. On Saturday, I met up with a few friends for coffee and then 3 of us went to go get a pedicure. This is probably my last fancy one (flowers painted on my big toes) for the season. On Sunday, we took the dogs for a much needed hike and they got to burn off some puppy energy splashing in the lake and barking at squirrels. I then my 2 friends for lunch and a field trip to the zoo. We had so much fun! We went to the dolphin show, took the tram ride which gave us an overview of the majority of the zoo and then walked the other side where there were tropical animals and then native animals. On Monday, Don and I went to the Minnesota State Fair. We went early, so the weather was nice and the crowds weren't too bad. By the time we left, however, it was wall-to-wall people and H-O-T. Since this was our first time, we just kind of wandered around. My favorite part was the birthing barn where we saw piglets, calves, foals, lambs, ducklings and baby rabbits. The main activity seems to be eating, but we did pretty well with our only real treat being the chocolate chip cookies with a big glass of milk. Most people get the bucket o'cookies (about 4 dozen) but I opted for the small serving (a baker's dozen).

Weight-wise, thing are pretty status quo. I tend to say right between 162 - 167, relying mostly on diet since I haven't really had a chance to get back into a proper gym schedule. I'm hoping to change that tomorrow and this weekend. I'm still in a bit of awe how easy this has been for me, and that people actually consider me tiny. I don't always feel it, and I still often see the "fat girl" in the mirror. I am still considering plastic surgery which could remove another 10-15 pounds, but it's still pricey and we just don't have the funds right now. It's hard, because I really want it, but I also have to weigh other factors, like the fact we need to do some things around the house and taxes due in October.

Nothing much on tap for this weekend. I know for sure I want to go shopping with the gift cards I got for my birthday (Macy's, Eddie Bauer, Bloomingdale's and Land's End). On Sunday, I'm looking to have a few work friends over to watch football and actually do some work-related projects.

Off to bed - I have to be up at 5:30 AM tomorrow and need my beauty sleep!

Update

OK, I'm still here...

I am dealing with a lot of work crap, including not being able to read blogs from work - which shouldn't be such a big deal, but by the time I get home, I don't always have the energy to post or read blogs.

It's my birthday today, and it was all good. I heard from my parents, my brother, my BFF and I received cards from my staff and co-workers. Don got me flowers (sunflowers!!) and took me to dinner. Perfect.

I am dealing with a lot of shit from work - not all bad, but it's taking a lot of time and energy.

Anyway, I promise a better post, and more response to your posts soon. Heck, I need to post about my trip to the MN Zoo and the "Great Minnesota Get Together." It was a true Minnesota weekend!