work – Page 6 – Sweat & Sparkle

Toilet Paper Whisperer

My personal assistant is stretched out languidly on the desk, wrapped neatly around my keyboard, lazily reaching up with one paw to half-heartedly bat at my pen, but mostly battling the urge to doze off. When we eventually go back to the office, I am going to miss my cat working with me. Maybe I will just have to take him with me.

So far, working from home has agreed with me. No commute to work, plus freedom during the day, means I have finally fallen back into a regular workout routine. Closed restaurants and reluctance to go to the grocery store (or any store, or anywhere with people) means no eating out and snacking less.

The result at Saturday’s weigh-in? A loss of 1.5 pounds. I am happy with a loss, but I feel like I can do better than that. I told my husband, “This week my goal is two pounds.”

My husband is the best person to be locked in and self-isolating with. He is the toilet paper and hand sanitizer whisperer. He’s been able to round up whatever we need, even when I have visited half a dozen stores and couldn’t find it. Maybe he has covert links to the black market or something. Whatever it is, I sure appreciate his mad skills.

Over the weekend, my husband gave me a big smile and sweetly said, “There’s no one else I would rather go through a pandemic with.” I laughed and told him he should get a job with Hallmark…that is, if the suspected black market toilet paper thing doesn’t work out!

3rgd5q

Be Different

A week ago, I was bragging about barely surviving Spinning class. Today, I am working from home, watching incredulously as people mindlessly hoard toilet paper and wrestle each other to the ground for hand sanitizer.

Here’s my thing: why weren’t people washing their hands, disinfecting, and cleaning before now? Why does it take the impending doom of a malevolent virus to nudge people to do things they should have been doing all along? I see people tearing stores apart to sniff out the last bottle of Clorox wipes or hand soap, and I really have to wonder, why weren’t you already using those? Cleaning products and hand soap should not be foreign objects in your home, people. Now go wash your hands.

At first I was very resistant to working from home. All my files are at work, and I didn’t want to drag a bunch of crap home. And, admittedly, I am not a fan of change unless I am the one orchestrating it. But so far it’s been kind of nice. I can sleep in a lot later, since my commute has been reduced to walking across the house, and a later alarm means more snuggle time with my husband (and my jealous cat).

It also means I have zero excuses this week. I can work out during lunch, before work, or at random times during the work day. Who’s going to stop me, the work-at-home Gestapo?

Yesterday I walked my stepson’s dog 327 times. Okay, maybe it was only two or three times, but it felt like a lot. Today I will do a real workout, though, you know, actually follow along to a certified instructor on a DVD, or hit the gym, if it’s open.

It’s sad to me to see so many people hell-bent on making an already bad situation even worse. It’s not bad enough there’s a virus to contend with. People have to make it worse with drama, panic buying, hoarding, selfishness, instead of showing any concern or compassion for the people around them, sharing this planet. This happens with every crisis, from hurricanes to illnesses. True colors come out loud and clear, and more often than not, they are far from pretty.

So be different. Be better. If you have extra hand soap, offer some to your neighbor. Check in with elderly friends, relatives, and neighbors. Don’t buy more than you need. Leave some for others who also need it. If you have more than enough, share.

Be informed, be logical, be prepared, be safe, and be a good person.

Sleepy

Well, this doesn’t happen often, but I was wrong! Ha ha. My weigh-in on Saturday was not a gain after all. It was a microscopic loss, which I can’t explain, but I’m just happy it wasn’t a gain.

I was also wrong about that lazy, lounging-around weekend. I did so much manual labor that I felt like I should be pulling a paycheck. We got a lot done, though, and we managed to make it fun, so I didn’t really mind.

Then, the last two days, my body decided to announce, loud and clear, how displeased it has been about my shoddy ways of taking care of it. I coughed all day on Monday, then had a horrible stomachache yesterday. As soon as I opened my eyes, all I wanted to do was sleep. I took my stepson’s dog for a walk and came home sweating like I had just run a marathon, wiped out. I listened to my exhausted body and went back to sleep for a bit.

Today I still feel tired, but not sick, so I am back at work, trying to catch up and dig out from beneath the pile of emails, questions, papers, etc. It’s drizzly and gray today, the perfect day to sleep all day…or maybe I’m just not quite 100% recovered yet!

Almost Three Pounds

Last week was so busy that I worked out maybe two days. That was honestly all I could fit into my schedule. I worked at least 60 hours last week, and being able to finally sleep in this morning, no alarm set, a real day off, was heavenly! My husband and I lounged in bed, luxuriously lazy, joking about the servants bringing us breakfast in bed at any minute, but it never happened. We had to finally get up and make it ourselves like mere mortals.

I weighed in yesterday morning, fully expecting a small gain or just a maintain, since I was able to put in so little effort as far as weight loss goes. I was shocked when I stepped onto the scale and saw I had lost almost three pounds! How did that happen? All I can think is in all the hustle and the hectic days, I also didn’t have any free time to snack or mindlessly munch.

It was so exciting to see that loss, though. I have been worried that not being able to work out very often means I won’t lose any weight, but this removed any doubt that I can do this, even with just a handful of workouts a week, wherever I can fit them in. No excuses! What is going into my mouth, and how much, is obviously very important in this journey.

My cat is laying on my desk, reaching out every now and then as I type this, tapping my arm with his paw to remind me that he has been feeling rather neglected this week. So has my husband, judging by his attention-seeking this morning. I have the whole day off to try to make up for this past crazy week, so I better get to it!

Happy-Sunday-Rose-Glitter

Duty Calls

I have a confession to make: I did not work out last night. Not one second. I thought about it, if that counts for anything. But I get so little free time anymore that I just wanted to hoard my evening with my husband and stepson, and I simply wasn’t willing to give up a second of it.

This morning I had to meet someone at the house, so I didn’t have to be at work until after lunchtime. I decided to make up for the skipped workout last night, and I took my stepson’s dog for an extra-long walk. We even jogged here and there, trying to burn off some of his energy! We played with a large stick he discovered and instantly claimed. When I picked it up and spun in a circle with it, he eagerly raced in circles with me. Anything to tire him out! He’s like a toddler on crack and energy drinks.

The weather was perfect this morning, chilly but not cold, with a crispness in the air that felt so good. It would have been a perfect day to head to the trails and just get lost in the woods for a while.

Alas, work called, and I knew I had a meeting at my office coming up. So the hyper dog, now panting and at least a bit less wound up, and I headed back home so I could get ready for work.

I met up with my husband for lunch before heading to work, which made it even harder to leave. Lunch flew by, just chatting and having fun. I didn’t want to leave. My bad-influence husband tried to persuade me to play hooky and just escape back to the house with him, which was incredibly tempting, but I had to give him a few kisses and then head to the office.

So…I didn’t work out as promised last night, but it worked out pretty well for the dog today!

And now, duty calls, and I am wanted in a meeting. Hope everyone is having a great day!