Sunny Sunday update

The beginning of the Yukon River Quest 2012. The participants are racing to Dawson City (715km/444 miles).

I am my own worst enemy when it comes to distracting myself, so I only have myself to blame for the lack of postings! Ah well. This is supposed to be fun, anyway, not an obligation, so I have to keep that in mind, too.

What have I been doing?

• Last Sunday I imposed a "no refined sugar" ban on myself, for at least the month of July, to see how I feel at the end of it. I'm allowing items that are sweetened with honey or fruit-juice or that have naturally occurring sugars into the house, but nothing sweetened with any of those extras: -extrins or -oses (maltose, sucrose, dextrose, fructose, glucose, sucralose, maltodextrin, etc - basically all the fake added stuff). Once you start reading labels you see it's absolutely everywhere and in literally almost everything! I have a couple of items that I overlooked, but the amounts are small enough not to even register on the nutrition guide, so I'm okay with that. My roomie is fully on board with this, which is excellent, as she eats extremely well anyway and her version of 'sweet tooth' is very different than mine. I decided to start very, very small and work my way up from there. If it goes well, I'll reassess when I get back from Ontario in August and see what else can go. We've also decided that wheat needs to go, so I will be using up a few things before switching to rice pasta, rye breads, etc.

• Wednesday I had my first ever acupuncture session! I wasn't certain what to expect, but it went well for the most part. My back and shoulders are so tight on one side that the doctor said it was like pushing on a brick wall! There was no flexibility or give, at least compared the other side. That explains why my back hurts and my shoulders "seize" sometimes. The needles went in without a hitch (except for one...OW!) and 20 minutes later they were removed. I went to work afterwards, but that turned out to be a mistake! Not having done this before I had no idea what to expect and I had to go home and lie down for a couple of hours instead. I was a little dopey (light-headed isn't quite the right description), a bit nauseous and quite irritable, which is not what I need at work where people ALREADY irritate me. :P I have another appointment tomorrow and as I am not working, I can come home and rest afterwards if I need to. I'm definitely feeling better, though, so that's the main thing.

• I'm hoping that this will also help me to sleep better. I sleep through the night maybe once every two weeks. I don't have trouble falling asleep, but I can't stay asleep. Sometimes it's only a brief disruption, but there are times where I wake at 2 or 3 a.m. and simply can't fall back to sleep for hours, then when I do it's very heavy and not at all restful. It's very frustrating.

• I read a book called "Midlife Runaway" by Linda Cronin, which has inspired me to plan vigourously over the next 5 years to allow myself to take a year off to travel in my 50th year. This includes finishing school; getting a new job; signing up for deferred leave; paying off debt and saving up a good EFund; plotting where I want to go, etc. It was a book I had seen before, but "timing is everything" and this was obviously the right time to read it and start dreaming. There are different things to take into consideration when you travel at midlife - comfort being one, and being realistic about the fact that you can't do at 50 all that you could at 25. Excellent tips and a good, overall read. I might take it out again and re-read it, just to keep the dream alive, the tips in mind and the process on paper.

• I'm also reviewing my 101 in 1001 list and am trying to figure out what needs to change. I've accomplished some items - it reads a bit like a household 'to do' list in some respects - and realize I need to challenge myself more. Some things are easily accomplished, some not and some are just unrealistic (at this point, at least), so I need to weed and make sure they're not only achievable, realistic and doable, but FUN!

• I have 57 "regular" days until school starts (I'm a day off on my widget)!! While that sounds great, what sounds even better is the number of work days I have left: 21! WAAHHOOOO!!!!

• I've just finished the latest "No 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" book: "The Limpopo Academy of Private Detection." I finished it in less than 3 days and it was as wonderful as all the rest. They were certainly busy in this one! These books always make me happy.

• Joey's foot has healed nicely and his fur is growing back. It's coming back in lovely and soft. Dinah's adjusted insulin seems to be working well, as does the fact that I've changed the flavour of her food. I've been adding some regular food into her diabetic stuff to encourage her to eat more, but up to this point it wasn't working very well. The new flavour seems to be doing the trick, so hopefully this will help, as she was looking very thin.

• The RCMP phoned and left a message for me last week and I had all weekend to wonder why! It turns out someone in  Nova Scotia stole my phone number to sell a car online. I have no clue how exactly that works (that's probably a good thing), but trust me, to say I was surprised was an understatement. I'm glad it was all resolved with just a few questions.

• Spending hasn't been TOO bad: I had one big car repair expense and, as usual, a lot of food, but the past few days I haven't actually spent anything at all because I've been planning my meals (amazing)! I'm pleased. I also scratched off another item on my 'to do' list: I finally bought tenant insurance: $270 for the year for $40K coverage which, when my inventory was added up, is actually about $10K more than I need, but no big deal.

• I also got the last textbook I needed for my course - FREE! I was going through the donation bin at work and saw a title for a course I'll be taking in the fall. Underneath that was a second book - the only one I haven't purchased yet!! We don't accept textbooks, so I just said a big old 'Thank You!!' to the universe and took it home with me instead. I'm definitely on the right track with this, considering how well it's all come together. That saved me $120!!

It's a puttering day today. I'm feeling a bit restless, but need to get some things done around the house (a good vacuum being one). I'd like to spend some time reading on the sofa, too, if I can, as well as starting to think about my trip to Ontario at the end of the month. So far we've got a balloon trip planned (!!!), some bikes rented, there's both a canoe and kayak at the cottage and I've got my hotels booked. My last day will be spent at a shopping mall. Not a thrill or destination for most, but trust me, a Big Deal when the closest mall is a 21-hour drive. I'm tired of buying clothes that everyone else (here) has and by that time, I hope there will be some sales and I can score some decent duds at decent prices. It's a once-a-year splurge (if that), so there's no guilt.

Hope you all have a great weekend - what's left of it at least!