Friday, April 7, 2017

TGIF!

Happy Friday, everyone!  Here's how my week shaped up, TGIF style.

The high of my week was meeting with our wedding coordinator on Tuesday night. It was so helpful to go through all of the day-of details. I'm so glad we hired her as I don't know how we could have gotten all the decorating done on the day of the wedding since we get access to the venue at 12 and family photos start at 3 (and my mom will be with me all morning until I leave for the first look photos at 1:30).  So it's going to be money well-spent to have her attend to all the day-of details!

The low of my week was getting an RA flare. :(  I started to feel some pain when I went to bed on Sunday night and the pain woke me up during the night.  I started to take steroids to help but didn't start to feel relief until Thursday morning.  I'm glad the weather has been mild this week because I've been wearing it curly/letting it air dry as it hurts too much to grasp the blowdryer or a brush. 

A book I am reading is Strangers in Their Own Land which is my next advocacy book. I am really enjoying it. I've been reading lots of thought-provoking quotes to Phil from the book.  This quote about the political divide in our country came up early on in the book:

“In 1960, when a survey asked American adults whether it would “disturb” them if their child married a member of the other political party, no more than 5 percent of either party answered “yes.” But in 2010, 33 percent of Democrats and 40 percent of Republicans answered “yes.” In fact, partyism, as some call it, now beats race as the source of divisive prejudice.”

For my workouts I have done next to nothing thanks to my RA flare.  When I am flaring I can't exercise as my body needs rest.  I've been trying to go on walks during the day at work to get some activity in but work has been super busy so it's not easy to fit in walks.  I was able to go to an awesome barre class last night and I'm hoping to go for a run after work tonight, go to a personal trainer session on Saturday, and go to barre on Sunday.

The best money I spent was on a FitBit Alta HR. I've been frustrated with my polar heart rate monitor as sometimes it doesn't find my heart rate and sometimes it loses it during the workout. I'm such a data junkie so I love seeing HR info and an estimate of calories burned so I can compare workouts. I debated getting a Garmin or FitBit that does it all (GPS for running, heart rate, step counter, etc) but I decided to go with the Alta HR because I bought a Garmin a couple of years ago that will last me for several more years (hopefully) so I will continue to use my Garmin for runs and my Alta for everything else. I'm excited to have a new gadget and I love that it is so small.  I ordered it from Target and it should arrive next week!


My plans this weekend include staying in tonight.  I'll make this vegetarian chili (no meat since it's Lent!) and we'll probably rent a movie from RedBox. Tomorrow I have a personal training session and Phil and I will clean house. It's supposed to be nice out so we are grilling steak kabobs for dinner! I'm super excited for Sunday as my college friends are hosting a bridal shower for me!  They are all so crafty and love planning parties so I know it's going to be such a special event. There will be 15 of us at the shower and the friends attending are from several corners of my life (college friends, former coworkers, a run club friend, sig others of Phil's friends who have become my friends, etc).  It's going to be fun to have all these women in one room!  Plus after going to countless pre-wedding celebrations, I'm reveling in the excitement of it being my turn!

What are you reading right now?  What was the high of your week?

11 comments:

  1. I'm so sorry you are dealing with a flare! I'm glad you were able to get a workout in last night! Sounds like such a fun weekend!!! I can't wait to see the shower pictures!!!!

    We have a 10K tomorrow morning and then we are going to finish planting the garden. We're having dinner with Jess on Sunday and I'm really looking forward to her meeting MH and Little Bit!!!

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  2. Phooey on the RA flare! Hopefully it goes away fully ASAP! I know that it's probably frustrating to not be able to do as many fitness activities, but it sounds like you are starting to ease back in.

    Your weekend sounds like a good mix of relaxing, getting stuff done and seeing friends! I actually like having days where I can stay home and clean and putter around the house and stuff like that. It actually helps me to feel less "stressed" and more in control of my life as a whole. I plan to probably do something similar, as well as doing some trail work volunteering, running with friends and hopefully finishing putting in the garden vegetables in the backyard planter boxes (I may make a squash patch in the ground later on). Hopefully my weekend is going to be a good mix of relaxing and working as well!

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  3. I am relieved that the symptoms of the flare-up have abased! Whew, and please stay away for a long time!
    Sounds like a good weekend ahead! The weather is supposed to be quite nice so I am looking forward to that!
    I can't wait to hear all the details about your shower on Sunday! And we are excited to be making final plans for your shower next Saturday.

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  4. I am not reading anything right now. Lame, I know. I need to get back at it.

    I think I may need to upgrade to the FitBit Alta. My Charge HR has been weird with regards to actually calculating my steps and the battery isn't as great as it was. It's just about a year old so that frustrates me but maybe that's normal for these gadgets since they are used day in and day out? I don't know.

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  5. Sounds like a great weekend planned. So excited to hear how your shower went. Yes - now you are entering the "fun" parts Bc the big planning is completed!! So nice that you have a "day of" coordinator. That will be so nice so you can just enjoy the day!!

    Tonight after work I have LOTS of packing to do, and then tomorrow we hit the road at 4 am, get to NE about 10pm, then Sunday we drive to Mom and Dad's. Feels so surreal!

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  6. Oh, no, I'm so sorry you had an RA flare this week. That sounds so painful, but I'm glad the pain abated on Thursday. And you have such a fun weekend planned - I can't wait to hear more about your bridal shower.

    I'm currently reading a nonfiction, self-help-y book called Extreme You, but it's more about how to kick ass in a corporate environment, not much about doing it in your personal life, which is what I was hoping it would be about. Meh.

    My high of the week was being able to hang out at my mom's while my apartment was getting fumigated. It was nice to have some help with Dutch, haha.

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  7. Other than the darn RA flare you have had an awesome week! I am so excited to hear about and see photos from your shower. I know it's going to be so awesome! And I just love the idea of a brunch shower with mimosa's. So perfect for spring as well!

    I requested that book from my library and I'm excited to start reading it. That is such an interesting statistic. Also pretty disheartening!

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  8. I just finished a book, so I have nothing on the go at the moment.

    This weekend we're getting ready for our upcoming trip, and also heading to a 90s themed party tonight!

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  9. Bummer about the RA flare. Does stress or weather play into it? Hope it goes away fast and that your training session didn't aggravate it.

    But the rest sounds very good. I can't wait to hear about your shower spoils and the kinds of things you are hoping to get for the wedding! I'll bet lots of cooking is in store!

    I'm reading two (not my choice but book club is coming soon) -- both non-fiction: The Girls of Atomic City (sort of like a "Hidden Figures" but relating to the development of the atomic bomb in WWII) and The Almost Nearly Perfect People, comparing the "happiness countries" of Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland. Fascinating! Both recommended.

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  10. the high of my week was seeing my parents this weekend!

    i have a library due date looming and a book club book i haven't started reading. eep.

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