Footprints on the Moon

Happy Halloween!

What was it that I said about every time I try to blog more regularly, something happens that I either can’t or don’t want to blog about? Yeaaaahh… suffice it to say, I would have considered residential rehab last week if I thought it would make everything less stressful. No, the real story has nothing to do with drugs or rehab, but it’s not my story to tell. So I will just say that this past week was incredibly long and frustrating.

But! This weekend was pretty good! Last night was a fundraiser show for derby, so I got all dolled up and spent the evening with my favorite ladies. I cut out a bit early (11pm) to come home and rest up though because this morning’s practice was WFTDA testing! The next opportunity to test is not for another month, so it was imperative that I was well rested (and not hungover) so that I could perform well. It worked! I passed all of my tests, including that dreaded jump, and my endurance laps which I finished with an additional 3/4 lap to spare. Woohoo!! So that means I am now approved to not only scrimmage with my team, but I can also scrimmage with other teams if the opportunity presents itself as well as participate in a bout!

I went from practice to lunch with a bunch of the derby folks, and then home to bake some cookies. Then it was off to my Grandma’s for our annual Halloween dinner. For the last several years, my mom and my brother and I all go over to Grandma’s for dinner (sometimes with card playing, but not tonight) and we hand out the candy to her trick or treaters. It was a good night.

Now I’m home, and thinking about going to bed early. But not before I give you guys a view of my whole costume, as promised last week.

What’s this? Two weeks in a row? I know! Going to try and get this up real quick, and then it’s time for bed… I took ibuprofen PM about half an hour ago so if I say something (more) stupid (than normal), you know why! Haha!

I had a pretty good weekend! Not an overly productive one, but a good one nonetheless! Friday night, I met Sarah at Hacienda for dinner. I hadn’t been there since my birthday because it’s so high in points, but I had a gift card in my pocket and a serious hankering for chips and salsa lol

We went from there to Fun F/X so I could look for a Halloween costume. Let me tell you, the costume makers have a funny idea of what constitutes plus size! I tried on a bunch of stuff and was not impressed… I even looked in the men’s clothing section, but nothing to be found there. Not that I really wanted to find something there– I wanted to be cute! I think I succeeded in what I eventually found, but (unless you are my friend on Facebook) you are just going to have to wait for that one.

Saturday I mostly sat around… I spent some time shopping to try and find shoes to go with my Halloween costume and find a few things that I need, and I went to the skating rink for a couple hours in the afternoon with some of my ladies. But other than that I was at home watching the TiVo and loving on my furry babies.

Today was practice this morning, Bob Evans with some ladies this afternoon, and more lounging around. I’m so useless after practice! lol I did wash my dishes, so that’s got to count for something! Too bad I just realized I never got around to washing a load of laundry, so I may have a bit of trouble finding some black socks to wear to work tomorrow. Whoops! Oh well, time for bed now!

Question: what is the best weight loss pill?

Answer: Jumping over a cardboard box while wearing roller skates.

Huh? Okay, so maybe jumping over a box didn’t actually help me lose weight (though it certainly couldn’t hurt), it DID succeed in making me feel a bit weightless! At the very least, it raised a huge weight off of my shoulders.

Have I stretched that analogy too far yet?

Let me back up and explain. I am, of course, talking about roller derby, as the comment about roller skates may have tipped you off. Because our league is trying for membership to the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association (WFTDA), we abide by the rules that they have set. The very first rule is that teams are formed with up to 20 skaters who have passed the minimum skills requirements. As you may have gathered, one of those requirements involves jumping. It is also the requirement that has probably given me the most trouble. (There is also the 25 laps in 5 minutes that I’m still .5 or less of a lap short on, but that’s a story for another time.)

I am required to be able to jump over an obstacle, three inches in height, with both feet, landing with both feet at the same time, without losing my balance or falling. To say that I have had trouble with this would be a gross understatement. My very first attempt with jumping ended up with me on my rear end, jamming my shoulder. Before I could work myself up to trying again, I got called away to do something else, so I kind of missed that “getting back on the horse” opportunity, and this 3″ cardboard box grew into an obstacle of mythical proportions in my head.

I had gotten myself so worked up about jumping over this box, that when our coach placed the 3″ box down on the floor, I started crying. Immediately and basically involuntarily, despite the fact that I’d just successfully jumped over both the 1.5″ and 2″ boxes. But I’m bound and determined to pass my WFTDA minimum skills so that I can scrimmage with my team, so I wiped my eyes the best I could and skated towards that cardboard box with tears still leaking out of the corner of my eyes. I was terrified. But lo and behold, I jumped over that box, landed on the other side and skated away with both my fists up in the air. And then I turned around and did it again. And again. And again.

I still need to jump over that box at least one more time, when we do testing at practice on Halloween, but now that I’ve done it, I’m hoping it won’t be as big of a deal. I know I can jump over that box, land on the other side, and skate away without hurting myself because I just did it. It was a huge victory, not just physically, but mentally.

(Sorry, I don’t have a picture of me jumping, so you get this one of me jamming in a no-contact scrimmage a good month or two ago lol)

I’ve never been a very good sleeper. I remember laying awake for hours plenty of times that I was supposed to be sleeping as a kid. I’d read for awhile, I’d beg my mom to let me bring my pillows and blankets out in the living room to watch TV. That hasn’t changed. (Well, now I live by myself, so if I want to take my pillow in the living room and watch TV when I’m supposed to be in bed, noone is going to stop me.)

I’d gotten to the point where it wasn’t too bad. I gave up caffeine several years ago, and that actually helped a lot. I hung blankets over the windows. I bought an eye mask to block out even the little bits of light from the alarm clock. It all helped some. I think it still takes me longer to fall asleep than the average person, unless I literally stay up until I can’t keep my eyes open anymore. But I was sleeping better. Getting a basically full night of sleep, not having too much trouble going back to sleep when I woke up to pee or get more comfortable.

But then I joined Weight Watchers and Roller Derby. Weight Watchers is a problem with my caffeine intake. I like to get a pop when I go out to eat or hit a drive thru, and I don’t really want to give that up. Unfortunately, most places don’t offer an option that is both diet AND caffeine free. So I have to choose between taking in caffeine, or spending upwards of 8 WW points on a caffeine free beverage. I usually choose the caffeine.

And then, the roller derby. I get up at 5 in the morning for work. (Okay, more like 5:30 or even 5:40 by the time I stop pressing snooze, but that’s not the point.) We have two practices in the middle of the week that don’t even start until 8:30. By the time I get home, get showered, blow dry my hair and wind down enough to go to bed, it’s between 11:30-12:00. That is NOT enough sleep, and that’s when I can manage to fall asleep and stay asleep, and that doesn’t always happen.

I feel like I’m always running on a sleep deficit these days. Sometimes I can catch up on the weekends… but then last Friday I ended up being awake until almost 1:30am, and was still out of bed by 7:30. Ouch. Starting to wonder if sleeping pills would be a good option. Especially on nights like last night… I didn’t have derby so I was able to go to bed at a decent time and get a full night’s sleep, but needed a little help. I’ve heard a lot about melatonin, but haven’t tried it. Do you have to be able to “devote at least 8 hours to sleep” like you do with most sleeping pills or other PM medications? Cause I’d like to fall asleep and stay asleep, but I don’t always have 8 hours to sleep in one stretch. I love roller derby, but man, it keeps me tired! I got a full night’s sleep (thank you Midol PM!), but I’m still feeling a bit tired and looking forward to my nap after work!

I usually do a better job of explaining my whole weekend when I put up Self Portrait Sunday posts… cause this week, I completely neglected one of the most important parts! Killian!

I picked Sarah up after she got off work on Friday, and we headed across town to go hang out with my brother and my nephew. I tell you what, you don’t need to know about diet pills that work when you’re hanging out with that kid… he never stops moving! He’ll give you a workout by treating you like a jungle gym even if you don’t get up and chase him around!

He helped me color a picture… (I bet you can’t figure out which part he colored!)

And then he drew me a picture of myself!

I never knew how much I looked like a banana…

After losing more than forty pounds, I decided it was time to update my progress pictures and share them with you all! I posted bigger side by side versions on my Facebook profile, and created the one at the top of this page to post on Weight Watchers’ Fan Page. The top row of pictures was taken on April 10, 2010, which was one day before I started on the plan. The bottom row of pictures was taken October 13, 2010, which was 3 days after my 26 week weigh in. These pictures mark a 41.4 lb weight loss in 6 months. (Since this was a week ago, that total is at 43.2 lbs now. Woot!)

Don’t bother asking me which diet pills are the best, cause I’m not taking any. All my weight loss is a combination of Weight Watchers and Roller Derby. I’m so glad I thought to take before pictures when I started this journey. They are supremely motivating! I KNOW how much progress I’ve made and that I look different, but sometimes it’s hard to SEE it. I mean, I look at myself every single day. But when you take two sets of pictures and lay them out side by side, there’s no denying that accomplishment.

As I look back through my blog over the last several months, I think I’m more disappointed by the lack of Self Portrait Sunday posts than lack of any other content… So, no promises, but I’m going to try and get back into the habit of posting these pictures every week. Especially since I’ve been losing weight, it would be nice to have those pictures to go back and look at. At least I did post one the week I started Weight Watchers! The problem is that in July we started Sunday morning practices for roller derby. I don’t bother showering before practice because I’m going to go get sweaty and smelly anyways. Then I come home and try and clean around the apartment so I usually wait to shower until just before bed. (Excuses, I has them!) In any case… I need to get better about taking a picture over the weekend when I HAVE showered. Which is what I did on Saturday

Now as I’m sitting here (unshowered from this morning lol), I’m trying to do some cleaning around the apartment and watch everything on my TiVo so I can install a new one! That’s right, I upgraded my TiVo. I decided to go ahead and buy the TiVo premeire, which is supposed to be able to record from an antenna for over-the-air digital channels, and also works with Netflix on demand. Between those and possibly Hulu Plus in the future, I could cancel the cable television entirely. At a savings of $60 a month or so, the new TiVo will pay for itself in just a couple of months. (Justifications, I has them!)

Of course, all this TV watching means I’m not getting much cleaning done… Not that that’s anything new. I did manage to get the trash and recycling taken out, scooped litterboxes, and swept the bathroom floor. If I clear up a little more of the clutter in the living room (which honestly, is what is actually making my apartment feel so dirty), and wash the dishes, I’ll be satisfied with my productivity for the weekend. Which is good because I’ll probably be spending a lot of time playing with my new toy and tv reception.

What’s this, a blog? Oh right, I have one of those… As usual, I didn’t intend to go so long without posting, but this time I have an excuse. See, two weeks ago, I did this:

Uh… I put a band-aid on my thumb? Not exactly…

I attempted to surgically remove part of my left thumb with a kitchen knife when I was supposed to be cutting an onion. I didn’t do a good enough job of it though, so I ended up at the ER to get 3 stitches in my thumb, and a tetanus shot. I also reaffirmed that I will not be on medical job search anytime soon. If you want to see what it looked like with the stitches in (and still a bit bloody, to be honest) you can click here. I figured some of you might be curious, but more of you might not want to see it. So click at your own risk!

The stitches have now been out for a week, but it’s still healing. Some of that skin that I sliced off died and came off (some of it with a little help, I’ll admit) revealing some tender skin underneath… all of that made it a bit difficult to type. And I have to keep a band aid on my thumb still so I won’t play with it and keep it aggravated! Adding to the list of things, besides typing, that it is difficult to do without use of your left thumb:

- Put on (or take off really) a bra
- Put your hair in a pony tail
- Braid your hair
- Tie your shoes (or skates!)
- Tuck in your shirt
- Type out messages on your phone
- Pick a wedgie.

So don’t cut off part of your thumb with a knife! Public Service Announcement for the day