Catch Up Experience Challange #28, 29, 30

Well. It’s the last day of January. I can’t believe how fast this month has already flown by. It’s been a wonderful year so far apart from the stomach bug I got and shared last Thursday. Nothing like waking up feeling like your insides are dying. Hah, other than that it’s been great. Most of the stresses of last year are nothing more than distant shadows.I've really been meaning to write more in my blog but each time I sit down with the intent to type I just have no motivation.

One thing I’ve been failing at so far is my Experience Challenges. With being sick and next to broke, I haven’t done much of anything.

Experience Challenge #28 Jan 12-18

I will have to figure out something to put here.  This week was boring

Experience Challenge # 29 – Pool Member

I started swimming at my local community center pool.  I love swimming and it was really great getting back into the water.  Honestly can’t remember the last time I swam before my trip to the pool a couple weeks ago. I’ve been doing 50 meter laps in the pool. The first day I couldn’t believe how tired I got with only four laps! I’ve since bumped it up to 8 straight laps but I’m really flagging towards the end. I hope to get my stamina up and really motor through the water by summer time.

I ended up getting a month pass because I really can’t afford a whole year at a time. That and I’m sure other things will keep me busy once the warmer weather starts rolling in. I can’t wait.

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I had to kick a dog out of daycare on Wednesday. The thought of having to do that made my stomach twist and turn all shift but it really had to be done. His owners never bothered training him in any sense and resorted to using a shock collar to ‘manage’ his behavior. It was really sad because now they have another tiny little puppy that’s already been attacked by this dog. It spells disaster for both dogs involved because they will never get the proper training or socialization needed to make them good pets. Plus they have young daughters. I worry for the day that dog bites them and then they get put down because of their idiot actions. It’s sad.

Experience Challenge #30 Picture A Day

Picture a day! So, every day for this whole month I have taken a picture at some point of my day. As expected, its loaded with dogs. I really need to get out and do more interesting stuff. Haha Here it is below. Click to make the image larger. I made it in paint so it’s nothing fancy

As I upload this I see that I accidentally pasted another coffee mug right in the middle without realizing. GAWD DAMNIT. Fuck it. it's staying. 

Zoey wakes up with us on the first day of 2014

I take pictures of how badly this one car parks every day. You can’t tell here because of the cropping

Nicole cuddling with Prez the Rottweiler puppy.

Food at Montana’s

22 shell at DVC gun range

Zoey on our daily walk

A ton of robins all sitting in one tree

Scrubbing the daycare floor yields gross results

Badly cropped photo of all the black labs

Socks for Corey

Zoey chilling with Corey at the computer

Crustless bread

Zoey Again

Bag of mangos from my man

Beautiful sun filtering through the fog on a morning walk

Dog treats

Broken finger nails

Stupid neighbor parking like an idiot again

Kenzies 1^st bday

Calie and Harley Cuddling

Zoey going zoon

My eyeball. On a walk and something was bothering it

Prez and me

Zoey chilling with me after tons of vomiting. Yay

Fire at Mikes

Flowers to brighten up some family members day

Daisy being a mountain goat

Funny texts between Corey and I

Corey eating my feet

New eye makeup (This shit doesn’t come off!)

New Timmies lid

Well, shit

So, yesterday I was on a mission. I really want to start swimming on days where I close at the daycare. I live not too far away from a nice community leisure area that has lots of pools. Online it says the price for a year membership is about 500 bucks! Holy crap. What! I could only swim two to three times a week max. 500 bucks for that. I can’t really justify paying that much. I don't make a ton of money and spending anything is usually a thought out process. Spending $500? That calls for level 1 clearance. After voicing my complaint on facebook I find out that those who don’t make a ton of money could be eligible to get into a program that allows access to leisure arenas for 75% off. Fuck yeah. I pack my bathing suit in anticipation and get a bunch of forms together to fill out the sheet. I drive all the way to the pool and compare what the requirements are to get in. I made a couple hundred dollars too much. Shit. Really?

I’m too poor to afford a pass but too ‘rich’ to get help. The fuck? Well that was disappointing to the max. I wish they had levels of ‘aid’. If you make within certain brackets, you get a percentage off maybe. Ugh.

So, as much as I love my job, that little trip made me realize that I fall into the category of ‘low income famiy’. Greeeaaaat.

2014 Goals and Progress

Good morning blog readers. It is Wednesday and that means we’re half way through the work day and I am on my third day of healthy eating and exercise. As usual, tasty temptations seem to always spring up moments after I down healthier options. Nicole and I were even lets the thoughts of slurpies and tacquitos dance across our minds for a dangerous moment there. The biggest problem I have with eating healthy is not that I don’t like healthy food (I am an avid lover of veggies and fruits) it’s that when I eat in healthy, small portions, I find that I am ALWAYS hungry. This poses a problem because even though I’m eating healthier, if I eat more I’m not really benefitting in what I am doing. Today I plan to space out everything a little better and brought healthy snacks like a few almonds that will hopefully tide me over during the day. This little doodle I found yesterday made me laugh out loud because it’s exactly how I feel.

I enjoy eating far too much.

So far I’ve kept to my exercise schedule as well. I dog walk every day for at least an hour but I really needed something more. Corey has helped be my motivation as we both work out when we get home for work. It’s always nice to have a partner with similar goals. I did a small run yesterday and squats until my legs felt like Jello. I’m lucky enough to have a job where I can run around or exercise with the dogs and they have fun running around me when I do. Doing squats when dogs are trying to jump into your lap adds a layer of difficulty however.  I feel that I need to be running for miles and miles or lifting crazy weights to see results but I still seem to have to realize that I need to take things slowly and build up as I progress. Ugh. If we only had a magic wand.

I’ve also changed a few things for the better this year, or I’m in the process of changing them. Last year was rough but the past couple months have seen me rise out of muck of 2013 and become a better, happier and stronger person. I told myself that I will not give my anxiety a chance this year. So far I’ve only had a few fleeting thoughts and no compulsions! I now it’s only the 8^th but that’s terrific compared to some parts of last year.

Starting last December I began to put my phone away after 7 to enjoy some handheld tech free time with Corey. I spend waaay too much time on that damn phone that I really wasn’t letting myself really enjoy our downtime. So far so good though it seems most people want to text me during that time.  I find myself feeling less stress when I don’t have that thing around when I’m trying to enjoy our shows.

It’s one of my favorite parts of the weekday. Once dinner, exercise and showering is all out of the way we’ve been hunkering down to watch Doctor Who together. It’s been fabulous though we’re nearing the end of the David Tenent era which makes me pretty bummed out. Ah well. Matt Smith will be a brand new journey for both of us.

Experience Challenge # 27 Gun Range Newbie

After a few semi lame Experience Challenges, I finally have one to blow the others out of the water. Never have I ever fired a real gun. Paintball, yes. BB gun, yes. Water gun, yes. Not a real one though! On Sunday Corey and I took my brother down to DVC ventures to go shooting. A bunch of us pile into the safety room for orientation and safety instruction. I was getting nervous but there was a 13 year old girl that that apparently has shot there before! If she can do it, so can I! Our instructor was really nice and ended up being our spotter when we got into the shooting range.

I know very little about guns so please excuse my gun lingo or if I perhaps call anything by the incorrect name.

First up was our 22 pistol. Glock, Colt? I don’t have a damn idea but I was a little worried about kickback and smashing my face with the gun. Holding the damn thing was next to alien in itself but the instructor made sure I was holding it properly before  I started shooting the target. I got to load and set the gun too which was cool Ready, aim fire!

It was almost like a shot of adrenaline the first time the gun went off. It was scary and exciting all at the same time. I didn’t do bad at all for my first time shooting a gun and even hit the target in the chest every round. We got to shoot rounds of ten on the 22 pistol and switched up to a 22 rifle which was surprisingly quiet and easy to aim/fire.

Next up was the 9mm. Bigger bullets, Bigger bang. I started to get nervous for this one and my goggles kept fogging up. I could see the kickback on it from the girls beside us and was a little worried the damn gun would go flying once I got it. Nope. The kickback was surprising but I managed just fine.

Last but not least, we shot slugs out of a big rifle. We bought 5 rounds so I offered to be the single shot. Which is ok though because it was crazy. As you can see in the video below I was a little surprised about just how powerful it was but the smile on my face shows the fact that it was exhilarating. It was all a ton of fun and I would go back again anytime. Pew pew pew!

Experience Challenge # 26 Survivors

The day after new year’s Corey and I discussed the fact that we don’t have much in the way of an emergency kit in case there was ever an earthquake, fire or natural disaster.  Living in BC means that we live on the ring of fire, a series of fault lines that run all around the pacific. Newspapers constantly warn of ‘the big one’ that is apparently due so we thought, why the hell not? Better safe than sorry right? In any case, having an emergency preparedness kit around for things like camping or road trips is always a good idea.

Here’s whats in our kit:

Distilled water. I also bought two extra jugs for each of our cars.

Life Straws (These are so cool!)

Food- Dense stews, beans, cliff protein bars.

First aid kit:

Bandages

Gauze

Trauma kit

Septic Swabs

Hydrogen Peroxide

Rubbing Alcohol

Knives

Multitool

Pliers

Candles

Matches

Flint & Steel striker

Fire starters

Lighters

Whistle

Compass

Waterproof Match case

Survival books

Survival Blanket

Batteries

Rope

Scissors

Rubber gloves

Work gloves

Handwarmers

Utensils

Toiletries:

Toothbrush

Toothpaste

Soap

Sunscreen

Lady Stuff

We still need a bunch of stuff like am/fm radios, maps, dust masks, tarp, hatchet, notebooks/pens, and maybe a portable stove but I think we did pretty good for fitting this all in a waterproof duffle bag. With Corey being a Jack of all trades, my girl guides training, I think we will make a pretty decent survival team. =)