Apparently yesterday was a fluke

I was hoping that yesterday's burst of energy and enthusiasm would last a couple more days, but it seems that was not to be. I woke up this morning with a dizzy headache, reminiscent of the bout with vertigo I had last year. Yesterday I was so focused and accomplished several things. As I type this, it is mid-morning and all I've done is load the dishwasher and wash some sweaters. I haven't had breakfast and I haven't done my job hunting for the day. Truthfully, I'm fighting the urge to go back to bed.

A day like this illustrates why I have difficulty in the workplace. I have one or two productive days filled with optimism, followed by several days where I am either physically or emotionally unable to get myself in gear and face my responsibilities. When I am at home, it is easier to work around my bad days and still get the work done in a reasonable amount of time. Unfortunately, out in the working world I have to adhere to someone else's schedule. Why can't I just win the lottery?

C2's Writing Struggles

Poor C2. For the longest time, she was only half a step behind her twin sister as far as schoolwork was concerned. I've known since she was a baby that she wasn't as intellectual as C1, but I was given glimmers of hope over the years. As I've said many times, C2 is the card sharp of the family. grasps game concepts more quickly than many of our adult friends. However, the gap between C2 and her sister has become more evident and I think it is bringing her down.

The main struggle right now is writing. There is a strong emphasis placed on writing essays and stories in the 4th and 5th grade here. Unfortunately, writing is not C2's strength. Even with a writing prompt, she can't think of anything to put down on paper. Her teacher that she is below grade level in this area, so I am trying to help her. None of the suggestions seem to stick, though.

I had a thought that maybe role-playing games would help. Tabletop RPGs are basically storytelling, right? I've read that there are some good ones for kids, and I've always wanted to try a role-playing game. Perhaps if I can build up C2's oral storytelling skills, then we can transfer that to the page.

Got up off my butt

Well, I tried the Masala Bhangra workout on the Exercise On Demand channel. If you have Time Warner digital cable, you may be able to find it under Kids. It is a 15-minute excerpt from a longer DVD called Masala Bhangra for Kids.

I love the dancing in Bollywood movies so bhangra workouts always look like fun. However, bhangra is not that easy for a fat chick like me. I move faster in my mind than I do in reality, and bhangra is done to a pretty quick tempo. After 5 minutes I was tempted to give up. The good thing about kids' workouts, though, is that the instructor switches to a different movement just when I think I can't take any more of the current one. So I stuck it out and did the whole 15 minutes. I may even try the same workout again this week.

Ants in my pants

The manic part of my personality is definitely in play today. I took a break from housework once ABM woke up to clip coupons and do my daily job search. It is now 2p and I am ready to get up from the chair! I can't sit here any longer without taking a movement break. Maybe I'll try that bhangra workout that is on the On Demand schedule this month.

Hit the floor running

This is one of those Mondays where I feel guilty about my slothful ways and get an early start. I got the younger kids up at 6a and made them clean their rooms before school. Then I did 2 loads of laundry, decluttered the hall closet, and cleaned the kids' bathroom. Yay me!

Weigh daily?

Here's an interesting tidbit I found while reading an article on AOL Body this morning:

Weekly weigh-ins are a staple of many popular diet programs, but studies now show that daily weighing is the key to lasting loss. When researchers at the University of Minnesota monitored the scale habits of 1,800 dieting adults, they found that those who stepped on every day lost an average of 12 pounds over 2 years (weekly scale watchers lost only 6) and were less likely to regain lost weight. The reason: "The more often you monitor your results, the quicker you can catch the behavioral slip that causes weight gain," says Jakicic.

This idea has been cropping up a lot lately, but it is the first time I've seen a study cited. Other accounts I've read have been anecdotal. Until recently, conventional wisdom has suggested that weighing weekly was a better option because our weight fluctuates several times a day. Supposedly this means that weighing daily is useless because a higher number between yesterday and today could just mean you drank too much water or something.

Personally, I think whether you weigh daily or weekly depends on your temperament. Some people have obsessive personalities and weighing daily would drive them crazy. I know that one of the things they tell people in eating disorder programs is not to weigh daily. On the other hand, I know that if I weigh myself and I like what I see on the scale, I am more mindful of my food and activity choices for the day because I don't want to mess up that good number. Perhaps if I weighed more often, I would be motivated to exercise more often.

Job hunting again

Yes, I am job hunting again. I was fired on Tuesday. Although I worked hard, I didn't fit in with the "We are all family" culture of the office. You guys know that I'm not a very social person. It takes me a LONG time to warm up to coworkers. I'm not rude, but I don't jump into conversations or sit down at the lunch table with others. Unfortunately, that didn't sit well with my supervisor. Despite my good work performance, she decided I wasn't a team player.

ABM is NOT happy with me right now. This is the third job I've had in six years. He is starting to think that I am purposely getting myself fired from these jobs, but that is not the case. It took me nine months to get this last job, and that put a lot of stress on ABM to keep the family afloat. No matter how much I hated this job, I was working hard to keep it because I don't want to put the burden of supporting this family solely on ABM's back. I kept my mouth shut as much as possible at work to avoid blurting out any snarky comments about the job. I guess I kept my mouth shut too much.

The good news is that I had a phone interview on Wednesday and I am going in for a skill assessment this coming Tuesday. It is not exactly the kind of job I want, but at this point I'm just chasing a paycheck. If I can get this job and it gets me through to the end of 2008, then it's all good.

Jumping on the bandwagon

Doesn't this look like the freezer of someone who has made a New Year's resolution? Yes, ABM and I are trying to lose weight again. He is off to a good start. For once, he isn't starting off with some extreme diet and exercise plan that he will give up after two weeks. He is eating a reasonable amount of calories and slowly ramping up his activity level. I have faith that he will do well this time.

I, on the other hand, haven't made the exercise commitment yet. For me, exercise is the key to weight loss. This past week was perfect proof of that. I went back to my eDiets menu of salads and Lean Cuisines, and I gained a pound! If I don't move, the weight isn't going to move, either. I just need to find something to push me off the couch.

Bits and bobs

So much for blogging more often in the New Year :-p. I've been writing, but it hasn't made it to this page. Some of it is here and here, but most of it has been on Twitter. Although I can post to this blog from my phone, there are times when I just want to say something in 140 words or less and get it in front of people immediately. In my mind, my blog posts need to be more carefully crafted so I hesitate to blog on the run.

So what has been running through my mind lately? Here goes:

--Work SUCKS! People say don't sweat the small stuff, but sometimes the small stuff adds up until you have a big ol' Katamari ball of junk. You guys have heard me complain about jobs in the past, but I really tried to like this one. It is just too unorganized to me. I used to laugh at the well-drafted procedures at my last job and call them overdone, but I miss them now. On my current job, you don't find out the correct way to do something until you've already screwed up. Add in their "no excuses" policy, and I end up getting harangued by outside agencies for things I didn't know or that happened before I even started working there. I don't know how much longer I can last there.

--My birthday was on Thursday and it was particularly uneventful, even for us. We don't usually make a big deal about grown-up birthdays, but I was looking forward to my usual Chinese takeout. This year I got a Lean Cuisine :-(. Still, there was a bright spot. The kids took it upon themselves to surprise me. They made a birthday cake all by themselves while we were at work. I was so proud, especially since they came up with this without ABM's help.

--My laptop died about three weeks' ago, and I think it is gone for good this time. Unlike the last time, ABM doesn't seem to be in a rush to get it fixed. We still have four other computers in the house, but none of them are as comfortable to use as a laptop in bed. So I've been spending a lot less time on the computer. Unfortunately, I don't quite know what to do with myself now. The laptop has been part of my entertainment routine for so long that I am lost without it. This would probably be a good time to get back into reading or knitting, but neither one of those hobbies appeal to me right now. Can you say "internet junkie"?