We Have A Roof!

Good afternoon!

I don't have too much to say today, I'm still recovering from a migraine I had Monday. I'm still feeling a bit foggy and detached, and a bit hung-overish. What a fun Labor Day, huh?

Anyways, as of yesterday, we have a roof and I wanted to post a couple of pics. These people meant business, showing up at 6 am. I almost had a heart attack, as I was letting the dogs out to do their business in my pajamas with my hair pointing every which way. They worked fast, and were gone by noon. Behind them, they left our finished roof. The hubby and I think it's bee-u-tiful :)

Please excuse the oh-so-classy dumpster out front :)

Another shot of the roof

Front-on shot

Let's get a closer look!

It's actually brown shingle. I think it will look more brown when the siding is on the house, since the siding is a taupe color.

Love it!

Happy Wednesday everyone!

Move in May: Bikini Buster Workout

http://mommiecouture.com

Needless to say, I hated the Brazil Butt Lift. When I hate something, I don't do it. It got to the point where I didn't want to work out because I knew I should be doing the Butt Lift. It had to go. What's the point of an exercise regiment if you aren't going to do it?

http://carharttsandcoachbags.wordpress.com

In February, March, and April, I got out of shape. I had a lot of headaches, some low moods, and not a lot of energy. Working out fell by the wayside. May has come along with its 90 degree weather, and it's like I suddenly realized, "Hey! I'm going to have to be in a bikini soon!". Yikes. May has become Get Back Into Shape Month.

I started up again 3 weeks ago. To say it was hard would be an understatement. I can't believe how out of shape I got. I had to start small, doing 10-minute circuits on the elliptical. I'm proud to say I'm working back up there though, I got in 4 workouts this week. Hard workouts too! I'm tired and sore today, and taking a much needed day of rest.

Here's what I've worked myself up to and what I'm hoping gets me back in fighting shape:

20 minutes cardio- 1-minute warmup, followed by 2-minute intervals of sprinting, then resting. 3-minute cool down at Minute 17. I do my cardio on my elliptical machine.
Ab Toning- 25 crunches on stability ball, followed by 30-second plank. Repeat 3 times.
Butt Toning- 25 squats, followed by 20 arabesques on each leg. Repeat 3 times.
Arm Toning- (Using 5-lb weights) 15 push-ups, 15 lateral raises, 15 bicep curls, and 15 tricep extensions. Repeat 3 times.
20 minutes cardio- same as above.

Whew! That's a good workout. I also do 5-10 minutes of stretching pre and post-workout, as well as some dancing in between moves if a booty-shaker song comes on (there's just something about One Direction's "What Makes You Beautiful"). It also goes without saying that if you are doing a workout like this, make sure to eat enough calories during the day. I don't have a problem getting enough calories :)

If you need some inspiration to get moving this month, here are the requisite cute animal pictures to get you going :)

http://www.jokeroo.com

http://newslite.tv

http://uberhumor.com

I love that polar bear :)

The Daily Headache

http://www.cartoon-cat.net

Today was my first appointment with my new neurologist. The hubby and I drove all the way to Cincinnati to meet with her.

It was a good first appointment. She was friendly, nice, and warm. Very comforting. She reminded me of someone's grandma. She spent about 50 minutes with me, discussing my history. She wanted to consult with my family physician before trying any new options, but she promised to call me later in the week with what they decided. All in all, I thought it was a pretty good appointment.

I don't like her as much as my neurologist in Oregon, however. I had been seeing my previous neurologist since I was 16 though, so I may be a little biased.

I'm a sucker for cute animal pictures, in case you were wondering. Do you want to see some more? I thought so :)

http://adventure--australia.blogspot.com

http://worldwidewack.com

http://vi.sualize.us

Apparently I'm not the only one who gets headaches!

On the way home from Cincinnati, the hubby and I took the backroads home. We drove through a tiny town in Ohio called Otway. Otway was randomly hit by the tornadoes from last month, so the hubby and I got to see a tornado's destruction first hand.

This was a HUGE tree pulled out of the ground by the tornado. The scary part is that this was about 10 yards from someone's house! The hubby and I can't imagine the amount of noise it must have made when it hit the ground. We also can't imagine how scared the people living so close to this must have been.

This was the old firehouse in Otway, completely destroyed by the tornado. We pretty much stared in slack-jawed amazement as we drove by this.

Otway is about an hour and a half away from us, so there was a lot of distance between us and this tornado. Not enough distance though, if you ask me!

Update on Mrs Grumpus

www.cartoonchurch.com

Insomnia update!

I had a doctor's appointment on Saturday morning and it went... better than expected. My doctor had finally managed to get her hands on my medical records from Oregon, which show my headache troubles and my insomnia troubles for many, many years. Hence, she treated me like an actual person instead of a pill-popper looking for my next fix.

The hubby went with me to the appointment, so he pointed out she may have been nicer to me due to having some muscle in the room. Ok, dear :)

We actually had a long visit and we came up with a plan to pursue options. She also gave me some sleeping pills without me having to twist her arm and feel like an awful human being in the process. We then decided to try a medication to keep my mind from racing, which is really the trouble I have with falling asleep.

I slept very soundly on Saturday night and I have been sleeping well every night since then. And I feel fantastic! It's amazing how much of a difference a good night's sleep makes. I feel better, my headache is starting to fade, I have some energy back, and another perk... my skin is looking sooooo much better. Important discovery: You really need sleep to have a moisturized, youthful face.

Another benefit? My house is back to sparkling clean!

Last night was the first night however that I noticed a decrease in the racing thoughts. Yay! I feel like we are on the right track. Pretty soon, hopefully I will be sleeping like this:

http://thesuiteworld.com/

or maybe like a puppy...

Love that little Gizzard.

Cheers to a good night's sleep! Sleeping well also means Mrs Grumpus is going on hiatus for the time being. I can't say I am going to miss her :)

Insomnia + Jessica= Mrs Grumpus

www.cartoonstock.com

It's been a pretty tough week. I haven't gotten much sleep since last Saturday. I have been going through spurts of insomnia since July. I'll sleep good for a couple of weeks, and then have a couple where I sleep for 1-2 hours a night.

I have chronic tension headaches that are acerbated by lack of sleep, so the weeks that I don't sleep I am left with a dull, throbbing pain across my forehead that doesn't go away. The headache doesn't respond to OTC meds and if the insomnia lasts long enough, it heads straight into a migraine.

I loathe these periods of insomnia. I don't feel like myself and my whole schedule is thrown off. I don't have enough energy to work out, which makes me feel guilty. I hate feeling guilty. I also don't have enough energy to keep my house at the sparkling clean standard that I normally hold myself to, which also makes me feel guilty. Did I mention I hate feeling guilty?

I try to sleep, I really do. The thing is, I am exhausted. I want to sleep. I just can't. I found this cartoon that perfectly sums up me trying to fall asleep at night.

(You'll have to click to read, I can't make it bigger)
www.lolpups.com

And yes, I do count sheep at night.

I have a doctors appointment on Saturday morning so I will try to arm-wrestle some sleeping pills out of my doctor. Trying to get narcotics in Kentucky is comparable to trying to win the lottery- in other words, almost freakin' impossible. You basically have to sign away your life, your unborn children, and your unborn children's children to get a prescription. I am, of course, exaggerating. But just barely. And that is just to get sleeping pills. Forget trying to get something for the headache.

All right, I will groggily climb down off my ranting soap box and go find something else to do.

Mrs Grumpus is signing out.