First Snow Day of the Year.

On Thursday, our school district was closed due to inclement weather. Snow days are always a bit magical, and I try not to let the knowledge that we will have to make up the day deter me from fully enjoying the surprise day off!

I also count myself thankful that I work for a place that values safety. I know some people do not have the luxury of a snow day. There were so many accidents on Thursday afternoon. It was quite dangerous to be out on the roads.

As usual, I always make the very best of my snow days. First, I drank coffee and cuddled Jelly!

Then I went to Planet Fitness and did two deck of cards workouts, ran two miles, and did my PT exercises.

Before heading home, I stopped at Dollar General for some random items. I ended up getting some cute activity books for my nieces and nephew.

Because I had off, I was able to take Paul to an appointment. That saves him a $20 Uber ride! While he was at his appointment, I hit up the liquor store and Good Will. I ended up getting some AWESOME Good Will deals!

$5.25 sweater. Super warm and comfy.

I LOVE THIS SHIRT!!! $4.25

Four 1000 piece puzzles for 97 cents each!!!!

It was a little stressful to be out and about. By the time Paul was done with his appointment, there was a couple inches of snow on the ground! I saw this cool bumper sticker in the parking lot...

The cats were excited for us to be home.

Then I did a lot of random things, Like watch The View...

... Worked on a puzzle...

... Folded a shit ton of laundry...

... And appreciated the beauty of snow and cats!

I also cooked up some veggies for dinner. Do you see what I'm drinking and snacking on?

After dinner I was warm and cozy, but I had to go shovel the driveway. Blah!

What do you like to do on a snow day?

Weekly Workouts!

I had a wonderful week! Not only did I run 32 miles (which is the most I have done in awhile), but 22 of them were on the AT!

Saturday- 8 miles on the AT. I went to a group run with Appalachian Running Company. I didn't know anyone and it was a weird run because nobody talked! We just... ran. I tried to start convos with people, but they ended quickly. My back felt great until mile 6, then it bothered me. It was so windy and cold this morning but the trees provided some shelter.

Sunday- 8 miles on the AT with Allison. We parked at the top of Peter's Mountain and did 3 miles North, back to our cars, then 1 mile south and back out our cars. I forgot how rocky Peter's Mountain is. I've been running between Boiling Springs and Scott's Farm lately, which isn't rocky at all. My back felt fine during the run but I went shopping later so of course it hurt then. Two things will always make my back hurt: shopping and my period.

Monday- 6 miles on the AT. I parked at Sherwood and ran South. I wanted to go farther but turned around when I discovered a bunch of cows were blocking my only way over the electric fence! I made up the mileage by adding some distance going North.

Tuesday- Lifting at the gym. I incorporated a lot of my PT exercises for glute activation and engaging my lower abs. I also did thrusters and split squats! ITB feels good!

Wednesday- 6 neighborhood miles and a deck of cards workout. This road run didn't hurt my back at all! I kept waiting for it to feel tight but I did not. Score!

Thursday- 2 deck of cards workouts and 2 miles on the treadmill. It was a snow day so I was at the gym a little later than normal. I was noticing a lot of people doing exercises with terrible form. I normally don't judge people's forms but there were a couple guys who I really wanted to educate, but of course I didn't! Teacher always wants to be teachin'...

Friday- 2 treadmill miles and a crazy circuit. My circuit included:

1000 jump rope rotations
100 burpees
100 mountain climbers
200 bicycle crunches
100 kettle bell swings
100 hydrants
100 stability ball pull ins
10 thirty second planks

It took me nearly 40 minutes!

How were your workouts this week?

Things Never to do Before I Die (Reverse Bucket List)

Hey all! I am linking up with Fairytales and Fitness!

Last week, San @ The In Between Is Mine posted her Reverse Bucket List. A reverse bucket list is a list of things you never want to do. It was hilarious and thought provoking, so I thought I would post my own Reverse Bucket List. 

Can you guess what's on my Reverse Bucket List?

I won't keep you in suspense...

• Go to Disney World. I know people love Disney. I am glad they love Disney and I hope they bask in their Disney loving and are able to visit. However, it is just not for me and I know I would simply not enjoy it.

• Take a cruise. For awhile, I really thought I would enjoy a cruise! And I think 30 year old Megan really would have liked it. But 36 year old Megan is a lot more high strung and controlling. I know I would feel trapped. I would not feel relaxed. I'd worry about getting in lines to disembark or reembark early. I'd worry we wouldn't get a place at dinner or a show. It is my own faults that will cause me to not enjoy a cruise.

• Join a book club. I enjoy reading but it never crossed my mind to join a book club. I don't think I would like the expectation to have read something by a certain date.

• Sky dive (or any other extreme activity). This is something 20 year old Megan would have liked. But as I got older, I got more catastrophic.

• Run 100 Miles. I have friends who have done multiple 100 milers. I have seen them train and heard about their races. I respect the distance and I don't have the desire to put in the time and the tax on my body to do something that extreme. I did a 50 miler once and I believe that's as far as I will go.

• "Go off sugar". As an athlete, my body needs sugar- the good kind and the bad kind. As someone who suffered from disordered eating in the past, totally eliminating something from my diet is not a good idea for me. I currently have a healthy relationship with sugar and I hope I maintain that relationship for the rest of my life!

• Tweet. I do too much on social media as it is! I will leave the Tweeting to Paul!

• Have kids. I've known for over 10 years now that they're not for me. Luckily, I deeply love my nieces and nephews. Also, I have hundreds of current students and thousands of past students. My life is already full of kids, even if they aren't my own!

That's all I can think of for now! I'm sure as soon as I post this I'll think of more...

HAPPY FRIDAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What's on your Reverse Bucket List?
Have you ever given up a certain food completely?
What's the longest you ever ran?
Tell me the most extreme activity you've ever done!

I saw my doctor about my sleep issues!

 I'm writing this post Wednesday afternoon and I woke up at 12:30 this morning so I'm in zombie mode. Apologies if this blog post is disjointed or there are lots of typos!

I finally saw my PCP about my sleep issues. I made the appointment awhile ago, but apparently unless you have an emergency, there's at least a month of waiting time at my doctor's office before seeing your PCP.p Hill area has a suggestion, let me know!)

<<<<Short background: I went to my PCP back in 2015 to get help with my sleep problems. She suggested 25 mg of diphenhydramine and a small dosage of melatonin. I did that for several months but I started to become immune to the diphenhydramine. I also ended up getting diarrhea for two months straight. I stopped taking melatonin and within two weeks my GI issues were gone. Related to the melatonin? Who can say for sure...>>>>

Now it's over two years later and I feel like over the past year and a half, my sleep issues have really escalated. 

• My main trouble is falling back asleep after waking up. It is not uncommon for me to wake up at midnight or 1am and never fall back asleep. 

• This can happen on a weekday or a weekend. It is not associated with work stress. In fact, I rarely think about work when I'm laying in bed in the middle of the night.

• My sleep troubles used to plague me 1-2 times per month. Now it's at least three times a week.

• THIS. IS. SERIOUSLY. AFFECTING. MY. LIFE.

Before I went to the doctor, my SIL recommended I ask for a short term and a long term solution to my sleeping issues. I need to get to the root of my problem. My SIL also suggested a deficiency in magnesium could be contributing. Her family takes magnesium supplements. She sent me some info about it so I am going to read about it... as soon as I get some sleep!

My biggest fear was going to the doctor and having her tell me to have a cup of tea before bed, read a book, and put on a sound machine. I think if that was her suggestion I would have just started bawling.

Luckily, she listened to everything I had to say, asked good questions, and suggested I try out the prescription drug called Trazodone.

She assured me it was not an addictive drug like Ambien. I wasn't going to sleep eat, nor would I murder anyone in my sleep. (Of course I asked that.)

Trazodone is actually for depression and anxiety, but it's off label use is for insomnia. It's one of the most widely prescribed drugs for insomnia.

Of course I researched the pill and found good things and bad things about it. I am not getting my hopes up that it will be a long term solution but I am hopeful it will at least help me short term. I have a physical scheduled at the end of December, so my PCP and I will touch base with how the prescription is working for me.

I hate taking medicine and I never thought I would want a prescription for sleep medication. But I am at the end of my rope. I need something. This lack of sleep is affecting my life, my happiness, my work, and my relationships. I really, really, hope Trazodone helps me.

Have you ever taken a prescription sleep medication?

Are you familiar with magnesium or magnesium 
deficiencies?

I suck.

Recently, I decided to start eating hard boiled eggs again. I like them with salt for breakfast or cut up in a salad for dinner. Instead of buying eggs already hard boiled (like I used to) I decided to learn to make them myself and save money.

Surprisingly, it was very easy to do. The eggs even peeled well because I followed the instructions on when to peel them precisely. I was all proud of myself as I peeled the eggs in the sink and let the shells go down the garbage disposal...

... Until the next day when Paul informed me that there was a clog in the sink and I was NOT supposed to put the egg shells down the garbage disposal. I am such an idiot. I thought it was okay to do that. Apparently not. Paul tried everything he could to fix the clog be eventually he had to call the plumber. I told him I didn't even want to know how much it cost. He assured me it wasn't too bad, but I have a feeling it was a couple hundred dollars.

So much for saving money by making my own hard boiled eggs.

I suck.

Then on Saturday night, we were at Broad Mountain Vineyard to see an improv show by a group called Safeword. Right when the show started, I felt my wedding ring fall off my finger (my fingers shrink when it's cold) and heard it *ding* on the tile floor. Paul and I tried to discretely look for my ring, but it was hard to do because the show started and there were lots of tables with people sitting at then. I just imaged my ring could have rolled really far across the large room.

I looked for my ring at intermission and after the show, but I still couldn't find it. I told the owner that if he found a white gold wedding band, it was mine. He told me he would let me know if they found a ring while they were cleaning up.

I still haven't heard from them.

I suck.

Did you ever lose your wedding ring?
Ever send the wrong thing down the drain and need to call the plumber?

Weekend Wrap Up!

 

Three day weekend- wahooooo!

I hope everyone was able to honor the veterans in their lives! Here is my Grandpa, all of his brothers, and their father.

Friday! The most magical day of the week! I went to Planet Fitness to lift and do a deck of cards workout.

When I got to my classroom that morning, I was greeted with a concerning sight. I had a sub the day before and was annoyed to see my desk in HUGE disarray. There was even stuff strewn about my room. It immediately annoyed me because I had to spend about 20 minutes cleaning everything up.

I know to some of you, this would be considered "neat", but I normally have my desk spotless. I can't relax if it's not organized.

The best part of the day was chorus. I literally cried after my kids sand When The Lights All Shine. They sound like angels! I love my chorus!

Another fun part of the day was teaching my fourth graders the mixer dance called Sasha. One boy (who definitely isn't the dancing type) kept saying in astonishment, "This is fun, this is actually really fun!" There's lots of videos of my students doing this dance on my classroom's Facebook page called EP Music Kids. If you "like" it on Facebook, you can see all the fun stuff we do!

After work, I just relaxed. Paul had plans so it was an at home type of evening for me. I went to bed early. Why not?

I took this funny picture of Christmas...

Bright and early, I met a group of runners for 8 miles on the AT. The run was one of the Saturday runs organized by Appalachian Running Company. I didn't know anyone and it was a weird run because nobody talked! We just... ran. I tried to start convos with people, but they ended quickly. The reason this is strange to me is because I'm used to jibber jabbering during a trail run, even if it's with people I just met. 

However, when I got back to my car, the run organizer had put some muffins and a water on my windshield. That was nice! (I did not eat the muffin. I went home and made a healthy omelette.)

It was a very, very windy day. It would have sucked to run on the road. Being in the woods gave some shelter from the wind.

When I got home, I finished the puzzle I was working on. Jelly tried to cock block me every step of the way...

This is my favorite type of puzzle. Farmhouses. Horse and buggies. Some quilts...

There was nothing on my agenda and it was still early, so I decided to clean the house. I went through the process of putting away a lot of nick knacks because the next time I clean, it will be for putting up Christmas decorations! Now our house looks very empty...

That evening, we went to see the improv group called Safeword at Broad Mountain Winery in Elizabethville. The show was hilarious! It was great to hang out with friends!

Me and Michael. Haircut twins.

My morning started bright and early with 8 miles on the AT with Allison. We parked at the top of Peter's Mountain. This section was very rocky but luckily I didn't trip.

I didn't have anything planned during the day, so I went out and about shopping. I tried on clothes and shoes but didn't buy a single thing except some necessities at Dollar General. I do this a lot... go out shopping for hours and then don't buy anything.

I was very tired when I got home (crappy sleep the night before) so I just kind of chillaxed in bed with my laptop, Jelly, and Christmas.

That evening, I met Molly for sushi! We tried a new place in Lemoyne called Akitas. I thought it was very good. Paul and I will have to try it.

~ MONDAY ~

That morning, I went for my third trail run in three days! I parked at Sherwood and ran South. I wanted to go farther but some cows blocked me!

So I turned around and made up some mileage going the other way. I got 6 miles in total. I still am not comfortable trail running alone. I wish I could go back to the days when I wasn't worried about getting murdered on the trail.

Then I went to see Bohemian Rhapsody at Midtown Cinema. Oh my gosh it was AMAZING. I laughed, I cried, and I apologize in advance to all of my music students because we will be listening to Queen from now until Thanksgiving!!!!!

What were you up to this weekend?

Tell me about a special veteran in your life.

How often do you go out shopping and not buy anything?

Have you seen Bohemian Rhapsody?