Slacking again

I know.  I'm not sure if I'll ever be a good blogger.  I get sidetracked.  A lot.

Sorry again.

Quick medical update:

1.  I don't have a sleep disorder.  I'm young enough to overcome my sleep stage obstacles.  Taking care of the allergies first seems to be working wonders.
2.  No sign of MS.  Niiiice.  This is a good one :)
3.  I supposedly have Meniere's disease.  I'm not sure if this is right or not.  I'd say I fit half of the criteria, but not all.  I'm getting a second opinion.  The reason for this:  The first ENT diagnosed me from across the room.  No vestibular maneuvers, no nystagmus check, nothing.  Since I am a collector of facts (mostly from the internet), I know he didn't diagnose me properly ;)  Ah yes.  Wikipedia is full of SOUND medical facts.. hehe.
4.  I'm crazy...  for loving youuuuuu..  I love Patsy Cline.

I think that's it.

I had a lovely time at a sing tonight.  Now it's off to sleep and then work in the morning.  Mondays are my favourite.

Wanna know what else is my favourite? For real...

Owls.

Pug Falls in Toilet

This made me laugh so hard.

On one hand, I feel bad for the Puglie. My dogs hate it when you laugh at them. They take it very personally and sometimes sulk for a long time while facing a corner.

On the other, I would probably document this too. But only if I was sure she wasn't going to jump out and run all over the house while I looked for the camera. (ew!)

Of all the places that a dog can get into... seriously?? A toilet??

My Return

I'm here!  I'm here!  Let the bells ring out and the banners fly!  Feast your eyes on me!  Too good to be true, but I'm here!

So, I've slacked majorly as of late.  I apologize.  Although, who I'm apologizing to, I have no idea.  I'll bet no one reads this blog anymore.

I've been busy.  And I've been tired.  Work and life keep me busy.  But what keeps me tired is somewhat of a mystery. 

I'm currently seeing a neurologist.  He calls me his "puzzle".  He seems very excited about me and my puzzling self.  He is old enough to have retired long ago, so perhaps he has seen it all and now he is happy to have something new.  Or maybe he loves all of his patients and has a natural sense of wonder with all of them.  That would be an enjoyable way to go through life, if you ask me. 
I'm going to see him in June again after I finish my battery of tests and other specialists.  We'll see if he can put the pieces together and come up with an answer to my problems.

A couple of weeks ago he sent me for a sleep study.  The reason for this is my extreme tiredness.  I get a minimum of 8.5 hours of sleep every night.  If I get less than this, I can barely keep my eyes open during the day.  I'm the type to lay my head down on the pillow and fall right asleep, so I don't have insomnia.  I'm am far from overweight, so I've never thought that I could have sleep apnea since I don't snore.  I do, however, sleep talk.  And act.  And even on a rare occasion..  walk.  But I thought I'd humour him and go to my sleep appointment at 8pm.
I was a bit weirded out by the thought of someone watching me sleep.  But I had a particularily tiring day at work, so I figured that I would fall asleep pretty fast.  The technician was very polite, and extremely professional, so I didn't feel very uncomfortable around him.  I changed into my plaid flannel pajamas and he came in to wire me up.  I had a total of 9 contacts on my head and face, 1 on each leg, 2 on my chest, plus 2 bands around my chest and stomach.  When he finished with all of this, I thought to myself, "I can sleep no problem."  Until he told me he needed to monitor my breathing.  Then I was done.  I knew I was going to have a bad night from that point forward.
I tossed.  I turned.  I got so wrapped up in the wires that I thought I'd rip them out of the wall.  My finger was throbbing from the pulse meter on my finger.  I was not a happy camper.  2am rolled around and I had briefly dozed.  This was going to be a waste of my time.  And the other two people in the sleep study weren't sleeping either.  And they were grumpy.  So I switched to relaxation meditation.  And it worked.  I fell asleep for about 3 hours and was awakened at 5 to go home.  I asked the technician if he got enough data, and he said yes, but from the looks of it, I skip sleep stages.  AHA.  A puzzle piece.

There are supposedly 5 stages of sleep. 
1.  Transition Light sleep
2.  Light Sleep
3.  Deep Sleep
4.  Deep Sleep part 2
5.  REM

 Apparently, I skipped stages 3 and 4 in the three sleep cycles that I managed to go though.  Those deep sleep stages are when your body heals itself, stores energy for the next day, and boosts the immune system.  It'll be interesting to see what they come up with after they properly study the brainwaves and all of that.

Veeeeeeery interesting.

Oh, the torture

Touch the rainbow cat

Maximize the video.

Put your finger on it and touch the rainbow! 
I bet you'll want to move it..  but don't!

hahaha

Dance!

My gym always leaves interesting things on the front desk counter.  Sometimes they are coupons for free yogurt drinks, recipes for yummy muffins or shakes, invitations to new classes, or even ballots to enter contests.

Today was a new one.  It was an invitation to join a flashmob this Saturday at the mall. 

Ah man.  I have always wanted to be in a flashmob!  Improv Everywhere got me into it, and it's been stuck in my head ever since.  There was even an episode of Modern Family where Mitchell surprised Cam by being in one.  Jealous!

Well, I have to work this Saturday :(  And I'll miss it.  So I'm a little bummed by that, but hey, maybe there will be a next time :)

I am so exhausted

I can barely keep my eyes open tonight.

I slept in this morning until 9:40am.  And I start work at 10am.  And work is 10 minutes away from where I live.  How I managed to shower and get there on time is beyond me.  I have no idea.  It was nothing short of a miracle.

Then this evening my husband asked me to proof-read his study paper.  And he was talking about gamma rays and channels and all this confusing stuff and I zoned out.  He must've went back to his desk.  I don't remember him leaving..

Ah, my bed is beckoning.  Goodnight, all!

Here's to hoping I wake up on time tomorrow!

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I would wave, but..

Lately I've been enjoying the Zumba class offered at my gym.  When I started going there, I had no idea what Zumba was.  I didn't know that it was so widespread.  If you look up Zumba on YouTube, you'll find video after video of people having fun.  And the classes are all packed.  I'd say these Zumba people have got it figured out and must be making a small fortune.  After all, who doesn't like dancing??  Dancing is fun and easy exercise.  Weight building is not...

My two main goals that I want to achieve from working out are these:  Energy and Muscles.  I've written about my major lack of energy before, so no need to expound on it again.  As for muscles, I had a vague idea that I needed more of them, but I had no idea how much.

I'm a weakling.  I've pretty much always have been a weakling, I'm just more of one lately.  The gym was offering a free fitness assessment with an instructor, so I took advantage of it.  After all the questions about my health history and personal fitness goals, the instructor took me to this machine that measures fat, muscle, and bone content using electrical impulses.  I was impressed.  Then I was surprised.  I'm good in the fat department.  No need to lose or gain.  But my muscles.  My puny muscles are indeed very puny.  I must gain 11.4 lbs of muscle in order to be in the "normal" range.  I thought, no problem.  Easy task.  Then she told me roughly how long it would take to build those 11.4 lbs of muscle.  Approximately 10-12 months.  But how?? I wasn't understanding the severity of my past slacking.

I was relating my discoveries to a friend the other day over lunch.  When I told him the amount of muscle I had to build up, he burst into laughter.  He was incredulous.  "Sarah!" he shouted, in the middle of a crowded Tim Hortons, "If you asked for almost 12 lbs of beef, you'd fill up this tabletop!!"  And then proceeded to laugh even louder.  But it hit home.  11.4 lbs is A LOT OF MEAT.  How did I ever let it get this far??  I'm the biggest health slacker ever!  How do I even lift my arms to type??  I have no idea.  I'm probably a medical marvel.

So now I'm determined to make muscles.  It will be hard, but it will be worth it. 

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