Time to Recommit

      I'm going to try to make this one more positive, since I got a lot of stuff thrown at me from the last post I did. Last week before everything came collapsing down around me, I had the chance to see the new Bill & Ted movie. 

     It was everything I hoped it would be just silly fun, and I really needed that. Today, while I'm writing this, Syfy is having a Bill & Ted marathon, except they are playing them in reverse order, which is really weird. Nevertheless, I am watching Excellent Adventure right now, and plan to put on Face the Music afterwards, so I can get the whole Bill & Ted experience. 

     I have recommitted to my fitness and am also trying out a new way of eating. It's not really all that different from how I was eating, but a more regimented schedule and a little different approach to intermittent fasting. So far, it's working out well, and I should have pictures next week. Still not ready for accountability photos, but they will come.

     Averted a near catastrophe on Friday night. As you know, Baby Girl now knowns as Schnuggie, has trouble since her surgery. From time to time, she gets a fluid buildup in her cheek that migrates up to the ear where the old drainage port was. When this happens, it ruptures and well, you have a mess. Friday was rupture time. I caught her early on, so I only had to clean up sporadic messes, and squeezed most of the blood and fluid out of her into a papertowel. I cleaned her up then bandaged her up, which she was not fond of, but it was able to last through the night so that she could get some uninterrupted sleep.

     That bandage only lasted the night. I recleaned the wound and bandaged her up again, but that one didn't even last an hour. The good news is, that the wound has sealed up well, and she will be blood and fluid free for a while. She can never seem to catch a break with all these health issues, but she is such a relaxed and chill dog, that it's hard to believe that everything that led to these problems were from the abuse she received from her previous owner. Right now, she's sleeping on the floor next to my chair, and that puts a smile on my face.

     I did get a bit crafty this week, and it was all in an effort to improve my fitness. This is all part of that recommitment. When I do pushups, I use parallettes. Those are small bars that sit 8 inches from the ground. The goal is to do a planche pushup, which is basically doing a pushup without touching the ground with anything but your hands. Seems impossible, but it's not. Anyway, The problem with doing pushups with those bars, is that my body angle wasn't hitting my chest in the best way, so I built a box that is 8 inches tall, so that I can put my feet on that and then use the parallettes. This gives me a deeper stretch on the bottom, because I can go below where my hands are, and it hits my chest in the right place.

     It didn't take me long, but the way I built it made it kind of tough. I built the outer walls first, then made inserts to go inside for stability, then made inserts to cap the ends. Trying to get those to stay up while I nailed them in place from the inside, wasn't easy. It didn't come out perfect, but good enough for what I need. I tested it by standing on it and jumping up and down, and it is almost as solid as if it were one block of wood.

     I did pushups off that set up, and they were amazing. Hit exactly where I wanted it to, and being able to go below parallel made a huge difference in the stretch at the bottom. Really looking forward to how they change the shape of my chest.

     I do have one more thing that is positive that I could talk about, but I'm hesitant about jinxing it. Seems like ever time I talk about this particular subject it all goes down hill once I do, so, I'm going to sit on this one for a little while and maybe get back to you next week on this one.

     Part of my recommitment to fitness is also writing this once a week for now. Mental fitness is just as important as physical fitness, and it is fitting that today is the first day of suicide prevention awaremess month. Yeah, we suicidal types don't get a full month, but we have something. Make an effort to listen to people more. You may have problems, but if you don't listen to those whose problems are different than yours, you may lose someone in the process. Still not used to not saying goodnight, but as I write this in the middle of the day now, I'm going to just have to accept it. Peace in and good day.