Another reason to avoid stinkin’ W#lmart

Of course there are the obvious ones.  Monopolizing companies piss me off, poor Chinese workers making bupkiss in a day so I can buy a $10 toy that breaks in 2 weeks, poor working conditions, horrible sexism, among many, many other reasons.  But I have found another reason.

I will soon become a victim of that website, you know the one, I’m sure you’ve heard of it.  It’s where a couple of guys started taking pictures of the way people have dressed to go to Walmart, posted it on a website for all to see and then the public ripped the dressees to shreds.  That will be me.  No, no, not the gal commenting on the website, but the chick in the picture.

I’ll paint you a pretty picture.  Pale yellow jeans, light pink tee shirt, purple crocs, and a light brown puffy vest, complete with fur collar.  Not pretty hey?  I wore that last year out in public, to a store even.  It wasn’t something put together, it wasn’t even something I noticed until I came home and dropped my fugly jacket on top of my crocs.  I laughed it off to another one of my crazy outfits.  That isn’t just a fluke, this happens all the time.  Today for instance, I am wearing a light blue tee, dark blue sweat pants, bright yellow socks.  I then wore flower shoes out with a tan coloured jacket.  Oh and brown leather purse, if that matters.

I just don’t even notice.  And what’s worse is I’ve browsed that website and liked a few outfits.  I kid you not.  Of course there are the over-the-top things that make even me laugh, or cry at the thought that some poor person (in more ways than one) is being ridiculed mercilessly for wearing short-shorts as a plus sized gal (or guy).  But there are a few on there where I’ve admired the clothing.

In future, I’m just going to have to avoid the place.

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Is it Monday?

Allow me to wallow in some shitty ol’ self pity for a moment.  Sure, worse things are happening in the world, and poo poo on that, but shit, let me have my moment of wallowing, please?

I’m just saying a big old F$#@ you to this day and screw you again day of hell, I am goin’ for a do-over tomorrow.  I have myself a big, and I’m talking über large, piece of pumpkin cake (that I don’t have permission to share the recipe now), and it’ll give me a sugar high that will last me for a while.  Just long enough to get my ass to bed and forget the day’s troubles.

It started off shitty when dh woke me up because he couldn’t find the flashlights.  At six.oh.freakin.clock.  Our power went out, whoopdee doo, and there’s the man, wondering why our water softener chose 6 am, sans power, to do it’s flush (don’t ask me how, I don’t know either).  I’m just wondering if that man thinks it’s fucking safe to sleep on his back tonight.

The power came back on at 6:20.  It was much too late to get back to bed, or is that early?  So, being the gung-ho freak I am, I jumped on the now-powered-up treadmill to do my morning torture session.  It’s not a ‘run’ per se because I’m still gearing up to do that running stuff.  It started off bad, music was good but the stupid cord kept getting caught on my elbow and shifting my one ear bud.  And I just felt all around bad.  On Monday, I did well through C25K week 3, powered my way through it.  Okay, screw it, I freakin’ almost died to get through it, but I got it and thought today would be okay.  Oh hell no, that’s when my lungs started to tighten and wheeze just as if I still had asthma.  I did not make it through week 3s three minute jaunt, only 2.  At the last 3 minute sprint, I again tried to adjust my mp3 player so the cord would stop looping my elbow, but the damn snaps came undone and my player landed at my feet and shot out the back of the TM, almost tripping me in the process.  I swore profusely, staggered, lost my rhythm, turned the speed down and walked the last minute and a half.  I kept swearing and wiping the sweat off my face and neck.  When the torture was over, I turned it all off and turned around to my daughter’s sweet, barely-awake, face, probably wondering where the new words came from and if she could say them.

It just went all downhill from there, right along with my mood.  I attempted to get Elijah’s passport photos.  His first ones when he was little were simple, just point and shoot at the little doofus, but these ones… ugh.  The lady at AMA obviously is more experienced at getting passport photos of 2 y/os than me because she didn’t ring me in first, she wanted to wait until we knew we’d get it.

Smart lady.

He blew a gasket, and I was right along side him.  He got his first spank today.  Sure, I’m not proud of it, but his reaction to what was going on was atrocious and just bizarre.  I know there isn’t really an excuse for it, but my pissy mood, but it couldn’t have gone down any other way.  His shit-ass-damn behaviour did not improve with time unless he was strapped into his car seat, then he was an angel.

Weirdo.

Then the sheer fact that I’ve been a single parent in my own home for too many weeks, even though dh has been home, is seriously getting on my nerves.  And the bastard would even switch it around to ask if I didn’t want my windows sealed.  Well shitty, shit, shit, I didn’t want them sealed in an unheard of amount of time.  Lucky you duck ass, you are a man, so you don’t have to parent while you work, you can just do your work, and nothing else.  Your wife is running herself ragged asking for your help?  Oh no, your work is so much more important and needs to be done now.  Oh, and when you aren’t working on the house, you fly your freakin’ $400 helicopter that you miraculously found extra money in the budget for.

All this means a cranky, pissy wife, with a 2 y/o.  Sign language was supposed to help right?  That lady Rachel even said that it virtually eliminates the terrible twos.  Well Rachel, you are most certainly wrong there.  He signs very well, in fact has made up some of his own, but he sure as hell proves he’s two, every single freaking day.

God, I love kids, don’t you?  They make you pull your freakin’ hair out and then the next moment, he’s asking you to bend down so he can hug your head while lovingly calling, ‘Mommy’ over and over again.

Jerk-a-mur.

Waiting for my hair to dry

I’m killing time, but it’s not quite enough for a huge long, play-by-play of the hike, just a short one, which is really all that is needed.  My hair takes a bit to dry and I’m getting my passport photo renewed today, as well as Elijah’s, so any tips on getting a 2 y/o to sit for passport photos would be swell.

The hike was amazing as usual.  I didn’t even think that I shouldn’t be doing that at my size/weight, and I would do it again in an instant.  It is considered a strenuous hike, and I tend to agree. Even dh had a few moments of huffing and puffing with those switch-backs.

We Canadians look to other countries to visit for holidays, because we have such a long winter I’m sure.  Rare is it that we take a look at the beauty in our own backyard.  I’ve lived within the vicinity of Waterton Lakes National Park all of my life and I certainly take it for granted just like the rest of the people living in such short distance of it.  In fact, dh’s cousin said he hadn’t been since he was about 4.

Spectacular views were abundant, as you can see from the pictures.  It’s a bit surreal actually to be in such beauty, be a part of it.  You tend to watch your every step for fear of crushing some of it under your clod hoppers.  Amazingly enough, we found one single piece of garbage, and it was a t-shirt that someone hung onto a tree beside the path.  You just know that everyone respects it the same when nothing is amiss but a well-worn path to your destination.

The lake itself was so much more than I thought it would be.  I have seen many high mountain lakes and was expecting a smallish pond-like lake.  I did not expect to see the enormity of it, nor the deepest green I have ever seen.  It spanned the entire box canyon, being long and skinny, and even had a portion we couldn’t see because it bent around a small corner.  The water was amazing.  We brought our little filter, because I’m paranoid like that, and had a good drink.

Coming down was much better on the body altogether, but it was like a big let down.  I don’t like doing hikes like that without staying overnight.  But Waterton has been a big weird about campfires and there is no possible way to stay at a high mountain lake without a fire to keep warm.   Well, technically the way down is easier, but my toes are still suffering from it.  Constant downward pressure on the toe has caused an ugly bruise to form under my big toe nail – possibly might lose it.  But it still will have been worth it.

I haven’t even mentioned that my kids weren’t with us at any point.  Mainly because I enjoyed my time so much I feel almost guilty or something.  I know we have to do that more often.  Oh and dh and I both feel that we could possibly do small hikes overnight next year when Elijah is fully potty trained (he’s getting there).

Oh, hairs pretty much dry, time to move on.  I can’t wait until next year’s hikes.  And we’ll have an extra kid in the mix too, I hope.

Yet another hike

Hopefully complete with pictures.  Larger post to come later.

Childless moments

I’m going to have millions of those this weekend.  Just moments where I won’t have to turn around and tell them to stop bickering.  Moments where I won’t have to answer the same question over and over again.  Moments where I don’t have to think of learning moments throughout the day for anyone but myself.

Dh and I are off to a beautiful B&B close to Waterton National Park (international peace partner to Montana’s Glacier Park).  I’m not going into details because we’re leaving asap.

WOOHOO!!

Couch to 5k

I’m sure you’ve heard of the program couch to 5 k.  I’m not really wanting to give the link because it’s kind of a crappy site it’s listed upon (clickers beware of a lot of ‘buy this’ after clicking).  The program is basically a work-your-way-up kind of program to being able to do a 5 K in 10 weeks.

I am on week 2 for the 6th week now.  Yup, there’s me, stuck back in week 2, and not for trying.  I can’t push it past what is expected at week 2, so I sit there, stuck.  Oh, and for those familiar with the week 2 program, are you as annoyed as I am that rotating the 90 second running with 2 minute walking does NOT add up to 20 minutes at all?  Drives me bonkers.  I keep hoping to get past this hump soon so I can get onto the next program that will actually equal the 20 minutes and not just pretend to.

I came to the conclusion that although it is a great program, and I’m still doing it, it is a program not meant for those really out of shape and overweight.  I am both (yet I can do 12 K hikes with dh every year, go figure), and understand the need to lose weight, hence the push for running.  My body needs a kick start, hell a kick start, it needs a jumping like you wouldn’t believe.  Holy shit, did I just type that out?  Read that again but put your mind about 6 ft into the gutter.

Now that I’ve pointedly inserted foot into mouth, I need to pull it back out and figure out if I can just push myself past this, or if this truly is a physical resistance and not just the mental one I keep thinking it is.  When I’m getting to the end of the wk.2 time (just past the 20 minute mark), I seriously have to grab the side bars of my treadmill to keep up at walking because my legs don’t want to work.  ~side note~ yes, I do this on a treadmill because I sure as hell ain’t going to get all this’a jiggling in public. That and it’s only about 1°C right now in the ams) ~end the side note~

I’ve been doing well at it, you know, this getting healthier shit.  I can’t say I’ve grasped it full throttle because I still find myself in the mindless eating towards the evening.  But during the day, I’m on my game, I eat only when hungry, and not just crapshit.

I can’t say I love it either.  When I hear my alarm wake up, I cringe because it reminds me of the shitty sleep I just had.  But I talk myself into getting up anyway, because I’m an adult dammit, and a fat one at that, so I need to get up off my arse.  So I get up, get myself going and jump on the tready.  I don’t hate every moment, but I sure as hell don’t really like it either.  BUT, the rest of the day is better.  I’m less zonked I guess you could say.  I’m less achy.  I know that sounds weird because the running alone should add to it, but it doesn’t really, I’m a fairly strong person, but the joints aren’t great and are doing a little better.  The knees are complaining, but I imagine that is solely from the point of having the 65lbs extra weight slamming down on them with every stride.  The sweat absolutely pours off of me and my heart rate is high, but at the end of it all I’m feeling pretty good.  But only at the end, there ain’t no runner’s high for me.

Keep on swimming, right?