The Fellowship of the Ceiling Fan

I had a big huge swath of open time in the middle of the day today. The broken things at work are still broken, but other people are up on it, and I was not needed to sit and monitor. 

I opted for mid-day gym. 

Rather than do to myself what I did yesterday and go hella late, why not go in the mid-day? I have a coworker who will often "flex time" and go for a 2 hour bike ride in the afternoon. I am trying to see things that my mental health and my time are important and follow his lead. He goes around 1-2 pm sometimes, so I left at noon. I was back by 1:15. Fair.   

When I got to the gym, hardly anyone was there so the treadmill of my dreams was open. Right in front of the TV with Law & Order SVU, or whatever cop murder show is on, and the Weather Channel right next to it. I had my playlist revved up, checked my pulse on the handles, and set the fitbit and the treadmill off in sync. 

Go. 

After about 5 minutes, a woman got on the treadmill right next to me, which I thought was odd. There are 14 treadmills in this row, and I'm on the 3rd from the end, you have .... 11 more to pick from and you get on next to me? 

I side eyed her, smiled a little, and gave her the hang 10 sign. 

She pointed up above our heads to the giant ceiling fan (which seriously is as big as my living room) and said "I gotta be right here, I'm sorry if I'm right next to you." 

Nice. 

"Welcome to the fellowship of the ceiling fan, my friend. Let's go get it," I said. 

She laughed. She has a towel that she uses to cover up the digital display on the treadmill. She said, "I don't like to look at how long I've been going, I like to go until I don't feel like going anymore and if I watch the clock, I start to get distracted." I thought that was a good idea. Sometimes if I listen to my body I can go longer but if I look at the timer, I struggle with "why are we only at 10 minutes." 

We ended up chatting. She said she joined in February, and has Type 1 Diabetes so she's trying to drop the weight and get her glucose under control. "I'm about to be 40 in September and I don't want to be dead soon, so we're going to get this." She said she set a 30 pound goal and has lost 14. But she's stuck. I told her I heard that. I was stuck for so very long. Just keep poking it. We talked about food, and what we don't eat and how that makes us sad sometimes. She likes sweets, I like bread. 

I said to her that I hoped none of this was triggering and made her want to go get candy or chocolate, like if you talk to someone in recovery about booze or heroin or whatever, it may make them think about what they're missing. She said no it was fine, sometimes just saying it out loud puts it out into the world. 

I hit 30 minutes, which was my goal, and stayed on for another song on the playlist (Song 2 by Blur). I knew I had to get back to work, so I bailed off the machine and went home. 

Perhaps I'll see her again, I've gotten to recognize people in the 4-5pm time slot and this was really my first time there at lunch. 

I got home, showered, realized I had a 1:30 meeting, not just one starting at 2. Ope. Well, good thing I stopped at 33 minutes instead of pushing to 45. I was in the mood to keep going, but. Knowing I needed to get back to the computer my brain got me to move along. Glad I did. Had a good afternoon overall even though the problems with the product persist. 

Today is Geoff's day to drive to school in Virginia, so I usually go easy on dinner. We do leftovers, or I just make something simple. I had bought a roaster chicken, and today was the last day it should be used so I put it in. Remind me to not want to have mashed potatoes when the boy isn't here to be the potato peeler. I hate peeling potatoes. But I did it. And survived.  And it was delicious. 

After dinner, Doug was settled in to watch hockey, and I suggested that during the first intermission we really should take the dogs for a walk. He reluctantly agreed and we headed out, just under a mile loop, I am starting to get used to this routine with them. It's always better when he comes too, that way one dog back at home isn't SCREAMING that she was left behind. 

I didn't take a picture today but a couple good dog playing videos. I'll try and get some shots tomorrow. The azalea bushes are out of control out there. Gorgeous! 

Digits, below.

digits

exercise: 12/12 hours.  Gym Treadmill, 33 min/1.61 miles. Dog walk with Doug (2 dogs together!) 21 min/.91 miles. 12k+ steps by bedtime

blood glucose:

8:30am: 134
4:45pm: 122
10:30pm: 85 

food:
coffee/water
8:45am: phentermine; met+glip
9am: 2 pieces of bacon (geoff leftover for me)
11am: pb& low sugar j on 647 multigrain
5pm: met+glip
7pm: roast chicken, mashed potatoes, stuffing, peas, gravy
8:30pm: some mixed nuts
9:45pm: jardiance
vodka+diet tonic