Now that that’s out of the way, I’d like to tell you all about my absolutely horrid week. The week wasn’t so bad, I had some good time with my husband as he was off for five days straight, however my body was in complete disarray the entire time. Last month I missed a period, which by the way had me very paranoid despite two negative pregnancy tests. I missed a period because I changed the day I start a new pack of birth control from Sunday to Thursday (skipped over some of the white pills and went straight to the new pack, which is fine since I have the option of skipping the white pills all together and just taking the pink ones back to back). I was more distressed because I am as regular as bills (much better analogy as it is always the same timing month after month ).

So naturally this month I paid for that missed period, big time. My abdomen started hurting days before my period even started. Pretty much when my PMDD kicks in, which is about three or four days before. I must say I did pretty well with the PMDD this month, despite it not being so great. There was very little crying and I was able to control my mood swings by stifling them pretty quickly. But my fatigue was through the roof. I spent most of Thursday sitting in bed with my laptop and Saturday I was asleep pretty much the entire day because neither Aleve nor Midol were having any effect on the cramps I had or the body aches I was feeling.

Today I’m still feeling the tail end of the PMDD and haven’t gotten much of anything done as a result. Even though my mind is willing my body simply doesn’t want to move. I’ve folded the laundry and taken out the trash, and I went to knitting though I didn’t get much done there either. I’m hoping that with a good night’s rest and an early start tomorrow, I can get a lot done. I have to clean the guest room and bathrooms/kitchen to prep for my father-in-law’s arrival on Friday.

And I fully intend to work outside the house. Even when I get my own business started, I’m going to have an office away from the house. Working at home is awesome and all but it is exceedingly easy to get distracted. Plus I’ve heard many people who work way too much at home because they do not set “office hours”. With a real office there is none of that. I work from when I get there to when I leave and if I need to do some extra time, I stay late or go in early. Not to mention, I’ll be meeting with clients face-to-face and it’s nice to have a guaranteed space to do so in peace and quiet (as opposed to meeting out at a coffee bar or something).

Anyhow… This morning started with getting up at 7a.m. to let out and feed all the animals. Spent an hour checking some things online and then crawled back into bed to lie there for an hour till it was time to go for our walk. We took the dogs with us which… I’m not doing again for a long time. We got these “no-pull” harnesses at Petco the other day and yeah right, no-pull my ass. I knew we should have gotten the head halter ones, which yank their head back when they pull, causing them to slow down. The harnesses tighten around the ribs when they pull and that does not stop them, at all. They just pant and pull harder than before. By the time we got to the turn-around point they were drolling foamy nastiness… AND STILL FREAKING PULLING MY ARM OFF!!

So the solution is: I will walk all three dogs individually at dusk when it’s cooled off. This will keep them from spazing out and allow me to train them when to stop, sit, etc. No offense to my husband but he’s never actually trained a dog. I had a lot of good advice when my family hired a trainer for Kayla (our rottweiler) and I’ve retained it. Ashamed to say I haven’t implemented it on my dogs to the full extent. Ada and Ash are pretty good with sit, out, cage, upstairs, downstairs and Ada understands lay but neither get stay (Ada used to but doesn’t listen to it anymore). However, the puppy – Lani understands… sit, stay, down, couch, out, cage, room, bed, lay, and kangaroo (among many others). “Kangaroo?” you ask. Heh, yes, kangaroo. Kangaroo means to stand on her hind legs and then sit on them, so she looks like a kangaroo! She also knows what treat means and she goes f’ing a-wall when you say it.

But Lani understands all these commands because she’s actually been trained. Nathan (my big brother) did some before he brought her to me and then I continued it. I can add on to her command list very easily because she’s really very smart (despite acting like a retard sometimes). She learned how to play fetch in all of 10 minutes and now understands “get it” and “drop it” from playing. I did some training when Ada and Ash were puppies (this is why they know how to sit) but I didn’t do it enough to make it really stick, or for them to understand – oh mommy wants my attention. In combination with that they’ve learned some not so cool tricks from my husband, like jumping up and putting their paws on his shoulders – which they still try to do to me every now and then.

But this will all change in time. It may take a while but they’ll get it eventually. Let’s just hope it all sticks this time!

So back to what I’ve done today… After the walk, Joshua and I did our stay/yoga ball routine (30min dvd) and messed around till he went to work (he was making food n I was gaming mostly). After he was off I washed all three dogs, took a short break to catch my breath, and then vacuumed the house, cleaned the cat boxes, and gathered up the dishes & trash. I’m about to go do the dishes, which are (as ever) endless, after which I will shower and then fold & put away the laundry.

And my day doesn’t end there! Tonight at 7pm there is a meetup for the Hampton Roads Web Developer’s Brigade. I’ll be biking down to the mall around 6pm to meet with them. (I need 30 minutes between arriving and the meeting to cool down and change. Nobody wants to meet me when I’m all sweaty & gross heh) I’ve been looking forward to this meetup for a while so I’m glad a lot of people RSVP’d in the last few days and that it will be a good sized group. I’m hoping to make some lasting connections and network my ass off. Wish me luck!

• We rise at 9 a.m. and go for a 40 minute walk.
• M-W-F we follow that up with stay-ball workout – 30 mins.
• Tu-Th-Sa we add in a short jogging distance.

Not very intensive exercise, but holy crap does it wear me out. I think the time we are doing it is a factor as well. We can’t make it any earlier because we both need our sleep, nor later because Joshua has to go off to work. So I’m just having to get used to it.

We are slowly working in the jogging because of my asthma. Joshua knows not to push me too hard because I will have an attack and it will be just as unpleasant for me as it will be for him. Nothing like making your heart race that you’re in an electric chair!

I am hoping to work up to running with Joshua. I know it’s going to take a long time, lots of adding on 5 minutes, 10 minutes, etc. but I want to get back in shape and I’d like to be able to be active with Joshua without feeling like I’m going to die every 5 seconds. So we’ll see how it goes!

No, it didn’t hurt. And I’ve been wanting to have it pierced for years now. It is my birthday gift to myself (one of em at least ;) ) and only cost me $30! It’s hurting much more today and yesterday than it did the night I got it pierced. Taking plenty of Aleve to help with the swelling and pain. And of course I am taking proper care of it cleaning wise.

Other than that… My baby is back home. The first night back together was wonderful and since then we’ve just fallen back into our grooves I guess. I have several things planned for us to go do though so yay. I’m glad to have him back home with me. <3

The new comp nook, complete with the shelves I made

Yes, I have naked ladies in my office

The music corner - complete with piano, flute/clarinet/piccolo, and guitar/amp

I love my whiteboard...

The craft table! weee

I like how it came out. I feel like I have more space and I have designated areas for tasks. It’s a little messy as I’m still putting things away but it is a big improvement.

Craziest thing is… I went to bed well past midnight. It was probably closing in on 130 or 2 o’clock by the time I actually fell asleep. And here I am… been awake since 6:30! Completely wonky and I’m still sore as hell. But nowhere near as sore as I’m about to be…

Why? Because I’m about to go wrestle with two Great Danes. Two dogs who stink to all high heaven and back. I’m probably going to have to wash them for at least 10 to 15 minutes each. Which by the end of that I will be soaked and my back will be killing me due to having to bend down a lot. BUT! One huge upside is that I have a kitchen door now, HAHAHA!! Trapped! My dogs used to run in and not want to go in the bathroom, now they have no choice. They’ll come in from outside and be stuck in the kitchen – which leads to the bathroom. No more chasing Ada all over the house and having her pee on the floor thinking she’s in trouble (yeah, I’ve never been able to break her of that and I never will it seems. She does it at the oddest times too, meh).

What’s funny is once she gets IN the tub she’s perfect. She puts her nose in the corner of the shower and stands there till I tell her to do otherwise. Whereas Ash wants to eat the soap and drink the dirty water…. Yeah he’s my husband’s dog. (No I’m not insinuating that my husband is retarded, not me… *innocent*)

After the bath I’m sending them upstairs to lay on the nice, clean, flea free carpet so that I can work downstairs. I have to vacuum and steam clean all the carpet downstairs, including the staircase if I can manage it (going to be tricky cause the floor cleaner is kinda big to sit on a stair while I use the attachment).

And the kicker? That’s just TODAY… Tomorrow I have to vacuum and steam clean the bedroom, straighten it up, wash the bedding, clean the bathrooms, and clean the kitchen. And this is why I informed my husband that he owes me a back massage when he gets home Friday afternoon/evening. A very long back massage at that. And if he doesn’t, he’s sleeping on the couch for a week.