Life Happens

This 2nd and final "Where Have You Been" posts. It's about the "normal" things that have been going on that have kept me from blogging on a regular basis. It also includes the things I should have been doing but haven't.

Throughout October things have gotten very busy at my job. The volume of calls has increased. (the amount of calls not the loudness). Since early in the month there has been a consistent queue. What that means is there are always calls waiting to be answered. Our queue has been as high as 125 at times. With just a week to go until the end of the month and the start of the Christmas gift buying season it only promises to get busier.

This means my job has become more demanding. Answering call after call almost non-stop for 8 hours is a lot more stressful and mentally draining than when you have a minute or two in between. Also this increase in business means that there are no longer any opportunities to leave early. This is a good thing because it means full pay checks. It also means having to do things in town, such as shopping or running errands, after work. That means less time at home at night to relax or work on projects or take care of "home stuff".

Another thing that's taken the place of doing things at home at night is my bowing league. Monday night has been bowling league night since the end of August and will be so until April. Now don't get me wrong I really enjoy bowling and spending time with James. But often on Mondays after work I stay in town and don't get home until after 9PM. By the time I relax and spend some time with Paula the day's over with.

Both of those are not things I can change. I am committed to both unconditionally. I have to work and I have a promise to James to be his bowling partner. But here are some habits I've gotten back into that only I can change.

As a result of the "break" I took from eating right while I was at Disney World I am trapped in my bad eating habits. It's been nearly 2 months and I'm still on "my Disney Diet break." I will confess right here. I am back up into the 230's with my weight and can't seem to stop eating sweets and carbs. I have increased my calorie intake drastically. I can't get away from it.

I'm back into the cycle of binging with things that are not good for me with the vow that it's the last time and the promise of "starting over" the next day. But the next day it doesn't happen. I've gone back to being the overeater I was before my surgery. The physical side effects of the return to bad habits are a lot more drastic but nevertheless I still do them.

The increased intake of carbs has led to higher blood sugar levels and less energy. I "dump" almost every day and that makes me exhausted. Because of that I don't have the drive or energy to walk or do other things that keep me active.

Also I believe that higher blood sugar levels makes me more depressed and keeps me from sleeping right. That effects my attitude toward everything, the desire to exercise and ability to fight against the temptation to overeat. It's a vicious cycle and I have to get out of it. I have to get back to eating and behaving like someone who has had gastric by pass. It's vital to my health, the quality of my life and more.

In addition the start of the new fall TV season and baseball playoffs have kept me on the couch. There are new episodes of my favorite shows that I like to watch with my wife. Also I have to watch all the Yankees games as well. As of this post the baseball part of my TV problem is over (See my post about the Yankees). Now I just have to chose not to sit and watch the DVR until after I've walked the dogs.

The final reason I've not been blogging lately is something I've not had to deal with in quite a while. In the middle of the month I caught an early Autumn cold. It started with losing my voice and a scratchy throat (like all my colds do) and then turned into congestion, a dry cough, and a headache and a fever. I ended up going to the doctor and getting some medicine. I felt so awful I stayed home from work for 2 days. I almost never do that. As of this post, I'm taking antibiotics and a daily Claritin tablet. I'm starting to feel better.

So there you have some of the everyday life happenings and habits that, in addition to the projects and other things I've listed in previous posts, have kept me from blogging. I know this has pretty much been a self-indulgent series of posts and probably very boring for you. I'm amazed that you've even read this far. But I promise this is the last one. I will go on from here back to my "normal" pattern of posting. So keep coming back and reading if you want to know what's going on in my life. It is my prayer that you found something useful in all my babble. God Bless.