Day One Hundred and Ninety Four.

    I barely slept last night and I knew it would be that way because it's always hard to go to bed early after just coming off of evening week. When I woke up this morning I was so tired and not looking forward to going to work at all. I decided that instead of waiting until 11am to get a coffee I should just get it right away. I'm glad I made that decision because I think it definitely helped me get through the morning. It wasn't the busiest of days today but it wasn't slow either. I'm already feeling tired tonight so I hope I won't have a hard time getting to sleep. I didn't have any errands to run after work, which was nice, because I actually got home around 4pm.
    The first thing I did when I got home, after letting the dogs out, was do my Jillian Michael's workout routine. I had a hard time getting through all of the moves, which was annoying to me, because I thought it would be easier by now. I guess it's because I took the weekend off. It was ironic because right before I went to do the workout my twin sister had just emailed me a few workout regimens. I think maybe I'll do them tomorrow because they are only 10 minutes a piece. That's all of course depending on how I feel tomorrow after today's workout. Anyway once I was done with my exercising I put some clothes in the laundry, took a shower, and then folded laundry from the day before.
    For dinner I decided to have some left over breakfast casserole and a salad. I will say that I was still hungry afterwards but I am really trying to eat better so that all of my working out isn't in vain. It was nice being all done with dinner and relaxing before it was even 8 o'clock tonight. My hands look terrible because of all the laundry I was doing plus I was doing a lot of cleaning around the house. Since my sisters dog has arrived I've been doing a lot of picking up after him. See, he likes to tear the inside out of pretty much every dog toy. I knew he would rip up some of my dogs toys and I really haven't minded. It's actually a good way to get rid of the ones she seldom plays with anymore. Alright I guess that's all I have for tonight!

Day One Hundred and Ninety Three.

    When we woke up yesterday my boyfriend put the breakfast casserole in the oven which he had made the night before. We are still trying to use up all of the fresh eggs he had gotten from a co-worker. This time we used sausage instead of bacon and it came out good, but not as good as the bacon one. We had breakfast, drank some coffee, and then relaxed in the living room chatting for a while. I though it would be nice to take the dogs for a walk so we did that afterwards. It was gross because when we got home I picked up all of the messes in the backyard from my dog. There were so many that my boyfriend helped me out as well:) We had plans to meet my friends for a Birthday celebration at 7pm so once we were finished with the backyard we took a shower and got ready.
    We were out way too late last night and we made a pact today that we aren't going to stay out as late in the future. It seems like nothing good ever comes out of us staying out so late, so we're going to be better about it. I felt alright when I woke up this morning but didn't feel like I got enough sleep. I'm back on day shift tomorrow so I didn't take a nap today so I have some chance of getting to sleep tonight. We didn't do too much today which was a nice break from reality. I did manage to put a load of laundry in but that's about it.
    I'm a little worried about how I'm going to feel mentally tomorrow because last week I started the week a little bit depressed. I'm hoping that work isn't terrible and I can just keep busy enough to keep my mind off of things. I'm definitely planning on doing my workout tomorrow after work. I wanted to do it one day this weekend but that didn't happen. I feel like we kind of lost the day today and we wanted to go to the mall but that didn't happen. I think we're going to try to go at some point during this week. My hands are a bit sore because I was washing them a lot last night while having to use public restrooms. Well I guess that's all I have to write.

Day One Hundred and Ninety Two.

    Due to unforeseen events out of my control this blog will take place tonight. I will make it good I promise.

Day One Hundred and Ninety One.

    One of the things I really wanted to get done before going to work was to get the sheets on my bed cleaned. In order to do that I was going to have to get up and get them in the washing machine before 11am. Due to the fact I went to bed around 1am last night I was able to get up at 10am and do precisely what I had wanted to do. The sheets were in washing machine before 11am and I managed to get them back on the bed prior to work! Anyway, I had a lot of down time this morning which included me writing a belated blog from last night, having my coffee, eating breakfast and having lunch. I am on a diet so I had fruit and a 90 calorie Fiber One bar for breakfast then a Lean Cuisine for lunch.
    The other thing I did for a long time today was call Verizon because I'm going to switch cable providers. I got a letter from my previous provider, Time Warner Cable, last month saying that the bill was going to increase. That letter didn't really prepare me for as much of an increase as I got because it was over $12 more a month! I finally decided that I can't deal with those prices and Verizon was offering me a much better deal. I called them today and got it all set up with the hopes that they will be installing early next week. It still ending up being more than I had originally hoped, but ultimately it is going to be $50 cheaper every single month.
    Work tonight started out really slow and manageable, but as the night went on it got worse and worse. I should have just gotten my coffee right at the beginning of the shift but I didn't and ended up not getting it until almost 9pm. That wasn't a big deal tonight because it's Friday and it's not like I have to get to bed at any specific time. I ended up getting out of work a little bit before 11:30pm and when I got home my boyfriend and I went to our favorite local watering hole for some drinks. It ended up being a very nice evening out. My hands don't look that great because I did a lot of washing this morning prior to work. I usually blame work and the harsh soap for all of my major hand problems but honestly I didn't have the time to wash them at work more than three times or so tonight. Anyway, that's it for now!

Day One Hundred and Ninety.

    Last night at work was ferocious. I spent the first six hours just trying to get caught up until I snuck away to grab a coffee and a little something to eat. It definitely made the night go by really fast, but I felt like I was going way too fast and making mistakes:( My boyfriend mentioned something to me via text message earlier that I shouldn't worry about putting out the trash cans, so I knew he was coming over. I felt bad because I didn't get home until a little bit before midnight. He had apparently been sleeping for a quite a while because instead of going right to sleep when I got home he made me a nice salad for dinner:) Then instead of staying up until my usual 3am I went to bed with him at 1am. I felt so tired and was concerned I wouldn't be able to get to sleep, but I had no problem!
    Prior to work yesterday after I had my coffee and some fruit for breakfast I did another day of the Jillian Michaels AB workout, which I had done on Tuesday. It was actually a little bit easier to do the second time around, but there were still some things I couldn't make it all the way through. I read online that she recommends doing the workout 5-6 days a week! That seems like a lot since I usually only workout every other day when I'm really keep up with it. It seems like a great way to lose some weight so I'm going to do my best to keep up with it, but am not going to make an unrealistic goal of working out 6 days a week!
    After my workout I put another load of laundry in, took a shower, had lunch and then headed to work. I was actually a little late for work:( I was trying to clean up the living room a little bit because there are dog toys everywhere and then I kept stumbling upon dust all over. I feel like I keep up with cleaning my house so much but there's always more to do! I am just planning on vacuuming the entire house when my sisters dog goes back home because he sheds. My hands aren't that bad and I think a lot has to do with the fact I didn't really have time to wash them much at work last night. I did wash them a lot in the morning prior to going to work. That reminds me that I cleaned the downstairs bathroom yesterday as well.
    I'm getting much more used to having the two dogs here and they are so funny. They constantly follow me around play-fighting with each other. I asked my boyfriend if they did that with him and he said not at all. I think my dog gets jealous of my sisters dog, wanting my attention, so she instigates the fighting. I really only have one lap so it's hard to accommodate both of them:) Alright, until later!

Day One Hundred and Eighty Nine.

    I have been a little depressed this week and was hoping when I woke up today I would feel better, but I didn't. I got out of bed and everything but still felt very under motivated. I have a lot of laundry to do because I want to wash both sets of sheets, but didn't actually get it together to do either set. I ended up balancing my check book and then folding the laundry from the previous day instead. I started feeling some of the effects of my workout yesterday, mainly in my legs, so I knew I wouldn't be doing any additional exercising today. After I had lunch I got ready for work and headed in a little bit early because it is meeting day.
    I didn't work where I was originally scheduled because a friend of mine asked me to work where she was scheduled due to the fact she had never been trained there before. It has been several weeks since I'd been in this spot but it's a spot I'm pretty comfortable in. The evening started out very busy for the first few hours but then settled down quite a bit. I was actually able to read my work email and the bulletin board for the first time in a while. I also managed to eat dinner at work! I still didn't end up leaving until almost 11:30pm due to the fact that something came up at the last minute.
    I think this is ending up being a very good week to have two dogs at the house because at least it's keeping me busy. I think, for whatever reason, I'm feeling the evening shift blues a little more this week than usual. I'm just not really that good at spending so much time alone and I'm also getting very tired of having to spend so much time away from my boyfriend during the week. In a lot of ways I wish I wasn't so adamant about him not moving in with me until we get engaged. We spend all the weekends I'm off together but we still are apart for a lot of the week nights. I feel like those are the nights I would want him around the most. I'm not trying to force this relationship but I know what I want and I am more than ready to move it to the next step. That's all for now.
   

Day One Hundred and Eighty Eight.

    I can not believe how hard it was for me to get motivated this morning. I managed to get up at a decent time but had no desire to do anything that I had wanted to do. When I got up I had some coffee and ate some fruit for breakfast on the couch. My boyfriend ended up calling me earlier than usual and we had a small conversation before he had to get back to work. Then I got a nice surprise phone call from my Father right around noon wanting to wish me a Happy Birthday. He said he deliberately didn't call me on my actual Birthday because he knew I'd be busy. Once I got off of the phone with him I made some lunch which was the left over chicken riggies from Friday night....they were still really good!
    I decided to organize my Birthday presents after lunch and I tried on my new pair of sneakers from my sister which fit great. I never wear any new clothes until I run them through the washing machine first, so I also got my new clothes together for the wash. I couldn't decide what I wanted to do as far as a workout today but I ultimately ended up finding a Jillian Michaels 30 minute AB workout on YouTube, which I did. It was very difficult and there were some moves which I could not complete. I'm hoping that if I continue to practice then I can get through the whole thing without breaking. I have never seen any of her workout programs so I was surprised at how fast her pace is!
    After my workout I threw the laundry in and then took a shower. I had just finished folding the laundry from the day before when my boyfriend showed up. I was pleasantly surprised to see him so early! I hadn't really settled on an idea for dinner but thought it might be a nice break for us to just go out. We took a long time to decide where to eat but settled on a place down town which we like. It was a nice dinner but, because we didn't get started until so late, when we got home my boyfriend went right to bed. I felt like the night went by so fast I'm a little sad that I won't see him until Friday:(
    It's been pretty interesting having the two dogs here and it's been hard for me trying to keep them both entertained. I thought it would be easy since they have each other but they seem to be only interested in me! I was frustrated when I went into my workout room today to find two messes in there and I have no idea which dog did it. Plus my twin sisters dog was here on Sunday so it really could have been any of the three. Since I couldn't blame anyone I just cleaned it up and moved on. So far my sisters dog has been great and a pleasure to have around....plus he's really cute! Anyway, that's really all I have for tonight!
   

Day One Hundred and Eighty Seven.

    I was so tired when my boyfriend's alarm went off this morning and so glad that I didn't have to get up that early. He told me he was exhausted too and I felt pretty guilty that he had to go. I'm not sure exactly what time he got up but I did hear him leave because right when he was going to shut the door the doorknob fell off. Now, I would be lying if I said I was completely surprised because it's been slightly loose the last few days, however I had no idea it would just fall off. As sorry as I am that it had to happen this morning, when he was trying to get to work, I was really glad that it hadn't happened to me! Listening in to him fixing it sounded fairly complicated. I went back to bed after he left and got up a little bit after 10am.
    I wasn't hungry at all when I woke up so I just had some coffee and then a little while later I had some fruit. I drank my coffee on the couch with the dogs and then caught up on the news online before I really started my day. It took me a while to gather up all of the laundry which had accumulated this last weekend because there were a few things I had to pre-wash. When I got it all together I put the laundry in and then headed in the shower. It's hard having two dogs here, because I'm a little bit worried about them together alone, so when I took a shower I brought my dog upstairs. I left my sisters dog downstairs and when I was finished he was curled up in a ball on the couch, sleeping:) After my shower I had lunch, which was the rest of the breakfast casserole. The only two pieces left didn't have bacon so I decided to try it with hot sauce and it was fantastic!
    Work wasn't that busy tonight but a few things came up that are still making me a little bit nervous. I had time tonight to have coffee and eat my dinner at work but I still didn't leave until 11:30pm. I'm hoping that I don't have to really leave the house tomorrow because I could use a day at home by myself. Although I'm not sure if that would be good for me due to the fact I've been a little depressed today. I think it's just because I had such a great weekend which makes it that much harder to get back to reality. Plus I'm back on evening shift again:( I really shouldn't complain since this evening week I'm only working 4 days instead of the usual 6, but I guess I still wasn't ready for it to start so soon. I am supposed to work tomorrow since I switched days off with my co-worker, but I ended up just taking the day off anyway. My hands are a little bit sore tonight because I did a lot of hand washing today. I hope to be better about it tomorrow! Well, that's it for now.

Day One Hundred and Eighty Six.

    Saturday morning at work ended up being extremely busy, as I knew it would, but I kept reminding myself that I switched into the shift so I couldn't be that frustrated. The co-worker of mine who had offered to work my shift for me today was at work and she bought me my coffee and gave me a nice present. I got a crème brulee candle and a really nice bottle of fancy hand lotion, lily scented. It was very thoughtful of her! Once I got home my boyfriend was making the breakfast casserole we had planned to make for Sunday morning. We decided to make it because he got a bunch of eggs from a co-worker who has chickens! It was a great atmosphere to walk home to because the house smelled great plus my good friend who I went to visit last weekend had sent me an Edible Arrangement:) I also got my Birthday cards in the mail from my Dad and Mom, which was exciting as well. My Mom gave me a Dunkin Donuts gift card and my Dad gave me some money. I didn't waste much time getting in the shower because we were meeting people out at 7pm.
    I took a shower and then got ready, as well as folded laundry from the day before to get that out of the way. I was nearly all ready to go when my second to oldest sister and her husband arrived. We spent some time talking and then left the house in plenty of time to get to the bar where we were meeting my co-workers. It was a nice group of co-workers who came out to celebrate my Birthday and it was super sweet of them all to share the evening with me. One of them gave me a card with a Dunkin Donuts gift card in it which was very sweet, but not expected at all! The bar we went to gives you a free big Birthday margarita so I got that and we ordered several appetizers to share. We ended up going to my favorite bar afterwards and being there until right before they closed. By that point the group had dwindled down to 4 people, one of which drove us home.
    I was feeling the previous nights festivities when I woke up this morning and had a hard time getting out of bed, but forced myself to. Once I got in the shower and got myself together I felt a little bit better, but in all honestly it was until around 5pm that I actually felt back to my usual self. Shortly after I got ready my twin sister arrived with her husband and my oldest sister. Everyone had fruit and breakfast casserole, which was a big hit. We opened presents after that! I got so many nice things, from my twin sister: a new pair of Coach sneakers, a hoodie, a nice t-shirt, a really cute basket of some of my favorite candy and pink flamingo socks! From my second to oldest sister: a gift card to Victoria's Secret and a new coffee maker! The coffee maker is the one I was talking about on this blog with the coffee pot and a single coffee cup option. From my oldest sister: an Express gift card, a DSW gift card, a t-shirt, a bra and underwear set, and a new piece for my Wee Forest Folk mouse collection. Lastly, my boyfriend got me a pottery wheel and a kiln. I did pottery when I was in high school and fell in love with it, but haven't done it since and have definitely missed it. I can not wait to get myself all set up and started making some things again. It was a very thoughtful present and one in which I was completely surprised to receive. All of my presents were so nice and thoughtful. I felt very spoiled because I thought I got way too much:)
    Once the presents were opened we made a nice cheese tray and then played a charades type game. We couldn't figure out where to go for dinner because the place we were really contemplating about was closed on Sunday. We decided to just order food from one of my favorite local restaurants to make it easy. It was a great idea that everyone seemed to like and very handy because they deliver. Then we had cake and ice cream for dessert. I will definitely say without a doubt that today was one of the best days I've had in a very long time. It's hard to describe just how much I was laughing and enjoying the time with my family. I feel so lucky to have such a wonderful family:) It was sad seeing everyone leave but we finally settled on a date for our Wine tasting weekend and it's only two weeks away!
    My oldest sister is going away so I told her I would watch her dog for the week, so he is here. My dog has a bit of a hard time with it because she's used to being the only dog in the house so it will be an interesting to see how she handles it. I'm excited though because I love my sisters dog! I decided to cheat on Lent today, which I guess is okay to some people anyway because it's Sunday, and I had a lot of candy. I was a little bit disappointed with myself because of how much I was washing my hands over the last two days. Last night was hard because I had to use the public bathroom several times. What makes it difficult is the fact that there are always strange types of soap and I can't help but over wash because I'm already so anxious about having to use a public bathroom. Today I felt like I should have been better, but for some reason I caught myself doing a lot of washing. Oh well, I will just try to do better tomorrow. Alright, I am simply exhausted so I'm heading to bed!

Day One Hundred and Eighty Five.

    Last night was great....so much that I didn't have time to write my blog and I'm going to forfeit it to later tonight:( Ugh, I hate having to do this but I will chat later!

Day One Hundred and Eighty Four.

    I had a very busy but productive day off today. I ended up going to sleep way too late last night but set my alarm for pretty early so I would be able to get to sleep tonight, since I'm working day shift tomorrow. It's my Birthday tomorrow so I switched into the day shift and a co-worker is working my shift Sunday for me so I can celebrate with my family. I am actually "paying her back" on Tuesday but I am really just using one of my vacation days so I don't have to work five days in a row:) When I got up I had some cereal, because I happened to have milk at the house, and drank my coffee. It was such a slow start, it took me over an hour of waking up on the couch to finally get moving. I wanted to do some house organizing since the Birthday celebration for me and my twin sister is going to be here. I spent a long time sorting through piles of paper which, much to my chagrin, have accumulated in the kitchen.
    After cleaning up the kitchen I brought the garbage cans in, put another load of laundry in, took a shower and then folded the laundry from the day before. I couldn't believe that it was already after 3:30pm at that point and I still had errands to run! I was frustrated because when I got to the bank to deposit my checks the system was down and they couldn't deposit the checks unless I knew my bank account number, which I didn't. I think I should just commit it to memory! My boyfriend told me he would deposit them for me tomorrow morning so I hope it's back up then. Well that ended up being a fail so I headed to my next errand which was Target. I didn't really want to go because I am not out of soap or anything, but I ran out of shampoo and conditioner and it's not cost effective to buy it anywhere else. There ended up being several other items I needed and I also did buy soap since I was there:) Finally after that I headed to the food store to get some things for dinner. My boyfriend was going to be making my Birthday dinner so since I was going to be at the food store anyway I told him I'd grab what he needed.
    When I got home my boyfriend was already at my house so he helped me with getting everything I had bought in the house. I'm very OCD about putting my purchases away so I told him to back off until I was finished! I'm really big about rotating the stock and I don't think he takes it as seriously as I do. I rotate the stock of every item I buy, but he thought it was particularly fanatic of me to rotate the paper towel stock. He stated "the way you go through paper towels, the old ones aren't going to spoil".....humph! He made me a fantastic Birthday dinner of chicken riggies, salad, and garlic bread. While he was making dinner I balanced my check book then wrapped my twin sisters Birthday present. My boyfriend also cleaned up dinner which was really sweet. I'm going to try to get to bed at a decent time tonight because day shift weekends at work are notoriously busy. Alright, until next time!

Day One Hundred and Eighty Three.

    It's officially been half a year since I've been writing my blog:) I consider this quite an accomplishment and I'm really proud of myself for sticking to something so time consuming. With that being said I really hope I can continue to write my blog for the next six months to finish my ultimate goal of one year:) Today I wanted to get to work right on time because I was working in an area where I would be relieving one of the night shift workers. I managed to make it on time and for the most part the day went pretty smoothly. It's interesting because I don't usually work with my immediate co-workers routinely, but all this week I have been, and it's almost as if I've been getting to know them again. Anyway, I was able to leave work right on time and then I headed straight to the mall to try to find some new clothes.
    What a terrible trip to the mall! I seriously couldn't find anything that I was looking for and it was really frustrating me. I think that due to my age I'm not sure where I should be looking for clothes. I feel I am too old for all of the junior sections, although it's still where I find most of my clothes, but I'm too young for the adult section. Where is the in-between? I ended up finding a dressier shirt at H&M as well as some casual shirts I can wear around the house and at work if necessary. I was on my way home when I remembered that I always like clothes from Kohl's, so I stopped by there and found another shirt which I loved and three new camis. I still haven't decided what I want to wear this weekend but at least I have something new to wear. It's so annoying that every store I went to today was mostly filled with over-sized, hippy, pastel colored clothing that I wouldn't wear if you paid me. I guess this is the fashion trend this year and I'm definitely not joining in on that bandwagon!
    By the time I got home it was already 7pm and I still had to take the garbage, put laundry in, shower, eat dinner, and empty the dishwasher. I managed to get everything done right before my boyfriend called me. We spoke for a little while, then I put "The Hangover II" on and had some wine. My hands are pretty dry and sore right now but I'm not too worried because tomorrow is my day off and I don't think I have too much cleaning to do. Of course I have a lot of other things to do, but I might be able to spare my hands a little bit. I was proud of how I handled the trip to the mall because it's notoriously a bad spot for my OCD. I even had to use the bathroom there because I hadn't all day at work and managed to survive the ordeal! There are other things I'd like to write about, but I'm tired, so I will save it for next time.

Day One Hundred and Eighty Two.

    I was very grumpy when I woke up today because I felt extraordinarily tired and needed more sleep. I did manage to get up and I got to work a few minutes late so I didn't go to the early Wednesday meeting. I figured I would just go in the afternoon which did give me a little pressure to get done on time. It was about the same amount of work as yesterday, but I did feel a little more comfortable and like I was working more smoothly today. Tomorrow I am back to a spot where I work in frequently so hopefully it won't be a bad day. I am planning on going to the mall after work tomorrow to try to get some clothes for my Birthday weekend. I don't buy a lot of clothes and I would like a new outfit to wear this weekend since I'm figuring there's going to be pictures.
    I went to the afternoon meeting today and I didn't leave work until after 4pm. I promised I'd take a package to the post office for my boyfriend so I did that and then hit the CVS up on my way home. Ugh, once again I was very frustrated with CVS because they didn't have two of the items I was looking for and the prices of the things I needed, which they did have, were outrageous. It was about 5:30pm when I finally got home and I decided to not do a full workout because I wanted to have a few minutes to myself this evening. I did do a modified workout of some Pilates movements while I was playing fetch with my dog prior to my shower. After I took my shower I folded the laundry from the day before then had dinner.
    I spoke with my Mom on the phone tonight and then my second to oldest sister. I felt like I was on the phone a lot but it was good because I don't have a lot of nights where I can make phone calls. Plus, I hadn't spoken with my sister for a while and it's always nice to catch up with her. My hands aren't looking that bad but I cut my finger accidentally playing with my dog yesterday and it's driving me crazy because I have had to wear Band-Aids. Maybe that's a good thing though because it makes me wash my hands less! Alright, I guess that's all for now.

Day One Hundred and Eighty One.

    I woke up right on time today which was good because it got me to work on time, which is always good. I had a decent night sleep as well so I felt ready for the challenge of the new spot I was going to be working in. It ended up not being as bad as I was expecting, but I was at work until 4pm and had to leave some things for the next shift:( In the position I was in you could be doing fine one minute and then be way behind the next, which kept giving me a bizarre feel for how the day was going. The one thing I will say is that the day went by really fast. On my way home from work I stopped at the food store to pick up what we needed for dinner then headed home.
    By the time I got the groceries put away, put another load of laundry in and took my shower it was already 6:30pm and my boyfriend had sent me a text message saying he wouldn't be here until way after 7pm. I wasn't that upset because I had to pay some bills which will be due early next week, so I took the extra time to do that. Unfortunately, it took me a lot longer than expected and when he came home he started dinner which turned into him making the whole thing. We had chicken Caesar salad which was very good. When I got home from the food store I had put the chicken in a garlic marinade and I think that definitely helped flavor it well. After dinner I washed the dishes and then got the clothes in the dryer. We didn't do anything else tonight besides chit-chat on the couch because it was already past 9pm.
    I didn't do terrible today about washing my hands at work but they are still pretty dry and sore. Even though I've been trying really hard to be good about not over washing at home it can still be very hard to resist the urge. I don't have a lot planned for after work tomorrow so I am hoping that I can exercise again and then possibly read some of my neglected book. I guess that's all to report today!

Day One Hundred and Eighty.

    I certainly didn't get much sleep last night and it really wasn't surprising to me since it had been over two weeks since I'd had to get up early. My average bedtime over the last two weeks was probably after 1am, so having to go to sleep early was hard for me. I know was sleeping because I was dreaming, but I kept waking up all throughout the night. I couldn't stop thinking about work:( Anyway, I managed to get there on time and it was a very busy, stressful day, which didn't end until 4:30pm. I'm not so sure why I got so behind towards the end of the day but I did and it took me so long to get caught up before I could leave. I managed to get my coffee right around 11am, which wasn't bad but still a little too late.
    After work instead of going to the food store like I probably should have, I just went right home. I decided to put a load of laundry in right away and then get on my elliptical machine. I was pretty nervous about how I would do since it had been so long since I had been on it. I did a good half an hour workout and increased the resistance the last 8 minutes which was really getting my heart rate going. Afterwards I sorted the mail and then got in the shower. I feel a lot better now that I have broken the workout ice and hope that I can continue doing it regularly again. It really wasn't that bad:)
    It was already almost 8pm when I was all done showering and I played with my dog for a little while before I made a Lean Cuisine for dinner. I was so impressed with how my hands looked at work today, every time I used the alcohol gel it didn't bother me at all! Unfortunately just one evening of doing laundry and being home has made them pretty dry. Hopefully they will still be in decent shape tomorrow if I put cream on them before bed.
    I'm actually really nervous about work the next two days because I'm working in an area I haven't worked in since the workflow there has changed. The workflow has changed to doing tasks which really increase my double checking OCD. I've been mentally preparing for the next few days by reminding myself that I don't have to look at something twenty times to prove to myself that it is right. In fact, my boyfriend has been helping me with this as well. I'm going to fold laundry quick and then try to get in bed early so at least I won't be tired. Wish me luck:)

Day One Hundred and Seventy Nine.

    I woke up around 10:30am again this morning and within minutes my friend's baby came right in the room to help get our day started. I thought it was so cute and he also let me put his Sponge Bob socks on. We packed everything up and then followed my friends to a local breakfast place to eat at before we headed home. The line was really long, but breakfast was great. I got a Tex-Mex omelet but decided against home fries and opted for a fruit cup because I was still not feeling that hungry after the previous day. After breakfast we said our good-byes and headed home.
    I drove the first half of the trip which was fine because there was not really any traffic but I was a little uncomfortable due to women issues:( We stopped and got some ice coffees after about an hour and a half, then we made a restroom stop before we switched drivers. We ended up at my sisters house about 6:30pm and chatted with her and her husband for a little while. When we got home it was right about 8pm which wasn't terrible and gave us sometime before we had to go to sleep.
    Over all I definitely think that I didn't do that bad with my OCD this weekend. It's amazing how being around a child puts things in perspective about how much touching the floor you can actually do without anything being harmed. I'm pretty sure that everything this child picked up either came off of the floor or ended up on it....then in his mouth! I think the hardest part was the fact that he had an obsession with shoes, so he was moving everyone's shoes from one room to the other. At one point he put his Father's shoes on the kitchen counter which really freaked me out! I'm so glad we went to visit and it turned out to be a really nice weekend. Reality will set in tomorrow morning because I'm back on day shift at work, so I better hit the bed now!

Day One Hundred and Seventy Eight.

    When we got up yesterday morning we had some coffee with my Dad while watching some news. After a little while we decided to walk to a local eatery for breakfast or lunch....whatever was still serving. Lunch was being served so I had a chicken spiedie wrap with curly fries. I'm going to break here and state that I have been eating horribly all week and these last few days may have been the worst! Anyway Dad took us to a few local stores afterwards and then we hit the road for my friend's house. It ended up not being a bad drive at all because it took less than three hours and it was a very scenic route.
    I had not seen my friend or her baby in a year so I was really excited when we arrived. They had just been to the food store so we chatted while my friend and her husband put the groceries away. Her baby is hardly a baby now, he's about two and a half. He was very shy at first but slowly got more used to my boyfriend and I being around as time progressed. They took us to a restaurant for dinner which was a pretty fun sports bar type place. I had a beer and decided to get a salad since I felt like I had such a large lunch. Plus I forgot to mention that one of the local stores my Dad took us to had a bakery and we got goodies there which we ate before we left his place. I bought a dozen cookies for my friend as well. After dinner we went back to the house and ended up playing the game Risk until it was bedtime.
    Today I got up at 10:30am and breakfast was already made. It was a nice spread of pancakes, fruit, toast, and my special treat from my friend....cinnamon buns! I tried not to over eat but of course I had a cinnamon bun:) I brought a few toys for the baby so after breakfast he opened them and we played until it was time to get cleaned up. I wasn't hungry at all and suddenly it was lunch time, which was another special treat from my friend....venison sausage and macaroni and cheese. I did not eat too much of the macaroni, but ate my whole sausage. Both of these treats were things she used to make me in college and it was very thoughtful of her to think of my favorites:) The plan for the day was to go bowling so when lunch was done we headed out.
    On our way to bowling we got a tour of the area and stopped at a really good ice cream shop....see, I told you the eating was bad. I got a delicious flavor which had vanilla ice cream with mocha chips and a blueberry swirl. We only bowled for one game because, as you can imagine, it goes pretty slow when you bowl with a two year old. It was fun though and my boyfriend and I shared a pitcher of beer. Once we were done we went to dinner at a local brewery which had great food and beer. By the time we got home it was almost 10pm and way past the baby's bedtime. Once my friends got him to sleep we played card games for the rest of the evening.
    It's hard to describe how hard it has been around a child with my OCD because they are very much the opposite. Since I've written so much already I think I'll save the details for tomorrow when I get back home. It definitely reminded me that most people can't live like I do everyday. Alright, until next time!

Day One Hundred and Seventy Seven.

    Unfortunately this weekend I've not had time to blog so I'm deferring last night's blog to tonight:) I hate having to do this but I will write tonight!

Day One Hundred and Seventy Six.

    I had tentitive plans to go to breakfast with a co-worker yesterday morning but due to the icy weather, we had to cancel. When my boyfriend woke up he spent a long time breaking the ice off of the cars and I could not get to sleep during that time. Once he left for work I finally got back to sleep and didn't wake until 10:30am. I had a lot to get done when I
got up so I drank my coffee quick and signed up for a continuing education course coming up in May. Then I put a load of laundry in and got my shower out of the way. I thought I should balance my checkbook before left so I did that as well as bought my sisters Birthday present.
    My boyfriend ended up working late which was okay because once he showed up I had just finished the laundry and packing. We got some road trip coffee and ran a couple errands before we headed to my Father's house. It was a good three hour car ride but it went by very fast. We did a refresher on the state capitals for almost an hour and a half. I can't believe how many of them I had forgotten! I remember learning the capitals when I was younger with my sisters:)
    When we got to my Dad's he had ordered us pizza, wings, and a buffalo chicken calzone. It was sweet he got the calzone for me because he knows I love buffalo chicken:) It was delicious and we had a few beers as well. We spent a very long time visiting with my Dad until we went to bed around 2:15am. I'm so glad we were able to go see him and he seemed to appreciate it. I was a little nervous about my OCD but thought I did a good job suppressing it. I didn't even bust into my bar of soap because he had a nice bottle in the bathroom. Alright, until later!

Day One Hundred and Seventy Five.

    I had a hard time getting up yesterday morning and a large part of it was because of my sleep dog. When I stay at my sisters house she usually gets up when she hears my Brother-In-Law leave for work but yesterday she got up, barked once, then went right back to bed! Without her asking me to take her out, I didn't end up waking until around 11am. It had been a long day for her with the long walk and then her cousin dog coming to visit, so I certainly believe why she was so tired. I spent some time talking to my sister when we woke up before we had breakfast of fruit salad and coffee. It's amazing to me how quick the time went while I was there because before I knew it I was showering and packing to come back home.
    I decided to leave my dog at her house since she said she would dog sit for me while I'm gone for the next four days. I figured I would only be home for one night before hitting the road again, so this saves me another trip to my sisters house before officially leaving. With that being said, I missed my dog dearly last night; it's terrible without her:( When I left my sisters house I had to fill my car up with gas, then I was on the road. I was worried about the weather because it was calling for mixed precipitation, but I only ran into rain. I stopped at the food store before going home to get what we needed for dinner and only then did it start to ice.
    I'm not sure what motivated me but when I got home I decided to organize two junk drawers in my kitchen. That took at least an hour and when I was just finishing up, my boyfriend arrived. For dinner we made a General Tso's chicken stir fry over white rice, which was delicious. We also had some wine:) We watched some "Impractical Joker's" afterwards and then I watched a classic movie, "Designing Women", while my boyfriend fell asleep. I will add here that I had a wonderful visit with my twin sister and I'm glad I was able to work it into the vacation:)
    The plan for the next four days is as follows, to visit my Father tonight then my best friend from college over the weekend. Unfortunately, my best friend from college lives about 6 hours away, but with stopping at my Father's first it will chop the trip up nicely. I'm very excited to see my friend because it's been about a year since I've last seen her and I miss her a lot. She also has a baby who is now two and a half years old, so it will be nice to get reacquainted with him. Of course I'm a little nervous about the trip because I've never been to their new house so I'm not sure what the sink situation is like. It's also difficult sometimes to be around my friend because she knew me way before my hand washing OCD was ever an issue. She is very non judgmental and wouldn't ever make me feel uncomfortable, but it's still awkward. Alright, I'll talk later!

Day One Hundred and Seventy Four.

    My twin sister had an appointment at 10am this morning so I asked her if she would wake me up before she left, so it was a little before then that I woke. I really don't want to get in the habit of sleeping in everyday this vacation because it makes it so hard to go back to day shift at work. At any rate, I decided to have an Airborne first thing because I had been feeling slightly off the past few days. Then I just relaxed in the living room with a book, my dog and my sisters dog until she came home. She brought me coffee, which was very sweet:) We planned out our day then ate some lunch of leftover lemon chicken and fruit salad.
    The weather was so nice that we took the dogs for a walk after lunch, which they loved. Unfortunately it was so wet and muddy out that it took us a while to get them cleaned up afterwards! My sister and I have a tradition of watching YouTube videos together so we did that until it was time for the movie. She had loved the movie "Frozen" and I had wanted to see it, so we went around 5pm. It was a terrific movie and afterwards we met up with my oldest sister for dinner. We decided it would be fun if she came over with her dog after dinner so I rode with her to get her dog, then we went back to my twin's house. We played the board game "Apples to Apples" until it was bed time.
    The day was really lovely and I truly enjoy any time I get to spend with my family. I feel like I don't get enough time with them:( I sent as few texts messages to my boyfriend today and then we spoke briefly on the phone. I miss him very much but didn't have much time to talk to him today and I don't think he had much time either. My plan is to go home tomorrow, so I'll get to see him then:) The hardest OCD challange of the day was walking the dogs. My dog went to the bathroom three times and each one got progressively messier! At home I wash my hands for a very long time after cleaning up my dogs messes but because I was here, I subdued it a bit and it made me anxious. I also had to use the public restroom after the movie; which is always hard. As far as bathrooms go this one was fine but still gross. Alright, that's all I have tonight.

Day One Hundred and Seventy Three.

    When I woke up this morning I was definitely feeling very tired and dehydrated from the previous day's indulgent behavior, wondering how I was going to get everything I needed to get done before heading to my sisters. I had decided previously that while on vacation it would be nice to visit my twin sister and then I could also see my oldest sister as well because they live in the same area. The first thing I managed to do was put a load of laundry in and take a shower. I didn't really have to do laundry but when I get home on Wednesday I'm only going to have one night before I leave again, so I wanted to be all caught up. After my shower I emptied the dishwasher, had lunch, put the clothes in the dyer and then balanced my checkbook. Afterwards I folded the laundry I had just done and then packed.
    I was finally ready to go when I realized I had no cash and thought I had better get some prior to the road trip. I got some cash and some coffee, then drove by the house to pick my dog up. I arrived at my twin sisters house a little after 5pm. The drive was fine, but I was still dragging from the day before and couldn't wait to get to my sisters. When I got here she made us a nice fruit salad and then dinner, which was butternut squash and mushrooms with farfalle pasta. I got the salad ready while she made the main dish and everything was really good. My Brother-In-Law arrived from work a little bit before 7pm and it was nice catching up with him:)
    Besides a lot of cleaning at my own house this morning I've done a decent job while being here of not over-washing my hands, so far. Sometimes it's really nice to get away from my own house because it's there where a lot of my hand washing rituals tend to be the worst. My mind is so programmed to do the same maneuvers that it takes a huge amount of mental practice to avoid doing them. It's so much effort that it's easier to just do the rituals most of the time. Anyway, let's hope I can keep up the good work tomorrow. That's it for now!

Day One Hundred and Seventy Two.

    Today ended up being a very unexpected day. When we woke up, which was way too late to go skiing, we were trying to decided what to do. We had thought that the day would be a perfect day to go hit the slopes, but after seeing how expensive it would be and how nice the weather was, we decided that maybe we shouldn't go. See, I was very worried about how busy it would be and told my boyfriend that I would still be willing to go if he was interested, but he said that he honestly wasn't that interested. My boyfriend and I had also considered taking in a movie, which is something we rarely do, but there wasn't really anything that we were interested in watching. Finally, we settled on going to one of our favorite breakfast venues to start the day and get us out.
    It was so bizarre because when we arrived, which was really like 1:30pm, it was still so busy that there was a half an hour wait. We, of course, decided to wait because the breakfast there is out of this world and we really weren't in any sort of rush. This is when things get strange, after breakfast we decided to grab one beer at this new place right next door to where we had breakfast. Well, the beer there was out of this world and we couldn't really stop, so we finally left at about 7:30pm when we were hungry for dinner! This bar had such a good vibe right down to the music and the bartender, who was fabulous. He liked us so he kept sharing samples of rare beers with us!
    Then when we were headed home we decided to grab dinner on the way home and on a whim we went to a place where I hadn't been to since I was in college. While there we played a trivia game with the other seven people at the bar. We finally landed home a little bit after 10pm. I honestly think it was a really irresponsible day, but one which I wouldn't trade for anything. If we hadn't of gone out to breakfast we probably would have spent most of the day watching TV and even though I feel bad about drinking so much at least we were out there being social and enjoying each others company. In my mind I know that this was a rare day that won't happen much so I'm going to embrace it. With that being said I wasn't really home enough to get into any obsessive behavior:) Alright, that's it for now:)

Day One Hundred and Seventy One.

    After we woke up today my boyfriend made us a nice breakfast of coffee, bacon and breakfast burritos. It was such a great breakfast that all I wanted to do afterwards was to veg out on the couch. I thought that instead of us relaxing right away we should just head to the food store because we had decided to make lasagna for dinner and needed most of the ingredients. I was worried that if we relaxed on the couch we would end up never getting ourselves out. Anyway, we made a list and went right to the food store. We also brought our growler to get filled; we decided to go with the Davidson Brothers IPA:) I got really excited at the food store because while we were walking around, the Koffee Kup bakery advertising crew were there giving out free donuts, including the mascot. I've included a picture so you can imagine me next to him because of course I took the opportunity to get a photo taken with him. I have a thing for mascots:) By the way the glazed donut we got was delicious!
    The story of the "Koffee Kup" experience continues because while we were walking through the store I happened to run into one of my co-workers. Now, this happens to be someone who I joke around with a lot, so I had to tell him about what had just happened. In fact if I could come up with the perfect co-worker to run into at that given time it would have been the same one. Well, about five minutes after our conversation I received a text message from him and it was a picture of him with the Koffee Kup mascot and a heading "Best Day of My Life"! I thought it was so funny because he would have never taken that picture if it weren't for me showing him mine....it made me smile a lot! So anyway, after we finished up at the store we headed home.
    Once we got home I put another load of laundry in, then took a shower and folded the laundry from the day before. Finally after all of that was done I was able to relax a little bit and we watched a episode of "House of Cards". Then it was time to make dinner and I was expecting it to take about four hours, but honestly we were all done with dinner after only about an hour and a half. The recipe wasn't that difficult because we didn't make homemade sauce, which saves a lot of time. We used sausage and beef as well as ricotta cheese which is different than how my Mother makes hers, which is with cottage cheese. She calls her lasagna "baby lasagna". We also made garlic bread and I must say that everything was wonderful. The lasagna was really good and it actually wasn't too soupy! Since I'm going to my twin sisters house on Monday and I know she loves lasagna I already have two servings for her which I am going to freeze:)
    We drank our growler while we made dinner and then I switched to red wine. The bottle of red wine I opened I've had for a while, but I haven't been drinking red wine as much. A few months ago I started having gallbladder issues which I was tying to the wine. It seemed like every time I was drinking red wine I'd be in pain the next day so I stopped drinking it and the pain cleared up. We'll see what happens tomorrow! We decided to watch "Capote" after dinner. I had never seen the movie and after the sudden death of Philip Seymour Hoffman I though it was about time to watch it. I thought it was really good, but I don't think my boyfriend really liked it....he can be such a critic.
    The last thing I'll mention tonight is that the first day of my vacation wasn't that forgiving on my hands. I decided since it was nice outside to take my dog for a walk, which she loved, as well as clear the backyard of her messes. When I finally got inside from shoveling a lot of feces I found out that my boyfriend had stepped in some. That required a lot of cleaning and I also had to give my dog a bit of a wipe down because she got really wet during the walk. I thought I was in the clear when all of that was done but when I was putting the laundry in, I found a huge chuck of feces on my boyfriends pant bottoms! Ugh, what a mess! It was definitely worth it because my dog was so happy with her walk and the backyard is in a little better shape. Anyway, that's it for now!

 

Day One Hundred and Seventy.

    This blog is a day late, which I knew would happen because last night was wing night after work:) Anyway, when I woke up yesterday I had some coffee then spent a lot of time writing an email to my second to oldest sister who had sent me a nice email the day before. It was really nice to hear from her because it had been a while since we've exchanged emails so I wanted to take the time to send her a nice response. I also was trying to figure out a Birthday present to get my twin sister, which I'm still working on. I ended up taking my shower pretty early and putting some laundry in before lunch. I was very glad that I had went to the food store the night before because it made my morning pretty relaxing. The last thing I did before I went to work was call my Mother to make sure she was okay because the day before, where she lives in Florida, there was a tornado warning! She was fine and we actually had a nice conversation.
    Work wasn't too bad yesterday and it went by pretty fast. I was glad with the flow of the night because right around 7pm I was able to get my coffee and eat my yogurt, which is ideal timing for me. Someone brought candy in to work yesterday which was very tempting but I didn't eat any of it! Actually it was very hard to resist because the co-worker who had brought it in send some up the tube system to surprise me and she felt really bad when I told her I had given it up for Lent:( She felt awful about it and because I'm a brat I was teasing her about it all night.
    When I got out of work it felt nice to know I was going to be on vacation for a week! My boyfriend was already at my place and we decided to go to our usual Friday-after-evening-week spot to get wings and some drinks. My boyfriend was driving us home so we didn't stay out as late as we normally would which was actually nice because when we got home we stayed up and talked a little bit. It was also good to wake up today not feeling hung over at all! I was bad about washing my hands this week at work and at home so I hope that the vacation will fix them up. Alright, until later!

Day One Hundred and Sixty Nine.

    After I wrote my blog this morning I came up with a game plan for the day which didn't include laundry! I don't have many non-laundry days so it made me happy. I was slightly worried that I wouldn't get coffee because I think my Keurig is on the fritz. When I went to make my coffee this morning I pressed the large size cup option, like usual, and the machine started making a growling noise. It was as if it was stuck or something so I turned it off and on, then unplugged it. When I turned it back on the same thing happened so I decided to try the medium size cup option which did work, but filled the cup up higher than the large size option ever usually does. I was just grateful I got my coffee! I actually wouldn't be that upset if the coffee maker dies because it would be nice to upgrade my machine to one which can make a pot of coffee as well. It would be easier when I have family and friends over, so one of those duel machines would be nice.
    I felt like the morning went by really fast and I was at work before I could even believe it. The night ended up not being too busy and I was able to get my coffee at a decent time, but I didn't have time to eat dinner. I realized that I should have just eaten dinner when I got my coffee but I didn't feel hungry yet. That was a little bit frustrating because I had to stop at the food store on my way home from work which meant I didn't get dinner until after midnight.
    Instead of having to get up early and go to the food store before work tomorrow I figured I would just go tonight and I'm glad I did. I had to get some yogurt and I was looking for fruit. They had strawberries on sale so I got them, but I didn't think the rest of the fruit selection was that great. Now that I'm off candy I need to find other ways to sweeten up my day. I made a buffalo chicken salad for dinner, then had some tea afterwards. My hands look and feel pretty crappy right now, ugh. Luckily my vacation starts tomorrow night at 11pm and hopefully that will be a nice break for my hands. It's hard to believe I'm going to have another week off but it's very exciting. This week I'm not to going to have to fly anywhere so hopefully it will be a  bit more relaxing. Alright, that's it for now.

Day One Hundred and Sixty Eight.

    I decided not to write my blog yesterday because I was exhausted and felt I needed a break. I hate to complain because I brought this all on myself but blogging every single day can be quite the chore. For the most part I really enjoy doing it and I think it's helped me a lot, but some days it just becomes something I have to do, not something I want to do. Anyway, my morning was rushed yesterday because as soon as I got up I had to go to the car dealership so they could put the new hybrid battery in my car. They had previously told me it would take over three hours and that I should just drop it off, but the dealership is a good half an hour from my house so it's not convenient for anyone to help me out with that, so I just waited. The good news is that my boyfriend works close to there so he came and took me out to lunch.
    I was so upset because halfway to the dealership I realized I had forgotten my book so I was stuck reading magazines while I waited:( The time went by really fast though, I spent the first hour before my boyfriend showed up reading, then the second hour at lunch, then the last two hours reading. It took exactly four hours for them to replace the battery, I guess it's tricky. I am very lucky that the battery was still under warranty because it would have cost me a lot of money if it hadn't been. I was talking to the guy at the dealership and he said because the batteries on these vehicles were dying before they should have been, they had to extend the warranty. After the car was done I went to Target to stock up on soap, paper towels, soda, juice and some other items. When I finally got home it was a little bit before 5pm.
    My boyfriend showed up around 7pm which was fine because it gave me time to take a shower and fold laundry after I got home. We decided to go to one of our favorite local eateries for dinner, but we couldn't get a seat at first, so we ended up being there for a while. We didn't do much after we got home, I just watched some TV and while he fell asleep next to me. Yesterday was the first day of Lent and I decided to give up candy. I feel I have been eating way to much of it and I hope this will help me lose a few pounds. I also need to get back into exercising because when I'm working out I don't have to restrict what I eat as much. It's also a good way to focus my energy away from my OCD. I have already discussed with my boyfriend that once the weather gets nicer we should do more outdoor activities together. Alright, until later!

Day One Hundred and Sixty Seven.

    I didn't get up with my alarm this morning, in fact when I woke up it seems my alarm had been going off for ten minutes:) Apparently my dog had gotten up with the alarm because she was already downstairs barking at everything or anything walking by the house....she is the neighborhood watch, you know. Anyway, once I got out of bed I made myself some coffee and started my internet dentist searching. It seems there aren't that many dentists in my area so I decided to just stick with the one I have, although I was pretty annoyed when I called and couldn't get scheduled for an appointment until April! I spoke with a co-worker today to see who she sees in my area and I guess her dentist just retired....ugh.
    I didn't feel like running any errands before work today because I knew I'd be running them all day tomorrow. The only thing I really wanted to get was a bottle of wine for after work, so I decided I'd just get ready for work a half an hour early and then run to the wine store before I had to go. I seriously left the house at 2:19pm, got my wine, and still got home before 2:30pm. It's really nice living so close to everything! Anyway, work tonight ended up not being too busy which was nice. Also, I got to work with a lot of people I don't usually get to work with, which was a welcome change of pace.
    When I got home the only thing I wanted to do was watch a movie and have some wine, which is what I ended up doing. I watched the movie "Brothers", which I have really wanted to see but the opportunity has never presented itself. It was one of the "Free Movies on Demand" that the cable I pay for was showing. The best part of it was Tobey Maguire because his acting is so great. I think he's a very underrated actor and I wish he got more acclaim. I didn't like the ending because it leaves you in the dark, but I would still recommended it to anyone. The movie really focuses on the main characters post traumatic stress disorder (played by Tobey Maguire) and even though I've never been through ANYTHING as terrible as the character in the movie went through, having a disorder of my own made it easy to relate to.
    It actually embarrasses me slightly making that comparison, because compared to anything like PTSD my everyday OCD seems so very silly. I think it's good to constantly remind myself how small my OCD is in the grand scheme of life because it makes me realize it's something I should be able to get over. I think the last few months, and certainly since I've started this blog, my OCD has greatly improved. Unfortunately, like right now, I still have days and times of the months when I just can't get my brain to stop over washing my hands or obsessing about certain things. I wish everyday that I could control my obsessive thoughts better but this is the hand I've been dealt and I do my best to suppress it. Alright, enough for tonight.

Day One Hundred and Sixty Six.

    I had a nice morning today because I actually took some time to read my book for the first time in a while. After I got up and made my coffee I retreated to the living room and spent most of the morning reading. The time flew by because before I knew it I had to make lunch then get in the shower. I did manage to fold the laundry from the day before so that was good. In the back of my mind this morning I was still trying to figure out if I should change my hours of work tomorrow for my co-worker, but decided tonight when she called me, that it wasn't in my best interest. I'm glad I made that decision because I didn't end up leaving work until 11:30pm tonight and hadn't eaten dinner yet. Therefore it would have been very hard to get to bed right at 12pm.
    As I expected it would be, tonight was a very busy night. I managed to quickly eat my yogurt, a protein bar and grab a coffee around 8pm. I don't mind the really busy nights because they always go by fast but I hate the feeling that I'm going so fast that I could be making a mistake. I hope that my co-worker isn't that upset with me for not switching my schedule around but I would be upset if I had, and couldn't sleep tonight.
    When I got home I made myself dinner which was a wedge salad with a chicken patty on the side:) I also had a big cup of tea afterwards and watched a few episodes of "House of Cards". I took the day off from the series yesterday so I was excited to get home tonight to watch it. The biggest thing I have to do tomorrow is make a dentist appointment. I'm on the fence about switching my dentist, only because of location, so it's been prolonging me from making an appointment. I'm actually leaning towards just going to my normal dentist one more time and then switching afterwards, when I have six months to make the decision. I keep hearing horror stories about when people change dentists the new dentist tells them about all these cavities they have. I guess it's a good money making scheme for dentists because I'm sure most people aren't getting a second opinion.
    When I got home from work today I didn't have the urge to wipe my shoes off at all which makes me happy. Unfortunately my hands are more dry than they have been in a few days and tomorrow night I'm working in an area which increases my frequency of hand washing. I'm going to have to be good while I'm at home about putting hand cream on. I didn't speak with my boyfriend on the phone today because he called me when I was in the shower and I didn't have time to call him back. He sent me a few texts messages tonight but I was too busy to really reply. Working evenings is so hard on our relationship because we barely see each other or even talk. I have always had a hard time dealing with a lack of communication in my relationships. It gets me angry at first then it pushes me away. I need to keep reminding myself that the problem stems from me and my odd work hours so I shouldn't blame it on my boyfriend. Alright, that's it for now!

Day One Hundred and Sixty Five.

    I didn't get up that early today but I still got some things done before I went to work. When I got up I had my coffee and browsed the internet for a while before balancing my check book. Afterwards I got all of my tax information together to send to my Father. I decided to put a load of laundry in and then take a shower before I ate lunch today. I ended up just having a salad for lunch because I knew I was going to be ordering out at work tonight. The morning went by really fast and before I knew it I was already going to work.
    The evening went by pretty fast and it helped that I had another co-worker who I'm really close to working with me. We ordered out and decided to share a pizza, which was really my idea because I love pizza. We got a pizza with jalapenos and pepperoni, which we have gotten before but it wasn't as good tonight. Believe it or not it had too much cheese on it which made it very greasy and hard to digest. I still ate three slices and then felt pretty gross afterwards:( During the shift a co-worker of mine approached me to see if I would work 9am-5:30pm for her on Tuesday instead of 3-11pm. This is an interesting proposition which I told her I would have to take a night to think about. It would be nice to get out early on Tuesday, but I'm worried about going to sleep tomorrow night. I'll decide in the morning.
    After work I made some tea and then read some articles on David Thorne's website. I'm not sure if I have ever mentioned him before but I stumbled upon his work on f-book and I think he's hilarious. I got my boyfriend into him as well so we are always sharing our favorite articles. My favorite articles so far are "Missing Missy" and "Dear Neighbour, you are not invited to my party". I'm going to try to get to sleep early tonight so that if I do decide to change my schedule on Tuesday I will be tired enough to go to sleep early tomorrow night. I spoke with my boyfriend on the phone today before work only for a few minutes but he seemed to have a decent weekend. It sounded pretty low key which I know he really needed because work has been very busy for him, like usual.
    I haven't mentioned my hand washing in a couple of days so I guess I better bring it up. I did a decent job this weekend of not over washing them and I think it's because I was in a spot where I didn't have to get up that much. I was a little disappointed in myself because today after work was the first day in a long time that I washed my shoes off. I really only did it because I stepped on something sticky in my department and it was driving me crazy. Hopefully it doesn't turn into a habit. Alright, until next time!

Day One Hundred and Sixty Four.

    When I woke up today I was glad that it wasn't too late so that my boyfriend and I could spend the morning together. He made us nice breakfast sandwiches then we spent some time on the couch, with our coffee, talking. The morning went really fast and I didn't get much done besides folding laundry from the day before. I can't believe that it's actually evening week again, it seems to always come up so fast. I don't mind evening week because I like the break from getting up so early and the drama of day shift, but the same problem of loneliness always seems to arise. I think it's just the beginning of the week which is the hardest, I mean, once I get settled into the routine I'm fine.
    I was pleasantly surprised when I got to work today to find out that a co-worker I really enjoy working with was scheduled. My weekend partner unfortunately wasn't there because she had broken her leg two weeks prior:( The night went by pretty fast due to some unforeseen issues, first being that a refrigerator decided to die during the shift forcing us to move a lot of items around. Secondly, an entire shelving unit in the department fell on one of the employees! Luckily, no one was hurt but it was very un-nerving and required a lot of rearranging. Other than those two unusual situations it wasn't that busy so it was a fairly decent evening.
    When I got home I spoke with my boyfriend for a little bit on the phone and then watched a few more episodes of "House of Cards". I can't say that I was in the best mood when I got on the phone with my boyfriend tonight so it wasn't that long of a conversation. I think the reason is that this co-worker I hadn't seen in a while started asking me a lot of questions about how our relationship was going. It just lead into questions about the future and it got me a little bit down. He also threw in a comment I certainly wasn't prepared to hear, it was something along the lines of "at your age you'd expect a commitment at his point". Ugh, those were dreaded words to hear. I told him that we have been discussing things and it seems like we're on that track, but it's just frustrating when I have to come home and think about it all by myself. I'm very close with this co-worker so in no way am I upset with him and sometimes it helps getting outside opinions.
    Another thing I'm a little bit down about is my weight. Since I've gotten back from Florida I've barely been working out and it's really starting to show. I've got to be better about not eating between meals. Tonight at work I had a Lean Cuisine but when I got home I had pretzels and leftover ice cream from a few weeks ago:( I guess because I was feeling a little sorry for myself I just wanted to come home and eat. Well, honestly, I really wanted to come home and have a beer but I don't like getting into a habit of having a beer every night, so I thought food was the next best thing. With that being said I'm going to get going.