Day Two Hundred and Fifty Four.

    It's unbelievable how busy I was this morning and I still managed to get to work on time. I think it helped that when I woke up I instantly realized how much better I was feeling:) I'm not sure what I did right the last few days but maybe the antacids and eating well are really working. Anyway, the first thing I did was make the phone calls I had to make to schedule my follow up test. While I was doing that I decided that I could really go for a warm morning drink so I had a peppermint tea. I was getting pretty addicted to peppermint tea this last month until I found out that it's bad for ulcers....but I'm not sure if that's what I have, so I figured I'd try it out.
    My Mother gave me a call this morning because she wanted to make the last minute plans about this coming weekend, so we talked for a while and before I knew it I had to get ready to go to my nail appointment. I'm not sure if I have mentioned this earlier this week or not but we're celebrating my sisters Birthday at my house this weekend. My older sisters were born 5 days apart so we usually celebrate their Birthday's together. My Mother is going to come for the celebration and then stay for the week and watch my dog while I'm gone. Prior to leaving for my appointment I threw a load of laundry in the washing machine, so I would be all caught up for the weekend.
    It took about half an hour for them to shellac my nails and it really does look great. In response to a readers question from my blog yesterday, the shellac is the same thing as the gel nails. I picked out "sultry sunset"....which is a pinkish color! On my way home from getting them done I stopped at the CVS for some last minute items for my trip and I also stopped by Stewarts to get the ice cream for my sisters Birthday celebration tomorrow. When I got home it was already 2pm! I had eaten lunch prior to my appointment so I didn't have to worry about that when I got home so I just put the laundry in the dyer and then headed to work.
    It was a pretty busy night at work but not overwhelming. I felt like I had a lot of issues which always seems to be the case the last night before a vacation....just so that I have something to worry about I think! I thought I did a good job of not over washing my hands tonight because I didn't want to ruin the new polish and all. They seem to be holding together pretty well. My hands are going to be the ultimate test because I wash them more than most people, I'm sure. When I got home it was nice to see my boyfriend at my house and I guess it was also a nice relief to know that we're both on vacation as of tonight:) Alright, until next time.

Day Two Hundred and Fifty Three.

    I had a lot to accomplish this morning so I tried to get up right when my alarm rang around 10am. It's nearly impossible to get up any earlier since I don't usually get to bed until 2am during my evening week. I had a hard time sleeping last night because it was so cold in my bedroom. It's hard to believe that since two days prior I made my boyfriend put the air conditioner unit in because it was so hot! Anyway, I finally had to get up and put a sweat shirt on before I could fall asleep. When I got up this morning I had some blueberries and checked my email before putting a load of laundry in then taking a shower. After that I got myself ready then headed to the food store which seemed to take me forever for some reason.
    I had just enough time when I got home to put the groceries away, take the trash out for garbage day and then give my dog a walk. I'm really glad that I managed to give my dog a walk because I know she's been wanting one and she seemed very happy. Work was a completely different ballpark tonight versus last night because it was much more calm. I actually was pretty much caught for the entire night so it ended up being a nice break for me. I also managed to get home around 11:30pm so that was good as well. I switched things up a little bit tonight, because I have so much to do tomorrow morning, so I decided to take a shower right when I got home. Then I folded the laundry I had washed earlier today so that's two less things I have to do tomorrow morning.
    I ended up doing a lot of hand washing today and it's unfortunate because I actually made an appointment to get shellac nail polish applied tomorrow. I'm hoping that if I put cream on my hands before bed they will shape up prior to my appointment tomorrow. I'm kind of hoping that having the shellac on my nails might help me with not over washing my hands, but who knows. A co-worker of mine told me that the first night you need to be careful about not using a lot of water so this is definitely going to be a test for my OCD.
    I'm feeling very stressed about the upcoming weekend prior to my vacation because I have a lot to get done and also because I'm still not feeling that great. My right upper quadrant pain is still bothering me and I'm still having a lot of nausea throughout the day. My primary care physician called today about some follow up tests she wants me to have but unfortunately it sounds like it's all going to have to wait until after my vacation. Maybe the vacation is just what I need to relax a little bit? I've been so stressed the past few weeks and I just think it will be good to get away from everything for a while. Alright, I better get some sleep.

Day Two Hundred and Fifty Two.

    I overslept a bit this morning and it kind of felt great. I woke up initially when my boyfriend was getting ready to leave for work and it took me no time at all to fall back asleep, then I slept through my alarm. This was the first morning where I wasn't going to have a coffee because I'm trying to wean myself off of caffeine and it was very hard. My morning cup of coffee has become something that I look forward to because it just gives me that perk of energy that I need. I'm having a hard time finding things to drink at this point, I guess I'm supposed to just drink water, but now I think I'm becoming dehydrated because I hate it so much that I'm just not drinking enough of it. Anyway, I had some water and did some online research for my sisters Birthday presents as well as try to find a potential place to get my nails done before I leave for Chicago.
    Then I ended up calling my twin sister to discuss details of this coming weekend and to chat, so we were on the phone for a while. Afterwards, I emptied the dishwasher and had a Lean Cuisine for lunch. Once I was done with that I folded the laundry from yesterday as well as vacuumed my upstairs bedroom. I won't lie here....it had been a long time since I had done that. It's because I've needed to empty the vacuum and I kept forgetting to do it so last night when my boyfriend put the air conditioner unit in he emptied the vacuum as well.
    I got to work in time for the Wednesday meeting and although it was a good topic I probably shouldn't have went because I started the day way behind. I was feeling the effects of no caffeine as the evening went on because my head started hurting. I decided to get a half caffeine coffee from Dunkin Donuts to see if that would help. I didn't like it as much as the regular and I bet it's because the decaffeinated was probably old. I ended up not getting out of work until almost 12pm because I was chatting with a few co-workers. I will say that all in all I am feeling much better today with hardly any stomach pains. Unfortunately, I've still been very nauseous and I can't figure out why.
    I didn't talk to my boyfriend on the phone at all today, I just received a few text messages this evening. It sounds like he had a busy day:( I have a lot to do tomorrow and going to the food store is probably the main priority. I'd like to get everything I need for the weekend ahead of time so I can have Friday morning to get everything completely organized around the house. It's starting to become crunch time as far as doing laundry before my vacation goes. I'm still very glad that I'm not going to be leaving until Sunday night because that will make it possible to do one last load on Sunday. Alright, I better get going.

Day Two Hundred and Fifty One.

    As soon as I got back to my house this morning I spent some time sorting through some work emails. Then I put a load of laundry in and started making some phone calls to schedule a follow up doctors appointment for my stomach pain. They don't make this stuff easy because I seriously made about three phone calls and still haven't gotten anywhere. The biggest thing I wanted to get accomplished today was to get to the mall so I could get my sisters Birthday presents as well as a few things I need for my vacation. I didn't get to the mall until around 3pm and it seemed to take me forever.
    I managed to get some items for my sisters but had a hard time finding everything. I was just a little bit annoyed because sometimes I feel that clothing stores don't stock as much as they used to because of how popular online shopping has gotten. Anyway aside from what I got my sisters, I was able to get myself a few new pairs of shorts and a pair of capri pants all from New York and Company. I thought they were going to be really out of my price range but they were priced pretty reasonable. The shorts were actually buy one get one free and they fit great. I am a little bit nervous about the capri pants because they are a size smaller than I usually wear but they fit great everywhere except for the waist, which is only a little snug. I'm never going to be able to wear them when I'm having a fat day, that's for sure.
    I also stopped by Macy's and got myself some skin cream I've been meaning to pick up for the dark spot which has appeared on my forehead. It ended up being pretty expensive but luckily I had a gift receipt from my birthday, which my parent's had given me. I hope that it works! I felt very guilty on my way home today because I spent a good amount of money on myself which I hate doing. I did really need the shorts so they weren't a superfluous buy but I will admit that the face cream is a luxury.
    When I got back from the mall my boyfriend showed up only minutes later and he mowed the yard while I took a shower. We had dinner then put the air conditioner unit in the upstairs window since it's about 95 degrees in the bedroom. It ended up being a busy but productive day off. My hands are a little sore because I did a lot of hand washing while I was home sorting through the laundry and then going through the items I bought at the store. I always get very anxious when I go shopping, especially when I've been trying on clothes. That's why I had to get in the shower as soon as I got home! Well, I had better get to bed.

Day Two hundred and Fifty.

    Yesterday was a nice day even though I was still having stomach pain and nausea when I woke up. It just felt good to know that I ruled out anything really serious. It was getting warm outside but still overcast so I didn't feel the need to rush around when I got up. You see, the plan for the day was to go to my boyfriends parents "renovated camp" to spend the day by the lake. I was already packed since I thought I would be leaving Sunday night so it didn't take me long to get ready. My boyfriend went before me in his car and took my dog because I had to stop at the store. I needed to get one of the medications I was prescribed and I also got flowers for my boyfriends Mother for a house warming present.
    I drove to my boyfriends house and then we both went to the camp. The weather was starting to get better so we eventually did end up down by the lake and my boyfriend actually went swimming! I couldn't believe it because the water was very cold and even though it was warm outside it was windy and not what I would consider hot. Anyway, we ended up having burgers and hotdogs for dinner then my boyfriend and I went back to his house for the rest of the night. It turned out to be a lovely day and I'm very glad we were able to go.
    I definitely indulged in eating and drinking yesterday more than I should have because later on my stomach was killing me. I did however refrain from having a coffee and I was surprised that I didn't have a major headache. Maybe weaning off of coffee won't be as hard as I was expecting. I'm not due to go back to work until tomorrow evening and I have a lot to accomplish today. I'm still feeling really guilty that I had to leave work early on Sunday night so I think I'll feel better about that when I get to work tomorrow. Pending nothing horrible happens! Alright, until I write later on.

Day Two Hundred and Forty Nine.

    This blog is actually a day late because I ended up getting home later than usual last night. All morning yesterday I was having horrible right upper quadrant pain and feeling really nauseous again. By the time I got to work I was so grumpy and frustrated so a lot of my co-workers told me I should go to the ER to get checked out if there was a lull. I really didn't want to but because it's a holiday weekend I knew I wouldn't be able to see my doctor till Tuesday so I decided to go to the ER and get seen. I felt so guilty leaving my co-workers but I was really in a lot of pain and not really being that productive anyway. Everyone was so nice to me in the ER because most of them knew me from work so I definitely got treated really well.
    The part that's a little frustrating is that they did all sorts of diagnostic procedures and nothing turned up. I did take some pain medication when I was there and that made me feel a lot better. The doctors think it could be either my gallbladder or an ulcer. They did an ultrasound to see if I had any gallstones but apparently that doesn't show whether your gallbladder is working correctly or not. They recommended that I follow up with a gastroenterologist. So now I'm taking two different medications for the stomach acid and have been advised to change my diet. That's going to be so hard because two of the main offenders are spicy foods and caffeine....both of which I indulge in and love:(
    My boyfriend ending up meeting me in the ER and then we went back to my place around 1am when I was discharged. I immediately took a shower when I got home then we went to bed. I felt very filthy when I got home because I work in the hospital and I know what gets cleaned often and what doesn't. I will say that I hate being on the receiving end of healthcare! I hope that what's going on with me really will change once I take the medications and change my diet a little bit because I have definitely not been myself the last few weeks. I have been increasingly grumpy and I hope that knowing that I don't have anything so serious that can't be corrected will make me more happy. Alright, until later.

Day Two Hundred and Forty Eight.

    My boyfriend had to leave my house early this morning because he had promised his parents that he would help them unload the moving truck. I keep mentioning that they are moving to there newly renovated camp and that happened today. It was really sweet because he took the time to quickly mow the front yard before he left due to the over growth of dandelions. I went back to bed and ended up waking around 10am. I was in a great mood because I felt pretty good when I got up so I made myself a cup of coffee and then played with my dog for a little while. I spent a fair amount of time online because my twin sister had posted pictures on fbook so I wanted to comment on time. While I was doing that I had a Lean Cuisine for lunch then decided it was time for a shower. Before my shower I put a load of laundry in as well. I was actually proud of myself for not doing any laundry yesterday on my day off....it felt great!
    It was still very early when I was done with my shower so I decided to take my dog for a walk. Even though they said it would rain all day the sun was out at that point and it was a nice walk around the neighborhood. I could tell my dog was very happy. I got to work a few minutes early today and it steadily got busier as the evening went on. I guess it made the night go by really fast so that's a good thing! When I got home I spoke with my boyfriend on the phone about his day, which seemed to have went well.
    At work tonight I was sitting in a seat where I feel inclined to do a lot of hand washing so my hands took a beating tonight:( One of the most frustrating things about tonight was that I was not feeling very well again. I am still having the upper right quadrant/gallbladder pain which was radiating to my back tonight. I could not get comfortable and I'm almost 100% positive that I'm going to be visiting my doctor this week. Work is hard enough without feeling crappy. Well, I am very exhausted so I think I'm going to call it a night.
   

Day Two Hundred and Forty Seven.

    Today was my day off and for once it was pretty relaxing. When I got up I had cup of coffee while I wrote my blog entry from last night. I was thinking about possibly making a trip to the mall because I need some clothes for my vacation as well as presents for my sisters Birthday. However, I decided that I really didn't want to go out because I knew it would take most of the day. I think I'll probably end up doing it on my next day off, which will be Tuesday. The only errand that I really had to do was to get to the bank to drop my check off but I had until 5pm to get that done.
    After I drank my coffee I had to pay some bills, so I did that as well as balance my checkbook, before I had a Lean Cuisine for lunch. Then I got a burst of energy to sort through a few boxes which I have had in the spare room from my Mother's house. That ended up taking a long time and I thought I did a good job of throwing away a lot of things I'll never need to look at again. It's amazing how much paper accumulates! The only thing I need to do is get a nice storage bin so that I can store the items I have to save in the basement. It was a very interesting mix of items from grade school through college and it was very nostalgic.
    It was almost 3:30pm by the time I was done that so I quickly got in the shower then got to the bank before it closed. The plan for this evening was to have dinner with some of my co-workers and it happened to work out that one of my boyfriends co-workers joined us as well. My friend who lives near me drove me to the restaurant and then I met my boyfriend there because it was near his work place. It was a very fun evening out! When we got home we didn't do too much more and my boyfriend ended up passing out on the couch.
    I did a very good job of not over washing my hands today even sorting through the boxes on the floor of my spare room! I've been trying to remind myself something my Mother has told me since I've acquired this OCD, which is "don't forget that these are your germs". It's a very true statement and I feel it's something I should remind myself constantly when I'm having days where I'm not even leaving the house. I don't need to constantly rewash my hands over and over when I'm not even around other peoples germs. Alright, that's it for now.

Day Two Hundred and Forty Six.

    This entry is a day late because I fell asleep very early last night. Yesterday at work had it's moments of craziness but certainly was manageable. It's always an easier day when you know you have the next one off. I'm off today because I work this weekend. My schedule up until vacation is actually not that bad....I work the next two days, then have two days off, then work three days and then I am on vacation for a week. I can manage that! Unfortunately I'm still not feeling well with right upper quadrant/gallbladder pains so it's making me very frustrated. I had a conversation with a co-worker who had a similar issue last summer and she told me to just keep taking the antacid's. I've made a promise to myself that if I still feel this bad early next week I'll call my doctor and make an appointment. I can't go on vacation in pain:(
    Anyway once I got out of work I didn't have an errands to run so I came right home. As soon as I was pulling in the driveway my boyfriend sent me a text message saying to get in the house because there was a tornado headed my way. I could tell I had about ten minutes because it didn't even look stormy outside. So I quickly put my dog out to go to the bathroom and gathered up the garbage, then I watched the TV for updates. We got a pretty big storm but the tornado had weakened and changed directions before it got to my area. The town where they think the tornado touched down on was pretty banged up with most of the people out of power:( After that whole ordeal my boyfriend sent me a text saying he was on his way to my house already because he had left work early for a dentist appointment.
    I had finished my shower when my boyfriend showed up but hadn't folded the laundry from yesterday yet, so I did that while we chatted about the day. We had tacos for dinner and then watched our usual Thursday night TV lineup of "Impractical Jokers" and now my Brother-In-Law's show "The Carbonaro Effect". Afterwards, I was so tired and really not feeling that great so I went to bed early. I must say I've been really conscious of my hand washing the last few days and putting a much larger effort into avoiding the unnecessary trips to the sink. I hope that it helps. Alright, until later.

Day Two Hundred and Forty Five.

    I was in a hurry this morning because I had to go to the Wednesday early morning meeting. I managed to get there on time successfully! The day at work was so much better than it was yesterday. I was able to get a lot of things accomplished which is always good. I decided to go to the food store I don't go to very much anymore on my way home from work today because I saw in the flyer that they had a lot of fruit on sale this week. The store is a bit out of the way so by the time I got there it was after 4:30pm. I'm so glad I went though because I got my first watermelon of the season for only $2.99! I also got grapes and blueberries for a very reasonable price. Unfortunately it was already about 5:45pm when I got home from work officially.
    After I got the groceries put away I put a load of laundry in and then took my shower. Afterwards I folded the laundry from yesterday, which was the bed sheets and duvet cover. I couldn't wait to cut into my watermelon so before I had dinner I emptied the dishwasher and then cut the melon. It was very ripe and extremely delicious! It was actually so ripe that I only cut half of it because it was so juicy that I was scared if I put the whole thing in a bowl the juices would rot the fruit too quick. I had a piece of chicken marsala for dinner with a side of vegetables.
    I put the baseball game on after dinner then my boyfriend called me. After we spoke I had a nice surprise when my second to oldest sister called me. I haven't really gotten to talk to her since I saw her last so it was nice to catch up. I do feel a little guilty however, because I spent most of the conversation talking about myself....I guess I didn't realize how much I needed to talk to her. I feel like I've created a lot of stress recently and it might be what's aiding in my digestive issues. My hands are pretty sore tonight:( I did a lot of washing at work today and afterwards when I was preparing the laundry and my fruit. Something needs to be done about this hand washing exacerbation....sigh. Well that's it until the next post!

Day Two Hundred and Forty Four.

    I went to sleep very early last night but ended up waking up about three times in the middle of the night. Luckily, I've been blessed with the ability to fall back asleep really fast. Even after getting more sleep than usual I still felt so tired when I woke up this morning. I managed to get myself to work right on time and it turned out to be a very busy day. I never felt like I had a handle on the day, in fact, every time I thought I had caught up three more things needed to be done. Then right before lunch time I started feeling nauseous again. I was so upset because it was really affecting my mood and my production at work. By the end of the day I was feeling a lot better but still went straight home just in case.
    When I got home I decided to have a small snack of almonds before giving my dog a nice walk around the neighborhood. Then I took some time to go through the mail before putting the sheets in the wash and taking a shower. Since I was caught up with the regular laundry I could finally get my sheets washed up and change the winter blanket to the summer one! When I got out of the shower I put new sheets on the bed and then folded the laundry from the day before.
    At that point my boyfriend had tried to get ahold of me regarding dinner so I called him back and was a little upset to find out he was still at work....it was about 6:30pm. I was kicking myself that I hadn't felt up to going to the store on my way home from work, because at least then I would have had what I needed to get started on dinner. Anyway, he picked up what we needed and he made chicken marsala with whole grain pasta and a side salad. I've been trying to force myself to try whole grain pasta again since the first time I tried it when I hated it. Honestly, in this dish it was actually very good. I don't remember if I was blogging at the time of my first whole grain pasta experience but I think I hated it because we used ground turkey and a spaghetti sauce that wasn't that great.
    By the time we had dinner cleaned up it was already 9pm so we just watched the Yankee game. My hands look worse today than they have in about two weeks. It's primarily because of where I was working today....the position lends itself to multiple hand washings, which is what I was doing:( I'm super tired so I'm going to get going for now.

Day Two Hundred and Forty Three.

    It wasn't that difficult getting up this morning and I was trying to get to work right on time but I was still a few minutes late. It wasn't that big of a deal. Someone had called in so that made the morning pretty frantic but all in all it wasn't the worst Monday. Where I am working this week it tends to get more and more busy as the week goes on. I had plans to go to the food store on my way home from work but unfortunately after lunch I started feeling very nauseous. I was very upset about it because it ruined my whole afternoon. I went right home and then had to take a nap....I still don't feel great and was only able to have a bowl of soup for dinner. I'm wondering if I got a touch of a stomach bug this weekend?
    After I took a nap I did feel alright enough to get up and clean the downstairs bathroom before putting a load of laundry in. At the time I was frustrated with my boyfriend because yesterday when he mowed the yawn he wore his light color jeans so they were covered in grass stains. It took me a long time to get them pre-washed because they happen to be his favorite pair, so I wanted to make sure I got all the stains out. Once I got the clothes in the wash I took my shower and then folded the laundry from yesterday.
    I feel a little bit anxious about the next few weeks before we go away on vacation because there's a lot I have to get done....including work. I really can't afford to have any more wasted evenings like tonight so I'm hoping I get to bed early so I can have a nice rest and hopefully feel better in the morning. I also feel guilty that I didn't take my dog for a walk today or work out, sigh. The weather is supposed to be great tomorrow so no matter what I'm going to force myself to at least take my dog for a nice walk. Alright, that's it for now!

Day Two Hundred and Forty Two.

    Our plan was to get an early start yesterday morning so we could get to the city early. I thought that getting up at 8am would be early enough but we still didn't arrive in the city until 2pm. When we got up I took a shower then packed while my boyfriend ran some errands and we ended up leaving the house a little bit before 10am. We had to stop at my twin sisters house and drop off my dog then we hit some traffic getting into the city. The day ended up being a lot of fun because we went to The New York Hall of Science museum, then to the zoo. We could have spent a lot more time at the science museum because there's so much to do, but we had to speed along to get to the zoo before it closed. By "we" I meant my boyfriend, his brother and his brother's girlfriend as well as his parents. This was the last weekend that his parents would have their co-op in the city so it was a nostalgic day because I guess they went to the museum a lot as children.
    We went for an early dinner after we were done at the zoo to an Italian restaurant which my boyfriend has been to a couple of times, with a co-worker when he's had to work in the city. We were nervous about getting a table without a reservation but because we went so early they were able to seat us. The first thing that I really liked about the place was that it was covered in pictures of old Hollywood movie stars. In fact we sat in the Marilyn Monroe room! I couldn't believe the size of the bread bowl that was brought to our table. I've never seen anything like it, filled with all sorts of different bread items as well as garbage bread. They also brought out a mini appetizer plate of bruschetta, cheese, and meats. We ended up getting calamari for the table as well as a hot antipasto plate and for dinner I got the chicken parmesan, which was fabulous. I ate so much! I didn't feel like I could eat again but we grabbed some Italian ice afterwards at a very famous place. I got the watermelon flavor and it was so good but I couldn't eat it all:(
    My boyfriends parent's dropped us off at a friends house, haha that sounds funny, where we stayed for the rest of the night. Well actually after playing some games there we did go out to a local bar to get some drinks. We were out so late, like usual, that I didn't wake up today until almost 12pm. We spent a few more hours at my boyfriends parent's place until we had to get going. It was a little emotional because the realization hit my boyfriend that he wouldn't be in his childhood home again. We stopped to pick my dog up and then got back home a little bit before 7pm. I felt bad because my boyfriend had to mow the grass when we got home....it really couldn't wait. While he was doing that I put some laundry in and took my shower.
    It was really a very nice weekend and I'm glad that we ended up going. I felt bad at my boyfriends parent's house because they didn't really have a lot of soap in the bathroom when I got there and then when I left there was hardly any at all. The fear of running out of soap was making me very anxious when I was getting ready this morning but I definitely did my best to suppress my usage. I actually did a lot better than I thought I would. There's really no excuse for how much soap I use at home:( I should just scrub longer but I have a habit of counting my hand washing and that always includes a pump from the soap dispenser per count. I will make it my OCD project for this week. Alright, I should get going now!

Day Two Hundred and Forty One.

    Yesterday was a fantastic day and one that ended with me falling asleep, then we were traveling all day today so I didn't get a chance to write my blog. I will write all about it tonight!

Day Two Hundred and Forty.

    After I wrote my blog last night instead of going to sleep I stayed up late and watched a lot of music videos on YouTube. I was mainly watching some live "Vampire Weekend" videos. I forget if I've mentioned that we're going to be seeing them live when we go to Chicago. They seem to be good live so I'm really looking forward to the show. Anyway, I ended up falling asleep on the couch and not waking up until 9am. I don't even remember my boyfriend leaving....but when I woke up I ended up going upstairs to get a few more hours of sleep. That was probably a mistake because I didn't wake up until almost 12pm.
    I was still under the assumption that we would be going to the city tonight so when I woke up late I was a little stressed about getting everything done. The first thing I did when I got out of bed was give my twin sister a call to let her know we'd be dropping my dog off later and then I took a shower. I had previously asked her if she would be able to watch my dog this weekend and she was fine with it. After my shower I folded the laundry from the day before and got myself together to make a Target run. I had a pretty big list but managed to get everything I needed. On my way home my boyfriend called and we decided to go to the city in the morning instead of tonight. I was honestly a little bit relieved because I knew he was tired and I thought we could both use a night in. After I got everything put away from the store I paid some bills and balanced my checkbook. My boyfriend showed up right after that and we made dinner which was a pepperoni, mushroom, onion pizza with a side salad.
    After dinner we watched "Wedding Crashers" and then my boyfriend fell asleep. I'm going to try to get to bed early so that we can get an early start in the morning. I did some minor cleaning around the house here and there today but not anything major. I was thinking I should do another load of laundry tonight but then decided against it. My laundry OCD has been really bad the past few months. I'm pretty much doing laundry every single day. I feel anxious that I'm going away tomorrow and I already have laundry piled up but I'm reminding myself that if we had left tonight I would have the same amount to do. What it's really going to mean is that I'm just going to have to divide the laundry into two loads when we get back. That's really not a big deal and not doing laundry this entire weekend will be a nice break.
    The last thing I want to talk about is my weight. I've been feeling like I've definitely put on a few pounds the last month or so and it's really stressing me out. I'm almost scared to try on my summer clothes for fear that I won't be able to fit into any of them. I need to get back into working out and I'm making a promise to myself to start on Monday. Despite the last few nights I had a pretty good eating week but I still need to be routinely working out. I don't want to go to Chicago feeling fat:( Alright, well I'm going to get going now.
   

Day Two Hundred and Thirty Nine.

    I felt pretty good when I woke up today because I went to bed early and got some decent sleep last night! I headed into work and got the day started with a pretty good attitude. It wasn't that busy of a morning and it went by pretty fast. The other good thing is that I didn't over cook my oatmeal. Something I keep forgetting to mention is that I've taken a break from eating yogurt everyday at work. I've been worrying that the pain I'm thinking is from my gallbladder might be related to dairy, so I've been trying to curb my dairy intake. It's been hard because I do like the taste of yogurt but I've been substituting it with Kashi oatmeal. It is slightly on the pricey side but it's all natural, high in protein and low calorie....so I think it's a good alternative. In all honestly I have actually felt better the last few days without dairy than I had the previous three weeks. It's hard for me to say it's all because of the dairy, because I have been eating some dairy, but I might just cut the yogurt out for now while I'm feeling better and see if the pain comes back.
    After work I walked to the parking lot with my co-worker and I managed to get home a little bit after 4pm. I tried to see what time my boyfriend would be getting home but he wasn't sure, so I just started doing all of the chores I had lined up. The first thing I decided to do was to gather all of the trash for pickup day tomorrow. I also thought it would be a good idea to do another load of laundry today, so I would be pretty caught up for the weekend, so I did that. After my shower I sat down on the couch and gave my Mother a call. She didn't answer right away but called soon after and we had a nice conversation:)
    When my boyfriend showed up it was obvious that he had a very hard day at work and was stressed, so I suggested going out to dinner. We decided to go to a German place which has some pretty authentic dinner options and beer. It was nice being out but I think my boyfriend was so tired that he wasn't enjoying it as much as me. When we went home we watched the premiere of a new TV show which my one Brother In Law helped create. It was wonderful!
    I was slightly annoyed when we went out to dinner tonight that when I put my arm on the bar and drew it back, it was very sticky. The entire drive home I was trying not to put my arm next to anything for fear that I would get everything sticky! As soon as I got home I washed both of my arms to ensure that I didn't have anything sticky remaining on them! Other than another minor OCD hand washing moment at work, because I was near someone who was excessively bleeding, I don't feel that I over washed that much today. I also avoided wiping my shoes off by mentally reminding myself that most people don't ever do that, so it's really superfluous for me to have to. Alright, that's it for now!

Day Two Hundred and Thirty Eight.

    I had another restless night of sleep last night which left me very tired all throughout the day. It was a fairly busy morning with a lot of problems but slowed down around lunch time. I really wanted to go to the Wednesday clinical meeting at 3pm so I was rushing around this afternoon to get everything cleaned up. Of course there was an issue around 2:30pm, but I still managed to get to the meeting on time. I got home a little bit after 4pm and ended up having a 45 minute phone conversation with a friend.
    After that my boyfriend called to tell me he was going to be really late because he had to do some last minute traveling for work. I was disappointed because he had planned to come over again tonight, but I told him I'd rather just see him tomorrow if it meant I'd get to see him longer. Since I was caught up on the routine laundry I put the lighter spring/summer blanket, which I have on the spare bed, in the wash to get it ready for the transition. Then I took my shower and folded the laundry from the previous day.
    The weather was still so nice after my shower and I knew my dog would appreciate a walk so I took her for one before dinner. She was very hot when we got back home but happy! I made myself a Lean Cuisine for dinner with a side salad. Once I was done with that I made the hotel room reservations for our trip to Chicago....no more looking at reviews at this point! I spent the rest of the night watching the Yankees/Mets game and that was pretty much it.
    My hands are definitely in rough shape. I knew this week would be hard on them so I'm very glad I have one more day and then a three day weekend! My boyfriend and I still aren't sure what we're going to do but I'm certainly looking forward to it. He's leaning towards going to visit his parents in the city because this will be the last weekend they will have their apartment before they move. I'm a little frustrated because I don't need to go away another weekend and I thought he was going to go visit the apartment for the last time the last weekend I worked....which he didn't. If he really feels he has to go I don't want to talk him out of it, but it's not at the top of my "want to do" list for the weekend. Well see how it all pans out soon. Until next time:)

Day Two Hundred and Thirty Seven.

    I was about ten minutes late to work this morning and I felt pretty guilty about it. I had such a hard time getting up which ultimately resulted in my being late. I also had another bad night of sleep. I think it was because it was so hot in my bedroom....honestly I was okay, but my dog couldn't get comfortable. I definitely think she was hot and I thought it was strange she didn't just go downstairs and sleep. I'm actually glad she didn't though because I hate sleeping without her. Work wasn't too bad, in fact it went by really fast. There was a lot going on in the morning and afternoon so before I knew it my relief arrived.
    I got home from work before 4pm which was great because I found myself with a lot to do before my boyfriend came over. I had a whole bunch of mail in the mailbox to go through as well as my Victoria Secret items which I purchased last week. The clothes arriving today was perfect because I had room in the load of laundry I was going to throw in for them all. Actually I didn't run the bathing suit through yet because I tried it on and I'm on the fence about how I think it looks. It could be because I'm still feeling bloated from the last weekend, so I'm going to give it another two days before I try it on again and make my final decision.
    After I took my shower I folded the laundry from the day before and my boyfriend showed up. We made London broil with salad for dinner, which was delicious. It was one of my favorite meals that my Mother would make my sisters and I as a kid. We spent the rest of the night watching the Yankees/Mets ballgame and planning our trip to Chicago. I'm starting to get excited! So today was the first day in a long time in which I wiped my shoes off after work. There was a lot going on when I left work and I had to get them cleaned off before I put them in my house. My hands are still holding up though....I think the warm weather is helping. With that being said I had better get going:)

Day Two Hundred and Thirty Six.

    I had a much better day at work than I originally expected to which was a nice surprise for a Monday. I got to work a few minutes late but got right to where I needed to be. One of the reasons it wasn't to terrible today was because it definitely wasn't as busy as it had been last week. Sometimes the beginning of the week tends to be slow then it progressively gets worse. There was a continuing education program at the end of the day which I had to cover for so I didn't end up leaving work until around 4pm. Then I walked out to my car with my co-worker who I haven't had a lot of time to talk to lately, so it was pushing 5pm when I got to my house.
    When I got home I did something completely uncharacteristic....I took a little hour nap. I was so tired that I just couldn't fathom doing anything else. I'm not sure if it's because I didn't have the best sleep last night or if it's just because I was so hot that it sucked all of the energy out of me. I can't believe how warm it suddenly was today and I haven't put the air conditioner in the window upstairs yet. It's very warm in my bedroom already! Once I woke up from my nap I took my dog for a walk and boy was she hot!
    I gathered some laundry then got in the shower and instead of my dog napping upstairs like usual she wanted no parts of being in my hot bedroom. Once I was done with my shower I folded the laundry I had sitting in the dryer since Friday and then made some dinner. I just had some more of that blackened chicken my boyfriend had made last weekend with broccoli and cheese sauce. I'm really going to start putting an effort into eating better during the week because there's really no excuse. It would also help if I started exercising again but that will have to wait until I get the air conditioner units put in! I did a decent job of avoiding over hand washing today at work but it's still early in the week. I have a lot of work I want to do around the house this week including getting the down comforter off of my bed upstairs. Then I'll take it with my winter jackets to get dry cleaned.
    I'm not going to lie I was very depressed last night and I was glad that my boyfriend was staying over. I had such a great weekend with my family that it was so hard coming back home. In my opinion it was one of the best weekends we've all spent together in a really long time. It made me feel like we definitely don't spend enough time together. Another thing I'm feeling upset about is that my older sisters Birthdays are coming up and I'm going to be away on vacation when they will be celebrating. I hate missing out on family fun:( I'm going to try to throw some dates out that would work for me around my vacation so I can at least see them a little bit. Alright, I better get some sleep!

Day Two Hundred and Thirty Five.

    I woke up very early this morning because my poor little dog was throwing up a little bit. She had gotten into my sister's dogs food which apparently upsets her stomach....I got out of bed to make sure she was okay. After a few minutes she seemed fine and I was able to go back to bed for a few hours. When I woke up pretty much everyone in the house was awake and they were getting breakfast for my Mother together. Honestly, my second to oldest sister did most of the work because she's the best at making it exactly how my Mom likes it. After my Mom had her breakfast the rest of us ate. The weather outside was perfect today so we all sat outside chatting for the rest of the morning.
    After my Mother opened her Mother's Day presents we hit the road. It was nice getting home early but I felt a little bad about leaving my Mom so early. Luckily my Father was still home with her so she wasn't all by herself. She seemed to really enjoy the weekend so that's good!
    My boyfriend and I went to the food store to pick up what we needed for dinner and some other groceries for the rest of the week. We had pasta with meat sauce for dinner because my boyfriend was craving it. If he doesn't have pasta at least every few weeks he can't handle it! Honestly, I did not need such a big dinner and I am completely over stuffed. I ate way too much this weekend! On top of all the meals we had a lot of candy as well, which I was nibbling on the entire time I was there:( I've promised myself that I'm going to eat better this week. Besides unpacking and cleaning the dinner dishes up I didn't do any other cleaning today. My hands look fairly decent which is good because this week I'm working in an area where I wash them a lot. Tomorrow is going to be a very busy day so I'm going to get to sleep:)
   

Day Two Hundred and Thirty Four.

    I woke up on the couch at 7:30am yesterday and I was so tired I could barely move, but felt I should go to my bed. I put my dog out then went to crawl back into bed with my boyfriend who was already there. We were able to get a couple more hours of sleep until I decided we had better get ourselves together because my twin sister would be picking us up soon. I actually had to get to the bank and quickly run to the store before we'd be able to go. My twin sister and her husband arrived around 12:30pm which was perfect timing because I was just wrapping everything up. We chit chatted for a bit and then headed to my Mom's house!
    When we got there my oldest sister was already at the house as well as my second to oldest sister and her husband. One of the biggest things we had planned was to celebrate Mother's Day by throwing my Mom a little tea party with her new silver tea set we got her for her Birthday. My twin sister and second to oldest sister made some wonderful little tea treats which we had with the tea. These consisted of cucumber and salmon sandwiches, savory gruyere and prosciutto scones, sweet strawberry and cream scones as well as mini quiches. Everything was wonderful but I did feel guilty that I didn't have time last week to get anything together. After that was over we all spent time outside because the weather was lovely. For dinner we had lobster with salad and artichokes. I ended up paying for half of dinner so I felt like I did my part there!
    It was pretty late when dinner was over but we did play a game before heading to bed. I was very tired! Since I was home I really didn't over wash my hands too much, which is a good thing. I thought I did a good job of suppressing it even though there were moments when I was pretty anxious. It always helps being around my family and seeing that they are not washing their hands every five minutes. In my mind I try to remind myself that nothing terrible is happening to them because they're not obsessively washing, so it isn't necessary that I have to do it as much as I do. Well I guess that's it for now!

Day Two Hundred and Thirty Three.

    Yesterday was a long day for me. I had an early morning appointment so I had to get up at 7:45am. During my evening week that is a very early morning rise! After my appointment I stopped at a local bakery and picked up some goodies for my co-workers as well as my Mother. I got back home around 11am and balanced my checkbook. The morning went by so fast and before I knew it I had to eat lunch and take a shower. I ended up putting another load of laundry in so I would be caught up for the weekend. I didn't do much other cleaning around the house because it still looked pretty good. Although I did have to clean the floors up a little bit.
    Work was very busy and I didn't get a chance to have coffee or my yogurt until after 8pm. The night went by faster than any other night this week. I hope that I didn't make any mistakes as I was running around! When I got home my boyfriend was at my house and instead of our tradition of going out to get drinks and dinner at the end of my evening week he just picked us up dinner. Neither one of us was in the mood to be out because we both had a tiring day. We ate our dinner then finally drank our anniversary bottle of champagne which we had bought during the wine tasting weekend. Of course we proceeded to fall asleep on the couch afterwards:)
    The plan for this weekend is to go to my Mothers house to celebrate Mothers Day weekend. All of my sisters are coming so I'm excited to see everyone! I'm sure I'll have a lot more to write about later:)

Day Two Hundred and Thirty Two.

    This blog entry is a day late because my parents were at my house last night when I got out of work and I didn't have time to write:( Yesterday morning I tried to get up as early as I could because I knew I was going to have to get up even earlier this morning because of an appointment. Once I got up I had some coffee and did some more hotel research:) I'm almost committed to one hotel I just have to run it by my boyfriend! I decided it would be nice to take my dog for a walk because it was such a nice day out so we did that then I gathered the trash up for trash day. I also spent some time organizing a few things around the house so it would look nice for the arrival of my parents. Afterwards I put a load of laundry in and took a shower.
    The evening at work really wasn't that terrible. It wasn't the most busy of nights but I had a lot of little problems which kept me moving. I was able to get some coffee, earlier than usual because I didn't want to have problems sleeping, and eat my Lean Cuisine. I got pretty excited after work that I was going to see my Mother and Father!
    I stayed up a little too late talking with my parents so I didn't get a whole lot of sleep last night. I feel a little bit in a daze....I'm thinking maybe I'll try to squeeze a nap in before I have to go to work. I was happy because my Mother made a comment about how nice my hands looked. I have been putting the effort in to be better about not over washing so it made me feel glad that someone noticed. My Father had come because he's going to be giving my Mother a ride back to her house. It was nice chatting with him because I haven't seen or heard from him since his last visit. Alright, I'll talk more later!

Day Two Hundred and Thirty One.

    It felt so good to sleep in today:) I got about 10 hours of sleep and after the initial struggle of getting out of bed was over, I felt pretty refreshed. After I made my coffee I gave my twin sister a call so we could talk about the details of our Mother arriving home from Florida. My sister is going to be dropping her off at my house tomorrow and I wanted to see if it would be before or after work. We also had a nice, long chat about how our weeks were going....so that was nice. As it turns out she had no idea what time she would be bringing our Mother by, but she texted me this evening saying it wouldn't be until after I already leave for work. Once we were done talking I did some re-arranging in the living room because while we were on the phone I realized I still had some last remnants of Christmas lying around.
    I had a Lean Cuisine for lunch then did a large amount of hotel searching for my upcoming vacation. I was trying to narrow it down to a few options to make it a little bit easier. I spoke with my boyfriend on the phone for a short period of time and asked him whether a free breakfast or a pool was a priority. It seems almost impossible to find both in the area I'm looking. I was surprised to find out that the breakfast was more important to him....he's usually such a hotel pool guy. I do like a nice hotel breakfast and a lot of the time when there's a pool I don't usually use it. However, this time we are going to be there for 5 nights so I might actually get a chance. I think that's another thing which is making this hotel search so hard because I know I'm going to be there for a while so if I don't like it, I'll be in trouble.
    Work was pretty busy tonight, with lots of problems, so I was getting slightly frustrated. I got my coffee a little bit after 7pm and ate my yogurt. My boyfriend was going to be at my house when I got home so I didn't eat dinner because he said he would make me a quesadilla. He had made blackened chicken over the weekend and thought that would make good use of it. When I got home my dinner was all ready, which was super sweet of him. I should not have been eating so late but we didn't have sour cream so I think the wrap was the most fattening part. Well maybe the most fattening part was the dessert of 1/3 of a bag of Cadbury Mini Eggs:(
    Sigh, I've got to start doing something about my weight because while I was at work today I happened to glance at my figure through the window and I felt like a big girl in clothes which were way too small. I think the main thing I have to do is start eating better. I'm usually okay on the days when my boyfriend doesn't come over but when he does, I eat too much. I'm going to have to set definite limits on my portion size. That sounds depressing! Anyway, besides doing some living room dusting today and folding a load of laundry I didn't do a ton of cleaning. My hands still look about the same as they did yesterday which is a good thing. I don't want them to look bad when my Mom sees me. Alright, I guess that's all for tonight.

Day Two Hundred and Thirty.

    I fell asleep on the couch last night so when I woke up this morning not only was I uncomfortable but I didn't feel well rested at all. I had plans to go for a hike with my co-worker and dog around noon, so I had to get up. I had some coffee and a quick Fiber One bar for breakfast before I got ready to go. My co-worker showed up around 11:45pm and we decided to grab lunch so we could have a picnic on site. We both got salads from a local coffee shop. I did not bring a jacket but I was definitely wishing I had because while we ate our lunches it was very cloudy and windy....so I was freezing! After we ate and began our hike the sun came out and it was much warmer. My dog had such a good time....in fact when we were done, which was about two hours later, she still seemed like she wanted more!
    I got home with enough time to put a load of laundry in, take a shower, empty the dishwasher and read my book. I can't believe how long it's been since I've opened it:( I really love the book I just don't have a ton of time to do a lot of reading. I'm going to force myself to make time because it's something I really enjoy and it becomes the first thing I push to the side when I get busy.
    My boyfriend showed up to my house around 6pm and it was good to see him. We had a lot of catching up to do because we didn't really get to talk long on the phone yesterday. We decided to go to one of our favorite local watering holes for dinner, which was very pleasant. Once we got home we decided to watch the rest of "The Great Gatsby"....the new one. We had started it a few weeks ago but both fell asleep during it so we were finally going to finish it. Well....I did anyway, my boyfriend was asleep after about 10 minutes. I didn't love it even though I'm a big Toby Maguire and Leonardo Dicaprio fan. It was very fast paced and almost cartoony at times....I would say way too over the top. I definitely liked the original one with Robert Redford and Sam Waterston better.
    I didn't do too much cleaning today so I gave my hands a bit of a day off. They are still showing the effects of the last weekend though:( I'm going to have to remember to lotion up tonight! Alright, until next time.

Day Two Hundred and Twenty Nine.

    My eyelids were very heavy when I woke up yesterday morning and luckily I didn't have a huge amount of things to do prior to work. After I got up I made coffee and did some more research on hotels in Chicago. The problem I'm having is that a lot of the hotels are actually booked which leaves me in this conundrum of whether we should swap hotels during the trip or not. I really like to settle in so I'm not really a big proponent of that, but I'll discuss it with my boyfriend when I see him later on. I left enough time to workout, eat lunch, shower, and fold the laundry from the day before. Yes, I did say workout! I did my Jillian Michael's AB workout and I will say that it wasn't as hard as I was expecting for having a two week break.
    I was expecting a really busy night at work but it was actually fairly decent. There was just enough work to keep me busy the entire shift but not too much that I was going out of my mind. I had enough time to get coffee and eat my Lean Cuisine, which is always a plus! Unfortunately, I got involved in something the last half an hour so I didn't leave until around 11:30pm. I wasn't going home to anything special so I really didn't mind.
    When I got home I had some wine and watched the "Usual Suspects". I have been meaning to watch this movie since I got into "House of Cards" and have become a pretty big Kevin Spacey fan. He did win an Oscar for the role in this movie and I thought he did a great job. As a whole I didn't love the movie because it was a bit of what my Mother calls a "mans movie". I'm trying to explain what I mean by that and it's kind of difficult. There just weren't any female roles so besides the original plot there weren't any side stories involving relationships. Not that every movie needs that but it makes certain things more believable because everyone has sex.
    Anyway, unfortunately I ended up washing my hands a ton yesterday and they are starting to look very bad. I don't have a lot on my to do list as far as cleaning is involved for my day off so maybe that will help. Actually I'm going to have lunch and take my dog for a hike with my co-worker so I hope the weather is nice!

Day Two Hundred and Twenty Eight.

    I woke up today feeling pretty refreshed after a good night of sleep. I figured I'd start my day with some coffee and some internet research for my upcoming vacation next month. As soon as I texted my boyfriend about how expensive the hotels were looking he called me right away. I've now realized that we're going to argue about hotel prices for the rest of our time together. He doesn't think we need to spend a lot of money on a hotel but to me it's a big part of the entire vacation experience. I love staying in a unique, clean hotel and its also important to get to stay somewhere comfortable because of all the walking that is usually involved with vacations. The discussion will have to continue the next time I see him and can gage exactly how much he's willing to pay.
    After our conversation I balanced my checkbook and had some lunch. I was done with all of that around 12:30pm which really did give me enough time to workout, but I didn't:( Instead I decided to give my dog a walk and put a load of laundry in. I feel really guilty about not working out but I'm hoping I will do it tomorrow. Work was much more busy tonight than yesterday which made it go by a lot faster. I must say that I'm exhausted....I'm looking forward to my day off on Tuesday. I keep telling myself that I only have one more day of work until then!
    I decided to go to the food store after work tonight so that I don't have to get up early tomorrow morning and go. I'm very glad that I made that decision because now I don't have any excuse to get a workout in tomorrow morning. I wasn't going to do another load of laundry today but since I was caught up with the regular laundry I took the opportunity to wash the bathroom hand towels. I did a good amount of hand washing today both at home and at work so my hands are pretty sore. I put cream on them when I got home. I didn't do much after I got home....just watched some TV and had a cup of peppermint tea. I'm a little bit obsessed with peppermint tea:) Alright, until later!

Day Two Hundred and Twenty Seven.

    When I woke up today I was still so tired that it took me a while to actually get out of bed. I wanted to spend the morning with my boyfriend so I forced myself to get up so we could. He made us a really great breakfast which consisted of a cheese omelet, brown and serve sausages, and rye toast. Once I got breakfast all cleaned up I had to get ready for work and my boyfriend cut the grass. It's exciting that the grass needed to be cut because it means that summer is just about here!
    It was a pretty busy evening at work with lots of little problems. I forgot to bring a Lean Cuisine so I ended up grabbing a slice of pizza from the cafeteria. I can't tell you how long it's been since I've gotten food from there. It wasn't bad but tasted like it had been sitting out for a while. Even though it was busy at work it didn't seem to fly by or anything. I got out of work a little bit later than I should have because I had some last minute things to finish up but still managed to get home around 11:30pm. I had a conversation with my boyfriend then played with my dog a little bit.
    I didn't do much around the house this morning....just the dishes and put the laundry in the dryer from yesterday. I have a good sized list of things I want to get done around the house this week so I hope to get started tomorrow. Also, I was thinking it would be great if I could do a workout tomorrow. I'm almost certain I've put on a few pounds because the last few weeks I haven't been working out or watching my diet. It's amazing what just a few bad weeks can do to a relatively good regimen.
    I washed my hands a fair amount at work tonight but tried not to over do it....they still look pretty good! As well as getting some things around the house done this week I also hope to get some reading in. I love to read and I find it unfortunate that I don't have a lot of time to do it. I think I just need to start making time to do it. Alright that's all I'm going to write tonight:)

Day Two Hundred and Twenty Six.

    I had to get up early today and be back at the CE I've been attending for the last two days at 7am. I left the house right at 6am because yesterday it took me nearly 50 minutes to get home. I ended up arriving to the location at around 6:35am because there was no traffic whatsoever. I was literally the second person there, which was fine because I hate being to anything late. The morning started with more lectures and then the afternoon turned into practical application of what we had been taught. The thing I was the most worried about was the test, because they always scare me. It ended up being a 20 question test which everyone was working together on and the instructors went over in the end. I definitely think I over studied for the program but honestly I feel so much more comfortable on the entire subject matter. When I feel I'm going to be tested on something I tend to really commit it to memory, so I'm certain that most of the information I learned will stay in my mind. It's really going to make certain aspects of work a lot easier now that I have this background.
    It was 4pm when it wrapped up and I was thinking I should stop at Target, which was on the way home, but I didn't really want to. I managed to talk myself into going which is certainly going to help next week because now I don't have to get up early one day to go or even spend my day off shopping. This Target I went to is slightly more pricey than the one I usually go to, which is annoying, but if you ask me it was worth it because of the convenience factor. After all time is money:) I got home after 5:30pm and it took me a while to unpack everything. In fact, my boyfriend was at my house before I was finished with everything.
    We ended up catching up on the days events and then he rested while I took a shower, then folded the clothes from two days prior. I also put another load of laundry in....of course! Before I knew it the time was after 8pm and we had dinner plans with my good friend at 9pm. Tonight was the first night I was meeting my friends new boyfriend and everything went really well. He seems like a very nice guy. I'm not sure how I have the energy that I do right now because I know when my head hits the pillow tonight I'm going to pass right out. It's been such a busy week for me and I feel like I haven't had a real day off since last Sunday. I just have to get through the next three days and then I have Tuesday off.
    Overall my hands look great! I think it's because I wasn't home at all the last few days to really over wash them. I had to use a public restroom at the CE today and I thought I handled the stress of that very well. I think it helps that I went to the bathroom with my friend and even though I know she wouldn't judge me, it makes me more aware of my behavior. Then obviously more apt to stop when I know I'm doing more than necessary. Alright, I'm going to get going now.
   

Day Two Hundred and Twenty Five.

    Unfortunately I'm not going to write much at all tonight because I really need to go to sleep. I spent the entire day at the CE I've been talking about all week and didn't get home until around 7pm. Then I had to quickly shower, eat dinner and get back to reviewing the material for the final day, which is tomorrow. I have to get up at 5am because the course is about 50 minutes away and it's already way past my bedtime. This sounds like I'm complaining, which I'm really not because I learned a lot today but I just want to make sure I get a good nights rest in preparation. I promise to write an entire entry tomorrow night:)