We can only blame ourselves with the whole feminists stuff. Poor poor men. If the are manly we accuse them of no feelings. If they have feelings, we accuse them of not being manly.
The feminists didn't ask me. I like being a girl. I want a manly-man. I am old-fashioned, I guess, but I really enjoy homemaking, sewing, baking, cooking, taking care of the kids. So, in a sense I guess the past 21 years weren't a total waste...but they did leave me pretty unprepared for my present reality.
Oh, well. I am female. I suppose we can do it all, if necessary. Time for me to strap on my big girl boots and get going!
For three years we in IT have suffered mean and nasty comments from a user. The typical reaction in IT was always, "yeah, that's just Jane Doe, she is always mean, just ignore it."
3 days ago her emails to me started. Each one was snarkier than the last. (me being a snarky remark queen, I know snarky when I see it)
At one point she even said to me "If you cant fix this, maybe you should find someone who can."
Well, I am the end of the line here. People come to me with their issues, but there is no one more skillful that I can dump my issues on. Sorry about your luck.
I gave her 8 solutions yesterday, she could choose ANY and all would be fine.
She has not stopped emailing me and copying the world.
I finally had enough, I took every email she sent me in the last 3 days, zipped them up, sent them to her boss, and told her boss that this person is no longer my problem.
Her boss gave her 2 options, 1. send me an apology email or 2. we will both come into her office and she would have to read to me OUTLOUD her emails from the past three days. So she would have to say these things to my face.
I just received my apology email. I replied by letting her know that this is in the past now, and the whole IT department including me will continue to provide her help when she needs it. Then I validated her by repeating back an issue she stated in all of her snarkyness and told her that we would also work to make this better.
My VP just emailed me back (she saw my response):
Very classy response. I would have expected nothing less from you.
Nancy
PMA up up up
OK WHO'S NEXT???
Me: 42 H: 45 M: 18 yrs T: 20 yrs D: 17 D: 15 S: 12 I kicked him out 8/21/15 I will DB until March 21st 2017, that is it!
Mona! You are a delight. That is probably the best example of handling a difficult person that I have ever heard. Wow. I'm seriously in awe of you right now.
Ok, today I am posting with my tail between my legs, in shame.
I ran 2 out of the last 7 days...
I am okay with my body, except for my belly. Do I do anything to fix it? Nope. I start running, get all happy about doing it and then I allow myself to relax in the evening. Although running 3 kids around is not relaxing, I still could have (SHOULD HAVE) taken a few minutes to run.
Gmum, when you talk about running it sounds so... healthy, and 'feel-good' and all that.
I remember the joy of running as a small child.
It is raining cats and dogs here today, and it is like 40 degrees, so I dont think I am going to run. But.... I am slipping up over here. I need to refocus.
Me: 42 H: 45 M: 18 yrs T: 20 yrs D: 17 D: 15 S: 12 I kicked him out 8/21/15 I will DB until March 21st 2017, that is it!
Tonight at 11:30 PM, I scored sweet tickets to the opening show of Star Wars for me and the kids!!
We are going to a theater with recliners. Yep, recliners!
I even took off work tomorrow so I can just enjoy the night with no worries.
Last night I went shopping and bought a great new outfit for a dance on Sunday. I never, ever, ever buy clothes for me. I usually wear clothes my mom picks up at garage sales. But since August, I have purchased a couple pair of pants, one pair of stilettos, one pair of sneakers, a sweater and now a black mini and nice blouse. I am out of control and I love it!
H sent me a text today, but I can completely ignore it and focus on the movie tonight, a dance tomorrow and a dance on Sunday.
And MAYBE a run somewhere in there...
Me: 42 H: 45 M: 18 yrs T: 20 yrs D: 17 D: 15 S: 12 I kicked him out 8/21/15 I will DB until March 21st 2017, that is it!
Take it all in stride Mona. I've recently put together something equating the energy needed for something additional like a fitness routine and finances.
Some days you've just spent all your extra money on dealing with difficult people in IT, raising kids, protecting your heart from Jerkface, recovering from heartache, the holidays and more. At the end of those days you simply don't have the 5$ of energy needed to lace up your shoes and go for a run. That's ok, if you ran out of milk money you wouldn't be beating yourself up.
That fact that you equate joy with running is a great start, most people despise running. Do you have an accountability buddy you can share your fitness journey with? That's always a huge help. Then you get to split the energetic cost with them.
You're doing an amazing job of balancing about 50 plates in the air, many of which are downright painful. If the running plate hits the ground every once in a while, life will go on.
That being said, what is one thing you can do today for your body goals? A walk? A healthy breakfast? A commitment to no sugar today?
Big hug your way,
PP
M 39 W 36 T5 M3 BD - 1/15 Separated - Same Day Served 9/15 D finalized 6/17
I have a million people around me that run. They bike to the campus from across town. They run or tennis or zumba or whatever at lunch, they run after work and bike home.
My Lord, just typing that makes me sleepy.
But I cant run with them, I am no where in their league. They ask all the time.
My D's want to run, but again, I cant keep up. I need to get a turtle, pour molasses all over his road, then run with him!
(yummmm molasses)
OK, the stinking park is 3 blocks away. My goal today is to run 2 of those 3 blocks with my ever loving puppy. then walk/run the loop in the park. It is not raining THAT bad.
I can really pretend I know what I am doing. HIIT is like this way of exercising where you like go back and forth from really hard to easy throughout the session (PP, I know you know that).
I will pretend I am only running for a half of a block at a time because I am down with the whole HIIT workout thing.
I had maybe 100 calories for breakfast, lots of cabbage for lunch and some whole grain triscuits to get my 48g of whole grains. I read whole grains will help with belly fat, as long as I dont eat a ton. 48g is what I ate. I am drinking water like a fish and later I will enjoy some calorie free green tea.
All of that will be blown out of the water when i get a small popcorn and water with the movie tonight, but i NEED popcorn aT the movies. Popcorn IS whole grains anyway. (yeah yeah yeah, butter and salt, I know, i know.). But imagine how much damage the butter and salt will do if I did not do all of that today and had regular foods (pizza!)
I will do some carrots and fruit for dinner to make up for the butter.
Back to the subject.... buddies to run with. I can run with my D when I am able to run to the park, around the loop and home without walking. She will be my first running buddy. My goal is to ask her to run with my at the beginning of march.
That is 10 weeks.
I want to run 3 to 4 times a week to get in shape for this. (I dance 2 nights a week which is an intense workout for me. I don't just rock back and forth on the floor). That is 5 to 6 nights a week of sweat. Not the great sweat, but good sweat anyway. I would much rather burn calories in a more couple oriented way...
PP, What is the most I should lose in 10 weeks and still be safe? 2lbs a week? Is 20 lbs a safe amount?
I know, we are not trying to lose weight, we are trying to get better at running.
I'm just thinking because if I can drop 20 safely by march, I might be able to flatten a tummy by May. I have not wore a bikini since my honeymoon, but if I stay on track, it is very possible I will be in a bikini this summer! wow.... geez....
Me: 42 H: 45 M: 18 yrs T: 20 yrs D: 17 D: 15 S: 12 I kicked him out 8/21/15 I will DB until March 21st 2017, that is it!
I agree with the VP. What a classy response. Where I'm from we use the term "mental energy surplus" about people being able to react without stooping to that lower level. Very classy.
As far as running I am certainly no expert. I just started a few years ago. But it's amazing how quickly you will get better. I've been slacking off lately. It's harder to get motivated when it's so cold. I mean, I actually like running in the cold it's just the freezing before you start that's getting to me. And also getting D ready and set in the jogging stroller. One thing that helps motivate me is having proper running gear. Not just good shoes, but some nice pants, shirt whatever. If you get tired of listening to music (that only happens when I'm too sad to listen to back to black) I sometimes put on So Money with Farnoosh Tarobi. A podcast about finacial philosophies. Pretty inspiring.
You're so kick a$$. Your kids are blessed to have such a strong mother.
