Hitting the Gym

Mike and I have kind of an unusual arrangement with our finances. Most of my married friends dumped their checking and savings accounts together immediately, but Mike and I kept our separate accounts and then added a joint savings. The lines between our accounts are gradually getting blurrier, and within a few years I imagine we'll have a joint everything. But for now, he pays some bills, I pay others, and after putting a chunk away for savings what's left is our spending money.

This is important to know because you need to understand this in order to comprehend my thrill at being able to cut our grocery bill. I pay for the groceries, and up until recently we shopped at a Pick'n'Save here in Milwaukee. After much discussion I decided to start doing my shopping at Woodman's, which is a big grocery store in Kenosha. It's way cheaper than anything in Milwaukee, and I've found that I save $20 a week on groceries.

Now, Mike wasn't to impressed until I pointed out that $20 a week is $80 a month. And there's a lot I can do with eighty dollars. I could get my hair cut at a place other than Supercuts. I could start getting some quality jewelry. I could just blow it on new clothes or CDs or hobby supplies.

Or, I could use it to buy a membership to a gym so my asthmatic husband has some motivation to go and get back into shape.

My friends, this is what love is.

So tomorrow Mike and I are going to the athletic club where Mike has a membership. He hasn't gone in forever, but since his doctor thinks his breathing would improve greatly if he'd get out and exercise some it's important that he starts to go again. I can get in once for free as his guest, but after that if I go again I'll have to buy a membership.

I'm actually dreading it. I've never, ever been athletically inclined. In fact, when I was in grade school they put me in a special gym class along with the kid who was born pigeon-toed and another kid that had some type of physical disability. It was awful. I've never been coordinated or physically skilled, and one of my favorite things about adulthood is being able to live most of my life without worrying about failing at sports or someone laughing while I stumble off of exercise equipment.

This afternoon Mike asked me what exercise machines I'd use at the gym, and I had no idea. I don't even know the names of them. I suppose I'll pedal the stationary bike for awhile, and then if they have a track I'll just wander in circles until Mike's ready to leave.

Mike told me that they have a hot tub I could go in, but with my legs still rashalicious and my stomach still pudgy from the holidays, walking around in a bikini would be even more humiliating than trying the exercise bikes.

Perhaps this will all go better than I expect. Or perhaps the cool kids will laugh at me while I try to figure out the weights. Either way, it's worth it if Mike can start breathing better.

I think. Maybe.

Footprint

march2
Originally uploaded by Lucky Haskins.

Dammit, it is March. It's practically spring. I SHOULD BE ABLE TO LEAVE FOOTPRINTS IN DIRT, NOT SNOW.

Let's not be rash

For a while now I’ve had this funny rash.

Oh yeah, you know it’s going to be a good, tasteful blog entry when it begins by detailing someone’s rash.

Anyway, the rash started on my shin. At first I thought it was just an area that I’d scraped while shaving and it was taking forever to heal. But then the rash spread. And it didn’t confine itself just to my left shin. It spread to my right shin, and then to the crooks of my elbows, and my thighs, and my collarbones, and my eyelids. Luckily it’s been cold enough to warrant covering up most of those places so it hasn’t been too noticeable. And the rash has waxed and waned, so it hasn’t always been bright red.

My mom said it looks like an allergic reaction. Mike said it looks like eczema. I haven’t said much because I’ve been too busy waiting until Mike is looking away so I can scratch furiously.

I’ve tried everything to cure it. Aveeno maximum strength lotion works the best, but I’ve also tried a special lotion just for eczema, hydrocortisone cream, choking down Oolong tea, and daily doses of Claritin to stop the allergic reaction. Nothing cured it. I still look like a leper and scratch until I draw blood.

Well, with spring rapidly approaching I know I can’t cover up for too much longer. And since this rash has been a problem since October* it’s pretty clear it’s not going to go away on its own. So I made an appointment with a dermatologist.

Now, this isn’t as simple as it sounds. When I looked into dermatologists a lot of them seemed to specialize in vein treatments or anti-aging procedures. I don’t want Botox, I just want some steroid cream for my stupid rash. But apparently it’s no longer worth treating your skin unless you’re making it look ten years younger in the process.

I finally found someone here in Milwaukee that will see me over spring break. So come March 27^th, my rash is going to be gone. Bring on the Capri pants!

I wonder how I’ll manage to write tasteless blog entries about those.

<>* In my wedding pictures where Mike is removing my garter, you can see that I put my garter on my right leg. This is because the rash was worse on my left leg, and I was self-conscious about sticking it out in front of everybody.

My Office

myoffice
Originally uploaded by Lucky Haskins.

A photo of my office at school. I learned how to add notes on Flickr!

Linkful!

Tomorrow is the last day of February, which means the last day before the Focal Plane Challenge. I've managed to take at least one photo a day every day for the whole month, which I'm kind of proud of. The only unfortunate thing is that there were two photos which won't make it to my Flickr account... on February 13th and 14th I took pictures with my camera phone and I can't figure out how to get them off.

I honestly wasn't sure that I'd take a photo a day for all of February because I've tried photo blogging before and I couldn't keep up with the resizing and posting of all my photos. This month I've just been throwing them onto Flickr, which does away with resizing and also lets me upload the photos for a few days all at once. I just kept them on my camera until I had some spare time. It made things a lot easier. Of course, I'll be keeping all of my FPC pictures to myself until the end, so they'll be posted all at once. That'll make it even simpler.

The challenge this March will be not only to take a photo a day, but to take a photo a day outside my apartment. Most of the photos I took in February were done in the evenings, so I just took pictures of whatever was around the house. Now I'll have to start remembering to take my camera out with me so I can take pictures of the rest of the world.

It'll be fun. Mike said he'd do it with me since he finished the RPM Challenge early and has a few days to recoup. My friend Marc is on board too. And, of course, there will be my co-conspirator Dave and the friends he's managed to wrangle in.

I'll be curious to see what everybody comes up with.

Years Ago

I concur with everyone who responded to my post about the locket. It was actually very thoughtful of my mother-in-law to make sure I’d feel special on Valentine’s Day. Meddling and intrusive, but thoughtful nonetheless.

However, I don’t appreciate the hiding it from me…that’s not so cool. I’ve long since resigned myself to the fact that anything I tell my friends or family will be passed along to their spouse, unless the information is kept secret short-term for a surprise (for example, telling my mom what I’m getting my dad for his birthday). You just don’t ask someone to hide something from their spouse. Plus, this is a lie that has the possibility of snowballing – I might have told my friends and parents about the gift, and expected more jewelry-related gifts in the future if he hadn’t told me.

Mike’s parents are sort of old-fashioned, and they think Mike should be The Provider. And if Mike can’t be The Provider, it’s their job to provide for us. Their heart really is in the right place, but I have a hunch this will be an issue that will be revisited in years to come.

I found this meme and at first I was all smug because I thought I’d be too young to fill in the “20 years ago” section, but then I looked at the questions and realized I wasn’t too young. That made me kinda sad.

20 years ago
1.) How old were you? 7
2.) Where did you go to school? Greenland Elementary School
3.) Where did you work? Dude, I was seven
4.) Where did you live? Oconomowoc, WI
5.) Where did you hang out? At my friend Sarah’s house
6.) Did you wear glasses? Not yet!
7.) Who was your best friend? A girl named Mackenzie
8.) How many tattoos did you have? None
9.) How many piercings did you have? None
10.) What car did you drive? I rode around in my parents’ car
11.) Had you been to a real party? I’d been to a birthday party
12.) Had your heart broken? Nope
13.) Single/Taken/Married/Divorced: Single

10 years ago
1.) How old were you? 17
2.) Where did you go to school? A tiny high school in the middle of nowhere
3.) Where did you work? I was just babysitting
4.) Where did you live? A small farm town in Wisconsin
5.) Where did you hang out? At the high school or at home. Occasionlly we’d go “cruising” by driving 45 minutes to get to Brookfield, and then drive up and down Moorland Ave. Cripes, how lame.
6.) Did you wear glasses? Yeah, I got glasses in the third grade.
7.) Who was your best friend? Two girls named Polly and Angie
8.) How many tattoos did you have? None
9.) How many piercings did you have? None
10.) What car did you drive? I didn’t have my license yet (I got that when I was 20)
11.) Had you been to a real party? Just birthday parties and bonfires
12.) Had your heart broken? Nah, boys were pretty indifferent to me.
13.) Single/Taken/Married/Divorced: Single

5 years ago
1.) How old were you? 22
2.) Where did you go to school? A state college in Wisconsin
3.) Where did you work? I had a few part-time jobs, including working summers at a living history museum and working during school as personal care worker.
4.) Where did you live? I spent summers with my parents and lived in my college town during the school year.
5.) Where did you hang out? At the bars or at peoples’ apartments.
6.) Did you wear glasses? Oh yeah.
7.) Who were your best friends? I had a bunch of different friends, but I’m not sure who was the “best” one.
8.) Who was your crush? Any of the guys on the college Forensics team.
9.) How many tattoos did you have? None.
10.) How many piercings did you have? None yet!
11) What car did you drive? A little 1996 Geo Metro
12.) Had you had your heart broken? Not yet, I hadn’t even had a boyfriend yet (can we say, late bloomer?)
13.) Single/Taken/Married/Divorced/Bitter: Single
14.) Any kids? Nope.

<> Present
1.) How old are you? 27
2.) Where do you go to school? Nowhere
3.) Where do you work? At a high school in Illinois
4.) Where do you live? Milwaukee, WI
5.) Where do you hang out? Mostly at home, but I sometimes go to other peoples’ houses or out to eat.
6.) Do you wear glasses? Yep…after a brief flirtation with contacts I’m back to wearing glasses most of the time.
7.) Who are your best friends? It’s so hard to rank them.
8.) Who is your crush? Aww, it’s Mike.
9.) Do you talk to your old friends? Depends on how old…if they’re from high school or earlier, nope.
10.) How many tattoo's do have? None, but I’ve tried.
11.) How many piercings do you have? Just my tongue, but I’m tempted to take that out. I also want to get my ears pierced, because I’ve never done that and I’ve seen some earrings I want.
12.) What kind of car do you have? A dented Chevy Prizm.
13.) Has your heart been broken? Oh sure, everyone has.
14.) Single/Taken/Married/Divorced/Bitter? Married. I like that bitter is an option at this point, though.
15.) Any kids? Just five cats.