To delete or to stay

that really is the question.

Today is, apparently, delete your Facebook account day...and I'm torn. Sort of. I'm pretty sure today is NOT the day I'm going to delete my Facebook account. Facebook doesn't want people to go so it doesn't make it easy to delete your account - but it's pretty simple to deactivate it.

I'm not sure I like the way the site has gone in terms of privacy. What if I don't want people to see what I look like unless I add them? I know, I know, I have a blog, but *I* choose what goes on here and I *know* that the entire internet can see everything I post. I have kept both of those ideas in the back of my mind with Facebook too. Even though I can set my privacy settings, it's still the internet and really, it's still pretty much like showing the whole internet.

I had, at last count, 412 friends. Really? Do I really have 412 friends? Seems so...I've met all but one of them. I checked. The one I haven't met was my pen pal when I was a kid, back when we used paper and pens to communicate, not computers and keyboards. But I know everyone on my list. I could (hopefully) tell you at least one interesting thing about each of them too. And by interesting I don't mean "I worked with her at _________" or "I went to school with him at _________" I mean more like "One time she left her room unlocked when she went to the library (well, okay, maybe we stole her keys) and when she came back her room was a mirror image of what it was when she left. Furniture, papers, posters. Everything."

Do I spend too much time on Facebook. For sure. Am I trying to cut back. Most definitely. Is it working? YES! Going to the park and making muffins and even cleaning the bathroom are all more fun, more productive or both.

But I'm not ready to give it up. I lived overseas and worked with a very diverse, very international group of people for so long that I have many good friends around the world. And most of us just don't have time to write letters or send email anymore. And Facebook lets me stay in touch with them and see how cute their kids are and all that...so I'm not going. But I am going to show a little more restraint and watch what they do with my privacy settings!

Crazy Aunt Purl

This post was originally published at Get Fit Chicks. It may refer to posts on Get Fit Chicks that no longer exist. Please email me if you run into any of those and I will break the links. More information about the reposting is available here

(written Monday).

Okay, so Crazy Aunt Purl (aka Laurie Perry) writes about life mostly, with a fair amount of knitting thrown in…so what exactly does that have to do with getting fit?

Well, something actually.

I just finished her book Drunk, Divorced & Covered in Cat Hair and while I laughed, cried and cringed along with her, one sentence struck me. On page 82 she says, “Deep down inside, I knew it wasn’t about picking a diet or counting or measuring so that I could learn the proper way to eat. Any woman who has ever had a weight problem usually knows more about dieting and food and calories than anyone else you’ll ever meet. We know exactly what to do, we just don’t do it“. (Laurie talks about this idea on her blog as well)

It’s that last sentence.

It’s so true and I don’t think it just applies to eating. It applies to exercise and it applies to aspects of our lives that aren’t physical, but that are just as essential to being fit – in mind and body. I’ve been doing a lot of decluttering at home lately and one thing I discovered was that when I started throwing out things I’d been holding on to for no good reason (that means no reason at all or some unhealthy reason) other things got easier. I don’t know what, but this week (with the exception of one horrible day) eating properly and sticking to the plan we’d worked out on the calendar for meals was easy. So easy. And I think it’s partly because I just did it. I just hunkered down and chopped up those vegetables. I carved the time out of my day to go for a walk. And when I read those words of Laurie’s last night, I got it. And then was surprised that I’d been getting it all week.

Anyway, I’m off to just get some more stuff done while small toddler sleeps. And if you’re looking for something interesting to read, check out Crazy Aunt Purl. (I guess Nike knows what they’re talking about when they say Just Do It!)

Lessons from squirt: Music 101

Today I learned that:

Head and Shoulders (the song, not the shampoo) has the same tune as London Bridge. J started doing the actions to Head and Shoulders even though London Bridge was playing. She also she went and found her BINGO book when BINGO started playing...

I also learned that I have a Sharon Lois and Bram breaking point. I need a holiday from them occasionally. Thank goodness I chose this CD - every other CD we've tried to play for her in the last few days had been met by a very violent "all done" sign, vigorous head shaking and often loud NOOOOOOOs.

Same phone call, different loved one, same stomach in mouth nasty feeling

So, SHE'S OKAY.

I came home from the library with J on Saturday to a message on my answering machine. A message that had been left literally seconds before I walked in the door. A message virtually identical to a phone conversation I had with Alex earlier this year. It said something like, "Shannon, can you come and pick me up. I just had an accident."

Umm.

Heart stops.

Stomach flies into throat.

Breath catches.

It was my sister and I didn't even finish listening to the rest of the message before I called her back (if I had, I would have heard the part when she says SHE'S OKAY).

SHE'S OKAY.

Anyway, Kelsey was out for a bike ride and a group of teenagers thought it would be smart to cross the road against the light. Kelsey had already slowed down because she saw a woman with a stroller who looked like she might do the same thing. Unfortunately because it was a group of people and there was traffic on one side of Kelsey and parked cars on the other side, there was no where to go and she collided with one of the girls. The girl had a few scrapes and is probably very, very sore. Kelsey has some bruising, some whip lash, a small bit of road rash and one very cracked and banged up helmet (if you ever needed a reason to wear a helmet ... those cracks would have been in Kelsey's skull if she wasn't wearing a helmet and this story would not have SHE'S OKAY written all over it) and a slightly scuffed up bike.

A nice lady stayed with Kelsey and she and a security guard from the mall next to where it happened took Kelsey to the walk in clinic to make sure she didn't have a concussion. Which she didn't. Because she had her helmet on.

I didn't go get her because by the time I got the message, she had already called my aunt and uncle who live 15 minutes away (not 45 like me) and they were on their way. They took her to their house, made sure she really was okay and then took her home.

I saw her yesterday. SHE'S OKAY. She went for a run before coming to my house, so she's okay. She's a bit sore, but who wouldn't be.

Please pedestrians, obey the traffic signs and look before you walk into traffic. It only takes a split second for life to change. If you're going to change your life that quickly, make sure it's a positive change.

Oh, and go hug/call/email all those people who are important to you. Just so they know. And you know they know. And yeah.

SHE'S OKAY.

Rediscovery

Last night I went grocery shopping and thought I'd get us some treats for the freezer. One of the things I picked up was a box of ice cream sandwiches. I had completely forgotten how good such a simple little treat of vanilla ice cream and super soft chocolate wafers could be.


So, I decided I better introduce J to ice cream sandwiches, because everything is better when you share it!



J sure was happy I decided to share!!

Still shaking

This post was originally published at Get Fit Chicks. It may refer to posts on Get Fit Chicks that no longer exist. Please email me if you run into any of those and I will break the links. More information about the reposting is available here

(written yesterday)

So, if anyone ever tries to tell you that yoga is just for stretching and relaxing and isn’t a “real” work out, well, they’ve never had either of my yoga instructors.

Yoga finished almost two hours ago and my legs are still shaking.

I’m exhausted today. I haven’t been this tired at work since I was 8 1/2 months pregnant. I even had a quick cat nap before yoga. I know the exhaustion is mostly caused by someone (that would be me) not eating very well this week and a drastic change in our daily routine that has me going to work an hour earlier in the morning. Need to work on the eating well thing – because, yoga kicked my butt today.

Yes, my legs are still shaking. And while it’s partly to do with a more intense workout (for the third time in the last two weeks, someone fell asleep during savasana, so it’s not just me, plus I could see the grimaces on other people’s faces) I know it’s a lot to do with what I did or didn’t eat in the last few days. So today I’ve been concentrating on more water and more vegetables and fruit and avoiding what’s on the avoid list of the crazy diet. Hopefully tomorrow I’ll have more energy.

(Oh yeah, having a teething toddler doesn’t help the rested feeling much either!)

So I can't stop laughing...

and I'm worried that means I'll have bad karma and some of this stuff will happen to me. But some of it is hilarious!

Pretending to be normal!?

Since I've known Alex, he's always worked some pretty crazy hours. Such is the life of a broadcaster. But really, with the exception of a four or five month stint of 10:00 am - 6:00 pm, oh, five years ago, and two months during the Olympics of 7:00 am - 2:00 pm, it's pretty much been hours when those of us who like to sleep, are asleep.

Until now. Yesterday was day one of a new routine for all three of us. Alex starts a bit later in the day than most people, so he ends a bit later, but he's home now before J goes to bed. It means that I have to go to work an hour earlier to pick her up on time, but it's all good. She's a bit confused and still not sure why I'm leaving without her, but it's going to be worth. It is already worth it. Last night Alex came home and she and her Pat the Bunny book climbed into his lap for some before bed story time. Every couple of pages (they had to read the book a few times...you know how toddlers are) she'd stop and give him a big sideways hug.

I'm not the only one who's over the moon that Alex is at home in the evenings! It may take a few weeks to get the routines sorted out, but it's all good!

The agony of weather patterns

So, I've mentioned before that I suffer from migraines - sometimes frequently, sometimes occasional, always frustrating. I've written about the migraine hangovers. I would do anything to cure myself. ANYTHING! (well almost anything).

Anyway, this afternoon I was the unlikely victim of a migraine attack. I ate my lunch. Started to feel hot and sweaty and very, very, very sleepy. It only took me about ten minutes to figure out what was happening, and after rummaging in my purse I realized I had no migraine specific drugs, so I took two pain killers and quickly packed up and headed home.

Good thing. The evilness waited until I got home to hit. I had a three hour power nap (which I woke up from about 45 minutes into it to discover the migraine was gone) and then went and collected my kid from daycare. The unhappy parts of the migraine hangover, besides the fog and the inability to do anything that requires concentration, is that my patience evaporates. I didn't find this out until I had a kid. But little things that I'd normally ignore or not even notice were driving me nuts. Luckily said kid wanted to colour when we got home, so we set her up to colour and I made dinner, which, also luckily, was just leftover that I had to heat up. By the time the kid's dad got home from work, well, I was feeling quite peachy!

But the most frustrating this about this particular migraine is that there was not really ANYTHING I could have done to prevent it. I was well rested. I ate at the prescribed times so that my blood sugar didn't do crazy stuff. I was well hydrated. I ate the right stuff. I can't control the weather. More and more often I'm finding that the weather is the cause of my migraines. And it's frustrating beyond belief that there's nothing I can do about it.

Besides the classic, auraless migraine, I also get a strange kind of migraine. I thought the neurologist was kidding when he diagnosed it, but he wasn't. It's called a silent migraine and while it usually presents with an aura, mine don't. Probably because I normally don't have an aura with my "regular" migraine. (Aura+Migraine=horrible horrible horribleness for Shannon. Please.Kill.Me.Now horribleness). I get all the symptoms I would normally get - weird speech, clumsiness, difficulty comprehending even simple processes, aversion to food, drink, light and sound - but no headache.

I'm not sure what triggers these either because sometimes it's not until a day or two later that I realize that was happening.

Maybe it's the weather.

Or not.

But in any case, discussing the weather isn't boring for me any more!

Do you get migraines? How do you treat them?

Heddy's new blog

Heather has a new blog - check it out! It's pretty awesome (just like Heather!)

What happens when you neglect the internet...

Well, not much really...and I haven't really been neglecting, okay fine, I've been neglecting my blog, but whatever.

Neglecting your blog doesn't really do anything other than create a lot of work to get it updated (that would be a reference to that one over there). Neglecting MSN Messenger means something entirely different. I hardly use it these days - I've given it up for Skype - but I do have a few friends who live far far away who don't do Skype, so I log in occasionally to check in with them.

I did that today.

And I had no fewer than 25 spammers wanting to be my friend.

Oh internet...this is why I'm getting tired of you.