Thank God

I don't know what it is about today, but I feel grateful for everything. Maybe I'm high. : D

Walking out our loading dock door into the sunshine at lunch felt wonderful. For a brief moment before the chill of the February air hit my cheeks, I felt warmth on my face. A prelude to spring and summer, this kind of weather is a promise of the seasons to come. All is not winter, thank God!

Standing in line at Subway, I was thankful to even have the option to buy my lunch. And when I found PMS pills in my desk, I was thrilled.

Seriously, thank God for PMS pills. I don't care if they are placebos because sometimes I just want to take something which has even a possibility of making me feel better.

Thank God for my 99 cent Honey Roasted Almonds (normally around $5-$6, which I really need to stop eating right now).

Thank God for my Sweet Robert, and for my Sweet friends.

Thank God.

Day One

I woke up every few hours afraid to check the clock and see it being 4:55 am, only to actually wake up at 4:57 and sigh that I had only mere moments left in bed.

Rob had me lay out all my stuff the night before, so I wouldn't be wandering around in the morning gathering everything up, and we arrived a few minutes before the gym even opened at 5:15 am. There was the odd person waiting with us, but by the time I was half way into my cardio, the area was pretty much full. The weight and stretching sections weren't congested, and what's nice about this gym is it's really spread out, with a track that runs outside each of the area's and down and around large picture windows.

It's 6:38 now, and I feel pretty good. Not once during the workout did I feel tired, or cranky, I was just wide eyed with wonder at how many people actually get up at this time for fitness sake. The absolute best part though? It's done for the day! I don't have to mentally prep myself all day for going to the gym, there's no "should I, I know I should" argument as I make the weary walk to my car after work--it's done! DONE! I can't believe how cheerful that alone makes me feel.

I was a little sleepy when I got home, though I think mainly from needing some protein, but now that I've had my sugar free yoghurt, I'm good. I'm even planning what I should make for dinner tonight. : )

Let's see if I can carry this trend for a few weeks, and what I'll be like further into it.

A definite key is going to bed on time. I made sure I was in bed by 9 last night, and sleeping by 9:30 at the latest. As long as I manage that, I should be able to manage actually getting up.

Happy Tuesday!

Running in heels, Tim Horton's and working out

I was being silly at work running with my filing cabinet in precariously heeled shoes when I skidded onto my ass, narrowly missing a co-worker in the process. The black marks are from the heels of my shoes, and there is an actual dent in the floor. One of my co-workers commented she couldn't believe how far apart my legs had spread.


Why was I running with my filing cabinet? Well, any morning we work out front, the staff all wheel out their filing cabinets so our resources are close at hand. This particular morning was a Friday and I think I was happy the end of the day would mark the beginning of a long weekend. Obviously Karma took the opportunity to kick me in the ass, so I guess I won't be doing that again.

***

Perhaps I thought of Tim Horton's as a healthy alternative to fast food. Not so after picking up the Nutrition Guide at my nearest TH. Even though I didn't expect to see really healthy listings, I'm not sure I was prepared for what I did find:

Chocolate Chip muffin: 430 calories, 16 g of fat, 580 mg of sodium and 69 carbs.
Twelve Grain Bagel: 330 calories, 9 g of fat (the highest of all bagels), 580mg of sodium, and 52 carbs.
Herb and Garlic cream cheese: 141 calories, 13 g of fat, 228 mg of sodium, and 2 carbs.
Iced Cappucino: 250 calories, 11 g of fat, 50 mg of sodium and 33 carbs.

For a grand total of: (not including the muffin, I just threw that in there because it shocked me) 721 calories, 33 g of fat, 891 mg of sodium and 87 carbs. For BREAKFAST.

Wow. Nevermind if you happen to add a donut or God forbid the chocolate chip muffin (which is obviously some sort of meal replacement). It is clear that Tim Horton's should be classified along with all the other fast food outlets.

What really boggles me, though, is how the twelve grain bagel is the worst of all bagels offered at Tim Horton's. I would choose this bagel thinking it to be the healthiest when in reality, it's the worst. It has the most calories, fat, and ties for the most sodium. The only thing it's comparable on is the carbs, which after everything else is said and done--who cares. In reality, when I shop for bagels, or bread (which are all really quite unhealthy), I'm always scanning the nutrition labels to pick the one lowest in everything important to me and one that's marked "whole wheat" as the very first ingredient.

Still, so much for thinking Tim Horton's is the lesser of fast food evils.

***

I just joined Rob's gym, which is a 2 minute walk from our place. Tomorrow is our first 5am workout together. Here's hoping that after 22 sessions (the number it apparently takes to develope a habit), I can call myself an early bird exerciser.

The obvious advantages are not just health related. I would have the work out done for the day, so when I come home tired and cranky from work, I can relax and have my dinner with Robert (instead of going off to work out and coming home by 6:30 or 7 to then begin dinner). Because I'll be up earlier in the morning, I'll have some extra time before actually having to get ready for work, which also might make the early morning rising a bit easier to take (instead of getting up groggy, rushing off to workout, and rushing back to get ready).

Rob has his doubts as to whether I'll be able to pull off this a.m. health revolution, but because I'm currently struggling with the motivation for going to my own gym, anything that might help is better than nothing. : )

How often

How often do I thank God for Rob being in my life?

At least once a day.
Usually when we hug in the morning before he goes off to work.
Whenever I'm showering him with kisses.
Early in the morning when he comes over to gently kiss me and tell me he loves me because it's 4am and we're getting up to catch an early flight.
When he spilled 7-up on me during a flight and wrote "I love you" on a napkin to try and make it better.
Whenever I hear Doc Walker.
When I'm sad and Rob is concerned and trying to cheer me up.
When Rob says, "How are you?" in an Arnold Schwarzenegger accent.
When Rob tells me he loves me in his sleep, and when I say, "You even love me in your dreams!" he responds, "I love you everywhere."
Whenever he expresses he's looking forward to getting married and calling me his wife.
Whenever we dance together.
Whenever he's excited about Rocky or Bruce Springsteen.
When I feel him tense up with emotion while he's watching a movie during a emotional scene.
When he falls asleep with his arm around me.
When I received his secret message Valentine last year (which had a decorder pen and was a puzzle).
When he placed Rascal Flatts' concert tickets in my hand as a surprise for Valentine's day this year.
When he also gave me a chocolate filled heart from Bernard Callebaut.
When I read his Valentine card featuring Rocky Balboa on the front and the line "You won my heart." Which we both agreed should have said, "Yo, Valentine!"

I love you, Robert.

Happy Valentine's Day!

First time in T.O.

When we arrived at Pearson airport, we were met by Rob's best friend Rod who greeted me with a big hug and 2 dozen roses. : )

The Toronto welcome wagon brought us a half hour of shoveling snow out of Rob's parent's driveway before we could park our loaner sports car from Rod. Even though we were both exhausted from being up at 4 am to catch our flight, I was the only one who napped in the afternoon, after trying to convince Rob to postpone my surprise dinner for that evening until around 8:30 (which would have been dinner time in Calgary).

Rob maintained this was not an option, so around 7 we headed out the door for a laborious one hour drive to downtown Toronto, which found Rob somewhat stressed about the traffic and parking, and me agitated by the whole joyride. Rob had to keep me focussed by providing snippets of information regarding my surprise dinner without really giving anything away. "The surprise will be worth it," he said, his knuckles white against the steering wheel.

After walking several frigid blocks, we approached what I didn't know then was the Air Canada center. Clusters of women in cowboy boots surrounded us as we all headed indoors. By this time I knew I wasn't being treated to dinner, but still didn't know the full nature of what Rob had in store for me--until he placed the Rascal Flatts' concert tickets in my hand!

The stage was lit up from below, with a long panel screen running the length behind it, and huge picture cubes hung high over the floor seating area. A smaller circle stage was set up near the back of the floor seating, and a bridge was suspended up in the air which would later lower to temporarily join the two stages together while band members sang as they "crossed over".

Video played behind the band during the show, and the stage itself gyrated with color from song to song. Close to two hours of music rang out, with the pinnacle for me being, "He ain't the leaving kind", a song off their last album I kept wishing was performed during the previous album tour. As I stumbled through slush and snow, tired and grinning back to the car, I told Rob the rest of the trip could be absolute crap and it wouldn't matter because the concert was such a fabulous surprise.

Luckily the rest of the trip was not crap, although Rob did leave sick by the end with a cold bordering on bronchitis. The wedding itself was lovely (the reason for the trip to begin with), Rob's friends were wonderful, and our visit to the CN tower and the Hockey Hall of Fame proved entertaining--I was able to touch the original "lucky loonie" embedded at center ice during the 2002 Winter Olympic Ice Hockey games, and I also managed two goals out of five in the interactive shoot out, beating the young punks who cut in line ahead of us with a score of nil each who then complained about the "accuracy" of the game.

Did you know the CN tower gets struck by lightening an average of 75 times a year?


There were only a few stops we didn't make due to weather conditions and such, but I'm looking forward to covering more of T.O. when we head there for what will be part two of our wedding. :D