What's Happening?

January was filled with sickness for me. I am usually the last one in my house to catch what's going around, IF I even get sick at all. Well, I had worked with the photography company for a few days, two of them being with pre-schoolers, and two days after that I was hit with the stomach bug. I. Do. Not. Vomit. So, I was awoken with intense stomach pain at 5 am on a Saturday and then suffered the rest of the day in bed, fighting the urge to throw up. I know. I know. I would have felt better had I let it out. I WILL NEVER KNOW!

Due to the stomach virus I took in very few calories. I even made Charlie go out and get Popsicles, because that's all I could think of tolerating. There were several days of slowly increasing my solid foods as my stomach could handle them. And then days after that I got a horrible cold. After about a week I went to the doctor to make sure it wasn't strep throat or bronchitis or pneumonia. I babysit my niece's kids and I didn't want to pass anything on to them. All the tests were negative.

So, all that was a good jump start to my weight loss goals! But seriously, being sick isn't fun. I am down 7 pounds since January 2nd. And since being cleared to do anything I want after 16 weeks off I've been doing a lot of walking. I still haven't renewed my gym membership so I am pretty limited to what I can do. My daughter has started a healthy lifestyle change, as well, and we've been walking together as much as possible. I bought her a Fitbit so she can easily track both her diet and exercise and she loves it so much more than lugging her phone with her everywhere. I am involved in my local running store's February Miles challenge, where the minimum goal is to walk or run a mile a day (bronze level). 13 days in and I'm still at it, even after having some really horrible weather here and having to walk between my house and my neighbors house in my snow boots about 100 times. I don't think I'll hit the silver level of the challenge. That's a minimum of 75 miles. It was only 2.68 miles averaged a day, but the weather and my new job hasn't cooperated with that.

Oh, yeah, I got a new job! Or another job, if I can squeeze the photo job in with this part time job. This past year the bills have just piled up with two kids in college now and having a seasonal job with a seasonal salary I could never count on was really part of the problem. I wanted to take some of the stress and burden off of Charlie's shoulders, even though he never complained to me. I knew the library would be hiring because my son recently got a promotion from one department to another and they would need to fill his position. I applied right before New Year's Day, interviewed on January 3rd, had a second interview a couple of weeks later and started working on the February 3rd! I'm a page in the Reference and Adult Services department, which entails shelving materials, covering the copy/fax room and DVD room, setting up classrooms for programs, etc. So far I'm covering the easy stuff, like shelving, and as I progress they will add more tasks and responsibilities. So far, so good. And the library offers their employees so many benefits, like paying into a pension, different investment programs and insurances. One of the best perks is that when the library closes due to inclement weather and you were scheduled to work, you get paid for your shift! I got paid to shovel my driveway on Thursday!! WOO HOO!

I think it will work out well. I have always loved being at the library, borrowing books, printing things for free (up to 5 free prints!), using the computers... My kids spent hour upon hour at children's programs, summer after summer, when they were small. And I know so many people that work there. Having grown up right in the community, I've either worked with co-workers in the past, or they're my kids' friends or their friends' parents! So very strange! I saw my son in the break room and I said to him "This is weird," and he replied "No, it's not!" I think I had to pick my jaw up off the floor! And to hear my superiors compliment me on raising my son well, what "a delight he is to work with" and how annoyed they are that he defected to another department! LOL I can't hear enough good things about him. I guess I can take credit for that, along with Dad, right? Hope I make him as proud as he makes me.