Monday, September 30, 2013

window "art"

When I pulled into my driveway this afternoon, I had to look around my yard for the bird.

You see, when I pulled into my driveway and parked, I noticed three bird imprints on the front window of the house. Three. On one, you could see the feather outlines, where the beak had hit, and there was a line of bird poo running down the window. Yeah, it hit that hard.

We've had the windows for several months now, and yes, when the sun is reflecting off them just right in the evenings, they can look like sky. Still. Three. I was surprised to find no corpses. Made me wonder if the neighborhood hawk had already found it or something. I once saw that hawk carry off a dove that had been hit by a car and couldn't fly any more.

Do those sticker things work to keep the birds from trying to fly through the windows?

Dang birds plyaing chase through my yard...

Sunday, September 29, 2013

Where are my Endorphins?

SO, I've been working on the healthy bit. I've gotten to that stage in life where you can use what you got, or loose it. I'm trying not to loose it, although I've come pretty close. I use for inspiration, some of the people who have more serious health issues than I do, and I am happy NOT to have them as well. Still, I deal with high blood pressure, and diabetes, and arthritis has its nasty claws in my joints.

One of the things I have learned that I must do is exercise regularly. It is simply not something I can let slide. I've been doing well with it, actually, and I can feel some health benefits. It is easier in general to move and get around. Knees and hips work better, and less painfully. I've built some muscle and stamina. Yay! You could think that might encourage me to push further, and do more - and I don't mean go crazy with the whole thing, but just, you know, more. Nope. Not so much. In fact I still have to push myself to get on that stationary bike and RIDE, darn you! Sigh. I keep thinking, I get positive feedback from my body for doing this, so why doesn't choosing it get easier? When do the endorphins kick in?

At this point, I have notice that my general activity level has increased, so perhaps I _am_ doing more, just not in the way I feel is official.

My next healthy goal is to get more sleep. Now, I'm not normally an insomniac, so I'm not complaining about being unable to sleep. (is it wrong that sometimes I've thought it would be helpful to be insomniac, I could do stuff when I wasn't sleeping? But, who am I kidding? I would read or watch TV, not clean or paint the house or anything...) Back to the topic, though. I'm not unable to sleep, I just have pushed my bedtime back to about midnight. I don't function as well, running on 6 hours of sleep as I do 7 or so. I work well on 7. Once in a while, no big deal, but every night is not a good idea. I know I'm tired. When I have to sit at my desk to do some work there, it ends up a struggle to stay awake. I've also been reading that getting adequate sleep helps to keep blood sugar lower. So, I'm putting myself on notice. Bed by 11. 10:30 is even better. Except on weekends, and I can actually sleep in & get the hours.

Still, it is past my bed time now...  How are your health goals going?