Paper cuts, Cars, & The Treadmill

Last night I could not make it through the last hour of work. I had a horrible headache and could barely hold my eyes open. I'm not sure what that was all about, but I closed my office door, turned off the lights, layed down on the couch, and went to sleep. I slept for about an hour, and really felt no better than I did before I went to sleep. I drug myself across the street for supper. I was hoping that a light supper and a cup of coffee would ease the headache. Lucky for me, it did. I still didn't feel that great though. Roommate had to work late and her daughter didn't get out of practice until late. I stayed at the Depot until Depot Son brought Daughter from practice. By this point in the game, going to church was out. I figured I would have to wait on Son to get off work so I could take both kids home since I didn't know what time Roommate would be coming in. Just when Daughter was finished with supper and Son was off work, Roommate got off work. She called in her order and was there a few minutes later. It's so cool that her new job is so much closer than the old one. When she came in, she was carrying a box filled with a huge stack of papers, envelopes, stamps, and address labels. Confidentiality issues prevent me from sharing what the papers were, but that doesn't matter anyways. She looked so tired. I asked what all of that was and when it had to be completed. Of course, it had to be done before she arrived at work this morning, so I did what any good friend and roommate would do; I started folding papers! I did a lot of that sort of thing in college, and though it's not rocket science, I have the act of folding and stuffing down to an exact science. Others joined in on the work too. How awesome are we? Anyways, I was at one table folding away, and they were at another table, stuffing, labeling, stamping, and taping. Somewhere along the way, I managed to slice open the pointer finger on my right hand. It hurt immediately. Enough pain for me to whine about, but not enough to slow me down. Then I went to the restroom. Completely forgetting about the open wound on my finger, I pumped the soap into my hands and went to work. I wanted to scream!!! It was so awful. When I got home last night, I did the same thing. Then I did it again when I was washing my face. Luckily, I found a really cool band-aide in my drawer. The adhesive part is clear and water proof. Looking at the outside of my hand, you can't even tell that I have on a band-aide. It is so cool. My finger hasn't bothered me one bit since I put it on. Who knew?

After I left the Depot last night, I had to drive up the mountain to make a cigarette-run. Nothing new there. But on my way back down the mountain, the "service engine soon" light came on in my car. I have had my car almost four years, and this has never happened. It freaked me out so bad. Dad came by this morning and checked it. Through a tragic chain of events during a routine oil change at WalMart a few months ago, I no longer have a dipstick, so I cannot check the oil in my car. Do you know one more person in the world who can say that WalMart broke their dipstick? Seriously. Anyways... the oil needs to be changed, but it's probably not low because I have seen the oil light before, and it's not shining. So I'm good there, I think. The water was a little low, so Dad filled that up. The belts appeared to be OK, from what he could see. Also, my tires are good too. That makes me feel better. I drive on the craziest, bumpiest, rockiest roads imaginable, and I always have a fear that my tires are going to blow at any moment. I'm not sure why I freak out so badly about that, but I do. It makes me feel a lot better knowing that Dad said they were OK. He said that I probably need to have a tune-up and have the oil, oil filter, and air filter changed. So I'll get my mechanic right on that. Especially considering that I'll be making a mini-road trip next weekend.

Last week, Roommate set up the treadmill. I have never been on one in my entire life, and was a little scared to try it. A few months ago, I sent my cousin a Myspace comment that was a video of a girl trying to run onto a treadmill that was already going. She trip and fell and smashed her face on the handle, and was then flung across the room. It was a funny video, but I wasn't wanting to do a reenactment! Finally, this morning, I woke up early enough and with enough intestinal fortitude to climb on. I enjoyed it a lot! It's not nearly as hard to stay on it as I thought it would be. I started off and the slowest level of course. After about thirty seconds, I stepped it up half a level. Then another half. I did a good five minute warm-up, the stepped it up to 2.5. I did that for about ten minutes, then I went to 3.0 for a minute, then I went to 3.5 for nine minutes. Then for the last five minutes, I began to steadily slow it down. It was awesome. When I was trucking away on 3.5, there was once that I almost did go off the back, and once that I stepped on the side part. That was almost tragic, but I maintained. I worked up a sweat, but I really enjoyed it. The coolest part was that it kept me at the same pace. When I'm walking, I have a bad habit of slowing down and speeding up. There was none of that this morning. I kept up the pace the whole time. I also looked ridiculous because I was swinging my arms up and down and all around. I was trying to get my heart rate up, and also, trying to figure out how to work off some of the "extra" parts of my arms. Hahaha. All in all, it was great start to my morning. It gave me time to think through a few little situations that I'm dealing with and I decided what I was going to wear today. That usually takes me a while. When I was finished, my legs weren't quite with me. Every step that I took, I felt like the floor was moving! It took me quite a while to overcome that. Finally, I did. What a great start to the day! Can't wait to hop on again in the morning!