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By kilax, March 1, 2018 6:23 am

• The Winter Olympics are over! I’m pleased with how much of them we got to watch, despite not being able to select what we were watching, and having to listen to annoying commentary. Ha. I wonder how much we’ll use the antenna now. Maybe for the Oscars this weekend? (We used to be super in to the Oscars and even had a viewing party once!)

Luca sent me these cute Team USA mittens!

• I booked my April trip to Dallas for Luca’s birthday! Yay! I love the tradition of seeing him for his birthday. I wonder if I will get to try a Texan vegan donut while I am there…?
• We both enjoyed Black Panther! (Although I still tend to get bored during the “three fights going on at once” scenes at Marvel movies.)
• (NOT AN AD) Have you seen these bracelet helpers before? When I wear a bracelet with a lobster clasp, I have to have Steven help me put it on, but sometimes it’s too early in the morning to ask for help before I catch the train, so I got this thing and… IT WORKS! Yay! (You use the helper to hold one end of the bracelet steady while you use your free hand to secure the clasp.)

You use your other hand to clasp it, but I was using that hand to take the photo!

• I had some funky website issues yesterday (that were likely ISP related) that made me want to throw the towel in on this thing. I don’t want to spend time figuring out code anymore. I just want stuff to work. But that’s not how it goes when I’m using an old wordpress theme and outdated plugins! I should look in to that at SOME point.
• Speaking of frivolous blog stuff, I had a lot of draft blog posts – over one hundred and fifty, and recently deleted ninety-seven of them. So many of them were about healthy eating and weight loss. Gawd. Some were almost 10 years old! Delete. Delete. Delete!

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 169

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By kilax, September 5, 2016 9:23 am

I’m not sure if I am pooped from my Saturday long run,

moving back upstairs Saturday,

or my whirlwind Sunday trip to Iowa for my nephew’s birthday party (including LOTS of time in the bounce house),

but I sure am happy it’s a holiday!!!

The move on Saturday went well! Data was excited to assist:

Anne and Terry came over to help, (yay, so thankful!), and our new mattresses were delivered!

I’ll post “finished” pictures tomorrow!

Since we completed the move on Saturday, I was able to make a day trip to Iowa on Sunday for my nephew’s 8th birthday, and to see my dad’s mom, whose 80th is today!

It was such a treat to see them all!

And to have a lazy, lazy day after such an exhausting weekend!

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By kilax, August 5, 2016 6:58 am

Man! My arms were sore at strength class this morning! Ha!

We demolished almost all of the second floor ceiling yesterday, and got a ton out of the ceiling (can lights, etc.)… and this was all after a morning of moving the furniture out and putting up plastic to protect the carpet and walls.

Master bedroom

Guest bedroom

Hallway

I had to work a half day, and do today too, but luckily, we have help – because there is no way Steven and I could get this done on our own.

Oh, sorry, Steven, Data and me. Data is very helpful.

Not surprisingly, we’re discovering more (than planned) damaged things that need to be replaced. I demolished the entire linen closet (including the walls, not just the ceiling) because it was in bad shape. Check out the ceiling, ew:

And also not surprising, we’ve found some interesting things, like the linen closet walls being full of pieces of drywall. Okay, that’s one way to do backing…

Hopefully we get a lot done today and don’t get much further off schedule! We need to try to have everything done by Sunday night so the contractors can put the new ceiling in on Monday!

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By kilax, July 26, 2016 6:32 am

We’re making progress with jacking up the house – the middle of the house is where we want it, so on Sunday, Steven cut off the ends of the crappy joists in the basement and put in solid blocking.

Per (purr? ha ha) usual, Data likes to help with our projects, by observing me prying up the floor so Steven can fit in the blocking from the basement side:

and by stepping in front of the (borrowed) laser when measuring for levelness:

Disco Data!

We’re slowly getting there! We still have replace those two joists eventually. Baby steps!

And, on to a new project! Fun fact – we haven’t had any insulation in our attic since April! It was part of our FHA 203k streamlined work to have the old insulation removed, the attic cleaned and new insulation put in. However, there was so much damage from animals in our attic, we told the crew NOT to put the new insulation in. Why put brand new insulation in over a ceiling, ducts, and conduit, etc., extremely soiled by animal droppings? Yuck!

We planned to do it ourselves after cleaning out the attic (which we did on July 16) and taking down the ceiling in the second floor and installing a new one. However, when the bank came to take pictures of the work done so they could pay for the rest of the FHA 203k work, and saw that the insulation was not in, they said it HAS to be in for them to give the contractors that final payment. Okay, then.

So, the contractors will be back in August to put in new insulation. However, before they do that, we will:

• Remove EVERYTHING from our second floor (and sleep on the first floor)
• Tear out the second floor attic
• Install new ductwork, returns, etc. in the attic (yay! our old ones are so retro!)
• Install new lighting in the attic (yay! they’ll meet fire code!)
• And probably other stuff I am forgetting.

Then the contractors will come and put the new drywall ceiling up, spray “kilz” primer, cover any holes to the exterior, install new baffles, install new plywood in our secret secret attic, etc. etc.

After they do that, we’re going to put a catwalk (like this) up in the attic, so we can still get around up there after they put the insulation in. Then, they’ll come back in put the insulation in.

And hopefully after ALL THAT, it won’t sometimes smell barn-y in our upstairs, and the heat will be a little bit better regulated. Oh yes, and eventually, we will paint our new drywall ceiling. SHOULDER WORKOUT!!!!

Yay! August is THE MONTH to be in your attic! Muah ha ha.

Comments (20)

By kilax, November 27, 2013 6:22 am

Don’t worry! This is not a how-to… as usual, I am just asking you guys what you think!

The other day I posted this on my personal Facebook page:

Update: a lot of gifts are ordered. I am getting there! And Anne said she would help me wrap gifts in late December. Schweet!

It was kind of weird that I posted a link to my blog on my personal Facebook page, which I don’t think I’ve ever done before. I like to keep the two Facebook pages separate (for work privacy reasons, and to avoid content duplicity). 

But a lot of people post their blog links on their personal Facebook page, or post the same content on their personal page and their blog page. And I imagine some people post the same content across all platforms (blog, Facebook, Instagram, Twitter… what else is there?).

So I was just wondering, if you use more than one social media platform, how do you decide what to post, where? 

I keep my blog to one-topic posts (unless it’s Random Thoughts Thursday) that I have a bit to say about. I use my Facebook blog page to link to those posts and to post little things that I won’t blog about, or share links. So, I think of the Facebook page as supplemental “content.”

And my personal Facebook page… sigh. I would really like to go off Facebook, but I keep it going because I use it so much for my work as a personal trainer at Essential Fitness. And actually, my issue is separate from the question I asked above (ha ha, oops), since I am only on two platforms – the blog & Facebook. I struggle with what to post on the same platform. Since I started a Facebook page for my blog in June of 2012, I sometimes have a hard time deciding what to post there and what to post on my personal page. I try not to double post too much. Or if I post about the same thing on both, say something different or use a different picture. 

And yes! This post is completely hypocritical because I am doing exactly what I said I try not to – recycling “content” someplace else! Ha ha!

As always, this blog and the social media stuff is just for fun. I am not losing sleep over all this. Just wondering what your thought process is behind it all, if you use the same platforms – or especially if you use more! And since I obviously overthink everything, this post will probably help you understand why I stick to two platforms!

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By kilax, March 17, 2010 4:28 am

Do you guys listen to the Two Fit Chicks and a Microphone podcasts? I was first introduced to it through Perfect in our Imperfections and I am so happy I found it. I love to listen to it when I am working out. I get a lot of food for thought from it.

They have a segment called “Blogger News” where you can share anything that you find noteworthy. I actually shared some blogger news in their most recent podcast (it’s at the 39:10 mark).

And what was my blogger news? Well, admittedly, it’s not glamorous in nature, but something I am excited about – that I haven’t gotten sick at all this winter.

I know. What is the big deal and who cares? Well, this is the first winter I have eaten healthy and exercised consistently and not had one cold… so I have to imagine those three things are related!

I went to my go-to source, the Well blog on the New York Times, to look for information on how physical activity affects immunity and found some interesting information*:

• The risk of catching a cold or the flu drop if you exercise “moderately,” but if you exercise “intensely”** or for a prolonged period of time, the risk that you will catch a cold or the flu surpasses the risk of a sedentary person.
• Intense workouts and racing suppress the body’s immune response for a period of time immediately after you’ve finished exercising and that the longer the duration and the more intense the exercise, the longer the temporary period of immunosuppression lasts — anything from a few hours to a few days has been suggested.
• Once you’ve caught a bug, intense exercise can make the symptoms and severity worse. Viruses evoke an increase in T1-type helper immune cells which induce inflammation and are the body’s first line of defense against the virus. But if the inflammation continues for too long, the T1-helper cells become counterproductive and risk harming the host. The body’s immune system increases another type of immune cell, T2-helper cells, which produce mostly an anti-inflammatory immune response. In studies, moderate exercise suppressed T1 and increased T2 just a little bit, but intense or prolonged exercise may suppress T1 too much, which could shut down that line of defense before it has completed its work.
• Overall, you should listen to your body and be prudent in your exercise decisions. In general, moderate exercise, such as a leisurely jog or walk, may prop up your immune response and lessen the duration and severity of a mild infection, but be honest about your condition. If you don’t feel well, especially if you have fever or body aches, stop daily exercise until you are recovered. It is okay to exercise if you have a simple head cold or congestion — in fact, it may improve the he way you feel. Just would avoid heavy, prolonged exercise with a head cold, since it can unbalance that important T1 and T2-helper cell response.

In your personal experience, have you noticed any relationship between the amount and intensity of your exercise routine and immunity? Do you think more is involved? Or do you think it is completely random?

*Note, I hate that they test this stuff on mice. WTF? They mention studies done on both mice and humans. Can’t we just skip the mice studies? How similar are our immune systems? Ugh. This is just the vegan in me speaking out.
**Although definitions of intense exercise vary among researchers, most define it as a workout or race of an hour or more during which your heart rate and respiration soar and you feel as if you are working hard.