I'm still riding a high from receiving my runners yesterday; i'm so pumped :-)

I went for another walk on the treadmill and boy, do these runners ever make a difference compared to the hard, cheaper runners I was using before.  It will take a bit to get used to them, so i've brought them to work with me today and i'm going to walk around with them all day and hopefully break 'em in a bit.  I have a run planned for tomorrow morning which I was going to do outside, but I think i'll hit up the gym instead so I can use my new runners :-)

Now that boot camp sessions are over, i'm feeling fidgety and anxious because i'm not doing anything substantial for exercise right now.  But once I get back into running i'll be burning up the calories.  That's the plan, anyways!

I also got started on the first of my new books, "Dead Witch Walking"

(yes, i'm a fan of fantasy and folklore).  It was a hard start, but now that i'm almost halfway through it (speedy gonzales) it's starting to get more interesting.  The first book in a series is usually always a little slow.

It's really cold here this morning, minus 42 celsius with windchill.  Gosh, i've had enough of winter.  Enough!

I got my runners in the mail today!!! LOVE!

They are Mizuno Wave Rider 13's! It's like moving on air :)

The only issue with this is that I also received four brand new books to read. Oh gawd. What to do.

It's a comedic tragedy.

I was all set to write a new entry today, and on the main Diet Diaries page I scanned the forum headlines and the top one said "Buttermilk Pumpkin Walnut Muffins".

I just can't concentrate on an entry anymore.  I want a muffin.

Well, even though I was not feeling well yesterday (or maybe because I was not feeling well) I jumped on the treadmill at home for a quick walk.  I could definitely feel it in my calves, so i'm not very pleased with myself for getting away from the exercise - it only means i'll have to start at the beginning again.

Anyways, the little walk worked wonders.  The wee wittle walk worked wonders.

Not right away, of course, but I woke up this morning feeling tonnes better and without the full, bloated feeling of yesterday.  Gotta say i'm fairly certain it had something to do with my gall bladder, but let's move on.  I skipped breakfast this morning because I was scared the fullness would come back, opting for liquid heaven (coffee) instead, but brought some trail mix to work with me to snack on throughout the morning.  Love me some almonds!

I watched Glee last night - anyone else?  I was aware that the show's message had something to do with underage drinking, but I didn't really feel like they actually got to the point.  I kinda felt like they were kind of lax about the whole thing.  What did you think?  I was very happy that "Brittany" finally got to show some talent!  She's an awesome dancer.

I hope it warms up outside today so that I can take Dog for a walk after work so she'll stop with the puppy dog beggy eyes already :P  I also need to get a bank deposit ready and start working on the second draft of our slo-pitch team's logo.  Wow, I didn't realize I had such a full day ahead of me!

I think I would like to get through two weeks without having sickness bring me down.  I woke up this morning with an odd feeling in my stomach that I still haven't been able to shake and it's already well into the afternoon.

I had a lovely four-day weekend and am really not so happy about having to come back to work today :P  It will be so nice to get some holidays in at some point this spring - i'm hoping for two weeks in April just to wind-down from the winter and gear-up for the spring and summer.  I seriously can't wait for spring at this point.  I'm so irritated with the condition of the roads, the silly weather changing all the time, and the blinding snow.  I'm just done with it all!  I want to get back to bbq'ing and sitting out on the deck in my backyard, playing ball and enjoying the warmth of the sun.

No word yet on the status of the request to reconsider my wage.  I have a sneaky feeling it will take some time as our Human Resource dept has not been very willing to help out.

I have an errand to run after work today, but then I think i'll be heading home and trying to deal with this stomach thing.  I feel like I need a nap, but I always feel this way in the afternoon ;)

I'm glad I ranted yesterday about my job, and I appreciate all the comments and feedback and advice - I just didn't have anyone else to complain to :(

I've talked to my current supervisor and i've talked to my old supervisor. They tell me that the reason some people are at a higher pay grade ($8,000 per year more) is because of who they report to (i.e. they report to a Vice President, I reported to a Director). Since we all think that is utterly ridiculous and offensive, they will be advocating on our behalf to try and move the three of us into the higher level pay grade. If that doesn't work, i'll be writing a formal request for compensation during the time I worked two positions. It'll be a wait-and-see game.

I feel like I don't have the energy to put into being healthy; i've obviously gotten myself into a funk because of all this work stuff. I know that if I continue to exercise it will help me to at least be able to vent about it, so i'm going to try my best to attend boot camp tonight.

I have put off running for the time being, because 1) of stupid aforementioned funk and 2) I need new runners and i'm not going to continue to kill my shins because i'm too lazy to buy new ones.

I hope to get back to running and eating healthy. I always start my day off well, with oatmeal or a bagel, and I drink lots of water during the day. Lunch is usually small if not always healthy. It's dinner and the evening snacking that is my downfall right now. I just need to get myself motivated again.

Okay, I had a whole paragraph written out and then I x'd out of the internet and lost it all.

What I wanted to say was that I didn't have a great day yesterday. I am one of three people working in this area of the organization that did not receive a pay increase this year. I haven't received a pay increase since 2006. It would be fine if it had anything to do with budget cuts, but some people are getting a 37% increase. That's utterly disgusting and ridiculous. I can't even look forward to a cost of living increase. Please compare for me:  0% increase. 37% increase.

I'm disgusted with my employers, disgusted with the organization I work for, disgusted with the provincial government, and disgusted with the contracted company who performed the market rate analysis on behalf of the organization. What freakin' market did you analyze???

I'm also disgusted that I can do the work of two people for eight weeks straight and it can mean absolutely nothing at all, and yet my co-worker who walks around from office to office all day long chatting away can make approximately $25,000 per year more than I make. Hell, there are people in the same position as me that make over $8,000 per year more!

What is wrong with this picture?

I just have absolutely nothing to say.

A great start to the day:  Someone broke the inside door knob to the ladies' washroom, and we ran out of requisitions to get maintenance to fix it.  So I put a temporary sign up on the door until the Maintenance Supervisor can take a look at it:

"Out of order; door knob broken. If you wish to use, please take emergency cell phone along"

LOL!

Anyways.  It's going to be a busy day today at work, but not yet so that's why i'm updating now instead of later.  Two meetings, presentations going on all day long, food orders, blah de-blah blah.

LMAO - the Maintenance Supervisor just came into my office and said "we're good to go, and I mean literally". Oh, bust a GUT!

My treadmill came yesterday, but I haven't taken any pics of it yet.  It's very narrow, and is interesting to listen to when you get it going.  I did a short try-out on it yesterday.  It's kind of loud, so I blared the music over the noise of the treadmill.  I don't know that i'll be able to run on it, which is what I wanted it for in the first place, but that's okay.

Tonight is boot camp and maybe i'll see if some friends want to watch Charmed tonight as well.  Tomorrow is the first episode of Survivor!  Can't wait!

I wish the weekend wasn't over already :(

Friday I did some Wii Dancing and continued to clean the house. Saturday was more cleaning and then setting up for the party. I had been waiting for the treadmill I purchased, but they didn't call me until Sunday evening and I was doing other things. Hopefully today they will bring it after work, otherwise they'll be gone on holidays and I won't get it for another two weeks!

The party on Saturday night was great fun. It ended up that there were only two extra people that showed up that no one had invited. But they brought a grape salad, so I was instantly okay with them being there :) We had alioli with huge prawns and a spicy sauce, ribs smothered in BBQ sauce, a layered baked taco (sort of like lasagna, o.m.g. so good), baked veggies in cheese sauce, hashbrown casserole, and a yummy grape salad with pecans and brown sugar. Dessert was some chocolate fudge and a chocolate cookie cake, which we didn't even take a slice of since everyone had filled up on everything else!

We played a couple of games of guesstures, cuponk, and Wii Dance. It was hilarious and too much fun and I ended up staying up WAY too late and paying for it on Sunday. Thank goodness I only do things like this once or twice a year! Now I will have to concentrate on cleaning the house again for the next couple of days :)

I was going to run on Saturday morning, but was too busy and decided not to; Sunday was definitely a no-go; today is looking that way too, but if I do get the treadmill I might at least try it out and see what it can do. I also had a good talk with another friend that runs quite a bit and told him about my problems with my shins. He (well, mostly his gf) said more than likely it's my shoes. I guess I will have to bite the bullet and buy new ones.

My oatmeal tastes pretty blah; I should have brought some grape salad for breakfast ;)

Let's recap yesterday in point form because i'm feeling a little sick today and that is making it hard to think :

- In the morning, I left the house for work still in my pajamas. That was embarassing, and I didn't tell anyone about it until I posted it on facebook of all places for all to see. Oh well. People need to know that i'm not perfect, right?

  - Work was good, I comforted myself from the morning's style disaster with a hot mocha, drank lotsa water and tea in the afternoon and had another yummy slice of Oatmeal Quick Bread with peanut butter. Still have two slices left!

 - I bought an old treadmill off a coworker and hopefully they'll be moving it into my living room tonight!!! I can't wait to try it out! It's very old  like me; i'll take some pics when I get a chance.

- I got some groceries after work, but forgot the one thing I actually went to the store for - Almond Milk! That meant no oatmeal for me this morning. I can't handle it with water, it has to have milk in it. I made myself a double-toasted bagel instead.

- I cleaned the kitchen and in the process smashed a shot glass to smitherines on my ceramic tile floor.

Thankfully it was empty

- I went to boot camp and almost threw up. I spent most of the hour and a half staring at the girls' bathroom, stressing about whether to make a dash for the door. I became so incredibly angry with the instructor that there was pure rage boiling inside me. If he decides to make one more class all about legs, I will personally egg his car all by myself.

- After boot camp, I sat on the couch and froze my butt because I was too tired to draw myself a bath to warm up (well, and to clean the viel of cold sweat forming on my body). About an hour later I decided I was recovered enough to crawl to the bathroom and get it done.

- I took advil as soon as I woke up this morning, so while everyone else is complaining about last night's devilish boot camp class, for right now I feel no muscle pain. But my stomach is bugging me yet again.

- I work all day today, then tonight I have to keep cleaning the house. I thought i'd only have to host about a 1/2 dozen close friends for my party on Saturday, but it looks like that number is getting bigger. For some reason, there are people who think they're invited that I haven't actually invited. Hmmn. I smell surprise party. And i'm not sure I like surprises in my own house.