The Seven Most Exciting Things I Did Today

In my news today:

1. I got my heart looked at....and by looked at they laid me down had me hold "really still" and did a 12 lead EKG on me. It was 60 bpm, normal sinus rhythm. What do you know. Strange and all since the times when I'm having trouble are when I'm not "really still," but actually fairly active...even just standing up would have shown a difference I'm sure. It's not every day that you get to take your shirt off for a complete stranger though while chit chatting about the weather though. That I suppose, made it completely worth it. I have what the nurse called "a bad heart" meaning paroxysmal atrial tachycardia (PATs). There is absolutely nothing that can be done to fix it. I will have it forever. They put me on a beta blocker. My pulse has been running 56 bpm ever since then. My boss/coach called me today to find out the results and informed me that "this will decrease my performance," but that he had another guy that went on beta blockers and within a year he was much better. There is hope at the end of the tunnel. I just need that tunnel to be in just under six months. We'll see what happens I suppose.

2. I got the new Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research Vol. 22 No. 1 in the mail today. Some great reading material lies ahead for me. Very scholarly articles, yet sometimes I wonder the usefulness of the studies done. Take this article for instance: Assessing Pedometer Accuracy While Walking, Skipping, Galloping, Sliding, and Hopping. REALLY? Who cares? When as a coach am I going to slap a pedometer on someone and say, "Okay, now I want you to start Zone 1 HR walking for 5 min. Then proceed into skipping for your Zone 2 HR for another 5 min, leading into a full on gallop for 40 min in your Zone 4 HR. For your cool down add in some hopping, and end with a slide. We should throw in some jazz hands in there too so you look like a complete freak show on the sidewalk." Like I said, usually well written and researched articles. Sometimes I guess I just don't know why. I might save a few brain cells and skip that article.

3. I skipped school.

4. I told my daughter that her sperm donors mother was moving out his stuff, put his place up for sale, and that she probably wouldn't see him for awhile...if at all again. She got a somber look on her face, buried her head in my chest, and cried two big sobs. Then to my surprise she sat up, looked at me and said, "Do I get all of my toys over here now?! Can we go sledding at that big hill by our house?" It appears that sitting your child in front of the TV for movie after movie after movie doesn't really create the type of bond that you would have probably been wanting after five years. She went to sleep peacefully in her bed by 8 o'clock tonight. Holla to the Big Guy for that one.

5. I had work to do today. My last day is next Tuesday. Holla to the big guy for that one too. I never thought that after working for five years for someone that I would feel this happy about leaving and having no income. No income is better than income with dishonest people writing the cheques (It's a Canadian spelling. I can do that now. I'm marrying a Canadian.)

6. I realized what a horrible communicator I am when I ran into a friend's mother in the store today. She said, "Lindsay (yes that's really her name) has been trying to get a hold of you FOREVER!" I floundered around for a bit saying, "Didn't she change her phone number? yada yada yada." She had changed her phone number, but that was this week and she has been trying to get ahold of me since November I believe? Wow, I'm sucky. She wants to know about doing medical transcription (AKA my job). I told her I'm not the person to talk to that I hated my job, quit it, and am now unemployed. I don't think that made her feel any better about me never calling her daughter back. The phone works both ways. I can't feel that bad.

7. I realized for the millionth time how sucky American Health care is. I go to the low income clinic when I go. It's been five years since I've been there, but still, I go. This is because I'm a single mom/student/unemployed person who doesn't have the money to dump into insurance. I'm not eligible for any kind of assistance with insurance because I own a car. In the states mind, apparently I could sell my vehicle, drop out of school, and walk to the nearest McDonalds where I would be working the day shift because that would be the only place I could get a job. It makes no sense to the state to go to school or to own reliable transportation. The people who can get assistance are the people who are going to sit on it for the rest of their lives because they are too lazy or too stupid to figure out that there is better in life than sitting around doing nothing serving hamburgers. (Please forgive me if you work at McDonalds. I have nothing against them except their disgusting food and horrible service. I never go there so my opinion really shouldn't count for anything.) I cannot get assistance with childcare because I go to a four year college where in the end I will have a better job and make more money versus a technical college or community college where I would only spend six months to a year getting a certificate to make the same amount of money or less than I was making before I quit my horrendous job. (The job just keeps getting worse as I write.) It makes no sense to them to get a four year education. They instead insure the drug addicts, the crazies, the people who don't take care of themselves, the lazy people who don't plan on working another day in their lives. I know these things. I saw them all in there. I'm not judging them. I just would like the same health benefits that they are getting. It seems that for an insurance company to look at me compared to them I would cost them a lot less. I'm low maintenance, every five years for heart problems and I'll probably die younger because of it all. I don't get it.

I guess that's it for now. My day in a nutshell. Glad I could share it.

Night.