New Job | New Changes

So it's been a little over two months since I've started my new job. With the new job came some new adjustments; ones that I don't like and ones that I do. I wanted to take some time out of my busy day to review them for you. We will start with the cons first.

CONS: 

• Losing the belly fat that I had spent so much time losing months before has become harder. Because I spend most of my day sedentary, my body has formed a new shape. Not only have I continued to work on my glutes, which I just discovered grew an inch and a half since the last time I measured, my waist has expanded as well. Which seems weird to me. And even though I work out, I am seeing the slowest results ever. During my time at the desk as I research this topic, I came along this Lifehacker article (this is one out of hundreds I found) that talked about the dangers of sitting all day. I saw results so quickly when I worked in retail that I didn't realize how much standing up and walking around attributed to my quick results. Now I do & I've been trying to find other ways to incorporate fitness into my job. I thought about buying a balance ball to sit on but I didn't find too many positive articles about that so I've moved on to the mini stair stepper under the desk. Somehow I'm also going to have to move around at work more often, even though I'm just the receptionist. Since I get an hour lunch break, I sometimes walk to the grocery store to get out into the fresh air. And because I don't want fitness to devour my life and free time, I'm thinking about taking 5 am seriously and working out then. I've been avoiding that idea but it's kind of necessary at this point. 
• We miss Mike. We don't have any days off together. He hadn't taken vacation in over two years so he's been requesting off here and there to use it up but what happens when it runs out? Apparently he can't switch with someone on Sundays, which would be great for us. Saturdays are a no for his job. Luckily we are all home when he gets home but by then it's bed time pretty much. Sat night to Sunday brunch time is our only real time together as a family. I hope he gets a new, better job in the future or at least eventually get Sundays off. 
• Because I make a few dollars more than my old job, we no longer get help through the government for anything. I have no problem coming out in saying that. We struggled at times at our old place, with my old job, that we had to turn for help sometimes with food. We no longer get that help and will now live paycheck to paycheck again. This is a pro and a con in a way. All I've ever really known was to be "poor". I've lived a pretty good life in this state so I don't necessarily think money really has anything to do with happiness but at times, it has a lot to do with stress relief. We live a simplistic life, probably  most in part because of our finances, and I am grateful for that. Now that we don't get any help, we will now have to pay with our own money for groceries. Still broke, still making it. Our diet has slowly changed from a lot of processed food to better foods and I am crossing my fingers that we can still make it work on $50/$60 a week (new challenge). 

PROS:

• I get to do things on the weekend if I want. Like how I just ran the Blacklight Run with friends last weekend, as shown above. You can see more at my Instagram if you're on there but I'm sure you didn't miss it. It was a B L A S T. It made me so happy to be there and I look forward to future fun runs. 
• I have my son back. When I worked in retail, my baby would have to leave every weekend to stay with family so I could make my measly, shitty paycheck. Sometimes he would have to stay at my family's house during the week as well because I would have to work late & so would Mike. It was just terrible. I would cry a lot because I barely got to see him as much as I'd like to. Especially when he started school. Just thinking about it makes my eyes teary. Fortunately, that doesn't happen anymore. 2 years of that bullshit is done. My son is with me every weekend (unless it's a rare time where he decides to stay with family) and every single night I pick him up after work. It's my favorite thing about changing jobs. 
• My priorities in life have shifted dramatically. All my internet reading is done during the day so that when I get off, my brain is shut down from work and technology. I barely open my computer when I get home. We stop by the grocery store, I do the laundry, tidy up, help X with his homework and hope everything is done within the two hours that Mike is suppose to be home so that we can all spend time together. And if it's not done, I don't fret about it. Life is too short to stress about things not being perfect and I know that for sure now. I can feel it in my bones. My family is my focus. While their focus might not be me, I hope they know how much I put into things just so I can be "mentally and physically" with them, even if they are playing video games or watching a movie. 
• My health. I've spent a good part of these two months shifting my health. And I really hope to goodness that I'm able to stay as great as I feel now even paycheck to paycheck. Speaking of health, I now have health insurance. But because I'm still broke as a joke, I qualified for insurance through the government. To get similar insurance through my job, I would have had to pay $55 a WEEK instead of less than 30 a MONTH. I am so grateful for that. It felt so nice to see a doctor recently. I regret not choosing the PPO plan instead of the HMO but I'll do that next year. And as we incorporate Paleo into our life, my health has been gradually getting better. My family is full of ups and downs, regarding health which is why we've chosen to eat as primal as possible. We're not hardcore but it has helped us SO MUCH to step away from processed foods. I can tell a difference in myself (since I take it the most seriously) and I'm starting to see a slow change in everyone else. 
• Oh and I secretly have time to catch up on my shows either during lunch or when the little guy goes to bed. I'm addicted to Archer. 

Oh my goodness did I even mention that we moved into a new place? Where is my head right now. I guess I talk so much on IG that this blog always gets the back end of the stick. Plus, I never know who even reads this anymore. I really just blog because I like to do it, even if no one is reading :)

Dallas Sci-Fi Expo 2014

So we don't always stay home. Our irregular schedules never let us have a full day together but we try to get out when we can. Mike put in for vacation time recently and we chose to use that time to attend the Dallas Sci-Fi Expo. I am not a hardcore nerd. I do enjoy nerdy things (Big Bang Theory, Doctor Who, Sherlock, Adventure Time) but that's as far as it's gone so far. My boys, on the other hand, are gamers. The love Minecraft, Guild Wars, Garry's Mod, World of Warcraft etc. Mutually we share a love for Marvel movies, as well as Doctor Who & Star Wars. Because we made the last minute decision to attend, we didn't have enough time to prep as a family. The only person dressing up would be Xavier and he ended up going as Boba Fett.

This was the last DCC event at the Irving Convention center and with good reason. Dallas Comic Con has exploded! The Irving Convention Center just could not hold this many people. The lines were incredibly disorganized. We waited outside for awhile. We had pre-purchased our tickets (thank goodness) but had to get back in line once we picked them up. I would have hated to have gone with my original decision to get tickets once we got there. 

There were lines for the escalator and the space to get off on each floor was so small! I didn't feel like I could genuinely look around. The main reason we went there was to get an autograph by Karen Gillan, our favorite Doctor Who companion. There were many spectacular guests but Karen was our goal. Boy, did I not plan well for that. Her line was out the wazoo & pretty much for VIP only. So ex nay on that. The little guy DID get to see her from afar and he blushed so hard and wanted to get out of there. So we went back downstairs where everyone went goo-goo for the little Boba Fett in attendance.

We left about an hour after we got there. Mike was upset about that. There was just no room to move around or do anything at all. I didn't pay to people watch. I'm pretty thrilled that Dallas Comic Con is moving to the Dallas Convention Center. That space is incredibly large compared to this and maybe we can make it for some Q&A's! Plus, I promise my boys that this time we will stay much longer than an hour. DCC actually has three events each year: Sci-Fi Expo in Feb, Dallas Comic Con in May and Fan Days in October. May is the huge one and one we are most excited about. DCC somehow ends up getting great guests for the show and I can't wait to give them another chance. It took me three times to find something at a Thai restaurant I liked all for the sake of my man (it's his favorite and my least) so I'm PRETTY sure this next event will go off well for all of us.

 I got a new camera (Nikon D7100) and I'm excited about taking it out that day to snap photos and make some videos for everyone to see. If you live in the Dallas area (or Texas really) go like the Dallas Comic Con Facebook page to keep up to date with their events. Also, check out the smaller (if that's more your style) Dallas Comic and Pop Expo which has been created recently as well! I was suppose to volunteer for them but the little guy got sick so I had to cancel. I only snapped three pictures from the Sci-Fi Expo and all with my phone. So this is all I have! 

Hello March

I'm alert. I'm alive. I'm still here. 

What a month. We moved into our new apartment on Valentines Day. Mike had to work all weekend and I was pretty much in charge of everything. Thankfully, my family helped me out both Saturday and Sunday & we ended up throwing half of my house away. Okay, not really throwing them away but I gave them to my Aunt to sell in her garage sales. Any extra money would be great for me. 

I'm currently sitting in the dark, in our living room, on our make shift pallet couch. Who knew we had so many blankets? Our little guy has had the stomach bug all night & he finally decided to catch up on his sleep. My heart pours out to him & I slept on this hard wood floor with him just to help him when he woke up to get sick. You know how kids can get confused, waking up in the dark. The moment I heard his body shift & start making suckle sounds, I woke up & got ready to pounce. Every time he opened his eyes and started to cough, his mama was there to lift him up and pull the trash can near. Poor guy. We finally got to sleep around 430 but woke up at 7 when Mike woke up. 

It's too bad we can hear every single thing in this apartment. It's much smaller than our old one and it seems like the noises are intensified. It's a good thing the little guy sleeps so well or he'd be getting up at 4:30/5 every morning with us. I hate closing his door. I'm paranoid of intruders now that we live on a lower floor. Hell, I seem to be paranoid of everything. 

I'm still trying to balance new budgets, new off days, etc. I have yet to get a crock-pot list together, which I would love to do. I could totally get dinner going in the morning & have it ready by time I get off work. I'm just having trouble finding low sodium, healthy crock-pot dinners. Any suggestions?

I never blog anymore. I really miss the days when I was most passionate about blogging. The connection with readers; the feeling I would get when I found new blogs to read. Blogging doesn't seem like that anymore. A lot of people start blogging now to make money. But blogging to make money is hard work. Keeping readers is what you should be focused on. Combing your craft. Developing content. Interacting with the people who care enough about you to stop by and see what you read. I wish so much for blogging to get back to its core. I'd love to rally the troops but I think I'm too paranoid to do it. I don't have the confidence for it. Hell, my work even knows about  my blog. What's a girl to do after that? Can she even really express herself without expecting consequences? I have shit like that to worry about now. It's only a matter of time before my family finds it. I mean really, if I'm so weary about it, why do I even have a public blog. Maybe this is it. Maybe blogging is what I've been waiting for. I mean, if the whole world sees what you think, you can't turn your back on it. You can't turn your back on yourself to keep the peace. Maybe that's why I blog. I blog to be myself and force myself to be okay with it because I lack the self confidence otherwise. It really is therapeutic, huh?