Exercise vs. Appointments

This is a battle I have faced with surprising frequency of late. In my post "Thing I'd Tweet if I Were On Twitter" one thing I said was "There's a hole in my bathroom ceiling, long story". Well, here's the story. In May we started noticing a bubbling in the bathroom ceiling above the drain. We told the upstairs neighbors and started the process.

Hector, our fantastic Super came and made the hole in order to see what the problem was to determine "the people upstairs or Management, who pays". It was the shoe (I don't know what that is but the plumbers agreed). Throughout the summer there was debate among their insurers and the Management company about who's responsible since the deed says Management but the bylaws said the neighbors. Originally, Liberty Mutual told my neighbors that the plumbing was covered. It took until August for it to come out that it isn't. At the end of August, the plumber came, while Zach was in school. Liberty Mutual approved of Hector's estimate for the drywall and painting but he's been away. He comes back tomorrow and will start soon a four day process of patching that hole.

But tomorrow Hector asked me to be around for my garage access. One of the people above my garage has an electric wheelchair and they need to set up the charger. Zach's in school four mornings a week now, 9 - 12:30 but you'd be surprised how quickly that gets sucked up.

Here's the walking schedule:

Mon - Thurs:
1. 45 minutes - 1 hour morning
2. 15 minute afternoon (sometimes but it's my goal)
3. 30 minutes after dinner
Total: 1 hour 15minutes to 1 hour 45 minutes

Fri:
1. 15 minutes (Zach)
2. 30 - 1 hour 15 minutes (the 30/45 for just me, a 1 hour as a family or 1 hour 15 minutes with Josh)
Total: 45 minutes - 1 hour and 30 minutes

Saturday/Sunday:
1. 45 minutes - 1 hour
2. 30 minutes
3. 15 minutes (sometimes)
Total: 1 hour 15 minutes - 1 hour 45 minutes

And that's the exercise battle. That's great exercise for a diet! But on appointment days I modify the 30 minute walk to be 45 minutes after dinner and Zach and I MAYBE do the 15 minute walk. That's 45 minutes to an hour. Now, to be fair, the minimum my Nutritionist recommends is 45 minutes to an hour but the extra is only helpful, especially with the bottle of water that accompanies most walks.

It effects my winter/rain exercise routines, the dance and gym routines less. Those take about an hour. I'd rather do them during the morning but I can always do them after dinner. But walking is what I do most of the year and that means making the time for it. It doesn't feel like enough if it's less then an hour a day.

These appointments are necessary. What made me think of this isn't just the bathroom stuff coming up and the wheelchair charger, they include my Nutritionist and my Psychologist once a month too as well as any other surprises.

I clean but not that often. It's a mix of "hard to do with Zach around because he wants to help so it takes at minimum double the time and is less clean" and "when Zach's home we do other things like that 15 minute walk which lasts 30 minutes but he walks slower and stops a few times so I can only count 15 minutes. He needs the exercise too". People always ask what I'll do when he starts school full time. That's when I'll clean, help at the school, and  exercise (appointment or not) That's REALLY when you loose weight! I also might coach a sport.