Freebies

Read about the FREEBIES on my other blog.

Priceline.com

I am a huge fan of http://www.priceline.com/. I have bid on hotel rooms three times since last summer. The first was to get a good rate on my personal retreat. The 2nd was a stay over in St. Louis during Thanksgiving. This past weekend was a girl's weekend in Chicago. All of these visit were under $50 per night! All three also were in the extended stay hotels that have kitchens. Since I bid on the hotel I didn't get to pick the specific hotel. I always choose 2 stars and above. It just happens that I got the kitchen each time.

This past weekend I bid $30 for one night on the outskirts of Chicago. I orginally bid the $30 for Chicago proper, but that was not successful. I was surprised and excited that I got the $30 price even on the outskirts of the city. We were only 20 minutes outside the city. There were 4 of us staying in the room. The great thing about priceline is that you are asked how many rooms but not how many people. When you bid it makes it clear that they can only guarentee space for 2 adults. What I did in this situation - I called the hotel itself and requested a room with two queen sized beds. There was an upgrade charge of $10. So the total of the hotel for each of us was $12.50!

So next time you are in need of a weekend away don't use the excuse that it will cost too much. Go on priceline.com and place in a ridiculously low bid and see what happens. I will definitely use this site then next time I need a personal retreat or a weekend away with the girls.

Do you Zumba?

I welcome the new readers who clicked over from Works for Me Wednesday.

Regular reader of this blog know about my life with Bipolar Disorder. For me exercise is not just a New Year's resolution - it is a key component in keeping my mental health stable. I have challenged myself to workout 210 minutes a week (the equivalent of 30 minutes per day). What works for me is adding a Zumba class to my work out twice a week. Zumba is like a dance party at the gym. It has merengue, salsa, hip-hop, mambo and other dance included in the workout. This Zumba website has locations of Zumba classes.

When I leave Zumba I feel tired, but my outlook on life is always better. I feel better about myself. This is definitely something I need during the hard winter months when it is easy to curl up and isolate myself. My gym is right around the corner and I am making friends that I look forward to seeing every week.

Updates

Giving Blood: I went back to the Blood Center last Friday and was able to successful donate blood. I drank ALOT of water. Then afterwords I rewarded myself with a Mountain Dew. I'm eligible to donate again on March 6th.

Going to the Gym Challenge: I did not goto the gym Friday after donating blood and I also skipped out on Sunday. I am going to still try to make it to the gym every day if possible. However I am going to change my challenge to minutes per week. Since I orginally was aiming for at least 30 minutes per day I am going to now make it 210 minutes (3.5 hours) per week. This week I am at 110 minutes. A hour yesterday on the treadmill and today 50 minutes at Zumba.

6/6

I have challenged myself to goto the gym everyday this year. At first I called it a resolution, but the more I thought about it challenge is a better term for this endeavor. While I do resolve to workout in 09 the challenge gives the resolution a backbone. So far I have made it 6 out of 6 days. Yesterday was the hardest. I really procrastinated til the last hour that the gym was open. Today I plan to go in the evening after AWANA at church. I like working out after a crazy night at church.

Update: My streak is now 7 out of 7 days - 280 minutes.

I added the minutes because technically I COULD walk into the gym and walk out and say that I went to the gym. My personal meaning of 'going to the gym' is atleast 30 mintues on the treadmill.

Donating Blood - eight weeks later

Today is my scheduled appointment for donating blood. I gave blood 8 weeks ago at my church's blood drive. I almost passed out so I set a goal of taking better care of myself so didn't pass out this time. Well passing out wasn't even an issue because they couldn't get the blood flowing :(
They tried and I didn't freak out that 3 technitions were messing with both of my arms. I did really well using controlled breathing to manage the situation. They kept asking if I was okay. "I'm breathing" I serious felt like saying "I'm doing my job, you do yours". Well the needle got a clog and long story short that was the end of my donating for the day. I can try again when my bruise heals - thanks guys! My donating buddy was able to give blood so next time I have to go it alone :(
The cool thing is that they were doing a special promotion - that I was unaware of - I got a $10 grocery store gift card. It is one that has a Starbucks in it!