Fitness weekend

SB snapped the picture too soon but the battery was running out so I’m sucking up and posting this icky one. Post 5k walk just now. Which seems pretty short after doing a few 3-days and doing a few 5 mile walks just for fun this year, but it was my first ‘event’ walk in a couple of years. Nice, level route mostly too which is rare around here! It was fun participating with a gals who all work out together. We still did our circuit training Sat morning, just eased off the leg work so that we were fresh for today. Which means we really hit the arms heavy – ow! No, that Aflac duck in my right hand is not all that heavy…just the early shutterbug and that my right shoulder kinda hurts! But, I successfully used 15lb hand weights yesterday! After just 5 classes and then upping the weights I use at home to 10lbs. Not bad considering I could barely lift the 12lb weights the first class.

And now I can relax…you know..clean the house, do laundry, groceries, help SB study for his science final. Sure. Relax.

Friday Obsession and Drivel

Adam Lambert

My youngest accused me yesterday of being “obsessed” with Adam from American Idol. Yes, and? What’s the problem with that little boy? It’s funny how seriously irritated he gets at me for it. It’s also funny how easy it is to tease him about it! Look kiddo, it’s a fun distraction which brings me some joy and a reason to dance – what’s so bad about that? Oh yeah, 12 year olds don’t probably cannot appreciate the importance of these little diversions. At least MusicMan and SweetPrince get it. SP even asked me to make a copy of the CD I burned from my itunes collection last night Good – that means he wont object too much when I drag him to Adam’s first solo tour some time next year!

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Do you have a “witching hour?” A time when, if you are woken up from sleep, you just know you will be wide awake and not able to fall back right away? It’s 2-4am for me and it’s usually a) cats, or b) MM coming home or just getting up to get something from the kitchen. I’m doomed when that happens. Toss and turn for at least an hour. Frustrating!

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I’m going back for more with the personal trainner tomorrow! I’ll eat my normal breakfast this time and drink/bring plenty of water and just be overall more mentally prepared for the work out so hopefully I wont have to take a dizzy break!  I’ve been using the what-now-seem-like-wimpy 4lb hand weights evey night to keep my arms loose and also picked up MM’s 10lb weights to work them in. The hand weights they had at the gym were 12lbs!! No wonder I could only do three sets of curls before my arms wanted to fall off and refused any further attempt to lift them!  Wish me luck. I have another crazy assed weekend with pop warner player evaluations and two baseballgames for SportsBoy. Don’t ask me when grocery shopping or laundry or anything will get done!

Serentity Now!!

Hello..hello..hello……..?

I tell ya, if not for blog stats showing me that more peeps than ever are clicking in, over the past month or so I would think that I am largely talking to myself

Now, I could start stomping my feet throwing a hissy fit and such and order you all to “COMMENT dammit!” but that would not be very accomodating. Plus, it would also be hypocritical ’cause I don’t comment very much around town either. And while I write in here mostly to get stuff outta my head and not really for attention..well…a little comment love now and then does not hurt. But you gotta give to get and I realize that I truly need to cut down on the items in my Google Reader. I skim way too much which is just not fair to some really wonderful friends. So this weekend I shall be marginally brutal and cut out some Reader items and also vow to drop at least a comment a day around bloggy land – heck maybe even 2 or 3!

So, here’s a few questions to spark some conversation (hey, if you are on WordPress, have you noticed that we can Reply to specific comments now? Totally cool)

Are you watching American Idol? If so, dare I ask what you think of Adam? I’ve been playing on another site where they discuss Idol and I am floored a bit by the Adam hate and blase opinions about him. I keep joking that you might as well call me Paula because I absolutely melt when he sings. I’ve bought all his Idol songs and listen to them at least once a day. Mad World and Tracks of My Tears are my favorites and I suspect that If I Can’t Have You will move up to the top. Yes, I do prefer his slower stuff as Simon predicted – that man is always right! I figured out this week why I love Adam so much though – he reminds me of Steve Perry. Same vocal range and same ability to get into a song inside out and pour his soul into it.

I described the last 5 contestants like this: 3 boring white guys who can sing, but otherwise are a dime a dozen (Danny, Kris, Matt with Kris as the best of that group), 1 gay glam rocker who is one of the best entertainers ever on the show (Adam) and one Latina teen rocker who is a firecracker of vocal ability (Allison). Can you tell I want it to come down to A vs A? What do you think of the Top Five?

Are you a sports fan at all? I love this time of year when baseball is getting started and hockey and basketball are in their playoffs. Tons of fun to watch. I’m rooting for the west coast hockey teams (Sharks & Ducks). I will root against the Lakers as long as Kobe is on the team so, I’ll root for the young MVP who has proved to be a stand up guy – Go Cavs! And of course, my baseball team is the Padres who are off to a rather miraculous start. We are going Saturday night with a group from work to get ourselves an old school 1969 jersey. The Padres are celebrating their 40th season all year with some really nice give aways.

Can you even believe I am going to work out with a personal trainer on Saturday?!! I go to an old friend’s 40th b-day party last weekend and end up with a damn trainer! Heads may have to roll It’s actually a group session and the trainer *assures* me she can handle a total work out wimp who should best be described as ‘couch potato’ at this point. Have you ever worked out with a trainer? Do you love it? Hate it? Why?  And will you give me mouth to mouth when I pass out? ;->>

Sunday cat blogging – the sweet life of Chip and Amber

First though, evidence of a klutzy moment in my life today.

Wii Fit is dangerous!!

Ok, it’s not the Wii Fit. It’s me. My current workout with the Wii Fit is to do the Free Step aerobic program while watching tv. I incorporate my 4lb hand weight routine while I do the stepping. It’s easy really since the Free Step has a steady beat that doesn’t vary and doesn’t really take a tone of my concentration. Well, at least I didn’t think so! Today I had a slight problem with coordination and wacked my left thumb with a weight. It stung of course, but I kept on going. Towards the end of the 30 minute routine I looked down and noticed a bit of a bump forming. And some blue bruising already showing. Still no real pain, but the thumb was certainly not happy. I iced it for about 15 mins after I finished the workout (hey, I am not about to let a little injury deter me from exercising! :0) Now several hours after the incident it looks like this:

Just a little purple bump. No big deal. Of course, I did notice that it hurts…oh..a shit-ton if I put to much weight on it..weight such as a container of left over spaghetti. OUCH. I am sure this will be interesting to see how often I knock the snot out of this hand now that my thumb is injured. Sigh…

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The Sweet Life (or not) of Chip and Amber:

First, they spend the morning making sure everything is going along to their liking out in the back yard. Even if mom has stupidly left the shades down so low that there is only two inches of clear viewing. Chip would like me to tell you that the camera makes his ass look fat and so he is protesting this shot. Amber says it looks like a pretty fair representation of how she looks 22/7:

Yes, Amber does sleep. A lot. In often fascinating positions. Relaxing is not a problem for her. However, there are a couple of hours in the day when stuff happens and she just MUST stick her nose into things:

Of course, we all know what curiosity does to the cat, right? Oh yes. Chip is just as guilty. The other night Amber was sitting in front of the cup board just staring intently at the doors, occasionally meowing and scratching at the bottom. Now, she will do that when it is Treat Time, but they had *just* gotten their treats and I was cooking and it was so weird. I kept telling her to cut it out, be quiet, don’t be so greedy, etc etc. Finally I realized that I was hearing scratching even though she wasn’t moving. Uh oh. So I looked at little closer at the doors:

Can you see the hint of white behind there? Yeah. About this time Amber is thinking “Sheesh Mom! I’ve been TRYING to tell you Chip was trapped in there!! Didn’t you see him sneak in when you got the rice out? Why did you think I was making all that noise??” Oopsie. Sorry Chip. Good girl Amber. Nice to see you looking out for your buddy:

A busy day full of adventure like that can only mean one thing. Time for Amber to show off her real skill. Taking relaxation to new heights. Or lows. Whatever mom, just let me sleep:

Move 2008 Week 35 + Blog Day Links

Let’s get the boring excersise stuff out of the way – slow week. Too much on the TV (DNC convention) to allow for proper aerobic time with the Wii. But I did keep up with the weights 4 nights. Still feeling good, but I feel like I need to trun it up a notch this week and push it to another level. IOW – maybe switch from bowling to tennis on the Wii And perhaps up the arm reps. Or maybe even look for heavier weights soon.

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I am a lazy slob today. It started last night after we got home from dinner. I managed to clean the kitchen, but then I plopped in front of the computer to catch up on blog reading. And my interest was sparked by this post from Brandy on the ups and downs of blogging. And I thought I would stealborrow her idea. Then, because of that ADD thing, I was distracted into surfing blogs related to Hurricane Gustav, and I ended up continuing that this morning and stumbling upon some really fantastic sites and writers who made me smile. So I thought I would use Brandy’s idea and share these new gems with you. Then while reading the comments on her post today, I find out there is this thing called Blog Day! And it’s TODAY! How’s THAT for co-inkydinks (with links)?

Here are my 5 blog recommendations – I thought I would highlight sites I found on my own within the past year (vs something connected back to my original blog ring of friends):

Coast Rat – A Mississippi gulf coast volunteer taking a 2 year personal mission to help that area. And he just happens to be evacuating right now thanks to Gustav.

Okay, Fine, Dammit – Found her via Coast Rat and decided he was quite correct to refer to as a Writer Sensation. Witty and real.

Red Ravine - Over the past year as I’ve cruised blogs recommended by my friends, I have noticed a common commenter – Ybonsey. It reached the point where I realized that I see this person everywhere, but I haven’t been over to their site! Red Ravine is simply beautiful. Photos and sketches and haikus and poems and just every day writing at it’s best. All waaaay beyond my creative abilities, but I do love to stop and admire

The Show Must Go On – Actually responsible for the 3 wonderful sites I found in the last 24 hours so I had to highlight her here. She grew up in Cajun country and now lives in Texas but was following the hurricane and linked to Coast Rat. I think Kitty originally found me? At any rate, I find her completely unable to categorize! She frequently surprises me with her topics. Late into the night she started a virtual tp’ing party! Love her.

Velveteen Mind – I feel behind the times somehow as she is apparently quite popular in the blog world and certainly has a deep following. And I can see why. I think I spent an hour going through her archives on the impact Katrina had on her family and then her own favorite posts that she highlighted. Not only do I look forward to following her site and Coast Rat’s through the hurricane season to see how they fare, but I’ll stay just to enjoy both of the continuing stories.

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With that task done, I suppose I should move from the computer? I did make breakfast for us a few hours ago, so I am not that bad. I also stopped and took out the trash (it stunk!). I should start laundry. And spot clean the horrid stains on the stairway carpet – which I really need to do today since I did vacuum the stairs yesterday. I should also plan a grocery run. And I keep putting off playing Wii with SB (who has clearly played too long by himself because I can hear him gettin frustrated at it!!). Or start the laundry. Or…NOT..because it’s day 2 of a 3 day weekend and I do not need to rush…ooo…looky that link over there..maybe I’ll just go read it for a few……….

BlogDay2008

Move 2008 week 33 and new viral video

Had to go off the schedule with this video. Home made by a Daily Kos member and I think it is so brilliant. Much like Al Gore had to walk a fine line as far as campaigning with Clinton or creating distance (long term analysis is that creating distance hurt him), McCain has a similar type of incumbent problem. Only this time no matter whether he physically stays away from Bush or not, his own actions and votes over the past 8 years show just how tight they really are which should cause trouble with those magical wing voters. I’m glad this video is making the rounds.

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In case you’ve followed my tweets, no I did not just nap and play Wii all day yesterday. We also cleaned the house and did laundry and yes, the plants did get watered. It’s really our last weekend totally free though so other than groceries tomorrow, you can bet we will Wii a lot

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Stats: awesome week! Of course, thanks to Wii! Toning went very well and I met my aerobics goals easily too. I’m starting to feel that my arms are stronger – the act of buying 21lbs of kitty litter is not so daunting any more! Yay! How is everyone else doing?

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Look at this big ‘ole kitty butt! I think she needs to use the Wii:

Ow-Wii

I realize that yet again we may be the last people to get into this trend. Yesterday after the middle school orientation, Sportsboy and I had some time to get to know our Wii. I am paying for it today! All sorts of sore muscles! Because, we are Real Men. We totally Wii standing up. I cleared plenty of space so that we could try out every game we had. I think the only ones we missed yesterday were golf and boxing. And from what I hear, boxing is the really good work out. But let me tell you, bowling is pretty darn good too. So is tennis! But I know my soreness is from bowling because I was totally stepping and lunging and swinging my arms and correcting for wrist curls. Dang, it was hard! At the end though I managed to bowl three strikes in a row. Anyhow, it was a fun two hours and I can totally see why people get in shape with this gaming system! Sheer brilliance I tell ya. In fact, here is an article on a gaming addict who actually measured his fitness change after 30 days of Wii use.

Move 2008 – Week 32 Olympic Edition #1

Another great week for weights. 6 full routines. I actually lost count of how many reps I am doing. A minimum of 200, but possibly more. I’ve been doing them in two stages with some stretching in between. And you know what? Just as happened when I was quite dedicated about going to Curves, my headaches/neckaches are greatly dimished. In the last 30 days I’ve had NO neck pain at all. And that includes when hormones should have triggered a headache! Twice I’ve woken up with sinus pain, but one does of Claritin and Excedrine has knocked it out. No recurrence. You better believe that I am keeping up whatever routine has allowed such a pain free streak! Be it what I am eating/drinking or my exercise routine or perhaps both, I wont be messing with it! What really shocked me was that this was WITH the trip to Austin thrown in when I ate pretty dang poorly. I did move a lot, though of course there were no weight routines, but lots of walking. Normally though, if I return from travelling and then go right into hormone week (which I did), I will suffer a particularly bad headache cycle because my routines hav ebeen thrown off and I am tired. Not so this time. Truly shocking in a very good way.

So, the Olympics! Heaven for a sports nut like me. Heck, I turned on the tv at 6:30am and watched whatever was on which this morning consisted of dressage, soccer and archery! I watched badminton and volleyball yesterday morning. Now I am watching basketball which is more traditional I suppose, but it’s a nice story. Team USA – The Redeem Team is actually participating in the games this year. No, they are not staying in the atheletes village, BUT, they are going over there to eat and hang out and they are attending other sport’s games. They needed to do this after a disastorous turn in Athens when they were strictly superstars and not Olympians. So far, they are kicking team China’s butt and I cannot believe I am rooting for Kobe Bryant, but hey, he’s Team USA right now I’ll go back to booing him after he helps bring home a gold.

Anyhow, watching these atheletes is a big motivator to MOVE.  I think I’ll go pedal during the last part of this game.

Move 2008 – week 31 update + book review

More focus on the arms. Still feeling good and strong. Some pedaling, walking and gardening kept the aerobics up. A pretty good week overall. Now for the book:

Bleachers by John Grisham

My review

rating: 4 of 5 stars
I read this on the flight to Austin two weeks ago. Totally up my alley since it is about an iconic high school football coach and the impact he had on multiple generations of players. The former players gather in the bleachers at the school awaiting the death of the old coach as he succumbs to cancer. They slowly open up to each other sharing stories of the coach, not always glowing ones and in the memories of these players, the character of a dying man comes to life. It’s an easy read as Grisham usually is, but also as is typical of his writing, there are some unexpected twists and excellent development of the characters.

View all my reviews.

Move 2008 – Week 30

My 4lb hand weights. I’ve had them for AGES. I honestly have no idea when I got them – pre Sportsboy I think! But this is the first year that they have gotten regular use. If I keep this up, I may graduate to 5 lbs weights! I upped the reps I do and added some different moves so that I am up to 200 reps each time. Aerobics has been all walking during the day as I’ve had no chance to pedal. I have not really met that goal this week, but I did walk 4 of the 5 days at work. Clearly I enjoy working out my arms more

Short and sweet as it is another day of football equipment pick up. Practice starts Friday! Sportsboy comes home Wednesday! 3 more days! 3 more days!