Braving the gym

Last night was my first time back at the gym in a month. It felt GREAT to be back! I had to back off of weight a bit (used 85 pounds for single leg press, rather than my usual 100, and used 15 pound dumbbells for bicep curls, rather than 20s), but that's to be expected. Today I feel a good amount of sore -- enough to feel like I did something, but not so much that I need to take a day off. I also did 20 minutes on the ARC trainer and 10 on the treadmill and both felt great. But I skipped all plyos -- I figure it's ok to wait a week or two before I try to add those in!

Gymnastics is cool

Last night I sat and watched my kids do gymnastics for 2-1/2 hours. Years ago I got into the habit of dropping them on a slow roll (just kidding!), because if I stayed, Tucker would find any excuse to come and sit with me on the bleachers rather than listen to his coach. But recently I've made a commitment to stay and watch more. Let me tell you -- I'm AMAZED at what my kids can do. Austin's working on a new p-bar mount where you kind of jump and drop in below the bars, then somehow manage to swing upwards with straight arms and end up above the bars -- it's dramatic, hard, and beautiful! And Tucker's tenacity is inspiring. He's working on a move (I don't know the name) where you go from a handstand on p-bars into a straddle press without (and this is key) ever dropping down onto the bars. So you are fighting gravity the entire way down. All I can do is watch in amazement with tears in my eyes!

Good smells

When I was a child, there was a lady at church (Mrs. Brideson) who always smelled like flowers. Maybe to adult noses she just wore too much perfume, but to me she was the embodiment of all things feminine. I decided that when I was a grown up, I would smell like flowers too. And I do wear perfume every single day. Here are some of my favorites:

Lemon Sugar, by Fresh -- all I can say is YUM! Smells like fresh lemons, but not in a kid-like way
Ralph, by Ralph Lauren -- I always go back to this one
Delicious, by DKNY -- fresh, fun
Red Delicious, by DKNY -- even fresher and more fun!
Index Pear Cassis, by Fresh -- if I had to pick a favorite and wear it forever, this would be it

I normally only have one or every so often two perfumes on my bathroom counter, but I got a little crazy and found a few that I just had to try, which is why I'm so rich in perfume these days.