Crazy Busy and Loving It!

I'm still here. Really I am! But in the last six months I've gone from too much time on my hands to not enough hours in the day. Believe me when I say that not enough hours is WAY BETTER (especially for those who deal with depression) than too much time!

Gymnastics and how we got here
Ok, so Tucker was THRILLED with your comments about his video. Actually he was mad that I posted the video because it included his floor routine at the end, and he usually does so much better at floor. But he was completely blessed by what you had to say -- THANK YOU! Oh, Greg asked how my kids got into gymnastics. It was really by accident. When the kids were small, we purposely kept their activities minimal, figuring that playing in the backyard is just as important as developmental classes. We didn't even really have the kids in preschool, which in our area is a mighty risky choice. Anyway, we did put them in a little preschool gymnastics class when each of them turned 3 and they both really liked it. Both tried soccer and baseball, but neither sport really thrilled them. When he was 7, Austin was invited to be on the competitive team, which really took us by surprise. And Tucker started competing a little before he turned 7. And it's kind of evolved from there, to now Tucker practicing 15 hours a week, and Austin at 19 hours. I really do think both will stop at the end of this season, and while it makes me sad because they're both so good (I'll post video of Austin in a few weeks -- he's recovered enough to compete in San Francisco and Oakland), I really do look forward to the ease -- emotional, physical (no driving every night!), and financial -- that will come along with their decisions.

Fun, Fun, Fun
Ok, so Katie came and worked out last night. I was worried about it all day, which was why I couldn't write. Thoughts like, "What if I'm just a complete load of crap, and now I'm about to be found out?!" and "Why oh why don't they make "Younger/Thinner" spray or cream or something?" consumed me for much of the day. Turns out, though, that Katie's just as delightful in person as you'd expect from reading her weblog. Very down to earth. Very articulate. And so easy to spend time with. We talked and laughed and sweated and really had a great time. Then after she left, I had a million questions I wanted to ask, but never got around to asking, darn it! Maybe next time...

Busiest day yet
So yesterday I had clients at 8:30, 12:30, 5:15, and 7:15!!! All different. All fun! But where to fit workout in? I know the morning break would have worked well, but house needed straightening and laundry needed doing. So at 6:30, Tim and I did a Crossfit-ish workout from the Pentranek Fitness website. Here it is:

400 m run (about 1/4 mile)
50 box jumps
400 m run
50 burpees
400 m run
50 jumping pullups

I did it but it was NOT pretty! But I can tell I'm getting stronger, cuz the burpees, while still really really hard, don't wipe me out like they used to. Progress is what we're after, right?

Measuring progress
There has been lots of talk about measuring progress on the weblogs I read (which, someday, I'll post a list of -- if it weren't for Bloglines, I would never leave the computer!). And there are so many ways to use -- scale weight, measurements, body fat - caliper, body fat - Omoron, and the list goes on. Here's how I measure progress:

weight -- occasionally, although if it's down, I want to celebrate with treats, and if it's up, I want to eat cuz I'm bummed. So maybe not the best choice for me.

clothes -- how do they fit? This is a really good one for me. Although now I'm wearing fitness clothes most of the time, and elasticized clothing doesn't give a true picture of girth, you know? Note to self -- put on some real clothes every once in a while!

measurements -- about once a month or so I check waist and hips, and sometimes thighs, although I don't know if you're supposed to measure biggest part or somewhere else. (Anyone?) I have my own idea of what my waist and hips should not go over, so this is a good occasional reality check.

how I look -- if I can see a leg dent, and some definition in my upper body, and if there's a bit of a waist present, it's probably ok.

Actually these days I've been more active than ever before, what with training clients, doing my own workouts, and Cardio Coach. And I'm noticing more definition in my upper body -- somewhat like when I did Women's Tri-Fitness. So I guess I'm moving in the right direction, even though (true confession here -- don't read if you don't want to know...) last night's dinner was as follows:

2 slices of Alvarado Street bread with sunflower seed butter and honey
1 perfect Hostess cupcake
fresh mango slices and blackberries

Ok, anything else inside my brain? Ummmm, nope!
Leslie out.

Tucker at Stanford Open

I am crazy proud of my boy, and now you can see just one of the reasons why!

Comment-worthy!

Comments, suggestions, and general atta-girls are so appreciated!

Tanya (who sent me an email): I already told you, but must say again, your thoughts from a therapist's point of view about how to help move clients towards what they want -- worth more than you can possibly know.

Matt: Feels like I have a cheering section with a charming British (English?) accent -- thank you!

Shelly: Excellent ideas! I'll be using much of what you came up with.

Katie: Cardio Coach is at www.cardiocoach.com. I'm still loving it!

Laurie: Good thoughts -- input appreciated.

Colette: Good thoughts -- input appreciated, and I always love seeing you. Hope Ashley's completely well!

Greg: I go to California Family Fitness in Rocklin. They do a great job there, but they prohibit camera phones. But here's a link, so check it out!

Back to SST

Tonight while the kids were at gymnastics, Tim and I hit SST for the 5:00 workout. I haven't been there since November when I couldn't get my bicep tendon issue (I HATE having issues!) to calm down. On our way, I told Tim I was scared, cuz I didn't want to do badly. He said, and I quote, "You are tenacious like an eff-ing pit bull. You'll be fine!" Those are words to melt a girl's heart, and they really helped to calm my nerves.

The workout was tough. We did Tabata squats. Tabata is an exercise protocol where you work for 20 seconds, then rest for 10 seconds. So for 4 minutes (8 rounds) we did bodyweight squats -- low ones -- for 20 seconds, rested for 10 seconds, and so on. Tim challenged me to a race to see who could do the most. I told him it was a bad idea, because I would smoke him. But he insisted. Well my friends, consistent lower body work seems to pay off, because I won the challenge.

It was a different story when we did 100 D-ball slams. Tim used a 20 pound ball and finished in 3:18. I used a 12 pound ball and came in at 3:41 -- still respectable, but not even close to Rambo's (aka Tim's) time!

Quick random thoughts

• Cirque du Soleil is performing at the Super Bowl! They're in the pregame show. Here's a link so you can read about what they're doing. We LOVE LOVE LOVE Cirque, and will be seeing Ka in Las Vegas next weekend, when we're there for a gymnastics competition.
• Note to self: when you do Cardio Coach, bring a towel! I promise I'm not selling Cardio Coach or getting kickbacks or anything, but I seriously dig the workouts. Today I did volume 1 and there's no way I would have pushed that hard on my own.
• My 10-year-old client did great. I'll see her grandmother tonight at Bingo and then I'll get the real scoop, but she seemed to really like what we did.
  
• My gym has a new machine -- an endless rope. It's very very cool. You "climb" it hand over hand and it's great for your back and biceps. (If you picture one of those endless loops of towels at a gas station bathroom, then substitute rope for towels, you'll know what it is.)
• I got my "Hard work pays off!" quote from Wall Words, and put it up in the training room last night.
• I made one of my clients crack the wall in the training room. Oops. Tim says if I pick up the plywood, he'll install it so I can safely have people hurl medicine balls at the wall.
• Feeling like an official business woman now -- I got a business license and a bank account! Well, my wonderful husband got the bank account -- thanks Tim! -- and I'm a real small business owner. Isn't that cool???
  

Helping them to want it!

Just got back from doing Cardio Coach #1 at the gym. It was hard, especially since I'm not 100% yet, but I'm definitely on the road to recovery. (Incidentally, I still love Cardio Coach!) I'm listening to "Sunsets" by Rachel Portman (from The Lake House soundtrack -- really beautiful), eating a South Beach Diet lunch (I know you're supposed to be mindful when you eat, but it's just not happening today), and knowing that I start picking up kids in about 30 minutes.

What's on my mind is motivating clients to get what they want. I take this training business VERY seriously and want my clients to win in what they're working towards so badly I can taste it. So how do I help to translate that desire on their behalf into action on their part? I mean, at BEST I'm with them 3 hours a week. To get all mathematical about it, that means I'm with them 1.78% of their week. So with that small amount of time (even less if it's someone who comes once a week), how I can best spend that time in a way that gives them more than a workout, but helps to create positive change in those "other" 165 or so hours they're not with me? Therein lies the challenge!

I'm reading a book titled "It's More Than Just Making Them Sweat" by Ed Thornton. One of the points he makes has to do with making the experience of working out pleasurable, not because it's easy, but because of what is accomplished. He quotes a writer who states, "The way to happiness lies not in mindless hedonism, but in mindful challenge." And maybe that's part of the answer. Helping people find their inner athlete, so they can feel the happiness that comes from accomplishment of any kind, and in this case, physical accomplishment. The "look what I just did!" excitement that kids have when they master a skill or beat their own record.

Speaking of kids, I'm taking on a new client next week. And I so badly want this girl to experience success and health and energy and all that can come with having your body work for you. That's probably why I'm so focused on this today. In fact, I was up in the middle of the night thinking about her -- what I can do to make exercise fun and challenging and encourage her to find her inner athlete.

Speaking of the inner athlete, that's part of what I want every single one of my clients to find. As last picked for everything as a child, I know what it's like to avoid activity. That's probably why it's so delightful to feel strong and athletic as a grown up. Today I was doing handstands at the gym, and I was thinking, "You know, I think these probably reduce your age by 50%, but I'm probably about 23 years old when I do these!" Nothing like some positive thoughts to reinforce behavior, right?

But honestly, although most women who seek a trainer are looking for outward changes -- less fluff, more muscle, looser clothes -- and all of those things are fantastic, I really believe that through exercise you are just getting the tip of the iceberg if that's all you want. How about the confidence that goes with feeling strong? How about the loveliness of a body that moves as you want it to? How about the feminine power of enjoying your sexuality with the man you love? Now THAT'S something to get excited about! (But I may have to tone it down for my brochure!)

Yesterday's Workout

I was in the training room trying out some exercises I was going to do with a client today. Tim heard me slamming a ball against the wall, came up and accused me of yelling at him that he's a lazy man and needed to workout. He's perceptive, that husband of mine! :) So together we did the Crossfit workout of the day, which was 100 pullups, 100 pushups, 100 squats, and 100 situps. Tim did every single thing as prescribed, and I'm crazy proud of him! I made the squats more intense by squatting to an 8" box. Did the situps as rx'd. Pushups were from knees, cuz of bicep tendon still getting better. And did 50 jumping pullups, then did 50 ball slams with a 16 pound ball. Hard, but fun workout!

Starting my day over at 3:30 pm!

I've been fighting a nasty cold for the past few days. My eating stayed clean until yesterday at Stanford. We arrived for a gymnastics meet that was delayed by more than two hours. Now keep in mind that what I wanted was to spend the day in bed, and NOT sitting on bleachers in a gymnasium. So we sat on those bleachers from 3:30 till after 10:00 last night, arriving home at 1:15 or so this morning. And that bleacher time was filled with whatever-the-heck-makes-me-feel-better food. Veggies do not make me feel better. M&M's, however, seem to help. And today has been filled with diet sodas and Doritos, in a flashback to my comfort foods of a long time ago.

So I've decided as of NOW to start my day over. I have a giant jug of water in front of me, and once I'm done writing I'll be getting some yummy vegetables to munch on (if this sounds sarcastic, GOOD! It's meant that way!).

Comments on comments

In an abrupt change of subject, and with no reference to the people who asked (because my head feels like a pillow right now, and that makes even typing an effort!), here are some answers to some questions:

I've finally looked over the RAVE diet, and have a few thoughts. It's pretty militant (nothing processed, nothing animal, etc.), but certainly makes some sense. Anything that moves anyone towards eating more fresh stuff and less processed stuff is good, in my opinion. I haven't watched the CD, because I read some reviews, and it sounds kind of graphic in its attempts to convert people to being vegetarian. But I agree that eating less meat and more veggies is a great way to go.

(new paragraph to make this more readable) A book that has some of the same ideas, but seems more gentle is Mariel Hemingway's Healthy Living from the Inside Out. In it she talks about foods that are noisy and foods that are quiet. For example, I'm pretty sure that Diet Mountain Dew and Doritos are noisy foods, because they disrupt the body's natural balance. And I also really liked this post by Shelly, as well as the article it references.

I think it was Meghan who asked if I do the Crossfit workouts. I sure try to, but I usually have to modify the weights they post. My left shoulder has dislocated several times, and keeping it in the socket is quite important to me. So any kind of overhead lift has to be way lighter for me. But I like the intensity of the workouts, and tend to pattern my own workouts in a similar way. For example, on Friday night I did a workout where I alternated 20 wall ball shots with squats (using a 10 pound medicine ball) with 20 jumping pullups. I did 5 rounds of each and it was HARD! But I liked the balance in the workout, with the squats hitting the entire lower body (especially because I was squatting to an 8" step, which meant the squats were quite low), the wall ball shots using chest, shoulders, and triceps, and the jumping pullups hitting the back and biceps.

On a final note, Tucker did GREAT at Stanford and it looks like he's going to qualify for the state championships. He needs two all around scores of 50.0 or higher, and he got a 51.05 this meet. In two weeks, he's competing in Las Vegas, then San Francisco, then Oakland, and so it goes.

And if you read about Austin's injury back in November, well, he's now back to gymnastics practice, but he's pretty convinced he'll quit at the end of this season. His heart just isn't in it now that he knows what life can be like without 20 hours of gymnastics a week. While there's a big part of me that wants him to find that fire inside again, because he has worked SO hard and loved it for SO LONG, if it's not for him, then it's not for him. I'd sure love to see him compete one last time, though.

And with Tucker saying this is his last season, who knows? We might be able to have dinners on a regular basis as a family again! THAT would be lovely indeed!

Time for veggies...

HANGOVER!

As a recovering alcoholic, I don't drink. I haven't in more than 20 years. But I remember what hangovers feel like, and I have one today FROM SUGAR!

Dinner at The Kitchen was great. They really stress that you can have the food any way you want (and at $125 per person, not including beverages or tip, it should be exactly as you want it!), and I knew two people in our party were having vegetarian options. So as they were describing the dinner which included lobster bisque (I don't eat lobster because lobsters don't poop and I don't like lobster), something in a veal stock (I don't eat veal because I can't support the industry), a fois gras (I don't eat liver -- boy, I'm sounding like a special case, aren't I???) -- well, I kept thinking about asking for vegetarian options. I did, and what they made was fabulous! I couldn't even tell you what it all was, but it was light and fresh and clean tasting and I loved it! Tim tried my food and said it was even better than what he was served on the normal menu.

Then we got to dessert which was something chocolate and bittersweet and warm and gooey, served with vanilla bean sorbet and some other fabulous stuff. I LOVED mine! Then I looked at Tim's plate, and it was practically intact. He was full because he'd had seconds of nearly every course. So I swooped in and appropriated his plate and polished it off. About 5 minutes later I started feeling unwell. Not anything that became symptomatic -- I just felt icky inside. And it lasted all night. And I still feel it today. Any doubts I had about how food affects me are completely gone.

So today I'm back to the eating the seems to work for me -- mostly vegetarian, mostly organic, lots of water, and lots of Diet Mountain Dew. (I know it makes no sense, but hey -- it's working!)

Today's workout

Today is a really busy fun day, so workout had to be quick. Just got back from the gym where I did:

light stretch, then 5 sets of
handstand practice, about 3 minutes
10 overhead squats w/18 pound Body Bar

Finished up with some single leg presses at 100 pounds, then some yummy stretching. Took about 25 minutes, and seemed to hit just about everything.

The overhead squats were inspired by this video. I LOVE LOVE LOVE Nicole's physique -- lean, athletic, feminine. And just using an 18 pound bar, when you're holding it with your traps and rhomboids activated -- well, by the 5th set, I was plenty tired. So it's hard to even get my mind around NINETY FIVE POUNDS!

So here's the rest of my day:

Head downtown to meet a girlfriend for lunch (and I get to dress up like a real working person!)
Back to pick up kids and supervise homework
Kids leave for gymnastics at 4:10
I head out to The Kitchen for dinner with my husband and his team from work. Click here if you want to see what we're having for dinner. As you can tell, today is SO my free day!

Why Some People Quit and Some People Never Give Up!

That's the title of a fantastic article by Tom Venuto of "Burn the Fat, Feed the Muscle." Renee posted it on her website here, and anyone who is trying to make changes needs to read it. Here's why: as much as we can try to change our thinking, our beliefs, and our actions, because we are human (darn it!) there will be times when old thinking, beliefs, and behaviors will come back. And how we respond when that happens, well, that's the difference between those who succeed and those who fail, in my opinion.

And if you need another thought on the subject, here's what Calvin Coolidge had to say about it:

Nothing in the world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent. The slogan “press on” has solved and always will solve the problems of the human race.

Cardio Coach

I was chatting with a girlfriend yesterday about fitness (surprise!) and we were talking about cardio and intervals and how hard it is to push yourself. Later on I was looking at some fitness websites (yet another surprise!) and I found a link to Cardio Coach. I played around on the website for about 20 minutes listening to samples of the workouts, and decided to take the plunge and buy a workout.

Did the workout this morning and I LOVE IT!!! I did 40 minutes on the ARC trainer, and I got a better workout than I ever do on my own. The music works with the intervals, Coach Sean's voice is nice and he doesn't talk too much (can't stand fitness programs where the instructor never shuts up!), and I just overall can't say enough good stuff about it. I got Volume 3, in case anyone wants to know.

One of the nicest things about the workout was the Coach's Notes track. Here's a part of what he had to say:

"On my way to the recording studio this morning, I found myself behind one of those new "adventure" SUVs. It was electric blue, and had bulky, oversized tires. Two bright red kayaks were strapped to the top, two bikes were mounted on the back, on on the bumper read a sticker, "Ain't no mountain high enough!" It was a sight!

As I passed the truck I looked over and noticed a couple who appeared to be in their late 60s, wearing stylish sunglasses. They were dancing in their seats to whatever was playing on the stereo. I couldn't help but smile.

Fitness has a strange surface appearance. It seems like all we see these days are before and after pictures of people that made a miraculous transformation. These transformations are great, and making that type of change is not something to take lightly. But I'm here to tell you that doesn't have to be your end goal. You don't have to look like a cover model to feel great.

The fitness that is presented to us in advertisements doesn't even come close to what it's really all about. The truth is, fitness is about that older couple. The ones dancing in their seats, not afraid to take a journey, and living their lives with the energy of their full potential."

Amen.

If you decide to check out the website, they have a special workout called Press Play that's taking place this Saturday, January 27th, where all the proceeds go to the Jim MacClaren Choose Living foundation. I bought the workout, and I'll be doing it at my gym this Saturday.

Workout Music

I LOVE finding the right music to workout to. This weekend I put together my first Lift playlist. It runs a little over an hour, cuz I'd rather have too much music than not enough. The last two songs for stretching. Hope you like it...

Every Breath You Take/Theme from Peter Gunn
The Police & Henry Mancini
Sail on, Sailor (Backing Track)
The Beach Boys
You Haven't Done Nothin'
Stevie Wonder
Everybody Got Their Something
Nikka Costa
Joy
Staxx of Joy
Brick House
Commodores
Gold Lion
Yeah Yeah Yeahs
Leave Home
The Chemical Brothers
Give Up The Funk (Tear The Roof Off)
Parliament
Strict Machine
Black Cherry
Rubberneckin' (Paul Oakenfold Remix)
Oakenfold
Fire
Ohio Players
Love Addict
Family Force 5
I Fell In Love (House Mix)
Rockell
Shoop
Salt-N-Pepa
Don't Call Me Baby
Madison Avenue
Intro: Loving
India.Arie
Angela Smiled
W.G. "Snuffy" Walden

A New Way To Eat

So it's been two weeks of my new cleanish eating, and I'm liking the results. I've only dropped a couple of pounds, but my clothes are fitting with ease in the waist, hips, and thighs, and I'm feeling leaner and stronger. I've been eating primarily vegetarian, with some occasional grilled chicken (and tonight, a few bites of tri tip at dinner), and have been more concerned with putting healthy stuff into my body than I have been with calories. I'm eating way more fruits and vegetables than ever. And my nightly bowl of cereal is shrinking (slightly) and is always something organic and low fat, and topped with Rice Dream rather than milk.

Remember the book I asked about a while back -- the RAVE diet? Well I got the book and the DVD, but haven't taken the time to read or watch yet. Evelyne bought it, read it, it's made a huge impact. Hooray for you, Evelyne! Let's compare notes once I stop reading training materials and dig into RAVE.

Busy weekend

I'm taking a break from organizing the pantry (something I've wanted to do for a while) to jot down a few thoughts. It really has been a busy weekend. First I have to say that I survived the filthy fifty. Here's what was prescribed (you can check it out at crossfit.com if you'd like):

50 Box jump, 24 inch box
50 Jumping pull-ups
50 Kettlebell swings, 1 pood (36 pounds)
Walking lunge, 50 steps
50 Knees to elbows (hanging from pullup bar)
50 Push press, 45 pounds
50 Back extensions
50 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball
50 Burpees
50 Double unders (jump rope)

My modifications were using a 20" box (it was all we had), 20 pounds for Kettlebell swings, 18 pounds for push press, using a 10 pound ball for wall ball, and doing 200 single jumps rather than double unders. Tim and Tucker did it too, with way fewer modifications. Tucker smoked through the workout, but admitted it was hard. Tim finished shortly after Tucker, and then played on our new fitness toy (more in a moment). And I was just happy to survive 50 Burpees.

Matt commented from my last post that Burpees and Squat Thrusts are two different things. I stand corrected. But I still call Supermans (is that right?) superGIRLS, because I can!

New Fitness Toy

We got RINGS!!! Tim put them up in the garage today, and we all played with them. Some of us pressed to handstand on the rings (gymnasts), while others came close to doing muscle-ups and did ring pushups (husband) and some just did self-spotted triceps ring dips and called it good. I don't know how much I'll use these for clients -- they're in the garage which would interrupt the flow of a workout -- but I think as a family we're gonna have some fun!

Training Room Update

This weekend Tool-time Tim put up corner shelves in the training room, so I have great places for all sorts of stuff. And I've solved the mirror dilemma with (drum roll, please) mirrored closet doors! I was asking clients this week what they thought about me having a large mirror in the room, and it seemed that the only place was right smack dab in front of the main workout area. Well, on Friday, thinking outside the box, a client asked, "Well, can't you change out the closet doors?" Bingo! Now mirrors are available, but you don't see yourself every single minute.

Time to get back to pantry organization, and then I think a hot shower is calling my name...

Comments

Hugs to everyone who has written comments -- they're like the icing on the bloggy cake (that doesn't sound right, but you know what I mean!). Thank you for the encouragement and support. A few comments need clarification or answers, so here goes:

Shelly -- Burpees are a total body exercise that's sometimes called squat thrusts that you'll probably remember from elementary school PE. Here's how they go:

Start from standing.
Squat deeply, placing hands on ground.
Jump back to plank position.
Do a pushup.
Jump back to the squat position.
Jump up, lifting arms to the sky.

That's one rep. Tim and I are going to do today's Crossfit workout (the Filthy Fifty). It includes 50 burpees. $@!&

Pamela asked what we figured out for Jenny with her ankle issues. Nearly every squat and lunge is out, and that made it tough, since squats and lunges are the foundation of great lower body work. The one squat that didn't require too much flexion or extension of her ankle was to go from sitting on a weight bench to standing up. And even with no weight, if you do enough of these, with a really pronounced squeeze at the top, you'll feel it. The other thing she can do is very "old school" exercises with a resistance band around her legs. Does anyone remember side leg lifts or fire hydrants or any of the Jane Fonda-ish lower body work? Well, these exercises may not be as effective as squats and lunges, but if you add resistance, they'll kick your butt!

The preparation nobody sees

I allow time before training for attending to the details that are only missed if they're not done. Here's what I do before each training session:

plan the new workout (the night before)
make sure upstairs and downstairs heaters are off
quick clean bathroom, in case it gets used
get water bottle in case clients forgets to bring some
make sure iPod is ready to go
review workout one more time

And I'm spending at least an hour, and sometimes more, immersed in training books, articles, and newsletters. While I can't get experience in any way other than hands-on training, I can certainly be the best educated, most up-t0-date trainer there is -- THAT is within my grasp!

Another tough workout

Last night Tim and I did another butt-kicking workout. If anyone else is interested in being sore, here's all it takes:

Warm up (super important -- NEVER skip warming up, especially if you're going to do a hard workout!)
20 minutes of this:

5 pull-ups
10 pushups
15 squats

Then run a mile and you're done.

Tim did an astonishing 65 pull-ups (and he's lookin' fine, in case you wanted to know!). I don't know how many of anything I did, but it was a hard workout. I have to modify the pull-ups and do negatives, and most of my pushup sets were from the knees. But I intensified the squats by doing thrusters (I held 2-1o pound weights at shoulder height and "popped" them up each time I came up from the squats). That modification was hard, because my triceps were fried by the end of the workout -- but then again, so was everything else!

Interval Training Works!

Don't you love when an official source confirms what you've already been doing? Well, the L.A. Times has confirmed that interval training works. Click here for a link to the article (I had to register with the website to access the text -- free, but takes a couple of minutes).

Surprisingly I'm not really sore after yesterday's workout. My muscles feel tired, esp glutes, hamstrings, and lats (that's D-Ball slams for you!), but good.

Must run -- need to plan two client workouts for tomorrow (!), prep for two intake interviews (!), and get to Bingo. Remember, whatever you are, be a good one! Ciao...

Crossfit at my house!

I'm cooling down right now (sitting and typing is a great way to cool down, right?) after a kick-ass workout with my husband. Here's what we did:

1/3 of a mile or so run (warmup), then

Choose 2 exercises from this list:

• 15 ball slams (using a 16-pound D-ball)
• 15 pushups
• 15 burpees (hate these!)
• 15 kettlebell swings (20 pound kettlebell)

1/4 mile run, then choose 2 again. Repeat for 20 minutes.

We laid on the garage floor at the end. Mission accomplished.

Almost a new year!!!

I'm so excited, because February 18, 2007 is the first day in THE YEAR OF THE PIG! Here's something I found about it:

"The Year of the Pig will soon be upon us, so open your window and air out the stresses of last year. The pig is known for honesty, tolerance and reliability—so prepare for a calm, steady year ahead."

Ok, so yeah, and also pigs are cute and make me smile! Hooray!

New stuff

Look what my husband did!!! For less than $20 at Home Depot, we have adjustable cables at home -- aren't they COOL?

A cool ringtone

Wouldn't it be great if you could get a cell phone ringtone that sounds like the phones at CTU in 24? Yeah, so I've decided to hang in there for the adrenaline rush that is 24 for another season. But I still like Wife Swap better!

Judgmental, Critical, and RIGHT!

Last night I took my first group exercise class (Boot Camp) since getting certified. And from the minute the class started (10 minutes late), my judgmental critical eye was out in full force. The instructor wasn't set up for the class. She was timing intervals with her cell phone and wasn't doing a good job of it (have you ever done 2 solid minutes of rear deltoid lifts? It's NOT fun!). And her selection of exercises was just boring. Oh, and she didn't correct the people who were doing the exercises wrong (unsafe and ineffective!).

Fortunately I had an awareness of the critical voice in my head, and was able to set it aside, and just get a workout in, paying attention to what I'd do differently. And I came away with two realizations:

1. Trainers who work at a gym have it SO EASY when it comes to client warmups! In this class, we rode the spin bike for 10 minutes. If I trained at my gym, I could just put a client on a machine and chat away as they got warm. But here at my house it takes more creativity and thought to put together a warmup. So I came away feeling validated in my warmup floundering, but committed to finding something that works.

2. I KNOW A LOT ABOUT EXERCISE! Honestly and with no disrespect meant to the instructor, I could have taught the class, and done a much better job of it.

Ha.

Mom overtime, today's workout, and tofu

When your kid argues with you for 30 nonstop minutes, and you don't lose it, you should earn mom overtime or something, don't you think?

Today went NOTHING like I thought it would. Both clients unable to come (for good reasons), so in exercise clothes, no makeup, and turning on a dime, I found a place for Tucker to go so I could take Austin and his friend to the new skate park at 50 and Power Inn, which is 45 minutes or so away. Stayed for 3 hours, which sounds like a long time, but worked out well, cuz I read some training materials, Tim came and brought lunch to us all (since he works about 10 minutes away), and then I realized I could fit in a workout. (I was already dressed for the occasion.) There's a path around the whole skate park (and the dog park that's next door), and there are picnic tables. So I did running/walking/lunging laps around the parks, stopping at the picnic tables for pushups (on the bench -- about 40 or 50), step ups (maybe 50 or so each leg), dips (20??), and on the bench with no back, side bench leaps (50 or so). I was active for about 45 minutes.

Tofu

So I don't know how many hundreds of dollars I've wasted buying tofu, letting it expire, and throwing it out. But it's a lot of money. I found a recipe on Allrecipes for a tofu salad where you stir fry the tofu with garlic (lots!) and soy sauce and peanuts, then chill it and add some lime juice, sweet chili sauce, cucumber and cilantro. Well, Tucker tried it when it was just at the garlic and soy sauce stage and pronounced it marvelous. So we added a little chili sauce and some lime juice and called it good. My wonderfully adventureous family had a vegan dinner tonight, with aforementioned tofu, brown rice, and a simple green salad, and we all agreed it was wonderful!

List

As with most of my writing, I have many different thoughts that don't easily come together in a way that enables me to write a title for what I write. I think more in lists I guess. (Writing "list" in the title section of this Blogger post.) Today's list is here:

1. My gym has new weight machines! They're by Freemotion and they're great. The cables are independent, which means you can do single arm movements that are harder and recruit more core muscles (e.g. shoulder press, which is harder if you lift the weights one at a time, rather than at the same time).

2. Yesterday's workout was great. I probably need to get back to knowing what I'm going to do when I workout, but I tend to go with a general idea (yesterday's idea was more defined shoulders and lower body work) and then figure it out. So here's yesterday's workout:

Warm up/light stretching
Handstand practice -- 5 minutes (I accidentally took out a fake palm tree with my -- one of the fronds was no match for my kick to handstand, so I ended up upside down, and seeing a leafy palm frond falling to the ground twice!)
Cable machines -- overhead press, lat pulldowns, tricep extensions
Reverse pullups (bar is now at hip height, and the lower you go, the harder it is, which means I'm getting stronger -- hooray!)
Squat to overhead press with 24 pound body bar
Double/single leg press, 100 pounds, double leg press, 150 pounds
ARC trainer -- medium intensity, steady state, 30 minutes
Stretching

3. New training room fun -- Tim installed some eye hooks into the wall (thanks sweetie!) which, along with the new carabiners, allow me to attach tubing at various heights for all sorts of fun. I have two clients today who get to be the first to feel the joy!!

4. New season of 24 -- watched the 2-hour premiere last night. It may be too much for me and for Tucker. During the super violent parts, I sliced chicken and did lunges off a kitchen chair (NOT at the same time!). It's hard for me to sit still when we watch tv, so I'm usually stretching or doing ab exercises.

5. New season of gymnastics -- first gymnastics meet yesterday. Tucker took 2nd place in pommel horse and 3rd in parallel bars -- both were beautiful routines. But more importantly, he had fun! He competes at Stanford in two weeks, then Las Vegas two weeks after that. And I'm hoping to post a short video clip of what my kid can do, cuz it's totally amazing!

6. Austin's wrist -- Austin went back to gymnastics this week. We forced the issue and are telling him he needs to do two weeks of practice before we'll even consider where he wants to go with it. I don't know what he'll decide, because for the first time in years, he had two months of living as a normal kid without the pressure of hours and hours of gymnastics. He says he's done, and that's fine with us, as long as it's a decision made for the right reasons. And right now it's very hard for him to go to gymnastics because it hurts his wrist (his PT said it would) and because after two months, he's not nearly as strong or flexible as he was. We're just praying that he'll make the right decision for him.

7. Supersize Me -- watched this with the kids over the weekend. We'd seen it before, but it was interesting to watch again, and especially to watch it with our kids.

8. (need to wrap this up -- have 45 minutes to do a quick grocery store trip, and then my first client comes) Dodged a bullet this weekend, and that bullet was my own mind and cravings. Still doing good with clean-ish eating (which for me includes a bowl of cereal nearly every night, but that seems to be working) to keep moods in check. But when it's the weekend and I'm feeling less fluffy, it's hard to stay away from treats. My dad brought us some chocolate-covered macademia nuts, and I had 3 of them. I wanted 30, though... and it would be so easy to justify (it's the weekend, everyone deserves an indulgence, what can it hurt?), but I stopped at 3.

9. Healthy indulgence -- I made Morning Glory Muffins from my new cookbook yesterday and they are the BEST! How can you lose when something contains grated apple, grated carrot, crushed pineapple, coconut, walnuts, and raisins!!

10. (Ok, this is my last thought, cuz I'm way over my time budget for writing!) Has anyone seen Eating? Or checked out the RAVE diet? I'm intrigued...

Training

In years past this time of year has been hard for me. Tim goes back to work, after taking some time off after Christmas, and the kids go back to school, and that leaves me feeling lost and uncertain as to what to do with myself. Well that's not happening this year, cuz I am consumed by my new career. I spend a lot of time reading, studying, thinking, and planning what to do with my clients.

Today I worked with Jenny, my real marathon running friend, who gave me permission to write this -- thanks Jenny! Sadly, she has an ankle strain that is seriously limiting her activities. But she wanted some ideas of things she can do, both at the gym and at home. So for the last two days I've been turning her situation around in my mind, like a Rubik's Cube, to figure out what to give her that will a) not hurt her ankle, and b) challenge my athletic, driven friend. I think we found some options for her that will work, and now I have a little bit of experience I can draw upon regarding ankle limitations.

You know what's hard and great about what I'm doing? It's that it's ALL new! And I wouldn't have it any other way.

Betty-ing out!

I'm trying some new things in the homemaking department that seem to be working, so of course I needed to share...

First of all, I've followed my friend Jenny's suggestion and have been asking the kids to pick something for dinner each week. Well, ok so I've done it for one week now, but still. Tucker's first pick was escargot (he tried them on the cruise and thought they were fabulous), and Austin, of course, picked sushi. Then I told them they had to pick something I've actually made before. Austin picked mini-meatball soup (a Rachael Ray recipe) and Tucker picked a Frito Taco Salad. It felt good to be cooking something that I knew at least one person would be enthusiastic about!



Also I found these labels that I just love. They stick virtually permanently to any container you want to use (dishwasher safe, of course, or I wouldn't use them!) and you can erase and relabel as many times as you want. Note the Sharper Image yellow containers (note to self -- get more of these!).

Finally, I have a new cookbook that looks just great. It's called Food to Live By, by Myra Goodman, one of the founders of Earthbound Farm, and organic farming company. The recipes look fresh and yummy and I can't wait to try them.

Food for thought

A while back, Stacey posted a blog quiz where you answer questions about your diet and exercise habits, and they tell you what they think you weigh. Her answer was right on. Mine? Not so much! My weight seems to hover in the high 130s most of the time, but my quiz result was 120. And that's been weighing on me (ha!) ever since. I really do want to weigh less. I don't like my number is what it is. I've written about it before, and it's still true. I can recite the "weight is just a number" pledge backwards and forwards, and I really do believe it. Except when I take a test and it feels like I fail cuz I weigh almost 20 pounds more than it thinks I should.

Don't worry -- I'm not gonna lose any sleep over this. Just needed to get it off my chest...

Upside down

Handstands are getting easier every day and they are FUN! For my birthday workout, we went to the gym, and I spent a lot of time in handstands (probably close to 5 minute altogether, which doesn't sound like a lot, but trust me, it is!), did single-leg presses (the only exercise that's really not possible to duplicate at home), and spent some yummy time stretching.

Today's workout included handstands too. I can tell I'm getting stronger, because I'm no longer afraid to kick up to handstand, and I'm starting to work on balance by taking my feet away from the wall and trying to stay up. The most I can go like this so far is about 5 seconds -- then my feet touch, or I just come down -- but it's progress.

Comments on comments

Eileen and Katie asked about the training clock. I'm so glad you like it! It's from the Museum of Modern Art, and I got it online at Flax.

Matt says he would use the sticks (aka Body Bars) in light saberish sorts of ways. I am sure you are very strong, Matt, but with the sticks weigh 12 pounds, 18 pounds, and 24 pounds, I'll bet it would be a challenging workout! I also liked when you said I'm the oldest person you communicate with on Blogger, but that you think of me as "a wise head on young shoulders." Very cool and very appreciated!

2007 progress

Defluffing is going well. I'm still convinced that sugar is bad for my mental health, so even my birthday eating was clean clean clean. Now it's just a matter of retraining my brain so I think of eating clean as not just a good idea, but a quality of life one, because for me it really and truly is.

Oh how I love my training room!

This is the view from the door. What you can't see, cuz it's right over your head, is the Door Gym pull-up bar. One other thing you can't know about, cuz a picture can't convey it, is how GREAT the rubber flooring (that Tim installed!!!) feels on your feet. Oh, and the bench adjusts from flat to incline and decline and also feels great.

These are the Hampton weights that look like jewelry. They are shiny chrome and have a rubberized grip that feels smooth and good in your hands.

Lots of fun can be had with a core board and a stability ball!

LOVE my squishy med balls. These are 4 lb, 6 lb, 8 lb, and 10 lb and they feel great in your hands and let you do lots of playful effective exercises.

Even the sticks (ok, they're really Body Bars) are squishy. How stuff feels is VERY important to me!

So the Kettlebells aren't squishy, but they are grippey and the colors are pretty!

Speaking of colors, I LOVE my clock. The colors change constantly.

This picture is titled "The Woman who Wanted it All!" Everything about it, from the title to the image to the abstract yet recognizable quality of the art to the colors, is perfect. And true!

Ok, so that's the training room. What's missing is a mirror (to open the room and check form), attachments for tubing (which I have, but didn't show), and of course, words! I'm getting quotes from Wallwords. The quote about the closet door will be "Hard work pays off!" The others (of course there will be others) will come in time...

Disclaimer

I am about to post pictures of my training room and I'm nervous. I LOVE my room and I want you to love it too, but I'm not sure if the pictures will convey how great it feels to workout there.

Ok, just had to get that out in the open. Time to work on the pictures...

???

Why is it that when I'm working out, I can think of millions of things to write about, but when I actually sit down, nothing comes to mind?

Ok, here's one thing -- I'm seriously trying to de-fluff. To that end, I've been cutting way back on my eating (easy to cut back when on vacation I was eating, like, 10 times a day!), eating more raw foods and juices, and relying heavily on Diet Mountain Dew. I know, I know, the contradiction of "raw foods and Diet Mountain Dew" is not lost on me, ok? But it's working! And I'm watching Kana's cleansing program with interest. I've read several times about Isagenix and must admit that I'm intrigued.

Today I did two workouts. Hill repeats (run and walk) for 30 minutes before getting Tucker from school. Then went to the gym and did the Crossfit workout where you row 1000 meters, then do dead squat/presses. I used a 15 pound Body Bar cuz it's all I could find, and did a total of 100 squat/presses. Only took 25 minutes to do the workout, but it was TOUGH!

Here's one thing I was thinking about during the hill repeats. Tomorrow (January 9th) is my birthday. I'm turning 46, which sounds VERY VERY OLD. In fact, when I went to type "46" my fingers moved one key to the left and hit "35" which looked way more right to me. But, in fact, I'm 46 now. And looking back on my life, I see themed decades. For example:

Ages 15 to 25: Trying to find my way.
Ages 25 - 35: Got my job, got my man!
Ages 35 - 45: Mommy's my name.
Ages 45 - ??: Life is for the taking!

Ok, so maybe "life is for the taking" isn't exactly what I should put there, but I can't think of anything else. The point is that as I turn 46, there is excitement and anticipation of what's on the horizon, and that feels great!

On a final (for now) note, I feel like a REAL PERSONAL TRAINER because I was accepted by the Adidas 3-Stripes program, where trainers get discounts on workout gear -- COOL, huh? One thing I notice is that if you train a client, you wear fitness clothes, and although you're not doing the actual workout, you do enough of it that it requires changing afterwards, unless all you've got planned is your own workout. So I'm going through fitness clothes like crazy. I still like my "uniform": track pants and a short-sleeve UA top (soon to be Adidas, though!).

Fluffy is back!

Yes, we're back from the cruise. Had a GREAT time -- Catalina is always wonderful, and Ensenada was so much better than the last time we visited. The last night there was a westerly (that's what they called it) storm, and the not-so-tiny ship was tossed. Condiments were sliding around on tables, and it was impossible to walk in a straight line. Tim and I went up to the top deck (before they told everyone to stay inside) and the feeling of being in my husband's arms along with the intensity of the wind and waves -- that's a memory I'll hold onto tightly!

I tried to hold firm to healthy eating, but the constant feedings (and I do mean constant, literally) took their toll. Everything is tight today, and I feel like I should be moo-ing my way through the laundry mountain. So I'm not waiting till Monday to fix it -- healthy eating starts today, baby!

On the fitness front, a present (ok, so it was from me, but it FEELS like a present) arrived from Amazon -- Chris Carmichael's new book "5 Essentials for a Winning Life." I've only had time to skim it a bit, but I'm SO encouraged by what he writes about fitness because it is exactly what I'm already doing with my clients -- multi-joint exercises, interval bursts, and agility training for everyone. So me and Chris -- we're like the same person, except he's known worldwide and has been training for decades, and I'm ... well, I'm new at this!!! :)

THRIVE!

That's my word for the year. Thrive! To thrive, you can't be last in line, or taking the scrapings from the bottom of the bucket, or doing without. To thrive means to be abundantly alive. To flourish. I think of myself as a late bloomer (in a good way), and what cracks me up about my word for 2007 is that it works so much better for years ending in "5". But maybe I wasn't ready to thrive in 2005!

We leave on a cruise tomorrow -- from LA to Catalina Island to Ensenada, Mexico, then back home. When I return, I promise to post pictures of the training room. Happy New Year to everyone. Hope it's our best year yet!!!

Better

Today I'm feeling much better than yesterday. Thanks for the words of encouragement!

So I've started my own personal bootcamp of sorts. Bad eating definitely contributed to feeling so sad yesterday (although there are very real things going on that feel sad) and feeling out of sorts all week. So today I'm back to proper eating, consistent exercise, and generally better self care. Earlier I did this for a workout:

7 rounds of
20 reps wall ball with squat (10 pound ball)
20 reps hang power cleans (24 pound bar)

And I just finished my spinach, butter lettuce, tomato, yellow pepper, and black bean salad -- YUM!

Oh and one final thing -- I've decided I want to be able to do a handstand with ease. So I'm working on it by walking up the wall (facing the wall) and just holding a handstand, with hands about a foot from the wall. Yesterday I managed to kick up to handstand several times. This is a BIG DEAL in terms of shoulder stability!

Long time!

This time of year is just so busy that although I've had many things to write about, there truly hasn't been any "spare" time (is there such a thing???).

One of my clients got me a massage gift certificate, and I just got back from an hour of heaven. It's hard to break away from my puritanical thinking -- hard work is the only thing that matters -- and just relax and BE, but when I do, it's always great.

Today's workout was a variant on the Crossfit workout of the day (found on crossfit.com):
5 rounds of

50 thrusters (with an 18 pound body bar)
1000 meter row

Good thing I did it before the massage. I loved the intensity, and I really loved it when I was done! Tim did the entire workout as prescribed, which means he did 90 pullups as just part of the workout. He's amazing, my husband!

Change of subject: I try not to write about my kids too much. I don't want them to feel their privacy is being invaded (although they don't read what I write, it could come back to haunt me and them!), and I just like keeping this fitness-ish in nature. But right now I'm feeling so sad about my older son. He's the one who hurt his wrist a couple of months ago. Today he told me he's not going back to gymnastics. He's competed since he was 7 years old, and has never experienced life without long hours in the gym. Well, he says he's really liking the ease his life has right now. Plus he thinks he's lost too much ground from having so much time away.

Ok, so our kids have never done gymnastics for us. We're not frustrated gymnasts or anything. But today I started crying as I thought of Austin not doing gymnastics anymore. Until the injury he thought he was going to take it through college (although we've always taken it a year at a time). And when I think back to watching him do pommel horse right before he got hurt, it kills me that I didn't have my video camera. It was just so beautiful -- the combination of grace and power -- and the smile on his face as he finished the routine -- well, I'm crying as I type this.

I believe all things happen for a reason -- I really do. And I believe that (as Charles Swindoll says) life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. But I'm sad for my son. And I miss the boy I knew. In the last two months, he's changed in ways that make him feel very distant. He's talking about focusing on scootering and trying to get a sponsor. His music is different. I knew my clean-cut gymnast son. I'm afraid I won't know this new boy/man who's emerging.

Wish I could wrap this up, but maybe this is just something that must unfold...

Many unrelated things, and my genius husband

I think the slimming tea is some caffeine, a diuretic, and a mild laxative. But it sounds so much better when it goes by its nickname of "slimming tea" doesn't it???

Got a little off track over the weekend. I don't know how anyone else gets off track, but for me it usually involves lots of stress, poor food choices, very little exercise, and this time it included forgetting to take anti-d for 3 days in a row. Truly -- this is a recipe for an emotional head-on collision! On Monday I was eating a candy bar (desperately seeking serotonin, I think), yelling profanity at the oh-s0-slow drivers on the road (no kids in the car at the time, though) and thinking "Something is seriously wrong with me!" Thank goodness for the moment of clarity where I thought, "Wait now...have I been forgetting something???" By Tuesday afternoon I was starting to feel more balanced, and I think today it's all systems go.

It's good that I was feeling better yesterday afternoon, because I spent an hour dealing with a printer paper jam. Tucker has a project due on Friday, and he wanted the text to look old. So we took paper and dyed it in a mixture of tea and coffee, which made it look like parchment. When we sent the paper through the printer, the first page did great, and the second page just got all caught up in the printer's guts, and wouldn't come out. So I spent nearly an hour using tweezers to pull confetti-sized pieces of paper from the printer. Then I needed to take Austin to PT, and just had to leave the project. When Tim came home, he clicked on the "How to fix printer jams" icon that I'd completely overlooked, found the magic secret back door to the printer, and had the jam fixed in about, oh like 30 seconds! Mr. Get-It-Done rides again. :)

Tim did convince me to workout Monday afternoon, but I didn't have much time. I went to our gym and did a circuit of these exercises:

KB swings -- 20 pounds, 30 reps
Reverse push-ups -- bar at waist height, 15 reps
Dead squats -- 40 pounds, 15 reps

After 3-1/2 times through, I was feeling, if not completely good, at least quite a bit better. I finished up with some single-leg leg press, using 100 pounds.

On another workout note (sorry this is so long -- kids aren't awake yet, and I actually have a little time to write!), tomorrow will be my last workout with Darla. I started with her in September of 2004 with about 20 pounds of excess fluff that I didn't know how to shed. Over the course of two years, she helped me to get consistent with exercise, created accountability with eating which translated into weight loss, and taught me that I could do WAY more than I ever thought I could do which is what led to me doing a figure competition in 2005. And she helped me to envision a life where I help women make the changes I made, which led to getting certified last month and starting a new chapter in my life. I am so grateful for all she's given me, and my hope is that I can give the same encouragement and guidance to the women who entrust their fitness hopes and dreams to me. (Cue music ... I know, sounds sentimental, but it's true!)

On a final note, I've been listening to some new and some old music recently. On my "I wanna hear it again" playlist are:

Killing in the Name, Rage Against the Machine (Austin introduced me to this) (skip the last minute or so -- it's all screaming and semi-indecipherable profanity)

You Haven't Done Nothin, Stevie Wonder (an oldie but goodie!)

Welcome to Our World, Michael W. Smith (one of my top Christmas songs)

Hope of Israel, Michael W. Smith (completely instrumental, and brings me to tears every time I hear it)

My Christmas Prayer, BeBe Winans and Rob Thomas

Ok, time to mom-up and start rousing the sleeping kids. I told Tucker he was going to wake up with a smile on his face -- hope that happens today!

The Soreness is Building

Ok, so I got up this morning and didn't feel very sore at all. "I must be in great shape!" I thought. Well, as the day goes on, I get sorer and sorer. Everywhere.

In an interesting paradox, this afternoon I was drinking slimming tea and munching on some Petit Fours that a Bingo customer brought to me. Two steps forward and one step back???

Muffin workout? Workout and muffins?

This week has been light on workouts because of family in town and Tucker's birthday party today. After the party, Tim suggested we do a Crossfit workout he'd seen: 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 squats in rounds for 20 minutes. I agreed and it was great! I still can't do full pull-ups, but I can jump to the top then come down slowly. And instead of squats, I did kettlebell swings -- more intense for the backside than normal squats.

On a less healthy note, Costco blueberry muffins are like crack for me -- highly addictive and totally whack in terms of my fitness goals. We had a brunch for Tucker's party and then took the boys to see the movie "Eragon" which was quite good. But back to the muffins -- we bought tons, cut them in half, and set them out on a plate. They're still out, which makes it all too easy to break off a bite or two every single time I pass the kitchen.

Oh, back to workouts, after the 20 minutes, we ran a mile to finish things off. Tim felt the workout more in his lower body. For me, upper body is very tired. Between us, we're officially jello!

A really funny compliment

I work at a Bingo hall most Thursday nights. Last night I was cashiering, and a woman came through my line and complimented me on my hair, asking how I make it look so good. I told her my 24-year-old niece told me which flat iron I needed, and she said, "Girl, YOU look 24!" Nice!

So we kept talking -- a very rambling conversation about hair (she says black hair doesn't respond to normal flat irons), Christmas shopping, kids, etc. She said she has two kids who are high school seniors. I said, "You sure don't look old enough for that!" and we agreed to say our ages. When I told her my age, she said, "Girl, they say black don't crack, so you must be some black, cuz you ain't cracked yet!" Thought I was going to wet myself from laughing so hard!

Crazy Busy!

I really am still here, just crazy busy, as I'm sure everyone else is this time of year! Tucker's birthday is in 6 days, and I'm planning his party for Saturday (a group of boys going to see the movie Eragon). Christmas shopping is in full swing. Got new weights yesterday (hooray!) and flooring too (now just have to figure out how to install it). Ordered business cards this morning (vistaprint.com). Relatives coming into town later today (hooray!) and staying for 3 days. House is a wreck (boo!).

Recommendation: if you see the January issue of O, The Oprah Magazine, get it! It's the one with Oprah and her 3 beautiful dogs on the cover. The issue has great information about motivation and changing habits and eating and is well worth the money.

Time to clean house...

Mission accomplished

Short. Intense. Effective. Here's today's workout:

Warm up
40 jumping pull-ups (2 sets of 20)
50 bodyweight Y squats (arms overhead in a "y" -- makes these harder)
20 Turkish get-ups, using 6 pound squishy med ball (2 sets of 10)
300 kettlebell swings (using 15 pound Cardio Bell, 6 sets of 50)
20 situps holding 12 pound Body Bar

We're heading to Tahoe for snowboarding. Have a great weekend, everyone, and remember:

HARD WORK PAYS OFF!

Christmas came early!

I got my Power Systems order today! Fitness toys! Fitness toys! So I have now in my posession:

1 Reebok Core Board
3 squishy med balls (10, 8, and 6 pounds)
1 Cardio Bell (15 pounds)
1 Body Bar (12 pounds, to add to my 18 pounder)
4 new exercise tubes (at various resistances)
and a lovely lovely exercise mat

Time to go kick my own a$$!

Feeling lucky

There is a quote by someone famous (but I can't think of who at the moment) that goes:

Luck is when opportunity meets preparation.

So I went to the Christmas lunch and guess what? My old company is putting in a training room for their employees, and one of my good friends is on the committee that's meeting on Friday to decide what kind of equipment they're buying and how they want to proceed. So she asked me to send her an email with my contact information, because we discussed having someone (moi?) come in and educate the employees on how to maximize their time in the training room. So because I have an opinion on all things fitness, I sent her some things to consider as they plan the space.

I have no idea if anything will come of this, but I'm feeling lucky, that's for sure!

The Transitive Property

Pop quiz: does anyone remember the transitive property? It's the one that goes like this:

If A = B, and B = C, then A = C

This weekend the transitive property kinda did me in. My friend was here with her family. I LOVE LOVE LOVE my friend. But she has trouble knowing what size she is (something many women struggle with). At 5'8" and maybe 120 pounds, she feels big. So here are my thoughts:

If my friend thinks she's a cow. And I'm bigger than my friend. That makes me a ..... ???

I know it's not clear thinking. But it's hard to get out of!

And today I'm going to lunch at the computer company I used to work for. I've been home with my kids for 11 years now, but my job was a big deal to me for a long time. And sometimes I still miss working there. The reason I'm going is that years ago I started a Christmas lunch where I made soup for the entire company (there were about 40 of us at that time) and we watched a Christmas movie. Well, that tradition is still going strong nearly 20 years later, and one of my friends at the company thought to invite me this year. I'm excited to see old friends, but nervous at the same time, because I don't want to feel like I want to work there again.

Can we talk beauty?

I used to feel like the only 12-year-old in a grown-up woman's body -- awkward, insecure, and sure that everyone else knew how to "do" the beauty thing, but not me. But in the past few years I've found some confidence, along with a healthy dose of "I am what I am!" and that's helped the awkward adolescent to grow up a bit.

Based on that background, it kind of amazes me AND cracks me up that I'd feel like I could write ANYTHING about beauty. Having said that, I have something to say. I'd found some products I love, so of course I need to share this info with my friends.

First thing is Big Tease mascara by Bare Escentuals. I'm still completely sold on their makeup, but am in love with this mascara. It makes your lashes long and pretty without getting all goopy like some mascaras do. Also at BE is Buxom Lips, a lip plumper/gloss that's really nice, but only seems to be included in some of their kits, not separately.

And my niece introduced me to the BEST flat iron on the planet -- the CHI flat iron. I thought all flat irons were the same, but I was oh so wrong.

Of course, these are just outside beauty things. The most important beauty advice is always to love and accept yourself for who you are, retain a positive outlook on life, and drink tons of beauty juice (aka water). But finding great mascara, lip gloss, and a flat iron sure doesn't hurt!

Bringing on Christmas

Just a little something to make you smile!

Today I've got the Christmas music going, and I'm bringing boxes out from under the stairs in preparation for setting up the tree and decorating. Last year we bought an artificial tree, and while it's certainly simpler, I think I'm gonna miss going up to Snowy Peaks, the place in the mountains where we've gone ever since we were first married, to find and cut the perfect tree (which, when you really think about it, is barbaric -- who would cut down the perfect tree? Well, me, I guess.)

Feast or famine

Well, the famine is over and my appetite is back. It returned around 9:00 last night, and after tomato soup, salad, granola, and a protein bar, my stomach was finally willing to give up pantry prowling!

Today the electricians are in the training room putting in can lights and a dimmer. And I'm hoping weights and flooring will be in by the end of the weekend.

Technology rocks

So I got some speakers to use with my iPod in the training room, and I LOVE them! They're by Logitech and I got 'em at Costco and they've been following me from the kitchen (great to have music while you cook) to the garage (cuz who can paint without music?) to the training room. They came to Tahoe with us and provided music to dine by. Click here to check them out (but if you buy them, go with Costco where they're $50 cheaper than the list price!).

And speaking of music, it's great having a 13 year old, cuz they expose you to all sorts of music you'd never hear otherwise. My new favorite song is "Hate Every Beautiful Day" but Sugarcult. (Love everything about it except for the name!) And through Austin, I've found the band Puddle of Mudd who do "Blurry" and "She Hates Me" which are also current faves.

What's interesting to me is that my sons musical tastes are so different. Austin's clearly in the alternative camp, whereas Tucker loves pop and musicals. Me? I love almost everything, so I'm good with whatever they put on. But if they share their music with me, they have to be prepared for a lesson in the joys of Earth, Wind, and Fire and Stevie Wonder, or Led Zeppelin and Aerosmith!

Sick, but it's a good thing

Tucker called from school saying he was feeling awful and wanting to come home. So we've been home today, and now I'm feeling yucky. But it's a good thing because I have no appetite. So while I don't feel great, I've spent the day catching up on email, painting a bench for our front porch, doing laundry, and just getting stuff done, and all the while not eating.

Oh, and I've found the perfect sick beverage. It's Diet Mountain Dew. My niece introduced me to it in Tahoe. (She drinks several each morning as her breakfast!) While I don't agree that DMD is the breakfast of champions, it may well be the nectar of the ill, cuz it's the only thing that's agreeing with me at the moment.

Intense Lower Body Workout

Ok, so the title doesn't begin to touch how sore my backside is today! If you, too, want to experience dramatic lower body soreness (and who wouldn't?!?!), here's one way to get there:

Day 1: Listen to intense music on iPod, and do a playful combination of lunges off a 14" step (bodyweight only) and kettlebell swings using a 20 pound dumbbell. Do maybe 50 or 60 lunges on each side, and 70 or so swings. Intersperse this with jumping pullups and ab work.

Day 2: Find a hill. (Come to Rocklin if you don't have any, cuz we've got plenty.) Do hill repeats, running till you're at the most your lungs can handle, then walking to recover, then running again. Do this 5 times.

Day 3: OUCH!

On another note, sometimes I read what bloggers write, and think, "You know, I'm going to stop writing, and just put "WHAT SHE SAID" on my weblog, along with a link." cuz it's just so good. That's how I feel about this post by Renee of Skwigg's World.

Test results

Prime Rib -- outstanding, but make sure to have sour cream and horseradish on hand next time.

Potatoes Are Rotten -- as always, a huge hit. Yes!

Chocolate Espresso Cake -- A+. And now the neighbors love us, cuz we took slices of cake to them so we wouldn't have the cake around the house.

You know what's nice about this? With the advent of depression, many things I loved went by the wayside. One of them was cooking. My family ate, but the enthusiasm I had for finding recipes or trying something new -- well, it just went away. So that I enjoyed testing some dishes for Christmas -- well, that is something to be thankful for.

Testing Christmas

Got back from Tahoe yesterday. Had a GREAT time, although I don't have quite the tolerance for sitting around and chatting that the rest of Tim's family has -- a few times I retreated to my room for a nice quiet reading time. But honestly, I LOVE my husband's family, and especially my nieces (24, 21, and almost 18). Ate a ton and experienced a bit of the mood plummet, but am back on track today. Plus somehow I managed to not gain a pound -- if only I could market the "Go on vacation, and leave the excess weight behind!" diet plan!

Today I'm doing a test run of Christmas dinner. We're having Christmas here this year, and what makes me nervous is the "big meat" part of the dinner. Well, Costco has fully cooked organic prime rib, where you just heat it and serve it. So we got some, and today I'm testing it out, along with Potatoes Are Rotten (well, that's what my kids call the potatoes gratin I make), and a chocolate cake with espresso buttercream frosting. I'll let you know how it all goes.

Feeling Fine

I'm a little sore today, but feeling just fine. What's most sore are my lats and biceps, from doing jumping pull-up holds last night. I haven't done pull-ups in a long time, and while it might have been a little much on my bicep tendon (it's sore today), it was so much fun! And my glutes can tell they were worked, but it's a good feeling.

Jen posted a link to another Crossfit video. I love how athletic the women are -- beautiful hips and thighs, awesome abs -- but more than that, I wish I could do a muscle-up (the move they do on the rings). My kids do that for gymnastics and it would be so great to be able to do the same thing. I think I could get strong enough, but the issue is shoulder stability. Would my shoulder stay in joint with that kind of pressure on it? Well, right now I'm working my way back to pull-ups, and maybe if I can make that happen, the muscle-up will be the next logical step?

On a completely different note, I've been cooking a lot recently. I don't do low fat or low carb stuff for our dinners. I figure with four active family members, I can just make what sounds good, and then Tim and I can moderate our intake by changing portion size. The cookbook I'm using is called "Don't Panic -- Dinner's in the Freezer" by Susie Martinez, et al. They give instructions for cooking in quantity and then freezing dinners ahead, but right now I'm just making the recipes to see if they're any good. So far the winners are Colorado White Chili (chicken, corn, white beans -- yum!), Lemon Glazed Chicken Breasts, and Sassy Sloppy Joes. Getting three solid recipes from a cookbook makes that book well worth the investment, in my opinion!

The kids are out of school...

...and I've become a bit of a YouTube addict. In some ways it's like my Amazon addiction -- easily justified as educational, therefore not likely to be dealt with anytime soon. Here's the kind of stuff I like to watch:

Fitness: Burpees - Kettlebell - Medicine Ball


I like to watch it because it's the kind of stuff I like to do in my own workouts. I do KB swings using a weight (and holding on VERY carefully) -- they're GREAT for lifting your rear view! And burpees -- I just thought I'd do 10 today for fun, not even the broad jump kind, just the kind where you jump up in the air. Got to the 6th rep, and hate to admit this, but I had to pause, catch breath, and then finish reps. When you mix these kind of intervals into an already challenging weight workout -- well, I guess all I can say is HARD WORK PAYS OFF!!!

If you are a praying sort of person...

...could you pray for my oldest son, Austin? He hurt his wrist skateboarding almost a month ago, and hasn't been able to do gymnastics since. Today we were back at the doctor, where he got a splint (think "removable cast") put on, and has another week of no gym. This is the kid who wants to go to Cal or Stanford on a gymnastics scholarship, and who has 20 hours a week of practice (he's 13 and in 7th grade) and NEVER complains about going. Meet season starts in January, and at his level, the tricks are getting harder and more dangerous, and I don't know what impact the time off with have on his season. Wish I could be the one with the injury.

Many thanks...

...to everyone for your insight and wisdom. That you write at all encourages me. And what you wrote helps me to find my way out of the fear forest.

No news on the training room front. I'm waiting for my flooring and weights. In the meantime, I go in on a semi-regular basis (did abs last night, did lower body weights tonight) and feel like I'm making friends with my new space. It's bright and pretty and I'm very happy with how things are coming together so far.

So while I'm waiting, there's another project, and that is designing business forms: PAR-Q (physical activity readiness questionnaire), workout logs, business brochure, etc. I know I could just make copies from a book or website, but because I am me, I want it all to go together really well. So next week while the kids are off of school, I may manage to find a few quiet moments to put some designs together.

Wednesday we head to Tahoe for Thanksgiving with Tim's family. There will be 14 of us in a house surrounded by snow, and it's gonna be FUN! I hope everyone has a wonderful Thanksgiving. We all have so much to be thankful for, don't we?

A great day for this pig lover

While buying coffee beans at Peets, I found these licorice piglets. They are darling and the tin is even in the right colors to go with my Olivia the Pig collection!

Then at the school book fair, there was a new Olivia book, titled "Dream Big, starring Olivia." It has all sorts of fabulous quotes in it such as:

The only people who never tumble are those who never mount the high wire. Oprah Winfrey

Nobody can be exactly like me. Even I have trouble doing it. Tallulah Bankhead

Everything starts as somebody's daydream. Larry Niven

I really needed to see stuff like this today, because I am getting really frightened about charging people to work out with me. And with the fear comes the "this was the stupidest idea ever" thought and that just leads, as everyone knows, to chocolate! (Well, it didn't today, but it sure could have!)

When I look at the situation objectively, I know several things:

1) No relationship works where it's one-sided. So I can't train people and not charge. Period.
2) Even if I could, I'm going to have ongoing expenses like liability insurance, business licensing fees, and continuing education, not to mention the not insignificant outlay for getting certified and setting up a training room.
3) One of the huge obstacles to getting in shape is making the time to do it. Well, guess what? When you pay a trainer, all of a sudden you get VERY consistent in your workouts, cuz if you don't show, you still pay!

I still feel scared. The licorice piglets help a little bit. But chocolate might help even more. And I'm happy that my pig collection has a few new members!

Blog reading note

Is anyone else using Bloglines to read weblogs? If not, you've gotta try it. I keep up on about 15 weblogs, and with Bloglines, I'm notified when a new post is made. So no more clicking and checking for me. The only thing I don't know is if it registers on the person's weblog that someone was reading -- a nice thing for those who have a blog counter. Anyway, click here to check it out.

Clarification

I hope I didn't sound like I was mad at my gym or anything in my last post. They handled this with a great deal of grace and were very kind about the situation.

Girlfriend Jen asked why I don't just train for my gym. Excellent question. Problem with training there is twofold:

1) They charge something like $75 per hour for personal training, and
2) The trainers only get like $15 per hour.

So it's like everyone loses -- the client AND the trainer. Well, the gym wins in this case. But it's their choice as to how they're going to set up personal training. If it were up to me, I think I'd charge maybe $40 per hour, give the trainer $35, and call it good. I mean, you're already making money on membership fees, so why not encourage loyalty and great results??? But it ain't up to me...

Semi-sad news

Today I got the call that I've been expecting for a while -- the head trainer at my gym called to ask if I'm training people in the facility. I was able to truthfully answer yes, but I'm not accepting compensation for it. She said that trainers at the gym, as well as members, have been asking about me, and that's causing problems. What I can do is workout with friends, but I can't direct their workouts.

So I'm flattered that people have noticed what I'm doing. But I'm sad because it's fun training my friends there. And double workouts on a regular basis (with a friend, then with Darla, for example) are not going to work. Guess I'd got additional motivation to get that training room DONE!

My fun husband

We were getting ready for church today, and I was going to wear a wrap dress I'd worn in San Francisco for our anniversary.

Me: "This is my lucky dress, cuz when I wear it, I get lucky!"
Tim: "Well, I guess you have a whole closet of lucky clothes!"

Bigger steps

Today Tim and I went to the exercise equipment store, and I ordered weights (Hampton chrome -- 5 lb, 7.5 lb, 10 lb, 12.5 lb, 15 lb, 20 lb, 25 lb, 30 lb) and rubber flooring (black with 17% white fleck). I also got a cool adjustable bench (incline and decline) and a weight rack (for holding dumbbells), a new stability ball, a door pull-up bar, and some magnetic weight plates (to create 17.5, 22.5, etc. weights as needed). Tim took apart the pull up tower I found in Craig's List, and my friend is coming to pick it up in the next few days (I'm happy to have found it a home!).

Tomorrow I meet with Steve at SST, who can get me discounts for Power Systems. My plan is to get some Dynamax balls, boxing targets, a Reebok core board, and a few other fitness toys. It's starting to actually happen and I'm getting very excited!!!

This post has no title

I use this weblog as my journal, which means I write down both the good and the bad stuff in life. And although I prefer writing when things are good, writing is so much more meaningful when things are tough, and I'm using the weblog to figure life out.

So what's bad is Wellbutrin, the new antidepressant I was on. And I'm bummed. Because while switching anti-d's did make my mind sharper, it was like switching my sex drive to "off." And that is NOT acceptable to me. This week I've gone back on Zoloft, and while overall it's a better choice for me, it really eff-s with my short-term memory and that makes me feel stupid.

I worked for a computer company for 10 years, and that meant I worked with a lot of men who loved science fiction, so I was exposed to a new genre. There was a book by Piers Anthony (I think) where one of the characters was so fascinating that I've always remembered her. This woman changed as the moon changed, so for half of the month she was fascinating to talk with, and a companion in every way a man could want. Only catch? Ugly as ugly can be. As the month progressed, she got more and more beautiful, but less and less interesting. I feel a little like this woman, in that I can feel my "sharpness" slipping away. And it causes me to get very quiet, because in conversation, for example, by the time I get a chance to speak, I've forgotten what I had in my head just moments before.

Maybe I'm like Rush Limbaugh -- "...with one half of my brain tied behind my back!" Honestly, even writing about it is making me feel a little bit better. And it gives me incentive to get my training room DONE, cuz when I train at the gym, I can't rely on a clipboard and notes to know what to do next, and while that's hard for anyone, it's especially challenging for me.

Ok, enough from me. If you're having a three-day weekend, enjoy it like crazy!

Baby-steppin towards my goal

So yesterday I did my first workout in the training room. Granted there's still work to be done -- the floor isn't changed out yet, pull-up tower needs to go to its new home, and maybe I should move the Christmas and birthday wrapping paper into another place (ya think?). But I actually did a workout in the room and I really liked it.

So I'm starting to design forms and business cards for Lift, and my printer decides to act up. It takes about 5 minutes or so to print a single page of text. So I've been navigating the HP support website, trying to figure out what's wrong. This is usually Tim's department, but he's so slammed with work that he can't check it out just now.

We have a FREE WEEKEND coming up -- hooray! I think I'm going to do some equipment purchasing and maybe some carpet ripping out. I'm starting to get very excited...!

Cool video

I subscribe to Ryan Lee's Sports Specific newsletter, and today he sent this message:

With election day finally coming to a close, there has been so much negativity and
nasty campaigning, we need get back into the positive frame of mind.

If you take a look here and spend just 3 minutes watching this video clip, I bet your day will be better:

http://www.sportspecific.com/happy.html

Stay strong,
Ryan Lee

I so enjoyed watching this, and even though I'm not a frequent crier, it brought tears to my eyes.

Enjoy!

Back to life, back to reality

Sunday night was my brother-in-law's wedding, so after my test Friday, we went straight into wedding madness. I LOVE my new sister-in-law, and the wedding was beautiful. But I'm very ready to be back to reality.

A big THANK YOU to everyone who wrote congratulatory stuff about passing my test. It was a big deal to me, and it was so fun to share the journey with you. As a family, we're going to have a celebration dinner soon, and I wish you all could join us!!! I'll let you know the night -- maybe you can have some cake to celebrate, and credit the calories to my account!

My arm/shoulder is getting better. I've been doing rehab exercises here at home, and have progressed from no weight at all to using tomato sauce cans (8 ounces, baby!) as I do my exercises. You should have heard my family laugh as I brought out my "weights" the first time. Pretty soon I'll be moving on up to soup cans, and then when I'm really doing good, I can graduate to canned vegetables!

So in the meantime, my exercise program has been all lower body, and all bodyweight, and it's truly possible to kick your own ass using no weights at all, let me tell you! Weight is holding steady in the high 130s, and I'm convinced that I will be in the low 130s by the end of the year if I keep doing what I'm doing (6 small meals, lots of veggies, lots of protein, minimal cheats).

Final note: I miss studying! I have two CEU courses from NASM: Optimal Performance Training (OPT) for Weight Management, and OPT for Seniors. I think I'll be starting one of the "classes" next week.

The best thing about San Diego

One aspect of my San Diego weekend I never got to tell was that I got to meet a fellow blogger! Irene and I met for dinner and it was delightful in every way. (Click on her link to see a picture of us -- for some reason I can't get Blogger to post the photo on my weblog.) We met on Friday night after the first day of my NASM seminar, and I got to the restaurant early to change out of fitness clothes. As I was waiting, I felt nervous like I was going on a blind date -- will she like me? will I like her? why didn't I lose 10 pounds before agreeing to this?!?! But spending time with Irene was like spending time with a childhood friend -- so easy, so comfortable, and so much fun. We sat over dinner for 2-1/2 hours (!), and I'm usually one who's ready to go after an hour, MAYBE a little longer. We talked about fitness, and kids, and fitness, and grandkids (can you believe she has a grandson?!), and being forty-something and working out -- well, you get the point.

PASSED!!!

Let the celebration begin!

I am so happy! When I got to the testing center and said what test I was there for, the proctor (is that what you call the test person?) said, "Oh, that's a hard one." Thanks. Anyway, finished in 35 minutes and figured I'd done the best I could. Went out to wait for my result, and was told "Congratulations -- you passed!" Waves of relief.

Gotta run -- my celebratory cinnamon roll is calling...

Testing ... testing...

Test is today at 11:00. I'm nervous. Brought flash cards to bingo last night and tried to pound a little more info into my brain. Here's what I'm having trouble keeping straight (I'm going to type it in hopes that this will help me to retain it!):

Upper-Extremity Postural Distortion
protracted shoulders and forward head (this part I've got!)
What's tight: pectorals, lats, upper traps, sternocleidomastoid
What's weak: rhomboids, mid & lower traps, cervical flexors

Lower-Extremity Postural Distortion
flat, externally rotated feet, adducted, internally rotated knees
What's tight: gastroc/soleus, peroneals, IT band, psoas, rectus femoris
What's weak: anterior and posterior tibialis, glutes, hip extensors and rotators

Lumbo-pelvic-hip Postural Distortion:
anterior pelvic tilt, sometime with hyperextended knees
What's tight: psoas, rectus femoris, adductors, lats, erector spinae
What's weak: glutes, bicep femoris, trans abdominis, internal obliques, multifidi, pelvic floor muscles

NASM's thinking is that since these three postural distortions are seen in so many deconditioned clients, it's important to know them right off the bat, along with ways to help bring proper movement (by stretching what's tight, and strengthening what's weak), because jumping right into an exercise program without addressing these compensations will ultimately lead to injury.
Just for fun (!), let's see if I can get the ATP/CP replenishment table down from memory:

20 - 30 seconds of rest: 50% of ATP/CP is replenished
40 seconds: 75%
60 seconds: 85 - 90%
3 minutes: 100%

And here are the three cardiorespiratory training zones:
Zone 1: 65 - 75% MHR
Zone 2: 80 - 85% MHR
Zone 3: 86 - 90% MHR

Ok, enough from me. I'll find out right after the test if I pass, and I'll be sure to let you know.

A funny for the girls

This was sent to me by my dad's friend (!), and I thought I'd pass it on. Hope it makes you laugh!

I was due for an appointment with the gynocologist later in the week. Early one morning, I received a call from the doctor’s office to tell me that I had been rescheduled for that morning at 9:30 am. I had only just packed everyone off to work and school, and it was already around 8:45am.

The trip to his office took about 35 minutes, so I didn’t have any time to spare. As most women do, I like to take a little extra effort over hygiene when making such visits, but this time I wasn’t going to be able to make the full effort. So, I rushed upstairs, threw off my pajamas, wet the washcloth that was sitting next to the sink, and gave myself a quick wash in that area to make sure I was at least presentable. I threw the washcloth in the clothes basket, donned some clothes, hopped in the car and raced to my appointment.

I was in the waiting room for only a few minutes when I was called in. Knowing the procedure, as I’m sure you do, I hopped up on the table, looked over at the other side of the room and pretended that I was in Paris or some other place a million miles away.

I was a little surprised when the doctor said, "My, we have made an extra effort this morning, haven’t we?" I didn’t respond.

After the appointment, I heaved a sigh of relief and went home.

The rest of the day was normal ... some shopping, cleaning, cooking, etc. After school when my 6 year old daughter was playing, she called out from the bathroom, "Mommy, where’s my washcloth?" I told her to get another one from the cupboard.

She replied, "No, I need the one that was here by the sink, it had all my glitter and sparkles saved inside it."