It’s that day…

Yep. Happy 40th birthday to me. Just got home from dinner and I’ve had 3 glasses of wine, so possibly I should not be posting, but here I am.

Dinner plans with friends, at favorite restaurant. How is it that I can have a closet full of clothes, but when I’m trying to get ready to go out somewhere I hate everything?

After much digging and scrambling, picked out an outfit. Checked things out in full length bedroom mirror. Everything ok. Went to bathroom to put on makeup and wanted to change. Back to bedroom. Not perfect, but still think it’s ok. Back to bathroom. Nope. Don’t like it. I decide it’s too dark. It’s spring. It’s my birthday. I want something more colorful.

Back to bedroom. More digging through closet. Change. Want different shoes now. Can’t find the ones I want. Husband decides it’s time to leave (10 minutes earlier than we really need to). Give up on shoes.

Get to restaurant and am greeted by friends. And balloons. They are a good group, my friends.

I had Thai food.

And cake.

And - did I mention – three glasses of wine.

Welcome t0 2010. It’s my 40th year. So far, so good.

Happy Not-Quite-My-Birthday!

Hello? Anyone still reading? I know I keep disappearing, but I am still alive and kicking, just a little overwhelmed trying to keep up with everything lately. You should see my house. Or rather, I’m glad you can’t see my house. Dude. Disaster.

I was also sick last week. Some sort of flu.Wicked headache, stiff/sore neck, nausea. I was starting to imagine that I was dying of some weird, obscure disease, but then Husband told me some of his coworkers had described the same symptoms. So I’m going with flu. Or there is something in the water and we’re all dying of the same weird, obscure disease. There was a boil water order on over the weekend after all.

However, I am feeling much better. Just in time for birthday presents! My birthday is coming up in a few days (the big 4-0 which is just mind boggling – how did that happen? I still don’t feel like a grown up) and on the weekend I got an early birthday present from Husband.

Among other things, he ordered us both Bento Boxes and on Sunday he cooked up a storm (ok, I helped) experimenting with some recipes. Result being that for the past two days he has packed my lunch for me in the morning before work. I could get used to this.

The bottom layer of my Bento had a Teriyaki rice with Chicken & tofu, plus a little  bit of stir fried chicken and snow peas.

Then in the top layer some broccoli slaw (that we bought prepared), a one egg omelet, a little quick pickled cabbage and soy sauce carrots, and some sushi ginger.

Then on goes the lid and a big elasticized band to keep it all together. Mine even has a matching carry bag.

And did you notice?

It’s my good friend Hello Kitty making another appearance.

I also must confess that I have been out in the garden a couple of times and taken Frank for a walk, but have not got around to posting pictures. Will try to do that soon.

More Sprouts

I mentioned that I’ve started growing my own sprouts. One type that I’ve been growing is Mung Bean Sprouts, which I love in a stir fry.

Growing sprouts is easy as 1-2-3.

I ordered my sprouting kit and seeds from Vesey's, which is where I always order my seeds from. This sprouting kit has 3 layers that you can sprout seeds in; so far I’ve been sprouting broccoli, alfalfa and Mung Bean seeds.

You put your seeds in each of the layers, stack them on top of the water tray, and pour water through. They recommend that you pour water through twice a day. Within a few days you have sprouts!

Now, on to the Mung Bean sprouts which were the reason for this post. We noticed that the first batch looked different from what we usually get at the grocery store; I’m not sure if this is a question of variety but they are much more colorful.

See how pink they look?

Even more interesting – when we stir fry them they turn a blue-ish color.

Maybe not something that everyone would get excited about, but I thought it was pretty cool.

I was on my own last night, so this was my dinner – sprouts & orange bell pepper stir fried with tofu. Then I added soba noodles and peanut sauce which made the colors less detectable, but it tasted good!

In the Garden – Cats & Crocuses

Crocuses and Snowdrops are the first thing I find in the garden in the spring.

I found my Firefly Crocuses in bloom on the first day of spring this year, and I found more this past weekend.

Along with evidence that the Siberian Squill would soon be making an appearance as well.

Which I should get out and check on soon…But for today: more crocuses!

I have different crocuses in the flower bed by our driveway – your basic purple ones (couldn’t tell you an official name). On Tuesday we had:

And today as we pulled in to the driveway after work I was excited to see:

  

 

Husband advised me to enjoy them while I can; they are bound to become deer snacks.

And no day in the garden would be complete without some Fabulous Felines…

Those last two are sort of cheating because they are from the weekend, but the boys weren’t in the mood to pose today. Can’t say I blame them – it turned out to be a beautiful day for frolicking in the garden!

Lunch!

I don't often buy my lunch, but when I do it's usually a Vegetarian Wrap from Sagrati's in the City Market.

However, along with my usual seed & gardening supply order, I recently set myself up to grow my own sprouts so today I created my own veggie wrap.

Sprouts, cucumber, tomatoes and Spicy Hummus on a whole wheat wrap, with just a little Mandarin Orange with sesame salad dressing. I may not do as neat of a wrapping job as the girls at Sagrati's, but it sure tasted good!

Well. Who's a lazy blogger? Sheesh. Give myself permission to blog less and I completely disappear. Some people!

I haven't even been updating my workouts on the sidebar, but I promise you I have been doing them. Well, some of them. :)

The last part of March was not so great. There was a week where Husband's boss was in town, which meant that we were late getting home a few days. Plus I've been tired and getting a lot of killer headaches - which problem it seems might be solved by wearing my bite plate at night.

I got the bite plate a few years back when I was having a lot of problems with tooth sensitivity. I was using Sensodyne regularly, but it didn't seem to be helping. The dentist could tell from looking at my teeth that I must grind them a lot though, so I got a bite plate. I did wear it faithfully for a while (at first I even woke myself up a few times biting down on it, so there's no doubt that I needed it). But my teeth have been so much better that I haven't been bothering with it for quite a while.

Lately there've been some things stressing me out though. I started getting headaches every day, some times even waking up with headaches in the morning and finally thought to try sleeping with the bite plate again. So far it seems to be helping.

We've also had some cold dreary weather which tends to make me want to curl up with a blanket. Monday was particularly bad as the heat at the office was broken (again). You'd think after freezing all day I'd want to go home and exercise to get warmed up, no? No. Completely sapped all my energy. Ah well, things seem to be turning around.

So enough whining, on with the show.

March's recap:

The March plan was quite challenging, I have to say. Also, I have to say, that I do not enjoy Hyperbolic Resistance workouts at all. Burpees, pushups, squat thrusts, mountain climbers - sound like fun to you? Though I did actually think the Jumping Lunges were fun. However, I was pleasantly surprised that while the Hyperbolic Resistance workouts never seemed to feel like they were getting any easier, I did actually improve my time for each one I did. Go me!

Mar 31: Supersets- Upper Body B + Cardio[30 mins]
Mar 30: Supersets - Lower Body A + Cardio[30 mins]
Mar 28: Supersets - Upper Body A + Cardio[30 mins]
Mar 23: HRT For Time{17:34] + Steady State Cardio [40 mins]
Mar 22: HI Circuit #2[40 mins] + Steady State Cardio[20 mins]
Mar 18: Supersets[35 mins] + Steady State Cardio[15 mins]
Mar 17: Cardio Intervals[25 mins]
Mar 15: HRT Rounds in 20 mins + Steady State Cardio[25 mins]
Mar 14: HI Circuit #1[45 mins] + Steady State Cardio[15 mins]
Mar 12: Cardio Intervals[20 mins] + Gentle Hatha Yoga #1[20 mins]
Mar 11: HRT For Time[18:45 mins] + Steady State Cardio[40 mins]
Mar 10: Supersets[35 mins]+Cardio Intervals[25 mins]
Mar 08: HI Circuit #2[45 mins] + Steady State Cardio[15 mins]
Mar 06: High Intensity Circuit #2 x1[20 mins] + Steady State Cardio[10 mins]
Mar 04: HRT Rounds in 20 mins + Steady State Cardio[10 mins]
Mar 03: Supersets[35 mins] + Steady State Cardio[25 mins]
Mar 02: Hyperbolic RT For Time[24:03 mins] + Steady State Cardio[30 mins]
Mar 01: High Intensity Circuit #1[55 mins]

Those last three workouts (Mar 28, 30, 31) are actually a head start on April's schedule. Lindsey had sent me the schedule at the end of last week and I just felt the need to move on.

April will be lots of strength training, which I am looking forward too (even if my biceps are feeling somewhat sore from yesterday's session).