November Summary

During the month of November I:

- Lived the single life, as  Husband's stay in Japan was extended to 5 weeks
- Stacked 2 cord of firewood in the garage all by myself
- Hacked open a coconut all by myself (and ate it all by myself - I love coconut)
- Went to a live Zumba class - twice!
- Was mainly vegetarian, occaisionally pescatarian (had fish 4 times)
- Experimented with cutting out wheat  and dairy

The weather went from no snow, to 30 cm of snow in one day, and back to no snow within a week.

The workout list for the month:

Nov 02: Jackie Warner Xtreme Circuit DVD[30 minutes]
Nov 03: Walk[25 mins]
Nov 04: Walk[20 mins]
Nov 05: Yard Work
Nov 06: Stacking Wood
Nov 08: NROL Phase 2 Workout A
Nov 10: Gentle Hatha Yoga #1
Nov 11: NROL Phase 2 Workout B + Cardio Intervals
Nov 12: Stacking Wood
Nov 13: Stacking Wood
Nov 14: Treadmill walk/jog[25 mins]
Nov 16: Treadmill walk[45 mins]
Nov 17: NROL Phase 2 Workout A
Nov 21: Zumba @ Baila Fitness
Nov 22: Ellen Barrett Power Fusion DVD[45 mins]
Nov 23: Ellen Barrett Skinny Sculpt DVD[45 mins]
Nov 24: Ellen Barrett Barefoot Cardio DVD[45 mins]
Nov 28: Zumba @ Baila Fitness
Nov 30: Ellen Barrett  Power Fusion DVD[45 mins]


Being mainly vegetarian agreed with me. The conclusion on cutting out wheat and dairy is that it does indeed make a difference. I'm not sure what the optimum balance is at this point, and I suspect it  will be harder to stick to/play around with this once Husband comes home, but I hope I can be mindful; I hope I can pay attention to what I'm eating and how I'm feeling.

Speaking of Husband coming home...I only have two more nights of sleeping without ear plugs, 2 more days of blasting the 80's station on the car radio. Since it means I get my husband back, I'm okay with that. :)

First Snow Day of the Winter

Wednesday I woke up to radio announcers talking about snow fall warnings and school cancellations. When I looked out the window there wasn’t much to see but I decided better to be safe than sorry; I can work from home when I need to so why take chances?

Around 8:30 am the view looked like this:

By noon, snow was piling up.

By 4 pm I was extremely happy that I was safe at home.

Our driveway didn’t get plowed until almost 7pm. I did drive in to work on Thursday and  a lot of the roads were still pretty messy.

By Friday the weather was starting to warm up again. Yesterday was a beautiful day, nice and warm.

So we’ve now gone from this…

To this…

Which makes me happy. I’m not ready for winter to set in quite yet.

Had a lazy morning at home yesterday, then went out and did some shopping. Today puttered around the house, finally packing away the rest of my summer stuff and digging out the rest of my sweaters.

I had Spicy African Peanut Stew from the Peas and Thank You cook book cooking away all afternoon in the slow cooker.

It was quite tasty and I look forward to the leftovers that will feed me for the next couple of days.

Zumba!

So, week before last, on Wednesday, I took our car in for it's scheduled maintenance, and got the winter tires put on. The next morning on the drive to work, I had to pull off and park because something felt very wrong. I got out and discovered a completely flat tire. Not a fun way to start the day.

As I sat and  waited for Roadside Assistance, I happened to notice a fitness studio has opened up in the little plaza where I was parked - which happens to be not far from my house - and they have Zumba classes. I've enjoyed my Zumba DVDs and have wanted to try a class, so when I finally got to work I looked  up the schedule. I've had it in the back of my mind since then, but things kept coming up. I decided that yesterday was going to be the day.

The weather has really been kind of awesome - it has stayed pretty warm - up until yesterday when the temperature dropped down to 0 degrees Celcius. Can't say I wanted to go back out after I got home from work yesterday, but I did and I ended up having a blast. I was worried that I wouldn't be able to follow the steps or keep up...because I'm a worrier and that's what I do. In reality I managed just fine. I won't be heading out to classes every day, but once or twice a week would be a nice change of scenery from working out in my basement.

Today I did the Ellen Barret Power Fusion DVD. My right shoulder has been bothering me a lot, so I think I will be taking a break from strength training for a bit (I think it's a computer-use issue, but don't want to strain it). Ellen Barret tends to have a lot of reaching & sweeping arm motions in her workouts which I hoped would be good for the sore shoulder. It  felt okay during, immediately after my shoulder was sore, but then felt better, so I think it was a good choice.

 Allowing a little bit of dairy & wheat back in the diet, but trying to keep the amounts small. I seem to be feeling mostly okay. It does seem like the eczema is getting a little worse again though. Keeping an eye on it.

Had brown rice pasta for supper. I actually don't mind it. Good old durum semolina will always be my first pasta love, but to keep the wheat consumption down I can live with the brown rice pasta. I hava a feeling Husband won't mind  it either, which is a plus. Never could get him to eat whole wheat pasta.

Lost internet at some point today. Got home from work, booted up the laptop and couldn't connect. Just as I was about ready to text Husband, he called and we managed to work out that it was a bad power supply on the network switch. Since I am married to an uber-geek, we were able to switch out the power supply with one from another switch (how many times can I say switch in one paragraph?) and get things working again.

And now I am tired. Time to start winding things downfor the night so the cats & I can go to bed.

Mission Accomplished

This…

Has become this…

Two stacks of wood against the back wall of the garage, about as tall as I am (which is admittedly not very). The pile off to the side is the wood left over from last year. Husband oh-so-conveniently had to stay in Japan an extra two weeks, so I did it all myself, most of it this past Sunday.

Yesterday I got home from work and decided to take it easy, since I’d worked so hard on Sunday, and just did a little treadmill session. Today I felt half dead. Possibly I should have skipped the workout yesterday.

I mostly made it through my two weeks of dairy/wheat free eating. Yesterday technically should have been the last day and I gave in and had a muffin for breakfast. And then I had one again today. Plus real cream in my coffee.

I won’t say the dairy/wheat free eating experiment made me feel like a whole new person, but my eczema is a whole lot better. That was obvious about a week and a half in. I have mixed feelings about it. On the one hand it is somewhat of a relief to know there is something I can do – my eczema does get really bad and makes me pretty miserable during the winter – but I’m not sure how I feel about giving up wheat & dairy for good.

I guess the next stage is to figure out whether it’s just one or if it’s both, and whether I  need  to cut them out completely in order to see a difference. I did actually wonder if the muffins yesterday & today could have been what were causing me to feel so zonked today. I was really feeling wiped out, and I just wanted to be able to curl up in bed.

On top of that, the past two days have been overcast and gloomy, which also tends to have a negative  effect on my energy. So many variables.

Also, I am ready for Husband to come home. I have enjoyed the sleeping without ear plugs, doing things on my own schedule, less dishes to wash,  listening to the 80’s station on the car radio. But I kinda miss him and I want him to come home. Sigh. Just under two weeks to go now.

Good thing I have Frank to keep me company.

One Day I Bought a Coconut

I remember a few times growing up when Dad & Mom bought a coconut. Dad would punch holes in it and drain out the coconut milk (or water) and divide it for my sister and I, then break open the coconut. I remember loving the whole thing – the coconut water straight from the coconut and eating the coconut meat itself.

I discovered Zico Coconut Water in the grocery store here recently and the taste is fairly close to what I remember, I suspected the difference had to do with it being bottled rather that straight from the coconut.

Last weekend while I was grocery shopping I picked up a coconut. It was an impulse buy, of course, and I wasn’t entirely sure how I was going to crack the thing open. It sat in a  bowl on the kitchen table for a week. If nothing else, it looked all decorative sitting there with a lemon and  two limes.

Today I decided to give it a go. I whacked away at it a bit, then had the bright idea to use the point of a knife to poke a hole through the end (if you’ve never dealt with a whole coconut before, there are three depressions in one end). Poking the point of a knife in the – i don’t know what you call them so  I’ll stick with – depressions was actually easier, and then I was able to drain out the coconut water. I’d heard it sloshing around in there but there was more than I expected.

I tasted the coconut water, wondering if I should refrigerate it, but then I just ended up drinking it down.

Then, since  I’d been  making a mess in the kitchen with bits of coconut shell flying everywhere, I took the coconut, my knife and a tea towel out to the deck and proceeded to whack away at it until I had exposed an area that I could cut through.

At that point, the coconut shell was cracked and I was able to whack at it with the back of my knife and crack it in  two.

I really like coconut. Which is a good thing because I have a whole one to eat all by myself.

That was the fun part of my day. The rest of the day was spent doing some cleaning and stacking wood in the garage. First I had to move the leftovers of last year’s wood, which was actually the worst part because it stirred up all kinds of dust in the garage which left me sneezing and sniffling. That’s when I took a break and broke open my coconut.

After standing at the counter munching on coconut for a while, I went back out to start on the wood pile (Dear Bag  Lady, the ritual banging of the wood was observed and I thought of you).

The stack of wood along the back wall of the garage grew at a satisfying rate, yet it was hard to see any visible difference in the pile sitting in the drive. I feel like I am going to be stacking wood forever.

Yesterday I put away all my garden planters, ornaments, tomato cages, etc. It was a productive weekend. I also remember to cut some catnip to dry for the cats. Frank approves.

Actually, both cats approve, but Frank is the one who got all flirty with the bowl. They both helped themselves quite happily.

Still dairy and gluten free, 6 days now. Last night I made chocolate from coconut oil and cocoa. I still miss cheese. How long do I have to stick with this, I wonder, to know if it’s making a difference? I can’t say I feel any different so far.

Dairy & Gluten Free–Day 3

I woke up on Tuesday morning and decided it was day number one of the dairy/gluten  free experiment. There was one serving of cheese-y pasta left, but I decided that would go in the freezer. And there are two unopened containers of yogurt – no idea how that happened really. Our last Costco trip was the Saturday before we found out Husband might be going to Japan. We bought our usual amount of yogurt, which usually only lasts a week…and somehow we only went through half of it. On my own, it would take me at least a week to polish that off, so I pretty much just threw in the towel on that one. If husband comes home at the end of next week, there should be time to at least use some of it before it expires.

So yeah. Tuesday was the day.

Breakfast – left the yogurt out of my smoothie and stuck with the protein powder, tolerated soy creamer in my coffee.

Lunch – I typically have a salad and often a Amy’s Kitchen Burrito. I’ve been buying the gluten free version since it showed up in the store last summer.

Dinner – There are lots of things I could eat that don’t involve dairy or wheat  (gluten free is a bit more complicated that wheat free, I realize, so wheat free is the minimum goal). I of course have to try something complicated (requiring substitution) right off the bat.

I blame it on the  Brown Rice Tortillas I saw at the grocery store. And I have been fascinated by this Daiya that Mama Pea is always talking about. So I had to turn all that into dinner.

I have this Veggie Burrito recipe that my sister wrote down while watching an episode of Urban Peasant years ago. I don’t actually follow the recipe mind you, but I use it for inspiration quite often.

First, I did taste the Daiya on it’s own first and the flavor vaguely resembles processed cheese. I’m sorry vegans, that is not  what cheese is supposed to taste like.

And the the Brown Rice Tortillas kind of fell apart when I tried to pick up my burritos and eat them, so it made a huge mess. But, all together, the components made a tasty mess.

So for the second (and third) dinners, I decided to go the quesadilla route. We have this griddle that makes me sigh in resignation every time Husband suggests using it because it is a pain to clean.

Husband has been gone for 5 days and I’ve used the griddle 4 times. Sorry honey!  (Actually, he doesn’t read my blog so he’ll never know. Mwah-ha-ha-ha!)

I panicked for a minute there wondering how I was going to flip the dang thing over. Was never so happy to have a pizza board and giant BBQ spatula.

This did work better. The tortillas got all nice and crispy and the daiya did indeed melt (and taste even more like processed cheese).

So three days down and it mostly hasn’t been too bad though I do miss cheese and chocolate. But it’s only for a couple of weeks ~ whether that is actually enough time to know if it makes a difference, I don’t know. For now, though, I’m just going to focus on two weeks.

Minor kitchen mishap – wondered where the measuring spoons had disappeared to, then  turned on the garbage disposal….

Mystery solved.

Last but not least; I was not fishing for compliments when I posted my profile photo on Monday. I was lamenting the harshness of my inner critic. Not only is the big meanie quick to detail all the things that are wrong with the way I look, when I do look good in a photo, the critic is ready and waiting to jump in and say it doesn’t count. That just seems crazy, yet I know it’s all coming from inside my own head. I just have not figured out how to change it.

I do appreciate the compliments though, so thank you! You are the loveliest blog friends a girl could hope to have.

October Wrap Up

 

I have a sad little workout summary to post for October. What can I say? It’s been a bit of a crazy month.

Oct 01: NROL Phase 1 Workout B + Treadmill Walk[60 mins]
Oct 17: NROL Phase 1 Workout A[25 mins]
Oct 18: Cardio Intervals[40 mins]
Oct 20: NROL Phase 1 Workout B + Cardio [45 mins]
Oct 24: NROL Phase 1 Workout A + Cardio [35 mins]
Oct 26: NROL Phase 1 Workout B [25 mins]
Oct 31 Cardio Intervals[22 mins]

Almost every weekend I have  spend at least an afternoon out puttering around the yard, trying to get the garden put to bed for the season. I planned to finish that job this Sunday, but the weather was really nasty so I ended up puttering around indoors instead.

This morning I pulled out a pair of gloves for the first time this season and I was glad I had them on the way to and from work.

Frank has wasted no time taking over Husband’s side of the bed while he is away. That would sound really bad if you didn’t know that Frank is a cat. But you know that, right? So we’re good.

Looks like he can’t  wait for Husband to come home, doesn’t he?

Since Husband and I planned to use Skype for chatting while he is in Japan, I figured I would take an actual photo to use for my profile, instead of my usual cartoon avatar. I figured Husband might actually like seeing my face.

Mostly, I hate photos of myself though. I have this picture in my head of what I look like, and somehow whenever I see a photo I think: how can that be me? I suppose it has something to do with getting older, and gaining weight. I am not the skinny 25 year old I once was.

And yet, somehow on Sunday I managed to get a photo that looks like me. It’s all in the camera angle and lighting. First reaction was relief – there I am! I still look like me after all! Followed quickly by the feeling that I am somehow cheating. Because I managed to find a good camera angle and natural light. How does that even make sense?

But for the record – here I am, looking like myself.

So there.

All Alone With the Halloween Candy

First of all, big thanks to everyone who responded to my last post. I appreciated every response and you all gave me some things to think about. I had every intention of responding with a post early last week, but things took an unexpected turn when Husband’s boss called on Monday evening to ask if Husband would be willing and able to go to Japan for two weeks.Willing was an understatement, but able involved a week of scrambling around and unexpected expenses.

Long story short, Husband is now en route to Japan and I am on my own for a couple of weeks. It’s a weird feeling. Husband used to travel for work all the time, but it’s been 10 years since he’s had to do that and I’m just not used to it any more.

Any-who, I’m thinking of taking this solo-time as an opportunity to do some experimenting diet-wise. I have thought about going dairy and gluten free to see whether I notice any beneficial effects. Intolerances to those foods seem to be quite common and I have seen them linked to eczema, asthma, allergies and lack of energy – which are all things I live with. I can’t say that I want to eliminate dairy & gluten permanently, but I would like to know whether or not it makes a difference for me. However, I also have lots of dairy, along with a package of spinach & ricotta manicotti, in the fridge needing to be eaten up this week if they are no going to go to waste, and only me to eat it. So, I guess I’ll see how things go.

For the moment I am just trying to decide what to do with my weekend and oh look! There’s a Buffy the Vampire Slayer marathon on Much More Music. Maybe I have a plan after all.

Why Can't I Do This?

A little over ten years ago, I embarked on my first serious weight loss effort. I was 29, going on 30, I had started working a full time desk job 2 years before and the weight slowly started creeping on. I think I managed to lose 8 pounds which was not a lot, but it was enough for people to notice a difference. Then I started planning my wedding. Then I got married. Then we bought a house and moved. And I gained the weight back.

I started calorie counting, I joined a gym which I could conveniently get to on my lunch break from work. I didn't manage to lose any pounds that time, but I seemed to be at least maintaining.

During that time I developed some good habits - regular exercise, meal planning, not keeping to much in the way of junky snack foods around the house, no snacking after dinner. But over the years since then, some serious backsliding has been going on. I still exercise fairly regularly - maybe not as much as I should but for the most part I feel pretty good about my exercise habits.

The diet part on the other hand...

I just don't seem able to maintain any consistency. There is too much food in the house. I can't stick to a plan for more that 2 or 3 weeks at a time. I can't figure out if it's lack of motivation? Or not the right kind of motivation? I do know that any time I have to get ready to go out anywhere socially, there's a good chance I will end up standing in the bedroom with clothes strewn all over the place, ready to break down in tears. I know that I don't feel good at the size I am now. Pictures of myself make me cringe. So why can't I do anything about it?

I can talk the talk about chosing healthy options, watching portion sizes, yada, yada, yada...but I can't seem to walk the talk, as the saying goes.

You may recall that at the beginning of August I told Husband I wanted to try and make some changes and he agreed to go along with my plan. I remember the first two weeks going so well. It was easy and I thought I can do this. By the end of the third week I was down 3 pounds. I was so encouraged.

And then...Can you guess where this is going?

Exhibit A
Instead of Husband asking "what are the meal plans for this week?" he said "I looked in the freezer and we have a,b,c so I think we should plan d,e,f for meals this week." I thought: well, okay, that makes sense, I can work with that this week. Problem is, he kept doing that every week. Next thing I know, we're back to exactly the way we were eating before.

I'm not trying to blame my husband here. He kept catching me off guard, and it's not like he was making unreasonable suggestions. But it was basically taking away the 'diet safety net' I was trying to create for myself and I need to learn to handle this stuff.

Exhibit B
The company I work for started stocking the kitchen with snacks and beverages. Some healthy, some not. Bins of potato chips and chocolate bars. Just what I need. For the first few weeks I was able to resist. I peeked at the chocolate bars a few times, decided there was nothing there I really wanted, and walked away. Yay me! Then I started having one chocolate bar a week, usually on Monday. One a week, I could live with that. Then they started stocking the bins with those little Halloween sized bars. And I started eating 3 of them every day. Every day I would go in to work telling myself I was going to stay out of the chocolate. And every day for two weeks I would end up eating a handful of chocolate bars.

One weekend I decided that  was it; I was done. And somehow, for the next two weeks I had no problem staying away. Okay, this is good, I've got this...Until suddenly one day I'm back into the treats and then it's every day again. Then I will very likely go home and munch on things that I don't need to eat. And end up feeling crappy.

So why? What is it that makes me able to go for 2 or 3 weeks, eating nutritious foods, feeling satisfied, ending the day around the right number of calories, feeling like it's effortless, noticing how good I feel when I am eating properly...Only to swing around to the opposite end of the spectrum where I can't seem to stop eating? Why is it that sometimes I can't seem to make myself care?

My Computer Programmer/Analyst brain tells me to gather data and look for patterns. Seems like the logical thing to do, but at the same time I wonder if making more work for myself is the way to go?
But, I don't have any other ideas at the moment,  so I think that's what I should try to do.

So, that's where I'm at these days.

Also, I think I broke my husband. I've been making salads for husband to have with his lunches at work. His building was evacuated due to plumbing problems today around lunch time. On his way home he hit the Wendy's drive thru. After work when I asked how he'd enjoyed his Wendy's for lunch, he said he enjoyed his salad more. I don't know what to think; doppleganger maybe?

Unidentified Flying Garden Shed

The first half of last week was rain, rain, and more rain, but by Thursday the sun came out and a short time later something new began to take shape in the garden.

Any guesses? How geeky are my blog friends?

My parents and baby bro came to stay for the long weekend and build me a garden shed. How awesome are my family? We had a perfect sunny weekend and everyone worked hard,especially my Dad.

It was amazing to watch it come together and take shape. My Dad & brother started on Friday morning and by Saturday evening all that was left to do was to put a lock on the door.

My Mom was peeking out the door on Saturday evening and noticed that the work was being  inspected.

Frank thought it looked like a good lookout post, but he didn’t seem quite sure how to get down and Dad ended up having to rescue him.

It really was a fantastic weekend. It was so nice to finally see the sun and we actually had record high temperatures on Saturday & Sunday. I’m sure everyone was tired out by the end of the weekend but I think we all had a good time too.

And seriously, how awesome is this?

September Summary

I don’t know what to say about September. Our unpredictable weather has continued. Things have been busy- as usual. Exercise has been off and on. I’ve just been doing my best to keep up I guess. And now it’s October. How’d that happen?

Stealing a photo from my last past as this is indeed a good representation of September’s workouts.

Though of course, there have been some other activities thrown in there for variety.

I’ve done 4 New Rules of Lifting workouts (2 different plans, 2 x each) and the biggest surprise is how short the workouts are. I worked hard, but it was over fast.Even though I actually followed the instructions and rested between sets, which I normally wouldn’t do (I usually turn these types of plans into a circuit where I move from one exercise to another, instead of completing all sets of one with rests in between – based on this post by Charlotte I’m not alone). Nothing in either of the workouts I did was new to me, and yet I finished the first workout thinking “something was different about that workout”…Then I realized it was only 5 exercises. Huh. That’s different.

My feeling thus far is that I am happy to have another option for getting in a  good strength workout in a short amount of time. The more options I have, the more I can switch things up, which I like. Keeps things interesting.

September’s Summary:

Sep 06: Zumba Rush DVD[20 mins]
Sep 07: Jackie Warner Xtreme Power Circuit DVD + Treadmill walk[45 mins]
Sep 08: Walk[24 mins]I
Sep 10: Jackie Warner Power Circuit Training DVD + Treadmill Walk[60 mins]
Sep 12: Treadmill Walk w/Intervals[30 mins]
Sep 13: Jackie Warner Power Circuit Training DVD[30 mins]
Sep 14: Zumba Cardio Party DVD[45 mins]
Sep 15: Treadmill Walk + NROLFW Phase 1 Workout A[50 mins]
Sep 20: Treadmill Walk + NROLFW Phase 1 Workout B[45 mins]
Sep 21: Zumba Activate DVD[40 mins]
Sep 22: Ellen Barret Barefoot Cardio DVD[45 mins]
Sep 24: NROLFW Phase 1 Workout A[30? min]
Sep 28: Jackie Warner Xtreme Power Circuit [30 min]
Sep 30: Yoga For Weight Loss #1 + Zumba Live DVD[75 min]

Other than that, I shall leave you with photos of sleeping cats…

Frank

Zappa

The sad amount of tomatoes I’ve been getting from my garden this year…

And Sunflowers. I planted a bunch. Only 3 came up. But it’s nice to see something cheery in my poor garden.

September–Week One

After my lazy first five days of September, I am back in the workout routine, as evidenced by weights all over the floor instead of neatly stacked away in their storage area.

Speaking of which; remember back in January when I reviewed a couple of Jackie Warner DVDs? You’re forgiven if you don’t. I recently picked up a third Jackie Warner DVD that I’ve been doing about once a week, and the Power Circuit Training DVD is back in the rotation. And I also happen to have the New Rules of Lifting for Women sitting around, which is Charlotte’s September Experiment.

So I am currently kind of torn. I feel like I’m in a pretty good groove right now. Coming home and firing up a DVD is a no-brainer workout and I like that the Jackie Warner DVDs are a good workout in a short amount of time. But, I’ve meant to give the New Rules of Lifting a try and this might be a fun time to try it out. So I don’t know. We’ll see how things go I guess. I find my exercise routine can be very mood-dependant.

In other news…Found at Costco:

Husband may have laughed at the way my eyes lit up as I homed in on the display, hands eagerly outstretched. He just does not understand the importance of Mac & Cheese. Also? $11.99 for 12 boxes which is a whole lot better than the $2.59 I paid for one box at Sobey’s. Run to Costco! Go now!

The latest in the Feeling My Age Chronicles – blasts from my past.

Ah, the good old days. I remember renting The Last Starfighter on LaserDisc.

The which anniversary?

Okay, well I was a teenager when that movie came out. But then…

Another anniversary edition. All within a week. Because the original edition of this novel? Is on my bookshelf.

I remember picking it up off a sale table….well, I guess somewhere around 20 years ago now.

It’s funny how it can feel like things were a long time ago, yet not at the same time. Anyone else ever feel that way?

It felt a lot like fall this weekend. It was sunny but the air has that feel to it. We barely even had summer. I hope we have a beautiful, warm fall to make up for it.

Easing into September

This is pretty much what my weekend has  looked like.

Weekends are when I get things done, so I usually keep pretty busy. I was looking forward to having an extra day this weekend to get things done. What I actually accomplished was reading my way through a stack of books. I was just so tired by Friday and, despite a good nights sleep, did not feel any better on Saturday. So I mostly took things easy. I think I needed it.

The cats also think a quiet weekend is a good idea.

That’s okay; I didn’t want to make the bed anyway.

August was a pretty good month though. I started off with the Seven Days of Yoga Challenge and from there went on to  have a good month workout-wise. Mostly they were short workouts, but there were a lot of them so I’m okay with that.

August Workouts

Aug 01: Moon Salutations Flow[25 mins]
Aug 02: Crunch Yoga Body Sculpt DVD[40 mins]
Aug 03: Crunch Fat Burning Yoga DVD[45 mins]
Aug 04: Lunar Flow[20 mins]
Aug 05: Gentle Hatha Flow[20 mins]
Aug 06: Solar Flow[20 mins]
Aug 07: Ellen Barrett Yogini Workout DVD[45 mins]
Aug 08: Pick Your Level Pilates DVD[30 mins]
Aug 09: Lunar Flow[20 mins]
Aug 10: Jackie Warner Xtreme Time Saver DVD[30 mins]
Aug 11: Kettle Bell Swing/Squat Thrust Circuit(from 8) + Yoga For Weight Loss[24 mins]
Aug 12: Light yard clean up
Aug 13: House work
Aug 14: Gardening
Aug 16: Gentle Hatha Yoga[20 mins]
Aug 17: Jackie Warner Xtreme Time Saver DVD[30 mins]
Aug 18: Pick Your Level Pilates DVD[30 mins]
Aug 19: Gentle Hatha Yoga[20 mins]
Aug 20: Moon Salutations Flow[20 mins]
Aug 22: Jackie Warner Xtreme Time Saver DVD[30 mins]
Aug 23: Moon Salutations Flow[25 mins]
Aug 24: Jackie Warner Power Circuit DVD[30 mins]
Aug 27: Gardening[3 hrs]
Aug 29: Walk[40 mins]
Aug 30: Cardio Sculpt DVD[30 mins]
Aug 31: Crunch Fat Burning Pilates DVD[40 mins]

It has been the month of the breakfast smoothie, which has been going pretty well. Last weekend I decided to take one of my souvenir glasses down from the top of the china cabinet for my weekend smoothies. I’ll be sorry if I end up breaking it but it’s fun to drink out of it.

Also, we have a new cat toy. Frank thinks it’s great for cat naps.

Just for fun, when I was doing the photo of me with my camera bag for the Kelly Moore Bag review, I took a couple of pictures of me with the cats. My brother-in-law used to laugh at me carrying them around because they huge cats.

Holding Zappa, with the camera bag.

Holding Frank.

Ending with a little bit of a vent session – if you are squeamish or particularly sensitive about animals, feel free to skip the rest of this post…Keeping it short: Someone dumped a bag of garbage with a dead animal in it up the hill where I walk my cats every day. I discovered this on Tuesday. Not sure what it is, all I can say for sure is that it had grey fur, very similar to my cats. It doesn’t really matter what the animal was – it’s just wrong and it ruined my week. I called the sanitation department but they won’t do anything since it’s not city property. I called the police and they wanted to know if I’d seen who dumped it, since dumping garbage is illegal. The nice man at the police department also talked to someone at the city works department who agreed to come and clean it up, but that was Friday and so far no one has showed up. The whole thing just makes me sad and angry and frustrated. I don’t know who is responsible for stuffing a dead animal in a bag of garbage and dumping it on the  hill beside my house, but whoever you are, I hope there is a place for you in the special hell. That is all.