Ching ching

Last night was fun. The end of bellydance for me until the fall, which is a shame, but a lot of fun. I was in 2 performance pieces at the bellydance hafla with lots of laughs and nibbly fun. Even have some leftover banana coconut bread (it was damn good)  so J gets a slice or 2 and doesn't feel left out. My sis in law came along with a friend of hers too who recently moved here and used to dance where she was, so perhaps she may take classes there in the fall. After I came home I had plans, but once I slowed down I realised was tired from a long fun day so I just prepped for today and went to bed.
This morning I was really tired and came so close to sleeping in but my after I reset my clock my cat came up and nudged my nose and went merp? and his little look of excitement at the start of the day made me change my mind and I decided to get up and go for it. So I rushed to make the bus and came in for a fantastic spin class. It was yelley Mel, but it was good sweaty exercise and I'm ready to go for the day and ease into a long weekend. Yes, I'm still tired, but that's OK. I may get the evening off with J tonight and this weekend is family dinners and new episodes of Doctor Who and Game of Thrones to keep me occupied. And some sewing and knitting...and...and... :)
We have dinner with J's family tomorrow and with my brother on sunday so there will be much enforced family time, but at least saturday is free for me to veg. Poor J has to work most of the time, but soon he will be done his season and we can relax and go to jolly old Engerland. I have to make a huge batch of tapioca pudding for tomorrow....mmmm.....

Hope you all have a nice Easter weekend. :)

I shovel da snow. I drinka da wine. Mazeltov!

Well, my knee is about the same today. Still a bit sensitive, but if I'm careful it doesn't hurt. I was able to do some squats and side curtsey lunges today with attention to form so I think I'm on the mend.

Last night I had a lot of pent up stress to wear off (there are a lot of layoff where I work right now and still 80 more positions they are going to remove...very stressful wondering if you or your team members are "next") so I was going to knit and relax, but discovered my neighbors had piled a huge drift of snow from their yard up against the side of my house to shoulder height in some spots (some of it from their dog run. Yuck). It buried the AC unit and is the side of my house that tends to flood so I grabbed my new shovel and had at it for a few hours, clearing a 1 m trench along the house on that side. It wasn't easy because it was packed hard and frozen in spots and I had to walk the snow back behind or to the front to get it out (although I reaaaaaally just wanted to shovel it back into my neighbors yard!). I'd still like to do a bit more, but it's a very solid dent into the snow problem they created. It's twice the normal snowfall this year to begin with so I don't need help of added snow from other people. I'm amazed at the fact that they could do that without thinking...seriously rude. (and they are generally really nice...)

I rewarded myself with a lovely salmon steak and steamed broccoli and yams and it was very tasty. Then I set to baking up some treats for the bellydance hafla tonight. I had no eggs, so I put my newly poured glass of blueberry wine in a coffee travel mug (we're all for classy around here!!) and walked to the store and back for baking stuff. As a bonus, J called form work while I was out so I got to walk at sunset talking to my luv while sipping my own fine wine. Really put me in a most happy mood to finish off my day :) Got back and got down to baking. Made some banana muffins for us at home and haystack cookies for work. The loaf I made for the hafla looks deeeeelicious - banana coconut bread with lime glaze. New recipe that is actually quite healthy too. Spent the rest of the late evening playing with costumes to find something fun to wear for dancing and finally plopped into bed happy, destressed and full of haystack cookies.
This morning our sculpt instructor didn't show up (again) so I made up a low impact knee friendly workout of 3 rounds through.

-10 Side curtsey dragon lunges with 10 Lb (each side)
-20 squats
-20 Deadlifts (18 Lb bar)
-20 clean and press (18 Lb bar)
-20 bent rows (18 Lb bar)
-15 bicep curls (18 Lb bar)
-20 tricep extensions (12 Lb)
-15 one legged deadlifts (2 X 12 Lb)

Then 2 sets of:
-15 Shoulder raises (18 Lb bar)
-10 of: pushup + spider crunches both sides + pushup + lizard plank crunches both sides
-20 plie squats

Then I hopped on the elliptical for a hill program for 20 minutes. Feeling good.
Really must get to work. I figure if I make myself indespensible they'll have to keep me around.

quick stop

My knee was stubborn most of last night - No lunges or knee bends for me. I enjoyed bellydance but took it easy. Today it felt stiff but better so I still was kind to it. I went to spin class this morning but kept the tension low and didn't do any up and down moves and it seems to be fine so far. No clicking or soreness, so I'll keep being nice to it while keeping it moving.

Just popping in to log. Must dash.

whirlwind day

Wow...busy day. Finally free to stop and grab some supper on my way to bellydance and post for the day. Whew! Almost forgot!
I was surprisingly not stiff at all after all my mammoth snow removal. Go me :) I did however wrench my knee walking through some of the ridiculous drifts still around on my way to the bus this morning. Then I banged it on the bus too. Yeah...stellar! I will have to be nice to it for a while...when I got to work I opted out of my planned spin and sculpt to be nice to my knee and instead rode the recumbent bike on my own quick pace with no tension for 25 minutes and then did a bit of my own mini overall workout which was 3 sets of:

20 X 4 corner punches with 10 Lb weights (from ZWOW 60)
20 deadlifts (35 Lb)
12 shoulder side raises (10 Lb)
20 hanging ab crunches
20 wood chops with no weight...because I managed to hit myself with it when I started with a dumbell and decided against it (stellar clumsy day I'm having huh?)
10 of: pushup + planked knee to opposite elbows (both) + push up + planked knee to same elbows all lizardy like

Thankfully the rest of the day, although insanely busy, has gone well and I'm off to my last (sniff) bellydance class of the term. I'll take it easy on the old knee and enjoy myself and with any luck, get home in time to tuck myself into bed early :)

Just a wee bit of snow old bean

I just drove to buy a new snow shovel and then spent two and a half hours shovelling out my front walk, sidewalk and back path to the car. The debris from this past week of extreme weather. There were thigh high packed drifts for most of it. Whew! So glad on days like this that I have worked so hard for functional strength in my back and arms...I felt very amazon today hurling huge chunks of packed snow up onto the top of the shoulder high drifts in my yard. It's a nice sunny day with no wind or snow for once and only about -2...a good day to be outside. What a spring!
Now after a long hot shower I get a bottle of my favourite beer and a snack before I settle in and work on my poster. Ah! I feel a bit creaky but very much alive :)



lalalala :)

This makes my heart sing :)

reboot

Today is so much nicer in every way, already!
And, OK, I will admit, yesterday worked out not too badly as well, weather excluded. Yes I was in at work until 8 last night, but I was able to help 3 people get their critical diagnoses on time and get a good hour of poster work done too when I got home. In a thoughtful blur yesterday morning I packed my workout gear in my bag just in case and it meant that (yay!) I was able to run over after work to the campus gym and do ZWOW 60 4 times through and 25 minutes on the elliptical before coming back to grab a sandwich, jello (oh, how I love jello!) and coffee before I got to the stat cases I was staying to help with and head home on the bus to my kittehs and tea and poster work until I kept falling asleep and went to bed about 1030. J worked late into the night so I didn't see him come in, but I know that meant he made it home safe and sound. It's amazing how exercise just reboots my brain, even when I'm tired. It made the rest of the evening go well...could have done with a bit more sleep, but I can't complain too much. It went as well as it could have gone, and there was jello, so really, in the end it was all good :)

Thankfully the wind has died down and today, while still cold, is a much better day. I came, pulled some slides for today's work and then ran to the gym to do an older bodyrock hiit workout.  4 rounds through (50sec work/10 sec rest) of these 4 exercises:
-10 high knees +2 tuck jumps
-pushup + clean and press (30 Lb) + bent row (30 Lb)
-plank jack + plank knee in to opposite elbow both sides + pushup +plank jack + hop in and out + pushup
-woodchops, 4 each side, alternating (10 Lb)
Than I got in 25 minutes on the hill program on the elliptical and called it done. With a yummy breakfast of greek yogurt, banana and granola and a giant coffee and I'm here for another day of solid work and general shenanigans.

Today will be another busy day, but with any luck I'll get to spend a few hours with J tonight if he gets done early. We can watch his show tonight. I'd like to go see the new Oz movie this weekend, but we'll see how things go. He's been so busy lately and next week is another long one for him so I think I'll leave it up to him as to what he wants to do, since I know he has to work all weekend. I'm gonna try and cheat and do some poster work here at work so I can have my supervisor look it over and let me have it back on saturday night to finish it off on sunday. I know it will get done. I got some solid work done on it last night and I just need a few more good hours to really polish it and make it flow better and then she can pick it apart  for me to revise and submit. :)
Then I can relax and actually plan the trip...hard to believe it's only 3 weeks until we go.
Meep.

I think my spring is broken

No workout today.
After a lazy non-productive evening (I was a lazy procrastinator...not good. I have a deadline quickly approaching) I finally fell asleep listening to the gale force blizzarding winds at about 11...only to be woken up about 45 minutes later by my husband who (sigh) had gotten stuck in the alley up on a drift behind our house trying to get the car parked after a long night of work. I called CAA and since the membership is one I share with my Dad, I had to be the one waiting with the card for the tow truck caller.
Joy.
The weather was yesterday was so awful that they couldn't give me an estimate of how long it would be...but thankfully I only had to wait an hour (and could wait on my couch under an afghan) for a guy with a truck to come and winch the car out and then get the car tucked away on the street in front of the house where it (hopefully) won't get stuck and finally get to bed about 2 AM. Yesterday was cold with 75 kph winds and blowing snow. Today is more of the same. Winter's last hurrah on a grand scale. It's annoying awful weather and I'm so done with it. This is nasty January weather and the crappiest spring I can recall...so unamused. It's a balmy -25 at the moment with 65 kph winds...
So yeah...I slept in the extra hour I could get today instead of getting up at 525 and just came in to work. I may or may not do a hiit workout today when I get home. We shall see how it goes. My goal today is just to make it home and stay there and work on my poster. I should have mostly gotten it finished last night but after farewell supper with Nanami and my brother I just had no motivation and ended up going to bed with little accomplished. So, I have to finish up my poster so my supervisor can proof it on the weekend, since it's due monday morning.
All I want to do is curl up under the duvet and have a nap!
Courage :)

Later: I just learned I have to stay late at work tonight (well technically I could go home and then come back but with this weather that is so not happening...) to immediately process some transplant biopsy samples that are arriving "sometime this evening". It's my own doing since I offered to cover the person who usually does it while they are away for their son's sport's trip thinking they'd likely not call me in. Meh... At least I can buy a good supper at the work cafeteria and maybe not avoid my poster if I am stuck at my desk waiting and get it done before heading home. Yeah sure...

*sigh*

That was great musical except for all that singing...

Got out to see the film of Les Miserables last night. Not sure what I think about it in the end. I love the musical, and have since high school. I've seen it twice and have the original cast recording form the late 80s (and have had it *since* the late 80s) so I had very high expectations and know all the music very well. And...well...I was underwhelmed. The overall film and adaptation was great, but Hugh Jackman (as much as I love him) isn't  a very good singer and Russel Crowe was laughably bad in some spots. Dramatic moments and songs that brought me to tears in the past just fell flat. And Javert's dramatic suicide scene was so bleh...*I* wanted to push him off so he's stop singing! High school quality singing.
To me, Javert sounds more like this:

Anne Hathaway though? *She* was lovely. The minor cast men and the women were great in this...I wish that they'd taken the time to cast people who can sing in the major male roles. Don't get me wrong - I'm all for allowing interpretation and "earthy real singing" but it's like getting regular actors to voice over animations...often it just doesn't work. A musical is a musical. You know...with music. The friend I went with had read the book but never seen the musical and she felt the same way. Beautiful music that fell short of what it could be. Nevertheless...glad I did get to see it. I admit I had to put the cast recording on my ipod last night so I could listen to it today to remember the "good" versions of the score today as I work away in the lab. I still know all the words. Crazy... :)

This morning I came in for sculpt class and it was a good workout. I pushed myself to use a heavier dumbell as much as I could and feel all RAWR about it all :) Today will be a busy day indeed...and tonight is a final supper with Nanami before she goes home to Japan tomorrow. With any luck I can get some poster work in too. We shall see :)

Have a great day guys!

it's how I roll

Yesterday was a looooong day. After work (with extra work) I was home to a quick supper and off to bellydance class...by the end of class I was pooped. My legs and joints were tired and I was a thirsty wobbly mess. I came home...to snow to shovel (grrr) but after that I made a cup of tea and finished knitting up the second one of first ever pair of arm warmers (they look the same - hooray!) and fell happily into a snuggly bed with my lovely J.
It even looks like an arm warmer!
Today is more of the same. Work and my poster for London to work on tonight. I may be lucky enough to get to see Les Miserables later tonight with my friend Heather (we've been trying to for months now...). J is not a musical fan and I love the actual musical, so I'm really curious to see it...hopefully we can get there tonight.

This morning was spin class. Jocelyn subbed again and I like her - she makes you work without realizing it...by the end I was dripping sweat and feel amazing. I was going to do my burpee challenge after, but after 1 burpee my left knee (which I whacked yesterday during bellydance) said "Hello! Don't do that!" so instead I did some hip lifts, ab exercises and bird dogs and then spent some foam rolling love time with the muscles in my upper legs and around my knees instead and it helped a lot - they are less sore now. I love the foam roller for working out kinks...feels sooooo goooood :)
Today is another full day. Trying to keep the food healthy and the energy up. More sciency wiency things to do and much to be thankful for.
Hope you have a great day. I'm off to the lab!

I, labrat

It snowed all weekend. Even got down to -30 C with windchill. This spring sucks. It seems like January...

I did a small experiment with myself this weekend. I learned a lot about myself...and am not sure what to do with this knowledge. All weekend, it was busy and I didn't do a lot of cooking for myself with lots of family meals and I decided to eat whatever and indulge. I didn't seek out ridiculous things, but if offered I would enjoy them. And...well...bleh. No wonder I used to weigh a lot. Friday evening we guacamole and pita chips for supper and later had some beer and wings and wedges...not terribly terrible...but it continued all weekend. Saturday evening was a multicultural potluck of delicious proportions, after which I ended up at my friends where (due to a water main break) we couldn't have water or tea and ended up drinking pop and beer and snacking on candy all night as we hung out. Then Sunday it was family dinner with twice stuffed potatoes, peanut butter cheerio squares and brownies.
The real bizarre thing to me is I'm not a sweets person generally. I prefer crunch and salt...but you know, I noticed, the more I had of the sugary stuff...the more I wanted. The more I actually craved it and daydreamed about it. It was really strange. I even bought myself a Bounty candy bar while out, which I never do anymore... and thankfully after a bite of it I realized how ridiculous things had become and threw the rest out.
So yeah - I have reconfirmed that I am indeed not one of those "have a little" people. And I too can be hooked on sugar...I now know I can't relax with my diet. I really can't. If I were to let myself carry on the way I did this weekend I would be back to my old weight in no time. In fact, I'm not surprised if I chowed on a few pounds over the weekend. Constant vigilance.

This morning I was up for spin and sculpt class and have healthy meals planned with bellydance class tonight. I ate the last peanut butter cheerio square this morning and feel just gross...so no more. No more crap today. I will be vigilant about my food and keep away from the crap for the rest of the day.


ah...the end is nigh

SO very glad it's friday.
I fell on the snow and ice on the way home yesterday. Yes...to my great anger and rage it is still minus 21 fricking Celsius with 6 inches of fresh snow in mid March (dagnabbit). I am so DONE with winter. It's been a particularly long and snowy winter and I'm dreading the melt to come. I've no doubt there will be flooding....perhaps even in my basement if my lovely neighbors keep shovelling snow beside my house. I have to shovel when I get home today...and I am crossing my fingers it will be for the last time. Because for some reason, after the fall last night I have switched over from not caring about weather to having a vehement loathing of winter. I need some spring. Stat.

I was quite tired yesterday and after getting home and nibbling my way around the house for a few hours I did some work on my poster for London and then promptly fell asleep on the couch with my laptop about 845 until J got home from work at 1030. I suppose I needed it. Then of course I went to bed...and feel better today. Much less tired. J may even get the later evening off from work tonight so we are going to meet friends and watch episode 4 of his show tonight...before a long weekend of stuff. Set up set, tear down set and two family dinners int he midst for me while J works all weekend (and gets out of family obligations...lucky sod). If I'm lucky I will get to hide and play Tomb Raider with an old friend saturday night and we can drink soda and act like we're 12 for a while...I haven't seen her in ages. I hope it works out. Cuz work is still crazy... and today I will try my best to keep it together and not kill the ones I am trying to help (honestly, academics can be like 4 year olds...)

This morning was spin and sculpt and it was a good solid class. I was strong and able to keep up with the challenges of class and work hard. Today I'm meeting a few girls for lunch to escape the work craze and hopefully will slide into the weekend with my eyes open and brain ready to enjoy the little bits of goodness that I know will be there through it all.
Have a great day guys!

hooray the instructor showed up!

This morning I was TIRED and it took all I had to get up and come in to work out...but I did. And, thankfully, the spin instructor showed up! It was a day when I needed someone to kick my butt and get me moving, and she did just that. A nice sweaty spin class for me. It's been a while....loved it. After class, even though I wanted to wimp out I kept to my burpee challenge and did my 60 burpees and 60 bicycle abs and am now in and ready for my day.
I'm already daydreaming of a nap after work and I am absolutely terrified at the amount of lab stuff I have to go through and pack and purge in the next few weeks...but I have to start somewhere, so I've got my coffee, my hair in a ponytail and my steel toes on and I'm just going to dive in and get to it and try not to look around at it all or I'll get overwhelmed...My plan is this: focus on one thing until it's done and then do the next thing...and so on and so on. Yup.
*gulp*

Oh, and given the muffiny interest - here's the link to the recipe on my foody blog so you can try out my pumpkin carrot nut concoction there if you like.
Have a great day all of you lovely peoples. I'm off to the land of science!

lame to giggedy in 60 seconds

Today started off lame, but it's ramping up already. The sculpt class was cancelled this morning (that is 3 for 3 classes cancelled this week...the queen is not amused) so I decided to bang out ZWOW 59 in ~21 minutes (3 rounds of: 10 RDL pushups, 20 cross around the worlds (20Lb), 20 weighted (12Lb) reverse lunge twists, 20 cross body mountain climbers and 30 sides skip touch downs over the bosu ball) and then added 3 sets of 20 deadlifts and 20 goblet squats with 20Lb. Then I hopped on the elliptical for 25 minutes on the interval program and finished the morning workout off well I think. By then I was full of happy workout endorphins and totally over the whole cancelled class thing. I had some delicious pumpkin overnight chia oats for breakfast and have a giant Tim Horton's coffee with cream waiting for me at my desk to get me going. I am dreaming about my muffin I have for coffee too...been inventing more muffins lately - this week is pumpkin carrot walnut multigrain...they're J approved :).

Today I have much to do, plus I have to give a lab tour to a bunch of bigwigs and try and figure out where new equipment can be delivered to, as well as all the other fun things I have scheduled. Heh heh...someone please explain to me why I'm the adult in charge of so many things? I'm wearing a suit jacket and everything to try and disguise my complete confusion as to how I became the "adult in charge"! If they only knew that I still giggle whenever someone says the word duty...they might reconsider letting me do all that I do. :)

burpees are forever

OY. Crazy day. Just popping in to log while I have the chance.
Spin class was cancelled (again...) this AM so cranked up the music and I hopped on the stairclimber for an interval program for 30 minutes instead. After I felt rather fantastic, so I did two short running stints on the treadmill (2 minutes walk on an incline + 6 minutes run) to get the energy flowing and then  I remembered my self burpee challenge, so I made sure to do that before I was done. I did 60 burpees (competition style, without full pushup) plus some bicycle abs and hip lifts and now I am done and in at my crazy job.
Gotta run!

hiya

Well hiya! Been away from the computer a bit. Sorry. Slacking and loving it!

Friday I had a first aid CPR training refresher across town all day and then some work after that, so I didn't get a workout in. I had schemes of working out on the weekend, but ended up helping out J for parts of it and spent a lot of the rest of it sewing, baking, cooking, reading comics and attempting to knit something. I really only want arm warmers and after I tried a scarf to remind myself how to knit, I just gave up (knitting is so SLOW compared to sewing...zzz) and skipped straight to the arm warmers. I have half of one done so far and it looks OK...knitting is definitely not my thing. Oh, I can do it, and likely will, just to make myself arm warmers, but I'm not gonna be making myself a sweater any time soon. Especially not when I can whip up something on the sewing machine much more quickly. J too figures I could do more with my time sewing than knitting...I am inclined to agree with him, but still want some arm warmers, so for now, I will stick with it.
I mean -how cool is this project?
Altho, looking on Ravelry has inspired me that maybe there are a few cool things out there to make that aren't too evil. We shall see. I have to get this pair of arm warmers done first. I really only was knitting out of annoyance at my sewing attempts...I was making a bellydance top saturday afternoon but accidentally sewed together a few parts backwards and was quite annoyed to have to take them apart again, so I moved on to drinking blueberry wine, thinking about my Mum, knitting and prepping food for the week: pulled chicken, pumpkin carrot nut muffins, pumpkin chic pea curry soup and some cinnamon nut twists for work today (having a bread maker rocks!).
So, I definitely needed to workout after a slacker weekend. Today was back in for workouts...I was really feeling the lack of workout by today (I get all moody and cranky) and it's good to be back to it. Morning spin and sculpt class was (again...grr...) cancelled so I winged it and made up my own workout on the fly:
3 rounds through of:
-20 deadlifts (40 Lb barbell)
-10 dragon curtsey lunges with 10 Lb weight (each side)
-20 kettle bell swings (25 Lb)
-20 deep squats + shoulder raises with 10 Lb dumbells
-15 side ab extensions with 25 Lb
-15 bicel curls (10 Lb dumbells)
-15 bent rows (15Lb dumbells)
-5 ab combos (2 pushups + 2 planked knee to elbow (each side) + 2 spider pushups + planked lizard  knee to elbow on side (each side).
-10 bird dogs (each side)
-10 fire hydrant lifts (each side)
Then 25 minutes on the hill program on the elliptical and that was that. Good workout I figure. Now I've gotta go see what I have to catch up on at work. Tonight is bellydance class, so if I can make it through the work day I get to jiggle my stuff...cant' wait!
Hope you all had a great day.

c is for cardio

Well, this morning the spin instructor was sick, so I had to do my own cardio. I hadn't been on a stairclimber since before christmas, so I figured I would have at it for a change. I hopped on the stairclimber on a hill endurance program for 30 minutes and then was feeling all uber-awesome so I hopped on the treadmill for another 25, alternating between walking 1-1.5 minutes at a 6% incline and jogging at 10 mph for ~4 minutes. It was hard since it took a bit to remember how to pace my breathing and not get a side stitch, but once I got my groove back it went well and I felt great after. Since my knee decided to make me pay more attention to my body I can't run a lot anymore, but I love it, and every once in a while it's nice to do a bit of it.
I'm trying to ramp it up a bit so I can go for weekend jogs once the weather warms up. Plus ,when we are in the UK this spring visiting a friend, she's taken up jogging and I am really looking forward to a planned 5K jog around her country town with her. It will be beautiful, and definitely a new thing for us to do together. I'm so proud of her. After we came for their wedding last year she saw me so much more healthy and fit (I haven't seen her in person for many years) than I'd ever been and she figured if I could do it and like it she would give it a go...and it turns out she loves to run, and has started taking Pilate's as well. I love when people find an activity they enjoy...:)
I made sure I stretched well today once I was done.  I am still stiff in many places from sculpt class yesterday so I made sure to stretch and definitely didn't try and do any more weights...but I got in my cardio that's for sure. Unfortunately I totally forgot about my whole burpee challenge. Oops. Tomorrow then. :)

Gong!

Last night was a bit of  a gong show. With J working all night I got to do the monthly grocery run by myself. I enjoyed the shopping part since I could take my time and read labels and squeeze fruit and all that jazz, but the hauling it all in (in a cold snap...with a car hatch that won't stay up anymore...grrr) and putting it all away took forever on my own. Thankfully it's all done though. Poor J is coming down with a cold. I'm crossing my fingers I don't get it. We shall see. I haven't been sick in eons so I'm due, but I'll try my best to stay plague free. Poor guy is so busy it's no wonder he's run down...hopefully he can keep on schedule and not miss too much work over it.
This morning I came in for "maybe" sculpt class. They weren't sure who would teach it since the usual new instructor who was a no show last week has fallen off the face of the earth...but yelly Mel volunteered to come in and teach and, you know, it ended up being a fantastic over-all class. We worked every major muscle group well and she broke up the sets of reps into reasonable groups so we could focus on heavier weights and better form. Now I feel great :) A little cottage cheese and blackberries (mmmm) and my coffee chocolate protein shake and I'm good to go.
Today is another day of packing up labs and getting busy prepping for the move to the new labs...and helping all the academics who you would think had never done anything for themselves ever before in their lives. I think hand holding and general encouragement is in my job description somewhere :)
Must dash. Long day ahead. Have a good one :)

Burpee month

Last night was bellydance class and by the end of the day I was just done. Tired and happy. I went to bed on time and slept like a baby rock. One of my cats kept trying to wake me up at 2AM but after a brief discussion with a water sprayer he decided to let me sleep until 530 like normal. Wise move on his part. I was quite willing to up the response accordingly until he got the hint...I do *not* allow cat opera at 2 AM.
This morning I came in for spin class with yelly Mel and had a great sweaty workout. Sweat dripped off my eyebrow...so yes, it was a good workout. After, I tried (and kinda wimped out) to do a challenge from Josie at YumYucky - her thing was to see how many burpees I could do in 5 minutes. Before spin class this seemed like a great idea. After, not so much as I really pushed myself in the 40 minute class. So instead, I went for number to start- 50. 50 seemed like a nice round number. So, I did 50 burpees (whoop!), then decided to do 60 bike abs and 50 one leg hip thrusts and stop there and have a shower.
And, you know, I liked it. I think I am going to do the burpees after each spin class tuesday and thursday and try to work up to 100, adding 10 per week, and even do them on the weekend, where I may do them boot camp style - 50 seconds on and 10 seconds break for 5 minutes. I feel like I need a new monthly challenge and this should be fun...so hear me now -March is officially burpee month!
It's on!

Sew good

Ah. It was a nice busy weekend. The fun kind of busy (yes there is one!).
I helped J with his set and ran some errands, but mostly I just spent the weekend making wicked breakfasts and sewing. Creative sewing...which I love. I repurposed 2 things into new things I love more. I took an orange tank dress which fit fine on top but was too tight on the skirt and shortened it and took the skirty bit and added a hood to the tank top, making a cool new shirt. Then I took tshirt I was given as a gift years ago I like but was waaay to big (mens M) and resized it down to fit me perfectly. Now I can wear my zombie tshirt happily (yes I'm a nerd!). Then sunday 2 girls came over and we sewed on bellydance stuff all day. They aren't much for sewing so I helped them make basic belts they could decorate by hand and one of the girls had an awesome shirt we repurposed and made into a really amazing looking bellydance performance top with matching belt. It was nice to sew with friends and make stuff...I didn't make anything for me but I got some nice fabric cut out and ready to go and had a lot of fun helping the girls with their stuff and using my sewing powers for good.
Even got out to have beers with an old friend I haven't seen in eons and then go dancing saturday night a bit too...so yeah. I'm all refilled with energy for the week. Add to that the fact that my order of bellydance swag from China came, and I am a happy camper indeed. :)
This morning I came in for spin and sculpt and feel great. Lots of compound exercises for the sculpt part, which I like. Crowded class, but tough and sweaty. Burpees and pushups and woochops. Rawr :)
And now...off to work I must go. I wanted to pop in and log and say hello before I ran off into the world. Have a great day!!

Dost thou hoist often?

That was on the pegboard at work this morning at the gym...made me giggle.

Last night J worked all night again (poor guy) so I made up some food that I knew he wouldn't like. I have some smoked fish my Dad made a while back from lake trout he'd caught and it's delicious. J is not a fish fan, especially of the smoked kind, so it was a good time to indulge. I made up some potato fish cakes (never made them before but saw them on Diners, Drive-ins and Dives) and OH MY FROG. They were Delicious. How can something so simple be so good? It's insane you guys...the soft potato and the smokey taste with the crunchy outside? Man. Just boiled mushed potato with the fish and some spices (garlic, pepper, dill) and then dipped in egg and crumbs and browned up (recipe on my food blog). Add a little tartar sauce and some steamed beets and I was in piggy heaven. And they were actually quite healthy...Definitely have to make them for my Dad - he'd love them! I know I did. There was not one crumb left.
Later I made J some more of the muffins I invented earlier in the week so he has lots of snacky fuel power for work. Then I finished up a little goofy project I made on the sewing machine (still not sure if I like it or not) and sewed a fringe on a dance belt for a friend and called it a night.

This morning was spin and sculpt and now it's in for a busy day here at work. I am so glad it's friday...I need a nap. Things are ramping up here at work and all of a sudden I'm busy...so I must dash and get to it. Have a fabulous weekend!