Finally seeing it all fall in to place

It seems so strange to be 32 and still floundering around wondering what I am going to do with my life outside of raising my family. My dreams have changed over the years as they are want to do as one matures and grows in life experience. There were times I thought of turning my love of yarn and knitting into a business but over the course of the last few years realized it would be a huge daunting undertaking with no guarantee, well not that starting your own business ever has a guarantee at success. I worried about the joy being taken out of something I find soothing, so better not to turn my hobby and destresser into a full time full blown stressful business venture.

With the pregnancy of my 3rd child 9 yrs ago I started to get that calling to do something with pregnant/birthing mamas, I just wasn't sure exactly what. I trained to be a Doula but ever completed my certification. As much as I knew I would love doing this I also knew there would be many many more times that I hated it, where I would want to speak my mind but would not be allowed to. For anyone who knows me, keeping my opinions to myself is like trying to hold back a river with a piece of paper!

And then, this past year I had it! Childbirth educator! This, this I could do! I got my scholarship into the certification course and was thrilled, except despite the scholarship I was still looking at $1000 or more to complete most of my requirements. I am a determined little git though so something like that won't stand in my way, it's just a matter of working it all out.

During this time I stumbled upon Hoop Dancing and fell in love. A work out that was fun and challenging and even came with the added bonus of me being able to craft my own hoop! Now that just made me all kinds of giddy. Not to long ago my online instructor announced she would be offering a teacher training course and I thought, now how cool would that be to be a hoop dance instructor? It is something I could add in to my CB business, especially if I also get certified as a pre/post natal fitness instructor through the same company I am getting my CBE from. The downside, her class is very expensive and it's online, where I feel this is one time i person training would be very beneficial. And that is when it happened. I learned that the Hoopnotica trainer was coming to Seattle in January. She trained Marisa Tomei (who now has her own hoop fitness video out) and Halle Berry to name a few. And yes her classes are also expensive BUT I can split the cost over a few paychecks and it's in person with a well known and very reputable trainer, exactly what I was searching for.

Now the impulsive part of me wanted to jump right in & pay for the training without a second thought to anything else. Imagine my surprise when my sensible side came out and said, WAIT! Why don't you first find out if there are any gyms/athletic clubs looking for new instructors, who are interested in bringing in a new workout. So I did the smart thing and first found a space to teach and it was easier than I imagined it would be. I am excited to say I will be teaching starting in Feb or March next year!! I will also be applying for the pre/post natal fitness certification before this year is out to get in on the low introductory price. This means that in just a few short months I will be certified for 1 side of my business and can use the income I generate from that to finish paying for my CBE!

It is all lining up so nice and neat, it almost seems to good to be true. However I will not let that pessimistic negative nelly creep in. How can it be too good? It is perfect and exactly what I have been searching out for so long. I love that I can take my passion and my joy and turn it into something beneficial not just for me but for the women whose lives I will be able to touch.

Booty Challenge -- Accepted!

I love a good friendly competition every now and then. My cousin has been working hard to lose weight and get in shape and she has really kicked ass doing it. I am really so very proud of her. Having seen my own positive results with Beach Body products I thought wouldn't it be fun to challenge my cuz to a booty off. We both have Brazil Butt Lift (from beachbody.com) and since it targets the are we both find troublesome it was the perfect fit for us!

4 weeks we will add BBL to our regular workout schedule. Nov 15- Dec 17. At the end whomever loses the higher percentage in inches will be the winner. I'll be making up my own combo of p90x and BBL plus hooping for some extra fun and cardio.

The two of us are very very close in measurements, in most areas only 2" apart but our thighs are a mere 1/2" different. This means it will be a very tight race and I am determined to win. Even if I don't beat her I still win a better butt and thighs plus for reaching my goals I am finally going to get a boob job next year. No I am not kidding :) I have been waiting for years to have it done so why not reward my tighter toned body with a sweet rack.

Happy Birthday To Me!

32, that is. . . kind of scary. I am pretty sure I am still 15, at least that is how I act most days. Of course it's just a normal day, cooking, cleaning, knitting, exercising. Nope nothing special. I did however receive a fantastic gift today, one I gave myself. The gift of change, a healthy body that is working towards becoming fit and toned.

I am on day 33 of P90x and day 3 of Brazil Butt Lift. BeachBody has mad a believer out of me with the results I have gotten. And the best part is I am not bored, not one single bit. That to me makes a huge difference in sticking to a working out program and getting results. And results I have them! Are you ready for this? Ok ok so it's not that dramatic but to me, it's major!

30 days ago --
wt : 127
hips: 36.5
waist: 29
thigh: 22
arm: 10.5

3 days ago --
wt: 125
hips: 35.5
waist: 28
thigh: 21
arm: 11

And the proof is in the pictures!

30 days ago



yesterday





I mean wow, look at the difference just on my rear end! And here I thought I wasn't getting much of a lower body workout but obviously something was working it. I cannot wait for the next 30 days transformation, I expect many more changes and that excite me :D

Back to work!

I am so very glad that last week is over. That had to be the most draining week of my life. The 3 days of being sick and getting barely 3 hours of sleep each night really wiped me out. I did at least get 1 semi decent nights sleep but the next night started more sleeplessness.

At 1am Xander, the 9yo, woke me up complaining of a tummy ache. This has been an ongoing trend with the kids since school started so I didn't pay much attention to it at first. By 2am he was crying from the pain and being yelled at by his roommate, the 13yo. I sent Xander downstairs to watch cartoons, hoping that would help take his mind off whatever was bothering him and he could fall asleep. Around 8am I went and checked in with him and he aid it was still hurting so I felt around on his tummy to which he yelped when I pressed on the right and underside of his belly. It would be another hour before the doctors office opened so I went ahead and showered and got dressed. Thinking more on it though I decided to bypass the Dr, chances were they wouldn't be able to see him right away anyways, and so we headed straight for the ER.

Once in the ER they started to run a kazillion tests from blood to urine to a CT scan which included drinking a yummy barium drink before hand. It took about 1.5-2 hours after getting in to have a diagnosis -- Appendicitis! It took another hour for surgery prep and off my baby went, the first of my kids to ever need surgery. His surgery was quick, about 45 min. Then another 45 in recovery before he was wheeled to the outpatient room and could have a little food (jello and a Popsicle lol). We were in that room about 30 minutes before he was discharged and we could go home. It all happened so fast, we were there by 930 and home by 430!

That night I played musical beds flitting between my bed with Pixie and the couch with Xander before I finally surrendered and just slept on the couch with Xander & Pixie, or well at least I tried to sleep. After that I made a mat on my bedroom floor for Xander to sleep on. I think this surgery has really affected him. He has been very clingy and needy of his mommy, something that is very much unlike him (at least since he was 3 anyways).

This week there is so much going on as well that I feel overwhelmed which usually leads to me getting nothing accomplished. The inlaws will be arriving on Friday and while I know I should be cleaning a little each day the other half of my brain says what is the point, the kids will have torn it all up before they get here so why not just wait until they head off to school Friday morning and do a mass cleaning then? You know that sounds like a good plan indeed.

Because last week was so nuts I didn't do the recovery week of P90x and I have to say I missed my morning workout with Tony. Never thought I would say that! This week I am switching things up a bit. I was following the classic routine for P90x but one thing I noticed was that I as starting to bulk up on my arms (even though I have been using light wts!) but not getting enough focus on what I wanted, lean, slim, toned lower body. I am no following the lean plan and have added in the Brazil Butt Lift workout. Holy crap that workout is NO joke! I however am far from being a sexy or graceful "dancer" which is my only negative about this workout is it does focus a lot on dancing/dance moves. My hope is that as I learn the moves they will start to become more fluid and thereby start looking sexier ;) Yesterdays routine was the bum bum and man does my bum bum huuuuurt! But it's a good hurt. Today was cardio axe (all dance, I really should take a video of me doing this for the pure entertainment factor) and then tummy tuck, an extreme ab workout. I think it may give the ab ripper a run for it's money. So now my bum, my thighs and my abs are killing me but it is all worth it.

Tomorrow as part of WIP Wed I will be including my 30/1 day measurements and pictures, after all I too am a work in progress!

WIP Wednesday!

I am so late posting today, I have been sick since Sunday and finally feeling back to normal today after getting my first real nights sleep in four days! Playing catch up form the last few days has been fun for sure.

Progress is being made on my friend's cardigan, the left front & back are complete and now I am about to star the right front, then on to the sleeves! I hope to have this wrapped up by next Friday's FO posting (not this weeks!).




Pixie's owl sweater is also coming along nicely, I am at the sleeve split and will hopefully be done this weekend.




I have 3 new projects I have started this week as well and of course I forgot to take a picture of one of them.

A pair of socks for my friend Tabatha, who helped create a resume for me




A cute little baby sweater for my friend who is due very soon, this will have a matching hat and booties too!




Not pictured are my best Gothy yarn dyer's socks in the awesome Sailor Saturn colorway, I cannot wait to get further along on these as I am using a structural technique I have never used before.

M is for

Mmmmmmmmmmmmm mmm YUMMMM! Tonight I made Mediterranean Pizza, recipe from the $5 dollar dinner mom cookbook. I cannot even begin to tell you how DELICIOUS this pizza is and everything is made from scratch! In fact I am pretty sure this dish alone makes the price of the book totally worth it. And really it isn't that expensive. I got mine for free by redeeming my Amazon GC's from my Swagbucks searches. If you haven't signed up with swagbucks I highly recommend it. It really doesn't take long to "earn" 450 sb's which can be redeemed for a $5 Amazon GC!

Back to the Pizza now. . . like I said everything is made from scratch right? I have always, kid you not, been a pizza crust from scratch making failure. No matter what recipe I have tried it just doesn't turn out right. The recipe in this book is flawless and the instructions leave out any guess work. I mean check these babies out! (I doubled the flour & water to make 2)




So easy and so so very yummy! Next came the sauce, the kids like tomato (and there is a simple and cheap!!! recipe in the book) while the husband and I prefer a white sauce. I followed the basic white sauce recipe and added parmesan cheese to it. While the kids only had fresh sliced roma tomatoes on theirs (they are so boring!), ours was a masterpiece of veggie delights. This masterpiece included fresh roma tomatoes, fresh sauteed spinach, bell peppers, some Japanese mushroom, and on my half black olives. WOW! The pictures really do not do these pizza's justice, and yes the kids did have some of ours after they devoured theirs!


why yes one of the boys did request spinach on his slice

FO Friday weeee

It's nice to feel like I have accomplished something. This week I finished a beautiful lace shawl for a friend and Xander's stripey socks.

Themed postings

Just like I make meal plans (sometimes the weeks are themed, meatless monday, taco tuesday. . . ) I have been thinking about a daily theme on my blog posts. I often don't write because I just don't think I have anything to write about, perhaps by giving myself a theme this will clear some of my blog block.

So today I give you Tony Thursday, errr maybe I need to work on that name. Whatever. Tony Horton, that crazy dude that does the P90x, yea, I think I love him. After getting bored with Body For Life and then falling off the workout wagon for a few weeks I decided to just go for it, jump in and do the P90x even though I don't have anywhere to put a pullup bar and nevermind that I don't even have the strength to manage even 1 full pullup. The first week I literally thought I was going to die, of course I was also walking 3 miles every morning before starting and that really wore me out and made it hard on me. At the end of week one I ended up with a pretty bad finger injury (not due to the workouts, just my own stupidity) that meant I couldn't do the yoga nor use weights with my left hand. Ugh another week off!

Starting the count over again I jumped right back to it once my finger was capable of handling the dumbbells and yoga and pushup positions. That week was considerably easier, while still hard I at least was not exhausting myself before I even started. Week two was awesome! Now I am finishing up week 3 and my body is screaming at me. next week is an "easy week" to give the muscles some rest before they take another intense pounding. I added up how many pushups I did this Monday and shocked myself to find out I did at least 100! That is just incredible to me, especially considering how difficult some of the different positions are. I do find that I am much more tired this week and that is making my workouts a little harder. My body is just so sore, but it's a good sore, a good tired. My biceps are freaking amazing and my calves are looking pretty hot too. I just wish the midsection and thighs/bum would catch up. If anything can fix my abs I would say it has to be ab ripper x, that shit is intense and hard and serious crazy! After 3 weeks I am so close to be able to do all 25 reps for each position and that makes me very very happy. I look forward to the 30 day pictures and measurements next week!

WIP Wednesday!

I got this fun idea from a fellow knitting friend to post what I am working on on Wednesdays. Since I have so many projects to work on over the next 6-8 weeks I thought it might help keep me focused. On Friday's I think I will add to that and post my finished projects for the week!

First wip and most important that I am currently working on is an Arachne Cardigan for my friend Tasha. I am a bit further along than this picture shows but not as far along as I would like to be. I am knitting it in my favorite German yarn Wollmeise colorway pesto





Next I am working on an Owlet sweater for the Pixie, no picture of it since it is currently only to the waistband ribbing but when finished will look like this only in purple



Third project, again not pictured but I will have one on Friday, is a pair of stripey socks knit for Xander in fun autumn colored striped of pumpkin & brown.

I try to keep my working projects to 1 charted pattern that needs my concentration and at least 1-2 easy patterns that I can work on in the car, in bed, or just when my brain needs a break! I wonder what next weeks wip Wednesday will have in store :-)

It Get's Better

It Get's Better is a project that has been started in support of LGBT teens in direct response to the recent suicides of several teens over the past 2 months due to the relentless teasing, harassing and bullying of their peers. It's a tragedy when in this day and age our teens have to fear for their lives, for their safety because they are different. They hear over and over how their high school years are the years they will look back on and miss the most, their golden years. So is it any wonder that when they hear something as ridiculous as this (I don't know about you but I don't know anyone who looks back fondly on their high school years) that they feel so hopeless. I mean if it doesn't get any better than that then what is there to live for, to look forward to.

STOP. High School SUCKS. That popular, pretty cheerleading captain that appears to have it all, it sucks for her. That student over there getting straight A's and has a lot of friends and extracurricular activities, who always has a smile on their face, yup sucks for him too. Look around you. Does everyone look exactly the same? Do they act the same, talk the same, dress the same? Nope. They are all different and unique and perfectly OK just the way they are. AND SO ARE YOU!

I am 100% behind this new project, but hope to see it expand. You see it's not just LGBT that deal with horrific bullying and harassment. Anyone that seems a little different also suffers. We need a project that gives all teens this message, it get's better. More than that is that we really need to focus on stopping what is happening, we need to STOP the bullying. So many workplaces offer these little clinics to talk about harassment but give me a break, by then it's too late. This needs to be started very early on. Tolerance needs to be taught, consequences need to be had. We can't make it better if we don't first focus on fixing what is broken.

Parents, you need to be involved with your kids! You need to know what is going on in their lives even if you think they don't want you to know, even if you feel they are shutting you out. Learn and know the warning signs that your child is being bullied, or is the one doing the bullying. It starts with you, it really does. You have the greatest impact on how your children behave and how they react to peer treatment. I really cannot stress this one point enough.

It get's better. No matter where you are in your life today, tomorrow it get's better.

So. . . yeah

I find myself 9 days past my last blog post and falling into some really old bad habits. Poor budget planning (and forgetting about an automatic withdrawal) left us very low on funds so I had to plan meals/grocery shopping very carefully. Since I was not going to be able to buy enough food to eat properly for my workouts I didn't do another workout after Wed. Now here it is, a few days after payday and I am still not back on the workout wagon and rather enjoying my freedom from it all. Not making myself sit down and eat 3 meals, plus snacks & supps, not forcing myself out to the garage for an hour long workout where I usually end up stressed out not 5 miutes in to it b/c one kid after another (and often the same one over and over) have to stick their head out into the garage and bug me about something. Never mind that the 2 hours prior to that no one paid me any attention or needed me at all. Nope, it's just when I am breathless and exerting myself that suddenly I am the most needed person on the planet. Is it any wonder I don't look forward to my workouts? The funny thing is even though I do get irritated and stressed during, I absolutely LOVE how I feel when I am done. Like I know the first 10-12 minutes on the elliptical is the hardest and I really have to push myself through them, but then the endorphins kick in and I am almost sad when my 30 minutes is up as I could likely go longer.

So this past week I have been eating like crap, skipping breakfast, 1/2 a pnut butter sandwich and a piece of fruit for lunch, and then dinner was 1 of a few different varieties of hamburger helper. We even had a sloppy joe night and 2 nights ago we had pizza (thanks to a power outage that was 4 hours long right at dinnertime). The few times we have had to revert back to the junky crap dinners (hmm I think it's been almost a year since the last time!) I find myself suddenly craving all the bad foods and not wanting to eat anything that is good for me. I think I have now gotten myself into the mindset that I'll pick back up my workout regime after the kids go back to school next week. I'll have the house to myself and no one to bug me! Until then though I need to work on getting myself back into my healthy eating habits. The good news is that even though I have been eating like crap and not exercising, the weight is still coming off and I am down another pound this week! I will be happy for the weight loss to stay in the 1-6 more pounds down range, that's a good healthy weight for me and where I used to strive to gain to be that weight. Guess all I needed to do was move to the PNW and suffer serious Vit D deficiencies, and thus suffer major health issues in order to gain that weight.

You gotta kick a little

I have no idea why this old country song pops in to my head every time I think about giving my workout a jolt but it does. It's kind of appropriate as it will certainly be kicking a little ass, and in this case, my ass.

I have just entered week 6 of BFL, the half way point. I have lost a few inches and this weeks weigh in showed I have lost 2lbs as well. It is such a great feeling knowing their are changes taking place, real actual changes! And yet still somewhat discouraging that I can't see those changes yet and looking at pictures husband took this weekend makes me even more determined to get these thighs in check.

We registered for a 5K on Oct 2, my first race! It's just a small town local race to benefit the local high school athletics and I am all for supporting that. Of course then I realized I hadn't run since I started the BFL program, umm eep! I have walked and I have done intense cardio on the elliptical but that doesn't mean I can run 3 miles! I also think I am past the point of restarting c25k plus I wanted a shorter training 12 weeks is too long. I picked one from fitness.com I think it is, I don't recall as I wrote it all down rather than bookmarking. I decided to start it in week 3 make it a 4 week program instead of 6.

I was really impressed with how much easier it was to run today. I guess all that weight lifting and cardio on the elliptical have made improvements! It took me 43 minutes of run/walk to hit 5K which is just awesome as I'd like to be able to run it in 30-35 min and I think that might actually be possible! My new training schedule looks like this (though I got a day off track)

week 1
Mon - running + weight lifting
Tues - walk + elliptical
wed - hooping + weight lifting
thurs - walk + elliptical
fri - hooping + weight lifting
sat - running
sun - OFF/Free day

week 2 - 4
mon - running + weights
tues - running
wed - hooping + weights
thurs - running
fri - hooping + weights
sat - run
sun - off

I might be a little crazy but thankfully school starts in 2 weeks and I'll have my days free to get my workouts in without kids yeah!

It's just "what we do"

I have heard and read this comment by so many moms so many times. It's like the mantra for when you did something before you educated yourself on it. I am guilty of this as well. So many things in our American culture that we "just do" as parents without really thinking about WHY we do it or if there is another way. Why is it in our culture we do not question "what we do"? Are we afraid of breaking tradition? Bucking the system? Questioning authority? Is it fear?

14 years ago, when I had my first son, I was seriously lacking in available resources for research. There were things I instinctively knew I wanted to do or not do, but so much that I just didn't know and no way to find out, or I didn't know ho to find out. I knew I was going to breastfeed (which in the end didn't last very long due to many factors), I knew I wanted to try for a natural birth (which once labor hit I was singing a different tune, yet I still ended up with a mostly unmedicated birth), I knew I was NOT going to circumcise my son, I knew I wanted to keep him close though I knew nothing of babywearing or the gear and I knew nothing of safe cosleeping. I also knew nothing about vaccines, vaccinating was just "what we do". I never questioned it, not for years and not until I was pregnant with my second son 4 years later.

My parenting ideals haven't changed much from my 1st child, though I have become softer in my discipline techniques, I have become very firm and headstrong about many issues. I am for all intents and purposes a crunchy hippie alternative parent. Those of us who go against the mainstream have taken a lot of heat for our crazy natural ways. We seem to always be defending our choice for doing what is NORMAL, what is natural, and what is best for the child.

This year has been a good year for those of us on the alternative flow. We have made the AAP back down and take back their statement on FGM and "ritual nicks", the ACOG has realized that the increase in induced labors is a cause for the increased amount of cesarean sections and as well are changing their stance on repeat c/section. The CDC announced a stunning and dramatic drop in the rate of infant circumcision, from 56% in 2006 to 32% in 2009! Babywearing and kangaroo care has been proven to be very beneficial for mother & child, and today Harvard released a study that shows "cry it out" is detrimental while cosleeping and giving your child attention helps create a secure and independent adult! Those of us in the natural community of course are all thrilled with this years events but at the same time we can't help but roll our eyes and say "Duh! e have been saying this for years, but it's nice that you all are finally catching up"

Currently there is a lot of media attention on the issue of circumcision, which is great! I just feel so heartbroken for the mamas I see posting about how they had their son(s) circumcised (and many despite the fact they really didn't want it done but left it up to dad) because it was just "what you do" but they are so glad to know now the truth and help spread the word of truth when it comes to this painful medically unnecessary procedure.

The tide is finally turning from a culture of it's just what we do to a culture of WHY do we do that and discovering the truths. A culture of researching parenting decisions and questioning and changing. I can't even begin to describe how this shift makes me feel, how much it brings me hope and joy for the future generations of children born in our culture. I can't wait for the day when moms no longer feel the guilt over an uninformed choice and will no longer have to say "it's just what we do".

Day 31 of 84 -- weigh in!

4 weeks down, 1/3 of the program finished! I am feeling better and pushing myself to really work the muscles. I added in the cardio the last 2 week and that has been great, I am in love with my elliptical. But now comes the fun part, pulling out the tape measure and checking my stats.

Measurements:
Weight -- 127 lbs my new norm, and I am ok with that! :)
BMI -- 20.7
(no changes)

calf: 14"
thigh: 22" wooo lost 1.75"!!!
hips: 36.5" down 1/2"!
waist: 29" down 1/2"
bicep: 10.75" heh gained 1/4" lol
chest: 32" I dont expect any changes here ;)

I am excited to see some measurable changes! I can't really physically see those changes yet but I know it's happening and for the first time since I started this journey 6 months ago. This means that the program I am on is the right one for me and that, that gives me the confidence and boost to keep going and keep pushing myself.

15of 84

I have successfully completed the first 2 weeks of the 12 week Body For Life challenge. I have been struggling with designing the perfect workout for my weight days as I am limited on what exercises I can perform without a gym or gym equipment but getting a darn good workout none the less. My biggest challenge is making sure I am eating 6 times a day and since I generally hate breakfast I have a hard time starting my day off right. I think I may switch it up and add a scoop of protein shake to my morning coffee, workout and then have breakfast.

I just got an elliptical so I will be able to add in the intense cardio plan. To add to my overall body fitness (and just for the pure fun of it!) I have started hooping. This is the most fun I have had in awhile and it's very addicting. I am loving learning how to move the hoop around, do tricks, dance. It really is a full body workout + cardio! I am trying to limit myself to hooping only on my cardio days but now that the kids are also getting in to it I want to hoop everyday!

I had weigh in this morning and I am not sure I like what I saw. 129.2lbs. Ermm huh? I am hoping it's just muscle built but this has been the ongoing battle, lose 3 lbs gain 2 back. Part of me really wants to toss the scale and only weigh in once per month but the other part of me obsessively checks my weight 1-2 times a day and can't seem to let go. Why the obsession with what's on the scale when I know that isn't what really matters? I seem to have fallen into that weight trap and I don't like it not one bit.

A new addition to the family

We finally did, we got a new dog. We've had some drama and heartache over dogs before and have been very gunshy to try again. After visiting some friends in GA who had 4 very loveable huggable dogs the urge to try again was very strong. We wanted to make sure it was right this time and not rush in to anything. Ha! I casually did searches here and there on petfinder but of course I am being much more picky and slow about this.

Then Thursday, late at night I was reading in LSG (it's a brassy knitting forum, I learn a lot of colorful new language in there), where I saw a post calling for dog help in the Seattle area. A regular was posting for a friend asking if anyone knew of a good no kill shelter or someone who wanted (or could) take in a dog as the owners desperately needed to re-home her. I went ahead and told her to send the owner my email address and I'd see what we could do as well as told her about the local shelter here.

Friday Morning I called up Christy and we talked at least an hour about her dog, the reason she needed to give her up and everything else in between. We agreed on doing a weekend trial run of having her here and seeing how she fits in with us and if we are a good fit for her as well. I wanted to talk it over with the husband but he was unreachable so I figured it was easier to ask forgiveness than permission ;-) Once I was able to reach him he was rather happy at the prospect so it was all good.

That afternoon Christy brought Kashka and all of her possessions to us. It was practically immediate we all just meshed together. Kashka took to us with no issues and we took right to her. She is a very sweet loving dog who just loves people and wants to please everyone. Course she is stubborn but has had some training as far as her crate, the sit command, walking on a leash, and ringing a bell to alert us she needs to be let out. She has been with us for 25ish hours now and I simply can't imagine life without her now. She is a lapdog and if she isn't in our laps she is leaning against our legs and sitting on our feet -- or chasing after the kids lol

This is my first picture with her and I am sure there will be many more to come. <3 this girl so much and I am very thankful we had the opportunity to take her into our home.

Body For Life Challenge Pictures

So for this 12 week challenge we are supposed to take photos and post our stats, I'm a little late as I am 1.5 weeks into this already but seriously there is no change yet so no matter.

Measurements:
Weight -- 127.6lbs
BMI -- 20.7
Now I know both of these are in the normal range and I am not in this to lose weight, I am in this to gain health, get toned and lean muscle mass. I want that BMI to be from muscle mass not from flabby fat mass tyvm.

calf: 14"
thigh: 23 3/4"
hips: 37"
waist: 29.5"
bicep: 10.5"
chest: 32"

Front:


Back:


Ugh that behind photo is just gross but when I am done with this challenge and it looks how I want it to look I'll always have this pic to remind me of what I don't want to let my body become again.

oh, ouch, that's a bit sore

and I am happy about it! Yesterday was day 3 of BFL, day 2 of the strength training. My first day was kind of meh, didn't really feel it (all upper body). Yesterday was lower body + abs. Let me say using wts (and I went up to a total of 30lbs on these 2) for lunges and squats is KILLER. Doing crunches on a decline bench with wts? Also seriously killer. I woke up this morning feeling a bit sore and thinking, it's about damn time a workout made me hurt!

The rest of the day was spent traipsing around trails and waterfalls at the bottom/middle of Mt Rainier. It helped stretch out the sore glutes/hammies/quads but did nothing for my screaming abs. Now that I am home in bed (after a 14 hour day ugh) I am really feeling the burn. I think I may just be in love with this program and now that I have some heavier weights I am ready to attack the upper body again tomorrow.

I have just 2 more "tools" to add to my new gym, 1 is a stationary bike for the intense cardio for BFL and the other is fun + exercise in the form of hoop dancing. A friend recently turned me on to hooping and I have gone gaga over it. I cannot wait to get my hope and videos from hoopnotica.com and give it all a try. I have a feeling I'll be making excuses to get out to my space and hoop ;-)

Back to it now that vacation is over

While I was on vacation I did try to keep up with my cardio/running but I'll admit they were not priority and neither was eating well. Going home to visit usually means eating all the bad foods I miss about being in Charleston, like Krispy Kreme donuts, pimento cheese sandwiches, Melvin's BBQ, and now two new loves O'Charley's and Ski-Bo's. I did try to eat well for breakfast and lunch and I think those were my lifesavers. I came home with an extra 4 lbs, ouch, but knew I could get those off easy enough. While I was home my book Body For Life arrived and I devoured it in a very short amount of time. I liked that it didn't want me to count calories but more focus on eating more frequent smaller meals and portion control. It also showed I was eating too many carbs even though according my my food diary I was doing fairly well at following a decent 25/24/50 plan. 50% carbs is too much for my body type it would seem. I have been following the meal plan for several days now, got my water consumption back up and completed day 3 of the 12 week exercise program. Just following the food plan and getting my water back up I lost all 4 lbs in just a few days. Now what I would like to see is more fat loss with muscle gain, in fact I'd be perfectly ok with that 4lbs coming back as muscle weight.

For anyone wanting to try this plan, the book is ok, but really all of the information you need is free on the website, including the worksheet printouts. It focuses on planning your day ahead of time including your meals and workout. Meh I am not much of a planner and my mood changes what I want to eat. I also have never been much of a scheduler, I just try to make sure i do everything I need to do in the day and call it good. I built my own little mini home gym for about $100 which included dumbbells up to 25lbs, a weight bench and a jump rope. The weight bench limits me a little on the exercises I can perform (so a home gym or access to a gym really would come in handy) and I have to get creative with some moves but that is part of the fun!

What I hope to gain from this program? The body I have been trying to achieve for almost 6 months now. 12 weeks to a new me, a happier, fitter me? Game on!

What a day!

Our intentions this morning was to wake up early and do my w5 d3 run but I guess we needed some extra sleep as even my wake up at 4am husband slept until almost 10. At that point running was out of the question. So instead we did the grocery shopping and holy hell are prices here expensive! I bought enough groceries for 4 dinners and a little but of yogurt and lunchy items for a total of $105, um ouch. I would have spent half that at home, and that didn't include the produce which I went to a better store for, and that was $85, jimminy cricket! After all that decided I wanted a sister day so we all went up the mall so she could help me pick out a few summer clothes as all of mine are now way too tight, like disgustingly disturbingly tight. After awhile of trying on size 7 & 9's and realizing sizing and cuts have drastically changed in the last couple of years I tossed my hands up in frustration and just wanted to quit. I told sis I'd buy her a decent nursing top or 2 since she had none so in to Motherhood Maternity we went. Ok maternity clothes have changed a lot since I was last knocked up. Let's just say I tossed my pride at the door and tried on maternity clothes. Yes, I am serious, this is how low I have gotten. But damn the clothes were cute, they were comfortable and they didn't squish my fat in all the wrong ways. So guess what? I bought some! Damn straight and I don't care lol The ultimate though was trying on swimsuits, again. I have now discovered the skirted bottoms and OMG I am in LOVE. I finally have a 'kini that I don't feel all gross wearing but it doesn't look like am old fogey mom.

Now since we didn't run this morning, in fact I haven't run in 4-5 days, I decided to suck it up and go tonight. It was supposed to be my w5d3 run and I said you know I might as well suck it up and do it. Ethan, my oldest decided to tag along and amazingly enough he kept up just fine. I got a little lost in my own neighborhood and kept taking us out to the busy main road but eventually I got us going back in the right direction. I decided to check my time on the podcast and realized I was 30 seconds away from hitting 20 minutes and couldn't believe it!! Here I as running on the ROAD and I had done it for 20 minutes!! I realized I still have a bit to go before I'd get to a spot were it'd be 5 minutes to walk to dad's so guess what I did? That's right, I KEPT RUNNING!!! I added 5 more min to the run for a total of 25 minutes, hell yeah! Now I am going to go map the route I took and see what my distance was. So now the decision, do I keep running the c25k's program or just keep running 25 minutes and adding a minute each run until I am at 30 min and then start running for distance instead of time? Maybe I'll just stick to the program, it's been a great motivation.

A Travelin man or woman or family?

There are benefits to being in the military that we often don't take advantage of but this month we decided on a vacation to SC while dh was on extended leave, and that meant utilizing the space-a travel in order to be thrifty. This means being very patient, very flexible and willing to change plans at a moments notice. It also means a lot of hurry up and wait, the military's motto. We have been calling our local AFB line for days waiting on a flight either to somewhere near Charleston or straight in to it. We opted for a flight to Travis AFB in CA and hoped there' be a flight out to Chas from there (there usually is but they only give 24 hour travel info). Sunday morning we call the Travis line and success, there is a flight scheduled out on Mon to Chas woo! Then I call back at McChord just to make sure the flight that morning was still going out to Travis when ZOMG they moved up the flight it's now scheduled in 40 min and we are a good 45 min away without traffic. Luckily the stars aligned and they were way behind schedule so we got on with no problems.

The flight was quick and painless and the girls well behaved. Soon as we arrived we put ourselves down on the list for the flight out and headed off to the USO to spend the night. . . only the damn thing was closed for the holiday! Then it as off insearch of lodging. Let me say one thing about Napa Valley, it is brown and dry and toasty. The heat would have been ok but the dry air was horrible. We had to walk about 1/2 (or more I didn't exactly measure) in the heat with all of our luggage to get to the lodging and then wait in line forever. Thankfully we got a room and only $39 score! Then it was off for another 1 mile walk in the heat to get lunch and buy dinner supplies.

All of that walking in the sun really wore everyone out so bedtime ended up being about 8pm. We all woke up early at around 6am. My friend Angela came up for a visit and brought us a ton of bagels! While we were eating we found out from another family traveling the same place as us that the flight to Chas had been canceled. Noooo! But wait! There is a flight going to Norfolk VA, switch gears change plans. This flight likely won't land until after midnight which means hanging out in the terminal until the car rental places open at 6am. Renting a vehicle from VA is crazy expensive so we opted for a 1 day - 1 way rental from VA to SC. Once we get to Chas then we will do a rental switcheroo and be one our way!

I can only imagine how much fun getting back to WA will be when we have the entire crew of children with us. I tell you though we really can't complain. Flight from Wa to Ca $0, overnight hotel $39 + food (we won't total that mmkay), flight from Ca to Va $17 which was the cost of 4 inflight meal boxes. Yeah, really can't complain :)

Now that was a self esteem killer

Just when I am thinking woohooo exercise is finally starting to work, I go bathing suit shopping. Dun dun dunnnnnnnnnnn. Seeing your ass and thighs in a 3 way mirror is traumatizing to say the least. I hadn't actually planned to go 'kini shopping yet but figured what the hey I am already at the store getting new suits for the girls. Uhhh no. Just no. I have never been so honestly disgusted with how my body looks, and cursing the pear shape I seem to have acquired. Husband says "so I guess we won't be going to the beach huh?" Arg. I am going to the beach doGdamnit, even if I have to wear shorts over whatever fucking suit I settle on. I refuse to go home and not go to the beach.

I told him next year tax refund I am going in for the mommy makeover, lipo on my thighs, tummy tuck to nip that lil pooch, and breast augmentation. Never thought I'd be that vain but I guess I am and you know what? I am ok with that. That doesn't mean I will stop working out or stop eating healthy, I rather enjoy those things. Imagine me, enjoying exercise. Who would have ever guessed that? Certainly not me the person who usually quits after 4 weeks but has now been a regular exerciser for 5 months! And no, I am not expecting to get my prebaby body back, I wasn't really a fan of it either. I want better ;)

week 5 day 1

You are my bitch! Today's run was 3 intervals of 5 minute jog-3 minute recovery walk. Each jog is exactly 2 laps which means 1) it's easy to push myself knowing where I'll get to be able to walk and 2) I am averaging about 11mph, not too bad! But damn, that last lap of the last run is torture, pure hell I tell you. I thought I was going to pass out as I came around the bend to finish the 1st half but I pushed it and mentally yelled at myself the rest of the lap. I refused to give up or quit, telling myself that if I could conquer week 4 then I could conquer any of the other runs. Man was I happy to finish that final lap and be able to walk though.

Next run is 2 intervals of 8 minute jog with a 5 minute walk and then day 3 is the big 20 minute straight run. 10 laps of torture that in some ways I hope will be done here in WA where it's cooler while the other part wants it to happen in SC b/c that'll mean I am on vacation. The thought of making that 20 minute jog in the heat and humidity of the south is rather intimidating however.

week 4 is done!

It was a little easier to run today despite having run yesterday. I am trying to push my way up through week 5 before we go to Charleston. I am not sure if I'll hit day 3 before we leave since that would fall on Sun and if flights leave out of here like I hope I plan to be in Chas by Sat. Ah but the joy of military flights is that I am at the mercy of their schedules.

Weigh in this morning sucked, 129lbs :/ We have had no meat in over a week so everything I have been eating has been fresh local foods! Ok except that night we had pizza (I worked a long day!) so what gives? I had hoped to be down to 120 before going on vacay and that was the goal I set to buy myself a new 'kini but hmm maybe not so much now b/c no way 9lbs will drop in 5 days. Trying to increase my water intake to 3 liters and get back to tracking my food. I think I'll also work the 30 day shred every day rather than very other day. Alright body time for you to start cooperating with me!

Busy Busy Busy

Despite my busyness I have not let myself fall off the workout wagon, I did however fall back into my poor eating habits of skipping breakfast and grabbing whatever for lunch and dinners have been lame too as I try to avoid the grocery store so we can empty the fridge before our vacay.

In the last 2ish weeks I have designed 2 socks (one of which I kind of decided to scrap) and then knit like a crazy fool on a different pattern for an annual "HoarWars" event in the yarn swap group I created. What is hoarwars you ask? It's a knitting competition very similar to the street game "Assassin". Every person is an assassin, has a target and is also a target. The premise is to knit a sock from a pattern that isn't revealed until the start of the game and get it sent to your target, killing them before your assassin kills you. It's a lot of fun but can be very time consuming. However I knit a delicious pair of merino/cashmere socks I hand dyed for my target, someone I think of as a long distance yarny mom. Want to see the socks? Here they are!


and here is a singleton of the sock I designed for this event

I know it's not as spectacular as the cabled ones and truth be told it's because my ideas kept turning to shit mid design and I went the easy route. Also the pattern only had to be on the leg of the sock (which is what I did for the model) whereas I decided to knit the pattern all the way down the cabled sock to give myself a disadvantage knowing I could have won the 1st kill of the contest had I gone the easy route.

Ok enough about my knitting prowess let's talk running! I have been sticking to the c25k pretty well. Last week I was running 2 circuits instead of 1 in order to prepare myself for week 4 and it worked!! The first time I got to week 4 I hit a major mental block and quit. I have now completed week 4 day 2! I am looking forward to day 3 which I may go ahead and do tomorrow so I can get cracking on week 5. I do not really want to work week 5 in the heat of Charleston, not that week 6 will be pleasant but seems to be less hard than week 5. The upside to Chas is I will have access to a track that is distanced correctly unlike our schools track. I have been keeping up with Jillian and working my way through level 2. The cardio on level 2 kills me which I just don't get. I can do week 4 of c25k without breathing hard (although my legs are screaming) but I want to literally die and my lungs explode on the 30day cardio, what?!

My weight keeps bouncing around, last week it hit 125 and this week it's been siting around 127, probably due to my crap eating. I did however finally get a measurable difference on my hips and thighs where I lost 1" on both! It's not much but it is progress. Now if I could just get those jigglypuff thighs to tone up and drop 2 more inches I think I'd be satisfied. I'd also really like to see my abs showing. If it weren't for that belly pooch I'd probably be sporting a 4pack at least, I have abs of steel yo. I am hopeful that between the running, the shred, and the 100 pushup/200 situp/100 squats challenges I am doing that things will get moving soon. They better! I start week 3 on those this week and whew I can't wait!

Let's get one thing straight America. . .

unless you are Native American/Indian guess what? You are an illegal immigrant! Is it time to send this country a good old fashioned history lesson? I mean this history isn't even that old and somehow we (general we here) have forgotten it already?

Ok so let's step back in time to 1492 Columbus sailed the ocean blue, he landed in America, thought it was India, what a tool. He treated the natives like shit, enslaved them, cut off hands and all if they did not bring him the right amount of gold every day. With his discovery of this new land (and hey didn't the Vikings actually "discovery" it first, no respect I tell ya!) came about trade and immigration. Let's then FF about 200 yrs and we have . . .

The Mayflower. It brought over the first group of pilgrims to settle the land. People who fled Europe due to religious persecution. At first they were friendly with the natives who taught them how to survive this harsh land. Yay friends! Now we have Thanksgiving to celebrate this sharing of information, wealth and land. Next thing ya know more and more people are immigrating to this new land. A land already ruled and occupied by the Indian people who have their own laws and government mind you. They were ind enough to share as they felt the land belonged to everyone.

Now we have the 13 colonies and soon enough it's getting too crowded so these immigrants decide to spread out and head west. GOLD!! woohoo! Now let's strip the land of it's natural resources, sweet! The more immigrants that land, the more they spread out the less food their is for the Natives and these immigrants are spreading their disease, killing the natives who are not used to these strange germs. They are being moved from their homes as more people invade their space, starving, freezing and being treated like crap. Then this new white man government that thinks they are the rightful owners to all of this land and everything in it decide these natives no longer own their homes. Thy create reservations and round up all of the Natives, the ones who welcomed them with open arms and taught them how to survive this land remember, and sent them on the trail of tears. So many lives were lost, the travel was harsh, disease and famine were rampant. In effect, this was a genocide of these people, many tribes were wiped out and they are now very few left.

I also recently learned something new (as in I did not previously know this fact, I love learning!). The area we now call Texas was once part of Mexico. The Mexicans allowed the white people to occupy their land. When they wanted to separate from Mexico they were able to not only have an army to fight but to win the battle, thanks to the illegal immigrants they allowed on to their land. Guess who is now considered the illegal immigrants in Texas? I bet you can guess.

Let's think about this, unless you are NA/Indian then guess what? You are an illegal immigrant. Just because the white race is majority and stronger with more fire power does not mean they are right (yes I am white, I am also Cherokee & Irish so there :P) does not mean they own this place, it just means they are the bigger bullies and can get their way. So if you want to see children who were born in the US to go back to their native country with their illegal immigrant parents then perhaps we should ship all the people back to whence they came since by all counts they are in fact illegal immigrants. Now then let us open the borders and welcome our brethren with open arms. Let us treat them as we were once treated, with compassion with love with trust. Let's teach them how to survive this land and not treat them as if they are all criminals due to the color of their skin or the place of their birth.

It's time to stop being ignorant, racist asshats and remember where we came from and how we acquired this country we call home. It's time to show compassion to those who want to escape a harsh cruel life in hopes of starting a new better life. Let's face it, hunting them down like animals and deporting them immediately is not effective, it is not helpful, it is cruel. Perhaps instead of instant deportation we look at a way to get them legal citizenship in a simple, humane manner.

Gotta kick it up!

After a much better food/exercise/rest day I decided to reweigh myself this morning and it's at 126, now I know it's not possible to drop 2 lbs in a day so I am pretty sure it was water wt most likely (I was slacking the last few days). I had an alright run last night, my shins are starting to hurt again though. I wish I could afford to go in and have a good shoe fitting done and buy the proper shoes. Still I want to drop another 6 lbs before we get to SC but not only the lbs I want the inches to budge! I cannot seem to understand why no matter what I have done I am not getting firmer more toned and dropping the inches.

So I am going to add to my plan on m-w-f with my cardio days I am also going to work the slim in 6 workouts. I just watched all 3 videos and man they are kind of sloooow very boring and pretty much all cardio so it fits in with that days workout. On T-Th-Sa I am already doing the 30 day shred 200 situps and 100 pushups but will add 100 squats as well (or is it 200? gotta go back and look).

I think by the time I finish the shred and 100/200 challenges I can start on P90 or P90x. I refuse to let my body win this battle and I am going to push it to it's limit and then push it a little more.

the importance of rest

I never really fully got the whole "it's important to sleep 7-8 hours per night" thing. I am a nightowl, it's when I can just let it all hang out and enjoy the peace & quiet no mommy mommy mommy mom mom mommy mom MOOOOOMMM!!! The last 2 nights of not sleeping until 3 am and thereby staying in bed far later than usual has really messed me up. I am so so exhausted. I took Friday as my rest day instead of Sunday so ha to do my run today. Bad thing is I spent most of last night bawling my eyes out over a GD Hilary Duff movie. It took watching an episode of Bones to lull me to sleep.

It was a perfectly gorgeous day here in WA and I wanted to take advantage of what I could so out I went to the yard to pull up more clover only to realize that massive patch was sprouting again. After going after it again and another patch I finally said screw this I am never going to be able to pull out all of these roots & vines so off to the hardware store I went. I almost didn't want to leave for once I walked up to the garden are I caught a whiff of the sweet sweet smell of a southern Magnolia tree and beside it blossoming honeysuckle vines. I felt almost home, as if I was walking through Magnolia Gardens on balmy spring day. And then I snapped out of it, remembered I was pitching a hissy fit and I came there for supplies. Chemicals, deadly, nasty, gross chemicals. The thing I said I was not going to resort to and I totally did. Fine I want to spend the few nice sunny hot days we have enjoying the sun not bent over with my hands in the dirt yanking up weeds, vines & roots ok? Ok.

When I got home I checked the mail an there was an envelope from ICEA. I was thinking oh maybe it's membership information? So I open it up and start to read and. . . OHMIGOD OHMIGOD OHMIGOD! I got the scholarship so my registration fee and exam fees are paid in full! I am officially registered in the Childbirth Education Course and have all of my training materials. All I need are to purchase the reading books ($250 ish if I buy from the website) and save up to go to a training workshop. The one I really really really want to attend is in Oct but it's like $750 and that doesn't include airfare or hotel or food. I so wish there was a way to raise the funds for that super quick.

Back to the whole rest thing. . . I did my run at 7pm b/c no effing way was I running on the blacktop during the daytime nuh uh no way no how, even at 7 it as still bright and warm. This was a pretty lousy run, only 9 laps and I was very very slow. Obviously my body is having trouble running under the exhaustion. The really sad thing is? I didn't feel like I as exerting a lot of energy, I had no problems breathing in fact I never got out of breath like I normally do and yet I felt like at any moment my legs would just curl up under me so I could take a nap. Now that I am home, showered and in bed I can barely formulate a thought or coherent sentence. My girls keep asking me things and my brain goes all mushy and confused. I guess this is a sign to put on some bones and curl up under the covers for an early night, I need it! But first, i am kind of hungry and could use a snack!

End of the week

Well I guess technically tomorrow is the end of my week since I still have 1 more day of 30 day shred and w1 100 pushups/200 situps. It is my last week of w1 of c25k and I am just exhausted right now. I am looking forward to my run today but with the lack of sleep last night I am not feeling top of my game. My poor Pixie has been dealing with hives and last night was another outbreak. Not as bad as they have been but enough to cause fever and lots of itchy scratchy. It took an hour of power struggles to get her to take her medicine. Once sh did she was fine and felt better and was able to finally sleep, of course by then it was 3 am (she awoke at 130 in misery after I had just fallen asleep). We both slept until very late this morning, I feel like most of the day is gone and I am walking in a sleepless fog. This may very well be a 2 cup of coffee day.

I totally expected to wake up this morning with super sore abs, I do believe in total I did about 200 crunches when I combined the 30 day shred with the 200 sit up program. I do think it worked better to do those 2 plans after finishing the shred but before the cool down stretches. The pushups were a little harder in some ways but at least this time I didn't pull my rotator cuff like the first day. No sore abs, no sore legs, no sore pecs. . . body is adjusting nicely to all that I am putting it through.

Have you seen the new show Losing it with Jillian Michaels? If you haven't you simply must! This weeks episode was emotional but inspiring. The mom, Deb, was very obese, on diabetes meds etc and in 6 weeks she dropped 32 lbs and trained AND ran a 5k! If that doesn't light a spark under my ass. If a 230lb 53yo woman can train for and run a 5k in 6 weeks than damn right This 31yo 127lb woman will too! I have a few goals to reach before we vacation in July and if I reach them I plan to award myself with a new swimsuit, heaven knows the ones I have now are years old and I could use one a bit more my age? A little less 18-25ish but without being a "mom" suit. The retro in me really wants a pinup bathing suit but darn they are pricey and i have never been able to pull off the one piece look :(

who is a bad ass?

That's right, I am biotches! *imagine chest thumping and Tarzan yelling here* One of my goals with restarting the Couch-2-5k is to increase my speed, stamina and stride. D1 was a bit hard but I made the n00b mistake of starting out fast and spending my energy early. However I still managed to log 11 laps. Today my goal was 12-13 laps but instead of starting out fast I'd work on keeping a steady pace. I did pretty good at that I thought (and remembered a trick to open up my longs during my rest walks) until I as rounding out my 8th lap and about to start my 9th when my podcast said "annn your done!" I thought um NO, no I am NOT tyvm. So Guess what I did? I KEPT GOING! I have a pretty good feel of how much track I use to jog 60 sec and how much to walk 90, thing is by that point I could barely stand to only jog 60 sec so I am pretty sure I went about 90 on at least the last 2 I know for sure I did 90+ on the last one, I was pushing it.

How many laps did I do? 13!! WUT?! That's right 13 laps - 3 miles hell yeah I almost hit 5k distance in 35 minutes! I totally shocked my husband who was already 3 minutes in to his run before I started and last time we were at the track together I was done 10 minutes before he was. He said he was expecting me to be done already and was surprised to see I was still going. We had a nice chat during my cool down walk and I said that all of that it was in my head and today I said I refuse to let fear or "it's hard" dictate what I can or cannot do. I want this to work for me and the fact that I am feeling so great and I know I can feel the major improvements in my physical fitness even if I can't see them makes me a little more determined to not quit on me, because really that is what I was doing, I was quitting on me, giving up on me and that just isn't kosher. I am sure the fact that I am now finally seeing the pounds fall back down on the scale has also added a little extra motivation. I am convinced now that at least 4-5lbs of that was all water weight because remember when I said the scale was yelling 131 lbs at me? Today it sang 126 and that is all from tossing back 2-3 liters of water per day. Now if I could just see and measure the results of the hard work I have put in I would be one hella happy bitchcake.

itchy itchy scratchy scratchy

My poor Pixie has a raging case of hives :-( They started last night out of the blue and I can't for the life of me figure out what could have caused them. She used to have food allergies but they haven't reared their heads in 4 years, not since we basically cured them through the use of homeopathics. The have progressively spread all over her body today and now her poor lips are also swollen. I am not likely to sleep much tonight to make sure her tongue/throat don't swell. If that happens we will be off to the ER right away. As is we have an appt for her early in the morning with the Dr and I foresee the fun of allergy testing up ahead. I've kept her moisturized with aveeno lotion and covered in calamine as well. Now it's on to the antihistamine to see if that will help alleviate some of the itchy and swelling. She is currently relaxing after a cool bath and watching She-Ra. I am contemplating a steamy mug of coffee so I can stay awake, it's been a long day!

I got in my 30 day shred workout, I started a challenge group on fatsecret.com for it and like that I'll be doing this alongside others as well. Then this evening I headed down to Curves to try out their circuit workout for free. The machines are cool but the workout is too short and too easy. I must say I love the stretching stand/contraption thingy an would kill to have one in my garage or something. My body is good and exhausted and really wants to just go to sleep. Now where is the energy to go make that cuppa?

W1D1 is done!

Hallelujah it is done. Day 1 is always the hardest isn't it? I allowed myself to sleep in a little this morning but I need to work on getting up at 730 and then working my way back to a 630 am wake up in preparation for school next year since I'll need to take Pixie to the bus stop.

I let myself piddlefart around on the computer until it was time for weigh in, headed up stairs to stand on the scale and 127! I am so excited as that takes me just 12lbs to lose to hit my goal. After weigh in I went to my next challenge, 1 hour of housework. I am working on decluttering and throwing out what we do not need. If it won't go in a yardsale it's hitting the dump. Today I spent an hour on the bookshelf, I cannot believe how much junk we just piled up on it. I still have the hope chest, shoe rack and my yarn to manage so I have a feeling I will be in here until Wed at least. Once I have all of that done I will shampoo the carpets and wash the walls. Seriously considering repainting in here but I think the husband might kick my butt if I say that.

The water drinking is going well, I am surprised at how much easier it is to chug down 8 cups when you keep a big liter bottle at your side. It does feel like the more I drink the more thirsty I am.

My last challenge for today is of course restarting the C25K at w1d1. Since I already know this is something I can do I wanted to increase my speed and work on my stride. My speed definitely picked up today and instead of running 9 laps I got in 11 laps! By the end I was feeling a little nauseous and wasn't sure if I could run another leg but if the music told me to then I would, as luck would have it I had already finished and was on to my cool down walk. I feel great today and plan to keep up the momentum.

What a Fabulous Saturday!

The sun finally appeared in Washington and it was hot! Just the motivation I needed to be able to get some more work done in the yard tackling those clover patches. Now I personally like clover but with trying to get things ready to sell this place in 2 years I have to think about presentation to potential buyers and most people consider clover to be weed so it's got to go. Since the kids play in the yard and the deer eat our grass I'd like to not use chemicals as much as possible so I am pulling the clover out by hand. No easy feat in certain areas where it is really thick and the vines are all intertwined. I got the biggest patch out today, 5 hours I was out in the sun today and it felt great! I have a few more smaller patches that I should hopefully get to knock out this week as long as the weather holds out.

My dear husband went and got me a dandelion weed popper. Now the one I remember from my childhood was so much fun, the new ones are a little different, just as effective but not as fun. I cannot believe how much dandelion came up this year. See last year I killed them all and 1/3 of the grass using chemical weeder. Those lil dandelion shits laughed at me and for every one killed 10 more took it's place this year. So perhaps it was justice for using the chemicals and I won't do that again. By hand (er popper) it is. I do say I may suck it up and use a chemical fertilizer though since the grass is looking pretty sad.

I am trying to get a head start on my new challenges so for the last 2 days I have kept my liter bottle at my side. Yesterday I drank 2 liters and found I was still thirsty but as it was then midnight and I was having a mini freak out over a stupid ass movie I watched I said fuggit and just went thirsty. Today I am chugging down my 3rd liter. I am sure the fact I spent all day out in the sun and it's hot has really helped with that. It is easier than I thought it would be and now my body won't go in to shock when I start my programs up again on Monday. I am even thinking of adding in the 100pushup/2oositup plan to my schedule. It's similar to the C25K in that it works you up in stages. I looked it over and it looks pretty awesome. Sure I can do 30 girl pushups and 50 crunches but wouldn't it be frakkin awesome to do 100/200? I'd love to build up the strength to do a for real pushup, that would seriously rock my world.

And now time to snuggle up with that man of mine and crash into slumber, a well deserved one at that!

Starting over

I realized yesterday during my (very lame) jog/walk that I had lost all drive and motivation, and it was all mental in my head that prevented me from being able to do a week 3 run which I have done successfully already. I got home and immediately popped in 30 day shred and went to town. I refuse to let discouragement bring me down! So from this day backwards it is all erased and I am starting with a clean fresh start on Mon June 7.

My challenges:
*C25K M-W-F starting back @ week 1 and work more on lengthening my stride
*30 day shred Tu-Thu-Sat no excuses!
*Drink 8 cups of water a day, keep a liter bottle at my side and drink it down twice
*Continue to work on getting at least 1500 calories in per day
*Weigh in 11am Monday morning, after using the bathroom & stripping naked for most accurate results
*Measurements and Picture (no matter how bad it looks) every 2 weeks
*At least 30 minutes of housework daily but strive for an hour.
*Lose 14lbs in 7-14 weeks (would prefer closer to 7 than 14)

So who is with me? If I can do it you can do it!

At a crossroads of sort

I have really been struggling with the fact that despite working out and eating great I am not seeing any visible signs of improvement and rather than losing a little weight I have gained weight. I used to never really worry about what my body looked like or how much I weighed, it simply wasn't a concern of mine. I've always been thin, had a little flab but nothing that bothered me. So this past winter when I realized that little bit of flab had increased and I wasn't looking as trim as I did 2 summers ago I made a plan to change that. Four months ago I said I was going to stick to a fitness routine, working out in some form every day and eating better (which wasn't too much of a stretch since we ate pretty well on a normal basis). Everything I have read says you should be seeing results in as few as 6 weeks but could be 8, here I am 12-13 weeks. I didn't stop at 6 weeks and quit b/c I couldn't see results, something I have done in the past. I kept going at weeks, got really pissed off at 10 weeks and now I am just depressed. I feel great after I workout so I have no plans of stopping, I like how I feel for the first few hours after a workout, so much so I wish I could have that feeling all day long. What depresses me is knowing I am doing all of this work and nothing is changing. It really shouldn't be that hard should it? I have a high metabolism, always have so is that now working against me? I don't understand how I can work out 5-6 days a week for 3+ months and have nothing change other than the scale going up. It makes me want to quit, I am tired of counting and measuring every little thing I eat or drink, I am tired of asking myself will this treat put me over my cal/fat/carb count for the day? Eating feels more like a chore now than a part of my life and it shouldn't feel that way! I shouldn't feel this way! When will the changes I have made and strive to continue making show me some results?

The good, the bad, the ugly

My sister is finally in labor with her second child and I am so excited! In the last 2 years she has moved way more to the crunchy side than I ever thought she would. She is delay/selective vaccinating, natural birthing (in a hospital but regardless natural!), baby wearing, breastfeeding, anti-circ. . . really I couldn't be more proud of her! For researching and learning and deciding on her own because trust me as her older sister she wasn't going to listen to me lol Now she is sitting at home in labor with her husband and doula by her side waiting for active labor to hit and decide when she is ready to head to the hospital. I so wish I could be there too but I am with her in spirit. I am sending all of my best positive happy birth vibes and so are many of my friends. I hope she gets the birth she wants and I cannot wait to meet my new niece next month!

With the good there is always bad and today my heart breaks for a friend. We all know I speak up loudly against circumcision, no surprise as to why. Today she watched a video of a circumcision and was disgusted and heartbroken and upset with herself for letting this happen to both of her sons. Part of me wishes we hadn't lost touch for so long so she would have had the tools and research before her baby was born. I sat here and cried for her wishing I could help take that pain and guilt away. I wish all parents would watch a video of a circumcision and research it thoroughly before they decide to do this. I wish I could reach out and give this mama a hug and let her know it will be alright.

Now the ugly you say? My run was U-G-L-Y. Week 4 is not my friend. Session today is supposed to be as follows (jog/walk) 3min/1.5min, 5min/2.5min repeat. Instead I got this 3min/1.5min, 3min/4.5min/, 3min/1.5min, 1.5min/1.5min, 60sec/60sec. Yuck. Looks like I may be repeating week 4 a couple of times eh? I'll get I am a determined little snot afterall.

Ugh!

Last Monday I was so excited I had lost almost 2 lbs wooohooo! I totally kicked week 3's ass as well, eating great, running great, getting in my strength training days. Feeling awesome and thinking oh yea I bet I see another 1.5lb loss when I step on the scale today. 130.2?! WTF? I gained back what I lost how the hell did that happen? I may just kick that scales ass to the curb. This whole working out, eating better crap is really starting to piss me off. Here I have been actively working out for 12 weeks/ 3 months, and eating damn good and instead of toning up & slimming down I seem to be packing on weight and fat. I do not understand how the hell this is possible. It is so discouraging and so frustrating to watch & count every thing I put in my mouth, to force myself to workout no matter how I feel only to be moving in the wrong direction. It makes me want to give up and go back to my regular lifestyle where I didn't care or pay attention to what I ate and I didn't force myself to get up and workout even if it was hot or raining or I was tired or whatever other excuse I have. Now I have week 4 coming at me tomorrow and instead of looking forward to the major ass kicking it's going to give me I am dreading it even more. I know I feel better after I run, I feel fantastic, energized and alive after I run but is that 30-60 minute up worth how I feel the rest of the time?

That was really my only ugh for the day. Took the kids out fishing for our neighborhood fishing derby, which led us to hellmart to buy everyone a fishing pole and get my license. The fishing pole/license turned into tackle box & gear, 3 nw bike helmets, new hand weights and 2 Jillian Michael's videos (my 2 fav by her were only $10 ea!). That turned out to be a very expensive trip. I told the kids we had better start catching some fish since that's all we are going to be eating for the rest of the month. So did not need to spend that much money, not when I am supposed to be saving for my CBE stuff and other household things. Still it was a great day, we all had a blast with some good family time together. I wouldn't go back and unspend that money or time together now. And since we all have what we need to fih I foresee many more family days at the lake with our poles :)

I did it! I did it!

\m/ \m/ Too rockin for just one emoticon! I am repeating week 3 as I said because last week was such a failure. (Note to self, when riding the pms wave just curl up and hide for a week.) I read the week 3 thread on sparkpeople and was even more disappointed in myself. I was reading all of these success stories and couldn't believe I couldn't do it. Inspiration 1 found. Standing on a real scale and seeing those numbers, inspiration 2. Not that the weight is all that big of deal, if it was muscle I'd be fine with the number, but it's not. I had a feeling I was eating too many calories and the fact I gained weight despite working out proves it. So I cut 100 calories per day, and really so far that is all I have done. This week on top of that I will be doing 1.5 hours of strength training on my off days and may look in to adding on to my cardio at some point, maybe not though since my cardio will be increasing in week 4's run.

So for now I am happy to say I complete week 3 day 1 and I am down 1.4lbs, hooyah!

a C25K update

I just know you all have been waiting for this one! I have "completed" week 3 and will be redoing it again next week. I keep falling short of the 3 minute mark by 15-25 seconds so until I can consistently hit the 3 minute mark 3 times I won't be moving on. Part of me thinks I should create my own plan, it may take longer but might be better for me while still being a challenge. Like what if week 3 was a 90 sec jog/walk and then a 2 min jog/walk, week 4 move up to the 3 min jog/walk and then I have no idea what week 5 would be lol Ok ok I know stick to the plan as written, you'll get there.

I really want to kick up my strength training days as well and add in more cardio on my run days. Perhaps stick with the Jari Love + add in an extra ab routine and on my cardio days perhaps some jump roping as well. Of course that means I need to go get a jump rope, wouldn't mind a medicine ball either.

riding on the moodcoaster

I've been considering taking some time offline. I go through this every so often, the up & down crazy waves of the moodcoaster. Lately I have been having those feelings of why do I even bother, I should just delete all of my online accounts and crawl in to my hermit hole. No one would miss me anyways. There are maybe like 10 people I interact with on facebook and even fewer that I would say I could confide in, and no one in "real life". I hate when I hit this low, it always makes me take everything so personally even when it's not. The negativity lately has gotten to me too and it's making me a little bitter.

The other downside to this coaster ride? I am so not myself. I become totally unhinged, do things I don't normally do, say idiotic things, and react like a volcano just exploding all over everything in my path. Unfortunately the ones who feel the brunt of that is my kids. As soon as it happens mommy guilt takes over, brings me down another notch on the coaster and everything gets worse. Some would say, girl, go to your doctor and get some meds. I've been that route and it is not pretty. Me and drugs, we do not mix well, in fact we are like oil & vinegar except no amount of whisking makes us blend. I seem to react one of to ways, I hit the lowest low but become robot like that even though I am super depressed I just don't care because I can't feel anything. Or I go super crazy manic mode. I've learned how to deal with the ups & downs of bipolar disorder, I can feel when I am hitting a cycle. Usually I know how to handle it and control it without it controlling me. But sometimes, there is no controlling it, it has a mind and life of it's own and all I can do is sit back and brace myself. I also try to keep myself up on my supplements and generally they do help take the edge of. However, many days shoving 15 pills & drops down my throat is just too much work so I slack off.

To make the bipolar issues worse I also suffer from adrenal fatigue syndrome which exacerbates the mood swings, especially if it's kicking in full force. I become so overwhelmingly tired and if I am tried I am easily irritated add to it the depression and BOOM. On top of that I am fairly certain I have thyroid issues. It's all piling up so bad that I have seriously considered seeing an MD (zomg!) to have my thyroid tested and going on alopathic drugs. I know, right? I must really be feeling like shit to go this route.

I wonder what tomorrow will bring and what kind of crazy assed thoughts I'll have.

The best part of waking up

is an early morning jog! Wait, wut?! Well it sure isn't folgers in my cup ;) I'm a senseo girl, never could stomach that folger's stuff. So, yeah, this morning I woke up at 6:15. Actually the alarm went off then but I was awake a few minutes before. I put myself to sleep fairly early last night, I'd guess somewhere between 9 & 930 so that I'd be well rested for this monrings run. Weather forecast was calling for high winds and 100% chance of rain by this afternoon so I didn't want to chance not being able to go today. Now I am not a morning person, in fact I would be just fine & dandy without mornings. I love the night time, yet I am scared of the dark, go figure that one out! I had a harder time getting Pixie up & dressed while I had no problems at all. I was actually, dare I say, a bit chipper.

Now my body is still sore as hell from the torture I put it through on Monday, despite the yoga I did yesterday. I took it easy and made sure all of my important muscles were well covered to stay warm. My workout went like this 5 minute walking warm up, 90 sec jog to 90 sec walk, 2min 50 sec jog to 3 min 10 sec walk, 90 sec jog to 90 sec walk, 2 min 40 sec jog to 3 min 30 sec walk, then 5 minute walk cool down. I almost almost reached the full 3 minute jog. The 1st one I literally groaned when I realized I had only missed it by 10 seconds. I wasn't as upset over the last one since my body was really feeling it and is still so sore.

To make my morning even better I just heard Pixie go outside on the back deck and call to the deer "Hi Bambi, how are you doing today? Come here I won't hurt you" They may come up closer but they won't ever get close enough to touch. Now she is sad they wouldn't come to her lol

A bra makeover

Do slipping straps, riding up backs, or not enough support have you ready to write a Dear John letter to your old bras? Apply for a Bra Makeover from Playtex! Seven out of 10 women are wearing the wrong size bra, which can result in an ill fit for the rest of their outfit, back and shoulder pain, as well as bruising and digging.

We know that busy moms don't always have time to update their bras or even check to make sure they are wearing the correct size. That's why we wanted to let you know about this contest from Playtex! Playtex recently launched www.PlaytexBraMakeover.com, a site where women can go to apply for a bra makeover or nominate a friend. If chosen, the winner will be flown to New York to receive a Bra Makeover with style expert Alison Deyette. Deyette is a fashion and trend lifestyle expert who has been featured on Bravo's Millionaire Matchmaker and TLC's Ten Years Younger, as well as in print publications including Good Housekeeping, The Washington Post, and O Magazine. Apply for your chance to win a Playtex Bra Makeover today. The last day to apply is Friday, May 21st, 2010.

The 10 winners selected for a Bra Makeover will also star in their very own webisode wherein a makeover candidate will receive a fitting with Deyette and walk away with the perfect Playtex products. A new webisode will premier on www.PlaytexBraMakeover.com every two weeks.

I am heading over to the website now to see what they have. I struggle with finding the right bra as every manufacturer makes theirs a little different and even the same size but different styles by the same manufacturer can vary the fit! It's even more frustrating when your breasts are 2 different cup sizes. I sure wish the bra makers would cater to the fact most women have at least 1 cup size difference (if not more) between their breasts and a one size fits all cup just doesn't work!


- By posting this information, I am entered into a contest to win a free bra from Playtex. I did not receive any compensation for this post and thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

A yoga kind of day

It's a typical day here in Washington and at Chez Pinup. Rainy & gloomy outside, thundering inside. Oh wait, that's just my temper. I love my special Pixie and her unique little quirks but sometimes she can push my buttons faster than any other kid. Lately it's been about her eating. She is typically a great eater, and much like me she is a grazer. I don't mind the grazing part, it's the wasting part. Every morning she has a bowl of cereal or oatmeal. As soon as she is done she wants a snack. I do make her wait a little bit (otherwise she'd eat every 30 minutes, no kidding). Yesterday her snack was a slice of bread with butter on it, which she never ate. For lunch she wanted apple slices & peanutbutter, which you guessed she never ate (in fact both are still sitting on the counter), for another snack she wanted yogurt, she had all of 2 bites and the rest was tossed. Then dinner all she ate were about 15 saltines and spinach salad. Today she had her typical cereal, then a banana. For much she wanted a hot dog & 2 slices of cheddar cheese. yes I know hotdogs are gross, I buy kosher dogs (except this week I decided to try out the new nitrate/nitrite free angus oscar meyer weiners). She ate the dog left the cheese and not 15 minutes later was asking for a bowl of oatmeal. Of course she asked half way through my workout so I stopped to fix it only to look at the table and see that she didn't finish her lunch. I was annoyed first for being interrupted and two for the food waste. I have just had it with her asking for food and then not eating only to com ask for something else to eat 15-20 minutes later. Arrrg! I don't think she should have to eat all of her food if she isn't hungry but not eating and asking for more is just not ok. We are on a tight budget and when she just throws away food like that it's taking food from the other kids who will eat it. And here comes miss crankypants yelling about being hungry and wanting her oatmeal and not wanting the cheese ::sigh::

I guess it's a good thing I am somewhat relaxed after finishing 30 minutes of yoga. After yesterdays body beat down I really needed a good stretch. I may have picked the wrong video for that ;-) I did Crunch: yoga 10 minute solution. Actually it wasn't bad but on my sore muscles it was challenging. There are 5 segments yoga basics, yoga for buns/thighs, yoga for abs, yoga burn, and yoga for relaxation, all of which are 10 minutes. I skipped the yoga burn section ok! The basics was a good intro to yoga and taught the sun salutation. The buns/thighs was great for the legs though my muscles were on fire, I love loved the ab section, short but to the point and I can feel my abs burning. The relaxation could have had some more stretching, especially for those of us who are not very flexible, but it was good and I felt it served it's purpose. I'll likely do some more stretching tonight as well as adding in some shin exercises. Getting shin splints in week 3 of the c25k is not my idea of a good time so I need to build up that muscle. I may even consider knitting some legwarmers to help keep the shin muscle warm while I am running.

Jari Love: Ripped or Hype?

I love trying out different work out videos, it keeps me entertained, keeps me from getting bored and tends to target different muscle groups in various ways I wouldn't get by sticking to one program. Plus I get to share the experience with you guys and maybe help someone find the video or workout that will suit them best.

So this week I am kicking it with Jari Love's Get Ripped: slim & lean. My first impressions was the warm up was very ehhhhh, the music is boring and really so is everything else about the video. The workout itself is fairly intense and focused for each muscle group it works. The legs, well I didn't even finish those sets for 2 reasons 1-- I have to run today, this is the start of week 3 day 1 of the C25K and I know it's going to kick my ass with those 3 minute jogs so I don't want to overwork my leg muscles and 2 -- holy fuck. Now I try not to curse too much in my blogs but really there is no other way to express the hellacious workout on the legs. I was jell-o very quickly and even had a hard time doing the dead lifts for the back/shoulder portion because my legs were shaking so bad. I cried, literally, during the arms section, the overhead tricep curls KILLED me. The push up section was awesome I loved it and man I really impressed myself keeping up with that one. So for arms and legs this workout is excellent and yea you are going to get ripped with all of the reps and the weight loads (I stayed at 3lbs, it's all I have and well I am WEAK!). I would not classify this as a beginners workout definitely for someone who is more towards intermediate or advanced, just keep in mind the music and everything is boring with a capital B. What really lost me on this video however was the serious lack of attention to the core/abs. Good strong abs are essential to good form for all over workouts and this video really really lacked the abs more than any other series I have tried. You get about 2 minutes of actual ab work and it's easy without much focus on all of the muscle groups in the abs. So while I would continue to do this workout for the arms & legs I would look to something else to fill in the gap on the abs workout (such as Jillian Michaels no more trouble spots, fantastic ab program there!) or create your own.

Now pray for me as I am going running in an hour, it's muggy and my legs are seriously shaking.

-- 2 hours later --

Holy mother of a biscuit eater! Nope I did not jog a full 3 minutes :/ I could do both 90sec jog/walks but the second sets turned in to 2min jog/4min walk. I am disappointed in myself and I refuse to blame it on having done that intense workout, or the heat (wth it was rainy/cloudy all day and then just before I leave to jog the clouds part and the sun beats down. Nice Mother Gaia, nice). I will just make myself push that much harder on Wed, while tomorrow I will do some yoga to stretch out these muscles and get them ready for the beating.

That'a not fair!

Imagine a 2 year old throwing a fit over not being able to have something, the stomping, the screaming, the whole nine yards. Now imagine that is a 31 year old woman and you will have a picture of me today. I am on what week 10 of working out (minus that week I fell off the wagon) and week 4/5? of healthier eating with plenty of whole foods and fresh produce. One of the motivating factors for getting fit was that I was not fitting in to some of my clothes. Now I can see some very small changes and felt confident I was slimming down a little. Flash Forward to yesterday I put on one of my fav retro capri's and omg I had to the the lay on the bed and suck in my gut move to button them. By the end of the day I was in a lot of pain, my hips are literally bruised today from wearing them :( On the shopping list was a new scale as the Wii has been iffy lately on being accurate. Husband brings it home, I rip it out of the box step on and I thought I was going to cry. I haven't weighed this much since giving birth 5 years ago. In the grand scheme of things it's actually not a lot of weight but 20lbs over what you are used to be IS a lot to me.

It's just not frakking fair! My mom has been doing C25K for 3 weeks (she just started week 4) and has lost 8lbs. I am on week 3 (after repeating week 2) and getting my ass kicked by Jillian Michaels or the Envy girls on my days off from running and I GAIN 15-20lbs?! What the hell? Time to step up the game and really kick it in to gear. Maybe my cousin is on to something with 2 hour workouts.

Triple Crazy

That's right I am not just one kind of crazy I am Triple crazy! Yeah baby, yeah! Ever since settling on our plan and finally deciding what I want to do, what is calling out to me, I have done nothing but read read read on my options for childbirth educator training/certification. There are several places to go all with similar philosophies, all with advantages and disadvantages to them. My top 3 picks are ICEA, ALACE (or IBHW I believe it is now called) and CAPPA. So let's look at the 3 of them individually

ICEA -- this certification would allow me to teach in a hospital (where 90% of women give birth). Very thorough with lots of hands on learning/training. Downside? It does lean more towards the hospital model of birth obviously and boy are they all over you during your training (which could be a good thing too) and it's an intense training program, which is a pro & con.

ALACE -- another I could use to teach in the hospitals although they prefer the ICEA. More towards the natural birth philosophy. Not as structured, very hands off training, no workshops, the student (me) gets a lot more flexibility. While I do love my flexibility I think it's a good thing to at least have a framework for the classes which I don't feel like I would get with this group. But since this is hands off and less structured it is also a lot less intense training program meaning I could get through it faster and practicing faster.

CAPPA -- this one is also towards the natural birth philosophy, I haven't seen anywhere that you can teach in the hospitals with this one. This is another structured heavy training with hands on interactions as well as them hands on my training although not nearly as tight as the ICEA hand is. Extra benefit to this is they also offer lactation educator certification and that is one I'd like to add to my repertoire.

So my thinking is Start with ALACE to get my certification quickly then I can go through ICEA in the accelerated (ie cheaper & faster) program and then add on the dual certification with CAPPA.

Each individual certification would be around $1200 including reading list books (and I actually plan to buy/read all of the book snot just the 4-5 required, what can I say I am a birth junkie, and huzzah I have already read at least half on the ALACE list!). However by going the accelerated route with CAPPA & ICEA after getting my ALACE it would be considerably less. I'll keep my certifications for about 3 years, long enough to get established an then I'll likely drop all but the one I need to work in the hospitals should I decide I want to keep teaching in the hospitals. I figure most clients are going to come word of mouth eventually an the certifications are just a piece of paper, any Joe Blow can get certified, it's really just a formality but gives me the education I want/need to get started on this path.

Hell who knows I may decide to add lamaze, bradley, birthing from within, birth works and hypnobirthing to my arsenal one day ::laugh:: See, triple crazy.

Negative, Ghostrider

What a beautiful day it was in Washington, clear blue skies, warm spring breeze, the birds chirping in the background . . . dead mouse on the porch. Thank cat, I know you love me and the presents are awfully nice but really can you stop with the mice? I love days like today, they make me want to leave the house and do things. I drove up to town and mailed off some packages and then headed to the school to pay for lunches for the rest of the year (can it really be only 4 weeks left?) and a filed trip, then it was off to the district office to talk to the food service director. Liz is awesome! I find it amazing to have the support of the school board and FSD behind me in this school food revolution, especially knowing how much opposition other parents have gotten trying to enact changes. We hit the ground running today with ideas and went over what we can and can't do at the moment including our two biggest hurdles: lack of a functioning kitchen at the intermediate/middle school and parental involvement. I am hoping that a parent/teacher/school board gathering one night with the showing of 2 great informative videos will really help bring the parents in and get them involved and supporting the changes. It's really imperative since I will be leaving in 2 years and will need someone to be just as passionate about this as I am to step in to my shoes and keep this movement going.

Today was also a running day as I took yesterday off after the back to back runs. Being that it was a nice day I thought this is great, nice sunny day I'd get my weekly allowance of Vitamin D, something I seem to always be deficient on out here. Ok THAT is not going to happen again. Note to self, if it's sunny and hot you have 2 choices wake up early and jog in the morning (and this means like 6-630am uggghhhh) or at night (and in the summer this means 10pm). This was probably my most painful jog, between the shin pain and the stitches/cramps I got up under my ribs I was really struggling to finish today. I can't figure out why I am having the shin pain, when I ran in the 'hood my calves got a workout but I never had any issue with my shins, but now on the flat track I am having shin issues. I've read a lot that says to land center or ball of foot and I am doing that, so maybe I need to try lengthening my stride so I land on my heel first? My lessons today: do not run during the hottest part of the day on a blacktop and stick to Carli's podcasts, the go nicole yourself music is kind of suck. No offense meant to Nicole but there were really only 2 songs I liked and on that made me laugh out loud while I struggled to finish my last interval. Thanks Carli (www.runningintoshape.com) for creating some awesome C25K podcasts!