MY Left Foot!

Well today was the day that I finally went to see a foot Doctor to find out why I get pain in my left foot during a long walk- 5+ miles is usually the key.  I don't have any pain during other activities, so it was time to get answers, even though I've been in denial.

So after an hour in the reception waiting area, I was finally taken to an exam room then seen about ten minutes later.  He did some looking at my foot, watching me walk and then said he was pretty sure it might be a genetic thing, but wanted to get an X-Ray to confirm.  A little more waiting for the X-Ray and then voila- my left foot:

Now I have added some arrows to the photo- not sure you can really see it.  But I basically have a foot defect.  The part where the toe bones are connected to the foot bones with ligaments is where you want to look and ideally you want each toes connector point to be lined up from one side to the other.  My big toe connecting point is quite a bit lower than the connecting points for my 2nd and 3rd toes.  That is where I experience the pain and culprit for the pain.  Now I've had this all my life, it was most likely aggravated last year during the Nike 1/2 Marathon when I experienced shooting pain in my hip and had "worked through" that pain by walking a bit differently.   Sigh.    The Dr. said that since I only have pain on the long walks, that the best remedy right now would be to get custom orthothics for my feet to help support that section of ligaments.  If I had pain all day long regardless of what I was doing- then it would be surgery to cut the bones and match them up- Yuck!  I'm not a good candidate for surgery on the psychological plane!

The Orthothics have been casted and ordered, I should have them in approximately 3 weeks.  So this forced me to make a decision about this years Nike 1/2 Marathon.  Even though I might have the inserts about a week before the race, I would more then likely not have enough time to test them out on a long enough walk to make sure I  would not be in trouble on the race.  So I am going to pass on the race this year.  I guess it was meant to be since we were invited to join a party bus the night before to the Journey/Foreigner/Night Ranger concert that we've had tickets for since May!  Now I won't have to worry about getting home early that night and getting to SF at the crack before dawn!

Hoping that this works.  I am not a fan of pain, especially pain that slows me down and keeps me from my activities!

Other than my 3 hours at the Dr. office, I did have a great Monday- taught Body Pump, went for a 3 mile walk with Diane, taught spin and then had our first Tap Dance class tonight at the Rec. Center.  It was fun, but maybe not the best thing for my foot. :(  Bill did give me a nice massage when we got home.  I will put in my non-custom inserts for our next class for a little extra support and/or put some moleskin in that area to help cushion.  I never realized or remembered that so much of tap is done on the toes/balls of your feet- my trouble area!

Should work on travel stuff, but going to get to bed early.  I need more sleep and this is my chance- I don't have to get up super early tomorrow, but it would be nice to get in some Yoga before my 820am walk with Diane!

Now for some ZZZZzzzzzzzzz's!

WOW- it has been awhile.
I should really be heading to bed right now, but I am still on the awake side even though I have an early morning tomorrow.


September is not quite as crazy as August was - but I am still teaching a ton of classes.  So far this month I have taught 10 classes and have taken 7 other classes/walks as well.  Bill & I took a 9 mile walk on Labor Day and it was beautiful.  I did have some issues with my foot again after about 5 miles and seems it is aggravated by mileage and then further with downhills after a certain mileage point.  I finally broke down and have an appointment tomorrow to see the foot Dr.  I hope it's something easily remedied because I don't need something  like this to interfere with "life".  Although, on the up side, the foot does not bother me for spin, Body Pump, Yoga or dancing- so definitely walking related. Sigh.


I am teaching 8 classes this week (M-F), have 2-3 walks scheduled and we start our tap dance class tomorrow (well technically today since it is officially after midnight).  We will also go dancing Wednesday night.  We have other plans this Friday night and leave early Saturday for a nice Palm Springs getaway, which I'm looking forward to the down time for sure!  Then I have another 9 classes waiting for me when we get back through the end of the month.  So I will end September with having taught 27 this month.   I am thrilled that I now have another Body Pump class to call my own - Thursday nights at Fitness 101, it's a small class- so I am hoping that I can do some promotions to get more people into that class.  Maybe a contest of sorts.  We'll see.  


I am still thoroughly enjoying teaching so much.  I feel like I am back in my element and it's great connecting to the members and seeing them enjoy the classes.   It's been fun reviewing old choreography and even in spin class, I've been digging out some old playlists and having fun with that as well.  It's all good!


My WW journey is going pretty well, but slower than I would prefer.  I think the Labor Day weekend did me in.  A lot of eating out and not nearly enough activity.  We didn't go dancing that Friday night, I actually chose to stay home and had a wonderful phone conversation with Tiina, we talked for close to two hours and it was awesome.  When we see each other, we're always dancing and don't get to talk much, so it was a welcomed luxury.  Saturday after the Giants night game, we went to help Julie celebrate her 50th and didn't expect there to be dancing- but there was a DJ and we danced for about 2 hours non-stop. We had a blast.  Then of course that 9 mile walk on Monday.  It was still a very nice weekend though.  We also saw the movie "The Help" which was very good.  We finished off the holiday weekend with dinner out for Jocelyn's birthday at Benihanas - which overall, not too point unfriendly - except for the fried rice, who can resist that?


So after the holiday weekend, I was out of weekly points and still had a few more "occasions".  Diane's birthday was over the weekend, so we went out to dinner during the week. It was nice going out with a group of ladies who all want to be aware of the eating- so a couple of us shared entree's - it was perfect.  So I know I had to spend activity points, but it would have been much worse if we weren't sharing!   I did not expect the weigh in this past Friday to be good and there was no change from the previous week- so I sit at a total loss to date of 26 pounds- over 19 weeks on WW.


Friday started a new bank of points and right now, Sunday night I am almost out of them!  It's been another very social weekend.  Between Friday's Ship Tour in SF, dinner our Friday night with Bill before dancing.  I did cook dinner Saturday night, but ate a bit more than necessary in an effort to fuel up for dancing, but we ended up staying in Saturday night instead.  Today we had the Giants game and ate there, but then also went out to dinner on the way home.  Bottom line, we love good food and neither of us are fond of cooking.  So it's back on track tomorrow so that I can conserve the rest of the points I have left in the weekly bank- although one more Giants game on Wednesday ~ hopefully, all the activity this week will help! 


So Palm Springs will be a challenge for sure.  But I know that Bill & I will go for walks, I plan to swim- which is a treat for me and we will find a place to go dancing.  I've called ahead to two Gold's gyms and found out their guest policies- so I plan to go take Body Pump and Body Combat while down there.  Hoping the resort has a convenient yoga schedule.   We will make sure to eat as normally as possible...it will really only be a problem for one meal a day, I'm hoping.  We want to be "good", but also want to enjoy vacation.  Fingers crossed.


Everything else in life is good.  I mean sure I question things from time to time.  I can get very pensive at times.  I am learning some valuable lessons.  I am learning that there is most certainly some validity behind this poem:

Reason, Season, or Lifetime

People come into your life for a reason, a season or a lifetime.
When you figure out which one it is,
you will know what to do for each person.

When someone is in your life for a REASON,
it is usually to meet a need you have expressed.
They have come to assist you through a difficulty;
to provide you with guidance and support;
to aid you physically, emotionally or spiritually.
They may seem like a godsend, and they are.
They are there for the reason you need them to be.

Then, without any wrongdoing on your part or at an inconvenient time,
this person will say or do something to bring the relationship to an end.
Sometimes they die. Sometimes they walk away.
Sometimes they act up and force you to take a stand.
What we must realize is that our need has been met, our desire fulfilled; their work is done.
The prayer you sent up has been answered and now it is time to move on.

Some people come into your life for a SEASON,
because your turn has come to share, grow or learn.
They bring you an experience of peace or make you laugh.
They may teach you something you have never done.
They usually give you an unbelievable amount of joy.
Believe it. It is real. But only for a season.

LIFETIME relationships teach you lifetime lessons;
things you must build upon in order to have a solid emotional foundation.
Your job is to accept the lesson, love the person,
and put what you have learned to use in all other relationships and areas of your life.
It is said that love is blind but friendship is clairvoyant.

I am finding that some friends who I really thought would be lifelong friends are turning out to be "reason" friends.  A bit disappointing for sure because I had higher opinions about this friend.  Oh well, someday perhaps this will change.  We'll see.  What I am choosing to do is to focus on the many LIFETIME friends that I do have, because there are many and I am completely blessed.  I am a good friend, always have been. I live a good life and have some amazingly wonderful people in my life.  I am blessed beyond words! 

Sitting here and thinking that I really need to get to bed, but afraid that I might not be able to sleep because my brain is on fire and I am so thoroughly pissed about a situation- one that I can't go into detail here...but damn I sure can't wait for Karma to work its magic - patience is such a tough thing for me sometimes and this is certainly one of those times.   


Suffice it to say that the song "Mean" by Taylor Swift has some really great lyrics that resonate with me about this person:  


All you are is mean
And a liar, and pathetic, and alone in life
And mean, and mean, and mean, and mean

Ok - enough said about that person! 

On a very good, positive note- I had such an AWESOME class tonight at Gold's- the numbers keep growing- had 6 people the first night and a month later tonight we are up to 13 people and 3 of them were brand new to Body Pump.   Everyone worked really hard, they challenged themselves - just very uplifting and positive.  I left the gym on a cloud having taught a great class and feeling like people went home feeling good about their hard work.  YAY!    I also spoke to the director of the facility in Newark and she said that all the members who took my Body Pump class this month LOVED it, they loved the class (new to all of them) and loved my teaching style.  So now it's all about the budget to see if they can work Body Pump into the schedule full time.  Again, patience...story of my life.  But this feels like it could happen. 

Off to bed- up way too late.  This is the only downside to my Tuesday class- I get home just after 9pm, take a shower, make something to eat.  By the time I barely get on the couch, Bill goes to bed and voila it's now 1am and I have not done anything except email, facebook and blog!   So much work I should have done!  "Tomorrow"....yikes! 

Wow- 3 weeks since my last post- WTH?  

It has been a busy couple of weeks in just about every way.  Busy with both careers- travel and fitness.  As I write this, I have taught 33 classes this month, 5 more to go to round out at 38 classes for the month of August.  Of course, I have also gone for several walks (not as many as I would have liked) and have gone dancing twice each week with the Hubby.    I had written down earlier this month that my goal was to be down 27 pounds total by the 9/2 weigh-in...well it is within reach if I can stay focused this week- I am currently at 24.4 - so 2.6 is what I need and I will be pushing myself as hard as I can to get there.  In addition to my teaching schedule, I also have a few walks on the schedule with Diane and of course dancing with Bill a few times.

I am really loving my fitness career once again- I am having so much fun bringing fitness classes to people and getting positive feedback from them.  As I have stated more than once, Body Pump was my first fitness love, it's where I got my start and still to this day remains my favorite format to teach.  My Tuesday night class is going wonderfully and I continue to get good feedback each week after class from the members who stay to chat.  Word has also gotten to my boss at the gym because she has told me that she is getting great feedback also.  This makes me happy because I truly look forward to that class every single week.   The classes I've been teaching in Newark have taken off, I have one more to teach and then the facility will evaluate the new programs that they demoed this month to decide what they add to the schedule- I HOPE they add Body Pump and that I get to teach it.  It's a small location, so the largest class was 7 people and that was great- you would have thought there were 30 people with the energy and enthusiasm.  What's even better- all newbies and even one employee took the class and then afterwards wanted to know what is involved in becoming an instructor.  I have been subbing spin at a variety of new locations and have also been getting more positive feedback, so all in all it has been a great fitness teaching month.

Related to the fitness world, I need to get something off my chest.  Several weeks ago I had posted a picture of my hat that I wore while teaching a BP class (it was a SF Giants camouflage hat)- I had a member putting equipment away while class was setting up and when I asked her why she was leaving she said she could not take class from me because I was wearing a war hat.  I explained that it wasn't a war hat, but that I'd be happy to take it off.  She still declined to stay because she was having a dinner party that night and thought it would be bad luck. When I posted this picture and "conversation"- I was merely trying to see if others would consider my hat a 'war hat' & if anyone knew of cultures that had this type of superstition.  Perhaps I should have phrased it that way.  In any case, a fellow instructor questioned what my hat had to do with the essence of the BP program.   Because that was not where I was going with my original post- I deleted his comment, it was not worth the time or energy to get into that discussion with him.  I work for facilities where the dress code is presentable fitness attire and that is what I do wear to each of my classes.  I am not the first, nor will I be the last person to wear a hat while teaching a class - I don't wear them often, but when called for, I do.    The really sad part of all this is that this fellow instructor decided to make his own Facebook posts about me (but stating things generally without naming names) instead of having a one on one conversation privately with me.   So for the record here:  I don't consider my fitness career as "being paid to workout" - in fact I despise people who do have that mentality and the clubs who hire just anyone before they've done any training or certifications.  I was not making fun of my participant nor was I ethnically profiling them.  I was not seeking validation and I was not being unprofessional on any level.   And I completely agree that classes are about the members, not the instructors.  I have always felt that way and have always done what is best for my members.  I have no idea if this person reads my blog- if you do, you know who you are and I would like to put this behind us as "water under the bridge".   If you really knew me, you'd know that the generalizations you made about "me" aren't true.  Maybe you need to get to know me better.

Travel work has been super busy- everyone wanting to get things booked for last minute trips.  I am also working closely with my two new IC's with their cruise groups and they are doing well.  I have a random person who contacted me about possibly coming to work for me as well.  We are going to talk this week.  

I am super excited to break out my Tap Dance shoes next month.  They added an adult class in the evenings at Red Morton Community Center and I asked Bill if he'd like to try it out- he said "SURE!"- so we will be tap dancing on Monday nights!  I can't wait- we went and bought his tap shoes today!

August has been a pretty fun month overall.  Dancing has been great.  Our Wednesdays have been super fun and Heide has been doing an amazing job of getting people there on Wednesdays.   We've been learning a ton of new dances- so much so that my head spins with all the choreography!   Wednesdays are also most of the time "drama-free" and I don't have to see that nasty ex-friend of mine.   Really can't wait for Karma to do it's thing with her...I know it will...;patience can be so tough sometimes.   We went River Rafting a few weekends ago, that was a blast- so much fun!   We saw Eddie Money in concert on the beach in Santa Cruz. And another highlight of the month- Baby Brooklyn was baptized on 8/21 at Redeemer and her parents even enjoyed the church services - so hoping to see that family there on a fairly regular basis.   Brooklyn was such a good baby....in fact I tease and say she takes after her Godmother because I was a very happy, easy baby when I was her age.   A few more milestones to round out the month- my nephew Michael turned 18 and started his final year of High School and our Godson Nolan started Kindergarten!  

All in all, it's a pretty darn good life.  I am blessed.

Scratch that....29 classes this month has turned into 36!

Well, I survived the first week of August, taught  7 classes:  3 Body Pump and 4 spin.  I went on 3 walks- average 5 miles per walk, went dancing Wednesday and Saturday nights and I'm feeling good!   I taught at a few new places:  had my first regular Body Pump class at Gold's Mountain View and other than the usual getting used to the lay of the land at a new place, all went well.   I also taught at a new facility- branch of Fitness 101 in Newark where they are previewing Body Pump as a possible addition to the schedule.  I had a small group of brand new Body Pumpers and knowing this, I asked them if they minded staying about 10 minutes overtime so that I really was able to go through technique with them- it was awesome.  They loved the class, so hopefully it will turn into something new.  The drive to Newark was a breeze ~ finding the building not so much, - LOL.

My walks were a challenge- increased my mileage and had to do it alone with BFF in Cabo!  But it's all good.  I am still experiencing issues with my left foot- and I'm pretty close to seeing about a Dr. visit to find out what the cause may be.  I just don't get it, only on long walks does it flare up- all other activities are fine.   We went dancing twice this week, would have loved to go Friday also- but a made the mistake of sitting on the couch at 5pm and guess the week's activities caught up to me and I crashed....for 3 hours!

I subbed a spin class at Gold's Mt View Saturday and other than one member complaining that I only did a 45 minute class (which is how the schedule reads)- I guess the regular instructor goes the full hour- which I didn't know in advance.  But I did receive so many compliments from other participants.  One gentleman said, "who trained you?" and when he found out that I was Madd Dogg certified, he smiled and said, "yes, you can always tell- all of the good instructors are Madd Dogg trained"  he went on to give examples of how I taught certain things that he loved.  I was beaming.   I had another participant come up and say that she really appreciated my examples and descriptions regarding form and mentioned that "we don't get that very often here"- which saddened me...that's our job as instructors- to instruct.  Several others came up and thanked me for class, complimented my music selection, etc.  It was a great way to start out a Saturday!

I am on track once again with the scale and just hit my 10% weight loss goal.   This means that I have lost 10% of my original body weight- so yes I started WW in May at 194 pounds...I've now lost 19.4 exactly!  So close to 20, but guess it was meant to be to nail the 10% to the point!  I am looking forward to soon saying good-bye to the 170's...have already said Adios to the 80's and 90's!  For good!!

Probably the big downer this week is finding out that my mother has started smoking again- through some questioning and my sister's discoveries- we've determined that she started smoking about 3 weeks ago, but has only smoked about 1-2 packs over that duration.  She is not smoking in the house and as of Thursday has not smoked again- she is "trying" to stop again, but admits that it is very hard and that she really enjoys smoking- she enjoys the cigarettes, etc.  Sigh.  Although I understand addiction (I was married to an addict the first go round)...I still have such a hard time seeing someone unable to stay away from something that is so detrimental to one's health.  But I know that I can't control her, I can't babysit her- it is her life and she is 82, if she wants to smoke herself into death- then so be it.  Although, what I try to remind her is that she is so darn strong health wise that it won't kill her- she'll just end up living a long unhappy existence when she is carrying around an oxygen tank, etc.   Sigh.

So the new week is upon us already and I am way behind the eight ball with work- I have a ton of things that I need to get done- a week ago.  However, I won't be in my office tomorrow since I will be taking my mom to the Dr. to have the procedure to see if her ulcer is all cleared up.  Fingers crossed.  I will attempt to get some work done at the hospital- hopefully I can get online there.

This week brings me 11 classes to teach - yes 11, in 5 days no less!   I have 5 Body Pump classes and 6 spin classes -  3-2-2-1-3 is the distribution!   I have also added to my calendar 2 walks- don't think I can fit any more into the already packed schedule..and of course dancing Wednesday and Friday...finishing off the week with a rafting trip on Saturday--let's hope my arms aren't mush after all that PUMP!   I am really enjoying subbing all of these classes and teaching at new facilities- it has given me the spark, the new enthusiasm for this industry that is my co-career!

Now for some much needed rest to get up bright and early for Spin & Body Pump 6-8am!   Bring it on!

Game On!!  August is going to be my month...bring it on!

This last week has been a bit crazy and although I've stopped and wanted to blog, I think I was almost afraid to put words down on paper for fear that I might jinx things.   But I must write it out- in fact, I had not even talked about everything with anyone except Bill this week until this weekend!  

It has been a crazy string of events.  On Monday this past week I received a phone call from another instructor needing a sub for her 6am Friday Spin class and in her message she complimented that the 6am crowd really liked me when I subbed for another gal a month ago and they are so hard to please.  In the same message she also said "I heard you teach Body Pump, I manage other clubs and might have an opening for you"- well that was music to my ears of course.  I met with her to complete new hire paperwork and was then offered the Tuesday night class at Gold's Mt. View...starting August 2nd - yes, this week!   Additionally, I was added to the sub list for this group of Gold's gyms- so there will be other teaching opportunities.  

Also, for the month of August- Fitness 101's corporate office is doing a health & wellness promotion and bringing in some classes as a "preview" and if they get good feedback, may be adding as new classes to their schedule, so I am teaching Body Pump there 4 times during the month of August.  Add to that a few sub needs at PAC and OFJCC and I think my total number of Body Pump classes to be taught in August is now at 12-13 classes!  Do you know how excited that makes me?   I actually pulled out my very old releases (going back to BP30- we are now on BP78) to see what old stuff I can bring into these classes this month!  So excited! 

Friday night I taught a special class at the PJCC- every last Friday of the month is "bring a friend Friday" and we have a special class that is not ordinarily on the schedule- I taught Line Dancing.  We had about 16 people in the class, everyone had a great time and everyone was very interested in a Series of Line Dance classes to be offered- so I am very optimistic that this will turn into something as well.   On a related note, unfortunately one of my instructor colleagues has some family issues right now and I will be subbing her senior fitness class- where I typically teach line dancing- the members are already looking forward to it for the last 3 Mondays in August.

All in all, right now- I am scheduled to teach 29 classes in the month of August- mind you that up until this past Thursday, I only "owned" 1 class per week and of course now with Body Pump, that is 2 classes per week - but I am subbing like a crazy lady this month and I am extremely excited to be BACK!   I know there will be times that I am exhausted and these late midnight/1am bed times will be fading real soon because many of these classes I'm teach happen to be at 6 or 7am!   But this is what I have been striving for and things are finally starting to fall into place.  

My WW journey is still progressing.  I had gotten down to a total loss of 17 pounds on the 15th and then the following Friday weighed in as having gained 1 pound- which was I'm sure due to several days in a row of eating out both during our weekend away and the few nights following - that's bound to happen, as of this last friday, I was back at the 17 pound loss and it's time to move forward from here and my goal for the month of August is to weigh in on 9/2 with a total of 27 pounds lost - that is 5 weeks to lose 10 pounds...I think it's reasonable when you consider all of this activity that I'll be putting in- keeping in mind that I still plan to get in my walks and some yoga also!   

Some additional progress- people who really know me, know that I do not eat fruits and vegetables as a main stay.  I'll eat corn and potatoes (starchy veggies)- and will eat an occasional grape, strawberry or pear...but I'm not one to say "oh I'd LOVE to have an apple right now" or fill in any fruit in place of apple.  Well, I have been making my own fruit smoothies: using frozen fruit, vanilla non fat yogurt, orange juice and non fat milk and they are delicious!   So I am feeling good that I am putting some more nutrients into my body!   They also seem to help stave off my craving for chocolate! 

Well, onto the first week of August- I can hardly believe that...6 classes to teach this week and they are Body Pump Monday, Tuesday & Thursday and then 3 spin classes- 2 on Friday and 1 on Saturday...

Going to miss my walking buddy Diane for the next 2 weeks while they are on vacation; although, this will give me the opportunity to do some longer walks to help train for Nike 1/2 marathon in October! 

This much fun should be illegal!

Just winding down after a wonderful weekend.  I am so truly blessed to have the wonderful people in my life!   Friday was a good work day, I had a great spin class (finally started to feel like I was shaking the scratchy throat/cough crap)..went for a walk with Diane- which we never get to do on a Friday, but we were able to work around our schedules- almost did 4 miles!   Went dancing Friday night with Bill and had a great time- there was a guest band and they were a bit one dimensional- but we still got in quite a bit of dancing.   If we stay after midnight, it's a good night.

Saturday after a little sleeping in, we dragged ourselves out of bed. I went to check in on Sunny's furry babies (was driven there by my brother and then did a walk back home to get in my exercise)!  Her kitty Maui is such the love bug, every time I check in on her babies, I want to steal him.  He immediately rolls on his back for you to rub his belly- such a completely loving, trusting cat!   Once I got home, we had to get ready pretty quickly to catch the train to SF.  We met Robin and her daughter at Amici's for a pre-Giants game dinner, which was a lot of fun.  Great to finally meet Robin's daughter - we really had a nice time together.  Then the Giants game- which was a lot of fun, they won and we ran into friends Jeanette & Donnie (2nd time running into them at a game)..things like that just make the whole experience so much more fun!   We got home around 10pm- checked in on Sunny's kitties again and then dropped by Diane & Mike's - we had a feeling they would be fireside- so we enjoyed a couple of hours socializing with the two of them and Rob & Josie.  Fun times! 

Sunday, again slept in- even though we had the better of intentions to get up.  I swear one of these days I will make it to church- so I continue to pray (in bed) that the services will someday get moved to 10am!   As we were slowly waking up, I was teasing Bill about not talking and said "cat got your tongue?"- well that reminded me that we had to feed Sunny's kitties before getting to the McClymonds at noon- so we high tailed it out of bed and hurried to get ready- we were a tiny bit late, but it all worked out.   Bill spent the day with Mike and our Godchildren (Nolan & Brooklyn)- and Diane, Yvonne and I headed over to Pleasanton to meet up with the rest of the Gal Pal gang for lunch and a movie- such a relaxing afternoon spent with wonderful, positive ladies....then back afterwards to Diane & Mike's house where the boys had dinner waiting- we enjoyed a relaxing dinner and some poolside chat time and finally home to crash and begin another week!   Yikes- how did Monday get here so quickly.

A great weekend- wish I had gotten in Body Pump over the weekend- but the schedule was a bit too crazy. I have tried to watch my food and alcohol intake for the weekend- however, right now I have used up all weekly points and have dipped into the Activity points by 20! Sigh.  Fortunately, there are zero eating out events this week and I need to bump up the activity which I plan to do.  Got to keep the scale moving in the right direction.  According to Friday's weigh in- I gained 1.4 pounds, but Saturday morning I was back even - no loss or gain...so think it was just the body/scale playing tricks on me.   Same thing happened to Bill as well!  

I have been offered a new class at one of the gyms- it would be a 3x a week deal early morning boot camp/athletic conditioning type of class to start ASAP..and I am considering it.  My only apprehension is the fact that is is a "fly by the seat of your pants" type of class- meaning you make things up as you go and I have not done that type of class in a long time- but it would be good to pick up the additional classes and start my days early again- I am so much more productive when I get up early!   We'll see- I am going to check it out and get a feel for the group and then decide. 

Time is flying by so quickly...

I can't believe that July is already 1/2 way done- which means summer is 1/2 way done.  I almost got into a hyperventilation state the other day thinking about how fast this year is going by!  Our cruise on the EPIC and trip to NYC/Paris seems like an eternity ago - even our Anniversary Cruise seems so long ago.  Strange.  I am sitting here at the computer almost ready to go to bed, but can't seem to get my mind to shut down.  

The week has been a bit challenging with WW and I'm not sure I will see a weight loss on Friday- between the weekend away- which overall I was pretty good and conscientious of my choices- I even came home with weekly points left- but then between the Giants game on Monday night and an impromptu dinner out Tuesday night- well used up all the weekly points and dipped into my Activity Points.  I just don't dip into the AP's very often- so I am always scared when I do.   I also have not been earning as many APs that I normally do either.  Currently I've earned 44 activity points- but that's counting 3 nights of dancing- which is very low. :(  one yoga class and 2 walks this week- NO strength training- I need to get in Body Pump tomorrow or else I am just going to feel terrible!   In all fairness though, I still have that tickle in my throat and although it is getting better- the dry cough is still a nuisance and of course is irritated with activity.   One more day to make a difference this week...even a slight budge in the right direction on the scale will make me happy! 

I had a wonderful night at the Giants game with my brother.  We had not gone to a game together since Opening Day back in April- so it was nice to spend that time together, doing something we both love.  On the train ride up he commented on how he can tell that I've lost weight- he had no idea how much I had lost, but knew I was working at it.  I had not seen him in a few weeks- with the boys out of school and my non-appearance in Church for several weeks- we just have not crossed paths...although we talk all the time.  It was great to see him and see that things are finally starting to shift for him and God willing, things will go the way they are supposed to and we will finally see good prevail over evil (on so many levels)- he is such a good man and has been so thoroughly screwed by a few specific people, it's just nice to see that through all of his faithfulness, he is finally seeing some progress in the right direction.  

Glad to say that everything with my mom is going well.  She still battles the want for a cigarette and says she's going to have one, but as more time passes, I think she realizes that she really can't start.  She is feeling so good these days and looks good.  We have been blessed that she was saved and that she can enjoy a good life now and see so many health improvements.  

Feeling so very blessed to have my family and my friends.   My friend Kristy posted yesterday about her 4 year anniversary of the loss of her father and the same day a close family friend also passed away.  Well this has got me thinking of my dad a bit more than I would normally and I am just so miffed that he has been gone off this earth for almost 22 years - I was 23 years old when he died...so I am coming up on the 1/2 way point  of my life where I've lived 1/2 of it with my dad and 1/2 of it without...just a crazy observation but it would be so nice to have him around, for him to have met his grandsons, for him and mom to have traveled the world together, he would have loved Bill - they would have gotten along famously.   Kristy talks about how her dad died due to diabetes and unhealthy living and my dad pretty much died of heart disease and unhealthy living- but he had made HUGE changes for a decade prior to his death.  He quit smoking, quit drinking, started to exercise, lost a ton of weight, ate a good diet- got the bypass surgery and he was supposed to be "good as new"- well that didn't happen.   It just really saddens me to see just how unhealthy our society really is.   I'm not above it all- I have  my vices, but I do make a concerted effort to make changes in my life to be around longer to live it.  But so many just don't get it.  

Oh well, enough reflections for one evening--time to get some ZZzzzzzzzz's!

Amazing!

I am absolutely amazed that now after 11 weeks on WW, I have lost 17 pounds.  My darling husband after 10 weeks has  lost 19 pounds.  It's amazing what you can do when you set your mind to it.  Bill is very close to his goal and he looks fabulous.  I have been noticing little things here and there - like clothes that are fitting better, or clothes that I have not worn in awhile and now they fit again.  I refreshed my dance wardrobe and bought some new shirts-- I was wearing one of them tonight.  We were dancing at a place in Sacramento called The Ballroom and they have mirrors all around the dance floor, so I could see myself dancing and I didn't feel fat, I didn't look fat.   We noticed someone dancing the other night who was wearing a tight shirt and you could clearly see rolls that are accentuated when someone wears a bra that is too small...it was awful and I had given this person the nickname "Michelin man" because the rolls  looked like the Michelin Man...so that is my new saying when I get dressed to go out - "do I look like the Michelin Man" - we both laugh but most importantly is Bill says that I don't and he would tell me if I did. 

I have been battling some tickle in my throat for the past week and was told today by the Chiropractor that I probably have a virus- he's seen others with the same symptoms and I was thinking it was just allergies- well maybe it is, maybe it isn't but I feel crappy right now- my throat is super raw (probably from talking too much)- but that is the only part of me that has a symptom...weird.  I taught Body Pump early this morning and I felt like I had allergy head- I got through the class ok- did a few choreo blunders but not noticeable to the class- just things that I knew in my head...hate feeling that way- but this morning was tough.  I am hoping that I wake up feeling better tomorrow- took some meds and just want to get a good night's sleep.


We have a big day planned at the Drag Races, then dancing tomorrow night at another venue up here in Sacramento.  Guess I better get started on those Zzzzzz's!

I'll Rest when I'm Dead!
Exhausted but must write!

I have gone so long since last writing that all my good thoughts are gone! :)  Well maybe not so gone.
I reached another milestone with last week's weigh-in...3.2 pounds for a total to date of 15.2-  for some reason the previous week "12" just didn't sound as good as "15.2" this week.  Amazing what importance is placed on a number!   I was shocked, but happy to see such a large loss - but considering the week before was so low (lower than I had thought)- it has all balanced out.

I just keep kicking things up a notch..making sure I am getting at least 3 strength training days per week, walking 4-5 times a week, spinning 1-2 times and I have been teaching Zumba for the last month and that sub gig ended last night- so now it's time to get back to my favorite instructor's class to take Zumba more regularly.   I'd like to try some new formats just to keep things fresh and shock my body.  It's amazing- I had gone several days without walking and two weeks since Zumba and yesterday I did both- today I was sore!   A good feeling, indeed.  

This past weekend I was honored to be part of the launch team at the Palo Alto JCC for Body Pump 78!  I was to teach the last three tracks: shoulders, abs and the cool down.  It was great to meet some instructors that I didn't already know and to teach to a packed room.  The class went smoothly and afterwards I got a lot of really nice compliments and feedback from the members.  I was actually compared to what this club considers to be their favorite instructor and was told that I came pretty darn close.  I have been reassured by the Director that the next opening will be offered to me and if they can find a new slot on Tuesdays/Thursdays- I'll have dibs on that.  I hope that happens soon.   I also received some very nice feedback from a fellow instructor the next day...so all in all Saturday's launch was a huge success!  Also, through my networking with these instructors, I  have picked up two classes to sub in the coming month- one this week and one in August.  I love the new release, I keep singing and humming the songs and going over the choreography in my head.  Must be why I'm so exhausted!  :)

This past WW week has been challenging - we had Brooklyn's Birthday party on Saturday which was an all day into the late night event 1pm-1am...but I did the best that I could.  We ended up over the McClymond house on Sunday for poolside fun and ended up staying for dinner again.  Hoping that all my extra workouts this week will earn a positive result on the scale- anything but a gain would be positive.   I have used all of my weekly points and a good portion of my Activity points...hate when all the eating events hit at the same time, but it's bound to happen.

Work has been insanely busy, but productive at the same time.  I am going to be training my second independent contractor who is going to start working for me next week.   Just amazed at how all of this has come about- I have not advertised, but here I have two ladies who have some pretty good business to book and have decided to get into the business- and they are both go-getters, responsible people with good business heads on their shoulders! YAY!

Getting ready for a fun-filled weekend, although I'm happy I still have two days of work left..so I can leave Friday feeling like I shouldn't be working.   Drag races in Sacramento ~ Bill is so excited to go since it has been so long since his last race.  I'm looking forward to time in the sun to soak in the Vitamin D...and also to go dancing at new places.  Meet up with good friend Robin as well and then swing by mom's house on the way home Sunday to help with some odds/ends and then take her out to dinner/movie.  Rest?  No clue- I'll sleep in a bit both Saturday and Sunday!

Feeling Good & Starting to Notice Differences...

Again, I have been not blogging as regularly as I wish- guess the summer bug has caught me and I'm just not sitting idol at the computer as often.  I'm here now only because it's still about 85 degrees in the bedroom and I'm hoping for it to cool down just a bit more so I can sleep!   I can't believe it's Sunday again, that it's July and that the weekend is almost over again!!  I don't know if it's age or just the time we live in now- but time really does pass way too quickly.

I was just way too tired to get up early enough Friday to make it to Weight Watchers AND get my new spin playlist finalized for Friday's 915am class- so I decided it would be the bathroom scale this week, so I could get a new playlist done for class- glad I did.  It was nice to have new music and feel like I could check something else off my "to do" list.   This weeks weight in was "down .8" for a total loss of 12 pounds.  I was a bit disappointed because I really felt that I did the work this past week: I had 34 unused activity points, I had earned 54 total - I had a few walks during the week, went dancing twice, taught a few extra classes- but I think what I was missing was more strength training- I only did Body Pump once this week - I think that may be the difference.   Oh well, I still have to be happy that the scale is going in the right direction.

I am really beginning to notice things with my 12 pound weight loss.  The fact that my belly ring doesn't feel "tight"- for awhile it was not very comfortable, but I was scared to death to remove it for fear I'd never get it back in again.  Maybe subconsciously I kept it in so that I would be prompted into doing something about my weight.  Who knows.    I also noticed last night that I put on a new shirt for dancing- one I bought about 2 months ago- I had tried this shirt one night around the time of purchase and asked Bill and he said lovingly, "no it doesn't look that great"- it was a bit clingy and you could see my rolls....well I put that shirt on last night and there weren't any rolls- I looked and I looked again and no rolls!   I asked Bill and he said that it looked so much better than when I had tried it on before.  Amazing how you really can see the difference.   Today we went to a BBQ and I wanted to wear a halter top to be as cool as possible and I pulled something out of my closet that I have not worn in over 4 years probably- and it looked good...so excited!

I am really very proud of the changes that Bill & I have made in order to achieve our weight loss goals- it feels good, we both have more energy- in fact we've been going dancing on Wednesday nights regularly and this weekend we went dancing both Friday and Saturday- what a treat and we danced pretty much all night long- tons of Activity Points earned and we have both cheated and gotten on the scale- and if all holds true by Friday, I hope to have a huge drop on weigh in!

I am happy that I was at a BBQ today with friends and really didn't overeat- I was very conscious of all I was eating, even texted the hostess prior to get an idea of what was being served so I could plan points accordingly.  I was in charge of dessert- so I made low fat brownies and an angel food cake. I broke out the tape measure and made sure everything was cut down to "serving size" so I could have an accurate point count.   I splurged, but I knew what the points were, I had weekly points to spend, so I spent them...and still have about 1/2 of them for tomorrow's festivities.

Tomorrow I get to see my ex's family- my niece Jenifer is having a baby next month so this is her Baby Shower/BBQ/Pool Party- I am really looking forward to seeing the family- some of them I have not seen in over 5 years.  I'm just very grateful that I get to be a part of this special time for Jenifer and that I have maintained the friendships with these people- we were so much a part of each others lives for so many years- you just don't toss that away...but will watch the food intake!!

M.I.A.- that has been me with blogging this week! 

Not even sure where to begin...but guess I'll start with WW updates.  I found that I was very focused this week, kept within my daily/weekly points and got in a TON of activity.  Ended the week with 73 Activity points and I didn't use any of them.  It's amazing how many points you earn with line dancing!   I finally made it back to my WW meeting this past Friday and of course it seemed like I lost more than I did on their scale since I have been updating and weighing at home the last 3 weeks.  However, my total loss is now 11.2 for 8 week total- which is not bad.  I had hoped to reach 12 pounds at this weigh in with all the activity, but oh well- scale does not always cooperate! 

My workouts this week were a combination of teaching and doing my own thing.  Body Pump twice- once in my living room to start learning the new release that I'll be launching in two weeks and one night subbing at Fitness 101- I really do love teaching BP!  Hoping soon I will be regularly teaching BP!  I subbed a spin class and taught my own Friday class and also subbed Zumba for the first time in about 6 months and it went amazingly well I thought.  I went on several walks- the weather has been gorgeous and I have a serious "farmers tan" that I need to do something about.  Ugh!   At my Friday spin class, I had a special guest- my boss Michele.  It's that annual time for class audits/reviews and I was very pleased that after class she had very good things to say about my class- so that helped to kick off my weekend! 

Friday was Bill's birthday and we had an amazing time celebrating- took him to see Cars 2 at the movie theater and then out to dinner at Spasso's.  We were joined by the McClymond family and Yvonne & kids- a great time at both.  Then we were off to the Saddle Rack where we were joined by Tiina & Chris and later Diane & Mike showed up to continue with the celebration...Bill was very touched that they were able to join us.  Danced a fair amount and got home late.  We slept in Saturday, I went for a walk to meet friend Kristy & her daughter at the park, had a nice visit and then I walked back home.  Bill & I watched movies Saturday night & relaxed.  Today was a productive day (once we got up at noon), I got some work done, Bill & I went for massages and then had Mexican dinner out.   I'm going to have to be careful here on out for the week with points. 

It has been a great week and I'm looking forward to having another great week.  We've now been going dancing on Wednesday nights and we are loving it- extra activity doing something we love and learning new dances...lots of fun! 

EXHAUSTED!  But boy what a couple of pretty great days!

Friday morning I woke up still having pain in my foot/leg/hip and decided to sleep in a bit more and forego my WW meeting, but then found that I really didn't think I could teach my spin class.  I was lucky enough to find a sub at 8am for my 915am class (thanks Blair)!   I was then able to go to the Chiropractor early in the day and after a wicked adjustment, I was 95% better- it amazes me, but I am thankful!    I ran a few more errands and had a pretty busy work day as well trying to get two groups booked to Vegas..but once 6pm rolled around, I was ready to have some dinner with my hubby and get ready for a night of dancing and thankfully, I felt like I could!   

It was a GREAT night at the Saddle Rack, danced almost non-stop from 9pm-1am, spent quality time with BFF  Tiina and her honey Chris, did not get sucked into any drama- because as my friend Heide says "drama does not belong on the dance floor" and we had such an amazing time.  The bottom line regarding drama- I know that I have not done anything wrong nor has anyone that I love- karma is already beginning to work its magic and I just need to be patient to see it all unfold.    I didn't get to bed until after 2am, slept in a bit on Saturday.

Saturday I was able to do Body Pump in my living room, experiencing the new release- which was AWESOME and then Bill & I went for a 75 minute/4 mile walk.  Well, this was my first walk using one of my new pairs of shoes and unfortunately, I was in pain a good portion of the walk- had to stop and stretch a few times, but made it back home.  Bill hooked me up with a foot massage before we headed out to pick up my mom and all her "donations" for the Thrift Store.  We then went to the movies to see "Midnight in Paris"- which was great for the scenery (Paris), but the story line was a little slow.  We then had a great dinner at Kingfish- overall a good day/night!  

Sunday we both slept until noon, probably would have slept longer if it wasn't for my brother calling- but guess we needed it!   Talked with him for a bit, was great to catch up and then after watching a bit of the Giants game, I set out for my walk in my 2nd pair of new shoes- today I did a little better, walked 45 minutes to Sunny's house and then another 45 minutes back home.  I needed to get instructions on taking care of her kitties this week while she travels.   Felt good to get the workout in.  Bill gave me another fabulous foot rub after dinner.

I think my foot problems are solved for the most part- I believe the new shoes/inserts will do the trick- I think the pain I've still been experiencing is just leftover from the two days of abuse this past week in my old shoes added to that 4 hours of boot scootin' on Friday- I think I need new inserts in my boots!   

I have already earned 35 activity points for this week- just over the weekend.  You earn a lot of points line dancing!!  YAY me!     I did not lose any weight last week- I gained 4/10 of a pound- but I was still level at 10 pounds!    I expect great things this week!  Sometimes you have to take a step back to take many forward- I've been down this road before- so I'm prepared! 

Time for Change....

...change of foot attire that is!   After my 7 mile walk Tuesday and a 6 mile walk yesterday, I felt energized, but I also felt some major pain in my left foot/ankle and up eventually into my hip.   This brought back memories of my Nike 1/2 marathon last year and how I felt so crippled for days following.  Now I did attribute that to the fact that I had trained very little and that I had developed a blister and had probably walked funny to protect that blister.  Well, the more I got to thinking about this last night (after experiencing pain while line dancing - NOT ACCEPTABLE) - I got to think that my Superfeet inserts really have not been all that super.  They never did feel quite right - ever, but I worked with it and they never caused me too much pain on short walks- so the light bulb went off today- they just were not working for me at all.  

Since we went dancing last night and I stayed up later than I had wanted, I decided to sleep in until 745am, giving myself just enough time to get ready, check emails and head out to my hair appointment.  Decided afterwards to go to Runner's High in Menlo Park and get some help with my feet.  Ended up buying two new pairs of shoes, new inserts (NOT Superfeet, but rather a brand that I had used 10 years ago) and went home wearing them.  Amazing how much better my leg feels now after a day in properly supportive shoes.  I was planning on going for a shorter walk this evening, followed by Body Pump in my living room to do the new release that just arrived yesterday - but work took over and I didn't get done working until 645pm- although I'm never done- still have much to do.  Decided today was going to be a day off of activity, whether I want it or not.  Probably not a bad idea to let my foot/ankle/hip recover a bit more and I know that I am out of alignment- tomorrow's chiropractor appointment is going to feel so good! 

Looking forward to the weekend, going to dance all night long tomorrow night- our second Friday night since my mom's hospital ordeal...so this will feel great.  Will put in some time walking, doing Body Pump and getting some work done and Bill & I plan to go to mom's to pick up her Donation pile and take care of that..overall though a pretty low key weekend.  Maybe even get some sun worshiping done - assuming there will be warm enough sun to worship! 

So I will end this week with a Negative 19 weekly points- I didn't make up the entire 52, but I did make a serious dent in the deficit, more than I thought possible.  I would love to weigh in tomorrow and see a loss- but I will be happy with staying the same with all the challenges that have been put in my path this past week. 

Focused...18 Activity Points earned today! 

Well, last night I honestly thought there was no way I would rid myself of my 52 point deficit for the week...

maybe I was wrong!   Today I set my alarm to get up at 515am to go to Body Pump, but I was just too tired..and Tuesday is one of those days with options- 3 Body Pump classes taught by 3 instructors who I love and respect..so since 6am was not going to happen and it was my first day back to work after two days off, I knew leaving for 1020am class would not be a great idea...so 630pm it was going to be with Amy! 

After a quick check on my email, to find not much new going on (sure a long "to do" list of things to work on) but nothing pressing..I decided to go for my walk.  My BFF Diane is in Tahoe this week, so I was going to be walking solo - I set out at 915am and didn't return until 1115am...just started walking my familiar route from my house and then decided to expand upon it.!  For Redwood City folks- I left my house on Kentfield- walked to Redwood and then to McGarvey, all the way up to Farm Hill, up to Emerald Hill, then down Bret Hartt to Glennan, down Farm Hill to McGarvey to Fernside- all the way to Massachusetts to Alameda back to McGarvey, down to Redwood, Valota, Palm and finally back to Kentfield.  It turned out to be a 7 mile walk...gee guess I'm training for the Nike in October and maybe this year I won't have blisters for lack of training!   It was a beautiful day and a GREAT walk!   

I could have been done at that point- but after a day of work and 2 loads of laundry (which still need to be folded and put away)- I decided to close up my office at 445pm and head to the gym for 515pm yoga followed by 630pm Body Pump.  Over 4 hours of Activity today = 18 Activity points earned...so heck maybe I can end this week without a negative Activity Point deficit.  We will see.  

It was a good day and I am feeling very good- back on track with eating.   Hubby and I had a discussion today about how gross we both felt last night after dinner at Chevy's - although I did not order the 35 point Quesadilla that I used to eat ALL of the time...I still felt cruddy after that meal- makes you wonder what the heck they put in the food.  Funny thing is we never felt that way after any of the cruise ship meals....but it certainly felt better to be back on track. 

Tomorrow I am hoping for the early alarm clock- I looked up kickboxing and seems an hour of that earns like 12 activity points- so heck that sounds good to me!  Then hubs and I plan to go dancing tomorrow night.  One of our favorite dance instructors is teaching on Wednesday nights and we would love for this to turn into a permanent gig for her and perhaps even grow into other nights...so we have to show our support and love! She usually draws a very good dance crowd- people serious about dancing! 

Off to dreamland- I am sure I will sleep like a baby...just hope I can move in the morning! 

6 Weeks = 10.4 pounds....but what will happen this week?

I was delighted to step on the scale Friday morning and see the loss of 2.2 pounds to put me at a total of 10.4 lost in 6 weeks!!  Elated, excited...I wanted 10 pounds by the 10th - just sounded good and realistic.   So then we were off to the airport early for our flight to Long Beach for our 3 day Anniversary Cruise...so a HUGE Challenge-- you just don't stay on program when you are on a cruise- it is pretty much impossible.

Now I will say that I didn't FILL myself up at mealtime- I ate until I was satisfied- but it's very hard to gauge how many points you are eating when you do not have a hand in the preparing of the food.  You just know there are a ton of behind the scenes things used in cooking that add 1 point here, 1 point there...so I decided I would not stress about it, but would try to be conscious of when I was hungry and how much I would eat and drink.  I did not gorge myself on desserts every night- we did have a special Anniversary cake the first night that we shared with our table mates- it was light and delicious...the remainder of the nights I ordered ice cream.  It's hard to avoid the bread and butter- so most nights I had 1-2 rolls and/or slices of bread, I did order soup every night, which I hardly ever have soup- it's a treat for me to have soup when on a cruise.  Two nights we had late night snacks- but I did not load up my plate- got the one thing I wanted and that was it.

However, having said all of that- I am currently sitting on a NEGATIVE 52 weekly point deficit - which means I have used all of my daily points while away (no surprise), all of my 49 weekly points AND the 32 Activity points that I earned this past weekend....so I will try, but will find it very difficult to earn enough activity points in the next 3 days to offset that 52 point deficit...gee that would be what...more than 15 points per day-- not going to happen.    I hope that all of my food logging from the weekend is overstated and that reality is not as bad as I have portrayed it - but guess we'll see on Friday when I go to weigh in.

I am incredibly sore - my entire body hurts- and I chalk that up to a combination of the fact that we have not been dancing in two months and just got done dancing 3 nights in a row  PLUS yesterday I wanted to make the most of our visit to the gym that I pushed myself to do 4 miles in an hour- this meant running a good part of one of those miles...kept positive self-talking to go just another 30 seconds, just another minute, just get through this song...and I'd say that I ran probably 8/10 of that one mile...but OUCH!

It was very nice to put on my jeans each night and have them feel loose..it was also nice to not feel like I wanted to rip my belly button ring out- for months it has been so uncomfortable to be wearing that darn thing, but I've been stubborn- that discomfort was a reminder of the weight gain!   It was also nice to come home tonight and run into a neighbor who automatically said, "you look like you've lost weight".  As anyone who has tried to lose weight will agree- those words are music to my ears!   Even Bill mentioned that he never felt winded while dancing...amazing what 9-10 pounds difference can make!

So enough of the WW doom and gloom- Bill & I did have a fabulous Anniversary Celebration, it was great to just "BE" together- alone, just us- we did meet some nice people, ran into someone from my childhood neighborhood whose brother was in my class 1st-8th grades...and then also ran into one of my H.S. teachers too...crazy, small world we live in!   Happy to have had this time with Bill to celebrate 5 years of wonderful marriage- we both agreed this was our 2nd favorite Anniversary celebration, right behind our 1st year celebration- which was also a cruise!  

Now for my "Monday" tomorrow....short week, but hoping to make it a productive week on many fronts!  Then a weekend coming with very little planned- YAY!!!!!

Reflections....the week, the last 5 years...the amazing marriage I am blessed with....CAUTION, this blog has potential to be completely RANDOM.

I can say whole-heartedly that this has been an exhausting week- I think coming off of the weekend with all the work putting mom's house back in order, dealing with various emotions surrounding that and then getting our life back to "normal".   Bill & I have been living "alone" again now for 5 nights and he still has his things in my bathroom..wonder if now the "guest bathroom" is going to stay that or if he will reclaim it when we return from our cruise.

So this "normal" week included, 3 walks for 3 miles each with BFF Diane, even on a rainy day we lucked out and the rain didn't come down until after we were done, I only got in one Body Pump class, was aiming for two, but ran our of steam, I went to the Giants game (have not been to one since Opening Day)- had some fun gal pal time there with Sunny and Marion, I made a TON of progress on work things; although I still have a bunch of things that will be waiting for me when I return Tuesday.  Had hoped to make it dancing Wednesday night to the Saddle Rack since one of our FAVORITE Dance instructors was going to be teaching, but Bill worked until 630pm, so that didn't happen- can't blame it all on him- I was tired too.

We leave tomorrow morning for Long Beach for a quick 3 day cruise to Baja to celebrate our 5th Wedding Anniversary- where has 5 years gone?  I am in total disbelief, it has been a wild, but wonderful ride for sure.  Each and every day I am reminded of how lucky I am to be with such a wonderful Husband.  We laugh together, we cry together (happy tears mostly), we dance together, we just 'are' together.  We are a perfect fit and accept everything about the other...it'll be so nice to just get away to a place where cell phones don't work, internet is too slow to try and we can just BE together- dancing 3 nights in a row, having some good gym time, catch up on some reading and of course- I must practice my Zumba playlist for Monday's class! Yikes! 

I didn't make it to WW this morning as I had hoped- so I will do my Friday morning weigh in- here at home and then I'll get back to my meeting schedule next Friday- but I feel confident that I've reached my goal for this week- I just feel it!  Now to be careful while away this weekend to not overindulge.  

I took mom to two Dr. Appts today and both went well- her foot Dr. said there just isn't much they can do for her toe that has arthritis- but she's ok with that- he called her a tough cookie and she smiled and said "darn right I am"...then the Vascular Specialist was not concerned at all about her circulation in the legs- she did some tests and said that she has good genes and is in pretty darn good health all things considered..pretty amazing.  For being such a good patient, I stopped by Mitchell's Ice Cream to get her a milkshake- she's addicted to milkshakes now and her weigh in at the Dr office was an even 99 pounds (it was 102.5 with her coat on- who wears a coat in June that weighs 3 pounds??? my mom!)...but she is up 2.5 pounds from the last weigh in at my house- so that is great news!  She wants to get to 105.  It's just wrong that she needs to gain and I need to lose....

So time to think about packing- yes it's almost midnight and I have not packed and we leave the house at 645am- do i ever learn?  Nope- it's just the craziness of my life I suppose!   I always seem to run out of day!

MOM is back HOME!

This was a VERY busy weekend- in fact I am still tuckered out tonight!   Friday night was a night at home- I actually was in bed before 11pm on a Friday night- I don't think that has happened in a very long time!   But I needed the rest, it felt good and I actually set an early morning alarm clock to make sure I got to the gym.  I took the 710am Body Pump class, followed by the 815am step class.  I am usually a pretty lame stepper- but I managed through the class- Amy was a great instructor and I got a fabulous workout.    I came home after a few errands, had some breakfast and shower, then we headed up to mom's house with her this time.

The whole family was there, minus one nephew and we worked at getting more things in place and unpacking knick knacks, etc.   Mom was able to sort through some things and determine if she really wanted to keep things or get rid of some- Pick of the Litter is going to have a huge donation soon!   We worked diligently from 1pm until 10pm.   But we had made incredible progress, although had a few setbacks..,my mom's new kitchen shade was about an inch too wide and it can't be trimmed down- so we have to order a new one and one of her favorite table lamps met an untimely demise - so that also needs to be replaced.  It was a fairly stressful day for most of us, a little trying at times (way too many people in such a small house at one time), but in the end we accomplished quite a bit.   We got home around 11pm and made dinner and my mom and I stayed up until 2am chatting, Bill was with us until 1am- hen he slept on the couch!  

We all slept in Sunday- got out of bed around 11am and slowly came to life- we were all exhausted beyond belief.  But we finally left the house around 1pm and did a Target run, Bed Bath & Beyond and Safeway...4 hours later we were finally on the road to S.F.- this time it was just Bill, my mom and myself- we each had our duties and got her completely moved in - we left her house around 930pm and she still had a few boxes of things to sort through and put in their places, but overall the house looked really good- I am pissed that I forgot to take after pictures- but will take some Thursday when I take her to a Dr. appt.  

I think mom is very pleased with her house and all of the improvements, she is worried about being lonely now after living with us for a couple of months and I worry about her in that regard she is also lonely because her main activity while home was smoking and she has made it no secret that she does miss the cigarettes- she says she wants one, but that she won't smoke...we'll see- I just pray that IF she tries that she quickly realizes that they don't taste good anymore.

I have been feeling "Skinny" these past few days - so I have jumped on the scale and am fairly confident that I will meet or exceed my goal for this week's weigh in.  I'm going to try to get to WW on Thursday this week since Friday we leave for our 5th Anniversary Cruise...my goal is 10 pounds by the 10th- I'm really loving this program and it's getting really easy, I am loving my workouts and finding it easier to fit them into my schedule- trying to get 1-2 in per day....I still need to incorporate some yoga, I just have not had the right schedule at the gym to fit into my schedule- but plan to work it out.   I am sitting here right now with 25 weekly and 35 activity points unused...I am going out tomorrow night to the Giants game- but will be ok.

Starting to stress a bit over the fact that I am subbing Zumba next week for 4 weeks and I have not taught the class in over 6 months- I have to get my playlist together this week before we go away so I can review and practice while on the cruise...otherwise I'm screwed!  I should have gone to Zumba tonight to get some practice and review-- but was just too wiped out!

WHAT A DAY!!

Today was HORRIBLE!!  Well, I guess it wasn't all bad...but considering I worked until 2am last night - that just set the stage for a bad Friday.  I really wanted to get to my WW meeting, but the alarm sounded and I just could not drag myself out of bed.  I re-set my alarm for an hour later so that I could get up for my spin class.  I was still dead as could be, tried texting two instructor friends to see if either of them could sub for me - but no response, so I had to pull it together and get to the gym.

I felt like I was sleep-spinning, you know the equivalent of sleep-walking...but actually it was a good class, had a great group and I was beat by the end of the hour.   I did weigh myself at home and found that I lost another pound, so I am down 8.4 total.  I am really hoping and going to push for 10 pounds total by the end of this week- that would be a great Anniversary gift for the 10th of June!

So the horrible part of my day started once I got to my desk for work.  Just an insane day, nothing seemed to go right.  Worked my butt off all day on a last minute Maui package and then in the end they changed their dates and booked online less than an hour ago because they didn't want to risk losing the price...sucks because with the new dates I had the same price.  Another one bites the dust!    I had a corporate client trying to get upgraded for a Monday flight and no matter what we tried it just was not coming together...very frustrating.  I'm sure there was something else that I'm not thinking of right now- but it just seemed to all hit me at once.  OH yes and then Bill calls in the midst of all this with a "problem" - poor guy I darn near bit his head off - his problem wasn't anything terrible- he had a dead battery and AAA was on the way to help- but my reaction was terrible to him and would if there really was something awful that had happened and that was how I had responded to him.  I need to take some anger management classes or something.

Not sure if it was just lack of sleep and all the stress of this week (there has been a ton) or what..but I have been a beast these past few days.  I am sure my mom is starting to wear on me a bit and she will finally go home this weekend- but that is probably also stressing me out also- how will she be alone- I know she's going to miss having the constant company.  Just can't win...I'm going to stress either way.

I am happy with this weeks WW results- a pound is a pound- I did do so much more activity and had hoped for more than that--but it is what it is.  Hubby lose 1/2 pound and he's not happy with that either- but he has not been using all of his daily points each day- which I told him that was probably the issue- he has to eat to the daily point limit so that his body doesn't think he's starving it!   I'm exhausted and am going to get to bed early..get a good night's rest and hopefully get up early and do back to back classes at the gym, and then late morning, "Project Mom's House" resumes, but we are bringing mom up there also so she can help go through stuff.  Sunday is move in day!

When one door closes...another opens?

I have always believed that and am hoping that it proves to be true.  I definitely believe that everything happens for a reason.  A week ago tonight, I had taught what I thought was going to be MY regular Body Pump class, only to find out the next day that it was a mistake, I was not supposed to be offered the class, someone else was in line for it before me, etc.  I actually did not take it personally - thanks to the way it was explained to me.

Well, two days ago another facility sent out an email that they are wanting to expand their Group X schedule at their main office in Newark and wanted to see which instructors who are employed at their Menlo Park gym would be interested.  So my first reaction was "Newark?"- but even the Director said in her email that they were a mere 8 minutes away from their Menlo Park Gym and I know this to be true.  When my friend Lisa said I had to come with her to the Saddle Rack sometime 7 years ago, I was like "Fremont- are you kidding me, that's so far away!"- Well, it's really not far at all and Newark is much closer.  I thought about it all day and then finally sent off an email with my schedule and availability.  Today I heard back from the Director that she thinks she will schedule me for a Monday and Thursday evening Body Pump class for the month of August- they are launching a Health & Fitness month to preview additional classes and then based on how that goes, the classes will become permanent.   So maybe this is my path to teaching Body Pump regularly- it's not the ideal location, it's not my first choice place- but who knows?  It shouldn't take me any more time to drive to Newark as it did to the Palo Alto JCC, I am optimistic, but guarded.  I'm afraid of getting my hopes up too high and then get deflated again!   So we will see, I hope to hear the final word soon.

This has been a crazy week and feels like it's been a full 5 days already, yet it's only been 2 days and I feel time slipping away- so much to do, so little time to get it all done.  My two groups for this and next weekend are coming together nicely- so that is a huge load lifted off my back, but I was so exhausted last night after working until 1am.  I ended up missing a Seminar this morning, I just could not get myself out of bed- I needed sleep.  I think my body has been in shock with all of the activity I've been getting lately. - I currently stand at having earned 52 Activity points this week- 43 of them unused.  Hopefully, that will translate to weight loss on the scale, but I am finding out more than ever that sleep has a lot to do with healthy weight loss and I need to make an effort with getting more sleep.  So what am I doing blogging at 1140pm?  It's my bewitching hour- LOL

I will have a busy two days left of the week with a lot of travel work that needs completing, mom has a hair appointment tomorrow and I am subbing Body Pump tomorrow night.  Friday, WW, Spin, might get to Zumba as well (I need to refresh my choreography before I sub for 4 weeks starting 6/13)...and then will enjoy the last Friday night at home with mom.  She moves back home on Saturday...a little over 2 months  after her hospital stay.  In fact, tomorrow- June 2nd will be two months.   It has been nice having her here with us and I would not trade having this experience for the world - BUT, it will be nice to resume to our normal life again.  She is driving me just a little nuts from time to time with her OCD and her Nervous Nelly idiosyncrasies.  She worries about the silliest things, but I guess that's what 82 year old ladies do.   

I am really looking forward to next weekend though- Bill and I get to celebrate our 5 year Wedding Anniversary on board a short cruise to Ensenada- it will just be nice to get away and be alone!  :D