Crazy as it sounds- I am missing Body Combat- I knew that I wanted a day of not hearing the 10 songs that comprise Body Combat 56, I knew that my body wanted nothing to do with jabs, hooks, kicks for at least a day--but now I think I'm ready to get back at it and work on what needs to be worked on so that I can submit a passing video assessment.
Sunday night I was just numb- in a good way. My body was so exhausted, my brain was running on empty- I did nothing but become one with the couch and my laptop for "fun"- did not attempt to bring any work to the couch- it could wait. It was a wonderfully relaxing evening and I still stayed up too late- you'd think that I would have melted into bed early- but I was still so wound up. I was overwhelmed by the number of people with "likes" and "congrat" messages on Facebook and many telling me how proud they were of me for having completed the training and passing. It felt really good. I was also blown away by the number of Les Mills instructor friends who very quickly volunteered to be part of my video assessment class. I'm really feeling the Tribe Vibe big time....and it's very cool.
When I was first certified in Body Pump- which at the time it was Les Mills/Body Training Systems- the Maori culture was really not a part of the program, it was not emphasized, the "tribe" mentality did not exist. Sure, you had other instructors there to help and mentor you- but it was just different. Then over the years when Les Mills and Body Training Systems split and Les Mills moved forward with all of the programs- they really started to develop the Tribe mentality, the family of Les Mills instructors worldwide- but I was not teaching at any facility that offered these programs, so I was not really part of the tribe, so to speak. The past year or so with more contacts on Facebook, with the face to face meetings with other instructors at Quarterlies, Mega Quarterlies, AIM and now this Body Combat training- I am just really feeling the Tribe Vibe (love that phrase that I just put together). When I decided to take the Body Combat training, I had reached out to several instructors that I knew had been teaching the format for years and they were all so gracious with their advice and helping with feedback, opening up their classes for me to attend. It was very cool and like I say now to have so many wanting to help me with my video. It's very heart-warming. I remember when Gold's in Redwood City brought in Body Pump, the club required any instructors who had not taught in a few years to re-assess with a video and it was like pulling teeth to get bodies at a mock class to film. Very stressful.
I had the best massage yesterday- I actually went to see the Chiropractor first and that was fabulous but boy my body was sore. The massage though- seriously the best one I think I have ever had. about 30 minutes of Shiatsu with lots of stretching and then serious massaging of all my aching body parts..she did wonders- I was like mush when I left and I can honestly say that I woke up today feeling pretty darn good...only body part that still hurts a bit is my right elbow and that is from that stupid Crab Crawl that I could not do in a coordinated fashion...but it is feeling better today- I still went light on my bicep weight in class tonight because that seems to be the one move that irritates the injury.
Had a great birthday dinner for my brother last night- always nice to spring mom from "the institution" as she calls it. Just felt like a normal family night around the dining table talking and laughing. REally happy that my mom is doing well and living close by now. I feel as though we are finally getting to enjoy things.
Today I taught a line dancing class at the JCC for a 70th birthday party. It was a really fun time with about 20 ladies in attendance for the party- and they caught on very quickly. In an hour, they learned Cupid Shuffle, Electric Slide, The Hustle and Alley Cat and we danced a few of them more than once. Afterwards, I had several ladies ask me if they could get a regular class at the JCC..so I am hopeful that this will come to fruition...it was a beautiful day and I taught outside on the 4th floor of the Cultural Center- an area that I didn't even know existed. Before I left, one of the ladies came up to me and said "So cute talented girl with the smooth dance moves, how can we get you to teach a class regularly?"...so sweet. Watch out Fancy Feet (Bill Horst)- your wife now has "smooth dance moves" :) It was a great fitness day and finished with a fabulous Body Pump class tonight.
All in all a great day...behind in travel work- so need to focus big time on this tomorrow...need to catch up and end the month with a bang!
Wednesday, July 31, 2013
Sunday, July 28, 2013
Passed!
Passed!
What a weekend! It was tough, it was grueling, it was long, it was filled with moments of needing to dig deep down within and moments of pushing beyond your limits. It was AMAZING. I am so very exhausted as I write this, I hope my thoughts come out the way they should.
I woke up Saturday, ready to take on the world, despite my road rash knee/leg. What I didn't know then is the pain I was feeling in my leg/knee was nothing compared to how my body is feeling NOW after hours and hours of crazy fitness fun. After introductions, we got right into the master class.....we started with some lecture/educational information and shortly after that we did our first of two presentations. I was nervous, but felt confident that I knew my stuff with regards to choreography and that coaching would or should come relatively easy with my Body Pump experience. My biggest concern was getting the left/right cues correct since you have to talk in opposites. I had track 8 for my first presentation and it's a fairly long track- almost 8 minutes and it's right after a tough Muay Thai track that is high intensity, breathe-sucking, six rounds of combat. I stepped up and got right into it...I felt good. I felt confident. The coaching kicked in, the cueing was right on...I know we talk about moments in class, moments that we want our participants to feel- the fitness magic, the chills, the goosebumps. There is one part of track 8 where you jog in place before you go for the last round of jabs (endless jabs) and I seriously got the chills and goosebumps...it was truly magical, I almost cried....but smiled instead and kept encouraging everyone to make it through the end of the battle. Afterwards, we received our feedback for the first presentation- I was given very good feedback and two things to focus on regarding technique (no surprise here since this is relatively new to me)- extend my punches more and always come back to my guard. Hmmmmm, the very same two things that my friend Donna told me a few weeks ago and I thought I was doing it, but not. The rest of the day was focused on technique drills and more education. Came home, showered, had dinner, did some "homework", received a lovely foot massage from hubby and then crashed!
Today was an early morning and we kicked the day off pretty quickly with presentation number 2 on the same track as yesterday- hopefully showing that we did our homework and show improvement. Fortunately, we all did. I flubbed one part of the choreography- ironically it was the same flub that our trainer Rebecca did the day before in the Master class, so I didn't feel so bad. The key with any choreography flub it to recover from it and hopefully the error is only between "Me, myself & I"...I didn't get the chills like the day prior, but still felt like I nailed the track overall and did show improvement. The feedback concurred, so I was given the next level of things to work on. After some more education, we then had the Body Combat Challenge...and I'm not going to go into detail because this was what freaked me out the most - the not knowing what challenge we'd be put up to...but let's just say that the 2 minute stations were killer and challenging and at one point I was "this" close to having a breakdown because one section was SO.F'N. HARD for me. But I "sucked it up buttercup" and kept pushing to do it. How rewarding to be done and to have passed the challenge and worked it, and worked it hard. After lunch, more education and then we finished the day with our third presentation on a different track. I was struggling with the track all afternoon- I could not get coordinated with my roundhouse kick and back fist punch- my arm just would not cooperate and do what it was supposed to do, when it was supposed to do it. But I think I nailed about 6 of the 10 reps of this combo. I can only use fatigue as my rationalizing for that because I was doing it correctly all week. Once we were done, the day was a wrap and we were given our final assessment for the weekend and YAY- 3/3 = PASS! I was thrilled to get 3/3...I had thought I might get 2/3 given some technique areas- but I nailed enough of the technique and showed improvement over the two days to receive the 3/3. Yay me. Super excited and happy to have this weekend behind me. However, after a couple down days, it's back at it to perfect everything else so that I can get ready to tape class for my video assessment.
We had such a great group of instructors in this training and it was nice to get to know new friends and we all shared a phenomenal experience together. I made it a point to high five everyone after their presentation and prior to one person's presentation I could see on her face the nerves and I just went up to her patted her on the back and told her "you got this...you can do it"...after her presentation she came up to me and thanked me for giving her that comment before her track. Felt so good to help someone else out. I was super excited to see Laurie who used to be a corporate employee for 24 hour a long time ago..she was always such a nice director who I'd run into at the Expos and really remembered her energy and spirit- we partnered a few times over the weekend and it was just really nice to reconnect with her.
Overall, great weekend. Rewarding experience in so many ways. When I signed up for this training, it was a leap of faith- can I do this? Will I get through? Will my troubled injuries let me? I'm happy to report that my degenerative toe is not hurting me - my feet were overall sore..but that's to be expected. My boss at Gold's, Robin was very supportive when I told her I was signing up and she had faith in me, even when I wasn't sure I had faith in myself. I could not have done this without the support of other tribe members and friends and family.
Well, I am POOPED and must get to bed...sadly, I need to teach Body Pump at 7am and sure hope I can lift my arms and legs! HA! First step, getting off the couch and walking up the 14 stairs to my bed!
What a weekend! It was tough, it was grueling, it was long, it was filled with moments of needing to dig deep down within and moments of pushing beyond your limits. It was AMAZING. I am so very exhausted as I write this, I hope my thoughts come out the way they should.
I woke up Saturday, ready to take on the world, despite my road rash knee/leg. What I didn't know then is the pain I was feeling in my leg/knee was nothing compared to how my body is feeling NOW after hours and hours of crazy fitness fun. After introductions, we got right into the master class.....we started with some lecture/educational information and shortly after that we did our first of two presentations. I was nervous, but felt confident that I knew my stuff with regards to choreography and that coaching would or should come relatively easy with my Body Pump experience. My biggest concern was getting the left/right cues correct since you have to talk in opposites. I had track 8 for my first presentation and it's a fairly long track- almost 8 minutes and it's right after a tough Muay Thai track that is high intensity, breathe-sucking, six rounds of combat. I stepped up and got right into it...I felt good. I felt confident. The coaching kicked in, the cueing was right on...I know we talk about moments in class, moments that we want our participants to feel- the fitness magic, the chills, the goosebumps. There is one part of track 8 where you jog in place before you go for the last round of jabs (endless jabs) and I seriously got the chills and goosebumps...it was truly magical, I almost cried....but smiled instead and kept encouraging everyone to make it through the end of the battle. Afterwards, we received our feedback for the first presentation- I was given very good feedback and two things to focus on regarding technique (no surprise here since this is relatively new to me)- extend my punches more and always come back to my guard. Hmmmmm, the very same two things that my friend Donna told me a few weeks ago and I thought I was doing it, but not. The rest of the day was focused on technique drills and more education. Came home, showered, had dinner, did some "homework", received a lovely foot massage from hubby and then crashed!
Today was an early morning and we kicked the day off pretty quickly with presentation number 2 on the same track as yesterday- hopefully showing that we did our homework and show improvement. Fortunately, we all did. I flubbed one part of the choreography- ironically it was the same flub that our trainer Rebecca did the day before in the Master class, so I didn't feel so bad. The key with any choreography flub it to recover from it and hopefully the error is only between "Me, myself & I"...I didn't get the chills like the day prior, but still felt like I nailed the track overall and did show improvement. The feedback concurred, so I was given the next level of things to work on. After some more education, we then had the Body Combat Challenge...and I'm not going to go into detail because this was what freaked me out the most - the not knowing what challenge we'd be put up to...but let's just say that the 2 minute stations were killer and challenging and at one point I was "this" close to having a breakdown because one section was SO.F'N. HARD for me. But I "sucked it up buttercup" and kept pushing to do it. How rewarding to be done and to have passed the challenge and worked it, and worked it hard. After lunch, more education and then we finished the day with our third presentation on a different track. I was struggling with the track all afternoon- I could not get coordinated with my roundhouse kick and back fist punch- my arm just would not cooperate and do what it was supposed to do, when it was supposed to do it. But I think I nailed about 6 of the 10 reps of this combo. I can only use fatigue as my rationalizing for that because I was doing it correctly all week. Once we were done, the day was a wrap and we were given our final assessment for the weekend and YAY- 3/3 = PASS! I was thrilled to get 3/3...I had thought I might get 2/3 given some technique areas- but I nailed enough of the technique and showed improvement over the two days to receive the 3/3. Yay me. Super excited and happy to have this weekend behind me. However, after a couple down days, it's back at it to perfect everything else so that I can get ready to tape class for my video assessment.
We had such a great group of instructors in this training and it was nice to get to know new friends and we all shared a phenomenal experience together. I made it a point to high five everyone after their presentation and prior to one person's presentation I could see on her face the nerves and I just went up to her patted her on the back and told her "you got this...you can do it"...after her presentation she came up to me and thanked me for giving her that comment before her track. Felt so good to help someone else out. I was super excited to see Laurie who used to be a corporate employee for 24 hour a long time ago..she was always such a nice director who I'd run into at the Expos and really remembered her energy and spirit- we partnered a few times over the weekend and it was just really nice to reconnect with her.
Overall, great weekend. Rewarding experience in so many ways. When I signed up for this training, it was a leap of faith- can I do this? Will I get through? Will my troubled injuries let me? I'm happy to report that my degenerative toe is not hurting me - my feet were overall sore..but that's to be expected. My boss at Gold's, Robin was very supportive when I told her I was signing up and she had faith in me, even when I wasn't sure I had faith in myself. I could not have done this without the support of other tribe members and friends and family.
Well, I am POOPED and must get to bed...sadly, I need to teach Body Pump at 7am and sure hope I can lift my arms and legs! HA! First step, getting off the couch and walking up the 14 stairs to my bed!
Saturday, July 27, 2013
Twas the night before....
Body Combat training...and all through the house...I sit here with my leg elevated and an ice pack.
Had a great day at the drag races with my Brother, Hubby and nephews...weather was great (until the sun went down = new jacket purchased), races were fun to watch and to photograph - all in all a great day. However, walking back to the car when everything was over, it was dark, walking on a gravel surface with some rocks here and there- of course I step on a rock wrong, ankle starts to roll- I was able to get out of that situation but in my effort to do so tripped over another rock and went flying. Down onto my knee first and two hands. Of course, because I have the shortest legs in the family- 3 of my family members were ahead of me and had no clue that I had fallen, the 4th member walked right past me and claims that he didn't see me - that it was dark. But of course, from my point of view (the fallen) to see my nephew walk past me- HURT. I've got to believe that he didn't see me or didn't realize that it was me that had fallen, lost in his own little world at the end of a long and tiring day. I had still quite a ways to walk to the car and my leg was hurting and my knee kept "clicking" with each step up the last hill. Of course, I'm in tears because all I can think about is Combat training this weekend and all of the time and hard work I've put in to get ready for this weekend. I just hope my knee isn't F*#$@d up! I've fallen on this same very knee before a few years ago tripping over uneven pavement during a walk - so I am very careful to look where I step, but tonight was just too many bullets to dodge in the dark and uneven surface.
So other than a messed up knee/leg- I am ready for this weekend - or will be once I get a good night of sleep- which is where I'm headed to next. I had a great week of training and am so very grateful to my friend Lisa who has supported me through all of this and has welcomed me and my DVD to her living room everyday this past week to "do the workout" and for me to get the choreography into my noggin. Yesterday, I was trying to cue the moves with the teachers on the DVD- I think I'm OK. I feel pretty good about my tracks- I really love this entire release, but I think that just happens with whatever release you train on, it becomes a special place in your heart and soul. A few comically moments during training this week. Of course, Keegan was watching his mom & I do this workout and he actually did stick around and watch with us almost everyday- which is pretty darn good for a 5 year old! On the second day, he pipes up: "Mom, do you feel the burn?" (I think he's watched his mom & Jonathan do too many Jillian Michael's DVDs)- but it cracked me up...then yesterday Keegs was SINGING one of the songs and I just about died laughing...and he pipes up "I can't get this song out of my head"-- really at 5, he says that? He's just such a sweetie pie. Any kid who has been wearing cowboy boots since he could wear shoes is a pretty fantastic kid in my book!
Ok- I could write on for days..but I am off to bed...thankfully training begins at 10am tomorrow and I am going to get there a bit early to help greet the trainer and help her to get set up since the Director won't be there until later. Sort of excited to be the "liaison" or "club rep" for this. I really do feel like Mountain View is my club- we are a great family together and so very excited to be embarking on a second Les Mills format! Only took me 13 years (but that is actually a lucky number for me)..and I'm training on the last weekend of July- just like 13 years ago with Body Pump! Not going to let a little (or big) bruised knee get in my way.
Body Combat training...and all through the house...I sit here with my leg elevated and an ice pack.
Had a great day at the drag races with my Brother, Hubby and nephews...weather was great (until the sun went down = new jacket purchased), races were fun to watch and to photograph - all in all a great day. However, walking back to the car when everything was over, it was dark, walking on a gravel surface with some rocks here and there- of course I step on a rock wrong, ankle starts to roll- I was able to get out of that situation but in my effort to do so tripped over another rock and went flying. Down onto my knee first and two hands. Of course, because I have the shortest legs in the family- 3 of my family members were ahead of me and had no clue that I had fallen, the 4th member walked right past me and claims that he didn't see me - that it was dark. But of course, from my point of view (the fallen) to see my nephew walk past me- HURT. I've got to believe that he didn't see me or didn't realize that it was me that had fallen, lost in his own little world at the end of a long and tiring day. I had still quite a ways to walk to the car and my leg was hurting and my knee kept "clicking" with each step up the last hill. Of course, I'm in tears because all I can think about is Combat training this weekend and all of the time and hard work I've put in to get ready for this weekend. I just hope my knee isn't F*#$@d up! I've fallen on this same very knee before a few years ago tripping over uneven pavement during a walk - so I am very careful to look where I step, but tonight was just too many bullets to dodge in the dark and uneven surface.
So other than a messed up knee/leg- I am ready for this weekend - or will be once I get a good night of sleep- which is where I'm headed to next. I had a great week of training and am so very grateful to my friend Lisa who has supported me through all of this and has welcomed me and my DVD to her living room everyday this past week to "do the workout" and for me to get the choreography into my noggin. Yesterday, I was trying to cue the moves with the teachers on the DVD- I think I'm OK. I feel pretty good about my tracks- I really love this entire release, but I think that just happens with whatever release you train on, it becomes a special place in your heart and soul. A few comically moments during training this week. Of course, Keegan was watching his mom & I do this workout and he actually did stick around and watch with us almost everyday- which is pretty darn good for a 5 year old! On the second day, he pipes up: "Mom, do you feel the burn?" (I think he's watched his mom & Jonathan do too many Jillian Michael's DVDs)- but it cracked me up...then yesterday Keegs was SINGING one of the songs and I just about died laughing...and he pipes up "I can't get this song out of my head"-- really at 5, he says that? He's just such a sweetie pie. Any kid who has been wearing cowboy boots since he could wear shoes is a pretty fantastic kid in my book!
Ok- I could write on for days..but I am off to bed...thankfully training begins at 10am tomorrow and I am going to get there a bit early to help greet the trainer and help her to get set up since the Director won't be there until later. Sort of excited to be the "liaison" or "club rep" for this. I really do feel like Mountain View is my club- we are a great family together and so very excited to be embarking on a second Les Mills format! Only took me 13 years (but that is actually a lucky number for me)..and I'm training on the last weekend of July- just like 13 years ago with Body Pump! Not going to let a little (or big) bruised knee get in my way.
Monday, July 22, 2013
Ready, Set...GO!
As I sit and write this, tonight is THE latest that I am allowing myself to stay up this week. I need to focus and get ready for my big Body Combat training weekend. I am beyond excited, nervous & anxious. It's going to be a TOUGH weekend, but I'm sure also a lot of fun and I'm just going to go in as best prepared as I can be and give it my all. I have plans with Lisa to get together several times this week and "practice" with her. Best way to get and keep that choreography in my head is to do it over and over and over again. I was happy with my track assignments - truth be told I would have been happy with anything but track 6 with the Matrix Kicks and I have heard that nobody was assigned that track since it's a new move and quite challenging for advanced instructors. Sigh.
Sleep is going to be key for me this week so that my body can get the recovery that it needs. I went to Body Combat yesterday and then taught my Body Pump class and after dancing friday night and going to bed at 2am, then up at 8am...well not enough rest and too much wear and tear in a short period of time. I'm not the spring chicken I was 9 years ago when I taught 18 classes per week and danced 3 nights in a row...I also used to get naps- daily.
I am a bit bummed in that my ActiveLink decided to fail this past week, so I have not had any accurate input to my Activity points since Tuesday. After doing the troubleshooting and contacting customer support- they determined that my device has malfunctioned and they are shipping me a new one. I hope it comes tomorrow. As of Friday's weigh in- I have lost close to 7 pounds since getting back on track and I'm super stoked about that. I am really being good with my food intake and trying to be diligent with portion control and trying to eat better. Now that I've tried the Shakeology samples- I'm anxiously waiting for my shipment so that I can do the meal replacement nutritional shake once per day.
Other than this huge focus on fitness right now...work has been busy and I have been feeling accomplished. Still having a steady stream of new business trickling in and quite a few last minute trip requests, which always adds a bit of stress to the mix. Mom is doing well with her health, but suspect the mental game is shifting and I need to really start to find things to do with her to keep her busy or encourage her to do somethings herself- with fewer Doctor appointments, she's not getting out that much and the excitement of bingo can only go so far.
Ready, set, GO....Go to BED early!!
Ready, set, GO...kick some butt in training this weekend!!
Ready, set, GO...and be focused all week!!
That is the agenda for this week! Off I GO!
As I sit and write this, tonight is THE latest that I am allowing myself to stay up this week. I need to focus and get ready for my big Body Combat training weekend. I am beyond excited, nervous & anxious. It's going to be a TOUGH weekend, but I'm sure also a lot of fun and I'm just going to go in as best prepared as I can be and give it my all. I have plans with Lisa to get together several times this week and "practice" with her. Best way to get and keep that choreography in my head is to do it over and over and over again. I was happy with my track assignments - truth be told I would have been happy with anything but track 6 with the Matrix Kicks and I have heard that nobody was assigned that track since it's a new move and quite challenging for advanced instructors. Sigh.
Sleep is going to be key for me this week so that my body can get the recovery that it needs. I went to Body Combat yesterday and then taught my Body Pump class and after dancing friday night and going to bed at 2am, then up at 8am...well not enough rest and too much wear and tear in a short period of time. I'm not the spring chicken I was 9 years ago when I taught 18 classes per week and danced 3 nights in a row...I also used to get naps- daily.
I am a bit bummed in that my ActiveLink decided to fail this past week, so I have not had any accurate input to my Activity points since Tuesday. After doing the troubleshooting and contacting customer support- they determined that my device has malfunctioned and they are shipping me a new one. I hope it comes tomorrow. As of Friday's weigh in- I have lost close to 7 pounds since getting back on track and I'm super stoked about that. I am really being good with my food intake and trying to be diligent with portion control and trying to eat better. Now that I've tried the Shakeology samples- I'm anxiously waiting for my shipment so that I can do the meal replacement nutritional shake once per day.
Other than this huge focus on fitness right now...work has been busy and I have been feeling accomplished. Still having a steady stream of new business trickling in and quite a few last minute trip requests, which always adds a bit of stress to the mix. Mom is doing well with her health, but suspect the mental game is shifting and I need to really start to find things to do with her to keep her busy or encourage her to do somethings herself- with fewer Doctor appointments, she's not getting out that much and the excitement of bingo can only go so far.
Ready, set, GO....Go to BED early!!
Ready, set, GO...kick some butt in training this weekend!!
Ready, set, GO...and be focused all week!!
That is the agenda for this week! Off I GO!
Sunday, July 14, 2013
Feeling GREAT!
It's been an awesome weekend filled with fitness fun and great times out with fantastic friends. Sometimes I forget just how lucky I am to have so many wonderful people in my life. As I sit here and type this, I am SORE! And it FEELS WONDERFUL! I am sore in so many places that I have not been sore for a very long time. In the last 4 days, I have completed 3 Body Combat classes, I've taught 3 Body Pump Classes, 1 spinning class and did some dancing Saturday night with the hubs. It feels good to be active again, it feels good to be doing "my" workouts again.
Body Combat this weekend was with two different instructors, one relatively new Combat instructor at my gym and he was really good, I would never have known that he was just certified on the last release. Today I was a guest at another club to take class from my friend Donna and she's just impeccable. She team taught with another instructor and they really were fabulous and I tried to soak it all in. I know my body was definitely fatigued going in today but it was fun! Donna gave me some great feedback afterwards...I need to work on extension in my punches and also need to remember to keep my guard up. I know the punch extension is a definite- I can see and feel the difference between doing it right and wrong after going over it with her. The guard issue, I am aware and do try to keep it up- I may have just been out of it today. Going to check with Saturday's instructor to see if he noticed anything...but in any case, I am aware now and will be paying close attention. One thing about me, I am a perfectionist and want to succeed well at the training in two weeks.
Two weeks, actually less than that. Hopefully, this time in two weeks I am blogging about what a wonderful weekend of training I've had with tribe members and that I have left with a Pass. There are three options, Pass, Pass Withheld or Fail. The third option is not even an option. However, still no DVD/notes/track assignment in the mail yet. I hope, hope, hope that it comes tomorrow- I'm dying to know which tracks I've been assigned. I'm scared to death that I'll get the Matrix track, it's going to be hard enough to master the move without having to teach it - although it's a shorter track to teach. Oh well, I'm going to get whatever I'm going to get and can't freak out about it until I get it!
The three eating out occassions went well. I actually made conscious decisions and did not overeat- in fact I left part of my lunch on the plate yesterday and then both last night and tonight I ended up taking 1/2 my meal home. Major progress for me. I will have some great leftovers this week for lunch! So onto the next week and hopefully another successful one!
Friday, July 12, 2013
APPLIED Knowledge IS Power...
Once again focused on ME and trying to lose the weight that I've been trying to lose for two years now..of course I did lose some of back in 2011 and then 2012 happened- the year of taking care of others and paying very little attention to myself. Although, indirectly my lack of activity did help my foot recover and there is no way I would have voluntarily took a backseat to being active if I could have helped it in any way...so foot feels good, but at what cost- extra weight that does not feel good. Ok, enough of the history lesson.
I have read every darn weight loss article I could find, compared options, and it still comes back to Weight Watchers for me. It has worked in the past and worked quite well for me, I just needed to jump start it and see what I could do differently, while still following the program. I started to peruse over the WW website and noticed a new device they were selling- the Active Link...it's a little thing that can attach to the waist of your pants, you can wear it in your pocket, on a chain or attach to your bra or workout shirt..so lots of options and it will tell you how many activity points you are earning. Figured this may be the perfect thing for me because let's face it- I've "followed" the program and logged my points and been active and used some activity points (not all of them) and still did not see the results that I should have. Now some would say it is "what" I'm putting in my body and yes, I agree with that to some degree. But I wanted to see what input this device would give to me.
You have to wear it for a week and it evaluates how active you are. Now I may have picked a week that basically "screws" me, because this is how they determine your baseline of activity. What week did I evaluate? Last week, the 4th of July holiday week where I taught 9 classes as opposed to my normal 4. But in reality, I SHOULD be getting the activity of 9 classes per week just for my own "feel good" and my own workouts. I need to add in at least 5 workouts that are MINE, not teaching. Granted teaching you are active, you are working out- but you're not focused on YOUR workout, you are focusing on the CLASS's workout. So maybe my evaluation week screwed me, maybe it didn't. We'll see.
I do think 9/10 of this equation is mental and the games that get played on ones mind. I was very irritated the first day that I worked out this week and didn't have any activity points. In fact, for all of last week the darn thing credited me with only 4 activity points for the week!!! Now prior to this device, according to the Activity Log, a 45 minute weight lifting workout with vigorous effort would warrant 4 points- just one class - I teach 4 of these per week. A 50 minute spinning class would give 8-9 points- just one class. I won't even get into a night of line dancing. But this is a HUGE difference in "extra points" that one could conceivably eat. So clearly there are some discrepancies and what to believe. Well since I was not losing weight when I was earning all of those activity points (and using a good portion of them)- I'm going to assume that the device is accurate and that less is more, more accurate that is.
Today is day one of my 3rd week with the device and it has credited me with 4 activity points today- but that is after teaching one Spin class and one Body Pump class with a little extra practice of Body Pump afterwards. If I were using the previous point systems I would have logged about 12-14 points today- BIG difference!
So what has the scale said- well I started this new journey on June 21st, 3 weeks ago and I am almost down 5 pounds. I am paying attention to eating when I am hungry, paying attention to when I am bored and might wander towards food. I am taking my late night "work" to my office because if I sit on the couch, I will wander to the very close kitchen at the hint of hunger or supposed hunger. I am trying to not eat after 9pm. I am trying to limit the alcohol intake to no more than 3 days per week and am really looking ahead at my calendar to plan accordingly. Enjoying wine almost every night is just not worth the extra weight anymore. Thanks to a Beachbody Coach who sent me samples, I have tried 3 flavors of Shakeology and they are pretty OK- they aren't to die for, but I can live with them and I think that doing one meal replacement shake is a good option for me. To get the nutrients that I am missing and have a very low point meal. I am still going to try different veggies, but may go back to just starting with salads- I did pretty good 13 years ago with my Caesar Salads with light dressing, it did get me to eat the green leafy crap! At a recent cruise line seminar, they had a pre-planned menu and it was a Cobb Salad- well that was not so bad actually- but then again it had hard boiled eggs, bacon bits and chicken breast that was warm (I hate cold chicken on a salad)...but I did eat a fair amount of the romaine as well.
I have started taking Body Combat classes in an effort to prepare for the training in two weeks. TWO WEEKS!! Starting to freak out a bit, especially since I have not received my DVD/CD & notes yet- hopefully tomorrow. Although, probably better that I have not received it yet- with Body Pump launch tomorrow, my head is already focused on the one class. Class last night was good- it felt good to be doing some cardio and my foot held up which was good news. I am sore today in places that I have not been sore in a long time. The teacher is a new Combat instructor, it was her first class actually and she did very good- but it also made me feel like "I could do this". In talking with her and a few members after class, I was telling her that the Gold's members were great and very forgiving and then one member piped up "We don't have to forgive you for anything, you're perfect everytime." Boy, that sure made my day and I know that I'm not perfect- I make mistakes, I just know how to cover them up. :) I'm definitely getting anxious for the training and very nervous of the unknown. I know that Les Mills is famous for having "the challenge" during their trainings and with Body Pump 13 years ago the challenge was to run x miles- I can't remember it may have been 1 mile or 3, it didn't matter at the time I was not a runner (still am not) and I was petrified that I was not going to be able to do it. But I did. So freaking out a bit not knowing what the challenge with Combat training will be. As I am typing this, I just realized something coincidental- my Body Pump training 13 years ago was a two weekend deal but it finished up the last weekend of July. My Combat training is the last week of July- how weird is that? I'm thinking that is a good sign.
Alright, guess it's time to start this weekend. I still have some work to finish up, must review Body Pump a few more times before 815am launch and try to plan my weekend meals to be point friendly. We have 3 eating out functions this weekend- it will be challenging for sure...but hopefully I will counteract the effects with lots of activity. This weekend calls for Body Pump x 2 and Body Combat x 2 and hopefully some dancing tomorrow night. I am reconnecting with another fitness instructor next week for a walk at the Dish, so I am really looking forward to that also. It's ME time, no excuses- the time has come and I'm doing it!
Once again focused on ME and trying to lose the weight that I've been trying to lose for two years now..of course I did lose some of back in 2011 and then 2012 happened- the year of taking care of others and paying very little attention to myself. Although, indirectly my lack of activity did help my foot recover and there is no way I would have voluntarily took a backseat to being active if I could have helped it in any way...so foot feels good, but at what cost- extra weight that does not feel good. Ok, enough of the history lesson.
I have read every darn weight loss article I could find, compared options, and it still comes back to Weight Watchers for me. It has worked in the past and worked quite well for me, I just needed to jump start it and see what I could do differently, while still following the program. I started to peruse over the WW website and noticed a new device they were selling- the Active Link...it's a little thing that can attach to the waist of your pants, you can wear it in your pocket, on a chain or attach to your bra or workout shirt..so lots of options and it will tell you how many activity points you are earning. Figured this may be the perfect thing for me because let's face it- I've "followed" the program and logged my points and been active and used some activity points (not all of them) and still did not see the results that I should have. Now some would say it is "what" I'm putting in my body and yes, I agree with that to some degree. But I wanted to see what input this device would give to me.
You have to wear it for a week and it evaluates how active you are. Now I may have picked a week that basically "screws" me, because this is how they determine your baseline of activity. What week did I evaluate? Last week, the 4th of July holiday week where I taught 9 classes as opposed to my normal 4. But in reality, I SHOULD be getting the activity of 9 classes per week just for my own "feel good" and my own workouts. I need to add in at least 5 workouts that are MINE, not teaching. Granted teaching you are active, you are working out- but you're not focused on YOUR workout, you are focusing on the CLASS's workout. So maybe my evaluation week screwed me, maybe it didn't. We'll see.
I do think 9/10 of this equation is mental and the games that get played on ones mind. I was very irritated the first day that I worked out this week and didn't have any activity points. In fact, for all of last week the darn thing credited me with only 4 activity points for the week!!! Now prior to this device, according to the Activity Log, a 45 minute weight lifting workout with vigorous effort would warrant 4 points- just one class - I teach 4 of these per week. A 50 minute spinning class would give 8-9 points- just one class. I won't even get into a night of line dancing. But this is a HUGE difference in "extra points" that one could conceivably eat. So clearly there are some discrepancies and what to believe. Well since I was not losing weight when I was earning all of those activity points (and using a good portion of them)- I'm going to assume that the device is accurate and that less is more, more accurate that is.
Today is day one of my 3rd week with the device and it has credited me with 4 activity points today- but that is after teaching one Spin class and one Body Pump class with a little extra practice of Body Pump afterwards. If I were using the previous point systems I would have logged about 12-14 points today- BIG difference!
So what has the scale said- well I started this new journey on June 21st, 3 weeks ago and I am almost down 5 pounds. I am paying attention to eating when I am hungry, paying attention to when I am bored and might wander towards food. I am taking my late night "work" to my office because if I sit on the couch, I will wander to the very close kitchen at the hint of hunger or supposed hunger. I am trying to not eat after 9pm. I am trying to limit the alcohol intake to no more than 3 days per week and am really looking ahead at my calendar to plan accordingly. Enjoying wine almost every night is just not worth the extra weight anymore. Thanks to a Beachbody Coach who sent me samples, I have tried 3 flavors of Shakeology and they are pretty OK- they aren't to die for, but I can live with them and I think that doing one meal replacement shake is a good option for me. To get the nutrients that I am missing and have a very low point meal. I am still going to try different veggies, but may go back to just starting with salads- I did pretty good 13 years ago with my Caesar Salads with light dressing, it did get me to eat the green leafy crap! At a recent cruise line seminar, they had a pre-planned menu and it was a Cobb Salad- well that was not so bad actually- but then again it had hard boiled eggs, bacon bits and chicken breast that was warm (I hate cold chicken on a salad)...but I did eat a fair amount of the romaine as well.
I have started taking Body Combat classes in an effort to prepare for the training in two weeks. TWO WEEKS!! Starting to freak out a bit, especially since I have not received my DVD/CD & notes yet- hopefully tomorrow. Although, probably better that I have not received it yet- with Body Pump launch tomorrow, my head is already focused on the one class. Class last night was good- it felt good to be doing some cardio and my foot held up which was good news. I am sore today in places that I have not been sore in a long time. The teacher is a new Combat instructor, it was her first class actually and she did very good- but it also made me feel like "I could do this". In talking with her and a few members after class, I was telling her that the Gold's members were great and very forgiving and then one member piped up "We don't have to forgive you for anything, you're perfect everytime." Boy, that sure made my day and I know that I'm not perfect- I make mistakes, I just know how to cover them up. :) I'm definitely getting anxious for the training and very nervous of the unknown. I know that Les Mills is famous for having "the challenge" during their trainings and with Body Pump 13 years ago the challenge was to run x miles- I can't remember it may have been 1 mile or 3, it didn't matter at the time I was not a runner (still am not) and I was petrified that I was not going to be able to do it. But I did. So freaking out a bit not knowing what the challenge with Combat training will be. As I am typing this, I just realized something coincidental- my Body Pump training 13 years ago was a two weekend deal but it finished up the last weekend of July. My Combat training is the last week of July- how weird is that? I'm thinking that is a good sign.
Alright, guess it's time to start this weekend. I still have some work to finish up, must review Body Pump a few more times before 815am launch and try to plan my weekend meals to be point friendly. We have 3 eating out functions this weekend- it will be challenging for sure...but hopefully I will counteract the effects with lots of activity. This weekend calls for Body Pump x 2 and Body Combat x 2 and hopefully some dancing tomorrow night. I am reconnecting with another fitness instructor next week for a walk at the Dish, so I am really looking forward to that also. It's ME time, no excuses- the time has come and I'm doing it!
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Whirlwind
Wow- have not blogged since the middle of May- not for lack of thinking about it- but the time sure is flying right on past me and I've been incredibly busy. Guess I am overdue and feeling the need to write down some thoughts or more.
Mom first..she was released from rehab on May 21st back to her apartment and happy to say that she is doing VERY well. She had physical therapists working with her a few times per week at home, we have had follow up appointments with her doctors and the shoulder is considered healed, her range of motion is very good. For awhile, it was "driving miss daisy" with her in the backseat, but now she has enough ROM to use the handpull for the front seat to get into my Pathfinder. She was elated when she tried and was able to. She is gaining weight and is currently a strong 97 pounds -although she decided to lie on her California ID this past week and said she was 105 and a height of 5'0" (she is really 4'11")- she even gave me a speech to not "rat her out" at the DMV when she put those false measurements down. Gee, would I do that? Who doesn't like on the Driver's License or ID for the height/weight- right? Overall, she is doing good, she is healthy and that is HUGE! The weekends are slow and boring for her, so I really need to make a point of taking time out to do something with her on the weekends. It's just really tough since that is "Pam & Bill time" and I am with her so much during the week taking care of business. I'll figure it out, I always do.
June has flown by incredibly quick- celebrated 7 years with the most wonderful man in the world although we picked the worst place on earth to do this- Disneyland in June is NOT the happiest place on earth; however, we did have a good time- we did get to go on a lot of attractions. We had a very fun time at The Ranch Restaurant and Saloon - great dining and then country dancing afterwards and then on our Anniversary a fabulous dinner at Napa Rose. All in all, our weekend away was fabulous despite the crowds and chilly weather- we actually had to buy jackets the first night at Disneyland. We parted ways at LAX, Bill went home and I continued onto Orlando for my annual Vacation.com conference with a few extra days at Disney World with my friend and colleague, Mandi. We had a great time- lots of valuable education, fun times socializing with other agents and some great activities for the conference goers! Our two days at Disney World were a blast, but I was definitely ready to get home once all was said and done. It was an exhausting 10 days and literally took me a week to recover.
Bill celebrated his last birthday in his 40's - lucky number 49 and I think that he had a great weekend of celebrations. He is so damn good to me, that I really wanted to make sure that he was treated extra specially for his birthday weekend. He is my rock, my foundation and I could not do this life without his support. He's amazing. We started out Friday night by his request at PF Chang's for dinner, then danced the night away at the Saddle Rack- afterall, he is "Mr Happy Feet"- we were joined with a variety of friends for one or both venues and had a great night. Saturday we picked up my mom and the three of us went to see "Monsters University"- which was a very cute movie and then we came home to a homemade Spaghetti dinner, thanks to my brother. It was delicious and it was also great to "spring" mom from the old folks home for a saturday since that is her worst day of the week (most bored). Sunday, my brother made a special breakfast for Bill - french toast and sausage after we had morning massages. Then we finished up the weekend with a concert at the Shoreline- "Bone Bash" with Night Ranger, Bad Company and Lynryd Skynyrd. It was an amazing show- great music and we had phenomenal seats- just 4 rows from the stage! Incredible! It was also a special treat to meet up with my BFF from 1st grade (Marianne) and her daughter (Brianna) between acts and got to meet her special guy. Overall, it was a GREAT weekend!
Now for me..well, I think that I am finally getting back to me and starting once again to take care of myself. Afraid to say that too loudly because then the other shoe might fall. I have refocused myself with weight watchers again. I have purchased their activity device so that I can truly see what activity points I am earning- I'm in the first week evaluation phase, so we'll see what comes of it. I am beefing up my activity and getting in some workouts for myself and I've done something extremely scary. I have finally signed up for training for a second Les Mills format. Yep, I have not told many people- so anyone who reads this blog- feel privileged because I am not bragging too loudly on this. It is definitely something out of my comfort zone, but one of Les Mills principles is to "Be Brave" - so that is exactly what I am going to do. I'm waiting for my DVD and choreography notes so that I can start to work on that. I'm excited that Gold's has added two classes to the schedule, so I can go take the class 5+ times before the training weekend at the end of July. The format is Body Combat- a mixed martial arts class with moves from Karate, Muay Thai, Boxing, Taekwondo, Tai Chi. Nervous, excited, anxious- but I'm going to give it 200% and we'll see where the chips fall. The bottom line is that I will be learning one of the best programs out there- definitely the best martial arts inspired program from the best trainers in the business, so I will soak it all in and do my best. July is big time training month for me to be ready for this. My friend Lisa has said over and over again that she'd love to train with me, which I think will be good for me to get my feet wet before training weekend.
Overall, I am enjoying the summer, definitely enjoying the HOT weather we've been having- bring it on, stay forever- I love it! Been having some great times with fabulous friends.
Ok- as my nephew just reminded me - I was "off to bed" about 30 minutes ago according to my facebook post- so I will finish this up and head off to bed. Get a good night sleep to attack this short work week that is overloaded with fitness fun and a great 4th of July weekend on the agenda with great people!
Mom first..she was released from rehab on May 21st back to her apartment and happy to say that she is doing VERY well. She had physical therapists working with her a few times per week at home, we have had follow up appointments with her doctors and the shoulder is considered healed, her range of motion is very good. For awhile, it was "driving miss daisy" with her in the backseat, but now she has enough ROM to use the handpull for the front seat to get into my Pathfinder. She was elated when she tried and was able to. She is gaining weight and is currently a strong 97 pounds -although she decided to lie on her California ID this past week and said she was 105 and a height of 5'0" (she is really 4'11")- she even gave me a speech to not "rat her out" at the DMV when she put those false measurements down. Gee, would I do that? Who doesn't like on the Driver's License or ID for the height/weight- right? Overall, she is doing good, she is healthy and that is HUGE! The weekends are slow and boring for her, so I really need to make a point of taking time out to do something with her on the weekends. It's just really tough since that is "Pam & Bill time" and I am with her so much during the week taking care of business. I'll figure it out, I always do.
June has flown by incredibly quick- celebrated 7 years with the most wonderful man in the world although we picked the worst place on earth to do this- Disneyland in June is NOT the happiest place on earth; however, we did have a good time- we did get to go on a lot of attractions. We had a very fun time at The Ranch Restaurant and Saloon - great dining and then country dancing afterwards and then on our Anniversary a fabulous dinner at Napa Rose. All in all, our weekend away was fabulous despite the crowds and chilly weather- we actually had to buy jackets the first night at Disneyland. We parted ways at LAX, Bill went home and I continued onto Orlando for my annual Vacation.com conference with a few extra days at Disney World with my friend and colleague, Mandi. We had a great time- lots of valuable education, fun times socializing with other agents and some great activities for the conference goers! Our two days at Disney World were a blast, but I was definitely ready to get home once all was said and done. It was an exhausting 10 days and literally took me a week to recover.
Bill celebrated his last birthday in his 40's - lucky number 49 and I think that he had a great weekend of celebrations. He is so damn good to me, that I really wanted to make sure that he was treated extra specially for his birthday weekend. He is my rock, my foundation and I could not do this life without his support. He's amazing. We started out Friday night by his request at PF Chang's for dinner, then danced the night away at the Saddle Rack- afterall, he is "Mr Happy Feet"- we were joined with a variety of friends for one or both venues and had a great night. Saturday we picked up my mom and the three of us went to see "Monsters University"- which was a very cute movie and then we came home to a homemade Spaghetti dinner, thanks to my brother. It was delicious and it was also great to "spring" mom from the old folks home for a saturday since that is her worst day of the week (most bored). Sunday, my brother made a special breakfast for Bill - french toast and sausage after we had morning massages. Then we finished up the weekend with a concert at the Shoreline- "Bone Bash" with Night Ranger, Bad Company and Lynryd Skynyrd. It was an amazing show- great music and we had phenomenal seats- just 4 rows from the stage! Incredible! It was also a special treat to meet up with my BFF from 1st grade (Marianne) and her daughter (Brianna) between acts and got to meet her special guy. Overall, it was a GREAT weekend!
Now for me..well, I think that I am finally getting back to me and starting once again to take care of myself. Afraid to say that too loudly because then the other shoe might fall. I have refocused myself with weight watchers again. I have purchased their activity device so that I can truly see what activity points I am earning- I'm in the first week evaluation phase, so we'll see what comes of it. I am beefing up my activity and getting in some workouts for myself and I've done something extremely scary. I have finally signed up for training for a second Les Mills format. Yep, I have not told many people- so anyone who reads this blog- feel privileged because I am not bragging too loudly on this. It is definitely something out of my comfort zone, but one of Les Mills principles is to "Be Brave" - so that is exactly what I am going to do. I'm waiting for my DVD and choreography notes so that I can start to work on that. I'm excited that Gold's has added two classes to the schedule, so I can go take the class 5+ times before the training weekend at the end of July. The format is Body Combat- a mixed martial arts class with moves from Karate, Muay Thai, Boxing, Taekwondo, Tai Chi. Nervous, excited, anxious- but I'm going to give it 200% and we'll see where the chips fall. The bottom line is that I will be learning one of the best programs out there- definitely the best martial arts inspired program from the best trainers in the business, so I will soak it all in and do my best. July is big time training month for me to be ready for this. My friend Lisa has said over and over again that she'd love to train with me, which I think will be good for me to get my feet wet before training weekend.
Overall, I am enjoying the summer, definitely enjoying the HOT weather we've been having- bring it on, stay forever- I love it! Been having some great times with fabulous friends.
Ok- as my nephew just reminded me - I was "off to bed" about 30 minutes ago according to my facebook post- so I will finish this up and head off to bed. Get a good night sleep to attack this short work week that is overloaded with fitness fun and a great 4th of July weekend on the agenda with great people!
Sunday, May 12, 2013
Where do I even begin?
I really must set aside time to journal at least once a week because here we are a month between posts and I know that I am going to have a hard time keeping these thoughts coherent...eeeks. Life has been BUSY. Life has been CRAZY. Time is flying by faster than the speed of light- I'm almost feeling a little anxious about this. I mean really the time flies by so fast that I'm starting to look at milestones- 30th High School Reunion, Close friends beginning their 50's, Siblings beginning their 60's and then hearing so often about people you know directly or indirectly passing at these ages or dealing with life threatening diseases or challenges - it's just all a bit too "real" and quite scary. I suppose it's a message to just live life to its fullest because you just never know what tomorrow will bring.
I'll start with mom, her rehabilitation at Lytton Gardens is going well. We met with her orthopedic Doctor two weeks ago and they took a new x-ray. Shoulder is healing and they cleared her to do some exercises with her left arm. She loves therapy, loves doing her exercises and loves her therapists. Stacy & Mark get two thumbs up and I think they both enjoy my mom and her chatty-ness. She has made several friends with the staff at Lytton Gardens, it's funny how so many of them remembered her from her October stay there and one of the workers even remembered me in the elevator the other day. He says to me, "I remember you visiting your mom, you're a big Giants fan" :) I remembered him too and we chatted about our favorite baseball team! I've had several of the nursing staff comment about how my mom is so lovely, so nice, so friendly, etc. Her attitude has stayed positive most of the time. She has had a roommate for a few weeks that she didn't care for, but she has left and now has another roommate who is much more conversational- which I think is the key point. We go again this week for another x-ray and if what the Doctor is hoping for proves to be correct, she should be cleared for weight bearing on the left arm, which means she can get back to her walked and presumably get back to Woodside Terrace maybe within the week. Two things she still has a bit of trouble with- taking her shirt off at night and tying her shoelaces. So we'll see how Tuesday goes at the Doctor office. Her leg/ankle wounds are looking pretty good- the ankle still has some scabbing, but it looks very dry- so I'm not worried about it. If all is going well with Dr Gillon and her back surgery recovery - we have an appointment with her at the end of the month.
We had a lovely Mother's Day today- initially my sister was going to host but since mom couldn't be gone from Lytton Gardens for more than 4 hours, we relocated to our house and it all worked out well. Given all of the driving I'm doing each day back and forth to Palo Alto to see mom and bring her whatever she needs, it was nice to not have to get on the road today- other than to go pick her up. My sister took her home, which allowed me to really relax after clean up. The day was put on jointly by everyone. I love when you can "host" and not feel exhausted afterwards. My darling hubs and brother cleaned the patio, killed the annual wasp nests, brought out the cushions so that we could dine al fresco. Weather was gorgeous. My sister brought dessert from Nothing Bundt Cakes and it was delicious, she also made a caprese salad and brought a bottle of wine from her Mediterranean Cruise. My brother picked up the Ice Cream. I'm actually getting better at allocating tasks. When I was shopping at Safeway for the food on Friday I was about to get ice cream, realized that it would be better to have Baskin Robbins and instead of going there myself, I just asked my brother to do this. So proud of myself. I'm finally learning that I will do it all and people will allow me to do it all, unless I put my foot down and delegate.
The past month has been pretty full with social engagements. Bruce's 50th birthday bash, Jonathan's birthday party, Morgan's 18th birthday, Scotty's birthday. Brynn's play which was followed by a fun night in the McClymond back yard enjoying beautiful weather and great food with the best of friends. Lady A concert "date night" with Bill, "Knight Moves" dance concert at Hillsdale HS- finally after years of wanting to see what a great show this has been, finally got to experience it. Great show. Lots of business social engagements- ship tours, vendor meetings, webinars....and let's not forget going to a few Giants games and watching several others on the TV. They are showing great promise and my favorite MLB commercial this year is where they pose the phrase, "I play for..." and then a variety of players fill in the blank. Buster Posey is on the commercial and he fills in the sentence with "3 rings in 4 years"- Hell Yeah!
As busy as this past month has been, it's about to get much crazier in the coming weeks...a packed two days of work this week, but also have two classes to teach, chiro appt, massage appt, nail appt, mom's Dr appt, trip to Costco to buy goods for Redeemer family fun day, pack and be at the airport by 530am on Wednesday! Oh fun, I think I am planning on pulling an all nighter Tuesday- I mean heck if I go to bed at 2am, will I really sleep for 2.5 hours? I just know me and my habits. Two days on the Celebrity Solstice will be a tease, but I'm looking forward to seeing the ship, having one day of being out of touch - no phone, no email, no technology. Just the ocean, my hubby and 3000 of my closest TA colleagues. Come home and hit the ground running with a Mega Fitness Day - starting at the YMCA for a Master Class with the fabulous Susan Renata and preview of Body Pump 86 (have not even received the release in the mail yet), then a technique refresher afterwards. BBQ at an instructors house with Susan attending as well. Then it's hop over to Crunch for a workshop with fellow Spin instructors, followed by an instructor social. Looking forward to it. Sunday- can't wait to see my friend Kelly perform in The Wizard of Oz, she is the Wicked Witch and I just know she's going to be excellent! Then to finish up the month...a few more Giants games (can't wait for Pixar at the Park), Morgan's High School graduation (so honored that she gets enough tickets so that I can attend), final preps for mom's garage/estate sale (getting her house cleaned up and ready for the next move- ultimately to sell), the college kid returns home for the summer (YAY!) and then we finish the month with younger nephews 18th birthday! See, I am getting old- how can this be happening?
College kid is doing so well at RIT, he is loving his studies, is doing very well in his classes. Loves working on thesis projects and he was just awarded a $5000 scholarship for next year- so very proud of Michael and the success of his Freshman year. The summer is going to fly by and he is already talking about maybe not coming home next summer and also realizing that he needs a car back there and is probably going to ship his truck back to school. We'll see if he loves the east coast during the summer when it's ridiculously hot and HUMID. He is not a hot weather kid and has actually started to complain a bit about the May weather...HA! This should be fun to see the change in attitude. I always knew that snowy winters would not bother him.
Fitness World...been busy subbing classes and really enjoying my classes. I love all of my classes, but my Body Pump crew in Mt View really has a special place in my heart. I've had so many wonderful compliments and people who have taken such an interest in me and my life- I feel as though we are friends, we are family beyond the actual class. I have gotten back to tracking my food on Weight Watchers once again and am trying to stay on track. Pretty much eliminating alcohol outside of weekends. Keeping the drinking to 2 times per week- which typically will be over the weekends. So far I've lost 3 pounds and I just need to keep it going. I have yet to add in more of my own workouts- I need to and have plans to do this- but I also know that I need to find balance with my schedule first. I think if I can start to get to bed earlier and get up earlier I will be more successful at getting my own workouts in before the work day gets too crazy. I would like to take on another Les Mills format. Gold's is going to be getting Body Combat and I am considering going through the training. I would love for Gold's to get Body Flow...we'll see, I know they are not looking for another format quite so soon...but perhaps.
Starting the refinance process this week. Our appraisal came in favorably- so moving ahead with the mounds of paperwork that is involved. It's so much more when you're in business for yourself- so speaking of which, I suppose I must get up to my desk and start scanning because that is due tomorrow!
Overall, feeling blessed and just wishing that time would slow down a bit.
I really must set aside time to journal at least once a week because here we are a month between posts and I know that I am going to have a hard time keeping these thoughts coherent...eeeks. Life has been BUSY. Life has been CRAZY. Time is flying by faster than the speed of light- I'm almost feeling a little anxious about this. I mean really the time flies by so fast that I'm starting to look at milestones- 30th High School Reunion, Close friends beginning their 50's, Siblings beginning their 60's and then hearing so often about people you know directly or indirectly passing at these ages or dealing with life threatening diseases or challenges - it's just all a bit too "real" and quite scary. I suppose it's a message to just live life to its fullest because you just never know what tomorrow will bring.
I'll start with mom, her rehabilitation at Lytton Gardens is going well. We met with her orthopedic Doctor two weeks ago and they took a new x-ray. Shoulder is healing and they cleared her to do some exercises with her left arm. She loves therapy, loves doing her exercises and loves her therapists. Stacy & Mark get two thumbs up and I think they both enjoy my mom and her chatty-ness. She has made several friends with the staff at Lytton Gardens, it's funny how so many of them remembered her from her October stay there and one of the workers even remembered me in the elevator the other day. He says to me, "I remember you visiting your mom, you're a big Giants fan" :) I remembered him too and we chatted about our favorite baseball team! I've had several of the nursing staff comment about how my mom is so lovely, so nice, so friendly, etc. Her attitude has stayed positive most of the time. She has had a roommate for a few weeks that she didn't care for, but she has left and now has another roommate who is much more conversational- which I think is the key point. We go again this week for another x-ray and if what the Doctor is hoping for proves to be correct, she should be cleared for weight bearing on the left arm, which means she can get back to her walked and presumably get back to Woodside Terrace maybe within the week. Two things she still has a bit of trouble with- taking her shirt off at night and tying her shoelaces. So we'll see how Tuesday goes at the Doctor office. Her leg/ankle wounds are looking pretty good- the ankle still has some scabbing, but it looks very dry- so I'm not worried about it. If all is going well with Dr Gillon and her back surgery recovery - we have an appointment with her at the end of the month.
We had a lovely Mother's Day today- initially my sister was going to host but since mom couldn't be gone from Lytton Gardens for more than 4 hours, we relocated to our house and it all worked out well. Given all of the driving I'm doing each day back and forth to Palo Alto to see mom and bring her whatever she needs, it was nice to not have to get on the road today- other than to go pick her up. My sister took her home, which allowed me to really relax after clean up. The day was put on jointly by everyone. I love when you can "host" and not feel exhausted afterwards. My darling hubs and brother cleaned the patio, killed the annual wasp nests, brought out the cushions so that we could dine al fresco. Weather was gorgeous. My sister brought dessert from Nothing Bundt Cakes and it was delicious, she also made a caprese salad and brought a bottle of wine from her Mediterranean Cruise. My brother picked up the Ice Cream. I'm actually getting better at allocating tasks. When I was shopping at Safeway for the food on Friday I was about to get ice cream, realized that it would be better to have Baskin Robbins and instead of going there myself, I just asked my brother to do this. So proud of myself. I'm finally learning that I will do it all and people will allow me to do it all, unless I put my foot down and delegate.
The past month has been pretty full with social engagements. Bruce's 50th birthday bash, Jonathan's birthday party, Morgan's 18th birthday, Scotty's birthday. Brynn's play which was followed by a fun night in the McClymond back yard enjoying beautiful weather and great food with the best of friends. Lady A concert "date night" with Bill, "Knight Moves" dance concert at Hillsdale HS- finally after years of wanting to see what a great show this has been, finally got to experience it. Great show. Lots of business social engagements- ship tours, vendor meetings, webinars....and let's not forget going to a few Giants games and watching several others on the TV. They are showing great promise and my favorite MLB commercial this year is where they pose the phrase, "I play for..." and then a variety of players fill in the blank. Buster Posey is on the commercial and he fills in the sentence with "3 rings in 4 years"- Hell Yeah!
As busy as this past month has been, it's about to get much crazier in the coming weeks...a packed two days of work this week, but also have two classes to teach, chiro appt, massage appt, nail appt, mom's Dr appt, trip to Costco to buy goods for Redeemer family fun day, pack and be at the airport by 530am on Wednesday! Oh fun, I think I am planning on pulling an all nighter Tuesday- I mean heck if I go to bed at 2am, will I really sleep for 2.5 hours? I just know me and my habits. Two days on the Celebrity Solstice will be a tease, but I'm looking forward to seeing the ship, having one day of being out of touch - no phone, no email, no technology. Just the ocean, my hubby and 3000 of my closest TA colleagues. Come home and hit the ground running with a Mega Fitness Day - starting at the YMCA for a Master Class with the fabulous Susan Renata and preview of Body Pump 86 (have not even received the release in the mail yet), then a technique refresher afterwards. BBQ at an instructors house with Susan attending as well. Then it's hop over to Crunch for a workshop with fellow Spin instructors, followed by an instructor social. Looking forward to it. Sunday- can't wait to see my friend Kelly perform in The Wizard of Oz, she is the Wicked Witch and I just know she's going to be excellent! Then to finish up the month...a few more Giants games (can't wait for Pixar at the Park), Morgan's High School graduation (so honored that she gets enough tickets so that I can attend), final preps for mom's garage/estate sale (getting her house cleaned up and ready for the next move- ultimately to sell), the college kid returns home for the summer (YAY!) and then we finish the month with younger nephews 18th birthday! See, I am getting old- how can this be happening?
College kid is doing so well at RIT, he is loving his studies, is doing very well in his classes. Loves working on thesis projects and he was just awarded a $5000 scholarship for next year- so very proud of Michael and the success of his Freshman year. The summer is going to fly by and he is already talking about maybe not coming home next summer and also realizing that he needs a car back there and is probably going to ship his truck back to school. We'll see if he loves the east coast during the summer when it's ridiculously hot and HUMID. He is not a hot weather kid and has actually started to complain a bit about the May weather...HA! This should be fun to see the change in attitude. I always knew that snowy winters would not bother him.
Fitness World...been busy subbing classes and really enjoying my classes. I love all of my classes, but my Body Pump crew in Mt View really has a special place in my heart. I've had so many wonderful compliments and people who have taken such an interest in me and my life- I feel as though we are friends, we are family beyond the actual class. I have gotten back to tracking my food on Weight Watchers once again and am trying to stay on track. Pretty much eliminating alcohol outside of weekends. Keeping the drinking to 2 times per week- which typically will be over the weekends. So far I've lost 3 pounds and I just need to keep it going. I have yet to add in more of my own workouts- I need to and have plans to do this- but I also know that I need to find balance with my schedule first. I think if I can start to get to bed earlier and get up earlier I will be more successful at getting my own workouts in before the work day gets too crazy. I would like to take on another Les Mills format. Gold's is going to be getting Body Combat and I am considering going through the training. I would love for Gold's to get Body Flow...we'll see, I know they are not looking for another format quite so soon...but perhaps.
Starting the refinance process this week. Our appraisal came in favorably- so moving ahead with the mounds of paperwork that is involved. It's so much more when you're in business for yourself- so speaking of which, I suppose I must get up to my desk and start scanning because that is due tomorrow!
Overall, feeling blessed and just wishing that time would slow down a bit.
Thursday, April 11, 2013
World's Collide...
This has been one friggin' crazy a$$ week and all of my world's have been colliding and I am beyond stressed out! Not even sure where to begin...but travel work has been busy to begin with and my hours in the office have been very limited. Yesterday had a cruise ship inspection in SF, today a lunch meeting for Celebrity Cruise Lines, tomorrow a speaking engagement at my High School's Career Day. Fitness world has been nuts with preparing for the Gold's Launch Party for Body Pump 85 this Saturday- other than going through choreography any chance I get- which has been more mentally vs. physically- but I NEED to go through it physically at least once before Saturday...guess that will be tomorrow- sink or swim. Add to all of this, mom was transferred Tuesday to Rehab in Palo Alto- so my drive to visiting her is longer to and from and the next two days it is very unlikely that I will get to visit her at all. Although, another instructor volunteered to help pick up bars and weights tomorrow to alleviate my stress, which might actually allow me to swing by and see mom for a little bit en route to Santa Clara for Launch Prep. Saturday is non-stop from 8am until 11pm..launch day in Santa Clara, CPR renewal in Campbell, then Birthday party in San Mateo with absolutely no wiggle room in between the three stops.
Allergies have been KICKING my butt! Sneezing, eye (singular) watering, headache for 3 days now- ENOUGH already! I am loving the warm weather, but hate this change of seasons when allergies go bezerk. It has also been dragging me down and caffeine has not helped. My energy has been completely zapped this week. Ugh.
Feeling overwhelmed, knowing that I have work to work on, but my head just won't allow me to settle in on it. Sunday will be my day to rest and hopefully get some things taken care of so that I can start the new week off feeling accomplished and caught up. Please...hopefully.
Mom is doing pretty well, I must say and that is good. I actually don't feel as though she is "waiting" for my visit- she is busy during the day with therapy and in between therapy taking naps because the therapy is physically exhausting for her. This is all good. She is getting stronger and she is so determined to get well and get back home. I will of course always be a bit uneasy with her living alone that she will fall again and hurt herself again, but I can only pray and let go and let God take care of her. So hard for this control freak. I am a bit worried about the leg once again. It has gotten crusty and seems a little moist in areas. I took some pictures and emailed them to Dr Gillon who replied back today- she agrees and thinks that I should go ahead and debride them and hopefully cleaning them up that way will help them to continue to heal. Looks like maybe mom banged her leg at some point- who knows, maybe during her fall somehow. Again, just want her to be healed and have some fun. The wonderful Dr Gillon even said she would meet us at her office if I thought she needed to do the debriding- they just don't make Doctor's like her anymore, she is still recovering from her car accident with 5 fractured vertebrae and has been off work since the beginning of the year. Although getting mom to her office presents a problem right now with her fractured shoulder. Ugh.
Ok- going to get to sleep, work is not going to get done, better off trying to get up early to attack a few things before heading to SF!
This has been one friggin' crazy a$$ week and all of my world's have been colliding and I am beyond stressed out! Not even sure where to begin...but travel work has been busy to begin with and my hours in the office have been very limited. Yesterday had a cruise ship inspection in SF, today a lunch meeting for Celebrity Cruise Lines, tomorrow a speaking engagement at my High School's Career Day. Fitness world has been nuts with preparing for the Gold's Launch Party for Body Pump 85 this Saturday- other than going through choreography any chance I get- which has been more mentally vs. physically- but I NEED to go through it physically at least once before Saturday...guess that will be tomorrow- sink or swim. Add to all of this, mom was transferred Tuesday to Rehab in Palo Alto- so my drive to visiting her is longer to and from and the next two days it is very unlikely that I will get to visit her at all. Although, another instructor volunteered to help pick up bars and weights tomorrow to alleviate my stress, which might actually allow me to swing by and see mom for a little bit en route to Santa Clara for Launch Prep. Saturday is non-stop from 8am until 11pm..launch day in Santa Clara, CPR renewal in Campbell, then Birthday party in San Mateo with absolutely no wiggle room in between the three stops.
Allergies have been KICKING my butt! Sneezing, eye (singular) watering, headache for 3 days now- ENOUGH already! I am loving the warm weather, but hate this change of seasons when allergies go bezerk. It has also been dragging me down and caffeine has not helped. My energy has been completely zapped this week. Ugh.
Feeling overwhelmed, knowing that I have work to work on, but my head just won't allow me to settle in on it. Sunday will be my day to rest and hopefully get some things taken care of so that I can start the new week off feeling accomplished and caught up. Please...hopefully.
Mom is doing pretty well, I must say and that is good. I actually don't feel as though she is "waiting" for my visit- she is busy during the day with therapy and in between therapy taking naps because the therapy is physically exhausting for her. This is all good. She is getting stronger and she is so determined to get well and get back home. I will of course always be a bit uneasy with her living alone that she will fall again and hurt herself again, but I can only pray and let go and let God take care of her. So hard for this control freak. I am a bit worried about the leg once again. It has gotten crusty and seems a little moist in areas. I took some pictures and emailed them to Dr Gillon who replied back today- she agrees and thinks that I should go ahead and debride them and hopefully cleaning them up that way will help them to continue to heal. Looks like maybe mom banged her leg at some point- who knows, maybe during her fall somehow. Again, just want her to be healed and have some fun. The wonderful Dr Gillon even said she would meet us at her office if I thought she needed to do the debriding- they just don't make Doctor's like her anymore, she is still recovering from her car accident with 5 fractured vertebrae and has been off work since the beginning of the year. Although getting mom to her office presents a problem right now with her fractured shoulder. Ugh.
Ok- going to get to sleep, work is not going to get done, better off trying to get up early to attack a few things before heading to SF!
Tuesday, April 02, 2013
And the other shoe drops!
Well, just when I was starting to feel really good about Mom's health...back in the hospital. My biggest fear has come true- she had a fall in her apartment. Not clear on all of the details, but she woke up from sleeping to go to the bathroom and didn't make it, she didn't remember falling, but was on the floor for hours. She says she pushed her help button necklace, but I'm also not sure if she was pushing it correctly. My best guess is that she laid on her bedroom floor with a quilt that she crawled to get for at least 4 hours. Breaks my heart. Still not sure how she was found, but I think it might have been the cleaning lady- Good Lord I shutter to think if it had not been cleaning day. I would normally not have talked to her until late in the day. Woodside Terrace called 911 and they took her to the ER at Sequoia, they called me and I dropped everything...again, to be there with her.
When I got the ER, I was sort of taken aback, not being sure what to expect, well her lips were bright red- concluded that she had dried blood on chapped lips from being without liquids for hours and having bit her tongue when she fell. Bruise on her neck and then whoa...her left shoulder/arm a very pretty purple. I was hoping that maybe she just bruised it badly...but The outcome? Fractured shoulder- not bad enough for surgery and the bone is as "together" as they would like for easier healing, but it's still a 4-6 week recovery period. Sigh. Of course, as a bonus we found out that she has a UTI, which would explain why she's been getting up more often at night to go potty...which probably helped in this whole ordeal because she's been more fatigued with this interrupted sleep pattern. Good Grief. It's nasty looking- but here is the shoulder/arm in beautiful purple:
It was a full day at the hospital, she finally got taken to her room around 330pm, but the fun still wasn't over because we had to wait for her nurse to check her in to the floor. Well, once I found out we had Nurse Steve, I just rolled my eyes and after 30 minutes of waiting for him, I had enough. I spoke to another nurse, complained about waiting for him and also voiced my displeasure with having him as mom's nurse. Thankfully, this was taken care of right away. The Supervisor was meeting with me immediately and changed mom's nurse and ended up putting on her chart "female nurses only"- most of the problem nurses we've had on this floor have been the men. It just has been that way. It was very comforting to know that speaking up does work.
So I have been pretty much numb all night long. Finally got home around 630pm after stopping by mom's apartment to pick up a few things. I had not eaten anything all day, so I was famished and although I probably needed to be teaching my Body Pump class tonight, sadly I had someone teach a sculpting class in my absence. I just didn't want to chance not being able to make it, so I contacted the GXM early in the afternoon just in case.
People tell me all of the time what a great daughter I am and how lucky my mom is. My mom tells me all of the time how sorry she is that she takes up so much of my time. I'm really having struggles with all of this. I am definitely happy that I've been able to help my mom and be there for her and "turn the tables" as needed since she did a fine job of raising me...but I have to say that I'm getting a little burned out with all of it. I'm really not sure how much more I can take. I've been waiting for my "reward" and I really thought that reward would be to finally enjoy mom's company doing fun things- going to a matinee movie once a week or when the weather gets better - go hang out downtown outside for lunch or take her to music on the square or who knows what- anything that was not a "purpose". The majority of our time spent together the past year has been for a purpose- going to a Dr. appt, changing bandages- all care-giver roles and I'm really wanting to get back to doing things as friends again. I'm starting to wonder if that day will ever get here, am I fooling myself into thinking that it will? We were SOOOOOOOOOOO close to her being completely healed. All clean bills of health just two weeks ago, just working on the GI stuff with preventing C-diff. Of course, now with this UTI she has to be treated with antibiotics which have a good chance to bringing the C-diff back for an 8th visit. Praying that it doesn't.
Prognosis...well not sure how long she'll be in the hospital, but suspect they will keep her for at least 3 days as then she would qualify for skilled nursing and I think she will need that. How can she live on her own with one arm use? Discouraged right now. Sad for her. Sad for me. Angry at the entire situation. Feeling a bit lost.
Well, just when I was starting to feel really good about Mom's health...back in the hospital. My biggest fear has come true- she had a fall in her apartment. Not clear on all of the details, but she woke up from sleeping to go to the bathroom and didn't make it, she didn't remember falling, but was on the floor for hours. She says she pushed her help button necklace, but I'm also not sure if she was pushing it correctly. My best guess is that she laid on her bedroom floor with a quilt that she crawled to get for at least 4 hours. Breaks my heart. Still not sure how she was found, but I think it might have been the cleaning lady- Good Lord I shutter to think if it had not been cleaning day. I would normally not have talked to her until late in the day. Woodside Terrace called 911 and they took her to the ER at Sequoia, they called me and I dropped everything...again, to be there with her.
When I got the ER, I was sort of taken aback, not being sure what to expect, well her lips were bright red- concluded that she had dried blood on chapped lips from being without liquids for hours and having bit her tongue when she fell. Bruise on her neck and then whoa...her left shoulder/arm a very pretty purple. I was hoping that maybe she just bruised it badly...but The outcome? Fractured shoulder- not bad enough for surgery and the bone is as "together" as they would like for easier healing, but it's still a 4-6 week recovery period. Sigh. Of course, as a bonus we found out that she has a UTI, which would explain why she's been getting up more often at night to go potty...which probably helped in this whole ordeal because she's been more fatigued with this interrupted sleep pattern. Good Grief. It's nasty looking- but here is the shoulder/arm in beautiful purple:
It was a full day at the hospital, she finally got taken to her room around 330pm, but the fun still wasn't over because we had to wait for her nurse to check her in to the floor. Well, once I found out we had Nurse Steve, I just rolled my eyes and after 30 minutes of waiting for him, I had enough. I spoke to another nurse, complained about waiting for him and also voiced my displeasure with having him as mom's nurse. Thankfully, this was taken care of right away. The Supervisor was meeting with me immediately and changed mom's nurse and ended up putting on her chart "female nurses only"- most of the problem nurses we've had on this floor have been the men. It just has been that way. It was very comforting to know that speaking up does work.
So I have been pretty much numb all night long. Finally got home around 630pm after stopping by mom's apartment to pick up a few things. I had not eaten anything all day, so I was famished and although I probably needed to be teaching my Body Pump class tonight, sadly I had someone teach a sculpting class in my absence. I just didn't want to chance not being able to make it, so I contacted the GXM early in the afternoon just in case.
People tell me all of the time what a great daughter I am and how lucky my mom is. My mom tells me all of the time how sorry she is that she takes up so much of my time. I'm really having struggles with all of this. I am definitely happy that I've been able to help my mom and be there for her and "turn the tables" as needed since she did a fine job of raising me...but I have to say that I'm getting a little burned out with all of it. I'm really not sure how much more I can take. I've been waiting for my "reward" and I really thought that reward would be to finally enjoy mom's company doing fun things- going to a matinee movie once a week or when the weather gets better - go hang out downtown outside for lunch or take her to music on the square or who knows what- anything that was not a "purpose". The majority of our time spent together the past year has been for a purpose- going to a Dr. appt, changing bandages- all care-giver roles and I'm really wanting to get back to doing things as friends again. I'm starting to wonder if that day will ever get here, am I fooling myself into thinking that it will? We were SOOOOOOOOOOO close to her being completely healed. All clean bills of health just two weeks ago, just working on the GI stuff with preventing C-diff. Of course, now with this UTI she has to be treated with antibiotics which have a good chance to bringing the C-diff back for an 8th visit. Praying that it doesn't.
Prognosis...well not sure how long she'll be in the hospital, but suspect they will keep her for at least 3 days as then she would qualify for skilled nursing and I think she will need that. How can she live on her own with one arm use? Discouraged right now. Sad for her. Sad for me. Angry at the entire situation. Feeling a bit lost.
Thursday, March 28, 2013
Renewed, Rejuvenated, Ready...
To think just one week ago, I was writing about how I was annoyed, irritated, frustrated and sad. Well, happy to say that those sentiments have gone as quickly as they came. It was a crazy Thursday to get work things wrapped up before heading to Vegas and I had a very huge trip request late in the day on Wednesday, so I moved mountains to get the quote. In the end all of my efforts were for nothing as I found out this week- they just were not able to process things as quickly as I needed them to with accounting. I missed out on a huge chunk of business due to technicalities that were out of my control. As much as this pissed me off, I was able to shake it off and was thankful that this company was seeking my help once again - I feel as though things will happen again with this company. It becomes much easier to let things go when you come to grips with the fact that you just can't control others and their inability to plan properly. I think I am growing in this regard.
Somehow, I managed to leave the house on time, I got everything done that I had to get done. I did pack a few files for loose ends that I expected to wrap up while I was gone, but overall felt pretty good with the way I left things- which doesn't happen that often before going away. Got to Vegas and everything went very smoothly. Checked into my hotel room, did some work that needed my attention, got a glass of wine and got to bed relatively early for me. I knew I needed sleep for my big AIM (Advanced Instructor Module) Training on Friday. I slept like crap- too many noised in the night and I think I was subconsciously afraid of oversleeping.
Friday I was up early and got to the gym about 30 minutes early, went through my choreography again while driving and waiting and then starting to mingle with other instructors while waiting for our trainers to arrive and get us started for the day. We had the pleasure and honor of having Susan Renata and Petter Ehrnvall as our trainers. I have admired Susan since my start with Body Pump, she has been with the program longer than me, so it was literally a thrill to be trained, mentored and critiqued by her. As luck would have it our group was split into 4 groups and she was in charge of 2 groups and Petter the other 2. We had Susan- YAY! She gave us the option to pick our track and really encouraged us to pick a track that was hard or one that we thought we could use some improvement. I thought long and hard about this and knew that lunges were not the track for me given my ankle injury and my off/on degenerative toe. I'm so glad that I didn't pick lunges because the floor was super slippery and it was hard just to do lunges and stay in one place as a student. I did pick Shoulders, which is one of my favorite tracks, but it's always challenging from a coaching perspective because you have to get in so much in such a short time, while trying to keep things concise. You also tend to have 4-6 different moves in Shoulders, which adds to what could be chaos.
We started with our track presentation, which followed with immediate critique of our track. Susan had a lot of great things to say about my presentation and for the most part had very little to critique- a slight adjustment on the standing rear deltoid raise was it for technique. Cutting down the talking was adjustment number 2 both during the track and the track intro. I was pleased and happy to work on these issues. During everyone else's track presentations we had a few helpers going around giving us tips on things to correct and my two flaws: 1) legs too spread out while laying down, which I'm not surprised. 2) I seem to have a tendency of moving my thumb in the grip of my bar during back track. Never, ever noticed it. Have never had it brought to my attention before- clueless. I tend to like my thumb wrapped over the top for rows, but like it wrapped under for the Clean & Press. Quick eye-opening and now I catch myself. As Susan told us- it'll take about 4000 times of doing something to break the bad habits...but I'm on my way.
We had lectures by both Susan & Petter on cueing, layering the cues, bringing in the fitness magic moments, using our 5 voices, riding the peaks and valleys of the music. We also did several fitness and technique tests with a partner and that was very interesting. I have pretty crappy upper back strength- had a very tough time doing this one balance/core/hover exercise- it was HARD!!! But most everything else in the technique session went pretty good. After all of the technique, lectures and lunch we gave our final presentation. An attempt of using the things that we learned and working on the things Susan said to work on and then present once again.
I must have gone through my track introduction at least a dozen times in my head and then it was finally my turn and BAM- the words just rolled out - it was quick, it was concise and to the point and even everyone in my group had this look on their faces, like "WOW". I nailed it and it felt good- not that I nailed it in an approval sense, but just that it felt better as an instructor- I felt like I was taking care of business instead of being conversational. It was a monumental difference, a turning point. The instructors in my group said that the way I delivered the track introduction made them want to stop what they were doing and get down to do push-ups. As tired as I was I encourage everyone to get up on their toes for push-ups at the end and I led by example. Susan was impressed and said that with as much as we'd been doing, she didn't expect anyone to do that many push-ups on their toes. I made the correction to my rear dealt raises, implemented a few coaching cues that Susan had recommended and overall it was a phenomenal track presentation. Really gave me a sense of renewal for my teaching. This was the highlight of the weekend for me and I can't wait to implement everything that I learned and just keep on working at being the best that I can be.
The rest of the weekend was still awesome, Friday night I networked and socialized with several instructors (some that I knew, some that I didn't or some that I knew only in name on Facebook), several bottles of wine were consumed and we all dispersed around midnight. Somehow though I was up early after another awful night of sleep and hit RPM at 630am, followed by Body Pump 85 at 8am- both of which were off the hook! I was a bit nervous for the lunge track in 85 with these new straddle squat jumps- but I did them, they weren't as intimidating as I had expected. They are tough, but not intimidating. It was awesome to have the fabulous Emma Barry leading the workout with help from Josef, Ruben (ooo la la) and Sheldon. 2nd row from the stage in the VIP section was awesome. Did more socializing with people and spectated for the 2nd round of Body Pump to get more choreography in my head, split for lunch time and ended up taking a nap...missed the rest of the afternoon sessions, which I was bummed, but also knew that the body spoke. Went to the after party and finished off my night line dancing at Gilley's. It was really a great weekend, very happy that I went - but was happy to get home.
Thinking of this great weekend and thinking seriously of expanding my Les Mills horizons. I don't think I met any instructors who just teach one format. I really enjoy RPM and given my spinning history it feels like a natural progression and I do have access to teach it at one of my gyms. So that may be my next step. Now that I have networked a bit more with other instructors, I am going to start taking more of these classes myself...I'm ready.
To think just one week ago, I was writing about how I was annoyed, irritated, frustrated and sad. Well, happy to say that those sentiments have gone as quickly as they came. It was a crazy Thursday to get work things wrapped up before heading to Vegas and I had a very huge trip request late in the day on Wednesday, so I moved mountains to get the quote. In the end all of my efforts were for nothing as I found out this week- they just were not able to process things as quickly as I needed them to with accounting. I missed out on a huge chunk of business due to technicalities that were out of my control. As much as this pissed me off, I was able to shake it off and was thankful that this company was seeking my help once again - I feel as though things will happen again with this company. It becomes much easier to let things go when you come to grips with the fact that you just can't control others and their inability to plan properly. I think I am growing in this regard.
Somehow, I managed to leave the house on time, I got everything done that I had to get done. I did pack a few files for loose ends that I expected to wrap up while I was gone, but overall felt pretty good with the way I left things- which doesn't happen that often before going away. Got to Vegas and everything went very smoothly. Checked into my hotel room, did some work that needed my attention, got a glass of wine and got to bed relatively early for me. I knew I needed sleep for my big AIM (Advanced Instructor Module) Training on Friday. I slept like crap- too many noised in the night and I think I was subconsciously afraid of oversleeping.
Friday I was up early and got to the gym about 30 minutes early, went through my choreography again while driving and waiting and then starting to mingle with other instructors while waiting for our trainers to arrive and get us started for the day. We had the pleasure and honor of having Susan Renata and Petter Ehrnvall as our trainers. I have admired Susan since my start with Body Pump, she has been with the program longer than me, so it was literally a thrill to be trained, mentored and critiqued by her. As luck would have it our group was split into 4 groups and she was in charge of 2 groups and Petter the other 2. We had Susan- YAY! She gave us the option to pick our track and really encouraged us to pick a track that was hard or one that we thought we could use some improvement. I thought long and hard about this and knew that lunges were not the track for me given my ankle injury and my off/on degenerative toe. I'm so glad that I didn't pick lunges because the floor was super slippery and it was hard just to do lunges and stay in one place as a student. I did pick Shoulders, which is one of my favorite tracks, but it's always challenging from a coaching perspective because you have to get in so much in such a short time, while trying to keep things concise. You also tend to have 4-6 different moves in Shoulders, which adds to what could be chaos.
We started with our track presentation, which followed with immediate critique of our track. Susan had a lot of great things to say about my presentation and for the most part had very little to critique- a slight adjustment on the standing rear deltoid raise was it for technique. Cutting down the talking was adjustment number 2 both during the track and the track intro. I was pleased and happy to work on these issues. During everyone else's track presentations we had a few helpers going around giving us tips on things to correct and my two flaws: 1) legs too spread out while laying down, which I'm not surprised. 2) I seem to have a tendency of moving my thumb in the grip of my bar during back track. Never, ever noticed it. Have never had it brought to my attention before- clueless. I tend to like my thumb wrapped over the top for rows, but like it wrapped under for the Clean & Press. Quick eye-opening and now I catch myself. As Susan told us- it'll take about 4000 times of doing something to break the bad habits...but I'm on my way.
We had lectures by both Susan & Petter on cueing, layering the cues, bringing in the fitness magic moments, using our 5 voices, riding the peaks and valleys of the music. We also did several fitness and technique tests with a partner and that was very interesting. I have pretty crappy upper back strength- had a very tough time doing this one balance/core/hover exercise- it was HARD!!! But most everything else in the technique session went pretty good. After all of the technique, lectures and lunch we gave our final presentation. An attempt of using the things that we learned and working on the things Susan said to work on and then present once again.
I must have gone through my track introduction at least a dozen times in my head and then it was finally my turn and BAM- the words just rolled out - it was quick, it was concise and to the point and even everyone in my group had this look on their faces, like "WOW". I nailed it and it felt good- not that I nailed it in an approval sense, but just that it felt better as an instructor- I felt like I was taking care of business instead of being conversational. It was a monumental difference, a turning point. The instructors in my group said that the way I delivered the track introduction made them want to stop what they were doing and get down to do push-ups. As tired as I was I encourage everyone to get up on their toes for push-ups at the end and I led by example. Susan was impressed and said that with as much as we'd been doing, she didn't expect anyone to do that many push-ups on their toes. I made the correction to my rear dealt raises, implemented a few coaching cues that Susan had recommended and overall it was a phenomenal track presentation. Really gave me a sense of renewal for my teaching. This was the highlight of the weekend for me and I can't wait to implement everything that I learned and just keep on working at being the best that I can be.
The rest of the weekend was still awesome, Friday night I networked and socialized with several instructors (some that I knew, some that I didn't or some that I knew only in name on Facebook), several bottles of wine were consumed and we all dispersed around midnight. Somehow though I was up early after another awful night of sleep and hit RPM at 630am, followed by Body Pump 85 at 8am- both of which were off the hook! I was a bit nervous for the lunge track in 85 with these new straddle squat jumps- but I did them, they weren't as intimidating as I had expected. They are tough, but not intimidating. It was awesome to have the fabulous Emma Barry leading the workout with help from Josef, Ruben (ooo la la) and Sheldon. 2nd row from the stage in the VIP section was awesome. Did more socializing with people and spectated for the 2nd round of Body Pump to get more choreography in my head, split for lunch time and ended up taking a nap...missed the rest of the afternoon sessions, which I was bummed, but also knew that the body spoke. Went to the after party and finished off my night line dancing at Gilley's. It was really a great weekend, very happy that I went - but was happy to get home.
Thinking of this great weekend and thinking seriously of expanding my Les Mills horizons. I don't think I met any instructors who just teach one format. I really enjoy RPM and given my spinning history it feels like a natural progression and I do have access to teach it at one of my gyms. So that may be my next step. Now that I have networked a bit more with other instructors, I am going to start taking more of these classes myself...I'm ready.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
Annoyed, irritated, frustrated, sad...
How can Palm Springs bliss have been just yesterday and then today- UGH! Aside from today being a crazy day with lots of work to catch up on, which was expected- I also had to take mom to buy her antibiotics, a break in my day that I needed to take but really didn't have time to take. Add to that I have to go back tomorrow and pick up the remaining pills because they were out of inventory. Just not the sorts of things I need to add to my already crazy short week. Of course, whenever I step away from my office anywhere near the end of the day, I lose all focus and motivation so I have gotten zero done this evening.
I'm frustrated because I have injured my right ankle/leg, I took a stretched step off the escalator at SFO last night and I heard a snap/pop and felt a shooting pain up my leg immediately. Tried to walk it off. I'm sure I pulled a muscle or ligament. Well, have been RICEing it off and on last night, today and tonight and although the swelling is minimal now, it still hurts. I got a sub for my class tonight- I probably could have taught without much trouble, but didn't want to risk anything with the BIG Vegas Les Mills Q weekend. I just hope that I will be feeling better come Friday so that I can participate in the AIM workshop and praying that I don't get lunges or squats - I think I can do any of the other tracks with minimal pressure on my ankle. But I am also frustrated because tonight was going to be my live run through of Body Pump 84 to practice the release that we'll be using for AIM. I guess I'll be doing a dry run Thursday night in my hotel room.
I'm irritated because I spent hours working on a huge incentive trip for a client while away in Palm Springs only to have gotten undercut by the hotel and that just PISSES me off! There is no way in hell that the hotel should be quoting the client a better rate (almost 50% lower) than what they quote to me- it's bad business and I can seriously say there are a few Vegas hotels that I won't be selling EVER again. Dis me once shame on you, Dis me twice shame on me. Tomorrow is decision time, so we'll see what the client goes for- if it's not Vegas, then I have good rates at local properties that they will likely take. But this sort of crap just makes me want to hang up my travel hat. I never would, but I'm allowed to have a moment.
I'm sad because tonight I missed a phone call and when I retrieved the message it was from the sister of a friend. Her message asked me to call her when I get into the office tomorrow and that I could call on her cell phone or her sister's home phone. I could just hear something in her voice and as soon as I googled my friend's name- I discovered that she passed away on Sunday. Margie was my first "travel friend". When I first came to work at June Jackson Travel in August of 1990, Margie and I were at the two front line desks. She mentored me, coached me, encouraged me and praised me. She was one of the first people in the industry to tell me that I was going to be an awesome Travel Agent. We were close, heck we spent a lot of our time alone in the office just the two of us as we were the two full time employees and management came and went as they pleased. We shared similarities of losing our fathers when they were way too young, our moms were very similar. In fact, I think the last time I saw Margie was at her mom's funeral several years ago. We have not had our "June Jackson Travel" holiday reunion with her present in probably 4-5 years. She gave me a bridal shower for my first marriage and I still have the Mickey & Minnie wedding figurine that she gave as a gift. Even though the first marriage didn't last, Mickey & Minnie forever! When it was time for me to move on to a new employer, Margie & I had a pact- we were both down with our current situation and she could have left at anytime, but I was the "starving student" so to speak and couldn't leave until I had a job in place that was waiting for me. So Margie did not leave until I was ready to leave. Once I had that set up, we both left at the same time and ended up once again at the same agency where she was full time and I was an outside agent...starting to explore my independence and my entrepreneurship. I knew even then that at some point I wanted to own my agency some day. Margie & I shared a lot of laughs and some tears, we shared a love for the furry children and she was always there for her friends. I missed her when she moved to Medford, Oregon and have not seen her for years, so I am even sadder that I didn't cease the moment to call her the times that I had been thinking of her recently. 63 is way too young for someone to go, I know this first-hand with losing my dad when he was only 60.
So as much as I have been annoyed, frustrated and irritated today-- the sadness of this evening trumps everything else. I will talk to Margie's sister tomorrow, but I suspect that damn C disease took her. Margie had battled Cancer about 5-7 years ago and won at the time...I'm guessing not this time.
How can Palm Springs bliss have been just yesterday and then today- UGH! Aside from today being a crazy day with lots of work to catch up on, which was expected- I also had to take mom to buy her antibiotics, a break in my day that I needed to take but really didn't have time to take. Add to that I have to go back tomorrow and pick up the remaining pills because they were out of inventory. Just not the sorts of things I need to add to my already crazy short week. Of course, whenever I step away from my office anywhere near the end of the day, I lose all focus and motivation so I have gotten zero done this evening.
I'm frustrated because I have injured my right ankle/leg, I took a stretched step off the escalator at SFO last night and I heard a snap/pop and felt a shooting pain up my leg immediately. Tried to walk it off. I'm sure I pulled a muscle or ligament. Well, have been RICEing it off and on last night, today and tonight and although the swelling is minimal now, it still hurts. I got a sub for my class tonight- I probably could have taught without much trouble, but didn't want to risk anything with the BIG Vegas Les Mills Q weekend. I just hope that I will be feeling better come Friday so that I can participate in the AIM workshop and praying that I don't get lunges or squats - I think I can do any of the other tracks with minimal pressure on my ankle. But I am also frustrated because tonight was going to be my live run through of Body Pump 84 to practice the release that we'll be using for AIM. I guess I'll be doing a dry run Thursday night in my hotel room.
I'm irritated because I spent hours working on a huge incentive trip for a client while away in Palm Springs only to have gotten undercut by the hotel and that just PISSES me off! There is no way in hell that the hotel should be quoting the client a better rate (almost 50% lower) than what they quote to me- it's bad business and I can seriously say there are a few Vegas hotels that I won't be selling EVER again. Dis me once shame on you, Dis me twice shame on me. Tomorrow is decision time, so we'll see what the client goes for- if it's not Vegas, then I have good rates at local properties that they will likely take. But this sort of crap just makes me want to hang up my travel hat. I never would, but I'm allowed to have a moment.
I'm sad because tonight I missed a phone call and when I retrieved the message it was from the sister of a friend. Her message asked me to call her when I get into the office tomorrow and that I could call on her cell phone or her sister's home phone. I could just hear something in her voice and as soon as I googled my friend's name- I discovered that she passed away on Sunday. Margie was my first "travel friend". When I first came to work at June Jackson Travel in August of 1990, Margie and I were at the two front line desks. She mentored me, coached me, encouraged me and praised me. She was one of the first people in the industry to tell me that I was going to be an awesome Travel Agent. We were close, heck we spent a lot of our time alone in the office just the two of us as we were the two full time employees and management came and went as they pleased. We shared similarities of losing our fathers when they were way too young, our moms were very similar. In fact, I think the last time I saw Margie was at her mom's funeral several years ago. We have not had our "June Jackson Travel" holiday reunion with her present in probably 4-5 years. She gave me a bridal shower for my first marriage and I still have the Mickey & Minnie wedding figurine that she gave as a gift. Even though the first marriage didn't last, Mickey & Minnie forever! When it was time for me to move on to a new employer, Margie & I had a pact- we were both down with our current situation and she could have left at anytime, but I was the "starving student" so to speak and couldn't leave until I had a job in place that was waiting for me. So Margie did not leave until I was ready to leave. Once I had that set up, we both left at the same time and ended up once again at the same agency where she was full time and I was an outside agent...starting to explore my independence and my entrepreneurship. I knew even then that at some point I wanted to own my agency some day. Margie & I shared a lot of laughs and some tears, we shared a love for the furry children and she was always there for her friends. I missed her when she moved to Medford, Oregon and have not seen her for years, so I am even sadder that I didn't cease the moment to call her the times that I had been thinking of her recently. 63 is way too young for someone to go, I know this first-hand with losing my dad when he was only 60.
So as much as I have been annoyed, frustrated and irritated today-- the sadness of this evening trumps everything else. I will talk to Margie's sister tomorrow, but I suspect that damn C disease took her. Margie had battled Cancer about 5-7 years ago and won at the time...I'm guessing not this time.
Monday, March 18, 2013
It's been crazy & it's been nuts, but gotta say that March has been a pretty good month so far. Still another 2 weeks left, so bring it on! Work has been super busy, in fact my hopes of not doing any work in Palm Springs fell to the way side...with a huge group of 220 people taking a trip in May with "Destination Unknown", meant that I needed to be on top of this. It's a great chunk of business that I've already invested quite a bit of time into, so had to keep working on that. Also, had a few other trips with decision deadlines, but it's all good. We did miss about 3 hours of pool time on day one here in Palm Springs, but Bill was very understanding.
We have been having a super time in Palm Springs. We have danced SO FRIGGIN MUCH this weekend-- 3 nights in a row and hours on end! It feels AMAZING to have that activity back in my life. I can't believe how much I really missed dancing with my foot injury and then just plain fatigue from last year's stresses. But even better, seeing the shear joy on Bill's face when we are dancing. He just lights up, his "fancy feet" go crazy and it just warms my heart to see his joy. Tonight we were doing a swing dance and I sometimes have to get into "self-protect" mode because he can get a little crazy with his moves and if not careful, I could very easily injure my shoulder. So I tend to back lead the moves and/or not follow his lead...tonight I had done it 3-4 times in a row and just got into such a giggle. I was laughing uncontrollably and he was chuckling, it was the deep down belly laugh, I had tears in my eyes from laughing so hard. Just AWESOME to have that much fun! We have decided that now we are going to set aside about 45 minutes each evening to line dance in the garage- for fun and for exercise. Now that my foot feels pretty good, I want more!
On this trip, we finally took the Tram up the mountain and that was pretty fun, we had a nice dinner and watched the sun set, then see all of the lights in Palm Springs come on- very pretty and boy it gets chilly up there! It was nice to finally do this as we've wanted to for years! We also visited the Indian Casino down here, again after passing it during every trip we've taken down here- it's a pretty nice place and had some fun gambling. Lots of time by the pool, enjoying the 90 degree weather. My only complaint is that the time has flown. But we will be back. We really do love the desert!
Gearing up for a crazy few days of work this week and then it's off to Vegas for the Les Mills Quarterly, which I think will be fun- although I will say that I'm not really "feeling it". Although I know a lot of people who are going to the Quarterly, most are just acquaintances- so it will be interesting to see how the "social" part of the weekend plays out. I have a ticket for the after party and hopefully will be able to find and hang out with some of these people and enjoy a fun time. But as far as I know I am completely on my own Thursday and Friday night. I get the impression that people have set up their own plans for those nights, so we'll see. I am looking forward to AIM on Friday as that is 200% for me, it'll be a great workshop and will hopefully jump start the weekend into being the great experience that it is meant to be.
March has been a month of mostly great news for mom. We had several follow up Doctor Appointments- Cardiologist did an Echo Cardiogram and said that mom's heart function is much better than it was last year at this time, Dr Giattina was thrilled. We go back to see her in June, barring anything unforeseen. Pulmonologist said that mom's breathing test didn't reveal anything unexpected and that the allergy tests revealed common allergies- mold and dustmites- two things that you pretty much can't avoid...but basically said to come back if there are any issues otherwise 4 months to follow up. We went to see Dr. O'Halleran and he took the unna boot off of the leg and declared the leg wounds HEALED!! Amen, Halleluiah! So all GREAT news in one week. Of course, the one pending appointment was to occur while I was gone this weekend in Palm Springs- mom had to go for a procedure with the GI Doctor 1) to scope down the throat to make sure the ulcer of 2 years ago is healed - and YES, it is, so no worries there. and 2) to do a "semi-colonoscopy"- to find out why mom has been having some bleeding in her stools. Well, test revealed that she has that darn C-Diff AGAIN! Has probably had it for at least a week or two, but the symptoms were so mild that she didn't think that was the issue- but seems her colon is so irritated, hence the blood. Sigh. Back on the very expensive antibiotics for 10 days and then try to figure out how we can keep this from recurring again and again. So much good news all around, but this darn C-diff is just horrible! On the up side though, at least this case did not send her to the hospital, it is mild and the antibiotics kicked in right away- she had not felt back at all this time around, yet does feel much better already. I have of course been really drilling to her to stay hydrated, which is a concept she has a hard time grasping but I think I've gotten her to drink tea now so that she can get some hydration and also cut out the caffeine from coffee (hence more dehydration)...I spoke to her tonight and she had a wonderful St Pat's day (her day), went to bingo with my sister and paraded her "St Pat's Bear" around at breakfast and dinner and brought joy to many of her neighbors at Woodside Terrace when they hear the Bear sing "When Irish Eyes are Smiling"...she loves that bear!
We have been having a super time in Palm Springs. We have danced SO FRIGGIN MUCH this weekend-- 3 nights in a row and hours on end! It feels AMAZING to have that activity back in my life. I can't believe how much I really missed dancing with my foot injury and then just plain fatigue from last year's stresses. But even better, seeing the shear joy on Bill's face when we are dancing. He just lights up, his "fancy feet" go crazy and it just warms my heart to see his joy. Tonight we were doing a swing dance and I sometimes have to get into "self-protect" mode because he can get a little crazy with his moves and if not careful, I could very easily injure my shoulder. So I tend to back lead the moves and/or not follow his lead...tonight I had done it 3-4 times in a row and just got into such a giggle. I was laughing uncontrollably and he was chuckling, it was the deep down belly laugh, I had tears in my eyes from laughing so hard. Just AWESOME to have that much fun! We have decided that now we are going to set aside about 45 minutes each evening to line dance in the garage- for fun and for exercise. Now that my foot feels pretty good, I want more!
On this trip, we finally took the Tram up the mountain and that was pretty fun, we had a nice dinner and watched the sun set, then see all of the lights in Palm Springs come on- very pretty and boy it gets chilly up there! It was nice to finally do this as we've wanted to for years! We also visited the Indian Casino down here, again after passing it during every trip we've taken down here- it's a pretty nice place and had some fun gambling. Lots of time by the pool, enjoying the 90 degree weather. My only complaint is that the time has flown. But we will be back. We really do love the desert!
Gearing up for a crazy few days of work this week and then it's off to Vegas for the Les Mills Quarterly, which I think will be fun- although I will say that I'm not really "feeling it". Although I know a lot of people who are going to the Quarterly, most are just acquaintances- so it will be interesting to see how the "social" part of the weekend plays out. I have a ticket for the after party and hopefully will be able to find and hang out with some of these people and enjoy a fun time. But as far as I know I am completely on my own Thursday and Friday night. I get the impression that people have set up their own plans for those nights, so we'll see. I am looking forward to AIM on Friday as that is 200% for me, it'll be a great workshop and will hopefully jump start the weekend into being the great experience that it is meant to be.
March has been a month of mostly great news for mom. We had several follow up Doctor Appointments- Cardiologist did an Echo Cardiogram and said that mom's heart function is much better than it was last year at this time, Dr Giattina was thrilled. We go back to see her in June, barring anything unforeseen. Pulmonologist said that mom's breathing test didn't reveal anything unexpected and that the allergy tests revealed common allergies- mold and dustmites- two things that you pretty much can't avoid...but basically said to come back if there are any issues otherwise 4 months to follow up. We went to see Dr. O'Halleran and he took the unna boot off of the leg and declared the leg wounds HEALED!! Amen, Halleluiah! So all GREAT news in one week. Of course, the one pending appointment was to occur while I was gone this weekend in Palm Springs- mom had to go for a procedure with the GI Doctor 1) to scope down the throat to make sure the ulcer of 2 years ago is healed - and YES, it is, so no worries there. and 2) to do a "semi-colonoscopy"- to find out why mom has been having some bleeding in her stools. Well, test revealed that she has that darn C-Diff AGAIN! Has probably had it for at least a week or two, but the symptoms were so mild that she didn't think that was the issue- but seems her colon is so irritated, hence the blood. Sigh. Back on the very expensive antibiotics for 10 days and then try to figure out how we can keep this from recurring again and again. So much good news all around, but this darn C-diff is just horrible! On the up side though, at least this case did not send her to the hospital, it is mild and the antibiotics kicked in right away- she had not felt back at all this time around, yet does feel much better already. I have of course been really drilling to her to stay hydrated, which is a concept she has a hard time grasping but I think I've gotten her to drink tea now so that she can get some hydration and also cut out the caffeine from coffee (hence more dehydration)...I spoke to her tonight and she had a wonderful St Pat's day (her day), went to bingo with my sister and paraded her "St Pat's Bear" around at breakfast and dinner and brought joy to many of her neighbors at Woodside Terrace when they hear the Bear sing "When Irish Eyes are Smiling"...she loves that bear!
Saturday, March 02, 2013
Adios February....Hola March Madness...
February- a month of sickness, just a cold that sidelined me for a week. A month of zero progress in the weight loss arena...so much for that goal. I seriously have been trying, I have been working out more, I have been dancing, I have been making foods that are so not the old "me". I have been drinking green smoothies, I have been eating fruit, I have cut back on wine during the week- yet still the scale yo-yo's up/down with the initial 5 pounds that I lost in January. It's friggin' annoying. I'm convinced now that this has got to do with the mid-life shit. I have been Pre-M for years now, but I think I am finally smack dab menopausal now. The Doctor told me that officially you are considered menopausal once Aunt Flow stops visiting for one full year... well I'm on my way...I think. I'm going to have to do some more research and see what power foods may help to turn this around.
February - a month of new friends. We attended a Baptism Open House party for the Pastor at our church and ran into another parishioner. After chatting at the party, we ended up going out to dinner and have seen each other every weekend since. It's nice to have new friends who are fun to be around and who live close. It's been fun ,between dinner out, dinners in, brunch enjoying the sunshine, dancing at the Saddle Rack...really enjoying this new friendship with Lisa & Jonathan.
February- the month of Super Bowl 47 where the 49ers were finally back in the BIG Game..We didn't win, but it was a great game and I can feel confident knowing that we have a very bright future ahead of us with our new leader, QB Kaepernick. One more year in Candlestick and then we start the 2014 Season in the new home at the brand new Santa Clara Stadium. I'm not excited to pay for our seats, but will be beyond excited once the stadium opens and we get to experience the new life that a new stadium brings to a team. Look what happened to the Giants with the building and move to AT&T Park...3 World Series appearances and 2 wins in 12 years- not bad, not bad indeed.
February- the month of many Doctor visits for mom- but HAPPY to say, NO hospital visits or stays! Taking this month by month and trying to keep her healthy. The leg wounds are almost healed, some modifications have been made on her medications to try to fix some leg swelling & trying to get her to gain weight and drink more water. It's a challenge, but we're trying.
February- our early Easter Family Celebration and Family Celebration for my sister's 60th Birthday. Since Michael's college break was the last week of the month and with my sister leaving on a very special birthday trip on Easter, we had to celebrate early. Bill & I hosted a very nice dinner - BBQ'd steaks, baked potatoes, creamed corn, french bread and of course birthday cake. We also used our outdoor Chimnea fireplace for the first time, it was very cool (as in Fonzi cool) to have a fire out on our patio.
March - hello! Where the hell did you come from so quickly? This is going to be a crazy month and today - March 1st did not start out on a good foot, so I HOPE that it's not a sign of the rest of the month. Started with oversleeping and missing my YMCA Cycle class. I had to have been so tired because my alarm was set and I unconsciously hit "snooze" 6-7 times before I actually woke up and when I did, a few expletives came out of my mouth. Nothing I could do at that point, except to email the Director and hope that the 620am instructor noticed that I wasn't there and stuck around to teach for me. Thankfully, Janet was there and she did teach my class and the Director was very understanding and said it has happened to her as well. I still felt horrible. The day just didn't go much better - it was a choppy day with a 1230pm class to sub, I broke a finger nail, mom's Doctor appointment was moved to later in the day since the Dr. got stuck in surgery and then we hit traffic getting there. As much as dancing was the plan for tonight- well Bill was pooped, I was still tired- so we stayed in. I need to snap out of the funk that today has put me in - quickly.
March- a month of extended weekend trips. Palm Springs for a wonderful 4 night stay of R&R..looking forward to that and hoping I can really leave my work at home. I will check emails for any emergencies- but don't want to do any "work" while gone if I can at all help it. Vegas the weekend after for the Les Mills Quarterly - which is going to be EPIC, but I'm not excited for how I look- the self-image is just not very good right now. So at this point, I will be the fat & fit instructor at the Q, the one who has goals that she is going to reach eventually- once this body will start to behave and cooperate. I will also be going through AIM 1, which will be really awesome.
March - a month of celebrations...Godson Nolan is going to be 7 years old this month..so hard to believe- these kids grow up so quickly. Spending this weekend catching up with BFF Diane & family and we will get together next weekend as well to celebrate Nolan's birthday. Spending some time with Lisa & Jonathan on Sunday and they have invited mutual friends- Tony & Lupe- such a small world in Redwood City. Next weekend - party to celebrate Yvonne's birthday..dinner with my Mercy Alums the night before Palm Springs...a fun, social month.
March- a month of deadlines - taxes must get done, ACE renewal must be met- hoping I will have enough continuing credits after the Quarterly and then I also get to renew my CPR.
Feeling a bit overwhelmed when I see what is on the calendar this month- because it really is never ending. Not to mention at least 2 Doctor appointments for mom each week, I get to bring my car in for a bunch of things that need to get done (cha-ching)...I am going on record now and saying that March 30th weekend is a NO PLAN weekend...Sunday is Easter, but with 1/2 the family gone, it will be a low-key family get together.
I am ready for the weather to stay nice..although seems we still have another cold front coming--but the longer day light days will start to happen after next weekend- seriously ready. Need my Vitamin D!
February- a month of sickness, just a cold that sidelined me for a week. A month of zero progress in the weight loss arena...so much for that goal. I seriously have been trying, I have been working out more, I have been dancing, I have been making foods that are so not the old "me". I have been drinking green smoothies, I have been eating fruit, I have cut back on wine during the week- yet still the scale yo-yo's up/down with the initial 5 pounds that I lost in January. It's friggin' annoying. I'm convinced now that this has got to do with the mid-life shit. I have been Pre-M for years now, but I think I am finally smack dab menopausal now. The Doctor told me that officially you are considered menopausal once Aunt Flow stops visiting for one full year... well I'm on my way...I think. I'm going to have to do some more research and see what power foods may help to turn this around.
February - a month of new friends. We attended a Baptism Open House party for the Pastor at our church and ran into another parishioner. After chatting at the party, we ended up going out to dinner and have seen each other every weekend since. It's nice to have new friends who are fun to be around and who live close. It's been fun ,between dinner out, dinners in, brunch enjoying the sunshine, dancing at the Saddle Rack...really enjoying this new friendship with Lisa & Jonathan.
February- the month of Super Bowl 47 where the 49ers were finally back in the BIG Game..We didn't win, but it was a great game and I can feel confident knowing that we have a very bright future ahead of us with our new leader, QB Kaepernick. One more year in Candlestick and then we start the 2014 Season in the new home at the brand new Santa Clara Stadium. I'm not excited to pay for our seats, but will be beyond excited once the stadium opens and we get to experience the new life that a new stadium brings to a team. Look what happened to the Giants with the building and move to AT&T Park...3 World Series appearances and 2 wins in 12 years- not bad, not bad indeed.
February- the month of many Doctor visits for mom- but HAPPY to say, NO hospital visits or stays! Taking this month by month and trying to keep her healthy. The leg wounds are almost healed, some modifications have been made on her medications to try to fix some leg swelling & trying to get her to gain weight and drink more water. It's a challenge, but we're trying.
February- our early Easter Family Celebration and Family Celebration for my sister's 60th Birthday. Since Michael's college break was the last week of the month and with my sister leaving on a very special birthday trip on Easter, we had to celebrate early. Bill & I hosted a very nice dinner - BBQ'd steaks, baked potatoes, creamed corn, french bread and of course birthday cake. We also used our outdoor Chimnea fireplace for the first time, it was very cool (as in Fonzi cool) to have a fire out on our patio.
March - hello! Where the hell did you come from so quickly? This is going to be a crazy month and today - March 1st did not start out on a good foot, so I HOPE that it's not a sign of the rest of the month. Started with oversleeping and missing my YMCA Cycle class. I had to have been so tired because my alarm was set and I unconsciously hit "snooze" 6-7 times before I actually woke up and when I did, a few expletives came out of my mouth. Nothing I could do at that point, except to email the Director and hope that the 620am instructor noticed that I wasn't there and stuck around to teach for me. Thankfully, Janet was there and she did teach my class and the Director was very understanding and said it has happened to her as well. I still felt horrible. The day just didn't go much better - it was a choppy day with a 1230pm class to sub, I broke a finger nail, mom's Doctor appointment was moved to later in the day since the Dr. got stuck in surgery and then we hit traffic getting there. As much as dancing was the plan for tonight- well Bill was pooped, I was still tired- so we stayed in. I need to snap out of the funk that today has put me in - quickly.
March- a month of extended weekend trips. Palm Springs for a wonderful 4 night stay of R&R..looking forward to that and hoping I can really leave my work at home. I will check emails for any emergencies- but don't want to do any "work" while gone if I can at all help it. Vegas the weekend after for the Les Mills Quarterly - which is going to be EPIC, but I'm not excited for how I look- the self-image is just not very good right now. So at this point, I will be the fat & fit instructor at the Q, the one who has goals that she is going to reach eventually- once this body will start to behave and cooperate. I will also be going through AIM 1, which will be really awesome.
March - a month of celebrations...Godson Nolan is going to be 7 years old this month..so hard to believe- these kids grow up so quickly. Spending this weekend catching up with BFF Diane & family and we will get together next weekend as well to celebrate Nolan's birthday. Spending some time with Lisa & Jonathan on Sunday and they have invited mutual friends- Tony & Lupe- such a small world in Redwood City. Next weekend - party to celebrate Yvonne's birthday..dinner with my Mercy Alums the night before Palm Springs...a fun, social month.
March- a month of deadlines - taxes must get done, ACE renewal must be met- hoping I will have enough continuing credits after the Quarterly and then I also get to renew my CPR.
Feeling a bit overwhelmed when I see what is on the calendar this month- because it really is never ending. Not to mention at least 2 Doctor appointments for mom each week, I get to bring my car in for a bunch of things that need to get done (cha-ching)...I am going on record now and saying that March 30th weekend is a NO PLAN weekend...Sunday is Easter, but with 1/2 the family gone, it will be a low-key family get together.
I am ready for the weather to stay nice..although seems we still have another cold front coming--but the longer day light days will start to happen after next weekend- seriously ready. Need my Vitamin D!
Wednesday, February 06, 2013
Sidelined....
Why oh why do I have to get a cold now when I am just getting back into my fitness gear? I mean seriously- I've done more activity in January than I did in most of the second half of 2012. I am feeling like I'm finally back on the weight loss path and boom- COLD! Just not fair. I don't know about other people, but when I get sick I was my comfort food- which equals stuff that is not exactly diet friendly. I'm trying to work on that and get better- had an apple for lunch today!
I'm anxious to get well so that I can get back in gear. I am teaching back to back spin on Friday morning and I pray that I wake up tomorrow feeling well enough to do that. Otherwise, I'm going to have to get subs and I really don't want to do that. And if I get subs for Friday classes, then that means I'm not well enough to go dancing Friday night. It's Heide's first night doing dance lessons on a Friday night with the change of guard and I want to be there, plus it's Tiina's birthday celebration. So I really don't have time to be sick! Other than a big Friday night, the rest of the weekend is pretty clear. I am very behind on work because I just can't focus when my head feels like it's splitting apart with all this congestion! UGH!
Tomorrow I am hoping I feel well enough to get lots of work done- not getting much else done tonight, I'm wiped out. Mom has two tests in the morning- a breathing test and then an ultrasound on her legs and I'm sure the breathing test will be fine. I'm hoping that the ultrasound is good as well. Her legs have been swollen the past few days and the last time that happened she ended up in the hospital with a pretty serious blood clot...always something - can't we just get over this already? Ugh.
Why oh why do I have to get a cold now when I am just getting back into my fitness gear? I mean seriously- I've done more activity in January than I did in most of the second half of 2012. I am feeling like I'm finally back on the weight loss path and boom- COLD! Just not fair. I don't know about other people, but when I get sick I was my comfort food- which equals stuff that is not exactly diet friendly. I'm trying to work on that and get better- had an apple for lunch today!
I'm anxious to get well so that I can get back in gear. I am teaching back to back spin on Friday morning and I pray that I wake up tomorrow feeling well enough to do that. Otherwise, I'm going to have to get subs and I really don't want to do that. And if I get subs for Friday classes, then that means I'm not well enough to go dancing Friday night. It's Heide's first night doing dance lessons on a Friday night with the change of guard and I want to be there, plus it's Tiina's birthday celebration. So I really don't have time to be sick! Other than a big Friday night, the rest of the weekend is pretty clear. I am very behind on work because I just can't focus when my head feels like it's splitting apart with all this congestion! UGH!
Tomorrow I am hoping I feel well enough to get lots of work done- not getting much else done tonight, I'm wiped out. Mom has two tests in the morning- a breathing test and then an ultrasound on her legs and I'm sure the breathing test will be fine. I'm hoping that the ultrasound is good as well. Her legs have been swollen the past few days and the last time that happened she ended up in the hospital with a pretty serious blood clot...always something - can't we just get over this already? Ugh.
Sunday, February 03, 2013
Super Weekend...
It really was a weekend filled with highs and lows...mostly highs. Friday I was a bit apprehensive about going out Friday night because my eye had been giving me grief all day (had an irritating stye) and wasn't sure I could go out with it, but decided to go and I could always come home early if it really bothered me too much. I'm glad I went- it was a GREAT night of dancing and I was so excited to see some friends that hardly every come out. It was the last night for the Rita's Rock 'N Rodeo dance instructional team at the Saddle Rack, so many dance helpers old and new were there for this last night. In some ways, it was a celebration of a successful run of 10 years at the Saddle Rack and in some ways for some people it was a very sad day as the torch is passed to another instructor. Change is always hard, but it can also be a very good thing too. I was thrilled to see friends Robin & Don there who we have not seen in a very long time and I had just been thinking about them the other day, so it was awesome to spend a bit of time catching up!
Saturday Body Pump was off the hook! Not a full class, but a class full of regulars and it was my first time teaching Release 84 to them in full since launch happened while I was in Maui. It was a great class and they are such a hard working, fun team. After class, came home and did some chores then Bill & I headed over the Pastor Eric & Katy's house for their 3 month old son's Pre-Baptism Open House party and seeing that it was an Open House we only intended to stay for an hour tops- but we had a nice time chatting with Eric's family from out of town and then started talking to a Redeemer School parent that I've known briefly in person and through Facebook & her boyfriend. After an hour, we were having such a great time that the four of us decided to go out to dinner- it was such a fun time, we laughed and got to know each other better and found that we all had quite a bit in common. Such an unexpected night, but sometimes those end up being the best!
Super Sunday..well as much as I would have loved to continue to hit "snooze" on the alarm, I did get up and got to church just as services were starting. Witnessed baby Nash's baptism along with two others who were baptized, then rushed home and met Kristy at the gym to take her Body Flow class. It was FLOW-tastic, she is such a great instructor and it was such a wonderful class. I KNOW that I need this format in my life be it Body Flow or some other form of Yoga, I just need to do this a few times per week to get back my flexibility. I have very tight quads, surprisingly my hips were not as tight as I would have expected them to be- but class felt wonderful. Then it was off to Diane & Mike's for the Super Bowl Party.
I put temporary 49er tattoos on the kids, took pictures, decorated the man-cave with my 49er towels, blankets, pillows, flags, etc...330pm kickoff....and then the first half happened and it looked like my Niners didn't show up. The second half started and was still unsure if they were here or not. The power goes off at the Superdome and voila- when the lights came back on, my Niners were found! However, it was a bit of "too little too late"-- they made one helluva comeback and truth be told the refs did play a part in the loss as they did miss a few calls that would have benefited the Niners, but in the end the Niners do not get to return to SF with the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Although, I am very sad about this and had such high hopes for a 6th Super Bowl Trophy and was already planning my week around the possibility of a Niner Victory Parade (Parades seem to elude me)...I sit here very proud of this team. They gave us a phenomenal year! Colin Kaepernick has shown that he is one amazing athlete and quarterback. He is the future of the 49er organization and he is going to lead us into the next Niner Dynasty. I feel it with my heart and soul. We came up short today, but next year we will make it all the way..Niner Faithful...FOREVER!
It really was a weekend filled with highs and lows...mostly highs. Friday I was a bit apprehensive about going out Friday night because my eye had been giving me grief all day (had an irritating stye) and wasn't sure I could go out with it, but decided to go and I could always come home early if it really bothered me too much. I'm glad I went- it was a GREAT night of dancing and I was so excited to see some friends that hardly every come out. It was the last night for the Rita's Rock 'N Rodeo dance instructional team at the Saddle Rack, so many dance helpers old and new were there for this last night. In some ways, it was a celebration of a successful run of 10 years at the Saddle Rack and in some ways for some people it was a very sad day as the torch is passed to another instructor. Change is always hard, but it can also be a very good thing too. I was thrilled to see friends Robin & Don there who we have not seen in a very long time and I had just been thinking about them the other day, so it was awesome to spend a bit of time catching up!
Saturday Body Pump was off the hook! Not a full class, but a class full of regulars and it was my first time teaching Release 84 to them in full since launch happened while I was in Maui. It was a great class and they are such a hard working, fun team. After class, came home and did some chores then Bill & I headed over the Pastor Eric & Katy's house for their 3 month old son's Pre-Baptism Open House party and seeing that it was an Open House we only intended to stay for an hour tops- but we had a nice time chatting with Eric's family from out of town and then started talking to a Redeemer School parent that I've known briefly in person and through Facebook & her boyfriend. After an hour, we were having such a great time that the four of us decided to go out to dinner- it was such a fun time, we laughed and got to know each other better and found that we all had quite a bit in common. Such an unexpected night, but sometimes those end up being the best!
Super Sunday..well as much as I would have loved to continue to hit "snooze" on the alarm, I did get up and got to church just as services were starting. Witnessed baby Nash's baptism along with two others who were baptized, then rushed home and met Kristy at the gym to take her Body Flow class. It was FLOW-tastic, she is such a great instructor and it was such a wonderful class. I KNOW that I need this format in my life be it Body Flow or some other form of Yoga, I just need to do this a few times per week to get back my flexibility. I have very tight quads, surprisingly my hips were not as tight as I would have expected them to be- but class felt wonderful. Then it was off to Diane & Mike's for the Super Bowl Party.
I put temporary 49er tattoos on the kids, took pictures, decorated the man-cave with my 49er towels, blankets, pillows, flags, etc...330pm kickoff....and then the first half happened and it looked like my Niners didn't show up. The second half started and was still unsure if they were here or not. The power goes off at the Superdome and voila- when the lights came back on, my Niners were found! However, it was a bit of "too little too late"-- they made one helluva comeback and truth be told the refs did play a part in the loss as they did miss a few calls that would have benefited the Niners, but in the end the Niners do not get to return to SF with the Vince Lombardi Trophy. Although, I am very sad about this and had such high hopes for a 6th Super Bowl Trophy and was already planning my week around the possibility of a Niner Victory Parade (Parades seem to elude me)...I sit here very proud of this team. They gave us a phenomenal year! Colin Kaepernick has shown that he is one amazing athlete and quarterback. He is the future of the 49er organization and he is going to lead us into the next Niner Dynasty. I feel it with my heart and soul. We came up short today, but next year we will make it all the way..Niner Faithful...FOREVER!
Friday, February 01, 2013
Warmly Welcomed...
I was super early for my new 730am spin class this morning at the Y, sort of got lost. I was convinced I knew exactly where I was going but got a bit confused between Embarcadero Road &Oregon Expressway. Once I realized I was going too far without seeing the street to turn, I frantically pulled out the GPS and still arrived with 15 minutes to spare.
A fellow instructor, Janet who I already know showed me the ropes with the stereo, microphone, etc. and let me know that the 730am cycle crowd is a very nice, easy-going, sometimes older population of people and even introduced me to a few of the members. Got the music started and we were off! Of course, still needed to learn a few things like where the fans and A/C are controlled, but the members were very nice in letting me know. Janet warned that it is usually a small class, between 5-10 people at that hour - her Body Pump class that preceded was about the same. I had 7 people total and they were all very gracious and thankful after class, complimented me on music and reconfirming that I will be there every week. I think my suspicions were correct that they would be very happy to have consistency in that time slot - maybe now I can build those numbers. I love a challenge. It was a great class and it felt good to take ownership of a cycle class once again.
The best part, however, was after class. I was in the Ladies room and a member who was not in my class approached me and said she noticed I was teaching cycle and wanted to know if I would be there every week. She went onto say that she remembered taking Body Pump with me and thought I was the best instructor she had ever had! OMG- what a compliment and even more mind-blowing was that I only subbed at this facility ONCE and it was months ago, I couldn't even tell you how long ago- but she remembered me. She just couldn't say enough nice things and she seemed excited to come take a cycle class with me in the coming weeks.
So right now, I'd say that I'm a good fit with the Palo Alto Family YMCA. It's funny, the Y is notorious for being the lowest pay in the business- but the truth be told, I'm not in it for the money. I have a Travel Business to financially support myself. My Fitness Career supports me in so many other ways, ways that are far greater than any paycheck.
I was super early for my new 730am spin class this morning at the Y, sort of got lost. I was convinced I knew exactly where I was going but got a bit confused between Embarcadero Road &Oregon Expressway. Once I realized I was going too far without seeing the street to turn, I frantically pulled out the GPS and still arrived with 15 minutes to spare.
A fellow instructor, Janet who I already know showed me the ropes with the stereo, microphone, etc. and let me know that the 730am cycle crowd is a very nice, easy-going, sometimes older population of people and even introduced me to a few of the members. Got the music started and we were off! Of course, still needed to learn a few things like where the fans and A/C are controlled, but the members were very nice in letting me know. Janet warned that it is usually a small class, between 5-10 people at that hour - her Body Pump class that preceded was about the same. I had 7 people total and they were all very gracious and thankful after class, complimented me on music and reconfirming that I will be there every week. I think my suspicions were correct that they would be very happy to have consistency in that time slot - maybe now I can build those numbers. I love a challenge. It was a great class and it felt good to take ownership of a cycle class once again.
The best part, however, was after class. I was in the Ladies room and a member who was not in my class approached me and said she noticed I was teaching cycle and wanted to know if I would be there every week. She went onto say that she remembered taking Body Pump with me and thought I was the best instructor she had ever had! OMG- what a compliment and even more mind-blowing was that I only subbed at this facility ONCE and it was months ago, I couldn't even tell you how long ago- but she remembered me. She just couldn't say enough nice things and she seemed excited to come take a cycle class with me in the coming weeks.
So right now, I'd say that I'm a good fit with the Palo Alto Family YMCA. It's funny, the Y is notorious for being the lowest pay in the business- but the truth be told, I'm not in it for the money. I have a Travel Business to financially support myself. My Fitness Career supports me in so many other ways, ways that are far greater than any paycheck.
Thursday, January 31, 2013
Bye bye January!
WOW- one month down, 11 to go! Time, please stop moving so quickly! It's been a crazy start to the year and January has not been a very bad month. It's been a very busy Travel Business month, my second highest January sales in the last 5 years and that is with me being gone one full week! I hope this sets the tone for 2013 and that my overall sales will be up. I don't see any reason why they won't. The rest of my life has settled down a bit, giving me the time to actively promote some travel ideas.
We just got back from a week in Maui and it was a nice time away with my wonderful hubby. Warm weather & lots of chill time. But even more importantly, it gave me the time to test the waters (so to speak) and start walking again. I have been eager to see how my foot would fair with walking again (as in power walking) and Wailea has a beautiful oceanside path for just that purpose. I am stoked to say that I went walking on that path 3 of the 4 mornings that we were in Wailea and walked between 3-4 miles each time. It was fabulous! Once we relocated to Makena, Bill & I went for a walk through that neighborhood, while not as gorgeous with a beach path, it is still Maui & this walk included some hills, which was good training since my walks at home are filled with hills. I was able to take a yoga class one of the mornings and then also put some time in at the gym one other morning and did the Elliptical trainer. Ok, I have not used one of those machines in a very, very long time and today my legs are killing me! It's a great feeling though! I can't remember the last time that I took a vacation and did this much exercise. It's been a long time. I think I am now ready to get back into my daily routines and walking with Diane and experimenting with a few other classes at the gym to get my fitness on! Today, I planned on doing Body Pump at home and really wanted that to be "first thing", but had some things I needed to do for mom but made sure I did the full release in my living room before dinner. Served as a good review of choreography for teaching Saturday and it will also help for that class to not hurt too badly!
Tomorrow, I get back in the saddle again! I was offered a spin class at the Palo Alto Family YMCA and decided that I would jump at the chance. I had been emailing the director at Crunch letting him know that if any of the early morning spin classes became available, I would be interested- I sub those classes often and it's a good fit - my style of teaching and the participants. But so far, nobody is moving. Figured I would try this class at the Y out and see if I am a good fit for their members. It's always so hard to take over a class, but it seems as though this class has been shared by 3 other people, so maybe they will welcome the consistency. I have missed teaching spin, so I am ready to get back on the bike! This will bring me up to 4 classes per week and my goal by summer time would hopefully bring that up to 6-7 classes per week. Gold's Gym is looking at potentially adding more Les Mills programs and that is very exciting, so I may find myself in a position to train for another one of those formats!
I have resumed my Weight Watchers program with a twist. Not only am I counting my points, but I have been trying a lot of new things. I have been stepping out of the box and putting things in my body that I have previously labeled with the big red circle with the slant line through it! I have been drinking tea in the morning (not hot chocolate, not sugary cider), I made a green smoothie before my vacation (well it was brown) but it contained baby spinach, kale, strawberries, banana, peach, pineapple and I drank the whole thing and it tasted pretty ok. I bought some steel cut oats, but have not tried them yet. I don't drink sodas that often, but can say that I have not had one in weeks- previously I might have had one every 2-3 days. I have also cut back on wine (sadly), but have really limited wine to 2-3 days each week. While on vacation in Maui- I snacked on grapes and pineapple. I tried any veggies that happened to be served on my plate, without having my napkin ready to spit it out. After two weeks on Weight Watchers, I had lost 6 pounds and this was after being in Maui for 2 days! In fact, I was prepared to take my Wednesday weight for the week (I weigh in on Fridays), but when I was at the Spa on Friday for my massage treatment they had a scale, so I dropped my towel and jumped up! I was pleasantly pleased that it registered with weight loss for the week. I will weigh in tomorrow after the rest of our vacation and if the scale is the same or slightly higher, it's ok, I will bounce back quickly. In fact, I already feel it. I was chatting with my mom about vacation and eating/drinking/points and that prompted me to review my week in Maui or at least from last Friday (the last WW week) and yes I am -69 points, to be expected from vacation. However, it was the alcohol that put me in the deficit. I had eaten quite well throughout the week. I was able to control my eating environment for several meals. It felt good to be able to do that.
Back on track today, went shopping and picked up several fruits, a few veggies and plan to make another green smoothie tomorrow for lunch. I'm on a mission and my goal is to lose 1-2 pounds per week. I can do this. I will do this.
It's going to be a great weekend - a friday of spin, work, dancing. A saturday of Body Pump, work, Baptismal pre-party and then Super Sunday - starting with Baby Nash's Baptism and then 49ER SUPER BOWL SUNDAY! So ridiculously excited for the game and the fun time with friends. Might even see about taking Kristy's Body Flow class between the two making it an even more super Sunday.
Update on Mom:
Mom ended up in the hospital once again while I was in Maui, but fortunately she is out now after a 5 night stay. Darn Colitis and C-diff (related of course)...she just can't win. I started thinking a bit more about this tonight and for two weeks she had been experiencing some intermittent dry heaving in the morning or before her first meal of the day. This stopped after being admitted. I think we've concluded that it was the Iron Supplement that was upsetting her stomach and I wouldn't be at all surprised if this stomach upset left her vulnerable for the darn C-diff to creep back again. Hopefully, this is IT! The legs are considered "healed", which is AWESOME news - time for her to live and enjoy life! As Valerie from Dr Gillon's office said, let's hope for small goals- so right now we're saying no hospital visits for February. Also, time for us to figure out what we're doing with mom's house. Spring is a great time to sell, so we really need to get on it if that is the direction we are going to go. So TIME, please slow the hell down!!!!
WOW- one month down, 11 to go! Time, please stop moving so quickly! It's been a crazy start to the year and January has not been a very bad month. It's been a very busy Travel Business month, my second highest January sales in the last 5 years and that is with me being gone one full week! I hope this sets the tone for 2013 and that my overall sales will be up. I don't see any reason why they won't. The rest of my life has settled down a bit, giving me the time to actively promote some travel ideas.
We just got back from a week in Maui and it was a nice time away with my wonderful hubby. Warm weather & lots of chill time. But even more importantly, it gave me the time to test the waters (so to speak) and start walking again. I have been eager to see how my foot would fair with walking again (as in power walking) and Wailea has a beautiful oceanside path for just that purpose. I am stoked to say that I went walking on that path 3 of the 4 mornings that we were in Wailea and walked between 3-4 miles each time. It was fabulous! Once we relocated to Makena, Bill & I went for a walk through that neighborhood, while not as gorgeous with a beach path, it is still Maui & this walk included some hills, which was good training since my walks at home are filled with hills. I was able to take a yoga class one of the mornings and then also put some time in at the gym one other morning and did the Elliptical trainer. Ok, I have not used one of those machines in a very, very long time and today my legs are killing me! It's a great feeling though! I can't remember the last time that I took a vacation and did this much exercise. It's been a long time. I think I am now ready to get back into my daily routines and walking with Diane and experimenting with a few other classes at the gym to get my fitness on! Today, I planned on doing Body Pump at home and really wanted that to be "first thing", but had some things I needed to do for mom but made sure I did the full release in my living room before dinner. Served as a good review of choreography for teaching Saturday and it will also help for that class to not hurt too badly!
Tomorrow, I get back in the saddle again! I was offered a spin class at the Palo Alto Family YMCA and decided that I would jump at the chance. I had been emailing the director at Crunch letting him know that if any of the early morning spin classes became available, I would be interested- I sub those classes often and it's a good fit - my style of teaching and the participants. But so far, nobody is moving. Figured I would try this class at the Y out and see if I am a good fit for their members. It's always so hard to take over a class, but it seems as though this class has been shared by 3 other people, so maybe they will welcome the consistency. I have missed teaching spin, so I am ready to get back on the bike! This will bring me up to 4 classes per week and my goal by summer time would hopefully bring that up to 6-7 classes per week. Gold's Gym is looking at potentially adding more Les Mills programs and that is very exciting, so I may find myself in a position to train for another one of those formats!
I have resumed my Weight Watchers program with a twist. Not only am I counting my points, but I have been trying a lot of new things. I have been stepping out of the box and putting things in my body that I have previously labeled with the big red circle with the slant line through it! I have been drinking tea in the morning (not hot chocolate, not sugary cider), I made a green smoothie before my vacation (well it was brown) but it contained baby spinach, kale, strawberries, banana, peach, pineapple and I drank the whole thing and it tasted pretty ok. I bought some steel cut oats, but have not tried them yet. I don't drink sodas that often, but can say that I have not had one in weeks- previously I might have had one every 2-3 days. I have also cut back on wine (sadly), but have really limited wine to 2-3 days each week. While on vacation in Maui- I snacked on grapes and pineapple. I tried any veggies that happened to be served on my plate, without having my napkin ready to spit it out. After two weeks on Weight Watchers, I had lost 6 pounds and this was after being in Maui for 2 days! In fact, I was prepared to take my Wednesday weight for the week (I weigh in on Fridays), but when I was at the Spa on Friday for my massage treatment they had a scale, so I dropped my towel and jumped up! I was pleasantly pleased that it registered with weight loss for the week. I will weigh in tomorrow after the rest of our vacation and if the scale is the same or slightly higher, it's ok, I will bounce back quickly. In fact, I already feel it. I was chatting with my mom about vacation and eating/drinking/points and that prompted me to review my week in Maui or at least from last Friday (the last WW week) and yes I am -69 points, to be expected from vacation. However, it was the alcohol that put me in the deficit. I had eaten quite well throughout the week. I was able to control my eating environment for several meals. It felt good to be able to do that.
Back on track today, went shopping and picked up several fruits, a few veggies and plan to make another green smoothie tomorrow for lunch. I'm on a mission and my goal is to lose 1-2 pounds per week. I can do this. I will do this.
It's going to be a great weekend - a friday of spin, work, dancing. A saturday of Body Pump, work, Baptismal pre-party and then Super Sunday - starting with Baby Nash's Baptism and then 49ER SUPER BOWL SUNDAY! So ridiculously excited for the game and the fun time with friends. Might even see about taking Kristy's Body Flow class between the two making it an even more super Sunday.
Update on Mom:
Mom ended up in the hospital once again while I was in Maui, but fortunately she is out now after a 5 night stay. Darn Colitis and C-diff (related of course)...she just can't win. I started thinking a bit more about this tonight and for two weeks she had been experiencing some intermittent dry heaving in the morning or before her first meal of the day. This stopped after being admitted. I think we've concluded that it was the Iron Supplement that was upsetting her stomach and I wouldn't be at all surprised if this stomach upset left her vulnerable for the darn C-diff to creep back again. Hopefully, this is IT! The legs are considered "healed", which is AWESOME news - time for her to live and enjoy life! As Valerie from Dr Gillon's office said, let's hope for small goals- so right now we're saying no hospital visits for February. Also, time for us to figure out what we're doing with mom's house. Spring is a great time to sell, so we really need to get on it if that is the direction we are going to go. So TIME, please slow the hell down!!!!
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