Tuesday, October 19

It was a good day :)

We increased our yearbook sales from 46% of our goal to 58% of our goal today! The kids love coloring in the books on their wall goal chart. You know the ones where you fill in until you get to 100%. This one has books. We love the array of Sharpies you can get these days for this very purpose.

I got my workout in this evening as planned. HHA Hips, Buns and Thighs. Wow, painful. I crossed my legs today and felt how tight the inside of my legs are, where they meet the body. I didn't know my abs were sore until Shaun T. made me do something that involved them and I said, out loud, holy shit.

I forgot how much running engages your core. And when you have a core like mine that doesn't get engaged all that often, it doesn't take much!

But, despite the pain, I got through most of the workout fine. Tomorrow morning is another run/walk morning, Day 2 of C25K. I really think I'm going to sign up for the Turkey Trot. It's far enough away that I have time to get prepared enough, as long as I stick with this. And if I have to walk some of it, I walk some. I can't find the map of where in Edmond it takes place, so I don't know how hilly it is. Everything's pretty flat out here on my side of the city so I might have to plan for that.

I felt pretty rested today, just a little sore, and I felt like I had enough energy to get through my workout with more to spare. I was good yesterday until about 8:30 and then my eyelids started to droop. I was here alone, too, so it made it easier to just pack it in and crawl into bed. I hope to have more energy after awhile, and I can feel a difference every day that I do work out; I just have to get up so damn early that I crash early.

Basketball game days are going to kill me. Blah. At least there are only 4, all in November, to get through.

C25K Day 1

I arose at 5:15, managed to get out the door fairly quickly (after scrambling around trying to find all my workout clothes. Next time I will lay them out!) and enjoyed a fairly easy stroll/jog around the neighborhood under Orion's Belt. It was a breezy 55 and perfect.

I came inside and started to put my lunch together, thinking I had some meatloaf muffins in the freezer I could use and nope, none there. It would take too long to cook a piece of frozen chicken so I'm going to risk leftovers from Thursday night. Eeeeeeek. I have a three-day maximum usually on those things. I should have planned better!

Gearing myself up for what will surely be a long day, since it's a short week. I have three piano lessons after school. Hopefully my percussionists will be in line today instead of a nightmare like last week.

Enough about work, though; it's pretty much all I talk about these days...

How 'bout them Sooners?!?!?

Trying something new tomorrow

I've put together a calendar for the next month and a half, almost. I figure if my schedule is going to continue being as crazy as it is, then I'm just going to have to schedule my workouts.

If I have to schedule any more, I'll be scheduling my damned sex life. Gah. Does life ever slow down? Does work ever slow down? It just seems...busier...this year. I can't quite get a grip on it. I definitely can't get a grip on how fast it's all flying by!

My sister gave me a good shoulder massage today and helped work out some of the issues I've been having. I need to get some tennis balls so I can use those and the wall to work out my shoulder blade problem. Since fall break is coming up, I plan on scheduling a massage then, too, to fix this problem.

My foot hasn't been bothering me the last two days, which has been nice. I feel like I can actually work out, and the mornings are nice and cool, though dark...but, I'm going to take advantage of them. The time will change soon, anyway. I can always borrow H's reflective vest and I plan on staying in the neighborhood for awhile.

I have a lot planned in my head for fall break, mostly cleaning and yardwork that I just haven't felt like dealing with. I come home and I just crash. My days have been mentally exhausting.

I'm going to have to cut out the wine again. I noticed a couple of little welts that will become psoriasis if I don't cut it out. Damn. It's a trade, though. Itch or sobriety. What a crappy decision ;)

I'll reveal more of the calendar later. It's getting late (for me...when you wake up at 5:15, 9pm is bedtime!) and I have a family guy iPhone game to conquer.

Sweet, I actually got up and did it

I tried not to push too hard, since I still have the nagging pull in my back, and HHA really uses your back muscles to work the core, but I got through it! I wore my heavy-duty sneakers to work yesterday so my foot isn't bothering me too much this morning.

Not really much else to say. Yesterday wasn't the best of my work days; band was a little discouraging. It's strange to see friends just let each other drown in their music without helping. A percussionist is having a hard time catching up after leaving the program for a year (he was never really taught to read...oy) and one friend did jump up, but he couldn't figure it out, either. And it's simple "boom-chick" march kind of stuff. I'm going to have to figure out some way to help him because he's drowning and we have a concert in less than a month!

All right, I've got to keep this short--workouts always eat up my morning time ;)

If anyone's been wondering where I've been...

I've been injured. Freaking plantar fasciitis and last Saturday I woke up to extreme neck/back/shoulder pain. I have no idea what I did there, but I still can't look down without it "pulling."

So, not much exercise has been going on. I'm frustrated because I can't even lift. All of the strength gains I had are going to just go away. I had just gotten to the point I could stand to work out in the mornings.

I did manage to find some shoes that help my foot. I got up this morning to try and it was just excruciating. And there's nothing except months of stretches that I can do about it.

So, I haven't been blogging because talking about being frustrated with my lame-ass body doesn't further anything. Posting how horrible I've been eating doesn't help me. I'm not exactly feeling inspired.

I do, at least, have a reasonably healthy menu this week. My weight's been creeping up on me and again, I'm frustrated with it. So, I guess I'm just going to have to cut waaaaaay back on the calories until I can work out again.

I plan to go get a massage soon; financially, I can't justify it, but I'm going to have to, so I can function again.

So, that's the update. Creeping closer to 30 and my goals just keep slipping out of my fingers. I can at least say I'm still under 190.

Sigh.

Hip Hop Abs, baby

I ordered a new cardio routine from BeachBody: Hip Hop Abs. The instructor is Shaun T, the same guy who does Insanity. Luckily, this one isn't as brutal, though the first time through the routine this morning had me staring with little question marks all over my head because my body just didn't understand how to step-touch to the side while alternating arching and rounding my back and pumping my arms.

Gee, it sounds so easy when I write it out.

However, I could feel my abs working, and it was a lot of fun, which I need at 5:15am. Shaun T is hilarious. In Insanity, you just see him be a badass. In this one, he proclaims that "Dontcha wish your girlfriend" is his song. It's pretty funny. I could almost see him walking up and saying, "Hey, girrrrrlfran."

In other news, work is CRAZY. Home is crazy. Well, not crazy but financially stressful, still. I've started up piano lessons and picked up a student--one of my percussionists! I love it when they show an interest like that. I've not taught a student his age in a looooong time, and I'm so used to tiny little hands and he has these huge man-hands that barely fit in the keys. He won't be a viruoso but he has the goods and the will. He was also concerned about getting me paid on time, which is nice. I do like getting paid on time.

My husband is doing well on his weight-loss efforts. He's within 15 pounds of my weight, which is kind of scary for me. And, of course, incredibly frustrating. He goes out and rides his bike, makes little changes to his diet and the fat just melts off. He's the example that doctors always make. I, on the other hand, could do the exact same thing and do like I did this morning--gain two pounds for water retention. Seriously, I can barely get my wedding band on and off. It was loose yesterday! Guess I need more water. But, he's happy. And he has finally given up the pipe dream of landscaping and building a retaining wall in the backyard with a buddy. They were just going to do it one weekend. Because we all know that was going to work. I'm a little scared of the cost, but if we get it done soon, I can put in bulbs for the spring.

Anyway, this has been a bit of a rambly post, so I'll move on. Anyone else ready for fall? I'm tired of the makeup melting off my face first hour while I feel sweat literally running down my back. It's icky and I'm tired of it! Bring on the fall!

I'm a failer, oh well.

Looking at my 30 for 30 list, I've miserably failed at some, and I've thrived with others.

I have managed to make non-work friends. Not close friends yet, but ladies with whom I can have a real conversation and enjoy food without judgment. I appreciate that.

I have tried new fruits and veggies, and at the end of this post I'll list fall fruits and veggies that I plan to try. I've even come to like one unlikely green suspect: the brussel sprout. It's H's favorite veggie and I've been denying him all this time, just because I had never prepared them myself. I find I much prefer them from fresh. They should be getting better now that they are coming into season. Summer was hard to come up with things I haven't already tried that were in season. Fall and winter veggies and fruits aren't as difficult as we usually just subsisted on canned and frozen summer veggies back home during the cold winter months haha.

I had to buy new clothes, and I'm not exactly on track to fit into my old clothes, either. However, unless I wanted to look like a homeless person in the classroom, then I had to buy clothes. I shopped the sales as well as I could (hello, Land's End Overstocks and sales! And Ross!) and came up with a reasonable work wardrobe that fits reasonably well and was reasonably inexpensive.

I have lost weight, especially since my yearly check up when my doc started to give me a little side-eye. I still have to wonder why it's so damn hard for me to lose weight. I feel like there is something working against me. It's not hypothyroid, but there are other things that have gotten me thinking. I'm not going to get into it here, but if I'm right, it sure would explain a lot. I hate to be the person who thinks something is wrong and blames that for weight gain and then it turns out nothing is wrong and the person is just a fat-ass who can't say no to brownies. Harsh words, I know.

I'm still in progress of controlling my crazier tendencies. I had a total meltdown today when the sink backed up and H managed to splash me with liquid-plumber-laced back-up water. *shudders* I freaked out and stripped off my clothes on top and started washing off my arms where it had touched me. I still smell of bleach. Granted, it was nearly noon, I hadn't eaten and had been up for nearly four hours and was feeling shaky, and the PMS is in full swing. But man, that was crazy. It was my second outburst of the week but I've been feeling financially frustrated and some things have happened at work that have royally rubbed me the wrong way. A girl's gotta vent, somehow.

Anywho, here's my list of fruits and veggies that I haven't tried:


Artichokes produce a second, smaller crop in the fall (the first go-around is in the spring) that tends to produce small to medium artichokes. (I haven't cooked with them)

Beets are in season in temperate climates fall through spring, and available from storage most of the year everywhere else. Fresh beets are often sold with their greens still attached.

Belgian Endive are mostly "forced" to grow in artificial conditions. Their traditional season (when grown in fields and covered with sand to keep out the light), like that of all chicories, is late fall and winter.

Broccoli raabe, rapini is a more bitter, leafier vegetable than its cousin, broccoli, but likes similar cool growing conditions. (I've never found it here)

Brussels sprouts grow on a stalk, and if you see them for sale that way snap them up - they'll last quite a bit longer than once they're cut. (I have seen them this way! I'll be trying them more and more)

Celeriac/celery root is at its best in the cooler months of fall, winter, and early spring (except in cold climates, where you'll find it during the summer and early fall). (not really looking forward to this one...)


Chard like all cooking greens, chard turns bitter when it gets too hot. Chard grows year-round in temperate areas, is best harvested in late summer or early fall in colder areas, and fall through spring in warmer regions.

Chicories are cool weather crops that come into season in late fall (and last in temperate climates through early spring). (how am I going to use this? and can I find it?_

Chiles are best at the end of summer and into fall. Dried chiles are, of course, available year-round. (I need to try some of those Asian chiles in stir fry...yum.)

Fennel's natural season is from fall through early spring. Like most cool weather crops, the plant bolts and turns bitter in warmer weather.

Figs have a short second season in late fall (the first harvest comes in summer) just in time for Thanksgiving.

Jerusalem artichokes/Sunchokes are brown nubs, that look a bit like small pieces of fresh ginger. Look for firm tubers with smooth, tan skins in fall and winter. (not sure I've seen these, except on the food channel)

Kale is like all hearty cooking greens – cooler weather keeps it sweet. (had it in soups but want to try other ways)

Kohlrabi (late fall) comes into season by the end of fall, but stays at its sweet best into winter.

Okra (early fall) needs heat to grow, so a nice long, hot summer in warmer climates brings out its best. Look for firm, plump pods in late summer and early fall. (I've never cooked with it)

Pears have a season that runs from mid-summer well into winter, depending on the variety and region. (I will try baking with these...didn't care for them fresh)

Persimmons are available for a short window in the fall and early winter - look for bright, heavy-feeling fruits. (sweet! I wonder if I will find them)


Quinces area most under-appreciated fruit. Bright and tart, quince jellies and desserts are a fall and early winter favorite. (available in Ok? I wonder...)

Rutabagas also known as "yellow turnips" and "Swedes" are a sweet, nutty root vegetables perfect in stews, roasted, or mashed with plenty of butter.

Tomatillos look like small green tomatoes with a light green papery husk. (definitely looking forward to this)

Turnips have a sharp but bright and sweet flavor. Look for turnips that feel heavy for their size. (turnip gratin by Pioneer Woman? I think so)

Winter squash of all sorts comes into season in early fall and usually last well into winter. (butternut squash risotto on the way)

If you can think of any fruits or veggies that I should try, let me know! The Asian and Mexican markets are something I've not explored yet and I might be pleasantly surprised.

So, that's the update. Been enjoying time with friends, but work has been crazy-busy. This week should be a bit...calmer...hopefully :/