The Allgood Life

A Reading Goal of 60...

2012-02-09T16:03:00.000-08:00

Last year I set my sights on reading 60 books in the year, and I came pretty close. I read 58 total over the year. This year, I would like to set 60 as the goal and hope I get very close. But I’m off to a bit of a slow start.

I managed to read a couple of quick books that were less than 350 pages. But it’s the most recent thick one that REALLY slowed down my starting pace for the year. I just got done reading the 1000+ paged “World Without End” by Ken Follett. At about ¾ of the way through the book, I started to refer to it as the “Book Without End”.

My first clue should have been that a friend just handed over this book and said it was not their type of book but maybe I would like it. Not that it was badly written but I think it was a BIG book that should have been broken into several books. There were quite a few instances where the book could have ended but no such luck. You turn the page and there was the start of a new chapter. It was the never ending story; kind of like the movie but without the irritating music. Yesterday when I got done reading, it was like the ending was anticlimactic! It was like the bad after taste left over from something bad I ate. Ugh!

This morning, I started a new book, No. 4 for the year, “The Art of Racing in the Rain” by Garth Stein and I was almost bawling my eyes out after the first chapter. Now this is a book, and it was after lunch today that I find myself already starting on Chapter 11. It’s a captivating story and it’s going to be a quick read for me. If you are a “dog” person this is definitely a book you can relate to.

It is written from the perspective of a dog named Enzo who is philosopher with nearly a human soul. In fact, in his next life Enzo is convinced that he’ll come back as a human. I can tell that this book is going to be an emotional rollercoaster for me because of my love of dogs. But so far, it has been an enjoyable read and a page turner. I guess for my next book choice, I’ll need to choose something lighter.

Well, that's 3.5 down AND ONLY 56.5 books to go in 10.5 months! She-esssh! No Problem-o!

Self Imposed Deadline....

2012-02-03T16:01:00.000-08:00

Okay, yesterday I imposed a deadline on myself to come up with a list of New Year's Resolutions. Well, I thought about it over night and came up with a few....

1) Save More Money! I know, I know that I used this one last year BUT it's always a good one to have. At least, I think so! Besides, it's awlays good to have some money off to the side for those "Rainy Days" that happen in life. AND this would make it easier to do some of those items that are on my "Bucket List" too! So I'm putting this on the lsit for another year.

2) Unclutter My Life! I had this on the bottom of the list last year, and it rather turned out to be more of an after thought than a goal or something to work on. But I'm putting it higher up on the list this year and am really going to focus on cleaning the closets out and nick-nacks. Just a VERY thorough Spring Cleaning of what I have in my one bedroom apartment. Besides, I really don't have much room as it is!

3)Learn Spanish! It's another item that's on my "Bucket List" that I would like to try to focus on. I kind of get tired of feeling like a minority in my own neighborhood. All my neighbors seem to speak Spanish and here I am- "No Espanol!" It's kind of embarrassing!

4) Get to my Goal Weight! I'm within 12-13 lbs. of my goal weight and DAMN IT! I want to get there THIS year. Last year I lost about 22 lbs. and I don't think that it's unrealistic to lose the last 12 to 13 to get to my goal. So that's on my list for this year.

5) Cut Down On Eating Out! So the other night I run through the Wendy's Drive Thru and the manager asks how my art show went last month... Yeah, I think I've been visiting THAT Drive Thru a BIT TOO MUCH! And bonus, by working on this goal I'll also be helping out on two of the other goals.

6) Do One Century! I blew this last year because I waited until the end of the year and then had bike mechanical problems. Some of you may remember my riding 30 miles with my rear bike brake rubbing REALLY hard. Doing a canyon like that was interesting in its own way. So I want to shoot for attempting the Century earlier in the cycling season. That way it won't be a last minute failure.

There's the list for this year! I'm keeping it short on purpose.

Flash Month...

2012-02-02T16:02:00.000-08:00

Wheeewwwpp! That’s the sound of January made as it went zinging past. The full realization of its passing didn’t hit me until today when a co-worker wished me a “Happy Groundhog’s Day!” WHAT?!!? Yep, sure enough January had come and gone. It went by in a flash! Here today and gone tomorrow. I also realized I forgot to drop off the check for rent yesterday. OOoopppss! (Guess where I’m going immediately after work today!?)

Photo- "Jane's Addiction" - watercolor on paper done by me.

The first two weeks of January, I was dealing with preparing for my art show and the last two weeks I was recovering from the art show. Meanwhile, January just breezed on by. On the good side of all this is that I’ve managed to sale quite a few paintings; which has been rather cool. I’ve also managed to rack up about $525 total donation to the Salt Lake City Habitat for Humanity charity.

The bad news-- I didn’t work out at the gym for a little over two weeks during the month. I found I had gained 5 lbs. in the two weeks. Ugh! But in the last week, I’ve ran about 8 miles and had two pilates classes. I got on the scale yesterday and discovered I had lost 3 of the 5.

AND I still need to come up with some New Year’s Resolutions! Not that I MUST make them but I kind of feel like I’m rather aimlessly wandering around in life without some extra goals to attain. So thus I’m going to give myself a deadline for New Year’s Resolutions…tomorrow. And hopefully, unlike the Groundhog Movie, tomorrow will come? I HOPE...

Getting Back to Normal?

2012-01-20T15:51:00.000-08:00

The 100 Salt Lake City Porches Art Show was this last Saturday and it was a very successful event. I had about 75 people that came, sold 9 more porch paintings, some note cards, and a couple other watercolor paintings. It was a very fun event with my friends, Jay & Jerry, playing music. A BIG Thank You for all who showed up!

I think I surprised a great deal of people by the variety of the porch paintings that I had produced over what was about a year’s time. I tried to put the paintings in order that they were painted. I think my progression of improving was obvious as you went through the show. But I also thought it was just amazing to see all of the variety of architecture that happens in Salt Lake City.

This week, I've been making painting deliveries (both new purchases and borrowed), returning art stands, and other items borrowed for the art show. I'm hoping that by the middle of next week I'll be back to normal.

Normal!?!? Well, at least a semblance of normal for me. I need to get back to working out on a more regular basis and start watching what I eat more closely. With getting ready for this art show, I’ve been doing a great deal of fast food eating—Not good! AND I still need to sit down and make some New Year’s Goals!

Last night I finally managed to get a bit of time in the gym. It had been almost a week and a half since I had any kind of working out. Of course, I CAN now safely say I’m totally recovered from the Zumba, Boot Camp, and Pilate’s weekend. Last night, I surprised myself and managed to run 2.1 miles in 22 minutes. Nice! I can’t even begin to complain about running a 10:28 mile; especially after doing virtually no working out for almost 2 weeks. I of course pushed myself and did another 25 minutes on the elliptical machine. I was beet red and sweating profusely when I got off the machine. I probably looked a terror to the Middle Eastern man running on the treadmill; awhhh…, Fair Game!

Now to get to those late New Year’s Goals….

Still Recovering & Buy Art From a Pirate?

2012-01-12T16:05:00.000-08:00

Photo: "Mannequin on Deck"; Watercolor on 8" x 10" Paper. It and several
others will be at my art show this Saturday.

My body is still trying to recover from last weekend’s list of workouts I did. Saturday, it was a hip-hop fast paced Zumba class where I’m sure I looked part idiot – part spasmostic. It was a challenge to keep up and trying not to run into anyone else in the class but I will admit it was fun! A good cardio workout too!

Sunday came and I tagged along with Diane to a Boot Camp Work Out. OMG! During the warm up period, I found myself already in trouble. 1.5 minutes of “flutter kicks”?!!! (Flutter kick= lying on back, hands under small of back, lift legs off of floor and scissor kick without touching floor.) The 1.5 minutes felt like 3 minutes of literally wrenching my gut.

From there we stood up and did what I refer to as a “tsunami” of squats where we would “rest” for 10 seconds in the squat position. Then as fast as we could go from squat to stand and back to squat in under 30 seconds. We repeated this a few times and the “rest” was no rest no matter how much the instructor said it was. My front thighs are still feeling this one today (4 days later.). The rest of the Boot Camp went thru a series of dead lifting and “burp bees”, swinging kettle balls with push-ups, and arm press with 15 lbs. weight bar with jumping pull-ups. By the time I got to the jumping pull-ups, my arms were saying NO MORE. I had to opt out.

It was ¾ thru the day that I realized I was still signed up for reformer pilates early Monday morning and I was still very so sore from the morning. But Monday morning came and I hated the thought of paying for a class and not showing. So I went to class, but I’m glad I did because it ended up being a good thing. The instructor took up some really good stretches at the end of the class that made all the difference to me walking half way decently.

I’ve been terribly stressed this last week getting ready for my 100 Salt Lake City Porches Art Show. Click here to get the 411 on the art show. I’m so stressed in fact that I have a sty in my right eye that seems to not be going away. The last two mornings, I’ve woken up to almost not being able to see out of my right eye. I’ve had to apply warm compresses on it to make the swelling go down. I’ve been wearing my sunglasses quite a bit because I can’t wear eye makeup (I feel SO nude!) and my right eye is slightly swollen with red. I just hope it goes away before my art show this Saturday. I was teasing a friend that I may have to find a sexy eye patch to wear for the show. “Want to buy a painting from a pirate? Argh!”

Looking Back & Thinking...

2012-01-06T16:12:00.000-08:00

"Man in the Window"; Watercolor on 9" x 9" Paper done by me as a study in use of light.

The old year is over and the new one is just starting out. It’s always interesting to look back over the year and see where and what you’ve done. I’ve managed most of my goals for this last year and I’m still playing with some ideas of the goals for this New Year. I'm thinking about what I want for my goals for this New Year. But first, here’s the review of the goals for this last year….

1.) Save More Money!

I did save more than the previous year but not as much as I had set out to do originally at the beginning of the year. I think I had set out too unrealistically high of a savings goal and didn’t leave any room for those things that happen in life and the occasional need to splurge every now and then. But even with all of that and some car repairs, I still managed to save about 70% of my original savings goal for the year which isn’t too shabby at all. Early in September, I sat down and looked at the savings goal and made some adjustments accordingly. I’m thinking I’ll keep up that new improved somewhat more feasible pace of savings for the New Year.

2.) Finding More of a Balance Between Cycling and Running-

As I look over the post it notes that I kept track of my monthly stats, I see that I did improve this last year with trying to maintain more of a balance between the two. Overall, I didn’t do as much mileage on the bike which sometimes I found a bit of a challenge. Also, I think that a rainy Spring helped out with the balance issue too. But I tell you I have been loving some of this warmer weather that’s been happening the last two weeks. I’ve gotten in about 80 miles in, and this is late December & early January. I went out this last Monday and I felt like I was cycling during the month of October. Oh, but I bet the local skiers are NOT loving this!

3.) Do 1 Century on the Bike.

Never did quite do this one and the two times I attempted it were unplanned failures. One time I was riding and later discovered I was riding the 45 miles I did do with the brake rubbing hard on the back tire. The other time, my body broke down at the 75 mile marker and I had to turn around early. And then, after all of that, I just wasn’t in to doing the whole Century thing. I sometimes question whether I really want to push myself enough to do another one. A few years back I did 8 Centuries in a year, and since then I’ve kind of been burned out on them. I seem to love going anywhere between 60 to 75 miles and having enough energy to do something else in the day. I don’t think that I’ll put this as a goal for the next year.

4.) Be More Weight Conscious!

I think I did very well on this one and I did manage to lose and keep off 22 lbs. total over the year. I still have about 11 lbs. (as of weigh in this morning) that I would like to lose. But I feel healthier and have had several comments that I’m looking good. I would like to get down to my goal weight for this next year.

5.) Commute more or Walk More to Work.

I didn’t do so well on this one. Between rainy weather and colder weather, I kind of turned into a whimp. Perhaps, I’ll toughen up and do more this next year? We’ll see!

6.) Finish the 100 Salt Lake City Porches Art Project.

DONE! I finished No. 100 the last week of the year. In fact, #100 will makes its debut at the art

show that I am currently getting ready to do this Jan.14^th. Click here and you can scroll thru the 99

porches to see the progression. I really can see how my painting has improved over the year. I

also have been amazed at the response during the project and it’s been fun meeting all these porch owners!

7.) Narrow Down the Clutter in my life.

I did managed to make a few trips to the good will but there still is a few places in my one bedroom apartment that could use some work but the last couple of months I’ve been rather over ran with the remnants of the 100 Salt Lake City Porches Art Project. But I will say at least it’s not ALL 100 that were in my small apartment, just mainly the about 76 that I haven’t sold. BUT I have hope for a couple more at least to be sold during the show.

That how the year went and I want to think about what my goals will be for the next year. But in the meantime, here are the Stats for the year….

302.50 miles running

2307 miles cycling

11.2 miles swimming

44 hours and 19 minutes on the elliptical

58 Books Read!

Happy Holidays!!

2011-12-23T13:05:00.000-08:00

I want to wish everyone the very Best for the Holiday Seasons! I'll be off a few days and will probably finish the #100 Salt Lake City Porches Project. Then, I need to start framing and prepping some of the paintings to be shown in an art show on Jan. 14th. You can view #99 and get the details by clicking here. The above picture is one of the many additional artworks that can be seen at the show.

Who Me?!?!

2011-12-20T15:13:00.000-08:00

I haven't been watching the scale for the last couple of weeks. I just feel it's a bit of losing fruitless battle until the Holidays are over. So I've taken on the attitude of - Who Me? I'm not worried about the weight right now. I'll enjoy the chocolate, rum & eggnog, and what other sweets may come my way this Holiday Season. I'll just work my butt off come next year! I've still been getting in about 7 miles on the treadmill, 45 minutes on the elliptical, and a couple of reformer pilates classes in during a week. So at least I'm staying active while enjoying the goodies of the season.

The combo picture above is a series of photos taken at a recent Christmas Party. It's myself with my new darker hair and Diane. We were doing silly faces and having some real fun! The camera person refers to the photo as "The Party Girls"! Go Figure! Who Me??!

Calling in SORE & Drinking Coffee thru a Straw…

2011-12-08T16:09:00.000-08:00

I can just imagine the conversation…

“Hey boss! Yeah, I’m not calling in sick but calling in SORE today.”
“Sore?” He’ll ask.
“Yes, you see I have this friend Diane that LOVES to find punishing workouts and I’m an easy gullible sidekick to these torturous episodes. This morning I went to this workout group class and I tell you my arms hurt, my ribs hurt, my glutes hurt, my thighs hurt, and my calves hurt. In fact, it’s only from the neck up that I’m NOT hurting. So thus, I’m calling in sore. But if the calling in sore doesn’t work, I could always claim a mental health day. After all, I must be insane to put myself through this!”

Yes, as if that’s ever going to happen! NOT! So here I am trying to sit as still as possible at my desk and still do my work. OMG! It’s almost to the point where it hurts to breathe! I’m drinking coffee through a straw because it HURTS to pick up a coffee cup. Yes, I did survive the barrEVO + class but just barely!

I barely survived the class and I couldn’t do almost 60% of the stuff in the class. I guess I should have checked more closely when signing up for the class. I just thought that it was a regular Barr Evolution class. Nope it was a barrEVO + and I guess that the plus stands for an extra dose of the TRX. TRX is a suspension training that was designed by the US Navy SEALS. Oh boy! Was I ever over my head on this one!

We started out warming up by doing some of the TRX. It was a version of hanging on a swing and leaning backwards. Then we did row boat motions with our arms where the resistance came from our own weight. I was all ready having balance issues and we were barely out of the gate here. Yep, I was in over my head!

Next we turned around and while doing lunges our arms were doing different out and upward motions. Thank goodness no one handed me a stick of gum! This was pushing my levels of coordination. We dropped the TRX ropes and picked up our little hand weights for the next bit. Standing tall, we held the hand weights at arm height and did different motions of out and up but never letting our hands with weights drop below the shoulder level. It was 6 minutes total of doing this. My arms were all ready burning about 2 minutes into this. My face is grimacing and Laura is laughing. “Diane look at her face!” Diane answers that she won’t look because then she’ll break out laughing and lose her concentration. Popeye eat your heart out!

Shortly after the teacher (Laura) told us we had another 1.5 minutes left, I looked over at Diane and said,” I’m going to be hating you tomorrow.” That got quite a few chuckles going in the class, and Laura laughingly asked,” You’re blaming her?” “She’s the one that talked me into doing this!” I answered.

We did a series of exercises with the ball between our legs squeezing while doing heel raises and squat sitting. Our right hand was used for balance on the ballet bar on the wall. My calf got a cramp about ¾ of the way through this. OUCH! Then we turned towards the bar and put the 9” ball behind one knee bent up and back to hold the ball in place. We then proceeded to do various exercises that were a new version (to me) of “Saddle Bags Be Gone”. Legs up and back and then to the side while the other leg you are standing on and the opposite “saddle bag” is feeling it all!

Photo- Similar to part of the "Super Push Up"

From there we went into more of the TRX training. We lied on our backs with feet in the ropes doing bridges and raising various parts of our body. Then we rolled over and went into plank. OMG! This is where I was a COMPLETE failure! As most of you have probably heard before I have enough of a time trying to do the plank on solid ground let alone trying to do it when my feet are in straps a foot above the floor. OMG! While I’m just struggling to do the plank on my elbows, the others are doing the teacher’s more advanced moves. They are pushing legs out and pulling them together and then pulling bended legs up towards the abs. Then they are doing push ups and what Laura called Super Push ups. OMG! Laura made it look SO easy meanwhile I’m struggling to stay on my elbows in a plank.

AND that’s how I ended up sipping coffee through a straw…

What Gives?!?!!!!

2011-12-07T15:08:00.000-08:00

I can’t quite figure this out. Last night I ran 3.25 miles on the treadmill and did another 22 minutes on the elliptical. The night before I ran 4 miles on the treadmill and did 20 minutes on the elliptical. So this morning when I get on the scale, I’m expecting to be down 1 or 2 lbs. NOPE! I’m back up the 2 lbs. that I thought I had lost towards the end of last week. What gives?!? This doesn’t make any sense what so ever!

It’s like the Twilight Zone and I can’t seem to work off, beg, borrow, or give these 2lbs up! They just come back to haunt me. It’s a bit frustrating to say the least. I’ve been relatively good at watching what I eat for the last few days. I will admit I had a Christmas party that I went to last Friday night where I consumed enough “spirits” that I was a bit thirsty the next morning. I also woke up to a cramp in my right calf. I must have done something when I was dancing my little heart out during the end of the night.

In fact, my calf was still hurting on Sunday morning when I woke up. So I didn’t do any working out this last Saturday or Sunday. In fact, Saturday I was SO into working on my porch paintings that I forgot to eat until that night when I went to watch some friends play guitars at a local tea house. Being the BIG veggie fan that I am (I’m sure you are picking up on my note of sarcasm here.); I ordered a veggie/humus platter which I struggled to get ¾ of it down. That was my meal of the day.

Come Monday my right calf felt better and off I went to the gym. I figured I needed to make up for the no exercise weekend. I pushed myself to run 4 miles and then topped it off with sometime on the elliptical. Tuesday night I went into the gym just planning on doing a quick mile of running with an additional 15 minutes on the elliptical. Well, 1 mile became 1 and a half. Then, I was at 2 miles and it felt so good that BOOM! Before I know it I’m at 3.10 miles. I finished out with a bit of walking for 3.25 miles. Then I went on to the elliptical machine. Before I knew it the planned 15 minutes had turned into 22 minutes. I got so wrapped up in some new tunes I had downloaded on my MP3 player that I was just ZOOMING right along with the beat and lost track of time; funny how music can do that.

But here comes Wednesday morning standing on the scale and after all of that I find I’m up 2 lbs! Ugh! What gives?!? Hmmmm… back to the drawing board I guess. Tomorrow morning I’m adventuring into new territory. Yes, I let Diane talk me into to trying the barrEVO class at the same place where we take the Pilates Reformer class. This barrEVO class is described as a cross between ballet, yoga, and pilates. This should be interesting and I’ll let you know how it goes. That’s reliant on if I’m not stuck in a yoga’d pretzel position on some ballet bar.

Jump Board Alphabets & a Weigh In...

2011-12-02T15:58:00.000-08:00

This morning was another Jump Board Reformer Pilates class. After the warm up, Laura our teacher has us do what I like to call Jump Board Alphabet. We jump forms of letters onto the upright board by raising, lowering, or planting our feet together on the upright jumping plateform. Mostly it's simple straight letters like A, V, W, M, T. I teasingly told the teacher I refer to it as Jump Board Alphabet. She teased me back that she may have us spelling words but I told her that might be a bit too complicated for 6AM. But I always imagine
our teacher in a cheer leader outfit waving pompoms and yelling," Give me a "V"!"; as I'm jumping a "V". It brings a smile to my face to imagine this. I guess its better than grimacing while trying to do quite a bit of the rest of the Jump Board Class. From the Jumpboard Alphabets we move on to other more complex moves in the class.

I will admit that I'm improving with each class but there are always new challegnes that are thrown into the mix. This morning's BIG challenge was keeping a ball between my shoulder blades with hands behind head -elbows bent and trying to do a horizontal jumping cycling motioned sideways situps. Yes, it was as hard as it is to say! Coordination is a challenge to me and this reminded me of trying to chew gum and walk at the same time without biting my tongue. I chose to jump very slowly and carefully because it was just challenging for me to keep the ball between my shoulders.

AND of course, there was the "Saddle-Bags-Be-Gone" portion of the class. I was about over after doing the single leg lifts on the one side. Then, the teacher told us to turn to the other side. I felt like the one leg was over done and I was struggling slowly to turn over. Laura took one look at my face, laughed, and said," Sorry you're not getting out of this one by turning over slowly. You still need to do the other side." OMG! Pain!! And those DARN saddle bags are still there even if I can't see them anymore. I KNOW because I CAN feel them!

After freezing my butt off on the way home in my car (No I haven't fixed the car heater yet), I weighed myself. I'm down two of those 3 lbs that I had gained over the last couple of weeks. Good News!! I've tried to be extra careful the last couple of days and it worked.

How Did I Get Here? & Month End Stats

2011-11-30T15:40:00.000-08:00

Ever get one of those quiet reflective moments that you are sitting there and wondering WTF happened to bring you to this point? That was me this morning at 5:45AM waiting for the Pilates Reformer Class. I will admit that I wasn’t feeling like my usual self and thus, I guess I wasn’t on auto-pilot. I found myself in a reflective mood.

Photo- Diane Ross eat your heart out. It's Ollie in drag!

I’m quietly sitting waiting in my frigid car in front of the pilates studio and attempting to think warm thoughts. The car heater hasn’t really been working since this latest cold snap and I’ve been meaning to check out to see if it’s just the anti-freeze that needs topping off. (I hope that’s all.) But I’ve been too busy to get it checked out and I’m not mechanically inclined at all. So, here I am freezing my butt off.

Just as my teeth are about to chatter, a car pulls up in the next parking stall. It’s another gal that’s in the pilates class with me. She’s sitting in her less than one year old shiny silver gray with black four door sedan Cooper with tunes and probably a heater that works. Meanwhile, I can't help but think about all of the steps that have led me to be sitting here in a freezing 11 year old scratched and dented (small dents & scratches from leaning my bike on it) silver station wagon that looks like I live out of it. Not that I’m jealous of the situation. I could be sitting there in a newer heated car if I chose to be. But it’s kind of strange that I’m relatively happy sitting here freezing in the old car that has me perplexed. What happened along the way that made me okay with that? Hmmm… Did I have a few screws that came loose along the way?!?

The more I thought; the more I found myself comparing... I bet she lives in a cute little house with a spoiled cat or a springy young dog that loves to run. Meanwhile, I live in a one bedroom apartment that doesn't allow pets where most days my living room serves as a painting studio which leaves me inclined not to invite guests in. She probably has a productive job that she enjoys and she’s good at it too. Meanwhile, I’m passing the time as a lowly secretary/receptionist that answers phones and sometimes back talks to my boss. I really should be fired but for some reason I’m not. I will admit that my work is not fulfilling but I’ve reached a point where that’s not what I’m looking for. I opted out years ago to settle for an 8-5 type of steady job and I’m okay with that. Not all of what I AM or who I AM is my job like some people. I would have to say that I’m everything BUT my job to a certain extent. But overall, I’m happy with my life. Not that I couldn’t use some changes but overall I’m happy.

The pilates studio opens its doors. We both get out of our cars to head in and I can’t help but compare myself. Now, is this mentally unhealthy of me to do this? I don’t think so. I see it as a litmus test. And so the comparison continues… She’s a tall blonde slender and looks like she’s ready for to model for a layout in a yoga magazine. Her hair is in smooth ponytail with matching headband. She’s wearing a matching black jacket with long yoga pants and black sleek tennis shoes.

Here I am looking like I’m homeless and look like I HAVE been living in my car. I’m in an oversized fleece jacket with a mismatched hoodie and almost threadbare yoga capris. I’m wearing knee high shearling winter boots, fingerless colorfully striped knitted gloves from some third world country and have topped off the whole affair with a black & gray skull cap to cover my bed head hair that is in BAD need of a color dye. So, in another words I look like I was literally dragged out of bed from my car.

We walk in and she (Ms. Yoga Model) is all sunny “Good Morning!” Meanwhile, I mumble “good morn” as I’m consciously trying to tug my hat off so my hair isn’t sticking straight up. You see, I really had a time trying to drag myself out of bed this morning for some reason. Which is really not LIKE me at all but my lack of being “put together” this morning seems very obvious when I’m staggering in with Ms Yoga Model next to me.

It’s later after the pilates class as I’m heading home in my still frigid car that I think that there MUST be a few screws loose as I’m happily puttering home to shower and change for work. But I will admit that I wasn't happy with the scale when I got home. It had been almost two weeks since I've stepped on it and I found myself up by 3 lbs. Ouch! Yep, there's some things that I want to change.

November's Monthly Stats--
27.5 miles running
60 miles cycling
3hours 11 minutes on the elliptical
Read 2 THICK books this month (bringing to a total of 55 books for year)
and ...
I'm up to #95 on the 100 Salt Lake City Porches Painting Project. To view the progress of the project you can click here. Here's the latest...

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.95"; Oil on 12" x 12" Canvas

Happy Thanksgiving!

2011-11-23T15:27:00.000-08:00

I wanted to wish everyone a very Happy Thanksgiving! May your cup run nth over and may you be able to work off those extra calories you intake. I'm off to enjoy a 5 day off in a row. Yep, I decided to splurge and take an extra vacation day so I can be off for 5 days instead of the 4 days. I'm planning on doing some painting, running, and maybe even a bike ride. Have a wonderful day!

A Snowshoe SWITCH-A-ROO, A REAL Snowshoe, & A Pilates Bit…

2011-11-21T15:58:00.000-08:00

I was enthused and all set Saturday morning to go on my first snowshoe of the season. Saturday morning dawned white from snow falling most of the night, and it was still lightly snowing as I headed over to Diane’s house to meet. She had her van warming up as I transferred my snowshoe gear to her vehicle. I went in to play with Ollie for a bit and chat about where we were going to snowshoe.

Diane said there was this place up Emigration where her boss goes and she thought it might be fun to check it out. It sounded good to me. I asked if it was near the top of the canyon, and she said it was somewhere in the middle section behind a grouping of houses. She wrote down the directions her boss told her. Well, and Kym flaked and wouldn’t be able to join us.

It was as we were going up Emigration that Diane handed me the directions and said,” Here’s the directions read them out loud for me.” So I start reading…

“Emigration Canyon,

Up 3 miles or so look for Fire Station,

Take a left,

Drive up – house on right with red awning,

Take right...”

There are more directions but I stop there, and I say, “Gee, that sounds like its up by my friend Henry’s house.” I’m trying to place the area it in my mind. The “Human GPS” at work. I put the sheet of directions down and I’m waiting to get closer to the Fire Station. My brain thinks of the area we are driving to.

Diane tells me to the read the rest of the directions as she pulls off to the side into Ruth’s Diner parking lot. I think this is strange for her. “Please read the rest of the directions,” she says again. So I humor her…

“Drive past BIG dog house on left,

Turn left,

Old beater truck – take right,

Keep driving until road dead ends,

Walk up trail about ¼ mile,

Then take left up to crest.

AND this is all just a big joke to take you to breakfast to celebrate your birthday….”

“Oh MAN!” I laugh as Diane reaches in the back seat for a leopard printed feathered gift bag.
“Happy Birthday Girl!” Diane hands me the gift bag, “I’ve been planning this for a week. You are hard to pull a surprise on and I thought you were never going to finish reading those directions." Shortly afterwards Kym showed up to join us and we had a nice breakfast and I got to open some presents. It was fun and a first that anyone’s pulled a successful birthday surprise on me.

On the way back to Diane’s we made arrangements for a REAL snowshoe the next morning. I arrive the next morning and as I get out of my car I yell jokingly,” Are we going for a REAL snowshoe this time?” Diane laughs and yep we really went on a snowshoe this time. Here are some photos from it…

I was surprised there was about 2ft of snow in the nearby mountains.

Snow was still coming down as we were snowshoeing around.

Myself in my glorified snowshoe gear.

Diane just being Diane!LOL!

This morning was my 10th pilates reformer class. It was the same teacher (Cathy) that I had two weeks ago where my abs hurt almost the entire week afterwards, and half way through the class she had asked me if it was my first pilates class. At that time, I had told her,” No but I have no core muscles.” I liked how she taught the class. She would go around the class and with her hands helped and talked me into how to do the proper position. She also is really good for helping me to push myself just a bit out of my comfort zone.

This morning, I was the first to arrive on a cold November morning. I told her that after her last class I took two weeks ago my abs hurt the rest of the week. We talked some more about how I was going to Jump Board and other early morning classes. She said that she hoped I would notice an improvement when I was in class today.

Lo & Behold! I surprised myself. I managed that head stand like position which I guess is called a “short spine”. It’s the same position I tried last Friday morning and had the machine come apart in my hand. I discovered I was doing it all wrong. I was bending my legs too early and I can be more stable if I keep my arms down straight against my side. There were still quite a few times in the class that I couldn’t really manage to do some of the positions in the class but I did notice that I’m managing more in each class; little by little.

I know I am progressing because my abs are not hurting as I’m sitting here writing this. I also have noticed that I’m getting more definition in my abs. Granted, I’m still WAY off from a six pack.

Wait THAT’S My Plate & Jump Board Friday…

2011-11-18T16:05:00.000-08:00

So a couple of days ago a friend texts me this picture…

WOW! Hey, who took my lisc. plate? THAT should be mine. I sent her a text back and told her to Repo THAT plate!! Of course, I would probably just hang it on my wall at home. I won’t want to actually put it on my car. That’s a bit TOO much All Good for my liking.

This morning I went to another pilates reformer jump board class. Yes, there was another session of the “Saddle-Bags-Be-Gone”. But before that lovely part of the class we ended up doing some more new and interesting things. We did a new move. We put two springs on, put our feet in the straps, clutched on to the shoulder holds and then we were SUPPOSED to PULL ourselves into a position that’s basically a head stand on the machine. Oh, how I was struggling. I couldn’t seem to pull my A$$ off of the pilates machine. I decided I needed to clutch the shoulder rest a bit harder and really try to pull with my non-existent abs.

The next thing I know…the shoulder rest is pulled out and in my left hand. I laughed and stated,” I think I’m not doing this right.” Sweet mild talking Laura ran over and helped put the shoulder rest back on the machine. I finally did manage to get into the head stand like position but I had to kick up my legs to get myself into the position. But it was a bit embarrassing because I’m breaking machinery. Well, maybe not but I was beginning to wonder just how bad of a calamity I was.

From the handstand we continue on with straps still on our feet but this time we are squeezing a blue 9” round plastic ball between our ankles. I teased Laura about really challenging my coordination now. Laura told us to “Squeeze that ball as your legs go from straight to table top, and back.” Then, she had us change our feet so that our toes were pointing out. It was challenging keeping the ball in place. OMG! Then, we were told to change our feet position to point our toes in toward each other, and continue with the table top legs to straight legs again. It was a relief when the ball of the gal next to me sprung out and across the room. I HAD to laugh and say I was waiting for that to happen to me.

One the last feats before the “Saddle-Bags-Be-Gone” exercise was doing the dog position on the reformer machine facing the wall and putting one leg straight out behind and using that back leg to jump horizontally. OMG! It’s a tangent of the “Saddle-Bags-Be-Gone”! Only on this one, I had to figure how to stay up in the dog position as I was jumping. Meanwhile I’m trying not to notice that I’m now starting to pour sweat down my forehead on the machine. Drip, drip, drip! I think this was the first time I’ve really broke out in a sweat in this class. Though, I will say that it seemed as though the building was warmer when we came in this morning; or I should say that I’d like to blame it on something else that was causing me to ”glow” & “glisten” So much.

It was almost a relief when we were directed to lay on our side on the machine and started in on the single side legs jumps which I refer to as “Saddle-Bags-Be-Gone”. I will say that my body is adjusting to this exercise because this afternoon as I’m typing this I don’t feel the pain in my saddle bags like I did last week. That’s a good thing. Though, I KNOW I still have those saddle bags because I’m still going up and down with the same weight this week too! Darn it!

Plank Pathetic & A Pair of Characters…

2011-11-14T15:11:00.000-08:00

Saturday night, I went over to assist a disabled friend who is the process of moving from an apartment into a condo. I’ve been trying to make myself available to her to help move some of the larger heavier items and also some of the articles that are higher up. We were sitting and taking a break at then end of the night. As we are gabbing along the subject of my ability to do the plank position came up. She says she does it all the time as part of her therapy. I’m starting to feel about 4 inches tall because here’s a disabled person that’s able to do the plank and I can’t. How pathetic am I? Well, this morning she sends me a message and says, “Oh, by the way I was talking about a reverse plank position last night.” Whew~! That was a load off my mind because I was REALLY starting to wonder if I was just plain plank challenged! Well, I AM but… Then I'm wondering... Wait a minute there's a reverse plank? Maybe I'm focusing on doing the wrong plank!

Sunday afternoon, I’m out with the Popette doing our monthly Barnes & Noble visit. As we are getting settled with coffee in the café area of the store, the Popette talks with a guy nearby. He has three different thick tomes on the table in front of him; one of which is about 4 inches thick. She teases him about cramming for a professorship. He laughs and talks with her for a bit as I pick up our coffee order. The Popette and I start doing our catch up banter and I can see over the Popette's shoulder that Mr. Professorship is eavesdropping on our banter by the smirks and the quiet chuckles.

The Popette gets on the subject of a new poetry writing group that’s she’s been invited to join. It’s pretty prestigious for her to get into. She’s gone a couple of times to it. I ask her what she thought of the group. She comes back with,” They’re a bunch of A$$holes!” I can see Mr. Professorship’s jaw drop. I chuckle because this is just classic Popette all the way.

I continue on,” So, let me get this straight you’ve gone two times. Did it take you two times to discover that they were A$$holes or is your learning curve getting slower?” I hear the chuckle erupt from Mr. Professorship. “No, no, no… I was just kind of quiet and unsure the first time I went….” I tease her about I could NEVER imagine her as being a quiet wall flower. Mr. Professorship is quietly laughing and shaking his head.

The Popette then goes on to tell of the dynamic of the group and to explain it was really just one overbearing person in the group that was TRULY the A$$hole. If it weren’t for this particularly “unsavory overbearing wench”, it could be an okay group. I can see that Mr. Professorship has forgotten about his tomes completely by this time. I can see him shaking as he's silently chuckling.

Our lively banter continues on. I ask the Popette about her male companion; a dear sole who spends a great deal of time with her. I would describe him as a steady nice guy who literally worships the ground the Popette walks on but he’s a bit stale like dry toast around the edges. The Popette then goes on to tell how the two of them had a conversation this last week. Her companion was concerned about her dying before he did. The Popette found this very endearing that he didn’t want to live without her. Her companion responded that he was afraid that he was boring her to death.

This cracked me up! Meanwhile, I’m watching Mr. Professorship almost fall of his seat and he was laughing SO hard he looked ready to cry. Just watching Mr. Professorship over the Popette’s shoulder had me cracking up even harder. The Popette continued on with how she was SO surprised by her companion’s “one-liner” which WAS SO out of character that she ended up spitting out her coffee all over the place.

Later, the Popette took off to check out the Barnes & Noble store. A bit after that, Mr. Professorship got up to leave. I smiled at him and stated,” She’s quite the character, isn’t she?” He said,” You are both a pair of characters and you made my afternoon. Thanks!” Then, he left.

11/11/11 & Saddle-Bags-Be-Gone!

2011-11-11T15:53:00.000-08:00

Happy 11-11-11th! Not sure if it’s considered a happy type of thing or not. I guess it’s all a matter of perspective. I never quite understood the superstition with numbers; especially #13. I always think its funny when I’m on the 14th floor of a building and I’m REALLY on the 13th. Course, there’s not that many tall buildings in Salt Lake, so I don’t get to humor myself in this way very often.

On the old phone system at my work, I was extension #13. I always found that interesting that the main receptionist’s phone extension was #13. Literally, all the phone calls went through extension #13. If that’s not asking for doom, I don’t know what would be.

I guess there are lines in Vegas at all the wedding chapels of people wanting to get married today. I also don’t understand this but I guess it would make it easier to remember the anniversary date. Something I always forgot to remember when I was married. Ooops! I guess that’s another reason I’m still not married. I’m also waiting for 13/13/13 to get married; when that happens I’m sure that all heaven and hell will be aligned and it’ll be a prime time to get married. Other words, NOT happening!

So, I’ve been going to these pilates reformer classes. This morning I attended my 7th class. Each class has been a new experience in finding new muscles that I haven’t used in a while. It’s been a rather humbling experience to say the least. I’ve also discovered how unaware I am of my own body; which is VERY humbling indeed!

Since early morning Monday’s pilates class I have still been feeling a mild pain. I should say that the pain has progressed from OMG! to a now mild. It mildly hurts when I cough, sneeze, or attempt to bend over. As my friend Diane texted me- “Sounds like a proctology exam!” Yes, it’s been an interesting week to say the least.

Thus, Friday morning arrives and it’s Pilates Jump board class! Okay, I survived it 2 weeks ago and legs are my strong point. I run and I bike. My legs are my strength. I was doing okay until we started doing the side jumps. Basically, you are lying on your side on the machine and folding one leg beneath as you use your leg closest to the ceiling to jump. Now here’s the tricky part—you are kicking your leg out between jumps. Either you are kicking it out front, or up and out, or out to the back. This is for 10 times each, and done in 3 rounds. I’ve NOW discovered what I call—“Saddle-Bags-Be-Gone!”

It’s the latest NEW & IMPROVED way to get rid of any remnant of a saddle bag that was trying to hug on to you glute muscle. Repeat this exercise twice a week, for three weeks and you won’t remember what a saddle bag was! This afternoon while I’m typing this in at my desk, I can literally feel my saddle bags shrinking and Lo-and-Behold I only have four more classes to go to lose those nasty saddle bags! OMG!

Oh, and did I happen to mention I've been bouncing around up 1 lb then back down for the last two weeks! DAMN that Saddle Bag! If I could just lose THAT!

Plank + Pilates = OMG! I DO Have Core Muscles!

2011-11-03T16:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning, I went to my fourth class of reformer Pilates. About half way through the class the cute spunky bright red-headed instructor had us (a class of 7) do the yoga position the “plank” on the reformer machine.

Oh boy! I think to myself I have a hard enough time doing the “plank” position on solid ground let alone try to do it on a machine that slides around. So here I am struggling to get into a “plank” position as part of the machine is moving around. I finally figure out where to put my toes; in the crevice between the shoulder rests. I place my elbows/forearms on the other side of the machine and slowly try to push my body into a “plank” position. My face is forming into a grimace as I’m struggling to get into position but somehow I manage it much to my surprise, or so I thought…

The instructor comes by, gently puts a hand on my stomach area, and states that I need to bring my abs up more to be in-line with the rest of the “plank”. So much for thinking I was in “plank” position! “WHAT?!? OMG!” I think to myself. I really don’t think my body will do that but I try a little harder. My face forms into an even tighter grimace.

Then, the instructor says to curl in those toes and abs towards your head. WTF! You GOT to be kidding! But I try to curl my toes up and my face forms into a grimace SO tight that I’m concerned about my eyes popping out of my head. Now I’m sure I’m starting to look like snarling bull dog. My bottom lip is almost to the tip of my nose. But instead of snarling, I’m emitting a small whimpering sound.

The instructor, then gently states to go back into plank position, I look up at her. I guess my grimace looked pretty darn funny because she breaks out laughing. It’s rather embarrassing to say the least! With that, I totally collapse into the machine. Meanwhile, everyone else in the class is still in “plank” position.

It’s as my friend Diane and I are leaving the class that I state that I must have NO core muscles at all. Diane laughs and states,” That’s why you are here! But I’m sure you have some core muscles.” It’s later in the day when I’m sitting at my desk at work that my core “abs” are SO sore. I’m sitting straighter than I’ve ever sat and taking small shallow breathes because anything else hurts. OWWWwwwie! My Abs! My Abs!

My abs are STILL sore today and it’s a whole day after. I texted Diane this morning...

“Holy crap Batman! I DO have core muscles! Who knew!?!?

Trick-or-Treaters, Bike Rides, & A Month End...

2011-11-01T16:04:00.000-07:00

I had 2 trick-or-treaters that showed up on my door step last night. It surprised me and I was totally unprepared. All I could offer them were Clift Sports Bars. One of the kids just gave me a look like, “What in the Heck is this?” I offered to give him cherry-flavored sports beans instead. “Beans?! No Lady, that’s okay, “and they walked down the hall to the next door. For two years, I’ve been prepared for kids to visit my apartment door and never had anyone show. It would figure the one year, I’m unprepared I have a couple show. Go figure!

The whole group of riders at the 5th Annual Tricky Treat Costume Ride!

First Place Costume Prize- Minnesota Viking and her trusty steed!

The 5th Annual Tricky Treat Costume Ride this last Saturday was a success and TONS of fun. There were almost 50 riders and 85% of them came in costume. The first prize went to the Minnesota Viking and her faithful steed. Second place was an original costume that referred to himself as the “Antelope Island Road Kill”. He had a broken helmet as well as an arm and buffalo tracks all over. Third place brought in the Groovy Trio. Though, I will say that it almost made me think of Thing One and Thing Two when my friends Diane & Kym stood next to each other. And in fourth place were a copper and robber. After the costume contest we did door prize drawings. Thanks to the donations and help from my wonderful group of friends, there were a little over 25 door prizes for the riders to possibly win. It was very nice because a great deal of the riders went home with something. A BIG THANKS to Doug Jensen, the Levenson’s, Penny Perkins, Curt Griffin, the BCC Club, and my Disneyland friend Sal.

Myself, the "Holy Ghost", & 2nd Place Winner- Antelope Road Kill.

3rd Place Winners- The Groovy Trio- Diane, Stephen, & Kym.

4th Place- Cops & Robbers!

I was just amazed at the variety of costumes. There were two REAL highlights once the ride started. One of the highlights of the ride was a donut stop at a local bike shop (Salt Lake City Bike Company) where we got to play a version of the “Wheel of Fortune” and win tire patch kits, water bottles, or a tire tube. The other highlight happened as all 50 of us waited at a stop light. As we stood with our bikes waiting for the light a group of Japanese tourists were in the cross walk. They stopped and quickly grabbed their cameras. It was a variation of paparazzi! Cameras were flashing and various people standing by us having their picture taken. I was crying because I was laughing SO hard. Sometimes, there’s some truth in stereotypes?

And the month report for October....
I still have 7 more lbs. to lose to my goal weight.

I'm currently working on porch #83,84, & #85. I seem to be having issues with completely finishing a painting. I'm hoping to cure that problem soon!

STATS for the Month...

18.5 miles Running

100 miles Cycling

2 hours 3 minutes on elliptical

Read 5 books this month --up to 53 books for the year!

My Experience with Reformer Pilates...

2011-10-25T16:04:00.000-07:00

I’ve now managed to get two classes of reformer pilates under my belt. I have discovered a few muscles that I wasn’t aware the I had prior to these classes. My obliques are not such a vague concept any more. There’s little outside edged muscles here and there on my body that I have used in both of these classes. I wasn’t aware that they were there before. But it wasn’t painful, it was like I said “Hello” to them gently, stretch them a little, and then let them rest until the next class. But overall, I find these reformer pilates classes are a nice gentle and relaxing workout.

This is how the 100s looks like.

Late Sunday morning, I went to an Essential Pilates class as listed. It was recommended as the next step up after the orientation. I went into class and felt at ease. I wasn’t among blonde petite Barbies; there were all shapes and sizes. The first question out of the teacher’s mouth at the beginning of class was there any injuries or limitations that he needed to be aware of. Then, he said to put on two springs and get set up on your machines. I only had to lie down on the machine. I’m lucky enough that the studio reset place is my setting. I can just walk in and I’m ready to go.

We started out with lying on our backs and pushing out with putting our feet in various positions on what’s called the foot bar. Heels in and toes out, heels out and toes pushed together, or curl those toes over the foot bar focus those heels down and then push out. With each push you are focusing on using different muscles. All the while you are also supposed to focus on making it a slower controlled movement and breathheeeee! Breathing is important. About half way through I was questioning whether it had been smart of me to go out on that easy bike ride of 13 miles earlier in the morning. My thighs and calves were starting to feel a bit of a burn.

We got out the straps that are on the wall and placed them around our wrists. Now it was time to do what is called 100’s. It’s basically 100 counts of holding a stomach crunch up as you pulse with your wrists against the tension of the straps. OOOOOOoooo! Feel your stomach muscles burn!

Then there were some long box movements. You put a top padded box on your machine and lay on top of it. We ended up doing a bit of airplanes; only these were with straps around our wrists.

Now take those straps and put them around your ankles. Then you place your legs at a 45 degree angle, then put your legs in a table top position, then place your legs in a 45 degree position, and again. Think about your breathing while you are doing this and also try to use your core muscles. Okay, let me try to do this. I’ll also try to pat my head and rub my stomach too!

The next thing I know we are sitting Indian-style sideways with the strap on our farthest out wrist. Then we are told to rub our stomach with the one hand and think of shoulder of that arm as a pivot point. The quiet manner tattooed teacher then teases that he won’t ask us to pat our heads too. Next we are told to keep our elbow into our rib cage and to try to pull our arm out at a 90 degree angle horizontal. Me, ever the whimp, had to put the setting to a half spring. Then, we turned and repeated to other side.

Next we got out the “ring” and attached the strap to one side of the ring. “Hug the ring and sit up straight,” says the teacher. He continues on,” Now try to face the wall moving only your upper body. Let’s work on that hour glass shape!” We finished up on one side and then turned to the other.

Then it was time to get off the pilates machines and do some stretching. Wow! That went fast and it was rather relaxing too.

My second class was pretty much a variation of the first one. There were a few more complicated moves, more springs (to make it harder) and a bit of a higher count before moving on but for the most part it was pretty much the same; just a different teacher. I am finding it as a bit of a relaxing all over firming up workout. Friday is Jump board in the reformer pilates class. Jumping sideways, hmmm? Not sure what to expect.

Good News & Reformer Pilates

2011-10-21T16:04:00.000-07:00

Good news!! I’m down another pound of flesh! I am now within 7 lbs of my goal weight. I’ve been trying to watch more closely what I eat and taking the Metabolife pills prior to eating. That’s if I can remember to take them 30 to 60 minutes before meal time. I have managed to get in bike rides during the weekend and during the week nights a run on the treadmill along with a little bit on the elliptical. But I will be curious to start the actual reformer Pilates this next week. My first actual class will be on Sunday morning.

This last Tuesday evening, I attended an orientation class for Pilates. I arrived early and sat on a couch in the lobby area to wait for my class to start. There’s two different classes going on; one in an orange colored room- a reformer Pilates and another in a green room that like a cross-bred of yoga /Pilates. I’m watching the front end of the orange room and getting rather nervous as I watched a gal on the reformer machine. She has one foot on the floor and the other knee is on the reformer machine and she’s practically doing the splits as she pushes the bottom of the machine towards the wall. I’m thinking, “OMG!” I look away because it would take years for me to reach a position like that.

So I watch in the green room for a bit. They are sitting on the floor holding plastic balls about the size of soccer balls between their knees. Now this is not the usual just sitting on the floor type of position. Oh, no! They are sitting in a “V” shape with their legs together no arms supporting their upper body and slowly lowering their feet to a 90 degree angle to the floor and then back up to the FULL “V” shape again. It’s done slowly. I find I can’t look away~! It’s like SO foreign to me that I’m amazed that the human body is able to even perform this feat. All the time in the back of mind, I’m thinking Thank GOD I’m not signed up for any of these classes; unless of course they are in need of comic relief. Then, it would be Lucille Ball move over! A comedy of errors would in sue!

So I was rather nervous when I entered into the orientation class, but it was more of a case of figuring out how to get fit ourselves to our own machines each time we go to class and otherwise it was learning the names of the parts of the reformer machine. There were 4 other people that were in the orientation class with me. There were only 2 of us that didn’t have injuries of some sort that would inhibit the Pilates workout. I thought that was interesting, and also made me feel more comfortable that I can work towards my possible version of the splits. The TRUE test will happen on Sunday morning... Keep your fingers crossed!

Furniture Jenga & Results...

2011-10-17T15:59:00.000-07:00

It's that time of year again when I get the free carpet cleaning done. Each year when I resign the lease for another year they give me a free carpet cleaning. I usually save it until the Fall time of year just before I ended up having social occaisions and spending more time inside. So here's a quick picture I took of what is usually my kitchen area....

Furniture Jenga in my small apartment kitchen.

It's always amazing what you can fit together when you set your mind to it and you are also dealing with limited space. The kitchen has most of the living room furniture and some of the bedroom. The futon, frame, and mattress filled up my bathroom. It's funny that I can fit all of this furniture into 2 of the smallest rooms in my apartment. The other funny thing is that I always forget how HARD it is to move my queen-sized futon mattress into the bathroom. It's a WORKOUT and then some to move it from the bedroom, down the short excuse for a hallway and straight into the bathroom where I need to lan it against a wall so I can then carefully slide the futon frame into the rest of the bathroom. I get another workout when I get home tonight and get to move all the furniture back. LUCKY ME! Who needs weight training when you have furniture? Really if I worked it out right I could get paid to workout by going door to door and offering to move people's furniture. NAW~! Maybe NOT!

I finally got to look at the on-line results of a 6K Fun Run I did on October 8th. It's the 2nd time I've done this Fun Run and it takes place at nearby Thanksgiving Point Gardens. It's an all female event called "Love Your Body". There's a choice of a 6K or 10K. I opted to do the 6K this year and I'm glad I did because it was a rather rainy and cold run; which I didn't mind once I got warmed up but till then it was chilly. I managed to finish the 6K in 41:32 and had an average mile time of 11:08. Not too bad though I am now starting to wonder if the time was really off on the last 5K run I did where I average an almost 10 minute mile. The more I do of these 5 & 6 K runs I think that one was a total fluke. But I will say that I am happy with having a 11 min/mile average; especially when last year I was averaging a 12 min/mile. This is good and a definite improvement. I was 11th place out of 50 that were in my age group and placed 166 overall out of 647. Not too shabby!

Being a BUM, Pills, & Pilates...

2011-10-14T15:27:00.000-07:00

I feel like a lazy bum! My exercise activity has slowed; almost to a stand still. Well, it almost feels like it. I’m only cycling on the weekends now because there no light on the week nights. I’ve managed to get a few runs in since the beginning of the month and a couple of times on the elliptical too. But it’s not nearly the amount of activity I was having. As the days get shorter and shorter and the on-slaught of holidays come closer; I fear the weight gain.

LOL! I see this picture as me being the wolf in sheep's clothing when it comes to dieting.

I was especially surprised when I got on the scale this morning and I was at the same weight. I still have 8 lbs. to go until my weight loss goal. I have been trying to watch what I eat. I’ve also been trying to make more wholesome choices too. I’ve been forcing myself to choose those fresh fruits and veggies; which in a way makes me eat less because they are not too appealing to me as the junk food. I guess that’s kudos in a way.

So as a preventative I’ve signed up for reformer Pilates classes and purchased a bottle of Metabolife. OMG! WTF?! Pills?!? What are you thinking?!? Quite frankly, I’m hoping that Metabolife will help amp up my metabolism a bit and help me to possibly still lose with this slower part of the year activity. I’m not heavily relying on it and I’m actually very leery of using it too much. We’ll see how it goes.

Now with concern about the reformer Pilates classes; my friend Diane has been mentioning them to me for awhile now but the only time that they have offered an orientation class was on Tuesday nights. That has been a conflict during cycling season with the Emigration Canyon rides that I was leading. But now that cycling season has wound down. My Tuesday nights have opened up and I can check out reformer Pilates.

Of course, I’ve all ready dove in like I usually do. I leaped right into the frying pan and I HOPE it works out. I signed up for the orientation class and paid for 10 more class sessions ahead of time. So, I hope I like reformer Pilates or I’ll be struggling through 10 class sessions in a “what-the-hell-was-I-thinking” mode. I find out this next Tuesday night. Please keep your fingers crossed and I’ll let you know how it goes.

Ode to a Grandma

2011-10-10T15:45:00.000-07:00

Grandma 1922- 2011

My last living grandmother passed away this last weekend. She had a series of health issues in the last couple of years and had recently, out of necessity, been put in a full time care facility. I guess we all saw it coming. But even with that expectation, it seemed like the end came faster than anyone expected. That often seems to be the case. But I would like to think that in quite a few cases that it’s a blessing to those that we love that they don’t suffer.

Honestly and sadly, I can’t say that I really knew my grandmother. My memories are fleeting childhood visits to the Northwestern Iowa farm where she & gramps lived. Gramps was the predominate personality in the relationship. He was always laughing, talking, and telling stories. Meanwhile, grandma always seemed to be floating around in the background frying something on the stove in the kitchen. I do remember that she always fed the wildcats that roamed the farm. She would set up food for them out behind the garage. She always chastised us not to try to pet the cats. Of course with my habit of learning the hard way, I chose not to listen and ended up pretty scratch one time.

I must say that most of the other memories that I have of my grandma are not positive. She quite often seemed to be complaining or criticizing one of her daughters (my mother & aunts). She really didn’t seem to care for my mother. It almost felt like she hated her for some reason which I never could figure out. I remember seeing pictures of the other grandkids or the neighbor’s kids in the old farmhouse but never any photos of myself or my little brother. Years ago one spring I drove back to northwestern Iowa from Utah. I stayed with an Aunt that was centrally located among other relatives. Grandma wouldn’t drive the 25 miles down to come see me. If I wanted to see her, I could drive up to see her. But I never did drive up to see her because everyone else had drove over to see me. I thought it would have been rude to leave everyone to go see her.

I know that grandma had a hard life; the few stories that I heard of her life growing up sounded like a very hard life to survive. But it just always seemed to me that she was unhappy. I find that sad because I see life as an attitude choice. I believe that if you choose to be happy you will be. Granted, it doesn’t always work that way but the chances are greater if you approach things that way. Goodbye Grandma! Now, I just hope that you will now find the happiness and peace that you deserve in the afterlife.

Dentists & End of Month

2011-10-04T16:00:00.000-07:00

I’ve been living the last two weeks with hot and cold sensitivity on the upper left side of my mouth. It’s been getting worse and worse. The last week, I’ve managed to lose 2 lbs. because I don’t want to eat due to pain. It’s my own fault. There’s one thing I HATE more than anything else--- going to the dentist’s office! It’s been 2 years since I went last and that was for an awfully painful root canal. I also didn’t care for the dentist that I went to; talk about a cold fish!

I decided I needed to go somewhere because it wasn’t getting any better. But I wanted to go to another dentist; preferably a nice person with some personality. A girlfriend recommended her dentist and we went by her dentist’s office one day. She introduced me to a gal in the office and the next thing I knew I set an appointment. I figured give it a try and everyone in the office I met seemed nice. Besides, I really did need to get my tooth fixed. It’s not an ideal way to lose weight, and I was praying to God that it wasn’t another root canal.

I like the new dentist. He walked in, shook my hand, and talked to me person to person. I felt like he wanted to get to know me before he started in with the dentistry stuff. That was nice for a change. When we got around to the dental talk he managed to be encouraging and positive. The last “cold fish” had made me feel about 2 inches high for not taking better care of my teeth. I also discovered that my body may metabolize Novocain at a faster rate because I had experience episodes in the dentist office where there was pain when there shouldn’t have been. The new dentist said we could try something else and that he had a policy of a no pain approach.

It ended up being a very deep cavity that was causing the problem. Oh BOY, did I luck out! It was pleasantly a no pain session. I didn’t even feel the needle. He was so smooth and gentle. Now for the next step and the next fix on my teeth is a crown. Tomorrow morning, I get to go in for that to be fixed. I’ve just started to get cold sensitivity in that area (the lower left) which the dentist says we need to catch before it becomes a problem. Meanwhile, I can see the dollar signs draining out of my pocket book; another reason I’ve never been fond of the dentist. But if I pay my bill that day his office offers to give a 20% discount. So, I guess it could be worse.

End of Month…

Weight- 8 more lbs. to go thanks to the dental situation.

100 SLC Porches- I’m up to 80 out of the 100. I’m a couple of porch paintings behind. But I’m hoping with the cycling season almost to an end that I’ll be able to catch up a bit. The photo of the #80 porch painting is above. It's a watercolor on 11" x 11" Paper. To view the progress of the 100 Salt Lake City Porches Art Project, click here.

Uncluttering my life- The goodwill is still growing and I’m thinking I need to take that pile to the actual goodwill. But that’s just a thought so far.

Stats for the month-

16.5 miles running

358 miles cycling

1 hour 21 minutes on the elliptical

Read 4 books this month (up to 48 for the year.)

My Favorite Time of Year...

2011-09-23T15:55:00.000-07:00

Fall is my favorite time of year. The summer warmth has dissipated. Cooler temperatures that call out for the sweaters and light jackets. Images of pumpkins, falling leaves and the landscape turning colorful hues of orange, red, and yellow come to mind. It’s a time to get and take long meandering walks to enjoy the colorful landscape. My absolute favorite holiday occurs this time of year—HALLOWEEN! Fall also contains Thanksgiving; which is my second favorite holiday. The only thing I don’t like about Fall is that it’s a signal the arrival ending of cycling season. Darn it! But I guess you can’t have it all.

Halloween Bike Ride- An 2' x 4' Oil Painting I did a few years ago.

For me this season, heralds a time of year to slow down a bit and reflect. But it seems as though, this year the colors haven’t quite stepped in like they usually do. Maybe it’s me “jumping the gun” in anticipating Fall ahead of schedule. After all, today is only the first day of Autumn according to my desk calendar. I tell you I am looking forward to some of that slowing and reflection time. I feel like most of the summer it’s been run, run, run, AND I’m so ready to SL-OOOWWW down.

I will say part of that run, run, run is self-induced. It seems as though I’m always trying to do too much. Why do we always seem to do that to ourselves? I know my limits like anyone else but I always seem to be striving to be a Super Hero Human. Then, I feel a bit deflated when I realize I’m not super in anyway and just an everyday ho-hum-drum human. I’ll have to leave the bounding a building in a single leap to someone else and that might be best considering my fear of heights.

Speaking of running, I’m thinking that I may be do for a new pair of running shoes. Now, talk about run, run, run that's self-induced! But in anticaption of doing more running indoors on the "dredmill". I've been thinking. It’s been about a year since I bought the last pair. I’ve been averaging about 25 miles a month and they probably have close to 300 miles on them. Once I was told that you should get new pair of shoes about every 350 miles of running. But I always wonder if that’s really true or if it’s just one of those sales gimmicks. But I would like to shop around and find a new pair so possibly I could use that as an excuse? Yeah, that works!

P.S. I'm up one more pound this week. The night time bike rides have been cut short due to earlier sunset times but I'm still eating the same amount of calories. Time to pay closer attention to that equation. Exercise Less = Eat Less Should be the new equation.

A Question of Sanity & An Update

2011-09-16T15:10:00.000-07:00

It’s pouring rain outside this afternoon and I’m sitting at my desk at work. I’m staring outside watching our lawn guy mow the grass. And I can’t help but wonder at what point is a person considered insane or at the least eccentric?

It seems that the worse the weather is our lawn guy shows up to mow the lawn. I guess it’s a good thing we are not in tornado alley of the country. I can just imagine the wind whirling around him as he walks the mower along. Dorothy and Toto would have nothing on Marty and the lawnmower! I can imagine—“…I’ll get you my pretty and your weed whacker too!” LOL!

Last summer he even mowed the lawn once at 2AM in the morning. On that occasion he happened to report to the police about teenagers tagging the building across the way. I would have paid anything to see the police’s reaction to his story of…” I’m just out here at 2AM mowing the lawn! Nice night isn’t officer?”

But I will admit he keeps the lawn well maintained. He comes at a cheap price too, or so I’ve heard. AND I will admit, he’s also easy on the eyes. He’s all lean muscle. How can you complain but still it REALLY makes me wonder about his sanity. One of the guys just got back from helping loading a truck out back and complained that it was freezing outside and he was wearing more than our lawn guy, who is clad in a sleeveless muscle t-shirt and shorts. At the very least, I would classify him as a BIT eccentric.

AN UPDATE-
I’m up 1 lb. for the week. That means I’m back to having 9 lbs. to lose to my goal weight. I’ve been snacking at work. There’s been several birthday treats in the office of late. I do admit to getting a bit concerned with the cooler weather starting to approach that I’ll have a harder time losing weight because cycling season will be ending soon.

Some of the night rides that I do regularly have started to be shortened because of the earlier sunset times. I’ve been trying to catch as many of those rides as I am able. It’s just a matter of time when it’ll be just the treadmill and the elliptical machine between me and my weight. Though, I’ll probably throw in some snowshoeing time when the white stuff comes.

My Knees! My Knees!

2011-09-12T15:40:00.000-07:00

“My knees are killing me!” It’s like the punch line to a joke but I forgot the joke. This morning, I had to literally roll out of bed because my knees were sore. It rather reminded me of the growing pains I used to get in grade school. I decided to forgo the early morning bike ride and take it easy today.
What led to this knee pain? Well, I think it was a series of things, maybe…

Friday night, I ran a 5K Fun Run at a local church festival after work. I must admit I pushed it a bit. But I was very happy when I saw my time of 31 minutes 44 seconds. WOW, that’s almost 4 whole minutes off my last 5K run!

Saturday, I took a bike ride to scout out some porches for my 100 Salt Lake City Art Project. I didn’t push it but I DID do some climbing on some steep streets.

The Quaking Aspen trees along the upper American Fork/Alpine Loop Climb.

Sunday morning, I lead an American Fork Canyon- Alpine Loop bike ride which was two hours of climbing and a quick CHILLY decent of 30 minutes. The scenery was beautiful though I was hoping there would have been more Fall color. It’ll probably be another 1 to 2 weeks and it’ll be the height of Fall color.

But I’m hoping that it’s the combination of all of the above that lead to my knees being in pain today. That or I’ll have to start narrowing down what’s happening and I sometimes really hate to do that. But the good news in all this is that I'm down 1 lb. on my weight. I only have 8 lbs. till my goal weight!

Cycling Away the Labor Day Weekend

2011-09-06T15:45:00.000-07:00

I managed to get in almost 100 miles cycling in this last weekend between three different rides. The weather was just glorious. The sun was shining and it was a little cooler than it has been. It was too nice NOT to be on my bicycle. But the real pretty ride this weekend was lead by a fellow Bonneville Cycling Club cyclist. She called it Jackie's Fall Fancy and it started in Park City. It then went by the Jordanelle Reservoir over to Kamas through some lovely little towns with landscapes of horses and red barns. Then through another canyon and back to Park City. What a wonderful way to spend part of a day! Here's some pictures from the bike ride that I took...

A BIG THANKS out to Jackie for leading this wonderful ride!

Henna Tattoo & a Month End...

2011-09-01T16:11:00.000-07:00

Now, I can scratch one thing off my Bucket List. This last Tuesday morning, I had a henna tattoo applied by Malynda in my home. I had given her a very rough drawing of sunflowers and a bicycle, and she drew this free hand and came up with an amazing piece of artwork on me. It was rather amazing thinking of my body underneath and as a part of a piece of art. I never considered my body to be a possibility of art; which was rather a new concept for me. One that I may have to explore some more in the future,hmmm?

Let me preface this with a warning-- Not all hennas are created equal!! ***BLACK HENNA WARNING!!*** If you come across a henna that stains your skin black immediately avoid it. It probably contains a harmful chemical called PPD(para-phenylenediamine). PPD is ILLEGAL to use on skin and can cause painful rashes, disfiguring scars, increased allergic reactions to safer black dyes (such as used to dye your clothes), to more serious conditions such as heart failure and life-long illness.

My upper left arm just after application of henna paste.

View of my back with henna paste still on.

The henna goes on with the consistency of black pudding. Then, you leave it on your skin any where from 4 to 8 hours. That allows your skin to absorb the coloring from the henna. I had about 6 hours after Malynda left to sit and let my skin do nothing but absorb. I was trying not to move or touch anything with those areas of my body. Oh, did I mention it was my back, left shoulder, and upper left arm? And I never realized how hard that is not to touch something with those parts of your body when you are trying not to. OMG! I ended up leaning on my right side and slightly forward on my love seat as I watched a movie and then did some reading on my nook. At shortly after 5pm, I changed into some cycling clothes and went to ride my Tuesday evening Emigration Canyon ride. The henna paste was starting to crack and fall off. I imagine I looked rather yucky during the ride, but the sweat was supposed to help set it in I was told.

Henna tattoo the morning after most of the paste was removed.

The henna tattoo on the second day. It's gotten darker.

And an monthly update....
Weight- I've 9 lbs to go till my goal weight.
100 SLC Porches- I finish #73 & 74 the other night. I'm right on track! Check out the project on my other blog- Allgood Art.
Uncluttering my life- I still have a pile in the bedroom that's growing that I'll eventually send to the good will.

Stats for the month...

28 miles running

385 miles biking

3 hours 41 mintues on elliptical

and

read 5 books this month (up to 44 for the year!)

A Weekend Workshop...

2011-08-24T10:03:00.000-07:00

I’m off to Pocatello , Idaho this weekend. Why the big "town" of Pocatello, you might ask? I’m going to be taking a “Pouring Luminous Watercolors” Workshop at the Pocatello Art Center . The workshop is taught by a wonderful watercolorist that I have been admiring on-line for awhile. Her name is Leslie Redhead. I LOVE her poured watercolors of cityscapes and buildings. Pictured here is a Chinatown Statue, a poured watercolor that I stole from her site. (I hope she’ll forgive me.) It is one of my favorites. She also has some amazing flowers; especially irises and poppies. Please click on her name and check out her artwork. It is definitely worth a visit. Leslie is based in Vancouver , BC , Canada ; and I jumped at the chance when I found out she was holding a workshop so close to Salt Lake City . It’s about a 3 hour drive and, of course, I’m taking my bike in tow. I figured I could bike some new territory while I'm there. I’ve really been excited for this weekend for the last month. It’s almost like Christmas! I’ll update you and hopefully share a beautiful piece of watercolor artwork when I get back. I'm also using it as an excuse not to do my weekly weighing in. I KNOW I haven't been good this week, and don't want to face that scale.

Old Navy + Me = Dangerous Territory

2011-08-22T15:34:00.000-07:00

Sunday early evening, as I had dinner plans cancelled I found myself at the local Old Navy Store. I figured I would go in to get a cheap tube top. I needed something to wear while I have my henna tattoo applied at the end of this month. Yes, I didn’t own a strapless top I could use and thought I could pick up an el-cheap-o at Old Navy. I came out an hour and a half later spending almost $60. Can you say, “Oppppsss!”

I did manage to find the tube top for about $3. I also managed to find a pair of jeans, a sleeveless top, a floral tank, and a cute skirt. That’s the problem with going straight to the discount area at Old Navy. There are just TOO many bargains to be had and then the next thing I know I’m trying on this and that; followed by another this and that. AND before you know it the hanged section of “LOVE IT” is filled up. AH-OH! Then, I’m going through and try to narrow down everything that will make it over to the register with me. YIKES! This is dangerous and originally I just came in for a cheap tube top.

But on the fantastic side, I discovered I can fit rather snuggly in a pair of 12 jeans! Yahoo! I normally wear a 14. The jeans were on sale for $15. So, of course, I had to get a pair of them! Then I discovered that the large shirts that I usually get are too large. I go back and grab the medium and WOW! I’m fitting into medium shirts! How cool is this? This is making me feel really good till I try on a pair of 14 jeans in a different style and I can barely get them up my thighs. What’s up with that??!

I look more closely and discover they are mismarked. The clipped on tag says size 10, but all the stickers say size 14. Whew! That was a load off my mind because I was wondering if I was in a special twilight zone of the dressing room. Ooooo Spooky! I go back to get another size 14 and discovered 4 other pairs that were marked the same way! I immediately grabbed a sales gal and showed her. I did it because I hated the idea of some other gal trying on a pair of mismarked jeans, and ended up with a bruised ego.

AND so, that’s how I went into Old Navy for one thing and came out spending almost $60. But I will say that I’ve improved! The last time I went into Old Navy I had spent $120. Thus, in the new math method:
Old Navy + Me = Dangerous Spending Territory!

Bucket List Thoughts & an Update...

2011-08-19T15:28:00.000-07:00

It was as we stood in the elevator that Diane said,” You need to add that to your Bucket List and then check it off.” I could not help but smile at her plan. We just got done watching a movie (Rio) on an inflatable BIG (HUGE- 10' x10') screen TV while we were leisurely sitting in our swimsuits ensconced in a hot tub. I was also enjoying one of those sweet “chick-like” beverages that tasted like margaritas and we could see the stars above in the dark night sky. It was amazing night that had started off with a dinner done alfresco near the pool area and a "homemade" (not really- Diane tried to pass it off as such! Nice try girlfriend!) Key Lime pie. Yum! It's one of my favorites!

I will admit that it was one of those wonderful memories that I’ll look back on but I could have never perceived putting it on a bucket list. Not because it’s not worthy of a bucket list, but what made it so special was the chance that it occurred and with such wonderful company too. Some moments are just made better because they are NOT planned or anticipated. It’s those unique moments like this that I believe make life so amazing and interesting. But I couldn’t help but smile and chuckle inside as I thought over what Diane had said. I would put it on another list though; a list of 100 Best Unplanned Moments.

But I’ve already lined up one item to do that’s on my Bucket List. I’ve made an appointment to have a henna tattoo near the end of this month. I’ve sent a prelim idea for the design and the lady that’s going to do it is working up a sketch before the appointment. Yes, there’s a bicycle involved in the design but I’m not sharing any more than that for right now. I got the impression from the lady that she had never had such a design requested and I think she might have been intrigued by it. I managed to find this lady through some on-line searching. She does henna tattoos locally, but is currently doing a booth at a festival in Washington State. I was rather surprised when I learned that she even comes out to your house which I thought was really neat but not a requirement. But I thought that since I've decided to have this henna tattoo go from the back of my neck, along my shoulder, and to the top of my left arm it might be nice to have it done at home. I'm getting excited about doing this!

An update on my weight, I’m up 1 pound which I wasn’t too surprised because I wasn’t really good this week but I’m planning on trying harder this next week. The good news is that I’m still down a total 23 lbs. and I have 9 more to go!

Breaking A Barrier!

2011-08-12T13:33:00.000-07:00

I got on the scale this morning. Then, immediately jumped off to make sure the scale was calibrated. Then, jumped on and admired the number it read. Yes, I finally broke a barrier! Granted, it wasn’t a sound barrier in my bathroom but a barrier none the less. I broke that “I have 10 lbs. to go” barrier. I now only have 8 more to go. Yahoo! A BIG Thumbs up!

For almost 3 weeks, my weight has seemed too settled in comfortably 10 lbs. above my goal weight. Who knows what created the barrier to be broken? It could have been the cold last weekend that finally threw the stalemate to the curb or my extra diligence in choosing those low calories options this last week. But whatever it was I’m really hoping to make it continue on. What can I say I am literally trying to work my A$$ off? :) Oh, so sorry for the cliche use!

On another note, I’ve decided to add a page to my blog that’s totally devoted to my bucket list. I’ll update and of course, probably blog as bucket items get checked off the list. I’m still debating on what items to work on first. Though, I’ve all ready been offered access to a pair of roller blades. I rather surprised myself when I discovered that I’ve been to 20 out of the 50 states. Wow and here I thought I was really not that well traveled at all. Though, I still consider myself just a step barely above a country bumpkin. :)

Cranberry-izing!

2011-08-09T13:51:00.000-07:00

I was rather sick this last weekend. Friday evening I felt a sore throat coming on. I thought I would do a workout in hopes that I could burn the sickness right out of me. I did a 2.5 mile run on the treadmill and another 30 minutes on the elliptical. Saturday morning, I woke up with a sore throat AND a headache. Well, the burning it out with exercise theory didn’t work.

Next, it was the honey with tea and just taking it easy. Earlier in the week I had been planning on going for a climbing bike ride of at least 50 miles but I decided against that. I stayed home instead. During the day, I divided my time between reading, painting, and watching movies. I even had a big bowl of chicken noodle soup for dinner. I was starting to feel better by bedtime. I thought I might have the thing beat.

Wrong! Sunday morning came and I could add chills to the list of maladies; and the headache had gotten worse. All I felt like doing was sleeping. So I slept most of Sunday away. I finally did get up when a lady called about purchasing a porch painting. I dragged myself up then showered and changed. I delivered the painting, and swung by a fast food place to eat something. Also, an ice cream shake sounded so good to me. Again, I was feeling a bit better by bedtime.

Monday morning, I woke and headache was mostly gone but sore throat was still there. I opted to skip the early morning bike ride, and slept a bit longer. On my way into work I purchased a HUGE bottle of cranberry juice; my fallback for getting better. I drank about half the bottle during the day making frequent restroom visits. It’s like when you are trying to drink more water; only in this case it was cranberry juice. It was like everyother moment I sat at my desk I would do something then take a drink of cranberry juice. Do something else, and take a sip. I was rather surprised my eyes weren't turning the color of cranberries! BUT I was feeling much better as I left the office that night. Then, I went home and did a workout at the gym to burn the rest right out.

Today, I woke with just a hint of a sore throat. I’m finishing the rest of the cranberry juice just to be on the safe side. But I’m really hoping that all this “cranberryizing” will knock the rest of this sickness out of my system. Keep your fingers crossed!

My Bucket List...

2011-08-04T14:29:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about it all this last week. I've been adding and I still may have somethings to add over time. There may be some crazy and different things that might surprise some you you, but then maybe not. But this is what I came up with....
**************************
1. Go canoeing

2. Go kayaking

3. Try rollerblading

4. Attend a traditional Greek Wedding (I mainly just want to see if they really do spit on the bride as she goes up the aisle.)

5. Get a henna tattoo

6. Go on a retreat that’s at least 4 days and at least 100 miles from home-- either spa or sports related.

7. Learn to speak Spanish

8. Brush up on my French

9. Write & Publish a book

10. Go horseback riding

11. Go whale watching

12. Try pole dancing (this might be dangerous due to my lack of coordination.)

13. See a Circque du Soleil Show in Vegas

14. Eat a meal prepared by a world class chef

15. Do a bit of stand up comedy

16. Cycle the diameter around Crater Lake & possibly Lake Tahoe too.

17. Make a difference in someone’s life. ( I see this as an on-going thing.)

18. Experience a nomad lifestyle for an extended time frame. (thinking possibly 2 years)

19. Visit all 50 states

20. Participate in the Burning Man

21. See the Northern Lights

22. See an Atlanta Braves Game

23. Go on an Alaskan Cruise

24. Visit some National Parks (not in Utah)

25. Go skinny dipping

26. Visit the Smithsonian in Washington D.C.

27. Walk along the Coney Island Boardwalk

28. Take a tour of the Hershey Factory in Penn.

29. See the Grand Canyon

30. Visit Historic Williamsburg

31. Visit the Art Institute of Chicago & see American Gothic by Grant Wood in person

32. See the Cherry Blossoms of Washington D.C.

33. Cross the Golden Gate Bridge

34. See the Liberty Bell

35. Visit the Museum of Fine Arts in Boston

36. Visit the Guggenheim Museum in NYC

37. Bake a French loaf of bread that’s not like a rock.

38. Visit a nudist colony

39. Kiss a complete male stranger & make it a good kiss!

40. Have several pieces of my artworks on sale & hanging in a professional gallery

41. Phrases I want to say before I die---

--- You can’t fire me, I quit!; --- A martini shaken not stirred. (Gold finger)

********************************************
I invite any feedback or comments you may have.

Hair Adventures & End of Month Report...

2011-08-01T15:06:00.000-07:00

This last Saturday I went into my hairstylist and said I needed a change. I bravely left it in the hands of my stylist and said whatever you think. Talk about the beginnings of an adventure. I went in a mainly medium length brunette with red streaks and came out a short asymmetrical bobbed blonde with caramel highlights. My stylist made it look SO cute using a straightening iron and this is me on day 1. Barbara Streisand eat your heart out!

This is day 2- I don’t happen to have a straightening iron but used a regular curling iron to attempt to straighten it. Did I mention I have naturally curly hair?

This is day 3- This I took this afternoon at my desk. It’s been unusually humid here all day because it’s been pouring rain off and on. Some parts of Utah got up to 1’ of rain which is unusual for this time of year. But it’s been enough to make my natural curl sprout some of that wonderful frizz. Ugh! Darn hair sometimes has a mind of its own!

Do we see a trend here? More hair adventures to come, I'm sure.

Being the first day of August, here’s a look back at the month of July. The End of Month Report for July.
Savings- I stayed right on track for the month of July which I think is pretty good considering that I went on a bit of a vacation to Helena, MT.

Weight loss- I’ve been rather on a plateau at the 22 lbs. mark, but that happens. Why does it always seem that the last 10 lbs. are the hardest to take off?

100 Salt Lake City Porches- I’m a bit behind on this art project. I should be finished through to porch #66 as of yesterday if I keep to the schedule I set up. Instead, I just finished porch #64 and hope to finish porch #65, an oil, tonight. I have lightly sketched porch #66 and have it prepped for a watercolor. So I’m not terribly behind and I can catch up to where I should be. To view the progress of 100 Salt Lake City Porches, click here.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches,No.64"; Watercolor on 10" x 14" Paper

Uncluttering my life? I’m still building a pile to go to the good will. It’s slowly getting larger and taking up more floor space in the corner of my bedroom. I’ve added items of summertime clothing from last year that doesn’t seem to go with anything else in my closet. What happened there? I’m unsure.

Stats for the Month...

18.50 miles Running

460.50 miles Cycling

2 hours on the Elliptical

Read 6 books ( Makes for 39 so far this year!)

No Change & Things I've Done...

2011-07-29T16:09:00.000-07:00

No change in the losing weight this week, but I did stumble upon an interesting fact this last week while I was perusing through old journals. I now weigh the same as what I did when I started working my current job almost 8 years ago. Depending on how you look at it, that could be a good thing or a lot of work to get back to the same place you were at one time. I personally think it’s a good thing because everyone else I work in the office with has slowly gained over the years. I feel in my own right I’m fighting against that nasty secretary’s spread that I could be susceptible to normally in my employment position. Oh, the risks of being a glorified secretary!

I’ve been brainstorming about a bucket list this last week. I, of course, got online and did a bit of research to get some ideas. I’ve been amazed by how many websites are based on or about bucket lists. I was almost overwhelmed by all the ideas I got. I ended up with about 3 chicken scratched pages of ideas that I wrote down. I want to narrow them down and organize them some what before I display them here. I’m thinking within the next week or so I’ll have something displayed here.

But what I also found rather interesting while I was going over all these bucket lists were all the things that I’ve done or tried in my life. I really have managed to live and find the joy in my life for the most part. Here’s a quick list of 25 that I put together…(I'm not living a fish bowl that's for sure)

Things I’ve done that might be on a Bucket List

1. Running- 5K, 10K, half marathon’s

2. Cycling- Metric Centuries and whole Centuries (8 Centuries in one year)

3. 70.3 Iron Man (Noncompetitive Slow Salty Dog Tri)

4. Water skiing

5. Sailing

6. Backpacking expedition

7. Yurting

8. Bungee Jumping

9. Rode in a helicopter

10. Indoor Skydiving (a surprise birthday present!)

11. Been part of a hockey fight (I would not recommend.)

12. Eaten caviar (Not impressed with it!)

13. Got hypnotized (I don’t remember the stupid stuff I did!)

14. Milked a cow (Look out 8 Maids-a-milking!)

15. Spent a night in a hostel (and LIVED!)

16. Crashed a party(s) - (I was an Olympian in college at this!)

17. Thrown a surprise party and had it actually be a surprise

18. Jumped in a pool with my clothes on

19. Learned (sort of) belly dancing (took classes for almost a year)

20. Done karaoke
(One step up- Kamikaze Style- my friends chose the songs and surprise you are singing this!)

21. Held Art shows of my art (private & at a friend’s studio)

22. Sold some of my art (which I think is pretty cool!)

23. Tried Yoga (some may remember this post- BOOT CAMP Day 11)

24. Spur of the moment road trip- to have lunch with a friend (drove 4 hours each way to & fro)

25. Gone places---

Pikes Place Market in Seattle
Vegas Strip
Disneyland
Disney World
Universal Studios
Magnificent Mile in Chicago
Sears Tower in Chicago
Museum of Science & Industry in Chicago
(among other hi-lights of Chicago)
Redwood National Forest
Crater Lake
oh and ...
Yuma, Arizona's International Airport with it's 3 outdoor gates!

An Update & Prelim Bucket Listing...

2011-07-22T15:55:00.000-07:00

Good news to share with the update which is surprising considering it’s been a couple of weeks since my last update. I was on vacation last week and was basically away from the blogsphere of the world. I got on the scale this morning and was really amazed. I’m down (drum roll, please!) a total of 22 lbs. as of this morning. Yeah!!

BUT I will admit that yesterday I DID work out what would be considered by some as being excessive. I woke up very early and decided to go for a 3 mile speed walk/run at my local favorite park. Then, I biked into work with a backpack of gear that weigh at least 15 lbs. After work, I biked over to the start of my normal Thursday evening Bike & Brew ride. I thankfully was able to stow my backpack in another bike club member’s car while I rode the 23 mile ride. I ended up having to change a flat tire with 2 miles left on the ride. Not fun at all! Then, I claimed my backpack and biked for home. I totaled 34 miles on the bike for the day.

Last night, I watched the 2007 movie The Bucket List with Jack Nicholson and Morgan Freeman. Sometimes, I admit I find it amusing that a movie with two older male actors has created somewhat of a phenomenon. Bucket Lists have sprouted everywhere and have become a common theme in quite a few of people’s lives. Then, here is me Ms. List and I don’t have a bucket list.

Part of the reason I always thought was that I don’t want to have a life that’s planned out with goals and things to do. I like having an open-ness to life and feel that life is an adventure. Some of my best remembered moments have been totally unplanned; me just going along for the ride. Sometimes it has been rather hairy but overall it’s been very fulfilling. I’ve done quite a few things that have been on other people’s bucket list. I done half marathons, tri's, indoor skydiving, all kinds of cycling, and various other things. To sound a bit like a Nike commercial but quite often I just do it and quite often its not planned through as well as it could have been. For example, the Slow Salty Dog Tri that I did two years ago with only about 2 months worth of training. OUCH!

But I’m thinking as of late that I could maybe open myself up to doing part of a list. Part of it has been my recent trip to Helena, MT. It has opened my eyes up a bit. There are places I would love to explore a little more if I had the time and there are experiences that I wouldn’t mind having.

Off the top of my head, I have always wanted to see a Cirque Du Soleil show in Vegas but I look at the ticket price and question myself. I also have always thought it would be a wonderful experience to bike the road that goes around Crater Lake. They are not big things and if I really sat down I’m sure I could come up with some more. Maybe I’ll think about this for a little while and come up with my own bucket list. I might even share it.

Vacation & One Helena of a Ride...

2011-07-19T14:07:00.000-07:00

I've been off in Big Sky Country of Montana this last week. The main purpose of the trip up there was the Helena 100 Bike ride but I went up a day earlier and did a bit of site seeing of the Helena area. Here's some photos from my trip... First we took the Helena Train tour. Julia, a fellow cycling club member, also came up from Salt Lake early to do some site seeing.

Julia & I on a Helena mini train tour.

One of several older mansions that are in Helena. At one time, Helena had the highest per capita Millionaires.

Another mansion that was along the train ride's route.

Rode the train through Helena Scenic downtown.

Outdoor cafes with leaning bikes were a common scene.

I took a drive later on that day out to 2 of the lakes outside Helena; a mear ten mile scenic drive in the car.

Then Saturday came and it was riding time! A BEAUTIFUL ride along the upper Missouri River.

Janet, Patty, Jay,& I-- No, I didn't get the memo about the jersey choice!

A FANTASTIC Alpine Loop Bike Ride!

2011-07-11T15:43:00.000-07:00

It was a beautiful day for riding the Alpine Loop. The weather ended up being in the low-80's and just a few fluffy clouds that came out towards the end of the ride. About 20 fellow cyclist came out to join me for the climb fest and it was a climb. From the start to the summit and over to Cascade Springs and back, it ended up being about 4300 feet of climbing within 40 cycling miles. It was a work out but the views all made it worth it~! Here's some pictures I took along the way...

The view at the first hair pin turn about 2/3 of the way up.

About 1/4 mile before the Summit of the Alpine Loop.

The Summit with the elevation-- 8060 ft!

A pair of fellow cyclists almost to Summit; talk about sharing the road. These are narrow!

The view of the road going towards Cascade Springs.

Having Lunch at the overlook point near Cascade Springs.

The AMAZING view while having lunch at the overlook point!

Up, Apline Loop, & Cat Sitting...

2011-07-08T15:58:00.000-07:00

I grimaced a bit at the scale this morning. It said I was up 1 lb which brings me back to a total weight loss of 19 lbs. I was disappointed because I managed to bike 125 miles this week and I thought I would be down with THAT much cycling. But maybe I need to get out them running shoes too. I do notice that when I run I’m more likely to lose weight. But cycling can be a good calorie burning exercise too and I have been pushing myself to perform a bit better each time I do a climbing ride.

The main problem with my cycling is that most of those rides occur right after work in the evening. Then on the way home I usually grab something to eat. It’s the combo of eating late and eating quick fast food that’s not good. The problems are that I don’t have the time to eat before the bike ride and most times my stomach gets upset if I try to workout right after eating. It’s a catch 22 situation. I really wish I liked salads more that would totally be the solution. I have been forgoing the fast food combos with the French fries. I love going to Wendy’s and ordering the mandarin oranges instead of having fries.

This weekend if Sunday’s weather holds out to be nice and there’s no mudslide on the roads, I’ll be leading an Alpine Loop Bicycle ride. It is some of the most beautiful cycling country with a water stop at Cascade Springs Nature area and a turn around at Sundance. I will say there’s a great deal of climbing on the ride but its worth it and I’ve designed the route so that if its too much for my fellow cyclists they can always turn around and head back down. I'll take my camera with me and share some photos with you.

Also, this weekend I’m doing a bit of cat sitting; a pair of calico kitties. This is the second time in two months that I’ve been a cat sitter. It’s kind of been fun in that I have the benefit of enjoying being with a pet(s) without any true ownership. Its also nice staying at someone else's place. It's like a mini-vacation. Bonus! Have a wonderful weekend!

Playing Catch Up...

2011-07-06T15:49:00.000-07:00

Diane & I out on a beautiful bike ride Sunday morning.

Here it is already 6 days into the month of July and I never did a month end report. Whoops! I’m falling down on the job here. Well, here comes a quick update…

Savings- I was ahead of schedule by $75 this last month; not too shabby.

Weight loss- I’m rather at a stalemate sticking at 20 lb. loss total. I need to watch what I eat more closely. Work on writing in that new journal.

100 Salt Lake City Porches Art Project- I finished #60 this last weekend. It’s progressing right along and I’ve been really happy that I’ve sold 11 paintings so far. Nice!

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.60" A Patriotic Watercolor.

Uncluttering my life? Well, I started forming a pile of winter clothes that will eventually end up at the good will.

Stats for the month…

14.2 miles running

0 miles swimming

(Diane my swim partner is done training for the tri.)

395 miles cycling

5 hours 7 minutes on the elliptical

Read 6 more books (bringing it to a total of 33 books for the year.)

A Pause Button...

2011-06-28T15:21:00.000-07:00

This morning as the alarm beeped I reached over and hit the snooze. It was as I was lying there that I felt a delicious cool summer breeze blow through the window. I also heard the gentle hum of the interstate. Hmmmm…I rolled over and slowly doze off to sleep again; only to have the alarm beep 7 minutes later. I reached over and pushed down on the snooze button. I felt another delicious cool breeze, and the nice gentle hum of the interstate. I started to doze off.

As I dozed off again, I couldn’t help but think that I could use a pause button. I SO wanted to stay here and enjoy this moment between being awake and asleep. It was after the 5^th time of pushing the snooze button that I had to finally start thinking about the reality of myself being late for work if I didn’t get going. Darn it anyway because I would have loved to hit that pause button and enjoy this time frame for a bit longer. I would’ve enjoyed staying in this laid back stress free zone for at least another 30 minutes. But no—its back to reality for me as I hurriedly got ready for work. Thank goodness I packed my bike clothes for the weekly Emigration Canyon ride last night before I went to bed. Because I barely managed to make it on time.

An Update & Indulgences...

2011-06-24T15:57:00.000-07:00

I’ve lost a total of 2 lbs. this week which rather surprises me with the indulging that I’ve been doing. For example last night at Mimi’s Café after ordering a small appetizer for my meal. I, then, ordered the chocolate bread pudding. OMG! Talk about decadent! It arrived at the table with two different sauces – a rum sauce and a chocolate sauce. Then the bread pudding had chocolate chips mixed in and they were to that just melting point. YUM! Now I’ve never been too big on chocolate but bread pudding with a bit of a rum sauce I LOVE. But if you add a bit of chocolate on top of that and its pure genius!

Now I will admit that I did do a 23 mile bike ride before consuming the OMG chocolate bread pudding but I DON’T think that was quite a fair calorie exchange. The scale might have been slightly tilted heavy on the dessert side. I did however purposely choose to have a smaller appetizer so that I “could have” said dessert. But I was still rather surprised that I was down 2 lbs. after such rich dessert consumption. Oh, and I also had a beverage with sparkling wine with cranberry juice; called a Hibiscus. It was very refreshing after a bike ride, but that was another indulgence I probably should have forgone.

My activities for this last week to help combat the general war of weight loss and has assisted in bringing me to a total of 20 lbs less? Well, there was 110 miles of cycling, 5.75 miles running, and 1 hour on the elliptical machine. I guess it was enough to tip the scale in my favor but still I can’t help but think what I might have been down if I would stop partaking of such food items. But ultimately, I blame that dang blackboard that listed the Special dessert of Chocolate Bread Pudding. Talk about a sucker for a marketing ploy!

Healing & "Canned" Lunches...

2011-06-21T14:18:00.000-07:00

I seem to be healing. If all goes according to plan, my stitches on my calf will come out on Thursday. In the meantime, I’ve been keeping to wearing skirts or shorts. There’s something about having pants or capris on that rub up against the stitches. It’s kind of like wearing that scratchy wool sweater; just a bit of an irritant.

On the running front, I managed to run 3.5 miles this last Sunday and no butt cramp. Yahoo! I want to thank everyone for their help with and suggestions. I’ve been doing a series of exercises and stretches that may be the key to beating this thing

Artwork- "Steak Out" soon to showing in the Bark-N-Art Stroll in Park City this weekend.

On the weight loss front, I’m down the 2 lbs. that I gained a couple of weeks ago. I think the new “incentive” was that I started a new journal. There’s just something about a new start of filling blank pages that can be very appealing. Though, in the back of my mind I often wonder about someone discovering my journal years and years from now. I’m sure they will be thinking,”WTF?!?” My mundane details of my diet and exercising would prove as a good bedtime story. It’ll put you to sleep right away.

In an effect to plan my lunch time food at work a little better, I’ve come up with the “canned” diet. It’s a simplistic way of planning a lunch time meal; open a can, pour into bowl, and microwave (if needed). It’s an effective way to keep the calories for lunch under 350. My work desk drawer now comprises of low sodium soups, non-fat refried beans, tuna, and sliced beets. Yes, beets! It’s the one canned “veggie” that I really like. And yes, to your other question—I limit the refried beans to just once a week out of respect to co-workers.

An Update & Rambo Part 5...

2011-06-17T15:36:00.000-07:00

No change in the weight situation this week. I’ve been struggling with motivation this last week. Of course, it’s hard with the schedule I’ve been doing. Catching an early morning bike ride, going to work, catch an evening bike ride or workout at gym, then head home to work on a porch painting, and end the day with an hour of winding down time on the Nook ( I’ve got to turn the energy and brain down somehow.) I blame this all on my type A personality mother. (Just joking Mom!) If I was a true type A personality I would be studying for my Masters in some remote degree, learning at least two foreign languages, and have an immaculately kept apartment. Please never come to my apartment without proper warning because I have the hazmat team on standby at all time.

I’ve often been running through the fast food in between here and there. AND we all know that fast food is the anti-Christ of dieting! Especially when one is not fond of salads; but I’ve been trying to get the sandwich wrap things on the menus that are somewhat marginally lower in calories. Though, I tend to wonder about these wraps when you find a big glob of mayonnaise stuck in the middle of it.

My stitches are healing well. My whole calf area was looking pretty “knarley” (as a former college mate would say). There were all shades of purples, blues and greens that made it look like my calf had been used as a punching bag. The bruising was really showing up and it looked worse than the actual injury seemed to me. But as of today there’s just the lovely sickly yellow-greenish glow left. I’ve all ready been back on the bike, which will come as no surprise to any of you that know me as “Biker”. I rode Emigration and didn’t “pop” a stitch.

I was telling most of my fellow cyclists about the event. Tales of the doctor’s office where I refused to take the shot for the local pain deadening. The nurse hovered with the shot ready at a moment’s notice meanwhile the doctor is taking a brush to the wounded area to get the bike chain grease out and then he does the stitches. The whole time we are chatting along about cycling and a recent vacation trip he took to northern New York State where he cycled. It was as the doctor was washing his hands after the procedure that he looked over his shoulder and called me, “…one tough cookie.”

My fellow cyclists’ reactions upon hearing the story were “owing and ouching” and then comparing me to Rambo. In fact, one teased me that I was Rambo Part 5. Another teased me that my pain center of my brain went dead from a bike accident I had back in 2007. In that accident I face planted it while doing 20mph and was knocked unconscious for about 3 min.

Last night, I braved the same ride that I got these stitches from. I was ever so careful when I went by the intersection where I went down. The scene of the crime still had a great deal of gravel but I managed this time to get to the “Brew” part of the “Bike & Brew” ride that’s put on by a member of my bike club (BCC). My good friend Doug who puts on the ride did however announce at the beginning of the ride that I was a safety hazard and I should be avoided. Talk about adding insult to injury! I, of course, took it all in stride.

An Update & Stitches...

2011-06-10T15:56:00.000-07:00

My weight is no change for the week. I rather feel like I’m just trying to get everything under control. My cycling mileage per week has increased and I’ve tried to get a little more time on the elliptical. I’ve been doing exercises all week building my muscles in my butt area and am hoping that I can slowly start easing myself into running. But I might have a bit of a set back…

I had a small accident on my bike last night. The result of which was 5 stitches and a cut that spans from the inside of my lower right calf to almost back of the knee. I think it was due to a small rock that got in my bike cleat at the stoplight. I was trying to take off quickly from the stop light to keep up with the guys out front. I was in my competitive mode and wasn’t paying attention like I should have.

Ow! My 5 Stitches!

My shoe slipped off the pedal and my right calf slid into the chain ring on my bike. I was bleeding a bit and knew I would have a bruise on my right elbow for sure. I was a bit shaken so I decided to head the 2.5 miles back to the car. It was as I was cleaning the dirt and rocks from my calf that I discovered it was rather a deep gash. I took a picture with my phone and sent it to a nurse friend. (Oh, the wonders of technology!) She recommended that I go have it looked at.

An hour later, I was going home with 5 stitches, an updated tetanus shot, and told by my regular doctor (who has late office hours) that if I wanted a bike sprocket tattoo it was safer to go to the local neighborhood tattoo parlor. He’s a fellow cyclist. He said no hot tub or swimming but I can go back to the running and cycling. He put in each stitch separately incase one popped while I was running or cycling it wouldn’t take them all out and make it worse.

Today, I’m in a bit of pain and I’m discovering new bruises developing on my legs and arms. I’m planning on a bike ride on Sunday morning for sure and playing with the idea of a run/walk on Saturday. But we shall see how it all goes…

An Update & Balanced Cheeks?

2011-06-03T16:07:00.000-07:00

I was disappointed when I got on the scale this morning. I was up 2 whole pounds. I've been backing off on the running because of the left butt cramp issue and doing a bit more on the elliptical machine but it's just not the calorie burning exercise that I need to stay ahead of the game. So somethings need to be changed... either more time on the elliptical or bike or cut down on the calorie intake. I also will admit that I was lax on my food journal keeping this last week and I think that's reflecting in the weight gain too.

Now as far as the butt cramp thing, I did a bit of research and I might have what's called piriformis. A scientific name that basically is caused by a weakness in muscles on one side. So my butt muscles are weak on my left side. Go figure, the human body try as we may is not perfect on both sides. Now it seems that I have balance issues in a whole new way. Hmmmm. I started doing some recommended exercises and have stopped the running all together. Also, recommended is taking pilates or yoga classes or "core building" exercises(which I hate!). I'm rather leaning towards trying out the pilates reformer classes that my friend Diane has been taking but there's an orientation class that conflicts with my Emigration Canyon bike rides on Tuesday night. So I need to wait 2 weeks till I'm not leading the ride up the canyon and attend that orientation. Till then I keep up with the exercises and hope to put some strength in my left butt check. Funny, I thought my butt cheeks look balanced and maybe a bit saggy in the mirror!

May's End of Month Report...

2011-06-01T13:39:00.000-07:00

It's seems like this month has went by in a whir ( a whir that's been mostly composing of rain). Because of the rain I haven't gotten out as much on the bike as I would have liked to. But sometimes that's the breaks, but overall I feel like things are progressing rather nicely so far this year. Getting closer and closer to being the halfway point. Here's how this month shaped up...

May showers bring May flowers? Some tulips during recent bicycle ride.

As far as savings, I've turned around on my savings schedule; thanks mostly due to the sale of some paintings. I've sold 4 porch paintings this last month; bringing the total to 7 porch paintings sold so far and have another porch owner interested. I've also sold a bicycle painting to a friend. I almost feel like a professional artist! But all of this has helped with being able to save a bit more money. I've also made donations to the Salt Lake City Habitat for Humanity; a win-win situation.

I’ve been happy in the weight loss department. As of last Friday, I was down a total of 20 lbs. Which puts me within 12 lbs. of my goal weight. I’m not losing fast with only an average weight loss of 4 lbs. per month but it’s been a nice steady pace which I hope means it’ll be harder to put back on if that ever happens.

The Nitty –Gritty for the month…

2 hours 23 minutes on the elliptical

24.15 miles running

2 miles swimming

212 miles cycling

and...

Read 6 books (now up to 29 for the year)

Even with all of this rain I managed to get more miles on my bicycle. I have still been having problems with that “butt cramp” coming back. I have noticed that when I run on a more “cushy” treadmill that the cramp doesn’t occur until almost the 2 mile marker. I may have to back off some more with the whole running. Though, I really hate to because it’s such a good calorie burning exercise. It also serves as a good indoor on the treadmill when the weather is yucky outside.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.43"; Poured Watercolor painting.

I’m currently struggling to do #49 out of the 100 Salt Lake City Porches project. I’ve now started the same porch four times on the oil canvas. I may have to set it off to the side and just come back to it.

Un-cluttering my life? Well, I’ve been forming a pile to go off to good will. It’s formed out of summer clothes that I’m not going to wear this summer and some winter clothes that I really didn’t get much use out of this last winter. I also went through my collection of make up and threw out a good bit of make up that needed to be done away with. Now I just need to work on that misc. shelf in the hall closet. It needs a major overhaul and to be organized. I guess that could be the project for this next month IF I get my act together.

Weighing in Before the Weekend...

2011-05-27T15:50:00.000-07:00

Just a quick note before I head off to enjoy the Memorial Day weekend. May you all have a wonderful weekend! I hope it's good weather and full of fun where ever you are. I've all ready have a BBQ cancelled due to the weather prediction of rainy weather here. I'm really hoping it'll clear enough so I can get out on my bicycle. Keep you fingers crossed! I'm trying to think happy thoughts and sunshine. I hope positive thinking can change the weather but if it doesn't I'm going to end up looking like this mad puppy! Grrr!

I found myself down another pound this morning when I weigh in. Yes! I'm now down a total of 20 lbs. and I have 12 more to go! It feels good and I'm really feeling good about my progress. I'm about 2/3 of the way towards my goal weight.

A Quick Weigh In & An Art Show...

2011-05-20T15:49:00.000-07:00

The scale stuck tightly with the same weight as last week. I'm still down 19 lbs. and still have 13 more to go. It's a bit of a stalemate I suppose. I will admit that with the rainy weather we've been getting a great deal of late I didn't get the exercise I usually do. I just barely managed to get to the top of the Emigration Canyon ride on Tuesday night before it started getting a bit rainy on the way down. And it was chilly on top of it! Last night it was rainy again and I ended up at the gym last night. I ran 3.25 miles on the treadmill and then "cooled down" on the elliptical for 25 minutes. The cramp came back but it was after almost 3 miles running. I ran a mile then did some stretches, and then ran more. I'm thinking that maybe I just need to do a bit more stretching with my runs in the future.

Tonight is the opening for the 3rd Annual Gallery Roll 2011. It's a Bike Art Show that takes place at a local bike shop; The Salt Lake City Bike Company in downtown Salt Lake City. Bike and Art my two favorite things combined. What fun! The show is kind of unofficially a part of the Salt Lake City Gallery Stroll, and it's also kind of part of the Salt Lake City Bike to Work Week. Then, May is national bike month too. I was in this art show two years ago with my Halloween Bike painting. This year, I have three of my paintings that were accepted into the show; one oil painting and two watercolors.
Here's one of them....

"Shadow Cycling Chalk Creek Canyon", watercolor on paper.

A Little Tri Training...

2011-05-16T15:55:00.000-07:00

Yesterday morning, I went with my friend Diane and a group of gals down to American Fork to do a preview of the Women of Steel Triathlon course. This triathlon takes place next Saturday. Since my favorite Chalk Creek Bike ride got cancelled due to flash flood conditions and high winds, I thought I would tag along with them. All of them are doing this Tri next Saturday. I was the odd man out and just wanted to get out and do something. We met at the American Fork Rec Center where the Tri will start and finish.

The pool was closed and all of us took a gander at it through the fence. But the main focus was to check out the bike and run course. The bike route was comprised of two 6 mile loops, and the run was one lap of about 3 miles.

We all got on our bikes first and started out on the course. I quickly took to the lead, partially because I was familiar with the area and partially because I'm such a strong rider; my sport of choice. The course was done in a clockwise loop. The first part there was the wind at your bike as your climbing a bit of a hill; not too bad. I will admit it was pretty with a little cemetery and fields with horses grazing.

As you turned the corner to come back, BOOM the wind hit you full on! It was blowing pretty hard and cut down the speed we were riding. The wind was a definite issue. I did my usual making myself small and focus on the pedaling. I built up a distance from the gals that had been keeping up with me. It was almost with a sigh that I took the turn back to the start for a second loop. We waited for all and then started the second loop.

This will be Alex's (in blue here) first Tri!

Next was the run, which was basically the same route as the bike but with an earlier turn. I had changed into my running shoes and stripped down to a sports tank under my bike jersey. It was getting a bit warm out but still pretty windy. All of us waited and started out at the same time. Quickly most of the gals passed me on the run; not my sport of choice especially when going up hill. I've never been good running up hill even with the wind at my back. I will admit that I managed to keep the gals within sight until the last turn when they still had the energy to sprint to the finish. Not me! I discovered after about 2 miles in that my darn butt cramp from last week came back. There must be something about running that's making it come out. Because I had managed to bike almost 60 miles this last week and had no problem with it.

Weighing In & Spring’s in the Air…

2011-05-13T15:35:00.000-07:00

The scale cooperated with me this morning and gave me the other half of the pound I almost lost last week. I’ll admit surprise at this; sometimes I really think this scale hates me. But I’m pleased and that puts me at a total of 19 lbs. lost, and 13 more to go. I’m getting there; slow but sure.

Photo of the tree blossoming near where I park my car at work. Spring flowers!

Spring seems to be in the air at last. The weather has finally seemed to turn nice for the last couple of days. I went out on a club bike ride last night and almost felt nude wearing my bike shorts. It was the first ride where I didn’t have to haul all that extra gear along with me. I got to leave the extra jacket, the skull cap, the knee warmers, and the arm warmers in the car. I could actually feel the breeze run through my helmet and hair. Now this is bike riding at its best! Awe; what a treat!

Last night I got another treat just after work and before heading to the bike ride. A co-worker took me out for a quick drive in his little red convertible. I had all ready changed into my spandex out bike outfit and had donned a ball cap. He was whipping around the corners like we were on rails and he zoomed it up to 80mph on the interstate. It was fun but I kept on expecting to see a cop pull us over for speeding. I teasingly asked him how many speeding tickets he had gotten since he gotten the car. None he said; so either he was showing off for his co-worker (me) or he’s been lucky so far. Hmmmmm….

A Pain in the A$$, Literally...

2011-05-10T10:13:00.000-07:00

Last night it was raining so I went to the gym to work out. I ran 3.1 miles and then I proceeded to do a “cool down” of 16 minutes on the elliptical machine. It was as I was climbing the stairs to my third story apartment that I discovered I had a cramp in my left butt cheek. Ouch! I tell you it was a painful climb. I paused on the landings as I went up.

What I call the "Extreme Plow" yoga pose.

I have tried every stretch that I can think of to try to get this cramp out. I even did what I call the extreme yoga plow pose to shake this cramp loose. I soaked in the tub and then put ice on it afterwards. Then, I took the hot water bottle out after that. Nothing seems to be working! So today instead of my usual high heels I’m wearing a pair of funky brown short boots with skirt; a fashion statement I can pull off. But what’s really aggravating me is that I’m walking with a limp. HELP!?! Anyone have any thoughts or ideas out there? The only other option I can think of is going in for massage.

Weighing in on Friday…

2011-05-06T15:29:00.000-07:00

Another Friday and I weighed in on the scale again this morning. The scale was tittering between being the same or down 1 lb. I’m going to claim I’m down ½ lb. for the week. I’m perfectly fine with that, and I’m going to keep my nose to the grindstone. Little by little, I’m getting closer to my goal weight. Now I’m 18.5 lbs. down total. YES! Now I only have 13.5 lbs. to go!

I must admit that I splurged last night at dinner on Jambalaya and a beer after the bike ride. But in my defense, I only ate half of the huge portion of Jambalaya and I did do a fairly fast paced 23 mile bike ride. I’m eating the rest for dinner tonight after doing a bit of a workout on the elliptical machine.

The REALLY nice thing is that I’ve managed to get in bike rides the last three nights! I’ve put in 65 miles on the bike this week. I would have had more if this last Saturday hadn’t been a snow day. See photo below…

Photo sent by a fellow club cyclist this last Saturday morning.

Where's those studded bike tires when you need them?

A Late End of Month Report...

2011-05-03T14:42:00.000-07:00

This is late by a couple of days. Oppps! I kind of spaced it off completely, but better late than never as they say. So here it goes….

As far as my savings goal, I’m behind my saving schedule by about $50... I’ve had birthdays, get well presents, and Mother’s Day coming up and it’s made a dent in the finances. I must admit that I didn’t add gift giving into my budget. It’s something that I need to look. In other words, I need to figure that stuff in the budget plan.

Weight loss has been progressing along fine. I was down a total of 18 lbs. as of this last Saturday morning. I’ve been averaging about 4.5 lbs weight loss every month; which is a good steady pace. I've really been please with this pace and my progress.

Here’s the nitty gritty for the month…

4 hours on the elliptical

21.65 miles running

2.4 miles swimming

159 miles biking

Read 9 books (Up to 23 books for the year)

Even with this strange Spring time weather, I’ve been managing to get out on the bicycle. I’m hoping that it will warm up even more and then I’ll get 400 miles in cycling in the month. I also hope to get a little more mileage in running too. Speaking of running, last Friday night while on the “dredmill” doing 3 miles; I broke an average speed record. I managed to run an average speed of 11 minute and 4 second mile! Normally, I’m a slow 12 minute mile. I’ve been doing little drills all winter long on the treadmill to help improve my time. Now as far as the reading of books, I blame the bad weather to enabling me to read more. Last year I read 57 books and I wouldn’t be surprised if I break the 60 mark this year.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No. 40"- Poured Watercolor on paper

I’m working on porch #40 of my 100 Salt Lake City Porches project. I will admit that recently I took a bit of a break and did some bike art. The Gallery Roll, which is put on by a downtown bike shop was looking for some bike art, and I thought Why Not? So I painted a few watercolors and entered a couple of those along with an oil painting I did this last fall. I’ll let you know which ones get in, but in the meantime check out my progress on the 100 Salt Lake City Porches. I’m up to 40 of them! Wow!

As far as the goal of uncluttering my life, well… I’ve started a pile of clothing from the closet but it’s not very sizable. I’m figuring that as the weather warms that I’ll bring out the summer clothes, and start going through those and get rid of stuff that I’m really hoping is too big because of my weight loss. Keep your fingers crossed!

Weighing In & Sunset Boulevard

2011-04-29T15:21:00.000-07:00

It’s been two weeks since I’ve weigh in. I was hesitant to step on the scale this morning for fear of what I would see. But GREAT news, I’m down 3 lbs.! YAHOO! That brings me down a total of …. (Drum roll, please)…18 lbs. Little by little, pound by pound, I’m working at it. Lately, I’ve been receiving comments from friends and co-workers that I’ve been looking skinnier and it really makes me feel good. Clothes have been fitting loser which quite often I feel is the REAL test if you are losing weight. But I’m not ready to go shopping yet. I still have another 14 lbs. to reach my goal weight. I’m past that halfway point.

Last night, I got to see the preview of Pioneer Theatre’s “Sunset Boulevard”. Years ago, I had seen the black & white 1950 version with William Holden and Gloria Swanson. I vaguely remembered the story line. But this was a treat. To see it live on stage, in full color, and with live music played that was written by Andrew Lloyd Webber. I would recommend it to anyone in the Salt Lake City area who enjoys the live theatre to go see it.

The cast did an amazing job, especially the actress that played the role of Norma Desmond. But what really held me in awe about the whole affair were the set design and the costumes. The costumes of various extras and Norma Desmond’s costumes were colorful and vibrant. They spoke of the glamour and fun of the time.

Norma Desmond's role was
played wonderfully!

The set design was really amazing. They used a series of drop down and roll on designs that moved seamlessly along and kept the story and action moving along. I especially loved the inside of Norma Desmond’s house. It was elaborate with a balcony at top (where Norma would quite often make a show stealing entrance) with stairs leading off down to a landing where a door was (serving as an on-stage entrance). Then more stairs to lead to the bottom level where furniture was placed. I got lost in the wallpaper and the little details like light fixtures and furniture material that fit the time period to a “T”. Someone had done their homework and put some work into it. It showed! If you get the chance, GO!

Losing the Cold Wars...

2011-04-27T13:42:00.000-07:00

Since late Friday afternoon, I’ve been fighting a cold. I felt better Saturday morning and met Diane for a swim. Ouch! Can you say, “BIG Mistake!”? I only managed to swim ¾ of a mile and felt like I was going to drown twice; an accomplishment of sorts? The rest of Saturday and Easter Sunday went by in a sleep infested haze. Monday morning arrived and I was still feeling crummy. I called in sick; my first sick day of this year. (Not that I was going for a record or employee of the year or anything like that. Not quite my style.)

This cold has been making the rounds in the office, and on its fifth round it sucker punched me bad! It was SO unfair. I officially blame it on this April weather we’ve been having. How can a body adapt? I was watching from my desk yesterday afternoon and within an hour’s time the weather had gone from cold cloudy gloom to rain to sleet to hail to snow to sleet and back to rain. Hello! Mother Nature could you please just choose one for the day?! Of course, she (Mother Nature) finally chose on cold and partly cloudy by the time I went home which was a good thing because I had the clothes to dress for that.

Fighting this cold has been an uphill battle much like the battle of the bulge. Only this battle I'm a zombie walking with arms out and arrows are being thrown down at me. I'm too un-alert to avoid them and when each arrow hits I get an extra ache or pain that wasn't there before. But at least as I go uphill I'm getting a bit more and more alert; not the walking dead as much.

My Arsenal of aids to help me get better.

So I’ve been taking extra vitamins, night time cold medicine, day time cold medicine, Thera- Flu medicine, drinking hot beverages ( herbal teas and of course, coffee), and consuming plenty of soup; variations of chicken noodle like soups. Added to all of this I’m drinking plenty of cranberry juice; about a cup of cranberry juice with almost every meal. My philosophy on cranberry juice is that it’s the cure-all for what ever may ell me. Most times when I get a cold the first thing on my grocery list is a big bottle of cranberry juice; everything else is an after thought. I guess I could be a commercial for the cranberry industry. I can just see if now me on TV saying,”… You want to win the Cold Wars? Drink plenty of cranberry juice!” Naw! Maybe not.

Almost Begging for Coffee...

2011-04-20T16:01:00.000-07:00

Photo of Ruth's Diner in Emigration Canyon. A wonderful place to eat!

Last night, I did my second weekly bike ride up Emigration Canyon. The clouds parted an hour and a half before the ride was to take place. So being the “hard core” cyclist that I am. I changed into my gear and headed for the ride’s start. It was kind of cool at Sugarhouse Park where the ride starts but I had the gear on—tights and arm warmers. In my back pocket my jersey I put an extra jacket along with a barclava for the ride down. I tried to push myself as I was riding up the canyon, but was rather disappointed with the 9.5mph average speed to the top. My best average speed is 10.4mph from last season. BUT it’s still early in the season and it’s only my second time up the canyon. Hey! You gotta have some goal to work towards, right?

So it’s rather chilly at the top when I arrive. I chat for a bit with a fellow cyclists as I change into my extra jacket and barclava. I decided not to hang out and wait for everyone to get to top because the temperature is dropping and I can feel it!

I start heading down and start to build up speed through the first turn. Brrr-rrr-rrr!! OMG! I can feel the cold air everywhere through what I’m wearing! Brrr-rrr-rrr! There’s a bit of Spring run off with the snow and there’s water running across the road in some areas. Not too bad, but I would slow down a bit. It was a bit better with slowing but here’s the dilemma do I go slower and extend the total time of riding in the cold or do I race down the canyon thereby being a colder but shorter ride? I get about half way down the canyon and find that my teeth are starting to chatter and know my fingers are there because I see them but I can’t really feel them. Did I say “Brrr-rr-rrr!”?

It’s as neared Ruth’s Diner that my teeth were really chattering. AND if I had had my debit card with me, I would’ve probably stopped in for a cup of coffee. Believe me, as it was I was half tempted to go in and beg for a cup to help thaw me out a bit. But I figured I only had four more miles to my car; so I hung in there. Brrr-rr-rrr! It was as I got to my car and unclipped from the pedals that I discovered I couldn’t feel my toes! I probably looked like a bag lady but I put on every piece of clothing I had in my car to warm up and then drove through Wendy’s drive thru ordering a bowl of chili. Awwww! That’s SO much better!

A Weekend of Biking & Ballet...

2011-04-18T15:44:00.000-07:00

My cycling buds, Diane & Kym,
during an Emigration Canyon ride last year.

It turned out to be a wonderful weekend. Though, I will admit I had my concerns as it dawned cloudy and rainy early Saturday morning. I had planned on biking 60 miles Saturday morning. I arrived early at the place where the club bike ride was supposed to start. I some how had it on my brain that the club ride started at 8:30AM but it was 9AM. Oppps! While I waited I chatted with mom on the phone. It was lightly drizzling on my windshield as I waited but the weather really cleared up shortly after we started the bike ride. My friends, Diane & Kym, barely arrived in time. In fact, we left after almost everyone else had taken off, and Diane was still shaking from Kym’s back seat driving as they were rushing to get to the ride’s starting location. They had to have the “Human GPS” (Me) out there to make sure they didn’t get lost. So I lead the way and made a couple of scenic off shoots. We ended up cutting the ride a bit short because Kym was concerned about getting home and doing some studying. I know I could’ve gone on but I wasn’t in the mood to bicycle by myself.

Later that night, I was off to the ballet. It was Ballet West’s Bolero with Sinfonietta & Chaconne and the last night of it’s showing at the Capital Theater. We arrived early to sit in on the “talk” about the ballet. The art director, himself, Adam Sklute, talked about the ballet that we would see. Normally, it’s quite often a Ballet West student that gives these talks. It was very informative and fascinating to get in sight as to what you were about to watch. It really made me appreciate the ballet all that much more. I guess they do this prior to most of the ballets, and I would recommend you take advantage of the opportunity if you go to a ballet.

The ballet started out with the Sinfonietta which was joyous dance with almost an Olympic celebration flare. The back drop was an impression of mountains disappearing into the distance and the dancers were quite often dancing and leaping with out-stretched arms; almost welcoming in the feel of patriotic exuberance.

Next was the Chaconne which was classical courtly ballet with the beautiful graceful lines and poses. I was amazed with this in the unity of the dancers. Watching almost 20 pairs of feet moving in unison was just mind boggling and amazing. I found myself captured up in the dance so much that I almost forgot to breathe.

Photo from Ballet West's website of the FABULOUS Bolero Ballet!

The third part of this ballet was the Bolero which is set to the Ravel’s pulsating beat. The curtain opened to metal coragated panels; an industrial like setting. Dancers were weaving around and behind the panels. As more of the panels disappeared to above stage area, more dancers came onto the stage. The abandon of the dance built. As all the panels disappeared the dancers weaved around each other climaxing in the pure seduction and power of the dance. Meanwhile, a huge red panel of fabric was dropping down the back center stage. The beat ended with a male dancer grabbing and holding up a female dancer within the red fabric. I was on my feet! Wow~!

A Quick Weigh In...

2011-04-15T15:53:00.000-07:00

The news this week is that I'm up 1 lb. and I can't help but think it was due to the beer & buffalo wings I had after last night's Bike & Brew ride. But I felt I kind of deserved them after biking 20 miles!?! But at the same time it's never a good thing to eat after 7:30PM at night.

A photo that I took last year while riding my bike up my favorite ride - Emigration Canyon.

It's been warmer of late and on the no-rainy days I've gotten some rides in. In fact, I've logged in almost 72 miles for this week. This last Tuesday, I managed my first Emigration Canyon ride and just barely made it to the top before it was time to turn around to beat the sunset. I felt slow and sluggish while I was climbing the canyon. I didn't even venture to look at my average speed when I arrived at the top of Little Mountain. Maybe I'll look next week -- that's if I do a little better. If the weather cooperates I'm hoping to get a 60 mile bike ride under my belt. Keep your fingers crossed!

The Popette's 78th Birthday at the Black Widow's Cafe...

2011-04-11T15:21:00.000-07:00

The Popette opening a present before every one arrives.

This last Saturday, Mary "the Popette" turned 78! We ended up having dinner together at the Black Widow's Cafe. We all found it quite amusing that us, the Black Widow's, were going to an actual business that was called the Black Widow's Cafe. I made reservations and then ordered a flour less dark chocolate torte ahead of time to serve as the birthday cake. I knew that the Popette was very fond of chocolate.

Saturday arrived with rather gloomy weather; going back and forth between rain and snow. The Popette and I arrived early at the cafe. She had requested no presents or cards from anyone but before everyone got there I had her open a gift I got her. It was a book that she had recently enjoyed at our last Sunday Barnes & Noble get together. She was all ready teasing me that I was in trouble! Oh no!

Almost everyone-- Laura, Mary the Popette, myself, and Not-So-Good; Em was taking the picture.

Enjoying her "Bubble" card with music.

We started to enjoy some coffee as everyone else started to file in. One of the owners, Kevin, came over and wished the Popette a Happy Birthday. He also pointed out the yummy chocolate torte that was made special for her displayed in the glass case. It was decorated with chocolate dipped strawberries.

As the drinks order was taken, Mary read some of her birthday cards. One had where you blew into bubbles on the inside and then it played music. Another one had an inside poster that the Popette found a bit embarrassing!

An embarrassed Popette as Laura holds the poster that was inside the card.

Finally, we were ready to start ordering. Our server stated the wonderful specials of the day and the soups that were available too. Laura ordered first and told our server the rule was no one was allowed to change their order. We all laughed as she said that it was a good thing she was ordering first! As we got half way through with ordering she was all ready trying to add something to her order. No it wasn't a change to her order but an addition. We were all cracking up and making quite the noise. The Popette told the server to just tell us to hold it down if he needed us to.

The big hit of the dinner was this delicious mulligatawny soup.

We got another round of beverages as we waited for our food to be made. The food arrived and I tell you it was pure artistry! The salads were served in cucumber wraps drizzled with dressing, and soups were served in fancy bowls. Everyone was tasting everyone else's food at the table. It was all wonderful and the absolute hit was the Muligunty soup. Poor Not-So-Good had everyone tasting it and her cup of soup was almost consumed by everyone else.

Next was the wonderful torte which the server showed us all in whole and then had individual slices served to us. We all sang Happy Birthday to the Popette after we all had our slices of the torte. There was a delicious thick layer of chocolate gnache over the torte, and the chocolate dipped strawberry was juicy. That and a cup of coffee-- I was in heaven! What a wonderful way to end a birthday meal! I would highly recommend anyone out there to visit the Black Widow's Cafe.

Not-So-Good and Em -- I had to get Em in a picture!

Weighing In & a Strange Dream...

2011-04-08T15:21:00.000-07:00

Good news to report; I’m down another pound. I was a bit worried because when I got back to civilization after yurting, I was up 2 lbs. Of course, I think a great deal of that was due to the fact I didn’t want to go to the restroom up there. There’s just something that is rather unappealing about using a smelly hole full of chemicals. Due to the snow being a sort of insulation; basically keeping the smells in. OMG! I thought I was going to lose my stomach the first time I went in. But then I started holding my breath and being quick about doing my “business”. So, another words I was holding back for two and a half days which was more than likely why I was 2 lbs. up after yurting.

But I went back on schedule of working out and watching what I eat as soon as I got back. Thus, I went added one more pound lost. I’m now down a total of 16 lbs. and have 14 more to go to my goal. I’ve really been glad of my progress and the cycling year really hasn’t even begun as of yet. I’m hoping for the weather to change soon; though today it’s been going back and forth between rain and snow.

Spring?!?!

Last night, I woke up at 3am. Not on purpose but I had the strangest dream I ever remember having. So strange in fact that it woke me up. In the dream I am answering my apartment door in modest P.J.’s and there’s this long scraggly haired woman who is dressed in a long trench coat. She immediately starts laying in to this argument of am I a “they” or a “them”? She repeats it over and over again meanwhile she starts jabbing her pointed index finger into my sternum. Then after a few minutes of that she changes it to, “Are you a “we” or are you an “us”?” She’s still jabbing her index finger into my sternum and it’s starting to hurt. During this whole time, I’m waiting for her to bring out a religious pamphlet. She then switches back to the “they” or “them” argument and still is jabbing that index finger. Finally, I’ve had enough and I yell. “Hey, Lady! BYE!” I slam the door shut! That’s when I wake up with a feeling of unease.

I tried to go to sleep a couple times after that but it was not a restful type of sleep and I woke up a couple of other times too. I finally took some Advil and manage to sleep till my alarm went off. I'm thinking it's going to be an early night tonight.

Yurting Expedition...

2011-04-05T13:24:00.000-07:00

Part of the view from yurt the first morning.

I had packed my borrowed backpack the night before. It weighed in at 35 lbs. which I thought wasn’t too bad. Bee, a friend, was planning on joining us for the yurting but then got offered a warmer and better deal of backpacking the Canyonlands back country. She had offered to go up part of the way with us and carry some of our supplies. I carpooled with her; leaving approximately 10-15 minutes before Polly and Eric said they would be ready. They were cross country skiing the way up and would probably pass me hiking on the way up; or so we all figured.

The snow gate- there's Bee and Zephyr!

About 10am, with a misting of rain I found myself hiking up the canyon. Bee helped me put on the backpack. We ended up having to jerry-rig the bottom supporting strap with a fanny pack and a bungee cord because I was a little larger around than the 28” waisted friend (Bee’s tall skinny hubby) that the backpack belonged to. There was no taking this pack off without help to put it back on.

A close up I took myself shortly after starting out.

I started out at an easy pace with my snow boots with the yakstrax attached. Check in time for the yurt was 1pm. So, there was really no rush to hike the 4.75miles up to the yurt. Within a mile, I turned to notice that Bee was no longer in sight. She had my snowshoes that I would have strapped to the outside of my pack. I only let her take those because I really wanted to go up under my own steam. Two years ago when I went yurting with this group I had really been a burden with one carrying my sleeping bag and another ending up carrying my backpack. This year I was determined not to be a burden.

Most of the snow was between 4 to 6 feet.

It was the 1.5 mile marker that I took a bit of a break. I stood and drank from my water bottle; enjoying string cheese from my fanny pack. I waited there for about 4-5 minutes figuring that it was just a matter of time before Polly, Eric, & Bee would arrive on their cross country skies. Nope, no sign and the misting rain was starting to turn sleet. I continued on.

A bit of fog combined with misty rain on the way up.

About 2/3 of the way up, I saw my last cross country skier coming down. I was then all by myself. It was really quiet and sometimes I found myself almost jumping out of my skin when a clump of snow would plop down off a nearby pine tree. ¾ of the way up, I was starting to really feel the weight of my pack. I took my mittens and tucked them under the shoulder straps to help pad a little bit. I also started counting steps; about every 25 steps I would pause for a bit. The sleet was turning to big flakes of snow.

The yurt during the second day.

The last ½ mile, I was REALLY feeling that pack and wondering where in the H – E – double hockey sticks the yurt was. I started swearing out loud and I tell you it would have embarrassed a sailor to hear me. But I figured I was alone. Though, I did have the image of a rabbit coming out and saying,” Lady! Do you mind? My little bunnies really shouldn’t be hearing this.” Not that anything like that would happen except in the movies. The swearing and the anger were helping me along. Finally, with a huge sigh the yurt came into view. I was never so happy to see a structure in my life.

Snow- woman & man that someone had made before we arrived at the yurt.

Polly geting wood for the wood stove.

Eric doing abit of reading the first night.

I took off my pack and waited. Polly and Eric had the keys to the yurt. I moved around after taking off my pack to keep warm. I shoveled a bit. The snow was coming down lightly. After almost an hour, I started walking down the road to look for Polly, Eric, & dogs. I was wondering if they had a problem and had to turn around. ¾ of a mile later, there they all were moving very slowly. I took the leash for Jack and walked along with them to the yurt.

Myself and the ever spoiled one-eyed Jack!

It ended up going between rain and snow all the first night. We could hear an owl hooting in a nearby tree for some of the night. The next morning it was beautiful! We all went out. I followed on my snowshoes and tried to keep up as they cross country skied. After a half hour, I decided to turn around. I was having a tough time keeping up and the snow was melting. There was one instance, where I stepped outside of their cross country ski track and ended up going in the snow up to my lower thigh. I turned around and went back to the yurt; where Jack cuddled up to me and I did a bit of reading.

You could hear the snow melting around the yurt, but no leaking in the yurt. It kept us nice, dry, and warm as long as the wood stove was fed. One little problem, with the melting snow was the restrooms. During the afternoon, there ended up being almost 2” of water in the women’s restroom. Later on in the early evening, we discovered the women’s restroom door was frozen shut. We all ended up using the men’s and left the door open just in case during the night.

The second night in the “wee” hours of the morning, I heard howling of coyotes. I woke up Polly and Eric to listen. One coyote sounded as though it was maybe 15 yards away from the yurt and the other answering coyote’s howl came from a distance. I thought that it was really amazing listening to them. I was also getting a kick out of Zephyr’s reaction to the howling. He seemed to have this quizzical look and would tilt his head a bit.

The beautiful sunrise the second morning!

Another beautiful morning, and the day we would be heading back to civilization. It was with a bit of disappointment that I started to repack. I left 1 hour before Polly & Eric left. Since they were skiing down it would only take them about an hour. We figured it would take me about 2 hours to hike down. So I would start out early while they did cleaning and restocked the firewood from the lean to that was behind the yurt.

One of many amazing views on the way down.

About ¼ of a mile down, my yakstrax got tied up in the shoe laces of the other snow boot. I went down; almost face planted it. I tell you it is REALLY hard to stand up when you have 35 lbs. of weight on your back. I opted to take off the yakstrax and retied the snow boots. Then I continued hiking down the canyon. About 1/3 of the way down I found a group of gals that were out hiking the day with their dogs. I hiked at a good clip and quite often said hi or answered questions about the yurt as I went down. I arrived at the bottom but couldn’t manage to take the backpack off by myself. I ended up enlisting a cyclist that was taking a break near the snow gate. I beat Polly, Eric, & the dogs by about 5 minutes.

My first sighting of civilization-- a group of ladies out for the day.

An Early End of Month Report...

2011-03-29T15:31:00.000-07:00

Since I’ll be heading out to the Netherlands of yurting tomorrow morning and getting some much needed R&R, I figured I would go ahead and do my progress report for the month of March. It’s kind of hard to think that a quarter of the year has all ready passed by. Overall, I feel good and think I’m progressing well on my entire goals for the year.

As I type this I must admit that I’m very pleased with my progress on my savings goal. I’m still ahead of my goal, and I even have managed to move more ahead of that goal. I’m almost ahead by $110. Yahoo! Little by little its adding up, and it feels good too.

This morning I weighed myself, and found that I’m down another 2 lbs. YES! Though, I tend to wonder if some of that is due to my hair appointment this last Saturday. You see, I had about 4” of hair taken off the length. Naw! Just kidding around! Yes, I did have that much taken off but hair couldn’t weigh that much could it? So anyway, that brings my total weight loss to 18 lbs. total. I seem to be still averaging 6 lbs. per month; a very good pace of losing weight.

Here’s the nitty gritty stats for the month….

6 hours 24 minutes on the Elliptical

28.33 miles running

92.25 miles cycling

2 miles swimming

And

Read 5 books (up to 14 books for year)

I’m running a little bit less but getting more miles on the bicycle as the weather allows. I’m trying to balance out the running with the cycling; which was one of my goals. I’m also trying to build up more miles on the bicycle to work towards doing a century. One of my goals is to get one century in for the year.

"100 Salt Lake City Porches, No.32"- Poured Watercolor on 9" x 11" Paper

I just finished #32 of the 100 Salt Lake City Porch paintings. This project has been moving along quite well and I seem to be on schedule to finish it up within the year so far. I also think I'm seeing some improvement in my paintings. Click here to check out the progress of the project.

Now for the uncluttering my life goal… Well, at the end of last month I moved out the defunked dryer. I then went through that closet and reorganized and cleaned it out of excess stuff. With doing my taxes I ended up going through various paperwork and receipts that I had. I cleared out quite a bit of the unneeded. Why I had the receipt for the 52” Big Screen TV that I got rid of 8 years ago? Gee, I think it was a safe bet that I didn’t need to keep that anymore. I was amazed at how many receipts that I had like that. I thinned out those files pretty well. I was actually able to get all of those, my tax papers, and other important papers to fit in my small fire safe. Cool! But you know with all of this clutter “maintenance”, I sometimes feel like I’m a gardener. There always seems to be weeds sprouting up where you least expect them. The worst thing is... I never did like gardening or yard work, and most of it was due to those darn weeds!

Weighing In & Preparing to Yurt...

2011-03-25T13:58:00.000-07:00

Good news!! I’m down!! It is another week where I’m down 2 lbs. for the week. I’m feeling good about the whole process. In fact, this puts me now at the half way mark of what I wanted to lose. I have 16 more to go. It seems quite a bit more doable than the original formidable 32 lbs. that I had original set out to do at the beginning of the year. I’m averaging about 5 to 6 lbs. weight loss in a month. Slow and steady seems to be the key.

I know that when I really start in biking season in the next month or so; the weight will just come off me as long as I watch what I’m eating. The major problem in the past has been swinging by a fast food place on the way home after a bike ride.

I’ve lately been getting ready for a yurting expedition that I’ll be going on next week. For three days and two nights I’ll be “roughing it” at a local yurt. What's a yurt you may ask? It's like a semi-permanent tent set up in the wilderness area. This yurt is a four mile hike in with a backpack containing what is needed for the entire yurt experience. The yurt is a total of 8 miles from any civilization. It rather sounds like a wonderful form of R&R vacation to me. I have a couple of friends that can't understand my wanting to do this. Their idea of "roughing it" would be staying at a Motel 8 with no room service.

Photo: 2 years ago - Me cross country skiing in the same area near where the yurt is. A BEAUTIFUL Area!

Sometimes, it’s just nice to get away from the constant hum of “civilization”. I guess you could say I’m strange that way. I often find myself thankful when the power goes out at my place. I welcome the quiet of it. I don’t think we are aware of the constant hum of electrical products going on around us. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m thankful for quite a few of those amazing and well performing products. But at the same time, I quite often like the peace and quiet that comes without all of those “things”. When I’m captured up in those quiet moments a thought comes to mind… “Are we really in charge or is it the necessity of these things that is really in charge?” Gee, maybe it’s too scary a thought to have me thinking through these philosophical thoughts?

My Art Hanging In a Gallery

2011-03-22T15:44:00.000-07:00

It was a rainy weekend and I didn't manage to get out to play on my bike. Darn it! But on the bright side, my art is hanging at a local gallery. In fact, if you get the chance you can see Number 15 of the 100 Salt Lake City Porches at the West Jordan's Schorr Gallery. The Schorr Gallery is located in the West Jordan City Hall on the third floor. The painting will be hanging up there until April 29th. Also, while you are there check out my watercolor teacher's (Colleen Reynolds) paintings. One of hers even got chosen as the best of show! Isn't that AWESOME~!

#15 of 100 Salt Lake City Porches & myself

I'm currently working on Number 30 of 100 Salt Lake City Porches, but if you would like to see the progress check out my 100 Salt Lake City Porches page. Oh, and yes, my hair looks terrible-- it's rainy and windy out!! What did you expect? But I am going into my stylist this next weekend because I AM WAY overdue. I told her that even my gray roots were starting to sprout gray weeds!

Weighing In...

2011-03-18T15:54:00.000-07:00

I would like to say that the St. Paddy's Day luck held out till this morning, and well-- IT DID! BUT it wasn't just luck that made that scale say that I was down 2 lbs. this morning. It has been all of the calorie counting and working out that has made this happen. A lot of work goes into just losing 2 lbs.!! This week alone I've run 8.10 miles on the treadmill, put in 100 minutes on the elliptical, and biked 40.25 miles. Whew! I'm tired just typing it.

May the Luck of the Irish Be With YOU!

2011-03-17T15:54:00.000-07:00

Happy St. Paddy's Day!

Photo: A swim cap for Diane & myself for a St. Paddy's Day present! Isn't this FUN!?!

Oh, may those Irish eyes be smiling down on you with loads of luck this St. Paddy's Day. I hope that my luck holds through all the way to my weekly visit to the scale tomorrow morning. Nope! No green beer for me tonight. I got the scale to face early in the morning. So please go out tonight and drink a green beer for me, will ya?

Biking & a Pound of Flesh...

2011-03-11T14:13:00.000-08:00

Good news from the scale this morning, I’m down a pound! Yep, I lost that pound of flesh! Yahoo! That brings me to 13 lbs. total weight loss. Nice! Though, I probably blew it at lunch today on the beer & sweet potato fries. Awww, but what a yummy combo it was! I’m guessing dinner better be a light fare tonight, though.

The weather has been warming up here and I’ve managed to get out a couple of bicycling lunches in the last week and a half. Yesterday, while I was out I could have almost gotten away with a short sleeve cycling jersey. It was so nice; as long as the wind was at my back. Going north, I was cruising along at 25mph barely pedaling with the wind at my back.

But, oh BOY! Turning around was a whole another story. I was glad I had the long sleeves with the wind vest. I got my workout! I down shifted to a low gear; spinning away. Then, dropped into the hoods on my handle bars and tried to make myself as small as possible. Thinking myself small and trying to be as little wind resistant as possible. Also, I was just focusing on pedaling than realizing that I was really going anywhere for all that effort.

FINALLY, I got back to the office in time to change quickly and get back to my desk. Was it worth it, you may ask. YES! But believe me, I REALLY wanted to just continue north with the wind at my back and not go back to work.

Time for New Tunes...

2011-03-07T13:30:00.000-08:00

For months—actually almost a year now, I have been listening to the same music on my little mp3 player for working out. I will admit that I have tons of variety within the music. My current play list consists of songs like: Sittin’ On The Dock of the Bay by Otis Redding, hits by Creed, the theme of America’s Most Wanted—Bad Boys, Big Love by Lindsey Buckingham, Come On Feel The Noise by Quiet Riot, Bust A Move, and the variety continues on. But even with all of this variety I’ve gotten to know what song comes next in the list and I tell you I AM in need of some changes. And yes, I realize I could put my mp3 player on random but I’ve kind of got my play list building up and then tapering off in segments to help motivate me during my workout.

So it’s time for new tunes! With that in mind I found myself wading into new waters—iTunes. Yep, I was an Apple iTunes virgin until last week. OMG! I never realized how much music is out there. I felt overwhelmed as I looked through all of the music. On top of this, my brain seems to be naturally defunked when it comes to remembering song names and music bands. My brain was almost to overload! I waded through quite a bit and it was kind of hard finding music for me to use while I work out. I wanted music that I was somewhat familiar with but upbeat enough to motivate me for getting myself moving. HELP!?!

I ended up going to a local radio website where they had a list of songs that had recently played on the radio. I started searching and listening to those possibilities first. It was a place to start to narrow down ALL of the possibilities. So I would listen to songs from the same singers/bands and then narrow those down. Or find similar groups as I came along, and before I knew it I quite a bit of time had passed. I also found I spent about $12 when I figured spending about half of that. Ooops! But I think I added some more to my variety and I saw more potentials songs to add for my next batch when needed; which I’ll try not to wait a year for.

Here’s some of what I purchased…

Ain’t No Rest for the Wicked- Cage the Elephant

Bad to the Bone- George Thorogood

Black Horse & the Cherry Tree- K.T. Tunstall

Suddenly I See- K.T. Tunstall

Higher Ground- Red Hot Chili Peppers

Panic Switch- Silversun Pickups

Ocean Avenue- Yellowcard

And just for kicks I got… Handlebars by the Flobots. I know it’s not really a workout song but I think its cool and it talks about a bicycle! How can you go wrong?

I still felt totally out of my element. I should have been wearing a tag on my forward that said “music mp3 challenged”. I thought I had it downloaded to my mp3 player. Nope! No new songs on the mp3 that first night. Then I looked up and discovered that I needed to download the mp3 player version because most of what’s on iTunes is set for an I pod. So I figured out how to do that and WOW I had new tunes!

Weighin In & Girl Scout Cookies...

2011-03-04T14:33:00.000-08:00

I’m down 12 lbs. over all. I lost 1.5 lbs. compared to last Friday. I was good for most of this week until last night when I got into those darn Girl Scout Cookies! The Berry Munch Girl Scout cookies were calling and I was not wishing thank you very much to the Girl Scouts of America! Why do they make them taste SO good and only make them available at one time in a year? It’s like double trouble for a person who is dieting. But I guess its smart marketing on their behalf.

Oh the choices they have for Girl Scout Cookies—Thin Mints, Samoas, Dulce de Lech, Trefolis, Do-Si-Dios, and Berry Munch. They stopped selling my favorites though. They used to have these cookies I think they were called Lemon Zingers. They were a lower calorie tangy lemony cookie that had a bit of powder sugar dusted on them. I LOVED those cookies! Oh, the things I wouldn’t do for a low-cal tangy lemon cookie! It would be a short list much to my Mom’s chagrin.

I remember selling those Girl Scout cookies as a young girl. One year with the help of my Dad, I sold 200 boxes. I got some kind of an award – a white t-shirt with a giraffe on the front and it stated, “Mississippi Valley Big Seller” – or something to that nature. I wore the oversized t-shirt a few times but it lacked the luster I thought that it should have had. I won the right to wear a t-shirt. A big whoopee do! The next year I just sold the bare minimum. I also always wondered why a giraffe was on a Mississippi Valley t-shirt; didn’t make much sense to me.

Needless to say, last night I felt quite guilty about eating all the rest of the box of Girl Scout cookies. I pushed myself even harder at the gym. I ran 3 miles on the treadmill and put in 40 minutes on the elliptical. When I got home my clothes were not just wet but DRENCHED! It was like I took a dive in a pool. But I will say my conscience felt a little bit better. The good news is that I only bought the one box so there are no more Girl Scout Cookies to tempt me at home. Now, if only, some of my co-workers would stop sharing them with me at work.

2 Outta 12- Monthly Update

2011-03-02T15:52:00.000-08:00

The short month of February flew by in a blink of eye, and here I am giving another monthly update as to how I’m doing on my New Year’s goals. So how am I doing two months into 2011 or should I say the .1666666666… of a year? Well, everything seems to be progressing…

I’m ahead on my saving schedule by a whopping $35. Not a big amount I will admit but every little thing helps. I think that a majority of the extra money is due to less being taken out in FICA. A small thank you to those in Congress who decided to take a little less out of my two paychecks per month. Since I haven’t seen a pay raise in almost two years, it’s kind of nice to see a little more. In fact, I asked after I got my first check wondering if my employer had actually decided to give out a small bit of a raise. Nope came the answer less being taken out of the paycheck. But it’s still nice getting a bit of a break. I filed my taxes this last week and hope to soon be putting most of what I’m getting into my savings.

As far as losing weight, it’s been feeling like an uphill battle. I keep pushing that HUGE rock up the hill but if I take a bit of a rest it seems to want to roll right on over me and back down that hill. As of yesterday morning, I’m down 12 lbs. over all. That averages out to about 6 lbs. per month loss. At that rate I’ll be down to my goal in 3.3 months time. I would be happy with that! But we’ll see how the uphill battle goes. Oh, and did I mention that I got my box of Girl Scout cookies today? It's only one box but....I'm so afaid that I'll eat the entire box in one sitting! I’ve been keeping track of my stats of working out. Here are this month’s stats…

7 hours 15 minutes on the Elliptical

37 miles running

14.1 miles cycling

3.8 miles swimming

Speaking of more stats, I’ve read 6 more books on my Nook this month. That brings me to 9 books that I’ve consumed on my Nook this year. I’m now up to 24 paintings on my 100 Salt Lake City Porches Art Project. You can view the progress of the project on this page. It’s kind of interesting looking at the different styles and techniques that I’ve used and I’ve been enjoying the project too. I hope that joy is showing up in my paintings.

Now for working on the clutter in my life—I got rid of the pile of clutter that was forming in my living room last month. While I was taking that pile to the D.I. (Deseret Industries- an LDS goodwill here in Utah), I also decided to take the old sewing machine that’s been sitting untouched for over 2 years. In the last couple of weeks as I was preparing to do my taxes, I’ve found myself getting rid of extra paperwork. Then, I also started in on a pile of old magazines. Why was I keeping them? Some for recipes or interesting articles but most of them just sat collecting dust. I tore out some pages here and there and the rest went to the recycle pile.

This next Saturday, I’m finally saying good bye to the unrepairable dryer that hasn’t worked properly for a year. It’s being taken by a fellow renter who is down on his luck with this economy He’s taking it to be recycled at a local parts store. I told him I would pay him $10 to move it out and then he could also collect what they pay him for the dryer. I’m happy just to help some one out, have the dryer out of my place, and its being recycled too. Kudos! I’m thinking I may work some more this month on the hall closet. Little by little by little, I’m getting the clutter out of my life.

A Snowshoe & Me Wearing Pink...

2011-02-28T20:50:00.000-08:00

Myself and Diane with the beautiful view of Millcreek Canyon.

Yes, here I am in PINK; believe it or not! I will admit that I'm not a "pink" type of gal. In fact, I often go out of my way NOT to wear the color. I just in general see the color pink as a "prissy girlie" type of color; which is not something that I classify myself as.

Ollie, the "Super Dog"! He's such a cutie!

Recently, I received a vest from my bicycle club as a "thank you" for assisting my friend Diane in the position of volunteer coordinator for the Little Red Riding Hood Bike Ride. Would you know it! It's a dusty pink! Diane picked it up for me. She texted me right away and warned me that I got a pink vest. She was so sure that I would be donating it or trying to sell it on eBay. But I decided to tolerate the color because it was such a nice vest and it did after all come free. And thus, I took the vest for a trial run during a snowshoe this last Sunday.

Penny looking cool in her shades!

Sunday morning was a gourgeous day to be out enjoying some snowshoeing. It snowed Saturday and there was a nice new layer of snow. Diane, Penny, myself, and the "Super" dog; Ollie went on the Overlook Trial up Millcreek Canyon. Ollie is Diane's new puppy and he was having a ball running around in the fresh powder.

Penny and Diane with a wonderful view of the canyon!

Feeling Fat Friday...

2011-02-25T16:04:00.000-08:00

It was with a huge amount of trepidation that I approached the scale this morning for my weekly weigh in. I was feeling fat! You see I know I wasn’t good this week at all. I basically took Sunday and Monday off from being aware of what I was eating. I completely ate what I felt like and what I wanted with no regard for consequences. Oh boy!

Tuesday came and I watched what I ate but still went over my allotted calories for the day. But that night I purposely worked out harder at the gym. I ran 3.1miles on the treadmill and did 25 minutes on the elliptical machine. The sweat was just pouring off me towards the end of the workout.

Then, Wednesday arrived and I had a left over white chocolate macadamia nut cookie that one of my co-workers left in the lunch room. Then for dinner, I ate at a restaurant near where my watercolor painting class takes place. I ate half a sandwich, a cup of my favorite Fire Roasted Tomato soup, and a cookie at Paradise Bakery & Café. It doesn’t sound like a bad meal but the half sandwich was the Chicken Walnut Salad which comes on honey wheat bread and I should not have had the oatmeal raisin cookie (which of course, comes for free with the half sandwich & cup of soup combo). Course, I guess it’s better than fries. I did not have time to work out that night.

The french fries came on Thursday. I had with a burger and beer yesterday when I went for lunch with a co-worker. Talk about calories galore! BUT I will say I worked extra hard at the gym last night. I ran 2.6 miles and then did 35 minutes on the elliptical, hoping to make up for some of what I ate for lunch that day.

So, that was the state I was in as I stepped on to the scale this morning. I was terribly worried and I must admit that I was feeling fat because I knew I hadn’t been good during the week. When I got on the scale, it wavered between the same weight as last week and being one more pound up. It bounced between the two numbers. It's neon red light not wanting to choose either one. So, I’m figuring that I’m up half a pound more overall. This wasn’t as bad as I thought. But I did swing by the grocery store on the way into work and picked up my planned meals/snacks for today. I avoided the Friday donuts that were brought into work, and stuck to the plan. Now, to stay back on the plan and start working on losing the rest of these 21.5 lbs.

Friday Weighing In...

2011-02-18T16:05:00.000-08:00

Here's a photo of the cute planter I got my Mom for Valentine's Day!
I thought it would make a nice pal for her cat Buddy!
I got it from http://www.gardenfun.com/

This week I’m up 1 lb. It was a tough week to be good. I had the 5th Annual Black Widows Valentine’s Dinner on Saturday where I tried to plan a very nice dinner that was some what lower in calories in certain aspects. I imagine that the gals were getting tired of me saying I was using low sugar this or low fat that in each item for dinner. I tried to keep the calories down but still manage enough flavor for all to enjoy and I hope that I did.

Then last night, I had a craving for something dry and somewhat salty. I ended up having a late snack of ½ cup of plain dry Grapenut cereal. Don’t ask me why… I sometimes at night eat strange stuff. I imagine that the Grapenuts is still sitting retaining water in my guts somewhere. Maybe that’s the 1 lb. right there?

Speaking of water retention…another thing that was going on this week—well, it was Aunt Ruby’s monthly visit (To put it nicely). I was SO bloated most of the week that I really avoided the scale and I had concerns that I would gain more this week. 1 lb. – I don’t consider it that bad and I’ll try to be better this next week.

5th Annual Black Widows Valentine's Day Dinner...

2011-02-14T15:57:00.000-08:00

The Widow's-- Laura, Madame Mary, Mrs. Goodbar, and Mrs. Vader.

Happy Valentine's Day! This used to be the one commercial holiday that I used to hate. But each year with the Black Widows Valentine's Dinner Party; it seems that this holiday gets better and better every year. For those of you who wonder about this whole event, let me explain it in a small nutshell. It's an annual Valentine's dinner party in which some of myself and some single girlfriends get together, dress up like widows, and make up stories & obits about pretend deceased husbands.What FUN we had this last Saturday night. It always amazes me what all of the gals come up with for this night.

Here’s Laura explaining a Ferris Wheel accident in which her deceased husband Sky went disappearing off into the great blue yonder sky.

Madame Mary showing us ballet position #1 while talking about her talented former hubby.

Next, was Madame Mary trying to recruit some ladies into her household. She explained how her late hubby who was a very talented Giant Short Faced Kangaroo perished doing the loop de loops through hoops while on fire at a circus entertainment.

Mrs. GOODBAR talked of her SNICKERS.

Then, the Ever Humble Mrs. GOODBAR told her story of her NUTRAGEOUS-ly funny Hubby with the first name SNICKERS who inherited 100 GRAND from BABE RUTH and disappeared to HERSHEY Pennsylvania for another woman’s HUG & Kisses. She wished him dead!

Mrs. Darth Vader telling her saga.

Mrs. Em Vader talked about her former hubby Darth and showed us with a whirling flash light his story. She quite often would break into that deep husky voice. But she has switched over because she revealed to us that now she’s dating Yoda. This really shocked quite a few of this.

Mrs. Vader wearing the photo badge of her new boyfriend. SHOCKING!

Mrs. Mad Hatter at front left.

Then, there was myself, Mrs. Mad Hatter who was out for a short evening pass from the Prison of “It’s a Small, Small World” situated in Disneyland. I had been quickly accused by the Red Queen of murdering the Mad Hatter and “THEE” Alice; but no one would believe me that when I told them that it had been the Jabberwocky. The Cheshire Cat had conspired with the Red Queen and I was given the choice of “Off with my head” or “Off with me”….and thus, I’m going MAD while serving time in “It’s a Small, Small World” Prison.

Weighing In & Weekend Fun!

2011-02-11T21:18:00.000-08:00

Snow hiking fun this last Sunday!

I almost forgot to write about my weekly weigh in but I'll make it short. I took the day off from work to prepare for the 5th Annual Black Widow's Dinner Party that will take place tomorrow night. I'm sure I'll write about that here soon. It's been a good week and I must have been a very good girl because I'm done 4 lbs. Yep! I lost the 2 lbs. that I gained last week and an additional 2 lbs. I'm down a total of 11 lbs. and am happy. Yahoo! My goal weight is still another 21 lbs. away but I seem to be progressing along. I've been running on the treadmill, working out on the elliptical, and I even managed to get in a 14 mile bike ride in last Sunday when the weather was so nice. I was half tempted to go for another bike ride today but I had too much to get done.

This weekend should be a fun packed one. Tomorrow morning I have my weekly swim with Diane and I finally get to break in a new swimsuit. Yes! Then tomorrow night is the 5th Annual Black Widow's Dinner Party, and then Sunday is tubing at Soldier Hollow. What fun! Well, I hope to write more here soon!

Enough to Turn You Off Breakfast...

2011-02-08T10:20:00.000-08:00

Or How Many Jars of Peanut Butter Does 1 Person Need?

I’m one of four women that work in office full of men; most of whom have Mechanical Engineering degrees. They are brilliant men but a few of them have their “quirks”. One of them has a "quirk" of some very interesting food choices.

Each morning, I watch this male co-worker put together a breakfast that makes my stomach want to gag. This breakfast consists of oatmeal (or granola) combined with frozen berries, nonfat sugar-free vanilla ice cream, and egg beaters. He mixes and stirs all these ingredients in a bowl. Then pops the bowl in the microwave until the egg beaters is of scrambled egg consistency. My stomach turns as he takes it out because it rather reminds me of a chicken egg experiment gone bad. But I guess the good thing of this experience is that it suppresses my appetite for breakfast most mornings. Of course, it probably doesn't help that I've never been too fond of eggs to begin with.

Peanut butter seems to be the other food thing he’s been doing lately. He’s been on this organic peanut butter kick. The company kitchen now has four jars of organic peanut butter sitting on top of the refrigerator; one of which is organic Almond butter. Four jars?! How many jars of peanut butter does one person need? I was teasing another co-worker that there was a potential meeting for peanut butter anonymous group. “Hello! I’m a peanut butter junkie!”

Oh, and did I mention that he has a jar rotation process for the Almond butter. Every other day the jar is upside down on its lid. I guess this is to help with the oils circulating in the jar to help maintain the Almond butter correct consistency; a bit anal if you ask me.

He’s mostly been putting this peanut butter on celery stalks. I call them stalks because he doesn’t cut the celery into short pieces. He just tears a couple stalks off the bunch of celery. The other day he was putting the Almond butter on to a celery stalk and it wasn’t pretty. To me it looked like diarrhea on stalk. EWwwwh! Be still my stomach! Gee, I might be swearing off breakfast and peanut butter.