Catching Up, Checking In, & Etc...

It’s been about three weeks since I’ve been on here.  Life gets busy and I have dropped the ball on my postings here.  There’s been a great deal going on.  I’ve been trying to get more cycling in for preparing for RAGBRAI that I will be going back to Iowa for in less than 15 days.  I just got a suggested list of what to bring today and need to start doing a prelim packing.  This is the first time I’ve ever done anything like this and I’m still not sure what to expect. 

I’ve also had a bit of a “maintenance” issue with my apartment and had a weekend that I stayed in a hotel.  Thank goodness the Utah Arts Festival was going on and I just made a mini vacation weekend of it.  I’ve still managed to do a bit of painting.  I’m currently trying to do a bit of catching up with a couple of commissioned pieces. 

Then, more recently they’ve done some changes of job responsibilities at my work.  I’ve been doing some training and just haven’t had the time that I normally would have to jump on here and upload a post.  They’ve referred to my new job responsibilities as a job “promotion” but at the same amount of pay.  But they did say that they would re-evaluate in 4 months.  Hmmm…. Not sure how that works and not too sure if I’m really happy about the whole thing.  But I’m playing along for now.  I’m rather in a wait-n-see mode.

 Checking In…

AND since this is a Friday, I’ll do a quick check up and a late end of month report.  As far as weighing in, I’m at still needing to lose 8 lbs. to my goal.  It seems to be a constant now without even trying.  I was rather hoping that with doing more cycling that my weight would have dropped down but I will admit that I’m probably eating more because I’m cycling more—so I guess you could say it’s a bit of a vicious circle in that sense.  Darn it!

Month End…

1)      Saving Money—Did very well this last month with this one.  I managed to save 3o% more than what I had planned for the month.  Most of that was thanks to the art booth I had up at the Little Red Riding Hood Bike ride at the beginning of the month.  I’m hoping to be able to put some more in savings this month with catching up with some commissions.

2)      Uncluttering My Life—Well, the “maintenance” issue in my apartment helped me out HUGELY with this goal this last month.  It forced me to go through some closet areas and other things. But I had already also donated quite a bit of stuff to a local Boy Scout troop for a HUGE Yard Sale they had in Mid-June.  Between those two events, I’ve managed to cut back on quite a bit of the items I don’t need and don’t use.  Amazing sometimes what we decide to hold on to.

3)      Cutting Down on Eating Out—Not good this month either!  There wasn’t enough time to cook at home between the cycling and the “maintenance” issue.  So drive thru’s became some what of the norm for my dinner meals, I will admit.

STATS For June…

383 miles Cycling

13.5 miles Running

47 mintues on the elliptical

And I’m now up to

28 Books read for the year!

(I think 60 books is attainable!)

Bummer, Upper & Happy Father's Day!

I was a bit down before I stepped on the scale this morning.  I just got home from the mornings Jump Board Pilates class and discovered it would be the last class that sweet Laura would be teaching.  She’s decided to do some changing around in her life and won’t be teaching the early morning pilates classes.  Bummer!  I’m going to miss her sweet encouraging presence on my early Friday mornings.  But I wish her well; especially today and tomorrow during the Ragnar where she’ll be running 17 miles as part of a team.  Good Luck Girl!  She’s just amazing!

Photo: "Basketted Purple Bike"; Watercolor on 5" x 7" Paper
A Painting by me that was recently sold to a fellow cyclist.

But I felt quite a bit better when I got on the scale and found I was down 2 to 3 lbs. compared to last week.  Yep, the scale was tittering between two numbers.  Flashing back and forth with those red lights and trying to decide but I was happy to see the change!  YES!! Now THAT's an Upper!  I'm going in the right direction!  I’m now between 5 to 6 more pounds to lose till my goal weight.  It would be REAL nice if I could be down those 5 to 6 by the time I go back to Iowa for RAGBRAI bike ride (July 22-28); but we shall see or shall I say—time will tell.

I did however improve my stats in working out this last week...

114 miles cycling

5.1 miles running

35 minutes on the elliptical

And  

1 Jump Board Pilates class

I want to wish a Happy Father's Day to all of you Father's out there.  Go enjoy the day and go do something fun! Be it some fishing, cycling, or some other manly pursuits!  Have FUN!

A Quick Friday Check In...



"Tulips Along for the Ride"; A Watercolor
on 11" x 14" Paper
that I painted a couple weeks ago.

I need to get back at it! 

So here goes… I was NOT at all happy with the scale this morning.  Of course, I had no one to blame but myself. 

That Darn scale, it was reading that I was up 2 lbs. from when I weighed in two weeks ago.  I will admit that I was terribly sidetracked with getting everything ready for the Little Red art booth and this last week I was on my bike a little but nothing near what I had been doing.  I got a total of 54 miles on the bike and THAT was it other than one Pilates jump board class.  I didn’t go for any runs and I didn’t log in any time on the elliptical machine.  It was a pretty pathetic week for me overall.  Well, it’s time for me to get back at!  I need to get more exercising in and back to watching what I eat.  I need to be good for a change-- Oh Boy!  Is that possible?  Hmmmm....  So by next Friday’s check in I SHOULD have good news to share.  I hope!

A Shake for Dinner...

So yesterday, I made a very expensive visit to the dentist office.  Almost a couple of weeks ago, I had an old cavity filling break.  I went in shortly after that and had them file down the rough spots. 

"Your Chariot Awaits";
Watercolor on 10" x 14" paper that I
painted last week.

This last Sunday night the old cavity filling broke off some more.  I couldn’t hold it off any longer; try as I might for next year’s dental starts on June 1^st.  So I called in the morning and managed to get in during the afternoon on Monday.  I skipped my lunch and went straight to the dentist instead.

 Almost 2 hours later, I come out with almost my entire right side of my face numb and starving for a lunch.  Did I mention that they have to use something stronger than Novocain?  Yeah, Novocain doesn’t work but a half hour on me and that’s if the dentist is lucky.  I swing by a fast food place and get some chicken wraps figuring they would be soft and easy to eat on one side of my mouth.  I try to eat at my desk when I get back to work.  I say “try” because I couldn’t feel my entire bottom lip at all.  Next thing, I discover is that I’ve bitten my lower lip and it’s bleeding.  What’s really sad is that a co-worker had to point it out to me.  I was rather oblivious and felt like I was walking around in a stupor.

Another two hours later, I still can’t talk right and another co-worker is answering phones in stead of me.  It’s time to go home and still half of my face is numb.  I swing by my last Spanish class and tell the teacher that tonight isn’t a good idea about practicing speaking Spanish.  After all, I’m struggling with just speaking understandable English. 

So I head home instead but I’m still starving because I could barely manage one chicken wrap.  Then it hits me!  Ice cream!  I can have a shake for dinner and I won’t bit my lips or the inside of my cheek.  Great!  So I swing by and get a peanut butter cup shake for dinner.  Hey!  Peanut butter has protein in it, right?  That’s kind of healthy but well, maybe not SO good for the diet... Oh, well!

A Quick Friday Check In....

With a great deal going on with a bike art show (the GalleryRoll) going on tonight, I thought I would just do a quick check in here.  After surviving another Jump Board Pilates class this morning.  That Laura is one sweet talking sadistic chick but she’s whipping me into shape.  Thanks girl!  I got on the scale this morning and happily discovered I’m down another pound.  Yahoo!  Now I’ve got 6 lbs. to go until my goal weight.  I’m getting closer and that certainly feels good.

STATS this week…

119 miles cycling

2 miles running

12 minutes on elliptical

&

one 55 minute Pilates class!

And check this out....

Yep!  I'm wearing "PINK".  Did I ever tell you that I have "pink" issues?  I don't consider myself a pink girlie girl.  But the sandals were on sale and they are comfortable and they go with the outfit that I'm wearing tonight.  So for the night, I think I can manage to put my "pink" issues aside for at least a few hours.

"Official" Climb Start? & Checking In...

This week on the Emigration Canyon climb a funny story occurred to a new riding friend.  I had caught up with her about ½ through the canyon after making sure all of the riders of into the canyon, and she told me this story…

 About 2 miles into climbing the canyon this guy pulls up along side her on a bike and asked her where the climb starts.  She says that it depends on where you start from but she tells him she’s been climbing since she left Sugarhouse Park where the BCC ride started.  No, he says where does the “official” climb begin?  She said he was saying it with a totally straight face when I asked if he was pulling her leg. She said he was totally serious and he didn’t seem happy with her answers.  We kind of laughed about it as we climbed the rest of the canyon.

"Petals on Petals"; Watercolor on 10" x 10" Paper that I painted this last week. 
You can see more of my bike artwork click here.

 At the top of the canyon, she pointed out which guy it was.  I guess he was running a bit late to join us to start from Sugarhouse and he was visiting from back east; at least that was what I overheard as he talked to another club member at the top where the riders regroup before going down.

It was about ½ mile down as we were heading out of the canyon that I pulled up next to her and while coasting along I said,” Excuse me but where does the “official” downhill start?  Are we there yet?”  We were laughing most of the way down the canyon.

It was later after the ride as a group of us were talking with this guy us, that I found out he was visiting for a library convention for the week.  The first day he arrived with his nice bike in tow, he had climbed Big Cottonwood and Little Cottonwood Canyons.  Those 2 canyons, one of which has been compared similar to a section Tour de France’s climbing, are serious climbs.  AND he did both in of those in one day!?!!  After a day like that of climbing, Emigration Canyon probably seems like a hiccup.  No wonder he was wondering when the “official” climb was starting!

But now the joke between my friend and myself is… where’s the official climb start.  She says that some mornings that just getting out of bed!

Checking in…

Good news, I am down another pound!  Yahoo!  I FEEELLLL GOOOD!  I now have 7 lbs. to go till my goal weight, and I’m feeling pretty good as I'm sure you've gathered.  I did do a great deal of activities for the week and here are my stats for the week…

105 miles cycling

5.10 miles running

36 minutes on the elliptical

And 1 class of Jump board Pilates!

 Yep, I’m back to the pilates and boy am I feeling it in the abs this afternoon!  Thank you Laura!  The fabulous pilates teacher that teaches the Jump Board Pilates Class early on Friday mornings.  The pilates place had a summer special and I thought it might help to get a more full body workout to help me along.  So I bought a group special of 10 and that should take me into July just before I leave for RAGBRAI.

Cinco de Mayo, Merchandise & Checking in

Happy Cinco de Mayo!  
Yep, that’s tomorrow.  I had a co-worker wish it to me as she was leaving the office.  She asked if I had any plans and I said,” Yeah!  Hopefully not slaughtering the Spanish language!”  I’m still struggling with the speaking part of Spanish.  I keep on trying to break that habit of using the French vowels.  Last Saturday afternoon, shortly after running with the bulls (see prior blog entry) I took an hour and half and just practiced speaking.  I got these two different CD with books from the library and went over the first few lessons repeating over and over and over again the words out loud till I actually kind of sounded like the voice speaking the language correctly.  This last Monday, the teacher did comment that I did sound better; like I was starting to catch on.  So this Cinco de Mayo, I may be working on practicing via CD’s on my laptop some more.

Example of "Allgood Amish Triangle" T-shirt
available at Zazzle.

Example of "Cycle of Red, Yellow & Tyedyed"
T-shirt available through Zazzle.

I got into RAGBRAI, this I found out on the first of May.  Between that and getting ready for a bike art booth of my artwork for Little Red Riding Hood, I’ve managed to get more things/ideas lined up for doing a little merchandising of my own art work.  I’ve set up t-shirts, key chains, and a messenger bag on the Zazzle website; at my store called AllgoodArt.  There's a couple of the t-shirts available above but click here to visit and see more.  Only had my store up a couple of days and I've already sold one shirt.  Cool!   I even sent out some emails to friends and people that have purchased my art and suggested some of these items would make a great Mother's Day gifts. 

Example of a Two-Tone Tote Bag I ordered some of.

I’ve also gone on to various other sites and designed/ordered various items such as; totes, bumper stickers, and magnets.  I’m hoping that by doing all of this I’ll be able to recoup some of the fees and other costs involved in RAGBRAI.  But worse, come to worse, I figure I can always see about peddling some of these items during RAGBRAI.  Why not a double opportunity of selling bike artwork to bicyclists?  It sounds like a win-win situation to me.

Checking In…

The Good News is…I was at the same weight this morning as last Friday morning.  I guess I’m okay with that; I would much rather have it the same than showing that it’s gone up.  I think I did pretty well and I logged in some good workout stats during the week- such as; 7.5 miles running, 87 miles cycling, and 13 minutes on the elliptical machine. 

More good news is…I’ve noticed that the usual Friday morning donuts; didn’t look as appealing as they usually do.  This morning, I cut the apple fritter in half and took it with coffee back to my desk.  I nursed the apple fritter along for a couple of hours and was tempted to throw the last bit away.  Sugar is losing its appeal which is always a good thing.  Now if I can just work on those late night munchies I think I would have it made.

Down Again & A Fairy Tale in Reverse...

My bathroom scale was being a friend again this morning.  I stumbled on to it hoping but not hoping; but not sure what to expect.  I tried to clear my blurry morning eyes a couple of times before I was sure of what I was seeing.  Yeah!  I was down two more pounds!  Wow; what a way to start off the morning. 

I promptly went in my closet and tried on those size 12 Calvin Klein jeans that I could just barely squeeze into.  They fit!  I was VERY tempted to wear them today but its “Homeless” Friday.  (Yes, the ultimate version of the casual Friday has been down graded at my work.  We now call it – Homeless Friday’s!)  So instead of wearing the dressy beige Calvin Klein’s, I grabbed a comfortable pair of holey jeans to pair with layer t-shirts.  I’ll save the Calvin Klein’s for Monday.

I had quite the stats for this week when it came to working out but then I did do a century this last Saturday.  But here are my stats—151 miles cycling and 4.6 miles running.  I’m going to try to continue this working out and eating plan; in hopes that I’ll continue to lose.

Now for the fairy tale in reverse? 

My mom has been playing with the idea of renaming her cat from Porsche to Pumpkin.  She has her reasons; besides, the variety of spellings possible for the car.  One of which is that she says she’s always calling her cat Pumpkin anyway.  I rather found it a bit funny at first when she mentioned it because it really struck me like a Cinderella story in reverse.  Yeah, can you imagine going from a Porsche to a Pumpkin? 

But I guess it’s a good thing it’s not a dog.  Because changing names on a dog would confuse the heck out of dog.  Come here Spike!  Come here Squirt!  Or whatever!  At least you don’t have to worry about a cat coming when you call.  Most of the time they just look at you like they are saying “I’ll come when I damn well feel like it.  So hold your horses, will ya?”

Well, this week Porsche/Pumpkin or Ms. Orange Porsche is recovering from having her back claws removed.  Mom thought she better get it done understandably to save on the new living room furniture.  Mom was lucky enough to have sometime off to stay home with Ms. Orange Porsche--- You know, I rather am liking this possible new name.  What do you think, Mom?

A Check In with Progress!

My temperamental scale was quite a bit more agreeable this morning when I got on but it could have been concerned for it's life being shortened too.  I was very pleasantly pleased to find out I was down 4 lbs.  Yahoo!  It's always nice to see progress.  10 more to go for my goal weight.  Yahoo!  Sorry, I may be going a bit overboard on the "yahoo's" but all my efforts are finally paying off and that's always nice to have happen.  Maybe I'll treat the scale to a new battery; maybe...

This last week, I've really started paying attention to food portions and have purposely been putting my food on smaller plates to make them appear larger than they really are.  A bit of a mind game with myself but it seems to work.  I will admit that I've been visiting the fast food places STILL.  It's not good of me but I will say that I've been avoiding ordering combo meals and ordering from the sides menu.  I've been ordering items such as the side salads and wraps.  But I will say I have fallen in love with McDonald's Real Berry Blends!  OMG!  I love the taste and they seem to be so filling.  I haven't checked the calorie or health contents on-line and I'm a bit afraid to because I'm not quite ready to give them up.  I treat it as a yummy whole lunch meal replacement.

My exercise had a little more variety this week.  I managed to get in some running and time on the elliptical machine too; not just the bike. 

My stats this week..

4.6 miles running

15 minutes on the elliptical

96 miles on the bicycle  

I'm planning on riding my first and only century on the bike tomorrow.  I just hope it's not too windy on this ride.  It's a relatively flat century (as flat as you can get in Utah) from Centerville, UT up to the Willard Bay Recreational area.  I did this same century about 5 years ago in my record time of 5 hours and 35 minutes.  But tomorrow, I'm not planning on doing it THAT fast.  I'm hoping to do it a little slower and come in under 7.5 hours.  I'll report on how it goes next week.  Till then keep your fingers crossed!

Happy Friday the 13th & Checking In...

I’ve managed to make it alive and unscathed so far through this Friday the 13^th, even though I forgot to wear black.  I haven’t noticed any black cats walking cross my path but it’s just barely after lunch and I still have a good part of the day in front of me.  Knock on wood!  Which does pressed wood office furniture counts as wood?  Maybe I should be knocking on the door frames?  I think they might be real wood.  But then again, I just might be S.O.L.!  I’m not superstitious as I’m sure you have surmised. In fact, I’ve always found the whole idea rather amusing.

"Blue Bike on the Grid"; Original Watercolor I did on 5" x 7" Paper. 

The weigh in didn’t go well this morning.  I’m now up another pound.  I now have 14 lbs. to lose before I reach my goal weight.  It hasn’t been a good week.  It’s been raining the last three days off and on just enough not to allow me out on the bike.  I’ll also admit that I’ve been having a tough time getting my behind early out of bed to catch a run in the mornings too.  On top of it all and probably the most contributing factor to my weight gain is because it’s that darn female bloated feeling ugly time of the month.  I usually am up at least 3 lbs. when that happens.  So, I’m hoping that might mean I’ll be 2 lbs. down by next Friday.  Well, one could rationalize that way at least; right?

The only Stats I have this week are on my bike.  I logged in 92 miles in from Saturday morning through to Tuesday night.  No time logged in running or on the elliptical machine or anything else this week.  Though, I will admit that logging in that many miles on the bike in 4 days is pretty good.  But I want to see about getting some time in running at the very least this weekend; probably on Saturday on the “dread-mill” because they are forecasting some more rain.  Seems like it’s been sunny the most while I’m sitting here at my desk at work; it’s like the weather Gods are teasing me! Or, maybe they are tempting me to play hookey from work? 

Two Shakes, Checking In, & Happy Easter…

This last Wednesday for lunch I ran through the Taco Bell drive thru (Yes, I admit that it was VERY BAD of me.)  But it was so nice that I took my scandalous fast food of tacos lunch to a local park to enjoy the beautiful day.  As I was on my way to the park I’m driving through a residential neighborhood where I observe this…

There are two older men standing in the driveway area and a younger man on the opposite side of the front yard mowing the grass.  One of the older men, in well worn blue jeans and a polo shirt that has seen better days, is signaling the younger man.  The young man stops pushing the lawn mower with the motor still running loudly.  The young man throws out his arms and makes an exaggerated safe base motion like an umpire.  Then he turns sideways and points to his behind while he overstated-ly wiggled his hips side to side twice.  I almost ran off the road.  It caught me off guard so much and I just found it too funny.  I’m not to sure of the correct whole translation of the sign and body language but I got the two shakes!

 

Now for the weekly checking in…

Well, as you might have guessed by the above story I wasn’t good for the week when it came to eating.  Between that and the weather rainy or too cold (did I mention that it was snowing this morning?) this week, I didn’t manage to get as much exercising as I should have ideally for the week.  Here are my stats for the week…

46 miles cycling

3.95 miles running

13 minutes on the elliptical

Oh, and did I mention that the scale finally made a decision this morning and I was not happy with it.  Not that I think the blasted thing cares on way or the other, BUT it decided that I’m 13 lbs. to my goal weight.  Argh!  So I’m hoping for more good weather this next week and a better focus on trying to eat better.  And I would like to wish everyone a Happy Easter Weekend!

"Potted & Rocked Discoveries"; an original watercolor I did on 9" x 12" Paper.
You can see more of my watercolors on my art blog here.

Checking In!

Here's a quick Friday Check In Report...

The scale was telling me the same thing as last Friday morning.  Unfortunately, bribery doesn't work on it.  So it is still sitting there trying to decide to tell me if it is 13 or 12 lbs. to go till my goal weight.  But I will admit that it probably didn't help that I went out for dinner and drinks last night with a friend.  Note to self-- Not a good idea to go out the night before a weighing in.  Oooppps!  Live and learn!  Darn it and I had such good stats for the week!  Check these out...

96.5 miles cycling

4.5 miles running

20 min. on elliptical

Well, I'll keep working and hope for better results next week.

Friday - Check In Report!

This morning I got on the scale and found I was teetering between 12 and 13 lbs. to go to my goal.  I wasn't surprised by the 13 more to go because that's what I was a couple of days ago.  But it was nice to see the scale trying to decide what to tell me; the blasted insensitive, indecisive piece of work that it is.  AND it seems to be going in the right direction but time will tell. 

I will say that I've been working for it and in the last week I've really added some stats together in the workout department.  Check these out....

10.2 miles running

28 miles cycling

45 minutes on elliptical

I did do a bit more running because the weather this last weekend was very windy and not conducive to cycling.  There were gusts up to 70mph and I can't imagine staying up right on a bike in that situation.  So instead on Saturday afternoon, I found myself testing my new running shoes on the treadmill at the gym.  So far, so good; I managed to run a little over 5.25 miles in one shot and no blisters or soreness.  In fact, the new running shoes feel lighter than air while I was running. If I do say that is a very nice feeling.

My cycling buds- Lynda & Diane a couple of weekends ago on a ride.

I also managed to commute into work on the bike twice this week.  Nice!  This weekend looks like the weather is going to be good and I hope to get about 70+ miles on the bike.  I'm thinking if this nice weather continues that I may get bike rides in the evenings and see about going to a local park for some early morning runs.  That would be a definite boost to reaching that weight goal.  That's IF i can get my sorry a$$ out of bed early in the mornings.  Since I've stopped going to those early morning Pilates classes, I've been sleeping in.  Always something to work on, I guess.  Well, that's the Friday Check In Report!  Have a wonderful weekend!

Like A Groundhog Finally Coming Out!

I will admit that I haven’t been blogging as much of late.   There have been a few reasons and I almost feel like I’m the ground hog coming up out my hole now.  To be truthful one of the foremost reason was that I had gained a bit of weight and I was rather embarrassed about the whole thing.  I was only up by about 4-5 lbs. at the most but I had just such high hopes for this year to finally reach my goal weight.  Well, I think I got the horse in front of the cart a bit and I’ve since looked at things to rectify the situation.  Mainly, I’ve started watching what I eat and trying to select lower calorie healthy choices.  Also, what I know has helped to take off few extra lbs., is that the warmer weather has hit here and I’m out biking more.

One of my favorite cartoon characters but I've felt like I've been in a bit of rut like them!

Other reasons that I have not been blogging as much, is that I was out with the flu for a few days and you know, sometimes I don’t have any real material to share.  Life sometimes is in a bit of a rut or a bit of a holding pattern.  Or, I could just say—“Life has been on auto-pilot for a bit and my brain took a bit of a retreat.”  I think that happens to all of us at sometimes.  So, here I am coming out of my hibernation; like a ground hog and WOW!  It’s Spring time!  It sounds silly I know.

It’s like I woke up and I discovered I CAN grow fingernails.  I’ve had the longest polished fingernails that I have ever had in my life!  Go figure it takes me almost 45 years to do this!  It’s like I finally learned not to bite my nails like my mom’s been telling me all those years.  Kind of funny when you think about it; I guess in some regards I AM a very slow learner.

I’ve lost those 4-5 lbs. and am now down to the point where I’m back to needing to lose those same darn 13 lbs. to get to my goal weight.  I think it’s possible for me to get there IF I focus on doing it.  The problem sometimes arises that life gets in the way but I’m going to try and to do that I want to start by getting on board here and doing a weekly check in’s.  I’ll do a weekly weigh in and report as to how I’m doing.  I find that it helps to keep me on track and focused too.  So, until I get down to my weight goal, I’ll be checking in weekly and it’s going to start tomorrow.  Every Friday, I’ll be checking in with a report to keep me accountable for what I’m doing.

So, I’ll stop my ramblings here and I’ll check in with you tomorrow! Ciao!

Refocusing & Resolutions…

It seems as of late that I’ve been getting side tracked with holidays and thoughts meanwhile my New Years Resolutions have gotten lost in the mix.  So last night as I recovering from noodle legs (a result of running 2.75 miles on treadmill then doing 30 minutes on the elliptical machine), I started to look over my New Years Resolutions that I had finally came up with at the beginning of Feb.  And here’s what I came up with…

"Breaking Dawn"; Poured Watercolor on 9" x 12" Paper that I did last week.

1)      Save More Money- I’m doing really well on this one.  In fact, thanks to getting back a tax refund that I opted to put part of in savings I’m ahead of the game by almost $200.  Yahoo!

2)      Unclutter My Life- Well, this one I really have not been working on.  I was hoping that by putting it closer to the top of the list that I would be better about it.  Nope!  That is not the case.  However, I have started a small pile for the Good Will.  I just really need to get on this one more.  Who knows?  Maybe this weekend I will try to work on a closet and go through boxes and what not that are just collecting dust.

3)      Learn Spanish- I have found a local community education program that offers a Beginning Spanish class on Monday nights which will fit in nicely with my schedule.  The registration opens up on March 12 and the class begins on the 19^th if there is room available.  I hope there will be.

4)      Reach My Goal Weight- Can you say… “Ouch! OUCH! And Ouch!”  I’m up to needing to lose 14 lbs. instead of the 12 lbs. that I had at the beginning of the month.  After seeing that on the scale yesterday morning, I got rather angry with myself.  Then, I pushed myself last night to do 2.75 miles running and then 30 minutes on the elliptical machine.  OMG!   It was noodle leg time on the three flights of stairs on the way up.  This last month, the temperatures were so mild for winter time that I was able to get in some extra miles on the bike and I still tired to get a good amount of time in at the gym and I did go to the last of my pilates classes.  But I really need to work on watching what I eat.  Course, it probably doesn't help that my boxes of Girl Scout Cookies got delivered today.  Awwwww.... talk about a weakness!  But they are SO yummy!  But I'll try to pace myself! If that's possible with Girl Scout Cookies?!?

5)      Cut Down on Eating Out- I started off the month of Feb. pretty good.  I limited it to once a week.  Then, as the month continued on I loosened up and it was nearly as pretty.  I had one week where it was about 5 times in a week.  Thus, leading to more money being spent out and more weight that I need to lose to get to my goal weight.

6)      Do One Century- I really can’t work on this yet.  However, I did register for a BIG ride.  I signed up for RAGBRAI. (Register’s Annual Great Bicycle Ride Across Iowa)  It’s a ride that takes place over 7 days in late July and covers a total of 472 miles distance.  It starts in northwestern Iowa and works its way toward southeastern Iowa.  I find out the results of the lottery entry on May 1^st and then I’ll know for sure whether I am in or not.  Keep your fingers crossed!  I'm really hoping to get in because the ride is going through my hometown of Cedar Rapids this year.  A great deal of my friends and relatives can't believe I haven't done this ride already but the timing usually never has worked out before.  But this year I'm hoping that the planets align and I can get in! 

STATS FOR THE MONTH….

Biked 123 miles

Ran 25.50 miles

Spent 2 hours & 47 Minutes on Elliptical

&

Up to 10 books read so far this year!(10 out of 60 not too bad!)

Self Imposed Deadline....

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...

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...

What Gives?!?!!!!

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...

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

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