I'm BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK everyone!!!
Next time I want to FLY down to San Diego. 8 hour drive...try more like 10 hours! Whew! Traffic has really gotten MUCH WORSE since the last time we were in SoCal. We left at 9 am on Friday...got to Cardiff oh around 8 pm or so. Of course we DID have to make a few 'pit stops' because temps en route were between 93-101 degrees. UGH. I HATE traveling on interstate 5! It goes right thru the hottest, yukkiest parts of the California valleys. So... on the way back - we took the 5 to LA, then went to Hwy 101 and stayed on that through San Jose. JC or anyone who has not been to California before - if you're going to drive it's length - take 101 or (if you're REALLY not in a hurry) the Coast Highway 1 - a MUCH more scenic drive. Urm, though, not for us on the way back because Jim decided at 11:30 pm last night - after we got back from visiting his family - that we had done everything and wanted to beat the traffic by driving at NIGHT. We got home this morning around 9:30 am - just stopped at a couple of rest stops and took catnaps. So of course after we got home and played with Sparky a bit (of course he's SO HAPPY we're home!!!) we went right to sleep with Kitty snuggled happily next to Jim.
Even with traffic nightmares San Diego was GORGEOUS. We took our bikes and went cycling down around Mission Bay and the Boardwalk for a few hours, just enjoying the sun. The funny thing is...I forgot to eat! That cooler filled with cooked chicken breasts was a lifesaver. It was so easy to just grab a napkin and a piece of chicken and munch it down. We had dinner with Jim's family at a restaurant called The Beach House in Cardiff. Since it was mostly fish - no problem ordering 'clean'. Steamed veggies, salmon, and a plain baked tater. Jim's mom had the hot sourdough bread which was placed on the tables moved AWAY from me so the aroma wouldn't tempt me!
It turns out that Jim's youngest brother (who is 16 years younger than he) enjoys lifting weights. I wish we'd had some time to go to his gym - he belongs to a Powerhouse gym and goes just about every day! Driving through LA and San Diego Counties, I noticed a lot of big beautiful clubs called "LA Sports Clubs". I was tempted to stop Jim so I could just check out one of those places (naturally none around Cardiff where we were staying). Todd (Jim's bro) told me that they are REALLY SET UP with tons of free weights and all the latest and greatest machines!
Well I was going to hit the gym this afternoon, but I've still got quite a bit of sleep to catch up on (I couldn't sleep on the drive back) so I'm going to hit the hay early this evening and get 8 solid hours of snoozetime before lifting the weights!
Okay, sounds like we're all trying hard here...I HAVE been feeling things loosen up a bit. Unfortunately, Ms. Busy (ME!) didn't take the time to measure herself or take photos, so I'm going strictly by clothes size, look and feel. Unless some financial crisis pops up, I'm signing up at the end of this week (after payday!) for an all new session of CPB -just like JC. I have London coming up in November as well as my 40th birthday the weekend I return from the UK and I wanna LOOK and FEEL great! BTW JC, I thought your pix were AWESOME. What a difference!
Susan - I'm like you - it takes awhile for me to see any real changes - at least in my THIGHS and hips. My upper body develops fairly quickly - my shoulders really pop out I think!
Anyway I still have TONS more reading to do...and it's Free Day as well - I've got a salad from Draeger's salad bar with TONS of veggies and some sourdough bread and we're going to Yumi Yogurt later on this evening! YUMMY! I highly recommend Carbolite frozen yogurt if you have a frozen yogurt shop around...