Around 45 degrees here, Alena. Should I be aspiring to go further?

Alena, about 45 degrees here as well. Hurting in strange places if I attempt to go any further.
Can I at least plead not warming up, advanced age (almost 51) and RSI affected shoulders for this performance???

My feet are killing me again today! Again one almost solid standing session from 9 - 17.45. Let this be a lesson for the future to pack a spare pair of FLAT shoes!!! (I'm only on a 1 inch heel here, never knew this would turn out to be sooo strainfull !)

I WILL get back into shape when I'm back!!!!!

Have a great day all,
rabbit

One of the things that CrossFit really showed me was how inflexible I was from doing a standard body builder workout for years. To do a proper front squat of squat and clean, you really need to keep your elbow high when the bar is in the clean position. The first few weeks, my forearms were the sorest part of me!

I can't get into the elbow position of the picture, but I'm about 1/2 way between parallel and my ears.

:wave: to all!

Mel

Birchie,
I caught your post just before going to bed last night and at first, I thought you were talking about weather. :D I must have been half asleep already.

Thanks for indulging me, guys. I love you!

I planned to go for a swim today and then perhaps to a Pilates class in the evening but then I realized I have another physio session today. Much to my surprise, my back is ok today (I was a bit worried after yesterday's hot yoga). I still feel that pesky SI joint occasionally, when I twist or move (although there is no specific position where it happens, it seems to be random - as we in the software industry say "I can't replicate it" (when talking about bugs). ;)
I think I will start slowly returning to my P90X workouts - cautiously - to see how it will go.

We expect a nice warm and sunny day today, so I will be taking the dogs for a well deserved walk after work. They look a bit chubby after winter, Beetle Bug mostly, and there is nothing worse than a greyhound that does't show ribs!

:wave:
Alena

Edited to add:
Holly cr@p, Shannon, I just reread your post and realized you are running a half-marathon on Sunday. You are amazing! Tell me what time it starts - we (me + the dogs) will be keeping all our fingers and toes crossed for you!

Good morning everyone! Yesterday was day one of my taper week in prep for the half-marathon on Sunday. 3.15 miles at the park, broken up into 6 400 meter sprints at my 10k speed, mixed with walking, ended with a slow half mile for cooldown, some ab work when I get home. Planning some light strength training when I get home with some easy stationary bike. I'm not sure how I feel about the taper week concept - they say to decrease your miles and exercise output by 15-20% depending on where you read. Everything I've read says that during the week you will feel sluggish and heavy from the decreased exercise, will have phantom pains pop up, will feel unnaturally hungry and will start to feel anxiety over the race itself. I achieved the decrease in training time with my four unanticipated days off last week, and already feel sluggish, so just waiting for phantom pain and unnatural hunger to kick in. :)

Alena - I can get to about 45 degrees, maybe between 45 and 40, just above halfway between parallel and my ears. And the half starts at 7:04 am on Sunday... Which is also seriously freaking me out a little... that is very early for me... I'm glad your back is okay, any more flare from the PF?

Mel - I never think about standard lifting workouts adding to the lack of flexibility, but I have noticed that when I do more standard workouts v. the crossfit style ones I feel less flexible when I get back to yoga. Hm. Sorry about the timeshare... :(

Rabbit - always pack flats. :) My weird foot ick last month came from a less than one inch heel, standing for about three hours. Can't imagine how uncomfortable you must be after 8! Take care of yourself over there!

Denver - how is the back today? Hope the doctor or chiro can help with it...

Pat - enjoying the peace and quiet at home?

Good day everyone! :wave: to all!

Afternoon all!

First off, Alena, like Shannon I can get about halfway between parallel and my ears, but I can feel it in my upper arms just below my shoulders.

Rabbit - OUCH! can you stand barefoot some of the time?

WHenever I try yoga, I feel very inflexible, plus I have short arms (and legs) so some of the poses are very difficult or require the use of a block. I swear I was constructed from surplus parts! :lol:

Yesterday was a total do nothing day (well, went to book club in the evening) so I shifted my workouts. Did lower body today, and my hamstrings are saying nasty nasty things to me, which means I've finally gotten the single-leg ROmanian deadlift right. :rofl: I was very shaky and sweaty when I finished today - and I fear I'll be paying for it tomorrow. Zumba at 9:30am followed by upper body, and I'll be back on track. I wouldn't say I am an addict, Alena, but it's the least boring cardio alternative right now. I'm looking forward to riding my bike in another 6 weeks or so.

Still adjusting to DST here as well. But we've had lovely sunny days since the weekend, and it was near 40F here today.

I'm going to plead age too. Old Mama shoulders. They were both probably a tad better than 45 degrees and the left better than the right. Might be chiropractor time.

:rofl: This would be hysterically funny if it didn't apply to me also!

Shannon- How is the taper going? That part panicked me too. You need it though. Hang in there and don't let anxiety get the better of you. I bailed on the last marathon I registered for because I was too freaked out about having to be ready to stand in line at 5 am. That was AFTER doing all the training and buying airline tickets and paying for a hotel room in Florida! dumb....

Alena- Glad nothing is really wrong with your back. You've had more than your share of injuries!

Rabbit- Still in Singapore? Just the flight time gives me the creeps!

I have a day off today as a comp for working a miserable systems conversion test on Saturday. Today is supposed to be gorgeous. I have a lot of errands to do to get ready for my job change on Monday (buy train tickets, get quarters for parking at station, dye hair, etc), but I'm hoping to get out in the garden and see what's up and assess the winter damage before the deer inflict the spring damage :p

No cardio today- CrossFit WOD includes two 800 meter runs with 30 snatches in between. I think that's enough!

I have to give myself some public spanking. Yesterday, I got home late, walked the dogs (who, by the way, think they had died and gone to heaven - over a week, their kibble was enhanced by a very generous portion of soup made from beef heart, celery stalks, carrots and celery root. They will be very disappointed tonight to find out that the source has dried out) and then I had to sweep a ton of dry leaves and other debris from the patio (we had lots of strong winds on the weekend). That took me some time and afterwards, I just didn't feel like doing any exercise. [Oh, and to add insult to injury, I ate some WHITE pasta salad at work, that had lots of oil andcheese on it - we often get leftovers from catered meetings etc.]. I realized that Pilates class starts in 15 minutes so I quickly changed and did at least the Pilates class. But we started 5 minutes late - the previous class did not finish on time - so it was only 40 minutes of not-too-strenuous exercise yesterday. Uggh.

The surplus body parts cracked me up, too. :-)

Mel, enjoy your day off - what a lovely day to be off (even with the errands). Susan, Pat, thanks for testing the yoga pose for me!

Alena - after doing an hour of pretty solid yoga last night I could get my arms up a little higher, but still not much over the midpoint between parrallel and my ears, so maybe I got to 30 degrees this time. Left went higher than the right this time, too...

I'm totally feeling the surplus parts reference myself... I haven't done any serious yoga in a while, since I blamed it for my initial shoulder ick. Last night was 50 minutes of pretty hard core activity. Yoga Fitness Plus w/ Elise Gulan on Exercise TV. I lost count after the 14th chattarranga, and that was only about halfway through... Did okay, but boy my arms are achey today... Legs handled it pretty well - must be from all the running in the last six months. i do have to work on balance, though. I still have tight hips and hamstrings, so have a hard time lifting my leg for things like standing splits and warrior III....

Mel - the taper is going fine... plan for the day is a 'light' 3-5 miles on my treadmill. Funny that I find myself thinking that a 5 mile run is a light day. :) A little worried about the fact that they are now calling for cool temps and thunderstorms on Sunday - only rainy day for the next ten after today. Darnit. So, might end up calling it off and running 13.1 on the treadmill on Sunday instead...

I read your list of things to prep for job change, and was amused to see 'dye hair' on the list. Made me stop and think to myself that I have now been coloring my hair for over ten years.... I don't remember what color it used to be! :dizzy: Enjoy the off day, and CF today sounds like plenty of cardio to me!

Oh, and Alena, consider yourself flogged for the pasta salad. :frypan: Now, that is out of the way, good job getting the Pilates in! Sounds like a long, dreary day yesterday.

Susan - shoulder opener yoga sequence #1 from Yoga Downloads.com was really helping my shoulders, until I did something stupid and unscripted and fell. When I was following the program it was great. :)

Pat - Single leg Romanian Deadlift. Still haven't done that one... I did follow Lydia, or maybe it was Mel's, suggestion and try my Bulgarian Split squat with the standing foot on Bosu. That was a near disaster. :dizzy: How are you feeling today?

Good day everyone!

Thanks, Shannon! I knew I could rely on you! :D
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~



So I went swimming.
And I was back in the office within 20 minutes.

One word (actually two):

:yikes: :fr: :yikes: MARCH BREAK!!! :yikes: :fr: :yikes:

Glad to help, Alena! ;)

Sorry the pool was so crowded. Ick.

Morning ladies! I'm approaching my 8th month of pregnancy so I haven't worked out in the past 3 weeks except my daily walks. Lots of swelling!

Today, everyone is planning on going out and celebrating Patty's with a green beer, so since I can't participate, I thought I'd work out ;) It's gorgeous and sunny outside, the dog is giving me the evil eye to get off the computer and take him out (it's 11am and we've already had a one hour walk! Spoiled!)

March 17, 2010
One hour walk (around 5km)
KB Swing: 8kg x 8
Squat: 45lbs x 8 x 8 x 8 (parallel, I can no longer do a$s-to-grass)
KB Deadlift: 12kg x 8 x 8 x 8
Chest Press: black band x 10 x 10 x 10
Seated Row: black band x 10 x 10 x 10
Calf raise: 2 x 15
Shoulder Press: 20lbs x 6 x 6 x 6
Bicep Curl: 20lbs x 6 x 6 x 6

Have a lovely day! I'm off to walk #2...

Shannon - actually I feel pretty bad today. I woke up with a headache and all over achiness, not just DOMS, so I'm having an unscheduled rest day and hope I don't get really sick. Zumba was just not happening this morning.....

And on the half-marathon, wouldn't cool weather be better? When I did one in 2007, it was cool and almost raining (and it was June!) and I still was plenty warm.

Mel - nice to have an unscheduled day off when everyone else is working! And I can't see my garden yet. :lol: But, we have lots of sun, and it's very nice and warm in my greenhouse (we tramped a path to it). DH likes to eat his lunch out there.... (of course, he's in AZ right now, but when he's home)

Alena - :drill: No more white pasta!! Lucky doggies, bet they really enjoyed all that extra yummy stuff.

Sacha - oooh, getting close! Sounds like a good workout given your, um, shift in center of gravity these days. :D

Sacha - I'm somewhat humbled by the fact that at eight months pregnant and after a 3 week break you are still using heavier weights than me. :) You are getting close, how are you feeling? Everything ready? Or as ready as it can be, I guess?

Pat - oooo, hope you aren't getting sick. My IT Director has been home for two days because his wife and three year old daughter were sick, everyone downstairs is sick, my insurance agent has the flu... It is all over. And, I'm not worried about the cold for the run, I would actually prefer that. It is calling for a low of 34, so probably in the mid-30's for the run itself. I'm more worried about the thunderstorms. Don't love lighting...

WaterRat~ Thanks! Yeah, the gravity is a bit of an issue, I'm really limited in the gym!

Shannon~ Don't feel humbled! Remember, I'm 6 years of maintenance and about 2 years of consistent training in Olympic movements :P :o Besides, I've got a bit of extra pounds on me too (or make that 25+ extra!!). I'm feeling great!! Feeling... big. LOL. Here I am, before & after.

wow sacha, 8 months indeed! still I'm impressed as well. I hope the little one and you are doing well.

Hi all, still in singapore. One more day of work, fortunately less standing, but I beleive another 3 hour meeting was sceduled. I'll be lucky to get out of here before 1800. BUT...tomorrow is off and I'm flying home on midnight the day after so I'll be home on sunday. DD is longing to see me, and I'm also longing to see her and DS.

Pat ...bussiness meeting, & I'm the only woman in the room (techie environment). Imagine me in a business suit, barefoot in front of 20+ chinese men??? Uhmm..don't think so!

Mel - :) on the hairdye. I've been coloring for like 20 yrs now and yep, did it the day before I got on the plane. Great to have a day off when everyone else is working, enjoy!

Have a great day all,
Rabbit

Looking great, Sacha!!!!

Ugh, I just acquired a nasty virus on my home desktop computer and had to disconnect it from our home network! Have changed passwords everywhere and am now confined to my annoying keyboard laptop until dh can do a rebuild. He's NOT happy with me :(

Nope, I'd say not Rabbit! Well, at least you can rest your feet on the plane. :)

Shannon - I felt badly all day yesterday and most of today. Finally tonight my headache quit. Body has been slowly getting less achy. I at least got out of the house today - to the PO and the grocery. Also bought myself a turkey sandwich for lunch, but could only eat half.... Hopefully I'm better tomorrow and can do a workout.

Mel - Ugh! And I'm with you on the laptop keyboard. Fine for reading, not for typing.

Great photo Sacha! Amazing how much skin can stretch.....

Cute belly, Sacha!

Just did a brutal XFit workout- we are doing a lot of the WODs from last week-end's sectional competitions for the CrossFit Games. I think they are trying to kill us!

For those of you who think in pounds, that's 45 pounds and a 35 pound kettlebell. Sounds light, but the whole package was a killer.
Ending with burpees was cruel!

And now for a total change of pace, dh, ds and I are headed to a local French bakery for a 4 hour demo of pastry, cake and chocolate making! Just what I need :dizzy: Dh and ds have gone to this before and came home with huge boxes of sample giveaways!!!! I think I'll be giving away (most) of mine to ds to take back to university with him tomorrow. Unless there is carrot cake....

btw, I hate this keyboard and that's why I'm not posting much. I feel like my hands belong to the jolly green giant.

Mel

Good Luck tomorrow Shannon! :cheer:
Sacha: You look amazing! Seriously. Have a great ninth month! :hug: (get lots of sleep!)

Puerto Rico was a blast. Great times. The boys and I are now on spring break and I'm crazy busy packing my house. Next will be endless "dates" with the handyman. (That just doesn't sound good. :lol:) painting, and several trips back and forth to DC to continue my search for a house.

I'm preparing my own house to be placed on the market sometime in April. Needless to say I'm still going to be a little scarce here. I want to bolt right through this part so I can relax and enjoy the remaining two months here. (Read: getting all the uninterrupted workout time I can possibly get once this place is packed, painted, and sold)

Enjoy the evening everyone! :wave:

Ow Lydia, that sounds like a pretty intense time right now! Glad to hear you had such a good time in Puerto Rico.

Mel, Pat :wave:

I've rested my feet & I'm back home, feeling dead tired. I think I'll take a nap. Had a wonderfull time in singapore; I wore a pair of flip flops that I bought on day one, and I flipflopped my way through chinatown, the new buddha temple, the river district, went on a canal boat & in the big observation wheel, rode the metro, went to the botanic garden & the orchid garden in a tropical downpour..both absolutely fabulous. And I shopped and shopped and shopped some more. Oh, and I killed my feet with the business part of the trip. Food was awfull, but I discovered a new dish that i'll be trying to re-create laotian laksa. Looked like salad with sort of coconut prawn soup on top.
it was really good. As for the rest, especially re specialties chinese dinners in real chinese restaurants I always feel really clumsy eating anything that needs peeling (crab, prawns) or has bones with chopsticks. I got pimples from all the fried food, & it is back to salad &frugal eating for the next week. But I enjoyed myself immensly, even tough it was so tiiring. In the next weeks I'll definitely take a rest & start back exercising.

Have a great day all,
Rabbit

Shannon!-Shannon!-Shannon!-Shannon!-Shannon!-Shannon!-Shannon!

Ditto!! How'd it go???

Sorry I didn't get here earlier, Alena! Came home on the train, fell into the tub, then DH took me out for lunch to celebrate. I was absolutely starving by then! :) I'm going to copy over what I put in the Maintainer's Weekly chat, instead of typing it all again. :)

Half marathon done! Finished in 2:29:20, which was 11:22 per mile average. (Forgot to stop my GPS at the end for almost ten minutes so messed up my per mile total on there... Sadness) I am proud of that - I kept to a solid 11:06 average for the first ten miles, with two miles just over 10 per, lost my ground on the last three miles - mostly up hill for the end of a half or whole marathon is just mean. Felt especially good considering the rain that started at mile 2! Never got very heavy, and stopped around mile 12. Just enough to make everything feel damp - especially my socks and shoes! It was warm the whole time, even with the rain and no sun, 57ish, so I was very glad to be wearing shorts and the short sleeve race T instead of the long pants and long sleeve shirt and thicker rain jacket I had planned. I snuck to the running store on Friday and found the fabulous Brooks lightweight wind and weather resistant jacket I mentioned in an earlier post their in a men's small for $52, so I was set with a nice, light, unusually weather resistant and incredibly light jacket. Packed the pants, dry shoes and heavier jacket in my bag and changed after the race, when it felt cool and windy. Blister on my foot from the wet sock, on the foot with the tighter shoe actually, so have to figure out what to do with that... Feeling good right now, though!

There were 10,481 participants in the half marathon, I was 7,540.
Out of the 4,618 women I placed 3,707.
Out of the 1,074 in the 35-39 women I placed 699.

So, I was faster than 2,941 total participants, 911 women total and 375 women in my age group. That gives a 70% overall, an 80% compared to all women, and a 65% compared to my age women. I'm totally fine with that!

And to make me feel even better, I bumped into a woman I haven't seen in seven years on the train. She is five years younger than me and was fit & active even when I knew her (was my kickboxing and yoga instructor, actually) - she didn't recognize me at all until I told her who I was... And, she finished in 2:41:07.... 1,040 people behind me... Which was 7 minutes better than her time from last year in the same race... And I just started running in January of 2009... Totally petty of me, I know, but that makes me happy. :p

I'm again starving so going to go get some yogurt. Will be back to chat later tonight or tomorrow. Thanks for all the support you guys! It really helped. :hug:

Actually, Shannon, it should be have been me who was supposed to say "sorry I didn't make it here earlier." What I posted earlier was supposed to be me cheering you as you ran.
You rock, girl!!! Congrats on such wonderful results, JOB WELL DONE!!! :hug::hug::hug::carrot:
(And congrats on the lovely new jacket, sounds very groovy!)

Killer yoga class today. The instructor continues to really impress me (and I am hard to please, if I say so myself LOL). Only three sessions, and I am totally in love. I wish there were 2 yoga classes a week (like there used to) instead of just one.
Before the class today, one girl who used to go to Zumba quite frequently, approached me and asked if I am still doing Zumba. I said no and we chatted a bit and it turns out she was equally disgusted with the new fees etc. so she ditched Zumba as well. I have to say I miss the classes but right now, with the still slightly irritated PF, I would not be able to go.
Shannon, I am also in love with the $4 Amy Dixon cardio. It is very simple but quite past faced and at 25 minutes I feel totally finished. I did it yesterday with 5 lb DBs and my arms and shoulders really feel it today.

Rabbit Rabbit and Lydia! Nice to have you back from your globetrotting adventures. Rabbit, do tell what you bought on your shopping excursions, I am all ears! And please share the recipe! Thanks!
Lydia, the problem with selling a house is that after all the fixes are done and the house is all fluffed up you will not want to sell it. Please post some pictures from your house hunting.

I have a mountain of laundry, so I gotta run but may check in later.

Everybody, :wave:!
Alena

Mel: KNOCK 'EM DEAD TOMORROW!

Ah, the shopping....I splurged on HD mini camera's, the creative HD 3rd generation, which is a point & shoot movie & pictures camera. I got a gen3 for myself, and a gen2 for DD and DS to share. And for the rest I got 4 "business" blouses, in beautifull thin cotton, the flipflops mentioned before, a beautifull pink "silk" kimono with peonies & cranes for DD, a batik blouse for DS and myself, and a lot of knickknacks: the 3 wise men for happines, longlevity & wealth, a buddha statue & several of the "lucky cats". And chinese character earstuds for DD and myself. "Blessings" for het, and "courage" for myself. And I got a beautifully illustrated "tao" book from the asian museum shop & a ditto on zen.

I'll experiment first on the laotian recipe & post later.

and before sllipping back too far into my comfort zone: I'm afraid I gained too much & I don't like what i see in the mirror, so it's back to a next "hard core" challenge
1. Foodwise: cut out on the sugar & starch
2. This is going to hurt...leave the wine
for this I'lll have to
3.take plenty of rest, I know I use both sugar and wine to keep going past my fatigue level
4. Go back to exercise on a daily basis
5. Do not fall into negativity traps: 80% compliance is OK

have a great day all,
Rabbit

Congratulations, Shannon :carrot::carrot::carrot::carrot: Great job :)

Welcome back, Rabbit!

I'm starting my new job this morning and have to scoot out the door in 5 minutes to get a parking spot at the train station. Whew, this is early for me. I've had to cut cardio to 20 minutes of HIIT in the mornings.

Welcome back to you also Lydia! You will have a busy spring, from the sounds of it.

Have to run-

Mel

A kimono with peonies and cranes!!! Rabbit, if I show up for an unexpected visit and the kimono is missing afterwards, you will know what happened. I would decorate my house with kimonos if I could get my hands on any authentic ones.
And even though there is plenty of Buddhas in my house already, I can always squeeze one more in. :D

Alena

Good luck today, Mel!

Congrats Shannon :) Someone in the 100 lb club just posted about doing a half marathon in Atlanta, wonder if it is the same one?

Here is a link to that thread
http://www.3fatchicks.com/forum/100-...-marathon.html

As for me, I've been wanting to run lately as the weather is just so nice so yesterday I picked up C25k again. My husband then asked me what my program would be today and I told him that it was a day off, he (jokingly said) "That is like having a 1 day work week".

I did a different route yesterday than I've done in the past but I realized that my walking speed is actually faster (5 minute warmup) because it was the path I've used in the past and I was always able to know the point where I'd hit 5 minutes but yet I was beyond that point yesterday, not by too much but seems somewhat significant to me.

Hey Thanks! :)

I would say it's "good to be back" but since I've returned I've gone into "I must get this house packed" mode so....:lol:

My mother and sister were over for the weekend to help pack the basement. At one point, my mother stopped and said that she would never buy another Lego set for either of my sons. :lol3:

Nor could she appreciate my obsession with keeping each and every little Lego piece we would find in the corners of the basement. I explained that these sets were part of my retirement plan. Humor me will you.

Funny thing...you all are going to hate me so not so funny...So, while I was on vacation I ate a brunch of pancakes, bacon, sausage, eggs, fruit with yogurt and granola, coffee and a plate of small pastries (YES! All of that in one sitting) for five straight days. I worked out only two days while I was there. Dinners out were beyond my control as well, finger foods of cheese, fruit, mojitos, chicken and flan.

I truly dreaded getting on the scale once I returned home. Guess what. I was down three freaking pounds. HOW DOES THAT WORK?!

Now, I was sick for three days prior and no workouts mean no fluid retention in muscles but geesh. Really?! Meals were sporadic so maybe overall my caloric intake was lower and it really was a change from my usual clean diet. Maybe the whole metabolism thing needing a boost? :dunno:

I'm not going to dwell upon it. I'm grateful and moving on. I know clean eating does work and I'm not going to be deluded into thinking that if I continued to eat this way I'd be okay. Not a chance.

K. Enough about my self centered self.

SHANNON! :congrat: On your half marathon. I doubt I'd be posting yet at all. After all that running I would have face planted into a plate of pasta and then slept for the next two days. (I guess that's why we train for these things right?) :lol3: Nice job. :hug:

Mel: Good luck acclimating to the new job this week. Hopefully parking will not be a problem. I hate layers. Parking is a layer. :^:

Rabbit: Your purchases sound wonderful. What an exciting trip. I can envision the Kimono in my mind. It must be exquisite! The flip flops I would pass upon. It makes my foot afflicted with plantar fascitiis ache with just the thought.

Once you have been home for a few weeks you'll get back into the groove of your eating/workouts again. It will come off but most importantly you will just feel so much better.

Alena: It will be hard to leave my house once I made all the repairs. Last night I was in the back yard picking up sand box toys and throwing them away. Some of them are from when my eldest son was a toddler. Wow. Memories. Some good some not so fullfilling. But the new place will be so much better for my growing boys. They need ROOM! And...so do I. (I have some studying to do :D)

The search has been exciting. I've lived in a 1076 sqft 1957 ranch for ten years. Our furniture is small scaled and we really don't have a lot of it for obvious reasons. We are walking through these 3,000sqft center hall colonials in Oakton, Va and just dying over the space. :lol3: We have enough furniture for maybe the kitchen and the den. :D

One house I really liked had so much wonderful storage. I could get lost in this house. The coat closet in the foyer...it was a freakin' WALK IN CLOSET with SHELVES and the light turns on all by itself when I open the door. The realtor and I just stood there in awe looking inside and imagining the storage possibilites. That was just the beginning to this house. Upstairs there was a walking closet for each of us that is as big as my son's bedroom with drawers! I stood there a moment and actually thought (I can't believe I even thought this but it was...I'm not good enough for all of this...) Isn't that crazy but really, I'm so not accustom to these kinds of conveniences and have sacrificed for so long that this just seemed like crazy excessiveness to me.

There is a problem with this house though. It's a big one. The driveway is on a pipestem (three houses off of one driveway) It's a long driveway and we are at the top with no way to back the vehicle out of the garage and turning it around to drive out forward. And...there is a bit of a gully between the driveway and the yard so if you misjudge you ditch the car. So, the first thing we would need to do is fix that. :dizzy: We keep looking.

K. Off to packing and meeting the handyman this afternoon. My goal is to get to the gym before Friday. G@d I need a release. :^:

Lydia, there are some crazy houses in this area and then there are some not so crazy houses, I'm sure you'll find one you will be happy with :)

Lydia, the minus 3 pounds - that must have been all that hot passionate NON-STOP SEX!!! :D

Thanks everyone! I am still stiff and sore today - my knees were sore yesterday, today it is my quads... Even sitting still in the chair they are twinging. Going to do some stretching today to shake them out a little. I'm going to work on getting more strength/CF activities back into my exercise routine this week and next week now that the immediate training pressure is off a little.

Alena - i got it... Cheering.... I appreciate it! I could hear you guys cheering in my head the whole time. :) I do love Amy Dixon.... I did her kickboxing routine last week, actually. Sorry you don't have more yoga classes, and that Zumba went crazy. :(

Rabbit - the things you bought sound lovely! Good plan for getting back hard core this week. The cameras sound cool.... I just had to replace our digital camera, ended up with a Panasonic Lumix. Like it a lot so far. DH also just got a Flip video camera. Also cool, and more convenient than a regular video camera.

Mel - good luck today! You will be fabulous!

Nelie - thanks for the link, yes it was the same marathon. I popped in and congratulated her for her finish. It was great to see so many people out there yesterday, even in the drizzly weather. And :high: on the faster walking speed! That is a great way to start back off. DH wants to start running - I may point him to the C25K program.

Lydia - some of those Lego sets are going to be worth something... My aunt has an attic full of collectible BK toys, glasses, watches, puppets, etc from where they owned a franchise for so long. She jokes that those are for her retirement, too. And that house does sound fabulous on the inside, but the drive sounds all kids of icky. I had a drive similar to that without much error room for a while, but it was in GA which didn't freeze much. A much bigger deal in Ohio... And I hope the weight loss was from Alena's suggestion! :devil:

Good day everyone! :wave: to anyone I missed!

Nelie: You are not kidding! OMG. I won't even start. Sometimes I walk out of these places shaking my head thinking "are you kidding me?!" Goes to show, people are people no matter where you go. (had the same experiences when looking for our first house in Columbus.

Alena and Shannon: You GUYS! K. When I tell you that we broke his air mattress the first night I was there (Yes, he's been sleeping on an air mattress since August) I'm probably not going to be able to defend against this.

However, truth is, we had the kids with us the WHOLE TIME! Nothing was going on for the ten days we were together. Seriously, it was nice to see him but I really didn't feel like I was able to spend TIME with him.

We really had to take the kids though. To leave them out of this trip after having DH move out of state this year would have been the wrong thing to do. The last thing they need is to be pushed into the background. Not that they are, DH has been amazing at coming back each month sometimes twice and vid chatting with us most days of the week. He checks grades online, calls teachers, etc. He is AMAZING in doing all of this. But at the end of day, he's there, we're here, and the boys know the difference.

Shannon: Try foam rolling your legs out if you haven't already. And pay attention to your feet! I know you don't have PF issues but make sure you roll those with a tennis ball too. :soap: Stepping down. Hope it helps.

Wow, everyone has been busy!!

Just a moment to post before arm workout.

Shannon -WOOOOOOOOOO! I am so proud of you! Get yourself a hot stone massage - you earned it!

Rabbit - hope you have a great time & a safe trip home!

Mel, Lydia, Alena, Midwife, Nelie, Silver - :wave:

I'm waiting to hear from my insurance company on what they will cover for back therapy. Meanwhile..... yoga, yoga, and more yoga.
:yoga:

I'd better dash if I'm going to get UBWO and yoga done today. Hope you all have a great week!

Lydia,
I liked the story about the air mattress! Very nice! :cheer3:

Denver,
Nice to hear from you. Are you ready for spring? Good luck with the insurance company, I have to submit my bills, too.

I made a huge pot of chili tonight and then I was going to do P90X Legs & Back. Or so I thought. I changed, and then I started to look for the resistance band that I use in place of pull ups.Didn't find it anywhere. :?::?::?: I quickly raided all the obvious storage places but nada. I have no idea where it went - and I have not one, but TWO. It was already past 8 pm so I had to come up with plan B - total body workout with Jackie Warner.

Nelie,
I was thinking about you. I know you said in some other thread that you find Tony Horton arrogant but I actually like him. Compared to some of the women trainer who pepper the workout with stupid comments about babysitting (Jari Love or what's her name), I find that he says just about the right amount and I like his jokes.

I am going to bed with some hot chocolate (no sugar) and a new issue of Style at Home (so that I can make educated interior decorating suggestions to Lydia). :)

Nite nite, everybody.

P.S. Mel, how did it go?

Alena