Oh, interesting on week 5. I'm repeating week 2 right now or rather finishing the recommended 3 sessions since I didn't have it with me at my conference. Though the way my head is stuffed up, my heart really isn't into moving with much enthusiasm! :lol: But anything is better than nothing.

A trapeze sounds fun! We had one on a playground quality swing set when I was a kid. Not quite the same but we got quite inventive with it! I'm looking forward to the ziplines they have in the rain forest when we go to Costa Rica!

How soon are you moving Shan?

Frus - good luck with the shoes! Is your dress long enough you could go barefoot? That wouldn't catch on the lace. :rofl:

Don't tempt me! I will be walking barefoot if all else fails! :lol: I've got 3 pairs of shoes coming in the post and I foudn another 4 pairs that I want to order, but 2 are just too expensive. I think it's the wrong season for ordering ivory shoes! All the bridal shoes are over £100 and POINTY! GAH! I hate pointy shoes, they're just so cliched. ALL bridal shoes are pointy, I haven't found any that aren't! :crazy:

Did I say about my hen night? It's on Saturday and we are going to Go Ape www.goape.co.uk which is an aerial assault course thingy with zip slides and things :hyper:

My finger's feeling slightly better - I might be able to grasp a dumbbell for bent over rows :D I might even be able to do a lat pulldown or two :crossed:

All bridal shoes are pointy? What about dress sandals? Even in the fall/winter they should be okay... :)

I am doing the mother of the groom thing in September. can't wait!!! I think that etiquette dictates I wait to find out what the mother(s) of the bride will be wearing (she has her mom and is very close to her step mom) but they told me to wear what I want. I want to wear black but it's a late summer afternoon wedding and maybe not so much. I don't do colors so this should be interesting.

I'm walking my son down the aisle, or rather he is walking me to my seat before going up on the platform right before the bride comes down the aisel with her dad...so I'm rather excited about that except I will break down and cry. This is my baby and the one I'm the closest too...I cry just thinking about it. I should wear sensible shoes for my hysterical moment lest I fall down and make a scene. :lol:

Ah weddings...such fun...I'm just glad I'm not the mother of the bride (they are having the wedding at their house).

As for me and exercise, I am back in a groove but am really busy at work so I haven't posted much. I am doing the gym...cardio and weights 4 days a week and Pilates two days a week (one private session and one class). It's working for me so far. :cb: I love love love Pilates.

As soon as work gets slower, I will be back on a regular basis...

Yeah I'm looking at dress sandals/shoes but most are black or winter colours now. I have managed to find a few pairs of ivory shoes that might go well - one even has lace a bit like the dress but I'm not keen on the style, hopefully it'll look better on my foot than it does on the web page!

Frus - that Go ape place looks fun but scary :) DF and I have been trying to think of where we want to go next year for an official honeymoon trip or just a trip we'll call our honeymoon trip :) I found a hiking tour of Costa Rica that includes 1.5 miles of tree top bridges. I know it doesn't sound like much but I'm scared of heights and I'm scared of bridges. I've actually become a lot better with bridges in the past couple years but I'm not sure how well I'd do with these :) I am excited at the prospect.

Shan - I hope the move and everything is going well.

Yesterday, I found out that my left knee has mild osteoarthritis. The doctor called me after looking at my xrays. DF didn't help by asking if that was the same type of arthritis that old people get. I made an appointment with the doctor for next week so I'll talk to him then but I am bummed about having a condition that will stay with me for the rest of my life.

I also went to my physical therapy session yesterday. It went pretty well but I really didn't like when they tried to test my knee pain and also when they massaged my muscles around my knee, it was very uncomfortable. I was also given a set of exercises to do which I did this morning. I thought it'd take me 15 minutes or so to do the exercises but it ended up taking me 40 minutes. There were quite a few exercises which were "do this and hold for 10 seconds". I could do the exercise fine but holding for 10 seconds, I could feel my muscles failing. I am supposed to do those exercises twice per day but I think I'm going to try to break them up so I don't do all the exercises at once. I know some of them I can do at work and some while i'm doing stuff at home. I go again on Friday and I'll be doing actual exercise at the physical therapy office.

I think I have caught up...
 

Good morning all, getting it all together here. Pants-O-Meter is doing well, the jeans are getting looser and the gut is shrinking. Hoping for a good WI on Friday.

Great cardio though short this morning, only a half hour and then some free weights while balancing on a Bosu balance ball. Very cool and not meaning to brag too much, I did better than I thought I would. I didn't crash and only wobbled a little. It does a great job on holding my core engaged while lifting.

So far the Halloween candy has not been calling me, I think it is because I have been able to kick a lot of the carbs out of my diet and keep the whole grains and oats in. I am getting addicted to oats, possible??

NELIE - Spread the work around for the wedding, after all you don't want to run yourself into the ground. thanks for reminding me about the flu shots, mine is 11/1. I decided for my wedding, we were paying a professional (my minister since I was 5) to perform the ceremony, I didn't need or want an amatuer (me) mucking it up. LOL. Your knee may be life long condition but you can work around it, strong thighs will make the knee function better and a smaller you will take off the pressure. You are definately not "old".

Not at all sure about the smilie lunge, I will have to concentrate on it tomorrow a.m. while I am lunging.

LYDIA - Sounds like a fab weekend, I cannot resist beer on tap, especially all the fall ones out there now. And brats well, I mean only one, as long as you don't end up on the road to ruin as they say in the Glennfiddich ads (shows where I spend my Free Days). Keep resting as much as possible or you will miss all the sledding this winter, not looking forward to snow myself.

MEL - I could balance on one ball for a while I guess but not two at the same time. Call me suitably impressed.

2FRU - Sounds like the last minute wedding frenzy. You will be fine on the shoes, I bought mine two days before using an ad my mom saw in the paper. I did spend a lot on them, bought Kenneth Cole's wedding shoes, nothing to catch on anything, kept them on my feet from 9 am to 10 pm and was fine. As long as the busted finger isn't the ring hand, good luck. I hope you have fun at your hen party and please please be careful, banged up brides are not attractive.

ROCKER - How cool to be doing 3 sets of 12 reps AND increasing the lbs, way to go.

DH is feeling good today, he has a headhunter tracking him, even if he doesn't go for the job, it feels good to be wanted, though I tell him all the time, I want him.

SUSAN - How about grey for the mother of the groom??

Short day, DD has early release and I am using some time to take her to lunch and do whatever she wants. My sister cancelled coming with us at the last minute and that has upset DD so I am hoping she can overcome the disappointment that it is only mom. The sun is shining so when we get home we may hit the bike trail.

Nelie: Sorry to hear you have osteoarthritis in your knee. Bummer.

I hear you with regard to the knee massages. I had a deep muscle massage done on my hips several weeks ago by my physical therapist. Yow! The PAIN. WAS. INTENSE. :club:

I knew it was going to be bad when she pulled the curtain around the table before she began massage. :o Afterwards she applied a bag of chipped ice to both of my hips. So there I am, lying on the table holding these two bags of ice on each hip and muttering that this has to be the STUPIDIST thing I have ever done to myself....

Fortunately or not physical therapy has been put on hold for a while. I received a followup call from my sports doc who advised me to start using the crutches for the next two week. If this doesn't work then he will do a ct scan to see if there has been any healing at all. Man, will the fun never end?... :stars:

Mel: Weather report from Columbus.... Beautiful cloudless sky blue day. Your DD should be pleased. :sunny:

Liza: Congratulations with the Pant-O-Meter. I have one of those too. Its a black pair of dress slacks that I wore just three weeks ago. I just hoping to continue to wear them through the winter. Thanks for reminding me about winter sledding. Nope, don't want to miss that! We live close to the river with awesome sledding banks.

Have a great bike ride with DD this afternoon.

Hi ho,

Just time for a drive by post this morning, but I want to stay in the groove, and I don't post, I don't groove. Had a great workout Monday -- weights and cardio -- and an equally great water aerobics class yesterday. Woke up this morning intending to hit the gym, but was really really tired, so, presto: today is a rest day. :p Eating is clean; life is good. Hugs all around ...

Blech is how I feel :faint: STILL!!! I'm sick of this nasty cold, feeling rundown, yada yada.

Pat- sending virtual chicken soup :hug:

Mel

:hug: Poor Pat.

I think I've cured myself of my gingerbread men addiction! Try baking hundreds of the :censored: things!!!!! My kitchen looks like it's been taken over by sweet little munchkins all holding hands!

Oh and I whupped *** at the gym last night - I'm nicely sore and my muscles are pumped!

Pat - I hope you feel better.

Frus - I've never even had a gingerbread man before but those look cute.

Today, I woke up at 6am which is the earliest I've woken up so far to exercise. I'm hoping to eventually get up at 5:30am which would mean I could go to the gym. I did one of my longer Firm workouts which was pretty good. I also did a cardio DVD last night before bed.

OMG I just had the worst morning of wedding stress so far!

I got the sample photos from the wedding photographer and they are rubbish! So we didn't want to hire him. So I had to find someone else! I managed to find someone who, although not a wedding photographer, can at least take good photos and doesn't charge since he is a student, but we will pay him anyway!

I was having a slight stress printing out the wedding menus - the printer won't push them all the way through, so I am going to have to give them to my bridesmaid to print.

Then I got a cancellation for Go Ape, but I have managed to fill the vacancy! Hooray!

Things are getting freaky!

Oh and to top it all - I have a load of ebay stuff that sold today so that's all got to go in the post!!!!

Thanks to Meg and Mel for the suggestions about doing our shoulder work (lateral front and side raises) as if we were holding a soda can with thumbs up instead of palms facing the ground. I did my shoulder workout and the pain didn't return, and I def. felt less muscle strain when I rotated my wrist on the moves. Yea Yea Yea! You ladies are awesome!

Frus: Look me in the eye. Now breathe, woman. And Nellie, if you feel a bout of panic coming on, do the same. Nice, slooooooooooooooow soothing breathes.

Now, doesn't that feel better. :hug:

Pat, I hope you get to feeling better pronto. The crud is sweeping through campus here, and I absolutely refuse to get sick again. I've already had one bout this fall, which is very unusual for me, and I'd just as soon not get any more. So, I'm sending warm healing vibes your way.

It's dramp, drizzly and dreary here today. Methinks winter is coming. Take care all.