Long Story Short or Month-End Review, February

Had to work half a day so no Zumba. As I prepared to leave work forgot that tumbler had water in it, put it in my bag with everything else that I had and, to make a long story short, my Kindle is on rice. Hope the rice absorbs the moisture.

Decided to go swimming because I didn't feel like exercising at home. Got to the pool and noticed a familiar van. The lifeguard told me I'll take your money but we're closing early. She had intel about which roads would be treated and was charging her phone in case she slid off the road.


The van belonged to Chatty Kathleen. Hadn't seen her since last year so it was a challenge to get in as many laps as I could before the swimming pool closed. Still enjoyed myself. Not really enjoying the snowy weekends though.

10 Minute Solution: Knockout Body
*Fat Attack, 1 x
*Kickbox Cross Train, 1 x
*Knockout Body Blast, 3 x's
*Ultimate Upper Body, 2 x's

Climbing, 2 x's

Dance It Off & firm up!
*Rock It, 5 x's

Ellen Barrett Live: Super Fast Body Blast, 1 x

Just Walk: mix + match blasters
*Dance Walk, 1 x
*Fast and..., 1 x
*Light Walk, 1 x
*Short & Sweaty!, 2 x's
*Steady & Brisk!, 1 x
*Tummy Trimmer, 1 x
*Walk, Kick + Jab!, 1 x

Just Walk: Walk to the Hits, Party Songs

*Mile 2, 5 x's
*Mile 3, 1 x

Stretch Max
*Stability Ball, 1 x

Swimming, 3 x's

Treadmill, 1x

Walking, 3 x's

Weight Watchers 7 Day Tone & Burn

*Tone, 3 x's

Yoga, 5 x's

Zumba, 5 x's

Winter Wonderland

The Hard Part

Favorited a tweet about fitter feet because I'm experiencing on and off tenderness smack dab in the middle of my left foot.

Our feet are always smashed and compressed inside our shoes often too narrow for the toes to move...

I laughed about the whole smashed thing since tonight was climbing night. Rock climbing shoes are big time compressors...

Started up this one route and couldn't hoist myself over the arête. Came down and gave it another try. Got over the arête but felt like I couldn't go any further. I told Patti to let me down and she said  You've already gotten over the hard part.

I gathered myself and continued with my ascent.

It's such a sweet feeling when you do something that you thought you couldn't do. It's been a long time since I've attempted to climb a route with an arête in the mix and I'm grateful to Patti for not letting me quit on that route.

The New One

The 'Fugee turned out to be my information specialist. She saw the same story that my mother saw about the woman who used to be a size four but is now much happier at 200 pounds. The story was on The Today Show which I haven't seen since I fell in love with the trio of Gayle, Charlie and Nora...

Out of 1,000 plus pages in Mark Bittman's How To Cook Everything Fast, I landed on page 290 -- Spaghetti with Garlicky Fresh Tomato Sauce. It's the first time that I've knowingly used butter to cook in a long time. Actually, it was a butter/olive oil combo.

The spaghetti was very tasty and I do believe that I moaned a couple of times. Supposedly, you come out on top when you cook at home. Pretty sure that what I made is better than Sketti... Loved the taste that the wine provided. Am I the only one that uses cooking wine when a recipe calls for wine? Looking forward to delving deeper into Bittman's book.

Was very happy to find my Stretch Max DVD since I have a wicked (less now) tweak in my shoulder blade. The 'Fugee asked if the tweak was my old "friend" and I said No, it's a new one.

The Icing and... The Woman Who Gained Weight

The promise of a wintry mix and a two hour end-of-day meeting on Friday sent me in the direction of home and not to the FriYAY! yoga class that I've been going to. I haz regrets...

The other day my mother told me about some woman that she'd seen on the news who exercised and dieted all the time and was unhappy. The woman finally stopped dieting. At 200 pounds, the woman is now happy.

It's kind of funny that my mother told me about this story. I thought she'd seen it on the world news but couldn't find it. Also couldn't find the story on the local news. Maybe she made it up? Just kidding.

Lately, I've been saying no less. I had put the kibosh on cupcakes because they are definitely high up on the kryptonite list.

My supervisor left a mini raspberry cupcake from one of my favorite places, Sweet Art, on my desk Friday and I ate it then restrained myself from running my finger around the box to collect the rest of the icing.

When I think about my mother, I don't ever remember her being overweight and she eats what she wants: cake, hot water cornbread, whole eggs etc. Guess that's what you call eating in moderation.

I think I might need a Rumspringa from food hypervigilance...

And, of course, I need to remind myself to embrace my body's present moment...

Did you see the article by Oliver Sacks? Like so many, I am moved and inspired by his candor and attitude.

One of my favorite lines:

There is no time for anything inessential.

So Good, So Cold

Thought long and hard about hitting the pool yesterday because I feel fragile after a two week plus bout with the uncommon cold. Had to remind myself that you don't get a cold because it's cold and, so, I hit the pool after a two week absence.

It felt so good.

Good to see the husband and wife lifeguards, the Russian woman with back pain, the man who gets in lane one and the mother of the little one who takes lessons. Hello...

No climbing today. Didn't venture outdoors after work. Too cold...

Got more officewarming gifts. My office is starting to look tropical. Love the terranium. All of these plants are going to force me to learn more about, well, plants.

Scrubbing...

I  tell myself not to get stuck in a rut but I haven't done Kenpo X in ages and for a silly reason. My old DVD player is not responsive to the remote control and I don't really care for Kenpo X's warm-up which is interesting because it's a yoga-based warm-up and I like yoga -- a lot.

Told myself to get over myself and stop wasting time and I did the Kenpo X warm-up and it didn't rub me the wrong way which reminds me of that quote:

Your assumptions are your windows on the world. Scrub them off every once in a while, or the light won't come in.

Without Constrictions

Thought about my grandmother as my eyes lingered on cloves of garlic on the table. My grandmother was an advocate of garlic tea for colds. I'm about to go there. This cold that I have is playing an Ashford and Simpson tune -- it seems to hang on. Being under the weather has definitely been a good reminder of how nice it feels to walk around on a regular basis without constrictions.

Went to Zumba this morning and wasn't feeling it.

Later on, met up with Alison and her family plus Gloria and her friend, Little Buddha, to watch "Sponge Bob Out of Water" but I could tell by the parking lot that the movie was sold out. Alison's son gave us Valentine's Day cards. Too cute.

Alison Inc. and Gloria stayed for the next show but I headed to a mall that I rarely go to. Wore myself out at J.C. Penney trying on clothes. Spent $33 on two tops and a pair of trousers. Wanted to check out other stores in the mall but I was knackered.

Better

Feeling much better but not 100%.

Because my voice is still distorted, I've been advised to drink camel milk and a ginger honey combo. I would try everyone's suggestions but since my throat is not sore, I'm just going to ride it out.

Took the day off because I am close to the maximum amount of vacation that I can accrue and I took today off because it's my mother's birthday. Kind of funny, though, because she made several appointments...

Headed to an auto place to finally get an oil change. The wait was two hours but didn't know when I'd have an opportunity to get maintenance done on my car again so I hunkered down. Went to have coffee at a nearby Target and also shopped.

When I went back to the auto place, wondered why they weren't sharing the WiFi code until I looked at the wall. The code had been right in front of my face.

The technician told me that my third brake light was out as well as a headlight. Let him change the brake light but not the headlight because they wanted $42 to change it. I've changed it before and it's not really out. The light burns out fast for some reason and is dim so I do need to change it. I appreciate them checking because the cops in the 'Fugee's neighborhood are always trying, in the words of Chamillionaire, to catch you ridin' dirty. They've stopped me before because my license plate light was out...

Also stopped by World Market, Trader Joe's, Lane Bryant, Chipotle and the library where I picked up Mark Bittman's latest book. Had no clue that it's 1,000 plus pages; it's a good thing that I do strength training.

Rested

I used to work on a literary journal and one of the guys who used to work with me came to pick up some old issues (and VHS tapes) that I've been storing at my house.

Had the VHS tapes mixed in with my own. Wait, VHS. Tapes of TV shows and movies that are all accessible on DVD. I remember the professional organizer (years ago) telling me to take a look at outdated media. Guess I forgot. Unfortunately, there are not many places that recycle VHS tapes.

In other news, my laryngitis is no longer acute.

Stayed put for most of the weekend and could tell the difference this morning because I felt rested.

It was a gorgeous weekend. Aired out my bedroom and several other rooms. Unintentionally aired out my car overnight.

And the air in my office is lovely thanks to this officewarming gift.

Without The Concert

The Pink Unicorn Leggings

"Did you have a concert?" One of my colleagues asked.

I have acute laryngitis without the concert. The same colleague groaned in disappointment when she realized that I was growing my hair. She always dug my closely cropped cut and she made me miss the style too.

Haven't had coffee in almost three days...

Went to yoga on Friday and it felt so good to be on my mat. Everything was okay until right before Namaste and I had a coughing fit.

Went to Zumba today and did much better than expected. Loved Alisha's unicorn leggings. Generally, I wonder what mean person created leggings but Alisha (instructor) looked very lively in her pair.

Three Whole Days

My plan was to go to work at 12:30 but I didn't really wake up until 11:30 and I didn't think that I'd be able to sit in the upright position for long. Decided that I didn't need to be a hero and threw in the towel. A silent hero, I should add, because I barely have a voice.

The first food that I touched was an orange at 1:00 p.m. Guess my body is busy with its complex response to cooties and isn't craving food.

Spilled almost an entire cup of hot green tea on me barely missing my Fitbit and tablet. Material things aside, it was a painful incident but no serious burns.

I have not exercised in three days -- the longest that I've gone without exercising in a long time.

Got a hand-written note from the saleslady at Talbots today. Also got my new swimsuit. Yay and thanks to my swimsuit benefactor.

Re: Talbots, Alison told me that they were having a sale. I went to the most frou-frou of frou-frou malls. Last time that I was at the frou-frou mall was to see The Kite Runner when it came out.

Also went to JC Penney after yoga on Sunday and finally found a black pair of pants that I've been needing. Wish that I'd gone to Penney first but I'm not returning the Talbots stuff because it's been a long time since I've refreshed my wardrobe.

I also bought a second pair of pants, two Liz C tops and Nike. I got one top for $4 dollars -- not something I would normally buy because of the really short sleeves but it will look nice under a blazer and, for four dollars, I couldn't leave it.

I have pictures but something's wrong with my computer. :(  Can't complain too much since I'm typing on this tablet that my cousin Chiquita gave to me.

Yes, it is...

For One Thing

No swimming yesterday.

No climbing today.

Not sure how I made it through the afternoon at work. I've set a record for colds in the last couple of months.

Came home and crawled into bed but stayed awake long enough to drop tears over the Nadia Lopez story on the evening news. Lopez was on the verge of quitting until she saw one of her students featured on the Humans of New York blog. Everything after that is a blur until 7:30 p.m.

Hit acupressure points last night in order to get relief from congestion. It worked. Placebo?

According to the world wide web, I missed the window of opportunity for zinc.

At any rate, hope this situation runs its course soon because, for one thing, my nose is sore.

'Fugee, thanks for doing energy work...

Back to the green tea.

The Good Yogi

The month of free yoga is over.

It was an interesting gift.

Wondered if I should have volunteered to help and Rosie, colleague and yoga buddy, asked if donations were being taken and the owner said No -- to just come to class or buy a class card after January.

When I looked at the prices, they were reasonable compared to other studios but I also learned that the prices would go up in February. Surprise.

It's also surprising when I see yoga studios on group coupon sites but maybe I am surprised to easily.

When I went to purchase a class card, got surprised again because I forgot that the price for class cards are before tax and when I saw the total cost of the class card, it brought up old feelings about the cost of yoga and it's why I've never gotten rid of my gym membership even though some yoga studios have marketing slogans like Tired of gym yoga?

I do know what they mean by gym yoga. I've had a substitute teacher who called out poses like it was a Bingo event. I also know that gyms put pressure on all teachers to substitute so that someone who might not feel comfortable teaching yoga might do it anyway to please a fitness coordinator. However, there are really good yoga teachers who work at gyms...

Purchased a 15 class card and was, again, surprised...to see the Spafinder logo. About two years ago, I gave my friend Lori something and she wanted to barter with me and gave me a Spa Finder card that someone had given her.

Had to turn my bedroom upside down but I found the $50 dollar card. Happy dance...

When one of my other colleagues and I discussed yoga, she said that the price of the class was worth the hour of peace.

I'll be a good yogi for now and stay in the moment. I'll cross the class card bridge when I get to it...