You or Me

Because of the forecast, decided not to make my usual Sunday afternoon trek to Illinois.

At some point, woke up in the wee hours of the morning and saw a text message from work that we'd be opening on a delayed schedule. Quickly turned my regular alarm off and edited another one for a different wake up time. What an unexpected gift.

My coworker messaged me to say that she didn't feel comfortable driving and almost immediately messaged me to say that we were actually closed as she had spotted the message on Facebook.

There was some type of glitch with the alert system and after checking the automated message decided to check my work emails and communicated with the people that I needed to and then I shut down all work stuff...

With my extra time, I cleaned out the fish tank, exercised, read and, otherwise, chilled out. Couldn't believe how sore I was from the 10 minutes of kickboxing which makes me feel like my workout regime was in need of shaking up.

Took another bubble bath tonight and did more yoga. Reached out to a friend to tell her that one of my cousins and an aunt are off tomorrow and she said, "Yeah, I don't think that's going to be you or me tomorrow."

#BreadMilkPanic

Bread Shelves at TJ's Last Night

Turned down an invitation by Jessica to climb yesterday. I told her that the only thing I wanted to do was curl up in the fetal position.

Got an email from Patti who wanted to rendezvous at the climbing gym. What she really wanted was to avoid cleaning and walking outside. Then Patti got cheesy. I haven't seen you since last year, she wrote. I didn't particularly feel like working out at home so I went and, bonus, Jessica a.k.a. The Patient Climber was there...

Intended to go to yoga around 5 but, apparently, I have become the Queen of Naps or maybe climbing just kicked my ass or maybe I'd had my fill of yoga since I went to a class that I don't usually go to on Thursday.

After resting, I checked into Twitter. Some pretty funny stuff about the weather advisory. Someone tweeted that St. Louis will be canceled tomorrow. Also saw the hashtag #snOMGstl and someone who is hoping that it will just be #SnowMeh.

Most dangerous place in #STL right now? Between you and last loaf of bread on the shelf at grocery store! #BreadMilkPanic
— Debbie Monterrey (@DebbieMonterrey) January 4, 2014

It was so balmy today it's hard to believe that the hammer is going to come down.


What kind of staples do you get when preparing to hunker down?

S Words

Gave climbing a try even though my hand sore is still a little sore. It went well but I didn't push it.

Me: I saw the move that you did where I always get stuck but I don't think I can manage it because you're taller than me.

Patti: You're so full of shit.

Me: I don't think that I've ever heard you say that word before.

Patti: Smiling and looking at me like get on up there.

I mimicked Patti's moved and climbed The Letter Eye better than I've ever climbed it before.

Me: I need to climb like you more often.

* * *

I thought we were finished with snow but apparently not.







***
Oh yeah, thanks to Jessica for an amazing hand massage. Jessica was like relax your arm; I get that a lot...

Invisible Force Shield

When I was a kid, no one took my bike for a tune up. No matter, I dropped my bike off on Saturday to get one because I wanted to be ready to roll this week. The bike was ready on Monday but I had no desire to pick it up because we got snow and it was a slushy mess.

The snow was gone by Tuesday so I went by the bike shop. Something looked off about my bike but I took it out and loaded it. I should have followed my first mind because when I tried to take it for a test spin, I discovered that the seat had been adjusted way too high. I got so mad. I started to look for some tools, threw a paperback book against the wall, longed for something to smash and headed out for a walk. When I returned, I loaded my bike and headed back to the shop because I knew it would take them a few minutes to do what would take me forever.

This guy adjusted my bike and I rode around in the shop for a bit and almost wiped out a red Specialized bike. The seat seemed better but when I went for a ride today, dismounting was quite interesting. I'll try to adjust it myself this time. I was wiped out after my bike ride. It's amazing how quickly you get out of shape for a particular exercise. I enjoyed my ride though.

On another note, my office mate is sick again. Last time, she had to take a round of antibiotics to kill her cooties. When she told me, I pulled an invisible force shield around me as I remembered the chills that I had a few weeks ago...

The Kinks Worked Themselves Out

I had plans to go swimming but just looking at the snow on the ground made me shiver. Don't believe the hype about those indoor pools being heated.

The snow made me wonder if I should stay at home or go.

I hit the gym around 7:20 or so and decided to hop on the StairMaster which is not the most logical choice after you've done back-to-back days of rock climbing. My hip flexors protested but the kinks worked themselves out after about five minutes.

My goal was 45 minutes and whenever I have a StairMaster goal like that, I hone in on this yellow poster directly in my line of vision:

Ask Us How To Enhance Your Goals

I focus on that poster the way I pick an item to focus on when I'm doing the tree pose. I like how this cross-training thing works.

But even with my focus, I started to buckle with about 13 minutes left. I have a new MP3 player and it has a Go List, a very appropriate title methinks.


A few songs on my go list:

Bad, Michael Jackson
Super Bad, James Brown
World, Hold On, Bob Sinclair

By this time, I'm telling myself all manner of things. I'm bad, hold on. Yadda Yadda Yaddda.

My car was pretty much clear of snow when I went into the gym and here's what it accumulated while I was working out.



And here's a little video that I took at the world's longest stoplight.



My stats:

490 calories, allegedly burned
180 floors, allegedly climbed
Level 7, Highest (Average 5)
Total Time, 60 minutes

No wonder I popped my head as I was getting into my car.

Gym Trifecta

People like to say that April snow is a possibility and, even though it's not April, it's still odd to see snow since trees and shrubs are in bloom.

I went to the gym today and I had lots of energy. I wanted to get on an AMT but one was broken and the rest were taken. I jumped on an elliptical trainer for 30 minutes then headed to a bike, a rare choice for me. To make it a nice even hour, I hopped on a treadmill for 12 minutes (including the cool down). I chose the variety mode which I ended up enjoying because it had to cycle through that mode in seven minutes. So, I went from a 4% incline to a 13% incline in the span of four minutes. It was pretty cool. I'm definitely going to do a short stint in variety mode again.

Out of Synch and Sluggish

I checked my voicemail again to see if we would have a delayed start time at work or something even better -- a day off. Well, it didn't happen. So, after oatmeal and coffee, I headed out to shovel more snow off the sidewalk and to go at my car with a broom since there was too much snow for a regular snow brush. I don't know why I ever joined a fitness club because all one really needs is a shovel in the winter, a rake in the fall and a lawn mower in the summer. I felt like I had quite the workout and I hadn't even traveled anywhere.

I haven't had to maneuver my car out of the snow in quite awhile. The snow plow barreled down the street and just packed my little car in.

While I was making a path in the snow, I felt a presence at my feet. A little white frou-frou dog had joined me. Once I spotted him, he took off although he did come back many times. "Frou-Frou" was so freakin' cute and he looked like he was having the time of his life frolicking through the snow but I wondered about his brains when he went and sat down in the middle of the street. Lucky for him, it was a snow day and the little traffic on the road was moving slow.

I checked to see if The "Wreck" Center might be on a snow schedule but they weren't so I headed off to swim after work. Nick wanted to know what I was doing there with six inches of snow on the ground. It was just Nick and me and with him in his wooden, green lifeguard chair with his red rescue board, Someone to Watch Over Me started going through my head.

Nick was definitely in a better mood today because he was singing nonstop. I think he might have been happy because he earned some extra money clearing off sidewalks and such.

About six laps into my workout, the front crawler appeared. I have never seen her resort to any other stroke. Why would she though? She looks so at ease doing the front crawl. Of course, I am captivated because it's the stroke that eludes me.

In general, I struggled today. I felt out of synch. And, now, I feel sluggish. I'm hoping that I'll get my groove back any moment now. Chapter 17 in Total Immersion: The Revolutionary Way to Swim Better, Faster and Easier is titled Your Friends Are Waiting ("Whom Can I Swim With? And Where?"). It's such a good question. I almost feel like if my partner-in-crime had been present, swimming might not have felt like such a task.

Snow Day Workout

I checked my work voicemail hoping that we would be closed. There was a chance since St. Louis Public Schools canceled and they hardly ever close. No such luck. My place of work was open for business. However, we did get a two hour parole.

Once paroled, I had a bonus cup of coffee and watched "Oprah." Dr. Oz was giving support and advice to overweight teens and talking about nutrition. I then cooked some vegetarian chili. If you're like my Aunt Leatha, I know what you're thinking; it's not a meal unless there's some meat on the table but I really like this recipe:

http://www.muirglen.com/Recipes/RecipeView.aspx?RecipeId=21030&CategoryId=69

I rinsed, chopped and diced and put everything in the pot then I headed to the basement to find my wrist weights which took some time because I haven't worked out at home in awhile. Suze Orman is right about being disorganized. It costs you money among other things.

I finally located my weights and decided to exercise by committee. I did ten minutes of Fat Burning Kickboxing Workout for Dummies, ten minutes of Butt and Thigh Blaster from 10 Minute Solution: Tone Trouble Zones! and, for a finale, I did ten minutes of Arms and Shoulders from 10 Minute Solution: Fitness Ball Workouts. I was wondering if I would be able to pick up from where I left off. I strapped on my wrist weights to accompany my five pound dumbbells. For the most part, I was able to lift eight pounds during the various arm and shoulder exercises but I definitely struggled with the lateral raises. I'm glad that I resorted to my DVDs since you should vary your exercise routine anyway. Not only did I miss the fitness ball, I also missed some of the nice stretching segments in those videos because there's nothing more satisfying than a good stretch session.

After I worked out, I quickly shoveled some snow off the immediate walkway then came inside to have some nice warm chili. It was so good to have a few extra hours in the day.

Swimming and the Economy

The "Wreck" Center has been closed for a week. They had to drain the pool to measure and/or replace the drain cover to be in compliance with the new federal law.

When I got there, the locker room was unopened. Am I living Groundhog Day or what? I went to the office and Nick, the lifeguard, said that he would open the door. Nick has a new 'do or, rather, a new hair color -- kind of strawberry blond. Nick, who likes to sing and shake his booty, was quite subdued. He didn't work while the pool was closed and they cut, not only his hours, but Justin's hours as well. Apparently, a city audit was conducted and various facilities were affected.

After Nick opened the locker room, I got swim-ready and headed toward the pool. I saw the "front crawler" by the gate. The front crawler said that the woman said it would be a few minutes. It was more than a few minutes and I was starting to feel like I had unwittingly been dropped into a "Behind Bars" reality show. Eventually, we were released but Nick told us that we couldn't get into the pool because the chlorine level was elevated. He tested the water again and the chlorine was still high. Finally, the supervisor returned with a caveat; we could get in if we were willing to live with possible irritated skin and a faded swimsuit. The front crawler and I looked at each other, shrugged and got in. We had lost about half an hour waiting but I gained something else -- water in my ears. It felt so good when the water finally seeped out.

As I was waiting to get into the water, I realized how much I missed The "Wreck" Center. Built in 1967, it has a charm of its own. Who needs a modern recreation center?

After swimming, I headed to the store just in case the back-end of the four to eight inches of predicted snow arrived. I got some bananas plus ingredients for vegetarian chili. I paid $1.33 per can for some tomatoes with no salt added. Next time, I will stock up on low sodium tomatoes when they are on sale.

If it snows, like the days of old, I'm set for a few days:

Bananas

Chocolate-Covered Peppermint Sticks

Coffee

Kiwi

Oatmeal

Salsa

Vegetarian Chili

Veggie Chips

P.S. The National Body Challenge and Bally's have extended the time to redeem the 30 day pass to Bally's:

Don't pass on the pass!!

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