And that concludes my eating for the day…
It is 9:20 AM, Central Time, US, and I am not proud to say that I just ate entirely too much food from McDonald’s because I am weak and I suck.
I have been resisting all week, trying to stay true to my new religion, Extreme Fat Smash; and my new God, Dr. Ian K. Smith. Although I could have used a little salvation at the drive thru about an hour ago.
I couldn’t get my kids to school fast enough so I could get over there. There was no Dr. Smith standing in the window of the Richton Park, McDonald’s, over by the highway, crossing his arms and shaking his head, shaming me into sulking away from the fast food and over to the gym. (I avoid the McD that is right next to the gym because, you know, the gym is right there…too much guilt if I actually see the place…)
Anyway, I ate alot, and after totaling up the calories, that’s pretty much it for me today.
So, water and coffee, maybe one of those popsicles in the plastic if I’m really dying. Otherwise, long road ahead. Except that the sound of gravel under the tires is really is my grumbling stomach. Oh boo hoo…I did it to myself. Music keeps my mind busy and my hands typing. So here is the list for the day: “Long Road Ahead“
It’s about roads and travel and highways and freeways…it came to me last night after looking for songs with “Direction“.
The ways to get there can get there own. Say that five times fast.
Raise a glass (of water) and listen up! List is below. Ha.
Day 4 / Extreme Fat Smash / Again.
This should be an easy day though…after last night and the trophy loss–basketball defeat—we took my son to Taco Bell. It fixes everything. At least for him it does. Such an innocent child….
Anyway, it’s an easy day. Yogurt/fruit. Health shake or bar. Salad w/egg. Then a veggie/turkey burger for dinner. 40 minutes of Cardio. Done.
Still hungry, but still want to be healthy. I have races to run.
So here, in a burst of over-enthusiasm, TWO playlists!:
“Rainy Days“ …’cause it just won’t stop, and my lawn is about to float away…
AND
“Directional Plays” …everywhere at once when you need to stay…
Safe For Now
Shew…made it. It is now 11 am. Too late to go to McDonald’s and get those delicious Sausage Breakfast Burritos, with a hash brown on the side and their so-so coffee. Extra packets of Hot Picante sauce…squeeze…bite…squeeze…bite….I know I’ve said it before, but I really love that sauce they give you with those burritos. I have been sitting here, talking myself out of driving over there for 2 hours!
Burning philosophy question of the day: Do I really “want” the burrito or do I just need something to transport the Picante sauce to my stomach? Perhaps a concrete answer can be attained…19 hours from now…whence, I will go to the McDonald’s and put it to the test. For science.
No, no, no. I had yogurt with a bit of granola and some pretzels with a Laughing Cow Cheese Triangle—actually a really product. It is one of those things that you don’t believe will actually taste good, but does. I spend money on them often. Even my kids like them. Can’t fall off the Extreme Fat Smash wagon after one day. That would be weak. The exercise part though…
What? It is rainy. Again. Cold. Again. Ridiculous. I could run around outside but I don’t want to lower my immunity defenses, and the gym is right next door to the McD’s. So you see? Nothing I can do.
After 11 now, ok, forgot. And it looks like the sun is trying to come out and harass me.
I didn’t have anything else to say at this moment, I just wanted to share my struggle with resisting McDonald’s.
And FYI for the coffee: Depends on what you like. Here’s my breakdown if it helps: Starting from BLACK. I don’t add stuff so this is pre-whatever you put in:
McDonald’s: Kind of plain, watery, with a slight cardboardy taste that they can’t seem to get rid of despite the “gourmet” label.
Dunkin’: Almost everyone’s fav. But I find it not as strong and actually pretty sweet. It has a light flavor that goes really good on the train.
Starbuck’s: Strong. Can taste groundy at times and really bitter. It prob depends on where you go, but if you want to move then this is the one for you.
7-11: Actually not bad. Nice and smooth. Not too weak or overly flavored. But they have ALOT of pots sitting on their coffee island, and it can be hard to tell which is which. I once accidentally got Irish Coffee Flavor. Smelled weird, but the taste was fine. Still, I prefer the plain.
Burger King: My favorite by far! Seriously. The BK Big Joe. It is the best of all the fast places. It has snappy adverts too. But I would go there above all the places if choice is given. Good price too. It’s strong and bold. With that “coffee” flavor that is not sweet or watery or bitter or cup tasting. It is noticeably different tasting from the others. If you have it once, you’ll want it again. And I swear, every time I have it I always say, “”Their coffee is so good. BK has the best!” But no one in my life cares anymore.
So try them and let me know what you think. Or point out someplace I didn’t put down. The above are the places that I go to. (I didn’t include Caribou because we don’t have one close enough for it to be an issue)
Have a great morning!
Back on the Fat Wagon
And it feels so good…
No, not really. Well, not that bad. Extreme Fat Smash is an awesome plan. Dr. Ian K. Smith is pretty straightforward and the plan is easy to insert into your life. Food planning and exercise. If you don’t exercise already it might be difficult to start but once you do the payoff is tremendous! I’ve talked about it for awhile; Got thru the first 2 weeks but was sidelined by events and fast food. But now is a good time, no distractions until June or so….party wise anyway. Get the book from the library first, then check it out on Amazon where you can buy it for 3 bucks. Worth the money. Give it a go and let me know.
It’s raining here now, but it was nice earlier.
6 am: Stevie and I did an hour of Jillian Michaels (Biggest Loser Trainer) workout—for beginners—but it’s also good for those who can do a little more. You can modify it with weights and more advanced exercise positions. I’m aiming for her arms by July. Then in the spirit of more healthy lifestyle choices, I went out to the forest preserve and ran an easy 4.6 miles. Took less than hour in some pretty high winds. I love how when you get out into the open field areas you can barely move forward. More calories burned! And a double workout! Technically, tomorrow is double day, but what the heck…I was going to do it tomorrow too anyway.
I’m finishing up my coffee right now and trying not to think about all those snack chips we have left over from the business fair. Delicious Frito-Lay Chili Cheese Corn Chips. MMmmm. So tasty. You could say I am a little hungry…but I’m sure the brown rice and beans for dinner will be quite filling. Then I’ll just go to bed.
No. I can tough it out. It’s just food. I went out and bought batteries for the scale and then I crazily weighed myself today. It’s not good. The numbers are wrong or something. I think the scale needs like, a two week waiting period before it weighs correctly again after you put in fresh batteries. I’m pretty sure that’s what it said on the box.
I used my Warrior playlist. Part 1 Part 2 It’s still so good; Even if I have to say so myself. You can find it under Music Lists. Or use my handy calendar widget. It really is a cool little feature. (Click on April 6, 2009 ) But I need a new one for today. Thinking about the last few days and the thoughts I’ve committed to internet.., I’ve already done hungry and sunny and fighting and rainy. I was kind of thinking sad or death. I know that isn’t inspiring so much, but it was on my list of ideas and now seems like as good a time as any. Surprisingly, the songs themselves are not all that literally “depressing”. Sadness and death are two very different subjects.
No fanfare here. List Title: “Death Comes Down“
Sunday Night and I have been slacking off…
No cool words. No quotes. No poetry. No movies. No exercise. No healthy foods. Not even any money! Not even ONE stinking penny!
Although if you count yogurt mixed with granola as healthy then I did do that. I like to let it get kind of mushy and then eat it. It gets a strange doughy texture that I find quite appetizing with the cool, sweet yogurt taste…but whatever.
Everyone is asleep and I want to just re-cap the weekend and put up some words.
Saturday: Final week of bowling for the kids! Yeah! They got 4th place for team rank. Not bad for only having 3 bowlers out of five that actually show up, and only playing half the season! I forgot to take the pics of the trophies but I’ll do that tomorrow. They got free pizza and soda and played cosmic bowling for 1½ hours. What more could you want in a league??
After that we drove straight to their very best friends in the world where they were spending the night. Daycare buds from back in the day. Primary school. A brother-sister-sister combo. Picked mine up Sunday afternoon. We see them every few months. Switch off houses to spend the night. Every time they separate at the end of the weekend, it’s like a break-up.
For the adults left behind: myself and the boyfriend, this is what we did:
He went to play racquetball and eat sushi with his friends. I took the kids to bowling and their friends house.
He came home and put floor trim/ base board up around my kitchen! I watched! Finally. 10 years living in this house with the memory of trim…and it took like, 2 hours, tops. It looks so good. Tomorrow I’ll throw some paint on the angle cuts and kitchen complete! You know, for now. Still needs a counter top that fits correctly and new windows and new paint…but one decade at a time people!
Then we went out and got food.
Back home again and watched a movie.
Netflix is nice to have but those red envelopes are like small pieces of movie pressure. You want to get the most for your money–the most movie turnover per month, but you feel obligated to actually watch one to return one. And sometimes there just isn’t time. But that red envelope sits there, accusing, making you feel like you aren’t using your free time wisely enough. We tried to add movies to our list that we have missed over the past 30 years. Or even last year. Like good movies, not just comedy fluff or mindless entertainment. Serious movies. Drama.
But that means when they come in the mail you HAVE to watch them.
So, break out the alcohol. Vodka with Mike’s Pomegranate. Last one though, so I have to plan ahead. I take Stevie’s leftover Strawberry Fruitista Freeze (from Taco Bell) and some of her leftover popsicles from the business fair, out of the freezer. If I am going to add them to vodka they are going to have to melt a little. The strawberry is fine, but which pops to use? I settle on 2 pinks, a purple and a blue. That flavor combo shouldn’t be too gross. But what does that say about me? Problem, anyone?; that I would melt down a slush drink and popsicles because I don’t have anything else to mix with? Drinking straight vodka is just tacky.
Anyway. The movie is No Country For Old Men. Now I know people are going to disagree with me, but I thought the ending was sucky. Unfinished business. It was like Raising Arizona. Except Raising Arizona was good. That dreamy-dream-telling ending felt like the best solution in a discussion on how to end the movie because no one could figure out how to actually end the movie. I checked too. Both movies: Coen Brothers.
Now I’m sure I missed some symbolism or bigger message about life and all that, but still…the movie was intense and well done. I was holding my breath alot. I like the way everyone talked so easy, southern and country. Tommy Lee Jones is always good. Scary concept being chased by someone who will never stop and who will kill anybody in his path and your loved ones just to make a point. But the end. After Woody showed up I was getting a little nervous. Everybody dead in the end–presumably–except Javier and Tommy. Maybe. One walks off, one retires. Is it just a slice of a certain kind of life and that’s all it is? Smarter folks than me can argue that. Maybe I should get the book.
Next up: Before the Devil Knows You’re Dead. Not sure when…soon. Got to get it back so we can get something lighthearted like Bolt!
After movie time, it was back to TV. Charlie Harper and family. Season 3. Got my vodka mixed with Fruitista and pink popsicle juice (not as disgusting as you would think) and it’s time to play: We drink when Charlie drinks! (See post last weekend–April 19) I am going to be so sad when we are all caught up on this series.
Watched a few episodes. Finished my vodpop. Found a Diet Coke in the back corner, bottom shelf of the fridge. Holy Harper! Back in Bizness. Luckily the boyfriend can drink straight rum so I don’t have to share. Pro. I like vodka though so…Poured it up with the Coke. Watched more. Drank more. Fell off the couch and into bed. An hour later I was asleep. I think I am in love with Charlie Harper. (I am also simultaneously in love with Denis Leary, but that’s a whole other series.)
Sunday: Boyfriend goes to play racquetball. I stay home and drink coffee. Shower. De-hair-ify. Need to stay smooth for the summer. 80+ on Saturday. 70+ today. Need to break out the short pants. Need to stay stubble free.
Boyfriend comes back home. We discuss my hair removal techniques up close and personal, then pack it in and go get the kids.
To distract from the extraction, we are taking them to the pet store to buy some feeder fish. That’s goldfish of varying sizes that you purchase with the express intent to feed them to other bigger fish. 24 smalls were purchased and let loose in a tank with 4 Oscars (had 2 tigers/ bought 2 albinos today to replace the deceased ones from a few weeks back). Time of release was approx. 5 pm.
Kids showered, got re-dressed, took them to Applebees, and came home. Goldfish left in tank upon arrival at 9:30 pm: exactly…one. By morning, probably none. Those Oscar bellies are fat. Just like my kids bellies. They ate everything. stuffed to the grill, so they say. This was our last night of out eating. Back to the strict program in the morning. Modified for them, Hell for us. I am going to be SO hungry. And I have to run too. Exercise anyway—something. I forgot I have a 5K in May. Then the Warrior Dash. And possibly the Half-Marathon. Possibly. I’m going to see if I can run every day for distance and decide later in the month. 13 minute pace MUST be maintained or you have to get off the track. Picked up by the truck that picks up the ones who can’t keep up. I don’t want it to be me. 13 minute miles sounds easy until you have to keep running them over and over again. And I am NOT a professional athlete. I just do it for fun and to fit in the cup. (See post on April 10/Good Morning Weekenders, for explanation).
So that’s it for tonight. Boyfriend just strolled thru to get some water and maybe I better go to sleep myself. I’ll have words and quotes and playlists galore in a few short hours. Back on track at 5am.
Sleep sweet.
Thursday Afternoon and life is just beautiful…
It really is.
The temp is 62°. The sun is shining. I ran a quick 4 miles earlier, outside at the Forest Preserve, listening to my Warrior Music List (Warrior Dash training) and just feeling happy. Only people that live in climates that go from cold to hot and back again can really understand the joy you feel when the weather breaks. And lucky for us it happens really often in Springtime in this part of the country! It was 35° steady a week ago. It was rainy and 40 degrees just 2 days ago. Then it was clear and 45 degrees just yesterday. Today, sunny and 60. Tomorrow is supposed to be 70+!! Next week? Who knows? Probably back in the 40’s. Then back in the 70’s. It is a constant rollercoaster of bad/good weather. And you can count yourself extra lucky if you don’t catch pneumonia by summer! That’s when it will be 90 and everyone is begging for the cold again. So unsatisfied we are.
But, back to the happy. I ran, and I’m done for the day, thank goodness. Now I can concentrate on dinner. Still off the strict-diet wagon, but not all that bad. Luckily my scale ran out of batteries and I don’t know what the damage really is. I still fit in my small jeans so I guess that’s ok. Kids are still gone, but they have a good daddy so I know they’re happy. And the weather in Kentucky is mostly nice all the time!
Went to the old job yesterday to see the people before they have to leave the premises. Kind of sad really. Took the train to the city. Chicago. Over an hour–don’t miss that. Walked another 20 minutes to the Merchandise Mart–housing the company–it was a bit chilly and windy as it always is–didn’t really miss that either.
I actually thought I would take some pictures, because I never do. I just slogged off every day back and forth barely even looking around ya know? Just avoiding the homeless and trying not to get in the middle of any altercations they would be having amongst themselves. Funny story once: a man and woman were fighting over a rolled up umbrella. On the corner of a busy street at 8 in the morning. It wasn’t even raining. And there wasn’t anything else around. No other people, none of their stuff…it’s like they were just walking along together when they decided to start fighting over that umbrella. Just both of them holding onto it, pulling it back and forth between them, both shouting, “Call the Po-lice! Call the Po-lice!” Cross the street, don’t look back.
Anyway, I pull out the camera. It wasn’t really sunny yet, so that’s always better I think for pictures, when, “Crack!” I drop the damn camera right onto the ground. Lens first. Broken. Just like that. Had it for almost 2 years—so that’s pretty good actually. I fiddle around with it on the sidewalk and manage to get the zoom lens things out and back in, although not as easy and neat like BEFORE it was broke. It keeps turning off. I finally get it to come on, open and even take 3 pictures, but now I feel bad and kind of sad that I broke it, so I just put it away. I didn’t even tell the boyfriend until much later, like much later…after 8 pm and vodka…no, he was fine. It was his present and all–just a point and shoot–not anything REALLY fancy, but now I have to get him a new one. I’ll post the picture I took and you can see. It still works. I figure I can use it or the kids can. Now we don’t have to worry about them breaking it. Ha! Thank you, ME.
Anyway, really off track here…all my old friends seem ok. Sad but surviving. Everybody has the summer off so that’s kind of a good thing! And we can all find jobs together! School is an option being thrown around alot. I highly recommend it. Never too late! So I hung out all day, picked up some cd’s and a mini-chattering-teeth wind up toy and called it a day.
I’ll go back with the kids so we can say goodbye proper. I’ve been bringing them since they were in carriers and they’ll want to see the place and the people they know, one more time before everyone scatters. It really is like a second family (19 years put in for me) and I’m not very sentimental. But it felt like a funeral.
After that, I phoned my lawyer friend and walked over to her offices. Swanky. First time in all the time we’ve been downtown together. That’s funny isn’t it? Then we hustled it to the train—Pit-Stop for StarBux(downtown Starbux)–and rode home.
Went to Portillo’s with the BF, picked up 2½ Men/Season 2 and some chocolate cake and made it a night. Got up this morning to the sing-song call of the cardinals, drank coffee, paid bills and did dishes and laundry until it was time to run. You know the rest. Happy.
FYI: My Warrior Music List Part 1 Part 2 really does rock. I highly recommend it. (Check it out in my Music Lists) I used it today–shuffled up–and it worked great!. I could have run for another ½ mile–ha. I been slacking off on the lists. I’ll get back into it. Got some new music to peruse so we’ll see what I can come up with.
Anyway, wherever you are, enjoy the evening. Hope the weather is fine for whatever you want to do.
It’s almost the weekend! Cheers!
Tuesday in the city…
It’s raining. It started early Monday morning. All day. All night. Grey and cool. The kids are on Spring Break and gone. They are in Kentucky with their dad. I dropped them off Sunday night and they left Monday morning. Boyfriend and I stayed in all day, just watching tv and playing computer games. We watched the “greatest film of all time”, Citizen Kane. I had seen it in high school for some class that I can’t remember. All the cinematic shadowing and camera angles. The ceilings. Rosebud. The boyfriend never saw it. I did not give away the end. I won’t here either if you never saw it. You should though. See it. At least once. It was interesting. Looked better than I remember. Longer too. It was grainy so many years ago. I figured it must have been on projector when I saw it. Like reel to reel…How the hell old am I anyway??
Anyhow, the day was good. Our new thing is Two and a Half Men. The TV show. We get the DVD’s and watch them all the way thru until we are caught up or done with all the seasons. (We did it with King of Queens. Very funny. We watched all 9 seasons over the span of a few weeks. It’s nice to have something that you know will make you laugh no matter what. Feels good at the end of a crappy day. Or any kind of day really. Drama is highly overrated. I try to avoid them if I can. Makes the boyfriend mad, but hey, I like to laugh not cry.) I had never watched the show (2 ½ Men), but it is really really funny. The kid is so good. I can’t believe what they get away with on this show. Charlie Sheen and Jon Cryer play good brothers. Duckie Forever! (on a side note…my girl had seen Pretty In Pink for the first time a few months ago and she was SO mad that Duckie didn’t end up with Andie—she didn’t like Blane…funny huh? she was so disappointed at the prom ending–gave that one away—sorry!) It’s always nice to have a really good warmup for the week without my kids. I miss them and it’s hard to switch from mom to girlfriend. But the transition was successful and here I am typing about it when I should be doing something productive.
The boyfriend is at work and I should go about trying to earn some money. Also I am supposed to go into the city today…or tomorrow…most likely tomorrow…we’ll see. Going to take the train and I haven’t taken it in about a year now. Don’t miss it. The reason is the company I worked for is shutting down and I want to see my old friends before they are scattered all over the state. It’s been a long, slow slide into the abyss, and I just want to offer some support. www.ripjwt.com if you are interested.
Next up is diet and exercise. Obviously I am one of those people that fall off the wagon for any little reason. Like a long weekend or holiday or laziness or a cold….which I have. Leftover from the children. My head was stuffed and cruddy on Sunday. My throat was sore and scratchy on Monday. And my chest is burning a little with congestion today. I would usually go to the gym or outside and run it off but I don’t want to do that in the 40° rain or on the treadmill where other people might see and hear me coughing and hacking. So, I will sit here and drink hot bevs for right now and wait for it to go away. I tried some cold meds but they didn’t really seem to help. That’s ok. Thanks.
So if I can’t exercise you think I might show a little restraint on the food part. Well, I don’t really want to eat but if I do…it won’t be healthy. Yogurt just doesn’t sound good when you feel bad ya know? Ice Cream does though! Weird isn’t it? Same family, but so different. A nice piece of fruit or a warm toasted slice of thick bread with butter? Gatorade/7-up or hot coffee/tea? Hard boiled egg or chocolate cake? (Remember…it’s also raining here) Nothing goes better with overcast days than bad food, good books, warm blankets and hot drinks.
Which leads me to my next thought. Hard boiled eggs. They are so hard to do just right. Boiled properly to get the shell off easily. Next post is going to be a tip about that. I should send out a poll. Greatest movie ever made and how to make perfect boiled eggs. That goes together. This is some higher level thinking all over these pages.
Cue the music and we’ll call it a day!
Good Morning Weekenders!
For some of you, the weekend started early…and I thought I’d send a post about my coffee paraphernalia. It occurred to me last night after reading some other websites, that maybe I should devote my time to something more worthwhile than posts about the useless things that go on in my life. Who really cares? I don’t know, maybe something will evolve from this and it will be beneficial to someone other than myself. (At least it’s not a bunch of pictures of me, taking pictures of me, in various bathrooms and types of clothing. Haha ) But until that time…here are my three great loves. Coffee, my coffee maker and my coffee holder. (This is just as terrible–an excuse to post a picture of my coffee mug–shameless self-promotion of a different sort anyway, I guess…)
The coffee is cheap, because I used to get really good stuff from work, and I tried to continue to spend the big bucks for small bags after I left but I realized that I’m not really particular on the brand, and I could get more for less. Does drinking just anything resembling coffee make me a lover or just an addict?
The coffee maker is cheap too because we make SO much coffee that the machines keep breaking.
The coffee holder/travel cup is the one I have had for an unknown number of years. I got it at my job a long time ago. (I worked in catering for an ad agency and people were always leaving their mugs and containers behind after they left. I would collect them, save them for a bit to see if they would be claimed, and then eventually keep what was useful and throw out the rest. This is how I got the above travel cup) And it is the best travel mug in the world! Seriously. It holds the warmth for hours and hours. Literally. It can sit in the car, in winter, for the whole day, and still be warm enough to drink without making that cold-coffee face. My boyfriend has spent many dollars and hours trying to find a cup equal in heat retention, with no luck thus far. It’s not even that extraordinary a cup. It says Starbucks on the black rubber band around it, and it seems to be made of stainless steel. The top screws on with a rubber gasket around the rim. Sometimes it seals so well I can’t get the top off until it cools down. And sometimes not even then. It’s obviously some kind of first edition Starbucks travel mug, because I’ve never seen another like it in any of the stores I have visited in the last few years. It is probably made of some kind of dangerous super-conducting metal that is actually killing me very slowly and painlessly.
I feel too attached to this cup–so much so that my boyfriend will not take it with him on trips for fear of losing it and suffering my wrath. Pathetic. For me. I have always wondered what I would do if I ever did lose it. My kids can’t remember a time when I didn’t have it. (Before they were born) And I always imagined that if the suspense of when I would eventually lose it became too unbearable, I would simply chuck it into the Chicago River, aka Harold and Maude, and get on with my life. Forever knowing it was stuck in the mud at the bottom of the Big Cruddy.
But that will not be happening. My children have decided that when I die, my ashes will be stored in this coffee cup. It’s been common knowledge for quite some time, that I will be cremated and they are ok with that. We’ve talked about it, not to scare them, but just in a real life kind of way and the problem wasn’t with the cremation, but what to do after. The cup was the solution. On our last road trip to Florida, they decided, together, that this is what to do with the ashes. That may be a little creepy I guess, but I was kind of proud that they came up with a solution that they can feel good about. Forward thinking you know? And I really like it. It’s fitting. It probably wouldn’t burn with me…so…next best thing! Don’t judge. What do you talk about on a really long drive?
That’s kind of getting off subject here, but it does offer one more reason to stay slim throughout my life: Keep to the program. Have to fit in the cup! It’s not that big ya know!
Today is out though for exercise. (And the food plan too, for that matter) I am heading out to babysit for my sissy so she and the hubby and my BF and son can go to a baseball game tonight. Have fun with that. Me and Stevie will see you on TV. Inside the warm house eating cheap, bad food. Tomorrow and Sunday probably aren’t good either–kids have double bowling, a birthday party, and of course Easter. We celebrate by way of going to my mother’s and eating Deviled eggs (ironic!), cold ham, potato salad and Lamb cake. Don’t be jealous.
Wrapping up…have a great weekend, religious and otherwise.
And for my sis…2 more days to chocolate…GO SOX!
Warrior Dash and all that…
Taking a break from my busy schedule here…no training today. Tired. (yes) Lazy? (little bit) No motivation today. Spent a good portion of my morning (and some afternoon yesterday) attempting to achieve motivation by way of inspirational movies and whatnot. Downloaded Tomb Raider movies…(Angelina)…Wanted (Angelina)…Mr & Mrs Smith (Ang…you get the picture)…onto my portable system for the necessary kick butt, jump kick, kick start….whatever… to better “dashability”. It’s lame and rather sad, I won’t deny it to anyone. I shouldn’t even admit to how MUCH time I have actually devoted to this endeavor. But there it is. I like Angelina, in a tough cool chick way. I know that the stunts are rigged and it’s script and acting and special effects. But I don’t care. It makes me feel like I can be a tough cool chick too. And I can’t just remember the feeling. I have to see it. So if I am on the treadmill watching Lara Croft fighting off giant stone statues that have come to life, or jumping off cliffs and sustaining nothing more than a cut on her arm, and it helps me go a little faster a little longer, then so what?
Added a Fight List here…get inspired!
The problem was the transfer from movie to computer to player. The words kept showing up on the player screen for 2 movies but not the other 2. Even though all the movies in the computer file had no words showing. Very frustrating. And somewhat distracting to the picture. It’s just one of the many anal (possibly OCD) characteristics I possess, that allows me to waste inordinate amounts of time on very trivial things. Problem admitted. Treatment in progress. So here is me all morning: Delete. Download. Sync. Play. Delete again. Re-download. Sync. Play. Wipe them all out. Download again. Transfer files again. Sync. Play. And on like that for some hours.
Finally. Success. All 4 movies. Flawless playback. No words. But now I’m too tired and itchy feeling to go to the gym. PLUS—I was up most of the night with my son. He has a chest cold. He gets them almost every spring. He takes Zyrtec and a nosespray, for allergies that the doc says cause all the mess in his head which trickles down into his chest and sits there until he starts weezing and complaining of chest pain. The meds work. It’s been 2 years since his last chest x-rays. That’s how we measure success. No x-rays for Mason! That’s probably good for alot of stuff. No x-rays. Hehe…anyway, the meds work, but you miss one day and the weather shifts, like it does constantly here, and POOF!, he’s sick. So 2 a.m. we are up using his nebulizer—alleviate the tightness first and then load him up with the cold medicine. Breather again at 4 a.m. and again at 6. He just has to get the gunk out of his chest and he’ll be fine. This one isn’t too bad. We caught it quick. But it still doesn’t change the fact that we were up all night. He went to school because he didn’t want to miss basketball. First practice game! And the last one before Spring Break. He should be fine but he will be tired. That’s not too bad either. Get him fed and in bed. Nice night for me! Oh wait. I still have that other one…haha. (just a joke–calm down) In case anyone is interested, she’s fine.
Being up though did give me the time I needed to re-download all 4 movies onto the computer without having to waste any “day” time. Mason inhaled medicine and I switched out movies. It used to be me just sitting there next to him until he was done trying not to fall asleep, so this is a big improvement!
I am still on the Warrior Path. I should be able to get outside tomorrow and run around and I can probably lift some weights this afternoon, so it won’t be a total loss. And I am mostly sticking to the eating plan. (I have to admit that I suffer terrible around certain times of the month and it’s hard to stay true to yogurt, beans, brown rice and hard boiled eggs.) So it is still Extreme Fat Smash for a few more days. And we will probably keep to it another 3 weeks. It works. Really keeps you clean. Food wise.
My music is solid for now. Inspirational enough and all that. Hopefully you liked the warrior list. I am always open for some new music that will keep me running. So feel free to send a comment and suggestions. The music for today is a little different. Since I was feeling kind of punchy and dazy, and I heard The Safety Dance on the radio, it made me start thinking about songs that are just goofy. Like, they have goofy lyrics or silly words, or are just kind of random. The list below is what I came up with. You never really think about these songs, but when you hear them on the radio, probably driving in your car, you get all happy, and find yourself singing along, loudly; desperately wanting to change the station, but somehow never doing it. And before you realize it, the song is over and you just belted your way back down memory lane in your motor vehicle time machine. Hopefully you are alone—or even better—not alone—and you just had a duet, quartet, trip-let concert in your car, aka Tommy Boy Style, you know what I’m talking about…Don’t you remember you told me about the baby? Baby baby baby baby baby…FUN!
So. Everyone grab a kid–hopefully yours if you got ’em–and get silly! Incidentally, these songs are pretty good for dancing too! The goofier the better! See if you agree with me. And if not. Let me know! Hit me with something even sillier. It’s exercise! Pop, Lock & Drop It to the: “Songs That Are Silly“ List. Bee. Low.
I Am The Warrior….
Well, I am the warrior…and heart to heart you win…if you survive…the warrior…o yeah…well, I’m not the warrior just yet, but I’m hoping to be!
Next up on the crazy workout athletic ridiculous endeavor front: The Warrior Dash. Some kind of nutty 6K + Obstacle Course Race for the insane.
It’s held here in Chicago–Joliet to be exact–in the middle of July–nice and hot–and you basically get to run around outside over hills and cars and fire(!), and through swamp and mud and tunnels and logs and who knows what else! WarriorDash.com. Fun stuff (it looks like). I got my sissy to sign up AND her husband. This is what we’re doing for HER birthday! Trying to get the boyfriend to go to… C’mon baby…
This is just in time too! Thanks to the wonderful ebb and flow of new type management in old places…one of the athletic events we participate in every year—GO Vertical! Chicago—has been canceled. It is THE tallest stairclimb, 103 floors inside the Sears Tower, benefiting the Damon Runyon Cancer Research Foundation. The management team for the Sears Tower, has decided that this year they will not have it. Doesn’t fit into the schedule I guess of changing the name and painting the building silver. I know I’m not the only one who feels sad about it. But what can we do? Anyhoo–on to bigger and better right?
So, switching gears. We are finishing up with EFS. Week 3 Day 1. Back to the grind. Exercise and all that. Eating lean. Need to get stronger and faster for July. I’m not really sure how to train for this…outside to start and with running for sure. After that, I’m going to do some weights, crawl around stuff at local parks and not worry too much. Kids will have a blast “helping”, at least. It should be fun and I probably won’t win anyway. Not really a hardcore athlete so to speak… I like to stay in shape and exercise in new and unusual ways. And if you can get a little dirty, drink beer at the end and get a cool t-shirt and viking warrior helmet?? furry even??—well I’m all for it!
Of course, I’m going to need a playlist. Music for the Viking, Soldier, Gladiator, Spartan, Ninja, Samurai, Zulu fighting types…
Plain and simple. (I’m actually going to need ALOT of playlists, but this will be a start) Can’t listen to music on the course anyway–not going thru mud and gunk…ooh…so excited!
FYI Update: Kitchen Nook is awesome. I love it. Kids are sitting at it doing homework as I type. Floor is superclean. Hands and knees people. Took 4 hours. You could literally eat off the thing. That doesn’t say much about my normal cleaning skills I know, considering my kitchen is obviously small enough that a regular kitchen table and chairs is too much to have. But in my defense I did do the utility room too and wash all the throwrugs and kind of help with the construction. AND, I went and picked up dinner. In a rainstorm. On foot. Uphill. Both ways. Haha. Old joke. But it was raining and storming pretty good in prep for the nasty wet sleet snow attack we did get a few hours later.
All jokes aside. The boyfriend is 99 % responsible for my new kitchen set being put together and usable. Thank you honey!
And as for the food part, we worked out in the a.m. Me for an hour and him for over 2! We earned the one meal we ate! So quit it!
Music is below! (Songs with the literal “warrior” spirit and songs that just make you want to keep going. Started small–grew big. So I split it into 2 parts. Keep moving on.)
just shy of pretty 