Well, E and I had our first bootcamp workout this morning and nothing is clearer to me then the fact that I AM OUT OF SHAPE!!! I'm dreading getting to work this morning and having to climb the 25 stairs up to the staff room!
The morning started with a 5:20 AM wake up then a drive to E's to park the car to walk to the park where we met for our first session. We started with a lap of the park at a light jog - lungs burning and butt jiggling...FUN! Then we had to do travelling lunges across the tennis court four times, by the end of the second time I thought, you've got to be kidding me - there's no way I can do this two more times. Then we all gathered in the big field where we did isometric lunges (yeah, I was thinking the same thing...more lunges???) then we had to do push-ups, where our trainer yells to the group, "There's no such thing as "girl" push-ups here, we do toes on the ground push-ups here and I don't care if you can only do half of one, that's a starting point!" So then he says we're going to do the isometric lunges as a set with the push-ups, so lunges 10 times then 5 push-ups, repeat 5 times! ARGH! Then just when you think that it's almost over, we have to do tree sprints, where we have to run from one side of the park to a tree and back, then do 5 push-ups, then run to the next tree and back, then 5 more push-ups - there were 5 trees! Needless to say I wasn't doing 5 push-ups each time, but I figure we've got to start somewhere, right? Needless to say, E was less than impressed about getting her hands dirty! :) After the tree sprints, we proceeded to the big field again where we did a push-up type drill where you get into push-up position and you touch your right knee to your right elbow and do the same on the left side, these weren't too bad actually, but then he had us add a down/up movement where we go from push-up position down to our forearms and then back up to the pushup position. Then he did another super-set where we put all the moves together, isometric lunges, push-up knees, and push-up forearms. He then announces that there's only 12 minutes left (at this point I'm thinking I've been doing this for at least an hour and a half (and the session is actually only 45 minutes from start to finish) so I'm sure we're going to do our stretching), but he announces that we're going to do burpies. What is a burpie you ask? Well, you jump in the air then go down to the ground in a pike position, then kick out your legs to a push-up position, then back to the jump and repeat - PURE TORTURE!!! Then we got to stretch and hobble our way back to E's house where I crumpled into my car and drove home - only to know that I'll be heading back to the park again tomorrow morning! OH JOYS!!!
Here is a link to the bootcamp video just to give you an idea of what kind of work we'll be doing for the next while.
http://www.facebook.com/video/video.php?v=21322670070&oid=7436962099
Wish us luck!
Monday, June 02, 2008
Tuesday, May 06, 2008
Oh, was I supposed to be updating this thing?
Well, no one told me that I had to do it regularly so I've sort of lapsed as of late... Random updated information:
Recently read books:
"The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls - fantastic and a really good reminder that no matter what happens when you're a kid that you can really overcome any and everything to get what you want - and that your own childhood is never as bad as someone else's (not that mine was bad - I'm just saying that, wow, this book really makes you appreciate the littlest things you take for granted when you don't think about them).
"My Sister's Keeper" - yeah I know I'm like the last person on the face of the planet to read this book but it was AMAZING! Anyone reading this should really pick up a copy of it if they've never read it. They're making a screenplay for it and I'll be sure to see it in the theatre, even though it'll likely pale in comparison to the novel.
Recently watched movies:
Transformers - and yes, it rocked. E assured me that I'd really like it and she was right.
Listening to right now:
"Sensual Seduction" by Snoop Dogg and before that it was "Love in the Club" by Usher - it's the Max Trax channel on the digital cable - something to keep me in activity mode to clean the house, though I appear to have gotten side-tracked updating my blog...
Recent activities:
Painted the two new rooms in the basement (with the help of Foxy's mom and dad)
Got a laptop (to replace my desktop that bit the dust) which has always been a dream of mine.
Top dressed and seeded the front lawn
Booked a florist and dj for the wedding
FYI - only 80 days until I'm officially a married woman! :) WOO HOO!
Hmmm...other than working 6 days a week not much else is new. I'm glad that the weather is starting to improve. Hard to believe that it's already May.
A few random thoughts:
What is the deal with the "new" Diamond Shreddies. You know you have a really basic product when you just take it and tilt it and call it something new. And I bet that sales have increased dramatically because consumers are mindless and if it's "new" it must be better. I'm going to invent diamond cd cases, they'll be all the rage, you'll see!
Why does road construction always seem to happen in the sections of the road that aren't really that bad? It's like the city planning department throws a dart at the map and wherever the dart lands, they resurface the road - they've picked one of the few sections of Princess Street to improve that doesn't have a single pothole in it, yet the roads that run parallel to Princess have been known to swallow up cars in some of the holes. Yep, our tax dollars being used effectively.
Gas prices in this city are apparently some of the lowest in the country ($1.18), so for that I'm thankful, but I still don't understand why they jack it up 8 cents on Tuesday only to have it dropped back to the original price by Friday evening. Don't they figure that we know what they're doing and that we'll either fill up before or after they jack it? I guess it's true that money can't buy brains.
I think that's enough for now. I'll put some pictures or videos up here at some point so that it's not just a bunch of my typing filling up the space. Our tree is in the process of sprouting some leaves so that'll likely be one of my first picture posts - seeing as how like all other plant life, I figured it had died being in my presence... Harlee (yes, I named the tree) seems to be fairing quite well, though the neighbours probably think I'm crazy by now because I quite frequently go up to it, stroke some of the new little leaves and tell the tree that I'm happy it's survived both the winter and it's black-thumbed owner.
Recently read books:
"The Glass Castle" by Jeannette Walls - fantastic and a really good reminder that no matter what happens when you're a kid that you can really overcome any and everything to get what you want - and that your own childhood is never as bad as someone else's (not that mine was bad - I'm just saying that, wow, this book really makes you appreciate the littlest things you take for granted when you don't think about them).
"My Sister's Keeper" - yeah I know I'm like the last person on the face of the planet to read this book but it was AMAZING! Anyone reading this should really pick up a copy of it if they've never read it. They're making a screenplay for it and I'll be sure to see it in the theatre, even though it'll likely pale in comparison to the novel.
Recently watched movies:
Transformers - and yes, it rocked. E assured me that I'd really like it and she was right.
Listening to right now:
"Sensual Seduction" by Snoop Dogg and before that it was "Love in the Club" by Usher - it's the Max Trax channel on the digital cable - something to keep me in activity mode to clean the house, though I appear to have gotten side-tracked updating my blog...
Recent activities:
Painted the two new rooms in the basement (with the help of Foxy's mom and dad)
Got a laptop (to replace my desktop that bit the dust) which has always been a dream of mine.
Top dressed and seeded the front lawn
Booked a florist and dj for the wedding
FYI - only 80 days until I'm officially a married woman! :) WOO HOO!
Hmmm...other than working 6 days a week not much else is new. I'm glad that the weather is starting to improve. Hard to believe that it's already May.
A few random thoughts:
What is the deal with the "new" Diamond Shreddies. You know you have a really basic product when you just take it and tilt it and call it something new. And I bet that sales have increased dramatically because consumers are mindless and if it's "new" it must be better. I'm going to invent diamond cd cases, they'll be all the rage, you'll see!
Why does road construction always seem to happen in the sections of the road that aren't really that bad? It's like the city planning department throws a dart at the map and wherever the dart lands, they resurface the road - they've picked one of the few sections of Princess Street to improve that doesn't have a single pothole in it, yet the roads that run parallel to Princess have been known to swallow up cars in some of the holes. Yep, our tax dollars being used effectively.
Gas prices in this city are apparently some of the lowest in the country ($1.18), so for that I'm thankful, but I still don't understand why they jack it up 8 cents on Tuesday only to have it dropped back to the original price by Friday evening. Don't they figure that we know what they're doing and that we'll either fill up before or after they jack it? I guess it's true that money can't buy brains.
I think that's enough for now. I'll put some pictures or videos up here at some point so that it's not just a bunch of my typing filling up the space. Our tree is in the process of sprouting some leaves so that'll likely be one of my first picture posts - seeing as how like all other plant life, I figured it had died being in my presence... Harlee (yes, I named the tree) seems to be fairing quite well, though the neighbours probably think I'm crazy by now because I quite frequently go up to it, stroke some of the new little leaves and tell the tree that I'm happy it's survived both the winter and it's black-thumbed owner.
Saturday, February 02, 2008
Dear Mr. Plow
I know we've had our differences - ever since the first snow fall after we moved into the new house and you thought that it would be okay to plow a whole street full of snow halfway up our driveway because you still thought no one lived in the house - I've been less than impressed by your overall lack of respect for the snow-blower lacking, plowless minions that live in this city.
Yesterday was a prime example! Now, I know that there are only so many of you and that Kingston is a fairly good size city, but come on - waiting until after 1:00 in the morning to plow our street, especially after the painstaking effort it took to clear out all the snow and freezing rain off the driveway - I think a part of you loves shoving that 2 foot, solidly packed, heap of snow all along the bottom of the driveway, especially hoping that people have to work in the morning and will thus have to dig themselves out before going anywhere (at least that's what the smart people do - why some of the people in our neighbourhood think that they'll be able to clear a 2 foot pile of snow that's about 3 feet into the bottom of their driveway with a car going not more than 20 km/h in reverse is beyond me).
On a brighter note though, Mr. Plow, I'm thinking about writing a book...I'll call it, "The Canadian Woman's Ultimate Winter Workout" and it'll go something like this:
Introduction: Snow is your friend
Chapter One: Proper technique for pushing vehicles
Chapter Two: Advanced technique for uphill vehicle pushing
Chapter Three: Running uphill in the snow...aka...burning lungs
Chapter Four: If you time it right, falling = lunges
Chapter Five: Bend, scoop, turn and toss: Shovelling the light fluffy stuff
Chapter Six: Bend, groan, chop, scoop, turn, curse, scoop again, walk and dump: When its more than just snow
Conclusion: Muscle aches and pains: Stretches to do before you sit in the hottest bath you can stand
I think it'll be a big seller - and it's all based on my experience in the last two days. If it weren't for you, Mr. Plow, I'd never have had the joys of pushing cars and tossing 300 pounds of snow, so for that, I thank you (so long as my book sells a millon plus copies)
Yesterday was a prime example! Now, I know that there are only so many of you and that Kingston is a fairly good size city, but come on - waiting until after 1:00 in the morning to plow our street, especially after the painstaking effort it took to clear out all the snow and freezing rain off the driveway - I think a part of you loves shoving that 2 foot, solidly packed, heap of snow all along the bottom of the driveway, especially hoping that people have to work in the morning and will thus have to dig themselves out before going anywhere (at least that's what the smart people do - why some of the people in our neighbourhood think that they'll be able to clear a 2 foot pile of snow that's about 3 feet into the bottom of their driveway with a car going not more than 20 km/h in reverse is beyond me).
On a brighter note though, Mr. Plow, I'm thinking about writing a book...I'll call it, "The Canadian Woman's Ultimate Winter Workout" and it'll go something like this:
Introduction: Snow is your friend
Chapter One: Proper technique for pushing vehicles
Chapter Two: Advanced technique for uphill vehicle pushing
Chapter Three: Running uphill in the snow...aka...burning lungs
Chapter Four: If you time it right, falling = lunges
Chapter Five: Bend, scoop, turn and toss: Shovelling the light fluffy stuff
Chapter Six: Bend, groan, chop, scoop, turn, curse, scoop again, walk and dump: When its more than just snow
Conclusion: Muscle aches and pains: Stretches to do before you sit in the hottest bath you can stand
I think it'll be a big seller - and it's all based on my experience in the last two days. If it weren't for you, Mr. Plow, I'd never have had the joys of pushing cars and tossing 300 pounds of snow, so for that, I thank you (so long as my book sells a millon plus copies)
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
More pictures!
As you know, Foxy and I went to the Senators game on December 15th. To get an idea of how close we actually were, here are a few pictures:
The only thing between us was the penalty boxes and the glass! The seats were amazing and the game was fantastic! The Sens won the game 7-3! I would LOVE to go again and sit in the exact same spot - there was SO much to see! We had initally anticipated having to stay up in Ottawa overnight due to the storm that was supposed to start on Saturday afternoon, fortunately, it didn't start until very late that night and we got home before it got too bad out. The next morning, however, was a different story - we got just over 24" in less than 24 hours. Here is a picture of our street taken from the front porch at around 10:00AM on Sunday...
And here is a picture of the car when we went outside to shovel the driveway (for the second time) around 8:30 that night - it's blurry, but you can see that the drift is almost upto the middle of the wheel at the front of the car (and this is after already having shovelled once that day!) Needless to say, while shovelling, my main thought was..."Dear Santa...snowblower...enough said!"
The only thing between us was the penalty boxes and the glass! The seats were amazing and the game was fantastic! The Sens won the game 7-3! I would LOVE to go again and sit in the exact same spot - there was SO much to see! We had initally anticipated having to stay up in Ottawa overnight due to the storm that was supposed to start on Saturday afternoon, fortunately, it didn't start until very late that night and we got home before it got too bad out. The next morning, however, was a different story - we got just over 24" in less than 24 hours. Here is a picture of our street taken from the front porch at around 10:00AM on Sunday...
And here is a picture of the car when we went outside to shovel the driveway (for the second time) around 8:30 that night - it's blurry, but you can see that the drift is almost upto the middle of the wheel at the front of the car (and this is after already having shovelled once that day!) Needless to say, while shovelling, my main thought was..."Dear Santa...snowblower...enough said!"
Wednesday, December 05, 2007
Side note...
It was 2 years ago today that Foxy and I bought the house! Hard to believe it's been that long already...
BTW - I would have forgotten likely had it not been for Dad and his reminders - I swear he must have been an elephant in his past life! :)
BTW - I would have forgotten likely had it not been for Dad and his reminders - I swear he must have been an elephant in his past life! :)
What's for dinner - part 2
Yummy recipe that we stole out of Foxy's Men's Health magazine, but which we altered a bit to make it even healthier - all in all it didn't take long to cook and was quite tasty!
Chicken Spinach Parm
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tsp. parmesan cheese (grated)
2 small garlic cloves, crushed
6 handfuls of baby spinach leaves
1/2 c marinara sauce (we used a Ragu Garden sauce - diced tomato and herb)
2 tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Heat oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. While the oil is heating, pound the chicken to a 1/4" thickness, then sprinkle with cheese, salt and pepper (they also use bread crumbs which we opted out of - if you want to try it with, you'd need only 2 tbsps of crumbs, which you'd sprinkle and press onto the chicken). Place in the pan with the garlic and saute for 2-3 minutes per side. Meanwhile, heat the marinara and put it on top of the chicken in the pan - then add the spinach, turning frequently with tongs until it wilts, about 6 minutes.
I think to tweak it for next time, I'd add some sliced muchrooms and do a side caesar salad. We had it with some sweet green peas and a slice of garlic bread - and it was yummy, and even better? Foxy did the cooking! :-)
Chicken Spinach Parm
2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
2 tsp. parmesan cheese (grated)
2 small garlic cloves, crushed
6 handfuls of baby spinach leaves
1/2 c marinara sauce (we used a Ragu Garden sauce - diced tomato and herb)
2 tbsp. olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Heat oil in a non-stick skillet over medium heat. While the oil is heating, pound the chicken to a 1/4" thickness, then sprinkle with cheese, salt and pepper (they also use bread crumbs which we opted out of - if you want to try it with, you'd need only 2 tbsps of crumbs, which you'd sprinkle and press onto the chicken). Place in the pan with the garlic and saute for 2-3 minutes per side. Meanwhile, heat the marinara and put it on top of the chicken in the pan - then add the spinach, turning frequently with tongs until it wilts, about 6 minutes.
I think to tweak it for next time, I'd add some sliced muchrooms and do a side caesar salad. We had it with some sweet green peas and a slice of garlic bread - and it was yummy, and even better? Foxy did the cooking! :-)
Sunday, December 02, 2007
Welcome to winter...
Blech, I have to say that I'm not happy with it's arrival, but c'est la vie, I suppose! We are in the midst of a winter storm (snow this morning, then ice pellets and freezing rain and then back to snow again) - which, needless to say, makes driving a tad more entertaining.
My commute from the Kingston Centre to our house usually takes me no more than 7 minutes (and that's taking into consideration a red light or two) on Friday, when the storm started, it took me 49 minutes to get home from the Kingston Centre. Oh yes...49 minutes. The main roads weren't too bad, all in all, but all of the drivers needed to slow down to look at the police cars that were directing traffic away from the closed sections of the 401, which meant that not only were there tons of cars on the slightly slippery roads, but we also had a fleet of transports to contend with...FUN!
I'd much rather it be crazy cold and clear than warmer and snowy. At least in -25° weather you can just hop in your car (after it's warmed up, of course) and drive with no worries of snow or freezing rain! The only down side is the perpetual cold that my feet ultimately suffer. I don't know about you guys, but when it's really cold out, I usually wear socks to bed. That being said, however, I don't think our bodies like to have socks on at night...at least mine doesn't, because there have been numerous occasions when I have woken up with a sock on or under my pillow and another buried somewhere beneath the covers, and no, I'm not awake when I take them off. How they migrate to my pillow is still a mystery to me.
In any event, I'm hoping that the winter will fly by (at least until our trip) and be long gone by the middle of May - it's pretty sad that I'm already wishing for winter to be over, seeing as how it's just begun... On that note, I'm off to bed, socks on feet and ice pellets tapping at the windows. Sweet dreams everyone!
My commute from the Kingston Centre to our house usually takes me no more than 7 minutes (and that's taking into consideration a red light or two) on Friday, when the storm started, it took me 49 minutes to get home from the Kingston Centre. Oh yes...49 minutes. The main roads weren't too bad, all in all, but all of the drivers needed to slow down to look at the police cars that were directing traffic away from the closed sections of the 401, which meant that not only were there tons of cars on the slightly slippery roads, but we also had a fleet of transports to contend with...FUN!
I'd much rather it be crazy cold and clear than warmer and snowy. At least in -25° weather you can just hop in your car (after it's warmed up, of course) and drive with no worries of snow or freezing rain! The only down side is the perpetual cold that my feet ultimately suffer. I don't know about you guys, but when it's really cold out, I usually wear socks to bed. That being said, however, I don't think our bodies like to have socks on at night...at least mine doesn't, because there have been numerous occasions when I have woken up with a sock on or under my pillow and another buried somewhere beneath the covers, and no, I'm not awake when I take them off. How they migrate to my pillow is still a mystery to me.
In any event, I'm hoping that the winter will fly by (at least until our trip) and be long gone by the middle of May - it's pretty sad that I'm already wishing for winter to be over, seeing as how it's just begun... On that note, I'm off to bed, socks on feet and ice pellets tapping at the windows. Sweet dreams everyone!
Wednesday, November 28, 2007
Only a few days...
I had to make sure to post before the end of the month or I wouldn't have posted anything in November at all! YIKES! It's funny how the thrill of updating people about what's going on in your life quickly wears off...
What is new...obviously seeing as how I have to think about it there can't be too much going on... Well, we had our staff Christmas party on the 24th. Let's just say it wasn't what everyone claimed it would be, but it did give me a chance to get dressed up with fancy hair and make-up. E was my date as Foxy had to work, so we went, had dinner, then left to come home and watch a movie - we must be losing our party animal instincts as neither of us wanted to stay and dance...maybe it was all the country music?
Here is my hair from the back:
And here I am:
This is an ambush shot by camera happy Susan at work, but it didn't turn out TOO bad, so I thought I'd post it. I have to say that I love my hairdresser. I've been going to her for 8 years and she's never once done anything to my hair that I haven't loved. She is fantastic! This hair style actually had my hair in little pretzel knots if you can imagine!
So it was fun to dress up!
E and I saw August Rush last week and it was AWESOME! The music was absolutely fantastic and despite what all of the idiotic critics say, I'd definitely recommend it, though more to girls than guys as it is a bit sappy. Definitely one I'm adding to my must-buy list.
I'm disappointed that Heroes ends on Monday, but am looking forward to seeing how they plan to tie up all of the aspects of the story that have seem to come out of nowhere this season - I'm still a devote fan but I hope that they can get back on track for the next season. I'm still not sure if it's ending now because it's that time or if they're stopping because of the writer's strike... Now I don't know what I'm going to do on Mondays.
I lost my annual Grey Cup bet with Dad - two years in a row...hopefully it's not a continuing trend, as I can't afford the dinners he wants - I offered to take him to McDonalds, but he just laughed...
For those of you who are wondering where we stand on the countdowns:
Hockey game: 16 days
Caribbean Cruise: 87 days
Wedding: 240 days (wow! 8 months to the day! - I'll be a married woman 8 months from now!)
Our basement renovations are coming along - we've got the walls up and the electrial in place, now we've got to hang the doors and then we can start drywalling! WOO! I love drywall!
Hard to believe it's almost December! It's going by so fast! Anyway, I think that's about all my news for now. The snow is on it's way tomorrow (supposedly) so it should be a fun drive home! Must go and take out the garbage - I love Wednesday nights...
What is new...obviously seeing as how I have to think about it there can't be too much going on... Well, we had our staff Christmas party on the 24th. Let's just say it wasn't what everyone claimed it would be, but it did give me a chance to get dressed up with fancy hair and make-up. E was my date as Foxy had to work, so we went, had dinner, then left to come home and watch a movie - we must be losing our party animal instincts as neither of us wanted to stay and dance...maybe it was all the country music?
Here is my hair from the back:
And here I am:This is an ambush shot by camera happy Susan at work, but it didn't turn out TOO bad, so I thought I'd post it. I have to say that I love my hairdresser. I've been going to her for 8 years and she's never once done anything to my hair that I haven't loved. She is fantastic! This hair style actually had my hair in little pretzel knots if you can imagine!
So it was fun to dress up!
E and I saw August Rush last week and it was AWESOME! The music was absolutely fantastic and despite what all of the idiotic critics say, I'd definitely recommend it, though more to girls than guys as it is a bit sappy. Definitely one I'm adding to my must-buy list.
I'm disappointed that Heroes ends on Monday, but am looking forward to seeing how they plan to tie up all of the aspects of the story that have seem to come out of nowhere this season - I'm still a devote fan but I hope that they can get back on track for the next season. I'm still not sure if it's ending now because it's that time or if they're stopping because of the writer's strike... Now I don't know what I'm going to do on Mondays.
I lost my annual Grey Cup bet with Dad - two years in a row...hopefully it's not a continuing trend, as I can't afford the dinners he wants - I offered to take him to McDonalds, but he just laughed...
For those of you who are wondering where we stand on the countdowns:
Hockey game: 16 days
Caribbean Cruise: 87 days
Wedding: 240 days (wow! 8 months to the day! - I'll be a married woman 8 months from now!)
Our basement renovations are coming along - we've got the walls up and the electrial in place, now we've got to hang the doors and then we can start drywalling! WOO! I love drywall!
Hard to believe it's almost December! It's going by so fast! Anyway, I think that's about all my news for now. The snow is on it's way tomorrow (supposedly) so it should be a fun drive home! Must go and take out the garbage - I love Wednesday nights...
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