The Gauntlet Has Been Thrown Down

So if you have been reading the previous posts you know that I have started going to the gym again. Summer is here and school is out so I have the time to get to the gym. For the last two weeks I have been using various reasons to motivate myself.

A. In the words of my doctor, "it's getting to be that time in life when you have to start taking care of yourself". My cholesterol is okay, I had lost 8 lbs from my last office visit but the one that scared me was that my blood sugar was borderline. YIKERS!!!! My brother has type II diabetes and I DO NOT want to have that on my plate so to the gym I go.

B. It's summer and the thought of exposing flabby white flesh is enough motivation in and of itself.

C. Thoughts of getting naked right now in front of anyone has brought beads of freak out sweat to my brow.

So with the three reasons listed above I have been kicking some butt at the gym and working off the fluff that I have taken years to put on and have kept on for no good reason.

However, yesterday a NEW reason was added to my list of motivating factors to get my fluffy arse in the gym.

My co-worker (the one that thought she should get to set her hours so that she could go to the gym, please see previous posts) and I were talking about the gym. I was telling her my cardio routine and how I had run into my old trainer over the weekend and followed her personal lower body weight routine as she worked out. We discussed the various machines that we use and the weight. We talked about our cardio minutes and what types of cardio that we do. It was at the end of this conversation that the gauntlet was thrown down. Now there isn't any real challenge taking place between the two of us. In fact she probably didn't realize how her phrase sounded but it made me bristle and it motivated me yesterday to do an additional 5 minutes on the eliptical. What were the words uttered?

"Wow, if I'm not careful, you will get skinnier than me"

I didn't know that it was a competition!!!!!

That in and of itself is not anything bad. The funny thing is that we weigh about the same and are just shaped completely differently. I know that I will never be skinny like a super-model. It's just not in my genes. I am a more athletic built person, I will develop toned muscles and have a more lean powerful body than a thin model body. I am shaped more like an hour glass or a pear and she is shaped like an apple. We will never look the same at any weight, whether it is our current weight or our hope to be thinner and healthier weight. I really don't even know why her statement bothered me but it did and it is my current motivation to keep up my routine and to create a leaner and healthier me. I guess it's just my competitive nature that I am pumped to prove her wrong and get thinner and leaner in a shorter period of time. So, although I know that this is probably wrong it is this week's motivation to kick some flab!

A Glance into the Gym

I am going to preface this post with a disclaimer.

I am not a sports goddess.

I do not look good when I work out.

I wear a baggy t-shirt over capri type sweats and I turn red and sweat like a pig.

I tell you this so that the observations of people at the gym that I am about to tell you about are just things that I find odd, strange or weird. They are not to insult the people that are at the gym.


I HATE speedos on men who are not competing in a swim competition.
I feel that speedos belong on the divers and swimmers who are using them to be the most aerodynamic in the pool.
Anyone wearing one, to me, is just too full of himself or needs to advertise "his wares" way to much to be someone that I would want to get to know.
Speedos at the gym on heavy men is just WRONG!

Running shorts.
The shorts that are VERY short and have the small pouch for "the jewels" so that a runner doesn't have to wear chafing underwear or a jock-strap.
These shorts should be left to the men who are running track.
They do NOT belong on heavy men at the gym working on the machines.
I have seen this man before at the gym, he doesn't run the track or on the treadmill.
The fact that I saw him on the machines and I bet if I was at a different angle would have seen more of him than I wanted is the reason that I believe that these shorts should not be worn while pumping iron or working the machines at the gym.

Plastic sweatsuits.
What is the purpose of these?
Yes, I know that they are designed to produce a vast amount of sweat and therefore giving the short term weight loss.
However, the moment that you drink anything you just defeated the purpose of the suit.
So, while you suffer for the 1/2 or hour that you wear the suit for a small loss, you really haven't done anything other than cause dehydration.
This one just stumps me!

So that you don't think that I have nasty things to say about my fellow exercisers, here is a positive.
There is a man that works out at my gym that smells great.
Even when he is sweating like a pig (and he works very hard at his cardio) he always smells good.
Not like he dumped a bottle of after shave on himself and went to the gym but a subtle sweat, cologne and deodorant kind of way.
If I could work out next to this guy every time that I went to the gym I would probably do more cardio than I do.
I however have the tendency to attract the ones that have garlic oozing out of their pores.
YUCKY!

Lipstick Plant

I really didn't give a good description of my lipstick plant and the blooms that it produces.
This website has a good picture of the plant.
Notice the bloom in the center that hasn't opened yet.
The bloom looks like lipstick in a tube prior to opening to the 5 point flower.

http://www.plantoftheweek.org/week081.shtml

Just Junk

Today is Thursday and to me it feels like a Friday.

Not such a good thing when I know that the alarm will go off tomorrow and I will have to drag my rear end out of bed for one more day of the grind.

One good thing is that we have a three day weekend and I have NO PLANS! YEAH!

I am just going to see what the weather brings and plan my activities around that.

I have a book to finish, a card swap to complete, gardening, laundry, house cleaning, grocery shopping and of course a trip to some craft store is ALWAYS in my weekend routine.

Last night I finished piecing together the baby sweater that I have been knitting in my class at the local yarn store (Woolly Lamb Yarn Studio in Chicago) and have the stitches on my needle to begin knitting the collar. I hope to complete this task before next Wednesday's class so that I can start on the side plackets where the buttons on one side and the buttonholes on the other will be. Then, it is on to a new project for me for the winter. Figure if I start it now perhaps it will be complete for the winter season.

Just got my craft fair application for my space at my high school alma mater's yearly craft fair. I have sent in my application and payment in hopes of securing the same space as last year down one of the busier hallways at the school. Just have to amass some crafty stuff to sell.

So far, my yard and neighborhood have been bug free (cicadas are what I'm talking about). Rick says that the forest doesn't show any signs of the lil' buggers either. I can't imagine what Harley and Gidget are going to think of those noisy creatures when they finally decide to unearth themselves.

I love the freedom of the summer but will be missing my usual tv shows.
Just watched the taped show of Grey's Anatomy this morning before work and I was very shocked and disappointed. George failed his intern exam, Merideth and Derek broke up, Christine and Preston didn't get married, Bailey didn't get the chief resident gig. WHA?????
It all seemed to end in a sad, bad way. Of course I'll tune in when the fall season kicks off but what a bummer of an season ender. Nothing but sadness for the main characters. I guess I need to get a life!!!

I was very happy to see that my indoor lipstick plant bloomed like crazy recently. The blooms are beginning to fall off but it was a spectacular display when they all were opening up. For those of you who want to know what a lipstick plant is, I will try to explain the best that I can since I don't own a digital camera to post on this blog. The plant itself has a maroon/green oval shaped leaf. Once, maybe twice a year it blooms. The flowers are in groups of four. First comes a dark burgundy upside down bell shaped "flower". From the inside of that bell comes a fuzzy red tube that looks alot like lipstick coming out of a tube. Once the "lipstick" is completely up out of the tube then the flower opens up to a 5 point red flower. Since these are gathered in groups of four you have four red flowers in groups all over the plant. It's really very pretty. I got this plant over 5 years ago and it has bloomed every year and it just amazes me. I don't know the real name of the plant, I bought it at Frank's Nursery & Crafts and the little tag on it said "lipstick plant".

I have vowed to get my fluffy arse to the gym at least three times a week and I am happy to report that last week I managed to get there 4 days and so far this week I have been there 2 days with tonight's proposed visit being my 3rd time. I want to get a firmer tighter body and I am not as consumed with weight loss. As the advent of shorts and swimsuits looms with the kick off of this Memorial Day weekend I just don't want to be "the great white whale" at the summer's cookouts. So, this means trips to the gym and a little bit of protected sun exposure. I'll keep this blog posted as to my progress which right now stands at the fact that I can do an hour of cardio without dying and I have begun to use some of the machines.

I also hope to use this blog as my personal "book club".
Currently I am reading a John Grisham novel entitled "The Last Juror".
Normally I LOVE his novels but this one is a bit slow. I love the "law" books and the way that Mr. Grisham weaves the law into the story. This one however, albeit good was not a fast read. The story moves but not as quickly as his other novels.
My suggestion, don't buy the hardcover, get it in paperback or use your local library for this one.
If there are any bloggers out there that would disagree with this critique I welcome a response.

Up in the list of novels to read will be Harry Potter, a couple of Janet Evanovich novels and I believe I have a few more John Grisham novels waiting.

The new couch hasn't arrived yet and as I type this it is my reminder to get out the paperwork and call to find out the status. I want to get the new couch, hang the pictures back up on the walls and start having friends over before the summer is over and the grind of school begins again. If you want to visit and have a nice cool one in the backyard just let me know my door is always open, the house isn't always clean and spotless but if you can live with it so can I.

That's it for now, I will update with gym observations and progress as well as the "book club" ramblings in the near future.

A Fairy Tale

Once upon a time in a house known as mine, this Princess decided to make a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
I got my paper plate and laid my two slices of bread on top.
I opened the cabinet to get the peanut butter to find that of the four jars of peanut butter that were in the cabinet, only one had any substantial amount of the spread.
The remaining three had just the peanut butter at the very bottom and the sides that needed to be scraped clean.
You are probably wondering why this post is getting posted and what a lazy wench I must be to leave empty jars in my cupboards.
Well, I don't live alone and I can only assume that my brother Rick believes that there is a peanut butter fairy that comes and fills the empty jars with peanut butter.
I was able to scrape enough peanut butter out of the three jars for my sandwich and dutifully disposed of the now fully empty jars in the recycle bin.
Here's the kicker, apparently there is also a jelly fairy too because a similar scenario played out when I went to get jelly out of the fridge.
Does anyone else have these fairies and do they actually ever fill up the empty containers?

General Update

Well, since I haven't posted in quite awhile I am going to sum up everything in this post.

The new carpet was installed on Friday, 5/11 and it looks WONDERFUL!!!
It feels fantastic to walk around in bare feet.
The dogs love the fact that I will lay on the floor and play with them now.
The only negative is that less than 36 hours after the carpet was laid Harley threw up on the upstairs landing.
The spot came out with some carpet cleaner but the "newness" is gone.

Not sure on when the couch will be arriving, I have to call and find out.

My official (posted by the school) grade for this past semester is an "A".
Only two more classes and this girl is going to PARTY!!!!!

Mother's Day at my sister Caryn's was very nice.
Good company, good weather, good eats.

This is my early week here at work (7:00am to 4:00pm) and I have gone to the gym two days in a row.
My how that one hour can make a difference at the gym.
I have my pick of machines and have been able to get in my hour of cardio and be out the door and home at the same time I would have arrived straight from work.
The true test will be the next two weeks when I will be working until 5:00pm and have to go "fight" for the machines that I want.
I just have to remind myself that no one wants to see my jelly belly in a bathing suit so I had better work it off.

With school out of the way I have been reading a novel and not a textbook and that is a great pleasure.
I have a whole boatload of books that I want to read so I had better get a crackin'.

That's all that's new in my world, how about yours?

The List

I am a list maker.
I always have more items on my daily list than any one person could possibly do if they are not smoking crack and doing speed.
Hence the feeling at the end of a day that I didn't accomplish anything.
I don't really think of myself as a true type A personality, but when it comes to my lists I truly am a type A.
So, yesterday I was able to cross off the list "dining room painted".
When I wrote this down I thought that I would come home from work last night and my brother would have painted the dining room and I could cross it off my list.
Well you can imagine my horror when the dining room wasn't painted!!!
I won't get into any detail but suffice it to say that before Rick and I retired to our separate bedrooms last night, the dining room was painted and I crossed that item off my list.
Let's hope that some of the other stuff for the new renovation that needs to be done before Friday morning will be completed and off my list tonight.

Shoe Whore

I am a shoe whore.

I have always found great joy in a shoe purchase.

At one time in my life I had over 200 pairs of shoes.

Right now probably close to, if not over 100 pairs.
Add to that the four pairs that I bought on Sunday and you can call me Imelda.

I don't buy expensive shoes, instead I shop Payless Shoe Source or Shoe Carnival.
So when I find a pair that I like and it is available in many colors, I buy all the colors.
I found a cute strappy sandal for work at Shoe Carnival that came in red, navy, tan and black. I bought them in red, navy and tan. I found a different pair of black sandals first. They were buy one get 1/2 off the second pair.

For less than $100 I was able to get four pairs of shoes and a purse.

Like I said, that is why I am a shoe whore.

Time Is Ticking

As the minutes click away on the clock the deadline to get the stuff done at home is quickly approaching.

I am having new carpet put in my living room, dining room and up the stairs and the small landing.

As of this morning, the dining room still needs to be painted.

There is furniture that needs to be removed from the rooms, knick knack paddy whack stuff that needs to be put in another room until everything is finished.

The carpet and padding need to be pulled up, cut up, rolled for disposal and taken out to the garbage. The staples need to be removed from the floor and everything needs to be vacuumed and washed down before Friday.

YIKES!!!!!

Unofficial

My unofficial grade has been posted by my professor.

I GOT AN "A"!!!!!!!!!

My points total was 89.8 out of a possible 100.
The grade scale: 90-100 = A
80-89 = B

The professor however did round up any score that was 0.5 or higher up to the next whole number. Since I had 89.8 it was rounded to 90 and I squeaked into the A category.

The "official" posting of grades by the school will be available on the 10th.

Freedom until the fall, ya gotta love it!!!!

New Schedule

We FINALLY got the new schedule in place here at the office.

Here's a bit of the story behind this new schedule.
Back in the fall of 2006, the almost 30 year old daughter of our receptionist got pulled over for drunk driving and she also didn't have a valid driver's license because of a previous DUI incident. Needless to say, she could no longer drive. Our receptionist stepped in to become her personal driver and this started the whole, I have to leave work at 4pm so that I can pick up my daughter. Why this became an issue for our company to deal with and not the almost 30 year daughter I will never know.

Around the new year, the daughter got laid off from her job and decided to move to the city and get a job near public transportation. The need for our receptionist to leave early was no longer a valid reason for leaving at 4pm. When I confronted her about the fact that there wasn't a reason to leave (as myself and my acctg dept have to pick up the slack when the receptionist isn't here) it became an issue that I felt needed to be resolved. Her response, I have spoken to management and they say it is okay for me to leave early. When I pressed her further as to why she felt she "needed" to leave early (always riding the broom I am when it comes to things that adversely affect my life) her answer was "I want to go and workout before it gets crowded at the gym". WHAT????? Wouldn't everyone want to get out early and either go work out or do your grocery shopping or run other errands? Of course we do, everyone would love to get the things that they want or need to do done when there are no crowds!!

So what did this broom riding gal do?
I asked management if they gave her authorization to go home early based on the fact that she no longer was needed by her daughter and told them that I don't mind being a team player and pitching in to answer the phones but I or my department shouldn't have to answer the phones every day for an hour so that it was convenient for another party to work out.

The result: we now have a rotating schedule that encompasses three people, myself, the receptionist and one person from my dept. Every third week we will get to start our day at 7am and leave at 4pm. My week is next week and I am going to use it to jump start a work out program. My gym is right across the street from the office so I am going to change into my work out clothes here at the office and walk across the street and work out. It will give me a week to get back into the whole exercise thing and hopefully week two will have me wanting to work out even though it will be after 5pm when I will be able to get there.

The moral of the story: Sometimes it is good to ride the broom like a witch.

Life is Good

Just an update on the goings on in my life.
LIFE IS GOOD!!!!
School is out for the summer.
My garden is shaping up.
The living room and stairway are painted.
The dining room is next in line for the paintbrush.
Carpet is to be installed on 5/11.
Have to call about the couch to see when it is expected to be delivered.
Being free from homework and studying has enriched my social life as I have plans for every day this weekend. Yeah, I love spending time with friends and family.
I have started reading novels again instead of textbooks.
The purge of 20 years of stuff from my house and life is continuing.
I have made a deal with myself, I will not bring something new into the house until I have taken something old out of the house.
So far this has been working well and I have taken more out of the house than I have brought in over the past week.
Now I just have to get my fluffy arse to the gym and get a more summer friendly body.