A poem for Friday

It was not dead mousey-mouse
Smelling up my housey-house.

Twas a larger ratty-rat.
Glad that I disposed of that.

Where he entered our abode?
Somethings are simply never know'ed.

Housekeeping A-Z. For the Giggles...

I saw this on Lin's blog and as silly as it is, I HAD to do it. I mean, who would come up with a meme about housekeeping? It's just so June Cleaver!!

Read this over, and if you don't fall off your chair laughing, and end up concussed beyond the power of speech, feel free to share your own giggles. I even left the questions alone so you can copy them easily.

aprons - y/n?
baking - y/n?
clothesline - y/n?
donuts - ever made them?
everyday - one homemaking thing you do everyday?
freezer - do you have a separate deep freezer?
garbage disposal - y/n
handbook - y/n?
ironing - love it or hate it?
junk drawer - where is it?
kitchen - design and decorating?
love - what is your favorite part of homemaking?
mop - y/n?
nylons - wash them by hand or in the washer?
oven - do you use the window or open it to check?
pizza - what do you put on yours?
quiet - what do you do during the day when you get a quiet moment?
recipe card box
style of house
tablecloths and napkins - y/n?
under the kitchen sink
vacuum - how many times a week?
wash - how many loads do you do a week?
x’es - do you keep a list of things to do and cross them off?
yard - who does what?
zzz’s - what is your last homemaking task for the day?

aprons - y/n? NO. It's just one more thing to have to wash.

baking -y/n? While I enjoy baking, there are just two of us. Since they don't make recipes for baking for one, Nope, I don't do it. If I really need a little something, I'll go buy exactly one piece.

clothesline - y/n? Yes. The only good thing about living in a suburb is that I can have a clothesline.

donuts - ever made them? Tried them once (well, fry cakes). Major failure. Burned on the outside, raw on the inside. And again, you can't make one or two. I do buy 2 donuts to eat almost any time I need to get a fasting bloodtest.

everyday - one homemaking thing you do everyday? Everyday??? Is checking email homemaking?

freezer - do you have a separate deep freezer? No. I prefer to buy and use fresh and not have too much frozen.

garbage disposal - y/n? Yes and no. One came with our house, but I rarely use it. We compost kitchen scraps and you shouldn't put meat scraps down one.

handbook - y/n? WTF???

ironing - love it or hate it? Like it on my own terms. If you tell me "I need 5 shirts ironed", I will teach you how to do it. But sometimes ironing can be a zen-like act of moving meditation. Especially with a good iron. It's really hard to find a good iron though.

junk drawer - where is it? In the kitchen by the phone.

kitchen- design and decorating? Design? Kind of contemporary-cozy. Decorating? IT'S A KITCHEN!!

love- what is your favorite part of homemaking? There is a favorite part?? When I can afford it, it's having someone else do it.

mop y/n? No. I usually run my carpet cleaning machine over the tiles, but it's broke. Mopping just moves the dirt around. Until I get better solution, the floors stay dirty.

nylons- wash them by hand or in the washer? Wear them once then throw them out?

oven -do you use the window or open it to check? Open the door. You can't see through my window, and I wouldn't trust it.

pizza - what do you put on yours? light cheese and light tomato sauce, onions, black olives, sausage, yellow or red peppers but not green, mushrooms.

quiet - what do you do during the day when you get a quiet moment? GET?? I make them.

recipe card box y/n? NO. That would require me to care about keeping and using recipes. and I don't that much.

style of house? Currently: two story stucco colonial. Ideal: Urban condo.

tablecloths and napkins - y/n? No. Maybe paper towels.

under the kitchen sink : dishcleaning supplies??

vacuum: how many times a week? You've got to be kidding? First floor, probably once a week if I'm lucky.

wash - how many loads do you do a week? Five or six. It was 3 before I joined the gym, started sweating 5 days a week and creating a load or two of stinky laundry myself.

x’es - do you keep a list of things to do and cross them off? Yes. And I dance merrily around in high heels and shirt dress with 3 petticoats when my list is complete, the house smells like lemons, the windows shine, and you can eat sushi off my dog's beds.

yard - who does what? I take care of the veggie gardens and any bed that has more than simple "trim 'em up" bushes in them. I take care of checking and fixing the drip irrigation system. I mow and fertilize the lawn. HE: trims bushes and trees that he wants to, but not all. ?? Picks up dog poop. Mows the unseeded area under the deck where the dogs hang out.

zzz’s what is your last homemaking task for the day? Let the dogs out before we go to bed. Is that a home making task??

Tale of the Scale, 3/26

Forgive me a little bragging, but this past week I moved (mostly) into new jeans. And I need to demonstrate why.

Evidence: Old jeans front view. These are Lee True Fit Jeans, size 12. When I started working out, I couldn't fasten the waist button on these. Oh, and although these are marked as "mid rise".. they fasten at my waist. Yeah, I'm short waisted.

Note the bag in the thighs and the sag in the butt and belly.
The good thing about these jeans? I can stuff my wallet, cellphone, MP3 player, tissue, dog poop pickup bags, and keys into the pockets.

Yeah, they are like pants with a purse!

How becoming!!

I'm keeping one pair of these for gardening and other "messy" work.

Now the new replace jeans, pair #1. Found these at Old Navy. See how they fit trimly through the waist and thighs. Just by putting these on, I look thinner!

The side view shows how nicely they highlight my "becoming" cute bottom. A little more leg work, and I will cuter than kittens at Christmas in these jeans.

(well, I do need to do a whole lot of work above that waistline!!) but from the waistline down I am becoming kitten-cute.









Report on Scale:

Still staying the same weight. I'll admit it, I haven't been eating the 5-6 times a day that I should be. I'm within my calorie range every day, but the program emphasizes that you eat small frequent meals with lots of fruits and veggies. Haven't been doing that for a couple days. I need to get back to writing my food down all day long.

It's OK.








Jeans #2 are bit tighter, but I'm intending to work my way into these. We just started doing more intensive abdominal work this past week. Within the month, these will be fitting less like second skin and more like great pair of jeans. The length is great and the cut is quite complimentary. Besides, they were on sale!!


Plan for the week:

Sunday was my personal long, easy workout. A half hour of cardio, a half hour of core/stability, a half hour of weight training. I usually enjoy this workout so much. I don't know why. Anyway, this is usually favorite day at the gym. Yesterday, not so much. I worked hard, doing what I usually do, but the endorphins just never kicked in.

Monday: Cardio and core.
Tuesday: Cardio and training with Guido.
Wednesday: see Monday.
Thursday: See Tuesday.
Friday and Saturday: rest, rest, rest.
Sunday: begin again.

Tuesday I hope to go out to lunch with a couple friends or visit an exhibit at the Oakland Museum. And either Monday or Wednesday will be 5 mile walk (including a hill) so start getting ready for the Bay To Breakers walk in May.

Tags: fitness, 24HourFitness, ThisDayInTheLife

Watery Excitement at the Gym

I had a hard and great workout today and couldn't wait to hit the showers. Hot water pounding on my shoulders then sliding down my salty skin is reward. My body cools when I strip, the skin getting goose-pimply as a walk over the slick tiled floors. The shower warms me and wipes me clean.

The work I've done in the gym that day sinks into the muscles and becomes the result that shows the rest of the day when I'm showering. Hot water as annealer.

I quickly stripped of my soaking wet t-shirt and shorts, tore off the sock and threw the entire pile of sopping clothing into my locker. The towel I packed had dried on the line, so it was scratchy and rough. A just reward for a job hard-won.

As I chose a shower stall, I turned and saw an older woman lying on the floor in the stall across from me. Everyone else ignored her; she was soapy but unable to get up. Naked and completely vulnerable. She just needed a little help but wisely insisted on management coming to help. And here's the weak point in the gym's design: there is no communication line between the locker room and the front desk.

I walked through the locker room yelling: is anybody dressed?? Anybody??

Nope.

So I pulled my sopping wet t-shirt and soggy wet shorts back on (sans undies, this was an emergency), walked up the stairs and through the gym to get her help. Fortunately, two female employees were quickly summoned to provide assistance.

Back. Clothes back in the locker; me back in the shower stall. Corporate girls talking to our fallen lady. She has no explanation for how she fell, but it's a shower room.

Do you know about the simple one minute stroke test? Neither did the employees. Frequently when someone falls down with no reasonable explanation, this test will show that the person has had a stroke. Quickly. Easily. Before they try to get up. So I guided the trainer through the 3 questions, then witnessed as she continued checking that the woman hadn't injured herself in her fall. Fortunately, all signs were negative and the woman was assisted to her locker, dressed and escorted safely and happily from the gym. Nobody asked for ID as a witness in the accident, so I hope it's history all around.

And I? I decided that the miracle of the shower was not to be part of my life today. I quickly washed the sweat away, pulled on dry clothes and put the work behind me.

Tags: fitness, 24HourFitness, GoodWorks

Tale of the Scale: 3/19

First: Weight, first thing this morning: 139#.

I have reached the half-way point!! In honor of this event, I went through my closet, trying on every piece of clothing I own. If was loose on me, it went into the Goodwill bag! If it was a little snug, I kept it.

Well, I'm keeping a couple of the old/loose things: 1 pair of jeans and 3 tshirts because I garden and paint. These will be strictly work clothes soon.

Last week I stopped at Target and picked up 10 new t-shirts.. so I do have something to wear. I've got 2 pairs of shorts and some workout pants and that's pretty much it for every day. I have a couple dresses for summer. (how to feel naked but fully clothed? wear a nice light rayon or cotton dress.)

This week I'll search for a new pair of pants and probably some yoga pants to get me through to the end of weight loss part of spring and early summer.

Now for the fun part for you. As a celebration for achieving this point, I am mailing away 3 pairs of Lee's "true fit" Jeans. If you're losing weight and will be fitting into these soon, please let me know so I can share them with you:

I have:

Low rise: 12 petite. One pair already spoken for.
Low rise: 12 petite. Some stretch in these jeans.
Mid-rise: 12 petite. The real denim feel.

Send me an email.. include your name and address. It's up to you to pass them on when you've outgrown them too.

Tags: fitness, TaleoftheScale, Tale of the Scale

Hey Baby, I'm Playing Their Songs.

My gym is so prosaic; or is it on Prozac?? I don't know. Lately whenever I go, there are lots of people there working out, but nothing ridiculous or funny or strange occurs. Just middle aged folks sweating on the cardios and pushing weights. Wearing dull clothes.

Darn.

Who knew we were such a dedicated and boring lot.

However, a long time ago Suzanne posted her playlist and admitted that she thought it was a brilliant idea for us all to do. My own playlist evolves almost weekly, as I am determined to find the perfect mix of music at the perfect tempo to keep me moving when on the treadmill or the elliptical, then allow me to use music as a distraction and timing method while doing floor exercises and/or weight training.

The first part is critical; the rest less so. I have also perfected the treadmill portion of the playlist; the ellipitical portion still needs to be developed (all suggestions welcome).

PlayList

Song #1: played while walking into the gym and/or up from the locker room.

Inspiration:

Bonnie Raitt: Let's Give Them Something to Talk About.

Treadmill Music:

#1. Boogie Shoes. Ya know this really is a great warm up song.. the tempo, the trumpets, the idea of shoes...

#2. I Walk The Line. Los Lonely Boys. About the same tempo as #1, longer with a very strong beat that forces me to walk to it's time.

#3. Every Breathe You Take. UB40. The breathing part of cardio is starting to kick in.

#4. Smooth. Carlos Santana and Rob Thomas. Perfect strong beat. Perfect tempo. Perfect.

#5. Oye Como Va. Gypsy Kings and Carlos Santana. I think this one may need to be moved back a little further in the play list. But the tempo and beat is good.

#6. Locomotion Breath. Jethro Tull. Increase the speed to 3.4 or 3.5 and step fiercely along with the strong bass and beat of this song. This is about the 20 minute point in a half hour workout and I'm going for the money.

#7. Layla. Eric Clapton. Same tempo at #6 and just in time to finish off the workout.

#8. Suffragette City. David Bowie. The finale. About half way through this song, I hit the half hour limit, and move into the "group exercise room" for my floor exercises. Refill the water bottle, grab a mat and get ready.

Floor exercises/ weight training/ and often elliptical:

#9. Sultans of Swing. Dire Straits. There are a number of stability and balance moves that I do. This is a great song for slowly moving legs. Besides it's my favorite earworm.

#10. Don't You Forget About Me. Human League. Usually where I do balance work and wall-sits.

#11. Aqualung. Jethro Tull. Second Time through the stability moves.

#12. Cocaine. Eric Clapton. Second time through balance work and wall-sits.

Then maybe on to weights! Sometimes used when on the ellipitical:

#13: She's Not There. Santana and Thomas again.

#14: The Way You Do The Things You Do. UB40.

#15: Evil Ways. Santana

#16: Black Magic Woman. Santana

#17: My God. Jethro Tull Live recording.

#18: Crazy Dreams. Los Lonely Boys.

#19: Elegantly Wasted. INXS.

#20: I Would Do Anything For Love. Meatloaf

#21: Brown Eyed Girl. Van Morrison.

#22: How To Save A Life: The Fray.

#23: Don't You Forget About Me. Simple Minds

#24: When It's All Over. Snow Patrol.

#25: American Pie. Don Mclean. The original long version.

#26: I'll Stop The World. The Cure.

Cool Down

#27: Trouble Sleeping. Corrine Bailey Rae

#28: Hallejulah. Rufus Wainwright.

#29 Breathless. Corrine Bailey Rae

#30 Butterfly. Corrine Bailey Rae.

Granted this playlist is heavy on the oldies, but I haven't found songs (especially for the treadmill section) that meet my specific requirements of tempo, strong rhythm, good guitar riffs and great harmonies. I will eagerly check out new suggestions that might work here, but most of the "newer" music I find is ending up at the end of the playlist.

Tale of the Scale 3/12

The Carquinez Strait bridges, Vallejo and Mare Island from our park walk.

You know that the weather is divine today: I drove with my windows and the sunroof down to catch the 3/60 air conditioning!

Weight: up a pound. I had a cold all weekend and sucked down Halls cough drops like they were good for me! I've also been taking it easy on the workouts; not missing them completely, but cutting back on the intensity.

Plan for the week:

Sunday: cardio and stability.(done)
Monday: cardio and stability (done)
Tuesday: cardio, stability, weight training.
Wednesday: cardio and stability.
Thursday: cardio and workout with Guido.
Friday: weather permitting, take the dogs for a 4.5 mile walk at Pt. Pinole.
Saturday: rest. rest. rest.

Sunday: rinse and repeat...

Was supposed to have a workout with Guido this morning, but he was a no-show. Again. I wonder if I will ever get 2 straight weeks in a row of double workouts? Oh well, it was so hot and humid in there, that I just did my stability stuff, showered, and came home.

But in a few weeks when I'm due to sign for more sessions, we are having a talk about communication and consistency.

A Study in Contrasts

It's sunny and warm here in the East Bay today. Temps are in the 70s, the sun is shining and there is no wind coming off the bay to moderate things. We are all sitting on the deck.

Katy is sleeping in the shade; Jake is sleeping in the sun.

I'm in a light t-shirt and shorts thinking that it's still a little warm.

The spouser is in jeans, a t-shirt, a button-down shirt and jacket. And probably thinking that it could be about 10 degrees warmer.

Tale of the Scale: 3/5/07

First thing first: down about another pound and a half to 141#.

I am almost to my half-way weight; the point where I will give myself permission to buy 2 new pairs of jeans and give away the 4 pairs I currently own. (I only hope I can find an appropriate rise. Lower is better with my short waist).

Had a lower body work out with Guido today, but I my muscles (and I) were exhausted before the hour ran out, so it was short. Still, I'm going to feel it in the morning.

I'm registering for Bay To Breakers, so on at least one pure Cardio days, I'll be walking outside instead of the gym.. getting hills and distance into the mix as long the weather allows.

Plan for the week:

Monday: Cardio, stability, lower body
Tuesday: Cardio and stability.
Wednesday: Cardio, arms and shoulders, stability.
Thursday: Cardio/ work out with Guido.
Friday: stability/ rest
Saturday: rest
Sunday: Cardio/ upper body, stability