We gonna go see the Mardi Gras 2011!!!

This will be the second year my parents are heading up to Gatlinburg, TN for the Mardi Gras holiday.  My son is out of school that week so they are nice enough to let him have some Smokey Mountain fun with them.  I will have to work since we have other vacations planned later this year. 

With this in mind, I tried to take my son to as many Mardi Gras festivities this past weekend as we could possibly handle.  And it went a little something like this....

Professor Longhair says it best...
"While you stroll in New Orleans
You ought to go see the Mardi Gras
If you go to New Orleans
You ought to go see the Mardi Gras
When you see the Mardi Gras
Somebody'll tell you what's Carnival for"

We started out with a close to home parade Friday night, Krewe of Eve.  This is a Covington parade that has become an annual tradition for us.  We eat dinner at the Times Grill and then head out front to watch the parade.  It is a ladies parade (only women riders) so I stick my son and dad up front and let them go at it.  They successfully caught a nice little bag of beads, but my son wasn't getting enough stuffed animal action.  Well I mean if the kid wants me to handle it, I handle it, and Mardi Gras some how became my specialty.  I tell him to stand directly in front of me and as the floats pass by I give off my exceptional Mardi Gras scream "Heeeeeyyyyyyy Laday!" and I am pointing down to the top of my sons head. Moments after this a stuffed animal comes flying at his head and I am suddenly the best mom ever.  I have a photo of the Queen of Eve, it is a bit out of focus, but I'd rather show you than not...

The next morning we stayed even closer to home and rode with our fellow cub scouts in the Abita Spring parade known as Push Mow.  The thought being that anything you can push, or mow, or drive can be decorated as a float and you pay a registration fee of $25 the day of to be in the parade.  Their theme this year was "It oughta be a law".  Our float theme was the cub scout motto... It oughta be a law... "to do your best."  Unfortunately I was crammed in the bed of my dad's truck handing beads to my son to throw and I didn't get any pictures.  The pro of push mow is that it seriously family oriented, only a one mile parade route, makes a child feel like a float riding hero, and you can literally throw away all your catches from the year before!!!  It's the best recycling plan I know of for Mardi Gras beads.  After Push Mow we enjoyed a lunch at the Abita Brew Pub....mmmmmmmm Strawberry Ale!  Here is a shot of TomTom and his artistic place mat.

Later that night I took him to see "The Music Man" one of my most favorite musicals of all time!  It was on a national tour and it stopped by The Columbia Theatre in Hammond.  I'm out of focus again...

It was a beautiful theatre and was my first time being on the inside. 

There was a barbershop quartet in the lobby entertaining the crowd when we walked in and TomTom was all about watching them.  Every time the quartet came on stage and performed a musical number he was very attentive to the show.  And when the music man AKA Professor Harold Hill was on stage, TomTom would perk up and sit on the edge of his seat.  I think he really liked it!  And I LOVED it.  Every note, every number, it was perfection.  And the actress who played Eulalie Mackecknie Shinn had us all - every time she was on stage.

We made it back home by 11 PM and he was passed out in the back seat as I waited in the longest line ever for a Nachos Bell Grande (no meat & no tomato, with fire sauce).  I was ready to give up and fall into my bed for the next three days, but the show must go on!  There will be no more Mardi Gras for TomTom this year.  When I grew up my parents took us to every parade possible, and then we spent most of our Mardi Gras days down town.  We saw every Bacchus and Orpheus, every day parade, and most night parades in town and in Metairie.  We spent all day on St Charles Ave for Mardi Gras eating Popeyes chicken and Ross' king cakes.  It is in my blood!  It is one of my favorite times of the year.  Most locals seem to hate Mardi Gras, but for some reason I just can't get enough!

Sunday morning, Thomas and I hopped back into the car and off to the grocery to get parade snacks, drink and beer for mom.  Then we headed across the big big bridge for some New Orleans style Mardi Gras.

"Get your ticket in your hand
If you wanna go through New Orleans
Get your ticket in your hand
If you wanna go through New Orleans
You know when you get to New Orleans
Somebody'll show you the Zulu King

You will see the Zulu King
Down on St. Claude and Dumaine
You know, you'll see the Zulu King
Down on St. Claude and Dumaine
An if you stay right there
I'm sure you'll see the Zulu Queen"

My cousin Toye's stepson Jackson was marching with the Brother Martin parade in Krewe of Carrolton.  Toye, JP, Meghan, TomTom & I hopped in the car for the ride from Metairie to town.  You really have to love the car rides during Mardi Gras.  You have so much time to get to know your loved ones as you search for the impossible parking spot.  I think I brought up TomTom's latest behavioral issues while Meghan tickled and poked him to death.  Toye was on the search for the parade and any open parking spot within a ten mile radius.  JP decided to go with the $10 parking cardboard sign a fellow down town neighbor was holding up because we didn't want to miss Jackson.  We pulled into her yard, parked the car and we headed for the parade route.  It was a warm day and the crowd wasn't very thick at all.  TomTom got an up front spot to view the parade.

Toye, JP & Meghan strike a pose.....

We saw Jackson coming and screamed his name trying to be as obnoxious as possible and he finally waved at us.  He was holding the banner this parade.

Toye & Meghan also knew someone on one of the floats and I took a gross of beads to the head.  I took it like a Mardi Gras pro, straightened my hat, and went back for more.  This is TomTom getting into the bead catching action.

After we caught the parade we headed back to the car and went to catch Jackson later in the parade route.  We got caught up in some traffic and the parade was high tailing it down Canal Street.  Toye, Meghan, TomTom & I jumped out the car and ran to see if we could catch him while JP drove around town in hopes of a parking spot.  TomTom & I kept up with the runners as long as we could and they hit a barricade.  Yes, and NOPD barricade on Canal St.  I told Toye to just ask the cop how to cross over and she responded with "I'm not that brave."  Toye!  Where is your Mardi Gras finesse!  Over to the cop I hurdled, the nice cops that will grab any bead off the street you want if you give them a harmless little flirt, and asked him where to cross.  He said check with the cop on the corner.  Down to the corner cop I scurried, he notified me the barricades ended down St Charles.  I got Toye and Meghan to the end of the barricade, across the street and let them take off down Canal after Jackson while TomTom and I stopped to watch the parade again. 
On Canal the crowd was pretty slim too and the breeze was fantastic.  He was directly behind the barricade and back to catching like a maniac.  A bit later I got the text to meet back up at the car and we headed back to St Charles and the barricade cross over.  We were waiting for the longest band ever to pass by so we could cross the street.  Toye was worried we would be late to pick up Jackson from Brother Martin and was calling me on my cell phone.  I had my cell in my right hand up to my ear with the bag of beads in it too.  TomTom's hand in my left hand with my mardi gras cup full of Strawberry Ale.  I could hear the urgency in Toye's voice and MAN does this band ever end???? So we dodged across the flag girls praying they didn't start swinging at us.  And that was it!  I knew my Mardi Gras was complete and that I did my best.  It was a personal moment of accomplishment when I dragged TomTom across that street, while talking on the cell phone and sloshing my beer all over the right half of his body.  At this point I had done well to fully saturate my son with Mardi Gras spirit.  He was upset that I spilled on his Star Wars tee shirt, but I wanted to give him a memory that would last even up to the highest Smokey Mountain of the Mardi Gras Season 2011!

How does your garden grow Cilantro?

This is awesome, not only can I use the egg cartons, but the actual egg shell too!  With my parents having chickens... MORE FREE GARDENING SUPPLIES!

tips on cilantro


Basically you use the egg shell as your plant pot, then just put it directly into the ground later.  Genius!!!!  I hope I remember this and use it for this batch of seeds!

How does your garden grow??

My excitement for all things garden has died down a bit as everything is in progress.  I have already shown you my egg carton planters that were waiting for their seeds.  Since then I started a paper towel method of seed germination for a bunch of seeds I had left over from last year.  I wet paper towels and put the seeds inside, then put them in a plastic Ziploc bag and labeled them with seed name, date started, and days for germination.  I put the bags on a covered heating pad at night on the low setting and then moved them to the window sill during the day time for some much needed sunlight. 

I started the process for four different types of seeds - grand rapids lettuce, salad bowl lettuce, dill, and garden bean.  Within the next three to four days most of my seeds had germinated and looked like they had little white roots sprouting out of them.  The only seeds that did not germinate were the Salad Bowl lettuce - no surprise being that I planted them last year and not one of them grew for me.

This past Sunday I transferred the germinated seeds to the egg carton planters and will send you a photo of those when I follow up this post.  The lettuce is moving along grandly and some dill sprouts have started coming through the soil.  No luck on the garden beans, I think one is barely sprouting through the soil.  All the seeds germinated (garden bean), but none have grown shoots.  I am still waiting patiently.

In the meantime I went to home depot and purchased some new seeds this past weekend too.  I have decided on a Salsa garden - Roma & Beef Steak tomatoes, Jalapeno peppers, & Cilantro.  I have started all these seeds in the paper towel germination process.  They have been on the heating pad most nights (yes I have gotten lazy with them and left them on there all day today - whoops)  and on the window sill during the day time.  I still have the Ziploc with the Grand Rapids lettuce in hopes it was a late bloomer, but no germination yet and they will probably get thrown out this weekend. 

I just checked on the paper towel seeds (you should check them daily)  and both of the tomatoes have germinated and I will transfer them this weekend.  However, absolutely NOTHING on the jalapeno and the cilantro only one or two of them possibly have little white shoots.  Maybe they need more time?  I will research this.  And I correct myself, it is the Salad Bowl Lettuce that has done nothing, the Grand Rapids is the variety that is thriving on in my egg carton planters.  This is what the seeds look like for the tomatoes that have started to germinate in the paper towel methods.  They are kind of out of focus, but you get the point.

To pass some time I am preparing my outside garden.  TomTom and I did a impromptu set up for the red onions we put in the ground three weeks ago.  We mixed one large bag of potting soil in with our clay soil and threw the onion bulbs down.  Covered them with some pine needles and what will be, will be.  Well, those puppies are shooting up all over the place.  Every day I have more green onion tops poking up through the pine needles and I make some room for them to blossom.  This is exciting!  No more buying red onions! 

This past weekend I also hosed out an old pond I had from my past when I had lots of time to garden.  It has since come out of the ground and sat in the back of my yard left for dead.  No mas!  I took a tip from Mrs. V at work and collected pine cones off of my parents property to use as filler.  I don't want to spend that much money on potting soil to fill this thing up.  My first step was drilling drainage holes in the bottom of it and then filling it with pine cones.  Here she is with the holes in her and that black bag in the background is the pine cones.  They didn't even fill the bottom of her so I will need to gather some more this weekend.

I haven't decided where I am going to put her yet...in the shade for my bell peppers??? Or in full sun for the whole salsa garden???  I am thinking the shade for the plants that won't be able to tolerate our summer heat and just planting the tomatoes and peppers right down in my front garden.  In other words, some how working them into the landscape so that they look nice and take away from my barren front garden.  I have a big tree in the back so this might help if I want the pond garden in the shade for most of the day. 

So far seeds are doing well - the ones that have sprouted.  The challenge will be keeping them alive in the weeks to come before I harden them off for outdoors.  I WILL DO IT!  And by the end of the summer we will have harvested our own veggies for a fraction of the cost that we buy them for and a little elbow grease.

Wii EA Sports Active 2, 9 week challenge - 8th week

This week the workouts are longer and I am burning more calories, but I did not lose any weight this week.  Sad, but true.  I didn't push enough with cutting my calorie intake back.  I could have done better!  But it is ok, I didn't gain any weight and I am still 6 pounds down in about 3 weeks.  Here is what I did so far this week.

Sunday, February 20, 2011: This was just some strength training to get me back into the swing of the weekly workouts..

Monday, February 21, 2011: I don't have any specific memories of this workout, but I did it!

Tuesday February 22, 2011: Again, no specific memories.  However, I have been adapting to a constantly whining dog chasing two mischievous cats around the house while I work out.  My quiet time has been zapped into mass chaos and I am NOT liking that!

Wednesday, February 23, 2011: The mountain climbers are creeping back in to the workout, and look... I went 3 miles today!  There was a lot of running and I have resorted to running from one end of the kitchen to the other to give me some variety.

Thursday, February 24, 2011:  Yep, Mountain Climbers in full force, followed by skipping, then jumping and driving your knee up after alternating squats.  YIKES!  It wasn't easy, but I'm done the hard workouts for the week!

Edward & Alice

Today TomTom & I decided on a name for our two new kitties.... Edward and Alice. 

They are pretty much settled in to their new home, but I am steadily freaking out.

First of all, TomTom seems to be having some sort of allergic reaction to the cats.  He has the stuffy nose and sniffles as expected because he has seasonal allergies, but it is one step worse - his face is starting to break out in little bumps (hives possibly).  The second night we had the cats he woke up at about 5 AM sneezing in search of kleenex.  Then when he woke up officially later that morning his eyes were bright red and he had bumps all around them.  We solved that problem with his zyrtec and some eye drops for allergies.  I also gave him more allergy medicine later that night when he came home and eye drops.  We also washed all the sheets and made our rooms designated no-cat-zones for sleeping.  All went well and he seemed to wake up this morning in better condition as far as bumps, but they were still there.  He came home today and the bumps seem to be getting worse.  And they are slowly but surely making an appearance all over the rest of his body. He is also still sniffly and blowing his nose when he comes home.  So is all of this running full circle?  When he was born I had cats, one passed away days before he was born and the other a few months after.  Thomas suffered from skin allergies at the time too.  We associated them with milk formula and he changed over to soy and zyrtec and we haven't had such serious issues since then.  I am wondering if this was all owed to the cats and not the soy?  I am slowly freaking out because after administering protopic ointment his face seemed to get worse!  We washed that off and I put him in an oatmeal bath and coated it on his face to let it dry out.  I also gave him 2 tspn of Benadryl after researching hives as an allergic reaction and it said antihistimine was the way to go with it.  I also put the lotion on his face we used last night that seemed to help him.
My parents HATE cats, HATE the fact that I ever had them.  And ofcourse, now they are drawing the lines as I am that the skin issues are a result of the cats.  I have researched a lot online about this and supposedly these are symptoms that you can slowly get over from desensitizing yourself or being around them.  It also says that HEPA filters help eliminate pet dander and that is what is causing the reaction.  So out of this I have to wait until I get my income taxes to go buy multiple HEPA air purifiers, a steam cleaner for the floors, and HEPA vacuum cleaner.  Hundreds of dollars of accessories so that he can be around the cats.... if they even work!  But when is enough, enough?  Is he going to be able to suffer through the week until I am able to purchase these things?  We have a dog that he has never been allergic to, but after research the dander cats give off is different.  I am starting to freak out here because I hate seeing him break out like this... it looks miserable.
To top it all off I have NEVER taken a pet and given it back in all my years.  I've always adapted to or dealt with the issues that come with owning a pet.  I would feel a bit defeated if I have to talk about returning these cats where they came from or trying to find another home for them.  This isn't about what is happening to me, it is about what is happening to my child so it takes it all to the extreme level. 
TomTom seems to be ok with it, like it is a minor inconvenience and no big deal.  I am the one freaking out and he is the one sleeping soundly in his bed (thanks benadryl).  He wants to try to get through it and keep the cats.  What in the hell am I supposed to do??????????????????
I'm at a loss here.  Cat haters say get rid of them instantaneously.  I would like reassurance that the HEPA purifiers are going to work and my child won't be a big ball of snot and bumps by the time I get them in!

New Additons to the Family

Today is the day we added two new members to our family. 

Two little kitties that needed a home. 

One boy and one girl.

Brother and Sister.

Here they are getting settled in after an afternoon of investigating their new home.

You don't bring me flowers....

My flowers today in the sun were gorgeous! 

I had to take a picture because it will last longer.

Thank you again my special some one!

Stan's Lunch 2-17-11

Another wonderful delight from Stan.  I have been working hard on watching what I eat and working out so it was definitely a treat!  As you can see, the crowd has all gathered at the table for our Thursday lunch.

And the meal he catered for our lunch was breaded pork (center cut) topped with a dab of his special tomato sauce on top of a mozzarella layer on top of a ricotta layer... AKA YUM!  A spinach salad with eggs and onions and bacon and one of his special dressings that ROCKED!  It was a little bit tangy and a little bit sweet, a perfect combination!  He also brought two types of pasta that were in olive oil with sun dried tomatoes and bread topped with Parmesan cheese and olive oil.  Let me tell you, it was worth EVERY bite!
Thanks again Stan!  Everyone remember, he caters and can do something special for you too so leave a comment if you are interested!

Day 15 at Sparkpeople

I've lost six pounds!!!! Woo Hoo!  And I didn't take my blood pressure medicine last night, not so good but I ran out and didn't realize it.  The medicine usually cleans me out of fluids by morning so I figure I was holding on to a little when I weighed in this morning.  I lost another 3 pounds so I am at a total of 6 with my first two weeks on sparkpeople!!!!!
I am working on some rewards for weight loss.  I started mapping them out with 10 lbs and then every five pounds there after to keep me motivated in this journey.  It is hard to pinpoint what I really would want to work for being that I could just go out and get it if I wanted it bad enough.  So the question is, what would I want to work hard enough for that I would never buy even though I wanted it?  And when I randomly pop up answers to those questions I figure out what my rewards will be.  I've decided that when I reach my goal I will plan a trip to a beach location of my choice for at least one week.
I am working on breaking myself in to my sleep challenges and am on week two.  This week stresses a bed time routine and I am pushing for 8 hours of sleep.  Tonight I don't feel so rushed about it or I may be purely exhausted from this mornings workout, but I'm on track (knock on wood).
I've noticed that I am getting to work a bit later than I should as I am falling into the routine of working out in the morning.  My workout time is running over an hour from getting up to finishing and this sets me back on my shower and dressing time for work.  My son is also starting to rise a bit earlier and catches me in the last 10-15 minutes of my workout.  I get a bit irritated about that because it is my quiet time in the morning and I want to finish in that same mindset, not with him screaming my name from his room.  I am contemplating waking up a bit earlier to get started, but that puts me in bed even earlier which might be a problem for me.  I will concentrate on one thing at a time for now. 

Wii Sports Active 2 - February 16 - 17, 2011

Yesterday was over the top with the workouts.  I got in my AM 9 week challenge work out and felt like I had lots of energy and am making improvements.  The kickups are still not reading correctly, but I keep pushing on anyways.  The heart rate monitor seems to be working normal.  I took the dog for his one mile walk at lunch and then had to do strength training too that night.  But I did it!



Today, however, was nuts!  The mountain climbers.... THE MOUNTAIN CLIMBERS... not once, but like four different sets of them at 65 each!  And the skipping, and the stride jumps - they went up to 110 each.  I had to keep pressing pause and pace around the room to regain myself.  I'm sure it made a difference that I didn't take my blood pressure medicine last night and my heart rate was up in the 150s when it is usually no higher than 140 at my hardest level.  Crazy... I thought the machine was trying to kill me.  With pressing the pause button I worked out a bit longer than the suggested 39 minutes, but it had to be...  And let's not forget to put a spotlight on the flutter kicks and reverse crunches, I had to do two sets of those at the end of the whole thing.  Knowing it was my last hard core Wii workout for the week I was able to make it through it.  I kept tellingy myself YOU CAN DO THIS!  When I thought there was no absolute way in hell... YOU CAN DO THIS!  And reminding myself that I was going to be completely lazy with the workouts for the next three days so suck it up and get it done.  AND I DID!!!!!  I had a waaaayyyyyy too big lunch, like 1800 calories worth, and tried to shurk out of my walk, but went anyway for one mile with the dog.  Tonight I am watching American Idol in my bed waiting for the sleep....



My Un-Valentine's Day

Did Valentine's day come and go and I not so much as say a word about it? 

Yes, it did, as it will I'm sure for more years in the future. 

Today, the second day after the unspoken day, my son wakes up and asks me what I bought him for Valentine's Day.  I think fast and respond that I put in for the puzzle his Nana gave him on that day.  He catches on and says Nana said she bought it on her own and that I have to buy something for him with my own money.  With that, I assured him I loved him and reminded him that I woke him up with Valentine's Day wishes.  We also went to the store to buy Valentines for his class that morning on the way to school.  And that he has all my love and heart and there is no money that could ever top that value.

Then later today at work I was minding my own business and Stacey walks up with one of those ProFlowers boxes saying my name.  Well I don't miss a beat and automatically tell her she has the wrong person.  She says "No" and double checks my name on the box. At this point I am interested and check out the label too.  It does have my name on it!  And yet I don't think I even had a spark of enthusiasm, I'm still in investigator mode wondering how someones flowers could have gone so horribly wrong!  Y chimes in and says maybe it is from a crew member???  I'm like yeah... right... based on all those annual training reviews we aren't in their favorites category.

I get it open and find the card and read it and almost have a few tears.  I knew I had to keep it together because I had a few people around me, but it was for me from a very special soul that I met years ago.

Nowadays she works nights and goes to school when she's not working and keeping a busy home with a stay at home husband and two little boys.  I work days and go home to my little boy.  Every phone conversation we have in between those minutes neither of us have time for we have to spit out as many random facts and updates in our lives as possible before something else is demanding our attention other than our phone call.  We do get together when our schedules allow, but it will never be enough because I enjoy hanging out with her so much. 

It seems like every moment in our past we just missed each other by moments and that our meeting was fate.  She dated my brothers good friend when I was in Jr. High school so she knew my brother before I even knew her.  We partied at the same places and did a lot of the same things, but nothing.. no meet... no how.  Then one day my road butted me up against a little place called Plantation Coffeehouse and I became an employee.  A few months later she came knocking on Plantation's door.  It was maybe the first night I worked with her and she had all this boyfriend drama, I think he came in and made an ass of himself or something along those lines.  I don't remember the details of it but I remember she was crushed and that was that, she has been my friend ever since... I even let her clean the pastry case every time we worked together. 

After that there were so many things that happened in between and around and back again and she has always been there one way or another.  No matter how far away or how close to each other we live or what screwed up messes we get into with our lives... always there.  Yes we have fought and thought the other one was utterly ridiculous, but I never stopped loving that girl.  There was too much there!  Great things happen when we are together.  She has such an awesome soul and people are just drawn to her, she can go anywhere in the world and know someone or have someone come up to her that knows her.  That rarely happens to me, but with her, all the time!  We even went to the dump one time together to trash a sofa and low and behold!  She freakin' knew somebody else that was dumping trash off too! I'll never let her live that one down. 

There have been so may things that have happened over the years, broken hearts, drunken giggle fests, late nights with great pot luck dinners and lots of wine, hard work, blood, sweat, tears, cow fields in the rain, putting the gris-gris on unsuspecting victims (HA!), more broken hearts, and so many other things I could never tell you about or I would have to kill you.  OH!  Just MELCH and get over it.

Lots of time we have spent just gazing out at nature and having conversations (I wish we had more of those) and she is someone who can appreciate beautiful scenery just as much as I do and soak it all in!  We've laid back and waited for shooting stars at campgrounds, we've spent evenings on a wet sailboat looking up at the sky listening to the sounds of the ocean come and go feet away from us.  We've spent nights around a coffee table in a Metairie apartment indulging with random sushi from Little Tokyo.  We've eaten Luther's loaded chop bakers without any utensilas at all! 

Sometimes she doesn't hear me talk because she is pretty much deaf (or I mumble if it is her side of the argument), but she still nods and giggles in all the right places.  I'll throw a random question out there like "do you have on dirty underwear?"  And she'll still nod and giggle right on beat and then I'm like... you didn't hear a word I said, did you?  And still on beat she says no, but you know you mumble, and I'm like yeah I'm used to it!

And let's see what else??  Moving in, moving outs, mom smelling fingers, scouting nurseries for herb plants, randomly walking up and down aisle of whole foods and indian stores, slowly strolling through the french quarter stopping at every window to ooo and aaaa, and always telling me she loves me.  We decided long ago that if we are old ladies and alone again we would move in together and live as a married couple (even though we will sleep with other people).  I'm still banking on that promise!

And to see a soul that is so in tune with the environment around it!  I don't know if it happens to J all the time, but when she is with me I see the reality of manifestation.  We talk about an owl at a wedding, we see an owl in the tree when we pull back into the driveway.  We need a good parking spot, a parking spot just opens up.  You have a question that is plaguing you about something in your past?  You will meet some random stranger with her that has the answer to one of those questions and more information on it that you could ever dream to have and then you all wander into the concert together.

I could go on and on and on, but I wanted to at least notice the surface things in my blog so they go into the blog book.  I hope she knows that I was GREATLY surprised and her act of kindness will allow me to pay it forward to another unsuspecting person that needs a boost.  I love you J!  Thank you so much!  You are one of the gifts this world has given to me and I am a most grateful recipient!

So this is what that sweet little soul sent me...

Accompanied by this....

I don't know how I am going to top this one, but I'll do my best to try!

Wii EA Sports Active 2 9 Week Challenge

I received the Sports Active 2 game from Santa in 2010.  This page will be my updates on how that is going....

ARRRRGGGHHHH!!!!! So one of my favorite points of this blog is that you can print it out into books to have and to hold forever, but it won't print the different pages that I have on the blog.  So, I'm sticking it all in here so that it shows up and I guess I will do posts in the future.....

February 15, 2011
Had another good workout today with my friends the mountain climbers...

February 14, 2011
Back on track with my first Phase 3 workout.  It was kicking butt and taking names, but I made it with flying colors.

February 13, 2011
Today I had to get some strength training done and it was an off day from my 9 week challenge workouts.  I did take the dog on his one mile walk today with TomTom on his bike.

February 12, 2011
I didn't do anything today that required strenuous exercise, and I loved every bit of it!

February 11, 2011
Today I had to get some strength training done, but no scheduled Sports Active workouts.

February 10, 2011
Today was the last workout of phase 2 and I have stepped into Phase 3!  A huge achievement for myself. Today they tackled me with many sets of Mountain Climbers, Skipping and Stride Jumps.
 
Some issues I'm having:
My heartrate monitor is sporadic and doesn't always seem to be consistent with what I am feeling. 
It doesn't track my kick ups because when I am doing them fast, my icon on the Wii is barely moving.

February 9, 2011
Arrrgggghhh!!!! I woke up late again today!  I did my workout and managed to not be too late for work, just about five minutes or so.  I wasn't really in the mood for doing it today, but I powered on and got it done.  I also had to do my strength training at sparkpeople so I did that customized warm up/cool down routine I created too.

February 8, 2011
I woke up around the regular time today and you'll never guess what was waiting for me in my workout!  Those dang mountain climbers!  However, I made it through them and I think it was easy (she whispers because I don't want the Wii to hear me).  I mean I am still getting a workout and sweating my butt off (I hope)!  But it was actually bearable to do the exercise today and I feel I was more able to concentrate on my form.  I felt like I have improved!!!!

February 7, 2011
Today I overslept and woke up at 630 AM with no alarm chiming at me!  It was late, but I did my workout because I didn't want to get out of the routine.  I need to wake up on time!

February 6, 2011
Another off day from EA Sports Active.  I walked the dog on our one mile route with Thomas in the evening.  I also did my strength training from sparkpeople.com.  This included the custom warm up/cool down routine I made on Sports Active...

February 5, 2011
This is my 100% off day from EA Sports Active.  However, with my sparkpeople goals I did take the dog for a one mile walk that afternoon.

February 4, 2011
Today I had to do strength training for my sparkpeople.com fitness.  I've created a custom workout with the EA Sports Active with my favorite warm up and cool down exercises.  What I do is play the warm up then pause the Wii.  Then I do the strength training exercises as supplied by sparkpeople.com.  Then I go back to the Wii and do the cool down exercises.  Today was an off day so that was all I did besides walking the dog up and down my street a few times this night.

February 3, 2011
Lord help me!  This morning my workout grouped together stride jumps (55), foot fires (180), and skipping (45) and if that wasn't bad enough it grouped them together in three different sets.  I kept saying "I can do this!"  I had to take pauses, and got angry because it wasn't counting the actual jumps I do when skipping (as usual) but I made it through!  And I'm DONE my workouts for the week!  YAAAYYYY!!

February 2, 2011
I'm up to date again.  I've started logging my fitness time on sparkpeople.com today too.  I'm looking forward to using that as a big time motivational tool!  I had to burn 15 more calories on that to stay on goal so I added the limber up routine at the end of the day.  I also made a short term goal on there to start walking the dog once a day.  Forest and I went out into the 30 degree night and did 4 circles going 4 houses down in one direction and 4 in the other.  After the first one I ran half the way to see how it felt, it wasn't so bad and it kept Forest's attention way better than the walking.  Who knew my dog would push me on too?  Things keep looking better and better!

February 1, 2011
Again with the can't get out of bed thing.  This may be leading to late nights, but I went to bed early the night before.  I was up and getting dressed around 620AM for my workout, but it just isn't enough time.  The workouts are over 30 minutes now, not the 25 like they used to be before, but I did it and sacrificed the time it takes to put on eyeliner.  I went to work eyeliner-less, but did I mention I did mountain climbers in this workout?  I freaking hate mountain climbers.  If anything in this world makes me feel like a fat ass, it's them!

January 31, 2011
Just when I thought I was in good cahoots with waking up, I totally slept through my phone alarm today.  I woke up at 627 AM and barely had enough time to get it started and make it to work in time.  But I did it anyway sacrificing the few minutes it takes me to straighten my hair.  I got my work out done and went to work with "scrunched" hair.  Yes, I looked like crap, but look at those calories I burned :)

January 29 - 30, 2011
The weekend I rested and hung out with TomTom.

January 28, 2011
I woke up this day... and didn't have to!  It was a rest day!  I had already done my four workouts for the week, but I'm in the habit of getting up and doing it now... so I worked it out with some low key stuff.

January 27, 2011
It's been awhile since I've updated this page.  It is 2/2/11 and I don't remember anything extraordinary about this morning, other than the fact that I woke up and worked out... Hoooorah!

January 26, 2011
This morning I woke up at 430AM thinking I overslept and didn't have enough time for my workout.  I put on my glasses, looked over at the clock and was like bummer!  What the hell am I doing awake?  I took off my glasses, got bundled up under my covers, and woke up again to my alarm at 6 AM.

January 25, 2011
I woke up and got 'er done!

January 24, 2011
I totally slept through the 6 AM alarm clock this morning and it set my whole day off key.

PM I picked up TomTom after work from his religion class, did homework, then went to the boyscout meeting.  After that, and getting him to bed, I completed my workout that I didn't complete in the morning.  This is when I realized I was supposed to workout Sunday and was already off schedule by one workout.

January 23, 2011
I took a rest today.  I thought it was a scheduled rest day, but when I tuned in Monday I had missed a workout.

January 22, 2011
I woke up around 10 AM and made breakfast for TomTom.  Then I let him watch the wonder of his mother huffing and puffing as she does her workout.  I made it to the end of Phase One!!!!!!!   Later that day we went for about two miles on the St Tammany Trace.  He rode his bike and I "attempted" to roller skate.  I had a few near misses and one fall.  My fall was accompanied by hysterical laughter as I fought to keep my balance.  Unfortunately, gravity got the best of me and I went down in nervous laughter.  I don't think anyone got to witness my fall from grace, my son didn't even turn to see if his mother was still alive.  When we got to the end of mile one I told TomTom my gluteus maximus felt abstractedness and I needed a break.  I had thoughts that it was probably easier to jog behind him.  Man!  The roller skates HURT my butt!  Finally we made it back to the car with my butt in tact.

January 21, 2011

It's finally Friday!  I took a rest here. 

January 20, 2011
AM I woke up at 6 AM and completed the following workout.  It is easier getting through my workout knowing that once it is done in the morning I don't have to worry about it for the rest of the day.  Here's the summary:

January 19, 2011
AM I did it again!  I woke up early and worked out!  I'm amazed.  I find it is easier to roll out of bed and get it done knowing that it is done for the day.  It is a really nice feeling.  I am back on track with workouts that I can complete.  They aren't over challenging, but I am going to finish out phase 1 until I up the level to medium again.

PM  I am going to do the limber up routine before I go to bed.  I will have to update the chart the next time I put more info on here.

January 18, 2011
AM I don't know how, but I did it!  I woke up at 6 AM to complete my workout for the day.  I had to sneak into the front so I didn't wake Thomas up and quietly did my workout.  It was hard to get over the fact that I was up early and doing the workout, but I managed to make it through to the end.  It was quite uplifting when I realized that once it was done, I didn't have to do any other work out for the day.  I was done!

PM I patted myself on the back because I woke up early to work out and vegetated in front of the TV.

January 17, 2011
AM I woke up early to complete the limber up routine.

PM I didn't feel like doing anything tonight.  I stayed late visiting with family and got home knowing that if I worked out it would set me back on time and I would be up until midnight (like I am now).  But I did it anyway, just a milder version of it.  In the custom workouts section I completed the Low Impact workout.  It still had me sweating and burning calories, it was just a bit laid back without much jumping.  I jumped a few times in the Soccer Goalie exercise, but maybe three times tops.  I squatted so many times that I never imagined I could possibly squat any more.... and then there were more squats!  And those dang reverse crunches kill me EVERY time!  This time the reps went up to 20.  I made it through, but it feels like an act of God to get my legs back up to my chest when I am around rep 15.  I think I even cursed out the TV a few times.  I am going to try to wake up early tomorrow and complete the 90 day workout in the morning and get it out of the way.  Then before bed I can do the limber up routine for extra calorie burn.  If I am able to complete this task it will be a major event for me.  I NEVER wake up early for ANYTHING!  Doing the limber up routine in the morning has been a huge stretch for me.  Wish me luck!

January 16, 2011
I took a break today to spend time with TomTom out in Lafayette
January 15, 2011
AM I still couldn't get in the swing of things.

PM I did my workout and met my workout goal for the week.  I still didn't stitch the Velcro on my arm band so i had to put the heart monitor on really tight for it to ready correctly.  I have moved the intensity level back down to "easy"  so I was able to make it through the workout again without feeling like I was going to die.  My favorite exercise today was side lunges with balance.  I was able to use the balance board for this one.  I wore the leg band down a bit lower on my thigh and didn't have as many problems with the computer not counting my reps.

January 14, 2011
I didn't do anything this Friday :(
January 13, 2011
AM I woke up and completed the "Limber Up" routine this morning  with a constant theme of yawning during the 14 minute program.

PM I completed my trainer designed workout for tonight.  It took about 36 minutes and I burned about 220 calories.  The past couple of days it hasn't been as much fun working out as it was in the beginning.  For starters, the heart rate monitor wasn't reading my pulse.  I was running around the track on the game, dying in my real life living room, and my heart rate was at 80.  I had to readjust the monitor on my arm.  The Velcro piece that attaches to the soft fuzzy Velcro has started to come unstitched so I will have to repair that this weekend.  Then the trainer was not counting my reps for kick ups and mountain climbers.  This can be VERY frustrating when you are dying from putting tons of energy into your workout and your character isn't even moving on the screen.  Then you have to figure out what is wrong and complete the reps AGAIN as if you did not complete them.  I think I was wearing the leg strap too high up on my thigh.  I moved it down a little and did not seem to have any more problems with this issue.  My workouts have been KICKING MY BUTT this week!  Tonight TomTom was on the sofa reading his AR book to me while I worked out.  I told him I needed to hear him reading to me to keep me going, but there were a few times I thought I was either going to keel over or pass out.  I had changed my workout intensity up to "Medium" from "Easy".  It is quite depressing to think that I can't even keep up with medium, MEDIUM!  I've been working out for years, running, walking in the dead of summer heat while dodging and sprinting away from horse flies on the Trace!  I bit the bullet.  I admitted I've eaten one too many donuts in this lifetime and changed it back to "Easy".  I don't want to get discouraged and stop doing it because it is too hard.  I'll truck on at the easy level and at the end of phase 1 maybe I'll kick it back up to medium.  Here are my stats for the day.

January 12. 2011
AM Still on the nuttin' train.

PM I completed my trainer designed workout for tonight.  It took about 35 minutes and I burned about 260 calories.

January 11, 2011
AM I woke up early and completed the "Limber Up" workout, burned about 40 calories.

PM I didn't do nuttin'.  I have a million excuses I could feed you, but I'll just skip that part.

January 10, 2011:
AM I woke up early and completed the "Limber Up" workout, burned about 40 calories.

PM I created a custom workout and completed it tonight.  Trying to kick up the calorie burn for my two-week goal I set for myself.  I managed to complete it being that today was a rest day and burned about 305 calories tonight.  The Mountain Climbers kicked my butt!  I also did two long follow-the-leaders and it wasn't reading my fast kick ups correctly, or maybe I wasn't kicking my butt high or hard enough because I was exhausted.  But a pat on the back for myself because I made it thru to the end!!