Rite of Passage

I can't believe the day is here. A day I've talked about as far, far away for her whole life. No, she's not graduating from high school. Drivers license? Nope. First date? Not yet. So what is this momentous occasion, you may ask?

Munchkin is finally old enough to...gulp...get her ears pierced.

I've been telling her since she was old enough to notice earrings she could have them in third grade. Well, that was simply ages away so it felt like a nice, safe target. A few months ago, Munchkin pointed out to me that she would be a third grader at the end of this school year. Hmmm...true. Realizing there was no more putting it off, I set the appointment. And here we are.

This makes me think about how fast she's growing up. It seems like only yesterday she was learning to walk, talk, run, and all of the other milestones. Before I have time to take three breaths, it will be time to register her for high school, drivers Ed, graduation, college visits....ok, you get the idea...

How do we slow this down? I guess we can't. We take lots of pictures, keep a blog and stay on our knees so we have lots of guidance on raising uber-bright, exceptionally beautiful wunder-kids at the speed of light.

This summer, while she is gone, I will undertake my annual redecoration project in her room. She's decided she wants a "big kid" room. She has chosen only a few toys to keep, preferring to trade the space for a new art easel and a tv/dvd player. This year, she had a hand in choosing the colors and theme (turquoise and zebra print) - something I've always done for her.

This brings me back to today. She chose her new haircut (a cute little jaw-length layered bob).

My baby girl is growing up. Father, give me wisdom. Give me patience. Give me a sense of humor. AMEN.

This is nuts

I'm just sayin'. 

Waiting is fine.  A lesson in God's timing?  Maybe?  I'm totally ok with that.  But this is bananas. 

In other news: Princess Crybaby has her first tooth!  A little white tooth is poking through her tender little gums and giving her no end of fodder for whiny-ness. 

In other, other news: The day after I soak the grass (which hasn't been watered since, oh, NOVEMBER) the sprinklers are working and the grass gets watered.  It wasn't long so I don't know how much good it did.  I imagine I will still run the little sprinkler a few days to help the ground soften up. 

I've had an idea about putting paving stones around the "patio" in order to create little more usable space for the grill and maybe a couple of chairs.  It would delay the need to replace dead grass that was killed by 1. sitting water last fall, 2. a total lack of water through the winter and spring and 3. the high traffic area by the back door (i.e. "patio). 

I think we've decided to stay in our house, rather than taking over Mom's house.  I know it would be a little more affordable and would have an extra bedroom (HELLO OFFICE!) but the drawbacks, while they are minor, would add hassle to our lives and that is counter-productive. 

So, we're looking to improve on our great little house.  YEAH!  I love a project.  (a major reason I love summer)

Haha - the problem with working out at night

So, I've not been very diligent about blogging this week. I shall blame that on the Insanity.

Workouts are going REALLY well. Last night I finished the entire Plyometric workout (well I skipped one of the warm up sets so I could make it through the entire circuit training but I don't feel too bad about that.). But I'm getting ahead of myself.

Let's back up to earlier in the week.

Day 3 - Cardio Recovery
I didn't know what to expect from this one because we didn't watch it before we did it. I was pleasantly surprised, them, to figure out it was going to be a break from the butt-kicking cardio for some deep-muscle yoga and stretching. well, wasn't as easy as I though it would be because 1. I was amazingly sore from the first two days of Insanity and 2. My core strength is pretty awful so yoga is REALLY hard. The result - almost as much sweating and groaning as the rest of the work-outs.

The end result, though, was great. My legs felt like jello but the soreness was GONE. I crawled into bed without Advil.

Day 4 - Pure Cardio
Only did 15 minutes of this one because my feet were hurting. It seems the Adidas Bounce shoes I've been wearing just aren't built to take the impact on my arches. Matt made me stop and that was wise. I looked at the Cardio Abs as maybe an alternative but it was Ahmed warm up set lot of jumping too; as least in the beginning so I just called it a loss.

Day 5 - Plyometrics Cardio Circuit
Back to the beginning. This time, I skipped the third warm up set to go on into the work out. I learned from the first time, the warm out wears me out and I had nothing left for the end of the circuit training. By skipping that set, I made it through the entire rest of the workout. I was hurting at the end but I did it.

Today is a rest day and I'm looking forward to taking it.

I'm enjoying it. I can't believe I'm saying that, but it's true. I can feel the difference. I'm sleeping better and I'm far more motivated to pass up the food that will undo all this hard word I'm doing. Oh, don't get me wrong, I'm not giving up Jody's. IT JUST AIN'T HAPPENING.

Ok, son this an abrupt ending but my family is getting hungry and so am I. Enjoy your Saturday. I plan to enjoy mine.

Day 2 - Cardio Strength & Resistance

This was a tough workout. I made it all the way to the end though and, frankly, fell like a bit of a rockstar for it. LOL

I know I have a long way to go and it's going to get a lot harder before it's over. It will continue to hurt. This program seems designed to kick your butt, no matter how fit you are.

I cannot do the moving push ups. No matter how hard I tried, I am just not strong enough yet to hold my body in the plank position AND move.

Ok - Day 1 - Plyometric Cardio Circuit

This was like childbirth. Hardest work you've ever done and you don't think you can go on one more minute. Then, you get a brief little break and, "ok, let's do it again."

Over and over last night, we "dug deeper" and found just a little more inside that enabled us to hang in there a little longer.  It wasn't pretty but we were doing it.  K and I made it to the last two sets before we had to stop because we just couldn't go any further. I was in tears and my legs were so shaky I couldn't hold myself up for the last two rounds of exercises.

But, considering it's been more than two years (the lead-up to the wedding) since I've had any kind of fitness regimen, I'm pretty darn proud of our start.

I'm looking forward to getting stronger and leaner. K & I pinky promised to hold each other accountable for eating well because, frankly, the idea of eating something fattening and undoing all the torture we are putting ourselves through is worse than another circuit of Shaun T's suicide jumps or mummy kicks.

Speaking of Shaun T, I am REALLY impressed with his attitude.  He's so encouraging.  Even though you KNOW it's a DVD and he's talking to a camera, when you are in the middle of arguing with yourself whether you can do one more low plank oblique, he looks straight into that camera and says, "I know it's hard but you can do this."  Corny?  Maybe.  Did it work?  YES. 

At the end, when we were sitting on the floor, crying and stretching because we couldn't finish, I felt a little sorry I couldn't find it in myself to push through to the end - it was only about 6 minutes when it all comes down to it.  But I know it's also counter-productive to push past my ability and get hurt.  I bet the next go around we WILL be able to finish.

Insanity - Day 1

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Well, it seems only fitting Insanity Workout should come to CrazyVille.

I will use this blog as a way to journal about my 60 day quest to complete Insanity. Oh, fear not, you can still count on lots of kid posts, as usual, just with a sprinkling of fitness here and there.

Starting tomorrow. *grin*. I'm too tired tonight.