Weekend is here

I think today was the best workout we had all week. I added a new ab workout to our routine today which I posted on facebook. I think its called Sexy abs. I think it will be something I will do not just at the gym but here at home too. I know eventually my body will get used to that movement and I will have to change it up again but right now even though I need to evenly get my body toned I really want to work on my abs and belly as I have allowed the stomach wall to go lax and I need to get that strengthened up. My goal is certainly to have a stronger flatter core by summer assembly which is in June. A much smaller dress size would be absolutely amazing too. Which means I will have to get a goal outfit to be in.

Today my sister and I did 1 round on the circuit and then went right into abs - doing the sexy ab workout, and a few others as well and ended off with a workout on the treadmill for me at a fast pace and Becky on the elliptical. The best feeling of today's workout is that I feel a lot of the stress I was feeling released. I think emotional baggage is just as damaging as the fat we allow to creep up on our bodies. So with that released I feel more myself again.

Okay with that said I need to get myself moving. I did a few more ab workouts mixed with some from Niki's site. And now I am going to give my body a break. A nice hot shower should do the trick.

Hope you all have a great weekend wherever you are in the world.

Thursday's Ramblings

Started out very tired and sluggish this morning as I didn't have a good sleep last night. Too much weighing on my mind to completely relax. Tried listening to the yearbook last night to give me good thoughts before bed but soon as I turned it off it took me a bit to get truly rested. Which only lasted til 5 AM when my hubby started the wood stove up. I could hear the wood snapping and crackling and I thought something was on fire. So I climbed back in bed and slept til I heard my hubby yell up the stairs to get my son moving as they were going to be late for school. I sat straight up and in bed and knew today I had another date with a migraine. Which reminds me a dear sister made me an eye pillow. I must get it and see if it will help reduce the pain in my head right now.

I was hoping my workout at the gym would reduce some of the strain I have been feeling but sadly my date continue's with my headache. And now my children are home and well they are boys so you know there is no such thing as being quiet. The only time I can expect complete silence is when they are sleeping. Right now I can hear the boys arguing downstairs, but on a positive note at least it lets me know I still have my hearing lol. Time to put my headphones on and try and drown out the boys. I will let hubby deal with it lol.

I had received a nice forward from a brother and thought I would share it as I thought despite some of the things we complain about we can actually find a positive note in it all. I thought if we actually thought of life in this manner then we really could reduce some of the stress we allow ourselves to carry. You may have received this forward before but always worth a second read.

I am Thankful :

FOR THE WIFE
WHO SAYS IT'S HOT DOGS TONIGHT,
BECAUSE SHE IS HOME WITH ME,
AND NOT OUT WITH SOMEONE ELSE.

FOR THE HUSBAND
WHO IS ON THE SOFA
BEING A COUCH POTATO,
BECAUSE HE IS HOME WITH ME
AND NOT OUT AT THE BARS.


FOR THE TEENAGER
WHO IS COMPLAINING ABOUT DOING DISHES
BECAUSE IT MEANS SHE IS AT HOME,
NOT ON THE STREETS.


FOR THE TAXES I PAY
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I AM EMPLOYED.


FOR THE MESS TO CLEAN AFTER A PARTY
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE
BEEN SURROUNDED BY FRIENDS.


FOR THE CLOTHES THAT FIT A LITTLE TOO SNUG
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I HAVE ENOUGH TO EAT.


FOR MY SHADOW THAT WATCHES ME WORK
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I AM OUT IN THE SUNSHINE


FOR A LAWN THAT NEEDS MOWING,
WINDOWS THAT NEED CLEANING,
AND GUTTERS THAT NEED FIXING
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE A HOME.

FOR ALL THE COMPLAINING
I HEAR ABOUT THE GOVERNMENT
BECAUSE IT MEANS
WE HAVE FREEDOM OF SPEECH..

FOR THE PARKING SPOT
I FIND AT THE FAR END OF THE PARKING LOT
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM CAPABLE OF WALKING
AND I HAVE BEEN BLESSED WITH TRANSPORTATION .


FOR MY HUGE HEATING BILL
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I AM WARM.

FOR THE LADY BEHIND ME AT THE KINGDOM HALL
WHO SINGS OFF KEY BECAUSE IT MEANS
I CAN HEAR.


FOR THE PILE OF LAUNDRY AND IRONING
BECAUSE IT MEANS
I HAVE CLOTHES TO WEAR.


FOR WEARINESS AND ACHING MUSCLES
AT THE END OF THE DAY
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE BEEN
CAPABLE OF WORKING HARD.


FOR THE ALARM THAT GOES OFF
IN THE EARLY MORNING HOURS
BECAUSE IT MEANS I AM ALIVE.


AND FINALLY, FOR TOO MUCH E-MAIL
BECAUSE IT MEANS I HAVE
FRIENDS WHO ARE THINKING OF ME.


SEND THIS TO SOMEONE YOU CARE ABOUT . I JUST DID.


Live well, Laugh often, & Love with all of your heart!

who knew what kinda mess one can of opened pop can make...

well I got my answer once it hit the floor. It spread like a rushing river over flowing its banks and the chaos it caused. My hubby was squatted down in front of the fridge putting items away like a helpful hubby, when he received a wave of sticky bubbly pop all over the back of him. I was standing at the counter and moved the pop box but did not see the opened can of pop sitting next too it and sent it off the counter. I looked around the kitchen and was shocked to see how far up the walls this pop flew. It was literally all over my cupboards, walls, window and completely inside the fridge and of course all over the floor with about a quarter cup left in the can to spare.

I did not realize it got all inside the fridge and neither did my hubby. He thought he had blocked it all. Boy were we in for a surprise. I opened up the fridge to put some more items into it as we have family over for dinner and after our guest left we decided to clean up the kitchen. Maybe we should have just skipped that part and gone to bed lol. Anyway I opened up the fridge to find more room to put the remaining items in and started to laugh and say oh noooooooo. I clearly didn't even see half of the mess either. I wiped down the items on the first and second shelf and cleaned off the inside ceiling of the fridge and back walls and the closed the fridge. I then had to put something else in the fridge and noticed that the door was making a really sticky noise when I opened it. Ugh that is when I discovered the real mess. The inside door was covered in pop as well as the items on the shelf. So I rinsed out the cloth again and went back to the fridge to clean some more. I think I got it all but I would not be surprised if I find more pop somewhere inside the fridge or on the walls or half way up the top cupboards. I am so glad my cupboards were closed.

And I am sooooo happy this happened after our guest left lol. Now I must finish cleaning myself off. The pop got me too, from my butt down to the backs of my feet I am sticky with pop which does not feel so nice on your skin. I don't know how children tolerate being sticky and don't want to be washed off.

Had a great turkey dinner with my hubby's sister and her husband and son. We had a great game of Euchre in which my sister and I completely dominated. (this is truly a rare occurrence so yes I reveled in it and let my brother in law sulk lol. We had a great evening.

Haven't had that much fun in awhile. But as I said I now must remove the remain sticky pop off myself and get ready for bed. Or maybe I will do some of the dishes lol - my counter is covered.

Wish I took pictures of the pop mess I think you would have all gotten a great laugh, I know we did.

aïe, au, пряжка, ouch

Ouch is somewhat of a universal word, lol, which does not change for Spanish and Italian. However pain is pain if you ask me no matter what language it is in.

Today I am feeling my workout so much more lol. Sadly last week I missed my workouts due to babysitting, so making up for it this week lol.

Today I did 1 round on the circuit, went right into buns and guns (lunges with weights, squats with bicep curls, and plank, kiss knee to floor), from there I did part of a ball workout with weights, then onto the elliptical, bike and then 1 round on the circuit again. I most want to work on my lower abs where I am not feeling it so much. Need to find a good workout that works that area.

However for now - I am just going to relax and enjoy my pain. Okay not so much enjoy as live with lol. Stay positive. and in the words of a friend, I think I can lol - okay I know I can.

Sisterhood of the traveling granny squares....

This colourful blanket was made by sisters all over the world and put all together by a dear sister named Bella - who put all these squares together to form this beautiful comfort blanket for our dear sister Dottie.

I wish we could have gotten a picture of the entire blanket so we could have seen everyone's square. I will request one and see if its possible.

You can see just a partial of my square which is in the bottom right hand corner with the brown
heart on it as shown in the second image.

This was the first time I got to be apart of something this special. I cannot wait to see what the next blanket turns out to look like and which sister/brother will be the next recipient of some comfort.

Thanks to the sister who came up with this idea and thank you for allowing me to be apart of it.

Week 2 of Workout

I can't believe I was actually dreading going to the gym tonight. All day I felt like canceling. Not that today was a hard day. Savannah is really a good baby, its just a different energy being used when watching a child.

Once I got to the gym and started working out I felt my energy returning. It felt so good to get my negative energy out and good energy in. I wish we could always work out at night instead of during my sisters lunch hour but she has babies and that makes it harder for her as well as other commitments with hockey stuff for her oldest son.

Tonight we did two rounds on the circuit and then went right into our buns and guns workout, which was much easier to accomplish this time. However we didn't do the full 16 reps as we didn't want a repeat of the dizziness we felt last week. So we will build up to that. We did do 15 reps of the second exercise which was the squat with bicep curls and we did 10 reps each side of the blank with kiss the knee to the floor. Eventually we will build the plank into the leg raises.

I wasn't sure I was going to be able to do them as I hurt myself some how over the weekend. Not exactly sure if it was from Friday's workout as it didn't start hurting until Saturday night and all day Sunday. It was uncomfortable holding Savannah for any length of time. However its not hurting as bad now after my workout so I wonder if I had something out of place. Still feel a little discomfort but nothing the way it was. I guess I will find out when I go to lie down and how I feel tomorrow may change that statement lol.

Either way right now I feel great. Though its late I need to now go do some baking (bran muffins and some low fat snacks for me). Its too hard to do it when my niece is here. And tomorrow we will have to work out on my sisters lunch break providing I can get the baby down for her nap in time.

If you ever contemplate going to the gym I highly recommend it. I have tried many times to do it on my own and have lost weight doing so but its so easy to fall off track and hard to get back on but when you have a gym membership and a friend to workout with it certainly makes it that much easier. Its so worth the great feeling after a workout.

My past projects

1: Sweater for a friends first baby

2: Sweater I knitted for Zachary

3: Hat I knitted I believe for my father

4. My very first afghan that I knitted for Zachary before he was born.

5. Sweater I knitted for my nephew Cody (the little boy is Cody)

6. Socks I knitted for my hubby's cousin Lily

7. Jaunty Jumper knitted for Barb's boy Jacob. ( I did cute red, blue and green one for the twins, and a cute mix of pink and white for my friends daughter)

8. Sweater I knitted for Bryhton (ethan had a similar one)

9. My kitchen knits - pot holders, oven mitts, dish scrubbies

10. Knits I did years ago - towels, dishcloth and pot holders. Rooster one I did for my mom.

I have done a number of baby items which I can't seem to find the images, But I have knitted bonnets, booties, and sweaters. One of my favorite ones to knit up quickly is the 5 hour baby sweater which the pattern can be found on the net.

My most recent projects have been image 9, I am also knitting a child's size oven mitt for my son Bryhton who likes to help me bake. I will post a picture of those when they are finished as I have to do some more altering as they are not long enough for his fingers.

My legs feel like lead weights....................

Owwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww............ I think my legs are feeling the most pain right now. Good workout today, I won't say great cause I don't think I got out of it what I could have.

It felt like we had less time today then before, though that is not possible - I guess my mind was not where it should have been. We did 1 round on the circuit and then worked 3 exercises on our abs that target that area more effectively. However the exercise alone was hard to do - I did not feel like I had the strength to accomplish that yet. And then we were out of time and just did a few stretches for our cool down and we were racing back to my place for lunch.

For lunch we had a bowl of salad with chicken and a bit of shredded cheese with calorie reduced casear dressing, 1 bran muffin and 1 glass of wild berries/pomegranate juice. Yum all filled up too.

We take the weekends off because its harder for Becky to get out on the weekend and she is away on Saturday anyway. However I think I will try and do one of my exercise dvd's that I have here - probably my stotts pilates body toning video. Of if I am brave try Jillian's again lol. I am only a week back into my workouts so maybe I won't push it lol - I don't want to injure myself again.

Becky thank you so much for encouraging me to join the gym with you. I think its one of my best decisions weight wise.

I really wish my mother could join. She would benefit so much and the circuit would not be hard on her. Low impact and less chance of injury. Sadly it is not within her means right now. Wish all my girls could join what a great buddy system that would be.

Muscles have discovered they were woke up

Today - I am experiencing a little discomfort in my muscles. But if there is pain then I know I am getting my workout lol. Muscles are not too sure yet lol - not fully awake from their slumber but enough to feel stiffness in my legs when climbing or descending down the stairs. Yes I am experiencing a little grumbling as I climb down the stairs lol.

Today I went a little earlier and got in about a 45-50 minute work out. I did 1 complete round on the circuit and while I waited for my sister to catch up I did a couple of the machines in the circuit until my sister did her first round. Then we went straight into the buns and guns workout. The first exercise in that we did not manage to do the full 16 reps - both of us were starting to feel a little dizzy on that one so we stopped. I forgot to count for the squats and bicep curls so we may or may not have done the 15 reps for that but I think we did. The last was the plank with leg raises - since neither of us were strong enough for that we did the plank with kiss the knee to the floor and did 10 reps each side. (Denise Austin move) Then from there Becky worked out on the bike and I was on the elliptical for the last 11 minutes and then for a cool down we walked around the room a few rounds and then we walked back to my place.

Looks like next week I will have to figure out how to get a workout as I will be babysitting as my parents will be with my brother who is going for bi-pass surgery. I will have to go in at night and get my sisters key so I won't miss a workout. its just not fun being the only one there. Barb you need to join already........

Day 2 of my work out

Yes I know day 2 should have been yesterday but I didn't work out yesterday as I stayed home to be with my hubby. Yesterday my hubby's sister passed away and so I took the day off to be here for my husband. I think that is a good reason for missing my workout.

I was feeling so sluggish today though and had mixed feelings about going to the gym today but I am so glad I went. I had the gym to myself for a few moments before my sister Becky showed up. So I did my warm up stretches before hitting the circuit.

I did two rounds on the circuit with my sister and then a cool down. I could have kept going or worked out on the treadmill or elliptical but we only work out for a half hour as its on my sisters lunch hour that we work out on. I could go in a little earlier to work out longer too I guess but I don't want to do too much too fast yet, and I love the fact that I can work out with my sister.

I am looking forward to tomorrow's workout already. My goal tomorrow is to incorporate another exercise into our workout. Do the warm up - one round on the circuit and then do a round of Buns and Guns workout that can be found on youtube. It is a video done by self.com.

The following day I would like to do the circuit again and then do the ab work out that I found on youtube as well, again by self magazine. I think we will get a great workout following those programs. And if time permits another round on the circuit or try the treadmill or elliptical.

I am so glad the prices for this year have been reduced so I could have this opportunity to work out and gain control over my body once again. Working out does not only benefit the body but also the mind. I know I feel so much better mentally and can handle most things thrown at me when I am feeling good about myself. Working out really does benefit you both mentally and physically.

I am thrilled to be getting back on track and will be ecstatic when I start to notice the difference in my clothing. I will have to remember to post progress images at the end of each month.

Thank you to my dear hubby who made this all possible for me to do. I love you babe.

Getting back on Track

Its finally time to start getting serious about my weight loss. Not that I haven't seriously wanted to lose weight before, but some where along the way I loss the sense of my goal and slowly stopped working out. Sure I kept injuring myself but I still hated not working out. Now with my sister at my side together we can be each others support system.

We even decided that if she can get her hubby to baby sit we will work out again even if we have worked out once already that day. Especially since we will only have a half hour to work out together.

I did my weigh in tonight, not overly shocked by the all knowing scale reading. I didn't want to look but I needed to know my start and I know at the end of it all I will be so excited about the amount that I have lost. I just wish I wasn't so impatient about it. I get it in my head I worked out now weight drop off already. Then I have to remind myself working out just once or twice is not going to make that happen.

So here I go with a new start to a whole new me, a healthier, happier, hopefully skinnier me.

Sisterhood of the traveling patches

For years I have told myself I will learn to crochet and for years I never allowed myself to actually try it. To be absolutely honest I still do not know how to really crochet even though before you, you see crochet patches.

Thanks to modern technology and youtube, I was able to follow a tutorial online on how to crochet a granny square. My next goal is to actually learn how to crochet single stitch and not in rounds lol.

Right now they are just squares in a variety of colours and styles but soon they will become part of something very special. Soon someone some where will be in need of some comfort and they will find a special blanket made for them. Letting them know that others are thinking of them through their trials and sending some comfort in a form of a blanket.

We have just completed one of these afghan's and I cannot wait to find out the reaction of the dear sister who will receive the love and warmth in every stitch of her blanket. What was supposed to be a small afghan has turned into a large blanket because of all the wonderful contributors.

Thank you to the dear sister who put this blanket all together and for sending it out as well. I can't wait to hear how it was received. Its such an honor being apart of it all.