Nannying Dilemmas

It's been raining for what feels like forever but it's really only been since Sunday.  I checked the weather last night and there were thunderstorms predicted for every day this week until Sunday.  I sometimes like rain (like when I'm sleeping or napping) and I know we need it, we've been having a lot of trouble with wildfires because of a drought... but rain messes up all of my plans.

1.  I can't run outside.  Treadmills are boring.
2.  I can't do stadiums outside.  Stair steppers are boring and I sure as heck am not going to be running like I do when I do real steps that aren't moving under your feet.
3.  When I nanny, I like to go outside.  Parks, pools, backyards, walks, etc.  When it rains, we're stuck inside and I reeeeeally don't like to put in any movies while I'm there.  So... more boring.

BUT the sun is out today so I'm guessing those predicted thunderstorms just mean that we're in the summer afternoon thunderstorm routine.  I can deal with that.

Tuesday
Stayed inside all day with this little guy

 

Who is obviously not very photogenic.  He makes this face every time I pull out the camera. 

This child is the smartest little 18 month old I know.  He can speak in 2-3 word sentences, knows his colors, can count to 5, can poop on the potty and a whole lot of other things 18 month olds shouldn't be able to do. 

I had planned to run early in the morning before work but folded laundry instead.  I ended up at the gym a little before I had to teach ballet class so I ran a few slow miles on the treadmill while watching Ellen.  I've decided that if Ellen is on I can stand the treadmill.  Why can't she be on all the time?

 My feelings about the treadmills at this particular gym...

If I stick to my running plan tomorrow I will have hit an all time monthly running high of 161 miles!!!  Not sure how that happened but I'm excited about my total for the year if I'm able to keep up this kind of mileage this easily.

I was supposed to be nannying today but I was never told a time to arrive and can't get a hold of my employer.  Day off?  I hope so!

I need some advice.  I've been watching this family's kids for about 5-6 years so we have a very sort of casual working relationship.  I think it's so casual that I sometimes get taken advantage of, which I actually don't mind too much cause I love them to death.  Anyways, sort of beside the point.  Every week I watch the kids for about 3-4 hours.  We have a specific day set aside that is "their day" - we usually do similar times each week but the time does change a little bit from week to week (usually starts around 9-10).  My employer texts me sometime prior to our pre-arranged day to tell me what time to come.  However, a lot of the time she doesn't send a text until late the night before.  Recently she  has been forgetting to send a text at all.  What should the protocol be?   I usually send her a text asking her what time I should be there.  This week her cell phone is broken so I can't text so I called her around 9 asking if we were on for today.  It's 10, she hasn't called back so I'm assuming I have a day off?

I guess I'm just wondering if it's okay for me to assume I'm not working when I haven't received a text from her or if I should bend over backwards to make sure I get some kind of confirmation from her (ie: calling/texting/fb messaging).  On the one hand I don't feel like it's my responsibility to find out what time she needs me and that if she doesn't tell me a time then I shouldn't have to show up... but then I worry that she's expecting me and forgot she didn't give me a time and that she will be upset that I didn't ask what time I should come if I didn't know a time. 

Anyways, if you're a mom or just have an opinion on the subject I'd love to hear it.

Happy Tropical Storm Memorial Day!

I'm back home and enjoying having all of my personal belongings in the room with me.  There's nothing like realizing you used all of your clean clothes and don't have the time to make the trip back home to get more.  Or forgot your ballet shoes and have to teach 3 ballet classes.  Or forgot your phone charger at home.  I guess I'm not a great packer?  I either pack nothing... or this happens

Yeah...

I have nothing planned for today and it is wonderful!  I work most weekends which means I rarely have a whole day off.  Originally, I wanted to do something OUTSIDE like beach, pool, long bike ride, some trail walking/bike riding, etc BUT all of my outside plans have been derailed by Tropical Storm Beryl.  It's not always fun living in Florida.  Hurricane season is upon us which means lots of rain. 

Rainy day means I've spent a good deal of time in bed, slept in, finally woke up to make it to circuit training.  Ran a couple of treadmill miles after class and have basically done nothing else but lay in bed reading and drinking coffee.  My kind of day :) for one day anyways.

Last week I had a great time getting in my daily walks cause I got to walk on this beautiful trail

I love running alone but I get out of my mind bored while walking by myself, but not when I get to walk trails

I did not enjoy running last week though.  I thought it would be great, since I was closer to where I work, I thought I would have time to run outside and I was really looking forward to it. 

Well, I found out that when I run unfamiliar routes the miles seem much longer to me.  So, a 6 mile run feels more like 8.  I think maybe that's why races seem so much harder to me even though I usually run slower than my training pace.  

After my crazy week I was SOOO looking forward to this long weekend to just kind of rest and recuperate.  Saturday was my birthday and I had a nice, low key day.  Birthdays are one of the few occasions where I can convince the family to come with me to fun local restaurants.  We tried out a place I had never been to before called Civilization. 

Everyone decided to get something different so we could try a little of everyone's dinner.

I ended up with two appetizers:

Pakora Chickpea, fresh spinach & onion
fritters."Served with cilantro chutney

And

Chole! (Chō - lay) Curried chickpeas & tomatoes
with fresh cilantro and flatbread.

The pakora was soooo good.  I really liked the chole too but would probably not order it again.

My sister, Rachel, got the sweet potato enchiladas.  I think her meal was my favorite of all the meals that we ordered. 

Sweet Potato Enchiladas Sweet potato,
spinach, avocado, cheddar, & rice baked in a flour
tortilla. Topped with tomatillo cream sauce &
served with black beans.

My dad ordered one of the specials for the night so I don't have a description but he ended up with Pumpkin Lasagna.  It had a mixture of pumpkin and butternut squash as the filling.  The dish had cheese so it was not vegan but I'm pretty sure if we go again and they are offering it as a special I should just order it and pretend it doesn't have any cheese.  It was mouthwatering delicious.

My mom ended up with roasted veggies and fried polenta.

Roasted Vegetables with Fried Polenta
Fresh vegetables marinated & roasted in olive oil,
balsamic vinegar, & herbs over crisp fried polenta
cakes. Topped with house made tomato caper
sauce & broiled mozzarella cheese.

Very very good.  Difficult to choose what you're going to order if you don't get to sample some of everyone else's meal.

I will definitely be back.

Good food, good company = good birthday :)

It's Monday!

Today's Workout:  Stadiums followed by 1 hour Circuit Training class

This week I get to hang out with these guys.  

They follow me all over the house.  

 Once again, I'd like to point out my stellar camera skills

I think they're trying to tell me something but I can't figure out what it is.  Probably that they want more food... which I can't give them.  I feel bad for animals, how would we feel if we could only eat one scoop of food in the morning and in the evening? 

House sitting/pet sitting is probably one of the easiest jobs around.  You basically do your normal routine while living at someone else's house and then get paid for it.  But for some reason I don't enjoy it?  I have a hard time sticking to my normal routine.  It's like suddenly I'm on vacation and just want to sleep.  Hm, I wonder if this says something about my bed at home.  Like, it's not a very comfortable bed so it's easy for me to get up in the morning?

It doesn't help that my house is just 10 minutes away.  I end up being super lazy and not packing anything except for enough clothes for overnight and the next day and then stop in at my house everyday to exchange clothes, pick up anything new I need, drop off the stuff I'm done with.

So, every Sunday I get kind of dressed up for church.  As in, during my normal everyday life of babysitting and teaching dance I basically don't wear real clothes, so on Sunday I try to dress up in real people clothes.  Since this is such a big event for me I started taking pictures of myself every week.  The idea was that, if I was in a rush and wasn't feeling creative enough to pull together an outfit from scratch then I could just look at all the pictures of all of the previous Sunday outfits and then just re-wear an already assembled outfit. 

Lucky you, since I have these pictures of myself looking like a real person, I'm going to post them on here.  If for no other reason than to balance out the massive amount of sweaty post workout pictures I post of myself with no make up on.

Happy Monday - make it great! :)

That thing between your two ears

Well, it's been a good long while since I wrote one of these things... blog post?  Is that what they're called? 

I honestly can't promise that I'll be consistent, I haven't in the past so why would I be now?  BUT I would like to be.  Goal is one post a week, so we'll see.  Maybe it's just me but trying to gather all my scattered thoughts and brief moments of insight into a concise post is not the easiest thing to do.

If you're wondering, I'm still obsessed with running.  I've finally gotten to the point where I'm not as vocal about it and don't feel the need to post every single mile I run on facebook.  It's sad that not posting running mileage on facebook is a proud accomplishment for me.  But I've finally kind of gotten over that excitement that I had a few years ago when every long run was a new distance that I had never run before or even imagined myself running.

I'm not saying that running isn't exciting for me, but it's become kind of more a private excitement for me.  It's something that I love but it's not something that I need to share with the whole world anymore.  It's for me and for my enjoyment.

With that said, I'm sure it will still appear in my blog, but I'm hoping to (usually) keep it to a picture and distance/time, none of this talking about it for paragraphs and paragraphs.  I know that gets old :).

So, today I wanted to talk a little bit about that thing between your two ears... yeah, your brain.  Last night I went to bed early really excited about running.  I had randomly planned an 18 miler.  No, I'm not training for a marathon (yet, still have a few months before that starts) I just wanted to run 18 miles, cause I can.  But when I woke up this morning, feeling completely rested and not sore for some reason I didn't even feel like running 1 mile.

I looked out of the window and noticed it was grey and cloudy and quickly thought about skipping long run Saturday for a week.  After checking the weather and discovering that there was a 10% of rain throughout most of the day I decided that wasn't really an option and I needed to get out of my head about whatever it was that was making me not want to run and just get out there.

See, after a few years of running I know that even when I don't feel like running at all, once I'm out the door the battle is mostly won.  Within 1-2 miles I usually perk up and enjoy a nice long run.  And if I don't end up perking up, I can turn around and I've at least done 4 miles.

I guess what I'm getting at is that I've discovered that most of my "I don't want to do this, I can't do this" is all in my head.  I've learned to conquer my mental battle where running and exercise are concerned and I'm beginning to do the same in other areas of my life. 

I was talking to a good friend a couple days ago and she was surprised to hear about some of my insecurities, telling me that the person I presented to the world was strong, confident and sure of herself.  It's weird to think that others only see the girl who is unsure of herself if I let them.  The battle that takes place in my head will only continue to get easier and easier each time I am successful in putting down thoughts that don't belong there.  Insecurities are only as big as we let them be and whatever doubts we have about our abilities are probably mostly all in our heads.  We really are capable of so much more than we believe of ourselves.

Get out of your comfort zone, keep growing

Get out of your comfort zone, keep growing

That's where life happens.  And I want to experience some life.

Post run sweaty goodness.  I believe I was trying to show you my shoe.  Great camera skills I've got there. 

The Big Guns

Sometimes I feel like I need to pull out my planner to remember what I did the day before.  Then I have to open up my blog to see what I said in my previous post so I don't talk about it again.  I then wonder if I'm acting like such an old person now, what the heck will I do when I actually am old?

I ended up really enjoying my day yesterday.  I got my endorphins fix bright and early, no grumpiness to speak of.  Well okay, I was a little grumpy when we got to the stadium and there were a ton of people there.  There are 6 sets of stairs on each side of the stadium but the best side to run on is the one where the steps go all the way up to the top.  Most of the other people think the same thing though so everyone crowds on one side.  I'm not very pushy and I end up having to wait around for people to come down the steps or go up. 

Neither Rachel or I felt like dealing with a ton of people in our way so we moved to the other side.  The other side isn't great because there is only one full set of stairs and I can never keep count of how many times I've gone up the steps.  It all worked out though and it felt good to be moving again so early in the morning.

When I got home I went for a walk with my mom.  I am very sure all my neighbors think I'm crazy but just one more thing to add to everything else I do... we go for a walk everyday but never at the same time.  We try to go early in the morning or in the evening so it's cooler out but if I'm not around for either of those then we'll go other times too.  We almost always see the same neighbors outside when we walk so I'm pretty sure they just think we walk everyday, all day.  I love getting the walk in early though.  At the end of the day I keep thinking there's still something I need to do but I get to keep telling myself "Nope, you've already walked today, just relax."  It's a good feeling.

Then I subbed for a pre-ballet class and that was nice and easy.  And fun... although to be completely honest I'm getting a little ballet teacher burnout.  This is not good.  Our official classes for the year start on August 8th.  I need to remember this feeling next year and maybe only teach one summer session.  On the other hand, the money has been nice.

The best and worst part of my day was my babysitting job for the evening.  From 6-11, baby asleep the whole time.  I read, I watched So You Think You Can Dance (best show ever), slept, used the computer... and got really bored.  I don't know why cause those are pretty much the same things I do at my own house but I don't get bored quite as easily.  Then I have to drive home while I'm half asleep and when I get home I hop right in bed and take forever to fall asleep which means in the morning pulling myself out of bed is difficult. 

Which it was...

Alarm was set for 4:15.  I woke up at 5:30.  Is it weird that 5:30 is sleeping in?

I like to  get out to run by 5:45.  It's great, dark most of the time and then I'm rewarded with a sunrise at the end of it. 

So I went back and forth about whether to run or not and finally pulled out the big guns

I got out at 8:45 and did 6 miles.  I can't say they were the best miles I've ever run but you know what, I did it.  I made the choice not to quit, to get out there and do what I know I love.  

Up next: Babysitting, more ballet subbing, dog/housesitting

I'll be housesitting this weekend and may or may not have internet access.  I live 5 minutes away and will be stopping at home frequently but knowing me, there's a good chance I won't be posting again until next week.  If that's the case, have a great weekend! 

The Occasional Blogger

If you've been reading for awhile you're probably aware that I'm not the most regular of posters.  Well, I apologize.  I'm not going to feel bad about it though and I'm going to try not to apologize for it anymore.  I know my readership will never grow huge if I continue with my sporadic posting but that's okay.  I enjoy blogging, I enjoy reading blogs so I'm going to continue doing what I've been doing for as long as I'm enjoying it.  Just don't expect anything like 7 posts in a week - that will never happen! ;)

I'm not really sure what to do with all the pictures I've taken while not posting though.  Since I didn't post when I was supposed to they just end up being a bunch of random pictures.  Tacky?  Oh well.  My life in photos since the last time I posted:

I had a great week last week teaching every day at dance camp.  I taught several ballet classes, did devotions a few days a week and "ballet story time" for the younger girls where I read them some of the classical ballet stories.  I also taught two fitness classes which was soo much fun!  At some point I would like to become certified to be a personal trainer or possibly to teach fitness classes at the gym.  This was a great way to sort of experience what that might be like.  Ever since I became serious about my fitness I've noticed a huge difference in my dancing.  I think it's important for these girls to begin to incorporate some cross training if they're really serious about improving as dancers.  They all seemed to have a great time too!  I kind of doubt that they'll suddenly start doing fitness on their own but at least a seed was planted.

The best news I have is that this Saturday I ran 10 miles for the first time since April 20th.  I didn't run it anywhere near as fast as I had been running but I only stopped at the stoplights and I felt really good.  I'm so excited and I can't wait to start signing up for races!

Every Sunday I open up my planner and look at the week I have ahead of me.  Usually it's pretty blank with maybe one or two babysitting jobs on the calendar. I always tell myself that this week is going to be easy and I'll probably even get bored.  I'm not really sure how it happens but usually by Tuesday or Wednesday my whole week is filled, often with multiple babysitting jobs a day, teaching, etc.  I like being busy so I'm not complaining, but sometimes I think it would be nice to have everything planned out.  As much as I'd like to think I'm spontaneous and adventurous I'm really not at all.  I like plans, I like routine.  Fun routine and plans, but no switching things up last minute!

I'm sorry, I'm too tired to think of good segues so this is not going to flow at all!

Yesterday I woke up grumpy

I'm usually really cheerful so I had no idea what to do with myself

I had planned to run but woke up with shin pain.  I'm not really sure what it was from since I ran on Saturday and felt great and then woke up Tuesday with pain like I'd just done the 10 miles on Monday.  I'm being careful though so I didn't run.  It kind of set the tone for the whole day though and I just couldn't get my grumpy mood to lift.

I stepped on my retainer and felt so dumb for leaving it on the floor in the first place, really, what was I thinking. 

Then when I was babysitting the baby projectile vomited all over me and the kitchen and I tried (keyword - tried) to stop/catch some of it with towels.  On the positive side, at least I didn't have the urge to gag at all.  I know vomit is gross but I actually wasn't really grossed out at all.  Just cleaned it up, changed the baby and moved on. 

On my way home I realized I didn't have my camera with me which meant I had probably left it at the pool... and it was starting to rain.  Oh, and the best part is that the camera isn't even mine, it's my moms.  So ruined/lost camera that isn't even mine.  By the time I realized I was about 5 minutes away from home so I just continued on my way.

The day started to get better, I went to the gym to try to work out some of my frustrations.  Some days I like to think of exercise less as a workout and more as a quick energy exchange or mood transfusion. I’m not heading out to log miles but to shake out the tension, stress, and anger and to breath in a fresh attitude.

It helped me make it through the rest of the day. 

After teaching my pre-ballet class I went to see if I could find the lost camera at the pool and I found it within two minutes.  I'm pretty sure I put it back in my bag but the random pictures of the garbage can, the picnic table and the water fountain make me think that one of the boys took it out of my bag while they were sulking about not wanting to swim and took several pictures and then just never put it back in my bag.  I'm not mad because I found the camera, but it was certainly one more thing in my day of grumpy to make me a little more grumpy.

After dinner I was back to my usual cheerful self.

And good news: my shins are feeling much better today!  Back to running tomorrow!

Foiled again

Today has been a long day.  I can't express how good it feels to be sitting down and to be done for the day. 

Yesterday I made it to the gym and then headed home to quickly change and eat (and shower, don't worry) and then went back out for 8:30 drama practice.

Drama is really not my thing, I just got roped into it because they needed more people.  It's fun and I'm enjoying getting to know new people but since it's not really something I'm passionate about... when you tell me practice goes from 8:30-10:30 and then not actually start til 9:20 and then keep us there til 11:30... I am not a happy camper.

We got a "lecture" at the beginning of practice about how the drama team at church is a ministry and we need to be willing to make some sacrifices.. which I agree with, but I just feel that keeping us so late is taking advantage of us.  Scheduling extra practices if we need them - okay, but stick to your schedule.  Be responsible and let us go when you said you would let us go or at least tell us that practice is open ended and will probably go late. 

Granted, most of the starting late part is the fault of the drama team members which is really frustrating.  I'm always on time, usually early for things and people being late is one of my big pet peeves.  It's rude to make someone else wait on you.

Anyways, all that to say that I wasn't in bed until 12:00 and then I woke up once at 1:00.  When my alarm went off this morning I turned it off and turned over.  I was supposed to go running today but I was just too tired.  I'm glad I got the extra sleep but I just really wish I had been able to run because there's not time tonight and there won't be time tomorrow... I just know I won't be able to make it up.  Pre injury missing a day wasn't a problem cause I could run further to make up for the missed day but now 6 miles is pretty much my limit.

I did have a really great day babysitting though

I love ALL of the kids I watch but these are by far my favorites.  I'm allowed to have favorites since I'm not a mom ;)

I've been watching them for 4 or 5 years.  I watched stayed over for a few nights with the boys (there's three) when S was born and then again with the boys and S when A was born and got to see both the girls in the hospital. 

Look how big S has gotten.  :) (this is her about 2 years ago?)

After babysitting I came home and got ready to go to the gym.  I was planning to be at the gym for about an hour and then go straight from the gym for a run. 

When I got to the gym I realized that I was supposed to teach ballet today.  It's a long story but the basics go something like there was a miscommunication and I thought I wasn't working this week and had a week off but on my way to the gym I stopped in at the dance studio to double check on the dates... and realized I was working today.  Unfortunately I had no makeup, no ballet shoes, no clothes other than gym clothes... oops. 

Thankfully I had a decent amount of time.  I did 3 miles on the elliptical and then headed home to get all my stuff.  Once home I quickly changed and headed out again.  I meant to bring my gym clothes with me so I could finish my workout after ballet but I left them at home.

Of course, the clothes I teach in are pretty much yoga clothes and I can certainly move in them, they're just sooo hot.  I did end up finishing my workout but it ended up being too late to run and I didn't have the appropriate clothes anyways.  Foiled again!

So much driving today, too many activities, and preparing to pretty much repeat today tomorrow.  As a matter of fact, my main task for tonight is packing up for all of my activities for tomorrow so that I don't go crazy tomorrow morning and end up forgetting crucial pieces, usually clothes/makeup/shoes get left behind and I have to "make do" which is hard when you forget your shirt.

Aloe Vera and a Case of the Mondays

I'm probably crazy, but I just love Mondays

A few of the reasons why I love Mondays:

• It's the beginning of the week and there's so much excitement about what's to come during the week.  The week never quite lives up to my expectations but I'm always excited about the week on Monday.
• I've done nothing but sit around all weekend and I'm ready to DO something which means Mondays are usually pretty productive days
• I have no real job - I get to play with kids all day, take naps when they take naps and then teach ballet so Monday doesn't mean returning to a stressful or boring job
• Because everyone else dislikes Monday and I like to be different

So far today I did stadiums:

I always look so happy when I pose for stadiums versus other times I pose.  Is it that I'm still mostly asleep and don't realize the pain I'm about to experience?  Or possibly my eyes just don't open that much in the morning and it gives the false impression that I'm extremely excited

I'm going to go with the still half asleep theory since the other pose that pops up a lot for stadiums is the muscles pose... it's so totally unfitting considering I don't use my arms at all.

After stadiums I stopped in at the store on the way home to pick up some almond milk.  I'm pretty sure MOST of the times I stop at the grocery store is after stadiums or the gym and I'm soaked in sweat.  It's a good thing I don't see anyone I know there.  One day I'm sure I will regret this though...

I like going to the grocery stores in the morning.  There's all these cute older people working and they always brighten my day. 

I ended up picking up some Orange Carrot juice to add to my smoothies and right next to the Orange Carrot juice I saw some Aloe Vera juice.  I carried one of the jars under my arm and the other two one in each hand.  Then I told the bagger to skip the bag.  He was a sweet older gentlemen who I guess didn't speak English very well... or maybe couldn't hear very well?  Or maybe he just thought I was crazy.  Anyways, the check out lady had to explain to him that I didn't want a bag.  Then he asked me how I was going to carry it all out to the car - I'm pretty sure I told him "magic" - thankfully they laughed because now that I type that out it seems really rude.

This seems to happen to me frequently:  I've never heard about something and then I learn about it and suddenly I'm hearing about it everywhere.  Aloe Vera is one of those things that I had never heard about until Friday and since Friday I've read about it several times.  Did you know you could ingest Aloe Vera?  I had no idea. 

I first heard about Aloe Vera from www.thefitnessdish.com (sorry Laury if you read this and see that I didn't link directly to the Friday Five!)

Some benefits of Aloe Vera:

• Helps to detoxify the body and cleanse the colon.
• Detoxifies the blood stream.
• Can benefit a person with intestinal or stomach problems.
• Could aid in the healing of ulcers and help the digestive tract to work smoothly. 
•  Can improve circulation.
• Helps dilate the capillaries and aid in cell growth
•  It acts as an antibacterial, antiviral and anti fungal agent, preventing illness

I tried it plain and wasn't that impressed.  So I did what I always do with things I don't really like by themselves - added it to my smoothie!  As usual, my smoothie was still delicious so I'll continue to add it in.

After breakfast I walked with my mom for a few miles.  It feels so good to have that out of the way as we often do it right before bed and I'm usually just ready to go to bed and have to fight to make myself walk.

I washed, folded and put away all of my laundry.

And did P90X Legs and Back

If you ever wanted to learn how to spice up your annoying self portrait posing abilities... just take pictures while you do jumping jacks

Attractive, no?

I'm going to continue my awesome productive day by cleaning my room (!!!) and making my bed and cleaning my car!  ...maybe ;)

 

 

Music Monday 07/11

Hey everyone!

Are you excited for Music Monday?  I have some really great songs to share with you today (I say that, but at this moment I actually do not know exactly what all the songs will be).

This first one is a song that I've only heard a few times but it came on my ipod yesterday while I was running on the treadmill and it really struck a chord.  It will definitely be on any and all marathon playlists from now on.  The lyrics inspire me (and you hopefully) to dig deep even when it's rough and to not give up "my body tells me no but I won't quit, cause I want more."  As a side note, I am not encouraging you to push your body past the point that it's able to handle.  Injuries are bad.  I'm talking about pushing past that mental block that tells you that you should stop before you really need to stop.

Young and Giant - My Body



This second song is by one of my favorite bands.  The best part about this song is that it and the whole album are for sale on amazon for digital download for only 5 dollars.  Aaaamazing.  These mp3s work the same way as any mp3 you get from itunes.  You just upload them to itunes and then sinc your ipod.  Unfortunately since my regular itunes is on my broken computer I can't sinc my ipod.  I've been just listening to my songs while I do p90x videos just skipping from scene to scene on pause.

Two Door Cinema Club - Something Good Can Work

And last but not least, this is a fun one that is actually FREE on amazon.com.  Hmm... cheap and then free.  Sometimes I wonder if maybe my music taste is so bad that all the music I like is so discounted.  Nahhhh.

Friendly Fires - Blue Cassette



Enjoy!!!

Are there any free/cheap songs that you're aware of (that are pretty good)?  Please let me know, I love to add more music to my list!

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Hey Everyone


Well, Sunday is quickly turning into what it always does: “I want to nap all day” day. I laid down at 1:00, planned to sleep til 1:20. At 1:20 I reset my alarm for 1:40 and at 1:40 I set my alarm for 2:00. By that time I gave up on resetting the alarm and just slept. I got up at 2:15. Obviously I should have given up on the resetting bit a long time ago. Unfortunately now I feel like a zombie and it’s started pouring again which just makes me want to go back to sleep. Or sit around eating all day. Where do these thoughts come from?

I got in late last night, I think it was around 12:15 and then I was up this morning by 6. It’s funny, that doesn’t sound like much to me but for those of you that can’t count, that’s 5 hours and 45 minutes. Obviously not ideal but more than I thought it was before I actually counted which makes me think I don’t really need this sleep.

However, I had an usual amount of trouble while getting ready for church this morning.  Perhaps this is due to lack of sleep?

Mascara on and...

"Achoo"... lovely

And then there was the problem of what to wear

Cute, right?

Yeah... no, not so much

I have no idea what this is.  I've had it before several months back when I was training for the marathon.  It's sort of like a bunch of pimples but  you can't pop them and they're really itchy - oh, and it's only under one arm.  Gross, right?  I don't know what really solved the problem but I tried to wash my underarm with facial cleanser and then when I ran I put glide on my underarm.  I guess I know what I'll be doing again...

Since that was out of the question I ended up with this

And ended up being super hot.  Jeans and summer in Florida just don't mix.  Even inside...

This morning I found this wonderful and magical website. Have you ever heard of “Stumbleupon.com?” It’s pretty magical. You input several of your interests and then the website comes up with articles and websites and videos according to your interests. One of the interests I selected with Holistic Health and I’ve seen several websites now about natural household remedies and one on herbal remedies. I don’t know how I feel about herbal remedies because I’ve never tried them but just based on head knowledge and how I base many of my other eating decisions, I would much rather use something that occurs in nature than something that chemists create in a lab.

One website on natural remedies provided a caveat that I really appreciated:

“Know when you need something more conventional. Alternative medicine can be a fantastic way to prevent illness or treat more common ailments, but there’s no shame in going to the pharmacy if the alternatives aren’t working for you.”

Stumble Upon lets you give a thumbs up or a thumbs down to each website that it shows you and the more you rate the more tailored the articles will be to your interests. I don’t know if there is any way to revisit the sites you like though. There probably is a “favorite” button somewhere but I can’t find it so I feel like I’m just breezing through these articles and won’t remember much of what I read.

A few times I’ve been directed to very decadent recipes – Hello, twix mini cheesecake muffins? I’m not sure what interest I selected that led Stumble Upon to select these recipes for me. Sure, they look good but there is absolutely nothing redeeming about these recipes. Also they definitely not vegan. However, I feel bad giving them the thumbs down. They’re good recipes I’m sure… just not for me. At all.

And then there are videos like this:

I mean, common, who doesn’t love a dancing walrus? It’s just that’s not what I want stumble upon to show me. I’m sorry for giving you the thumbs down walrus :(

After watching random videos like the dancing walrus, I decided to stop by the gym… hey, I gotta get my moneys worth outta that thing. Besides, it’s like 100 degrees outside.

It was sooo crowded. My gym has three different centers around town. We have the main facility which is huge, one on the west side of town and then a women’s center. I usually go to the women’s center because it’s so convenient. It’s 15 minutes away from my house and literally 2 minutes away (walking) from the dance studio where I work.

On Sunday only the main facility is open and I just happened to pick the time when they were having a zumba class in the open basketball courts. That meant lots of loud music and lots of yelling and clapping. I’m glad they were having fun, and honestly it wasn’t that bad but wish I had picked a different time.

I did a mile on the elliptical but for some reason the ellipticals at the main center seem really hard to me and I can’t make myself do more than a few miles. One time I did 8 there… not sure how that happened since I can’t seem to do two at a time anymore.

So then I ran 4 miles on the treadmill. After the treadmill I was going to ride the stationary bike for about 30 minutes but they were all taken or broken. There are so many there I don’t even know how that’s possible but by the time I got to the third one and it was missing a pedal I just gave up. I regret that decision now just a bit but there’s always tomorrow ;).

Speaking of tomorrow, and this whole week, I have a very open schedule. This all could change and it probably will but I’m a little unsure of what to do with myself. Productive productive productive, that’s my wish for this week.

Well, I could probably go on talking about nothing really but before I bore you to death I’m going to quit now. Don’t forget to stop in tomorrow for Music Monday! I’ve got some fun songs to show you! :)