Rejuvination

My son and I took off Sunday morning for him to meet up with a friend and then for us to have some fun. And fun we had. We went to a city 100 miles from us and had a blast. While he was visiting his friend, I hit the thrift stores. Loved it. Only got three books, but I love looking at "stuff."

When I picked him up, we went out to dinner and then hit the hotel's swimming pool. I wish we had a pool in our town. I love swimming and doing stretches in the water. Really, really enjoyed this.

Today we got up early and hit it hard. We went to the mall, to a Target--what a luxury that is!, to a TJ Maxx and to a sporting goods store. Now that I'm into fitness, I actually love sporting goods stores.

When we finished, we decided to hit the city's parks. We walked along a river, saw a beautiful waterfall, and put in many steps. We went to a tourist tower and climbed to the top. It was 8 flights. When we got to the top, I got in MOM mode with a young teenage girl who had climbed over the railing and was sitting on the very edge. Accident waiting to happen. I told her to get back immediately. I was thinking about calling the cops on her and had my cell phone in hand, but thankfully she climbed back to safety. Her friend said, "Why did you listen to her and not me?" I said, "Because I'm a scary, mean mom and she knew I meant business." lol The girl responded because she's an adult. They left, and when they got to the bottom and were walking away, the girl turned back and waved at me. No ill will on her part--testing her boundaries, and she was fortunate enough this tough momma cared enough to speak up.

Anyway, we then decided to visit other parks in the area. We took another pathway and enjoyed that. The weather was cool, I think it only got to 80. It was just the perfect day. Good company, beautiful, new fresh scenery--couldn't ask for a better day.

And then we came home. It was *wonderful* to have two days away from all my troubles, all my concerns and just be free. It was extremely rejuvenating and I came home with a fresh, much improved attitude. Not long after we got home, two of our dogs started growling at each other, hubby came home and was grumbling about something, the sink was full of dirty dishes, the cat box needed attending--it was nice while it lasted! lol

I feel better, though, and I'm so appreciative that we were able to get away for a short little jaunt.

I was too tired to do a workout today--I figure with all that walking in sunshine today, that would have to be good enough. I got in almost 24,000 steps on my fitbit and my activity was steady the entire day.

It was a good day.

I deserved it! =)

Tomorrow, it's back to The Skogg System kettlebells with hubby and a light cardio workout. I have a fresh new attitude, so my spirits are much better.

Bring it.

jinx

I don't normally believe in jinxes, but every time I post that I'm starting to feel better, wham, I get a big dose of depression slapped in my face. So I won't mention that I am feeling better and that I think I'm taking a turn for the better. Ahem.

No official workout today, but broke 20,000 steps. Kept busy. Tonight we ran to Wally World to buy milk and I picked up a baby 5# kettlebell. I got this to practice. Form is everything with kettlebell training and I want to practice a lot--I'm a perfectionist. So, I spent the $13 for the junk Danskin kettlebell so I could practice. We *love* The Skogg System and he has a fantastic instructional DVD, so I'll be doing it often until my form is perfect. The cleans and snatches are the two I'm having problems with at the moment. I can do them beautifully with a dumbbell, but the kettlebell is trickier. So if I can perfect form with a baby bell, I'll be using my big guns in no time.

Went through my exercise DVDs looking for cardio workouts besides step. I was looking for some lower intensity workouts. I found a Christi Taylor DVD called Fit to Dance that I have never done! I can't believe it. I previewed it tonight and I cannot wait to do it tomorrow. Christi Taylor is one of my all-time favorite instructors and she's coming out of her retirement to make a new step DVD. I'm feeling in the Christi mood--she's so positive, cheerful and, well to be corny, delightful. She's definitely a spirit lifter.

Pip has not had another seizure, knock on wood.

My eating has been spot on this week. Absolutely perfect. The scale went up a pound. GRRR. All these years I knew something was wrong--I just knew it--and I was right, I had that kidney stone that had been there forever. I still have a gut feeling that something is really screwed up with my metabolism. I feel it just like I knew about the kidney stone. There's something amiss. However, I will march on.

All through my journey, it has never bothered me when hubby and son ate things that I chose not to eat in front of me. Until now, that is. With the sodium restriction, it really cuts out a lot of foods I can eat. I'm not a big hot dog eater. I'll have a couple a few times a year and enjoy them, but I never crave them. Well, hubby bought hot dogs this week and the smell is killing me. I also told him to hide his peanuts and to please not eat them in front of me. I can't eat nuts and it's starting to bother me because he eats them every day. And last week, my son made some muffins. When he was finished and out of the kitchen, I took the air deodorizer spray and sprayed so much in the kitchen you would have thought it was a garden. I'm not liking this at all, because people need to eat. It's not fair to them. It's not really fair to me that I have these darned restrictions, but it is what it is. I'll get better as time goes on because I'm pretty stubborn. Right now I'd prefer to walk around with a clothes pin on my nose. lol

That's it from the peanut-less gallery tonight.

My Poor Puppy

My puppy is 2 1/2 years old. Wednesday he had a grand mal seizure. We were startled and the rest of the day watched him like a hawk. We didn't even work out that night. The next day I called the vet and they said there really isn't anything they can do at the moment, but to document it to see if he has more seizures and watch him closely. Was also told (because I asked) not to take him on hour-long walks. Not long after I talked to the vet tech, my poor Pip had a second grand mal seizure. We did not call back, but if he has one more, we will.

It was the saddest thing when he came to. He looked at us as if to say, "What happened?" He was dazed and confused and wobbly the first time, and just dazed and confused the second time.

It really messed our days up because we were worried about him and hovered a bit. Today hubby even took the afternoon off just to be home.

Tonight I took a walk and desperately missed my walking partner. My son went with me, which I loved, but I felt guilty going without my baby.

My poor Pip. I love him so much and he loves me--all of us even more.

Anyway, yesterday our new kettlebell system arrived. Hubby and I are doing it together. I watched the instructional DVD last night and today again and then we did a workout. I did sub dumbbells for the snatch because I am not even close to having that down. It was a really good workout.

Highly recommend this package because the instruction is superb. The instructor, Michael Skogg, is highly professional and he's the best at giving instruction out of any DVD I've ever done. Kettlebells are very easy to have bad form--he teaches proper form very well.

So if you're interested in kettlebells, check out The Skogg System. Great value for the price, top-notch quality. They're tough workouts--but great! It's a great thing for hubby and I to do together.

Bye Fire

Could not handle the flames, my eyes are too old. Feel like a plain white background for awhile--it's neutral, that's what I need.

Got extremely irritated and stressed this afternoon and so I laid down with my iPod and listened to a hypnosis downlowd from Dr. Amen? (spg?) I had to pay for it, but it was good. It's actually a weight-loss hypnosis thing, but I knew it would help me relax--and it did! Good stuff. Then when I got up, I was starving. lol...so much for the weight-loss hypnosis part working. ;-)

Discovered that both Starkist and Chicken of the Sea make low-salt tuna. Thrilled about that because there's 750 mg of sodium in a can of Chicken of the Sea. Was disheartened to learn my grocery stores don't sell it. I could put a request in, but I could also order online.

Yesterday had a killer day with step count: 26,300! Will not be repeating that today, but will be in the upper teens again.

Ordered a blood pressure monitor, more glucose blood test strip strips (I'm not diabetic but I watch my blood sugar) and a new kitchen scale today. The new scale measures fluid ounces as well, which is why I bought--that plus my old WW scale is stained, ugly, and the plastic is cracked. It's been well used.

I'm still struggling with my feelings on this medication that has been prescribed. I do not think it's healthy for my heart, my lipids and my blood sugar. Plus, my blood pressure is normal and this is a high dosage of blood pressure medication. Am I going to pass out if I take it? So I may (or may not) cut a pill into fourths and take one fourth a day to see what it does.

I am a complete and utter chicken shit and cannot bring myself to call the doctor about this. This is my character flaw, has nothing to do with anyone else, but I just don't want to deal with it. So I may write a letter listing all my concerns--and that list is damned long. This is partly why I bought the blood pressure monitor today and the glucose test strips. I still cannot fathom taking a medication that may raise blood sugar, triglycerides and LDL. I already fought those battles and WON. Why go backwards health wise! Yet this medication is the standard treatment for what I've got. I am so torn. My gut says no and hell no. My inner good-girl says I should follow doctor's orders. It just seems wrong, though.

FIRE!

I've talked many times about the fire inside--sometimes it's roaring, sometimes it's about to go out. Right now my life is very difficult and I need some fire, some energy. It's time to be a Phoenix, baby.

So--the fire background. It's kind of hard to read, and I'll soon go back to my girly-girl background, but for now, it's FIRE.

Tears of Joy

This video brought me to tears. So beautiful.

Interesting Quote...

I'm listening to the fourth book in the Twilight Series. This quote really struck me.

"You always want the most what you can never, ever have."

"That's the funny thing about knowing you can't have something. It makes you desperate."

I so get that.

Take someone's choices away, and it's a recipe for disaster.

And as my doctor just had to remind me last week, I have to give up salt and all these foods and drink seemingly gallons of water and pee continuously for the rest of my life.

F*ck that.