Up and at them

This morning I was still a bit squeaky, but better than yesterday. I got up and did my bellydance yoga DVD, the first set of isolations. It felt good. J was not working mornings so I tried to be quiet and tiptoe around a bit...I'm used to having the place to myself and blasting the stereo, so it felt very quiet this morning. :)

I've got my last bellydance class tonight - should be fun. After that it's no more classes until the fall...I'll miss it. I'm hoping to track down a few more training DVDs in the next while so I can practice daily over the summer and start up classes in the fall...I can't wait. The more I do, the better I get. Practice practice practice. Once it's above 0 in the mornings I can start running again...cold air really aggravates my asthma, so I'm hoping I can start up running soon. It will be a while to build up to full tilt, but I think I'll start off running 2 min and walking 4 and add a minute a week of running until I'm up to run 6 walk 2. I live in such a great area for running...and I miss it. Being outside in the morning is wonderful. Just not quite yet. It's still unseasonably cold...and I'm a wimp...so they two shall not meet. Yet :)

Allergies ahoy

Slept in this morning as my allergies are going nutso...
I'll try and be good...:)

lazy weekend.

It's funny...yesterday I was jsut lazy lazy lazy...ended up sleeping in and then having a huge nap in the sun in the afternoon (lovely). Friday night we went out dancing and shook our stuff till the wee wee hours, and saturday was a family meal (turkey...mmm), leaving sunday for just us. I did do some useful things sunday: we finally got around to doing our taxes (we don't owe...yay) and assembled a bookshelf for the den, made some muffins, then celebrated with a long nap, some wine and a turkey sammich...good stuff.

This morning I woke up without even blinking at 5:10...wide awake. I figured why ignore a good thing, and got up and did my dance fusion workout. The beginning was really hard for some reason...took a bit to get into the swing of it- at first I felt a bit queasy. I think it was the wine...I've always read that alcohol can affect your workouts the next day, and maybe that was it -or maybe my body was just complaining after 2 days of nothing in particular :). By the end of it though, I was sweating away and going all out, so it was OK. I just took a little pause to breathe when I needed to until I was up to speed again. The cat helped me stretch out and cool down and sat on my lap while I had breakfast, so it was all good...

Today - lots to do in the lab. I'm gearing up for a bit of time off work, so there's lots to finish up and put together so I can be gone and not worry about things. I have a meeting after work tonight too - ugh. Oh well...better get on it all. :)

Noodles and jiggles

I had fun last night wandering about the foreign food section in the local huge stupidstore/groceromat...I rarely go as it's big and crowded, but every once in a while I go to get odd things I can't get anywhere else, like coconut jelly, mini babybell cheeses, obscure oriental and indian cooking ingredients and teas...yum.
I'm on a try new foods kick again. Last night I had some bean sprouts left, so I cooked up some soba noodles and diced up some cucumbers and red pepper, celery and shallots and then added some blanched carrots and some cooked diced chicken and a bit of lettuce, and made a soya/rice vinegar lime spicy dressing...it was this delicious fresh crisp cold noodle salad...Wow. J raved about it too...it's definitely going in my recipe book. I"ll post it on my food blog when I get some time. There's even leftovers for lunch too. Yum. It inspired me to go see what other things I could find at the foody store...mmm...

This morning I got up and did the second drill set on my bellydance/yoga DVD. Fun stuff. I watched one of the solo performances while I had some cereal for breakfast - very inspiring.
I'm quite excited about seeing what there are for training DVDs and costume/props to buy in Toronto and Ottawa when we're there in May for holidays...I really want to learn to dance with a sword...:) I am just hooked on how the bellydancing movements feel...and I can't say that J isn't grinning madly about my new lithe movements either :)

Must run...lots to do today.
Muah!

XOX
Geo

Creak

Last night at bellydance class we did a lot of moving L hips, guazis and shimmying, as well as b hips with footwork...and this morning my hips were SORE! So I just stretched and didn't work out. I'm still stiff, but I can function now :)
It suddenly got cold again for no good reason so I bussed to work (-2 with huge winds is not a fun bike ride)...brrr. Boo.
Ah well.
Another day another snowsuit...

Fibre and bike prep

In keeping with my "hats on" stay on the wagon motif here at Casa Geo, this morning I got up at 5:15 and did my dance fusion DVD workout...I even had time for the full cool down stretch (this DVD has a great cooldown section) and a great bowl of Weetabix Crispy Flakes mixed cereal...not the boring chunky bricks of Weetabix (truly the foulest most gross cereal ever made once you add milk...) but this weird fusion cereal they have recently put out. I'm trying to find cereals with less sugar (the Kashi granola mixes are tasty but very sweet) and this has lots of different things in it and way less sugar and more fibre...cuz I suppose that's a good thing. Tasty too..not boring and bland like allbran. Does it mean I'm old if I eat more fibre?
Hope not...

Last night I cleaned off my bike and helmet and walked her over to the air pump. I am now all ready to ride my bike to work again - Squeee! Today is bellydance class so I have to bus it, but tomorrow morning I'll have a whole extra half an hour to play with...and I'll get to ride to work on my bike. I can't wait. Even when it's windy it's still a great way to start the day. The pelicans are back on the river...I've seen the first pair, so more will come...watching them fish by the weir as the sun sparkles in the morning over the river makes me all squeaky happy. I'm really looking forward to it all. With the added bonus that it can only make me healthier...:)

Happy day everyone!

Celebrate good times come on

Let's celebrate...

Man. My friend who this month has gotten engaged and had a great birthday shindig over the weekend, just bought a house last night too. It's beena good month for her :) As her man was away for a few days, she and I hung out and celebrated with some Tomb Raider, repeated looking up of photos and mls listings of her new house, giggling and (unfortunately) munching on things. I tried to convince myself that whole wheat taco chips would be better in the salsa..heh heh. Nice try...I did walk home from work and made yummy healthy egg salad wraps for supper, but I sort of negated all that with the celebratory nachos later on. It didn't help that my loving J accidentally turned off my alarm this morning so I didn't get up in time to work out so I'm just feeling a bit off the whole program...just not feeling entirely like I'm doing myself any favours. A few times is fun...can't let this be a habit. Nope. Enough of that...
I've dug out my willpower hat. I'll have to wear it for a while now. If I have to add ribbons to it to tie the damn thing onto my head to fight the wind I will :)

I've noticed that I (and most of my friends) tend to celebrate with food...we seem to keep the unhealthy stuff for times of happiness and splurge in times of joy. I don't know as that's bad...but when life is good for extended periods of time it ends up being not so good :) I've been rather buff as of late, so I can feel any creeping poundage. Let's me feel like I can do this without consequence. Luckily, I bet (hope) it won't take much more than a week of being good to undo my damage. Not having a recital to frantically practice for has sort of taken the urgency out of my workouts.

Luckily the paths to work are dry so I can start biking to work as soon as I get my bike tires pumped back up...that should help, as well as give me a whole extra half hour in the mornings to play with exercise wise. I'm looking forward to it. AND once we are back from May holidays the running can begin...I can't wait!
Aaaaaaccentuate the positive...

I can see the wagon peeking over the hill

Image source
Yup. I not only fell off the wagon this weekend I ran away from it madly screaming while flapping my arms :)

It was OK on friday - went out for a big supper of vietnamese food...not the end of the world. Then Saturday, my friend had a birthday party - so I drank and nibbled my way through a tonne of greasy pub munchies and red ale. And after at my brother's had ice cream...then sunday morning I woke up to go out for dinner with my parents...and had soup, salad and then Souvlaki...then went to my niece's birthday party where there was no end of delicious snackery, beer, coffee and (of course) birthday cake-*ice cream* birthday cake... We got home around supper and I just drank tea the rest of the day - I honestly couldn't have eaten another thing if I tried. Blech. Full to the point of uncomfort...J did well. He didn't nibble at the party at all...but then they guys were in the living room watching golf. I was talking to my sis-in-law and playing with my neices in the kitchen...you know, right by the food? :)

This is one of the reasons why I don't keep munchables and unhealthy stuff in my house - I can refuse it when it isn't there, but if it is in front of me? It goes in my mouth. I have willpower, but not *that* much...The food was delicious. I enjoyed it and didn't snarf it emptily or without appropriate groany yummy noises, but it was definitely way too much - this morning I still felt all sluggish and blechy. I got up and did my yoga/bellydance DVD and had a healthy bowl of granola - this week is eat very healthy and clean...I feel like I don't need to eat out again for months and months...

Ah well. Today is a new day - and the start of a new week. I can see the wagon just over the hill there so I' on my way back to it, to dust it off and hop back onto it again. Such is life :)

Hope you had a more healthy weekend than I did :)
Helloooo there kiddies.
It's been few days I know. Sorry a bout that.
I've been away - went to Edmonton for the weekend...to dance my ass off to some great music and visit old friends and eat cookies. I danced so much I actually made my butt cramp. It was a very weird feeling...had lots of fun though.

Since I've been home my parental units have been in town visiting us. They're staying with my brother which is a bit of a relief (no crazy "oh dear god my mom is coming" cleaning required). We had dinner together last night and will all be spending the evening together again today. It's nice to see them.


Image source

I'm feeling good about myself today. Yessir..hotstuff in the house :)
This morning I got up all bright eyed an bushy tailed and did my stomping dance fusion workout DVD, the full cooldown and had some tasty miniwheats. Yum.
Now it's off to the lab to do some sciency wiency type stuff before I can hang with my family again. Mom's making a roast. I'm bringing the veggies. Brother's in charge of the salad...should be tasty AND healthy!.

Bye:)

Celebrations make you tired

I was up late late late celebrating the fact that my good friend (squeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee) just got engaged...so this morning I just slept in and had a quick breakfast and headed off to work. I feel good though.
I'll be good today I promise :)

Tribal party

Last night was my last tribal class until the fall (sniff). We were encouraged to dress up tribal style, so I dug out an old 10 yard swirly hippy skirt and matching crop choli top and wrapped a bit of a scarf/turban around my head. I found a sparkly red bindi and wore my sparkly red belly jewellery that is shaped like a sun that rings the belly button...cool. I seldom get to wear it (J found it hilarious, that with all this I wore my yellow rubber boots out to the car...) Our teacher even had face makeup and painted our eyes and cheeks up with tribal markings. Not everyone dressed up but I LOVE costumery of ANY kind so I was right in there. It reminded me of a grown up costume/slumber party :)

It was a 2 hour dance party...lots of fun. Our teacher taught us the basics of zills and moving with zills (she brought enough for everyone to try), a bit of stomach undulations and then we had some tasty snacking while her troupe prepped a bit. Yum.
After that, those of us that wanted to be involved could be in the chorus for some group dancing, with trios and pairs going forward to do some moves...I joined, as I thought it would be fun. I got paired up with my teacher which was fun...I just had to follow her moves, and she stuck to stuff she knew I knew...it was all low pressure just for fun, so it didn't matter if we got it "right" or not - it was just for the joy of dancing. After that (while we snacked some more...ahem) our teacher and two of the pro dancers from her troupe put on a bit of a short show...even did some sword dancing.
So.
Cool.

After there was a bit of a group dance and then we even got to try balancing a sword on our head to try it out (yup I was right in there). I wish I'd brought our camera...oh well. People say they'll send me some photos. We shall see. Our teacher gave all of us who danced last night a flower to wear when we dance (it's tradition for tribal dancers to wrap their head up in a turban and wear flowers and pins...now I have my first flower :) ) My instructor invited me to take classes with the beginner performance troupe in the fall - I'm quite excited. The performance classes are through a dance studio sot hey cost more, but they are 1 1/2 hours long so you really get to focus in on things...and do more zills and trio work. I can't wait for fall :)

This morning I was so pumped I got up to do my yoga/bellydance drills DVD. I had some yummy breakfast and then it's off to work. And so now, here I am, ready for the day. Must be off...have a great day everyone!

Crossposted to my other blag

Shake it like the shakey shakey shaker

I managed to get up and do my ball DVD this morning...so hard not to sleep in!
I had a nice weekend...lots of fun, not much useful stuff done: went to a play, saw a band, got the car ready for spring. I did however get to spend lots of time with J...after him being on nights for a week it was good to see him. That was nice :)

As a side note, my friend taped a shaky recording of my bellydance solo. He posted it on his blog...should anyone care to go see it. A few friends have been asking about it so I thought I'd post the link - by no means am I asking you to go watch it...just FYI for those who wanted to know.
The Shining Path: Shake Yo' Rump-ah!

It was interesting to watch as it was rather all a blur for me. I still have a few things to work on, but overall I think it went pretty good :)

Must go. Lots to do.
Bye :)

Friday sleep ins are good for the soul

No workout this morning. I stayed up and visited J when he got got off work (12) to see him and talk a bit as I miss him. I didn't get back to bed until about 2, so I slept in until 6:30 this morning. I'll definitely do my Bellydance DVD tonight - I'm looking forward to it. I'm feeling more awake than yesterday. Last night when I got home I had a massive headache from being so overtired and stressed out from some elaborate work I had to do in the lab wednesday and thursday (which thankfully went well), so I made supper and just laid down for most of the evening-I ended up napping a bit until it faded. Then I could catch up on some chores, particularly eradicating the little damn flies that are in some of our plants. I tried some pet safe insecticidal soap...hope it works. I'm tired of little tiny flies on some of the plants. They were starting to take over and visit the rest of the house, and I HATE bugs, so it had to be dealt with. We'll see how it goes...I'd rather not lose a few plants if I can help it.I'm glad his last nightshift is today. I hate when he's on nights - he doesn't like it so he's grumpy and we don't really see each other at all for a week. Boo to that.

I'm glad it's friday. I could use a weekend :)

Taken advantage of

Yesterday was long, after class I got home and mede some muffins and stayed up to see J. Whenever he works nights I don't get to see him at all...so I was up way too late last night. This morning I slept in so I could be awake for my lab work. I do believe I'll workout after a nap when I get home tonight.

On a different topic, I'm a little miffed at my instructor at the moment - we (OK J)taped the recital so we could all have a copy of it to keep...and from what I've heard I think she is wanting to sell the DVD for profit to people. I am not OK with this. J is not either - I don't want to be a jerk about it, but seeing as J borrowed gear to tape it, *he* gets a bad rep if others profit off it. Plus, that was never the deal. It was just a private thing for our own memory. We did not offer to do this for her to make $$ off of. She should have paid real people to shoot it and then had people make menus and a real DVD then. Plus there's the whole copyright thing with the music and choreographies on the performances. I'm unsure how to drive that point home to her. We all signed waivers to be on the DVD so that we all knew we could show it to family and such with no worries, but I know I didn't sign up for being a profitable product. I feel rather taken advantage of...and think I may just burn copies for those of use in the troupe and walk away. I don't' want to be a jerk and just not give it to anyone, but I don't like being tricked or taken advantage of. Right now it looks like that was what has happened....grrr. A bit of a bad taste from a good event.

Trusty purple ball

I slept like crap last night, waking up a lot, so I slept in a bit as I had a really complex experiment to to today at work (which went very well. Woo). I did get up at 6 and dug out the trusty old Exerball DVD workout...and found it surprisingly easy. It's shorter than I remember (only 20 minutes) but gives a good overall workout. Guess bellydancing *is* keeping my muscles in line. Even the pushups seemed simple.
Wahooo :)

Tonight is bellydance class again after all. My teacher offered to extend it for a month for those of us who wanted to come...so another month of Arabic style dance classes, before she (*sniff*) moves away and I have to find another teacher.

And the snow is melting...he hee. I see people out running already. Once the ice is at a "not kill myself" stage and the weather is above ) in the mornings my lungs won't squeak and I will be out there too...can't wait!