just walk away

There was a spin and sculpt this morning. I made it, even after a late night of visiting with friends over wine and snacks and giving Carmen her gifts. I needed it. All of it. Yesterday was long and tedious with many whiny frustrating people, culminating with me missing my bus due to an annoying student (really was being annoying...trying to get me to do his work for him and then asking me if he could take some university stuff home that wasn't his...). I confess upon realizing my bus was pulling away I ranted "and now I missed my bus. Great" and just stopped talking to him and turned and walked away. I did not look back or finish my conversation but walked angrily over to the bus stop away from him. Not proud...but had I stayed I would have blasted him with a whole day of frustration, which he did not deserve. Will have to find him today and apologize...although part of me doesn't want to. There are times I wish people I help could just get their sh*t together and not expect me to do everything for them...and yesterday was a whole day of that. It was a long day...
Thankfully the evening with the girls form work made up for it...laughing and relaxing and sharing. Got home quite late, making this AM tough, but so worth it. Reminded me about the good people I work with.
This AM I was still sore form wednesday but I worked hard. My arms were used up by the end, and now I have a full day of work before I can head home. I have some more ticket to work off tomorrow, but I'm looking forward to a nice weekend. Just have to get there. :)

Hope you all have a fantastic day.

Catching up

Oops. I skipped yesterday. Sorry. I did work out - evil sculpt class of doom. Still stiff in the arms and butt so I know it was a good one. Today was spin class. Another good one. I met an old friend after work for supper (mmm...steak and bake potato) and we hung out and caught up on life and went to the bookstore. We made schemes for a girly games night in a few weeks with late night Tomb Raider, coffee and the next afternoon at the local Comiccon. Giggedy. Plus, I finally picked up a copy of World War Z which I read 1/3 of on the way back from Utah after we listened to the 6 hour podcast in the car and was intrigued. If ya like spooky apocalyptic sort of stories in little chunks, with personal accounts of things, then pick it up. I'm loving it - should make a good bus book. Like a bunch of short stories...only really morbid...hmmm...I'm not selling it am I?
Just trust me - if you're at all into that sort of spooky scifi stuff (like say the Walking Dead) you may find it interesting.

At any rate, life is ticking along here nicely. Work is busy. Life also. Tonight we're having a gathering at a coworker/friend's house to visit with and offer a bit of a gift to another coworker/friend whose condo burnt down a few months ago. Her insurance covers most basic things but we all pitched in and got her some balcony plants, and a herb garden again, along with some fun spices and things for baking (she loves to cook and bake and loves plants). We're hoping it will make it feel a bit like home in her apartment she's in until they rebuild her place. Some cake and wine are always good too :)

I should go and make myself useful and get to work. Lots to do, as always.
Have an absolutely excellent day and in the words of the great ones "Be excellent to each other" :)

errands a'plenty

Last night I really got things done. Chores. Errands. Even winged it and made up some muffins in my head which turned out to be pretty good (pumpkin bran -if you're curious for the recipe it's on my food blog). I have realized there is much to do around the house and in the yard and so I'm starting my detailed schemes...tonight, since J works I'm attacking the house some more and hope to plan out the yard and get some cost quotes and measurements so I can really start at revamping the front yard now that I have the time and a bit of $$ set aside to do so if we do a lot of the grunt work ourselves. Once I have concrete schemes I'll post a bit so you can watch me tame the jungle.

This AM I came in for spin class with Jocelyn. I love her as an instructor and wish she taught mornings more than just as a sub - sweet and kind but she makes you work hard without really noticing. I added a few ab things after and after some pumpkin chia overnight oats I'm in at work ready to go for another day. I feel invigorated. Happy. And I haven't even finished my java yet :)

Have a great day everyone.

cha cha changes

This weekend was busy, but in a good way. I worked 8 hours at the salvation army charity store to start to work off my stupid traffic ticket (2 shifts left) and got a bit of yard work done and saw the new Star Trek movie. Even fit a BBQ in there. I had a lot of energy since J was out doing lights for a band friday night...I had plans to stop by but ended up napping with cats all night, which I think was the best thing for me, since I felt great all weekend :)

This morning I came in for spin and sculpt class and I could tell it's been a while. Reps were harder and I couldn't quite keep up the pace I did before, but I worked hard. I will be pushing myself this week and all of June to see how I can get back to pre-holiday status...so I can be beach ready and take another holiday :)

We also were talking over the weekend and J and I are going to not only scheme to revamp our front yard (raised garden beds for fresh veggies next year!!!), but we also want to revamp our eating a bit. Been reading a lot of overwhelming evidence lately about nitrates and processed meats having some serious health impacts so from now on (with the rare exception of some delicious treat nitrate free bacon or pepper salami for  pizza) we are going to avoid processed meats. Seeing that J has a wrap or sammich every day for lunch, it will mean just being a bit more creative with the contents. More egg salad, tuna, and cooking chicken breast for sliced chicken or chicken salad instead of processed meats. I don't think it will be a huge deal to do this, and I like knowing what is in what we eat. I've made this switch with a lot of other things to remove preservatives and chemicals from our food and this is just another step that I admit I have ignored due to convenience. We've also found a few ethical organic farms that we can order our meat from (they make their own preservative free sausage too...he heh), so starting next ordering cycle we are going to try and switch over to them.

But for now. Another crazy day at work. Here we go!


ZWOW ow ow

Crawled out of bed for ZWOW 68 this AM. 3 Rounds through. Oh my lazy butt and creaky legs! I can tell I've been away from cardio and muscle training for a while! Whew! I did a bodyrock HIIT yesterday and want to ease in this week and dial it up for full on Beast mode until July.

Hitting life at a run with so much to catch up on at home and at work... But somehow spring has come here at home finally and I can pick away at the yard to get all the fall leaves away that we missed form the early snow. Already have the deck cleared off and ready for summer BBQs. It will come. Hooray!

Hope you're all doing well.
I am gooooood! :)

Leaping Lizards!

I will say this...USA is different than Canada. Beer in the gas station, ridiculous roadside snacks...well, maybe that's it's just Montana and Idaho :) The whole trip down and back was a road trip adventure, complete even with a stay in a tiny Swiss motel that had a working rotating clock with a milkmaid, goatherd and smiling goat spinning around the tower clock...best random stop ever. And the World Potato Museum...(muahaha!) *and* add to that a gorgeous part of the world that I now have melted onto my soul - Canyonlands near Moab, Utah. It is breathtaking there. We had 5 days there, with 4 full day hikes through salt flats, mountains and green rain washes.
Sunset with my lovely friends & love
 Snakes! Lizards! Even a (*gibber*) black widow...off trail hikes all over up and over and around the white and red rock. We scampered up the rock ledges to see early puebloan ruins and petroglyphs and scrambled through and over rocks in sunny 25 C. We even had a half day riverboat ride down (and swam in) the Colorado river through the red rock and I must say...if there is a  way to make me more happy and content in a hiking holiday I'm not sure what else to add in... :)
part of an amazing wall of paintings

ancient ruins


...there were even  a few margaritas on our last night!

yes...a few zombies and margaritas and we were into the hats :)

Yup. I'm back :) Feel like I've been away for weeks. I holidayed and feasted and now I shall return to my life :)
Ah.

pants pants pants

So stiff. Lordy.
This AM was a good spin and sculpt class with Mel. Still feel like I need a good soak in a hot tub, but I'll adjust soon hopefully. I hobbled about last night like a granny much to the amusement of J.
Last night we went out to drop of the tent to get the zipper fixed and pick up some good hiking kit. I now have a pair of shorts and pants (sale rack!) and a bandanna scarf and J has a few super light weight shirts and a few pairs of zip off pants. Most importantly, some good hiking socks.
And (surprise) I  have a little rant - why are there hardly no zip off pants for women? In the hiking camping store guys have all these awesome shorts and pants and zip off pants with lots of pockets and light weight fabric shirts of every description. Women? Nada. Overpriced shorts and crop pants for the most part and absolutely no zipoffs. Lots of styley overpriced workout tops, running jackets and skirts and sundresses (because lets face it ladies nothing makes me want to hike in the mountains like a sundress...wtf?) but no similar shirts for women. I'm looking for practical hiking gear...a little style is nice, but it was almost insulting. The only shirts were fashionable, vaguely impractical and pricey but not at all what I need... so my husband who is so not outdoorsey has all the options in the world. Which is good...makes him more comfortable. But for me I think I'm gonna have to do a value village trip after work and check out their tank top tshirt situation cause I need some more lightweight clothes...

But I must be off. Lots to do. Big family gathering this weekend for J's mom's birthday and the whole crew will be in from all over. Looking forward to seeing the fun relatives and will endure the crazies. My dad is driving down too, so it should be a good time. Sunday is more camping prep to see what we lack. Space is premium this trip (5 of us have to fit in a Kia Rio hatchback with all our kit...anyone have a magic wand?) so I'm being creative with what we are taking. J is nervous as we usually bring everything...his first real camping trip. We shall see :)

Later taters :)

RIght here right now

Oh. Oh, how I creak.
Hold me.
OK. Actually it's not completely evil, but I sure do know I worked hard yesterday. I am, to put it bluntly, what Charlotte at the Great Fitness Experiment calls "toilet sore"... creaky to sit down slowly. After spin class this morning with yelley Mel where I pushed myself to have sweat trickling down my neck and completely used up my legs by the end? Well...I'm glad to be sitting to have breakfast and start my day!
Ah I'll survive. I have an important meeting today and lots to do so I just wanted to pop in and say hi and log my awesome endorphin filled spin class.
Had this song in my head all morning. A great happy favourite song from my graduation year... I still feel this way most days.
It feels good to be alive :)



Hi. Enjoy.
:)
Have a great day!!


looks can be deceiving

New sculpt instructor subbing in today in a small class now that the spring term is done. Mitra is a tiny danish girl with blond hair, lots of energy and a big smile. She didn't look very strong though so I figured it might be a wimpy workout and I was a bit dissappointed as I was in the mood to work out hard today.
Oh. my. god.
She killed us!
Amongst our many moves were curtsy lunges (with pulses!), reverse lunges, back rows, shoulder presses, deltoid work,  chest flies, planks and other abwork and even inchworm walk outs to pushups. Oy. I sweated and shook and worked my ass off. Yup...solid workout.  She was strong! Functional strength too... which I dig. I have no doubt my poor holiday butt will be stiff tomorrow. I hope she's a regular replacement for our previous no show sculpt girl from the spring term.
Tonight I get to go hang with my brother for supper and visit his very first Japanese student who has come for a visit. She come back to Canada to go to university in Winnipeg the last few years and is really a part of the family now. It will be nice to see her.

I'm trying not to be bummed out about the fact that the service engine soon light came on in our car...we're PO'd and hope it's something minor since we have to, you know, drive it half way to Utah in a week. Our car, after being very good to us for a long time, has reached the implosion stage and we keep pouring $$ into it...we've put off getting another car since we're enjoying not having car payments for a bit - altho if it keeps this up we're essentially making car payments on it for repairs. *sigh*. J is going to have it booked in to judge the damage and we'll take it from there. Who knows. It should be a hose or spark plugs or the whole damn engine. No point in worrying too much until we know more...
Besides, I must start scheming about Utah. J and I are going shopping tomorrow for a bit more gear - light shirts and some good socks and to leave the rain shield to get the zipper repaired on the tent (yeah it's a desert but knowing out luck it'd rain if we didn't fix it). 1 week to go...and as the slackers we are we are SO not prepared :)

Must go. Much to do at work as well (as always). Time for breakfast and life.
Have a great day!