Monday, October 18, 2010

Got java?

I was recovering from my 8 year old's sleepover birthday party. I woke up and started my coffee maker. Let me restate that. I woke up and attempted to start my coffee maker. It was broken. I was flabbergasted. What was I going to do? I had to have coffee. I almost cried.

But then I thought that cowboys somehow made coffee without a coffee maker. I'm sure I've seen it on TV.

This is what we came up with.




The chop stick contraption nicely held the strainer in place so that we didn't accidentally lose the grounds. I understand that this isn't an ideal outfit here, but desperate times call for desperate measures.

Short story: Coffee? Check. Caffeine level achieved? Check. A quick trip to Bed Bath & Beyond set us straight. Phew! God bless the automatic coffee maker. It is just one less thing. Yee-ha.

Friday, October 1, 2010

The results are in...

I can't believe how fast time is going by. The kids are already scheduling their first quarter parent/teacher conferences. That means two birthdays and Halloween are just around the corner. Which also means that Thanksgiving and Christmas are right around the corner.

Gasp!

Let's pretend I didn't just say that last comment.

Okay, back to my results. I had undertaken a new fitness goal beginning Aug. 1st. I measured myself, borrowed a weightlifting book, collected a ton of motivation and began. The first month I really stayed on the workout challenge. I got all the workouts in, both cardio and strength training. I could really feel that my motivation was faltering a bit. I saw definition and tone in my arms. The second month I was working more on the cardio side. I felt burned out on the weights. You see, I was reading a great book, so I wanted to spend my time doing more cardio where I can read at the same time. Then my dear Alison got mycoplasma pneumonia and erythema multiforme and my next week was, shall we say without workout, but with stress which may have the same net effect as actually spending time in the gym.

While my daughter was being diagnosed (difficult) and then healing (so sad because of the systemic allergic reaction she had to the bacteria that was infecting her), I realized that the little things really are very little. Dishes, laundry, kids' homework didn't cause me anywhere near the stress that they usually evoke. I was just so thankful to have her on the road to recovery. The next week I was completely wiped out, totally exhausted, understandably so. Then, I was back into the swing of things (workout wise) and I did the annual grass preparation. In the desert, you have to shave back, thatch, and rake up your grass before you plant new seed each fall. Something they don't advertise when they suck you into living here. Anyway, all that work, and dust and debris in the air, caused me to be super wheezy, so working out was out for the next few days. Now I'm feeling better and I wake up and it is Oct. 1st, my deadline.

Drum roll please.....

My weight was exactly the same as August 1st. In my defense, it was a great weigh- in on Aug 1st, I hadn't seen that number for months. It is probably what helped to get me inspired in the first place, hope. My measurements in 7 areas combined today were 9.5 inches fewer than they were on August 1st. I knew I was looking better, but the scale wasn't reflecting any of the positive changes that I was making. So diamonds, not bathroom scales, really are a girl's best friend.

Where do I go from here? Well, I can see how people (I) usually quit when they aren't seeing the results on the scale. I can also understand how people (I) get sidetracked as they put out the fires that are unexpectantly cropping up throughout the week, month, and year. And that is okay. Working out is like doing the dishes. It is something that needs to be done most of the time. It is fine to let it slide when other things become more important, but when it is said and done, you eventually need to get back there and "do the dishes." You know how much better you'll feel when they are done.