Grumpy Pants

Boy am I wearing grumpy pants this evening.  I got home to a mess in the "kennel" with the little girls and then tried to take them for a walk and they are clearly in the "I can't hear you Mom" stage.  They don't care to listen at all, so what usually takes me and the big kids about 10 mins to walk around the field now takes about 20.  I spent the extra ten mins trying to wrangle the littlest ones and sheepherd them towards the house.  

All the doggies were just driving me crazy so I took ten mins of "mommy time" to try to decompress.  What I really probably needed was a little workout or run, but I just didn't get to it today.  I felt like I needed a little break from a crazy workout week last week.  Tomorrow though I am planning for a run with my Dad and hopefully get in some Pilates too. 

I've gotten some video of the little girls and some video from Disney on my Flip Video Camera that I hope to try to play around with soon.  I am trying to get those videos off and saved and then work on putting them together.  School work might be a little lighter in the next few days so hopefully I can get something figured out to share.

Feelin' Good

What a great weekend!!  I can't complain about one second of my weekend.  It was super nice.  Here'a quick run-down of why it was so nice.

Friday, was a pretty good day of school and I got a run in with my Sis and SIL.  My Cowboy and I had a nice dinner at home together and then played with the puppies for the evening before crashing at 8:30 like usual.  On Saturday morning, I made The Best Chocolate Cake with Buttercream Frosting recipe which was featured on Sweet Treats and More blog.  My family came out and visited for a while and taste tested my cake with me.  It was very YUMMY!  I got some Ella Beans time and my family got some puppy time.  The rest of Saturday I spent time with my Hubby.

Today, Cowboy took me out to breakfast to our favorite lil mom and pop restaurant.  We both got delicious omlets and goobled them right down.  We came home and I did the not-so-exciting-but-necessary school work.  Then I spent some time outside with the lil puppies while Cowboy did his Cowboy hunting things.  I decided to go try out a Yoga class at the Y.  I got there a little early so I did a mile on the treadmill.  The class was good.  The instructor wasn't the best but she did a pretty good job and I am feeling the workout tonight.  After Yoga I went out and did another mile on the treadmill.  Today's workout brought me up to 23 points for the week.  Here's the breakdown

Monday - 4 points          60 mins shoveling snow and 20 min stretch
Tuesday - 3 points          34 min 3.8 mile run and 25 min stretch and walk
Wednesday - 3 points     20 min walk, 30 min abs and 10 min stretch
Thursday - 2 points         30 min 3.3 mile run and 10 min stretch
Friday - 2 points              20 min 2 mile run and 20 min walk
Saturday - 4 points          35 min JM abs, 25 min Pilates and 20 min walk
Sunday - 5 points            20 min walk, 20 min 2 mile run, and 60 min Yoga Class

I am doing really well with the Fitness Challenge this year.  Better than I have done the last two years.  I am starting to feel better and am losing some of the winter blues and frustrations.  I am also excited that I got in 4 runs this week even if two of them were just two miles each.  I'm hoping I can stick to it all this week and get another 23 points or better for week 5.  Only two more weeks left.

Here's some more pictures of the puppies that my sis took on Saturday.

Tuckered Out

Ah, Thursday.  So nice of you to arrive and treat me rather nicely today.  It was a good day at school.  The students were great, they made me laugh and did a great job on their lessons.  I also got in 3.3 mile run with my daddy.  It was a really good run with a great pace. 

I made my Cowboy one of his favoritest meals.  We had venison burgers topped with fresh lettuce, tomatoes, onions, homemade pickles and a yummy salad.  It was very tastey!  After dinner we played with the puppies and now I am curled up on the couch with my beagels.  Good day, good day!  Looking forward to another great day tomorrow.


YAAAAWWWWWNNNNN!  Time for bed!



Night Night!



President's Day

It was so nice to have a three day weekend, even if on the third day I was snowed in.  At least we had the day off and don't have to make it up.  We got about 8 inches here in the Northeast last night.  It was heavy, wet and great snowman building snow.  Which of course meant heavy and tough shoveling but a great workout for me and Cowboy. 

This weekend was really nice.  We didn't have much planned and it was great to take it easy.  I got lot of cleaning and laundry done on Saturday morning and then went to the Beagle club for the late afternoon to help with the Rabbit Hunt.  Sunday we did more cleaning and spent lots of time out in the sunshine enjoying the bare grass after three great days of warm sunny weather.  The puppies loved playing outside, wrestling, ripping out grass and chewing sticks.  They were a tad tuckered out for their vistors.  My good friends came by with their two little girls ages 4 and 2.  The girls loved playing with the puppies and boy were the puppies exhausted when they left.

On both Saturday and Sunday I got in a few points for the Fitness Challenge.  Here's my weekly recap:

Monday - 1.5 points       30 mins of JM Yoga
Tuesday - 3 points          30 min 3.6 mile run, 30 min total body workout
Wednesday - 1 point      20 min walk
Thursday - 3 points         20 min walk, 40 min JM Abs
Friday - 2 points             40 min 4 mile run
Saturday - 3 points         30 min Pilates (Abs, Butt, Arms), 30 min walk
Sunday - 4 points            30 min Pilates, 30 min JM Yoga, 20 min walk

A total of 17.5 points for Week 3.  Lower than last week but within my goal.  This week I am going to try to step it up again and get above 20 points.  I hope to get in at least three runs instead of just two.  I need to pick it up a bit with running since the 5k season will be starting here soon.  Along with the workouts, I've been trying to eat better, more balance to my meals, taking in more fiber and remembering my vitamins.  I feel pretty good but still have the winter blues - just don't feel like I'm doing enough or have the energy to do enough.  I can't wait for spring.

I had my camera out a few times this weekend but didn't take near as many pictures as I should have.  There were lots of great shots of the puppies that I missed.  I did get a few last night of the little girls.

Macy Dae.  Isn't she just adorable.



Macy likes to pose.

Charisma was tuckered out.

She was attempting to quietly snuggle with Copper without disturbing him..



Finally Thursday...

...but I wish it was my Friday.  It would have been my Friday if I didn't have a snow day two weeks ago.  Not really looking forward to tomorrow.  Not quite ready and not sure what to do with two of my classes.  And to top that off, no motivation tonight to figure it out.  I'm tired and I'm really looking forward to having a three day weekend since we do still have Monday off.  It will be so nice to not have anything planned and not have inservice either - just a true day off.

I didn't get a workout or run in yesterday which was frustrating.  I did manage to get a walk in with the dogs this afternoon and did 35 min Level 1 with 6 Week 6 Pack Abs.  That workout is tough.  I feel it in my abs but my arms really end up shaking after all the planks and crazy stuff.

I am going to have to get my Flip digital camera out and record a video to put on here that can show you the crazy circus I have going on here in my living room.  I have the three littlest girls here in the house.  Cowboy has the big kids out hunting again.  The three little girls are racing around the house, barking, wrestling, teasing and acting just plain crazy.  Who needs tv's and movies when you got doggies.

Time to watching the circus and catch a little tv too.  Night all.

Feels like a Thursday

For some reason if doesn't feel like a Tuesday, it feels more like a Thursday.  Oh, how I wish it was.  I don't want to do schoolwork and really need to figure something out for both Accounting and Graphic Design.   I'm tired and need a nap....thank goodness bedtime is creeping up on me. 

I got a run in with my Dad after school.  It was a really good one, 3.6 miles.  My legs and hips felt so stretched out and relaxed.  It's been a long time since I ran without any tightness in my legs.  I attribute that to the yoga from last night.  I thought I would be sore when running but it was competely opposite of that.  I did some of the Bender Ball total body workout tonight but am looking forward to tackling the Jillian Michaels 6 week 6 pack abs again tomorrow

Well enough procrastinating time to get back to schoolwork.

Loving Yoga

I've done Pilates and Yoga a few times over the years but never really got into it.  I just got a Pilates and Yoga DVD and LOVE them both.

I haven't done either DVD the whole way though, but what I've done feels so good.  I just got done doing the Level 1 Yoga Meltdown with Jillian and all my muscles are doing little "feel good" quakes.   They both feel great on the muscles but I also feel all stretched out, long and lean too.   Loving Them!  Tomorrow I am hoping to get a run in and then get home to do some of the Bender Ball Total Body workout and some Pilates Abs. 

Hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day.  I made my Valentine one of his favorite dinners and got him some Chocolately desserts.  He's finally able to go out hunting with Bandit, Jubilee and Copper and is absolutely thrilled.  They left about 20 mins ago and I'm waiting for phone call to hear them treeing.  I have about an hour to get some schoolwork done before I let the little girls out to play.  Speaking of little girls, I promised more pictures.

Charisma Jane is an American Leopard Hound and is eight weeks old tomorrow.  She is already getting to be a chunky ball of fluff and is making my little girl look super tiny.  Charisma / Crissy / Risma / Rissi loves to eat and play with Macy.  Macy takes her gruff and gives it back ten folds.  My little girl is a fighter and she is fast.

After all the rough housing though, they go right back to snuggling up side by side.

Whew....

I'm exhausted and need a nap.  Its been a busy day here in our little Endless Jubilee world.  We did lots of little things around the house this morning and then went to a baby shower for friends before heading home to take care of the crew. 

I am also VERY sore today.  Jillian Michaels and 6 Week 6 Pack Ab workout kicked my butt yesterday.  WOW!  Those workouts are intense.  There is hardly any down time between each exercise and she just has you moving from one to another to another to another.  It felt really good but I didn't feel it till today and boy do I feel it. 

This week was really good for the workouts.  I got a lot more points that I thought I would. Here's the rundown:

Monday - 2.5 points        20 min walk, 20 min abs and 10 mins stretching
Tuesday - 3 points           30 min 3 mile run, 30 min walk, abs and stretching
Wednesday - 3.5 points      25 min walk, 45 min abs, buns and thighs
Thursday - 4 points          40 min 3.6 mile run, 20 min walk, 20 min abs and stretching
Friday - 2.5 points           20 min walk, 30 min 3.3 mile run
Saturday - 6 points          20 min Pilates Stretch, 40 min JM abs, 60 min hike
Sunday - 1 point              20 min walk

That's a total of 22.5 points for Week 2.  Last week I set a goal for 12-15 each week for the first three weeks and then 15-20 the second three weeks.  I guess I blew that goal out of the water.    I think having the three new videos plus the old ones i had, I can get in a good mix of workouts which will definitely increase my points for each week.

Tomorrow I will share some pictures of the newest puppy addition to our crew.  Charisma Jane arrived on Friday.  Here's a sneak peak

Feeling Good

Today was a pretty good day.  I was a "friday" for my students.  They have off tomorrow and we have inservice so it was a short week.  I didn't bring any work home - woo-hoo!!  I also got a 3.6 mile run in with my dad and did my first Pilates workout.  All my DVD's came today!  I wanted to take it easy so I tried out the 10 min Pilates workout and did two of them: Pilates Stretching and Pilates Abs.  Both were really good, quick and easy.  I like them and am looking forward to trying the other three.  I can't wait to try to Jillian Michaels workouts too. 

Time to go finish my glass of wine, relax for the evening and great ready for new TV shows from Grey's, Bones, and Private Practice.  I doubt I'll stay up for Private Practice though! 

Doggies Galore

My brother used to always tease me growing up that I would be the ol' cat lady with tons of cats running around her house.  Well I'm getting old but I don't have tons of cats running around - instead I'm married to a doggie-whisper and have five soon to be six dogs roaming around.

Lil' Macy Dae came home last Thursday.

 She is a sweetie.  She is an American Beagle but instead of being the typical (black, brown, white) tri colored beagle she is a blue/gray, white and a little tan.  Macy is eight weeks old and very petite.  We wanted a small dog and she was the runt of the little, so she is super tiny. 

The first night was really rough.  All she did was cry.  She sounded like a baby and just wailed.  She would even cry when she was running around the house with the other dogs.  Night two and three were pretty rough too.  On Monday night though so only got us up once. 

She is finally settling in.  She loves to chase after Cabella and Cabella does a great job of playing with her.  I can tell the two of them are going to be pals.  Right now, Macy is curled up on my lap taking a nap but soon I will be putting her down to play so that she can tucker herself out for the night.

Enough doggie talk.  My workouts are going really well this week.  I actually did ab workouts on Monday, got a 3 mile run in with my dad and SIL on Tuesday and did abs, buns and thighs tonight.  I am up to 9 points already.  I decided tonight that I am going to shoot for between 12 and 15 points each week and maybe towards the end of the six weeks I will try to increase to more than 15 points.  I figure by then it should be getting a little warmer and I will be running more to get ready for the upcoming Spring 5k's. 

I did decide to order some more workout DVD's to change things up.  I picked up the following three DVD's at amazon.com and am looking forward to them getting here.  They've been shipped, so I hope they get here soon!  I'm tired of the BenderBall exercises already.  

Mighty Monday

Whew...it's been a busy week here in our house.  A lot has been going on and I will try to get the blog world caught up this week.  Today, I wanted to focus on my workout recap for the first week of our Get Fit Challenge. 

The program that is being run by my school and our health insurance company is a little competition between three teams within our district.  The team is made up of a group of participants and we each earn 1 point for every 20 mins of exercise Monday - Sunday.  On Monday we report in our point totals.  Our submission is entered in a weekly drawing and the team that earns the most points at the end of the six weeks wins a monetary prize for a local organization.

For my first week I got in a few workouts, walks and of course some shoveling.  Here's my recap

• Monday - 20 min walk
• Tuesday - 20 min walk and shoveling, 40 min walk and shoveling and another 20 min walk
• Wednesday - 50 min walk
• Thursday - new puppy - no time
• Friday - 20 min walk
• Saturday - 40 mins abs, buns, and thighs; 20 mins Taebo and weights
• Sunday - 30 min walk

So I had a al of 13 points for the first week.  Hoping to get up to 15 points this week.  Definitely going to get in at least two runs in if weather allows.  I hope to make it to a least one group class at the Y too.    More news on the new puppy tomorrow hopefully.

What day is it?

My schedule is all goofed up.  We finally got a "good" storm which dumped snow and then ice, freezing rain, rain and everything else on us.  I had a snow day yesterday and enjoyed a true snow day doing almost absolutely nothing.  I did play with the doggies in the snow, took four walks with them and of course shoveled snow.  

Today, Cowboy and I are both home on a snow day.  The doggies are loving it.  Cowboy spent most of the morning getting things plowed and shoveled.  I am being lazy once again HOWEVER today I did do some schoolwork.  Not as much as I needed but sill some none the less.

So over the last few posts I've been struggling with actually working out.  Now that the Fitness Challenge has started and I need to record the time spent working out, I've been doing much better.  We earn 1 point for every 20 mins of exercise and already I have racked up 6 points for the week.  Hoping to get 2 more points today. 

To start I've just been focusing on walking (since the roads are not run-safe yet) and stretching.  This afternoon I am going to break out the Taebo videos.  Those are the only workout videos I own - or at least have here at my house.  It's times like this that I wish I had a WII or Kinect and Zumba workouts.  Maybe I will pick up the ab workout DVD's and ab ball at my sisters to use for a few weeks.  I think I have a set of hand weights there too. 

My baby sis said yesterday that she found a workout book for me too, so hopefully that will help as well.  Thanks Beanie!!  In case you didn't figure it out - I'm not a fan of this cross training and working out stuff.  I like running but all this other stuff is just boring unless of course you have buddies to work out with and laugh at.  Hm, maybe I'll look at the Y schedule and see if there is a class I can take right after school.  Anything to help the workout boredom. 

How do you deal with workout boredom??