Wednesday, October 29, 2008

One more day

(didn't weigh before boot camp)

After this morning, I have only one more day left of my fitness boot camp. I am really looking forward to no longer having to wake up at 4:55 a.m. three days a week! It is almost 11:30 here, and I'm still frickin' tired after drinking a cup of coffee and a cup of green tea.

On a positive note, I learned a lot of new and different strength training exercises through participating in the boot camp. I am sure I worked out a lot harder in the boot camp than I usually work out on my own at the gym. I enjoyed the physical challenge of the boot camp and feel stronger for having (almost) finished it. And I really enjoyed the energy of my group and meeting the other women there.

I may attend another boot camp with this trainer again in the future. She has several participants who have been with her for as long as three years, and many of the other ladies attending were repeaters, so that's not uncommon. For the next couple of months, I feel I'm going to be too busy with work, the holidays, my mom's visit, and our Maui trip to fit it into my schedule. . . but I might feel differently after the first of the year.

I haven't lost any weight during the boot camp, and the reason is obvious: I've been eating like crap! In addition to my usual "sins" of not getting in enough fruits & veggies and overeating, I've also been craving starchy carbs a lot and have been indulging my taste for them far more often than I should.

Well, you know the old saying: fall down ten times, get up eleven. I've reordered the South Beach Diet book; somewhere along the way, I gave away the copy I had. South Beach is a style of eating that has worked well for me in the past and is also the style of eating that my PCP recommended for weight loss and lowering my cholesterol levels. Once the book arrives, I plan to go back on Phase One for two weeks.

Of course I am ALWAYS wanting to lose weight, but I am wanting to get back on track eating-wise for other reasons, too. I'm tired of feeling out of control about my eating and letting my cravings rule me. I'm also tired of feeling tired (again) most of the time: I have slowly slipped back into the habit of having a cup of coffee each morning, primarily because I "need" it to get started mentally. And I continue to be concerned about my high cholesterol (though my behavior may not necessarily demonstrate this concern!).

I've often pondered the differences between those of us who struggle with our weight--currently overweight or not--and those who do not struggle with their weight. It seems to me that these two groups approach food and eating in fundamentally different ways.

MM falls into the second category, so living with him and observing his habits has been a unique experience for me. MM's eating habits aren't what I would consider good or healthy, but in spite of this fact, he has never been more than 5 lbs overweight. He eats candy or other "treats" (HoHo's, cupcakes, cookies, ice cream) once or twice a day; the only vegetables he will eat are romaine lettuce, peas, and cooked tomatoes; he drinks 2-3 cans of Mountain Dew a day; and the list of foods that he won't touch at all is long.

Aside from the fact that the actual foods we eat are quite different in general, I've made a few other observations of ways in which MM's eating habits differ from mine. One is that, unless we have a special night out planned at one of his favorite restaurants, MM rarely looks forward to meals. I, on the other hand, often start looking forward to my next meal just as I've finished my current meal. This is especially true if I know that I am going to be having a food at my next meal that I particularly enjoy.

MM has no problem skipping or delaying meals. If he gets busy, he can "forget" to eat or put it off to the point where he is just starving. I have to eat every 3-4 hours. If I don't, I get physically uncomfortable and get headaches and become entirely consumed with the idea of food. I can probably count on the fingers of one hand the number of times I've "forgotten" to eat, and most of those were associated with periods of extreme stress or grief.

If MM doesn't like the food on his plate, he will leave it there, even if he's hungry. This phenomenon does not occur with me, ever. Many, many times I have finished the food in front of me, even if I didn't love it, or even really like it, simply because I was hungry and the food was there.

MM really doesn't spend any time thinking about food. Sure, he has favorite foods and things that he enjoys eating. . . but he orders the same things at each restaurant we frequent and pretty much buys the same items at the grocery store every week. He never has to make a "grocery list" because his selections don't change much from week to week.

I don't know that MM's behaviors are something I can (or even should) emulate, but they certainly seem to work for him. . . and it's interesting to me how we differ in our approach to food.

Monday, October 27, 2008

I just want a month off

211 (bleh)

I've decided that I need a month off from work. If I had a month off, I would spend the first week sleeping extra and reading for pleasure and the rest of the month doing all the things that I don't have as much time to do as I'd like because I'm working full time. Things like finishing up unpacking and organizing my house, getting my car detailed, dropping off my dry cleaning, assembling furniture.

I truly believe that if there were a viable alternative, I could return to work after my month off refreshed and ready to bill clients like a mo-fo. . . . rather than coming to the office each day with the lack of focus that has been apparent for some weeks now.

Alas! I do not think I can convince the partners in my firm to allow me to take a month-long sabbatical for no other reason than "I'm f&#^in' tired and need some time to catch up on the rest of my life!" And I need my salary. So no month off for me. :-(

I still plan to post photos of the landscaping at some point. The reason I haven't done it yet is that at the moment, I essentially have no home computer. Although my computer and internet connection are both in fine working order, I disconnected them on Saturday evening so that I could move my cheap Ikea desk out of the home office to make room for the very nice, new desk that MM bought for me.

When I read prior to ordering the new desk that it had "assembly required," little did I know what exactly that meant. I did not realize that the assembly would involve connecting at least 85 pieces of wood and pressboard in varying sizes, using various types of fasteners that are ill-identified in the assembly instructions, or that the assembly instructions would have been authored by someone who is clearly not a native speaker of English. Ahem.

An hour plus into starting assembly, I now have many, many pieces of desk laid out in the home office and living room. I am on page 6 of a 20-page assembly instructions manual. (Did I mention that I'm convinced the person who wrote it is not a native English speaker?) The pictures in the manual seldom match the actual items that came in the two large boxes that claimed to hold a desk.

I am not the handiest person in the world, and MM is even worse (so he says). Because MM abhors clutter, and because I want my home office back, I have committed to spending at least 30 minutes each evening on desk assembly. (Which is obviously 30 minutes less each evening that I can spend on anything else.) At this rate, I *might* get the desk assembled before we leave for Maui! ;-)

My mom arrives in town on Thursday. She is staying at my old apartment for the first few weeks she's here--it's still technically still my apartment until November 30th--and I spent a few hours there on Saturday getting the place ready for her. . . . cleaning bathrooms, throwing away trash, packing up more of my stuff to go to the house. (With the exception of three small boxes, I am proud to report that I have now gone through all my stuff left at the old place!) I still need to return to the apartment either tomorrow or Wednesday to drop off clean sheets, a quilt, and plates; and to mop and vacuum and clean out the refrigerator.

I'm looking forward to seeing Mom. And to tell the truth, she really won't care whether the place is clean for her, though she probably will appreciate the sheets, quilt, and plates.

This week should be pretty typical, except that I will be out of the office for a half day and one full day attending continuing legal education programs. Friday is Halloween, and I have yet to even buy pumpkins for us to carve or put out the Halloween decorations that my future MIL so generously provided. In addition to being ready for our expected trick-or-treaters, we are supposed to put in an appearance at a block party one street over on Halloween night. Saturday night MM wants to go to a Coyotes game, and Sunday evening we'll be having dinner with his parents. At some point over the weekend, I need to do some extra work to make up for the slacking I've been doing most of the month of October. And oh yeah, try to finish putting my desk together.

Back to billing. . . .

Friday, October 24, 2008

Oops: jury duty update

A friend commenting on my "Doing my civic duty" post correctly pointed out that I didn't update on the outcome. Sorry to leave y'all hanging. . . .

I got struck. Of course. I'll never know for sure which lawyer struck me, but I have a pretty good idea. As all the excused prospective jurors stood and began to walk out of the courtroom, the female defense attorney and I made eye contact. I smiled and nodded slightly; she smiled back. I am 99% sure she's the one who gave me the axe.

The partners in my firm breathed a collective sigh of relief that they won't have to cover the ten depos I have in the next three weeks themselves and that they aren't going to miss out on three weeks' worth of billing from me. Our office manager told me that it would have been a "hardship" for the firm if I'd been chosen. So everyone is happy. ;-)

One man, one woman

I got my first political phone call of the season this morning on my way to work. I'm actually still a little perplexed about how they got my mobile number. . . but anyhoo.

The conversation started with a man asking for "Mrs." S.B. I informed him that there was no "MRS." S.B. at this number (pet peeve of mine), but that I was S.B. He then apologized for the error, introduced himself, and told me that he wanted to talk to me about Proposition 102 (more info here: http://www.yesformarriage.com/). Essentially, Proposition 102 seeks to amend the Arizona Constitution to define marriage as the union of one man and one woman.

As an aside, Arizona law already defines marriage in this way. There is a statute that specifically provides that marriage between two people of the same sex is not permitted, A.R.S. 25-101(C) (http://www.azleg.state.az.us/ars/25/00101.htm). Arizona is not one of the states in which gay couples have had same-sex marriages performed or where courts have ruled that gay couples have the right to marry. I have not read a single news story about a gay couple even seeking a marriage license in this state, let alone actually getting one and marrying.

I politely interrupted his spiel to tell him that I have already voted. We then had the following exchange.

Caller: Was that a vote for "yes"?
Me: No, it was a vote for "no."
Caller: No, marriage shouldn't be one man and one woman?
Me: No. . . . no, the constitution should not be amended as proposed.
Caller: Oh.
Me: OK, you have a nice day now. Goodbye.

My first inclination was to chuckle. Clearly whoever provided this fellow with names and numbers of people to call did not do their homework: nothing about me would suggest that I am socially conservative or anti-gay, and I am a registered Independent. Why would they think that I would be persuadable on this issue? I'm not even married.

Upon further reflection, though, I found the call more disturbing than amusing. Not only the fact that obviously people are calling voters in an attempt to have this unnecessary and discriminatory proposition passed; that's also disturbing, and I'll address it next.

No, what disturbed me was that the caller didn't seem to know what the amendment is about. A vote for "no" in no way says that the voter supports a new definition of marriage; it merely indicates that the voter does not wish to have the Arizona Constitution amended.

And lest you think I'm getting all lawyerly with the distinction, let me provide the precise language used on the ballot: "A 'no' vote shall have the effect of maintaining the current statutory law of the State of Arizona which prohibits marriage between persons of the same sex, but would not amend the Arizona Constitution to define marriage as a union between one man and one woman."

I am not against gay marriage. I am not religious, and I don't see how allowing gay couples to marry affects heterosexual couples one iota. As for the idea that allowing gay marriage would ruin the "sanctity" of marriage. . . I have two thoughts on that. One is that marriage, at least as a state-sanctioned union, isn't truly "sanctified." It is a legal construct, an agreement between two consenting adults that is recognized by the government and subject to lots of state laws. If you want your marriage to be sanctified, you can marry in the church, temple, or mosque of your choice. . . but I see that as something separate and distinct from the civil part of marriage, the part with which the state is involved.

Secondly, even if you *do* regard marriage as sanctified, if you look at the rates of adultery and divorce in this country, I think heterosexual couples have already done a darn fine job of ruining the "sanctity" of marriage on their own. It's ludicrous to me to think that allowing two gay adults who love and are committed to one another to marry in any way affects the marriages of heterosexual couples!

I suppose this amendment is an attempt to prevent some "activist judge" in Arizona (do we have those here?!) from following the lead of Massachusetts, California, and some other "blue" states in recognizing gay marriages.

With all that we have going on in our country. . . . is this really something that is worth spending time, money, and attention on?!

Thursday, October 23, 2008

Happy Birthday, Sebastian!


It's hard to believe Sebastian is already 7!

(I know that this next remark makes me sound like a "crazy dog person," but it's true.) Even though Sebastian is a dog, he has brought more joy to my life on a consistent basis than most of the people in it. ;-)

Here's to another 7 years, buddy!

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Doing my civic duty

(forgot to weigh before boot camp)

So yesterday I was downtown at the courthouse all day because I was summoned for jury duty. I ended up on a panel of prospective jurors for a three-week murder trial.

The jury selection process wasn't completed yesterday, so we all have to return today at 10:30. Although I think jury duty could be an interesting experience as a general proposition, I really hope I get kicked off this jury: I have lots of stuff scheduled over the next three weeks that would have to be moved, as well as the usual amount of work and deadlines. . . . and all the stuff going on in my non-work life.

You tell me: if you were one of the defense attorneys, would you want me on your jury? Here are the things I have shared so far during the voir dire process:

**I am an attorney.
**I work for a firm that does primarily medical malpractice defense, but one of the active partners in the firm represents the County in several civil rights cases. (The County Attorney's Office is prosecuting this case.)
**I was a prosecutor for two-and-a-half years. Of those, at least a year was spent prosecuting cases involving the sale or distribution of drugs, among other cases. (The case involves allegations of a "drug deal gone bad.")
**I liked being a prosecutor and mainly left the job to make more money elsewhere.
**I am engaged to an adult probation officer.

Because I think I can still be fair and impartial despite all these factors, I have had to honestly answer "yes" when asked that question. I haven't yet been removed "for cause," but I am optimistic that one of the defense attorneys will use a peremptory strike to remove me. . . . the female defense attorney really seemed to not like my background, based on her questioning of me during voir dire.

Ah yes. Good times. . . . .

Monday, October 20, 2008

Weekend Recap

209.2 (not too shabby. . . )

I don't have time for a full-fledged entry, complete with photos of our recently-completed landscaping, but I did want to post a quick recap of the weekend.

**All in all, a successful weekend visit with the parents. My dad and stepmom arrived safely on Friday afternoon. Our weekend visit with them was good: no major disagreements between them and me (or between them); they liked MM; they liked MM's mom, who we met for dinner on Saturday night.

**Our landscaping was completed--even to include MM's pygmy palm--before 4:00 on Friday. I think it looks pretty good, even though the plants are obviously still immature. I took some photos so that I can compare them to what it will look like in 6 months; I'll post those tonight if I get around to it.

**We saw the movie "W" yesterday and thought it was pretty good. Not great, but good.

**We had our holiday/engagement photo session yesterday afternoon. It was a beautiful day, and the light was great. I am optimistic that our photographer was able to get some good shots of us and of Sebastian, too.

**I finally have a LITTLE bit of motivation for work. It's still sub-optimal, but a big improvement over the past couple of weeks. So I hope to crank some things out this week.

**Because I was busy hanging out with the parents all weekend, I have a boatload of household chores to do (stuff that I normally would've done over the weekend): at least 4 loads of laundry to wash and 3 to put away from last week; grocery shopping; dusting; etc. Also, I still need to assemble one of the Ikea bookcases for the living room and now also the desk that arrived on Saturday for the office. MM doesn't do furniture assembly--claims he's bad at it, and I know he's impatient--but has promised to help with the desk at least. Just need to find some time to get to all this stuff.

**I missed boot camp this morning because my alarm didn't go off for some unknown reason! Grrr. . . . I will admit that it was nice to wake up naturally at 6:15, though. I will definitely go again on Wednesday; will set 2 alarms if I have to!!

**Workwise this week should be pretty typical. The only out-of-the-ordinary thing is that I've been summoned for jury duty tomorrow. Ugh.

**Thursday is Sebastian's 7th birthday! I want to do something special for him, but haven't decided what yet. I'm thinking maybe a new treat from Petsmart that I normally wouldn't buy him and an extra trip to the park. (He went to the park 3 times this weekend.)

Friday, October 17, 2008

Oooh, post #450!

208.6

Wow, when I first started this blog almost three years ago, I'd never have thought I'd have kept it going for 450 posts. Of course, there's a lot about my present life that I wouldn't have predicted back when I started this blog. ;-)

After this morning's session, I am officially halfway through my 4-week boot camp! MM and I went to the gym last night--my first trip to the gym since starting boot camp--and I did one of my usual cardio workouts. I walked briskly on the treadmill, jogging every fourth minute to get my heart rate up.

An interesting thing happened. I noticed that I had to increase my speed and spend more time jogging and less time walking fast in order to get my heart rate up to the desired level. In other words. . . . my usual workout was too easy for me. Yep, that's right! So even though the progress is not obvious to me at the boot camp itself, I must be improving my overall fitness level with these workouts.

Getting up so early is getting easier, too. Don't get me wrong: it's not SO much easier that I'd like to start doing it seven days a week from now on! But I no longer have to drag myself out of bed and drive to boot camp with that awful, icky-tired feeling, and I have more energy during the day than I did before (as long as I go to bed early enough to get at least 7 hours sleep on boot camp days).

Our landscaping is complete! Well, except for one item: MM and I paid extra for him to have a pygmy palm tree behind the spa, and it hasn't been planted yet (though it's obvious that it will be because there's a hole and irrigation tube for it). I'm really happy with the way it turned out. I am one of those people who has a bit of a hard time visualizing what something will look like in real life just from seeing drawings and diagrams, so I wasn't quite sure whether or not I'd be happy with the finished product, even though I picked everything myself. I like it!

The timing for the completion of the landscaping couldn't be better: my dad and stepmom arrive this afternoon. Plus, no one can walk on our newly-laid sod for at least 3 weeks, and it is a little over 4 weeks until the housewarming party I've been hoping to have. . . . which should give the grass plenty of time to get established before the party.

What else to tell? I will be busy with the parents all weekend. I got a summons for jury duty for next Tuesday, so that should be a joy. I seriously doubt that anyone is going to leave me on their jury--in fact, I won't be at all surprised if the judge dismisses me "for cause"--but I still gotta go down to the courthouse and go through the motions.

Hard to believe Halloween is only two weeks from today! This year has gone by fast.

Wednesday, October 15, 2008

I think MM may need his head examined

MM shared with me at dinner last night that he thinks it would be "really cool" for us to have twins. He's not particular--identical vs. fraternal, boys vs. girls vs. one-of-each--they all sound good to him.

He opined that "it can't be that much more work" than one baby. Ah yes. Spoken by someone who, until about 7 weeks ago, had never even held an infant under 6 months of age and has had EXTREMELY limited contact with babies. MM is an only child, born of two only children, and like most men, he never babysat.

He was disappointed when I didn't jump right in and say I think it'd be "really cool," too. I reminded him that it wouldn't be *his* body carrying, birthing, and nursing two infants at once.

Hmmm. . . .

My blonde boy(s)


I am too lazy to write a post today, but I'm sick of looking at my Columbus Day post.

Instead I share with you a few recent photos of Sebastian. . . . oh, and MM. ;-)



Monday, October 13, 2008

Columbus Day

208.8

I have been at this same weight within 0.2 lbs for three consecutive days. So I'm guessing that any muscle water retention issues have worked themselves out and this is what I actually weigh.

It's pretty friggin' sad that I've been eating reasonably well and busting my a$$ in boot camp to earn this weight. Really, it just supports what I told MM when I started: in order for me to actually lose weight, I have to diet diligently along with exercising regularly. Just one or the other won't do it for me.

While of course I've hoped that I would lose some weight as a result of this boot camp, I am mainly focused on getting more toned and in better general physical condition before our trip to Maui. MM and I want to do some hiking and snorkeling, and I'd like to be in good enough shape for both. Plus my energy level prior to starting boot camp has been sh1tty for sometime, and I'd like to have more energy. (It's hard to say yet whether boot camp has helped with that: any increase in energy the first week was negated by my body's adjustment to getting up 2+ hours earlier than usual.)

This morning's session was legs again. We did some squats and lunges, along with lots of jogging (OK, running for most participants, jogging for me) and lots of exercise I hadn't done before. I am optimistic that I won't have the unlivable level of soreness that I had after last week's legs session: last time I was tightening up and sore within a few hours of the workout; this time, I can tell I worked my legs, but I have no soreness and can walk normally.

My weekend was a bit of a mixed bag. Friday night MM and I went to see the movie Religulous. Saturday I read the book Promise Not to Tell by Jennifer McMahon. (Since joining paperbackswap.com, I have a stack of 10-12 novels waiting to be read; this one was in it.) Saturday night we met my friend L and her husband for dinner before going to the Phoenix Coyotes' home opener. A relaxing and fun day.

Sunday I woke up at 5:20 a.m. with a migraine. . . . the first one I've had in months. (The only possible "trigger" I could identify was the ONE margarita I had with dinner on Saturday night. I may have to give up drinking completely! Ugh.) With the migraine, even though I took lots of meds, I felt like a$$ most of the day. Even so, I still managed to get to Ross in the afternoon to buy a new wallet (my old one--6 years old--had a broken zipper on the money compartment). While at Ross, I also bought a new purse and a few tops. . . . all for under $85. MM and I had dinner with his parents in the evening, at which time I was feeling about 90% of normal.

This week should be a pretty normal one. I have to go to Tucson on Thursday afternoon for a court hearing and a deposition there on Friday morning. I am going to stay with my friend L and hope to have dinner with a few other friends there as well.

Friday evening my father and his wife will arrive for a weekend visit. It will be their first time seeing the new house--and Stepmom's first time meeting MM--so I will be spending most of Wednesday evening getting the house prepared. (It's times like this that I'm glad I live with a neatnik; the common areas of the house are almost always clean & uncluttered, thanks to MM.)

Our spa is complete! MM and I used it last night for the first time. It's great! We are optimistic that the landscapers will start (& finish) work this week! ;-)

P.S. I've long thought that Columbus Day is a bit of a weird holiday and at least mildly offensive to Native Americans. What did Columbus really *discover*? People were already living here when he got here!

Well, I guess I should be grateful to him: I wouldn't be here if he hadn't "discovered" America. And even though there were people here already, obviously those living in Europe didn't know about them, and I suppose gaining that knowledge is a "discovery" of sorts.

Friday, October 10, 2008

Yeah, I'm a bad person

(not even gonna post today's weight)

I've been thinking about writing this post for a while, but I've held back because I believe some readers might consider me b1tchy and judgmental. Today, though, I finally decided f$&* it! What's the point of my having a blog if I can't write about the things that are on my mind?

I've mentioned before that I regularly visit the message boards on the site where I do my charting. (fertilityfriend.com, for those interested) I first visited the boards out of curiosity and in search of others who were on the same journey. I still find them interesting and enjoy the support. . . . but I'll admit that one of the big draws for me is what *I* perceive to be the craziness.

Example: a woman posted this morning that she got a positive pregnancy test. "We finally did it!" her post read (among other things). Cool. We should all be happy and excited for her, right?

Except that once I read her signature line. . . . the woman already has 8 children. (This is the part where I come across as b1tchy and judgmental.) I'm sorry, but it is a little hard for me to get excited about someone's NINTH pregnancy! Who even *has* nine kids these days? How can two people adequately parent nine children?

And her use of the word "finally"? Her next-oldest child is not even 2 years old! In my opinion, "finally" should be reserved for use by people who have struggled with trying to get pregnant with their first child for at least a year. I get that a month seems like forever when you're trying to get pregnant--believe me, I get that--but please.

I also thought--again, uncharitably--why does this woman even need to use this site? Clearly she has been able to conceive and carry a pregnancy EIGHT previous times!

There are actually quite a number of ladies posting on the message boards who have at least six children. Personally, the most anyone I know in real life has is 5. . . . and I thought that was a lot!

Another post from a few weeks ago was from a woman who was lamenting the fact that she and her husband were having to borrow $25,000 to go through a second round of in-vitro fertilization. The woman had three children under age 8: two were adopted, and one was her biological child conceived through prior use of IVF.

Those responding to her post were full of support and commiseration: "isn't it awful that insurance doesn't pay for this?" "so sorry for what you're going through," etc. But all I could think was "What the f$%^ are you doing?!"

It is one thing to spend money on IVF (or anything else) if you have the money to spare. Clearly that was not the case here, as the poster was having to finance the procedure. It is something else entirely to spend money on IVF when you already have three children for whose care and futures you are responsible. (As a footnote to this woman's original post, I will mention that I recently read that IVF #2 was unsuccessful, and she is getting ready for IVF #3.)

I get the desire to have a biological child. I do. I also get that people might want more than one biological child. But isn't there a point at which using expensive procedures to achieve this becomes a bit selfish? Where is it written that each of us has a right to have as many biological children as we want? We all certainly have the right to TRY, but shouldn't that be tempered by reason and common sense?

I recently read were someone wrote that paying for IVF is akin to buying a raffle ticket, with the grand prize being a successful pregnancy. Despite what many people think, IVF is NOT a guarantee of pregnancy. In fact, the odds of success with IVF can be quite low, depending upon the age of the parents and their specific infertility issues.

I just don't understand it. I have no children of my own (yet), and *I* wouldn't be willing to go $25K into debt for a CHANCE to have A child. . . . let alone a fourth child.

In addition to things like the two examples I've shared, the boards also have all the usual interpersonal drama that one might expect of any online community.

Is it any wonder why I find them entertaining?

Thursday, October 09, 2008

If I just don't bend my knees. . . . .

210.6 (ugh)

I am attributing the number on the scale this morning to major water retention from over-worked muscles. My eating has been pretty good the last few days, and obviously I am exercising much more vigorously than usual with boot camp, so that is the only reasonable explanation in my mind.

My legs are sore as he!! today. Actually, they started feeling a little sore and tight yesterday within an hour or so of finishing my boot camp workout, so I knew today would be bad. The soreness is tolerable as long as I'm sitting and have dosed myself with ibuprofen. If I walk around, it hurts. And if I bend down or climb stairs (up or down), it REALLY hurts!

I really overdid it. I'd never done as many squats--or as many different kinds of squats--as we did yesterday, and I just didn't realize how hard I was working out at the time. I like to think that my legs are really strong because my primary forms of exercise are the elliptical trainer and walking/jogging. . . . plus carrying my fat a$$ around all the time. . . but yikes.

This level of pain is in spite of stretching every other hour yesterday, getting an hour-long massage yesterday evening, and pounding down water like it's going out of style. Think how much pain I'd be in if I hadn't done those things!

Anyhoo, this, too, shall pass. As MM points out, I certainly know that I am getting my money's worth out of this boot camp. There is no doubt that I am working out harder than I would on my own or that I am working muscles that I normally wouldn't.

One of the nurses at my firm is a bit of an exercise fanatic. She is in her early 50s, with two grown children, but in fabulous shape. Normally she works out 6 days a week, either running or taking spinning classes.

Sadly, she ruptured a disk in her back several weeks ago and had to have emergency surgery. She is back at work, but has been told that she can't run or cycle for at least 6 months! The only exercise her surgeon has OK'd is walking, and that just does not get the job done for her: it doesn't raise her heart rate effectively because she's in such great cardiovascular shape.

While talking about my boot camp experience this morning, I could see in her face that she was envious of my sore muscles! She told me to "work out extra hard for both of us."

I would friggin' LOVE to be so into exercising that I would be sad if I couldn't do it! Over the years, I have certainly gotten to where I find it tolerable. . . . and I'm always glad I exercised after a workout. . . . but to have that love of exercise that would make me crave it would be a beautiful thing.

As sore as I am, I am a little scared for tomorrow's boot camp session. At the same time, in a perverse way, I am looking forward to it. MM and I are going to go to the gym this evening, too, per our usual routine. I think 25-30 minutes on the elliptical trainer or the treadmill might actually help me work out some of this soreness.

With getting up so early twice this week (and yesterday I woke up more than an hour before the alarm--at 3:50!--and couldn't go back to sleep), I am quite tired today. Even though I got a good night's sleep, apparently it wasn't enough to make up for the sleep deprivation the night before. [sigh]

Not much else going on with me. After having had several deadlines over the past month or so, I'm currently suffering from a severe lack of motivation at work. My friend L and her husband are coming to Phoenix this weekend, and we will be having dinner with them on Saturday before going to the Coyotes home opener; the tickets to the game were my birthday gift to MM (his request). We will likely go to MM's parents' house for dinner on Sunday. And I need to buy a blouse to wear for our engagement/holiday photo shoot on October 19th this weekend. Ugh--I hate to shop!!

Wednesday, October 08, 2008

A few of my favorite things

*Peep-toe pumps

*Starbucks Caffe Mochas

*Enell sports bars

*Morningstar Farms Veggie Sausage Patties

*Ceiling fans

*Rainbows

OK, enough already. . . . I'm not freakin' Oprah! ;-)

P.S. One thing I do NOT love: squats!

Tuesday, October 07, 2008

Yet again shamelessly ripping off another blogger

20 Questions about My Man. . . . . . . in honor of his 35th birthday today:

1. He is sitting in front of the TV, what is he watching? CNN, ESPN, or Entourage
2. You are out to eat, what kind of dressing does he get on his salad? Caesar: he only eats Caesar salads.
3. What's one food he doesn't like? Just one? Wow, there are so many I could name! OK, eggs.
4. You go out to a bar, what does he order? Captain and Coke
5. Where did he go to High School? Burnsville High School (Go Braves!)
6. What size shoe does he wear? 10
7. If he were to collect anything, what would it be? He would never collect; he hates clutter.
8. What is his favorite sandwich? Ham & cheese on white bread
9. What would he eat every day if he could? Nothing: he hates eating the same thing all the time and MUST have variety!
10. What is his favorite cereal? He doesn't like cereal much, but will eat Cocoa Krispies.
11. What would he never wear? A suit and tie. . . . unless he absolutely had to.
12. What is his favorite sports team? Arizona Diamondbacks (MLB), Indiana Hoosiers (NCAA Hoops), Arizona State (NCAA football)
13. Who will he vote for? Obama
14. Who is his best friend? Me
15. What is something you do that he wishes you wouldn't do? Snore. (tee hee)
16. How many states has he lived in? Three: Minnesota, Indiana, and Arizona
17. What is his heritage? Norwegian
18. You bake him a cake for his birthday, what kind of cake is it? Chocolate with chocolate icing
19. Did he play sports in High School? Yes: football & basketball
20. What could he spend hours doing? Watching sports, discussing politics

Monday, October 06, 2008

1st day of boot camp

209.6 (ugh)

Well, I survived. It was really hard to get up at 4:50 when my alarm went off, but I'm glad I did.

The boot camp was challenging, as I expected. Many of the other participants are boot camp veterans; there were only a few others besides me who were attending for the first time. I had to stop a few times while running stairs, and know I am going to be sore tomorrow. . . . but I feel good, and I'm proud of myself for going.

I am sure I will sleep tonight! Actually, I fully expect to be exhausted by about 2:00 p.m. today. Well, that's why we have coffee. I've pretty much broken my addiction to caffeine, but I'm going to make an exception today if I need it. It's not every day that I shock my body by getting up before 5:00!

Inspired by my exercise, I ate a healthy, low-carb breakfast. I hit the grocery store yesterday for healthy food for the week, and I'm just about out of spending money until I get paid on Friday. . . so I should be in good shape eating-wise. All I have to do is eat the food I bought.

I'm thinking I will probably get up at 6:00 on the days I don't have boot camp, just so I don't totally get off kilter with my sleep schedule. Because I'll be up so early, I think I may take Sebastian and at least do a walk around the neighborhood on the off days.

Hey! If I successfully complete this boot camp, I might actually be in good enough shape to hike while we're in Maui!

Friday, October 03, 2008

I guess I'm an elitist

elitist: someone who believes in rule by an elite group

elite: the choice or best of anything considered collectively, as of a group or class of persons

One thing that has really bugged me this election season has been the use of the word "elitist" as an epithet. . . . as though it's a bad thing to want to be governed by the best possible leaders. An elitist is not a bad thing to be, in my opinion.

I recently watched the movie Idiocracy (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0387808/) for the first time. The premise of the movie is basically that 500 years in the future, America has been so "dumbed down" that an average man from our time is now considered to be smartest man alive.

The movie itself is mildly entertaining; I'm certainly glad I watched on TV at home for free, rather than paying to see it in the theatre. But what struck me about the movie as I was watching it was not its comic genius or great acting. What struck me was that I sometimes feel that our country is actually headed down the path the movie portrays.

Everywhere you look, it seems to have become more and more acceptable to be ill-informed and unintelligent. I recall reading with dismay a survey of Americans in the past year where one in four Americans read no books in the preceding year. NO books! In a year! Our president of the past eight years can't even speak English properly, routinely mispronouncing and misusing words and making up his own words.

I must be really out of touch with many of my fellow countrymen because I really can't grasp why being well-read, educated, and articulate is a bad thing. . . . particularly in someone we might choose to lead our nation and be our representative on the world stage. I don't care if a candidate is someone I can "relate to" or would want to "have a beer with." I care that s/he knows what's going on, both at home and abroad, and has good ideas about how to manage things.

Clearly I am in the minority here. And it's more than a little distressing. While I can surround myself with friends who share my views and feelings, it doesn't change the fact that I live in a country where many believe that electing "the best of the best" is a bad thing. . . . and even more frightening, are swayed by catch phrases, talking points, and other marketing ploys.

Thursday, October 02, 2008

What have I done?

206.8

I mentioned that I went ahead and signed up for the fitness boot camp starting October 6th. Now that I'm thinking about the reality of it, I'm regretting it. I have no clue how I'm going to manage to get up at 5:00 a.m. on Monday! I have a hard time getting out of bed before 7:00 these days!!

I've often lamented my lack of self-discipline and intrinsic motivation on this blog. Knowing that I apparently lack the capacity to self-motivate, let's focus on other things that will spur me to get up and go. First, I paid $199 for the four-week boot camp, and it will be totally throwing away my money if I don't go to each session. Second, MM will mock me unmercifully if I wimp out: he's already said that he thinks there's only a "50/50" chance that I'll actually follow through with this. Grrrr. . . .

I know from past experience that the desire to look better--whether in general or for a specific occasion like, say, a wedding--doesn't seem to motivate me. [sigh] I'm such a lazy slug.

I will say this: I have been hella tired for the past few days with no reason whatsoever. I actually had a very healthy day yesterday eating-wise. . . . that is, until I got home and decided to bake MM some chocolate chip cookies. . . . and ended up eating four(!) of them myself. DOH! You would think that the desire to have more energy would motivate me. . . .

Because I know I'm not sick or pregnant, I can only attribute my lack of energy to my eating and exercise habits, which have not been the best of late. I haven't gone to the gym since last Thursday, and the jury is still out on whether I'm going tonight: MM may want to skip to watch the VP debate, and it's doubtful that I'll hit the gym without him. (Yeah, yeah, I know I *could*.)

Well, the boot camp is only 12 sessions. I know I will get a benefit out of it. . . . hell, I might even end up enjoying it! Once it finally cools off here (say, like around Halloween?), I'd like to start hiking again, and I am in no shape to do that currently. There are so many good reasons to do this and only reason--laziness--not to!

On a sad note, I had to say goodbye last night to my friend KH and her family. They are moving to the DC area tomorrow because she's taken a cool new job with the federal appeals court there. I will miss them! It makes me really regret all the times I didn't take advantage of having them living 5 mintues away and spend more time with them. Ah well.

Work is the same old, same old. It's pretty hard to do a job that's 90% reading and writing when you're tired all the time. [sigh]

This weekend I have promised MM that I will spend time with him doing whatever he wants (in honor of his birthday coming up on Oct. 7). We are having dinner with his parents at Maggiano's on Saturday night and going shopping for new clothes for him on Sunday. Other than that, we have no definite plans, but I am at his mercy. ;-)

Gotta get back to work. . . .