I’ve had a thing for sunsets lately. This evening didn’t disappoint.
Archives for June 2009
Daily Peek: Summer
Aggravated
Emma and Lexi were playing outside. Lexi stomps in my office where I was sitting, slams the door and then stands at their art table with her arms crossed.
Lexi: She’s aggravating me!
Me: Are you guys playing or is she really aggravating you?
Lexi: Emma is real life aggravating me!
Day 30 of Jillian Michaels’ 30 Day Shred
I did it! Technically I’m 32 days in but I skipped 2 days. Overall, I’m giving this video a big thumbs up. Was it fun? No. Was it hard? Yes. Did I want to skip it every day? Yes. Did I want to punch Jillian in the face? Yes. But do I feel great after 30 days? You bet.
And more than that, I have some results.
Weight
Overall, I only lost 2 lbs. I know, some of you can poop and get rid of that but I tend to sit in between two clothing sizes and just a few pounds makes a difference on whether I can zip a pair of pants or not. So yes, 2 lbs means a lot to me. However, I really wanted another 3lbs. The DVD says 20lbs in a month which is ridiculous to promise with so many body types.
Size
I have no idea on my measurements. I didn’t take them. But I can tell a difference in my size in only one place. My abs. If I squeeze real tight and lean the right way, I have what appears to be the start of a six pack. I’m not plastering a picture of my abs on here but click here if you’d like to see some real-life results. I couldn’t produce any of those “indentions” 30 days ago.
Strength
With every level and even within every level I saw improvements. Day 1, I didn’t even use weights for any of the arm exercises. I could barely pass on push ups and now I can do the traveling push ups (still on my knees) way past what she makes you do on Level 3. I was doing what could barely pass as lunges but can now do the jump lunges in Level 3. I can feel more strength in my thighs and actually can feel where my abs are engaging to make the process easier. Same for those push ups. Who knew you used your abs for push ups?? So basically, yeah, I’m stronger.
Endurance
Day 1, I was huffing and puffing right into the 20 minutes. I remember Heather walking in at the end of the exercise and said “BREATHE!” The workout is still, well, working me out, but the cardio doesn’t wear me out like it was.
Flexibility
I’m amazed at how you can be flexible, quit working out for a year and your body completely forgets what it was doing. Day 1 I could barely touch my toes during the stretches. Now, I can lay my head down on my knee to stretch. That’s about the only way I know how to describe how much more flexible I am. I wouldn’t say I’m a flexible person in the least but I CAN say I’m MORE flexible.
What I liked about the workout:
My favorite part was it was 20 minutes. That seriously is the only thing that kept me going for 30 days. I found that about an hour after dinner was the best time for me to work out.
I liked the workout was pretty flexible. You were allowed to move up to the new level when you wanted and they offered the easy version for many of the exercises. I found that I was sticking with the easy exercises for several days. And I’m actually still on the easy exercises for a few in Level 3. I’m very interested to go back to Level 1 and 2 to see if I can do everything at the max.
I liked that there was no fancy equipment. I ended up doing the last two weeks of the video in my room that has carpet so all I needed was my weights.
What I didn’t like
What can I say? Besides the payoff, working out isn’t much fun. I’d be ok if I never heard Jillian say “hit the deck” again. And I thought she might make out with “her girl Nat” she kept praising her so much which became annoying. But really I don’t have any major issues with the video.
What’s Next
I think I’ll continue with the video. Like I said, I’d like to go back to Level 1 and 2 and maybe keep up with “her girl Nat” the whole time. Maybe I’ll alternate the levels every day.
Overall, I’m pleased and will be recommending it!
Weekly Peek
A few things going on in the Bennett Household this week.
- Scott is on a missions trip with our youth group in Georgia. Sounds like they are having a good time.
- Meanwhile, I’m dealing with the first week of summer break with the girls by myself. They did really well playing together today only driving me crazy by how much they wanted to eat. Oh my word.
- The pool liner installation got postponed until today because the rain backed everything up last week. Then the guys that came today thought it wasn’t leveled enough/was too rusted to put the liner in. Their boss came and said they could do it so they’re coming Thursday. It’s either risk it or pay at least 3K for a new pool. I’m willing to take the risk.
- Lexi’s pageant is this weekend. We have everything but her shoes which we might venture out tomorrow night to find some that she doesn’t complain about.
- I’m working on the last big scene for my book. It seems to be coming very slowly and painfully. Pretty much like the rest.
Other than that, I’m pretty much in survival mode trying to get my work done during the day, the kids sane, entertained and fed, the house in some sort of order and a little bit of me time at the end of the night.
The Bachelorette Episode 4
I think Chris was right in a tweet this week that said the game started this week. And for me, it did. Tonight I felt like I really got to know everyone. I think we’re down to the point where you have a good idea of who’s who and what’s going on.
I’m going to start off with Kiptyn partly because that’s how the episode started and partly because I LOVE KIPTYN. If you’ve been paying attention, you know I’ve called Kiptyn since the first night. He’s cute, humble, down-to-earth, affectionate and charming. What’s not to love? Just when you think Jillian’s going to have to pull a friend card on him in the middle of the grocery store, he comes up behind her cooking dinner and kisses her neck or tells her her eyes are beautiful out of nowhere. OMG. Loved that. He gives her so much attention and affection and really listens to her yet when it’s his turn to talk, he seems to lay it on the line for her. Ahh…if he doesn’t make it to the finals, something is WRONG.
A few of the guys grew on me this week.
One is Mike. The guy is hilarious. Him talking about going to spend time with Jillian where there was NO CURLING was so cute. I especially liked his “blue blob of nothingness” comment. He’s just so cute and funny. I think it’d be fun to be friends with him. I don’t necessarily see anything long-term between him and Jillian but him admitting he has a crush on Jillian makes me want him around longer. And if next week’s clips are any hint, he steps up his game.
I thought I had written about this last week, but I love Reid. Really, really love Reid. I noticed him more last week but I really like him. He’s got the cutest little grin and expressions. He’s down to earth and seems patient and kind. I think he has some ground to make up compared to the others but I like him.
Jesse went all out for Jillian tonight but I have to comment about that little victory dance he did. So cute.
As for the things that didn’t go so well tonight.
Jake I think slipped a little tonight. I think he might get handed the friend card eventually. Who knows though she does seem to like him and that date they had still stands out.
Dave makes an awful drunk. I think he might be a decent guy if he’d just lay off the alcohol. Seriously. All the talk about how good she looked and him pulling up her shirt and the kiss was just disgusting. Add in the angry hate from last week and I’m SO GLAD Dave is gone.
As for the Mark/Mike date, I honestly thought Jillian wouldn’t give a rose to either of them. That’s what she should have done. Mike came on too strong and poor Mark just looked lost the whole time. Definitely don’t see him keeping up with Jillian.
Not sure why Jillian didn’t keep Juan around. We didn’t see a lot of him this week. Maybe that was the problem.
For some reason I keep grouping Ed and Robby together. In fact, until this week, I couldn’t tell them apart much. But in the few clips we got to see of Ed, I like him a lot. I think he could come on strong later on. I think at this point Robby is just slipping through the cracks. He seems like a genuinely nice guy and she has no reason not to keep him.
As for Tanner. Tanner is weird. Not sure what to do with him. I do appreciate that he brought up the girlfriend thing to Jillian but hate that he didn’t bring up names. Also really hate that he wouldn’t speak up and say something in front of the guys. He needed to man up if you ask me.
And finally Wes. I think Jillian is getting ready to get her heart broken next week. Poor girl.
Overall I’m happy with who went home. I could have traded Juan for Wes but in the end, does it matter? I think the front runners are safely, uh, safe. And to finish up…Kiptyn FTW!
The New Office, Novel Style
Somehow with all the new furniture and decorating around the house, my office has been last. Which doesn’t make a lot of sense since I spend at least 30 hours a week in it working and I would suspect a good 10 more for personal stuff.
Ever since IKEA has landed in Charlotte, we’ve made a few great purchases at regular intervals and for some reason Scott was itching to go this past week. So Saturday we got up and he says let’s go get your office furniture today. Um, ok?!
Here are a few before pictures. They’re really good before pictures. And by that I mean they’re really awful and anything I do to the room surely will make it look like an outstanding renovation.
You can see the kids’ art thing to the left was exploding with paper, crayons and yarn. My work area was exploding with paper, electronic devices and wires. And yes, even a Twilight poster back there.
Nothing about the room but the desk felt much like an office. Three or four years ago it did seem like an office seeing that I was working on the playroom floor, living room couch, dining room table, kitchen counter. ANYWHERE to get my work done with two very small kids. Honest to goodness, I remember taking it to the bathroom one time.
Now with the kids a bit older, I can sit in one place most of the day and they can come to me when they need something. And there’s a good reason their art stuff is in the same room. It’s their “office” too and they tend to congregate with me in the same room.
I have no idea why I went into all that except to say it was once again time for an upgrade to my home office.
I had almost no clue what I wanted. So I popped up the IKEA web site and got to work. A few fights later, Scott and I had something to work with (don’t worry, we’re ok. really). We took IL’s and kids with us and made it an entire afternoon trip. The kids did the playground thing, we ate meatballs and browsed the showroom. And I had a list about 20 items long by the end of it. The basics of what we were getting was a sideboard cabinet to go under the window to hold my printers and then two large bookcases/cabinets for either side of the window. We really wanted a cabinet for above the window to make it a full wall cabinet but none of the sizes would work.
By the time we get home and Scott had the first cabinet put together, we realize that we got the wrong large cabinets. Now, at this point it’s 8:26 pm. It’s the kids’ bedtime and we have church the next day, Scott is leaving for the youth missions trip the next day and he hadn’t packed a single thing and IKEA closed at 9pm. And it’s a good 25 minute drive. Also at this point? I have removed everything from my office and all that junk is in the dining room. I can’t work like that all week while he’s gone and I’m surely not putting it all back. So we hop into the truck (as much as you can “hop into the truck” with two small kids) and *quickly* make it to IKEA with 10 minutes to spare. I’ll let you do the math on that.
Our plan of attack was for me to return the cabinets while he raced to the self-serve aisle to get what we needed. And if you know IKEA, you know it’s not really a quick in and out thing. That place is HUGE. But we are packed in the car at 9:10. The kids fall asleep on the way home.
Scott worked really fast and hard to get it all put together. We realize though that the two smaller cabinets we bought to go on top of the big ones in order to make it a floor to ceiling cabinet would just be overwhelming. So we decide to put them side by side and create another sideboard cabinet to store the kids’ art stuff and we’d get rid of that plastic drawer set. He had to get up early to get those cabinets put together and I didn’t reorganize all that until late this evening.
I still have A LOT of cabinet room and I still have some organizational things to buy for it but it’s a really great start. So without further adieu (Kudos if you actually read all this. I certainly didn’t mean to type all that), here is my new office.
Now, the only downside is that it’s all BEHIND me when I’m at my desk and I don’t get to stare at it all day.
I have to be honest and say I’m pretty disappointed with the quality of the pieces. There are nicks in the shelves and the doors/shelving don’t quite match up. But there’s no way we could have afforded to get a custom set like this from anywhere else so I won’t complain too much.
I want to mention the glass/white doors are actually set up so you can put pictures or fabric in there and I plan to do that. Scott said he saw one showroom place where they had blown up b&w photos of the kids which I think would be cool since this is one of the first things you see walking into the house.
OK, so I had no idea I could talk about my office for so long, but there ya go. Oh wait. If you want to spend even MORE time on this post, see if you can spot my Twilight book set on my bookcases. You know it couldn’t be *my* office without some Twilight in it. Now…where should I hang that Twilight poster??
Tea Party Birthday
The girls attended a tea party birthday party last week. It’s the latest birthday trend for little girls in the area. It’s run by a local lady who used to do it from her house but has since bought an older house that is entirely devoted to parties (Red Hat, birthday, bridal, baby).
The party consisted of a craft, dress up and the “tea party”.
The craft was a foam wand with their initial and jewels on it. It was simple but the kids had fun with it.
Next, the girls were ushered into what used to be a bedroom that was turned entirely into a dress up room. Racks of dresses, rows of shoes, shelves of hats. They loved it to say the least. The next dress up room was all for accessories and hair. I think their favorite part was the platform to take pictures on.
Lastly the girls sat around the dining room table again. Each girl was given lemonade in a tea cup and then a plate of sandwiches, strawberries, grapes, pretzels and itty bitty cookies. The girls LOVED that and both ate well.
The birthday girl was then sung to and each girl was given a cupcake. During the food, the mothers that were there were ushered into an entirely different room and given “big girl” sandwiches and tea or soda. It actually was a nice touch.
Overall a great birthday for little girls! And guess where MY girls want their birthday this year now?