Ladybug Studio

Will it go round in circles…

Jeanene is letting me borrow her spinning bike! I brought it home last night, though it hasn't made it into the house yet and is currently waiting in the garage. I still have to do some furniture rearranging in the spare bedroom. I'm going to try to make it work in there because no other place is feasible.

I'm going to get the bike situated this afternoon and then go for a spin. I promise I will. Really. No pizza for me tonight unless I ride for at least 30 minutes. Now there's some motivation! Because Friday night is, after all, Pizza Night in our household.

Though we're just getting plain old cheese pizza these days. I can't afford the fat and calories in the meats and Tom won't eat the vegetables. Getting a half and half won't work either because I don't want the leftovers and I'll only eat two slices. Having those is treat enough. If we get our pizza from Valentino's, they are willing to put toppings on 1/4 of the pizza, but Stone Creek won't. Which is a shame because I prefer their pizza.

Another thing I like about Stone Creek is their Cinna Rocks: baked dough bites covered with butter, cinnamon and sugar. And they're served with Cinnabon creamy icing. So yummy. I eat one and Tom has the rest for breakfast the next day.

Am I the only one who's hungry now?

Do as I say, not as I do…

My abs appear to have recovered from the Pass the Ball trauma. Certainly took long enough. I attended class yesterday and was very, very cautious. The original instructor was teaching the class and made a point of suggesting beginning, intermediate and advanced moves. In every case I did the beginner level move and I think that was a sound idea.

Now, don't let my experience keep you from strengthening your abs! Just learn from my mistake and take it easy the first few times and build up those muscles gradually. Do not use this as an excuse to be a slacker!

* * *

I've been watching the Australian Open whenever possible. The time difference means that most matches are televised during our late night and early morning. They're experiencing a horrible heat wave in Melbourne and I really feel for those players. It was 122 degrees on the court yesterday* (last night for me) and it wasn't until after the first set that they finally got around to closing the roof on the main stadium and turning on the AC. I'm sure that's a very costly move, but come on! They should have done it right away instead of waiting until the players were absolutely wilting in the heat. Not to mention all of the empty seats in the audience. No one wanted to be there if they didn't have to be.

*Technically, that was actually today, not yesterday, even though I watched it yesterday. They are 16 hours ahead of us in Melbourne. Confusing, no?

* * *

Speaking of tennis, we finally had our first doubles league play since the holidays. We've had to cancel due to rain once and extreme cold/wind another time. But the weather was perfect yesterday.

I held court, but it didn't seem likely in the beginning. I played pretty horribly in the first set. And my partner was having trouble too. But I gradually warmed up and started to play well. By the third set I have to congratulate myself on playing pretty damned well. It was enough to keep me from moving down a court next week.

* * *

I want a spinning bike.

I have actually wanted one for quite a while. The degree of want has waxed and waned, and right now I really, really want one. But would I use one regularly? And where would I put one? These are very good questions.

I am hoping (fingers crossed) that Jeanene will let me borrow her spinning bike for a month or so. That way I could determine if I would be wasting my money or not. I'm not sure if she is using it currently as she is pregnant and the last time she was pregnant she didn't feel comfortable on the bike once she started to get large. She's going to let me know…

Ideally, the bike would be situated near a TV with a DVD player. That way I could follow along with spinning exercise DVDs. Also, if I want to just spin away while watching TV, I could do that too. Might as well burn calories while toasting my brain. The spare bedroom would be the perfect place, as far as the TV is concerned, but I'm not sure a bike would fit in there. Maybe if I angle it from the window and move the side table and lamp to the other end of the couch. Then I would have to find somewhere else to put the hamper that stores the sheets and pillows…

I am motivated to work out something because I think it's the only way I'm going to be able to meet my weight loss goals any time soon. Exercise seems to be key for me and I'm so fortunate to have my tennis and cycling. In my opinion, those are activities that I enjoy, not really exercise. Though I get the calorie burning benefit of exercise. But sometimes it's raining, or it's too cold, it's too dark to bike, I can't find a tennis partner or I just don't want to have to go anywhere.

So, we'll see.

Falling in love…

I am enjoying a new scent today. I bought a sample bottle of Falling in Love by Philosophy and it smells a bit like cotton candy. Delicious, yet soft. A blend of vanilla, soft florals and ripe berries. I found it by chance at Sephora on Saturday. They use a very smart marketing practice of placing bins of sample size products along the checkout line. It gives the customers something to occupy them while they wait. I wonder how many people end up with one or more of the little items in their shopping basket? Probably a lot. I can't be the only sucker out there, right?

I love shopping in Sephora. They have every beauty product imaginable there. It's a candy store for women. I could have spent hours…

But Tom had scored a seat outside the store and was waiting for me with limited patience. So I only got to play a little bit. One of these days though, I'm going to go to Florida Mall by myself or with a friend or sister who enjoys the store as much as me, and I'm going to take as much time as I want and probably spend a bundle, too. Doesn't that sound like an awesome Happy Birthday to Me gift? I'm turning 40 in March and that might be just the ticket to keep me from feeling like an old sea hag.

In addition to the perfume purchase, I also bought a purse and a wallet in Nordstrum. But I'm having second thoughts about them now. The purse is a Longchamp in a dark gray croc pattern. It has a zipper top and a silver decorative toggle. It's a bit larger than my favorite little black Coach I've been carrying and the strap is a little bit longer.

The strap is the problem. The leather is very smooth and the purse tends to slide off of my shoulder. I attached a strip of velcro to it this morning, in hopes that will improve the situation. Otherwise, I'll have to take it back.

The wallet is also questionable. It's one of the flat, framed wallets I've been eyeballing lately. I tried it out in the store, installed my own items and it worked well. But once I got home and really moved in, it looked a little stuffed and had an odd wrinkle along the bottom. Currently, I use a small wallet and I have an auxiliary card wallet for my gas cards, library card, insurance card and Hallmark card. I was hoping to be able to fit everything into one wallet. But that's not going to work with this one.

However, there was another wallet, an accordion style instead of framed, that I thought was pretty neat. I may go back and look more thoroughly at that one. That would be terrible, wouldn't it? Having to make another trip to my favorite mall?

Pain is just weakness leaving the body…

Oh my poor abs. I know, I know, enough about the abs! But there's not much happening in my neck of the woods so I have to use whatever topic I have.

Anyway, I think I've seriously hurt myself. Yesterday, I again attended Upper Cut at the O&C gym. After the upper body workout I stayed for Hard Core. The very first exercise we did nearly killed me! I gave the instructor (different from last week) a brief summary of my issue and she suggested that perhaps the skill was a little too advanced and to just do any ab exercise that I wanted. So I lay on my back and started to do simple garden variety crunches. And I couldn't even do that. The pain was incredible.

This is not just muscle soreness. I've experienced muscle soreness many times and this pain is much, much greater than that.

I thought I was getting better, as I'm finally able to turn over in bed without pain. But apparently not. It has been suggested that I lay off of ab work entirely until the pain is gone completely, then gradually and gently start strengthening the muscles. That wasn't exactly horrible news because who wouldn't want a valid excuse to not do ab work? But I'm actually kind of geared up about creating a lovely six pack that will emerge gloriously once I get rid of the flab on top. At least, that's the current plan.

I discussed all of this with a friend who also takes classes at the gym and she had another thought…

So I turned to Dr. Google and researched Sports Hernia. I didn't find out much. Except that rest is about the only option. I guess I'll just have to suffer through.

Oh, and I can no longer roll over in bed without whimpering.

Boom boom! WHAT IS IT? Out go the lights!

I had another good tennis lesson with Mary Ann yesterday. She taught me the drop shot. It took me a while to get the hang of it and there's much practice to be done. But I did show some improvement, which makes me oh, so glad I decided to go this route instead of continuing the group lessons with Instructor Tom.

In case you're wondering:
Per Wikipedia: A drop shot in tennis is slicing, putting a backspin on the ball just over the net. A good drop shot travels such that the opponent is unable to run fast enough to retrieve it.

I also ended up playing a couple of sets of tennis after the lesson was over. Three friends from the Saturday group were at the courts, but they couldn't find a fourth person. They begged me to stay and play one quick set. Of course I said yes. And one quick set turned into two quick sets. Well, not quite two sets as the lights timed out in the middle of a game and that was that.

Let me tell you, when those lights suddenly turn off it's startlingly dark. Now I have a great reason to get the tiny pink flashlight I saw at Lowe's, but couldn't justify at the time.

My Achy Breaky Hearts…

Score! I found my candy at Walmart on Friday afternoon. I had to make a return and since I was already there…

The price was right, that's for sure: 2 for $3. I bought six bags. That's not enough to make it through the year though. I will have to go back again. I would have bought more but I felt goofy enough, buying six bags.

Tennis was pretty fun on Friday night, but definitely cold. Running around didn't help much either. I think it was the wind. Otherwise, it would have been quite pleasant. Good to start the weekend out with some exercise, though. There's less guilt about eating pizza when I've just burned 900 calories.

I didn't get to play on Saturday morning due to a union meeting. Which was just as well, really, as it was super cold at 8:30 in the morning. I didn't really mind sleeping in a touch either.

It also freed up the afternoon for mountain biking. Now there's a good activity for when it's cold outside. Tom, Dallas, Matt, Vicky and I rode the trails at Econ. We rode for about two hours and had a really good time. Except that we lost Tom. About halfway through we were on some trails that he and I aren't very familiar with. Tom got confused and ended up looping back to the trailhead while the rest of us rode on. We looked for him, he looked for us, but neither of us found each other.

Fortunately I had Vicky to ride with and we had a great time finishing up the ride. Poor Tom ended up riding alone. But he claimed he had fun anyway. I came away with no serious injuries, but I do have a potential scar on my left leg caused by a rather sharp palm frond.

Sunday was a busy day. I puttered about, tending to lots of little activities, such as cleaning out and organizing two kitchen cabinets. (Now my new hot chocolate pot is within easy reach) After spending a few weeks during the holidays looking at So Much Stuff, I am totally over it and I'm trying to get very serious about purging items that I don't use, don't like, forgot I had, etc.

I'm very bad about keeping things because So and So gave it to me. Probably ages ago, too. I have tons of little items and knick-knacks that Mom gave to me and I need to convince myself that I don't have to keep them forever, just because she gave them to me. I have plenty to remember her by.

We finally got all of the Christmas boxes back into the attic. First, Tom went into the attic and shifted around some boards for me, which gave me a little more room. See, when we moved into our house, Tom's dad put some boards down in the attic for us. But they criss crossed each other and were somewhat uneven, which made stacking boxes difficult. Plus, nothing was nailed down. There's still a lot to be done up there, but it's a huge chore and neither of us had any interest in tackling it this year. Maybe next year. Or the year after that…

I Want Candy…

Had my hair cut and colored yesterday. Got to hide those grays, you know. Plus the old highlights were looking very washed out and drab. Now my hair is dark brown with a bit of red. It's very shiny and glossy and won't do a damned thing today. Very disappointing.

Yesterday, after the styling session, I made a trip to Target in search of my favorite Valentine's Day treat: Wonka Everlasting Gobstopper Heart Breakers. I bought a few bags last year and Tom took a liking to them as well, so they didn't last as long as I had hoped. This year I'm planning on stocking up in a big way.

My plan was thwarted, however. To my disgust, Target has not put out their Valentine's candy yet. What's going on? The Christmas candy was out by the beginning of September. Why are they slacking now? Don't they know I NEED my Heart Breakers? I have been waiting for nearly a year!

I may have to break down and search for them in Walmart.
:: shudder ::

We're having a little cold snap down here in warm, sunny Florida. Highs in the upper 50s today and in the lower 60s tomorrow. Also, it's really windy today. So what am I planning to do today after work? Yes, that's correct. Play tennis!

I kind of don't want to. But the others seem fine with it so okay, okay - I'll play. And it will be fine, once we start running around. But it's difficult to keep that in mind when I'm shivering all the way to the courts.

Photo Credit: Candyblog

I'm considering surgery…

I continue to suffer from that damned abdominal exercise. My poor, wimpy tummy muscles are in severe shock. Yesterday I re-injured myself during my tennis lesson while serving. I tossed the ball high, extended my arm behind me, followed through and POW!

And that wasn't just the racquet hitting the ball.

Oh my goodness, I can't believe how much it hurt. Who knew you needed your abs to serve a tennis ball? I spent the rest of the evening being very careful not to engage those muscles.

So do you think I'm going to ever do that specific exercise again? You betcha! Every time I feel the pain, I realize how neglected those muscles are. Surely my serve would be more powerful if those muscles were stronger, right?

In the mean time, I've got Tom to help me up from the floor, the couch, the chair…

Help! I think I pulled my spleen…

Tennis and bicycling are great cardio activities. I'm very fortunate that I enjoy doing both as they are great calorie burners. But cardio is not enough. Strength training is important as well. Maybe even more important, as it builds muscle which burns more calories and fat.

I absolutely hate strength training.

So with dread in my heart, I headed over to the gym next door during my lunch hour yesterday. At least I was attending an exercise class and not trying to work out on my own. I'm not at all good at motivating myself.

Upper Cut is described as a muscle toning class which will focus on the upper body. It will increase strength, develop muscles, and teach proper weight training technique. Dumbbells, dynabands, and one's own body weight will be used for resistance.

Add in crappy, rewritten 80's tunes and you've got yesterday's class.

Despite it all, it was a fairly good class. The music was a bit too loud and I had trouble hearing the instructor. As I was laying on my back on top of an exercise ball, it was hard to keep an eye on her. But I fumbled through, hopefully with proper form, and all of my upper body muscles are tired and sore today. I kept the weights light, not wanting to over do it.

When Upper Cut was over, I stayed for Hard Core. Abdominal exercises. Definitely something I wouldn't do without someone prodding me. Things were moving along fine with the usual crunches and side crunches. And then we did something called Pass the Ball.

In this exercise, you hold a giant exercise ball between your feet, you crunch up and reach for the ball and take in in your hands. Then you lower your hands and your feet, without touching the floor, then reach back up and grab the ball between your feet again. Continue passing the ball back and forth until you die.

The end.

Seriously. Oh. My. God did that hurt! Worked the hard-to-work lower abs for sure. But ouch! And if doing it in class weren't enough, I demonstrated this tortuous exercise for Tom last night and I swear I pulled an ab muscle. Is that even possible? All I know is that it hurt really bad and I couldn't get up from the floor without Tom's help. I staggered over to the couch and collapsed. Then I couldn't get up from the couch and he had to help me again. I started to feel better, eventually, but I had to be very careful for the rest of the evening not to do anything that engaged the abdominal muscles.

Have I mentioned that I absolutely hate strength training?

Hello? (tap-tap) Is this thing still on?

It's the middle of January already and I thought it was about damn time that I wrote something. I'm having a hard time getting energized and inspired about anything. I resolved to be more productive in 2009, but so far it's not happening.

I cleaned out the pantry. So that's something. And the Christmas things were packed away this weekend. Please be kind enough to ignore the stacks of boxes in the garage. They'll find their way into the attic eventually.

There's still some 2009 freelance calendars straggling along, but I'm not getting too fired up about them. The world's not going to stop spinning if they aren't done immediately, so I'm slowing the pace down to a more manageable level.

I'm back on the Weight Watchers program. All that weight I lost in 2006-2007 has crept back on and brought friends, too. So it's back to grilled chicken and steamed vegetables day after day after day. Though lately I've been enjoying canned green beans and corn. I almost couldn't get lazier. At least I'm still dumping them into a bowl and heating them up. When I start eating them straight from the can, send for help.

I've made a new effort with tennis this year. I'm taking a break from the hourly group lessons and instead I'm taking a half hour private lesson. With a different instructor. The class had gotten so stale for me. We did the same old routine every single week and I was seeing very little improvement. So now I'm taking from Mary Ann, the lady who runs the Saturday program. I had a lesson with her last week and she worked on my serve. A different perspective is nice and I already see a difference.

For the first time in over 20 years I didn't send out a single Christmas card. So don't feel snubbed if you didn't find one from us in your mailbox. I would like to send out Happy New Year cards, but we'll see how that pans out. From the looks of things so far, you shouldn't hold your breath.