Ladybug Studio

Drills clinic…

Another great tennis day! The weather was wonderful. Warm enough to feel comfortable in a skort and tank top, and to work up a little sweat, but with a nice breeze to cool a person back down.

Drills clinic focused on not hitting the ball to the same place twice, so we were challenged to place the ball in different areas of the court. We also worked on hitting the ball deep to the "big box". Mary Ann kept us hitting and running around for over two hours. For only $13, that's quite a bargain. We had a total of 11 people. Six adults, five teenagers, all different skill levels.

It was quite a lot of fun and it was so nice to be with my Singleton tennis friends again. My hand is still feeling fine, though I hurt my neck a little. Not a clue how that happened. I tell you, it's always something…

Back in action…

Tennis went well yesterday afternoon! No pain at all. Though I found myself shaking my hand every once in a while; a habit I acquired when it was hurting before the surgery. Hopefully I'll stop doing that soon. Coming back on the lowest court was probably a good thing. No hard hitters there. Plus I got to spend some time with players who aren't up to my usual court. I'll be moving up to court 2 next week.

Since yesterday went so well, I will be attending the drills clinic this afternoon. My skills are pretty rusty after seven weeks off and I could really use the repetition.

So tired…

I start back to tennis tonight and I would be really excited if I weren't so tired. I went to bed at 9:30 last night and I'm still exhausted. I'm trying to remember if I was this tired when I was only getting 5 or 6 hours of sleep a night. Maybe I function better on less. Problem with that theory is that I was so sleepy by 9:30 that I couldn't have stayed up any later had I wanted to.

I did exercise yesterday and I have mentioned how that tires me. So it makes sense that I was falling asleep so early. After 30 minutes on Robocop, anyone would be exhausted. Yes, 30 minutes. I'm pretty proud of that, especially when I think back to my first time when I only lasted 10 minutes.

If tennis goes well tonight I will participate in Mary Ann's drills clinic tomorrow. It's nice to spend some time outside breathing fresh air for a change.

Love that…

I got to leave work early yesterday for a visit with my allergy/asthma doctor. Love that. It's worth the co-pay, I swear. The visit was extremely brief. I was called back immediately and left 10 minutes later. I am lucky to not have any real allergy problems. In fact, I've never even been tested to see what I might be allergic to. I had some issues this spring, so something blooming bothered me a bit, but not in a big way. Really, I just keep taking Singulair and Flonase and they do a good job to keep me breathing comfortably.

Even with a quick stop at Target I got home earlier than I normally do. Love that also.

Does anyone watch Castle? I'm really enjoying that show. It's so clever and I like the characters and the way they interact. I'm also watching a few other new shows, but I haven't made up my mind about them. The Unusuals and Southland are still being tested. I've only watched one episode of each so I can't really make a clear determination just yet. The murder mystery series Harper's Island is fun. A little far fetched and dramatic, granted, but entertaining.

What about Better Off Ted? We've been catching the last few minutes when we switch channels to watch LOST and it seems really funny. This past Wednesday I caught the entire episode and laughed the whole time. It's quite a bit goofy (in the way that Scrubs is goofy) and I enjoyed it. I'm going to keep watching the show. I can watch the first couple of episode online, so I will have a better understanding of what it's all about and who the characters are. Love that too!

You've got to move it, move it…

Yesterday, I went to the gym after work and I was determined to have energy, work hard and get the most out of my time. Because really, I don't love going to the gym. In fact, I don't even like going to the gym. So giving my workout a half hearted attempt is simply a waste of time. And who has time to waste? Not me.

I hurried over the to gym with the intent to grab Robocop before anyone else could. But the machine was already occupied. Drat. But I slyly observed the woman on the machine and she didn't look like she was really into her workout. The only way to use Robocop is to really work it. He's super tough and it's not possible to fake a workout. This woman was definitely just going through the motions, so I didn't think she would last very much longer. So I grabbed the stepmill right next to her and warmed up, keeping a close eye so that no one else could swoop in ahead of me.

Within six minutes she had stopped and was wiping down the machine. I didn't knock her down to get to Robocop, but I moved as quickly as was gym polite. I settled in, chose some music on my iPod and got to work. This time I set the time for 15 minutes, remembering the automatic 5 minute cool down, and worked really hard for 20 minutes. At the ended I felt good about the effort I had put into my workout.

Once I got home I was pretty busy looking over the mail, showering, working a bit on freelance, going to Publix, preparing dinner and whatnot. After eating I relaxed on the couch to watch TV and that was it. I was done. I often multi-task while watching TV. Folding laundry and puttering around keeps me going, but with nothing else to occupy me, I was good for nothing the rest of the evening.

Dog-tired…

There are some lucky people for whom exercise energizes and rejuvenates. How I wish I were one of those people. I, on the other hand, find exercise completely exhausting. I've never had much luck with exercising in the morning. Back when I used to run with The Runner Girls, we would get a very early start nearly every Saturday morning. I was toast for the rest of the day. Same with tennis. After I get home from four hours of doubles and have lunch and a shower, I am a noodle. (I admit, four hours is a long time and I should be tuckered out)

Last night I was completely bagged by 9:00. Laying in a puddle amidst a fleece blanket and some chenille throw pillows, I blearily watched a recorded episode of Castle until I couldn't keep my eyes open any longer. I seriously considered spending the rest of the night right where I lay. But since I still had to get up from my nest to turn out the light, I decided I might as well stumble on back to our bedroom and sleep in a proper bed.

The afternoon bike ride with Tom is probably the main cause. We headed out about 6:15 and found that time to be a winner. Much less traffic than usual. There was a bit of wind around the airport, as there always is, and I found myself struggling more than I had expected. My legs ached the entire ride and I was grateful when it was over. I don't think the lunchtime workout had anything to do with my leg problem as the class focused on the upper body. All I know is that I was unbelievably tired by the end of the day.

Ready to play…

I had a final visit with my hand doctor yesterday and the news is good! My hand is healing just as it should. The small area of scar tissue will eventually smooth and soften (particularly if I massage it) and be just like the rest of my hand. I am also cleared to play tennis. He explained that though it may hurt, playing will not cause any damage to my hand.

My plan is to start playing again next Tuesday with the doubles league. I will be starting on the lowest court, which will work out very well for me. With any luck, there won't be any hard hitters down there and I will be able to carefully test out my hand and get back into the game.

As a result of my myriad trips to the gym lately, I don't expect to have any problems running around on the court. In fact, I truly believe that I am in better shape, cardio-wise, than before the surgery. Now if I could just get my physique to reflect that.

Monday so soon…

The weekend went by much, much too quickly. It didn't help that the garage sale ate up about two thirds of it. I spent about five hours on Friday setting up tables, organizing items and helping Joy price her stuff. I'm really glad that I left work a couple of hours early. That time was well used.

The garage sale took up most of Saturday. We did pretty well. Neither of us made a lot of money, but we didn't have any big ticket items, just a ton of little things. Every time we have a sale we are amazed at what sells and what doesn't sell. Every online garage sale guide I read said that clothing, other than kid's clothing, doesn't sell. Not true in our case. We sold quite a lot of clothing. Even Dean's raggedy, faded polo shirts sold. All but one pair of men's jeans sold and ladies shoes were pretty popular, even the well worn pairs. Beauty and health sold well, particularly the samples we get from Lancome and Clinique GWP.

Most holiday items were skipped over, though they would probably sell during a fall sale. I only sold a few of my Cherished Teddies figurines, but the Precious Moments animals were purchased.

We couldn't have asked for better weather. It was clear and sunny, with comfortable temperatures and a slight breeze. All in all, it was a good day. But tiring. Getting up early and spending hours outside can really take it out of a person. When I finally got home I took a huge nap.

Sunday was pretty busy too. I spent the morning working around the house, de-cluttering as usual. Then I met Tom at Beef O'Brady's for lunch after his baseball game. Their first game of the season. (they lost) I enjoy having Sunday mornings to myself and don't plan on going to lunch with the team every week. And I certainly don't plan on attending the games. But what I don't like about baseball season is that every single Sunday is already booked. That only leaves Saturday to spend time with Tom bike riding, shopping or whatever. Soon I will be playing tennis again on Saturday mornings, so when will we ride our bikes? Stupid baseball…

Friday fun…

The garage sale with my sister is tomorrow. Seems like I had so much time to prepare and now I wish I had more time. Though really, I'm pretty much ready. I have 99% of my stuff tagged and yesterday afternoon I took most of my items to Joy's house. Today I'm taking over some tables, saw horses and display type items. I'm going to leave work two hours early so we can work on setting up our tables and spreading out our sale stuff. I just wish I had taken more time to totally purge the house of unwanted things. I just know there's a treasure trove of crap in the attic…

Since there's not much else going on, I'll conclude with a meme I found on Robyn's site:

1. What is your current obsession? The Amazon Kindle. I've wanted one since the first version was introduced and the second generation is so much better and cooler looking! I've been doing a lot of reading up on it lately, perusing different forums, downloading the user manual. There's even a free Kindle Reader app for the iPhone, which I've downloaded, which will sync with a Kindle. One of my tennis friends brought in his wife's Kindle so I actually got to play with one. Must Have.

2. What’s a good coffee place? I only drink one cup in the mornings, so I'd say my house is a good coffee place.

3. Who was the last person that you hugged? Thomas. Unless it was Joy. I saw her yesterday and we usually hug when I leave, but since we knew we'd be seeing each other for the next two days, we might not have hugged. But I can't remember…

4. Do you nap a lot? No, I don't nap very often, but when I do get the opportunity, I take full advantage and turn it into a mini marathon.

5. Tonight, what’s for dinner? It's Friday, so of course we're having pizza!

6. What was the last thing that you bought? I assume you aren't interested in my grocery list. So that last thing I purchased was music from the iTunes store: Lenka, by Lenka. It's pop, but not too sweet. I like her voice.

7. What is your favorite weather? 76 and sunny, maybe a gentle breeze.

8. Tell us something about one blogger who you think will play this week? I don't think anyone who reads my site has a blog.

9. If you were given a free house that was fully furnished, where in the world would you like it to be? Asheville, NC, of course!

10. Name three things that you could not live without. This has to be a trick question because honestly, there's nothing that I can't live without. However, there are many things I would hate to live without: 1. Tom 2. my iPhone 3. Tivo

11. What would you like in your hands right now? A Kindle.

12. What’s one of your guilty pleasures? I can't think of anything I wouldn't proudly tell anyone about.

13. What would you change or eliminate about yourself? Oh my, where do I start? I don't think there's anything I would keep the same if I could change it. First, I'd want to eliminate 30 pounds. Then eliminate the lentigo on my left cheek. The list is long…

14. As a child, what type of career did you want? At one point I wanted to be a high school band director.

15. What are you missing right now? Mums and Dad.

16. What are you currently reading? Geisha, A Life. I'm really enjoying it and learning so much about the truth regarding the life of a geisha. I generally don't enjoy true stories but this one is good.

17. What do you fear the most? I don't know. I'm not really a fearful, worrying type of person. So I'll keep it simple and choose spiders.

18. What’s the best movie that you’ve seen recently? Quantum of Solace. At home, of course. We never go to the theater any more.

19. What’s your favorite book from the past year? Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen.

20. Is there a comfort food from your childhood that you still enjoy? Fudge sauce. My mom made the best fudge sauce for ice cream. Mine doesn't taste as wonderful as hers, but it's still darned yummy. Now that Mums is gone, I think fondly of some of her specialties like her spaghetti, before she started cutting corners and substituting. Also her stew, salmon patties, meatballs with mushroom gravy over rice, cubed steaks, peach cobbler…

I hope it's time for lunch. I've worked up an appetite!

Gym rat…

I've been to the gym so many times this week! Today at lunch made my fourth visit and I am so excited that I do not have to go this afternoon! It hasn't been too bad, just different from my usual routine of going home and relaxing while watching TV and eating bon-bons.

Monday I had planned to do a class during lunch, but it was cancelled, so I had to go in the afternoon. First I got on this crazy elliptical machine that we call Robocop. This machine really kicks butt. The first time I tried it I could only stand it for 10 minutes. That was on the lowest setting. On Monday I set it for 12 minutes to challenge myself a little. Even though my lungs were somewhat uncomfortable, I was doing okay and really burning calories. When the 12 minutes were up, the standard five minute cool down started up so I just kept churning away. That made 17 minutes, which was quite an improvement from my first time with Robocop. From there I moved to a spinning bike and challenged myself for another 20 minutes.

On Tuesday, I wasn't able to attend the upper body class during lunch because a major storm was tearing through the area at that time. (I'm not kidding! It looked like a hurricane outside and straight-line winds of 65 mph were recorded in Rockledge) Once again, I trooped over to the fitness center after work. This time I attended a class with my friend and WOW teammate, Becky. BOSU Your Muscles is a cardio and strength training class that uses a BOSU Balance Trainer.

The Balance Trainer is like an exercise ball that's been cut in half with a platform on the bottom. You can use it dome-side-up for cardio, lower body strength, or core moves. Or, you can turn it over and use the platform side for upper body exercises, like push-ups, or more core moves, like planks.

Our instructor had about 15 of them lined up in a row. We ran straight across them, ran sideways across them, did squats across them and jogged on top of them. It was a heck of a workout, but fun. Most of the other attendees go every week and are much more skillful with the BOSU. I'll go a few more times, but once I'm playing tennis again, I'll have to miss the class.

On Wednesday I had a WOW nutrition class on meal planning so I had to go to the gym in the afternoon once again. I was feeling sort of tired and lazy. I chose a regular elliptical machine and spent 30 minutes on it, trying to keep up a decent pace. Once I had finished with that, I felt bad about feeling lazy, so I tried out a Stepmill machine. Basically, it's like walking up the down escalator. Not quite as bad as climbing stairs, but still pretty hard. I managed 6 minutes then threw in my towel.

Finally, today I was able to do a lunchtime class. And I was the only one who showed up! Fortunately, the instructor lead me and I sort of had a personal training routine. Every class ends with 15 minutes of core work. Since there were only the two of us, the trainer suggested we use the exercise hula hoops. Now, let me explain that never in my life have I been able to keep a hula hoop going for more than one revolution. Well, the exercise hoops are larger and weighted, which helps. I was having the usual trouble and was ready to quit almost immediately, but the instructor kept at me and suddenly… I was doing it! I had that hoop going 'round and 'round!

It's supposed to be real good for trimming the waist, so I will keep at it until I can do it continuously for as long as I want.