Looking Back, Looking Forward

Looking back on 2009, a lot of major things have happened in my life.

• Started the year off with a broken hand
• Got my eyes lasered (Best decision EVER!)
• Lost an Aunt :(
• Took a trip to Mexico
• Took a trip to Vegas to surprise FI's brother at his wedding - so much for them eloping, we all went anyways!
• Bought a house
• Took a trip to Kelowna to surprise my friend
• GOT ENGAGED! (you can see this is the biggest thing and the best thing that happened :D )
• Gained a new niece
• FI got his first Nephew
• Got back to pole and made it through from level 4 to level 7

Looking forward to 2010 - That which is planned in the new year

• Take up reading lots and lots of books with The Nest Book Club
• I plan to partake in the seasonal challenges that they have and hopefully read all the monthly books
• Trip to the Caymans to meet FI's nephew! (he'll be 4.5 months old!)
• Friend getting married in Kelowna, BC
• FI's cousin getting married in Vancouver, BC
• my cousin getting married in North Alberta
• Finish with the RCIA process and become a Catholic
• Numerous wedding things to be planned and booked and shopped for

Here are  few other things that popped up after reading a few blogs or just from my own thoughts

• Set a number of books I want to read - Thinking of 40. Start low and then see how it goes.
• Get my fitness certification so I can teach pole
• Get a puppy or dog
• I thought about doing a 365 challenge, that is take a picture of something every day, but I think my life is pretty mundane and would end up taking the same photos throughout the year.

What happened in your past year? What are your plans for the upcoming one?

Wonderful weekend and Early Christmas

This past weekend, my FI and I drove to Edmonton in the frigid temperatures to celebrate an early Christmas with his side of the family. The roads were ok driving up, there was only one really icy section. We passed about 8 cars in the ditch, some of them still had people in them, so they must have just gone in. We also so another dozen sets of tracks from previous days where people had hit the ditch. We made it through that section ok, but drove about 70km/h on the highway where the speed limit is 100km/h.

Once we got to Edmonton the temperature that afternoon was -31C. At one set of stop-lights my FI had to keep pumping the gas peddle so the car wouldn't stop! That's way too cold to be out and about. The evening went to about -36C. Craziness!

The whole family hooked up on Skype with the brother/sister-in-law/nephew that live elsewhere. It was great to be able to 'see' them and spend some time with them. We went out for supper at a really nice restaurant, Ric's Steakhouse, then proceeded back to FI's brothers where we stayed in and opened gifts, played games and ate way too much. It was a great evening.

Sunday morning we all go up and went to The Sawmill for brunch. After that we drove to the hospital to see FI's grandmere. She seems to be going downhill, and it's really sad. She still seems in good spirits when people talk to her, but life is getting harder.  She is unable to walk far, so she stays in bed most of the day. Really hard to see someone like that.  FI had a hard time with it, and said it was very sad to see her like that, and that he doesn't think things will get any better. It's disheartening to hear that from him. He doesn't do well expressing himself when it comes to those sorts of things. I can relate to him at least, losing two grandparents and not ever knowing the others before they passed.

All in all, it was a great weekend, aside from the sad visit. It was nice to see the family, hang out, give gifts and have good cheer.

The Nest Book Club

I have entered into an entirely new realm of reading. I'm a member on The Knot forum and never ventured over to The Nest until today. There is a whole other world/forum over there.
I found the board that's the Nest Book Club. Wow! I never really had a book list before, but I sure do now! I have a bunch of books on my bookshelf that are my "To Be Read", but I never seem to get around to them. I think now with the Winter Book Challenge, I will get around to reading a lot of them.

I'm very excited and finding now I am definately getting addicted to forums. There is so much information, people from all over and a wide variety of opinions. I love it!!

I will definitely post a list of the books I am planning to read soon. I have to refine the list first. haha

My trusty notebook

In pole class last night, I figured I'd bring my little notebook that I write down new moves that I learn in. It came in very handy.
We are still working on the Butterfly and now getting used to pushing away from the pole to get our body in the right positioning for the full pose.  I'm finding that my grip is not up to par yet in order for me to release my body away from the pole. I'm not afraid to take my legs off, and I'm not afraid to be upside down and pulling away from the pole, it's just that I'm afraid my top hand won't grip well enough. Very frustrating!

After practicing that for a little while, we moved onto to what we'll learn next week. Catapiller crawl. I can barely do the Catapiller push as it is, but now we're going to start crawling up the pole. Yikes!
This is where my trusty notebook came in.  My instructor was going over the breakdown of the crawl and showing us in steps. I couldn't grasp which hand you move first to regrip, when you move your legs, and so on and so forth.  Once I wrote it down, it made sense in my head. Once I inverted and went over it again, and again in my hand, saying the steps outloud, I was able to get the idea.  I certainly couldn't do the full move, but at least I understand the concept now.

Looking forward to next week!

Wedding Photographer

We have booked our photographer!
That's three things that are done now. Church, Reception, Photographer. We're done now until after January. Maybe a little research here and there, but no meetings!

We decided to go with As I See It Photography. We both felt comfortable with them and found that their photos had that fun feel to them. Beautiful photographs and a touch of something we liked.  A lot of the other photographers seemed to have less smiling faces to their work, and maybe it was the people they were shooting, maybe it wasn't, I don't know. I know for me, I want to have fun and make the day as stress-free as possible (a difficult task since stress runs my life). We worked with them going through what sort of album we want, what the budget was and between them and us, we found a package that is going to work. I'm ecstatic to work with them and can't wait for our engagement shoot! (which won't be until this snow is gone...)

You can view their blog here for more examples of their work:
As I See It Blog

Level 7 begins....

Last night was the first class of level 7 pole. I'm so excited to be getting higher in the levels, but now realizing I need to do more than just one pole class a week. I need to get myself into better shape so pole is easier. Funny, strength training so my fitness class is easier on me. Doesn't that seem a bit backwards?

Last night we learned a few ariel combinations and I got them all. Felt great to be able to do some things since my last class of level 6 went poorly. I guess that's the way it goes. Somedays are good pole days, somedays are not so much.

Break Dancing... Yep you read that right.

Friday night my FI and I started our 4 week Break Dance session. We were half an hour late because of the crappy weather (more on this later), so that wasn't a great start. There's only 3 of us in the class, so on a good note, they waited for us before starting.
Our instructor is awesome. He's so mellow and fun! We learned a bunch of 'top rock' moves (basically floor work) and a one stab (stall I guess is another word for it) We did things across the floor to practice them. Super fun since that's how I remember learning things in dance years ago. We practiced things slowly and then sped them up. Once we had a few moves, he put together a combination that we'll be adding onto each week. I love it! Definately need to practice though.

Now, the crappy weather. Freezing rain/snow from early Friday afternoon well into the night. My regular 10 - 15 minute drive to the dance studio took an hour. We went the equivalent of 2 blocks in 20 minutes. We thought we'd take a shortcut to the spot I always park in and avoid some traffic. Little did I know... the short cut involved a large hill (this didn't show on google maps sadly) that we couldn't get up. Eventually we parked at the bottom of this giant hill, walked the 6 blocks to the studio and hoped we would be able to get out of our prediciment after class.  We found a less steep hill and made it out that way, but what a nightmare! There are some people saying it took them 5 hours to go what is normally an hour drive about mid evening.
Thank goodness everyone we know was ok and made it to wherever they were going. I'd rather have 4 feet of snow, that an inch of ice.

Personal Image Branding

Today I attended a seminar on Personal Image Branding. It was basically about how you dress can make a difference in people's first impressions of you. It was very imformative and I enjoyed the talk, but I left feeling a little deflated.

I believe that one should dress according to their comfort level, their job, and the people they will see that day. Obviously if you have a meeting with an executive, you would wear a more professional outfit than when you are sitting in your office all day. I also believe that ones personal style should be brought out. Either with an accessory, or something else.

The handout we received was great and informative and broke down attire into categories. Executive, Professional, Informal and Relaxed.  After reading the categories and reading the things that 'undermine your business credibility' I found that I am in the Informal category when I consider myself 'dressed up' and on a regular day, I'd be in the Relaxed category.

Today, I decided that I would wear something I consider nice and add an accent to show my personality. I have long grey sweater, with elbow length sleeves and a cowel neckline, with a black belt at the waist, black thick tights, and my red pumps. I can pull the look off (I've been told) and yes, I realize it's not in the 'professional' level, but it I would consider it high in the business casual area. According to the 'do nots', I should never wear leggings, and besides my shoes being red (heaven forbid), they are also open-toed.

I woke up this morning, picked out my clothes, and looked in the mirror before I left for work and thought I looked very good. A step-up from wearing pants and a t-shirt. I'm not a suit person. I think they look stuffy, and pompous, however some people can pull it off and look amazing. From a comfort level, I don't feel comfortable in them, and that shows through. According to the levels of clothing people wear, the dull black/grey suit, black shoes, and white shirt will command the greatest respect.

You may gain respect but is it the right kind? I'm afraid of people in power suits and don't find them friendly on first impression. I stay away from them because my first impression is that they have a dull personality, and no sense of fun. I don't live like that, and I would hate for people to view me that way.

Just some ramblings, I guess my style of dress won't take me higher, but I am true to myself, enjoy what I wear, and feel comfortable and confident. That's what should really matter.

2 more photographer viewings

We've already met with 3 photographers and ranked them according to our preferences for style and price. This week we see the last 2 that were on our list of 5 to go meet with.  Tuesday and Friday are the days we'll go. I'm looking forward to going and seeing what they have to offer.  We have a basic idea, but there are always more questions to ask in person, and being able to see their finished products is a great way to help make decisions.
Out of the 3 we've already seen, we have one in mind we both like. The rest of the meetings have basically been a comparison to that one.
Once we're done meeting and deciding on a photographer, we'll pretty well be done any planning until after January.  There will be little things we can think about, and research that can be done online, but there won't be any meetings until after January.
That's one perk of having a long engagement. Everything can be spread out and we can take our time. I enjoy having the time in between planning bits to actually have a life. Wedding stuff doesn't take over everything. it's secondary now, and that's a good thing.

Last Level 6 class

Last night was my last class of level 6 pole. I now know the entire routine and can do it. I've even managed to put it to songs other than the one we learned it to. I learned a few new moves, and learned a few new combinations that I can use in other routines. It was really nice to have a class where we learn to put things together that we learned in previous levels.  Up next?

Friday I start break dance class with my fiance. It's 4 weeks and should be a blast.  I think we'll have a great time laughing and having fun. I like that it's something we can do together.

Next Monday, I start level 7 pole. It's an awesome format since we do 3 weeks before Christmas, break for 2 weeks, and then have 3 weeks in January. Makes it easy for everyone to take class and still have a holiday.

So I'm advancing, getting stronger and loving every minute! Pole is so wonderful for the mind and body. It certainly is a nice pick me up.

Updates on life

This weekend was an accomplishing things weekend. I got a lot done and felt great going to bed last night knowing that I got so much done and still have relaxation time.

Christmas shopping is just about done. I have a few more gifts to buy and a few things to send in the mail. Christmas cards are just about done, I just need to get some addresses.  I've started my Christmas baking already. I've got two types of treats so far. I'll need to make another batch of each of those and still make another type of treat. I'm noticing a trend though... it's chocolate. lol Sorry peeps, can't give the recipes. They are from my FI's mom and therefore secret ;)  My FI and I survived the 'putting up Christmas lights' test. They just go around our garage and to the entrance of the house. Nothing big, but for our first Christmas in the house, it's a start.

We booked our vacation for January finally.  Heading down the Caymans to meet my FI's nephew... officially. We've met him via Skype several times, but now we'll get to hold him :) That's one thing to look forward as well as lots of sunshine, scuba diving, snorkling and food!

As for relaxation, we went for a massage and were turned into butter, then spent the evening watching "The Tudors" I borrowed the first season from the library. It's very good so far. I don't think it will take us long to get through the first season.

Another great photographer meeting

Last night we met with another photographer, Tait Photography. When we first looked at their pricing, we thought wow, they are more than the rest of the top 5. However, once we met, we realized how much we get with each package. The albums are beautiful! Much larger than we thought at first, and certainly amazing work. They cover everything from when I am putting my dress on, to the last event of the evening.

I was very pleased with the personalities. My FI seemed very at ease with the two photographers. He asked a lot of questions and was more involved than at the previous meetings. Their style of photos is also something we both like.

Now we have two that we like a lot. This will make it a little more difficult to choose.

I'm very happy that things are coming along nicely. I love that we aren't bogged down with wedding stuff weekly. Spreading things out to suit our life is fabulous. Wedding stuff doesn't take over, which is how it should be, in my opinion.

Performance Success

Friday night I was onstage for Polejunkies performing the level 6 routine. Originally I was supposed to perform it along side another student. When I arrived at the show, there was only one stage, so all my fretting about getting all the moves down was not needed. Ended up peforming the routine by myself.

I was so nervous before getting up there. Not because there were people watching, I've done that before through years of dance. More because I didn't want to mess up. I wanted to show the level 6 routine off as best I could to bring in more students for the studio. I wanted to entice people to come and learn pole dancing and show it as fitness.

I had to improvise a little as I forgot to do a transition here or there. I also found I did a lot of the moves too fast and got ahead of the music.  Thank goodness I've done performances where I've winged the whole thing.  I can think of my feet while I'm up there. Very handy.

After getting over the first performance, I will hopefully do this again next year when the show comes around. I'll make sure to get more practice time and prepare a little better though. Lessons learned :D

Wrist Sit - Nemesis

I have now found my nemesis in pole. The Wrist Sit.

We've just learned it in level 4, and I can't quite manage to get it down consistently. Up until last night's class, I was unable to hold it for more than a second before I started spinning and losing my grip with my top hand.

After much debate the week before with the girls in my class, my instructor took some time in class to figure out what was wrong with me.  I thought the problem was with my top hand not being in the right place. We tried different ways of gripping, but nothing seemed to help me be in the pose long. Then I explained where I put my hand underneath me to create the anchor. That seemed to make the difference.  I wasn't creating enough of an anchor underneath myself with my wrist (hence the wrist sit) and it was causing me to move and spin.

I managed to do the sit several times in class last night, failures and successes abound.  Now that I know what the issue is, I will definitely be working on that so I don't have to think about it as much.

Writing your own Obituary

I don't remember if I mentioned this before, but I'm currently in the RCIA process. I'm converting to be a Catholic. The RCIA has classes every week to teach us about the Church, Faith and help us to learn what Catholicism is about. There are some bad classes where I learn nothing, some good classes where I learn a great deal, and then there are the interesting classes that are cause for discussion.

Last night was one of those last types of classes. We were talking about Purgatory and how once we die, we face judgement and we can not do anything from that point on to change the time it will take for us to be purified and enter Heaven.

 A friend and fellow blogger was blogging on the Gestalt Therapy/Theory. She was having a hard time understanding how useful it was to have people write what would be on their epitaph and how that could lead to writing your own obituary. The thought of that made her uneasy.  I had to chuckle in class last night, because that's exactly what we were asked to do.

So here is what I wrote off the top of my head in class last night. We only had about 8 minutes to write it.
We were to answer these questions:
When were you born/died? What was the cause of your death? Who survived you? What will you be most remembered for? What was your biggest regret?

Born 1985, died 2082 of old age. She is survived by her husband, 3 children, 7 grandchildren and many great grandchildren.  She will be remembered most for her generousity to loved ones. The way her smile would light up a room. Her passion for life never ceased to inspire those she loved, those who met her, and those she did not know.  She always said her greatest regret was not keeping in touch with those who passed through her life. She focused her efforts to teach her children never to forget the memories that their lives have created.

I do not have children yet, and the date was picked randomly. A lot of people in my class wrote "in God's hands"  My "most remembered for" are the things that I truly hope I accomplish in my life.  Aside from the money I make, the career I have, the differences I might make and be recognized for, I truly hope that I will be remembered for the love I have for others.  My "greatest regret" is something I feel now. It's a reminder to myself to keep in better touch with people and make a better effort to show them I care.

The exercise was interesting, and I think I found it easier since I am still in the beginnings of my life and have my whole life ahead of me to make those things happen or not. It's up to me to think about what is really going to matter in the end.

Photographer Meetings

We are now into meeting with photographers. In the city, that's the next thing one should book since they are very busy.

We met with As I See It Photography last night. They showed us some slideshows with different amounts of coverage (with/without reception) of two entire weddings.  It's one thing to see all the photos online, since those are normally the best ones. It's another to see a wedding from start to finish.  It certainly gave us a jumping off point. A benchmark for the rest of our meetings for sure.

I think one of the biggest things we will find is how well we get along with the photographers and how comfortable we are.  FI and I felt comfortable in our meeting last night. We also had a lot of questions answered. What does the album look like? There were 4 examples for us when we got there. What sorts of prints? Those were there too.

It was great to have everything answered and give us a point where we can start doing comparisons and make a good choice. I'm excited for the rest of our meetings. Four more this month and then I believe we'll be able to make a decision.

Pole Performance

I was discussing the upcoming performances Polejunkies will be doing at a convention here in Calgary next weekend.  Since the best way to promote is to get students to perform, I offered to do the level 6 routine that I am currently learning.

I'm excited and a little nervous. Much less nervous now that I get to use a pre-coreographed dance. I can wing things easily, but I am horrible at putting moves together and having it planned out.  My brain doesn't function well that way. I would need a lot of notice to come up with something to a song and have it made up before going on stage.  You'd think that wouldn't be a problem from all my years of dance training in other genres.

So for the next week, I will be parking myself in my basement and getting this level 6 routine down pat.  There is one move I still cannot do and I've already told my instructor for performance, I will be taking it out and putting something else in. No sense trying to do a move I haven't gotten more than once and risk falling and embarrasing both myself and PJ's.

Great Mail Day

I love email and instant messaging, don't get me wrong. But there is something about getting something in your mailbox that is so exciting.
Yesterday when I got home, my FI had picked up the mail and put it on the counter. I found 3 mail items with my name on them.

First, (and most exciting) was my dvd of photographs. I had done a photo session in September and got the disc last night. I'm excited to get them edited now and put into a photo book. They are an engagement gift to my huney.

Second, more pictures! I ordered a bunch of pictures off Shutterfly for a wall frame and scrapbooking. They look awesome and only cost me $3.50 shipping!

Third, a profile card that I did for Augustana University. I did an email interview and had a photo shoot for it.
Hopefully it will be up on the web soon and people can go and view it.

After all that excitment, I underestimated the time it takes to carve a pumpkin. I thought we'd be able to get 4 done last night. We got all 4 pumpkins cleaned out, but only carved into 2 of them. Tonight we'll do the other two and have them for friends to see on Saturday! My pumpkin will have an outline of a pole dancer on it. I found a picture of me in the scorpio pose, so I'm doing that one.

Venue! and my Pole workout

We picked a venue! That means we have a date and can start looking at things that are date sensitive. Things like the photographer, caterer, the Church, etc.  I'm so excited that we have it picked. Makes things are little easier to look at now.  My little wedding planning book has stuff written in it now. That makes me happy. What's even better is that I crossed some things off my "To-do" list.
Today is sitting down and looking at all the photographers we picked during our first run. We have to decide which ones we want to meet with and which ones we don't feel are worth it. This could be based on price, availability, or style.
I'm waiting for my mom to get back from holidays now so I can tell her the good news and set a weekend to go dress shopping!! I want to take my time and only do a few in day, so there will be multiple trips to the store I imagine before I find that perfect dress.  On a good note, I already know what shoes I want, just have to find them. There is that tradition of "something blue"... you guessed it, blue shoes!! No one sees them anyways, and I think it would be hilarious for photos. Adds a little something.

The second half of the title says Pole Workout. I was a little stressed yesterday and having a rough go, so I came down to pole. Wow do my abs hurt a little today.  I did some conditioning exercises on the pole rather than just come down and dance. I have the equipment and the exercises, I figure I might as well utilize that.  I focused on two areas yesterday, my abs and my upper body.  My abs need to be stronger yet so I can invert easily while in the air, rather than using the floor to hoist myself up. It opens up a lot of moves and different ways to get into things, so that is definately a goal for me.  My upper body needs some work for sure. I have problems with my wrist, and I find the more strength I get in it, the less pain I have. I also worked on inverting on my opposite side. Most pole dancers have a side they like. Their stronger more dominant side. I'm trying to condition my body to use both sides equally. It's hard to get the hang of it and make your mind think differently. Especially upside down!

Low after low after low

I believe that at least once or twice a week, my facebook status involves something with the words "exhausted", "tired", "sleepy" and any other word to describe that feeling. For the last two weeks, I have been tired enough that walking into my dance class the first thing my instructor says is that I look really tired.
My eyes have dark circles under them and the are rimmed red.

I'm to the point now where I want to work out and get back in shape, but just don't have the energy. I don't have the energy because I stopped working out. See the circle there? I need to slowly build up my tolerance to working out more than once a week (dance class).  I managed saturday to go and do my pole workout which was good. Now I have to get my butt down to the basement to do that workout at least twice this week. I should be able to do that...

I feel in a funk again from all this. But I did decide that for my pre-wedding workout (and no it's not to lose weight, it's to gain muscle) I'll do the P90x. The lite version of course because I do intend to keep poling and that will be the main focus. I'll do the P90x to supplement pole. To gain some strength outside of class. At least now I know not to push myself too hard. I'll get better results taking it slow and building up to it then going full force.

Compairing, Deciding

Last night we viewed our last venue that was on our list. We have emailed lots of different places, used that information to weed out the ones we wanted to see and went from there. Fairly good process. Quick and dirty.
We've viewed several places and have to gather a bit more information on a few of them. Then it will be time to compare them all, and decide which one we want for our venue. There's still plenty of time, so we can really look at the pros/cons of each one.
Once we've got that all decided, it will be time to contact the church and meet with the priest to discuss how things will go, what our options are for personalizing the ceremony and figure out what we need to do from now until the big day.
There's very little stress in the wedding process so far. I love that there is so much time to plan. The more time the better. We can look at all our options for everything and make really good choices.

On a general life note, curling starts tomorrow!!! I'm very excited to get back into it. Last year I only played a few months before I was out after breaking my hand in dodgeball. I'm crossing my fingers there will be no significant injuries this year. The only other activity I'm doing other than curling this year, is pole. Not that pole doesn't have to potential to cause significant injury, I just have an amazing instructor that teaches us safely how to do things and minimize the risks.

On that note... I did however do faceplant this week in class. No injury because I used a mat below me and know to 'tuck-and-roll'.  I was attempted the superman and caught my legs on the pole too high. I wasn't quite in the full pose and had to bail. It was either smoke my face on the pole, or let go and hope I land on the mat safely. Success on hitting the mat safely! I didn't attempt to pull off the move again, but I'll get it. I've done the combination before, and know I can do it. Minor set back, but I believe it was because I was so tired and not really thinking everything through.
Level 6 starts monday!!!!!!

Buses and Winter

Our bus driver is very cautious. Which in the weather today is fabulous. On the first two days of real snow, Calgary forgets how to drive. Not joking. Yesterday there was 228 accidents by 1pm. I don't have the numbers today, but there were 7 major ones by 7am.
Our bus driver has a recommendation that we do not start walking towards the bus until it has completely stopped. Buses slide... a lot and the chances of it sliding up onto the curb and  into you are great in the winter. Its a good safety rule and one I never thought of. One gentleman started walking towards the bus, and our driver honked him. BD (bus driver) was trying to keep him safe, and the guy didn't like it at all. He was really pissed off when he got on the bus and told the driver he must think he's stupid. Some people just aren't morning people. Some people don't get it when someone is trying to keep them safe.

It took me close to 1.5 hours from leaving my house to get to work this morning. It usually only takes 35 minutes tops. But I'm glad I take public transit rather than have to drive in this sort of weather. The roads here are known for people travelling over the speed limit and right up on the bumper of the vehicle in front of them. It's no wonder there were 10 multi-car pile ups yesterday! Yes folks, it's slick out there. Perhaps adjusting your driving style is in order??

It's been snowing now for two days. But the one things I love is the silence in the morning.  I was prepared yesterday to get online and rant about all the crappy things that I was feeling. I got outside yesterday morning and everything just went away. Once I realized how beautiful and silent it was with the snow falling and the snow on the ground completely untouched, I was happy. I remembered that if the world can look this perfect and be that quiet, I should be able to feel that way too. I thanked God for the wonderful morning and enjoyed my walk to the bus stop. I even walked one stop further just because.  It was the same this morning. Beautiful silence :)

Venue hunting and "The Fiancee"

This past weekend the FI and I went to view a venue. It was very nice inside, good location (kind of) and had all the basics that we were looking for. Good price too. We have 4 more on the list to view over the next couple weeks, then we make a decision.

We also went shopping at Indigo to kill some time. We ended up walking past the wedding section and stopped to have a gander. We found two books. One for him "The Grooms Instruction Manual" and one for me "The Brides Instruction Manual".  I got a kick out of reading his. Somewhere near the beginning, there is a chapter on "The Fiancee - the woman who is planning your wedding". It goes through the differences of "The woman you love - the woman you will marry" and "The Fiancee".  It's hilarious! It starts one of the paragraphs off with  "you're probably wondering what happened to your girlfriend and who is this woman who ate her and took her place".  I had a good chuckle and made note of the differences so that I don't go that far. Unfortunately, I do think I have some of those traits regardless. heehee

Surprising Kelowna

This past weekend was a surprise to my friend Jess. Her FI and I planned out the whole weekend.
I would arrive on Thursday and go golfing with him. Then it would be a surprise to walk into their house.
That sort of worked. She kind of figured it out before I got to her house, but that's alright.

Thursday night was dinner out at a fabulous restaurant. Martini's abound made from fruit puree... yummy. I got to see their house for the first time. And just to prove how much of a polejunkie I really am, I sized up the living room for height and swing space without even thinking about it.

Friday was a lounge around day.  The 3 of us headed out to a few wineries and did some tasting. That was a blast. I bought two bottles of wine to bring back with me. Jess had to work for a few hours in the afternoon, so I wandered around downtown Kelowna and did the touristy things.  I got a lot of looks, and was later told that tourist season is actually over, so that's why people were looking at me funny. I even popped into a bridal shop and tried on a few things. SO FUN! I did not find 'the dress', which I'm happy about. That's meant to be found with people around.

Saturday was spa day. I had booked Jess and I in for 4 hours at The Delta Grand Spa. We started with a steam room, then moved onto an hour massage. Next was a pedicure (oh pretty toes!), followed by lunch. We spent some time after we ate lunch out on the patio in the bright sunshine.  Last treatment was a facial. I fell asleep in parts of it. Very relaxing. Sicne we ended and still had sometime left on our parking meter, we dipped into the hot tub and melted like butter even more than we already were.
We then proceeded to go to another winery, rent some movies and buy clothing at American Apparel. She has a love for funky clothes and booty shorts for Roller Derby. I have the same love, but for pole. It was a win-win.

Sunday it was time to fly me home. I jumped on my flight and arrived at the airport to a large bouquet of pink daisies. (I love my huney!!)

It was a good weekend. Relaxing and fun.

IPC 2009.... I survived

I barely survived. I am in pain today, but it was all self-inflicted and worth it. As pole dancers, we are accomstomed to have some pain with nailing that new move. We are used to the fact that after a hard day of poling we will be rendered useless for a few days while our bruises heal. After learning so many new things, it's hard to let the body rest since you're so looking forward to getting back on the pole and showing off ones new mvoes.

My FI says my word of the weekend was 'wow'. As it should have been. I got to meet Jenyne Butterfly and see her dance. That in itself was worth the weekend. She is absolutely gorgeous and I've never seen anyone move the way she does. Every move flows into the next with such grace I could only dream of achieving. She is truly an inspiration.

Friday night we headed for dinner at the hotel and met a lot of new people. We then headed onto the bus with poles in it to take us first to the Roadhouse, and then to the Whiskey.

Saturday was Day 1 of studio time I managed to learn how to go from Basic Inverto to Butterfly to Flatline Scorpio.  It needs a lot of work, but I have the basics. Just need to practice it a ton. Saturday night we spent eating at the hotel again, and going out to the same bars, on the same bus. I actually got myself up on the poles at the Whiskey and had a blast showing off new things I had learned. I even won the "Greatest Rump Shaker" Award for a stint of dancing with some of the girls. HAHA It's a cute little trophy I will put up in my pole room.

Sunday came around and it was a busy, sore day. I was lucky enough to book myself in for a workshop with Jenyne. I took the Basic Invert workshop Sunday morning. I learned 4 new moves. I managed to get 3 down, and will have to wait until I'm stronger for the third.  I learned the Vixen and it's several dismounts. I learned the Jasmine and how to transition from it to the Superwoman (superman, how ever you want to name it). I learned the side climb, which has resulted in a nice bruise over my baby toe. I attempted to learn the Teddy, but to no avail. I'm not strong enough to get there just yet.

After having some lunch, I came back to the studio for pole play. I learned how to go from Gemini to Starfish to Superwoman. I had tried to learn that move last year at IPC2008 and couldn't get it. Success! I also learned how to do a headstand into a cross-leg release to pull myself up off the floor. Something new I hadn't seen before. I also learned the Pretzel spin.  It very awkward to learn, but it looks very cool once it's polished. The problem now lies in how to gracefully get out of it once you're got your feet on the floor.

I have a notebook now listing all the things I learned with details on how to do each move. I have a future list of things I want to learn. I also made a list of body conditioning moves that will help increase my strength and push me to that next level.  I have a lot of work ahead of me!

Till next year!! I hope there is a next year for sure.

IPC 2009 - International Pole Camp

You read that correctly. Just like any other sport, pole has a camp too. Put on by PoleJunkies here in Calgary, it's an amazing opportunity to meet new people, learn new things and let loose.
The weekend consists of the following:
Friday

• Dinner
• Pole Crawl to bars with poles, on a bus with poles in it. (It's awesome!!)

Saturday

• Studio time! 4 hours of poling in a studio with 40+ other gals (and guys, yes guys pole too)
• Dinner
• Pole Crawl

Sunday

• Studio time - 1 hr Workshops with a well known pole dancer (Jenyne Butterfly!!)
• Studio time with all the attendants again

It's such a fun weekend. We all leave bruised, battered and with more friends. We learn new things, have a chance to try things out with encouragement from people you just met with the same love and passion for pole. I'm ecstatic that this is the second year I get to go.  I had my calendar booked off for this weekend since last year when I found out it was coming again.

I'll post a recap next week after I've slept and recovered from all the craziness and fun this weekend.

Cross Leg Release And Grace

Pole class last night was great. I learned how to protect my muscles while doing a gemini, gracefully do a split grip invert to Apprentice and how to do the cross-leg release.

I had learned the do the gemini when I took semi-private lessons with Polejunkies. In class last night was the second time I learned it, and there was still more things to think about. Correct body positioning, how to get there properly without banging your calf muscle on the pole and how to place your arm to stablize the hold. After being able to do the move since last year, I still learned something new.  Goes to show pole is ever evolving and I'll never have a move down pat no matter how long I've known how to do it.

A new trick I picked up on doing a split grip invert to apprentice is to think of it as a craddle spin (crouch spin?) It helps to get ones body in the right position so you're not wrenching your shoulder and causing injury. And, it makes it easier to hoist your foot up. Adds a little grace, which is always a good thing.

Then came the cross-leg release. I remember learning the cross-knee release and having bruises and pain for a while after. This one is no exception, the bruises and pain are just in a slightly different spot. I dug out a crash mat at the studio because I'm a chicken and don't trust my legs to hold me on the first try. Turns out I didn't need it since I got it twice in a row (yah me!) Managed to get both hands off the pole into the final pose. Definately a work in progress since I have to walk my hands down and release them one at a time, but certainly an accomplishment for not expecting to learn that one.

It was a very successful class and I'm stoked that I have some new things to learn and go from while at IPC (International Pole Camp) this weekend. I'll post more on that this week.

Strange Experience

I had a very strange experience this weekend. My fiance's parents came to stay with us this weekend to see our new house. I'm always nervous when new people come and I haven't been open to them about my pole dancing.
My FI's (fiance's) mom had heard from her sister that I pole dance, so she was very interested in seeing it. During the tour of our house, we got to the basement, which is usually where I get very nervous when 'first timers' see the shiney metal pole in the middle of the floor.  She thought it was very cool and asked if I'd show her some things later. I reluctantly agreed because I'm never sure where people stand on their opinions on pole dance.
Saturday night we got home from golf and she asked again if she could see what I do.  It was wonderful!! both my FI's parents were completely shocked and awed by the things I could do.  They both kept saying how hard it must be and the strength one needs.  She thanked me for showing her what I have learned and said it has changed how she sees it. She was a little unsure of the whole concept, but now has respect for the fitness level you need to do spins and inverts. Both FI's mom and dad tried a few things and found it very tough.  It was very fun for both myself and my FI to show what we can do.
I'm very happy that I got over some fear and showed her. It was a good experience and nice to know that I'm still in her good books :)

Decision about the blog made

After chatting with a friend of mine about this blog, she made some good points on whether or not I start a new blog dedicated just to wedding stuff, or continue to mix everything into this one.

For efficiency purposes and ease of blogging, I'm going to stick to putting things in this one.  Although the blog was started to be solely dedicated to fitness, I don't feel I have enough to make it worth while. With all the injuries I manage to adopt, and not having a program to follow, I think it would be better suited to encompass all parts of my life, part of which is fitness.

So, for those that are strictly reading this for pole/fitness purposes, my apologies for the extra fluff. For those that are reading it for the Chic Geek life experience... here we go!

Back to pole.... again

I started Level 5 this week!!
I have been off the pole for a little over a month now and happy to be getting back to it.  I know now after lifting weights and injuring myself, I will be extra careful with my body and listen to it more closely.

After each session I will be stretching, icing and heating my forearms so they are ready to go for the week.
Once I am done level 5 I plan to have a photographer (co-worker/friend) come and take some photos of me. I should have some new moves that will look absolutely fabulous in photographs. That's over 6 weeks away still, but something to look forward to as an accomplishment to completing a level.

We've started learning the split grip invert which is harder than I thought.  I can get myself up, I'm just scared of hurting myself again.  I never realized how fragile my wrists were until I started diving into fitness. I'm happy to say I can now comfortably (if that even exists in pole) do the 'Apprentice' and the 'Hero'. Releasing that top arm on the Hero is a little nerve wracking, but I managed to do it several times just so I knew it wasn't a fluke.

Our homework assignment (yes we get those now) is to work on the dismount from an invert. I'm not very graceful coming out of an inverted crucifix. My feet slam down on the floor with a 'thump-thump'... and that's with barefeet. I can't imagine what sort of racket it would make with heels on.

Big News!!!

I know a few of my followers will already have read this several other places, or heard from me directly, but I wanted to post it here.

I'M ENGAGED!!!

My boyfriend and I went out on his motorbike to a lake just south of the city. We had lunch like we normally would on one of these little day trips, took pictures (like normal) but it ended much different from all the other day trips.  We ended up sitting near the river and he popped the question :D
He didn't get all the way through his speech when before I was in tears and had said "yes".


There is no date set yet. Just enjoying this period of the whole wedding thing.

So now I have a question to pose my blog followers:

• Do I keep this blog for fitness only?
• Do I create a new blog just for the wedding?
• Do I combine them into this current blog as they might tie in together?

Let me know what you think!

RealAge test

I was reading a fellow blogger's latest entry and found a neat test. It's called the RealAge test. I thought I'd take a crack at it to see what age I really am.

After about 10 minutes, I have my answer. According to the RealAge test, I am 18. (Calendar age is 24.5) The results of each category are broken up into 'things that make you younger' and 'things that make you older'. Here are a few tidbits of what they gave me for +/- in each category.
Health:

• I floss and brush my teeth (+)
• I have headaches often (-)
• I have heartburn and take meds for it (-)

Habits

• I drive within the speed limits (+)
• I always wear a seat belt (+)
• My car is too small (-) Ya! upgrade to an SUV?

Relationships

• I'm in a healthy relationship (+) love you sweetie!
• I need a furry friend (-) Guess I need a dog sooner rather than later :D
• I had a stressful life event (-) I'd say moving into a new home was a good thing. A little stress around it with all the trips and vacations that seemed to coincide with the move.

Diet

• I need to take a multi-vitamin (-) i know i know....
• I have a good mix of foods (+)
• I eat breakfast daily (+) wouldn't make it to work if I didn't
• More fish, fruit, veggies (-)

Fitness

• I strength build, do cardio, stretch (+)
• Maintain current weight (+)
• Need to add more cardio activity(-) this doesn't take into account that pole is both strength and cardio all wrapped into one fun package

So if I eat healthier, get a dog and keep doing everything else like I am, I could feel like a teenager! Hm. I don't know about this. As long as it's just in health. I wouldn't want all the awkwardness and immaturity to come with that.

Getting out of that funk

I've been on a blogging haitus for 2 weeks. Just didn't feel much like blogging for sympathy. I'm still unable to pole and lift weights, but I'm starting to get back to exercise.


With the beautiful weather, I've begun going roller blading with my boyfriend. We have wonderful trails near us that are all smooth pavement. I'm not as shakey on wheels like I used to be. I get a fabulous leg/butt workout and get my cardio in. Going right after work is great. I get a half hour cardio/leg workout in and then have the whole evening to relax.

On top of rollerblading, I set a goal for myself to work on getting my splits by the end of September. This goal was set at the beginning of June and I'm not there yet. I also wasn't working very hard at it. Now, I've set my mind to stretching while watching tv every night. I've managed to come a long ways in just over a week.


I attempted to play softball with the community beer league, and as fun as it was, my shoulder and wrist can't take it. I played one night and went to physio the next day (the appointment was booked long before) and realized I don't need to through another injury into the mix.

So I'm finally pulling myself out of that funk that had me depressed for a while. I still can't pole because of my wrist, but I can at least get some exercise and feel healthier.

Lost!

I'm completely lost. Since I injured my wrist and am not supposed to lift myself or anything of significant weight with my right hand. That means I can't pole (boo!!!) which is driving me crazy. I can't do much yoga, or at least at my regular class since every class involves more downward dog than I'd like and my arms can handle. I'm supposed to start bootcamp in 2 weeks, but I still haven't signed up. I'm afraid that doing bootcamp will cause me to lose too much weight. I'm the kind of person that needs everything she has. Losing any weight wouldn't be a good thing. I'm quite thin enough and with 12% body fat, there's not much lower I'd want to go without getting into health risks.

My plan this week was to work on my cardio by rollerblading or jogging. I don't do a lot of that other than intervals. It has been POURING for 4 days. We got home monday and it has rained for the majority of every day since. Depressing!! It's also cold. My thermometer says 10 - 13C every morning and it doesn't warm up much past that. So plans for cardio outside are out the window and I just can't bring myself up to the gym to run on a treadmill. Not motivated enough to stair out a window at the gloomy sky.

I also had planned to be working on getting my splits. That hasn't exactly happened. I do stretch, just not to the extent that would get me to my goal. I'm not pushing myself to get off the couch and stretch every night. Laziness has set it while I wallow in self pity.

My eating habits are going down the drain. I guess my mind feels that since I'm not working my body, I don't need to watch what I eat, when in fact it's the exact opposite.

I need something to pull me out of this funk. I thought bootcamp or yoga in the park would do it, but that's not the case. I'm afraid of weight loss with bootcamp and I fear yoga will be too hard on my wrists (at least this particular type of yoga).

Any ideas?? Oh, and I suck at swimming, so please don't suggest that. haha (that comment is for Chowsr)

Listen to your body

Earlier this week I was talking about a lack of motivation. It seems my lack of motivation for doing my weightlifting workout was well-placed.

Two weeks ago, we arrived back from holidays, and I noticed that my right wrist was sore. This is nothing new as I had wrist problems several years ago from using my computer too much. It was a little concerning to me however, because I haven't had that much pain in over a year. I made an appointment with my physiotherapist to have acupuncture done on my neck and shoulders. Usually when my neck is really tight acupuncture helps release it when massage is not doing the trick. Because I haven't been to Physio in over a year, I had a reassessment done. I'm very glad that I did. It turns out, that my right arm has developed the starting stages of tennis elbow. My lack of motivation I guess in a way was telling me something.

So with the current state of my body is in, I have decided to change things up with my workouts. Starting in August, I will be taking a noon hour boot camp class Tuesdays and Thursdays. I have a feeling I will get my butt kicked, but that's the point! That'll last for about six weeks. I have a new goal to get to by September. I would like to increase my flexibility, and if all goes well be able to do the splits. (Not center splits) On top of those two things, I will continue to pole.

I'm very excited about only being at the gym Tuesdays and Thursdays. The way my workouts currently are put me at the gym Monday, Wednesday and Friday. That leaves very few days to actually dance during the week.

So to sum things up, I will take a six-week boot camp class 2 days a week, increase my flexibility through stretching/yoga, and continue to pole.

Motivation still hasn't kicked in.

Well, I'm two weeks into my next fitbook and I've missed one workout. Missing one completely doesn't sound so bad, but the ones I did get to, weren't done full-out. I'm finding myself at an impass. My lunges (of varying sorts) are the portion where I'm stuck. Typically I hold a dumbbell in each hand and do the exercise. At this point, 20lbs in each hand is the heaviest I can do. Not because my legs won't push more, but because my wrists are too weak to carry any more.
Its frustrating. I have a few options.

Option 1: Keep using the same weights for the next 6 weeks.
Option 2: Try using the smith machine for my static lunges (split squats).
Option 3: Cut out lunges all together and replace it with more leg work elsewhere

On Wednesday, I'm going to try and use Option 2. I'd like to see if it will work. I anticipate that it will since I'm not lunging back and forth. The 'lunges' are split squats so I should be alright with this modification.

I might start roller blading to get a better leg workout and cardio in all at once. We'll see how that goes. Perhaps a go at it this weekend

Bruising Pet Peeve

There are certain things one must accept when you take up pole dancing. It's fun. It can leave nasty bruises and make your muscles cry in agony for days. Did I mention it's fun?



I'm one of those people that doesn't have bruises show up on the visible layer of skin. I'm not that lucky. In the pole world, posting a picture of the new 'trophy' you got on your arm, or hip is a sign of accomplishment and hard work. It's as if you're saying "look what I got!" and proud of it. It also helps people to understand how hard pole really is. You put your body through hell and it shows. I'm not that lucky. (haha) I still get bruises, you just can't see them. How unfair! (ya ya, I know, someone somewhere is saying I'm complaining about the wrong things.) When I whine to my boyfriend about how sore my hip is from that invert, or the bruise on my knee from that spin, he just laughs and says he doesn't see a bruise. argh! Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it's not real.



To those dancers who hate having a bruise show after you nail that fabulous advanced move, or the beginner spin in your first class, show it off! Be proud! They are trophies. Take a picture and keep it around, because after you get good at that move, you may not get another trophy to show for it.

Dancing from the soul

A comment from a blog follower:

I understand how people can take levels one and two and say "that's enough"
Dancing reveals so much of yourself. As you get higher and higher in levels you
have to be ready to open up to accept self expression in a true art form.In
social dancing or lower levels you can get by with saying oh it's just fitness
or it's just for fun, but as things get tougher and when it's time to bare your
soul, not all people will be ready for that.

I never really thought about this before. For me, I've danced all my life. Since I was 5 yrs old, I've been in ballet, jazz, tap, etc. When I hit college, I learned to two-step at the local country bar. In the summer before graduating I took up ballet again and it just wasn't the same. My mind could perform more advanced moves, but my body wasn't up to par anymore. Heart and soul just wasn't in it and being frustrated wasn't what I was hoping for.

Enter belly dancing. Fun for a while, but not my thing. I got a good workout and even bought the little skirt with bells on it. (Can't take belly dancing without making fun noise with your hips!) Shortly after that, a few of my friends and I took up pole dancing because it was offered, we were bored college kids, and thought it would be fun. It was! (Sadly I'm the only one out of 5 that continued on.) It has become a big part of my life. I took 1 level and fell in love with it. I could put my feelings through the music and make my body explore them through movement. Pole has given me the release to let out any emotion I may be feeling, just by dancing. It's not all about being sexy. It's much more than that.

Going back to the quote (I know, took a while to get here, sorry for the history lesson) I guess I just haven't ever seen dance as strictly fitness. I suppose many people join a level 1 and 2 class for the fitness part of it, and then once it becomes 'dance' they bail. It's a great workout, don't get me wrong, there's just so much more to it than that, for me anyways. I couldn't imagine just taking a pole class like you would a bootcamp class, or a step class. To me it's got more emotional ties to it and that makes it more meaningful. Not everyone is a emotional as me, and not everyone has that feeling that dance is from your soul. Some people just see it as a way to get fit.

There are few ways in this world you can bare your soul and reveal an art. Dance has been around through all the ages in one form or another.

I'm smart like that...

I started Stage 4 of my program on Monday. Upped my weights, pushed myself hard and it felt amazing. And since I felt so amazing even later that evening, I thought I'd try some new pole moves. I'm smart like that. Go big or don't go at all.
On top of this incredible day of working out, I had my last dance class (until september) Tuesday night. I was so sore waking up Tuesday morning, I wasn't sure how the heck I would manage another full hour. Of course, a little advil and lots of water, I'm in class, learning two new moves and giving my end-of-class performance.

Now it's Wednesday, and I feel like someone beat me with a stick. Ha ha! I'm basically sore from the waist up because of all of the upper body workout that I've done over the past two days. Today was supposed to be a workout at the gym, but it just didn't happen. With the lack of sleep I've had in the amount of exercise I've done, my body is just saying no more! I'm happy to be getting a massage tomorrow morning, even if it is for only half an hour.

I'm now officially done my level for dance class. There won't be another level V until September, and that's only if there's enough students to run it. It seems as though people will take level I and level II and many never see them again. For someone who considers themselves a poll addict, I don't understand how people can take two or three levels and then decide they don't like it anymore. At that point, you have trophy bruises of all kinds, and you've put in so much effort it seems silly to quit halfway. I know there's a lot of factors that go into it, so I'm not judging people, I just don't understand it. I hope to be doing this well and my 40s! I even know some women who are 50 and still dancing. this is something I can do for a very long time, and I intend to for as long as my body will allow.

New fitbook and 12 weeks of fun

Today I start a new fitbook. Very exciting! By the end of the pervious 12 weeks, I was ready to get something new to pump up my workouts. I'm bored!! It's been 3 months on this program, and it changes every 4 weeks, but I'm still bored. I guess because it's summer I want something new. It's time to change things up. I'm still going to continue on this program I'm on, but I'm also going to add a few things. Maybe buy a few new things to keep my motivation. (yeah shopping!)

I have free evenings all summer. I'm going to try and get outside after work with my boyfriend. We have a park with awesome trails that go for miles. I obviously can't run that far or bike, or roller blade, but hopefully by the end of summer my cardio won't suck as bad. I'm hoping I will actually be able to enjoy a jog or bike ride without feeling like my lungs are going to explode. Dancing for 3 minutes at a time for a song is definately not the same thing.

I'm going to get my butt downstairs or over to my pole buddy's place and work on some new moves. There are so many things I want to do, and I just don't work at it enough. I'm lazy! So now, instead of me poling when the mood strikes, I'm actually scheduling it into my fitbook :)

I'm meeting with my nutritionist today to go over the changes we made to my diet and what else I can do. I feel way healthier now and have so much more energy. I think there will be a few tweaks here and there, but nothing too drastic.

Halfway through my program

I've pretty well hit my halfway mark on this 6 month program I'm on. The New Rules of Lifting for Women has certainly kicked my butt. I have two more workouts in Stage 3, then it's only 3 stages left. Stage 4 and 5 are repeat exercises of Stage 2 & 3, but with lower reps and higher weights. Stage 6 will be a total change up with a concentration on building more strength. There is an optional Stage 7 (rather than doing 6) that is for fat loss, but I will not be doing that one. That's the last thing I want to do.

I am nearing the end of my current fitbook and very exciting to take the measurements next week to see how I've done over the past three months. I know for sure that I have lost an inch off my waist when I measured at a month and half. I've also increased my thighs and my arms. All good stuff, so we'll see where I'm sitting next week!

Next week I get to start a shiney new fitbook for the next 3 months. I'm also meeting with my nutritionist next week to get a hold on what I should be eating to get the best results. I'm not treating for anything specific, just to see if I can do a six-month program and get through it. So far and loving the results and want to continue. I feel the next three months will probably go by pretty quickly, a little apprehensive to actually be done to have to find something new. That's three months away so I really shouldn't worry about it until it comes. when I really should do is be planning a week vacation of relaxation at the end of the next three months. That would certainly give me something to look forward to!

Not blogging may be a good sign

I haven't blogged in over a week! What's up with that, eh? I have been very busy every night of the past week, yet somehow there was no pull to blog. I wasn't missing it, I wasn't feeling like I was neglecting any readers (because lets be honest, I think I have maybe 3 people that read it intermittantly. lol) and there was no stress (ya right) that I needed to let out somewhere.


Life must be perfect.... Well in some ways it is. The house is wonderful (I'm sure I've said this over and over. I can't get over the fact that we own one!) and my tiredness levels are at a minimum. I'm finding more relaxation time at home. There is a sense of peace now which still amazes me.


In some ways life isn't perfect. I've been so busy that I feel like I'm missing something. I've now dropped a few things (either by choice, or that's just the way it happened) and find I have almost every week night in July/August free! That's one extreme to the other. I'm now constantly looking at what I'm going to do for the summer. My goal for right now is to actually use the wonderful pole room that's in the basement. I have danced once since moving in. And yah I know it hasn't even been a month, I just need to focus. I think I've been so spread out doing all these different things that I haven't spent time on just one thing and improving that first.

It's time to hunker down and focus on a few things, rather than the million I've had on the go. It will certainly be nice to have a break from everything and get to pick and choose what I do.

Back to the grind

After being in the hotel gym all last week and not feeling like I did enough, I pushed myself pretty hard at my regular gym today. On several of my exercises, I upped my weights every set I did. Since I was unable to lift as much as I would normally last week, I had to catch up and find out what weight my threshold is right now. Turns out a lot more than I thought. Yippee!
Along with increasing my weights significantly, I also decreased my time to do my body weight matrix. (squats and lunges as fast as I can) It felt great to do it just that much faster. I have 2 more go's at the matrix after today, so I'm hoping to not pause as often during the jumping lunges or jumping squats.

I had a wonderful active rest day yesterday. It was so nice, and since we have a park near us, a picnic was in order. We picked up some fresh made sandwiches from the grocery store and packed up the picnic bag. There is a wonderful park very close, so we walked in a south direction until we found a spot near the river to eat at.

There has now been a decision made between my boyfriend and I that we'll start doing things outside every weekend (that we are able to). I'm excited to see what we plan next!

Tiny room and lots of people

I got home from training today and immediately headed to the hotel gym. I was ready to get there and get out so I could eat dinner and phone home for a chat. Before I go on to rant a little, I should mention that the gym here is about the same size as my hotel room, only instead of the nice furniture, there are 2 treadmills, an eliptical and 2 bikes for cardio machines. There is a rack of dumbbells, and a fitness machine with 4 stations attached to the inner pillar. You get the idea.

That said, when I got there, there were 3 people doing cardio, and one person using the machines. Basically, I should have said to hell with it and gone back after I'd had dinner. The time would have been the same and I probably would have enjoyed the workout more. Can you tell I'm the type of person that doesn't like the crammed gym scene? I like my space.

On top of the busyness, I looked at my set of workouts I was to do and I had another disappointment rolling in. I had a look around at what was available to me for machines and accessories. I did half my workout because there were some things (like an exercise ball) that were not in existence. It was done half-heartedly too. I thought after I was done that I would have been better off not doing it at all by this point. (hindsight's 20/20)

To end the evening on a good note, I did enjoy a steak and roasted potatoes for dinner. I also had the pleasure of good conversation with a woman who was eating alone as well. I then got my phone call home in and felt better to have contact with some loved ones. I do love my alone time just as much as the next person. I've also come to find there can be too much of a good thing.

Hotel Gyms and chocolate cake

I'm sitting here in my hotel room in Houston trying to digest the insane amount of food I ate at dinner. Being alone travelling some how causes me to eat a lot of unnecessary food. (The exact opposite of what happens at home... I usually forget to eat if I'm alone) So I'm here missing my comfortable house and curling up on the couch with my boyfriend and instead, eating food and drinking wine. I've gotten fairly good at travelling and am never away from my hotel room without a book. Whether waiting for taxi's or food at the restaurant, I will always read to keep myself busy. Problem with that is that it's easy to get lost in the book and just continue mindlessly eating and picking away at whatever is in front of me. In the case of tonight's dessert... chocolate lava cake dripping in chocolate sauce. (my stomach says no more!)

On the other side of things, I may be eating a lot, but I'm also at the gym (for a lack of anything else to do as the only motivation). The gym here is small, and doesn't have any dumbbells heavier than 12#, but I can make do. It certainly doesn't have the same capacity as I'm used to, but there are always modifications that can be made to accomodate the tools I have. (wow, spoken like a true fitness geek)

So I started Stage 3 of my workout program today, and nearly died doing the Body Weight Matrix at the end of workout "A". This consists of:

• 24 Squats


• 12 lunges (each leg, alternating)


• 12 jumping lunges (each leg, alternating)


• 24 jump squats.

And you do all of that as fast as you can, trying not to stop. At the end of you, you double the time it took and rest, then repeat it all. My quads were screaming in agony! I must say that I am proud of myself for doing sets, and more so because I cut 1 minute off the time the second time through. (yeah me!) I even went down after supper last night and did my intervals (the dreaded 15 minutes that really aren't as bad as I think they are)

I think a lack of anything else to do (other than shop, which would overload my suitcase in weight for the plane trip home.) has prompted me to dig out my fitbook every night and record the days meals/snacks and drag my butt down to the gym. There are far too many hours in hotel rooms for me to arrive home sane.

Moved in and unpacking

The move is finally over and we've arrived at the unpacking phase. The move went smoothly and we had great help from friends and family (Thanks everyone!)

Things that are new or different:

• Stairs! I lived in a first floor apartment for the past 2 years, so having to go up/down stairs to various parts of the house is new. And with my forgettful mind, I'll get lots of exercise running up and down.
• Flower beds! Living in an apartment doesn't exactly give you a lot of that. Our backyard has 3 large flowerbeds that seem to have flowers and shrubs popping up already. (less work for me!) I'm concerned with the plants 'lives' since the last 3 house plants I've had (bamboo, cactus, tree thing) have all died. I will definately try to keep them living. (which reminds me I need to water them tonight)
• Garage! And no it's not a place to store random junk. The car and motorbike will actually be parked in there.
• Lawn! Yes, we now have a lawn. Apartment living really isn't condusive to being outdoors, especially on the main floor facing the parking lot. I don't think we ever sat on our patio. Not only do we have to cut our own lawn now, (by we I mean my boyfriend), we can get outside and do things outdoors.
• Basement! Our living room is now only a living room. All of our workout equipment is in the basement. We basically have a weight gym/dance studio down there and our cardio will be done in the park that is a block from us (yippee!)
• Pantry! The pantry in the kitchen is HUGE! Either we need to go grocery shopping, or it's just that massive because at the moment it looks quite empty. Not that I'm going to go and buy stuff to put in it, but the option is there. At least now I can see all my baking stuff and it's readily available.

On the green side of things, I'm much more conscious of using less utilities. Our utilities were included in the rent price, but now it's seperate. The curbside recycling is a huge deal too. No more storing it all in different bins and driving it down the road. Everything goes in one large bin and gets picked up on garbage day. YEAH!!

I'm sure there will be a lot more stuff to come that I find 'really cool' but for now, only being in there for a few days, those are the top things on my list.

Last week in the apartment

My head just did a 360. I cannot believe that I am only in this apartment for 1 more week!!!
We've started on the kitchen now. Packing up all the tools we won't be using for the next few days. My bathroom is almost completely done. I'll be living out of a suitcase and makeup bag for the next week. I can't bear to take down my computer yet though. My baby has to stick around until the end!

I'm so very excited to be out of this place. I will have a place to dance that doesn't have a dining room table in it, we'll have an entire workout set in the basement, so no more complaining I can't do my workouts at home due to lack of equipment. We'll have a yard to work on, and I'm sure the novelty of that will fade quickly, but it will be nice to be able to get outside and actually sit out there without people walking by and looking at you. (We are on the bottom floor of our place right now, and face the parking lot.) I can poke holes in the walls for pictures. I can paint if I so choose. I know that with a larger place, comes more cleaning, and far more responsibility, but it's worth it!

I can't tell you how fast this week is going to go by. I'm already thinking Saturday when we get home from visiting people we'll be packing up the rest of our crap. Sunday morning will be an early one getting all those last minute things put together. It came much faster than I thought. When we first signed or papers, I was sure it was going to take f-o-r-e-v-e-r to get here. And now it is and I'm not ready yet. I suppose blogging in my free time doesn't really help that cause though. Enough 'chit-chat' I'm off to the land of boxes and useless things.

Unsick and lifting

I was very sick last week with a cold, and as a result I ate poorly, I missed all my workouts and was generally really lazy in everything. It's fine to not workout for a week since I could hardly lift myself out of bed, but eating is another issue. I pretty well let myself go and didn't watch what I ate at all. I actually felt worse having to write everything down in my fitbook. I didn't realize how badly I ate until I checked back today and looked. Yikes! Needless to say, I went to the grocery store tonight and bought healthy stuff. Things to snack on, more fruit, and better things for breakfast, rather than going to Tim Horton's every morning. I also plan to make red pepper hummus this weekend. (Thanks for the recipe Jess!)

I got my butt in gear today and dragged it to the gym. I don't normally workout tuesday, and I'll have to go tomorrow too just to get back on schedule. It felt great to be there. I missed it even after a week. I actually pushed my weights up on the second set of most exercises, just to see if I could do it. Success... except I'm going to be sore tomorrow. Tonight I'll do some intervals on the exercise bike to get those out of the way.

I'm glad to say I have someone now who looks at my diet and will make suggestions to me. It's hard to know what's good and bad when it all says 'healthy'. There are things that I've eaten that aren't really the best, but I was under the impression they were extremely healthy. Nice to have a watchdog! I like being accountable to someone other than myself. Pushes me to make changes and stick with them.

Avoiding packing? Check!

Even though this is the only weekend we have to pack, our heads aren't in it. 3 boxes done yesterday was enough. Haven't even started packing boxes today, but managed to get through purging a lot of papers that aren't needed any longer. That's something I guess. The less we have to pack, the better!

Instead of packing this morning, my boyfriend and I headed out of the city about an hour to a place called Elbow Falls. I had forgotten it was the long weekend, and we found lots of people had the same idea as us. We did the trip on our motorcycle, which is always a blast. We wandered around the falls for a while, which isn't a big place, and sat down for a picnic. We took a picnic blanket we got for christmas from my sister and used it to find a place to sit by the rivers edge. It was a well spent afternoon.

Here are some pictures of the falls.

Angels & Demons - Reviews

After my episode attempting to dance last night, we thought a movie would be a better option than me injuring myself. I finished reading "Angels & Demons" while on vacation. It was the one book I needed to finish since the movie was coming out right aways. I think reading the book put the movie at a huge disadvantage, like most books do.

I won't do any spoilers, don't worry, although it makes it hard to explain what I'm talking about. The took out some characters that I thought were key. I think they kept the plot the same, and changed how everything happened. There were scenes that I was confused what was going on, until the plot part came in. Then I realized what scene from the book it was. In all honesty, it was VERY loosely based on the book. They kept the main story line, changed the course of actions for audience entertainment value. When the book says the hassassin was one sort of race, and he turned out another, I found that odd. The book was very clear in describing what the guy looked like, and they changed him entirely.

Tom Hanks was great however. He did his role very well. Ewan Mcgregor was also good. Played the part to a tee. All in all, from a movie standpoint, it was very well done, and kept me completely entertained. It had intense parts where you were on the edge of your seat waiting for that next scene to happen.
From a book standpoint, thoroughly disappointed. The movie seemed to refer to a few things that happened in "The Da Vinci Code", which actually didn't happen until AFTER "Angels & Demons" according to the books. Angels & Demons is the pre-quel to The Da Vinci Code.

I do recommend seeing it, whether you've read the book or not. It was a good movie. :)

Frustrated with sickness

Since last Thursday, I have been feeling under the weather. I took a few days from work this week to get better. Resting is usually a good idea. Unfortunately, it hasn't improved my cold at all. I'm still sick! I'm at the point of frustration now. I haven't been to the gym in over a week, which is very frustrating to me. I don't like taking unplanned weeks off from weight training, as it throws off my schedule.

TonightI finally got around to moving some filled boxes into the spare room as a storage area until we move. I can now see the space around my pole in order to dance. I took a few spins last night, and felt a little better to exercise. Being me, I decided to drag out my crash mat and try some inverts since I felt slightly better. I attempted one invert and got a splitting headache. I crashed on the mat and scolded myself. Why would flipping myself upside down be a good idea, when I can barely breathe out of my nose? So much for dancing tonight...

I won't have much time for exercise this weekend anyways, but I'm planning to do a little bit if I can. Perhaps a jog today with my boyfriend to get rid of some stress and get outside. We are supposed to have wonderful weather for the weekend... finally! I'm very tired of snow one day, sun the next. It's May!! Enough with the cold weather!! This weekend is Canada's long weekend in May. Most people will get Monday off this weekend as a stat holiday. Rather than spend this weekend camping with the rest of Canada (seems to be what most people do this weekend), I will be packing. This is the only weekend we are both here for the entire duration of it. The next two prior to our move are away with family. I'm not complaining we are using this weekend to pack, I'm actually glad we have the entire 3 days to do this. We're certainly taking time to enjoy the weekend outside of cardboard and packing tape. Motorcycle ride one day, bbq with family another, going to a movie or two at night.

I'm starting to feel the stress of moving. I look around and see that even though our spare room is already full of packed boxes, we haven't even scratched the surface yet. Moving is a big deal, and I am insistant that since we will not be moving again for a long time, we purge all things we haven't used/didn't know we had/thought we'd use it more from our belongings. There will be many, many garbage bags taken from the apartment so we don't have to drag the stuff with us to our house.

Let May long begin... with this box beside my feet. Happy weekend everyone!

Motorcycle Course Results

It's been one hell of a few days. I've been sick, I've missed my workouts and my eating habits are all out the window. Hopefully one more day of rest will improve things and I'll be back to normal again.

This past weekend was my motorcycle course. Friday night was the classroom portion, Saturday and Sunday were practical, ie actually riding. Friday was good. Learned a lot of useful information and it's actually made me more aware as a vehicle driver to look out for motorbikes more carefully. We watched a few videos that sure wake you up in a hurry. Saturday and Sunday were fun, but I just didn't have the confidence on the bikes. I'm really hard on myself, so when I don't get a skill right aways, I get discouraged. I had a rough day Saturday amongst all the fun. I didn't feel like I was getting anything right, so that was hard. Sunday morning I felt much better and I was able to do the things I couldn't Saturday. My instructor had some concerns so I didn't get to go on the road-ride (we take the bikes out on the road). I was ok with that. She said I need more confidence, and needed to trust the bike more.

The end results: I need to take the Sunday class over again to get more comfortable and get some more confidence. Then I'll be able to take my test, which is on the road now, rather than on the lot like last year. I had a fun weekend all in all, just a little disappointing I couldn't pull it together.

Movie review: Sunday night my boyfriend and I met another couple at "Star Trek". Fantastic show! I didn't watch the tv series very often, and I've never seen any of the original movies, but I enjoyed this show thoroughly. It was funny, it was intense, and it had a good plot. The special effects were pretty good too.

Biker Chick

This weekend will be a fun filled one.
Earlier this week I went and got my learner's license for motorcycles. I sat in front of a computer for all of 10 minutes at the Registry and completed my test. W00t! Step one complete!

For all of Friday night I will be in a classroom learning about motorbikes. Then the fun part starts Saturday. I will learn to actually ride one, doing skills and such for 2 whole days. At the end of it all, on Sunday, I should be able to do my on-lot site test and have my license! So exciting!! I don't have my own motorcycle, and there's no way I'd be allowed to drive my boyfriends, but who knows, maybe I'll buy one of my own this year or next. I love riding as a passenger, so I can't imagine how it's going to feel actually driving one. This weekend could go two ways: I'll love it, or I'll hate it.

I'll post the results Monday!

I feel weak... that's not right

Yesterday was Workout B. All new exercises. I know there is less than I think, but all I can say is lunges lunges lunges.
Here is a rundown of the Workout B:

• Widegrip deadlift from box
• Bulgarian Split Squat
• Reverse Lunge
• Underhand Lat Pulldown
• Dumbbell Prone Cuban Snatch
• Swiss Ball Crunch
• Reverse Crunch
• Lateral Flexion
• Prone Cobra
• 15 minutes Interval training 1min hard/2min recovery

I've never done interval training so this will be interesting. It's nice because I can at least do those at home and get my boyfriend to come with me. It's nice to be able to workout together that way. We've both got our Fitbooks and have started new programs. (Thanks Angela for the wonderful books! http://www.getfitbook.com/)

From completing stage 1, I thought my muscles were getting pretty strong. I had to put myself down to 5# weights for the Prone Cuban Snatch. I nearly cried! I couldn't believe that my shoulders (specifically the rotator cuffs) are that weak. Instead of feeling really badly, I took it as an opportunity to set some goals. I will definately be pushing myself harder on those to build up some strength. That particular exercise will greatly propel me towards my goal of being less prone to injury/pain in my wrists from using the computer every day. (small victory!)

My butt and hamstrings are screaming at me today. Not only did I do a lot of leg exercises, but I pushed myself pretty hard on my intervals (last night was on the exercise bike). This is all very, very good news for me. I love the feeling the next day when you feel like you really pushed yourself and it paid off. I may not say that tomorrow when I have to drag my sore butt to the gym again, but it's all worth it in the end.

Craziness ensues

Since being back from vacation everything was still slow and relaxing.

This morning I got up and realized that we have now bought a house and need to get prepared. That means a ton of financial stuff (which is my least favorite thing so I won't go there) and packing.

My problem is that I don't know where to start. Since moving to the this city two years ago, I've moved 3 times. That means that once a year, I get to purge my belongings of unwanted clutter. Everyone that is a home-owner that I know keeps telling me they hate moving because they have to move all the stuff they have accumulated. I use the word 'stuff' because that's what it is. Stuff that you probably haven't seen since it went into the box and hav no idea it's still around.

I know already that we have that stuff in our apartment like that. I really, really don't want to move it with us into our house. I have this sneaking suspicion that that stuff will somehow make it's way into our basement and never see the light of day again.

I know that packing shouldn't be too difficult. I'm just in the purging mode. I don't want to keep anything that really isn't needed. That's the part that's causing me so much stress.
I need to manage my time to a particular part of each room and work on that.
Ack craziness!

Stage 2 of the New Rules of Lifting for Women

Today I started Stage 2. This will last for 4 - 5 weeks working out 2 - 3 days a week. My week vacation was a nice week off to rest and get ready for a new set of exercises.
For workout A I'm doing the following:

• Front squat/push press - combination of a squat into a heel raise basically
• Step ups (oh yeah... again)
• Dumbbell 1 point Row - this kills my butt from balancing on one foot.
• Static lunge with rear foot elevated
• Push ups
• The Plank - holding for 60 seconds
• Cable horizontal Wood chop - definately felt this one in my obliques

So I do 2 sets of 10 reps with 75 seconds rest in between. In stage 1, I had 60 seconds between each set. I was thinking 75 seconds would be a long time. That was proved wrong today. 75 seconds for rest is just right, and between some, not enough. I am definately going to like Workout A. I felt like I got a good workout today. I can see that I will have to be upping my weight everytime if I can to push myself a little harder.

I've gotten a little inspiration from a fellow blogger. She just completed her first fitness competition (and placed!). Although I am not pushing myself that far or have that goal, I have follwed her blog through the whole process of preparing for the competition and have a new will to push myself to my limits. Seeing the transformation of someone is very inspiring to see. I know now to get the results I'm looking for, I need to really push myself.

Mexico Vacation and some other big news

With all the craziness of the swine flu, I was indeed in Mexico this past week, and am happy to say I am not sick! I got back and my family and friends were very worried. We were in the Mayan Riviera and flew in/out of the Cancun airport. We had no issues while we were down there, or coming back with all the hype the media is putting out about this. Yeah!

On happy notes though, the vacation was awesome! My boyfriend and I hung out at the hotel for a week. 5 straight days of lounging in the sun, and one day at Xel-ha with some other family that was down there at the same time as us. We stayed at the Hotel El Cid http://www.elcid.com/marina_beach_resort/ We had great food, great service, clean resort and the staff was all wonderful. The resort wasn't busy at all, according to us. We never had any problems finding a place by the pool or the beach.

The trip to Xel-ha for the day was great. We got to jump off the Cliff of Courage (which was a lot further than I thought) and snorkel down a river that opened up to a large lagoon. We also swam through some Mayan Caves and got pictures taken from above through a hole in the ground.

All in all the trip was incredible.

The big news: We bought our first home!! The big move is at the end of May. Coming up quickly so the stress of packing and getting things ready to go starts. The amount of paper work and signing of things and meetings with various people is insane! We looked at a total of 10 houses in one day and decided on the last one. We both walked in and felt like it was a home, not just another house. So, we are now in an area of the city that we never thought to look in, in a house that we don't have enough furniture to fill. I'm so very excited to finally stop renting and own something. The thrill of being able to have a backyard and a garage is great. I will try to keep everyone posted on the big move. It's going to come faster than I think

The End... and more beginnings

Stage 1 complete!! (oooo that sounds star trekkie... appropriate since the movie comes out soon)
I have just completed the last of my workouts in Stage 1 of the New Rules of Lifting for Women. I'm ecstatic to be done. I feel so much stronger and have far more energy that I had 8 weeks ago. My broken hand is close to full strength, and my stress levels are slightly lower. I had my trainer at the gym do my measurements for me. The biggest difference was in my body fat %. I am now at 12%. My arms have slightly increased in size and I lost an inch off my waist. Not that there was a lot there to begin with, but now I have a very defined waist.

Last night was movie night, so we used two free admission coupons to go see the new Fast & the Furious. I loved it. I'm very much a car and muscles gal, so this movie was perfect. I went in with expectations of being entertained. Wasn't expecting much of a plot, or really thought provoking lines, so I thoroughly enjoyed the movie.

I am now off for a week holiday in Mexico to relax and not think about anything (I've heard this not thinking thing is done...). We've bought our own snorkels/fins/masks to go snorkeling off the beach and then take with us on a scuba dive or two. We may take a trip to one of the ruins, but the idea of going to relax is to sip Pinacoladas and catch some sun rays. I heart umbrella drinks!

With that said, I won't be blogging again until May! Happy Spring!!

Easter weekend and Indulging

Easter weekend came up faster than I thought it would, and with that come and gone, my trip to Mexico for a week of relaxation is coming faster than I thought. This weekend was a fabulous weekend to visit with family on my boyfriends side. We played a lot of Canasta and ate tons of food. That doesn't bode well for working out, but it was a indulging weekend. I've been extra careful this week so far to eat a little healthier and a lot less. As much as I love steak and crab, that's a very easy thing to finish eating and go straight to changing into stretchy pants to allow for more room. Nonetheless, I enjoyed every bite thoroughly. I must admit though, I got up early friday before we left and did my workout. It's tough working out at home. The weights are slightly different and even though it says 25#, they seem heavier than the ones at my regular gym. All the better I think.

Today is the last day of Stage 1 in my workout plan. After today I will do two extra workouts that consist of going back to my starting weights and doing as many reps as I can. The purpose of these two extra workouts is only to see how much stronger I've really gotten. It should give me a good idea if I've pushed myself hard enough (which I don't think I have) and what my goals for the next stage will be. I know one for sure is that I want to get off one side of the dumbbell weight rack and onto the next where the heavier ones are. I'm at the bottom of one side, so that's a good thing.

After the two special workouts (as the book calls them) I am off for a week on vacation. I'm super excited for it. A week in the sun with my huney at an all inclusive resort. What better way to prepare for kicking my own butt at the gym when I get back?!

Fabulous weekend

Friday night was a great time. My pole friend and I decided to attend a pole party/birthday party. The bar was dance club with a DJ and very large dance floor. The party was for our instructors birthday. She brought in two stages with poles so we could have some fun and show off our skills. We ended up just dancing on the dance floor and chatting and maybe doing a spin or two, but a night out felt great. After about 2 hours, it was time to go home and sleep. I'm not a late night person, (come to think of it I'm not a morning person either) so 12am was about good for me.

Sunday, my pole friend came over to my house again so we could test out my crash mat and learn something new. I am bruised and hurting today, but it was worth it! My biggest accomplishment was doing a Reverse Superman.







Today was back to the gym. I'm finally down to 3 sets of 8 reps. Felt great to get back up to the gym after being so sore last week from yoga. By my last set, I was having to tell myself it was the last one and that I could push through it. I love having to push myself. I don't always do it, but it works! Tomorrow I'll be starting a Level 3/4 split pole class. I'll be able to finish two levels at once. Hooray!

Could be the weather, but I feel that for a Monday, things are going smoothly and I'm in a great mood.

Yoga & finding peace

For the majority of last year, I was taking a yoga class at the gym. After I broke my hand I was unable to participate in the class, or any sort of physical activity for that matter. Today was the first day that I was back at it. A new session of 11 classes started today. I am super excited to start for so many reasons.

The biggest reason is because it's a great stress reliever. I'm one of those very high stress people and as a result I tend to get a lot of knots in my neck and shoulders. Because I work on a computer for the majority of the day, this causes a lot of problems with my wrists. It's amazing how a muscle in your neck can cause pain in your wrists. One of the biggest factors that stress does for me is causes me to not sleep properly. I tend to wake up a lot not consciously thinking about things, but my subconscious is. This compounds everything into one big bubble of bad.

I remember the last time I was in class I was much more flexible than I was today. I can feel just sitting here that my shoulders are pulled back a little better and my hips aren't as tight. I can't say that I'll feel this good tomorrow when my body realizes that I've stretched it in ways it hasn't been stretched in for a while.

My hopes in taking yoga (again) is that I will be better able to manage stress, will be able to do more pole moves, and will have better posture. Not too much to ask right?

Not feelin' it

Today was one of those days where I just didn't feel like going and working out. I think there are a few excuses for the lack of enthusiasm and motivation today. I'm tired, I'm sore, and my workout partner was away today.

I'm sore for a good reason, a fun reason. Yesterday was another pole jam with my friend. She bought herself a crash mat that sits around the base of the pole. It's 5 inches thick of glorious foam. Basically its a modified mat like the ones you used as a kid for gymnastics in gym class. It's simple, and is wonderfully safe. I made good use of it that's for sure. With that bit of safety net below me, I was able to try something new. It took some good spills onto the mat, and some bruises, but I managed to learn two new moves. No pictures yet as I need to work on the placement and be able to hold the move for more than 2 seconds. That will come with practice.

The one thing (and probably the only thing) that made me go to the gym today was the thought of have a Jugo Juice after my workout. I knew if I didn't go, there would be no point to having a protein + fresh fruit blended juice. So I went, and was counting down the exercises I had left before I could shower and be done. I hate days like today. I figure it's probably because it has been almost 6 weeks of this stage and I'm bored. My muscles aren't bored, because I'm still pushing them with more weight every 2nd time I'm at the gym. My mind is bored. I need something new. Only 2 weeks left and then I'll take a week off on the beach. After I get back from the vacation I'll shock my brain and my body into something new.

Hopefully Wednesday's workout will be much better. I've finally slept 2 full nights without waking up, so I believe Wednesday will be a good day. I'll hopefully get time to put together a new playlist on my mp3 player. That might help motivate me a little.