Birthday Cake, Soccer and Karaoke

This week the 'baby' had a birthday. We fooled her into thinking that we were ignoring the actual date due to all the other good stuff she was getting to do around the time of her birthday. But I couldn't let it go completely. So while she was having a music lesson, I went and rounded up her 3 best friends. The small ones' Grandparents met us at a local pizza joint and brought birthday cake. I went to pick her up and suggested we eat out since J was out of town and we were both hungry. I think she was surprised. She said she was surprised. How do you tell with teenage girls? They look surprised when you remind them they didn't finish a chore, or forgot the due date of a library book, or when you find that unfortunate stain that was hidden by a backpack on the floor for 3 days.

She gets very excited over mixed CDs made especially with her taste in mind.








Later in the week she had her first soccer game. She's trying the game this year after sitting out of any sport all last year. She says she likes it. I'm happy to see her running.

After the game, we needed to eat and stopped in at a "bar and grille" close to the school we had played at. It was karaoke night. We were highly entertained. Within minutes, the small one had switched her Facebook status to:

Yeah, I'm a professional karaoke hopper. I travel around the country, going from bar to bar competing against whoever dares to challenge me. It's a pretty intense lifestyle. I don't recommend it for the weak.

My kid has a sense of humor. She makes me laugh.

A Busy Week

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2 1/2 weeks ago, our yard looked like this. The good news is, this week it doesn't!

Monday:
warm up- 50 x V ups, 3 x 12 overhead squats
4 rounds-
3 in 1's (clean, squat, press) x 10 45lb
plyo jumps x 20 started at 120lb, dropped to 105 lbs set 3,4
400m run outside, every 50 steps (counted on one foot) stop for 12 jump squats
pushups x 20
1 min rest between rounds

Tuesday:
warm up with core workout
bench press 2 x 3 88% of max, 2 x 2 93% max, 1 x F 100%   85,90,95lb
superset 1-  4 x 12 each front plate raise 25lb AND military shoulder press 20lb
superset 2- 4 x 20yd plate push 35lb, shoulder implosion 2 x 10seconds
shoulder complex (8front, 8side and 8rotator lifts per set) 3 x  5lb
50 pushups

Tuesday Night involved a birthday cake and way too much pizza so Wednesday morning I slept in that extra hour. More on that later.

Thursday:
warm up with core workout
50 chair pushups (sets of 15, 15, 17, 3)
bench press 1 x 6 80lb, 2 x 5 85lb, 1 x F 95lb = 3 reps
3 x 25 pushups between sets of bench press
endurance bench  (as many reps as possible for 15 seconds, hold the wt up for 15, press for 15 seconds)
1 x 55lb, 1 x 60lb
standing curls 3 x 10 15lb dumb bells
partner curls- 10 reps, 9 reps, 8 reps.......1 rep.  used 15lb until last rep- used 45lb bar
resisted curl- partner holds bar and resists you as you try to lift and lower

Friday:
warm up with core
10 rounds-
30 plyo jumps 90-105lb
200 m run (sprint)
box jump (over 8 and 12 in)
10 burpees
NO REST!

Saturday:
Worked on the trails for 5 hours. Lots of raking, bending, rock moving, etc. Sure didn't feel like all that much during the day but we were so exhausted, we both fell asleep on the couch before 10 p.m.. Sad.

Food, Food. Glorious Food.

Grilled Portabellas with Herbed Goat Cheese

One weekend night we were invited to a lovely but very large pot luck dinner. We thought we would be arriving relatively early so we brought an appetizer- goat cheese rolled in paprika and another rolled in finely chopped fresh dill. Yum. But there were so many people there and SO much to eat. We brought home a sliver of each to enjoy later. I had planned to make portabella burgers so the leftover goat cheese was a perfect topper. Then we decided to forgo the bun altogether and just eat the creamy cheese covered shroom on its own. 

Baked Eggs   

                                                      

                                   

One morning I got ambitious and decided to try something different for breakfast. This was one of our "snow" days so something hot and comforting was in order. Ramekins + butter + fresh garlic + eggs = goodness. 

     Jambalaya, Feijoada and Praline Liqueur                                                             

    

                                                       

 

 The Saturday before Mardi Gras and Valentine's Day Eve saw us entertaining and being entertained by our wonderful friends. I made a bastardized version of an Emeril Legasse Jambalaya and our Brazilian friends brought a traditional black bean dish called Feijoada.

Served with a beautiful pico de gallo and toasted yucca flour over rice, this dish was mouthwatering good!

We also had a Praline Liqueur to celebrate the Nawlins in us all. Who Dat!

Ladies and Gentlemen may I have your attention please. This is like yo momma's Pecan Pie in a glass. Go get you some. Now. Right now.

Snow, Tire Flips and Push Ups

No, snow has nothing to do with the tire flips. Or push ups. Except that the snow got in the way of me doing any said tire flips or push ups for a week.

Last Monday we got hit with a beautiful snow. A rare occurance in these parts. I was happy to see fluffy stuff instead of ice pellets. But, it kept everyone home for a couple of days and made conditions still treacherous in the dark hours of early morn when I usually to to work out. Then it just got darn busy trying to play catch up. Did get a bit of walking in on Monday and Tuesday- walking in the snow FEELS like a workout.

Saturday 13th- 2.5 hours on the Ouachita Trail in heavy hiking boots traversing the mud and snow.


Monday 15th- She's Got Leeeggggs
3 x 15 plyo press 180lb
3 x 15 plyo jumps 125lb
2 x  plyo jumps 15 sec work: 15 rest: 15 work
mountain climbers between sets while other group did jumps

circuit 15 sec work: 10 sec rest for 3 min
wall balls 15lb
plate push 25lb
tire flip
wall sit

Tuesday- She's got ARMS??
3 x 20 wide chair pushups
bench press 1 x 6 85lb, 2 x 5 95lbs, 2 x 4 attempted 100lb but went back to 95.

Circuit x 4 rounds
alternating dumb bell chest press  10 ea arm x 25lb
med ball push up (hands on top of 2 small med balls) to failure (face plant)
walking push ups 10lb DBs
: 30 sec of cable bumpouts 20lb each arm - this is like boxing but pulling weighted cables out - ouch

Wednesday- She doesn't have speed
5 minute core workout to warm up
sprints. omg sprints.
5 light x 8.5-10 mph to fail  maxed out about 40 sec
5 medium x 11-12 mph to fail maxed out about 20 sec
2 heavy 5.5 mph on steep incline this was my favorite maxed out at 30 sec!
Took a 600 m jog outside in the cold to warm down

Thursday- 20 minutes to do as many rounds as possible
5 pullups
10 push ups
15 squats
only did 11 rounds?? It sure felt like more
then 4 x 8 push press, 55lb, 65,65, 75lb

Friday- TIRE FLIPS- Waaahooo tire flips!
50 x 2 hand heavy tire flip
25 x single hand "light" tire flip right arm
25 x single hand "light" tire flip left arm
50 x flip jumps-  flip, jump in, jump out, flip. Oh my stars.

I should have a rest day but I'm hoping the weather holds out long enough to do some trail work tomorrow. Please weather gods, shine down happily upon us!

Good Friends, Bad Influence

Friday night J and I enjoyed a much needed evening out with a couple of good friends. I have been trying to make it over to The Pantry since the fall when Sweet Sarah Smiles would not shut up about the apple strudel. Darn her. We finally made it there. I enjoyed a lovely dunkelweissen at the bar, but I wouldn't have if I had seen the specialty drink menu first. I would have gone for the Pomegranate Gimlet or the Gin & Ginger Press maybe. I knew I would be ordering the pork shoulder for dinner and the strudel for dessert. Thanks Sarah.

 The restaurant has a lovely bar and a lounge area up front. I did appreciate the warm coziness of the wood and deep colors they used to decorate.





Following our most decadent and enjoyable dinner, the 4 of us saddled up and headed to Grumpy's for after dinner conversation. We were having such a great time, we started to ignore the fact that we were supposed to get up very early the next morning. I love when time flies like that. Good Times. Good Times.

The Freezing Fun of February

I know, it wasn't so long ago that I would have had no issue at all with jogging in a 27 degree pre-dawn. Lately I think I'm wimping out on it? I haven't done a distance road run in months. I've never really enjoyed road running as much as other things so if I can substitute something else I will. I should find a way to rediscover some joy in it.

Monday- Overslept after a fun Sunday workout at Pinnacle (2.5 hours on the icy trail!)

Tuesday- 15 sec work : 15 sec rest intervals x 8 (4 minutes each)
resisted run out (bungeed to a sled with 100lb dumbell on it, grab a med ball overhead, run out and put it back)
weighted step ups (45lb bar on shoulders or at chest, step up and down on 24inch step)
wall ball w/ 15lb ball
lying med ball toss (alternate with plank or pushup, no rest)
sprints x 10 mph
I repeated the wall balls and ball toss/ push ups cause I had a few minutes to kill but didn't think I could do any more legs

Wednesday- warm up with Abs.  Workout time limit 20 minutes, as many rounds as possible
10 push ups
max out lat pulldowns 80lb OR pullups ( I did mostly lat pulls, a few pull ups)
15 squats
Finished 13 2/3 rounds!

Thursday- Step Mill 25 minutes followed by 4 x 45sec run @ 8 mph

Friday- The "Angie" workout
100 push ups
100 sit ups
100 squats
100 pull ups or lat pulldowns-  did 40 assisted pullups with band, 60 lat pulldowns 70lb
did 5 x 30 jumping jacks in between lat pulldowns sets to keep heart rate up

Saturday- I had a little too much fun out with friends on Friday. Managed 35 minutes of Wii "hard" workout with resistance band

Sunday- Started on building a new mountain bike trail in the woods. yee haw. 3.5 hours of raking, walking and a little jogging.