What Happened to the Work Out Blog?

I lost my workout notebook last week. I'm heartbroken. It had 3 months of workouts, notes, and statistics (which maybe I could live without) but I'm missing being able to look up my "max" weight for lifting workouts, I can't remember everything. I'm missing my notes to self about which workouts were hard,  made me sore-what I did or didn't do afterward that contributed, etc. So to catch up THIS WEEK:

Sunday- Beer Fairies. 1 ten mile loop of single track did NOT make up for the morning playing Fairy Duster.

Monday-
Abs- 1 min ea seated twist, toe touch w/10lb plate,  leg extensions and scissors
3 sets, 5 sec rest between exercises, 30 seconds between sets, do as many reps as you can in 1min for each:
Sumo Deadlift with High Pull 45lb (bar)
Wall Ball 10lb -  deep squat and throw the ball up to an X on the wall, catch, repeat
Box Jumps on 12 inch box
Push Press 45lb (bar)
Burpees

Tuesday-
Abs again, I don't remember exactly what we did because I have blocked it. It was hard.
Push Press x 50       1 x 10 @ 45lb (bar)  4 x 10 @ 55lb
Front Plate Raise      1 x 10 @ 25lb
Partner Curls (pass the bar between partners) 1st turn is 10 reps, then 9, then 8....down to 1. I had a spot w/45lb bar
Static 21's  3 x 21 @10lb Dumb bells held straight out in mid bicep curl position- one arm 7 reps up, switch arms, 7 reps down, switch arms, both arms do full curl   OUCH
Rope Tricep Push Down 1 x 15 @20lb

Wednesday- plans shot and ended up with a short 2.5 mile walk/jog with the dog

Thursday- 15 mile bike ride, some road and a lot of "flat" whoop dee doo singletrack FUN

Friday- a whole lotta yard work and cleaning up. Made homemade tomato soup today, it's getting chilly and I love soup in cold weather.

Saturday- well that's today. As soon as the temp is over 50, heading out to my favorite gym

OT from Visitor's Center up to East Summit, up-over and around the West base trail and back to the VC. It was a good 1 hour and 45 minutes or so. I could have done another lap. Or at least a couple more miles. Maybe next weekend I'll hit it hard.

Who came dressed as a pumpkin muffin?

Thanksgiving. What a boring holiday. As if I need an excuse to overeat? We did have a pretty good time this year. J and I went for a short bike ride, then we joined the small one for some monopoly and bocce ball. In the evening we went for a late turkey dinner at a friend's house. And ate too much. As usual.

There was all the usual fare, ham, turkey, dressing, potatoes both mashed and sweet. Pioneer Woman's Wild Rice and Corn Casserole was a big hit, at least with my family, they gobbled it. Then there was homemade pecan pie and raspberry pie. We had no pumpkin pie yesterday- but we did have pumpkin muffins. I made them from the pumpkins we managed to save from the cannibal pumpkin in the picture. He wanted to eat them all.

You never know what to expect when you invite people over for Halloween.
This is Pumpkin Pie Spice.  Looks more like Scary Spice to me but....


Poor Pumpkin Pie Spice Girl. She had a terrible time fighting the men off all night long. She's sooo hawt...impossible to resist. I think her real name is Shawnda.

Bat Chips and Squash "Brains"  Yummy Mummy!

Boogers on a Stick and Ghosties, sweet.

Luckily, the night did not end this way for any of  our ghoulish friends. Except for the pumpkin.

Beer Fairies: Figment of the Imagination?

This past weekend was the end of the Arkansas Mountain Bike Championship Series with the Atilla the Hun race at Cedar Glades Park in Hot Springs. I have never participated in, nor  have I even been a spectator at this race but I've heard good things about it.  We love Cedar Glades. It's one of the first trails I ever rode and it has grown and changed by leaps and bounds since then. The trails are well kept and always in great shape. There is plenty of technical difficulty and some sweet rolls here. It also has a disc golf course, BMX track, climbing wall and a remote control airfield. Nothing like getting buzzed by small (very small) aircraft while riding a bike.

There was a rumor that the famed Arkansas Beer Fairies would show up at the race. I think they have become the stuff of legends.


The fairies situated themselves at the top of a hill that back in the day was known as "Heart Attack". The trail has been changed somewhat and the hill isn't quite what it used to be but it's still a climb. Imagine the surprise those poor souls got as they start pushing and working up that hill and they hear cowbells and fairy voices screaming "huhp huhp, get on up here, we've got your beer!"

It seems the fairies weren't the only ones in wings that day. I think the wings made him ride faster. Wings and Fairy Beer. The stuff champeens are made of.



Post Race- the Fairies took a lap on the course, alas, they once again became the elusive creatures they're meant to be and no one could capture a picture. How do they ride in those tutus?

Anti Bullying Week Across the Nation

This week is Anti Bullying week at schools all over the country. As an assignment from the Student Council Mentor (and awesome composition teacher) The small one and her friends put together this video. No one, especially not their parents, expected what came of it.
The kids were interviewed by the local news tonight on KTHV. They were phenomenal. Congratulations to my small one Miss Mc, Alex, Lauren, Hannah and Lizzie!

Pioneer Woman Part Deux

Now I can "finish" my Ree Drummond book signing story.  When I heard she was coming to Little Rock to sign her cookbook, I knew I had to go. If not for myself, for my S-I-L Julia. She is a fantasmic photographer and was enjoying Ree's photography and tips. She introduced me to Ree's site for the recipes because she knows how much I love to cook. I have often gone to The Pioneer Woman for recipes. Of all the recipes  from her site that I've attempted , not a single one has been a failure. Most have been wildly successful in fact. Which brings us to the story of .... duhn duhn duhhhhhhnnn

The Great Bourbon Sweet Potato Disaster of '07

Thanksgiving 2007. My S-I-L and her 2 precious small ones were driving about 7 hours to spend the holiday with us. I was frantically searching for recipes because...I couldn't possibly dream of having a "typical" turkey dinner with comp'ny comin'. I found what looked like an easy sweet potato recipe that did not involve marshmallows. Nothing against that gooey goodness, I was just trying to be ummm I dunno, sophisticated? The recipe called for GOOD bourbon. I don't know what that means. I bought cheap stuff. I figured, the recipe calls for only a little bit and it bakes out right? Smarty pants that I am, I put dinner together the night before so it would be less hassle the next morning. Oh no. Huge mistake. That cheap bourbon clung to those potatoes like a silk suit in summertime. Even after baking them, those sweet potatoes smelled up the entire room like a drunk tank at 4 a.m. on a Sunday morning. They had to go in the trash. Outside.  I have not lived that one down yet! Probably never will.

So I had to get Ree to sign that cookbook because even 2 years later...I am still trying to make up for those potatoes.

Needless to say, 2008 meant the dinner was traditional in every sense. Well except that I had to cook the turkey on the grill because my oven is too small (I have a 70's era kitchen people!).  I greased that bird up good with some rub from Williams Sonoma, no scrimping on the good stuff, unlike the bourbon. It was delish.

Thanksgiving 2009 plans? The Chinese Buffet. Fa Ra Ra Ra Ra Folks, it's all good!!

P.S. Everyone knows I'm not a good photographer. The pictures were taken by my S-I-L, THANKS J!

A Mother's Guilt

I'm a mom. I feel guilty. A lot. For what I give my daughter, for what I don't, for the way I talk to her and for not being able to ease my frustration.
This past weekend I grounded her from going to anyone else's house because it seems she is always gone on the weekends. Teenagers, right?  She told me her friends were working on a video for school. It is  anti bullying week and the girls wanted to make something special.When I asked if it was an assignment she said "no" so I didn't let her go.  I heard her on the phone on and off all weekend. I heard her say "I'm sorry but I really can't come over" and things like "that song is perfect". 

THIS VIDEO is what she and her beautiful friends were making. I feel guilty that she had to be involved over the phone. I feel, like a bully.

When I stop crying, I will apologize for not listening.

5:00 a.m. is Early You Know

I started back at Arkansas Sports Performance Center this morning.  The workouts are intense, usually shorter than your average cardio or sculpting class because there is little time wasted on resting. Oh my poor body! Short, tough, circuit training style. I really like em. Every day is something different and I never worry I'm going to get bored with a "routine" because there isn't one.

This morning was my first day back after almost 10 weeks because of the Syllamo. And my finger. The first thing is warm up. An absolute necessity! Once the workout begins, you need to be able to hit it hard.

Todays workout:

 4 sets x 8 repeats of 3 in1's:  Hang Clean, Front Squat, Push-Press

All in one fluid motion, or at least an attempt at fluidity. Mine weren't pretty every single time but I tried.  I alternated between 55lbs and 65lbs.  I found that my finger still doesn't like to grip heavy things.

30 seconds each Plate Push and Walking Lunges for 10 minutes

For this we push a weight plate (I used 25lbs) across astroturf. Hands on plate, butt up and run. Not as easy as it sounds. Then after 30 seconds we lifted the plate overhead and did walking lunges with Chris yelling to get deep and hold proper form! 30 seconds and back to pushing, repeat for 10 minutes. The trick was, you could not put the plate down. If you choose to rest you have to hold on to it. It wore me out but it wasn't impossible. I wonder if a 35lb plate would have made it impossible?

2 Dinners and a Show

Friday night we had some old friends over for dinner.  I met T about 7 years ago when she was a summer intern where I work (still) and she was trying to get in to Pharmacy School. She now has that Doctor of Pharmacy degree and has returned to LR after 4 years away.

This is lovely T and her husband M on their wedding day. Isn't she beautiful?

When J and I were married, we knew we didn't need the whole church wedding thing but we wanted our friends to come celebrate with us. We decided to have a big party, serve food we love, and dance the night away before we left on our honeymoon. We had a middle eastern restaurant do the catering and T gave us a fantastic wedding gift: she danced at our reception. T has been studying middle eastern dance ("belly" dancing) for several years. She was such a hit, I think it's the thing most people remember about our reception other then the raging storm that night. I have some great pictures of her dancing and wowing the crowd but they're on another hard drive, perhaps I'll have to hunt them down.


Friday night we had them over for dinner because we hadn't seen them in a long time. We needed to catch up.

We had a great time over the risotto dinner and a couple of bottles of vino. Tonight, T's dance company had a show at Taziki's restaurant in LR. We went to support her. She's still a beautiful dancer, a joy to watch, and J and I got to spend another evening of food and vino with M. Thanks!

Beautiful
as always,
with a megwatt smile.

Love my girl T!

How could I not?

My Favorite Gym

We are so lucky to have this park  in our back yard. Well, a 15 minute drive from our backyard. The 223 mile Ouachita Trail starts (or ends) here. We have so many hiking or running options: follow the OT for a couple of miles then head up Pinnacle or around the base trail or continue to follow the OT out for as many miles as we can stand. For Thanksgiving 3 years ago, we took the small one on her first overnight backpacking trip along 21 miles of this trail, ending at Pinnacle Mountain.

11-06. I can't believe that little girl is now taller than I am.

Yesterday was a beautiful fall day in Arkansas. Temps in the upper 60s by mid day, sunny, gorgeous. J and I headed over to my favorite outdoor gym. We started at the Visitor's Center and the OT trail head then  picked up the East Summit Trail up and over the mountain.  We stopped to chat with a friend just as the steep boulder climb starts, I am always up for a chat with a friend but I HATE getting passed. This guy comes flying by taking those boulders like they were office bldg stairs. RRRRRR, it's ON! I didn't catch him of course, but it did give me someone to chase.

At the top...I stopped to help a family take pictures. A set of 3 siblings that grew up in LR but had spread to Texas and Missouri with one staying put. And kids galore. Oh my. I hope those photos turn out, it was tough to get that many people in the photo, kids had to be wrangled, the wind was whipping and I am not a great photographer!

In the time it took the family to get situated, J had made it up and decided to take a picture of me taking a picture. Yes, I had 2 cameras-it was a big family remember?

This workout was turning into a social event! On the way down we ran into an old friend of mine that I hadn't seen in 4 years.  He was taking his 7 an 9 year old girls and 2 friends up the West Summit. That's a tall order for one man! By the time we hit the bottom and turned onto the Base Trail I was ready to run again and I went for it. I often fall on this trail. I think it's because I was doing it early in the mornings for a long time. Once I even jumped the gate at 6 a.m. to get on the trail. Ssshh don't tell on me. I din't fall today! I can do it without being a total clutz!

Ah the end is near, but it involves up. This is always tough no matter how long or short the hike has been. This one was shorter than my normal "alone" route. But it still hurt in the end. We stopped in at the VC to clean up a little and to start gift buying for Christmas. Ozark Soaps are great as small gifts or included in baskets.      I knew that lady at the gift shop thought it was a bit gross that I washed my face in the rest room, then when I came out and J was talking to her about what we had been doing all morning, she said "Oh no wonder you were washing up!" Yeah, sunshine, dirt, and running kind of make that necessary.

Note of apology to everyone in Fresh Market and IO Metro:  I'm really sorry you had to smell me. I promise I don't always look or smell like that. You always see me that way because your stores are on the way  home from Pinnacle and I feel compelled to stop no matter how gross I am.

Fallen off the Wagon

Or the mountain bike. Whatever.

I think I've been trying to block out this little tidbit. In rediscovering my much neglected blog, I realized I wrote an entire post about our trip to the Syllamo without mentioning something very important.

The Syllamo Broke My Finger.
So I had a little accident about 3 miles into the all day ride. So what. I have little oopsies all the time right? Unfortunately, this one involved getting my pinky finger stuck in a pile of wood debris while sliding head first down an embankment. It's not as bad as it sounds Mom, I promise. Except for the breaking the finger part. Really, it dislocated then snapped back into place so I thought it would be okay. When we got back to the car to stop for lunch I just had J buddy tape it and we rode the rest of the afternoon. The next morning my finger was swollen and blue so I went in to the Dr. to be safe. I had an avulsion fracture. I really wish I had the x-rays. So cool! This little bone fragment floating out there in my knuckle space was causing all the trouble. It didn't hurt when I did it or during the night but man was it hurting by day 2 after all the poking and prodding. Splint and compression bandages for 8 weeks, no weight lifting and I couldn't really grip all the way or straighten it all the way without pain so no more crossfit workouts for a while.

Excuses. I luv em. I used the broken finger as an excuse not to workout. But I cooked and cleaned and even did an Adventure Race (without training for it of course) and had an awesome Halloween party that deserves its own post. And then I got the croup. Maybe the flu, maybe just a nasty cold. Whatever, it kicked my butt for a week and a half. Better now. Playing catch up.

Tonight: Pioneer Woman's Red Pepper Risotto
Tomorrow: Garlic Smothered Chicken with New Potatoes. And I'm going to attempt this. Yes the cooking bug is back in full force. I am so happy to have family and friends that can appreciate.
Excuse me, I have to go infect cells with a nasty cow pox now. Later.

Good Grief Charlie Brown

Forgive me, it's been 2 months since my last confession.

Life has been pretty busy. Okay maybe I just figured I'm talking to myself so much of the time that it wasn't worth it. I mean seriously, when I have 2 maybe 3 people who read my drivel while the pioneer woman gets like 2 bazillion comments a day, it really does bring things into perspective. I don't post pictures, mostly because I'm not the one who usually takes them and I rarely take the time to "fix" the ones I do have access to in order to post them here. I could talk about cooking but since I broke my finger ahem 2 months ago, I haven't been getting the cooking bug as often as I used to.

I have been reinvigorated though. Because Monday night the Pioneer Woman herself was appearing at my local WalMart to sign her book. I had to drive the bus that day so I couldn't possibly leave work early. I hurried from the parking lot and was making good time until I saw the flashing blue lights. There were accidents in 2 places on my route to The Wal Marts. A 20 minute trip took 50 minutes. Aaarrrgh. So I got in line at the BACK of the store. And didn't move for over an hour. My sweet Babou even decided (after much begging and whining) to come up and keep me company for a few minutes, bring me a camera, and a happy meal lest I fall down from hunger WITH A COOKBOOK IN MY HANDS. J didn't stay long. It was estrogen ocean. There was one lone Asian man in line with a nice camera but I think that's another story. By then I had managed to befriend a couple of women in line and it was getting to be mighty entertaining. We got to meet Malboro Man, the Pioneer Woman's main squeeze. I always figured she only posted the most flattering pictures of him, his forearms, his butt in chaps, etc. Nope, he really is that handsome in person. And rather charming. Big surprise, right?

3 and 1/2 hours later I was finally headed home for the evening. When my sweet babou said to me "did you see what our daughter wrote on Facebook while you were gone tonight?" First I said "she's not supposed to BE on facebook on a school night!" then I read the post. And had to forgive her.

" Dear Family, So I squished this bug. And it is STILL twitching. It's guts are kind of coming out of the sides. Mm, tasty..... Yes, I'll probably get in trouble for: A) Leaving it sitting here.B) Staining the carpet with its guts.C) Killing it with a perfectly good notepad.or D) All of the above!Sorry about the stain...Love, Your Kid."

That was a note I wrote to my parents.
Aren't I just so considerate?

It was a good night.