2/14/2013: Week 5 Starting Slowly

Week 5 of Phase II is off to a slow start.  I started Phase II all gung ho and ready to go.  Most of my exercises boxes were filled in and I was aggressively pushing through all obstacles.  Well, almost all obstacles.  I believe there is nothing that can slow a 50 year old woman down more than her 5 grandchildren.  Yes, Jack helped me find a hotel with a decent gym that was not far from a 24 Hour Fitness.  I did use the gym 3 times, but by the fourth morning an extra hour of sleep won out over an hour of exercise.  And nothing was going to keep me from getting to Rebecca and the kids at a reasonably early time in the morning.  As it worked out, those two days I missed were the first two days of week 5.  Thursdays are my normal day off.  I thought I might exercise this morning because of the two days I missed early in the week, but that didn't happen because we were up late last night bowling, (We won 3 out of 4 points!!  We are starting to improve!!) and I am still recovering from my trip to Utah.  I was tired when I got home!  I am going to try to get to the gym today during lunch and I may swim this evening.  I feel like I need to get something in to get back on track for the week.  Tomorrow I work out with Jeremy.  That is one good thing about working with a trainer once a week, you can never get too far off track!!  This weekend should be "normal," whatever that means, and by the beginning of week 6 I should be back on track.  But on my chart week 5 will definitely have some holes in it.

I am incredibly grateful that I had the opportunity to spend 4 1/2 days with Rebecca and her family.  They live too far away from us and we don't get to see them often enough.  It was wonderful being there all day every day for four days because I felt like I got to know everyone a lot better.  The kids are all very special, each in their own way, and Rebecca is an incredible mom.  My favorite part of the day was school.  It was fun to watch each child, even Caden as he wrote his name, did his ABCs, and read his story (he turns 4 in March), work hard on some subjects and breeze through others.  It turns out the eldest doesn't particulalry like division, though her times tables are a breeze, and the almost 7 year old has amazing reading comprehension, but doesn't like to write out complete sentences.  Helping them with their schoolwork brought me back to my elementary school days and I started wondering what I liked and didn't like to do back then.  I seem to remember really disliking spelling, but the memories are pretty vague.  Rebecca is homeschooling the kids, which is a huge commitment on her part, and the kids are so lucky to have this opportunity to learn at home.  They move quickly through the lessons that are easy for them and have the time to work through the subjects that are more difficult.  Each child gets the attention they need on the necessary subjects and for the most part (if not in every aspect) they are ahead of their peers in their lessons.  It was pretty amusing watching the five year old who is in kindergarten.  Some of his lessons were just plain silly, trying to teach him things that he must feel like he was born knowing.  But other lessons were more difficult.  Telling time was a little challenging, focusing on that little hand and whether or not it was before or after a particular number to determine the hour of the day.  He had to determine which half hour each clock was closest to, which did seem kind of tricky for a five year old.  He definitely had to think about it.

School is done for the day in a youngest to oldest order, and the kids sort of peel off and wander out of the classroom as they are done with their classes for the day.  I don't think I ever saw the television get turned on while I was there.  As school was done they would begin playing make believe games, read, play games, and engage their grandma in whatever activities they could coax me into.  Zombie Attack was one of their favorites.  It was one of many games that they made up while I was there.  They are a creative bunch, no doubt about that.  The homeschooling seems to foster that independence and creativity.  They don't spend much time bored, waiting for instruction or for classmates to get caught up.  They also don't spend much time frustrated with something they don't understand and waiting for help.  They do have to take turns, so patience on everyone's part is an element of homeschooling when you have five kids, but each child gets what he or she needs on an individual basis.  It's a pretty amazing process to watch and even more amazing to get to be part of, if even for a brief moment in their lives.  I hope they all enjoyed it as much as I did!!

2/13/2013: Back in Kansas City

Some of you are probably wondering if I will ever get back into the routine after my visit to Utah to help take care of our newest grandson, James.  It's been a week since I made a blog post.  I got back late Monday evening and now I am getting back into the swing of things.

First, the stats.  I weighed 153.0 pounds this morning, so that is 6/10ths of a pound less than when I left, which isn't bad considering I was away from home and my normal routines for 5 1/2 days.  While I was in Utah I did manage to exercise 3 out of the 5 mornings I was there and, of course, there was a lot of rough housing with grandkids, which is definitely exercise.  I got my weight lifting in, there is no doubt about that.  It seemed like their favorite games involved me picking them up in one form or another!  Yesterday morning I did my lower body workout and this morning I rode the stationary bike.  I am getting back into my normal exercise patterns!  I still want to weigh 150.0 on February 27th, the one year anniversary of the start date for my Get Fit Initiative.  I don't think that will be a problem.

I had a wonderful time in Utah.  I am so glad I had the opportunity to be part of Andrew and Rebecca's family life for a few days.  It was truly a treat to spend time with baby James while he was still a precious infant and I had a blast spending time with the four older children.  Yes, I have some stories to tell, but for now, I think I will just share some pictures as I need to get to work this morning.

Here is our newest grandson, James:



James Craven





Our three grandsons



Me and James

James

The Four Musketeers & Pinky

And here are some bedtimes pictures that we texted to Grandpa Jack my first night there:


Our eldest grandson

 

Our middle grandson

Our eldest grandchild with Rebecca

Our middle granddaughter (our youngest granddaughter lives in Oregon) with Pinky

I brought gifts for the kids, including this cool set of building blocks.  I couldn't figure out how to build one of the cars, so here is Andrew coming to the rescue after a hard day at work.  Thanks, Andrew!  You are an amazing father!!


Dad helping build a car that Grandma could not figure out



And finally; I think this photo is precious.  On Saturday Andrew took the boys to Lowes to participate in their Build and Grow event.  He took this adorable photo while he was there.  Just look at that expression!!



- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

2/6/2013: Early Morning Appointment

I had an early morning appointment today and had to race out the door to be at work by 7:30.  The good news is the appointment went well.  I interviewed a candidate for a job and I think she may be a great fit for our department and the organization.  I am scheduling her for a second interview.

I didn't have time to blog though, so this is just a quick update to say all is well.  I head to Salt Lake City this afternoon to help take care of James and his family.  I am looking forward to that!  I am bringing my laptop, but blogging will probably be hit and miss.  I'll do my best to check in a time or two over the next several days.

Have a great rest of the week and weekend!!

2/5/2013: Crazy Week

I didn't get home from work until about 9:30 last night and I am headed to work early this morning.  I did not get my swim in, yet.  I am hoping to get home early enough this evening to swim before going to bed.

I need to get a project wrapped up before leaving for Utah at 2:00n tomorrow.  It is beginning to look like I am going to have to make some compromises.  The historical bookkeeping is kind of a mess.  Ugh.  This does not make me happy.

I'll figure something out today, I just don't have any idea what time I will be home.  I appreciate Jack picking up the slack at home when I work too much.  On the plus side, when I get this project done our China company should be much easier to manage, freeing me up to focus more on our company here in Olathe.

I weighed 153.2 this morning.  Better...

2/4/2013: Warm February So Far

It was 45 degrees at 4:30 this morning so I ran outside again today.  I can't decide whether running outdoors is easier or harder than running on a treadmill, but it is different.  I hope I continue to have opportunities to run outside this month.

I ran 5 miles in just under an hour, so it appears as if I run a little more slowly when I run outside, probably because I don't just set the pace and go.  I know I am getting stronger because the hills don't slow me down as much as they used to.  In fact, this morning I did not really notice the hills until I was half way up them and all of a sudden realized I was working harder.  Just as I was wondering why the run was getting hard all of a sudden I would notice that I was going up hill.  This is a lot better than what I was doing only a few months ago.  A few month ago I would start dreading the hills the second I started my run and have to psych myself up for each one of them.  It feels good to see the improvement.

Yesterday Jack and I played racquetball and I did much better.  I was getting set for more of the shots and doing a better job getting the ball to the wall.  We actually went into overtime for one game (still using modified scoring - I can get points when Jack serves, but he can't get points when I serve).   After playing racquetball we did a strength training workout.  I modified one of the workouts that I did last summer for Jack to do at the gym at work.  I think it will be a good all around workout for him to do a couple times a week, though it seemed to be a little too much after the racquetball yesterday.  I guess we'll see how it goes.

Between going out for dinner and ice cream (yes, ice cream!) Friday night and having a snack and half a beer while watching the super bowl last night I did not do well with my goal to start working towards weighing 150.0 on February 26th.  This morning I weighed 154 pounds.  I seem to be fluctuating between 152.5 and 154.0, without dieting at all.  I am having trouble motivating myself to count every calorie, but I know that is what I need to do to reach my goal of 150.0 by my one year anniversary.  I will do better this week.

2/3/2013: Warmer Weather = Workout Outdoors!

Yesterday as Jack and I were running errands it occurred to me that it was warm enough for me to do my scheduled brick outdoors.  It has been a while since I rode my bike or ran outside, so it seemed like a good idea to take advantage of the opportunity.  We have a bike path that starts about 3 miles from the house that I've been wanting to check out, so that was my destination for yesterday's ride.  I rode to the path, stayed on the path for 18 miles and rode home for a 24 mile bike ride.  After I got home, I pulled off my shorts and leg warmers (my running pants were on underneath for a warmth layer), changed my shoes and went for a 2 mile run.  I made the decision to run only two miles because I felt pretty tired after my bike ride, it was getting dark, and my toes were very cold.  After running the two miles, I knew I could have gone further, but it felt like enough, for now, so I called it a day.  The 24 mile bike ride and 2 mile run took me two hours and 17 minutes.  The bike ride came with it's share of obstacles including stop lights, traffic, people walking dogs, an unpaved section of the trail that was loose gravel, a section of the trail that was 3-4 inches deep in mud causing me to go up and over the trail, dog walkers, baby walkers, etc...  I estimate that I lost about 20 minutes to obstacles.

It was good to ride outdoors on my bike.  It was harder than I thought it would be.  I made a conscientious effort to not stop pedaling, there was no coasting on yesterday's ride.  Whenever I could, I pedaled hard, gearing up so I was always working with resistance.  Riding on the path was nice because there were no stop lights and there wasn't any traffic, but there were several blind curves that I needed to approach cautiously and I needed to slow down for those.  Overall, the path was better than the city streets because I had to stop a lot less often.  Better yet would be getting out in the country, but that requires a little more planning and a little more time.  It's harder to slip a two hour workout into the day if you need 45 minutes to get there and another 45 minutes to get home, particularly when the days are so short. 

It was a different experience to run after getting off my bike.  It was very, very different from getting off a stationary bike and getting onto a treadmill.  For the first 1/2 mile of my run I felt very awkward, like a baby learning how to walk.  My legs did not want to run.  I felt like I was tottering, almost.  My brain was able to tell my legs what to do, but my legs were not happy about it.  I almost felt like I was running on peg legs or on legs that belonged to someone else.  On top of that, my poor toes were frozen so I couldn't really feel my feet.  The next time I ride outdoors I will wear warmer socks!  My feet started to thaw out as I ran so about a mile into the run I felt like I had huge toes.  By the time I got back to the house, everything felt normal, my toes and my stride, and I knew I could keep going if I needed to.  But at that moment I didn't feel like I needed to go any further.  I learned what I needed to learn, yesterday, which is what it felt like to go from my bike to running, without a rest in between.  And yes, it was difficult. 

All in all, I was happy with my workout yesterday.  I will continue to workout outdoors when possible.  Winter will be over before too long and then all of my running and cycling will be outdoors.  That will be nice!

2/1/2013: Starting to Feel a Little too Busy

This seems like a cyclical issue for me.  I'll get a little bored and a little under stimulated and I start looking for things to do.  As I start making changes, I get more engaged and I get busier until all of a sudden I am too busy.  Then I have to take a step back, do an assessment of what is important and what I can let go.  All of a sudden I am feeling pretty darn busy.

It's mostly my job including my travel schedule and the fact that I am working on major issues for two different companies, the one here in Olathe and the one in China.  The issues are very different but the goals are the same.  Of course, there are two different sets of shareholders and employees to work with.  Sometimes it is a little daunting.

Last night I had trouble falling asleep.  I don't know if it was because yesterday was a rest day and I didn't exercise, so I wasn't very tired, or if it was because I worked a little late and had a project on my mind.  Either way, I had a hard time waking up this morning.

I have not been to the gym yet, but I am confident that I will get there during lunch to do lower body strength training, which is the only thing on my schedule for today.  I am keeping this post short so I can get to work early, prior to the interruptions starting.  I have to get a project done today.  I'm hoping this weekend will be restful.

Thank God it's Friday!!