the worst weather

wow. the weather was really bad yesterday and more of it is expected today. cold, windy, raining, SNOWING. yelch! and driving is especially terrible, especially when one lane of the onramp of my second highway is closed for the foreseeable future. i'm complaining carol, i apologize.

i've been really busy lately. so busy, in fact, that i have to schedule time for things like "ironing" and "running the dishwasher." i have a lot of creative work to do - for work and for groups i joined in my personal life. and i want to keep up with swimming and my new strength training routine and be sleeping by 11pm every night. (i have to wake up at 6:15 - that's why i have to go to bed early.)

on sunday night i managed to turn off the lights at 11:23pm. pretty good considering the sunday morning sleep in and feeling a bit more energetic. i've started sleeping with my bedroom window open - i've turned off the heat but it's still hot in my condo apartment and if i don't open the window i wake up in a hot/cold sweat. so the window is open, and suddenly i hear people talking. who is talking? is someone on my balcony? i look at the clock. it's 3:15am. three fifteen people! my very new neighbour (we share a balcony split by a glass wall) is having some sort of wacky patio party. gahhhhhhh! who has friends over until 3:15am on a sunday night?! nothing good can come of this! nothing!

anyway, enough complaining carol. yesterday after work i came home and went swimming. i really didn't want to but i pushed through. my leg/bum muscles are sore from sunday's workout, but way less so than before. i have some nice muscle soreness in the middle of my back from doing the seated cable row. the trick is to squeeze your back muscles together every time you pull back. this man is happier when his arms are straight. me too buddy, me too. i am going to the work gym today at lunch for another strength training workout.

one more thing. i'm in a cardio rut. i am so sick of swimming. i've been doing it for so many months, it's boring to me now, my arms are way too buff for their own good, it's not challenging, etc. maybe i should just start running again. maybe i'm just terrified of the bum pain but it's something that can be worked through. maybe i'm so scared of the pain that it's only in my head - the fear that it might return i mean ... i am going to think about it. i will post my decision, when i decide of course. biggest loser tonight - i haven't watched in weeks. good thing i scheduled my ironing for tonight ;)


ps. did anyone notice that balcony party picture is a "pimpz n hoz" party - free beer woohoo!

to-do lists

bonjour.

having a "to-do" list is the only way to get things done. yesterday at the end of work i made myself a list of everything i wanted to accomplish on monday night. ready? walk 3-5 miles, launder my towels, apply for jobs, pay credit card and cable/phone bills, empty the dishwasher. ALL DONE oh yeah. i love feeling productive. :)

my workout last night was pretty intense. i know i am not supposed to be running but i thought a few intervals wouldn't hurt anyone. and if they did it's my own stupid fault. i warmed up for five minutes walking, and then did a series of six 30-second sprints (8.5 mph) followed by 1-minute of really slow jogging (4.5 mph). afterward i continued to walk (3.8 mph) for the rest of the five miles, changing my incline from 1 to 5 and back to 1 every two minutes. it took a long time - almost 75 minutes BUT i got to read my latest issue of women's health from cover to cover. i finished my workout with some sit-ups, stretches and bum exercises on the mat.

this morning i went for a 40-minute swim, and sat for five minutes in the steam room after my shower. can anyone actually relax in the steam room? my lungs do not like steamy air. every deep breath i took ended up in a coughing fit. i mean two little coughs, not a fit. tonight i plan on doing some yoga. only 20 minutes though.

in other news, last night i also downloaded itunes so that i could download the jillian michael's podcasts i've been hearing so much about. at first i couldn't believe that i didn't have itunes already, but it makes sense since i used to keep songs on my work computer, and now i have a zune which doesn't "do" itunes. i have an ipod but the battery life is so terrible and it doesn't work in cold temperatures at all. lame! i downloaded all of her podcasts (since october 5, 2008) but i haven't listened to any of them yet. i'm thinking... maybe i will put them on a CD and listen in the car. but then again i have three really great audiobooks lined up. such dilemmas! what a hard life... should i listen to the podcast or the book while driving in my car? la dee da doo.

speaking of jillian michaels, who is excited about the biggest loser tonight? i wish i could say that i was, but i'm feeling so-so about it this season. usually i pay attention with one ear and one eyeball and then do other things while i watch, like clean up the apartment or read. the end... i've typed enough today.

zzzzzz zombie

do you ever have periods of time, i mean days, where you are just tired? that's how i feel right now. i got home from buffalo and just wanted to veg on the couch. that's not unreasonable, because i didn't get home until 7:30pm, after a long day of shopping and driving. i watched gossip girl and last week's biggest loser. boy, do i ever dislike vicky! not only does she say mean things, but then she smirks about it too! like what she said was a real great jab... it was just mean, not clever! i don't want to think about her anymore or steam might come out of my ears.

this morning i was going to get up and swim but decided to sleep for longer instead. i am tired and lazy. i figure as long as i don't eat over my points, a few days of non-activity isn't going to turn me into a pile of mush. this week is so busy, too. tonight is date night, since tomorrow i have a sewing line (we are making A-line skirts), and thursday is book club. the book is divisadero, by michael ondaatje.

that's all for now. make sure you scroll down to read about all the yummy food i got in the states.

ouch

last night i was loading my dishwasher and slipped (i am very clumsy) and fell into the cutlery area. a sharp cutting knife poked into me, right between my little and fourth fingers. there was/is a deep hole but it didn't bleed that much and isn't wide so i think i'm going to make it without amputating and fingers... phewf. still annoying though.

i used that as an excuse not to swim this morning. that, and i really didn't feel like it too much. i didn't walk last night either. what is going on? i am trying to stay consistent with the exercise but it's hard. obviously life gets in the way and most people can't work out every day. really, three or four times a week is enough to reap the benefits. i am just going to try and adjust my diet on the days that i am inactive.

but i will probably walk tonight, if i can get down to the gym before biggest loser starts. i missed last week (not last week because it wasn't on, but the week before), but i read about it online. do you want to know what player drives me insane? vicky... she seems so heartless and evil. laughing at other people's misfortunes... and remember when she said she didn't care enough about the prize of a video from home to put her effort into the challenge... because she saw her kids just last week? i mean, come on. i am not a parent but one would assume that you would want to see your kids every chance you got. anyhoo.

yesterday i took care of business in the job application department. i applied for four jobs and wrote personal cover letters for each one. and some of them wanted writing and art samples so i did some scanning and it turned out pretty swell. yep, swell.

that's about all i have to say today. i have a yummy sandwich for lunch. i actually bought a regular loaf of bread (still whole wheat and full of goodness) instead of weight watchers or ezekiel or sprouted grains bread and i am excited to eat it. with fat free turkey and spicy mootard. i mean mustard. :) also, i'm doing the activia 14-day challenge... by that i mean eating one activia fat free yogurt per day, starting yesterday. i need to do some research because i'm not sure (yet) what the point of the challenge, except to turn into a belly dancer or something!

thursday whoop

my heart rate monitor hasn't come in the mail yet, but i didn't expect it to. i am patiently waiting, in case you were wondering. date night was fun. we sang songs, and then we made gardenburgers on enriched buns and low fat mccain fries, and a yummy salad with tomatoes, sundried tomatoes, and fat free ranch dressing. and these santa fe crispy salad topper strips which are basically ranch doritos packaged as a salad topping. ok if you are careful with portion control.

we watched antm: i was happy with who got the boot. that girl was so awkward, she needed to go. she couldn't even walk (or talk.) i find myself thinking, why can't these girls just change to suit the judges? i would! you are a model—adapt yourself! if your silly voice makes you sound like an idiot, stop talking that way! i don't get it.

tonight is more new TV: ugly betty and grey's anatomy. i don't want to watch any more TV but i don't want to be out of the loop. actually i don't watch ugly betty... i've just always wanted to watch it because it looks super cute. i watched grey's anatomy, but the truth is i am so sick of meredith's whining and pining. maybe i will just tape it and read a book instead. that way i won't have to sit through boring commericals either.

or, i could go to the eaton centre after work and meet BOB HARPER, who is signing books at indigo. i really like bob harper. he seems to genuinely care about making people healthier. and he's so little and cute too. on the other hand i don't really care about meeting celebrities, and i don't like crowds in shopping malls, so maybe i will go home and vacuum instead.

this post is too stream of consciousness. this morning at the gym i walked for 30 minutes on the treadmill, did a bit of strength training, and then 10 minutes on the stationary bike. not a bad work out but i might go for another walk after work. tomorrow is weigh-in and i was up for the last two weeks which has to be nipped. in. the. bud. maintenant!

apparently there is a brand new sobey's right by my office so i am going to go there at lunch and check it out. i don't know why they would put a sobey's here when there is a giant dominion and loblaws just blocks away, but variety is the spice of life, as well as consumer choice, so i'm not complaining. today on the menu is:

1/2 piece sprouted grains bread (pre workout)
1/2 piece sprouted grains bread (post workout)

handful of vanilla shreddies shoved in my mouth
coffee

source yogurt with unsweetened almond joy
1 cup chopped strawberries
1/2 cup organic kamut puff cereal

pc blue menu multigrain oatmeal
with flax and
1/3 cup vanilla shreddies mixed in

carrots and tomatoes with spicy hummus
more yogurt with unsweetened almond breeze
grapes

and for dinner... not sure yet.

a midweek list for "y'all"

breakin' it up list style:

1) i do not say "y'all" in my regular day-to-day life.

2) yesterday i was really gung-ho about making kale chips for dinner. if you don't know what kale chips are, google away. after work i rode my bike home then walked to the grocery store (it is very close... less than 5 mins). low and behold, they are out of kale. they had a sign for kale, but no kale. i've never had kale (or kale chips obviously) before so i thought, maybe i can sub in another type of greeny leafy veg and bake that. i decided that chicory looked like kale, so i bought that. let me tell you people, you can NOT make chicory chips. c'est impossible! waste of time...

3) instead i made sweet potato fries... and burned them a little. but i still ate them because i wasn't about to have two failed side-dish attempts. no sir!

4) biggest loser finale: i am happy with the winner, but thought that the show was really drawn out and boring. BORING! and i realized that i don't really care who wins about 5 minutes into the show. so long as it wasn't crybaby mark. wah wah wah. just kidding. he just won too much during the season. i was especially happy with the $100,000 winner. so nice and cute. :)

5) this morning i walked for 30 minutes (2 miles) on the treadmill, then went swimming for 30 minutes. and rode my bike to work but i don't consider that real exercise, because a) i am hardcore and there is a lot of bicycle coasting b) it doesn't take that long.

6) tonight is date night - woohoo! (no poutine tonight, by the way.)

7) SALBA: today is my second day using it. the texture is not like flax (ground). it is tiny little seeds. yesterday i put in into oatmeal and i was not into it. it made the consistency of my oatmeal different. today i put it into yogurt and that was better. i am not magically a new, healthier person yet... how will i ever know!? HOW!?

8) both jennifer and bi0nic w0man tagged me for a game yesterday, so i gotta play. here are the rules of the game...

link to your tagger and post these rules on your blog. share 7 facts about yourself on your blog, some random, some weird. tag 7 people at the end of your post by leaving their names as well as links to their blogs. let them know they are tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

i'll have to letter my list, as numbers are too confusing at this point in the game:

a) when i was young i refused to eat any green vegetables. i thought they were so gross. my favourite saying was, "it's not easy being green," by kermit the frog. now i love green food. the greener the better. of course now i am on a super-health kick, but still. funny how tastes change. i used to hate rice too... i mean who hates rice? no one.

b) i have a very romantic boyfriend. for such a rock n' roller cool guy, he really is the sweetest (and cute too). yesterday he surprised me at work by bringing me nice flowers. we went for a walk outside and a pen exploded in his pocket, haha - it was red, too. i can laugh because it didn't mess up his pants or anything, he just had a really red hand. and phone. :)

c) i am most likely going to europe at the end of august. exact places and details yet to be determined.

d) when i was a kid, i was obsessed with barbapapa. i still think it's super rad! my favourite was called barbapapa at work, which was a big fat book seen at the bottom of this page.

e) i like that new miley cyrus song. so what?

f) last summer my boyfriend and his family invited me to go to fabulous las vegas with them. while i was there, i spent $500 on a betsey johnson coat, which (thus far) is my most expensive fashion purchase ever. i usually look for deals and sales, but this coat is soooooo adorable, i couldn't resist. and everyone said things like, "you're in vegas... live it up!" and "now you can tell everyone you got it in vegas..." etc. i have to attach a photo to show "y'all" because it's that cute. this picture was taken in the store and i am also wearing the matching dress which i didn't buy:


g) i am obsessed with vintage ads, especially ones that show women in a negative, demeaning, or old-fashioned light. for some reason they really, really, REALLY amuse me. like the following:


and i tag: anybody who wants play... as i've put far too many links in this post already.

biggest loser

so i watched my tape of the biggest loser last night, and this is what i have to say:

i like the trainers. bob, kim, and that other one with the big arm muscles.

and it seems like the contestants like the trainers too. except, it seems like kim always has trouble with her team. this week she was yelling at the cowboy, using the "f-word"... and he stormed off. is this for real? is it because she has trouble motivating her team? they win all of the challenges! i don't know. it just bothered me. i hate to see people fighting on tv. maybe i'm too sensitive.