PinkNinja

I leave for spring break and you get into S&S? Oh. It's KB workouts... right.. You sound like a busy guy lately. The news about the garage renovations is pretty exciting!

I'm calling Spring Break DONE! There is technically still Louisiana Spring Break to go, starting tomorrow, but the lodge is only at like 40% occupancy, so nothing like the last 2-3 weeks. I'm worn out. First mini rant, since I can't do it anywhere else WHO IN THE WORLD sends their 7 & 9 year old children off down the side of a mountain on a 9.5 mile trail with nothing but a cell phone?!? I wanted to break the woman's nose. "Somebody kidnapped may babies! They're supposed to be here" Then we find out, no, you turned them lose to hike to a lake down a trail AN HOUR AGO, and expected them to be done. Seriously. Break. Her. Nose. We found the kids, it ended ok. But she still has children and she's still stupid. Also, How do you FORGET your 4 year old child is hiking with you on a guided hike?! We got to the end and I realized their child was gone. I asked "Where is ____ _?" They were like "Oh she wasn't with us." I stopped for a second and said "Yes, she was. If she wasn't, how would I know who she is?" Then they freaked. I ran back up the trail and found her. She was perched on the last rock they had her pose on, swinging her legs, almost a mile up the trail. I think she was the smartest in the family. Anyway, I have done excellently on logging my food. I've actually got an 18 day streak going on MFP. I didn't do any of my assigned workouts this past week. None. BUT I did get plenty of activity. I think the lowest mileage day at work was today, at 1.5 miles. The highest mileage day was somewhere around 8. In the last two weeks at work, I've probably hiked around 40 or so miles, if not more. On my days off, this past week, my dude & I took the kiddos(his daughter & his ex-stepson,long story) to play indoor mini golf, laser tag, and arcade games. Because our backpacking trip had to be postponed because of weather. *grump* BUT we had fun. Mini-me and I got pedicures while the guys went to an "Old school arcade" The next day, my dude made us all breakfast. It was the first time he's made me breakfast in our 5 years together and now he's in trouble cause he cooks bacon perfectly! I did do a mini bodyweight workout at work. It twas raining and I couldn't do the scheduled Lizard Art program, so I threw together a last minute substitute called "Lizard Athletics" and led the kids in different exercises loosely based on lizard mating rituals. You can probably tell by my ranting about work that I did not do well on that portion of my challenge. There were days of 12 hours working with no breaks, other than peeing behind a tree. (I <3 my GoGirl! TMI, maybe? Sorry.) Crazy work hours = crazy sleep hours, so did pretty poorly on that part too. Meditation was hit or miss. There were a few times were I was really getting exasperated and just closed my eyes, and focused on my breath for a few seconds. Though once when I was doing it, an employee was like "Are you fixin' to cry?" My coworker goes "She's focusing on not hitting you." Which was not entirely true. We all wound up laughing like it was a joke, but it kind of wasn't. SO if mini meditation counts, I did some form of meditation almost every day. I have slacked up on the decluttering. I was mostly eating & sleeping in my house. Plus my house looks like a tornado hit it. The only laundry I've kept up with is my uniform, and I do confess this is my second day in these work pants & uniform shirt. (What?! I change the white undershirt everyday, promise. And I hate moving all those badges and pins from shirt to shirt </whine>) It has rained on my days off every week for over nearly 2 months. I decided last night that I should quit letting that stop me. I mean, I do have a decent amount of rain gear. So I'm thinking screw cleaning house this week and actually go on a short overnight. There's a nearby trail that has a shelter halfway, so if the weather gets bad, I'll have a safer option. So that should be my adventure this month, unless the forecast starts to look more ominous than 30% chance of t-storms. Though the really awesome 3 in 1 jacket that I ordered doesn't fit. That size & brand have always fit before, but I haven't bought anything from them since I gained so much weight back, SO not this time. It is about 2 inches too small. So I've kept it, telling myself that by next winter, those 2 inches will be long gone. OH! And the trainer suggested a suspension trainer. There have been a couple exercises that I couldn't do because of my tailbone and if I didn't mind getting a suspension trainer, he could give me some great alternatives. I'm torn between being totally in love with it and being terrified I'm going to kill myself with it. I did inverted rows with it and WOW! So, mostly love. I got a WOSS. It's hot pink and way cheaper than what I've seen before. I also used a discount code and purchased a set of resistance bands because when I saw the WOSS, I realized how portable equipment like that was, I went all the way. It'll be great for when I travel for work and when I go see my guy. But the bands.. That doesn't make sense to me. I don't see how combining a 5 lb rubber band and a 10 lb rubber band get a resistance of 15 lbs. It seems like the resistance would only be as high as the highest band, so 10 lb.. But I'm obviously just not getting it because hands on, RL, it does work. Anyway! SO now I've got to sneak around and get caught up on what you guys have been accomplishing while I was spring breaking.

I'm alive. I miss ya'll. Work is eating me alive with spring break guests & all that entails. I'll be back soon.

Last week was pretty great. I did decent on food. I did great on working out. I meditated every day for at least a minute. I did 3 sets of 10 push ups, with 3 in each being full push ups, in one work out. I've not done well on sleeping, but everything else has been good. I feel GREAT!!

I'm up(ish) for a challenge. Anyone?

I picked sleep. Man, I hope so! One more ice event and we're staging a hostile take over of a random Florida state park. I have recruited team members. I usually do something for me one week on my days off (W/T), and the next week, go see the guy on my days off. I flip flop like that until something shows up. So this W/T was a see the guy & kiddo week. Which means this week would be a for me week, and I could go camping, but it's going to be raining the whole day, both Wednesday & Thursday. But, the next week, the guy, the kiddo & I are going camping because she's out of school for spring break. If her dad can't get off of work, she and I are going on a girl's backpacking trip. She wants to do the girl's trip either way. She said "Daddy.. the boys need to find something else to do. Brandy & I are going to sleep on the trail!" I'm going to try to get back into workout out regularly and track my sleep for a bit. Then I am going to try to find a new doctor. Working out regularly helps me, as well as getting a regular schedule, which I suck at. Okay, so I wasn't around here much this week, but I did well on my challenge and goals. I signed up for a fitocracy group, Bodyweight Fat Loss. He gave us 4 work outs this week. I have spent most of this week very sore. The one for tonight was killer. It was a ladder workout 10 burpees/10 box jumps, 8 burpees/8box jumps, 6 burpees/6 box jumps, 5/5, 4/4, 3/3, 2/2, & 1/1, completed as quickly as possible, with as little rest as possible. Except I don't have anything in my house that I trust enough to jump on, so I did jump squats instead of box jumps. I had a plastic milk crate, but it seemed really wobbly. And I was scared of falling on my butt, cause my tailbone does not need that. So I actually did taekwondo this week! (my spellchecker is trying to change "taekwondo" to "wonderland") Bag work, combo drills, and practiced each basic kick. It felt so great. What was really great is that my tailbone didn't hurt on the kicks like it did before. No stabbing pain when I kick?? I'm sucking on my sleep goal tonight. I got home from work at 11. Had to eat, workout, and now it's 1:30. I have to be at work at 10, so I'm going to sleep later. I'll get back on track tomorrow night. **HUGS**

Glad you're feeling better! I hope you get your full recovery.

I was going to say the Vivaldi on the guitar was the best thing I've seen today and then you did this: salted caramel vodka?! They make that?! I have got to find it. And buy ice cream. Hope you've been "Chillin' out maxin' relaxin' all cool And all shootin some b-ball outside of the school" eh, sorry, I had a moment. on a running day...

Sounds like you're having a really rollercoaster time of it lately. I'm sorry. *hugs* I hope things level out and go better. How was Crystal Bridges &Van Gogh? Did you have fun? Did you wave at that really big mountain just southward? (I Mean come on, I live on the biggest one in Arkansas! You had to have seen it. I can see there from here.. ) Happy Birthday Mrs. JoeDog! Btw, I noticed your 5 day streak on MFP! Way to go.

I may not make the challenge, since it looks like I have Monday & Tuesday to do it? Oh well, I'm stealing the template anyway.

I probably won't be in bed on time tonight either. My basket weaving workshop started at 2. I'm waiting on the last two participants to finish right now (it's 7:48) The other 11 participants are finished. I'm sooo hungry.. Food is priority but then I have to decide if I'll stay up later but do yoga as planned or go to bed and do yoga tomorrow. I think the rest of the workshops I do are going to be on Sundays and start earlier in the day.

So many things.. I'm equally inept at both. Bass seems easier because it seems less diverse. Both are totally uneducated opinions because I have never played anything with regular and only one song with bass. The chick in reclining hero pose has really nice arm definition. Random, but eh. Congratulations on the surprise splits! I love when I randomly discover I'm better at I thought I was at something. Judo kata look very different from TKD kata, but hey tae kwon do can't even all agree on what their kata should be like . I like the two person aspect, and that makes sense. I imagine doing the throws without a person to actually throw would a little whacky. I like the facebook video, too. If I ever get back to testing for my black belt, I may steal that as a one step,(or something easier lol) but I'll have to add in a strike or two. I have read an article about Kayla Harrison. I was like "Ooh! I know who that is!!" The grocery box thing sounds cool. I never would've thought of sausage having gluten. Hm. Goodnight! Hugs and burpees!

Sorry your weekend is going to involve working lots more than you should/anticipated. Good luck with your challenge workout. You've been really rocking the workouts, so I'm sure you'll do excellent on it. *hugs*

The cranberry apple stuffing sounds so delicious. I think I'm going to have to try it. Thanks for linking. And it's so easy sounding! Crystal Bridges is AWESOME. I have been trying to plan a visit to see Van Gogh, too. Do you KNOW how close you're going to be to me!!! Ok, not really that close, it's 2 hours still. I'm near Rogers & Bentonville so often that I forget it actually is quite a ways. Super glad that your puppy has recovered and is home!

The Danger Room sounds incredible. Sorry you haven't been feeling well, but it sounds like now you're recovering and getting ready to go back at it. Can't wait to read your plan of attack. You seemed to like Cheech's mountain picture, so I decided to take one for you while I was out today.

I did not go camping. The weather forecast got worse & worse. Several people expressed a number of concerns, which I began to listen to, so I stayed home. My dog was appreciative. I did sleep in a hammock in my living room, with a fire going. Then the weather did not meet everyone's expectations. Well, it met & exceeded for some people, but I would've been fine. I let some folks talk me out of it when I shouldn't have. I did conquer mountains on my days off, mountains of laundry. I did mostly housework and cooking. I'm almost caught up. Having a full deer hide in my freezer is starting to really interfere with my normal cooking & meal methods. It takes up the entire top half of my already inadequate freezer space. *sigh* Oh well. That's what I get for waiting until it was too cold to tan it. My wrist, shoulder and back are almost completely recovered from my ice-capades. I haven't worked out, other than some walking, because I was afraid of making my back & shoulder worse or slowing their healing. I plan on doing some yoga tonight. If that goes well, I will go back to daily pushups or squats and give the TBT workout another shot, wonky or not. At least until I finish reading Starting Strength or have something better. I should try it for a couple weeks and get used to it. I think part of the problem is 2 were totally new moves to me, and the video didn't really break down how to do them. It only consists of 4 moves, so half the time I was lost. I do really hate feeling lost. Another part of it is that I suck so much and I've gained so much weight back and in my head I should be able to do all the things I could do before I quit 1.5 years ago. But I should do it, bc I have it and any workout I do will be better than what I've been doing. I just really need to get back into the habit of working out immediately after I come home on normal work schedule days. I missed an adventure for Feb., completely. I'm going to double up one month and make up for it. I slacked some on meditating. I've still been doing it, but I've not increased my time. Teaching was fun, but stressful this time. Because of the impending weather, they asked us to cram a 4 day class into 2 days so people could leave before the weather. Now I'm feeling guilty. There were several people there that really could use more instruction. BUT I didn't pass them, so they'll have to go for it again, which means its out of my hands, so I need to let it go. We're doing a weight loss challenge at work, so $$ motivation. I just found out I've been nominated to speak before an state legislative committee as a successful Arkansas woman in a science & outdoor career field that benefited directly from an education program they are looking to re-appropriate. Kinda cool,a little bit terrifying, though not as flattering as it sounds because the original nomination was apparently from my mom. The underlined portion makes me disappointed in myself that I don't "Look the part" more, so motivation there as well, even if its a negative motivation. Today is being a total Monday for me at work. I am scattered and need to get focused. I think I'm going to go home, have lunch and try to come back to work with some energy. I work til 7ish tonight, so I have half a day left to get somethings accomplished. And I get to lead a hike at 4, so there's that. I have a horrible time sleeping. It's hard for me to fall asleep and hard for me to stay asleep. Then in spurts, I sleep walk. One night, I even cleaned my kitchen and had no recollection of it at all the next morning.(kinda was a nice surprise after I got over the HOLY CRAP WHAT HAPPENED HERE?! thought I suppose it is still possible we just have really nice burglars here) I have gone outside, went in the garage, and even eaten a banana (least it was edible & healthy..) where I had no recollection of it the next morning. I don't do it all the time, that I know of, but I do know it happens, and its usually several nights in a row. Sometimes melatonin helps, if I recognize early enough in the night that I'm having a problem. I had a doctor that was trying to help with the sleep issue but with recent changes in the health care system, he is no longer covered by my insurance. (that's also why I had to start all over on getting my tail end fixed)

Yay! It's Kishi's BIRTHDAY !! I'd make you a cake, but this would probably happen And that's before I tried mailing it! Because I know you're decluttering, I'll endure the hardship of NOT giving you a present Well. Maybe one. Cause, well, And am a little like at your pullups. so, (I just wanted an excuse to have a dancing cowboy..)

I worked Sunday, then raced the weather to get on the road. I'm at another park teaching Wilderness & Remote First Aid. I have been mostly taking it easy. My shoulder, arm & wrist all hurt and my ribs decided to join the club today. I have been successful at meditating, which makes me happy. I have been sucking at going to bed early, which doesn't surprise me. Though I think that's my problem. I don't think I've fully committed to that. I think I keep blowing it off like "eh, that'll never happen. I'm not sure. I don't know what happens. Maybe I need to set an alarm for 9:30 to remind myself I have less than one hour before I need to go to bed. Because time tends to slip away on me. I have not been doing the TBT work out. I did it one day. It kicked my booty, but I don't know that I like it. some of the moves seem... dumb. I don't know. I'm thinking about trying lifting. But right now, I'm not doing anything because I'm trying to let my body recover from my triple threat falling escapades. The only pushup I have done recently is when I pushed myself up out of the snow. I have been doing squats when I wake up in the mornings though. I will hopefully get to go camping in the snow and go see some waterfalls while they are frozen on Wednesday and Thursday but its starting to look like the weather conditions are deteriorating into ice & general crap, which means I may need to stay on the mountain. If I don't, I may not be able to make it back up in time for work on Friday. I'm tempted to go anyway. No one would hold it against me. Except maybe my dog. He is a little too attached to the electric blanket. IF I don't go camping (which I really, really, really want to do..) I will probably hang out in my living room and fiddle around with my guitar to see if I can learn anything with it when I'm not madly cleaning. (If I were responsible, I wouldn't go camping. I'd stay home and clean. But who wants to be responsible all the time?!)

What letter are you calling out? The one showing when it hits the wall? Sorry. I'm kind of confused.

I am very sorry for your loss. I know there's not really anything I can do, but if I could, I would. I can't imagine losing a friend and seeing another go through something so difficult.

I had to work late, nearly all day, 9-9ish. The weather has continued to suck. A couple ladies needed help in the parking lot. As I was getting out of the jeep to help them, my left foot slid away before I was even out of the jeep. I managed to fall completely on my stomach, hang my left arm in the seatbelt, and get my right foot stuck in the door. I face planted, acquiring a mouthful of snow & ice, with my arm twisted back behind me, hung in the seat-belt. Yes, I had on my yaktrax type things. They didn't really help this time. And apparently I fell so hard, it knocked them off of me. I didn't realize it till later, so they are still in the parking lot somewhere. I just got home. I hurt. I'm going to take a hot bath and go to bed, wrapped in my electric blanket. I'm not coming out until tomorrow. Night ya'll.

Sounds like you're busy. Hope your days go better. If they don't, just kick them in the face.

I'm in Arkansas,southern USA, so winter's aren't that bad. I hike and camp in the winter. It takes a little more gear, but now that I've gotten used to it, I love it. Where I work, we have to get out and about in bad weather, so I didn't really have a choice but to get used to it. I just got back from a work hike in 12F & snow right now. The only thing I don't do in winter that I do when it's warmer is kayak. Though I've been looking into what gear I need to keep that up also.

Congrats on doing your hotel workout! Cause I have this problem.. /\ /\ I love that you have a goal book. I think I need to make "The Oz Principles" my goal book. It's been "strongly suggested" that we read it by our Park Operations Manager, and I think maybe I could benefit from it. I keep starting it but then come across so many more interesting books. Like a new Ranger's Apprentice book, or an issue of Backpacker, or One Fish, Two Fish, Red Fish, Blue Fish (What?! It's a very dry book and I love Dr. Suess..) Or just more interesting things to do. Like sleep. mmmsleep I saw you added me on MFP. We're friends now! I can food stalk you help you be accountable! I'm bad about eating something I shouldn't then being like, "Welp! I'm done logging! Not putting that down!" I think I'm going to try using MFP a little for meal planning too. Maybe.

Oh and I logged into this HabitRPG everyone keeps mentioning. I like it! Now I just need to figure out how I want things set up.