Still on Track ....

Today I finished my 4th week of Swimming and my 2nd week of Training sessions ... still haven't lost a pound ....

I have been training and swimming 4 days a week ... and I am sticking to it ... and feeling good about it .... and building a good rapport with the people at LAFitness. Robb and Diana just joined the club, too .... and Doug and Erin are also going to join ... LOL .... that is all kinda cool!

Sueann was here this weekend with her new beau .... and he is a real sweetie. Sueann is having job issues ... but nice to see her happy with a nice guy. She had a "Meet my New Boy" party here ... brats and beer .... and only chosen invitees. It went very well. It is the first party we have had here since the Super Bowl .... I haven't felt much like hostessing parties since Wine Fairie turned on me .... an odd side-effect of having trusted friends become total strangers. I have to thank Sueann for forcing me "back into the saddle again" and also for her words of wisdom over that whole situation.

Tutoring is going well .... busy .... I have 3 hours tonight .... then a packed week ahead. All is well!

How Did I ....

How did I get things done when I was always online with the Fewls??

Yesterday (Monday) was my slowest tutoring day of the week ... and I still barely had time to be online ...

How do people find time to work out when they are working Full-Time??? I know I sure wasn't able to do it ... I was always tired!! And there were not enough hours in the day. I sure am grateful to be able to control my own hours (somewhat) enough so that I can workout 3 mornings during the week.

It also helps so much that I quit my part-time job with the little Private School I was working for. That turned out to not be such a good deal this year ... she wanted me to take a big paycut .... and then she wanted me to teach Algebra II without a BOOK!! Grrrr .... Plus ... she lied to me in front of the students that she had ordered Math Books, when in fact she had no intention of doing so. She did that to me last year, too .... I wasn't gonna take it this year. Fool me once blah, blah, blah .... Anyway .... it feels so good to not have papers to grade .... grades to do .... lessons to plan .... tests to write .... etc!! Freedom!!

Nunnie and La have joined me over in iVillage ... very nice to see them there!! We even got Nunnie's Dancing Nun to work on her posts!! iVillage is so HUGE and confusing .... so I am really glad to see people trying to find me and trying to find themselves in there!! LOL ...

Owwwwww .....

Okay .... today I am freakin' miserable. My arms are killing me!! I cannot straighten them at all! I just took some Aleve and I am still planning on going swimming ... but I am going to wait for the Aleve to kick in, first. Oh ... and I am suffering from major intestinal issues .... pain so bad last night that I was moaning out loud most of the night. It started at about 8:45 pm and I took some MOM before I went to bed. Got some relief at around 3:30am .... but still dealing with "issues" here at 10:00am. Not sure what triggered all of this, either!

I really think I have put my body into shock of some sort!! Yesterday I didn't work out ... but I did have 11 hours of tutoring from 9:00am-9:30pm .... that is a freaking LONG day. Good $$ .... but a LONG day!! I don't like eating in front of my students, which is why I am not eating very much these days. I did have 3:30-4:30 off yesterday and I ate a BIG salad .... probably the biggest meal I have had all week . Four hours later, I am in major pain. Maybe it was one of those E-Coli bags of lettuce?? Hmmmm .... I should check!

Anyway .... today is Friday ... I love Fridays!! I am so glad I gave myself Fridays off. Especially since I now seem to be working on Sundays more and more ... it's all good. Okay ... gonna go swim and sit in the Spa for awhile ...

Training and Working out ....

Week 3 of swimming .... the pool was 84 degrees the first two weeks .... but this week it has been 74 .... which feels pretty chilly!! But I am keeping after it!! Doing sets of 6 .... 4 crawl and 2 back-kick/angel-arms .... and that seems to work out pretty well for me ... I'll do 24-30 lengths after a training session and 36-42 on a non-training day ....

So far I am massively retaining water and have gained 3 lbs .... hmmmmmm .....

But I am going to keep at it. I know I need to eat more. I haven't been eating very much because of my tutoring hours ... and I am certain my lovely body has gone into "survival mode" .... holding onto every ounce of fat for dear life ... So I am trying to eat every 2 or 3 hours ... some cheese or nuts or a salad or dried fruit .... yogurt ... stuff like that ....

Training is going okay .... I honestly don't know if I would be doing it if I didn't have someone expecting me at a certain time ... and then making me do "just 2 more" .... they use a different philosophy from what I heard years ago .... I am to work 4 different sets of body parts a week ... then start all over again .... so far I have done ....

• Friday ... Legs!
• Sunday ... Back and Abs!
• Monday ... Chest and Shoulders!
• Wednesday .... Triceps and Biceps!

Starting over again on Friday .... Tyler and Daniel have been kind but pushy ... I guess that is their job. Tyler is a cutie and seems to have latched onto my "mother image" ... which I guess is okay ... I certainly am old enough to be his Mom!

Yay Me!!

Okay .... I have actually hired a physical trainer. That was one of the things I put in my Wish/Dream Book back in January ... and so ... I am doing it.

I got to thinking ...

Tom and I joined LAFitness and it costs us $60/month .... which seemed like a lot to me ... but then I realized that $60 is what I charge for 1.5 hours of tutoring ... and we get a whole MONTH of gym access for that ... which includes some very cute trainers!! But we have to pay extra for Trainer Attention ... $29/half-hour. So .... okay .... what the heck!

So now I guess I will be doing 1/2 hour of resistance training and then doing my laps in the pool after that. Hopefully 4-5 times a week. I will only actually have the trainer with me once a week ... but they are always nearby. And the place is rarely busy ... so I will get attention anyway, if I need it.

Off to the Gym!!

Cracked Pots ....

An elderly Chinese woman had two large pots, each hung on the ends of a pole, which she carried across her neck. One of the pots had a crack in it while the other pot was perfect and always delivered a full portion of water, at the end of the long walk from the stream to the house, the cracked pot arrived only half full.

For a full two years this went on daily, with the woman bringing home only one and a half pots of water. Of course, the perfect pot was proud of its accomplishments. But the poor cracked pot was ashamed of its own imperfection, and miserable that it could only do half of what it had been made to do. After 2 years of what it perceived to be bitter failure, it spoke to the woman one day by the stream. "I am ashamed of myself, because this crack in my side causes water to leak out all the way back to your house."

The old woman smiled, "Did you notice that there are flowers on your side of the path, but not on the other pot's side? That's because I have always known about your flaw, so I planted flower seeds on your side of the path, and every day while we walk back, you water them. For two years I have been able to pick these beautiful flowers to decorate the table. Without you being just the way you are, there would not be this beauty to grace the house."

Each of us has our own unique flaw. But it's the cracks and flaws we each have that make our lives together so very interesting and rewarding. We need to take each person for what they are and look for the good in them. SO, to all of my crackpot friends, have a great day and remember to smell the flowers on your side of the path!

Sept. 9, 2007 ....

Wow I am getting some very odd hits on this blog. Hits from all over the world. No idea why ... interesting!

Anyway .... I got up to 42 lengths of the pool this weekend. Not bad for a first week. I am feeling it in my muscles .... which is the whole idea, right??

Tutoring is going well. Roughly 27 hours a week so far .... and 3 week reports haven't come out yet ... in fact, they haven't even had their 3rd week of school yet!! I am going to line up a couple of other teachers who want to do evening tutoring and try to work out something with them.

We talked to a PR firm about promoting the DVD and that was a very interesting meeting. They are going to put together a proposal for us. We shall see where it goes from there ...

So .... all in all .... things are rockin'!

Trying Again!

Tom and I joined an LAFitness this past weekend. We are once agan going to try to lose weight. This time the grand plan is to exercise and eat right!! Holy Cow!! Do you think we might be on to something??

I have decided to try swimming again. Back in college I used to swim a mile a day ... I wasn't skinny, but I was better toned. LOL ... now I have NO TONE. And it has been at least 25 years since I swam a mile a day .... so this should be interesting!!

The nice thing is that I have mornings available at the moment ... all my tutoring is scheduled for afternoons and evenings. Oooopppps .... just got a 9:00am session scheduled for tomorrow ... oh well ... best laid plans ....

Anyway .... I went yesterday and today and spent 50 minutes in the pool ... swimming freestyle some of the time .... doing backstroke some of the time ... walking laps .... doing lunges in the water is way easier than on land .... basically .... I tried working my arms and legs and stretching for the whole time. I pretty much cannot swim more than 4 lengths in a row freestyle at the moment. I used to do 64 Lengths (1600m) without stopping .... 25 years ago when I was 22!! Gonna take some time to get back into that ...

I also stepped on the scale this morning .... with much fear and trepidation ... and I could not believe that it said the same thing it has said since July 2003 (although I did lose some weight in there on and off) ... I have not gained above that mark!! I find that amazing! Things have definitely relaxed, though!! So time to work some muscles ...

I must admit that it feels fantastic to be able to go to a nice work-out facility like that at 9:00 in the morning ... when it is nearly empty! I had the pool to myself most of the time. It is really nice knowing that I run my own business and that I will be busy later in the day ... but the mornings are mine .... mosty! I thought about all the teachers I know who are in their classroom at that time ... and I felt happy. I LIKE being my own boss.

So tomorrow I tutor 9-10 ... I'll then head to the pool ... stay there until 11 or 11:30 .... shower and dress there ... then I have to get to my 12:30 tutoring session in Flower Mound. I think I can do it .... Thursdays are always busy ... but the blessing is FRIDAYs OFF!!!!