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So who are you from or near Liverpool, NY and Owings Mills, Maryland?

You guys have been checking out my posts almost daily for months and months .... who are you and why do you care?

Anyway .... all the angst from the past few months started exactly one year ago this coming weekend. But if you noticed, I'm moving on .... and writing stuff I would think you would find boring ... unless you do really care about me and my life. Do You?

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I think I have lost maybe 2 lbs .... but I am getting re-evaluated this coming Friday .... weighed and measured and all. Should be interesting. My body is feeling different ... Tom is calling me a "Hard-Body" .... LOL .... but I know what he means .... my arms and back and shoulders are all gaining muscle. I am sure my legs and abs are, too .... but that is hidden under the fat .... sigh. So we will see what the tape measure says ....

Swimming is going better and better. I think the weight training is helping with that ...today I swam 10 lengths freestyle without a problem .... could have done more ... but changed to backstroke for a couple .... then freestyle again. Seems I could go and go .... I may have to look into getting a waterproof iPod .... if there is such a thing. I'd like to have music of some sort while I am swimming .... I think it would help. I have kinda stopped counting laps .... I lose count if I get to thinking about something too much .... so now I am just swimming for 30 minutes straight. Resistance training (weights) for 30 minutes and Cardio (swimming) for 30 minutes ... 4 times a week. So far so good.

Finally ....

We are finally getting some Fall weather here. Rainy and windy today and I am loving it!! I have also figured out why I like going to LAFitness .... even during weather like this (when I would normally want to stay home and snuggle in). The place has windows and mirrors everywhere ... it seems so open and BIG .... and I can watch the weather while working out. Plus ... the pool has huge windows with the weather Right There. Today it was really nice to be in a warm environment, although wet, and watch the rain coming down. I sat in the Spa for awhile and contemplated how blessed I am to be able to be doing that on a Monday morning.

Loving this weather and my life!

Hmmmmm ....

I haven't been here for awhile! Or at least I haven't posted for awhile! Sorry about that!

Looks like my Site Meter has improved on getting peoples' addresses .... it is much more accurate than it used to be. It even recognizes me .... which it didn't used to do for some reason.

Working out is still going well. I missed Friday, Sunday and Monday of last week while we were on out houseboat trip ... details here ... http://houseboatinghorizons.blogspot.com/ .... came home Monday night to a tutee waiting outside our door and 3 more to follow her. Then Tuesday I had 11 hours of tutoring and finally Wednesday morning I got to go back to the gym. I felt totally worn out before I even got there. Did my time with Brandon and swam a few laps ... but not my full workout. I was exhausted afterwards. I didn't have to tutor until 2:30 .... so I went home and slept some. My 2:30 didn't show up ... but from 3:30 on I was booked and busy. Thursday I worked 9:00am-9:30 pm .... with only a couple of 1/2 hour breaks in there.

By Friday I just wanted to sleep .... but had to get up ,,, get Robbie's lunch made .... and normal stuff ... then off to training at 9:00. I can honestly say I would NOT have gone to the gym if Brandon hadn't been waiting for me. I guess that is part of what I pay them for. I did my workout with him .... and swam my full 32 laps. Yay me.

Marsha got out of work early and we went to lunch and then went to get Mani-Pedicures at the Hawaiin Nail Bar .... wine included. That took a couple of relaxing hours!! Very nice. And of course, BJ's later. All in all and very nice Friday.

Finally got to sleep-in this morning ... and doing a two week cleanse ... and feeling much better. Had the day to do whatever I wanted .... worked on the new blog ... got the pics working ... talked to Steve and Ellen on Yahoo Video .... LOL .... Steve is so funny. Tom made a pot of chili, just because we WANT it to be cold ... but it ISN'T!!!

Anyways .... life is good .... busy week next week, starting tomorrow ... we have Exams coming up and end of Nine weeks means grades crunch for some people. I actually have several hours of tutoring scheduled for tomorrow .... which isn't like me. Only doing it because of exams ...

Meet My Trainers ....

Here are the men who hurt me. And I pay them money to hurt me. Well ..... they try not to HURT ME, hurt me ... but they sure make me to "just 2 more" when I felt like quitting 5 ago. And I would have quit if I had been on my own ... And they are a reason to show up at the gym 4 times a week ... I have an appointment .... I have to go .... these poor babies have to pay their rent and make their car payments and go out and drink beer and stuff ...

So .... without further ado ....

Here is Mr. Sunday Morning .... Tyler ....



And here is Mr. Mon-Wed-Fri Mornings .... Brandon ...



And here is Mr. Whenever Brandon and Tyler don't have room .... Jace .... who sings to me as I work out ...



Dang .... the website cuts off the right side of the picture ... but you get the idea!! LOL ....

These are my men ....

There is also Daniel ... but I haven't caught him on film yet.

Finished week 3 of training .... still haven't lost one single pound ... bought a heart-rate monitor ... Tyler will show me how to use it tomorrow .... supposed to be water-proof for swimming ... so we will see what my heart rate is while I am working out. I'll keep you posted!!

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!