I am so Blessed ....

It is Tuesday November 27th and at 1:44pm I am sitting at my dining room table (also known as my tutoring area.) Christmas music is playing on the stereo, and there are the scents of homemade chicken soup coming from the stove and cornbread hot from the oven in the air. The sun is shining, the windows are open, I can hear the fountains from the pool and the windchimes on the deck. Fat birds are enjoying the seeds in the birdfeeder, which I can watch from where I now sit. A dog is curled up at my feet and a kitten is curled up on my lap. My laptop is in front of me with many pages open to online shopping sites! I am able to sit here in the comfort of my home and run searches for the best deals on Christmas gifts .... click, order, and have them delivered to my door.

I am so blessed.

My business is going well. I had one person cancel their appointment this morning and three more call for help. The minute someone doesn't need me anymore, someone else does. I live in an age where all you have to do is put yourself "out there" and people will find you. Internet, word of mouth, and the LISD tutoring list have been good to me. My job enables me to work from home, yet still do what I love .... which is teaching Math ... without all the hassles of grading papers and writing lesson plans and dealing with administrators. There is much potential for my business to grow in so many directions ... it almost seems the world is mine, I just have to ask.

I am so blessed.

My son and my husband and I are healthy. We live in a beautiful home in a wonderful neighborhood. Our vehicles run and we can afford the gas and insurance for them. My son is a senior in High School, makes good grades, and is in the top 10% of his class. We have saved for college and have the Texas Tomorrow Fund to pay for his tuition and fees. My husband has a job he enjoys and the outlook for his field is good, just not sure about the company he is with right now .... one day at a time there. So far, so good.

I am so blessed.

I am able to go to a gym 3-4 days a week and work-out in pretty luxurious conditions .... pool, spa, sauna, and every kind of weight and cardio machine you can imagine. I actually like going and I am so grateful that my job enables me to be able to go in the mornings ... the only times I actually WANT to work-out!

I have wonderful friends .... wonderful family .... wonderful life.

I am so blessed.

Early Dark ...

I sure do like Standard Time .... I wish they would just leave the clocks alone and leave all time at Standard Time. It makes it seem more like FALL .... and I love Fall!!

Today I went down to Texas Instruments in Dallas for a session about their new calculator, the TI-Nspire. WOW .... what a tool!! Tom drove me down and went to visit Mike and Liz for awhile. I'll write more about the Calculator and the session elsewhere ... probably on my Education Opinions BLOG. The session ended at 4:30 and Tom and I decided to go to Matt's in Lakewood. This is a Mexican Restaurant we used to frequent when we were dating and they have the best Chile Relanos in Texas ... in my opinion. They use pecans and raisins in them .... yummy!! We sat outside and the weather and lighting and everything just said "Fall" and comfort. It felt nice to be in Dallas. I do miss it .... we don't go there often enough. We drove by Tom's old house .... it hasn't changed, but the neighborhood around it sure has .... lots of townhomes and condos springing up. Is that good?? Or bad?? I'm not sure. When we get rich, I wouldn't mind having a condo in Dallas somewhere.

We left Matt's as the sun was beginning to set and took 30 south of the City to I-35 North. The skyline is awesome .... and George Strait's "All My Ex's Live in Texas" was on the radio ... and traffic was thick but moving smoothly .... and it just felt good to be in Dallas, Texas. We got home at 6:30 pm and it was already dark. College football all over the TV. the only bad thing is that it is a little warm .... high 70's .... lows in the 60's .... and we need rain ... but all in all, Fall is good!

As for my workouts .... I am still going!! I'll tell you .... I am glad I have those young men waiting for me ..... it makes me show up when I otherwise might talk myself out of it!! Friday I didn't have a paid appointment, but Tyler said he would work with me for free ... ((He included 15 free sessions in my annual package)). I hadn't worked with Tyler for several weeks ... he usually hurts me or at least pushes me close to vomitting .... Brandon doesn't do that!! And I had never done legs with Tyler. The workout he put me through was very different from what Brandon and I usually do .... different machines, different exercises, slightly different muscles. He made me do calves which I haven't done before .... and he made me do them until I couldn't anymore. Today I am beginning to feel the calves ..... tomorrow will be even worse!!

Swimming is going really well. I am now to the point where I can just keep swimming. No need to stop unless my goggles fog up or begin to leak. I am actually pretty amazed by that ... in 8 weeks I have gone from being able to swim only 2 lengths at time to swimming as long as I want. I think doing the weight lifting had really helped with the swimming. My arms just do not get tired. That is pretty cool.

Oh .... and I haven't reported my measurement results .... after 6 weeks of training ....

• Weight -2 lbs
• Body Fat -1%
• Neck -1"
• Chest +1/4"
• Shoulders +2" (we question original measure on this one but Tyler measured me 3 times this time ...)
• Waist - No Change
• Hips -2"
• Right Bicep -1"
• Left Bicep -1"
• Right Thigh -1/2"
• Left Thigh -1.5"
• Right Calf -1/4"
• Left Calf -1/2"

All the trainers were standing around while Tyler measured me ... and they were all very encouraging about the results. They said I won't begin to lose weight until about 8 weeks in .... maybe more. Damn if they don't all know my weight and my body fat and all my weaknesses now ... sigh ....

Sunday with La and Allen

Tom and I went out with La and Allen in their boat this morning .... we went across Lake Lewisville to Sneaky Pete's where they serve a very nice Sunday Brunch. The weather was perfect .... the lake was perfect ... the company very enjoyable ... the brunch was yummy .... we loved it all!!

I guess Allen is going to put the boat up for the winter now .... sigh ... glad we got to go out with them!

????????

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?

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

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 ...