The Monster is Quiet

For anyone who has talked to me recently...my cliffhanger on the previous post was anything but. Of course I kept my appointment at the gym, I just couldn't think of a better spot to pause the story.

So, I met with Jenn (who is so beautiful you really don't want to like her, but then she's so nice that you have to like her. And while you're turning your cheek to this genetic slap in the face...in walks her identical twin sister!) Anywho, she walked me through the typical warm up routine (which left me sore for days) and we talked about goals and ability. She also explained how the exercises can be modified to my skill level.

My goals were (are) to A. fit nicely into a beautiful bridesmaid dress, B. be healthier, stronger, etc. in general and C. I've always secretly wanted to be able to do a pull-up! I can't really pin point why I have wanted to do a pull up...it's just always been in the back of mind that it would be really cool if I could do one. I'm a simple person.

After that first session, I started attending the Monday, Wednesday, and Friday classes. One does not just show up at this gym at any time and do whatever workout they want. There are scheduled classes and a specific "Workout of the Day" or "WOD". Everyone starts at the same time and does the same exercises (again, modified to each persons skill level).

The great news is that I have NOT thrown up, passed out, or peed. The last one is not entirely true, but after birthing 3 babies one does not jump rope 400 times without consequences. I have remained relatively injury free...I've suffered bruised shins (either doing deadlifts or just walking into a barbell), bruised forearms from doing ring dips, I recently ripped a callus off the palm off my hand (in an effort to cover the exposed area, one of the guys a the gym suggested New Skin liquid bandage...well, he did not tell me that it would burn my soul) and (this one is embarrassing) a blister on my tail bone...twice. Ya know the whole "Fool me once..." applies directly to this. I have also dropped 2 dress sizes and am the strongest I have ever been in 32....er, 29 years.

Recently, Jenn and Mike started to focus on one exercise to improve on after the "WOD" was finished. One week it was hand-stand push ups, another week it was double-unders (passing the jump rope twice under your feet in one jump). This past week, it was pull ups!!!! I was so excited! These are not straight up and down pull ups, but these are called "Kipping pull-ups". You use momentum (and strength) to swing into the bar and there are specific steps to doing these. Jenn taught us the first 4 steps and I actually got it!!! Not a full pull up yet, but I was able to get the feel of the momentum and what to do with it. I was so excited, when I got home Jay said it was like I was high. I was giddy! I didn't want to leave the gym that day...I kept trying, I was so close!

It was like a bat hitting a baseball perfectly, hitting a golf ball on the screws and crushing it, the "A" on a difficult test, the perfect shade of hair color....it was glorious. That was on Wednesday of last week, Friday is when I tore the callus on my hand because I kept trying over and over again. I CANNOT wait to be able to do it!!!

Now the Monster is quiet and I'm chasing the pull-up!!!!

Jay asked what I would do when I was able to do one.....and I said, "Work on doing 2."

Quieting the Monster (part 1)

So, after having our third baby, Trey, last May...one could say that the "out-of-shape monster" reared her ugly head. My body image complaints really started in earnest probably in the summer. We took a trip to Michigan and I had to go out and buy shorts, t's, etc in the largest sizes I have ever had to squeeze into. Not good...the monster is howling.

While in Michigan I walked in the mornings and started to feel a little more in control...the remnants of "You've done this before, you can lose the weight." started to hush the monster.

I continued to walk, maybe even jog a little after we got home. Then the wheels (and running shoes) fell off the wagon and I went nowhere fast. I think the monster was laughing.

I love our local YMCA. It has been completely remodeled in the last few years and is gorgeous. It's affordable, has a huge gym, new exercise equipment, clean locker room, friendly staff, and child care! The only thing it doesn't have is a pool, which is fine by me since I consider most pools to be cesspools of bacteria, perverts and pedophiles. Huh, I use the same words to describe the play area at the mall. Anywho, I digress. My point is....I just didn't go to the Y. The kids never wanted to stay in the child watch room, and if I did go by myself, I totally lied about how hard I was actually working out. I would do the elliptical for a while and barely break a sweat. Then, I would move over to the weight area and pretend to do some ab work....then I'd look at the clock and tell myself that I had been gone long enough. Time to head home and feed the monster.

Then Hannah asked me to be a bridesmaid in her wedding! Yeah for me! Uh oh! Now I really need to do some work...and shut that monster up! Should I go back to the Y? Do my own thing in the morning before everyone wakes up?

Jay suggested checking out CrossFit. CrossFit is a gym that we pass on the way to our church. It's in a building that used to be an auto garage. The tell tale bay doors give that away. When it's warm, those doors are open so that all can see these muscle bound people lifting real weights, doing real work. "Yeah right. I don't think so." was my reply. Every effort of getting me to check the place out was rebuffed, so Jay did the next best thing. He went to the gym himself, talked with the owners and set up an appointment for me to meet with them. "WHAT??!!!" I could barely hear over the monster laughing! Me? Walk into that gym knowing no one, knowing I wouldn't be able to do these types of exercises? What if I threw up or passed out? Both were very real possibilities! But, Jay assured me that there were other "stay-at-home" moms working out while he was there, the owners Mike and Jenn were very nice, and the exercises could be modified. So, I....to be continued...

Happy (???) birthday to my sweet girl!

Our poor Isabella has had a tough run of birthdays.....Her first birthday, she had a double ear infection. Her second birthday was celebrated by taking Joe to the hospital for some stitches...awesome! We think her third went off without a hitch....but this year! Sad-Sack-o-Suds she is....instead of birthday cake and ice cream, she's having watered down Gatorade and dry toast. She hasn't thrown up in a while now, so.....

Happy birthday my sweet, beautiful baby doll!!!

Happy Birthday, Hubby!!!!

Happy birthday best husband, friend, daddy!!!!

Happy birthday, First Born!

I could seriously post about 5 million and one pictures of our Joe....but, that would take awhile. So, instead stop by and look through the scrapbook sometime to see more. Just call first so that I can finish the 50 or so pages that are currently floating around in my head and not on the pages of his scrapbook.

Our Joe was born this day 6 years ago! While some days seem like they may never end...6 years has gone by in the blink of eye. Joe, though we always call him Junior, has always been a sweet, sweet soul. Caring and gentle, smart and inquisitive...I pray that he always is these things. Happy birthday, Baby!!!!

Not as funny as I thought it would be.....

If you take a gander at Megan's post, you'll see that she asked her precious babies a series of questions, then published the unadulterated answers. Very cute and sweet....Courtney suggested that I do the same with my kiddos....at least with the ones that can talk. I didn't realize how many questions there were until we started, and the answers were not as side splitting as I had hoped....but still entertaining. Bella is almost 4, and Joe is almost 6. I interrogated ...I mean asked them at separate times.

1. What's something your mom always says to you?
Bella - to listen (huh...)
Joe - clean up

2. What makes your mom happy?
B-When I do something nice.
J-When I clean up.

3. What makes your mom sad?
B-When I do something mean.
J-When I don't listen.

4. How does your mom make you laugh?
B- I thought you said there were only a few questions?("you're right, I did...") When you do silly things like BAHHAHAHHA!!!
J-You stick your tongue out. (likely story)

5.What was your mom like as a child?
B-You were silly like this AAAAAAGH! (Is this a theme?)
J-You were funny and good (soooo wrong!) and you were wearing a gray shirt like the one you have on...only smaller.

6.How old is your mom?
(say 29, say 29!!!)
B-32 (traitor)
J-32 (rats!)

7.How tall is your mom?
B-This big. (hers hands were about 2 feet apart)
J-Big up to like here....(his arm fully extended...pretty accurate)

8.What's moms favorite thing to do?
B-Work...somewhere very far away.
J-Exercises

9. What does mom do when you're not around?
B-Be so sad.
J-Hmmmm.....Mom, what do you do when I'm not around? What do you think Mommy does when you're not here? I'm not sure...think about my good thoughts.

10. If your mom became famous, what would it be for?
B-Being on The Price Is Right!
J-Telling jokes

11. What is your mom really good at?
B-Jogging (that is a lie)
J-Cartwheels (I think my round off is better)
I would like to interject that I'm really good at not ending my sentences with a preposition in real life.

12. What is your mom not very good at?
B-Jumping jacks
J-Playing Wii (darn tootin')

13. What's your mom's job?
B-Working, exercising
J- exercising

14. What's your mom's favorite food?
B-Veggie burger
J-Spinach
While both of these are true, my real favorite is oranges.

15. What makes you proud of mom?
B-hugging me
J-When you tuck me into bed

16. If your mom were a cartoon character, who would she be?
B-a queen (right!)
J- Annie from Little Einsteins

17. What do you and mom do together?
B-Play play
J-hug

18. How are you and mom the same?
B-Same hair and eyes (eyes, yes...hair, no!)
J-blue eyes and we both like to hug and kiss

19. How are you and mom different?
B- We don't have the same neck. (I never noticed that)
J-You have long hair and I have short hair...you have earrings and I don't.

20. How do you know mom loves you?
B-hugs & kisses
J-your smile

21. What does mom like most about daddy?
B-You love him and marry him.
J- You wrestle around and punch his hands. (Think UFC, people...not domestic violence)

22. Where is mom's favorite place to go?
B- mall
J-mall
I would have said to sleep...the mall ranks maybe in the top 20.

I think I'll ask them again, but this time for Daddy!

I want YOU to go to this concert!

On March 13, PW Gopal is performing at the Pittsburgh Mills Mall! Who is PW you may ask? PW is an awesome brother in Christ and he has an amazing talent to boot! His voice is soooo powerful he almost doesn't need a microphone. If he just stood in the middle of a room and read from the phone book people would stop to listen (or they would be wondering why he was doing that...but you get what I mean) To see him in concert is like watching Storytellers on MTV...or VH1...or MTV2....or whatever it is. He has a great story for each song he has written or a reason why he's performing a particular song.

The church that we go to (Riverside Community Church) is sponsoring the concert and allowing PW to use their satellite location at the Pittsburgh Mills Mall, cool huh? The proceeds will benefit our local Young Life area, too. See? Everyone wins.

March 13
7:30 - 9:30
Pittsburgh Mills Mall, Entrance 5
$10/adult, $7/student

We will be going with the kids as it is our eldest baby's 6th birthday that day, so it would be hard to say "Happy birthday, Joe! Now, have fun with the babysitter!" We're thinking of getting there early, hittin' up Giggles N' Smiles, a little food court fare and rockin' the night away! Hope to see you there!