Parts of my weekend

This has been a weird weekend. Other than Friday evening, when I had sins and debauchery with Jenna and Jessica, I have been exceptionally well behaved. And for once, I was not completely over run with things to do....although now that I say that, it occurs to me that I should have fetched Vixen from the trainer where she has been waiting for the weather to break so she could come home. Crap. I better get on that.

Anyway, yesterday, the new hay came from Indiana. This is a new supplier that I am considering doing full time business with, should the children do well on this hay. He brought me huge bales about 1800 pounds of mostly alfalfa. It is not net-wrapped though, so the unloading of the two truckloads caused there to be much debris all over the front yard. I cannot stand the thought of wasting all that good hay, so I picked up what I could and chucked it into the pasture. Look how nice the children are playing while they share it! But there is definitely one in that mix that does not match.

That was my big activity yesterday--gutting Foxy's stall, dealing with hay, etc....and everything was much more difficult than was necessary because since things have thawed, it is a muddy pit over there. It is absolutely disgusting. It made me need a nap, which I do not think I got around to taking, but I did almost nothing else besides watch TV, read a book and hang out with the dogs. It was swell, but made me miss Barry, who is working hard in Houston still.

I made arrangements for the tractor to go to the shop tomorrow, so today, I had to deliver enough hay to each pasture to last a week while it is gone. I am kind of guessing since these bales are so much bigger than what we have been feeding, and since they are alfalfa and not bermuda, that will set off a feeding frenzy. My children are a little spoiled but have not had any alfalfa round bales all year, so I can imagine the excitement out there tonite. As I delivered the bales, they abandoned their Bermuda to eat what was blowing off the new bales as I drove. It was quite a spectacle. I took four bales the back, and put two in the middle--and moved some horses around so that Foxy can play in the pen with her own round bale and quit pissing up my stall. The mud was so thick that it really bogged down the tractor even in 4-wheel drive. It also blew mud all over me, which I did not notice until I was at the gym, with chunks of mud in my hair. I am such a lady.




On one of my trips home, I found that Peeg had gotten into another mess with a bag. If he was not such a kleptomaniac, I do not think this would happen so often. Cracks me up though---you would think he would teach his cat to get it off of there, but so far that has not happened.
In between all that hay moving, and errand running, I went to the gym TWO TIMES. I found a new feature on my heart rate watch that calculates calories burned based on my weight and my heart rate--according to it, I burned almost 500 calories in 40 minutes on the treadmill the first time I went. Woo hoo! That seems high, but I will take it. The second time, I did not stay quite as long--30 minutes and 250 calories--but I did not run at all the second time, so maybe that was why. I was so proud of me, though. Now we are resting, and Simba looks so cute laying on her pillow in front of the television, I had to take a picture of her. Of course the flash woke her up and she had to start her nap all over again, but it was worth it to get a cute picture of her resting. I hate to admit this, but we are bored. We have watched all the Jersey Shores we have missed, been to WalMart and the Bath and Body Works sale where I got carried away on lotions and shower gels, but will surely smell good soon, and have started two new books. We are still bored. This is so unlike us. We are easily entertained by TV and the internet and thinking about laundry, but it is just not working for us today. And we have tomorrow off, so I have a whole nother day of being bored.
I know I have posted pics like this before, of my neighbors catch pen and loading chute, but honestly, my options of photo material are limited when I am watering the boys here at the house. This is how bored I am--take the same pictures, and post them again.

I need some entertainment, or I will be forced to put up the laundry and maybe throw away some stuff. I hope it does not come to that

KMFBA Goodbye--Week #3

A day late, as is my custom, but yesterday, I was sure I would not live til today, so it hardly mattered what my weight loss stats were. Plus, since I was too sick to leave the house, I could not weigh on the right scale to find ut what the deal was.

Today, I am still dying, but needed new medicine, so I ran by the gym to weigh. I was not sure what to expect.

I busted my ass last week working out on Tuesday and Wednesday. Wednesday was a very big deal, as I did two spinning classes straight through, and did all the challenges. That is 80 minutes of spinning. In the intermediate class, they do much longer intervals of climbs, which I call the stand-up parts. The most I ever did in beginner class was 45 seconds. On Tuesday, I managed to do four different one-minute stands ups during the 60 minutes of work I did.

I was very proud of me, and the teacher noticed it--in fact, he pointed it out. On Wednesday, the intermediate class was full and I felt a little guilty about taking a spot if I did not intend to do it all. Plus, people look at me. I dont like that but it is good for me. Most of the people in that class, are racers and serious about biking--not just fat chics like me. And Barry knows them all cuz he races with them and trains with them sometimes. That is even more embarrassing but also shames me through it.

So on Wednesday, I did THREE-MINUTE stand-ups. The set was three minute, two minute then one minute, then back up again. I did two full sets. In fact, I did everything the class offered -every single thing. Sure, I got a little dizzy sometimes, and my feet went numb, but I was not about to let that stop me. I did not cramp at all and somehow I got that weird eupohoria thing I get around the 30 minute mark and was able to keep doing it.

It was AWESOME

I intended to do it again on Thursday , but I got distracted having some social life---which might mean either I am a drunk or not an exor-exic after all-so no exercise at all. Plus, in addition to all that beer, I ate regular food instead of watching myself. Very bad.

Shit happens though. On Friday, I had Pizza Hut buffet, but did not eat as much as usual. My Friday hard class that I was looking forward to was cancelled due to illness, which I heard before I went to the gym, so it was a real struggle to get me in the building. BUT I WENT! That is a big deal for me. Throwing off my schedule so that I am allowed to think about it is always my downfall. I did not do a lot while I was there-- 150 crunches, and about 25 minutes of weight machines, but I had not done machines in a while so that was better than nothing.

Saturday morning, I went to the gym at 11 and rode the bike for 30 minutes. Then I cooked some carrots and green beans to eat before I worked the horse show all day, at which I normally eat the shit out of some hot dogs with pickle relish. However, that was a bust. I was not feeling well at all, and by the time I got home, I was sick as a dog--standing out in the thirty degrees with a fever for 7 hours is not advised. So no eating that day to speak of--a bowl of chili and the veggies.

Sunday was the same. I mostly slept all day--in fact, I slept 19 hours out of 24. When I went to bed Sunday nite at 11---a full 3 hours before normal, I slept 15 more hours. I made myself eat yesterday, for fear that I would screw up my metabolic roll, and ended up going over, but that is ok.

All that brings me to today when I went to weigh. I thought I probably lost a little, but since there had been no exercise since Wednesday, I was worried.

I had my usual struggle with that damn scale that is schizophrenic. I gave up on that one, as it seemed to be talking crazy. I am afraid to believe it when it gets all crazy.

I gave in and tried the downstairs one which is out in public, so I have never used it. Mom has though and says it is two pounds heavier than upstairs. There was no one there, so I got on it---and holy balls, it says I had lost EIGHT POUNDS. And if it is two pounds heavy, that is a total of 10 in one week

While that sounds insane, and I am afraid to beleive it, I have so much to lose that its not out of the question. Not eating fast food, not drinking more than once a week, and working so hard may finally be catching up.

That is a total of 23 pounds.

Holy shit.

Storm damage

Good friends suffered a chunk of damage in the crazy storm the other day. Their nice horse trailer was tipped clean over (hey Kate, maybe you could say it DFO'd), and the pile of rubble in the yard is the bulldozed remains of their 12 x 20 tack room.

Isn't this a hell of a mess?

Meanwhile, they have a Slybaby due soon out of a cute cute little mare. Sharon said the barn door slammed right next to her stall and sent her into a tailspin shaking and hiding in the corner. Some extra loving calmed her down today and she is fine.

On another note, the new cardioboxing girls stepped it up a notch last nite, and by the time I was done, I felt EXACTLY like that pile of rubble.

What is the matter with me?

I cannot get up in the mornings, I just cannot do it. I slept 11 hours Saturday nite, 10 hours Monday nite, and my alarm did not go off for water aerobics this morning, so I was 15 minutes late. That is not conducive to getting a very good workout.

Cardio boxing is tonight though, after my tan, so I hope to make up for it. I feel so lethargic and slothful, something has to change.

Tooting my own horn

Because no one else is going to do it, isn't that what Oprah says?

Last nite, I had another run in with the ass that owns the gym. I asked him to show me how to move the seat on the recumbent bike since I still cannot do it. First he claims he has showed me this twice, which he has not, then shows me so quick that I could not actually do it on my own. Typical me.

This forced me to try the treadmill, because I really could not reach the pedals on the bike after that mess. I quit walking on the treadmill about 8 or 9 years ago because I had so much trouble with my feet--my right foot would burn and go dead--not to sleep which is just irritating, but DEAD. It was incredibly painful. I quit it altogether.

I was hard up last nite, so I tried again. My new wide circus clown shoes are doing the trick I guess, as I was able to walk 40 minutes without any shooting pains or feeling like my foot was in a vice. I may have worked up a little blister, but I can live with that. I was so proud of me.

I went home and ate the chicken dish I had put in the crock pot. It was pretty tasty.

This morning, I got up early and went to the pool for water aerobics. I was a little late because I stopped to try to take pics of sleet with Robin's tricks for stopping action. I failed and was late for class. It was kind of a lame class anyway, and I do not feel like I got much of a workout in teh 25 minutes I was there. That is okay though, as they change classes all the time, and I will just not go back to that one--if I am going to go to the trouble to go (let alone get up early), I want a workout.

I am going to go back to the gym after work and try to work in some more walking before my 6 pm board meeting.

My reward will be pock chops and sauerkraut from the crockpot, and sitting in the big chair while I watch American Idol and read a new book I got written by an internet friend. It is going to be a swell nite.

I am going to need it since tomorrow is cardio boxing!

A little out of my element

I cannot believe I actually did this. I tried the Cardio Boxing class at the gym. I thought I could do it because when I peeked in last week, they were taking 30 second breaks.

Once again, I totally misjudged my abilities. First I did ten minutes on my favorite leg machine which you should not measure in minutes, but I know ten minutes is approximately 200 reps--for some reason it was kind of hard. I must be a little sore from water aerobics yesterday.

It was a BIG mistake to do that in addition to the class. I almost died. This is no exaggeration. I thought I was going to have a major cardiac incident in the first ten minutes. I got dizzy and when he told us to lay on the ground, I was thrilled---until he said get up and that was part of the routine. No thanks, I just laid there. He made fun of me, but I did not care, as I did not have the energy to get up.

It was pretty fun to punch the bag, then kick the shit out of it--particularly because I was pretty riled up at an internet person. I kept picturing her whiny face as I whacked at that thing. I may have gotten carried away, and perhaps that is why I almost died.

At the end was some yoga stuff. I had to remind ol boy that I am a fat old woman and cannot be expected to be as good as these scrawny little nymphets in the class, and he would have to bear with me. Plus Iwas holding up a whole lot more weight on my toes and elbows. I was not as embarrassed as I thought I would be, but that is probably because I was not getting enough oxygen.

In any event, I lived through it and I liked it enough to try it again next week. I DEFINITELY got a workout and this is the first time I have felt like I was really working hard since I started this program again. The water aerobics was not easy yesterday, but it certainly was not this! I am pretty sure that it is a good thing this happens once a week and not more!

Then another strange thing happened. I went to tend to Mojo tonight with instructions to not click until he has maintained contact with me for a count of 2. That was kind of hard for him, but we will get it eventually--he likes to brush his nose all over me, and I really want him to put it somewhere and leave it for a count of 2. We will get there. The wierd thing is that today he was fascinated with my face and my hair.

He has never done that before. I thought he was going to sniff my hair right up his nose. When he would sniff my face, I tried to hard not to move lest I scare him, but it tickled and made me laugh. I realize that I probably smelled like a goat, but that is not unique since I have been going there after the gym every day.

We practiced him standing at a distance from me and not approaching until I told him to. That will take some more work, but he is starting to get that too. I need to change things up some as I was getting a little bored with touch my belly, touch my leg, etc like we have been playing

A hitch in the progress

Well here is an excuse you do not hear often--I could not do Mojo's work tonight because my hair froze.

I know that sounds ridiculous and it is. I fully intended to go to the farm after water aerobics. However, my hair froze. That combined with the second splitting headache in two days sent me home instead of to the farm. I kind of suck

So I took a shower, made dinner, did some laundry and told myself that I would go over after American Idol. Then I got on the horn with Missy and here it is 9:03 pm and Barry says it is ten degrees so I should not go.

I am such a pile of crap that I am agreeing with him. It is friggin COLD out there.

Barry has to go anyway because for some reason, the watering did not get done today and he had to thaw the hoses. He has been so helpful lately--for some reason, Rock is fighting having her eyes doctored, and only he can get it done successfully--so he has been doing it. That makes me feel much better because I know the job I was doing was not great.

Tomorrow is tanning, regular workout and probably cardio bozing. If I get to work early enough, I will go to water aerobics before I do all that other stuff. THEN, I will for sure play with Mojo, I am excited to try Holly's new idea about the lead rope.

The only other news for today is that I am watching the stallion auctions pretty closely--I have a bid in on one, and plan to bid in a few others once I know what happened with this one. I am after Meradas Blue Sue and Boonsmal Cee Lena, as well as some alternates. Please do not go steal them from me!

Cross your fingers for me

Proof that I did it AGAIN!

See my new shoes? They are friggin pink. But there just are not many options in wide shoes for people with circus feet. I will have to deal with it, and realize maybe there is something good to not being able to see my feet after all!


The point of this is that I went to the gym AGAIN! I worked late because I finally had a vision on something, so I was too late for the aerobics class--that is ok, it was pretty crowded in there. I still cannot adjust the seat on the bike and the owner would not take those stupid ear buds out of his ears long enough for me to get his attention to ask him how to do it, so I got the dead ass again after 15 minutes. It is still better than nothing!

I did a few other weight machines, including my favorite leg machine that is like squats laying on your back- -I can do 200 of those and for some reason, that makes me really happy, so I do it like every day.

They have rearranged things there so now there is a small room that they call the Women's Gym. That is it in the picture--pretty high en, huh? HA! So tacky. You don't have to be in there but no men are allowed. At first I thought that was stupid, but that may be because I think the owner is stupid. It is not like there are doors on it, for Pete's sake, so it does not really afford any privacy. Anyway, now I actually kind of get into it. The rest of the gym caters to a bunch of beau-hunks that look either like pedophiles or hunks of meat as they lift too much weight and primp in front of the mirror, so it is nice to be away from them. They spend more time standing around talking and looking at themselves than doing anything-- it makes me crazy. You can tell which ones are cops too, just by the way they stalk around, and that cracks me up.

In any event, I did it. That is three times this week and it is only Thursday! Now if I make it to water aerobics tomorrow, and go back to the gym on Saturday, I will have hit my 5 per week goal.

A three part update

Issue 1: Rock's eye is making me crazy. Dr M is going to come see it tomorrow to tell me what the deal is with it--I think there is something in there, as her lower lid is still swollen and she is mad as hell about it. While he is here, I will have him palp Foxy and Fuzzy to answer me on that, and I guess he could do Square Babys Coggins as well.

Issue 2: I have done two days of clicker training with Mojo--albeit with no clicker, as I have to go to Petsmart and get one. I am doing that Friday nite as it is an hour away and we have to pick up Barry's suit anyway. He is currently in the round pen. (EDIT: Mojo is in the round pen, not BS) The first day I rewarded him for looking at me. It went pretty good, but I am just not confident that I am doing it right. I would treat him in the bucket, but he would not come to it if I stood next to it--I had to step back 6 or 8 feet.

This led me to talk to the clicker queen Holly (whose idea this was in the first place) about what to do next. Her suggestion for last nite was to ask for a little more--do not treat until he looked at me and took a step to come to me.

I thought that might be hard. And it was, in a completely different way. I rarely had time to say "Mojo, come here" before he was headed toward me. I did not even have to step away from the bucket much, if at all. Sometimes, I put the bucket right next to my feet and he would still come--warily, and would approach so that the bucket was between us, but he did it. He won't let me touch him yet, but I can see it happening soon. I am not sure that this is how it is supposed to work actually.

Tonight, my assignment is to get the lead clipped on his halter. That should be interesting. I do not anticipate this going as well. Then again, I never would have thought that one day would make him willing to come that close to me. I guess we will just have to see.

Issue 3: I have been to the gym twice. This is not a big deal to most people but it is me. Once I get in the swing of it, I can stick with it, it is the starting that is hard. Last nite, I did 50 minutes of weights, and 15 minutes on the bike. I have to work my way up to 30 minutes a day on that, but it happens quickly. I could not get the seat adjusted though, so I had to sit at a wierd angle and it gave me the dead ass. Hopefully I can get that fixed, as there is only one recumbent bike at the gym and that is the one I like.

I also watched the Cardio Boxing class they have on Wednesdays. I think I can do that. It is a small group, so I might get up my nerve to try it. That will be a first for me, as I am an oaf, and terrified to do stuff like that in front of people. I am also considering the beginners step aerobics class that is at 5:30 tonight. I just do not want to be embarrassed by not being able to do the whole class, know what I mean? After all, I am a big fat sister who is out of shape and has other issues with my right leg, etc. None of which is an excuse, but it is a fact that could lead to my embarrassment. Nothing I ahte worse than being laughed at

Tomorrow is water aerobics. We were supposed to go yesterday but I only want to go with mom, at least until I am back in the swing of it, and she is still down with a cold. That is all right, as I cannot find my required aqua shoes, and had to order some--I would have gotten in trouble with that. I really like water aerobics becuase there is little sweating! And it is a really good workout actually-that would probably surprise people. If I can get my life really in order, I would like to do a class before work, then that would leave evenings open to go to the gym to have a regular workout after work.

What really needs work is my fat gut. Oddly, no matter what exercise I do, I never really feel it in my abs--that I can only get from riding horses. Now how in the hell am I going to add that in? When do I have time for that? I am thinking of extending my round pen so that it is longer--a round oval, I guess that would be--then I could do a quick 15 -20 minute trot and work that in at least a few nights a week. I will mention that to BS and see what he says.

So that is that--I am totally dropping the ball on the photo a day thing. It is really hard to do when it is dark when I get home from work. I will do better though. Come hell or high water.