Here Come Nat's Nails

Sitrep: 1x Boot Camp (~45 mins)
Due Tonight: Abs

I had a nice evening yesterday. Got home and ate dinner. Postponed boot camp 'cause I was waaaay too hungry. Forgot to take my snacks to work with me. Ooops. Then, since I had to wait a few hours before working out, I decided to paint my finger nails. Yep. You read that right. I painted my finger nails. Turns out the nail polish I got for Xmas appears to be a light pink in the bottle, but on my fingers it's actually a deep, bright pink. They're very, ummm, "here come Nat's nails" today. [g] But I haven't chewed them a single time this morning. That's why I painted them. I'm hopeful that if they are pretty looking, it will help me not chew them down to the nub.

So two of my shows are back on the air - "Wife Swap" and "Super Nanny". Not sure if I should own up to watching the first one. I have no idea why I do. Maybe to reinforce my life choices? To go "See, it really is NOT greener on the other side of the fence." Or maybe it's just because I like to see people argue...it totally caters to my bad side. There were actually two episodes of "Super Nanny". The one I wanted to watch was the second one. Figured it out about 10 minutes into the first one at 8.

So I quickly started Boot Camp. I did 30 minutes of it, up to the third set of push ups, before I started skipping. Of course, by 20 minutes into it I was starting to struggle. Made myself continue on to the first set of floor exercises. Can I just say that I'm actually getting the hang of those kicks? If I keep this up, I might just be able to kick down a door someday. If I needed to. IF it was hollow. And not metal. Anyway. I fast-forwarded the rest of the standing/cardio exercises and just did the remaining abs work and cool-down/stretches. Got done right as the second episode was starting.

Naturally, this is when a friend called to chat. I took the call since we hadn't chatted in awhile, and TV episodes do rerun eventually. :) I was sitting on the floor (hadn't made it to my feet yet) and the nail polish was at eye-level on the coffee table. So I got this wild hair and decided to paint my toe nails to match my finger nails. Yep. You read that right, too. I painted my toe nails.

FYI - it's not easy to paint your nails right after doing Boot Camp. It was a little difficult to control where the polish went because my arms were trembling. LOL. If you're gonna do this, make sure you have lots of nail polish remover. Which I don't. Since it's a "girl" item. Which reminds me. Is there a master shopping list somewhere for "Being A Girl"? Because really. I'm sure there are plenty of other things I need but just don't know about. Yet.

Hello, 2008

Sitrep: 1x Bootcamp.
Weekly Goal: 1x Bootcamp (tonight), 2x Abs #2, 1x Cardio

Who the heck stole the last five days? Yikes. I was going to blog on Friday, just to report in that yes, I was able to get out of bed after doing Bootcamp on Thursday. Surprisingly, I didn't hurt as much as I expected. I guess the previous year's worth of exercise does make a difference.

One thing I did notice was that a different set of muscles was "aching" after Bootcamp. I was wondering if it worked anything different since most of the moves are the same as the Essentials DVD (if you did all 4 workouts back-to-back and amped it up. A Lot.) Well, it does. I enjoyed it and am looking forward (no, I'm not running a fever!) to incorporating it into my routine. So here's what my weekly goal is for this week. I'm not going to bother about Monday & Tuesday as they are long gone...

Wednesday: Bootcamp
Thursday: Abs
Friday: Cardio
Saturday: Abs
Sunday: Free Day - 30 mins of any activity of my choosing. [Excluding PS2 & TV]

Alden has a great post on his blog about Resolutions. He limits himself to three. Funnily enough, I started out thinking to limit myself to one resolution only. But broadened it to three before I'd even read his New Year's Day post. It's not quite in the three areas he's talking about, but here they are:

1. Stop Chewing My Nails.

Yes, I'm 34 and chew my nails. Sigh. But having gotten some nail polish for Xmas (well, I did ask for Girl Stuff) I guess I really need to have nails to polish. I've done this before, believe it or not. The final year in Paraguay with the Peace Corps I was so mellow I didn't need to chew my nails. It was fabulous! I am going to do it again. It's a nervous habit that I can break. Heck, if I can get myself exercising like I have been for the last sixteen months, I can do this.

2. Continue with Exercise & Sensible Eating

Weekly exercise goals, swim buddies, healthy food choices, realistic portion sizes and lots of water will play a major part in this. I'm going to try something new this year. Instead of just saying how many times a week I'm going to do a certain exercise, I'm going to assign a specific day. Otherwise it's too easy to decide to do the easy workouts today, with tomorrow (ie, the hard workouts) never arriving. ;)

3. Re-start the FlyLady system at Home & Work

When I was doing this at my last rental, before buying the house a year and a half ago, it was fabulous! Things got done at home, at work...I remembered birthdays and other events, things were on time, not forgotten, less stressful. I could throw a party at my house with 3 hours notice. And most of that 3 hours spent at the store getting snacks & decorations. I am not kidding. Ah, those were the days. http://www.flylady.net/

Anyway. Those are my 3 goals for the year. Very attainable, I think.

Happy 2008 to everyone. May it be a fun year with plenty of happiness and health, and just a pinch of salt to keep the really bad stuff away!

Lazy Weekends & Snow Days

Sitrep: 2 wts - 1x Cardio, 1x Arms, 30 min Flag Football, 30 min Basketball

Just love 'em. And that pretty much sums up my weekend. Lazy. :) Didn't get the rest of my workouts in...

The day after "Gym Night" I started to feel sore and achy everywhere. Put it off to the flag football & basketball. Until the next day when I hurt worse than when I started BodyRev! I think I got a touch of the latest bug going around the office. Thankfully, it didn't affect me as badly as everyone else. Getting 10-12 hours of sleep on Friday & Saturday night helped. Spent a few hours at the library Saturday with Shanni & KT.

Yesterday did nothing but watch TV, read, relax. And doze. It was one of those lovely gray days where you just want to stay inside. It rained a good part of the day and finally turned to snow. We have about 2 inches of the heavy, wet stuff on the ground. Thank goodness! We need it. It has kept up pretty steadily all day. And I got to wear my new boots! I'm turning into such a girl, lol. I have multiple pairs of shoes, now, and find myself checking the shoe section out more and more...

Anyway.

Goal for this week: 4x Cardio, 4x Arms, all with 2 weights. 1 piece of pumpkin pie. Per day. [g]

Hair Cut Pics

Sitrep: 2wts - 1x Cardio, 1x Arms

No laughing at the new 'do, okay? All right, you can laugh since I can't hear you, but be gentle, please. ;)

I don't like this profile view but am posting it because it really shows the highlights/color.

Anyway. This is the "new" me. I'm still liking it although it is strange not to have all that hair. I dropped a pound on the scale. I think it was the hair. [g] Very long, very thick.

And yes, that is natural wave in my hair. After 34 years I've decided to stop fighting the cowlicks and waves and let the stuff do what it wants. Supposedly it looks good that way...

Tonight I'm off on another adventure: It's GYM NIGHT with Big Brothers Big Sisters. Flag football, 3-legged soccer, and basketball. So if no one hears from me for awhile, it's because I was talked into playing 3-legged soccer. ;)

Danger Ahead: Entering Girl Territory

Sitrep: Does putting on my exercise clothes count as improvement?

"Are you going to be okay, or do you need psychiatric help?" [g] My boss said that to our C.O.O. this morning. Just about choked on my hot chocolate. Our COO was late to work, and was spinning an amusing story about nothing going right this morning. From shoes she couldn't buckle, to not being able to find matching earrings, to getting so entralled in news coverage of the CA fires she lost track of time. He said that with such a straight face, too. It's good to see him making jokes again.

Soooooo. I'm in the mood to do something "wild" and "reckless". Not quite itchy feet; I don't get those any more. Not since moving to Montana. But I feel this need to shake things up a bit. I've learned to humor myself in these moods and do something. Otherwise it builds and builds and then I end up doing something drastic. Like joining the Peace Corps. So what else is a woman to do when she needs a change? Why, get her hair done, of course. ;) Tomorrow afternoon I'm heading to my hairdresser. I'm scheduled for a cut and highlights. Have no idea what I'm going to have done.

Right now my hair is about 3 inches past the shoulders; at the shoulder blades. I always wear it up in a clip. Looks dowdy. Frumpy. Old. I want something young and stylish. Except it must be easy to maintain. I'm lazy in the mornings. No major primping for me. Do I cut it short? Medium length? Layers? Spikes? [g] What color highlights should I get? Blonde? But that's so...boring. Red? I like red. I used to have reddish highlights. Until the gray started showing. I was a total redhead for several years. And I do mean red. Along with a short hair cut. It looked good. But that was a decade ago and I was much skinnier. What to do, what to do. Maybe I should add purple highlights. My niece did that recently. So did my little sister. Do you think that would be too "hip" for work? [g] I could just go completely blonde. Hmmmm.

I don't know. I simply want something different than my usual just-above-shoulder-length slightly layered hair with bangs. Sigh. I think tomorrow is going to be dangerous. I need a sign that reads Danger Ahead: Entering Girl Territory

I have Girl Feet

Seriously. I have girly feet today! My toenails are red, white and blue, in honor of the 4th of July. The last time I painted my toe nails was...last 4th of July. Oh the horror on MB's, JT's and my little sis's faces when I admitted I'd never painted my toenails. Well, really. This girl stuff is alien to me! I was tomboyish when young, and then more interested in reading later on. My poor mother...neither of her daughters were very girly...

But, as my sister recently told our mother, there is no need to worry. Mom's genes merely skipped a generation. They are alive and well in my sister's little girl. ;) She is such an adorable little princess, and is really into all this girlstuff, even at 3.5 years old. Talking to my sister this weekend was funny. My niece is in ballet classes, and on father's day they put on a recital in an auditorium with stage lights and everything. Well, the parents were told to put makeup on the girls so they wouldn't look washed out. My sister had to go to the store to get some, because she (like me) doesn't wear any. LOL. Her dilemma was funny. Spend the big bucks for the nice stuff, that doesn't test on animals, etc, or just get the cheap stuff. She opted for the cheap stuff. (Two peas in a pod, we are!) My niece was ecstatic to get lipstick "oooh, lipstick, oohhh!" My sis is a little baffled as to how the little one even knows about lipstick. LOL. No siblings, she doesn't wear any...

Daycare, friends, our mother....who knows? But it's funny. As is my niece's comment when my sister got her hair cut short. "Mommy, you look like Abuela." [Abuela is Spanish for Grandmother. Our mom is from Spain.]

My poor sister. It was all I could do not to laugh on the phone when she told me this. Okay, wailed "I don't want to look like my mother! I don't want to look like I'm in my 50's!" [Considering Mom is actually in her 60's, that ain't too shabby. And she doesn't look a bit like it!] And my sister in no way looks like she's in her fifties. [g] It's just too funny...And okay, I did laugh on the phone. I couldn't help it!

Anyway. How did I get here? I was talking about my girly feet. They surprised me when I was doing my Qigong exercises this morning. Bent over and "hello! red, white & blue!" :) Why on earth does this make me feel like skipping, and grinning like I'm 5 years old? I can't stop wiggling my toes, even if they are in socks and shoes...