Can't Get Enough!

I nearly forgot... again.

Today I am thankful for Kraft Dinner. I am also thankful that Mike doesn't eat the stuff, if he did I would have a serious problem. Thankfully his lack of love for KD means I only eat it when he's traveling.

He's in Boston... guess what I had for dinner? You got it.

Thanks to The Faz for this pic.

I went to the gym after school today - don't look so surprised - so I don't feel too guilty about eating the entire box. YUM!

She'll Walk Like a Cowgirl

Tomorrow I may very well resemble a cowgirl.

For the first time this year I hopped on my bike and I'm very proud to say that I rode it 8 km to my parents house; I spent 3 hours scraping paint off the back of the house, cooled off in the pool and then climbed back on my steed and rode 8 km back to my place. I will admit I took two different routes ensuring I had big hills to ride down each way, that being said there was no getting around big hills to go up on both routes as well.

On the way there I honestly considered stopping and turning around when I was less than half way - it suddenly hit me that I would have to complete this journey a second time in the same day. Thankfully I talked myself out of turning around and I completed my trip.

I said that my holidays would officially start following the presentation on "Abuse in the Deaf Community" I had committed to giving at the university and that took place this morning soooo HAPPY HOLIDAYS to me!

I've been terrible about keeping active even though I continuously publicly declare my intentions but here I go again. I will do something physical, even if it's just a 20 minute walk, every day of my holidays (now until August 24th) because I have absolutely no excuse not to.

The life of moi

I've had bags on the brain and really haven't posted about much else lately so here I am with an update on the life of moi.

Life with no school is amazing. This is a short list of things I have done since I finished school:
1. Finally visited Hannah's Tapas with Jess. Martinis and tapas = a perfect "end of my degree" celebration.
2. Try not to get too excited about this one. I organized my kitchen utensil drawers. Maybe not the most thrilling news but I swear less in the kitchen now.
2. On multiple occasions I've breathed in fresh air after work while standing outside in my yard rather than pressing my face up against the screen in my office wishing I was outside.
3. Walked. A 2.5 hour walk with mom on Sunday and a few other shorter jaunts on my own. We live near fabulous paths and I'm finally taking advantage of them.
4. Wandered through the mall just because! Do you know how long it has been since I've gone shopping without a plan? A long ass time. I miss window shopping and am enjoying it thoroughly! I spent 45 minutes in Michael's yesterday and managed to spend $0.00. This is an impressive act of self-control for me. I will admit that I did well at Michael's but heading into the Fabric store with the intent to 'just look' is a ridiculous and impossible feat so no more buying lunches, my weekly lunch bill is going to go towards fabric.
5. Signed up for the next level of Pilates, advanced level classes here I come.
6. Played with my sewing machine. As you can see from the posts below bags are on the brain! I spent two hours tonight surfing the net looking for funky bag handles and have decided that a trip to Japan is necessary. Not at all realistic but I'm allowed to dream dammit.

What do I have planned for the next little while?
1. More bags
2. Some volunteer work. I'm volunteering for a few hours on Friday after work to help the student I spend my days with finish off her community service hours... then it's time to sign up for some regular thang. Still have to figure out what that might be.
3. Making these - you know I have an obsession with bath goodies so why not save a few bucks and make my own? Amy Karol mentioned these on her blog and they sound super easy to make.
4. Celebrating mom & dad's birthdays.
5. Planning our summer trip out West.
6. Eating more gelato.
7. Hitting the gym at least two days a week.
8. Catching up with some peeps I've been missing.
9. Reading. This might not be for awhile yet, I am enjoying browsing websites and blogs but can't find it in myself to read at length just yet. I'll need a bit more time to let my brain rest.

And that is that.

Inside & Out

You may remember my public declaration back in October: "I'm going to start exercising." I thought writing it for the world (or at least for the three regular readers I have) might motivate my lazy arse. t didn't.

I didn't even bother making exercise one of my new years resolutions this year because I knew I would break it but now I'm making a new promise to myself, one you've heard before: I am going to start exercising. School is finished as of friday (praising the martini will be taking place to celebrate), spring has sprung and it's time to get healthy, not just my body but my mind. I want to spend the time left before I begin teacher's college - wow that feels good to write - pampering my mind, body and spirit. Sound cheesy? Maybe so but I don't care, I intend to make the most of my free time.

A friend of mine won a gym membership at the Fireman's Fashion Show a few weeks ago and she passed it my way since the gym is right around the corner from my house. I figured this was a sign, it's time to try the dreaded gym once again. I was a gym girl for a couple years but then lost interest. I officially quit the gym a year ago, I was tired of paying a monthly fee for something I wasn't using. A few months back I considered the idea of joining the new gym near my house for a fleeting moment but figured I would likely be throwing my money away once again. Thanks to Lori's winning ticket I'm now a member and it's not costing me a cent.

I went to my first cardio/weight class Monday night and although I looked like I was about to explode (picture a panting tomato) and was sweating like a stuck pig within five minutes of starting, I felt damn good when I was done and can't wait to go to the step class tomorrow night! The facility is super small and I think that's what I like most about it, there were only six girls working out in the cardio/weight room and another six in my class when I was there Monday; I love going to classes with only a few people, there's nobody to hide behind so I push myself harder. I'm still aching from that class and every time my muscles scream at me I feel like screaming high fiving myself, but that would be weird.

I might start a new blog to keep track of my attempts at becoming healthier... we'll see. In the meantime I'm going to post weekly updates of my progress, not to bore you but to help me keep track of where I'm at.

My mental hygiene attempts over the past week have involved water. I posted here about my love of baths a month ago, that same night I ordered some of those super cute cupcake bath bombs by Feeling Smitten. I've tried two of them and so far this one is my favourite:

Frosted snowdrops = YUM.

It smelled sweet and left my body feelings smooth and silky. I figured it would dye my tub blue and was stoked when I came back 20 minutes after the tub drained to find no residue. Perfect!

I actually tried the butter cream icing pictured below first, since it wasn't my fav bomb I was pleasantly surprised with the blue baby above.

I was a wee bit disappointed with the butter cream icing. The scent of the little cake before I placed it in the bath was divine! It was faint but I still had high hopes for it, once it was in the water the aroma was barely sniffable. I thought it might have just been me so I yelled at Mike and asked him to come and take a sniff, he couldn't smell anything at all. I even made him to smell my arm after my bath and he shrugged his shoulders: nothing. There wasn't much to this one, it didn't have the same silky texture in the water as the blue bomb. Maybe it was a dud, if there was a little more scent added to it I would have enjoyed it almost as much as the silky frosted snowdrop. Hmmm, maybe next time I should order a big one! I bet that would satisfy my sweet tooth.

Speaking of my sweet tooth, I'm terribly angry with Tanya. We finally made it out for a stroll Uptown last night, it was a beautiful evening and she took me out for gelato. A new addiction, just what I need, thanks Tanya. Passion fruit and chocolate hazelnut were my choices and what a perfect combo for my first gelato experience. My taste buds spent today crying out for more but I will not give in, I will not indulge... at least not until Mike gets home from Vegas. He's going to die when he tries the chocolate hazelnut, it tastes just like Kinder Buenos and he loves those things. What will it take for me to forgive Tanya? Another stop at gelato heaven maybe?

Just around the corner

Christmas is no longer creeping up on us, it's ready to run at us full tilt - one week from this moment it will all be over and I'll be curled up on the couch stuffed full of 5 days worth of food and ready for a week of hibernation. BLISS.

Rebecca comes home from Vancouver on Saturday and will be staying with us off and on until the new year. I'm so happy!! I miss her like crazy.

Note to self: must remember to wear skirt on christmas eve. Last friday while spinning around the living room (in between hopping like a frog and laying on the floor being a baby) I promised my nearly 3 year old niece that I would wear a skirt on christmas eve so that I could 'twirl' just like her. Thankfully she thinks I dance perfectly at this point in time and a skirt will be the icing on the cake. Give it a few years darlin and you'll realize Auntie Jaime's got no rhythm. There's a reason my parents didn't enroll me in dance classes.

It's going to be weird to have Cara & Herwig missing from the mix this year; with Cara only a month away from delivering her little nut she won't be making the long journey from West to East. This is the first christmas in about 10 years that I won't be spending at least part of the holidays with Cara. I'll miss you Cara Nina.... and your giant German too!!!

Weird. This growing up thing... sometimes I question the sensibility of it. Messes with my routine.

Dans ma bicyclette

Studying for my french exam while riding my bike - multi-tasking is my middle name.
For those keeping count, as I'm sure each and everyone of you are diligently doing because it's such an exciting thing to keep track of, yes it is only the second time I've climbed on Hilda (mom get your mind out of the gutter) but it will not be the last!

Time: 34 minutes
Distance: 11.3 km
Calories: 917

Followed up by some Pilates (just a few exercises)

So I burned off part of the Mexican feast prepared by Jessy for our girlie night last night, the rest I'm sure disappeared during the mad game of Celebrity that took place after dinner. Such a fun game and super easy to play, all you need are pens and some paper. I am notorious for not knowing the names of famous people but it was super fun and I actually guessed and acted out a pile of celebs successfully. This is a game to keep tucked in the memory for the next dinner party we attend.

Back to the books I go, then off to Mike's parent's for his birthday dinner. Wee roasties = YUM!

Gotcha!

Wiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii!! That's how it should be spelt, not just Wii. Two teeny tiny 'i's do not do it justice. Let me explain.

Mike's birthday is quickly approaching (one week from today) and for the first time ever I broke down and gave him his birthday gift early. The only satisfaction I received from doing this was in the delivery. Miguel was in his lair working on music when I decided I couldn't wait any longer - he had to open the gift early because Walmart wasn't going to allow me to return it after the 20th if it had been opened (30 day return policy) - so down I went with gift in hand. I stopped just outside the door of his studio and stuck my head inside so he saw my bean but not the gift. With a very serious expression on my face, so serious in fact that he actually turned the music off before I opened my mouth, I explained: "I have to do this. It's going against all of my morals but it must be done, I'll explain why after..." I must have sounded pretty damn serious because mike looked worried, really worried, like 'oh my god what has she done' or 'what have i done' or 'what is about to be done' type of worried. HA! I rarely manage to frighten my husband and maybe I'm a cruel woman but there is some satisfaction in scaring my husband for just a brief moment in time.

Then I handed him his birthday present and he opened it up and was THRILLED! Wiiiiiii! My legs and arms hurt from bowling and let me tell you, I think I have found my calling, I need to find myself a bowling league. I'm not a big video game girl but the nintendo Wii is a swiiiiiiiit device.

Total change of subject
I'm stoked that I finally took myself to the doctor two weeks ago, the test results came back and I now know what my problem is, it's not 'just stress' or 'just overdoing it', I have a vitamin B12 deficiency!! Yay! Something that can be easily fixed. I started taking 1000 mcg per day of B12 on Friday and I am starting to feel better already! Is it partially pschosomatic? Maybe but that's okay with me, as long as I'm not ko'd on the couch at 9pm I'll be a happy and productive girl.

My uplift in mood might also have something to do with the fact that I chopped off my hair and dyed it black friday afternoon. I've been feeling so blah lately that I figured a change in appearance might help a girl out (the brown just wasn't doing it for me) and it worked! My fab stylist did an amazing job, I heart my new do!

Finally, pilates, i forgot to post last week. I went and it was fantastic! I think I've found my 'thing' I really love going, my body feels good after a session and the instructor is just phenomenal. She asked me last week if I've done pilates before and told me she assumed I had - I haven't!! I can DO this and I look and feel like I actually should be doing it - unlike volleyball or soccer which I've played in recent years and let me tell you it's not pretty to watch.

Hmmm I wonder if I can count playing with the Wii as exercise? Why not?!

Shedding

My declutter rampage continues! My used-to-be-obscenely-cluttered office is now part office and part work-out room! It took almost the entire day yesterday to get things organized but it was definitely worth the time and effort. My muscle aka Mike helped me drag out the big bits that were taking up space to make room for the exercise bike that has been hibernating in the garage for the last 3 months. Now I have no excuse to not exercise, I can actually listen to lectures or complete my readings while pedaling furiously on Hilda (the bike).

And that's just what I did today. Read a chapter for Moral Issues while riding my good friend Hilda. My butt muscles are going to be screaming tomorrow. Yes it's true ladies and gentlemen, pigs flew today! That's twice in one week if we count the week from Sunday to Sunday. Two cheers for me! Three cheers will be granted once this becomes a true habit.

Here's the breakdown aka boring bits for my records only- not for entertainment purposes by any means:

Hilda: 30 minutes, 10km, 850 cal.
Crunches: 100 (various)
Weights: pathetic.

It's a start anyways...

Fresh Start

I am starting to stiffen already. Tomorrow I'll likely feel like pulling all of the muscles out of my body and taking a meat cleaver to them. Yes it's true... pigs flew today.

My first pilates class was pretty good. My mom is my partner in crime for pilates and she liked the class too. The pace was slower than I expected but it's a fundamentals class so we're learning the basics slowly to ensure we do things right and don't end up injured. The last time I tried pilates I used a DVD and because I'm cheap frugal I decided to skip the basic DVD and go for the intermediate. I wouldn't recommend this route for those of you considering it. I tried to pull off the moves by carefully watching the instructors in the video while twisting myself into the modeled moves (hello gumby). I ended up creating a pile of knots in my neck and back and pulled a muscle as well. My massage therapist gave me hell for skipping the basic level and suggested I set aside my DVD and take a class to learn proper form. 4 years later I take her advice... better late than never.

This is my week of new beginnings and some 'try agains'. Pilates and a new bedtime are part of the former. I've been heading to bed at 11pm on weeknights since I was in my last year of high school - after my weekend of 9pm bedtimes due to exhaustion I realized that my less than 8 hours a night sleeping pattern might be part of my problem. I've always thought I was one of those people who function well on 6 or 7 hours of sleep but maybe I'm wrong! Imagine that. Maybe I would feel a whole lot, or even just a little bit, better if I actually managed to squeeze in an extra hour of sleep every night - 8 blissful hours of slumber.

So far so good. I woke up yesterday morning feeling like a million bucks (granted the time change was on my side) and today was a better start than most too impressive considering I'm still teetering on the edge of this cold thingo.

I'm attempting to keep track of what I'm eating and this falls into the 'try again' category. I've done really well with healthy eating in the past when I kept careful track of what I was stuffing into my gourd. When I don't write it down I eat whatever is in my path. I love food. It's a damn good thing I married a man who eats simply for survival because if Mike was a food lover like me I honestly believe I would have a serious weight problem. My main goal when it comes to food is to try to get back into the healthy eating habit. More fruits, veggies, grains etc and less sugar. I like sugar... a lot.

So there you have it. I'm off to a decent start, let's see if I can keep it up.

Oink, Oink - Fly Little Piggie, FLY!

That's it damnit, I'm tired of feeling like a pig and it's time to do something about it once and for all.

Now please don't leave me any comments telling me that I'm "just perfect the way I am" or that I'm "not fat". I know I'm perfect and I know I'm not fat. Feeling like a pig does not mean that I think I look like a pig and just to set the record straight: looking relatively thin does not mean that one is healthy. There are lots of unhealthy thin people and lots of healthy thick people. I'm not going to ramble on much more about this but it's one of those things that drives me crazy, "Oh you're fine, look how skinny you are."

I want to make it very clear that my use of the word PIG has nothing to do with size. Just because someone is obese does not mean that they are a pig. I chose pig for me because I feel like one: lazy, unhealthy (come on, they'll eat ANYTHING including a human being if you fed one to them - ew) and awkward.

The other reason I'm going with the pig theme is because "exercise and Jaime" go together about as often as "pigs and flying." Not impossible but it takes a whole lotta effort and happens rarely.

Now before you ask I'll answer the question that is on your mind: when do pigs ever fly?
My reply: I have very little doubt that some kid has flung a pig (a small one) across a barn yard somewhere in the world recently. I'm not saying I agree with it but really... if you lived on a farm and your mother told you that you would be allowed to... let's see, "stop going to school forever to become a pro wrestler 'when pigs fly'" wouldn't you head on out to the pig pen and see what you could do to help make that dream a reality?

Point being, it's time to make those damn pigs fly. I'm declaring publicly (to the 4 people that might read this anyways) that I am going to start exercising. For real this time. I figure seeing it on my blog is the motivator I need. I'll post when I actually do something physical and then I can weep in shame if I look back over a week and have no posts stating that pigs have flown. Hold me to it dammit. If I don't make pigs fly at least twice a week then please consider poking me with a stick or at the very least say no to chocolate when I ask for some.

Just for the record: I went to aqua aerobics last night - 15 minute ab class followed by 45 minutes RunFit (deep end). I pulled my toe while doing the rapid flutter (don't ask) and it was totally worth it. That's right ladies and gentlemen, you read it here: PIGS HAVE FLOWN.