Working in a Workout

I have to figure out a way to get up and moving in the morning to do my workouts. When I get home from work the last thing I want to do is be worrying about still having my workout to do. So, Friday night I begged my trainer to let me do it in the morning.

Then Saturday morning happened.

A quick trip to the farmers' market to get more asparagus. I had enough of the quiche ingredients to make another one like the one I made last weekend. I also bought some kale. I actually thought I bought some last week, but it wasn't in my bag when I got home. The greens in the bag are what the seller was calling "goosefoot". When I was a kid my mom called it "lamb's quarters".  So pretty much weeds. My mom would cook them like any other greens. For nostalgia's sake I thought I'd give them a go. I haven't decided yet how I am going to eat them.

After the market we had to run a few other errands.  My husband, who doesn't know his own strength, accidentally broke off our door handle. Guess I need to clean up that outline of the previous handle. We also stopped at a restaurant we had been to a few times, but is now closed. Terrible location and inconsistent food. The first time we went there they had the most incredible wings. Turns out once the chef they brought in to get the place up and running returned home they were never the same :(  The restaurant is now a Saturday only resale shop. I know that restaurant was the failure of someone's dream and that makes me sad. The whole resale shop thing just magnified that feeling.

When we got home from errands I got the quiche in the oven. It was so good. Fortunately, I split it between my mother-in-law and my sister before I started eating it, otherwise, I might have gone completely crazy!!

Still no workout....

Then Saturday afternoon happened....

Our local volunteer fire department had their annual fish fry.

 I wonder how many pounds of fish they "caught".

Since it was written right on the wall I am assuming this is not a secret recipe :)  Feel free to give it a try if you have who knows how many pounds of fish to fry.

The Filet-o-Fish has nothing on this sandwich.

My niece invited us to a paddle fest. For $5 you could use the kayaks, canoes or paddleboards they supplied as much as you wanted during that afternoon. I was tempted to take something out for a spin, but that was quashed the minute I saw a snake on the beach. Someone tried to shoo it with an oar and it reared up, jumped in and out of one of the kayaks, then swam off into the water....nope! Swimming snakes give me the heebie jeebies like nothing else. And yes, I know they are always out there, but if I don't see them...

After the paddlefest we headed out to the farm to visit with my in-laws for a bit.  As soon as it is time to leave the farm, Millie runs straight to my mother-in-law....every time.  She works grandma like no one else and manages to get her invitation extended. I think she is coming home Monday...or Tuesday.

That brings us to Saturday evening...
.
...and still worrying about having my workout to do. More begging and promising to do it Sunday morning...no excuses.

6 a.m. my husband comes in to tell me that he is bringing me breakfast in bed. (I am not sure what time he got up, but I thought I was going to get to sleep in.) Don't be fooled this is NOT a bowl of Fruit Loops my love brings me.

It is a big bowl of his pumpkin oatmeal.  He adds a half a cup of canned pumpkin and half of an apple (chopped) to the oatmeal as it is cooking. Then at the end, he sprinkles in walnuts and cinnamon. Most of the time he actually puts ground flax seed in it instead of the walnuts. However, he thought I would like the walnut texture better. It isn't the most attractive dish, but I definitely felt healthy eating it :)

You know he is not going to bring me a power breakfast in bed and then let me put off the workout again. So, Sunday morning I finally did my Friday workout. I am not sure, but I think my trainer pushed me a bit extra...call it retribution?  Maybe. This definitely felt like the most challenging workout so far.

Instead of a set number of reps, he has me go to failure. The idea is to keep pushing myself. If I do a crazy number of reps he will increase the weight. If I can only do a couple the weight is lowered. Ideally, he wants me to fail in the 10-15 reps range. Some exercises were closer to that than others. He kept a close eye on me during the "skull crushers" (named for what happens if you drop the weight)...nice.

With the workout FINALLY out of the way, I turned my attention to celebrating my nephew's high school graduation. Life goes from this....

 to this in the blink of an eye.

Proud of that kid. He starts a two-year school/work program this summer, that will end up with him certified in a variety of auto systems. I am excited for him to have a career he loves and affords him the opportunity to have a happy and fulfilling life. Congratulations!

Week two of Double Light is mapped out and ready for execution. I am determined to also get in a couple of walks this week.

Creek Walk

The best part about getting in better shape is days like this.

Started with a fun walk with my sister (3 miles) while my husband and niece ran. Afterwards. my husband and I hit the gym for a little weight lifting.  He does a program that works different muscle groups on different days - today was shoulders. I joined in on some of the exercises.  I at least tried most of them and didn't hate it :)  Tomorrow is his day off weights -whew!

After the workout, my niece and I had a girls' outing to the farmer's market. I had a little birthday money and I have been wanting this tic-tac-toe set for weeks. The pieces are painted rocks - I think the bees and ladybugs are absolutely adorable.

Bugs 'n Bees Tic Tac Toe

I did not buy this homemade soap, but I was certainly intrigued. The lady said she wanted to make a scent for men. I am still not sure I understand. Would men use this or would women use it to lure their men? Either way, I did NOT buy any - although it would have been a low calorie treat :)

I love dayliliesm but most of mine have kind of fizzled. There is a booth that displays so many gorgeous daylilies.  Maybe I should have brought this one home. I thought it was so pretty and was so busy taking its picture I didn't even check the price.

After we returned home from the farmer's market we headed out to my in-laws farm. We started with a nice lunch. I always struggle a bit with meals there because I don't know how everything is made or I don't want to offend by not trying something I think is high in calories. My mother-in-law has been super supportive our efforts though. She even boiled us some chicken breast in addition to the hotdogs she had made. However, I did make myself refuse the brownies and ice cream. I explained that I had splurged on a sundae last night and of course, she understood.

After lunch we took the dogs down to their creek. We played fetch with them for awhile. Then my niece talked us into walking down the creek bed. The water is very low right now so the creek bed has lots of sand for walking, but every 100 feet or so we would have to cross the creek.  My husband, father-in-law and I did not have water shoes on so we were trying to keep our feet dry. We had so much fun finding ways to cross the water without getting wet.

Zommie found a good strategy. I was actually pretty impressed with her - for an old dog she was often leading the charge. This spot was particularly deep by dachshund standards. Millie didn't seem to understand why Zommie was being carried.

We had several precarious crossings to navigate. Thankfully we had good helpers and bridge builders. And I can't doubt that our improved fitness greatly helped our creek journey.  I never felt tired and had a great time.

Maybe I should have been able to jump the rest of the way, but I called for more bridge. I am a chicken.

Days like today help me believe that our hard work is paying off in so many ways. There are adventures out there to be enjoyed and I don't want to miss any more of them. Life is not meant to be lived on the sidelines.

4th of July Fun

Our workout got off to a later start this morning. I didn't mind at all since it was so cool. It was a nice change with the sun being up higher when we started. The best part is that we got to workout with our niece. She has started running and biking. She is a tough little thing.

We rode our bikes over to my sister's house - about a 1/2 mile. This is me passing my husband :) I am continuously surprised I don't fall off while trying to take pictures.

When we met up with my niece she and my husband ran together while I rode my bike. I had a great time. I was impressed with how well my niece did.  She ran a whole mile for the first time. She started out fast and I think my husband was a little relieved when she slowed down :)

Loving the sun and shadows.

After the ran a couple of miles I hopped off the bike and walked a mile with my niece. We had to stop for a little fun.  I am not sure why this trailer had a mirrored back. It was like a crazy carnival mirror.

After we finished our walking, running , biking adventure, my husband wanted to head over to the gym and get his weight lifting in before the day got away from us. Since we had just done cardio I decided to join him in the weight room instead of doing more cardio. He was working on biceps and triceps - I joined him on a few of the exercises.  It was kinda fun, but I have some work to do .I am such a weakling :)

We had a fun evening - dinner with friends then a mile walk to the fireworks. I had saved extra calories for dinner. I even skipped the bun and cheese on my burger to give me more wiggle room. I happily indulged in an ice cream sundae with magic shell and a brownie - YUM!

I took these pictures with my little point and shoot camera.  Not the best but I can't resist including a few from a festive evening.

4th of July Eve

Another day off work :)  I could get used to being a stay at home wife.  This morning we did our usual workout routine.  It was still in the 50's when we were out - felt so good.  When we got home I opened windows and enjoyed the fresh air all day.

My niece came over for a bit. We made lunch for my husband after work. He took the afternoon off to get an early start on our long weekend.

After lunch we took our race registrations to turn them in.  Yes, that is right we are signed up for another race. This time it is a 5k on July 19. It should be a good time. It has a 6 pm start time then it is followed by a party at the water park.  Guess that is why it is called the Dash N Splash.  The registration fee includes the water park after party with dinner provided by one of our favorite restaurants. My sister, brother-in-law and nephew are all doing the race too.  Yay! A family event :)

I went with my husband to the gym this afternoon when he went to do weights. I rode the bike and watched Family Feud - I am slightly obsessed with that show.

After I rode the bike I planned to go in the aerobics room where they have some kettlebells and hand weights.  I thought I would do a little arm work.  I was not amused when I saw a guy was in there with his two little boys - guessing 7-8 years old. He was having them lift a barbel that he had perched on a couple of steps (for step aerobics).  I had heard a lot of thudding while I was on the bike - apparently they were dropping the barbel.  I can't think of a good reason to be having little kids lift weights. And if you did, there certainly shouldn't be any reason for them to be dropping them - get off your butt and spot them!!  Okay, enough of my rant. I went downstairs to see how my husband was coming along in the weight room.

I should have known better.  I knew I would get sucked in.  This is the only exercise I did and I bet I am going to feel it in the morning. I know at some point I should add some strength training...

We had a bit of a dinner crisis tonight.  I was making my husband's new favorite burger...turkey with cilantro burger filled with jalapenos and provel cheese.  I got everything going in the bowl and added the last ingredient a little bit of panko bread crumbs. But it wasn't panko...I accidentally grabbed the bag of crushed eggshells waiting to be taken out to the garden. Disaster!  There was no rescuing this batch and it was the last of the ground turkey. Of course, I had to run to the store for more turkey because once you tell your husband you are making his favorite burger you better make it :)  Thankfully, the store is close and it only set me back about 20 minutes.

I don't think Millie wants to watch tv with us. She is working her best "poor me" look.  She is such a goofy pup :)

Good luck to all of us navigating all those yummy BBQ goodies tomorrow. We can all do this!!  We are planning a good morning workout and an evening BBQ and fireworks show at a friend's house. She always has the best sundae bar...help!

Hope everyone has a safe and fun 4th of July.