Boxercise Brutality

Once again in an effort to get in shape I have been going back to the gym on a regular basis.  For the most part I have been attending the spin classes at lunch (because they are shorter- hee hee) or I jump on the elliptical and pedal away for awhile.  2 weeks ago a friend of mine and I decided to try a new class- Boxercise.  Now I have done Tae-Bo way back when and felt pretty confident that we could do this class with no problem.     HELLO...... who was I kidding.  The class turned out to be half cardio and half "hard stuff" made even harder because we had to do it all on the damn exercise ball--I  can barely stay on it let alone actually coordinate exercises while balancing only my shoulders on it.  I don't think I have ever been that sore from a class.  It hurt to move for the next 4 days.  Driving at 10 and 2 was impossible because I couldn't lift my arms that high.  Sitting was painful but standing and walking was not much better.  Whew - no question I have some muscles that have been living the high life for awhile and haven't had to do much work.  Well surprise muscles -- we are back in action.

Last Thursday the class was scheduled again and again I made myself go.  That week the instructor was going to do stations so I thought at least if you didn't like one you only had to suffer through it for 2 minutes and you got to move to the next.  HELLO AGAIN...... What was I thinking.  We started out with cardio and after a few minutes I was huffing and puffing and thinking this is going to be a great workout.   This was followed by the instructor saying.. "remember this is just the warm-up .. you shouldn't be feelin it at all yet"  SAY WHAT.... I was feeling it alright but thought it best not to let on.  As we continued on with the cardio portion I continued to push on.  You might assume I was motivated by the desire to lose weight and get in shape but truly at that point my main motivation was that the 70 year old man next to me was still standing so there was no way was I goin down before he did.

Soon after we finished the cardio section we moved to the stations.  Hmmm which to pick ?  I didn't really know what was going to be at any of them so I picked a mat with one of those elasticy resisitance bands.  Well it sucked!  It was a lie down on your hands and knees, wrap the band around your foot and lift your leg up at the back all in an effort to work your butt.  Let's just say that besides the difficulty I had in coordinating the elastic to stay in place while I moved.. the exercise hurt so I was glad to move on after 2 minutes.  Of course I quickly realized that the happy little instructor man really was evil.  He didn't have any stations that were going to be remotely fun.  Next came pushups for 2 minutes followed by these low to the ground shuffles side to side to touch pylons( sounds easy but it isn't when it is for 2 minutes and the instructor is in front of you telling you to get lower and go faster).   As we moved on I came to the jump rope.  Finally something I could do, something that I could take at my own pace, something that was easy.... OR NOT.   As the instructor encouraged me with his yelling to keep going and pick up the pace I almost yelled back "if you make me jump any more I am going to pee my pants"  Apparently after three kids jumping rope is no longer an option.

Finally the class was over and I was free for another week. I went again tonight and all I can say is it is a good thing I don't have to type with my feet because my legs aren't going to be working for a few more days.  But between this and the Step class I went to Monday night I might actually get in shape.   My only obstacle now is the Halloween candy that has already infiltrated itself into our house keeps jumping into my mouth every time I walk by it. I might need to ask the instructor to extend the class to 2 hours next week. Anyone want to join me???

My New Cleaning Lady is a real Task Master

So last month I (and TREVOR) had had enough of our cluttered house so enlisted the help of an expert cleaner to get things organized and livable again.  As a birthday present she came over and helped me clean the entire upstairs.  She vacuumed and washed floors while I put away all the stuff that was in her way of doing those things.  The system worked well because I knew where things went and she is a far better cleaner than I am.  She pulled out the couch and loveseat, cleaned behind beds, in closests, on high shelves etc.  It was absolutely the best feeling when we were done.  The best part was that it lasted for a few weeks before starting to get cluttered again.  How some of this stuff wanders out of where it is supposed to be I will never know.

Some might wonder where I would find such a great lady but those who know my mom know that I am talking about her.  No one knows clean like Judy and although there are many days we wonder if I was maybe switched at birth, I'm starting to get the hang of "putting stuff away where it goes the first time" and "getting rid of stuff we don't use so it doesn't clutter the space".

This week I knew it was time to call again and see if she had a free morning.  Luckily she had today open and was excited to come over and get at it again. ( I know, I know - more red flags and serious questions as to if I am truly related).  The thing with cleaning for me is that my brain just doesn't even think like mom's.  Case in point:  while vacuuming the rug in our living room ... she turned it over and vacuumed the underside .. What?  Who does that? Why? Who sees that side? Who thinks to vacuum it?    Then we were vacuuming behind the fridge and mom said we should really check our furnace because there was so much dust back there she thought there might be something clogged.  She might be right but all the while she was saying this I was thinking " doesn't seem too bad for a place that likely hasn't been vacuumed in 3-4 years".  It's all in how you look at it.

I jest at my mom's love for cleaning but in all honesty I have never been more thankful than to have her come over these last few days and help.  Dare I even say .... it was ...... fun (not the cleaning part but the visiting while cleaning was nice!)  I love to come home to a house that is so clean I WANT to keep it that neat.  Perhaps if we keep this up I will become addicted to cleaning and turn into the daughter my mom always hoped I would be.  (Okay - stop laughing... I know that will never happen but don't rob my mom of her long lost dream!)

Making me Skinny -one slap at a time!

So if you recognize that slogan you are going to love this story. Even if you don't by the time I explain it all you will be laughing right along at us... I mean ....with us.

This story begins this summer at the lake and while you might think it has something to do with a radical personal training program let me assure you it doesn't. Mom and Dad have Bell TV out there and the only thing that the kids really can watch is the retro cartoon channel which they love except it has tooooo many commercials. We usually watch movies so they aren't used to having their show interrupted. Anyway while we watched the commercials this summer, the infomercial for the Slap Chop came on. In essence this is just a hand chopper for cutting up veggies, or fruit, or as the commercial will tell you basically anything. The guy who does the commercial is CHEESY and the kids thought the whole thing was hilarious. The slogan is "making American skinny- one slap at a time". Well along with the slap chop if you called right then you could get the "Graty" which is a cheese grater. And not only that ... the special offer was that if you ordered right away they would throw in a free Slap Chop and a free Graty. Well I thought this whole thing was funny but in all honesty I have wanted a chopper for awhile. I had the pampered chef one and it broke -- when we sent it back we never got a replacement one. Jokingly I told Trevor I wanted a Slap Chop for my birthday. My dad laughed and said he wanted one too.

Well as you can guess Trevor actually ordered one for me. When he told the ladies he works with that is what he got me for my birthday they were most appalled. They harassed him and bugged him about such an impersonal gift. He stuck with it though and waited anxiously for the gift to arrive. My birthday arrived and they still weren't here so he had to break down and tell me what he had ordered. To add to the story though he also told me that when he had gone on the website to order he had put in 2 as the quantity because he wanted the free one. well... as you might have figured out ... this actually ordered him 4. Yup not only were we getting one Slap Chop/Graty (and the special chopping mat because Trev spared no expense and upgraded to the deluxe version) we were getting 3 more! Funny enough right .......

When they finally arrived Trevor got the bill and noticed that what was supposed to be 19.95 plus shipping had been much more and there was an extra charge for 80 dollars that we assumed was duty so the whole order came to over 200 dollars. We weren't sure if we should laugh or cry.

Just when we thought the story couldn't get any better Trevor got another surprise. He found out that when he had originally checked the website out he had started to order and saved it in the "shopping cart" . When he had gone back to finally place his order he didn't notice his previous order was still in there. So instead of ordering 2.. which turned out to be 4... he ordered 8.

The last 4 arrived today!!!!

Looks like we are done our

Christmas shopping early this year!