Should I ?

Do you Crossfit??
Run, weights, agility, other random movements all within a span of
20-30 minutes with no rest between the different activities



I currently do not but I am heavily considering it.  While we do have a couple
of different options in our small rural community, I am actually considering
something else. 

My husband is a high school coach and he has spent 23 years not only coaching
football, baseball and track but he has cross trained thousands and thousands
of athletes.  He would definately be a cheap and easy option for me....all I
would have to do is ASK.  We live on 2 acres and have plenty of room to work
outside with a varied amount of activities.

I have not asked him yet because that would require a commitment on
my part because I can tell you his answer to my request will be "You Bet!" 

Am I ready to run up the mountain of hill street that we live on?  Do I want to
have to pick up his big iron HEAVY rock bar (I don't know the real name of it)
and break up  all the rocks on our property?  Do I really want my almost 8 year
old son working out with me and smoking me in everything I'm asked to do
because he thinks it is all fun?  Am I ready to workout in the often 100+ degree
late afternoon temps of central Texas?

I know what I HAVE to do!

Fiesta Texas Family Fun Day

It's been 10 years...years since Doug, I, Sugar and Squash have visited, as a
family, the theme park in San Antonio called Six Flags Fiesta Texas so last
week Doug and I decided to purchase season passes again; Banana
and Sunshine have never been to Fiesta Texas and Sugar hadn't been since
he was 7 or so years old. 

We live just outside of San Antonio and have countless times driven
by the park; the kids, especially Sunshine ask us everytime "when can
we go to Fiesta Texas?"  Up until this a.m. they didn't know we were
going to FT and when I told them...Sunshine was PUMPED!!! 

Opening time for the park is 10:00am, so we arrived at the park about 9:30ish. 

Since I printed our season tickets from their website, we went to a Customer

Service line to check in since we didn't actually have tickets.  We waited in a

line with about 15 families in front of us with only one window open to help

service the customers in line. For at least 20 minutes everyone in line waited for

the lady in the tight, lime green pants, who really didn't have the right body to

be wearing them, to finish her business. Eventually a few other workers pulled  

up the blinds to some more windows.

Finally, it was our turn and I just KNEW what the person behind the plastic window

was going to tell me, this line that we waited in for 35 minutes, was the WRONG

line!  We were directed to the general admission lines that were now about 3 times

longer then they were when we first arrived. 

After 50 minutes, FINALLY through the gates!

Our first ride was the Acme RoadRunner Rollercoaster. This would be
Sunshine and Banana's first rollercoaster ever.

The loud hydraulics when the rollercoaster
would take off were a little loud for Sunshine.

                                    

This line would take about 40 or so minutes. So we occupied ourselves
by taking a photo or two.

 

                                      

Rollercoaster photos taken courtesy of Sugar,
who does not ride rollercoasters.



Teaching Sunshine to raise his hands on a rollercoaster



    



Up, Up, Up

 

Sugar and Sunshine



Hard to catch a swing in motion



85 degrees with 100% humidity makes the Log Ride extra fun!



Log Ride Splash Zone! 

  



Squash and Sunshine on some Ship ride swing thing
that goes  back and forth.

We decided that we would only stay for a few hours knowing that with season
passes, we can come and go anytime we want throughout the summer.  We road
a total of 5 rides today and really had a blast!!!  The park was PACKED with
people.  Lots of buses full of kids from various schools around the state.  We're
planning on coming back in a couple weeks on a weekday in the hopes it won't
be sooo crowded and we can ride more rides while we are there. 

It was fun to watch Banana and Sunshine experience their first trip to a big
amusement park.  Both were very brave (especially Sunshine) about trying
the rides. 

Needless to say we were starving when we left about 3:00, so we drove to
mine and Doug's FAVORITE place to eat....Cracker Barrel . 

                         ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

My computer is running very slow and it's already taken over an hour to load
the pictures for this post and arrange everything....hmmm, maybe that's the reason
I took off from posting for so long....so, if there are mispelled words, off kilter
positioning of pictures and words you will just have to excuse it. 

Crusin'

June 9, 2011 can’t get here fast enough for me and my
Hubby. On this evening, Doug, Sugar, Squash and myself
Will be boarding a flight to the overcast and beautiful city
of Seattle, Washington. I Love overcast, rainy days!

       
             Love me some cloudy weather

   

           Can't wait to see the beautiful skyline

           (unless it's too cloudy...d'oh)



We will spend two nights in Seattle enjoying the sights and
sounds of this great city and then Saturday, June 11th we
will walk the plank to enter our home for the next 7 nights.

        
              The Golden Princess-Princess Cruise Lines

The Golden Princess will be our home and Alaska will be our
Destination. I have heard nothing but spectacular reviews
about this particular cruise destination.

            
                            Alaskan Cruise

Doug and I decided that we would only take our two oldest
along with us this time. They have never been on a cruise or
an airplane for that matter. My Squash is “pumped” to fly
in an airplane, my oldest, Sugar…not so much.  He has always
been afraid of heights. Even when he was a baby and people
would play with him by tossing him in the air and catching him,
uh, no…he would scream.

                 
                           Not a real picture of my son                
                    Please don't call CPS on me.

It’s kind of ironic though, Sugar is my 17 y.o. who is also a fantastic
high school Pole Vaulter and has as a junior cleared 14’6” in
a school track meet is afraid of heights . I hate to say this, but
it looks like were going to have to break out the ol’ Xanax and
break it in half for him before we get on the plane.

This will be Doug and I’s 3rd cruise. We took our first for our honeymoon
in 1991. This cruise took us to the islands of St. Thomas, St. Maartin,
Dominica and Martinique in the Caribbean.

    
                                    1991

Then 3 summers ago, Doug won a contest for our school district.
His name was drawn from a group of teachers that did not miss a day
of school for the whole year and he was awarded an all expenses
paid cruise to Cozumel, Yucatan and Progresso.

        
                         Cozumel 2008

        
              Chichen Itza Pyramid in Yucatan
So, have any of you been on an Alaskan cruise? What
about Seattle? Any and all advice about tourist activities
or excursions would be welcomed!

Sometimes I'm Just Like a Baby!

Any of you who are parents or have spent a considerable amount of time
with a newborn baby understand what it is like when the babies sleep
cycle gets out of whack.  It's a dreadful thing to happen....to the adults;
the baby really doesn't care, it's the adults who normally choose to sleep
through the night and be awake during the day like most non-vampire parents.

Well, I too have an out of whack cycle...kinda.  While my sleep/awake
cycle is running in a perfect circle, my daily exercise cycle is quite
off-kilter right now. 

When I wake up, exercies is a definate NO!  I would much rather sleep
then do anything else.  As a matter of fact when the kids were smaller
and they would often ask me "what is your favorite part of the day?"
My steadfast and reliable answer was always, "bedtime". 
I LOVE SLEEPING!!

7:00am-4:00pm...I'm at work.  No exercise there.  I do get a
conference period everyday for 45 minutes, but I don't have access to
a, uhmm, comfortable place to shower and/or clean-up afterwards. 
You would think that working at a high school with dressing rooms,
showers, coaches offices would be perfect for freshening up after
a workout, but I see these options comparable to going to
a neighbors house and asking to borrow their bathroom and
shower...sorry, it's just not going to happen.

When I get home from work around 4:45, I really like to eat something
pretty quick because I don't want to wait eat late in the evening. 
Eating at this time usually means that I have to wait a good hour or
so to get on my treadmill (Millie) so as I don't throw up all over my display
screen.  Another problem with this particular time, is that I usually
get a bit lazy during this time, get caught up with family, motherly,
and wifely duties and next thing you know it's 9:30 in the evening.

So now it's after 10:00pm, I'm laying in bed, and I start feeling it...
(now don't get "nasty" thoughts)...I'm talking about feeling the desire to exercise. 
I lay there and I totally feel like running.  I want to go outside in the
country dark and run...or on Millie maybe.  I'm just not going to
run at 10:00pm.  See, Millie is in the bedroom and I'm not going to
keep hubby awake while I bust out a couple miles.  Y'all, this happens
everynight!  I lay in bed, and I want to run.  Or, I will lay there completely
motivated about working out the next day.   I don't want to feel
like this at night, I want to feel like this in the morning, or when I get home
from work.

Something has to change...and I KNOW it's me!  I've got to do what
you do with babies when you work your butt off to keep them awake
during the day so they will be sleepy at night.  I have to force my
body to workout at a reasonable hour during the DAY instead of
the dark of night when it's totally unreasonable to do.

Do any of you have "exercise cycle" related problems or am I just
a total dork?

Anyone Remember Me?

It has been a full eight months since I have sat down and composed a new
post for my blog. 

I would like to take this first post back  to fully disclose a list of some of
the reasons for my long absence:

1.  Graduate school- On a good note, by the end of this summer, I will have
     completed my Master's Degree in School Counseling in ONE year. 
     Even more exciting, I have had the honor and privilage of walking the
     stage.  Since my college only has commencement ceremonies in the
     Spring and Winter, they allow students with nine or less hours to pick
     which ceremony they want to participate in.

         Smiling because I didn't trip and fall off the stage.

                                   My fantastic hubby!!!!

           Wonderful children...minus my oldest who had to stay home

          because he was scheduled for the SAT test that same morning.

2.  November 30, 2010, my wonderful mother who was the center

     of our family passed away.  Her decline and subsequent death

     occurred as a result of the mental/physical effects from the

     whole brain radiation she endured after a surprising revelation

     of brain cancer. 

           Taken 4 months before her death when she went on 

                  vacation with us to Padre Island Texas.

 

3. Non-running: As of today, I can hardly run ONE mile without

    having to stop.  A year and a half ago I ran my one and only

    half-marathon in under 3 hours.  I know most of you could

    run a marathon in under 3 hours but I'm not concerned about

    my times so much as just having the ability to successfully 

    complete a race.  

  *Actually on March 30th, I did run my first 5K in a year.  Me,

    Doug, Jacob and Joshua ran in the Susan G. Komen Race for the

    Cure in honor of my Angel Mother who fought and beat the battle

    of Breast Cancer some years ago.

                                        After the race. 

   My hubby who has NEVER run a 5K nor has he run even a mile in

   YEARS, ran the whole 5K with me and only stopped because I 

                                  needed a few breaks. 

                                       Showoff!!!  

     Squash and Sugar...ran the whole 5K, for the first time ever in

             28 minutes after stopping once briefly at Mile 1. 

                          DOUBLE SHOWOFFS!!!

4.  Pure disappointment and disgust with myself as the MAIN reason

     why I have not blogged lately.  As some of you may remember,

     I had a tummy-tuck last summer.  It was a tough recovery, but I

     was and still am pretty happy with the results.  As I was told by

     many, you can still gain wait after a tummy tuck but it will most

     likely occur in other places such as legs, butt, arms, face etc....

     Well, it happened...I've gained 75% of my weight back that I

     worked so hard to lose a few years ago and it is SO

     DEPRESSING!!  My job this year has changed from previous

     years, and it's pretty much become a "desk job" in the classroom;

     monitoring students who work independently on their courses. 

     While this has been the "IDEAL" job for someone working on

     their Master's degree...not so much for a person who wants to

     remain thin and active.

************************************************************

Well, that's the main jest of it...while normal family activities etc...

always are a sure excuse, I believe in my heart the main reason for

not posting is reason #4. 

***********************************************************

I have signed up for the November Rock n Roll in San Antonio.  This

will be my 2nd Half Marathon and I'm hoping to get back into the

correct frame of mind to build myself up to run the majority of this race.

***********************************************************

While on my hiatus, I pretty much kept with all of you that I have followed

and I promise now to start commenting and becoming active in YOUR

lives again!  I hope you all will be able to find a minute or so to help

me out with some motivation and encouragement.  I REALLY need it! 

**********************************************************

I guess that's it for now!  Take care everyone, and I PROMISE to be in

touch soon... :)  Really, I PROMISE!!

Catching Up

I'm such a bad blogger.  My posts seem to be decreasing
at a rapid speed, my comments on your blogs, few and far
between.

My days are filled with work and Grad school.  Actually work is
"easy, breezy" and there's not much going on, so I fill my work
days with 9 hours of Grad school work.  Two of my Grad school
classes are about 2/3 complete and the other almost half done...
and the actual semester doesn't end until December. 

Some things to catch you all up.

1.  Millie- my miles on millie have increased a bit, however, jogging
     is not the exercise of choice yet.  My walking is a good substitute
     right now.  I'm still walking about 4 miles/hour and last week, I
     walked about 15 miles or so. 

2.  Reading- as always, I'm always one of the last ones to jump on
     a "band wagon".  Labor day weekend I borrowed, from my teenage
     niece, the book TWILIGHT!  Wanted to see what all the excitement
     was about.  The book was back in my nieces possession in 4
     days and I was at our school library this week checking out New
     Moon.  My personal opinion is that this is an interesting read.  I
     mean a love story is a love story.  This past Wednesday evening,
     I went to a website that lets you watch movies online for free and
     began to watch Twilight.  I knew who the main 3 character actors
     were, but I wanted to put visuals to what I was/am reading.  One
     hour into the movie, I clicked X on the top right of the computer
     screen and sat back highly disappointed. 

Just look at her...she looks totally bored!!

   

     MY OPINION: 
    The actress who plays Bella is TERRIBLE.  There was not a single
    emotion in her character, just BLAHHH actting.  The movie
    seemed choppy and not consistent with the book.  After finishing
    the first two books, I'm definately on Team Edward!

3.  My Sunshine has begun to sleep walk.  Every single night, he
     strolls into our bedroom stands next to my side of the bed, says
     something that doesn't make sense, "That's where the food is"
     and then stands there staring at me until I tell him to go back to
     bed.  He never remembers his little "trips" the next morning.

4.  We signed papers to refinance our house a couple weeks ago
     and hit the jackpot.  Went from a 30 year to 15 year, combined
     a 2nd lien (our swimming pool) in the new refinance, and both
     our cars and with our equity, we got a NICE sum of money back
     after the refinance. Interest rates are a lot lower now and this
     helped out tremendously. If you have over 15 years left on
     your home mortgage payments, I suggest you look into
     refinancing. 

5.  For the 5th year, I am the commisioner for a Fantasty Football
     league. This league consists of teachers and former teachers from
     our school. As commisioner, I am responsible for adding all the
     points for all 16 teams each week.  My team name is Monica's
     Interns.  If you think about it, my first year was the year a certain
     President had made the acquaintance of a certain Intern.  Hence,
     my team name!  :)

6.  Last week Hermine came through Texas and actually went
    DIRECTLY over us (San Antonio).  Tuesday was AMAZING!
    The intensity of the rain was like no other.  My room, as you may  
     remember is in a portable, and throughout the whole day, we
     listened to the rain pounding on the windows, without EVER
     stopping.  I mean from the first bell to the last it NEVER stopped
     raining.  In the afternoon, the wind picked up and my portable
     kind of felt like I was on a cruise ship. 

     My umbrella even flipped inside out when I was walking back to my
     room after lunch.  WOW!! 

Again, my apologies for not being attentive to my blog and
to yours. I hope to get back on track and become a regular blogger.

Me and my Sugar! 

When the hell did my first born son get taller than me?