Monday, February 28, 2011

Training 2011 - Feb Review

Do you know what yesterday was? 6 months until the Give-It-A-Tri! I'm so excited. It didn't really click in yesterday but today it did for sure when I looked at my little ticker and it said 5 months and some random days... WOW!

This past month in my training I have:

Cycled 149km's for a total of 5 hours,
Swam 5km's which took me 1 hour and 44 minutes, and
Walked two times, for a total of 8kms and that took about 1 hour and 40 minutes.

My "Core Fitness" I have been talking about was also done this month. I did a grand total of 900 sit ups. As well as my planks. 40 planks for about 10 seconds each. I did a few around 15 seconds but I'm back down to 10 seconds each... I'll explain. I started doing 15 seconds each at the beginning of the month but went back to 10 seconds each at the end because I was doing more sit ups and my stomach muscles hurt too much to hold for 15 seconds. I'm going to make it a goal for March.

With my goal for sit ups this year being 10,000 It means my 900 for the month have helped. I am now at 1,700 of my 10,000 goal!

No real personal bests this month as I've been working with Ben. He is a lifeguard at the pool I go to and has been wonderful! He has helped me with my stroke and gave me some workouts to try. I'll be honest I still haven't completed a full workout of his suggestions but I"m going to get there. I'm just so tired!

I am still working with making my Thursdays my new training days. My workout looks something like this:
Warm up - 100m breast stroke and 200m front crawl
10 x 25ms - there front crawl focusing on what I'm working on that day, back breast stroke (so 500ms)
200m focus on what I"m doing - slowly
10 x 50ms time swims (1 minute 15 seconds) - front crawl (500m)
Cool Down - 200m front crawl 100 m breast stroke
Total distance workout of 1,800m's which would be a PB if I ever complete it!

Fridays, if possible, are swimming days, I just warm up (about 200) then do a 400m swim, then take 5 minutes to 'swim' breaststroke then another 400m swim and again. Then a 200m cool down.

I ran into a "snag" this month with biking. I got my first flat tire and it set me back a few days and made me more upset... which triggered eating like crap. Not cool. By the time we got it fixed I had to get my butt back out there. I've been working out on Monday, Wednesdays and Fridays. Last month (Jan) I was able to get at least 20 minutes 2 times a week. This is about 10kms. I set myself a goal with my last post of having my Feb ending around doing 26ish minutes 2 times a week. Guess what?

I DID IT!!

In fact last week ALL my workouts were 28 minutes long, and today... 30 minutes! My workouts, for Feb, have looked something like this:

Monday - XX time reading!
Wednesdays - 3 minutes warm up then 1 minute hard 2 minutes recovery until X minutes then 2 minutes cool down
Fridays - XX time reading!

By the end of the month I was able to get my Wednesday (hard/recovery day) to 1.5 minutes hard 1.5 minutes recovery.

My new goal for March is to get to 36 minutes for my exercise. That is bumping it up by 2 minutes almost every week!

I can say this month the only thing that has been super sore have been my calves from walking (need to do this more!) and my bum from the bike. It's time to pull out those trusty bike shorts I haven't worn for a while! I'm going to need them for March's goal!

I'm losing weight! Last month I lost 3.6lbs. This month, with having a few days in there of being stupid, I only lost 2lbs. But I"m getting there. For 2011 total now at 5.6lbs! I'm hoping this next month I can get a few more pounds down but who knows. To show you that working out works! I have been taking my photos at the beginning of every month and having Arnold measure me. Poor guy knows if it's a bad measurement it's going to be a rough few days. So from Jan 1st to Feb 5th (when I measured in) I lost 11.5inches! I'm not sure I will lose so much this time around but who knows!

My training is getting harder and yet, I'm enjoying it more. I'm *really* looking forward to summer. Feb's total Km's are 162kms. Last month was 122kms. I hope I can beat both for March

6 more months to go!!

Saturday, February 26, 2011

What does a "Mom" do?

Today I had a client visit. I love client visits. The have to be one of my favourite things in the world. Seeing new parents so excited to meet their little ones and to be so happy that the time is coming closer and closer. It truly is a wonderful event for them in their lives.

Today I was telling my clients that they should call or text with any questions they have. The mom asked me if I did anything else that she might be bothering me from if she called or text-ed. My response - Nope! I'm just a mom!

Just a mom... wow... I got thinking, what is just a "mom" what does a mom do?

Well for me it includes anything from:

alarm clock
giving kisses
morning hugs
snuggles
breakfast maker (not normally in our house but sometimes!)
school prepper
homework helper
nose blower
toothbrush singer (seriously, I sing the ABC's every morning so they brush their teeth)
face checker
escort to school
encourager as he goes to school "have a great day hun, today will be better than yesterday"
planner
snack maker
wiping tears
giving hugs and snuggles and more kisses (BTW mom kisses don't wipe off... EVER!)
laundry
dishes
making the beds
cleaning the bathroom
walking to and from school to bring kids home
making lunch
driver to activities
briber (Q if you put your head under the water, you can have a treat!)
nap time enforcer
dinner maker
bath time prep-er
reader of bed time stories
more kisses, more hugs and more snuggles.

Those are my favourite moments.

Sometimes, as of late, a job as a "mom" includes more than this. Lately it has been more of a :
nurse,
cleaner,
temp checker,
timer for food (every hour you can have more to eat)
"sick pop" pour-er
snuggler
nose kisses to not get anyone sick
hand washer
vomit cleaner

As much as these jobs suck. There is no other job in the world I would want.

To summarize, just a "mom" is more than people think. It's a full time, underpaid job. BUT the rewards are over the moon. On my Facebook page I have this in my "about you" section:

I'm a Wife and Mother. These include such things as: sculpting and shaping the generation to come; primarily responsible for daily operations, including accounts payable, inventory, receiving, and personnel management. Activities include but are not limited to nurturing, lactating, cleaning, diaper changing, potty training, schedule coordinating, cooking and laundering. Other duties include general maintenance, procurement, waste management, resource allocation, food preparation & nutrition evaluation, and health & wellness screening. Continuing education required, vacations optional and unlikely. Skills gained in multi-tasking, working one handed, foreseeing meltdowns. Exceptional work in the areas of creating, birthing, and feeding a human. Future plans include teaching, guiding, loving. Rewards are phenomenal.

Friday, February 25, 2011

New Food Friday #21 ~ Spiced Meatball Stew

Thursday night we had a stew. I made so many changed to it but it still tasted great. Very filling. I hope you try it sometime!

Spiced Meatball Stew

1 - 16oz package frozen prepared Italian-style meatballs
3 cups of green beans, cut into 1-inch pieces, or frozen cut green beans
2 cups of peeled baby carrots
1 - 14.5oz can of beef broth
2 teaspoons of Worcestershire sauce
1/2 to 3/4 teaspoon of ground allspice
1 piece (1 inch) stick of cinnamon
2 - 14.5oz cans of stewed tomatoes, undrained

1 - In a Dutch oven, combine meatballs, green beans, carrots, beef broth, Worcestershire sauce, allspice, and cinnamon. Bring to a boil; reduce heat. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes. Stir in undrained tomatoes. Return to boiling; reduce heat. Cover; simmering for 5 minutes or more until vegetables are tender. Remove Cinnamon stick.

TO MAKE AHEAD: Prepare as directed. Freeze stew in an airtight freezer container. To reheat, place frozen stew in a large saucepan. Heat, covered, over medium heat about 30 minutes, stirring occasionally to break apart. Makes 10 cups

Miranda's Mix Ups: Oh where do I start! First of all I didn't use a 14.5oz can of beef broth.. I used a 900ml container! I also only used 1 can of stewed tomatoes not 2. I put in 2 cinnamon sticks. Then once everything was in I thought it was "missing something" So I took it upon myself to do something about it. I added 450g's of while/long grain rice. It looked great! 2 hours later... I ran out of liquid. So another 4 cups of water went in and it looked better. I'll fully say it looked more like a casserole than a stew but it was WONDERFUL!

Family Reviews:
Q - still feeling down so he didn't eat much
K - had 2nds, and I think 3rds!
Arnold - said it was ok.
Miranda - really good, really filling and REALLY yummy!!

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New Food Friday #20 ~ Southwestern Turkey (beef) - Tater Casserole

Monday was our home made pizza. I'm not counting it as a new meal but DANG it was good!

Tuesday night we had a great casserole, so fast and easy and wonderful. The cooking took longer than I thought but totally worth it! I forgot how much I love tater tots!

Southwestern Turkey (beef) - Tater Casserole

1 pound of ground turkey
2 teaspoons of chili powder
1 teaspoon of ground cumin
2 cups of frozen cut green beans
1 can (18oz) of Progresso Vegetable Classics creamy mushroom soup
1 can (14.5oz) diced tomatoes, drained
1 can (11oz) Green giant mexicorn whole kernel corn with red and green peppers
3 cups of frozen potato nuggets

1 - Heat oven to 350F. In a 12-inch skillet, cook ground turkey over medium heat, stirring frequently, until no longer pink; drain. Stir in chili powder and cumin. Spoon into ungreased 13x9 (3quart) glass baking dish.

2 - Gently stir in green beans, soup, tomatoes and cor. Top with a single layer of potato nuggets

3 - Bake uncovered for 45 to 50 minutes or until bubbly around edges and potatoes are golden brown.

Miranda's Mix Ups: I didn't use ground turkey as you can see by the title. I used ground beef instead. I didn't have any of the progresso soup so I used cream of broccoli instead. I couldn't find the "mexicorn" so I just used normal corn and put in another teaspoon of chili powder. I used a WHOLE BAG of tater tots! They are yummy! So it may not have been a single layer!

Family Reviews:
Q - wouldn't touch it (later realized he was sick)
K - ate 2 servings and loved the tater tots
Arnold - like it. It was "missing something" and he wanted to add cheese and salt... I can see we may need to change his attitude about salt and cheese!
Miranda - love love loved it! Really good meal. Next time, I might splurge and buy the smile face tater tots!

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New Food Friday #19 ~ Mu Shu Style Pork Roll-Ups

Last Friday we had a crazy day! K had a hearing appointment in the morning. I had an eye doctors appointment in the afternoon. Arnold had a chiropractors appointment in the afternoon and it was just insane! I planned something simple that day, and a good thing too! Arnold ended up making our meal because I couldn't stand the light from the drops I had!

Mu Shu Style Pork Roll-Ups

4 - 10inch flour tortillas
1 teaspoon of toasted sesame oil
12 oz lean boneless pork, cut into strips
2 cups loose-pack frozen stir-fry vegetables (any combination)
1/4 cup of bottle plum or hoisin sauce

1 - Preheat oven to 350F. Wrap tortillas tightly in foil. Heat in oven for 10 minutes to soften. (Or wrap tortillas in microwave-safe paper towels; microwave on 100% power for 15 to 30 seconds or until tortillas are softened.)

2 - Meanwhile, in a large skillet, heat oil over medium-high heat. Add pork strips; cook and turn for 2 to 3 minutes until done. Add stir-fry vegetables. Cook and stir for 3 to 4 minutes or until vegetables are crisp-tender.

3 - Spread each tortilla with 1 tablespoon of plum sauce; place a quarter of the meat mixture just below the centre of each tortilla. Fold the bottom edge of each tortilla up and over the filling. Fold the sides until they meet; roll up over the filling. Makes 4 servings.

Miranda's Mix Ups: Since I wasn't cooking I can't tell you a lot. What I do know (and you will see in the pictures) we didn't have an plum sauce or hoisin sauce. Instead we used sweet and sour sauce. It worked rather well. We also made rice and served with that.

Family Reviews:
Q - ate the meat and some rice
K - ate it all and asked for more to eat "like daddy"
Arnold - loved it! Nice and easy
Miranda - good! I had 1 or 2 I think? really yummy!

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Thursday, February 24, 2011

A bit of extra time.

We all want extra time right? More time to do work, more time to relax, more time to sleep, more time to be awake?

Well yesterday I got more time with my son, Kyler. A friend of mine brought K home from school while Q was napping yesterday and K and I got to visit during lunch! It was so nice to visit, see how school had gone, talk about things happening with his friends, ect.

Then, just to add a bit of sweetness to my day, Kyler got to come in after Kids Klub at church and hang out with me for a bit. We talked about what they learned for their Bible story. He told me all about his mask and showed me how his sword worked and how cool it was. I love the excitement in his voice and the extra bit of time to spend together.

Here are a few photos I snagged of my growing "baby". It's hard to believe that in 13 days he will be 6!

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On that note... would you please pray for Kyler right now. He is having a hard time with some of his friends at school and is having a hard time hearing right now. We have a drs appointment for tomorrow to see the dr about his hearing but with his friends at school, I know it's part of growing up and I feel so bad that he has to have hardships while getting bigger. Thanks!

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Happy Monday! I mean Tuesday!

That's right, today is our first day of the week so it kinda feels like a Monday. The only person in this house who seems to know it's a Tuesday is Quinton. He is super excited about gymnastics today and would *never* forget it's a Tuesday! Kyler on the other hand started to do his climb up to the top of the fridge before we realized it was a Tuesday, and therefore snack day. So no need for the peaches stored up there!

We all had to do double looks at the calendars to figure out just what was going on. No Library day for Kyler at school BUT because yesterday the public library was closed we are heading over there AFTER gymnastics to get some new books and movies!

Yesterday was a wonderful Family Day. Did you get some time with your family? We all got to "sleep in" until 7:30am since the boys were outside so late! We had our own breakfasts and chatted with Uncle Chris in Alberta for a while online. It was so wonderful to be able to talk to some of our family on family day! We got a mini update on the girls out west and how they are doing. It was really nice!

We all headed outside to do some work. I worked out in the garage and the boys worked on cleaning the snow off the driveway, walkway, porch, and anywhere else they felt they needed to remove snow. It also involved a few impromptu snowball fights!

We came inside and the boys watched a movie while they had their hot chocolate and then ended up turning the movie off and playing around the house. We had lunch and then nap time! My favourite time of day!

During all this I managed to wash every sheet that has been used in our house in the past while and get them all back on the beds by night time!

After nap Kyler was up first (a surprise) and we printed off some photos for his scrapbook and he helped Daddy make the dough for the pizza! We eventually got our pizza ready and we had stations all over.

One station was rolling it out,
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another one was putting fork holes in the pizza,
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then back to where you rolled it out for putting the sauce on.
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Once the sauce was on you went back to the fork hole part and put the toppings on! As usual the boys picked pepperoni
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Everytime Quinton put one down he would lick his thumbs... good thing I didn't eat that pizza!
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Then cheese
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And then they were done:
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I didn't get one of it finished but lets just say the kids loved them! As did Arnold and I with our pizza!

We watched Jack and the beanstalk while eating our supper. Once it was over the boys got ready for bed and Daddy made strawberry milkshakes. They were wonderful! What a perfect way to end the day!

Monday, February 21, 2011

The Police Came To Visit!

Let me start this blog post by saying that the boys have been home sick most of the weekend. Our big plans to go places have just crumbled down to nothing when Arnold and I could hear their coughing. It's insane! Instead we are having a calm weekend at home.

Friday, we had K's hearing tested at Sick Kids, then home and picked up Q and went to Costco for lunch. I went and got my eyes tested and Arnold went to the chiropractor (good thing he lives so close!). We both met back at the front of Costco and went in and did our shopping, which included new PJ's for the boys, a new coat for Kyler, bread, milk, toilet paper, and the boys vitamins. We headed home and the boys had a nap.

Saturday, Arnold went and helped friends of ours move and the boys and I stayed home. They had a morning nap and didn't do much else. Once Arnold did get home we went to Bulk Barn to stock up our "junk tin" that the boys use for their snacks every day. The boys got to pick 2 things each of their own. It worked out nicely. We came home, had lunch and another nap. Supper was later than normal (around 7pm) and then they went to sleep.


(Notice the lots of nap thing?)

Sunday morning we were getting ready for church and you would wince at the coughing going on. It was craziness! Instead the little men and I stayed home and Arnold went to church. The boys lazed in bed most of the day and had another nap in the morning, then a bath (since we had put on all the vicks vapour rub we could find) and got into their "daytime clothes". When Arnold came home we jumped into the van and went to lunch with our Landlord, Steve. We had so much fun. 2.5 hours later we left, full tummies, and some, and a good idea where we were going with this house. It was perfect. We came home and the boys had another nap! And then Arnold headed out around 5pm to go to church and help with the evening service. The boys and I watched a movie and I got back into my scrapbooking. In a matter of minutes after telling the boys it was time to go to bed they were zipping around the pull out bed and running as fast as they could and it was just CRAZY! So when Daddy came home and we saw the snow and my little boys convinced me they weren't "tired" we packed them up into their winter snowsuits and shoved them out the door. Arnold followed shortly after....


And this is where the police came in.

Keep in mind it's 9:30pm on a Sunday night. NO ONE else is outside and it's not too dark because of the new snow on the ground. My kids are yelling and screaming and throwing snowballs at their dad. Arnold got out their sleds and were whipping them around on the road (which did make Kyler tip at one point, lose his gloves, and come inside telling me daddy made his hands freeze off! - new pair of gloves and some kisses and he was good to go again) and generally having a fun snowball fight.

I was in the house watching a movie and peaking out the bit of window uncovered from the blinds and then I saw a police car. All I could think of was "Great... someone complained about my kids being too loud and now we are getting in trouble". I waited for a bit and then saw the lights. It seemed a bit odd but hey, whatever works right. About then I figured I should go out and see how things were going. It was our old landlord, Rob, who is a police man. He was visiting his parents (2 doors down) and saw that our kids were outside playing around in the snow. He wanted to come by and see how we were doing and show the kids the lights. He said he was going to come over and tell Arnold he got complaints of an adult throwing snowballs at little kids! Either way the boys had a blast! They really liked seeing the lights. It was so nice of him to stop by.

The boys got in the house and in bed by 10:15 and were OUT shortly after. IT did buy us about an extra hour or so before they were up again this morning. Thankfully. It's nice to sleep in until 7:30am every now and then!

Today, our Family Day, is being spent shoveling, napping, and cleaning. Tonight we are making "home made pizza" thanks to the bread maker!! I'm very excited. I'll let you know how it turns out later.

Friday, February 18, 2011

New Food Friday #18 ~ Speedy Ravioli Bake

After cooking so much on Monday I wanted an easy meal. This was super easy and SO yummy.

Speedy Ravioli Bake

2 packages (9oz each) refrigerated cheese-filled ravioli
1 jar (25 to 26oz) of chunky tomato pasta sauce
1 teaspoon of dried basil leaves
2 cups of shredded mozzarella cheese (8oz)

1 - Heat oven to 400F. In 3-quart saucepan or 4-quart dutch oven, cook ravioli as directed on package; drain and set aside.

2 - In the same saucepan, mix pasta sauce and basil. Cook over medium heat for 5 minutes, stirring occasionally, until through heated. Stir in cooked ravioli. Pour into ungreased 13x9inch (3 quart) glass baking dish. Sprinkle cheese over top.

3 - Bake uncovered for 10 minutes or until sauce is bubbly and cheese is melted

Miranda's Mix Ups: I didn't have "chunky tomato pasta sauce" so I used my normal pasta sauce. It was really good though.

Family Reviews:
Q - ate some of it
K - has seconds
Arnold - Pretty good, he enjoyed it, esp the cheese topping.
Miranda - LOVED IT! This was so wonderful and so easy. Def something I'd make again!

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New Food Friday #17 ~ Flaming Strawberry Chocolate Cupcakes

On Monday night our dessert was this WONDERFUL Cupcake. It was incredible! I could have eaten them all (thank you Pastor Steve for taking some home with you!). It was wonderful!!!!

Flaming Strawberry Chocolate Cupcakes

3/4 cup unsweetened cocoa powder
1 1/2 cups all purpose flour
1 1/2 cups sugar
1 1/2 tsp baking soda
3/4 tsp baking powder
3/4 tsp salt
2 eggs
3/4 cup hot water
3/4 cup heavy cream
3 tbsp canola or other vegetable oil
2 tsp vanilla extract

1 - Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

2 - Line muffin tin with cupcake papers and set aside.

3 - Sift together cocoa, flour, sugar, baking soda, baking powder and salt into a large bowl. Add eggs, water, heavy cream, oil and vanilla. Mix with a hand held mixer until smooth.

4 - Divide batter among muffin cups, filling each half full. Bake for 20 minutes. Let cool before frosting.



Frosting:
2 sticks softened butter
4 cups confectioners' sugar
4 tbsp unsweetened cocoa powder, sifted

1 - In the bowl of a stand mixer fitted with whisk attachment, cream together sugar, cocoa and butter; beginning on low speed then increase to high. Beat until fluffy and lightened in color. Transfer mixture to a piping bag fitted with a decorative tip. Frost cupcakes.


Strawberries:
18-24 Strawberries - you'll need as many as you have cupcakes
Vodka, rum, or your choice of liquor 80 proof or higher (over-proof such as 110 will give you a yellow flame)

Hollow the strawberries carefully. If you pierce the side of the strawberry accidentally, start with a new one. Since you'll be setting the liquor aflame, it is important that the strawberry is leak-proof.

Set one strawberry atop each frosted cupcake. Fill strawberries with liquor just before lighting (see tips). If you need to light them all at once, (say, for a party) use a turkey baster to quickly fill all the strawberries and a grill lighter in lieu of matches.

Miranda Mix Ups: I made everything just as it said, for the cupcakes. The Frosting is a different story. I only had 3 cups of icing sugar!! I know heaven forbid right? But yeah. I ended up not using enough butter that was "whippable". I had to heat up the mixture every few times, and eventually add some milk. It was wonderful!!!!

Family Reviews:
Q - ate it all
K - ate it all
Arnold - pretty good. The Icing was really nice.
Miranda - I could have eaten all the icing without putting it on. It was wonderful though!

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New Food Friday #16 ~ Stuffed Chicken

On Monday we had our Valentines Day Dinner with our YAH (Young Adults Hangout). I tried to make something fun! Lets just say it was a good thing that they were late because that chicken needed some more time to cook

Stuffed Chicken

4 Whole Double Chicken breasts
4oz of ricotta cheese
4oz of mozzarella cheese
1oz of fresh spinach
1 Tablespoon of basil

1 - in a mixing bowl, mash ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese and chop and add spinach. Add slowly, while mixing about 4 oz of water until smooth and almost runny.

2 - Flatten chicken breasts to 1/4inch thickness. Sprinkle with basil.

3 - At the widest end of breasts, place slice of mozzarella and 1/4 of the ricotta mixture. Roll breasts into a tight tube. Wrap in foil, twisting ends to be sure it's tight.

3 - Bake in a preheated oven at 350F for 15 to 20 minutes.

Miranda's Mix Ups: I doubled, almost tripled everything here to make enough. I forgot to add the basil inside so I sprinkled it on the chicken breasts after cooked. I also didn't use fresh spinach. I used frozen. I thawed 6 cubes and it was perfect!

Family Reviews:
Q - ate it all
K - loved it
Arnold - Ok but felt that it was missing something
Miranda - good! I think I'll try a different kind of stuffed chicken next time but SUPER yummy!

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Thursday, February 17, 2011

Life

Do you ever feel like life is catching up with you? That there is never anything you can do to get ahead of the game? OR even caught up? I'm having one of those weeks. I'm stressed out about silly little things, letting my emotion get caught up with me but still I'm making it.

I've had alot of setbacks in my training this week. On Wednesday, after a rough eating day I figured, hey I'm going to get in this workout and make it totally worth it. So I did. I got dressed, in my cycling shorts and shirt, sweater for working out, hat. I brought out my water bottle and my music and was ready to go. I had even started my timer on the bike and started to pedal... I began to think, humm this is really easy. I even doubled checked to make sure the tension was on and it was then I realized... I had a flat tire. SO instead of going inside and doing an exercise tape I pigged out on Quinton's treats (Doughnuts for being let go from his speech therapy from the past 2 years).

Then today I got to my swimming lessons and the door was locked. I managed to track down a caretaker there and he told me that the pump broke on the pool and it was closed today and tomorrow and into next week. Talk about sucking. I didn't get in my swimming this week and I totally needed it but I just didn't get it.

It's just been a rough day. Life... it's getting to me!