Throwing my weight around

I decided to stop procrastinating and take out the kettlebell this week. I picked up the set/kit/box o' super heavy a ways back but for some reason was hesitant to try it. I am thinking it was a mix of sick/feeling better/semi sick/repeat plus over thinking the effort it would take to start. Silly, I know but overall not feeling well was the major reason. While I am not feeling 100%, a little extra activity will always make me sleep a bit better. I expected the DVD in the box to be a workout dvd but it ended up being a 10 minute demo. Routine fail! Clearly it was showing the proper way to hold and the specific moves but I found myself thinking that they should have at least had it as a 10 min routine - ie both sides not just one. I did learn the basics which is good but I do foresee myself looking for a full out routine based DVD eventually. I ended up doing a mix of

• marching warmup aka watch the cats freak out


• short set of squats - or at least what I was calling that since I don't know technical jargon w the 5 lb kettlebell


• short period of fast hooping


• back to the kettle bell w more squat-ish stuff - that is my technical term for now


• another period of hooping but mid tempo


• short set of curls w kettlebell


• another period of slow hooping


• slow march to mid temp walk cool down w stretching

Overall it was less than a half hour. I was worried I'd be sore but so far so good. I think it was because while I did do something I kept it simple, a small amount of time and did not overdo it. Plus I am now walking a total of approximately 13 miles a week. Walking a mile now feels like barely anything to me now which is a great feeling. I know this will eventually help when I am able to run another 5k. Right now finances is making me wait but I know there will be one that is a mix of good registration cost, great charity, and overall fun.

Is it fast enough to...

Every time I hear this song, no matter who is singing it, I am back in 6th grade roller skating at the local roller rink (That spot is now a car dealership and a Hooters.) with one of those glow stick pendants swinging dangerously around my neck though never managing to crack my teeth and getting one more lap in before getting a neon blue snowcone.

I found this girl by chance when looking up Rebecca Black spoofs. She did a cover of Friday - with actual music and singing (crazy thought right?)

Finish strong

Today was one of those finish strong moments. While it did involve putting one thing in front of another, the things weren't feet. While it did include finishing touches, it wasn't frosting on a cake. It was binding off a scarf and weaving in the edges. If you knit, these are some of the moments before you get that moment when you hold up whatever you had been making for days/weeks/months and have that dopey smile on your face. It is that happy feeling that two little movements result in two kinds of stitches that can result in something beautiful.

Like Groundhog Day but minus Bill Murray

Perhaps it is due to my being a kid in the 80s and having the cassette tape singles with the paper sleeves (still have my copy of Every Rose Has It's Thorn) but I have a tendency to play a song on repeat until I am sick of it. While I am still listening to Heavy in Your Arms, I had added Home by Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros.



I was singing this today. Please remember that I am the kind of person that when you hear me singing along w the radio you turn up the radio. I'm serious. This happens. Then, after awhile and/or giving up, they just bear with me... for awhile. Ok I am not that abso horrible but if I am doing karaoke, it is usually later in the evening and singing a hair metal song with a female friend. Safety in numbers + old school stuff that people will start singing along with as well is the bar equivalent to turning up the radio.

I sang.

I sorta whistled.

I did keep myself from doing the 7 Dwarfs march along though.

Thunk thunk... thunk thunk.....

My love has concrete feet

As I had mentioned before when discussing hooping, I am a Florence + the Machine fan. I pretty much have been listening to my cd via itunes or the cd itself and haven't look at her/their website in a long time. So when I found out there was a new song of course I was excited!

Heavy in Your Arms is both a great song and a great video. It has been played on repeat for quite some time.



The "New CD!?!?!?!?!" kicked in. Nope soundtrack song for the latest installment of Sparkle Sparkle Wah Wah aka The Twilight Saga. They do put good music in the movies, I'll give them that. I just didn't like the first book at all = almost threw it across the room a few times. The second was better than the first but I won't be buying it anytime soon. I know that MILLIONS of people read/watched/loved/obsessed these books. Not my cup of tea.

Now the soundtracks - those won't be thrown across the room.

Darth Leprechaun

Oh baby baby bubububaybeee

First and foremost I am not preggers. (If that word offends you, m'apologies but "eggers" sounds better than "NANT" to me.) I swear it is baby-land lately. Between real life and blogland (of the ones I follow more regularly) there are a good half dozen couples expecting!

I found out last night from a life long friend that she and her hubby are expecting. She's one of those people that I don't remember life w/o since our fams were/are close and her sister is The BFF. I am SUPER excited for them especially since this is their first baby. A new little one to spoil!!!!!!

You spin me right round like a.... hoop?

I had numerous hula hoops as a kid. There is probably at least once somewhere in the shed at my parents place. I found one on top of our shed that was left by the previous owners. The elements got to that one though. Did you know that if you clip the edge of a bench with a plastic hoop it will explode into several large-ish pieces? Honest, truth. There are pictures.

Back when I was part of a craft group/online circle, I was introduced to hooping, hoop dance, and the general resurgence of it being more than just for kids or some sort of "hippie festival thing." Some of the people started posting pictures and videos which made me stop and think why not? I was the kid who would start up and not let the hoop drop for at times a good twenty minutes. It was fun before so it'd be so now as well.

I ended up buying a handmade hoop from a coworker of a friend, dragging it home on public transportation (wishing I had a camera that day!) and got started. While it is the same elements as the kid ones, adult hoops are larger and therefore a bit heavier. I have seen actual weighted fitness hoops as well. While there was the fitness aspect to it (hoop at a fast tempo for a long time and you will feel it in your butt and hips,) I was thinking of the dance part as well.

I took a hooping class last summer. It was a mix of fitness and dance but heavier on the dance which was fine with me. I did learn a few tricks but also that it is easy to throw a hoop across a room, whap yourself in the head but most of all that I loved it once again. This summer I am hoping to work on my tricks a bit more in the safety of my backyard. (No worrying then will happen about hitting the TV in our living room!)

Florence + the Machine is a fav of mine to hoop to and while I have no videos I found a few to share. It shows how different it can be done as well.

Paws button

I mean PAUSE button though both are somewhat fitting. I didn't realize it had been a week since I rambled a bit.

I've been vegging out with my knitting recently.

We had some people in town this past weekend.

My mom made corned beef and cabbage on Sunday for that entire side of the family (grand total of 6 = leftovers.... well not this time!)

I wandered Target and ended up buying ONE shirt and nothing else which was quite shocking.

I wandered Hobby Lobby and managed not to bring home 800 garden decorations and misc house decor incl a large mirror nautical style star.

The mirror star will be mine.

Someday.

When I have $50 to waste spend on a mirrored star that I really don't need.

Wiiinnnnnnner!

I woke up this morning and realized I hadn't posted the winner to the giveaway!



Congrats to Nicci - "Okay, favorite movie is still ''Girls Just Want to Have Fun'' favorite SJP movie! remember dancing around to it when I was young."

Damn the Man, Save the Empire!

One of my abso fave movies is Empire Records. It has become one of those movies that The BFF and I cannot watch without saying lines along with the actual movie dialogue. It shows that dancing around to AC/DC like a goofball works well in stressful/aggravating/bothersome situations as well. (Seriously, try this if you can stand listening to/enjoy AC/DC. It always works for me.)

This leads me to the clues that I had been using directly or indirectly in my recent posts - THE GIVEAWAY! The giveaway will be a $30 promo code for CSN Stores.

Post a comment that includes a movie that you know by heart or just one of your favorite movies.

I am going to leave this open until Sunday and use a random generator to pick the winner. I DO want to be as fair as possible! I was also told to note that this code will not cover international fees.

A is for Apple, B is for Blogger

I saw this on A Girl and Her Mutt and then on Daily Garnish. I'm pretty sure it was a few other places too probably but they are escaping me at the moment.

So since I am once again channeling Lorelai Gilmore and my brain is like the clip below, I'm sticking w the ABCs.



A. Age: 30
B. Bed size: Too small for two people and two cats, one that likes to sleep on my head aka a queen
C. Chore you dislike: Sorting socks is the first that comes to mind
D. Dogs: Molly & Cosmo
E. Essential start to your day: Check for location of cats so I don't accidentally launch one off the bed when getting up
F. Favorite color: misc blues
G. Gold or silver: silver
H. Height: 5 foot, 7 inches
I. Instruments you play(ed): flute & guitar
J. Job title: personal servant to the furrballs
K. Kids: Not at the moment
L. Live: Illinoize
M. Mom’s name: Mom
N. Nicknames: too many to name
O. Overnight hospital stays: None since I was a baby & hoping to not have to have one until Hubs & I start having kids. Hospitals creep me out.
P. Pet peeves: People who play chicken and refuse to walk on the right side of the street is my current one. One day I will start screaming "RIGHT SIDE!" like a crazy woman.
Q. Quote from a movie: “Well, Sinead O'Rebellion, shock me shock me shock me with that deviant behavior” – Empire Records
R. Righty or lefty: Right
S. Siblings: only sibs-in-law
T. Time you wake up: first alarm on work day = 5:57, non-work = varies
U. Underwear: Monkeymonkey underpants? ok silly question NEXT
V. Vegetables you dont’ like: raw onions - cooked are fine, cauliflower
W. What makes you run late: I get distracted too easily at times - oooh look at the cat!
X. X-rays you’ve had: none
Y. Yummy food you make: chocolate covered caramel marshmallows
Z. Zoo animal favorites: Havent been to the zoo in years but there used to be a loud mouth tiger years ago that was always part of the to-see list. Now I just have a loud mouth mini-tiger here at home to laugh about.

Gimmie a giveaway

I was given another opp from CSN to do a review OR a giveaway. Since I did a review last time, it is more than fair that a giveaway happens this time! I am planning it to be a themed giveaway response to choose a winner for the gift certificate. (I'll be using a random generator too to be fair) For now I'll give you two clues: Lights! Camera! Action! and popcorn is only optional.