Knitting ladies vs. bootcamp ladies

March 10th, 2010

Today at bootcamp SUCKED. It was bootcamp #4 for me. The first one sucked because it was hard and we spent the whole damn time jumping rope and doing push-ups. Bouncing=bad. Push-ups=bad because my knees are such shit. The second one sucked at little less because I was ready for it and it actually helped my horrifying soreness. The third one was, like the second, was circuit training. Like nine stations you do it for a minute: push-ups, shoulder flex, bench press, sled push, wall squat, etc. You do the circuit three times. It reminds me of crew and I like it. It makes the time pass. It was good. I wasn’t sore…until today.

Today was really bad. Abs and then a series of 20 exercises written on the bottom of an orange cone. So you do like 15 leg raises, then hold a V for another 30 seconds, then you RUN over to the line of cones, pick one up and do the exercise written on the bottom of it. Squat thrusts 30 , 35 skaters, 60 sec. of wall sprints, running down the hallway and back, etc.  I have to say the time passed very quickly.

But I felt really weak and I LOATHE COUNTING. Part of the reason I am paying for this exquisite torture is so someone else will count for me, namely Trainerguy.  I am very bad at it. I count to like 15 or 20 then I get distracted (I actually try to distract myself by concentrating on form or the ceiling cracks so I don’t notice the pain) and then I lose count and do a few more and stop. If I actually keep count, my form falls apart and I usually stop early because it HURTS. This makes me sound like a dumb person who can’t do more than one thing at once. Perhaps I am, but WHATEVER! It’s 5:30 in the morning, I hate counting and my knees hurt. Waa.

I am slower than all the other women in the class, which is to be expected. They are all on their 4 or 5 bootcamp. Fine. But I simply am not strong enough to do some of the things he was asking today and it was very disheartening  to be a) not strong enough and b) not know A LOT of the exercises written on the cones and c) lose count constantly and know that I wasn’t doing the right amount and finally I just started not to care about that. Additionally, and this might be TMI, early-morning abs make me gassy. Always have. There I said it. Nothing much to be done about that, just didn’t help my mood.

Apparently when I come home, I look inches away from death. Red-faced and out of breath and sweaty. We don’t do a cool down, which is fine, so my heart rate settles a little on the drive home and then I walk up three flights of stairs and it kills me again, for some reason. The women in class give me little encouraging smiles (all but one, whom I call Witch-face in my head) but the smiles are a little pitying, because I look like the same shade of death in mid-workout. And I know I have a scaryangry workout face.  So they are probably just trying to appease me so when I go on a murderous spree with a barbell and a jump rope,  they will be spared.

What I wished this morning was that the ladies in my knitting group(s) could be the ladies in my bootcamp. That would be soooo much better. It is a distinctly different group, however. BC ladies mostly look very willowy and naturally thin and athletic or like they have been toying with an eating disorder for most of their adult lives. They seem to have no sense of humor (except one) and want to know how to get rid of  “armpit fat”.  I have to say, even at my thinnest, armpit fat was never something I spent any real time thinking about.  Knitting ladies are all, as far as I can tell, really really smart and very funny and of various body-types and would have a sense of humor, I am sure, about something called a “burpee”.

This is a lot of bitching about something I signed up for, I know. I am not going to quit. I have 8 more to go this month and plan to sign up again, unless that murderous spree thing happens first (kidding!).

Monks in Trouble

March 8th, 2010

My talented and wonderous friend Rory Leahy directed a new play with his new theater company.

The theater company is called American Demigods and the play is called Monks in Trouble.

17971_297706220490_173062250490_5019668_123253_nRandy and I went to see it on Friday. It was a lovely time. The opening short plays were very well done. One was inexplicable, but I liked the others very much.

Monks in Trouble was fun. It was simple, and while I would have splurged for actual costumes and not nylon Halloween monk robes which were clingy in places I don’t want to think about monks having, the cast was great. The actor who played the shy, feckless monk was so soulful in his performance, I felt deeply for what he was going through.

I’ve always been impressed with Rory’s commitment to theater, and am very excited he started a theater company of his own. Call now for tickets! The venue is small this play won’t be around forever.

Bootcamp Let Down

March 8th, 2010

Bootcamp is a little disappointing so far, I have to say. I have been twice, and then the leader had to cancel the 3rd session last week and move the 1st session this week back. The good news is that I am all healed from last week. No real soreness, bruises on my knees are gone, I got my heavy-duty sports bra in the mail so I won’t have to jump f-ing rope again without some major boob support (Ow.). But the bad news is that I have lost some momentum, frankly. Tomorrow is a new day.

The schedule seems a little wonky to me, with all the days being moved around and what not, but considering I signed up for 5 days a week and was (secretly) relieved that it was only three, I really shouldn’t complain.

I also threw out my scale. It sucked and I am going to measure my progress other ways.

I started taking Glucosamine Chondroitin Complex and my knees are feeling better. I don’t know if it’s actually helping or this is a placebo effect since there are no comprehensive studies that show that this stuff works, but I’ll take it. My knees were killing me. They are a little better now.

Three years of godson goodness

March 1st, 2010
A boy and a hot dog.

A boy and a hot dog.

Hey! My godson turned three! Woot! Look at how cute that kid is! We went bowling for his birthday with his brother and parents and g-parents and some others. It was a hoot. A three year-old bowling! Comic genius! I got him a little keyboard that looks like a cat, with a microphone, and he and his brother hockey sticks. There was also pizza and beer.

Miss Peg pointed out that since I was starting bootcamp the next morning, maybe I shouldn’t have so much pizza and beer. Well, while she was correct, I just don’t think it would have mattered. Bootcamp kicked my ass up one side and down the other. Kids, I am out of shape. So very out of shape. I was the only newbie in the class and it showed. Jump rope? When is the last time I jumped rope? Hmmm, 1982. Push ups? Can’t do two. Oh, but I will. F-ing shoulder raises with weights? Yeah, those suck.

I am not, by nature, a patient woman. But I have patience for this. I know I will get stronger. It has happened before. My knees won’t ache in quite the same way. I will be able to do like 10 push ups.  I have to avoid the nuns and their diabetic coma treats (I have gained 10 damn pounds since I started working here!) and I will lose weight. And be stronger. I want to be stronger, mostly.

8th Grade Successes

February 26th, 2010

Where I work now, with the sisters, I get asked often about my Catholic education street cred: where I went to school, who taught me, do I know so-and-so, etc. very often.

I only had five years of official Catholic education (one year in eighth grade and four years at Benet), so I don’t have much of a story to tell the nuns. There were very few nuns teaching at Benet. Just Sr. Mary, our religion teacher. There were a lot of fathers and brothers, however. Both sexes belonged to the Benedictines, who are very into education.

But the very first nun I remember talking to was Sr. Carolyn, the principal of St. Joan of Arc in Lisle, where I went for eighth grade. For some reason, I remembered her as Sr. Mary. I remember a lot about her, however.

She was very kind. She seemed to grasp how hard it was for me to change schools in that year and how much of an outsider I felt like. She had a very sweet smile and, unless my memory is tricking me again, wore her habit headdress. I could be wrong about it. She remembered everyone’s names in the class, in fact, in the whole school, and greeted them all personally when she saw them.

I wanted to fill in some of the holes for when the sisters ask me who the principal was of St. Joan, so I sent an email to Sr. Carolyn, who was listed as principal, asking who was principal in 1988 when I graduated, and if I could get in touch with her. I totally used by nun cred on that one, hoping not to seem stalkerish. Sr. Carolyn was my principal! She had been the principal there for 43 years. As soon as I heard her voice on the message she left me, I remembered her. She said she remembered me well, mentioned that I was only there a year but made a big impact which was almost exactly what she said to me when she handed me my 8th grade dipolma. “Wow! Only one year, but what a contribution!” I felt really great. We chatted for a while, I thanked her and she encouraged me to stop by.

It was the first time I was in a class that was larger than 25. So! Many! Kids! And the boys! The boys were taller than me. I have been 5′8″ since 5th grade and was the tallest person in the school, including teachers, for a long time. I fell in love with the first boy who was taller than me and cute. He was real cute, and real dumb. I joined the basketball team. I joined the track team. I joined debate team. I joined the softball team. I got the lead in the school musical. I had my first official boyfriend and my first break-up. I was “popular” for a while. We didn’t have popular in my other school, there were only six girls, no point really. I wore a uniform for the first time. I remember on my first day of school my mom insisted that I wear a slip, but when I got there, it was obvious I was the only one who was doing so, so I took it off in the bathroom and stuffed it in the trash.  Then I rolled my skirt up, like the other girls did. I wore the white/pink frosted lipstick that was popular. I made my first communion and my class threw my a surprise party, during math class, and got me a cross necklace that turned my neck green in two days.  I got all C’s except for English, because I had already learned that stuff, and I was bored, and had SO. MUCH. FUN!

It all went away in high school. My dad grounded me from extracurriculars for my first year because my grades were so bad in 8th grade so no softball, no swim team, no drama club. I didn’t click with anyone for a while. It was lonely. It was what 8th grade could have been, but miraculously, wasn’t.

The idea that Sr. Carolyn remembers me is bewitching somehow. I think if I went back to ACS, where I spent 8 years and if anyone was still there, they wouldn’t remember me at all. Clearly Sr. Carolyn’s memory is something special and she uses it to make the children and alum feel special as well.

I used to do this every day!

February 23rd, 2010

I might be crazy, but I am going to try this.

On the crew team, we used to workout from 5-7 am every day during the school year, rain or shine, Sundays off. Of course, I was 18-21, in great shape, sleep deprived, peer pressured and pretty crazy but it certainly left me time in the day to enjoy other things.

When I started crew, the second semester of my freshman year (I would have started the first, but I got mono…) I was so weak, I couldn’t do a push-up because it hurt my back. When the rest of the team did push-ups, I did back extensions or crunches until I caught up. While I was never in the top boat, I competed for a seat in the top boat and did well in the boats I was in. I was in a heavy 4 that won gold at the Topeka race. That was exciting. Anyway, my point is that when I started in crew, I was way out of shape. Not fat, just weak. But I did what the other girls were doing and I caught up. I didn’t do it as well or as fast, but eventually, it all evened out.

My problem (one of them) is that gyms break my spirit. I could workout during lunch but that gets you all sweaty and gross and I have it pretty easy here at work, and I don’t want to push it. Meaning, if I am running late, I don’t worry about it, I just make up the time that evening or something. An hour and a half lunch 4 times a week might raise a few eyebrows. The gym is PACKED in the morning and evening. PACKED. It is ridiculous to pay $40 a month for the privilege of not getting a locker when I need one, swimming in a lane with 5 other people, and waiting 20 mins for a machine for a 40 minute workout. I HATE GYMS. When I joined XSport, it wasn’t so bad, but they have oversold the damn place and now it smells like ass and is crowded and the pool is like a petri dish. Ugh. It doesn’t bother Big A, but he isn’t going much either these days. They cut the Western Express bus and the parking over there is even worse than the wait for an elliptical machine or a bench press.

I was looking around for a new gym and stumbled on this Northside Adventure Bootcamp for Women.  It is one hour at 5:30 or 6:45 every day. I am not a morning person. I sleep to the last possible minute but I feel so much better when I workout, I think this might be worth it.

When I workout, the pounds melt off, almost no matter what I eat. If I actually watched what I ate, it would go even better. I have a jury trial for my taxi case in early May, and everyone knows fatties are not sympathetic, stupid and lazy. If I was a little thinner the jury might like me more.  (this is just my idea, not my lawyers).

Before I start this, I need to buy one of these.

I just noticed something on the website. In the things you have to agree to it says, “I agree not to eat or say the words Twinkie, Donuts, Ho-Ho’s, Ding Dong, or Cup Cake during the course of Boot Camp. Any violation will result in twenty push-ups per occurrence.” When was the last time you had a Twinkie? Seriously? Try Blue Brie, Camembert, or my weight in jerk chicken wings.

People Who Read Books Get Laid

February 22nd, 2010

Some friends of Big A and mine (namely Steve and Jeff) liked the idea of starting a book club. This will be my third after the Knitting Book Club and the Shmook Club, but I am a reading fool.

So Jeff started People Who Read Books Get Laid Book club. The title was my idea, natch.

Sometimes in mid to late March we are going to read The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay by Michael Chabon, having a pot luck, drinking and discussing. I invited a bunch of my friends on Facebook to join but I have a weird kind of blindness for that list of names they give you and always miss people. Don’t be offended if you didn’t get an invite.

The idea is that there are about 30 people in the book club, and only about 10-15 people ever show up, keeping the cast fresh and rotating and making it super low pressure.

So, are you in the Chicago area? Do you like books? Do you want to seem smarter and more attractive to those you would like to sleep with? Well, join the Facebook page or email me with deets if you are a non-Facebooker (weirdo).  It’ll be a hoot.

I’ll Stop Now

February 22nd, 2010

Ok, slippers. Add slippers to the list as well. I promised to stop photographing and adding every single thing that falls off my needles.

slipperUnfortunately I only had one skein of orange and I thought I had two so Big A only gets one slipper until I can get to Micheal’s, but, good sport that he is, he wore this one all evening, commenting on it’s softness, comfort and good looks. I like that guy. You can see my Martha book behind the slipper. I hope to make something out of that book soon.

Hand Warmers

February 21st, 2010

So I won this kit from the Sweatshop of Love and finally knit these little hand warmers up. It took 5 tries, no shit. handwarmersBut here they are in all their glory. Thanks to Big  A for being my hand model. They are a little small on him. His hand are beefy. I like this photo because that white thing in top of the picture? That’s Simon’s paw. He had to get in on the action.

That pattern right there? I have it memorized now. There is a matching cowl and I am considering buying it.

So, now I can make: glittens, cowls, mini cowls/headbands, hats, scarves, cell phone cozies, hand warmers and half a sock. I wanted to make my nephew/godson Theo a yellow sweater for his birthday, but it has turned out harder than anticipated. We’ll see…

Good-Bye Earl, please go away

February 18th, 2010

I have had “Good-Bye Earl” by the Dixie Chicks stuck in my head for FOUR DAYS. You know, that song about two women, Maryanne and Wanda, who kill Maryanne’s abusive husband Earl with no regrets? Yeah, that one. Over. And. Over.

I really don’t know what the deal is. It kept me awake Monday and Tuesday nights. I slept okay last night, but as soon as I woke up it started up again. That Natalie Maines drawl, those catchy lyrics “…he was a missing person that no body missed at all.” I don’t particularly like the Dixie Chicks, though I own two of their CDs. Wide Open Spaces I bought when I lived in Iowa and I put down to a certain amount of Stockholm Syndrome. The second I think I bought to support their outspoken criticism of President George W. Bush.

I don’t know why this song. It seems to be triggered by something in our house. I am not hearing it much at work or in the car. But at home, it is near constant.

Our routine is messed up right now. Big A got a temp gig for 4-ish months out in Winfield. So he leaves before me now and comes home after. We haven’t gotten to the gym, have no food in the house, and everything is at sixes and sevens, but we are happy for the income, Big A is pleased to interact with humans and not just cats, and I am really really enjoying having some alone time in the house. Things are good. So why am I being tortured by Earl and Wanda and Maryanne?

I used to get songs stuck in my head all the time. I didn’t know that didn’t happen to other people. I don’t mean like a tune goes through your mind unobtrusively, I mean a song takes up a large portion of your brain for weeks. It is called an intrusive thought and it mostly stopped after I started taking Celexa and became celexallent. So today I upped my dose a little. Maybe I have SAD and this is messing with me. I certainly feel seasonally affected today. Big A and I had a date planned last night but he wouldn’t tell me where we were going, so I asked what I should wear and he said, “Something that makes you feel good and sexy”. When I looked at my closet last night I wanted to cry. I am so tired of sweaters and tights and dark pants and boots. Blah, winter.

In an attempt to scrub my brain of this song, I have listened to it, listened to someone else singing it, listened to pop music, listened to music with words, without words, sang to myself, and tried to pronounce the inner OM. I am SOL. It is not in my head right now, but I am afraid as soon as I step into my house, it will happen again. Arg.

Stupid Earl.