No Pain, No Gain?

Well ... last night (Tuesday) was my first night of personal training. You may notice I didn't blog. Couldn't ... all I could do was lay in bed and try not to throw up.

It started off ok- I talked to my dad briefly before walking in the gym and uh, he was watching Kung Fu Panda and could not be bothered - yeah ... I don't know either.

I walked into the gym and found Big Al and told him I was ready to work! We did arms- personal training sessions are 30 minutes. No big deal, right? So we did arms- and he made me do two sets of 20 reps on each of the arm machines. It hurt, I won't lie- but it wasn't BAD.

Then at the end, he walked me over to the Precor machine ... which is basically a stairmaster ... and I was like um- ... what are you doing? He said OUR session was over- but I still had 30 minutes of cardio to do. OH MY GOD. It was murder. Plan and simple... so when he wasn't looking, I snuck off and headed to the treadmill- you know my knee still DOES hurt from the wreck! I got in trouble, kind of- but really it was too much.

By the end of the 30 minutes of cardio, I was soaking wet, I had a migraine behind my left eye and my arms were SHAKING. I made it to the car and then in a blur, made it home - I somehow managed to tell Conrad what had happened to me- and I ate a bowl of Raisin Bran and took a hot bath. I ended up falling into bed, holding on to the sides of the bed, trying not to vomit. The last time I looked at the clock was 9:16- before I completely passed out. So you see, no time to blog.

My next session is Friday ... oh boy oh yeah ... and yet, I am going to stick with it. Even though today it hurt to type and I had trouble reaching behind me for the seat belt - but I AM sticking with it. I am having some minor trouble now reaching the laptop in my lap ... but this too shall pass.

Friday is legs. That should ruin my weekend.

Kah

No Pain, No Gain?

Weekend Highlights

We had a good weekend.

First of all, Friday I joined a gym. The recession is taking it's toll on everyone, but in some ways, you can get valuable things for cheap! I got a full gym membership for $12 a month, no contract. First and last month's fees due at sign up, no sign up fee. I literally handed them $25 and walked away. SCORE! DEAL!

I worked out Saturday AND Sunday- light stuff ... just 30 minutes of cardio, but I feel really good. Sore, but in a good way. I also got two personal training sessions for free with sign up. I'm meeting up with "Big Al" on Tues and Friday of this week. Can't wait.

I also went out to the softball fields and watched one of my friend's daughters play. We had a GREAT dinner at Landry's ... then today we went bowling. Don't even ask- we were bad, but it was something different to do and then I came home and cooked.

I made the Rachel Ray meat sauce- for spaghetti ... no more Ragu for me! This was the real stuff- it was made with panchetta and ground beef. Onions, grated carrots and grated garlic. Then a pinch of allspice, salt, pepper and a little bit of red wine. Then crushed tomatoes. YUM. It tasted like a restaurant. I think next time I'll add a touch of sugar, but it was GOOD and easy and fast. Like I said, no more Ragu for me.

Well the rain is heading in, I have a doc appt in the morning and a week to get ready for. I'm signing out - happy week to all of you.

Kah

Valentine's Day

It's that time of year again! Time for my annual Valentine's Day post. I hope it makes an impression on you ladies.

I'll start by saying I don't celebrate it. I haven't in years. I think it's maybe the most silly, useless "holiday" we have.

Exchanging Spiderman and Superman valentine's is cute when you're in school. It's fun to spend a week making yourself one of those "mailboxes" to put on your desk for all your friends to send letters too. That was always a good time ... and someone's mom would always bring in the pink and red cupcakes. Good times, simple times.

Sometime around the time I got my first job, things changed. Suddenly all the baracudas in the office are watching EVERYONE and sniffing around everyone's desk to see who got flowers or candy, etc ... and to see who didn't ... watching to see who has a good husband and who doesn't have a boyfriend. They compared their bouquets to everyone else's and I'm SURE there was more than one ungrateful woman that went home and gave her husband hell that night for not sending a bigger one. That was SO stressful for me. I can't imgine I'm the only one who feels that way ...

I hated Valentine's Day when I had a boyfriend because what if he didn't do anything for me at work? What would the snakes in the office have to say about THAT? He doesn't really like me? And I hated it when I didn't have a boyfriend either because then I felt like the most unloved person on the earth. It's a no win situation.

The straw that broke the camels back was the boyfriend I had right before Conrad. He sent flowers to my office. Mostly because I made him and I reminded him and I tried to casually tell him that if I didn't get anything everyone would think he was a jerk. The flowers arrived and on the card was one word- his NAME. Idiot. He thought it was hilarious. I thought it was mean. I already had my suspicisions regarding him anyway and his exgirlfriend. They were WAY too chummy and he defended her like I have never seen before. I was so upset and so insecure when it came to her, after I got the flowers I actually called the florist to see how many flowers he had sent out that day, just hoping to bust him sending me a set and her a set. They said he came in, bought mine with cash and that was it. I still don't believe it - she probably got dinner that night or something- but the fact was I had sunken SO LOW ...

From then on I declared Valentine's stupid and it really is. To me. It's also not man friendly. There is nothing out there I can get for $20 during this time that Conrad would like. He doesn't care about chocolate and what man likes to get flowers? It's incredibly stressful for all those involved. I stopped celebrating maybe four or five years ago and I've never been more happy.

Conrad is off the hook too and we treat it like any other day. We rarely even go to dinner, I hate fighting those crowds and paying those "special menu" prices ... if I don't cook, we order a pizza. I just think the entire day is ridiculous ... Conrad loves it. He tells guys all the time "how lucky am I?" when the subject comes up and I feel no stress when the girls walk by my cube and see no flowers. I just tell them I don't celebrate and that's that ... it feels good to take control.

Not to mention these days - it's not really the smartest bang for your buck ... I'd skip it this year if I were you.

Kah

Nostalic Part II

Yeah ...

So nostalic stuff is pretty cool. I like those stores you can go in that sell all things Ricky and Lucy - and Marilyn Monroe posters everywhere.... and isn't it exciting to think back to July 1969 when we had our first Moon Walk? GOOD TIMES!

I enjoy seeing Elizabeth Montgomery wiggle her nose and transport herself to 1600's Salem ... all super cute and who can forget my latest obsession? George Burns and Gracie Allen Show? That is some GOOD STUFF!

You know what's NOT fun or cute or good stuff? Driving to work on a chilly Wednesday morning. Tummy empty, eyes kind of tired, but pleased to be up and about. Enjoying the brisk air, listening to the radio and driving to work in relative peace. Because you are in your reflective and nostalgic mood you flip on to the Oldies station- hoping to catch some Beatles, or some Van Morrison or maybe the Doobie Brothers. They are ALWAYS uplifting. I kind of dig hearing 80's stuff sometimes too- Tears for Fears or Pat Benatar.

You know what kills the mood ENTIRELY? Hearing Hootie and the Blowfish come on, on the OLDIES Station and you're NOT old ... I went to their concert in 1996 for goodness sake. I still remember the idiots in front of me smoking pot. I remember everything. It wasn't THAT long ago. Suddenly I'm a middle aged woman driving to work, reliving her glory days.

CRAP. Since when did a 14 year old song become an OLDIE? Don't we need like I don't know 30 years for that or something ?????

I have a knee problem, brought upon by a wreck and Graves Disease brought on by God and my genes do I really have to be OLD now too????

Suddenly I'm no longer a young newlywed in Houston. I'm that crazy schnauzer lady that lives down the street ...
Old Lady K

Nostalgic

Been feeling that way lately.

I've been enjoying older music- you know, The Beatles ... Van Morrison, Nick Drake ... ah - Neil Diamond. GOOD TIMES.

and then I started watching older shows- like The Beverly Hillbillies and every Sunday night TVLand they show two episodes of Bewitched and then I Dream of Genie. I have been having the BEST time.

I also discovered AMC channel and I watch all the old movies. Cat on a Hot Tin Roof with Paul Newman and Elizabeth Taylor was AWESOME!

My most recent thing has been reading the 1988 book by George Burns called "Gracie, A Love Story"- as you know, he lived to be 100 years and 7 weeks old ... but his poor wife died when she was 58. He was married to her for 38 years and then lived another 32 without her. Heartbreaking. But they had a long and lively career together- I never knew. They also had a show called the George Burns and Gracie Allen Show (I know, original ...) for 8 seasons and I had NO IDEA. I have been watching the old episodes on Youtube ...

So anyway, that's what I've been up to. I've been this way since Christmas.

Oh and Conrad has asked me to say something about Petticoat Junction, even though I've never seen as much as one episode. He wants me to mention it so I will talk about "Hooterville".

*SIGH*

Kah

Weekend Update

Hey!

Now that it's over I can FINALLY talk about it. Our brother in law had been planning a surprise party for Conrad's sister since around Thanksgiving. She turned 30 on Wednesday - so he planned the party for 7PM on Friday. The only catch was the party was in Dallas. So we left about noon on Friday and had a great time. I think she was very surprised and as always, it was nice to be "home" ... on Saturday we headed to my old stomping grounds, Richardson, to see my neighbor and my sister.

We had a good time. My FAV restaurant in Dallas is Luna de Noche- so we went there for lunch and then talked and hung out. Blanca loves and grew up with my neighbor's dog- so I know she had a good time and was happy to see him. Then I popped in and saw my sis and her husband. I still had Christmas gifts for them.

Then today I went grocery shopping for the week - I made Super Bowl Queso today for just the heck of it and then we had a SUPER YUM dinner. My friend sells these briskets every year this time - for her daughters softball league. I bought one and it was SO GOOD - we will be getting one every year. We had that, and some mac n cheese- the good kind, the casserole you make at home, not the box ... and we had corn on the cob. It was very nice.

Good to be home, glad our sister had a good birthday and glad to see my friend and my sis ... we had a nice weekend. Back to the grind tomorrow- but I feel pretty relaxed and refreshed. Maybe family and friends do that for you.

Kah