Virtual 5K update 1

Well, as I've mentioned, we have been swimming, and not just floating, soaking, and playing.  We have been going to the wave pool, staying for hours, and all taking turns or even racing, doing laps. (I even snuck in 45 minutes by myself...yes kid-free, one night. Shhhh!) My muscles are STILL sore. LOL  This is my very very very favoritest bestest exercise and activity. 


 Love. It. 


 I really must join the aquasize classes at the rec. center. (oh but forgot to mention, I DO water aerobics in the wave pool too LOL  Don't care how I look...I do big sweeping treading water, I twist and "jump" and really stretch too) But it is on the agenda weekly, at least 3 times each week for the next 4-5 weeks, until it goes to weekends only (booo, hisss) and we will try to fit it in as much as we can.)  I wish I were a mermaid.  I AM a mermaid in my dreams :P LOL (especially since Jillian has been interested in them a lot lately, and they are always on Netflix in the background LOL)  But anyhoo, so after our "vacation", I was having some swelling in my feet and ankles (multiple 10 hr drives will do that) and just plain bloating and blah-ness. (Why of course, these words are grammatically correct, why do you ask?)  Then, on top of that, I've been trying not to skip breakfast and at the least have cereal, but just generally eating lighter and less, watching carbs.


  But....NOT ENOUGH yet.  MUST DO BETTER.  


However, though I have not weighed in, my clothes are a little less snug and I'm feeling better.  I also bought a brand new, unopened yoga dvd at the thrift store for like a $1.  Woot!  (no, no woo-woo, just the exercises)  I'm fearful of core-exercises right now, due to my possible third-time hernia sigh.  But cardio and stretching and a little strength-training is a-okay.  


Now, to find time to go to the park and just walk (or eventually jog) w/ the kids or ride our bikes, while so much else is going on and we attempt to move. (more on that soon) Fun Fun.

For more info and updates on the Virtual 5K, go here and my original post here.

7 quick takes vol. 3

1. One of our family reunions was last Sunday...the one that is at the rec park/water park every year.  In years past everyone went for a swim at the water park, but that has died down.  We still like to go though....and we are so grateful that we happened to be gifted with season passes for our family.  So lunch was at high noon, and the kids were just waiting....and waiting...and waiting...on us to finish our overflowing plates of casseroles and meats and desserts. :P  And we had to let that food settle, so...yk...lots of waiting.... lol  They were pretty patient though, even Mariam, though no pic to prove it :)

2. And THIS...is a pic of one of to-share dessert plates...samples of just about everything and oh so decadent! 

3. No pics at the water park, but there will be some before Summer's End... :)  But this was a FULL washer of our swim clothes and towels after the fact. LOL

4. And this was exhausted Mariam, zoned out into a video, after swimming all afternoon LOL Yes, we plan to do this many a day until said Summer's End :P

5. And this is what was for dinner...cheap, quick, (and I didn't have to cook) and yes...bad bad bad mommy. :P  Yes, this will be addressed more in a later post...fair warning of mommy guilt ahead...

6.  So on to another topic:  I have a Procrastinator's "Spring Cleaning" AND Organizing Project pending for another blog day LOL  But for now, let me leave you with a new tip I accidentally discovered.  Yes, I am revealing a lot here....but after the crazy busy schedule I've had, hey..you should be more understanding and less judgemental (lol talking to myself, not really you :P ) Anyhoo...this is what my bathtub had become...ick..I know, but...when the shower gel bottle got knocked over and left to spill out, one busy morning...I found a new cheap cleaner.  It literally sat all day and took the soap scum away...rinse and go :)  Woohoo.

And 8.  La Piece de la Resistance (sp? lol no time to google)... I finally have had a bit of a green thumb...knock on wood LOL  I took a tiny little cut piece of another plant, and developed the roots in water like I used to see my mother do, and then as it began to grow, I replanted it in fresh soil, and voila!  I have a new plant. Yeah me!!!!  LOL  Perhaps I can dream big and actually do a window herb garden, and one day....yes one day...I shall have a backyard garden.  Sigh...but I digress....snicker away you ol' timer green thumbs....LOL  Ah, man I am getting so boring in my old age :P

UPDATE: Sigh, no one was paying attention to my  late-night trick there huh?  # 8?  Wha?? LOL










For more Quick Takes, visit Conversion Diary!

h3 vol. 4

h³

Heart-attack
Literally.  Sunday we had our first summer visit to the water park, after our family reunion.  We mainly just all stay in the wave pool, which makes me nervous anyway.  But we love it when it's calm...it can host all of us...from the shallow end to the deep.  Mom and Dad can take turns hanging out w/ Mariam, then taking laps in the deep end with the older two.  But when the horn goes off signalling  wave-time, we make sure we have Mariam right by us or in arms, depending on how deep it is.  And I do a scan to locate the other two, just to make sure.  But what you never want to hear is the whistle and a sudden cessation of waves.  In the past 6 years living here and going each summer, we've only heard it a few times and it was never really serious.  But on Sunday, a little girl was caught in the deep end, pulling under.  Things happened fast.  Thank goodness for those quick, powerful-swimming lifeguards.  But before one could reach the little girl and pull her out, a man who looked to be in his mid-50s and possibly her grandfather, had been trying to save her...probably did save her.  He then swam to where he could stand and was breathing heavy and looked pale, and several us were asking him if he was okay.  He couldn't answer, but someone gave him a tube float to rest on until he could walk to the chairs.  The paramedics were called.  He had chest pain.  Turned out, someone said he'd already had heart surgery to put stents in.  They took him off to the hospital.  The little girl was fine, just shaken up.  And I haven't heard what happened to the man, but we said a prayer or two for him.  Just a stark reminder of water safety and how diligent we have to be.  Things can happen quickly in the water.  Be safe this summer!


Heart-cation :)
Yes, we are on vacation....or as I like to say "vacation" LOL What that means is that besides going to visit my family (bi-annual 10 hour drive) we will mostly be having a "staycation."  And even then we will somewhat be "on call."  And even more, ...we will be doing some major projects when we get back home (and aren't having 4th or family celebrations)....phew!  I'm tired from this vacation already lol. BUT......what makes it really a "heart-cation" is this:  hanging out with my sweet little family.  Daddy is with us each day, we're doing some fun stuff, the kids (granted, when not fighting lol) are fun and happy :) 

Heart check
At my parents' there is a closet known for one thing:  toys.  And not just any toys but a large stash of my old toys (which are intermingled w/ some of my brothers' toys because I played with them also lol, so we're talking 60's, 70's, and 80's here lol)  Hot Wheels cars, a pull-string Bugs Bunny, a few of my old dolls, and so much more.  But I loved most when Mariam discovered how to use the stethescope in my old Fisher Price doctor kit.  When she actually did hear a heart beat, she was amazed :)  I loved her expression.  Sorry, no pics!  But maybe I can search and find a play "midwife kit" somewhere? :P lol  Perhaps, besides being a dancing and singing star, Mariam has her career picked out already ;)  (by all of her moms...her adoptive, her bio, her ICAN mommies LOL etc...)  Anyhoo...

What's on  your heart? :)

Here's How to Play h³:

1) Choose 3 adjectives beginning with "heart".

(Here's a partial list to get you started: heartbreaking, heartburning, heartening, heartfelt, heartless, heartpounding, heartrending, heartwarming, heartsick, heartstopping. I strongly encourage made up words, too.)

2) Tell a little about how each one is "on your heart" this week.

3) Link it back to my blog.

(You: Wait, what's a link up? Me: Jinx, you owe me a Coke!)

4) Create me a beautiful "button" which I can then place on my blog. You will receive heartfelt gratitude and a cyber high five. (Seriously, though, this one is optional. For all I know "creating buttons" consists of quantum physics.)

5) Enjoy all the love.