Odo

We had a good vacation that was part away and part at home, which ended up being great.  I felt truly rested by the end of the week.  

And then, over the holiday weekend, we had to deal with something truly heartbreaking...

Mr. Higgins met Odo 10 years ago.  When we got married and moved into our house, seven years ago, Odo came with us.  She got her own room because she didn't get along with the other cats. 

But of all our cats, she was the sweetest.  Though she didn't take to other cats, she loved people and would purr for all of her grandparents and cat-sitters.  We worked out in her room and she made a game of running behind our legs as we did sit-ups, or behind our heads when we did crunches.  She was an angel.

We had to say good bye to her on Monday.  It was a very difficult decision because we didn't want to be without her.  But she's happier now and without pain.  

Rest in peace, my little girl.

Metabolic Rotation Addendum: Week 3 of 3

One more week until vacation!  I'm so ready...  

But first, another week of workouts.  I'll be sad to go off this rotation but it's always good to change things up.

Monday: Cathe's Low Impact Conditioning Express + YWA

I woke up feeling horrible so this workout happened at the end of the day.  Low Impact Conditioning Express is a fairly recent addition to Cathe's live workouts.  It's different and fun - a great workout!  My only complaint is that all the floorwork - burpees, mountain climbers - doesn't get me any steps!  After that 35 minutes, I did the last 10 minutes of Dozois' CIB from Sunday.  Just to finish it.  Then, a nice YWA to stretch out and try a new balancing pose.  Fun!

Tuesday: Cathe's Toasted Trisets: Upper Body Live + walk + YWA

Time for upper body today!  This workout - another newer one - meant business right away!  Whew!  You do three exercises - a triset - for each upper body muscle group.  You do that triset three times - 8 reps every time.  My muscles were definitely aching by the end of each triset.  Dang!  At lunch, I walked - needing steps, especially after not having gotten many on Monday.  Oy.  I then planked.  After a long day, this YWA woke me up!  And I'm really beginning to like tree pose!

Wednesday: Cathe's Lean Legs and Abs + walk

Leg days are always fun - and painful.  Today I did all the leg portion of Lean Legs and Abs - the compound exercises, the firewalker band segment, and most of the bonus barre.  I was definitely huffing and puffing during the compound exercises - which is Cathe's intention.  The firewalker band part is always very painful.  Ouch!  Once again, I walked at the rec center to get steps.  I then did sit-ups and stretched my legs out really well.

Thursday: YWA + YWA

I debated not taking this rest day since my vacation starts on Sunday....  But I needed a break, especially after a night of very restless quasi-sleep.  But at least I chose a challenging YWA.  This one went up and down a lot and definitely made me break a sweat!  After work, this yoga ab workout was good.  I'd been putting off doing it because I hate how slow Adriene makes you do ab work.  Ha!

Friday: Cathe's Strong and Sweaty: Boot Camp

A new workout today!  This was a great metabolic workout.  Cathe leads you through circuits that contain a cardio move, a leg move, a compound exercise, and an upper body exercise.  My heart rate stayed sky high throughout this one and it was a lot of fun.  I really do enjoy the variety of movements in these boot camp workouts!  Fun!

Saturday: Cathe's XTrain: Cardio Leg Blast + Lean Legs and Abs (abs)

Another metabolic workout before we leave for vacation!  This one is really tough and I love it!  Cathe alternates a cardio move (leg heavy) and a weighted leg move.  This really makes your lower body burn!  A lot of the cardio moves are very difficult but, thankfully, get a bit easier as the workout progresses.  I love weighted leg workout because it makes my heart rate spike like nothing else!  After that 50 minutes, I did the abs from Lean Legs and Abs - about 10 minutes.  Then, I stretched.  

Sunday: vacation

Stay-cay or Vacay?

Life has been a little crazy lately.  Nothing huge is happening to me, per se, but there's so much going on all around, especially with those I love the most, that I find myself struggling to not be stressed.  And I don't think I'm succeeding.  As a result, I'm tired.  The last year - well, it's been an emotional ringer.

So when Mr. Higgins was ready to plan our second vacation for 2018, I said 'no' to a cruise.  He was surprised but went along.  We came up with a plan to go to south Texas - to places we rarely visit.  The idea was to spend half the vacation away and half at home - to relax.  Now, I've scaled that plan back to only three nights away.  

This is what happens when I'm stressed - the thought of having to plan and fulfill vacation plans is just too much.  

I really want time at home to be creative and nestled in with my crafts.  And I really want to forget about everyone else's problems and focus on me.  Mr. Higgins is amazing for understanding this and going along with my un-plans, as they were.  

Hopefully, by this time next week, I'll be back home after our short trip with a finished knitting project!   And ready to do some other crafting!

Metabolic Rotation Addendum: Week 2 of 3

Two more weeks until vacation!  I cannot say enough....thank goodness!  I'm tired - mentally and emotionally fried.

But before that, I have two more weeks of Cathe and a few Michelle Dozois workouts.  Fun!

Monday: Cathe's Strong and Sweaty: Ramped Up Upper Body + walk + YWA

My back was still hurting from Saturday's weights, but I did this workout anyway.  Ha!  Thankfully, the back was the first muscle Cathe focuses on this workout, so I got it out of the way.  And this one is a fun video - which hits all the upper body is rapid succession.  It also contains the dreaded push-ups and tricep dips.  Ugh!  At lunch, I walked at the rec center to get some steps.  And after work, this YWA got me a bit too sweaty.  Ha!

Tuesday:  Cathe's Slow and Heavy: Legs + walk + YWA

Slow and Heavy is an old series from Cathe.  This video consisted of Legs and Shoulders but I only did legs.  The reps are as it's called - slow and heavy.  You go down for 2 counts and come up for 6 - for every exercise.  Whew!  You definitely get a burn going with this workout....  So much so that my heart rate stayed over 145 the entire time.  That lasted for about 35 minutes.  I then did a few minutes of weighted bridges.  Fun.  At lunch, I walked and planked.  This YWA was really nice - and a good length!

Wednesday: Cathe's HIIT 40/20 + ICE Blizzard Blast Legs 

Time for cardio today!  My feet were happily rested after two days of weights so I was ready to go!  This HIIT really gets you going fast.  The first block is possibly the hardest - for me, at least.  But I enjoyed the hard work.  After that 25 minutes, I finished off my morning with part of the Blizzard Blast from Cathe's ICE legs workout.  It contained weighted leg work with some blasts - but I used lighter weights since I did legs yesterday!

Thursday: Dozois' PeakFit: Dynamic Flexibility + YWA

Rest day!  And I needed it, considering my stomach kept me up, hurting, all night.  This workout was lovely - it always gets me sweating in a good way.  Michelle is so innovative in the way she stretches you through dynamic movements.  I love it!  Then, after work, I wanted something light so "easy breezy" sounded like a good choice.  Well, Adriene and I disagree on the definition of "easy."  Hmph!

Friday: Cathe's ICE Boot Camp Circuit

A new workout!  This ICE Boot Camp was great.  I really enjoyed it!  The format was like this: cardio move, lower body weighted move, upper body move, ab exercise.   Repeat...a lot.   My heart rate stayed up and I don't even have a step to use!  But I worked hard and got worked hard by this workout.  Very nice!

Saturday: Cathe's Lift It HIIT It Legs Live + ICE Blizzard Blast Boot Camp Circuit

Wow.  So, one way to get my heart rate up sky high and to keep it up is Lift It HIIT It Legs.  This workout - just like the DVD with the same name - alternates a weighted leg strength move and a HIIT move.  Less than halfway through this video, Cathe's HIIT moves start focusing on the legs, making this even more difficult.  Cool!  That lasted for about 40 minutes.  I then did most - 10 minutes worth - of the ICE Blizzard Blast from Friday's Boot Camp.  It kept my heart rate up there!  After all that, a stretch.

Sunday:  Dozois' Peak 10 Cardio Interval Burn + Cathe's Strong and Sweaty Abs

Steady cardio day meant Michelle Dozois' first Peak 10 workout.  This one is  a lot of fun and, yes, kept my heart pounding.  I really like Cathe but Michelle was my first love.  Ha!    I only did 4 of the segments (skipping one) to get in 50 minutes of work.  I then tuned into Cathe for ten minutes of abs.  Ouch!  Finally, a stretch.

Calorie Counts:

I was really good Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday.  On Mother's Day, there was waaayy too much food.  But, oh well.  Fun was had - with mothers.

Slouch Hat

I have some knitting to tell you about!  My April project was completed on April 29 - just in time!  I don't know if I'll be able to keep up this project-a-month goal but we'll see!  

For April, I made a hat out of sock yarn!

Pattern: Sockhead Slouch Hat by Kelly McClure
Yarn: Dream in Color Jilly in Eggplant
Needles: US 2
Made for: unknown
Time to completion: 3 weeks

I didn't make this hat quite as slouchy as the pattern called for - I knitted 11 inches instead of 13.  If I make another one - and I may - I'll do the 13 inches.   But this was a fun, easy knit, and a great way to use up sock yarn on something other than socks!

As far as the yarn, I can't say Jilly was my favorite.  The yarn split ridiculously easily and that really frustrates me.  It's soft, once knitted up, but I didn't really enjoy knitting with it.

Metabolic Rotation Addendum: Week 1 of 3

I have three weeks until vacation but just finished an 8-week Metabolic Rotation so I'm using these weeks to try some new Cathe workouts and add in some Michelle Dozois, just to change it up.

The past eight weeks have been great and I really enjoyed all the metabolic workouts.  I really hope I don't miss them too much!

Monday: Cathe's Fit Split: Low Impact Cardio & Metabolic Conditioning + walk + YWA

A new workout!  Fit Split is Cathe's newest workout series and I'm going to try all four videos this week!  So exciting!  All of them combine cardio and strength.  Each begins with cardio and ends with strength and seem about equally split on time between the two.  This low impact cardio was a lot of fun - some different moves and combinations made it seem really fresh.  The weighted metabolic conditioning was fantastic - lots of compound moves that kept my heart rate up.  At lunch, I walked at the rec after realizing how stiff my legs were.  WTH!?  So I stretched really well after a good walk.  And then this YWA helped me stretch even more!

Tuesday: Cathe's Strong and Sweaty: Cardio Slam

This week is definitely different!  It's been a while since I last did Cardio Slam and I'm always amazed at how hard it works me - especially out of the gate - and how much I enjoy it.  Cathe is very innovative in finding moves that keep up the heart rate - even with the sporadic low impact moves she treats you to.  All in all, this one wore me out!

Wednesday: Cathe's Fit Split: Shred Cardio & Push Day + walk + YWA

And this morning, I remembered why I can't do this much cardio: plantar fasciitis.  Ouch!  My feet definitely complained during the cardio portion of this workout - blasts with a step (which I don't have).  It was good, innovative, and mostly fun cardio...but my feet did not enjoy it.  The push day weights included chest, triceps, shoulders, and quadriceps.  And my shoulders definitely felt it!  At work, I walked because I was lacking in steps.  And after a long day, this YWA was really nice.

Thursday: YWA


Since I could only do one thing today on this rest day, I chose a YWA, of course!  This is day 17 of 30 Days of Yoga.  It was a good one to do at 5:30am.  It did have some balancing (Lord of the Dance Pose) and I did really well.  I'm glad I'm getting better at some things!

Friday: Dozois' Peak 10: Cardio Interval Burn Remix

Okeydokey.  When was the last time I did one of Dozois' CIBs?  I have no idea. But doing it this morning made me realize that I should incorporate them more often into my Cathe rotations.  Cathe is great about HIIT, tabata, and circuits; Dozois is fantastic about steady state cardio.  Unfortunately, after all the cardio this week, my feet were not happy with said steady cardio.  Sigh.  But I made it through 35 minutes before I had to stop to leave early for work, due to storms.  Fun.

Saturday: Cathe's Fit Split: Mixed Impact Cardio & Pull Day + CIB + Fit Split Abs

Yay - another new workout!  This Fit Split video started off with Mixed Impact - which pretty much alternates high and low impact moves.  There were few breaks and my heart rate got pretty high a few times.  That lasted 25 minutes and I wanted more cardio.  So, I tuned back into Dozois' CIB from Friday and did one of the 10 minute segments I couldn't do the other day.  Whew!  Then it was time for weights - Pull Day, which consisted of back, shoulders, biceps, and hamstrings.  That lasted for 35 minutes.  I followed it up with Fit Split Abs, which I'd done once before and it was just as hard this time around.  Finally, a stretch.  What a day!

Sunday:  Cathe's Fit Split: Kickbox Bootcamp & Legs/Glutes + CIB

Wow.  This workout was amazing - by far, my favorite of the Fit Split series.  The kickboxing was a lot of fun - lots of cool, new combinations.  After that 30 minutes, I did my last segment of Friday's CIB.  Whew!  Then, the Fit Split Legs/Glutes was incredible - and crazy hard.  Cathe moves you through it very, very quickly so your heart is pounding throughout. I could barely keep up because I was so winded!  Finally, after over an hour of work, I stretched.  

Calorie Counts:

I was really good for three days and not so good the other days.  Oy.

Seven Stones...

I recently finished the newest addition to Diana Gabaldon's Outlander series, Seven Stones to Stand or Fall.

My Goodreads review follows...

This book was perhaps the first book of short stories that I actually enjoyed reading. Something about short stories has always turned me off, but this one - with the characters we know well and some that we learn more about - was a lot of fun.

I especially liked the stories about John Grey and his family. Hal and Minnie's story was great - so much so that I wished it was longer! Learning more about young Jamie and Ian was also fun. The story of Roger's father was especially poignant and moving. 

Not one of these stories disappointed. If you're an Outlander fan, I highly recommend it!