Tears of Lactic Acid

My quads are crying tears of lactic acid, my friends. It’s not pretty but it’s very real.

I haven’t talked about it much on the blog but I’ve been quietly working out, with ever-increasing intensity and duration since mid-January. When I had my nose surgery in December, I learned that my blood pressure was high. While they initially thought it was only because I was so nervous about going under (it was the first time I’d ever been put completely out), that turned out not to be the case.

High blood pressure runs in my family. In fact, we all have it and I was actually on medication for it right after Taylor was born (crazy part was it was perfect the entire time I was pregnant – guess my body didn’t transition well) but it regulated after a couple of months.

However, I decided it was a good wake-up call because: 

1) I’m kind of too young to be on that stuff if I can manage to get off with diet and exercise 

2) we’re going to Disney next month and I must wear shorts IN FRONT OF OTHER PEOPLE since it’ll be 90+ degrees 

3) it wouldn’t hurt me to lose a few pounds, if you know what I mean.

I’ve made pretty good progress. I work out at least five times each week, rarely eat anything fried, amped up the veggie and water intake, have lost several inches and just feel better about life in general. Apparently this motivated my man to begin working out again as well because last week he approached me about joining the loca

l YMCA.

And by ‘approached,’ he told me he was doing it with or without me so did I want to come along for the ride or not?

A recent 'before' picture. I'm not brave enough to post 'after.'

Of course, I said 'yes' because I’m feeling quite good about exercising these days and would like to ramp up the intensity even more. We signed up last Thursday but weren’t able to go over the weekend because of Mother’s Day festivities. So I went Tuesday (Tay has gym on Mondays so we hike) after work.

After dropping Tay off in the computer lab, I changed and headed straight into the Spinning class. Here, at Baylor, they have cycling classes over in the SLC that allow you to work at your own pace and I would love to attend but they don’t offer child care (imagine that!) so I was excited about this opportunity. Really excited.

Until I walked in and the class was so hardcore that there weren’t even seats on the bikes. No seats, my friends, because they wanted you to STAND UP THE ENTIRE TIME!!!!!!

I stood there approximately 30 seconds before retrieving my water bottle and heading toward the other aerobics room where a Body Shaping class was set to begin.

While I should have known that it was going to be intense when I saw a man leading the class and everyone was setting up their station with 10 different pieces of toning equipment (body bar, band, resistance band, weights, mat, step, etc.), I must confess that I embarked upon the adventure anyway.

Merciful heavens, y’all, it was ROUGH!

But I only cried twice. And I only thought I was going to lose my late afternoon Fiber One snack once.

I’m calling that victory.

Praise His holy name that Taylor had gym again last night, though, because the class in that time slot on Wednesdays is Turbo Kickboxing.

I’m relatively certain my quads – did I mention they’ve been crying lactic acid teardrops for TWO days – would not make it through an hour of that type of exercise. They managed to hold up through my 4-mile Walking Away the Pounds DVD but only with non-stop prayer, my friends.

Did I mention that we did at least 120 lunges and/or squats throughout the class? Or that we then put these elastic bands around our ankles and side stepped from wall to wall? And then were supposed to do it again?

Then the precious instructor said, ‘Now let’s actually get started.’

WHAT?!?!?!

So why am I planning to go back tonight?

Because I’m either insane or competitive and need to prove that I can hang.

You be the judge.

In the meantime, I’ll be icing my multiple sore parts with Blue Bell…

Puppy Love

Taylor's love for the Puppy Posse is well documented on our blog but I managed to capture some super cute shots of the crew in action over the last week or so that I thought were worth sharing.

Not the funniest post I've ever done but it's heartwarming for sure. Stay tuned for 'The Many Faces of Miss Thang' tomorrow. It surely won't disappoint :-)

She asked that I share this one...not exactly sure why except that Prissy looks like an alien with those shiny green eyes :-)

Perkie (aka The Percolator)

This one is afraid of her shadow so obviously the flash terrifies her. We aren't able to capture on camera often so this shot will have to last for a while.

Prissy looking like she desperately needs a nap

Bo always looks like he needs a nap

This is a nightly occurrence at our house. Perkie is the only one small enough to crawl under our bed so she steals the big dogs' bones and hides them. Then Bo, Prissy and Tay have to go on a scavenger hunt for the missing treats.

This is also a nightly occurrence. When they've been running around playing, Bo finally has enough and just sits on her so he can give her some puppy lovin'

Rocky was purchased by Miss Thang during the first grade economic fair. She loves him and requested that he be introduced to the blog community. Everyone welcome Rocky!

And because our teeny bopper attitude is coming on strong, which creates some amusing photo ops, here you have 'I don't want to take a picture Tay'

Followed by 'I'm ignoring you while you take a picture Tay'

Is she too cute or what?

Dave was outside mowing when this picture was taken. Bo and Perkie followed him from window to window, which resulted in pictures with nothing but furry streaks, but my laid back Prissy just took up residence here on the windowsill.

Mother's Day Recap

I had a great - and rather relaxing - Mother's Day this year. It was Dave's weekend to work so Tay and I headed to church together. Unfortunately, Miss Thang woke up with major attitude (no, I have absolutely no idea where she got that from) so we had to have a mini 'Come to Jesus' meeting before going to worship service.

We were a few minutes late but we definitely needed us some worship that morning!

It was a great sermon and then we went home and had homemade macaroni and cheese (with Velveeta and heavy cream - it was diet :-) for lunch. Around 3:30 that afternoon we headed down to my parents' house to go out for an early dinner. We were hoping to beat the crowds and, boy howdy, did we ever. We went to Olive Garden and waited a total of 2.5 minutes before being seated. 

It was awesome!

And will probably never be replicated....

Before dinner, though, we had a bit of a photo shoot in Nana and Boppy's yard. I tried to get Tay to take pics in our yard but she's not that agreeable after the whole coral snake incident. 

Can't really blame her, can you?

So here's hoping you had a fab Mother's Day as well - enjoy the pics!

Nana, Boppy and Tay (who was being super silly)

Tay took this picture...she wasn't letting me get away with staying BEHIND the camera

Can you tell how excited she was about posing with the flowers? 

Told you she was being silly...

Wow - a smile and everything? Knock me down with a feather.

Behind Boppy's water feature...

Hanging with her four-legged bud, Gilbert

Show Us Where You Live

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Because I just can't help myself when it comes to decorating, I'm participating in Kelly's blog carnival. I love, love, love decorating and my entire house is a constant work in progress. Drives my man mad but provides me endless amounts of entertainment!

Today we'll be taking a tour of the living room and, because I'm not sure if we'll be doing offices separately and the fact that ours is adjoined to the living space, I've included pics of that as well.

Let's dive in!

Looking into the living area from the kitchen

My great-grandmother's pie safe. Love it - when I was a kid I had it in my room with collectible dolls but now it houses the good china we never use. It's actually my great-grandmother's china so it's a good fit!

Over in the corner you'll find another family heirloom (the shelf) that holds my collection of angels. Willow Tree, Lladro and dime store...I love any type of angel.

The flash was reflecting on the glass but this is a drawing of Macedonia Baptist Church, a little church back in the woods of Louisiana where I grew up.

It's not very clear but the balls in the vase are feather covered. I love anything feathered or covered in animal print.

Our fireplace

A curio cabinet that mainly holds Dave's Texas A&M memorabilia and bull riding mementos. 

Told you I love animal prints! These giraffe print pillows are one of my favorite items in the room.

Oil painting over the couch. It's another Louisiana scene.

Looking into the (tiny) entryway

Television armoire

Love this new piece on the mantle. I got the glass piece at Ross on clearance for $6.99 and the potpourri and decorative balls were 1/2 off at Hobby Lobby. Some are feathered and one is even giraffe print.

Dave's giant Texas star. My parents gave it to him one year for his birthday and it's one of his favorite possessions. Ever.

My mom gave me this candle stand and I got the cool candles 1/2 off at Hobby Lobby.

A certain someone really wanted you to see her lime green chair!

This is who you'll most likely find lounging in the office. The girls like to spend their time outside. Not this guy - he loves to sleep the day away.

Looking from the living room into the kitchen.

Looking into the office area

Social media central

I love this red lampshade and the box on the table has a Texas star carved into it. Gotta love being married to a bullrider from Texas, right?

This is actually the center section of the curved couch. Put together it is gigantic. This is only a rent house and we'll be moving once Tay finishes elementary school so we were thinking about the great room we want in our next house when we bought it. The loveseat size works great here, though. As you've already seen, Bo loves it!

I love these curtains. This room is octagonal and has smaller windows above the regular windows all the way around. It's great for natural light.

Thank you for touring our living area. Next week is children's bedrooms. Luckily, I took a bunch of Tay's room when we redecorated earlier this year so I have those in the bag and can do the post on time :-)

Not Me! Monday!

Welcome to Not Me! Monday! This blog carnival was created by MckMama. You can head over to her blog to read what she and everyone else have not been doing this week. 

Welcome to another edition of Not Me! Monday! where I'll proudly put on display my most embarrassing moments of the week in hopes that you will laugh your head off. 

Pride? I obviously have none and made the decision - on my family's behalf - that they do not either.

And we're off and running...

I most certainly did not obsess about Ty getting voted off/not getting voted off of Dancing with the Stars last week. In hopes that I could singlehandedly save him, I also did not create a number of new email accounts so that we could continue voting for him online. The puppiesdid not vote for Ty. Repeatedly. I repeat - the puppies DID NOT vote for Ty. 

As long as we're on this topic, I should let you know I did not allow my child to jump up and down on the bed in celebration of Ty remaining on DWTS...or send up a prayer for him before he performed that he would 'just do the best he could and have no regrets...' 

That would be crazy since I don't know him...and I didn't rationalize it because my hubby used to ride bulls in the same circles so I, of course, feel that I know him by extension. Absolutely not!

I was also not reminded this week of the time I did not tuck my skirt into my pantyhose. And Idid not have to leave the meeting early so that everyone in attendance gasped at the same time and pointed out my faux pas. That did not happen - EVER!

I did not check myself out in the mirror before having lunch with hubby last Tuesday. From every angle. And, merciful heavens, it was NOT because all the nurses there are so darn cute that I feel a little self conscious.

Speaking of Tuesday, I did not begin the morning by stomping my foot and making a fool of myself in the backyard because Bo (who's suffering from a skin condition and can't be out in the heat) decided he was going to go out anyway and sit in the middle of the yard. And REFUSE to move. I did not have 4-inch heels on at the time and twist my ankle a bit either. Nope, not me!

I also did not pretend to be asleep that morning so I wouldn't have to help hubby with the trash. (Cut me some slack, people - it was 5:30am!)

While packing Taylor's lunch for Roof Day (some sordid school activity where the principal stands on the roof and hoses the kids down and drops buckets of water on them - and this is fun? And legal?) did not pack my child's lunch in a plastic Wal-Mart shopping bag because I forgot to pick up paper ones. 

Back to Bo...he and I did not have a 3-minute conversation about how disappointed I was in him for going potty on my clean floor Wednesday evening. I mean, seriously, I had just mopped. He just stood there and looked at me - typical male!

While waiting for Tay's gym coach to finish another lesson on Saturday, I most definitely did not laugh hysterically after Tay broke out into full song and dance to keep herself entertained. And it wasn't performed at the top of her voice and completed with jazz hands. 

She did not look at me when she finished and say, "We share this with no one."

While at Petco searching for medicated shampoo for Bo on Saturday (are you catching on to the pattern - Prissy and Perkie are SO low maintenance compared to Bo...heck, even Taylor's less demanding than this doggie diva) did not snap this photo and send it to my husband immediately because I just couldn't believe my eyes.

When looking for a pen in my purse during church yesterday, my daughter DID NOT pull out a tampon by mistake. Because that would be incredibly embarrassing - for EVERYONE involved!

And, finally, I was not awoken this morning (did I mention he did this BEFORE the alarm went off - the nerve!) by my hubby asking what I planned to do with the 'I Dream of Genie stuff' (ie new decorative pieces to sit on top of our office filing cabinet). And he did not tell me in all seriousness that he "even rubbed the lamp-looking part to see if a genie would appear...but it didn't work..." Nope, not at my house!

Hope you have a great week. I plan to not jot these things down all week as they happen in my circus of a life so that I can NOT participate again next week in Not Me! Monday! Because itwas not the highlight of my week last week. Nope, not me!

Friday Post Deferred

I'm really looking forward to participating in the blog carnival over at Kelly's Korner this week. Everyone's showcasing their living room so it's sure to be full of great ideas. That post will have to wait, though, because I haven't yet taken the pics. I was too busy working on the blog makeover you see in progress...

Once I pull my head out of HTML code and quit cursing (except that I try not to) Photoshop, we'll be back up and running with posts. 

I know, you're excited, right? 

I just knew you would be.

In the meantime, Happy Friday!!

Let the Games Begin

So, what did you do last evening?

Perhaps you played a game with your children, cuddled with your spouse while watching a movie or did some yardwork or partook in some other constructive activity.

Now, you might ask what we did last evening?

Thanks for asking - we almost lost our minds with excitement that Ty Murray will be in the semifinal on Dancing with the Stars!!

You see, my hubby used to ride bulls in the PBR and numerous concussions, broken ribs and a bum knee later, can only watch from home each weekend while other (and, by other, I mean younger) cowboys take on the challenge of riding an untamable beast armed with nothing more than some spurs, a rope and a giant cowbell. 

After he gets said bum knee propped up, iced down and has a therapeutic level of Advil in his system, we get down to some bullriding fun.

Each. And. Every. Saturday. And Sunday. And. Sometimes. On. Friday. As. Well.

What does Tay do during this time? I thought you'd enjoy photographic evidence of her activities so here you go...


I'm totally kidding - she actually posed for this picture so I would have "a good sleeping picture" as opposed to a bad one apparently. She actually does this...

This one's closer to the truth because she spends a lot of time playing with the puppy posse (doesn't Bo look like he's having fun?) while wondering out loud 'why on Earth Davey ever thought that was smart.' 

Out of the mouths of babes, my friends. Out of the mouths of babes.

And I digress...

Back on task - so when Dave was participating in this activity (aka insanity) he got to know Ty a bit and just loves him. In a friendly sense, not a bromance or anything. So when it was announced that the 9-time PBR Champion (see, told you I've been brainwashed) was going to participate in this season of DWTS, I literally jumped up and down with glee because I knew we'd finally be able to watch it!

And we have. And we've voted. Many, many times. Even my man votes. It's amazing.

So this week, Ty was clearly underscored on the Argentine Tango and the Rumba because the judges were trying to force him out. (at least that's my take on it) What would a fan (and, by fan, I mean FANATIC) do when faced with this situation?

Why, she would begin to make up a ton of new email addresses so she could keep voting for Ty and save him from elimination.

And you know what?

It worked.

I didn't do it all by myself but I sure felt a rush of pure adrenaline last night when Li'l Kim was sent home (personally, I would have rather seen Melissa leave crying). I may have even jumped up and down. Repeatedly. And then grimaced a little because I had just worked out and it hurt. A lot.

My child may or may not have begun jumping on the bed. And I may or may not have let her. For about 10 minutes.

While my man pumped his fist in the air and exclaimed, 'Never underestimate a cowboy.'

There you have it, my friends.  We're living vicariously through Ty Murray and are darn proud of ourselves.

And we'll be right back at it next week. If only I can remember all of those user names and passwords.

Thankyouverymuch.