Cathe Fans Part 5

StiringWendel

Hi Ladies! Today was an XTrain day starting with Supercuts and ending with Ride. You know it is a good workout day when you are tempted to put a next to your workouts on your calendar. And I was tempted!

Laurie, we may not be experiencing Christmas in July here in Alabama, but we do have Autumn in July! Temps this morning in the 50s, clear blue sky, low humidity....couldn’t be better! Glad to hear you and your DH were able to enjoy it this morning as well. Sounds like another good workout this morning. I completely agree on PHA 2. That one just flies by for me. Have fun at the game!

See you tomorrow.

Laurel

ThelmaSW

Hi ladies, quick update. I had a MAJOR breakthrough today! I woke up feeling very well and was full of energy. So I went to my yoga and fusion sculpting class! It felt great! I was able to do forearm planks, all kinds of ab work too. I am beyond excited. No Aleve was needed today.
My right pinky is still hurting and my right knee too but that's nothing compared to where I've been.
While in class I kept thanking God because today felt like a miracle. I was tired after that so I rested this afternoon while I did 3 loads of laundry.

Thank you so much for your get well wishes and for keeping me in your prayers. This doesn't mean my meds have kicked in. I think I had a false sense of feeling better over the weekend and I reduced the pred. By Tuesday I was pretty stiff and could hardly lift my left arm, I had swollen fingers and my knee was tender. I took an Aleve and upped the pred to the right dose and today I felt like a new woman. I guess over the weekend I was until the effects of the steroid shot I got on Thursday.

I pray I continue feeling well. I'm doing two classes tomorrow too! OMG ladies, I'm beyond happy. Today my daily activity was over 200%. I was barely doing 25%.

Goodnight and thanks for being there for me!
Thelma

lvnascar

Morning Ladies,

Another great morning weather wise. My workout this morning was PHA 2, thanks to Laurel for mentioning that one. I really do love it, and I can always feel that workout afterwards. Even with the lower humidity levels, I was sweating buckets. Do hate when that sweat gets in the eyes though.

Laurel, Do you have the smiley stickers to put on your calendar. I think if you don't, we all need to invest in some. Like you, I would have put a smiley sticker on my calendar instead of the usual star. Awesome workout combo, and I'm glad that you had such a great time with them that you wanted to add your smiley face. I don't know how long this weather will be this way before it remembers that it's July and should be muggy out. I'm taking advantage of every day. Had a great time at the game, and the Brewers won! We had some really good seats in the shade.

Thelma, I'm so glad to hear that you are feeling so much better. Great job on getting in yoga, and also attempting two of them today. I don't know if doing three loads of laundry is resting. Hope your day today is just as good as yesterday's.

Have a great day!
Laurie

StiringWendel

Hi Ladies! Today’s workout started with Cathe Live Vertical Loading 2. I had planned on doing another PHA workout today, but my lower body is feeling the workouts this week. So while the Vertical Loading format still works the lower body, whereas lower body work is 50% of PHA, it is less than 20% of Vertical Loading (5 upper body and 1 lower body exercises per round). It felt great today. I followed it with Cathe Live Hearts on Fire for cardio.

Thelma, so glad to hear you sounding so well!!! I bet it felt fantastic to want to get out of the house and do something. I am so happy for you. Hopefully your improvements continue. I imagine it will take some time to get back up to full speed but hooray on where you are!!

Laurie, glad you enjoyed the workout.....even with sweat in your eyes. We are still enjoying lower humidity, but that is coming to an end today/tomorrow. But even then the temps are predicted to stay in the 80s for the most part so it is quite tolerable. Glad you enjoyed the game! We still want to get to a Braves game but the thought of sitting in a stadium during the July heat in Georgia does not really appeal to me so it will have to wait until September or next spring. I don’t have any stickers for my calendar but I should probably get some to easily mark some of my favorite combos. I have always relied on my memory....but let’s just say my memory isn’t what it used to be. Now I just need to remember to buy stickers.

DH and I are off to Memphis tomorrow to watch the pros play golf. Hope you all enjoy the weekend!! See you Monday.

Laurel

ThelmaSW

Hi Ladies, Ying/Yang and Barre today. I didn't sleep well last night and I was super tired all day. I made it through the classes and in the afternoon (after a nap) I was able to do some vacuuming. Early morning temps have been 55-56 degrees the last two mornings. We've been having beautiful weather! We have cool nights and beautifully sunny, breezy das.

Laurie, great workout! I am loving these cool temps too! I'd forgotten about your trip to England! Glad you're prepping for it now!
I really hope the meds kick in soon.

Laurel, fabulous workouts as always!
My body has been through a lot. I'm sure it will take a while for it to get back to normal. I still can't lift heavy weights but I was able to do the Barre upper body segment using 3 lb weights

It felt so good to get out of the house and do things! Hopefully, I'm going to feel better tomorrow morning!

Tami, I'm sorry about your boss and her moods. I hope she gets treatment soon.

Hi Erika!

Goodnight ladies and have a wonderful weekend!
Thelma

lvnascar

Morning Ladies,

Another beautiful morning, and we are suppose to have the same all weekend. I'm looking forward to it. My workouts was RAW Kickbox Contouring. I used 2 lb weights for the punching. If you haven't noticed, I have been alternating boxing with weights, just to see how that feels.

Laurel, Great decision on the workouts. It is sometimes hard to pay attention to our bodies when it gets sore or overworked. I really like the sound of the vertical loading format, sounds like it would be fun. Have a great weekend watching the pros play golf. My Mom is a Braves fan, they used to be in Milwaukee before they moved. Guess that is why she is still a fan. Hope that you can get to see one of their games in September or Spring.

Thelma, Nice job on the workouts. Sorry to hear that you had a restless night. Love those temps, and I'm with you on enjoying them. I hope that it isn't raining tomorrow morning, so that I can go outside and enjoy my surroundings with some coffee. I don't know why that is always such a great way to start a Saturday morning.

Hope everyone has a great weekend!
Laurie

fitzfour

Hiiii Ladies!

I've been thinking of you all, but just keep find myself running to different (but fun) events lately! Workouts have been a bit sporadic, but I'm getting in lots of girls nights and family time, so I can't complain!

Thelma, I'm so sorry to hear about your ER stay, how scary to have the back pain so intense. I'm glad to hear you are feeling better and able to get back to some sort of normalcy. I'm praying the pain stays away and you also can get some good sleep at night. I can't imagine how frustrating it has to be to be so limited with movement due to pain. BTW, love your new profile picture!

Laurel, awesome workouts and sounds like you've had some great outdoor time with golfing and checking out your great state. I may be with you on the golf thing...I actually do not enjoy golf at all (I've made it as far as a driving range), but I love the scenery for sure!

Laurie, glad you are getting the good weather out of all of the systems going through. We have been dodging most of the storms, but the humidity has been insane. Friday was really steamy and so was yesterday. Today I woke up to steamed up windows. I think we are due for some storms later today though, so that should bring us some much needed cooler temps for the week!

Tami, enjoy your time off...sounds like it's a good time to be away from work with the moods

Enjoy the rest of your weekend!

Erika

lvnascar

Morning Ladies,

Well my Monday morning was a no workout morning. I was so tired from this weekend, that all I did was pull on my workout clothes and sit on my butt. I finished up the landscaping that I had started at the beginning of July, sure was labor intensive. This weekend was hot, not unbearable, but hot. I still have some to go, but I'm going to take my time with the last phase. I just wanted to get it to the point that DH didn't have to help me anymore. He really wants to get back to working on his car, and my project has been taking up a lot of his weekend time.

The only bad thing this weekend is that my car wouldn't start when we got out of Home Depot yesterday. Our youngest's bf came and picked us up, and I'm using my dd's car today. Good thing she doesn't have to work today. DH changed out the battery, but that wasn't the problem. He thinks it might be the starter.

Erika, Your summer sounds a lot like mine. Glad to hear that you are enjoying the summer. Those workouts will be there for our long winter months. I got out of the car this morning and my glasses steamed up. I couldn't see, so I had to take them off. We are suppose to have rain today. We had some this morning at the time that we usually walk Rocket, so he didn't get his walk. That is okay, because he is at daycare today.

Have a great day!
Laurie

StiringWendel

Hi Ladies! Hope you all enjoyed the weekend. We had a fantastic time in Memphis. It was such a wonderful blend of watching some good golf, enjoying a beautiful golf course, and just some fun time in the sunshine with DH. We spent more time walking around this golf course than we have any other course holding a pro event, and that was so nice. But it totaled up to nearly 30 miles of walking in those three days which, in the heat and humidity of Memphis, was actually quite a bit! We both made sure we were well hydrated, nourished properly and got into shade when needed, so we both handled it pretty well. We followed our favorite pro around all day on Saturday and towards the end of his round, he was standing on the tee box, took a deep breath and just said ‘Hot!’ At that point, I couldn’t have agreed more! But we are hoping to do it again next year!

For workouts, on Friday before we left, I did Cathe Live PHA plus Cardio Blast followed by Cathe Live Express Plyo Legs plus Core. No workouts on Saturday and Sunday (except for lots of walking!). Today, for Heavy Week in my rotation, I did Burn Sets Chest, Back and Shoulders and XT Core 1. For cardio, I did Low Impact Challenge from the Low Impact Series.

Thelma, love the new photo! Hope you are continuing to feel better. Great job with the workouts last Thursday! I don’t know about you, but we finally have the weather I thought we would have this time of year in Alabama. Pretty hot and muggy after last week’s cool temperatures. I don’t mind though because it is almost August! Like I said before, I want to want fall when it gets here. If it stays like this for August, I will!

Erika, sounds like you are enjoying a good summer despite the heat and humidity. Girl nights and family time are great reasons for sporadic workouts. As Laurie said, those workouts will be there when the long, dark winter days return.

Laurie, I almost did the same thing this morning!! It was only running all my workouts through my mind and finding two that sounded relatively good that got me up and moving. Glad you got some good time in on your garden this weekend. I have no doubt if I had been working in the heat this weekend and not just walking that I never would have even thought about getting into my workout clothes at all, so great job even thinking about it! I am sorry to hear about your car. I hope you find out what is wrong and get it fixed pretty quickly. We had that happen once but ours was the battery. Such a bad feeling to hop into your car and then.....nothing.

Tami, hope you had a great time with your sister and nephews!

See you tomorrow.

Laurel

ThelmaSW

Hi Ladies! it sounds like you had a pretty good weekend! We had a really nice weekend too. I am definitely feeling better. I am still dealing with the fatigue and little aches but nothing like it was before. The meds must be kicking in.
On Friday I did a restorative yoga class and on Saturday we walked around Blairsville, GA. We love that town and go there for brunch on Saturdays often and last Saturday we also checked out their Green Bean Festival. The only green bean I saw there was a wooden green bean guy! LOL
Lots of crafts there. We bought a beautiful wooden American Flag for our cabin.
I actually made dinner on Sunday. This was the first time I've made us dinner since last year! I tested new recipes and I was honestly scared about them not tasting good. I'm happy to report that they were delicious! I made Skinnytaste Air Fryer Buttermilk Chicken and Crustless Zucchini pie. DH looked pretty scared as we were getting ready to eat but he actually had two portions of each!
Tomorrow we will try another air fryer recipe called AIR FRYER CAJUN SHRIMP DINNER. These 3 recipes are on the website. BTW, I highly recommend an air fryer! At first, I bought a Cuisinart toaster/convection oven/air fryer combo. We've used it but it's not as versatile as the one I just got. We've had it for about 2 weeks and we've used it at least 3 times each week. The house doesn't get hot and you don't get food smells all over the house.

Today I did Gentle Yoga and Barre which was a full-body workout. We thought we were going to die! Tomorrow I'm going to try these free classes at a Baptist church in town with our new friends. One is an aerobics class and the other one is a Barre class.

Laurie, you must've been super exhausted today! Congrats on finishing your landscaping! Sorry about your car though!
Glad you had good temps over the weekend!
Saturday was pretty sunny and hot but not humid so it wasn't bad. We'll be in the low to mid 80's this week during the day and 60's at night. There are chances of rain all week. We had rain this afternoon for a little while and it really felt cooler after that.

Erika, so good to hear from you! Do what you can with workouts and enjoy family and girl time! This week I have three events to attend so it should be fun. On Wed a lady from the yoga studio invited to her house to celebrate one of the instructor's birthday. It's a potluck lunch so it should be fun. On Thursday eve I have to go to my private yoga instructor's studio grand opening and on Friday eve we always go out for drinks/dinner with our new friends.
The ER stay was short but scary getting to that point. I think the worst of the pain is behind me. I am going to do everything I can holistic to help myself too. Definitely, healthy eating is in order and exercise helps a lot. Thanks so much about the picture! I am so bad at selfies but I lucked out with that one on Friday! LOL

Laurel, what a great weekend you had! So glad you had such a great time! That was a lot of walking! WOW!
Walking about 30 miles sounds like a serious workout to me! Great job on your regular workouts!
You're so kind about my photo! Thank you!
We really don't haven't had much humidity but when the sun is shining it's pretty hot! So we've had hot temps because of the sun but not humid. Because I am taking the chemo and the lupus meds I have to protect myself from the sun. You should see me! I wear a wide brim hat, a sun shirt and I have a sun umbrella which is something like SPF 50+. What a difference the umbrella makes! Apparently, you're about 10-15 degrees cooler under these umbrellas and I have to say that I agree.
BTW, if you have an abundance of zucchini, check out the Skinnytaste.com site for awesome recipes! Tomorrow I want to try making a zucchini/banana bread. It calls for chocolate chips but DH can't have that so I'll probably add some dry cranberries or raisins.
I think you're going to be wishing for fall to get here quickly! People here say that the spiders that build those giant cocoons on trees are early this year. They claim it's a sign of a cold fall/winter! Thank God I kept my winter clothes and coats because now that our bodies are used to warm temps, the cooler temps will feel very cold!

Hi Tami!

Goodnight ladies!
Thelma

lvnascar

Morning Ladies,

Much better morning than yesterday. Still don't have my car back, but they do have it and where suppose to look at it late yesterday. They also think that it is the starter. I'm planning on taking it easy this week, so I did Jessica Smith's Walk Strong 3 Total Body. Now that workout really isn't taking it down if you use the right weight. I went a little to heavy on one move, but my hr did get up there. I would label this one as metabolic.

Laurel, The golf pro watching and walking sounds awesome. 30 miles in itself is a workout, especially in the heat. Nice that you where able to follow your favorite pro around. Great job on all the workouts! I tell you that I was surprised that I didn't have any motivation to workout yesterday. Next time I should just opt for stretching when I feel like that. I never remember that I have Jessica to turn to for that, since I have a few of her yoga workouts. I did have my workout clothes on. I'm planning on doing more yoga this week, since I'm still feeling tired. So this will be sort of a lighter week. Hope that I can stick with that. My car is over 225K in miles, and I really don't want it to die. I love that vehicle.

Thelma, I love your new pic. So glad to hear that you are feeling so much better, that has to be a relief for both you and your DH. My sister has an air fryer, and I have toyed with buying one. Just to many gadgets that they come up with. I will look at the recipes when I get a chance. LOL about the amount of green beans at the festival. I'm planning on making myself three bean salad. I should really call it four bean, since I love to add garbanzo beans in mine too. Great job on the yoga workout also.

Have a great day!
Laurie

StiringWendel

Hi Ladies! Today’s workout was Cathe Live Rapid Fire Legs and Core followed by Cathe Live Go The Distance spin class. I really had to talk myself into working out again today but I am glad I did. I ended up really enjoying both workouts.

Thelma, I am so glad to hear you are continuing to feel better. Sounds like you are creating some good friendships there! You have a busy social calendar for sure. I think you will definitely be much colder than we are in the winter given your location/elevation, but I was a little surprised how chilly it got here last winter. Not Alaska, of course. But chilly enough for gloves and a heavier jacket at times. I am not ready for it yet! Unfortunately we only got a few zucchini this year. It was enough to make a few loaves of bread and also grill some with a few meals.....but not TOO many. Our little plant is still trying to produce, but I think the heat is getting to it a bit. My favorite zucchini bread recipe is blueberry zucchini bread. But I have made some that call for chocolate as well and used a combo of dried cranberries and nuts that were really good. Okay....now I’m hungry! We love our air fryer. It is small, which is perfect for the two of us. We have only side items in it (onion rings, croutons, fries, chips, etc) but my sister recently recommended making chicken in it, and since you did it as well, I may give that a try.

Laurie, glad you are doing better today. That is a really good workout by Jessica. Well, pretty much all of Walk Strong 3 is good! Sounds like you have a good plan for this week since you are feeling tired. Best to listen to what your body is telling you. I hope you get your car back soon and it is good to go for another 225K miles!!

See you tomorrow.

Laurel

2BLean

Hi Ladies

I’m back from vacation! I had such an amazing time with my sister and her 2 boys. We went fishing with DH, went to a local Theme Park only about 10 miles from my house (road my first roller coaster – YIKES), went to a beach near my house, spent the remainder of the week with my uncles/aunts and my cousin and her 2 kids. Went tubing behind the boat with my nephews! Which was so fun and hilarious. All kinds of fun and perfect summer weather.

Returned early on Saturday, had to drop them off at the airport and headed home. Did laundry, grocery shopping and then hit the Peloton and workout on Sunday. Felt great! Yesterday I went to BootCamp after work and tonight I am headed home for a Circuit workout + Peloton ride I hope. This Saturday is the “Princess Pedalfest 2019” 45 mile ride that I did a couple years ago …. Not sure if you ladies remember me doing that. At any rate doing it again but I don’t really feel prepared. I will just ride at my own comfortable/enjoyable pace and if my friend wants to “race” she can. LOL

How are you all doing? I’ve missed you. Hoping work goes good this week.

Thelma: I just read how much better you are feeling! That is SO great to hear. I am happy for you but I bet nobody is happier than YOU. What a breakthrough. YAY!!!!!! Love the photo, you look very happy.

Laurel: Sounds like you are putting together all of your amazing combos as always! Way to go. Are you on the Circuits this week or was that last week? I decided either way, I will pick up at circuits because they are always enjoyable to me and a good place to start “back from vacation”. LOL Sounds like your weekend in Memphis was amazing and fun! Happy to hear that.

Laurie: Excellent job with your workouts and doing what feels good to you and what you enjoy! KB + weights is perfect! Amazing weather for you guys as well? My wish for anything but fires is still happening …. Fingers crossed it will continue.

Have a great evening ladies! I will talk to you tomorrow

Tami

ThelmaSW

Hi Ladies, had a little setback today. My left middle finger swelled up to twice the size of my ring finger. The middle joint seems to be the problem and my finger is all curved. I can't make it go straight right now. I took an Aleve and it got a little better.
I tried the Barre class at the church today and I loved it! The instructor was great! She used gliding discs, resistance loops, and baby dumbbells. The instructor does every move very slowly so you know which body part is getting worked on. I will try her aerobics class tomorrow.

Today's recipes were another huge hit. We are loving our new air fryer! We had the Air Fryer Cajun Shrimp dinner and Banana Zucchini bread. I bought a giant zucchini at the farmer's market last Saturday. I used it to make 3 different dishes! LOL. Cooking is not my thing but I'm actually enjoying it. It's so weird to me to be enjoying this cooking thing. I was telling DH that I'm scaring myself for just wanting to keep on cooking! LOL

Laurie, so glad you had a better morning today than you did yesterday! Hopefully, you'll get your car back soon! Great workout!

Thanks on the picture comment. We never imagined we'd be so happy here!
The fact that I'm feeling better is really a huge relief for both of us. I think this is why I'm cooking these days. It's my way of saying to the DH thanks and I love you for being there for me when I needed you the most. I love three-bean salad!

Laurel, great workouts and so good of you for getting that second workout in!

Moving to Blue Ridge is one of the best things that has happened to us. We are so happy here, and the new friendships we are creating are the icing on the cake. Such great people! We've never been social butterflies and now we are! LOL
We had a weird temp day. It went from cool to hot, back to cool and then hot again! In the winter there were days in BR that were much colder than in MA! 40's now will feel like high 20's here! LOL

Don't know if you're feeding the hummingbirds but people make a big deal about the hummers here which I just love. We've had hummer wars over the feeders since yesterday. We thought these little birds were going to kill each other! They fought today but not as bad as yesterday. I have 4 feeders out on the deck too! They are so territorial!

Sorry, your zucchini plant didn't perform well for you! I bet the zucchini/blueberry bread is very good! I have another giant zucchini so I may buy some fresh blueberries to make another bread next week.

I highly recommend looking up the Skinnytaste air fryer recipes! Gina has a cookbook dedicated to the air fryer which is nice.
So glad you have an air fryer Laurel! We ended up getting a 5.8 qt, square basket one because we got tired of making things in batches. Some meals are still done in batches but we can now eat right after batch one is done. We have yet to try the air fryer onion rings but we have made fries. What a great idea to make croutons in the air fryer!

Tami, welcome back! I am so happy you had such a wonderful vacation! So much fun! You rode a rollercoaster for the first time! LOL. Did you scream?
Great workouts! I do remember you doing that bike race! Wow! Best of luck!

You're so sweet! I know you and the other ladies are happy for me about my improved health. Thanks for the comment on the photo!

Hi Erika!

Goodnight ladies!
Thelma

lvnascar

Morning Ladies,

I so enjoyed the yoga this morning, so I know that my body really needs it. I did Jessica's Youtube workout 30-Minute Strength in Stillness. Very simple workout, but she held the poses for a good amount of time. The temps around here are awesome, and I will have to get outside after work to enjoy it. Still don't have my car, they are super busy at the garage. Hopefully it will get done today. This morning when I got to my office, there where four cucumbers on my desk. There is one electrician here that has more veggies from his garden then his family can handle. I'm always happy to take the extra off his hands.

Laurel, Glad that you where able to talk yourself into the workouts, they sound great. It wasn't hard for me to get the yoga workout done. I was looking forward to it, and will have to do that again when I feel so tired. Just stretching.... I will be trying out more of the Strong 3 workouts, I remember that they where really good. Give myself a refresher. If I can get that vehicle to go another 225K, then I will really love it more than I do already.

Tami, Your vacation sounds awesome, I'm sure your nephews will remember that for a while. I don't go on to many roller coasters, but they are way better than the rides that spin. Nice job with all the workouts! I'm sure you will do great with the race, and having your friend do the race the way she want will make it enjoyable for both of you. We did have some smoke from the forest fires in Canada, so I now know what you where talking about. There was this haze and smell on and off. Those fires are still going, but not as strong. We only get the haze when it is really humid.

Thelma, The class sounds great, and I hope that you are able to go to the aerobics class also. Hope your finger starts feeling better, but you really are sounding like you are getting back to yourself again. Love that you are enjoying cooking. It is probably because you have the time to enjoy it, and don't have the added stress of work. I know that when I get home, there are days that I just don't want to attempt cooking. I will have to seriously look at an air fryer, it sounds perfect for the two of us. Laurels idea of onion rings made me really interested, I love those things. The zucchini bread sounds awesome, I just love that bread. I need to pick some zucchini up, or maybe my dd now has some in her garden.

Have a great day!
Laurie

StiringWendel

Hi Ladies! Quick check-in today as I am headed out to my hair appointment in a few minutes, in addition to coloring it, I am going to try the process of removing some of the frizz from my hair. In Florida I cut it short to manage it in the humidity but let it grow out again in Alaska for warmth on my neck. I have toyed with cutting it short again, but I am kind of enjoying the length so the girl that does my hair recommended this. We’ll see how it works.....but my appointment may be about five hours long! But if it means my hair is more manageable, it will be worth it. Anyhow, for workouts this morning I did Burn Sets Bi’s And Tri’s followed by Cardio Core Circuit.

Tami, so glad you enjoyed your time with your family! Sounds like you had all kinds of fun. Woo-hoo on the roller coaster! I have yet to be on one myself. I am in Heavy week (Circuits was last week for me), but go with what feels good to you. I may change up my weeks in this last half a bit anyhow. To what? I don’t know. But I am toying with adding another heavy week instead of doing the Bootcamp week. But that is just a tentative thought right now. I just find I am missing some heavier weights.

Thelma, sorry about the setback with your hand, but hopefully it is short-lived. Good job with the workout. I am so happy you are happy there in BR!! That is just so good to hear. Like Laurie said, your love for cooking probably comes from having more time.....as well as wanting to do something nice for your DH. We don’t feed the hummingbirds yet, but I think we will next year. I had one at the front door just yesterday that was attracted to a flowering plant I have on the porch. But we are still feeding the other birds which has turned into quite a source of entertainment for DH and I. Who knew it would be so fun to watch?

Laurie, I love that routine by Jessica. It is one of my favorites of hers when my body is tired. She has another one out there called something like Recovery Day Stretch that is really good too. It is along the same concept of just basic stretches. Love that you are doing what feels good this week! The onion rings in our air fryer were SO good! So worth having an air fryer just for that. Enjoy those cucumbers! Hope you get your car back soon.

See you tomorrow!

Laurel

lvnascar

Morning Ladies,

I do have my car back, and it was only $400 that included a tow also. My workout this morning was LiTe Pyramid Pump Upper, such a good workout. It was in the high 50's this morning, so cold considering that it is summer.

Laurel, Love those Burn Sets, and hate the CCC. Hope that your hair came out perfect. My hair appointment is on Sunday. Thanks for the information on the other Jessica workout, I'm trying to incorporate more of the stretching into my week. With my weekends being so labor intensive, I should get more in than I do. How cool about the hummingbirds, just love when they start flying around. I had one come to a plant while I was weeding, it scared me. I'm going to check out some air fryers, I'm sure that DH will roll his eyes at another gadget. He does like the fact that some delicious food is produced from them.

Have a great day!
Laurie

StiringWendel

Hi Ladies! Today’s workout was 4DS Lower Body Weights followed by the 4DS Kickbox/Bootcamp Cardio Power premix. It was fun revisiting these workouts today. So my hair is less frizzy.....by still frizzy. I am going to give it a little while before I make a real assessment of whether it was worth the time and $$. I am a bit undecided right now to be honest, but I am glad I tried it to see if anything would work on my hair.

Laurie, glad you have your car back! And not a bad deal on the repairs either. I love those Pyramid workouts. I have no idea why CCC sounded good yesterday because it rarely does anymore. But I guess there are days like that which is why I hold on to workouts I rarely do! I need to return to some good stretching. For some reason I feel like my workout schedule has been completely off since we moved. It hasn’t been, but I feel like it has been. And that has me reaching for light workouts on Saturdays.....but not stretching or yoga. I know I would benefit far more from those latter types of workouts....but still reach for others! I can’t explain myself sometimes....even to me.

See you tomorrow.

Laurel

2BLean

Hi Ladies! End of the month was yesterday so it was a bit busy for us. We did also set a new record for amount of orders in July, so that is fabulous for the company. Workout Tuesday, I did go home and do a Peloton ride (Tabata ride, which was a 4th ride in a series of 4 with my favorite instructor). Yesterday was KCM Circuit Burn which is one of my all time fave’s of hers. Tonight after work I am going on a ride with my friend who is doing the race with me this Saturday. I will let her know if she wants to be in actual “race mode” she can ride on ahead of me. Tonight and the remainder of the week + weekend we will have high 80’s and sunshine so it will be for some gorgeous bike rides forsure. I will take it while I can.

Thelma: I am sorry to hear you had a little setback, fingers crossed that is all it was and nothing gets worse. It’s a good sign that the Aleve worked though I would think. Your Barre class sounds fantastic! Way to go. Love that you are trying out some new recipes and starting to enjoy cooking. I think the difference sometimes is having the time to enjoy it vs. a necessity in order to eat when you are busy. LOL Thank you for the welcome back and kudos on my workouts. As always, it feels so good to get back into them forsure. OK, so no I didn’t scream …. But I shut my eyes the entire ride and just sat down hard into the seat like I was riding a horse and tried to remember to breathe so I didn’t crack my teeth or something from clenching. HA HA

Laurie: Great way to start your day with the Yoga, glad you did that …. Especially if your body is needing it Sounds perfect. Good job getting in the LITE Pyramid Upper!! Another great one. Awesome that you were able to get your car back!!! That seems really cool for even a.m. temps this time of year. I bet it feels nice though.

Laurel: Fabulous job with your workouts! I had to chuckle to myself when you say your workout schedule has been “completely off” since you moved. I have felt that way a lot in the last year just going through all the ups and downs of grief and wonders of my job, etc. "Life" But sometimes just doing what feels good to just get it done helps! I understand on lifting heavier for maybe another week. I miss it too. That was the week I thought you might be on but thought getting back into it with the Circuit and go heavy next week will be perfect. Thank you for your always encouraging way and words for me. I appreciate it. I’m glad your hair feels better. Sometimes it takes a couple days to do it yourself to see if you truly like it. My hair is so slow in growing that I hate to ever gamble on a cut. My sides especially are like the same length always. I have “grow out” since I color my hair but it seems to be super slow. I have wanted to do a longer style bob but my back would have to be so short it scares me. My BFF who is my hair dresser keeps trying to tell me how much thicker and darling it will look right at my shoulders or above but . . . well . . . fear is still holding me back.

Hi Erika

Hope you all enjoy your afternoon! Talk to you all tomorrow! Tami

ThelmaSW

Hi Ladies, I had such a fun day on Wednesday at the Barre instructor's bday celebration! I left the house at 10:45 AM and returned at 4:15 PM! I did two classes on Wed morning. The 9 AM Aerobics at the church was fantastic. I felt like I was doing a Cathe Low Impact HIIT class minus weights. When the class was over the instructor looked at me and said: "You're a pro! You've done this before!" Too funny! I told her that was the most I've moved in a couple of months. I kept up with her and felt great! I then ran back home to get the dish I had prepared for the party, went to the yoga studio and did a Fusion sculpting class. I was exhausted after all that so today I still felt tired. I took a Barre class and that is always hard but fun. I am feeling DOMS all over my thighs! Great stuff!
Tonight I went to my private yoga instructor's studio opening. It's a really small studio but very nice. I thought it was in BR but it is in Ellijay which is about 20 minutes south of BR. I overheard her talking to one of her instructors and she was talking about adding a PIYO class on Sundays. I got excited about the PIYO class part but not so much about the Sunday part! LOL

I am going to start to give up some of the gentle yoga classes and will take LouAnn's classes at the church instead. At least that is assuming my body behaves. Mon and Wed aerobics and Barre on Tuesdays. The instructor won't teach this coming Monday so I'll do the gentle yoga then.

My middle finger is doing much better, the swelling went down but it still hurts a little. I am definitely feeling better and have started to gain strength in my hands. I couldn't even open a bottle of water and now I can!

Looks like the next 4-5 days will be rainy ones around here. Nice temps though. We're meeting our retired friends tomorrow in the late afternoon and DH and plan to go out to dinner on Saturday night. I think our temps have been in the low 60's at night but where our house is located so far the mornings have been very nice.

Laurie, great workouts! Nice job using 2lb weights for punching the other day!! That JS yoga workout sounds great!
I hate sweat getting in my eyes but it hurts really bad when you are wearing sunblock and that also gets into your eyes! OUCH!
So glad you have your car back and how nice of your co-worker to share his vegetables with you!

I highly recommend looking into an air fryer. Now that I know better I wouldn't buy the toaster oven looking kind. I would buy a large capacity one even if just the two of you if you're planning to do serious cooking like a whole chicken. you wouldn't believe how juicy that chicken was! You could have the chicken one night right out of the air fryer with whatever side dish and the next day you can turn that chicken into some other dish. You can get ideas from the skinnytaste web site. The banana bread and the Southwestern Black Bean and Avocado salad was a huge hit at the party. BTW, if you ever make it get two avocados because one is not enough. I also added 1.5 tomatoes instead of just a medium one. I thought it was too small.

Laurel, did you get a Brazilian blowout? Awesome workouts Laurel!
I use Morocan Oil styling products to control the freezies
https://www.moroccanoil.com/us_en/hair-care/wavy-curly-hair

Specifically, I mix the Moroccanoil Treatment Original with smoothing lotion and the intense curl cream.

Tami, nice job with those workouts and congrats to your company for setting a new record for the number of orders in July! I am sure you are very busy! Good luck on Saturday with the bike race!

The setbacks are very disappointing but nice that I'm meds I seem to recover faster. At least I know that Aleve seems to help most of the time with the exception of the time I had to go to the ER.
I think you ladies are right about me liking cooking because I have the time. I definitely want to do something nice for DH. It is so rewarding to watch DH have extra helpings of the food. not sure what we'll make next week except for air fryer breaded pork chops.
I may make the Cajun Shrimp dish with chicken!

OMG, I can't believe you didn't scream on that rollercoaster ride! Good for you! LOL

Hi Erika!

Goodnight ladies and have a wonderful weekend!!
Thelma

lvnascar

Morning Ladies,

Had another cool morning, sure do love them. My workout today was Jessica Smith Youtube Kickboxing Cardio Abs (first time doing this one and it is awesome) / 15-Minute Short & Sweet Stretch. Check out Cathe's August rotation, it looks really good. I would sub some of the step workouts, but overall a good combo.

Laurel, Love those 4DS workouts, they are on my radar for a future week. Hope the hair works after some time, I will have to ask my dd about that process. I have to do the same thing, I fall of the wagon on the stretching. After doing that one, it is now apparent that I need some more stretching just to make it not look like I'm getting older than I am after getting up from my chair at work. After these stretching sessions, I sure am able to move better. Today's stretch was and experiment to see if even the short stretches give me the same feeling.

Tami, Great job on the workouts! Glad to hear that you set a record, but I'm sure that the pace of the office is crazy right now. We have had the same type of temps as you are, so take advantage of that sunshine. Funny how that LiTe Upper doesn't seem hard, but the next day you feel it. Yep I'm going to be taking advantage of these cool summer mornings, can't wait for tomorrow.

Thelma, I'm so glad to see that you are feeling so much better, getting all those workouts done in one day sounds like what we went through during the Cathe RT. I didn't think I could handle all those workouts in one day, but I surprised myself. PiYo sounds nice, but you are right not on a Sunday. Nice that you found the class at church to be so good, and of course you are a pro. Nice that you are so busy in your new area, I bet now that you are feeling better, you are enjoying the retirement. Thanks for the info on the fryer, I will check it out this weekend. It sounds like your acid re-flux is doing better also.

Have a wonderful weekend!
Laurie

StiringWendel

Hi Ladies! Today’s workout started with 4DS Upper Body Weights. Boy, I love this workout! I don’t do it more often because of the length (67 minutes without warm-up and cool down), but I should. I finished it nearly two hours ago and my arms are still feeling it. I followed it with Cathe Live 2014 Road Trip Step Class which is, in essence, just like F/S Shred Cardio but with a longer, more choreographed warm-up and cold down. Tough stuff! I think if our Road Trip had included a workout this hard last spring, I would have spent a couple of classes in the bar! But it felt good today.

Tami, good luck on your ride tomorrow! The weather sounds warm, but, hopefully, it will be dry and not too warm. Great workouts! Thank you for understanding this bizarre ‘unsettled’ or ‘off center’ feeling I have had this year. I think doing this long rotation is helping me understand that, really, I AM settled and can relax into a routine. But I just can’t quite shake it completely. I am thinking (today.....this may change tomorrow ) that instead of Bootcamp workouts in that BC week, I may do Total Body workouts instead. I am in the process of mentally creating a long rotation to get me through the winter (and, again, make me feel more settled), and want to revisit some of those workouts to see where they might fit in. I’ll keep you posted if I change.....just so I don’t confuse you (even though we are a week apart right now on the rotation). I have loved this summer’s rotation because it has been fun and flexible (which is what I was going for). But, no doubt, the next rotation will focus more on strength training than this one. My body really does still respond way better to that type of working out.

Thelma, wow on all the activity!! Great job!! And I love that your instructor recognized the pro in you. I am so glad to hear you sounding better. I did not have a Brazilian Blowout (my stylist really doesn’t like those because of the chemicals). I did a Keratin treatment. It has been pretty humid here the past couple of days since we have had some pretty heavy rains....and I will say this—my hair isn’t getting any fluffier. And that’s a good thing! We let it dry naturally after the appointment, so this should be about as bad as it gets and it is very tolerable. Today I will try blow drying and see how that goes. My aim is to stop using a flat iron since that is so hard on the hair. You make me hungry with all the Air Fryer food suggestions! Everything sounds SO good.

Laurie, sounds like another good workout. I will be interested to hear if you feel the benefits from the 15 minute stretch. I have mixed results in how I feel shorter (10-15 minute) stretches. Of course, it would help if I had some consistency in my stretching to really be able to assess it though! I looked at that August Rotation. What a terrific blend of workouts! I am going to book mark that one, even if I only do a week or two of it in between rotations. Love the variety.

Erika, hope you had a good week!

Enjoy the weekend.

Laurel

2BLean

Happy Friday Ladies ~

Quick check in since the day is almost over. Went for our bike ride last night and it was very warm but beautiful. I told Ashley that it is fine to ride on ahead of me at mock speed tomorrow if she wants ….. if she decides to do the race mode. She said she will see how she feels but either way wait for me at the rest stops if we aren’t together. {Yikes} Somehow that causes me more stress! I just want to enjoy it and take it for what it is. Thank you all for the well wishes! I will let you know on Monday how it goes.

Have a great weekend!!!

Tami

lvnascar

Morning Ladies,

More landscaping this weekend, and now I just need to get the last of the plants into the ground. Had my hair appointment on Sunday. Was really nice just to relax. This morning I did Kelly's Step Boxing 2 Combined workouts.

Laurel, Great job on the workouts. LOL about that tough Cathe road trip workout, I would be with you at the bar. I don't know if I could have done a step class. I'm glad that the combo felt good. I will have to say the 15 min. really didn't do to much for the body, so I may have to increase the weight. I thought the August rotation had that aspect to it also. It had a nice blend of old and new. Or maybe it was old and new ones that I actually enjoy. Of course I will have to see if I'm wanting to do MIC.

Tami, I hope that your bike ride went well. So how fast is her race mode?

Have a great day!
Laurie

StiringWendel

Hi Ladies! Hope you all enjoyed the weekend. We got some chores done and two rounds of golf....so that was good! I am noticing it getting darker and darker in the mornings and evenings, so days spent in the sun are very welcome right now. For workouts, on Saturday I did Jessica’s Cardio Ball Ballet followed by Kari Anderson’s Reach. Yesterday was Lean Legs and Abs, including the Barre section, followed by the X53 premix from Cathe’s X10 workout. Today was CTX Upper Body premix followed by S&S Cardio Slam. Love that upper body workout! I am still feeling it a few hours after. Of course, though, I was feeling that 4DS upper body workout I did on Friday all weekend, so that could have something to do with it.

Tami, hope the race went well and you were able to relax and enjoy it. I will be anxious to hear how it went!

Laurie, sounds like another good weekend in the garden though I bet the break for your hair appointment felt good. I am liking this keratin treatment I got last week more and more. Yesterday after golf, I washed my hair and then DH and I sat on the porch to watch a wicked storm. So hair drying naturally in 100% humidity was a real test and I didn’t want to pull my hair out at the end of it! So there really is quite an improvement, which is nice. I am sorry you didn’t feel much difference in that 15 minute workout. Cathe’s MIC still remains one of her toughest workouts for me. It starts off pretty easy, but by the end.... . I always have to work up my motivation for that one, no doubt.

Thelma and Erika, hope you are both well.

Until tomorrow.

Laurel

ThelmaSW

Hi Ladies, I had a bit of a setback this weekend but doing better. Both my Achilles' tendons were very painful and swollen. I was practically walking on my heels because my feet wouldn't flex due to the stiff Achilles tendon. I'm still walking funny but better. Also, my left index finger swelled up and it was painful. I took an Aleve last night and it helped. I got a haircut on Sunday and also colored my hair; which was needed badly. I love that this place is open on Sundays. I was the first one there. Within 1/2 hour I drove to the salon, got my haircut and returned home! How convenient!

I was very fatigued during the weekend, probably because of all the workouts I did last week. No workouts for me during the weekend.
On Friday I did Restorative Healing yoga and Jessica Smith 4 miles from 6 Mile Mix.

The yoga studio has a challenge for the month of August. The grand prize is a one-year membership. There are 30 challenges and only one a day can be achieved. There's a lot of social media involved but someone competitive has emerged from me! It definitely is a game of strategy. Today I spent the entire afternoon strategizing. I achieve a challenge pretty much every day in August. I still have 3 spots that I don't know how I'll do. One of the challenges is to sign up for a workshop and you get a bonus point if you bring a friend to the workshop. The ladies I know didn't want to do it, there isn't a "rent a friend" service here but I was able to convince DH to do the workshop with me! I found me a friend! LOL
We are going to do a 2 hour Thai Restorative workshop on 8/30. I'm really excited about this challenge. I'm going to have to go take a yoga class on Saturday at 8:30 for another challenge point. In two weeks I think I'll have to go take a 5:30PM class because one of the challenges is to take classes with 5 instructors. I only take classes with 3 of them. This 5:30 instructor only teaches one class but it's a yin/yang. Easy!

My challenge for today was to take an early class. The first class today was at 8:15. I did 3 classes today. I know it sounds like a lot but the first 2 were kinds of restorative classes so easy.
Today's workouts were Ying/Yang, Beginner Gentle Yoga, and Barre.

I'll be doing Barre at the church tomorrow.

DH has yet to start his new job. He's still working for Tufts full-time but believes he'll be starting his new job next month. Not thrilled about this because it means traveling. He thinks he'll be traveling 2 weeks out of every month.

Laurie, doing great with your workouts! Sounds like it was a haircut week! I bet your landscaping looks great! Are you adding to what you did last year?

Isn't funny how you think you can't do all those back-to-back workouts but once there you do it. I think it's pure adrenaline at that point.
There's no way I'd drive to another town to do a PiYo class on a Sunday. I can't believe how busy I am here! It's a happy 'busy' though. I am really enjoying life here and the yoga challenge is spicing things up more. I have DH enlisted to help me. He is my photographer and my workshop friend! LOL
We went out to dinner to a neighboring town and I had to get a picture taken out of town with the studio's yoga gear. I had a t-shirt and DH took my picture. I have to have a picture taken practicing yoga outside the studio and another one doing an inversion pose. It has to be standing on your head with legs up. This can be done against a wall.
My acid reflux is very controlled. I'm not sure if the steroids are helping or if it's the fruit/veggie infused water I drink. I read that certain fruits and vegetables help with acidity so I'm doing that.

Laurel, fantastic workouts! Glad you had a nice weekend, were able to play golf, and that the Keratin treatment is working! Did the Keratin treatment take 5 hours or did that time also include a haircut and styling?
I hope this Keratin treatment will help you eliminate the usage of a flat iron. How often do you have to repeat the treatment?
Days are definitely getting shorter.

You have no idea how happy I am about having been able to increase my activity level so much. Not doing big weights yet because my hands can't handle it yet. I'm working on my balance because yoga poses that I could easily do before are very wobbly now. I'm also working on my planks.

We are loving our air fryer. Yesterday we made this one
https://www.skinnytaste.com/crispy-breaded-pork-chops-in-the-air-fryer/

Hi Tami, how was your race?

Hi Erika!

Goodnight ladies!
Thelma

2BLean

Hi Ladies and Happy Tuesday! So I am happy to report that I made it through the 48 mile bike ride on Saturday, despite the heat and road construction for a couple miles of the ride. LOL It was so bad they had a couple guys shuttling us through it so we didn’t have to ride through THICK gravel. Thank goodness. We finished by noon which is what my friend set as a goal so that was good. I was proud of us for doing it and finishing strong. Sunday I decided upper body would be perfect so I did XT Chest/Back/Shoulders which felt great. Yesterday I had all intentions of going to BootCamp after work but forgot my gym bag that was all packed … dang it. So I came home and got in a Peloton Tabata ride instead. Today will be weights again when I get home.

Laurie: Sounds like a very productive weekend in your yard, way to go. Excellent job with your KCM Step Boxing 2 workout! Her race mode would be average of 15 mph; we ended up riding it in 12.7 (yes she had kept track) So she didn’t go as fast as I thought she might and I kept telling her she could, my bike isn’t quite as fast as hers; bigger tires, etc. But she wanted to do it together and was happy with our pace she said.

Laurel: Great weekend for you it sounds like as well! Nicely done with the golf. WOWSA on the workout combos you have done as well. “X53” alone is a tough one, way to go!!! The bike race went well as I mentioned ….. was happy we rode together despite her probably wanting to go faster because there are stretches of miles and miles of an old highway road that feels like you are pedaling in place. Having someone to visit with was nice. The last time I did the ride I rode those by myself and it was not as fun. Still tough with the head wind we had but not smoke thank goodness. Smoke is here this week along with high temps (today will be 97, tomorrow 94) luckily not as smoky as past years but not the greatest. Darn it.

Thelma: So good to hear you are being able to push yourself and take more classes, etc. That is so great. The Achilles' tendons pain does not sound like it was fun, so good that you are getting through it and enjoying your yoga. YAY Love that you are busy and enjoying your life there, despite some physical setbacks your life sounds absolutely amazing in your new home/town. Great to hear about your hair appt and being open on Sundays, that is super convenient!

Have a great day ladies! Talk to you tomorrow

StiringWendel

Hi Ladies! Today’s workout started with LIS Lower Body Trisets and the core work from LIS Slide and Glide. So good! For cardio, I did spinning with Cathe’s Pedal Power DVD. I admit to waking up very cranky today (our bathroom issue is really bothering me as we approach three months post-destruction and nothing but excuses from the builder on why they can’t complete the job), but that spin workout was the perfect treatment! I feel much better now.

Thelma, love the sound of that challenge! I am sorry about your set back this weekend, but it sounds like you are in a better place both mentally and physically than you were for several weeks despite that. You are one tough cookie! I am sorry your DH is going to be traveling so much. But if you ever need a ‘rent a friend’, I volunteer! The keratin treatment, the color, cut and style took all that time. Plus lots of chatting with my stylist. We have become good friends (despite the fact I am her mother’s age....literally) with our common bond of living in Alaska and moving from Alaska to here at the same time. I will need to get this done every three months, but if I get healthier hair out of it be cutting down on the use of a blow dryer or flat iron, it will be worth it. And I am also toying with letting my gray grow in. I am not quite there yet, but I am really close to doing it.

Tami, congratulations on the race!! That is an incredible achievement (again), and I am glad you and your friend were able to ride it together. Great workout on Sunday. I think after that ride I would have opted for a day under a tree with a book. I am sorry you are getting smoke again, though. Hopefully the season will start changing soon and you get some cooler, wet weather.

See you tomorrow.

Laurel

fitzfour

Hi Ladies!!

Just puttering along over here! Workouts as I have time, but enjoying much more patio time as the temps are finally not so hot and humid! We got our puppy neutered last week, so had several days of trying to keep him calm, which is a challenge!

Laurel, your visit to Memphis sounds wonderful. What a fun weekend of golf, and sounds like you tolerated the hot temps well! I have to say, we still do not have our bathroom completed yet. We had the 4th round of shower doors delivered last Friday and they are still the wrong size. I have no idea when we'll get the right size, but I'm glad we can still use our shower in the process!

Laurie, your landscaping project sounds like a big one! I've had a lot of weed pulling to do here with all the hot/humid temps just feeding them! Spent several hours over the weekend and the last few days getting the rest of the weeds up. Didn't feel like it was a lot of work, but with the humidity I was a puddle by the time I was done. Finally getting some low humidity and nice weather here.

Tami, your vacation sounds amazing! I bet your sister and nephews had a blast, sounds like a fun time for sure! Nice work on the ride, I bet you're tired! Still thinking of you everytime I see a Peloton commercial

Thelma, I'm happy to hear you're feeling better and the setbacks are less than they were previously. Keep up with whatever makes you feel good...it probably changes day to day. What airfryer do you have? We have looked at many, but never bought one. Hearing your recipes makes me want one!


I'm hoping to be on here more regularly, if work stays manageable. Heading to northern MN for a quick lunch meeting tomorrow, but will be gone for 7-8 hours, so makes for a long day! Glad we have nothing planned for the rest of the week/weekend!

Erika

ThelmaSW

Hi Ladies, I felt pretty tired today but I still went to the church for the Barre class. I got up early and was at the supermarket by 8 am, came back home for breakfast and then went to Barre class.
I decided to get a little rest and then got up to do a little house cleaning. Today I decided to do what an old friend does. One room a day. I did a little more than that. 1.5 bathrooms and vacuumed our main floor. This will be easier for me. I just don't have the energy to clean the entire house in one day. Easy does it!

Today's challenge was "Be Proactive" by sharing on social media a post from the yoga studio. Done!

The temp here on our deck felt like a very cool 70 to me. I was actually cold on the deck. Difference story in downtown BR, 5 minutes from here. We are lucky to get shade most of the day because it keeps us cool. In the afternoon the sun was very strong and I didn't feel hot but more like I was getting fried. This is a result of the meds I take. There is no way I can be in the sun without sunblock, sun shirt, and a sun umbrella and possibly a hat too. Not fun!

My Achilles tendons are better. The left one was the first one to get swollen and it's healing first. The right side is better but has a couple of days to go I think.

Tami, so glad you did so well on your race! Congratulations! Both of you should be very proud of yourself! We are proud of you!
Great workouts too!

The Achilles' tendons pain is definitely different than plantar fasciitis. I just can't believe how busy I am here, all in a good way. Life is really good for us here. A lot of convenient businesses around here. The only inconvenience is not having easy access to the specialists I need! Oh well, we can't have everything we want.

Laurel, really good and challenging combo today! OMG, I didn't realize you were still dealing with the bathroom issues. I'm so sorry about that. No wonder you were cranky today!

The challenge is a lot of fun. I really am in a much better place mentally and physically than I was a few weeks ago.
AWWWW! Thanks for volunteering for the 'rent a friend' position! LOL
A lady who just moved here from FL with her husband, always asks me to go to lunch with her and I always go with her. So I was hoping she'd do the workshop with me. At least she'll go to lunch with me at this restaurant where I'm supposed to order a "Buddha Bowl" as one o my challenges. Not sure I will like this vegan salad. It has greens, cukes, chickpeas, tofu, onions and Greek dressing. Seems to me it needs some feta cheese! On Friday this lady will come to the yoga studio to take a class and she will be helping with another challenge. Next time there is a good workshop I'll let you know to see if you want to do it, Laurel. You can stay with us! It will be fun to have DH do this workshop with me.

I'm glad the 5 hours at the hair salon were not just for the Keratin treatment! How nice that you've become good friends with the hairstylist and that she just moved here from Alaska! Small world! I really hope the Keratin will help your hair recover from the damage it may have from the flat iron and blow dryer.
OMG, going gray! I've toyed with that idea too but I am not ready yet. I keep thinking about a friend who decided to go gray and she looked so much older! Some women just have the right skin color to go gray and they look gorgeous. I just don't think it will work for me. I think I would have to really wear makeup to make the look work for me. Of course, since I moved here I rarely wear makeup so that won't work! I think we should order gray wigs, try them on in the comfort of our bathroom and then decide about going gray. I really want to do this and then send the wig back! LOL

Hi Erika! So good to hear from you. I bet it is a huge challenge to keep the puppy calm!

Now that the meds seem to finally be kicking in, the setbacks are less than previously for sure. I just have to listen to my body and do as much as it lets me do.
The air fryer we have is the Cosoti Stainless Steel 5.8qt. Wow! It's on sale too! You can get it for $100 with after applying the $30 off coupon!
https://www.amazon.com/dp/B07NL1L4SL/ref=emc_b_5_t

They have a black one which has more presets. That is the older model but apparently, the difference is the stainless steel part. I was able to fit a 5lb chicken in there!

Last year we bought a Cuisinart air fryer/convection/toaster combo one. Now it's just taking up space in the pantry. We use the Cosori at least 2 times a week now.
If you get one make sure to buy perforated air fryer liners that fit your air fryer. Helps with the cleanup. The most amazing part is that the house doesn't get hot or food smells. Of course, faster cooking time is awesome.
I haven't bought any of the accessories they sell but I'm thinking about it. I must admit that DH is the one who deals with the air fryer. I prepare the food and he warms up the AF and then brings the basket to me so we can put the food in it. I want to try baking in it.

Hi Laurie!

Goodnight ladies!
Thelma