Level 5

This week was week six in boxing.

So far, I'm enjoying this new level - it's a challenge, and I feel like I'm working hard. Surprisingly, the hardest part is remembering what we have to do.

In every class, we do these stations:

• skipping (4)
• reflex bag (1)
• heavy bag (4)
• speed bag (2)
• shadow boxing (1)

The heavy bag, shadow boxing, and reflex bag are the same combinations, which leaves me three stations I need to remember.

This week, here's what we did for the heavy bag:

• Combination 1 - jab, right, upper cut, upper cut, slip, hook to the body, hook to the head
• Combination 2 - jab, right to the body, hook, duck & rotate, hook to the head, upper cut, slip, hook to the body, hook to the head
• At 30 seconds, hit & move

I can do all of that, my problem is remembering it.

I think I'm going to suggest temporary tattoos we can put on our arms so that we have something to refer to when we get to the station.

What I did today

• Put boots on
• Took boots off
• Put boots on
• Took boots off
• Put boots on
• Took boots off
• Put boots on
• Took boots off

How long until spring?

On blogging

The thing I like about blogs is that it lets you really understand what it's like to live someone else's life.

If you want to know what it's like to be a nurse or raise 5 children in New York City or work in an inner city school, then change careers, there's a blog that can show you.

Of course, there are also blogs with a more specific theme - like job hunting/career advice, human resources, or genealogy.

There are dozens of personal finance blogs.

Need help figuring out how much money you need to buy a house?The internet has you covered.

There are pop culture blogs and fashion mockery blogs,

Some are professionally written, some are not, but they all open up the world a bit more.

Please stand on my left

Things that have not cured my sore shoulder:

• Strength training
• Zumba
• Rest
• Heat
• Boxing

It's actually the upper part of my shoulder near my neck. It's muscle pain, and I didn't do anything in particular to cause it.

This is not the first time this has happened - in grade 4, I used to have stiff necks all the time. If I wanted to turn to look at a classmate, I had to turn my entire body.

In retrospect, I probably should have mentioned it to someone. I mostly grew out of it, though.

That's not much of a consolation when it hurts to turn my head.

More babbling about the gym

I finally got back to the gym.

My typical schedule is BodyPump (i.e. strength training) on Mondays and Thursdays. Tuesdays I don't go to the gym. Wednesdays is boxing - or, when I procrastinate enough that I have to box on Saturdays, I either do a spin class or do my own thing on the bikes. Friday I either do Zumba or an abs class - although so far in 2012, this is only theoretical.

My Monday and Thursday classes haven't changed in two years - until now. This session, my Monday class is unchanged, but my Thursday class has moved from an hour to 45 minutes, and they've added a new CRX class afterwards (for another 30 minutes). Many of the people in my pump class stay for CRX. Last week, I stayed as well.

CRX is an ab/core workout. It's only half an hour - if you can use the word "only" in reference to a 30 minute ab class.

The first week, I had trouble following the instructor, so this week I moved up to the front of the class. It was definitely easier to follow - not such much easier to do, but easier to follow.

The surprising thing about this class is that there's no stretches afterwards. I guess that in theory you're supposed to stretch on your own.

(In practice, I forget about it long before I reach the shower.)

I haven't decided whether I'll continue with this one. I'll probably give it at least one more week before deciding.

Zzzzzz

Sparks camp was awesome. The weather was great, there was minimal whining, and we managed to eat 6 meals in 24 hours.

We do mother/daughter camps - that way I don't have to worry about who has brushed their teeth or who left their sock in the middle of the room, and there are lots of adults around to clean vegetables and wipe down tables.

There's this song we've done twice this year. It's called "An Old Austrian", and it's about a man sitting on a mountain yodeling. Yesterday, we were sitting around during quiet time, and some of the girls started singing it.

This was impressive - I didn't think they knew the whole thing - and funny, because ... they think it's "An Old Ostrich". You know, about a giant flightless bird sitting on a mountain yodeling. As they do.

I really need to write out the words for them sometime.

We had three campfires during the weekend (because all 5 & 6 year olds should know how to start a fire in the snow), they built inukshuks out of pieces of the top level of snow/freezing rain that covered the entire campsite, and we went snowshoeing.

We had a space theme, and we made space goo, alien cupcakes, star marble magnets, and space ships. We looked at the stars and found Orion, Cassiopeia, and the Big Dipper.

It was an action-packed weekend. And now I have 2 days to get ready for Tuesday's meeting.

Does anyone remember the unseasonably warm December we had? The one where everyone was wondering whether we'd have a white Christmas?

I miss that.

I mean, I'm glad we have snow now, but we've hit the part of the winter where it's cold. I'm taking the Sparks to camp next weekend, and our camp planning contained a lot of "... and if it's too cold, we'll just do that inside". We'll still spend time outside, but it'll be active time - no sitting around the campfire.

The snow has also made it clear that I should have done more trimming of the bushes and trees around the house. The snow makes the branches bow down and block the sidewalk. On Friday, I took the clippers outside and lopped some of them off.

That's right, I'm gardening in winter.

I hardly recognize myself.

Back to the gym

The week before Christmas, I planned to go to the gym on Monday. My flight was on Wednesday, so I knew I'd miss my classes at the end of the week, but Monday was totally doable.

Except ... I was starting to get a cold, and I had a lot of stuff to get done before I left, and it was the week before Christmas. I didn't go.

The next week, of course, I was out of town. No gym visits that week.

When I got back, I totally intended to start back at the gym right away.

But ... the first day back was the New Year's Day stat. No point in going then, the schedule'd be all messed up.

The next day, January exhaustion set in. I didn't have the energy to go.

Wednesday I was still really tired. I didn't go.

I had physio Thursday morning and my ankle was hurting. Clearly I needed to rest it.

Friday ... well, I could have gone Friday, but I'd already missed the whole week ....

Saturday was the first boxing class of the session.

I went back to the gym today.

Haven't seen the weird guy in tights yet

I believe I've mentioned before how dissatisfied I was with Solo Mobile. This fall I did my research and decided to go with Koodo.

The last weekend in October, I went to the Koodo kiosk in Bayshore and picked out a phone. I chose the $15/month plan, plus the $10 add-on for voicemail, caller ID, and unlimited texts. The total bill (with tax) is in the $28 range - which is $3/month less than I was paying with Solo, where I did not have voicemail, caller ID, or unlimited texts. Also, there are no long distance charges within Canada - this isn't a big deal for me as I don't make a lot of long distance calls on my cell phone, but it's a nice extra. The Koodo rep transferred my phone number and moved my contacts from my old phone to my new one.

The phone cost $100, which is on my Koodo tab. With Koodo, you aren't locked in to a contact, so they have the tab concept. Every month, 10% of your bill (in my case, $2.50) comes off your tab. If you want to change providers, you have to pay the rest of the tab. Also, if you recommend Koodo to someone and they switch, you both get $25 off your tab, so, um, let me know if you're thinking about switching.

It was a totally painless switch (except when I locked my phone and couldn't figure out how to unlock it), and so far there have been no surprises. My bill is what I expect, the phone works everywhere I need it to, and I'm a happy customer.

(As a note, if you travel to the U.S. a lot, their rates are really high. I don't, so it's not an issue for me.)

Solo did the prorated bill thing in November as expected, but then sent me an e-mail in December saying that since I cancelled my service as of November 28, they'd be charging a pro-rated fee in December. Sigh.

Resolving

So how did I do on my 2011 resolutions? Unlike 2010, I didn't do a 6-month recap, so it turns out I'd forgotten about some of these. Oddly enough, the one I didn't do is one I remembered, I just ... didn't do it.

1. Go to at least 3 social events at which I know fewer than 10% of the people.

This one I remembered, but I thought it was 2 events. I went to a career fair, the funeral for a neighbour's father (which wasn't strictly social, but was still anxiety-inducing), and BOLO. (OK, technically the career fair wasn't social either. Oh well, I'm still calling this a pass.)

2. Go on two bike rides. (Seriously, I haven't even taken my bike outside in three years.)

Um. Well, we all know I went on one bike ride, but that's it. It turns out I don't like purposeless bike riding. Maybe I should ride to work.

3. Patch the hole in the bathroom wall (from the plumbing debacle this fall).

It took longer than it should have, but this one is done.

4. Go through my closet (again) and actually donate the clothes I cull.

Done, mostly, although I could stand to do it again.

5. Make it to level 5 in boxing.

Done.

6. Do a first aid course. I need to just bite the bullet and give up a weekend to do this.

I totally forgot about this one, but I did it anyway.


Now for 2012:

1. Be employed for at least 10 months of the year (ideally 12, of course, but my contract is up January 30, so that may not be possible).
2. Come up with a workable, challenging exercise schedule.
3. Reconsider home phone service, reduce the monthly cost.
4. Increase my emergency fund by $8000 (which will be easier if I pull off #1).
5. Organize/clean the sewing/Sparks room. Man, that room is a disaster.
   

What I Did on my Christmas Vacation

I was back in Saskatchewan for Christmas. It was lots of fun, even if my niece wouldn't let me bring her dog back to Ottawa with me. (She's mean like that.)

It was a good trip - Christmas shopping with my niece, laser tag with the extended family, mini-golf, hanging out with the dog, making my niece watch The Muppets, building a treasure box, seeing friends and family, and eating my year's allotment of cookies.

(As an aside, taking a dog for a walk makes you realize how incredibly interesting the world smells.)

Boxing Day

On Thursday, my mom had to take her car in. Since we'd otherwise be marooned at home, my sister left her Prius for us.

My mom went to the dealership and said she'd call if she needed a ride. Half an hour later she called, so I got the key fob and put on my coat. Kasey the dog wanted to come too, so I grabbed her seatbelt and we went out to the garage.

That's when I realized the Prius was on the driveway. I closed the garage door and we got in. I buckled Kasey in the passenger seat and put the key fob into its slot. I pressed the "Power" button and the radio started playing.


So far, so good.

I put the car into "R". Nothing happened.

I pressed the emergency brake. Nothing happened.

I pressed it again. Still nothing.

I pressed "Power" again. This time, the dashboard lights came on. Back into "R", still nothing.

The dog was staring at me by this point, wondering why we were in the car if we weren't going anywhere.

I called my mom's cell. She didn't answer.

I started looking through the owner's manual. The answer was on page one hundred and something - you need to have your foot on the brake when you press "Power". This time it worked. Finally, we were on our way, Kasey standing on the seat beside me despite repeated suggestions to sit down.

The roads weren't great, so I took it easy, but at one point, I had to hit the brakes. Kasey slid off the seat. I reached down and picked her up by her harness, but I was losing speed fast and didn't know why. I found the hazard lights and turned them on and then put the car back into gear. Luckily, that worked and I was able to get back on my way.

We got to the dealership where mom was waiting, which Kasey explained was the most exciting day ever. (To dogs, every day is the most exciting day ever.)

Christmas To-Do List

• Decorate tree ✔
• Last Spark meeting of 2011 ✔
• Buy gifts ✔
• Last boxing class of 2011 ✔
• Make gifts for coworkers ✔
• Plan Boxing Day laser tag ✔
• Prepare appropriate food & attend potlucks ✔
• Make chocolates ✔
• Arrange for coverage at work ✔
• Get that cold that's been hovering since October ✔

Rats.

Losing my marbles

This year, I'm making marble magnets for my coworkers. I got the idea here. It seemed like the perfect idea - inexpensive, yet something I could customize for each person.

I started by picking up the basic supplies - marbles (small and large), magnets, and glue. I got two sizes of marbles simply because I wasn't sure how well the small marbles would work. I needn't have worried - there were plenty of pictures that worked at that size.

Most of my generic pictures (such as the stripes you see in the above picture) came from flyers and magazines around the house. Since I wanted to customize the magnets, I also printed out clip art from the internet - wine glasses, tents, running shoes, stacks of books, etc. to match my coworkers' interests.

As you can see by the above picture, I'm not great at cutting circles. That didn't really cause me any problems - unless the picture was really off, adding the magnet to the back covered any flaws. Since the marbles (purchased at the dollar store) are not uniform, I cut the picture to match the specific marble it was going to end up on.

Once the picture was cut, I brushed on some silicon glue, put the marble on top, then pressed the center of the marble down to work out any bubbles. (A few especially flimsy pictures got glued to some thicker paper, but most of the time I didn't bother.)

As a note, I tried the Mod Podge but found it left the picture too shiny, so silicon glue it was.

The next step was the hardest - waiting until the glue dried. Once it did, I used a glue gun to glue the magnet to the back, then used nail polish remover to clean any misplaced glue off the marble.

I tried two different kinds of magnets - from Michael's and from the dollar store. Interestingly, the dollar store magnets were cheaper and stronger. However, they were a smaller diameter than the marbles, and they're a little rougher. (I can hear scratching when I move the magnet on the fridge.) I definitely recommend the more expensive magnets.

In the end, I only made one of the bigger marbles, but if I were making these with children, I'd definitely use the bigger size.

I packaged the magnets (in groups of six) into baby snack containers and tied a ribbon around them, ready to take into work on Tuesday.

There were a few that didn't turn out - not centered properly, too many flaws in the marble, etc. When that happened, I simply removed the picture from the marble using the nail polish remover.

Spoke too soon

Remember a few weeks ago when I was quitting boxing?

I'm moving up to level five. As soon as I heard that, all the bitterness and resentment disappeared. It started to be fun again.

This week, I got a plaque for finishing level four and a trophy for showing up for five years. It was a really good class - so insanely hard that at times I wasn't sure I'd be able to lift my arms again.

And now I'm registered for the next session - even though the only available class is on Saturdays.

The teapot I bought today makes me smile

Last night, I took eleven 5 & 6-year-olds to the grocery store.

It seemed like a good idea at the time.

You see, my Sparks group couldn't meet at our usual meeting place, and our other ideas for field trips (fire station, Home Depot, Humane Society) didn't pan out. We've been talking about healthy food choices, so I said, "Let's go to the grocery store and let each girl choose $5 worth of healthy food for the food bank."

It probably would have gone more smoothly if one of my fellow leaders hadn't gotten stuck in traffic. If she'd been there, we would have divided into 3 group instead of 2. That would have made it easier - because, you see, kids that age look with their hands, not their eyes. If you have one or two, it's not bad. Three is manageable. Six is crazy-making.

Having said that, they were quite good (within the bounds of what is age-appropriate). Several parents stayed, so we had multiple adults with each group. The girls excitedly picked out canned fruits and vegetables, rice, pasta, tuna, juice boxes, rice crackers, and beans. They passed up cookies (albeit reluctantly). Each girl could point to the items in the cart and tell me exactly what she had chosen. And our total came to less than $47, so we didn't spend the camp money.

I didn't even see any other customers run screaming from the store.

Well, not personally.

Happy Birthday, Wanda!

It's Wanda's birthday, which means it's time for another mysterious project of mystery. As usual, I was more excited than she was.

This year, it was the skirt above - three layer of material (pink, blue sequins, blue pattern) with pointy ends.

Unfortunately, I left it far too late - I started Sunday night. Luckily, it wasn't too complicated, but still, it would have been nice to have a bit more time.

She liked it, though, so I guess all is well.

And it was

I did a first aid course on the weekend. Wanda, on the other hand, did hers yesterday and today.

Since her course was near where I work, I dropped her off. We both brought our gym stuff so that if she was done when I was, we could both go to the gym for the 5:30 class.

She was done on time, so I went to pick her up. Traffic was ... pretty much stopped. It took me a half an hour to get there.

As we sat on the Queensway, we had this conversation:
Me: Wouldn't it be sad if we didn't make it to the gym and just went to Quizno's instead?
Wanda: No, it would not be sad. It would be tasty and delicious.

My "s" key doesn't work consistently. Let's talk about now.

It snowed last night. I know a lot of place have already had snow this year, but this was our first snowfall of the winter.

(Naturally, the zipper on my new winter coat broke last night, but that is a different story.)

The forecast had been for rain, freezing rain, or snow, which seemed to cover the bases. When I woke up way too early for physio, I looked out the window and was tentatively glad to see snow.

Of course, that didn't mean there wasn't freezing rain under the snow, so at 6:30 I went outside, shoveled the walk, and cleaned off the car. Luckily, the freezing rain hadn't happened. My appointment wasn't at 7, so I came back inside and got ready (brushed my teeth, turned on my work laptop so it would be ready for my 8:00 conference call, etc.).

At 6:45, I went out and cleaned off the car.

Physio went well, and at 7:45 I was done. I went outside, cleaned off the car, and drove home.

It's going to be a long winter.

Procrastination at its finest

A couple of years ago, I complained that my foot wasn't going in the same direction as the rest of me. It wasn't until a month or two ago that I realized the the result of that injury was that I have no balance when I try to stand on that foot.

I started physio yesterday.

You know you've done a good job when the physiotherapist repeatedly says, "This is really interesting." Apparently, my joint was really stiff and my ankle wasn't bending properly. She worked her magic and gave me some exercises to do at home.

The interesting part to me is that my foot didn't hurt until I started physio. After physio, it hurt - well, more of an ache, actually. The exercises also make it ache.

But I can balance on that foot again.