I created a playlist on my mp3 player called “Workout”. It’s full of songs that get my blood pumping and my feet moving. I’ve discovered that anything by Fergie or Timbaland really pushes me through the pain. Anways, I thought I would put the playlist on random and share a few. What type of music do you guys work out to? Got a tune to recommend? Leave a comment.
You know the rules:
- DO NOT STREAM!
- Right Click/Save Target As.
- Files will stay up for 24 hours and then they’re gone forever. Please delete these from your computer. Don’t want the “Music Nazis” after you do ya?
- If you like the music, purchase the cds! Keep the music flowing people.
- A bloody “thank you” would be nice.
Remember way back in Jan/Feb when I said I was going to start working out? Well, that didn’t happen. I kept eating crap and being lazy and not even trying to get active. It was like every year for the past nine years. I made a goal and was too lazy to follow through.
One day, about a month ago, my boss put a well-meaning stiletto up my rear end and pushed me into joining the West Chatham YMCA’s Activate program. It’s a six week program that gives me one-on-one with a trainer who creates a workout based on my personal fitness and weight loss goals. My trainer is a lovely red-headed lass by the name of Dawn who set a goal for 30 minutes of cardio and 30 minutes of weight training three times a week.
We also did a body composition and I was SHOCKED to see how much lean muscle I had compared to fat. Nay, not shocked…disgusted. If I had 0% body fat, I would weigh 191 pounds. That’s how much lean muscle my 5′3 frame is packing. So realistically, I’m NEVER going to be skinny. But that’s fine, because at this point in the game, I just want to be healthy. I’m too embarrassed to tell you how much extra pounds I have on my body, but I will say that around 40% of my weight is extra fat. Do the math. It’s not pretty. My goal every week is to lose between two to three pounds. I should achieve my goal weight by August. By the end of the year, if I keep up the exercising and healthy eating, I will no longer be obese and on the verge of a major heart attack or stroke. I will be healthy, happy, and able to go shopping somewhere other than Lane Bryant. Go me. I may even be able to wear sleeveless shirts again. I dream big, folks.
So, for the last two and a half weeks, I’ve been working my ass out an hour every day, four days a week. I’ve completely cut out the tea and pop and I’m on a 2000 calorie diet. Instead of a big bowl of cheese grits and sausage for breakfast, I’m now eating one cup of strawberry yogurt and granola with either an apple or a banana. I’m eating a light snack around 10:30 am, which is usually a cup and a half of tuna salad with fresh carrot sticks. For lunch, it’s something healthy, like a Subway tuna sub on honey wheat bread. I have another light snack around 3:00pm…an apple or a banana. And for dinner, I’m not depriving myself, I’m just watching my portions and I’m trying not to eat later than 7:30pm. I’m not consuming junk food or candy. I’m not sneaking food. I haven’t had fast food in God knows how long. And yet, I don’t feel like I’m on a diet. I feel good about the way I’m eating.
And then there’s the water consumption. I went to Walmart a few weeks back and bought a bright pink water 30oz bottle with the finger ring and lanyard around the top. It looks similar to the ones I see those “Biggest Loser” (btw…I do not watch this show…EVER. It’s far too depressing. I do scan though) folks carrying around. I drink anywhere between six and seven bottles a day, which comes to around 200 oz of water. I’ve never been so hydrated in my life. And again, I feel great.
I’m up to 45 minutes of continuous vigorous exercise on the Precor treadmill. The Precor elliptical has completely owned me. I am it’s bitch. I’ve worked myself up to 20 minutes of continuous exercise before I’m begging for mercy and have to roll off. Honestly, the very first time I stepped on the damned thing, I could only do a minute or two, so go me for my crappy 20 minutes. There are some people in the gym who run on the thing for an hour at a time. It’s the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen. I would have a heart attack!
I’m also doing 30 minutes of weight training every day on five different machines. I’m lifting somewhere between 50-55 pounds of weights on three machines, and doing 35-40 pounds of leg curls on two others. Dawn says that strength training will be key in my weight lose and that I need to keep that muscle mass up.
So far, I’m really enjoying my weight loss journey. I couldn’t ask for a more supportive trainer. She’s there to make sure I’m doing what I’m supposed to and encouraging me every step of the way. The same goes for my boss who makes sure every day that I’ve worked out and that I’m eating right. And there’s this really nice guy who always works out next to me and is probably my biggest encouragement. He’s in his late 40’s and said that he joined the gym back in December when his son was shipped to Iraq. He said he was around 100 pounds overweight and occupy his mind and time. So he made a promise to his son that he was going to work out every day that he was gone until he came back. It’s now April and he’s working out two hours, six days a week and has lost over 80 pounds! The dude is my hero. And he’s always pushing me for “five more minutes…you can do it…I’m proud of you”. And everytime he asks me for five more minutes, I do 15. We work out together…sweating and hurting. And when I finally come to a stop, he gives me this big smile and tells me how proud he is of me. It feels good for someone to say that and to push me to do more. I need that.
I’m proud to say that I was weighed this week and I’ve lost a total of eight pounds…and that’s with my shoes on! And I’ve lost an inch and a half off my waist! I feel better. I’m already looking better. And people are starting to notice. I had three people tell me last week that I looked thinner. I can walk now without getting winded. My blood pressure hasn’t spiked in at least a week. I can look at myself in the mirror and see little changes. And it feels great.
Tomorrow I’m going to set up my camera and take a photo of myself. Every month I’m going to take a new one and at the end of the year, I’m going to post those pictures here so you can see the change.
P.S. Thanks to everyone who’s sent me supportive comments and emails. I’m terrible at commenting back, so please don’t think I’ve ignored you. Your thoughts go a long way and I’m so thankful for you all. *kisses*
Let’s put all this talk about hospitals and funerals aside for a moment so I can tell you about the good things that have happened to me since I last blogged.
Our trip to West Virginia was wonderful. We had the best time! I haven’t been that relaxed in God only knows how long. We didn’t set a schedule for ourselves, so we played everything by ear and took our time enjoying the weather and the mountains. We weren’t in a rush and didn’t feel like we had to get this and this done. We just didn’t stress ourselves out. Vacations are meant for relaxation and fun and that’s exactly the experience we had.
Our plan was to leave out at 7am on Friday. Instead, we crashed in one bed until 10am and we left out at 1pm. I think we must’ve passed 5 bad wrecks on the way up, so luck was on our side.
Eight hours into our trip, we were pulling into our hotel, tired from the journey and very relieved to have made it there in one piece. The next day we set out with one goal: to enjoy ourselves. No stress. No worries. No plans or timetables. Relaxation. Fun. Quiet.
We spent the next three days visiting family, enjoying the weather (yes, we experienced snow and ice), and exploring Mercer County. I took lots of photos and reminisced about growing up in the mountains and pointed out all the places I knew from my youth. It felt wonderful to share these experiences and places with my husband and son.
It was especially nice to show my son where his people came from and how the Bailey family played an important role in the county and the area. I don’t know if any of what I told and showed him sunk in, but I’m glad I was able to show him a piece of his heritage.
On Sunday, my brother and his family joined us for the a day trip up to the New River Gorge. It was nothing short of epic. The view from the Canyon Rim was so breathtaking. Being that far up reminds you how small you really are and how big the world really is. Not to sound dramatic, but standing on top of the mountain looking down at the wonder of nature and the East River was probably one of the most profound experiences of my life. And being able to share that with my family made it even that more special.
We were so moved by the experience that we decided to take the road less travelled and take the long winding trip down the side of the mountain next to the gorge. My husband overheard a park ranger talking to someone about a road that goes under the bridge and we jumped at the chance to experience it for ourselves…and quite an experience it was!
The road was one way and just big enough for one vehicle. There were guardrails the biggest way down, but there were a few times when I would look out my window and see straight down the mountain. And if that weren’t unsettling enough, there were a handful of sharp turns along the way where you basically turned back around upon yourself. Patches of ice covered parts of the roadway from the water running off the mountain, which is really great to photograph, but a little scary when you’re driving down a mountain and have nothing to keep gravity from kicking you down the side.
We stopped a few times and got out and took photos. We were standing directly under the bridge at one point and I looked up and saw the water falling down from the road to the river below. My eyes caught the shadow on the mountain on the other side that the bridge had cast and this huge lump formed in my throat and I teared up. I know it sounds so silly, but the view was so beautiful that it made me cry. We humans like to think of ourselves as these bigger than life creatures, but when you stop and look at the world around you, you realize how small you really are and how wondrous and big this world really is. It makes you think about life and death and how we really never stop to enjoy the things around us. Or at least, that’s what the experience made me feel.
When we finally reached the bottom, almost an hour later, we stopped and my brother and I got out and walked about a half-mile down the tracks to the remains of an abandoned coal silo. We talked about everything and nothing and just enjoyed our company. We picked up coal from along the side of the tracks and talked about how our dad, when he was growing up, would carry a wheelbarrow down the track to collect coal from the sides of the tracks because his family couldn’t afford to buy it. We stopped to admire the remains of the silo and the graffiti on a train, then made our way back to our families, taking photos of the kids on the bridge and admiring the massive arches high above us.
We crossed the bridge over the East River, then made our way up the mountain on the other side of the gorge and headed back to Bluefield. We spent a couple hours at my brother’s house, said our teary goodbyes, then headed back to the hotel to prepare for the morning’s long drive home.
We left out reluctantly the next day, full of melancholy for leaving our family and the mountains behind, but anxious to get back to our home in Georgia. Somewhere in Virginia, we decided to get off the interstate and travel the Blue Ridge Parkway into North Carolina. Some of the views along the way were amazing. We stopped to take some pictures and I taught Matthew the proper way to roll down a hill.
A dozen “rolls down the hill” later, we finally managed to talk him back into the truck and we continued into North Carolina where we soon found the interstate again and left the parkway behind.
Curiosity got the best of us as we near Mooresville (Race City USA), North Carolina and we made the decision to stop in and see what NASCAR related buildings we could find. I’m not a fan of NASCAR, but the men in my life are, so drove around and ran smack dab into the middle of NASCAR country. We found everything from Petty Racing to the NASCAR Technical Institute, but it was JR Nation that was eluding us. My son is the biggest Dale Jr fan and we just didn’t want to leave without finding the building.
And as felicity would have it, we drove down what looked like a dead end street into a cul-de-sac and there it was…JR Motorsports, the holy land for some. The men were in awe, I was like, “pft”. We figured since we were there that we would pop into the shop for a few minutes, buy the boy a souvenir, then head out. And wouldn’t it be cool if maybe…just maybe we ran into Dale Jr. Like that would ever happen, right?
Well, it did…kinda.
On our way out, I stopped to take a photo of my husband an little boy in front of the building. We we turned to head back across the parking lot to the truck, a black SUV came out of the gated area behind the building and passed us. When it did I looked at the driver and couldn’t believe my eyes. It was Dale Jr. Of course my son was just too excited and I snapped a couple of very blurry photos and we made our way back onto the highway, excited that we saw the back of Jr’s head. Oh…what excitement.
The dull browns of winter and the mountains of Appalachia slowly disappeared into the rear view mirror, giving way to flat land and the vivid color of early Spring in the South. And before we knew it, we were pulling into our driveway, home at last. And that was it. We made it home in one piece, exhausted from our journey and a little sad that it all ended so soon. We’re determined to go back to West Virginia this summer, when the hills will be a lovely shade of green and the weather a little more inviting. Until then, I have 1000 or so photos to tide me over.
Well, I’ve been back for about a week and a half now, I just haven’t slowed down enough to tell anyone.
Lord have mercy people, when is my life going to just stop being a big pit of drama and sadness? I’m not joking, I’m really asking. When? It’s it all going to stop? Am I going to go one month without a family member dying? Will my boss ever allow me to go on another vacation? *pulls hair out*
So we leave West Virginia on the March 10th and we get back into Georgia around 9’sh that night. We unpack, take showers, and crawl into our beds. I get up bright and early Tuesday morning, get the boy off to school, and I’m at work by 7:50. I get to work and find that my tidy desk has been transformed into this huge paper monster. There are prescription delivery sheets all over the place and nothing’s in the order I left it in. My med books are all messed up and I’ve got residents complaining about what didn’t get done while I was gone. A few actually grab me and tell me how happy they are to see me. My boss hugs me and tells me I’m never going on vacation again. A coworker gives me an exasperated look when I ask her how she handled everything during the four little days I was gone. I can tell it’s going to be a long day.
And it was and by 4pm, I was ready to run screaming out the door. I love my job, the people I work with, and especially the residents we care for, but damn. I was ready to take another vacation after one day back.
So we head to my in-laws for a bit of business and I leave my phone in the truck. An hour later, I get in and I receive a voicemail notification from my mother telling me that my Grandmother Brown has had a stroke and the family is on their way to Savannah behind the ambulance. Her blood pressure is something like 325/175. I’m not even joking you. The poor dear is lucky to be alive!
I completely break down in the truck. I just can’t handle another death in the family, especially so close to my Grandma Mitchell. And I especially can’t handle the thought of my Grandmother Brown in the hospital from a stroke. I love that woman so much and all I can think during the ride to the hospital is that I’m going to lose her. We arrive at the hospital and before long, there’s a good 30-35 family members crammed into the 7th floor waiting room. I go in to see Grandma and she doesn’t look good. Her speech is a little slurred and she’s not making sense. She recognizes me, but not a lot of the other family members. She thinks she’s back in West Virginia and that she’s not married. It just doesn’t look good. The next day we hear from the doctor that she did in fact have a stroke and that it was brought on because she forgot to take her blood pressure medicine for three days. So, she’s still in the hospital and probably will be for the next few weeks. She’ll need some physical therapy before she can come back home and we’re all praying that she’ll get out soon.
Okay, so back to the night my Grandma had the stroke. So we trudge back home from the hospital and I sit down at the computer to relax for a few minutes. I sign into Gmail and immediately see an email from my brother in Illinois telling me that our Aunt Betty has just died from lung cancer.
You’ve got to be kidding me. First Grandma Mitchell, then Aunt Betty. Everything comes in threes and I’m freaking out because my Grandma Brown is in the hospital. Is she next?
So again I ask you, dear blog friends, Does it ever end? At what point do you just throw your hands up into the air and say “enough already”? Honestly, I have seen enough sickness and death in the last year or two to last me a lifetime. I’m done with it. I’m sick of hospitals and funeral homes. I’m sick of the calls telling me a loved one has died. I just want everyone to be healthy and happy and I want to get through a month without anything bad happening to the people I love. Is that too much to ask for?
So please, say a little prayer for my sweet Grandma Brown. She’s the glue that holds our family together and I don’t know what we’d all do if we lost her. She’s the only grandparent I have left and I want to keep her as long as I can.
I also wanted to say how much I appreciated the condolences for my Grandma Mitchell. You guys are really awesome and I appreciate you taking the time to leave a kind word. It really does mean a lot. *sends big hugs to everyone*
The house is clean, the laundry is finishing up, and our bags are packed. We’re leaving out at 7am and with any luck, should be in West Virginia by 1pm. I’m so anxious to get on the road that I doubt I sleep tonite, even though I really need to, seeing as I’ll be driving the biggest part of the way up.
I’ve created a “roadtrip” playlist in my mp3 player, full of songs that will get me through the long journey. And seeing how sweet and kind I am *winks*, I decided to share a few with you folks. You’ll notice that “Country Roads” and “Leaving on a Jetplane” are noticeably absent from the list. For some reason, the mp3s I have won’t play, so I couldn’t include them. Fiddlesticks. Oh well, I think you’ll enjoy the ones I’ve posted. There’s a few you’ll know and some you won’t, so check them out. Maybe you’ll discover a new favorite.
You know the rules:
- DO NOT STREAM!
- Right Click/Save Target As.
- Files will stay up for 24 hours and then they’re gone forever. Please delete these from your computer. Don’t want the “Music Nazis” after you do ya?
- If you like the music, purchase the cds! Keep the music flowing people.
- A bloody “thank you” would be nice.
Hello my friends. I just wanted to touch base and do in a obligatory “I’m not dead yet” blog post…you know…to show that I’m not dead yet. Life’s been hectic the last month and a lot’s happened. So much so that I should’ve been blogging, but I just couldn’t find the time or just didn’t have it in me.
There was an explosion at the Imperial Sugar Refinery, which I’m sure most of you have heard about. We didn’t know anyone personally in the blast, but Jason was on duty that night and went to Memorial Hospital to help load people into the helicopters for the Augusta burn center. He said that some of the things he saw were just horrible. We’re talking about people coming in with skin hanging off of their bodies like mummies and one guy who looked like his face had been burned off. It’s just a very tragic situation and my heart goes out to the family members of those who were killed and those who were hurt. It was nice to see the entire Savannah community come out and close ranks around Port Wentworth. The amount of donations and love that poured in from the community was so amazing. It’s nice to know that we live in times where people still care about their neighbors.
One of grandmothers passed away on Tuesday and we buried her today. Her death was very unexpected, so I think we’re all still in shock mode. My Grandma Brown has been ill for about a year, and to tell you the truth, I thought she would’ve been the first to pass out of the two. But it was Grandma Mitchell who had a heart attack and just couldn’t come back from it. She was a wonderful, giving woman who put others in front of her and really was a good Christian woman. She went to Mass six days a week, raised 10 children, was married for 65 years to the same man, and worked on a farm her whole life. And in between all of those responsibilities, she still found time to give back to her community and to her church. She brought food to other families when her own had very little. She spent thousands and thousands of hours doing work through the church. And she baked the very best homemade birthday cakes, sometimes six a month, for family members. She never saw a difference between blood grandchildren and step grandchildren. She loved all of her “babies” equally and lived every day the most honorable way she could. The world would be a much better place if there were more people like her in it. We love you and will miss you, Grandma.
My husband and I have been on a rapid decline, both mentally and physically, thanks to work. Honestly, I believe we’re working ourselves to the bone. It’s been two years since our last vacation, and seeing as our anniversary is only 10 days away, we’ve decided to treat ourselves to a mini-holiday/anniversary gift in West Virginia. We’re ready for snow, mountains, and the quiet of Appalachia. I want to see my family and catch up with old friends. I want to breathe in that good mountain air and relax. I want to visit the graves of my Bailey ancestors and show my son where his people come from. I want to drive up East River Mountain and look out over the hills and valleys of Mercer County and remember how precious it all is.
I promised my Grandma Brown that I would bring her back some West Virginia soil from the old house, something she says that she’ll probably never see or touch again. In my heart, I know how her health is fading and I know she’s not going to be with us much longer, so if I can bring her back something as precious as the dirt from the home she raised her children in, then I’m going to do that. My mother has requested a jar each of homemade applebutter and honey with walnuts, a regular treat I bring back every time we visit. These are little things that may seem silly to others, but they mean everything to us transplanted Mountaineers who long for home.
I need this. My husband needs this. My soul longs to get back home. And both of our sanities require it. We’re Bluefield bound for four days and there’s nothing, snow or ice (both expected!!!), that’s going to stop us.
So, wish us safe travels and I will return to blogging next week. Make sure to check out my Flickr photostream, because I’ll be updating it with tons of pictures from our journey.
*tips hat* See ya, folks! I’m off to do a couple loads of laundry, then mop. I want a clean house to come back to!
I have the weekend off and it’s a beautiful day in Savannah. The weather’s gorgeous and the temperature is lovely. I’ve been out taking photos this afternoon and now I’m home, sitting cross legged on my front porch blogging and watching my sweet little boy playing in his Darth Vader costume. The windows are open in the house and I can hear my bird, Bella, singing pretty through the open window.
Could there be a more perfect Saturday?
Here’s the songs that I’ve been humming all day. There’s no real theme, just some good tunes. Enjoy.
You know the rules:
- DO NOT STREAM!
- Right Click/Save Target As.
- Files will stay up for 24 hours and then they’re gone forever. Please delete these from your computer. Don’t want the “Music Nazis” after you do ya?
- If you like the music, purchase the cds! Keep the music flowing people.
- A bloody “thank you” would be nice.
Kenny Chesney - Shiftwork (ft. George Strait) / Purchase CD / Watch Video
This song is a reminder that my husband and I are lloooonnnnngggg overdue for a vacation…and in my case, a new career. I’m a 7-3 girl and he’s an 11-7 boy, yet we still make it work, despite the fact we only see each other for one to two waking hours a day. That’s love, people. Shift work = shhhhiiiiitttt work!
Whiskeytown - Wither I’m A Flower / Purchase CD
I was so excited when this song came up on random in my player. I hadn’t heard it in ages and had forgotten how fantastic it was and how brilliant Ryan Adams is.
Robert Plant and Alison Krauss - Please Read the Letter / Watch Video Purchase CD “Raising Sand” is nothing short of epic…and very unexpected…yet it all totally make sense. That’s right, I said “epic”. On the one hand you have the Golden God, with his curly locks and classic folk-rock vocals. And on the other, we have the Bluegrass Queen, who has the voice of an angel and 22 Grammys to back it up, more than any other female artist in history. Add a little T Bone Burnett and you have 13 tracks that could easily fit into any rock, folk, or bluegrass category. It’s a cornucopia of musical goodness.
I really cannot say enough good things about this album and I encourage each of you to go out and add it to your collection. The three songs I’m posting are my top three favorites from the album. The only song that seems out of place to me is “Gone Gone Go (Done Moved On)” which just won a Grammy for Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals. Personally, I think it breaks the easy flow and transition of the songs. It’s not a bad song, I just don’t know if I care for it on this album. That’s my only gripe though, because like I said before, the damn thing’s E-P-I-C!
Kate Walsh - Your Song / Purchase CD / Watch Video
For clarity’s sake, this is Kate Walsh the super-talented singer, not Kate Walsh the super-hot actress. And oh yeah….LLLOOOVEEEEE this song! It’s my current MySpace song.
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