Betsy Singing with The 80s Team

Gym, what gym?

I haven't worked out at all over the summer.

I didn't really see going to classes when I have to leave to go to the bathroom every five minutes. I'm sure everyone has seen that "Gotta go, gotta go!" commercial. It is a little better and I can go about an hour or two. My thyroid was also out of whack and with a slight increase in my Levothyroxine, I am no longer taking three hour naps every day! It is a good thing that my two older kids are very self-sufficient when they want to be, or I wouldn't have been able to do that. We are all glad I am more coherent and less tired these days. I still have a couple of issues like my hands shaking on and off throughout the day and "heat intolerance." And NO, I am not in menopause, yet! Thirty-seven is just a couple of weeks away, so I'm not quite a geezer, yet.

I have two in school full-time! A kindergartner (starts on Monday) and a fourth grader! They are gone from about 8:10 a.m. until 4:10 p.m. I am SO thankful for the bus. The other one will be starting back to preschool two days a week on my birthday, September 2nd! Yeah!

I love all my kids, but this summer got a little old. For some reason, when one starts talking they all chime in. I even started letting them watch a DVD on the way to our neighborhood pool -- two minutes away!

I hope everyone had a great summer and is able to slide into Fall and school openings without too much trouble!

Four and counting....

Summer vacation is here. Yee haw! I don't think it will be too bad except for trying to fit in a regular exercise routine. Volleyball will be wrapping up in a couple of weeks and I've really been enjoying that, especially since our team has started winning a few matches.

I finished up a fourth Fit Camp a week ago. This one was pretty mild, considering it was only four weeks and three times a week. I don't think I stopped being sore until the month was over. I'll definitely have to sign back up in the fall when the kids are back in school. I'll be at the gym taking them to swim lessons and things like that, but don't want to commit to anything else right now.

The funniest thing about this 10 lb. weight gain (muscle!) and 3% body fat loss is that none of my clothes from last summer fit b/c they are too tight and all my bathing suits are too big in the top. Doh! I think I was still nursing the youngest when I wore these bathing suits, so now I'm on the hunt for a new one. Since my midriff will not be seeing the light of day anytime soon, bikinis are definitely off the list. And I learned the hard way not to take my daughter shopping with me. I took her with me one time into the dressing room and after she said, in her loud little voice "Mommy, you look pregnant!" and hearing the other women in the dressing room snickering that it was the last time for that!

My baby is nine!

How did this happen? My little girl is nine years old! I still remember when she came into this world and what a wild ride it has been since then. This past nine years have gone by in the blink of an eye and the next thing I know, she'll be 18 and off to college.

Three's a Charm

I finished my third Fit Camp session this week. I lost track of how many sessions I ended up missing due to the kids being sick, me being sick and various other obligations. I think I missed at least eight if not ten or more sessions. I still saw great results, though. I'm down another percent body fat, for a total of 4% or so from September. I've leveled off on my weight, which is good. Seeing the scale inch up little by little is disconcerting whether you know you need to gain or not!

I definitely want to do another session in the future, whether I can do it this summer or have to wait until the fall. I'm hoping to be able to keep up three days a week at various classes, but it isn't the same as working with the trainer and being in a class of people who have all signed up AND paid extra for the privilege of beating ourselves up. Any time I didn't want to do one more push-up or bicep curl, or whatever, I reminded myself that the only one losing out would be me. It wouldn't hurt anyone else there, including the trainer, if I slacked off or didn't push as hard as I knew I could.

It was particularly hard coming from eight days off to Fit Camp. My body was still running behind from being sick. I'm working on having "Flep" added to the medical dictionary. That is having the Flu and then feeling better and getting Strep a few days after that. I didn't feel that I ever got the chance to fully recover, but sitting on my rear at home pigging out on Girl Scout cookies probably wouldn't have been a great idea, anyway!

Back to the grind stone

I have been out of Fit Camp for the last week and 1/2 due to kid illnesses, and oh, I was a little sick too, but when the kids are sick, that doesn't count. Several days, I wanted to go to bed and pull the covers over my head, but alas, that was not to be.

At least we have three weeks left and I'll have to make up for lost time. My wonderful husband took the morning off to stay home with two (has strep) and five (has the flu!) so I could get out for a couple of hours and sweat and work hard. It was a great (hard!) class to come back to, but I'm happy to get back to it.

I'm hoping the boys are up for going back to preschool tomorrow. I know they need some time away from me and Dora. I know I need some time away from Dora!

At least I didn't fall off the stage...

We did our FC demo at the mall center court on Saturday. I said I'd do it if I got some free passes for friends out of the deal, but I'm not sure it was worth it! I was too worried about falling ass over teakettle off the stage to be able to concentrate on the exercises we were doing.

We did 10 one minute drills and I was winded after the first one. I pray that no one was filming and my friends and I are on youtube somewhere. Ergh! We did lunges with front kicks, toe taps "prisoner style", high kicks over the back of chairs as well as other things. The chairs were evidently higher than the ones we are used to using, because I kicked mine over several times. Doh!

I guess in the scheme of things, that would be one of the less embarrassing things I've done in this lifetime. A list into which I will not go into detail!

I'm busy getting over the plague that my children have given me. Being locked inside with a sick eight year old and then a two year old who wouldn't get off me is exhausting. No wonder I caught the cooties from them!

See you at the mall.

The first week of the third session of Fit Camp has gotten off to a good start. Somehow, our trainer has come up with new ways to make us work! She has a secret Physical Trainer's Guide to Sadism that must be about four inches thick!

We have one lucky guy and 12 women this session. I think he is a very brave man to be in that situation.

Our trainer asked several of us to do a demonstration with her at the mall on Saturday afternoon during a health fair. I hope I can get an instant tan between now and Saturday or I may blind someone!

Happy Thanksgiving, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year

I survived another session of Fit Camp. This one was five days a week for an hour each day. I did pretty well, but did have to miss several classes due to children being sick, having conflicts in my schedule, etc. I must have done something right, though, having lost another 1.6% body fat! Okay, I'm getting grief about "what fat do you have to lose?" Well, I did have three babies, and together, they weighed 25 lbs., plus the weight one normally puts on during pregnancy, as well. I have what I like to call "muffin top syndrome." I used to be able to hide it under my "mom jeans" but those aren't exactly in style anymore and have been donated. Not to mention that I had to suck it in an awful lot to actually fit into them. New jeans = sweet relief and the ability to breathe again!

My friends are I are skipping this session and will attempt to buoy one another and go to classes together and have our own fit camp sessions in one of the unused room at the gym. I am really quite proud of my new shape, especially my arms, and I don't want to lose the progress I've made, but I also REALLY hate to leave the house in the cold weather, and would much prefer to stay home, have a cup of hot tea and read! I've been reading like a crazy woman over the last couple of weeks, typically reading at least a book per day. My husband gives me a hard time because I don't read EVERY word on the page. Well, what's the point of that? I get the general gist by skipping sentences and get through books quicker. I read whenever I have a minute, for instance, stirring the pasta for dinner, sitting down to eat a bowl of miniwheats, giving the kids a bath, etc. My husband has been playing Guitar Hero III for hours after the kids are in bed and I've been spending the time reading. Uh, perhaps this is why our Christmas stuff is still sitting on the kitchen table? I love paperbackswap.com for trading books. Tell 'em TNMomof3 sent ya! I've been catching up on all the good smut reading and learning a few new ways to get rid of the body, so I'm good.

The kids did have a great Christmas. The eight and five year old both got the "Buy One, Give One" computers. "Eight, I'm Almost Nine" said it was the best gift EVER! Sure beats my Speak and Spell I got at her age, but I did play the heck out of that thing! I had the Speak & Math, as well, but I credit the Speak & Spell with teaching me how to spell "rhythm" and "bureau" in second grade. "Two" also got a "waptop" to carry, so he wouldn't feel left out. I haven't uploaded the Christmas pics from my new camera (yeah!), yet. I was having to tape and sometimes use a band-aid to hold the batteries in because I dropped the camera and the battery compartment closure broke. Doh! So, I love my little white Casio and it is doing a great job so far. My big gift is a wonderful, super comfy office chair. Of course, I've only been able to sit in for a little while, since I'm usually called away to break up and fight and it is easier to sit on the sofa and act as referee, instead of yelling across the house "hey, what are you doing? Leave your brother/sister alone!"

The sad news is that my wonderful Grammy died on New Year's day. She had lived a good life and was suffering from Alzheimer's. I really didn't expect to get a call saying she was in the hospital and was near death. It sounds like it was an "easy" passing, but I will still miss her. It was almost amusing when she first started losing it several years ago. She would just do silly things and not remember doing them, or repeat herself more than a reasonable amount and the like. It got sad very quickly, however, when the car keys had to be hidden because she would drive somewhere and not know how she got there. She broke her hip and didn't remember doing it. So, Grammy, rest in peace! I hope they have Chardonnay and Tott's in heaven for you and you and Poppy and Mom are having a good time, as well.