In August I decided I needed a two week holiday from exercise. Yesterday, I decided that the two week break was over. Being an accountant I realize that perhaps that period of time was a bit longer than two weeks….closer to three months. I have to wonder what goes on in my brain that would allow me to completely stop exercising for so long. I did enjoy it this summer. I enjoyed seeing new muscles popping up on my body. The area most improved by the weight training was my chest area right above my breasts. I would look at in the mirror and be astounded that I could have a defined muscle in that area of my body. So why did I stop. I haven’t figured that out yet.
So in order to jump start my exercise regime again I decided to join a weight lifting class at the YMCA. This is the second WOW class (Women on Weights Class) as I had taken the first WOW class earlier this summer. So I show up last night at 7pm a bit nervous as I was feeling completely out of shape. As I meet the people in my class I realize that everyone just finished the first class the prior week and they all knew each other. I hate being the new kid. The instructor asked us if we wanted to take a pre-test to see how we are going to improve over the next six weeks. I was the only one as everyone else had finished that task last week. The test consisted of 1 minute of sit ups, 1 minute of push ups, a flexibility test, chest presses and a 5 minute cardio test. This was awful and seriously lowered my self esteem.
The first things that we did were the sit ups and push ups. So I had to do the sit ups in the traditional way, you know the instructor sat there and held my feet down and then I had to lift my body up. After I endured doing six with much exhaustion I asked how much time was left….she said 30 seconds. I felt like I couldn’t move at all. I pulled out one more and I was done. I could only do 7 sit ups. Whatever! Then I did 1 minute of push ups, at least they were the modified push ups. I start off strong and complete about 12 and then I began feeling tired…I asked how much time left and the response was 30 seconds. I had to quit again after I had done 17. So I couldn’t even complete 1 minute of either exercise.
The next item was the flexibility test. She had me sit on the floor on a mat. She put a measuring devise on the floor next to my legs and I had to bend over and stretch out far. I assure you I didn’t get very far. If you had ever noticed my body shape you might notice that all of my weight is carried in my front. I don’t have any room to sit on the floor and bend over. So I measured a 15. I don’t have anything to compare that to except that I know that it wasn’t very far. The next item on the list I couldn’t even do. It was an assisted pull up. Basically you do pull ups on this machine that has counter weights up 100lbs which somehow reduce the amount you are pulling up by 100lbs. Even with that assistance I cannot pull myself up at all. I didn’t try last night because when I tried this summer I was an utter failure.
The final test was a cardio test. I had to go hard on any cardio machine and mark how far I went, how fast I was going and what my ending heart rate was after 5 minutes. So I chose the elliptical machine and I get going and it was fine enough. I went at about 100 spins per minute, and completed .25 miles in the five minutes. The astounding thing is that my heart rate was 170 after only 5 minutes. What a poor showing. It is going to be interesting to see how much I am able to improve over the next six weeks. I somehow need to figure out why I keep quitting and change that habit.
October 29, 2008
October 28, 2008
Weird Restaurant
Friday night I went out to dinner and to a play with a friend. I have found this new website (restaurant.com) that allows you to buy coupons for meals. When my brother took me to The Melting Pot I found a coupon on their website for $25 off a two meals and I was able to purchase it for $4.00. The normal everyday price of this coupon is $10, but I found this other cost saving website dealtaker.com, that gives out coupon codes which allowed me to get the extra discount.
Since I was going to The University of Indianapolis to see a play that I could get into for free with my student ID I decided to find a restaurant that was close to that area of town, on the restaurant.com website. I have to warn you that most of the restaurants on this website are small independent places so you never know what you are going to get. I found this restaurant with the following description.
Edelweiss
8602 South Meridian Indianapolis, IN 46217
(317) 888-6940
Restaurant DescriptionWhen you're in the mood for good times and great cuisine, be sure to check out Edelweiss. The restaurant is located in one of the area's most pleasant settings and is known for its delightful staff and superb cuisine. The menu at Edelweiss features a wide array of great selections, made from only the freshest and highest quality ingredients, with something sure to please every member of your group. Edelweiss has established itself as one of the area's favorite culinary destinations and is sure to offer you a pleasant and unique dining experience every time you visit. Please stop in soon! Best Known For...Authentic German Cuisine.Reviews and AwardsMember ICVA
http://www.edelweissrestaurant.com/
This looked like a fun place to go. I asked my friend and she thought it was a great idea. The final coupon I found was $25 of a $35 ticket for $4.00. The first problem was that we couldn’t find the restaurant. I had mapquest.com directions and it took me to the general area but I just didn’t see it. I called the restaurant and the guy told me it was two blocks north of xxx road (I can’t remember the road name but it is not significant to the story). I then decided to call my friend but she couldn’t find it either. I convinced her she needed to call the restaurant back because I was out of patience. She did and he told her a very different story. Before finding the restaurant you must first pull into the German Park. Now when I originally called for directions…I would have thought that this was a vital piece of the information. It is not directly off of the road.
So I pull into the park and drive around and I find this building labeled German American Klub. I thought to myself that this couldn’t be it and I turned around to see if I missed it. But, this was the only building in the park. When my friend arrived we are both fairly leery of entering this building. I make her call again to confirm that we are in the right place. I was feeling fairly apprehensive and I was not sure what to expect. When the guy confirms we are there I am unsure of weather or not I want to go in. We debated for a few minutes but the power of the good deal (IE coupon) swayed me to take a chance.
When we locate the dining room down two flights of stairs, we were greeted by a server and seated. There were only about 6 other people in the dining room, but it was early, only 6:15pm on a Friday night. We get our menus and order. Their nightly special was prime rib with a salad and two sides for $14.95. This seamed like a good price considering we needed to spend only $35 to use the coupon and we ordered water. I knew I was destined to eat dessert in my near future. I ordered two traditional German dishes; Spatzel and Red Cabbage. The cabbage was good, it was served warm and it was slightly pickled. The Spatzel was a thick noodle served with brown gravy. It had a lumpy instant potato texture to it; I only moved it around my plate. The salad bar consisted of bowls of lettuce and a few accompany items just sitting on a table. There was no ice to cool the dressing or perishable items. I tried to steer clear of most of it. Overall, my meal was fairly mediocre. I would never return to the restaurant but it was a good deal and I was full when I left. Our total bill after a mandatory 20% tip was just $20. The best thing was my friend was kind enough to pay for my dinner as it was my birthday.
The very weird thing about this place was that immediately after I sat down I began to have thought that we were in the headquarters of the KKK. There was nothing directly influencing me to think this. There was no hate signs or symbols on the walls. I just couldn’t imagine choosing to go to this place to eat without a great incentive. I would never known of its existence without the help of restaurant.com. I just had this gut feeling. The other thing was that the name of the building was “The German American Klub”…spelled with a K??? What do you guys think? My friend thought it was in my imagination. How would you find out something like that? Would you leave if you had that errant thought without any confirmation?
Since I was going to The University of Indianapolis to see a play that I could get into for free with my student ID I decided to find a restaurant that was close to that area of town, on the restaurant.com website. I have to warn you that most of the restaurants on this website are small independent places so you never know what you are going to get. I found this restaurant with the following description.
Edelweiss
8602 South Meridian Indianapolis, IN 46217
(317) 888-6940
Restaurant DescriptionWhen you're in the mood for good times and great cuisine, be sure to check out Edelweiss. The restaurant is located in one of the area's most pleasant settings and is known for its delightful staff and superb cuisine. The menu at Edelweiss features a wide array of great selections, made from only the freshest and highest quality ingredients, with something sure to please every member of your group. Edelweiss has established itself as one of the area's favorite culinary destinations and is sure to offer you a pleasant and unique dining experience every time you visit. Please stop in soon! Best Known For...Authentic German Cuisine.Reviews and AwardsMember ICVA
http://www.edelweissrestaurant.com/
This looked like a fun place to go. I asked my friend and she thought it was a great idea. The final coupon I found was $25 of a $35 ticket for $4.00. The first problem was that we couldn’t find the restaurant. I had mapquest.com directions and it took me to the general area but I just didn’t see it. I called the restaurant and the guy told me it was two blocks north of xxx road (I can’t remember the road name but it is not significant to the story). I then decided to call my friend but she couldn’t find it either. I convinced her she needed to call the restaurant back because I was out of patience. She did and he told her a very different story. Before finding the restaurant you must first pull into the German Park. Now when I originally called for directions…I would have thought that this was a vital piece of the information. It is not directly off of the road.
So I pull into the park and drive around and I find this building labeled German American Klub. I thought to myself that this couldn’t be it and I turned around to see if I missed it. But, this was the only building in the park. When my friend arrived we are both fairly leery of entering this building. I make her call again to confirm that we are in the right place. I was feeling fairly apprehensive and I was not sure what to expect. When the guy confirms we are there I am unsure of weather or not I want to go in. We debated for a few minutes but the power of the good deal (IE coupon) swayed me to take a chance.
When we locate the dining room down two flights of stairs, we were greeted by a server and seated. There were only about 6 other people in the dining room, but it was early, only 6:15pm on a Friday night. We get our menus and order. Their nightly special was prime rib with a salad and two sides for $14.95. This seamed like a good price considering we needed to spend only $35 to use the coupon and we ordered water. I knew I was destined to eat dessert in my near future. I ordered two traditional German dishes; Spatzel and Red Cabbage. The cabbage was good, it was served warm and it was slightly pickled. The Spatzel was a thick noodle served with brown gravy. It had a lumpy instant potato texture to it; I only moved it around my plate. The salad bar consisted of bowls of lettuce and a few accompany items just sitting on a table. There was no ice to cool the dressing or perishable items. I tried to steer clear of most of it. Overall, my meal was fairly mediocre. I would never return to the restaurant but it was a good deal and I was full when I left. Our total bill after a mandatory 20% tip was just $20. The best thing was my friend was kind enough to pay for my dinner as it was my birthday.
The very weird thing about this place was that immediately after I sat down I began to have thought that we were in the headquarters of the KKK. There was nothing directly influencing me to think this. There was no hate signs or symbols on the walls. I just couldn’t imagine choosing to go to this place to eat without a great incentive. I would never known of its existence without the help of restaurant.com. I just had this gut feeling. The other thing was that the name of the building was “The German American Klub”…spelled with a K??? What do you guys think? My friend thought it was in my imagination. How would you find out something like that? Would you leave if you had that errant thought without any confirmation?
October 27, 2008
Birthday!!!!!
So another year has passed and I believe that it has affected me a bit differently this year. I am usually very nonchalant about my birthday. I am happy to get the occasional gift from a friend or family member and to go out and have a great meal. But I wasn’t feeling it this time. I had the great meal. My brother took me to The Melting Pot the weekend before my birthday and we gorged on cheese and chocolate. It was nice of him to take me to such nice place (even though I had a $25 coupon). I received a gift, a copy of Who Moved my Cheese from my roommate (Is she trying to tell me something?). So all should have been well in my world, but it wasn’t.
All of last week I had this strange compulsion to come home directly after work and to sit in my room and read the rest of the evening away, I didn’t want to do anything. I did this Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings without interruption. I was in serious need of groceries, yet I decided to eat weird things for meals just so I wouldn’t have to go out. Friday comes along and I have a horrible lunch experience with a co-worker and then I have plans to meet a friend for dinner and a play. I just didn’t want to go. I wanted to go home. I did keep my commitment but without much enthusiasm. Dinner was weird and I was bored quickly with play. I just looked at my watch the rest of the evening until it was time to go home.
Saturday was the birthday. It played out like the rest of the week. I stayed at home reading and finally dragged myself out of the house at 2:30 to get a haircut and to get groceries. I arrived home at 7pm to dinner being cooked by my roommate and a surprise piece of cheesecake for my special day. I just wanted to forget it. I have never reacted this way to a birthday before.
Sunday dawned a whole new day. I couldn’t believe the difference in my disposition. I got twice as much accomplished as I had the entire prior week. I start by doing the weeks laundry. I did a project for work that entails me making a hippy 60's bus to decorate our office for Halloween (more on this later). I meet my brother for a late lunch at Texas Roadhouse. I come home from lunch and mowed and trimmed the lawn, and then organized and cleaned the garage. I went inside and cleaned my room and the rest of the house. I was a completely different person. I am glad that my birthday is over. I am not sure why I reacted this way. I endured my 30th without any problems. I was my normal happy self. This wasn’t a milestone birthday.
Someone please tell me that this will not happen to me every year from now on!
All of last week I had this strange compulsion to come home directly after work and to sit in my room and read the rest of the evening away, I didn’t want to do anything. I did this Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday evenings without interruption. I was in serious need of groceries, yet I decided to eat weird things for meals just so I wouldn’t have to go out. Friday comes along and I have a horrible lunch experience with a co-worker and then I have plans to meet a friend for dinner and a play. I just didn’t want to go. I wanted to go home. I did keep my commitment but without much enthusiasm. Dinner was weird and I was bored quickly with play. I just looked at my watch the rest of the evening until it was time to go home.
Saturday was the birthday. It played out like the rest of the week. I stayed at home reading and finally dragged myself out of the house at 2:30 to get a haircut and to get groceries. I arrived home at 7pm to dinner being cooked by my roommate and a surprise piece of cheesecake for my special day. I just wanted to forget it. I have never reacted this way to a birthday before.
Sunday dawned a whole new day. I couldn’t believe the difference in my disposition. I got twice as much accomplished as I had the entire prior week. I start by doing the weeks laundry. I did a project for work that entails me making a hippy 60's bus to decorate our office for Halloween (more on this later). I meet my brother for a late lunch at Texas Roadhouse. I come home from lunch and mowed and trimmed the lawn, and then organized and cleaned the garage. I went inside and cleaned my room and the rest of the house. I was a completely different person. I am glad that my birthday is over. I am not sure why I reacted this way. I endured my 30th without any problems. I was my normal happy self. This wasn’t a milestone birthday.
Someone please tell me that this will not happen to me every year from now on!
October 20, 2008
Fort Benjamin Harrison State Park
This is a great park. I was asked to watch my two young nieces all Saturday while my brother and his wife went to Kings Island for the day. Sarah is 8 and Paige is 5 and they arrived at my house about 9:30am on Saturday morning. I wanted to plan a fun but cheap outing for them during the day. I never like to be cooped up with the children at my house and I didn’t want to disturb my roommate with their loud voices all day. So I gathered up a packed lunch, blanket and beverages and off we went.
I love to go to the state parks so I bought a pass in April for $40 and it grants me admission until December for all of the state parks in Indiana. When going to the parks I usually go to the ones out of town. I have been to Mounds in Anderson a few times but it is fairly small. But I have never been to Ben Harrison and I thought I would try it since it was so close to home and I wouldn’t have to drive far. After weaving through the multitudes of runners (apparently there was some type of marathon that day) I drove us through the park and found and fun looking large hill. I parked the car and I decided we needed to eat lunch at the top of the hill. Off the kids ran to race to the top. They were so excited…how often do you get to run up a giant hill. Then they ran down to me and then they ran up. I was tired watching them. When I finally made it to the top I spread out the blanket and served our humble lunch of Turkey sandwiches and a salad. It was so relaxing to sit there and watch all of the people try to make their way to the top. As I was reading the map trying to orient myself with the trails the girls raced up and down the hill. I can’t understand the desire but they seamed to enjoy it. As I packed up the things to leave they came back to the top and rolled themselves to the bottom. What a joy to see them unafraid of getting hurt.
I picked us out a 1 mile trail and drove us to the entrance. The girls were so good walking along and staying on the trail. The liked looking at the water, trees and leaves. Some of the leaves were gigantic on the ground; I don’t have such leaves by my house. It was crazy. We found a place on the trail that there was this long tree that was dead and fallen on it’s side. Naturally the girls wanted to walk along it Dirty Dancing style. Of course it was only three feet off of the ground. A while later we found some hanging branches that looked like long vines. The girls took turns trying to be Tarzan flying through the forest. I tried but I could hold myself up by my arms. As we approached the end of the trail we were happy to be done and I though we had all exerted enough energy. However, I was wrong.
I hadn’t realized that the trail that I chose was not circular. Duh! We did not end up at the beginning. We then had to take another 1 mile trail back to the car. This trail was a large paved surface that would be great for bike rides. This trail was faster as we kept on task and were getting tired and just wanted to finish. However, I am supremely impressed that the 5 year old made it the entire way. I didn’t baby her and she was able to walk the entire time. I really liked this park and I wish I had discovered it before now. It is the perfect place to take the family for an outing.
I love to go to the state parks so I bought a pass in April for $40 and it grants me admission until December for all of the state parks in Indiana. When going to the parks I usually go to the ones out of town. I have been to Mounds in Anderson a few times but it is fairly small. But I have never been to Ben Harrison and I thought I would try it since it was so close to home and I wouldn’t have to drive far. After weaving through the multitudes of runners (apparently there was some type of marathon that day) I drove us through the park and found and fun looking large hill. I parked the car and I decided we needed to eat lunch at the top of the hill. Off the kids ran to race to the top. They were so excited…how often do you get to run up a giant hill. Then they ran down to me and then they ran up. I was tired watching them. When I finally made it to the top I spread out the blanket and served our humble lunch of Turkey sandwiches and a salad. It was so relaxing to sit there and watch all of the people try to make their way to the top. As I was reading the map trying to orient myself with the trails the girls raced up and down the hill. I can’t understand the desire but they seamed to enjoy it. As I packed up the things to leave they came back to the top and rolled themselves to the bottom. What a joy to see them unafraid of getting hurt.
I picked us out a 1 mile trail and drove us to the entrance. The girls were so good walking along and staying on the trail. The liked looking at the water, trees and leaves. Some of the leaves were gigantic on the ground; I don’t have such leaves by my house. It was crazy. We found a place on the trail that there was this long tree that was dead and fallen on it’s side. Naturally the girls wanted to walk along it Dirty Dancing style. Of course it was only three feet off of the ground. A while later we found some hanging branches that looked like long vines. The girls took turns trying to be Tarzan flying through the forest. I tried but I could hold myself up by my arms. As we approached the end of the trail we were happy to be done and I though we had all exerted enough energy. However, I was wrong.
I hadn’t realized that the trail that I chose was not circular. Duh! We did not end up at the beginning. We then had to take another 1 mile trail back to the car. This trail was a large paved surface that would be great for bike rides. This trail was faster as we kept on task and were getting tired and just wanted to finish. However, I am supremely impressed that the 5 year old made it the entire way. I didn’t baby her and she was able to walk the entire time. I really liked this park and I wish I had discovered it before now. It is the perfect place to take the family for an outing.
October 15, 2008
Kitty Vampires
Cute Kitties
Kitty Vampires (I have been reading too many vampire books this month) Look at those viscous teeth
Loving Kitties
Sad Kitty
Sparks doesn't seem to be very nice to my precious Mickey.
Kitty Vampires (I have been reading too many vampire books this month) Look at those viscous teeth
Loving Kitties
Sad Kitty
These are two examples of what goes on at my house every night. It appears that the cats sleep all day so they can torture me all night. I am usually awoken each night with them acting crazy like this on my bed. It sure is more exciting with two kitties.
Sparks doesn't seem to be very nice to my precious Mickey.
October 14, 2008
New License Plate!
I had to renew my license plates in November and as usual I have an aversion to paying for them. I grew up in Ohio and they only charge about $45 a year for plates not hundreds of dollars. I always feel gauged as I pay for them. Since I like to be as efficient as possible I went through my renewal process online. The cool thing is it lets you choose any specialty plate that you might like. There were about 15 options and some of them were free and some of them you had to pay an additional fee to get them. I chose a free on but one that I had never seen before. I like it. What do you think?
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Roommate Update!
This should be short and sweet as I don’t have much to say. I think it is better when there is not much to say because that usually indicates that things are going smoothly. She really doesn’t do anything that bothers me. JoAnne currently works 11am to 4pm and usually comes home and watches TV. She cleans up after herself and she likes the kitties well enough. She is starting a second job tonight and will be working a couple evenings and one weekend day at JC Penny in the jewelry section. So I will have more private time at home. She paid me the first months rent without a hassle and I am not expecting any future problems from her. She even likes the house to be the same temperature as me. Cold. All of my co-works made fun of me last winter for having my heat set at 66 degrees. But JoAnne is just fine with my temperature selection. I think I found the right roommate. However, I don’t want to brag too soon.
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