Exercise: 25 minutes (Honey Kalaria's Bollywood Workout)

I'm a bit frustrated with my lack of weight loss, so I am going to focus more on exercise this week. In the past, I have been able to stray a few hundred calories from my plan and still lose weight as long as I exercised every day. Why I stopped when I was on a roll two years' ago was just pure laziness. Even though exercise works for me, I have rarely enjoyed it. That's why I keep trying new exercise DVDs; I am trying to recapture the enthusiasm I felt when I was taking tap classes and learning new routines.

Honey Kalaria kicked my butt tonight! I made it through 20 minutes of the beginners' routine on her Bollywood Workout DVD, but then I had to stop it and do my own cool down. My calves were killing me and I had sweat rolling down my body. I rarely sweat while exercising, and this was with the A/C on! My muscles in my upper and lower body feel used. Ms. Kalaria doesn't skimp on the stretching, either. The past few workouts I tried only did a five-minute warmup; this DVD's warmup routine is 10 minutes and you feel like you've actually done something. In addition to the beginner's routine, there are two advanced routines. This DVD is aimed toward exercise, but she also has a set of DVDs that are more like dance instruction. I don't think those are available in the States, though.

Can you go home again?

Superstarra Christie pointed me to a pattern for a round baby blanket that was part of the Knitlist's gift exchange. I keep forgetting that list is out there. I was subbed to the Knitlist for several years during the time when the url was www.kniton.com. I finally unsubbed because the list was too big for me. I felt restricted by the "one post a day, stay strictly on-topic" rule. I understand why it is necessary with thousands of members, but I wanted a more intimate atmosphere. I ended up finding it at the Variegations list.

Thinking back, the Knitlist was instrumental in my knitting education when I returned to knitting as an adult around 1996. At that time I didn't even know that wool was available in skeins for the average person to buy! I had dial-up access back then complete with long-distance charges, so visiting websites was painful. The Knitlist was the place where I learned what the hot patterns were in the knitting community. Remember the Wonderful Wallaby, anyone? I was thinking about subbing again and lurking for a little while to catch up on the trends. I get most of that info from blogs now, but I might still pick up something new.

Check-in call from the hubbyman

ABM just called me from the amusement park. Knowing how unorganized our church can be, he skipped joining their caravan. Instead, he went to the trip coordinator's house, picked up five tickets, and went on to the destination himself. He and the kids were there as soon as the gates opened while the rest of the church group didn't get there until an hour later. This strategy enabled our kids, who have never been to the park before, to get on several rides before the lines began to lengthen. ABM said that they are all behaving themselves, which is a great relief to me.

Meanwhile, I am trying to get some housework done. I am a lousy housewife who cleans when she feels guilty. They should be home in about three hours, and I thought it would be nice for the hubbyman to come home to a clean house. Also, if I clean now then I can be lazy on Monday. See, I'm always thinkin'!

How did I miss this?

I've seen MagKnits mentioned on several blogs but I never went to the site because I thought it was a yarn store. Since I rarely buy yarn online (the last time was three years' ago), I didn't see a reason to visit. I just found out today while looking for more info on Alison's Nothin' But a T-shirt pattern that it is an online knitting mag like Knitty. Duh! I've already spotted a couple cute baby patterns.

Speaking of baby patterns, how did this year's theme move from afghans to layettes? I still want to meet my afghan goal, but I seem to be surrounded by women having babies right now. Since I live in a climate where cotton sweaters get more use than woolen ones, baby items seem to be a perfect match for the small balls of cotton that I have in my stashette.

Health Update; The Rant Continues

Next week I am supposed to be changing my dinners, but I don't think I am ready. My snacking is still out of control, mainly when I get home from work. I'm going to stay at this stage of the Change One plan for another week to see if I can do a little better.

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Remember yesterday's rant? Well, I'm still not over it. After ABM told me that we were going to the park, I spent the rest of the evening trying to calm my anxiety. I kept reminding myself that this park is an institution in this area and all of their friends have been there, so I have to suck up my distaste for this sort of thing to give them a great summer memory. Little did I know that while I was trying to work up the courage to go, ABM had called the trip coordinator and told him to give my ticket to someone else! Now, don't get me wrong; I'm very relieved that I don't have to go. However, I'm sorry that I disappointed ABM. One of the sore spots in our marriage has been my inability to be spontaneous and do very social things. Large parties, group functions, crowds, and new experiences all make me feel like I can't breathe but I can get through them if I am given enough advance notice. ABM knows this, so I can't understand why he thought it would be better to wait until the last minute to spring this on me. He claims he did it so he wouldn't have to hear me talk about the trip for two weeks. Talking about it and visualizing worst-case scenarios (I call them "disaster fantasies") helps me turn the situation into something I can manage; unfortunately, it drives him nuts.

Anyway, ABM was cranky last night but I refused to take the full weight of this on myself. I reminded him that I would still be going if he hadn't jumped the gun and gave away my ticket. All he had to do was give me time to get used to the idea. He seemed to be in a better mood this morning, but as he walked out the door he shook his head and muttered, "Four kids at an amusement park." Hopefully, someone in the group will step up and help him. I just feel bad that I left him to handle four excited children on his own. He's a great dad and I know that he can manage, but he has a wife so he shouldn't have to do it alone.

Phone It In Phriday

Warning: this is a rant. I'm a little on edge this evening, which I think you will notice if you make it all the way through this post :-).

Tech Talk

Exercise: none
Breakfast: on plan
Lunch: on plan
Snacks: on plan

Heads up! I am trying to teach myself how to add some of the stuff that I see on all the cool kids' blogs, like buttons. So if you visit my space and everything looks kind of wonky, please bear with me.

One of the things I do when I am stressed and trying to avoid reality is to play game demos. Our budget doesn't allow for me to actually buy games, so I turn to demos to give me a taste of what I am missing. Sometimes I play demos of big commercial games, while other times I play the little Bejeweled knockoffs that are all over the internet. Usually they are set to stop functioning after 60 minutes, and for most of the little games that is plenty of time for me to get my fill. However, there has been one game recently that has tempted me to plunk down $20. It is called Subway Scramble and it is published by PlayFirst. Your objective is to flip the correct switches so that the trains stop and start at the right places to pick up and let off passengers. You have to avoid letting the trains or the stations get too full while making sure the trains don't crash into each other. The graphics have a bright, colorful pop art sort of look which keep you interested in what would otherwise just be another coffee break game.

Podcast Talk: The Roadhouse

Exercise: 15 minutes (vigorous dancing)
Breakfast: on plan
Lunch: slightly off plan
Snacks: on plan

I was going to talk about another one of WFMU's podcasts but I have to ask: have any of you been to The Roadhouse? Tony Steidler-Dennison puts on one cool show. He has that Saturday night vibe going that makes feel like I should be in a hot dress with a drink in my hand. This is one of the slickest podcasts I've heard to date and it is recorded in his laundry room! The weekly show consists of blues by independent artists with a couple segments on podcasting news and blues history thrown in.

Over the years I've become set in my ways and I am much less likely to listen to a new artist. A whole show of unknown music is especially difficult for me to sit through because I need some familiar songs in between to hold my interest. This show, however, has broken through that barrier. The music industry thinks that mp3s will harm their business, but they are wrong. I could burn free shows like The Roadhouse and Coverville to CDs myself, but the music is so good that it makes me want to go out and buy more of the artists' work.

At an average of 60 minutes per show, it is longer than many podcasts. The music is so good, though, that you'll be panting for more. Do yourself a favor -- go visit Tony's place and tell him I sent you :-).

This is the halter top that I have been working on for the past three weeks. The yarn is Patons Pearl Twist, which I believe is discontinued. The pattern is from Family Circle Easy Knitting, Spring/Summer 2001. Right now I am doing the i-cord straps. This is a project that I knit "just because". I had just the right amount of yarn and I couldn't think of anything else to do with it. If it doesn't fit C2 (my skinniest child), then I will give it to one of my co-workers who has two little girls. Hopefully I can finish this tonight because I am SO ready to work on a new project. 

This is a bag that C1 knit herself WITHOUT A PATTERN. Who is this child? I'm lucky that I can remember how to cast on without instructions in front of me. The yarn is green Plymouth Encore and Wool-Ease Blue Sprinkles. The Wool-Ease Sprinkles is cute in person and makes great socks; I'd love to get my hands on more of this discontinued yarn. In case you can't tell, the sides are held together with attached i-cord. My girl is da bomb! For her next project, she wants to make a drawstring bag that she saw on Knitty Gritty last night.

The week that all the good shows died

Exercise: 25 min (Carmen Electra Hip-Hop)
Breakfast: on plan
Lunch: off plan
Snacks: on plan

Today hasn't been perfect, health-wise, but it has been better. Over the weekend, I threw myself a little pity party but an online friend (thanks, Betsy) reminded me today that I just need to keep it simple and push on. I'm taking it one meal at a time and doing the best with the choices available to me.

Last week all the networks announced their fall lineups. Although I am a TV junkie, I couldn't bring myself to finish perusing Futon Critic's lists because I became woozy when I saw a few of my favorites on the cancelled list: Summerland, Joan of Arcadia, and Kevin Hill. I can't take it if I find out that any of my other shows aren't coming back. Joan of Arcadia is an Emmy-winning show, the second season was outstanding, yet it still got cancelled! One report I read said that JoA's ratings plummeted in the second season. I wouldn't call going from 7 rating points to 5 rating points plummeting. How many eyeballs do these stations think they can get? There are only so many hours in a day and there are at least twice as many viewing choices available as there were 20 years ago. I'm especially baffled by UPN and WB. They are considered minor networks at best, and in the past they have given shows at least three seasons to work out their kinks (example: Buffy the Vampire Slayer). Yet here they are cancelling shows after one season as if they expect to get the numbers that the big boys pull. This is almost enough to make me turn off my TV and pick up a book :-).

Belated Health Update and Other Chatter

There's nothing much to say. My efforts have been lackluster and it shows on the scale. I've stuck to my eating plan the best that I can for breakfast and lunch, even though I keep running out of fruit for breakfast. That's what happens when there are four young children in your house. Yesterday ABM bought fruit cups and 100-calorie snack packs for me. I am going to take them to work since I end up eating breakfast there on most days. I know it sounds like I am depriving my poor children, but they gorge on fruit and yogurt the way most kids scarf down candy. They can have the canned peaches and the bananas; they're not going to suffer.

Exercise was fairly non-existent again this week. So much for the mp3 player coaxing me outside to walk. I don't know what else to say. There is nothing I can type that isn't going to sound like a lazy-a** excuse. I hate exercise. The few forms of exercise I can endure are either not accessible to me (I can't afford to replace my treadmill) or inconvenient (the TV is in use when I want to do a dance video, for instance). If I really wanted to exercise, I wouldn't let these piddly things get in my way so I guess my lack of commitment is showing. Feh.

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As you can see by this post, I have access to a computer once again. After spending most of Saturday trying to resurrect my bedroom computer, I finally threw up my hands in disgust. A few websites gave me a little hope, but I am pretty sure that it is a hard drive failure. We disconnected it this morning and it will probably go in the garage until we can come up with the funds to take it to Best Buy's Geek Squad. In the meantime, I moved M's computer into my bedroom to stop myself from going through tech withdrawal.

Until my computer pooped out on me, I wasn't fully aware of what a big part it played in my routine. My Saturday morning cup of coffee wasn't the same without my e-mail and blogs to read. When I cleaned the house, I couldn't reward myself with my internet break every 30 minutes or so. Watching TV with ABM was especially difficult because I usually look up things that we have a question about, like who did Plastique's voice on last night's episode of Justice League Unlimited. Even as I was reading the backlog of magazines on my bedside table, I had the urge to look up some of the websites that were referenced in the articles.

This brings me to a question. What would you miss if your computer died? Most of you probably aren't as obsessed as I am, but I bet there is some program or game that you would miss. The one thing I wish I had backed up are the episodes of Degrassi: The Next Generation and Battlestar Galactica that I downloaded. It took so long to get them and the Degrassi episodes are ones that haven't even aired in the States yet. Bummer.

I am now off to straighten up my bedroom, a task I neglected while I had tech on the brain yesterday. I may even get some knitting done, because I am so tired of looking at that champagne-colored halter top. See ya!

My hard drive hath forsaken me

My poor computer has gone kaput. I've had a computer in my house continously since 1988 and this is the first time I've had a hard drive failure. Luckily we have another computer downstairs, but I haven't prepared it for use on the internet (no Firefox, no AVG, no Ad-Aware, etc.). So my posts may be even more sporadic for the next week or so. And no, I didn't crash my computer to avoid posting photos of my pitiful knitting project :-).

Podcast Talk: Sinner's Crossroads

Exercise: 5 minutes
Breakfast: on plan
Lunch: on plan

Now that podcasting is starting to catch the attention of the mainstream media, I am starting to see a different kind of podcast creeping into the directories. Public radio stations are starting to offer up their shows via podcast after the original show has aired, and this week's show falls into that category. It is called Sinner's Crossroads, and it is hosted by Kevin Nutt. It is originally broadcast every Wednesday night on a freeform radio station called WFMU. The archives go back to 2001 but the show may be older than that. I love old-time black gospel so this show was a real find. It is comprised of old recordings of quartets and church choirs, with some preaching and commercials thrown in for a little historical flavor. For the most part, Mr. Nutt plays music by small forgotten groups, instead of Aretha Franklin and Sam Cooke in their early gospel days. The sound quality is pretty much what you would expect from vinyl that is over 50 years old but I think the popping and hissing adds to the charm. I can't tell whether the presenter is a Christian or not, but at least he isn't making fun of the music. In fact, he doesn't talk much at all. He cuts in long enough to give the name of the group and the song and then starts up the next long set. I've already subscribed to this feed, and I will be talking about another WFMU show next week.

Exercise: none
Breakfast: on plan
Lunch: on plan

I'm going to M's band concert (which doubles as her final exam) as soon as I leave work today. That means no photos, but I did knit. I think I am off one stitch on the halter chart. The chart shows that I should have an equal amount of knit stitches on either side of the lace section, but I have 26 on one side and 27 on the other. I'm too lazy to rip back the six rows I've done so far, so hopefully it won't make much of a difference.

Before I leave you, I want to rant a little. Summer, which is supposed to be a season of frolic and fun, is a miserable time of year for me. It is the time when everyone cranks up the A/C and runs it constantly. Do any of you know what it is like to be cold all the time? Between work and home, I can't escape cold air. Whatever happened to opening the windows and enjoying the breeze? I am not a Luddite; I can appreciate A/C when it is 95 degrees outside. Around here, though, people start sweating and gasping for air as soon as it reaches 70. I want to enjoy the warm weather, move my arms unencumbered, and wear floaty summer dresses without a sweater. Is that so wrong?

This week's knitting; Everwood ruminations

Exercise: 20 min. (walking)
Breakfast: stayed on plan
Lunch: off plan

I'm finally making some progress on C1's halter. The back has been knit and blocked, and I have worked my way up to the charted lace design on the front. Knitting from charts is not my favorite thing, mainly because I can't do it on the road. I plan to drag myself away from the computer for the next few evenings so that I can finish this thing. Hopefully, I will have some decent progress to photograph and post this week.

Tonight's TV lineup will be 7th Heaven, Everwood, and possibly the last half of the Grey's Anatomy episode that we started watching last night. Everwood in particular has been very good this season, but I am wondering if it will be able to come back strong next year. A lot of the plot twists that made the show so interesting to watch, like Ephraim blowing off his Julliard audition to piss off his father, are also things that would normally be considered detrimental to the long life of a series. Even without the twists, the teenagers will all be college age next year and Everwood isn't exactly a college town. I can't imagine anything that they would write into the story to make the kids stay in town that would look natural. Bright staying home was one thing because they had already established him as a slacker, but I can't see a good reason for Amy to ignore Harvard and Princeton.

One more TV note before I pull myself away from the computer: I found a cool connection this week. One of ABM's favorite new shows is Kevin Hill. We've read rumours that it may not be picked up for next season but haven't read anything definite. One of my favorite podcasts is Geeks On, which is five guys on the fringes of the entertainment industry in Los Angeles. One of the geeks, Aaron Hendricks, has mentioned a couple times that his sister is an actress. It turns out that his sister plays my favorite character on Kevin Hill! Since podcasting is still so new, podcasters tend to answer their e-mail fairly quickly so I shot off a message to Aaron yesterday asking if he knew the fate of his sister's show. He responded this morning and said that he will find out Tuesday or Wednesday. Nice to have an inside track :-).

Why do we argue so?

This afternoon I spent 15 minutes in a silly argument with M, my 12-year-old daughter. She is writing a sci-fi story for class, so she has to research at least two planets. She spent two hours on the internet yesterday doing research. Today when she asked for more computer time to finish her report, I went over the edge and started fussing at her for not getting all of her work done yesterday. Halfway through the argument I realized that I was being unreasonable, so I walked away to cool down and then went back and apologized to her. Unfortunately, this isn't the first time that I've done this.

Why am I picking fights with my own daughter? She was asking for something that was perfectly reasonable, and I should be happy that she is taking charge of her school project without prompting from me. Every time the kids ask me for something, though, I feel like I should say "no". Where on earth is that coming from? It's not like my kids are pampered, by any means. They have far fewer toys and privileges than most of their friends. Seeing so many of my peers who have kids that run roughshod over them has perhaps pushed me too far to the other end of the spectrum. I need to lighten up.

Health Update

This morning right before I woke up, I dreamed that I stepped on the scale and it read 209. What a lovely dream! Alas, I am still at 259. I'm not too disappointed, though, because I feel like I made some changes that will help me in the long run.

I'm still doing Change One and I stuck to the breakfast plan much better this week. The biggest change I made was drinking my coffee without quite as much sugar in it. As I have mentioned before, I normally drink two loaded cups of java every morning which average about 250 calories each. This week I discovered that I can tolerate a cup of coffee with just three packets of sugar and a packet of Splenda. That's a big step down from the 15+ packets of sugar I normally dump in my cup if I don't have hot chocolate.

Exercise was a no-go again this week. I predicted that walking in the evenings with ABM was not going to last long and I was right. It wasn't his fault; the timing was just bad. We were trying to walk as soon as he got off from work which delayed the kids' showers and bedtime. So it looks like I will have to go back to walking before work. It will be much easier after next week because school lets out on Friday. I'll be able to walk without worrying about getting back in time to wake the kids up.

Carmen Electra's Hip-Hop DVD arrived in my mailbox yesterday. I haven't had a chance to actually do the workout yet but I watched it. Just like the first one, the camera angles are great and Carmen Electra is a good teacher. The moves are familiar to me from the different hip-hop videos I've seen. I just don't think this should have been a separate DVD. The warm-up was pulled from the first DVD and there is only one dance routine. It could have been combined with another DVD in the series. Also, Carmen does not have any back-up dancers in this one. For me, it gives me extra energy when a dance video has a whole room of dancers all doing the routine. This DVD could have definitely used that. Still, I think it is worth a rental to spice up your exercise routine. Since I haven't exercised in almost two weeks, I could use a little spice!

Ramblin' On

My brain has a bit of a disconnect when it comes to my age. One of my coworkers is trying to get the Mobile MammoVan to come to her church. They'll do walk-ins for the uninsured but they want to be assured that at least 15 people show up. When she handed me the flyer, I was about to say, "This isn't for me because I am still too young for a mammogram." Before I could get the words out of my mouth, I realized that I am three years' past the minimum age. How did this happen? When did I get old enough to have my boobs squished? I'm still trying to figure out how to maximize my cleavage.

One of my online friends made a list today of things she likes to see on knitting blogs. The first thing she mentioned was lots of photos of WIPs and FOs. I'm a bad knitblogger when it comes to this. Maybe it is a bit deceiving to even call this a knitblog because I knit so slowly that I rarely have anything to show you guys. Of course, if I didn't spend quite so much time in front of the computer I might get some more reading and knitting done. I've got to work on that.

I was going to post some more thoughts but they will have to wait. ABM is kicking me off of the computer so he can have a go. I guess I will be working on that reading and knitting thing sooner than I planned (see previous paragraph)!

Podcast Talk: What Now; iPodder

For the past few weeks I have been on a music kick. Some of you may find this difficult to believe, but I go months without listening to music other than whatever is on the radio when ABM is driving. This is difficult even for me to believe because I have always felt music so deeply that I often wonder why God didn't bless me with a singer's voice or a dancer's rhythm. It just seems that I have substituted the background noise of the TV for the music in my life.

Anyway, I found a podcast perfect for someone like me who has lost touch with new music. It is a 10-minute show called What Now that gives you the highlights of each Tuesday's new releases. The presenter, Mick Orlosky, used to work for MusicMatch and now works for Yahoo! so he must have connections that allow him to listen to all this music without emptying his bank account. The production quality is great; it sounds like a professional radio segment. Although Mr. Orlosky's musical tastes are a bit different than mine, I've already been introduced to a few cool tracks. He doesn't just play the single, which usually has gotten a ton of airplay already. He highlights what he deems to be the most interesting track on the CD. I'm sure I'll find out later that this podcast is just a marketing ploy to get people interested in Yahoo!'s new music subscription service, but I don't care. I still like it and I think you should give it a listen.

In other podcast babble, I finally downloaded iPodder for Windows. Ever since I started listening to podcast in late February, I've been hearing about iPodder and Adam Curry. Those who know me IRL know that I resist being mainstream in little stupid ways (remember the wailing and hand-wringing when ABM bought me a cell phone?). So when I started hearing on several different podcasts that Adam Curry was king of the podcast and that all podcasters genuflect before him, my useless little rebellious streak rose up and I decided I was going to try to find a different free aggregator to avoid using iPodder. Well, that was a fruitless search. I downloaded three and none of them worked to my satisfaction. I joined the masses that use iPodder and so far I am pretty happy with it.

You know you are a bad housekeeper when . . .

. . . you haven't vacuumed in so long that you can't find the "on" button for the vacuum cleaner! Let's hope that I manage to get my bedroom floor cleaned tonight.

I've been tagged

I saw this meme on Ro's blog earlier today, but somehow I missed the fact that she tagged me until I checked my e-mail! These are so tough for me to do, especially because I don't know who to tag when I'm done. Still, I'm a good sport so I am going to give it a shot.

The Premise:

Pick 5 of the following and then complete the sentences. Then pass it on to 3 more of your blog friends! But no tag backs!

If I could be a scientist¦
If I could be a farmer¦
If I could be a musician¦
If I could be a doctor¦
If I could be a painter¦
If I could be a gardener...
If I could be a missionary¦
If I could be a chef...
If I could be an architect¦
If I could be a linguist¦
If I could be a psychologist¦
If I could be a librarian...
If I could be an athlete¦
If I could be a lawyer¦
If I could be an inn-keeper...
If I could be a professor¦
If I could be a writer...
If I could be a llama-rider¦
If I could be a bonnie pirate¦
If I could be an astronaut¦
If I could be a world famous blogger...
If I could be a justice on any one court in the world¦
If I could be married to any current famous political figure¦

If I could be an inn-keeper . . . When I hear the word "inn", I think of a pub with lodging upstairs like you see on those BBC shows. I would want to run an establishment that kept the locals coming back just to say what that crazy Dani is going to do next.

If I could be a writer . . . I would be the Janet Lambert of the 21st century. She wrote tons of young adult novels in the 1940s while being an Army wife and mother. That sounds like the ideal way to make a living.

If I could be a librarian . . . I would be a library in a small town branch so that I could give more personalized attention to the patrons.

If I could be a gardener . . . I would grow herbs and make herbal cosmetics and homeopathic remedies in my kitchen for all my family and friends.

If I could be a linguist . . . I would love to study the origins of the colloquial language used in different English-speaking countries.

Now, who can I tag next? How about Gina, Genia, and Christie?

Health Update

The first week of Change One did not go so well. The first change is eating a healthy breakfast which is basically one grain/one dairy/one fruit. There were two main problems. First, I was a woman with an issue this week (Biblical euphemism). This sapped me of almost all my energy so I did not get up in time to toast my English muffin, thus skipping my grain. Second, the thought of 8 oz. of yogurt made me gag, so I skipped my dairy. I ended up having a banana and coffee for breakfast every morning. It was no surprise that I was ravenous by lunchtime.

I'm not giving up yet, folks. I am going to do the breakfast week again to try to get a handle on it. Also, my friend at work didn't do the plan with me last week. She's still searching for that magic diet bullet but I have convinced her to join me while she is waiting for it to show up :-). Instead of muffins, I am going to switch back to instant oatmeal because it is something I can prepare at work if I don't get up early. In addition, I am going to switch to 4 oz. cups of custard-style yogurt. It is what I grew up eating, and I think my body has been trained to think of 4 oz. as a full serving of yogurt. Whenever I eat an 8 oz. cup, I have to choke down the second half.

I got more exercise than I expected. Since I am focusing on eating, I wasn't planning to start exercising until week 5. However, I ran out of stuff to do with the kids in Youth Worship on Sunday so I popped in the Molly and Roni sock hop DVD. These kids went nuts! We ended up dancing hard for 30 minutes and broke a sweat, which is unusual for me. My legs were even sore the next day, but I didn't rest because ABM decided that we needed to start walking now that he gets off work earlier. So, I did 20 minutes on Monday and 15 minutes on Tuesday. Unfortunately, my issue kicked in on Wednesday so I blew off exercising for the rest of the week. I have a feeling that the kids at church will ask about dancing again, so I may get another 30 minutes tomorrow. I have a hip-hop dance DVD on its way from NetFlix to spice things up as well.

See my neat slider thingy at the top of my post? I got that from 3 Fat Chicks, and I really like it. Unfortunately, I am html-challenged so I can't create one for my weekly exercise minutes. Has anyone seen something ready-made on the web that I could use?

You're a car key, and not only do you unlock the
car, you help everyone get where they're going.
Important to many but often misplaced, you have
something to offer that everyone wants. Just be
sure you don't let yourself become nothing more
than a means to an end.


What sort of key are you and what do you unlock?
brought to you by Quizilla


This is funny because I don't know how to drive!

Podcast Talk: Geek Speak Radio

As promised, I am giving Geek Speak Radio a mention on my official Podcast Wednesday. There's nothing spectacular about this show, but that is why I like it. The hosts Rob and Mike sound like guys who enjoy geeky entertainment but they aren't stealing their kids' milk money to get it. I can identify with them because I am interested in games but I don't have the money to buy everything that comes along. I also don't have the time to play a game for hours; the last marathon session I had with a game was when the original Sims was released. When these guys review a game they mention things that are important to me, such as the learning curve on a game and whether I need to shut it off the minute my 8-year-old comes into the room. They also talk about other geeky things like TiVo hacks. Since TechTV has morphed into the FratBoy Channel, I appreciate any show that gives me little tricks to help me make my computer and other electronic devices work better for me. Go give these guys a listen. Oh, I almost forgot -- yes, Rob and Mike, I am a girl :-).

Shrug: The New Poncho?; Other stuff

Several knitbloggers, such as Christie, have speculated in recent posts as to whether the shrug is going to be the new poncho. Are we all going to be totally sick of it in a few months? Are some of us going to go on a shrug binge and knit shrugs for every pair of naked arms in their immediate vicinity? Are there knitters who have already decided they will not knit one at all because they are sure the trend will be over any minute?

The shrug thing is amusing to me because the first thing I completed when I returned to knitting eight years' ago was a shrug. I didn't even plan to get back into knitting because I hadn't knit for almost 14 years prior to that time. I was searching for a going-away present for my dance teacher (yes, I learned to tap-dance when I was 29 and pregnant with twins) . ABM bought me an Incredible Sweater Machine for my birthday that year. I struggled with that thing just long enough to get the knitting bug again. In my search for patterns I saw shrugs everywhere. According to the knitting mags, shrugs were supposed to be the next big thing but they never took off. That didn't stop me from knitting one for my dance teacher. It was a plain shrug knit with 3 strands of Red Heart Super Saver held together -- ugh! I realize now that it was ghastly, but she was a well-bred young lady who had obviously been taught to accept all gifts graciously. We both live in the same subdivision now; I should probably knit her another one.
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I'm starting to rethink my afghan goal. Perhaps it would be easier if I started a little smaller, namely baby blankets. Yes, I know that I have already knit one this year but I know two other women who are having babies in September. Rather than wait for ABM to make a request in August, I could be proactive and get started now. That way, I won't feel so pressured. Also, knitting the baby blankets may push me into afghan mode. I sound like I am grasping at straws, don't I?
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Yesterday I was listening to the Geek Speak podcast while I was in the tub (I'll review that podcast next if I haven't already), and I was pleasantly surprised to hear them comment on my post. I was even more surprised when they said they visited my blog and read my Podcast Wednesday post. I feel a bit unworthy because my blog isn't nearly geeky enough for techies to read. As much as I love video games and comic books, I don't play or read them very much. Perhaps I just like the idea of their existence, knowing that someday when I'm not so busy I'll be able to partake of them. I wonder how many video-game playing grandmas are going to be out there with me when I turn 64?