Wednesday Workout Update - Hectic Week

Because of two very long days, I'm only swimming M/W/F this week...I planned this over the weekend, after I looked at my schedule.  Too much of everything can make me crazy, so I'm backing off when I can - it's my sanity saver.  Plus we are leaving on Friday for Dallas - ack!  A lot of details to take care of for the big race on Sunday, and it's pretty much all on me, since Jeff is traveling all over until just prior to the race.  The good news is that he's more than ready for the half marathon.  The bad news is that right now, rain is in the forecast, which won't be fun for runners or spectators.  But this is Texas, and our weather can change on a dime, so who knows what it will really be on Sunday.

Anyway.  Swimming.  It's dang cold in the mornings, and while the pool is heated, any wet body part that is out of the water is co-co-cold!  Actually, on Monday I was cold the entire hour I swam...but then, although (they said, not quite sure I believe them) the pool's temperature was 84 degrees, it was only 32 outside (and the building that housed the pool wasn't much warmer).  I'm thinking about getting a long-sleeved rash guard type of shirt and wearing that - maybe having an extra layer will help?  Kind of a wetsuit lite?  Anyone tried this?

When I do the backstroke swoosh (Shelley Swimming™ - remember, a version unlike most standard swim strokes), I've been using some rectangular Speedo swim paddles that my dad picked up for me at a rummage sale - let me tell you, these things WORK my arms, big time!  Way more than the triangular-shaped paddles that I bought a couple of months ago do...not only am I winded, but I'm moving through the water fast, and my upper arms are getting a great workout!  I'm almost as tired, using these, as I was when I was pumping iron with my trainer back in the day. 

Since it doesn't look like running will be happening anytime soon for me (boo, hiss), I'm going to try and walk, walk, walk my way to a smaller body.  Of course, my part-time job has me on my feet for five to six hours per shift, so walking will only take place on the days I'm not working.  But I have to do something to get rid of this "fat feeling" that I have.  It's not a ton of weight, per se, that's making me feel this way - it's moreso my general floppy flabby body tone (especially in my nemesis, the belly area).  I'll be honest here - some days, I just think I should quit eating altogether and that would solve my problem.  And then I remember that I'm not the anorexic teenager that I was, so long ago, and get back to reality...which for me, is having a body that spent twenty years being overweight, and is just having a hard time recovering from all the trauma that I inflicted on it.

Turkey Trot 5K/Muppet Movie Recap

Thanksgiving, as usual, was fun - it's always great to spend time with the kids (although I guess they are adults at this point) - they make me laugh like nothing else!

We woke up early Thursday morning...whose bright idea was it to sign us up for a Turkey Trot?  Oh.  Sorry 'bout that, kids.  Sleep in on your vacation?  Hah!  Anyway, we were dressed and ready by 7:00 am - the race participants had more than doubled from last year and there were over 1,000 people signed up, so we got there a little early in order to avoid parking problems.  Side note:  can I just say how amazing it is that this race, in its second year, had grown so much?  Love that fitness is taking a more prominent role in everyday life.

So the race was fun - Max and Jeff ran it, although not really together (more on speedy Jeff later).  Sam and I walked it, although not really together - I saw his back for most of it...dude, I was walking an average of a 17 minute mile...on a not-quite-rehabbed ankle...slow down for your mother!  But he kept wanting to pass other walkers and "not be last" - apparently Sam has no idea that I'm used to being last, or close to it, in these things!  My plan was to run the last tenth of a mile of the 5K, to test out my ankle.  And you must be wondering how that went.  Well.  I made it three steps.  Hurt like a @#$%.  Instantly.  Hammers beating on my ankle the second I landed the first running step.  Which, as you might imagine, was extremely disappointing.  I had hoped that I was close to being able to run, but based on how much it hurt, I suspect it's still pretty far away.  Not happy about that - I go back to my doctor on Wednesday, and I'll confer with him, but I'm sure I'll get the "wait x number of weeks" speech.  Boo on that.

Running disappointment aside, it was really nice to meet up with so many of my running friends that morning...I saw my former trainer, Linda, and her son, who I ran part of the Armadillo Dash with in 2010.  I also caught up with Julia, my running club buddy who trained with me for the half last year, and is going to run her first marathon in a couple of weeks (so excited for her).  Fun times - love the running community's camaraderie.  Pictures:

Thanksgiving morning, 7:30 am.  Why stay home and watch a parade on TV when you can be outdoors, pre-burning your big meal?

Annual shoe picture...by the way, this greatly embarrasses my family to pose for it, but too bad - they will be happy, happy I tells ya, to have that picture when we're all old and gray (well, grayer for some of us), sitting in rocking chairs and reminiscing about the good old days!

Julia and me!  I'm so proud of her, not only with how much she's running, but that she's wearing a purple hat, sunglasses, shirt and running shoes...my matchy-match influence has rubbed off!

 Some of my running club peeps - our new shirts make it easy to spot each other!

 Jeff explaining his race strategy?  The ladies look skeptical.

Will and Julia - ready to run!

Look what I have to live with...a speed demon.  Jeff set a new PR with this race - average pace 8:47???  Crikey.  Someone needs to remind him that it's NOT a race!  Oh wait.  He was ridiculously proud to place 10th in his age division.  I can't believe he's been running less than a year - pretty amazing, when you think about it.  

Participating in this race made me miss running even more.  I am trying to not be frustrated at how!freaking!long! it's taking me to get over this ankle injury, but it's not easy.

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After we finished the race, we went home, ate breakfast, and then went to see the new Muppet movie.  Y'all, I was smiling from the opening to the very end - I loved it.  If you liked the Muppet Show from way back when (read:  mid 1970s), you'll love this movie.  I thought it was pretty telling that almost all of the audience was adults - I think a lot of us were getting a nostalgia fix with this movie.  I highly recommend it, if you're a Muppet fan.  And now I want a Kermit the Frog watch.

 Too bad I was busy having a baby in 1987 instead of buying a cool Kermit watch!

Friday Mishmash - Abbreviated

We are having a lot of fun with the kids here...

Typical family picture...

Laughter has been plentiful on this Thanksgiving!

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving (or just a nice Thursday, if you are somewhere other than the U.S.) - I'll be back on Monday with a Turkey Trot recap!

Wednesday Workout Update

Workout?  What workout??  Big fat zero for the week so far.  Which is pretty rare for me, and I'd be a little more worried about it, except that I actually am on my feet and moving around - I'm just dressed way better than normal.  I'm talking about my job - I'm standing and walking the entire time, and let me tell you, it is wearing me out! 

So my only excuses for missing swimming are being really tired, which I hope will ease up as I get used to working again, and thunderstorms yesterday morning - can't swim with lightening.  Today we had an early meeting, so no pool.  I was feeling pretty down on myself, thinking I'd get no real exercise in this week, but then I remembered we're doing a Turkey Trot 5K tomorrow morning...oh yeah!  Max and Jeff will run it, in preparation for their half marathon in a couple of weeks, while Sam and I will walk it.  Although...I'm thinking I may have to try running it a smidge...just to see how the ankle feels.  Maybe the last .1, as we cross the finish line?  Just for kicks?  Why not, right?

Even though I won't get to the pool until next Monday, I'm putting it out here that I WILL do something the rest of this week - probably walking, maybe a bike ride - but I WILL move my body.  And next week?  Back on track for sure. 

I Got Nuttin'

Seriously.  My brain is just swirling with so much stuff I need to do that I can't think straight enough to write a coherent post.  What follows is just a brain dump - maybe it will help get me thinking clearer.  I'm sure it will be mostly boring and I apologize in advance.

• When did beef get to be so expensive?  $4.29 a pound for stew meat?!?  Damn.  I haven't bought meat in a long time, obviously.
• I have to work on keeping a calmer face when people ask to see several items at the jewelry store and then BUY THEM ALL.  The first time, a guy looked at three charms and then said "I'll take them" - I was like "ALL of them???"  By the time a lady looked at and bought three different pairs of earrings, I was much more nonchalant.  Inside, though, I was all, dang!
• I do admire people who can decide, just like that, on gifts.  Takes me longer, plus you know I have to find the best deal.
• Last year it did not bother me to stand for four or five hours.  This year?  Different story, and it's not just my post-surgery ankle that's aching, it's both feet and legs.  What's changed?  I'm not training for a half marathon.  Apparently all those miles each week gave me stamina for a sales job.  Who knew???
• One year ago on this date, I ran my first half marathon.  So far, it's been my only half marathon.  I miss the body that came with that kind of training.
• I've started my Christmas decorating.  One thing I've realized, is that if I don't do it when the mood strikes, it doesn't get done.  So the tree is up (I know, crazy, but please see previous sentence) and my pictures are swapped out.  Hey, it's a start!
• Beginning with the beef stew I made yesterday, I will cook more in the next week than I have in the last six months.  What a concept, this "cooking" thing. 

 Shockingly, I remembered how to chop vegetables!

 Annnd, we have beef stew!

 Dis for me, right?

Friday Mishmash

First, thank you all so much for the sweet comments on Wednesday's post.  I honestly don't think I could have been as successful with my weight loss had it not been for the blogging community - the support, advice and friendship has been amazing.  And speaking of comments, I would like to encourage those of you who don't link an email to your name to do so - I do respond via email to your comments, and there are some great stories that I'd love to hear more about, but can't make that connection without an email.  

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I got my baby fix on Monday morning!!!  My friend Michelle, who worked with me years ago, was in town for a quick drive-thru on her way back to Oklahoma, and while I hated to miss swimming, there was no way I was going to miss seeing her.  We got to spend a couple of hours together on Monday morning, where I met her sweet baby, Bruce, who was born on Max's birthday!  Bruce is not quite three months old and just so cute!  Ahhh...there is nothing like the feel of a baby in your arms.

 Me and my new little buddy!

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This was Jeff's Facebook status the other day:
"Max and I went to get ice cream at a small shop in Denton. "What's 'Hansel & Gretel'   taste like" he asks the guy. I'm thinking gingerbread, Max was thinking children.
Not sure how Max got his twisted sense of humor, but I like it!

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Pinterest Pin of the Week:

It's already starting for me - my lists have sublists.  Between the upcoming holidays, going out of town for the half marathon, the running club events, working a bit, my kids coming home - food, I need to actually get food in the house, I'm feeling a bit crazed and overwhelmed.  I'm sure it will all be fine, but at the moment the only thing that's keeping me sane are my lists.

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And now, it's time for Fashion Friday!  This outfit is all about the boots.  Boooooots!  I have a new pair of brown boots, thanks to my Mom.  They're Clarks Wish Excite, and they actually fit my large calves!  That is both a rarity and a miracle, I'm telling you.  So OK, it was 85 ridiculous degrees on Monday when I wore this to work, but I was determined to wear my new boots.   I'm sure you all understand that, right?

Boots!

Oh, you want to see the outfit, too?  Well fine:

 Thanks to Kristen, I no longer automatically dismiss sleeveless dresses - she showed me the way of layering a t-shirt under them, and I like the versatility that gives me.  This day I wore a short sleeved T, but I also have a long sleeved T in black and also one in brown, although that may be too much.  I also had this dress hemmed, as it was so long that it went down past the tops of the boots.  Even though I have rather hefty legs, I still think I look better with part of them showing. 

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chocolate-covered dried cranberries and jumbo Georgia pecans

My friends at Oh! Nuts recently sent me a couple of items to use in my holiday baking.  Hey, granola is baking, right?  Actually, I've been perfecting my pumpkin granola recipe, so I thought I'd share my latest version, and a couple of different ways to serve it.

Pumpkin Granola

3 C oats

1 C pumpkin

1 C coarsely chopped pecans

1 1/2 tsp pumpkin pie spice

1/4 tsp salt

2 T canola oil

1/3 C honey

Mix all dry ingredients, and then add pumpkin.  Heat oil and honey in pan on stovetop just until honey is melted; pour onto oat mixture.  Stir together - this will be really moist.  Pour mixture onto parchment-lined jelly roll pan and bake in a 300 degree oven for 15 minutes.  Stir, then bake again for 15 minutes.  Because this mixture is so wet (thanks to the pumpkin), it will take close to an hour to bake...after the first 30 minutes, I checked and stirred mine every 10 minutes to make sure it wasn't burning (the nuts will be your first sign that burning is imminent).  Once browned, remove pan - granola will crisp up as it cools.

Now here's the fun part - you can make this a dessert topping by mixing some chocolate-covered dried cranberries with the granola, or you can make it more of a breakfast topping by adding some plain dried cranberries.  Either way, the pumpkin, pecans and cranberries make for a great holiday flavor combo!

Breakfast version layered with Greek yogurt and dried cranberries

Dessert topping - vanilla ice cream, granola and chocolate-covered dried cranberries!

I think it's pretty clear that I am not a food-blogger photographer, but trust me, this was good.  Well, trust me on the breakfast granola.  Jeff took one for the team and ate the dessert topping since I'm still doing No Candy November.  He really liked it, though. This would make a nice gift, either packaged up in a mason jar, or even in a cellophane bag...and who knows, my neighbors might actually get something from me this Christmas! 

Have a great weekend!

(FTC disclosure:  I received a bag of nuts and a bag of chocolate-covered cranberries for free.  Recipe and opinions are all my own.)

Wednesday Workout Update - Interrupted!

We interrupt your regularly-scheduled Wednesday Workout Update with this breaking news:  Today marks the two year anniversary of my hitting the 100 pound weight loss milestone.

TWO YEARS.

One HUNDRED pounds.

And I haven't gained it all back!  Not even close!!  You better believe I'm celebrating!!!

Let's face it, if everyone just lost weight and kept it off, there would be a lot less discussion (and profit made) on dieting.  But the truth of it is that losing weight is only the beginning.  Keeping it off?  That's a whole 'nother story.  And while this year has been a challenging one for me, what with losing my favorite form of exercise to an injury, and stress eating over my mother's shocking cancer diagnosis (she just went through her third set of tests since her surgery and is doing fantastic, I'm happy to report!), I still fit into most of my "new" clothes, with the exception of some pants.  Yeah, things were looser a year ago, but hey - all things considered, this is pretty darn good.  And with the advent of running getting closer and closer, it can only get better.  Today, I'm celebrating the fact that I still have a normal-sized body...two years and counting!

Food Neutral

The paleo diet is going round blogland right now, with Helen and Biz, among others, trying it.  I have to say that I'm a bit envious of them, because I've seen it work with a lot of people.  However, I'm not envious enough to make the effort to try it...and while I could stand to lose some weight (my clothes are telling me so), I had to think on WHY, exactly, I'm not willing to give it a try.

For one, can't figure out how to make eating Greek yogurt twice a day fit into the paleo plan.  Seriously, on many days, I have yogurt and my homemade granola for breakfast AND dinner.  I really have gotten out of the habit of preparing an evening meal with Jeff traveling so much.  And yes, much of this is laziness based on not wanting to bother with cooking for just me, but it's also made me see something:  I've become, for the most part, food neutral.  Over the past few months, I've realized that I just don't get very excited about food.  Sure, a Scotty P's chili cheeseburger sounds great, but I live over three hours from that restaurant, and I don't want one bad enough to either try and recreate it myself, or try out all the burger joints in town to see if theirs is comparable.

I get hungry, I eat.  I keep a stock of basics on hand - Greek yogurt, apples, hard-boiled eggs, granola, chicken - and during the week, this suits me just fine.  Occasionally I meet a friend for lunch and I get my salad fix, and on the weekends, we eat a real meal for dinner (and of course frozen yogurt - I'm neutral, not dead!), but otherwise, this is where I'm at, and it's comfortable.  Sure, paleo might make me lose it faster, and I'll be the first to admit, that is VERY appealing, but it's a lot more work than I am willing to put into it at the moment.

So while I'm super proud of the work that my friends are putting into the paleo challenge, and the results they are getting, it's just not for me - right now, anyway.  Of course, after all of my protestations about "I'll never run" and "I'll never swim" (but really, I'll never do a tri!), I've learned to never say never about anything, so who knows...

Friday Mishmash - 11-11-11

First, I have to geek out a bit on today's date - ever since 01-01-01, I've loved the one day a year when the month, day and year numbers all match.  And I'm kind of sad knowing that next year (12-12-12!) will be the last time that will happen in my lifetime.  I guess I'll have to be content with dates like 11-12-13.

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No Candy November update:  I had a good first week, but on Monday evening, I met my running club coaches for dinner and an end-of-season planning session.  We were at a bakery/deli that has really good cookies.  BIG, good cookies.  Which were all around me.  Now, I know that a cookie isn't candy, but the kind that I would have gotten (chocolate chip) was candy-like, and I decided to not get one.  Not easy, and I'm not sure why, after doing well for a week, the candy/sugar craving hit me so hard.  When I got home that night, I ended up drinking a Dr. Pepper 10 (yes, we laughed at their commercial and actually bought some), which was enough to satisfy my sweet craving (should be, since the second ingredient listed is HFCS).  While I rarely drink sodas anymore (even diet), they do help me in a pinch.  And I was definitely feeling a pinch earlier in the week. 

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Thanks to all my enablers commenters (love you guys!), I decided to go ahead and take Thursdays off from the pool, starting yesterday.  Felt pretty dang good to not have snooze guilt.  I went for another walk around the scary statues in the afternoon - wore my Newton running shoes, and let my mind go where my legs couldn't - yet.

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I am probably the last person to know this, but just in case you haven't tried it, type "do a barrel roll" into Google search  and watch what happens.  Fun!

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We have been looking to buy a new camera, and last weekend while we were wandering around Best Buy, I checked out their video cameras.  Y'all.  When did they get to be so small???  Back in the day, we borrowed a behemoth video camera that you had to rest on your shoulder - this thing held VHS tapes and was heavy!  Now?  The video cameras are the size of a toilet paper tube!  And so inexpensive!!!  I wanted to buy one just because, but our new camera will have decent video capabilities, so we really won't need a separate video camera until we have a grandchild (oh yes, I just went there)(not that THAT is in the near future at all)(but babies are happening all around me and I want to claim one, dang it).

Wish I was bold enough to bring a toilet paper tube into Best Buy to take a comparison shot, but you'll have to take my word for it...

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Pinterest Pin of the Week:

Not sure why the fish are in the bathtub to begin with, but this picture makes me laugh!

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Finally, it's the return of Fashion Friday!  I only worked one day this week - James Avery likes to ease us into working, which is fine with me.  The big deal about this picture is that I'm wearing real shoes!  No flip flops.  My ankle is finally down to a manageable size, although after a few hours in the shoes, my foot/ankle had swollen up around the strap.  Still, it felt good to wear nice clothes again.

Top that I bought in California last April; new dress pants; real shoes. :)

The top has an elastic waist and then a peplum-type drop - I like it because it hides my stomach, which I am not very fond of right now.  Running should take care of that (and can't come soon enough!).

Thank you to all of our Veterans on this day (and really, every day); I hope everyone has a great weekend!

Wednesday Workout Update - It Ain't Easy Being Me

I had a hard time getting myself to the pool on Thursday - it was dark, windy and cold when my alarm went off, and my bed was warm and comfortable.  Jeff had left half a pot of coffee before he went to work - I could throw on my sweats, settle in with coffee and the newspaper, and have a nice morning.  Plus I was feeling fat.  Last thing you want to do is exercise, right?  (that kind of rationalization sounded perfectly sane early in the morning, I swear!)  So I stayed home and relaxed.

Also, it was Thursday.  I seem to have a problem with getting to the pool on Thursdays.  It's probably definitely a mental thing, because I've already planned on having Tuesday and Thursday as my running days (once I can start running again) and Monday, Wednesday and Friday being my pool days.  Anyway, last Thursday I skipped swimming to ride my bike.  This Thursday, once it lightened up outside, I decided to go for a walk, just to test out the legs.  I ended up waiting and walking in the evening while Jeff did his run - we went to the scary statue park, where I did three loops around the statues.  It took me 31 minutes - fast, I was not, but then again, I am not cleared for brisk walking at the moment, so this was enough.  It felt great!  Just like old times...well, except for the whole "not running" part.

The funny thing about that walk was that on Saturday, I realized that my shins were a little sore.  REALLY?  I'm gonna have to go through that all over again?!?  Crum.  Obviously swimming does not work quite the same leg muscles as walking...which means that I'll get to enjoy the thrill of sore muscles along with lungs that will, no doubt, be screaming for mercy, once I get back to running.  Rats, rats, rats - I forgot that my conditioning is gone.

And then, this was the scene yesterday:

6:45 am - alarm goes off.  Me:  hit snooze.
6:50 am - alarm goes off.  Me:  hit snooze, think about getting up.
6:55 am - alarm goes off.  Me:  hit snooze, try to come up with reasons why it's OK to skip pool today.
7:00 am - alarm goes off.  Me:  hit snooze, notice that it's light outside.  Shoot.  Darkness was my excuse last week.
7:05 am - alarm goes off.  Me:  hit snooze, bargain with self.  You don't have to go to the pool, but you do have to get up.  Decide to give it a few more minutes of contemplation.
7:10 am - alarm goes off.  Me:  hit snooze, but actually get out of bed.  Feed cats, let Paco outside, check online weather for thunderstorm, because then for sure I wouldn't have to go to pool.  Shoot.  Weather clear for now.
7:15 am - alarm goes off.  Me:  oops, forgot to turn the damn thing off.  Sigh.  Might as well put swimsuit on, but I don't have to go to the pool if I don't want to.
7:30 am - Me:  in car, driving to pool.  Promise self nap after, as reward for going.

Seriously, WHY OH WHY do I do this???  Well, I know why.  It's because I got out of the habit of getting up every stinking weekday and (to quote Nike) just DOING it.  I was afraid that my time off due to the surgery and recovery would result in this...the return of lazy Shelley.  I swear, that bitch just bides her time, waiting to come out...and she has returned with a vengeance.  I didn't spend most of my adult life overweight just because I ate too much - there was that little matter of zero exercise as well.  And you know how some bodies have "muscle memory"?  I swear mine has "sedentary memory" and would go back to that lifestyle if given half a chance.  What a thing to have to fight - ME.

No Candy November

My declaration and my goal...why?

• Two bags of candy corn purchased and consumed last month (Jeff helped, but still...)
• Candy toppings on my frozen yogurt - yummy, but I never used to do that
•  I've found myself eating candy, without hesitation, over the last couple of months - I used to at least consider it before shoving it into my mouth!
•  Self-preservation - I'm starting work today at James Avery and there is a big candy bowl in the staff area.  I didn't get into it last year, and I need to make sure that I don't do it again this year.

While I do think that occasional treats are fine, both in dieting and maintenance, lately for me it's gotten to be more automatic than occasional - and I need to rein it in, especially as we head toward the holidays. Notice I did not say "no sugar November" - I'm not crazy!  I like my pumpkin pie on Thanksgiving too much to not have a piece...and my homemade granola, which I eat just about every day, contains both brown sugar and honey.

I know that if I tried something as stringent as no sugar, I'd fail - but no candy?  I can do this. In fact, I am doing this - the morning of November 1st, I put up my container of Dove dark chocolate Promises for the month, and even though I usually have one or two pieces in the evening, I've been OK without.  And in case you're wondering, I did help myself to several many a bunch of pieces of Halloween candy...so I kinda went into this on candy overload.  I look at this as hitting the reset button - getting back to the healthier side of eating that I prefer to be on.  Overall, it's not a huge thing, but it was becoming significant enough that I needed to do something about it.

By the way, I got this idea after watching Merry do 30 days of no sugar in October (how much do I love that she timed it to end so she could eat Halloween candy?) - she made it look easy, and that was giving up ALL sugar.  I'm just giving up candy, so it should be a piece of cake.  Which I can have, because it's not candy!  All kidding aside, I'm not gonna have cake.  Now pie?  That's another story...but hey, it's not candy!

Friday Mishmash

Getting serious here for a minute - backstory is that a couple of weeks ago, there was a murder in our town.  A knife and a gun were used.  Arrested was an 18-year-old high school senior, who basically did this because he wanted to kill someone - he had no connection to the couple that he attacked.  So on Halloween night, among all of the cute and fun trick-or-treaters, we answered the door to one lone boy, holding a fake bloody knife and wearing a dark hooded costume pulled low over his face.  He was looking down and didn't say anything.  I tried to peek under to see his face and he just ducked down further.  I ended up tossing some candy into his bag and shut the door, but I've been disturbed ever since.  Not only was this creepy, but it was bad judgement, in my opinion, to act that way, especially after what had happened.  I realize he is probably just a clueless teenager, but sometimes, they need to be clued in.  And I'm mad at myself for not confronting the young man and saying something.  Sorry, I know this isn't the usual stuff I write about, but it's been bothering me.  Would you have said something?

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OK, in happy fun things, I got my hair cut and highlighted yesterday - I feel like a new woman!  Of course, I spent the week leading up to the appointment trying to figure out if I should keep the curly style, or go to a more sleek, blow-dried look for winter.  Luckily, my hairdresser worked her magic, and while I left with it dried straight, I will also be able to do curls, if I want.

 Still fairly long, which I like.

I got highlights AND lowlights this time - supposedly more of a natural look, and also helps to cover the gray, which is becoming quite prominent, dang it.

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I had my four week post-op follow-up appointment on Wednesday, and overall my doctor is pleased with my progress.  He did notice that some scar tissue is building up on one of my incisions and demonstrated, painfully, how he wanted me to do some massage to break it up.  He said my range of motion is pretty good but now I need to do some runner's stretches (the one where you have your foot on the ground behind you and lunge forward) to improve it.  As for running, well, he thinks I'm more likely to be about another four weeks away from it, and honestly, I'm not surprised given how much it still hurts.  I'm OK with that - but if it goes beyond four weeks, then heads are gonna roll! ;)

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If you are lucky enough to live near a lucy store, please know that they are having their annual birthday sale on Saturday, with 25% off the entire store, and they will also be giving additional goodies to shoppers.  Have I mentioned that I live nowhere NEAR a lucy store?  Sadness.  But, I will be having a product review and giveaway in the future, so yay for that!

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Pinterest Pin of the Week:

In honor of all of us bloggers whose arms could be just a tad bit longer for our self-portraits!

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I am excited to tell you that Fashion Friday will return next week, because beginning Monday, I am starting my seasonal job once again at James Avery, and I get to dress up!  Not sure what I'm more excited over - the job, or being able to wear something other than shorts and a swimsuit.  Kind of a combination, actually, because I also get to wear the jewelry while I'm there.  Win-win!

Have a great weekend!

Wednesday Workout Update - Swim, Bike...

No run.  Not yet...but I am itching to get out there and go!  Another few weeks and hopefully that will be a reality.

The pool has been great - lately the mornings have been quite chilly but the gym has upped the heat to 84 degrees, which makes it pretty easy to slip in.  I'm already back up to swimming 100 lengths, which was my minimum before the surgery - except that I'm only doing 40 lengths of backstroke/sidestroke, instead of my usual 60...but who knows, maybe by the end of the week I'll be there.  The rest is kickboard, with the other strokes sandwiched in the middle.  To be perfectly honest, my ankle does start hurting about midway through my swimming workout, and continues to bother me the rest of the day, so I'll be checking with my doctor later on today (I have another follow up appointment) to see if this is a normal part of the healing.

I also rode my bike last week - pool buddy Nancy wasn't going to be there on Thursday, and since most of what I do right now is kickboard, that can get pretty boring with no one to talk to, so I skipped the pool and went for a bike ride around my neighborhood!  It felt good to get on my pretty pink bike - I added some air to her tires and off I went.  (I will not mention listening to the torturous cries of one very sad dog who got left behind...but I couldn't chance having to make a quick stop because of him - my goal is to not move backward with this recovery)

After the first couple of tentative pedal rotations, my ankle settled in nicely and I was only bothered a couple of times when I went over a rough bump - but all in all, it was a great way to stretch out my leg muscles.  I rode for about 25 minutes - my bike odometer said I covered 4.3 miles.  I felt great but decided to stop, going along with my "easing back into exercise" program.  Funny thing - I was moving so fast and felt so free while I was riding, but as soon as I got off the bike, I was back to my limping, clompy walk...yep, there's my reality.  Oh well.  This will all be a thing of the past pretty soon.

It feels good to be moving more.  Now, if I could just put on my running shoes (ok, with a matching outfit) and go for a little run, well, that would be amazing.