Snow Day Pirates and my outfit of the day :)

My kitchen island swiftly turned into a pirate ship with two very different kinds of pirates on board. Gabe, seen wearing a nascar hat, Harley davidson scarf as his beard, and a blue sparkling scarf as his belt (to hold his binoculars when not in use) likes to hunt sharks and fight off bad guys. Eliza, wearing a fedora from H&M, a one-of-a-kind hand made macaroni tissue paper necklace, and a pink Hello Kitty scarf (from payless) spends her days making friends with mermaids where they can together search for sunken treasures.

There I am...ready for the teacher appreciation brunch. Boden cardigan, nicolette tank top (from nordstrom rack) and softest pants brand is Tailor Made (from anthropologie). My shoes come with a little story. Anne Klein from tjmaxx...got them on my way to a wake--long story short: very unexpected death while I was visiting home so I had limited "funeral appropriate" clothing. So...picked up these boots (as well as a pair of charcoal grey pants) on my way to the wake. Once I was there and standing in the long line to pay my respects, I remembered I had to kneel at the casket in front of everyone and the boots had that GIGANTIC obnoxious orange sticker on the sole reading 9 1/2!!! I felt like I was in a Seinfeld episode. So that is what I picked out to wear to the teacher luncheon. Except I didn't go to the luncheon. I had to take Ava to the doctor instead. Strep throat has claimed it's second victim in my house. Happy Friggin Friday!!!! ha ha!

Stupid questions

Two and a half weeks ago our Ava was diagnosed with epilepsy. No dramatics--it's a very manageable syndrome, and she isn't in any danger. It is mildly life-changing but my patience level for "stupid" questions is getting shorter with every week.

"So what caused this?"

"Do you think your other kids have epilepsy and you just don't know because they don't have seizures?"

"Do you think there could be other things wrong with her too?"

"Is it safe for her to go to regular school? Is this sort of thing contagious?"

But today I was asked a very innocent question that knocked the wind out of me. I was measuring Ava's medicine into her little cup. She looked so snuggly in her fuzzy pajamas, thumb in mouth and her hair all crazy bed-head-ish. She looked up at me with her big blue eyes,

"Mom, when am I going to be all better? How many more days till I can stop taking this medicine?"

Dashed Dinner Plans..

guess I'll revisit my plan to have grilled kebobs for dinner tonight. Jeesh, couldn't the weather channel have given us some kind of heads up that we were going to get some snow?

But I'm actually from Cape Cod...

actual conversation between me and (ahem) M.

M. "Are you Irish?"

me "yes! 100%!"

M. "yeah, I could totally tell from your accent."

me "my accent?"

M. "yup! You totally sound like the Kennedy's"

yikes...

Feel SPIN-tastic :)

Why should I try spinning? You ask...here are just a few of the many reasons:

*tightens and tones your butt and legs

*will work your heart muscle, making it stronger

*you can burn 1,000 calories in just 1 hour

*you're on your own bike, so progress at your own pace

*music based workouts make the hour fly by

*low impact (easy on your joints)

*natural endorphin boost

There is no better way to burn 700+ calories while doing a non-impact aerobic activity. Period. Spinning at least three times a week will make your heart and lungs healthier and more efficient. It will suck the first time you go...but the exercises you enjoy the least are usually the ones you need the most. Here are my spin tips to help a newbie become a regular:

1. WATER...you need a water bottle

2. towel...you won't believe how much you will sweat. I don't care if you are one who claims "I don't sweat" you will. You will..

3. Hard soled shoes...the bottom of your feet need a firm sole to press down on the pedals with, so put away those ballet slippers.

4. Hair pulled up, off the shoulders. There are few things more disgusting than the end of a ponytail sopping up the aforementioned sweat. off your neck and back...blech!

5. An easily digested meal about 1.5 hours before class (a banana with some almonds or peanut butter is best).

6. Make an honest attempt to attend two classes per week for at LEAST two weeks (preferably with different instructors, if possible) before you decide if you like it or not. It's amazing how different a class can feel just from having a different instructor...they each pick their own music and workouts.

HAVE FUN WITH IT!!!!

This looks like a job for....SUPERGIRL!

How do you go from a St. Anne's lady brunch to yoga with NO time to spare?? Strategic wardrobe planning, obviously ;) I wore my lululemon athletica top and pants underneath my cardigan and skirt! No need to spend time changing everything in the locker room...pop into a telephone booth, supergirl style, off with the cardi, off with the skirt and voila!! Ready for some vinyasa!!!

Ah, Glory Days!!

So training with those tennis kids was way more fun and way more challenging than I expected!! The plyometric portion was great, I had enough wind to yell some form correcting cues to the group as I was gracefully jumping myself into the anaerobic zone..LOL. The sprints? YIKES! I haven't actually done any sprinting since I sustained a stress fracture in my femur (July 2009). So why did I think I would be able to hang with 40 of the best teenage tennis athletes in the area? I think it goes back to why the bumble bee can fly--he may not be aerodynamically designed, but he doesn't know that so he just does it! I don't really know I'm 32 years old and have three kids and I'm not a college athlete anymore...so I just did it. I am paying for it today, but it was definitely worth it for two reasons:

#2. I am motivated and thrilled to add a sprint workout to my training routine (it's like reuniting with a long lost love...)

#1. The breakdown of some teenage "I'm too cool to show vulnerability" barriers was astonishing! Those kids are all really great kids and they are always personable with me, but last night I had SEVEN kids separately talk to me about their own personal fitness goals and if I would be willing to help them. All because they watched me suck wind after an 8minute session of intense sprinting!! I'm excited and feel incredibly lucky to watch these people attain their respective goals through their own hard work and dedication.

OH! Almost forgot...p90x protein bars (great to have if you can't be home to make a healthy meal) and p90x results and recovery drink (my absolute FAVORITE recovery drink) are on CLEARANCE!!! You can find them here: https://extranet.securefreedom.com/MillionDollarBody/csShopping/ShoppingCart.asp?Cat=Clearance|ALL