Knitter in Progress

I'm beginning to reflect on my accomplishments this year and I decided to start with my Challenges for 2009: (1) 3 months of the year where I post every day-- January, March, July -- Done July 31, 2009 (2) Finish a rotation of P90X Lean-- Done March 29, 2009 (3) Finish Provence Sampler-- Done April 12, 2009 (4) Finish a Rotation of Insanity-- Done November 1, 2009 (5) Finish 6 weeks of Turbo Jam--completed 4 weeks before I got Insanity (6) Get my Mii to look less like a softball--I'm still working on it; it's definitely a work in progress.

5October09--I started my second month today with a fit test AND a workout, as scheduled, and good Lord I am already sore. That extra 20 minutes or so of cardio is killer. After the first cardio circuit was complete I was dying and by the third circuit I think I was experiencing another plane of being. 15October2009--I have finished my first week of the Max workouts. They have somewhere around 10ish more minutes of cardio and, let me tell you, you feel every second of those 10 minutes. It's not that the first month wasn't hard--it was. . .is--but adding that extra time was killer. I hurt my back during yesterday's workout--a pain located between my shoulder blade and spine on my right side--so I decided to take today off. The pain has subsided quite a bit and I'll gingerly get back into the program tomorrow. Hopefully this only puts me a day behind. I dread the thought of having to double up to get back on track :( 16October2009--My back has stopped hurting after my unpl...

On September 1, I started the newest Beachbody workout series, Insanity . What drew me to it? Well, I had completed one rotation of P90X and I loved it. P90X is definitely geared towards people who want to build muscle and, honestly, you need to already be at your goal weight to really see great results--not that I didn't get great results with P90X, the gains I got in strength were amazing and more than worth the price--but I really wanted something that would really challenge me AND help me burn off some fat. I had purchased Turbo Jam which is a great beginner/intermediate type cardio workout--perfect for when I want to work up a good sweat but don't want to kill myself. For the month of August I pretty much did at least 2 Turbo Jam workouts per day--it was fun but not at all challenging. One day I was reading through my bloglines feeds and came across this post by the Fitness Freak . As soon as I saw the words "cardio based" I was thrilled. So then I checked it o...

1.9 is how many dishcloths I finished in the last twenty four hours. Hurray for me! (If I had time to go into everything else I did today, I would but I'm tired). Night. PS--this post lets me meet my personal challenge of blogging for 3 whole months in 2009 :)

I have two main goals for this month: 1. To exercise 4-6 times per week. 2. Put 1000 stitches per week into my TT "K". I've been having exercise issues lately so I'm trying to get that routine locked down again--I didn't bust my butt(literally) to lose all the gains I've made. As for the stitching, I think if I don't actually block out time for it then it will not get done.

Enjoy the day!

It's taken me over a year to get a fitness routine that I can maintain on a consistent basis. I try to workout 5-6 days per week for at least 60 minutes each time. Here's a typical breakdown: **3 days weights **2 days cardio **1 day stretch/yoga On some weight days I'll add an extra hour of cardio. I also try to include walks with the family and swimming with the kiddos--neither of which I consider exercise for me(too easy). I use P90X for a majority of my weight work and Cathe for a majority of my cardio. It seems to be working for me and I'm loving the results.

On weekdays during the summer we have a pretty predictable schedule here at Casa KiP. I learned a long time ago that when Diva and Rage don't have a schedule things tend to run amok so I set up a summer routine that keeps them on schedule which makes getting them back into school in the Fall a little easier. Mornings: **wake up **eat breakfast **watch shows(as Rage likes to say) **Mommy cleans, wastes time online or on the phone with family, or a combination of those things. Afternoons: **lunch **school: Diva and Rage work from the Summer Bridge Books and read or get read to for 30 minutes(this process can take anywhere from 1-2 hours depending on their attitudes. **errands and/or special trips(like the pool, the zoo, a playdate) **no TV/Computer/or Wii for ANYONE between lunch and dinner--sometimes that's a blessing and a curse **more cleaning, craft time, or a combo for me Evenings: **dinner **still more cleaning--it never ends **go for a walk(when our weather cooperates) **w...

One of my Challenges this year was to blog every month for three months. I've already done January and March and I loved the theme for July, so I decided to jump in. In the dictionary : Main Entry: rou·tine Pronunciation: \rü-ˈtēn\ Function: noun Etymology: French, from Middle French, from route traveled way Date: 1676 1 a: a regular course of procedure b: habitual or mechanical performance of an established procedure 2: a reiterated speech or formula 3: a worked-out part that may be often repeated; especially : a theatrical number 4: a sequence of computer instructions for performing a particular task Main Entry: rou·tine Function: adjective Date: 1817 1 : of a commonplace or repetitious character : ordinary 2 : of, relating to, or being in accordance with established procedure — rou·tine·ly adverb In the thesaurus : Entry Word: routine Function: noun Text: 1 an established and often automatic or monotonous series of actions followed when engaging in some activity Synonyms...

Happy Dance time :) I finished Provence Sampler yesterday. It will be a while before I get it framed and I'm very nervous about how it will wash up. Stats: Fabric: 18 count cream wool Stitched: 1 over 2 Thread: Caron Watercolours in Flame Pattern: Provence Sampler--Told in a Garden

I can check a big Challenge off my list as of today: I finished P90X Lean earlier this afternoon. I'll post more about my results and thoughts tomorrow(after a final weigh in and measurements). I have also made a dent in a couple of other Challenges: **Do something for each of the Project Spectrum Compass Points(post on that Tuesday about my "green"). **If I blog for the next two days, I will have 2 of the 3 months finished in my yearly goal of blogging for three total months. Which leaves me ample time to get another month in. **I am almost finished with Provence Sampler--hopefully by the end of April.

**Finish my P90X Lean Rotation--meeting one of my yearly Challenges **Finish Provence Sampler(since I didn't do it last month). **Work on (and finish) something for this first part of Project Spectrum: Cardinal Directions NORTH (March/April) Color: Green Material: Stones/Gems/Rocks Season: Winter Element: Earth

Here's how far I got on the Provence Sampler in February. I had planned on finishing it but I didn't quite get to it. I did make a big dent though. I'm hoping to put some time in on it this month and finish it so I can start making a dent in some of my other WIPs. I did keep going with my P90X Lean Rotation. I finished phase 2 and started phase 3.

Yeah that's right, it's back. I'm going for month two in my Challenge to post for three entire months this year. I really liked the theme this month which is: The theme for March blogging is GIVING (UP). If you choose to blog on the theme, you can write about what you give to your friends, your job, your world, or yourself every day. That "up" in parentheses gives you the option to also write about things you're throwing out, quitting, recycling, or eliminating from your life right now. I think I can actually make that work for me, so here I go again :)

My February Challenges are: **to finish Provence Sampler. I should have ample time to do this as I am not blogging everyday this month. **to continue my P90XLean rotation. I finished Phase 1 during January with no missed workouts and I will finish Phase 2 during this month and start Phase 3(which is the last phase in the 90 days). In January, I met my goal of posting every day. Now I only have to that two more times this year :)

While watching "Eagle Eye" with DH last night, I finished Rage's road cone orange hat and believe it or not DH wants one in the same color. Stats: Yarn: Cascade 220 Heathers Needles: size 8, addis and dpns Pattern: Knitters Handy Book of Patterns P90XLean--Day 6: Kenpo So, I have to say, I am not at all impressed with the "cardio" workouts in this series. I think I'm definitely going to start subbing my Cathe cardio DVDs on cardio days. I worked up a little bit of a sweat but it was so stop/start it was not really worth the hour I put in on it. I think these cardios might be good for days when you want to add another cardio later in the day.

I'm just catching up on my thoughts on my first few days of P90X Lean(before the New Year). It will probably make no sense to someone who isn't doing it so I won't be offended if you don't read these. I'll post in the title when it's a P90X post so you don't have to read--unless, of course, you enjoy reading about me torturing myself ;) Day 1--Core Synergistics Initial thoughts: **I'm a wuss when it comes to push ups. I can do tons of "girly" ones but very few "full body". I'm hoping by the end of 90 days that will change significantly. **I only skipped one section in this workout. It was in the BONUS section and it was the Plank to Chaturanga ISOs--I was just too winded and I knew if I tried to hold a Chaturanga at that point in the workout it would most likely end up in a face plant. **Dreya Rolls--good Lord those are soooooo hard for me. I don't know if I'm doing them wrong or what but they are hard. I did 10 with my fo...

I don't seem to do well with resolutions, or long term goals, so I decided that rather than list a bunch of things now that I want to accomplish throughout this year, I would rather set up mini-challenges for myself throughout the year. I will probably set my challenges at the beginning of each month(depending on their duration). There are a couple I'm starting on immediately: (1) I'm challenging myself to have 3 months of the year where I post everyday . Starting with this month--I tried last month and I posted 23 out of 31 days which is unheard of for me, so with a little extra push this month I think I can make all 31 :) And this month's theme is Change which I felt was particularly apropos for me. (2) The other challenge I'm presenting myself with is to finish a rotation of P90X Lean . I'm actually in my first week right now(because I started on the 29th of December). And since I need to make myself super accountable on this one it will probably be a top...