I Am Victorious

It's official. I won the 30 day workout challenge bet. I didn't miss a single day in June! We're going to visit some 6 week old kitties tonight and hopefully pick one to bring home in a few days.

I did like working out with the "Active" game on the Wii. There were just a couple of things that I didn't love. The first thing is that on the 30 day challenge, there are actually only 20 workouts. It builds in rest days every two days, which didn't really make sense to me. Each workout is between 20-30 minutes, and even on the hardest setting, it wasn't an extremely strenuous workout. On the rest days I went outside for a run with Stormy. The other thing was that the stretch band that comes with the game isn't very strong. I might as well have been using a rubberband it was so wimpy. So Ken ordered some heavier stretch cords and they provided a much better workout.

It's very nice to be able to prove to Ken (and myself) that I can workout for a set amount of days without a break. But I sure am looking forward to having my sleep-in days back during the week. I always work out first thing in the morning, before I have time to give myself excuses for not doing it. I knew the first time I said "Oh, I'll just do it after work" something would happen, I wouldn't get the workout in, and the bet would be lost. Plus, it just feels better in the morning.

Ken about had a panic attack yesterday when I told him I'd found some babies the perfect age and we were going to see them tonight. He tried to tell me he wasn't prepared for this, that he thought we would go this weekend. I reminded him that our weekend was already booked and there wasn't time to go to the other cat shelter we know about. And he's had 30 days to get perpared for it, so I wasn't listening to any of that. He knew what he was getting into from the start, and there's no going back now!

Maybe It's a Man Thing

For the last month and a half, Ken has had a standing date with our neighbor to golf every Sunday morning. During the week they decide on a course and make a tee time. Today was no different, but when Ken got home early in the afternoon, he still had energy. There were no projects he'd been wanting to do around the house, and didn't want to go into vegetation mode that early in the day. In an off-handed way he said that he and I should go golfing ourselves. For a minute I thought he was joking -- why would he suggest more golf when he had already had 18 holes worth of it??

I didn't have anything going on either, so we loaded up and headed to a ghetto 9-hole course. It's not actually in the ghetto, but it's not maintained very well. There are big dry brown patches on almost every fairway, and the greens have leaves, pine needles and ant hills on them. But it's close and easy.

The last time I golfed was early last summer, and I can't say I really miss it. Syd has some clubs, so I used them for a while, with unremarkable results. So I tried Ken's nicer clubs and had much better success. My balls still tended to skim the ground, but a couple of them got some good air time. I don't mind golfing every once in a while, but it's definitely not something I want to spend a lot of my time doing. Ken, on the other hand, wishes he could golf all day every day.

My New Favorite

It's summertime, so that means we go to Deer Forest almost every weekend. Every year there are some minor changes and additions to the animals they have. This year my favorite is a baby cow. I find this ironic because I have never had an affinity for cows. In fact, it's safe to say I hate them. But this little cow is so sweet and nice. He (she? I'm not an expert on determining bovine genders) takes the apple so gently, and likes to be scratched and patted. He's the epitome of what an animal in a petting zoo should be -- happy, friendly, and approachable.

I don't understand the reasoning behind it, but he shares his pen with a small alpaca. The alpaca was in the same pen last year, and was so timid and skittish we were never able to get close to him. This year the alpaca will eat apples from our hands and doesn't run do the other side of the pen. Maybe the gregarious little cow showed the alpaca that people really are ok.

It didn't take long to coax him over to me. He didn't even know what I had the first time we went.

What a good cow. The alpaca in the back had just gotten a shave -- or at least part of one.

Success! I never realized that cows have scratchy tongues like cats until this one delicately licked the apple from my hand.

Just Keep Swimming

The summer swim season has started and the first meet was last week. Syd was in 3 events and did pretty well in all of them. There are only a few swim meets in the summer, so hopefully she can work hard and get some personal bests between now and the final swim meet at the end of July.

Getting ready for her first race. We had to yell at her from the stands to take her flips off :)

On your mark, get set...

Go!! They worked on diving at practice so she didn't have a belly flop this time.

Ready for backstroke

Happy Father's Day

Ken got spoiled for Father's Day weekend by being able to golf both Saturday and Sunday. Before he left for his second golf outing, Syd and I gave him some presents. I was a cheater and got the same game for my dad -- it's that awesome!

Happy Father's Day Ken. You're a great dad and a wonderful husband.

Trying out the washer bullseye game.

It's such a simple concept -- throw the washer into the box. But so hard to actually execute.

Storm wasn't interested in playing at all. She just wanted to chill.

Worried About the Wrong Thing

Last night about 4:00 a big storm blew in. There was big thunder, strobe-light lightning, and huge rain. When I heard it all starting I told Ken that our patio chairs weren't stacked and put away, and were still siting on the patio. They aren't very heavy at all and I knew they'd get tossed around if there was any kind of wind. Ken told me it was too bad and he wasn't going out there to rescue them. We listened to the storm for a while and tried to go back to sleep. The power flickered a couple of times before staying off for good at 4:30.

The storm didn't let up, but we were able to get back to sleep. Ken decided it wouldn't be a good idea to run outside with lightning all around, so he killed his alarm and took a day off from working out. I on the other hand still have a bet to win, so no days off for me! My alarm went off at 6:30 still with no power. Syd's first swim meet is today after work, so I knew I wouldn't have time to do anything after it was all over. So my wonderful plan was to use a workout I'd seen on Biggest Loser where a deck of cards determines the numbers of reps and which exercises you do. It was the perfect solution for a workout where I couldn't go outside, or use the Wii.

I got my workout clothes on and went downstairs to let Storm out before I started my card workout. I was expecting to see our 4 little chairs scattered all over the lawn, which they were. I was not prepared to see the trampoline upside down on the sidewalk! We've had problems in the past with it being blown all over (even across the street once while we were on vacation). Because it's so windy by our house, Ken had anchored the trampoline into the ground with very heavy duty stakes and tie downs. The wind must have been crazy for it to be able to pick the trampoline up and take it all the way across the yard.

Yes, that is a telephone box -- our neighbors. It probably kept it from blowing across the street and across several vacant lots

Ken woke up a few minutes after I finished my workout. We were standing at the back door just looking at the trampoline and the lightning. I had just enough rain-free time to get the chairs cleared up and put in the garage before the lightning, thunder, and rain started again. Before our eyes, the trampoline was picked up once again by the wind and flipped right side up, heading straight for the neighbors cars parked in their driveway! Ken raced upstairs to get a sweatshirt and we headed out into the rain to rescue the trampoline. We dragged it back across the yard and used the house as a block for the wind. It was so mangled, but Ken was able to get it anchored again.

Closer to its original location, but better blocked from the wind.

Sorry about the picture quality. It's hard to get a good picture through a rain-soaked window and screen.

I sure am glad this happened on Friday. Power outages and out-of-control trampolines would not be a fun way to start the week.

#1 Favorite Show

Every year I wait and wait for my most favorite show to come on again. It always starts after the regular TV shows are done and in reruns and goes most of the summer. If you haven't seen So You Think You Can Dance you are missing out. I love everything about it, but the thing that makes it so much better and different than other reality competition shows is the host, Cat Deeley. She just has such a genuine and sincere quality about her. She calls the dancers her babies and really cares about them as people, not just as contestants on a show. You can see how real she is by how they interact and speak with her.

Another thing I love is the "hot tamale train." The phrase was coined by one of the judges 2 seasons ago and means a dance was smoking hot and as close to perfect as you can get. Usually the hot tamale train doesn't get rolling until we're a few weeks into the competition, but the dancers this year are so good two of them are already on the hot tamale train! (It's a serious goal for all the dancers to get a ticket on the hot tamale train).

You don't have to know anything about dance to appreciate this show. They showcase so many different styles and genres. Everything from hip hop, to ballroom dances, to contemporary and even ethnic dances are beautifully choregraphed and danced. I have so much respect and admiration for all the dancers for their ability to emote through their movements.

So You Think You Can Dance is on Fox on Wednesdays and Thursdays. Watch it. You won't be disappointed.

Like It Never Even Happened

Before the 4wheeling accident happened, Syd was already scheduled for a dentist checkup a couple weeks after we got home. After the accident, we decided just to keep the original appointment since her tooth wasn't hurting her. Ken was able to actually watch the procedure as the dentist fixed the small chip in her tooth. It looks so good, you would never know anything had happened to it.

Click the picture on the bottom for a better look at the chipped tooth.