I swear I haven't fallen off the face of the earth!

I've been very busy since getting home from my mini-vacation in Kansas.  We're putting in our new floors! ☺The family room and kitchen are nearly done, and the powder room and master bath are halfway done.  The upstairs bathrooms and fireplace surround may have to wait until Monday.  I promise to post pics, but right now I need to go collapse in bed and sleep.

No knitting going on; too busy, and my hands are too rough right now anyway.
No exercising going on either.  Will get back to it as soon as I can.

In Kansas...

I'm in Kansas, visiting family.  Sorry I haven't posted in the past few days; hanging out just didn't seem blog-worthy, and I haven't done any exercise at all, except some back exercises that are part of a program my parents are using; it's supposed to help with back pain.

Anyway, it's snowy here!  There was snow on the ground when we got here, there was another little dusting Saturday night, and then it snowed all day and night yesterday.  Actually, it's still snowing this morning.  Here's how the van looks...

I don't think I'll be going anywhere today...

But if I need to, at least I have new tires and a new battery, so I don't have anything to worry about except the other drivers. ☺ I noticed when we got to church on Sunday that one tire was almost flat, and we had filled all the tires just last week, before I drove to Kansas.  And all of them were almost bald anyway, so it was time.  Fortunately, I have a brother-in-law who is a mechanic, so I knew just who to call.

I'm thinking of taking the kids either ice-skating or sledding today, so that may involve a little driving.  I'll wait a while and see if the snowplows get the streets taken care of.

Zumba and Back Pain

My back slipped out of place again this morning.  Of course it would happen on Zumba day.  Oh well.  I did Zumba anyway.  I did a little better than last week; I would have done a lot better, if not for my stupid back.  I went ahead and weighed and measured myself today, since I'm going to be in a car from sunup to sundown tomorrow.  I've lost another inch off my waist, and one off my bust.  Hooray!  No more actual weight lost yet, but that's alright.  Maybe next week.

Anyway, I'm going to be in the car all day tomorrow, because I'm going to Kansas!  I am so excited!  I love to visit my family.  I won't be working out every day while I'm there, but I'll plan on some kind of activity, and I won't likely blog every day either.  I'll be busy hangin' out with my sisters and brothers.

A workout and a rant

I had a better workout today.  Worked my abs and back, and did 20 minutes on the bike and 15 on the stair-stepper.  I had planned to do 20, but I couldn't stomach any more of "The View", which was on the tv right in front of me.  Those liberal hags make me want to throw something at the tv.  They were talking about the so-called "memorial service" in Arizona last night.  An event for which souvenir t-shirts were created and handed out.  An event at which there was a lot of clapping, cheering(for the president, of course) and even booing(for Arizona Governor Jan Brewer)!  I was appalled at the disrespect.  It looked like a political pep rally, not a memorial.  A memorial is a somber service.  Anyway, back to my point: the hags of the View were praising the president and talking about how it was such a wonderful, uplifting service.... Gag me.  I'm shocked.  Shocked that some people aren't even aware of why this sort of "service" was inappropriate and disrespectful.  What has happened to our country??  Oh, yeah...Obama happened.

One month

I have been working out every day(except Christmas Day) for one month!  So I decided it was time for an update picture, even though there's not much of a difference yet.  To refresh your memory, here's my "before picture" from last month...

 And here's today's picture!

Notice that my face looks a bit narrower...my waist is two inches smaller, and my hips are one inch smaller.  You couldn't see my enormous butt in the before picture, but it's a bit smaller now than it was.  Overall, I feel stronger, and I'm actually enjoying my workouts, most days.

Today was not one of those days, but I worked out anyway.  I was sleepy and achy, and not in the mood to exercise.  I worked my arms, then did just 20 minutes on the bike.  I feel like I need a nap.  But I need to do laundry and pack for our trip to Kansas....and clean and organize...

Almost forgot to post today

I just realized I hadn't blogged about my workout.  Or about the fact that we went and bought a new stove/oven today.  Okay, range first.  Last Friday, Angel was standing on a chair next to the stove, and she jumped down, stumbled and bumped into the front of the range.  It took a moment for me to see that when she bumped it, she broke off the oven dial.  Actually, she broke the pin that holds the dial.  So I couldn't turn on the oven.  I had to "borrow the neighbors' oven" to bake our pizza that night, and I tried using epoxy to fix the broken pin.  The epoxy didn't work, so I went to Home Depot this morning (before my workout) to look at the ranges.  I was all set to buy the beautiful GE electric range with the smooth top...then I mentioned to the appliance guy that we currently have a gas range with electric ignition.  He told me that, typically, gas ranges with electric ignition only require a standard outlet.  The kind of range I was about to buy requires the heavy-duty, funky-looking outlet.  I told him I didn't know what sort of outlet(s) were behind my stove, so I'd have to go home and look.

So I went and worked out.  Worked my legs and back again, since my leg is still hurting.  Stepped it up on the cardio, though. I did 20 minutes at level 2 on the bike, and 20 minutes on the stair-stepper!  Hooray for me!  I've never done that much time on a stair-stepper before.

When I got home, I pulled the stove out and took a peek.  Yup, just as I feared; standard outlet.  Nancy Pelosi. (that's my new standard swearword, in case you were wondering)  So I had to start all over, searching.  I finally decided on a GE gas range, and went to buy it, and the appliance lady pointed out that the Amana range next to it was a better machine, but was on sale...for the same price.  I jumped at the chance to get the nicer range, with the bigger, self-cleaning oven and large, clear oven window, and the storage drawer under the oven for the price I'd already planned on paying.  It'll be delivered in two weeks, after I get home from visiting my family in Kansas.

Evellyn Anne!

I finished my Evellyn Anne blanket!  It's blocking on my family room floor at this very moment...

I'm so glad I got it done!  I'm ready to focus on other projects.  And I'm glad because I'll be able to have my niece model the blankie for the pattern pics.  A blankie pattern is always more appealing with a cute baby in the pic. ☺ I'm going to visit my family in Kansas next week, so this is perfect timing.  The girls are very excited about visiting with their cousins.  I'm excited too.  I really miss my family.  I sometimes wonder why I didn't visit more often when it was only a three hour drive.  Now it's twelve hours, so three seems like nothing.

♥

I went to the gym this morning, and worked my legs and back.  My right leg still hurts from when I put my foot through the neighbors' kitchen ceiling back in August.  I must have injured it worse than I thought.  I think all this exercise is the reason it's hurting more now than it was before I started working out.  So I worked my legs.  Hoping it'll help, like working my back makes my back feel better.  And I did 20 minutes on the bike and 15 on the stair-stepper.  It's getting easier, so I might be ready to try level 2 on those machines.  I think I'll give it a try tomorrow.