Margaret Richard & Friends - 2024

[yogapam]

Good morning!

Yesterdays activities:
~Another early morning uphill walk & beach walk
~3 sets with a resistance loop: 30 crab walks, 15 each side rear leg lifts, 30 heel lifts
~My own standing yoga flow & full body stretch
~100 heel drops
~ocean swim

I’m leaving Callanetics until I get home next week as I started dreading them. It’s the alternating standing & floor I don’t care for as my mat is very thin. I prefer to either start on the floor & move to standing or start standing & move to the floor. So will see how I feel about it when I have a better mat.

Diane - I hope all goes well with your eye check up. I get my eyes checked annually along with visual fields and optic nerve scans. My parents both had glaucoma & my eye pressures sit toward the high end of normal. I’ve had one laser treatment several years ago for high pressures.

Donna - It sounds like the guy you’ve worked well with before might be your best choice, especially if you plan to stay in your home for the long haul.
I like those fusion-y workouts of Jessica’s. I have so many of her digital downloads I should revisit.

Margot - I used to love Charlene’s step workouts!

SB - Have a nice visit with your friend! I like Beth’s idea of a shop, walk, & talk.

Waves to Pat, & Beth!

[Margot]

Hello all!

Yesterday evening, I fancied doing some of Margaret Martin's physio short classes:
- 50 Heel Drops
- 2 Best Balance Exercises
- Clam Shells
- 7 Exercises for Knee Pain - I have a twinge in my right knee. I think it was from the high impact moves in Charlene's class.

I managed to get in a neighbourhood walk early this morning before the rain started.

Pam - Thanks for the link to Margaret Martin's YT channel. I found it very informative. I'm not keen on getting up and down from the floor either. To be honest, I don't like the ab work. I still think it puts some strain on the neck, even if you can lift your upper body unsupported. I usually sub other core work.

Beth - The longer fusion class of Jessica's was on her AAP. I don't know if it's been released on DVD already. Hope you have a nice time in Houston this weekend.

Pat - LOL I love Aprille's cats. They're so fun to watch and she usually ends up with one sitting on her. Glad you were able to soothe your back after Kathy's workout.

Summer Breeze - Have fun with your friend.

Diane - Hope the eye exam went well. Great workouts! I like Good 'n Strong. I went to Margaret's digital library to choose something for tonight but the link is broken. I hope it's fixed soon.

Donna - I agree with the consensus here that it'd bring you more peace of mind sticking with a contractor you can trust. Yes, it's amazing how the quotes are always underestimated!

[donnamp]

Hi Everyone,

It is so dreary here!

Yesterday I forced myself to do some Lucy Wyndham Read after work - I had been a slug sitting all day - and I knew I needed to move some. I did a 20 Min Walk with her and then a 5 min cardio type workout. Her stuff is easy to fit in since it is not fancy.

I really do need to make getting some walking in a priority - I sit all day. I was thinking of trying to do 1 mile in the morning, 1 in the afternoon and 1 after work. On "cardio" days I can ease up on that if necessary. I can get out to walk if the weather is nice, I can dust off our unused treadmill or I can do a video walk. The 1 mile in the morning can be my pre-workout warm up

Today I did:

Jessica Smith - Yoga Fusion Sculpt - this is on her All Access Pass but also on DVD. I enjoyed it as I love fusion workouts!

Kitchen ramblings - we are looking at doing a full gut and replacement of everything Shortly after we moved in in 2006 we had the cabinets re-faced and re-did the floors. All of that is showing its age. The re-facing was a purely cosmetic upgrade as the cabinets were from 1971 when the house was built. The floor - we put in a hard wood floor which was a mistake - or the way it was done it was not done right - it has worn terribly. I have a small kitchen it is not big at all and it is very limited in terms of layout changes. I thought about opening it up to our dining room by knocking out the wall - but that will add to the price - plus I don't love the idea of having it open - even though open concept is all the rage. For one thing - any cooking odors/grease will travel out of the kitchen and into the dining room; then there is the fact that when you are sitting in the dining room trying to enjoy your dinner you will be looking at the messy kitchen that you have to clean. And it is noisy. My DH likes to cook and have something streaming in the background and being that it is a smaller house without the wall that sound will travel. As it is,sometimes I have to go elsewhere in the house for peace and quiet if he is cooking! My DH has done some google searches and feels that our contractor is too expensive; I think he is more expensive than some but not totally out of line. I think what my DH is looking at is pricing for minor cosmetic upgrades - not full guts - or maybe what he is looking at is cost of materials vs cost of materials plus labor. So I am sort of hoping that once we meet with the national company on Saturday he will see that if we want a certain quality of material (and we do b/c whatever we pick it has to either outlast us or outlast us living in the house) - that we are not talking a huge difference in price.

It is the worst room in our house now that our bathrooms are re-done. And I think no matter if you like to cook or not you need to use the kitchen sometimes so I think it will make it nicer for us if we do stay for the long haul and it certainly won't hurt if we sell. I can see not getting offers or not getting the best offers if we kept things as is when we go to sell. And it isn't like it is going to improve with age, so even if we do move in 5 or 6 years, that kitchen will look that much worse then.

I did read somewhere that you shouldn't spend more than 5%-15% of the value of your home on the kitchen remodel - and my guy's pricing is in line with that.

Anyway - sorry to ramble!

Take care!

Donna

[amoodygirl]

Good morning!

We’re thinking about heading over to the Berkshires today. There’s a fabulous Chinese restaurant whose food is so good it’s worth the trip. It will be raining all day in Williamstown so it’s still to be decided.

All went well at the eye doctor. I’m going back tomorrow so she can dilate my eyes. DH always has his dilated because of a previous tear in the eye, now repaired. Someone has to drive with clear vision! So, tomorrow is my turn.

Absolutely no sign of glaucoma but she did spot the very beginnings of cataracts. Nothing to worry about now but I will have to have cataract surgery some time down the line, many years I hope. She said everyone gets cataracts, some younger than others.

Today’s workout:

• Jenny Ford Step workout – 30 minutes
• 132 Pushups
• Stretch

Margot: I love, love, love Charlene’s workouts! Her step reminds me of Jenny Ford’s as it’s simple to follow and really gets a sweat on – good workouts!
I must incorporate heel drops! Thank you for the reminder. Margaret’s site is still not working. I’ve given up on ever resubscribing to her channel because of – what appears to me – a lackadaisical attitude to get things done. It may not be the reason. I honestly think she’s struggling for funds, something that I’ve felt all along. I hope I’m wrong and that she’s comfortable but there’s just too many excuses about why her site is wonky.

Summer Breeze: It’s very, very gloomy here today. As I told my eye doctor, I’m hoping my dad’s genes mixed with my mom’s will help me not get glaucoma.

Pat: Good workout day! I’m not officially going through Kassandra’s challenge again, just kind of picking at random one of her practices. They’re nice and short but always deliver!

Beth: Eyes are a weird thing. I don’t have a problem with anyone touching my eyes but I so get it. I get very weirded out at the dentist! I always have the “deer in headlights” look!

Donna: Dreary here as well – but that’s normal for Upstate NY ☹
Once the weather stabilizes, I will also make walking a priority. Nothing beats being outdoors!

I have an open concept home. I have mixed feelings about it. Since it’s a ranch, it’s a perfect home for people retiring and downsizing. It’s a good house to run your Hover-Round through! LOL! Lots of open space and not too many sharp turns. Next house, though, won’t be the same design.

You nailed it on the head. When we have company staying over, I still maintain my routine and go to bed early. The open concept is absolutely awful to block out the noise of just people talking in a normal voice. Another reason to not have an open kitchen/living room/dining room!

Sounds like your contractor is spot on with the estimate. For me, trust is everything when it comes to contractors.

Anyway, that’s about it for me today! See you all later – waves to Pam! I hope she’s enjoying the end of her vacation!

[donnamp]

Diane - my house is a split level - I forget the model Split Foyer - I think they built a lot of these in the 1970's/80's - so it is like a ranch - our upper level has kitchen, dining room, living room, 3 bedrooms (one is my home office). Our lower level is the "rec" /TV room but there is a separate room down there - that I use for my workouts and it also doubles as a guest room (I know this sounds terrible, but I am into guests only for a short time - like a weekend/long weekend - so I don't necessarily want a luxurious space for guests, I know that is terrible but I really enjoy my privacy and doing my own thing, guests are good or about 3 days, 4 max). We did add on a sun room - so that is down there as well. It is actually NOT a bad home for a retiree/older person since everything is on the main level - and there are not a ton of stairs, if you do have to go down for something (the laundry is down there). when we think about moving to a walk-able city or town -many of those houses are older - Victorian style with stairs and I don't think that is the best when you are getting older. My DH complains now if he forget something downstairs when he is upstairs! I hate to be defeatist about aging but I think you have to be realistic too. It is one thing if the home you are living in already has a lot of stairs and you want to stay there - but to go looking for more stairs when you get older....I don't know if that makes sense!

Donna

[Pat58]

Good morning and Happy Thursday! I had to squeeze in a workout:

~ 8 minutes silent meditation (day 13)
~ A Fabulous50s 15 minute cardio walk
~ An LWR standing Pilates
~ A Fabulous50s stretch
~ 4,845 steps

Pam, you gave the Callanetics a good go. Did you find that method compatible to Essentrics?

Margot, I think we’re sharing this rain. I saw it headed your way on the morning weather report. I can’t stand traditional ab work either, and always leave my head on the mat for Pilates.

Donna, your plans for the kitchen remodel sound very nice. I’m not a fan of the open kitchen either, for all the reasons you mentioned.

Diane, you must be glad the rain is melting your snow off. I hope your cataracts are a long time coming.

Waves to Beth and Summer Breeze!

[yogapam]

Donna - I hear you about long term guests, you don’t want them to be too comfortable! I need solitude and I find it draining. We get a fair amount of company because we live in a vacation destination. It’s not unusual for us to have 6 or 8 people staying with us. If it’s family, that’s great & I enjoy it, but if not it wears me down. When we downsize next year we won’t have that much space to host. Your place sounds like a good home to retire in.

Pat - Callanetics is more of a workout than Essentrics. The only similarity is the concept of pulling up. Where Essentrics has big full body movements, Callanetics has small movements focused on one area. I will give it more time when I get home, although I think the up down up down will be a deal breaker.

Diane - Glad your eye check up went well! Enjoy your Chinese food. The main floor of our home is open concept and I like it because I feel hallways take up usable floor space.

[ealakey]

Waves to everyone, I'm on my way to Houston and will check in when I can! lol I brought Dynamic Tension with me, a 3 day split of 12-minute workouts that use 3lb weights. I've never tried it so that should be interesting. I'll check back in tomorrow for personals.

[Margot]

Happy Easter Friday!

We're having crazy weather this morning; it's alternating between bright sunshine and hail storms! I don't think we'll be walking today.

Yesterday's workouts:
- Neighbourhood Walk
- Jessica's Midday Desk Break (16 min)
- Body Groove - Sassy & I know it (2nd half 15 min)
- Ekhart Yoga - Pilates Pelvic Floor Shorts #1 (17 min)
- Mimi K-D - Qigong for the Wood Element (YT) (17 min)
- EY José de Groot - 5 min Magic Bubble meditation

Donna - We talked about taking the wall down between our kitchen and family room a few years ago but I would have lost my pantry and like you, prefer the kitchen to be separate. I've noticed a lot of new house builds have an open plan design with only a nod to the kitchen in one corner. I guess people aren't cooking so much these days but I love to cook and spend a lot of time in my kitchen, so that's a big turn off for me.

Diane - Chinese food . Hope you had a good time yesterday. I hope Margaret will fix access to her digital library but I'm not feeling very optimistic from what you have said. We'll see! At least I haven't lost them all.

Pat - I think we did get your rain. It's been terrible the past few days. Nice workouts for you. Are you finding the daily meditation is helping? I do my practice just before bed and I do think it helps calm down my mind.

Pam - I agree in hallways taking up way too much space. I'm not sure what the architects are thinking. We've seen houses for sale where the hallway seems to be the main feature and the downstairs rooms are tiny! You must be excited about moving to a new home next year. We're always looking but unfortunately haven't found the right place for us yet. The housing market here has been really sluggish for the past year or two.

Beth - Have fun with Dynamic Tension. I look forward to hearing your thoughts.

Waves to Summer Breeze. Hope you're having a nice time with your friend and the weather is behaving!

[amoodygirl]

Good morning!

I’m taking a day off as I’m headed over to the eye doctor to have my eyes dilated.

Donna: DH grew up in a split level and never liked it – it’s funny, I grew up in a cape and don’t like them! Strange! I actually like split levels - wasn’t the Brady Bunch house a split?

There’s two schools of thought on stairs as we age. Some say we need to keep stairs in our lives as it keeps us mobile. The other is that stairs can become a danger as we age. You can’t have it both ways but my thinking is we have to analyze ourselves before making that decision. We’re all pretty active on this forum so perhaps stairs won’t be a problem for most of us as we’ve stayed fit through our lives.

LOL! DH never complains about going up and down the stairs to our basement (our gym and audio room). I’m the one always complaining about it! In our last house I had to go up and down 2 flights for laundry and that was a pain.

Pat: Good workouts!

Yesterday, we had to go over the mountains to get to Williamstown, Mass and it was so foggy from snow melt that I had both my lights and hazards on! Luckily there’s not much traffic. Thankfully ours is melting pretty quickly but it looks so, so dirty. The downside of snow!

Pam: I really don’t care for houseguests as I enjoy doing whatever I want whenever I want and not having to cater to someone. When we lived in San Diego, our house was like Grand Central Station. Everyone wanted to come out and, of course, stay for free! I made so many trips to the San Diego Zoo with company that the workers got to know me and said I should buy a lifetime pass!

Beth: Safe travels to Houston!

Margot: I hope the weather stays on the sunny side for you guys! Good workouts yesterday!

This Chinese restaurant is just so good and they have some vegan options. I was reading some of the comments in the Margaret group on Facebook and people are really not happy. My subscription expired a while ago but, I confess, I downloaded a lot of those workouts. Her site is expensive and to have these kinds of problems is just unacceptable. Margaret seems quite ingenious to me in responding (or more like NOT responding) to people’s complaints. It’s a shame because she has produced some really good workouts but not being able to access what people paid for is just wrong – and going on for far too long!

Waves to Summer Breeze! Enjoy the day!