TA Meta and everything else - Fall / Winter 2021

[Buzzer]

Rest day... DONE!
Firm Strength... DONE!

So I had a total meltdown on Monday. Like, sitting in DH's office crying, and spent most of the day quitting homeschooling in my head and thinking of other things I could do, and decided I would become a night time stocker at Kohl's. So DH "gave" me the night off and I went to the bookstore. I read books and drank tea. I had a little meltdown inside when Starbucks at the bookstore told me their oven was down and they couldn't cook my quiche, however if I wanted it heated up in the microwave, they would. Yuck. So I didn't get dinner. But it still was a few hours, which I haven't gotten since before I was sick!

So Tuesday I took the day off. I took a nap at 7am instead. I didn't sleep well, since when I got home from the bookstore I ate a taco (at like 8:30pm). I woke up too early starving, so I decided that I needed a nap more than I needed to workout.

Yesterday I did Firm Strength. I upped the weights for my rows to 20's, tricep double hand overheads to 1-20 pound weight, and when she said "go very heavy" on the biceps, I did 15's. I slacked on the pushups... I would love to say they bothered my shoulder, but they didn't. I just felt weak on them, maybe because I went heavier on my weights for the other muscles. So I did pushups in plank on my fanny lifter at first, then the last set I just did on the floor on my knees.

I did use 12's as my heavy weight for all the other exercises. My legs did feel weak though, as although I did the step ups, lunges, squats and floor work... my heart and my legs were not into it. I think the yoga still had my legs sore and tired!!!

I really liked doing the Firm, Cardio, Yoga and rest. I might try that again this time. I felt like I got in everything I feel like I should, and that my body needs. I don't like that it's 4 days between Firms (weight training), because that's my favorite! However, I need cardio and stretch too!! I'll see how it goes.

Today I am sore! My body is definitely talking to me. I woke up early, and could feel my entire upper body and back. All good though!

Yesterday we had our last day of Classical Conversations for this year... we had week 12 of 24, so we get a break until January!!! We will be catching up during this time for sure. It's a relief to be done, I feel like now we can go back and review what we need to review and I can get us caught up. Taking 3 weeks off for being sick really stinks! We also spent the evening putting up the tree. I was already feeling sore and tired from my workout (my back and biceps felt it especially since I went up in weights on both of those!) and I ended up going to bed a little early too. So today I am up early again. So goes the cycle.

I love having the tree up though. I always have LB put the ornaments she made or that have her picture on them from various crafts done in preschool on the side of the tree where I can sit and look at them in the morning. I love waking up in the morning and turning on the tree lights. I just love our Christmas tree!! What I don't like though is putting all the Christmas decor around. I love the decor, however the house always seems more crowded then. I am thinking I will put some stuff away in the shed (our usual decor) instead. That way it's not crowded with the Christmas stuff. Plus, maybe I can funnel some stuff out that way that LB would otherwise notice I got rid of! HA!

So today is cardio day. I don't know if that means group kick or not.

Did you guys see Cathe's new workouts? STS 2! I was so excited. I haven't done STS in a while, however I loved it! I didn't like all the pushups in meso 1, however I loved 2 and 3. I think about going back to STS and P90X a lot, however I am loving the Firms. Usually I can ignore Cathe's new ones, however STS2 I might not be able to !! I read the thread about it thinking I would be ambivalent like I usually am, but ended up thinking of buying a new set. Ugh.

One thing I want to add though, is I have had more compliments since doing the Firm again than I did before doing other workouts. I have heard how toned my arms are, that I have nice legs (from a girl friend, not in a flirty way!), I have had two people, both a male and female, ask me what I do and dump on me about how they feel they look and how they want to look toned like I do... I heard it all separately, however yesterday someone told me they "wouldn't want to meet me in a dark alley" and it clicked... I remember hearing that in my 20's from someone once!! In my 20's was when I was toned, skinnier by far, and did Firm more. I tied it all together and realized that although I am not losing weight and my belly is just as big as it was around, perhaps I am changing the look and shape of my muscles. There's hope for me yet!! HA! Feels good though. I may still be too heavy, but at least you can tell there's muscles under there.

Eventmom: Yay! Joyce! I need to pull her out again. Maybe on a day when I need to lift but am not sure if I want to. That way I get in a good workout, but trick myself into believing I won't! HA! I don't even know if that makes sense!! So I guess our check in is also the "no planks" check in! I used to try to push through, but I realized I was probably doing more harm than good. I used to have this thing in my head that said if I didn't do the workout exactly like the instructor, I would be missing something, a "hole" in the workout. I have come to realize that is not the case, and modify and/or skip exercises. I am a much better person for that

Ebianco: I can't believe Thanksgiving is next week either!! I got a text from the lady up the street where we are going for Thanksgiving, and I thought "she's getting on it early". But no. She isn't! It's coming up fast! Heck, I shouldn't talk. I got the tree up already for Christmas. HAHA!!

I did not know that about the Tony Horton quote. I saw the movie in a drive in when it first came out, but since then I haven't watched it! No wonder I didn't know! I remember it was super popular. I don't remember if I liked it or not though! Apparently not too much since I haven't watched it since

So since I was sick, I started drinking "Amazing Grass" at least 3-4 servings a day. I figure more veggies aren't bad, and they are low in calories but high in nutrition. Plus if it helps me lose weight? Please? OK, nope. Anyhow, I have been feeling better on it. I have a bunch I bought about 2 years ago when they had a BOGO sale for black friday, and I was making it through slowly when I thought of it. Now I'm hitting it hard. I am just starting, after a month or so on it, some changes. Like, this patch of dry skin on my hand I can't get rid of is starting to disappear. I feel more energetic. My nails are healthier and shiny. So I am staying on it. One because it feels good to get so many veggies in my body. I know I need them, even if they are freeze dried. And two, perhaps I am healing some things that need to be healed. Plus it keeps me from snacking.... I don't know if it's balancing my blood sugar more or what, however I don't feel as snacky as I used to. Not losing weight though! HA! So no matter how I eat, I won't lose. Kinda makes me want to eat junk. <sigh>. Nope. I want to be healthy.

So anyhow, still working on things and trying to figure it all out!

[ebianco]

Hi everyone! Today was lower body and it was tough enough that it actually felt grueling at times. I was excited last week when my energy boosted, but now I think I'm realizing that my upper body focus weeks (odd weeks, week 1, 3, etc. and I am on week 3) are extremely fatiguing. So I was kind of dragging today. And it was just a really hard workout I think. Warm up with Tonique youtube (10 minutes) then EPIC III Resilient Leg Day - Lower Body Complexes (45 minutes-this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b_hx...JFgH7W&index=4) and a stretch for a 60 minute workout. Today's workout was actually structured pretty similar to yesterday, which wasn't by design. I still like the complex idea. Three minutes of work, 30 seconds off, for the duration. Each three minutes of work includes two exercises that are alternated. In most cases they are on the same leg but towards the end they are alternated sides which makes sense as we are getting tired. I used 1-35# kb for deadlifts, 1-20# for one leg focus deadlifts, 2-15#s for lunges then 2-12#s when I got too tired, 1-12# for the elevated heel squats, and there was lots of bodyweight too which was great but also contributed to the burnout big time!

Eventmom waves! I definitely do not go nearly as heavy on poundage as Caroline does on weights, but they are still toughies for sure.

Buzzer I'm sorry you had a tough day on Monday. Sometimes things just get incredibly overwhelming. I felt that way (with a lot of crying myself) a lot in October, mostly work related. I don't know if things are really better now or if I'm just avoiding/taking a break from the problem.

I saw that Cathe is making a new STS series! I never did STS, I got the set as a gift years ago but really wasn't into Cathe then, so I quickly sold off the second and third cycles while it was in hot demand. I kept the first cycle but have never touched them...LOL. I like that this set seems like it will be a little smaller and more manageable. I hope to be able to work through it.

When I was in the best shape of my life in my 20s, I was doing Firm workouts every single day. I agree with you there is something really special about them!! It is nice to receive compliments to make you appreciate the improvements you may not have even realized!

I really like the tree being up too, although I haven't gotten to it yet. It will have to be sometimes in the next few days, with Thanksgiving being in one week from today!

That is a great endorsement for "Amazing Grass" (I already looked it up on amazon LOL). I had started taking a BCAA blend a few weeks ago, but then I got really depressed and had that huge argument with the other work person. I know it was legitimate work stress but then I looked up that it does in fact make some people really depressed. I was really upset for a long time. So I stopped taking it, and may try again at a later time when I know the work stress is resolved (which I can't say yet). Anyway the veggie drink looks great! I have gotten a LOT better about snacking, my calories are in a better range than they used to be for sure, not eating anywhere near as much junk food...but no weight loss for me either. But I am trying to gain muscle so I know the number not the scale may the best indicator right now. My clothes fit about the same so I'm happy with that.

[eventmom]

reps to the rhythm for 20 min + yoga - Eoin Finn and his wife have a free 10 day series but the workouts are only out for 3 days. I did the one from a couple of days ago.

buzzer - sorry about the hard day but you were sick for a few weeks. You may still be recovering and overdoing without realizing it. So take care. I can do arm planks and straight arm planks side planks no way especially my right arm that has shoulder surgery. and I sort of hate pushups. Joyce is so weird but it's a weird I love. I never got into Cathe - I think I'm the only VFer that can say that.

ebianco - way to go with the workouts!

[Buzzer]

OK, just an "add on" to the check in since I was reading it... if you go to the Amazing Grass site, use the code "VIP40" and get 40% off. I just bought the flavors I use the most this morning with the code. Apparently you can only use it once though, so that was a bummer. I forgot to put something in my cart and refuse to buy it at regular price because I forgot it!! HA! Anyhow, if you decide to try it, that's a cheaper way to do it.

Waves! I have dog drama I'll tell you about tomorrow, and I have to go get Eugene from the vets! (He's OK now, just had an abscess)

[Buzzer]

P90X Yoga... DONE!

I decided to do another day of Yoga. I really need to stretch, and this workout always does that for me!! I used the yoga blocks, the weight bench during down dog 3 and half moon, and DH has a spin bike that is on one side of my workout room, so I used the seat of that during the dancer pose. I also skipped the two long stretches, frog and locust, and the yoga belly 7. I was thinking of Ebianco at times, because yoga really is heavy on the wrists! I don't do all the planks and chattarungas, I usually do then on my knees, not very deep, and go quickly to downward dog. I do remember when I did this workout consistently that my wrists would hurt!!

I felt great afterward, and today I do feel sore in some places that probably need to feel sore. My abs all around are sore, which is good because I really think that stretching that area will help. Today I will do a cardio, so far I am not sure which one. I am leaning towards a group kick though.

So yesterday when I woke up, at like 3:30am, I pet the dogs. They always come over to greet me, so I always give them both a good patting. Well I was petting Eugene, and noticed a lump on his shoulder I could cup my hand around! It was huge! Of course, I panicked. I poked lightly at it, and it was soft. I tried to move it to see if it was attached to the bone, but it moved. This is the one time Dr Google has not made me feel more panicked, because the good doc said it was probably a benign fatty growth. So I spent all morning consulting Dr Google, and the vet opened right when my workout would be over.

I called about 15 minutes after they opened (their phones are always busy when they open, so I give it a bit of time) and they said they could get him in between appointments with the vet I wanted, as long as I didn't mind dropping him off for a few hours. Of course, with covid, I was used to dropping him off so I did that. I quick got ready and took Eugene to the vet. Within the hour, the vet called and let me know it was an abscess. A HUGE abscess. I swear, I pet the dogs every morning (and throughout the day), and I have been working on grooming Eugene, and I have not felt it!!! It's like it formed overnight.

So he had to be anesthetized and have it lanced. She put two tube drains in it, and said they will be removed on Sunday. I had to go to Walmart and get him t-shirts to wear since it will ooze blood and puss for a few days. So LB and I went and got him two t-shirts from Walmart... one that is snoopy and it says "I'm only here for the cookies" and another that was only 59 cents and says "Hoppy Halloween" and has beer mugs on it. Now I find myself giving meds, I have to change his shirt today, and babying this 150 pound sweet giant of a dog. He has been really good about it though. He has a new shaved area though, and it's huge and bloody

They spent all the rest of the day out on the deck together (I have it gated off so they can go out there and not get into the yard to run), and Otis has been really good to him. Poor Eugene! He looks so pathetic. Otis was worried all day yesterday while Eugene was gone, and stuck to me like glue. When we would leave him, he had that worried look. Poor guy!

LB was traumatized on the way home, because I guess when a dog is coming out of anesthesia, they vocalize. So Eugene was making all sorts of noises, and LB was back there with him. She was so afraid he was in pain, and she pet him and tried to comfort him. We were so happy to get him home and have him be somewhere he felt comfortable and familiar!!

I took LB to karate, and I felt like I could fall asleep. The stress of the day, the busyness of it... on top of all that I took her to violin and made meals. Luckily, I texted DH telling him how tired I was and he heated up a freezer meal and it was waiting when we got home. At least I didn't have to do that!! I think I just adrenaline crashed.

So today is a new day, hopefully we get more done and don't have to take doggies to the vet! Thank goodness for pet insurance! Eugene is a poster dog for it!

Ebianco: If you were looking at Amazing Grass, I posted the coupon code I got for the black Friday in case you get it. I just don't want you to pay full price if you do! I don't know what a BCAA is, I will look it up though. I was snapping at DH and LB when I was on the steroid when I was sick though, I remember I just couldn't help it. I told them it was because of the steroid so they kinda let me be cranky. Once I was off, it was better. So I do believe things can manipulate your moods! I wonder if that may have contributed to your reaction to your co-worker? I bet it also has to do with how you felt afterwards.

Eventmom: I am one that doesn't really like Cathe, but I like some of her workouts! I have never done a Cathe rotation beyond STS, but I own a lot of her workouts. I have never done them consistently though. HA! I don't like her as a person much (I don't know why), have never done a rotation or consistent streak of her workouts, but I like her workouts. I would say that most of her workouts have just sat in my workout cabinet. I have a complex relationship with Cathe.

I hate pushups, but admit I force myself to do them since they work so many muscles. Sometimes I substitute laying on the floor and doing a heavy chest press instead. It's easier on my shoulders and I don't mind that exercise! I always try to tighten my core and mimic the plank position work as much as possible when I do it though. Such a full body exercise, and I hate them! I used to be able to do 30 pushups in plank position. Now I am lucky if I can get the 16 with my hands on my fanny lifter. Usually I start to cheat then just give up and stretch!

Today is supposed to be chilly, however I have some more lights to put up outside. So I will probably do that as LB does some school. So much to do!! I woke up and cleaned a bit this morning, I will probably be doing that throughout the day today. LB is going to play with her BFF up the street, so I will get some time this afternoon!!

[eventmom]

bug+ upper body

Buzzer - I had on Cathe on vhs! That long ago! I just didn't click with her. I hear raves about her but most of her workouts are so long. And I discovered Joyce when I moved away from the firm and just never invested in Cathe workouts. I end up modifying push ups - against a wall or something. So sorry about Eugene but glad it was relatively treatable. It sounds like it popped up very quickly. I can't imagine you would have missed it

hi ebianco!

[ebianco]

Happy Friday! I slept poorly last night so I didn't end up working first thing in the morning, did it at lunch like I used to do for over a year, but now hate LOL!! But I just needed the extra hour to sleep. So I worked all morning and then broke for lunch to work out. Today was upper body again, chest and back. It seems that Caroline is not a believer in chest+back because I was not really able to find any workouts of hers to meet this mix. So it was a warm up and brief cardio (10m total) then chest/back with Heather (this one: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yHg0...aCqjdn&index=5) then a 10 Minute Solution ab add on and stretch for a total 55 minute workout. There was a lot of weight work of course, but also a lot of pushups in this one so I am really feeling burnout in my chest especially! I tried to stay on my toes but had to go to my knees after the first pairing (so I lasted 3x 45 seconds!).

So it was my first ever Heather Robertson workout! I wanted to mix in some other youtube instructors anyway so I could get a taste of them. Heather is along the lines of Caroline, no voice just music, clear timer and beeps after each exercise. The things I like about Caroline so far over Heather is that Caroline gives you a little overview of how she structured the workout (in Heather's case today, it was 45 seconds on/15 seconds off alternating chest and back work, each exercise pair repeated twice then go on to the next pair, but I didn't "figure that out" until after the first set where as I would have been mentally prepared if she had explained it like Caroline). Also while they are both music only, so far I like Caroline's more techno/club kind of music rather than Heather's vocal pop music, if I were to describe it. But I will withhold judgement on the music until I do more of Heather's workouts. The things they both have are a polished production!! The things Heather has that Caroline doesn't is a warm up and cool down, which is a huge plus, although I've been doing my own anyway.

Eventmom and Buzzer I was NEVER into Cathe before JUST the last couple of years (having been a video fitness enthusiast for the last 15+ years). I think the only Cathe workout I owned was the Bootcamp/Muscle Endurance which I may have done once or twice, liked, but not any more than any other workout at the time. But when her LITE set out (I guess in 2019 I looked it up), it seemed to really speak to me and I was looking at easier workouts at the time because of my knee. Then I really got into her big time, as you would know since I talk about her a lot LOL. So no you were not the only VFer that was lukewarm on her! With that said, I don't love all of Cathe's workouts by far. Her step choreography is way beyond my ability, and I have no interest in her excessively high impact/plyo cardio drills either. But I've found at least 15 DVDs that are total body strength or total body cardio/strength that I love, and some one offs like her LITE Cardio Party which is like a hi/lo, and some low impact HIIT, and some other HIIT/metabolic type workouts like Crossfire if it isn't totally all high impact.

Buzzer I'm sorry to hear about Eugene That is a crazy abscess!!! I can't believe it got that BIG literally overnight!! I'm glad he seems to be recovering...I'll be thinking about him! I haven't had a dog with an abscess yet knock on wood...but I used to work at a vet and I know they happened all the time. It seems like maybe a large dog affliction more than a small dog one.

I often ponder if the work argument I had could have been avoided if I weren't so emotionally charged, but I still feel like this person threatened my job repeatedly. Even other people felt that way when I told them what had been said. So I don't know. But I seem to be doing okay without the BCAA, it's like a post-workout recovery that funnels proteins right into your muscles so they can recover better? It seemed like a good idea If I take the plunge on Amazing Grass I'll let you know - thank you for the coupon code!!

Yeah yoga is wonderful, again I really should do it more often! But ugh yeah the wrists, especially after my wrist injury, and my sore shoulder, I am just not wanting to be in plank/chatarunga for all that time anymore. But I still would like to incorporate more stretching in or something!

[Buzzer]

Firm 12 minute Basics Cardio, first 3 sections... DONE!

I was feeling a little tired and achey yesterday, and kickboxing sounded like it would make me more tired and achey. So I looked through and found this. I knew it was a little slower and more stretch, so I did it. I was tired and achey through the whole thing!! I thought maybe I needed water, so I drank water. I thought "maybe I need the fan" so I turned on the fan. I just was tired. My feet hurt for some reason, and I had this irritation in my trap that felt like a plastic thread from my clothes poking me, and it just got worse and worse. I couldn't get rid of it no matter how I moved my clothing around. So between all that, I ended after the first 3 workouts.

It was an OK workout, most of it I have to modify up though. I was OK with the stretching after each segment, but not very excited about it. Mostly it was just OK and I was good with ending when I did.

So yesterday I took LB, her BFF, and her BFF's younger brother to roller-skate. We met some friends there, LB's friend and her younger brother who is about the same age as BFF's younger brother. It was so much fun!!! So we decided to go to Urban Air afterwards. We went when they opened (at 3), and ended up staying until about 7. Then I went to drop off BFF and BFF's brother, and ended up staying there until about 9 chatting. So it was a long, unproductive day. LB got about 9 hours of playing in though! She should be tired today!

Today I have kitchen duty while LB rides the horse. I also have kitchen duty next time she rides. It's a long story, but I am not happy to have kitchen duty two sessions in a row!! I will get through it though and put it in the past.

Ebianco: I used to workout at 3pm every day. It was nice, I thought! I tried to do it once when I missed my morning workout, and it was horrible! I hated it! I much prefer my mornings!!

Big dogs seem to have a lot of things that are unique to them. HA! I guess little dogs do too, but it seems like when it's on a big dog, it's on a grand scale. he is acting perfectly fine, other than having two ports and a t-shirt. It looked ugly when we got home, but now that I have warm compressed it a few times and gotten the remaining blood and gunk off it, it isn't as bad. We are keeping them separated for a while, and it's killing Otis! HA! He is such a pack animal, and hates it when he has to go outside without Eugene. Eugene is totally fine with it, he can nap instead of wrestle. We are wondering if Otis may have injured Eugene when they wrestle. We suspect that's how Eugene tore his ACL too, so I'm hoping Otis gets out of this wrestling mode sooner rather than later! We have tried to get them to stop, but they just won't. They do love that sport.

I totally agree on Cathe's cardio. So complicated! I have tried! I'd rather enjoy my workout than try to learn a whole workout and lose some workout time in the process. Her weight workouts are good though. I should reach for them more. But I am on a Firm kick!!

Eventmom: See? now not only do I want to pull out some Cathe strength workouts, but I have been thinking of Joyce now too. I found her workouts and put them in my "Just in case you want to do something different" pile. I might be incorporating Joyce here soon too! So many workouts, so little time! I need to start working out 2 hours a day!!! Ugh. No. I think I don't have that kind of time

[eventmom]

joyce bug+ lower body + back
jessica smith stretch after I rode.

ebianco - I am certain I couldn't handle her choreography. I'm also a pass on impact, I modify TA which is pretty easy to do with her DC. It's amazing to me the quality of some of the workouts put out on youtube. You know they people helping them to get it that right.

buzzer - sorry about the kitchen duty. glad eugene is doing somewhat better. sorry your workout was sort of not fun. that I got you thinking about Joyce is funny!

[Buzzer]

Firm Upper Body (the old, long one)... DONE!

I tried to up my weights, and man, am I feeling that decision today!! I planned to do Firm lower body today, but I think I will rest instead. This Firm was the long one with cardio mixed in. I skipped any of the leg things, thinking I would be doing legs today, and just did the upper body moves. By leg things, I mean the plies with a bicep curl (I just did the biceps) and stuff like that.

I increased my heavy weight to 15's, and my back row to 20's. wow! It was tough! especially the biceps! The last bicep set I just grabbed by 12's. Afterward, I wished I would have done the 15's since it was a short and easy set! I had to pyramid down on the one arm curls (4 curls, 7 pulses at the middle, doing this 3 times. the last set is the one I pyramided down on!). I also did my last set of lat rows with 15's. Overall, I went up in weight and it didn't kill me, and today I am really feeling that decision! it's good though. I was stuck at 12's for so long, I needed to push myself. I also skipped pushups since my shoulder was feeling weird, and did chest press laying on the floor with 20's. I should probably go up in weight though, to mimic the amount of weight lifted in a pushup. 20's were Ok though.

I also modified some of the cardio down, mostly by taking out some of the arm movements. On the runs and high knees, I did those with arms like I was jogging. My heart rate got up pretty high anyhow!! It was great.

So overall, a great workout that I am feeling today!

Kitchen duty was actually fun. I got there early, so I got a good job. I stood behind the counter and offered people macaroni and cheese, and told them what all was on the fried food tower next to me (a big thing they could grab fried food from). I also told bad jokes the whole time. I am good at bad jokes. I was really glad I didn't get some of the other jobs. I am on kitchen duty next time also, in two weeks, then it is out of the way. I had told the girls (we had LB and her friend) to start to walk towards the kitchen when their ride was done and I would start to walk to them. At 2, they were in the door looking at me saying "Hi!" I was surprised, since it seems like usually at the end of their ride they take about 1/2 hour to put the horses back and water them! This time, they apparently got through it fast.

Afterwards, we went out to see the horses. There were the cutest ponies, and mini horses! We pet them for a while. There also were draft horses LB wanted to see. We went over, and one of them was sticking out his lips and reaching like we had treats. I was petting his head and avoiding his mouth, and LB was petting his neck, pretty far away from his mouth. I don't know what I was doing.... if I was looking over at her friend, or what, but next thing I know I see LB's arm in the horses mouth!!! He had grabbed her arm, apparently thinking it was a treat! She was looking at me panicked and he, this giant horse, was pulling her arms around. I grabbed her, and kept asking if he had her arm or her heavy coat (thank GOD she was wearing that!!). She kept saying "I don't know!" so I was trying to take her arm out, but not yank it. He turned her arm in such a way that I could tell he didn't have her arm but had her coat only, so I started yanking on the coat. Just as I was getting ready to tell her to take off her coat and give it to him, I was able to yank her coat out of his mouth.

It was so scary! Neither of us have any idea how it happened. Maybe we were both distracted. She ended up with teeth marks on her arm (huge teeth!) and she is going to have a major bruise. He just had ahold of her and wouldn't let go! I told her I don't know why I didn't think to pop him in the mouth, becuase I bet he would have let go. I was more concerned about getting her arm out of his mouth that I didn't think of what to do with him!!!

So that was our excitement. She is no worse for wear on that one, and we will have a story to tell for the rest of her life. I was so afraid he would break her arm either with his strong bite or by moving her around in the wrong way!! So nuts.

Last night we went to a light extravaganza, and walked around for a few hours. They had a free carousel there, so LB and I rode it round and round for 50 minutes! They'd stop the ride, we would get back in line and get back on. It was about 8pm though, and the crowd was gone and we could ride as much as we wanted! It was a blast. Things like these two incidents are what she will remember for the rest of her life. One is not the best memory, the other is going to be remembered fondly!

Eventmom: I used to not modify anything. Now, I modify everything! I think I have just realized I don't have to "conquer" workouts, I can just do them to the best of my ability and still get a workout.