So for the past month or so Blake and I have been trying to decide whether to take next week off of work and head up north to see our respective families. I knew I could take the time off, but Blake wasn't sure. Last night he decided that he was in. Yay! So we're leaving at about 5am tomorrow, with the cats in tow, and heading for PA.
The cats of course hate long car rides by the way. Let me explain to you how this is done (so you understand, once again, how crazy we are). We don't want to keep them in their carriers for 8 hours, but they can't be loose enough that they can scamper underneath the driver's seat while driving is happening. Basically, we take my car and we lay the back seat down and then cover up the passage from the trunk to the back seat with a baby gate and then put the cats loose in the trunk. They can see us and see out the windows, but they can't escape. We set up their litter box and some food and water back there and give them some toys. Our luggage is confined to the back seat, but we can't have much of it because we don't want to restrict the kitties' views too much.
The only other time that was attempted was for Thanksgiving two years ago. They were only 4 months old at the time. Blake went to the pet store and got some treats that were supposed to make them tired so they'd sleep the whole way. Well, Wylie refuses to put anything other than Purina Cat Chow Indoor Formula in his mouth, so he wouldn't eat one. Norman loves treats, so he took it out of Blake's hand immediately, chewed it for a minute, glared up at Blake angrily as if to say "this isn't up to par," and spit it out on the floor. So that didn't work. They cried fr the first two hours and then slept the rest of the way. So I look forward to that happening again.
The cats will stay at Blake's parents' house for most of the week. I'm leaving there Sunday to go to NJ. Then I'm going to head back to PA to pick up Blake and the cats on Thursday and we'll hang in NJ and then head back here Saturday. I'm bringing the Wii. My sister is pumped. And I haven't seen my mom's new house since she moved in so that should be exciting.
I started playing Rock Band last night...and it is fun. I'm going to have to hide it in the car somewhere, because Blake keeps warning me against bringing a bunch of shit with me. Boo.
Friday, June 27, 2008
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Love from Home
I realize that this is going to do nothing to stop most of you from thinking that Blake and I are batshit crazy for treating our cats like human children, but sometimes when I'm out of town for a while, Blake likes to send me pictures of what he and the cats are doing. This probably shouldn't surprise anyone, given that we left Petsmart with a $50 water bowl last weekend. Anyway, here's a few that I got this week while in West Virginia.
Norman helping Blake do his ironing (and I use 'helping' loosely):
Wylie lounging all over Blake's lap while he's trying to have dinner:
Side note: I heart having a wireless broadband card out on loan from work...I am currently updating from the car ride back to Charlotte. Yay!
Monday, June 23, 2008
Belated Weekend Activities
I haven't checked in in a few days, but I've been a bit busy. Here's a short run down:
Friday I was back in Charlotte and went to work but left around 1 because I didn't have much to do and I didn't want to be there anymore. I had to stop at the bank on my way, and outside of the bank a farmers' market was set up, so I got some fresh melon and blueberries. My dad was still up in Lake Norman so I went there to visit. That was about it.
Saturday Blake was hosting a water skiing event for his Outdoors Club, and since I'd been out of town all week, I decided to skip the lake and hang out at home. I did some Wii Fit, went to the gym (yay me), did some grocery shopping, made the Amish Friendship Bread that I got starter for from one of the partners at work (it's delicious), and relaxed a bit. It was fabulous.
Sunday I had a lot to do, so I got up early to start laundry, did my Wii Fit, went to the gym (again! woo!), did a Target run, cleaned the bathroom, packed, and then headed back to West Virginia. We didn't get in until after midnight, so I'm super tired today.
I wanted to kettlebell it up in my hotel room tonight before dinner (benefit of driving...I can bring whatever I want. I also brought a loaf of the Friendship Bread and some cantaloupe for breakfast. We're at a Residence Inn, so I have a full kitchen. And a fireplace for some reason). I left my kettlebell in the car last night though because it was POURING when we arrived and I had to make a mad dash to the hotel door. So I hit the treadmill for 35 minutes instead. I rescued the kettlebell after dinner, so I'll be doing that tomorrow night.
I'm pretty proud of myself for my weekend gym motivation. I didn't really have much choice though, because I eat like crap when I'm out of town. I was good and had a salad for dinner tonight, but the pizza buffet at lunch was not the most healthy option. After I get back to Charlotte, I should get to be there for at least 3 weeks, so I'll be back in healthy mode with any luck. I find myself actually trying to lose weight now because I hate it when my Wii Fit tells me that I've gained weight since the last time I've used it. I've cut down on that because I'm doing the weigh in at the same time most days now, but it makes my perfectionist self pissed when the line on my little graph goes up instead of down. I may be a sad individual.
Oh! And my Rock Band for Wii is set to arrive tomorrow! I can't wait to dominate the crap out of it when I get home :)
That's all for now. Hopefully I'll have something more interesting to say later in the week.
Friday I was back in Charlotte and went to work but left around 1 because I didn't have much to do and I didn't want to be there anymore. I had to stop at the bank on my way, and outside of the bank a farmers' market was set up, so I got some fresh melon and blueberries. My dad was still up in Lake Norman so I went there to visit. That was about it.
Saturday Blake was hosting a water skiing event for his Outdoors Club, and since I'd been out of town all week, I decided to skip the lake and hang out at home. I did some Wii Fit, went to the gym (yay me), did some grocery shopping, made the Amish Friendship Bread that I got starter for from one of the partners at work (it's delicious), and relaxed a bit. It was fabulous.
Sunday I had a lot to do, so I got up early to start laundry, did my Wii Fit, went to the gym (again! woo!), did a Target run, cleaned the bathroom, packed, and then headed back to West Virginia. We didn't get in until after midnight, so I'm super tired today.
I wanted to kettlebell it up in my hotel room tonight before dinner (benefit of driving...I can bring whatever I want. I also brought a loaf of the Friendship Bread and some cantaloupe for breakfast. We're at a Residence Inn, so I have a full kitchen. And a fireplace for some reason). I left my kettlebell in the car last night though because it was POURING when we arrived and I had to make a mad dash to the hotel door. So I hit the treadmill for 35 minutes instead. I rescued the kettlebell after dinner, so I'll be doing that tomorrow night.
I'm pretty proud of myself for my weekend gym motivation. I didn't really have much choice though, because I eat like crap when I'm out of town. I was good and had a salad for dinner tonight, but the pizza buffet at lunch was not the most healthy option. After I get back to Charlotte, I should get to be there for at least 3 weeks, so I'll be back in healthy mode with any luck. I find myself actually trying to lose weight now because I hate it when my Wii Fit tells me that I've gained weight since the last time I've used it. I've cut down on that because I'm doing the weigh in at the same time most days now, but it makes my perfectionist self pissed when the line on my little graph goes up instead of down. I may be a sad individual.
Oh! And my Rock Band for Wii is set to arrive tomorrow! I can't wait to dominate the crap out of it when I get home :)
That's all for now. Hopefully I'll have something more interesting to say later in the week.
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Birthday time
I'm off to my birthday dinner for the third year in a row at the Olive Garden in Charleston, West Virginia. I think in the future I'm going to have to request the day off on my birthday so that I might actually be able to spend it in Charlotte at my house.
I get to go home tomorrow for a few days, so I look forward to that :)
I get to go home tomorrow for a few days, so I look forward to that :)
Monday, June 16, 2008
Wii Fit = BEST THING EVER
So it's no secret to anyone who reads this blog that I'm a little obsessed with my new Wii right now. But for my early birthday, Blake got me a Dance Dance Revolution and a Wii Fit and I must update about them because they are fantastic.
First the DDR. I thought that the 10 years of dance lessons I took meant I have rhythm, but apparently not. I am AWFUL at this game. I will need a LOT of practice. I improved a bit in the 45 minutes I played, but it was definitely rough. I look forward to continuing to play though. It had a continuous calorie burning mode where you tell it how much you weigh and how many calories you want to burn and it estimates how long to stay on for...which will be cool as soon as I can get through one song without tripping all over myself.
Brief interlude: I also got the KitchenAid food processor I wanted. Woop!
OK, now the Wii Fit. I had my doubts about how good of a workout you could really get from this. From the onset, it was just really really cool. The features are great. Although I was a bit upset that it gauges your progress based on BMI...which isn't the best indicator of health given that it doesn't take into account muscle mass. But how much can you expect a wireless balance board to do, right?
Anyway, you play with your Mii character, and it's wearing a little workout outfit, it's very cute. There are four areas: Aerobics, Balance games, Yoga, and Strength training. Because I was so sore from the Kettlebell incident of Friday afternoon, I have yet to try the strength section. But the rest is great. It's nice to be able to design my own 10-15 minute yoga workout on the fly whenever I have some time rather than scheduling in a class. The balance games are really hard at first but very fun. And I'm a huge fan of the aerobics. The hula hooping and the stepping are my favorites. You would NOT believe how sweaty you can get from 6 minutes of doing hip circles continuously. The step class is challenging, but fun. You start out with easy versions of each and eventually unlock more difficult options.
I can't believe how much I want to do this every day. So, based on the theory I always read that squeezing in as little as 10 minutes of activity helps your health, I'm going to work it into every day (that I'm at home, anyway). Days that I also go to the gym, I'm going to do it for 30 minutes. Days that I don't go to the gym, I'll work in an hour. I had to leave for WVa at 6am today, and I actually woke up excited at 4:45 to do Wii Fit for 30 minutes. It's also a good amount of time to play. I do 5 minutes aerobics, 10 yoga, another 3 aerobics, 6 minutes of balance games, and then 6 more of aerobics. It's super fun. I'm definitely trying the strength stuff this weekend. I brought the kettlebell to WVa (we drove so we had a lot of cargo room) so I'll do that twice this week and then the Wii stuff once.
This all being said, clearly the gym isn't obsolete for me or anything, but this makes me really excited to work out. There is also a feature where you can log your daily activity outside of the Fit so they work it into the charts that they keep of your daily progress and activity levels. I cannot say enough great stuff about it. If you have a Wii you should get it. But maybe just wait until they're widely available and not pay above retail for it like my boyfriend did. Not that I don't really really appreciate it, but I feel a little bit bad.
First the DDR. I thought that the 10 years of dance lessons I took meant I have rhythm, but apparently not. I am AWFUL at this game. I will need a LOT of practice. I improved a bit in the 45 minutes I played, but it was definitely rough. I look forward to continuing to play though. It had a continuous calorie burning mode where you tell it how much you weigh and how many calories you want to burn and it estimates how long to stay on for...which will be cool as soon as I can get through one song without tripping all over myself.
Brief interlude: I also got the KitchenAid food processor I wanted. Woop!
OK, now the Wii Fit. I had my doubts about how good of a workout you could really get from this. From the onset, it was just really really cool. The features are great. Although I was a bit upset that it gauges your progress based on BMI...which isn't the best indicator of health given that it doesn't take into account muscle mass. But how much can you expect a wireless balance board to do, right?
Anyway, you play with your Mii character, and it's wearing a little workout outfit, it's very cute. There are four areas: Aerobics, Balance games, Yoga, and Strength training. Because I was so sore from the Kettlebell incident of Friday afternoon, I have yet to try the strength section. But the rest is great. It's nice to be able to design my own 10-15 minute yoga workout on the fly whenever I have some time rather than scheduling in a class. The balance games are really hard at first but very fun. And I'm a huge fan of the aerobics. The hula hooping and the stepping are my favorites. You would NOT believe how sweaty you can get from 6 minutes of doing hip circles continuously. The step class is challenging, but fun. You start out with easy versions of each and eventually unlock more difficult options.
I can't believe how much I want to do this every day. So, based on the theory I always read that squeezing in as little as 10 minutes of activity helps your health, I'm going to work it into every day (that I'm at home, anyway). Days that I also go to the gym, I'm going to do it for 30 minutes. Days that I don't go to the gym, I'll work in an hour. I had to leave for WVa at 6am today, and I actually woke up excited at 4:45 to do Wii Fit for 30 minutes. It's also a good amount of time to play. I do 5 minutes aerobics, 10 yoga, another 3 aerobics, 6 minutes of balance games, and then 6 more of aerobics. It's super fun. I'm definitely trying the strength stuff this weekend. I brought the kettlebell to WVa (we drove so we had a lot of cargo room) so I'll do that twice this week and then the Wii stuff once.
This all being said, clearly the gym isn't obsolete for me or anything, but this makes me really excited to work out. There is also a feature where you can log your daily activity outside of the Fit so they work it into the charts that they keep of your daily progress and activity levels. I cannot say enough great stuff about it. If you have a Wii you should get it. But maybe just wait until they're widely available and not pay above retail for it like my boyfriend did. Not that I don't really really appreciate it, but I feel a little bit bad.
Weekend Roundup
Here's a brief summary of my weekend for those who are interested...I'm going to post about my obsession with the Wii Fit a bit later :)
- Succeeded at returning a dress to Banana Republic without buying anything else. Yay for willpower (and Blake whining like a 5 year old to go home).
- Although I've heard from several people that Costco is a good source for bike buying, the one nearest to us had a horrible selection. They had one woman bike, one man bike, and a child's bike. Not sufficient. I'm going to have to go elsewhere before my bike dreams can come true. Sad.
- Got that Kettlebell at Target on Friday afternoon...and good lord. I wound up with the 10 pound version (I'm a sissy...but I tried a few things with the 15 pounder and I think I need some practice before I graduate to that). The circuit workout in Fitness says to do it 4-5 times...I was able to do it twice without feeling like I would die. It was awesome. I was a sweaty mess and sore in a lot of good places for two days after. I'm going to try to get myself up to 5 times through within a few weeks...but this workout is a keeper. AND the kettlebell came with a DVD workout I haven't even tried yet.
- I got to spend Sunday with my dad who rented a house on the lake for the week. We did lots of boating activities and had a mini-birthday party for me. It was really fun. I wish he lived closer so I could see him more than a few times a year.
Really, the complete highlight of my weekend was the black market Wii Fit that Blake procured...you can read about that later. Happy Monday!
Friday, June 13, 2008
God, I love my boyfriend
Today when Blake got home from work, he insisted on giving me my birthday gifts. I won't be home on my actual birthday, and he didn't know how he was going to hide them from me in the house all weekend. And I love presents. So I allowed it.
I received the Dance Dance Revolution game that I made him buy in front of me, the KitchenAid food processor that I have been wanting, and...a Wii Fit.
I have been looking for a Wii Fit for a month and had no luck finding it anywhere. Blake called around and tried everything to find it and eventually wound up paying more than the retail price for it because he knew how much I wanted it. I made him promise that he paid less than $200 (retail price is $90) so I wouldn't feel bad. But I was impressed.
We played it for about an hour and it is pretty awesome. I'm excited! I haven't even touched the other presents yet. What a fabulous pre-birthday! :)
I received the Dance Dance Revolution game that I made him buy in front of me, the KitchenAid food processor that I have been wanting, and...a Wii Fit.
I have been looking for a Wii Fit for a month and had no luck finding it anywhere. Blake called around and tried everything to find it and eventually wound up paying more than the retail price for it because he knew how much I wanted it. I made him promise that he paid less than $200 (retail price is $90) so I wouldn't feel bad. But I was impressed.
We played it for about an hour and it is pretty awesome. I'm excited! I haven't even touched the other presents yet. What a fabulous pre-birthday! :)
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