My latest project and Gym Characters

My parents are throwing a baby shower for a co-worker of my dad's, so my mom asked me to make a diaper cake. She knows that I like to do this kind of creative project... so I went all out and had a blast! What do you think? How much could I sell one of these for on eBay?


On another note, I have had a lot of time to observe people at the gym lately since I've been going 5 days a week. Today I increased my time on the elliptical from 30 minutes to 40 minutes so I had even more time to observe people. I get a real kick out of the characters at the gym. Those of you who go to a gym know what I mean. One of the things I love about my gym (24 Hour Fitness) is that it's not a showcase for hardbodies by any means. The membership is made up of all kinds of different people, different body types, ages, races, etc. I always feel like I fit in there because it seems like every "type" is represented and everyone is there to work out and do their own thing. Some of my favorite types that I've seen lately:

• The senior citizen wearing sneakers that, I kid you not, have to be as old as I am (and that's old!) I imagine him rummaging through the bowels of his closet after joining the gym, thinking to himself "I know I've got an old pair in here somewhere... no sense in spending good money on a new pair when these will work just fine."
• The middle-aged woman I saw today who was sporting an authentic Jane Fonda style leotard, paired with a huge pair of black baggy sweat pants and a pair of ratty, big, unlaced black Reebok high-tops that just look like they smell bad. She had this hilarious hair that was dyed bright red and back combed so it stuck out all over, she had 80's style big black plastic hoop earrings and a plastic bead necklace, and she spent at least 15 minutes getting ready to work out. She fiddled with her iPod (encased in gold sparkly sleeve), filled up her water bottle (pink, Race for the Cure logo), sought out the remote so she could change the channel on the nearest TV to CNBC (must have a lot of stocks to keep up with!) By the time she started, at a very leisurely pace, I was already half way done with my routine. Then, ten minutes later, a gentleman about her age came in and climbed onto the elliptical next to her and she chatted him up. I felt sorry for him.
• The 20-something who had a braid down past her bottom and low-rider sweats, rolled down to the middle of her hips, and dropped a full cup of lemonade and ice on the treadmill and the hysterical look on her face as it rode the treadmill at running speed and then flew off the back and all over the place. She was mortified. Yes, she cleaned it up.
• The elderly woman who always walks on the treadmill in jeans. Not that there's anything wrong with that but it does seem a little weird...
• The tiny dynamo with 2% body fat who stripped naked in the sink & mirror part of the locker room (which I consider one of the "Clothed" areas - there are naked areas, by the lockers and by the showers, but not where you wash your hands!) and threw ALL of her clothes into the sink and washed them out at a feverish pace with hand soap. Then, she left them to soak while she whisked off to the shower. Some people surprise me at how comfortable they are zipping around strangers and going about their business all while completely naked.

I'm sure tomorrow I'll see some more characters to add to my list.

Sorry for the lack of posts lately

I have not updated the blog this week because I've been SO TIRED! I have been working out every day and it's really catching up to me. I am exhausted and I find myself sore much of the time... I know this will get better and I'm sticking with it. I think I may have lost a teeny tiny bit of weight so I'm encouraged.

Meanwhile I jam on the elliptical and the weights at the gym every morning. If anyone can recommend any must-have workout tunes, I'd love to hear them! It's amazing how stale a couple hours of music can get when you're listening to it at the gym 5 times a week.

Thursday already?

This week is flying by. I can't believe it's Thursday evening already. The sun came out today which was lovely and I took the kids to the park this afternoon. Jack amazed me - crawling & cruising everywhere, he really enjoyed it.

I've made good on my workout commitment this week. I have been to the gym 3 days in a row, and am feeling better than ever about it. I was almost shocked today - when the timer ended on the elliptical machine at 30 minutes, I didn't notice it. I looked down and it had stopped at 33 minutes for some reason and I wasn't even tired. Fantastic! The only hitch was that I spent 90 minutes this morning (with babysitter here) downloading and organizing new workout music for my Shuffle. Then, I got to the gym and all my old music was still on it. Totally maddening! So tonight I'm going to make SURE the new music is on there, I can't wait to jam out to it.

Since Sarah asked how I find the time to get to the gym, it depends on the day. This week, I had a sitter Tues & Thurs so I was able to work out while she was with the kids those days. Yesterday, I took them with me to "Kids Club" at the gym which was a big hit. They loved it! Tomorrow I'm going to the gym at o'dark-thirty (probably 6 or 6:30) before Justin goes to work. I think my goal is twice a week early am, twice with the babysitter, and once to bring them to Kids Club. But any combination of the 3 is fine with me.

The other new thing I've been working on is changing up our dinner routine. We've been in a routine of feeding the kids at 5:30ish, then putting them to bed (we usually divide and conquer) by 7pm, then making/eating/cleaning up ourselves. The good thing about that routine is the time alone with Justin to eat a peaceful dinner after the kids are in bed. But the downsides are that (a) the kids miss out on eating together with the family, (b) I have to make two dinners, and (c) we end up finishing dishes at like 9pm! The whole evening is shot then. So for the past few nights I've been working on having dinner on the table for all of us together by 5:30 or 6pm. It's been wonderful to have a real wide open evening after the kids are in bed! Of course, the meal itself is not very relaxing - lots of "primitive behavior" - sometimes I think we have two little cave people living in our midst! There is constantly food being thrown / smeared / spilled everywhere, and me in an endless loop of "eat with your fork! no, put that down... take a bite please, no you may not get down yet." Then there's the constant jumping up & down for napkins, thrown sippy cups & utensils, etc. It's exhausting. But I have to believe that if we keep it up, over time it will get easier. It will get easier, right?

OK, I guess that's it for tonight. Hope your week is going well!

Hawaii here we come!

I am SO excited. We just booked our tickets to Hawaii in December. Which is a long way away but I'm actually thrilled because it gives me time to shed some poundage before wearing a swimsuit. We're staying at the Hilton Waikoloa Village where Justin and I had our best vacation ever (in 2002), except (of course) our honeymoon. They have a boat the travels around the resort, dolphins, a lagoon with sea turtles you can swim next to, live flamingos, countless pools and even waterslides. The kids will be in heaven!

Meanwhile, my goal is to get to the gym at LEAST four times, preferably five times, every week. It's aggressive but I have a lot to lose between now and December. Send me some good vibes! I'm going to need it!