Creative Fitness

With the diminished ability to use my left foot, I have had to get creative with my workouts. I can still do leg presses as long as they are not using the stabilizer muscles in my feet. I am getting much better at pull ups and other upper-body exercises. Most abs and arms exercises are still okay, and on good days I can still do pushups (no, I don't do them girl-style).

Last night I walked at a 15 incline on the treadmill at a reasonably slow pace to baby my foot which I have had to wrap because it has been very inflamed the past couple of days. I have to be careful with the elliptical because always want to crank down on the tension so I feel I am getting a decent workout. That just seems to aggrivate the injury.

I finally broke down last night and asked fellow blogger 400 Watts how much recovery time he gave his plantar fasciitis since I am trying to figure out how to kick this thing without going flabby. He mentioned that he took two months off of running, but is running better than ever now. He biked during the interim.

Today I went to the gym for Yoga, but when I noticed that my fave teacher, Tyran, had a substitute, I went upstairs for a bike ride. Nothing personal, but the substitute instructor tries to do Yoga aerobics-style and I am in no shape for that right now. I bicycled for 35 minutes in flip flops at a nice tense level while reading Doc Gottman, and then spent 25 minutes lifting weights.

Why flip-flops, you may ask? I am trying to get closer to the barefoot running model - or at least minimalist running, and am trying to move away from ultra-structured shoes which may have been part of the problem in the first place. I tried on a pair of Vibram 5 Fingers and they seemed like they would work well. According to the barefoot running forum on Runner's World (and other suggested material from 400 Watts) it is best to move away from structured shoes gradually to strengthen foot tendons and muscles without injury.

Well, one bonus to my injury is that my upper body is also getting a great workout lately. I hope to come out of this in much better shape than when I started. Well, back to operating systems and C++. I have a lot of mental ground to cover today.

Software and Pears

If you had asked me five years ago what I would be doing today, I would not have said I would be building software and picking pears with my dad. Let me say that my dad is one of the most wonderful people I know. As a kid, I wished everyone had my dad. They all seemed to have the wrong kinds of dads - too serious, too grumpy, too lazy, too thin, too demanding. . . My dad was just right. Anyway, he noticed I haven't been doing much with my little pear tree, and offered to take some off of my hands, so today I pulled out the ladder and we cleaned off the last of the pears. (This is after picking up a bucket of pears every week off of the ground.)

This is the best little pear tree ever. If you see it off season it looks like a good candidate for firewood. If you see it in late August/early September, you wonder how it is possible for such a small old tree to hold so many pears on its tiny branches! And great fruit it is. This year the earwigs have been diligently seeking out the ripe fruit, but even then, the losses are minimal by comparison. It was good to see you today, dad.

On the subject of software, we have been working diligently on the software surprise at work. It was a little crazy because I was trying to train one of the individuals I manage to help migrate pages out of a portal template into a simplified format while attending an all-day meeting. All day, all week, all month. My team is consumed by this project.

After doing a rush training, I had to give that employee the system rights to lock down pages, and then had to notify over ten-thousand users that we were starting the migration to avoid any community upheavals, only to field a slough of out-of-office and spam responses. Lovely.

Tomorrow we meet with another team to discuss integration. I love working with my team members - we have a great balance between head-down-press-forward, and letting the rubberband unwind for a few minutes with a few good laughs. There is so much pressure surrounding this task, it would be unbearable otherwise. Well, back to programming. Sometimes I think my head will explode, I try to fit so much stuff in it all of the time, but it just keeps fitting!

TWO WEEKS!!!

Argh. Two weeks to the completion of one of my classes, and I am jamming to finish it on time. And once I finish it, I have a month to finish the other one. I think I will go underground for a while.

Happy Birthday, Becca!

Just a little shout-out to my good friend, Becca. Today she turned 35, and let me tell you, she is one rockin' mom! She is highly intelligent and skilled at so many things, it will make you weep to hear them all, so here are just a few:

Cooking - she could win contests (if she hasn't already) for her outstanding culinary skills. This is no shoddy chef, here ladies and gents, but a bonified chef in her kitchen and out. Women of every age yearn to learn her tasty baking secrets.

Cleaning - I thought I was doing pretty good at keeping a tidy house, but even with her busy life, she manages to keep a pristine household.

Conversation - we have all met that person who is just as generous in speech as they are in gracious gestures, and Becca certainly fits the bill. When sitting down to a meal, or doing a service project, Becca will masterfully include everyone in the room, driving, and facilitating a conversation like a race-car pro. Highly skilled to expert in this category.

Fitness - I recently spoke with a mutual friend who gushed about what great shape Becca is in, and she certainly is. Becca takes exercise seriously, and has participated in multiple races this summer, inviting many of her friends and family members to join in the fun. She is gearing up for - not one, but two half-marathons within the next six months! You go, girl!

Motherhood - Becca loves mothering her two girls, and she makes it look fun, despite the daily ups-and-downs of parenthood. She cherishes the time she spends with her girls and recently took a vacation to the NW with her family. Did I mention that she was so sick during both preganacies that she was in the hospital on more than one occasion! It takes some kind of insane dedication to go after motherhood a second round when you know what kind of hell you are in for before you make the leap.

Witty - Becca finds time to laugh about even the bleak things, and allows others to laugh along with her with her witty sense of humor. If you don't believe me, check out her hilarious blog! Be forewarned, you won't want to put this book down once you open it!

A Great Friend - Becca takes time for so many people in her life, and does a great job keeping in touch. The funny thing is that I think everyone believes they are her favorite friend because she is so good at it! I am sure when she dies her girls will spend the rest of their lives fighting over the fact that THEY were her favorite child, and a few hundred people out there will be mourning the fact that they lost their one true best friend.

A Great Wife - Just look at her hubby, and you can tell he knows he made a catch when he got Becca. Far from a pushover, Becca is an excellent listening ear, loves what he loves because she loves him, and has a warm, delicious meal waiting when he comes home each day! (She even eats at the same restaurant every Saturday at the same time because it is his favorite place! Now that's dedication! Okay, maybe she likes it too. . .)

Pianist - At the drop of a hat Becca can accompany the choir or perform a solo piano performance that will make you sit back in awe. This woman has talent pouring out of her ears, and our of her mouth too because she also has a beautiful voice and can easily pick out Alto, or skillfully sing Soprano.

A Homemaker - that is, homemaker with a capitol H. She CHOSE to do what she is doing and she loves it and does it well. If there was an Olympic event for homemaking, she would beat Phelps in his takeaway record, but would keep those gold metals sparkling clean (unlike Phelps). What doesn't this woman do?

An Intellect - Recently a neighbor of Becca's was struggling with finishing a degree she meant to complete many years before, but was unable to finish because of her math difficulties. Becca took time out of her schedule every week to tutor this neighbor who graduated with flying colors, thanks to Becca's dedication. She gulps down books like they were slurpees (minus the brainfreeze). She was at the doorstep of law school with an LSAT score in the 97th percentile - Did I get that right, or was it 98th? But she chose motherhood over the courtroom. Put that in your book, women libbers! This is a woman you don't want to mess with!

Humanitarian - She doesn't know I notice, but she shops at stores that aren't doing so well to help them stay in business, and she looks out for friends and family members with the dedication of a lioness. Don't mess with her peeps!

A Great Leader - At her former job, she excelled beyond expectations in management, and continues to do so while serving at Church, over an organization that is about 200 individuals strong. She manages a small army of teachers and leaders to work with one of the largest groups of children I have ever seen. This is no small feat, I assure you, and yet she does so with skill, ease, and her usual wit and style.

A Model - This is no shabby, run-ragged lady. Becca is stylin' even in her running skirt and tennies. She has great fashion sense both in her home and in her wardrobe.

Becca is beautiful, smart, skilled, friendly, fun, and such an amazing woman! Well, I could go on and on, but I will just invite you to learn a little more about her at her blog (since my poor husband is trying to sleep while I write this). Becca, thanks for being such a great friend to us, and for making our lives so much the richer for knowing you! We love you! C & A

iPhone 3G and Garmin Nuvi 265w

As one who has great admiration for technology companies who just NAIL usability, and who manage to develop highly technical devices that literally ANYONE can use, I have to hand kudos to those very few products that demonstrate that the user is their real focus. Here are a couple of standing ovations to two tools that certainly do what they claim, and do it better than right:

In the past couple of months we purchased Garmin Nuvi, followed by an iPhone. the Nuvi, which I had identified as my tool of choice years before, was all I had hoped and more. During a business trip back east, it functioned as my Bluetooth device because I accidentally forgot my Plantronics earpiece at home. Minus a few glitches because I didn't update my maps before I left (like the road to Chicago ending at a steel plant due to reconstruction, and the Indianapolis airport terminal moving last November), everything went quite well. I could step out of a courthouse, punch in an address, and off I went.

If there was traffic, I punched "Detour" and flew off at unmentionable speeds through random cornfields, arriving safely at my destination a short time later. When you are going full speed ahead during Chicago rush hour, you sit back and realize with some admiration that Garmin got it right. Really right. I have read the reviews for years, but our recent vacation was no exception. Garmin was great for helping us locate a variety of locations, including the Chapel so we could go to church on Sunday, and an autoparts store to add oil to J's oil-burning RX-7.

When my parents-in-law came for a visit in our complicated little maze of towns for a wedding, I punched in the coordinates of the reception and handed them the Nuvi. The next day I asked how it worked for them, and if they would like to use it again. Dad replied that it had worked very well. It helped them arrive at their destination, and helped them find a restaurant after the reception. In fact, it worked so well that they didn't need to use mine because they went out and bought one. 'Nough said?

Lest I sound like a bad commercial, the iPhone has been extremely fun, but also very useful. On our vacation I got sucked into a silly game that I played while C walked around the deck (my foot was killing me). The GPS functionality and maps were fantastic, and easy to use. Some of my fave apps include NPR news, which not only keeps me posted on topics of national interest, but also is a conduit to local radio stations.

I have had many smartphones, blackberries, Nokia N95, T-Mobile Shadow, Sony Erickson brick, Samsung Omnia (Verizon), but there is really no substitute. These other devices have similar programs and functionality, but when I have to sift through six menus to get to mobile Skype versus two taps on the iPhone, well, all I have to say is - time-saver, convenient, life-style adjustable . . . It helps me exercise, budget, write books, read scriptures, read/listen to books anytime, manage my work, keep in touch with family, manage my contacts, manage my shopping list, figure out what to make for dinner, find a movie to watch on the weekend, split a bill at dinner, find a restaurant, tweet, go to sleep at night, de-stress at the end of the day, watch the stocks, learn a new language . . .

Yes, there are tools that help you do this. There is the Internet. There are planners, and good old paper and pen . . . Having a personal trainer, phone, sleep therapist, huge library of books and music, nutritionist, linguist, time manager, and arcade (to name a few) in a EASY to use device the size of your palm . . . ? Well, life gets a whole lot easier and you can spend every minute doing something worthwhile.

I love to learn. It is like a hunger for me that is bigger and more insatiable than a desire for food, so I am eating up this excellent little tool for all it is worth. I have read more books in the past two months than I have in the past two years, and am exercising more consistently than I have in the past five. Worth every penny? Absolutely. AND I still get my unlimited data and minutes plan. (Ask me about that one some other time.)

Planet Fleshyitis?

I have been merrily running along almost every weeknight after work for 30-45 minutes at a reasonably good pace, but when you get to the point that you can't stand up in the morning, you think something might be wrong. My co-workers crossed their fingers that it was just a bone spur, but lucky me, I get plantar fasciitis. C has been kind enough to tape it for me the past couple of days which, combined with rest and prescription-strength anti-inflams, is helping. Helping as in, my foot doesn't hurt? Yes, as long as I don't walk on it. :) Apparently, this isn't a week-long fix, since C came home tonight with two big rolls of pro wrap and six rolls of athletic tape. On a positive note, I found a great blog called 400 Watts of Anti Wussy while searching for more information on PF - it was his PF entry that caught my attention - made me laugh, especially his lessons learned from Taken. Well, that covers my two entries for the past two months. Maybe I'll get another entry in before the end of the year. . .

Top 25 Vacay Highlights

Our Trip to Washington and BC was amazing - we did so much it is hard to touch on it all. We laughed a lot and just had a good time together - In addition to the top 25 below, I thought I would throw in a few additional items of interest: Our bagpiper in Victoria - what a great city - if you stay downtown, you can just spend the day strolling around the bay and little shops. There is so much to do. The salmon locks where C used to go as a child were especially fun with the Japanese tourists whose kids were the only English speakers of the bunch. As we walked by, C exclaimed, "Those SHARKS were amazing! I wonder how they got in the locks?" The kid's eyes grew big amd she excitedly tugged the family along, chattering wildly. The EMP (experience music project) would be so much fun to take kids to - these little tots were right at home operating the embedded iPods in the Jimmy Hendrix room.
This next pic we titled, McFail, as in, McFailed to litter my McBreakfast bag by getting it caught in the McDoor of my car. It's a wonder anyone still purchases fast food considering the new law in Seattle to post the calories of each food item. Well, it didn't stop us. We ordered a four piece with fries and chowder from Ivars, but instead of sharing the fries with the seagulls, C opted to give them saltines, much to their disappointment. I never knew seagulls came in triple XL.
Finally, we all see those big fancy cars parked there just to make us jealous, but someone took their envy to the next step and slashed all four tires of this Hummer. Bummer. Ah, the sites of Seattle. Well, on to the top 25 - feel free to click on the pics for a bigger and better view, then click the back arrow to continue the countdown:
25. The woman who drove over a . . . Tree???


24. Two visits to the Seattle Space Needle. Once to the lower viewing spot, and once all the way to the top! :) Inside joke. . .


23. Visiting C's fave displays at the Seattle Aquarium . . .


22. A delightful visit to the Woodland Zoo.


21. Exchanging our airline seats home a flight 4 hours later, and for two $600.00 travel vouchers! Woo, hoo!


20. "A" riding the pendulum bike at the science center, and C trying to outrun the kiddies on the water wheel! Finding a place where C could feel like a kid again. . . Oh, and the butterfly garden, even if just for a few minutes . . .


19. Catching the Gingerbread man at Sluys bakery in Poulsbo -

along with Troll cookies, macaroons, and many other tasty - er, ultra sweet treats.

18. Acting as almost eye-witnesses to a freeway suicide - or, a murder - or a kidnapping . . .???
17. Watching a Banana Slug dine on a mouse! EEW! CAN'T - - LOOK - - AWAY!

16. Watching C put down his first oysters on the half-shell. Way to go, babe!

15. Dave's having a boy!

14. Hot tubbing.

13. C pretend puking on the Argosy ship tour while a woman looked on in disgust. (Guess you had to be there . . . )

12. Visiting Steamer's Ice Cream corner so many times to purchase a double scoop Huckleberry and mint-chip Colossal Waffle Cones that the waiter asked, "aren't you going to order ice cream? You always order ice cream," when I finally ordered an open-face blackened salmon sandwich. On my last cone of the trip, I asked, "Can you do half-scoops?" in an attempt to get fewer calories with both flavors, to which the waiter replied, "For you, anything....." and served up a full double scoop at the single scoop price.

11. Purchasing "Smoked Salmon!" at the world famous Pike Place Fish Market, and gigantic dinner-plate-sized apple fritters.


10. Awesome 2-for-1 fish 'n chips and Stilton-wild-boar-bacon-Bison burgers, and the atmosphere at the Bard and Banker Scottish pub.


9. Saying hello to Brigham Young and that lady with the big crown at the Victoria wax museum.

8. Visiting the Butchart gardens in the rain (during the day) - while "A" studied and photographed each flower like it was a Louvre masterpiece.


7. Visiting the Admiralty Point lighthouse where we had our first kiss. . . and getting a few more.

6. Watching the Tamba Bay Rays play the Mariners with J&J while eating peanuts and kettle corn. (and later watching Griffey hit the only scoring run of the fourteen-inning game White Sox/Mariners game!)

5. Our eclectic evening at the Green Cat B&B followed by a delectable and nutritious breakfast.

4. The Jim Henson exhibit at the Science Fiction Museum - I would add pics, but they weren't allowed. What an amazing man who has touched so many lives!

3. A divine seafood feast at the Waterfront restaurant followed by an evening skyline view.

2. Our stay at the secluded rustic cabin in the forest, complete with outdoor jacuzzi tub and indoor flushing "Outhouse."

1. A secluded romantic late night stroll through Butchart Gardens - and making out in the sunken garden . . . Take a brief photo tour of Butchart from our trip!

If you enjoyed this post, you will also enjoy:
Study Trip to Seattle Day 1
Study Trip Day 2
Study Trip Day 3