How are all my little ducklings today? It's a rainy day here in the Greater Nashville Metro Area, and spring is coming.
That insane green grass is not the work of photoshop- it's just spring green. I was trying to get a picture of the stream that turns into a roaring river behind my house when it rains a lot, but the effect is not so dramatic on film. I think you'd need to hear the rushing water. Also, the grass was wet and it is raining and I'm barefoot and let's face it, really too lazy to put on shoes and walk over there and start snapping pictures and getting my camera wet. So you get to look at neon green grass instead. Lucky you!This morning I got up and starting knocking the annoying chores off of my list that have been bugging me for weeks. I went to Costco and got my tires balanced and rotated (rainy Sunday mornings are a perfect time to do that- everyone else is in church or sleeping in). They had my favorite chips back in stock- HURRAY! Then I went over to Walmart to return a bunch of crap that did not do anything close to what it should have done. After that I went to Goodwill and finally dropped off some clothes I've been meaning to donate since the great closet clear-out of... December? Yikes. But I've pulled some stuff out of the donation bags since then and now I'm confident that I don't want what was left in there. I have to be careful of those over-zealous clothing purges I go through, so I usually keep whatever I'm giving away in my car for a month or two just to be sure I won't need it. It's a good system.
I came home and started laundry. And I will spend the rest of the day knitting. To reward myself for all of this hard work I got a giant Caramel Macchiato at Starbucks (and because that will sound ridiculous given what I'm about to write about, I'd like to point out that it was sugar free and skim milk instead of whole).
I did my 3rd workout from The New Rules of Lifting for Women, which has been a really interesting common sense take on fitness and weightlifting. I have learned so much from this book- it really packs a lot of information into a very readable format- I will probably buy it (I have a library copy right now). I don't know why women are so afraid to lift weights. The premise of this book is that women should basically lift like men- increase weights often and work yourself really hard. I can't tell you how much I hear people say crazy-stupid stuff like, "I just use 5 lb weights because I don't want to bulk up." Or, "She's going to have to be careful weight lifting because all of her fat is going to turn into muscle." Or, "I'm trying to lose the fat on my abs." It's like women in particular have a complete mental block about how exercise works. This book also harps on people who are not professional body builders who work out really specific muscles of the body when it has no bearing in reality. When in the world are you ever going to lean over and lock your arm against your side and then swing your forearm from the elbow as you would for a triceps kickback? Never.... But will you need to reach up high and pull stuff down from a shelf using your triceps, lats, pectoral muscles, and even your abs? Of course you will. So basically this book wants you lifting more and doing workouts that use huge groups of muscles (push-ups, squats, lunges, step-ups, pull-ups) because #1 it is how people really move and #2 it takes a heck of a lot less time. I still hate lunges though. I probably always will.
Because I am brave and intrigued, I have also requested Jillian Micheal's 30 Day Shred from Netflix. If I like it (okay, I won't like it, but if I feel it is a good workout), I saw that they have her workout videos at Costco for $7.99 each. I just want to try it first and see if it's something that isn't ridiculously hard on the knees. I hear section 3 has a lot of jumping and I'm soooo not doing that. I have learned that I need a lot of variety in my workouts or I get bored really quickly and won't do the work. I also really like strength training a lot more than cardio, so if I can trick myself into cardio that's a good thing.
I just finished season 3 of The Tudors, and I still love that show. Yes, Henry the VIII is gross (but in real life he was soooooo much grosser than Jonathan Rhys Meyers is even capable of). Yes, he's going to wind up marrying Katherine Howard who, in reality, was at least 10 years younger than his own daughter Princess Mary. Can't wait to see her get beheaded- she's annoying. For a while I thought that the series would end once Henry got settled down with the last boring wife of his (let's face it, Anne Boleyn was the really interesting one), but they've brought Princess Mary into the last few episodes of season 3 so much that I wonder if they plan to continue it right through her and Elizabeth (hence the title "The Tudors" instead of "Henry VIII", gosh I am so smart). Hurray for many more seasons of gorgeous sets and costumes and music! Hurray for horny dukes and lusty ladies-in-waiting! I've started re-reading "The Six Wives of Henry the VIII" because I get so fascinated with that particular time period.
Anyway, time for me to go knit. And put clothes away. And watch the rain. I think we're all caught up.
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