Drumming Fun

My husband and I went to the drumming class at the Parma Heights Senior Center today.  I had gone before and liked it but it was his first time.  This is quite popular.  We arrived about 15 minutes early and there was only one space left so we alternated.  It's pretty good exercise, especially if you do it standing up but you can also do it sitting.  It's a great way to relieve some stress.  They played old familiar songs and everyone seemed to enjoy it.  It's just like follow the leader.  Sometimes you hit the top of the balance ball, sometimes the side, sometimes the bucket underneath, sometimes alternating arms, sometimes clicking the sticks together and sometimes "air" cymbals at the side.  It can be challenging to keep up, but if you make a mistake, it really doesn't matter.  If you have never tried this, you should!  It's actually fun!

My Dog the Exercise Trainer

It used to be my cat who would come around by me when I exercised, but she gave up the job to our dog, Roxy.  Here I am trying to do donkey kicks with my dog under me.  Notice I'm using my one hand to pet her so only leaning on my left hand to do these.

Exercise can be tiring.  This is Roxy's favorite place to stretch out and relax.

Do your pets exercise with you?

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4 Friday Fragments: TV, Exercise, Dog, Question

Friday Fragments is hosted by Half Past Kissin' Time for bloggers to post a list of short things on their minds that aren't really enough for a whole post. I have a few this week:

TV Day

When I was home sick on Monday I had a TV day with my cat and discovered an interesting show I never saw before:  "Sell This House." 

Exercise

I learned this week that there are even treadmills for dogs. Check out Amazing Girl Gets Shelter Dogs Moving to see a doggie treadmill.  I am so tired of waiting for warmer weather to go walking that I started walking around all of our 8 floors before work to get a half your walk in.  Not too many are there when I arrive so I can even sprint down some of the hallways! 

Houdini Dog

I put a jacket on Abby, our dog, when the temperature is below 20, but this week, she managed to get it off while on her walk. I have no idea how she did that because I had it under her harness!  She came back with the harness in place but no jacket. Guess she decided it wasn't necessary.

Which Fish?

For Sunday School this week, our lesson is on Jesus saying He is the "Bread of Life" after feeding the crowd of over 5,000 with just 5 loaves and 2 fish. Since the boys like to eat, I thought I'd bring some bread and fish. Should I bring tuna or sardines? I'm thinking the sardines look more like the fish the boy had.  UPDATED 3/9:  I used some rolls and sardines.  Half the boys actually liked sardines and ate them!  I only had six there when we split up the food among us.  Caleb said, "You should teach at my school because you have such creative ideas and there would be more kids." 



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4 Things We Learned This Week 38 of 2011 (exercise, fun, book, charity)

Exercises

I found some exercises that will help get rid of the love handles over at "Quick Moves To Get Rid Of Love Handles." They are the bicycle, Twisted decline sit-ups, side plank and rotating leg raises. Click on the link to go to the post for more detail.

Day of Play

When reading blogs this week, I learned that tomorrow, September 24, is Worldwide Day of Play! Yippee! I love to play! Here is the post I found that you may want to visit: 10 Activities to Help Celebrate the World Wide Day of Play .

Betty White

When I read Betty White's book, If You Ask Me (and, of course, you won't), I learned that she is 89; I had no idea she was nearly that old! She said she doesn't feel 89 and is still very active. She even did a TV series, "Hot In Cleveland." It's good to know that old age doesn't have to be miserable. I enjoyed this book very much. Click the link to read my review.

The Big Fun Box

Kristin at The Goat helped with The Big Fun Box project by packing some boxes that she posted about.  The Big Fun Box Foundation donates thousands of Big Fun Boxes each year to children who experience frequent and extended stays in pediatric hospitals across the country to provide them with a little fun and distraction.

Find more Friday Fragments or link up yours at Half-Past Kissin' Time.

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Why Use An Exercise Journal

It's September and I need some inspiration to keep me motivated to continue to workout. This video does it. I thought you might enjoy watching it too. I see a lot of people at the gym working out but not writing anything down and wonder why not. Maybe they have better memories than I or just want big biceps and forget everything else, don't know. However, it's important to exercise all your muscle groups so I have to keep track of what I do. Plus, to make it a challenge, you should try to improve on something and do a little more each time. I usually pick one muscle group to focus on each session for just about half an hour at a time.  

How I keep track of it:

Leg page

1. I have a separate page for Arms, Legs, Shoulders, Core, Back, Chest, Cardio, circuit and magazine workouts.
2. On the left side of each page I list different machines or exercises that I do.
3. Make columns across page for dates that I work that particular muscle group. 4. Record the amount of weight I use times the number of repetitions times the number of sets: "(wt.x reps) no. of sets."
5. I put a paper clip on the page I will do next.  

Why I like This:
1. This helps me make sure I cover everything equally.
2. It provides variety.
3. Makes time at gym more efficient. I don’t have to write so much and think what to do next.
4. I can easily see what I did last time and try to improve on it. 5. It gives muscle groups plenty of time to recover between workouts.
6. I can easily to see my progress (or lack thereof) at a glance.

I challenge you to try this and see if you don't find that it keeps you more focused, productive and challenged. Did you like the walrus?

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Abby's Summer Workout Plan (by Abby)

Abby and her Daddy--Pack of Two

I want to tell you about my summer workout plan. On weekdays, I leave my house at 5:45 p.m. to meet Karen at the bus stop.

Once I get her home safe, my daddy and I visit Bartells passing two ice cream places along the way where I stop to let people pet me. I get compliments too that make me feel good! All the nice ladies know me at Bartells because I go so often. They pet me and give me cookies and water for free! Daddy says, "If it's free, it's for me."

Then we come back home through the park, making new friends, chasing squirrels up the trees, and taking breaks lying down in the nice tall grass in the shade. It usually takes us about an hour and 45 minutes with all my stops along the way.

Then when we get home, my daddy and I go in the basement to cheer on the Red Sox. My mom doesn't like going on my long walks because she likes to go on the computer but daddy does not mind. It takes the stress of his day away--the traffic and worrying about the Red Sox.

We are a pack of two! Woof! Woof!  What do you think of my summer workout? 

We Go To Different Gyms Now

Downtown Fitworks

Convenience! We used to both have gym memberships at Fitworks. There is one very close to our church and only about 10 minutes from our house by car. We went every weekend and Gerard went through the week a couple times. I used to go with him on weekends (before we had a dog) and sometimes for an evening class during the week but would go to the downtown location almost every day at lunch time during fall and winter because it is in walking distance from my office.

Fitness 19

When Fitness 19 opened even closer to our home, we switched there instead because it was also somewhat cheaper. I found myself not going nearly as often and had to really push myself to go. It just wasn’t convenient for me. When I was diagnosed with Breast Cancer, I had to stop working out for about a year. I actually missed it then and when I got the green light from my surgeon that I could go ahead and do weight lifting again as much as I wanted, I rejoined at Fitworks.

Parma location

Now, Gerard is still at Fitness 19 and I go to Fitworks either before work or during my lunch hour. On Sundays I will go to Fitworks near home sometimes after church while Gerard goes to Fitness 19. The key to choosing a gym is location . . . if it is not convenient; you probably won’t go very often. At least that has been my experience.

Fitworks is on Facebook. There are discussions and tips from their trainers there. What is most important to you when choosing a gym?

8 Things We Learned This Week 17 of 2011 (computer, blogging, exercise, fun)

Walking

I joined Gerard and Abby on their 4-mile plus "Sunoco" walk last Saturday and found out I could do it just fine, but then, it was a very nice day! Here's the link to Abby's 4-mile Spring Walk video I made of our walk that we plan to post here May 1 with Abby's Walking Club Challenge participants.

Snapshot Meme

I just discovered a Saturday Snapshot meme hosted by At Home With Books.

Word Processing

I was able to install a free word processing program from www.openoffice.org but still can't open my other documents. Good thing I had the important ones backed up. It took an hour to install, but now I feel much better. Still don't have my picture editing Kodak software back though.

Stressed Cats

I learned that boredom is a cause for stress in cats and there are many signs of stress--some I knew, some I didn't. Check out Stress Awareness In Cats to learn all about this at The Conscious Cat.

Favorite Blog Header

Mrs. 4444 made my day when she left the following comment on our Friday Fragments post over at Grab A Book From Our Stack: Your header is my current favorite in Blogland--GORGEOUS! That made me feel good! Be sure to check it out. I posted a short "behind-the-scenes" video yesterday of how my cats help me with it.

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Abby's Walking Club Challenge--Woof! Woof!

Gerard said I should post this challenge to all my dog friends. I enjoy going on long walks and am sure others out there do too. So, the challenge is that if you get your human to walk with you over four miles round trip in one walk like we do, I'd like you to email a picture of you (or your human can be in it too) and I will make a collection and see how many we can get by May 1. Send your pictures to spunkydoodle [at] sbcglobal [dot] net with "Abby's Challenge" in the subject line and a link to your blog if you have one. Now get that human of yours moving! Woof! Woof!

Also, leave me a comment here to let me know you are accepting this challenge or any other comment you may have.

We will choose one of the entries by a random draw to receive Paws For Thought--How Animals Enrich Our Lives--And How We Can Better Care For Them by Anna C. Briggs.  The winner will be notified by email as well as on the blog post.

Check out more pet posts from my friends over at Bozo's Pet Pride or link yours up too!

11 Exercise Tips To Help You Get The Most From Your Workouts

I am no expert when it comes to fitness or exercising, but I would like to share a few things I’ve learned from different trainers and some from FITNESS magazine since working out:

1. Only take short rests in between and get off the machine between sets to give your muscles a chance to re-energize.

2. When doing curls, standing is more effective than sitting because it also helps tone your core. To help keep from rocking, use a lighter weight or try standing with your back against a wall while curling the weight.

3. Never lock your knees; keep them slightly bent when doing leg presses, squats, dead lifts, etc.

4. Make sure to work all body parts: legs, arms, glutes, shoulders, back, chest, and core but not the same part two days in a row.  Rest between workouts is important to give your muscles time to recover.

5. My weakness is neglecting the cardio—you should include that too!  Warm up your muscles for 5-10 minutes with cardio and either do more a separate day or after the strength training.

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7 Things We Learned This Week 9 of 2011 (vets, dogs, poll, comments, food, trick)

Cool Trick

Over at Freaky Frugalite I saw this very cool video demonstrating how to suspend water without a cup. If anyone can figure out the trick to this, I would LOVE to know! It's really worth watching!

Comments

We had 224 comments for February so donated $112 to The National Children's Cancer Society. This is $112 more than they would otherwise have. My blogging buddy over at Red Pine Mountain is donating per comment to The Wounded Warrier Project. This is a new charity to me. Fee free to join us in promoting charities this way and giving them more than they normally would have received otherwise.

Exercise Poll

We had 38 respond and discovered that 36% (the highest percentage for an answer) don't exercise, but 34% (a close second) do walk their dog. Only 9 (23%) of the 38 actually workout at a gym. I'm thankful I can workout again and It Feels Great To See Progress.

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I Impressed Karen, by Abby

On Friday night, Karen and Gerard went out and Gerard showed Karen how far I walk sometimes. Karen said it was far! I did that walk Sunday and it took me about an hour and a half. Gerard and I both love to walk but Karen doesn't like to go as far as we do. After our walk, Gerard went to the gym to workout. Karen was at the computer, of course. Gerard and Karen took the car later then to measure exactly how long a walk it was and guess what! It was 4.2 miles! There is still about 6 inches of snow on the ground and the temperature is 30 degrees--a perfect day for walking! How far do you walk? Woof! Woof!

My Top 10 Excuses Not to Exercise

My top 10 excuses reasons not to exercise.

10. The doctor won’t let me! (This on no longer exists—yea!)

9. I have a sweatshirt or sweater on and will get too hot.

8. It’s too cold outside to bother going to the gym.

7. I might pick up germs at the gym.

6. I’d rather read and can't do it on a treadmill like some people do.

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5 Things I Learned This Week #99 (dogs, grammar, exercise, snowman)

Dentist's Pet Calms His Patients

Now this is a great idea! A dentist in California brings their pet 10 lb. dog into the office and lets it lay on the patients lap to calm them while having surgery! Now that's a dentist I wouldn't mind going to. I wish dentists in my neck of the woods would see this and get inspired.  See article here.
Related posts: I'm Afraid--The Dentist Is Going To Hurt Me!
I Survived My Oral Surgeon Trip--Hurray!

Grammar

I am finally convinced that the correct spelling of the plural possessive form for children is "childrens'" and not "childrens" as I originally learned. (I see spell checker doesn't accept "childrens" either though.) Hmm. Anyhow, since Amazon spells it without the apostrophe, I guess I will too. Terri Blackstock, a Christian author, wrote a post about The Changing Grammar Rules that I found interesting.

Funny Exercise Tips

At 365 Cat Ladies and Friends I learned a new exercise routine from her cat: Physical Phitness With Buttonwillow. This is the funniest post about exercising I ever saw!

Building A Snowman

When at the eye doctor I happened to look at a magazine and found instructions on how to make a snowman. I found out you roll the snow into three balls and stack them, but instead you use a shovel and pile up the snow in a big pile, then just sculpt it into a snowman. When done, pour water on it to give it a longer life. I don't remember the name of the magazine.

A Challenge For You:  I tried this and will post about it with a picture of it Monday which is my birthday. It will have a Linky to it so you can make a snow sculpture over the weekend and link up your post with a picture of it.   

Now Something I'd Like To Learn--Clip Art

I wanted to find some FREE clip art to use for this post but couldn't. Anyone know where I can find some?  UPDATED 12/12/10:  Thanks to Kirby3131 at The Goat, I now found some absolutely free clip art at www.allfree-clipart.com and at www.1clipart.com.  See my clip art snowman above?

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The Biggest Loser Inspires Me To Exercise Too

I enjoy watching "The Biggest Loser" on TV because it is so inspiring. I admire those contestants who have the courage to go through all that on TV and work so hard to lose weight. I especially love watching them compete in the challenges. When I see them working out, it makes me want to do it too. Following are two of my favorites this season:

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Benefits Of Using My Balance Ball

I got the balance ball for my birthday and have been using it every day! I want to be able to workout at home because I don't want to have to pay for gym memberships when I feel I don't go enough to make it worthwhile. Also, I use the balance ball when I'm at my computer so I can be a little more active by rolling on it, twisting on it and doing sit-ups and use the dumbells on it while waiting for things to load.

I just push the computer chair off to the side and my cats make use of it. I love it because they are closer and easier to reach now and I just love petting them. They seem to generally like it too and they patiently wait their turn to blog but enjoy watching me. Normally, just one comes at a time but over the weekend, both of them shared the chair! So this is the added benefit of my Balance ball.

I have also used it while watching a fitness show on FitTV that was a real workout. That is a good station for fitness because they have different trainers and a wide variety of exercises so I don't get bored doing the same things all the time, which really isn't good anyhow. With my balance ball also came a big poster with exercises targeting different areas. I did the legs and hips. I think I will get a lot of use out of this so it was worth the money. Those sessions with a live trainers are expensive and so are gym memberships if you don't go at least three times a week!

I highly recommend the balance ball! What exercise equipment do you especially like?

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How Should You De-Stress?

I Should Exercise

Part of what's stressing you out is the anger you feel toward others or the situation you're in. (Usually it's situations that cause me stress more than people. Computer wars is my biggest stressor.) You don't want to be stressed out, but factors out of your control are really messing with your mind. (Sometimes things out of my control do stress me out.) You can work out some of those demons in a productive way through exercise. And it can be any exercise you choose. Go for a walk or a run. Chill out with yoga. Really get out some aggression with boxing. In the end, you'll be glad you did it. ( Exercise does help us to de-stress. Working out at the gym, walking or playing tennis all help and that's one reason I'm glad I got a Bosu training ball for my birthday, but the best way for me is to just lay with my pets and pet them up.)

Click Here to See How Should You De-stress?

and share in the comments.

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3 Things I Learned This Week--Part 35

Chemo Update

Although the initial news on my surgery is good, as far as they could tell the Cancer did not spread to the lymph nodes so he did not remove them all, they still have to inspect them more closely this week. There are also two other tests that will determine if I will need to have Chemo or not. I won't know the final results until next Wednesday when I meet with my surgeon who will then discuss my further treatment. So far so good, so I'm still trusting the Lord to help me through this and give me a speedy and complete recovery.

Exercise

Mountain Woman and Tim from Everyday Living have teamed up to do a blog about weight loss based on exercise. It just started this week so be sure to visit and get in on the ground floor. Both these people have lost a lot of weight so can really be helpful. They are making it very interactive and are even giving away a $100 gift certificate to Dick's so it's worth checking out: Get Moving With Mountain Woman and Tahtimbo.

Driving in a Downpour

My husband tried this and he said it worked. Most of the motorists would turn on HIGH or FASTEST SPEED of the wipers during heavy downpour, yet the visibility in front of the windscreen is still bad...... In the event you face such a situation, just try your SUN GLASSES (any model will do), and miracle! All of a sudden, your visibility in front of your windscreen is perfectly clear, as if there is no rain. Make sure you always have a pair of SUN GLASSES in your car. Amazing, you still see the drops on the windshield, but not the sheet of rain falling. You can see where the rain bounces off the road. It works to eliminate the "blindness" from passing semi's spraying you too. Or the "kickup" if you are following a semi or car in the rain.



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9 Things I Learned in Week 8 of 2009

Fitness

I learned a couple new things at Fitness 19. My trainer showed me a new shoulder exercise called iron cross that I didn't know before. It's good because it works your whole shoulder and varies the movement enough that I don't get so tired.


You weigh about three pounds heavier after you work out than when you start. It's crazy!

Help Available--Virtual Assistant

At Dwayne Dot Com I found out about a virtual assistant. I wish I had found this before I wrote "My Funny Dad, Harry" so am listing it here for anyone who may be interested in getting a virtual assistant to help with writing, proofreading, research, planning events, marketing, etc. (yes, I am going to contact her about helping me market my book online). You can visit her website at www.girlfridayservicesofmaine.com.

Twitter

I learned more about how to use Twitter and some tools that are available from My Tweet Plan of 2009 at Karlana's World. I learned you can schedule tweets and create some auto-welcome messages using www.tweetlater.com. Another cool tool that was mentioned in a link in this post was www.peoplebrowsr.com where you can search for a word and it lists a bunch of tweets that have that word and you can reply or follow right from there. UPDATED 4/17/09:I think www.search.twitter is easier. Whoa, there is so much to learn!

Decorating

I learned about a great decorating idea for rec rooms and at the same time making good use of games with missing pieces at Your Fun Family. Just use velcro and hang the game boards on the wall around the room.

Blogging

In Entrecard's general chat forum, I learned from Selcom60 from What's On My Mind that even if you spend 30 minutes reading a blog, unless you click on something while you are there, it counts as a bounce. Now I don't feel so bad if I just drop my Entrecard and move on.

Cat Facts

From Daisy, the Curly Cat I learned cats have pockets! the slit on their ear is called a "Henrey's Pocket."

From my cat calendar I learned that Persian cats don't like to jump or climb but prefer to stay close to the ground instead. I found that to be interesting.

In The News

A sauce pan can be an effective weapon for protection. She should have locked her doors though! She'll tell you all about it on this video and you can also read about it at www.cleveland.com/plaindealer

Judge's wife serves up justice

Things I Learned This Week--Part 16

We went to the zoo on Saturday and met a new little animal that one of the volunteers was holding. It's about the size of a chipmunk with very big eyes and a membrane that makes it so it can glide through the air 60 feet like a kite. The big eyes are a sign that it is a nocturnal creature. It's comparable to our flying squirrel. She said it lives in Australia. Any guesses? It's called a sugar glider but does not eat sugar. It's very soft with sharp teeth and claws. Picture is from Wikipedia since I didn't have my camera with me. Check out this link for more information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sugar_Glider.



I really need to get back into regular exercising and strength training so starting January, I'm back to the gym again. Take a look at this video of me and Gerard attempting very simple band exercises:


At The Modern Mom I found a whole list of "Stain No-Nos" which included some things that I never knew I shouldn't do such as "Don’t rub soap into fresh stains, it will only set stains" and "Don’t tumble-dry stained fabric, the heat will only set remaining stain permanently." The source she noted was "quick & Simple."

Also from Modern Mom's "Remove Wall Stains" post, I learned how to finally get the monster stickers of my dresser when I was a kid. It really works! I will be doing a separate post about this with pictures and me actually doing it. You just heat it up a little with a blow dryer, rub some liquid laundry detergent on it and use a spatula to scrape it off. (See post with demonstration video Jan. 8)

I found this video at My Christian Diary which is a new site I found through an Entrecard advertisement and just had to share it here: