Goal Slacking

I have finally set my fitness goals for this week: have my fitness goals ready to go for next Monday!

Obviously, I'm as awesome at this whole 'goal setting' thing as I am at this 'staying on track' thing.

I actually did set a few fitness goals this week but they were small because I set a lot of non-fitness goals and I didn't want to bog myself down with lists. I still have to write 'thank you' letters to everyone we stayed with in Ireland (yes, write as in pen to paper with my best penmanship), I need to go through my spice cupboard and my fridge and clean them out, I need to find a job, I want to bake some Zupfe, I'm working on a craft project involving spray paint, I'm trying to set aside 30 minutes a day to crochet, and I stupidly decided to give Nanowrimo a shot... again.

I looked at the list above and wrote down the following fitness goals: don't skip dance class, and go for a long walk at some point. I'm aiming big this week!

Despite the lack of concrete fitness goals for this week, I have spent a lot of time thinking about what I really want out of the six months (the length of my journal) so while I have been lackluster in actually setting my weekly goals, they've never really been that far from my mind. I've gotten them figured out for next week and will be doing some of them this week (doing yoga in the mornings, for example) but I don't want the added guilt of not achieving them when I already have a full plate.

I may be the only person who has to write 'write to-do list' on her to-do list.

Fitting in the Family Time

Once I finally came back from the I'm not 20 and can't drink like that anymore ledge, I had a good week. Conflicting work schedules have left me running on my own but it hasn't slowed me down. I think that's always my biggest fear when I'm responsible to myself... Myself can be pretty f*&#ing lazy.

I was hoping to work in some swimming this week but after being called into the office pretty much all week, I haven't been able to get out to the lake. It's a catch-22: work = money to play but not the time to play.

*sigh*

I think we can all agree that sometimes being a grown up sucks. Still, there's a few more weeks of outdoor swimming weather left. I know I'll make it out there for a relaxing dip!

I've been trying to incorporate more yoga into my routine mostly to help with flexibility. While I wasn't working, it was easy to wake up at 7:30, do a 30 minute session, and still have my day started by 9:00am. When I have to leave the house at 7:20 to get to the office on time, it's a bit more difficult. As a result, I've only had one session this week. I've only been doing it for three weeks but the lack of it on my third week is already making me a sad panda.

Y U No Yoga? And Y U Mix Memes?

In amongst all the working and running and yoga-ing (totally going to call that a word), I've been enjoying my summer. My stepdad's family is visiting from New York. They're originally from Northern Ireland so we enjoyed a wonderful evening of talking about the GAA, Armagh vs. Tyrone, and how we're all distantly related to each other (short story: my uncle's wife's mother is their father's cousin. Did you follow that?)

Apparently Armagh/Monaghan family trees look something like this.

This weekend, I'm heading up to Nanaimo for more family socializing. I debated bringing my running gear for all of five minutes before deciding against it. My stepmom lives in a very hilly area so my runs always turn into walks. I'll just plan on a longer walk, followed by a cuppa and a round of rummy.

My stepmom and I take our rummy games very, very seriously. There's a good chance at least one of our games will end in blood and gloating.

How dare you go out while I have two aces in my hand!

All in all, the summer has shaped up to be pretty awesome.

It Was Worth It

I was going to write a blog post, but the setting sun just looked so nice that I had to run down to the water to capture it on camera. Then my batteries died and what I thought were replacement batteries were repacement batteries for my TV remote. No beautiful picture of the sunset reflecting on the Olympic Mountains. No orange and pinks giving way to blue and purple with Venus reflecting back at me. No Roy Henry Vickers-esque moon caught showing Raven laughing at me. They're all stuck on my dead camera until tomorrow.

Sigh.

Well, I did yoga when I got up this morning, ate really well all day, and the sunset inspired me to walk for two hours tonight so it was a great day even without the photos.

I'll leave you with one of my other favourite sunset photos instead.

Dhow and Sunset, Nungwi, Zanzibar, Tanzania

P.S. When I win the lottery, I'm going to buy a Roy Henry Vickers original.
What artist (or piece of art) would you buy?

Gym-less Yoga and A Better Way to Cut an Apple

Today, I am officially gym-less. It wasn't a hard decision to make. Since reactivating my membership to the local Y, when I look at the amount I spent every month vs the amount of times I went... well, I wasted a lot of money. Part of the problem was that I'm not a morning person and that's about the only time the Y isn't stinkin' busy that I'm able to go (my other option is during work hours but I think my work might take issue to that). I decided trying to go after work once it became obvious that the morning idea was really not going to work, but I spent almost as much time waiting for machines and weights that I gave up after two visits. They have told us at work that as soon as they sign our next contract, they're going to put a gym in the ground floor for the employees. I hoping that will be soon but in the meantime, I'm setting up a few 'at home' options (which means a trip out to Wal-Mart for cheap weights which bugs me because a) I have to go out to Wal-Mart on the bus and b) then I have to carry the weights home).

Yes, my fingers are really the part of me I'd like to slim down and tone up!

One of the at home things I'm setting up is yoga. I always really enjoyed yoga but the times at the Y didn't work with my schedule and the class at my work is done on a cement floor with carpet laid over top... no subflooring. I actually found various moves a bit painful on the joints which is not what one wants from yoga (or if you do, I think you're crazy... and so does your body). I've done enough yoga classes as well as dance/movement classes that I feel, with a little help from Mr. Internet and Mrs. Library, I should be able to figure out a set or two to regularly do.

Or maybe more of this would make the calming yoga obsolete...

Two weeks ago, when C passed away, one of the items in my post that was never posted was about a Health, Wellness and Fitness Conference ("healthy living blogger summit" is what I've been calling it) happening Toronto next May called No Limits Canada. There's no definite time that's been set out yet (as far as us peons go) other than 'May' and I'm really hoping I can make it out there for it. At this point, however, I have a wedding in Spain in September 2011 and that takes priority for me as far as my travel budget for next year... here's hoping I win the lottery or find a sugar daddy!

Have any of you done yoga from a DVD, book or website? Do you have any recommendations?