Happiness is....................

Cleaning your house and finding a pair of shoes you own and really like, but had completely forgotten!

What a difference a day makes.

Cosmo came to visit us for 24 hours. Cosmo can only be described as a force. 65 pounds or so of pure energy in constant motion. We spent our time playing, rough housing, running at full speed in circles in the yard, tearing apart play toys, and digging lots and lots of digging. I'm not sure where Daisy went, be I didn't see a hair of her for the entire time.

Sunday, ah, sunday was rest and relaxation. Ah, it's good to have a little of everything in your weekend!

Tired! That Cosmo wore me out.

All About Daisy

Me pretending cats like to cuddle.

Poor Daisy is the overlooked member of my little family*. She rarely makes the blog. When I run into friends, they frequently ask after Otto, but rarely after Daisy. I don't even talk about her much. Honest, I'm not a cat person, I got her because getting a new dog seemed stupid. But she's a good cat. She tries to play with Otto. When I'm sleeping or watching a movie she's right there. Not in an obnoxious cat kind of a way, just in a solid warm slightly purring body next to me kind of a way. When I go work in the yard, she hangs out and keeps an eye on me. She's very loyal. Really, one couldn't ask for a better cat.

So for today's blog I thought it could be all about Daisy. Here are some pictures of Daisy's latest obsession, my bathroom sink. Every time I'm in the bathroom she runs in there and jumps on the sink. She likes it if I turn the water on just a little bit so she can play. Okay, she's a cat, she's a little weird.

*My sister might argue that Sebastian is the most over looked member of my family, that that's a different story.

If I sit here long enough, she'll turn it on.

Okay, still waiting, maybe if I watch it, it will go on.

Whoo hoo I'm jumping for joy, but I must play it cool and hang back, in that cat way.

You know Roberta, this camera thing is just a bit undignified, don'tcha think?

Completely Gratuitous

Otto spent his entire day blissfully soaking up the warmth of the sun. I'm just happy he was able to find a pillow.

Guilty Pleasure #4, Manhattan Mondays

The cherry is gross, I go for a little orange rind twist myself.

So back about 13 years ago my stepbrother got married in India. A bunch of us Americans (around 30 or so) headed out to Jamshedphur India where we were wined and dined and given the Indian royal treatment for a week of wedding festivities. But actually, we weren't 'wined' and dined, we were scotched and dined. In India, you don't drink beer or wine you drink scotch. In fact, beer and wine are very hard to come by in India. (I remember once someone ordering a beer and we found out later someone had sent their servant to the store to buy some.) But everyone in India seems to have scotch. It was there that I gained my love for scotch. Not only do I like the taste of it, but scotch represents a festive atmosphere. It represents friends. It represents a time completely removed from your normal day to day life, where things are a little more exciting and a little brighter.

When I got back to the US, I didn't drink scotch very often. It was something I might drink on a special ocasion. One in a while I'd go out and the night would just feel a little more special than a beer or a wine night. I'm not sure when I tried my first Manhattan, but they quickly took over as my favorite drink. A good Manhattan, and just one really, makes for a good night.

Manhattan Mondays don't happen any more, but for a while, a friend and I were going out to dinner every Monday night. We'd go to the King Fish Cafe and I'd usually get a Manhattan to drink before dinner. The King Fish has mighty fine Manhattans. Something about a Monday nights and drinking Manhattans made the night feel special. Mondays are typically a serious, rather dreary night. It's the beginning of the week. You've just gone back to work and have many more days ahead before the weekend. But somehow, when you're drinking a Manhattan, Monday night goes away for a minute. You can pretend it's the weekend. Or you're off in Jamshedphur India attending another wedding party surrounded by friends. And suddenly the week seems a little brighter.

Crossfit Challenge

Pre workout

Today my friend Jeff convinced me to attend a 'Crossfit Challenge', kind of a prep workout for a Crossfit regional games in May. In truth, it didn't take much convincing, all he had to do was mention it and I of course said 'Oh, okay, why not, sounds fun'.

Until today that is, when I spent the entire morning today questioning my decision and wondering why I didn't just go do a normal 'easy' crossfit workout. Until today when I showed up at the Challenge and viewed the arrival one total bad ass 20 something woman after another -each looking stronger than the last. And until, I was one of the last two to start, so I had a good 1.5 hours watching others, the same others who were so bad ass, working their butts off and looking like they were in huge pain. I think crossfit works better when you get to jump on in and not think about it too much (Mom).

Oh, and a final intimidation factor. The workout consisted of several 'proscribed' weights. At the beginning the person running the challenge asked if anyone needed to scale any of the exercises (ie use a lighter weight). I was the only one who raised my hand. Fortunately, later on a few of the other women jumped in, but it was a bit of a shock, as there tends to be a bunch of scaling at my gym.

The workout:

1. 50 box jumps. A box jump is just as it sounds. You jump on a box (in this case a 20" one) and jump off. This actually was easier than I thought it would be. Piece of cake!

Me moving so fast on the box jumps the camera can't even catch me.

2. 20 Thrusters - proscribed weight 40K, I opted for 30K. Thrusters are tough! You hold a weighted bar at shoulder height, squat down, then as you lift up you thrust the weight overhead until your arms are straight (using your hips to move the bar). One note about this Challenge. For the workout you had your own judge counting and making sure you were doing the exercises properly. Squatting had to be hips below knee level. This not something my body does very well and not something I'm used to having monitored. When I got done with about 6 thrusters I looked over to Lisa (my judge) and she told me I had only done three! Hopefully she didn't see (or take personally) the evil eye I pegged her with, because she was actually very nice in every other respect.

The woman behind me is doing an overhead squat.

Closed eyes are very helpful, I think I did my entire row with closed eyes.

3. 30 pullups - pretty straight forward. I used a band to help with the second half. (For regular blog readers, I haven't perfected or taken my kipping pullups public yet.)

4. 800 Meter Row - I think this was the rest event for most people. Oh, and don't think we were hitting the water with oars, in crossfit you use an ergometer, essentially a stationary rower. And expend lots of energy to go nowhere!

5. 30 Overhead Squats - proscribed weight 30K, I went with 20k. I probably could have done 25, but I have a pulled muscle in my leg and overhead squats were hurting it a lot on Thursday, so I went with 20. Overhead squats, hold a weight overhead arms straight and squat. They suck.

6. 20 Deadlifts - proscribed weight 70K, I did 60 and probably should have done 70 (60k is roughly my body weight. With a deadlift you start with a really heavy bar and lift it off the ground. Then tend to make you dizzy as you're supposed to hold your breath to stabilize your midsection.



7. The Coupe DE Grace, 50 wall balls........ Wall ball is my nemesis. This, along with burpees, is probably my least favorite exercise. You hold a medicine ball (in this case 14 pounds), squat, then as you raise up you throw the medicine ball to a certain height on the wall. In my gym there is a line of the wall and you just hurl it. Here, there were little wooden targets set away from the wall that you had to hit (remember my own personal judge). In the beginning I kept getting docked because I wasn't hitting the target, but then I think my judge got a bit more lenient. Now here's the kicker, I was one of the last two to start the competition. I had been just cruising along at my own pace. I was doing my wall balls in a corner with only my judge and Jeff watching when suddenly I was the final person working out and the center of attention. Suddenly the entire gym knew my name and was encouraging my wall ball progress, offering tips, and encouraging me to rush through rest breaks.

Anyone having this much fun in the middle
of a set of 50 wall balls, is not working hard enough. Note the small wooden target!

So it was fun, in that painful crossfit kind of a way! I was reminded that I need to have faith in my abilities and not be intimidated. I finished about mid pack and used roughly the same amount of scaling as many of the women.

Special thanks to Jeff who invited me, gave me almonds as I was jonesing from lack of food and the caffeine in my nuun, and was hugely encouraging through out my work out. Much more encouraging of me than I was of his workout (I was too busy watching the pain of the 20 somethings and being intimidated to be fully supportive). Jeff kicked ass, finishing fourth in a field that was probably half his age (he's my age).

I am pretty sure we represented Crossfit Seattle and the master's set very nicely! In fact, had there been a master's category. Both Jeff and I would have come in first!!!

Lindsay, the female winner at 19+ minutes was all of about 17 and arrived with her parents!

Guilty Pleasure #3, Pop Music

So cute, okay not really, but good hair.

So for some reason I have difficultly owning up to this guilty pleasure. I feel like I lose many coolness point by not knowing/listening to the newest coolest music. And really, I don't have a huge number of coolness points to lose. The problem is that I have many friends who are very cool musically. They were punk rock long before punk rock was trendy. They work in the music industry. They know the perfect slightly unknown hip music to play for any occasion. They can DJ a dance party and keep the kids happy all night long. Me, not so much.

It started bad. My first album was Shawn Cassidy - Da Do Ron Ron. Well, actually my first albums were the Grease soundtrack (I know every word on every song for all 2 disks) and the Bugsy Malone soundtrack. But, my first non soundtrack album was Shawn Cassidy. Though in my defense I don't remember or retain a burning love for Shawn or his music. I do remember and retain a burning love for the Grease sountrack, Beauty School drop out, Stranded at the Drive In, Summer Nights, Hopelessly Devoted.

Then through high school and college I never seemed to move beyond pop. Actually, I don't remember listening to music much in high school, but in college I have fond memories of Phil Collins and Genesis. My friend Greg and I used to spend hours listening to Genesis Abacab (what the heck is abacab?). Then there was 'In The Air Tonight', I seem to remember hours and hours of just one that one song.

Does this man look at all cool?

After college I seemed to develop a fondness for metal, turning to Metallica, Soundgarden and Guns and Roses. I think all those bands can win a coolness point or two, but the guilty pleasure came in the form of rock ballads. I love a good rock ballad. Every Rose Has it's Thorn, by Poison. 18 and Life by Skid Row. Why do I like these things so much? My all time favorite rock ballad, and maybe one of my favorite songs of all time, Beth by Kiss.

Ah, poor Beth, I hear her crying.

I got an ipod shuffle for my 40th birthday. It and it's newer brother my ipod nano are full of some good music. But when I'm out running or walking the dog I tend to skip over those in favor of the top 40 pop singles I have downloaded. Brittney Spears, Oops I Did it Again, Justin Timberlake SexyBack, Nelly Furtado, Pink. I'm not sure what it is about this music. Maybe it's just the beat that gets you moving and sucks you in.

Britney, Otto and I, walking Beacon Hill.

Anyhow, I must go put in some music, mmm, Best of Rod Stewart? If you want my body and you think I'm sexy come on sugar let me know...................