Misc update & paying to have our butts whipped into shape...

Well, it has been a long time since I have done an update on the blog. Since I recently got a letter from "Aunt", figured it was about time I did some updating.

Not a lot new in our lives... a lot of the same ole, same ole... mainly been doing a bit of scrapping, a little more cleaning than my usual (I am no housecleaner for sure but slowly getting better & house in more control), some photography processing, cooking at home more than eating out, playing with learning to use the ruffler for my sewing machine (not that I have accomplished sewing anything but practice so far) and general enjoying the summer weather. And Mike played softball this spring with work but that is finished now so mainly back to playing WOW for him.

We did replace our front doorway outdoor fixture this weekend with a three light multidirectional LED security motion/dusk-to-dawn fixture. WOW! It sure puts out the light! and being LED should be better on the pocketbook for energy usage as well as not require frequent bulb replacement. It took a bit of work to get the 3 lights aimed well to hit the areas we wanted it to without going too far to be an annoyance shining in neighbors houses. We think we have it now. It lights up our walk from the driveway, our sidewalk and all the way over to the edge of our lawn at the neighbors. A lot more powerful light than we expected but a very welcome sight. Being where our house is positioned on the curve of the street and placement of street lamps, our corner was very dark without it.

Mike also cut down a lot more of the hedges around our house as we are wanting to remove them and replace them with nicer plants that aren't going to overgrow as quickly and need constant trimming. These hedges we have are on super drive it appears in growing & need to go! It is chainsaw time now to finish removing them but the weather has been on & off rainy so not done yet.

Right now, the weather is nice and would be an ideal time to do it but we are tired and resting as we just got back from... paying to have our butts whipped into shape! Mike and I decided this week that enough was enough, we had been procrastinating long enough about getting back into shape. We went and signed up for a local gym on Thursday night. I went to the gym and did about an hour of mixture weights and elliptical/bike on Friday while Mike was at work. Then today, we had our first personal trainer appointment. We went through some of the basics and he put us through a short weight training routine which has us both fully aware of how out of shape we are but it felt good. We go again tomorrow night for our official first assessment and strength testing to develop individual plans for us.

It definitely isn't cheap but we also decided that being overweight and out of shape as we are is costing us a lot in terms of mobility, health and emotional happiness. We had made an agreement with ourselves that we would commit to going together 3 times a week. I had Mike commit to which nights/days per week he would put WOW aside and commit to going to the gym with me before we signed up so we have that set. The gym membership isn't that expensive each month as gyms go but the personal trainer is where it adds up!

However, from previous attempts at going to a gym, we have learned that we need that extra expertise to know how far to push us and how to push us. We need a specific plan of action to follow and measure progress against. With my muscle problems, I also need someone with more understanding of how muscles work together to know how to help me build the ones I need to strengthen and lengthen while being sure not to injury myself in the process.

So we decided that we could re prioritize and stretch our budget to afford personal training sessions 2 of our 3 times per week at the gym for 12 months. We felt that 1 might not be enough to get the results we want, while more than 2 times a week was financially prohibitive for our budget. As it turns out, our personal trainer offered that if we could go for the cost of the 2 times per week for a year, he would throw in the 3rd time per week at no extra cost. So we are now set for personal training 3 times a week for the next year as we figure if we don't have our health, there isn't much point in having extra savings either... the personal trainer and we think that we can accomplish our goals in the next 12 months so here is to beginning on that journey... we will succeed! it likely will be slow and hard fought but we will make it!

Our photos now...