Life

By kilax, February 14, 2018 5:34 am

Khaleesi (Khali) has been living inside with us for one year today! Happy Anniversary, Khali! Fun fact: Data was “adopted” on Valentine’s Day, too!

We weren’t planning on Khaleesi becoming an indoor cat. We thought she’d convalesce inside after she got spayed last year, then go back outside when she healed. But she ended up getting an infection the day we were going to let her out, and when she went to the vet, they said she needed to stay inside much longer than we thought.

And then I couldn’t let her back outside. I mean, duh.

Could you let this face back outside? (Ha, this was before I realized I could pick those black boogers out of her nose – I didn’t know they were boogers at first!)

So, while she’s escaped outside (grrr) a few times over the year, she is definitely an indoor cat now! We love having her inside, and she seems to tolerate us, ha! It took her a while to get used to us, but every day (even now!), we can tell she’s more comfortable around us. Unfortunately, she still hides from most other people. We hope she stops hiding someday <— wishful thinking.

People are shocked when I tell them Data loves being a big brother (and that he didn’t mind Snow). Data is fifteen years old and can be grumpy and persnickety. Give him a break – he’s an old man! Because of his personality, people thought he’d be a jerk to Khali, but her being around has actually improved his behavior. He no longer hate poops outside his litter box or on the welcome mat, and instead of play attacking us, he plays with Khali. He seems more energetic and younger, and he’s nice to Khali (not counting their playful royal rumbles). Guess he was never meant to be an only child!!!

Ha, I swear I have photos of the cats NOT in bed too.

And we’re very happy having two cats inside!

Health + Fitness

By kilax, February 13, 2018 6:27 am

When I’m reading the “Dos and Don’ts” for group fitness instructors in the magazines I receive from my personal training organization, I sometimes find myself on the “Don’t” list. Oopsie!

I shouldn’t be:

• Talking about myself
• Testing out so much music on my classes
• Swearing or playing music with swear words
• Overweight
• Teasing
• Giving unclear direction (I have word vomit/get words mixed up or together from time to time)

Like I said, “oopsie!” A lot of the work of being a fitness instructor is being “on,” and it’s hard to hide certain parts of my personality (telling bad stories/jokes, teasing, swearing, etc.). And besides, when else do I have people’s undivided attention to listen to me?! Ha, I kid, I kid… sorta.

I could work on all of the things on that list though…

But I am not writing this post to be down on myself! I am writing it to share the list of group fitness instructor “Dos” that I live by:

1. Plan safe workouts for all planes of motions/incorporate basic moves, and don’t get too crazy trying new stuff/combos
2. FORM > PACE/AMOUNT OF REPS
3. Give adequate breaks
4. Be encouraging
5. Start and stop class on time
6. Stretch before and after we work out
7. Greet everyone when they arrive and say goodbye when they leave/give people my attention… until I am interrupted, then always follow up later
8. Ask how people’s bodies are feeling and follow up on injuries
9. Keep in touch with people after they stop taking my class
10. MAKE IT FUN!!!

These are all important to me, but especially the last one. Everyone needs to strength train and not many people do it. So why not make it fun when we do?

I’m reusing an old photo because I don’t have many of myself teaching! I’ll have to retake this with my mom this weekend when she takes my fitness boxing class!!!!!

House, Life

By kilax, February 12, 2018 6:29 am

Whoa, this weekend felt busy. Luckily I had Friday off, and had a chill day before the days of doing all the things!

On Friday night, Steven and I went to our neighbor’s restaurant for dinner and instagrammed drinks.

We watched some of the Winter Olympics opening ceremonies when we got home. I’m glad I had a drink before that – it helped me through what we did watch (the commentators talking over everything, just, ugh).

I slept horribly Friday night and was up at 4:30 am! Whut dafuq. Ugh. I cycled inside at home until it was gym opening time and I could go do my long run there.

When I got back we began a demolition project in our basement. My parents are coming to visit next weekend (!!!) and my dad is going to help install a new joist in the basement (part ii of this project). We were clearing as much out of the way as possible, before the visit. (The joist has to go above the ductwork below, hence taking all that wood off of it.)

Eventually we’ll remove all the wood paneling off the walls

Of course, in the process, we found a hot mess of construction under the landing for our first floor stair. Gah, there’s always something with this house. Every time we do a project, we have more questions about how our house came about – we think the house started as something much smaller that was added on to more than once. That’s one logical explanation to some of the things we’ve found, like frame outs for windows in interior walls.

We took a short work break to check out “Snow Daze” in Kenosha. The downtown area had over forty-five ice sculptures to check out! Most of the sculptures related to what the business (or sponsor, in the sponsor area) was. What a clever way to get people to walk all over downtown when it’s so cold!

It was in the teens, but we still stopped for ice cream!

Then we went home and got back to work. Which was really just more brainstorming and discussing how to install the new joist and rebuild the platform under the stair. Next weekend is going to be busy. I was hoping we’d actually have hang out time with both my parents, but it doesn’t sound like it.

On Saturday night I put together Valentine’s Day treats for my fitness boxing class then FINALLY chilled out. Woo hoo!

I woke up Sunday to more snow. It didn’t seem like much looking out the window, but when I got outside for a run and saw how deep the tire ruts were, I called my run short and went back to snow blow so I could get out of the driveway to go teach fitness boxing!

I taught, ran errands, came home, unloaded, finished shoveling, then finished my run.

Phew.

After lunch, we went to the Chicago Auto Show. It’s been several years since we’ve gone and we thought it would be fun to see all the models in person. And I was excited to check out the F-PACE!

We walked around the show for about two and a half hours, then headed to Waterhouse to try the Impossible Burger.

Seen on the way to dinner!

We both liked it (and the buffalo cauliflower “wings” we got)! This burger is only available in certain restaurants, and I hope more add it. It’s great that regular (non vegetarian/vegan, I mean) restaurants are adding vegan options to the menu (like TGI Fridays adding the Beyond Meat burger) and I hope this trend continues!

We got home close to 9:00 pm! On a Sunday! I did the Sunday night chores and was beat. I woke up well before my alarm on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday, and felt exhausted. I might have to take a Monday afternoon nap after work!

Running + Training

By kilax, February 11, 2018 2:12 pm

Highlight of the Week: Being able to work out at home inside when we got so much snow / feeling great on a lot of runs and not wanting to stop!

Monday | February 5, 2018: 5 m run (incl. 10 hill repeats)
Treadmill Time: 51:52, Pace: 10:22 avg, Difficulty: easy/medium, Felt: fine! anxious to run outside again
Tuesday | February 6, 2018: rest
Wednesday | February 7, 2018: 15 mins strength + 5 m run + 4 m run
Treadmill Time: 49:45, Pace: 9:57 avg, Difficulty: mostly easy, Felt: good
Loc: Chicago Lakefront Trail, Temp: 19°/19°, Time: 38:03, Pace: 9:30 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great! So happy to run outside!
Thursday | February 8, 2018: 10 m run (incl. 6×800, 8×1:00)
Loc: Lake Andrea, Temp: 18°/18°, Time: 1:33:59, Pace: 9:24 avg, Difficulty: easy then medium then easy, Felt: really great
Friday | February 9, 2018: 30 mins strength + 16 m ride + 1.5 m walk + 3 m run
Indoor Ride Time: 57:02, Pace: 16.8 mph avg, Difficulty: mostly easy, Felt: good
Treadmill Time: 30:23, Pace: 10:07, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Saturday | February 10, 2018: 10 m ride + 14 m run
Indoor Ride Time: 41:16, Pace: 14.5 mph avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good
Loc: Waukegan Field House, Time: 2:25:40, Pace: 10:24 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: great
Sunday | February 11, 2018: 1.3 m run + teaching fitness boxing + 3 m run
Loc: hood, Temp: 16°, Time: 13:33, Pace: 10:25  avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good, but like I should be snow blowing
Strength: dumbbells (core & cardio), and boxing, Difficulty: easy (mostly observing), Felt: good
Loc: hood, Temp: 19°/20°, Time: 31:32, Pace: 10:30 avg, Difficulty: easy, Felt: good to stretch out my legs
Notes:

• We got snow most days this week! Which altered my workouts, but made me so grateful for our indoor basement gym. I sure am sick of these indoor photos in my weekly training collage though. Ha!
• I did Monday’s hill repeats inside since it was slippery out. I’ve realized easy runs on the treadmill are easy (duh) but speed and hills feel kind of impossible and dangerous (like I will fall off). Eh.
• Class was canceled Monday night due to snow (commute times were tripled that night), and I should have used that time to do a strength workout at home, but I took a wonderful nap instead. Ahh.
• I’m so glad I got to do this week’s speedwork outside. It feels so much easier to me outside, than on the treadmill <— broken record.
• We canceled my Friday 5:00 am class too, due to weather! We got about six inches of snow over night, and weren’t sure how safe the roads would be in the morning. I drive quite a distance to teach, and am grateful my boss had my travel safety as his #1 concern. I hope I get to teach all my classes next week!
• I actually practiced next weekend’s indoor cycling class a week and a day early, on Friday! Yay! Go me! (Last time I did it the day before and that was NOT a good idea.)
• I was actually sore from Friday’s at home strength workout, on Saturday. Also yay!
• I did not intend for Sunday’s “double.” I went out to run, realized we got way more snow than I thought on Saturday night (five inches?), and went back in to snow blow before I left to teach! Then I ran again later to “finish” my run.
• I didn’t get to swim this week. The roads were bad during the time I usually go. Maybe I can double it up next week. But I swim for fun and exercise only, so it’s okay if I don’t.
• I’ve decided to start my weekly tempos after the Frosty Footrace on February 25th.

Link to Training Week 433

Music

By kilax, February 10, 2018 5:28 am

Do you ever hear an artist’s voice and know you’re going to like almost every song they perform? That’s how I was with Christina Aguilera back in the day! I could listen to her voice for hours while I was running. And I imagine that is how some people currently are with Ed Sheeran? (Although not me, ha!)

Bebe Rexha is that artist for me now. Although, funny thing, it took me a while to realize that!

A few years ago, another blogger posted her song “I’m Gonna Show You Crazy” (I wish I could remember who it was to give them credit!). I immediately loved Rexha’s voice and remembered her name and started noticing her in more songs after that. And noticing that many of those songs became “favorites” of mine.

What I didn’t make the connection on was that she was already singing smaller parts in some songs I loved, and her voice was what made me love the songs. I didn’t figure that out until I was putting this post together, and decided to listen to a lot of the songs she’s been featured on, and realized I liked her before I “thought” I did when I first heard “I’m Gonna Show You Crazy.”

Ha, I am not trying to be hipster on you! Just sharing that I’ve liked her before I even knew it.

Anyway, here are my current favorite five songs of hers (you may have to click through from your reader to see them), and some honorable mentions. Let me know your favorite, or if you’re already a fan (or if you don’t care for her music)!

Honorable mentions:

• “Me, Myself, and I“
• “The Way I Are“
• “Hey Mama“
• “Him & I“

Life, Recipes + Food

By kilax, February 9, 2018 6:19 am

Silly me! In my 2018 quest to eat a vegan donut, I had somehow forgotten there is a Do-Rite Donuts (somewhat) near my office that I could pick one up from, if I took the time to walk there! WHUT?! Kim, you so sil. I know.

So on Tuesday, I swung by on my lunch walk to see if they had any vegan donuts left. Nope. Okay, got it. Go earlier in the day.

The next day, I lengthened my walk to work to stop by, and they had three vegan donuts to choose from. Horray! I went with Chai Maple and it did NOT disappoint.

The vegan flavors were in the top left shelf.  They have gluten free donuts too (in the cabinet on the counter).

What a treat!

I now feel better about how I accomplished my main goal for the year. It was purposeful and planned, and I did not rely on someone else (like I did when my snister took me to a vegan bakery in Kansas).

And I’m ready to expand on this goal for the rest of the calendar year, and make it my 2018 Vegan Donut Tour! Let’s see how many states I can eat a vegan donut in.

So far I’ve done:

State	Date	Name	Flavor	Rating (1-4)	Photo
Kansas	1/15/18	Mud Pie	Cake Chocolate Frosted
Illinois	2/7/18	Do-Rite	Chai Maple

Potential states include: Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Missouri, Texas, Ohio, and California (we’re really hoping to get out there this year). Now, I just have to make sure I plan my travel around finding a vegan donut, ha!

Blogging, Life

By kilax, February 8, 2018 6:20 am

• I’ve been writing a lot more weekend recaps than I used to. I like it! Thanks to Mica, with her “Last week, briefly” series, for the inspiration. We both recently discussed how we love having our blogs to document what we were up to at certain points in time (despite how cringe-worthy some of our earlier writing is!).
• Christina gave me this decorative box (what do you call these?!?) for Christmas, and of course, I had to cheese it up with some snister pics!

• I’m a fast talker, and am aware of it. I gave training twice this week and wanted to make sure I talked slow enough for people to understand, so I practiced at home (awkward) and brought this post it for my co-presenter to show me if I needed to slow down, ha! (He didn’t have to!) Also, I am so glad to have those done. I was dreading them (but we practiced a lot so they went well and we received compliments).

• On January 30th and 31st, I got an offer to review RunLites (from a different person/company each day) and responded to both immediately that I’d like to try them cause I’d use them! Then… crickets. Ha, I suppose that is what I get for writing this!
• I caught these two cuddling together again! Aww!

• Thank you all for continuing to be kind, supportive, and understanding, as I’ve been a bit mopey lately. It means a lot to me.

Link to Random Thoughts Thursday 166

Knitting, Life

By kilax, February 7, 2018 6:25 am

I’m so glad I had this skein of yarn and new pattern with me on the train last night.

It sat in my bag, untouched, on the ride in, and most of the ride home. I was too tired to think about figuring out a new pattern.

But just short of two stops to mine, the conductor came on to announce our train was involved in an emergency incident, and to expect delays.

I immediately looked at the Metra site, which usually has the most current information, and saw that the train I was on had struck a pedestrian (pdf here). We were actually past the station, which makes me think it a suicide, and not an accident (but what do I know?). Ugh, that poor person.

The conductors didn’t have much info at first, but started sharing it as soon as they got it. We had to wait for the coroner and Metra police to arrive, and that would be at least an hour. Then they had to do a full investigation, which would take time. They expected a three hour delay, and couldn’t let us off, since we were between stops.

The Metra conductors were professional, courteous, extremely apologetic, and shared as much info as they had (and even offered bottled water). But I am not in the best emotional state these days* and felt like I was about to have a bit of a break down. Despite how great they were being. And despite the gravity of the situation (and trying to see the big picture).

So I brought out the knitting.

And focused on learning some new stitches.

And knitted for the two and a half hours we sat there (not three, yay!).

And saved my crying break down for the car drive home.

Yay, knitting to the rescue! It really is calming.

*Thinking about Snow, work issues, hormones, etc. I actually had a mopey post about Snow ready for today, but I’ll save it, and maybe not even post it. Writing about it definitely helps, and talking to people about it does too, but I am just not sure how much of my crummy emotional state I want to put on the blog.

House

By kilax, February 6, 2018 7:00 am

Wow, it’s been two years (to this date!) since we moved in to our current home! I was talking to Steven about it, and we both agreed that it feels like less than two years. It must feel like that to other people too, because I still get lots of questions about the “new” house and what projects we’re working on <— Steven is team #projectsforlife so that question will always be appropriate!

Our sentiment toward our home is the same as when I wrote about it last year at this time – we love how peaceful and quiet it is (because we live on a short dead end street where everyone has five acres or more, and part of the street is surrounded by forest preserve), and don’t mind that it’s “far” away from things. Feeling relaxed and at ease AND HAPPY in our home is worth the distance from things. (And different things make different people happy! For us, we knew we needed space and land for our happy home – but I know some people would be much happier in an area more densely populated.)

Our only major current gripe is that we don’t have a workshop for Steven! He loves to build and create and our garage is not big enough to set up a shop. We’re hoping building something is in our near future!

Knitting, Life

By kilax, February 5, 2018 6:24 am

Our weekend started off to a very exciting Friday night watching The Martian (a favorite of mine that I watch over and over), ordering new shoes for Steven, and finishing the wash cloths my mom ordered for her sister-in-law.

There’s three each of the patterned ones, and four of the turquoise. What’s next? Starting on a beautiful pattern and yarn that Mica gave me over a year ago!

On Saturday, I met Rachel to run in Burlington, Wisconsin, our go-to (somewhat) middle point between our homes. We ran on a new-to-us trail, and could smell the Nestle plant in town for a lot of our run! It was lovely to see Rachel and catch up.

While I was running errands on the way back home, my older brother text me and asked if I had lunch plans. He happened to be in the Chicagoland area, so we met him and his wife for a late lunch. What a wonderful surprise! It was nice to spend my morning with one of my best friends, and my afternoon with family.

Me, Steven, Alyssa, Chevy (the dog), and Nick. They were in town to pick up this ’41 Chevy (the car).

It’s not often we get to sit and chat without interruptions when we are with family, so it was great to truly catch up. We finally got to hear (from them) all about the surprise trip they took my nephews on to California in September.

After that Steven and I ran a few errands. We both need new phones, so we went to the store to look at them. I am going to stick with Apple, but he is jumping ship (ha) and was looking at Samsung and Google models (we’ll order them online later).

My big goal for Saturday night was to stay up to watch Saturday Night Live because Natalie Portman was hosting and she’s a favorite actress of mine.

I was successful and stayed up for the whole show (only because I napped from 9:45 until it started at 10:35, ha). Unfortunately the show was mostly meh! Oh well. At least we have an antenna now and can watch meh shows again!

We got a few inches of snow over Saturday night and during Sunday morning. The roads were dicey when I drove to teach fitness boxing at Efit. This winter seems odd, with how many times it’s snowed and melted completely.

I ran inside when I got back from teaching, and Steven was lifting, so it was fun to be working out at the same time! We went out to the shooting range after lunch.

I feel successful when I hit the target!

When we got back, it was time for errands (clearing that snow!) then pretending to watch the Super Bowl. We had it on in the living room while we made dinner and banana bread, and prepped all the produce for the week.

I needed more quiet time than I had this weekend. Both days I wanted to take a nap (and truthfully, mope about Snow) and didn’t. I have a hectic work week ahead where I am giving training, and taking training, and doing my normal work. I hope I can find some quiet moments in the week!