Art Plunge

  Last day of July and it's Friyay! Today is a work-work day at the lamp shoppe getting bases sanded, primed, painted and glossed. It's also Metabolic Renewal workout day- how will the workout kill me today I wonder? Please don't be another leg day 😜 Pretty proud that these 4 miler's are becoming a regular occurrence instead of a once in a blue moon event. This shows so much progress. I can now work on my time and adding in some short sprints. I'm being very careful to not injure anything... It seems whenever I start making progress with walking or running something stupid happens... plantar fasciitis, pulled muscle, etc. Not this time! Uber careful! One of my favorite things to do while exercising...shoot some Nature photos and share it with my online friends and family. So exercising outside is very motivational because of that. Since I've been keeping a record of my health stuff online pretty well, and because I think mainly chicks read my blog 😂 I'll p...

This morning I woke up at a reasonable time (4am... Which beats 2 am) and I was in such a restful, deep breathing state I didn't want to get up. Didn't have to get up... got up. I finally feel like I got some restorative sleep, it was sooo nice. Need to get up to do my miles at 6 am and that requires caffeine. It's the end of the month and I'll be tallying up all my mileage for the month and turning that in to my sister. We ladies of the family all do our own personal mileage and add it up together to reach a common goal for the year... That being 2020 miles in 2020. My mom always gets the most miles... It's astonishing and makes me feel puny 😂 I wonder when I'll be lucky enough to see another toad on my morning walk? Spotted him yesterday in the dark. Looking back on this month, it was a very productive one. Got a lot of projects accomplished at work, at home and within myself. Steady working to make life better and get stress off my plate. Taking care of busi...

I need a Nature getaway but for now I take the little moments where I get them. This months focus seems to be on"rebuilding" or building. I haven't even touched a paintbrush and my mind is on home projects and knocking them out. Little by little things are getting done around here and it's super satisfying...like replacing the belt on the vacuum and doing a nice vacuuming session on the house. Taking a toothbrush and bleach and getting those weird things off my sink faucet 😳 taking the car for tune up and oil change now has me wanting to do a deep clean on the car (much needed, it looks like it came from a swamp). Next will be getting the toilet fixed (it stopped flushing like 3 months ago) and the garbage disposal fixed. I'm not sure exactly why my brain needs to do all these things right now but it does.  I think a lot of it has to do with taking care of things you actually have control of... In a time where it feels like you have no control. It feels like chao...

Blogger changed its interface so I just wanted to write a quick blog to kind of check things out and see where everything is and what's new. Yesterday started off with Phase 2 of Metabolic Renewal workout and it was a butt kicking just like I had prophesied. We did this evil thing called Sumo squats that came right after some other leg exercises that followed other leg exercises...ohhhh LEG DAY oof! I was actually wanting pushups... Crunches... Anything to break up more squats! My legs were jello afterward and walking more than 2 miles just wasnt going to happen. I ended up not doing ANYTHING for the rest of the day except getting my car tune up, oil changed and a coil replaced.  I'm slowly starting the adulting phase of trying to get my car ready for inspection. It's got issues and everything costs money. I'm also starting the adulting phase of building my credit. I actually started this last year and got my credit from Poor to Fair with my first credit card. Now I...

Yesterday's watermelon party with my Mom was much needed. Got to chat with my brothers a bit and indulged in some CHEAT FOOD 🤤 ...one real ballpark hotdog in a real bun....with Sour Cream and Onion Lays potato chips....a real Coca Cola....serving of tri colored sherbet...and WATERMELON 🤤 Oh me oh my it was glorious. Got caught up on family stuff and then did a social distance meetup with a friend for a snocone outside. I'm all socialed out and ready to hole up again now... And jump back on the clean eating wagon. Saw this beauty on one of my walks and had to snap it! Didn't start a painting this weekend because it seemed imperative that I scrub my fridge down and kind of make some sense and room for everything. Part of healthy eating is prep work in advance so you always have stuff ready to go... Otherwise it's not convenient and junk food is. Make healthy food convenient. Wash and chop that salad stuff, always have it ready. So it felt majorly fantastic t...

Remember staring at clouds as a kid and trying to make things out of their particular shapes..a bunny, a horse running with a hat on, etc? I took a moment to do that and it was very peaceful. I decided yesterday to grab a little slice of summer and picked up a big watermelon, hot dogs with REAL buns and some sherbet. I don't know when the last time was I enjoyed ANY of these things. I might be most excited about REAL buns that are not gluten free, tasteless dry things...and hot dogs that are not turkey. Not that I want to know what they really are. I don't eat these things any more but wanted to share a slice of Summer with my family. So today-social distance picnic at my Mom's pretending it's a normal Summer Day..sorta My blog yesterday alluded to "loose" fitting undies and I should have heeded the foreboding words and changed undies before my walk. Two minutes into my walk they just started falling off and I had to backtrack and change into tighter o...

Last weekend I had no weekend as I was fully engrossed in projects, work and work projects. Somehow I trooped through the week and survived. Lo and behold...a weekend appeared and as far as I can see- it's MINES. MY weekend. Much needed too. I forsee cat snuggling, naps and my usual house stuff... hopefully disc golf. Definitely need to start a painting. I signed a contract to a new virtual show in the Fall and need to get new work rolling. I have graduated from Phase 1 of Metabolic Renewal and start Phase 2 next week! Super proud of myself for not missing one workout and watching my strength increase. So far I've lost 3 lbs and inches just about everywhere. One of my favorite pairs of undies is loose 😳 and some drawstring pants I used to slip on- now need their drawstring tightened because they keep slipping down. Whaaa?  Last workout of Phase 1. It was a butt kicking. It's basically a 15 minute workout on M, W, F with walking done on all the days you ca...

 Needed this great reminder by my favorite monk. Thich is also referred to as Thay so if you see that name.... That's who I'm talking about. 🙃 Life is stacked with work right now and I needed a reminder to smile, breathe and go slowly...it will all get done and I needed to enjoy the process -not feel overwhelmed. Yesterday after a full day working at jobby I had just sat down to dinner when I got my payroll telephone call. (I do a payroll gig for a client on the side) Usually I groan, answer the phone and tiredly muddle through the call but I was SO EXHAUSTED and just needed a small nap. Like a fussy baby. So I decided to let the call go through to voicemail, took a 30 minutes snooze and then called them back and dealt with it. This may seem like no big deal but to me it's a reminder that I'm coming at life from a better place with a better perspective. My body wanted a nap and I attended to the body. I didn't put someone else's demands first and I felt no ...

It's Wednesday and time to go back to my part time jobby. I've spent all four of my days off working on freelance project for hotel, goldleafing and then I was called in to do an emergency varnishing project. Needless to say I'm a little pooped but it is what it is. I'm hoping this weekend is all ME TIME and my painting sessions for me, me,me. 😂 My body said no 10k steps today...I feel a lot of inflammation in my lower back and thighs/legs. That usually means it's time to CHILL on the walking sessions. Morning breakfasts have diligently been chocolate whey protein shakes with blueberry, kale and water with a splash of coconut milk and cinnamon and vanilla. And actually I love them and they keep me going till lunch. This was yesterdays walk... In the dark! It's hot and humid in Texas right now so you beat the sun by waking up before him to get your mileage. I'm actually missing my walk today but will be back on it tomorrow. Actual photo of m...

I have the Calm app on my phone and admittedly haven't even used it yet... However it sends me these emails daily and I rather like them. This one was yesterday's and it helped me set the tone yesterday as I sat down to work on a particularly complicated project on the computer. Then three hours later when the program crashed and took all my work with it and I was cursing the skies aka my ceiling...I remembered the little reminder and felt guilty I was unleashing my anger. But I was also finding joy in the process of cursing and shaking my fists... So there's that. Yesterday was nonstop computer work after I completed my Metabolic workout (yay me!). I have discovered that my studio chair is not a good option for desk work because my back was KILLING me despite walking and stretch breaks the whole time. It literally felt like I was in a car accident and I ended up finally having to stop and go soak in an Epsom bath. Remember how good and strong and peaceful I've been...

Just a little check in about my Metabolic Renewal progress! Today is weigh in day and measurement day. The program would rather you measure your progress with a measuring tape and what is called NON SCALE VICTORIES (or NSV)  that's what Im seeing because the scale isn't really moving yet but the measuring tape is. Lost 2"from my waist and will be measuring everything else later but 2"in 2 weeks-I'll take it 🙃 Other NSV... Better sleep, better energy, better mood, no cravings for food after dinner (from 6pm till 8am just not hungry), feeling strength returning to my body and muscles getting stronger, increased endurance, better mileage and I'm losing my desire for that second cup of coffee in the morning. Like just don't really want it... That's major because I was a caffiend. Before Covid I was drinking about 4 solid mugs of the brew. Now I'm cool with one.  Yesterday I intended to hit 4 miles on my "fast walk" and ended up sm...

It's the weekend and I don't know how to sleep "in" so I got up at 4am to have coffee and plan my morning walk/sprints. I'm shooting for my second 4 miler of the week! I have a ton of work to do over the next 4 days I'm off from my jobby. Finish gold leaf project and 3 designs for a hotel project..... Then I would really like to start my newest canvas. It's been way too hot to disc golf here in Texas so good excuse to knock out work. I've been playing with phone apps and trying to catch up with technology so I can start making fun art videos. I've been really good on my new eating plan but got attacked by a 7 layer dip yesterday after work. Don't you hate (love) when that happens? 😂 Now I feel like I need to do some extra pushups and burn sessions to pay penance.  I've been asked to participate in a pandemic project and answer some questions about my experience. More on that when it comes to fruition. Also got my contract in for ...

A friend actually misses my blogs! So I thought I'd catch up with it ...Workout life is in full effect and I'm on my second week of Metabolic Renewal. I'm down almost 2 lbs. It's slow going but this is a lifestyle change, not a race. Definitely noticed that my arms, shoulders aren't near as sore after pushups as they were last week. Win! I'm slowly adding weights into the mix for extra burn. What better time than pandemic time to rebuild your health and body?  I like that this program has a positive group that I can participate with online. Some mornings I wake up sore and say IM NOT WALKING NOOO...then I see a group members post about sticking with it and now they have abs. 😳 I don't know that I ever had abs. What... What are those things? 😂 Next thing I know I'm out walking...sore glutes and all. Aside from being sore every day...I'm working my skills at work. Yesterday's project was to make a piece of wood look like a metal backplate for ...

Today I am super sore from workouts and walking so it's rest day. Only doing stretching today and maaaaaaybe a short walk. Yesterday I got no work done. I bought vegetables, proteins and stuff for my morning smoothies. I was diligent with my meals and good about not indulging in stuff I shouldn't. Today's scale said I dropped a pound. That pound could pop back up any minute though...so I'm resolved to just care about the measuring tape and what it tells me. Mondays workout was a butt kicking. Literally, lots of glute action and the dreaded squats from hell. I'm on Week 2 Phase 1...after week 3 I will move into Phase 2. This program takes you in phases to adjust you properly. Aside from weight and measuring inches you take assessment every week of things like your sleep, energy, cravings, mood, etc...my score has gone up since starting one week ago. Better sleep and energy is certainly just as valid as what the scale says. My sleep went from 4-5 hours to 7 hou...

Had a pretty restful weekend and ready to jump into my second week of Metabolic Renewal!  I'm going to tighten up my meals a bit (I had cheat meals, guilty!) I'm also going to add in some "burnouts"... burnouts are five extra minutes of workout after your workout and designed to ramp up your fat burning.  I did lots of sleeping yesterday, my body needed a break! But still got in about 3 miles yesterday. Saturday was my epic day of 10,000 steps! This pedometer shows how many walk sessions were 3,000 steps, 7,000 steps, etc. I've been pretty good!  Yay! 10,000 steps is kinda time consuming in a busy day but Saturday I just kept chipping. 4+miles made me feel like my old self. Got my Metabolic Renewal program in the mail and it's a bit of a read so I'll chip at it in time. Mainly getting the main gist of what to eat, when, how long I need to do certain things and what to not do. You work with your cycle and ease up some weeks and ramp up on ...