Move It or Lose it

This blog started a different way. It started as a random blog. I have so many voices thoughts in my head, it's nice to have an outlet. Then as I started writing, I saw a pattern. Well, let's get on with it.

I am having the best time in dance class. THIS is the type of class I have been wanting. This is hip hop, baby, and it's amazing!! I always say that as much as I love tap, tap is about form and structure. Balance is definitely required. It's very musical. Ballet is super structured. Form is critical in ballet. Even jazz has form and structure and rules. Hip hop, though, is about moving your body. You don't have to place your feet a certain way, keep your back straight, balance and shift your weight. Well, you do, but not so precisely. I learned to dance watching Soul Train. My favorite part of any club was the dance floor. I had a DJ stop the music and tell people they weren't allowed on a lifeguard stand while I was there. I've been offered jobs at clubs to dance. At one point, when hip hop started to get big and videos were king, I thought about going to LA and dancing in videos. Yeah, then there's that fear thing that grabbed me by the throat and threw me to the ground. Damn fear. It may take me a little longer to get the step now, and my body may hurt a little more when I get home, but you couldn't pry the smile off my face with a crow bar. Loving!! It!!

Yoga this morning was very humbling. For about three weeks, I've been getting up early to do yoga. I've been having some hip issues. It's almost like my left hip wasn't quite sitting in the pocket. It could get pretty painful. I also noticed during some of our stretches in dance I couldn't sit cross legged and get my left knee to the floor. It stunk. Lots of stretching has helped that. I still can't quite get my knee down, but it's better than it was. My right bicep, well that's another story. About 2 years ago, I started to notice that I was having range of motion issues in my right bicep. Not strength, just range of motion. The cure, believe it or not, was Just Dance 2. Then Just Dance 3. And, always, yoga. Then things went kablooey when my mom got really sick, then when she passed. I've been in a funk since and haven't done either of those for a while. And my range issues are back. They were very evident this morning during yoga. And it kicked my ass. It was all arms and upper body this morning. Some of the positions I couldn't get to. What?!? Which brings me to my next point.

I have gone as far as I can with diet alone. I was doing great with dance class and dancing, but then dance was over for the summer. We didn't get to do summer classes for obvious reasons. And really, I was depressed. I've lost 45 pounds, but now it's time to start toning it up. Truth be told, it's time to start taking care of myself again. It's time to shake off the funk and get back to my life. Big Sis gets cranky when she doesn't work out. It's been a part of her life for so long. That's how I feel about dance and yoga. I think that's why my hip shifted. I think that's why I started having bicep issues again. I think that's why my funk has lasted so long.  

It's time to get off my ass. It's time to get moving. It's time to get funky, but in a different way. It's time to tone this flab up. It's time to feel leaner and taller and stronger, which is what dance and yoga make me feel like. Besides, I gave away all my fat clothes and bought new, slimmer clothes. I am NOT cleaning out my closet again. Hubby would kill me. Not really, but he'd be kinda mad about the money. So would I, truth be told. I'm moving it and I'm going to lose it. My issues, I mean. The rest is just a bonus!
   

Make It or Break It 7

This is a 7 quick takes blog. As long winded as I am, though, it may not be quick. I crack myself up. And cue #1:

1. October is breast cancer awareness month. Really?!? Because we are all too stupid to know it's out there. I have not one good thing to say about this. Last year, I posted on my social media page almost every day trying to make people aware. I want them to be aware that there are alternatives. I want them to be aware that your doctors DO NOT know everything. I want them to know that you have got to take care of yourselves and realize what is going on with the food you put into your body. I want them to be proactive about their own health. I want my mom back.
2. October is also the beginning of cooler weather here. I won't say fall because we really don't have one. We do have a tree out back that changes colors and drops it leaves. We also get pumpkins! I love me some pumpkins. I like to process my own and use it for all kinds of things. I'm looking into buckwheat flour for pumpkin pancakes. I make an awesome pumpkin pie. It's always so much better when it's fresh. I would love to make homemade pumpkin spice lattes. I could drink a million of those every fall, but my body would rebel. All the junk in those things is horrible for me. I have one and that's it. Pumpkin donuts. Oh my giddy aunt, I have got to stop.
3. I was in the Young Republicans club when I was in college. For several years, I couldn't believe I had actually done that. I like to call those my liberal years. Now, I just want everyone to go away and leave us alone. I don't want to have health insurance if I don't want it, I don't want someone telling me I can't have a garden, and I don't want anyone telling me how to raise my kids or love my family. I'm not saying that cave in Tahiti is any closer, but a girl can dream right?
4. I am ready for this election to be over. OB saying what a great job he did and lying left and right. He shouldn't even be running for reelection according to his own words, but I guess that's in the eye of the incumbent. I don't understand why Mr. Hair has to be run down for making money. Isn't that what everyone else wants? To make money and be rich? That seemed to be the trend for so long. Look at reality TV. People want to be famous and make tons of money and live in big houses and have huge parties. All of a sudden it's not OK if you're running for POTUS. I'm confused. He made great investments. He made money. What do you want? Someone who will make you money or someone who will give it away? Soapbox...
5. My van is sitting in my driveway. And it shall stay there until next week, when the part comes in to fix it. Ugh! We skipped school yesterday (don't tell the teacher) and ran errands. The van broke down on Wednesday, leaving us stuck at the house all day Thursday. I took hubby to work Friday morning and we ran errands all day. ALL DAY! We left the house about 10 and didn't get home until after 3. Then there's the putting stuff away and eating lunch. It was 4 o'clock before I got a nap. What kind of junk is that? I did get everything done I needed to. Then off to pick up hubby and back home to make dinner. We have a field trip next week. We wanted to go to Disney after, but instead we'll come home and drop the gas tank and change a fuel filter. You realize that by we, I mean hubby.
6. The 300 or so acres behind us sold. Want to know what they did with it? Fuckers built a mud bog they don't really have a permit for and have concerts they weren't given permission to have without a sound wall. Cave, Tahiti.I just keep repeating that over and over. The mud bog is only permitted for BMX, not the 4 wheelers and trucks that run through it. The sound wall was supposed to go up before the concerts. Instead, our neighbors call the cops every Saturday night when the music goes past the 10 pm curfew and they have to go and shut them down. Cave, Tahiti.
7. Hopefully, in the next week or so, I'll have a new computer. I am so ready. As a loaner, this one isn't bad. As a functioning one that I need for our every day, not so much. I'm trying to hurry before all the Windows 7 computers are gone. I don't want Windows 8. All of our stuff is 7 or XP compatible. If we got 8, we'd have to start all over. I no want to. I am excited about a new computer. I've been taking pics I can't post. There's no room on this computer for it and it doesn't have everything we need to get them transferred online. 

Oh, the worries. I lead a pretty cushy freakin' life, don't I? I should just shut up and get over myself. There are such bigger things to worry about. It's the little things. Think I'll go wake my little things up so we can Saturday school. Yea for Saturday school and pajamas all day!        

Over Stuffed

I'm talking about my brain, not my belly. I should really stop watching so much morning news. I really like GMA even if George is a biased reporter. I think Josh is just as cute as he can be. I miss Robin, and I hope she recovers soon. That isn't what this is about. It's about all the junk that they fill my head with, amongst other things. Ready? Buckled? Let's go.

• October is breast cancer awareness month. Pardon me as I scream "We're fucking aware!! Find a cure, dumb asses!!!" I have a start. Stop putting GMO grains and sugar and chemicals in every little product. Why is there sugar in garlic powder? There should be nothing but garlic in that. How about doctors finally get in touch with the fact that there are many environmental and nutritional reasons for disease? How about we become aware of our environment and our own bodies and recognize that what we put in to them will come out, and not always in good ways? How about doctors and researchers stop chasing the almighty dollar and actually pay attention to patients and what they say? I could go on and on about the FDA, the American Cancer Society (fakers!), the AMA, and big pharm, but you can go back and read all of that on my blog. 
• Mitt Romney is behind in the polls. We cannot do 4 more years of our current POTUS. He even said if he didn't fix the problems in our country he wouldn't run for another term. Lie much? Please don't think I am a Romney fan, by any means. There's that whole pot/kettle thing. He sent jobs to China. That's going to fix the economy. Please just let us get to the election with awareness of the issues and what isn't a solution to them. And please don't give me that crap about not voting. You might as well vote for Obama then, which is what a non-vote becomes. Arm yourselves with information!
• My nephew is coming over this weekend. We are having our first ever youth tailgate party and worship service. I'm hoping it goes over well. I had hubby call his brother and set it up. We skipped the SIL step. Oops! Whatever. We are excited to see A. He just turned 13. I'm not sure how and why the time went so fast. He had an ice cream sandwich cake for his birthday. I'm thinking about making sweet potato chocolate while he's here, turn him on to healthy and delicious. We'll see. 
• I miss my mom. Horribly.
• Roseanne Barr is running for President. She's on the ballot in several states. Well, there you go. That should scare the crap out of people. Can you imagine Roseanne Connor running the country? She would pay bills without signing the checks or mixing up the envelopes on purpose. On the bright side, she'd tell you exactly what she thinks. You might not like it and we may alienate the rest of the world, but really, that isn't a bad thing either.     
• My friend F posted a pic on the social media site of a "new" style of pants. They're from the '80s. The pants with the zipper at the ankle. I never had a pair of those. I was too round to wear those. I would look like an apple propped up by toothpicks. I told her as long as parachute pants didn't make a comeback. I didn't like those. 
• I watched Kid Rock the other night on PBS. They have a concert series that I cannot remember the name of. I know it's not Austin City Limits. I watch that a lot. Kid Rock put on a great show. I would really like to see him live. My tour bus driving friend has driven his bus. She said he was really sweet and very polite and respectful. That is not his public image, is it? His back up singers were amazing! They have such great, powerful voices. They were even choreographed. I'm afraid I'd be too busy rocking out to remember the moves! 
• Our new neighbors. Big sigh. They seem to be nice enough. They have over 30 chickens now. They have a couple of roosters, They have 2 goats. They have 11 dogs. And now they have a 4 wheeler. And they ride it. And it gets loud. We are building a partial fence around the garden eventually. We need a little privacy. They are going to use the entire 3 acres (and really, if we had, we would, too), but that means they encroach on us. We want a little bit of not seeing them. It was so nice not having neighbors...
• My friend Hillside Hollow loves October. I do, too. It has started with temps that are a little cooler, day and night. I can get pie pumpkins, which makes me happy. I use it for almost everything. I'm going to use some in my sweet potato biscuits and make them pumpkin. I saw a recipe yesterday for pumpkin baked oatmeal. Oh, yes, please and thank you. I'm not so sure the rest of the house enjoys it as much as I do, but they tolerate it because they love me. Yea! 

Ok, I think that's good. It wasn't that bad, now was it? It was a little all over the place, so aren't you glad you buckled up? That could have been rough since I don't have air bags. Maybe not so bad since I do have a lot of hot air.