Raising the BARRE

I'm happy to say that I have stuck with working out...longer than my usual 2 week stint.  :D  After my 2 week trial membership, I signed up for a MONTHLY membership at Barre3.  GASP!  I know!

I've been working out every other day for A MONTH!  Initially I made it to the 8:30am class but that didn't give me enough time to clean up and get to class by 10 so I made the change to the 5:45am class.  GASP!  I know!  This gives me time to get home, get the kid up and off to school, and shower before class.

Seems like the less I think about and analyze working out, the better I do and the less I stress.  I didn't make any major changes to my diet other than cutting out Starbucks.  GASP!  I know!  But I've lost a little bit of weight and by the looks of things, I'll be able to wear shorts this summer...cute ones that don't come down to my knee caps!

I thought I'd post some memes about my Barre journey over the last few weeks.

 Seeing results has given me the little kick in the a$$ that I needed! Now to make some changes in my eating habits!  sigh....

Grin and BARRE it:

With my 49th Birthday looming (May) and several "changes" going on health-wise, I decided that I need to get back to working out.  My running days are over (bum knee), I can't get into lifting weights, the gym cancelled all the Yoga classes and the other classes don't work out with my college class schedule.  Sigh

So I did some research for "low impact" exercise which included Yoga, Pilates and something called Barre.  Think ballet movements, squats, planks, yoga poses, everything with your body weight and a 1-lb hand weight.  Supposed to make you lean and flexible...I could use some of that!  

I signed up for 2 weeks of unlimited classes and this morning was Day 1 of "Project April!"  School backpack packed, gym bag packed and I'm out the door on time.  The studio lobby is full of several levels of fit ladies when I arrive. Super friendly lady at the front desk checks me in and shows me around and introduces me to the instructor, Hannah.  She's very nice and full of information which I only remember a portion of.

Hannah helps me set up my station with a stretchy band, a squishy ball and a pair of 1-lb hand weights (how cute and tiny).  The lady next to me says hi, we chit chat, she's been doing this for a few months and loves it.  Its the only thing that doesn't hurt her wrists (think Boot Camp torture) and she has quickly seen results!  That sounds promising!

We start out with the warm up to Lady Gaga music and quickly transition into squats. Lots and lots of squats. And lunges.  Lots and lots of lunges.  And arm movements.  Then arm movements with 1-lb weights.  Lots and lots of arm movements.  Those 1-lb hand weights aren't so cute anymore!

We're only 10 minutes in and I'm thinking, "This is going to be a lot harder than I thought!"  Transition into a yoga pose, up on toes, hold it, hold it, now pulse and pulse and pulse.  My thighs and ass are burning!  Painful but hoping its the fat burning off!  My legs are shaking but I notice several other people, Hannah included, are shaking too so cool.

Go to the bar and stretch out the glutes, then down to the floor for mat work.  Yay!  We get to lie down!  Wait what?!  Up on all fours, leg kicking back while we lift the hand weight with arm on the opposite side of the body.  This, my friends, was embarrassing!  I had zero balance!  I kept falling over.  Imagine a table whose 4th leg suddenly breaks and the whole thing falls over. This was me.

We get to the end of class with a cool down and gentle stretching and all I could think of was how sweaty I was and that I had to go straight to class!  Stinky!  No showers, just a packet of Burts Bees moist towelettes in the bathroom for a quick wipe down.  Great.

I bolt out the door and as soon as I hit the stairs, my legs go all noodlely...that is a word right?  Seriously, what the hell?!  Normally the "I can't sit down on the toilet without a grab bar" doesn't hit until the next day.  I JUST LEFT the class!  Sigh.  I make it to my car without doing a face plant in the parking lot and take off for school.

I get to campus with only my top 1/2 changed and manage to finish the other half in the micro-stall in the ladies bathroom.  Maybe I'm more flexible than I thought!  Made it to class with minutes to spare!  Go me!

I initially thought I'd try to make it everyday for 2 weeks.  
Hahahahahahahahahahaha!  I think every other day might be a more realistic goal.  We'll see how I feel Wednesday morning.

***UPDATE:  Day 2 is when you feel it!

Grab bar!  Grab Bar!  Grab bar!!!

Doesn't help when the Hubs and child are snickering at you while you hobble around the house.  

What I've learned so far in college...the 2nd time around.

Last semester I was amazed at how much work is completed online.  I did take 3 online classes and 1 on campus class, but even the campus class had you turn everything in online and you took your test on a computer in the "testing center".

Checking the ratings for a professor whose class you may take can / can't prepare you for how they really are.  I looked up a professor on http://www.ratemyprofessors.com to see what students thought about him.  They had comments like, "would not recommend", "would not enroll in any of his classes", "he's fair as long as you do the work", and the one comment that was SO TRUE, "does not give timely feedback".  I didn't have a choice on which professor to sign up for because the other class filled up so quickly (sign of a good prof), so I tried to make the best of it.  I kinda knew what to expect, right?  But the reality is, I would REALLY like to know where I stand in the class 2 weeks before finals.  Can you PLEASE grade all the outstanding work and post our grades so we know what to expect after finals?  I was beside myself with this one.

You don't need to carry a purse AND a backpack to class.  It makes you look silly....and old.  The key is to blend in!

When talking about your classes with your spouse / kid, don't call your classmates "kids".  It makes you sound silly...and old.  Although I'm fairly certain that I'm the oldest student in all my classes AND older than my professors.  😒  (heavy sigh)  

Apparently wearing pajamas to class ISN'T frowned upon....that one is still acceptable!  Yay!  Although I didn't try it...just wore my "activewear" because it was cold and I REALLY didn't want to get dressed that day.

If you miss a class, you can get notes from classmates via the App GroupMe!  Someone in your class creates a "class account" with everyones email linked or something like that.  Why can't you just text someone and have them email the notes to you?  Still more efficient than old school where you had to track someone down, xerox their notes or heaven forbid hand copy them!  I had "technical difficulties" trying to get that App thing set up on my phone so I just exchanged cell#'s with a couple of people for future need.

Not as many people bring their laptops to class as you might think! I debated buying a laptop but held off.  Glad I did because my Prof in Educational Psychology last semester banned them from her class.  Too many people surfing the net during class.  And studies show that "active listening" and writing notes during lecture proves to be more effective in retention of the material covered.  But this semester I have a Prof that speeds through his slides and I type much faster than I write...so I may have to rethink the laptop thing for that class!

It is REALLY HARD to attend a night class during spring semester!  This girl is in her daytime pajamas by 5pm!  A 7p-9:45p class, once a week, is quite a challenge.  Its dark when you leave the house and you get home at your usual bedtime!  Plus, Little Man sounds so sad when I have to call him to tell him good-night while on a bathroom break from class instead of tucking him in.

They have Food Courts!  And the food is SO MUCH better now!  Chick-fil-A and Starbucks! AND they have food trucks by the student activity center once a week! Nice!  At OU, we had a Little Caesars Pizza in a lobby near the dorms.  Pizza by the slice and breadsticks with marinara sauce was the cause of my freshman 15! Bleh!

Although I have more distractions now (family life responsibilities), I feel more focused than before.  Having purpose and direction makes it so much easier to stay focused on the course you've set for yourself.  And, I have a Husb who supports me in what I want to accomplish and a kid who is proud of me.

So the second time around isn't as hard as I thought it would be!

Is there something that you wish you had done?  
Find a way to do it!

The last 5 months!

The last five months have been crazy!  Once Little Man and I went back to school, it was a matter of getting from one day to the next without forgetting anything.  Our normal responsibilities combined with school projects, assignments, studying for exams, choir and the holidays made the last few months a blur!

Here is a quick rundown:

The Boosterthon Fundraiser at school!

LM is 2nd from the left.

Attending a University of Oklahoma game!

Go Sooners!

Celebrating Uncle Lonnie's Birthday at the Horse Track!

Henry in his festive Halloween bandana.

Discovered the neighborhood rats are being eaten by our resident owl.  This could be a squirrel, maybe?

Little Man's "Mad Scientist" costume for Halloween

The crew for the 5th Grade Boys Haunted House

The Mad Scientist and his victims

Lunch with Loved Ones Day at school

Lieutenant Commander John Hamlett, United States Navy (Ret.),

was generous enough to agree to an interview for my history project.

Bulls-eye in archery!

Lost the last baby tooth!

Thanksgiving with the cousins!

The school choir performed at the mall for Christmas shoppers.  After the concert, the kids had 3 hours to shop before hopping the bus back to school.  I was lucky enough to chaperone these six!

My crew (LM far left)

Christmas in Oklahoma

Building a gingerbread house with Grandma M, Aunt R, J and Little J.

The action camera he wanted!

The Amigos! Christmas 2017

Mom and Dads 2 days before Christmas!

Snow!

The Last Jedi movie with his buddy B

Ringing in the New Year with B and A

(sparkling grape juice)

Our handsome 5th Grader!

Back to School!

Little Man is a 5th Grader this year!  Waaaahhhh!  Where did my LM go?  He insisted on riding his bike to school by himself and I was lucky to get this one picture.  Sigh.  Needless to say, I was a little tearful for the rest of the day.

First Day of 5th Grade

First Day of 4th Grade

First Day of 3rd Grade

First Day of 2nd Grade

First Day of 1st Grade

First Day of Kindergarten

And guess what?!  I've gone back to school myself!  I earned my Assoc. in Arts Degree (Psychology) WAY back in the day but never finished my B.S.  Life got busy...and it got away from me.  Now that Little Man isn't so little and according to him, "very independent", I figured it was time to do something for me.

I put in my application, got accepted, transferred A TON of credits from Oklahoma and enrolled in 3 online classes and 1 on campus class.  12 credit hours!

Its been an adjustment.  EVERYTHING is done online.  I have a school email account, turn in my papers online and check grades and other "To Do" items online.  Even the notes from the Professor of one of my classes is online because he doesn't use a textbook.  CRAZY!  I'm old school and personally prefer holding a book in my hands and being face to face with my professor but these classes are what worked with my "still have to parent my kid" schedule.

The UTD campus is awesome!  Not much has changed as far as college goes.  Student Unions are still a thing but much more updated and it has a food court and a Starbucks on campus.  Oh yeh!  Students are different...more culturally diverse but the Professors still seem to be the same.  Although I do have a young newlywed couple in my Educational Psychology class that is WORKING MY LAST NERVE.  

I have found in my advanced age that I am easily distracted by all sorts of things!  Anything going on in my line of sight to the Professor.  The guy picking his nose, the girl clicking her pen, another girl picking out movies on Netflix on her laptop...and The Newlyweds.  Don't get me wrong, they're "darling" but when they sit  this.close.to.each.other and write little notes to each other on their spirals and give each other "looks" and hes playing with her hair, has to have his hand on her leg and is all up in her face with his kissy-face.  Its a little hard to pay attention in class. SO, I moved WAY DOWN to the end of the row.  I can still see them in my periphery but its a little less annoying.  I feel bad for the two guys that sit directly behind them.  Sigh.  Just gotta power through it dudes.

Little Man was excited about me going back to school! He gave me the same advice that I gave him when he first started Kinder.  "Just make one friend and it will be easy from there."  I tried to explain that I wasn't there to make friends but he's determined that I will.  I did chat it up with a girl and her therapy dog!  LM said, "it figures that you would find the one person with a dog". :D Oh, and did talk to the "Goth Girl" from class on the elevator.  She's really nice!

LM told one of his friends that I went back to school and that friend told his parents that, "J's mom went back to school and shes going to be REALLY smart!"  Well I hope so!  Feeling a little like I'm a  juggling clown right now...trying to make sure I don't drop any balls!  We'll see if I can maintain this new College Student / Housewife / Mom life balance thing.

Transfer Student Orientation Day at UTD!  

Free Breakfast, Lunch and UTD Swag!

Random Summer Pics!

Spent most of July in Oklahoma visiting family!  With a quick side trip to Kansas City.

On the drive up to OK, someone (The Hubs) thought it would be great to let Little Man try Twinkies for the first time.  I know, I'm a mean Mom not to let the boy eat whatever he wants. (eye roll).

So excited!

Yummy!

Once in T-Town, we met up with family at The Dilly Deli for dinner.  So good!

The chicken fried steak was bigger than my Dad's face!  Woah!

 Saw this character at an Led Zeppelin cover band show.

LM was like, "hey mom!  Look at his shirt!" while snickering because of the "bad word".

4th of July was spent at the River Spirit Casino - Jimmy Buffet Resort.  You would be surprised at how many kids were there!  The weather was great!  The pool was packed but the buffet was great!

Why yes, I do like Pina Coladas!

Chillin'

The Hubs showing off his strength.

Waiting for nightfall to see the fireworks show over the river.

Meowrica!

LM and cousin J

My Hubs family used to own and operate the Circle Cinema theater which was celebrating its 89th Birthday while we were there.  Attended a special showing of "Wait Until Dark" with its famous scene which scared the crap out of everyone!

LM and cousins with the original projector.

 Uncle Eric stopped by for some RC car fun!

Splash pad with the cousins.

Once the Houston cousins made it to Tulsa, we moved to the indoor activity pool at their hotel..much cooler for the parents to hang out while the kids played.

We've taken his picture on this slide before.

10 years old

2 years old.

I was lucky enough to have lunch with 2 of my friends from 

Elem / Jr. High!

They haven't changed a bit!

Carmen, Me and Ann-Marie!

The group visiting GiGi (front and center)

4 generations

 Pickle Boy!  This kid loves pickles!

LM developed Swimmers Ear after 3 days of non-stop swimming.   Ouch!  Not fun! But ear drops and alternating kids Tylenol and Motrin seemed to do the trick. 

Someone was not happy that Wonder Woman was the toy in a surprise pack.

LM with Mitsy - Grandpa Jim and Grandma Marty's dog. 

Last day with the cousins!