No Strings Attached

Posted By Kathleen David on July 1, 2016

Caroline has been out of school for a week now. She is in summer mode. She has been sleeping in (for her) and getting up at 8 rather than 6. But she has also been going to bed about 11:30 or so. She had been to the library and spent some time with friends. She had been plotting out the rest of her summer.

And she has been going to the gym. She has been diligent about working out. I have been teaching her how to use free weights for various exercises. She has a routine now that she follows when she goes. I am very proud of her ability to stick to a plan.

I had a larger than usual breakfast later in the morning that I usual do and that impacted my workout. I found that some of the core exercises I do just couldn’t be done with a lot of food in my gut. Also my legs are still recovering from the early workout and my knees were complaining so I knocked the weight down a bit to be able to keep proper form.

Peter has been going consistently too and it is helping his weight loss, blood sugar and mood.

Exercise is good for the body and the mind.

Today is plotted out for the most part. There are a couple of pieces I am still working out that I hope won’t be too much trouble.

This weekend is going to be another quiet one, which we like right now. A couple of weeks and we are going to be traveling a lot.

And in those weeks I have a lot to do but then it is a day ending in ‘y’.

The Mets beat the Cubs. It was a squeeker but they did it. Their strength is in their pitching not their bats these days.

I am getting head butted by Inky who is insisting that her head scratches are more important than me writing this. She is such a strange cat. This morning she was watching a group of starlings using the sprinkler as a bird bath and she was chirping along with them.

Enough avoidance, Carpe Ðámņ Diem.

I am grateful for improvements to our lives.

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Posted By Kathleen David on June 30, 2016

We have some morning appointments and I spent too much time catching up on Facebook and the like. My Simpsons are all tapped out at this point.

Then we are off to the gym and I am not skipping leg day.

After that puppet parts will be put together and more knitting done.

Things are happening at both a slow and quick pace but more on that when I am allowed to talk about it.

Just think good thoughts for us that some good luck is in the offing.

I am grateful for that which may happen and that which will happen.

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Posted By Kathleen David on June 29, 2016

With Caroline wanting to work out and exercise as well, our gym schedule has slightly altered as has the composition of people at the gym when we go.

Now that school is out, the summer schedule is in place and camp is going on as well as, for the children 13 and over, youth access to the weight room and pool during what where school hours.

The gym went to small towels to clean the equipment with spray bottles of some concoction that is suppose to keep germs and other things from spreading. All this meant to me was that I stopped bring a small towel to clean off the equipment that I used. Some patrons are really not happy with the change. Others have total ignored all the signs that say ‘clean up after yourself please’ because they think they don’t leave sweat and other things. New flash, they do indeed do so. Also how to clean the machine should be required knowledge for those using the machines. There are about half a dozen of us that wipe down the not so obvious areas where skin contact is common.

With the influx of teenagers to the room, some of the older members have been grumbling. It has been pointed out to them that from 5 Am to 11AM is before the teens can use the gym so they have that block. Not good enough for some.

In all honestly the teens have been better behaved than a majority of adults. The kids are putting their weights back in the right place after working with the free weights or a machine. And they are not hoarding weights and bars for the weights like some people I know that work out about the same time I do.

Yes, getting to the elliptical machine can be more of a challenge but no more than it was at the beginning of the year.

I am watching a whole new group of people using the machines incorrectly. I wish there was a way to convince people that adding weight will not cause you to bulk up like a professional bodybuilder. Adding 10 to 20 pounds to what you are doing will allow you to work the muscle group and not have to do 50 to 100 reps to get the same ‘burn’ and you won’t take 30 minutes on one machine. I see people moving the machines really fast and very badly. I don’t think they have heard of the muscle/mind connection.

I have had a couple of people ask me why I do the exercise the way that I do it. I have also noticed that people tend to listen in when I am instructing Caroline and explaining what the machine is suppose to do and how to make sure it is fitted correctly so you get the most out of it. They then tend to work out the adjustments on the machine based on what I told Caroline. I am perfect willing to help people sort out how to use something because when I started I was lucky and had someone show me the ropes.

I can tell when the new exercise magazines came in because people are trying all kinds of new things on the machines many of which the machines weren’t build for which is why we now have 3 broken machines (2 leg and 1 arm). Skull crushers are back in vogue as are triceps arm dips off the bench and some new weird variation on the simple lunge with weights that John Cleese would be proud to use as Minister of Silly Walks.

I am grateful to the people who pay attention to what is going on around them.

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Posted By Kathleen David on June 28, 2016

‘Life is what happens to you while you’re busy making other plans.’-John Lennon

Now I am figuring out what I can and cannot get done in the next sixteen days which is my Shoreleave deadline and also my SDCC deadline since they are on top of each other.

In that time I want to get three rather complicated puppets done soup to nuts and Caroline’s Rey costume revamped. Plus three Phluzzies to sell and finish up the Holmes and Watson originals. I am also going to go through the puppets I have finished and put a few on display at Shoreleave. So 6 puppets and one costume.

Once we get back I have the rest of the crew and whatever I am selling at DragonCon, which may be old stock mixed with a few new puppets. I have a lot of puppets. And Caroline’s big

Whatever I am selling at DragonCon, needs to be into the art show paperwork really soon now.

But along with this is the house repaired that must be done which will keep me from being able to work with my normal configuration.

I’ll sort this out eventually but right now I am not quite sure how.

So this week is about getting back into the swing of things. With any luck there will be photos next week of some progress.

I am grateful for clear photos that allow me to see how something went together.

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Posted By Kathleen David on June 27, 2016

Last week was pretty much a disaster creatively. Between the pipe breaking and all that ensued from that and my back deciding it wants a vacation, I didn’t get much done. This week I am hoping that my body will cooperate and there will be no more natural disasters that will eat up my day. Oh and that the stress level which seems to be aggravating my spine calm down a bit too. On top of that I am getting to the point in my life were hot flash doesn’t mean John Wesley Shipp in his costume which is not helping in the least.

Caroline’s summer vacation starts really today and she has plans of things she would like to do and wants to do. I will try to accommodate her and her creative endeavors. I will say that she is starting her summer by sleeping in but she was also up late last night.

Today I have to dig out what I have been working on and continue it both writing and sewing. I have to see what I can do about Caroline’s Rey Costume which needs some tweeking and some new pieces to look more screen accurate. Her costume for DragonCon is going to be an interesting exercise that I hope I can get done in time.

I am still trying to get something up on this page once a day. Some days are proving harder than others but I am still working through it.

I am grateful for what I did get done last week.

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