Fitness Assessment

It has been just over three months since I first met with my trainer. Tonight was my third check in with her. I had started working out several months before meeting with her but I needed the goals and feedback to keep going. I was really nervous about tonight. I have been working hard in my own mind but lately a few events have led to me needing to hear the good news that it is really working. So now, it is 9:15 on tuesday night, I'm done with my fitness assessment. I should be happy (more on that later) but the numbers I wanted to see change (not necessarily the best one's to gauge fitness on) hadn't changed as much as I wanted them too.

Now the numbers which did change and the overall results were awesome. At my last visit with Paula 8 weeks ago I added an ab program. i'm using the gym ball, bosu ball and medicine balls. In 7 weeks since beginning those exercises I have lost 1 inch on my waist. That is in addition to the first .5 between my first two meetings. I have also lost 1 inch on my hips, to bring the total loss there to 3 inches at the hip level. so I've lost something like 4.5 inches in 3 months. Those are the numbers I'm not happy with. I really wanted to see a bigger loss in my middle. I HATE my belly. I have a roll that I just don't like and I want it GONE! Yesterday preferably. Paula, the constant cheerleader in a very good way, ensures me this is good progress.

The biggest and most positive change has been in my body composition and my flexibility. Please see
previous endeavors on this latter topic. My body composition has dropped 4% in the last 8 weeks. That is a total of 6.5% since starting. What that means is I've started building muscle. My percent body fat is dropping! Yippee. I knew it had to be because I am finally starting to see definition in my legs. Now if that definition would just move north and whittle away at my abs! See the recurring theme here? I have increased my sit and reach by another 3-4 centimeters, bringing the total bending improvement up to 8.5 centimeters. I'm noticing the difference there but i'm not telling you where ;)

So all in all I should be pretty proud of myself. My cardio/respiratory scores are up too. I'm losing inches, gaining muscle. The actual weight hasn't changed since my last visit other than the mass composing that weight is more muscle than fat now. I meet with Paula next week to step up the strengthening. My motivation? Proving to someone that I can and climbing Mt Everest. Not for real...as a summer gym sponsored program. One foot up the mountain for every 1 minute (60 max) of cardio a day and 5 feet for up each of up to five major muscle groups strength trained per day. With the gym, softball, volleyball, and biking on the trail five days will be easy. I just want to climb fast so that means muscle work to get the 5 feet per body part.

Wish me luck, I might need a cheering section. I am bad about seeing the positive in myself. I have accomplished a lot but lately the focus seems to be on what could still be done. I'll keep remembering what I've done so far and just keep plugging away. The goals...another 2% drop in body comp, a 2-4 point increase in cardio, another 2-3 centimeters in flexibility and I would like to lose at least 3 inches on my waist. Guess the best way is going to be to give it the gusto, say fuck it to the hard work and just do it!

Too drunk??

This is just too funny for words....man, haven't we all been here. I only made it 13 meters,
HelpTheDrunk and see how far you get. Once you click on the start icon your mouse disappears. Don't click again, use your mouse in a left or right direction to keep the poor guy upright. If you don't, he hits the sidewalk and starts snoring. The email I got said someone actually got the guy 82 meters down the road. Good luck!

In Memory...

Pictures of the USS Yorktown that I found when I was touring the USS Midway this past March in San Diego. I spent forever wandering around that ship wondering what it must have been like for my grandpa on a similar, though smaller aircraft carrier.

Today, we pause to remember those who have served our country, past and present. However, how many actually pause to remember. Too many are off to camp grounds and lakes without a thought of the reason they have the three day weekend to do that. Having grown up in a little bitty town, all stops on Memorial Day morning until all the crosses at the cemetery have been marked with flag by the little children. Only than does the town move on to the high school rodeo, picnics, and fishing at the lake.

So in the spirit of the day, I would like to remember my Grandpa. My Grandpa Keith was a member of the US Navy and flew off of the USS Yorktown during WWII. There were a lot of men who didn't make it home off that ship and of those who did, very few left. Grandpa never talked about the reason's his fellow soldiers never made it home. The stories he told were light hearted but usually had a lesson. Like the time a higher officer than he was lying on the beach during a day of R&R turning an obvious shade of nasty red. When my grandpa and a friend were kind enough to wake him up, they were told to "f off" and he went back to sleep. W ell, he ended up being court marshaled as getting a sunburn back than was an offense due to his subsequent inability to be useful on the ship because of his blisters and dehydration. Oops! One of my favorite stories involved the squadron getting lost. For all of those that have seen Top Gun, my grandpa's role was the same as Goose's. Grandpa rode behind the pilot and made sure he knew where they were going. Grandpa was super smart with numbers and such so if anyone should have that job it was him. The squadron took off and the lead plane had everyone in tow behind. As the flight went on Grandpa realized the squadron was lost and if someone didn't turn around soon, they would not have enough fuel to get back to the ship. I don't remember the details but for some reason the communication system between the pilots was not working properly. Grandpa convinced his pilot he needed to take the lead and turn the group of planes around. He says he remembered the lead pilot looking a tad surprised and a slight bit irritated when some rear pilot took the lead and turned everyone around. I can imagine! I just know they made it back to their ship that day.

I'm sure there were scary days and even scarier flights, friends made and friends lost. the only one of grandpa's navy friends I met was Jack Polcock who survived on the USS Arizona in Pearl Harbor. He is a lot like my grandpa. He saw a lot of horrible things but never once talked about them. So today, hat's off to Grandpa and all his friends. Thank you!

Half Naked Thursday

Sparkles for Ben's wedding

Nothing like a little bare skin with a few sparkles added to step-it up a notch for a black tie wedding.

Pager protocol

I always thought having a pager would be cool. It implies some sort of responsibility, an important availability. Whatever! i have already dropped one in the toilet by accident (they stop working instantly) and I can't even begin to count the number of times I have wanted to pitch it into a water grave on purpose. Let me explain how my pager at The Clinic works...it is considered a display pager. Therefore, when it beeps at me I have the choice to answer it as a call back number is left. This is compared to a priority pager, which beeps and when we have to punch our pager number into a phone and have no clue who might be on the other end. Now, I'm pretty polite with my pager, unless my hands are completely occupied and no one else is available to slip it off my scrubs and answer it, I usually always answer. Weekends, nights, in patient exam rooms, I answer it.

Lately, certain individuals are abusing my pager. Several weeks ago it began on a quiet Sunday afternoon when instead of my pager going off, my private house phone rang with a Clinic number on the ID. It is a hospital operator who has a patient on the phone. Claims he can't locate a service pager number for Team 3. Whatever....the thing is published all over every three months but I knew the patient so I just took care of it. Yesterday, my pager goes off at work with a number that tells me when I answer it a phone call is going to be on the other end. the PROPER technique for this is that the call should come through my secretary, she will page me, tell me who it is and only if I am able to do I talk to the patient. The hospital operators don't always find that, so I'm in the middle of the hallway (actually right out side the bathroom) and my pager goes off and I answer it. No operator, just a pt's girlfriend on the line with all sorts of questions about said pt. Now, I have a good memory and with a few clues (i.e. name and injury I can usually recall most details of a pt's case) but I can't pull up drug info and such if I answer a page no where near a computer and don't have an operator monitoring the call to keep the pt on hold until I get to that info.

Today was a extremely low case day. Clinic was quite busy but our cast room and operating room schedule was extremely light and I came home at 2. I have been in a funk (another long story) so i laid down to catch a few zzzzzzz's. At 3:50 my pager goes off, I stagger to get it (I was out pretty hard core) and it is a number I don't recognize. If I recognize the number I can usually determine the need to answer it, if I don't I have to answer it. So I call from home and it rings forever (first rule of paging...dont' page someone if you aren't going to be there for the call back). Someone finally answers it and it is a computer tech calling me about a PUBLIC Computer that I happened to report as not working. She called me twice yesterday already about it and I repeatedly told her, not my PERSONAL work computer, I was just the one who took the time to report it not working as it is a communal computer in our cast room that a lot of us use. Well, she finally replicated the problem and is going to keep it a few days before it returns. I point out AGAIN, not my computer, just fix it. UGH! Was it really that important to page me.

So, my pager is now sitting on my nightstand. I'll continue to answer it because the Clinic tells me i have to but if I get one more direct connect to a patient from an operator, I'm going to let someone know about it and I won't be nice.

Star Wars Mania

Well, I've been bitten. I have never once seen Star Wars Episodes IV-VI. NEVER!! Now,some of you will find that absolutely dishonorable. How could I be a true blue American without having watched such an epic. So, several years ago when Episode I premiered, I went. I didn't camp out for months, in fact, I don't think I even went in the first two weeks that it was out. I fell in love with Aniken. What an adorable little kid. My then boyfriend felt the need to educate me on the Star Wars "thing". We sat down in his dorm room on a Sunday afternoon with the goal of "catching me up". We got 30 minutes into Episode IV and he turned it off. Couldn't stand me trying to connect I to IV. I was completely clueless on the whole Darth Vader transformation, everything but I was trying to connect everything. He refused to watch any more with me. It was then I made the decision to wait until Episode II and III hit the big screen. I had waited 20 years without seeing the originals so what would a few more years be.

Episode II was extremely disappointing as far as movies go. The special effects were great, the dialogue and acting were horrific. Aniken trying to be "mushy" just wasn't good, but at least he was still very much worth gazing at. About the time it came out is when someone let me in on the whole crossing over to the dark side issue. No way! I don't believe them! Aniken, sweet, innocent, Aniken...the chosen! No way!

Last night, Dave and I went to Episode III. Sure enough, you guys were all right. You weren't teasing me. Aniken has gone bad, Yoda kicks butt yet again (for a two foot tall wrinkly, green thing he's pretty cute too), the Princess and Luke are TWINS???, I learned all sorts of things. Now my goal in the next week or two is to sit down and watch IV, V, and VI. Any of you here in Rochester have them on DVD that I could borrow? I would even settle for VHS, I could sit in my den and make cards while catching up on what the rest of the world already seems to understand.

So, bottom line, I'm hooked. Not obsessed, probably won't go see it again, definitely wouldn't go in costume but I do want to know the rest of the story.

"Half-Nekkid Thursday!"

Footsie's for you :)

just for you Os! you can't really see it all that well in this picture (mostly due to the distraction of a very sexy Jude Law gazing at you) but I had a nasty bruise developing at the base of my 3rd and 4th toe from having dropped a bottle of shampoo on my foot in the shower. The toe ring is permanent, been there since May of '02. And yes, Os you don't even have to point it out, I have Hobbit-like toes.

Anticipation

The Clinton's at Alive @ 5 in Helena, MT, August 2004

As previously mentioned, I am heading home for 10 days in July to hang out with friends, drink a good amount of Montana made beer, and just in general, forget about the summer tragedies related to working on the orthopedic trauma service and escape the manipulating tentacles for Dr. T for a good week! In anticipation of all that excitement, I may randomly throw in a few pictures here and there of my favorite spots in MT as well as some of my pictures from my last trip home. The above is from the second of the two Alive @ Five nights I was able to attend when I was home last August for 17 days. This is a typical Alive @ Five crowd...jammed back, groovin' to awesome music and enjoying plenty of brew. The band you see is one of my favorites, they too are home grown...http://www.clintonsband.com/index.php. The Clintons are always a great time.

So, I'm hanging in at work with my chin up and biting my tongue until i can unwind a bit in July and then be on the downward slide to the arrival of a full time traumatologist who actually WANTS to be in charge and isn't a micromanager on a power trip with short man syndrome. Can't wait for Dr. S to bring a much needed breath of fresh air to our department.

End of the weekend :(

Sunday nights inevitably come and not so subtly sneak into Monday mornings. I succeeded in the relaxation bit of my weekend but didn't do so exactly in the way I had planned. I did breakfast with R, coffee with M and actually went out to dinner last night with my friend, P for Indian cuisine. It was super yummy and we went back to my place afterwards for ice cream with strawberries and chocolate syrup. After being "assaulted" by Romeo, I called it a night and was tucked in tight by 10:30. Today I sipped my coffee wrapped in a blanket before making it to Mass for Pentecost Sunday. After Mass, I had my left over Chicken Tikka Masala with Naan. Watched my DVR'd CSI, Crossing Jordan, and Trial by Jury. Took at couple naps. Cleaned the bathroom, did laundry. Didn't get to making cards or watching Under the Tuscan Sun but was happy and content just the same. Now to bed to muse about the upcoming week...with the recent "coverage" issues with Dr. T, this week has the potential to get very ugly. Supervisors are going to talk to him about going against policy and denying me my time off. That just makes life miserable for me. Yippee! Have a great week!

The other kid

Mr Romeo...can't post about one without posting the other one.

This is Romeo. He's my silent lover. Likes to hang out about 3 feet from wherever Regg and I are at. Only wants to cuddle when he chooses, usually mornings are your best bet, and he Always looks quite suave!

Reggie...

The jealous kitty!

As I sit typing this, the above mentioned kitty sits curled up right next to my thigh. Lately he seems to be going through a possessive streak. Between my two cats, Regg is defintely the one closest to a "lap cat" personality. He likes to be hugged, cuddled, scratched and talked too. Where ever I am, he is. On weekends like this where my sole goal is to vegg and relax, he is a great pal. However, this past Monday he grew an attitude. The BF came over for dinner, then we worked out and then we figured we would head to bed. Normally I sleep on the left side of the bed if you are looking at the bed from the headboard. I have a pillow I put down the middle to throw a knee over. Romeo curls up across my left foot and Regg takes the hump of the pillow next to my torso. So basically smack in the middle of the right side of the bed. We get settled into bed on monday and Regg stands at the foot of the bed on the floor whining. Not just wimpering but a full fledge continous whine. The BF is in HIS spot! How RUDE! I tell him to jump up and he does (he thinks he is a dog so he follows commands well) but he just stares at the right side of the bed, like "what the hell are you doing there". I roll over as he attempts to get comfortable out of his normal spot. I roll back over about 15 minutes later, the BF is sound asleep on his back and with him asleep Regg has curled up in his perfect little ball right on the BF's stomach. Once the BF was still, Regg was all about reclaiming his spot and if that meant laying on top of the tummy, so be it. At least he quit whining and slept. I just thought it was all pretty darn cute.

Grumpiness Cured

IT'S FRIDAY! It is Friday evening and I'm totally excited for this weekend and much more mellow than I was three of the five days this week. The weather is still freezing, in fact I just turned the heat on and I'm making hot chocolate. I've snuggled in with a blanket and am set to watch all the shows I recorded this week with my digital recorder. Last night we went to dinner at Olive Garden and with the exception of the glass and a half or so the BF drank, I finished a bottle of wine. I was definitely feeling better by the time we left. I'm not advocating drowning one's grumpiness in alcohol but last night just hit the spot. It was great food, good company (and willing to drive) and a great wine. I had to sleep mostly upright to prevent the head from spinning once I crawled into bed and I had some seriously messed up dreams (lesson of the week: don't look at "exotic piercings" when drunk and right before bed) but today I woke up after a good night's sleep with a lot more energy and a lot less grump than the rest of the week.

I'm looking forward to this weekend. My friend R and I are going to breakfast, M and I are going to coffee sometime. I have three new movies to watch (Under the Tuscan Sun, Mona Lisa Smile, and the 40th Edition 2 DVD Edition of Mary Poppins). All of which i have seen but great girl movies. I'm going to sit with my DVR tonight and stitch on my quilt, make cards tomorrow, clean/organize. A total ME weekend! YIPPPEEEE!!

I do

Ben and Megan Kolkman

May 6th, 2005

This past Friday, three of us from Rochester headed to "the big city" to help our friends Ben and Megan celebrate their wedding. We have had a series of wet, windy, dark days and this Friday the happy couple was blessed with a warm, sunny beautiful day for their vows. So hats off to Ben and Megan as they start their new life together. Cheers!

Generally Grumpy

Don't know what my problem is but I feel just grumpy. Not at anything in particular, but more of a general grumpiness. We all went to a wedding on Friday night, didn't get to hang in the hot tub afterward like we planned and I think that is what set me off. Come Saturday morning it was gray, wet and I had half a headache from being up from 4:45 am on Friday until 12:30 am Friday night. We went shopping at IKEA which was fun. I bought myself a new nightstand to match the bed (see many blogs ago). I even put it together myself on Saturday night (I am a handy gal). Yesterday I slept in, paid bills (that always makes me grumpy). BF helped move the nightstand upstairs and put the new pedometer/speedometer on my bike and we went to volleyball. Picked up a couple games with some guys that were totally out of our league. I even played on their side a couple games and was intimidated as hell. Had ice cream when I got home. Went to work today.

After work, I snoozed for about 15 minutes and then called the BF to let him know I have an ankle brace he needed. Then I went to Walmart. Literally everything there was ticking me off. More than usual. By the time I left, I was in a fine mood. Now I'm eating tacos and complaining to Os about being grumpy and achy from all the volleyball last night. Pathetic, uh? Not sure what's up my ass but I think I might just be grumpy for a day or two.

Update on the hunt for a stylist

So I have enlisted the help of my co-workers to find someone worthy of doing my hair for me. i'm taking a step out on a limb this Friday and going somewhere new simply for an up-do for the wedding that I'm attending that night. That isn't too risky...do cutting or coloring so no risk of permanent damage. I mentioned today that I just need a gay guy to do my hair. Every gay guy that I have ever had do my hair was fabulous. My personal favorites were the couple that owned the shop in Helena. David and Joe....David did my hair, Joe waxed my eyebrows. They were so darn cute together. Anyway, my desk supervisor's cousin's mom (or something like that) goes to a guy at a new salon out by the airport. It is clear across town for me but at this point I'm very willing to drive there. I'll attach pictures of the up-do on Friday and see if they do a good job and then I need a cut in about a month so I'll try the guy at the new salon. Gotta do something different...blowing it out still looks goofy and it has been two weeks. Curly it looks fine so I'll just keep doing the "all natural" look or my sloppy bun/ponytail until the next cut!

I'm heading home!

The Missouri River between Helena and Great Falls,

just north of "the canyon".

I am heading to MONTANA!!! Next Tuesday I'm booking my flight to Montana for my annual summer trip. I'm going to be in Helena the night of July 8th and am coming back to MN on July 16th or 17th. I'm so jacked. I have a list of all the places I want to eat, all the people I want to see, you name it! i officially have something to look forward to as we work our way into the busiest time of year for us in orthopedic trauma. of course, if this current cold snap of 36 degrees (the current temp) with scattered snowfall continues(that is what it was doing this morning and most of the day), no one is going to get their motorcycles out and we will stay slow. But the tradition is that the "redneck triple crown" begins on Memorial Day Weekend and we in ortho trauma will be off and running. It consists of Memorial Day, July 4th, and Labor Day....picture lots of beer, loaded weapons, fast bikes, faster boats and lots of smashed everything! I get to miss the whole week after the 4th!!! And instead will be basking in nice moderate summer temps at the foot of the Rockies with all sorts of fresh mountain air to breath. YIPPEEEEE!!!! Be forth warned, I'm sure a countdown is to follow.