off the top of my head...

Colorado, you were AMAZING!!!

Carter & Kofahl Fams, I MISS you so much.

Sarah & Jenn, thanks for the uncontrollable LAUGHS this past Friday.

Blonde Girl, step OFF my unicorn be-@tc#!!

Unicorn, get in gear and become a stallion ALREADY.

Those who aren't in the unicorn know, so SORRY!!

YMCA of BV, oh shucks...I HEART you. So happy to see as many of you as I did.

Lady on the plane, you really need to learn rules of PERSONAL space.

Sickness, here's a flash: I'm SICK of you. Go away.

Shannon, I love YOUR love of the Bachelorette and Adam Levine.

Utah, I missed you. I feel I'm getting into the swing of things here. You make me HAPPY.

Alka Seltzer, WORK your healing wonders.

Bed, I'll be seeing you SOON!!!!!!!!

today

today was a day.
not a fun day.
not a miserable day.
but a busy, busy day.

today I was yelled at by parents.
happy parents.
mad parents.
parents.
they are all starting to look the same.

today I pondered the mysteries of the world.
Who am I?
Where am I going in life?
What's for lunch?
Couldn't come up with answers.

today.
Oh today.
today. today.
today was quite a day.





if you type out the word "today" enough, it really starts to look strange and altogether wrong. Pblhhh....

Shoes!!!

As I've noted on a few earlier posts, I was blessed with a very large gift certificate to DSW a couple of weeks ago. Yesterday I took my gift card for a little spin. I had a couple of ideas what I wanted but really did not have anything concrete. I really wanted to go in and "see" what they had and go from there. When I walked in I felt like a kid in a candy store; overwhelmingly excited from the expectation of getting something yummy in a store of too many choices. I did, however, settle on a few things that I am excited to add to my collection of shoes and accessories. I was able to get a pair of cowboy boots, red patent leather ballet flats, running shoes--which I desperately need since I get Peggy-ed once a week and my running shoes are shot now, 2 scarves--one red, one black, and last but certainly not least, a red Nine West slouch purse. Love it, love it, LOVE IT ALL!!! I was so blessed. And am thankful to our CEO and Board Members at the Y that wanted to show a few of us their appreciation for the hard work we've put in the last year during our budget 'crisis'.

Here's a photo of the loot....



I'm soooo excited about my cowboy boots. The Oklahoma girl is always in me, for sure. Fun fact: When I was in middle school I loved wearing wranglers and boots. Yep, I really did. So for my 12th birthday my grandpa Rod took me to Tener's and hooked me up with all I needed to live my Oklahoma cowgirl dreams. I hear the country music welling up inside me as I type this blog even now.



My other fav purchase I'm excited to wear, but not today as its snowing upon my "i want to wear my new shoes day" are the red patent leather Steve Madden flats. Those of you who know me, know that I have a love affair with Stevie. So I was super excited to get these gems.




And if you can believe it or not, which I myself am having a hard time believing...I still have about a 1/4 of my gift certificate left. But, I want to save it for a few pairs of summer sandals!! Overall my shoe shopping experience was a definite blessing and the first time I've ever been able to say, "I'll take that and that and that and..." and not suffer from shoppers guilt after walking out the door. So fun. The YMCA certainly knew how to shower me with a 'love gesture' I wasn't expecting at all.

Peggy-ed!!!

As I've stated in a previous post, I've been working with a trainer at the YMCA. Her name is Peggy and I absolutely love her. She makes me feel like I can do ANYTHING. However, during our Tuesday training sessions...when all is said and done...I normally feel exhausted and pushed to the limit; all while feeling extremely accomplished, amazing and strong. I've referred to these days as being "Peggy-ed". It's a new term at the Y, as a handful of other employee's have jumped on board and are working with Peggy now. We have our own support group and warn each other when Peggy is feeling "inspired"; because on those days you need to look out. No one is meeting with Peggy this week but me, so I was fortunate enough to be the first to workout to one of her newest inspirations.

Here's a peek into my Tuesday's with Peggy. (Thankfully she mixes it up so I don't get bored. And thankfully so I don't have to run 12 flights of stairs every time. Boo!!)

Warm up: 1 mile jog/walk on the track

Core Routine for Today (straight through, no breaks!):
Step 1: 10 chest/bench presses (weight 55 lbs.)
Step 2: Repeat step 1, then add 10 Squats
Step 3: Repeat steps 1 & 2, then add 25 jumping jacks
Step 4: Repeat steps 1 - 3, then add 10 wide lat pull downs (weight 60 lbs.)
Step 5: Repeat steps 1 - 4, then add 1 minute plank
Step 6: Repeat steps 1 - 5, then add 10 burpees
Step 7: Repeat steps 1 - 6, then add 30 second side planks (right & left)
Step 8: Repeat steps 1 - 7, then add 12 arm rows (25 lbs)
Step 9: Repeat steps 1 - 8, then add 15 calf raises (70 lbs.)
Step 10: Repeat steps 1 - 9, then add 10 dead lifts (25 lbs.)

Which basically equals...
~ 100 chest presses
~ 90 squats
~ 200 jumping jacks
~ 70 lat pull downs
~ 6 mintues of planks
~ 50 burpees
~ 2 minutes of side planks
~ 36 rows
~ 30 calf raises
~ 10 dead lifts

Then throw in some abs, some stretching and end with encouraging words from Peggy. Afterwards you attempt to walk yourself to the locker room and hope that you don't pass out dead in the middle of the shower.

Needless to say....I am enjoying every single bit of it.

oh for cryin' in the beer cheese soup

today...i feel like HELL. not kidding. every freakin' muscle, ligament, joint and bone hurts today. heck even my eye lashes hurt today. okay that may be extreme. but damn it i feel the need to be dramatic at this moment! seriously that work out killed me yesterday. and somehow i need to manage to pull it together to do it all again tomorrow. what the F? i can barely even get in and out of my chair. i'm happy to know that there are others out there in pain with me. that's right. i hurt, so you should hurt. i'm all about equal opportunity. and it gives me just a wee bit of satisfaction that Carrie--who was sent by Zac to guilt me into this pain--is feeling a bit of pain today.

oh yeah, i went with Tasia to the late night showing of Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince last night. we sat in the very back row, you know at the very top of the stairs. did she not see me walking--and i use the word "walking" lightly here--like an invalid? Hello!! Thank you for being a friend Tasia...sheesh!! When I made it to the top I quickly decided she was not in my Golden Girl Posse. She is no Rose to my Blanche, Dorothy or Sophia.
but i digress, and when it was time to head down. i didn't think i would make it. i sat for the 2.5 hour movie (that ended up being more like 3hrs due to mechanical failure--i thought all hell was going to break loose when the HP fans started grumbling and gettin' crazy) and my muscles rebelled at the thought of walking down the stairs. i thought about curling up into a ball and rolling down the stairs. but alas, i made it.

speaking of Harry Potter...when we were at the movie, 2 times the projector broke down. i thought those HPF's were going to come unglued and start a riot. i was sure someone was going to get cut. i had my shoes off and when the screen went out, and they sent some poor scrub at the low end of the totem pole at the movie theater to come out and tell them that they were trying to fix it, i quickly put my shoes back on. you know, in case i needed to run for my life. now i'll tell you honestly, that i wasn't sure how i was going to make it down the stairs should riot ensue because my body would not allow me to move. i think i finally decided on pretending to be knocked out already so maybe everyone would just pass me by. thankfully, the movie got put back on the screen and we all got free movie passes. nice.

now i must get back to work and become a slave to the man. but first, i'm going to attempt to get my aching bones out of this chair and walk into the lounge area and get my lunch. however, i'm starting to think, it's really not worth it.

SHITake!!!!

After weeks of avoiding Zac, one of the trainer's at the Y, he sent Carrie (the head of financial development & former temp supervisor over health and wellness) into my office last night to guilt me into my training session with him. I've been meaning to go, but we all know how well "meaning" we are to do a lot of things. So, with my head hung low I walked to the fitness room where I found Zac and we made a plan to meet today during lunch to customize a workout plan.

Holy Smokes Batman, I about died today. I may, or may not, have used a few expletives during certain parts of the workout. I couldn't help it. Obviously not very Y appropriate, but whatever. Right now every inch of my body feels like jello. When I showered afterwards I could barely raise my arms to put shampoo in my hair. It's been about an hour now and I feel good. Sore, but good. I have to do this customized plan 2 times a week with cardio on the other days. In 2 weeks, apparently will change up the plan. I'm sure it only gets harder.

Right now, I am going to go upstairs to the Spirit, Mind and Body room and lay on the vibrating floor, (I'm sure it has a specific name....but I don't know what it is!!), and allow my body to relax and rest. More than likely, I'll fall asleep, so I'll make sure to send someone in to check on me in about 10min.

Peace out, Girl Scout!!

My walls are up!

I realize that I have been super complain-y about work lately. It just tends to be a little more than I want to bear these days. I'm super tired. What I need is for the construction to be up, first week of camp to be over, and to have some sort of finality with my grandmother. Which by the way, the DNR has been signed and she's still holdin' on--just barely, but still holdin' on. She's not quite ready to go to that big pow wow in the sky. Yes, I just said that.

Let's see...

At work I answer calls non stop all day in between the registration process and financial assistance process. Since they are adding onto the Y we have all been moved to temporary places. Yesterday, I moved from a temporary spot, to another temporary spot. Which puts me 20 feet from the construction of the new billing/registration office--my new space when all is said and done. During this process, and as i've mentioned before I'm in my busiest time of year, I have jackhammers, drills, pounding hammers, and the list goes on right outside my door. And there's only a very thin wall to try to break the sound. It does not work, my friends. Because now during my already busy time, i'm screaming into the phone, explaining to parents why it's so noisy in the background or calling parents back because due to construction every 5th call the phones go out. Normally because they are rewiring or honestly, sometimes because they weren't paying attention and cut a line. I'm over this construction business. Thankfully today, I was able to see more headway with my new office area.

This was taken this morning around 11am...



It's stressful for us all though. We are 6 work days away from camp and we are all moving offices at a most inconvenient time. But what do you do? If the CEO says, "Move!". well, you move. My sweet friend Tasia is maxed to her limit as well. I came outside to check on her, and this is what I found....

Tasia: light pink shirt; Angie: dark pink. I didn't get the memo to wear the matching pink shirt and white skirt. 

Poor thing. She's overwhelmed because she has 4 work days to hire staff. And well, it's not as easy you think it might be. And I'll have you know, right after I took this picture I did the chicken dance for her. Yep, right there in front of the good ol' YMCA. Nice. By the time I left the Y, much later than my usual 6pm, my walls looked like this....

I think they would get done much quicker if they spent less time on the phone. Seriously!! Every time you go out there, someone is on their cell phone. 

Yesterday, wasn't a great day. I had a very large emotional breakdown, a heated disagreement with my boss--but I won, and basically had a hard time keeping it together. But today. Today was a different story. I managed to keep a little grace, patience and humor in my day. It probably helped that I prayed all day for sanity. Ask and you shall receive. With my good humor I managed to break out in song about the copier finally being fixed, a reprise of the copier being fixed and a little diddy of medley about jackhammers, mean parents and losing my mind. That one was actually funny. It made me laugh and my co-workers--one of them even added their own verse. Didn't see that coming!  

And finding a way to survive the insanity--even if it is breaking into an impromptu musical; that's all that counts, right? Right. 

FLOWERS!

It's been a rough week, to say the least!

I'm in my busiest season at the Y: Summer camp. Which means I'm in Boulder Valley soccer mom hell. My apologies if you are a soccer mom; but not really, if you act entitled, pushy, and down right mean. Because that's just not cool at all. And back to the loving place. 

As well as, I got news from my mother that my grandmother is about to die. I'm waiting for the call any day now. She needs to have surgery; however, with surgery, they doctors say she will not make it through that process. It would be too rough on her at this point. So, they are just making her as comfortable as possible and hoping for the best. 

With work and family I have been in stress overload. My stress has existed on several levels this week. So yesterday afternoon when I got home and there was a beautiful boquet of flowers waiting for me, I was utterly delighted. It put a huge smile on my face after such a long week.



A big THANK YOU to Rebecca, Vivien and Mook who always love me so well. You warmed my heart and ministered to my soul by your thoughtful gesture.  I felt so loved and encouraged. 

Love and Hugs to my California family today!!

Helena

I have a new friend. Helena. Unfortunately we haven't had much time to hang out as I've been super busy at work. But, my friends, this weekend Helena and I are going to get some bonding time. By the way, Helena is my new CamelBak Hydration Pack. Yep, that's what I said, hydration pack. On Sunday, Helena and I will head out for our maiden voyage hike together. I'm super excited about my new Helena CamelBak Hydration Pack. A great big thank you to my Y Besties who purchased my cool hydration pack for my birthday. You all Rock!!

it's been one hellacious work week.