September (Lack of) Fitness Update

To all my faithful readers I have to be honest. I have totally fallen off the exercise/fitness bandwagon that I had been riding since February. It started when I my back was out at the end of August and I didn't complete the 100 Day Burpee Challenge. When my back started feeling better around the 10th of September I didn't have any desire to start doing the last 15 days of burpees, so I called it quits. I should have immediately started working on my home work out routine that a personal trainer gave me before I was pregnant with LB, but I didn't. So to be truthful about it all.. I have been walking a bit with the kids, but that is it.

The last month our old house up north was for sale, we got an offer at the beginning of the month, but with it came conditions, and more repairs needed. This was more money we didn't really have, and trying to organize it all from 2600 kms away was very hard. Dealing with it was super stressful and I don't think I admitted soon enough how much of a tole it was taking on my emotional and mental health.

To add to that stress both kids have been changing their nap routines. LB has gone from being a very consistent napper early in the morning, and shortly after lunch to late morning naps followed by late afternoon naps, or only 1 nap. Monkey has stopped napping altogether (for the most part), which means  no R&R(or exercise) for me in the middle of the day.

When we moved to Calgary, one of my first goals was to find a gym right away, and now we have been here 4 months, and with only running 1 vehicle I am unable to get myself and both kids to a gym with childcare. (I suppose I could take the bus, but I'm not sure how that would go with having to keep both under control and by big stroller won't fit... and between naps, and LB eating almost continuously throughout the day it is hard to get out).

So there it is, September sucked. I didn't eat great, I didn't exercise at all, and I am emotionally exhausted from the stress of selling the house.

Here is the good news, the house sale is closing today, and starting tomorrow GeoDad and I will no longer be paying a mortgage and rent. We are going to recover and get caught up. And I am going to get back to focusing on my health and working towards my goals.

But I am not going to wait for tomorrow. I have finished my coffee, and I am going to go get dressed and do my first day of exercises from the personal trainer.

I am going to try to get through this set twice
Box squats 15
Walkouts 10
Toe taps 20 per leg
Bench dips 12-15
Lunges pulses 10 per leg
Opposite arm/leg lift 10 per side
Plank 30-45 secs
Knee push ups 12-15
Mountain climbers 10 per leg
Jumping jacks 30

Thanks for reading and being supportive. 

GeoMama

(PS. I know I said no more excuses in February, and I just gave a bunch today...  but at least I can pinpoint what was happening and why I was struggling.)

Work in Progress: Sept 25

Good day everyone,
I wasn't sure I was going to get a chance to post today, but I have found a bit of time. I was at a wedding on the weekend out in Banff and since then I have been busy finalizing the sale of our house (lots of paperwork, phone calls, and running around, etc.). Over the last couple weeks I have finished a few more Farmer's Wife blocks bringing the total to 19. The next 2 I plan to do are easy with just squares and rectangles, but I haven't had a chance to get down the sewing machine in almost a week. Here are the new ones:

Block 12 - Broken Sugar Bowl	Block 70 - Prairie Queen	Block 62 - Old Windmill
Block 34 - Calico Puzzle	Block 111 - Wrench	Block 81 - Snowball

And all 19 together:

While I was out of town on the weekend I had a good chance to start stitching some of my white hexies together. I made my first row and bit on the way to and from Banff. I laid out the first row on my queen sized bed when I got home and decided 33 is the right number to go across.

First row!

After stitching the first row I decided it was time to redo my design layout of the flowers. Ever since doing it the first time I felt there was a couple flowers that were out of place, and that the whole idea needed to be mirrored. I was picturing the flowers falling toward the bottom left corner of the bed, and the way they were laid out they were falling to the right. Silly I know. But I had to change it for my own piece of mind.

Before mirroring layout

After, minus the top blue flower.

I added the top flower to the first row, then started adding my second and third rows.

2 and half rows done.

Pretty blue flower for the top of quilt. 

I will need to make some half hexies soon so that I can feel like the rows are actually finished as I add them. And I still need to baste lots more white hexies.

Anyway, thanks for stopping by to have look. I am linking up with Freshly Pieced.




Happy Sewing
GeoMama

Work in Progress: Sept 18

I took a break from sewing Farmer's Wife blocks this last week so I could get GeoDad's birthday present together. He now has a fancy new double-sided apron and a pair of oven mitts. I should be able to call this a finish, but the thumbs in the oven mitts are very tight on him. I will be making at least one more that he doesn't have to pry them off.

I used the Man'Z Domain pattern from Wing and a Prayer. My favourite part of this pattern was the strap for hanging BBQ tools that sits as an accent piece in front of the pockets. We discussed using the pockets for beer and BBQ sauce. He is all set to grill.

The front, with pockets and tool hanging strap. Beer fabric from the Man Cave Line. Pocket is Kona Black

The back, no pockets and no beer fabric, perfect for the cooking greasy breakfast after a good BBQ night.

Monkey modeling the oven mitt.

I used 2 different breakfast  sandwich prints just to keep it interesting.

LB all covered in yogurt. This is the cheeky sort of grin I get when I look over at him while I type posts in the morning.

Linking up with Freshly Pieced for Work in Progress Wednesday.

Thanks for stopping by to see what I am up to. Have a great week everyone.

GeoMama