So far, so good + 15!!

Okay, 3 days into my December Fitness challenge, and so far, so good. LOL! Let’s hope I can at least stick with something for 3 days….

Sunday I just did an Emkfit Dance video on YouTube (~25 minutes) + a 5 minute abs workout on Bodi.com. I debated going to the gym, but I got all off my usual strength schedule last week. Sunday normally would be my last workout of the week (Legs #2), but I hadn’t even done Legs #1…. so then I was like, eh, forget it- I’ll just do some cardio at home and then start my new month’s strength program (December) this week.

Em’s most recent video was SAD. It was titled something like “cardio for grieving or overcoming a tough time”. Of course I had to click and see what that was all about. Turns out her 7 or 8 year old pug Mr. Darcy died! He used to always be laying around or walking around in the background of her videos. She was (understandably) so emotional. She said he was her “best friend” and she was just so broken up over it. Now having Charlie, I CAN’T IMAGINE! The thought is horrifying.

Anyway, I did that on Sunday.

Then per my usual schedule, Monday would be a cardio day, too. I took Charlie for a walk after work (25 minutes) and planned to go home and do a Job One HIIT workout on Bodi. Well, I suddenly had a bit of a nagging headache, so the thought of jump squats or other jumping moves sounded bad. I decided to try the incline treadmill workout everyone was talking about last year- the 12-3-30. (Incline of 12, at 3.0 mph, for 30 minutes.)

Turns out, I really liked this! I put the Nightly News on and walked by the glow of the Christmas tree. I feel like maybe I should do this more often! Maybe this should just be my cardio for a while! I really feel like the key to sticking with stuff you don’t really like (for me, cardio) is making it as EASY and as ENJOYABLE as possible.

It definitely got my heart rate up (though I think I could probably walk even a little faster than the 3.0. It was moderately challenging but not overly so). I got a good sweat and it’s a nice chance to watch some TV. I could see myself actually looking forward to doing this, I think!

Today (Tuesday) I hit the gym after a FULL morning of meetings and did a new Upper Body workout for December. Felt really good!!

I’m riding the new month energy hard right now and hope to keep it going strong.

Got my new tracking page all set up in my notebook for workout #1. I do each of my 4 workouts (Upper 1 + 2, Lower 1+ 2) once per week for a month. So I recorded my weights and sets here for today, 12/3. Next week on line 2 I’ll put 12/9, etc.

---

Asher’s 15th birthday!

Yesterday was Asher’s birthday!!

The main thing he wanted was to go immediately to the DMV to get his driver’s permit. He had already taken the written test at his driver’s ed class, so we just needed to go pay the fee and do the paperwork basically.

Well, of course the line at the DMV is always INSANE…. We got there 10 minutes before they opened at 8:30 and there was already a line 15 people deep waiting outside.

It took about an hour, total, so I guess not too terrible. Right when we were finally up at the counter, and the woman was helping us, the software that verifies the social security numbers went down! They made a big announcement that they wouldn’t be able to process any IDs or licenses. Asher was super bummed. But! We got lucky. After a couple minutes, the lady tried running his number, and it went through! Sounds like it was just working intermittently. So he was able to get his temps! He was very happy.

I drove us to McDonald’s for a quick birthday breakfast before school.

First though, we went to a quiet neighborhood and he spent 15 minutes behind the wheel! I had to get to work and him to school, but I knew he was super excited for this, so we squeezed in a few minutes, anyway. He did well! Obviously brand new, but he did a good job.

After swim practice and dryland, he requested Texas Roadhouse (AGAIN!) for his birthday dinner. This is now twice in the span of like 2 weeks that we went out for a late dinner, on a weeknight, at Texas Roadhouse!

Back at home, he opened his gifts from us.

He wanted some specific Arena goggles:

And his big gift was some Sony headphones he really wanted.

We also got him some new Crocs and some underwear! lol. (Both things he basically needed, anyway. His Crocs were shot and he uses them for swim team.)

And that was a wrap on 15. It’s hard for me to believe I have a 15 and 16 1/2 year old. Like, what?!?!

He said it was a great day. Birthdays definitely get WAY easier once kids are older! I feel like we used to do a lot more in the way of parties, decorating, balloons, “special stuff”…. All things that created a lot of work for me.

Now the kids mostly just want a dinner out and some presents and we call it good! 🙂

Daily Gratitude:

I am grateful for that SSN system working for us yesterday. Not only because Asher would have been really disappointed, but also so I didn’t have to figure out a return trip to the DMV on a work day!

Bonus Christmas comic I saw the other day: