Crossfit Challenge Day 60

Today do:

60 sit ups, 60 push ups (or sub exercise) and 60 air squats (or step ups.)

Post to comments when you've done it! Remember to break up the reps if you need to!

Fun in the Snow

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We spent this morning up at Timberline skiing. The weather was pretty bad with lots of snow falling and wind. The kidlets persevered though. I was proud of them.

The snow was a heavy powder, very hard to turn in. We all took tumbles. Though when I fell, they kept going and were soon out of sight. I didn't like that at all, especially with Finn dashing into the trees and taking jumps. I had to put an end to that. All I could think was tree wells! Those can be very dangerous. I promised him once it was more spring skiing conditions he could do tree ski, but there was just too much deep powder right now!

By lunchtime, everyone was hungry. We ate in the lodge, warmed up with hot chocolate and with a unanimous vote decided not to go back out. The weather had worsened by then. So we packed up our cooler, gathered our things and headed to the minivan.

Chaos accompanied us to Mt. Hood. She also got to have fun with a long walk where she had a blast playing in the deep snow. She was up to her chest and bounding through it. She couldn't get enough of it! I'm sure she can't wait until we go again. If the weather takes a turn for the better, that'll be tomorrow!

How's the weather where you are?

Crossfit Challenge Day 59

Today do:

59 sit ups, 59 push ups (or sub exercise) and 59 air squats (or step ups.)

Post to comments when you've done it! Remember to break up the reps if you need to!

A Moment of Panic

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It's spring break here. We're planning to make use of our season passes and head up to Timberline a couple of days this week so I went to Safeway to pick up some snacks and lunch food. A few of my coupons are expiring in the next few days as well as the end to the Chill Out at Home promotion so I wanted to take advantage of those. I merrily shopped, filling my cart with all sorts of things. At one point, hubby stopped by to drop off the girls since he had to take Finn to Little League practice. He also reminded me to get cat litter, which I'd forgotten about.

Finally, I was finished. The girls put all the items on the conveyor belt while I read a story about Natasha Richardson in a nearby magazine. I reached into my purse and my wallet was missing. Talk about a moment of panic.

I asked the girls to put the food back into my cart while I phoned hubby. I told him my wallet wasn't in my purse and I had no idea where it was. He said he'd be right there.

The girls and I retraced my day. I could have sworn I saw my wallet in my purse when someone I'd recently met asked me for my website. They'd tried to find it over the weekend, but couldn't so I pulled out a piece of paper and jotted down the url. My oldest reminded me that I'd called the pharmacy to refill Rocket's Hyper-T medicine and I'd had my debit card in hand when I was on the phone. (It's a compound prescription that is only done at a few pharmacies and they mail it to me so I don't have to drive all the way into Portland.) I prayed I'd left my wallet by the phone.

Hubby showed up, paid for the groceries, then went with me to the gas station since my gas warning light had illuminated when I was driving to the store. He also put air in my tires so I'd be all set for my drives to and from Mount Hood this week! I was trying not to freak out about my missing wallet so barely heard a word he said except bye.

When we got home, I told the girls to unload the minivan while I ran inside. The wallet wasn't by the phone, but it was on the kitchen island. Huge sigh of relief! Losing that would have been a total pain and totally put a damper into our spring break plans.

Now I just have to add one more thing to my checklist before I walk out the door. I'm always forgetting my cellphone, too, which hubby doesn't like!

Other than that, it was a quiet day. I had my annual mammogram this morning. Ouch.

How was your day?

Crossfit Challenge Day 58

Today do:

58 sit ups, 58 push ups (or sub exercise) and 58 air squats (or step ups.)

Post to comments when you've done it! Remember to break up the reps if you need to!

Crossfit Challenge Day 57

Today do:

57 sit ups, 57 push ups (or sub exercise) and 57 air squats (or step ups.)

Post to comments when you've done it! Remember to break up the reps if you need to!

Finally!

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Hubby had a couple of things on his honey do list last week while he was off work. Unfortunately it took until this week for one of them to get done (I'm still waiting on the others!)

But as of a couple of days ago, all of the contest books have been mailed! So if you're one of the ones who never got your book, you will soon. They were shipped media mail on the 24th so depending on where you live, you may start seeing them as soon as next week! Thanks for being so patient.

Hope you have a great Saturday.

Mine's off to a good start. A couple of pages written, a nice phone call with my critique partners and more writing! How's your day going so far?

Crossfit Challenge Day 56

Today do:

56 sit ups, 56 push ups (or sub exercise) and 56 air squats (or step ups.)

Post to comments when you've done it! Remember to break up the reps if you need to!

Just wanted to let you know I'm happy and proud so many of you have continued on with the challenge! As my oldest would say, "You rock!"

Blinddatebrides.com

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My June release, Dream Date with the Millionaire, is book 3 in the Blinddatebrides.com trilogy. It's about three women who meet on an online dating site called Blind Date Brides.

Jennie Adams is the author of the first book, Nine-to-Five Bride, that will be out in April. Fiona Harper is the author of the second book, Blind Date Baby, that hits the shelves in May. And then you have me!

We're still putting some of the final touches on our website so a few things might be missing, but check out Blind Date Brides if you get the chance. I think Fiona did a great job putting it together. There are lots of fun things about the characters as well as excerpts. And if you see anything wrong or not working, please let me know. Thanks!

Have a great Friday!

Crossfit Challenge Day 55

Today do:

55 sit ups, 55 push ups (or sub exercise) and 55 air squats (or step ups.)

Post to comments when you've done it!

Late Nights with the Leapster

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My house is full of all sorts of toys. I'll come downstairs and find a stable of My Little Pony figures set up or a battle scene between knights or Star War figures. Toys just seem to be everywhere.

The one place toys aren't allowed is bed unless they are stuffed animals. Or at least, they aren't supposed to be there.

Let's backtrack a week or so ago. My youngest was looking very tired, exhausted really with dark circles under her eyes and pale skin. I was becoming concerned that something was wrong with her. She was irritable and would pretty much collapse in the afternoon. No more arguments about whether she needed a nap or not. I was ready to call the doctor.

I first wanted to make sure she was getting enough good sleep. I separated the three kids and made them sleep in their own rooms. This met with protests from the youngest, but the older two seemed relieved. My oldest daughter said maybe now she'd be able to sleep. I asked what she meant. She said Rose would keep her up.

This set off my mommy radar. I knew they would talk a little, but not that much.

I went into Rose's room to tuck her in. When I put my hand on her bed, I felt something under her covers. Her Leapster. I took it away much to her protests, but she knows the rules about toys in bed. The next morning she woke up looking and acting more like her old self. Hmmm. I talked to the other two kidlets. Turns out Rose had been taking her beloved Leapster to bed and playing with it until the wee hours of the night. (She usually only plays with it in the car or waiting while the other kids take their Irish dance classes.) I asked why they didn't tell me, and they said they didn't want to get her in trouble!

After a few nights of no Leapster play, everyone's rested and back to normal. And just to be on the safe said, I make sure the Leapster is out of reach come nightfall!

Crossfit Challenge Day 54

Today do:

54 sit ups, 54 push ups (or sub exercise) and 54 air squats (or step ups.)

Post to comments when you've done it!

Crossfit Challenge Day 53

Today do:

53 sit ups, 53 push ups (or sub exercise) and 53 air squats (or step ups.)

Post to comments when you've done it!

Writing!

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I have a goal this week that goes beyond my JaNoWriMo goal. I want to complete the rough draft of my proposal by Friday. Not sure I can since I'm behind where I want to be, but I'm going to give it my best shot.

Of course, with a quiet house right now, the thing I'd really like to do is take a nap, but I'll persevere and write instead!

I know Amy is busy trying to get her downstairs remodel done in time for her dinner on Thursday. Are you trying to get anything finished this week?

Crossfit Challenge Day 52

Today do:

52 sit ups, 52 push ups (or sub exercise) and 52 air squats (or step ups.)

Post to comments when you've done it!

Eleven

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The birthday celebration for my oldest continues! Today is her actual birthday. She turned 11 at 3:43 am this morning. I'd rather not think about what I was doing at that time eleven years ago with the two neonatal nurses, an OB I'd just met about fourteen hours or so before that, a labor/delivery nurse and a paramedic guy observing. Oh, yeah, hubby was there, too.

This morning was chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast. My youngest kept wanting to have Mackenna open presents, but I convinced her we should wait.

In understand her impatience. Last night after the movie, I took the two younger one to Target to buy their sister a gift. I'd planned on giving them each a couple of dollars to pick out some little thing. They both surprised me by pulling out their own money. They wanted to buy her something nicer. (Their fighting led to them not being able to buy each other Christmas gifts so I think they wanted to make it up to her.) Of course, they wanted to each pick out the perfect gift which took a very long time. But it was worth it and I can't wait to see Mackenna's face when she opens their gifts.

I still haven't uploaded the photos from the party, but will do. I have a field trip this afternoon with Mackenna and also need to put together a snack for her girls' club meeting tonight!

Hope you had a great weekend!

Crossfit Challenge Day 51

Today do:

51 sit ups, 51 push ups (or sub exercise) and 51 air squats (or step ups.)

Post to comments when you've done it! Remember, break the reps up if you need to. If you want to keep track of them here, feel free to post the reps you do during the day and then a final done!

Crossfit Challenge Day 50

Today do:

50 sit ups, 50 push ups (or sub exercise) and 50 air squats (or step ups.)

Post to comments when you've done it!

Sorry for posting this so late. I was so busy with the party I forgot completely about blogging though I managed my sit-ups. All the girls had a great time. I have some pics I'll upload when I'm not so tired. After the party we went to see High School Musical 3 at a theater downtown that plays second run movies. A perfect day for my almost eleven year old!

Story of my life

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That picture pretty much sums up my life right now. Sigh...

I'll spend my day preparing for the party tomorrow and icing my foot. Yep, it's hurting again but not too bad. Just don't want to take any chances. I need to be as close to 100% tomorrow as possible!

Crossfit Challenge Day 49

Today do:

49 sit ups, 49 push ups (or sub exercise) and 49 air squats (or step ups.)

Post to comments when you've done it!

Almost halfway there. I have quite a few squats to make up and all of yesterday too!

Chocolate and Vanilla

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This weekend is my oldest's birthday party. She turns 11 on Monday, but weekdays are bad times for parties especially when it's spring break in Oregon. Of course, she's still performing for St. Patrick's celebrations, dancing in Tacoma today and again tomorrow in Portland. That left us Sunday for the party. A good thing since I'll need tomorrow to clean!

She wanted to have a French Poodle theme. The colors would be pink, black and white. I already had a craft and an activity I'd bought a couple of years ago as well as invitations I could print on so was pretty much set. Easy peasy, I thought. Until she tossed something unexpected into theme "Afternoon in Paris" theme...she wanted to have pasta for lunch.

This might not have been a problem for any other mom, but I'm all into the theme. I'll be honest, I'm completely insane over themes. No way was pasta going to work with Paris, but since that's her favorite food I knew we had to have that for the lunch portion. So I put on my thinking cap and came up with a new theme. Well, actually a double theme. She gets her afternoon in Paris with French Poodles, a fashion-jewelry type craft and decorating pastries, but first she and her guests will get a taste of Tuscany with a pasta bar and Italian sodas.

Not willing to stop there, I decided to go full bore with the travel idea. I made passports for each of the ten girls who'll be attending. I found a rail map from Rome to Paris on the Internet, too. I also made stickers of all the things we'd be doing, French and Italian flags/landmarks, passport stamps, a Eurail ticket and anything else I thought they might want to put in their passports. I also have space for autographs.

And in case you're wondering what the LOLcat picture above has to do with the post, remember the part about pastry decorating. Well, my daughter wants to have both chocolate and vanilla (okay, yellow) so the girls can choose what kind of cake they want. I'm borrowing a baking dish from a friend that makes a little larger than cupcake size round cake layers. But instead of just making 10 cakes, I'll need to make 20 so each has a choice. Oh, well, baking cakes is easy and cheap so I shouldn't complain. I think I'll bake them the night before. I'll have too much else going on with the pasta lunch to worry about cakes.

Now to pull it all together! That's what I'll be doing the next couple of days. How about you?

Crossfit Challenge Day 48

Today do:

48 sit ups, 48 push ups (or sub exercise) and 48 air squats (or step ups.)

Post to comments when you've done it!

Remember, if it starts feeling like too much break the exercises up! Jane posted in yesterday's comments that she's not doing more than 20 reps at a time. That's the way you'll make it to 100! Break it into manageable reps and spread them out over the day!

I'm hoping to get back to the full challenge today! I overdid it a bit on Wednesday (had a class to teach) and paid the price today, but it's much better than on Monday! So yay! I hope that means I'll get back to my normal, daily routine! I feel so out of the loop with everyone right now!

Crossfit Challenge Day 47

Today do:

47 sit ups, 47 push ups (or sub exercise) and 47 air squats (or step ups.)

Post to comments when you've done it!

We're nearing the halfway point. How are you doing? I've managed the sit ups the last two days, but that's it. The good news is I'm getting around better!

Crossfit Challenge Day 46

Today do:

46 sit ups, 46 push ups (or sub exercise) and 46 air squats (or step ups.)

Post to comments when you've done it!

Crossfit Challenge Day 45 and more

Today do:

45 sit ups, 45 push ups (or sub exercise) and 45 air squats (or step ups.)

Post to comments when you've done it!


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I hurt my achilles tendon. Like the picture above, it does suck. Sure wish I would have been doing something fun when I got hurt, but nope and I wasn't exercising, either! It's a total bummer and not what I needed to have happen right now. Oh, well...

I can still do situps and my arm exercises no problem. I managed to do one legged squats today. Though hubby might put an end to those. As long as I can keep up with the sit ups, I'll be fine. Too many of those to make up are killer as I learned this weekend. But I can catch up on squats no problem!

They put me on steroids to help the healing process. I opted no when asked about a boot, but the next few days will determine if I remain bootless. Fingers crossed things heal quickly.

Needless to say, I'm trying to stay off my feet as much as I can. This has one of those be careful watch you wish for labels on it after my busy weekend! There are times when I have to be up and about due to the kids and some other things, so I'm limiting my time at the computer and anything else that doesn't promote healing, so won't be blogging except for the Crossfit challenge. No blog hopping, either. If you do need to reach me for some reason, I am checking email a couple times a day.

Hope you all are well and healthy! Take care!

And Happy St. Patrick's Day. Instead of watching my daughter perform all over Portland, including City Hall, I get to stay home. Next year! Just like I told myself last year when I was on deadline. Sigh...

Crossfit Challenge Day 44

Today do:

44 sit ups, 44 push ups (or sub exercise) and 44 air squats (or step ups.)

Post to comments when you've done it! I have to do today's along with 24 more sit ups and I'll be caught up with the four days I missed!

Breathing Deeply

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It was one of those crazy busy weekends again. I totally forgot it was the weekend before St. Patrick's Day. That meant my oldest had three different performances this weekend. It's also her birthday a week from Monday and we're throwing her a party on Sunday so I had to get things for that. Needless to say, my "priorities" got totally shifted around. To top it off both my printers ran out of toner! Ack! That required a run to Office Max this afternoon!

One thing that got accomplishment, however, was getting the rest of the contest wins packaged up. Finally. I had hubby help me. I'd misplaced one of the boxes and couldn't find all the books so we had to move things around to find where they were. Anyway, the remaining ones are now packaged and ready to go to the post office tomorrow. That'll be his job! He's off work this week so I'm giving him a "honey do" list.

I still have some time left tonight for more situps and pages. Fingers crossed I get something, other than attending Mass this morning, done this weekend!

How was you're weekend?

Crossfit Challenge Day 43

Today do:

43 sit ups, 43 push ups (or sub exercise) and 43 air squats (or step ups.)

Post to comments when you've done it!

Computer and Crossfit Catchup

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My two priorities this weekend are catching up on my weekly word count and Crossfit workouts. I don't want to tell you how many words I should type over the next two days, but it's a lot considering my current daily output. It means my computer and I will become intimately reacquainted and I might need to stock up on some chocolate.

I am still working on making up days 33, 34 and a new one, 40. Almost got the squats covered, but not the other exercises. I'm tired of having those hanging over me so I will get it done this weekend. My abs are going to be burning!

Of course, I'll still do my weekly shopping trip, Mass on Sunday and, I hope, something fun with the family.

What do you have going on this weekend?

Crossfit Challenge Day 42

Today do:

42 sit ups, 42 push ups (or sub exercise) and 42 air squats (or step ups.)

Post to comments when you've done it!

Guest Blogging Today

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I'm guest blogging at the Wedding Planners today!

Crossfit Challenge Day 41

Today do:

41 sit ups, 41 push ups (or sub exercise) and 41 air squats (or step ups.)

Post to comments when you've done it!

Vacation dreaming

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Yesterday was a beautiful sunny day in the PNW. Still a little chilly, but blue skies abound. The same (along with a high of 55) is on tap today. Nice weather in the winter always gets me thinking about vacations.

Last year, I attended the RWA conference in SF and took the family for a nice vacation in the Bay Area. This year's conference is in Washington D.C. and I'm skipping it. So I started thinking about what other trips we had planned. That brought a big uh-oh.

Right now we have nothing planned except our annual family camping over the 4th of July and a trip to Seattle in late July for an Irish Dance feis. Of course I forgot to make the hotel reservations last month. I also realized I never made reservations at the kids favorite campground at Cape Disappointment. You can reserve a site nine months in advance so I really dropped the ball on that one, but it was back in the fall when my hands were giving me so much trouble and I was on deadline. Still the kids are going to want to camp on the beach this summer since our trip last year had to be cancelled.

Have you planned any summer vacations yet?

Crossfit Challenge Day 40

Today do:

40 sit ups, 40 push ups (or sub exercise) and 40 air squats (or step ups.)

Post to comments when you've done it!
Labels: crossfit

Tightening the belt

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This weekend I went back to Safeway and bought five more boxes of cereal. The family was with me. I thought it would be good to show them the power of coupons and shopping sales. We walked out with approximately $100 of groceries that cost us a little over $38 plus we received a $10 catalina (prints out at checkout time) for our next purchase of frozen foods. And the best part is I bought food we like, not just stuff because it was on sale. That to me is a waste of money.

I earned more smiles yesterday when hubby was headed with the kidlets to Irish dance. I handed him a map and five coupons. We usually drive another dancer to class on Tuesdays so that's why the five coupons and not four. Jack in the Box was giving away a free small soda and fries. No purchase necessary. All you needed was a coupon, one per customer. I'd found the link to the giveaway on one of the blogs I'd posted about a couple of weeks ago, did a quick google search to find the one closest to the dance studio and voila! A free before class snack for all!

So even though we're on a pretty tight budget right now with our Total Money Makeover and seem to be tightening our belt even more, it's not so bad when freebies and other deals, like free Redbox movies, keep popping up on my google reader!

Do you budget your money or not worry about it?

Crossfit Challenge Day 39

Today do:

39 sit ups, 39 push ups (or sub exercise) and 39 air squats (or step ups.)

Post to comments when you've done it!

Castle

If you read this blog regularly, you know I don't watch much, if any, television. The writers on the two shows I used to watch let me down and I never did go back even though the shows, from what I hear, have gotten better. I think my dissolution with television began after Invasion was cancelled after its first season a couple of years ago. Anyway, a couple of my blogging friends posted about a new show Castle yesterday. I'd heard about it, read an article about the show in our TV guide and told hubby I hoped to remember to watch it. I've liked Nathan Fillion, the actor who stars in it, ever since his stint on Two Guys, a Girl and a Pizza Place. Of course at 10 o'clock last night, I couldn't remember what channel it was on, and as I flicked through the channels didn't see it. I grabbed the guide and saw it was on ABC even though Dancing with the Stars was still on. For some reason that show ran to 10:02 pm. Hubby and I watched the show and enjoyed it. Nathan Fillion is perfect in the role of a bestselling mystery author. I found myself laughing and nodding when some of the things about being a writer came up. I liked how they showed how Castle's writer brain functioned. The scene with all bestselling writers playing poker was priceless and perfect when Rick told them of the "book" he was writing and the comments he got back. Change the setting to a meal with romance writers at a conference or gathering and you've got a very similar scene that would go something like this: Romance Author 1: So that's the story. Romance Author 2: You've got a good idea, but I'm not really feeling the conflict. Romance Author 3: Yes, you need more conflict between your hero and heroine. Romance Author 4 nods: What's keeping these two people from falling in love and living happily ever after in chapter three? Romance Author 1 to self: Why do I always forget to add conflict? Romance Author 1 to others: Because I still have nine more chapters to write. (insert uncomfortable chuckle here) Romance Author 2: You need to add conflict. Not developer/environmentalist or arsonist/firefighter kind. Romance Author 3: Add internal conflict that would keep your hero and heroine apart even if they were on a deserted island. Romance Author 4: Exactly. And you might want to toss in a twist. Something fresh, of course. Romance Author 1 sighs: Of course. Okay, back to Castle. There is great chemistry between the author and detective, but I hope they keep the sexual tension high rather than going the romantic route. Remember Moonlighting? And the ending was a great! A believable and cute twist. I'll be watching next week. Did you see Castle? .

Crossfit Challenge Day 38

Today do:

38 sit ups, 38 push ups (or sub exercise) and 38 air squats (or step ups.)

Post to comments when you've done it!

Sleepy

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I'd love to crawl under a quilt right now and go to sleep for another hour. Twice a year, I wished I still lived in Arizona. That's the only smart state in the union. Arizona does not change times the way the rest of the country does.

I can tolerate the change when we fall back. Who wouldn't like an extra hour of sleep? But I loathe when we spring forward now that I've been going to bed at a decent hour and trying to get up earlier to write. I will be dragging all week and grumbling under my breath.

What about you? How do you feel about the time change?

Crossfit Challenge Day 37

Today do:

37 sit ups, 37 push ups (or sub exercise) and 37 air squats (or step ups.)

Post to comments when you've done it!

Crossfit Challenge Day 36

Today do:

36 sit ups, 36 push ups (or sub exercise) and 36 air squats (or step ups.)

Post to comments when you've done it!

Cereal Buys

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I read about a cereal promo at Safeway on several couponing blogs. If you buy 5 boxes of certain cereals you get $5 back. The couponing sites had all kinds of matches and links to coupons you could use. It sounded like a really good deal so I decided to give it a try. One blog said you can only do it once per day. Another said it was unlimited. I decided to just do it once and then get more boxes this weekend which is when I normally grocery shop.

Here's what I bought:

1 Lucky Charms $2.59 (on sale from $4.39) - this is my absolute favorite cereal!
1 Life Cereal Maple and Brown Sugar flavor 1.99 (on sale from $3.49)
2 Frosted Flakes $2.79 (on sale from $2.99)
1 Post Cocoa Pebbles $2.49 (on sale from $3.59)

Total before discounts/coupons: $13.05

Then the following got subtracted from the total:

$5.00 - 5 for $5 saving
$.055 - Internet coupon for Lucky Charms
$1.00 - Internet coupon for Life Maple and Brown Sugar Flavor
$1.00 - Internet coupon for $1 off when you buy 2 Frosted Flakes
$0.50 - Double coupon bonus for Life cereal
$0.50 - Double coupon bonus for Frosted flake cereal

Total Savings subtracted - $8.55

Total spent out of pocket for five boxes of cereal: $4.50

That's 90 cents a box. Not bad! The kids were with me and picked out the other cereals they want me to buy. I have coupons for those too. Not sure I can do this well though, but I'll try. At less than $1 each, it's time to stock up!

Have a great Saturday!

Crossfit Challenge Day 35

Today do:

35 sit ups, 35 push ups (or sub exercise) and 35 air squats (or step ups.)

Post to comments when you've done it!

Crossfit Challenge Day 34

Today do:

34 sit ups, 34 push ups (or sub exercise) and 34 air squats (or step ups.)

Post to comments when you've done it!

Real

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When I saw this picture this morning, a Christmas memory flooded my mind.

When my youngest was just a toddler, she asked for a Chihauhua from Santa. All she could talk about was the doggy she was going to get for Christmas. She'd already named it too...Daisy.

On Christmas morning, she couldn't wait to open her gifts and find Daisy. She unwrapped her present from Santa and found a stuffed Chihuahua complete with crystal studded pink collar and leash. Confusion washed over her face, then realization. "But I wanted Santa to bring me a real one."

Crossfit Challenge Day 33

Today do:

33 sit ups, 33 push ups (or sub exercise) and 33 air squats (or step ups.)

Post to comments when you've done it!

Thanks for all your well wishes. Yesterday was another day off for me due to my back. I'm hoping to get back to the challenge today. Though probably won't attempt to make up entire days missed all at once!

My New Cover

Here's the cover for my upcoming June release, Dream Date with the Millionaire. This is book #3 of the blinddatebrides.com trilogy. It's the book I was writing when my hands went, well, bad.

I like that they put the Golden Gate Bridge in there. The story is set in San Francisco. Book #2, Blind-date Baby by Fiona Harper, is set in London and has an image of Big Ben on the cover. Book #1, Nine-to-Five Bride by Jennie Adams, is set in Sydney, but I didn't see the Opera House on her cover.

I'm off on a field trip this morning to see The Sound of Music that's being put on by the same company who did the Scrooge musical in December. What are you up to?

Crossfit Challenge Day 32

Today do:

32 sit ups, 32 push ups (or sub exercise) and 32 air squats (or step ups.)

Post to comments when you've done it! As for my back...


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My back felt better, but still bothered me a little so I didn't do the exercises. I'll have to catch up with Day 31 as soon as all the twinges are gone. I didn't want to risk hurting myself more. I only wish I knew what I did to it.

Congrats to those of you who have gotten caught up. Brandy asked what arm exercise I was subbing for the push-ups. Right now I'm not doing anything with my arms. I tried the ring rows using a towel, but I realized I needed to let my arms heal first so I've just been doing extra squats and situps. The good news is my arms are feeling much better!

Cat lady

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I did something to my upper back. The upper left side, actually, so I spent as much of yesterday evening flat on my back as possible. Not the most fun thing to do in the world, but my three kitties were thrilled. I had one at my feet, one at my side and the other near my head. The dog wanted in, too, but the cats wouldn't let her join in the party.

I managed to read part of a non-fiction book I've been wanting to peruse for weeks now and put the final touches on our March budget. Though I still have no clue how Michelangelo survived painting the Sistine Chapel this way. Ouch!

My back is still sore this morning, but it's better. Resting really does help. I can move without grimacing so improvement. Yay! But I'm going to wait until later to do my exercises. No sense pushing it with the all places I need to be today! Once I get home I'll do the challenge.

Hope you have a great day!

Crossfit Challenge Day 31

Today do:

31 sit ups, 31 push ups (or sub exercise) and 31 air squats (or step ups.)

Post to comments when you've done it!

Naps

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I really want to take a nap. I'm ready for one. It's not quite noon, and I'm still in my jammies. So I'm even dressed for a nap, too.

I wish I could say I'd spent the morning hard at work on my new book, but unfortunately that's not the case. We have a meeting with the CPA who does our taxes today. I'd told hubby weeks ago when I organized everything that we needed a few more things. Well, he finally got them last night. Nothing was tabulated the way I needed it to be so I spent the morning typing in all our monthly mutual fund purchases since 1996 for a fund we sold last year. The company only has an online record of transactions dating back a couple of years so I downloaded that data and added all the older stuff.

The good news is my eyes aren't quite so blurry now. And all the info is now on my computer so if we ever sell any more of the fun, my work is done. Now I can hop in the shower, get dressed, eat lunch and relax a little. An maybe, I'll try to sneak in a nap later this afternoon!

Are you're taxes done yet?

Crossfit Challenge Day 30

Today do:

30 sit ups, 30 push ups (or sub exercise) and 30 air squats (or step ups.)

Post to comments when you've done it!

Twins

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I got to spend time with the closet thing I have to a twin yesterday morning and had a blast.

As I mentioned on Friday, Elizabeth Boyle was in town for the Celebrate Romance conference. The morning started off badly when I realized halfway to the Benson Hotel in downtown Portland I'd forgotten my cellphone. (It was recharging.) I was supposed to call or text Elizabeth when I arrived. Luckily, the Benson concierge, Michael, allowed me to use his phone. When she didn't answer, I called hubby who phoned her on my cellphone. Contact was finally made!

We walked down the street to Peet's Tea and Coffee for a quick visit. We laughed. We cried. We gave advice. We listened.

Of course, "quick" turned into two plus hours once we started talking. Oops. We couldn't believe we'd been chatting that long especially because we both had places to be! The truth is we probably could have spent hours talking and not even realized it!

We raced back to the hotel and my minivan. I wasn't late. i actually beat my family to where we were supposed to be at 12:45. I just hope Elizabeth made it to where she had to be, too, though I know she was late!

Still no regrets. It was wonderful to spend time with someone who is just, well, a lot like me. Being with her sure filled my well!

Do you have a twin out there? If so, who is it?

Crossfit Challenge Day 29

Okay, I made a error with yesterday's post. I titled it right, but forgot to change the amount from Friday. You should have done 28. So if you did 27 of the exercises do an extra one of each today. Sorry about that. I was very tired when I wrote it.

Today do:

29 sit ups, 29 push ups (or sub exercise) and 29 air squats (or step ups.)

Post to comments when you've done it!

We're starting a new month. A few of you have fallen behind, but kudos for catching up! Others aren't posting anymore, but I'm hoping you're just too busy and doing it on your own. Even if you are behind or want to join in now, please do! Just exercising a little bit is so good for you.

Since starting this Crossfit Challenge on February 1st, I have lost 5 pounds. I made no other changes in my diet until Ash Wednesday which was just a few days ago! So keep at it even if you have to break up the exercises a lot during the day or even slow down a bit. Don't let this be you:


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