Monday, December 18, 2023

Week in the Life: Saturday December 16

 

Hey friends, we're doing a one week experiment where we hang out each day and I'll tell you everything that's going on in my life (inspired by Stephany's Week in the Life series).  Happy Saturday everyone!!!

I sleep in until close to 8.  The Hubs looks zonked out and I'm guessing that since he was out late last night this will be one of the rare weekend mornings that he sleeps past 8.  I tiptoe downstairs and brew up a big cup of coffee.  We ran the dishwasher last night so Thug Wife is available for Mug du Jour duty.  I hit Wordle and the Spelling Bee and then hop on the internets to read blogs.

Hubs gets up around 8:30 and has breakfast.  He's been in a good groove with fitness lately and says he's thinking about running a 5k.  He mentions the 5k that's held in our town on Christmas Eve, but he's hesitating because it's on a holiday and early in the morning.  I tell him that it's a good thing that he asked because our town's Christmas Eve race is not 5k it's 5 MILES.  I steer him toward a New Year's Eve race that's 5k and in the afternoon.

He asks if I'm running 5k and I tell him what's been on my mind this morning...no I'm not running 5k and thanks for asking I'm really not running at all.  Well lately I've been doing a few 2 mile runs but the last few were very tedious and so far this week I've run a grand total of 6 minutes which was yesterday.  It would be fun to do the 5k but I can't see getting there in the next 2 weeks.  If he registers I might do it tho, TBD.

Anyway I have a good brood that I'm not satisfied with my fitness life at all.  I'm continuously torn between focusing on strength or focusing on cardio and serving neither of the masters well.  The only thing that I know for sure is that I'm not going back to running all the miles like I was back in my half marathon days.  Should I go back to doing strength 5 times a week and just stick with 20 minutes of cardio afterwards or [gasp] maybe NO MINUTES OF CARDIO AFTERWARDS???  Actually that probably makes sense for the winter since it's too dark to run outside in the mornings and will soon be too icy.  Then maybe I could do couch to 5k in the spring and see what running feels like then.  Or maybe I'll stick with 3x week strength and start treadmill C25K in January which would keep me busy on the treadmill for the worst of winter.  I spend a great deal of time thinking about this without arriving at a conclusion, which is the same outcome as always.

I realize that I'm on track to spend this morning doing exactly what I did last morning which is sitting on the couch.  My weekend fitness agenda is that I workout either on Saturday or Sunday, but not both.  Saturday is ideal because then fitness is done for the weekend, but if I don't feel like working out on Saturday I defer to Sunday.  This feels like a defer to Sunday kinda weekend.  I'm starving but not hungry for anything in particular.  I cycle through all of my breakfast possibilities and end up with my version of a Egg McMuffin.  Two slices of bacon in the microwave, English Muffin in the toaster, one egg beaten and cooked up omelet style like this:

Then fold in the sizes to make a square:


I find no reason to leave the couch.  Stepson #2 get up a little before noon and he and I and Hubs talk about our plans for the day.  #2 wants to have his friends over that night, and since he has a tendency to get lost in homework and videos games Hubs and I are encouraging him to do things that involve other people so yay this is exactly what we want.  We figure that we can go out to dinner early and get some snacks for his friends on the way back.

I continue to roost on the couch and around 1 I have lunch.  I put together a nachos/taco salad thing from our leftover taco spread.


I assess my life choices and decide that I need to do something anything physical.  My legs are a little sore from yesterday's strength workout so I don't want to try to run.  It's mid December but it's also mid 50s so I do my go-to "I don't feel like working out" workout which is a bike ride through the neighborhood.  I realize once I've started that I haven't ridden my bike since September and I really shoulda put more air in the tires so the ride is harder and slower that it needs to be but hindsight is 20/20.  I go to the other park in our neighborhood that's further away.  I used to come here for running all the time but I hardly make it here now.


I get back home and realize that yay I did something physical but now my legs are going to be even more sore so I need to walk it off.  I go for a mile walk/podcast listen.  Okay, the daily movement quota has been satisfied.

At 5:00 the fam heads out on the town.  We wanted to do something special to celebrate #1 finishing the semester, so we go to our local Thai/sushi spot. Hubs is the only non-sushi eater in the family so he gets a stir fry.  #1 gets two cooked sushi rolls plus rice on the side.  #2 gets a cooked sushi roll and a side of fried rice.  I get a rainbow roll.  For some reason #1's two rolls are served on two plates but they put #2 and me together on the same plate which is fine because we're sitting next to each other.  I guess they pegged #1 for the big tipper in our group.

Afterwards we go on a family grocery run to get a few necessities plus snacks for #2's big social night.  I can't remember the last time all four of us went to the grocery store but it's fun, especially since one of the boys' friends is working there.

We get back home and #2's friends come over in a bit.  They head down to the basement for a game of D&D.  We send them down with chips, cookies, and a six pack of Sprite and they are not seen again for the rest of the night.

Hubs and I start off our night alone by catching up on the Advent calendar.  We didn't do it last night so we have two sections to do now.

Now it's movie time.  The Hubs suggests A Fish Called Wanda.  I've never seen it but I've been thinking about it lately since I just read a book called A Town Like Alice - there's a similar cadence to the titles - A [animal/place] [named/similar to] [person's name].


Hubs and I grab some brews and head for the couch.  Zombie Dust is my current favorite.

I don't think I would have liked Wanda as much if I had watched it on my own, but as a companion piece to snuggling on the couch with the Hubs, it's a fine movie.  Laughs are had.  After the movie we watch an old 8 Out of 10 Cats Christmas Special on Youtube, which is one of our couples' TV go-to's.  Hubs isn't ready for bed yet so I leave him with Youtube while I go upstairs.  I shower and finish my book, and I save the NYT crossword for tomorrow since I'm drowsy.  Hubs packs it in and we turn out the light.  The next thing I know it's Sunday.  But that's a story for tomorrow.

23 comments:

  1. I feel like I've seen A Fish Called Wanda but have no idea what it is about or anything at all really.
    Good thing you checked, 5k is SO MUCH different than 5 miles!
    Your Saturday sounds kind of perfect, to be honest!

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    1. It was a fun movie to see with the hubs but I don't think I would have liked it on my own.

      Hee hee I still know all of our local races. The 5 miler also has an "uphill in all directions" course.

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  2. Okay, so this is my real question about your week. Are you not doing ANY holiday prep? I feel like every day this past week, I've done *something* whether it's sending out cards, wrapping packages, going to the store to buy a squishmallow because that's what my nephew asked for, etc. You're doing an advent calendar and you ate some wreath-shaped cookies, but this could be done in October or November for all the mess of two weeks before Christmas. TELL ME YOUR SECRETS.

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    1. My secret is that I have a very small gift giving list. I've got a couple of things stashed away but only for my immediate family. We've got a small crowd for Christmas this year so I don't need to start baking until this weekend.

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  3. I think I have seen A Fish Called Wanda, too, but can't for the life of me remember anything about it!

    I've totally shifted to strength training and have kind of given up on running for the winter. I ran through the winter last year and fell at least 3 times. I can't go through that again this year so am hanging up my running sneakers until the spring. I'm hoping to workout tomorrow since I'm feeling much better thanks to the wonder that is paxlovid.

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    1. Eek! I don't know how people run outside in winter. It just seems like a really easy way to sprain or break something. Yay for paxlovid!

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  4. I have never seen A Fish Called Wanda or 8 Out of 10 Cats! Thank you for piquing my interest in both.

    The fitness conundrum sounds frustrating, but I think your options all seem really good and doable. I laughed about the mistaken Christmas 5K -- that would have been an unpleasant realization.

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    1. Wanda was really just an OK movie but 8 out of 10 is hysterical. It's pretty easy to find on Youtube. Yes the fitness is all doable but I have to pick one thing and stick to it...we'll see.

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  5. Mmm... that breakfast sandwich looks yummy! I also highly approve of lumping on the couch on Saturday. Good decision!

    Our climates are so different. I was talking to my dietician about exercise and how it's so much easier to go for walks from, like, November-April because the weather is so nice and I'm not dying of heat stroke like I am during the summer months. So for me, getting outside is preferable in the winter months and staying inside is preferable in the summer! Ha.

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    1. So there are these really smart people called Snowbirds - they live up North in the summer and then they go to FL for the winter. Someday I will be a member of this flock.

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  6. What a fun day. For your fitness conundrum... I wouldn't overthink it. Do whatever works for you and feels best right now, and it will be FINE. Five days of strength would be great if that's what makes you happy. Or any of the other things you mentioned. I also think if you decide to jump into that 5k with your husband, you could totally do it. If you wanted to.
    Having said all that, I'm laughing at myself because I'm constantly reassessing my workouts. I should be doing more strength.... but I want to focus on running. But my running would be better if I would do more strength... but I don't want my legs to be too sore for my long runs, etc. etc! I probably should have a coach, but I don't want to spend the money.
    I definitely want to do an advent puzzle next year. I took out our Christmas puzzle and I'm already feeling overwhelmed by it. It would be nice to do something in sections, and your puzzle is really pretty!

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    1. You know EXACTLY how it is, except that you're making progress in all the different areas of fitness that you're juggling.

      We're just getting to the really good part of the puzzle that has kittens and puppies. There's a "Stepdog" sized dog at the bottom and I can't wait until we get to that day.

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  7. My dad's Wordle tip for "GLOBE" was "shape of a planet" and I really struggled to get the solution.
    What is your Wordle strategy? Do you use random cues for the first word?

    If I go first in our daily family battle, I use "ADIEU" because it has 4 vowels. My dad mostly uses "ALIEN" and my sister uses "ALONE". So even if they don't give a tip, I can sometimes guess the solution by the pattern of their results. It's a science!

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    1. Random! I went through a phase where I always used ADIEU for my first word but then I found it more useful to start with something that's more consonant heavy. I just start with whatever word pops into my head and take it from there. However, if you always start with the same word I think it increases your chances of getting it right on the first try. I've gotten it in 2 before but never on the first try.

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  8. I will say it until I am blue in the face - your food always looks so good. That is too bad about the tofu curry because it looks delish!

    Thank you so much for the shoutout and for sayin you are thrilled I am doing it too! I feel so special and encouraged to keep at it - these posts are a lot of work and DO cut in to TV time! I am so glad you did the series and stuck with it. I think doing another week in a year is a great idea!

    The mug did make me want to ask if you play piano ;)

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    1. I think the most exciting part is that you don't know how the rest of the week is going to unfold. Is it going to be 7 straight days of "I worked out and my cats are cute" or is it going to be 7 days of "I worked out and my cats are cute and we had a bunch of adventures!"

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  9. Oops! Sorry, I just realized I left the comment for your Sunday post on the Saturday one!

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  10. What workouts have you liked he most over this past year? Which made you feel the best? Would having a coach tell you what to do help?

    Yay for a mostly chill day!

    Steven and I were talking about watching that movie when I'm in the right mood for something goofy :)

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    1. These are all good questions! Honestly I probably should do some sessions with a coach but it's just so easy to do my home workouts first thing in the AM.

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  11. I love this series...thank you for the glimpse into your life! I also love seeing how you live with your family. While you refer to them on the blog, regularly, it's fun to see how you all interact in the day-to-day. If you don't mind my asking, how long have you known Stepson #1 and Stepson #2? They are teens/young adults now, correct?
    Also still catching up so looking forward to seeing your final puzzle!

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    1. Yes they are young adults!!! They're 16 and 18. We met 10 years ago so I've been around for a bit more than half of their lives.

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  12. I love the approach of the puzzle advent calendar - so much more doable than a 1000 piece puzzle in one sitting :)

    I also like my eggs omlet/pancake style, well-done please.

    Re: workouts, as we age, strength becomes more important overall, or so I heard, so maybe focus on that for a while without feeling guilty about the cardio?

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