~~~~Coolers in February~~~

Hey Coolers

Just finished up TFit and then needed some cardio so did a 20min episode from It Figures.

We did Magic Kingdom yesterday and had fun on the Tom Sawyer Island. Our friends came over for breakfast this a.m. then went on their way. Its a rain day today so we went shopping. Bought a new w/o top:D but can't find aerobic shoes.

Kim - I liked the main floor lay-out. It's good for entertaining and we too are looking for the open concept like that. Make sure you get a dedicated room in the basement for a workout out room. :p Nows the time to think about it. Oh, did it have a linen closet? Entry from the garage into the house?

Laurie - is the new cross trainer / aerobic shoe here in the U.S. now called Sports Conditioning?

I hear the U.S. and Toronto are getting hit with snow again! Finger's are crosssed that our friends don't have any issues flying here from Toronto on Fri.
 
Kim - I was just taking another look at the floor plan. I really love the laundry room on the main floor. I have that now and love that I can through a load in while I'm getting ready for work and put it in the dryer as I leave, however, it makes for a smaller mud room. Plus, I frequently still have one or the other going when I'm putting DS to bed so a bit noisey for bed time. So I'm split as to whether it should be in the basement or not. With winter coats and boots and helmets and such I think I would have prefered a bigger mud room.

Also, while I'm not a bath person, I hate hate shower stalls and that's all I've had for the last 10yrs:( A woman really needs a ledge for resting the foot for shaving:D so keep that in mind with options. I much prefer 2 sinks if given a choice! Also, make sure you get a vanity with drawers to put makeup in. Here in Florida, the cabinet is just 2 doors under the sinks. I think I would have to get a basket of some sort to pull out my makeup at once if I lived here. As it is, it's all sitting on the sunken bathtub ledge.

I don't like the idea of having to walk thru the w/r to get to the w.i.c. so really didn't like that option.

I like that the "extra" room on the main floor is the dining room and not another livingroom. I've seen where there is a living room and family room on the main floor. What a waste.

So those are my quick thoughts for now.

One thing that we're looking for hopefully is a driveway that will fit 4 cars so that if there isn't room to park in the garage (like most people!) then visitors don't have to park on the street.

Also, do you have a sidewalk on your side that you will be responsible for shovelling? Is the driveway flat or sloped?
 
Another thing,

Do you have A/C? Can the unit be placed at the side of the house rather than at the back? A lot quieter at the side while you're out enjoying your backyard.

Avoid having a post in the middle of your basement. Looks like you can get rid of this if you go with a steel beam (upgrade I think)

Also, look for places that you could put in pocket doors instead. Huge space saving and increases value of house! I'm thinking between at closets in the bedroom, entrance into dining room.

I might get rid of the door from the kitchen to your pantry to elminate 2 doors to walk thru from bringing in the groceries. Maybe instead of open shelving here upgrade to pantry shelving with doors with a counter to add to your kitchen space. I'd take a good hard look at this area and try to imagine your daily routine here.
 
Morning Coolers,

This morning I got on my treadmill and finished W10D2 of GW28K. I'm thinking that I will push my last run until Saturday, that way I might be able to get my last run finished outdoors. :D

Had a lot of snow, and I had to fire up the snow weapon just so I could clear a path to get the vehicle up the driveway. Right when I was putting the snowblower back in the garage, DH pulls right into the garage. :rolleyes: I made him go get the truck from the street. :eek: I was wet and cold! :rolleyes: DH even made dinner last night. :eek:

Patricia, I have seen them referred as both here, but if you ask about cross trainers they will point you into the right direction. I would think that the snow will be out of the area by Friday, we are having sunny but cold weather right now. ;)

Kim, Patricia gave you some great things to think about. I really like the idea about the panty. I have one, and absolutely love it.

Have a great day!
 
Evening Coolers

Home and finished dinner. We went to Animal Kingdom today and got our pictures taken with several Characters. A lot of the animals were not out or taken away due to the cold. Sunny day here but cold. Needed 2 sweaters to be warm. I did Slim Series Firm it Up before going to the park. A leg blast w/o so they're tired now!

Laurie - you know, the guys shake their head at work when they hear I snowblow the driveway sometimes and look over at DH and roll their eyes. I don't mind as long as I'm dressed for it and dinner on the table is a great reward!

Kim - another thing I was thinking was pot drawers in the kitchen. We have them in our current house and love them so much we made sure we had them in the cottage when we built the kitchen their last year. Also, if you end up with going with a shower stall remember to get the toe tester faucet. We don't have them and especially in the basement when you want to fill a bucket with water for cleaning you have to go upstairs to the laundry room or kitchen sink. Also, if you want to wash your feet you have to do it in the sink or find a bathroom with a tub. I just shake my head when I see people skip on this. Also the shower stall is a good place for wash a cooler if you can't do it outside. Sorry you asked for opinions now:p:D
 
Is that the end of the snow for you Laurie? Hopefully you get to run outside on the weekend, it's so much nicer than the treadmill.

Wow, Patricia! So much to think about, I'm still in the stage of just what looks nice, I really haven't got down to the details. YOu pointed out so many things that I've never thought of. We will definitely go through these homes with much more detail, and probably have friends and family come. I'm going to make notes of your observations. I'm so afraid that I'll make a bad choice.

Yesterday, we were at ds's hockey game (they lost 5-0):(:( Tough on the goalie (ds) he was a bit upset afterwards. Today I started M2W2 with double wave pyramid. I sure like the short length of these workouts.

My family MD phoned me at work today as I had my annual bloodwork done last week. I've been on thyroids meds for years, and it's got worse. My TSH levels are high so we're going to increase the dosage. Hopefully that explains the 10 lb weight loss in the last few months that I can't seem to get rid of!!
 
Morning Coolers,

This morning was a short workout, and I did 4DS Kickbox Cardio only. If I have time I would like to get a workout done after work, but if not no big deal.

Patricia, Finding those characters is fun. We found Minney and Mickey as they where coming out a door. First in line. :D My DH bought a snowblower that is easy for me to use. :rolleyes: The old one I couldn't and wouldn't use. :D

Kim, So many things to think about, and you will always find things that you would do different. But the fun is getting those things that you really want before the build. Less cost that way. ;) I would love to have my washer and dryer in our upstair (2nd floor). Reason is most of the laundry has to go in the bedrooms. We have seen new houses with that option. Yep our snow storm has finally gone, but now of course we are getting the cold. Hope it warms up a bit by Saturday.

Have a great day!
 
Morning Coolers

I've been up since 6am so plenty of time for coffee and breakfast to wear off so I got my w/o in now. TFit and Charlene Prickett low-impact aerobics. My green band has a small hole in it so may look for a replacement one down here. I'm terrified it'll snap during a move:eek:

I think we might do mini golf today and visit a science centre this afternoon. Playing it by ear.

DH went over to Daytona with a friend to watch bike races. They were cold even standing beside a guy who had a little fire going:rolleyes:

Kim - I'm wondering if you meant a 10# weight gain you can't lose b/c I wouldn't mind a 10# weight loss. :p Tell that goalie his team didn't do their job to protect the defense (I guess that would mean your DS too!)
 
Morning Coolers,

This morning was Billy Blanks Bootcamp 2, this one is at a much slower pace than any of his other ones. Good workout, but didn't have the calorie burn like his other ones. :D

Patricia, My green band broke during an exercise, but didn't snap me anywhere. :D Cold in Daytona! I'll be watching the TV on Sunday! ;) Sounds like you are having a great vacation.

Have a wonderful day!
 
Went in for my laser eye surgery pre-op yesterday. Everything looks good so I'm booked in for next Friday:confused: Our Blue Cross insurance is paying for it. DH says if mine goes well he'll get his done as well.

Did anyone get a chance to watch the opening ceremonies yesterday? The death of the Georgian athlete was so heartbreaking! I almost cried watched the team march into the ceremonies. I thought Canada did a very job of the opening ceremonies. I like watch the USA channel and hearing their comments on Canada, LOL

We have a long weekend here! It's Louis Riel day on Monday. Busy day here with the usually hockey, piano and swimming but should have some downtime later in the weekend. I've been keeping up with the rotation as written !! DH continues to do the weight workouts with me.

When are you home Patricia? Yes a 10 lb weight gain not loss unfortunately! Hopefully the med change will help me get some of it off.

We're meeting with our real estate agent again on Tuesday evening so hopefully all goes well. I would like to go back to some of the showhomes on the weekend but they might be closed for the holidays. I would love the laundry upstairs Laurie, I like it off the back entrance close to the kitchen. I think that would be so handy.
 
Morning Coolers

All alone here today, well just waiting for DS to wake up. Imagine that, he is sleeping in on a day I've been up since 6am:eek: Everyone has left for Daytona. Today's race is 250 laps, just way too long for DS to sit through. We went yesterday for the Nationals and DS lost interest after 75 laps. It was sunny but cold so I was happy to take him over to Target and shop for an hour waiting for the race to end:p

Waiting to be picked up by my GF and her DS (same age as my DS) and go back to Magic Kingdom.

Tomorrow we're talking about driving down to Miami and stay the night just to find some warmth and we've pretty much done everything here that we want to do attraction wise.

I guess it's a long weekend for everyone.

Kim - I did watch the opening ceremonies. I thought they started off boring (way too much Indian influence as far as I'm concerned) but then it got better. Did you see Wayne Gretzky's face waiting for the torch lighting? I felt so bad for him.

I bought new bands at Walmart the other day. Was waiting for Cathe's to come online for the TFit w/o but they're still not in stock. Plus I have a bit of a issue buying from her for doing a w/o with an accessory that she doesn't sell. Why wouldn't she have designed one using the type of bands she already has? I just don't get that. I have her non-latex ones and really don't like them.
 
Morning Coolers,

I officially started my Insanity rotation this morning by doing the fit test. :D I really enjoyed this workout, and am very excited to try the others out. I also am going to try to fit in some upper body workouts, at least for the first month. I did CTX Chest and MIS Chest, so that was 18 min. of chest work. It was nice that I could use my Cathe tower for these portions. ;)

Kim, Nope I didn't get a chance to watch the opening ceremonies. To tell the truth, I find those things so boring. :eek: This is from a woman who sat through 6 hours of the Daytona 500. :eek: At least I managed to get some dishes washed, and floors swept during the red flagged parts. I'm sure that your surgery will go just fine. Will be nice not to have to wear glasses I'm sure. ;) I was sad to hear about the luger also. :(

Patricia, Guess your DH really got back late yesterday from that race. Did he stay through the whole race? It sure was a good ending, I was happy with McMurry winning. :D I was waiting for her to get those new bands also, can't imagine why she wouldn't have them available for the workout. Hope you find a warmer place to be today. :cool:

Have a great day!
 
Well I managed to spend money even while at home in my pajamas on a holiday:p I noticed Cathe has Cardio Hits as her weekly special and I only have those ones on VHS so I decided to buy it as with the discount it was only $27.99 for the dvd. I'm slowly replacing my VHS collection with dvds.

The house buying continues. We looked at a whole bunch of other show homes yesterday in the south end of the city. We've narrowed it down to 3 maybes, and 2 others that we saw too early and don't remember enough about. Our next step is to meet with our real estate agent tomorrow about selling this house and then if that goes well to go back to those 5 houses and narrow it down. Then we will start approaching the builders.:confused::confused: DH and I had a long talk on Saturday, crunched the numbers and unless something happens we're going to go ahead with this.:confused:

DH and I went out for Valentine's Date on Saturday to a Mardi Gras party and last night my sister hosted a Valentine/Olympics pizza party for the family. So lots of fun stuff. DH gave me a Lululemon gift certificate and some fudge for Valentines Day. He's such a sweetie.

Today I plan to finish up M2W2 and be half done STS. I'm thinking of doing month 2 of Insanity afterwards so we might overlap Laurie! Give me updates on your Insanity thoughts, I'm curious to see what you think. The Fit Test isn't bad because it's short.

Are you down in Miami Patricia??
 
Afternoon Coolers,

I have been in EHS training all morning, so this is the first time I have been able to sit at my desk. Got Plyo Cardio Circuit done this morning, and in a way was a humbling experience. Sweat was running off me like never before, but still a very doable workout. I will say that it is a workout that I can grow with, and will be very happy when I think it is an easy workout. :eek:

Kim, I really like that floor plan. ;) It appears so open, and that is something that I love. LOL about you spending money in your pj's. :D I'm hoping that the DVD with MIS goes on sale soon. That one has Power Hour on it also, and I still have that one on VHS too. Right now I can't imagine what month 2 is like, this workout was dang hard. So happy that when I focused on the TV I saw other exercisers trying to catch their breath just like me. :D

Have a great day!
 
Morning Coolers,

Cardio Power & Resistance is finished, and this workout was a little more doable than the plyo workout. Doable in that I didn't have to take as many breaks. :eek: :D Still a tough workout. Really felt my abs yesterday, so that must mean that I'm engaging them correctly. ;)

Didn't set my alarm last night, but Cami woke me up. Glad I was able to get my workout done, that way I can get the back exercises in that I didn't have time for last night. Also would like a bit more stretching, so I think I will add Basic Stretch from TBS.

Have a great day!
 
Morning Coolers,

This morning was Cardio Recovery, CTX Shoulders and MIS Shoulders. This workout was a nice change, and there was no cardio factor at all. It was nice to have that, after three days of intense cardio. :D

Have a great day!
 
Busy week here with a meeting with the real estate agent Tuesday, we went to the show homes again yesterday and tonight we're meeting with the builder. Hopefully I'll have time to update you tomorrow, with some good news!

I'll have time to be online tomorrow as my eye surgery is cancelled:( The opthalamalogist found some concerns, a small growth that he wants to remove before laser can be considered.
 
Hey Kim

That layout looks good. I wondered about the kitchen until I saw the pantry. Plus, you're kids are old enough they can be on a separate floor from you and you have space for a dedicated w/o room in the basement! I saw 2 linen closets and that makes for great space utilization!
 
Morning Coolers

Our last vacation day here in the sunny but cold south! We had a good time in Miami. Got there late afternoon Monday as it was a 4hr drive from here. Had enough time to play on the beach for 1hr before the sun set too much. DS just loved running through the waves. There was an inwater boat show too so we went walking along the docks and looked. The cheapest boat was probably $2m and the most expensive I saw had a helicopter on top. It was $37m - Yikes!!!

Tues. we went to an aligator farm and went on an airboat ride. That was fun. The driver did a few 360 degree turns that were a riot! We watched a snake show and I couldn't believe that DS wanted to hold a little snake. He had a hard time holding it as it wouldn't stay curled up in a ball so DH (who hates snakes) had to help him and it started wriggling and the look and squeal that came from him was priceless! I got a picture that really says it all! I touched it but did not like the feel of it at all:eek:

We came home late Tues. night and just been shopping. I'm not really enjoying wondering around outside as it really is too cold believe it or not!:mad: I can't believe some of the people wearing shorts and sandals. I'm so over the desire to look "good" and would rather be warm. Instead of buying summer clothes here we've all been buying sweaters and pants!:confused:

Today will be a lazy day for us. I found a store that sold Ryka shoes, but only running shoes that Kelly Ripa promotes so just ended up buying North Stars which I've had the last few years. I'm going to shop around at cameras today as mine is cracked and will need replacing soon.

Laurie - so the Insanity has begun:) Over on VF there seems to be some good results fromt he JM 30-day slim down so I might try that next.

Kim - the homes that you're looking at - when would they be ready for move-in? You must have been really disappointed about the eye surgery. Did he say the growths would be easy to remove?

Off to look for some camera stores close by.
 

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