Pentagenarians & Beyond: W/B 11/15

fox2star

fox2star

Cathlete
Good morning,

We had a nice dinner last night, I didn't go crazy with eating, no appetizer or dessert, but the food was rich and I can feel it this morning.

It's horrible about what happened in Paris, ...the scary part is that this can happen anywhere, anytime. This is not like a war that you can go to and fight.

Lori, so many workouts, so many decisions...:) LOL.

Valerie, did you get the whole season 7 of Mad Men? It came in 2 parts...Are you going to speak with your brother about what you found out?

Lynda, I watched the first 4 episodes of A Place to Call Home. I really like it...I have the second disk and will watch it tonight. There are 4 disks total...I need to request the next 2 from the library. Is there only 1 season of this?

Judy, that does look like a fun place to go!

Hi to Josie,

Not too much going on here...a workout, and maybe, if I can talk John into it, spending a couple hours cleaning the attic...ugh...not that this is something I want to do, but it needs it badly. It was pretty messed up after we had the roof torn off....we have just been putting it off because it is an ugly job.

Take care,
 
good morning. we were supposed to go out for dinner tonight for DH's birthday but cousin isn't feeling well. we will instead meet tomorrow for 'breakfast for lunch" when we will be in his neighborhood...meeting with insurance person. can hardly wait...:rolleyes: Deb, Glad your dinner went well. I like myself the next morning better if I don't overdo. so hard to control things in a restaurant setting.

Did some house cleaning, wash, and then sat around. it's been raining for about 4 days straight, slow and steady. lots of minor flooding. too wet to do things outside. I did Lower Body Blast yesterday. haven't done anything like that in a while but so far I don't feel sore. maybe it wasn't as hard as I thought it was. even did the floor work.
we saw the first half of MM season 7 , actually started to watch it a second time because we thought we'd ordered the second half. Wrong. now the finale is on 'short wait" at Netflix where it's been for weeks.

we watched the debate, most of it. started out with regular antenna TV but about half way the signal deteriorated and we switched to streaming. I Iike Bernie but he really does have a limited approach. better with fewer candidates on stage.

No, won't be talking to my brother. I will tell our mother what happened in case she's not aware. she gave him ( them) free rein. we won't be able to tell what their intention is until she pass. we will see if they sell the house and divide the proceeds. doesn't matter what they "say", they have been dishonest thru the whole process. It's not likely to be enough money to go to court over as they are paying themselves out of her cash reserves and using it for home repairs etc.

Attic cleaning after a tear off.... OOOOH that sounds unpleasant.
 
Hi everyone--

This morning I did DM (63:00).

Deb, there is a second season of A Place to Call Home. I am currently waiting to start the second season--Netflix had to get the disks from a facility more distant I guess. I am eager to see what happens, because the first season ends with some cliffhangers. I haven't watched that PBS series, so I can't really tell you anything helpful about it. Good for you on restraining yourself on the dinner out! I will try to do the same tonight.

Valerie, I watched 90 minutes of the debate and then went to bed. Much easier to watch with only 3 candidates. Since the stock market has been pretty good to me and DH, I don't really understand Bernie's frenzy to tear down Wall Street. I liked what Hilary said about supporting Wall Street after 911 when she was senator of NY. Maybe I am just feeling very conservative about protecting our institutions and way of life after so much coverage of Paris. I feel like ISIS just wants to tear down civilization altogether and send us back to the dark ages or into a future like that depicted in Mad Max. Your brother sounds awful. Who is so crazy that they cut out seatbelts? Is he an extreme libertarian or what?

Judy, Birmingham looks like a lovely place to visit. I hope you had a good day to enjoy it. My birthday today is really gorgeous for November--sunny and in the 50s. Usually, my birthday is cold and dreary, so this is a really nice gift.

Lori, I bet you will be watching the Pats and Giants game. DH is recording it for later. Go Pats!!!

Hi to Josie!

 
Good afternoon all!

Yesterday I did Cathe's most recent live workout Strong Total Body followed with SB target lower (these were 3 mini workouts strung together). Total time was about 75 minutes. I loved this new total body workout. I went a little heavier than her class at times and felt completely worked when done. I almost did not continue on with SB but since I had the time and planned on it, I just went with it. No workout today. We had planned on raking leaves and yard work since it was so nice. That was my workout! Afterwards, I took Chester for a short walk.

Deb...glad you had a nice dinner. I am the same way when I eat really rich food. Haha with the workout decisions. But I really feel like this. With Cathe Live and the other workouts, sometimes it is so hard to select a workout. Cathe Live alone has 76 workouts! I hear you about the attic. I am off next week and will be decluttering the basement. Over the years it has gone from family room to DS's bedroom, to workout room, closet and partial DS' bedroom! I think I have mentioned previously it is a really nice finished basement with a beautiful fireplace. But the stuff that has built up must go!

Valerie...I like LBB. I should pull this one out at somepoint. I love the barre work. Did you remember it is a bonus on this dvd? Think it is listed as leg conditioning or something similar. So disgusting what your brother has done. What goes around comes around. He'll get his in the end. I have never watched MM. One of these days.

Lynda...Happy Birthday!!! I hope I never have to live the way Mad Max portrays! But I do understand what you are saying. So sad what happened in Paris. My heart breaks fo them. Scarey times. :( We started yard work early today so we would be showered and ready to go for the Pats game. :)

Judy...thanks for the link. Looks like a really nice place to visit. How far is it from your home? You may have mentioned this but do not remember. When you can try out Strong Total Body. I think you will like it. Knowing you though you will add on an hour of core followed up with 2 hours of spin!!! Lol!!!

Hi to Josie!!!!
 
Did a 2 mile walk/run on the treadmill. got a little squeezed for time when a friend called and asked us to go to lunch early.

Lori, I didn't look at the LBB disk except to load it and hit 'PLAY". first warm up part uses a step and is too "dance-y" for me, so I just step up and down. I slopped thru parts of it but did it all.
too funny Lori... yes, Judy might do that and call it a normal day's work.

Yes, my brother is a bit crazy. he won't do things standard, ever. angry and belligerent about so many things, but then goes out of his way to do nice, kind things, like feeding homeless animals. a weird mish-mosh. I have no idea why seat belts are such an issue. He is strange about never buying anything directly, and always seeks a back door method. he has definite hoarding tendencies. I quit trying to figure him out long ago.

we work (DH and I) at decluttering. I swear, things breed in the closets.

ETA my sister and brother both accumulate piles of junk. my brother especially, picks up broken stuff off the curb, so the house, our mothers house, is awful. packed to the rafters. broken vacuum cleaners, years worth of Styrofoam FF trays, just crap. got worse year by year. I would throw out ( in a heartbeat) 95% of the stuff that fills it up. he keeps bringing it in. I think he bought another house, supposedly a fixer upper, and uses it to store more "stuff". I think he is mentally ill/unbalanced but mostly functional. I can't fix him, and apparently his wife doesn't do anything. I don't spend time there, and if I did, I couldn't fix much of anything. He "dumpster dives" with a special tool regularly so he doesn't have to pay for groceries.
 
Last edited:
Good morning,

Yesterday I did a KCM weight workout...it was a Nice day yesterday, I actually didn't work in the attic like I had planned, I spent some time weeding the flower bed...yes, more weeds had grown with all this nice weather we've been having. I figured it was a shame not to be outside when it was that nice out.

Valerie, have a nice Lunch/brunch today for your DH's birthday. Agree, your mother needs to know what is going on, if she doesn't already. Strange about your brother cutting out seatbelts,..I bet that would be a hefty fine if he got stopped for not having one on and they saw that they were cut out! He really sounds like he needs some help, I didn't realize the clutter in your Mom's home was so bad until you just described what he does. His wife does nothing? That is so strange.

Lynda, Happy Birthday! Missed telling you yesterday. How was your dinner?

Lori, now that is the kind of workout that would appeal to me...still can't get to the decision to purchase the LIVE workouts....but they do sound great and I appreciate you telling me about the updated list etc, I'd like to have it "just in case".

Judy, how was the visit to Birmingham?

Hi to Josie,

Probably a track workout today, the days of being able to do this are dwindling down, and class tonight.

Take care,
 
Hi Ladies,

I went on my first training ride yesterday, only 23 miles. It was great to get back on my road bike and all of my wight training and running paid off. We did a few hill and my legs felt fine, but I do need to strengthen my back a bit more. I was also happy to see the scale move, I had been stuck on the same weight since my 21 day challenge but today I was down 3 pounds :)

Garance, Happy Belated Birthday! Hope that you had a nice dinner and let us know what you got for a gift :)

Judy, let us know how your trip went. Sounds like a beautiful day.

Valerie, sorry to hear about your brother. Your mom probably know what is going on but just ignores it. Problems like that you just need to let go. You and your DH did your best to protect her money while you were handling it and not it is no longer your problem.

Lori, great job on your workouts!

Deb, I feel the same when I overeat, I feel miserable and can't sleep.

No workout for me today, it is my rest day ;)

Josie
 
Good morning. My mother has a weak personality and no backbone. (not being mean) She depends on brother/ his wife for all her care. she is (always has been) an extremely passive person. My brothers wife was a grade school teacher at a parochial school until it closed. she still may be doing some part time teaching. has to care for her own mother who is also in her 90's.
My sister, mainly because of her seizure disorder, is unable to help. she can't drive etc. if brother doesn't take care of our mother, she'd be in a nursing home. so we are between a rock and a hard place. I wish he would have been honest about the situation. DH and I managed her money until brother and wife "took" it. they had full access to the funds, had the only checkbook to the account but wanted 100% control apparently. and were dishonest about it. now with the home ownership changed, I can only conclude they are planning to keep the $ from eventual sale of the house. assessed at $146,000. I will tell her what's been done, but she will just make excuses.

ETA Josie we posted at the same time. yes, that's what I've done. let it go. can't change it. I won't let my sister starve, and if there is money from the house, I may give her my portion. Each sport is different , isn't it? all my riding doesn't help hiking or running, and v.v. you would think there would be cross over benefits. but for me, there aren't.

Brother even has a CDL. no idea why you would not wear a belt, but cut it out besides. Nuts.

the people we had lunch with yesterday are moving soon. they have twin sons who are involved in meth. one is going to jail for burglary ( to support his habit) for probably 10-15 years. the other has not been arrested yet, but likely will be. they seem to have written the kids off, their lives are a mess! boys had been thru extensive drug treatment ( actually by dr phil) but went back to old ways pretty quickly.

Deb, we always get a massive crop of winter weeds. the only good thing is that the ground is soft and they pull easily. for gravel areas, I use a Dragon garden torch. so satisfying to just fry them!. can't use it near desirable plants though. a limited growing season goes on all year here. I grow kale and swiss chard all winter, and garlic gets planted in late fall and grows all winter.
 
Yes! Deb we are on a steep 5 acre lot. I bought the red cart. a large propane tank is heavy. when you heft it into the back of the car, you will thank cathe. once it's on the cart, I can go up and down hill. cylinders are refillable. I think they're 5 gal? same as on a gas barbecue. there also used to be a smaller red dragon, same sort of set up, that used a small cylinder but I never looked at those.

It works nicely on rockery and gravel. Grass might only "die" temporarily, dandelions the same way, depends on how well established they are. both have big root systems. all the small stuff that is so hard to pull fries in a second. It gets (!!!) hot. you must be very very careful around shrubs/ desirable plants, side of house, car tires, wood fencing, plastic netting ... you get the idea. the heat hits the ground and can bounces upward and sideways, potentially frying things you didn't expect. a bit of a learning curve to see what's "too close". I cooked a few things I didn't mean to! I don't use it in summer if there's fire danger. I've had it for at least 10 years.

side benefit... I love roasted peppers, red, green, peppers, poblanos, I use an old cookie sheet. set the peppers on cookie sheet, outside on gravel. blast them . fast and easy to get the entire pepper. 100x better than a oven broiler.
 
Hi everyone--

This morning I did both low impact hiit workouts together (50:08).

Another surprisingly lovely day here. Deb, my meal was 50% excellent, 50% not to my taste. I decided to do the comfort Sunday meal with two courses, and the first course was a lovely arugula salad with chunks of poached salmon that was absolutely lovely. The second course was schnitzel with spaetzle. I make schnitzel with a light flour coating and quickly sautéed. This schnitzel was deep-fried and I thought that was just wrong. The spaetzle, too, just tasted like over-browned bits of dough. DH liked it, so the half I brought home will no doubt disappear.

Josie, I received gift cards to my local hair salon and a cookery store. DH gave me a necklace not long ago, so I really didn't expect anything. I wore the necklace going out.

Lori, I saw a listing of Cathe's live workouts over at Videofitness. I can understand why you aren't interested in buying any new dvds when you have that many choices. Wow!

Valerie, your brother sounds like he must have a version of OCD. Just as an aside: how will he be able to sell a house that is filled to brimming with junk? I cannot imagine a realtor showing a house like that or a buyer willing to wade through what sounds like a royal mess to look at it. That is sad about your friends' sons. In the east, it's heroin that seems to be killing people and/or destroying lives. It's apparently very cheap and the drug of choice for people who have gotten hooked initially on prescription painkillers.

Hi to Judy!
 
I hope I'm not wearing everyone out with my tales of woe. it helps me vent. thank you all for listening. I'll settle down now.

Lynda the salad sounds lovely. I love arugula &salmon. I can't imagine deep fried spaetzle..... wrong.
The house is not salable. also building code violations for outdated and poorly done repairs. professional cleaners will need to be hired. he has cars too, stashed in garages everywhere, under blankets. no idea if they run or not. He is an odd mixture of anger and soft heartedness. the accumulation of "stuff" is awful. there are times when I don't feel bad about being out of the loop.
Heroin is big here too, cheap. so sad about these kids. they were adorable little boys. things went downhill in high school.
 
Hi Everyone,

We ended up not going to Birmingham after all. We got a late start Saturday and decided to wait until next weekend. It was so nice out we spent some time outside and even went for a short bike ride yesterday. We also went to REI and picked up a few things.
We've decided to ride more this winter, as long as the weather isn't too bad. We have a short route in the neighborhood around our condo that we feel pretty safe with. It's a residential neighborhood with low traffic. We'll probably be doing some rides in the evening after DH gets home from work so we wanted to get new lights. We found this one and thought it would work great:
http://www.rei.com/product/895628/cygolite-streak-350-hotshot-sl-30-bike-light-set
It's very small, but extremely bright. I remember the first bike light I had back in the late 90's and it was huge! It had a battery pack that I had to strap to my bike that was like a brick. Things have certainly changed for the better.

Last night I did my first Body Beast workout. I did shoulders and legs. The workouts are ok, but not as hard as STS and not up to Cathe standards. I will keep it though and might even get DH interested in doing it.

Valerie-I'm so sorry about everything you've had to go through with your family. Vent all you want. Venting is good and this is a good place to do it.

Lynda-the weather here was gorgeous yesterday and today too. It was sunny and in the 60's. This time last year we already had significant snow on the ground.

Lori-Birmingham is about a 45 minute drive from here. I will be trying Strong Total Body soon. Maybe I'll do an hour of core and 2 hours of spin tomorrow :). I'm overdue for a long spin workout.

Josie-Great ride! Good luck with your training!

Hi to Deb!

Judy
 
Good evening ladies!

This morning was Live Hi Low Hiit. I completely forgot about the 1 arm burpees in this. I did them but wow! I do love this workout and need to mark as a favorite. This was my only workout today. After work we needed to take Chester to the vet. Last night we discovered his ear was completely swollen. The only way to desribe it is picture an inflatable raft. The one for individuals. You know how it has a pillow on top and then rows going down as the bed. Well picture one of those rows inflated and the others deflated. He is a lab so he has large ears. Looked like some one jammed a hotdog in his ear. Anyways...he has broken blood vessels and required surgery. My poor baby. The doctor just called and all went well and he is resting comfortably. He has a ton of stiches and will need to wear the cone for 3 weeks. Not sure how this is going to work out. He has had a tough year. :(

Deb...was very nice here yesterday too. Can't blame you for working outside instead. I think you would really like live. It is $9.99 a month. You should try it out then cancel if you do not like it. This way it only costs you 10 bucks. As you know I love the live workouts!

Josie...congrats on your ride! 23 miles is a great ride for your first time out. Every now and then I hope on my tread mill and noticed a huge difference from years ago. I agree all the strength training has made my legs really strong.

Valerie...vent all you want. We are here for you. Very nice of you to care for your sister like that. As I mentioned before I truly believe what goes around comes around. Such a sad situation. Heroin is rampage here in MA. So many overdoses his year.

Lynda...that stinks about your meal. Well at least your DH will enjoy it! Yes another really nice day here in New England. I am calling tomorrow to make an appt. to have my snow tires put on. Been so nice it seems odd to be thinking snowtires already. If you remember...last year the day before Thanksgiving we had a terrible snow storm. Maybe it was not in your area but not taking any chances.

Seems so weird not to have Chester here. We pick him up in the morning and we can't wait. He was weighed when we first brought him in and he is at 96lbs. He seems to be staying at this weight so this is a good thing. Hard to believe not to long ago he was 109lbs. He is our big boy!
 
Lori, I'm sorry about Chester's ear :( I hope he will be feeling better when you pick him up in the morning.
 
Good morning,

Yesterday I did an old favorite..iTrain workout on the treadmill. I need to start looking at those again

Josie, good job on the ride and the weight loss! :)

Valerie, thanks for the info on that Dragon thing for weeds...I am going to look into that for the spring. Will need to be very careful though because a lot of our rock/stone landscape beds have that landscape fabric underneath....maybe I better not do it with those? Although that is where the it would do the most good. Roasting peppers with it...how ingenious!

Lynda, too bad about the meal, agree, Schnitzel should not be deep fried, but good that your DH will eat the leftovers. :) Whenever John is looking for a gift for me, I tell him there is always a gift card to my nail salon...that will always be needed and appreciated.

Judy, thanks for the info on the Body Beast workouts...I don't think I will be getting them. Now the ICE workouts are really needed soon. Nice bike lights!

Lori, poor Chester! :(. Glad all went well. What makes that happen? Let us know how he is dong when you pick him up. Have you seen the new cones that are not that plastic one? They seem to be more comfortable and tolerable for the dogs: Here is an example...they probably have them at PetSmart or other pet stores, maybe even your vet would have them....

http://www.amazon.com/Contech-ProCo...pebp=1447756743231&perid=1VDHECNEGKJXV53K07M9

images


I think a rest day today, had a bad night's sleep.

Take care,
 
Poor chester! Wanted to give you an update....He had one or more broken blood vessels and he had surgery last night to repair them. The doctor called us around 9pm to say all went well and he has a ton of stitches. They needed to sedate him after he woke up because he was very excitable. This is Chester! Deb not sure if that cone would work as he will still be able to get his foot to his ear and scratch. I will show to the doctor to ask. He will need to wear the cone for three weeks which is when the stitches will come out. This will not be pretty and will be a real challenge for him. My DH is picking him up today at around 11am if all is still going well.
 
I must be really tired as I do not even remember that I already told you this last night!!!! I just scrolled back and yup there it is! Yup....as my DS would say...old age!!! :)
 
Good morning. I did Flex train again yesterday. Getting it down well. No dread factor moves. Even got the burpees into pushups, a little slower than they do it. I still do knee pushups for the drop sets.

we are expecting a wind and rain storm today, so expecting a power out. November in the northwest. DH is having problem with an eyelid that got sore and swollen, so we will be off to an ophthalmologist this morning as soon as he sets it up. probably an abrasion but we were both up half the night with it.

Lori those collars deb posted look less cumbersome but especially with long floppy lab ears he could probably scratch it and tear out stitches. it takes a while to adapt to an Elizabethan collar. Move all low breakables! even our tiny little 8 lb kitty ran into all kinds of things with the collar. he tried to jump up on things, didn't allow for the collar right away. Chester will destroy furniture!
1 arm burpees??? OMG.

Deb I don't use landscape fabric or plastic for the reason you mention. over a few years (one season here) , debris accumulates and weeds take root anyway, and then it's harder to deal with them. the heat is intense but exposure brief. anyplace the fabric is exposed would melt. if there's 2 inches of gravel over it, probably nothing would happen. garden magazines used to advertise a small Dragon version but I think the propane container was not refillable. After I bought this one, I stopped looking.

I LOVE roasted peppers. electric ovens have crappy, useless broilers. "closed door broiling" IMO does not work. one day I looked at the torch and thought, "why not?" they make small kitchen torches for things like crème brulee but for peppers the big torch is great. If you like to roast peppers it's so easy. all corners of the pepper are reachable with the torch.

Josie congrats on the 3 lbs. I'm going to rejoin WW as I am getting nowhere by myself. not gaining, just staying the same.

Judy ... a revolution in lighting since LEDs. Can't believe how big and heavy old ones are. I'll be passing thru REI this week too, checking out the sale. I bought DH a pair of padded calf length tights but he didn't like them. returning them for padded undies to wear under wind block tights. we have some Craft brand tights that were not that expensive comparatively, but no padding. DH is too short for full length mens tights. made for people 6'6"! an hour of core and 2 hours of spin? wow.
 
Hi everyone--

This morning I did ch, sh, tris with core 1 (47:58).

Oh, Lori, poor Chester! Any idea how he managed to break those blood vessels? I remember when we had max neutered he wore the Elizabethan collar and he didn't seem to mind at all. Just raced around looking totally ridiculous. Those new collars remind me of the pillows they sell at airports to cradle our necks. One-arm burpees? I'd probably end up with a broken wrist doing that.

Judy, you are a brave soul to go out riding in the dark. I think, particularly at dusk, it is very hard to see cyclists, even when they are wearing something to give them visibility. I remember last year too being snowy by this time, and Thanksgiving Eve was a snowstorm and power outage. It's pretty cold here today, but the sun is out and no predictions for snow.

Deb, I agree. I can always use gift certificates at the hair salon. By the way, I forgot to tell you. DH has 12 new calves. If you go to the East Mountain Farm facebook page, the current big photo is of some of them. They are still pretty cute. The only problem is that they were weaned pretty late, and DH can tell that they still miss their moms--very skittish.

Valerie, good for you on Flextrain! I sometimes roast peppers over the gas flame on my stove burners, but more often, I just buy roasted peppers in a jar--by Sclafani. They're pretty good.

Good for you on the weight loss, Josie!

I'm off to the endodontist this afternoon to see if I need a root canal.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Our Newsletter

Get awesome content delivered straight to your inbox.

Top