Well, well, well, my house seems to be getting smaller these days. I've added a 2nd dog into the home, Rowdy. He's actually my sis' dog, a border collie, but he doesn't like the the condo life he's been having to live the past year.

Border collies are a working dog breed and when G. was in her house he had access to the backyard all of the time. Now he doesn't and she would take him out before and after work for him to take care of his "business" but that was it. Only about 10 min. a pop. I knew that that was no wheres near the time he needed to be walked and did try to tell her but she just ignored me most of the time, as usual!

This is Cray-ray now. He's still nuts and has become quite the little hunter. Yuck, lizards and birds. I'll leave it at that. He gets so mad at me when I take his "toys" away and try to save them.

Any ways, doing the right thing for the animal rather than ourselves isn't always easy and I commend my sis for letting Rowdy go even though it hurt her to do so. He's pretty happy here. We just came back from a long walk and both dogs are out cold. We walk most every day. Occasionally, I wake up late and we have to miss 1 but thats rare.

On a whole other note, I woke up Thursday morning with pink eye. Oh, just great. The left side of my left eyeball is completely red. It looks horrible. The good news is that it doesn't hurt, just looks ghoulish. I looked it up on the internet and found that I could've scratched it a little or something like dust or a fallen eyelash can cause this to happen. "They" say that if it's only 1 eye, it doesn't hurt one should not be alarmed, so I'm not. That is until someone looks at me and screams out "Whats wrong with your eye?" which I heard quite a bit at work from my colleagues.

Of course my best bud D. took it to the extreme, worrying, I guess rightly so, that it was my blood pressure. I do have a mild high blood pressure issue but I kept telling her that that was more than likely, not the problem. But, in fairness to D., it could've been a huge issue.

It really looked gross when I looked to the right with my eyes. Kinda fun to freak my friends out.

Well, I'm happy to report that this morning though not gone, it is considerably better with some white showing on the left side of the white of my left eye. Whew! Got that? It was a mouthful to put together.

As for my workouts, I had to change up the exercises. I kept adding weight and not really feeling any results and I don't want to bulk up just regain my strength & stamina. Besides, it was time for a change. I didn't bother with the scale at all this last week. It just ticks me off and I don't need the pressure I put myself through when I don't like what I see.

You all do know that you should change your workouts every 4-6 weeks right? Well, if you didn't, you do now.

I'll post my new workout on the workout page a little later today for you.

I'm also happy to say that my cardiovascular stamina is returning too. I did a HIIT workout on the stationary bike and my heart rate came down quickly again. 30 bpm (beats per minute) during the 1st minute of recovery at the end of a 30 minute workout.

HIIT stands for High Intensity Interval Training. I did a Tabata workout, or 20 sec.s hard 10 sec.s easy for 4 minutes followed by a 5 minute active recovery and repeated that for 3 rounds with a  warm-up & cool-down each consisting of 5 minutes.

It's not how high you can get your HR (heart rate) that gives you your cv fitness but how quickly it comes back down. The 1st minute after exercise is when your HR should really drop. At least 20 BPM's in the 1st minute shows good CV fitness levels. A drop of 12 beats or less in the 1st minute of recovery is considered "abnormal" according to Berkeley Wellness website from the University of Berkeley.

Yes, you can improve you CV fitness levels by working on it. Remember though, don't do intervals every day. You can do cardio every day but only 1-3 of those workouts should be intervals. The rest of your workouts should be Steady State workouts of where you keep your HR around 70-75 BPM for at least 30 minutes.

Here's some good news for those of you who don't have 30 minutes at 1 time to devote to exercise. 3 -10 minute bouts of cardio will give the same benefits of 1-30 minute bout.

Go do something, get up off the couch, move your body. You'll feel so much better after.I promise you. another great way to relieve stress, activity!

Poor Barbara APPELBAUM. She's going to kill me if I don't stop mis-spelling her last name. I just read over last weeks blog & noticed that I had done just that, yet again. Sorry, Barb, "you know I love ya more than my luggage."

Well this is a perfect time to plug her workshop coming up in August; Look and Feel Younger Longer. This is going to be a 5 day tele-summit running Aug. 4th-8th. I believe its $49.00 for the entire series. A steal! Get to her website; www.appelbaumwellness.com. and sign up.

This last week got me a little frustrated. I again upped the weight I'm using on my workouts and didn't feel anything after BUT...I do notice that my arms are looking a bit better, I'm stepping up much easier than before and my foot isn't bothering me nearly as much as it was. All of this is great however, the freaking scale isn't budging 1 centigram. I know this happens, everything is going well and nothing, or even worse an increase on the scale. I know it. Doesn't mean I have to like it and I don't. I know it'll suddenly just drop. It always does but it doesn't change the fact that it PISSES me off when this happens. Nothing I can do about but keep on keepin' on.

This is a phenomena that happens to many of us and the point where many people just give up because they base ALL of their work on the scale. Not good, folks. Many other things are going on on this journey. You could be gaining lean mass, which is everything but the fat which I prefer to call fluff, and losing inches rather than weight for the moment. Check your nutritional habits. Have you been partaking in a bit more high-density carbs or sugars than usual?

Don't give up on yourself. It'll happen. Don't base all on the scale. We can't help but want instantaneous results but it just doesn't work that way. At least not healthfully. so, be patient. Look for other result factors such as; do your clothes fit differently?, do you notice some striation or "cut" in your muscles?, do you move better, faster, stronger, longer?

I only hop up on the scale during weight loss time no more than once a week. Don't get on the thing every day. You won't see anything much happen and that'll annoy you even more! Who needs that kind of aggravation? NOONE! So, screw the scale and keep working. It didn't show up over night and it won't go away overnight.

Putney got his walk already this morning. He was soooo happy, that is until I decided to take him to the groomers to get his claws clipped. I just can't do it. It turns into such an ordeal when I try. The groomers are so good with him so I don't mind driving over to them to have it done. They used to be right across the street but moved to a larger facility about 2 miles away. Yes, another place opened up where they were but when I find a good whatever-it-may-be, I stick with them. He got 2 "cookies" for being such a good boy when we got home. It really takes it out of him, poor guy. But he survived and is lying next to me on the tile floor as I write this. Love him.

As for stress, like how I worked that in?, I've been feeling some as of late and have been getting a massage every 2-4 weeks. Boy, I love massages. My masseur, Sergio at U Love Massages, has had to nearly pull my L shoulder off to get at the king-sized knot in it. Holy-moley! Serious pain in there, but after 3 massages, it's finally releasing and lessening. WOW!

I decided to buy another 5-pack of massages from him again and on my next visit, he's giving me a body wrap as a gift before the massage. I'm gonna be so gel'd out after that. I can't wait.

He works out of a salon named Xanadu on Grant, east of Alvernon here in Tucson in the back building. 520-256-0474. You can check it out on Facebook too.

Stress is nothing to sneeze at. It can jack up your hormones, cause you to hang onto weight, disturb sleep and more so you really need to try to find the source of your stress and take care of the issue.

Sometimes we can't control certain things or events in our lives and we allow them to just infiltrate our entire being. We need to find ways to "let it go," (Please don't break into song here.) Oh well, if you must, go for it. I'm getting better at trying to not take on all the evils of the world, in my own mind of course. I can't control nor change other people' s habits, actions or attitudes. But I can choose to let it get to me or just leave it alone and acknowledge my inability to change it and move forward. That it's not up to me to make everything better has helped reduce my anxiety levels. YAY!

Now, that all being said, I do speak up if I see something wrong going on. If you know me, you know. I just can't turn a blinds eye for some things. Hurting animals, people, ah no way.

Anyway, back to the subject of stress. Working out is a great way to alleviate stress. Boxing, dance, weights, cardio all different ways that can help release the hormones that'll make you feel better, and maybe enable to you to calmly "fix" the issue or come to terms with it. Maybe a fresh new take on the situation.

I had to go to traffic school for 4 hours this last week for the speeding ticket I received at the beginning of the month. Agh, what a joy. At least the guy was a hoot. He did make a tedious event go by faster than it could've gone. I'm so happy it's done & I don't need to worry about my insurance now.

Hmmm, time to get some housecleaning done before going to dance class, Moms' to do her pills then to G.'s and the pool to give her a pool workout. Another busy day, but that's how I like it.

Later, gators,

Keep dancin', peace out

G,, my sis, brought her dog Rowdy over to re-aquaint to Putney & introduce him to Cray-ray. Turns out they're gonna be fine all together. At first I put the kitten in my room and let Rowdy roam the house with his leash on. Then I let Cray-ray out & took the 2 dogs for a walk allowing the kitten a chance to smell Rowdy in the house. After a few moments of hair raised on the backs, they pretty much did fine. Every now & then they had a moment but did well. Since Rowdy eats the same brand of kibble as Putney, dinner went fairly smoothly. All will be fine during my recovery.

Also, since Cray-ray lost his collar a few weeks back, I decided to buy him a new one along with a name tag just in case.

G. & I had a magnificent meal together. I did the cooking for a change. She can be such a pain that we usually eat at her place but since we had to deal with the pets she came here. I made B-B-Q country ribs. I sprayed the ribs w/olive oil and rubbed Dang Rubs #39 on them, covered them with plastic wrap & refrigerated them for over an hour. I also roasted up some fresh asparagus  also sprayed with olive oil and sprinkled Dang Rubs #'s 12 & 23 on them. Put them in the oven for 10 min. at 425 degrees and oh-ho-ho! That's when I heated my grill and grilled the ribs for about 6 min. on each side, after 1 side was grilled I lathered on some of my sauce, & then grilled 'em some more. We had a salad, a little wine, alright we had an entire bottle, some dessert and off to a food coma.

Why is G. so uncomfortable in my house you might ask? Well, to be honest, she doesn't do well with heat. She seems to run a little hotter than me. I realize that much of the country has been in a severe cold snap but Arizona hasn't. My heater hasn't kicked on in awhile & I'm comfortable but she's typically too hot and occasionally too cold. Right now she's too hot. I don't plan on turning on my cooler for another 1-2 months. What can I say. I'm a middle of the road kinda gal as far as temps go. I felt great. I did let her turn the ceiling fan on in the dining area as we ate. She was much happier then.

I started thinking back on all of my electronics that have blown on me these last few months. Here's my list; vacuum cleaner, PC & laptop, coffee grinder, juicer, phone went haywire & went back in time to 1980 for some weird reason, I'm getting worried about what might be next. Yikes!

I'm now going through the stresses of paying for this surgery. Thank God for insurance but boy, the "powers that be" do not make this easy. I just found out yesterday, that I will be billed by 3 different entities. 1) the hospital 2) the Dr. 3) the anesthesiologist. Excuse Me!

Is that really necessary? I was quite stunned and now I am so confused about it all. Apparently I've made my deductible so what I owe the hospital is less than the invoice states but I can't seem to figure out why. I've spoken 4 x's to the folks at the hospital billing, 3 different people mind you, and I'm even more confused. Anyway, they want a deposit but of course they don't take the medical credit card I have. Wonderful. Now, the Dr.'s fee's do take that credit card, thankfully. But then alas & alack the anesthesiologist doesn't. There goes my stress levels out the roof. I'm less concerned with the surgery then I am about my share of paying for it.

I'm going to have to go into my 401k for it but I can't until I have a precise amount to request from it. I'll have to wait until after the surgery to get the totals. Ahhhh, paperwork. Don't ya just love it? It's mine & I have to jump through hoops for it. Oh well, at least I have it to use. That at least eases some of my tension. I'm using all of my PTO (paid time off) funds at work and then I'll collect short-term disability for the remainder of my re-couping time. Unfortunately, I still have to pay for my insurance while I'm off but I can work a little bit, office type work) and still collect it. It'll be a little extra cash which I will need.

I spent Friday running around trying to get things ready for my incarceration in the house for a couple of weeks and to try to keep G. from having to do too much BS here. I got the house cleaned although I still need to dust but everything else is gorgeous. The gal really did a great job. I threw everything in the washer, bath rug, dish dry mat, my slippers, etc. I also gave myself a mani-pedi. I can't imagine what these folks have to look at while doing these surgeries. I don't want to be water-cooler conversation. Wow, that's a worry I hadn't thought of before. Today, I get my legs waxed, seriously not going in hairy, gonna dust, maybe go meet a guy for coffee, want to take a dance class, get to the grocery store for a few minor items & done, I hope.

Yup, I'm trying to keep busy to avoid thinking about the up-coming surgery. Even though I'm more excited about it than stressed, I am still just a tad stressed. I think that's only natural. I have 1 & half days left at work and away we go! My next addition to this blog I will be bionic.


Keep good thoughts for me, and I'll meet ya on the other side. Peace out folks.

Ahhhhhhhhhh, on to Taiko drumming this week. This is soooo fun and quite a workout too. Oh my goodness. In Tucson, there's a group called Odaiko Sonora that not only teaches the style of Okinawan Taiko but they also have a performing group and they make most of their own drums.

Taiko is very physical form of drumming. It's choreographed and just amazing to learn as well as witnessed in person. The timing, rhythms, movement are so spectacular to watch and tough to get down. Sometimes you're switching drums all while keeping this music going. Simply fab-u-lous!

There's an entire ritual that you perform at each & every practice, right down to bowing as you enter and exit the studio, greeting the Master or Sensai, the warm-ups, getting the drums out, holding the sticks, just everything. It's truly amazing. But it does give everyone a sense of unity as well as placement in the hierarchy of the group. And... believe me there is a hierarchy.

Again, you learn many of the rhythms by speaking a phrase or sounds which give you the tone or intensity you use to play the rhythms. When my friend & co-worker R. went to classes we had so much fun and laughed our butts off. She's from Okinawa and I grew up in Japan so the first phrase we learned caught us both off guard. I honestly, didn't quite get the phrase at first but knew I knew the words. I haven't even tried to speak Japanese in over 40 years so thats my excuse, but R. cocked her head to the side,  gave me a puzzled look and as I began to figure it out, she started laughing out loud. I joined her, of course, and we were hooked.

Again a sense of community, and respect comes with the learning and playing of Taiko. Everything I stated last week in regards to the drumming circle are present in Taiko but with the added physical benefits of the choreographed movements associated with the drumming. You simply have to work together.

The word Taiko itself means "big drum" in Japanese. But there are many different sized drums played. It does have a vast & rich history and there are some amazing performance groups here in the U.S. so I would encourage you to go and watch one sometime and if possible try it yourself. You could find yourself smiling more, feeling a part of something special, less stressed, losing weight and having more fun than you could've ever imagined.

Beat On! Next week, Drums Alive!

This week I'm going to try some new salmon recipes this weekend. I'll be sure to let you know how they turn out.

Have a great week everyone. Peace out!

So, lets discuss Drum Circles. I do really enjoy being a part of 1. They're all different and completely depend on the person facilitating the event. I've been a part of 2 slightly differing styles. Both are fun and ultimately get to the same "calypso" rhythm, but where 1 leader just went directly to the drums, the other began with little "shaker" eggs and everyone starting with their own rhythm and eventually all coming together into 1 pulsating rhythm. Pretty interesting, but I'll admit, I prefer just getting to the drums. Both had various types of percussive instruments available for folks whose hands get tired of hitting the drums.

I've learned 3 different ways to hit the drum to make different tones or sounds on it. Where & how your hand strikes it can totally change the value of the tone.  So cool! All ages, genders, sizes, coolness levels come together and play  together. The drums used in the circles I've been in as well as in the picture here and djembe drums from Africa. There's various sizes of djembe drums and many places to get them. You can also buy drums made in the USA, some metal, some wood.

The first time I did a circle, my adductors (inner thighs) were soooooooooosore. I've since learned how to better hold the drum between them. I also take off my ring before playing to protect me & the ring from getting messed up. Have you ever done your strength training with your rings on and noticed that its basically squished onto your finger & difficult to remove/ Ugh!

Anyways, back to the drum circles, 1 of the leaders had us singing & playing at the same time in a foreign tongue no less. That was a pisser for me. But I did finally, after about 3-4 weeks, get the hang of it. I can separate my body parts but this was tough but I did get better.

I previously mentioned that there has been research on the benefits of of drumming which includes stress/anxiety reduction but here are some other benefits of drumming circles;
- blood samples showed an increase in cellular activity that kills bad cells or an enhanced immune system Alternative Therapies, 2001 (7)1, Bittman, Berk, Felten, Westengard, Simonton, Pappas, & Ninehouser
-increased self-esteem and a decrease in anxiety & stress in 30 over 80 yrs. old depressed participants at Stanford University  Friedman, Healing Power of the Drum, 1994
- an increased awareness or connection to loved ones in Alzheimer's patients
-other benefits include a sense of euphoria, community, emotional release (like anger!)and to learn to both lead and follow.

All in all it's a wonderful, fun thing to do and with all of the additional health benefits to boot I'd say a very valuable thing to do. Check your area and see if there's a drumming circle somewhere in your community and join from time to time. You see things in a whole new light.

Yesterday I made some marinated beef for sandwiches. I'd been having such a craving for them so I went to the market, bought some rolls, some thinly cut beef and Voila! I made a marinade out of soy sauce, ginger, garlic and brown sugar. I placed it all in a zip-lock freezer bag, added the meat & left it all in the fridge overnight. I pulled out my huge cast iron skillet, got it nice & hot after spraying with a canola oil spray, tossed the whole enchilada in the skillet, tossed it a bit and done. I hollowed out the roll making a little trench in each side to hold the meat, made a salad, sat down & ate. Yummy.

You can get the butcher at your market to thin slice any meat you want to your desired thick (or thin) ness so don't be afraid to ask.

We used to get these sandwiches in Monterey, Calif. at the wharf at a little place called "The Captain's Gig" but they haven't had them in ages. Too bad.

Well, I'll discuss Taiko drumming next time. Bang on everybody and de-stress!

I ended my last post talking about anxiety or stress having an effect on your body. Well, it's true. There's lots of research on the subject. I've written about it before myself. So, lets delve a little deeper into it, shall we??? Yes, we shall.

Have you ever tried drumming? I've done 3 types of drumming. Each 1 is fun, energizing and meditative. I've taken a few Taiko drumming classes along with a friend of mine. The 2nd type I've done is something from the fitness world called Drums Alive! and the 3rd is a Drumming Circle.
I'll go into more detail about these 3 styles later but I mention them because drumming has been shown to relieve stress, lower overactive hormones, create a calmness in those who perform the activity. No matter which you do, you fall into a rhythm which helps to equally activate both sides of the brain and gives a state of balance to your mind. Besides, who doesn't enjoy just bangin' on something?

Feels great to just "get it out," right?

On another note, yesterday as Putney & I were walking, we saw a coyote run across the street & up a wash with a white or cream colored cat in its mouth. I could tell it was a cat by 2 things. 1) the color, 2) it had a long tail dangling down. Kind of solidified my thoughts about Oreo, I'm sad to say. I feel bad that another pet owner will be missing their pet too. I'm trying to think of it as "the circle of life" but it still hurts my heart.

Had another great dance class yesterday and a fab meal with my sis. I grilled a pork loin roast on the grill with a little spray of evoo and a sprinkle of Buck & Judy's Dang Rub #39,
and I made a balsamic reduction glaze which I drizzled on just about 15 min. before I turned off the grill and again while it set. (Recipe to follow). I made a bigger batch 'cuz Sis likes extra which we were able to drizzle more on as we ate our slices.

Glaze: 1-2 C balsamic vinegar
           1-2 handfuls of brown sugar 
           1 lg minced clove garlic
In a skillet, I use cast iron, add all ingredients and heat to simmer slowly over over med. heat. Stir and turn heat down to low. Pay attention to this as it'll burn very easily and when that happens...YUCK! This'll take at least 20 min. to reduce just 'till it's of a thicker consistency.

For the roast, I used indirect heat on the grill which means the flames were around the meat, not directly under it. I cooked the 2-3# roast for about 1:15 hours or about 35-40 min/#. Let it rest for about 15 min. after grilling before you slice.
Enjoy the recipe.

Peace out.