P is for Power

My favorite line of the P90X videos so far is "Mini break, okay break's over keep going."

 

Brian got turned on by the P90X commercials a while back, which surprised me because usually I'm the one spearheading athletic activity around the house, but he really liked the intensity and structure of the videos. The program relies on "muscle confusion," so essentially you're always working a different part of your body and thus never reach a plateau. (Can you tell I'm drinking the kool-aid?). You oscillate between 12 videos that each have a different focus, like Yoga or Legs+Arms or Core Synergistics (also known as, You Might Die). The majority of the exercises just utilize your own body, so there's no real special equipment needed—just some weights, pull-up bar, yoga mat, etc. 

So anyway, the videos cost $150. No way were we paying that. So we kept doing the poor man's exercise instead (hackeysack...seriously), until Lundy scored the videos from someone and then burned purchased them from a legal site them for him for his birthday! $60 worth of weights and resistance bands later, we accidentally jumped on the P90 train. I say accidentally because we didn't so much discuss the inconvenience or commitment that it would take to workout every day for an hour for 90 days, which is roughly one more hour of exercise a day than we do now. 

But now we've done it. We're one week in and I'm pretty sure there's no turning back. Neither of us really want to put forth all the effort that would be necessary to look as ripped as some of the testimonials we've seen, which I'm guessing requires careful attention to diet, no drinking, et cetera. "Less" is not really on our diet. But surely working out by itself will do some good, no? We totally took before pictures so that we'll be able to laugh at our flabbier selves when we're sipping brandy with our feet up on chinchilla ottomans while being fanned by our posse. Wait...being fit won't make you richer and more popular? Damn.

I'll keep you posted on our weight loss (if any). Oh, and I definitely expect some virtual high-fives, if we actually make it through the entire 90 days!

a green toy, for you

I give Brian full credit for finding this gem and also blame him for the 45 minutes we then spent playing with sentence construction. If you like Kanye, or Daft Punk, or mashing, or your keyboard, then you'll enjoy this. Click on it. Then work it. 

a sixth sense

I just watched this video with my mouth open the whole time. How amazing is our world?!

how to get unfriended...

...by me on Facebook.

Keep posting things like this. 

in preparation

Since Brad is super-crazy allergic to cats, Powder and I have been getting ready for his arrival today.

This might gross you out, but please try to focus on the magic and wonder that is The Furminator. This hair pile is only a fraction of what we might normally get, I just happened to piss Powder off during the making of this picture *shocker* and had to call the operation off. My hope was that if I got all the extra hair off her, at least she wouldn't be able wind through his legs leaving white strings of cyanide on his ankles. I've been obsessed with this little brush ever since I paid a pretty penny for it a few years ago, and I'm telling you, the fervor with which I Furminate her (that just sounds wrong) is right up there with the crazy-lizard-tongue I grow when someone hands me a bowl of residual brownie mix and tells me they're going to put it in the dishwasher in 30 seconds. Yeah. 

Welcome, Brad! Here's to hoping your face doesn't explode when you step foot into my house!

the day I broke up with the bachelor

I tried to like the newest Bachelor Jason Meznick even though he seemed like such a cheesedick from Day 1, but he had that freaking adorable kid so you know, I cut him some slack. Then he pulled off an unconvincing proposal to Melissa in the end, fine whatever. But then the guy cried like 17 times, and it would've saved me more time if he'd just lopped off his testicles in one fell swoop. And then he had the audacity to break up with the poor girl on national television, because apparently he didn't have had the decency to do it in private because then he just wouldn't have been true to his wallet heart, right? The only silver lining in the episode was his pathetic attempt to use the whole I don't want to live with regrets scapegoat and she muttered "You're such a bastard." Oh ABC, you and your so-called good television hath made a big mistake. I am all about reality TV but I'm not interested in a "huge twist" where some mangina stomps all over a sweet girl in front of millions of people. I think The Bachelor and I are finally  donezo.

steamboat

I just got back from one of the best vacations of my life and how often do you get to say that?! So excuse my absence. I'm sure all 5 of you have been checking for updates ruthlessly. 

For months, Brian and I have been planning a vacation for February, which turned into a skiing vacation, which turned into a skiing vacation with 7 of his college friends. As the only non-skier in the group, I had been a little apprehensive about the whole endeavor. I'd been snowboarding one time, and it left me with bruises and tear stains, so I have been praying for months that, as everyone promised, skiing would be easier. I'd even been doing skiing-muscle-specific workouts for the last 6 weeks, which included buying rollerblades...that's right...and we now are the social outcasts in the neighborhood. Anyway, I was hoping I would at least tolerate the sport, because Brian skiied competitively in high school and it's something we both really wanted to share. But, I had no idea I'd be opening up this incredible Pandora's box. As it turns out, skiing is insanely fun and I like falling now! At one I faceplanted on a blue and was laughing so hard that I was crying as I skidded down face-first because all I could think about was how I looked like a Mrs. Potatohead losing all her parts. 

Colorado was a phenomenal backdrop for such a great trip, and it felt so natural to be there that it almost scared me (pretty sure I'm a hot-weather kind of girl?). But my mom pointed out that it's bred into me, because she and my dad both loved going there when they were younger, and my dad took me camping there in his burnt orange 70s minivan, pimped out with shag carpet, several times when I was a little kid. He had talked a lot about retiring there and had visited the Denver area last February just before he got sick, which is why we thought it would be appropriate for us to visit a year later and take some of his ashes there. We found the perfect spot on our first day, this beautiful river that went right through town but was totally secluded from people wandering by. It brought me a little more closure and made me happy to know we had taken part of him back to the place he loved most. Tears aside, it was a great start to an amazing trip, and the only bad thing to come out of Steamboat is that now I have to figure out how I'm going to afford the most expensive hobby on Earth...