Back home . . . hit the ground running!

This is me.  Just a few minutes before we got in the shuttle to leave Mexico.  Compared to my blog-site picture above - much improved.  Whoo hooo!  I tried to get Fred to be in the picture with me, but he just refused. So, you get me.  This is about as tan as I get.  With such fair skin, there isn't much point in trying to get much daker.  Yes, spf 70(or higher) is my friend.  Getting burnt on vacation just isn't any fun.

Well, we got back to Wisconsin on the coldest day of winter - boy that is always a shocker to the system.  Wow!  I just hate it when the snot freezes in your nose. I think it was 14 below or something awful like that.  It is survivable and really enjoying those heated seats in the Saturn.  :)

I took Friday off of work to get all settled, laundry done and re-aclimated to what was going on with everyone's schedule.  Meg and Scott have been sick, but not having school on Monday really helped them out a lot.  I am back to work and in up to my eyeballs in everything I was doing before vacation.  Feels good.

Now planning the next big trip.  My sister, cousin Cindy and cousin Lynn and I are going on a cruise in October.  Just booked it yesterday.  It is a bit of work coordinating between the 4 of us, but it is pretty well settled now and we are set to go.  Next we'll work on airfare and get our passport information to the cruise company.  Shouldn't be too hard.  I now know why I have not even looked at becoming a travel agent.  It can be messy.  We are going on an eastern carribean cruise - really looking forward to it.

I haven't had much time to work out since getting back, but did today and will still try to do something everyday (or at least 4X a week).  I feel great!

I think I have the year-end paperwork for the businesses done.  That is always a good feeling.  Now we just meet with our accountant to get all the taxes done.  Never on my list of things I like to do, but nice to have it all taken care of.  So glad I don't do those taxes anymore.  It gets pretty complicated and the accountant has the really good software. He's completed them in about 2 hours.  Me, it would take weeks.

Have a great day!

Love ya,
Bren

Vacation comes to an end

Well,  life is not a 'vacation', so tomorrow it is back to reality.  I am OK with that.  Ready to get back and dive in to everything again.  This break was just perfect.  I like to be busy doing things and even on vacation I managed some things from here.  But our lives have changed.  I guess I am more in the habit of texting than I realized.  Wow.  Our cell phones do not work in Mexico.  I can't begin to count how many times I would have liked to sent a text to one of my kids, (with 6, that can be a lot of texting - and they don't all have cellphones yet.)!

We never did make it to Cozumel.  Yesterday we set out to do that, but missed the 1 o'clock ferry from Playa del Carmen.  So we just went to the beach at Playacar Palace instead. Just doing that was $40 in round-trip taxi fare.  We saved another $100 with the ferry ride both ways and the taxi to the Cozumel Palace and back to the ferry.  Playacar's beach is right next to the ferry dock and very nice.  No conch shell for Megan, but when we bring the kids she can either find or buy her own and it will mean more to her.

Today was a 'sun' day.  We baked for a bit, I participated in the Water Aerobics class and later went kayaking in the lagoon for a few minutes.  See. . .  can't just sit still for more than a couple of hours.  I have completed one Sudoku book and have begun the second.

This evening we finish packing up so we are ready to go to the lobby at 8 am. to begin the trip home.  They saved the coldest weather for us. (which is still not as cold as it normally is when we get home.)  Fred is getting his last massage, I have most of our stuff packed.  We will go watch the fire show at seven and have dinner there.  The shows are pretty good.

One of the end of Yoga class thoughts was this, "most of us never have the opportunity to large good things, but we all have many opportunities each day to do small good things.  In that way we can make a big difference in the world." 

Look for all the 'little' good things you do each day and feel good about who you are.

Love Ya,
Bren

Packers Nation sad tonight :(

  Yes, we are Green Bay Packers fans and will be in mourning until an undisclosed time (basically when they get a workiing defense and can hang on to a ball thrown).  No we are not so depressed we cannot function.  It is a game that a few lucky people get to have as a full-time job.  It is fun to follow and the Packers had a great season - but what happened today should have been no surprise (at least the defense hasn't changed).  Now the dropped passes are another story.  Donald Driver did his part well.  Showed what a true veteran can do.

On to better things.  I did get a great back massage today - that is my limit of personal space invasion.  25 min.  It was also beautifully sunny today.  Fred now needs aloe vera and we are planning to go to Cozumel tomorrow.  A new adventure for us.  A taxi to Playa del Carmen, the ferry to the island and another taxi to the hotel.  At the Cozumel Palace we will play at the beach for a couple of hours and head back to Aventura.

Have a  great evening - as good as the Packers Nation can.

Love ya
Bren

Mexican thiking. . . .

  Well, another day at the resort.  I went to Body Sculpting yesterday - the only resort go-er to show up.  The instructor didn't even show up.  But, another employee who was a personal trainer put me through a pretty good work-out.  Today I wanted to go to the Kick Boxing class - again, no instructor and no one else.  I will just do my own workout in the Cross-Current pool.  I did that a few years ago and that was good. 

So far this morning I have been to the schedulers, back to my room, back to the schedulers, to the South Lobby and back to the North Lobby and now back at the room - All in a hour.  I am sweaty and legs are tired, so maybe I have already done a workout.

Do you know what Mexican math is?  They throw numbers at you really fast (in heavy spanish accents) and it somehow seems to make sense, but you have to look at it for a while to be sure.  We have credits (sort of play money) to spend at the resort.  What you can spend it on depends on what they give you and how much.  For booking this week, we got $1500 in Spa money - Fred's massages come out of here.  From an agreement a couple of years ago, we have $250 in Spa money.  Then we have other resort credits that can be spent between the Spa and Resort and there are limits.  I need to keep a pocket abacus with me to keep it all straight and I am an accountant.  Good Grief!   I think I have it all figured out and now can go get that pair of earrings I found that will match the pendant I bought here last year.

Too much work for one day on vacation!  Time to go lay in the sun or walk around that cross current pool and then a back massage at noon.

Have a great day!

Love ya,
Bren

Finally on Vacation!!!!

Yes, we made it to Mexico!  I take Bonine (meclizine) for motion sickness while flying and I think it made me really sleepy. But I will get to that when I get to that point in my timeline.  :)

I had thought we would leave home about 5pm.  We actually left at 7pm, so not too bad. We drove to Chicago for a non-stop flight, stayed in a hotel, left our car at the hotel and they dropped us off at the airport.  So for the cost of one night in the hotel, we park our car free and get a ride to the airport.  Very nice.  On the way to Chicago we played a little game, 'Did you Bring?'  As we drove, we began to ask if we remembered to bring certain things.  Passports, extra cash, etc...  I realized I forgot my hair comb - small thing.  Fred thought he left the extra cash at home on his dresser or in the pants pocket that he put in the laundry.  Ooops.  Then he remembered he did pack a second pair of pants and those were the ones.  Yes, we had the cash.  Whew!  I put the passports in our carryon bag the day before and remembered the Bonine this time so I didn't have to get something on the way - AGAIN.

We got the to hotel by 10:30pm, checked in, settled in the room.  verified our flight time - 8:20am.  Be at airport by 6:00am. Drats.  The hotel wanted us ready to go 1/2 hour before that. 5:30.  We were up at 4:30 to shower, dress and go.  Glad I brought my protein shake, because there is no hotel breakfast at that time, besides it would have been all carbs anyway.  So much for sleep. 

It was interesting in the hotel lobby, though.  The hotel clerk was from India, the shuttle driver was hispanic.  Another couple had some sort of British accent and one gentleman was obviously from Africa.  All spoke English, but they had a hard time understanding each other with their native dialects.  It was pretty funny.  We just smile and enjoy the simple amusement of it all.  :)

We did get some breakfast at the airport at 6:30.  Check in and through security went smooth - just have to be patient.  Amazing how many women travel at that time of day in full make-up.  I am not one of those.  Flight left about 20 min late, but we did not see one snowflake before leaving, so we missed the storm and absolutely no flight delays.  Yippeee!

We got exit row seats on the plane, which was great for leg-room, but no reclining of the seats.  I was almost asleep on take-off and slept a good portion of the flight.  We landed in Cancun at noon, right on time.  The arrival paperwork was not the English version, but Spanish and they did not hand out any customs forms.  They did have a copy of a form in English so we did have a cheat sheet.  It took an hour to get through the airport.   Another funny story, though.   We finally made it to the baggage carousels and the Mexican authorites were taking a 'drug' dog around all the people and baggage.  It stopped at the carryon bag of an older lady. The dog sniffed and wanted into her bag licking its chops.  So the Authorities opened her bag and looked through it.  She had brought some store-bought sausages with her.  They looked similar to pepperoni, but I have no idea what kind.  I felt bad for her, but we were amused at the obsurdity of it all.  Then a woman standing next to me says, "That gives new meaning to 'hide the sausage'."  It was all I could do not to fall on the floor laughing.  The lady with the sausages did not get to keep them and we figure the dog got the eat them on break.

It is an hour+ van ride to the hotel and I slept again on the way there.  Fred said it was a better ride than the one last year in a taxi.  I'll We had dinner and I took another nap after dinner.  We were supposed to have a concierge level hotel room when we checked in, but did not.  So we changed rooms just before dinner.

Yesterday, we upgraded our membership from Palace Resorts to Hard Rock Hotels and got a Presidential suite.  Yup, been here 2 days and in our 3rd room.  The hotel we are staying in will become the Hard Rock Riviera this fall and we want to be able to continue to come here.  Should be exciting.  Let me tell ya, this suite is amazing.  Before we just had the one room with a jacuzzi, bed, small desk, dresser, bathroom and closet.  Now we have two bathrooms, dinning room, livingroon, bedroom, and a sort of kitchen(no stove, but a microwave), a huge patio, ocean view, a pillow menu and we can have aromatherapy scents in the room.  Yup, like this a lot.  :)

Yesterday I went to the yoga class - great workout.  We were all sweating 15 min into it.  No yoga today, but there is a body sculpting class at 10.  Tomorrow will be kick boxing.  Should be fun.

Have a great day! And I think the sun is trying to come out.  Had rain in the night and first thing this morning.

Love ya,
Bren

I did it!!! - got brave, too :)

You have to promise - absolutely no laughing, but you can smile.  :)    I began the exercise and new eating habits on August 1st 2011. Moving the sleeper sofa in the basement the day before, I hurt my right hip - BUT began anyway doing only the exercises I could comfortably do.  {After seeing these 'Before' pics, there was no way I was going to NOT start this program}

 Three weeks into the program I caught the nastiest cold/virus I have had in years - delayed me 3 weeks.  So I started it over with the week one workout.  During those 3 'sick' weeks, I kept up with the new eating habits (or at least kept that as the main focus of how I was eating).  Some days I was too sick to care.  Missed the better part of 3 weeks of work, too.

I kept at it.  If I had a week when I didn't exercise enough, I did it over.  This is why it has taken me 5 months to complete a 13 week program.  I didn't notice any changes for several weeks, but felt so much better physically that that reward alone was good enough to keep me going.

Yah, that's me smiling!  Look how baggy those sport shorts are!  Yipeee!!!!  Just 5 short months ago - they were stretched to the limit.  I also can't believe it, but I think you can see the outline of a 6-pack!  Now, there is still room for improvement and as I have written earlier - the 'baby' tummy may always be there in some form.  I am so very happy it is so very much shrunk.

A word of encouragement to absolutely everyone who reads this - YOU CAN DO THIS IF I CAN DO THIS.  I am no one of any particular strength, fortitude, or have super powers.  I just kept at it, even if it was only 15 min a day.  I did the best I could, recorded what I did to see my progress and kept going.  If we quit, then we never know what we could have accomplished.

Have a wonderful day!  I know I am.  :)

Love Ya,

Bren



Awesome Routine by our Cheerleaders!

     I got to go watch our Cheerleaders perform today in Freedom, WI at a competition.  It is always a great time and a lot of fun to watch all the teams.  There are several categories and the teams are also grouped by size.  That way a co-ed large team is not up against an all-girl small or a cheer dance.  They all have different requirements.  Those co-ed large teams are really fun to watch - way cool to see the guys get so involved!  We only have a few guys and no one on our team can do much tumbling, which is required in the other categories.  We usually can manage a stunt team for regional competition and that doesn't have to have a guy - but very handy for the upper body strength.

http://youtu.be/CTrY7M7JUxE    is the link to watch the video of their performance today.  This is my first attempt at video recording one of their routines, but turned out fairly well. If you pause the video and let it completely load, then it plays without stopping.   They move around quite a bit, so I can't say exactly which one is Alexa and they all look so much alike.  :)

Enjoy!!!!

Love Ya,
Bren

Whew! The holidays are done. . . Now What????

     It was actually a very nice holiday time for our family.  The baking, gift buying(then getting boxes in the mail to arrive in time for Christmas) and the regular stuff we do all year long does get somewhat crazy.  It was good to see family and chat with those far away.  I am so grateful for all the ways we have to communicate now.  It really keeps me feeling close to everyone.
     I am finishing up week 12 of the P90X.  I decided I needed to redo week 11 because the first time through I only exercised twice.  Then I had a repeat of week 12, so I finally got it done - or will tomorrow.  I still feel really good and want to keep in shape now that I have improved it.  I know, round is a shape, but slimmer and more of an hour glass is way better.  :)  This weekend I will take the 'After' photos, compare them to the 'Before' photos and most likely post them here.  It's been fun to have my clothes fit loosely and get back into so many I grew out of.
      I will also be packing for our vacation to Mexico on Thursday.  Ooooh goodie!  I so need a vacation.  I have tanned some and know what clothes to take.  We don't have a lot of plans while we are there.  Some spa treatments (massages, pedicures, facials and the water therapy lounge) feel great for some pampering.  I am not one to over do one these things, still feels awkward for me to endulge.  I can handle laying poolside, oceanside or partcipating in some workout classes.  No schedule here we come!!!!

  Even if I wasn't going away for a vacation,I would try to find more down time.  That is much needed in most of our lives.

Love ya,
  Bren