Pumping Iron...

...or something like that. The students in our Exercise Programming for Special Populations class have to have a "client" this quarter for personal training. I volunteered. This is my second year as a guinea pig. The first year I said I wasn't going to do anything that made me sweat so my personal trainer, a female, made me a stretching and walking routine. We mostly walked and talked and it was somewhat fun. This quarter I said I wanted to strengthen my arms without sweating. My personal trainer, a male, is having none of that (the not sweating part). I whinned on Tuesday that I was still sore from last Thursday (4/30/09) so he made me lift even more weight yesterday. As I struggle to breathe and am pumping iron he entertains me with stories of his amateur boxing exploits. He's getting to have the fun and surprise for me -this is work. But he must know what he's doing because today I feel great and after 4 weeks of training twice a week my arms are getting stronger! I noticed he's starting to slip in some core exercises but I stand firm - I will not run, jog or do anything that feels remotely like running or jogging!!!

2009 International Year of Natural Fibers

I happened upon this website today and thought it had some interesting information about 15 common natural fibers and why they are being discussed.

Check here for the website and view the PR video here:
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Big Night in the Small Town

I came home and finally got my nap being as though I was still exhausted from my session yesterday with James my personal trainer, in which he kicked my butt big time.
Every muscle in my body is sore.



Anyway around 7:30 pm we went to get dinner and on the way we took a detour by the park office (...er I mean Headquarters) to celebrate the passage of the 10 year renewal levy, job security for Andrew and green space for the rest of the community. It passed with a 58% which the Dispatch is calling a "landslide". I'm not sure this qualifies as a landslide but hey I'm not looking a gift horse in the mouth.

This sign (below) advertising some yuppy (is there still such a thing?) community caught our eye-LOOK CLOSE-and I thought Andrew was going to lose control of the car as he was laughing that hard.

Actually the place looked pretty nice so I shouldn't be making fun of it. It's one of those "Lifestyle" communities with a theater, tanning, and a gym built into your building so you never have to leave home.

Last of all we checked out the cuisine at Five Guys burgers and fries. Since I don't get out much I don't know the whole story but apparently this place is popular in the south and a co-worker told recommended it to me this afternoon while we were shooting the breeze.

When we got out of the car Andrew said the only thing that could make this place smell better is if it was sitting on the beach. The burgers were superb. They serve your food to you in a plain brown paper bag and you can also get huge peanuts in the shell as a snack for while you wait.

Last Ditch Effort

The elusive wild morel !

Wild Blue Phlox

I've got to look this one up!

Large Leaf Trillium (state flower of Ohio)

I was planning to come home tonight and be "bone idle" to quote Onslow from the PBS series Keeping Up Appearances. When Andrew called me at work at 4:30 and suggested that we hit the mushroom trail one last time for the season I however, agreed-apparently still toked up on a Monster Java from lunch time and having temporarily lost my senses, also knowing the window of opportunity was waning. Morel hunting is like a fever that starts in mid April and lasts until mid May. We were rewarded with one last somewhat dry morel and lots of beautiful wildflowers. I'm off to bed to finish reading Twilight.

Wild Weekend..

On Saturday after I groomed rabbits, did 5 loads of laundry, planted vegetables, and plied four skeins of yarn; I got a wild hair and suggested that Andrew lay a patio in the front of the house. (He was fixing a chainsaw and getting lawn mower parts). He agreed and we went to Home Depot which was like Grand Central and bought plants and pavers. Then my brother suggested we go to Pei Wei for Chinese. This was around 9 pm. I'd never been there. I'll give the food an A+. I got up at 6:30 this morning (after turning the alarm off, going back to sleep and almost oversleeping), blew out the rabbits, loaded the car, stopped at Starbucks and headed to the OSRBA Convention. Happily it only took me ten minutes to get to the Ohio State Fairgrounds. Andrew told me later that I put the milk under the sink instead of back into the refrig. My Satins (which didn't show until 2:30) out performed my wildest expectations with a BOB and a BOS, but mostly I really enjoyed visiting with my fellow breeders from Ohio and Dustin came from Indiana and Jan from Pennsylvania. Show photos here. Upon my arrival at home I really wanted to take a 5 hour nap but instead I went to the grocery, bleached 15 water bottles and treated all the rabbits with Corid as a precaution after being at the show, then took a short rest while watching Daisy and her buddy Pip play together in the yard-I felt like Alice in Wonderland while this was going on. These two are crazy! Now we are watching The Pink Panther from 1963. I need about 3 more days before work....LOL



New patio (formerly shaded mudhole)

Goofey fortune considering he was sitting next to me

My winning buns!

Lilac Haven

Look how close she is to Pip, who never really stopped eating. Makes me wonder if they can talk to each other telepathically.

Garnet & Sienna

All groomed and ready for the show tomorrow. They will get a quick touch up in the morning. They remind me of a story my mom used to read to us when we were kids. It was called Snow White and Red Rose, about two equally beautiful princess sisters who befriended two forest animals that were under the spell of a wicked witch and who were later revealed to be brothers/princes that the sister's were to marry.

Introducing Zorro

Zorro (note the black line above the eye and across the nose)




Andrew taking photos-note Zorro in the background and Pip in the foreground.

Dining together...

Pip brought a little friend home with her tonight. Actually last night Daisy was watching a rabbit in the neighbors yard and I turned around and next thing I knew it appeared beside the rabbitry and I thought it was Pip and wondered how she got from one spot to another so quick. Turns out there are two of them now and they are really enjoying my hostas. Since they are providing an endless source of entertainment for us that is much better than watching tv we will forgive them. I plan to plant a couple rows of lettuce this weekend so they have something to munch.
Zorro has a mask, hence his name, and how we tell him and Pip apart. Andrew and I both got within two feet of them this evening and they didn't even flinch.