Day 5, 6, 7 ~ Still Working on My Fitness!!!

“Only as high as I reach can I grow, only as far as I seek can I go, only as deep as I look can I see, only as much as I dream can I be.”

Hi everybody!! I missed writing and posting on Friday and over the weekend because I was so busy cleaning and running around. I really wanted to wake up Saturday morning to a clean house and be able to take my walk early, and take the kids to their classes and then just chill for the rest of the day. And that is exactly what I did, so mission accomplished.

It was a really great day on Saturday beginning with Haile's tennis class at 9am. She hit the court looking cute.

Hugh and Nia played on the playground and I did my laps -- 10 to be exact.

Oh, did i tell you I did 10 laps!!! YES I am very proud of myself for going from 3 to 10 laps in 6 days.

I went from being pretty much a couch potato, with the majority of my physical activity restricted to going up and down my stairs, cleaning my 3,000 + sq feet home (which i always considered good exercise), keeping up with the kids and ...doing the "DO" (if you know what i mean) LOL At any rate, it's time for a change and I haven't felt this motivated in a very long time.

The rest of Saturday was fairly uneventful, we came home from the park and each of us pretty much retreated to our respective computers. I even took a short nap while listening to a meditation tape, plus i was feeling pretty drained from my 10 laps. LOL. At 3pm I started dinner -- a vietnamese chicken salad.

Around 6pm our lights went out. Yes, we had a good old fashioned "blackout".

Minutes later there were voices out in the street. Everyone was coming out of their homes, children were riding bikes and scooters and we decided to leave the darkness of the house to enjoy the remaining light of the evening and the company of neighbors we very rarely interact with. The kids had fun and I took pictures and Hugh messed around on facebook on his blackberry. (See pictures)

Lights came on, our lives went back to normal.

Sunday started out less eventful..actually I can't even remember what we did before around 6 pm, at which time we settled down to watch the much antifipated new episode of my favorite HBO Series TrueBlood. Then within in five minutes of it starting..and as I just put on a pot with Jasmine Rice, the frigging lights went out AGAIN!! Talk about being pissed. Anyway..it came back after about an hour and OMG I proceeded to make some DELISH whole Tiliapia Fish, Escoveitch style..it was sooo good. See my pictures below.

Anyway, i know this post is kinda all over the place but that is pretty much how I am feeling right now...it's like 1:13 am and I worked out really hard today in addtion to all the other day to day stuff and I really need to get to bed. So tomorry, I promise I'll get it together and write a blog that makes sense. LOL

Blog at ya lata!!

Charmaine

Funny little dittie!

Day 4 ~ Words of Wisdom From My Jamaican Grandmother

My Grandmother, may she rest in peace, used to always say "Early to bed, early to rise, makes a man healthy, wealthy and wise."

Ok so, apparently she borrowed that quote from Benjamin Franklin..at least that's what Google says. But anyway, at the time i thought she was just saying that to get us to get up and go to the market with her at the, as they say in Jamaica, ungodly hour, of 4 am. Damn I used to be soooo pissed and I thought she was just evil for waking me up at such a time. So, there are more than a few famous quotes about the benefits of getting up early but I haven't had a whole lot of experience with those benefits...at least not in recent years. Mainly because I have a persistent problem getting to sleep before 2am, and then one or both of the girls ALWAYs yells "MOMMY" from their rooms within at least two hours of me falling asleep. I'm constantly jumping up out of my sleep all panicked running to their room. So crazy.

I know all the mommies out there can relate, and the worst part is they never really want anything that they shouldn't be able to handle on their own. For example, me: "YES Nia, what's wrong, what do you want?" Nia: "I have to pee", or my personal fav, "I just want you!" Me: Yes Haile, "what's wrong, what do you want", "I had a bad dream", or "Nia kicked me in my face", or "I have a bloddy nose." Well you get the picture. well I guess the bloody nose is a legit reason to call for mommy. But the point is, I don't get a lot of sleep, so I have a hard time getting up before 10 am. or later, depending on how late they sleep.

SO, you can totally understand, how excited I was when the girls and I were awake by 6:30 am this morning. Now, while I was perfectly content with the decision to just roll over and go back to bed, after all I didn't fall asleep until close to 3am. But Haile would not quit telling me that we should get moving. I gave in (after thinking about how damn hot it is when we go walking after 11am) and we grabbed a quick breakfast of Oatmeal and hit the road.

Arriving at the park at 7:30am, I was not surprised to find a lot more people there than we're used to seeing at 11 am or noon when the sun is blazing. There were skatebording teens, grandparents with toddlers and folks walking dogs, playing tennis and watching children play on the playground. There was a very nice breeze, birds were flying about singing and big ass lizards (making my skin crawl) where running across the trail. We hit the trail, did 2 laps together, then the girls ran off to play on the swings and slide. I did another 5 laps trying to be present in the moment and appreciate all Mother Natures early morning sights and sounds. It was awesome, and once again, I had MJ tunes blasting, singing along, and a noticible extra-pep in my stride and spirit. It was really great and all I could think was, i hope I have the motivation and strength to pull this off every morning. Anyway, after my 7 laps I was able to coerce the girls into joining me for the last lap. We hit the trail holding hands, singing, walking, skipping and running from Lizards and an abundance of strange flying insects.

Pleased with repeating my 8 lap record, and with Nia and Haile's accomplishment of doing 3 laps, I agreed to some extra play time and we hit the playground to chill and swing a little while longer. The decision to quit at 8 laps (i could have probably done 10 the way i was feeling) was mainly because it was then 8:30am and my old friend and foe, the Sun, was out and making its presence clearly known. We stuck around for another 3o minutes then split when more folks started showing up with dogs. That is always a deal breaker for Haile who is scared of dogs.

We made a quick stop at the grocery store, got some wings for dinner and tried to go to library -- it was closed. I really didn't know when they opened because I'd never tried to go that early before. Back home at 10am, I made a mid-morning smoothie snack (bannas, strawberry and blue berry Yogurt) and made my chicken marinade. WOW ya'll...10:30am and I was so ahead of the game. It was truly wonderful.

Awww look how happy they are!

So, again, the rest is not really worth mentioning as we went about doing just "stuff". We had Turkey sliders for lunch and for dinner, I made Caribbean Chicken Wings with Saffron Rice. It was delish!! See pics.

All in all it was a wonderful day, would have been better, as always, if daddy was there! The day also seemed much longer. Funny thing, because I always feel like I never have enough time in the day and quite rushed to get dinner going and such. So, yes, I now know the benefits of getting an early start and I REALLY hope I can make it a habit. My stress level was lower, I accomplished a lot earlier and had a lot of free time as a result.

Here are a couple quotes to reinforce my new found understanding. LOL

1. Lose an hour in the morning, and you will be all day hunting for it. ~Richard Whately

2. The dawn is a gentle lover,Noontide more as rape.~Emme Racine deFleur

Oh here are a couple video of the girls commenting on their smoothie and dinner. They love making these videos.

So, that's it..blog at ya tomorrow.

Love to all and remember, CheRiSh YeSTeRdAy, DrEaM ToMoRRoW, LIvE ToDaY

Day 3 ~ Don’t Mess With a Chunky Mom on a Mission

"A warrior is someone with the strength to stand up for what he or she believes; someone who perseveres in the face of challenges and obstacles; someone who speaks and acts in the service of an idea." ~~ DailyOM

Hey there friends and FAM…so, I got an early start today and arrived at the park ready to go at 10:00am, but, guess what? The AZ sun was right there waiting for me! Already high in the sky like it was high noon and blazing. I just had to laugh because from my windows at home it didn’t appear to be fully out yet however, that was not the case when we got to the park 10 minutes away. I think I need to shoot for 7am. I officially INTEND to get to the park before the sun is out and doing its thing to the fullest. I need to meditate on that!!!

Anyway, as you all have gathered by now, I am of course, on a serious mission to get my sexy totally back. After all, my BFF Sharron and I have a serious deal, to strut an even more serious BIKINI on some beach somewhere tropical next year this time. So basically I just don’t have the time or inclination to let no Sun mess with my mission. I hit the trail and did 8 laps in an hour. Once again, yea me!!! See, I am sooo not the exercise type, and just hitting the trail like I have for the past 3 days in a row, is a seriously big deal for me. (patting myself on the shoulder)

Here’s the thing, in my 20s and 30s, I really never had to worry about weight, and I was NOT into the whole “gym” or “jogging” thing. As a result, after my body delivered two beautiful babies into this realm, it went into total shock. Not to mention how it reacted to hitting the, as they say, big 4 0 – that truly hasn’t helped much either.

Anyway, 8 laps down…legs started feeling a little tighter than the first two days and sweating like crazy, I called it quits. Nia did her usual 1 lap and Haile did 3, she even ran half the way on her 3rd lap. Yea Haile!!! I don't DO running!! I guess I have to, as my friend says, learn to breathe correctly, so I don't end up in a hissing and heaving lump in the middle of the trail. Any way...we got outta dodge.

We hit the smoothie spot and had an early lunch – delicious Peach Carrot Twists..Haile’s choice, and I thankfully copied her order. This smoothie was sooo refreshing, not too sweet with fresh carrots and peaches and fresh juices, and a shot of imunigizer (whatever that is) and it also quickly cooled us all down. We needed it too because we walked up into Keva Juice all sweaty, looking and feeling totally parched, flustered by the heat and looking kinda crazy i'm sure. LOL Thanks Reem!! (The owner of Keva Juice on Cortaro…really cool lady...show her support if you live in the area)

Back at the crib I got it in my head to make spaghetti and turkey meatballs and here’s the kicker, with homemade tomato sauce. No, I’ve never made sauce from scratch, Bertolli is typically my preferred brand, and yes, it was an involved 2 hour process – but absolutely well worth the time and effort. Another winner!!! See pictures of the process below.

First I placed all the tomatoes, garlic, parsley, cilantro, green onions, some seasonings and a little olive oil in a baking dish and roasted them for two hours in the oven. Then I processed the roasted veggies added some cheese and simmered on the stove. See meatball process below.

Also, I figured out that all those store brands must add a whole lot of food coloring in their products because after that process, it is impossible for ANY tomato to remain that bright red color we’re all accustomed to. Any way, it was really good.

OK for the meatballs, i processed some more of the same veggies I roasted for the sauce and mixed it into a ground turkey and ground turkey chipotle seasoned sausage mix, with an egg, fresh made bread crumbs, and Parmesan and Romano cheese. Rolled them up and baked them for 45 minutes. Here's the finished dish:

So lets see, the only other related news is that I got my Food Lovers Fat Loss System package in the mail today and I must say this sounds like a winner and i am very excited to get started.

It is NOT a diet but an EATING program where I use food to lose fat. There is No starving, no special diet foos, no counting calories or fat grams. I can eat all my favorite foods and will learn how to cleanse, speed up my metabolism, order health choices from the menus at popular restaurants (not fast food joints of course) consume health portions, and it comes with motivational, exercise, and program guide CDs. So I will be sharing more info on this system as I get started and of course my results.

Well that’s it for tonight good and friendly people. Blog at you tomorrow!!

Love to you all and remember, CheRiSh YeSTeRdAy, DrEaM ToMoRRoW, LIvE ToDaY

Charmaine

Day 2 ~ Sometimes It's Gonna Rain ~ But it's Tucson, The Sun Always Shines Eventually!

Let the past have its place, trust that the future is taken care of, and rest yourself in the graceful arms of the present moment.

OK, so once again, my plan to get off to an early start was thwarted because this morning I woke (at 7:30 a.m.)to the sound of RAIN GLORIOUS RAIN!!





That’s right! I guess the Monsoons have finally decided to bless us with its awesome powers and cool-down the NW side of Tucson…such a rare thing… but much needed. Well despite my annoyance at not being able to take advantage of the cooler early morning temps, I really appreciated the rain and settled down on my couch to listen to its soothing sound and try meditating AGAIN!! This attempt was much better because my two Angels were still sound asleep. I pulled up a video at YouTube: 10 Minute Relax - soothing instrumental ambient meditation music - Music by Paul Collier

I was so surprised at how challenging it was to be still with my eyes closed for 10 minutes straight just listening to the music. But I got comfortable at about the half way mark and really focused on my intentions for the day and my life as a whole. It was wonderful.

At 9:30 a.m. the rain ended and within minutes there was absolutely no proof that it was ever here. Such is the nature of the desert. The girls were still asleep, and so, with the intention of making sure I got my walk in before the day got away from me; I decided to make breakfast before they got up. I guess the smells from the kitchen quickly found its way to Hailes’ nose because within minutes she was frantically running down the stairs – all wide-eyed – crazy looking actually-- telling me all panicked, that we were late to go walking. It was so funny. I assured her we were still going and told her that I was up bright and early, and about the rain. She was so clearly relieved; she is such a little Drill Sergeant, making sure I don’t renege on my promise-to-myself to walk everyday if at ALL possible.










At any rate we both finished up breakfast – a delicious omelet with mushrooms, onions, peppers topped with a slice of turkey pastrami. Yum!! We had to wake Nia..I swear she would have slept till noon if we let her. The result, i'm certain, of way too many late nights since Haile’s been on summer break.

Sidebar: We really need to get back on track for school in a couple weeks.

At 12:30 p.m. we headed out to the park, once again at a LESS THAN OPTIMUM time of day for outdoor activity in Tucson, AZ. The park was pretty much empty (as it was yesterday) except for a couple teenagers skateboarding in the “skateboard pit thingie”. Again, we all did the first lap and AGAIN Nia got tired, holding her stomach and begging for water after, I swear, 2 minutes walking. Haile on the other hand took off – she was serious! LOL As for me I had to walk slowly to keep pace with Nia, prodding, praising and pleading with her all the way around. LOL Needless to say, I walked her little butt straight to the playground so I could get something out of the trip except for a deeper tan.

FINALLY, alone, uninterrupted, motivated and grooving to Michael Jackson tunes on Pandora blasting through the Blackberry, I accomplished 6 laps around the trail. YEA ME!!!

Back home an hour later, with “what’s for lunch and dinner?” on the brain, we made turkey sandwiches again, loaded with sprouts and served-up with a cup of delish noodle soup.











As for dinner, I decided to just throw some fresh herbs in the food processor (parsley, cilantro, red & yellow onions, scallion, garlic, 2 tbsps olive oil and some Johnnies seasoning) then did a quick rub on a free-range chicken, then roasted the bird for 1 hour. Oh my goodness, that turned out to be a good idea, it was GREAT!!




















I have to post the recipe because it really turned out fantastic. Served up with some potatoes au gratin (my version of course, made with pepper jack cheese because that’s what I had in the fridge) and steamed baby carrots.... everyone was very pleased.

So all in all another fantastic day in the Thomas family household and on my journey to manifest optimum mind, body and spirit health. There is so much more that takes place but it would take me forever to write about all the shenanigans of my girls and my many many other activities..So this is it for today.

Love to all and remember – C heRiSh YeSTeRdAy, DrEaM ToMoRRoW, LIvE ToDaY


Charmaine

Day 1 ~ Working on My Physical Fitness

"Every moment is precious. Every challenge a blessing. Every day presents a new opportunity." --Toni carmine Salerno

While I had big plans and the best intention of getting an early start and taking my walk before the AZ heat kicked in, not getting to sleep before 2 a.m. caused me to start much later. So at 10:30 a.m. the girls and I started our day, each with a cup of Raisin Bran with Goat Milk. Yum!!

After a quick clean up in the kitchen we headed out for a walk (my first step towards getting physically active) at a neighboring park. Needless to say, arriving at 11:30 a.m. was NOT ideal because the temp was already above 100 degrees...hot hot hot!! In spite of the heat, the girls and I completed our first lap around the park trail. Nia was the first to start complaining and trying to hide from the sun under my shirt. It was funny but a little annoying because I was feeling motivated and really wanted to get going. So, I decided to just let them play at the covered playground while I did a couple more laps.

The second time around I could definitely feel something (other than the scorching heat) as my calves started to tighten, but I kept going and by the time I ended my 3rd lap and arrived back at the play area, the girls had had enough.The 12:30 heat began to take its toll and the girls were tired of going down the slide on the playground so we packed it up vowing to get there earlier tomorrow. So after a quick stop at the library to return some long overdue books we headed home for lunch. Lunch was a simple yet tasty, half of a turkey and pastrami sandwich, with lots of fresh sprouts and a tsp. of mayo along with my fourth glass of water.

Now being that this journey is supposed to be about body, mind and spirit health, I decided to attempt meditation and pulled up some really cool meditation videos on YouTube. That didn't go too well because despite my headphones and attempts at using my imagination to walk on a beautiful beach in Jamaica, just like my meditation guide suggested, all I could hear was Haile and Nia talking, laughing, playing and/or fighting, busting through the very thin veil of fantasy that I had managed to conjure.

Oh well, I’ll try meditating again later or tomorrow.

Dinner was awesome!! If I do say so myself. :-) I made a delicious mixed veggie meal (bok-choy, broccoli, cabbage, yellow & red bell peppers, carrots) simmered in a flavorful seasoned garlic butter (Smart Balance ) sauce, over steamed jasmine rice.

Check out a video my girls made at the dinner table below…can you say hysterical?!!!



Ok so that’s it for today..see you back here again tomorrow…if you care that is…LOL