You can do anything for thirty seconds.

Yes Tony you can do anything for thirty seconds, or at least that's what I keep telling myself when I do the P90X Plyometric workout. I had a great workout the other day getting through a lot of the harder jumps and twists that I usually struggle with. There are  some that I have to make modifications to so that I can get through them, but for the most part I have it done. I felt so good about getting through the plyometric workout afterwards and I'm finally breaking down some of my fitness walls. Yesterday was another great workout too. I did the yoga one and I am definitely starting to feel my body open up and gain the flexibility that it once had. I bought a yoga block this weekend, but I found that I only needed it for one or two poses this time. I also had another amazing breakthrough yesterday with yoga. I HELD CRANE/CROW FOR SEVEN SECONDS!!! I don't what you call the pose, I did it and it was so cool. It took a minute for me to find my balance, but I was able to get up on my hands and arms and once I got up there I got so excited I fell out of it. And while I'm still not up to the time limits of my Hebrew Friend it's still an impressive accomplishment considering that I couldn't do it at all the last time I tried it. I think having a successful arms and shoulders workout the day before helped build my confidence in my arms.

Moving on...my parents are in town. They spent the weekend moving my sister into her dorm and then they have been making the rounds around Pennsylvania. Yesterday we had lunch together in Manayunk. Lance had never really been over there and so we walked around a bit and I showed him the canal and part of the bike path that I take to Norristown. The river is still really high and you could see where water got into places. Some restaurants and stores are still airing out their stock. We settled on a small place called Le Bus. Le Bus is affiliated with the Le Bus bakery out in King of Prussia which is product that is becoming popular in the restaurants in Stowe. Lance got excited so we went there and it was actually quite good. Chem Anna had told me about it so I was eager to give it a try. It did not disappoint. I have a cup of gazpacho with avocado and an heirloom tomato and mozzarella salad. My mom had a salmon burger that came with the most delicious mustard sauce (I ate half of it) and Lance had a pear salad. It was a good lunch. My parents and I got a chance to catch up and while I told my stories my mother got red and tipsy off of two bottles of Corona and spent the ride home saying everything she saw out loud and with strong enunciations. Well done mom.

Le Bus, Manayunk, Philadelphia

Tip of the day: Don’t smash your face!

It's only Wednesday, but I'm pretty sure that I have already summed up my entire fall semester. Of course I haven't had my Liz Bloch-Smith class yet or my nonfiction workshop yet so my tune will probably change by tomorrow, plus I haven't started field hockey, pep band or hockey yet either. Today however, my fall semester looks like it is going to be very nice. I just wish I could get my sleep schedule down to where it needs to be. Lately I've either been having too little sleep pr too much. Last night I fell asleep fairly early (before 11pm) and then woke up promptly at 6am. I tried to fall back to sleep and then almost overslept my class. It's frustrating, but it's better than the usual beginning of the year pregnancy scare (no worries mom, it's always from irrational stress not the other reason).

I'm a couple weeks into P90X now and I am pleased to say that I have successfully made it through all of Phase One's workouts without having to stop and take a break. Now I do have full intensity through all of them. Plyometric definitely kills and by the end I am barely getting off of the floor, but I can get all of the way through it and maintain ballet feet too. Go me. I'm not really sure how school is going to affect my Tony Horton time other than that I know it's going to take a hit. I've been able to manage it with work and weekend fun, but throw in school too and I'm going to struggle. It's all good as we Purnells say or no worries like my Hebrew Friend will tell you.

In other news I am up to twelve pairs of lacies. I know it's a random segue from school to underwear, but these are the things that are on my mind right now. I got three from Hailey while I was at work. After I got them I spent the rest of the shift showing them off (not on) to all of the hostesses and made Take Out Boy watch over them until I was finished waiting tables. The other day I dragged a friend in with me when I picked out another set. He actually came in willingly and then spent most of the time amusing himself with the body sprays. My friend was helpful in picking out colors though, it was very nice of him.

Today's band: The Boxer Rebellion
Today's book: The Portable Dorothy Parker
Today's nail color: Stiletto Red 

Things should pick up when my arranged marriage comes through.

I've been meaning to write (complain) about this for a while, but it's only now that I've remembered to do it. Have you heard the remix for Adele's Rolling in the Deep? It is terrible. Like really really terrible. It's pretty much a slightly discofied version of the original song. If the producers were really thinking they would have brought Nicki Minaj in. Then it would have been a remix. I told one of my friends that the remix blew, but he adores ADORES Adele, no he's not gay, so it was like talking to the wind.

Sucks right?

Okay, bad song aside, its been a decent, but not too exciting weekend. It's been mostly a work weekend. I can back from vacation in Vermont and found out that my restaurant work schedule was completely messed up. I ended up not being able to work a bunch of the shifts that I was scheduled for because I was already at my other job. So I spent this weekend wheeling and dealing to get the shifts I want and ended up making a decent amount of money considering that the summer has been so slow. I gave up fighting about next weekend though and now I'm not working Friday night. Good thing or bad thing?

This weekend I also learned how to play beer roulette, well roulette in general. I didn't know there was such a thing as beer roulette and neither did anyone at work. One girl did get excited when I explained it to her, exclaiming, "Oh I love drinking games!" I got about two words into explaining the game when she said that so still no one at work knows how to play the game. I will say that it is quite fun, especially because I tend to get reckless when I gamble. I was not playing with money, if I had been I would now be behind in a year's worth of rent from losing so much. Fortunately the currency was beer and since I had no intention of sleeping in their oversized apartment I faked taking sips and then peaced out as soon as it got a little too crazy. 

I got out of work earlier than I usually do on Sundays. I opened today so I could get out early and I must say that I don't mind it at all. Losing a few hours in the morning more than makes up for the ones I gain at night. Though now that Neil is gone I have no one to hang out with on Sunday nights :( Instead I used the time to do Yoga Flex from P90X. This workout is a little longer than the others so it helps to have a large chunk of free time so that I'm not rushed and have to cut anything short. I love the yoga on this program because it's fast paced but it's also broken up into two parts: flow and balance. I have decent skill in the flow part because the movements are similar to what I used to do in dance and in skating, but I really excel in the balance poses. Jumping around on thin blades has finally paid off for me. 

Same concept. 

Now that I have all of this free time I almost don't know what to do with myself. I still have another week before school starts, but until then I'm left with my own devices. I told one of my friends that I was around tonight, but I'm not going to push it. If he wants to hang out with me then he'll call, but I'm not going to hold my breath. Neil's leaving has definitely left a hole in Sundays and everyone else is away on vacation or still a work. Poo. 

All images from google.

Inhale Upward Dog, exhale Downward Dog.

This morning at yoga class I learned the my palms are very inflexible. I had a hard time being comfortable on my palms, but I learned to do a very successful shoulder stand which I may be doing around my apartment more and more now. It was a good class, but I definitely have a lot of work to do to get in best yoga form. I was next to one woman who was amazing and I could another one of the instructors doing the practice to such an advanced level that it was mind blowing. Of course if I needed to feel better about myself I just looked through my legs at the guy behind me who was struggling with the intense flexibility needed for of the poses. However when it came to head and shoulder stands I was schooled by everyone. The teacher had to come over and work my body into a strong shoulder stand. I felt amazing afterwards and now that my mom has purchased me a pretty blue mat I'm going to go to the hot yoga studio in Bala more frequently. I want a yoga body.

I'm determined to become more obsessive about my weight and exercise. I've been too comfortable about how I look and how I perform and its time for a more drastic focus on what I need to be doing. I need a new focus in my life anyways and I don't want to leave school looking the way I came in. I want to leave looking better and stronger. My mom handed over her P90X to me. She's had moderate success with the program, but she also hasn't been following the program as intensely as she needs to to see any full results. I'm taking the dvds home with me and complete the program before hockey starts. I think with this, running, and a couple of hot yoga sessions I will have something to keep me occupied for a while.

I'm also trying to get back into reading more voraciously than I have been. I've been making too many excuses not to read books and with Netflix hiking up their prices I think that this is my opportunity to cancel my subscription an go back to reading more regularly instead of watching endless SVU episodes after work. It's something to think about especially since I just scored about fifty books for almost nothing at the library book sale. I have read a few of them, but there are still dozens that I haven't so I excited to take my time and work my way through the two boxes of books that I'm bring back to Philadelphia.