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

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.

Case of the Mondays? Not me.

Father Feeny always asks us if we have the Mondays when he sees us all lined up outisde of Journalism and not looking super excited to be there. Father Feeny is the type of teacher who is always excited to talk about English and his classes and he always wants to know if we're having a good time. Of course when our teacher is fifteen minutes late to class you tend to not get super excited about having to stand in the hallway. Today was not a Case of the Mondays kind of day. It was raining which put a mild damper because I was so comfortable in bed. I looked like a giant star all limbs in all directions under my comforters and through the open window I could hear the rain pelting the side of the building. It was really relaxing and I had to push myself to get out of bed and to the car where I discovered that I had left a window open and the front door unlocked. Miraculously nothing was stolen or wet. You know that's it's going to be a good day when the stupid things you do end up being perfectly fine.

I got to school early so I could work on my sound/slide project. I took a chance in the Maguire parking lot and low and behold it was nearly empty. At 9am people usually have to fight for a spot. With the weather I guess not too many people wanted to go to class. Weather like this also keep security from checking for parking permits and so I end up without getting ticketed. Last night I got an email saying Creative Writing was going to be cancelled. I was a little disappointed because it's one of my more likeable classes, but I used the time to hang out with Eanan in the Perch. I haven't seen him or Devin or Andi lately because I've been busy and don't have a lot of time on the weekends to do anything during the day. We only have a little more than a month of school left in the semester so I'll be able to hang out with Andi then. Miss that girl.

I have my job orientation later this evening. Nervous/excited like I said before to see how it goes. It will be fine of course M said he might be in for dinner and I always find it weird to see for employers at new jobs. It always like, "Hey this is what I left you for!" Not really a big deal if I do. Allyson stopped by work last night and we talked for a while and we definitely agreed that M is totally skeezy sometimes and could stand to lose the shorts. It's not even warm outside. I should make plans to do something with her and Niambi sometime too.

I'm hoping orientation doesn't last more than an hour or two and then I can have my Monday nights free. I used to work Monday nights last semester and even though I haven't had to these past few months I still feel like there is something I should be doing. I'll figure it out, maybe I can get my Mom to buy me a class card for hot yoga. I need something to stretch me out and tone me up. Has anyone done hot yoga and really liked it?

Oh yes I forgot. I've started tracking my weight as a daily affirmation to loose it and to see where my base is and how far I need to go. Does anyone else have any little daily tricks to keep them motivated? I read that it takes about 28 days to build a good habit. I need something to puch me the first 28 days. Also has anyone triend the Be-hot supplements for women athletes from GNC and what do you think?