CrossFit and New Coloring Book

9:30 AM CrossFit, check! I worked on my push-ups and hanging knee raises.
Partner WOD…Katherine was my partner because Julie had to work today.
A) Complete 2-mile Run–split up any way
B) AMRAP: 10 Pullups, 20 box jumps, 30 squats
While Partner A runs, Partner B completes the AMRAP. You can choose any way to break up your run (1 mile, 800s, 400s, 200s). Score is time to complete 2 mile run. We finished a little over 18:00.
Whew…that wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be. New workout top, courtesy of last night’s trip to Target.

Post-CrossFit fun…

• Kitty snuggles…because you can never have enough.
• I haven’t put on makeup since last Tuesday! Hello, winged liner. I’ve missed you.
• Did some grocery shopping and went to the mall looking for a jump rope (how else am I suppose to get better at my double unders if I don’t practice at home??), but they didn’t have the kind we use at the gym. I came out with a coloring book and colored pencils instead.

I went to my parents' house to eat Five Guys burgers with Julie. I brought my new coloring book with me, and Julie asked me if I was less stressed. No, not really. That's not really why I bought it. I bought it in preparation for the CrossFit gym's healthy eating challenge. I figured if I was color or doing something else with my hands, I wouldn't be snacking. Julie opened up to the front page and colored a leaf and said that was all the attention span/patience she had for it. Hah.

Surprise at Target

I decided to take a rest day today from CrossFit. I'll be going to class tomorrow anyway.

"Personal space? No such thing,"- RJ

Blast from the past: I was at Target earlier this evening, and I was surprised to see my very first boss in line too! In high school, I worked as a library page, reshelving books. Over the years, we’d chat when I was there to check out a book or return something. She told me to come by sometime because the building recently got a facelift.

There was a Target Cartwheel app coupon for Champion workout apparel and some brands of cosmetics. I came away with a new workout top and a eyeshadow blending brush from E.L.F. 

When I was in the dressing room, there was a woman who wasn't able to get out of her dressing room! Yikes! Target staff had to figure something out.

“If you ever need a job, you know you can come back!”

Front Squats, Spin Class and Salad

6:30 AM CrossFit, check! I spent a few minutes debating if I should go after the alarm went off this morning, and as always, I’m glad that I did. It’s just nice to get the workout over with for the day.

Front squats… 3 x 5 at 55 lbs.
WOD: EMOM 12:00 (the board said 10:00, so we’re just overachievers 😁)
Even: 7 push press (50 lbs)
Odd: 15 wall balls (Maria and I usually use 8 lbs, but I challenged her to do 10 lbs with me)

I had a teleconference with the workgroup members and contractor to give the workgroup members an opportunity to ask the contractor any questions they had about their returned data. We didn't want anyone to pull their data out just before the Annual Meeting because then it'd screw up our data set, PowerPoint and poster. Time is running out quickly! The workgroup members seemed less freaked out at the end of the call, which calms me down too. I just need to make it through the first week of June. Blahhh.

6:30 PM spin class, check! That’s extra credit for me since I went to CrossFit this morning. The spin instructor has been out sick the past week, so it was nice to see her well enough to come back. I went over to my parents’ house after class. Of course, I took advantage of the good bathroom lighting. Oh, and my sister is making dinner (salad, chicken, hummus, feta...like something you'd get at Cava but homemade!). My timing is just awesome.

CrossFit and Voting Day

6:30 AM CrossFit, check! It’s core work and long workout day. We did “Coe” for today’s WOD. I did a modified version.

7 rounds:
10 dumbbell thrusters (15 lbs per hand)
10 pull-ups with black and red bands
Time: 12:27

It's voting day! I debated on whether I should go before work or after. I figured if the line was long in the morning, I could always go back after work. There was NO line and I was in and out in about 5-10 minutes. Civic duty, check!

I hadn't been at the office for 15 minutes, and 2 people asked me if we were supposed to dress up today. Nope, don’t worry, guys.

The data that the contractor sent back to us didn't really make a lot of sense. I didn't understand where some of the changes came from and there was a graph that had one data point and a messed up x-axis. I decided to escape my work desk for a little bit and go walk around Michaels and the small mall near by. This notepad spoke to me. Gee, I can't imagine why! I also saw some superhero mugs. Maybe next time. I purposely left the office without my wallet. The point was to get some sunshine and steps, not new stuff! Yay, self control.

Bench Press Day

6:30 AM CrossFit, check! Bench press day for me (deadlift for everyone else)…3 x 5 at 75 lbs. Gold star for me!

WOD: 10:00 AMRAP


15 goblet squats (26 lbs)


10 kettlebell swings


20 sit-ups


I got through 3 complete rounds and up to 3 sit-ups in the 4th round.

It was nice to see Mona back. She's been out sick with a sinus infection. She said that Coach Rel sent her texts, and then she got automatic emails from the co-owner about her absence (the CrossFit online program will keep track of when you sign into class), and then I sent her texts. Yeah, don't be away for too long because we'll send out the search party. Maria asked Matt if he was going to be a regular now. He nodded his head. Yay for more boys in class. Ryan will be happy to have other guys to work with when he gets back from his hiking trip. It's gotta be tough to be the only guy among a gaggle of (sometimes silly) girls.

My boss is away on vacation today until Wednesday. Wheee! We got staff breakfast today, so I snatched up a bagel and yogurt parfait from the kitchen. And then Reggie and I went to Shophouse to take advantage of my buy 1, get 1 free coupon (which I later found out that he gave his lunch bowl to the receptionist and got chili hot dogs instead?!?!).

Cheering Maria at Her 10K

My sister and I went to be spectators at our CrossFit friend’s 10K race. We got there pretty early because we weren't sure what the parking situation would be, so we parked and then walked around the block a few times to get some steps in and kill time.

After the walking, we went to sit near the finish line. The runners started to come in. In a random moment, we saw one of Julie's classmates (he's a family friend) sprinting towards the finish line. I went down to say congratulations for finishing while Julie watched for Maria.

We were on the lookout for Maria's green shirt, but she ended up wearing a jacket over her green shirt because it was cold this morning. At the hour mark, we were starting to wonder where she was. And then my phone rang. "Where are you guys? I saw you near the finish." We totally missed her, ugh! At least we were able to give her a big hug, flowers and most importantly, donut holes.

She’d better enjoy them now because we made a pact to do the CrossFit gym’s nutrition challenge. “We’ll be miserable, but it’ll be FUN!!!” she said gleefully. Clearly she was still running on endorphins.

Julie and I went to the grocery store afterwards to get some donuts- cake donuts for her and Bavarian cream for me. The chocolate hadn't had a chance to solidify yet, so it turned out to be quite a mess. Julie made me eggs at the house, so we had a post-race breakfast even though we didn't run. Ha ha. I went with Mom to visit uncle and then spent the rest of the day working on my office Happy Anniversary card order.

CrossFit and The Jungle Book

9:30 AM CrossFit, check! My sister and I worked on our shoulder presses. I did 3 x 5 at 50 lbs. 

WOD: 3 rounds of…

15 DB thrusters (15 lbs per hand)

10 pull ups (with green and red bands)

400 m run


Time: 12:40

It was raining outside, so Coach Mike gave us alternatives to running: 500 m row or 50 double unders or 100 single unders. Meh, running in the rain wasn’t so bad. It was cooler and not humid. My shoes were definitely squishy on the way home though (yuck).

The Jungle Book was awesome! I highly recommend it! Shere Khan was a little scary and brutal, so kiddos might get freaked out. Next up: Captain America: Civil War. Regal Cinemas might as well take all my money this summer. Heh.

This evening, I went to the grocery store to get a balloon for Maria for her race tomorrow, but the selection was meh so I went with flowers. A little boy came up to me. “Do you like Pokemon???” Umm…I think Pikachu is cute, so I bought the shirt. And then he launches into telling me which Nintendo games you can play as Pikachu.

This really wasn’t what I was envisioning when people talk about getting hit on at the grocery store

Bench Press Day and New Glasses

6:30 AM CrossFit, check! I worked on my bench press…3 x 5 at 70 lbs. I will try 75 lbs on Monday. I was telling Coach Rel about my science fair experience, and Eric perked up from doing his mobility work. "Science fair? What were you doing there???" His kid was in the science fair and I remember seeing her project in the second grade room, but I didn't know that it was his kid. Hah, randomness.

WOD: 10-1 ladder tuck-ups and burpees (10 tuck-ups, 10 burpees, 9 tuck-ups, 9 burpees, etc.)
Cash out: 800 m.

Time: 17:06 (I started with V-ups but those really slowed me down so I switched to tuck-ups)

My new glasses came in today! My last 3 pairs of glasses had black frames, so I went with tortoiseshell this time (I know, it’s a little tough to see in this picture). I went to pick them up right after I shut down my work computer. After scarfing down my Sweetgreen salad, I got to work on my office anniversary card order. I cranked through about 20 of them and decided that that was a sufficient dent for one day.

Volunteering at the Local Elementary School Science Fair

A few weeks ago, work got an email asking for people that had a science background to serve as interviewers at a local elementary school science fair. Hm, ok. I have a science background (chemistry), not that I use it anymore. This is elementary school science, how hard can this be? Plus, I'm curious!

I got to the school, and all the volunteers went into one room with their folders of materials (sample questions, buttons, pencils, certificates). I noticed that all the chairs were for kids. This wasn't a problem for me since I'm already short, but it was really funny to see the tall gentlemen sit in those chairs to eat their pizza.

My assigned table was a bunch of first graders:

• What gum has the longest lasting flavor? (Orbit)
• What’s my dog’s favorite food?
• How do you make a pet cloud?
• What beverage cleans pennies the best? (Coke)
• How do you grow lentils?

I was a little surprised that the kids were not more shy to talk to me. They were very enthusiastic to talk about their projects. One of the kids was a little fidgety, and her mom had to put a reassuring hand on her. "Don't tell me. Tell Tina about your project." After a few minutes of Q & A, I gave each project a pencil, button and filled out their certificate.

I knelt to talk to the kids so that I would be eye level with them, so by the end of the night, my knees were kinda hurting, ha ha. It was both a fun and funny experience!

Yes, you do!

Meeting, Day 2 and Evening CrossFit

I basically came home from the work dinner last night, took off my make-up, showered and was in bed by 10 PM. And woke to get to work around 7:30 AM to do it all over again. Fortunately it was only a half day meeting today.

The 1.5 day in-person meeting was a success, but mentally exhausting. It's tough to be the person typing up the notes and/or editing the presentation that's displayed. People are all talking at once, and you have to make sure you're typing up everything correctly.  UGH. By 2:30 PM, I told my boss that my brain was fried and I was going to go home. I’m glad we got work done, and everyone has gone home!

I made it to 5:15 PM CrossFit. I must have been in a total daze because Coach Rob waved his hand, as if to say “Earth to Tina?” 3 x 5 at 45 lbs shoulder press.

WOD:
Cash in: 25 box jumps at 20 inches
3 rounds:
5 front rack box step ups, each leg, at 35 lbs
10 push presses at 35 lbs
20 lateral jumps
Cash out: 25 box jumps at 20 inches
Time: 12:58

It was nice to see Jackie...I haven't seen her in a while because she goes to afternoon classes while I'm usually there in the morning. Rob reminded us to jump on the box so that we landed as softly as possible, like a ninja.  Yeah, right. I was telling Annie that I couldn't imagine being able to jump on the 30 inch side of the box. 20 and 24 inches are totally doable for me. I look outside and see Jeff jumping on the 30 inch side of the box like it's not big deal. #shortpeopleproblems.

And then I went to 6:30 PM spin class since I still had the energy. And then I went over to my parents' house to raid the fridge, heh.

Spin Class, Monopoly and Dan the Homeless Cat

I was going to reserve a spot for 8:30 AM spin class, but I saw that it was a substitute instructor. I ended up going to a 9:30 AM class instead, which was probably better since it's an hour long class, as opposed to 45 minutes.

The birds were out and about this afternoon, and RJ would just not have it!

Dan the Homeless Cat made an appearance at my parents’ house tonight. He usually runs away when we open the door, so he must have been super hungry because he basically inhaled the kibble I gave him. Harry glared at me from the grill.

Is anyone else doing this Monopoly game from Safeway? I’m so close to winning something…but so are many other people, I imagine.

Saturday Yard Sale at Michelle's

My coworkers (Michelle and Susan) and I did a yard sale this morning at Michelle's place. We spent quite a while gossiping and chatting about work. Is that terrible?  #sorrynotsorry. I made $61 and got rid of a bunch of clothes, jewelry, and other stuff I don’t have a need for anymore. YAY!

Afterwards, I went by my parents’ house to return the folding table and chair and enjoy the nice weather on their deck. Harry the Homeless Cat was enjoying the shade he found in Mom’s garden.

Mmm, ice cream.

I went to the mall to get some steps in and get a bottle of glue since I ran out when I was making Jessie's pinatas last weekend. I saw these fantastic shoes, but I couldn't decide between grey or black, so I figured I'd sleep on it.

Bench Press at CrossFit and a Day Off

6:30 AM CrossFit, check! Day 4 of the new strength cycle: deadlifts. To be mindful of my back, I’m switching deadlifts out for bench press for the next 6 weeks. 3 x 5 at 70 lbs. Andy, Coach Arielle's boyfriend, who's in town visiting, coached the class today, and Arielle did the workout with us. I think it was an adjustment for her…“Wow, it gets hot in here quickly when you’re actually working out this early!” We'll see how much he retained what he learned today when he coaches tomorrow morning.

Andy asked what kind of music we wanted to listen to during the WOD. "Not Rob music," I blurted out. Oops. Was that mean? Ahh, I'm sorry! I just don't find the rapper music motivating. How can I sing along in my head if I can't understand what they are saying?

WOD: 3 rounds
5 chest-to-bar pull-ups (with green and red bands)
20 goblet squats (26 lbs)
25 sit-ups
Time: 9:21

Next week is going to be busy at work with an in-person meeting Monday and Tuesday, so I’m enjoying a day off. It was productive though...I scrubbed down RJ's bathroom and vacuumed the house. And then I caught up on my tv shows, hah.

New Toy for RJ

6:30 AM CrossFit, check! Day 3 of the new strength cycle: push ups and hanging knee/leg raises.

WOD: 8 x 200 m row. 1:1 rest
My fastest time was 47.0 seconds and slowest time was 49.8 seconds. Coach Rob was impressed with my times since my fastest time was the one at the end, when you're supposed to be slowing down because you're tired.

I broke out some shiny real eyeshadow this morning. It reminds me of a mermaid’s tail.

Other random things: I finished my minutes/transcript yesterday and turned them in, so I can relax a little more today. Plus, my boss is out for the rest of the week. It’s pay day! Oh, and the weather was so nice on the quick drive to work. I tried to sneak out as much as I could to enjoy the sunshine: to Subway to get lunch with Reggie and then just before it was time to go home. Ulta was having a buy 2, get 1 free deal on NYX products, but they didn't have the colors I was looking for in stock. Oh well...save that money for a rainy day.

The Marketing department at work had some tubes (they are almost as tall as I am!) they had no use for anymore. The Contracts director was talking to the office manager about taking one or two home to give to her cats as a new cat toy. I stopped in my tracks as I was walking by. What a great idea! I, of course, took home one for RJ.

Shoulder Press at CrossFit

6:30 am CrossFit, check! It’s a new strength cycle! We worked on our shoulder presses. 3 x 5 at 40 lbs.

WOD: 21-15-9
Box jumps (20 inches)
Push presses (50 lbs)
Cash out: 50 sit-ups
Time: 10:59

Side notes: a) whoo hoo, new workout capris and b) I brought in banana pudding to the office. It’ll probably be all gone by mid-morning. These guys go crazy over it. I would rather have a cupcake or a cookie, but people are happy so that’s all that matters.

I had an eye appointment for a regular check-up. It's time to get some new glasses, so I picked some tortoiseshell frames, which is quite a departure of my usual black. I spent the rest of the day cleaning up the minutes from TH’s meeting, only taking a break to go to lunch with my friend Morgan to catch-up.

Finished Pinata Order and Banana Pudding

Last week, Kirsten asked me when I was going to make banana pudding again. Oh yeah, hmmm, I guess it has been a while. I bought the ingredients when I went grocery shopping with Julie yesterday and made it after I went to 8:30 AM spin this morning.

YUM. I'm glad that this is not my favorite dessert. Otherwise, I would have eaten a lot more of it for quality assurance purposes.

I was really happy about my make up this afternoon. :)

Another one of my goals this weekend was to finish Jessie's pinata order. I'm going to hand them off to Joel, her husband, on Friday and the money will go towards new gym clothes.

Bench Press PR

When I pulled into the office parking garage, I thought to myself, "I feel like I was just here. OH, WAIT, that's because I was!" Blah. I basically washed off my makeup when I got home from the work dinner last night around 10 PM and went straight to bed.

Today was a full day meeting. It was basically Part 2 of a meeting that was held in early March. Meh, I don't think I heard anything different from the March meeting, so I hope the meeting coordinators got what they wanted out of the participants.

5:15 PM CrossFit, check! After a full day meeting, I wasn’t sure if I’d be able to muster the strength to go. However, my sister and Maria PR'ed this morning, and I haven’t seen Coach Monica in a while, so that was my incentive to go.

And I’m glad that I did because I PR'ed with a 1 RM 90 lbs bench press! For comparison, in mid-December, I got a 1 RM 80 lbs bench press and that took quite a few tries. I got 90 on the second try today. YAY, gold star for me!

WOD, 3 rounds:
20 front rack lunges (35 lbs to be mindful of my back)
10 push-ups with black and red bands
10 double unders and 90 single unders
Time: 11:20, I think.

I feel like I’m finally getting back into the swing of things.

After CrossFit, I went over to my parents' house to hang out. Julie told me about her volunteer experience from last weekend.  I'm so looking forward to sleeping in tomorrow! :)

New Crafty Project: Pinatas

Jessie's husband works for the University of Maryland. He was telling her that he needed pinatas for the upcoming Maryland Day. Custom pinatas from a store would be expensive. A light bulb went off in Jessie's head. Oh, honey, I know someone that might be able to help you out. Hah. Thankfully she had a picture that I could use as a reference. I bought some mailing boxes for this project, but since they are made of cardboard, they will require a few grown up hits to break them. I had to add the cat...I feel like that's my signature touch.

After a crafty afternoon, I went over to my cousin’s house to say “safe travels” to my other cousin and my aunt since they are leaving to go back to Taiwan tomorrow.

“Have you eaten dinner, Tina?”
(Mmm…no)
“Do you want to eat dinner?”
(Mmm…ok!)
It’s nice to have family around.

Plank Challenge Results

OMG, I was feeling so anxious of seeing the plank challenge results this morning. A notification popped up on my phone (deep breath)...out of 7 people, I was #5. Ok, whew, I wasn't last. The winning time was 6:05, and since I had a time of 4:00, I have 125 burpees to do per our agreement. Sigh. At least there was no deadline for when you had to do them, so I can do a few each day to chip away my total.

I skipped out on CrossFit and went to breakfast with Jenny and Jessie from graduate school instead. Heh. We went to Ted's Bulletin like we did last time. It was so fun to catch up! I handed off the beaded heart order, and Jessie was SO excited and pleased with how they turned out. They will be given to the students in her teen parent program for Mother’s Day.

I thought about ordering the “cinnamon roll as big as ya head,” but went with the “walk of shame” breakfast burrito instead. Yum! I walked around the nearby shopping center afterwards. Kohl’s had these really soft t-shirts, and since I had 2 coupons, I didn’t feel so bad buying them.

Lazy Saturdays are the best!

My sister brought her friend over to my place for dinner on Friday. We had a fun chat over Indian food take-out. My sister texted me this yesterday. Aw, that’s one of the nicest things someone can say about me!

Plank Challenge Submission

The last thing that I read for work before I shut down for the day was the focus group report from the discussions that we had a few weeks ago. It wasn't what I was expecting. The document was 5 pages and 2 of the pages were references. Um, this was a full day's worth of discussion. Where is the rest of this report?  We need something for the folks coming for the focus group next week to respond to. I started tearing the report apart and being super critical, and then I decided to call my boss to make sure I wasn't misunderstanding. She had the same thoughts, but since this report isn't our responsibility, we can only give feedback and not try to step on the author's toes.

A few weeks ago, I signed up to participate in a plank challenge. Today's the day that we have submit our times. Julie and her friend, Sam, came over for dinner tonight (Indian food). Julie asked how my plank challenge went. Well, I haven't turned my time in! And I basically kicked them out after dinner so that I could get my submission in. Heh. I ended up with 4:00:36. I hope there isn't a huge gap between my time and the winning time because that'll translate to lots of burpees.