Karen's Retirement Party

My boss and I stayed later than usual last night when she rode in from the airport to address a bunch of things on my to-do/to-ask-about list and then we went to Happy Hour afterwards with 2 other coworkers. First thing this morning, I had her signed off on a bunch of things so I could take the weight off my shoulders and then we did my performance review (I'm hoping my promotion will be effective any day now...I just want an official email with the news!). She then went to have her final chat with the Executive Director while we were setting up for her party. I was a little nervous about the cake because it was raining outside when I went to pick it up from Giant. It didn't fit in the grocery cart, so I had to lay it across the top. I was crossing my fingers that it wasn't going to slide off and land in a puddle before I made it to the car!

The retirement party that I coordinated for my boss was a success: pizza, cake (marble with buttercream frosting), plaque commemorating her 22 years of service, presents (a very nice tote bag with other travel related gifts) and a PowerPoint featuring funny pictures of her (I had a little bit of help from other staff).

I was able to hold off on the tears until our final hug before she gathered her belongings and headed to the airport. One of my coworkers said she almost teared up watching us hug because we were both crying (I almost didn’t want to let her go).

Her parting gift to me was her collection of giant microbes: syphilis, gonorrhea, H1N1, etc. Yay, science! I stitched her an amaryllis plant, which based on the florist's website, is given to commemorate a big achievement. I usually send her flowers for events, but they only last a week or so. These will last forever! I also made a card for the office to sign.

Guess it’s my time to grow up a little and take the helm of the department.

A Donut Card and New Stamps!

I love getting snail mail! Look at what came recently all the way from Bermuda! Thanks, Jen!

I know I told myself I wasn’t going to be buying anymore crafty supplies this year, but I couldn’t resist this Hero Arts tree stamp (on clearance!) and a set of clear stamps (the HELLO stamp was included in that set) when I went to Joann’s today. I put my new finds to good use earlier tonight. It's good timing because Maria (one of my CrossFit friends who has since moved to Mexico) got bit by a dog earlier this weekend. Thankfully, she's okay and doesn't need stitches. I'll be sending her the one on the left to cheer her up. She's been so good about exercising lately, but this injury will have her sidelined for a little bit.

Weekend Recap: Jenny's Brunch, New Cards, and New Puzzle

My friend from graduate school (Jenny, far right) was so nice to invite us to her new house for brunch on Saturday. She and her husband made some many improvements to the house over the past year. The house looked awesome and I'm really happy for her because I know it has been quite a labor of love. My favorite space was the kitchen: it was so open, had a large island in the middle as well as tons of storage. She prepared a lovely brunch spread and we caught up with the other graduate school ladies, Cristina and Laura.

My friend from undergrad Page texted me a few days ago, asking if she could order some cards. I tackled that order on Friday, after I shut down my work computer. She requested specific sentiments and that the cards be animal-themed. Ok, easy peasy!

Another friend from undergrad Meg gave me a cat-related puzzle for my birthday a few weeks ago. I started it after I got home from Jenny's brunch and finished it about 24 hours later. The distinct colors in the puzzle made it easier to do.

Early Birthday Mail

Since I'm taking Thursday and Friday off from work in observance of my birthday, I moved my usual telework day to today. A telework day would not be complete with out an audience while I ate lunch.

Before I went to my parents' house to eat dinner with Julie (she picked up chicken and yucca from Crisp and Juicy, yum!), I checked my mailbox and there was a card from my crafty friend, Jen (thank you!!!). Look at it, it's got a kitty on it!  Obviously, very Tina-appropriate.

Testing Squat Cleans and Custom Wedding Card Order from the Office

6:30 AM CrossFit, check! It’s test week, and today we tested out 1 RM for squat cleans. After 3 tries, I was able to do 100 lbs. It was down to the last possible minute, but I did it! I had to sit down on the mat right after because my body was like "Ok, let's take a little break, right now."

WOD, 8:00 AMRAP
21 push presses (55 lbs)
15 front squats (55 lbs)
9 pull ups with green and red bands
I got through 2 complete rounds, and 8 of the push presses in the 3rd round. The goal was 5 rounds. I don’t think anyone was able to hit that, so I don’t feel bad.

When I got home, since I was already sweaty, I trimmed the bushes outside the townhouse, vacuumed, and scrubbed down the bathroom. Not bad for a day off and before 9 AM. I also went to deposit a check and run by Ulta (I bought a few lip liners using my 20% off coupon, 3 from NYX and 1 from Rimmel).

Before I went to Jacksonville for vacation, one of the girls at work asked me if I could make a custom wedding card for her friends upcoming nuptials. I was thinking she'd want something flowery, but nope. She had a specific request.

I was wondering if it might be possible to have the two main characters of the card be a marmot and a bear. That would be a very personal card for them! Front of card: “Whoever thought that a marmot and a bear would get married?!?” Inside of card: “Best wishes in your new den.”

Ummm...ok, sure. Internally, I was thinking, "What's a marmot?  Like a groundhog? I had to google it first to double check.  Here's the card that I came up with. I sent this picture to my coworker, and she really liked it, so mission accomplished! :)

Payment in Challah

Ugh, first day back from vacation. I got my CrossFit workout in this morning. We worked on our overhead squats and I had to decrease my load by 5 lbs to 50 lbs because 55 lbs was hurting my wrists. For the WOD, we did Fran and even though I took longer than I did when we did the workout last year, I was able to handle more weight.

I had 2 loaves of Michelle's challah bread waiting for me at the office, as payment for watering her vegetable garden the week of August 8. She made two smaller loaves, one for now and one for the freezer, but truthfully, it's so delicious that I don't think either loaf will last very long.

My brain must still be on vacation. I went to CVS to get some candy to refill the communal candy bowl at the office. I had 2 coupons to use, but the self-checkout machine didn't want to take them. What the heck? The CVS employee asked me if I had scanned my card yet. Oh. Um, no.  Heh. Blah.

I had just a good time in Jacksonville, so I thought it would be the right thing to do to send some snail mail to Page, her brother and her father for being such good hosts.

Jacksonville, Day 3

Layla, Page's part-time cat, was outside to hang out with me and Page as we waited for Brightman to pick us up so that we could go to St. Augustine.

In St. Augustine, we decide that the best way to see everything was to take the hop-on-and-off trolley tour and not have to walk in the oppressive heat. While we waited at our first stop, we checked out the first drugstore, which had all kinds of weird stuff behind the glass. It was cool to hear about the history and the widespread influence that Henry Flagler had in the area.

About halfway through the tour, we decided to hop off and find some lunch. The Columbia Restaurant was suggested by Page's friend, and what made it even better is that they served some awesome sangria, which we had to try of course. Page was clearly very excited.

I ordered the ropa vieja (Page got a salad and Brightman got something with mussels). The sangria was so good that Brightman bought the mix to make some for the family dinner that we're hosting tomorrow.

We went to an Asian grocery store and Publix to get some supplies for the dumplings that we are making tomorrow. I made sure to give Lilly some cuddles when we got home to relax and watch the Olympics on tv.

One cool thing that Page showed me was a Winnnie-the-Pooh box of all the cards that I've sent her over the years, starting in 2008 (I think). It was funny to read the stuff I reported on as I took a trip down memory lane. The bird card in the bottom right is card #50.

New Cards, CrossFit and Spin

When the alarm went off this morning at 5:30 AM, my body was like NOPE! I looked at the WOD on my phone (lots of running and burpees). DOUBLE NOPE! And it was raining hard. NOPE NOPE NOPE. I will have a better attitude about it when it’s time to go to the 5:15 PM session. I owe my friend a text to confirm that I went. Hooray for accountability?

I enjoyed my day off and made some cards, something I hadn't done in a while. RJ was on bird patrol, and I was glowering at my battle bruises from Tuesday’s CrossFit session. I know it’s from the hang cleans this past Tuesday, but it’s weird that I don’t have a similar one on my left thigh.

When I was on my way to the 5:15 PM session, Maria texted me to see if I was ready to crush those burpees (see, accountability?). It’s the long workout day, eek. After some core work, the WOD was the following.

1 mile run
100 burpees
Max clean and jerks
Time cap: 20:00

I got through 60 burpees and time ran out. Whew! I there's only one person in each class that's been able to get to the clean and jerks. That's how I know it's a real challenge. I haven’t been to spin class in a week and I felt guilty about it, so after I caught my breath, I went to the 6:30 PM class. Go me! 

Pull-ups and New Birthday Card

6:30 AM CrossFit, check! Sigh. Not the best workout for me today. I didn’t sleep well last night because my brain just wouldn’t turn off. But at least I showed up this morning! We worked on our pull ups.

WOD: EMOM 5 hang power cleans. After the cleans, you had the rest of the minute to do box jumps.
Level A was to accumulate 100 box jumps. Level B was to accumulate 65 box jumps. I started out with 65 lbs, but had to go down to 55 lbs halfway through because of fatigue. I accumulated 59 box jumps (20 inches) (maybe it was 61? I couldn't read my own handwriting on the whiteboard I was using) in the 12:00 time cap. Grrr.

I figured ruminating over my performance during today and yesterday’s WODs wasn’t going to be a productive use of my time this evening. I had to snap out of the funk. I turned up some music, wrote a coach testimonial as requested by one of the co-owners of my CrossFit gym (I think it’s very important to give credit where credit is due!) and made a birthday card.

I'm definitely way too hard on myself. I think it's good to push myself, but I have to remember that if I go overboard, I will get injured and recovery totally sucks (as I found out when I hurt my back this past March). Having to scale workouts way back sucks. Pain sucks. There's always the next workout to do better.

Mother's Day Brunch and New Cards

I went over to the house to help Julie make brunch this morning. Mom was actually on her way to Costco when I parked, so I guess that worked out fine since we could cook while she was out. Julie made the eggs and sausage and I made the (slightly squished) French toast. Mom was out for a while, and I didn't want to wait anymore, but just as I was leaving the house, she parked her car. She went over to my uncle and aunt's house after going to Costco. I watched her eat the French toast to make sure she liked it (she did), and then I went off to Target and Kohl's. I didn't find as good deals that I did yesterday, but that's okay. At least I got my steps in!

Ok, so presentation wasn't that great, but it sure tasted just fine!

Julie asked me to make a card for her friend Rachel's wedding and a thank you card for her host mom for when she stays at her house for the wedding. I was sure that I had lost the "you" die somewhere when I opened up the package. I even went back to shake it around to see if it was stuck somewhere. Third time's the charm because I found it! Whew.

Captain America: Civil War

I decided to take a rest day. My shoulders and abs were definitely feeling it. I'll go to CrossFit tomorrow morning instead. I had very important things to do like ogle Chris Evans. And by that, I mean I went to see Captain America: Civil War with my coworker Reggie, and the movie was awesome! So so good. I enjoyed it more than Avengers: Age of Ultron (Am I a bad Marvel fan for saying that? Oops.) The CGI was amazing, but more importantly, it was interesting to see the struggle between government control and non-government control and also see friendships tested. It was well worth the wait.

I wanted to check the office mailbox for my payment check for the anniversary cards I made two weeks ago, and whoo hoo, there it was.  Reggie was talking to the IT guys about the movie. One of them was like "Tina, would you go see the movie again?" Um, but it's $11!  "Aren't you a baller now?" Umm...I'm a baller on a budget. "There's no such thing..." 

Whattt.  Yes, there is!  Just because I have the money doesn't mean that I should go spend it. That's how people get in major debt! I might just buy the movie when it comes out on DVD and watch it as many times as I want. 

 

I did some meal prep for the upcoming week since I had the time and wanted to feel productive before bedtime. I baked some chicken, green beans and sweet potatoes. YUM!

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.

A Gross Weather Day Off!

I want a redo! The weather today was gross...like snowy and icy. I was basically forced to stay inside all day and not risk getting in a car accident. There was a Valentine's Day partner WOD at CrossFit, but I ended up not going. What bad timing because it's also test week (today was pull-ups). I'll have to make sure that I make it to the other classes this week so that I can see how far I can get with my 1 RM with the other lifts.

I made a card though. That was the most productive thing I did all day!

Card Specs:
Ink: Colorbox Chalk Ink in Chestnut Roan, Blackbird
Stamp: Hero Arts- Envelope
White Gel Pen: Uni-Ball Signo Broad White Gel Pen
Other: American Crafts- Botanique 

CrossFit, Craft Time with Tina, and Lunar New Year Dinner

9:30 AM CrossFit, check! Many of us commiserated on how tough TH night’s workout was. I worked on my push presses, 3 x 5 at 85 lbs. For reference, my one rep max was 90 lbs a few months ago. 

WOD, 10:00 AMRAP. CrossFit Games Open workout 11.5 cut in half (10:00 instead of 20:00)
5 Power Cleans (55 lbs)
10 Toes to Bar (I did knees to chest)
15 Wall Balls (8 lbs)
I got through 5 rounds.

I went to the mall earlier today. While I was at Target, I saw a bunch of notebooks on clearance and I just happened to need one for work, as my current one is getting down to the last sheets of paper. Hmm...Hello Kitty or kraft with blue chevron. My first instinct was to grab for the Hello Kitty one, but I figured the other one would be more work appropriate, ha ha.

My coworker asked me if I wanted to do a Valentine's Day session with her kid and 6 of her kid's friends (for reference, I did a session with D and her friend Z a few weeks ago). Of course, I said yes! I had a feeling that this would be a fun (and funny) experience. The kids were sooo excited to see each other and were very good about sharing supplies with one another. After about an hour of stamping, coloring, etc. they gravitated towards D's toy room, which was fine by me, hah. Wow, all that energy, whew! I'm glad that the parents stayed around to help with this craft session because I would have no idea how to handle 7 rambunctious 4-year olds at the same time. D gave me a big hug and one of her temporary tattoos as I was leaving. It's a pair of cherries...with glitter.  Obviously, badass material there.

After saying goodbye to D and her friends, I went to my parents' house to hang out before going to my aunt and uncle's house for the Lunar New Year dinner. My favorite dish, as always, was the sticky rice stuffed duck. I only ate one of the dumplings that I made earlier this week. I’ve made so many of them the past few months, I’m kinda tired of them.

(Horrified gasp)

I can’t believe I said that. I didn’t think it was possible to even have that thought!

CrossFit Games Open Workout 13.4 and a New Card

9:30 AM CrossFit, check! I worked on my wall walks and tuck holds.

WOD: CrossFit Games Open 13.4
Complete AMRAP in 7:00 of:
3 Clean and Jerk (55 lbs)
3 Toes-To-Bar (I did tuck ups)
6 Clean and Jerk
6 Toes-To-Bar
9 Clean and Jerk
9 Toes-To-Bar
12 Clean and Jerk
12 Toes-To-Bar…this was as far as I went in 7:00. I did a lot better with the tuck ups than I thought I would, yay!

I made this birthday card to send to my cousin. In retrospect, I think it would have looked better if I put the house on the right and had the empty space on the left. Oh well, I think it's still cute. Plus, I made it several times because I kept smudging the ink in one place or another.

CrossFit and Craft Time with Tina

9:30 AM CrossFit, check! It was funny to see some folks that were in last night’s class. Yay for us dedicated folks! I worked on my back squats. 3 x 5 at 85 lbs. I figured this was a good weight to start with since it’s the first week of the strength cycle. The WOD was 75 burpees and max clean and jerks in 7:00. It took me all 7 minutes to do the burpees. I probably could have done one rep of the clean and jerk, but my arms were jello, especially with all the rowing we did last night. It was almost like karma because a few days ago, another fitness blogger was challenged to do 100 burpees and I sorta smiled to myself like "Oh, I'm so glad that I'm not doing that." Mmmyeah. While 75 is not 100, it's still a lot! I was slightly tempted to not go, but I missed 2 classes this week and I told Maria that I was going to go, so...yeah.

By the way, I got this workout top from Target last night (along with the blue and green versions) on clearance for $3.88 (!?) and a long sleeve workout top on clearance for $8.38. Mwah ha ha. If you're looking for new workout clothes, Target had a bunch on clearance...both tops and bottoms.

My friend Michelle asked me if I could do a card-making session with my banana pudding sous chef and her card-loving friend. Oh, sure! We made origami samurai hats and several cards. I mean, check out the amazing talent. In exchange for my time and supplies (I didn’t feel comfortable accepting money from her), Michelle made me a tray of macaroni and cheese. Kitty was super curious. Commence food coma.

We made samurai hats with mouse wrapping paper.

"Macaroni and cheese? I like macaroni and cheese!" Mmhm, nice try.

CrossFit, Cards, and the Comeback Kid

9:30 AM CrossFit, check! 6th class in a row…

Partner WOD
A) Complete 200 squats
farmers hold (25 lbs each hand)
B) Complete 150 sit-ups
plate squat hold (10 lb plate with arms stretched in front)
C) Complete 100 box jumps (20 inches)
plank hold

You could switch however you liked, but if the partner dropped the hold, you HAD to switch. My sister and I did the workout in a little over 20 minutes, whew! Ow, my abs. I mean, my ass. No, actually, really, it’s both. Compared to the other partner workouts we've done this holiday, this one wasn't too bad. I think the 12 Days of Christmas one was the hardest out of all of them. One funny thing that happened was that Coach Mike took our 20 lb dumbbells that Julie and I were going to use for our farmers hold and replaced them with 25 lbs. "Thank you..." and walked away. Hah.
 
My cousin texted me this picture of my parents. Looks like they are having a good time on vacation.
A productive afternoon/evening post-CrossFit…

• Went grocery shopping
• Made chicken/veggies dinner with a tikka masala packet
• Ate said dinner with my sister. Commiserated on how everything hurt as a result of this morning’s workout. Watched John Mulaney’s “The Comeback Kid” on Netflix and laughed our heads off.
• Made some more cards and Facetimed with Dad in Taiwan. He was in the middle of a seemingly fierce game of mahjong (if there is such a thing) with my other relatives.

Thruster Work, Card and Dumpling Making

Today was a busy day!

• Ran errands in the morning.
• Made some dumplings to take with me to Robyn's place tomorrow for New Year's Eve.
• Made some cards using some white embossing powder, Lifestyle Crafts label dies, background stamps and Tim Holtz Distress Ink.
• I was feeling kinda sore from yesterday's workout, so instead of going to the morning session, I went to the 4:30 PM one. I worked on my thrusters…5x5 at 70 lbs. The WOD was the following: 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1 Hang Squat Cleans (55 lbs) and 40 single unders after each set

CrossFit, New Jacket and Valentine's Day Cards

My two goals of the day were go to 6:30 AM CrossFit and shop for a new jacket (warmer than my fleece but not as fancy as my peacoat). Bonus points for going to spin class too. All items were checked off today.

At CrossFit, I chose to work on my push presses and I worked up to 75 lbs. The WOD was 8:00 AMRAP: 8 wall balls and 8 burpees and then a 2 minute hollow hold after the 8 minutes were over. Ugh, that hollow hold was so hard. Doing it for 20 seconds is already difficult, but 2 minutes?! Maybe that should be another 2016 CrossFit goal (my first on was a 100 lb bench press).

My sister reported that she dropped Mom and Dad off at the airport successfully this morning. “They were like, bye! And zipped over to ticketing without looking back.” Hah. I don’t blame them though. They’ve been looking forward to their 3-week vacation to Taiwan to see friends and family.

I went to the mall to shop for a jacket, but stopped by Target first (even though I went to another location yesterday, hah). I'm very pleased with the jacket that I got...Columbia brand, 3-in-1, 60% off. I'm not sure when I'm going to be able to use it since it's been so "warm" where I'm at, but I'm sure that it'll start to get colder when January and February come around.

I rolled my eyes when I saw that Target was already setting up for Valentine’s Day, but then I realized that I need to do the same for my card shop. I cranked out a few this afternoon when I got home.

Udon with RJ and Office Card Order

I didn't wake up feeling 100%, so I decided against going to spin class this morning and instead went to get Christmas gifts for my parents instead.  I also worked on my office card order while listening to “The Chronicles of Narnia” music. 20 down, 20 more to go

Because everyone likes to eat with an audience :)