Happy New Year's Eve!

Last CrossFit workout of 2015, yay!

Partner A: 3 rounds of the following… 10 Clean and jerks (50 lbs) 5 Pull-ups (with bands) 10 Push-ups 15 Air squats 20 Burpees

Partner B: While A is doing their workout, B is doing an AMRAP of 200m run and 25 sit-ups.

I did the A workout first, while my sister did B and then we switched. It was a good way to cap off the year and we’ll be back at the gym at 10 AM tomorrow to start 2016 on the right foot.

Suzie sent my parents a Christmas card. “Don’t worry. Tina will take care of all your leftovers while you’re gone.” Har har. Off to Alexandria to hang out with a friend for NYE.

Hope everyone has a safe and enjoyable evening! Happy New Year!

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

Front Squat Work and Baking Banana Bread

6:30 AM CrossFit, check! I worked on my front squats. The WOD was 4 rounds: 15 push presses, 25 kettlebell swings, 35 lateral jumps. The goal was sub 12:00. I did it in 14:27. Whew…

I fell asleep when I got home, which actually turned out to be a terrible idea because I had some weird bad dreams. It put me in an off mood for most of the day.

BUT I turned it around by:

• Working on my cross-stitch project (I filled in the pages of the book. It’s tough to tell since it’s white thread against white cloth)
• Some shopping for friends and dumpling supplies (yes, again…)
• Making chocolate chip banana bread. I didn’t want my spotty bananas to go to waste, ya know?  Half will go to my sister when I see her tomorrow morning at CrossFit…because I’m nice like that.

Pitch Perfect is on tv! Please hold.

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.

Target Holiday Clearance, Taco Salad and Harry Potter Movie Marathon

Sunday Funday!

• 8:30 AM spin class, check!
• Went to Target to see what Christmas goodies were on clearance and came out with some cute fox wrapping paper, chocolate and white chocolate peppermint Boom Chicka Pop.
• Went grocery shopping and got stuff for taco salads.

And then my productivity took a nose dive with some major deep couch sitting because a Harry Potter movie marathon was on tv.

Well, I should give myself more credit. I did make some progress on this counted cross-stitch project. I had started it once already about 10 years ago, but spilled ink on it and had to trash it. Frustrated with myself, I put the pattern away and have only recently decided to restart the project. I could have made more progress tonight, but I noticed that was using 2 strands of thread this session when it should have been 3 (ugh!), so I had to backtrack. The last time I picked it up with Halloween, but with no work this upcoming week, I'm hoping I can put a dent in it!

Partner Workout at CrossFit

My cousin sent a text this morning to let me know her brother delivered the Christmas presents we sent with him to Taiwan. Gummy bears and a fighter pilot Lego kit (she is a commercial pilot).

9:30 AM CrossFit, check!

Partner WOD
As a team complete:
50 Clean and Jerks (45 lbs)
60 Pull-ups (with bands)
70 Wall Balls (8 lb ball)
Partner A: Works through reps
Partner B: Accumulate MAX burpees

My sister and I did it in 15:15 with 129 burpees, whew! Our homework was to write a 2016 goal on the whiteboard. “I want to be like Mike” and “Portion control” were the ones that especially made me smile.

Afterwards I went to pick up my mail at the post office. I'm really disappointed that the post office hasn't installed a new mailbox for my townhome complex. The post office having to hold our mail and me having to go to the post office to pick it up is an inconvenience for everyone. Their service is so slow. I had to wait 15 minutes for someone to get my mail, only to have her tell me she couldn't find it. WHAT?! I haven't been here in a week and you're telling me you can't find my mail. Where else could it be? I know have some. Finally, another post office employee was able to find it. Yay for Christmas cards! Boo for a “You got zapped” notice from the county police speed camera!

Earlier this evening, I went to my parents' house to eat Five Guys burgers with Julie and say bye to Mom and Dad before they go on their 3-week vacation to Taiwan. I had a free Redbox code and while I would have liked to have spent it on Ant-Man, it wasn't available at a nearby location. I went with Avengers: Age of Ultron. I had seen it in the movie theater, but wasn't as in awe of it as I was when I saw the first one. I thought maybe a second look would change my mind, but it didn't. Too long. Unnecessary character death at the end. I didn't really understand the Black Widow/Hulk romance. Blahhh.

Merry Christmas!

I spent most of Christmas Eve with my family, so it was nice to enjoy some me time today. While it was off to a slow start, I did have a spike in productivity with doing a load of laundry and basically resetting the house to pre-holiday condition this morning. I also hung up the toucan my sister got me from her trip to Nicaragua.

I opened my last present this morning, a book that Suzie sent me. She had given me a book by the same author years ago. And I had to smile because I feel like I’ve made a million dumplings these past 2 weeks.

I also Facetimed with Page (and her brother) and saw her open the care package that I sent her (colored pencils, adult coloring book and "The Longest Ride" Blu-Ray). "You must have known that I've been stressed. Brightman got me something on meditation." (Sigh). It gave me a lot of joy to see her face light up because I know she’s been having a difficult time lately with her mom passing away a few months ago.

I just finished watching Elf (second time this holiday season) and am currently watching Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. I feel like my Christmas holiday is complete!

Hope everyone is having (or had) a nice and peaceful holiday!