New habits

Three new habits to cultivate this week (and the following weeks, hopefully!):

• sleep at least 6 hours at night - in bed by 11 pm!!!
• drink more water - 2 water bottles-worth
• do shoulder stretches every day
  

Productivity

I worked out this morning! (Stage 1 workout A from the New Rules of Lifting for Women)

And I finished a knitting project! (Cabled baby blanket by Pernille Skau Norgaard - Ravelry link)

Inspiration

A lovely crochet blanket, from un jardin de hilo.

Things I want to do this summer

Things I want to do this summer:
(now that I've finished school for the semester and hopefully won't be as busy as last summer!)

• alter my new costumes so that they are actually wearable
• start working out. I've been sporadic with it this semester (something is better than nothing, right?). I need to design a program for myself, since I now know how to do it! But do I focus on aerobic fitness or strength? concurrent training? and can I run outside without damaging my knees??
• more bellydancing!!! take some classes, practice at home, listen to more music.
• I am going to knit the hell out of this summer! (crochet too!)
• do a full spring cleaning. The house is disgusting. This starts tomorrow
• read some books - some related to school (procrastination, do I want to be a doctor?) but also some fiction just for fun
• uiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii8 (cat walking across keyboard)
• fix up some things around the house. Paint the upstairs bathroom, paint the railing, small stuff like that.
• healthy eating!
• be more creative in my life. Take walks, take photos, make things. Perhaps work through the Artist's Way again (last time I got stuck about 1/3 of the way through. Issues, I haz em.)
  

I'm sure there is more, but this is all I can think of right now - and although I have 4 months, I probably won't have time to do everything I've listed! I do have to work, and sleep.

tabata - day 1

I tried a Tabata workout today: 4 different exercises, 8 sets of each (20 seconds on, 10 seconds rest), 1 minute of rest between exercises.

Tabata timer found here.
Exercises found here. There are lots of Tabata exercises on the internet.

To score, I took the set with the fewest amount of reps that I was able to complete in the 20 seconds.

• Jackknife crunch (alternating legs) - 6
  
• Push up with knee tuck - 4 This was the hardest exercise for me, by far!
• Squats with hands at ears - 12 Easiest exercise for me! I was doing more reps during the last set than the first set.
• Back row with weights - 9

Total score: 31

This workout was great because I didn't have to change into gym clothes (did it in my pj's), I didn't have to wear shoes because there wasn't any jumping. I didn't even put on a bra! LOL! It was quick and intense.

I should mention that I did a little warm up first, based on Jillian Michaels' warm up in Banish Fat, Boost Metabolism: big arm circles, twists, jogging on the spot, jumping jacks, alternating toe touches.

Phew!

le sigh

I have two jobs, plus volunteering in the lab. No weekends. A day off here and there when there is a test in the lab and I don't have to be there. So tired. (not all the time, but most of the time)

Looking at my list in the last post makes me sad! I have started to work out again, sporadically, but I have not done the other things on the list. Even shopping for socks and underwear! lol! I am knitting and crocheting a little bit, but not a lot. I was dancing more at the beginning of the summer, taking classes on Saturdays, but then my work schedule changed and I wasn't able to make the classes anymore. I have Wednesday evenings free and could possibly take a class, but I am exhausted on Wednesdays. Yesterday I napped on and off for most of the afternoon and felt like a zombie in the evening.

Enough whining! This is how things have to be right now and I have to suck it up. I just wish I had more energy!!!

brighter days ahead

When I have finished school for this semester, I am going to:

• have a lazy day and stay in my pj's all day long
• make some jewellery
• go shopping for new socks and underwear
• vacuum
• clean up the place
• DANCE!
• start running again (couch to 5K)
• workout
• read for fun
• see my friends
• go out and dance all night long
• knit
• write W. a letter, maybe send a package
• take more photos, maybe do a "photo a day" thing on Flickr
• be creative
• perhaps I will be a nice person again!

Only one more week!

In a Fosse kinda mood...

finishing up the afghan swap

I never posted the pics of the afghan squares that I received from the extended swap group. Here they are! (in no particular order)

"Diamond among the jewels" from Teejayhansen:

Stripes and buttons by Mullub:

Hearts by Bohoknitterchic:


Pink variegated from Naeby:

From Doe (the colours are wrong in the pic - it's actually blue ruffles on a purple garter background):

Mitered square by Fibernymph:
Vines by Sukye:

I love them all!!!! And am now going to start sewing them together. They've only been sitting in a bag for 4 months... actually that's not all that long... maybe they need to marinate a bit longer! LOL!

i haz a sick.

Hello blog, how are you? It's been a while but I'll just pretend it hasn't, and not attempt to fill in details for the past three (?!) months.

I am sick and stayed home from school today. It started as a fever and bad headache on Saturday, and my chest felt heavy but I wasn't coughing. The fever left on Sunday but I gained a cough and a sort throat. And today I have normal cold symptoms: runny nose, mild cough. At least it's not the flu or the dreaded H1N1, but I was half hoping that I would get it, fight it off, and then continue through flu season with the confidence that I had the antibodies. Alas. My immune system has been sucky poo this year and I've had several colds. :(((( I don't like it one bit. Damn you, germs!

Benylin is my friend. Actually, oil of oregano is my magic potion, but I ran out, and the health food store is sooooooo faaaaaaar awaaaaaaaay.

afghan swap - extended group

A bunch of us from the afghan swap on Ravelry decided to keep on knitting squares and make bigger afghans. We each knit 8 more squares, 7 to swap and one to keep for ourselves. Here are the squares that I knit for the others:

Square 1 for Naeby:

Square 2 for Bohoknitterchic:

Square 3 for Fibernymph (I'm so proud of this one!):

Square 4 for Doe:

Square 5 for Teejayhansen (another one that I'm very proud of):

Square 6 for Sukye:

Square 7 for Mullub (Space Invaders!!!!):

And the last one, for me, you've seen before:
That was a lot of really fun knitting!!! It was great to knit so many different patterns and styles and colours. I want to knit some other afghans for gifts, but I'm hesitating because there will be a colour theme (same colours? yawn) and some sort of cohesive pattern.

Next up, the squares that I received! :)

make up inspiration

moonrox

I have just discovered Monique's blog at Moonrox - go check it out!

Her jewellery is fabulous, and I like reading about her adventures around TO. (I used to live near the UFO and passed by it all the time, but had never been inside! Who knew it was a diner??)

back on the wagon

I had a great bellydance practice day! This month has been filled with performances, which is awesome, but I've been itching to work on other areas of the dance and not just rehearsing choreography. Well... to be honest, I didn't even rehearse all that much... and it probably showed! LOL!

This morning I did the NYC Ballet Workout 1 on You Tube. I think I like the first workout better than the second one. Posture is my current big concern, and I hope that doing the ballet workout regularly will improve it. In the evening I had a 2-hour practice session: I worked on zylls, drills, choreography, and some free dance improv to non-bellydance music just for fun. And I stretched. I definitely need to keep up with stretching - when I was working out regularly, I was stretching regularly too and had a lot more flexibility.

I'm so proud of myself!

hello? hello?

Well I guess I'm still on my blog hiatus! LOL.

It's been very busy in the Lanicraft world. I just finished up my applications to go back to university (eek! keep your fingers crossed for me), I've been working, I joined a tribal bellydance troupe, T-man and I started a community garden plot, and I've been trying to get some rest! I need more energy!

Tonight I have my very first paying bellydance engagement!!! There are four of us dancing at a pre-wedding party, and my teacher is singing with the band and doing a wedding procession type of thing. I'm very excited and nervous, as it will be my first time dancing for a Middle Eastern audience, and we're dancing to Om Kalthoum... to a live band. It's outdoors, under a tent, and I am very glad that it's a beautiful day today. There is a chance of thunderstorms this evening, but let's hope that they hold off until after we dance.

And here's a fun photo from my solo debut in April, so that you have something to look at besides text:

blog hiatus

I took a little break from blogging in April... I didn't mean for the hiatus to be quite this long, but I've been trying to spend less time online and more time doing things in real life. (so far those "things" have mostly involved napping on the couch with a cat curled up with me!) I hope to get back into it and posting regularly! Stay tuned!!

giveaway!!!

A friend from Ravelry, Bohemian Knitter Chic, is having a giveaway on her blog! All you have to do is check out her etsy shop and you could win a fabulous supercoil fibre necklace.

Bohoknitterchic, aka Brittany, is a fibre goddess - she knits, dyes, spins and designs her own patterns! I am amazed at her creativity and obsession (in a good way!). She definitely inspires me to progress in my fibre journey. Check out her wonderful art yarns!

Blog Giveaway

belly dance rehab - day 88

• Wednesday: bellydance class and troupe rehearsal (2.25 hrs.)
• Thursday: Funkabelly (1 hour)
• Saturday: choreography practice and drills (1.25 hr.)

Total on Day 88: 83.5 hours

I've been sick for the past few days, so I didn't get any practicing in, but I don't think it really mattered because I miss a few days every week it seems! I doubt that I'll make up those last few hours in the next two days. :( It's sad to end the rehab under 90 hours, but I'm pretty close and that's A LOT of practice hours!!

belly dance rehab - day 81

• bellydance practice session at home: warm-up, drills, shimmy, choreography practice (1 hour)

Total on Day 81: 79 hours

belly dance rehab - day 80

• day 77: bellydance class and troupe rehearsal (2.5 hours)
• day 78: private lesson with Roula to work on solo choreography (1 hour)
• day 80: class at Arabesque (1 hour)

Total on Day 80: 78 hours

I started a new job on Wednesday. It's part-time, and I am filling in for someone who is away. I tried to get as many hours as I could this week, because there might not be many hours available for me in the future. It's not a hard job, but it IS hard to adjust to working again! :) I worked a full day on Friday and was exhausted. I don't have as much free time to work on costumes or practice, but it's just a matter of scheduling my time better. Less TV. No napping.

Roula and I finished choreographing my solo dance. (mostly Roula - I didn't have a lot to add) Now it's time to practice practice practice and get it in shape for the hafla!