Lets Post our Daily Exercise

ruthbru

I did my plank first thing this morning & went to a PiYo class (more arm work!) & Zumba. My brother, SIL & adult daughter will be here for dinner as they are on the way to her sister's for Christmas (which I think is very reckless, but I wasn't asked). A good thing about having had Covid (and surviving......and having no complications.......neither being guaranteed, so don't try to get it!) is that I feel we can have small groups of people who are in the same 'bubble' over, which will make our holiday a little more normal anyway.

We order from a local restaurant every week too. Since the portions are usually large, we can get two days of meals out of it. Which I like very much as I get tired of cooking! We had Chinese this week & Italian the week before. Yum!

ruthbru

I thought this was good:

claire_in_seattle

I have been doing the same thing with my gifts, but with raw ingredients. I bought another case of wine last night, this time a Syrah-Mourvèdre blend which is very much in the Burgundy style. It comes with a good story as well; these were the varietals whose fumes nearly did me in when I was punching down this year's fermenting grapes. I had a Christmas Pudding and Rillettes de Tours for the winemaker, a friend of mine. They will be doing Christmas Dinner at the winery/vineyard in Naches Heights so the pudding will be dessert. He grew up with this tradition, so was thrilled to get one.

I give away almost all my Rillettes, and am thinking that I could do with a third batch. My friend Jon's dogs are happy enough to get the pork skin. Jon is also on the list. So back to the butcher shop today. Dried wild mushrooms also make a fabulous Christmas present.

First wine in quite some time as I tasted my way through the vintages. Great fun to taste, sip, distance, and catch up. I am invited out to the vineyard in February/March to help with bottling. A cheap weekend getaway and great fun.

I think just a run today between bread making, laundry, the butcher shop visit, and delivering presents.

It looks like a bicycle ride tomorrow as raining today, including in the mountains. Wet run on tap. I didn't lift last night. Enough strength training dragging case of wine from car across parking lot, through hallway, up elevator, and into my place.

Also need a flying visit to Nordstrom.....as I need the Holiday Special on skincare. But can combine with another errand. Because a girl needs to glow and sparkle during this wonderful season. - Claire

edj3

LilacBlue that was a very helpful video. I've found some other stuff online to work on as prep--I suspect the weak link for me is my posterior chain so all of these will help.

I thought today's plank was dirty pool, every other time it's gone up by 10 seconds but today was 15 seconds more. I did it but yeah that was definitely one I'll feel tomorrow.

ruthbru

That plank WAS hard today. I'm glad to see that tomorrow is a rest day!

badger

This week, we made Christmas cookies: iced sugar cookies, Spritz (Christmas trees), coconut macaroons, rum balls, snickerdoodles, and lemon crinkle cookies. They aren't really a Christmas cookie but so good I'll use any excuse to make some. Here's the recipe.

Had a window visit with mom yesterday. She is making great progress. She can move the fingers on her left hand and walked five steps belt-assisted with the physical therapist. I think about how hard she is working just to walk and remember that effort when I want to wimp out of my afternoon walk cuz it's cold.

lilacblue

I'm working on family zoom quiz questions for today. Give them a go:

1.If this verse is literally true (originally included in St. Matthew's Gospel), what is now believed to be the Star of Bethlehem?

A. A comet that suddenly started shining brightly in the night sky.

B. A great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn

C. It is simply a myth - it never happened.

2.What American Indian tribe celebrate the winter solstice as part of their religious tradition?

A.Sioux

B.Hopi

C.Cherokee

3.Will the Euro Star service to and from London to Paris be running on Christmas Day 2020? Yes or No

4.At Christmas time during the Edwardian era, the King was

A. Edward VII

B. George V

C. George VI

5.Where was is the tallest Christmas tree ever erected in public?

A. Red Square Moscow 1968

B. London's Trafalgar Square 1947

C. Seattle, Washington 1950

6.What US President banned Christmas trees in the White House?

A. Theodore Roosevelt

B. Grover Cleveland

C. Franklin D. Roosevelt

7.How many turkeys are sold in the UK every Christmas?

A. 15 million

B. 10 million

C. 20 million

8.Why are blue and white the colours associated with Hanukkah?

A. It is written in the Torah

B. God instructed Jews to include a blue cord to the fringes, or tzitzit, of their clothing.

C. The colours of the Israeli flag

claire_in_seattle

A number of years ago, I saw the Star of Bethlehem in the form of a comet that appeared every evening. It was super-bright and I would see it driving home from the train station. This went on for several weeks.

I did a 5 mile run yesterday and then logged three more miles delivering Christmas goodies plus getting more belly of pork for another batch of Rillettes de Tours. It was either that or be stingy in my portions. I opted for generous. Got to the butcher just in the nick of time.

One of my stops was to gift the crew at Tasting Room Seattle who are open for bottle sales, and had spiced wine by the glass. Just amazing and I had one outside on the patio. Perfect photo op as the "intrepid wine club member". - Claire

lilacblue

Quiz Answers

• 1.B - great conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn – Happening December 21^st.
• 2.B - The indigenous Hopi people of present-day northern Arizona celebrate the winter solstice as part of their religious tradition of kachina (or katsina), which are spirits representing the natural world.
• 3.No Euro Star service Christmas Day 2020
• 4.A - Edward VII
• 5.C - Seattle Washington, a 67.36 m (221 ft) Douglas fir (Pseudotsga menziesii) erected and decorated at Northgate Shopping Center, Seattle, Washington, USA, in December 1950.
• 6.A - Theodore Roosevelt's commitment to conservation is well known. Why? So many trees were cut down for the holidays, he believed, that it was contributing to deforestation—and he wanted to set an example for the country
• 7.B - About 10 million turkeys are sold in the UK for Christmas every year, estimates the British Turkey promotional body, with three quarters of households sitting down to eat the roast bird. About one-third of British Christmas turkeys are sold by individual retailers and the remainder by supermarkets.
• 8.C - Blue and white being the colours associated with Hanukkah is the Israeli flag, designed by the Zionist movement in 1891 and officially adopted in 1948. ... White suggests purity, peace, and light. Blue is associated with the sky, faith, wisdom, and truth.

yesiamadragon

Got all but 5 and 8 right!

ruthbru

I was 5 of 8 also!

I did 15 minutes on the treadmill & 2 miles with a indoor walking DVD. Dragged an 18 pound turkey from the freezer in the basement up to the fridge & will go to Barre Sculpt.

Fun picture, Claire!

edj3

LilacBlue forgot to respond to your question--my niece leans Cross Fit although I don't think she's actually part of a Cross Fit gym. She's definitely not into yoga. Super strong though.

lilacblue

edj3, if you are into CrossFit you are pretty strong. Good quiz Yeslamadrag and Ruth scores! These themed quizzes are what we do on the every other Sunday family zoom.

My plank is 2:20 and going up yet is anyone like me, feeling a bit in the pec area of the surgical side?

karen1956

Only 1 walk today - was going to walk with DH after dinner, but my favorite movie The Sound of Music is on TV so decided not to walk - instead using Cubii. I've lost track of how many times I've seen it. DD#2 and I saw if a few years ago when it was. on the big screen for one week (or was it one day). I never tire of the movie. When I was in elementary school, my late uncle (he was my late mother's brother) took me to the Von Trapp family lodge in Stowe Vermont. One of the daughters was still living there. I forget the connection that my uncle had to get us invited.

Went through my mother's costume jewelry - it was hard - there are. some earrings that I bought her but don't want - she kept her earrings in a 7 day travel pill container and I think there were at least 4. Made me sad. I found an empty setting for a diamond - I think it was my mother's original engagement ring. I remember when we were grocery shopping and she put her hand in a large tub of watermelon and the stone fell out (or the whole ring was lost and then I don't know what the setting is from). I have Mom's engagement ring which she gave me when a few years before she passed away. I don't wear it often, but I have both her wedding bands. A yellow gold ad white gold that I always wear - her hands were small so they fit on my pinky finger. I was just about in tears talking to husband about the earrings - wonder how I'll manage when I donate several pieces of art work that we can't use - we hung up several pieces in our dining/living room, family room and our bedroom. I hope one day to pass on the jewelry to my daughters and if I'm lucky to have grandchildren, to grand daughters.

Okay - enough sentiment.

My goal this week is to keep going through thing in the house - mostly from my late mother as well as close. I counted my tops the other day and it's obscene how many I have. I've started wearing some I haven't work in a few years. DH is off this week, but I"m not sure what he has planned other than looking into hobbies, volunteer opportunities and possible paid consulting once he retires in just over a year.

All of you are amazing at the planks, cross-fit etc. Me, walking and when we go to the mountains, hiking. Really need to work on my core.

Sweet dreams

ruthbru

Karen, I am sentimental like you. I have several pieces of family jewelry which are so precious to me. Most of the pictures on my walls have a family story behind them & I have pieces of my parent's furniture in every room.......it's nice because a bit of them is always with me. (And sad too at times, of course, especially over The Holidays, which were always BIG when I was growing up.)

Well, we did a whole plank song in Barre Sculpt today plus push-ups, so I wasn't off the hook even though it was a 'rest' day!

edj3

Oh Lilac, I'm not a cross fitter. And the reason I don't think my niece is is b/c of $$. But she lifts heavy for sure.

I don't feel the planks in my pecs, but I do have a really annoying ache on my left side. I've got mesh in my abdomen b/c I had an incisional hernia after six major abdominal surgeries, so it may be that. I've torn scar tissue off it before (talk about PAIN holy moly that hurt). That 7th surgery was all the repair/clean out all the scar tissue surgery. But it's really close to the ache in my left rib that I've had since radiation so who knows. It's all the gift that keeps on giving.

Did today's scheduled 1:45 plank, then ran a couple of miles. I'm really hoping some of the boxes under our tree have cold weather biking gear in them for me because I'm itching to get better at that.

Holding off on the stuff for my hand stand until this stupid left side pain goes away.

ruthbru

Lilac, yes, I feel a strain in the surgerical side. Three minutes by the end of next week might be a stretch (in more ways than one!).

I did that plank & went to Pound class this morning. We'll walk the grand-puppies in a few minutes & then Zumba. I hope ti clears up enough so I can see the conjunction of Jupiter & Saturn! (45 minutes after sunset in the SW.)

heidihill

Bad weather today so no chance of seeing the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn.

Shoveled a ton of snow yesterday. Hiked with the dog in the snow today with a friend and her dog, a mini-pincer (?) weighing in at maybe less than 2 kilos.

wonderland

Karen: I watched Sound of Music also and cried as I always do. Julie Andrews is an amazing singer - her talent allow makes me cry. When I was going through chemo my children burned a cd for me that I would listen to during infusions. I had them add the song "I Have Confidence" from the musical to help boost my confidence that I can do this.

Hi Everyone! I've been off for several weeks bc of an ankle injury. All is well now and I've been able to fast walk again. Today I added some running.

Our sky is clear tonight and I saw the conjunction of Jupiter and Saturn. So big and bright!

badger

Too cloudy here to view the "Christmas Star."

Ruth, I came across this article about Norway's Stave Churches and thought it might interest you. Most of these churches were built between 1150 and 1350. Not a single nail was used. There used to be over 1,000 stave churches in Norway alone. Now there are only 28.

Here are a couple extra articles about Little Norway in Mount Horeb, WI. Unfortunately the attraction closed in 2012 but their replica stave church, which was built in Orkdal, Norway for the 1893 World's Columbian Exhibition in Chicago, was dismantled and shipped back to Orkdal in 2015.

https://www.wiscnews.com/news/local/columnists/on-wisconsin-an-end-for-little-norway-and-a-possible-return-trip-for-its-signature/article_482b6a83-046f-52ad-876e-2f27f0bf2a16.html

https://madison.com/wsj/news/local/the-journey-for-the-norway-building-comes-full-circle/article_e0a3ae2e-034b-58b9-8de3-dfc972bf41e7.html

karen1956

The streets finally have mostly melted - late yesterday morning it was still quite icy - we cut our walk short - afternoon was fine, but after dinner it was starting to ice up again. Supposed to be 60s today so the remainder should melt. No snow in the forecast for the next several days, but tomorrow will be 30s, then warming up a bit.

Wonder - glad to hear that your ankle is better.

See the orthopedist this morning for my elbow - in some ways I feel silly but others its needed. It doesn't hurt all the time so I hoping it hurts when doctor examines the elbow. It hurts when I bend after being straight for a period of time, when I hold anything or bend arm inward. Will let you know what happens. I've been sleeping with the brace I got but it really doesn't do much, actually arm is sore when I take it off.

Tried to get a good picture of the superstar last night, but I think there was too much city light and my iPhone couldn't get zoomed in enough.

Have a great day.

edj3

My husband and I were both flat beat last night. Guess it's all that wild and crazy living.

Day 22 of the plankmas done and dusted. Tomorrow is a little daunting as it jumps another 15 seconds to 2 minutes. I finished off my workout with upper body weights and more abs.

ruthbru

Did the plank and then braved the grocery store. Tomorrow's forecast is for a winter storm; not much snow but 50 mph winds, so even though I went early, the store was packed. Today is still mild so as soon as my friend gets done with her shopping, we are going for a walk after which DH & I will probably walk with the puppies. Barre Sculpt tonight. We have a substitute teacher so I have no idea of what we will do.

karen1956

Saw the orthopedist this morning. Confirmed tennis elbow Dx. He said not to use the brace as it doesn't help and can make it worse. Offered cortisone shot but did not recommend it now since it doesn't hurt all the time. If it doesn't get better in a couple months, come back. PT was another option but opted out. He gave me an exercise to do. Lastly he suggested I could continue the topical NSAID I'm using and/or try CBD oil. I need to check first to see if any interactions with CBD and my Rx meds. Will talk to my doctor tomorrow. Orthopedist said it takes up to 9 months to totally go away. Great guy. Nice to see a doctor of my vintage!!!

Gorgeous here today - north exposure areas still not melting - worries me for walking tonight. 60s today and 30s tomorrow.

Funny comment from DD#2 today - her friend told her if retail therapy is less than regular therapy then retail therapy is okay!!! DD went shopping today after seeing audiologist. When she was so sick in the spring, she lost her hearing in left ear (sudden deafness) - they don't know why - and it's not reversible. She's taking it in her stride. She's still waiting on the MRI but it took her several months to get into specialist ENT - he ordered MRI but its not till after first of the year. He just wants to be sure its nothing - he doesn't think its cancer but he mentioned benign tumor. Thankfully DD is not freaking out about it. She was just happy that this audiologist was originally from American and went to grad school in Maryland. After they were talking in Hebrew for a few minutes, and recognizing accents, Audiologist asked DD if she would rather to it in English. DD is pretty fluent in Hebrew but she is happy when the doctors can explain in English.

Ruth - I went to the grocery store yesterday late morning and it was packed. I have no plans to go back till Sunday. Asked DH what he wanted for dinner and suggested 4 or 5 things and neither of us could come up with anything that appealed. Right now our gas grill needs fixing so grilling burgers is out. Other choices were salmon, tofu, pizza, veggie burgers - Oh well....still have time to figure it out.

Best figure out what I want to tackle today - besides a walk this afternoon.

ruthbru

Glad you saw the orthopedics doctor, Karen. Sometimes you need direction. I've known several people who had very good results with CBD oil, it would probably be worth a try! Glad DD had a good appointment too!

I am making the whole turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, gravy, green bean casserole, cranberry sauce thing for Christmas Eve. We'll have leftovers coming out of our ears, but I don't care!

yesiamadragon

Badger: Thank you so much for that! I loved seeing the Stave Churches when we were in Norway a few years ago. So many were destroyed in the war in addition to others destroyed by changing religious "tastes". Interestingly, my great-grandparents (from Norway) settled in Wisconsin. We took my mom to Norway to visit her cousins who were still there. I can't wait to go back!

Oops -- forgot to mention my workout today. I rowed 6,000 meters. And I had a hard training session yesterday that was mostly core and legs (I hate deadbugs with a passion!). Am exhausted, but finally feeling like I am gaining strength back!

wonderland

Karen: sounds like you had a good appointment with the orthopedic today. Sorry to hear about your dd's loss of hearing. Glad she will be getting an MRI.

Ruth: Your menu is very similar to mine. Because all our extended family gatherings have been cancelled, I now have to cook everything instead of all of us collectively bringing different dishes to share.

Good news for my dd. She works at our health department and she received the Covid vaccination today. I'm so happy for her!

Walked/ran early this afternoon. Afterwards I visited a dear friend and w drank iced peppermint mochas. Totally ruined what good my walk produced but so worth it!

ruthbru

So glad your DD could get her shot, Wonderland! The vaccines have arrived here too & the medical people are starting to get theirs. Thank goodness!! If you have had Covid, you have to wait 90 days until after you are done with your quarantine; so even if they become available sooner, I have to wait until after February 22. Presumably I am protected by antigens until then (knock on wood).

lilacblue

Karen, sorry to read of your daughter's diagnosis yet good for you in getting your elbow sorted. Badger I had to view Stave Churches elsewhere as the link would not allow viewing outside the US. Very beautiful churches. Wonderland, good news of vaccine roll out for your daughter. Good progress Yeslamadrag -well done!

This is what it looks like where I live on the M20. There was a time that I drove this 3 evenings a week to Folkestone to teach in a gym. Now down to one evening if and when we get to Tier 2 as we are now in Tier 4. Not a wonderful time of the year here. A new covid variant found in this part of the UK, now no planes from the UK can land in 52 countries and that photo above is of trucks that are waiting to get out of the UK to europe once the drivers get tested for Covid and are negative. Our populist prime minister Boris Johnson will replace Trump in bozo leader status. The man never combs his hair, lies like a rug and the chief architect of Brexit. It's a total mess over here on all fronts - especially where I live in Kent. Today is my son's birthday so off to bake a cake and we shall see him arise at 2pm. I'll join in on plankdom later and my online Pilates class out of San Diego with my sis at 5pm.

karen1956

Wonder - glad that your daughter was able to get the shot.

DD#1 says that Ontario (whole province) is going on lockdown on the 26th for either 2 or 4 weeks, depending where you are in the province. DD#2 says Israel is ready to go on lockdown again.

According to the CDC, i should be in group 1C - but CO governor says NO, educators are not going to be in that group but the next one - he refuses to move educators up on the list yet he insists its safe for us to be in schools and kids are low risk. Okay, I get that, but in the next breath he is telling us not to mix with anyone who does not live in our household!!! The two don't match. Time will tell what cases will be, for now the positivity rate keeps going down in Colorado, we were at 13+% and now are at 7+%. But deaths are up. DH and I think positivity % are down as less people are getting tested. Some of the drive up testing centers were closed due to the cold/snowy weather last week. Flights are being delayed out of DIA as air traffic controllers are getting sick.

Today, plan to do some dusting that always gets neglected and maybe cleaning back splash and under the kitchen top cabinets that also get neglected - just noticed some dirt the other day.

Lilac - I've been hearing about the covid mutation in the UK. So far the US is allowing flights from the UK into the country and some of the experts are saying the mutation is probably already here.

Ruth - if you did not have Covid, would you be up sooner for the vaccine? DH and I figure it will be March before we get ours. We are still trying to understand how we will be notified when we can get it. And the rules keep changing and even though the CDC says one thing, the governors seem to have the ultimate say for their state.

Last night the winds were wicked. Supposed to be 30 today - the mountains were getting snow last night.

Yes - great work out.

Have a great Wednesday. Stay safe, stay warm and stay healthy.