I love going to my Zumba classes. If I could go every day, I would. Heck I think I would like to even run a Zumba studio. How much fun would it be to help people reach their goals and to get them healthy? As much as I love, I still pretty much suck at it. I feel like a stripper that has 2 left feet. I really wish I could But I still love going because I come out sweating like a ho' in church.
I started going in December and so far I have lost 3 pounds and I can tell a difference in how my clothes are fitting me. The love handles are now infatuation handles. Next up, getting the top of my thighs to stop touching. I think I am up to the challenge. 3 pounds doesn't sound like a lot since I see all the commercials that advertise losing a ton a weight by taking a pill and not doing a damn thing. Okay, they don't say damn but that's the basic jist.
Anyhoos, 3 pounds is pretty good especially since over the last 2 months or so, I have been in love with cupcakes. Maybe it's lust? Either way - yeah for cupcakes! So much so that I've been making them, taking them to work and making everyone partake in my new obsession. But that is coming to a halt. Now I just have to stay out of the nice little bakery down the street.
Okay kids, today's soundtrack theme is Zumba. Our instructor has some great music and it just makes me happy. Enjoy!
Dick Clark passed away today and my heart is sad. I knew he wasn't doing well but it's still so sad. At 12 noon on Saturday afternoons, my face was in front of our TV. Our family's Saturday morning ritual was to have our entire house clean so that we could be ready to watch Bandstand. We had our favorite lunch (white bread sandwiches with bologna) and our favorite show.
Man, I loved that show. I always wanted to be a dancer on that show. Admit, you wanted that too. I wanted to dance on top of the tiers. I wanted to wear Yo-Yo's and jeans with the monogrammed pictures on the back pockets. Man, I was a dreamer.
I loved everything about it: Rate -A-Record, the Spotlight Dance and my favorite, the dance contest during the summer. One of my favorite memories was seeing Prince (with his perfectly coiffed hair and big earring) perform "I Wanna Be Your Lover". I loved that song. I trusted Mr.Clark's taste and he didn't let me down with that one.
This how ingrained that show was in our family. Back in the 70's, there was a dancer that looked like my sister's boyfriend, Mr. X (at least we thought he did). So for years, we always called that dancer, Mr. X. Tonight I am watching the CNN coverage on his death and they are showing Bandstand footage and there is Mr. X. I called my sister and told her what I was watching and to guess who I just saw. First thing out of her mouth, "Mr.X!"
And who can forget the Pyramid? My sister's would play as a team and were actually pretty good. I think they earned about $1million. That ticking sound always made me nervous. When the contestant made it to the winner's circle, boy howdy were we glued. Now that was some good TV.
Wait, I almost forgot one of my favorite shows, American Dreams. It was on NBC back in 2002. Oh, I loved the Pryor family. It's a shame it only lasted 3 seasons. I miss you J.J. Pryor!
Today's soundtrack theme is for the oldest teenager, Dick Clark. Mr. Clark, I rate you the highest; a 98. Thank you for bringing us great music and TV shows. Thank you for being a constant in my young adolescence life. No matter what teenage drama I was having, you were the one thing I could always count on. Heaven will be rockin' now that you're there.
Tax day is 4/17 and I just finished mine yesterday. I normally do not wait until the last minute but there were some circumstances from last year that made me have to actually go to a real person to have my taxes done as opposed to doing them online (for free) as I have done for years. It dawned on me that this was the first time that I had to hire a professional and for the first time since I was 15 that I was not going to use a 1040EZ. Boy did that suck! Sometimes I hate being a grown up. After all was said and done, I ended paying $175 to have my taxes done but one the bright side, I am getting a pretty decent refund. So woo hoo for that! It was a happy ending but getting there was pretty scary.
I'm all ready making my list of what I am going to buy. First thing's first, I am buying a new vacuum cleaner. My old one sucked up a cat toy so it's pretty much useless. I was all ready looking for a new one anyway since my slacker sheds like there's no tomorrow. There is one that want but it's like $500 and I just can't bring myself to pay that much money for a vacuum cleaner. I like nice things but I just can't do that.
I shouldn't complain that I had to pay for the service, it just threw me for loop. Hopefully next year I can go back to being just a normal Joe. Today's soundtrack is based on my taxes and me dolling out a bunch of dough. Enjoy!
It's been another week down and not a lot going on here. Just the same ol thing. No major change to report. Well one thing has changed and maybe it could be considered major. I started to do a little cooking. If you don't know me, I am not much of a chef. Okay honestly, I have no idea how to do so. I can make pasta and a dang quesadilla. I pretty much eat like a child (oatmeal, grilled cheese, PB&J & smoothies) and I rarely do I spend much time in my kitchen.
But this past week, I started venturing out. I've been trying to eat healthier so I decided to buy some yellow squash and zucchini. I remembered my brother-in-law making this easy, delicious dish and I copied it. Super easy: slice up the veggies, cover them in olive oil and pepper and then put them in the oven for about 20 -30 minutes. I also made a nice little chopped salad with cucumbers, lettuce, tomatoes and spinach. This is my new thing. I am in love with all my salads be chopped. I don't know if it's laziness because I don't have to cut up the salad but it's fantastic. But I cheated on my main dish, I bought a frozen pizza (it did have chicken and spinach so it was somewhat healthy). The veggies were like butter. Even now, I am drooling.
Then the 2nd act that shocked my kitchen was that I made cupcakes for our family's Easter lunch today. I made vanilla cupcakes with four different toppings: vanilla frosting, chocolate frosting, vanilla frosting with coconut flakes and then chocolate frosting with coconut flakes. As I am typing this, I am kicking myself for not getting a picture of them. They were delicious, at least I thought they were. I believe I ate 4 of them, of course I stopped counting after my 2nd one.
My goal is to eat better and that means learning to do a little more cooking. So challenge accepted. Today's theme is cooking!
Last night I went to a screening of Hunger Hits Home. It's going to be shown on 4/14 on the Food Network. Mark that on your calendars folks. This is a real problem and there are solutions. Okay, I'm off of my soapbox. Sandra Lee was in town to host the screening and shared her story with us. She told us that her family lived on food stamps and welfare. Here is someone that proves that the system works and it doesn't have to be a cycle. One thing she said really stuck with me. And that is that she isn't ashamed to let anyone know about her situation. It was so great to see someone that had a similar background as me and is successful and has not forgotten how she got here.
Back to the film. It focused on three families around the country (New York, Texas and Virginia) and their struggle to get good, healthy food on the table and to get food at all. It also featured three heroes that are doing something to make a difference. One of them is Cheryl Jackson from Plano, Texas. She runs Minnie's Food Pantry, a 501 C3 non profit agency. This lady is amazing. She has devoted her life to feeding people that are struggling. And she is just as sweet as can be. Cheryl was at the screening also. I had a chance to meet her and thank her for doing what she does for the community.
Driving home, it got me to thinking. Thinking about one incident that happened to one of my family members. This person told me that when they were 14 years old and the summer they didn't have anything to eat. I was so completely shocked by this story. To this day, it breaks my heart and can't imagine how that sweet 14 year old wasn't able to get what they needed. I still tear up thinking about it.
Believe it or not, you probably know someone that has gone through this or is going through it now. I am not hear to preach or tell you what you should do but to bring awareness to the fact that there are so many kids that are going without food and/or not getting a healthy meal. I hope you get a chance to watch this special. It really opened my eyes. It made me so thankful for what I have and realize that I can do something about this. What am I gonna do? Well, I am going to spread the word about this film and look into some volunteering. Today's soundtrack is hope and change. Enjoy!
This weekend, I got a free preview weekend of Encore and Starz. Lots of free great movies and what do I end up watching? I watched "Working Girl" twice. I am such a goober. It is so 80's and I love it.
One of the things I love about that movie is how Tess (Melanie Griffith) uses her day-timer. I've had a fasnication with those lovely, wonderful tools for as long as I can remember. I've worked with a day-timer since I was 16. I actually still have it. Truth be told, I have every single one of my old day-timers. No, I am not a hoarder. (Please don't turn me into TLC - I promise, I am not one of them). I have them all packed away nice and neat in my closet. There were times that I was too lazy to keep a journal, so it was a nice way to keep up with my life. So many memories: great, sad, scary, funny, the good, the bad and the craziness. Bottom line, I love my day-timer.
One of my favorite things to shop for, is items for my day-timer. Actually I am a bit obsessed with it. I just bought a new notebook about 2 months ago and it's Pink!!! Even though we live in the electronic age, I still love using my old fashion, handwritten day-timer. I use it all the time, for work, personal, etc. I love to check off my tasks and see what I've accomplished in a day. Yeah, I'm weird and I'm okay with it.
My very first day-timer. 1986 - holy cats!!
My current day-timer. Love the color!!
Today's theme is time. Don't waste it and enjoy every moment of it. Enjoy!
