2010

Archive for the year 2010

So Far, So Good

Posted on December 11, 2010 by Ching under Health, Things to Do, Videos.

I’ve been able to sustain a five-day workout week the last couple of weeks. Zumba on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, and then Advanced Step on Saturdays. I really want to workout on Sundays also, but something usually comes up that prevents me from doing it. (Becca does Zumba at North Y at 4:00 PM on Sundays and I’ve yet to try it.) I leave Fridays open for Salsa night at Suede, but that’s a workout in itself.

Step was particularly awesome today. There were only five of us. Six if you count the instructor. The small class size actually made it better because we were all regulars. We only had to break down a couple of sections and were able to get through the entire routine. Something that we’re not able to do usually when there are a lot of new people in the class because then we have to break down every segment. There is one part that we learned for the first time last week that kept tripping me up, but otherwise it was a fantastic workout. I finally got it on our last time through. I absolutely love Jenni’s Step class. It is the best Step class ever!

Zumba was good on Thursday too. Amanda likes throwing in seasonal music so we had two Christmas songs. We’ve done Mariah Carey’s “All I Want for Christmas is You” and also Ricky Martin’s “Ay Ay Ay It’s Christmas” for a couple of weeks now. I think it’s awesome that she does that.

Although, I realized that stopping by Panda Express on the way to the gym the other day was a very bad idea less than fifteen minutes into my workout. LOL. I didn’t have a choice, though. My 11:00 AM to 12:00 PM training earlier that day ran long. It actually ran so late that we had to move the 1:00 PM training class to 1:30 PM, which meant I didn’t get to take a lunch. Lucky for me, they had bagels in the room from the training class in the morning so I just snacked on a bagel while in training.

By the time Brian picked me up at 5:00 PM, I was starving. Misty opted out of Zumba so we didn’t have to swing by her house and pick her up. That meant I had a little bit of time to eat before class. I would have had more time to eat, but we got trapped in East Kellogg traffic because of four-car pile up. I pretty much just scarfed up my food as quickly as I could. Not something that you want to do anyway, let alone do right before aerobic activity. I was so hungry, though.

I managed to make it all the way through Zumba without puking. I even had enough energy left over for another epic racquetball match with Jay. At one point Brian asked the score and we told him 7-4 (in my favor). He was like, “All that running around and you’re only at 7-4?” It was so intense, we wouldn’t let each other score. I think we were at 0-0 for at least five minutes. LOL. That’s pretty much how my racquetball matches with Jay go, though.

I always blog about my wins so I think it’s only fair to blog about my losses as well. I lost to Jay 15-11. Last week we went into overtime. Jay won that one too, 17-15. I was in the lead for a long time during that match and the tides turned when we hit 12-12. I seem to have a real problem with closing the game. Something that I’ll need to work on. Anyway, I think Jay is probably my most favorite racquetball opponent. Even though he did hit me with a fast one square in the center of my back the other day.

BTW, did you know that the Guinness Book of World Records is going to be in town on New Year’s Day to witness a record-breaking Zumba class at the Farha Sport Center? I think they’re going for 1,111 participants. Too bad we’re going to be in Las Vegas. Otherwise, I would totally do this! You all should definitely do it, though. I’ll be with you in spirit. 🙂

Here’s my current favorite Zumba song to get you in the mood… Enjoy!

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Operation Free BJ

Posted on December 10, 2010 by Ching under Life.

My favorite Zumba instructor, Gina Ann, gave one of these FREE BJ wrist bands a couple of weeks ago. I think some people might have gotten the wrong idea. They are not like those drink wrist bands where the bearer is entitled to unlimited booze. They’re actually wristbands in support of her brother BJ who is leaving for Afghanistan in a few days. Be safe out there, BJ!

P.S. Thanks for the wrist band, Gina Ann. You are the best!

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Ching’s Quest for an Ugly Holiday Sweater

Posted on December 8, 2010 by Ching under Life.

Brian approved my work outfit today. LOL. It’s not very often that my attire garners his seal of approval. Lord knows he is completely against the “ugly holiday sweater” idea for the work holiday party at the Hays House in Council Grove on Friday.

It was actually Isaac’s idea. He thought it would be cool for everyone to wear an “ugly holiday sweater” to the party. When I brought the idea up to Brian, not only did he say no, but he said “Hell no!” He’s very adamant about looking “good” at the party. LOL.

He said I could do whatever I wanted, though, so I was initially thinking of going to Kohl’s or JC Penney for an inexpensive holiday sweater. Brian forbade me from buying something just to wear for a couple of hours, though. So I told him that I would just try to borrow one from someone.

After texting several people, I found out that no one I know owns an “ugly holiday sweater.” I shared this with Cindy this morning and she made a very good point. She said most people who own “ugly holiday sweaters” do not think that they are ugly. Perhaps I would have been more successful if I would have simply asked if they had a “Christmas-y” sweater.

JenTevs actually asked me what it was because she had no idea what I was talking about. Apparently the “ugly holiday sweater” concept is mostly an American tradition. By the time I got her message, she had already Googled it and broke the bad news to me via Facebook. No, she doesn’t own one. Of course, JenTevs doesn’t own anything “ugly” come to think of it.

I told Joni my woes and she suggested going to the thrift store where I can get one for about a couple of bucks. I really wasn’t sure when I would get to go because (a) Brian would never go with me, and (b) we’ve just been too busy lately. So I was super thrilled when Joni said she was going to the DAV and Goodwill over lunch today and let Jan and me tag along.

NOTE: I forgot to mention that when I posted on Twitter that we were going to the DAV to look for holiday sweaters at lunch, I got the following response from Brian via text, “DO NOT BUY ME AN UGLY SWEATER!” almost immediately. LOL.

The DAV is where I found this heinous number for less than $2! It’s absolutely perfect for Friday. I haven’t tried it on yet so I hope it fits. Incidentally, one of the ladies at the DAV said that the holiday sweaters have been selling like pancakes. I think it’s because everyone else is doing the same thing.

Jan got a whole outfit! The jumper dress she got was pretty nice, actually. She tried to get me to buy this dress and my response was, “But it’s $7!” LOL. Little did we know that everything was half off today. We didn’t find out until we were checking out. If only, I’d have known… Joni didn’t find anything there so we went to Goodwill (down the street from the DAV) and also Value Center (right by our office building). No such luck, though. I think we might check out the East-side thrift stores tomorrow. I hadn’t been to the DAV in so long, I’d forgotten how much fun it is. It’s like going to one, big, monster garage sale!

I was super excited to show Brian my “new” used sweater that I actually emailed him a picture of it. I was hoping it would get him in the spirit of the whole “ugly holiday sweater” thing. It didn’t work, though. He’s such a party pooper.

Although, on the drive home, I told Brian that I hope that I don’t show off off my “ugly holiday sweater” at the party and have someone say, “I have that sweater. It’s my favorite!” That would be very, very, very bad. Brian and I had a good laugh about it, but both agreed this would be highly unlikely because my coworkers actually have good fashion sense. =P

Anyway, I’m super excited to see everyone in their “ugly holiday sweaters” on Friday!

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Uber Nerdiness

Posted on December 8, 2010 by Ching under Things to Do.

The Mixbook party didn’t have a very good turn out. We made the best of it, though. I hope Carmen completes her wedding photo book in time for Christmas. =)

BTW, I have a 30% OFF code that is good until the end of February. Leave me a message in the comments if you want it.

Cheers,
Ching