Deadman's Party

Snackers in his costume w/the candy

Yesterday morning I woke up and put on some black sweat pants and an orange sweater and didn't even remember that it was Halloween until Snackers said something 30 minutes later.  I forgot again, quite quickly, as I entered one of the busiest work days I've had in a long, long time.  I finally got around to taking a lunch at 2 p.m. that was 12 minutes long and then I was back at my desk working again - oblivious to the fact that it was my favorite holiday of the entire year.  When I got off work I was a little depressed because it just didn't FEEL like Halloween to me.

I started to put on my costume anyway as Snackers and I started discussing options for where we could go or what we could do to make the day feel more like it should.  He decided to grab some take-out from the burrito shop and I turned on the Ghost Hunters Halloween Live special that I like to watch every year but the sun was still up (partially) and it just wasn't as fun as it usually is.  When the first trick-or-treaters arrived we opted to sit out front for a little while to pass out candy and then it happened ... we were filled with the Halloween spirit.  Our little neighborhood was PACKED.  The streets were so full of people that it looked like Mardi Gras!  We went through 160 pieces of assorted candy from those big variety bags (two bags of 80 pieces each), 50 boxes of junior mints, and 30 packets of Smartees.  We were getting hit in groups of 20 - 30 kids at a time.  A pick-up truck drove by so full of kids that it bottomed out going over a speed bump and then it parked and all the kids piled out and started running door-to-door.

Contacts, a wig, and fangs, I love Halloween!

When we ran out, the first time, we came in the house and started to tear the kitchen apart looking for more because it was only 6 p.m!!!  We'd been handing out candy, not letting kids take it from the bowl, so we know they were only getting one piece per kid yet we'd gone through 240 pieces of candy in less than an hour!!!  We found airline peanuts and pretzels that our flight attendant friends give us - huge bags with 50 packets per bag so we broke them open and filled the bowl again.  We also opted to turn on some tunes like "Dead Man's Party", "Monster Mash", and every other Halloween song that we could find on YouTube, hooked them up to the woofer, locked up the pets and left the front door open so that the tunes spilled out into the street.  Then we had our own little party, dancing to the music while passing out candy.  Everyone LOVED the orange paint we did in the living room and one guy even asked if we were going to "paint it back tomorrow". lol  aka he thought we did it just for Halloween.  Nope, we just like the color.

2 hours: 200 packets of pretzels, 150 packets of salted peanuts, 5 packets of honey roasted peanuts, 2 packets of Lorna Doon 100-calorie snack packs, and a lil' Debbie Snack Cake later we were out again and this time there was nothing left in the pantry but Ramen Noodles and Peanut Butter so we put a sign on the door saying we were out, turned off the lights (the universal parent-to-parent signal for 'don't knock on my door please') and called it a night.  We closed up shop just after 8 p.m. but the streets were still packed until well after 10.  Next year we'll have to buy candy a few months in advance before the prices go up so that we can afford to get a lot more of it!!!




Food:
120 oz of water
1 cup of coffee w/creamer
1 serving leftover goulash
1 fish burrito
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Daily Caloric Intake: 958




Activity:
Barbell Squats: 50 reps @ 20 lbs
Barbell Press Behind Neck: 50 reps @ 20 lbs
Barbell Curl: 50 reps @ 20 lbs
Barbell Reverse Curl: 50 reps @ 20 lbs
Barbell Lunges: 25 reps each leg @ 20 lbs
Walking: 1 mile

Shootin' B-Ball

I love basketball.  I love watching it, I love playing it, I love the simplicity of the rules and terminology, I love the fact that the ball is large and easy to catch, I love the unique physical requirements of playing the game.  It's just a fun sport all around!  I'm a Celtics fan but, as we all probably already know, the NBA has canceled most of the season so far due to contractual disputes between the players and the league.  Boooo.

Last night I finally talked Snackers into 30 minute of play that turned into 45.  I would have even liked to have gone longer but Snackers was tired of losing.  Yep, I won.  He's an excellent softball/baseball player and, in watching him with his kids during practice, I can see that he's a pretty darn good football player too but basketball is my sport.  He doesn't suck at basketball, by any means.  He can make a turning hook shot like nobody's business - but I used to sit in WalMart and other stores as a toddler and shoot baskets under the watchful eye of my dad while my mom shopped, and I played in a church league as a teen.  Basketball is just a game Snackers hasn't practiced a lot and he tries to show off too much by doing really complicated moves.  In other words, he either lets me win or he lets his own psychology get the better of him.

The important part, however, isn't who wins or loses, it's that we spent time together being active and having fun.  We took the dogs and, at one point, Vladdy slipped his collar and ran big giant crazy circles around the court which freaked out all the kids who were playing on the other side of it.  "It's a horse!"  One kid exclaimed.  But we quickly realized that Vladdy just wanted to play with the big giant ball too and it was FUNNY watching him paw at the ball and chase it down.  It makes me want to get a soccer ball.




Food:
120 oz of water
1 cup of coffee w/creamer
1 serving leftover potato salad
1 fish burrito
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Daily Caloric Intake: 909




Activity:
Dancing to Halloween music: 2 hours between trick or treaters
Yoga: 45 mins

What to do

Well I woke up this morning and went straight into a work out starting with yoga, lifting, jumping jacks, and crunches.  After that Snackers and I went to do our weekly grocery shopping and now we're home and I'm trying to talk him into joining me for 30 minute of catch in the back yard or basketball at the park or something.  I wanted to go kayaking today but he wanted to watch football and, since we really haven't watched a full day of sunday football yet this season, I yielded.  But I'm feeling restless and I don't want to go do something alone - it's just not as much fun.  I'd like to take Vladdy for a run but my shins still hurt from the last run we went on.  Not good.



Food:
130 oz of water
1 cup of coffee w/creamer
1 Chipotle bowl
>>rice, black beans, lettuce, corn, salsa, cheese
3 servings cheese &crackers
>>this is what I had for dinner, not nutritious I know
>>but I ate it and then realized I'd used up my calories
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Daily Caloric Intake: 982






Activity:
Yoga: 45 minutes
Barbell Bench Press: 40 reps @ 20 lbs
Barbell Squats: 40 reps @ 20 lbs
Barbell Curls: 40 reps @ 20 lbs
Tricep Extensions: 40 reps @ 20 lbs
Standing Press: 40 reps @ 20 lbs
Crunches: 50
Jumping Jacks: 100
Walking/Shopping: 1 hr
Sprints: 0.2 miles @ 4.5 mph
Basketball w/Snackers: 45 minutes

Lost Track

Hi everyone.  Sorry for my absence last night.  We had a pot luck party at our last regular season football game of the year (next games will be playoffs I think) so I have no idea what my caloric intake was yesterday.  I didn't eat anything (other than drinking my cup of coffee) before we left because I knew there were going to be lots of yummy things at the game like musubi, adobo, rice, lumpia, and I took potato salad.  But I did get some physical activity in yesterday.


Activity:
Jumping Jacks: 100
Barbell Squats: 20 reps @ 20 lbs.
Restorative Yoga: 30 minutes
Walking: 1 mile
Stairs: 3 flights

Gone Fishin'

Today is Snackers' birthday but he had yesterday off work so I took yesterday off work also and we went to celebrate.  First we went to two different sporting goods stores to shop for his birthday present, he wanted fishing stuff and he wanted to pick it out so that's what I got him.  It took for-ev-er!  We finally got everything that we needed and then came home to pack up the coolers with waters, snacks, and bait - then headed off to Lake Mead.

We got a tip from a bait shop along the way for a secluded little cove on the other side of the lake, not much of a tip as it turns out.  We found this great little spot but realized, after casting, that the entire cove was filled with shallow weeds.  After about an hour of cast-and-tug we started walking the bank looking for better spots and ended up going through three different coves.  The walk was a mixture of two terrains: soft beach-like sand and rocky ledges so it was pretty much a cross between walking on the beach and hiking.  Very exhausting for some already tired and sore legs.  I had one bite but neither of us caught anything.

We were out there for about 5 hours, then packed up as fast as we could and headed for football practice where Snackers' team surprised him with a round of Happy Birthday and a cake.  I had a little slice - it was yummy.  After that we ran home to drop off the cake and feed the dogs, then headed to the casino for a late supper and to catch the end of the best world series game ever.  I don't have a team preference in the WS, but the game's dynamics were baseball at their finest.  After that we came home and went to bed.  All-in-all a very good and productive day.




Food:
120 oz of water
1 cup of coffee w/creamer
1 serving leftover goulash
1 chicken sandwich
1 sliver Snackers' second birthday cake
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Daily Caloric Intake: 964



Fitocracy is motivational - check out this workout!
Activity:
Jumping Jacks: 130
Renegade Push-ups: 20 reps @ 10 lbs.
Side Bicep curl: 50 reps @ 10 lbs each arm.
Front Bicep curl: 50 reps @ 10 lbs each arm.
Over-the-shoulder pullover: 50 reps @ 10 lbs each arm.
Butterfly press: 50 reps @ 10 lbs each arm.
Dumbbell vertical lift: 50 reps @ 10 lbs each arm.
Crunches: 50
Calf Raises: (standing on the edge of the coffee table, extended up and down): 20 reps holding 5 lbs.
Weighted Squats #1: 5 reps @ 40 lbs (tried doing it with a full bag of dog food)
Weighted Squats #2: 20 reps @ 10 lbs.
Bench Press: 75 reps at 10 lbs each arm.
Deadlift: 10 reps @ 20 lbs.
Hamstring stretch: 3 reps of 30 seconds per leg.

YEAH BABY!!!