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Children, nunchaku and taking a break

Morning!

Well, it’s a delightful Sunday afternoon.

I had planned on spending time hacking up my forum software, when one of my kids came to me and said, Mom! Let’s go practice our nunchaku katas outside!

Now, you have to understand – the last time I did nunchaku was about, oh, hmmm, 3 months ago? I had basically decided to drop this weapon as the kata required side kicks (which I was incapable of doing back then). However, I’m healed now, so I decided, heck, work could wait, let’s spend some quality kid time.

Wow, what a lot of fun it was! I was quite surprised that I remembered so much about the nunchaku techniques – I was even able to do the around-the-neck move with no problem at all. Perhaps I’ll rejoin the class again – it was really enjoyable.

And P90x-related, today is XStretch, but I’m debating about substituting it with YogaX. Gotta love the challenge that DVD presents.

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps – some nifty nunchaku goodies include:

P90x Review – Xstretch, Week 5, Day 7 – Total Days – 35

Okay, so I can’t count. :)

Yesterday was day 35 and I completed 5 weeks of P90x, yay!

I’ve dropped another 1/2 pound and energy wise, seem to be doing much better than when I started. Tomorrow is Back/Biceps; I remember from this week, it was utterly killer so I’m interested to see how it treats me again.

And that’s Day 35,

Barbara

ps – some neat P90x discounts:

Comparing P90x to Cathe’s STS

Hi everyone,

Here’s an interesting thread I just came across – it compares P90x to Cathe’s STS system.

…Do you think STS is Cathe’s version of P90X?

Of course the programs are very different, but I do see a couple of similarities: heavy weight work, each takes about three months to complete, etc.

I’m not implying that Cathe is copying anything or that P90X is better than the other because P90X came out first….

I think it’s somewhat like it but different as well. Here’s what I see:…

Well, I see your point, but I think the difference are big, too.

P90X uses the same basic types of exercises through the entire series (push ups, pull ups and heavy weights). It’s very heavy on upperbody, fairly light on lower body (the Legs and Back workout is great, but it’s not heavy weights).

With Cathe you start with Muscle Endurance and end up with heavy weights – both upper and lower body. It actually sounds more logical to me (and I LOVE P90X) .…MORE…

It’s an interesting discussion – you should definitely check it out.

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps – some P90x and Cathe goodies are:



Dealing with cowardly lying children so they learn

You know, it never fails. Give yourself permission to actually take off time from work, give yourself permission to shut down and actually (gasp!) relax, and you immediately will have a crisis emerge with your small children that require your full attention and intervention.

Sigh.

So. Today, two of my single-digit kids decided to, ahem, conceive of creative uses for a broom. Now, this is not just any broom, mind you – it’s the Broom of Destiny, the Broom of Awesomeness, in other words, the only broom that really picks up parakeet feathers rather well and sweeps the floor adequately. End result – el broomo was snapped in two-o.

ARGH!!!!!

Okay, it’s just a broom – I have the wisdom to be calm and dignified about it. I gave a talk to them as to the utter unintelligence of that act, and sent them off to their room. But then I thought about it – one of my kids had earnestly told me, my brother was the one who broke it….but then he also admitted, he was doing the exact same thing as well.

In essence? He took the coward’s way out and tried putting 100% of the blame on his brother.

Ooooooo, not a good thing! If there’s one thing about which I’m completely irrational, it’s cowardice. It’s totally unacceptable in my family! And trying to shift blame to another person, simply to save one’s sorry hide, is the act of something rather pathetic.

So, I called back said kid and read him the riot act about such behaviors. I really harped on being strong and being brave and taking responsibility/ownership of one’s actions, even if those actions were wrong.

Sigh.

But I think I made my point. While it was tempting to simply cause as much angst responsible, I focused on getting the point across and discussing the issue with him. Thus, it’s a lesson learned…at the expense of my rest.

Ah well, the joys of being a parent. :)

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps – need help with raising kids? Check out these cool books:



Top 10 Apps for Apple iPhone

Morning,

Do you have an Apple iPhone? If so, are you utterly consumed with excitement at finding the most killer Apps available?

If so, not to worry – I’ve found them for you!

Apps aren’t the only thing you can find for your iPhone, of course. With open networks and design come major security risks as well! For more on that, check out:

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps – some nifty iPhone goodies:



P90x Fitness Review – Kenpo, Week 5, Day 6 – Total Days – 33

Morning!

Today is Day 33 – wheeee!

So far, P90x has been treating me magnificently well.

Today was Kenpo, and as always, I found it most beneficial. It gives me a good karate workout that I can bring to the dojo when I work out; I’m finding myself getting better and better with the combinations.

And that’s Day 33,

Barbara

ps – some nifty P90x goodies:

I missed it soooo much! Karate sparring with gear

A quick post before I collapse in a heap

along with, hmmm, lessee…..8 hours of programming, 1 hour of P90x legs/back, and a 2.4 mile circle walk, I also did an hour of adult self-defense. And we sparred with gear!
Omigosh, I never realized how much I have missed sparring with gear. True, I do self-defense without gear (realism is a good thing!) but wow, with gear, head shots can be endured! I partnered up with a brilliant 3rd degree black belt who was extremely controlled and blindingly fast. My gosh, I’m so blindingly slow! It was like I was visiting another planet where everyone else had lighter gravity than me; my brain registered, hey! There’s this fist coming at me! but didn’t give my body the signal to move until I was hit.

’twas a glorious, wondrous class. I have to add sparring to my other lessons.

Nice nice nice, ’tis all I have to say, I’m still dizzy with how much I loved the activity. The last time I sparred with gear was, hmmm, 4 months ago? What a thrill to do it once again.

Enjoy,

Barbara

ps – some neat karate gear includes:

P90x Fitness Review – Legs Back, Week 5, Day 5 – Total Days – 33

Howdy all!

Well! Yesterday, I did doubles with my P90x

I had missed Wednesday’s workout (Back and Biceps) so I did that as well as Yoga. But because I did Back yesterday as well, I opted to change today’s workout to solely Legs and Abs.

It went rather well, I must say. There’s lots of bodyweight exercises you can do for your legs; I rediscovered one legged squats, hamstring stretches and the like. Definitely felt the burn by the end.

After the workout, I was drawn to doing my 2.4 mile circle walk in the rain. Mental note to mom – it’s COLD when it’s raining and below 37 degrees! Took a hot shower upon returning, and am now getting back to work.

And! I have my biceps pix – will be posting that soon.

And that’s Day 33 of P90x,

Barbara

ps – Some nifty Tony Horton goodies:

7 Steps to stop spam in wordpress blogs

Stopping spam in wordpress blogs – it really builds character. :)

Step by step, here is what you can do to help eliminate spam from your blog.

  • #1.) Make sure you have activated Akismet. It comes with your wordpress installation.
  • #2.) Install and Activate ReCaptcha.net . It makes users fill in two words prior to submitting comments.
  • #3.) Install and Activate Douglas Karr’s Enhanced WordPress Contact Form with Spam Protection. It forces users to fill out a challenge question whenever using the contact form.
  • #4.) Install and Activate Simple Spam Filter. It will automatically reject comments that have 5+links, nothing but links, etc.
  • #5.) Create a Fake Comment Form. Only spambots see this.
  • #6.) Install Bad Behavior. Thanks to Jake McKee below who alerted me to this! Bad Behavior blocks actual vandalism to your site as well as blocks many e-mail address harvesters.
  • #7.) Use TimeStamps to Reduce Spam. This prevents rapid-fire posting. However, if the person mistypes the Captcha, she or he will have to wait the prescribed time. I changed mine to slightly less and edited the error message:
    • Error: you must wait at least 15 seconds before posting a comment or correcting a CAPTCHA error. Our apologies for the delay, this is how we help verify you are a real live wonderful human bean.

That’s a good list with which to start…I’ll post more later!

It’s later!  Check out this great posting, 46 tips for reducing WordPress Spam. 

Now, what if you’re not a techie and want to use all of the above? There are several great wordpress plugin how-to resources, including:

The main key here is you need to first save plugins on your local computer, and then upload them to the

  • /wp-content/plugins

of your server’s wordpress installation. This requires using an FTP program to transmit your files…but not to fear! There’s lots of free ones you can use like:

Spam can be quite a problem on WordPress blogs….but as you can see, there are always ways to combat it.

Enjoy,

Barbara

P90x Fitness Review – Darth Yoga, Week 5, Day 4 – Total Days – 32

Morning!

Darth Yoga was actually for the first time in human memory….really enjoyable.

Why? Well, for beginners, I had spent about, oh, 8 hours straight sitting at my computer, programming my little heart out. I slowly but surely descended into the land of Can’tThinkStraightUnlessFingersWereGluedToKeyboard…. and that got tired real quick.

I had two choices yesterday afternoon – go to Advanced Karate or do my Yoga. I opted for the second – I figured that as I had done 2 hours in the gym earlier, plus my 100 kicks on each leg for the crescent, roundhouse and front kick series, my body was craving something a bit less active.

So! I gave myself permission to miss karate, and instead tackled Darth Yoga with my kids. I bet them that they couldn’t last but they did hang in there longer than I would have thought – 28 minutes!

The workout was awesome, I can really see how it’s beneficial to one’s overall stretching/health condition. It’s funny to realize how much I utterly hated it when I started…and now how much I can truly appreciate it.

And that’s Day 32,

Barbara

ps – Some neat P90x goodies: