Lifting and cheap toys
Some great comments on the blogger role model post from yesterday. I loved all the insights. Thanks for saying I am a role model. I don’t know as I really meant to ask that specifically, but the post title kind of did that. 
I woke up to cloudy gloom today. I decided against biking because rain was supposed to be imminent and not ready for new bike and rain yet. Gotta at least pay it off first, right? I got to the gym and ran 1.5 miles on the treadmill to warm up, going between 5.5 and 6.1 mph. It felt pretty good.
Then the iron. Again, lower weights and increased reps:
| Exercise | Set/rep/weight | Muscle worked |
| 1-arm dumbbell row | 3 sets of 12 with 15# DB | Back |
| Dumbbell Incline Chest Fly | 3 set of 12 with 15# DBs (30# total) | Chest |
| Plie squat | 3 sets of 10 with 30# DB | Lower body |
| Planks | 3 sets of 90 second holds,
(3rd one I touched down briefly) |
Core |
| Seated French Press | 3 sets of 15 with 10# DBs (20# total) | Triceps |
| Seated calf raise | 3 sets of 10 at 110# | Calves |
| Stiff-leg deadlift | 3 sets of 12 with 65# bar | Lower body |
| Bent lateral raise | 3 sets of 12 with 10# DBs (20# total) | Shoulders |
Then I got back on the treadmill for 1 more mile. I almost stopped at 1/2 a mile because my legs really were having trouble running after lifting, but then they got used to it…. sort of. Reminds me that I need to start brick training for the duathlon coming up in October.
I had a hankering for chocolate when I got home, so I made some banana custard cream of wheat and topped with peanut butter and tiny mini morsels. You get so many more of these per serving than regular chocolate chips. The power of surface area. My eyes love that!
My tummy loved it, too. Num.
Working hard today. Crunch time to pay off the bike! I should just need a couple more weeks of this and then back down on one of the jobs. I keep saying that, but maybe I mean it this time 
For your entertainment, here is Pixie being active and playing. She is playing with a bread tie -proof that you don’t need expensive cat toys – (so why do I keep buying them??).
Lunch time brought out an oldie, but goodie. Toast with laughing cow, chicken and fruit spread.
I know it may sound weird, but this is a good combo. Some of the pear/cranberry jam I made last night. Who knew that making jam was so much fun? I think I see a few holiday gifts this year.
Note the waffle cut carrot that snuck into my bag of baby carrots. Someone must have been asleep at the switch.
John made me an afternoon latte:
And I had a couple of these to go with:
Antioxidant power!
We got a phone call that our windows are ready and they are going to be installing them mid next week. It will take them 2 days, since there are so many windows. I am not sure quite what I am going to do, as I really need quiet for transcription. Construction does not = quiet. I can work from the library or Starbucks, but not sure I really want to do that for 8 hours. Will have to see. Excited for the new windows, though!
Dinner time. We got some more Smart Option crabcakes, I had kind of forgotten that these existed until I saw John put them in the cart.
Paired with broccoli and a pluot. The genius of cutting these up. My hubby is so smart
More work tonight, and some Monday night football! 17 days until official kickoff! My Broncos jersey is ready and waiting to come out (I won’t wear it for preseason).
I will be having a little dish of this that we got with our free coupon for donating blood:
Question: Do you buy toys for your pets? And do they play with them?
Good luck with the windows. It is such noisy chaos. The good thing was that they were done in one day, they worked from 10am to 8pm. 30 windows. It was well worth it because the house is soooo quiet now. Love that green bowl.
.-= Andra´s last blog ..Monday Motivation =-.
I decided awhile ago to stop buying cat toys. My cats prefer empty paper bags, boxes and foil.
.-= Lisa´s last blog ..A Different Kind of Sunday Steak Night =-.
Jinxy likes the rings off the milk and water jugs. And yes he has a mouse that squeaks and various balls he will chase up and down thw hallway
My dog will not play with any toys! He only likes live animals…squirrels, birds, frogs… ick.
I want crabcakes now!
.-= Marisa @ Loser for Life´s last blog ..Catch Up =-.
Cute video of Pixie! I had to stop buying cat toys because Paco eats them. So my poor cats make do with things like the ring around the milk carton and yes, bread ties. Paco still eats those, but at least I haven’t spent money on them, lol!
Oh, and to answer your question, yes, that was the post that was cracking me up…glad you had a PJ, too – apparently they weren’t as popular as the other Barbies. Now I wish I’d kept poor one-legged PJ.
.-= Shelley B´s last blog ..Friday Mishmash =-.
You know I had NEVER heard of a pluot until this week and now I’ve seen them everywhere!
.-= Beth @ Beth’s Journey to Thin´s last blog ..TofuXpress =-.
I don’t have pets, but I typically send my niece-cat tissue crumpled tissue paper at Christmas.
Apparently she always recognizes my packages even before they’re opened.
.-= Cammy@TippyToeDiet´s last blog ..Dear Readers =-.
BRONCOS!?!?! Where exactly are you? We’re in the Colorado plains, SE of Denver. If you have a broncos jersey… hmmm… ??
Toys for our pets: our angora rabbit has baby keys and other baby rattles in her crate. Our chickens get all the grasshoppers they can catch! And our goats have a big old cable spool to jump on and each other to butt heads with.
Vee at http://veegettinghealthy.blogspot.com
.-= Vee´s last blog ..Day 55 Sun Passion of the Ice Cream =-.
In NY. Used to live in Colorado during the Elway Superbowl year (winning year….)/
Love the video of Pixie, playing pets is so cute and adorable.
Our beloved Roussy never played but boy does Bella love to play. She’s got a few toys but her favorite is a little blue ball with a beep in it. She can play with that all day: throw it away, go get it, come back to us and repeat. I love playing with her.
we had to put our two dogs down in close succession…and LORDY my wallet is way the fatter for not having the toy purchasing option
I need to slim it down…I think its FINALLY time for a new member of the family.
the fur kind.
.-= Miz´s last blog ..Lets REDEFINE MILF =-.
My two dogs will tear a toy up in seconds!!! therefore, no more toys!!!! They do have chew nylabones, but they have slowed down on their chewing as they are getting older..
.-= Ron´s last blog ..Week 2 Day 2 C25K completed =-.
Don’t have animals… but I am sure you buy them cause Pixie is such a sweet & lovable cat & she makes you feel special & loved & you want to do the same for her.. I loved that video!!! He tons of animals as kids but did not buy too many toys back then….or not that I remember.
How exciting on the windows.. man, we cold use new windows for this old place! Way noisy here too! ENJOY!
.-= Jody – Fit at 52´s last blog ..Happy Birthday Dad! =-.
I have a hour before lunch and I’m starving. I knew looking at your blog was a bad idea.
I don’t have pets but I have kiddos. No. they don’t play with most of their toys. But for some reason they get mad when I give the unused toys away.
Noah’s favorite toys are the empty gallon plastic milk cartons that I give him. Love the looks of that BF combo. I don’t like chocolate that much in the morning, but think I might try that sometime when I have oatmeal for dinner.
.-= debby´s last blog ..Crumbling =-.
I don’t buy toys for my pets anymore, but when they were younger and actually played with them I did! The cat loved to bat around those balls with bells in them – very annoyingly loud!
.-= Diane Fit to the Finish´s last blog ..Favorite Time of Day =-.
Pixie! What a sweetie! My sisters youngest cat just got one of the toys wrapped around her tail a week or so ago. Sue came home to all cats, fur raised and hissing at each other. App. two of them were chasing the one with the toy on the tail around the house and totally freaked her out. Funny!
As for buying toys…it’s insane! I spend more money on Shane’s toys, only to have him chew them up within a week than I do on anything really nice for me. Our pets come first.
.-= Joanne´s last blog ..Making Left Over Pizza =-.
Peanut butter and chocolate chips on oats?! YUMMM!!!! Can’t wait to try this one
Jen
http://jenslosinit.blogspot.com/
.-= Jen´s last blog ..Full Speed Ahead =-.
We bought a few toys when we first got our Bela pup, but she preferred to carry around a small towel, so that was pretty inexpensive. Our cat Elsie is an older kitty now (18!) and not quite as playful, but we still have a few toys around for the times when she does like to play. I used to buy her catnip toys and things when she was younger, but she really loved crumpled paper just as well.
.-= Pubsgal´s last blog ..Weekly Update- 8-18-10 =-.
Hmmm… custard cream of wheat? Have not heard of that before. It sounds really good, though! I am going to look for it next time I’m at the store. Love the cat video – I will be emailing you something related.
Pixie’s so cute! My dog carries stuffed ducks around, even outside. Like there his babies. Our 9-yr-old kitty Dexter doesn’t understand he’s not a kitten. He loves boxes and newspaper. I bought a fancy Christmas “crinkle sack” for Dexter and Kiki since they love paper bags. Yeah, they weren’t impressed. Their favorite toy is a homemade catnip-filled crochet pouch Grandma made.
.-= Amanda @ BakingWithoutABox´s last blog ..Classic Chocolate Chip Cookies =-.