New site!

I've moved locations - check out my blog at

www.brinkleymiles.com

I'm scheming! Oh, and the closet is finally DONE!

I love scheming.  I'm working on a project.  What?  It's a secret until I get the kinks worked out.  But it's exciting and I hope to share it with you soon.  It keeps me busy, mostly in front of the computer.  I make no guarantees as to when, but it will be great.  Trust me.

Me and Brink and being lazy bums this morning... for a brief time anyway.  I have an appointment with my orthodontist in a few hours so that will bring a halt to the laziness.  I'm at the half way point (already!!) and my orthodontist is going to reposition the braces today.  This is great, but also worrisome.  I know there is a lot of pain yet to come for moving my back bottom molars!  Eeeck!  Is this a free pass to eats lots of ice cream?!  I think it should be.

When I get home, I get to work on organizing my patio closet!  Brent finally finished the project over the weekend.  Finally!  Longest project known to man!  But he did a great job!  I'll take some pictures before I fill it up with stuff.  He's beyond sick of painting so it may be awhile before I suggest any projects that involve paint!  Hmmm...

The garage project still looms.  I've made little progress out there, but I blame Old Man Winter for holding me back.  The old fart will just NOT go away.  It's frosty and cold this morning.  Brinkley looked just as disappointed as I did when we went outside for his morning relief.  I'm over you, old man, be gone already!!!

In other news, my awesome sister-in-law/accountant has all she needs from me to keep the IRS from knocking on my door.  I'll wait patiently to hear the outcome for the year!

Bring on the tulips!!

Five weeks from tomorrow I will be taking to the skies and flying west!  To Seattle!  And to tulips.  Many, many tulips!  This makes me squee with delight just thinking about it.  Of course, there is more to my trip than just tulips.  I'm meeting up with my long lost partner-in-crime, Vanessa to spend five fun-filled days exploring the great Northwest!

I'm looking forward to seeing a new part of this great country.  I'm looking forward to perusing the huge, century old Pike Place Market, drinking coffee at the original Starbucks, and tiptoeing through the tulips - the glorious tulips!  I'll consider myself lucky if I see an orca.  If all goes smoothly, we may even make it to Canada, eh!

The thought of tulips a plenty keeps me motivated.  Spring cannot come soon enough.  Temperatures are dropping and more snow is in the forecast.  Brinkley and I are going stir crazy around here.  Too bad his mom is a weenie when it comes to cold weather.  I'm sure he would love to take long winter walks, but he's stuck watching me put on extra layers and curling up in bed to read a book or watch television.

Heavy

The other night I caught an episode of Heavy on A&E.  It's like The Biggest Loser but without the screaming by Jillian and the blue v green v red challenges.  It's a mellowed out version but just as inspiring.  An episode features two different people, each with different levels of obesity and emotional issues driving their food addiction.  There was a mini-marathon the other night so I've seen a few episodes now and I got to say that it's a darn good show.

The show reinforces the basics to weight loss and maintaining a healthy weight...without Jillian's yelling.  (I thought it was worth repeating.)  Just like watching Hoarders makes me want to clean and declutter, this show makes me want to move and enjoy my mobility.

I enjoy my jujitsu on Tuesday nights so I'm going to look for something to do on Mondays to add more movement to my week. Maybe Mondays will be run days.  I'm thinking I'll sign Brinkley and myself up for the Fast and Furriest 5k Run/Walk on April 23rd.  It will help motivate me to get out there for walks between now and then.  I'm sure Brink will have no objections to more walks!

March means one step closer to Spring!

Productivity was the word of the day.  I hit the laundromat first thing and washed my comforter.  Then I did some extreme couponing!  I'm mighty proud of my loot today.  In addition to what's pictured below I picked up some cheap Hefty zip gallon bags, Campbell's Chunky soup, and Grands biscuits at King Soopers.  It was a great couponing day.

Rite Aid - regular price $16.00, my out of pocket $1.25

Walgreens - regular price, $39, my out of pocket $4.25

(This also included two more easter eggs, but Brent & I each ate one already!)

Besides shopping, I also managed to get some of my receipts collected for taxes.  I hope to get Uncle Sam taken care of next weekend.

Jujitsu was a blast tonight.  Last week was rough and really kicked my butt, so I was debating whether or not to go.  I'm glad I went.  It was a full house and we learned some easier moves, which had gentler falls.  "Gentler" is relative.  I was still smacked to the ground over and over again, but tonight it was with a less momentum.

Last week, my tumbles, flips, rolls, whatever you want to call them were less than impressive.  They were a little easier tonight and I tried a few aerials just so I could say I pushed myself.  I escaped with no obvious injuries.  I'll probably have some bruises appear in the next few days.  And I'll definitely be sore.  Wednesdays and Thursdays are the sorest ones of the week.  The Tylenol Precise pain cream in the above photos kind of explains itself now, doesn't it?

And now, it's off to enjoy my rigatoni with turkey meatballs.  Love that protein!