I've been working four to six hours a day in the gym lately, training individuals and running a kettlebell class (which just ended) and a small CrossFit class. It's very rewarding work, but strenuous--maybe I'm doing too much demonstrating! It's also harder than I thought it would be to get my own workouts in, get enough rest, do my house chores, gardening, and guitar practice, while I'm planning and running workouts for other people. I like the high amount of mental energy I have to spend on my work, but at the same time, it is taking me a while to get accustomed to these new demands which are completely different from any other job I've ever had. I'd like to do more writing, but I can't pressure myself to add more to my day. Now that I listed my daily tasks here, I see that it is a lot; it's not just my imagination!
Today I deadheaded some dahlias and roses. I love my yellow rosebush. While it's forming hips on its spent blooms, it's already starting to regrow from its growth buds. So by the time I get around to deadheading it, it is showing me where it wants to grow and therefore where to cut. Dahlias just started blooming in the last 10 days so now I'll try to do a little deadheading every day. I've done well at weeding this year, doing it extensively in spring and just a little a day now.
We had Aunt Tommy visiting us from Missouri last week. It was the biggest vacation she's ever taken and it was more fun that I even dreamed it would be to have her come and stay with us. We went to Mt. Rainier and Leavenworth and did some short hikes that we made long by stopping to collect tons (well, 46 pounds to be exact) of rocks and to look at every big tree and ancient mossy stump in the forest. We gardened, grilled out, shopped a little, and celebrated my birthday together. It was really a dream come true for me to spend time with Aunt Tommy on my own "turf" for the first time as an adult, and she said she saw things she had only dreamed of seeing (big mountains, old growth forest, Puget Sound) and loved every minute. Fantastic!
Guitar-wise, I'm taking a group class now instead of private lessons and it's fun, but I need to learn songs on my own since the group doesn't always practice the same stuff. I've done a couple of silly performances with a friend from the gym and here is one of them:
Today I deadheaded some dahlias and roses. I love my yellow rosebush. While it's forming hips on its spent blooms, it's already starting to regrow from its growth buds. So by the time I get around to deadheading it, it is showing me where it wants to grow and therefore where to cut. Dahlias just started blooming in the last 10 days so now I'll try to do a little deadheading every day. I've done well at weeding this year, doing it extensively in spring and just a little a day now.
We had Aunt Tommy visiting us from Missouri last week. It was the biggest vacation she's ever taken and it was more fun that I even dreamed it would be to have her come and stay with us. We went to Mt. Rainier and Leavenworth and did some short hikes that we made long by stopping to collect tons (well, 46 pounds to be exact) of rocks and to look at every big tree and ancient mossy stump in the forest. We gardened, grilled out, shopped a little, and celebrated my birthday together. It was really a dream come true for me to spend time with Aunt Tommy on my own "turf" for the first time as an adult, and she said she saw things she had only dreamed of seeing (big mountains, old growth forest, Puget Sound) and loved every minute. Fantastic!
Guitar-wise, I'm taking a group class now instead of private lessons and it's fun, but I need to learn songs on my own since the group doesn't always practice the same stuff. I've done a couple of silly performances with a friend from the gym and here is one of them:
