This was the last weekend of the March Movement Challenge!

...and on Friday, I didn't really "do" my 30.  I did 30 of cardio at the gym like always, but when I came home from work I found fresh-baked tahini cookies and a bouquet of flowers on the table, in celebration of my two-year anniversary with my man, and, well, the rest of the weekend involved much cuddling and not as much intentional movement as usual.

Which is to say, I went on to have two performance gigs, followed by three hours of dancing on Saturday night, and I went to Oregon Fire Conclave practice (a straight 1.5 hrs of fan spinning) and ran through some core exercises with aforementioned Man before doing half an hour on my own.  The family that gets ripped together stays together?

Tonight I will bust my ass, knowing that this is just the type of momentum I'm gonna keep going because it feels good in my body, and really really good in my brain and my heart.  Also, I still have vacation weight to rid.  and TRX classes to take.  and a workout with Kim on Wednesday.

Yesterday I tried my first TRX class with my best friend, a nerdlicious paddler with whom I attended high school (at which time the most exercise we got was singing gestured summer camp songs in the lunch room)

It was awesome!  I was super lucky to have been working out for the last few months with the stability ball, as lots of the movements are similar and require a generally good level of balance.  Phew!  She signed me up for an intensive TRX package so now it looks like I'll be going a few times a week for the next three weeks.  I'm hoping to find ways to incorporate some of these exercises into stuff I already do, considering that the equipment seems to be as simple as bands/ropes with a handle. I could handle that!  (HAaaaaaaaaaa)  

The instructor was totally approachable, the classmates were fun and modest and normal people, and -- in the best way -- I left thinking "....pffft, I could totally be a fitness instructor".  The instructor didn't even have to join us for the exercises (which is fine because she was helping students with their form) but hey... if I could make money by putting together movement series' and telling people how to do them, then, well, I'd be making money doing something I already do!

Here's an example of some slightly more advanced TRX stuff.

3:50pm: quick update!  My booty is sore!  TRX: 1, endi: 0

I realize that I'll have missed nearly half of this 30-day challenge, but I'm proud to say that I'm back on the wagon regardless.  There's a certain determination, discipline, and grace involved in coming back after a break like this ("Jumping back on the horse" seems an appropriate cliche) so I'm going to pat my own back for not giving up or allowing myself to slip back into old routines.... 

much.

Last night I did at least 15 minutes of hardcore core training, practiced some fan spinning, and sword balancing (thanks for the motivation, Jasmine!).

Tonight I'm gonna try a TRX class with my bestie.  I have no idea how this is going to go, except that I've decided it will be super fun. 

HI Y'ALL!

I'm back from a vacation in Nicaragua! It was probably my most vacation-est vacation ever: I did absolutely *nothing* productive. I didn't write down a single list. I did nothing but sit around, nap, sleep, drink, sit, drink, eat, sleep, and nap some more! I thought I was making this 30-day challenge as a motivation to keep up the momentum I started at the beginning of the year, but it turns out I *needed* the break. Also, I gained 5 lbs, so you better believe I'm back on the wagon.

Monday I spent 40 minutes spinning my new LED fans in the yard (which is how I broke my new LED fans) and went on a half-hour bike ride in the sunshine. 

Yesterday, Tuesday, I worked out for 30 min on an eliptical, went to Ashley Lopez's dance class at Datura Studio-- which kicked my ass.  Royally.  It turns out that coming back from nearly a month of no dance classes, and two weeks without any dance at all (booooooooo) is a great way to make yourself feel like an idiot with no motor skills.  

...so when I got home, I grabbed my fire fans and spun a bit while listening to the end of The Melting Pot on KBOO (check out Bridgetown Revue performing with his set at Duality on Saturday!), and did a few things on the stability ball just to make sure my ass would be sore from all the kicking. 


Can't wait to report out tomorrow!

FRIDAY THE 7TH:
Work all day, prep for Fusion, perform and dance ass off at Road to Sonic Bloom. (I TOTALLY performed with Jamie Janover, guys!  Totally!)

SATURDAY THE 8TH:
...sleep in, get up, answer emails, work out, commence 12 hours' Fusion event execution in which *brain explodes*

SUNDAY THE 9th:
sleep in, eat, bath, nap, FIRE CONCLAVE PRACTICE, eat some more, sleep.

That leaves tonight for cleaning up four performances and a productions' worth of STUFF all over my house...

and tomorrow night to pack for 10 days in Nicaragua.  Let's do this!

Yesterday I left work a wee early to go see my acupuncturist, Kaz at Yin Yang Acupuncture.  Ironically (or is it?) I had to cancel my appointment last week because I was actually too stressed for acupuncture.  I'm so glad that yesterday I decided to skip an hour of work instead, to make sure it happened, because I started to feel better the moment I walked into the needling room (hehe).  I sat down to go over the usual - what's going on in my body today yada yada - and Kaz touched my shoulder.  About half a second later I forgot what I was talking about in the middle of my sentence.  
Most relaxing stabbing yet!  Thank you, Kaz!

I then "raced" home (40-minute 4-mile commute both puts me to sleep and causes great anxiety, go figure) to try to figure out my giant Madlib project.  It's been a more difficult task than I'd imagined, and after months of brainstorming, researching, trying, failing, trying some more ...it's so close.  Tomorrow is The Unveiling at Fusion: Words.  Giant Interactive Madlib!  ...and until yesterday afternoon, I had no way of actually making it happen.  



After trying a 4th adapter on a 3rd cord, I GOT IT.

No thanks go to Lenovo, who makes pretty awesome laptops with pretty useless HDMI ports.



So then I did my 30 minutes of sta-bi-lee-tay and rehearsing, for last night was the best night yet at Cloud City Circus, and I did my favorite Ring-Tailed Lemur burlesque act.

Please come out to Fusion: Words Saturday March 8th at the Analog Cafe!  Make funny dancey times with me!

Yesterday, as I do every day, I spent half an hour on the elliptical machine.  I don't usually count that as my 30 minutes of movement, because it's just another Part of the Daily Routine, like showering or farting.  I'd like to say that my performance at the Mad Marquis' Hump Day Happy Hour Sip n' Strip counted as my 30 minutes of movement, but honestly it was probably about 8 minutes of movement total.  The rest of the evening was spent on a short walk to the grocery store, spray painting magnets for a giant madlib, trying not to freak out about all the things going wrong with said madlib project, eating dinner, and falling asleep immediately.

So... not my proudest 30 minutes, but I think I get credit!  Tonight I'll be performing at 1st Thursday's Cloud City Circus show at the Analog, but I will ALSO do my elliptical, and ALSO do some conditioning... because these abs are more like flimsy sheet metal than steel, and they need constant reshaping.

Last night was Mardi Gras, March Fourth Marching Band's birthday, and my favorite radio show, The Melting Pot, during which we had a ticket giveaway for PDX Fusion: Words!  Another important "m" for the night: menstruation!  This is why, instead of attending any of the other M events, I stayed home and put together my costumes for tonight and tomorrow night's gigs, and rehearsed.  

I don't have a video to share, because I was rehearsing for an hour!  You'll have to come to one of my upcoming shows to see. =)

3/5: Hump Day Happy Hour  
3/6: Cloud City Circus  
3/7: Road to Sonic Bloom  
3/8: Fusion: Words 

Meetings!  Projects! Work!  Movement!

This week is a whirlwind of performances and prep, so I don't have much time to write.  I did, however, spend a whole lot of time editing a video instead of one of the many other things on my to-do list.  It's my own fault for starting this silly Movement Challenge!

So, I'll be seeing you a lot this week!  Come find me!

3/5: Hump Day Happy Hour  
3/6: Cloud City Circus  
3/7: Road to Sonic Bloom  
3/8: Fusion: Words 

Saturday started off with an awesome bang of movement, including me learning how to edit videos!

If I don't get around to posting many more videos this week, it's because I'm busy preparing forFusion: Words at the Analog on Saturday!  I hope to see you there!