Jessica Smith and Friends 2020

[Pam61]

Hi strangers,

I'm sorry I've been MIA. I just sort of got out of the exercise habit, so stopped checking in and visiting VF. Started again recently and am confident it will stick with doing some different workouts for a while.

I've been wanting to do more barre workouts, so have been exploring more DVDs that just sat on my shelves untouched. Since the workouts are fresh (and new to me) I'm excited about working out again!

For this past week, I've done a number of Exhale Core Fusions, and the week before that I did workouts that used Cathe's Fit Tower (Beginner and Intermediate.)

Today, I did Jessica's Feel Good Fusion, Cardio Flow. It's been a while since I've done that, too! I hope Jessica is planning new workouts, and hoping for something in the New Year!

Donna, I owe you a reply and will do that soon! Hope everyone is well, and I've got some catching up to do!

[Leonana]

Pam, so happy to see you! It sounds like you are doing well and have recovered enough to exercise. I'm happy for you!

[Leonana]

Today I did Pahla Bowers 25 Minute Low Impact Power Walk. I enjoyed it, it got my heart rate up. Boy, Pahla has some good lungs to do all that talking during the workout!

I'm afraid my Census job didn't work out for various reasons. Long story short, the supervisor gave me the wrong website address for orientation training. I did get the right address on a sheet given to me at checkout, but I mistakenly thought it was the same address. It was different by one word. I had to complete training by 1 p.m. Saturday. I did text my supervisor at 8:30 a.m., but she didn't get back to me until 11:00 a.m. Then she tells me that I was supposed to use the website address on the checkout sheet. Well, that would have been helpful to know earlier! She said other people had completed their training, so she wasn't sure she could get me excused with more time. So, I decided to quit. She seemed relieved about it, so I guess it wouldn't have worked out working with her anyway. I did feel discouraged that I didn't notice the two different addresses. I did think to read the checkout sheet to see if the website address was different, but didn't notice that one word difference. I guess other people did notice, or maybe they were informed of it. Oh well, I guess it wasn't meant to be. The Hospice place wants me to come back and do filing for them now, anyway. They seem happy with me, lol.

I hope everyone is having a nice weekend!

[donnamp]

Hi Everyone,

Sherry - don't feel bad - I think it was up to her to send out corrected/updated information - particularly since you contacted her repeatedly about your inability to access the training - she should have worked harder to make sure that you had access - that is what a good supervisor should do. Totally not your fault.

Pam - so good to see you!! So funny you mention Exhale Core Fusion, that has been in the back of my mind for a few weeks.

Waves, wishiwasinhawaii!

Today I did a mix of workouts throughout the day - I suppose the upside to this pandemic is I have more time on the weekends for workouts since there is nothing else to do! Particularly now that my DD has a drivers license and can take herself to the barn...she has been riding on the trails w/ one of her barn friends.

The mix was:

Ellen - Barefoot Cardio
Trifecta Pilates - Ease & Release (10 min - mostly stretching)

Pahla B - 31 Day Challenge Day 1 - this was an indoor walking workout. I normally don't enjoy these from Pahla b/c she just walks in place. But I decided to try this one on our mini-trampoline (it is my DD's, but she never uses it!) and I "walked" on that while listening to Pahla talk about weight loss at "this age". It worked pretty well - I may try doing all of her walks this way!

Jessica Valent - Pilates Camp Day # 1 - intro to Pilates

Also, speaking of jobs, I'm, believe it or not, trying to get back to my old place as a "supervisor" - long story...but someone else left right after I did, I am not loving my current 'new" job and I reached out to my old boss about it. So, we shall see what happens. I had to actually re-apply for the job and it closes on August 20th. I hope it works out - I would like to try my hand at supervising, I know that sounds crazy, most people hate that stuff, plus I am really not enjoying my new job very much at all. It is a lot of financial stuff, which is not what I like doing. I didn't realize how much a part of the job it would be. I'm more of a writer than a numbers person. Fingers crossed. I hope there aren't any SNAFUs in this process. I will hopefully know more in a few weeks.

Waves, everyone,

Donna

[Leonana]

Donna, thanks. I appreciate the kind words. As much as I love dd and dh, they aren’t too uplifting lol. I think you’d make a wonderful supervisor.

My guess is this woman I had as a supervisor is temporary just like me. I’m sure it’s a lot of headaches for her. But I'm kind of glad, I didn’t realize I’d be going to houses by myself. And it’s so hot here right now, to be driving around. It was 109 today.

[donnamp]

Hi Everyone,

Today was:

Ellen - Total Body Tune Up
Jessica Valent - Arms & Abs (Pilates Camp Day # 2)

I will probably do a Pahla B workout later. I was reading something about the "Sunday Scaries" - you know, the dread you feel about facing the coming work week that begins Sunday afternoon/evening. And, one of the suggestions was to exercise. So, I think I will try to do a little something on Sunday's either late afternoon or early evening just to help burn off the anxiety. I would typically try to "relax" but that would sometimes make the dread build up even more. Kinda like when someone tells you to relax or breathe, you suddenly can't.

Hope everyone has a good day!!

Donna

[Leonana]

No workout yet today. I had to meet the Census supervisor at Panera this morning to return my items. I'm not the only one, three other people were quitting for different reasons, some due to the technology headaches. I kept the hand sanitzer, so I got something out of the deal, lol.

It's obviously harder this year for the Census people, with COVID and setting up remote learning. The supervisor was nice about it, but she is kind of quirky. Now that I have a better feel for her, I think I could have worked with her okay. I was taking things too personally. But dh was against me going door to door by myself, and coupled with me not getting the information in time, it wasn't going to work out. I enjoyed the experience though, I like interacting with people. When COVID dies down, I'm going to look into more volunteering.

Donna, that's a good idea for Sundays. I think I will do something this evening. I don't have the scareys, but I get kind of down emotionally. Exercise perks up my mood a bit.

Waves to everyone!

[Pam61]

Hello ladies,

Saturday night I did...
Suzanne Bowen's Slim and Toned Prenatal Barre and her
10 Minute Solution Pilates Perfect Body (Buns and Thighs). She has some great form pointers in the prenatal barre workout and I feel like I need all the help I can get! ;-)

Sunday I continued with more 10MS workouts....

Lara Hudson 10MS Pilates (Buns and Thighs)
Lara Hudson 10MS Rapid Results Pilates (Buns and Thighs)
Andrea Rogers 10MS Dance Your Body Thin (Ballet Sculpt)
Plus... Exhale Core Fusion Lean and Toned but it was way too much for me in most segments. Something to work towards, but I don't relish the idea of doing this one any time soon! ;-)

Sherry, sorry about the job.
Donna, thank you and it's good to "see" you all again, too!

Will be back to post about our exciting Saturday virtual roadtrip!

[Pam61]

https://www.americassummerroadtrip.org/

Saturday we went on a virtual tour of many of the following historic sites. There were twelve in all and we watched about half a dozen. Some of the best were the National Underground Railroad Freedom Center in Cincinnati, OH. and also the Wright Brothers National Memorial in Kill Devil Hills, NC. Of course, we've visited a few of the other historic sites in the New England area (in person) multiple times like the Rebecca Nurse Homestead in Danvers, MA. and the Minute Man National Historic Park in Concord, MA.

[donnamp]

Hi Everyone,

Back to it today....

Yesterday for extra activity I did Pahla B's 31 Day Program - Day 2. It was an interesting workout -very slow moving and focused on balance. The interesting part was how easy it looked to watch but how deceptively challenging it was to do. Now, is it Cathe IMAX level, no, but that is not where I am these days. This ended up feeling very "useful" for a lack of a better word....

DD also surprised me by wanting to go for a walk - so that is good - got extra steps, too.

Today so far has been:

Pahla B - Day 3 of her 31 Day Program - this was low impact cardio 20 seconds on/10 seconds off. Her workouts really are very modifiable so you can go faster/slower put more/less into it as you see fit.

Trifecta Pilates - Leg Stretches - I was going to do Jessica V's Pilates Camp workout today - but it is barre work and my lower back/hips are feeling a bit tweaky so I didn't think that would be a good fit, so I opted for some stretching which is more of what I needed to do today.

I will see what I can add on later - not necessarily as "exercise' but as movement, which is sort of how I'm looking at it these days.

Pam - thanks for sharing that site and good workouts!

waves Sherry and wishiwasinhawaii!

Donna