Some Good Help

We'll see how long this post lasts before the codeine kicks in.

Seriously.

The Boy started coming down with something on Saturday, and by last night he was pretty much down for the count.  And then last night he (and therefore I) was pretty much awake non-stop coughing.

At first I attributed his cold to his first real winter.  He's had a couple of colds in the last couple of months, and I've been totally fine.  Apparently, however, I should have knocked on wood.

I believe my good friend Mr. Bronchitis (or some distant relative of his) is here for his annual visit.  And just in time for finals.  Joy.

So, tonight I took a boatload of cough syrup with codeine, some Ibuprofen, and now I'm sipping on Sleepytime tea (with honey, of course) in the coffee mug that reminds me of my mom.  (She has like eight million coffee mugs, and this is the only one I remember her using when I was growing up.)

Today started off fine.  I had a twinge of a headache throughout the morning, and then by the afternoon I was coughing fairly regularly.

Before I continue, I have to show you my favorite breakfast as of late:

One thing of Yo Lite yogurt (today was Raspberry Vanilla, I think), one pouch of granola, one scoop of vanilla protein powder, and one cup of berries.  Holy yum, and holy filling.  The rest of my eats today were an Amy's frozen dinner for lunch, a Fiber One bar and some carrots for a snack, and a salad from Palmer's for dinner.

When I came home from school, though, I still started P90X with the Chest & Back and Ab Ripper DVDs.  Because this workout was a little over an hour, I'm really glad that I had a friend:

Chloe is such a good workout partner.  (On a completely different note, I am glad she is covering up my toes in the bottom picture because I totally just lost a toenail - completely - from the marathon.  Totally fell off.  Just now.  Three months later.)

Back to P90X:

That is some working out, let me tell you.  The Chest & Back DVD was 52 minutes, and it was a lot of push-ups, some pull-ups and chin-ups, and some exercises with weights/bands.

The push-ups were really tough, and I did them all on my knees.  The only ones I totally couldn't do were the decline push-ups (where your toes are on the seat of a chair) and the under-the-fence push-ups where you start in downward dog and swoop down so that your chin almost touches the floor and then continue through your arms - and then go back to the starting position by reversing the motion.  For the decline push-ups, I just held a plank in that position, and for the under-the-fence ones, I said screw it.

I could not figure out how to do the pull-ups or chin-ups since I didn't have a bar or a place to loop the bands, so I just fast-forwarded through those exercises so that I would keep my heart rate up and burn out my muscles as much as possible.  If anyone has any suggestions as to how to do that portion of the workout without the necessary equipment, I would greatly appreciate it.

For all other exercises, I used resistance bands.  I started off using my five-pound weights, but those just didn't seem to cut it.

The Ab Ripper DVD was also quite tough, but I did much better on this one than I did with the bazillion push-ups.

I definitely learned, however, that I am extremely out of shape and have a really, really long way to go.

Side note about P90X (after one whole day): they say that it's a workout plan without any steps to it (i.e. there's only one level, take breaks when needed), but I would really like for there to be a "how-to" segment before each exercise.  I really need to work on form, but aside from a "keep your spine in line" and a "use your back, not your arms" here and there, there is not really any guidance on how exactly your body should look/feel while doing the exercises.

After doing the strength portion of the workout, I was supposed to go on a two-mile run/walk with MB.  However, since I already have cold-weather, exercise-induced asthma and because of whatever the heck is happening in my lungs right now, I decided it might be smart to forgo the cardio today.  Hopefully by Wednesday or Thursday I can get outside and do some walking/running.

This evening I went to the first class of my second session of Spanish.  I was super tired and not feeling well at all, but I am not impressed so far.  We spent the first hour introducing ourselves (in English) and reading "how to learn a language" and the objectives of the class.  The second hour was spent reviewing the alphabet, verb conjugations (without context), and how to introduce ourselves.  I literally said three sentences in Spanish the entire class.

This overachiever is not too thrilled.

But, now I'm back home, and - again - thankful I have help:

Seriously.  This cat has "intimacy issues" but has yet to leave my side the last couple of days.  Maybe she's emitting her healing vibes.  I don't know.

Off to succumb to a codeine-induced slumber.  Peace out, yo.