Gingerbread Houses

This morning was a workout with Will. We did the same methodics as we had done the rest of the week. I am not liking this week's workouts at all and am less than enthusiastic about recording them and anything about them. But I'm doing them and doing it, mostly just to keep in the habit.

1. Breathe lots. Today I was at 25, 58 for all 3, so we went with 60 seconds, no iso.
2. Front delt: 5-lb dumbbells
3. Curl: 5-lb dumbbells
4. Push up: 35 seconds, break because I couldn't push up, 25 seconds to finish
5. Glute ham
6. Lunge
7. Wall squat
8. Crunch

For the afternoon, it was more of the same.

• Lunge
• Glute ham
• Front dent: 10-lb plate
• Bench press: 20-or-so pounds

When I have to do these exercises that I don't like and have to do them alone, I think about lots. In fact, I wrote a good little list and then called Will with what I was thinking:

1. When I count to 5, I do much better. I think I can last longer, because I'm not really thinking about holding my breath for 30 seconds of 60 seconds or whatever; I'm just counting to 5 however many times.
2. Thursday's times were higher than Friday's times because I had to do no work after Thursday's breathing exercise. So Will asked was I holding out because I didn't want to work as hard? Maybe, but not on purpose. I never would look at the clock, so I wouldn't know what the times were. I just noticed when I was done that they were higher than they had been.
3. I don't like these methodics because I feel like it's not a good workout. Not everything has to be the hardest thing ever (physically, that is). It was hard, just mentally, not physically. And maybe I wasn't getting a good workout if I wasn't working as hard as I could have been.
4. I can't breathe with my stomach (by expanding my diaphragm)—I seem to move only my chest when I inhale. I noticed this particularly when I was doing bench press. Apparently that's *OK* for this one since you're really just trying to get oxygen in and out quickly; you're body will learn to use it efficiently if you do it correctly.
5. I can't work hard for the minute (or whatever it is) because I can't focus on the reps. Basically, I do the minute, but I feel like I could be or should be working harder than I am. I just am so focused on not being able to inhale when I want to that I forget about the reps. Even though Will specifically told me to focus on the reps.

That was basically what I said. He talked a little back to me but mainly just let me talk. I wasn't really looking for a resolution, anyway. I just will have to work on my attitude for next time we do this (which I hope is a long, long time from now).

After that workout, it was off to Anna and Josh's for a little Christmas party with their friends Mitch and Charlotte. We had a blast decorating gingerbread houses, girls on one and boys on the other, and then we judged them. They each had great qualities, so we declared a tie.

The girls' house: love the wreath!

The boys' house: love the roof!

But there was no ending the night on a tie, so we played Pictionary, girls vs. boys. And the girls dominated! Actually, it was quite close but we pulled away with the win due to our stellar drawing and guessing abilities. Lovely evening!