Pumpkin and Spice

I was woken up this morning at 7a by the loudest alarm clock on earth blaring for at least a solid minute in a room down the hallway from me! Of course, after that, I suddenly became aware of all the other noises in the building and couldn't fall back asleep. Still, my alarm wasn't to go off until 7:45, so I layed in bed as long as I could manage. Finally, I gave up, and just got up. At this point, Sissy had already started making coffee, so the smell of coffee helped coax me out of bed.

After breakfast, I hopped on the bus to go to kickboxing class. I was still anxious, and seeing the other people in class didn't really help. They were all slim, athletic-looking women with perfect make-up and styled hair. Who styles their hair to go to the gym?! Who wears make-up to the gym?! Am I crazy? So there I am, pasty and pale, easily the chubbiest person in class, in baggy yoga pants and a Led Zepplin t-shirt, with my sleep-wonky hair scraped into a ponytail. Yeah, I was feeling hot. I mostly hid in the back row and hoped no one would notice me. Now, I used to take a boxing class at my old gym, and I wasn't too bad, if I do say so. However, within 15min, I was wheezing, sweaty and red-faced. My arms and legs felt like I had lead weights on them. I thought I was gonna die. Okay, not really. I knew I wasn't gonna die, I just wished I would. But, I kept with it, just modifying exercises so I could do them. After class, the instructor stopped me and asked me if she had just signed me up for my gym pass a couple days ago. (She had.) She asked if I liked the class, and how the move was affecting me. She mentioned that when she moved to Park City, she had experienced "heavy limbs"- that her arms and legs felt like she was wearing weights. I was so excited to hear that! I told her I felt that way, and that I was worried that I was just in worse shape than I thought. She said it took her at least a month to work past the heavy limbs and the shortness of breath. That made me feel a lot better!

(Did you ever see Say Anything? John Cusack's character wants to be a professional kickboxer. At one point, someone questions his aspirations, and he responds with, "Kickboxing- the sport of the future? I can tell by the look on your face, no.")

After the gym, I came home and cleaned up. I wasn't terribly hungry, so I just had a Maple Nut Cliff Bar. I also ate a handful of marshmallows. And while I was eating lunch...

It started to snow! Yay! (It didn't really snow very long, but some is better than none.)

Then I walked to the library and picked up two books- The Tale of the Body Thief by Anne Rice and Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen.

After the library, I decided to go to the grocery store to pick up some food for the rest of the week. Since I work the rest of the week, I knew I wouldn't want to go to the store after going to work and the gym. I was so excited because I found Peanut Butter & Co Peanut Butter! They had three of their flavors, the cinnamon raisin, white chocolate and the dark chocolate peanut butters. I decided to go with the dark chocolate! They also had VitaMuffins! Vitamuffins are high fiber, low calorie muffins that come in yummy-sounding flavors like deep chocolate! I've only ever seen them on-line so I was excited to see a box in the freezer section.

I was in the mood for something warm and cozy for dinner, so I had a can of Amy's tomato soup with brown rice. (I found these awesome microwavable cups of Minute rice that are perfect for someone with limited kitchen access like me!)

And half a fluffernutter sandwich on Orowheat Oatmeal Whole Wheat bread with my chocolate pb!

My "vacation" ends tomorrow- it's back to work! I have to remember to pack some workout clothes so I can go to the gym directly from work. If I go home first, I'll never go. I can already tell I'm gonna be sore from kickboxing!

I called my mom to say hi tonight, and found out some very exciting news- my "little" brother, who is in the Army and has been in Iraq, is on a plane coming home! We're all excited, though I'm sure none of us as much as him! He'll be joining my parents and Kyle on their trip to visit me at Christmas. Hooray!