Fitness FREAK!

If you ever have the opportunity to do anything like what I'm doing now...

...DO IT!

One week in, and I can't believe I'm already doing double-digit quantities of sit-ups (well, I still have to do them with my arms extended and not folded over my chest, but it's certainly an improvement over last week). And I'm far more into the kickboxing part than I ever would have believed.

Punching stuff is amazingly cathartic.

I even spilled blood.

Just a little. I was SO into the kicking and punching that I didn't even notice that I was bleeding through my little right sock. Ouch. But they have Band-Aids, so it must happen somewhat often.

I'm just such a delicate little flower.

I even had enough oom-pah-pah to ride bikes with Elizabeth over to the Urbandale Library and back. Sure, we stopped at Dahl's to grab Zone Perfect bars. But we cleared 12.1 miles and enjoyed some well-deserved Girl Time. Poor thing, though, E needs a new bike DESPERATELY. We're just shuffling between 20" and 24" (she has an eensy-weensy 16" bike now). I'm just so set on having all my options that we've been shopping for one for a few weeks now. Our first bike ride of the year, though, brought the point home all the more clearly. Time for Mom to make a decision, already!

I look forward to Sam getting on a bike, too. He's just not motivated. Maybe if Joel gets a bike, we'd become the Swiss Family LeMar (inside joke!). Ben is happiest when Mom totes him in the trailer. Heck, I don't blame him. I wish I could ride in there, too. Cup holders, protection from wind and rain. And someone doing all the pedaling for me.

Rock on.

I've been inflicting the Glycemic Index lifestyle on my poor family. One week, and I'm converted. I had my weekly McDonald's fix on Saturday as well as a little caramel corn, and it didn't taste very good at all. And I woke up on Sunday morning with a nausea-inducing headache. While I have to pay attention and plan more, I'm rather sold on the idea of avoiding that sort of pain.

And I get to eat every two to three hours. That's not half-bad.

I've been cooking up a few recipes from Living the G.I. (Glycemic Index) Diet
by Rick Gallop. I finally learned how to cook oatmeal so I can actually choke it down. And we've enjoyed the lasagna, omelets, and steak fettucine so far. I'm making yogurt cheese in the refrigerator right now, although I'm not quite sure what I'll do with it. And I've been dehydrating fruit like a crazy woman for quick snacks (it's the only way I can seem to eat pears). Insanely enough, I've been chowing down on organic sunflower kernels.

If you still have a daily newspaper out there (The Des Moines Register shrinks on a daily basis), you may have noticed that Principal Financial Group slashed all salaries Friday, effective immediately. Here we go again (remember Born?). Joel was hopping mad, holding himself back just enough to avoid throwing his chair out the window. He works so hard, he does such an amazing job, and after his best review ever he was denied a raise. A few short weeks later, and he's rewarded with a "negative" raise, I suppose. Thankfully, we're prudent people and have money in the bank. For whatever that's worth these days.

But we've both had it. This may be just about the dumbest thing we've ever done, but we're done buying Principal stock and we're done contributing to 401(k), at least for now. Last year, after contributing like good little boys and girls, we finally recouped the value of that vanished during the dot com bust. Seriously. Things must be really bad if I can be convinced to stop throwing money in the retirement toilet. We just received a notice from Vanguard today telling us that retirement account holders like us are being booted from their Federal Money Market Fund account and into an un-Federally-insured account. We use that account as our sweep account, basically for capturing our dividends before they're automatically reinvested, but it's now considered too risky.

Money markets? TOO RISKY? SERIOUSLY?

Joel and I are very disciplined at self-deprivation. Now we just get more time to practice. I wonder when Congress will determine that we have more than our fair share and it's necessary to tax it at 90%? That's when I'll know that we've finally made it.

Better log off before The Big Storm knocks out my Internet. It's already messing with the satellite. Joel and I were watching "Chelsea Lately" (the one time we actually were watching it live), but now we have to watch "Glenn Beck" on Tivo. Glenn Beck and all his tears. And it seems his Financial Crisis Jenga.