Leandra and I sat down this evening as she was looking at the various craft fairs that she has been doing traditionally over the past few years. Our past conversations usually revolve around if I can cover for her on a Saturday if she has to work. Of course, that conversation tends to happen the week of the event when she gets her schedule and she gives me the "puppy dog look."
With a baby on the way, we have had to start taking a long hard look at what can reasonably be done. For instance, there is a craft fair that she just got into last year called the Frog Follies. Unlike most craft fairs, this is a three-day show, which usually means that we can bring a good chunk of money.
This year, we have to start questioning whether or not we can do it at all. Work schedules, day care, and one car are all contributing factors as to whether or not we can make this work.
Sunday won't be a problem. Leandra will have that day off from work, until next November so I can stay home with the baby. Friday has the potential for some difficulty pending the day care situation, but should not be the end of the world.
Saturday will be sticky. Leandra will most likely be working at Opus 1, which means that I would be working the craft fair. I also would need to deal with the baby at the craft fair. Not ideal for a three-month old.
The money is good, we just need to figure out the details. Luckily, most craft fairs are one-day deals, but with Opus 1 being closed on Sundays, they can't give Leandra off every Saturday she requests without being unfair to the rest of the workers.
Looks like Dan and the baby are going to start getting really familiar with candles sales.
Sunday, January 30, 2011
Thursday, January 20, 2011
First Round of Baby Furniture
We finally bit the bullet and ordered our first bit of baby furniture today. We went to a place in town called The Kid's Room that was having a winter clearance sale. We purchased a crib and a dresser/hutch combo. The combo was on clearance so we decided to go with it.
We figure to store the hutch for awhile so we can use the dresser as a changing area as well. We looked at a "changing pad thinger" to put the baby on when we are changing it and the thinger fits perfectly.
The Kid's Room offers four months of layaway, which we are taking advantage of. I figure that we will pick up everything in late March/early April. Here is what we got.
We figure to store the hutch for awhile so we can use the dresser as a changing area as well. We looked at a "changing pad thinger" to put the baby on when we are changing it and the thinger fits perfectly.
The Kid's Room offers four months of layaway, which we are taking advantage of. I figure that we will pick up everything in late March/early April. Here is what we got.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Group Kick: Prepping for the Video (Part One)
Leandra and I came to the Tuesday night to let me practiced Group Kick tracks. I ran the first three tracks twice and then three other just once. A few bumps, but all went well.
Last night, I went to Group Kick class and asked the instructor if I could shadow him. He said it wouldn't be a problem and asked if I wanted to teach any of the tracks. I jumped on tracks 6 & 7 and stayed at the front of the room for the entire class. It was obvious which tracks I haven't worked on yet since I was constantly checking over my shoulder to catch the next move. For the most part, all went well.
After class I went to Boot Camp which was torture, but I was stuck until the wife could pick me up so I may as well have done something. After class, I marked my way through the six tracks one more time (again...killing time). I think it's safe to say that I have 6 tracks down solid.
My one week goal leaving the weekend training was to learn the first three tracks. Mission accomplished. So here is my progress this far:
Ready to go:
Track 1: Warm-Up
Track 2: Box
Track 3: Muay Thai #1
Track 6: Superbox
Track 7: Fight #2
Track 10: Cool Down
Almost Ready:
Track 9: Condititoning
Need to Work on:
Track 4: Kicks (I'm struggling with kicks)
Track 5: Fight #1 (Just need to sit down with it)
Track 8: Muy Thai #2: (The "Beast")
At this point, I need to figure out if I want to wait until the end if February. I know I need to work on technique (especially on kicks), but do I want to wait a whole month when I might have everything memorized by the end of next week?
Last night, I went to Group Kick class and asked the instructor if I could shadow him. He said it wouldn't be a problem and asked if I wanted to teach any of the tracks. I jumped on tracks 6 & 7 and stayed at the front of the room for the entire class. It was obvious which tracks I haven't worked on yet since I was constantly checking over my shoulder to catch the next move. For the most part, all went well.
After class I went to Boot Camp which was torture, but I was stuck until the wife could pick me up so I may as well have done something. After class, I marked my way through the six tracks one more time (again...killing time). I think it's safe to say that I have 6 tracks down solid.
My one week goal leaving the weekend training was to learn the first three tracks. Mission accomplished. So here is my progress this far:
Ready to go:
Track 1: Warm-Up
Track 2: Box
Track 3: Muay Thai #1
Track 6: Superbox
Track 7: Fight #2
Track 10: Cool Down
Almost Ready:
Track 9: Condititoning
Need to Work on:
Track 4: Kicks (I'm struggling with kicks)
Track 5: Fight #1 (Just need to sit down with it)
Track 8: Muy Thai #2: (The "Beast")
At this point, I need to figure out if I want to wait until the end if February. I know I need to work on technique (especially on kicks), but do I want to wait a whole month when I might have everything memorized by the end of next week?
Sunday, January 16, 2011
Group Kick Training
I just finished my third and final day of Group Kick training at Bob's Gym. I'm pretty sore. What is Group Kick? For those of you who have no idea what I am talking about, check out the video as I think a visual would give a better idea of what I was doing.
All in all, there is a program comprised of 10 tracks of music with sequenced fight moves of varying levels of intensity. Each song has ten rounds -- five for the right side and then repeated in full on the left side. The program uses boxing, martial arts and Muay Thai movements and strikes.
There were six of us taking the class. Our instructor's name was Rex (or his unofficial nickname of "Sexy Rexy"). We started out Friday running the entire program for top to bottom. After the cooldown, we discussed a number of concepts regarding the overall brand of Group Kick and Body Training Systems. Then we started reviewing the various boxing strikes and kicks and the proper techniques for displaying them. We focused on the three boxing tracks by reviewing them as a group and running each track twice. I was assigned Track 6 -- the "Superbox" track -- to learn and teach the next day. The music used for the routine was Waterloo by ABBA. (I'll admit, I got lucky because the kick track is my weakest of the three. I was a little happy to not get it.)
One thing to be aware of, the instructor has to act as a mirror to the participants. We learn and teach everything on the reverse side. So if I am calling out a right handed movement, I demonstrate it simultaneously on my left side. For simple movements, it's not that big of a deal. For combinations, it can get complicated.
I picked up the track pretty quickly that evening. On Saturday morning, the first thing we did after our warm-up was teach our tracks to each other (even though we sort of knew all of them already). Rex recorded each of us and we reviewed/assessed them afterwards. After some more discussion, we moved onto learning the various martial arts and Muay Thai movements used. We then moved into reviewing the four tracks that use these concepts...running each of them twice. I was assigned the second "fight" track; set to "Don't Bring Me Down" by ELO (part of it is shown in the trailer video above).
I was able to pick up the sequences pretty quickly which was good for me because I spent a good portion of the evening watching the Packers DECIMATE the Falcons. The next morning was tough. We had an early start and I was starting to hurt. My back was tightening up and my knees were taking a beating. My ribs were getting a little sore and anytime I sneezed or coughed (I think I am coming down with something), I felt it.
We started Sunday morning with our warm-up and moved right to teaching our assigned tracks. I was the only person to be assigned track #7 so I had the option of teaching the full class with the mic headset. How could I say no? We repeated the assessment sequence by watching some video of our instruction. I was pretty happy with my work. It wasn't perfect, but I felt comfortable enough with the routine to have a little fun with it.
After some more discussion, we had a Team Training session with 8 tracks of music with power and cardio peaks after each track. Power peaks target certain muscles groups for a full minute. Cardio peaks lasts about a minute and a half and gets your heart pumping. In a normal program, these are spread out. In this training session, they occurred after each track. I think they were shorter in length, but doing eight of them after a pretty intensive weekend was tough.
I'm chilling out now with a heating pad on my back. My work isn't officially over. I still have to submit a video of me teaching the full 10-track program with a class with at least 5 willing (or non-willing) participants. I'm shooting to do my class at the end of February. I'm planning on getting the entire routine down by the end of January and using February to work on proper technique and general review.
I don't have a date set yet, but I would enjoy having as many warm bodies in my class as possible. Stay tuned.
On a side note: It may look tought, but you do what you can do. There are some things that are on the video that I can't do...or can't do well. If it looks tough, well, it is challenging, but a lot of fun. I only did it for about a month and saw a sign that the gym was looking for more instructors. I thought to myself, "I can totally do this." If you make it to a class once I start teaching, I'll make it worth your while.
All in all, there is a program comprised of 10 tracks of music with sequenced fight moves of varying levels of intensity. Each song has ten rounds -- five for the right side and then repeated in full on the left side. The program uses boxing, martial arts and Muay Thai movements and strikes.
There were six of us taking the class. Our instructor's name was Rex (or his unofficial nickname of "Sexy Rexy"). We started out Friday running the entire program for top to bottom. After the cooldown, we discussed a number of concepts regarding the overall brand of Group Kick and Body Training Systems. Then we started reviewing the various boxing strikes and kicks and the proper techniques for displaying them. We focused on the three boxing tracks by reviewing them as a group and running each track twice. I was assigned Track 6 -- the "Superbox" track -- to learn and teach the next day. The music used for the routine was Waterloo by ABBA. (I'll admit, I got lucky because the kick track is my weakest of the three. I was a little happy to not get it.)
One thing to be aware of, the instructor has to act as a mirror to the participants. We learn and teach everything on the reverse side. So if I am calling out a right handed movement, I demonstrate it simultaneously on my left side. For simple movements, it's not that big of a deal. For combinations, it can get complicated.
I picked up the track pretty quickly that evening. On Saturday morning, the first thing we did after our warm-up was teach our tracks to each other (even though we sort of knew all of them already). Rex recorded each of us and we reviewed/assessed them afterwards. After some more discussion, we moved onto learning the various martial arts and Muay Thai movements used. We then moved into reviewing the four tracks that use these concepts...running each of them twice. I was assigned the second "fight" track; set to "Don't Bring Me Down" by ELO (part of it is shown in the trailer video above).
I was able to pick up the sequences pretty quickly which was good for me because I spent a good portion of the evening watching the Packers DECIMATE the Falcons. The next morning was tough. We had an early start and I was starting to hurt. My back was tightening up and my knees were taking a beating. My ribs were getting a little sore and anytime I sneezed or coughed (I think I am coming down with something), I felt it.
We started Sunday morning with our warm-up and moved right to teaching our assigned tracks. I was the only person to be assigned track #7 so I had the option of teaching the full class with the mic headset. How could I say no? We repeated the assessment sequence by watching some video of our instruction. I was pretty happy with my work. It wasn't perfect, but I felt comfortable enough with the routine to have a little fun with it.
After some more discussion, we had a Team Training session with 8 tracks of music with power and cardio peaks after each track. Power peaks target certain muscles groups for a full minute. Cardio peaks lasts about a minute and a half and gets your heart pumping. In a normal program, these are spread out. In this training session, they occurred after each track. I think they were shorter in length, but doing eight of them after a pretty intensive weekend was tough.
I'm chilling out now with a heating pad on my back. My work isn't officially over. I still have to submit a video of me teaching the full 10-track program with a class with at least 5 willing (or non-willing) participants. I'm shooting to do my class at the end of February. I'm planning on getting the entire routine down by the end of January and using February to work on proper technique and general review.
I don't have a date set yet, but I would enjoy having as many warm bodies in my class as possible. Stay tuned.
On a side note: It may look tought, but you do what you can do. There are some things that are on the video that I can't do...or can't do well. If it looks tough, well, it is challenging, but a lot of fun. I only did it for about a month and saw a sign that the gym was looking for more instructors. I thought to myself, "I can totally do this." If you make it to a class once I start teaching, I'll make it worth your while.
Wednesday, January 5, 2011
Baby in the Belly (Halfway There)
Leandra had an ultrasound today. I almost missed it because I mis-timed my cross-town trek on the bike. I did get there with a few minutes to spare (luckily, they were running behind), but I didn't get a chance to change so I was in the lobby in full bike gear. It was pretty sexy.
Anyways, we went through the whole process. Since we don't want to know if it will be a boy or girl until it pops out, we had to turn away whenever they were checking out an area that would determine the sex (sorry grandparents). They printed up a ton of pictures and we got two. I did take a video so you can hear the heartbeat (even though I wasn't supposed to use any recording devices...missed the sign).
Enjoy!
The baby was facing Leandra's back so we were getting the baby's backside. As Leandra commented, "We taught our two-year old niece how to moon people. It's only fitting that our baby is mooning us."
The nurse took between 15-20 pictures. We got two of them...and the second picture was of the feet. Great...
Here's the video of the heartbeat (you may need to turn up the volume).
Anyways, we went through the whole process. Since we don't want to know if it will be a boy or girl until it pops out, we had to turn away whenever they were checking out an area that would determine the sex (sorry grandparents). They printed up a ton of pictures and we got two. I did take a video so you can hear the heartbeat (even though I wasn't supposed to use any recording devices...missed the sign).
Enjoy!
The baby was facing Leandra's back so we were getting the baby's backside. As Leandra commented, "We taught our two-year old niece how to moon people. It's only fitting that our baby is mooning us."
The nurse took between 15-20 pictures. We got two of them...and the second picture was of the feet. Great...
Here's the video of the heartbeat (you may need to turn up the volume).
Sunday, January 2, 2011
A Pre-Baby Christmas
It was kind of weird to open gifts this year. Leandra and I celebrated Christmas with our families New Year's weekend because we were stuck in Evansville last weekend.
My parents came to visit us over Thanksgiving. They apparently took some notes because we acquired a number of "upgrades" for our house, including a programmable thermostat, new smoke alarms, a fire extinguisher, some new hot pads, and some other stuff. Additionally, Leandra got some maternity clothes (which she jokingly referred to as "fatty shirts"). We also got some "neutral" baby clothes, since we will not know the baby's sex until its born...much to the annoyance of our family.
The last thing we opened was a HUGE collection of baby wipes. I have no clue how long these will last us, but this should hold us for a couple of weeks. I'm sure we would have seen some diapers, but we haven't taken an official stance on the cloth vs. disposable issue. (Personally, I'm pushing for cloth.)
With Leandra's family on Sunday evening, we walked away with a diaper bag, baby carrier, a cool air humidifier and a food grinder to make our own baby food. Leandra got a bunch of maternity shirts and pants, some sort of "belly thing" and a few more baby clothing items.
On a side note, I opened the box that had the diaper bag. It was sort of an awkward moment because I wasn't sure what it was. The outside label didn't say it was a diaper bag so I was looking at it funny. I was thinking it was some sort of bag for carrying my clothes to and from work since my backpack is starting to fall apart.
Even without a baby yet, I'm sure I'll be chuckling a bit as I make sure that we have everything packed up before we head back to Evansville. Who would have thought that I would be double checking for a diaper bag four months before we actually need it?
In past years, I was always easy to shop for. I would have some movie DVDs on my list, along with Lost and 24 to cover everything. Funny how things change. I'm not complaining. As a matter of fact, I'mn very appreciative. Priorities change. It's part of life.
My parents came to visit us over Thanksgiving. They apparently took some notes because we acquired a number of "upgrades" for our house, including a programmable thermostat, new smoke alarms, a fire extinguisher, some new hot pads, and some other stuff. Additionally, Leandra got some maternity clothes (which she jokingly referred to as "fatty shirts"). We also got some "neutral" baby clothes, since we will not know the baby's sex until its born...much to the annoyance of our family.
The last thing we opened was a HUGE collection of baby wipes. I have no clue how long these will last us, but this should hold us for a couple of weeks. I'm sure we would have seen some diapers, but we haven't taken an official stance on the cloth vs. disposable issue. (Personally, I'm pushing for cloth.)
With Leandra's family on Sunday evening, we walked away with a diaper bag, baby carrier, a cool air humidifier and a food grinder to make our own baby food. Leandra got a bunch of maternity shirts and pants, some sort of "belly thing" and a few more baby clothing items.
On a side note, I opened the box that had the diaper bag. It was sort of an awkward moment because I wasn't sure what it was. The outside label didn't say it was a diaper bag so I was looking at it funny. I was thinking it was some sort of bag for carrying my clothes to and from work since my backpack is starting to fall apart.
Even without a baby yet, I'm sure I'll be chuckling a bit as I make sure that we have everything packed up before we head back to Evansville. Who would have thought that I would be double checking for a diaper bag four months before we actually need it?
In past years, I was always easy to shop for. I would have some movie DVDs on my list, along with Lost and 24 to cover everything. Funny how things change. I'm not complaining. As a matter of fact, I'mn very appreciative. Priorities change. It's part of life.
Saturday, January 1, 2011
New Year's Eve in Wisconsin
Leandra and I made plans to go up to Wisconsin over the New Year's holiday to celebrate Christmas with each of our families. We left Thursday night and stayed overnight in Terre Haute and finished up the ride on Friday (New Year's Eve).
Leandra threw up three times that day; twice after breakfast and once after lunch (two times in the car). We are still working on shaking her nausesousness...is that a word? We made it to Elkhorn, Wis. around 2:00 pm and unpacked at her sister's place where we are crashing for the next few days.
That evening, Leandra and I drive to Greco's Pub and Eatery to listen to my cousin's band, Double Flush, play a New Year's gig. The last time I went to see them was about two years ago at the same place.
Double Flush started out a bunch of guys who worked together who realized they had enough instrumentation to create a band. A few changes in drummers and another guy leaving the band, and a quintet became a quartet. They don't do anything complicated. Mostly covers of bluesy-rock type of music.
During the set break, my cousin asked if I wanted to sing a couple of songs. I had to tak ea look at their set list and figure out what songs I knew well enough to sing from beginning to end. I picked out Can't Get Enough by Bad Company and Hard to Handle by The Black Crowes.
Leandra recorded my cameo on her iPhone. The audio mix for the band wasn't all that great and the microphone on the phone is limited with what it pick up, but here at the two songs.
Leandra threw up three times that day; twice after breakfast and once after lunch (two times in the car). We are still working on shaking her nausesousness...is that a word? We made it to Elkhorn, Wis. around 2:00 pm and unpacked at her sister's place where we are crashing for the next few days.
That evening, Leandra and I drive to Greco's Pub and Eatery to listen to my cousin's band, Double Flush, play a New Year's gig. The last time I went to see them was about two years ago at the same place.
Double Flush started out a bunch of guys who worked together who realized they had enough instrumentation to create a band. A few changes in drummers and another guy leaving the band, and a quintet became a quartet. They don't do anything complicated. Mostly covers of bluesy-rock type of music.
During the set break, my cousin asked if I wanted to sing a couple of songs. I had to tak ea look at their set list and figure out what songs I knew well enough to sing from beginning to end. I picked out Can't Get Enough by Bad Company and Hard to Handle by The Black Crowes.
Leandra recorded my cameo on her iPhone. The audio mix for the band wasn't all that great and the microphone on the phone is limited with what it pick up, but here at the two songs.
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