Growing in All the Wrong Places

Nor'easter Toby is due Wednesday morning. At least we'll finally have kung fu and Scouts because Tuesday's looking pretty good. This will be the 4th nor'easter in 4 weeks. All within the month of March. Not looking like the month is going out like a Baa Baa... but we've still got another week left so who knows? So far, Toby is a bust with just a few flurries.

I finally get to the gym around noon and it's not very busy. Classes are done and the HS kids haven't arrived yet. I get on the elliptical for a brief 20 minutes just to warm up. Then a few pull ups. These feel kind of hard this week. Not enough sleep is my daily mantra. I skip core, figuring I'll get to it later if I have time. After all, I did that yesterday. The Smith is vacant, and all the plates are beautifully racked. That always makes my OCD happy. I figure I can pull a wee bit heavier today since I cut 10 min out of my cardio. Seriously.

Wonder when they'll patch

I do manage to pull 170 for a few reps. I'm not gasping for air when I'm done, so I know I could've done more. I hate to admit it, but I am tired. Today, I put my ego aside and actually cut my weight on RG BB Rows just so I can keep my back at the proper angle. At higher weights, my lower back gets finicky, forcing me to stand closer to 30° than 45°. This actually works the traps more than I'd like because I'm more vertical. Rows aren't suppose to be shrugs, not that it's hurting me. Then just a few sets at the Seated Cable Row. There are newbies in the gym, guys I don't recognize. A "Heckle and Jeckle" pair (am I dating myself with this reference?) but one short and extremely muscular, and his buddy taller with a baseball cap. Maybe I'm paranoid, but I think the taller one keeps glancing over and surreptitiously circling. I'm good at ignoring people, but I'm totally aware of their presence.

I took my measurements earlier and find my hips are bigger. No wonder some of my pants are uncomfortable! I know I haven't been eating all that well (or should I say too well), but I wonder if the RDLs are adding size to my butt. Ugh. Nah, it's probably my dietary habits. But I do need new pants! I've been sorely frustrated trying to find real pockets on clothing for petite women.

I'm still wearing my beat up, patched-with-duct-tape down coat even though I have newer versions for winter, solely because newer models have fewer pockets and the ones provided are too small to be useful for anything except holding gloves. So I'm on the hunt for a reasonably priced down coat with real pockets, in the old utilitarian style of the 70s when everyone (except my family because my mom wanted us to have only fashionable clothes) wore a big blue or olive green, fur-lined hooded army-style parka. What do I keep in my coat pockets besides my gloves, and tissues? Cell phone, lip balm, flashlight, doggy poop bags, car keys, pocket knife... nice to have a place to put sunglasses too.

My other quest is for women's pants with actual cargo pockets. Yes, again with the pockets. Google women's cargo pants and assortment of retailers pop up, but none of them actually carry that elusive item. Instead, you get images of cute drawstring pants with patch pockets you might wear walking barefoot along a beach. Ugh. I wind up browsing through Aramark®, maker of uniforms for men and women and order some pants as a test. (Click here to visit their online store.) My hubs suggests a company called 5.11 which is where he gets his monstrously useful cargo pants. The website 5.11 redirects to a company called Tactical Gear (click here), which also supplies utilitarian clothes for both men and women. I'm not quite of my size in these brands so I have to guess. Some styles allow me to order unhemmed pants.

I contemplate buying a portable sewing machine so I won't have to go to the tailor all the time. The tailor's a nice Syrian woman, but so depressed that I don't actually want to visit her because I suspect I make her feel worse. She used to live on my road but her house fell into foreclosure, and I know the new family who has moved in.

My hubs thinks it's silly, but the sewing machine, if I can learn how to use a basic model, might be practical, although I don't know what else I'd use it for. Maybe mending stuff that isn't easily fixed hand-sewn? My son learned sewing basics last term and came home with a small pillow. My gran had worked in a pajama factory, and owned a huge black Singer with gold lettering. I took basic sewing in 6th grade, but because I was forced to make something I hated and knew I'd never wear, I didn't pay as much attention as I should have. Machines have changed a lot! Now they come with programs! Like cars, even the basic model relies on computer chips. Oh well, it's not like I'm a Luddite...  And a highly recommended model comes with a convenient carry/storage case. Dare I take the plunge? I'm still debating with myself. Meanwhile, several pairs of pants are on their way. I may wind up sending them all back, or not. Depends on how they fit.


Pull Tuesday

20 min elliptical + 5 cd
Program 1
Calories 243
Miles 2.14
Average Heart Rate 153 / 207 max

HGPU 26

Smith RDLs
Bar (30) x 15
80 x 12
120 x 12
140 x 12
160 x 10
170 x 5 Yaaay!

Smith RG BB Rows
80lbs x 25reps x 3 sets

Seated 1-Arm Cable Rows
45lbs x 12 reps x 3 sets

Elbow Plank 60s
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s