The Spick and Span Workout Plan

This is what happened to me this weekend.

My husband was sick and he turned into a waa waa baby.

My girls were all over the place.  “Mom, can I go to the mall?”  “Mom, you forgot the birthday party at the pool!”  “Mom, I have that Girl Scout thing at the school, are you going to let me go?”

The laundry and housework was slowly but surely beginning to consume me to the point I couldn’t breathe.  (You know, if mamma doesn’t do it…..no one does it. Grrrrrr.)

My plans for the weekend included a long run, some one on one time with my Kindle, and a hilariously witty blog post.   Yeah.  Not so much.  After getting the kids where they needed to be, loving on the sick sick boy, and catching up on the laundry, I only had about an hour left to do something for myself……and the house was STILL a disaster.

I have really been getting good at my exercise routine, so I was most disappointed that I wasn’t going to get a little work-out in.  So, I improvised.  I worked out WHILE I cleaned and I have to say it turned out AWESOME! 

The Spick & Span Workout Plan

This is a workout anyone can do.  (Cheesy name, but don’t knock it until you try it.)  You don’t need much, some comfy shoes and some imagination.  Put on some good shoes……something you can jump around in.  Fill up a nice big glass or bottle with water and you are ready to go!

To begin I made a little “workout station” on my dining room table.  Here, I put a notebook to write my plan on, a pen, my glass of water, and some hand weights.  (The weights are optional….depending on what your plan is.)

With my notebook I quickly planned out 4 exercises to include cardio, arms, legs, and abs.   For my workout I did jumping jacks (cardio), bicep curls (arms), squats (legs), and sit-ups(abs).  You can do whatever exercises you want though. 

For the cleaning portion of the workout you will be dividing your cleaning area into small sections.  The object is to do a burst of cleaning, and then an exercise.  For example, when emptying the dishwasher, you may want to divide it into two sections…..the top rack, and then the bottom rack.  Keep each cleaning job short, so you can get in all your workouts! 

To begin, start with 20 jumping jacks.  This will get your heart and body warmed up.  Then, let the cleaning/workout begin!  For my example you will be cleaning the kitchen.  This list includes your first set of jumping jacks.  Just follow along, or change the jobs according to your own kitchen.

·        20 jumping jacks

·        Empty the top rack of the dishwasher

·        10 bicep curls

·        Empty the bottom rack of the dishwasher

·        10 squats

·        Fill the dishwasher

·        10 sit-ups

·        Fill the sink with warm soapy water

·        20 jumping jacks

·        Wash around the sink until it is all clean and shiny

·        10 bicep curls

·        Wash off any counter-top appliances (coffee-pot, Kitchen-Aid, etc.)

·        10 squats

·        Wipe down half of the countertop

·        10 sit-ups

·        Wipe down the other half of the countertop

·        20 jumping jacks

·        Wash off the stove-top

·        10 bicep curls

·        Wipe off the half of the front of your cupboards (outside)

·        10 squats

·        Wipe off the other half of the cupboards

·        10 sit-ups

·        Wipe down any handles on drawers and the front of the drawers

·        20 jumping jacks

·        Empty the sink of dirty water, and re-fill it with hot soapy water

·        10 bicep curls

·        Wipe off refrigerator doors and handles

·        10 squats

·        Throw away any old food in the refrigerator

·        10 sit-ups

·        Take out the trash

·        20 jumping jacks

·        Take out the recycling

·        10 bicep curls

·        Sweep the kitchen floor

·        10 squats

·        Mop half of the kitchen floor

·        10 sit ups

·        Mop the other half of the kitchen floor

·        End your workout with 50 jumping jacks!

Whew!!!  The Spick & Span Workout plan is complete! Following this plan, you will have done 50 bicep curls, 50 lunges, 50 sit ups, and 150 jumping jacks!  Total time for the clean AND workout was just one hour! Just imagine if you did this three or four times a week while cleaning other rooms of your house.  Do it with whatever room you need to clean!  I PROMISE, you will be sweating and needing a shower when it is all over but you will be proud that you worked out AND cleaned!

Have I gone totally crazy?

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Spilled Milkshake!



What I Know For Sure

Eleven years ago yesterday, my second daughter was born.  Weighing nine pounds and having a head circumference in the 95^th percentile, saying she tore into this world is putting it mildly.

I’d like to say that this is just a really horrible newborn picture, but I think she really did look this bad.  It only took a few days for her to become much cuter, which was good…..because that’s when the crying started.

 She cried.

And cried.

Then, she cried some more.

Rumor has it, that God doesn't give you more than you can hande.  So really, after about the first four months she stopped crying.

It was my husband who wanted to name her after the Elvis Costello song “Allison”.  I thought it was okay, but I was leaning toward Jessica or Sara.  Of course when she was lying on my chest after that rip-roaring birth, I agreed with him.  Her middle name Eden, is also mine and my mother’s, and my Grandmother’s maiden name.

She has lived in five states and three different countries, has been in a coma and on a Life Flight, and she won’t take off her Converse tennis shoes and her green wool hat.  She only weighs 61 pounds but can swim the 50 meter Freestyle in thirty-eight seconds....which is only 14 seconds off of Michael Phelps' split....in case you didn't know.

For some reason, even though she is not my youngest daughter, she is my baby.  She is the daughter that is most like my husband and that is a good thing….usually.  She is best friends with her older sister and the coolest friend to her younger sister.

I could brag and brag about her all day long on this post, but you get the point.  Happy Birthday Allison Eden!  What I know for sure is, we love you!!!

We Are All Just Mommies and Wives

I think she was my first REAL best friend.  We met in 6^th grade but I can’t remember where…..maybe band?

We both had the same dorky glasses, dirty blonde hair, and ugly nerd coats.

We were going to be archaeologists or the next Lewis and Clark.  We would go on great adventures looking for ancient artifacts or trekking through what we thought was uncharted wilderness. We were too young to care about boys and it didn’t matter anyway, because neither of us owned a bra yet.

We used to play and camp down by the river near her house.  Looking back I am surprised we didn’t die.  Making fires, severe dehydration, and seeing how deep we could go into the river before nearly being swept away……what were we thinking?

Then, in 7^th grade or so, she had to move. No more covering ourselves in mud down by the river.  No more dancing to our Madonna tape.  No more buying any more Shetland ponies at the school carnival without asking our parents. (Yes we bought a pony…at a silent auction…for something like six dollars. Our parents weren’t super excited about that one.) 

Life went on.  We wrote a bit and even got to see each other one more time, but we were twelve when we said goodbye.  Junior high, high school, boys, college, marriage, kids….etc.  And life just went on.

Suddenly, it was almost 25 years later, and I decided to look her up on Facebook.  And there she was…..my dear friend.

Like any good stalker would do, I Googled her.  What if she has play dates with Julia Roberts and I am a stay-at-home mom with butts to wipe and my hair in a ponytail?  What if she is a celebrity and I am….just me?

Turns out, she wasn’t a famous movie star or anything like that.  Oh no no no….it was much worse than that.  In different articles I found out things like she was a “former US female paragliding champion signing autographs as her equally famous husband looks on”, and also has a “PhD in Biochemistry”! 

Dang.  Really?  I am really going to ask her to be my Facebook friend?  With my heart pounding, I hit “send friend request”.  (Along with a little note that said something along the lines of, “Hey, this is Lynn….you know Lynn, and we loved the song, “Like A Virgin”, but I’m not sure we knew what a virgin was?  Lynn….that one girl who shared your wigwam or Hogan/teepee with you on that archaeology field trip?  Lynn, your best friend forever and ever that ate a LIVE minnow with you down by the river? )    

So there I was.  Three kids, a partial degree in Anthropology, and a US champion of nothing, except for maybe Elementary School Bake Sale ideas……and she accepted my friend request.

I was IN!!!  Whoo hoo!  I scanned her profile, scoped out her hubby, and lined up our children, cute to ugly.

Hmmmmmm.

Okay, my point really is that she is wonderful!  She is my old best friend, except all grown up.  Her baby girl is beautiful and she is obviously an incredible mommy! Her husband has to be awesome just because she picked him, and I am pretty sure she would give me her autograph if I asked for it.  Turns out, we both ended up as a mommy and a wife....just a different path.  No better, no worse.  Okay maybe if we are counting medals and diplomas, hers is better.  But if we are counting diapers changed and preshool graduations...I totally win.

Beefcake(using an old nickname here), thank you for being my friend so many years ago.  I am very proud of all your accomplishements and happy that you are well.  I hope someday we can meet face to face again.  I hope we can go running in a race together.  I hope my kids can babysit your kids while we go out on a double date with our husbands. (I mean why else did I have all my kids so much earlier than you?) I hope you never make me go paragliding with you because I would piss my pants.  Mostly I hope, while I drag my kids all over the world, that they meet people like you along their travels. 

Oh yeah…..not only is my friend a champion and a doctor…..she is a talented metalwork artist too! http://www.thesilverpearl.etsy.com/  Aren't these earrings AMAZING?

 I wrote this post for Mama Kat's Writer's Workshop......you should go there too!

 And I found a Flashback Friday!