Any other Zumba fans?

[Member123]

Kasi,

Thank you! We are going to be doing a really nice cruise from Boston, Massachusetts to Tampa, Florida... through the Caribbean. We're going to Aruba, Curacao, Barbados, St. Kitts, St. Lucia, St. Thomas. I'm really excited about this because there are a few people on board that we've sailed with before... I really like them a lot; they are all about relaxing, having a good time, dancing, feeling good. It will be great to just get away from the daily worries and concerns. PLUS, after this cruise, we get to visit with Anita and family and have a fabulous time there. So, we're just counting down the days....

 

Today marked a week's return to my regular routine. What a difference today's Zumba class was to last week's! It's amazing how quickly your cardio can degrade, but also amazing how quickly it comes back if you put in the time and effort. Last week I attended Zumba classes 6x: twice on Tuesday, twice on Thursday, Friday morning, Saturday morning. I had those days off... then Zumba today again. I felt better in the getting-winded category but my arms and legs felt a little wooden. My calorie burn was down about 200+ total calories, so I know I didn't expend quite the same effort as I can when doing Zumba.

 

We'll see what I'll feel like when I go to Anita's and tag along to her routine! That will be fun for me, but maybe not for the first class! LOL.

 

I am down to single digit countdown to the trip and I have quite a bit of things to still get together. This weight loss and clothing stuff is just amazing to deal with... now I realize that I need to go shopping for a strapless bra. My problem is that they don't make strapless bras in a small enough size for me! What?!? They don't think smaller breasts need support or <ahem> specific coverage? I hate going bra shopping.... so of course I've completely put it off for as long as possible. Now, I'm stuck and I simply have to go get that done...

 

Still haven't figured out what I'm going to take. Still need to do last minute details. So I am trying to keep myself active and away from the computer. It's amazing how much more I can get done in my day if I don't make checking the boards part of my daily experience. So I apologize for not answering your question right away...

 

Where's Donna?!? I think she must be very busy as well. Hopefully, with good things!

 

Hi to everyone. I'll probably check in here a few more times before we leave just to see what everyone is doing. Kasi, if you have any more thoughts about your recent trip, I would love to hear about them!

[Anita Latte]

Good morning! Or Good Afternoon...or Good evening...:)

 

I'm feeling a bit sore this morning. Last night I went to a Master Class. A MC differs from a Basic Zumba class in that 1. it normally longer than an hour. 2. it normally has more than one instructor. Last night's class ran long; it was 1 hour 45 minutes. The main instructor was Jason Thompson. He's from Kentucky Debbie! OMG...so good.

 

He is newer to Zumba, but has a history of dance. He studied African Caribbean dance for 15 years. He has a master's degree. He was a teacher for 4.5 years, teaching special ed. I'm not sure exactly how he got into Zumba, but wow...he brings a unique offering to class. All his moves end up with a touch of the African feel, a hint of Reggae/Caribbean feel...and soooooooo...muscles that I don't normally use got used last night. OMG. I'm not sure WHAT we did, but certain muscles in my, a-hem, rear end and middle back are like, HELLO?! I'm HERE!! :eek:

 

Here's a taste of one of the songs that he did last night. It is the only one that I can remember...and it is only because the chorus was so clear:

 

 

The class also had a lot of high impact moves. Not my fav. I did it for the one class, just to do it, but it wasn't my idea of great fun. I don't know. Maybe this is how my age plays into this but I don't enjoy all the jumping and jarring motions as much. I don't mind a bit of high impact here and there, BUT...song after song...ugh...it would be easy enough to modify Debbie, if ever you had a chance to see him. He has a sweet spirit. I highly recommend him.

 

And he's easy on the eyes...:o:rolleyes:;)

 

Meanwhile...I am trying to decide what if anything I am going to do for the class I teach on Halloween. I don't love Halloween. Normally, we hole up in the house and ignore the world for the night. DS thinks of Halloween as having to walk around a lot to get a bunch of candy that you don't really like. LOL. He's not into it...we tried different things...most church functions and "fall festivals" are a bunch of chaos with uncontrolled children in a mad dash trying to get as much candy as possible in areas that are too small for the crowd, creating a loud and confusing atmosphere...or long lines to do silly games...so generally, we just pretend the day is meaningless.

 

BUT...this Halloween, I teach a Zumba class. Some instructors will have a full-fledged Hallloween theme. Some start to teach choreography to Michael Jackson's "Thriller" in bits and pieces in the classes leading up to Halloween and then being able to do the full song on Halloween night (similar to the music video choreography or inspired by it anyway). I'm not interested in all that work, nor do I think my ladies would be up for it...I HAVE thought about doing a warm up that would be more Halloween inspired...OR doing ONE song. But, I'm just not sure about that.

 

Meanwhile, I'm trying to figure out what new song to bring to my corporate class this week. I think it's time to do a real Reggaeton song, but I'm not sure which one. One that I know very well that is generally liked is "Que Te Pica" by Notch:

 

 

I'm still thinking though...there is a fun song that is out there that I know Mom does in her classes, that is a combo of merengue and reggaeton, "El Amor El Amor":

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4OFRfgqVoQ

 

I've been listening to this one a lot, so I feel like I know it pretty well. There are other good songs out there, but until you get a feel for Zumba, they might be a bit annoying. I need to break the class into Reggaeton first. IDK. Anyone understand what I mean?

 

Headed out to team tennis this afternoon. Hope everyone has had a great weekend!

[Anita Latte]

It's Sunday night and I'm contemplating my week.

 

I headed to the grocery store earlier this evening to pick up the essentials for tomorrow. Have you automated any of your meals? Breakfast? Something easy that you can eat every weekday morning at least? Maybe even lunch?

 

DS loves breakfast tacos. I take 2 egg whites and one whole egg to make scrambled eggs. Add a bit of grated cheese. He adds taco sauce. My local grocery store makes wonderful tortillas in house. Fruit. Generally, DH and I do oatmeal with fruit. And we have taken to using Hemp Milk, which sounds odd, but is supposed to be a good source of Omega-3's. We are trying to avoid soy.

 

Lunch has turned into sandwich city, which is new and different for our family. We normally haven't done that too much. It's easy though, so that's been working.

 

Dinner tomorrow needs to be easy. DS has tennis that goes from 4:30 to 7:00 pm. I teach class from 6:00 to 7:00 pm. DH goes to play his own tennis after work at the same club and he takes DS home with him. I need dinner to be DONE when we get home. That means crock pot for me. Tomorrow, I'm going to do taco meat in the crock pot. Easy. Easy. I haven't done this before, but in theory, it should be a peace of cake. I'll tell ya'll how it goes.

 

Eating in is KEY. No matter what you eat. You HAVE to eat from home so that you can control the sodium. Mom and I have recently talked about this. She can share her story about the family visitors, but the gist is that eating out is SO DETRIMENTAL.

 

Meanwhile, I volunteer at school first thing in the morning. Then I head out to Curves to do my first morning class taking over for the instructor that has left. That's at 9:30 AM. Then I have to get some thing accomplished around the house. Get DS. Get him ready for tennis. And myself ready for the evening class all at the same time. I basically take him to tennis (leave at 4:00 pm ish), hang out for a brief bit (leave around 5 ish), go to where my class is held, work on new choreography before class, and have class (at 6:00 pm).

 

I find that my corporate class is dictating a lot these days. It's fun to take this captive audience on a Zumba journey. Beginning with a basic beginning and thinking about what to introduce them to next. And then I take these songs and work them into my rec center class. It'll be the way I wean people in and out of Kelly songs. I've decided to go the current non-Kelly route and do El Amor El Amor, which is actually a mix of merengue and reggaeton.

 

So that means that I will also do this in my Monday night class for the first time. How fun is that? I haven't figured out that play list yet, but the 45 minute corporate class looks like this:

 

Rain Over Me (Pitbull feat Marc Anthony) Warm Up

El Amor El Amor - Merengue/Reggaeton

Salome - Salsa/Latin Pop

I Need to Know (Marc Anthony) - ChaCha

Jai Ho - Bollywood

Cumbia Poder - Cumbia

Ari Ari [Part 2] - Bhangra

Zoomer - African-inspired French Reggaeton (LOL!)

Take You to Rio - Pop with Salsa Moves

Stand By Me - Bachata (Cool Down)

American Honey (iTunes Session) - Stretch

 

I can't even begin to tell you how SICK of Jai Ho I am. OMG. I DESPERATELY need a different Bollywood Song. I don't know if I have shared this link before, but this is the song that is next on my list:

 

Maahi Ve (the name is spelled wrong on the link)

 

I don't know that I would do this choreography, but I like the way that Bradley edited the song:

 

http://www.youtube.com/user/CrazySockTV#p/u/27/BTycFFlraGA

 

I think that I might have skills enough with the free download Audacity to edit the song. We'll see! But this is work in progress. I HAVE to be able to change Jai Ho! :p:rolleyes:

 

I have to decide if El Amor El Amor works for my evening Curves class or not. I have to get to know the morning ladies first. They are a different group. Basically the evening class...it will depend on if I think that the choreo will work on carpet and if I think that the owner will like the song. I've learned that she is the deciding factor on this. Even if she can't do the choreo...she has to like the song. I don't mind knowing the rules of the game. Keep the owner happy. Works for me. :)

 

All in all, feeling pretty good about my up and coming week. Hope everyone else is feeling the same.

[Cruiser Dancer NE1?]

LET'S GET ZUMBA FITNESS GOING AT CARNIVAL!!

 

Open letter to Vicky Rey, VP-Guest Relations

 

Hello Vibrant Vicky!!

 

Thanks again for priming our cruise fun-to-go.

We'll be cruisin w/the gr8 CCL staff & we'll mellow.

 

A few of my cruisers and I are Zumba Fitness fanatics. As per sister cruise company Princess news below, their cruisers have another great reason to fun-cruise, be lively & be healthy at the same time. I & many feel Zumba perfectly fits in CCL's endeavor & objectives.

 

Lord, I hope one or 2 Carnival Splendor staffers will be conduct some Zumba sessions when we sail on Nov 13-20, 2011. With about 10k daily-calorie input, Zumba will greatly help with the output. Besides, 2 days at Cabo will be somewhat -un-appealing.

 

WILL THERE BE ZUMBA? Can U forward me the right protocol for me to make my point?

 

However, the almighty Vicky Rey may just be the precise powerful advocate for us guests..;)

 

As always, Thanks & appreciatively,

EA

++

5/31/2011

 

Princess Cruises Offers Sought-After Zumba® Classes Fleetwide

Exhilarating Fitness-Party Workouts Have Passengers Shaking Their Hips While Getting Fit

 

SANTA CLARITA, Calif. (May 31, 2011) -- Zumba® Fitness, the exhilarating dance-fitness program that blends red-hot international music and contagious choreography, is rolling out to the entire Princess Cruises fleet. Since December, passengers on many Princess ships have been joining in the hip-shaking fun with complimentary classes taught by licensed Zumba instructors. The classes quickly became among the most popular activities on board, and now additional staff members will complete the official training to become licensed Zumba instructors as the program expands fleetwide.

 

SEE ARTICLE..

http://www.princess.com/news/article.jsp?newsArticleId=na1161

[Anita Latte]

SO. Food. From HOME. Need inspiration? Here's what I had for lunch today:

 

Ingredients:

 

1. Salmon filet, rub with olive oil, sprinkle with favorite spice mix. Today I used a Citrus Seafood Blend from Adams Reserve.

 

2. Asparagus, rub with olive oil.

 

3. Red Bell Pepper, whole, rub with olive oil.

 

4. Petite Penne Pasta (cooks in 7 minutes).

 

5. Pre-washed Baby Spinach.

 

6. Olive Oil

 

7. Lemons

 

Preheat your grill. Grill the salmon, asparagus, and red bell pepper. Best way to grill salmon: begin with skin side UP and flesh on the grill. Turn salmon 90 degrees after 2-3 minutes. Turn salmon over to skin side after another 2-3 minutes. If the other parts of the grill are still active, just turn off the heat under the salmon and let it continue to bake in the covered grill until it reaches your preferred temperature. For me, the pepper was still going...so I turned off the under burners and let it stay on until I took the pepper off.

 

To grill asparagus, spread it out so that the spears don't fall through the grill grates and lay in a single layer. As they get color, just rearrange them trying to be able to get color on the other side. Use tongs to do this. Don't worry about even color all over...when they are at your preferred state of limp v. crisp...remove from the grill. Asparagus came off first for me; Don't worry about trying to keep it warm, it can cool a bit.

 

To grill the pepper, put it on a hot part of the grill. You want to color the skin without totally blackening, but not totally, because I did not remove the skin today. Turn the pepper as needed to get color on all sides.

 

Meanwhile...when you start to preheat the grill...put a big pot of water on to boil. When the water is boiling, cook the pasta according to box instructions. I buy Barilla which cooks in 7 minutes.

 

When the pasta is done, drain, and put back in that hot pot. Add the baby spinach (however much you want) to the pasta and stir and cover so that the spinach will wilt a bit.

 

When everything is done cooking, dress the spinach pasta mixture with a bit of olive oil. Put that in a bowl-style plate. Add cut pepper strips all on top. Add asparagus to one side and the salmon to the other side. Squeeze fresh lemon over all of it. Enjoy!

 

One grill. One pot. One cutting board. EASY and super duper yummy. The key is being able to keep track of the water/pasta inside while dealing with and watching the grill outside. Feels like restaurant quality food. Lots of yummy flavor, lot's of color, and HEALTHY!!

 

Enjoy!

 

Going to class tonight. Fun lunch so simple dinner. Grilled cheese sandwiches and tomato soup! :)

[Anita Latte]

Mom and Dad are safely arrived in Boston today! They can't believe the weather! Talk about a packing nightmare! I'm excited for them. They will be here in 3 weeks!

[Joby]

Mom and Dad are safely arrived in Boston today! They can't believe the weather! Talk about a packing nightmare! I'm excited for them. They will be here in 3 weeks!

 

Glad to hear that they have arrived AND you all will get to visit soon!

[Anita Latte]

In my mind, Halloween marks the beginning of the holiday season. In my house, the holiday season lasts from Halloween through my birthday in March...I consider it the time of the year where desserts are EVERYWHERE...the potential to overeat is EVERYWHERE...the potential to eat bad is EVERYWHERE...

 

Basically this is temptation season...

 

October 31...Halloween

November 17...Parents arrive (let the partying begin!)

November 24...Thanksgiving

December 5 or 6...Parents leave

December 11...Dad's Bday (so early celebration before they go)

December 24...Christmas Eve

December 25...Christmas

December 31...New Year's Eve

January 1...DH's Bday

January 17...DS's Bday

February 14...Valentine's Day

Parents arrive??? Party AGAIN!

March 11-18 CRUISE...Spring Break

March 25...MY Bday

Parents leave

 

Somewhere in here are all kinds of other excuses for celebrations and poor eating choices...Company Parties...Holiday Parties...Sunday Football...Dynamo in the MLS playoffs...NFL playoffs...Super Bowl Sunday...Birthday celebrations with friends v. birthday celebrations with family...

 

There are excuses galore for partying all throughout the holidays...

 

You have to have a strategy to get through the holidays. Whatever that strategy is.

 

DS went trick or treating last night for the first time in 4 years. OMG. He went with a friend. The friend says that he always gets a lot of candy from his neighborhood (different than ours)...so that's where they went. OMG. I should have taken a picture of the MOUNTAIN of candy that poured out from his bag. OMG. OMG...OMG!!!!!!

 

I think the candy itself must weigh at least 10 pounds? I mean...there is now a SICK amount of candy in my house. It's SICK I tell you.

 

And this is only the beginning...

 

Because this is what happens...you get something for the one day...maybe a cake even...but it isn't over in one day...the food lingers around the house and you have to deal with it through out this time frame.

 

So what are YOU going to do?

 

Here's what I am going to do:

 

1. I make the decision to enjoy without INDULGING...the difference being the AMOUNT. Remember, we are striving for BALANCE.

 

If you KNOW that you want dessert...then be HUNGRY for it. Food tastes so much better when you are hungry. Don't be stuffed from dinner and still expect to enjoy dessert. You have to forgo something during your meal...I think the easiest thing to forgo is a starch...lay off the bread, the potatoes, the rice, the noodles...whatever...stick to protein and veggies and dessert.

 

2. If you can, eat your dessert at an odd time when you can really enjoy it...not just late at night.

 

Sometimes, I like dessert for breakfast. Especially pumpkin pie...OMG...with a latte!!! But seriously...if you like pastry in the morning...or pancakes...or waffles...or toast with jam/preserves...muffins...bagels...ANY kind of wheat and sugar based breakfast...how different is a slice of birthday cake from a waffle? Or a bagel with cream cheese? Seriously. Think about it. Not that you should do this every day...BUT...it is a strategy for trying to overcome adding calories to your day.

 

Because THAT'S the deal...you have to try to find a strategy that still gets you at an approximation of your normal caloric intake...you have to figure out the substitutions, if you are going to have some holiday food.

 

AND realize that you have the whole of the holidays to enjoy...you don't have to do it all in one day or one meal. Try to spread it all out.

 

Eat slowly.

 

Chew your food really well.

 

Realize that most leftovers are still really, really good.

 

Listen to your body...and don't eat when you are full. Stop. Tell yourself you can have a yummy goodie when you are actually hungry...and if that's breakfast the next day, instead of dessert that night...well, so be it.

 

This is how I got through the holidays last year.

 

My journey started on September 12...and I lost weight all throughout the holidays...you can do it. You just have to put a little thought into it...have some premade decisions...and stick to them.

 

I had class last night. There were 5 ladies that came out and worked up a sweat with me!

 

This is the other thing...you HAVE to keep to your fitness schedule. If all else fails...use your fitness schedule as the structure for your week...don't compromise...you MUST do it...rearrange other things around it as much as possible...continuing on with your classes and other activities will help you stay motivated to make good decisions.

 

Hope everyone had a happy Halloween!

 

Donna, Kasi...do you have Halloween?

Edited November 1, 2011 by Anita Latte

[kasi1979]

Hi Anita,

 

I went to Zumba on Monday night, the first time in what felt like forever. First I was ill, than we went on vacation and I had back issues, when that was better my knee acted up, so I´ve been out of the loop for nearly 6 weeks...

You can imagine how hard Zumba is when you haven´t been for so long. However, it was fun, too.

Halloween is still a "new" event in Germany, that is not as big as in the US or Canada, some kids celebrate and there are a few parties, but not much in decoration or trick´n treating.

We did "Thriller" in Zumba class, that was our "Halloween" event.

As we have fall vacations right now and tuesday way a holiday in my part of Germany,the class was packed...

 

I´m trying to get back in the loop.

Workout and food-wise.

I´m doing tiny steps in the right direction.

Anyways, Soda was banned from our home and I managed to resist when visiting friends last night. Ok, it seemed kind of strange that I brought my own drink with me, but I knew they would offer coke and i needed something to help me stay strong, so I brought a bottle of sparkling citrus-water with me. I also resisted the sweets after dinner and am pretty proud of myself today.

 

I´m still trying to figure out, what made me gain so much weight, that I now have to loose and apart from having a sweet tooth, I believe it´s also being unhappy with my job. So I´m finally pulling myself together, gathering all my documentation and get ready to apply for a new job. Wish me luck, ladies.

 

No cruise on the horizon, so maybe change is what I really need.

[Lottie_0]

Hi Anita

I am a big Zumba fan

We have a fantastic Instructor, she is a trained professional dancer and danced for a while on the cruise ships.

This definitley shows in her Zumba classes.

Going on the Azura soon and after quite a bit of research it looks like it is one of those ships that has not yet started offering Zumba classes :(.

This would have been a great time to do them , you know, eat a bit, burn some calories, eat a bit.

This is a fun routine on youtube that I sometimes do.

Great western/ zumba choreography.

 

Hi Kasi

We also did thriller this week. Great fun.

Regards Lottie

Edited November 5, 2011 by Lottie_0

[kasi1979]

Ladies,

how was your week?

mine not as active as planned, but I managed to squeez some exercise in.

 

On friday night we had our girls cooking night, this time with thai food, and at my house.

The best food of the evening was the soup, easy to make and so yummy:

for 4 persons:

1 tbs oil,

1 tsp five-spice powder

150g corn

250 g carotts, finely sliced,

6 green onions

100 g peas

400g chicken breast, cut into small pieces

1 chili pepper, de-seeded and finely chopped,

200g chinese egg-noodles,

1,7 l chicken brooth

3 EL soy sauce

 

Heat the oil in a wok or large pan, add the fice-spice powder, corn, peas, carotts, green onions and chili pepper. Stir for 5 minutes. Add the chicken breast and stir for another minute. Break the noodles into small pieces and add them to the wok. Pour in the brooth and soy sauce, stir and let it cook for about 5 to 8 minutes. Enjoy.

 

Today I went swimming. My highlight, I managed 1000 m, that´s 40 laps in the public pool down the road. I hit rock botton for today entering the shower after my swim. Someone had stolen my towel, so there I stood, dripping wet and just a tiny towel left that I usually bring to stand on when changing, that needed to get the job done... So, I have to check with my mom if she has some old towels that I can use when going to the pool in order to not loose another of my good ones...

[Anita Latte]

Kasi...that recipe sounds awesome, I can't wait to try it! I love easy!

 

Sorry I have been MIA, but anyone who has ever tried to prepare their house for their parents' 3-week long visit can surely understand what is going on in my home in ALL my spare time (not too mention trying to keep up with what is normal around here!)

 

I'm going to play on the computer tonight. I just finished choreographing a warm-up that can finally replace this one Kelly warm up that I have fallen back on for ever now. (and I am so sick of it!) It has moves that warm up the same body parts and is about the same intensity, so I'm really excited about this. The song was a request from a student, and I was happy to hear what she liked because she is from Kelly's old class that I took over:

 

 

Did the choreo today and it just fell together for me! I'm still struggling with a new warmup for my corporate class. But this one, we are doing it tonight!!

 

I'll be back later...:)

[Anita Latte]

Happy Sunday!

 

I can't believe how much time has passed since I last posted! :eek:

 

I won't dwell on this though, because that is ultimately WAY too boring to read...so moving on, as if I hadn't missed a beat.

 

I have been doing two Holiday songs in my classes. The first is hysterical. I absolutely love all the words...it makes me smile every time I hear it:

 

by Branded.

 

Lottie...that video that you posted was an AWESOME inspiration for me in working on the choreography for this song. I hyped up the western moves, keeping it simple, but also highly energetic.

 

The other song I have been doing, AND the choreography I have been doing is:

 

 

Both songs are generic holiday songs...I avoid the religious songs in my classes. This has been a little difficult for the stretch song, because I like to use a slower, calming kind of song. I ended up using these for stretching:

 

Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas by Michael Buble (LOVE his voice)

Santa Baby by Michael Buble (which I only tried once because the class didn't seem too into it)

The Christmas Song by Natalie Cole and Andrea Bocelli

Baby, It's Cold Outside from the Elf Movie Soundtrack

 

I had a lady request O Holy Night by a famous country singer, but this is not appropriate for my classes IMO. I want to acknowledge the up and coming holiday, but I don't want to preach, KWIM? Besides, having holiday music is a great way to have some new music (even for a short term) in class...and I think this can reinforce the idea that Zumba is not about perfection in dance movement. ;)

 

Not that I don't personally LOVE Christmas carols and in particular, most of the more "religious" carols, or hymns.

 

I'm working on my resolutions for the year 2012. And I'm trying to put these into practice before the new year starts.

 

I found that I had too often had what I am going to call a "Fat Tuesday" mentality. It's the party like crazy today because tomorrow, everything is going to change.

 

It's like the Sunday school or kindergarten teacher that makes the kids all stand up and shake and move and jump all around like crazy...you know...to get the WIGGLES out...so that now they can sit perfectly quiet and calm for the next several minutes or hours or whatever. Ya right.

 

DH and I would get all the bad food and drink that we would decide we should forgo AFTER THAT DAY or NIGHT or WEEKEND...whatever...we would think that a massive indulgence would somehow make it easier to fast all that we had indulged in...but somehow, the fast of all that was bad wouldn't last...and we would have to deal with consequences of the splurge...over and over again...because we could "Fat Tuesday" over and over again...

 

Maybe this time.

 

Maybe this time.

 

Maybe this time.

 

:p

 

So last year, or rather, in Sept 2010, I decided that this mentality wasn't working for me. I needed to learn balance and get away from the wide swinging from extreme to extreme. I think that I have been pretty successful in this.

 

So the next step for me was to adopt this "Git 'er done" mentality. "Don't put off until tomorrow what you can get done today"...which is a huge turn around from the "Don't worry about doing today what you can still do tomorrow" motto that seemed to rule my life. Unfortunately, I haven't been as successful at implementing this one in my life...just ask Mom about PASSPORTS and she will tell you how bad I have been. Scratch that. Don't ask. In fact, I should probably delete the reference as it has become a major source of stress and aggravation between the two of us...

 

But I leave it because this has to be a part of my continued process of personal growth and reformation...because I HAVE been somewhat successful in this endeavor...in certain areas...and not in others.

 

And I will continue to focus on this in the new year...but also...I am adding a new element to this...I'm not sure how to express my thoughts...so this exercise in trying to post them is certainly beneficial for me to try to define them.

 

First, has anyone read Tim Gunn's book Gunn's Golden Rules: Life's Little Lessons for Making It Work? There is an idea of social graces and manners and politeness that Gunn talks about throughout the book. It's very inspiring. How?

 

Here's an example:

 

I was in line at the grocery store. I picked my line and proceeded to unpack my cart onto the conveyor belt. The lady in line before me was a somewhat elderly lady, a bit overweight, with sorry looking ankles that probably caused her pain...and she was looking pained. I smiled at her. And she started to tell me that maybe I would want to pick a different line because she was waiting for her daughter to run and get something that they had forgotten.

 

I explained that I was a patient person and I could certainly wait. No worries.

 

And we started talking about Thanksgiving. I can't remember why my Mom wasn't with me...but we had the most pleasant conversation about family and preparing for a feast...and she shared the privilege that she enjoyed of being the host without any cooking responsibilities because of the women of the family were charged with providing the feast for the 16+ people that would be at her house.

 

It was such a pleasant way to pass the time. It was very Zen. Very in the moment. Very much aware of living life in present.

 

I find that I have been living very much in the future or for the future A LOT. With very little present time living going on.

 

And this is where my new angle on the "Do it today" type motto comes in. I am more determined to enjoy the moment, and in fact, to work to CREATE moments. DH and I have not had much of a social life in recent years. I'm hoping to change this in 2012.

 

It's all wrapped up in a live life more fully in the present, being social and friendly, teaching my son social graces, non-procrastinating, and otherwise pursuing a mental image of myself as a more frequent and gracious hostess than I have been in recent years kind of thought.

 

Some of this is expressing itself NOW as I am the hostess for Christmas this year. We will have my mother and father in-law, Dh's sister with 2 kids, and Dh's youngest sister and husband, as well as our family of 3 at Christmas. That's 10 people...

 

I have been busy with decorating the house, planning accommodation for everyone, etc etc. Mom helped me with my dining room table centerpiece before she left. It's beautiful!

 

What I am overcoming in my thoughts is the payoff for all the work involved. In the past, I have thought about decorating the house with half an eye to all the work involved in having to repack everything and take it all down. And I could easily talk myself out of doing much decorating. Last year, we didn't even decorate the tree.

 

It's a pre-lit tree that my friend found in the attic of the house she was renting. And she loaned it to me because they already had their own and it was one of two or three that the found left in the attic of this rental house. I never gave it back...:o Anyway, last year, we put it up, plugged it in, and never decorated it...AT ALL.

 

We did decorate the outside...but we didn't take the lights out of the holly bushes until summer...:rolleyes:

 

And I did decorate my little 3' foot tree...and the mantle.

 

But it was still something of a minimal effort overall.

 

And I have determined that I don't like this thought process in myself. It's this mentality that has people never making their beds because they will just get into them again that night.

 

But if you get into a habit of making your bed...then you get the pleasure of turning it down each night...and sliding into a bed where the sheets aren't wrinkled and annoying your feet...and the room feels neat and pretty every time you enter it...and really, it's not that much work to make the bed after all...

 

This year...there are decorations EVERYWHERE...there is a touch of Christmas everywhere. Silly hand towels, pot holders, placemats, trees, mantle, outside lights, entry way vignette, sheets, etc. And I could care less about all the work that it will surely be to undo...because I am so thoroughly enjoying the benefit now.

 

I'm not sure that I've conclusively described this outlook that I am trying to achieve here...but hopefully, as time passes, it will become more clear as I try to become a person that I have long wanted to be in regards to a social life.

 

So. Anyone have any resolutions of their own for 2012? I think this would be a great topic...

 

I am on break from my corporate and my Curves classes for 3 weeks! My recreation center classes will take a break between Christmas and New Year's. I'll be working on new songs in this time. I'm so thrilled to have this break!

 

Meanwhile, I hope that everyone reading this is managing to not stress too much this holiday season...and is able to enjoy it to the fullest.

[kasi1979]

Hi Anita,

 

so good to read from you again.

I´ve been out of the fitness loop due to some health issue or another pretty much since our cuise. I just started to attend classes again two weeks ago and as is quite common so close to Christmas, I had many other appointments so that I did not make it to class often.

Classes are off starting Wednesday and won´t start again until the second week of January...

 

My new year resolutions?

First of all, I made a hugh step in the right direction (at least I hope so). I went out and got myself a new job that will hopefully be more satisfying that my current one. I´m handing in my three month notice tomorrow, so I´m a bit nervous today...

Well, my biggest goal is to get rid of the overweight. I managed 2011 to quit taking the blood-pressure medicine and now it´s time to get serious in regards of weight. You ask how? Well, Zumba for sure, three times a week, and DH and I are getting back into the gym. We both want a new silouette so that´s where we start.

My BIL is going to marry in 2012, so that´s one more motivating factor, as I want to look good at his wedding.

Well, I believe getting back into gear and changing our lifestyle in reagrds of sport and eating habbits along with a new job is plenty of challenge for 2012. What do you think?

 

I have to get back in the loop today. We spent the weekend in London. I went shopping (GAP is my favorite store), did some sightseeing and enjoyed two days away from it all. Well, food has been as unhealthy as it gets, so we need to change that again. One step in that direction: I bought tea, I´m a peppermint fan, I absolutely love mint tea. Aboard RCCL I discovered a combination of spearmint and chamoille that I could not buy in Germany. I finally found this combination in London and brought home 4 packages of tea :)

 

Just two more days of work and I will be on vacation until next year... We are spending Christimas eve at my parents. My sisiter is coming home from Italy for the holidays, so it´s a quite affair. On Christmas day we are at DH aunt´s. We that is, DH and I, BIL and his girlfriend (fiancee?), SIL with her partner, my FIL with his partner and the aunt and uncle. It´s going to be to much food... In the years back I spent the second Christmas Day (Boxing Day in GB, what is it called in the US?), just relaxing or hitting the gym, I don´t have any special plans for this year, yet...

 

Hope to read from all of you soon.

[Joby]

I love to read your philosophical writings, Anita:) They make me think and that could be dangerous:eek:

[kasi1979]

Well,

I just returned home from our last Zumba class in 2011.

Even though I missed several weeks worth of workout, I´m happy to say that I have now completed a whole year of Zumba.

Now I have to get by without class until Jan. 9th. I think it´s time to activate my wii again.

Starting tomorrow I´m officially on vacation. And I now have a set timeframe to drop weight. My brother-in-law is planning his wedding for august 2012...

 

Hope all is well.

[Anita Latte]

WTG Kasi! A whole year of Zumba!

 

Isn't it fabulous? I love the comfort of knowing, even if I take a break, or have some time off for whatever reason...Zumba is there waiting for me when I am ready to hit it again. And I can look forward to it. Even if I enjoy the break...I can look forward and be happy and excited about starting up again.

 

My last class of 2011 will be this Saturday morning. Yes, that's Christmas Eve morning. It is just a scheduling deal...I had a choice between class on December 24 or 31. I chose Christmas Eve, because I have to be up and busy that day anyway. I could actually sleep in on New Year's Eve morning...

 

I think, though, that it will be a great time to blow off some steam and any anxiety about hosting my in-laws for Christmas. I will go to class, feel like myself, do my thing, work up a great sweat, be grateful for how different my physical fitness is compared to this time last year, and just de-stress...LET GO...my Zumba shirt says. I think I will that morning...I'll just Feel the Music and enjoy my class :).

 

One of my summer time students came back this week. She is a college student and I invited her to come to my class if ever she is home for a holiday. The fact is that she is fit and catches on to the moves very easily...has great energy and I enjoy her in the class...and especially at this time of year, when attendance has been inconsistent, it's great to have a body in class. It was an ego boost, too, to hear that she really liked my class better than the one she could take through her college. :rolleyes:

 

I'm busy busy will the prep for being a hostess...I don't know that I will post again until after the big holiday.

 

Merry Christmas to everyone!

[Anita Latte]

Saturday, December 31 will be my last class of 2011.

 

I was forgotten about. I had 7 lovely ladies show up to get their fitness on on Christmas Eve morning, but the place was locked down tight. It was embarrassing to say the least, and frustrating to have these ladies get themselves worked up for a work out but have no way of working them out.

 

So class is rescheduled for tomorrow morning.

 

If I follow through with my current plan, I will be challenging myself a little bit. I do like my current simple first song warm up to "Moves Like Jagger." It's one of those easy to do, easy to get started moving kind of songs.

 

But I am so incredibly sick of all my other warm up songs. None of them have that feeling of ahhhhh, it's familiar and yay, I'm doing Zumba...no...it's like...UGH...THAT song...AGAIN...so...I'm going to be slightly winging my second warm up song...I really like "The Time (Dirty Bit)"...it's older, but it gets you moving...I have a good idea of what I want to do...but it isn't set in stone...

 

And then...I'm sick of the version of the song of Sway that I use...it has this one part in it that makes me nuts...it's Kelly's choreo...and I've liked it...but I'm ready for something different...so I'm going to use the Michael Buble version of the song...and I'm changing the choreo just slightly...so the ladies will just have to pay attention and learn one new cha cha step.

 

Also...I've found this SO FUN song...Lovumba by Daddy Yankee...and I found a

online...check it out...I'm going to be doing this tomorrow. I'm looking forward to doing it!!

 

Also...I FINALLY choreographed a bachata that I have been wanting to do FOREVER.

My routine is more bachata inspired than really bachata like...it's a hidden killer, I call it...because you think that it's a low interval song, but it's a great work your body song because it's slow enough to do knee lifts and lots of arms...so it isn't as much of a break as you would think...tee hee...

 

I've learned that my ladies think I have a somewhat villainous laugh...they know they are in for it what I laugh at the beginning of class...:cool:;)

 

Meanwhile...I've nailed at least one specific thing to change forevermore as part of a New Year's resolution. DH is on the same page...always helpful...so not only will the change be made, but PROGRESS should occur as well...

 

Here it is...

 

Do you do this?

 

Someone says something about taking a cruise to Alaska...or a trip to Alaska...or a trip somewhere else...

 

Or talks about a specialty cooking class...

 

Or a craft project...

 

Or whatever it is that floats your boat...

 

And you think to yourself...or might even SAY...

 

"I've ALWAYS wanted to do that..."

 

These are the words that I have resolved to get out of my vocabulary...or at least, I resolve to not say them in that particular order...EVER AGAIN...

 

Because I have decided that these are the words that allow for procrastination...and as weird as this sounds...CLUTTER...

 

Because sometimes these are the words that we use to continue to keep something in our house...when we haven't dealt with it or done anything with it for, oh, I don't know...could be days, weeks, months...and in some cases...YEARS...

 

I like to cross-stitch...and there is a series of patterns that depict the twelve days of Christmas that I have owned since, oh, I think 8th grade! I still have them. Every Christmas I wish that I had taken the time to do them. And next year, I am GOING to do it...

 

And I will determine that I will either make a plan to do the things that I have always wanted to do...or I will stop wanting to do them, and come to grips that I like the idea but I don't really care enough to take of business...

 

I hope everyone has a great New Year's Eve...Cheers!!!

[Anita Latte]

Happy New Year Everyone!

 

Class was fabulous yesterday. I learned something very, very important...or rather...I RELEARNED...I was reminded...and I'm sharing here...

 

Anyway...if you attend Zumba Fitness classes, please be aware of the warm up time and the cool down time. There is a recommended 8-10+ minute warm up time in the manual for Zumba instructors. Generally, this translates into 3 songs with many instructors...maybe even 4...

 

1. First Warm Up Song (to start moving all your joints)

2. Toning like Song (to wake up your muscles, most specifically abs, gluts, quads, hams...expect to do things like squats or plies, lunges, ab crunches in various directions, etc.)

3. Second Warm Up Song (to raise your heart rate)

 

Please notice that you are NOT working out...or even really DANCING...you are WARMING UP.

 

So I was very conscious of this yesterday morning because I know that I haven't seen my Saturday morning ladies for 2 weeks. I planned for a very long warm up interval. I told everyone that I planned for this, and boy howdy, did I see smiling faces when I said this. What I considered my warm up segment was almost 12 minutes long.

 

I may have said this before, but it bears repeating. I learned this from Mom...

 

Your joints are not lubricated until you move them...your body will release lubrication into a joint after you move it...so UNTIL you move a joint...it doesn't have whatever "oil" it needs to safely move...so you need to go through a series of movements that will systematically go through all the different joints in your body so that they will all become ACTIVATED...they will get lubricated...the flip switches and they change from being a joint at rest to being a joint being moved...with OIL.

 

How many different ways can I say that?

 

Warm Ups are something that Zumba instructors have complete freedom in doing. Unless they seek out a specific DVD, and purchase it separately, they do NOT have any choreography from Zumba Fitness for the warm up segment of their class. Not all warm ups are created equal.

 

This joint warming up is the most important. It's great to also have the toning aspect...but it isn't as important as really making sure that your body is warmed up.

 

First, through slow to moderate movement...THEN, through increased tempo to get your heart rate up...

 

If your instructor doesn't have a great warm up sequence, you may need to do some supplemental warm up moves prior to class. Mom went to an instructor yesterday that didn't warm up the class properly. And she kind of hurt her back...well...tweaked is the word...

 

At the end of the class...you need to have a period of time to bring your heart rate down...

 

Many instructors aim for a 2-song cool down. The first is considered to be the one that can bring down your heart rate...like a bachata or a cha cha...the last song is the stretching song. You don't want to stop moving and stretching when your heart rate is still racing at the work out level. It doesn't feel good.

 

Everyone needs to be aware of time in the class...and understand that if their instructor isn't doing this well...you are responsible for lowering the intensity of your workout so that you can create your own cooling down segment in class.

 

I personally like a longer cool down...partly because I find that my students can really get into the slower songs...which ultimately raises their heart rate, so we have to be careful of this...I allow for this and generally have 2 slower songs before my stretch song. Currently, I've been doing a salsa, Dame de Tu Boca by Luis Enrique, and a cha cha, I Need to Know by Marc Anthony before my stretch, Feeling Good by Micheal Buble. This is the final 12 minutes of my class.

 

These are all things that I already knew...you all probably already know...but let's now talk about about how this makes you feel.

 

With 24 minutes of class dedicated to warming up and cooling down...that only leaves 36 minutes for actual "working out." And if the play list isn't a full 60 minutes, but is more like 57 minutes to allow for announcements and/or class change over activity...then we are talking about only 33 minutes of actual "work out" which is just enough time to allow for 2 or 3 HIGH intensity songs (10-12 minutes) intermingled with some moderate intensity songs (20 minutes or so)...just enough of a kick in the pants to make you feel like you ACHIEVED something by getting through the class...but not so much that you are wiped out and not fit for anything else after class.

 

This is a great workout.

 

You leave feeling energized...your body feels like it was well used (in a lovely way :rolleyes:) through a variety of movement...but plenty of recovery as well. And you feel ready to tackle another class like this all over again...on a different day of course. :p

 

The more I learn...the more I realize that I have so much more to learn...someone on the Zumba instructor forum said that it is easy to become a Zumba instructor but very difficult to BE a Zumba instructor...

 

I need to do research to see when the next offering for a Group X certification will be in my area. There is so much to learn about the proper way to work out your body...and Zumba Fitness training isn't designed to create fitness instructors...not really...an instructor really needs to pursue additional education to put together a class that will not hurt or otherwise discourage the participants.

 

So I write this to pound into my own brain how great class felt yesterday...knowing how much I sweat and that I got in a great work out...even though there was much class time dedicated to the warm up and cool down...and also as a bit of something to watch out for for all my forum friends...as well as something of an alert to anyone reading this that has a resolution toward greater health and fitness and thinking that Zumba would be a great thing to try. It's just another way that Zumba classes vary from instructor to instructor...and another reason why...if you don't like the class you went to, you really should try going to another instructor's class.

 

Now I'm off my box...

 

Hope everyone had a safe New Year's Eve celebration. Happy 2012 Everyone!

[Anita Latte]

This is my last vacation Thursday. Next week, my schedule explodes back into its normalcy of 8 classes a week. But for one more week...this week...I have only the 3 classes. So today and tomorrow are technically my last days of "vacation."

 

I did have class last night. I simply reorganized the playlist I did on Monday, which was only slightly different from the playlist I did on Saturday. And I'm going to do the EXACT same playlist this coming Saturday. I have goals in several categories...and one Zumba teaching goal is to stop freaking out about my playlists as much as I have been in the past.

 

So here is the current list:

 

Moves Like Jagger by Maroon 5 (easy warm up)

Good Feeling by Flo Rida (major joint warm up /abs/squats)

Waka Waka (Esto es Africa) by Shakira (cardio warm up / calypso)

La Despedida by Daddy Yankee (merengue)

Lovumba by Daddy Yankee (merengue/reggaeton)

Sway by Michael Buble (Cha Cha)

Cali Aji by Zumba Fitness (Salsa)

Pegate by Grupo Treo (Merengue)

Cuando Me Enamoro by Enrique Iglesias (Bachata - Toning)

Chiquilla by Kumbia All-Starz (Cumbia)

Sexy and I Know It by ***** (Pop)

Ari Ari [Part 2] by Zumba Fitness (Bhangra)

Take You to Rio by Ester Dean (Pop with Salsa and Samba moves)

Ven a Cumbiar by El Simbolo (Cumbia)

Dame de Tu Boca by Luis Enrique (Salsa)

I Need to Know by Marc Anthony (Cha Cha / cool down)

Feeling Good by Michael Buble (Stretch)

 

It is EXACTLY 60 minutes long.

 

EXACTLY.

 

Which I think is pretty amazing to hit it right on the money for a 1 hour long class.

 

You will notice that Reggaeton is really missing from my playlist. :o I am really picky about the Reggaeton songs that I like. Many of them do not have enough musical changes in them to be interesting enough to me. And the sound can be too hard without interesting musical breaks. This is the genre that I am working on currently. I have several songs that are about half way there with the choreography.

 

No Puedo Vivir Sin Ti by Illegas

En Sus Marcas Listos Fuera by Daddy Yankee (Apparently I really like this artist. LOL)

Caliente by Barbero

El Batazo by Zumba Fitness

 

This will be the next direction I go when I decide to introduce another song. It will depend on what the choreo ends up being like to determine which song to replace on the playlist.

 

I made an announcement before class yesterday...

 

I think we can all take it to heart...

 

Just a little reminder that Zumba is not about doing a routine correctly...it's about moving your booty...getting active to some music...and hopefully having fun...so I encouraged everyone to really move...to not worry about making a mistake...to let go of being embarrassed to do something wrong...that I would rather they get a good cardio work out in and make HUGE mistakes than never make a mistake and not get as good of a workout because they were too timid...

 

Just a thought...

 

Like anything...you can only get out what you put in...and you can get a lot out of Zumba if you put the effort in...I think some people, though, are more worried about looking foolish because they might be the only person going left when everyone else goes right...

 

Who the heck cares?

 

The one that makes steady progress toward their fitness goals because they give it everything they've got has the last laugh when it is all said and done.

 

I've decided that this is going to be something that I say before every class...to encourage people to just have fun...and MOVE...move A LOT...

 

Mom has found a couple of great sounding cook books. Please post the titles Mom...we are thinking that we will be doing a cook book club of sorts a la something that Mom read about or stumbled upon...

 

The idea is that a group of people all have the same cook book, and they systematically go through the cook book and make all the recipes in it...talking about their successes and failures with regards to the recipes. Also any changes or riffs on the recipes...how they were incorporated into a meal, etc. I think it was a baking cook book that was used in the group that Mom had stumbled upon, which could really have more failures and suggestions (baking is really a science). But we like the idea for a regular ole cook book.

 

Mom's into Latin food and Italian for this year...

 

I'm thinking that Latin and Zumba go well together...;)

 

So we are looking at cookbooks by Aaron Sanchez...

 

Mom has to post the titles so that we can find them. She said he has two good ones that she got from her library.

 

Anyone want to join in?

[Member123]

OK.

 

Aaron Sanchez, (I adore him on both Heat Seekers and as a judge on Chopped)... hopefully others get Food Network or know who we're talking about. Anyway, the cookbooks that I located by him are...

 

La Comida del Barrio

Simple Food, Big Flavor

 

The barrio cookbook has recipes that are divided by the type of food establishment that would be serving them. The subtitle of the book is Latin-American Cooking in the USA. The explanations of Latin-style eating and cooking were very interesting. The second book is really interesting because Aaron takes a key ingredient (like salsa verde) and explains how to make it... in other words, gives you the recipe. Then, he adds recipes that use the key ingredient, like for salsa verde he has tomato salad with queso fresco (that uses 2 Tbsp of salsa verde) and Roasted Batata Salad with Salsa Verde, etc. There are about 4 recipes for each key ingredient.

 

I also love Rick Bayless and i found a cookbook by him titled Salsas that Cook, Using Classic Salsas to enliven our favorite dishes.

 

I thought that I would get more involved with Latin American cooking for a few reasons... one of them being that Anita and I (with family) will be visiting some Mexican ports on an upcoming March cruise and my DH and I will be traveling to some South American ports in December. I thought that I would like to learn some Spanish and know a little bit about the culture and the food before our travels. Of course, living in the American Southwest, I do get exposed to a lot of Latin flavors in cooking.

 

I also found an excellent book by Geoffrey Zakarian (the new American Iron Chef!) entitled Town Country, 150 Recipes for Life Around the Table. The concept in this book is to take a key ingredient (for example, spareribs) and provide an elegant recipe for TOWN and a more rustic, family style recipe for COUNTRY. What Geoffrey says in this book really resonated with me... he says, "I want to encourage people to spend more-- and better-quality-- time in the kitchen, and less time wired, plugged, or tuned in to the internet and the TV.... don't be afraid to make mistakes in the kitchen. Just get in there, have fun, and cook some good food."

 

Yeah!

 

So I didn't make any resolutions about exercise because I think I've nailed that component down pretty well. I have a new lifestyle that I started practicing last year and that's simply that I love Zumba and I will go to my Zumba classes. I don't have to do any self-talking, or try to motivate myself to get my Zumba workout clothes on and go... I just go! I feel like going; I love going; and I go.

 

This year, (yeah!) I'm happy that one of my favorite Zumba instructors is going to be leading a regular class during the week on Tuesday nights. She has subbed into my classes before and I really, really like her style a lot. So I'm really happy that she's going to be there for me one day a week!

 

I usually go to Zumba 3x or 4x a week. Unfortunately, the classes are pretty much stacked up at the end of the week. My typical schedule is Tuesday night, Thursday morning, Friday morning, Saturday morning. If I felt like it, I could go on Sunday morning. Sometimes I do that because my least favorite instructor is the one that leads the Friday class and sometimes I feel like subbing a Sunday class for her. That instructor is the one that prompted Anita to write about taking care of ourselves in class and making sure that we get an adequate warm-up. I wasn't paying enough attention during her class and ended up with a sore lower back. Now I know that I have to get into class early and do my own warm-up if that instructor is teaching because she really doesn't warm up our joints; she's all about the cardio! But I'm smart enough to take care of myself; and now that I've had that wakeup call... it won't happen again. (I was just too used to following Anita because I had the joy of being able to go to her Zumba classes during my holiday visit; So I became a more trusting person because of that and forgot where I was when I came home!)...:p

 

Anyway, I've made the first soup recipe from the Barrio cookbook. It was a bit bland and after analyzing it, I think I need to season the soup which I'll be doing tonight! Really, really good flavors though... and easy!

 

Anita, how do you propose that we incorporate this discussion into our Zumba thread? Should I wait for input from others (Donna? Kasi? Kim? anyone else?) to see if there's any interest in this? Obviously, if no one else has access to the cookbook(s), then we'd have to pick another one that everyone would have access to....

 

.... but I LOVE this idea! After all, eating is a huge component of our healthy lifestyle path.

[Anita Latte]

All these books are in my library system! YAY! My local branch doesn't have any of them, so I had to request them all.

 

As for incorporating this into the Zumba thread...well...I've been debating this one. I don't really care for the way that this forum doesn't allow for editing of any posts past a certain date...so I'm thinking that this discussion needs to take place in a different place than here.

 

IF this forum were to allow for editing, then I could create a table of contents so that we could forever go back and refer to all the comments regarding certain recipes. I could constantly be updating the table of contents as we moved from recipe to recipe. Without the ability to do this, I think that it would get extremely frustrating because the whole point in doing this is not only to have the experience, but also to create a sort of database for future reference.

 

When you saw this for the baking cookbook...was it a blog? Was each recipe a separate entry and people just posted comments to share what happened? Because this is what I am thinking might be the best thing to do...create a separate blog for this. I know that I already have a blogger account, so it wouldn't be a big deal to do. I think.

 

I think we could even make it a private blog...a member only kind of thing? Where only members could post comments. We could have one blog entry be dedicated to Introductions so that if user names are different over there, for instance, if you, Mom, didn't want to be Member 123, you could let us know that your user name is really you, KWIM?

 

What do you think about that idea?

[Anita Latte]

EVERYONE! This includes ALL my forum friends...

 

I have started a new blog for this cook book endeavor. Details to be worked out in the future, but the address is:

 

http://cooksthebook.blogspot.com/

 

It took a bit of playing with the words to get an available blog address.

 

I can tell you that you will need to be a member of the blog to post. So if you do not currently have the proper account to become a follower/member of the blog, you will need to remedy the situation in order to add comments and join in the discussion.

 

I will try to update the blog with a little something that will confirm for you that this is me over there. However, you can now become a member of this empty blog.

 

More details later, it's time for bed. I'm very excited about the prospect of sharing cooking stories...or at the least...sharing the inspiration to be active in the kitchen.

[kasi1979]

Hey Pam,

welcome back, haven´t read from you in a loooong time.

 

I´m not familiar with any of the books you mentioned, will have to take a look, what´s available via amazon, maybe even for kindle, as I received on for christmas. I already signed up for the blog.

 

So much happening at our side of the pond.

I found a new job, which I will start on april 2nd.

I handed in my notice and will be leaving my current job mid-march, which leaves me with enough time for a one-week vacation. As DH won´t be getting any time off, my friend and fellow cruiser andrea will join me for another western Med cruise :)

Our ports are: Civitavecchia (where we board), Savona, Marseille, Barcelona, Palma de Mallorca, Cagliari, Palermo, Civitavecchia. My first cruise without any Sea-days. Don´t know how I will fit in some relaxation time...

Workout wise I´m still on Zumba vacation. Classes start again next Monday, and I´m really looking forward to that.

Right now I plan on attending class on Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Sunday. As I finally managed to convince DH to return to the gym, that´s where we are headed on two other nights per week.

My gym hands out pre-defined workout-plans right now. One´s called fatburn-circle and gears towards a workout with different machines, two time a week for 6 weeks. after that you should change your routine.

I think I´ll be giving that a try.

First of all I want to drop some weight, and it´s a nice alternative to what I´m doing the rest of the time.

 

We are quite lucky this winter weather-wise. Just one day of snow so far, and if I´m honest I absolutely hope this is not about to change, as life´s so much easier without shoveling the white stuff, sliding over ice-patches and freezing. Temperatures are wll above freezing point, so much so, that people are already suffering from hay-fever allergy because so many plants are blooming. Strawberries grew well into december, I cannot remember a time when that happend before. Even my azalea bush is in bloom. So, nature seems to be mislead regarding which season we actually have right now... Let´s hope that February and March won´t be too bad...

 

Ok, take care everybody,

I´ll check the books and come back to you on what´s available here.

[kasi1979]

Just a quick note,

Simple Food, Big Flavor is available for Kindle

Salsas That Cook: Using Classic Salsas To Enliven Our Favorite Dishes is available in printed form in Germany.