Wednesday, February 27, 2008

New Schedule...

Rosie is adjusting well to her new home as our we to her. Gracie just loves playing with her and holding her, when Rosie lets her!:)

We setup Gracie's old pack and play for her to sleep in and some nice soft blankets to lay on, she loves it. We did pick up a crate on Sunday and are in the process of crate training. We are letting her go into it on her own time. She's a very smart pup and is already letting us know when it's potty time and we haven't had too many accidents in the house. She is also doing well with the lead and the car rides and even starting to take to some basic commands. I was glad to see her appetite pick up the last two days as well. She loves to bite and chew so plenty of toys are going her way instead of our hands and feet!:) Gracie like to run and jump on the sofa before Rosie gets her feet, their having fun!

Work has been very busy the past few weeks and the rest of this week is no exception. I have a class starting on Monday that requires a lengthy setup which I hope I will be able to start on tonight. I also have three custom classes that I need to deliver before the end of April that require me to develop courseware and I'm a little behind on one of them. I don't mind being busy makes the time go by but I have not had the chance to study all that much for school and the next round of tests are coming.

How is my running coming along? What running? That's right no mileage to speak of yet but that is going to change. The last few days I've been really trying to get my time managed more effectively and reorganize some things and change some things. One of those changes is the time I wake up in the morning. I am now up and going around 5:30, alot due to having to take Rosie out to do her business but that's ok soon she will be able to join me for a run every morning but until then I will take her out, put her back to bed, and then take off for a run before work. Rosie is now my new alarm clock!:)

I wanted to just mention something that happened in our town this past week. Andrew Thrailkill, 18, was hit by a car and died while out running Sunday night not too far from my house. My thoughts and prayers go out to his family and friends, what a terrible tragedy. Please be very careful while your running out there, it's so easy to get lost in your thoughts during a run.

Jason

Saturday, February 23, 2008

New Family Addition!!


Well, we have a new addition to the Chantelau family as of 11am this morning.

Meet "Rosie" our 5 week old yellow lab pup! We've been looking to get a dog for quite some time but could never find the right one for us. This beautiful girl will be my early morning running partner once she grows up a little. We surprised Gracie with her this morning and she went bananas. Rosie is quite the sweet girl and is doing really well. We took her over to PetSmart and got her a new collar, lead, food bowl, food and some good chew toys, she's lovin' life. Here's a few more pictures from today.



Here she is checking out her new yard!






Gracie and her getting to know each other.

She is fast asleep in this picture after chewing on that toy for 30 minutes. She has me wrapped around her little paw already.

Its been a long day and Gracie and Rosie are fast asleep. Rosie has been sleeping for like 40 minutes then playing for an hour since we got home around 2pm. She is such a sweet girl and what a joy to finally have our girl. Should be a fun day tomorrow just playing around with her and getting her fully adjusted.

Make it a great Sunday! - Jason

Thursday, February 21, 2008

Long Night

Yesterday I was able to jump out of work a little early and head over to school to get in some cardio. I did 40 min on the elliptical and I noticed that my heart rate was elevated more so then normal. I did however reach a steady state about 4 minutes in and had no discomfort, always a good thing.

Class started around 6pm and it just moved at a snails pace. The topic was about the different energy systems and the role they play during exercise. I will spare you the details now however it is very cool stuff, it was just presented in a very dry boring manner and we discussed this in detail last semester so it was a lot of review. Good stuff to hear more then once but our instructor's presentation of it was painful. That was the first class that ends at 7:20 and then we get a 15 minute break before starting the second class. The second class is a short lecture and then we move over to the gym and workout. Again we hit the core with a variation of trunk flexion and extension movements. Some of my favorites were using the exercise balls, man; I thought I was working my core using the machine at the gym, not! I like the ball because it adds the instability factor, great workout. We broke up in teams and basically worked each other out. So, the night did get a little better and occasionally we would check out the lunar eclipse!

Class didn't end until about 9:45 and I got home a little after 10pm. I still had some things to do for work so I was up until about 1am. I'll only have one semester to go before completing the program, can't wait to finish. Yesterday was hard because I left before Gracie and Ashli were up and I didn't come home until 10pm, Gracie was already asleep. I didn't get a chance to have daddy time at all, that sucked. It really upsets me, but the weekend is coming only one more night. I will be glad when this semester is over and I get that little break through the summer, it will be nice. Gracie woke up just before I was leaving this morning and gave me a big hug, man I needed that.

Tonight is my nutrition class which usually only goes until about 8:45. The instructor is fantastic and makes the time just fly by. This weekend I do have a board meeting for the HOA on Saturday morning and then my time is for Gracie and Ashli, should be a good weekend.

Make it a great Thursday! - Jason

Tuesday, February 19, 2008

More of the Same...

It's been another crazy couple of weeks. Exercise is still not consistent but at least I'm getting some in. I'm really disappointed in myself for not keeping up my fitness like I should but I can't sit around and sulk I need to find that motivation I once had to get out there and run. Last night I did get 55 minutes in on the Elliptical and a good core workout so not all is lost.

I strained a muscle in my neck a few days ago and I can't seem to get it 100% and its getting annoying. My diet has been off and on as well and again it's about not being consistent and it has to change if I want to achieve my fitness goals. So, the last few weeks for me have been about searching, searching for that motivation, that thing that got me out there day after day. Did I find it? No, not yet but I will.

School is going very well and I'm learning quite a bit in all areas of fitness. I did well on all three tests last week, so looking good there. Gracie is doing well and growing like a weed. She really loves school and last week was in her first school play, she did awesome. All the kids in her class did a really great job. I also have several things going on with the homeowners association which should start slowing down in the next few weeks, I hope.


Well, off to get some studying done, make it a great Wednesday! - Jason

Wednesday, February 6, 2008

Busy Life...

Wow, my life is super busy right now. Tests all week in school and work is just crazy. I did get 5 miles in this past Saturday and it felt great until I got up for church Sunday morning, wow was I sore but by early afternoon it was gone. My nutrition class is going really well, and in fact tomorrow night instead of class our teacher is taking us to go hear Dr. Oz speak. Our teacher is a VP up at one of the local hospitals and Dr. Oz is speaking to the staff. Should be alot of fun and I'm looking forward to it.

We did finally find a good church home at Crossroads Community Church. We've been really looking to find a good church home for some time and from the first visit we knew it was the right fit for us. We love everything about it and we look forward to Sunday! Gracie seems to really like it as well.

Even though I'm back to running its not nearly as consistent as before but with a little time management I will get myself into a good schedule of running, no programs or plans just going out and putting in some miles. I'm still doing about 2 days a week of strength training and a short flexibility program that I got from one of my classes. You gotta keep at the flexibility or you will lose it very quickly like the cardio even more so then cardio actually. I'm only getting about 2 days a week in the running department and I can't wait to increase that. I miss it.

Well, off to bed to get some rest for another long day ahead. Have a great Thursday. - Jason