The Early Bird Catches the Worm. Noisily.

I'd like to apologize to my roommates, present, past, and potentially future (and, yes, family, this includes you).

I don't know why, but I am a morning person. A ridiculously, ridiculously early morning person. I like to be awake before the sun comes up. I like to get my workout done before some people have gone to bed. I like having the quiet, people-free hours to just get stuff done.

Ever since I was a child this has been the case. When I was in elementary school, I used to get up at 5 am on Saturdays so I could read The Babysitters' Club before the Saturday morning cartoons came on. In high school, I would get to school an hour or more before the bell to discuss politics with one of my favorite teachers, Ms. Drews. When I was teaching, I got up before dawn so I could watch the news and make fun of the weather girl with my dad (who is also a ridiculously early riser). So this early morning being-up-ness is nothing new.

Unfortunately, my early morning productivity means that I have to be in the common areas of the domicile in which I currently reside while I do all of the things that just simply can't wait until later--like cooking, cleaning, and organizing my life. And all of these things usually end up making noise.

I do my best to be quiet in the mornings--I really do. But I find that, sometimes (and more often than not) the quieter I try to be, the more noise I end up making. For example, yesterday I got up to make cookies for Kyle (who was very much still asleep), and while I was candying the bacon in our oven, I managed to set off the fire alarm. Sorry, Kyle...(Although it's not entirely my fault that our oven gets a lot hotter than the temperature settings seem to suggest--and since it's weird and electric, it only has settings for 350 and 400, but not 375...which is terribly annoying. However I have the prettiest kitchen in the whole world, so I suppose I can suck it up and just cook the bacon for longer on lower heat next time...)

I love my kitchen.

This morning, I tried to be especially quiet since Julian isn't feeling well...But I still had to make my food and do my dishes, and the microwave, blender, and sink are located right next to his bedroom window. Sorry, Julian...I did, however, try to minimize the noise that I would have generated by making a protein shake in the blender by carrying the blender across the house and using it on the floor in the dining "room". Hope that helped...

The perfect "room" for blending shakes, apparently.

Anyway, I'm not going to give up my early mornings for anything. As much as I like to go out and have fun at night, if given the choice, I'm going to be a grandma and go to bed after primetime and get up with the sun. (I know I'm lame; sue me.)

Today's workout was a lot of fun. I was running a little bit later than I'd liked, since I slept in until 5:05, which meant that I got to the gym about 30 minutes later than I'd wanted to. I ended up cutting almost all of the rest time between sets in order to make up for the time, which meant that I had the chance to get seriously sweaty by the end of the workout. I also progressed my inverted rows to the stability ball--and actually managed to make it through all 24 reps (8x3). I also felt a little bit better about my single-leg squats. I am still struggling to get the balance (before I can even start to tackle range!), but at least I'm feeling a little more steady on my feet. Or foot, such as the case may be.

Dynamic warm up

Super Set 1: Reverse Woodchop (8x3) & Stability Ball Jackknife

Super Set 2: Step Ups on Bench with Dumbbells (8x3) & T-Pushup with Dumbbells (4x3) 

Super Set 3: Single Leg Squat (8x3) & Alternating Lateral Raise (8x3)

Super Set 4: Supinated Hip Extension with Leg Curl on Stability Ball (16x3) & Inverted Row with Feet       

                     Elevated on Stability Ball (8x3)

Cool Down

Anywho, that's all I have for now...

Kaila