Misc. updates

I'm looking forward to attending a professional body building show Sept. 4 in downtown Cleveland. What makes the show "professional" is the fact that all of the competitors have won at other shows. It should be an outstanding display of...what's possible, I guess. The show is supposed to be drug free, but Michelle tells me that, from her past observation, plenty of people clearly have juiced themselves. She's attending with me and I'm sure she'll offer some informative commentary.

I'm holding off on the highlights for my hair. I think it makes more sense to take care of that closer to the first show so that it isn't all grown out when I want it to look nice.

I'll post a new bikini shot on Wednesday. Michelle is going to take the picture after we finish posing practice. Think neon pink.

Starting Sept. 1, further adjustments will be made to my diet, like banishing any dairy, but the only dairy I'm eating right now is the occasional Chobani yogurt. I'm not sure whether the 2% milk in my tea will be eliminated, but I hope not. However, I'm reminding myself that these changes will be very temporary.

I recently took a tally of which family members will be attending the first show, and right now, it looks like it will be only my husband. My older son wants to be as far away as he can get because he doesn't really approve of this activity and even thinks it's gross. My other son is just interested in the results, not in sitting through it. My mother refuses to bear witness to anything, including reading this blog, because the posing suits make her "uncomfortable." I don't exactly understand this but I also don't care to pursue it. There are many elements of style and taste over which we don't agree. However, I think this should be more about me and less about what she thinks is appropriate. Since she's not coming, I haven't even bothered to ask what my dad's plans are but I'm certain he won't be present.

Over the past month, I've been swimming in my backyard pool for my cardio workouts since it's been so insanely hot. But 3 weeks from now, the swimming needs to end because the pool will be drained so it can be painted. I intentionally chose this year as the time to have the work done because it's definitely necessary but also, I'm very happy to end my pool responsibilities early. It's a 2-week job, between draining, painting, drying and refilling, and when it's complete, it will be closed up for the season which is fine because fall is a demanding time to maintain a pool with the leaves dropping as well as the temperatures at night. And at the end of Sept., just before the competitions, the last thing I want to deal with is the pool. There's no one around here ready and willing to take over in my absence either. Ordinarily, I close it during the 2nd week in Oct. which makes ending my swimming in the middle of Sept. feel very early. But I'll switch gears and pick up with running, biking or using an elliptical machine. Glenn also has ideas for high intensity intervals that I might try. His methods don't take long, but they're extremely tough.

I still haven't been drinking the right amount of water. I'm consuming about half a gallon at most each day which is not enough. I'm continuing to work on that.