Fay Watson

Just thinking about muscle pain, aches and the tight feeling that is always somewhere on this 46 year old body! If it isn't somewhere then I think I just haven't been working out enough. I am not going for all out I can't stand it and have to take drugs pain. I am satisfied with a dull ache, a tightness, and a feeling that if I could just stretch this particular spot or that spot, it would go away. Stretching well does help a lot, so does rolling out the offending muscles. But a day of rest for the sore spots does more good than anything else. I know most people think I am crazy, and perhaps I have gone a little "OCD" about my workouts, but I am happy with the results and am in the best shape of my life.

As is typical of my attendance at a conference, any conference, I diligently took notes and uploaded them as google documents. I took notes, started this blog entry and then flaked off or something. I need to be a bit more consistent to build a following. If anyone who attended the conference is interested in my notes I'll post a list of the sessions I attended and links to the google docs. I am also thinking about creating a google survey linking to a spreadsheet for our fall clean up wrap up reports (test a theory that if it is online more people will actually do it and do it in a timely manner). The quality of the presentations was good at the conference. Everyone was friendly, helpful and enthusiastic about their topics! The book mentioned the most at the conference was "Last Child in the Woods." I recommend it because it is a good read and makes some great points about what our children missing by not being outdoors exploring their environment. If we could get children away from electronics, get families out camping and hiking together AND change their eating habits it would certainly improve their quality of life and life expectancy!

TEAM Building, Camaraderie and Cheerleading abound when we get together for our group WODs.  Thanks to Cody for putting together such even teams, shows how well he knows our strengths and weaknesses!



Running Cindy...YIKES!

This weekend has been one of those.  You know, the kind of weekend that goes by faster than you think is possible.  Thank goodness we have an extra day this weekend!  :-)  I am looking forward to being able to get some more NYLT chores done.  Found most of the items that were on my shopping list, just need to finish up some of the odd jobs and get my stuff together.  This working full time really limits my free time, imagine that!  Not complaining, I love the new job and I getting myself organized at the office.  Hopefully I'll find time to post some stuff during NYLT.

Yesterday evening I took my mom out to dinner.  We started off around 7PM.  Dropped by Main Event to give Mr. Z man an extra $10 to spend.  Then we wandered a little while around the Clear Lake Area before landing at one of my mom's favorite places to eat, Red Lobster.  We had a very attentive server, which reminded me that a bad server can really crush your evening!  After eating a dry salad, salmon, broccoli and asparagus and two of those wonderful Red Lobster Biscuits I took my mom home.

I headed back home and got ready for the overnighter at Space City Rock Climbing Gym, in LEague City Texas.  The troop overnighter began at 11PM.  I belayed kids, bouldered, traversed and climbed until about 0230, then the call of my sleeping bag was too strong.  I laid down and slept until the boys got out the ping pong table and I was hit by several balls. By about 0430 I gave up on sleep, ate a snack and started traversing again.  I think the boys had the most fun trying to out best each other's times climbing up a certain wall of the gym.  They all had David timing them as they took multiple trips scrambling up the wall.

0700 found us leaving the gym and heading back to Pearland.  Z man and I stopped at a Donut place on FM 518 near Bay Area Blvd and I treated him to some donuts and donut holes.  We continued on to Pearland and were at the Stella Roberts Recycling Center before 0745.  Z man was tired and crabby.  I helped to loosen soil around trees with a hoe, spread mulch, and fill wheel barrows with mulch.  Z tolerated helping until 0945, we talked to some of our volunteers and KPB Executive Director Linda Cowles (my Boss :-)) and then I dropped Z man at home.

Tired, dirty, sweaty and not quite myself I decided I would go ahead and try the CrossFit workout.  I am glad that I did.  I had a fun time! Ana, Desiree and I worked as a team.  We worked well and coordinated the tire flipping .  IT was tough, dirty, and nasty but we didn't quit.  We handled the box jumps and sledgehammers, I won't say that we were enthusiastic but we gave it our best .  I am really proud of Desiree I stuck with her for most of the 800M run with the 25# weight.  She gives every WOD her all!  Ana is a great cheerleader and so positive that you believe that you can do anything, thank you ladies for a fun, high intensity workout!

Home again, and domestic chores, a shower, and then Z man and I went to get half price diet cherry limeades at Sonic. I showed him my office and put Mariachi Man on top of my desk.

Wow!!! I have really hit the highlights of the past 24 hour pretty well, and it kept me awake for another hour!  I hope I can make it for another 4!

My first day of working full time was Monday.  I am now the assistant director of the nonprofit group Keep Pearland Beautiful an affiliate of Keep Texas Beautiful and Keep America Beautiful Keep America Beautiful Round Metal Sign.  I am loving the new job.  The volunteers, board members and Director are a good group of people.  There is still a lot to learn and always more work to do.  I don't think that it will be difficult to stay busy and am looking forward to learning more about how everything runs.

Although I was at Camp Karankawa this weekend, I wasn't there to help with this year's Northern Star District Cuboree.  Instead I was there with the NYLT Staff for our last Staff Development Weekend.  I had an opportunity to make some observations and to be impressed with the volunteer can do spirit of the adults of the Northern Star District.  Cuboree is a district level family camping, fun activity event for Cub Scouts.  With the first line of thunderstorms rumbling in late Friday afternoon, the weekend did not look very promising.  And indeed it rained, there was lightning and thunder all through the night Friday night and through the morning.  At noon the decision was made to suspend activities and let everyone go home.  There was more than one Boy Scout Troop that camped Friday night and were ready to host an activity for the Cub Scouts.  There were also Boy Scout Leaders and Boy Scouts who helped plan and run this event for the Cubs and their families.  Most of these leaders do not have Cub Scout aged boys anymore, they are just giving back to this program that gives so much to our young boys.  Two young men and their father volunteered to run the archery range.  They ended up hosting a pavilion full of cubs and adults that were sheltering in place. It is a testament to their love of the outdoors and the ideals of scouting that they came out, stayed and helped to make light of a bad weather situation.  These volunteers are my heroes.