Perfect 10 Challenge Week 1 Update

Hi all. Today's the day. The first update for the Perfect 10 Challenge.

Here are my goals.

And here's how I'm doing on them:

1. ACSM - I scheduled the exam. It was scheduled for Sunday, March 14th, then just yesterday they called me back and asked if I could reschedule it. So now I'm taking it on Friday, March 19th at 11am. Bought and paid for. I have been studying for it. I did not however study for it yesterday. Why? I have no idea. I chose to watch smut television instead of do anything productive with myself last night. I blogged about how I'm feeling about this particular goal though and that felt really good. And I seriously fell just a little bit more in love with those of you that commented. I love love love reading your comments. And I'm totally going to take your advice too. My favorite bombshell suggested that I teach her about her abs, my favorite fit Frannie suggested a weekly blog to teach what I'm learning, Christy and Mandie have graciously offered her services to quiz me, and my favorite Accountabilibuddy who calls herself "ME" when she comments is on board to kick my ass encourage me too.

2. House stuff - I haven't touched yet. Not planning to do that until later in the challenge.

3. 8 of 10 action items - Let's see how I did.
           Blog Daily - check
           Burn 400 Calories Daily - all but yesterday
           Drink 60oz H20 - twice this week but I am trying
           Eat 4 meals - check
           Meditate - nope
           Guitar - all but yesterday
           Read - check
           Thank Yous - check
           Vitamins - check
           Track - check
Okay so I wasn't perfect. But not too bad. I need to get that water back to flowing regularly.

4. 5K - I've done nothing on this goal so far. Well, that's not entirely true. I haven't started training for it yet. BUT, I did blog about how I'm feeling and what I'm thinking and stuff. Check it out. The deadline for the 5k is April 11th. I'd like to be able to run that before the date though so I'm going to start training for it right away.

5. Lose 1lb every week. I weigh in every Sunday and blog about it. Here's last Sunday's post. It was a lovely week on the scale. My body finally caught up with what I've been doing. I actually count it as a 1lb loss (not 3lbs) because I showed a 2lb gain over the previous 2 weeks. But whatever, it's still a loss and that's still a good thing. We shall see what this week on the scale will show.

6. WW 4Week Challenge - This is week #1 and I'm happy to say that I did all three things on the list.

7. Skiing - Not yet. The plan is to go up in February. Oh boy.

8. Nephew - Not yet. This is totally going to be challenging for me. I blogged about it...kinda. I've been thinking a lot about this family stuff. I've been writing about it. I've been talking about it. My hubby and friends have been really great and supportive. And the comments I got from my lovelies on the blog were really helpful too. Since I seem to be on a role for being link happy today, here are the lovelies that commented. Lovely #1, Lovely #2, Lovely #3, Lovely #4, Lovely #5.

9. Pasta - Not yet. I'm going to plan my meals for next week and include a pasta dish so I will hopefully have my first installment for this goal in next week's update.

10. Yard - Obviously not yet. I don't even think we've had our Jan winter hit us around here yet. I am thinking that I'd like to replace the annuals and any perennials that don't survive the winter with veggies and herbs though. I've always wanted to try to grow my own veggies. Last year, I planted some tomatoes in pots on my back patio and my dog ate them all. I'll have to find a way to keep Polly out of them.

That should do it for my goals update. I'm pretty proud of myself. I'm doing pretty darn good so far. Yay Me!

Now for something about me that you don't know. Hmmmm..... oh, I know. :)

When I was 13 years old, I was a problem child and my parents shipped me off for an entire summer. Where did I go you ask. I got shipped off to Hawaii to live with my Auntie. She moved to Hawaii some 30 years ago or whatever and I had only ever met her once before then. Well, my parents couldn't figure out how to deal with me so my Auntie said she'd take me for the summer. I lived there for a few months and took care of my young cousin during the day while my Auntie was at work. Cousin in tow, I spent all my time hopping on the buses and getting off wherever looked neat and explored the island (Oahu) and the city (Honolulu). I found a friend in a local girl who's name was Ana. Ana was a little bit older than I and worked on a local cruiser as a Hawaiian dancer. She took me on the boat with her one day and I got to watch all the dancers and meet their teacher and everything. Totally fell in love with it. So I started taking lessons. Then when it was time to come back to reality, I was really upset that I had to leave my friend and my lessons and my cousin and Auntie who I had gotten really close to. Surprise, surprise....I came home and found a Polynesian dance teacher and started taking classes with her. I danced with that group for almost 2 years. Hula, Tahitian, Maori, etc. I still have my music, my costumes, my instruments, and a video tape of a show that I danced in. I miss it. I absolutely loved my teacher and all the women and girls in the group. Ku'uippo's Dance Studio. It was an older white woman who had spent time in Hawaii and tought out of a studio in her back yard. I ran into her a few years ago and she remembered me. We hugged and did a quick catch up on life. I've thought about trying to track her down again. Tried once but wasn't successful. She's probably dead now. Who ever she is, where ever she is, she was a huge positive influence in my life.

This is a hollowed out gourd that is used as a drum. Called an Ipu.

These are feather gourds that rattle. I have some that look exactly like this. My favorite! Called an Uli'uli.

These are split bamboo rattles. Called Pu'ili.

These are used in traditional Maori dance. Called Poi Balls. I have a pair or orange ones that once glowed in the dark. I was learning to dance with them on fire too.

A costume for traditional Hula. I have one in yellow.

A simple costume for traditional Tahitian dance.

The things hanging from her wrists are called I'i (pronounced ee ee)

I have a set in white and wore a coconut bra instead of the tank shown here.