For the Birds

This diaper changing and late night feedings and lack of sleep with our new baby is for the birds. Speaking of the birds, they've set up their homes outside this May.

The robins have returned to their favorite bush, which last year was unsuccessful. This year, they are a little late, but there are 5 eggs in a pretty large nest.



A bit more advanced are the sparrows that set up under our deck. Here you can see all three youngsters doing very well.

Well ...

I had my water softener serviced today. It's 4 years old so the media is nearing its end and I'm starting to see rust stains in sinks and toilets again. I did some DIY remedies, but that didn't seem to fix it.

I called our installation guy and he came out this morning.

F&L Well and Pump, Co.
310 Buck Hill Rd.
Pascoag, RI 02895

Office: 401.567.9016

Frank's a good egg. He talked me through what he was doing and how to adjust the settings on my system. He answered all my questions.

If you're looking for a well/pump contractor, consider F&L Well and Pump, I highly recommend them.

Isabelle Grace

Isabelle Grace

Half the Man I Thought I Was

I watched today's Crossfit WOD on the video link. According to the posting, the folks did it in 10-15 minutes. I, of course, had to do some modifications - real pull-ups instead of kipping pull-ups and swinging my trusty 50-pound back of sand instead of a kettlebell.

I finished - exhausted - in 20 minutes. To think I was just starting my sit-ups when these people in the video were finishing. Seems I have some work to do.

Lawn Care and Crossfit

After a different warm up - pushing my lawn mower around the yard for an hour - I did the Crossfit WOD.

Again with the modifications ... I don't have a 20-pound ball or a 15 foot wall save for two 10-pound dumbells and my cedar shingled house. I thought that not a wise idea, so I did thrusters with my trusty 50-pound bag of sand. I also don't have rings for muscle-ups, so I did the usual replacement, pull-ups and dips.

11 minutes, 30 seconds. I took about that long to walk up the stairs after I was done.

Filthy Fifty at Sixy Percent

Todays Crossfit WOD was the "Filthy Fifty". Since I had taken 3 days off due to feeling a little under the weather and a slightly pulled back muscle, I thought I'd ease into it by adapting it to the "Dirty Thirty"; that is, just 30 of each exercise, with some exceptions.

I don't have a proper pull up bar, so I did 30 pull-ups - not jumping pull-ups. I don't have kettlebells, so I swung a 50-pound bag of sand. I don't have a bar to push-press, so I push-pressed the 50-pound bag of sand. I don't have a weighted ball nor a high wall to wall-ball it against, so I just skipped that one. Finally, I can barely jump rope, so 30 double-unders became 60 jump-ropes.

I gave 110% to the 60% scaled "Filthy Fifty" and finished in 19 minutes.

A Lotta' Tabata

Today's Crossfit WOD was a killer. I alternated pullups between wide grip and underhand close grip - which as it turned out didn't make much difference. I resorted to some girly-style pushups by the last 2 rounds. I did different sorts of situps - crunches, alternate side to side - which account for the vast differences in quantities between rounds. Finally, the squats actually let me recover a bit and I finished strong.

Exercise	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	Total
Pullups	15	10	5	3	3	3	2	3	44
Pushups	25	20	12	10	9	8	8	9	86
Situps	17	10	14	16	6	19	12	13	107
Squats	14	15	15	14	15	15	17	18	123