Sore

My abs are sore, my butt is sore and my shoulders and chest are sore.  It was the 200 crunches, 250 lunges and 100 push ups from yesterday!  I hope I develop those long, lean muscles*

*just kidding

I actually did enjoy that workout though.  I initially was trying for five sets, and because I didn't feel so tired by the time I reached five sets, I decided I'd go for ten!

I've been getting up early this week; between 6:30-7am.  I know that's not early for most people, but it's early for me as I'm not in the habit of getting up early.  I'm trying to train myself to be more awake in the morning because eventually I'd like to start training in the morning again.  I really would like to try the high frequency training method, up to 5-6 times a week.  I'm not sure how I will cope with it, but like everyone else that is into weight training, I have weight trained 5x a week in the past following a typical body part split and I am still alive to tell the tale.  My lower body workouts in particular were harsh; back in the day I remember doing about 7 different exercises for my legs/lower body, as heavy as I could go for about 3-4 sets of 20 reps.  I could barely walk up the gym stairs afterward (I used to semi-pull myself up the stairs using the railing) and still had to stumble home.  The walk home was about 30 minutes from the gym. Luckily the walk was pretty much all uphill, because unless you're an idiot you can't really fall uphill.  I'm sure that with some determination and will, 3-4 exercises with less reps five times a week is doable for me.

I'm feeling better today than I did this time last week so I am optimistic about getting to the gym tomorrow after work and having an excellent workout.  I'm a bit apprehensive about my deadlifts though; have not attempted those in 2 weeks now and the last workout with them wasn't feeling too promising.  I shall see tomorrow!

And because this is a random post, here's a random picture of Daisy from the other day.  She's eating a snack here

Rabbits: The pet made of awesome

If you've never considered a rabbit as a pet, perhaps it's because you don't know anything about them or because you think they're boring.  Well, today's your lucky day because Aunty Sportsgirl is  going to let you in on the awesome things about them.

1.  They're the best pet for independent people

If you hate the fact that dogs are so needy and in your face all the time or the fact that cats always want to lie on your lap on your bed, rabbits could be the choice for you.  They're very independent creatures, aloof at times but also very affectionate too.

  

2. Their shit don't stink

Unlike the cat who acts like her shit don't stink (it smells like the depths of hell, people), my rabbit's shit really doesn't stink.  She's also very tidy and craps and pees in her litter box. If she's out an about in our house and she needs to go to the toilet, she will hop into the cage and do her business in the designated area, then come back out again. Apparently in the wild they have a specific area for going potty and it only makes sense to do your business in one place.

3. They can be kept inside

Like the previous point suggests, because rabbits can be litter trained, they can also be kept inside if you live in an apartment and don't have a yard.  If you have quite a small place, keeping a dog might not be the best thing or you might not like cats so consider a rabbit!

4. You can recycle their shit

For people that like gardening, rabbit poo makes great compost.  If you use a biodegradable product for their litter even better, because you can recycle that too.

5. They're pretty funny

If you've ever watched a rabbit run around and "binky" you'll know what I mean.  They love racing around at top speed (especially around the couch) and jumping with glee.  I liken a binky to a person jumping in the air and clicking their heels together.  They also love shaking their head and jumping around like crazy.

6. They only eat vegetables

Don't have a compost but want to recycle your kitchen vegetable scraps? Rabbits can clean that problem right up for you! Rabbits make excellent pets for vegetarians or vegans because they do not conflict with their beliefs. They would make better pets for vegetarian or vegan nutcases that insist on feeding their dogs or cats vegetarian or vegan diets.  Dogs can subsist on a vegetarian diet if they need to, but cats cannot.  To subject your cat to a meat-free diet is animal abuse, quite frankly.  If you don't agree with animals eating meat, then don't fucking own a cat.  Simple.  You're an asshole if you do and you don't feed your cat meat, don't let anyone tell you different.

7. They don't make noise

Unlike a dog that barks, a cat wakes you up with their bloody incessant meowing for food in the morning or a bird that sqwarks or repeatedly says "Hello!!", rabbits keep their mouth shut.  The most noise they make is thumping their hind leg if they're annoyed at you or frightened at something.  I've also heard my rabbit growl if she's angry or moan slightly if she hears a weird noise, but you really have to listen carefully to hear those sounds.  Rabbits are silent communicators and prefer to do so via body language rather than annoying sounds.

8. Their toys are cheap

The rabbit's favourite past time is tearing shit up.  Give them a cardboard box and they'll spend hours tearing the box down to shreds.  Then you can put the shreds in the recycle bin. Just don't leave your library book on the floor like I did one day or else you'll walk into the room with your rabbit looking at you with an innocent face eating one of the pages.  Luckily that book was on my husband's library card, so my library record is still squeaky clean!!

9. They're smart

My rabbit has learned the following:

opening fridge door = food

blender starting in the morning = food

me walking into the kitchen in the morning = food

packet rustling = possible food

calling her name = possible food

after 4:30pm = food's coming in the next hour or so

plastic bag being scrunched = food

box being put into her cage = fuck, I'm going to the vet

10. They smell nice

If you like the smell of a sweet meadow of hay then you'll love rabbits.  Dogs stink, cats smell weird, birds smell weird too, fish smell like water or algae but rabbits smell like a sweet meadow. Ahhhhh!!

11. They're adorable

Best illustrated in pictorial form:

I'm eating food!!

I think I hear food!

Food?? Source

Today

My birthday today February 2nd when I turned the big 3.2. Unfortunately I feel like I turned 64, so I am dreading the day when I actually turn 64 as I'm probably going to feel like HELL.

I had a pretty nice day today.  I took the day off work (yesterday too, so I had a four day weekend) and we went to Butterfly Creek which is a mini zoo with fish, reptiles and farm animals.  I actually only really went to see the bunny rabbits and I have been going around for the past two weeks calling it "Bunny Creek". They have a mock farm yard there with about 20-30 bunny rabbits there!  I was in bunny heaven!  They were all so cute and had quite a few baby rabbits there.  One thing I wasn't too happy about was the fact that they bred rabbits there.  The fellow that worked there was trying to get me and Matt to take a bunny home.  He said he normally only approaches people who he thinks will give the rabbits a good home.  I guess he saw me baby talking and fawning over the rabbits HAHA!  Firstly, since we don't really have room for another rabbit and secondly I don't really support places that breed animals I wasn't really keen to take one home, even as cute as they were.  If I'm going to get another rabbit it will be from the SPCA where no one loves them and they need a home. I did feel sorry for all the little baby bunnies that had silly children handling them, especially the ones that were screaming that "they wanted to hold a bunny too!!" (cry me a river kid!!)  Although rabbits are docile creatures (most of the time) once tame, they still are prey animals by nature so do get scared easily and aren't as confident with people as cats or dogs.

Here are a few pictures I took of the animals

This lil fella was rolling about in the coral.  So cute!!  I love Clown Fish, they're so colourful

 

 

 

Moth or butterfly?  It was huge!

These red and black butterflies were pretty.  Matt was wearing a red t-shirt and they kept landing on him!  I was wearing a floral dress, but none of them liked me!  Perhaps I didn't smell like a flower? LOL

Cute little babies resting

I is washing my ear!

This beautiful girl had given birth that morning.  She was busy fussing about her pen.

Recovering from being tormented by devil children

Soft, fluffy and adorable *melts*

Yesterday was awesome too.  In the morning I had a Chinese Pedicure at Bliss Reflexology which starts with a foot soak, then they scrape all the dead skin off your feet with sharp blades and then tidy up the toenails.   It is WAY better than a regular pedicure as it is more hygienic (your feet soak in a disposable plastic bag in a wooden bucket) so no toe jams floating around from the previous person. I don't think I'd ever have a regular pedicure at the run of the mill mass produced places again. Although the massage chair is nice and having the nail polish is fancy, all I think about is getting a fungal infection! In the afternoon I had a lovely face and body treatment and About Face.Work kindly gave me a gift voucher for Christmas for a beauty therapy treatment so I redeemed that.  It involved a foot soak, back scrub, back massage and then mini facial.  It was lovely and the therapist Nancy was so kind and professional.  After all that relaxation I went to the movies and saw Black Swan; great movie but kind of disturbing in some parts!  I also must add that I walked everywhere yesterday! I walked to all my appointments and the movie which probably adds up to almost 2 hours of walking at a good pace in total so by the end of the day I was pretty tired.

Back to reality tomorrow with an 11 hour day at work *sigh*

Daisy Eats Grass

For all you animal/bunny lovers out there.  Here's a short video of little Daisy enjoying some grass!  Since the guy that mows the lawn here is so efficient I have to go to my mother's house to gather some long grass for her.  I also usually raid her vegetable garden too, which she doesn't mind of course because she can't eat it all.

Baby Bunny

Beware: The following video exhibits EXTREME Cuteness. Please consult your doctor before watching if you are prone to emotional reactions at fluffy baby animals.

My heart almost burst watching this. My favourite part was around 0:33 where all you can see is her little mouth eating and nose twitching...ahhhhh!! Also at the end where she finishes the flower and starts licking her lips then washing her little face. Awwwww *heart*

Get Well Soon Daisy!

Daisy went in to the doctor's for her spay surgery yesterday. She's not having sex with boys or nothin'; I got her spayed because rabbits have the propensity to develop uterine cancer as they get older. The loose statistics are by the age of 5 years, 80% of rabbits will have developed some kind of reproductive cancer (uterine most common). 

I really put some thought into doing this to her; she's only a little girl and I would be crushed if she didn't make it through the surgery. She seems to be doing well for now. We took her into the vet today for her next day follow up and they were happy. The wound is looking good so she hasn't  been fooling around with it or trying to take the stitches out. She is not eating on her own yet; that is to be expected, but they want her to be taking in food by herself at least by tomorrow. For now I am syringe feeding her which is messing up her fur and she is not happy about that! We have to give her Metacam twice a day which is going to be fun (not!). She has been a little cold after her surgery so I covered her with blankets. 

Here's a photo of her all cozy under the covers:

A Big Bag of Kale

I got home from work at about 9:40pm tonight didn't feel like making dinner.  Matt wasn't really hungry so I decided to just make a big batch of Kale chips.  I've posted before on how much I love this vegetable since I discovered it. If you have not tried the awesomeness of Kale chips, they are super easy to make and surprisingly quite filling.

One big bunch of Kale

Olive Oil

Salt and Pepper

Any other seasoning of choice, I use garlic powder

Preheat oven to 150-200 degrees C (depending on how powerful your oven is). Wash and dry Kale.  The drying part is important because you want the Kale to be crispy; if it's wet then it just goes soggy in the oven.  Remove the firm stem of the Kale leaf and feed it to your greedy, begging rabbit:

Exhibit A

Rip the Kale leaves into bite size pieces and arrange on a non stick oven tray.  Spray the leaves lightly with oil (I used olive oil) then season with salt, pepper and any other seasoning you wish.  Place in oven for about 5-10 minutes.  They should be light and crispy and some pieces will be slightly burned.

Enjoy the awesomeness of Kale chips!  They're just so light, crispy and tasty at the same time.  They also feel very fibrous and filling.

Anyone else here like Kale chips?  Anyone think they're nothing special?

I think for me a lot of it is the novelty of a leafy green mimicking an unhealthy snack, but tasting good and being good for you.

Relaxin' Weekend

If only all our weekends were like this

More Daisy Pictures

Sleepy Bunny

Checking out what Mum got from the vegetable shop

Sampling the goods....

....Om nom nom nom

....nom nom nom

My own little LOL Bunny

One reader asked me for bunny pictures and I am more than happy to oblige.  I took these pictures several weeks ago. 

Lookin' for treats

Playing with my cone

Treats??

Action Shots

Look how alarmed the cat looks in this one. LOL

Get outta my space cat!!

Sittin' Pretty

Hope you enjoyed them!

Photos of the day

Can I please have my cookies?

PLEASE?

She looks so damn cute when she does this. Pitiful and cute.  She does it whenever she wants her food or wants to come out and play.

My Valentine

Who wouldn't love this adorable face

Bunny Tuesday

I like this rabbit. He reminds me of how my rabbit bosses the cat around.



Not much happening today. It was a rest day for me. I didn't eat much either!

Nutrition
Breakfast - Eggs, Banana
Lunch - Lemon Chicken & Broccoli
Snack - Protein Shake
Snack - Nectarine
Dinner - A couple bites of cous cous salad

So. Tired. 
I actually was too tired to eat dinner so I put it in my lunch box for tomorrow.

Daisy vs. Innocent Christmas Present

Here's my bunny opening her Christmas gift. It was a bag of hay cubes from the pet store. I was having a bit of trouble keeping the camera steady because I was laughing. I was surprised at how crazy she went opening the gift...LOL

I Love Apples

I discovered Daisy loves apples the day she hopped in my lap and started nibbling on the apple I was eating. It was funny to see her cute little face an inch from mine sharing my apple.

A few weeks later I bought a bag of apples and left them on the kitchen floor. I leave Daisy in the kitchen for 5 minutes by herself and I come back to find that she's ripped the bag open and has started nibbling on one of the apples.

Here she is today enjoying the rest of that apple:

Stay tuned tomorrow for an apple recipe!

Bunny Love

Here's bunny in her food bowl. She's small enough to fit right in it now:

Bunny chilling with Dio:

Hello!

We've had her 3 days and she's really settled in and become a lot calmer and tamer. She comes running when I put my hand out to her and she's very calm when I pick her up. She almost fell asleep on Matt's lap today as I petted her head. She'll only become more friendly as she gets older.

Howard Rules!!

Ahhh, getting a little bunny obsessed these days in anticipation of getting a rabbit! Here's a cutie I found on Utoobs: