Archive | November 8, 2011

No, Wait, Come Back – This is Great!

By on November 8, 2011 in NaBloPoMo, The Couch Potato, The Mommy

One of the amazing parts of Netflix Instant is that they have cartoons from when I was a kid! Which I knew Tony would just LOVE! Cause I did! I loved this stuff, man!

… so without further ado, here’s a list of cartoons that I think I might have been high while watching as a child.  

He-Man and the Masters of the Universe

Okay, so Tony actually loves this show too. Mostly because he thinks it’s pretty awesome that He-Man even saves bad guys. But watching it now makes me think that I might have been a tad slow as a child. Why would you EVER transform into He-Man? You go from a rocket-powered Battle Ram to a .. cat. You give up laser guns for a .. sword. Also, I didn’t remember the little pedantic moralistic recaps at the end of every episode. Those are annoying. BUT – the entire show is voiced by four people, which .. you gotta admit, is a little impressive.

Inspector Gadget

Um. Wow. This was a REALLY, REALLY bad cartoon. Even Tony wouldn’t sit through it. (Although, in the pilot episode, Penny is voiced by Rainbow Brite’s voice and Inspector Gadget has a big, pedophile-looking mustache. So it’s weird, is what I’m saying here.) But I was surprised that this was a Saban-Levy production, brought to us by the same entertainment gurus who later brought us Mighty Morphin Power Rangers. (.. more on that in a bit.) So I’m not sure this show was written in english originally. Although – hey. Don Adams, y’all. Mad respect there.

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers

I chose this picture VERY carefully. Because we have been re-watching the original series, with the Green-and-White Ranger. Tony ADORES Power Rangers, but we have to watch it VERY sparingly or else he goes to school and thinks himself to be a ninja. Man, this show. Did you know that Bulk has a DOCTORATE in ACTING? Seriously. Also, in the fighting scenes, you’ll notice that the yellow ranger doesn’t have a skirt. BECAUSE IN JAPAN, IT’S A DUDE. Also, we spend a lot of time on IMDB while we watch these shows.

Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer

Somewhere, my sister just squealed. We watched this so much as little girls that our VHS tape WORE OUT in places. Seriously. I can tell you that Buddy Blue sings an opening line in the song “Every Morning is a Brand New Day” that we rewound to listen to so many times that it would get snowy for it. Tony sat with me for the entire movie, really just kind of hypnotized. Because it’s .. it’s actually not a bad movie. Action filled, songs, colors .. um, but pretty trippy. Very trippy. Acid-y. I so love it.

Care Bears II: A New Generation

Before this awful CGI crap that is now out for Care Bears (THEY MADE UP NEW BEARS. THOSE ARE NOT REAL CARE BEARS), there was this movie, where we learn about the Care Bear cousins and the evil Darkheart. Um – Darkheart is some scary shit, y’all. This movie has baby cuddly things, gooey songs, and .. um, really heavy-handed morals. But it’s for kids! Sometimes you have to be slow and determined! And in the weirdest circle, the voice of Christy in this movie ends up being the permanent voice of Penny on Inspector Gadget. DUDE, I KNOW.

What have you revisited with your kids? And did you begin to doubt your childhood as well?

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In Which the Fear Overcame Me

By on November 8, 2011 in NaBloPoMo

So – let’s talk about my fitness and body again, shall we?

I’m sorry about that. I’m sorry that I often take over my own blog with my need to discuss things that aren’t really of great importance to anyone BUT me, but hey. Sometimes I need to talk through my fingertips, and if you’d rather not read it, you can go watch this amazing video on 25 ways to tie a scarf. (I’m wearing the Fake Knot today, by the way.)

She hates it when people say this about her, but Miss Zoot is pretty inspiring. We’ve been In-Real-Life Friends for a long while now, and I’ve loved watching her kind of .. this sounds bizarre, but bear with me .. fit in her own skin. I’ve always loved her, but she’s often labeled herself as antisocial and shy, and it’s been awesome seeing her come out of her shell the past few years. Not to mention the amazing journey she’s taken with a year of bootcamp and training for a half-marathon. She does this all while parenting three lovely but busy children. And if she can do it, dude, valid excuses are few and far between.

(Okay, but look. There ARE valid excuses out there. Even she will tell you that.)

I finally am at an okay place schedule-wise and mentally-wise to start my own journey. That’s, I think, the first step. And I was so excited to start Bootcamp this session. Like, seriously! Excited! Ready to feel sore for the right reasons and ready for the amazing sleep that comes with a 4:30 wake-up call and ready to start feeling better naked. (Sorry. That’s an honest goal of bootcamp for me.)

Then I had the trip-from-hell that was getting back from Austin. Which, okay. I missed the first morning of bootcamp. I went twice that week before showing up on Friday morning, when I got over-enthusiastic about squats (slow your roll, Sarah) and pulled my knee out of joint.

And now? I am so afraid. The fear is seriously paralyzing me.

I took a week off to let my knee recover, even though I was officially cleared after Wednesday. But I was nervous, and still sore, so I thought – let’s just make it an even week of rest.

Then my alarm didn’t go off on Monday morning of this week.

This morning, I laid in bed and had a panic attack. At 4:30. The fear, man. It just overcame me. What if you injure your knee again? Can you take that pain again? What if it’s worse this time? What if you injure the OTHER knee? What if you break something? You’re not strong enough for this, Sarah. Quit pretending you are.

And I freaking HATE that voice. That voice of doubt and of fear and of self-loathing. I hate that voice. Sadly, at 4:30 in the morning, it seems so much more encompassing than any of the other voices.

When I did Crossfit a year ago – which I loved, but scheduling and money didn’t see eye-to-eye – the fear was my biggest set-back. Trying to convince that voice that I could do that box jump or I could do that pull-up was near impossible. My coach would stand behind me, telling me point blank that I did clear higher than the box jump that I feared I couldn’t do and why not just try for more? You can do it, Sarah; you’re doing it already. But my fear was so paralyzing. The fear of double-unders, of falling on my face, of injury or embarrassment. Of internalizing my pain long enough to make it to my car and then realizing that I probably needed medical attention. That fear is just so LOUD.

Trying to explain Bootcamp to Tony has been a challenge. Mostly I just say, “I went and exercised” this morning. And now, when he goes to school in the morning, he runs laps on the driveway. “I need to exercise, Momma,” he’ll say. Or he’ll ask if we can go swimming because “it’s good exercise, Momma. You like to exercise!” And that is probably when I most proud – when I realize that I’m at least passing on the good parts.

I just need to take that step and kick that stupid fear in the throat. Maybe that will shut it up.

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