I already knew that no matter what Simon says at the end of the year, I would keep going until I reach my ultimate goal, but something different happened today that is worth sharing.
Well, I was seriously planning to get out of a bed at 7:30am (seriously) and when that time came, I moved and it hurt!! These last few days of constantly standing on my feet baking and moving a tub with 26 pounds of icing must have caused some extra strain on my muscles because it feels like EVERY muscle in my back is sore! Regardless, that kept me in bed for an additional 3 hours and I really had thoughts about just working on the cake and doing my workout once I got home from work. But, when 10:30am rolled around, I made my stiff body get out of bed and headed toward the living room to press “play.”
Last night was a cool night so we turned off the AC and opened the only set of windows that our apartment has. (Even though we only have 2 windows that allow air into the house, I was still pretty cold upon waking up. My toesies were freezing!) Needless to say, the living room felt absolutely fantastic and it actually turned my exhaustion into excitement. I was ready to work out. :D
Three times during Kenpo X, there’s a “break” that doesn’t technically count as a break. It lasts about one and one-half minutes and it’s really used to increase your heart rate (at least, I think it is.) You start out running, then jumping an imaginary rope, then jumping jacks for 40 seconds (which used to KILL me) and then something that TH calls “X-time” <which I don’t really enjoy. Does that sound like a break? No! (I use the running portion to chug some water and then return when they start jumping rope.)
I might have mentioned this in an earlier post, but I’ll mention it again. I like to work out in front of a mirror. It helps me make sure my form is good, shows me how far I’ve come (like the fact that I can now see my muscles in my calves) and encourages me to jump higher (in specific moves). I’d recommend it even if you think you still need lots more work. The mirror is helpful!!
Ok, you now know about the mirror. Now, the empowering part. I was doing jumping jacks during one of the breaks (the 40 seconds plus however long it takes to do “x-time,” so, about 55 seconds straight!) and I was watching myself. Wow! How far I’ve come! When I first started, I could even do 14 seconds of jumping jacks and now 55 seconds doesn’t even get me tired (after already having done about 20 minutes of the workout.) Today, it actually looked like my body was changing and even looked different from even a week ago. It motivated me even more to keep going and to keep fighting for the body that I want, not that I have to settle for because I’m lazy!
I was also empowered to run. I’ve been thinking about this for some time now and I actually did try running last winter-spring for a few weeks. I had to run in sweat pants with my water bottle in my pocket (because I was running around then eighborhood.) I was also gasping for air and finding it hard to catch my breath because the winter air was freezing my throat. Now, with the weather being fantastic, I’m thinking about doing the Couch to 5K using the workout facility our apartment provides and opening the door. I kind of wanted to start this week, but with all the cake stuff, it looks like next week will have to be it. I’m empowered and want to add running to my abilities too!! :D
About the cake. I already told you that I woke up later than I wanted to (because of the cake) and was only able to fit in the crumb coat for the smallest and 2nd biggest layer. It only took one hour and nine minutes, which surprised me because I ran into SO many problems!! (I recently bought a HUGE piping tip because it’d be easier to get a level layer of frosting between the cake layers and it would save a TON of time. Well, the icing was a little too cold and it busted out of the bag as I was trying to crumb coat the bigger cake! (ARHG!!) Rather ticked off, I threw the tip on the counter and finished by putting some cold icing in my mixer and missing till it was easier to work with. (Stupid tip, stupid bag!) Anyway, that worked and it didn’t take as long as I thought. I put both cakes in the fridge and they now take up about 33% of our fridge space (I still have the largest and 2nd smallest to do, so this will be interesting.)
The next problem that I ran into was that this red velvet cake is SO SUPER moist that some of the edges were committing suicide by jumping off the side of the cake and landing on the counter or on the floor, making a HUGE mess for me and a problem with the shape of the cake. Luckily, I was able to fill that little portion with icing so whoever gets that piece will love this cake EVEN more!
Another problem that I ran into was counter space. I am literally going to take a picture of our kitchen so you can see what I'm working with. PJ woke up and had to get his lunch ready for work but couldn't very efficiently because he had to keep moving things to get to other things. Likewise, I had to move just about everything to make enough counter space for everything that I was doing. It was a pain in the butt!! (We need a bigger kitchen!)
I left the big bucket of icing out so that I could work with it easier tonight. I still have to do the other two tiers without my cool HUGE tip though now. (It was my last bag so I have to go to Michaels in the morning.) I’m staying up late tonight and waking up early tomorrow (don’t count on it, but I am).
Below are pictures of what I did today. (forgive the fact that there is a HUGE jar of pickles and jalepenos behind it, they wouldn’t fit anywhere else.)
Alright, toodles for now.
Signing Out,
It’s Possible!!
<Smallest cake! This is the crummiest part of the entire process!!!
Both cakes crumb coated!! >>
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