My Movies in 2019

Well ... I didn't go see a movie in a theater this year. I'm a homebody who prefers Hub's popcorn and being able to turn on the captions and pause for a potty break. Or ... I'll watch while working out, which is where I watched pretty much all of these. Some old, some new. Some blockbusters, some straight to streaming. Some good, some ... not so good. 42 movies ... plus 13 Christmas Shows in December.

It's interesting to look back on these movies, months after viewing most of them, and thinking about what sticks in my memory about them.  A few were re-watches ... About Time, Chef, Sixth Sense and Invictus. All the rest were new, to me anyway. Mean Girls is 15 years old, but is talked about and referenced so often I figured I should catch up and know what everyone is talking about. The Boy in the Striped Pajamas was released in 2008 and I'd heard of it, but hadn't seen it or read the book. I HAD read the books for Ready Player One, Wonder, The Darkest Minds, Annihiliation and Everyday. Then I watched the "bookclub" movies Book Club and The Jane Austen Book Club.  

I'm still behind on the Marvel movies, but wanted to watch the Ant Man sequel, as I'd enjoyed the first one. A Star is Born and Bohemian Rhapsody created quite the buzz, and I thought they were good. I watched A Quiet Place (no sound) and BirdBox (no sight) the same week.  Several "based on true stories" ... some better than others. The Rock ... Rampage and Skyscraper, ummmm ... Musical Mama Mia and Pitch Perfect sequels and Disney related Saving Mr. Banks and Christopher Robin (really liked them both). The Mule ... oh  my heavens, this older Clint Eastwood character was MY DAD! Not the bad stuff (women/drug running) but the clothes, the way he spoke and moved, his mannerisms. It was uncanny!

We still had HBO for most of the year (we dropped DirectTV in the fall, and with it went our HBO). That was where I watched the most recently released Blockbusters. We have Netflix and Prime, so still access to quite a few movies, especially as I haven't been seeing any in theaters, I have quite the backlog! I think we'll finally go ahead and join the Disney+ people so my Star Wars son can catch "The Mandalorian" and I'll try to catch what movies they offer while we have it. 

Here's to entertainment while exercising!

2019 ... Year In Review

... all my monthly collages in one. You can see the official Fitbit Intake/Burn graph ended in July. I went ahead and made my own in Excel for September/October, and then gave up on including that graphic ... which also included some stopping of counting calories all together. About that same time I gave up my weekly blog updates/number crunch/reviews and just went to a look at the whole month.

 ... and this was my Instagram Top 9

I don't particularly want to go over the annual numbers ... not a good year. Last year at this time, I had an uber up on the scale. I managed to dip down a little in the summer. But I fell in the fall. Back to the highest weight I've been outside of pregnancy.

 

 Weight started at 173.6. Ended at 188.5. High was 190.8. Low was 164.3. 

Here's the Stats. I gave up calorie counting at the end of the year.

Any correlation to the numbers on the scale jumping up? Coincidence? ;)

Here's a look at LifeCycle ... the  MORE section is showcased below (I wish we had the option to just include it! If you look back at 2017 it was ALL on the same one. I realize people who have more going on might not make it fit, but I'd like the option).  It's interesting to compare it from year to year. Zumba was my top activity ... dancing beat driving! More basketball this year than last, which surprised me. A little less time with family. Lawn mowing was exactly the same! Time at the dentist was almost identical to last year, time at the doctor's doubled (and unfortunately, I'm betting we beat it this coming year). More time on school stuff, and that doesn't even reflect the real story.

Added racquet sports ... that was either tennis, badminton or pickleball. Hope to have more of that next year. A bit of bowling. Looking at last year I didn't see bowling there. Less beach time. I only went once with the family. A bit more time on food runs, picking up pizza or Popeyes. Some snow shoveling. Auto stuff. Hubs and I went to see a monarch release, I wasn't sure how to categorize that! And of course, my ONE RUN of the year. A few minutes slower than last year.

One last look at 2019

(I made this collage for the family blog)

December 2019

End of the Month. End of the Year. End of the Decade.

These last few months have been rough. My weight is up. Eating is up ... although that's a guess, as I've pretty much given up tracking it. Exercise is down. I haven't been hopping here on the blog with weekly updates. I have still managed to journal and get my monthly updates done.  Here's December.

NUMBERS: Weight started at 183.6. Ended at 188.5. High was 190.8 with low 179.4. Average weight 184.6. That's pretty much my all time high, excluding pregnancies. Step average this month was 14,498 with 309.66 logged miles. Average burn 2448. No average intake or deficit/overage due to lack of tracking. 2177/2415 cardio minutes, and a whopping 10min with weights. And I was still a little sore the next day. 

EXERCISE: Only achieved my hour of elliptical four days this month. Got in partial workouts (20-50min) eight other days. Did better on the treadmill ... 22 days of two-mile treadmill walks, and one day I did a full hour (3.5miles). 15 Zumba classes. I got on the bike once! Just once for weights too.  OTHER ACTIVITIES: Of course with the Christmas season, there were some family activities on both sides. The usual grocery shopping, and some basketball games. Dental visits for me, and checkups for the two youngest boys. More medical/mental. Not really "duck duty" or yardwork, but cleaning out the shed and getting all the yard/duck stuff away. 

I watched a bunch of movies this month -
the 13 days of Christmas movies!

Christmas Movies

I've seen "A Christmas Story" and "Elf" and the other well known Christmas standards. I've never really gotten into the Hallmark movies, or even the Netflix specials though.  This year, I really needed something to try and get me into the spirit of the season, and the TV series I was watching while working out wasn't really motivating me anyway. So I switched to Christmas movies. All watched while working out.  I haven't been spending as much time in the gym, so starting and finishing a movie in a day was a bit of a challenge, even with the majority of these being around 90min in length. If I didn't make it, I'd just finish the movie the next day. As I write my little reviews and thoughts about the shows I watched ... I'll just say this upfront (as it really applies to ALL of them). Pretty predictable and formulaic.  I've seen a lot of jokes about "Hallmark" Christmas movies, and while none of the ones I watched were actual Hallmark movies, many of the memes are spot on ;)

• Holiday in the Wild. 2019 (IMDB 6.1): A brand new Netflix original this year. Who doesn't love Rob Lowe. This didn't feel as much like a Christmas movie, as a movie that happened to take place during December. Still ... being the Scrooge I am, I often struggle watching "Christmas" stuff if it isn't the holiday season. This was cute, I liked it. 
• The Knight Before Christmas. 2019. (IMDB 5.5): Another new Netflix one. While it was cute, it was a bit silly. One I was glad I was working out with, not "just" watching (which I would have considered a waste of time). 
• The Christmas Chronicles. 2018 (IMDB 7.1): One of the Netflix movies from last year. This had some rave reviews ... while I liked it fine, it felt very childish. I guess this the only one I watched that wasn't a romance. 
• The Christmas Prince. 2017 (IMDB 5.7): This one is a couple years old, has a couple sequels, and seems to have its own little cult following. I figured I had better put it on the list just to see what the buzz was about. The main gal here will always be "Zombie"girl to me (iZombie) though. 
• The Christmas Prince; The Royal Wedding. 2018 (IMDB 5.2): I only thought the first movie was okay. This one was pushing the silliness factor for me. 
• The Christmas Prince; The Royal Baby. 2019 (IMDB 5.2): Honestly, I had to take a break between the last one and this one ... but came back and figured I'd finish the series. Too over the top for me. 
• A Cinderella Story; Christmas Wish. 2019 (IMDB 5.2): So I liked this one ;)  I liked the music in it and Shazammed several of the songs. I was not familiar with the lead actors, although I know they are known for their Disney/Marvel roles. The "Cinderella" update was silly but fun. 
• Christmas in the Heartland. 2017 (IMDB 6.0): Oy ... had to push to finish this one. I actually liked the two girls, and Bo Derek was lovely (if unlikable), but many of the other characters/actors? So bad. The storyline was pretty bad too. I watched this on Netflix, but saw it was on Amazon too. 
• Snowed Inn Christmas. 2017 (IMDB 7.3): This is what I think of when "Hallmark Movie" is mentioned (even though this isn't "Hallmark"). Boy/Girl, conflict, of course they fall in love. I recognized the leading lady from One Tree Hill (not that I watched that series, but my son did and I couldn't help but see some of it) and the main man sure reminded me of the "This is Us" Manny guy. 
• Christmas Pen Pals. 2018 (IMDB 7.0): Another "by the book" Christmas romance. Cute little April Kepner from Grey's Anatomy. I liked it. 
• Falling For Christmas. 2016 (IMDB 6.1): I had a little trouble even finding this one on IMDB, I guess there was a title change. It's still listed as "Snowcapped Christmas" there. Back in the day, I really liked "The Cutting Edge" movie, and this had touches of that.  And it had "Blair" from Facts of Life! I liked it. 
• A Gift Wrapped Christmas. 2015. (IMDB 7.2): This one was my favorite. The main gal was so cute and bubbly. I couldn't help but smile, she just radiated Christmas. I did NOT care for the main guy at the start. Not an active dislike, just an "ehh ... I know they are going to end up together and she's too cute for him" but by the end he had won me over too. Even the little boy was cute (I really struggled with the kid actors in some of these, sorry to say but they weren't very good).  This movie actually made me hit the gym again because I wanted to see what was going to happen ...
• All I Want For Christmas. 2013 (IMDB 5.3): And I should have stopped with the last movie, on a high note. This one ... I struggled to stay interested. No motivation to continue on, I even ended up pushing it a couple days and finally finishing after Christmas. Just "roll your eyes" silly. Bad acting. Bad storyline. Blah and bah humbug. 

I did sneak in a few non-Christmas movies (before I made the full "Christmas" commitment and found that even without the Hallmark channel, I had oodles to choose from), so for the "month" between Thanksgiving (because NO Christmas movies before Thanksgiving!) and Christmas, 13 Holiday movies, almost 1550 minutes of walking (or ellipticaling or I even hit the stationary bike a couple of times) while watching wasn't too bad. Maybe I'll try it again next year ...

November 2019

I'm late getting this up. No real incentive to showcase my pitiful performance for the month. In addition to the leftover Halloween candy, there was Thanksgiving, two birthdays, and some baking. Hubs headed to Hawaii and #1 and wife were Mexico bound. There was basketball, snow, tooth trouble and a car accident. 

NUMBERS:  Starting weight 180.6. Ending weight 183.6. High was 184.8 and low was 179.9. Average 182.03.  No average intake, as I wasn't good at tracking it this month. I started to, then gave up. Burn average 2473. Step average 15530. Tracked miles 139.42. Cardio minutes 2349/2649. 

EXERCISE:  Only four days with a full hour of elliptical. A dozen other days where I got at least one elliptical workout in though. 16 days with treadmill time, one day with double duty. 18 Zumba classes. Two times picking up rackets ... tennis while the weather held, then pickleball. I even hit the bike once! No weight workouts though.   

Winter Watching 5x

 

I get a lot of watching in during winter. I'm not an outdoor exerciser anyway, so the change in weather doesn't affect my routine much. But ... if I'm feeling cold, or know I have to go out into the cold (mommy uber) it's a little extra incentive to hit the gym for a quick warmup workout. Here's a few of the series that kept me entertained while in the gym as 2019 wrapped up.

• Dark: I loved this, and watched all three seasons. I can't do dubbing, so I left the audio in the original German and put on subtitles. Timetravel is always mindbending, and this was crazy! I was very impressed with the casting of the individuals at different ages, some were SO spot on! It was confusing and complex, and I appreciated when they'd do little portions where they showed the people side-by-side. This was deserving of it's (M/mature) rating with language and sexuality.
• Reign: This one has been going on for a while with me. I watched the first season and then finished the second one ... but I don't know that I'll continue. It's a little over the top. I struggled a bit with Megan Follows as an evil character! She'll always be Anne to me. This ended up being my "weight workout" show ... something I didn't really need to pay close attention to or keep my eyes on it all the time (as with weights, I can't always keep my eyes on the TV). 
• The Widow: This was an Amazon original (all the others are Netflix) and I thought it was pretty good. Lots of action. It kept my interest enough.
• Unbelievable: I'd heard a bit of buzz and figured I'd give this show a try. It was challenging, not knowing who or what to believe. 
• Raising Dion: I generally love supernatural shows ... this one did NOT work for me. The acting and the story were eye-rolling. I really like to at least finish a season for closure, but I gave up on this one. On my DNF list.

October 2019

October 2019 ... no intake again. I didn't even bother to grab the graph. The month started off with some anticipated travel and fun, and ended unimaginably. Maga (Hub's mom) passed away. Completely unexpected, in her sleep. She laid down for an afternoon nap and didn't wake up. She and the cousins, and our #3 had done Disneyland at the start of the month. Hubs and #4 took a trip to Seattle to visit family there. We brought dinner in to my folks, as my mom had fallen and broken her wrist. Then #2 broke his foot and sprained his ankle badly during basketball. I got #4 in for some psychological testing ... and then Maga. Hub's and his siblings have a lot to deal with dealing with the estate (Hub's father passed away years ago) and it's been a rough time for everyone emotionally.  

I was already off schedule, with the sickness and such in September. #2 is now home all day (can't work or drive with his foot) and #1 stops by in the morning and for lunch. #3 has been working but will be changing jobs and shifting schedules to where he will be around in the day. It's very different from the past few years when all the kids were in school and I had a strict schedule and some hours alone to accomplish whatever I wanted. One day I looked around  (NOT during Fall Break, but that happened this month too) and had three of the five boys home in the middle of the day. Just an excuse ... I could still fit in the exercise if I tried and made it a priority. I am still getting some, just not my usual "back to school"  shift into gear. It's literally been back to school, as I've been helping a lot with #4's online schooling. Often doing the reading and watching the lectures, taking notes, so I can tutor him and nudge him step-by-step along the way. 

It's the eating anyway ... but that's gone completely downhill. There has definitely been some emotional eating. I tend to snack as I sit at the computer, which I've been doing a lot more of late. Add in Halloween and tons of little snack size candies (calories don't count in those small sizes, right), candy corn and some seasonal baking.   I gave up counting calories and tracking. I never got to updating the blog on my weekly reports. I've given up on lots of things.

NUMBERS: Weight started at 173.2. Ended at 179.8. Those with the high and low too. Average was 176.62.  Average burn 2487. Step average 15228, total steps 472,071 with 117.94 logged miles. Cardio minutes 2136/2569 with 15min weights. 

EXERCISE: Only three days with a full hour of elliptical. Five days had partial elliptical workouts. Better with treadmill time, 14 days this month. Still got my Zumba in, even with skipping a couple classes. 19 total. #4 and I have been playing tennis (pickleball one week), had four sessions there. One weight workout.

OTHER ACTIVITY: Tons of family time, obviously. Still have to grab groceries to keep everyone fed. Basketball, finishing up the Fall season (a few playoff games next month). Doctor and dentist, more than the usual. No lawn mowing ... the weather has definitely turned.

September 2019

In the past, September has been a good month for me. Completely on the school schedule, birthdays behind us... this year, switching to the online school for #4, and figuring that out, some sickness (just a cold that stuck around, really impacted exercise and energy) and stress. Not so good a month. I even gave up tracking intake for a few days there, but it's almost harder for me NOT to track, I'm so used to it (although admittedly I could do better at accuracy, weighing/measuring and timely updates). Some bit rainstorms, and even hail!  Had a scare with our kitty ... lost, then found! So ehhh ... Wake me up, September is over. On to October and my nemesis, candy corn! 

NUMBERS: Starting weight 171.8. Ending weight 174.5 (it was a Monday morning). High 176.5. Low 170.8. Average 174.08.  Because I didn't track some days, I don't have a monthly intake average, or a deficit/overage calculated. Average burn was 2633. Step average 17474, total steps 524,219 with 133 logged miles. Five 3000+ burn days. Just one 30k day. Cardio minutes 2153/2971 with 20 min w/weights.

 EXERCISE: Only thirteen days on the elliptical this month. Achieved my hour nine times, and less than that the remaining four days. Only seven days with treadmill time. Zumba classes 20 times. One little weight workout. Added some tennis and badminton.

OTHER ACTIVITIES: Basketball is back, with #5 playing in three leagues, two different teams. Lots of games and practices. #2 is playing in a men's league, but I haven't made it to one of his games yet (as it's a night I'm on driving duty for #5). Family gathering with the some of the Seattle Blackhams in town; hanging out with them at BIL's house, then going to see hot air balloons. A little eating out with that too. Lawn mowing may start to decrease, with the weather cooling. A visit to the doctor with #4. Not tracking the time spent on "school" helping him ... but it's been a LOT. 

TV Tuesday - Six Series Sequels

It's been a while since I've done a TV Tuesday post ... I've been watching while I work out, and have watched a number of second and third seasons for series I've enjoyed. I like to do a quick write up here on the blog - mainly for ME, so I remember what I watched and when.  So here's a rundown of six series ...

• Jack Ryan: Hubs and I had enjoyed the first season ... this second one didn't leave as much of an impact. Reflecting on it now, I can't really even remember the storyline. The girl from "What Happened to Monday" was a love(sex) interest, which just didn't click, especially as he's met his future wife in season 1. 
• Big Little Lies: Again, the second season didn't have the same impact as the first one did. I can still remember season 1, but even though my watching of season 2 was more recent, I really can't recall the storyline, with the exception of the addition of Glen Close.
• The Handmaid's Tale: Season three here. I waited until all the episodes were out, then started watching, getting through one or two episodes a day while on the treadmill/elliptical. As with the other seasons, very dark and disturbing.  I watched it down in the gym, then re-watched an episode or two with Hubs upstairs, but it might just be too depressing for him to want to watch.
• Glitch: Season three ... the final season. I've really enjoyed this series. A unique idea, a new cast of characters. Love the Australian accents. I didn't care for this season though. The addition of new "glitched" characters ... and the ultimate ending. I'm not really sure how I would have liked it to wrap up, but I didn't love the events and the closure here.
• The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel: Season three. I'd been looking forward to this one, and was happy when it arrived on Amazon. While I love music, and the talent is great ... I've never been one to enjoy "concerts" on television programs (or real life for that matter). There was a bit too much music. Also very sad about the turn of events at the end. Another little twist though ... right after I'd watched the first episode of season 3, I introduced the series to Hubs, and we watched the first episode of season 1. If I hadn't watched the two back-to-back, I wouldn't have realized the re-creation of the first scene. In season 1, with Joel walking down the street, into his father's company ... in season 3, it's Midge, almost identical re-creation of the street/factory set-up. Deja vu moment for me! I wonder how many others caught it. 
• Veep: Hubs and I had watched all the other seasons (1-6) together ... the final season came out, and our HBO subscriptions was going to come to an end (dropping DirectTV) so I figured I'd get my own closure on the series at least. Always interesting to see how they END a series, when it's planned (not just canceled). This was complete closure. I liked it. 

I had watched quite a few movies in 2019 too, so my series would be squeezed in-between or after. If I really liked a series, then I'd switch and just keep watching it from start to finish.  Watching while working out ...

Weekly Weigh-In #321 (174.5)

The sickness that started last weekend continued on this week. For me and #4 anyway. #3 has come down with it too, but #5 had a quick recovery. So still low steps for me. No early elliptical, in fact, I only got 30min in for the entire week! Still some treadmill time, but I even skipped a Zumba class (I didn't feel up to teaching) and had rather wimpy workouts for the ones I went to.  Not a lot of extra stuff going on this week. I've been more involved with school this week (#4's online stuff). Basketball and derbies per usual.

NUMBERS: Weight was down two pounds. Not sure why.  Average down (-1.54).  I flaked on my food tracking for a couple days, so I don't have a deficit/overage or intake average. Burn average was 2456. Step average 14967 with just 18.27 logged miles.  Cardio minutes 390/539/456/783.  I actually did do some weights (just 20 min, but still enough to be a bit sore the next couple days). 

STEPS: The only reason my ScrapJen(Versa) steps are higher is because of a funky Friday, where my steps mysteriously doubled (so it should have been about the same as the 3JenB). #2 (Cal) was bummed he didn't break 100k, but it really depends on what he's assigned to do at work, and he was on non-step stuff (as was #3). Nice to have #5 up fairly high again. 

EXERCISE: Only on the elliptical one day, under my hour. Three days with treadmill time. Just four Zumba classes (cancelled my Tuesday, not up to teaching). I did get in a little weight workout.  Here's a look at the day by day ...

• Monday (0923): Coughing woke me early. Tried some elliptical early, but it was hard. #5 felt good enough to go to school. I tried Zumba, although it was half-hearted.  Grabbed some groceries. Made dinner. #1 took #4 to a movie. I took #5 to his basketball game (loss, but the boys sure played hard).  16507 steps. 2588 burn. 1900 intake. 
• Tuesday(0924): Bad night. No Zumba - would have tried if I was just attending, but didn't feel up to teaching. Did a little treadmill walk. #4 had a meltdown over Spanish in school, after discussions with counselor and teacher, we are going to move him back to Spanish 1. That should help. My mom ended up at the ER with a broken wrist. #1 and #4 did a movie again. 11295 steps. 2164 burn. Untracked intake. 
• Wednesday (0925): Still feeling off, but tried Zumba. Store stop/errands on the way home. #5 had basketball clinic. #4 went and helped Dad on a derby. 16540 steps. 2564 burn. 2300 intake. 
• Thursday (0926): Zumba w/MZL. Cleaners came, so I walked and did weights while they were at the house. Late game (9:00 start) for #5 ... lost by one. Lots of close games! 20843 steps. 2750 burn. Untracked intake.
• Friday (0927): No school for #5 (and he's my only one in traditional school now, so ... sleep in!) Zumba w/MZL. Still school for #4, finishing up his week, and I spent a ton of time, going through the next week (he's going on a little trip) to try and plan and see what he needs to get done. Reading some of the stuff to help him. Mowed the lawn (rain in the forecast). #5 had practice in the evening. #2 and K8 did a neighborhood paint night. We are on doggy-duty, watching the pup next door. 15665 steps. 2490 burn. 2300 intake.
•  Saturday (0928) The new season of "Grey's Anatomy" started ... aired Thursday, and I finally got around to watching while I walked on the treadmill. #4 watched the MinCon2019. I tried to get him to do some school ... but it's Saturday (but he's missing three days next week!) #5 had to games back to back, won both. Hubs made popcorn in the evening. 14227 steps. 2395 burn. 2850 intake. 
• Sunday (0929) Woke feeling yucky ... dizzy and nauseous. It would pass, then hit again. Made crepes for the family. Napped. Finally started feeling a bit better. Hit Sams/Walmart to grab a few things. Hubs purged his closet then made some steak - reheated sous vide, which was really good, maybe even better? Super tender. 9694 steps. 2238 burn. 2200 intake. 

  
Five Featured Photos ...

... the temp at the basketball game ... just under 65°  Brrrrrr

... bruises from the basketball game.

#5 also had a jammed finger, and his hip has been hurting.

Bruises and Black Eyes. My poor parents.  My mom tripped and fell and broke her wrist and hit her head on Dad's tools. Dad had to go in for small skin cancer surgery. 

 Just a random snapshot of some silly boys ...

Neighborhood paint night ...