Holy Six Pack

And not the beer kind. The kind that is forming on my abdomen! I have never, ever had abs like these, and truthfully, it wasn't that hard. I mean, yes, the 30 Day Shred is effing ridiculous (and this is coming from someone who took about two months to do 30 days of workouts), but the actual ab exercises were never so impossible that I utterly failed. And now, 9 days into the last 10 days of the workout dvd, I can honestly say, I have the shadowy beginnings of a six pack. I also can't believe that tomorrow will mean I have done Level 3 for ten days (in a total of 15 days - but that included Christmas vacation!). While my last post was pretty much a load of kvetching about how hard it was, nine days later, it's definitely doable. I feel pretty kick-ass getting through the whole workout without needing to modify any of the moves. The last set of cardio includes two moves that originally were so hard I could barely do the modified versions - jump squats and rock star jumps. Now I blaze through them, apologizing in my mind to my downstairs neighbors who must think that for twenty minutes every night, someone is either having extremely vigorous sex or a domestic dispute, minus the shouting.

In other updates: the old apartment, you know, the one we're paying rent on even though we moved into our cheaper apartment to save money (don't worry, I know the irony is just killing all of you) - might actually be leased to someone new soon! They are applying, and have a guarantor, so things are looking good... That apartment (and its astronomical rent that we're still paying) aside, I recalculated and found that I am now spending only twenty-six percent of my income on rent, as opposed to the previous forty percent. This leaves me with much more of my earnings to go towards my small school loan (credit card bill is paid off!) and into my savings.

Last update: Christmas was wonderful this year, full of family, snow, and many unsuccessful attempts to control Rupert in a house full of cats to chase and tall people who kept picking him up. I received some wonderful gifts, including two cookbooks (one vegetarian, the other vegan) which I can't wait to delve into, as well as a book on urban gardening so that I'll be able to figure out how to grow my herbs even without a terrace. Add to that the fabulously exciting immersion blender from one of my brothers, and you'll have to agree that I definitely lucked out with gifts this year.

Also, check out the new pages at the top of the blog under the title. Happy New Year everyone!