Cardio Mike's Boot Camp Gets Results

Kelsey - lost 14 lbs.---- Esther - lost 12 lbs. ----Gene - lost 7 lbs.

Tom - lost 6 lbs. ----Carla - lost 3 inches

Every participants run time improved including:

40 yard dash

John from 5.75 to 5.15---- Cindy from 7.16 to 6.46 ----Adrienne from 7.93 to 6.83

Kelsey from 7.81 to 6.67---- Elizabeth from 10.78 to 8.15

Muscular Endurance increased:

Push ups

Adrienne from 41 to 55 ----Gene from 47 to 66 ----Cindy from 45 to 65

Courtney from 42 to 57 ----John from 35 to 46

Cardiovascular Endurance increased:

1-mile

John from 6:08 to 5:53 ----Sara from 7:55 to 7:28---- Tom from 7:47 to 7:12

Everyone's optimum fitness was enhanced.

These were just a few of the accomplishments with Cardio Mike's Boot Camp.

Last Day of Cardio Mike's Boot Camp

The last day of Boot Camp was Saturday, October 13th. The session started with stretches...

...then they all headed outside to be timed for the last time on the mile.

Back inside to get counts on push-ups...
...and sit-ups.
After getting their counts all recorded.
...the last session of Boot Camp

Everyone put on their Ringside weight vests for the last time for final vigerous workout...

...ending the workout with stretches...
...and High-Fives...
...and a Thumbs-up from Cardio Mike!

Happy Birthday K-Monster!

My daughter's 2nd and youngest son, we call him K-Monster, has a late October birthday and we celebrated with family and friends this last Friday. We started out with sandwiches, chips and dip, and punch.

He opted to open presents before before having cake so everyone was herded into the living room.
Halloween is one of their favorite holidays and my daughter decorates her house up beautifully. I need to go back over and get some better shots of her decorations.
See the "bones" in the fireplace? At first glance it looked as though something was burning in it.

This child loves chocolate so much that he got a whole box of candy bars and two boxes of nutty bars from three different people.
He used to get a lot more wrapped gifts (my grandchildren are spoiled), but he's at the age that it's easier to just give him money. So he also received several cards with money included. His big gift was a professional poker set. He, his dad and grandpa played Texas Hold'em after everyone else left.
I managed to get a shot of the cake before any candles got stuck in it.
All the candles lit.
He blew out all the candles and most of the cake was consumed along with a bucket of Neapolitan ice cream. The birthday boy had a wonderful day.

Tracing Your Roots with DNA

Sunday, October 21, was our fall meeting of the Golden Wheat Chapter of the American Historical Society of Germans from Russia (AHSGR). First we all sat down for a covered dish dinner and afterward the recently departed Elvest Lehl's son gave a talk on the Airtrain that Elvest had been working on up to the time of his death. The work on the Airtrain will continue and hopefully some day be a reality. Our guest speaker was Frank Jacobs who reported to us on the use of DNA in tracing our ancestry and what interesting things he has found out about his via this method. He explained about the movement of groups of people throughout history and the reasons behind whole ethnic groups moving from one location to another. That male lines can be traced back in a more definite line than female and it is therefore necessary to have a male of a family for DNA sample. In the picture below, Frank Jacobs is the one in the suit.

My son set up presentation equipment from T&S Mobile Projectors for both presentations.

For Immediate Release

October 22, 2007

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Canada's most prominent novelist to speak at Hesston College November 2

Hesston, Kan. -- Canadian novelist Rudy Wiebe will be featured at an 11a.m. Friday Forum, November 2, at Hesston College. The forum, held in the sanctuary of Hesston Mennonite Church, is free and open to the public.Wiebe will also speak in several classes."Wiebe is one of Canada's most prominent contemporary fiction writers,"said John Sharp, Hesston College's Centennial history writer and history professor. "As a Mennonite writer, Wiebe is without equal north and south of the 49th parallel. He has won Canada's most prestigious awards,including the Governor General's award for fiction in 1973. He is professor emeritus of English at the University of Winnipeg."One might think of Wiebe as the godfather of Mennonite novelists," Sharp said. Among his novels are the following: Mennonite themes: Peace Shall Destroy Many (1962), Blue Mountains of China (1970), My Lovely Enemy(1983), Sweeter Than All the World (2001); Native American themes: The Temptations of Big Bear (1973), The Scorched-Wood People (1977), First and Vital Candle (1966), A Discovery of Strangers (1994). In his most recent work, a non-fiction book titled Of This Earth, Wiebe tells the story of his first 12 years of life in remote Saskatchewan, where his Mennonite family struggled to start a farm out of stony bushland. Wiebe will also speak at Bethel College, North Newton, Kan., and Tabor College, Hillsboro, Kan. For more information, contact John Sharp, phone 620-327-8248; e-mail:JohnS@hesston.edu.

Reprinted with permission from:
Phil Richard
Director of Communications Hesston College
620-327-8115
philr@hesston.edu

"Peace is not the absence of conflict, but the presence of God no matter what the conflict." -- author unknown

Where does the time go!

It's almost been a week since I've posted. The dentist gave me some antibiotics and pain pills. So from Tuesday till Thursday, or maybe it was Friday, I've kind of been in La-la land. I go back to the dentist Nov. 1st, not sure what she'll do, remove the offending tooth? Maybe. I'm feeling better now, but have a ton of projects to catch up on. Today I have a meeting of the Golden Wheat Chapter of AHSGR. I'll post more on that later. For now, I better get some sleep!

I'm In Pain!!!

I can't work like this, I have a toothache that is killing me and my dentist's office is closed today because they're all at some meeting. It's an upper back molar but it gets to hurting soooo bad my lower jaw will hurt. I'm taking ibuprofen every six hours and three hours after I take that I take "Tylenol" every six hours because three hours after taking either the pain starts back up again. Have you ever cooked a lettuce salad? Well, I wanted to finish up this salad yesterday but I knew I wouldn't be able to chew, especially the carrots, so I just microwaved it. It really wasn't too bad.
I'm going to have to get this toothache taken care of before I can get back to work on my videos, I just can't concentrate like this. Anybody got any good remedies for toothaches, other than a pair of pliers?

Boot Camp Party!

Cardio Mike's Boot Camp ended with a party in the lobby of Genesis in Hutchinson the evening after the last session. In the last session the platoon was timed and tested to see what progress they made in the 6 weeks. I don't have the numbers but everyone improved in at least one area they had worked on.
T&S Mobile Projectors sat up the big screen in the lobby and previous sessions were reviewed. Everyone seemed to get a kick out of seeing themselves and each other kicking, bouncing, stretching and all the rest of the things that made them sweat and ache.
Food and drinks were abundant and everyone kicked back and relaxed after weeks of work.

They even had an ice cream cake that no one wanted to be the first one to cut into.
Last but not the least part of the party was a trip on The Party Xpress party bus into Wichita for a bar crawl. This is where we parted company with most of the platoon riding off in the party bus, you'll have to talk to one of them to find out how the party ended.

Stew or Soup?

It's getting to be that time of year again. The time perfect for warming up with a nice big soup bowl of your favorite fixings. I LOVE stew. I do remember a time, as a child, when I claimed that I absolutely HATED stew. Actually, I recall not really knowing what the stuff was, and I couldn't determine that by looking at it either. I was child, I knew nothing.

I think what I fix is stew, but I couldn't really tell you the difference. If I just add more water/liquid to it, will that make it soup? Or is there something else that makes one a stew and another a soup?

I don't really have a recipe. I start with a pot roast dinner the night before and use whatever is left over for my stew. The more meat, the better. To that I add whatever half bags of frozen veggies are open in my freezer, a can or two of diced tomatoes, onion, sometimes barley and whatever might seem good at the time. I don't salt anymore, I use a salt substitute if anything, but I do pepper and sometimes "Dash" or other seasonings. What do you use in your stews/soups?

Time to grab a hot bowl-full.

My Heroes Have Always Been Cowboys

(From the song)

I grew up a-dreamin' of bein' a cowboy,
and Lovin' the cowboy ways.
Pursuin' the life of my high-ridin' heroes,
I burned up my childhood days.

Grandson came to visit this last weekend and asked pa-pa to come play cowboys with him. I set up the table and grandson got the bucket of cowboys and Indians which he began sorting through, "this one for me, that one for you..." and while he was thus occupied "pa-pa" instructed me to get "his" from behind the computer. When I came back I palmed the item to pa-pa unbeknownst to young cowboy and when he turned his attention back to the table....
...there stood this GIANT red cowboy! He paused... looked at pa-pa... and said,
very calmly and matter-of-factly, "put.. that.. back." LMAO!!!

Genesis in Hutchinson Kansas

I just wanted to say a few things about Genesis in Hutchinson, this is my personal observation and I'm not being paid to do this. My first exposure to this facility was when Mike asked us to come tape an exercise video several months ago. Below are a couple of pics from that video, it was big, it was open and it had a warehouse feel to it.

I was shocked when we returned to tape the Boot Camp video. I couldn't believe that this was the same facility. I'll have to get better shots of the whole thing because the pictures below only touch on how nice this place is. The first thing you see when you walk in is an energy bar that usually has several people in their workout clothes sitting and re-energizing with their favorite energy drink. Off the front lobby you'll find the treadmills, stepping machines and the like...

Childcare is also available and you'll find this accessible in the front lobby/energy bar area. Next you find the weight room. This is huge!!! With about any strengthening machine available...

Behind the windows above the weight room is the spinning room with the exercise bikes.

Off the side of the weight room are the luxurious locker rooms, there's even widescreen TV in the entry room where you can sit and relax! On to the back straight from the entrance is the exercise room where most of our taping is done for Boot Camp. To the right of the entrance shown below is a sunken racquetball room.

Waaay in the back, past the weight room are tanning beds, secluded and very quiet.

Can you tell that I was REALLY impressed? This place is absolutely beautiful. If you get the chance you really should stop in and see for yourself.

Cardio Mike's Boot Camp Taping Session 3

Following are pictures from the 3rd and most recent Boot Camp that we taped in Hutchinson last Saturday. The day began at Rice Park with a bike ride. Mike brought a box of helmets because safety is the number one priority. Here's everyone lined up and ready to go.
And they're off...
...on down the trail.

About an hour later Mike is the first one back to the parking lot.
...other's follow in groups of three...
...the infamous "Blooper"...
...singles...
...a good ride.
That afternoon Cardio Mike went over the Boot Camp Breakdown with us at Genesis in Hutchinson.
Then on with the class...
...toning and strengthening...
...targeting muscles...
...stepping it up...
...pushing it to the limit...
...then taking it a step further...
...way to go!
That's a Thumbs Up!
The next taping session will be the last for this Boot Camp.