#Insanity – The #FitTest and then trying to get off the floor

Insanity Fit Test: My numbers were not too bad. Fairly close (though less than) what the actors said their first week's numbers were - that is until I got to the upper body, push-uppy kind of things.

See those guns on me?? Looks like my arms would have a t least a little strenght, right? All bark and no bite. Worthless! I actually wrote "10 LAME pushups". 'Lame' means that I did not dip more than one inch - seriously. Hopefully on my next fit test I can remove the lame, even if the number count is lower.

The fit test was so incredibly exhausting that I could not get up off the floor afteward for 20 minutes. Perhaps I never would have gotten up off the floor, except that the incredibly repetitive music that plays over the intro screen to each Insanity DVD would not stop unless I crawled at least to the remote control.

Shower. Bed. We'll see what comes next.

Heather J. Kirk

Remembering #HenrySantos concert in Scottsdale

I attended a fantastic concert on April 21, 2012, at Ocean7 in Scottsdale, Arizona, by Henry Santos and band (all of them fantastic musicians). As you can tell by the photo, all the men were relegated to the back rows as the women pushed to the front and tried to get a touch of Henry.

Henry obliged, touching and kissing hands, waving and smiling, telling anyone who yelled out "Te amo!" - "I love you too." And while sweet and flirty and allowing people up on the stage for various reasons - he kept the women under control, but happy, with chaste little kisses and one pretty-sexy bachata dance. Although he teased about taking off his shirt (it had been 100 degrees that day and still pretty hot on stage at midnight), he never obliged the screaming masses on that one.

Which reminds me - no one was able to understand my mom's comment on the video I posted of the Romeo Santos' concert. What she said after Romeo's third wardrobe change was, "I had hoped he'd take more clothes off, not put more on!

Getting back to my point… Henry is a consummate performer and I am glad to have been able to attend the concert. Blessings Henry - I'm looking forward to seeing you do more amazing things.

Content and Photos copyright by Heather J. Kirk

My #Insanity Fit Test - and the delaying tactics I employed first.

I put this off the Fit Test for as long as I possibly could.


1. I scanned the exercise calendar and made it big enough for me to see. Graphic Designers should know this, but because we can blow things up to view on line, they sometimes forget to be realistic to the naked eye. Business Owners and Designers, take note: white text on black background is not the most readable. Neither is 8 point font.

2. I read the eating plan again. Again, not interested, though it clearly would help, but I don't have time to make and eat 5 meals a day. I already am the slowest eater in the world and always last to get up from the table. Can't spend more time there.

3. I put the DVDs in order according to the calendar. (See how adept I am at delaying the inevitable?

4. Took pictures of my biceps. I know, this is silly, but since they already are big, I wanted to get an idea of the contrast afterward. Will they get more defined and stronger, yet smaller. That would be my ideal.

Can you tell that I cleaned the mirror before I took the picture? This is exactly the reason why my cleaning woman asked me not to clean myself before her visits... this time I mistakenly used Tilex instead of Windex. Clearly it does not work on mirrors!

Last time I had the clever idea to use Rainex on the mirror, figuring that if it made water run of car windshields it would also run off my mirror - splashed daily with calcium-rich spotting water. Hint - it does not work, and created a film that makes it both harder to clean your mirror and frustrates yourself or the cleaning person...

Woops, look at that - I'm at 297 words. Have to tell you about my Fit Test next time...

Heather J. Kirk

Vote to Help Heather Kirk Win Nationwide Art Advertisement through #FineArtAmerica - such as my photos from #Sedona, #OakCreekCanyon and #Scottsdale #Arizona and #Bermuda

Help Heather J. Kirk get 250 votes per photo!

(You may have to sign up as a collector or artist. Sorry, but it is an easy registration!)
Clink on links to find my photos and Vote. Thanks to All!

 http://fineartamerica.com/contests/national-tv-photo-contest.html?tab=vote&artworkid=2571575

Fully Reflected by Heather J. Kirk (Oak Creek Canyon / Sedona, Arizona)

Open Voting - Now through May 31st, 2012
During open voting, visitors to FineArtAmerica.com are able to view all of the contest submissions and cast votes for their favorite photos.

http://fineartamerica.com/contests/national-tv-photo-contest.html?tab=vote&artworkid=2571587

Golden Fall Reflection by Heather J. Kirk (Oak Creek Canyon / Sedona, Arizona)

Juried Voting - June 15th, 2012
All photographs that have received at least 250 votes from the general public will become eligible for final selection by a jury of FAA staff members and industry professionals.

  http://fineartamerica.com/contests/national-tv-photo-contest.html?tab=vote&artworkid=1668390

Orange Glow by Heather J. Kirk (Scottsdale, Arizona)

The Prize:
Five winners will be chosen to appear in our next TV commercial which is scheduled to begin airing in July 2012. The commercial will air nationwide throughout the United States and is guaranteed to reach a minimum of 10 million viewers during the month of July.

Photos Copyrighted by Heather J. Kirk

#HenrySantos mentioned #Insanity from the stage and I thought "I just bought that"!

Though I suppose the word "just" is an understatement. I bought it 3 (or maybe 4) weeks ago, read the booklet on the meal plan, and became afraid. That's right, I chickened out before I even looked at the DVDs!

I'm afraid of this exercise program. Very afraid.

My brother was impressed I'd bought it thinking I'd done other BeachBody programs to build up to Insanity. Uh oh.... Was I supposed to do that?

But hearing it mentioned was a reminder to me that it is time to stop using a "diet" being too hard (which it really is not) as an excuse to not to start the exercise program.

My brother also said that the people he knows who completed the 60 day Insanity program came out looking fantastic, but very few people stuck with it.

There it is. That's my challenge. I seem to do much better with really hard than with "it's an easy lifestyle change for the rest of your life". Let me get the intense part with Shaunt (Mr. BeachBody himself) down first - THEN I'll decide about the rest of my life!

By writing this here I am holding myself accountable to you - my readers - to DO THIS. Every few days I'll check in with you to let you know how Insane Insanity really is.

Here is my motivatihng picture:

I know, I'm a girl and this is a picture of a boy, but it's the best example I could find. Let's do this!

Heather J. Kirk

Memories of music and dancing in Santo Domingo (#republicadominicana #dancing)

Setting Up the Son Party in Colonial Zone - Every Sunday Night!

I love these photos of this couple's feet dancing the Son - which is a very complicated dance and I only tried once, unsuccessfully, to learn it, as the demonstrator said "Just follow". HA! And men in white pants - very Caribbean! I didn't see many women in white pants though - almost exclusively blue jeans.

Content and Photos Copyright Heather J. Kirk

All of Aventura in Arizona (separately) within a few months

April 19, 2012 (Obviously written before Henry Santos concert O7, Scottsdale, Arizona)

So, on the way home from the Romeo Santos concert I told my mom I wish I could go to one of the small shows in New Jersey or New York where Henry Santos was playing clubs. What an amazing opportunity to see someone of such talent up close. About a week later his concert was announced for Scottsdale. See, once again I am prophetic! And better yet - I don't have to drive all the way across town to Glendale like I did to Jobing.com Arena.

Kind of strange - I had been deprived of live Dominican music since September of 2010 when I left Santo Domingo - and then within a span of a few months, all three spin offs of Aventura will have played Arizona. I guess Arizona is awake after all. Welcome Henry and crew.

P.S. To my readers - I did not invite my mom this time. I plan to dance!

by Heather J. Kirk

Hanging out in Home Depot due to Arizona heat!

Last few days have been so hot in Phoenix/Scottsdale (100 – 105 degrees) that people are hanging out in Home Depot’s floor fan section!

by Heather J. Kirk

5000 promises to conserve water and SRP gives a $5000 grant to Homeward Bound!

SRP's Promise (what's yours?):  When you pledge to save water, you're joining other thoughtful Arizona residents who want to make a difference. What's more, your support helps Homeward Bound.


When we reach 5,000 pledges, we'll celebrate by giving Homeward Bound a $5000 water-saving makeover. It'll help them reduce their water costs so they can assist even more Arizona families.

http://www.togetherweconserve.com/

Homeward Bound assists homeless and domestic violence families with children achieve economic independence, and secure long-term, safe housing. They also work to break the cycle of homelessness and domestic violence. Homeward Bound started in 1990 with one family and one house. Today, they manage 155 housing units and help nearly 600 people – 400 of whom are children. Click here to learn more about Homeward Bound.

Discovered by Heather J. Kirk

The missing blog…

I stayed up late last night and wrote a fun, fantastic blog, then dreamed about a blogging seminar, woke up in a panic and rushed to take it down.

Blog Rule Number 1: Keep them short: 250 – 300 words.
My personal opinion is that it’s difficult to develop an interesting article, and make an educational, philosophical, spiritual or humorous point in so few words – but I’m a writer. I like to start with a theme, go what appears to be wildly off course, and then bring my reader back to where we started making a purposeful point.
Two phrases pop into my head when I tell stories – although the source is only one person and I should get over it. But maybe they apply in the blogging world.

A) Your stories are too long. B) You are too hard to follow. And from others: “Your humor is a bit dark” or the “I don’t get it” look.

Yet writing classes say “Don’t spell everything out. Trust your reader to be intelligent!”

As I write I find this to be a bit dull. So why write it? Because there may be a lesson in it for other business owners.

Ultimately the decision came down to the fact that what I say personally can affect me professionally.

Rule #2: Once something gets on the web it is difficult to impossible to pull it back.

Rule #3: Humor does not always translate well in the written form or across cultures (in the widest sense of the word).

So what I thought was hilarious at 3 am before going to bed was potentially not as funny to those reading it at 8 am at work. (Nah! It was really good and the five of you who got to read it are lucky.)

I’ll cut the missing blog into manageable sizes in future posts – with backdating - including the meat of the story, but leaving out the ‘random acts of thinking’. (329 words – not bad…for me)

by Heather J. Kirk