by Tish MacWebber | Mar 5, 2017 | Weekend Warrior
It is Sunday. I am gearing up to do all the things I haven’t done yet this weekend that are on my weekly list. That is not to say that I have been lying around on my couch until now, either. I have been out and about this weekend, spending time with friends. That is important, too.
Friday night I was invited to celebrate a friend’s birthday, hosted by a mutual friend. I need to make sure that I eat, and that I keep it healthy. I made deviled eggs, Big Mac Salad, with regular meat and soy meat options, and I made dessert. We played board games and just dance.
This was my second time making deviled eggs. They were a hit both times, so I think it may become a potluck staple for me to bring. They are on plan. People like them. Win win!
The salad is a version of a THM recipe. It can be found easily online. The soy meat was for the vegetarian of the group, and he got the leftovers since it was his birthday celebration. The THM plan is not big on Soy products, but I wanted my friend to have the full Big Mac Salad experience. So I improvised, and everyone seemed to like the salad too.
Dessert was an adventure. I made Rainbow cake in mason jars.
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Rainbow Cake in Mason Jars
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Unicorn Rainbow Dip
I made Unicorn Rainbow Dip for a cake topping, and of course, added rainbow sprinkles. I probably won’t be making this cake in mason jars when I make it again. The dip was amazing, and not too sweet like icing would have been. I think it would be wonderful for cake pops. I made it the night before, and let it set in the fridge overnight. This was a quick assembly after work on Friday. It took longer to make the deviled eggs. My friends added dips and loaded potato skins and bruschetta and deep fried pickles to the table. It was a lot of food for a party of 4.
Yesterday I wanted to spend time with another couple that my husband and I are friends with. We went out for supper, and back to their place to watch some movies on Netflix. I had not seen the John Wick movie, and they all rewatched while I saw it for the first time. Now I can be ready for the newly released sequel, that we want to see as a group if we can plan it that way.
I was busy, and now I am scrambling to play catch up before Monday rolls around again. I am still working from lists. Some things get done, and other things carry forward to the next weekend. It is time to crank the tunes and get some chores done. I have a few hours to spend on that, and then it’s time to get ready for another week at the day job. Until next weekend, when I become the Weekend Warrior again. Although I was more of a warrior of the social scene this weekend, there is still some time to make progress on the chores, if I hurry! Time to Bounce the House once again!
by Tish MacWebber | Mar 4, 2017 | Weekend Warrior
This picture really made me laugh. It will be the picture for my new Blogging series, called Weekend Warrior. I am working on cleaning and organizing my home so that when I am ready to dive into writing my books, I will not have to worry about what is not getting done or what should be getting done.
I just had breakfast. I like to sleep in on the weekends. This means if I am motivated and working on my house and chore list, it continues well after dark. I am a night owl, but find the weekday schedule really helps me to stay on track with my health. So I am a part of the rat race, Monday to Friday, 9 to 5, working woman. I do have a day job. The bills need to be paid. SO on a weekend when there are no plans outside of the house, I sleep in and go a little off schedule. I enjoy that. When we get a dog later this year, I hope it likes to sleep in on the weekends too. I realize that there will be necessary walks and wake ups with a dog to take them outside, but that doesn’t mean a nap won’t follow those little adventures.
I am breaking in my new coffee mug. It says, “Overthinkin’ and coffee drinkin’ ” it suits my life and my logo. It is a good size, and I purchased it last weekend on a whim. I saw it on facebook and had to have it. It is so “ME!” I will drink coffee from it while I write. It holds 16 oz of coffee, and that is a good start for my weekend coffee.
My new coffee mug. It says, Overthinkin’ and coffee drinkin’ on it. #WeekendWarrior
Plans for the weekend are developing, on the social side of things. Which means I have to make the most of the afternoon as I may be out this evening. Combining the things I don’t want to do with things I do want to do works out, somewhat. It can be counterproductive, too, though. If I am really on a roll, and getting things done on my list, then it is hard to find the motivation to keep going if I have to stop. Or sometimes I don’t start at all because I know I won’t be able to finish.
Sometimes I get a lot done, and sometimes I overthink the projects and that takes up all of my time. Music is a huge motivator for me. If the tunes are cranked, I find it hard to sit still. I like background music or TV when I am surfing the internet, or working on stationary projects, but to get me up and moving, the tunes have to be cranked.
Weekend Warrior. That is what I feel like when I am having a productive weekend. It doesn’t mean I am changing the world, or working on building or renovating anything. It does mean I am making progress on my lists, getting up and moving around, staying motivated, and having a little fun. Making the most of my free time, and getting that much closer to the goal of writing my books. Singing and dancing my way through the weekend is how I put on my game face. When I am Bouncing the House, I am getting the lists done, and that is exactly what weekends are for.
#WeekendWarrior
by Tish MacWebber | Feb 20, 2017 | Weekend Warrior
It’s time for another Zumba story! I enjoy going to Zumba twice a week, with a great group of people. It is a steady group, and there are some of us that are regulars, and some that come once in a while, and there are even people who join the group and become regulars. We call ourselves the Zumba Crew.
When I started, I was a long way from the same level and speed as everyone else. When I start a new song, with new moves, I improvise. I will not use my arms if the moves are new, it can be too much to learn all at once. I didn’t spin on my feet for a long time, I marched instead. Sometimes, when everyone else was doing a fancy move that had them turning, I would smile, or wave, and stay facing forward.
That’s one of the things I like about the class I take. I am encouraged to do what I can, and to not feel like I have to be the same as everyone else. There are options. If I don’t want to move my arms, I don’t. Sometimes they do get tired. It helps to enhance the exercise when I move them, so other times, I do. There are times when I can keep up with everyone, and there are times where I go at half the speed. And there are times where I mess up. When I do, I laugh. Out loud. At myself. Usually for zigging when everyone else is zagging.
I wear a pedometer in class, and I broke 4,000 steps today. I like it when I get more than 5,000 steps in a class, and it has happened before, so I always try to get as many steps in as I can.
You have all heard of playing the “air guitar” to a favourite song. At my Zumba classes, sometimes we play the “air drums.” Today we were shown how to do this properly. If you just flap your hands around from the wrists, it is rather pointless. The way to move correctly is to swing your arms from the elbows right through to the hands. Hard. As hard as you can. I also saw a different method on TV, on the show This is Us. There is an actress on that show that went to what was called a “Fat Camp.” I watched her exercise with actual drum sticks. It wasn’t a Zumba class, they were in an air drumming exercise class. We don’t use sticks at Zumba. We could, but it might get dangerous.
So we drum out the beats. We were told to just pound the drums that weren’t there, like we were making the beat ourselves. I was going for it, when a funny thought struck me. As I was beating the air drums, going side to side, and up and down, I thought I’d better watch out for my cymbals. I am well endowed, and that could hurt too! I shared the thought with someone else, and when she laughed, I knew I would write another Zumba Blog post tonight. So I found myself laughing with a new friend at Zumba. I left with a story to tell, and I was also feeling good after a great class.
by Tish MacWebber | Jan 23, 2017 | Weekend Warrior
Here is another Tish-ism for you. In my efforts to live a healthier lifestyle, I have added in two Zumba classes a week. I do my best to be there, barring migraines and having to stay late at work once in a blue moon, I go. Living in Canada, sometimes weather is an issue. I am working on getting more active besides my Zumba classes, but for now, it’s my main activity every week. Winter + Ice = Tish is scared to fall down. So outdoor activities are not a thing for me in the winter, without the proper equipment.
I had a good amount of positive energy today, and feel like my pedometer lied when it read 3700 steps. It felt like a million tonight, at least. I was in the Zumba Zone, and was literally working my butt off. I know what that means. When I go back to class Wednesday, I will be moving a little slower, and maybe in a little pain. The good kind. The kind of pain that is caused from exercise that was done correctly. It also means I worked out my muscles, and that I wasn’t just going through the motions.
At the end of a class, when I feel like this, the first thing that comes to mind is that I Zumba-(ed) too hard.
I don’t like pain. I don’t deal with it very well. Lately I have successfully convinced myself that there is a right kind of pain, and a wrong kind. The right kind means that your muscles worked out and did what they were supposed to do. That is why it is good, it was productive, no matter how bad it hurts. It is neither throbbing, nor a high amount of pain. The bad kind is counter productive. If you rip or pull a muscle, it hurts a lot. I pulled a ligament in one of my legs in elementary school. I was mid-stride and went from running to limping and crying. I had to wrap it and got a few days off from school. I still remember how much it hurt when it happened. I do not recommend trying this, ever.
No matter what is going on, I have come to enjoy going to Zumba. I love dancing. Sometimes it is not the same as what everyone else is doing, but I am still being active, no matter what I have to improvise. That is important.
So when I was in the middle of class today, I really felt like I was completely in my Zumba Zone, and I went for it. There are going to be days that I am not feeling up to giving 120% to the Zumba class. Today was not one of those days. I felt strong. When things work for me, I am all in. I left feeling like I had worked out today. That is a big deal. I am not an athletic type of person. I do enjoy swimming, and dancing. Biking is OK, but I haven’t had a bike for years. It’s the same for skating, I used to skate, but haven’t for years. I walk, and I am starting to pick up my pace again when I have errands to run in the mall where I work, or even just for moving to the break room. I sometimes feel my heart rate picking up, and even am short of breath when I push myself.
What am I getting at? Well, there are days when you feel good and strong, and on those days like today, it is a good plan to push yourself a little bit harder. If you do this, on the days you don’t feel up to the 120% and you aren’t in YOUR Zumba Zone, well, on those days 75% is OK. You are doing the best you can. For me it’s all about how I am feeling, and I know my limits. I don’t think I am to the point I was about six months ago when I could feel my abdominal muscles the next day, but I am on my way back. By the time the weather changes from winter to spring, I plan to be increasing my activity level. When I am ready. And when there is no more ice out there. Until then, I’ll keep going to Zumba, I don’t have any plans to stop for a long time to come.
by Tish MacWebber | Jan 14, 2017 | Writing
Once upon a time a man was introduced to his granddaughter, Patricia MacLellan. When he met her, he called her Tish. It stuck. Tish MacLellan grew up in Cape Breton, in a house that used to be a church, on the world famous Cabot Trail. She spent her summers at local beaches and at a place she calls The Cabin. She learned to swim, and spent a lot of time rock hopping along the shores and coastlines of Cape Breton Island. She had a wild imagination, and dreamed of owning a horse someday. She still has her walkman with the best mixed tape ever, and it still works, even after putting all of those years and miles on it.
She loved to read, and began writing. Creative writing is one of many hobbies that she spent her spare time on. She kept a diary and when she got older, she called it a journal. She enjoyed cross stitching and embroidery. She learned to knit and to crochet. In high school, she wrote her first song.
Her love for animals made her decide to take a pre-vet program at NSAC. She was ill during her first year, and this delayed her completion of her B.Sc in Agriculture, majoring in Animal Science. While studying at NSAC, she met her future husband, Roy Webber. They dated, fell madly in love, and made it official with a wedding. The same day they got married, there was a hurricane. It was all very memorable, and all who attended the celebration of their marriage had a wonderful time, despite the weather.
Before the wedding happened, Tish was thinking about the name she wanted after she married Roy. She thought it would be a fun thing to create a new last name, and they could both become the first MacWebber Clan. Roy did not agree to this idea, and did not want to make any changes to his last name. Not even when Tish told him that she would create a brand new tartan for the new name. Tish decided to go the traditional route and take his last name, and legally became Patricia Webber. It didn’t take her long to adapt to her new name.
They moved around the Maritimes so much, that Roy’s family joked about them being gypsies. After living all over Nova Scotia, they moved to New Brunswick, shortly after a brief time living in Prince Edward Island. In Fredericton, New Brunswick, they made new friends, had roommates, and eventually bought their own mini home. They had cats constantly as pets for many years. After living in apartments for the majority of the years they were together, Tish decided that it was time, now that they have a home of their own, to get a dog. She looks forward to that. She still has no horse of her own, yet, the baby barn is not quite big enough for a horse.
When Tish decided one day that it was time to take a chance and share her songwriting with the world, she thought about creating a blog. Little did she know that it would build itself into a bigger project than she had imagined. She had also always wanted to write a fantasy trilogy, being a fan of reading them, herself. She asked her friends online what the best options were, and decided to go with a Blog page here, on WordPress. Then another new friend stepped up and made her think beyond the surface of what she was building. She revisited an old idea of hers to write her novels under a pen name, and she remembered wanting to become the first MacWebber. So, there it was. Tish MacWebber became her pen name.
Her beginner attempts at creating a blog page were good, but they weren’t great. So she asked again for help, and her new friends helped her some more. One of them took her page and changed it, and this was her new and improved starting point. Tish absorbed all the information this friend had shared with her, and thought long and hard about the next steps. She is very grateful for all of the help her new friends have given her, and she plans to return the favour, even if it is just by paying it forward. When she asked about her colours, branding and logo, people liked it for different things, but it wasn’t what she needed it to be. She kept thinking. After about three weeks of mulling it over in her mind, things clicked into place, simultaneously.
She searched through hundreds of colour palettes, picking her favourites. She found one that she kept referring back to, and decided that it was the one she would choose. Then she made a tartan design. She got her friends and family to give opinions on her progress as she tried to put the pieces all together. Her father told her that a circle would not be wrong on a tartan, rather that it would be the french connection. Her mother is french, so it fit. The motto for Clan MacLellan is, “Think On.” Her logo was developed with the phrase “Always Thinking…” because she is a dreamer that does think a lot; but also to honour her ancestors. Her cousin helped her pick the final design, and through their online chat the “…” was added to the logo. So that explains the colour, logo, and the circle. But the circle is made up of diamonds. The diamonds symbolize the marriage of all these things together, and connects all of the dots.
Tish does tend to overthink things at times. However, when she does this in terms of being creative, and it works, it makes her feel amazing. Being creative is her passion. She is going to share it with the world, and see how far it will take her.
