Product Review: Stamina - 35-1655E – InTone Jogger with Handlebar & Tape

I am very pleased with my purchase of this in-home Trampoline also known as a Rebounder. I have owned it for about three months now and really enjoy using it.

I purchased it to give myself a fun way to exercise as I work to lose weight and stay in shape. Also, as a breast cancer survivor, this is a great way for me to maintain my current (and hopefully forever more) cancer-free status.

It came within two days of ordering it. That was very pleasing. Also, I was pleased with the very reasonable price.  .

On the negative side, it was a real challenge for my husband and I to assemble. Once we got it put together, I can easily see that I never wish to take it apart again. I also originally planned to keep it indoors. Due to the lack of sturdiness of our log cabin flooring in the den, I found that I shook all the contents in the room when I jumped on the trampoline. Also, it was larger than I had mentally pictured. Therefore, it took up more room than I would have wished in the den.

It has a 38 inch diameter. It is nine-inches off the ground. The site states it has a very “durable, polypropylene rebounding surface.” It also has a “rugged, all-steel frame construction.”  It is definitely very sturdy. I imagine that it will last for a very long time.

My husband and I came up with an ideal solution. We moved the rebounder out to the sidewalk in our covered carport. You can see the picture of how it looks and where I have it located. What’s great is that I can use this in rain, snow, or shine since the carport is covered. I have even purchased a tarp to cover it when I am not using it to keep the birds from doing their business upon it.

Other than those couple of negatives I mentioned earlier, it has been a very pleasing purchase.

It came with a work-out DVD that is easy to follow. Since I have a portable mini-DVD player and a long extension cord, I could easily watch this while using the trampoline outside. But I have had a lot of fun making up my own moves.

 I love the fact that it has a sturdy, adjustable handlebar. That makes me feel more secure when I am doing more challenging maneuvers.

The other fun thing is that I came up with some fun math lessons to do with this trampoline that are appropriate for kindergarten and first grade students. I made a bunch of YouTube videos surrounding these lessons. Since I am the K-8 Classroom Activities Examiner for Examiner.com, it was fun to post these unique lessons and videos on that site. Here are the links below:

Trampoline Math: Counting 1 to 10 (Grades K-1)

Trampoline Math: Addend of 1 (Grades K-1)

Trampoline Math: Addend of 2 (Grades K-1)

Trampoline Math: Addend of 3 (Grades K-1)

Trampoline Math: Addend of 4 (Grades K-1)

Trampoline Math: Addend of 5 (Grades K-1)   

Trampoline Math: Addend of 6 (Grades K-1)

Trampoline Math: Addend of 7 (Grades K-1)

Trampoline Math: Addend of 8 (Grades K-1)

Trampoline Math: Addend of 9 (Grades K-1)

Trampoline Math: Addend of 10 (Grades K-1)

I would highly recommend the purchase of this in-home trampoline / rebounder. I think you will be very glad you did.

Cozy Chemo Memories

You may find it odd to hear the word cozy and chemo used in the same sentence; nevertheless, thanks to the wonderful care of my oncologist, I am truthfully able to say that.

When I first found out that I had to go through chemo, I was terrified. I had watched the movies and seen the shows where people walked out of chemo rooms looking like death warmed over. Prior to that first day, where I had similar feelings to a kid attending their first day of kindergarten, I was relieved when I was shown the circle of recliner chairs. They weren't exactly like this beautiful lounge chair that you see in the picture as the leg rest was connected instead of being separate; however, they were just about as cozy-looking as that. Doesn't that picture just beg for you to hunker down in that chair with a comforter and a book? It looks so inviting! You should see some of the other chairs they have on that website. They all shout COMFORT to the nth degree. If you click on the above link, you will see what I mean.

Little did I know how very lucky I was. Apparently, there is another oncologist in our fair city whose chemo room contains stright-back chairs. I would not have enjoyed that at all.

Instead, I was able to walk into that chemo room with a laptop DVD player, my comforter, a book, my prayer shawl, and my comfy slippers. I was able to sit in one of those cozy recliners to receive my chemo treatments. My husband brought me food after I got settled. And thanks to modern medicine and the anti-nausea medicine, I was able to eat and enjoy what he brought.

So although I am very grateful that I no longer have any necessity of having to receive chemo treatments or any other kind of cancer treatments other than my low-dosage chemo tablet I take daily for five years, I do have pleasant memories associated  with chemo thanks to those very cozy recliner chairs.

Home Office Renovations Day 3

My home office in our log cabin is being completely re-done. On day 3 of the renovations, the two handymen tore out the rest of the floorboards. It had rained in the night; therefore, there was a lot of damness in the room. Before they headed off to their other job, they indicated they would purchase some heavy plastic to line the room with before laying down the new floor. They also found a pipe that leads to the outside that needs to be closed off. Additionally, they found some problems with some of the logs. This may prove to be a much bigger job than any of us originally anticipated. I think we are going to look like that Hoarders Show for a couple of weeks. The end result will be both beautiful and functional. It will be so worth it!

Click HOME OFFICE RENOVATIONS to visit.

Home Office Renovations Day 2

My home office in our log cabin is being completely re-done. On day 2 of the renovations, the two handymen started to tear out the floor boards. They quickly discovered why the room bowed toward the center. Several of the logs holding up the floor were broken. They also realized that this job was going to take them longer than they originally expected. Sigh! In any case, I am so grateful and excited that I am going to get my dream home office.

Click HOME OFFICE RENOVATIONS to visit.

Office Renovations Day 1

Check out the home office renovations going on. I am so excited to get my office re-done. This is day 1 of the renovations. This is just one of the pictures from this day.

To see the rest of the pictures and read all the descriptions, please visit my hub on Hubpages.com called Ask DJ Lyons: Office Renovations Day 1.

Click HOME OFFICE RENOVATIONS to visit.

Office Renovations Before Look

Check out the home office renovations going on. I am so excited to get my office re-done.

To see the pictures and read the descriptions, please visit my hub on Hubpages.com called Ask DJ Lyons: Office Renovations Before Look.

Click HOME OFFICE RENOVATIONS to visit.

Product Review: Breville Juice Fountain Plus JE98XL

I feel positively healthy. About an hour ago, I drank my first veggie fruit drink made with my just-out-of-the-box (as of yesterday) Breville Juice Fountain Plus JE98XL. My drink was made with a few handfuls of Spinach leaves, a few handfuls of shredded carrots, and two Gala Apples. You can see the photo to see what my drink and the juicer look like.

Initial Cleaning

The juicer was very well packed. I removed all parts from the box and washed and dried all parts.

Putting the Juicer together

To remind myself how to put the juicer together, I re-watched the following YouTube video.

Out of the Box: Breville Juice Fountain Plus JE95XL 

Then I got in a bit of a panic as I didn’t see a froth catcher. I’m thinking, “Great! I am missing an essential part and can’t use the juicer.” So I called the Breville Customer Service line once they opened up at 8 am Pacific Standard Time. The guy was really nice who I talked with. When I told him that my froth catcher was missing, he explained that since that YouTube video was made, they had made improvements to the product. The froth catcher was now part of the pitcher cover. Sure enough, when I looked close, I saw he was correct. Phew!

The manual and one video I watched suggested you line the pulp catcher with a plastic bag for easy clean-up. I double-lined it with two plastic grocery bags since each of them had a small hole. It worked beautifully. When I removed the bags after making my drink, the pulp catcher was perfectly clean and did not require washing. Woo-hoo!

As for the pulp, it was nicely dry. This shows me that most of the juice was extracted from the food I added. Since I don’t have a compost heap and there was no recipe I was making that I thought would benefit from this particular mixture, I simply threw the bags containing the pulp away.

Making first Veggie-Fruit Drink

For my first veggie-fruit drink, I decided to use three things I had on hand: spinach leaves, shredded carrots, and Gala apples. In the directions, it was suggested that I do not place the spinach leaves in alone as they needed some other veggie to help get the juice extracted from it better. Unfortunately, I didn’t have anything that I thought would work. I decided to go ahead and use it anyway.

I turned the motor on to the low setting and added several handfuls of spinach leaves. I did not get a huge amount of juice. Next time, I will find something to add with it.

At one point, the motor got extra loud and I panicked and thought I had overheated the unit. But when I realized that the overheating light had not come on, I realized that perhaps it gets loud on its own. So warning: Don’t make this drink if somebody in your house is trying to sleep.

Next step, I added several handfuls of shredded carrots.

Last, I added two Gala apples that were washed but still had a stem, core, skin, etc.

My juice mixture was green – as you can see in the photo.

I placed some ice cubes in a glass and poured the juice in the glass. I smelled it. It smelled like apple juice. I must admit that I was a bit nervous to try it at first. Of course for me, the litmus test is the smell factor. If I don’t like the smell of something, I refuse to put it in my mouth. Since the smell was good, I was willing to take the risk. I actually took several sips before snapping the photo as this drink was tasty. Yum!

I enjoyed drinking the entire glassful. I would definitely make this combination of fruit and veggies again.

Final Clean-Up

Clean-up was a cinch. I took the juicer apart and rinsed off all parts. Then I used the special hard-bristle brush that comes with the juicer to wash the filter. Then I washed all parts with warm, soapy water. It took very little time to clean-up. That is another litmus test of mine.

Final Conclusion

I think this juicer was a real bargain. I can easily visualize myself using it every day.

Since I am now cancer-free aka in remission from breast cancer, I am extra motivated to make certain I stay that way. So making healthy drinks that actually taste good is going to be part of my strategy to look and feel healthy.

My final litmus test is aftertaste. That juice drink has left a very nice aftertaste in my mouth. I actually look forward to being able to partake of this drink again.