What I Do Now in Everyday Ramblings

The picture is an atmospheric mood shot of downtown.

Wow, so back to it, a slightly modified regular schedule.

Compared to many of you our weather has been mild though it has been windy and cold but one is able to be out and about safely.

Everybody at work, except those that were the first adopters of this cold/flu thing, is still sick. Saint Joe got all better and then he got the cough. It is very recognizable, I had a student with it on Monday and now, oh I feel so sad, Mrs. Sherlock is sick. We will see about a walk in the morning. It should be above freezing and dry.

Two things I am ever so grateful for.

I still have these totally random seeming energy drops that resolve after a few hours and all of us are breaking out! Cold sores, pimples, skin irritation on the back…they are making viruses very creative these days.

The class I had been teaching at work on Mondays’ midday I moved to Fridays so I could give my back a break and the vibe was completely different and sort of disconcerting today.

They are still great fun to teach and appreciative but I couldn’t make them laugh. I need to work on that. I have been throwing literary tidbits and anecdotes into my Monday night classes and I am getting good feedback for that.

It turns out my passport expires next month. Oh joy! Paperwork is in my future. At least I walk by a place to get my photo all the time. That is one of the benefits of living close in and being a city person. I wish I had noticed, umm, maybe four months ago though.

As I was heading out the door on Sunday morning to go to the gym I thought to myself, this is what I do now, I am a person who goes to the gym. I am trying to make it a habit, what I do and then do it.

On Thursday I had one of those aforementioned energy dumps in the afternoon at the office and thought now how the heck am I going to manage the gym tonight?

But I had my clothes and lock and headphones all laid out and after I fed the cats I didn’t think about it, I just went.

And by the time I got there I was fine. And I got this huge emotional boost when I got on the leg press machine and was able to press 20 more lbs. than on Sunday.

One of the side effects of the fact that going to the gym is a thing I do now is that I observe people. It is a great place to do that.

There is a woman, my guess is that she is about 60 but she could be older, with a very unnatural looking tan. She has a hip short haircut and her hair is dyed brown. She is thin, particularly her legs, but has incredible muscles when she gets on a weight machine the definition is dramatic.

She is very social. She spends a lot of time cheerfully chatting with folks she knows there but she also likes to help people on the machines. Last week she was pushing down on a woman’s shoulders while she did a lat pulldown and this week she was telling a young woman about how to modify her posture on this squat machine I need to try.

When I checked in, the young trainer that took my card asked me what I was going to work on. I am like, umm, why do you want to know??? But I didn’t say that. I also didn’t say I have been a member of this gym franchise since about the time you were born (21 years) and am a yoga teacher and what I am working on is my own business…

Because, you know, I am nice.

So I said leg strength. And he asked if I would like some dynamic warm ups for that?

I didn’t have the heart to tell him that the mile walk down to the gym in the rain was a dynamic enough warm up for me because I understood it is part of his job to try to sell me personal training sessions. I just said no thanks I have my own plan.

And I did. I am trying to do things there that are a bit more challenging for me…the old-fashioned moving stair master, the rowing machine and my nemesis, the stationary bike…so effortful because of my leg development.

Give me an elliptical or a treadmill any day.

The good news about all this is my back is better! Yippee.

Last updated January 05, 2018