Today was the Open Field event for Jojo's cheerleading and it rapidly became apparently that a change in focus will be needed, starting tomorrow. My petitie flower (she just cracked the 50 pound ceiling!) is on one of the competition squads, which means that she'll have practices a-plenty. With Bo playing fall lacrosse, and Lilo and Koko's karate tournament season kicking off in October, fall is BUSY to say the least.
Now my challenge is how will I work my DWA/yoga/whatever fitness-regime-I-can-maintain dedication into all of this running aorund. It's times like these that I would REALLY like to stop working outside the home. Then I would have some time to do things for myself while the kids are in school, and my evenings and weekends could be dedicated to shuttling without conflicts and guilt. Unfortunatley, that's not in the cards. I'm going to have to get creative.
Here's the conflict, Jojo's practices are 4 nights/wk. from 6 - 8. DWA is 7 - 8, so how I'm going to have to find a way to jump from pool to practice field QUICK! Wednesday is really the only big problem because Chuck will be with Lilo and Koko at their standing dinner date/karate. I'm going to talk to Smiley and Legs' replacement to see if I can miss the "cool down" routine (my favorite part!) to quickly change into dry clothes and pick Jojo up. I can always shower at home.
Why do we women always put so much on our own plates? Now, ironically, trying to maintain a fitness regime is the indulgent ingredient. Ugh!
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Friday, July 29, 2011
Good-bye Legs
Sad news at DWA on Wednesday! The Wednesday instructor, Legs, is going to be leaving in order to atend college. I really enjoy the Wednesday sessions with Legs, and will miss her routines. She is, obviously, a young women, and brought that to the sessions through the music and moves that we would perform. Since I work in the field of higher ed, I can't knock her decision to attend college. I'll just say that I wish she was attending a local school and could continue to act as the Wednesday DWA instructor.
On urging from some of the Wednesday Old Guard, I have decided to enroll in a yoga class that will begin in the fall. As you know, I was hesitant to try yoga again since my disasterous forray into "hot room" yoga. However, now that I know there is a difference, I will take the yoga lessons that ARE NOT held in a hot room. If I get half of the results of a former co-worker, Cupcake, I just may make my way to the hot room again in the future.
All in all, progress after 1 month of DWA/swimming laps/water walking and watching what I eat = 3 pounds lost and less shortness of breath on exertion.
On urging from some of the Wednesday Old Guard, I have decided to enroll in a yoga class that will begin in the fall. As you know, I was hesitant to try yoga again since my disasterous forray into "hot room" yoga. However, now that I know there is a difference, I will take the yoga lessons that ARE NOT held in a hot room. If I get half of the results of a former co-worker, Cupcake, I just may make my way to the hot room again in the future.
All in all, progress after 1 month of DWA/swimming laps/water walking and watching what I eat = 3 pounds lost and less shortness of breath on exertion.
Monday, July 25, 2011
Inordinately Proud
Wow! It was definitely HARD to drag my lazy butt off the couch and to the Y tonight. I am just recovering from another MS relapse and want to do nothing more than lay around and lick my wounds. Chuck took the kids to get haircuts and I stretched out on the couch. Oh so comfy! I'm really not usually a couch potato, so they were all shocked to come home and find me dozing. Of course, the kids wanted me to stay home and read, watch magic tricks, chit-chat, etc., etc. But Chuck was giving me that look that said, "You know you'll feel guilty!" and he was right. I would have stewed for a couple of hours, feeling bad about myself for not going to DWA. So...I heaved myself up, got into my suit and headed out.
Guess what? It was one of the best session yet. Maybe I should run late more often. I didn't even have time to think about anything because they were just getting started when I walked into the pool area. I grabbed a noodle and water weights and jumped right in, mid-routine. The Old Guard all asked how I was feeling, which was nice. Even Smiley, the Monday instructor, noticed that I slipped in the back row and gave me a thumbs up. Wow! It was nice to be missed, noticed and asked after. I used that good feeling to bounce and bop through the rest of the routines and kept up without a problem.
I'm super-glad that I went to DWA tonight. All in all, it was just what I needed to get back to the "land of the living." Yeah, it would have felt good to get some extra rest, but it felt better to get some exercise. Believe me, I'm the most suprised at this revelation. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?
Guess what? It was one of the best session yet. Maybe I should run late more often. I didn't even have time to think about anything because they were just getting started when I walked into the pool area. I grabbed a noodle and water weights and jumped right in, mid-routine. The Old Guard all asked how I was feeling, which was nice. Even Smiley, the Monday instructor, noticed that I slipped in the back row and gave me a thumbs up. Wow! It was nice to be missed, noticed and asked after. I used that good feeling to bounce and bop through the rest of the routines and kept up without a problem.
I'm super-glad that I went to DWA tonight. All in all, it was just what I needed to get back to the "land of the living." Yeah, it would have felt good to get some extra rest, but it felt better to get some exercise. Believe me, I'm the most suprised at this revelation. Who says you can't teach an old dog new tricks?
Sunday, July 24, 2011
Get real!
Maybe it's my mood today, but it just seems like I have awaken on Planet Dillusional!
First, the Sunday morning shows: John Boehner says that a deal was all but done, but the White House changed the goal lines...then he says the White House has never put a plan on the table. If that's the case, what "deal" was almost done? Debbie Wasserman-Schultz calls Allen West out in public on the floor of the Senate, and that is equated with a private email that he sent to her, (which she then turned around and gave to the press to make public) and nobody acknowledges the difference between making a public statement and sending a private email. Rather than have a migraine relapse, I decided to turn off the tv and go online...
...only to read the next bit of unbelievable nonsense: Bret Favre is comtemplating YET ANOTHER COME-BACK! Either he is tired of limiting his sexting messages to his current recipient list, or he has suffered one too many concussions. Or both! Give me a flipping break, Bret! At some point, one must acknowledge the chasm between what one wishes one COULD still do and what one CAN actually still do. Do I remember how much fun I used to have dancing the night away with my friends? You bet! Would I still like to dance the night away with my friends? Sure thing. Would it STILL actually be fun to dance the night away with my friends? Frankly, after an hour, it wouldn't be fun anymore because I would be exhausted. You made a great living at football, Bret, and accomplished truly wonderful feats...hang up the cleats before the laughing-stock quotient overshadows all that!
First, the Sunday morning shows: John Boehner says that a deal was all but done, but the White House changed the goal lines...then he says the White House has never put a plan on the table. If that's the case, what "deal" was almost done? Debbie Wasserman-Schultz calls Allen West out in public on the floor of the Senate, and that is equated with a private email that he sent to her, (which she then turned around and gave to the press to make public) and nobody acknowledges the difference between making a public statement and sending a private email. Rather than have a migraine relapse, I decided to turn off the tv and go online...
...only to read the next bit of unbelievable nonsense: Bret Favre is comtemplating YET ANOTHER COME-BACK! Either he is tired of limiting his sexting messages to his current recipient list, or he has suffered one too many concussions. Or both! Give me a flipping break, Bret! At some point, one must acknowledge the chasm between what one wishes one COULD still do and what one CAN actually still do. Do I remember how much fun I used to have dancing the night away with my friends? You bet! Would I still like to dance the night away with my friends? Sure thing. Would it STILL actually be fun to dance the night away with my friends? Frankly, after an hour, it wouldn't be fun anymore because I would be exhausted. You made a great living at football, Bret, and accomplished truly wonderful feats...hang up the cleats before the laughing-stock quotient overshadows all that!
Thursday, July 21, 2011
Major Suck
Pardon my crass title, but it's the only thing I could come up with that accurately reflects how I feel tonight. True confession time, I was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis 11 years ago. It's, thankfully, the relapsing-remitting type of MS which means that most of the time, nobody would ever know that I have the disease. There are those times, however, that it rears it's ugly head and today is one of them.
In fact, I had some muscle spasms and started to feel the fatigue part of MS a few days ago, but the eliptical debacle could be blamed for the muscle cramps and who isn't fatigued? When I'm having an episode, I experience problems with my gait, double-vision, delibitating fatigue, muscle spasms, all-over joint pain and some speech issues. Voila! Today I woke up with all of the above. Fun, huh? So, as you've probably figured out by now, DWA did not happen tonight.
Actually, I intended to go anyway. I have always read that exercise is good for muscle spasms, joint pain, etc. But the dang fatigue after a day of work did not abate after taking a power-nap, and as the clock kept ticking toward DWA-hour, I was less and less enthusiastic about dragging myself upstairs (gait and joint pain), changing, dragging myself downstairs, driving to the Y (double-vision), walking from the parking lot to the locker room, putting my stuff in the locker (muscle spasms), walking to the pool, getting in the water and actually doing the moves. I think you get my drift.
I'm disappointed in myself. I'm annoyed that I have this blasted disease. I'm sick of the incredible heatwave that most of the U.S. is experiencing -- always contributes as a trigger. I'm seething at my ex-husband who has been a total buster lately and added to my daily stress (another trigger). And, just as much as those emotions, I'm embarrassed that I have slipped on my resolution to participate in this class every Monday and Wednesday over the summer.
So, now you see why the title of this entry is so fitting!
In fact, I had some muscle spasms and started to feel the fatigue part of MS a few days ago, but the eliptical debacle could be blamed for the muscle cramps and who isn't fatigued? When I'm having an episode, I experience problems with my gait, double-vision, delibitating fatigue, muscle spasms, all-over joint pain and some speech issues. Voila! Today I woke up with all of the above. Fun, huh? So, as you've probably figured out by now, DWA did not happen tonight.
Actually, I intended to go anyway. I have always read that exercise is good for muscle spasms, joint pain, etc. But the dang fatigue after a day of work did not abate after taking a power-nap, and as the clock kept ticking toward DWA-hour, I was less and less enthusiastic about dragging myself upstairs (gait and joint pain), changing, dragging myself downstairs, driving to the Y (double-vision), walking from the parking lot to the locker room, putting my stuff in the locker (muscle spasms), walking to the pool, getting in the water and actually doing the moves. I think you get my drift.
I'm disappointed in myself. I'm annoyed that I have this blasted disease. I'm sick of the incredible heatwave that most of the U.S. is experiencing -- always contributes as a trigger. I'm seething at my ex-husband who has been a total buster lately and added to my daily stress (another trigger). And, just as much as those emotions, I'm embarrassed that I have slipped on my resolution to participate in this class every Monday and Wednesday over the summer.
So, now you see why the title of this entry is so fitting!
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Just say no to the eliptical trainer!
In a moment of what can only be termed "temporary insanity," I had the brilliant idea that I could, on Tuesdays, use the eliptical trainer in the Y fitness center before picking the kids up from daycamp. Uh...yeah, that was decidedly NOT a good idea! If I felt uncoordinated and buffoonish during the first DWA sessions, this experience kicked it up to a whole new level. Remember Bill Murray in "Lost in Translation?" Uh-huh...you got it. I was sweating like a racehorse, chugging like a steam train and laughing like a hyena to the point where a trainer actually came by to help me dismount. OMG -- I don't know when I'll be showing my face anywhere near the fitness center again. In fact, I believe I will be donning a bag over my head when entering the Y anytime in the next few days.
Fresh from that humiliation, I picked the kids up only to have my son ask me what was wrong with me. He actually was concerned enough to ask if I needed help out to the car and took my arm. If I wasn't touched by the sweetness, I would have cuffed him acrossed the head! I though exercise was supposed to give one a healthy glow? Apparently, not in my case.
So, just as I was feeling good about my performance in yesterday's DWA and confident enough to try something new, reality brings me back to Earth with a thump. Grrrrr...
Fresh from that humiliation, I picked the kids up only to have my son ask me what was wrong with me. He actually was concerned enough to ask if I needed help out to the car and took my arm. If I wasn't touched by the sweetness, I would have cuffed him acrossed the head! I though exercise was supposed to give one a healthy glow? Apparently, not in my case.
So, just as I was feeling good about my performance in yesterday's DWA and confident enough to try something new, reality brings me back to Earth with a thump. Grrrrr...
Saturday, July 16, 2011
Weekend realizations and affirmations
My first week back to work/working out has come to an end, and it's time to enjoy the weekend. So, to kick off the fun, I decided that the gardens needed some serious attention. My daughters wanted to try one of those roll-out garden mats this year, so we rolled on out along both sides of the walkway to the front steps and door. Well, the verdict has been mixed. It appears that the Bachelor's Buttons contained in the seed mats were abundant, but that's about it as far as I can tell. They look nice, but a lot of weeds also came up and I have my suspiciouns that it's part and parcel with the seed mat. So, it was weed-a-rama all morning.
Jojo just came home from a week at Girl Scout camp and immediately had a birthday sleep-over party to attend. That's our little social butterfly. Lilo and Koko had a karate party and Bo just wanted to hang with his friends. While Chuck played chauffuer, I donned by Domestic Goddess toga and tackled the house. How in the world does it get so cluttered in a week's time. With a family our size, I should probably clean more than once a week, but that is not in the cards if I want to keep up with the DWA twice a week, which I do.
For years, I felt guilty about doing anything outside of the home that wasn't geared toward one of the kids, making a salary or the occasional lunch date with a friend (when the kids were in school and Chuck was at work). You know what? They were happy being the center of my universe, but I realized that I was not. I feel much more fulfilled having a couple of hours each week that are carved out for nobody else but me. So, I'll do the yardwork, the housework, the never-ending laundry, shuttle the kids around to various practices, games, parties, etc., and work outside of the home, but I also insist on "me time" and, for now, that's in the pool at the Y on Monday and Wednesday nights and in the Community lap pool (grrrrr.....) once during the weekend.
Jojo just came home from a week at Girl Scout camp and immediately had a birthday sleep-over party to attend. That's our little social butterfly. Lilo and Koko had a karate party and Bo just wanted to hang with his friends. While Chuck played chauffuer, I donned by Domestic Goddess toga and tackled the house. How in the world does it get so cluttered in a week's time. With a family our size, I should probably clean more than once a week, but that is not in the cards if I want to keep up with the DWA twice a week, which I do.
For years, I felt guilty about doing anything outside of the home that wasn't geared toward one of the kids, making a salary or the occasional lunch date with a friend (when the kids were in school and Chuck was at work). You know what? They were happy being the center of my universe, but I realized that I was not. I feel much more fulfilled having a couple of hours each week that are carved out for nobody else but me. So, I'll do the yardwork, the housework, the never-ending laundry, shuttle the kids around to various practices, games, parties, etc., and work outside of the home, but I also insist on "me time" and, for now, that's in the pool at the Y on Monday and Wednesday nights and in the Community lap pool (grrrrr.....) once during the weekend.
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