1st Spud Night Complete

Completed the first night of the spud to stud program at the YMCA. So far so good. Jay and Jenny H. are going to be great instructors/motivators.

Tonight was a 20 minute walk, followed by stretching. Each other day this week we add an additional five minutes to the walking time.

There were a lot of people in attendance tonight. I was impressed. It looks like the youngest two are in their mid-teens, while the oldes I'm pretty sure was commenting "if this grandmother can get out there and try it - you can too".

It looks like some gentle yoga is in order early tomorrow morning, or these stiff legs will be communicating a sob story.

Lulu writes and sweats

Several years ago I wrote a children’s book. I shopped it around a little, and although it got a smidgen of attention. No publishing house ever picked it up. The main character’s name was Lulu Grace. I love the name Lulu and always notice it when used in literature, the old comic strip, etc.

A couple of weeks ago I ran across an ad by the athletic outfitter lululemon athletica. The ad is basically a bunch of sayings in a crazy mumbo-jumbo layout. You’re forced to pay attention and read the affirmations one by one. I found a few that were very appealing and that I’m working toward incorporating in my daily life.

“Do one thing a day that scares you.” This statement is in the largest font and the boldest typeface. All right, here’s what I’ve decided to do. I signed up on the National Novel Writers Web site committing personally to write 1667 words each day during the month of November. That’s very scary.

The good thing about that National Novel Writers experience is that there is no self-editing for that first 30 days. You simply write. I’m jotting down ideas and working out characters. It will be a good test of my personal commitment to see if I can at least pull off the daily writing. I’ll trust the words to find themselves.

Another good affirmation on the ad is “Sweat once a day to regenerate your skin.” If you’ve just gotten to know me over the last couple of years you would be shocked to know I was once much smaller in body size and actually would run for exercise with Big Al. So…I’ve signed up with the YMCA for their “Spud to Stud” program which starts August 27, literally taking major couch potatoes like myself and over a 10 week period working with them so that they can run a 5k. I’m sure I couldn’t run 5 feet today, but I’ll let you know how this turns out in November.

Probably my favorite lululemon ad statement reads “Successful people replace the words ‘wish’ ‘should’ and ‘try’ with ‘I WILL’”.

Here I go (obviously still reeling from the empty next syndrome with the first fledgling) … I WILL write a book and I WILL run a 5K.

I’ll attempt to provide a humorous dialogue on my writing and sweating – maybe not always in that order - on this blog. It should be a hoot!

No Where To Hide

I feel like I did when the boys were very small and they would want to shadow me on my every move....except tonight they know I'm trying to do a little last minute birthday shopping on the Internet.

Every where I turn there are two sets of eyes following me. It's pointless anyway. They're smarter than I am and they'll probably just pull up the history files on the computer to see where I've been searching.

Last year was a birthday gift disaster. Apparently I was suffering from some sort of "mom" disease where I couldn't tell how grown-up they were or assumed they were. This year, Big Al and I conducted some serious planning as to what should go on the birthday list.

There's added pressure with this being the first "teen" year.

Keep your fingers crossed. We still haven't decided what the celebration will entail - most likely paintball and grilled steaks.

School Supplies

The boys turning 13 in a couple of weeks, I think I finally have the basic back to school shopping under control. For me it takes entering the list of supplies into my Palm Pilot, creating a check off list that can be narrowed down each an item is purchased.

I keep track of the school supply circulars, then one Sunday afternoon, when I’m in a pretty good mood. I head for the store.

Here’s the key part of this plan. I almost always don’t take the boys. They can be no where near for this to be a quick, painless experience. Trust me, all they do is add an air of panic to an otherwise pleasant day. With each pack of pens, binder, or tissue box tossed in our cart, I hear, “How many more days until school starts?” “Are you sure we really need to buy this stuff?” “Summer can’t be over…it just started!”

An hour of that and I’m ready to panic myself.

This year the school supply shopping was a breeze. What was tough was buying clothes for the boys. We’ve learned during certain growth cycles in their lives it’s silly to buy long pants, since they’ll only look like “boy capris” in a week. So we decided to stick with long shorts, meaning for them nothing that hits above the knee.

Apparently my clothing tastes and having me outside the dressing room are embarrassing. Big Al was the fashion consultant this year, while I hung out a safe distance away.

The more I think about it, summer can’t be over yet. Enjoy your last couple of days while you can.

Up $95

The empty nest syndrome was in full swing this afternoon. Big Al and I headed to the Casino.

Mind you, the boys were way happy to have their sappy, doting, overly interested parents out of the house for a couple of hours. They had experienced just about enough of our overt attention in lieu of missing their big sister. It was time for major junk food and video games.

I first tried the horse track screens, but my very elaborate betting idea - name of the jockey, plus name of the horse, multiplied by the colors the jockey wore (I bet the most if they were wearing orange, pink, purple - or really big if it was a combination of the three). No duh, but this "method" proved really dissapointing.

It wasn't too long before I was bored and up strolling through the cavernous structure. It's impossible to keep track, from my perspective, of how many slot machines there were on the main floor.

Somewhere near the back cashier stand, I ran into my neighbor and friend Donna. She coached me on the penny slot machines (won $42) and the video poker (won $53).

It was good way to burn a couple of hours, but even now, four hours later, I can still smell the cigarette smoke on my clothes and hair. Time for a shower, then to clean up the dinner plates, after the steak dinner I bought with my winnings.

Unbelievable

It's simply beyond me tonight that Sis has moved away to her first apartment. I've always joked that I wouldn't be the one experiencing the empty nest syndrome, but this afternoon I just sat in her room and cried.

She's so excited.

The University of Central Missouri is a great school.

She'll be playing for a super softball team.

We're just all going to miss her so bad.

Her Dad and I both know this is it....she'll never come home to live for an extended period of time. Both of us - once we moved out after hight school - we were gone. That's just the way things are.

Even Fez the wonder puppy is a little blue this evening. We've all been doting on him like crazy - new toys, new dinner choice, but he can tell something's different. He's a two-woman-kinda dog...and I'm only half of his adoration.

Stillness in Motion

One of the people I miss most from Crowder is Bob Ensor the music instructor. His office was near mine. More importantly the airconditioning vent from his office fed directly into mine. It was my pleasure to listen to him practice piano.

Bob just put together a CD "Stillness in Motion". It is magical.

Think of the hardest, busiest, most stressful day you've had at work. You just can't wait to get home and unwind. This is the music to unwind to.

He's posted excerpts of the music at his Web site.

www.thetaoofpiano.com

Go check this out. You will feel better after you do - promise.