Family 2013

Family 2013

Saturday, August 11, 2012

Exercise as a Religious Experience

For those of you who know me it is no great surprise that I don't like to exercise.  I don't want to sweat and I intensely dislike "feeling the burn".

But, I am not getting any younger.  Heavier yes, but no younger.  So on a lark, Don and I visited a gym 2 weeks ago.  You know, one of those places filled with people who enjoy sweating and trainers named Gunter who bear a strong resemblence to Genghis Khan.

I'm not really sure how it happened, but we walked out with a gym membership AND a personal trainng schedule.  Enter the religious experience zone.  Not because I now, miraculously love to sweat however.

The individual workouts aren't too bad.  Except for my knee which is apparently experiencing "muscle mutiny".  I don't think it's supposed to hurt to climb on the treadmill!  I have control over what I do and how many reps I do when I'm on my own.

Trainer Day (which for us is Saturday morning) is a whole different matter.  We pray as we go in "Oh Lord, give us painkillers for what we are about to experience".  The trainer pulls out these cute, brightly colored balls which look like they should be such fun.  Unfortunately they are used as a support while you do squats...massive amounts of squats.  Invoking the name of the Lord as a prayer for help is second nature now.  Medicine balls are so named because you need more medicine after using them.  Going to the mat will improve your prayer life simply because it's easier to lay there and pray than it is to rise to your feet...ever again.

The reality is, though, that I need a faster speed on the treadmill now to get my heart rate up.  I think I found a muscle under the flab on my arm today.  The scale has only budged about 1 lb. so far...but you know that muscle weighs more than the flab it replaced!

And we take comfort from Don's new money making plan--trainer voodoo dolls.  We think that we could make our first million from other baby boomers who love their trainers as much as we love ours.  And if that doesn't work, the Bible is full of plagues and pestilence that we can dream about, while we're down on the mat...improving our prayer life!

Feeling blessed, how about you?

Monday, July 16, 2012

How I Spent My Summer Vacation Pt. 2 OR How Do I Get Off This Rollercoaster?

In my previous post I mentioned the good news.  Of course into every life some rain must fall...

After our daughter graduated, I took her and two of her friends to the homeschool convention.  Well, I was headed to the convention, they were headed to Disney. 



This was a wonderful trip...except for my trip to the emergency room for leg swelling after we got home.  Fortunately this was not very serious, just painful.




Two days later, we were told that Don's mom had been admitted to the hospital for heart problems...so we headed up there to spend time with her in the hospital.  At this writing she is doing much better.

Two days after we got home, Don and I celebrated our 33rd wedding anniversary.  Because I was heading out to visit with Dad the next day, we had a very quiet (relaxing) time.

As many of you will recall, one year ago this coming week my mother died.  It has been a very tough year for Dad.  This coming Sunday will be his 84th birthday, and he has days where he doesn't feel all that well.  The purpose of my visit was to spend time with my dad and my sister and help fill the freezer for the coming months...my family is kinda like a squirrel family!

When I finally got home, it was time for Tropical Storm Debby.  Usually Tropical Storms are just rain makers, but she packed significant winds.  We had a fair amount of clean up to do after she moved on.  The beaches still have quite a bit of erosion, and the storm was devestating for the sea turtle nests.

BUT...here's the silver lining to all those clouds.  I am speaking on handling tough days at a homeschool convention this coming weekend.  Obviously all of this stress gave me some serious fodder for my talk, but it also let me see how much my routines help me cope with day to day issues.

I have spent the last year thinking over how my mother kept lists for everything.  She also kept an excellent calendar (which was very helpful for all those upcoming dr. appts.)  I have never been as good as she was with the calendar...but I have come up with a few new tricks that are really helpful.  I use post it notes for those things that pop up regularly--like the dog's heartworm medicine and my allergy shots.  Once I've done the chore, I just move the post it note to the next scheduled date. I've now expanded it to include period chores like cleaning ceiling fans and vacuuming under the fridge.  I also have my spiral notebook which contains my weekly to-do lists and phone logs.



I still have my menu board just above my calendar on the fridge.  I have to admit that I don't always follow menus on the board.  Sometimes we get a hankering for something completely different.  The true beauty of the menu board is when I feel completely uninspired. On that board are 30 menus...all I have to do is pick one.

So I'm still bobbing on the waves, with my head above water!
Feeling blessed, how about you?

How I Spent My Summer Vacation--Pt. 1

When I last posted, Lucky was pre-surgery on her knee.  We have now completed the recovery process and she is back to normal!  What a blessing!

We have also graduated the "baby" from homeschooling and closed our homeschool!  I'm really excited about this new adventure!  I will still teach at co-op, and will be standby editor for college papers.



Speaking of papers--our sweet graduate completed a novel for the NaNoWriMo writing contest back in November 2011.  We are completing the editing phase, which is much tougher than I ever gave it credit for!



And last but certainly not least, our son celebrated his first anniversary with his girlfriend. 



Yes, it has been a great summer!
Feeling blessed, how about you?

Wednesday, February 29, 2012

When Your Week Hands You Lemons...

It seemed like such a simple thing.  The dog hopped across a 12 inch span of lava rock separating the grass and the driveway.  She does this at least 4 times a day.  She yipped when she landed and drew up her right hind leg.  She was that way for the rest of the weekend.  So Monday morning, we were off to the vet (we had just been there on Wednesday to deal with her separation anxiety).

I knew we were in trouble from the vet's expression.  Lucky tore the ligament at her knee, and needed surgery ASAP.  For those who aren't in the know, Lucky is 14. Surgery is scheduled for Thursday.

So we have the challenge of keeping the dog calm for 3 days.  Then we have 2-4 months of recovery time.  Remember the separation anxiety I mentioned in the first paragraph?  When you have a dog that is in extreme pain, anxiety is much worse.



Lucky is a border collie.  She doesn't herd as much as she supervises.  She is my velcro dog.  If I am gone for too many hours in a row, she is beside herself.  We have medication to help (but not eliminate) this problem.  When I come home, she won't leave my side.



Obviously, we don't want her following me around the house right now.  If she blows out the other knee, we may not be able to save the dog.  She does need a leg to stand on.  So we have her on painkillers and as much anti-anxiety medication as we can safely give her.  As long as I sit, she will lay down right beside me.

So I've set up command central in the living room.  I have the house phone and my cell phone right beside me.  I have my lesson plans and the computer.  We've designed Cindy's graduation invitations.  I can watch TV.  Poor Cindy has gotten stuck with doing the cooking and cleaning, because I can't do those things from here (that's my story and I'm sticking to it). I can fold laundry, darn it!  Thank goodness, I had already bought the groceries.  Don's car is in the shop, so I didn't have wheels anyway.  The tax refund will cover the surgery...money is over-rated...

If you think about it, please pray that the surgery goes well, with nothing unexpected.  We'd also like an easy recovery for the old girl.
Feeling blessed, how about you?