Uncategorized – Page 3 – Sweat & Sparkle

Love Is…

…rubbing my forehead when I have a headache without me even asking.

…reaching out for my hand while he is driving.

…telling me what I need to hear, not what I want to hear.

…holding me tight in the morning before we get out of bed.

…listening to all of my stories and nodding even when he has no idea what I am talking about.

…kissing the top of my head as he walks by.

…reminding me of my strength when I start to forget.

…being my best friend, my love, my one.

After work yesterday, I headed to the gym, kind of surprised they were still open when I got there. I had my choice of almost any machine in the gym, since only about two other brave souls were there. Usually at that time, the gym is packed, and it’s hard to even find a parking space. I enjoyed the solitude and convenience of not fighting the typical after-work crowd.

It wasn’t meant to last, though. Alas, today I received a notification that my gym is temporarily closed. Good thing I have a pretty large collection of workout DVDs, plus a bunch of workouts bookmarked online.

I have to work late tonight, so I took a long lunch and did a 30-minute Leslie Sansone walking workout, after walking my stepson’s dog. Hey! I just remembered that I forgot to put a star on the calendar for working out today. I bought a pack of stickers just for that. It was oddly rewarding to be able to put a sticker on each day for working out, so I wanted to get back to that. (Yes, I’m one of those people who eagerly waits for my sticker after voting, too.)

Back to work. My cat is sternly supervising me, opening one eye sleepily every now and then to make sure he is getting adequate ear scratches and belly rubs.

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Waving the White Flag

surrender Okay, okay. I can admit when I am defeated. And this week is viciously and indisputably kicking my tail.

I knew this was going to be a busy week: there is something going on every single evening this week, so it’s a crack-of-dawn until middle-of-the-night packed schedule this week. The only semblance of free time has been my lunch break, and even those are jammed with running errands and getting things done that I don’t have time for anywhere else.

So yeah, I know I should be fitting in a workout during my lunch, or getting up extra-early for a morning workout. But I assure you, when the alarm went off this morning, and I had a choice of bounding out of a nice, warm bed to jump around and sweat, or snuggling back up into my pillow, with my husband’s arm wrapped around me, I curled back up without a second thought. It was going to be a long day, and I wanted as much peaceful snuggling as I could get.

One event this week was my younger stepson’s football night. I’ve mentioned he is a senior this year, and the seniors on the team were recognized with certificates and were presented with their jersey from the season. I have a lot of good memories of drowning myself in team colors on Friday football nights, yelling from the stands, my husband nudging me excitedly and saying, “There he is” every time my stepson took the field. I will miss it, but I know he is on to bigger and better things.

My husband and I traveled over an hour each way and were there on time, ready to support him and celebrate his years of tearing it up on the football field. It was important to him. I don’t pretend to begin to understand the choices of others who were not there. After we took pictures of him with his jersey and certificate, my stepson stood quietly, looked around the room, and said, “This is my last time.” My husband hugged him again and reminded him this might be the last time for this, but he has many, many first times ahead of him from here. We were there, we were proud, he thanked us and hugged us for being there, and that was what mattered.

Two more days left of this week, and I will barely be getting home in enough time to shower before hitting the sheets. I am tired. No, I am exhausted! So I am taking all pressure off of myself and waving the white flag of surrender. Working out, logging, tracking…it’s just not happening this week.

This weekend, I intend to do as close to absolutely nothing as possible. Reading. Sitting in the rocking chair on the porch. Sitting down and just enjoying not having anywhere to be except at home. Monday is a new week, and I desperately need to recharge my batteries.

Our Trail Walk

Dog Walk Being the clever, efficient person that I am, I decided to kill two birds with one stone last night. I need exercise, and my stepson’s dog needs to go for walks, so why not combine the two? A trip to the park to stroll the trails seemed like the logical thing to do.

As I was changing clothes and braiding my hair, my husband said he would go with me. I was surprised. He works outside in the heat all day, so I didn’t think he would want to go back out in it. I was happy he was joining us.

We set off with our four-legged sidekick, who was mesmerized with every squirrel in a ten-mile radius, like he hasn’t seen a million squirrels in our own backyard. We weren’t quite sure how he would react to other dogs or other people on the trail, but he did really well, curious but not aggressive, sniffing everything in sight so hard I thought his nostrils would turn inside out, but chugging along, wagging his tail, tongue happily hanging out.

My husband started teasing me that I was lying about the water fountain I swore was coming up, but I wasn’t making it up. One of the reasons I love that trail is that there is a water fountain at the trail head, and another one about 1.5 miles into the trail. We stopped there to fill up the dog’s water bottle (yes, we carried equipment and provisions strictly for the dog, like good little well-trained human servants).

By the time we reached the parking lot, we had covered 3.5 miles! My goal had been 1.5, so it was way more than I had planned for the evening. Mission certainly accomplished!

Later, in bed, my husband told me that he had fun on our walk. I hope we do it again soon. I liked sharing the trail with him, walking with him, laughing at the dog’s reactions to the world around him.

I got the week off to a good start and can’t blow it now. My goal this week is to work out at least 20 minutes each day the rest of this week.

Another goal is to take time each day, even if it’s just five minutes, to do something just for me. I need it. I am getting worn down, crushed by the take-take-take all day long: constant interruptions at work, questions, can you do this, I don’t know how to do that, adapting to rapid-fire changes at the blink of an eye. Then I get home and have a never-ending to-do list there, too.

By the time I sat down last night (after our walk and after making sure the dog had a big bowl of water, making sure my cat knew I love him and am not cheating on him with the dog, cleaning up the kitchen after dinner since my husband cooked, assuring my stepson that his minor stuffy nose and barely perceptible cough are not fatal, setting up the dog with a blanket and a chew bone, and folding clothes from the dryer so I could toss in another load), it was well after 10 PM.

I finally sank down into the soft, blissful comfort of the sofa, and snuggled up with my husband, our little ritual in the evenings that we look forward to. It was time to let the day’s stress melt away, relax, unwind…and even if there had been an earthquake, a flood, or another natural disaster, I absolutely was not getting up again until bedtime, dammit!