Rrrrowrr! – Friday 5/30/2008

Per Peaches (my boss), “The days of the shoe box diorama are over.”

This is her daughter’s creation, and the whole thing is about 2 1/2 x 3 feet! There are some pretty scary volcanoes in the background.

LittleVee reports that this dino only has one eye because he lost the other one in a fight.

You should see the other guy!

Coincidentally, Hydra sent me this apparently serious take on dinosaurs put forth by one Christian ministry: Pterosaurs: An Introduction. It’s a amazing. They seem to have been created to cover up Adam and Eve’s nasty bits!

For some reason, these keychains, sent to us by the other owner of the company–who works and lives in Massachusetts–struck my fancy on the way to Peaches’ office to snag the dino shots. I’m using a blue hibiscus patterned version right now.

This one’s for The Last Noel!

A little investigative reporting reveals this sad news: The men’s room at Andrew’s (fka Sittons) is stained-glass free! I went around the outside of the building to check it out, and there’s no window at ALL in the men’s room, which from this p.o.v. would be to the right of the stained glass window.

If there had been one, I would have seriously considered going inside again to get a shot with the light behind it.

Talkin’ ‘Bout My Gym – Thursday 5/29/2008

Okay, can I gush about my gym for a minute? This is the branch of 24 Hour Fitness in Santa Clarita, which is the one I visit the most. It has a nice mix of features. So far I’m using the cardio machines and some of the weight machines the most. I’ve also been to the Lancaster, Hollywood, and Palmdale West branches. I like this one the best, but I love that I can use the other locations when they are handy or offer a class that I want to try.

It’s about half-way between work and home, and past the two major snarls on my commute–where the 170 meets the 5 and where the 14 peels away from the 5–so I stop there on weeknights.

I bought their package of 5 25-minute personal trainer sessions for $149 and I’m really glad I did. Did I tell you that my trainer is from Indiana and that I rode the school bus with her uncle? How weird is that?

So, anyway, having her lead me around the gym over the past 4 weeks has been really helpful. I feel I have permission to use areas and to move the movable equipment (like mats, balance balls, etc.) around the facility in ways I’m sure I would have felt timid about.

I have one more session with her and then I’m going to use the gym on my own. I will probably hire her again in a few months to help me up my levels if I need to or if my enthusiasm has started to wane.

I haven’t lost a lot of weight, but my trainer and my doctor both predicted that given my body type I’d put on muscle easily. It’s those European plow-following, sheep-toting genes, I tell you. My mom’s been active all her life with gardening, yard-work, walking and now line dancing. My dad was a big jock–basketball and Golden Gloves boxing (he was a regional champ!)–so I’m going to try to think of myself as an old athlete myself.

Oddly enough, I realized when I received my membership card that I had signed up not only on the same day that my commitment to Taking the Reins ended, but also on the anniversary of my father’s death at age 62 of a heart attack (April 17, 1990.) Dang, that sounds younger every year. I can’t believe how much he’s missed…like just last week a new great-granddaughter.

I have this fear of my own heart that I am trying to overcome.

I’ve exercised more and less throughout my life, but I’m seeing that after just a few weeks my body is responding. I feel stronger and more emotionally satisfied, too.

Yay, me!