Musings...

Raining here in Maryland, today, varying from showers to veritable ropes of rain.  I've already been to the gym, and am now catching up on email and reading blogs.  I did an hour of cardio while watching six TVs (three on news channels, one on the Columbia Association channel, one with the Spain-Switzerland soccer game, and the last with Regis and his fill-in hostess.  I switched off from my IPOD to whatever looked interesting at the time.  I call this "ADD Delight".  I also witnessed what I thought was a woman having a stroke, but she was just doing the cardio portion of circuit-weights and waving her arms spastically.  I really did try not to stare...

President Obama met this morning  with attorneys from BP and government.  I would have loved to have been a fly on that wall!  Lt. General Russel Honoré (Ret) (Remember this hero from Katrina?) discussed his ideas for dealing with the Gulf. He said we should be treating it like WW III and start taking the offensive.   I hope the President has an opportunity to hear him, although I'm sure the good man is up to his schnutz in advice.

I received a comment on my last posting from Heidi at Alamo.  She apologized for the manner in which the incident was handled.  It's nice to know that companies are willing to make good from a bad situation.  All is now well.

Daughter is recuperating nicely from her ordeal with the cleaning agents.  The bad news is that she sat in that ER for over eight (8) hours having difficulty breathing.  This is not the usual for this hospital -- something REALLY went wrong.  Triage protocols (ABCs (airway, breathing, and circulation))  would have indicated she be seen very promptly and treated, and while she was initially seen and a chest x-ray ordered and taken, she was relegated to the waiting room where she waited for six hours more.  By the time the physician did see her and realized what had been going on, he was livid.  He quickly ordered her meds and a breathing treatment and she was able to go home. I'm not sure what exactly happened, but I'll find out.

Outside the Zone or Bloggers Doing Zumba

Lately I've been pushing myself to do some things outside of my normal comfort zone. I think it's good for me as I tend to sit in the same chair, eat in the same restaurants, order the same crab cakes (we live in Maryland, for Heaven's sake!)

Today, I altered my cardio workout a bit -- only did 35 minutes on the elliptical and about 20 minutes of weights, but then signed up for a 55 minute Zumba class. And as I walked downstairs to the workout rooms, I looked over my shoulder and told the attendants at the desk to save time and just go ahead and dial 911 that I was so happy to have this opportunity. My yoga instructor had warned me to bring water and two towels and I'm glad I did. Zumba is really something! It's a Latino-ish salsa-like/ hip hop/aerobic workout.

The class was full -- had about 30 people -- very different people -- men and women, young and older folks, and some middle-aged like myself (assuming I live to 116). And the moves are really wrong on so many levels amazing. Lots of shimmying and hip undulating. I'm going back on Friday. I figure I should be able to walk by then.

Wouldn't it be fun to have a bloggers Zumba class?

Musings from the Gym

Today I need to clean the floor of the sun porch because we have yoga out there this afternoon. I also want to decorate the inside of the house. Older daughter carried all the boxes up from the basement for me. She's a good kid -- er adult. At any rate, I went to the gym early so I could work uninterrupted throughout the day.

I got a parking space easily this morning -- always a treat -- and then headed in to begin my workout. The cardio room in our gym has five TV's on the wall and then three rows of bikes, two rows of elliptical machines, and two rows of Stair-Masters behind them all facing the wall with the large-screens. It's a big room, as one can imagine. I climbed onto my machine (#23) (I am so much a creature of habit!) turned on my IPod, earphones in place, and began my workout. That's when I spotted her. I've seen her there before and I can't help staring at her. She's on a bike, pedaling away, reading a book, and at the same time she's dancing!!! -- she does these routines with her hands and arms -- kind of like conducting but a lot more spastic! It mesmerizes me and I can't look away. Luckily, I'm behind her and she can't see me gawking at her. (I wonder if she can feel me looking at her?) I think what tickles me so is the unabashed way in which she just does her thing. It also amazes me that through all of this she can actually see to read.

Then on the machine next to me is this older woman working out beside her even older husband. She, too, wears earphones, but I think she's forgotten she has them on because she screams talking to him. Now remember, I too am wearing headphones and I'm listening to John Phillip Sousa's marches, Cher, and Jimmy Buffet (my tastes are a little eclectic), but I can't hear my music because she's SCREAMING at her husband. "WHAT'S GOING ON WITH THE GOVERNOR OF ILLINOIS? CAN'T HEAR YOU. WHAD YA SAY?" And then she starts reading to him from Reader's Digest. "DO YOU WANT TO KNOW HOW TO FIX A LEAK IN A SINK? HUH? A SINK, I SAID. NO, A SINK! HOW ABOUT AROUND A DOOR? ARE YA SURE??" It was all I could do not to throttle her and scream, "WILL YOU SHUT THE HELL UP!"

See, Petunia can get nasty, too:).

A Short One from Petunia

Richard is on the road again, so I had to put notes up all over the place to remind myself that the alarm is on. I frequently forget and then set it off. (I have a panic button with which I can shut it down before it calls the agency). The noise from this thing is piercing and scary and I'm positive it's coronary inducing!
It's supposed to be 50 today and 58 tomorrow. The high yesterday was 25 when I went to the gym. My workout is important -- 45 minutes of cardio and then 30 minutes of weight training three or four times a week. (I also took up boxing (do you know how wonderful it feels to throw a good punch?) and Pilates a while ago and want to get back to both) . Socializing really makes the workouts palatable. I see neighbors, friends, ex-students and parents of students as well. It's nice to chat with old friends and make new connections. I notice that many older people enjoy that aspect of the gym , too. One man, who is 80 if he's a day, is very sweet. He's introduced himself to me every day for the past two weeks. He calls me "Petunia.":)
I have some writing to do for Richard and then I'll go out and get my daily copy of USA Today for the puzzle page. Love those crosswords.