We went shopping tonight. Kinda had to – tomorrow is our first day at the Senior Circuit, which is not to be confused with anything having to do with Major League Baseball. The gym we signed up for has something called Silver Sneakers (A.K.A. Exercise for old folks) and has two Silver Sneakers primary programs. Silver Circuit is one, and MSROM is the other. No, it’s not computers 101. It is a low impact Range of Motion exercise class. We’re doing the slightly more demanding program. I want to drop 50 pounds and get some of the functionality of my left hand back.
I’m not entirely certain why Linda is doing it other than to laugh at me – after all – she’s perfect.
I have lots of sweats and T’s, and two good pair of athletic shoes – a Reebok walker and New Balance Cross Trainer. Linda has squat, so tonight we went shopping to outfit her. No matter what, she’ll be the cutest chick on the floor tomorrow – whether she’s actually exercising, or just laughing at me. Either way it will be fun doing it together.
That’s the cool thing about being married to your best friend. She loves me even though she knows my flaws. She is an incredibly understanding and supportive woman. Much of my writing success is because of her support and encouragement, and I know I’m even alive because of her persistence in making me do the right things health wise, even when I give up or start feeling sorry for myself. Proverbs talks about how blessed a man is to find a good wife. I am blessed.
The gym has a varied selection of non-free weight exercise machines, and Gerry, the trainer with whom we’ll be working specializes in people our age, and is very knowledgeable where rehab for people in my situation are concerned. When it warms up enough, there is an unheated outdoor pool with a section for swimming laps and one for aqua exercise. And they have an outdoor Jacuzzi. I should be able to drop 50 pounds in a year. I dropped 65 in a year in Holland before my stroke. Won’t get my 6-pak abs back, but I’ll lose the weight – we both will – and that should have a number of positive ramifications for both of us.
As for dropping and giving you 20, probably not, at least for a while. The only push-ups I can do are while standing up and doing them against the wall, and it’s still mostly my good arm carrying the weight.
The cool thing is my reflexes work even when trying to perform an act of will to do the same thing doesn’t. The trainer tossed a pen at my left side and I instinctively reached out and caught it. I can’t do that when I’m thinking about doing it – not yet, anyway. Same thing happened a few weeks ago. I was in the pantry and a can of PAM spray fell and landed upright on my left elbow. I juked it up and caught it in mid air – by reflex. I tried to duplicate he toss and catch action intentionally and couldn’t. The nerve and muscle memory are there but there’s a roadblock when I try to do it intentionally.
All that means is if you tell me to drop and give you 20, it won’t happen – not now. Try back next year, and I’ll take your dare. I’m willing to bet on it.
Today I read an article about a possible star going nova in 2012 and giving earth 2 suns for about 2 weeks, with the possibility of no actual night. What with the Mayan predictions for December, 2012, I’m putting off making vacation plans for 2013 – especially in light of my sign changing from Capricorn to whatever precedes that.
We’ll see.
Happy Trails.
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