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Felt like a work out
2005-05-02, 2:46 p.m.

Day 253 Well, it feels like I worked out

No kidding. Spent Saturday at me Mom�s, helping to clean out storage areas, sort stuff, in general get the ol� homestead ready for sale. Amazingly, I didn�t go home with a van full of goodies. Only half a van full actually. Really, the only stuff I may not keep are records (actual vinyl record albums) from various all-state choirs & bands I was in back in school. I mean really � the 1971 6th grade All-State school band? I do have a copy of out high school band doing Gershwin�s �Rhapsody in Blue� which I will always keep, but I think the grade school stuff can go.

I did sneak in a work out before I went to Mom�s on Saturday. New best time for a 5K again. I may not worry about this best time stuff until I hit a real milestone like getting under 25 minutes. Not that that is all that speedy, but for an old, overweight ex-smoker, it�s showing signs of at least being mobile.

Sunday � no workout. The Y doesn�t open till 10am and I am well into the chores by then. Lawn desperately needed a raking and fertilizing. This included this years installment of the �Mole dance�, which usually involves me tracking mole tunnels all over the yard, stomping them flat, at least temporarily. We�ll be doing some grub treatments this year as well. That might give the moles less incentive to be digging up my yard. Parts of it are so bad it feels like you�re walking on a sponge.

Where the moles don�t dig it up, moss is creeping in. I raked out bales of the stuff yesterday. That�s what�s causing the complaining in my shoulders � the after effects of all the raking. While I was packing up all the moss for disposal, my neighbor stops by to see what I was up to. He kindly informed me that Scott�s makes some sort of fertilizer/weed killer that targets moss. Don�t know that I need to go that route. It�s bad enough that I even fertilize and kill off the major weeds, but living in the burbs, ya kinda have to at least make an attempt to keep the dandelions down at least. Plus, I�ve spent a lot of time & effort to keep out landscaping looking nice, can�t see ruining it with weeds all over the lawn. The moss mostly stays below the grass, but I fear it will eventually choke it out.

At least the fertilizing is done for the moment. I�ll make another run to spread the grub killer some night this week, (but not on Tuesday. Nothing messes with my aerobics class), then I get to think about actually mowing for the first time this coming weekend. Better check the gas situation. Hmmmmm.

Because I missed Sunday�s (formal) workout, I went in this morning. First time ever on a Monday. Aided by the fact I could NOT keep my eyes open past 9:30 last night, so when 5am rolled I was plenty awake. Not a bad workout � run was ok, except I hit the �Stop� button on the treadmill quite by accident. Ended up costing 10 � 15 seconds to figure out what happened and get things back up on auto pilot again. Strength training is at or above where it was just before vacation. At least the weight setting are there. Takes a little more effort to complete the sets than I remember, but that could be all in my head too.

Oh � found out Saturday that there ARE locally sponsored rewards for reaching specific levels on this whole FitLinxx thing. Our Y hands out:
A certificate at 15,000
Nalgene water bottle at 30,000
Coffee mug at 50,000
A T-shirt at 75,000

I�m now somewhere around 26,000 points and I didn�t get my certificate!!! That�s ok. In 2 weeks I�ll be at 30K and looking forward to that water bottle. Those Nalgene bottles are darn near unbreakable.

Oh! Oh! Oh! - Did my weigh in and BP measurements today. I was a little worried about the BP � last Friday the numbers were up, but I missed my pill in the morning. This morning, 3 successive readings all under 120/80. First time evah!! Weight was down again, but I�m getting all too used to that. Actually, weight is down to the point where I need to establish a new goal in Fit Day. I took a sneak peek and found out my calorie limit will drop from 2490 to 2290. This morning, as a test run, I cut my cereal from 1.5 cups to 1 cup even and dropped the milk from 0.75 to 0.5cups. That alone cut 110 of the 200 calories I need to drop. Now I�ll trim the serving sizes at dinner a bit and it�s set. Might have to drop my late night snack of an apple or an orange � but I can fill up with water. That�ll work, sure, sure. Just have to keep some mustard handy for when I start gnawing on the fingers of my left hand, but it�ll work out fine.

One thing I did bring home the wif liked was a desk chair. Bordering on antique, all wood, rollers on the legs, very swanky. Needs a teensy bit of TLC, but it beats the old antique side chair we had been using.

One other thing I brought home the wif hasn�t commented on is an ashtray. Used to belong to my Dad, formerly occupied a revered space on a miniature pot-bellied stove kinda thing that was converted into this ashtray stand. During our attempts at quitting smoking in the past, the wif had slowly eliminated every ash tray we owned. Last year, we were down to using the water dish to a clay pot as an ash tray. That�s not as bad as it sounds, because we had the sense to forbid smoking in the house 3 or 4 years ago. Even during our occasional sub-zero winter days. So the clay dish sat in the garage on my workbench. Till it took a ride late last fall, well after I had quit smoking. Now that all the snow is gone and it�s warm enough to be outside, I�m finding cigarette butts lying about here & there outside. Took all of 3.9 micro seconds to figure out who the source was. So � while de-cluttering my Mom�s Saturday, I latched onto my Dad�s favorite ashtray. Left it in the garage where the clay dish used to sit. Haven�t made any announcements that it is there, but I don�t think I need to. Also have not heard word one about a certain someone noticing it, and I don�t think I will either. It�s also been mysteriously empty since it arrived, but I haven�t noticed any new butts lying about. The old ones will stay right where they are, until that certain someone picks them up. Hope she beats the lawnmower to them, because I won�t be bagging the clippings for a while.

Ali is recommending �Courage for Change� � one of Al Anon�s 3 main daily readings books. Maybe I�ll wait a couple of weeks and use my whopping huge 2.5% raise and buy all 3 books at the bargain price of $26. I only wonder where I�ll leave them. Nightstand? Work? Van? No place is �safe�. If I don�t leave them out someplace, I�ll never read them. If I leave them out, it could start more trouble than I want to deal with. Of course, it�s akin to manufacturing an excuse to leave the house. Someone asked, �Why lie? Tell her where you�re going.� Suppose the same is true for the books & pamphlets. Why lie, let her know what you�re reading, & why. That Courage book might be an appropriate first choice.

253 days down. So is my blood pressure. For now.


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