Gotta Keep Movin'

It's the time of year in Memphis when you don't dare stand still outdoors, lest you end up covered in that powdery-green finery known as pollen much like this car:

Between the air outside and the remodeling paint fumes, this has been the toughest year ever for me, allergy-wise. I think the worst is behind me, though, and we have a nice little thundershower going on just now, which should help clear the air.


I did manage to quickly get my summer crops planted: 2 tomatoes, a cucumber, and a bell pepper. As a fledgling gardener with limited prepared space, I thought it prudent to start small. (That tippy toe thing, again.) I also bought a new rose bush: Zepherine Drouhin, an old bourbon rose from the late 1800s.

Mine doesn't look quite like this, and most likely won't this year, but maybe next year or the one after. :)

Beyond that, I finished painting two rooms, completed the first-of-the-year lawn mowing, and napped a lot. You wouldn't think sniffling would tire a girl out so much, but I've been pretty zonked. Still, I've managed to burn 500-600 extra calories per day and that's what I needed. (Say, I wonder if sneezing burns extra cals?)

Anyway, I'm waaaay behind on reading blogs, having just managed a few each day this week, but I'm hopeful I can be back on track by the end of the week. *fingers crossed for return to routine!*

I hope Spring is being kind to you ( if you're under allergy attack, know that my sympathies are with you!), and that you're getting to enjoy some warmer (cleaner) air.  Are you planning a garden? Looking forward to the farmer's market? Practicing safe tanning? How are you celebrating Spring (or Autumn for folks south)?

Movin' On Up

I am pleased to announce that I have a New Gym.

First, a quick update: I did receive a courteous and professional response to my note to The Power That Be at my old gym, ATC Fitness. He explained that all existing or former members are required to pay the sign-up fees as their previous contracts expire. It's not a penalty so much as a new way of billing that results in a lower monthly fee. And it does. The $15 monthly fee is about half what I paid under my previous enrollment. That's a little more palatable than the shoulder-shrug response I got from the desk clerk last week.

But I had already started touring other gyms, and I was curious about what else was available. So I kept looking. You'll remember that my only parameter was that my eventual choice be within easy walking/biking distance from my house. What a surprise to find so many candidates:

Physiology Associates
The Jewish Community Center's Wellness Center
Curves for Women
YMCA
24-Hour Fitness
Germantown Athletic Club

My primary focus for now is strength training and cardio workouts, but I do like to shake things up now and then. ATC has the standard cardio stuff (upright bikes, recumbents, treadmills, ellipticals, and stair climbers), circuit machines, and free weights. Oh, and they have a stability ball, a few mats, and some resistance cords. In other words, the essentials. (Excluding the tanning beds, which I think are ridiculous for a business that's supposed to be focused on health.) Still, I accomplished a lot while I was there, so no regrets!

Almost all of the other gyms I toured had the standard equipment and more: BOSU balls, multiple stability balls, medicine balls, cardio steps, workout mats, rowing machines, cross-ramps, and so on and so on. Most also had pools and group classes.

In the end, I decided to go with 24-Hour Fitness. I had the opportunity to work out there on Wednesday, and I felt completely comfortable. I was impressed not only with the staff, but with the friendly customers as well. It seems to be a fairly diverse clientele, with respect to age, gender, size, fitness level, etc., which I find appealing.

I was able to take advantage of a $0 initiation fee program and a discount for paying for a year up front. When all of that's netted together, I'll end up paying about $8/month more (about the cost of one lunch out) than I would've paid at ATC, but I'll have access to many more workout options and more locations when I travel. Oh, and I get 3 free sessions with a trainer! Woo-hoo! Plus, if/when I'm ready, I can take spinning and yoga classes without going elsewhere and paying extra!

I'm not even thinking about the p-o-o-l yet. :)

I'm so excited! This is definitely feeling like a lemons-to-lemonade situation, and while I still have the 'squish belly', I do NOT have the blues. I thoroughly enjoyed my workout yesterday (Yaay BOSU ball squats!), and I'm looking forward to working out again on Friday. Thanks to the BOSU reunion and a 10-mile bike ride today, my legs say tomorrow is a rest day. :)

Oh, and speaking of my bike ride, I passed a trail area called Turtle Bayou today and caught a glimpse of the Turtle Bayou Mass Transit System in action:



If you look in the upper left section of the photo, you can see the log stop where more passengers are waiting. :) (larger photo)

I love Spring!

Gym Evaluations are Underway!

In my last post, in addition to entertaining you with some of the finest blues music in recent history, I also did some crying over my encounter with the desk clerk at my gym. Once I got that out of my system (and aren't you all sweethearts for listening?), I set off to see what other options were available within easy walking/biking distance from my house, which would be about 2 miles. I was surprised with just how many options I found:

Physiology Associates
The Jewish Community Center's Wellness Center
YMCA
24-Hour Fitness

While these all cost 2-3 times as much as my gym, they also all offer lots more, including swimming pools. I've toured all except 24-hour Fitness, which I'll be visiting via a 7-Day Pass next week, and I've been impressed with the friendliness of the staff at each facility. They actually come out from behind their desks and mingle!

Another option I checked into, just because it was located near one of the other gyms, was Curves for Women. To be honest, I'd never considered Curves before, and I'm not sure why. I dropped in at my neighborhood Curves, and I have to tell you, I was impressed! As the name implies, it's a workout option designed for women. It's all based on hydraulic resistance equipment and cardio (not regular old gym equipment), and you follow musical/voice prompts to change machines. The standard workout is scheduled to last 30 minutes (but you can go longer if you wish), which includes time at an amazing stretching apparatus. Seriously, if I hadn't given them my real name wasn't such a moral and law-abiding citizen, I'd be backing up my Dad's truck to their door some night.

There was a feeling of camaraderie and "belonging" at this Curves location that I haven't experienced at any other gym I've worked out in. Granted, part of their job is to sell a membership to me, but it really came across more as, "Come play with us!" I like that! Staff members are available to help (and push you!), which almost felt like having a personal trainer.

The cost of a membership, which permits unlimited visits, is $100 sign-up and $34/month. For the month of March, though, they're waiving the sign-up fee in exchange for a bag of healthy groceries to be donated to a women's shelter! (This is apparently a program going on at all Curves, not just my local facility.) There are now Curves franchises all over the world, and you get guest privileges at all of them, plus they have some online activities and support as well.

By now you're probably thinking I'm being paid by the Curves people, but I'm not, I promise. Simply put, I was impressed with the place and honestly do think that it just might be a good resource if you have avoided working out at a gym because you felt intimidated or self-conscious. As for me, as much as I'd love to hang out with them and be part of what looks like a fun and supportive group, I think I'm at a point where variety in my workout is important. Besides, I have you guys for fun and support. :)

I'll make a decision next week and have an update from my gym. Until then, I'm going to have fun exploring and perhaps even widen my search to the five mile range just to see what else is out there!

Hope you're all having a wonderful weekend!

The Squish Belly Blues

*cue harmonica*

Woke up this morning, my to-do list a mile long
That’s okay, ‘cause I was feeling good and strong
Started putting stuff back where it belong

*harmonica*

Passed the mirror and caught a frightful sight
Inhaled real deep, pulled my core in tight
And wondered how this happened overnight

*harmonica*

That’s right, that’s right: I got me the Squish Belly Blues
How to fix it, I got some clues
But my *#%@ gym raised my dues... .


Okay, so Memphis may be the Home of the Blues, but chances are this little ditty will never be housed there. :)

While I don't think the cold days of winter resulted in any significant weight gain (clothes still fit), I did notice this morning that my abdomen is definitely feeling...well, squishy. I lost 100 pounds near the age of 50, so my abs were never of the "rock hard" variety. Even so, they looked better two months ago than they do now.

Okay, I thought, time to quit fooling around at home and get back to the gym for full workouts. No problem! I've been looking forward to getting back into the swing of regular strength training, and eradicating The Squish is a good challenge!

Imagine my dismay when I arrived at the gym and found that my key card didn't work.

My membership expired last month, and they won't extend my membership. The desk person said I have to enroll as a new member and pay a new member fee of almost $100.

(Don't worry, my neighbor just came over and confiscated my harmonica.)

This is a Sad Day, indeed. I signed up for that gym before it even opened, paying for two years in advance. I had only lost 20 pounds at that point, and I was feeling super motivated. This is the gym where I bawled like a baby when I realized I was actually going to achieve my goal. The gym where I bravely ventured into Manville for the first time ever. My gym. *sniff*

I've written to the Powers That Be to try to have that enrollment fee waived. Considering how many people I've referred to them, that I've already been a member for two years, and that I'm willing to spring for another 2 years up front, I'm hopeful they'll see the value in waiving the fee. (I might have also mentioned in my note that I'm a blogger .*g*) Keep your fingers crossed. If this doesn't work, look for a Waive Cammy's Fee page on Facebook.

I'll be using my non-gym time to check out other options in the area. One of the things I like most about my gym is that it's open 24/7. It doesn't offer much besides workout equipment, showers, and an old scale (along with tanning beds that I could care less about), but it's cheap, relatively clean, and less than a mile from my house. Other gyms in my neighborhood are closed at least one day per week and cost more. Oh well, it doesn't cost anything to look.

Meanwhile, I'll keep exercising at home.

And playing my harmonica.

~~

What do you like/not like about your gym? What do you look for in a gym? (I just want the free weights and cable machines.)

My First Lent, My Way

As an unaffiliated (or non-denominational, if you wish) Christian, I've never observed Lent. Many of my friends do, however, and in past years, I've simply nodded to show my attentiveness as they described what they intended to abstain from during the countdown to Easter. Chocolate, alcohol, caffeine, bread, and other such foods were the usual victims, but sometimes activities or perceived bad habits made the hit list: the snooze alarm, unnecessary spending, smoking, watching television, etc. All very interesting, but never enough to lure me into the observance of it.

Easter, on the other hand, has always been one of my favorite holidays. There are spiritual reasons, which I won't go into, but there are also mental and physical components to this holiday for me, probably because it's so handily observed in Spring, when my mind and body are beyond ready to be rid of the winter doldrums. Whatever the reason, I always feel more energized and alive around this time of year.

If you've read here for any length of time, you know that I like to shake things up now and then, to toss something new into the mix. Some things "take", some things don't. The joy is in the trying. And that's why I've decided to observe Lent this year, for the first time in my life.

As I understand it there are three general areas of focus in Lent: prayer, sacrifice, and charity/almsgiving. I've got the prayer/meditation thing covered, which leaves abstinence and charity.

You're probably on the edge of your seats now, wondering just what I plan to give up, aren't you? Well, if you guessed anything food-related, guess again! :) Now that I've cleaned up my daily diet, there's not much to sacrifice without giving up a nutritional component. Not a road I care to travel.

No, I've decided to go another route. When I think about some of my daily practices and habits, along with the ways I want to grow, I've chosen three Lenten-ish sacrifices (I chose three because it's such a big deal number in Christianity):

1) Reading fiction - I don't consider any reading to be time wasted, but I've been spending an inordinate amount of time with my nose buried in a cozy mystery or silly romance novel. I have a shelf full of unread non-fiction books, all obtained with the purpose of enriching my mind and/or spirit. For the next six weeks or so, I'll direct all of reading time to these books and the stack of unread magazines that have accumulated since the beginning of the year. In addition to a recharged inner self, I'll also accomplish a bit of decluttering. A two-fer sacrifice, if you will.

2) Free Cell - I have a healthy practice of using a few minutes of Free Cell play as a reward for getting some task accomplished. Finished my workout? Cool down with a few games of Free Cell. Complete a somewhat difficult item on my to-do list? Two games! Or I'll use it as a distraction from nighttime snacking urges. No problem there, and much healthier than large amounts of popcorn or chocolate. Lately, though, I've noticed that I'll head over to Free Cell when I want to avoid doing something difficult. I recognize it now as a form of fear, a way of hiding from risk, and it's NOT healthy. Taking away Free Cell as an option will give me more time to spend on more enriching pursuits. More on that in a minute.

3) 40 Personal Items & 40 Books - I've been blessed to live a life of abundance, and I'm grateful for that. I'm also embarrassed about the amount of stuff I have. While I've been made progress in ridding myself of some of it, I still have things I don't use, need, or love. In addition, my bookshelves are spilling over again, and many of those books will never be opened again. I've set up two boxes in my office and for the next six(ish) weeks, I'll be filling them with 40 unused items from my house and 40 books from my shelves. The purpose of this sacrifice is two-fold: to rid myself of unnecessary clutter and to put some useful-to-someone-else items back into circulation via a charitable donation.

Speaking of charity, for that component of Lent, I'll be attending a weekly series of Lenten lectures at a nearby church. They caught my attention with this title: Just Eating: Practicing Our Faith at the Table. Some of the topics look very interesting:
A Call to Action - changing our lives with faith in action steps, making our eating just, our bodies healthy & energizing our spirits to serve others.
On Nutrition - food as fuel, how our choices make a huge difference in our energy & our health as we make caring for our body a priority.
Food & Community - creating community with food, the importance of gathering at table and the power it has to nourish our bodies and souls.
Food & Environment - food and our environment, awareness of local cuisine and how to build ties between farmers, food artisans and community.
Food & Hunger - the problem of hunger in the Mid-South. Needs in our community can inform our actions & inspire us to examine our lifestyle.

I expect this series to be personally enriching and also to educate me on how I might better serve my community.

(Any Memphis people plan to attend? Give me a shout! The church is on Quince, just West of Kirby Parkway. There's a Starbucks around the corner that would be perfect for a meet-up! No pastries allowed. Not where I can reach them, anyway. :))

So this is my version of Lent. I'm sure to be breaking some sort of rules, but I don't particularly care. I'll be pushing aside some things (panicky note to self: fiction=temporary) to allow time and space for building a better me, both on the inside and on the outside, to the community at large. That seems to be the purpose of Lent, within my limited understanding of it. And who knows? If it works well, I may create a Supplemental Lent to follow it. :)

Feel free to chime in with your own Lenten intentions. Or not. I know it's a highly personal thing. :)

Whatever your beliefs, I wish you peace...

A Different Kind of Snow Day

We're having an icy, snowy weekend here in Memphis, which doesn't happen too often, so it's a Very Big Deal. Traffic jams and crashes everywhere! And I'm not just talking about the streets--the grocery stores are almost as bad. I try to avoid them at all costs.


Unfortunately, I found myself in need of a non-food item this morning and while I would've preferred Target, the grocery store was closest and had what I needed. As expected, it was chaos. Carts crashing into each other, over-hyped children bouncing all over the place, desparate shoppers scrounging for bread--absolute bedlam! As I stood in the ultra-long self-check line, it was actually kind of fun to watch. (I'm sick that way.)

It was also interesting to observe what people bought in terms of "emergency" supplies. I understand the chili fixin's, the canned soups and crackers, and the milk, bread, cereal, oatmeal, etc. But multiple bags of potato chips, cookies, candy, frozen french fries, frozen waffles, and stacks of frozen pizzas? I suspect lots of New Year's Resolutions will be broken this weekend.

You can rest assured that three years ago, I would've been right in there with them! I stocked up on very little in the way of nutrition, but bunches of high-calorie, high-fat snacks. As you know, that's all changed for me now. But looking around at the carts around me, I was feeling a little deprived. With the scarcity of snow days around here, there's almost a festive air when we do. And festivities have snacks, right? :)

Well, yes they do, but there's a difference between having a tasty snack on hand and indulging in an all-out food orgy. I knew I already had plenty of snacks at home: yogurt, almonds, sunflower seeds, all manner of fresh fruits, and a fridge full of chopped veggies. If I want cookies, there are some animal crackers in the pantry. Any salty snack desires can be handled with some air-popped popcorn. All my usual...stuff.

But I wanted something different, something out of the ordinary  for this very out-of-the-ordinary day. Had I not already been in the check-out line, I might have gone off in search an Asian Pear*, which is tasti-licious, but pricey, so not part of my normal routine. Or I might have gone over to the health food section for some spelt pretzels. I haven't had those in a long time. But like I said, I knew I had good snacks at home, if I should want them, and there wasn't really any point (not a good one anyway) in buying more.

And then I saw them--two treats guaranteed to brighten my weekend into something special:

Perfect! A little dose of bottled decadence, and something to occupy my hands if the over-snacking urge strikes.Ahhhh....blisssss!

Admit it, you're jealous, aren't you? :)

No? Well, what two items would you have bought in their place? (Keep in mind, you're surrounded by crazed shoppers with snack-filled baskets when you make your choice.*G*)

Happy weekend to all! Be safe!

Oh, and as of this writing--no snow! :)

*If you've never had an Asian Pear, it's kind of a cross between an apple and a pear, or that's what it tastes like to me.

New Personal Challenge: The Tippy Toe 500

Good morning from windblown Memphis!

A major storm system blew through on Friday afternoon, and the area is still in clean-up mode. My parents got their power back yesterday afternoon, but my sister and her hubby are still without. It could take up to a week, according to the power people, but we're hopeful for less time.


For me, life just keeps rolling along. I've logged another successful week of maintenance and hit all my targets in that area. (I love when that happens!)

I've kind of grown bored with my gym routine, so I'm mixing it up again. I was considering resuming my 100 Push-up Challenge training (I stopped at 41), but while I was checking out the program, I noticed a link to the 200 Squat Challenge. Since I do squats as part of my regular training, I thought what the heck, I'll do the squat challenge, too.

Sounds like fun, right? Well, then I noticed the 200 Sit-up Challenge. "That would be craziness," I said.

"But you ARE crazy," I answered. "It's one of the things I like best about you."

Thus, the Tippy Toe 500 was born: 200 Sit-ups, 200 Squats, and 100 Push-ups. The programs call for a six-week training period, but I'm not getting hung up on that. I suspect I'll need longer--a LOT longer--than six weeks, and that will be okay. It will also be okay if I never complete all three programs. The fun will be in the chase.

The immediate plan is to complete the first two weeks of training, and then assess how I feel about continuing. I'd like to at least make it to the "250" mark (100 sit-ups, 100 squats, and 50 push-ups), but if/when I catch myself dreading my workouts, then I'll press the pause button or maybe rewind a bit. Or eject the disc completely. :)

The fun starts tomorrow. Wish me luck!

For now, I'm going to return to a lazy Sunday morning. We have more storms rolling through, but nothing severe so far. Let's hope that continues!

Hope you're all having a marvelous weekend!

~

A Perfectly Ordinary Day

How perfect a day did I have?

Oh, wait. I haven't told you, have I?

Here's what greeted me this a.m.:

The perfect sky.

Not a serious cloud to be found.

Though a few cirrus ones could be seen. :)

(Gotta love a little weather humor.)


I planned to spend the afternoon at a bike festival, so I spent the a.m. rummaging through yard sales as I meandered across town.

For $13 or so, I purchased:

• two cream-colored matelasse table runners
• an old suitcase perfect for holding my travel bags/containers on the closet shelf
• a cute little wrought iron table for my patio (will paint tomorrow)
• a bumble bee beanie (inspiration for a project I'm working on)
• 2 books and a magazine
• a small beaded evening bag (to use somewhere for something)
• not pictured, 8 Elvis-themed Greetings from Memphis! postcards

I got the Best Compliment Ever (or at least for today) at one particular sale. While I was pawing through some New in Package Spanx-type garments, the woman hosting the sale said, "Oh honey, you're way too small to need those. "

Tingle!

I'm not too small, of course, but it proved the camisole I was wearing under my t-shirt was doing it's job holding all my leftover jiggly bits in place!

Anyway, as we do here in the South, the woman and I had to exchange our entire life stories. She told me how she ended up with size L when she needed like a 2X (mother bought them on her behalf. Unsolicited. Eew.) I told her about my weight loss and showed her the type camisole I was wearing (Assets:Target), and she thinks she might try that brand instead. I swear, Target should really start paying me for advertising their product. I could be their Jiggly-Bits Ambassador.

That little interlude took up the rest of the morning. so it was off for a quick lunch at my favorite deli, Fino's on the Hill. Small little corner deli, Italian focus. Yum. Then it was on to the bike party, which was running a little late. Maybe they all had flat tires or something, I don't know, but they were still getting set up an hour after they were supposed to start.

With the sun beating down from that cloudless sky and me suffering some serious Caucasianism, I decided to wind my way back home. On a normal week, this would have been a great time for The Weekly Brownie, but given my boot camp status, I came home for some icy cold watermelon instead.

I'm not sure what happened to the rest of the day. There was a nap, some laundry, some reading, tuna salad preparation, more watermelon--a perfectly ordinary day.

Hope your day was perfect in every way, too!

~

Bits, Bytes, and Bites

Greetings from the safety and comfort of my home office. I've just returned from a morning walk, 20 minutes of which was spent wandering suburban wilderness trails, lost and side-stepping horse doo. (Those were some well-fed horses, from the looks of things, lemme tell ya.) Don't think I will do the trails again without a pocket compass Not on a cloudy day, anyway.

For those of you who do all your walking on pavement, I highly recommend an occasional foray into the woods. Depending on the trails, you can't really work up a good cardio pace, but the variations in trail surface work the calves and quads in a different way and more than make up for the slower pace. Plus, you get plenty of bending, lunging, and balancing to maneuver under and over branches and fallen trees. Personally, I make it a habit not to touch any tree or limb, lest it be the World's! Largest! Anaconda! in disguise, which creates an extra level of difficulty to the wilderness experience.

Traumatized after being lost, I treated myself to a decadent and delightful brownie after lunch (tuna melt on wheat with pretzels). Now I have sugar jangling through my system, the better with which to complete my daily to-do list.

Speaking of the to-do list, I'm thisclose to completing a good project. On Friday, I went for a 50-minute walk and then returned home to rearrange furniture in my guest bedroom so that I could then move the treadmill and all my exercise paraphernalia from the master bedroom to the guest bedroom--now the guest bedroom/exercise room. Later, I was giving myself a minor walloping for missing my scheduled trip to the gym for strength training, and I had to laugh. I moved a double bed, a double dresser, a cedar chest, 2 end tables, and the treadmill all over the house. I think my muscles were given a good workout. :)

Okay, on to the to-do list! But before I go, I need to mention a few things:

1) Weight-loss Worlds Collide on Monday when Ruby will be on Oprah! Check your local TV listings for time and set your recorders accordingly. (Btw, did you know The Tippy Toe Diet is the fifth listing on Google if you search "Ruby Weight Loss Reality Show"? Cool, huh?)

2) Great article from Brandon Morgado (Fithacks.com) on Dumb Little Man today: How to Build Motivation for your Workout. (I especially liked his "Use a Landmark" and "Just One More" tips, since I use them regularly.)

3) Target has all sorts of nuts on sale, 15% off. They also have a 5-pound bag of clementines (23 sweet calories each!) for $4.99. I had a $1.00 off coupon, so that makes them especially sweet!

Okay, now I've really got to go. Hope you're all having a great weekend!

(P.S.
I filed my taxes yesterday--yaaay!--using Free File Fillable Forms. Super easy and FREE!)

The Long-awaited Meme

I think a dozen people have tagged me for this meme, and I apologize for taking so long to get it done. I lost the instructions, but it's the one where you list six things about yourself and then you're supposed to tag six other people and a bunch of other stuff I forgot. This is as close as I get. :)

1. I wasn't born fat, but it didn't take me long to get that way. According to my mother, I went on my first diet at the age of six months, when the doctor took me off of formula. That would've been about 2 weeks after this picture was taken. (Personally, I've seen chubbier babies, so I don't know what their problem was.) I guess the diet worked, because other pictures from throughout my childhood showed me pudgy, but never fat. That came later.

2. While I never excelled at any sports, I was always encouraged to play them. I played softball, basketball, and volleyball in school and then softball again in my late 20s. My mother and grandmother also played sports during their younger years. Mom played basketball and was on the high school track team. (She lettered even!) My grandmother was in a women's basketball league during WWII. They traveled the area, providing "entertainment" to small communities.

3. I've loved to read since my pre-school years. My parents would hear me get up during the night and when they would check on me, I would be on the sofa or in a chair, looking through my picture books. I fell in love with biographies in elementary school: Clara Barton, Florence Nightingale, Betsy Ross, Elizabeth Blackwel, Annie Oakley, and so on. I also discovered the joys of the case mystery through Trixie Belden and Nancy Drew. I still love mysteries, especially those with a female protagonist. Janet Evanovich, Marcia Muller, Sue Grafton, Jan Burke, and Lisa Scottoline are some of my favorite writers.

4. I don't like to fly and will go to great links to avoid it. For my vacation in a couple of weeks, I'm driving to Maryland—15 hours by car. Of course, 11 hours of it is through some of the most beautiful scenery you've ever seen: the Smoky Mountains and the Virginia Highlands. That's what I love about driving. You get to *see* the country and interact with the people who live in the areas you visit. Some drives are better than others, of course. I'm driving to Texas in September and it's mostly farmland and truckstops through Arkansas. :)

5. I have hundreds of pet peeves, but one of the big ones is food noises, or maybe it's "eating noises." Slurping, smacking, crunching, chomping—they all drive me NUTS. Gum popping and ice crunching are the worst! If I get on the elevator and someone's slurping and crunching her way through a JUMBO SONIC cup of ice, I punch the button for the closest floor and get out of there quick. I've left stores without making my purchase just to get away from a gum-smacking sales clerk. I probably need counseling, but I'm trying to hold out for something more interesting.

6. Who can tell me what happened in Memphis on August 16, 1977? (No one is allowed to respond with, "I wasn't born yet.") Okay, give up? That is the day Elvis Presley died here in Memphis. I was on the first day of my first bona fide job (I was a data entry clerk. My only previous job was at my cousin's ice cream shop), and one of my new co-workers came in and told us the news. By evening the city was filling with mourners from all over the world. Believe it or not, many people return each year on the anniversary of his death for "Elvis Week" (locals call it "Death Week") to hold a candlelight vigil, watch old EP movies, and--I'm not sure what all they do, to tell you the truth, but there sure are a lot of them doing it. Needless to say, I do not attend. I grew up about two miles from Graceland, and it lost its appeal by the time I reached puberty. It was always pretty at Christmas, though.

If you made it this far, I applaud you. I have given myself a headache and so I'm off to find some heroin aspirin. Hope you're all having a marvelous Thursday and are getting ready to a fantastic Friday!

~

Oh Happy Day!

I'll try to post something fitnessish in a minute, but right now I'm just too keyed up! Do you know who's coming to Memphis next week? Do you? Guess!

Okay, I'll tell you. Laurie Notaro, that's who! She's one of my favorite humor writers EVER, and she's going to be signing books and reading from her new book next Wednesday night! I can't wait!

If you've not read Laurie Notaro before and you like talented, funky, funny writers, you can read an excerpt of We Thought You Would Be Prettier: True Tales of the Dorkiest Girl Alive here.

Okay, deep breath. It's almost a week away.

In other news, I might have a sports injury. For the past week, I've been having some numbness on the top of my foot and along the lower outside of my shin, and I mentioned it to my podiatrist today, and he said (after glancing at my knee) that it was peroneal nerve dysfuntion. And that was all he said about it before he assured me the numbness wasn't related to the toe surgery he performed last year. He said I might have a cyst in my toe that might or might not have to be removed in a couple of weeks. Apparently it would be a teensy, tiny incision, so I'm not particularly worried. Not much. :)

When I got back to work, I had to look up peroneal nerve dysfuntion and this might just be the problem. Either my fibula's broken (which I probably would have noticed) or I've suffered another trauma to the leg (7 million body weight squats is trauma!) or I sit with my legs crossed too much.

Hmmm, one of those is a distinct possibility.

I have an appointment with my GP on Monday to see if I can come off my blood pressure medication, and I'll mention it to him. I'm guessing I'll be shuttled off to another doctor. Until then, I'm sitting here with a ruler on my lap to remind me not to cross my legs. I'm determined that if there's an injury, it will be a sports injury. Badge of honor, and all that...

But right now I don't care about any of that. Laurie Notaro is coming to town!

I should go figure out what I'm going to wear!

Happy Weekend Eve!

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Letters from Home

I've always loved living in Memphis, but there are days....

From an article in today'sThe Commercial Appeal, our local newspaper:

At 4:37 p.m. Thursday afternoon, Rachael Vint found a stop-work order on the door, a piece of paper threatening to put an end to her new business, not to mention ruining her evening.

Vint and her partner, Kyra Bailey, were a day away from opening Eccentric Studios, a dance studio at 2810 Bartlett.

For the past three years, Vint has been teaching "Strip To Fit," a fitness program that shows women 18 years or older the art of burlesque, strip teases, pole dancing and "sexy stretching" at various fitness facilities around the Bartlett area.

"We've been at this for three years," Vint said. "Starting our own business was the next logical step."

The stop-work order said the address was not zoned for a sexually oriented business, a presumption Vint doesn't agree with. "There's nothing dirty about what we do. This is a natural expression and a great way to exercise," she said.

Sigh....Life here can be so infuriating. There are great people here, in all walks of life, but they are so often overshadowed by the idiots.

In better news, Memphis (which has been ranked one of the nation's worst cities for bicycling) is finally parsing a clue and installing some bike lanes. 'Bout time. We have enough cyclists to merit them, but the idiots have had their heads up their collective....well, you know.

Super hot here today, sending me to the gym for my daily dose. Once there, I completed a TriCammython--20 minutes on the elliptical, 20 on the recumbent bike, and 20 on the treadmill. I didn't set any land speed records, but it was a good workout. No time to get bored with any of it. I think I'll try this for a few sessions, before beginning to add in additional "cycles." As long as there's something interesting on The Learning Channel, I can go all day. (Okay, no I can't but I'm probably good for a couple of hours.)

Oh, and before I went to the gym, I made a run by a local thrift store, where I scored 3 pairs of pants for a total of $15! I love when that happens. :)

I hope you've all had a most marvelous Saturday!

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