Proper Education

So I met with the trainer today...

and...

well, it wasn't...AWFUL...

but this is me writing this 6 hours post-workout...I may feel very differently in another 6 hours or so when the pain kicks in...and my arms ache...and my legs feel like they want to fall off...but for now, I haven't needed Advil...

yet...

Actually, I am really happy I did it and am now sorry I didn't get on board with the weights sooner. And I wish I had gotten a trainer sooner too...

I think a trainer makes a huge difference...and I know that not everyone can afford to have a fitness nazi standing over you every time you work out. I know I can't afford it...but I look at it as an investment in myself and even if you only hire someone to get you set-up working with the weights and machines, you will have money well spent. I plan to work with her every week or two depending on what her schedule and mine permit. I'm looking at this as not a luxury but a necessity...

I think the biggest thing about hiring a trainer is finding someone who fits your needs and works out people the way you want to be handled. Fitness Goddess, my gal (remember, no real names here, unless she tells me it is ok and then I can throw all the business I can her way), is awesome! She has a client who is a friend of mine and she approached me one day as I was laboring away on the Precor machine. That small act of just coming up to me and telling me how proud she was of me got her the job.

The way she handled me today is why she will keep being my trainer...

positive motivation...

respect...

humor...

knowing my limits and my goals...

(If you are a member of the Houston Racquet Club and want her name I will send it to you...)

Once upon a time I lost a lot of weight and I hired the "cute young thing" at the gym to be my trainer. Poor kid...sometimes he knew when to be hard on me and other times he just gave up and let me have my way. Darling as he was, he was not what I needed. Fitness Goddess is what I need...she is the right person for the job.

I think I can handle it all...

except for the BOSU ball...

that thing is evil!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

For those of you who do not know about this fabulous torture device, a BOSU ball is like a half of a big yoga ball...so it sits flat on the floor but you have to stand on the rounded part. I fell off more than once...in fact, I fell off several times. And when Fitness Goddess wanted me to do squats on it I laughed...and then I did the squats...but I kept falling off. And then Fitness Goddess wanted me to do squats and take a heavy ball and do figure eights between my legs with the ball while doing a squat.

FAIL

EPIC FAIL

I can't do that flat on the ground, much less while trying to balance on the ball thing. We went back to squats...

I do think I am going to get a BOSU ball for home. I think it will be marvelous for The Cutest Boy in the World (TCBITW----also known as my 12-year-old son). He can stand on it and play X-Box...I can video it...we can win money from the funny video show.

And then came the ab workout...

Let's see...first, we need a search party to FIND my abs...they have been missing for the better part of 7 years. I'm not sure I even still have them. I know that if a 6-pack is what I want, right now I have 2 cases sitting on me. This is going to take a lot of crunches before we even begin to see evidence of abdominal muscles.

So we sent out the search party...lo and behold, they (the abs) are there but buried behind layers of protection to keep them warm and hidden...its not like I meant to hide them behind a layer (several layers) of blubber, but...

Those long-dormant muscles are going to see the light of day one way or another...but I think I have a long way to go before I can do a crunch and see the fruits of my labor.

Once I finished at the gym I cleaned up and headed to my son's school to help my friend, God of the Theater (GOTT), and my other friend (Theater Tech God---TTG)with the theater camp they are doing. That is my usual "job" during the year---helping them...except I don't get paid for it. I've told the head of the school that if I am going to continue to work with my extra husband (GOTT's wife calls me his "school wife"), she will have to pay me once my son leaves St. Francis. I do it because I love watching children sing and act on the stage...even if it is not always good or pretty...and I love working with my friends because they inspire me and I learn so much. I do the costumes for the show and do my best to teach kids about the costumes and how and what we wear on stage to make our characters come to life. I love it...and I love GOTT and TTG...

Remember, I live on applause...

The Cutest Boy in the World is off at camp...he is learning all kinds of useful things (hunter safety, SCUBA, Cheetoh and Shaving Cream battles). It is very much a ride-a-horse-shoot-a-gun kind of camp. Somewhere up in heaven my father is smiling...especially because my son rides waaaaaaaaaay better than I did. I won an award at my camp for being the "Most Honorable Camper"...my father was more proud of the fact that I won the riflery award (and beat the boy's camp boys in a competition) and lead the horseback drill thing. I thought it was important to be nice, but my dad liked the fact that I could shoot a rifle at a targe while standing up and put the bullet through almost the same hole every time. So the ride-a-horse-shoot-a-gun thing is something I am familiar with. I want my son to win a "nice kid" award...I know he can ride and shoot...

I loved camp....loved, loved, loved it. V, my friend who made me start this blogging business was a camp friend. We spent many days at Friday Mountain Girls Camp enjoying friendship and fun. I would go back in a heartbeat. I found a camp for myself as an adult...it is called Lake Austin Spa. I can't get George to agree that my need for camp is as great as our son's...so I just dream about it. I really do believe that spa treatments and pilates class is what every big girl needs to have in her life...and if you can have those spa treatments while enjoying the beauty of the hill country and having a lovely room and bed all to yourself, well, THAT is just the bomb...

Ke$ha Barbie has headed out the door to a concert. She is basically wearing a blouse she calls a dress and enough eye makeup to confuse me as to whether she has a couple of black eyes or is copying a look from a bad photo shoot from America's Next Top Model. (Sigh)...I know God knew what He was doing when he gave me a daughter (because He followed it with a son so I wouldn't kill myself), but I do wish my mother was still here to help me survive this. I seem to recall a few bad days with some electric blue eyeshadow and purple eyeliner so I guess what goes around comes around...my mother would have reminded me about that...

So today has been all about a proper education...me with Fitness Goddess and kids learning things at camp...and my daughter will learn that wearing a tiny slip of fabric to a concert is not a good idea if you want to dance around and not attract the wrong kind of attention.

I found a song called "Proper Education" (Eric Prydz again) after Ke$ha Barbie got me hooked on the other song (Call on Me). This song is a mix of Pink Floyd's "Another Brick in the Wall"...also awesome...and no soft-core porn aerobics video to go with it. Check it out...it will get you grooving to get your proper education....

My next blog will be all about Glee...I am a total Gleek and cannot get enough of that show...I even have a workout playlist (my playglist)of Glee music....awesome....

Bye Darlings