The Boxer

It's Saturday night and I have the house to myself...except for the cats...

I get to eat when and what I want, open a bottle of what I want to drink, and most importantly, I have control of the remote...but I'm not choosing to watch TV tonight...I've got my iTunes up and have the music going...

I took the day off from the gym...my trainer pointed out that I needed some recovery time and since I have only taken 4 days off since March 25, I decided that I had permission to skip a workout today. I have found that when I do give myself a day off I often am more energized when I go back to the gym the next day. Like anything, too much of a good thing can still be too much and so I gave myself the day off and enjoyed my book and the pool...but I did do a few water exercises to ease my guilt.

I only hope that I'm not replacing being unhealthy because I am fat with being unhealthy because I have skin cancer. But brown fat is way more appealing than white fat so I'm taking chances and playing fast and loose with my skin and aging myself like my great-aunts, my mom and her friends did when I was a kid.

Let me take you back to the early 70's when I was a young thing and what I think of when I think of "sunbathing" (does anyone even use that word anymore?)...

My aunts (they were really my great-aunts or cousins, but everyone was "aunt" so-and-so in my family...) would spend most of the day laying out in the sun while we had family camp. The kids and dads and some of the moms would have a morning horseback ride (remember people, I grew up in Kingsville...on a ranch...you had to ride)and the moms usually took care of the babies and spent the morning at the pool. We got back from our ride in time for a quick swim before lunch. I hated those rides...really hated them...but my dad made me do it even though I always fell off (and earned the name Tinkerbell since I usually did it so gracefully).

I called the aunts "The Dragons" because they sort-of were...I loved them but I was mildly afraid of them. My father was orphaned at 8 so many of these women raised him or took care of him in some way. Daddy was something of a pet in the family since he was orphaned so young so they all had great affection for him...and because he also was a genuinely fun guy to be around. But these were all aunts...none of them were my grandmother...so they seemed slightly dragon-like to me...except for Aunt Alice and Lulu...

Aunt Alice and Aunt Lulu were the glamazons...perpetually tanned and beautiful. All the women in my family were beautiful, but Lulu looked like a movie star and Alice had a glamour to her---maybe it was her ability to match her cigarettes to her outfits. I can still see them oiled up and laying on a lounge chair deepening their tans and become more and more exotically beautiful by the minute---in a REAL Texas woman sort of way. After all, they were REAL Texas women.

We had peacocks at the ranch. They had nothing on the women in my family...beautiful creatures: tanned, wearing Palm Beach style sundresses and Bernardo sandals...bright lipstick...cool drinks in manicured hands (and for some, colored cigarettes)...and for some bizarre reason they sometimes donned very strange, funny little caps to cover their curlers...on the other hand they could make an ordinary handkerchief look spectacular when it was tied around their heads, kerchief-style...

I remember wanting to grow up and be just like them.

I don't smoke (thank goodness I don't anymore...I did once-upon-a-time in college), I don't wear Palm Beach style sundresses and I don't wear Bernardo sandals (they still make them...they are pricey!). I don't curl my hair or wear kerchiefs in it. But I do wear bright lipstick and have a tan...and I oil myself up (Maui Babe and some Hampton Sun or Neutrogena or Australian Gold sunscreen)and lay on my lounge chair and remember those beautiful women (many have passed away)and remember my childhood...and pray I don't get skin cancer.

So I spent my afternoon reading and remembering my beloved dragons...

And then I headed out in search of wine.

I emailed Bacchus for some wine suggestions so I could pick up a fun bottle of something to savor while I watch my Eric and the other vampires tomorrow night when True Blood finally returns. I loved their ad slogan for the show: "Waiting Sucks"...yes, it does! But tomorrow my vamps are back and this time they are dealing with werewolves...can't wait for a good look at Alcide...

So Bacchus gave me some excellent suggestions and I did a little wine shopping but decided that one bottle looked too good towait and I had to open it and have some NOW...

Bacchus really is a wine god...I adore him for many things, but tonight he hit a home run for me (he knows my taste so basically he hits a home run 90% of the time)and I am going to have to find a way to re-pay him for all the great suggestions---oh wait, he is making me chair the 7th grade Medieval Feast next year...that's the payback...he tells me wines to buy to make me happy and I won't get too carried away with the feast...I guess it is his way of controlling me and making sure I will bring some really good stuff (wine) to the party the night before.

So what wine did he have me buy? If you like red, write this down and go to Costco (he tells me they have it there but I had to buy it at Specs because stupid Costco closes at 6 on Saturday). It's a shiraz...

Molly Dooker "The Boxer"...Australian...beware, the alcohol content is higher in this wine so drink it at home...no driving after getting hit by the Boxer...

There are several Molly Dooker wines, so look carefully...I can only vouch for this one...yummy yummy yummy yummy...its a knockout (pun intended)...

If you have an iPhone there is an ap that you can get (this one is courtesy of TTG) called "Lose it". My trainer also recommended it. You put in your actual weight, your goal weight and it serves as a daily exercise and calorie tracker. It's a helpful tool if you like that sort of thing (I do). I saved some of my calories for my wine tonight...and this wine was worth every one of them...I'd rather drink a glass of wine than have a slice of bread any day...

I'm going to sign off so I can drink another glass...like I said, the alcohol content is higher in this and just like you shouldn't drink and drive, I'm not sure I should drink and blog....

Music to enjoy while you drink your yummy shiraz: "The Boxer" by Simon & Garfunkel...it's an oldie but goodie...really nice in the gym for a flat road run or ride...li li li, li li li li li li li....you know the song...

bye darlings