a gift to myself

Turning sixty took me aback a little. I spent the day fairly gloomy until my kids called to tell me I was still cool, even if I was OLD!!! I still don't know how I got this far so fast - it does fly by, even if you live by "time is a thief and life is so brief, when you're undecided..." I do try not to be undecided, at least for the last 10 years or so. I had been struggling with sore feet for about a year - the dreaded plantar fasciitis - anyone who has had it knows what I am talking about. It was miserable. I had lost my graduate school weight about 6 or 7 years ago and had kept it off pretty well...when my feet went bad (due to pounding the pavement on race walks with a former boss) I quickly gained 10 lbs which were very reluctant to leave. I finally put myself in a Kaiser weight loss class last summer and really attacked the foot problem at the same time - my podiatrist finally gave me cortisone shots in my heels (really, not as bad as it sounds) which finally cured the problem. I also got back down to a reasonable weight and could zip my pants again. (One of the deals I made with myself the last time I lost the weight was that I would NEVER buy a larger size again... that was one of the things that drove me this time.)

Once I was feeling better, I decided to finally get back going to the gym - County employees get a good deal - and this time I decided to get a trainer. Not cheap, but worth it since I am a total klutz and totally unfamiliar with all the equipment. My trainer turned out to be a nice kid, Johnny, who really knew what he was doing, training-wise. I told him about all my weak parts, of which there are many, especially my left shoulder and knees that sound like they have crinkly cellophane in them. He made sure I didn't over do it, but he gradually cranked up the weight and made sure I tried a lot of different things. After 10 sessions, I really do feel better. The best thing is that I am not afraid of the gym anymore. I can do 15 minutes on the elliptical machine, I know, not much for most people, but that's a biigggg deal for me!

Now the big challenge is to keep going. Before, I had an appointment, so I went. Now I have to start going on my own. This is where the proverbial sneakers hit the treadmill. Wish me determination!

I have a fan!

A dear friend of many years told me last week that she checks my blog all the time to see if I have posted recently. Well. I haven't, so I guess I had better!

August was hot and we spent quite a bit of time getting ready for a gathering for Matt and Danielle who were home for a long weekend visit - it was good to see them and several of their friends came over on Sunday afternoon. Pictures on facebook.

September we started cleaning out the garden and planting. I took a two day trip to Sacramento for work, not very exciting.

October was a trip to Oregon to see Aunt Florence, Uncle Wilbur and Aunt Loyal - our "elders". Our father's "younger" siblings - Wilbur is 95, Florence is 93 and Loyal is 90. They are all super sharp if a little (or a lot) creaky in the hinges. Florence just learned to use the computer this year and loves Keith Olberman on MSNBC. She is an Obama fanatic. She's more liberal than I am...She loves to email Joan and I as she is a little deaf and doesn't do too well on the phone.

After we got back I planted some lettuce, chard and spinach from six-pack, got a late start. After that I put in some seed and it is now up. The yard is a several November weekend clean up project, doing pretty well now. I hope to put in my ranunculus and stock this weekend. It was too hot last weekend (the big fire weekend in SoCal).

Not much else along those lines. Just needed to catch up a little. Lots has happened but I don't feel like talking about it much. I'll go on from here I guess.

Next post I'll talk about my "personal trainer" experience....hah! What a hoot.