Thanksgiving

Jason: "I'm thankful that God gave us you for a Mom. I'm thankful that you are not one of those 'over-protective' moms; you just say don't do drugs, don't smoke, try not to kill each other before breakfast -- oh, and be careful of sharp objects"

Jeffrey:

"Yeah, and you let us know if we don't get up on time -- we WILL be late."

What? – I need a ‘benchmark’ …

Do I have to have my eyes open?

"Now is when you set your benchmark!" She called out during the first 5 minutes of class. I cringed at the idea that I wouldn't know if I've set the right benchmark – it's my first time. Arggh.

Wait – that's actually closer to the end of the story. Better fill in the beginning and middle first.

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I have this new friend – to protect her identity (while I thrash on our after-work 'date') I fondly refer to her here as my Get-Fit Girlfriend (GFG), which reflects her desire/energy toward fitness, not throwing fits (she's so sweet).

In our brief acquaintance stage, we had fun discovering how much we have in common, yet remain quite different; she's taller, younger, and has not yet experienced motherhood (but she does have a boyfriend, so – uhh just kiddin' – I won't touch that.)

I think she very bright (intelligent & cheerful), driven, and goal-oriented. Today I learned she "LOVES" to play with babies – me, not so much anymore. Oh, I know, I've had them – I'm just not inclined towards reliving the fully-dependent, coo-ing and/or the uh-oh where'd he go now (crawling) stage. But I did give in today with the blue eyed cutie pie in his Osh-Kosh engineer duds, quite flirty too.

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Back to my point ~ since our fitness goals align; we decided to join efforts to "create" the time to get fit. We both know what our personal fit figure feels like – when we wear it – which admittedly that particular body-suit is somewhat elusive and our options from our closets grow smaller as time passes! (yikes)

So we now bring our workout bags to work so we can grab the occasional lunch hour fitness opportunity or an after work gym date! So far so good; today was one of those successful plans – 5pm, meet at the gym for 5:30 class!

No problem. Uhh, yeah.

We had our first glitch in the parking lot, when she announced… ummm, my bag is not in the car (kind boyfriend put wrong bag in car; being helpful, of course) – I only have a tank and shoes. Hmmmph.

No worries – your new friend is an indecisive pack rat and has enough "extras" to complete outfit – good thing you brought shoes, because we are not the same size! Whew! Problem solved.

All dressed and set… now get to class.

I am a newbie to this one… timidly, I walk to the back of the room, checking out the equipment with severe anxiety. How did I allow GFG to talk me into this? I should've suggested a different class. Ughh – heavy, sinking feelings ensue as I walk up to the stationary spinning machine – commonly known as a bike – but a fancy marketing idea to call it a "spinning" machine is rather appealing, compared to rump-busting, leg burning, pain-inducing cycle.

Guess that's just me being honest about the whole aversion to cycling. Yes, my friends, you see I have sworn off the real bicycle sport as in the past it did not treat me well… at least that's the way I "spin" the myriad of bad memories (and puns) from riding with FSU (former spousal unit).

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Oohh-kaay... fine. Back to class.

It's all cool – for the first couple of minutes, spinning is easy. Then that whole… benchmark thing – what, why must I set a benchmark, I've never done this before. I don't get it. Hmm, just follow along it may make sense later (some things do).

Fast forward 10 minutes. Putting the past behind me (as well as a painful feeling).

And, I AM following -- at my own pace-- all commands …

"Gear Up" "Outta the Saddle" "Push it" "Another Minute" "Back to Saddle"

"Race it" "Gear down" "Benchmark" "Last Set"

(She repeats this pattern over & over for about 1 hour - and 15 more minutes, just because she has the microphone.)

Ugghh – gives new meaning to and keen awareness of the muscle group, including but not limited, to gluteus-rumpus (can't call it a maximus, not gona happen)—oww, my legs!! Course I may never walk normally again either.

Here are a few things I learned:

#3 – the floor is wood, stained purple. Which is really nice, because I thought that was God's way of ensuring me that I would survive to tell V2T that the floor was my FAVORITE color. I desperately wished to be walking on that lovely purple colored flooring, but no – still on the evil dreaded torture machine. Grrr!

#2 – people who ride these devices, S-W-E-A-T… oh my word – then again, that is a HUGE understatement. Oh, me? I had a serious glow about my person – no outward sign of over-exertion. lol

#1 – my benchmark I found, is that delightful space in time when I close my eyes and the urge to vomit is controlled by my subconscious mind and no longer the sole effort of my conscious mind, which is still "pushing it / gearing up / racing for 1^st in/out of the saddle all for another "minute".

Yes, I'm sure I put the past behind me now – at least I can't fall onto asphalt from here.

Suffice it to say, this was not a stellar performance on my part – but I might actually get on a real "bike" and not feel so anxious.

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However, I'm sure I will have to keep my eyes open during an outdoor ride!

HonuGirl

Whatcha gona be ...

when you grow up?

The question is commonly asked; the answers are rarely identical.

Here's what I heard:

Jason: I want to be an aeronautical engineer for the military; I would like to be a pilot, and a pastor (not really in that order). I think that means I have to go to college a few more years; but that’s really what I want to be – oh and I'd like to play professional basketball and be a good musician too.

Jeffrey: I just want to be me!

Jason: But what do you want to “do” when you grow up, you know, to make money or somethin'?

Jeffrey: Oh, I’d like to drive a monster truck and race cars. What kind of degree do I need for that?

[ mom is grateful big brother answered first -- without hestitation in fact -- the answer just rolled off his tongue while Mom was holding hers ... huh?? ]

Jason: Probably a physics degree; you'll need to know about trajectory of cars as you run them over. It would also be very helpful in determining speed, adjusting suspension and other important factors for racing too.

Jeffrey: Oh, that would be good. I’d like to be an artist too – I’m going to paint my truck pink!!

Mom: I want to grow up to have a good self-concept & be at least half as smart as my boys!

HonuGirl

Who said that ... ?

Said what ?

Not I -- for I'm sure my brain would have diverted it's path --

if only mouth hadn't said it so fast!

Seuss is a favorite of one boy in my house, tonight he read Yertle the Turtle aloud. We laughed at the cute little turtles, the wonder of balance, and the pain of the weight; saying "good grief - that selfish Yertle made such a mistake." We pondered the courage of a young guy to speak, how his hopeful expression became disbelief -- we scolded the leader who barked at the plea of a burdened turtle who just needed a break ... we cheered when such a small motion brought Yertle his lesson -- how pride made him tumble and a noise brought their blessing.

*~*

It's time once again for words from the Lyon boys... please note, this blogger mom may {or may not} have permission to share quotes presented below... thus any boy words or motherly interjection will be unidentifiable {for the most part} unless I choose make it obvious.

Random words of kindness:

"Here, I'll carry that bag for you Mom, you look FAT-eee-gUd -- it means tired, I'm expanding my vocabulary" (whew, he almost got THE LOOK - ya know, the one that says "you did NOT just call me FAT-ish ??")

"My friend's littler sister has almost as much imagination as me. She's still growing, though, I can't wait for that day when it explodes like fireworks -- wow, it will be so cool!"

"that's cuz you're an adult and you ALREADY know better."

"I wish I had a punching bag"

"Are you hungry? Auuughh, not in the vegetable drawer" -- swiftly taking a sleep-walking boy to the bathroom {just in time... whew}

"You're the greatest Mom ... EVER!!"

"whoever invented homework, must not have liked kids."

"if one of my parents gets married again - I don't want them to have [ahem, you know]; my brother and I have enough brothers, we don't want any more kids" {edited, blog courtesy}

"my mouth was talking as fast as my brain was thinking ... but it was too fast for my brain to stop it."

and this pretty much says it all ~

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"Whaat?? but I didn't even hear me say that!!"

HonuGirl