The Skills We Lack

Nov19

Hearing. Listening. Two different things, yet a lot of times, people think they are the same thing. I would even hazard a guess that most of us are really bad at the latter. Sure, we hear when things are said or that people are saying something, but most of the time, we don’t actually take away the proper meaning of what we heard. Or even realize that something important was being said because we just heard something and didn’t actually comprehend it.

That is where listening comes in. Listening entails actually comprehending what someone says and really getting the meaning of it. I must admit, I’ve not been a very good listener of late. Generally, I think I am a pretty good at listening, but  I am starting to realize I haven’t been as good at it as I should be. Continue reading →

I Should Have Never Come Back

Nov18

December 30, 2003. This was roughly the date of my very first indoor cycling class. In my never ending quest to get in better shape and lose weight, I joined a gym that was on my way home from school and I had worked up the courage to take this type of class. It seemed like it would be fun. Though, should have known that the day I chose to go was probably not the best day to go.

It was the day before a holiday (New Year’s Eve) and needless to say I don’t think that the instructor thought any one new to this type of class would show up. However, I blew that notion out of the water by showing up. I did arrive early (something I cannot recommend enough to people trying things for the first time) so that I could get set up on the bike.

I wish I could say I fell in love with indoor cycling that night, but I didn’t. In fact, I walked out of the class about half way through. It was not an enjoyable experience. Why? Because i was not set up on the bike properly so that I could have a good time. However, I went back to another class. That second class I went even earlier to try to get my bike adjusted so that I would be comfortable riding.

The second class was better but I still wasn’t in love with it. I still needed to do more bike set up adjustment. And there was the matter of the seat really making the rear end hurt. So, I got a gel seat cushion cover to make things better. That helped a bit, but it turns out that I was never going to be comfortable on these bikes because they were crappy bikes. The gym I belonged to did an extremely poor job of maintaining the bikes. The instructor did his best to get the gym to take care of the bikes, but apparently management was more interested in other things. And charging members out the wazoo for shoddy equipment. Continue reading →

Refocusing

Nov17

It’s November 2013 and according to my best laid plans from January of 2013, I should see the number I want on the scale now. Additionally, I should be buying new clothes because everything that I own is beyond way too big and makes me look awful.

Unfortunately, my plans went a bit astray and I do not see the number on the scale that I want. I could blame that all on the fact that I was marathon training, but it wouldn’t be true. The fact is, I just stopped focusing on the right thing to make the numbers move. This isn’t to say that I am not smaller and should be shopping. That is something I desperately need to do, but just cannot bring myself to do because it will end one of two ways. Continue reading →

Something Light and Shallow

Nov15

I feel a need to post something lighthearted. I was going to post a follow-up to We need to Talk about what happened the next day, but that will have to wait until later this month. After yesterday’s post, it seems only fitting to post something silly for Friday. No need to go into the weekend reading things that are heavy-hearted.

And I spent time wracking my brain trying to come up with something, but nothing really popped. When i try to be funny, it comes across badly. The only times I think I am genuinely funny are when I end up doing ridiculous things or those things happen to me. Continue reading →

RIP Orange

Nov14

This will be a total stream of consciousness, but I just have to tell about grandma. My grandma died early Wednesday morning November 13, 2013. I miss her terribly. She had been sick recently, but only the way that elderly people are sick. I never really thought of her as elderly because she never acted that way. She was just this lady who went about doing her thing. It was always strange to me that she would get a senior citizen discount because she just wasn’t old to me. She didn’t even look like she was anywhere close to being someone 65 years of age or older.

Orange (yes, that is my grandmother’s name) is the reason I love baseball. She was a Cubs fan and just like all the fans before her, never saw them win it all in her lifetime. However, while I saw plenty of Cubs games while growing up, I didn’t become a fan of her favorite team. In fact when I say I saw plenty of games, I mean most of the baseball watching I did as a kid was at her house. And the only things on her television were the Cubs games or her “stories” (i.e., soap operas) and if we were in the house instead of outside, that was the choice of stuff to watch. I’m not so much into daytime soap operas much, but I’m sure if I ever turned one on, it would be the same people I saw as a kid. Continue reading →

“Thank You” for Gracing me with your Presence

Nov12

It’s a Friday evening and I am headed to a bar that I frequent to meet a friend for a drink. At least that is what I am hoping will happen. She tends to flake a lot so if she doesn’t show up, I won’t be surprised. I haven’t seen her in a while, so it will be nice to finally catch up, even though that is probably going to be a conversation of her telling me how “crushing” her life is with teaching and her husband and by the time she gets around to listening to me, realizes she needs to get going. I do try to keep our friendship going, but after a while, it gets really tiring when I am the only one who seems to care about it and not take it for granted.

As it typical, Tori is already 20 minutes late. I had waited a bit to order and finally my apple martini arrives and just as it does, Tori comes bursting into the bar. I am so glad my drink has arrived as I have a feeling I am going to need it or at least have something to hold on to with my hands rather than some weird fidgeting thing that might occur when I am sort of being myself. Continue reading →

Messed up Double Standards

Nov11

Recently, I am across this great article that talks about something that I really have wanted to rant about for a long time. The article does a much better job of saying what I think, but rest assured for many years it is something that has thoroughly bothered me.

Anyway, several years ago I was in an exercise group discussion board and somehow the topic of the HPV vaccine had come up. A lot of the women in the group had severe negative reactions to drug companies (which is a different story entirely) and the vaccine really angered them. Many of them were angry because in addition to thinking that it was just another way for a drug company to make money off people, they were also angry because clinical trials were happening to start making the vaccine available to boys.

Continue reading →

Why

Nov10

20131110-114904.jpgThat is a question I get asked by some when it comes to my spending so much time at the gym. Why do you go? What is so interesting about it? Can’t you do that stuff at home? How do you have time to be there so much?

Truth of the matter is, I really like it. It is my “happy” place. Working out feels good. Whenever I am feeling like crap or crappy about my life (which is way too often), I just go to the gym and usually within a few minutes of being there, I feel better. Also there are classes that I really enjoy doing and by workout out, I get to challenge my body to do more than it has done before. Sometimes I even surprise myself with how much I have pushed myself physically. Continue reading →