I have completed 2 sessions of boot camp and so far, so almost good. I mean that in the most positive way. I'm pretty sore and I've been popping ibuprofen like tic-tacs, but if that's my biggest complaint after two grueling days of the most intense physical activity I have engaged in since two turns at natural childbirth, then that's not so bad. What I have learned to date:
It is really dark at 5:30 in the morning. (see photo)
I must be Jamaican because if I am required to run a distance of more then 200 meters, I'm done. The timed mile was nothing short of torturous for me. My time was a frightening 14:39, which I believe qualifies me for a wood medal.
My bathroom scale loves me and has been lying to me for months. She wanted me to feel good about myself so she keep about 20lbs. from me.
Having to climb the subway stairs with sore legs and gluteus maximus is absolutely no fun.
I am in a shape, just not one I want to stay in.
Wish me luck!! 2 hrs. down and 18 more to go.
P.S.- *Jamaicans are fine runners, big up to all the gold medal winners*
Based on the recommendation of my spiritual adviser "Chief rivers that run deep and wit that soars with the birds" and much thought I have decided to change my name. My new signature name will be Mrs. MR. I like how it is both strong and elusive all at the same time. On the occasion that my husband comments on my blog or the blogs of others he will sign as Mr. MR. I am considering making this change really official, social security, DMV, birth certificate - the whole nine. I figure I will try it out informally at work for a few days because I can always count on those guys to try something new.
On Friday I was going into Filene's Basement at 14th St./Union Square. I was walking towards the elevator doors (to go upstairs) and as I was approached they opened and people started to file in. This one woman gets in, presses her number and then turns around and looks at me as I start my quick step so as not to have the doors close on me, but of course they start to close. Does she reach out to press the door open button, or use her hands to keep the door open, NO! The crazy thing is she never takes her eyes off of me. ATSSh! One should at least look away when practicing elevator shadiness. Well, my quick step turned into a slight jog and I stuck my shopping bag and foot into the doors and got onto the elevator. Then I leaned up against the wall and proceeded to give her the evil eye for the entire elevator ride. She tried to turn away but my gaze was piercing, I think my x-ray vision burned a small hole in her shirt. Seriously, though what happen to common courtesy, looking out for your neighbor? My destination was obvious, so it's not like she could've been confused. I just don't get people sometimes.
In an effort to jump start my fitness slump I have signed up for a women's only boot camp program. It will run for 4 weeks, 5 days a week starting on 8/25. The workouts are 1 hr. long and will begin at 5:30 am. So am I crazy or what? I think this will be good for me. I've really been struggling for motivation lately and I feel like this could do the trick. Plus, I've already committed the money so that ought to get my ass up in the morning. Mr. R is one of those "pain is good" types so I think he is more excited then I am about this adventure. I'm actually a little nervous about the whole thing. This is a pretty big commitment and I haven't invested this much time in myself since before I had kids. I have one other small concern and that is I hope I'm not the only black woman there. I like white people, some of my best friends are white but the truth is it gets tired being the "only" one sometimes. Don't get me wrong I will rise to whatever occasion I am confronted with and make lemonade, cause thats what we do. Oh, there is one other concern, my hair is going to look like crap for 4 weeks. I'm pretty sure I will be so tired I will have little else to blog about so expect to hear plenty more about my boot camp experience.
Today is my Nana's birthday, she is 78 yrs. old. Besides my mother, she is the other constant in my and my sisters lives and I am thankful for that. We all have kids now and men folk, but at the end of the day it all started out with just us girls. Throughout my life I have taken great effort to learn and appreciate my history as a Black woman in this country. I've seen every episode of "Eyes on the Prize", read countless books, took college courses and viewed "Roots" more than once. With all that, nothing has embodied the spirit and strength of what it means to be a Black woman in this country more then the example set by her. When I was a kid she seemed larger than life. Spirit never broken, head never bowed. Obviously, she experienced trying times, but she never let it show. Before she retired she never missed a days work and she was never late. She always had her own money and bought herself whatever she wanted, but has never been careless with money, she worked too hard for it. She always dressed with pride and took great care in how she presented herself (she still does). When her hair wasn't did she would turn to an impressive cache of wigs(I wore my 1st. hairpiece at about 8 yrs. old). She has "church" clothes and always wears a hat to church. Playing dress up in her closet and drawers as a kid was a sheer treat. She makes a cake we call the "yellow cake" which there is no real recipe for and her sweet potato pie is legendary. She taught us how to learn about the world by setting the example of reading the newspaper everyday. To this day though her eyesight is not what it used to be she reads the paper and does the crossword puzzle. I read the paper everyday because of her. Even though her education stopped early in her life, she is by far one of the smartest people I know. There is no person or event local or world wide that she doesn't know something about. Every baby born into our family, including cousins, nieces and nephews have been through the right of passage called "lay that baby on Momma's bed". She hums church songs and uses terms of endearment like "sugarfoot". She has been the silent contributor to many a college fund, funeral bill and even a bail bonds man or two. She takes pride in her southern roots and we are therefore proud to be country. She has attended the same church in NY for 40 years and still contributes to the church in her childhood community in the south. Now, I would be remiss if I didn't fess up that she is a tough old broad, but that's okay she has seen enough that we can give her that. You try living through segregation/jim crow, northern migration, prejudice, sexism, widowdom and cancer. You might have an attitude sometimes too. Of course we worry about her now as she has gotten older and her list of ailments grows longer, but I am thankful that she still has her right mind and her wit. Many people don't get to grow up with their grandparents so I know how lucky I am. I know how lucky my kids, niece and nephew are to have a great-grandparent to love and be loved by.
Vacation does a body good, going back to work-not so much. I am in a post vacation funk. I don't have any enthusiasm for work and I can't believe the kids go back to school in less than 2 weeks. I know as you get older the summer months seemingly go by quicker, but this one moved at the speed of light. We have 4 day work weeks at my job for about 2 months in the summer and everyone is always so excited right before they start. The anticipation of having Fridays off puts everyone in the best of moods. But as it gets closer to the time when we have to return to a 5 day week everybody starts acting all sad and ish. I think a 4 day work week should be the standard. I always get so much done and feel so well rested when I have Fridays off. This week the Mega Millions jackpot is 83 million. I put in my numbers yesterday, the only way to have a shorter work week is to not work at all. Wish me luck!
My family and I joined two other families for a week long vacation in Martha's Vineyard. A full 7 days of being unplugged (no email, no phone) was a real treat. If you've been to the island then you know of its charm and beauty. If you have not been, then I strongly suggest you put it on your list of places to visit. There are numerous things about our stay that I enjoyed, like the company of the other families, our excursions around the island, the breath taking scenery and the fresh fish my kids and niece caught for dinner. I think my favorite thing was all the black folks/families there vacationing. We spend so much time lamenting about what is wrong with the black community that I think we forget ( I know I do) that there are plenty of folks out there doing the right thing. They're enjoying there families, creating memories and just plain having a good time. I was also inspired by the history of blacks and Native Americans on the island that I think is often overlooked. It was my first visit but it will not be my last .
Back when my husband and I were dating and it seemed that we were in it for the long haul I started telling him things about myself that I thought important for him to know(and vice versa). My main thinking was that if they ever resurrected the Newlywed game I wanted to be assured that we would win. I had watched that show enough as a kid to know that not only was it important to win, it was crazy embarrassing when couples didn't know basic things about each other. I don't do embarrassment. Preparation, preparation, preparation... One of the things I told him is that Gladys Knight is my absolute favorite female singer. There are lots of people that I love like Etta, Ella, Dina, Sarah, Phyllis, Barbara, Pattie, just to name a few but for me Gladys is the it. (I refuse to put last names, if you don't know figure it out and shame on you!) Now over the course of 15 years I have repeated it numerous times and while we have never been on any televised game show where that information was pertinent, he is ready to use it if need be. On our anniversary (8/1) my husband came through big time and we saw my girl Gladys Knight in concert. The concert was at an intimate theater in the round that used to be called the Westbury Music Fair. No seat in the place is bad but there was no seat better than ours, first row next to the stage. Before I try to find the words to describe Gladys, let me talk a little about the opening act, none other then Mr. Peabo Bryson. Peabo is one of the most underrated male R&B singers around. He saaaaang!! for us, you hear me what I tell you. He looks great and his voice was in fine form. He sang all his hits and also did a moving rendition of Sade's King of Sorrow. For the King of Sorrow he also played the hell of out the guitar, who knew he even played. Truly, he should record his rendition. Well, I don't think there are sufficient words to describe the brilliance of Gladys. At 64yrs. old she can out sing any 5 top female r&b singers of today. She sang her hits, she covered a few of the jazz/early r&b great ladies of the past and she also did a cover of Boyz to Men's End of the Road that was simply perfection. She is a great vocalist and the consummate entertainer. Since seeing her on Friday I have been watching old performance footage on Youtube and she truly has the same richness in her voice as she did in the early years of her career. It was a real treat that I will not soon forget. My husband and I had a fantastic time. Mr. R Your the best thing that ever happened to me.
My daughter is the best kid ever. She is smart, funny, cute as a button and a whole bunch of other wonderful things. She like many kids look up to their parents and other important adults in their lives. In her case she often talks about wanting to be like me and her two aunties, which is great. She knows that I blog and that my sister does as well and she wants to now blog. So on 7/31 I let her guest blog here. She wrote and damn good blog about toy safety and I just want to say again I swear she wrote it herself (a fine example of Montessori education). So when she was all done she said she wanted to do a blog once a week, I nodded approvingly. Then she got a few comments and she went nuts, "who commented, what did they say, can I call people and tell them to read it". Talk about ambitious. Well know she is talking about several times a week and that she needs a new journal to work in...I have created a monster. I think some of the initial zeal will die down when 3rd. grade gets into full swing but what if it doesn't and I have to type her blogs and mine? What if her musings become more widely read and commented on then mine? Will I have to break her pencils and burn the journal that I bought? What if she starts skipping school to sit in Starbucks and perfect her craft? What if she wants to blog about my parenting skills? That's probably when I'll put my foot down. The point is, I think Morena says is here to stay.
You probably think I walk around with a screw face all the time. I don't like this, I don't like that...but that is absolutely not the case. I actually strive to find the good in all things, but there are some things that just need to be addressed, so here are a few dislikes that I forgot to mention last time.
I don't understand why jellies are back in style and why they cost so much. I recently saw a pair in that "gladiator" style that were $69.00. I also saw some designed by Kate Spade, WTF! Come on they are plastic shoes and if I recall they give you blisters and are hard to walk around in when your feet get sweaty.
On the other hand I know that Crocs are officially "out" and not the most attractive shoes but they are super comfortable. Now they are for relaxed, hang out type situations only. They should never darken the door of the workplace or too many other places for that matter. Of course I have a pair(flip/flop style).
I do not like the new interface/layout on Facebook. It was fine as just the way it was. While on the subject of Facebook, I miss Scrabulous. Why couldn't have worked with those obviously smart Indian guys and left us players alone. That is one of the things I like about Apple, instead of fighting all these young computer innovators who create applications for their products, they embrace them and the technology. Everybody wins.
I am really starting not to like ice cream as I am becoming obsessed with gelato. OMG!! that stuff is the real deal. SAT flashback moment: Analogies - Gelato is to ice cream what champagne is to Mad Dog 20/20. Whatever you do please try some and if you know what I'm talking about have some more.
It bugs me to no end when as a family of 4 we can have upwards of 8-10 wash clothes in our bathroom. Basically nobody except me puts theirs away so every time there is a need for one, they just snatch up a new one. Actually we have the same issue with bath towels. There are not enough places to hang the collection of towel we seem to generate. Well guess who is doing all this wash cloth and towel laundry. Damn right its me. Remember how your mother used to pin your bus pass to your jacket sleeve so you wouldn't loose it, well that is where I'm headed with this situation.
Today is my 15th wedding anniversary. Congratulations to me and my husband, we are blessed to have hung in there this long. I have seen some folks drop out of the race long before they get to this lap and I must admit that it shakes me every time. When I jumped the broom way back when I was in it for the long haul. Now there have been days that I wanted to chop his head off and I know that he would say the same about me. The crazy thing is I couldn't imagine allowing any other person to drive me to that kind of fury. So instead of calling it something dark and scary, I prefer to call it passion. Passion and love are intense and bring out all levels of emotion in folks and we are no exception. I have said before that my husband is the "Shiznit" and that is still true. So to my life partner I say I love you and I am looking forward to the next 15. Oh yeah, tonight ya' know you gotta bring it, cause we got some celebratin' to do. Holla!
P.S.- 15 years is a long time and yes, just as you suspected I was a child bride. We met in a religious cult and you know how the rest goes...
I love my husband, kids and the rest of my family dearly. They all mean the world to me. I love to read and wish I had more time to do so. Maybe if I didn't watch so much t.v. I would, but I love that too. I love to walk, ride bikes and while I'm not a gym rat, I enjoy working out. I think breaking a sweat and feeling strong is the most feminine thing a woman can do. I'm a foodie, hence the need to break a sweat. I have a mean sweet tooth. I'm loyal but sometimes shy, I am level headed and pride myself on being able to see the many sides of a situations. I am a true Libra in that sense. I think I'm pretty funny, but I guess we'll see..
