Birthdays

Every Sunday I enjoy waking up and watching the CBS channel and the Sunday morning show.  One of the pieces today was an interview with Tom Petty of the Heartbreaker fame.  He was humorous through self-deprication.  The interviewer commented that he had a big birthday coming up and his reply was- yes he was turning 60 and that it's not a problem because if you're not getting older-you're dead.  So true.  I have never had a problem with the anniversary of the day of my birth.  It's My Day.  I get irked when I find someone who has the same birthday.  I don't want to share it, I want it to be all mine!  And then I remember how old I am. 
My cousin died yesterday.  He was only 64.  (As a teen, that age seems old.  As a 40 year-old you realize retiremet should be right around the corner).  In his youth he had served in the Army.  As an adult, he was a firefighter.  He also smoked.  A lot.  He quit, late in life, but the effects of a lifetime of inhaling tar were too great to overcome. When he should have been enjoying a period of time devoid of stress he couldn't breathe.  He boxed in the Army.  He was in great physical shape when he was a firefighter.  Towards the end of his life he couldn't walk a hundred yards without stopping to catch his breath.  The day after Thanksgiving he finally admitted he didn't feel well and went to the hospital.  He had developed pneumonia and the doctors found his lungs were bleeding, a symptom they could not reverse.  He left behind a wife, a brother, a sister-in-law, an uncle, an aunt,  daughters, couins, a niece, a great-niece, step-children, grandchildren and a great-grandchild who will miss him dearly. 
We all have habits that can ultimately affect the length of our life.  Take stock.  Birthdays will come, until they don't.

New Shoes

I recently bought new running shoes as my old pair started to squeak. I'm not sure why but I imagine the air bubble popped. I don't know why I continue to buy running shoes. I don't run. I think I'm going to pick it up again, someday, and run like I did when I was younger. Running a Marathon is on the Bucket List. The day before the present day I think about when I should exercise, i.e. what time of day is best. I haven't quite figured that one out yet. I receive a daily quote from the webpage that hosts the magazine Real Simple. Today's quote hit home. “It’s not that some people have willpower and some don’t. It’s that some people are ready to change and others are not" by James Gordon. So true.

Laundry Day

In past times when household chores could be accomplished on a regular basis, and during the day, dirty clothes were washed, folded, and put away on Monday.  My laundry day happens to be Tuesday.  I'm not sure why I accomplish this particular chore on Tuesday, which usually carries over to Wednesday, but there it is.  I've tried to schedule all my chores to a certain day and time along with my exercise regime.  The only problem with this process is the reality of partioning of my day doesn't always match with what is on paper.  This dichotomy, I realize, is the root of my problem of exercising regularly.  I jot down that I will exercise at 9 a.m. every morning and in the past when that time would come and go I would too- let it go- that is.  This morning I didn't let it go.  I didn't exercise at the right time, but I did exercise and in the end that is what counts! 

Summer

Summer has come and gone. I did do Weight Watchers for a few weeks and actually lost 13 pounds. Since quitting, again, I don't know if I lost any more weight because I threw my scale away. I do know that the size 20w long dress shorts that I bought to wear to a new job in June are now too big. I can pull them down without unbuttoning or unzipping. I wore them for the last time on Halloween day. I am going to keep them so I can try them on in the spring to see if they are bigger yet (or not!) I went through my closet looking for pants that fit and found some that actually did. The one pair of jeans that fit are size 18. I also have some velour stretchy pants that feel better this cold season that last (hopefully my memory serves correctly). Over the summer I coached a girl's softball team and played slowpitch as well. I have been walking and lately (as in the last week) I found a workout video through Netflix that has ten minute segments-which advocates accomplishing them every other day. I like it because I can do them in small doses and I'm not supposed to do all of them every day! My problem when I would start this process- over and over and over- is that at the beginning I would sprint and at the end I would quit participating because I'm not a sprinter.  I'm an endurance runner and right now I've just started the marathon.