Working at the Top of the Green

"Plie' right and left. Two slow, four fast. Let's do it again. Give me two more sets. We're almost to the top of the green. Are you still breathing?"

"Whoooo!"

It's the prettiest morning in weeks - sun shining outside and in the 40's. Inside nineteen of us dancing and sweating in unison - fogging up the windows with the heat we're generating. I often wonder who we really are? Several are clearly retired - including two of the men who come regularly. Linda is a police officer who comes on her days off and Cindy works as a dispatcher for the county. Today there are no young mothers with toddlers in the day care room, altho there often are. Sid is rumored to be a former dancer. From the way she carries herself and dances (and the fact that she takes two classes every day) I suspect the rumors are true.

"Ok, chaussee' right, ball change to the front. Now back to the left and do it again. We're almost done at the top of the curve! This is the long set, let's keep it going." [If I keep it going for much longer I'll be working at the flat line!] "Skip it up to me four, now take it back. One more time and hold it right there."

"Grab your mats, weights and water bottles. Are you squeezing your glutes?"

"Whooo!"

[Squeezing my glutes? They died twenty minutes ago! Maybe tomorrow...]

Yes, definitely tomorrow.

10-10-10

Lost 15 pounds total and 5.8 inches and am still on track with the eating and exercise plan.

The eating plan is becoming part of my life, too. Last Monday night we were invited out to a fancy Italian restaurant and Saturday Mitchell wanted pizza for lunch. Both days I researched lower calorie choices for those restaurants (and for Italian food in general) and was able to eat something good but not use all my calories for the day. [And, I felt super virtuous at keeping to my plan, while Mitchell ate whatever showed up on his plate. There is nothing like a little competition with the spouse to keep one on track!]

The inches are still a bit more troubling. A total of 2.5 inches off the waist and 2 inches off the hips, so I should be thrilled.... and into smaller pants! But I am not. That pesky abdomen is not shrinking as fast as the rest of me. I know it's partly due to the post-menopausal change in our bodies that the pear gets bigger - think Anjou, not Bartlett! - but it makes the pants even more difficult to fit. I really could go down a size in the waist - you know, the big gap in the back of the waist - and I look like droopy drawers from the back, but I still need the space in the front. Aargh!

Oh, and the rest of that weight is off my back. I will be down a tee-shirt size this spring and already need a shopping trip for new bras.

So, it's all good news this week.

Mrs. Speaker

British politics is so much more fun than in the U.S. This lovely lady is Debbie Boehner, wife of the Speaker of the House on this side of the pond.


And, this lovely lady is Sally Bercow, wife of the Speaker of the House of Commons in London.


Merry Old England, indeed!

Monday, Flower Day!

Jane over at Small, But Charming challenged a bunch of us to photograph whatever flowers (or other growing things) we have in the house today.

I have a lovely pot of purple hyacinths. They came straight from the grocery store last week and took a couple of days to open fully. I kept moving them away from the fireplace so that they would be perfect today.

I had hoped to show you either camellias or hellebores, but neither is in bloom yet. Both are late, late, late! Maybe next week.

Go see what Jane has going, too.

Which Way, Egypt?

Have you found yourself following Egypt this week? It reminds me so much of the week that the Berlin Wall came down, or the demonstrations in Tienanmen Square. It's fascinating to think that we may be watching a new Egypt being born, especially when you think how very, very old Egypt is. Think about that - before the New Testament, way before.

Of course, we Americans assume that when a country changes government, they will certainly want to choose our form of democracy and it ain't always that simple. We thought that the Afghans would jump delightedly into American-style democracy as soon as we got rid of Saddam for them. It hasn't worked out that way.

You can hear our political leaders walking a narrow line now. Wanting to encourage a more democratic form of government, but hoping that the majority party will not be an Islamic one. We can't really have it both ways, you know.

So, we will watch and wait. We can hope that the Egypt that emerges will be one with which we can continue to work. It will be interesting.


10-10-10

Down 14 pounds today. Liking the increased exercise and well aware of the relationship between more exercise and more food! Just wish I could move down to a smaller pants size. Makes me wonder how tight was I wearing them?