Moving Forward

Since my last post, things have been back to normal. I had a rough week and I needed to vent, so I wrote about my frustrations. Like what some of the important people in our lives did, a friend of ours, who Derek has known since the fifth grade, called after reading my last post and asked if everything was okay. That really touched me. It is such an amazing feeling when someone reaches out and asks if you're all right. It shows that they care and that you're important. Thank you for that phone call; you're important to us, too.

This week, I've been working out more. On the days the gym has kids aerobics, I take Ashley with me. On the other days I go by myself and spend two to three hours there in the morning. Lifting weights and sweating it out on the cardio machines makes all the difference. I have dance music on my headset, I really get into my workouts, and I escape into a world that I used to call torture, but now I call it Shangri La. This is the fifth week that I've been going to Gold's Gym since I found out that I get a free membership because we live in the Extended Stay. Week number six starts on Monday. I'm noticing some improvements and the trainers and instructors are there as my encouraging cheerleaders. I probably would have given up after day one if it weren't for them. You wouldn't know it by looking at me now, but, looking back, I used to be fit, I was a trainer, I was one of the cheerleaders. I have so much respect for the people who work at this gym; they are real professionals there. They are truly inspirational. I'd love to get back into the saddle again someday myself and help others that are starting back out on their path to having a healthy lifstyle.

What else has been happening this week? Derek took the van in for a smog check on Monday. It thankfully passed and we were able to register it. Mainly this week, though, we've been focusing on academic stuff with Ashley. Home schooling is harder than it looks, but I think we're getting into a rhythm. We've set up a schedule and posted it on the refridgerator, we've got a rewards system going, and we're moving in a forward direction. So, we're getting it together. Ashley is doing a book report on Flat Stanley, we're working more on basic math, money, telling time, fractions, phonics, penmanship, geography, astronomy, weather, and puzzles. Tonight we're taking her to the Children's Imagination Workshop in Old Town. They are doing an event on the Science of Bicycles and we'll also have a couple of hours to play at the museum, too.

Tomorrow, I'm taking Ashley to the gym for kids aerobics. She's making some friends there and she's loving the workouts. She said something I'll never forget. One day last week, she was running down the hallway from the laundry room and she stopped at the door to our room. Acting lik she's out of breath, she said, "Mom, I really need to work out! Are we going to the gym tomorrow?" I have never heard a kid her age say that before! How funny! I hope she keeps it up.