Hell in a Handbasket

This morning's a lot warmer than it's been lately, and that's reassuring. Perhaps summer's not over yet. My son parks himself with his Scooby-Do Nintendo DS game in the childcare room and I head off to my workout. 35 min later I've managed a decently sweaty 4.15 miles. It's a Pull Day and I feel pretty good, except for the need to blow my nose every 20 minutes or so.

I barely get into my 2nd set of Seated Cable Rows when V (who is actually a neighbor and lives 2 houses down the road) ambles over. Uh oh. Of course he'll want to know if me and my family are going to tomorrow's lake association wine & chicken BBQ dinner. But it's never just that with him. No, he begins with the statement that he's just been to visit his mother and she's deteriorating rapidly. He last saw her 3 months ago and she was fine but now she's suffering from dementia.

Of course, I already know that she's something like 96 years old too. And I wonder if V, who's only 62, is already suffering from the beginning stages of Alzheimers. But I can't dwell on these things. I'm trying to work out here! "She's old," I tell him, not to be mean but because she is, in fact, old. Then I put my ear phones back in and begin my next set. I realize that I'm not friendly. I'm not even nice. I'm perfectly civil and polite but I'm rushing through an abbreviated workout. Abbreviated doesn't mean easy, it just means I don't do as many sets, maybe not as many reps. Instead, I up the weight.

Today's Total Workout:
35 min cardio = 4.15 miles
Seated Cable Rows: 12 @ 75 / 12 @ 105 / 4 x 6 @ 120 lbs / 12 @ 90
Lower Back Extension: 2 x 25 @ 97.5
Cage Stretch & Kicks and 12 Neutral Close-Grip Chin Ups w knees curled to chest
Lat Pull Downs: 12 @ 90 / 5 x 12-10 @ 105 lbs
Bent Over Reverse Grip Barbell Rows: 6 x 12 @ 60 lbs
Dumbbell Hammer Curls: 12 @ 15 / 3 x 12 @ 20 lbs
Torso Twists: 4 x 25 @ 50 lbs
Flat Bench Twisting SitUps: about 150
Seated Lower Ab Kickouts: about 125
Reverse Grip Barbell Curls: 3 x 20 @ 30 lbs
Mat stretch

I'm running late and rush breathlessly into the locker room to change and shower. My hair is still slick with sweat and my clothes cling to me as I wrestle them off. The scale reads 107.6 lbs. I'm okay with that. I'm 30 minutes late but no one in the childcare room says anything to me other than to wish me a great weekend. We go to ShopRite to buy ciabatta bread but they're completely sold out. Wow. It's not just ciabatta bread. It's addictively good bread made by Chabaso Bakery and packaged in a distinctive brown paper bag.

My son reminds me that I've also promised to take him to Dunkin Donuts for a jelly. Mid-afternoon, and they're sold out of those so he gets a Double Chocolate instead. The counter person gives him 2 jelly Munchkins for free because they're a little stale (and headed for the trash). I'm a sucker for cream donuts so I get a Bavarian Cream, but the moment I bite into it, I realize that I don't like the strong fake vanilla flavor. Well, that'll teach me. I no longer have any affinity whatsoever for cream donuts.

The news is blaring about a tragic shooting near the Empire State Building in the City. I used to work a block past there, used to walk by that place every day. I know people who still work in the area. A disgruntled man, laid off and obviously unable to let this go, returns to his former employer to kill him. He himself is shot and killed by the police. The world is going to hell. I should be nicer to people. I just can't figure out how to do it when I'm so focused on working out when I'm working out. I've tried a few times to be more sociable, but inevitably, eventually, I have nothing to say other than to wave or nod Hi, and move on to whatever machine or station next on my agenda. My husband tells me I should work on my people skills, especially if I plan to get a job working with, duh, people. Yeah, right. Hhhmmm. The world may be going to hell, but I've no plans for THAT yet.