Born Again Gym Rat: Where's the Lemonade?

Friday, February 27, 2015

Where's the Lemonade?

I didn't workout on Wednesday, or rather, I didn't go to the gym that day. I was too busy shoveling a path to the basement (outside cellar doors) while phoning my contractor-neighbor up the street. I hadn't heard the furnace kick on the night before but I wasn't about to go outside in the pitch-dark. Besides, what would I be able to do at that hour? No stores open so best to wait until daylight. And then the awful truth: the basement is flooded. The sump failed because the drainage lines out to the swamp are frozen. Ugh.

My neighbor tells me he'll be back in a few hours because he's in the middle of gutting someone's kitchen, and there are two other jobs he's working on ceilings and floors. But no heat is way more critical. Meanwhile, I shovel a path to the feed line to the oil burner because it's been nearly a month and I know the house is due for a fill-up of heating oil. And while I'm at it, well, might as well shovel a path to the porch and knock all those massive icicles off the gutters before they tear the gutters off. And reshovel the path to the garage because I'm looking for a space heater to keep the bedroom vaguely warmer that the 47°F it's registering. I have oven on, a pot of water simmering on the stove, a small fire in the woodstove and I'm periodically turning on the heater/fan/light in the bathroom.

The temperature drops to 59°F, which isn't bad considering I usually keep it at 63°F. My neighbor arrives with a new pump (which I purchased over the phone from the building supply place) and plastic hose to snake out of my basement and onto the frozen ground. The water melts a path down past my house toward the wetlands. I'm down to 5 pieces of firewood so I get my husband, who's at work in CT, to purchase some gas station firewood. When he gets home, I hear my furnace kick on. My neighbor is in my now-dry basement and tells me that we just have to keep an eye on the hose because there's nothing to be done about the frozen drainage line. Okay now.

I crank up the thermostats in the house to 65°F because it's dropping into the minus digits at night and I want the house to be warmer just in case the furnace shuts off again. So far so good. I tell my son that the house is like a living thing: it makes noise, and if it's too quiet, that's bad. My son's school has been allowing the children to go sledding and snow-shoeing during gym class. That's so cool! My son comes home yesterday thoroughly exhausted, but I bundle him off to kung fu. He had his belt test this past Monday and went from no sash to white to yellow because of all his hard work. After kung fu, we barely have time for homework and dinner before the Cub Scouts Pack Meeting. My husband rushes home from work, and we are late, but in time to help present our Den's Banner.

Back Day Selfie

I even made it to the gym yesterday. It was Arm Day. And cardio. Everything was hard. Except for the RG BB Curls. I think that if I can do 3 sets of 25 reps, it's time to up the weight. On paper, I'll be reverse curling more than I BB curl, but of course, I'm doing BB curls super set with Rip Skulls. It makes a difference! I'm tired and I think it's affecting my immune system. I may have to force myself to cut back on my cardio. That's new because now I'm starting to average 6.5 miles a day. Spring is suppose to be right around the corner. I'm not seeing it. I see a wintry mix forecast for Sunday night into Monday morning, meaning another 2-hour school delay. The saying goes, "If life gives you lemons, make lemonade." I'm not seeing any pitchers of delightfully refreshing citrus beverage on the horizon, are you?

Thursday Arm Workout and Cardio
(total miles = 6.53; 12,400 lbs moved)