Fitness

Fitness is another one of our primary goals. 

This isn't saying much but in our household, I am the Wii champ for skiing, hula hoop, step, baseball, golf, bowling and the penguin balance.  D kicks my butt in the tightrope, soccer, tennis, ski jump and most of the balance games.  And in real life, D pretty much beats me in anything sports related. 

If I don't get my workout in first thing I lose motivation.  I have to get up and change into my workout clothes.  Right now I'm doing push ups, sit ups, stationary bike and treadmill.  Pretty basic stuff but I can do it literally with my eyes closed as I'm often half asleep and too lazy to leave the house. 

Whereas at the cottage or out west, we're outside.  I find it tougher to stick with it at home.  My mind is usually filled with things to do that eat up a lot of my energy making me feel like I don't have time.  In reality I have more time than most working people.  Perception can be cruel. 

In the past I would just do it and then lose it all (Darn! No Nike contract for me...).  I've been doing this group of exercises long enough for me not to have to think about it anymore.  That's what I need to see before I add -- another set, a longer distance, a new activity.  It was far easier when I had regular lessons in something.  The scheduling helped me a lot.  Doing it free flow is far more challenging.  It's easy to come up with an excuse.  And I'm very guilty of buying gear and not using it.

I missed the 1st day of the month booking for Phantom Ranch this spring.  For those interested in hiking down the Grand Canyon and staying overnight, you need to make reservations 13 months in advance.  So you have to call in (long distance for us Canadians) like mad the first of May for example to book for May 1 - 31, 2013. 

They sell out within a couple of hours.   Because I am not interested in hiking during the warm months (the temps down at the bottom get too extreme for me), April and May are my only real options.  Now I'll have to wait for next year when 2014 spaces open up.  Bummer.

Oh, and for those of you interested in learning Hula and Tahitian dance, here is a link to a school that offers online lesson downloads for purchase.  Check out the Basic Hula and Tahitian Drum Dance video previews -- Fun!  It is not as easy as it looks.  I took 6 hr of lessons when I was in Hawaii and I was more and more humbled each day even though I have a background in Ballet and Middle Eastern dance.