Tuesday, July 13, 2010

the consistent groove

spinning class. for most of you following this infrequent blog, that will be "enough said." my dear friend kerri (or at least "dear" until last night) talked me into going to spinning class with her. she knows i want to get back in shape after surgeries and knows i NEED to get back into shape while i continue eating everything in sight (goldfish are a particular favorite).

where was i? ah! the gym...spin class...disaster. i believe it has already been fairly well established that i am not a graceful person, even in my best of moments. let me preface this by saying that i was already so nervous that in the line to enter the room, i was talking my head off. when we got in, another friend set my bike for me since i had no idea what i was doing. the left pedal, however, somehow got left out of the setting equation.

we begin. oh, this isn't so bad. they even have cool music and turn the lights out. sweeeeeeeeet! spinning really isn't bad when you keep the gears at the lowest setting possible. i think i have this figured out. what? you want me to up the gear? not a problem! again? now, i'm starting to sweat. remember that left pedal? yep, my foot slipped right out. stop and fix it. keep going. get a drink of water. up a gear. left foot out again. stop and fix it. WHAT? you want me to stand up on this thing? are you serious? everyone else is standing up so i guess she is serious. darn it. sit back down. take a sip of water. left foot out again. stop and fix it. stand up again. down again. i wish she would make up her mind. left foot out again. stop and fix it. take a sip of water.

oops, dropped the water bottle. leave it there. a bright pink beacon of my spinning inadequacy. up a gear...again. wipe the sweat off with a towel. dropped the towel. wanted the bright pink water bottle to have company. keep going. up another stinkin' gear. now we are really going and i am really sweating, without the luxury of being able to wipe the sweat off b/c my towel is visiting my water bottle.

at this point, she says we must up the intensity. up the intensity? what have i been doing this whole time? i'm upped, i'm upped. leave me alone. i look to my left. kerri is grinning/laughing at me. it's a good thing she brought me the on-the-floor water bottle and towel or i might slap her. i might slap her anyway.

climbing a hill, now. the hardest hill of all she says...i am actually doing pretty well with this hill if you don't count the burning thirst and the river of sweat. climbing...climbing...climbing...falling, falling...falling........yes, my friends, i fell off of a stationary bike.

the instructor and about four other people yell "are you okay?" kerri is laughing harder. a guy from the back comes to help me with the left pedal that has come off four different times now, (and that isn't even counting the fall) while everyone else keeps spinning. kerri, in the meantime, keeps laughing. the guy on my right tells me that he has always been afraid he would do that. i inform him that he doesn't need to be afraid anymore because i just did it for both of us.

i climb back on the instrument of torture and try to get my groove back. which is a bit humorous considering that my groove consisted of dropping things and slipping out of pedals. thankfully, the class ended soon after and everyone told me that it was okay that i had fallen off something that never moved.

i felt as if i should have been thoroughly humiliated, but i couldn't help but laugh. how can you not? moments like that are very funny. if not for you, then for everyone else! it is hard when you go into something wanting to be perfect at it the first time, and we all do that, admit it! so, i was not perfect, but i was consistent with "Carmen-ness." there is, after all, something comforting about consistency, isn't there? will i return to spin class?

probably. but not to that bike. it hates me.


Monday, May 3, 2010

it has been almost a year...wow

i can't believe (that's a lie, i can) that i haven't written a blog in almost a year. by almost a year, i mean a year. i think i'm a week short. wow! my friend jay knows me too well. he started laughing when i said i was going to write a blog. sigh.

it has been a crazy year. i finished student teaching in december. during that, i had hernia surgery, an emergency room visit, and multiple doctor visits. right after finishing (as in the day of), i was in the emergency room b/c i couldn't walk 6 weeks after the surgery b/c of nerve issues, so i had a second surgery to relieve pressure on the nerve. the next day, doug and i flew to texas for christmas with my family. hmmmmmmm....can we say, just a little painful? it was worth it, though, and, since hell has not yet frozen over, there was no way i wasn't going to go. well, after a long recovery time (which is still going on as i deal with pain on a daily basis), normal life has, more-or-less, resumed. i am teaching kindergarten as a long-term substitute and loving it. doug and i are remodeling the kitchen. in fact, i spent the weekend climbing up a ladder and in and out of a window to get into my house. that part - not fun. we are also going to aruba in june just to celebrate the fact that i am 98% recovered. :)

so, that is the catch-up for you. now for the actual blog...which is of nothing important and completely random mind wanderings. let's start with church. i was totally not focused this sunday. it is hard to focus when allergies/sinuses are about to make your head explode. then you begin to wonder what that might actually look like. not pretty, let me tell you. then, i think of something that must just absolutely be said to my husband or my sister (who was visiting and will be spending summer with me b/c she found a job!), or the friend behind me. so, of course, i tell them. then, the pastor says something that i think doug should be paying particular attention to, so i jab him in the ribs. yes, i jab him in the ribs. any other good wife would do the same. don't judge me. :p then, well, i need a pen, b/c i'm starting to feel bad about whispering. i can't find one. doug tries to help. he can't find one. caylen finally gets me one. so i write notes to both of them that have nothing to do with the sermon (though i'm sure i could have come up with something convicting and meaningful had a i really tried). and, yes, caylen (sister) plans on going with my boys and i on pony pasture trips this summer, just so you know. all of this being said, i didn't hear much of the sermon. this is where i trust that the Lord just allowed what needed to stick to stick, b/c i wasn't helping Him out at all. i'm glad He's in charge and i'm not. i'd hate to think that He was envisioning what allergy-exploded heads would look like.