Wednesday, February 3, 2010

The Land Of Good Intentions

It is the New Year (after all). Perhaps you don't make resolutions - which is a very prudent way to live. I seldom do. But years ago, in one of those New Year's resolutions moments, I bought a Total Gym. I purchased it from a TV presentation on (should I be ashamed to admit)...QVC? No. Actually I am not ashamed, although I should also make a confession that I have an addiction to Lock-And-Lock storage containers, which are a big seller, I understand.

For years the Total Gym sat in a room I almost never stepped foot in, gathering dust and cobwebs. The room is called a "bonus room" which, for those who do not know, is a room that is crafted over a built-in garage. When I had the house constructed, I made certain that the bonus room was accessible from the upstairs, so it could function as a fifth bedroom, rather than just a room over the garage. It is a big room. Probably 21' x 21'. It was also a way to keep an eye on the children, since, when they were young, it functioned as an upstairs "family room" which housed the kids' books and toys and games and TV and everything else that shrieked "play time". The bonus room was their domain. They could be kids there, and play, and paint, and maintain a general state of disrepair - as most children are wont to do. When the children were no longer children, and moved away, the bonus room became a catch all of things I no longer needed or wanted - i.e. things in limbo. Is it any wonder that the Total Gym would be relegated to this vast wasteland of geography? A veritable Land Of Good Intentions left unexplored,.

Oh,but no longer, my friends! No! This very evening I have moved the Total Gym into my very own room - into the walk-in closet. After re-installation, I even spent 15 minutes working out on it according to the video that came with the machine. Yeah. Only...15...minutes. I am here to state...I feel rather...um...wonderfully out of breath and...um...I think...this...(puff...puff)...is..the..start of a..ah...beautiful..gasp...friendship...and...ah...I...will certainly be in...gasp...much better shape...any...time...real...soon...(oh lord)...so eat...your hearts out. Tomorrow, I advance to 18 minutes! There's no stopping me now. (She said before...kerplunk)...and as I'm laying here, trying to catch my breath, please note I posted two postings today...which....(try to breathe, Grad)...wasn't easy.

6 comments:

  1. Way to go, Graddikins - I hope you've scraped yourself off the floor and that you can still walk today!!

    By the way, that bonus room (love that name) sounds amazing. I know Virginia would approve.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Yay Grad! I hope you aren't feeling too sore adn tired today. Keep up the good exercising. It becomes addictive after awhile. Your bonus room sounds marvelous and I can't help but imagine it as a potential library :)

    ReplyDelete
  3. Doctordi, Oh Ye Daily Runner and Ocean Dipper! 15 min. on the Total Gym would hardly make you break a sweat. I realized just how out of shape I was when I had trouble getting up from the darn thing. The cat came and sat on my chest I was there so long.

    Stefanie, I do feel wonderful today! I got up early and jumped back on the Total Gym. I love the fact that you can also use it as a Pilates machine, which never occurred to me. I'm having the Savannah Mission come and get all the furniture out of the bonus room (executive desk, sofa, big TV)which will be good for me, and the furniture will go to a good cause. Then, who knows, I may turn it into a workout room - or a Zen room. I hear the 60s are the new 40s (and I was a pretty good looking chic in my 40s!)

    ReplyDelete
  4. I'm excited for you and perhaps inspired! Maybe I'll get the Wii Fit out again ... maybe ....?

    ReplyDelete
  5. I'll bet you're still a pretty good looking chic :)

    ReplyDelete
  6. That's HILARIOUS about the cat, first out-loud laugh I have had all day. Glad to hear you're back on it - you would feel MUCH better about all this if you had seen my early running efforts. I was still smoking, living in a London lager-and-hot-chips cocoon, and dragging myself around a single lap of Clapham Common used to give me the most debilitating sneezing fits you've ever seen. So carry on.

    ReplyDelete