The Workout Room, aka TORTURE!

A few weeks ago, we received our key to the apartment complex's weight/workout room.  It's quite impressive for a small gym.  There are free weights, 2 weight machines, a treadmill an elliptical machine, and a stairmaster.  We just started the boys on a workout program.  It isn't anything spectacular.  It's just that...well, this may surprise you, but the Follisfam are NOT athletes.  I know... it's a shocker, right??  But we still want to be a fit family!!  Plus, we homeschool, so an organized PE class not being an option in Midland, we kicked in with our own little plan.  Three days a week we drag the boys over there about 7 and exercise our bodies.  Dramafreak and Scoutmaster switch off on the elliptical and treadmill and guess who gets the stair machine??  YOU GUESSED IT! Me!  (Daddy K works out on other days when he can, since he has to be up earlier)I never knew how hard it would be to climb stairs for 30 minutes.  WOW.  Pain.  It's a "good" pain, though.  So far we've encountered only one other person in there when we are, so that's good.  Because it aint pretty when I work out.  No siree.  I sweat like a circus freak.  Give me 5 minutes on a stairmaster and I am drenched.  But it feels so good once I limp off the machine w/ my jelly legs.  Then I go straight to the 5 lb free weights to work my arms.  The boys usually do the weight machines.  Dramafreak really likes those.  Scoutmaster prefers to go from the treadmill to the bench.  haha.  He's the one who will go straight thru the 30 minute time limit like an allstar.  Barely breaks a sweat.  Me,  I have to stop every few minutes to take a breather and scream out in agony.  But we all manage to get thru.  The first time we went, Dramafreak hopped off the machine, saying "Time's up!"  What he didn't realize till later was that his machine was counting DOWN, not up, meaning he had only gone 10 minutes.  I was too busy panting and shaking to tell him this.  He got it the next time. 

Ann

There is an elderly woman who lives at the front of the apartments, facing the street as we pull our car in the drive.  Her name is Ann.  Every time, in our comings and goings, she is sitting in one of her patio chairs, watching the action that passes.  I have seen her out there all day sometimes.  The other day, Dramafreak, Scoutmaster, EllaDog and I took a walk around the entire complex and made her acquaintance.  She has been in these apartments 7 years.  She lived in a home in another town for many years, but then came here to be closer to her daughter after her husband passed away.  She shared with us that this is THE safest place to live in Midland.  I love the way she said it, though.  She listed these as the positives:  Noone comes in and eats your food, you can sleep all through the night and get a good night's rest, and the people are nice.  I guess you can't get much better than that, eh??  She said we should stop by anytime. I may take her up on that.  I might bring her cookies!  I wonder if she knows she's cheered me up these last few days, sitting on her front stoop, waving as we pull out and in of the driveway. 

"A good neighbor is a fellow who smiles at you over the back fence, but doesn’t climb over it."