Until It's Gone or Month-End Review, July

Haven't really been feeling the month-end review thing but I need the visual confirmation right now. I've been wanting to go swimming for the past three days but decided to take a brief break until my neck feels better which it does at this moment because I had someone work on it,* took ibuprofen and I've also been putting heat on it. Thanks to the 'Fugee's DIY neck warmer, I sat with heat on my neck while we watched two hours of Downton Abbey on Friday.

I was a bit of a Zumba zealot this month and there were those five precious days in a row that I somehow managed to pull of making it to yoga -- talk about a mood booster. And the sore neck just proves, you don't miss moving around effortlessly until it's gone.

Country Line Dance Party!
*Scoot Those Boots, 1 x

Dance It Off and firm up!
*Rock It!, 1 x

Just Walk: mix + match walk blasters
*Short + Sweaty, 1 x

Just Walk: Walk to the Hits: Party Songs
*Mile 2, 1 x

Just Walk: Tone Every Zone Walk
*Upper Body Circuit, 2 x's

Lawn Mowing, 1 x

Swimming, 8 x's

Walking, 8' x's (includes sole hike)

Yoga, 10 x's

Zumba, 13 x's

*Never underestimate the power of a healing touch, for real.

The Rub

Took the day off and did the following:

Zumba
Grocery Shopping
Laundry, One Load
Mopped, Bathroom Floor
Cooked
Pool, Quickie

Regarding the pool, just felt like I had to be outdoors for a while. The kids were having so much fun today -- tossing a ball around and horse-playing. I thought it was so cute when this one little girl said Somebody flip me over! It was nice to see kids being kids.

Got to yoga early and these two women were holding a lengthy conversation so I couldn't put my mat down but as soon as I walked away to say hi to someone, they moved and this woman put her stuff down even though I had my rolled mat and two blocks in the vicinity.

I threw a verbal tantrum and I'm pretty sure that I was heard by several people... I moved to the front of the class and this woman asked me why did some people have blankets and why did some people have bolsters. Her question made me calm down and refocus.

I find myself in the extreme zone again. Things that should not be rubbing me the wrong way are rubbing me the wrong way.

The Good Effort

The only response to today's heat was to come home from work, get into my bathing suit and head to the city pool.

When I signed in at the front desk of the recreation center, the youngin' asked me if I was there for Zumba. I was so confused and told him that I didn't even know that Zumba was offered.

Walked through the labyrinth to get to the pool then sat on the edge. I'm hungry this young man said to me. Weird but he was in a chatty mood, I guess.

These two women asked me if I was staying for Zumba -- Aqua Zumba. You have got to be kidding me. The city pool closes in less than two weeks and I had no idea that there was an Aqua Zumba class on Thursdays.

I was so torn...and hungry. Aqua Zumba was set to start at 6:30. I also had Zumba in the Streets on my radar (at 7)  plus my regular old Zumba class.

I nixed Aqua Zumba then headed to get something to eat. Went back and forth about outdoor Zumba but didn't think the experience would be very pleasant so I chilled out for a bit then went to the gym for my regular 7:30 p.m. class.

Did not see the teacher and thought that the class had been stood up. Only, the sub was inside subbing for the first of two classes. As we warmed up, I wished that I had asked our regular teacher if she were on social media so that I could find out when she would or would not be present but then I looked at the substitute teacher and she was earnest and making a good effort and that's all I needed.

Allowances

Yesterday, decided to go to the outdoor pool which allowed me to make 7:30 p.m. yoga. Good choice.

As it gets closer to August, the population at the pool diminishes but I have not lost my enthusiasm.

Only the lifeguard and, briefly, one other person was in the deep-end so I asked if I could utilize the entire length of the deep-end because you have to ask at the city pool and I was told yes.

I cannot tell you what a pleasure it was to stretch out and do laps -- under the sky no less.

When the pool closed, this woman said You got your laps in. I would do laps but I have these sea urchins attached to me.

Went home to eat then went to yoga... When I unfolded my body this morning, it felt so good. It felt magical and my mind felt better too.  Went to Zumba class tonight and my hips and glutes are still a little tight. I want to go to Zumba in the Streets tomorrow but I think it's going to be too hot. Zumba let out a 9:00 p.m. and my glasses fogged up as soon as I got outside.

Was on Twitter last night and there were a lot of interesting discussions about the Repub Convention. This tweet cracked me up and made me think of Dave Chappelle's Show.

The Black Delegation would like to make a trade..  Ben Carson pic.twitter.com/lB5CKdilzb

— ReggieSpeaks (@ReggyN) July 20, 2016

Day Trip

View from Scenic Road

Not much feeling sweet lately...

Took the today off and Alison had time on her hands as well. We were both trying to maximize our time but managed to agree on hiking despite the promised high temp of 97. We went to Grafton, IL where most of the trails are marked as moderately difficult on the map in the visitors' center. Different story on website. We went up so many inclines that my Fitbit thought that I had climbed 52 flights of stairs. Felt like we hiked for 13 miles but it was more like three-ish. Not really sure.

During the middle of our hike, we heard thunder and the rain followed soon thereafter. Luckily, we were close to a shelter and hung out there for about 20 minutes. Unfortunately, the trail was muddy as hell after the rain and I'm not sure how I kept myself from falling but I managed to avoid a mud bath.

Alison and I got back to the Missouri side around 3-ish and had a late lunch then we parted and met back up again for yoga.

Tevas after brief puddle bath. 

Had a frustrating ride to yoga because of construction everywhere then a really slow driver in front of me. Joy talked about the moon being in Capricorn and emotions being high or something like that. Hope that explains some of the turbulence right now. I will say that the hike was satisfying. Maybe it was because I had to concentrate on getting up those hills and staying upright.

The Difference

I've been doing my usual things: swimming, yoga, Zumba. Went to yoga three days in a row and wish that I could have established a longer streak.

St. Louis had a spectacular thunderstorm yesterday. We had straight-line winds that made me step away from the windows in my office and into the hallway. We lost a tree at work plus several windows were shattered. Many people are still without power and, while many lights were out, two people were murdered.

After Alton Sterling, Philando Castile and the Dallas officers, Brene Brown wrote about how the culture is so different now -- how people want to satisfy their rage immediately. She wrote:

When we choose instant relief in the form of rage, we're in many ways choosing permanent grief for the entire world. 

And now Paris again...

These babies… #PhilandoCastile  #Repost @abcnews ・・・ Diamond Reynolds' daughter looks on as the funeral procession for Philando Castile travels from the Brooks funeral home to the St Paul Cathedral in St Paul, Minnesota, July 14, 2016. CREDIT: Adam Bettcher/Reuters  SEE MORE at ABCNews.com/photos #abcnews #photos

A photo posted by Charles M. Blow (@charlesmblow) on Jul 14, 2016 at 11:54am PDT

Read All About It

Fat, again! That was the headline-like thought that went through my head while I was in Zumba class on Thursday until I got home and saw that more hell had broken out -- this time in Dallas and, all of a sudden, my weight was the last thing on my mind.

Went to Zumba again today then went shopping to see if they had a certain size of Clark Cloudsteppers but they didn't. I ended up with candy cane shorts, though, so it was a win. Also, the Cloudsteppers in the store are more than half the price of the ones online...

Pockets!

Waited until the heat dissipated around 6:30 p.m. to cut the grass and didn't come out of the yard until two hours later. It was nice to be outside once I got the whole mowing thing out of the way...

I'm not going to say much about the current events except to say that Saeed Jones quoted the final lines of Danez Smith's It Doesn't Feel Like A Time To Write and it is resonating with me right now.

it doesn’t feel like a time to write
when all my muses are begging
for their lives.

Killjoy

My non-work dilemma of the day was deciding whether to go to the outdoor city pool then yoga or to just go to the indoor pool for 7:00 p.m. open swim. I decided on the latter since the city's deep-end is often closed during the week which makes it harder to get in a workout.

Going to open swim at 7 had it cons but no scenario is perfect, duh.

Tonight was, like, round six between Katie and her instructor. Katie, get your goggle and go. Katie, it's a new diving board...Katie...

I got in about 10 laps before lane-sharing commenced. The woman apologized to me because she veers when she does the backstroke. There was no need to apologize for veering but an apology should have definitely been issued for the loud, sickly, sweet perfume.

Went to yoga yesterday. The schedule consisted of 9:30 a.m. and 7:30 p.m. classes. I chose the latter and, because it was a holiday, Alison was able to go as well. I was taken aback when Alison wanted to go for custard after yoga. Custard is never on my mind after yoga. It's seldom on my mind and I didn't want to go but didn't want to be a killjoy either. I keep telling myself that one dipped cone is not going to make or break me.

On another food note, I've been watching season five of Anthony Bourdain's Parts Unknown. I'm on the Budapest episode and he just told this cook the reason sugar is used in some savory recipes is to make other flavors pop.

Whenever I see sugar in, say, the recipe for Chili Lime Peanuts, I skip it. Same thing with stir-fry recipes. I don't see the need to add sugar -- said the woman who had a cone of custard after yoga...

Choice Words

Watched episodes eight and nine of Downton Abbey, season three. At the end of the episode nine, I let a couple of choice words fly in English and in Bosnian. The 'Fugee said I haven't heard you cursing* in a while.

She was right. I haven't been cursing. Surprise, surprise for someone who got busted for impressive cursing back in the seventh grade. Some friends and I were playing a friendly game of elimination Uno on the fire escape. I had a hand full of cards and someone changed the color allowing someone to win the game. My verbal rampage was heard by the principal and two assistant principals who I hadn't seen standing about 200 feet (or more) away. I thought that my parents were going to kill me once they heard what I had done. The assistant principal along with another teacher harassed me for a while including telling me that they hadn't heard sailors curse like that but they never called my parents and I did not stop to look that gift horse in the mouth...

Went to a birthday party for a woman who celebrated her 65th birthday. I know the woman from my childhood when I used to go to church. If you asked me to say two things about her, I would say that she is kind and one of the best huggers ever. The birthday woman has been having serious health concerns and has not being doing well -- even this week. She thought about not having  the party but said that, in the end, she did want to celebrate life. She went on to say that there's a reason that she's still alive -- even if it's just tell the room full of people that she loves them. Goosebumps!

The birthday woman's statement made me think about something that Joy said when I first started attending her classes. Joy said that there's integrity in living a "normal" life -- being a good sister, mother, going to work etc...


I keep thinking about the obituaries of the Orlando victims and also about talking to the 90-year-old funeral director who started the paperwork for my grandmother's arrangements and she said that everyone should write their own obituary.

Just read Gingerzingi's recent post about social media and it got me to thinking about a book review on Unclutterer about your digital afterlife.

I think about my aunt who died of peripheral artery disease. She did not have a good relationship with her child and she did not want to talk about final wishes, including distribution of assets.

I also think about how nice it was to have closure when writer David Mills suddenly died from a brain aneurysm. He had a blog called Undercover Blackman and left his password for his nephew.

There's a lot of organizing that I need to do...

Luis Daniel Conde went to the same high school in Puerto Rico as Juan Pablo Rivera Velasquez, ran a beauty salon in Kissimmee with him, and on Sunday, they died together in the Pulse nighclub massacre. Lus was 39. His obituary is linked in our bio. #OrlandoUnited #PrayForOrlando #OrlandoStrong #PulseShooting

A photo posted by Orlando Sentinel (@orlandosentinel) on Jun 17, 2016 at 12:07pm PDT

*Being less rattled makes me curse less. Who would have thunk it?