the pandemic has wreaked havoc and heartbreak all over the world the last couple of years… one small, but personally impactful effect was the closing of my bar (exercise) studio. i am NOT a natural exerciser and somehow i managed to attend this class with regularity for nearly TEN years. they DO offer online classes but i always answer the phone or get distracted or manage not to complete them. i tried to replace my bar classes with extra vigorous walks but hank is not the best partner for that. he only wants to visit his friends or sniff around under the picnic tables in the park in the hopes of finding a snack. he does not keep a good pace and frequently just lays down and refuses to move at all. i tried going on “dog walks” without my dog, but that feels silly and no fun. also, we have so many blizzards here (and i am not one to march around in the snow like a straggling member of the donner party) so they put a big dent in my walking routine. the result is that i may have a new career opportunity… posing on the biscuit cans that you bang on the counter!

(stubborn hank when he lays down and refuses to walk anymore… he won’t even make eye contact)

(my new job modeling on the biscuit cans)

i DO love to watch the sunrise and have a window in my office that is perfect for this activity so i decided to get a tread that i could place right in front of it. of course, there was A LOT of necessary preparation to make room for the tread. first i had to clear out half my office AND the cupboards in the playroom so i could move stuff in there. this was a MASSIVE undertaking because i had to convince my daughter (who is a bit of a hoarder) that she no longer needed all the costumes and stuffies and toys stored in that closet. luckily, she got sick with the corona so i could talk to her about it when she wasn’t at full strength. once i started clearing that closet, i realized i needed to clean EVERY closet (and drawer!) in my house. i went through old files, all of our art supplies and every box and tub possible. i found some treasures: a pair of great sunglasses i didn’t remember, a favorite brooch i hadn’t seen in years, lots of funny letters to and from the tooth fairy that i had shoved in many different places (also a fair amount of TEETH, which is pretty gross) but mostly i found things we no longer needed. my mudroom was filled to the brim with items for the dump and my playroom had piles and piles of stuff to donate. it felt AMAZING to get that all out of my house!

(these are some of the sunrises i see from my window…pastelly pinks)

(burning bright oranges…)

(snowy lavender…)

(tooth fairy correspondence… with theo)

(and lu… she gets right to it!)
only when i had a proper space for it did i feel ready to order the tread. this process was super easy - the guys came a few weeks later, set it up and left within half an hour. i MEANT to get right on it but then the kids stopped wearing masks at school and we all got terrible head colds. i think my immunity is not up to snuff after hiding out and masking for the last couple of years. obviously, i couldn’t try my tread with a stuffy nose so i had to wait a while. THEN my girlfriend pointed out that i needed real “running shoes” because my vans wouldn’t have enough support. of course i am not going to RUN on my tread… i hate running, but she said even for walking i need the right shoes. i have never before purchased shoes for exercising so she sent me to a shop called the boulder running company. it was very hard to find (even with the google maps lady) because it was hidden in a corner of one of boulder’s little strip malls. if someone had mentioned that it was in the same lot as the good times drive thru i could have found it straight away but i did not have that reference.

(my beloved good times)

the guy at the running store used that special metal thing i haven’t seen since i was in mary janes and then he had me walk the length of the store to see if i “pronate” or something, which was embarrassing. finally, he brought me four different brands to try. several friends had recommended “hokas” but i felt like i was wearing snow shoes and they were the color of orange sherbert, so that was a no. ultimately i ended up with black “brooks” shoes. he also sold me special socks that “wick.” 

(who knew these were still around)

(this is what the hokas look like)

later that week i went with lu to “athleta” because she needed shorts. that is also a place i’ve never shopped before. i ended up with two new pairs of leggings. when i was trying them on lucy said, “mama, you ALMOST look like a boulder mom now!” she was very impressed. 

so now i have the tread, the shoes, the socks and the leggings… i just need the COURAGE to get on that thing!

(my tread, my shoes and my window)

to read more about my exercise routine click here