Keeping My Ride Alive

  When I woke up this morning, I felt horrible.  Honestly, I turn 48 in August.  Can't Mother Nature just speed it up a bit with the menopause thing?  Ugh.  My husband says, with all the fitness stuff, I've tricked my body into believing I'm still in my 30's.  I say, bring on the hot flashes, the night sweats.  Heck.  Will I even notice?  I spend every morning sweating it out on the treadmill.  I like it.  It cleans out my pores.  Irregular periods?  I went through that already with the peri-menopausal stuff I went through two years ago when I was heavier.  It actually went away when I lost the weight.  Loss of Libido?  Baby, keep the romance alive and I'll will be fine.  Maybe I'll study the Kama Sutra.  I figure we'll cross that bridge when and if we come to it.
   Even though I felt like crawling back into bed this morning, I didn't.  I couldn't.  Had to get the boys up and out...work and school.  I thought, if I followed my routine, it wouldn't hurt that bad...the mother nature stuff...you know?  I'm sure I don't have to spell it out.  So, I went down and hopped on the treadmill.  Surprisingly, I started to feel invigorated.  I was watching "The Today Show".  Maybe it was the Concert.  No, I doubt that.  I've never really been a follower of the New Kids on the block or the Backstreet boys.
   Still, I managed to complete my five miles bringing me to 580 total for the year.  I got down on the floor and knocked out 50 push ups, then 100 sit ups, 100 butt lifts... When I did my weight repetitions, I did 2 sets of 30 then followed with 10 more push ups.  In the end, I had done 400 total weight repetitions and added 50 more push ups (making it 100 for the day).  In other words, a great workout for a Friday...especially this one.
  When I came back upstairs, I drank a glass of water and headed up for my shower.  After the shower, I felt so motivated, I did something I have never ever done...I weighed myself.  That's right, I weighed myself right smack dab in the middle of Mother Nature time.  Take that Bee-Ach!  And you know what?  I wasn't poofy.  I weighed the same thing I have weighed for the past year.  Well, this only served to motivate me more.

  Instead of laying around the house whimpered from cramps and eating sugar free chocolates, I went out.  I put gas in the car.  Okay, at $4.11 a gallon, that should have depressed me, but it didn't.  It was a beautiful day and I wasn't going to be brought down from the clouds I was walking on today.
   I followed with a trip to Jiffy Lube.  I figured I'd make sure my car was healthy too.  Thought I'd "keep my ride alive" as they say on the commercials.  It was standing room only at the Jiffy Lube today.  Its not usually this crowded.  I don't do crowds.  I have this anxiety thing.  When I looked for a seat, the tech smiled and said, "Its a Friday."  I'll have to remember that.  Friday is bad for Jiffy Lube.  I sat down and "people watched" for a while.  Ever do that?  Strange how I notice people more now that I am in most cases the healthiest one in the room.  It makes me sad.  I want to take them all out back and do some push ups or jumping jacks...something.
  One of  the technicians came in, led me into the bay, told me I needed a tire rotation.  I smiled and said, "Okay, go for it."  After a bit, the crowd thinned.  When my car was done, another service technician waited on me at the register.  He was a young 20 something hottie.  I know they are supposed to talk to you, but it felt a bit like he was going above and beyond. He rang up my total, then hustled from behind the desk to open the waiting room door for me.  Then he opened the car door.  He smiled a mischievous smile and said, "beautiful day for a ride in a Mustang."  I swear he was flirting.  And you know what, I may have actually blushed a little.  Hey, I can still look.  I'm married.  I'm not dead.  http://jiffylube.com/   

   Anyway, I drove out of Jiffy Lube with a serious smile on my face.  I felt so good, I didn't want to go home yet.  I wanted to ride around in my pretty car with the fresh oil change, the just rotated tires.  I wanted to enjoy the sunshine.
   Not knowing where to go next, I went to Costco.  I was walking through the parking lot, when I nearly got run over by a guy backing out.  He was talking on his cell phone.  I just scooted by his car a little faster than I normally would have.  No harm done.  The lady coming towards me called him a few names I won't mention.
   Anyway, I popped in, picked up a few necessary items like assorted berries and Brie, then headed home just in time for my husband to call.  Oh, I forgot to tell him about my experience with the extremely polite Jiffy Lube hottie.  Let's see, how many miles until I'm supposed to go back?