The Yard

This is my gym, well not MY gym. It's Jamie's gym. Jamie has been torturing me for the past 3 months at this place. See those chains in the bottom left? Well, maybe you have seen the contestants on The Biggest Loser with those giant ropes? Jamie uses chains. Heavy. Chains. Sometimes I get to use a sledge hammer on that big tire on the bottom right of the picture. Those poles? I run around them. Sometimes. Wondering about that hurdle? I go over it. A lot. There is a machine over by the television that is called the Versa Climber. It has settings on it like "Eiffel Tower." Then you climb the Eiffel Tower, except that it's not France.

You might think that that is a man in the mirror, but upon closer inspection you will see that it is Bob. He is a torso that I get to punch. Sometimes I do this:

Except that I don't look like that. But I will someday.

I also do many things on this V8 machine. I strap myself to it wherever Jamie says to. Sometimes I run, sometimes I crawl backwards, sometimes I use my legs and at times just my arms.

This is the Bozu Ball. It is evil and if you fall off it you will break yourself. But it's hard and you can do things like squats and pushups on it. While keeping your balance. 'Cause squats and pushups aren't hard enough.

My gym is called The Yard because after you do all this stuff, you run around the yard of the tree farm that surrounds the gym. It's a half mile run up and down. But sometimes cats follow you, so that's fun. I'm not sure if you can see it, but in the bottom right of the big picture there is a wipe off board. That is where you will find your day's workout, if you dare.

A Crying Jag

I'm not sure what's going on, but lately I've been on a crying jag. Really strange things have been setting me off. Some examples include

1. The Biggest Loser makeover week (well, DUH that one is gonna get anyone crying),

2. My daughter as an Oompah Loompah this past weekend during her high school musical. Really anytime she is on stage for anything I begin to cry. She is just so lovely and is clearly enjoying herself at that moment that I lose it.

3. While running a 5K, I cried when I saw the woman playing the banjo in her front yard. She was playing for us, I think. Maybe she just sits in her front yard every day and plays the banjo, but regardless, I felt that she was congratulating me on my mad running skillz by picking the banjo on her lawn. And at that moment, it was the sweetest thing ever.

4. My daughter invited 40 kids to our house. They were all doing their own thing in the pool house. Some were swimming, some in the hot tub, some snacking. Then a song came on and, as if it were planned, all 40 kids began singing the chorus: "Tonight, we are young. So let's set the world on fire. We can burn brighter than the sun." And because all that was true, I cried.

So to recap, I have been overcome several times in the past 48 hours by very random things: a pop song, a television show, an Oompah Loompah, and banjo pickin'. I might need some medication.