Another Thursday started out the way just about all Thursdays start out: A trip to the physical therapy center for my morning workout with fellow seniors in the Senior Fitness Program. I do get a good workout on various machines and free weights, but I’m not too sure about that “fitness” part. I’m a very long way from being fit.
Nevertheless, I work as hard as I can during these sessions and I enjoy the activity as well as the friendly conversations with my fellow participants. The session technically begins at 8, but there’s a super physical trainer who thinks we’re pretty neat folk and usually arrives shortly after 7:30. Once there’s an authority figure on hand, we’re allowed to begin our workouts. We all have different tasks designed by the physical therapists and trainer to work on our various ailments.
All my activity, for example, is designed to strengthen my spinal cord which has several fused disks. Another set I do is trying to strengthen my right hip which is good only for activity that lasts 10 minutes or less before it forces me into a rest. And there’s that wonderful ball I stand on trying to improve my balance. Others are working on shoulder, or knee/ankle, or other places. We are just a few feet apart, though, and that makes for some fun times.
That was only the beginning. When I got home, my wife and I had to pack the back of her small SUV with brush and then take it to the recycle center. We ended up with two full loads and two trips, and my daughter will join her this weekend, weather permitting, to cut some more.
Once we delivered the brush, another morning of shopping faced us. We didn’t get, at least not yet, a stimulus check. I’m not sure we will. But we are doing our part for the economy. WG (Wife Gator) and I did some shopping last Thursday for such things as new curtains. I must say now that they’re up in their proper places, they look great. I probably shouldn’t have told her that, though, as today we were trying to find other changes for the house, like rugs.
We have five oblong braided rugs in our bedroom and dining room. They were beautiful when we bought them many years ago, but now they have run their courses. After watching her thought process while looking around this morning, I think she wants regular carpets in the three rooms. I don’t think she wants wall-to-wall carpeting, though, as we have some pretty nice looking hardwood floors. We haven’t made up our minds (I like to think I’m included) yet.
The final task this morning was getting the lawn mowed. It takes a couple of hours for that task. We had planned to wait until this afternoon, but the clouds and cool weather along with a forecast for the chance of showers sent us outside to complete the job. We could have waited until Saturday, but the forecast keeps changing and sometimes it includes showers Saturday and sometimes it doesn’t. Same for Sunday. Now it can do whatever it wants. The lawn is finished, probably until next Tuesday or Thursday.
I understand WG also has a full afternoon planned for us. Little things like the floors. She also wants to do some general cleaning. I think I might take a nap.
We haven’t heard yet, but our daughter is checking her work schedule today and if she can get off a little early, she’ll come over and help her mother plant some flowers and other plants they bought last night as DG’s Mother’s Day gift. I suspect she’ll bring her dog along to play with ours and then stay for supper.
My political comment for the day: The latest Gallup Poll, released yesterday, put Congress’ approval rating at 18%, tying for the all-time low. It is 11 points lower than the record low of 29% ‘enjoyed’ by President Bush.
So this Thursday doesn’t have anything too magnanimous in it. But it is another day in the life of the Gator in Maine.
GiM
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