Spa Day

Yay! Summer's nearly over, and not a moment too soon... I'm not sure if it's the guilt from the neglect of my children over the summer months or the loss of the blissful routine we fought hard to develop, but I'm sick to death of endless summer days with nothing for the kids to do while I'm at work (and really, with camp it's only been 3 weeks of boredom for Grace and 2 for Jacob, but that's been plenty for all of us). I actually stooped to bribing them today with cash to take a bike ride into town for treats at the coffee shop. Kids these days.... bribed with cheesecake and chai to actually get off their butts and do something. Sheesh!
We had a decent summer, with a super nice camping trip (Jake did all the prep, and it was blissful!), with 30 miles of bike riding thru the woods and along Lake Michigan and Thai food waiting in town; it doesn't get any more ideal than that! I wish we would have done more bike riding, but I suppose there's plenty of time for that as the weather gets more temperate for long bike rides.
Tracey and I did another "spa day" yesterday: 31/2 hours of pure aerobic bliss (or hell, depending on your perspective...), that started with an hour of Zumba, an hour of Boot Camp (that would be the hell part; the instructor took one look at us and let us know that we could "drop out" at any time... as IF! I can barely walk today after the Bosu, the sprinting, the jump roping, the stepper, the stairs, the ab crunches, and the weight lifting.... but I'll be 'a Gol Danged if some skinny 20-something was going to see me limp out of class like the fat, middle aged gal I am!), a 1/2 hour of sweating in the sauna, a dozen of so laps in the pool, and a few minutes in the hot tub. I felt empowered like I haven't in a long time; I could barely tie up my yoga pants afterwards, I was so sore and tired-- but completely happy! I might be chubby and dumpy now, but I see now that underneath lies the heart and body of an athlete who can kick butt with the best of 'em.
p.s. I've lost 10 pounds, and probably gained a ton of muscle in the past month and 1/2. I am limping slowly towards the muscled body of my dreams... hooray! Now, if I could only do something about my crappy hair...