I’ve been religiously going to the gym 5-6 times a week for the last 4 months. And I’m pretty proud of that given that some mornings I am exhausted and would love to sleep in. (By sleep in, I mean to a whopping 6:30. I know, HG complains about my “insufficient” sleep in hours. Even on the weekends when my alarm isn't going off , I’m usually awake by 7:30. Sometimes earlier, rarely later. Part of my body’s ADD, or perhaps it’s the Colombian coffee or cocaine naturally in my system but that's for another post)
Typically my exhaustion is a result of Jinx, our beloved cat. Jinx is a part Siamese mix that we found thru a co-worker who has placed many of our co-workers with cats. We went up to the farm and got the pick of the litter. I went for a very, very shy (tried to run away) beautiful grey and black tiger-ish kitten… HG went for this friendly little mostly black kitten. HG won and we took home this quiet cuddly black kitten… who we found out later was not so quiet. He is a full Siamese in a black coat, I’m convinced he pops cat contacts in his eyes each day before he starts bellowing through the house. I have no idea why this cat insists on vocalizing each and every step he takes, but I’m thinking about finding a miniature electric collar for the cat. You know, like the ones people put on dogs that gives them a little zap when they cross over the “invisible fence”. I am on the search for one of those collars made for the ridiculous tiny dogs that the likes of Paris Hilton carry around in their purse. Hell, Jinx is a Doberman in comparison to those purse dogs. I want it to zap him each time he lets out the full lung yells so that finally, I can have some sleep without the cat waking me up.
Jinx will “yell” out the window when there is a bird or squirrel in the yard, he’ll yell out the window when there is nothing in the yard, he’ll walk thru the house yelling if he’s out of water, he’ll walk thru the house yelling when he’s not, he’ll yell when you’re looking at him, he’ll yell even if your in the bathroom. He’ll yell because you are in the bathroom. And if you shut him out of a room, so that you might presumably sleep without hearing him yell… he’ll literally put his mouth under the door in that little crack and echo his yell in your room. In case that wasn’t enough, he insist he should be in any room and at any time he so chooses. If he’s not, he’ll put up a fight. He’ll run towards the door, hit it, back up and repeat. You think I’m joking? Our bedroom door no longer stays shut on it’s own because Jinx’s body barging has splinter the door frame around the lock. We’ve taken to actually dead bolting our bedroom door, and stuffing a towel around the door jam. I’m not joking. Come to my house, I’ll show you the door.
Every once in a while I’ll leave the bedroom door open and let him sleep on the bed with me to see if that will shut him up. Now, I don’t know why I do this, because it never works, but I’m obviously a a glutton for punishment. Usually what happens, if I am lucky, is the first night I let him sleep in the bedroom, he’ll be quiet, or he’ll only do his little chirp to let you know he’s there and go back to sleep. BUT, that will only last one or two nights (enough to convince me to try again the next night) before you wake up in the middle of the night when you’re in the best dream ever to the cat’s screams echoing thru out the house. Usually he does this and then hides under the bed. There have been a few nights when we have though we’ve locked him out only to find that he hid under the bed, in the closet, or under the nightstand. Needles to say, sleeping when Jinx is there is vaguely like sleeping when there is a young kid in the house.
Now, when the walls aren't reverberating with the sounds of Jinx, he is a very friendly and lovable cat. He loves attention, and will roll over onto his back for a belly rub from any willing stranger. He’ll also play tag around the kitchen “island” and fetch with his toys occasionally. He’s got a great personality, beside his big mouth, and that’s what sucks. If he was an altogether awful cat, I’d bring him up to my parents farm and let him be a yard cat there. But I’d honestly be heart broken if I had to give him away, or if something happened because he is a very loving cat, and he’s like my kid, albeit a very spoiled bratty kid. (And my “excuse” for not having kids…)
Back to the original topic, the gym. I’ve posted a few times about some of the funny observations I’ve gathered at the gym, from the sweaty lady to the steroid junkies. Today, is more about realizations about myself.
I’ve noticed that while some mornings I want to sleep in, more often than not I’m in autopilot to the gym. I’ve also noticed that I actually enjoy (I may have undiagnosed issues) feeling sore, and if I’m not, I’ll hit the gym too hard and be almost crippled the following day.
Another sad, but not new and obviously related to the last realization is that my body naturally wants to be stocky. Not stocky as in fat, although it seems to prefer that as well, but as in “guy” muscle. Despite my best efforts it seems easy for my body to build muscle, but I can’t make it lean, womanly muscle. Even in my “younger” days when I was slender, I was always boy shaped, and typically had more guy arms/legs. Today my body is no different, except that it has a nice layer of fat to cushion my falls, and keep me warm in the winter :-) Lastly, something that was really bothering me this morning… I like to sweat, but I don’t like to drip… and I especially HATE feeling the sweat drip down between my breast. I mean I really HATE it, it’s like having a hair across your ass, but different. Now, as much as I absolutely hate that feeling, I refuse to reduce myself to the woman who shoves her towel down her sports bra…. Like I saw done this morning.
I admit that I am easily distracted, this distracted me enough that I left.
Damn it people, don’t you know I’m trying to work out here?
Sheesh.
