Lust-induced brain freeze indeed!
10:40 p.m.
My bestest friend zitagsd has nagged, nudgetted and needled me into doing pilates, something I have probably backed away from more because of the hype than anything else. But today, as I soaked in a hot tub and created my very own bacteria culture, I read the introduction to the book I bought several months ago from Janice (remember, she owns a used-book store) on pilates for beginners and I learned a few things.
a) Pilates (pronounced pee-lah�-tes) is actually the name of the guy who developed the system, Joseph Pilates, who was born in Germany in 1880, a sickly youth who was determined to get big and strong. He studied physiology and anatomy and worked hard and became all sorts of strongman-type things that you can read about on various websites (just feed his name into any search engine and you�ll strike paydirt). He came to the US and opened a studio in 1926 in New York where he catered mostly to injured dancers who would come to him to correct their problems. They liked him so much that they continued with classes even after they were healed.
b) Pilates emphasized the �power house�, meaning the muscles of the abdomen, lower back, buttocks and inner thighs. He developed a series of seven exercises which are designed to strengthen and lengthen the muscles of those areas, thus helping to prevent injury and to develop flexibility and grace.
The book I bought is designed for the beginner. The seven main exercises are modified for the neophyte to ease him into the more difficult regime. As soon as I don�t hurt anymore, I�m definitely going to start doing this. Howver, I still hurt. There were times when I was tempted to pop a couple of pills, but I forebore.
It rained all day today. Very boring. I figured since I had my computer back that I would get back to work copying (once Buddy Boy gave it up, that is--he missed it too), but when I launched Finale, I was informed that I had zero days left to register the product. Then I remembered that when I was having computer problems, I had de-installed it, then re-installed it, and apparently this required a re-registration. Unfortunately, when I tried to do that, I was informed that I had exceeded my allowed number of installations (they let you have two, which hardly seems like enough, considering what this software costs). I got on the horn to their 1-800 number, and was told that this was a common-enough problem, especially for users whose computers needed repairs, and I should call back on Monday when the office was open to talk to someone there. Bummer.
In the meantime, Hubby has a copy installed on his laptop, so I hooked up my keyboard and mouse to his machine and got to work with it. It�s not the same, but it�ll do until I get this problem sorted out.
Next, I�m a little peeved at my son. My children are rarely home for dinner anymore and I was kind of hoping to have everyone around the kitchen table for a change tonight. Buddy Boy called me from his friend�s place, where he was spending the day, and asked if Gab could come over for supper. I said sure, I was planning on barbecuing salmon steaks. He asked if we couldn�t have pizza instead. I said, �Look, what would you rather have, barbecued salmon steaks or pizza?� He declined to answer. Instead, he and Gab ate at one of the many pizza eateries in town (when they could have had salmon steaks, shees!) and I shan�t see him until tomorrow now. Little Princess� BF came over, though, so we still had four around the table, and he was appreciative of my cooking (I also prepared asparagus, which I despise, but everyone else liked).
However, as I opened the door to the cold cellar to select a bottle of wine, a scene of death and carnage met my gaze. In the middle of the cement floor was the body of a star-nosed mole, looking exactly like the bottom picture in the link, quite inert from the poison I leave out for the little fellows. I very rarely see them--they tend to die inside the walls--so this was a trifle upsetting, especially as I wasn�t sure what to do with it. I ended up scooping it into an empty jar I had lying around and then wrapping the wee corpse well in a plastic shopping bag before putting it in the garbage. I don�t want to compost it, and I fear leaving it for wildlife to consume, considering it was poison that done him in, so this seemed like the best course to follow. So sad.
Hubby rented movies to watch, and we laughed uproariously at Dave Barry�s Complete Guide to Guys. It helped that I had two glasses of wine (a 2000 pinot noir from the Kacaba vineyards that was almost too long in the wine cellar, but not quite.
Just before the film, however, the phone rang and it was none other than Vlad (who actually said, �Hi, it�s Vlad,� which was rather strange) asking how I was feeling since they �missed you at the party last night.� I told her I was better but still in mild pain and that I would have been very uncomfortable, always standing, or sitting, or walking, or lying down. She was actually very solicitous. No, I haven�t yet handed in my resignation. I�m in no hurry. I�ll get to it. Will you stop bugging me already?
<~~~ * ~~~>
