Summer in the City

Friday morning (the 11th of July) 

I got up to water the plants early and had planned to go to the gym after everything was good and damp.  I was hosing off our patio and the gate shut hard behind me driving a nail into the back of my calf. Having not had a tetanus shot for at least 10 years I abandoned my thoughts of working out in favor of not having tetanus and took myself to the clinic for a shot. I didn't pass out this time, but I got sufficiently dizzy that I had to wait a half hour before I came home.  Then came the headache and with it anxiety. 

Kind of a crappy morning. I went to my team meeting at the Courthouse Atheltic Club where the other three members of my Zults team waited for me. We are now officially the "Bombshells" and are on our way to winning the fitness challenge. We score points for keeping a food journal, attending workout classes, completing challenges, and at the end we score points for inches lost (waist) body fat percentage lost, and muscle gained. I got my cool wristband (now called the gauntlet of power) and I'm on my way to being stronger and having more stamina. 

After my meeting I was still feeling icky so Fred came with me to Portland to pick up Ruben.  We took the old road into Portland and avoided commuter traffic entirely.  We got there 30 minutes early, then Ru texted that they were running late so we walked to a trendy coffee/pizza shop and had coffee and dessert while we waited.  Eventually he was off the bus and after a quick hug he passed his huge bag of candy to Fred and told me he had a headache.  It was a calm drive home, Ru fell asleep in the back.  He stumbled inside and didn't wake up until Saturday morning. 

Waiting for Ruben to get to Portland for pickup

Fred trying on hats while we waited

He likes trying on hats

And he slept till Saturday

Saturday I did my first group class at Courthouse and then after a leisurely breakfast we drove to Eugene for my brother-in-law Robert's company picnic.  Last year we had a great time playing Bingo, water balloons, and eating a delicious bbq lunch. This year was much the same.  Ru had a great time in the bounce house and then won the last bingo prize, an electronic thermometer. You put it outside and the indoor monitor tells you how hot it is outside so you don't have to actually open the door. The food was once again terrific. Thank you Pierce Fittings. 

He was bouncing on the outside of the bounce house

This week's menu

On our way home we stopped at Winco (air conditioning is nice on HOT afternoons) and did our shopping for the week.  Fred and Ru agreed to eat my healthy menu for Zults challenge. You buy everything for the week and cook it all at once.  So when we got home we cooked for the whole week.  Let me say that in the heat, in the kitchen Saturday afternoon cooking and prepping all this was as close to hell as canning in August, but it was SO worth it.  Today is Wednesday and I haven't hardly had to do anything in the kitchen but heat stuff up in the microwave.  What a great idea! And its healthy! (And bless his heart Ruben hasn't complained about bbq chicken sandwiches with coleslaw for lunch 4 days in a row.) 

Sunday I got up and did some weightlifting at home then left Ru and Fred with instructions to do some laundry and vacuum and I took off for a madrigal gig.  We sang at a lavender festival outside Molalla. The estate we sang at was called Raven Croft. It was lovely but the smell was incredible. The lavender was in full bloom. We didn't have to wear garb as we expected it to be VERY hot but instead we had quite the thunderstorm complete with lightning and occasional rain.  We had a nice performance singing for the hill and valley, and got our set list together for the renaissance fair next weekend.  (We will be at Canterbury for the next two weekends, in garb, and sounding terrific)

Monday Fred and I got up and went to 20/20/20 class at 8:30am. Its 20 mins of cardio, 20 mins weightlifting, and 20 mins core/stretching. Fun class with great music. Then I took Ru to swim lessons.  He's by far the best in his group at Madrona Swim Club.  He can tread water, do deep water bobs, and move around in the water just fine.  He's learning freestyle with side breathing, and diving now.  

Blue goggles. Waiting his turn. 

After lunch we all went for a swim her at our apartments pool, then later... another swim.  I've been reading a lot. We got a surprise text from my friend Elizabeth, she's fostering a litter of puppies.  I asked if they needed more petting and she agreed they did.  So I took Ru over to her place (its 9 blocks from us) and he got LOTS of puppy love. 

I love the face of the one to his right. The one on his knee is still looking for a home. She's a cuddler. 

Tuesday I went to Group Active class with my Zults team, took Ru to his swim lesson, then taught a martial arts class for my friend LeRina and her boys.  Ru came along and we kicked and punched till we were pretty tired. After a well deserved lunch and rest, we rested some more. Then we got hot and went shopping. Ru and Fred got new goggles, I got new sneakers. Fred got some corn sugar and bottled his first batch of beer. Ru and I helped by staying out of his way. We build a fan and sheet fort. Then we went to pet puppies again. It was so hot last night, and we have only one fan, so Ru slept on my bedroom floor and we put the fan in the window.  It cooled off enough to sleep sometime around 2am. 

Sheet fan fort

Today (Wednesday the 16th) I got up at 6am and went for a power walk with Elizabeth and then drove Freddie to the train station.  He's got some music technician/stage manager gigs coming up down south. After Ru did his swimming lesson we hung out and let the heat build in the apartment.  We are going to Polynesian dance class tonight at LeRina's house. Ru is friends with her son, so they should have fun while the ladies dance.