Toe surgery means giving up something (temporarily)

No more big toe pictures. I'm tired of them, and so you must be as well. Suffice it to say that the toe is healing, and the non-stick gauze pad works beautifully. This afternoon I was able to easily and painlessly remove the dressing I had put on my toe last night. Today, it slipped right off, without all the trauma of having to soak it and ease it off, a nanocentimeter at a time.

My legs are now getting achey from having to walk around all day on open-toed sandals or flip-flops that don't provide any arch support. I'm hoping to wear regular shoes by Tuesday.

Another thing I had to give up (temporarily) as a result of the toenail removal was going to work out at the gym. I mentioned last month how I had joined a local gym, just a couple of blocks from my school. I cannot wear sports shoes, nor move fast on my feet, so I haven't been to the gym all week.

I miss it, going to the gym. It has become part of my daily routine... M-T-W-Th .... each afternoon (after school) at 5:30 I've been going there to work out for 60 minutes. Each night there'd be a different focus in the work out. One night there's aerobic dancing and abs; another night, power workout and legs; another night the focus is upper body workout and abs; another night some other combination. We work out with free-weights (3lb, 5lb and 8 lb are the ones I'm working with), and large stretchy rubber-bands with handles on them to do resistance stretches. Sometimes we jump rope, do sit ups on these huge inflated rubber-like balls; we do leg exercises using steps, and then we do mat exercises. But everyone seems to really like the aerobic dancing... I haven't got all the fancy arm movements, but I'm getting the hang of the leg and foot movements.

The ladies who attend this class regularly are from various age groups and walks of life, but we are all there for one reason: to get in better shape. I didn't say body-building shape, nor ideal shape, but better shape. We want to be fit, no matter at what age this priority hits us.

Looking around at us in the mirror I can see that we all have some work to do, but there is definitely a feeling that each woman accepts her body and loves herself. They encourage each other, laugh at each other's foibles, and help new people when they come in. I'm getting to know their names, and which classes they prefer. They even have a favorite place to do their workout on the floor of the work-out room.

One lady I met is from Mexico. She's teaching me Spanish each day, while I help her with her English. I asked her how do you say "Let's dance!" and she said "Vamose a bailloc!" (The V in 'Vamose' sounded like a soft B when she said it) I believe were her words. Not sure if I have the spelling, but now every time I see her I call out her name "L...! Vamose a bailloc!" and she laughs and repeats it back to me. She's about as tall as me, so when our trainer tells us to pair up, we just pair up without thinking. That's when I ask her how to say one phrase or another. I love her accent. I'm trying to pick that up as well.

Steve and I just got back from watching the movie Bridge to Terabithia. The young actor who played Jess reminds me of a young Ben Affleck... he has my vote for future heart throb. He also resembles a very young Nathan Fillion (Serenity; Firefly). Could portray his son easily. His name is Josh Hutcherson... he co-starred in RV and Zathura, two other movies 've seen but hadn't paid as close attention to his skills as an actor until I saw 'Bridge.' His co-star, Anna SophiaRobb is also going to be making some spectacular films herself one day. Both these child stars demonstrate a talent for expressing the awkward emotions and innocent love that accompanies the young teen years.

I heard some folks aren't getting their alerts again... I'll be taking some time to visit journals and blogs tomorrow. Thanks for the heads up.