Pen and Ink

Some sort of bug.

It seems that whenever I commit myself to working out, I only get just so far before something happens to derail me.  A nasty head cold knocks me out, or back problems send me to bed.

Generally, it takes a few weeks. The momentum starts to build and I'm feeling good and then bam!

This time it took just 15 minutes.

I followed through on my pledge to hire a trainer.  Ernesto and I were 15 minutes into our first session and he was working my chest and shoulders.  And then I had to stop.  I thought I was going to pass out.

 

It's said that you should eat a little something before working out. I didn't do that out of respect for my dental hygienist, with whom I had an appointment right before my training session.  

I wasn't feeling 100 percent, to be honest. Upon arriving home from Panama, Andy and I both got sick with some sort of bug.  An intestinal thing. (That description should suffice, don't you think?).  One of our friends in Panama came down with the same thing.

But I was feeling fine enough by Tuesday to start with Ernesto.  Apparently not.

Things got worse as the week went by. Little appetite, some of the symptoms returning, a lack of energy, and way too much sleep.  By Friday, I finally broke down and went to the doctor.  After a lively conversation about poo-poo (my doctor has a funny sense of humor; "poo-poo" was her word, not mine), she put me on some antibiotics and a bland diet (bread, rice, pasta...yay!).  The whole conversation (sans poo-poo) was repeated with Andy on Saturday morning.

The antibiotics are taking their time kicking in. I've been sluggish all weekend.  After a couple of errands yesterday, Andy and I came home and cut the grass and some other minor yard work. That put us down for the rest of the day (the 93 degree blazing temps might have had a little to do with it as well). 

Today, I'm trying to get some project work done and rally for a dinner party this evening.  I need to get past this. Ernesto is waiting.

Tom Dolby kept me up all night.

One of the great things about vacation is the ability to do things that you rarely get to do normally.  For me, that's stay up until the wee hours of the morning reading a book.

There's an entire shelf in my bookcase at home filled with unread books. And it's not a neat shelf, as there are too many books crammed into the space.

Packing for Panama, I grabbed five books.  I figured with a week on the beach and then a few days of quiet in the mountain, that I would probably go through five.

I went through three of them at the beach, including one that I had previously read (obviously, it didn't get filed on the proper shelf).

On my last night in Panama, we went to bed early -- around 9:30. Andy was watching a film on his iPad, so I grabbed Tom Dolby's The Sixth Form. It's a coming of age story set in a boarding school in Massachusetts.  I won't go into details about the story, but you can find out more here. 

 
 
 The characters drew me in and I kept reading and reading and reading. There was no clock in the room and my iPhone, which I use as a watch, had been stored away for the past week and a half. 

I ended up finishing the book in one sitting -- I can't remember the last time I even did that!! After getting up to use the bathroom and turn off the light, I managed to see Andy's watch:  1 a.m.!!!

When I read a good book, one that lets me escape to another place for a few hours, I feel a sense of relaxation. Actually, it feels like I had been on vacation.

That's what I felt like, laying in bed in the middle of the night. Unfortunately, the unfamiliar creatures of the rain forest where we were staying kept me awake for an undetermined amount of time. But the great feeling of escape was well worth the sleeplessness.

Resolute.

The first day home from a long vacation is like New Year's Day. I'm full of resolutions: things I want to do, things I want to change.

I've made a decision while on vacation:  I need to do something about my physical health.

When confronted with a mirror, I tend to close my eyes. And if you were to look at the hundreds of photos taken during this trip, you will only find one of me.

Seeing myself in the mirror I go, "BLECH!"  Frankly, I look like shit.

Now anyone who has read this blog for any period of time may recall that I've talked about this before. (Kev, if you're reading this, you're probably chuckling.)

Having time away from daily life and having the opportunity to get inside my head and do some soul searching.

I was thinking back about seven years ago when I rode my bicycle often, practiced yoga twice a week and took Pilates mat classes twice a week.  Those were things I really enjoyed and I felt so much better back then.  I didn't necessarily think I looked great, but then again, we are our own worst critics.

While at the beach house, we took a yoga class. Some of the poses were challenging, as I have not practiced in about three years.  (I didn't even think about attempting the plow, which is a position I really enjoyed in the past.)

So I've made some decisions:

1. I am going to restart my yoga practice. It's great exercise for both the body and the mind.

2. I am going to start riding my bike more. I had it tuned up right before vacation, so I'm ready to go.

3. I am going to start a diet again. Andy and I are doing it together (no carbs for eight weeks!!). That should help.

4. And lastly, I am going to start going to the gym (stop laughing Kev). But this time, I am going to hire a trainer, something that I have never done before. Andy and Cary have been working with the same guy and they really like him. So I'm going to make the investment. That should force me to actually go.

There are more resolutions about other things in my life, but more about that in another post. 

Revving up.

Somewhere I heard a definition of vacation: to vacate one's life (hopefully not permanently).

I'm hours from ending a 13-day visit to Panama. We spent a week in a gorgeous house on a remote beach in Playa la Barqueta, about an eight-hour drive from Panama City.  And for the past couple of days, we've been hanging out with our friends at their lovely home in the rain forest.

Fortunately, I'm someone who can truly unplug from life while on vacation. While I did check personal email, keep in touch with friends on Facebook, and do a little blogging, I didn't spent my days on the computer.  I enjoyed long walks on the beach and letting myself be absorbed in a couple of books.  (I highly recommend Carol Burnett's new This Time Together, a wonderful collection of stories from her life and amazing career.)

I use these times away (generally twice a year, including Christmas holidays), to reenergize my mind and soul and I come back all revved up for the coming six months. This time is no exception.

We arrive home this evening (Wednesday) and I had the foresight to take Thursday off.  It's a good thing, because I come home with a lot on my mind.  There are some major projects to do and some really major decisions to be made.

This vacation came at a perfect time, because I realize now how absolutely overloaded I was. I could not make the decisions that I need to make without having taken a break.

While I wish vacations could go on longer, I'm ready for the next five months.  Bring it on!

Panama whites.