Yaay, Friday!!!

I did it, I re-upped at the gym - actually, I joined a new gym in the same place. The old gym, which was nice but nothing to brag about, was bought out by Lifestyle Family Fitness. The same guy who used to be there at 5:30 a.m. when my husband and I worked out together still works there and signed me up for the new regime. It sounds great, the price is right, and I particularly like the NO CONTRACT! aspect. I have no intention of quitting but shit happens. If I get transferred or the job opportunity of a lifetime arises somewhere else, the last thing I want to think about is a damn gym membership. They are expanding into a much bigger facility about two doors from their current location, all new equipment, etc. I've heard only good things about them locally. I'm in. I'm jazzed. I'm remembering what it was like to work out regularly. I need a gym.

Yoga starts tomorrow. I'm excited about that too. I'm not planning to choose one over the other, I need both. My only exercise for the past three, nearly four years has been walking and sporadic Pilates DVDs and little freeweights. That simply is not cutting it. For those of you from places with actual HILLS, Florida is flat. Like your kitchen floor is flat. The only small rises and depressions on my walking route were cut in to help stormwater drain, and it's a matter of a gentle grade of a couple of inches. I mean, it's really THAT flat. It's also very hot, very humid, very buggy, and for six months a year you basically have to walk at midnight to not pass out. Then it's just humid and insanely buggy - and don't forget to wear Deep Woods Off! - mosquitoes carry encephalitis, you know. Oh, and don't walk the dog around the lake in the dark, that's when gators are active. There are only two kinds of natural lakes in FL - those with alligators and those that will have them. Yeah, I love exercising outdoors in Florida, especially with my little dog, Gator Snack. Sheesh. I need a treadmill with an incline, a stint on an elliptical trainer, a bike, whatever, to provide some decent exercise, in air conditioning. I will walk the dog in safe places, his legs are short, he doesn't need to do 5 miles, I DO. Thank you.

And I enjoy doing weights. I really love it. I am thinking that yoga will help with the flexibility and mental/spiritual qualities (as well as building muscle) and this will only be supported by gym workouts.

This was a good week at work - I am really trying to adjust my attitude, and it's working, at least to a degree. I still get exasperated and bitch, but I also keep in mind that I work with one of my best friends, I can adjust my hours to get to the gym when it's not crowded, I am appreciated for what I do, and dammit, I'm really good at what I do. And I really can't envision breaking in a new attorney at this late stage of my career. Boss and I have achieved a level of communication that annoys everyone around us. Soon we will dispense with speech and even email, and just communicate telepathically, like those bulb-headed aliens in the original Star Trek. We are an old married couple and we're way too set in our ways. He was down in South Florida today and I think we had 15 phone conversations - what was this and do you remember that and which party did what to whom and what the hell did you ask me to file before the hearing, and can you believe what this asshole did, and did I tell you what I found when I was noodling around doing research, and on and on. We hear gossip, we pick up the phone. We get pissed, we call each other. We have a brilliant insight into a case, we don't send memos, we call and hoot about it. I have worked for my share of dickhead attorneys in my long and checkered career, lawyers who expect outstanding performance but don't appreciate it, where a day off is seen as a personal affront, and I have more than earned this gig, hanging out with one of my best friends all day. I can leave early to work out, Boss will be doing the "It's almost 4:30, don't you have an appointment with your trainer?" and pushing me out the door, not "I can't believe that bitch is leaving early."

I have served my time with the dickheads of the profession - I never lasted long with them before the Final Fuck You had to be said, but I remember one in particular. Richard had a toddler at home, and he was just besotted with his child. This was lovely, but it meant that he came into work very late. I mean, 3 in the afternoon was not unusual. Then he'd remember all the stuff he really needed to do to earn a paycheck to keep The Most Amazing Child on Earth in tiny designer clothing and educational toys. And he'd expect me to stick around with him. I had two kids of my own at home. That job didn't last very long at all.

I've seen a lawyer throw a shit fit when his paralegal had to leave because day care called to report her four year old had a temp of 104. The same lawyer rushed out like his child was dying and he needed to donate an organ when his Ashley/Amber/Jennifer twisted an ankle playing soccer and whined for her daddy. The level of narcissistic dickhead behavior in that profession truly is amazing. So I treasure the Boss, he is a real friend and we are a great team, and I'm way too old to go wading into the cesspool hoping to find another one like him.

So tomorrow's stops will be yoga and Goodwill, to drop off a couple of bags of excess. My right hand is twinging like crazy, I don't know whether to blame the painting or the burst of crocheting cotton the other night, probably a combination of the two. Fiberly pursuits will be of the knitted shrug nature. And I want to play with beads. This is after another round of touch-up painting - every time the light hits that hallway I see more shadows that need a swipe - and all the other domestic pursuits, like pond filter cleaning, etc. Remind me why I need a 3 bedroom 2 bathroom house with a yard. Oh that's right, the mortgage payment is all I can afford! Never mind.