Month: May 2014

When the cook leaves the kitchen

I am not sure when the shift occurred maybe it was while I was recovering from cancer treatments or maybe it began way before that. Maybe it was because I read somewhere about the amount of meals a women had cooked for her family of four for beyondthepicketfence.com_-300x22540 odd years- the number was staggering. It freaked me out – I am only 15 years in that’s 5,475 dinners alone- and for years I made three meals a day. So I have made- I don’t know – maybe like maybe 10k meals (we do eat out some) Gaa! and how many times had I made the same thing again and again? AND I had thousands of dinners to make ahead of me- thousands!!  So I was living with that happy thought in my head and at some point I became resentful that I had to cook most of the dinners night after night (at least now my kids can do their own breakfasts). All I know is that one day after I had worked all day and done a ton of laundry and a bunch of other stuff, I was in the kitchen stressing about making dinner and I watched my three teens lounging around on their phones or the computer and not offering to help- and I snapped. Silently… but my plan began.

I decided to tell my husband of the plan first because he needed to be on board and he often steps in to make or help with dinner.  Also I suspect he had picked up on my increasing disdain for cooking night after night. Maybe my hint “I hate having to make dinner every night” was the clue. Or maybe ” I just don’t feel like making dinner again- I need a break.” Was another. But after I told him my plan he was on board- as he should be if he knows whats good for him..no really he isn’t faking- he is on board.

The Plan? I am leaving the kitchen. Yep leaving.  Not everyday but I am only on duty part of the week. I will cook 3-4 nights- hubby can step in 1 or 2 (his contribution can include carry-out) so that leaves 1-3 nights a week left for my kids to fend for themselves.  I look on it as a learning opportunity for them.  When I was a kid (yep here I go) I had to learn how to at least make a small meal (hot dog, tater tots – golly day(did i just type golly day? – I did..) I loved them babies and I gained some major high school poundage from eating – no feasting- on taters with Miracle Whip (Uh Huh!). My parents went out and left me in charge one night on the weekend and I had to make dinner- we did not have delivery in 1980 where I lived anyway. So I made frozen pizzas mostly – but it was something.  In hindsight I do wish I had learned to cook more “real” meals as my step-mother was a gourmet cook- I could have learned a lot from her. And she never seemed to get resentful over cooking for us- unless we made a negative comment on her meal (once she made beef hearts and didn’t tell us until we had eaten half of it – that did not go over well.) So if my kids can learn a little cooking and cleaning while they live with us they will hopefully be a bit more prepared to be on their own – I am no gourmet cook but I can help them learn a think or two. So I look at my plan as a win win situation.

So about a week or so ago I made the announcement at dinner.  I don’t know what reaction I thought I was going to get but I must brag and say they took it quite well. I explained the plan and on the nights that I wasn’t cooking that I would have enough ingredients in the house that they could make a real meal or they could opt out and eat cereal. I encouraged each child to volunteer to cook one night – I explained how much they can learn in the kitchen by doing this and how that can positively impact their future – by the time I said all this I was being tuned out but I felt good.

How did it all turn out?  Pretty well. Two of my three kids took a night to cook last week and hubby and i covered the others. Not bad for week one. My daughter made BBQ Baked Chicken with sides(gluten free noodles and a veggie). She did not have a recipe for what to put on the chicken – so I gave her the tried and true recipe of baking chicken (these were legs btw)…take some good BBQ sauce – we like Sweet Baby Ray’s Honey – brush that on the chicken and sprinkle garlic powder on it – bake it for 35-45 mins. Tasted great!  For my son- he made meatloaf on Friday – smashed baby red potatoes and a veggie. I oversaw his meatloaf creating because I didn’t want him to touch raw meat and then touch everything else in the kitchen. (Yes my tutorials include food safety!). The meatloaf was great and we had leftovers that took us into the weekend and were gobbled up at lunch.

My other son is great at consumption of meals but not great at stepping up to cook(too immature I think) but we will see. I might suggest going forward that he assist one of us when we prepare our meals…if we don’t kill him in the process. All in all I think week one went well. Sadly because of the long weekend I did not make a plan for who is cooking this week and I have a meatloaf son home sick today (so we don’t want him anywhere near our food now).  So I have tonight and the rest of the week in a mystery! Oh well cereal is good too. And all my kids can make eggs in some form – so they will not starve!

I found that it was not cooking I was so sick of it was just doing it alone every day that was getting on my nerves. When I had to help the kids it was fun and I kind of liked that they saw me as the expert ( I am no kitchen expert but I play the part well!). It was fun chatting with them while we prepared the meal together. My daughter did hers more independently but we still conversed..  It was better then seeing the tops of their heads as they gazed into some phone or laptop. They were very proud when their meal was served (we still try to eat together most evenings) and we praised them for their efforts in stepping up and in their culinary skills. It was a win win – But then I realized that the cook doesn’t have to clean up after dinner (a rule we instilled  a few years ago)—which meant someone else had to clean up-crud- I think I am even more resentful of cleaning up dishes…I may feel another mutiny coming on:)

Thanks for reading….

 

 

 

Wrong! again…another stupid mom moment…

A Kindle was missing. Again. Said Kindle belonged to one son and had been taken on numerous occasions by another son who was on restriction from electronics for the 100th or maybe the 1000th time – I’ve lost track. He would take other people’s electronics when his were taken away. He would hide them in his room and eventually we would catch on that he had someone else’s device. A few times he has even taken back his own device before his restriction was over.  In a way I can’t blame him because he always seems to be on restriction. But on the other hand he has been invited to discuss how he can earn back his devices and he never does that (he then would have to actually talk to me or his dad)- so I guess it is easier take someone else’s for a while until caught. Sometimes I wonder why I even care so much that I take away his stuff all the time…I guess think I am saving him from himself for now while he is too immature to realize what can be hurtful even if it seems fun–but for how long can I run ahead and try to make him safe from his own doings? At what point will he realize he is the one stepping on his own feet?

So last night we realized a kindle was missing. My husband looked in my son’s room and found a kindle charger and a kindle cover but no kindle device. I think my husband figured we would catch him with it sometime and we could deal with it then and he sat back down to watch the baseball game. I, on the other hand, was in a cranky mood.  I am going to blame it menopause because the crappy mood came over me while sitting in the parking lot of tractor supply. It just landed on me- there it was for no reason… So it was still with me when the kindle issue came up – and I think I actually brought up the kindle issue- and it made me more cranky because I really wondered why did I even care- he has already seen things he shouldn’t have been trying to see on the internet, and he  has already clocked many hours gaming.  Frankly- yet again I tire myself out trying worrying over a stupid device. Yet I was determined to find this darn kindle and I knew where it was—yep in my sons room.

So I marched on into his room and demanded he give me the kindle. He denied having it of course but I was sure it was there. I insisted it was in there somewhere and he best hand it over. I wasn’t yelling but I was getting more mad each second.  He then insisted he didn’t have it- and he is really good at lying and I just could not believe him. He then said something he normally would not say to me. “I understand why you would think I would have it – but this time I don’t.” Huh? He understands why I am there picking on him? This is a big step for him- but I was still not sure he was telling the truth- I still was sure he had it. I got a little flustered – I realized I might be wrong- so I left in a huff. I hauled my nastiness off to bed…sometimes it is better to just cast yourself away from people when in this type of mood. My punishment would arrive between 12 midnight and 1:30 am in the form of a hot flash. My daily penance when I am good or bad.

This morning I was faced with an slew of things to do (and I am writing instead) and one thing that I had to do was clean off part of my desk because I was looking for some crucial document (I did find it by the way!) and what do i find under a pile of paper? Ok – you know it – yes- The Kindle! The lost one. My bad- it was on my desk all along. I feel like crap because I confronted my kid who has enough issues to deal with each day and here I come pointing fingers at him. Even if in some way I was justified to suspect him -I still handled it all wrong. And again- I ask myself why do I care so much..why is it I have to keep trying to save him from himself? Most of the time I forget why he has been restricted from devices. This time I know why- he was surfing the net looking at things a 13 year old boy wants to see but should not see. So I feel justified in the punishment – I have further locked down the devices -but it is exhausting worrying about it all.

This is the part of motherhood that you don’t realize you are going to get until you have other beings to be responsible for. The constant barrage of worry over things that could hurt them but they don’t get it. It begins when they are little and you leave the store and they have a piece of candy in their hand – not paid for – you head back into the store and tell the clerk what happened – pay for the candy and then begin the talk about paying for what you take – you explain what stealing is -even a small piece of candy..then you worry if you have a future thief on your hands.  It never stops – nobody tells you that. I see my mother-in-law worry for her 64 year old first-born – when he leaves to go back to Philly after a visit to her in Maryland she tell him to call when he gets home so she can rest and not worry that is in a ditch on the side of the road.  It will never stop. And with that curse comes a blessing. Being a parent is a double edged sword. You get huge high and huge huge lows. You have to worry if your troubled kid will have friends, a career, a family.  Will he be addicted to porn? Maybe if we lock down everything now we can save him. But we really can’t – but we have to try. The odds are things will be fine and will have the normal baggage from kidhood and being raised by flawed adults. The odds are my kid will have his share of ups and downs and maybe a bit more bc he has ADHD and is on the Autism spectrum. His world view is different than others not on that spectrum- he has gifts- so many gifts and he has curses too. In the end as much as we try to block his way to danger he might still find it – but as a parent I need to step in and help guide him while I may have some influence in his life. Because sometime he will be on his own and maybe he will hear my voice when faced with making a hard choice- maybe he will choose the right thing. But for me as mom the worry won’t end- even if he becomes a physician and finds the cure to cancer- I will still worry. All I can say to this is thank you Lord for the blessing of being a parent this is all a part of the journey -the worry, oh the worry -but oh the love – and because of the vast worry I am truly thankful for wine… There are great medicinal benefits in one nice glass of wine.

So what do you do when you are a worried parent that has obviously come down hard on their kid and then realize you made a mistake? OK you could drink wine but really you must apologize- that is what you do. Because a human – even a teen who messes up all the time to the point you might pull your hair out – deserves the respect of an apology when they have been wronged- EVEN if they have wronged you many times and never seem to apologize….(this fact makes apologizing harder for me but I am the adult here and i am actually sorry for the incident). This son who is in trouble so much- he also has a very forgiving heart. That is one of his many gifts. So when he got home from school I had an apology on the tip of my tongue- but then my other son(we will call him the gossiping son) said he heard around school that his brother got angry at a peer in a class and poked the kid with a pencil and had to be sent to guidance. My eyebrows went up and my apology stayed in my mouth. I asked my son about it and he said there was no poking with a pencil and that his brother should not listen to the gossip (I always say any attention is good attention- oh that was if you are famous – well anyway). There was an anger incident he admitted but no hurting another person (kids on the spectrum can have anger issues – and mine does) and he and the counselor discussed it. I did not hear from the counselor so I decided they felt that they handled just fine it in school.

Geez I thought-  would this kid ever have friends? Did he even want them?—the worry train continues – but I still had something I needed to do- so I did. “I am sorry I blamed you for taking the Kindle.” — “Why, where was it- you found it?” blurted out my gossiping son..”Yes it was on my desk under a bunch of papers…I am sorry I blamed you” I said to the son I had wronged.  I think he was done with all convos about school and had moved on to a book and clearly had moved on from last nights altercation bc he looked up and said’ Oh- it’s ok mom.” he smiled and went back to reading.

I sure have a lot to learn in the parenting realm and I don’t want to care about all the exhausting details that raising kids comes with but really I wouldn’t trade any of it. There are some days that I can’t wait to be over because I am so tired from all the details and all the worry. But there are so many other days where I fall into bed and I realize how truly cool it is to be a parent to some pretty cool kids. So is the worry worth it? Yes…would I have signed up if I knew that the worry will never end? Yes because I would never have fathomed the depth of the worry even if it was completely explained to me and I had signed a contract saying I understood…because you don’t realize it until you are actually a parent. And really even with all the hard parts -I thank God for the privilege of being a mom everyday- well most days anyway! (Oh and I do thank him for the wine too!).

—Thanks for reading…

 

 

 

 

Dear Baa….

Dear Baa,

baa

Baa on the bed last week

I want to thank you for coming into my son’s life 13 years ago.  You probably didn’t know what awaited you when you were taken off that store shelf by my good friend to be given to a very small, underweight, 8 month old boy that had come 1/2 way across the world to be with his forever family and officially give me the title of Mother.  You had no idea that you would become comforter, spit and tear catcher, a pillow, a rug, but best of all a buddy to a little boy that had little love in his first 8 months of life.

Your silky edges became frayed from the endless rubbing between my boys fingers, and those same silky edges spent time in my son’s ear and in his mouth. You endured being very smelly and disgusting from dirt, spit, and even pee. And you also endured many “baths” in the washer. Your buddy didn’t like when you had to be washed and feared your time in the dryer. So I made your laundering an adventure. You were going out to sea, you were going to space, you were swimming in the olympics, you were being blow dried and primped, you were returning from space…we would not let you fry in the dryer.

When your boy was still quite young I made the mistake of locating another lamb just like you. I ordered it thinking that you would get lost for good or disintegrate and a back-up Baa would be needed. I had your boy’s name and birthdate embroidered on that new lamb. When it came it was starched and clean. Next to the new Lamb you were faded and worn out looking. I thought you would be replaced and I could bag you up for posterity. But no, your boy liked the new lamb but he never abandoned you.  He christened the new lamb “New Baa” and you became “Old Baa” but you were always the preferred Baa. If he had New Baa with him I knew he could not find you or else you would be there too or instead of New Baa. You lost luster in my eyes who likes shiny and new things – for that I am sorry. Though you faded physically your value never faded in the eyes of a little boy.

baanewface

A boy and his Baa (with its new face)

I am sorry that you were attacked by our dogs on a number of occasions and I thank you for allowing me to sew your face back up on more than one occasion.  The worst attack took your entire face and I couldn’t stand to see you faceless so I made you a new one- it wasn’t pretty but I did my best.  You looked glorious to my son and thats what mattered. Sadly your face didn’t last long the dogs are harsh to stuffed beings but your boy loved you faceless and all.

You have been lost and then found. Stuffed under chairs, under beds, inside drawers. Searches would be mounted and furniture moved and lo and behold we always found you. You have been left in the car and rescued in the middle of the night because your boy woke and couldn’t find you to comfort him. Once not long ago I found you next to my bed because your boy was going through a sleeping in mom and dads room phase. I handed you to my not so little son and he looked at you for a second and then he smelled you- I figured you smelled gross- but when I asked him how you smelled he said “He smells Like Baa…”

Your boy is a teen now and would not admit to still needing you but I find you still in his sheets, or stuffed in a bag that he’s taking on vacation, most recently I found you just laying neatly on the edge of your boys bed – still wanted and still needed. Life can be harsh and growing up scary and it’s nice to have something comforting to turn to. You have been that for your boy. There will be a time I am sure where he will allow me to give you one last bath and to pack you away so he can see you again when he wants to bring back good memories. When that day comes I don’t  know who it will be harder for him or me. While you are still around I know that little sweet boy is still there-that he still needs the comfort of his lamb and his mom.  Will packing you away mean he doesn’t need us anymore?  I’d like to think that we gave him the love and comfort that will have grown him into a kind and compassionate adult one that never forgets those that have loved and comforted him through the years.

Thank you Baa for being more than just a stuffed lamb. Every person in this family has been touched by you. Ask any member about Baa and there is a smile and a story. The story for me is about a stuffed lamb who came to be with a little boy in need of love and became his friend for life….Baa you will never be forgotten…..

 

Teacher Guilt

This year has been a year of transition for my kids. They went from being in a small private to school to going to larger public schools this year. There has been some rocky roads during the year but all in all I think they did well with the change.  I have been used to getting the occasional email/call from teachers/Admin over the years telling me my child did this or that in class  – once my child ate Habenero pepper at lunch (as a joke someone brought them in to school)…this child forgot to wash his hands after trying a tiny tiny piece and got the juice in his eye and near his nostril – skin burned- milk was applied..yea proud mom moment for me.  Once another child stole candy from their teachers desk…apparently my teachings in clever theft were not going so well….

So really no email or call from a teacher should rattle me by this time but the dreaded your child did not hand in homework/project really does. Why? The tone.  The tone that says quietly “why were you not on this as a parent?” “Are you ignoring the importance of the homework, the studying for an exam, the project?” Um noooo- but I am ignoring my kids. Well not really – but i have teens and have you tried to pry info from a teen? Me:”Did you do your homework” Teen: “Yes”, Me: “All of it? I will check the website.”  Teen:”Yes all of it.” So I don’t believe it so I check the website. I run down the list for each kid – I ask to see the work. Teen:”I did it at school.” Other teen runs to show me some mathwork that I have no clue what it is bc I am not any good at grade 8 math. So I nod and say put it away. So I believe the work is done. Then I get a note saying something didn’t get handed in or I see it on the gradebook online..well I asked them. I have an ADHD kid and the world has tried to organize him this year. It’s been less than successful.  But all my kids are guilty of not getting homework done. I have instilled the bring it all home to me even if you do it in school so i can see it OR ELSE tactic…but this never happens even when I follow up on the or else. So I go back to if your grades are OK I will stay off your back tactic that seems to work some(it less frustrating for me). AND some of the teachers do not update the homework online daily so I got sick of asking my child daily if he did the xyz thing in English and he keeps reminding me it was handed in days earlier -so I just kind of stopped checking the online homework listing. I mean it seemed pointless if the assignments weren’t up to date.

One day I made the mistake of asking a teacher about some homework my son said he had extra time to complete. She said she did give him some extra time but it was on the online homework listing so WE should have known about it. This is the same teacher who never has grades updated online and who leaves the same homework listed for a week..so I went online to check her story and yes that time the updated homework was listed.. geez I will have to be more on it! Clearly my fault- not the 13 year olds..

Yesterday I got an email from a teacher who wrote :

Good morning.

You are receiving this email because your daughter did not come to class prepared with her homework (a print ad) today. Homework provides a basis for classroom activities and discussion and is essential for classroom participation. Please remind your daughter to keep on top of homework assignments in the future.

Really- homework provides a basis for classroom activities?  I thought it was created just so a parent can bitch at their kids to get it done…so it can cause strife in the home.  Yeah I never discuss the importance of homework and projects with them and i never tell them they need to stay on top of assignments. Um- I can be like a broken record and after a while all the kids hear is the Charlie Brown adult voice “WAH WAH WAH.”  I have been tuned out.

Have these teachers had teens? When I asked my daughter about this email she said she did forget to put it in her backpack (not really like her) and that the teacher allowed her to do it in school that day.  So why the email? She did the assignment one way or another.  Was she trying to make me feel guilty?  When my kids were younger I was on it – so  much so I feel like I got a second K-6 education! But at a point you have to stop the micro-managing let them go a little and sometimes they are going to screw up -and frankly I am not up to par with much 8-12 class material- I forgot it all or never learned it – I am no help unless its English. So am I wrong in leaving it up to my kids to get their assignments done with much less checking up than years before? I don’t think so – we have to let them go little by little it is important to their development isn’t it? (or maybe I am making an excuse for being lazy!).

Yesterday my daughter told my husband that he doesn’t respect her decisions (she decided to take a nap(she felt ill cough cough) at the nurse during chem class -not her best class – and then was perfectly fine to run in track practice in the afternoon- (wouldn’t we all like afternoon siestas?). He handled it much better than I would have. He explained that he would not respect bad decisions and that it was his job to talk to her about bad choices and then explained the reasoning behind why that nap was not the best choice. Good words dad – he is way more patient than me – I would have just lectured her about how overused the word respect is so nobody really understands it anymore and stop being a frequent flyer to the nurse when you are really trying to avoid a class you don’t like. His answer would sit better with her- I just like my sarcasm sometimes.  Being a parent is a fly by the seat of your pants job. You never will get it 100% right. With teens, you are working with the dynamics of another human that is caught between childhood and adulthood. We are all carrying our own baggage to the game too. So when we do get it right it is the best feeling in the world.

So teachers- I love and respect (proper use of the overused word) you- I cannot even imagine how you do what you do everyday. I see how many of you encourage my kids- it is such great job that you do. But please try to set the tone a little differently in your messages to me…I am on it as best I can with 3 teens who would rather play on video game/text their friends than have much interaction with their parents unless it involves meals out or going to a store where they can score some clothing or more video games!  I know the year is winding down and you need a well deserved break so lets try and take this a day at a time together- we can get through!

Thanks for reading:)

Walking it out with Jane Fonda

How old do I feel when I mention a famous person or entity from my genre to my kids and they ask “Who is that”? I feel pretty darn old…who was Aerosmith, The Rolling Stones, ZZ Top- really?  Well ok I can understand why perhaps they don’t know who those bands are -except we do play our fair share of classic rock in the car – oh and they do know Steven Tyler because he was on American Idol. So when my kids asked me “Who is Jane Fonda?” I felt super old!

How did we get talking about Jane Fonda? Well I was caught in my room walking it out with Jane.  Yes- I was doing a Jane Fonda “tape” – except it was on my TV streaming through my cool Roku through Amazon Prime Video.  Why Jane? Why not? I grew up with Jane..my mom loved her and had ALL her exercise tapes (my kids:”Mom what are tapes?”) My dad hated her because of her scandal in the Vietnam war. I loved her in On Golden Pond and other movies – she was Jane- everyone knew her!

I have been very into working out for years. I was into fitness from my mid-college years and on. My husband has owned gyms,he sells fitness equipment as a “real” job (aka: it has good benefits) and is also part-time personal trainer. We have a full gym in our barn! I kid you not..we have a line of nautilus machines, we have a Total Gym (yes the one that Chuck sells- my kids do not dare ask who Chuck Norris is as

My son in our gym

My son in our gym

my husband – who idolizes Chuck- has made sure my kids know Chuck…weird man-crush? – nah I think its his way of joking with us (I think)), we have a Smith Machine, we have battle ropes, and dumbbells, and bands, various cardio pieces, and even giant tractor tires.  I have no excuse not to be out there and get it done!

So again…why Jane? Well.. I am trying to do cardio everyday (I have read it can help keep cancer from recurring) so the other day I decided I wanted to get my cardio on but Kevin had clients in the gym – and most would not care if I went and jumped on a machine out there but I wasn’t feeling like it that day – I wanted alone time. So I fired up the Roku and searched at what free workouts were out there. I found Amazon Prime had a number of them and I was flipping through the titles and Jane’s face

Jane in her video

flipped past me. Was that an old Jane “tape” or was Jane making new workouts..I flipped past her but after a minute curiosity overtook me and I flipped back to her. It was a new Jane!! Her 20 minute workout would be like walking a mile…I would push harder and maybe walk a bit more. So I fired up the workout and there was Jane looking really good in her workout gear – not the spandex and leggings of the past but a nice ensemble meant for working out – I myself was not dressed nice for working out.  I am wondering what age she is (I am looking it up online hold on… She is 76! Made the video at age 72! Man she looks good!- I am sure she had work done but she stays fit!).

Ok so I began the workout (Jane is making little side comments about working out and staying fit as you age – hey I am 50 Jane not 74!) and the timer on my meatloaf goes off..crap(yes I do live the glamour life)..I yell for my daughter she comes to the door and I tell her not to come in and can she check my meatloaf…off she goes and a minute later she returns with the update on the meat. We are trying to communicate through the door and though I am not out of breath(Jane says if you can carry on a convo you are at the right heart rate for the workout), I am sure my daughter is wondering  what I am doing- surely she can hear stomping. I don’t know why I feel embarrassed that I am walking with Jane in my bedroom…for God sakes I need peace sometimes! I am liking the Jane video too..she is telling me how well I am doing (I told you I would push it harder than Jane is instructing). But it becomes clear that I need to give my daughter further instructions on the meatloaf situation so i tell her she can come in. (I love her because she never barges into my room unlike one son I know that never knocks and always enters when I am dressing!). She walks in and looks right at the TV. Daughter: “Who’s that?”, Me: “That’s Jane Fonda. She is a famous actress and has made lots of fitness videos.” – I am sure she has seen her in some movie but I am not recalling what at that moment. Daughter:”I am not sure I know who she is. Wow look how skinny she is! Her legs are so skinny.” She makes the leg comment about three times. I tell her Jane was born with skinny legs..geez enough about the legs! I am still walking out with Jane trying to follow along (and I was never good at aerobics- intense or low impact – and still am not- so I must follow closely – type A am I.  Later I realize it does not matter how closely I follow her moves- its about moving- duh!) and my daughter is just staring at the video..so I tell her what to do with the meat(to turn it down…not anything mean) and I send her out so I can be with Jane alone- so she can tell me how well I am doing.

At the end Jane has stretches and she is explaining that if you cannot do the stretch you can use a towel to help you. Clearly this is for very old people and I am doing

I do this stretch in PT! Not this well!

the stretches the correct way even with my darn bum shoulder…bc I can do them normally– I am not old.  She says stretch slowly because as you get older you can pull a muscle easily if you stretch wrong- she is right about that so I slow it down. I decide I like the Jane workout and she has even a harder one on the same “tape” so I bookmark it and I will go back and try it out. Jane may be catering to the older population but she  still has it going on.  I will just ignore the comments meant for the older population as I am not that old yet even though I have a bum radiated shoulder and have to go to PT weekly.  I hope as I age I age like Jane – though I am sure not to have the cash to get the work done that she has – but I hope I maintain the same desire for health and fitness that I have now and like Jane still has.

When I head to the kitchen to check on my meatloaf I am all happy because I feel good from exercising, about exercising, and about Jane.  I say to nobody in particular “I just exercised with Jane Fonda!”… my son who is sitting at the counter says, “Who is Jane Fonda?” ….Really?….

Thanks for reading!