Jo! goose egg, bunny-- is Easter in the air?

Jay

Jay - congrats on your gym workout! You are doing so great consistently going since joining your new gym! I'm not sure I would be as faithful as you are!

Jo - LOL - So glad you are posting this weekend! You make me smile with your wonderful wit and sense of humor. Chi bunny - probably an excellent use for it, actually. I mentioned once 30 years ago that I never had any stuffed animals as a child. We moved frequently, and had very few possessions that traveled with us. Consequently, people started buying me stuffed animals. I have bags of the critters. They were gifts, so I don't like to part with them. I finally started donating some, and kept my favorites. DH still buys me one every Christmas. My giraffes, platyus, polar bears, kangaroo, and penguin are my actually on my dresser.

Have a great start to the week everyone! I'm starting to get my things packed for the Chicago trip. It looks like the weather might even be "nice"

Good Morning . . .

Time changes are so not me . . . almost all I did yesterday was sleep. Mind you, I spent enough time playing with my new Wii system to give myself a very sore right wrist. Boy do I ever need to practice -- my current Wii fitness age is 76 and I absolutely suck at everything except bowling (on Wii Sports) and target shooting (on Wii Play). Absolutely cow racing game (on Play) even though I'm so terribly bad at it that I can't even keep my cow on the race track most of the time.

At least we did not get hit too badly by the latest storm and today is cold and . Hope this weather pattern will continue for a few days at least.

Guess I'd better go and get some moving and shaking done . . . see you later, everybody . . .

CD - wow, no stuffed animals as a child -- now I feel better that I did not get both Pixie AND Dixie for Christmas when I was 4.

Linda - Cow Racing sounds fun!

Jay - Easter! I hadn't even thought about it but yes, it is almost time for Easter! I have an Easter hat (that you can't tell from the picture but it has a ribbon around it and some dried up flowers in it) and an Easter Wig. Why is it an Easter wig, you may ask? Well, it's a long story, so never mind. But on Easter I get my easter basket and fill it up with Fortune Eggs. I have always wanted to make fortune cookies with my own goofy fortunes in them, but I could never succeed in making them right, so I wait for Easter and make Fortune Eggs. They don't have normal fortune cookie fortunes in them, but stupid things like "You are the Ayatollah of Disco" and no two are alike, and then I go to the local hangouts particularly one where there is live entertainment, and I distribute these fortune eggs. I just love Easter. This pic is from 2004. Apparently all the eggs are gone from the basket already. Maybe this year I can incorporate the bunny in the routine.

Hi again Pals -
I went to a class at the gym called "gravity" and it was positively the best, and the hardest, workout I have ever done. I would like to continue to use this form of torture device. However, this class costs extra, and is not included with the gym membership. It's $10 per class. The class only has a max of 5 people because they only have 5 gravity machines. The gravity machine is the commercial grade of what is offered for home use as the Total Gym. I did some googling and found there is another product called Bodyrail, which is substantially less expensive than the Total Gym but is supposed to be sturdier, and of higher quality, but works on the same principle. I guess Total Gym has to pay for all their infomercials with Chuck and Christie so they're more expensive. But the bodyrail is still not cheap! If I get the high end model of bodyrail, that's $500 plus $90 to ship it, and if I want the pilates package that's another $100 so we are now up the cost of 69 Gravity classes at the gym. So now it gives me something to think about (would I use it at home? where would I put it? How much in the way would it be? How much of a hassle to put away and dig it out? ) It still wouldn't replace the gym because I like going to some of the other classes like Chi Ball and Pilates which are included in the gym membership, and the pool. So I don't know. Anyone heard about Bodyrail?
jo

Hey JO . . . got a link to a Bodyrail site? I've not heard of it, but I'm interested in seeing what it looks like . . . did you check our Exercise Forum to see if anybody knows about it?

I searched 3fc for any posts on bodyrail but it came up with zero. Here's a link.

http://www.bodyrail.com/index-total-gym.html

Looks and sounds good and a real bargain at 1/3 of the cost of Total Gym. Maybe you should spring for a few sessions at the gym to decide if you really want to make that investment though. Personally, I've always wanted a Smith Machine with all the bench attachments, but way too pricey and way too big and heavy too.

You might want to ask the mods in EXERCISE/FITNESS -- Mel, Meg, Ilene -- if they have any feelings on it.

The thing about buying a few sessions at the gym is that you have to buy a package. 5 sessions for $60, or 10 sessions for $100. (The first class just to try it out was free.) So If I'm going to lose 60 - 100 bucks I'd rather lose it toward actual ownership of the gizmo. I'm going to measure some floor space when I get home. I live in a cottage designed to house a dwarf.

Hey Jo,

Why do you think of "losing" the money? It's really a gain, isn't it? If I were in your position, I'd take the 5 or 10 classes, and if I completed all the classes and still liked the machine, I'd consider buying one.

I've bought too many home machines just to have them sitting there after awhile because I stopped using them...

Jay

I'm with Jay and Linda on this one. Get one package of classes. See if you still like it after those are done. My exercise bike and my treadmill are no more. However, wed did use the octagym and airwalker until they absolutely fell apart. We got enough use out of the wall mounted weight stack to feel that it was a good investment, and we still use the Body Solid multi-station machine several times per week. My Gazelle on the other hand is probably destined for the yardsale pile if I don't get back on it soon.

Hope you all had a great day! Packing for the Chicago trip. Thanks to everyone for the advice on what to wear on the dinner cruise. I got word back from the social director for the conference - the word was "dressy". Not formal. I found a great ankle-length black knit skirt, matching top and black, gray & silver jacquard jacket. Wally World had some beaded kitten-heel pointy toed shoes half price (I don't care for pointy-toes, but these aren't too bad). I'm one of those odd-ducks - I'm not much into shoes. 4 pair should be enough for anyone - workout - walking, everyday, dress, and a pair of comfy sandals. OK, throw in a pair of hiking boots too (do those count as shoes?)

Good Morning . . .

Another cold and one is shaping up, but I have no definitive plans for out and about stuff as yet.

Hope you have a fun trip, Laurie . . . and even though I'm not in your range with the home equipment, I know what you mean -- my treadmill lives in the garage; my rebounder is about to join it out there; so far I'm still using my Gazelle.

Hope everybody has fun plans today . . . keep things moving and shaking . . .

CD - you mentioned a wall-mounted weight stack. This bodyrail has a wall-mounted option. I wonder how that works -- does it put a bunch of holes in the wall?
My place is just too small for this thing, but now I am entertaining another idea -- having it at work. Hmmm.... do I ask for permission or forgiveness? I can't imagine anyone would care actually. Unless possibly about holes in the wall.
As you all can see I'm still leaning towards purchase rather than gym package. Also, the body rail has a pilates kit that can be added, so it can be used as a pilates reformer and half trapeze, which I find very enticing. The ones at the gym aren't used that way. Pilates classes at the gym are just on the mat.

I'm not much into shoes either! The ones I get are of high quality so they tend to be expensive but I only need about 4 pair also. I don't care about fashionable feet. Talk about putting a fancy bow on a bag of manure, that's how fashionable shoes would be on me!

P.S. I am eating some "Gourmet Atomic Frog Balls." That's what it says on the jar. They are actually pickled brussels sprouts. Just thought I'd share that. I'm so glad they are "Atomic."

jo

Hmmmmm . . . I'm getting a not so pleasant picture of what the 'atomic' could refer to . . . might make those feet really worthy of a bow after all.