Club 24 renovations

I received the following email:
Dear valued member
 
As many of you now know, we are making renovations in the Ridgefield location to improve your gym experience. The gym will look aesthetically better with new paint, crown molding, and other improvements to give the gym a facelift. Some of the renovations are also functional such as more space in the small free weight, and stretching area, and improved locker rooms, and showers.  We are completely redoing the showers in both the mens and women's locker rooms starting 12/11, and 12/12. The showers will be out of service on those dates (this Thursday and Friday) and will be back in service this Saturday 12/13. We thank you in advance for your patience and understanding. We hope you are just as excited for the renovations as we are ! 

It's a gym! I'm sure they believe the renovations are warranted but they haven't been open that long. They are also changing all schedules so that all Club 24 gyms have the same classes at the same time. I understand the concept but it is very hard on members when you have adjusted your schedule to fit what was there.

Marge and I do the 7/7/7 schedule each week (7 pm Monday, 7 pm Wednesday and 7 am Saturday). We do not change unless we have meetings or family commitments so we went into a 6:30 Zumba class on Monday at 7 pm. We enjoyed the 30 minutes of dance and ended the evening with 15 minutes on the rowing machine. Good workout and sweating made it home at a decent hour.

This week we also had to change our trainer Christina to Tuesday at 7:30 pm because Marge had a meeting. We could have arrived at 7 for the newly scheduled Zumba class (to fit the new schedules). We arrived at 7:20 and promptly got on the rowers, listening to the music pounding in the next room. I, of course, adjusted my rhythm to go with the music, making the rowing a bit more exciting (sure it was...). As we were sitting there five additional people joined the class thinking it wold begin at 7:30, I guess another group will be doing a 30 minute Zumba class. 

Christina came over to us and asked if we wanted to target any specific areas. We stuck with an all over workout, starting on the ropes paired with lunges, did some arms with weights and moved to the floor exercises including crunches with weights.

Christina the announced she got accepted to the Chiropractic Division at a university and has only two more weeks at Club 24. We will be getting a new trainer in the very near future. 

Zumba! songs, music, and fun...

Zumba classes were scheduled for every Monday at 7 pm. 

Since Marge and I were there anyway, we decided to try a class. We shook, we jiggled, we jumped and we had a ball, while we dripped with sweat.  The class was filled with women of all ages and all levels of expertise so we felt comfortable and welcomed. Fran was our Zumba instructor and she did not seem to mind when we modified the step so we were not bouncing as much.  

We both agreed that many of the steps were reminiscent of the Jane Fonda era, just called by other names. We were able to follow all instructors and went to a class at least once each week. Now we were doing zumba on Mondays, strength training and machine work on Wednesdays and Saturdays were for cardio, of course sticking with the bike and elliptical, and did I let you know that all machines have a small TV screen.  Food Network, baseball and sometimes NCIS, the choice was mine.  

We are on a roll now....

Down to two of us - fit and consistant

Marge and I continued our trek to the Brookfield Club 24 for over a year and a half, upping our rate to $20 per month so we can utilize all components offered at the gym, including our virtual trainers (available 24/7), listening to speakers, and they offered an additional class with a trainer. The trainer was helpful and provided regular exercises plus some tips for the machines, but a regular trainer costs extra.

Then, for us, disaster struck. Our virtual trainers were dying and the machines were not being fixed. We continued to exercise to the variety of trainers without the screen, listening to the voices of each model, and peeking at the three inch screen controlling the tape.  We were able to utilize this system for another five months and kept asking at the desk if the virtual trainer module would be repaired.  If someone was using the  training room, we did the bike, often the elliptical and sometimes split our time between the two machines. We rarely used the treadmill because too much pounding on my hip created a dull ache and Marge has a bum knee.

We came in one night to find the room torn apart. They were renovating the gym, rearranging the machines to maximize the space and doing away with the virtual. After our workout we stopped at the front desk to discuss our options.  Club 24 in Ridgefield still has the virtual module. The desk staff did not know if it was working or if the same trainers were available but our membership can be used at any Club 24 location so the next Wednesday evening we went to Ridgefield, mostly to compare the ride to the Club 24 location and timing to get there.  

There is a two minute difference between locations and the trainers in the virtual module are the same. We continued our routines, now going to Ridgefield, staying with our chosen schedule: Monday at 7 pm, Wednesday at 7 pm and Saturday at 7 am. Some nights we rode the bike, some nights on the elliptical and Marge added the Arc to her workout. We always had one night of virtual each week, discussing the parts of the body to be worked on as we drove to Ridgefield and running into the room as we got there.  

Zumba was added to the Club 24 schedule. The instructor would come in to set up just as we were leaving for the evening.  Hmmm, a new workout, should we try it?

Fitness at any age

I joined a gym.

Club 24 opened in Brookfield so Marge, Cookie and I decided that the price was right and we were willing and able to work out, aches and pains and all.

Club 24 offered us a $10 per month, no penalty for quitting opportunity. We could go as often as we wanted and they were advertising a Virtual Trainer, a video component to fitness that we can access whenever we want (24/7).

They also gave us a personal training session, one on one, to walk us through anything we have forgotten over the years. Joe, our personal trainer for the evening, started us on the bike stating that we should always start our sessions with 10 - 15 minutes of cardio. We huffed and puffed through 15 minutes and he then put us through the circuit, each set of 8 - 12 exercises repeated three times.We each received individual training, focusing on strength and mobility.  We were then on our own.

Our schedule is Monday at 7 pm, Wednesday at 7 pm and Saturday at 7 am. Easy to remember and consistency each week. The goal is to shame each other into always being able to work out. We do one day of cardio, either bike or elliptical, then the exercises we got from Joe, trying different machines and doing the basics, especially crunches and push ups. We became regulars I am proud to say and rarely missed a session.

Then we tried Karen, a virtual trainer, specializing in senior exercise.  Karen allowed us to enter a room with just the three of us and a life size screen that came down as we turned on the program. She starts us with leg raises, arm swings, step touches and some stretches. We add small weights, available in all sizes at the gym, the exercise ball for a variety in push ups and crunches, and we all brought out mats to finish up with many floor exercises. Karen offered three different videos, an easy 30 minute workout, a 45 minute workout and a mostly sitting video that the three of us modified to create strenuous workout.

We tried all of the videos, adding yoga with Jeff, a fun workout with Nick, who had better legs than we do, and worked our way up to Jack with his pretty assistant Stephanie. Stephanie would provide the modifications and Jack would work out so hard that he left puddles on the floor and the mat. We are mostly able to follow and keep up with Jack, modifying his moves as needed, including jumping jacks with one foot always on the floor, and we were able to include weights in our crunches, my now favorite exercise.

From these virtual trainers, we are reminded to breath, watch our posture alignment, and learn many new moves to assist in our daily improvements. Lyssa gave us a warrior yoga move that smoothly had us lifting weights into a fluid lunge and turn. I continue to do this move at home, both with and without the weights.

and a new year bringing the spring season

Another year, many more weddings, many changes, and of course my grandson, Tristan and grandpuppy, Bella. Today's entry is all about musings...



Right now cold season has hit our home. I got sick on Wednesday, went to work (sorry people but some of us have to get paid), did laundry, made dinners, basically my daily routine. He gets sick on Friday and by Sunday thinks he has pneumonia. hmmmm.

The constable saga has gotten quite interesting financially. When the term began, my constable George was making $30 for each serve upon receipt of first payment to City Hall. He also got 15% of the total receipt with his fee paid by the tax payer.

George was elected to a second term and with the term came a change in the fee structure. He now receive 135 of the fee paid.  He is still diligent about tracking the tax collector but his heart is not in the position. He adds that the tax collector could have called them in for a meeting to explain the differences. The office never even gave them direction, they are certainly not going give them explanations.

His latest collection has provided us a cruise in May. I'm so excited.

weddings, weddings and more weddings

It has been an amazing year of weddings. I had three weddings in January and five in February, two of them on Valentine's Day (love is in the air <3). Alaina and Tony wanted to get married before the baby is born in May.  They chose their beginning on February 14 and asked for a second marriage in July with all of their family and friends invited to be there.

The deluge of weddings continued with five in March and seven in May, ten in June with three on the 29th (oh those June weddings) and eight in July, including Alaina and Tony with the new baby coming down the aisle in a little red wagon. He slept through the whole ceremony. Their wedding also included his son playing the piano and her nephew reading from Dr. Suess. It was a great wedding, and there was not a dry eye in the place, including mine.

Now it is August 11 and I performed a beautiful ceremony among the family and friends of a young couple starting a fresh life with with a built in family. Mom was walked into the room on the arms of her two young sons. While waiting for the bride's family to arrive, there was a lull and a bit of a wait. I asked the groom for the license. After some searching and a frantic call to the bride in another part of the restaurant, I received a large envelope containing my payment and....... wait for it...... the application for a marriage license.


I told the anxious groom I would perform the ceremony because everyone was waiting and stressed that the marriage is not legal.

The groom and I discussed the arrangements to rectify this situation. The couple are leaving tomorrow and will return on Friday. Hmmm, I'm not even sure who they are. All my contact was with the bride through an email exchange. They will contact me at the end of the week, hopefully with a license in hand, and I will renew the vows.  I don't have a license to turn into City Hall, but I did get paid, it is their problem for now.

My next wedding has a rehearsal in two weeks, with the ceremony the following Saturday, another rehearsal in three weeks and August ends with a wedding on Saturday, the 31st. I love weddings.

Life is one big party lately, happy birthday Ben - Aug 1st with a party August 17, I'll be there!

Good bye my friend

Travis, with book as posted on website for author, Janet Evanovich.

Travis, my muse, my cat, my baby, my friend, passed away a few months ago.  I could not write until now.

Travis was the star of my cat tales, providing me ideas and always supplying the antics to create my smiles.  He was a never ending bundle of energy, but as he became older he became a house cat, which truly made me happy. No more dead birds, no more jumping 15 feet to the lower roof, and no more pollens in his fur. He still jumped from the planter to whatever piece of furniture he chose, still ran from room to room and still adored looking outside from his perch.

The last few month had Travis slowing down. His appetite was disappearing and he just wanted to be held.  The hardest part was listening to him. After eating, he howled. I'm not sure if it was from pain, or want of something different, but the  howling was loud and mournful.

Then he started losing weight.  His long hair hid it well, and he still looked beautiful, but Travis was getting thin.  Finally he could not hold his own weight. He dragged himself from room to room.  It was a Sunday and we decided to bring him to the doctor the next day.

I could not sleep. I lay on the floor next to my Trav, hoping for a miracle.  He moved to the kitchen, I crawled along with him, keeping my hand on his soft, warm back.  He then crawled his way into my bedroom under my bed, letting me know that he needed some alone time.  I climbed onto my bed and slept fitfully for the next two hours hoping that we will still have a cat in the morning. 

Five o'clock came quickly and the vet did not open until eight that morning.  I called at 8, hoping that I would be told to bring him right in.  "The doctor will not be there until ten, can you bring him in then?" was the response I got.  Travis and I settled on the couch for the morning, just waiting and sitting as comfortably as he can.

The vet loved Travis and spoke to him with concern in his voice.  Travis, as usual, just sat for the attention, taking it all in. The doctor took blood and returned in a few minutes.  His blood count was all wrong and even if we gave him a full transfusion there are no indicators as to what is causing the problem and whatever he has may just move onto the new blood. There is nothing he could do for Travis. 

With tears is our eyes, we said our goodbyes to the best cat we have ever owned.  Butch could not stay, but I held Travis tight as I could as the needle was plunged into his skin. Travis closed his eyes less than two seconds later on September 28th at 10:15 in the morning, and my baby was gone.

Travis was a true politician, giving time to both of us before settling to my side each evening.  He knew how to get what he wanted and who would satisfy his needs of the moment.  King of the neighborhood, king of  our home and most importantly, Travis was king of his own world, and that is what was most important to me.