This post just has too many topics for a single title

Aaron and I are so excited for this coming weekend we can hardly stand it. We have absolutely nothing planned. Isn’t that wonderful? We’ve been out of town every weekend for over a month and we’re ready for some down time. There are no weddings, no parties, no visitors, and even our friends are gone for the weekend, so there’s no one to make in-town plans with.

I could tell this past Sunday that I needed some down time. I was in a horrible mood – exhausted, crabby, unmotivated and yet bored. I thought I’d try one of my favorite activities, planning meals for the week, to snap me out of my funk. Yes, I know that kind of makes me a dork, or at least kind of housewife-ish, but I really do enjoy planning meals. Anyway, I was having trouble coming up with anything to cook for the week, including that night, and so Aaron made me put down the cookbooks and take a nap. While I was napping he took over, and planned meals for the week, and I have to say, I think he did a pretty awesome job of it.

Not only did he plan all of the meals for this week, he’s also cooked all of them so far. Sunday night we had fresh vegetable soup, Monday was linguine with shrimp, tomatoes and basil, and last night was a Thai beef salad. All of it has been delicious, but I will admit, I’m really looking forward to dinner tonight most of all. Ham, fresh mozzarella, and spinach paninis with a grape tomato salad on the side. Grilled cheese sandwiches are about my third favorite food (first is macaroni and cheese and second is soup, pretty much any kind), so I am pumped. And, it’s a fancy grilled cheese so that makes it even better. I’m nothing if not one for fancy things.

Now, for a completely different subject, something happened last week that I am very sad about. My gym closed. There was no warning, not even a hint of an indication that I would walk up to the door last Monday and there would be a sign that says “Closed Until Further Notice”, but there was and it is. Closed. I called every day last week to see if they would leave some indication of what happened on their voicemail, but no such luck. Just the same message with the hours that no longer applied.

Then yesterday, I decided to call again, and the number has been disconnected. I had been holding out hope that it might reopen soon (all the equipment is still in place), but that kind of dashed my hopes. It’s the perfect gym for me – it’s right across the street from where I work, so I have to pass it in order to go home, and if I pass without stopping I feel guilty. Not to mention the price is right, it’s a women-only gym, which I like, and it’s where I take my weekly yoga class that I love. I’m feeling sort of lost without it, but have decided to wait a couple more weeks to see if it reopens before joining another gym. In the meantime, I’m making Aaron take walks with me and I’m going to start using some exercise tapes I have – Tae Bo for cardio, and pilates and yoga for strength training. I also have weights and one of those big balls that you do crunches on, but it’s really not the same. I really miss my gym. I never thought words like that would come from me, the one who used to hate working out, but this place really was the perfect gym for me.