Marleys Acres: August 2008

Wednesdays have become my favorite day-of-the-week.

W.O.W. stands for "Work Out Wednesdays" a standing appointment in my weekly calendar.

Every Wednesday I wake up at 5:30 AM and go to a gym in Salt Lake City with my friend Scott. We run and/or walk (depending on the week) on the treadmill, then do a leg and abdominal workout, followed by a healthy breakfast at our favorite cafe.

Scott and I have been friends for years (15 and counting) and have had this routine on and off (mostly on) for several years. Scott is a lot of fun, always makes me laugh with silly little (and predictable) comments. For example, we pass by new bus benches installed recently by the city that look like old sofa couches someone threw out... he'll say dryly, "Look! Someone threw out their couch" at each of the three or four we pass. We also drive past Breck's work on the way, and he'll say, "look at that orange sign" in reference to a new business sign Breck had installed while his business partner was on vacation. The sign is orange, the old sign and Breck's partner's favorite color was/is purple. Breck was a little concerned that she would hate the sign but she doesn't. The new sign/color makes the business much more visible from the street. Scott commenting on the sign is more of a teasing-little-poke at how worried Breck was about it then the sign itself. I could go on and on (oh wait, I just did!)

It's good times.

Here's Scott and I enroute.

And the gym.

At Finn's Cafe...

And our breakfast? We don't even have to order... our friends at Finn's know we're having the same thing every week. The Scandinavian Breakfast. We've tried other things, but have come to the conclusion that this is the best thing on the menu. (Scott always says, "this is SOOOOO good!") The Scandinavian Breakfast is two eggs (over medium), poached trout with Finnish tarter sauce, hashbrowns, and English Muffins. He has coffee with creme, I have diet coke. It's SOOOO good!

Today I got a call from Cousin Monica ("we have the same last name") Ward. She offered to send me a copy of "Power90", a DVD work out video. I have been recently talking online with Monica about loosing 5 more pounds and she suggested adding this aerobic-at-home-workout to my routine. Monica is a coach for "Team Beach Body" who have a program called "WOWY"which stands for "Work Out With You," which evolved after they saw people making appointments on message boards to work out together.

Monica says, "It turns out that there's something very motivating about knowing that your cousin in Phoenix is about to hit her workout while you're in Salt Lake City thinking about hitting the "snooze" button. Obviously, I'll be much more likely to get out of bed knowing she is EXPECTING me at the online gym". I'm really looking forward to this addition to my week.

It's wonderful having healthy friends and family to encourage you along in life. There have been many people in my life who have given me the complete opposite influence.

I'm reminded of a letter my Grandpa (Charlie) wrote to me when I graduated from high school. He told me in the letter that my life would be much better if I would only choose my friends and influences wisely. In my fortieth year I'm finally understanding his guidance. I posted his letter on the Chas E. Ward Blog. Linked here

By the way... I posted another blog today on the Screaming Pigs Blog . I never know which family blog to post to, so I go back and forth. If my cousins (I'm about to give up on you three!) don't start posting more often here (or at least commenting) I'll just start posting to that page.