They're the People that You Meet Each Day

I’ve been going to the same gym for about a year. To commemorate the occasion, I offer some observations about the people I see when I am there.

For two days in a row, there has been a guy in workout clothes smoking outside the gym. Sometimes, I will go to Chick-fil-A after working out. I rationalize that I’ve burned off the calories in my waffle fries, so it’s all good. But I have to wonder, does working out negate the effects of cigarettes?

Snaps to the girl wearing pearls in Zumba tonight. (Zumba=one hour of Latin, hip-hop, cardio mayhem.)

There’s this awkward trainer who doesn’t have a lot of clients, so he wanders around a lot (earning him the nickname “the Lurker” from my friend Beth). Tonight said trainer sniffed a girl. It wasn’t a “You smell nice, what is that?” sniff either. It was more like, “Hi, I’m a collie. What a fine looking poodle you are.”

My absolute favorite trainer, henceforth to be known as Cute Trainer, is a highlight for me. He’s just adorable. He makes everything look fun—even riding a spin bike, which is, like, the opposite of fun. Sometimes he brings his clients into Zumba to dance with us for a song. He always tries to dance along with us, freely, joyfully making mistakes. It totally distracts me. I always try to be extra Fergalicious when he comes in, only to wind up tripping over my feet.

There are other notable characters who don’t need their own paragraphs, but who bring delight to me regularly. There’s the pastor of a local mega-church who works out twice a day, and a guy who is so flexible he can stand on one leg with his other leg at a 180 degree angle, propped on a machine, all while working his arms. There’s a man whose love for the ab machine is so intense I’m afraid one of them is going to snap in half, and a small man who doesn’t look like much, but when you use a machine after him, you realize he’s been lifting 150 pounds with his legs.

What flavor do I bring to the gym? I think I would probably be known as weird t-shirt girl. I enjoy buying strange t-shirts at Goodwill. Here is a current favorite, nice and wrinkly because I got it out of the hamper for the photo op!




And my mother wonders why I’m not meeting nice, young men at the gym.

Saturday in the Park

In July I listed all the things I have come to love about my current city of residence (I still can’t call it home). A friend of mine said a few weeks ago that this is a great place to live for the life we want to live.

I’ve thought about that a number of times since she said it and today was one of those days when I experienced it. This is a great place for my lifestyle.

It’s a great place for relationships.
The first reason today was great was because I got to have breakfast with my family (with the exception of my brother who was working). We met at a cafeteria. I find the cafeteria amusing and overwhelming, but I most enjoy being able to sit down with my parents and sister over eggs and turkey sausage. This morning we debated whether or not we should say grace, since my brother is the one who insists that we do. After much snickering and my attempt at a “God’s neat, let’s eat” blessing, my dad ended the discussion with a gruff, “Let us pray.”

It’s a great place for a simpler, greener lifestyle.
After breakfast, my sister-in-law and I headed to the local farmer’s market—I should say one of the local farmer’s markets. Lately, it has become very important to me to support local farmers and to buy fresh produce that does not have to be shipped across the country. I seem to have developed an allergy to the fruit shellac grocery stores use, so having farmer’s markets nearby is wonderful not only for me, but for the people sitting near me when I am having an allergic reaction and sneezing apple all over the place.

When I came home I baked zucchini bread and did my laundry. It was the perfect day to open the windows and let the breeze blow through my house, rustling the clothes on my massive drying rack.

It’s a great place for a healthy lifestyle.
This afternoon, Emily and I took our bikes out. We rode through a city park, a National Historic Park, and along the city’s greenway to another city park. There were plenty of people out enjoying the day—including some folks setting up for a wedding in one of the parks.

We encountered one family with two little kids riding bikes with training wheels and another toddler in a stroller. Dad was running along beside the kids as they went down a hill, the boy yelling, “I am not having fun! I don’t like this ride” while Mom hefted the stroller up a hill. We commended all their efforts and the mom replied, “It’s hard now, but I know they’re supposed to do this so that they can do what you’re doing one day and we can enjoy bike rides as a family!” (And how cool is it that she stopped to talk to us?)

Emily and I were inspired to go off-roading in one park. As we entered the super-steep trailhead, I shouted, “I am not having fun! I don’t like this ride!”

It’s a great place to produce more and to consume less.
Earlier this week my Thursday night Bible study had a pot-luck supper. It was so fun to see the girls showing off for each other. These are hard-working ladies who, in the middle of the week, took time to prepare something amazing for each other. Sweet potato pie with homemade crust, pasta with an unreal homemade sauce, homemade salad dressing, I could go on an on, but then you’d be hungry.

Because my friends are so useful in the kitchen and are always talking about their experiments, I am motivated not to take the easy way out. For instance, tonight felt like a good night for pizza, but instead of calling Papa John, or stopping by the grocery store for a frozen pizza, I made pizza crust from scratch and topped it with ingredients I already had in the house.

Tomorrow my brother, sister-in-law and I will head to Charlotte to watch the Philadelphia Eagles play. We will stop at a Philadelphia Soft Pretzel Factory in Mooresville along the way and maybe the Rita’s Italian Ice next door will be open when we get there. I will have some of my favorite people and favorite things from home in this strange place I am coming to love.