Biding Our Time

The old woman and I are just biding our time before the next trip. Seems that is what we do these days.

Fitting in with the geezers at RCW

Donna seems to be settling in at Rio Concho West better than I. She is becoming more and more involved with activities out here. We both attended our monthly home owner's committee meeting last week to see if anything is going on out here we should be aware of. There wasn't.

Saturday a week ago, Donna joined in with the weekly bingo match. She played hard but didn't win a single game.

Our landscaping man is leaving RCW this week, so the community gave him a going away party on Friday. We joined in and ate our share of goodies. We will miss James, and we wish him well in his new job.

On Friday, we boarded a packed bus for a run to the Manor for lunch. The old geezers like their fried catfish, and that is why so many made the trek. Donna and I were the last ones to board, and we were relegated to the rough back seat. With every bump, we'd fly up a few feet. Good times!

Trying to stay healthy

Those who have read my blog before know that Donna and I do try take of ourselves, at least to some degree.

We went to our local pharmacy to get shingles shots this past week, but there was no medicine available. They have put our request on order and should be receiving a shipment soon. We'll get that taken care of as soon as it arrives. Donna doesn't like shots, but she needs this one. And people don't like giving Donna shots; she bites and kicks really hard, and those ear-piercing shrieks are painful on everyone in close proximity.

We joined Community Health Club this past week as well. Of course, Donna and I are avid walkers, but we just don't feel that is enough. Now that I'm not taking care of a yard, I don't feel that I'm getting enough exercise with parts of my body other than my legs. So, we'll start going to the health club a few times each week. I'll concentrate on upper-body exercises, a little weight lifting, and swimming laps in the pool. I may even get on the stationary bikes and treadmills. Donna has other things in mind to do while there.

For those of you Medicare age, you should look into the Silver Sneakers program if you are interested in joining a gym. Depending on your location, you may be eligible for free gym memberships. Free is good in this case.

We made our first visit to the gym this past Thursday. We arrived just before 8:00 AM, and we stayed about an hour. It was a good time to visit, as there weren't that many people there. And that is what we were looking for. We know some folks will hit the gym really early, around 5:00 AM or so, to get in a workout before going to work. Most folks will wait until after work at the end of the day. I think we will probably find the time from 7:00 to 9:00 to be our favorite time. And we were surprised at the number of folks our age working out. That's great!

We quickly learned some things about ourselves. Even though we walk hundreds of miles each year, we are terribly out of shape. Since I no longer do my own yard, I get very little upper-body workout. So, I worked out on a few machines trying to give my arms and back some exercise. It was pitiful. People were pointing and laughing at me; I think I saw Donna among the jeering crowd, leading the assault. We also learned that we don't know how to use high-tech gym equipment. We came home sore and tired after that first day, but we felt pretty good about ourselves. We need this sort of workout regimen.

We turned right around and returned to the gym the very next day (Friday) and we both enjoyed a more challenging workout. It's simply a matter of finding the routine that works for you. I added a few more stations to my upper-body workout and worked a bit longer in this area. I would occasionally take a break from this routine and hop on a bicycle or other machine to give my legs a workout. I was pretty worn after this workout, and I experienced some good soreness later that day. And even though I walk a lot, I found that the workout I did today really challenged my legs, especially the stair stepper and bicycle.

Finishing the week

On weekends, the gym opens a bit later, so we will probably not visit it often on Saturday or Sunday. So yesterday (Saturday), we decided instead to use the exercise room at our clubhouse. First, we attended the weekly bingo session. Neither Donna nor I, nor anyone else at our table for that matter, had a bingo, but we had a good time. After bingo, Donna went into our little workout room. We don't have nearly as much equipment as our gym, but we climbed on a few of the machines for a decent workout. It was a good way to finish the week. We'll take today (Sunday) off, then hit the real gym early tomorrow.