The hills are alive...

Today, I looked at the hills and I suddenly realized they were getting green.  Amazing what 9 days of rain, in a row no less, will do for the earth.  Fall is finally here!  I know some people, and one in particular, are disliking the suddenly cooler, if not downright cold, weather.  But I'm loving it.  Sorry baby!  And, in preparation for the annual winter trip to Michigan, my blood is even getting thicker from enduring the freezing interior of my house.  I must admit, though, that 9 days in a row of rain is a little bit excessive....

I got out one morning last week and took a few pictures of my flowers when the rain let up a bit.  Here are some of the results:

Off to the Gym

I've always hated the gym.  Being stuck inside.  Dirty, sticky equipment, that all kinds of sweaty people have touched.  And it doesn't take much activity to get drenched.  Do they do that on purpose?  Pump up the humidity and turn the air down so that by the time you finish your workout, you're drenched.  Just to make people feel like they've done a hard workout no matter how easy it is?

But the people watching at the gym is fantastic.  For instance, the 50-something guy last week, with long, graying black hair, wearing jean shorts with leather belt, white wife-beater tank, pulled up above his hairy belly (and no, he didn't have a 6 pack).  Or the short, Asian guy in sweatpants with shirt tucked in, sitting on one piece of weight equipment for long periods of time, staring at women.  Creepy!  Then there's this very fit African American chick, with arms I would love to have...

But, alas, I, too, have become a gym rat.  Well, sort of.  I can't do anything else.  It's my rehab.  Upper body strengthening, plus working on regaining mobility in my right hip and knee, and gaining some supportive strength around those joints.  I'm also making up for not using my 3 year prepaid membership more than a few times in the last 2 years.  Maybe after the next couple of months, I won't be able to get enough either.  Best case scenario, I'll gain some respect for gym-going and strength training, and I'll be ready to keep it up (a little) and hit the road in January.  I'm already planning my first race, the LA 5K or Half Marathon (wishful thinking) on January 16th.

Got the goods

I finally have gotten the goods and it has been coming in handy.  It didn't come without a little bit of a cost, namely waiting in line at the DMV -- everyone's favorite activity.  Seems like one could come up with a better system for the DMV, but no matter, that's not my point here.  Besides, due to my "gimp" status (Matt's description for me), I got to skip to the front of the line to get my number.  It still took 45 minutes of waiting before we got called to the front though, poor suckers at the back of the line.  (The line was already wrapped around to the back of the DMV by 8:15!)  We also waited at the laboratory, the pharmacy, and the disability office that morning.  Matt said we should have just hit the Social Security Office for good measure, while we were at it.  Anyway, so here it is:

Never thought I'd have one of these.  But let me tell you, I'm "loving" it, so to speak.  There is absolutely nothing good about crutches: if you are hopping around, your hands and arms start hurting; but if you stop and stand, your good leg and foot starts hurting.  There's no winning.  Now we park at the front, and save my hands from blisters and my left leg from aching.  It also cuts down on bitching and moaning (from all parties involved).  So, it may be a little drastic to go to such lengths to get my Handicap placard, but a gimp girl's gotta have some perks, right?