Richard Simmons and I

I'm playing hookey today. I have been desparately needing some time away from work, away from Charlotte, and away from my husband to relax and recharge a bit. Not time away from home--I really am an introvert and a homebody, and my favorite place to bum around is my house. All of my favorite toys are here. Minds out of the gutter please! I'm talking about my sewing machines, the kitchen, books, my knitting project, and my laptop. I will either have to take a vacation day, or work 9 to 10 hour days over the next 2 weeks to make up my time, but it's well worth it.

This morning I slept in till close to 7 (what a wild woman I am..) and then woke up and dressed an unusually smiley baby. Charlotte was in a wonderful mood, maybe because I was in her room when I woke up, and she didn't have to hunt me down in the shower like she normally does. You gotta love toddler separation anxiety, where a shower door of translucent glass separating the two of us is enough to drive her to hysterics some days. I got her up and dressed, and immediately downstairs to her first breakfast of oatmeal with brown sugar, cinnamon, and raisins. Charlie was thrilled to go to daycare, and blew me several kisses as she hurried out into the garage, a welcome change from her tantrums when I'm rushing to work most weekday mornings.

And then, the "me" time kicked in. I decided to workout before taking a (leisurely) shower (uninterrupted by little hand trying to force the door open), and headed down to the basement where my collection of personal trainers live. There's Denise Austin in a variety of clothing changes, Gilad's Bodies in Motion, some no-name yoga instructors, and of course, Richard Simmons. It's been a long time since I've really done any aerobics, and haven't even been on my bike since last fall, so I decided that today was cardio.

I decided on the original Sweatin to the Oldies, in all of its VHS glory. For those uninitiated, this workout is a playful romp of a couple dozen people of varying ages and sizes (varying mostly to the older and larger), who twist and mash potato while being cheered on by the always-peppy and ever-inspirational Richard Simmons in his short striped short shorts and mop of frizzy curly hair.

I haven't done this workout in years, and actually really enjoyed myself. I sang out loud to most of the songs, and bounced around the basement doing kicks and lunges and twists and acting quite silly. Luckily, we have nice dark curtains covering the windows and sliding door, or our neighbors would think I was some sort of crazy aging cheerleader trying to relive her glory days. (For the record, I was *never* a cheerleader). I've felt good all day thanks to my little dance session, except that now I have "Ain't No Mountain High Enough..." running through my head.