Perpetual Ruminations

Sunday

Ah, Sunday. It's my day to kind of sleep in and enjoy a leisure morning. Well, that's the idea anyway, and it looks good on paper. So far, it's been a bit of a challenge getting use to things, but it's going well. It seems like each Sunday things move along smoother and I am starting to feel in sync again.

It's nothing really, just habit. I've worked Sunday mornings for so long now, that it just seems normal to get up at five and get ready to go in and open, work until noon, one o'clock, then head for home. I also usually work Monday mornings, so it also means getting to bed early so I can be up at three in the morning.

But, I switched the schedule around and close on Sunday instead of open. Rhonda goes in and opens, then I come in at four and she comes home. I only work a half-shift and usually get done around eight-thirty, nine at the latest. On rare occasions, like last week, it may get as late as nine-thirty, which is still a pretty short shift.

Also, for the time being anyway, I have Mondays off. Tomorrow will be the exception, since I am picking up a shift tomorrow night for a guy who's going on vacation this week. That means I don't have to go to bed quite as early tonight, making closing a lot nicer. It also gives me the morning to relax and get my things done before I go to work. A big change for me, since I normally work opening shifts now and have to do my stuff after work.

Rhonda gets up at five to get ready for work. It's the only day she goes in early and opens, and she enjoys the change. I get to sleep in a little longer, because if I get up with her, I tend to mess up her schedule of getting ready. So, she lets me snooze a bit while she gets her routine started. Then, when she comes into the bedroom to put on her make-up, I get woke up by our two dogs who just have to get up on the bed and get some lovins from me. By the time they settle down, Rhonda is ready to go back downstairs and enjoy a cup of coffee with me.

We sit and sip a cup of coffee together, then have some hot cereal for breakfast. By the time breakfast is done, she has to finish getting ready and I help her get her things together. We share a long kiss and hug before she goes out the door, then I feed the dogs their breakfast after she is out of the driveway.

I really don't have a routine for my day, but I do have a few things I need to get done. I have to get in here and get my journal written, I need to get some dinner cooked so I can eat before I go to work or bring something with. Also, since Rhonda gets home an hour earlier, but still kind of late for fixing much for dinner, I like to try and have something she can just heat up and enjoy. I also have my exercises to do, since I'm trying to lose a few --- quite a few --- pounds and get in better shape.

It's always amazing how fast a person goes downhill, and how long it takes to get back into shape. A few years ago, we did some bike riding. Not motorized, just pedal power. We started out with a short ride around town, and since this is a little town, it came out to be about a mile of riding. Then we started riding down one of the roads that goes out of town. A little further and a little further each time, until pretty soon we were doing about five miles, then ten.

We eventually started taking other roads and going over to the neighboring towns. Eventually, we decided to extend a bit more, since we were now riding ten to fifteen miles almost daily. We started riding out twenty miles, going to towns further away. We would pack along snacks and extra water, even some sports drinks. Then, we would get to a town fifteen, maybe twenty miles away, go to the cafe and have a nice lunch, then ride back. the longest trip we logged was just over fifty miles, and we had a picnic at the lake, went for a swim and sunned ourselves before riding back.

Last year I didn't get a chance to ride at all, and we barely got out camping. So, in an attempt to be ready to ride this summer, I've been putting some time in on an exercise bike. Well, it's not really, it's one of our bikes on a stand that also makes the bike into a stationary exercise bike. I made a half hour yesterday, and my butt couldn't take anymore. My legs were also getting pretty tired, but mostly my butt was hurting from the bike seat. I'm going to have to build my legs up for longer rides, but I also have to toughen my butt up to handle hours in the seat.

Of course, I also put on some extra weight and I'm sure that adds to the discomfort I'm feeling. After all, I'm putting a lot more weight on my butt, and the seat isn't all that big. Also, my gut got bigger but my butt stayed pretty close to the same size, so I don't have any extra padding on my rump as a result of the gain in weight. I am happy to say, it's dropping, slow, but it's dropping. If I continue to lose at the current rate, I should be about thirty pounds lighter by the time we take the bikes out in May.

Of course, we may get a nice spring, and hopefully an early one, so we could get our bikes out even sooner. It's would not be improbable to think as early as March, depending on the weather. It would still be pretty chilly at night, but it could be warm enough to ride around town and close to home during the day, or at least some days. It's a big maybe, but it's possible. Also, April showers tend to make bike riding a bit difficult, and the last few years we have not had much for spring weather until June, when it jumped right into summer. Even so, I keep my hopes up for some nice days in April that we can also use to make some longer bike rides. If all works out, by June we may be up to riding to some of the little towns around us, again.

Now, back to February and my need to ride inside. I should finish this up, check on the chicken I have steaming for dinner, later, and get my butt on that bike for a while.