2002-02-21
Friday night dilemma, posted at 1:32 p.m.
Epiphany in Baltimore has moved to epiphanyinbaltimore.blogspot.com I feel great.Last night, I went to bed at 8:30. 8:30! It was wonderful. I took a little bit of Ny-Quill (half a dose), to sort of ease the process, and the sound of my fan was able to drown out the voices upstairs. I slept a solid eight hours, and I couldn't feel better today.
I got to the gym at 6am - a bit later than usual, mostly because today is sort of my 'easy' day. My schedule over the last year, which I'm finally getting back into now that I've joined a gym again, is arms and shoulders one day, chest and back the next day, and legs the third day. I may vary it a bit, but that's where I'm at now. That doesn't include the 45 minutes or so of cardio exercise that I intend to get every day. Today, I decided to change things up a bit, and I swam. I haven't swam in years. I've been in the water, yes, but that's mostly just been in Lake Michigan and mostly involved diving in to cool off after hours in the sun.
Swimming is hard. I used to swim fairly regularly, and it's not like riding a bike. I found it difficult to swim more than a few strokes without getting off course and running into the lane separators. I was wearing my contacts and had no goggles, so I couldn't open my eyes underwater to see where I was. I eventually had to start swimming with my head above water so I would stop running into things.
It was quite a workout. My heart was racing after just a few laps. Occasionally I took a break and ran underwater to the other side of the pool. I hope it starts getting easier. I have an idea that when I get goggles, it'll be tons better.
I then proceeded to complete a pretty intense leg workout, then headed back to the locker room, where I contemplated why some men feel the need to showcase their bodies to everyone else. Yup, it's a locker room, and there are going to be nude men. That doesn't bother me. What bothers me is when men go out of their way to, um, share themselves. For example, there is no reason why you have to undress on the opposite side of the locker room, then walk to the showers on the other end - swinging away. There is no need for a 300-pound, hairy, 50-year old man to shave and brush his teeth at the sink while wearing nothing at all.
Perhaps the reason why I'm so quick to get dressed and undressed in the locker room is that I'm worried that everyone thinks like me.
Nick is back. He's been at a conference all week - a conference I wish I had been asked to go to - so it was good to see him again. We didn't hang out last weekend, and we made plans to hang out Friday.
Then, I went to go see Kate - another new teacher here (she's cool, but is ten years older than me, married, and very pregnant, so we don't socialize a whole lot) - to ask her about the euchre tournament tonight at her house. She told me that it was actually on Friday. Ugh. I have double-booked myself. There's no doubt in my mind that I'd rather go hang out at some bars with Nick than play euchre with a bunch of people who make me feel old, but I committed a long time ago, so I may have to go along with it.
Will I do the right thing, and go to the euchre tournament? Or will I do the "wrong" thing, and go hang out with Nick and the rest of the gang?
We shall see.