Stay close to anything that makes you glad you are alive.
– Hafez
Life isn’t about getting and having, it’s about giving and being.
–Kevin Kruse
Equipment Needed
- resistance band or
- dumbbells
- check out Our Favorite Tools to check out equipment needed
Weekly Wednesday Workout
In this Tabata style workout, you will do four different movements. You will repeat the movement four times before moving on to the next one. You will work hard for 45 seconds and then have a 15 second rest.
45 seconds on, 15 seconds rest of:
- shoulder to overhead
- bicep curls
- tricep extensions
- shoulder raise
How to Do the Moves
For video click here. Remember there are always modifications. Let me know if you need help or suggestions. You can always add weight to make the movements more challenging. Don’t forget to warm-up. Make this workout work for you!
If you judge people, you have no time to love them.
-Mother Teresa
It’s been about three months since we decided to put Gram into Senior Living. We tried to get extra help for her in our home but the lady quit after four days 🙁 She said it was too hard physically. Hmm…not sure that walking a few steps from the bedroom to the kitchen to the pool at a snail’s pace is all that tough but….whatever… it didn’t work out. So here I am three months later missing Gram.
After lots of discussions, pros, cons, tears and a few falls we determined that senior living was the best place for Gram. Jeff and I loved taking care of Gram, and we loved having her in our home. I definitely got more frustrated at times than he did but he also got more breaks from Gram than I did. Needless to say, after caring for Gram for just about five years, I was burned out and exhausted. I couldn’t keep an eye on her every minute she was awake, and I felt like I wasn’t being a good caregiver or granddaughter. We couldn’t go to the store without taking her or getting someone to stay with her. She fell a few times over the past year and even once when I was right across the pool. We didn’t want to take the chance that she would fall, get hurt, or break her hip again.
We found a wonderful facility and together with my mom, we wrote Gram a note about why we felt she would be safer there. She read, smiled, and agreed. The next day she hopped right out of bed, ate breakfast, asked my mom if we would be ok without her money, and asked questions about her new “apartment”. We were in shock. I took her to get her nails and hair done, and we took her to her new place. When it was time for us to leave she was sitting with some ladies, drinking a milkshake, and smiling a big smile. It made my heart happy even though I knew I would be missing Gram.
We were sad that she didn’t seem to care that we were leaving, but we had hope in our hearts that she would adjust well and possibly fall in love with her new home and her new friends. The house felt differently without her, and we kept looking over our shoulders to see what she was doing. We were definitely missing Gram.
Three months later, she has adjusted pretty well, but she still asks to come home. She still asks where she is. Because of her dementia, she doesn’t realize this is her new permanent place. She still has hope that she is coming home. The beautiful thing about putting her in a facility in Fort Myers is that we can visit as often as we want. We can take her out to lunch if we want as well. We also were so blessed to be able to take her to Virginia for Christmas. Although she was very confused about where we were going the first day, she enjoyed being with the family for the holidays. She also enjoyed helping us make pierogies. It broke my heart to put her back in at the end of our trip but the next day she seemed ok.
Things seemed to be heading in a positive direction. She was walking better than she did in our home so we were very happy about that. She seemed to be maintaining her weight. She was socializing with the other ladies more often. I took her out for lunch once and out for ice cream another time. I was trying to show her that she could come and go. We started talking about places we could take her and getting excited about having more adventures with Gram, especially since she was soon going to be vaccinated against the Covid virus.
Then it happened. Last Wednesday, she got her second Covid vaccine shot. Personally, I think Gram is so strong that she would have fought off the Covid without it, but you never know. Well, that evening, she tried to stand up, got dizzy, and lost her balance. I don’t know if it had anything to do with the vaccine or not. But she fell, hit her head on a side table, tore her skin on her elbow, and landed on her right hip (the hip she broke in 2016). Thankfully, we were in town, and I was able to meet her at the Emergency Room. She was so scared and in so much pain. The emergency room nurses were wonderful. They got her head cleaned up and thankfully she didn’t need any stitches. They did the x-rays and yep, her right femur is broken again. Because she already had a replacement, the doctor said there was nothing they could do. He recommended lots of pain meds and to keep her moving as much as she can tolerate.
So here we are six days later, and I am missing Gram. I am missing the Gram I had who made me laugh, who made me a better person, who told me to take care of my husband, who in her nineties had so many adventures, and who was so cute you couldn’t stand it. I am missing Gram because right now she can’t walk (although she is able to sit in her wheelchair relatively comfortably). I am missing Gram because she isn’t talking to me, and she can’t move her right hand. I am missing Gram because she is not eating and not taking her medications consistently. She has been such an inspiration and positive influence on me. She has shown me how to be strong. How to love wholeheartedly. How to laugh. How to enjoy life. How to support your family. How to keep traditions alive. I am not sure what the next few weeks will bring for us. Please keep her in your thoughts and prayers. If you are in the Fort Myers area and would like to visit Gram or if you would like to send her a card, contact me for the information.
I have no special talent. I am only passionately curious.
-Albert Einstein
Love recognizes no barriers. It jumps hurdles, leaps fences, penetrates walls to arrive at its destination full of hope.
-Maya Angelou
Ingredients
- pork tenderloins (we get them at Costco already seasoned)
- 1/2 head of cabbage
- 2 cups mushrooms
- small onion
- olive oil or olive oil spray
- Nature Seasons (or seasons of your choice)
Stacy’s Suggestions and Preparation
- We love the pork tenderloins from Costco, which come already seasoned. All you have to do is throw them on the grill for about 15 minutes or heat them up in the pan or oven.
- If you don’t have a Costco near you, try this recipe.
- Cut up cabbage, mushrooms, and onions into pieces.
- Heat up spray olive oil or 1-2 tbsp olive oil in a skillet.
- Add cabbage, mushrooms, and onions.
- Season with Nature Seasons or your preferred seasoning.
- Stir occasionally. We like ours a little crisp so we try to get it to stick to the pan. Probably about 10-12 minutes.
- Scoop onto the plate and Enjoy!
Love is a lot like a backache. It doesn’t show on X-rays, but you know it’s there.
-George Burns
Everyone wants to be loved. The desire to be loved, to be valued, and to be happy is universal. So when my single guy-friend Jeff was interested in a woman, I felt duty-bound to assist in his effort to get to know her. After all, he was my friend, and I cared about him, so of course, I wanted him to find someone who would love him, who would value him, and who would make him happy.
I met Jeff at the Gym. It happened to be a CrossFit Gym, and anyone who knows CrossFit also knows that it’s not like your typical gym. At CrossFit, you are all performing the same workout, at the same time, and most people go to the gym many times a week, at the same time. So a sense of community and camaraderie develops – you get to know each other.
At the time, Jeff and I were both navigating the dating scene. We had a lot in common, as we were the same age, we were both parents of late-teen or young adult children, had been divorced, and loved Crossfit. Becoming friends was natural. I respected Jeff, too. He was aware, had learned a lot of lessons in his life, was smart and thoughtful about things that mattered, and I began asking his advice when it came to the men I was dating and things that would come up. He, in turn, began sharing what was going on in his life and asking for a female perspective. On occasion, we’d go drink beer and eat chicken wings while we talked it all over.
So if “Wingman” is defined as someone who helps a friend with romantic relationships, then I suppose he was mine and I was his. But Dictionary.com goes on to say “especially one who helps the friend attract a woman…”
Back to the gym, and why I have been forever dubbed Jeff’s “Wingman”. It was February 2017, Jeff and I had made plans to go to a Saturday Boot Camp because it was designed to be a Partner Workout, so we agreed to meet and do it together. As we were warming up as a group, Jeff was admittedly a bit distracted by an unfamiliar athletic female backside in front of us. At the time, I had just met an amazing guy myself and wanted the same for Jeff. I actually thought he might ditch me for this very pretty lady who was visiting our gym, but he remained loyal to his commitment, and I was determined to chat with her after class.
Her name was Stacy, and she was friendly, adorable, and easy to talk to. While we stretched, we talked, and I made every effort to mention my friend, Jeff, and what a cool cat he was. Stacy was visiting from out of town and shared that she was here with her Gram (who she took care of), that they had a condo here, and she came often. I remember thinking at the time that this woman was incredibly unique if she took care of her grandmother full-time. I also remember we talked about local restaurants, and then we exchanged phone numbers.
Of course, I helped Jeff get Stacy’s number, and they took it from here. A couple of days later Jeff told me they went to the beach on Sunday, had some cocktails, had some fun, and he hoped he would see her again.
Some four years later, Jeff and Stacy are married, as am I to that amazing guy I mentioned earlier. Stacy and I have become close friends, and I adore her. What an incredible woman who turned out to be the best person I could ever imagine for Jeff, and he for her.
This story begins and ends with Jeff and Stacy, who now love each other, value each other, and make each other happy every day. And I am no longer a Wingman.
May anyone out there who is single be inspired by Jeff and Stacy’s random meeting and remarkable outcome. Just stay the course, be strong, and know that yours too could be just around the corner.
Guest Post Written by Eleina R.
Eleina is an amazing wingman, crossfitter, entrepreneur, wife, mother, friend, and web designer in the Venice, FL area. Check out her business E’s Website Design for all your website or blogging needs. She and Jeff have been friends since they started doing CrossFit together in 2015. Stacy and she have been friends for four years since they met this day four years ago after Boot Camp in 2017. Both couples remain great friends to this day.