Give Me Strength!

Mom with all of us little rapscallions!

Me discovering chocolate ice cream!

Joy here...When we were little there were times when my mother would roll her eyes to the sky above and let out a plea:  "Give me strength!"  There were 4 of us all born within 2 years of each other, so for a while my mom was dealing with 4 kids 6 years and under (with at least 2 kids in diapers at a time).  So you can well imagine why she would need divine help to deal with us!  She would make that plea to the powers beyond in those moments when all four of us would decide to have a meltdown at the same time over something she would cook (like the first time she tried making us satay - "ewwwww, mom peanut butter goes on sandwiches, not on meat!" - or like the time she introduced us to guacamole - "ewwwww, mom that's like green frog's brains!"), or when we decided that we really really really really needed something ("mom, I wanna toy..." "mom, I wanna candy..." etc.), or when we decided that we really really really really did NOT need something ("mom, I don't wanna go to bed..." "mom, I'm not wearing that..." etc.).

I have no kids.

But let me tell you, today was one of those days when I would have liked some extra strength, that's for sure.

It started out with my spinning class being a "strength" ride, which means that my legs were screaming from the word "go."  While I can keep my breathing in check and my heart rate seems fine, the pain in my legs was about to make me burst into tears.  I found myself using my old running "lamaze breathing" strategy so that I could focus on my breathing and not on the pain in my legs!

And then, after surviving that spinning class, The Man and I had our first personal training session with our new trainer.  She had us doing all sorts of strength training activities, and I think that my arms and legs are still shaking from the fatigue.

And now...lucky us, we get to hop on a plane for 7 hours to get to London.  I don't even want to imagine just how stiff and sore our muscles are going to be when that plane touches down in the morning.

In the meantime, here are my stats from this morning's spinning class:
Rode for 55:21:51 with an average heart rate of 140 beats/min.

I may not be able to do any posts while we're away...but do me a favour and raise your eyes to the sky and cry:  "Give Joy Strength!"

Over and out,
Joy