So you all know that since the beginning of this year I've been "dieting". Stop laughing, I'm trying to be serious here. So yesterday I got out my workout videos and spent thirty minutes walking and doing leg lifts and knee lifts, using 2 lb. hand weights and everything... right along with my 2-mile video. Even Jake joined in about half way through. After that I felt great. I also felt like I hadn't done enough, and actually by the end of the night my scale had gone up a half a point instead of down!! I'll just chalk that up to some new muscle I must have accumulated....

So this morning I decided to take up running. A little background: I HATE running. I actually detest it. It makes my lip curl and eye twitch just thinking about it. But I'm a little naive early in the morning and decided this was the way to go if I was going to crack down on my "diet" and "weight loss".

When Hubby learned of my early morning adventure to go running, he grinned a little and then raced outside to set up the jogging cart. I was a little irritated at how quickly he jumped at the chance to "assist" me in my exercise preparations...

I bundled up Ben in the jogging cart and got my "tennis" shoes laced up...(this is how little I exercise: I don't actually own a pair of work-out, sports, high-top shoes. I am forced to wear my Simple brand lace up regular everyday shoes...) Hubby looked me over and grinned again and suggested that maybe I should buy a pair of running shoes. (I was beginning to hate him a little...)

So off we went! Great, I thought, we'll head to the park at a nice steady walking pace and then I'd run a couple of laps around the park and speed-walk home. We got to the edge of our driveway and Ben decided he no longer wanted a ride. Out he went and in hopped Jake instead. Terrific. Not only do I detest running but instead of pushing a cart with a thirty pound child in it I was now pushing a cart with a kid weighing well over forty pounds.

We headed around the corner and found the sidewalks were closed due to construction. Just great. Now I was forced to jog through my neighborhood where people I actually know might see me. Nevertheless, I began my jog... it sucked from the very beginning. My nose was running, my head was pounding, my lungs were going into overdrive trying to keep up with my heart.... it was a disaster. I couldn't imagine the sight I was portraying...

I ended up walking some, running some, walking some, running some. Every time I ran Jake would scream "Woohoo!" "Fun!" and my all-time favorite, "Faster Mommy! Faster!" Was he kidding? We passed some elderly woman sipping a hot beverage on her porch. The look on her face read: that poor child is being chased by a sweaty baboon in bad shoes.

When we finally got home, Jake was exhuberant from his morning escapade, and I was, well, wheezing from lack of oxygen. Hubby met us at the door and said, "Well? How did it go?" with that stupid grin of his. If I wasn't so tired, I would've smacked it off him. Panting and chugging water I managed to spurt out, "I...am...so...out...of...shape..." He laughed and asked if I'd be going again tomorrow morning. I just glared at him and collapsed in a chair.