Wienies and Operas and Cocktails, Oh my!

The two best parts of summer are eating and drinking.  And we are professionals in upstate New York.  If you’re looking for local beverages, we have breweries, wineries, and cider mills to quench our never ending thirst.  There are some restaurants, but grilling becomes a sports event during the summer.  Hot dogs and cheeseburgers are a staple, of course; however, we’ll grill just about anything:  vegetables, seafood, steak, potatoes, grain.  The list goes on and on.  Unfortunately, so does the tire around my waist.  And it’s time to get it under control.

I wanted to start doing Yoga.  I thought it would be good for me, especially since I am the least flexible human being alive.  However, I can’t sit-up straight with my legs extended.  I am incapable of this simple task to stretch, and now I’m a little scared that Yoga would just be an embarrassing event.  And it’s at 8 am 45 minutes away, so I might try it later this summer, although it’s not going to be my main source of exercise.

Luckily when I was at the store and looking for a Yoga matt, in hopes of starting to do some physical activity, I found Jillian Michaels 30 Day Shred DVD.  I know exercise videos are sorta lame, at least I think so.  And I wasn’t sure that this was the right answer for me; however, at least 5 of my friends have sworn that this video is the real deal and really works them hard.  It was only 10 bucks, so I bought it.

When I bought it I was feeling a little sick, so I didn’t exercise with the video right away, but I did watch it.  And I thought, “Well I can do this.  It doesn’t look that intense.”  Please remember I haven’t exercised at all in months, and when I do it’s basically only cardio.  So yesterday I woke up at 9:00 am (much better than the 7:00 am wake-up I’d have to do for Yoga).  I put on my gym shorts and a T-shirt.  I filled two diet coke bottles with water to serve as my make-shift hand weights, and I turn on the DVD.

Holy crap was I in pain.  I was huffing and puffing after circuit number one.  The program is split into 3 circuits, and each circuit is comprised of strength training, cardio, and an ab workout.  It’s not easy, although it’s only 20 minutes long.  I knew my body was going to hurt the next day.  And I was right, but I didn’t expect it to hurt immediately and the rest of that day.  I felt like such a wuss.

Well, today is Day 2 and I woke up to do battle with Jillian again.  I wished it would be miraculously easier.  It wasn’t.  I’ll probably have to wait for day 10 before that happens.  Oh and the video has 3 levels, and I’m only on level one.  Ah well, at least I’m doing my best to get in shape, and I think I’ve found something that’s going to work for me.

Hopefully, I’ll still be able to walk after Day 3.

A few weeks ago, Ryan and I celebrated our five year anniversary with a DiGiorno garlic bread pepperoni pizza, crinkle cut french fries with mayonnaise and ketchup, and watching The Silence of the Lambs.  Romantic, right?

In the summer of 2005 at Glimmerglass Opera, we started dating.  We still argue about the exact date.  At one point we even picked a date just to be consistent, but it never truly stuck.  July 1st or 2nd is when we celebrate, which was around the opening of Lucie di Lammermoor that summer.  I think both of us expected a summer fling, actually I know we did because we joke about it, and that’s where The Silence of the Lambs comes into play.

I have never liked scary movies, and I always assumed this was one of the scariest.  It’s not that I’m actually scared.  I like to say that I startle easily.  Exemplified by the time I was seated in a movie theater with about 20 GO production people watching the preview for Snakes on a Plane and screamed at the top of my lungs when the snake jumped out at the audience at the end.  I wasn’t embarrassed at all.  I swear.  

Anyway, our first summer together Ryan wanted to watch The Silence of the Lambs.  I, of course, said no and explained that I never have seen nor want to see that movie.  So Ryan said, “Let’s make a deal:  on our five year anniversary we’ll watch the movie to celebrate.”  I agreed assuming that this fantastic summer fling wouldn’t quite last five years.  Ryan, I’m sure, made that statement with the same thing in mind.

However, here we are, five years later.  We celebrated with a showing of the movie.  Ryan passed out about 15 minutes into the movie.  I barely could keep my eyes open as well, but I finished it.  We were exhausted from work.  Can you believe we’ve lived in 3 states together (NY, MA, & TX), traveled across the US several times, have little Oscar to keep us warm, freelance in over 6 states combined, and have lasted 5 years?

It’s kinda amazing.  I love him.