Two Hours

I had an unexpected two hours of free time on my hands this afternoon.  I had to work this morning, and my amazing in-laws took the munchkin, then said he might as well just nap there too.  Wow.  Two hours, unexpected, all for me. 

There were a million things I could have done.  I could have unpacked more boxes.  I could have cleaned the house.  I could have done laundry.  I could have done some marking for my online class.  What it really boiled down to, though, was two options:  working out or laying on the couch catching up on all of my favorite shows.

It was a tough choice...really.  Lately I have been bemoaning the fact that I never have time to work out anymore, and here were two solid hours, staring me in the face, in the middle of the afternoon.  I also REALLY wanted to watch a few of those shows that are stacked up on our DVR right now.  I was so tired, my eyes were droopy.  I arrived home, dropped down on the couch, and thought my fate was sealed.

Then, I thought about it.  I thought about my wonderful father and mother-in-law taking care of my little munchkin, I thought about all of the complaining I've been doing, I thought about how much I've been wanting to check out the pool near where we live now, as I have never been there.  I thought about the little flabby bits that seem to be showing up lately, how weak I've been feeling, how truly wonderful it would feel to slip into that water and slice through it with my arms and my legs.  Then I got up off of the couch.

Once I was there it was rewarding.  Yes, I am out of shape.  SO much more than I want to be.  Yes, I have flabby bits, but my body remembers.  It remembers and craves the regular exercise that it used to get.  It just felt so good.  It was like my muscles were singing.  They weren't just singing, they were doing a salsa dance.

After my hard work, I rewarded myself.  I sat in that nasty, germ infested hot tub for a full five minutes.  It was probably a little bit longer than I should have, but it just felt so darn good.  Those jets were blasting away on my tired, old knee and my sore shoulders and neck.  I swear, it felt so amazing I probably could have fallen asleep right then and there.  In fact, just writing about it makes me want to go back there later for the toonie 9-10 swim and just roast myself.  If my one and only bathing suit wasn't soaking wet, I probably would.

It was enough.  It makes me want to get back to work.  I need to figure out a schedule.  Putting it into our schedule is the only way that it will ever happen.  For today, however, I just have to say thanks to Nana and Papa.  Thanks for keeping the boy a few extra hours so this momma could find some solace in my old haunting grounds of the pool.  Thanks for a few hours to myself.  Thanks for a chance to get my body reawakened and to remember just how good it feels to move my body, to work those muscles.

I'm really glad I got up off of the couch.