Well, I am off and running…err, crawling at the moment.  However, I got through my first Cirque Fit Class of the Cirque de Rochester Challenge!  Woop!

Before I go any further, I just want to introduce you to my two new best friends:

Oh, yeah!  And these are the BIG boys!  500 Count Mr. Ibuprofen and the six pound twins, Epsom and Salts!  We became acquainted very quickly immediately following class… at a CVS conveniently located next door to Aerial Arts of Rochester!  Isn’t that nice?

Well, I may have sore muscles and an aching lower back (I think I pulled something), but I managed to make it through MOST of the class.  I had to forgo a few push-ups (I tried, I really did… my arms didn’t want to get with the program!), and I forgot to bring my knee brace for my ACL-less right knee, but I actually surprised myself a few times.  Yippee!  I think the high point was actually being able to do the leg pushes.  A partner stood at my head while I grasped her ankles, and as I lifted my legs, she pushed them back down!  The trick was to try to fight the pushing.  I managed a full freaking 40 reps before collapsing, gasping for air.  Good thing this whole thing isn’t being filmed… I have a pretty good idea of the grimaces I was making!  BUT I DID IT!

An hour later I was crawling for my coat and boots to head home, but the beckoning bright lights of the CVS were calling to me, demanding my attention.   Twelve pounds of salts and a hefty bottle of Ibuprofen later, I was heading for the car with the added bonus of now lifting weights.  It was double the pleasure once I got home and carried them from the parking lot to my upstairs apartment.  This is the very first time I have felt disgruntled at living on the outside of the complex, furthest from the parking lot.  I couldn’t wait to spend time with my new friends!

Hot water filled the tub and, man, am I looking forward to thirteen weeks from now when I will fit better in the apartment sized tubbie in my bathroom!  Complete with less water displacement!  Woo hoo!!

Once I was all snuggled into the hot water with the twins, I was thinking how nice it would be if my tub had jets.  That’s when I had my Homer Simpson “DOH!” moment.  I happen to own one of those jet tub spa kits that you lay in the tub and connect to a pump!  My mind really, really wanted to climb out and go get it, but the back said, “Honey, let’s just save that for tomorrow, ‘K?”  I was easily convinced.

The instructor also suggested massage therapy for sore muscles.  Hmmm… I need to start dating a massage therapist.  But then I remembered… I ALSO happen to own one of those massage mats complete with a heating element!  Ohhh…. rapture!  Two Christmas presents from years gone by that have not seen as much light as they rightly should have… well, we are about to become sincerely reacquainted!  A hot tub and a masseuse all at my electrical fingertips!  RG&E will want to call ME their new best friend in the next few weeks!  (They are actually already chummy because I am keeping my Christmas tree lit till my Marine comes home from deployment later this month!)

To make the pot even sweeter, it turns out that due to getting paperwork done and having a formal informational meeting to get all the ins-and-outs of the Challenge, it OFFICIALLY begins next week… but we are invited to come to classes this week!  BANGARANG!  BONUS TIME!!

On my way home, I kept thinking about the Extreme Home Makeover show… the one where they actually tear down the house and rebuild it in like three days or something.  Well, I am tearing down THIS old house and getting ready to move past the pain of the destruction to get to the rebuilding phase… rebuilding a new me!

MOVE THAT BUS!!