Babs in Blogland

I’ve been in pain for about a month now.  I’m not really sure why, it’s not like I’ve been doing anything but laying on the couch lots of running and jumping.  I honestly think it is from wearing that compression stocking.  I think the pressure from the stocking exacerbated my achilles tendenitis.

I am only comfortable when I wear heels, and when I am not in heels it is constantly throbbing.  This morning I couldn’t even walk Roxie for more than five minutes, so I decided to pull out my trusty boot.

I guess it’s time to call the doctor.

My coworker, the one with whom I workout with, is always commenting that theguys that work at my gym are totally smitten with me.  When I have been gone for a few days, their faces light up upon my arrival.  And when I am leaving for the day, well, let’s just say that their admiration is quite evident.  I would like to say that I am ALL THAT*, but the truth is that there are few goodlooking women under 40 hitting my gym, and probably only a few of us are friendly.

This week I have put my flirtatious nature to good use.  On Monday, one of my “stalkers” asked if I wanted one of the custom training tees that were reserved for the Peachtree.  Why of course I did!

Yesterday, the other one got the nerve to come over and talk to me while I was on the elliptical.  I am usually not alone, but yesterday I was at the gym all by myself.  He was looking at my strides and pushing me to do better.  I really appreciated that because I do so much better when I am being pushed.  Afterwards he followed me to the weights and worked with me for a half an hour. 

I had a fantastic workout!  He really pushed me to do heavier weights and routines I normally don’t do.  I even did a couple of machines that normally intimidate me. 

While I was working out I had a chance to talk to him, and I discovered that he isn’t weird at all.  He’s perfectly normal when he isn’t oogling me while I do dead lifts.  I am definitely going to put his services to use from here on out.

Flirting has its privileges!

Do you ever flirt to get special treatment or free stuff?  Do you think it is wrong to do so?

I made it to first base last night! 

No, not with the latest handsome goodlooking and get your mind out of the gutter!

Last night was my first softball game in a few weeks.  I missed one week because I was at a fundraiser for a particular disease, and then last week the heavens opened up a released rain and hail…as we were standing in the middle of the field!  That was kinda scary.

When I showed up last night I was asked if I wanted to be the catcher or play outfield.  I chose outfield because it was something different and I couldn’t believe they trusted me to play that position.  In hindsight, I should have probably played catcher.  It’s way more exercise and I do have a mini-dress to squeeze these big thighs into in less than three weeks.

Although I’m not the best softball player, I do have to give myself credit and say that when I am up to bat I do manage to make contact with the ball every time.  Once I even managed to sail the ball past third base and I made it to first base.  I was so excited!  Even a guy from the other team asked if it was my first time.  He gave me a high five!  My team cheered me on and the Intern swung me around and planted a big wet one on me!   Okay, I made that last part up but it was almost that exciting in my head!

Unfortunately, the very next batter got the third out and I never made it to second.  But I shall revel in the glory of first base for, eh, the next twelve minutes or so.

And salsa is her game!

Samba class ended a few weeks ago and I was sad to see it go.  Okay, not really.  Don’t get me wrong it was fun for a while, but the teacher was kind of slow and I am a fast learner.  I got bored waiting for her to show the same steps over and over to the same people.

This week salsa started.  I was hesitant to sign up for the class because I already know how to salsa.  I figured I would really be bored, but my coworkers convinced me to sign up anyway.  I’m so glad I did!

As I suspected, I already knew the basic moves.  However, there was a guy there that also knew how to dance salsa.  I guess having Cuban parents comes in mighty handy, huh?  He and I immediately partnered up, and before the end of the first song he was spinning me around the dance floor.

After a while I moved on.  I wanted the other women to have the opportunity to dance with him, and I wanted to dance with the other men so I could help them do it better.  I am always amazed at the number of people that can’t count to 8.  Particularly my brown brothers and sisters!

At the end of the class I was sweaty and tired.  A good thing!  I’m hoping the Cubano comes back so I can get some good practice in.  In the meantime, I really need to find someone to take dance lessons with me.  I really want to commit to it.  I asked a guy from my samba class if he was interested, but he paused too long after I mentioned the length of the class.  I thought he would jump at the chance to spend two hours a night with me for six weeks.

I was wrong.

So, if you know of any able-bodied, rhythmically-gifted men interested in dancing with me, let a girl know.  Otherwise, I’m gonna knock the Intern over the head and drag him along.  Straight up, that’s the only way I could ever get him to do such a thing!

We have this class here at the plantation gym that I’ve always said I would NEVER do.  It’s a high energy cardio dance class.  The dude who teaches it looks like Keyalus’ favorite, Darren, from Darren’s Dance Grooves.  The class is always packed with women so I figured the class must be fun, I just wasn’t trying to take it.  He plays the music at an obscenely high rate of speed.  Then he teaches a hip hop routine and you do it over and over and over again.  Yes, it looked like a great workout, but I didn’t think I’d be able to keep up and I didn’t think I would be able to learn the moves.

A couple of my coworkers have been taking it, so I figured it can’t be that bad so Monday I decided to check it out.  Don’t get me wrong, the class is every thing I thought it would be.  It’s FAST and you learn an entire routine that we do about 20 times.  But I did it and it was fun!

My coworkers couldn’t believe that I could keep up for the entire class.  And they couldn’t believe I learned the moves so quickly.  They clearly do not know I was an Anytown-ette in the 9th grade!  And they clearly have not seen me do the Stanky Leg!

After the class I vowed to start attending regularly.  You see, the instructor, along with several others in the class, take it to a whole nother level when dancing.  He teaches us the basic move, but when he’s doing it he adds the extra.  That’s what makes it fun.  So I am making it my mission to become an expert so that I can dip it low and pick it up slow in the middle of the routine!

Today, I went to the Friday afternoon session.  It was packed!  I think that says a lot about the class that at noon on a Friday there were about 12 women in the class.  After class I headed to the locker room to shower and change.  But some of these nasty b!tches just dabbed themselves with a towel and put their work clothes back on.  Hoes we were sweating!  I’ma need you to wash your azz before you go back to your desk!

Okay, I’ve lost focus once again.  I’t’s Friday, ya’ll. 

Do you like cardio classes?

You see that blurry image through the fence in the picture?  That’s me playing catcher in my first softball game.  Why am I posting this blurry image of myself, you might be wondering?  Because the only other picture that jackassIntern took of me was of my ass directly up in the air.  Not a good look for the Babster.

You know what else isn’t a good look?  Me as catcher.  Okay, I wasn’t that bad.  I wasn’t that good either, but I wouldn’t say I sucked.  Our team sucked though, to be sure.  We got our asses handed to us.  Twice.  We had a double header.  We lost the first game 10-0.  Afterwards someone remarked that it could have been worse.  We laughed.  Ha ha ha.  It couldn’t possible be worse!  It got worse.  We lost the second game 20-3.

I find it fitting that our first game was just before Easter.  I truly felt like a sacrificial lamb out there.  One minute I was embarrassing myself as catcher in front of professional umpires and another team, the very next moment I was up to bat, once again embarrassing myself.  I barely rested the entire evening.

I did manage to hit two out of three times I was at bat, though I never made it to first base.  At least I made contact with the ball.  As far as being the catcher, let me once again say that is the hardest working position on the team.  My teammates were chillin in the outfield and I was constantly chasing balls, stooping, standing, throwing, etc.  I was sweaty and exhausted at the end of the night. 

I know I always joke about being a delicate flower, but today I’ve got the bruises to show for it.  Legs, forearms and possibly one coming up on my face.  Yes, I got hit in the face with a pop-up.  If anyone asks what happened to my face, I’ll just tell them the Intern got handsy.

That’ll teach him to take a pic of my ass in the air.

I had a blast at softball practice last night!  Even though only half the team showed up, we managed to get in plenty of practice catching, batting and running drills on, ummm, the dirt area.  What’s that called anyway?  As you can see, I haven’t exactly taken the time to learn the fundamentals of the sport.  Guess what I’ll be doing on Friday while the cat’s away?!

Operation: Make White Friends continues and I think we are beginning to make a little progress.  I really felt like we were bonding last night.  We were cracking jokes and encouraging each other and I don’t think anyone hated me when the ball when sailing through my legs.  I see group bonding over margaritas on the horizon, and they taste delicious!

I definitely need to work on throwing the ball.  As the Intern will tell you, I throw like a girl.  Well I think that is definitely better than the alternative.  I am, after all, a GIRL!  I also need to get better at aggressively pursuing the ball.  As my teammate joked- I only cover a two foot radius.

I might have to invest in a pair of cleats and I am definitely going to have to designate some socks for the field.  My good white socks are red from the Georgia dirt!

One more practice and then we have a real game.  Yippeee!!!