About 12 weeks ago, I joined a boot camp at my gym. We meet 3 times a week and do various cardio and weigh resistance workouts for an hour. My main motivation for signing up for boot camp in the beginning was to get motivated about exercising during the winter. Daily outdoor recreation is a bit on the shabbier side during the cooler winter months. Meaning my motivation to get outside an do anything was slim to none. I had a few days when getting the mail was a challenge…I like warmth. So back in February, when I signed up, it made sense. Boot camp has been a time well spent; I got into a regular exercise routine, I have met some great people and I even got weight lifting back into my routine.
Slight, yet related, subject change:
Today, I was working diligently in the office. After 5 hours of straight work (with the exception of bathroom breaks) I began to wig out. For me personally, my “wigging out” usually starts with a sporadic twitch. Then I can’t sit still. Then I get obsessed with movement of any kind…washing dishes, vacuuming, sweeping, pacing up and down the hallway…anything to release the inner movement bug. Anyways, I happened to glance outside and saw our lawn, realizing it was due time for a mow. I thought cutting the lawn would be a perfect way to release my energy and mix up my afternoon a little bit. Thanks to my wonderful sister and brother in law, Nick and I adopted a push mower. You know, one of those old school mowers that has circulating metal blades and moves by the sheer force of you pushing it. No gas. No pull chord. No loud whiny noise. Just grunting gets this baby going. As I began to push this mower, I realized two things: 1. I was going to get all my built up energy out in about 4 minutes and 2. Now I know why the gas mower was invented. They are WAY easier…they actually push themselves and, as a bonus feature, they pick up the grass clippings that were just mowed. Therefore, a nice crisp clean looking lawn is left over. But, no, no…the Vann’s chose not to roll with one of those. We are doing it the old fashion way (also less polluting. For your environmental tip of the day: Did you know that mowing the average American size lawn puts the same a CO2 emissions into the air as driving 100 miles in a car??? Yikes!) Anyways, back on topic…half way through the lawn cutting, I realized I was sweating harder than I had been in weeks…boot camp workouts included. I just kept on shedding layers and shedding layers (it is still only 55 degrees outside you know). Then it all clicked: I let the perfect business opportunity pass me by. For the past 3 months I have been spending time and gas money on driving to the gym, then paying someone to tell me how to exercise, then spending more time and gas money to drive home….When really I could have started up some sort of “Natural Lawn Cutting” business around my neighbor hood, which would have made me money, gotten me into better shape, and saved the earth from a few more car emission pounds! Ah well, lesson learned; maybe next winter. For the time being, I will continue to mow our yard…and for any of you who want to skip the gym too, feel free to swing by and borrow our push mower. You will get an hour long “treadmill” experience for sure!
There she is...puuuurrrrs like a kitten
As I am posting this last picture, I am realizing that I am a huge NERD. Who blogs about their lawn mower? Ah well, blogs are for expression and that is what I am doing. So here's another shot of my freshly clean cut lawn (fence will be painted when it stops snow/raining all day!)
