Tuesday,and one pulmonary rehab class complete

Good morning journal,the time is now 5:54am,I am awake,thanks to Buttons pulling her favorite trick of getting me out of bed so that she could then jump in to my space,that dog is wise beyond her years!. So,having been ousted from my place in the marital bedchamber,I went in search of a life restoring cup of coffee,and then I decided to come here to my desk to impart to you all of my news from yesterday. I didn't have time to post yesterday as I had to prepare for my first pulmonary rehab class and I was a little pushed for time. I arrived at the venue for the classes,they are held in a huge complex containing a library,doctors surgery.swimming pool and gymnasium,plus a cafeteria which,quite frankly,you would have to have won the lottery to afford to buy a coffee from,I contented myself with the bottle of iced water that I had brought from home and checked in at reception. When the fitness instructor came to collect me and take me through to the fitness studio where the classes were being held,I must confess to feeling a little nervous,not quite knowing what to expect,.....then I met my fellow class mates. To say that they were a little older than myself would be an understatement to say the least,I estimated that the majority of the twelve or so people taking the class with me were in their late seventies,and I may have been a little generous with my guess. We were introduced to Darren,who was taking the class,I had met him before at my assessment to see whether I met the criteria to be included,and Jane,who explained that she was the respiratory nurse,just in case anybody got too out of breath during the class,I must admit to whispering a silent prayer that she would not wander off too far as I thought that she might well be needed for some of us before the mornings exertions were over. Next,we did a gentle warm up,stretching and shaking our arms like demented chimpanzees before Darren gave us a tour of the items of equipment that we would be using,the first thing was a set of hand weights,there were several sets so that more than one person could use them together,next,there were three exercise bikes with settings which you could set yourself that determined how hard you had to pedal. After the bikes,there were three chairs with three basketballs on them,the idea was that you sat on the chair,stood up and bounced the basketball,caught it,then sat down again,and you then repeated the action. Next to them,there were three rowing machines,then there was an exercise where you stood against a wall and did push outs before raising your heels and then doing it all again,fun stuff!. after the push outs there were three steppers,and all that was required there was to step up and down as many times as you could comfortably do,surprisingly tiring I have to confess!,but the last piece of equipment was the one that caused most hilarity in the assembled patients,there were three huge rubber balls,soft rubber and very pliable,the idea was that you placed the said ball against the wall,put your back against it,and rolled it up and down the wall bending your knees and back again,it sounds easy,but it's a lot harder to do!,get it right and the ball stays correctly positioned for the next squat,get it wrong,and you end up in a heap on the floor,and yes,it did happen to me once or twice. Out of all the pieces of equipment,my favorite ones were the weights,the exercise bikes and the rowing machines,I could actually feel my muscles being worked,and it's a long time since that has happened,and,surprisingly,I coped rather well,I only had to use my inhaler once,and even more surprising was that my fellow classmates came through the exercise routine largely unscathed if a little breathless,and Jane,and her respiratory expertise was not needed at all,except to demonstrate how to use the various bits of equipment as Darren talked us through them. After the exercise session was over,we all adjourned to a room upstairs,where Jane made coffee and tea for us,with a cookie too!,I noticed that she used a jar of instant coffee she had brought with her and did not purchase them from the cafeteria downstairs,I'm sure there is Scottish blood in that girl somewhere!. After I arrived home,I was surprised at how little I ached,I was expecting to be sore and tired,but I managed to stay up until 8:45pm before I finally gave in and tottered off to bed. Tomorrow,it's the second class and I must admit that I'm really rather looking forward to it,and that is something that I didn't expect. My wife purchased a small set of hand weights and now I think I might actually carry on exercising with them at home who knows,I might end up toned and ripped,is that what they call it?,I somehow doubt it,but hey,it's fun to dream sometimes. This morning,I feel surprisingly rested and refreshed,I slept well and woke only once when my wife came to bed,but I fell asleep again very quickly and remained like that until Buttons did her"get up daddy" routine on me,which of course,as usual,worked,and allowed her to settle down in a nice warm spot that I had vacated,smart baby!. Today,I don't intend to do anything too over taxing,and hopefully,I will be nice and fresh and ready to go at the gym tomorrow,I may take a short walk over to the bank as I need to open a new account to get my benefits paid into,our present bank are about to close our current account because of the debt relief order we have had to start to put in place,they don't like bankrupts on their books,which,unfortunately we will be as soon as the order is a done deal. It is unavoidable,and if there was any other way out of our present circumstances,we would take it,but our situation being what it is,we have no other choice,it is what it is. Well journal,I think that is all for now,I may not have time to come here tomorrow,but rest assured,I will return on Friday to keep you updated on my news and my frolics in the gym,until then,may the Good Lord give us His protection and His love for another day,and may He grant me the strength to stay on my feet,at least until the rehab classes have finished.