Just got my exercise for the day -- drove the car around the block to find a new parking spot that's not on the street cleaning side of the street. Then walked ALL the way back inside and sat at my desk again. Phew. I feel great.
That's my smart ass way of admitting how pathetically out of shape I am these days. Gotta work on that. At least lifting kids keeps my upper body fairly strong. But as I sit here I have a sweatshirt rolled up behind my lower back because it is killing me, and I can almost feel my thighs getting mushier. The other day Kelsie told me my body was "wiggly." Which I presume means jiggly since I wasn't doing any kind of a wiggle dance move at the time.
I'm too young for this. (and yes, I recognize that just yesterday I posted an article about my 72 year old mom tap dancing and performing for exercise)
Thursday, July 24, 2008
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
My dancing mom
My tap-dancing, musical-performing mom was featured in the Dallas Morning News today. For some reason Blogger has never let me add hyperlinks (grrr) so I pasted the article below...
Grandmother keeps fit by dancing - sometimes with teens
By NANCY CHURNIN / The Dallas Morning News
nchurnin@dallasnews.com
Genell Kelso has never liked to do what we usually think of as exercise.
Genell Kelso, 72, is taking a Dallas Summer Musicals dance class with teens including Brooks Vickery, 13 (left), and Katie Kelley, 14.
But the 72-year-old breast cancer survivor and Dallas grandmother of four keeps fit by doing what she likes to do: performing.
This month, she signed up for a song-and-dance class at Dallas Summer Musicals, a lone septuagenarian in a sea of teens.
When her application for the program came in, the DSM School of Musical Theatre's new director, Kevin Cook, thought it might be a mistake. Ms. Kelso received a call at home asking whether she knew that she would be the only one of her age in the class.
"I said, 'Yes, but I will keep up as best I can,' " she recalls during a lunchtime break in the workshop. "I said I hoped I would be able to live through it. But I figure I will because I'm too pinchpenny to drop out."
That was good enough for Mr. Cook. And on the second day of class, Lori Woods Smith, who has choreographed for the DSM School of Musical Theatre classes for 11 years, said that while she has never had a student of Ms. Kelso's age, she hasn't treated her differently.
"She did a great job," Ms. Woods Smith said after the morning session. "She has a great attitude."
The American College of Sports Medicine advises aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities for healthy aging. Among the recommendations for people over 65 is moderately intense aerobic exercise 30 minutes a day, five days a week. Singing "Toledo Surprise" while dancing the Charleston from The Drowsy Chaperone, as Ms. Kelso did on her second day of class, seems to fit the bill.
And one of the great things about what she's doing, as she would be the first to point out, is that anyone can do it. After all, she didn't get serious about dancing until after her first half-century.
El Centro professor
A working mom with three kids, Ms. Kelso was a founding faculty member at El Centro College and a professor there for 35 years. She took tap-dance classes at El Centro in the 1980s. But it wasn't until 1990, when her youngest child was in high school, that she became a founding member of Dallas Tap Dazzlers, a troupe of dancers 50 and older. They will perform in the Spectacular Senior Follies at the Eisemann Center in Richardson Sept. 5-7.
She's trying the musical theater class because she loves musicals and because "when I grow up, I would like to write musical comedies about aging and dying," she says.
Besides, she needs exercise, and walking and jogging bore her.
"What fun is it being on a hot sidewalk by yourself," she says, "when you can be in front of an audience with music and applause?"
The class will culminate in a free showcase called Curtain Up! that is open to the public at The Majestic Theater on Saturday. Along with the song from The Drowsy Chaperone and another from Jersey Boys, Ms. Kelso is to perform "Bop to the Top" from High School Musical with a hip-hop step.
Having fun
Ms. Kelso feels her age when she's sitting on the floor and has to get up quickly. But that's OK, she says. She's learned to laugh at herself. And she's having fun. Which is why this is her one piece of advice for others:
"Just get out of the chair and get it going," she says. "The more you do, the more you're able to do."
Grandmother keeps fit by dancing - sometimes with teens
By NANCY CHURNIN / The Dallas Morning News
nchurnin@dallasnews.com
Genell Kelso has never liked to do what we usually think of as exercise.
Genell Kelso, 72, is taking a Dallas Summer Musicals dance class with teens including Brooks Vickery, 13 (left), and Katie Kelley, 14.
But the 72-year-old breast cancer survivor and Dallas grandmother of four keeps fit by doing what she likes to do: performing.
This month, she signed up for a song-and-dance class at Dallas Summer Musicals, a lone septuagenarian in a sea of teens.
When her application for the program came in, the DSM School of Musical Theatre's new director, Kevin Cook, thought it might be a mistake. Ms. Kelso received a call at home asking whether she knew that she would be the only one of her age in the class.
"I said, 'Yes, but I will keep up as best I can,' " she recalls during a lunchtime break in the workshop. "I said I hoped I would be able to live through it. But I figure I will because I'm too pinchpenny to drop out."
That was good enough for Mr. Cook. And on the second day of class, Lori Woods Smith, who has choreographed for the DSM School of Musical Theatre classes for 11 years, said that while she has never had a student of Ms. Kelso's age, she hasn't treated her differently.
"She did a great job," Ms. Woods Smith said after the morning session. "She has a great attitude."
The American College of Sports Medicine advises aerobic and muscle-strengthening activities for healthy aging. Among the recommendations for people over 65 is moderately intense aerobic exercise 30 minutes a day, five days a week. Singing "Toledo Surprise" while dancing the Charleston from The Drowsy Chaperone, as Ms. Kelso did on her second day of class, seems to fit the bill.
And one of the great things about what she's doing, as she would be the first to point out, is that anyone can do it. After all, she didn't get serious about dancing until after her first half-century.
El Centro professor
A working mom with three kids, Ms. Kelso was a founding faculty member at El Centro College and a professor there for 35 years. She took tap-dance classes at El Centro in the 1980s. But it wasn't until 1990, when her youngest child was in high school, that she became a founding member of Dallas Tap Dazzlers, a troupe of dancers 50 and older. They will perform in the Spectacular Senior Follies at the Eisemann Center in Richardson Sept. 5-7.
She's trying the musical theater class because she loves musicals and because "when I grow up, I would like to write musical comedies about aging and dying," she says.
Besides, she needs exercise, and walking and jogging bore her.
"What fun is it being on a hot sidewalk by yourself," she says, "when you can be in front of an audience with music and applause?"
The class will culminate in a free showcase called Curtain Up! that is open to the public at The Majestic Theater on Saturday. Along with the song from The Drowsy Chaperone and another from Jersey Boys, Ms. Kelso is to perform "Bop to the Top" from High School Musical with a hip-hop step.
Having fun
Ms. Kelso feels her age when she's sitting on the floor and has to get up quickly. But that's OK, she says. She's learned to laugh at herself. And she's having fun. Which is why this is her one piece of advice for others:
"Just get out of the chair and get it going," she says. "The more you do, the more you're able to do."
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Make it a double
There are some days that I am very proud of being able to juggle working around the clock with raising two kids. Then there are all the other days.
I recently had one of those out of body experiences where you see yourself from above. I was holding my laptop in one hand and wiping down the kitchen counter with the other. The series of events that led to that particular maneuver are irrelevant. Viewing myself that way made me laugh out loud. Should anyone really be thinking about writing messaging for a client and cleaning up lunch box messes at the same time? Because I do that juggling act for about 15 hours a day.
Then the weekend comes and we spend so much energy trying to keep up with the kids that by the end of it we need a weekend to recover from the weekend! Today Dylan is really perfecting his hair-pulling technique. Even managed to pull Kelsie to the ground by her hair. Impressive. It has taken me an hour just to write this because I have stopped repeatedly to separate them, get the light bulb out of Dylan's hand (don't ask), wrap Kelsie's hair in a bandana so Dylan can't pull it, refill milk cups, fix a snack, change a diaper, help with the potty, catch a chair just before it gets pulled to the ground, etc. Next interruption (I hope) will be a coffee break for mommy. Or a tequila break. Either way.
I recently had one of those out of body experiences where you see yourself from above. I was holding my laptop in one hand and wiping down the kitchen counter with the other. The series of events that led to that particular maneuver are irrelevant. Viewing myself that way made me laugh out loud. Should anyone really be thinking about writing messaging for a client and cleaning up lunch box messes at the same time? Because I do that juggling act for about 15 hours a day.
Then the weekend comes and we spend so much energy trying to keep up with the kids that by the end of it we need a weekend to recover from the weekend! Today Dylan is really perfecting his hair-pulling technique. Even managed to pull Kelsie to the ground by her hair. Impressive. It has taken me an hour just to write this because I have stopped repeatedly to separate them, get the light bulb out of Dylan's hand (don't ask), wrap Kelsie's hair in a bandana so Dylan can't pull it, refill milk cups, fix a snack, change a diaper, help with the potty, catch a chair just before it gets pulled to the ground, etc. Next interruption (I hope) will be a coffee break for mommy. Or a tequila break. Either way.
Friday, July 11, 2008
We've got this whole parenting thing figured out
When the kids act up ....
Okay, for the record, it was Kelsie's idea and she jumped in while my back was turned. Then Dylan followed her. See, they were happy ...
That is the kennel of Gigi, the pug from upstairs that we're keeping for the week. Here's the snoring butterball herself ...
Okay, for the record, it was Kelsie's idea and she jumped in while my back was turned. Then Dylan followed her. See, they were happy ...
That is the kennel of Gigi, the pug from upstairs that we're keeping for the week. Here's the snoring butterball herself ...
Thursday, July 10, 2008
My life in bullets
I've been struggling to find time (and mental energy) to blog lately, so here's a quick update.
* Kelsie is transforming into a teenager before our eyes. She's suddenly tall and thin (but her squeezable cheeks are still holding out) and she has so much attitude that I wonder if she's already hitting puberty. The other day she performed her first stomp-to-her-room-and-slam-the-door act to demonstrate that she was mad at me. And only me. She made a point to interact with Daddy while intentionally ignoring me.
* She is in summer school now. Remember when that used to be a bad thing? This is more like regular school with some field trips thrown in. She's thrilled to get to go on a school bus next week. She told Brian, "I'm going to go on a school bus, Daddy. Geez."
* Dylan has discovered the joys of standing on anything he can. That includes grocery carts (despite being strapped in), rocking chairs (even though it won't hold still for him), and beds (and he can bounce up there too!).
* If anyone has suggestions on how to get him to stop throwing his food, I'm all ears. The dog is getting fat.
* Dylan tackled Kelsie and took her to the ground last night. Brian's response: "I know he shouldn't do that, but it was just so fundamentally correct. He threw his shoulder into her mid-section, wrapped her up and took her down! I'm just so proud. We have to find a pee wee football league. He could take down 20-month olds."
* "Shut up your mouth," said Kelsie.
* On the positive side, she continues to amaze us with her nurturing instincts. She just adores Dylan. And she's eagerly trying to learn to read. The other day she was cutting pictures out of a magazine and cut out the word MOM, gave it to me and told me it said mom. She is really into artwork lately, but she calls it work. She tells us she has an important appointment and then will sit at the table coloring and cutting and muttering things like, "work, work, work" or "I wish I could come sit on your lap but I have too much work to do."
* And Dylan gives the best hugs and is starting to give (slobbery) kisses upon request. Almost makes up for the determined look in his eye right before he does something wrong. Almost.
* We went to DC last weekend for 4th of July and met Karen (sister), Steve (brother-in-law), Chris (nephew who is as tall as his dad now) and Rachel (niece) there. Very fun. Except for Dylan's refusal to sleep the first night, his teething, and the rain shower that threatened to ruin the fireworks. But it all worked out. We even caught the kids in a cute and very rare moment of both of them holding still at the same time:
This picture was taken at the restaurant where we met Christine Salvo (aka Tina T) and family, and the kids were wild enough that Christine and Steve probably vowed never to have another.
* I'm sure there's more that I'm forgetting right now.
So there you have it. My life in bullets.
* Kelsie is transforming into a teenager before our eyes. She's suddenly tall and thin (but her squeezable cheeks are still holding out) and she has so much attitude that I wonder if she's already hitting puberty. The other day she performed her first stomp-to-her-room-and-slam-the-door act to demonstrate that she was mad at me. And only me. She made a point to interact with Daddy while intentionally ignoring me.
* She is in summer school now. Remember when that used to be a bad thing? This is more like regular school with some field trips thrown in. She's thrilled to get to go on a school bus next week. She told Brian, "I'm going to go on a school bus, Daddy. Geez."
* Dylan has discovered the joys of standing on anything he can. That includes grocery carts (despite being strapped in), rocking chairs (even though it won't hold still for him), and beds (and he can bounce up there too!).
* If anyone has suggestions on how to get him to stop throwing his food, I'm all ears. The dog is getting fat.
* Dylan tackled Kelsie and took her to the ground last night. Brian's response: "I know he shouldn't do that, but it was just so fundamentally correct. He threw his shoulder into her mid-section, wrapped her up and took her down! I'm just so proud. We have to find a pee wee football league. He could take down 20-month olds."
* "Shut up your mouth," said Kelsie.
* On the positive side, she continues to amaze us with her nurturing instincts. She just adores Dylan. And she's eagerly trying to learn to read. The other day she was cutting pictures out of a magazine and cut out the word MOM, gave it to me and told me it said mom. She is really into artwork lately, but she calls it work. She tells us she has an important appointment and then will sit at the table coloring and cutting and muttering things like, "work, work, work" or "I wish I could come sit on your lap but I have too much work to do."
* And Dylan gives the best hugs and is starting to give (slobbery) kisses upon request. Almost makes up for the determined look in his eye right before he does something wrong. Almost.
* We went to DC last weekend for 4th of July and met Karen (sister), Steve (brother-in-law), Chris (nephew who is as tall as his dad now) and Rachel (niece) there. Very fun. Except for Dylan's refusal to sleep the first night, his teething, and the rain shower that threatened to ruin the fireworks. But it all worked out. We even caught the kids in a cute and very rare moment of both of them holding still at the same time:
This picture was taken at the restaurant where we met Christine Salvo (aka Tina T) and family, and the kids were wild enough that Christine and Steve probably vowed never to have another.
* I'm sure there's more that I'm forgetting right now.
So there you have it. My life in bullets.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)
