The Mom Weekly Volume 79: February 11, 2025
You can read this, or any other previous Mom Weeklies, by going to the home page here.
Notes:
I was actually looking for something else when this post popped up, and I laughed and laughed all over again. Please enjoy!
Also, today is the birthday of my youngest sister and one of your aunts, so be sure to wish her a happy birthday! It is also Our Lady of Lourdes, and World Day of the Sick.
Remember how much I love you,
Mom
The Ball in My Head (From the Vault: July 2009)
Earlier this week, Max had a “feber” as he used to like to say, and was quiet and under the weather for a day or so. At several times he talked about “the ball in my head,” as in, “Mommy, the ball in my head hurts when I cough” or “I have a ball in my head.” It means a headache. It’s actually a really good image.
This is similar to his regular question “how many motors do you have?” to ask how much energy you are feeling. “Mom, how many motors do you have? I have 100!!” to which I reply, “A lot, but not 100.”
This morning, in my continuing “training” for the Seattle sprint distance triathlon in a month (I’ll be doing it with my sisters), I ran 3 miles, and then decided to go to a fitness class at the gym. We joined this gym that our family joined in May so I could swim laps. We’ve all enjoyed going to the pool, and taking advantage of the gym and the classes.
On Monday, I attended my first Body Pump class. Fortunately a friend who belongs to the gym went along with me and introduced me to the instructor. There were a few of us first-timers, in a fairly large class of women of all ages at the noon class It is basically an aerobic weight-lifting class, and exactly what I need because I don’t lift weights and can’t seem to figure out the machines. Lifting weights is good for building strength and endurance and preventing injuries, all things I’m for. The class was truly enjoyable, and I chatted with my friend, the ladies around me, and the instructor afterwards.
Today’s about the first day I wasn’t too sore to consider going again. It was suggested that suggest you try to do Body Pump twice a week.
This morning, what a difference! Same music, same routine. But huge, huge numbers of people, lots of age ranges though mostly in the 20s. There were a majority of men, some even around my age. Some couples of various sizes and ages. I thought, maybe I will try to get Sir to attend one of these with me, as it is really a good workout.
The only problem I encountered at first was I wondered about club etiquette of where to place my weights and mat, etc., since there was so little room in the gym half. The class was taught by a man/woman team. Were they married? Dating? Don’t know, even though they were chit-chatting back and forth the whole hour because once it started the MUSIC WAS SO UNBELIEVABLY LOUD I COULDN’T HEAR A THING.
The instructions, the banter about their kayaking trip (maybe?) —at least that’s what I THINK they were talking about—COMPLETELY DROWNED OUT in music about 10x louder than the weekday class.
I looked around, but no one else seemed to NOTICE. During the break times between types of exercise, I literally put my hands over my ears. At one point the male instructor turned down the music to talk about form in a particular exercise, and I thought, please, for the love of all that is good, please keep the volume there. But no, once he screamed, “IT’S ALL DOWNHILL FROM HERE,” he turned up the music even louder than before, if that is possible.
I left the class with my muscles well-worked, my ears ringing, and a firm resolution to never attend the 8 a.m. Saturday class EVER AGAIN.
I called one of my sisters on the way home to chat and said, “If it seems like I’m screaming, here’s why,…” and she screamed, “Okay!”. On purpose, I didn’t call the sister who thinks I speak too loud sometimes. You know who you are 🙂
When I got home, I told Sir that the ball in my head hurt. He reported that before he had his coffee, Max sought his help putting together something Lego, and that gave him a ball in his head. The coffee helped.
Interesting/Notable:
Twelve Dudes and a Hype Tunnel: Scenes from the ‘Super Bowl for Excel Nerds’ –NY Times gift link.
Nerd alert! Nerd alert! Spreadsheet competition! This is wonderful.
The Agony of Adoring Online Dogs—NY Times gift link
I know many of us have followed Norbert, and this article features him prominently. A sweet read.
An Action Item: Consider Filing An Extension for Your Tax Return (even if you plan to file it on time)
This is such an interesting concept, and something I had never heard of before.
Basically, this tax attorney explains how you can prevent getting an IRS notice years after you made a mistake on your taxes. This is just a little over 7 minutes—well worth watching. My takeaway from this is to check my IRS transcript, and to file an extension