Possible Remedy for the Blahs

In an attempt to wrest myself from the grip of this seasonal depression or whatever it is, I decided to take a drastic step.

I exercised.

Not just a walk, either (because it's 80 degrees below zero outside), but an actual get-your-heart-rate up, aeorbic, weight-bearing exercise session.

See, I figured that one of the reasons I am so tired all the time is the fact that I'm not getting any a lot of exercise. Even though it goes against everything I believe in as a card-carrying Lazy Person (credo: When tired, lie down).

On Sunday I selected one of the many exercise tapes I've accumulated over the years (before the kids were born, I worked out semi-regularly) and informed the kids that we were going to exercise. "Oooh! Can I do some extracises, too?" asked Sean.

Let me tell you, doing one of these tapes with children presents challenges over and above the ones that typically confront me -- I always have trouble with complicated foot and arm motions, for example, and tend to give up midway through any abdominal routine. But with the kids watching (they gave up participating within a few minutes), I also had to contend with the following:

--Allie climbing on my back as I attempted to do modified wimpy pushups.
--Allie needing immediate and repeated intervention as she got herself dressed on the couch.
--Sean informing me that I needed to be doing what the instructor was doing instead of standing there, staring, at a routine that was beyond my limited capacity for weight-lifting.
--Allie needing immediate and, thankfully, one-time intervention as she used the potty.
--Tripping over trains and train tracks that somehow had worked their way into my exercise space.

Still, I completed one 45-minute tape and did not collapse in a heap of exhaustion. I think I just might try another one sometime soon. Perhaps with a little less participation from the peanut gallery next time.