Friendships Odd and Otherwise

I am pretty sure at some point Lisa and I are going to get kicked out of exercise class. We don't mean to be rowdy. It just comes naturally I think. Like the other day when I fell off my exercise ball and everyone laughed for ten minutes....it really wasn't my fault. For one thing, we have class above a bar. This plays into why I fell off....just give me a bit here. Well, OK, it's the VFW in Potsdam, which is...well....a bar. Veterans of Foreign War hang out spot I guess you could call it. 

Anyhow, the VFW has one door to get in. Obviously you have to be member or using their upstairs party room for exercise class. So, some days you wander past the long bar and there is only one old guy nursing a drink who winks at you on your way by. Other days there are nine or ten old guys that invite every single girl who walk by for class to have a drink. One day, I was offered pizza. I had a hard time with that one. Pizza or sweating....I know you all know what I wanted to pick. 

I like to think we might help increase their attendance. It used to freak me out but now I laugh and ask them to come up for class. 

It could be worse. 

Mirrors for instance while exercising are bad. So are glass windows so the rest of the gym can see your "moves" or lack thereof. I know the old dudes on the stools aren't judging. They are happy to see legs sticking out of Yoga pants in December. That is pretty rare in Upstate NY. 

So, I fell off my ball in the midst of four or five other girls who have done equally retarded things themselves. 

Luckily I fell onto my mat. Normal people use theirs for padding. Not me. I use mine to avoid the floor at the VFW. Their parties look to be very good as sometimes the floors are sticky and gross. Mopping is always an option, but I manage to avoid any heavy lifting in that department by coming in late. 

Our fearless instructor can sometimes be found mopping but it's a long process to get a whole party's worth of sticky off that floor that is older than I am. But, hey, she gets super cheap rent so our class prices are super low. It all works. 

Slightly before I fell off my ball, Lisa swore. Well, everyone else claimed she swore. Me, I just heard talking. 

We are both from the construction type industry where swearing is a way of communication. 

She said a word that starts with an f, added the word THAT in the middle and a word that sounds like ship at the end. It was a meaningful phrase. 

Let me translate:  My back is hurting, this ball is really making me mad, and I don't want to fall off. 

See?

Plus, she was in the middle of telling a story talking over the instructor's directions, so I suppose that is why everyone heard her. 

So, back to me falling off my ball. I was just trying to be a good friend and helping everyone forget about Lisa's little slip-up. Yeah, that is what I'm going with!!! AND, extra bonus, the giggling got going and everyone was exercising their ab muscles. See? 

Anyhow, along that same line, Shirley once said Only Lisa and I could get in trouble in Potsdam. So, the fire department almost came because the store alarm was going off at Big Lots. No biggie. THAT is a story for another day.

Anyhow, Shirley is quite safe. I have never gotten in trouble with her yet. There is still time and border crossings into Canada.

Anyhow, Shirley made the most lovely of boxes for me for Christmas the other day. Isn't it sweet! My  favorite part is the striped paper on the side and that blue and purple flower on the front! I have it holding scrap paper right now on my work table. It's making me happy as it's close by but also hiding scraps and things I want to recycle onto a page. Plus, it is pretty storage!

Happy Friday to you and don't fall off any exercise balls.