Gym-nastics

Tomorrow, I'm joining a new gym. The timing is good. The three-year, sell-your-soul contract at our old gym expired last month, just in time for me to make some new exercise buddies on www.sparkpeople.com who happen to go to a gym that couldn't be closer to my house unless it were actually paying dues in my HOA.

I'm a little bit sad. There were a lot of things I disliked about my old gym, and it was rapidly going downhill. The chain is in bankruptcy, the class schedule was being whittled away to nothing, and the locker rooms were gross even for locker rooms. But it was familiar. After 3 years of hanging out with people while you're sweaty, you feel comfortable around them, and it was kind of a bummer to just let my membership expire without even realizing it (I got a nasty automated e-mail that said "Our records show you used your card on this date. Your card is expired. Nice try, sucker - it's now been deactivated.") Also, the 2 or 3 remaining classes that I liked, I REALLY liked. One of my weird and useless superpowers is that I'm pretty good at step aerobics, and I enjoyed being in an advanced class where the music is fast and the combinations are complicated without being nonsensical (except for the rare occasions where we had that dumb sub with the notecards). I haven't yet been to one of the step classes at my new gym, but I'm already afraid it's going to be boring. Granted, one of the draws is that there are a bazillion other classes I can take, but still: I like step class. And I really liked MY step class. So, regardless of whether this one's OK or not, I'm kind of bummed.

I'm not one of those people who hate change, but I'm also not one of those people who get bored and want change for change's sake. I wish I could find a gym that had the best of all possible worlds (meaning that the pool schedule at this new gym wouldn't suck so bad, and that when my old gym finally goes under that the instructor I like would get a job at the new one). That's not going to happen, and so I'm moving on. This place is clean, reasonably priced, ridiculously close, has a packed class schedule with lots of spinning, and I already have friends who work out there. Plus, in addition to being practically on my back doorstep, there's a second location that is close enough to my office that I can actually get there and get changed in time to make a 5:30 p.m. class on a weekday. So, it'll be good. It was definitely time. But I'm still a little wistful about the things I can't have.

In other news, I am terribly behind on knitting pictures.

Have finished, but not photographed or put on ravelry:

1) Brown heathered Cascade hat with a lining and matching gloves for the spouse
2) Lime green Kathmandu aran hat with weird yellow Lavish alpaca lining for me (love it)
3) Hat identical to the above except with black flecked Kathmandu and black Lavish. That one was duplicate stitched on the inside and mailed off to a friend... without being photographed or ravelry posted, because I am L
4) Long green lace-paneled arm warmers out of camel yarn that I'm not sure I like
5) Violent purple cabled handwarmers that I knit while I was talking and therefore paid not nearly enough attention to construction and design
6) Green sweater for my husband that I'm thinking about surgically altering because I hate the way the neckline fits and wish I'd planned ahead. Problem: I knit it top-down.
7) A miniscule messenger bag for a toy. Also mailed without photography, again because I'm lazy.
8) One of my toe-up Trekking entrelac knee socks, after I did major surgery (i.e. complete amputation of the toe)


I have so many things in progress right now... a couple of pairs of socks, a shawl, two sweaters, a blanket. There are more things in my head and in my stash. I actually did take pictures of some laceweight for purposes of ravelry destashment, but again, not posted. I'll get to it all eventually.

... sort of like blogging about things that aren't dull. sigh.