It’s been a while since I have blogged but I thought it was time to check in and let you know that I am alive! What better day then on my Mom’s birthday to boot? Happy Birthday Jude!! Whoot!! It’s scary making a move across country when you only know one other person, but, after 8 full months, I am finally taking a deep breath and diving right in. I am doing things I never knew I had an interest in doing. There have been changes in the Vacca household and I have to admit that I am liking what I see!
In an effort to meet people and get my exercise on I joined a gym. Not just any gym but a training gym. A boxing gym if you will. Think Rocky Balboa and Apollo Creed’s gym but with light…and women…and what I can only imagine would be better smelling. Here. It looks like this:
I am not much of a fan of just running on a treadmill or up and down the street alone. All the music in the world can be playing and yet I still lose my motivation pretty fast. I’ve tried the weight lifting routine alone as well, yet still the same result. I pretty much run a lap, lift 5 lb. weights about 3 times and “I’m done!…Phew!” Yeah. Not working for me. One reason I thrived with intenSati was the cool people surrounding me and being able to feed off the inspiration they were pouring out selflessly. It really was a good time and I miss that. What I also missed, however, was something hard-core. When I worked out with Adam my favorite days were the kick-boxing days. Nothing like punching or kicking the crap out of something, or someone, to release some tension. With that in mind, I specifically went looking for a cardio kick-boxing class. I found anything but when I joined Team Universal. This is one bad ass mofo establishment!! I knew I might be in over my head when, on day 1, I was told to lose the socks and sneakers because it’s all done in the buff. Ew! Really? This does not bode well for my OCD but I figure at least now I have a real excuse to get a pedicure often. I can be tough and fight the fungus, but I REFUSE to have ugly toes in the process! I also looked around for cool LuLuLemon or Lucy wear; something stylish. Unless they start making mouth guards and Thai shorts I may as well look elsewhere. This is a bare bones boxing gym which specializes in Muay Thai (which is what I am a student of) and Ju Jitsu among other MMA programs. It is broken down into areas for students who just want fitness, those who want to spar, and those whose main goal is to become a fighter. Right now I am in fitness mode. I doubt I will ever be in fighting mode but the coaches in there train you as if you are. I wanted hard-core. I guess I better be more specific with my requests in the future. There are days when I am actually participating and thinking, “WTF are you doing here and why are you wearing such heinous shorts?” (Beginners are considered “green” meaning we don’t know squat and we are told to wear green, and I do mean GREEN, Thai shorts.) So I stand around looking like Kermit in the St. Patty’s Day parade and I practice my kicks and my punches, work up a sweat, learn a few things and head home. I think I like it. It’s been 2 months and I still cannot decide. Sometimes I love it and other times I need to remind myself to take it seriously because, by not doing so, I am shitting all over someone else’s goals and that’s not cool. The UFIT program does rock though. It’s all about Kettle Bells, ab work, circuit training, HIIT, plyometrics, etc…It’s exactly what I was looking for and a nice balance to Muay Thai.
I also turned in Maxine (my Nissan Maxima for those who don’t know who she is) for Ruby! Ruby is my new 2012 Jeep Wrangler 2DR Sport. She is a gorgeous deep cherry pearl red and it was love at first sight. Ever since Maxine was raped of her tires and basically assaulted there have been issues. Warning lights of all kinds kept flashing on and off, a rock hit her window while I was driving and she needed a new windshield, and I scratched and dinged her up quite a bit just trying to get into and out of my own garage! I loved her but I gotta say…she had some baaaaad juju, not to mention the fact that she was way too big a vehicle for the desert. This is Jeep country and, being as I always wanted a Jeep, I thought, why not now? It was a pretty easy decision once I found a dealership willing to work with me. Check out the wheels on her! Isn’t she a beaut??
The very next day I joined the Cactus 4 Wheelers. They are a LGBT Jeep club which does not discriminate against straight and questioning folks. It’s for everyone to get together, have a good time and 4 wheel!! I posted one pic and one comment on their FB page, ended up conversing with 4 of them to total 124 comments and then, 2 hours later, found myself in the desert learning the ropes with my new friend Teri! She took me literally INTO the desert!! I was weaving in and out of cactuses and desert bushes and taking on mounds of rock and dirt. It was awesome!!!! The one thing that truly sucked was this jackass hiding out in the bushes taking our picture. He said he was going to report us because we were destroying wild life. That was not even close to being the truth but I guess I will need to wait and see if I’m going to jail or not. My question is how he got out there in his 4×4 without destroying the wild life? Hmmm. Anyway, we had a great time and I was happy to get her out and let her strut her stuff. I promise you that land and animals were not harmed in the process. Insects may have been murdered and I am A-OK with that! What also kinda sucked is that Ruby was a hot mess after the fact. HOT. MESS. She was filthy dirty and I had the shakes because of it. I was willing a car wash to be open late but I didn’t think they were so I have to suck it up and drive around in this sandstorm of a vehicle! Seriously! I got dirt on the INSIDE just from rolling down the windows!! I know that this is a dirty sport and I admit that I am the very LAST person who should be participating but….I LOVE it!!! I may as resign myself to the fact that I need to be part owner of said car wash. I choose to look at this as therapy for my OCD. I wonder if I can write it off as a medical expense?
So all is well out here in Arizona. I am loving my apartment and my awesome neighbors. My Sweets and I have even been invited to their wedding at the end of March. They are a hoot to hang out with! It actually feels like HOME. I plan to finalize that feeling with a puppy sometime after April (more on that when the time is right.) I have gotten out more, taken road trips to some really beautiful spots on the weekends and just been relaxing and living my life. I was driving down the highway yesterday on a gorgeous 80 degree day, with the tops off of Ruby and just looking at the mountain views. In that moment everything just felt….right. I miss my family and I miss my friends but this is where I want to be right now. Life truly is good!
Oh yeah…one of my new friends from the gym asked me if I was interested in joining a gun club! She and the ladies go shooting on Friday nights. WTF!?? Really!!?? I forgot I am in a state where it’s legal to be armed. It’s nuts!! I didn’t give her a definitive answer yet. Between Muay Thai and off-roading I feel like I have butched up enough to BE the entire gay pride parade, or at least the dykes on bikes portion. If I join the shooting club I am basically one heterosexual experience away from becoming Sarah Palin. That’s something that will require some serious thought!
Until next time…..
xo
