130

We've been trying to get fit in our house, and it ain't been easy.  Santa brought us Wii Fit a couple years ago and we went mad with it for a while, I got down under 200 pounds, a weight I've not seen in many years.  Then the Wii Fit was no longer so new and fun.  I hate taking a walk just to be taking a walk - I like to have a destination in mind.  (And no, skinny doesn't count as a destination.)  In decent weather, I'm more than willing to walk my errands. I hate driving, anyway, and it's better for both me and the planet.  But to walk my errands meant taking the brat along a major highway.

We've been taking Family Walks in the evenings.  Thinking of it as family time seems to negate my aversion to not having a destination.  The brat is almost nine years old and generally rides his bike, leaving us pokey adults in his wake, but he knows now how to avoid getting splatted.  The route we take is roughly three miles.  THREE MILES!  No wonder my legs hurt!

After we got the Wii Fit and I lost weight, I felt a lot better.  I could bring the trash cans up from the foot of the driveway without sounding like Darth Vader...  well, in the lazy period between, I started puffing again. With these walks, I'm getting back to almost breathing normally.  I have more energy and just generally feel better.  With school starting back up, I'll be walking him to and from (at least until it's too cold), and trying to work the Wii Fit back into my daily routine.

I've always loved my fruits and veggies, so the only thing stopping me from snacking well is the fact that a Kit Kat is cheaper than a kiwi.  I've always liked fish and poultry better than red meat, too, so that's a plus.  I think the biggest obstacle is simply inertia.  Once I get moving, I'm good, but there are days it's all I can do to get out of bed.  Many days I just go through the motions of my chores and then plop down with my computer.

The computer is not gonna help me get into shape.  It helps fight off The Demon and keeps my creative juices flowing, but it isn't gonna do much for my physical health.  I don't want to be so fat that pulling my weight on a bike makes my knees ache for hours.  I don't wanna be winded after checking the mail.  It's no secret I've been suicidal and that I'm frequently depressed, but most of the time I want to live into my nineties.

Back in the day, I weighted 130 pounds and thought I was fat.  Now the doctors tell me 130 is a good ideal weight for me.  Maybe I should find an old photo of me in those days - healthy, fit, active - and attach it not to the fridge door but to the computer.  Make myself a rule... no writing, no Internet, until I've had at least my half-hour of exercise.

Sins of The Father

There's a lot of stuff in the Bible that people take as commandments that I think are really just guidelines.  Like "Judge not, lest ye be judged".  Isn't that kinda like saying "Don't be human"?  Judging folks is part of human nature, like it or not.  Lots of folks forget that this is followed up with something about being measured by the same standards you're using... So really, it doesn't say not to judge.  It's saying not to be a hypocrite - always good advice.  I try to limit my judging of people to how they treat others, since I strive to treat everyone well.

But that one isn't really what's on my mind today.  I'm actually thinking more of the line about the sins of the father being visited upon the next seven generations.  Is that really fair?  Should I be punished for something an ancestor I may not even be able to name did?  I know when I was in school, there were teachers who saw my surname on the class list and immediately decided what I'd be like.  Which is kind of funny, since I'm actually not much like my siblings.  And they aren't much like each other.  It was my mother, really, that the teachers disliked.  If you crossed one of her kids - or even if she just perceived that you did - she descended upon the school like the Wrath of God.  Now, I'm all for parents keeping the schools in line.  Too many parents don't do that and the kids suffer for it.  But she went to war with the school over a required assignment in a required class once.  She ranted about my brother's dyslexia until they put him in a class far below his level.  Things like that.  Things that made them dread the name Schmidt showing up on their rosters.  

There was one teacher who I agreed with - she was an English teacher and had a serious problem with the word "ain't".  My mother went to war with her over it, but the only time I felt Mother was right was when the teacher tried to punish my brother for using the word in the dime store.  After all, it was her job to teach proper English and "ain't" is not proper English.  By the time I went through high school, she was one of the teachers whose classes I was forbidden to take.  Even if I wanted to.  I bet the other teachers were jealous.

Yeah, we apples usually don't fall far from the tree.  We generally mimic the beliefs and values of those who raised us. The sins of your father will be visited upon you for seven generations, but not because God is punishing you.  It's because of - say it with me - Human Nature.  As a general rule, my mother's kids were a pain in the collective teachers' ass.  They were right to moan upon seeing that name on the roster.  

Now, there are some apples who fall really far from the tree.  Sometimes a good family has a rotten apple. Sometimes a Sirius Black happens.  (That's a Harry Potter reference, by the way.  Sirius was a good apple that fell from a rotten tree.)  This is why "He didn't get that from my side of the family" was invented. The sins of your father will be visited back upon you for seven generations, not because God is punishing you, but because your ancestors shape who you are.