I have been struggling with some numbness and muscle atrophy in my right leg from my ordeal with pancreatitis. Here it is, almost 4 years later, and I have yet to resolve my problem. Since last year, I have been to 2 different neurologists and 3 different internists. Having to change all my doctors since moving, and changing insurance has been such a huge hassle. I was getting nowhere fast. The latest theory that my recent neurologist said was that I suffered a stroke while I was in ICU, and that could be the cause of my "partial paralysis". What???
Getting fed up and frustrated, I got a harebrained idea. I decided to visit my oldest sister (MD)and her husband (I'll call him El Trainer), who live in Orlando, Florida. El Trainer is a personal trainer so I thought, I could go there and have a place to stay. I decided to do this for one whole month because I heard that in order to get into a habit, you have to do something for 30 days straight. I shared this idea with MD, and she was thrilled as well as El Trainer. I presented the idea to RT. He, of course, was fully supportive. Now, many of you may say, how could we be apart for so long? Remember, last year, we lived apart for quite a few months; although, we saw each other on the weekends. We knew the time would go by fast.
I bought my plane tickets. Now I am committed...no turning back...
I noted my daily workouts and thoughts about this whole personal training journey in a blog called http://theritetobarearms.blogspot.com/. It is not completely finished yet; so stay tuned.
Here are some highlights from my Florida journey. Now remember, this was not a vacation, so no trips to Gatorland, Walt Disney World, etc. I did meet some of MD's and El Trainer's friends and hung out with them a few times---such nice, giving people!
Before I came out, my sister got laid off from a company that she's been with for about 10 years. It was very bad timing, but I feel that it was meant to happen. The bonus for all my training was that I got to spend a lot of time with MD. We giggled, we cried, we reminisced, and really spent a lot of quality time together. It was so good to get to know each other as adults. MD and I hardly get to spend time with each other because everytime she visits, it's usually for 10 days at a time and the whole family is involved. One of things that I encouraged her to do was to really go after her passion. Did she want to be in the rat race again in terms of a job? She's been in the banking industry all her adult life and the latest job was as a Benefits Coordinator. She didn't love her job and couldn't see herself doing it again. MD loves to bake, and she is always giving her desserts away since she and El Trainer aren't going to eat it! Everyone always says that she should go into business. Easier said than done, right? I started digging around for some culinary schools in the area, and voila! Right in Orlando, there is Le Cordon Bleu patisserie and baking program at Orlando Culinary Adacemy. We toured the school, talked to an admissions couselor, she applied, and she was accepted and begins this fall! I am so excited for her!
One of El Trainer's passions is to work with Akita rescue. MD and El Trainer have 2 Akita dogs, Nakita and Kenji. Kenji they adopted last year at the rescue. El Trainer loves to work with these dogs and their hope is to start fostering Akitas. If you're not familiar with Akitas, they are a Japanese breed of dog from the Akita prefecture in Japan. They are a very willful creatures and have predator instincts--meaning, this breed isn't for everyone. I was privileged to visit the Akita rescue in Jacksonville, here is a link to the organization http://www.arsf.org/. It was an amazing experience.
Besides training, which was 3 days on, 1 day off, there was a lot of down time. I spent the bulk of it helping MD organize a lot of files, running errands, shopping, and talking. There was a lot of rain, which turned out ok since it kept the heat at bay. Central Florida is the lightening capital of the world, and I definitely got my fill of lightening and thunder! The day after I left, there was 100% humidty, so I lucked out! The time passed quickly and I was very saddened to leave. I will treasure the time I spent with MD and El Trainer. They were such gracious hosts, and thought of everything for my stay there. I hope when I go back it will be for MD's graduation from the Culinary Academy. Go Gators!
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