Routine routine

Oops, I forgot to post this routine on Wednesday. One woman fell in step class, but she was OK.

knee corner to corner 8
knee straddle 8
knee corner to corner 8

scoop right 8
L step right
scoop left 8
L step left

grapevine RLR
step side 1
side leg lift (off right end) 3
knee back
grapevine LRL
step side 1
side leg lift (off left end) 3
knee back

basic right 2
V step right 2
repeater knee right
ham corner to corner
basic left 2
V step left 2
repeater knee left
ham corner to corner

jump shot right 8
over top 3, walk round 1
jump shot left 8
over top 3, walk round 1

Gardening; aerobics

In gardening news, my neighbor's son hauled away all the yard debris I had piled up over the spring and summer. Four bags worth of large but cuttable debris was left, as well as mulch-like leaves that I will work my newly cleared patch in front of my sunroom. I'm hoping with that and the spent annuals from my container garden, I will have enough organic material to enrich the soil without buying amendments.

I had my largest aerobics class so far today, six people, including my gym supervisor. I think I like the routine below the best of the five I've created so far. I had almost all the transitions worked out, and it's pretty simple.

V-step right 8
V-step left 8
V-step alternate 8

ham curl corner to corner 8
ham curl straddle 8
ham curl corner to corner 8

Charleston kick right 8
Charleston kick left 8

basic right 4
basic left 4
staggered basic right 4
basic right 4
basic left 4
staggered basic left 4

side leg lift right 8
side leg lift left 8
side leg lift straddle 8

glute squeeze alternate 8
glute squeeze straddle 8 (moving back to end of step)
T-step alternate 8

March on top 8
lunge right left 8
switch to front, lunge back 8
march on top 4
march on floor 4

Stepping along

I felt today's step class went more smoothly. I only had one mambo and one straddle. Simpler is better, so far.

I now have four routines. I want to have a stash of eight, plus two non-step routines, so I can memorize those and use them throughout the session.

Turn step 8
over the top 3, walk around 4

L step regular 4
L step w/kick 4

basic right 4
staggered basic right 8
basic right 4, basic left 4
staggered basic left 8
basic left 4, basic right 4

knee straddle 8
march on top 8
lunge 16
march on top 8, face front, march 4
step down 4

1 mambo right, 1 heel hit right 4
l mambo left, 1 heel hit right 4
alternate

Step complexity

I got several combinations from an step program on FitTV, but I think I made today's step routine too complicated. The four class participants seemed to have great difficulty with the mambo straddle, despite my doing the steps half-time and repeating them many, many times. Here is the routine. I didn't even get to the last two combos, because I spend so much time repeating the mambo straddle.

mambo straddle right 8
knee alternate 6
triple knee 1
repeat on left

2 knee repeater right
step tap right, step tap left
2 knee repeater left
step tap left, step tap right

side leg lift right 8
side leg lift left 8

step right, left knee straddle 8
step left, right knee straddle 8

march on top 8
left knee squat side, up, squat back 8
march on top 8
right knee squat side, up, squat back 8

L step regular 4
L step kick 4
L step box step 4

Knee straddle around the world 4

mambo right 1
heel hit right 1
alternate 8

Grounds for improvement

This was my backyard. Years of neglect left it overrun with misshappen boxwood and holly shrubs, trash trees and English ivy.

Below is my yard after I cleared the brush and dug up the bush stumps.

Hotel Reviews

I visited my brother and sister-in-law in the San Francisco/Oakland over Labor Day weekend. I posted a review of the Marriott Courtyard Oakland Airport, where I stayed:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g32810-d223961-r5802119-Courtyard_Oakland_Airport-Oakland_California.html

Mine is the one by the Baltimore, Md., member.

Here are links to my reviews of other hotels:

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g60763-d99371-r2998745-Courtyard_New_York_Manhattan_Midtown_East-New_York_City_New_York.html

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g60763-d99391-r3598987-Courtyard_New_York_Manhattan_Fifth_Avenue-New_York_City_New_York.html

http://www.tripadvisor.com/ShowUserReviews-g186338-d195155-r2785808-Hyatt_Regency_The_Churchill-London_England.html

Again, I am the Baltimore member.

I highly recommend TripAdvisor. Use it to select where you're going to stay, and contribute so others can benefit from your experience.

Lanai photo

Tangle of tree limbs on Lanai.

Saving money while gardening

After spending most of the spring and summer clearing the bushes, roots, trash trees and other overgrowth around my house, I'm left with a pile of yard debris about eight feet long, four feet wide and five feet high. It includes branches up to six feet long or as much as three inches thick, and some roots/stumps that weigh as much as 20 pounds. I checked a national junk hauler's Web site, and estimated it would cost more than $500 to haul the debris away.

But my neighbors cut down a tree in their side yard this month. Besides removing some of the dense shade, which will allow me to plant a wider variety of plants, they are also left with a pile of big, heavy yard debris. They plan to hire their son and son-in-law to haul the stuff away in their truck. So I'm going to pay for half and have the young men haul my debris off at the same time.

That's way better than my plan to cut the big stuff into smaller pieces and put them in bags to be hauled by the city.

I've finished clearing the patch that will be my fern and heuchera and astilbe garden that I will be able to see from my sunroom. I need to add some soil (digging up the roots left holes) and till the soil. I had first thought I'd need to add soil amendments, but the towering oak trees and layers of leaves have left the soil soft and dark and rich. So a little digging, a little raking, and after putting down mulch made from oak leaves I will shred, the plot will be ready for its winter slumber.

Step aerobics again

After being at work until 4:30 a.m. for the primary election, I taught my second step class at noon today. Below is my routine. I had an additional combination, but I just couldn't get the transition to work, so I abandoned it in class. I also added more repetitions because of a request of a class member. He said today that it helped and he got a good workout because he didn't waste time trying to figure out the steps. Progress!

mambo right 8
mambo left 8
jumpshot right 8
jumpshot left 8

turn step 8
over the top 3
walk around 1
(entire combo 4 times)

charleston knee 8 (right, then left)
rocking house 8 (right, then left)

basic right 4
staggered basic right 4
alternating knee 6
triple knee 1
repeat left

This in my largest container. It's a half whiskey barrel. I've filled it with coleus, impatiens, caladium and liriope. All my containers sit on my tiny front stoop.

Gym Junkie in Aruba.

Mauna Loa on the Big Island.

This was my backyard. It was overgrown with holly bushes, boxwood shrubs and a mystery tree.

Yard work

I dug up the last of the bush stumps in my backyard, including the gnarly one that I thought I wouldn't be able to uproot. I dug it up in about 90 minutes, although I did have to use the manual saw to cut off a particularly troublesome root. That thing weighed more than 20 pounds; I could barely drag it over to the debris pile.

Later this week, I shall hire junk haulers to remove the 5-foot high by 10-foot wide pile of yard debris from the back. Then I shall remove the last of the weeds along the fence, amend the soil, and let it slumber until spring.

One step at a time

I taught my first aerobics class today. There were four people in the class, which is normal, because the class meets at noon Mondays and Wednesdays. All four of them have been in Melanie's class (the former instructor), so they all know me.

I made several mistakes; mostly, I was not matching the steps to the phrasing of the music. I expended so much energy just remembering the routine that I couldn't really keep in step with the music. I'm sure that will come.

One class member said afterward that it would help if I did more repetitions. I shall add more; that will make it easier to stretch the class to 35 minutes of step.

Here is the routine i choreographed:

basic right 4, basic left 4
alternating V 4

1 basic right, 1 V right
grapevine right, left
1 basic left, 1 V left
grapevine left, right

staggered basic right 4
knee corner-to-corner 3
triple knee left 1
staggered basic left 4
knee corner-to-corner 3
triple knee right 1

over the top right 3
walk around 1
(four times)

L step right-left 2
L step with kick right-left 2
L step in box right left 2

hamstring corner to corner 2
glute corner to corner 2
side lift corner to corner 2
heel hit corner to corner 2

repeat above with straddle