June 5 – “Health and fitness”

We needed some fruit the other day.  We try to keep a pretty good supply handy, especially since I have a bowl full of it every morning as part of my healthy, nutritious breakfast.  The rest of it varies.  Could be a cinnamon roll or a honey bun or an apple turnover.  Or if I’m feeling really health conscious (and some of the grandkids are over), I might run over to the donut shop and grab an apple fritter.  Notice the obvious health benefits in all of my choices?  Cinnamon has been proven to be effective at boosting cognitive function and memory (Guess I’m just not eating enough of it).  Honey is nature’s own way of reducing cough and throat irritation.  And apples, well, they’re just another fruit, right?  So it’s important that we keep stocked up with fruit.

Cailyn was with us, so we decided to make an adventure of it.  We went to Kroger’s first.  We rarely go there, mainly because it is East of the 61^st Street barrier.  Just feels too far away to me.  And after checking out their produce we discovered another reason.  Way too expensive.  They did have the chocolate milk I like, though, so we picked up some of that.  Now, I know what you’re thinking, but chocolate has been proven to act as an anti-depressant, and everybody knows milk builds strong bones.  Next stop was Randall’s.  We did get the fruit we needed there.  It was less expensive and they had a pretty good variety.  Oh, and we also picked up one other important item of food health.  Cheetos.  Cheese is important to making strong teeth, right?  So we were all set for another few weeks of living in the lap of luxurious health.

I haven’t forgotten that one other requirement for a healthy lifestyle.  The dreaded exercise.  Now I have spoken several times about my water therapy class, so I have been doing pretty well.  I gotta tell you, though, Cailyn challenged Chris when we got back home.  She has started learning to be a cheerleader.  Of course that meant we wanted to see some of her new moves.  That required music, so she fired up Chris’ phone and turned on a rousing version of “Jesus Loves Me” to perform to.  Now, I was busy in the kitchen, so she informed Chris that she would have to join her in the cheerleading dance routine.  Without letting on that I had heard anything, I quietly removed my phone from my pocket and switched it over to video mode.  Chris insisted that she didn’t know what to do, so Cailyn quickly entered teacher mode.  “Nani,” she began, followed by what sounded a lot like an indulgent Tsk, “Now first, you’ll just have to sit down there on the couch and listen to me for a minute while I tell you what to do.”  Instructions aside, the show itself was masterful.  I managed to capture a lot of it on video, too.  I was especially impressed when Cailyn actually did the splits.  Ouch.  That was one move Chris didn’t attempt.  Probably a good idea.  We don’t need another hospital bill right now.  Speaking of Chris, she had no idea I was videoing until she happened to glance over her shoulder after one “bend over at the waist and touch your toes” command.  I guess I had become too quiet in the kitchen.  She warned me in that particularly sweet and sensitive way she has that the video better not see the light of day.  And I would like to make it through the next 39 years of our marriage relatively unscathed.  So, sorry folks.  No public viewing of that artistic gem. 

Proverbs 3:7-8 says, “Do not be wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord and shun evil.  This will bring health to your body and nourishment to your bones.”

Father, that’s one health plan that I suppose we all need to work on.  We could use your help with it, please.  Amen.