Sparky Slows Down!

Sarasota, FL     High:  72    Low:  49

Can you believe it? Eldo can't---Sparky hasn't done much in two days! Holy Cow! What's gotten into her? She's not sick any more....She's just taking it easy, it's a new experience! Does she like it? Well, yes and no....after a couple hours this morning of reading blogs and checking out crafts online, Sparky started getting antsy.  So we biked over to an Open House for a two bedroom park model with raised lanai selling for 54,000.  We liked it a lot, but we're NOT buying anything. We're just researching....Sparky could EASILY spend the winters in Sun 'n' Fun with everything there is to do...but on top of paying for a park model, you have to lease the land/lot it sits on, and that's $7,000 a year. There are other fees, sewer costs, insurance, etc. etc. So it was just something to do to get Sparky out of the house for awhile.....

Cotton Patch Quilt Shop--lots of examples made up!

Then we headed over to University Center, one exit north of us off I-75. That's where the major shopping is. Sparky headed over to the local quilt shop to find out information about how to make a tee shirt quilt. She's going to make a quilt out of a BUNCH of Kelly's running races tee shirts. She bought a book on how to do it. It was a very nice quilt shop with tons of beautifully made examples hanging all around. It was called the Cotton Patch, located across the street from B.J.'s Wholesale Club. Even though she made a tee shirt quilt last year, she was really winging it on how to do it, and it just wasn't as professional looking as she wanted it to turn out, so this time, she's gonna do it right!  The quilt shop was full of "eye candy", color, models of patterns made up, Sparky LOVES eye candy and had to really hold onto her wallet not to be tempted to head in a major sewing direction as far as collecting supplies for projects besides the tee shirt quilt. While Sparky checked out the quilt shop, Eldo got a nice haircut.

He's so serious here because he's researching Medicare prescription drug plans...and there's a LOT of stuff to research out there about it. Sparky is glad Eldo is two years older than she, so he will have done all the homework for her, heh, heh, heh..... Neither one of us takes ANY medication for ANYTHING at the moment, so we are truly blessed. This is why Sparky hounds Eldy into riding his bike, using the fitness center, because we've got to keep moving to stay healthy in addition to trying to eat right! (That's a losing battle about eating right, says E.) Sigh! That's all Sparky has to say about THAT. Even though she hates to cook, Sparky still gets on Eldo about too much salt in his diet--he salts his PIZZA--EWWWWWW!  (And Sparky likes her peanut M & M's,  red meat, and pasta with Asiago cheese on it, so let's be fair here, warns E.) Yep, we have a long way to go on the diet end of things.....

This afternoon, Sparky went to the fitness center and used the rowing machine for about twenty minutes....

The fitness center at Sun 'n' Fun is about a six million dollar center and has the latest and greatest fitness equipment on everything! There's a large downstairs room devoted almost totally to free weights, bar bells and more fitness equipment as well as the upstairs room which has about ten or twelve treadmills overlooking the indoor swimming pool down below. WoW! What a place! After she got done with the rowing machine, she went and used the Chi machine...They have about six of these placed in a dark, quiet area of the center. You lay on a mat, put your feet in the ankle rests, and a variable speed control that you control, makes the machine perform elliptical moves with your legs, moving your spine as you lie there. It supposedly moves lymphatic fluid more efficiently through your body as you use it.

Here are some pretty crazy claims about the chi machine from the web:
Chi Machine 4 U manufactures its Sun Ancon Chi Machine in China and distributes it in the United States and many other countries. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration, or FDA, regulates this machine as a medical device, and the FDA has classified it as a Class 1 therapeutic massager. This machine is an oxygenator and Chi Machine 4 U makes several claims about its health benefits.

Read more: http://www.livestrong.com/article/224688-what-are-the-benefits-of-chi-machine/#ixzz2Iqpt1kEV

There apparently are SOME health benefits to using it, but not quite to the extent the original manufacturer of the device claims. However, it feels wonderful just laying there and having something "shake, shake, shake----shake, shake, shake--shake your booty"....  :-) And it's FREE.....

Tomorrow, Eldo heads over to Fort Myers to meet some old school chums, and Sparky is going to have a day to herself to catch up on LOTS of things that need to get done!  See you tomorrow......