Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge November 20, 2019

The Wednesday Weekly Blogging Challenge is hosted by Long and Short Reviews.  This week’s topic is: things I’m thankful for. 

I’m going to skip the obvious things here today – family, my job, etc. – because I’m sure we’ll be seeing a lot of that over the next week or so.  Plus, I try to make sure they all know every day and not just during the holiday season.

First, my mother-in-law.  Now, I said I wasn’t going to say my family, but this woman deserves a shout out.  Back in April, she selflessly gave my husband a kidney.  Without her, he’d likely still be on dialysis waiting for a donor.  She single-handedly gave him a second chance at life and we’ll forever be in her debt for this.

The ability to write.  Now, I’m not saying I’m any good, but the fact that I’m able to put sentences together and form a somewhat coherent story gives me so many outlets for my stress, anxiety, whatever happens to be bothering me that day.  I’ll never be published, but that’s fine with me.  I’ll let the ones who are good at it make money off it.  Me, I’ll just stay over here in my corner, scribbling, thanks.

On the heels of the above, the writing community I’ve found on LiveJournal.  They’re supportive, give lots of prompts and information, and are always there when you need propping up.  Plus, all of the friends I’ve found on my own personal LJ.  The ones who encourage this madness, bunny me with ideas, and are all around great people. Not sure how I would have gotten through the last three years creatively without them all.

Lastly, the most ridiculous thing I’m thankful for finding this year: my Peloton bike.  We bought it back in June to help my husband with his post-transplant recovery.  What I hadn’t expected was to fall in love with this damn bike that goes nowhere and the community that comes with it.

The instructors are amazing.  Inspirational, supportive, and genuinely nice people.  My favorite is Matt Wilpers, affectionately known as the Baby-Faced Assassin due to his penchant for trying to kill you every ride.  But the one I tend to drift towards when I’m down, don’t want to ride, or feel a serious lack of motivation?  Cody Rigsby.  Cody is funny, over-the-top, and just a lot of fun.  Some of his favorite expressions have become a big part of my vocabulary.  Things like:

“It’s not that deep,” meaning, don’t make more out of it than there is.

“You’ve got twenty seconds to grab some water, grab a towel, and get your life together.”  In other words, you have twenty seconds of recovery before things get real tough again.

“Find your light.”  I think this is self-explanatory and I remind myself of this often.

He’s also very fond of calling you “boo” during the rides which cracks me up.  “I got you, boo!”  “It’s not that deep, boo!”  And, at the end of every ride, “Bye, boo!”  Which is why his followers are called the boo crew.

When I ride with Matt, I cry because I’ve pushed my body so hard, gone so much farther than I’ve expected, that the endorphins overtake me.  When I ride with Cody?  I cry because he’s cracking me up.  Here’s a short video of Cody analyzing Paula Abdul’s song, “Opposites Attract”.  You’re welcome, boo.