Laughter In My Heart: High Energy!!!

The next time I mention losing my "PEP", just remind me to head on over to "Club Beautiful" (SCLA-61) for Grasshopper's class - 60 minutes of intense cardio and weight training. It's an absolute "sweat fest" but an amazing workout!!! Highly motivating and exactly what I needed!!!

Now before anyone (and you know who you are) says "Jennifer, why do you do that? Why do you let your body dictate how your mind feels?" I know. Let me just say that sometimes even Ambassador's of Fitness have moments of weakness.

Amanda & me

The 2007 Sunday Night IFW lives up to the reputation set last year for this time slot...good fun, great friends and lots of laughter!

Me, Amanda & Judy

It was a beautiful night to fly. Temperatures in the 70's, no humidity and clear skies gave way to a beautiful sunset over the Hudson.

Many have asked, "Jen, I know you climb a ladder to get 35 feet up to the Board and then you jump. But how do you get down from the net?" Here are some shots of fellow flyer Colleen showing the process...

After we land into the net, we take off our safety lines and walk them over to the area under the Board.

Here's instructor Jeff S. on the Board fishing up the safeties with next up Doe "LISTO" (i.e., ready) to fly.

Then it's our Rollover off the net. Here's instructor Hal spotting Colleen.

Hal is about 5'5" maybe 5'6" so you can see that the net is about 9 1/2'-10' above the ground. You may remember last year...for the longest time, I couldn't figure out why I had bruises on my hip bones. (This was well before I started working my pullover shoot which left me bruised from midriff to thighs.) Well, they were from the Rollover.

An added bonus of Trapeze...changing clothes at home after class and spotting all the bruises. It's a game trying to figure out WHEN and HOW you managed to get a bruise THERE!!! Arnica gel surely helps.

Another sure thing in Trapeze...the RIP. A RIP occurs when the skin on the palm of our hands literally rips open; often a result of blistering and usually happens while working our swing. Our little Amanda got her first rips tonight. Here's Nurse Judy tending to them with tape from my First Aid/Emergency Pack - fully stocked including: tape, wraps, Arnica gel, ice packs, antibiotic creams, BandAids, alcohol swabs, gauze, etc...

Here's Mike, Amanda and Judy making fun of me and my First Aid/Emergency pack which is located in the front pocket of my flight bag.

Given to me during my first Zero G mission; it's a great bag...lots of pockets for "stuff". The middle pocket is used for a clean change of clothes and snacks. While the rear pocket is the place to store my safety belt, towel and trapeze slippers (i.e., I'll take things that might be smelly for $100, Alex). Always organized and always prepared....I am my Grandy's & Grandpa's granddaughter!!!

Special thanks to instructor Jeff S. for the amazing shoulder stretches. I've been having a lot of trouble with my right shoulder but his advice has proved very helpful in improving my flexibility.

The sun is setting earlier each week. We may not have many more videos of our catches. But I think this one, being in silhouette, looks pretty cool. There was time for only one catch tonight, it's my "Go To" split catch to Jeff S. I'm holding good position to make the return but no bar was thrown.