Tuesday 1st. November - Gym and Relaxation

Tuesday 1st November - Gym and relaxation   Di and I took Ollie to the gym this morning whilst Tash stayed home with little Toby. Ollie first had his swimming lesson which Di had to stay at whilst I did a spin class.  The spin teacher asked us to record the distance we travelled in half an hour.  This was for an inter-centre competition to see who can clock up the most distance. We were asked to try for 15 km at least. I managed 16.5 which was about the average.  The best was 26.5km by a wiry little man who went hell for leather as soon as he got on the bike which was at least five minutes before the class started, so it was a bit of a cheat but he was very fast and energetic and I'm sure he would have "won" anyway. The bikes we use here are so much better than the ones at home. They have computers which record such things as distance, speed, elapsed time and most importantly, a linear scale of pedal tension from 1to 20. So the teacher can tell you to all set,  say number ten, so you are all working at the same rate. The bikes are made by a firm called Keiser. I must look them up. After spin I joined Di and Ollie in the cafe and Di went off to do a Body Balance class. I stayed with Ollie whilst he played in the soft play area with a few other kids. I had a flat white and shared a slice of banana bread with Ollie. Ollie played with a nice boy, about a year older than him and a girl of about the same age. The girl was the daughter of "Miss Perfect". Now this young Mum first came to our attention the last time we were here. You know the type, rather aloof and unlikely to acknowledge you even though you've been in the same classes and in the gym together for months. She has perfect hair, perfect make-up, even after a hard class, perfect kit: all the latest trendy, perfectly fitting gear and lastly, (shame on me for noticing), an absolutely perfect body. Well she used to have, but this time she is heavily pregnant. Anyway, Miss Perfect was sitting in the cafe area with two older people, probably grandparents and glory be, she gave me the faintest smile and nod! Ollie played nicely without coming to blows and popped back occasionally to see his grandad who fed him a lump of banana cake before he rushed back into the fray. When Di returned we drove home by which time Ollie was fast asleep so we left him in the car strapped into his seat whilst we had our lunch. We spent the rest of the day relaxing and Di and Tash made a brief visit to the shops whilst I minded Ollie and Toby and I also knocked up the evening's dinner which was a pumkinised cottage pie served with peas and broccoli. For some reason, Ollie loves broccoli. Is that strange for a two and a half year old? He also loves olives and I bet that IS strange, but probably derives from his strange upbringing, having spent the first fifteen months of his life travelling around the Mediterranean in a motor caravan! There's still loads of pumpkin and I fear we'll be having it roasted on Thursday but tomorrow we're off to Will's brother's house for dinner.