Just be more kind

Being kind is a wonderful endeavor.

This isn’t about lifting or physical fitness; but it is about mental fitness. Stretching our mindset can be tough at times; especially when it comes to dealing with others. I had something happen to me on New Years Eve that really through me. Maybe this happens to other people sometimes, maybe often or not at all. But what happened on December 31, 2025 has never happened to me before.

First, let me say that I did something on that day that is very much out of the ordinary for me; I went to Costco. I don’t enjoy going to Costco, but I do when I really need to. But on December 31st; there is no way that I would normally be seen going to Costco. But go I did; and to be honest I can’t even remember why I went. I typically would NEVER go the day before Christmas, New Years, July 4th, Thanksgiving…you get the idea. I don’t like crowds.

I actually just remembered why I went as I was recalling the incident . I went to get new storage bins for my Christmas decorations. I needed them to clean up for the New Year. Okay, that said I headed in to the crowd. I very quickly found the bins; where a young mother was getting her bins. With her little boy in the cart; I stood back and quietly waited my turn. She turned and said “oh, sorry do you want these?” I told her to go ahead and I’d wait my turn. “No, no, I’ll pass them to you,” she said. I said “that’s okay, I’ll wait,” but she insisted.

I thanked her immensely for taking the time to pass me the bins. And as I walked away I thought about how genuinely nice that was. I grabbed a few other things, seeing that I was already in the thick of it and head out. Through the cash, through the security check and out to the parking lot. As many of you know I have been dealing with quite a few arm and hand injury issues lately.

I got to the car and pondered. The bins just fit in the cart and it was now filled with “stuff.” This would take shoulder muscles and both of my shoulders were still on the mend. So I emptied the contents into the back of the car and tried to wriggle my fingers around the edge of the bin. I’m short so my short wing span is often a problem for me. It was raining at the time so I was trying to hurry as there were tons of people wanting my great close parking spot. I then saw a man my way with his cart and he went between me and the car right behind me waiting. I waited for him to pass before hoisting the bins. But he popped up behind me and asked if he could help.

Admittedly I am not one to ask or accept help, but I’m learning to. I said “thank you, yes,” “that is so nice of you.” He very easily lifted all 4 at once and put them into my car. I thank him a lot. So this was #2 nice gesture, strange. I turned to put my cart into the cart area; as I was pondering these nice acts when a woman from several cars over who was putting her cart away, said “here I’ll grab that for you” and grabbed my cart. Again, I thanked her.

Okay, what the hell just happened? I hopped in the car, and looked in the mirror. “How old do I look today?” I thought to myself. Thinking that these gestures were because of me being old. Funny how I was trying to figure out why all these kind gestures had occurred. But now, almost a week after these kind things happened; I think my bar was set very very low. Honestly, I’m not use to these type of things happening; especially not so many in a row.

I was shocked and very pleasantly surprised that amongst the craziness, the crowds and the hustle and bustle; that people took the time to be kind. Kindness is one of the greatest things we can offer others. Just the other day I was talking to one of my grandsons about kindness. I was reminding him that he had told me during CKO (Christmas Kick Off) that he was going to be more kind. He was going to try to always just be more kind; and we talked about what a wonderful thing that was. He has two brothers close in age, so it is not always an easy thing to do. But the fact that he voiced that idea was amazing at only 8 years old.

I was shocked that New Years Eve day; three people offering acts of kindness. But I will try not to be shocked if it happens again and I will try to be even more kind myself. I try to be kind always, but we can all try harder right?

I guess this did have a bit of fitness in it. I discussed my sore arms. ;)

Happy New Year

"Slice off" injury

WARNING - GRAPHIC (GROSS) CONTENT

I’m not starting my blog with images today because the images are graphic. If you want to see them, keep reading and they will be posted lower down. Heads up (stop reading) for anyone who DOES NOT want to see images of my thumb after I sliced the tip off and the healing process.

Since November 18th I have been dealing with an “avulsion” or “slice off” injury. It is almost 6 weeks now and I am amazed at how our body can heal such a wound. It is completely closed up, shorter than it once was and is highly sensitivity. It also has a sort of pins and needles, numb feeling in it but it’s closed which was my biggest concern.

I am sharing my experience so that if this ever happens to you; you might know what to expect. But, I know many will not want to know, hear or see anything about this so this is your chance to click out.

November 18th was suppose to be a very productive day. I got a new tattoo in the morning that I was very excited about.

So cute.

Before heading home I picked up some groceries to begin my cooking prep. I was making my turkey dinner lasagna for our annual CKO (Christmas Kick Off) celebration that is always held on the weekend before Thanksgiving. I had two cooked turkeys and gravy in the fridge already and was cooking up mushrooms, making a cream sauce and prepping squash. The squash was the issue.

As I prepared to prep the butternut squash for cooking; I grabbed one of my new peelers (which went in the garbage the day of the accident). I had decided to peel my squash (something that I had never done before) but I stopped to think about it. The peeler was brand new and insanely sharp so I was hesitant about going this route. But I thought I’d give it a try and as soon as I started I knew it was not a good idea. For those of you that do not know me well, I’m a crazy safety type person. This peeling idea felt very unsafe; and I even thought “I’m going to cut myself.”

After a few peels, I decided that it seemed too dangerous and I was about to get a fork to replace the hand that would be cut if I slipped when it happened. I should have stopped one slice sooner, because my hand slipped as I prepared to get a fork and I sliced the tip of my thumb off. I knew instantly that it was really bad and grabbrf my thumb to apply pressure. I didn’t look at first, I just stood there holding my thumb tightly, thinking what I should do next. Then I head upstairs to assess the damage.

I had to let go of my thumb at some point, so I slowly let go and it poured. I tried to apply more pressure but nothing was stopping the bleeding. I ran it under cold water and the sink splatter red. I couldn’t stop the bleeding and grabbed a clean cloth, covering my thumb. Again I stood pondering, I was alone with just my dogs so there was no help close by. I couldn’t stop the bleeding so decided that I had to go to the Urgent care. It was the only choice. I head out while tucking my cloth covered thumb into the palm of my hand. I squeezed my thumb as tightly as I could which actually stopped the bleeding until the cloth had to come off.

Once I arrived, I explained and was immediately brought to the wound room where the nurse unclothed my wound. She couldn’t stop the bleeding and very quickly wrapped it again. Soon the Dr. arrived and explained that there could be no stitching; that this was an avulsion wound with nothing to stitch with. The only solution was to cover the wound with coagulant pads which should stop the bleeding and wrap it up.

He tried several times to get them on, but the bleeding continued. Finally he piled them 4 or 5 thick around the tip of my thumb. Then wrapped it in bandages and wrapped my thumb again in gauze. That’s it, that’s all. The pad would stop the bleeding and my thumb would heal from the inside out. Hmmmmm, I was skeptical. But he told me that I would be amazed at how our body can heal itself.

After 4 weeks I unveiled it to my horror. It looked far less healed than I had anticipated and I quickly wrapped it in bandaids. There it stayed for another week until I was ready to look again. What I thought was a huge scab on the top of my thumb was actually the blood soaked clotting pad. Once I finally soaked this off it looked so much better. The skin around 1/2 inch down from the tip of my thumb has all peeled off which I thought was weird. And my thumb is now covered in new skin.

So here we are almost 6 weeks out and it looks pretty great, short but great. It’s been a long 6 weeks with the first 4 having to keep my thumb completely dry. This meant showering with a waterproof shower mitten and doing most of my work with one hand. I covered my hand with mittens, gloves, rubber gloves and other things to remind myself not to use it during the healing process.

Even though the skin has healed; my thumb feels weird and I have to be very careful with it. It is overly sensitive so I can’t use it normally yet. But it has healed and I am very impressed that we can regrow stuff.

Oh, the nurse and the Dr. told me that Mandolines are the largest cause of this type of accident and if I have one to get rid of it. I was using a hand peeler like the yellow one on the left. Actually this is the exact one I was using.

I’m squeezing my thumb so hard that the bottom of my thumb is coming up over the slice.

Second unveiling.

All the skin around my thumb peeled off.

Very pink new skin.

Working through injuries

Injuries suck, but they do not have to sideline all your hardwork.

In the last 3 months I have had more than my fair share of injuries. But first, let me state that none of these were caused by working out. I don’t want anyone thinking that they shouldn’t be working out at “this age.” I know when you are hit by an injury it can be very easy to just stop working out for a while, but you need to re-think that decision. Of course there are going to be times when stopping is a good idea. I’m not going to do a shoulder day after blowing out my shoulder; but I am going to figure out how to work around it. I truly believe that working out through an injury helps to heal the injured area. And, it is most definitely good for your head and mental state.

My injuries since Sept 2025 have unfortunately been extremely painful.

• Right shoulder

• Ribs

• Neck

• Sliced tip of my thumb off

• Left shoulder

It is almost Christmas and I am being VERY careful. I don’t want anymore injuries. It has been a huge challenge to keep going; keep lifting, but I’ve had to for my mental wellness. Working out and lifting is not an option for me. I take it very seriously and will find a way.

My shoulders have been the toughest work through but with a little ingenuity, I figured it out.

My philosophy on working through injury is “make everything else stronger.” When one area is down and out for the count; I have to make everything around the injury, help with healing. That injured area needs help. It is very helpful for your injury when you can successfully isolate the injuried area out and workout around it. Working out brings oxygen filled blood to the area which can help to reduce inflammation and speed recovery.

So even though your head might say stop; you should keep going carefully around your injury. Knowing how to isolate an injury out of a movement can take some work and you may want to hire a professional for help with it. You definitely don’t want to further damage your injury but you also don’t want to stop moving.

Keep going, you got this.

New Digs

I am 18 years old in this photo. Just 2 years into lifting weights. It never crossed my mind back then that I’d still be lifting at the age of 63. But, it’s even more important now.

Hi there, welcome to the new place. I was having a difficult time merging my dog site and my lifting blog so we are now all together. Even though this is my canine related website, lifting is a part of my life; so here we are.

Today I wanted to discuss motivation. At 63 years of age I’ve had many, many ups and downs as far as working out. And, I know that motivation is one of the biggest obstacles when trying to get to the gym or exercise. I’ve been asked how I stay motivated many times when discussing working out for about 47 years (yikes). I have to admit there were spans of time when I just didn’t workout for one reason or another; but when I’m in, I’m in.

Getting motivated and staying motivated is not easy; especially if you are one of the many people who consider working out to be the last thing you want to be doing. I feel very lucky that I happen to love it. I love doing physical things on a day to day basis so it makes that part much easier. But I most definitely have times when I’m just not into it. So what do I do to stay motivated?

• Get dress when you don’t want to workout. Once your dressed in workout attire, it is much easier to get your butt to the gym.

• Allow yourself to NOT workout when you really don’t want to. A day or two off is a good thing.

• Consider yourself lucky to BE ABLE to workout. There are many people who would do anything to be able to.

• Get into the right mindset. You are doing this for you, invest in that one body that you have to live in.

• Working out is a lifestyle. It is not a quick fix or something you do for a week or month and then stop.

• Schedule your workout into your daily schedule; not just when you think you have time.

• I have found that working out first thing in the morning is the absolute best time to schedule it. I work out before my shower, before I eat breakfast but typically after I have walked my dogs. That way I never have to fit it in anywhere.

• Take days off.

• You do not have to spend hours in the gym (unless you want to, that is.) Keep it short and sweet. I like to workout most days so I can get a good workout done in 30-40 with stretching.

• Working out all the time can be a mind game. Try to schedule things around your workouts, don’t be too quick to cancel them. They are extremely important.

• Get some cute new workout duds. That always helps get you in the mood. ;)

Long ago we use to have to do lots of physcial activities throughout the day. Now with modern conveniences, everything is too darn easy. We barely have to lift a finger anymore and because of it out bodies suffer. As we age we tend to do less so we lose muscle even faster than we should. The old saying

“you’re too old to be doing that”

is only true if you stop moving. If you allow your body to decline by not doing physical things then working out seems so much harder. Start today, start slow and keep going.

You got this!!!!