Bumpers, and Boxing..

When I returned to the great state of Florida weeks ago, I came home to a totally empty fridge.  I was excited to get to the grocery store and fill it up with some yummy and healthy options.  So excited in fact, that I backed out of my parking spot a little too quickly.  You see it was not totally my fault.  The car next to me was parked a little crooked, thereby making me park a little crooked and I was scooted up next to a pole in the parking structure.  When I jumped in the Doozer Mobile and started to back out, I did not account for the fact that I needed to un-turn my wheels a bit more, and BAM! I hit the pole.

My car is six years old, and I have gone all over the dang place with it, and have not ever gotten so much as a scratch..and now, I have hit a pole in the parking lot of the apartment complex I have lived at the entire time.  In true Suzy Doozer fashion, I didn’t just hit the pole.  I thought I could still clear it, continued to back up, and ripped the front bumper half way off.  It amounted in me jumping out of the car with it still in reverse, just idling with the pole stuck between my car and the bumper it self.  I said a few choice words, and then apologized to my car.  I called the Handy Fellow and tried to calmly explain what had transpired and said- “What do I DO NOW?”  I think the advice I was given included making sure it was drivable and going to get it looked at.  I went to the grocery store instead, then home to regroup.

After a call to my insurance company, a visit to the Ford Dealership for an estimate, and what seemed to be a far too uncaring reaction from my apartment complex, I had an estimate and was told I would get a call when the parts were in.  Fast forward to now, and I still have a bumper hanging half off my poor car.  Apparently the parts were not in fact ordered the first time, and I am still waiting.  I also had an issue with the bottom of the car, some sort of  “shield” that keeps things from blowing into your engine.  Yeah, there  I was driving down the road and heard\felt scraping.  It turns out that this piece had come down and I was driving on it. Stupendous really.  So I get to Handy Fellow’s house, and say something I never thought I would…Can you take the bumper OFF my car?  He mentioned duct tape again, and I nearly fainted.   Luckily he was able to get that piece off and not do any further damage to the already jacked up bumper, and I think I still have the screws in my purse.  You know, just in case I need them.

The waiting game is still on for my parts, and while I love the folks at my local Ford Dealership, I will be glad when this is all over.  I want my car pretty again! I from time to time have had to park in that same spot when I come home from work in the morning, and it gives me a feeling of anxiety every time.

The dent on my car may make me look like a dumb ass, but there’s something else going on in my life that makes me a bad ass. Kickboxing! Yes, I have been working on my fitness in different ways for a while now, but kicking it up a notch (literally), has been both terrible, and rewarding.  Its a ton of hard work, and I leave there drenched in sweat.  I am sore and cranky and walking crooked the next day, but its been something that has really changed me.

Here in Jacksonville at the intersection of Atlantic and Kernan, there’s a location of the fitness craze that seems to be taking America by storm.  I love kickboxing.  You go and run, do burpees and squats, and crunches and planks and many other things.  You make muscles you didn’t remember you had hurt, you punch and kick and then you leave feeling like you could take on the world.  The people that I have met there are so amazing.  The owners are hands on, the trainers are so hard, but so nice and caring ,and all the members I have had interactions with are supportive and super rad.  I think I found something that will not only bring me to my goals for fitness, but something I will want to stick with in the long run.  I love strapping on the gloves and feeling like I have never worked so hard for something in my life.  The feeling of soreness the next day goes away eventually, and really ..But did you DIE??  While this picture of me ain’t the prettiest, I love it!! If you want to beat stuff up and have fun too, go to the I love kickboxing link at the bottom, and tell ’em I sent you!!!

So that’s what’s new with me.  If you see me out and about, send get well wishes to the Doozer Mobile, and take a look to see if I’m limping or wincing!!

**** I love Kickboxing!