survive « Robin Writes

Are you in shape? No, in this case, “round” is not a shape! Did you make that resolution, the one you make every year? Yes, that one!

I did not.

I have; in fact, I found Word docs from 2005 and 2009 that detailed that whole “get in shape” thing. Ugh. Obviously, I wasn’t successful.

But I will be this year!

Look, if you’re a prepper, it’s not enough to be able to stock up and learn new skills and be ready for almost anything. You have to be in good physical condition. How would you bug out on foot? How would you have the stamina to work on your homestead for longer than 15 minutes or so at a time?

Let me put it this way: if you had to embrace self-sufficiency today, in a week or month, or in six months, how would you fare?

I decided I wouldn’t fare so well . . .

So I’m going to jump on the New Year Bandwagon of Diet and Exercise Plans, i.e., this is what I’m doing:

I stretch every day, including a few back and neck exercises that are pertinent to my own wonky discs. I was already doing this, but I added a few more. Flexibility is important, especially as we age.
While my coffee is warming in the microwave, I do aerobics. I was already doing this. I drink coffee approximately 5 time a day, a half cup at a time. Ten times. It adds up.
I pulled out my old handweights, oh, about 3 pounds each. I do 50 reps on each arm, bicep curls, while I’m watching TV. Or just gazing out the window. I’m sure the neighbors are wondering . . .
I do step aerobics on the patio wall while I’m waiting for the dog to do his business.
I walk every day, regardless of weather. Okay, I’m not insane, I have limits. Today, it’s 21 degrees with a windchill of 6. Not walking. Of course, as I’m writing this, it’s Sunday, which is my off day.
I dance. Not slow dance, complicated ballroom steps or just, you know, dancing. Twice a week. It helps if I’ve had a couple drinks. Or four.

What makes this all so different? First, it’s things I like to do and, more important, short little bursts. Treadmill walking is boring. Besides, all the standard exercises feel too much like work. You know.

But just like everything else in life, consistency is key. I do these things every day. I don’t have to go anywhere, there’s no equipment (although I did buy a yoga mat, because I have all wood floors and that’s painful)—heck, if you don’t have handweights, use soup cans.

Guess what? In one week, I lost three pounds. Pretty darn exciting. Oh, sure, I watch what I eat, but I’d been doing that and it wasn’t giving me any kind of results. But this is. So far.

So, my advice to you is to do more. Doesn’t have to be a lot more, just a little. But do it every day. You have a lot of things to accomplish, so keep up your strength and build your stamina.

Prep yourself.

Good grief. Realtors are nuts—apologies to those I know. I’ve seen so many listings with either no pictures, pictures of neighboring property, or artistic pictures which look pretty but tell you nothing. Also, if a realtor doesn’t give an address, it’s really flippin’ hard to find on Google or wherever.

And clients. Sheesh. We made an offer on that property I talked about last week, a verbal one; no sense in doing reams of paperwork if the seller isn’t interested. Sheesh. Yes, I said it again.

So here’s what happened:

We told our agent to make the offer at $1,000 per acre. I’m not stupid, I researched first, and what I came up with was that land in that area averaged $975 an acre. By the way, the asking price was $65,000, or $1,548.

It took 10 days for the seller to respond. Hello? Email? Whatever. She said it was too low to counter, that other properties were around $1,700 per acre, it was “cleared,” and besides, it was “beautiful.”

Yeah, so?

Realtors, you know the drill—people have attachments to their homes and land, they think it’s awesome, etc., etc. I clearly remember a house we looked at a few years ago that boasted “new carpet!” It was bright blue. Bright. Blue. Hideous, to probably everyone but the seller.

Well, this chick is wrong. Wrong, wrong, wrong. “Beauty” has little to do with the value; the picturesque barn is a white elephant; “cleared” is not the same thing as two small tracts of pasture. And yes, the price is too high—it’s been on the market for six months. The property she thinks is comparable has usable outbuildings, or wells, or septic, etc.

Well, in the interests of buying a piece of property now, because we’re running behind schedule, we upped it to $50K with a formal offer. Guess what? We can’t do that until the listing agent re-ups it on the MLS. The listing expired. Go figure. The agent is a 20-something who appears to be working for Daddy. Fine, just do the damn job. And quit taking those artsy-fartsy pictures!