Use it or Lose it

One of Russells’ favourite sayings was “Use it or Lose it”…..two weeks of hot yoga down and I am still waiting for the moment when I leave the class and say “I really enjoyed that!”  After a 12 month break, this could be a while. I had forgotton that you can actually sweat out of your ears! (not to mention nose, eyes and the list goes on)  Meanwhile in the Northern hemisphere, George (the youngest offspring) is also battling with the hot yoga/pilates environment!  While we sweat through an hour of torture, he is subjected to 90 minutes…so not jealous.

The photo stream has dried up for now, as we endure the Kiwi Spring of rain, wind and chills, and the occasional peek of sunshine, so it is just story times.

Five weeks tomorrow since Russ left us to carry on without his support and humour, we miss that humour so much and everywhere we turn we hear his words of wisdom (or otherwise).  I keep telling myself I am doing yoga for both of us (it certainly feels like it at times), as this is an activity that he really enjoyed.

Dan took the boat for a run last Saturday, and is beavering away on getting the cottage at Waiwera finished so that I have a home for the summer. We are all just working, trying to keep well and finishing projects that Russ had organised for us. I am thinking that ripping the cottage apart, was his idea of keeping us busy for a while, and it sure is…..watch this space for the visuals of the finished product.

Russ has decided to keep Dad (Al) on his toes….Dads beside lamp switches itself on each morning to tell him to get out of bed and do his laps…we are all feeling that Russ is telling us all to keep going and “Use it or Lose it!”

And the Rugby! Another thing Russ arranged….the Spark Sport app… so we can all watch the All Blacks (and any other random team if we choose) live at the Rugby World cup.  Actually he was very clever here…one app so we all have to be in the same place and it keeps us together! So Saturday night at 11.15pm we will be decending on Dad and Sandys to watch the All Blacks take on Ireland (courtesy of Russ) We will don our all black jerseys (the new ones with the gold cup on the sleeve, just like the players) and support our boys in black in Japan.

Its baby steps, and a modicum of routine (another gift of Russ the routine man gave us) that keeps us all trucking along.  Everything is different, yet everything is the same as every step we take Russ is beside us, guiding us and keeping us united.

The “List” for the weekend ahead includes; floor sanding, scooter cleaning, Rugby and family times….and, if the weather gods allow, some spring sunshine!