Feeling Independent

No, I'm not branching out to do my own thing.  I'm still firmly and happily attached to the Chairman and the MYP and other responsibilities here at the Chairman and Co.  It just happens to be the day Independence Day is observed and tomorrow is the real deal!  One of my favorite holidays for sure!  I'll tell you why down below.

I've been having fits lately.  Not naughty ones.  Fits about a fitbit - a rubberized thing you wear on your arm that tracks your every movement whether awake or asleep.

please don't be distracted by the 50-year old wrinkled hand

I had some birthday money that hadn't been used and have wanted one of these for some time.  I need to lose five or ten or somewhere in between pounds and thought this little device might hold me accountable.  I thought it was perfect for me because I'm a walker and its main thing is counting steps.  I had no idea a little rubber thing worn around your wrist could be such a monster.

It's basically Santa Claus.  No it doesn't give any gifts at the stroke of midnight.  The Fitbit (who I will refer to as Fitz) sees you when you're sleeping.  It knows when you're awake.  It knows if you've been bad or good so be good for goodness sake!  

Fitz wants you to record all your food and drink intake then tell you how many calories you have left for the day.  I knew I was going over yesterday as we celebrated the Chairman's birthday, so I didn't tell Fitz a few things.  Makes him less testy.

Fitz flashes lights and softly vibrates when you've met your step quota of the day.  Fitz will vibrate when you want an alarm to go off.  I think he should shock you when you are ready to bite into that ginormous glazed doughnut instead.  

He has changed my life.  You see I've been known to tell the MYP to run get this or that out of the downstairs freezer.  I've hollered at them to get the newspaper or mail.  I've told them to go out to the garden to cut lettuce because it's an easy job but you just have to walk back to the lot line.   Well, now I want to make my quota and so I'm gladly doing the running.  

I also am showing early-onset dementia.  The other night I was 200 steps away from my quota before we left for our study meeting so I aimlessly walked circles in the garage around the vehicles to make the number.  Our neighbor was doing yard work and paused and looked our way to see if I was ok.  

The sleep portion of Fitz is the most fascinating to me.  I push on Fitz until two lights softly blink.  Then I'm in sleep mode.  He records when I've started the sleep mode and tells me when I've fallen asleep and when I've awoken.  He also tells me when I'm awake in the night or even when I'm restless.  Kind of fascinating actually.  And I think it's fairly accurate.  

So how long will my relationship with Fitz last?  I'm not sure.  I hope he pulls through and helps me lose a few pounds of extra cargo that have mysteriously jumped on my body.  I'm sure it has nothing to do with all the birthday desserts we are partaking of these days... 

We just celebrated the Chairman's birthday yesterday.  

So!  Happy Independence Day!  On the 3rd, we always head into the big city and fight masses of people and join up with friends and visit and wait and watch people and visit and eat and visit and soon the fireworks start.  I actually would enjoy the whole evening even without the fireworks.  

There is some irony in the fact that the Chairman proposed to me to not be so independent on Independence Day twenty-one years ago.  Or maybe he thought I was a firecracker.  Or maybe because sometimes my mood reflects a bottle rocket.  I think the holiday is always extra-special to us just because of that bit of history we have.

So have a wonderful holiday weekend!  One of my favorite words is liberty.  And I'm thankful it is a part of our nation's vocabulary.