We asked and they answered. The Readey’s have been busy these past few months.

In their own words…

Mary Beth:  Last fall Mary Beth found a group of artists that would get together every week for a communal painting session.  That now being challenging, she has continued to paint in her new art studio (meaning the living room).  She is trying some new techniques that translate to beautiful paintings.  And while she can’t meet with her artist friends in person, they continue to do weekly painting “challenges” which they share online, keeping them all creatively engaged!

Michael:  With classes now over for the semester (Michael teaches at CU), Michael has a lot more time to focus on home projects.  One that he loves is working in the garden.  This year has brought a lot of experimentation on growing veggies from seeds and transplants.  He also started a fiber and dye garden, growing flax, indigo and a variety of other natural dye plants.  He’s not sure where that will all end up but so far it’s been a fun learning process! 

Mary Beth & Michael: It seems like every year the flower gardens expand a bit more with some new plants and moving things around, and this Spring has been no exception.  Mary Beth has made some visually exciting additions to the main garden in their courtyard, while Michael has tried to keep up with the endless weeding.  So far so good as the new plants have established well and the next two months promise a lot of color and texture that are sure to go well with a glass or two of wine.

The other project that has kept both Mary Beth and Michael focused and occupied this Spring is the renovation of a 1969 Riviera Camper.  It is a project that has required a lot of structural reconstruction up to this point.  Yet the last few weeks have transitioned to finish work – with a hint of the final look now possible.  With a vision of the final design and a project plan in place, they hope to take it on the road by early summer!

In her own words…

I am on day 70 of the pandemic quarantine.  I returned from New York on Friday, March 13th.  I was in CT helping my sister as she recovered from knee surgery. I returned from my trip early concerned I wouldn’t be able to return to CO safely.  The flight was extremely stressful, but I was relieved to be back home in our state far away from the epicenter of COVID-19.  

I self quarantined immediately for 14 days. During this time stay at home orders were implemented in CO.  My marketing agency lost its main client so I suddenly had extra time on my hands. I recognized I needed some new activities to keep my mind and body healthy during this strange time.  

I learned to play checkers.  I find the game challenging and frustrating.  Although I lose to my husband every single time, I have enjoyed learning the game.  I also learned backgammon which is currently our go-to game these days.  I enjoy the strategy and luck of the game.  We reconnected our Wii Sports Resort video game.  It is both active and fun.  We enjoy wakeboarding, swordplay speed slice and the basketball free throw game. We typically play in the evenings giving us a break from tv.

I usually spend a chunk of my summer back East.  I came to terms with the fact that I won’t be flying back to visit my family until next year most likely.  With my annual summer travel I haven’t gardened much while living in Colorado.  I decided to try a garden.  I planted herbs I cook with and tried potting some zucchini plants.  I also planted a variety of flowers including lavender, sunflowers, poppies, pansies and petunias.  My new morning routine after coffee is watering and caring for my plants. This daily ritual and seeing them grow adds happiness to my days.

I enjoy photographing beautiful Colorado, but started to explore art over the last couple months. I started with an acrylic paint by numbers project of Vincent Van Gogh's famous Starry Night.  I found my days painting completely relaxes me.  I decided to pursue painting further by trying watercolors which is challenging but extremely enjoyable.  

In May I started hiking consistently 3-4 times a week.  I enjoy the trails around my house early mornings when there are less people around. I always wear a face covering.  I am happiest during the pandemic when I am outdoors on the trails. 

I personally know 5 people impacted by COVID-19.  4 of them lost a parent. The 5th person's dad recovered after being hospitalized for 8 weeks fighting for his life.  I am mostly sheltering in place still.  I am grateful to live in Colorado. The abundant sunshine, amazing weather, trail systems and natural beauty of our state has made daily life adjusting to the pandemic easier.  I have enjoyed exploring new hobbies and activities.  They allow me the needed break from pandemic news and offer a bright spot on the days I struggle with this new normal.

Recently, Pam shared her health journey with us and we wanted share it with you.

The power of a good support system: One woman’s story of getting her butt in shape with the help of KOA Fit and a bunch of other people too!

I found Siri at KOA Fit a few years ago for massage therapy after my previous massage therapist had moved. Massage was keeping me going; my knee was banged up from playing tennis, my back was messed up from years of carrying kids and diaper bags on my hips and who-knows-what else, I was starting to get migraines as I got older, my workdays sitting at a desk all day were excruciating for my hip flexors (and everything else). Siri would always give me some stretching and exercises to do in between massage sessions, and those exercises became key to keeping me upright and from being in pain all the time.

One day after massage, I said, “You know, Siri, I should just make an appointment to see you in the gym since you’re giving me so many exercises to do.” We set up a time, then that led to another time, then pretty soon I was going every couple of weeks.

I was getting a little bit stronger, and I had some tools in my toolbox now for getting through the day: stretching to do at work, a therapy ball to sit on at my desk, a foam roller in my living room, and a variety of bands, balls, and other exotic equipment (a racquetball for rolling my feet?!) in my desk drawer that my coworkers found fascinating and looked for excuses to stop by my desk to see my latest acquisition.

Soon, my supervisor was asking me to show her some stretching to do on our breaks.

One of my favorite things to do for exercise is to walk around the lake near my house. Siri put together an exercise circuit for me to do when walking. I just needed a few bands tucked into my pocket. I could not believe how much of a workout I could get by just using my own body weight with a park bench and a few bands! Neither could my weekly walking friend, who bought a few bands for herself and started asking if we could “do the circuit” when we went walking.

New Year’s of 2019: one of my brothers in the Midwest needed some motivation for exercising. (Midwest winters are brutal for getting outside, or even out to the gym). He asked the other three of us siblings if we could do a daily group text, checking in and motivating each other to do some daily exercise and keep moving. The four of us have kept that up to this day, over a year later! As much as I loved going to see Siri in the gym, there were some days that only my siblings’ texts showing me what THEY were doing to keep moving that day, got me there. Siri was on board with keeping our text stream going, and she would take some pictures of me doing my exercises at the gym, which I would share with my siblings. There was more than one text back to me saying, “Well, I was going to sit down and watch football, but I saw your photo of you at the gym and decided to get up and get moving instead.”

My sister decided last spring that she wanted to try to end her addiction to sugar. She wanted to do something radical called “Whole 30”. She needed a buddy to help keep her accountable, and wanted me on board. I had never heard of it, but I gamely said I’d jump on that train (boy, I should’ve read up on it first!). Siri was very supportive, knew about the Keto Diet (very similar), and kept me motivated to stick with it. My sister and I texted multiple times a day about what we were eating, and without that support, I never could have done it. As I was getting stronger at the gym, and getting the inflammation (sugar) out of my system, I really started feeling good and experiencing good health.

A little over 2 years after starting to see Siri in the gym, a year after starting a daily “Rah-rah” text with my siblings, 8 months after kicking sugar out of my diet, I’m feeling better than I ever thought possible at my advanced (mid-50’s) age! My knee doesn’t hurt anymore. My back doesn’t hurt anymore. My migraines are way less frequent. I am keeping up with my 21 and

22 year old kids when we go hiking (another passion). I’m riding my bike all over town now. My husband bought a cart for my bike so I can do my grocery shopping via bike riding. I never thought I’d be able to haul a cart full of groceries 5 miles with my “bad knee and back”. At my annual physical, my doctor was amazed that my weight had dropped into a normal range, and my labs looked great. She told me, “Keep doing what you’re doing!”

Going to the gym is great, believe me. I have way too much fun there, and it’s one of the highlights of my week! It has helped me become much stronger. However, without the support system in place (my trainer, my siblings, my coworkers, my walking friend, my husband), it never would have been achievable.

They say it takes a village... Yes, it does, and I’m so happy with my “village”!