Long Distance Relationships

As far away from each other we are, the imprints we leave will never be forgotten.

Today was legs and lower back day at the gym. I enjoy leg and lower back day, these are two muscle groups that I have been conditioned for from years of hockey, lifting improperly, work, so on... They are my strongest muscle groups at the gym.

Before I started an exercise, my Brother's voice yelled in my head, "You can do more! Add more weight! You can do it!"

I obliged, and throughout the exercise, I could hear my Dad correcting, "Keep your back arched. Your back isn't arched. Arch your back."

Leg presses and calf raises and running on the treadmill continued in this fashion, and I walked back to my dorm. I sneaked into my room, careful not to wake my roommate, stumbled into the suitcase for the 1,500th time, set my MP3 player down and turned to start the shower. Muscles aching, I reached for my protein mix to feed my muscles. "Is that stuff good for you? You should read the label, do you really need all this stuff?" my Mom this time, ensuring my physical and financial health.

Idly reading the label while mixing, I was satisfied with the mixture and started drinking. The taste of the protein drink barely masked the creatine. Barely. I mused about the idea of prehistoric man eating nothing but meat, and his ancestor eating nothing but plants. The idea that we now supplement our diet with so much stuff that we can't imagine living with out it. Vitamins, what would Darwin say?

Stepping into the shower, it's hard to wash my face... I hate not being able to see. The idea perpetually dances in my head that I'll miss her if I keep my eyes closed too long. I am never able to shower without the idea of her, standing outside the shower waiting for me to see her. Standing outside the shower with a wily grin on her face as if she's about to steal my towel and clothes, or snatch open the shower curtain and take a picture, or any number of pranks and tricks that she can be so adept at. Finishing my shower, I can still picture her cocking her head to the side and reminding me to towel off my lower back. Laura hates it when I do a half ass job toweling off and then jump into bed or on the couch or whatever with a wet back. Still more voices in my head, they sound like my own, but originate from others:

"How's your blood sugar?"
Ok...
"Are you getting enough sleep?"
No.
"How's the Subaru?"
No idea.
"What's cool in Korea?"
incidentally, nothing is cool in Korea.
"We haven't talked in so long..."
I know, I'm sorry.
"What do you hear in your head that comes from me?"
Exactly what you just said.

I guess the point is, although we're separated by countless miles, you're all right here with me. And although I miss everyone deeply, I can still feel your influences in everything that I do.
It is what makes me successful. It is what makes you successful.

I wish I could have done this blog up in a fancy prose like I had planned in the shower, but alas, this is pretty much what I got out onto the keyboard. Sue me.

-s