Bouncing back: On A-Rod and Urban Rebounding

I had dinner plans in Brooklyn Thursday night, so I missed seeing Alex Rodriguez get to 2998 and 2999 on the all-time hits list. (Incidentally, he got the hits against pitcher Mat Latos, who has a cat named...wait for it...Cat Latos! No joke.)

But I was listening to the Yankees radio broadcast, so I heard John Sterling call it, and I heard the crowd boo and chant a certain epithet when Sam Dyson refused to throw anything that A-Rod could hit. Pretty funny.

I was glad he didn't get to hit, though. After all, I have tickets for tonight's game. And Alex will have to reach 3000 since I will be in the house, won't he?

Anyhow, I am totally fascinated by the way A-Rod has bounced back this year. It wasn't that long ago when a certain segment of fans (and sportswriters!) said that the team should just cut him. Remember that? Now he is arguably the Yankees' MVP, and definitely the team's most popular player!

Anyhow, as Squawker Jon pointed out earlier today, I wrote an article for the Washington Post called "The Redemption of A-Rod." I initially hoped to be on the paper's online PostEverything area. Somehow, not only did I end up in the Outlook (op-ed) section, which is where their big-name columnists write, but my article will be in the Sunday Washington Post, which has the most circulation of any of their editions. I feel blessed and honored and all that good stuff. Unbelievable.

So people in DC who are reading the Sunday WaPost to see the important things that are going on in the world will also see 1300 words or so of me squawking about A-Rod and cracking jokes. How funny is that? My degree in Arodology is finally coming in handy!

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In my continued efforts at not just my fitness journey, but at personal growth, I have been putting myself out there, trying to conquer my fears and hopefully becoming a thinner, braver and more confident person out of this. Part of that is trying things I have never done before.

So the other night, I jumped on a trampoline for 45 minutes last night and survived! Heck, I thrived! I had so much fun it should be illegal.

Now, it wasn't the type of trampoline Joba Chamberlain broke his ankle on -- and I gave him so much grief for! Instead, I took the Urban Rebounding class at the New York Health and Racquet Club, my gym (you can see a video of of the class works here.) You get a small, round personal "rebounder" trampoline that is only about a foot or so off the ground. And you bounce around on it. So much fun!

I have wanted to do this class for a long time. But I wasn't about to do it when I was at my heaviest -- I was afraid of disaster!

However, I have lost 40 pounds, so I figured it was time to give the class a try. It was fabulous.

I am not done facing my fears. I still have plenty of things that terrify me. But I am a work in progress, and I am doing better than I was. Kind of like A-Rod!