After work I ran home to throw on clothes, feed Hambone, and head right back out the door. A quarter mile run to the gym, and I was unfolding a yoga mat and taking off my shoes and socks.

The yoga was all right. I got some good stretching done, but that was about it. I remembered Susan Powter�s words from her most-fabulous book, Stop the Insanity!, that you have to modify everything for your fitness level. So when they said to bend one way, I took my lean a little farther and held it a little longer.

What made me most happy was after the 45 minutes of yoga when the teacher offered to do a 30-minute Pilates class.

Pilates! Oh how you kick my butt!

For people who aren�t familiar with Pilates, it�s a yoga-like exercise technique that really works the bod -- specifically the buns and the hips and the abs. And DUDE does it give a burn to all three sections.

Today I have a slight ache in my tush, but it�s nothing to cry about. It�s good to know that it�s working.

Tonight is all level three step classes, so running it is! I just did some figuring, and it seems that the loop that the el runs along is right at 2.25 miles. Two laps around should do me some good. If nothing else, it should show me that I�ll be fine at the upcoming Shamrock Shuffle 8k.

(I�m looking in your direction, Oz, for people who should sign up to run this race...)

So last night as I�m cooking dinner, I watched an episode of Law and Order (big surprise there...) before seeing that Nashville Star was on next.

The other night, waaaay too late in the evening, I caught an episode of this show. I must admit, I�m hooked. LOVE IT!

I likely love it like others love American Idol, but it�s so much better. It�s all nice and uplifting, as the judges routinely tell people what is awesome about them.

Also, nobody�s a talent-less hack who is merely there so others can make fun of him or her. I seriously cannot tell you who will win, as two contestants are so friggin� talented that you can�t help but want them all to win big, huge contracts so their families can live in mansions in Nashville and drive new Chevy trucks.

I�m not embarrassed to admit that I called in and voted for both of them and two others who did a good job that night.

If there�s anyone else out there who also loves the show, please leave me a note in the guestbook so we can swap notes during the long and boring workday.

I promise I won�t tell that you also love the show that no one is watching.

All right. It�s been a long day. I need to just wrap all of this up and head to the gym.

G�nite.�