DH and I resurrected our Wii Fit a couple of months ago. I do steps and running in place -- some upper body stretches and balance routines. I have more thigh and calf muscle and better balance -- with just 20 minutes every morning. Gets my heart rate up.

I have to be careful not to aggravate the stenosis in my back. I can't exercise outdoors due to upper respiratory problems -- allergies and reaction to cold.

I haven't reached my goal of getting back to the same performance the Wii registered when I used it two years ago. I'm not sure if that's 'just age' or has to do with a couple of surgeries? The old higher-performance records are a good incentive.

I got my exercise today raking leaves. I have two maples in my front yard that are stubborn about dropping leaves. The very old tree dropped most of its leaves last week, but the other tree yet retained about 1/3 of its leaves. It did not turn color this fall. It took a hard freeze to start knocking the leaves off.

Going hiking today with cousins...new place for me. Looking forward to it, though the weather is chilly and overcast...

I am getting my exercises done daily. I start with 'butt' lifts and side lying leg lifts in bed each morning. Throughout the day I do side steps, back steps, arm pulls, and practice standing in place without slouching for 2 minutes at a time. I go out for therapy on Tuesdays and Wednesdays at the UPMC Mario Lemieux Sports Complex and Medical Center to elaborate on these and other exercises. This place is amazing...from the waiting room and therapy area, one can look down on a regulation hockey rink, often with a lot of action on the ice. The Pittsburgh Penguins use this rink for therapy and practice here. The public can use the ice at off times and school groups can come in to watch.

These days, my exercises are in effort to preserve/improve my core body strength and hopefully preserve as long as possible my ability to stand unaided in the kitchen. A progressive muscle disease that I was diagnosed with when a teenager is robbing me of my ability to walk without aid. However, I am without pain and this has all taken more than 60 years to progress to this point. I had plenty of time to adapt and find different ways to do things. At this time, I am grateful to be still able to take care of my 'personal' needs. That is not the case when one is disabled due to stroke, accidents and some diseases, there is no time to adapt to different ways of doing things.

So ladies and gents, do your exercises and don't take for granted your good physical health.