English: Publicity photo of Georgia Engel and Ted Knight from The Mary Tyler Moore Show. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

A while back I posted about my experience at a local exercise club. The star of that post was Hootchie Mama and for background purposes you really should read about her here. I have been faithfully going since February. Yes, even I can’t believe it. I hate exercising. I actually think I may be allergic to it. I break out in tiredness every time I think of it.

I recently adjusted my timing so I am getting there a little earlier and I have met another of their cast of characters. Georgia Engel goes there. No, not the real one but her dead ringer.

Do you remember Georgia? She always played dizzy blondes with her saccharin sweet voice (captured on the video below). She was on the old Mary Tyler Moore show and more recently on Everyone Loves Raymond but has had guest appearances on other shows, too.

The Georgia that goes to my exercise club looks like her but more importantly, talks just like her with the same mannerisms and facial expressions. She is a hoot. She brought in some flowers she dug out of her yard about a week or so ago. Several women took some but she had brought in enough to landscape the White House. She was visibly upset when she came back and there were some left. She certainly was “in character” as she scolded the group.

She is a chatterer like most of the ladies. She will finish her exercise routine and then follow someone around to chat with them which totally screws up their exercise rhythm. Not that they mind it. As I mentioned in the first post – exercise isn’t why the ladies come here. In fact, sometimes I have to fight my way around the circuit, busting through discussion groups and klatches. To be effective with this kind of exercise, you need to keep your heart rate up and you can only do that by…..um…..exercising!

You must remember that I exercise BEFORE my first coffee so busting through anything doesn’t bother me at all. It’s amazing that I haven’t killed anyone yet.

I am not complaining. Hootchie mamas and all, I have toned up considerably since I started this routine. The goal was not to lose weight, which I didn’t but to tone up which I did. I can haul 40 lb. bags of birdseed and cat litter without any heavy breathing.

Oh yes, as I mentioned in the first post, I am one of the youngest so they think I am a kid and gorgeous (they can’t see very well either).  This is all good.

Best of all at the end of the routine, there is a mocha latte reward for me! Yay Starbucks!