Happy Halloween or "Cut me Mick"

Jamey loves to dress up for Halloween, especially when he's able to use special effects makeup. I guess because he's normally shy and reserved, this gives him a chance to be someone else for a day!

Rocky Balboa in all his glory!

Kaitlan, the Tuesday trainer, decided to have the fighters dress up in costume for their workouts and then have a little party afterward.

Rocky was his costume of choice, which made sense, since it was boxing day! No, that shiner isn't real, and neither is his six-pack (he wishes). But he did make a pretty good Rocky! We bought a long, woman's wig and I gave it a haircut and then we put gel on it to make it look like he'd been sweating through an 80's fight. He guided me through the make-up application. I'll give you a closer look at that below.

The workout was a bit different today, as the sessions revolved around Halloween-type exercises.There were three different routines scheduled and each of the fighters had to complete each task before moving on to the next.

His team of 4 started out throwing plastic body parts (a brain and 2 severed hands) back and forth to each other. Of course, all kinds of puns ensued; "Thanks for giving me a hand", "Can I pick your brain for a while," I'll trade you my hand for your brain", etc. When they'd thrown and bantered about for 3 minutes, the trainer made them stand on one leg as they continued to throw. (Not everyone was able to accomplish this, but there are always alternatives given in case your body isn't working at a given time). This really takes a great deal of balance for anyone, let alone someone with PD. After 3 more minutes, the trainer put a hula hoop into their left hands and made them rotate it while they throw the body parts back and forth with their right. Trying to concentrate on doing all those things at once is quite tiring.

Moving on to the next station, they partnered up and had to wrap each other in toilet paper to look like a mummy. This takes dexterity and balance, and creativity, to a certain extent.

Mummy Wrap

In the final station each fighter held swimming pool noodles and had to keep balloons in the air by swatting at them. Not sure how this fit with the Halloween theme, but it was a good work-out piece anyway. This is the one that wore out Jamey completely. But, as a spectator, it sure was a hoot to watch!

The costume was a hit. It was too bad his body didn't cooperate with him today, though. He woke up at 4 AM and couldn't go back to sleep so by the time we got to his class at 11:30 he was already pretty well spent. Oh, the life of PD. Always unexpected and rarely cooperative!

But all in all, the day was a fun one, filled with lots of treats in the end. Jake, one of the trainers, had been hunting the week before and made a wonderful elk chili! Yum! and many of the ladies brought in home-made guacamole, cookies, chicken salad and all kinds of other sweets.

No doubt Jamey is already working on next year's costume!

Still not a great representation of the bruising detail, but it's the best photo I could get