Brian’s fitness journal after brain stroke
Written September 7, 2025
Hello, Dear Readers,
Yesterday’s grocery run dealt me a cruel blow: my beloved puff pastry sheets were nowhere to be found. Gone. Vanished. Puff, indeed. Since my weekend yard-work-and-running combo demands extra calories, puff pastry has been my trusty fuel. But no puff pastry meant I had to improvise – bake cinnamon rolls!
For a moment, I stood in the frozen aisle with my arms stretched like some tragic Shakespearean hero, whispering, “Wherefore art thou, puff pastry?” Alas, the shelves mocked me with their emptiness. So I grabbed a backup plan: cinnamon rolls.
This morning, I baked cinnamon rolls. To be honest, “bake” is generous—the box basically said, assemble, shove in oven, bask in glory. Within minutes, my kitchen smelled like a sugar-scented candle factory. The rolls were petite, so I shared one with my wife. She’s not big on sweets, but she declared them “delicious,” which is high praise from her.
Eight little cinnamon spirals came out of the oven—perfect math for my running week. Four running days, two rolls per day. On non-running days, I’ll behave (or at least try). They’re tucked neatly in Tupperware, ready to serve as post-leaf-vacuuming rations.
Speaking of leaves: the windy weather turned my yard into a leafy confetti zone. Vacuuming leaves isn’t as brutal as mowing, but it still eats up 1–2 hours. Normally, I escape with an audiobook, but with my phone screen now as black as a gothic novel, I’ve been awkwardly leaf-sucking in silence. My phone still makes sounds, taunting me like a ghost who won’t leave the house. I can’t even snooze my alarm because I don’t know where to swipe on a screen I can’t see.
My wife assures me the new phone is arriving tomorrow. I’m already sweating about the data transfer—will it be smooth, or a tragic comedy? Last time, it took two phones and an awkward dance of swipes and codes. This time, I’ll be going in blind. Literally.
Until then, it’s me, my cinnamon rolls, my audiobook-shaped silence, and a yard full of leaves. Wish me luck.