Look who's comming to dinner!

(Update Below)
Well- maybe not TO dinner, but at dinner time.
The IRS decided very nicely today to deposit my Economic stimulus $$$ today in my checking account, and this is what I have been waiting for. After talking about it on and off lately, John and I agreed that the best way to get me to exercise was to follow the following 5 rules:

1. Make it indoors. My bad allergies aside- I am just NOT a outdoor person. And when you mix outdoors with the idea of working out- well... it is really not my thing!

2. Make it easy on the knee joints. I have a bad knee and so I cannot jog, run bike or hike without major pain (and see Rule #1), and the Elliptical is the ONLY equipment that I have used that doesn't cause me any knee pain.

3. Make it easy to get to. And the Gym at 5:15 pm is NOT easy to get to, get in to or get out of. Plus, I only use the elliptical when I am at the gym, so why not get one for the house?

4. Make it where I can read or watch a movie while I work out- because lets be honest- if I am bored I am only going to give up sooner.

5. Make it where I do not have to get "ready" to workout. And let me tell you, it only takes 1 workout session next to a Size 2 Miss America look-alike to not want to leave the house without a full makeover every time to want to go to the gym. At home, PJ's and a ponytail will suffice :)

Anyway- I think that I will be picking it up tonight at Costco after work. John said that he can be bribed to put it together as long as I bribe him with hot and fresh chocolate chip cookies (with extra chips!), and I think that can be arranged. And as a further bonus, I will make him one of his favorite meals (which I don't like all that much) but whole wheat pasta with red sauce.

Anyway- The deal is this- I can have it in the Front Room (with the TV and DVD's and Stereo and so on) as long as I use it 3 or 4 times a week. If I don't, then it will get sent into our bedroom (the only other room it will fit in, since the office, guest room and craft room are already set up with furniture), and it will sit in the bedroom and I will have to work out in there (where there is no TV or anything but a bed and a window) until I have earned my way back into the front room.
These are not really John's rules, but it will help keep me motivated, and he liked the idea, so that is how it will be.

Anyway- hopefully I will have good things to say about it soon :)

Update:
HOLY MOLY! This sucker is HEAVY. it took 2 burly manly men to load it into my borrowed surburban, and then when we got it home we were not sure what to do to get it out. A Dolly was not even a option. I mean, this thing is as heavy as a fridge, and longer to boot. But we came up with a good idea, and John got it 1\2 way set up last night. More goodness to come after it is set up- but in the mean time- my front room looks like a cardboard tornado hit. No Joke- there was probably 100 pounds in cardboard alone!