OMG, I met the Buns of Steel guy!

Yep, that's right--Saturday afternoon I met Greg Smithey, the guy from the Original Buns of Steel video!  It had already been a thrilling day for me, and to meet him in person sent me over the top.  Let me explain.

The previous weekend Mike and I took his kids bowling.  On the way to the casino (that's where most of the bowling alleys are in Vegas) I was all full of myself and like, "I am so gonna kick your ass, Mike" (same competitive spirit as when I'm playing Scrabble with the seniors in Boise) and he was like, "No way, Linda," but guess what?  I beat him by five pins.

My man does not like to lose, so last Saturday we decided to continue with a two-out-of-three series.  As luck would have it, we got a deal earlier in the week through Groupon.com for six games of bowling at Terrible's on Boulder Highway, including shoes, for only ten bucks--can't beat that.  Two games for each of us, plus my grandson, Connor.  So bring it on! 

Connor and Mike are total buds now so I had a lot of psychic vibes working against me, with Connor cheering for "Team Mike."  Mike creamed me the first game by 30 pins and the series was even.  The second game was close throughout, and even at the tenth frame it was anyone's game.  But your pal Linda Lou pulled through and victory was mine!

OMG, I LOVE TO WIN!!!

So I'm driving us home over Lake Mead Blvd., singing Queen's "We Are the Champions," and I notice a truck up ahead with an I Love Buns of Steel bumpersticker. 

"That could be Greg Smithey!" I shouted. When I ordered his DVD a few months ago I learned he lives in the area.  I sped up to get a look. "Yes, that's him!"

Greg then turned into a shopping center, and since I was already committed to my lane, I figured it was too late to catch him.  But Mike pushed me to pursue.  I turned into the next entrance to the plaza and flew through the parking lot like Starsky and Hutch, with no regard for my grandson's safety in the back seat. 

"I don't see him," I said.

Then Mike spotted him and with a whiplash-inducing halt, I pulled up next to a man minding his own business in the roadway in front of Pet Smart.

"Are you Greg?" I asked.

"Yes," he said.

"Stay there!"  Not, "Hey, do you have a minute?  I'd love to meet you," but an absolute command. 

Greg stood there obediently while I screeched around a parking aisle--bumping over a little concrete thing along the way, to Connor's delight--and parked.

"I can't believe it's you!" I gushed, as if he were an actor on Guiding Light.

"Oh, you're the funny lady," he said, remembering an email I'd sent a couple of months ago.  I might have told him that when my sister Lori and I do the Buns of Steel video together, during the hard parts she gives him the finger, but I put on a pretty-face smile because I like to pretend I’m auditioning to be one of the exercisers in the background.

Anyway, Greg was such a good sport, posing for pictures and listening to me go on and on about how great his video is.  He was really, really nice.  You can't see here, but he has a ponytail.

"I always tell people that the original Buns of Steel is the single best exercise video on earth," I said. "Like if you did it every day for 30 days, you'd have an amazing body." 

Greg smiled graciously, and as the words were leaving my mouth, it hit me.  That's exactly what I need to do.  If I did Buns of Steel for 30 days, I'd have an amazing body!  I gotta walk the talk, or "wawk the tawk," as I say.  And so today, March 1, is the beginning of my 30-day pledge.  I'll post some "before" measurements tomorrow so we can see the difference.

Want in?  Get the Original Buns of Steel DVD. Don’t buy this through Amazon; it’s a lot cheaper if you go through Greg Smithey’s website.

Greg said he's thinking of writing a book about how Buns of Steel came to be such a phenomenon.  I hope he does it.  And I'd still love to get a quick interview sometime, you know, if he can forgive me for nearly mowing him over.

Thirty days.  In another month, I'm going to be amazing.  And the increased strength is sure to help my bowling skills.  Mike's hoping for three out of five. Yeah, right.