In an effort to rekindle the American spirit that united our country after 9/11, I am writing to ask for your time and energy to support and thank our soldiers, who have sacrificed so much for their country in the decade since the September 11th attacks.

Giving an iPad will not only entertain, connect and teach a wounded soldier from their hospital bed, but, more importantly, it will convey an infinitely more powerful message to our soldiers: we recognize and appreciate their sacrifices. On the weekend of Sept. 11th, those interested can join me and a group of other supporters to personally deliver the iPads purchased through our efforts and thank soldiers recovering in military hospitals in the D.C. area.

It is my hope that those of you who are interested will pledge to raise $525, the approximate cost of a single iPad. $25 dollars from 21 of your friends and family members to give a gift that will mean the world to a soldier facing a long recovery.

Peter Tufo

To Donate – Please post a comment below so that we will know who is part of our Gin Miller TEAM!

Nothing suits a Victorian house like a fresh blanket of snow.  We had a lot of the fluffy white stuff this past winter and during the big storm back in early January, I snapped a photo (below) of the big house with my iphone.  Since my Dad’s passing, Mom has been revisiting her creative side and this is her masterpiece!  The photo taken of her painting does not quite do it justice.   Needless to say, I am thrilled to have such a beautiful painting by my talented mother, Joan Davis!

But Mom’s not the only talent in my family.  My sister, Pamela Steuart, is a wonderful fine artist who also does amazing reproductions from photos. She has an affinity for and a distinct style in her collection of trees, does commissioned paintings of  companions & animals, paints lovely figuratives and photo-like still life art. 

Pam also does traditional reproductions of homes, but she distinguishes herself in her ’dwellings‘  collection with a style she calls “Gondole” – French for warped.

Pam’s site offers several of her oil paintings for sale, but you won’t find Mom’s painting there – because it’s all mine to be forever cherished!

I posted a Question on Facebook the other day to see what type of workout would be of most interest.  At first I just asked it and got a wide range of responses on the thread.  Then I used the Question feature and Step was the overall winner - Strength came in second.

Today I posted a question on format.  Since some people are not on Facebook, I’ll ask it here too.  To encourage response, we’ve temporarily lifted the requirement to register in order to respond.

Here are the options:

1. Circuit – Alternating Step with Strength
2. Interval – Alternating Bouts of High Intensity Step followed by Low Intensity Step
3. Circuit WITH Interval – Alternating Bouts of High Intensity Step followed by Strength for recovery
4. Step - Steady State Cardio Step

Every year on my father’s Birthday, August 23, we plant a tree in our yard, as per his request. This year he is 79 years old. “I’ve got everything I could possibly need,” he says, “I don’t want for a thing–just plant a tree.”

Darn trees. 

Many times in the past, on his Birthday, I’ve tried to forgo the tree planting ritual and try to take the easy way out–a Reebok Jacket or a pair of Rockport shoes. Ultimately, however, regardless of the gifts, guilt takes over and I plant the blasted tree at 11:00 at night–out in the dark, with a flashlight. 

When I was first married, I must admit, I’ve grabbed whatever poor little “Charlie Brown Christmas tree,” was on sale and reluctantly plopped it down in the dirt somewhere, clapping my hands together and mumbling something like, “Gee, I hoped I haven’t killed it.” 

You see, planting Dad’s birthday tree is not an easy thing. First of all, it’s usually hot, and the gardening tools are somewhere… somewhere … somewhere. Planting a tree is not as easy as sticking a tie in a birthday bag. First you have to figure out what kind of tree you want–not just any old pine tree you know, it’s gotta be something with character–something that will grow with dignity and majesty–something that people will slow down their cars for–as they drive by, mouths agape….mumbling ”L o o k a t t h a t t r e e……” 

Once you’ve chosen the most respectable tree at the nursery, noticing that the price tag inevitably reflects your good taste, you have to make sure it will actually grow in Georgia. Too hot for Blue Spruces and too cold for Palms, you settle for a tree no one has ever heard of — except the 16 year old democrat with the pierced everything that sold it to you. Not wanting to seem “un-cool”, you jokingly ask, “Are you sure this is a tree, dude?” And, if you take that little plastic tab off, you’ll never be able to identify it again. As far as you know, it came from the rain forest of a country whose name you can’t pronounce, and whose capitol has never been an answer on jeopardy — because it has too many vowels. 

Well, it’s time to dig–the torture begins. Of course, there’s that shovel, behind the refrigerator that doesn’t work, that your husband said he was going to fix every year since 1981. We still have to keep the broken refrigerator, because otherwise where would we put the shovel? 

I usually stand on the shovel and ride it around like a pogo-stick hoping it will find a soft spot on its own. Once ground is broken, I can continue until I hit something like a root or a telephone wire. My husband, 6’ 4”, 250 lbs, helps out by standing over the hole with his arms at his sides like one of those silver-back mountain gorillas, and staring–like maybe oil will come spurting out if I just follow his explicit digging instructions.

I don’t know how a man that big and strong can stand so still when I’m obviously doing it all wrong. How badly do I have to perform this task before he yanks the shovel out of my hand and says, “Here, let me…”? It works when I try to drive him somewhere…every time. 

The hole is never big enough. What the hell is going on? Is the dirt caving in faster than you can dig the hole? After you lift the tree in and out of the hole several times–you realize you will never get that hole big enough or wide enough–in disgust you just decide to dig a crater size hole before you check it for the seventh time…I’ll show you–you stupid dirt.

The hole is too big. The tree looks like its being buried instead of planted. Feeling sorry for the tree, you try to put some dirt back in the hole, but somehow the dirt has literally melted into the grass and you can’t get it out unless you get the vacuum. When you use the vacuum on the lawn, people look at you funny. Somehow you scrape enough dirt back into the hole, drop the root ball in, and finally the tree looks good, short–but good. My husband kneels down ever so slowly and pats the dirt a couple of times. 

Dad always says, “Never let a plant know it’s been transplanted, be gentle and water it well.” Whoops–My tree has been tied to the roof, drug across the driveway, turned on its side and rolled until the plastic tub came off, and yanked out of an insufficiently sized hole half a dozen times–I think it suspects something. By this time, I’m too tired to fetch the hose, so I just pour my $2.50 bottled water on it, somehow hoping the expensive liquid will calm its nerves. 

My husband is still staring, but now he has his hands in his pockets, because he really thinks we planted the tree together. Thank God he was there for those two pats–otherwise I don’t know if that tree will know its okay to grow here. 

But it does, and it will, and they have—we’ve been in this house 11 years, and 10 beautiful trees (minus the one we lost one to a winter storm) stand in our yard to be counted as Dad’s Birthday trees – with dignity and majesty. 

This one is my favorite; you should see it in the Spring. I always look out my kitchen window and say, 

“L o o k a t t h a t t r e e……”

Thanks, Dad.  It really was a great idea… now, every time I look at the trees, I’ll think of you.

Robert C. Davis passed away on the morning of the 8th of December, 2010.  He was Gin’s father and her inspiration.  She was his Daddy’s Girl. 

Over the last several months, Gin spent many hours visiting and talking with her father.  Robert C. Davis was a World War II veteran, and like many other members of “The Greatest Generation”, he had a profound love for God, family and country. 

He was 85 years old, born August 23, 1925 to the late Malcolm Lynn Davis and Ellen Marion Bond Davis. Born and raised in Williamstown, PA, he joined the 504^th Parachute Infantry Regiment of the 82^nd Airborne Division. He became Staff Sergeant with Company G serving in Europe during World War II in Operation Market (A Bridge Too Far) and The Battle of the Bulge where he was awarded a Purple Heart. After the war he attended Virginia Polytechnical Institute (now Virginia Tech) on the GI Bill graduating with the Class of 1950.

Mr. Davis married Joan Madeline Ware on July 11, 1953 in the Mikell Chapel of the Cathedral of St. Phillips in Atlanta. They have five children. Bob worked for Pfizer Pharmaceuticals from August 8, 1954 until his retirement as Southern Regional Manager in 1987. Mr. Davis volunteered with “Mended Hearts Program” of Emory University Hospital, Fernbank Science Center, and the Fox Theatre. He is survived by his wife, Joan Davis; daughters, Julia Young, Virginia “Gin” Miller, Beverly Farris, Pamela Steuart; son, Robert Charles Davis, V.; and 11 grandchildren.

Grandchildren include; Michael Stephen Young, James Ian MacGregor Miller, Lee Duncan Farris, Christine Marie Davis, Justin Tyler Farris, Cameron Davis Steuart, Rebecca Ashley James Steuart.Farris, Danielle Rose Davis, Nicholas Richard Steuart, Laura Heather Farris, Riley Benjamin

Services will be held on Saturday, December 11th, 4 pm, at St. Bedes Episcopal Church (770.939.8103), located at 2601 Henderson Mill Road, Tucker, GA 30345.

In lieu of flowers, Gin’s request is for donations to be made to her the Gin Miller’s Daddy’s Girl Foundation, which was established in honor of her father and other Veterans of WWII.  Contributions to his memory can also be made to St. Bede’s Church, www.stbedes.org.

Cards for Gin can be sent to:

Gin Miller
1281 East Main Street
Canton, GA  30114

As the holiday filled with family and fun comes to an end, we hope that all of you and yours shared in the same.

And now, it begins…

Thanksgiving, which used to be ALL about time spent with family, friends and football, has now turned into the weekend for holiday shopping deals.  If you’re a brave soul, you’ve already reaped the rewards of shopping the wee hours of Black Friday.  This year, American Express also added Small Business Saturday to reward customers who shop at Mom and Pop shops with $25 credits to their accounts.  But if you can’t handle the insanity of holiday shopping crowds and opt to stay home and enjoy Thanksgiving the old fashioned way, you’re more likely to wait for Cyber Monday to take advantage of online shopping offers. 

This year in particular, with a down economy and many consumers on tight budgets, businesses are offering incredible deals to inspire shoppers.  Typically, like most fitness-related businesses, we tend to do the bulk of our sales in the first month of the year when people resolve to ‘lose weight’ or make a ‘fresh start’ on a healthier lifestyle.   But why wait?  

So this year, we’re in on the holiday savings game. We’ve marked down most of Gin’s dvds and Yes! music CDs from 25% to 50% and thru Monday, we’re offering an extra 10% off with the coupon code ‘cyber’.  The code will also apply to Gin’s ever-popular Step Reebok dvds, which are rarely available at any kind of discount.  

So, happy shopping!  And, we’ll leave it up to you to decide if you’re buying as ‘a gift of health’ for someone else, or just as a gift to self!

Gin was featured in a segment done by Lori Corbin of ABC7 in Los Angeles:

If you look back at exercise trends you’ll think of things like high-impact aerobics, step classes, spinning, and mind-body workouts like yoga and Pilates. So what’s next in the world of fitness?

Read Full Text Article

Washington Post: After 20 Years, This Workout Staple is Still a Step Ahead of Obsolescence by Vicky Hallett

Gin Miller 1989

- Step Reebok is celebrating its 20th anniversary at this year’s IDEA World Fitness Convention™. IDEA has united top veteran Step presenters with Reeboks’ newest crew. Join in on the fun as these amazing Step teachers pull out all the stops in this exhilarating 75-minute workout. Gin Miller, the originator of Step, will be on hand to emcee the festivities.

Join us for this innovative fitness class—Step Into the Future!
Saturday, August 15th from 4:40 pm – 6:30 pm – Session #497 – Limited to 250 people.

In 1989, a dedicated instructor joined forces with an innovative fitness brand to create Reebok Step—still one of the most popular group fitness classes in the world. Don’t miss Step Into the Future! as we present Reebok Step as it is today. We’ll take you back, but we’ll also look ahead. Familiar names and fresh new faces! Old-school step moves and a whole new way to move! Join us for this 20th anniversary celebration as we Step Into the Future.

Expect special gifts, surprise guests and a great time!