Welcome Back Fonda

I am an embarrassed creature by nature. From birthday cards to feminine hygiene products to exercise videos, I practice covert buying techniques. Face down on the counter, barcode up, double-bag and out. Sunglasses for bonus points.

Fortunately, this has waned over the years and I can jauntily buy Always and Hallmark cards with a certain je ne sais quois. The exception: exercise videos. It's one thing to get fit but an entirely different thing to do it with a Jane Fonda exercise video.

Back in 1995 I somehow overcame my embarrassment and invested in a bunch of Jane videos. To my surprise, Jane was someone to be admired – she inspired flouncing. And so I flounced for a few months until flouncing became sporadic and I lent Jane out to a friend. I never saw Jane again...until last weekend.

I was at Zellers when I spied Jane's complete Personal Trainer series for a fraction of the cost and on DVD. So I sucked up my pride and bought it. And I even bought it without buying a manly workout DVD to fool the cashier into thinking I was buying Jane for my husband and not myself.

Last night I finally popped in the DVD and was rather impressed at the picture quality. The 90s era fashion, hairstyles and musak were perfectly preserved. It was so well-preserved that my husband turned tail and hid in the office.

I may be an embarrassed creature by nature, but at least I can let it go at home. So, 12 years later, I resumed flouncing and was terrible at it. But, spastic coordination aside, at least it got me moving.

Welcome home, Jane. I missed you.