Walking

Day Thirteen of Count Your Blessings 2013

Last year we bought a treadmill so we could walk during inclement weather. I used it, maybe twice. I don't like walking on a treadmill. However! This year I'm grateful for it as I'm in the habit of walking daily and when the wind is blowing at 20 mph and the temperature is under 30 I'm not going outside to walk. Also, I've learned to use it so I don't end my walk and fall over due to loss of blood pressure to the brain. Which is always a good thing. To not fall over I mean.

Random Thoughts

Yesterday I went for a walk to buy eggs at the grocery store. The boys had requested cookies and I was out of eggs. The weather is WONDERFUL! The walk felt good and the persistent pain in my right knee is almost all gone. That means I've been sitting down too much!

I'm suffering from pile-itis at home. There are piles of paper all over. Little notes to myself (LOTS), handouts from church, newspaper articles to share, letters, bills, misc. stuff, all waiting for some action. I'm pondering how to deal with the ongoing inflow of paper to get it under control and help me take action, find things when needed and decide what to throw out. Please, inspiration, strike soon!

I have always loved being a mother; being a mother to adult children is the best! I feel successful to have three adults making good choices, doing what they're supposed to, and they're such fun friends! We have great conversations and good laughs together. Those years of training that seemed endless have paid off. Three raised, two more to go.

Tender Mercy! I rearranged some things in the freezer and uncovered three packages of ground beef that I didn't know I had. Hallelujah, I don't have to buy more until it goes on sale again.

I found, on-line, some fast growing willow trees to plant in the space between us and our noisy, nasty neighbors. Reportedly, these willows grow eight to fifteen feet per year. Fantastic!

For Family Home Evening on Monday we de-cluttered our movies, judging them by two criteria:
1) Is it virtuous, lovely, of good report, or praiseworthy?
2) Do we want to watch it again?
We cleared out about sixty movies, which was enough that the rest fit nicely on the shelves, all alphabetized for easy access. We have lots of movies, mostly because we don't watch TV, and haven't for the past twenty years.

The boys (and TopDad) are going on a scout campout this Friday. It's girl's night! Anyone want to come over and enjoy a good chick flick with me? I miss my Noble!

I Walked to the Airport Today

This morning I checked the temperature, which at 37 degrees was deemed warmed enough to go for a walk. I headed out the door and walked through town, close a mile, to the T-Bone Trail. On the way there I said hello to my friend Albert, still wearing his Christmas wreath.

From Albert, it's just a hop, skip and a jump to the starting point of the trail. See the big zero in the lower right corner? 

It's a beautiful day and before I know it I'm at the first bridge:

Which overlooks a drainage ditch:

And just beyond that is the 1/4 mile mark:

Which is just before I get to the north end of the runway:

Continuing on I come to the BIG tree which is right across from the 1/2 mile marker:

Finally I get to the buildings of the Airport which lets me know where I am:

And of course the Airport Terminal:

Before I get the southern end of the runway I come to the second bridge:

Which overlooks a little creek, still frozen this morning:

And here at about the 3/4 mile mark I can look across the field and see the southern end of the runway:

Runway is the flat area underneath the green and red tractors

Next on my left are some quonset huts and an old brick building:

And finally, just before the 1 mile marker is the big steel building with the Ace Hardware sign:

On the way back I look across the fields and remember why I love living in Iowa:

Open spaces and big blue sky

On the south side of the bridges are benches for resting:

Today's walk was about 4 miles; one mile to the trail, one mile out, one mile back and one mile home.
I'm so grateful for this beautiful weather, the temp when I got home was 47! and the high is supposed to reach 59. Amazing for the first week of January, but perfect for jump starting my weight loss program.

How Much Does Stress Weigh?

I don't know about you, but I'm a stress eater.  Very bad for health.  I knew a woman a long time ago in Virginia who said "I eat three times a day, and my metabolism eats five times a day."  After age thirty-five I was lucky if my metabolism ate three times a week!  The only way I've found to jump start it and then keep it going is by walking briskly three to five miles EVERY DAY!  Well the every day is difficult enough without little children (and no stroller), but nigh impossible WITH.  And the stresses of life just add the wrong mix of hormones and eating.  Oh my!  I guess I use that as an excuse, but I ask you, what's a girl to do?  Watch for some major progress as my life settles down, stress is decreased and I'm free to do the best things to get healthy and fit.  And work on my long neglected projects.

I originally wrote this October 19, and then didn't post it and I can't remember why.  Well here it is.  My stress level is decreased somewhat, but I'm weak and undisciplined so haven't made so much progress.  TopDad and I have plans to help each other, but life keeps getting in the way.  Deep sigh.  Does anyone have wise counsel for us? What is the formula for success? What works as a motivation? How does one conquer self?  HELP!

Mirrors and Miles

Last Saturday TopDad finally hung the full-length mirror in our bedroom as well as putting a large mirror in the downstairs bathroom.  And I finally got a glimpse of my full-width self for the first time in how many months?  Let's see we left Utah on July 30, 2010, and Saturday was March 25, 2011, so almost eight months.  Holy Hannah, I'm huge!  I admit to gaining ten pounds since leaving Utah (I was supposed to be losing for lots of reasons, but that's another story) and hadn't seen myself except in photos, which were exaggerating, I thought.  Well, no I guess there was no exaggeration, just cold, hard, I mean jiggly, facts.  So my current thinking is that a full-length mirror is a dieter's best friend.  It is totally motivating for me to catch a glimpse of my huge behind; the desire for the wrong foods dissipates faster than water drops on a hot griddle.  Since the installation of the mirror I've dropped five pounds!  Way to go!

Today Noble and I walked about five miles.  The sun is shining and the skies are mostly clear and I felt like a "very long walk."  We walked to the Library to return a video that Dr. Hair (son number three) had rented, then we turned around and walked to the edge of town where Albert, the Bull proudly stands, and got onto the T-bone trail and walked out a mile and a quarter.  It's about a mile from our house to the trail head so we walked a total of about 5 miles. On the way out (south) we enjoyed the wonderful tail wind and I was feeling great, hence the longer than normal distance.  Then we turned around.  I always feel like those mimes pushing against the wind.  Very strong head wind on the way north, well duh!  We got a fantastic workout pushing ourselves home.  Actually, other than a little stiffness in the joints I feel good, EXCEPT: my feet which have hot spots (not full blown blisters) on the balls.  I have really good shoes but need some cushy-er socks and a whole lot less weight to support!  But a girl can only do so much in one day. 

In other news, I'm making cinnamon rolls today for consumption during this weekend's General Conference. It's tradition! Noble and I planned the menu and are going shopping for the ingredients tonight.  Twice a year we have special foods to coincide with the Spiritual Feast of Conference.