I walked 60 whole minutes today! Didn’t maintain the 3mph pace that last 15 minute stretch, and my feet and back are killing me, but I did it. Supposedly, for my weight, I just burned 500 calories. We shall see. If I can keep up the hour week daily, and ease up on the baking (yesterday was apple cakes), I should lose weight eventually.

Soundtrack: Well, I had my old classic Ipod with the walking playlist, so it varied. Whip it; Under Pressure; Let it Rock; Suffragette City; Miami, Wild Wild West (both by Will Smith), Jumpin,Jumpin; The 15 songs weren’t quite enough, so I switched to What’s the Rumpus (Gaelic Storm) for the walk back and up the driveway.

Today’s agenda – call for a physical appt for me and a car appt for the car, Tuesday Toilets, Julia’s Laundry. Then I get my free time. No naps.

Hubby is back on Medifast, so I have to plan a low carb dinner that we’ll all eat.

Off to fix the tea and have breakfast, and do the morning surfing while I wait for the caffeine to kick in.

Well, I’m pretty sure I hit the 2 mile mark again today, I took a slightly different route, but my eye judged it to be the same. The weather channel says it’s in the 50’s. With the morning sun, it was comfortable exercising weather.

Soundtrack: Blue Stone, by Chris Dane Owens. He’s a music producer that made his own album, and video, then everyone laughed about the video, but I love the music. Good pop, reminiscent of 80s synth pop with choral overtones. The one slow song reminded me of the slow songs placed at the 8th grade dance. My favorite is of course the first track – Light Speed. The whole album is on the play list when I write about my Immortals who’ve become space smugglers.

Tomorrow: prolly Synchronicity. We’ll see.

 

Links: http://chrisdaneowens.com/

I just returned from walking 2 miles, after the girls got on the bus. I’m training for a 3 miler – all the way up to the neighborhood gatehouse and back.

Soundtrack for this walk: Tinted Windows. Bun E Carlos on drums, Taylor Hanson as lead singer, and James Iha and Adam Schlesinger on guitar. Nice, upbeat pop, good walking music. Even the one slow song. I turned around in the middle of song 5 (Back With You), and was home towards the end of song 11 (Take Me Back – how appropriate). My favorite song – well, it’s hard to choose. Their single was Kind of a Girl, and that the first track, but I also find myself humming to Dead Serious, Doncha Wanna, and sometimes Can’t Get a Read on You. I really hope they do a follow up, but then, I have a bunch of one disk wonders in my music collection. I will be walking to them all week.

Tomorrow’s Soundtrack: Blue Stone.

Links: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tinted_Windows_(band)

 

(The kitchen is clean, and the children are occupied with a newly found box of toys.)

Although we do have some in the front yard – roses. But the rainy season appears to be over, so prolly no more rainbows for awhile.

Life here is hardly “idyllic.” When Julia was in skating camp, Cailin and I checked out the library – and of course, silly me lost my wallet. So that was a crazy 24 hours, calling the library and the rink seeing if anyone had turned it in.

Replacement card arrived finally arrived last night. Grocery shopping yesterday with both girls was a challenge as I had to keep tabs on the running total and make sure the girls didn’t destroy the store or my nerves. However, they were much better behaved in the store this last time, so they ARE getting better behaved.

Allergies have definitely surfaced. Wild flowers abound, prairie grass, and this house seems dusty.

And last weekend my check engine light came on. It went off the next time I got gas, but still, that was another coupla nerve-wracking days without the credit card.

The basement is pretty much finished, and Steve has started placing his electronics (60 inch flatscreen, 400 disc blu ray player, speakers out the wazzoo). So once that’s done, the Entertainment Center will be done, and I can tell the girls to go bug Dad as long as he’s not working.

Girls still whine when I ask them to do chores. We haven’t been nearly as social as the girls need (my fault) so they haven’t been on any “playdates” (I hate that word), but they do make friends when they’re at the pool. I don’t enjoy the pool. I’m nowhere near ready to swim myself, and I burn easily, so between the allergies and hugging the shade, I don’t enjoy the pool. But I’m reading a lot when we’re there.

Speaking of reading, they’re doing more of that, since we don’t have regular TV in the family room, and when I don’t let them watch shows, they are doing more reading.

For the most part, though, it’s turning into an okay life. I miss programming, but that will have to wait until they go back to school, other than the odd thing I do once a week or so.

We’ve been here about two and a half weeks. The first week was recovering from the trip out and getting the furniture truck, then we had skating camp. This has been the first week of figuring out how to live here.

Life definitely is slower. I don’t know if it’s the slower pace of things or the fact that I’m not working and don’t have to rush anything.

I have a clean kitchen this morning. Girls clothes are clean and put away (they did that, so I don’t know if they’re folded, and frankly, until they care, I certainly don’t). Living room and family room are straightened as well as can be expected with the piles of boxes still all round.

The basement final inspection is today, then we can start moving at least half the boxes downstairs, and working on the rest of the boxes.

My office is once again the catchall for things, but I hope to work on that next week.

We’ve been doing chores and watching a movie (at least the girls) in the morning, then if weather permits, going to the pool in the afternoons. I have done some walking, but the allergies are definitely hitting me here (all this prairie grass is new to me), so I haven’t been pushing it.

With me cooking, we’re definitely eating healthier. Cailin has lost seven pounds, but her bathing suit is now hanging off her, so she’s lost inches as well. We need to get her a new bathing suit this weekend. Julia’s lost a bit, but since she’s the skinniest, I’m not really concerned about her.

I’ve lost my trip weight gain, and maybe one more pound. I tend to make the home made healthy sweets, then over indulge, since they’re healthy.

I will post pictures, as soon as I remember to start taking them.

Also, my mother is continuing to spin in her grave, since I’ve willingly cooked and eaten yellow squash casserole, and eggplant parmesan. And last night I made an onion casserole, of which Steve had 3rds. I’ve knitted two dish cloths, and of course, there’s laundry. We have a septic tank, so I can only usually do one load a day. Today is my day. So at noon I will start the load.

We have 8 weeks until school starts. I need to find a doctor and schedule physicals before then.

So things get done, but slowly. My method is to work some, then rest/relax some. Heavy on the relaxing. I hope to make it a habit to update this place every day, so hopefully, you’ll see me here tomorrow.