Quickly ...

A bit of a family emergency over the weekend; I'll be out of town for
several days. No blogging and no walking in my immediate future, but a
tremendous opportunity to be of service.

Friday Quote Day

Dang! I forgot it was Friday! Without any commentary from me, here's something to think about (and something I've been trying to do since July 7).

You will never change your life
until you change something you do daily.
~ Mike Murdock

Feeling my age

It's difficult for me to actually believe I'm 58. I don't look my age, I don't act my age, I don't (usually) feel my age. After yesterday, though, I'm thinking perhaps I need to realize that most 58-year-old overweight women aren't as active as I am for a reason.

I'm not quitting, no, no, no, but I was so sick and so tired after yesterday's eight miles that I literally had to lie down on the cool (clean) tile floor of the bathroom for about 10 minutes before I felt even remotely normal. My body temperature was very low, but I felt like I was burning up internally. Very scary.

Don't tell my husband. He'll make me stop. Heh.

And you should have seen me trying to get off the floor and back into a standing position. Getting old sucks.

But I guess it beats the alternative.

Done – and I didn't get wet

But that's only because I waited until the early-afternoon thunderstorm exited the vicinity.

You know what that means, don't you? I began my walk at about 2:30 p.m. – certainly approaching the hottest time of the day. Setting out for an eight-mile walk in moderate heat and high humidity probably wasn't the smartest thing I've done lately, but I survived. And surviving will probably only fuel my compulsivity (is that a word?) to do it again, if I have to.

At one point, about a mile from my driveway, I felt like I had tunnel vision. I've had that experience before, during the Army 10-miler in 2007. I guess, though, knowing I survived then gave me the confidence to keep putting one foot in front of the other and I made it home just fine.

Doing an out-and-back route is deceiving. I've been doing seven miles with no problem, and all I had to do was tack an extra half-mile on to the "out" part of the walk. Whether it was physical or psychological, though, I knew when I reached the end of the seventh mile on the "back" part and that last mile was torturous.

The question is, will I do eight miles again today? You betcha. I had no idea I was quite as compulsive as I am. The old me would have said, "No way," especially after seeing a 1.5-pound gain this morning. But the new me feels better, has more energy (except during the eighth mile) and gets more done when I take a walk every day.

I will, however, take it this morning, instead of this afternoon.

Three down, one to go

Well, we've been to three town hall meetings on health insurance reform so far. The next (and last) one on our agenda is September 1. We weren't quite so outnumbered yesterday, probably three or four to one, but the opposition seemed to fall right in line with Monday's crowd: rude, uninformed, rigid, unwilling to let the facts get in their way.

(The first meeting we went to was invitation-only; I almost don't want to put it in the category of "town hall.")

As Virginia Congressman Rick Boucher took the stage, the crowd begin yelling and booing – loudly. It is astonishing to me that people can be so rude. The man hadn't even opened his mouth, but merely walked across a stage to catcalls and insults.

Obviously I'll never be running for office. (Never say never, never say never.)

Clearly this issue is as divisive as any war, but it seems to me that it doesn't need to be. I'm disappointed that lies are being told and listened to as fact, and when the facts are presented they're dismissed out of hand.

Just as clearly, I don't have a solution. I think it's important, though, for both sides to be heard, and that's why I keep attending these events.

Having "things to do" certainly interferes with my day-to-day routine. Today is jam-packed with stuff we could have done Monday and Tuesday. It will all get done, eventually, including an eight-mile walk. There's a good chance of rain today, but I won't melt. Or, if I do, you'll know it by the lack of a post tomorrow.

We're becoming professional town hall attendees

Yesterday's event was, in a word, contentious. Lots of yelling and booing (our Congressman is a Democrat), lots of minds already made up, lots of misinformation. Sigh. Supporters of health insurance reform were outnumbered by about a 10-to-1 margin, which accounted for my slightly elevated blood pressure when I went to the doctor later that day. (He was at the town hall meeting, too, although I didn't see him there. Interesting to be talking politics when your legs are in stirrups and you're wearing a paper gown.)

Those who oppose health insurance reform had their questions neatly printed out and they read them very well. Even the woman who insisted that President Obama was born in Kenya.

Need I say more?

We're going to another one today, this time in Virginia. I'm going to have to walk eight miles a day the rest of the week to make up for yesterday and today. Shouldn't be too hard to do.

P.S. I forgot to schedule my annual appointment last year, so it's been two years since I've seen this physician. He applauded me for my five-mile-a-day plan and said I'd be able to lose 30 pounds in no time. HAH! I promised him I would work on my attitude.

A quickie ...

My husband and I have a full day ahead, beginning with yet another town hall meeting on health care reform. (I prefer calling it health insurance reform, but really both the way we deliver and the way we pay for health care needs an overhaul.)

Then after the meeting I have a doctor's appointment. The irony is inescapable.

Still knitting the periwinkle blue sweater. I have only the left front from the armsceye up to the neckline and the body of the piece will be done, done, done. I love no-deadline knitting. And I love knitting a sweater where you don't have to seam the front pieces to the back. It's a big lump in your lap for a while, but eliminating those side seams is worth wrestling with a big piece of wooly knitted fabric. (Thank goodness for AC!)

The little sunsuit and t-shirt I made for my granddaughter's doll was a big hit. At least the doll doesn't have to live in her pajamas 24/7 any more!

And I'm still pretty much on pace with my five-mile-a-day walks. I only did 33.25 miles last week, but I was a little bit ahead of the pace from the previous week and I'm enjoying the seven-mile route, so will probably keep that up on the days I walk this week.

Today won't be one of them, as we need to leave in 40 minutes. And I'm still in my pajamas! Have a good Monday and if you're in the path of a storm, stay safe!