The reset button

The last two Sundays have seen me and the dogs adventuring for our morning walk in pastures new.
I decided to start walking in new neighbourhoods, along new roads, in new subdivisions, with the dogs on-leash, anywhere thats within a 15 minute drive.

Its been very therapeutic.

The dogs dont pull for one. They wait until I let them out and then walk pretty nicely actually for dogs in a new place.

I arrive with all my weekly "issues" and then by the time I get back to the car, all seems to be resolved with me.
I am at one with the world, my particular life and most importantly grateful.
I am grateful for my job, my family, my spot on the planet, the animals in our home, the horse in the barn, my riding, my friends, the view, the bird song, the weather (whatever its like), my past, my present, my plans....

I reset to notice everything around me. The birdsong, the sound of the woodpeckers, the breeze, the homes, the view, the trees, the smells, the sound of water, the gravel under my feet...

I get back in the car and arrive home to make Sunday brunch of bacon, eggs, homefries and fruit.
Its all good.

Easter 2019

Its been the weirdest and strangely most awesome Easter ever.
Firstly we had Easter Sunday on Good Friday. This was necessary since our friend Steve was working on the Sunday and we all wanted dinner together. A tiny (teeny tiny) part of me battled momentarily with the notion of "supposed to be having fish on Friday" and then it was gone. I dont allow myself to be governed by Catholic rules on a daily basis so why start now? And if He really does exist then surely He would understand anyway, purely due to the concept of eating together. And besides, I am yet to be convinced that Catholic rules are any more important  than any other faith.

So, we had Sunday dinner on Friday and it rocked, by far the most delicious I have had in a very long time.

Following dinner the teen and tweenage contingent moved in and the house was turned into an epic "all nighter" for Chloes birthday. We went to bed, they made a noise, and ate....

Saturday morning found me at the barn at 8.30am as I had calculated that due to the "all nighter" that actually likely meant they crashed by 4am, I safely had until about 11am until they rose and shone and went looking for breakfast. I had big plans for Chloes birthday breakfast that included bacon, eggs, homefries and cinammon rolls and wanted to be home. But I also wanted to ride, so 8.30am it was.

It was quiet in the barn and I had a lovely ride. Its a weird place, the barn.... I can drive there feeling exhausted and as I turn into the drive I am overcome with a new energy just to be there...

Breakfast went as planned and the friends left which meant we were headed for the mall so that Chloe could hit her favourite stores to support, yet again, the notion of "easy come, easy go" Two hours later and we had jeans and bath and body works soap and tops and shorts and a good time.

Sunday was chilled, the girls had Easter baskets, I walked the dogs in a new neighbourhood to shake it up a bit for us all and saw Ace for an afternoon fix. We then had pizza for supper which is an absolute first for Easter Sunday.

Tomorrow I am back to work and frankly, three day weekends should really be the new rule.. or would it remove the magic?

at the end of 21DFX

Still doing it. I am still rising with the dawn (and it really is dawn light now as we travel towards summer - except for that 25cm of snow we had last week! - reasonably quickly)
I am now at the end of 21DFX which is 21 Day fix Extreme which I loathed so much when it was first introduced to me and now rather love.
I am now consistently down below another line on the scales and staying down, although I still have at least 20 pounds to go. Non scale victories are the return of my abs and a reduction in under arm additional me, thats leaving :-)
I get up without fail at 5.15am every day except Sunday and kick my own butt in my workout. I still feel accomplished and am pleased, I dont love it particularly but I cant imagine not doing it now, like I couldnt go to work without cleaning my teeth (or bed for that matter).

I can now run the flights of stairs at work and sometimes not feel the burn. I can do 6 burpees now and about 5 very pathetic push ups. The rest I am winning at more.
I still hate burpees and hate push ups.

Last week hubs finally had his gall bladder removed. This was after 5 days of continuous pain that started with a scope and a trip to emerg. It ended in another hospital, on an IV and  with a distinctly yellow hue. Hes now healing from an apparently tricky gall bladder removal. I, after spending time at the hospital, am now back at work and also doing all laundry, walking dogs, cleaning cat litter, making meals, cleaning the house, bringing wood around, making the fire and cleaning snow from the driveway. I have also now had the tires changed on two cars (yes I am keen that its the end of winter, it HAS to be!)

Its been tough. I had no idea how much he did until now.

Vacation -wise : The Westjet app on my phone has a veru handy countdown feature that I rather love telling us the number of days until England and Orlando. I look at it daily.

So... I think I will do another round of 21DFX and see where it takes me... I have a number of clothes I want to wear again....