Sunday June 18

Happy Father's Day!

Liz, you are doing fine. Your fundamentals are good and you can trust them to carry you thru even if you are slightly up. As you say, much of it will naturally fall away in time. As for your other news: pastry chef in the family.....oh my.

DD's recitals were this weekend. I dread recital week but thoroughly enjoy the shows. DD has been at this studio for at least 10 years. Watching these kiddos grow up before my eyes is extraordinary.

Yesteday's hike was only 9.5 miles...not even double digits! That was "my" hike. Today's mini-hike with DH has been canceled. He his IBS is threatening to flare and no one wants THAT out in the woods.

Tho yesterday's hike was a tad shorter than I would have liked, it was more difficult that I expected, esp the last mile or so. That last stretch was a trail made by Mother Nature.....maybe a rock slide at some point? I had a lot of time to think about it as I hoisted my body up, over and over again. Did Mother Nature take short people into account when she fashioned these steps? I think not. However, she thoughtfully provided lots of jutting rocks for hand grips which were needed both on the way up and down. Walking sticks were not useful for this hike. I very much needed my hands for stability.

A few pics, it was overcast......I'll return a sunny day for a better mountain views. I wish I had gotten more pics of wildflowers. But, they were best in the steepest part of the hike and I was focused on Mother Nature's trail of tears.

Find your full today. Shel

Such beauty Shel. I am envious that this is your playground! How long do your hikes usually take you? Do you pack a lunch?

Oooh, I have stats from my Garmin which are rather....um....un-inspiring! I haven't been wearing my fitbit because I suspected I was beginning to focus on that number rather than the whole experience. With the garmin, I look at it at the end of the hike out of curiosity. And then I took a picture of it out of obsession.

Odometer: 9.34 miles

moving time: 4.49 hours

stopped time: 39.43 minutes(I sat at the summit and then again at the lake)

So, total time out there was over 5 hours. That plus driving an hour each way chews up much of the day. I am usually to the trailhead by 7:30.

moving average: 1.9 miles per hour. Does that count as moving???? Apparently grunting doesn't figure into this number. DianeS commented recently that despite my buffalo avatar I probably don't sound like a buffalo. Yesterday, my buffalo snorts were strong

I take food with me and sometimes I wonder if I am hiking for the sake of that food bag. The centerpiece is typically a hunk of chicken breast or turkey (yesterday was 6oz turkey.) Yesterday's bag also contained a baby-bel light, an apple, and a bag of carrots/cucumbers. I also ate an apple in the car on the way home. I used to take a kind bar with me -- that's about the only bar I like which must sound strange to you. But, I found I didn't feel like it on the trail so would eat it later just because it was available. Now I don't bother to buy it.

The chicken/turkey is ok for the hike because temps are still mild and even cold at the top. At the top of yesterday's hike I had three layers on: a long sleeved technical shirt, a smart wool zip up and a compressible Patagonia jacket.

Sometimes I wonder if I am hiking so I can shop for hiking clothes :)

Wow! Such beauty!

Happy Fathers Day! My brother and I invited Pops out for dinner. I let my brother choose the place since he, too, is a dad. He chose a German restaurant (I guess he's in need of a bit of soul food!). I will be honest, though I love my German soul food, this place is German Ratskeller (pub) food. Hard to eat healthily there. Oh well, one meal, right? Right!

Weight same as yesterday.

Trimmed 2 client dogs and 1 of my own yesterday. Have two more of my own to put into summer trims and then I can relax about my own dogs.

Food was pretty good yesterday. We went out for sushi last night and tried a fried roll. Delish! But...probably far less healthy. Water was good, protein was excellent, but carbs are still a little too high. I've got to see if I can knock the carbs back to about 50 grams per day.

Have two clients today. Will break for some lunch and then work on one of my dogs.

Going to need to beat the heat today, too. The forecast high is 105 degrees. I am thankful I had the electricians out to put my grooming room AC on it's own circuit!

Enjoy your Sunday!

Have fun with your dad! Someday, I'm going to get home for father's day. Random question....any thoughts about why I haven't seen Airedales on my hikes? Of all the terrier's it would seem that their longer legs would make them particularly suited.

Mop-up comments from yesterday:

Ron: He hasn't been overweight his whole life, right? The one nice thing about being overweight (or even feeling overweight) one's whole life is that you are very well aware of calories. For people like my DH and perhaps your Ron, it is a very hard to truly "see" those calories. (Across from me, DH just polished off two giant croissants, his usual weekend breakfast.)

At work, I am continuously amazed when a patient self identifies as "naturally thin, I don't have to worry about what I eat" when they clearly are NO LONGER THIN! I am also amazed that they made it this long without ever thinking about food.....just eating what they want, when they want, with no consequence.

Ron is lucky to have your guidance even if it doesn't always feel good in the moment.

Your exercise: please never stop posting about your love of strength, stamina and endurance. I love it too, but prioritizing the effort is a problem. Your posts are inspirational!

Long time since I've posted. I have been binge reading the last week of posts. Love the pics, motivation and well wishes.

Wt 218. Has been up even higher and now trending back down. Too much off plan travel eating.

DS#1 and DIL are remodeling their pharmacy so I have been helping with that. It is a small town but they are very busy. I think there will be some after hours working. Moved stuff around yesterday got to get the registers running with power and data before tomorrow.

We have caught more bees and we've been working in the bee yard. Up to 7 total hives and another one buzzing at another trap. Got a 20" x 2" strip of capped honey comb out of one of the hives. I almost made myself sick on it. I started with a taste and surprisingly (mindlessly) had eaten half of it when I started feeling queasy. Lesson learned.

Renting our house to DD#1 is turning out more than she can manage. It has 3 acres to upkeep. It has trash piled up and the yard needs mowing. Plus there is the lack of money thing. We are hoping she can qualify for government housing. She is single and pregnant so she aught to qualify for programs. A neighbor is interested in renting it. 2 of them and they both have jobs. I have some odds and ends that need to be done to the house before renting to non family. And I have things stored in the shop that would need to be moved.

More later, David

Wonderful to see you, Dave! Happy Father's day!!!!

What a great honey story! My brother's home honey is amazing so I can imagine how easy it goes down.

You have a pharmacy in the family? Who is the pharmacist? I worked retail for a long time and still have a fondness for visiting retail pharmacies just to get the feel of the joint.

My oldest son's wife is the pharmacist. Oldest son is RN but mainly focuses as purchasing agent for the front. He does give flu shots. He also is a member of a buyers group that halfway bypasses the middleman for the RX pharmacy part of buying and is active with that. Plus they have a few cows. About 2K square feet with a easy future 1500 that is under roof but not enclosed. DW works there some. Mostly computer work evaluating compliance (yuck) and some work with a genetic study. The pharmacy is one of 2 in this town. The other one can't accept Medicare or Medicaid so he is not that busy.

Thanks for the happy wishes.