Standing at the Trailhead of Winter

Since starting back to work in August, I've been cycling to work nearly every day. I've had an odd day here or there when I rode the bus, like rainy days, but usually I ride my bike. This gives me ten miles a day, five miles to work and five miles to home. Depending on how fast I go, my Garmin tells me I burn anywhere from 230 - 280 calories with each five miles, so I burn around 500 calories a day by riding my bike (and this afternoon, after I arrived home, I achieved the 1000 miles cycled for the year -- really since June 1). Also since starting back to work in August, I've stopped eating breakfast. This came about for two reasons: 1) it frees up time in the morning. I used to spend anywhere from a half hour to 45 minutes making the meal and eating the meal. Now I use that time to read or clean the apartment; and 2) I wanted to try the intermittent fasting I'd read about. I was really never all that hungry after waking, and I wanted to try to lose about ten pounds...

So, after an early morning conference call, all I can say is, "I told you so." I've been telling my husband for a year and a half now that the financial burden was going to be laid on me since I'm the one with the steady, reliable income. He kept insisting we wouldn't be held responsible for the full amount because of his heart attack and unemployment. After reviewing each of our assets and expenses, the verdict came: one person is in the negative (my husband) and one person is in the positive (me). Because one person is in the positive (me), the full amount owed must be paid. I told you so. I told you so. I told you so. Sheesh. I mean really, it's not rocket science. It's money owed because someone thought he was smarter than the system and could get away with fudging numbers despite me constantly telling him he was going to cause financial problems for us. Gee, look what happened. Exactly what I said was going to happen. Even during the c...

Thursday, when I knew all of the folders/docs I'd had on my work computer were not going to be recovered, I told a colleague I was going to look at the situation as an opportunity to start with a clean slate. While I lost years of documents that pretty much told the story of my time at the college, do those documents really mean all that much? After all, I've already reached the top rung of the ladder regarding my teaching position -- I cannot go up. Thankfully, I cannot go down, either. I've reached a holding pattern. The clean slate just might be exactly what I need to move out of the holding pattern, move along the path that will be the next part of my life journey. As part of my clean slate state of mind, I went into work yesterday and set to work eliminating things that have been taking up space. I had two boxes of stuff -- trinkets students have given me over the years, pens, markers, paper clips, and a bunch of other little items I no longer need/use/want -- si...

Another morning with mist rising up from the bottom of the hillside. As Ado and I walked down the hill, I looked behind us and could see our footsteps in the soggy grass. My shoes soaked through from the dew and sloshed with each step. On cool days like this, Ado likes to walk faster and is even playful. He'll turn towards me then jump ahead as if he wants to run. He'll turn back to me and grab at his leash, take hold of it and begin prancing along as if he's taking me on a walk. Such a difference from the hot, humid days of summer when he drags himself along behind me. When we reached the bottom of the hill, we walked around the patch of wildflowers. The spider webs adorning the goldenrod and thistles stood out, the mist having covered them. I really wanted to hang around and see what everything looked like when the sun finally made it above the trees, but I had to be at work a bit earlier than usual since I'd been asked to do a short thesis workshop in a history...

Mist rose from the hillside this morning when Ado and I set out for our walk. The hot days then nights cooling way off effect. The night temps have dipped so much since the rain moved through last week that I've had to wear a sweatshirt for our early morning walks along the still-quiet streets. I love this time of day. Before everything gets hectic. Before someone says something that makes you pause or something happens that makes you just shake your head. The entire day has been absolutely gorgeous. Sunny but a cool breeze to keep the heat at bay. The sky without a single cloud. Yesterday on my way to work I noted how there were no clouds whatsoever. When I started home later in the afternoon, the clouds had moved in but they were just puffy white fluffs drifting slowly along. Today I figured the same would happen -- clear blue in the morning but fluffy clouds in the afternoon. I was wrong. There are no clouds. Just the blue expanse. Yesterday Angel Baby arrived home from work...

My first book on loan arrived. I have a month to read it, so at 227 pages total, that's 7.5 pages a day. I think I can handle that. I read the first page on my walk from the library back to my office, so I only have 6.5 pages left for today's reading. I really enjoyed the first page, so I think the rest of the book will be a fun read. Yesterday, Lovely Beautiful Daughter dropped by on her way to Goodwill. I tagged along as another goal I'm working on is only buying new used clothing rather than new new clothing. I've winnowed out a lot of clothes from my closet that I never wore or simply no longer liked for whatever reason, so I thought a trip to Goodwill might net me a piece or two I will enjoy wearing. I found a light peach button down with pearl snap buttons and a dark brown corduroy skirt. Both fit really well, and I can't wait to wear the skirt with the boots I bought for my Christmas present last year. The shirt and skirt came to $8. That's a deal. Th...

After Friday's all-day rain and more rain right up til about noon yesterday, when a break came, I took it. I needed to get out, even if just for a quick trip to Target. I could tell by the traffic at the entrance to the mall area that lots of other people had the same idea. And the store parking lot was the proverbial zoo, with people waiting for parking spaces and drivers getting testy with one another. I thought about turning around and heading home, but I like having a candle lit when I meditate, and my candle had burned all the way down to nearly nothing. In and out , I promised myself. Since the bike rack is close to the store entrance, I didn't have to try and find a place to lock up my bike like I have to do at a lot of stores. Points to Target for at least having a proper bike rack for those of us who ride our bikes to go shopping. Inside the store was way worse than the parking lot. People people everywhere with lots of dodging having to happen just to get to the...