Tues 31 Jul

Looks to be a lovely day today. Hopefully the sinus pain that disturbed my sleep last night will be gone. I assume it is pollen and not a cold as it isn't seeming to be too difficult during the day. I had to prop my pillows against the headboard and sleep "Dutch style" for over an hour. I wondered if they didn't develop that convention because someone influential had bad sinuses and felt pain when they lay flat which they interpreted as the devil coming in. I know it hurt like the devil when the sinus pressure built up from lying flat! Decided I need to do more than just casual walks on my non-gym days, so did an Erin O'Brien Strong Bodies workout early before it gets too warm. She really knows how to work out the body thoroughly. Whew! Food: 8:10 am Chocolate pecan pinwheel pastry, 101 g blackberries, coffee Exercise: 9:40-10:20 am Erin O'Brien workout DVD

Mon 30 Jul

Happy 100th birthday, Mom! Much has changed in the world since you were born, and you saw a lot of it. You were blessed with loving family, enough food and shelter throughout your life, wonderful travel, comfort and safety. I am very glad. We miss you. Food: 7:50 am Apricot danish, 101 g blackberries, coffee Exercise: 9:00-9:25 am Treadmill 9:30-10:30 am Body Pump class

Sun 29 Jul

Were able to pick Laura up after her arms day at the gym and have one last lunch with her in Madison, a little more time together that I craved. She looks good, fresh pink in her hair, and ready to go. She has been able to meet with many groups of Madison friends for goodbyes, and has more scheduled in the next couple of days before flying to CO on Tuesday evening. She will have to pay tuition next semester to finish the final edits of her dissertation and return to defend it, but she looks more relaxed. Her packed pod is already en route and she is sleeping in the small twin with the cheap mattress that she plans to leave behind. She is eating leftovers, protein bars, and various get-togethers with friends at restaurants. She has a wedding to attend with friends tonight, and Carrie is staying at her apartment. She will be fine. Food: 8:00 am Cheese danish, 101 g blackberries, coffee 12:35 pm 2.5 oz cheddar, slice Omega 3 bread, 8 oz TJ's blueberry lavender almond Exercise: 9:10-9:30 am Walk to church 11:10-11:30 am Walk home

Sat 28 Jul

July is almost kaput, but we've been having a good summer with real summer weather and plenty of good things to do. Can't complain.

Fri 27 Jul

Physical went well yesterday except for high cholesterol (again). Sigh. Really need to schedule that test in Waupaca for Bob and me to determine that things are okay. And losing that extra 20 pounds sure couldn't hurt either. Food: 7:45 am 1 c Quaker Oat Squares, 1/2 c soy milk, 103 g blackberries, coffee 12:35 pm 2 scrambled eggs, Aldi English muffin w/butter, 108 g strawberries Exercise: 8:55-9:25 am Treadmill 9:30-10:30 am Body Pump class

Thurs 26 Jul

Labs were extremely quick this morning, called right away and just one tube of blood. An old college professor, Hamid Hekmat, was also in the waiting room. He looked old. Food: 7:25 am 1 c Quaker Oat Squares, 1/2 c soy milk, 100 g blackberries, coffee 12:20 pm Leftover potato leek soup, scone, 150 g strawberries Exercise: 8:00-9:30 am Schmeeckle walk w/Kathy

Wed 25 Jul

Rest of this week purports to be quite busy. Today is a typical Wednesday with gym and Bootstrap, Thurs I have labs, physical, and a Walk for Hope mtg in addition to walking with Kathy, and Fri afternoon I have an extra Bootstrap 3rd desk shift in the afternoon. I'm already looking forward to Saturday. Food: 7:55 am 1 c Quaker Oat Squares, 1/2 c soy milk, 101 g blackberries, coffee 12:10 pm Hard-boiled egg, scone, large peach Exercise: 9:05-9:25 am Treadmill 9:30-10:30 am Body Pump class

Tues 24 Jul

Feeling a little sad that this is Laura's last week in Wisconsin and she is busy this weekend so we can't go see her off. It will be a little bit harder having her so far away. Bet she won't miss this humidity, though! Food: 7:45 am 1 c Quaker Oat Squares, 1/2 c soy milk, 101 g blackberries, coffee

Mon 23 Jul

Very nice visit with Bill and Paddy yesterday, but they stayed around 5 hours and I was exhausted when they left. Got some good tips for finishing the planning of our West vacation. Had to take a pass on the church picnic as we still had all the food prep and cleaning to do before they arrived at 2. Did not really mind that it was closer to 2:30 before they got here. Food: 8:00 am Cherry almond coffee cake, 101 g blackberries, coffee Exercise: 9:05-9:25 am Treadmill 9:30-10:30 am Body Pump class

Sun 22 Jul

Lovely trip to Door County. I would stay at the RunAway Lodge@Valmy again. It was a perfectly nice room, two beds, lots of space, clean. No breakfast included, but then we were only a few miles from the White Gull Inn so who cares? We had dinner at Mr G's in Jacksonport, a seafood platter of fried shrimp, fried scallops, fried perch and fried cod, but it was well-prepared and not at all greasy. Breakfast at the White Gull where I had a half order of cherry-stuffed French toast that I haven't eaten for years. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Because we didn't get to the Inn until about 9:20, we had to wait over half an hour and breakfasted quite late so I was able to finish half a piece of cherry coffee cake and my entire order of French toast without difficulty. We decided to pass on lunch, having only a mid-afternoon gelato and a sharing a flight of cider to tide us over to 5:00 dinner at CHOP. We each had the pork chop which was huge and delicious. Cherries were at peak ripeness, sweet and delicious. A good day overall. Food: 8:20 am Cherry almond coffee cake, 101 g blackberries, coffee

Fri 20 Jul

Inevitably, Bill asked to change the day of our get-together to Sunday (which I prefer). Bob and I had talked about going to Door Co to pick cherries, so we are staying tonight in the Runaway Lodge@Valmy then spending tomorrow in Door Co with dinner at CHOP. We'll be home Sunday for church and to prepare for Bill and Paddy at 2 pm. Food: 7:15 am Cherry almond coffee cake, 101 g blackberries, coffee

Thurs 19 Jul

Temperatures have moderated to a very pleasant level, though there is still a bit of elevated humidity. Feeling a bit of crunch now to get the house ready to entertain Bill, but I guess it will be what it will be. He will likely tell everyone what an awful housekeeper I am, but do I really care? I have an unexpected shift at Bootstrap 3rd desk this afternoon, taking a bit of my prep time, and I'm meeting with Heather after the Suicide Prevention meeting to give her ideas about traveling to Virginia tomorrow, taking a bit more. Oh, well. Food: 7:20 am Costco cherry almond coffee cake, 101 g blackberries, coffee

Wed 18 Jul

Dentist appointment this morning means no gym for today. Gonna have to squeeze in some strength training this week because Friday is the Suicide Prevention meeting and no gym again. Don't really want to go the evening Body Pump special on Thursday, though I suppose I could consider it. Food: 7:45 am Pecan pinwheel pastry, 101 g blackberries, coffee 12:15 pm Toasted Aldi English muffin, 2 tbl Jif, extra large peach 7:05 pm 2 steak quesadillas, corn Exercise: 8:45-8:55 am Walk to dentist office 9:45-11:00 am Walk to Bukolt loop and home

Tues 17 Jul

Had a lovely day for a Rib hike yesterday which I thoroughly enjoyed. Weather looks great going forward. Bill called yesterday and put in a request for the chicken kebabs that I made for Laura's graduation to be served to him and Paddy when they come on Friday. I can't reproduce the steak kebabs as they were seasoned with a packaged marinade that is no longer available, but one kind of kebab should be sufficient. I think I'll make Indonesian yellow rice, grilled pineapple, and some type of veggie (hopefully fresh sweet corn) to accompany and finish with peach crisp. Got some serious housecleaning and decluttering to do before Friday, but they'll probably have to deal with a house much less pristine than they're used to. Too bad. Food: 8:05 am Honey bear pastry, 101 g blackberries, coffee Exercise 9:30-11:20 am Schmeeckle walk

Mon 16 Jul

Had a very nice day with Laura in Madison yesterday. Lunch at Weary Traveler, dinner at Sardine, errands run. Brought her good twin mattress home to live on the bed in Michael's room. She is feeling a little ragged getting everything together. Told her she can call on us for help if/when needed. Got to meet Ellen and her adorable baby Riley who is already 8 months old, as well as Ellen's mom. Ellen is moving out to Oregon shortly after Laura moves to Colorado. We got to see generic website photos of her new apartment in Wheat Ridge, about halfway between Golden and Denver. She is happy with the location as she is walking distance from her friends (and their dogs that Laura loves), close to a lifting gym, right on a bike trail she can take to work. She can postpone getting a car since she can take the bike trail all the way to school for awhile, so we took her to REI to buy a bike rack (which Bob helped her install) and panniers. Food: 7:35 am Nutella filled pastry, 101 g blackberries, coffee Exercise: 8:55-9:25 am Treadmill 9:30-10:30 am Body Pump class

Sun 15 Jul

Going down to see Laura in Madison for the last time in her condo, sigh. We have to take the van down as we are bringing her good twin mattress back here. We will exchange it for the cheap mattress on the bed in Michael's room, as her mattress is very high quality and comfortable. I will ask about bringing home the quilt that Jane made for her since she will no longer have a twin bed to put it on. Bob and I will likely continue monthly trips to Madison for our Costco/Woodman's/Trader Joe's errands and the excellent food scene. Food: 8:25 am Apricot danish, 101 g blackberries, coffee

Sat 14 Jul

Flag Day. Bob decided we should fly the flag and "take it back from being usurped by the conservatives". Not so sure I feel that idea, but I won't argue. Looking forward to walking down to the Farmer's Market for pastries and veggies. Bob reports that the flag bracket is missing from the house so it's a moot point. Food: 9:00 am Cherry danish, 102 g blackberries, coffee 12:00 pm Chicken drumstick, 10 slices cucumber with peel, 1/2 bottle kombucha Exercise: 7:55-8:40 pm Walk to Farmer's Market and back 11:20-12:00 pm Ellis St loop

Fri 13 Jul

Haven't had a Friday the 13th for a while in my recollection, but here we are. Enjoyed Michael's band last night at the Bandshell, but the "headliner" band kind of gave me a headache after a few sounds that all sounded alike. I wish they had also been reggae. Made cucumber/onion salad and potato leek soup for supper tonight before the heat/humidity saps my energy, though keeping the A/C on does mostly keep the humidity out. The temperatures are not at all bad today, but the humidity was at 95% when I checked Underground this morning. Food: 8:00 am 1 c Quaker Oat Squares, 1/2 c soy milk, 101 g blackberries, coffee Exercise: 9:05-9:25 am Treadmill 9:30-10:30 am Body Pump class

Thurs 12 Jul

Looking at some rain today, hopefully not while Michael's band is playing at the bandshell from 6-6:30 or during my walk with Kathy. Otherwise I can't think of any reason I have to be outside. It would be good if I could motivate to do some housecleaning as Bill and Paddy come next Friday and Bill cleans compulsively before he has company so he will notice if I don't. Not to mention that a good housecleaning would not go amiss here. Food: 7:15 am 1 c Quaker Oat Squares, 1/2 c soy milk, 101 g blackberries, coffee

Wed 11 Jul

Getting back into post-vacation(s) routine. No trips on the agenda at this point til MN State Fair/Seattle, though I expect to throw in a weekend here or there before summer slips by. We are driving down to Madison to visit Laura this Sunday, the last time we will see her before she heads to Colorado. After that, we will have to grab some time when she comes home for friend's weddings, arguing her thesis, and graduation. She is currently working so hard to finish her thesis that she is exhausted, so I don't know how much energy she will have on Sunday. Food: 7:50 am 1 c Quaker Oat Squares, 1/2 c soy milk, 43 g blackberries, coffee Exercise: 9:05-9:25 am Treadmill 9:30-10:30 am Body Pump class

Tues 10 Jul

Relieved that the scale came back down 3 pounds of yesterday's shocker weight. The burger I ate at Great Dane was quite salty on Sun evening, and the humidity contributes to water retention. I felt like I peed gallons in the night and I also had a copious poop in the morning yesterday, so some of the huge gain was caused by water, but I still need to get back on track so it was a good wakeup call. Food: 8:00 am 1 c Quaker Oat Squares, 1/2 c soy milk, 101 g blackberries, coffee

Mon 9 Jul

Very nice vacation at the North Shore/Bayfield. We had a couple of excellent hiking days near Grand Marais, including a trail new to us at Kadunce River. We actually did it twice as it was well-situated for the time we had available both days. Mon afternoon we hiked at Lookout Mountain in the afternoon and Thursday afternoon we hiked up to Moose Mountain. Tuesdays attempts at hiking were aborted by rain and wet conditions and Wednesday wasn't great hiking weather either. We tried driving down to Split Rock park to hike Wednesday and got ready to go just as a huge storm system came in so we high-tailed it back to the car and drove back to Grand Marais. Tuesday we drove out on the Gunflint Trail, so we lunched at the Lodge and went out to Chik-Wauk. In Bayfield, we took a 3.25 hr Apostle Island Grand Tour in the most beautiful weather imaginable. Enjoyed staying with Tom and Karleen again, and they have decided not to sell their B&B after all. They like what they do and will just keep going. I was appalled by my scale this morning. Time to really buckle down and watch my diet/exercise regimen again. Food: 7:45 am 1 c Quaker Oat Squares, 1/2 c soy milk, 100 g blackberries, coffee

Sun 1 Jul

Already the start of another vacation! Heading up to the North Shore for Fourth of July week, where the temperatures promise to remain in the 60s for highs. A welcome relief from the last few days of extreme heat/humidity that expects to continue throughout the week here, albeit slightly tempered. Hoping to get in quite a bit of nice hiking and enjoyment of the North Shore trails. God has answered my prayers to relieve the discomfort I have experienced in lifting my leg or bending, and I hope that I continue and am able to move more normally again. Food: 7:00 am Cheese danish, 104 g blackberries, coffee