Well, today is the last day of NaBloPoMo, and I DID IT!!! A few of the days I was pretty close to not making it, but I did, and I'm very proud of myself.
There's also other things that I did, and did not get done. In the "I did" category, I got a ton of stuff done on Ravelry (so much more to do however), and I also got my blog template updated. My sidebars are now current with extra links and such. In the "I did not" category, I didn't get much of a new routine established, and as of this writing, I didn't finish off the Monsterghan... I do plan on working at it as soon as I sign off though.
One other thing I did today is learn a new life lesson! Do not take the extra-long way to the post office without planning ahead!
This may seem strange to most of you, so I will explain! My post office is nearly next door to me. My daily trip to check our mail is often the only real exercise I get in a day, especially if I'm not doing any laundry which requires me using the stairs! Before we got snow a few weeks ago, I would slip on my crocs and dash through our back yard to get there. That would take a minute at the very most. Now I take what I call "the long way", which is walking on the street. This about triples the distance I walk, and makes it a bit more than a 5 minute return trip, including stopping at the trash bins with whatever I've grabbed on the way out the door. Our dog, who is outside for 99% of the summer, is now 99% inside so he usually joins me for the walk. I desperately need more exercise, but can only do it in tiny amounts due to back troubles. It has been my plan to walk around the entire block on days where there is no mail, or I have no trash to dispose of, but that hasn't occurred... before today that is!
This is where the lesson comes in: First of all, my usual slip-on shoes had been knocked down the stairs so I decided to wear my ballet flats which were right there. That was my first mistake! I'm obviously retaining fluid because I had to jam my feet into them, and they were really tight. Now the ballet flats offer absolutely no protection to the bottoms of my feet, so I could feel every tiny pebble in the road, plus I had no traction whatsoever on the icy patches. I get as far as the trash bins, and realize I had forgotten the empty orange box I was going to throw out. For once I didn't stop to gossip at the post office (probably my only smart move in this entire adventure), just checked my mail and left. There was only a single envelope, so I decided that since the wind wasn't bad today, or so I thought, that I would take the "extra-long way home" around the block. As soon as I rounded the first corner I realized that the reason I didn't notice the wind before was because it was either to my back, or blocked by buildings on my way. I didn't have a hat or mittens on, so it was chilly! Next came the dog... I am trying to be careful in my footing since I'm wearing shoes that have no place being outdoors in Manitoba in November! Well, the dog loves to go for walks, but he's always afraid that you're going to take off on him. He walks exactly 18 inches directly in front of you, and stops suddenly every 3.8 seconds (approximately) to make sure you're still right behind him. He's a Shih Tsu (sp?), so it's very easy to stumble and trip over him, and it's not like he's big enough that you could fall on him without doing serious damage. So here I am... walking in simply horrific shoes... feet aching with every step... trying not to step on or fall on the dog... cursing the north wind... and wishing I hadn't chosen to do this today. By the time I was halfway home, it was clearly evident that any further excursions like this required much more sensible shoes... not only were my feet screaming from being jammed into these too-tight crazy-carpet-like nothings, but my back was screaming too from the lack of arch support.
At long last... well it sure seemed long... it was probably less than 10 minutes start to finish... I arrived home, put away my coat, quickly fixed myself a hot coffee, texted my best friend about my lesson learned, and sat down to rest.
Nicole =o)
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