Being the clever, efficient person that I am, I decided to kill two birds with one stone last night. I need exercise, and my stepson’s dog needs to go for walks, so why not combine the two? A trip to the park to stroll the trails seemed like the logical thing to do.
As I was changing clothes and braiding my hair, my husband said he would go with me. I was surprised. He works outside in the heat all day, so I didn’t think he would want to go back out in it. I was happy he was joining us.
We set off with our four-legged sidekick, who was mesmerized with every squirrel in a ten-mile radius, like he hasn’t seen a million squirrels in our own backyard. We weren’t quite sure how he would react to other dogs or other people on the trail, but he did really well, curious but not aggressive, sniffing everything in sight so hard I thought his nostrils would turn inside out, but chugging along, wagging his tail, tongue happily hanging out.
My husband started teasing me that I was lying about the water fountain I swore was coming up, but I wasn’t making it up. One of the reasons I love that trail is that there is a water fountain at the trail head, and another one about 1.5 miles into the trail. We stopped there to fill up the dog’s water bottle (yes, we carried equipment and provisions strictly for the dog, like good little well-trained human servants).
By the time we reached the parking lot, we had covered 3.5 miles! My goal had been 1.5, so it was way more than I had planned for the evening. Mission certainly accomplished!
Later, in bed, my husband told me that he had fun on our walk. I hope we do it again soon. I liked sharing the trail with him, walking with him, laughing at the dog’s reactions to the world around him.
I got the week off to a good start and can’t blow it now. My goal this week is to work out at least 20 minutes each day the rest of this week.
Another goal is to take time each day, even if it’s just five minutes, to do something just for me. I need it. I am getting worn down, crushed by the take-take-take all day long: constant interruptions at work, questions, can you do this, I don’t know how to do that, adapting to rapid-fire changes at the blink of an eye. Then I get home and have a never-ending to-do list there, too.
By the time I sat down last night (after our walk and after making sure the dog had a big bowl of water, making sure my cat knew I love him and am not cheating on him with the dog, cleaning up the kitchen after dinner since my husband cooked, assuring my stepson that his minor stuffy nose and barely perceptible cough are not fatal, setting up the dog with a blanket and a chew bone, and folding clothes from the dryer so I could toss in another load), it was well after 10 PM.
I finally sank down into the soft, blissful comfort of the sofa, and snuggled up with my husband, our little ritual in the evenings that we look forward to. It was time to let the day’s stress melt away, relax, unwind…and even if there had been an earthquake, a flood, or another natural disaster, I absolutely was not getting up again until bedtime, dammit!
Sweat & Sparkle 