Welcome to summertime in the NW. It lasted about 3 days, and now we're back into Fall. Maybe next year summer will last a full week?
Blerg.
This past weekend, temperatures broke 80 degrees, which we haven't seen in these parts since last August or September. Really. Saturday I spent the day hunched over doing some much needed yard work. I weeded my garden along the street, moved some poorly-situated plants from last year, and bought 8 bags of bark mulch. What a difference that makes! Wow, it looks and smells fantastic out there, now!
I attempted some vinca (periwinkle) removal, but when the roots started coming up with 8+ inches of bark and soil attached, I decided that I would tackle this project bit by bit.
On Sunday Clint and I went to Duthie Hill Park for some mountain biking. Being sore from the previous days' workload, I wasn't super into it. I wanted to go for a road ride, but changed my mind to appease my darling husband. I struggled. I was tired, achy, and it was bloody hot outside! I sweat, and it never evaporated. I just kept sweating and sweating. It felt good, but it was really gross.
After a rocky (literally and emotionally) run on Step it Up, we parked ourselves in the clearing to play around a bit. I rode the skinnies (successfully, I might add) and played around on the drops. I landed, perfectly, the 2nd drop, twice! OK, so Clint rides off all 5 like they're nothing, but for me, landing the 2nd was a big step! I mean, it's like 10 inches! (That's what he said...?)
So now we're back into the work week and life is moving on. Today we have the appliance repair man fixing our dryer. After almost 2 hours tumbling the other night, we opened the door to find a lump of wet clothes flopping around. Poop. After checking the venting, we decided it wasn't something we could fix. In comes the repair man, who found $10.33 and 10C Canadian, and $220 later, our dryer works like new. Great! Now I can start wearing good clothes to work again. :-)
I have been making cards here and there lately, but with Bear's needs, and working until 4:00 instead of 3:30 lately, I'm not finding the time that I wish I had for this. I have Fridays off now, which is nice. I made several cards last Friday, most of which I like, too. But yesterday I wanted to participate in Papertrey Ink's Blog Hop, but didn't have enough time to complete my card and get it posted to participate and possible be a random winner. Bummer. But my card will be super cute when it's done!
We started eating according to the Paleo Blueprint a couple of weeks ago. The basic idea behind this lifestyle is that if we eat the way people ate 10,000 years ago, then our bodies will be better equipped to process the foods instead of storing it for fat. According to this guy's book, agriculture developed much faster than the human body, so that today, agriculture, and therefore the way that people eat, has outpaced evolution, which is partly why people these days are so fat, respectively. By taking our diets back 10,000 years, we are eating only what our bodies can handle, and what our bodies need. No grains, no corn, no starches. Just hunting-gathering types of sustenance. So if it can be hunted or gathered, I can eat it. I can gather cupcakes, right? I mean...
So lots of meat, fish, veggies, fruits, nuts, seeds, berries. We try to eat little that has been processed, like hot dogs. Sure, they're beef, but not exactly in its purest form, you know? So far I've lost 8 lbs, but our cheat day of burger & fries & 2 beers but me up a few, so net loss is only 5. But we're getting there. This feels like a lifestyle change that has some longevity for us. Mush easier than Atkins, mostly because of the fruit. And hey, if it comes straight from the Earth, chances are it's pretty good for you.
