Sunday, August 28, 2016

Unhappy Mirror Image

This morning was productive in that I managed once again to walk the hour and a half it takes me to deliver about 100 of our monthly newsletters to homes in our senior mobile home park. 

The route I volunteered for is close to me. I walk up and down and place the rolled newsletter (secured with a rubber band) to the front railings. I'm not very fast but I can work up a gentle and steady pace.

Today I left at 6:15 a.m. and even though it was in the 70s, it still felt humid because of the recent monsoon activity. By the time I finished, I really needed a shower and I enjoyed it immensely. I must admit that this time my knees felt it for the first time in two years. That's probably a little arthritis because of the recent dampness and rains. Still, when all was done, and the shower was over, I really felt good.

That is, I felt good until I happened to glance in the mirror and realized I looked like I've packed on a few pounds over the summer. That didn't make me very happy. Over the past two years, I've lost 20 pounds and it has stayed off. Until now, I think.

This summer has been exceptionally hot here in Vegas. I haven't done a lot, physically, for that reason. So I'm glad that last week I broke down and for the first time in my life, I washed my own car, climbing up and down on a stool, sudsing, rinsing, toweling it dry. That too, felt good when I finished.

Tomorrow I do the other part of my delivery route, but that's about half of what I did today. Tomorrow will be a piece of cake. But after that glance in the mirror, tomorrow is sorely needed!

Yep, I think it's time to get a little more physical again. The newsletter walk is only once a month. I need motivation to walk.

However, our Fall park-wide yard sale is coming up in about a month. That motivates me to move things around inside, packing boxes and taking them outside for the sale. The bending and lifting involved is very good for me.

I do need to take my age into consideration. A friend and I often remind each other: You're not 39 anymore! I can tell when I need to stop - it's when I begin dropping things or knocking them over. When I spill my coffee, or drop something I'm taking out of the fridge - those are my signals to slow down. I might still be able to multi-task these days, but not to the level I did, say, ten years ago.

Yep, I need to get a little more physical - I did NOT like what I saw in that mirror!

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