I Keep Forgetting

That I'm not a kid; that almost-57 is closer to 60 than it looks... Yesterday I took advantage of the great weather and spend 4 1/2 hours raking my back yard and getting the leaf mulch off my plants and bushes. I swear I took breaks -- 1/2 hour after the first 2 hours, and another hour (for dinner) after the 3rd...but I awoke at 3 a.m. with a nasty surprise.

Now, I've been gardening since I was a kid, and did the same sort of work as recently as a year ago. However, in the wee hours of this morning, I was wakened with pain -- achy muscles and joints -- in both shoulders, right down to my finger tips! Granted, I had postponed my after-garden bath till this morning, because I also wanted to wash my hair, and didn't want to risk a serious case of bed-head. The alternative? There I was at 3 a.m., slathering leg-and-muscle lotion on my arms and shoulders, followed by a dose of Ibuprofen. Eventually, I went to sleep -- and got up this morning feeling much better. Then I did have my bath -- with lovely White Tea epsom salts (a gift from a dear friend) -- and washed my hair, and feel pretty fit.

That said, I'm going to take my walk today, but leave the front yard for Monday! LOL!

I'm Driving Too Much

I've been thinking about it. Since I moved out to this hamlet, I've put more kilometres on my car and driven more than ever before. Used to walk everywhere in the city -- or, at least, to the LRT. Hmm. Filling up my wee car more often too -- and it gets great mileage -- er, kilometrage. Once I realized that I will soon need another oil change (the last one was on September 23, with the fall check-up, in Calgary, just before I moved), I decided to see just how much I was driving. I filled up a very empty tank on November 8th, and noted the kilometres on my odometre. Yesterday (November 13), on the way back from seeing Christmas on the Air in Rosebud, I filled up at about 1/4 tank (the wind was blowing something fierce and I wanted to be sure I was prepared for anything). Again, I noted the kilometers.

The difference? 528!! So I toted up the distances I'd travelled since the fill-up on November 8th. According to the distances calculated by Google Maps, here's the break-down of my journeys this week:

Nov. 8th: Lacombe (filled up) to Mirror: 41. km
Nov. 10th: Mirror to Stettler, return: 84.2 km
Nov. 11th: Mirror to Erskine, return: 56.8 km
Nov. 12th: Mirror to Lacombe, return: 83.6 km
Nov. 13th: Mirror to Rosebud, return: 326.2 km
Total: 592.6 km

Aaaargh!! I moved here to be quiet, to spend my days walking, reading, writing, knitting and creating fibre art pieces. Maybe I'd better stop moving around so much and sit still for awhile!

But first...I have lunch with a new friend in Lacombe today...