Back in the Groove

I've officially been home a week, although the first two days were pretty much a blur!  I sort of gave myself last weekend "off" and got back into my groove on Monday by heading to the pool for the 6 AM water aerobics class.  It felt great to be in the water again, and it was fun to catch up with my "pool pals".  The rest of the day it seems was spent in dealing with a flight snafu that Jessica discovered on her return to the U.S. next week.  As the airlines was in a time zone that was 9 hours ahead of us, it took awhile, but eventually we connected and were able to cancel that flight, and rebook another one.

Kailyn and Nick decided to hike Dog Mountain trail, a rather challenging hike in the Columbia River Gorge, and agreed to take Nikki with them.

Nikki in Kailyn's car, not taking any chances of anyone changing their mind about her going along!

They didn't get home until about 7 PM, and Nikki was still smiling, although she was "dog tired" after hiking the 7+ mile loop that included serious elevation!

Tuesday I met a couple of my teaching friends to walk along the Columbia River at 8 AM, which again was a catch up time and the usual gossip about teachers leaving and changes coming in the fall. We've decided to meet every Tuesday, same time and place, and it's great to have that to look forward to. We all were wearing pedometers, and each had slightly different counts, but it was agreed that we walked nearly 3 miles.  After my strenuous vacation, those three miles were a "cake walk" for me! That evening our house sitter's came by to pick up some forgotten clothing, and solve the mystery of my missing laundry baskets!  (Although, the baskets have yet to be returned; I am still "missing" them!)

I slept awful that night, awake more than I was asleep it seemed, and got up about 4:15 on Wednesday.  As I was wide awake and ready, I headed back to the pool.  My friends were happy to see me twice in one week, (I haven't been too regular for quite a few months!) which encouraged me.

Kailyn and I had picked up some strawberries Tuesday afternoon, so I proceeded to wash and prep them for strawberry jam when I got home from the pool.  Kailyn was soon awake and between the two of us, we made two batches.  It was great to have Kailyn helping stir the jam while it cooked, as I always think that is the tiring part.  We followed two different recipes, with the first one just boiling for one minute, and the second for four minutes. I rarely eat jam, but I had to have the traditional piece of toast with fresh jam after we filled the jars! We both agreed; the jam cooked for four minutes was much tastier!  Now there will be jam to take to college again.

I've been picking raspberries and popping them in the freezer until I get enough to make some raspberry jam.  That will happen next week!  The girls are so excited to have homemade jam again, as I haven't made jam in several years!

Later on Wednesday, I got my hair cut.  I went back to wearing bangs, and I think it makes me look younger . . . maybe?  I took my own photo . . . I don't know how to do that very well!

Wednesday afternoon I also broke down and made the call to order my CPAP machine.  I have been dragging my feet; I just dread being anchored to a machine all night.  However, I do not want to be dependent on sleep medication for the rest of my life, and when I don't take anything, I don't sleep well.  While it's easier to just pop a pill, it isn't changing the fact that I snore like a logger and have sleep apnea.  So, I made the call.  I should get a call back in two days for my appointment to pick up the machine, choose my mask, and learn how to set it up on my own.  UGH!

We've had what I consider perfect weather since we've been home.  It's overcast and cool in the morning, and warm (80-85 degrees) in the afternoon.  Kailyn and I took a little hike out around our favorite local lake, Round Lake, on Thursday afternoon.  It isn't far, just a little over one mile when you do the "short" loop, but there are a couple steep spots.  I forgot my hiking poles; had to rest twice after the steep places, but did pretty good.  As it's shaded by big fir and cedar trees, it's a pleasant walk.

This morning I got up at 5:15, as usual, and returned to the pool.  It was a fairly small group today, but we had one of my favorite instructors, Cindy, and I got a great workout.  I feel energized and ready for the day!

Who knows what today will bring?  I'm back in the summer vacation groove, and I'm loving every minute of it!

PS ~ I do plan to go back and hit a few highlights of the European Vacation over the course of the summer.  The problem is that I have thousands of photos to sort through, from all four cameras!  I'm saving that for a rainy day, which I'm sure will arrive soon!  I live in the Pacific Northwest . . . it's rare we have a week or so without rain!!