Canada

A year ago today, I bought a watch Fitbit (Charge 3) and started tracking my weight, calories and exercise. I had just recovered from my leg injury (see previous blog entries re Budapest) and was ready to increase my strength and lose the extra weight I packed on (again) and begin using really using the treadmill I'd bought in January.

So, in the last year, here are my treadmill (>560 hours) and my Fitbit stats (>5.5 Million steps):

The treadmill stats don't include my outside walking and biking, and, the Fitbit steps don't include biking, but I feel pretty good about the amount of exercise I've completed in the year.

And, as a result, I've reached my goal weight of between 120-125lbs:

Here are a few pics from my outside exercise treks, both from biking and walking:

You can just make out my friend on her bike in the path ahead...

This library is a current COVID victim.

The bear crossing sign gave me pause, but I'm pretty sure all the scat I saw was from the horses whose farms back onto the pathway - apparently, despite the signs requiring scooping, it's too onerous to scoop from horseback

And some pics of our new backyard patio, which has been fantastic for sitting in the shade in the hot summer with a cool drink First time ever, we've had somewhere to entertain friends outside.

Sorry, I haven't figured out how to rotate that last pic - Note the brick instead of an umbrella base - there are no bases to be found in Ottawa, although we've just finagled one from our friend's place.

It's interesting to see the flow of the shortages - first it was toilet paper, thermometers and PPE; then fitness equipment and bicycle parts; then canned pineapple and picante red pepper (pic below) - both of which I still can't seem to buy; and now umbrella stands and freezers (my friends seem to have purchased the last upright freezer in the capital region.

And below an update (from the last blog entry) of the front garden, which now sports a flower basket and our Mickey lawn ornament, which we've had for about 25 years, but didn't put out for fear of theft - but really, how much were we enjoying it in the basement?

Like everyone else, we have not been travelling and have had to cancel bookings, including a trip to Europe this summer. Luckily for me, I work from home and have been able to continue to work throughout the pandemic. I wanted to post a couple of pics.

First, here's a picture of me. For the first time ever, I asked my hubby to cut my hair. I couldn't stand having it in my eyes or long on my neck and there are no hairdressers open in this time of physical distancing. I asked him to trim it and try not to leave me looking too weird afterward - basically the same instruction I give my hairdresser.

The next picture is my front yard. Since a few businesses were allowed to reopen this week, we hired a landscaping firm to pretty up our garden, which included making is significantly smaller, adding a membrane barrier, topsoil, mulch. I plan to buy a planter of flowers to plunk down in the space (and probably replace them every year or more frequently if I kill them off) . Anyway, I'm very happy with the outcome.

Anyway, a couple of pictures of my life at home. Hope everyone is safe and healthy.
Deb

Took a nice 10k walk today, round trip to the market for some fruit. The leaf colours are so vibrant this year. It's been amazing, so I took a few shots to show you'all. You might notice the fire hydrant flags set up so they'll still be visible in a month or so when the fall colours become several feet of white snow.

And pumpkins at the market.

Lots planned this week. A Diamondbacks baseball game tomorrow, a pre-season Coyotes hockey game later in the week, and in between mules into the Grand Canyon.

I’ll literally be “out on my ass” on Monday ????, and Tuesday, for that matter - we have to come back up, after all. This canyon trip was the result of winning the mule ride / Phantom Ranch lottery, whereby we submitted our request 13 months ago and were successful in securing these dates. Only one overnight allowed this time of year. From November to March, you can have the option of two nights in the canyon, but I think they restrict it due to high demand, otherwise.

Also fitting in Hoover Dam, now that they do inside tours again. And some time in Phoenix to enjoy the heat. Looks like high 30’s in Phoenix and similar inside the Canyon and mid 20’s at the south rim. ☀️☀️☀️

If you’ve seen my previous posts, you know I had a leg injury in Hungary 4 months ago. I am super happy to say it is healing really well. With it completely closed, I was able to go to my power swimming class this morning, which restarted after summer hiatus. Here’s my latest leg pic.

Will post our Arizona pics and adventures over the next 10 days.

I am currently sitting in the airport, which is pretty quiet. There were no line-ups going through security and customs - in fact, it was just me and 8 officials. This is the quietest I’ve ever seen the airport. The staff said that, except for Thanksgiving through Christmas, Saturday afternoons are the quietest time in the airport. Something to remember.

I’m hoping that’s also true in Philly, since they reduced my connection time from 70 to 35 min and they tell me I will have to take a shuttle to another terminal. Interesting. When I phoned, I was told it was still a valid connection and so should be fine. Also, the staff here said the flight is usually 10 min early.

I’ll let you know how it goes...

A little late in uploading this, but 3 years ago, in Oct 2016, right after returning from the Camino, I jumped out of a plane. At my first meeting back at work, the team was discussing the upcoming event and I immediately pulled out my credit card and signed up. Super cool. After signing 15 or so pages of waiver, which mostly consisted of "this could kill you and we won't be liable - initial here" , I was ready to go. Here are a few pics and my video.

They do an awesome job with the video and the music. This was a great experience!
Oct 2016 Skydiving video