Body image and family time

It was a good weekend. Temps were in the high 80s/90s, little humidity. We weren't out in the sun much as family is still recovering from sunburns they received on their vacation in California. They didn't arrive home until midnight on Friday so Saturday morning we were all moving fairly slowly except for dsil who was playing in a workplace football tournament. So off he went at 6:30 a.m. and I stayed up doing some research on my trip to the UK in two weeks--I still can't make up my mind about BritRail pass--until the rest of the family got up around 9 a.m. 

We went to a diner for lunch. I ordered a veggie wrap, which was a fairly healthy choice. I did have fries with it though--I'm still a sucker for fries. And then I shared an old-fashioned ice cream sundae with dd. I calculated the calories on Mobile Spark for what I ate and realized I'd only have about 200 calories for dinner. Ugh. And then I went to Sears to look for a bathing suit. I tried a few on and I was surprised to see in the mirror that I looked nicely shaped. I guess I still have body image problems--no, I don't "guess", I "know" I still have body image problems. When the scale goes up 1 pound, I imagine that my body has gone back to the same shape as it was when I weighed 15 pounds more. I think of myself as "chunky". At least I am not starving myself or doing anything else unhealthy but I think I could head in that direction if I weren't careful. It's lovely to be down to 122-123 pounds, now to get used to it and to focus on "healthy" instead of "thin". I've said that in my previous blogs, I just need to say it again, remind myself. 

This afternoon I made low fat brownies with my two older grandchildren. Here are some photos of what life IS all about: 
 

 

So the time with dd and the grandchildren is going along quickly. Two weeks from tomorrow I fly off for 2.5 months. Two and a half months away! Whew. I'm trying to figure out what I'm going to do and when. Having 2.5 months in the UK is a very special opportunity. It's kind of like going back 30-odd years, when I lived there and have often regretted not getting about more, and having the opportunity to now DO it. I want to make the most of my $$ now so I really MUST sit down and figure out whether a BritRail pass will save me money for the amount of train travel I'll be doing. And I also need to pin down what exactly it is I want to do--see areas that are related to family or sightsee. Do a lot of walking and not worry about being alone or stick to hikes where I'll be with people. So far, however, all of the hikes that are organized are insanely expensive.

Two weeks to figure things out....

Hiking in Ramsay Canyon Preserve, Arizona

I went to Ramsay Canyon Preserve this past Tuesday. It is a little gem of a walking area nestled in the canyons just east of Sierra Vista AZ. The woman at the trailhead bookshop said there were loads of butterfly species, hummingbirds and other birds around but although I heard them (the birds that is) I only saw a couple of butterflies and a hepatic tanager (a red bird that looks something like a cardinal) and loads of dragonflies. But I intend to go back out there a few times before I leave because it was such a beautiful spot and there's a good climbing path that goes for a little over 3 miles roundtrip up to the link with Hamburg Trail. Almost 1000' elevation gain from 5500 to 6200 so that will keep me in shape for my UK rambles. 

Borrowed a great book from the library yesterday--Lonely Planets' Walking in Britain (52 Great Walks). Had my mouth watering for all the places I could walk through. Problem is I will have to choose my walks carefully if I am going to be alone. Walking/hiking up in the West Highland Way may be problematic--not a good idea to hike alone. The book did give a couple of websites for walking clubs and I am going to do a thorough research to see what clubs exist and where. 

Anyway, here are some photos from this week's hike: 

This photo reminded me of the views I would get from hiking above Santa Fe. 
 

I thought this rock formation was interesting. Reminded me of New Hampshire's "Old Man of the Mountain" 
 

Don't think you'd see this plant back in the East though. The area really is so biodiverse with cacti growing beneath oak trees. 
 

I almost got a photo of the hepatic tanager but just as I clicked the shutter, it flew away. But the deer were very accommodating. 
 
 

 

This is my grand-dog Molly. She has a beautifully loving nature that tolerates the ministrations of three toddlers. She also likes to take humans on walks. She is pretty good about pulling except when she hears a dog barking in a yard or sees a dog. Unfortunately there are a LOT of dogs in dd's neighborhood. Our walk tonight resulted in my almost ending up in a heap on the gravel and almost losing a finger as well. Note to self: be careful about wrapping Molly's leash around hand when walking.

 

Isis used to be my cat but because we're moving about so much this year, she's gone to live with dd and family. She's 17 years old and quite cranky. Especially when she's being coaxed by a 2 year old to drink from a sippy. But she does fairly well tolerating them and has her own little "house" to retire to when it gets too much. She also likes to sing at night, preferably after everyone has gone to bed. She's done that since we first adopted her.  At first it was only when she found anything rubber--elastics, rubber gloves, balloons. Now she sings anyway.

Au revoir Santa Fe

This is my last full day in Santa Fe, for the summer at least. I woke up this morning and it was pouring rain. I mean POURING. So unusual here!! I still wanted to hike of course because at the very least I thought it would be good preparation for UK hiking weather. So I phoned Dave and asked him if he was still on and he said definitely. Turned out we were the only hardy souls but it was soooo worth it! Here are two photos--it's hard to believe this is desert, isn't it? 

Dave admiring the silvery raindrops on the pine branches. 
 

Me beside the Big Tesuque River at full flow 
 

We hiked for two hours, only stopping now and again. My pedometer registered 12000 steps by the time we returned to the car. I've written so much in the past months about how much I loved hiking so I won't repeat myself. But I realized this morning that a lot of why I loved to hike so much here were the people in this group. They are so friendly, so welcoming that I looked forward to each week's hike not merely just to get exercise but to catch up with my friends again. I contrast that to so many groups that I tried to belong to in the many other cities/towns I've lived in these past 11 years. Oh, they were pleasant enough but they didn't satisfy my soul the way that this did. Even SparkPeople isn't as soul nourishing. Meaning no disrespect but there really IS something special when you find a group of people "real time" who are physically "there" for you. 

Of course, the next best thing IS a cyber group because, of course, when you're a nomad as I am, cyber groups are usually there--at least some members are.

Almost finished!

Well, Monday is over; two and a half more days before we leave. My hiking buddies Rob and Ken came over yesterday and within an hour had all of the boxes we'd got ready on the weekend over to the storage unit and had reorganized the storage unit. They are so great; I am going to miss them. 

I asked them where they wanted to have lunch--my treat--and they suggested an East Indian restaurant. I haven't eaten Indian food in ages; I really like it but dh doesn't. Too spicy. I wondered how it would affect my IBS but I haven't had any ill effects. Except that I probably ate too many calories. I wasn't going to eat any dinner last night but ended up having a large bowl of ice cream with chocolate sauce (fat free) and a small chocolate cake on top. Probably 500 calories; ulp. I'd like to say I burned it all off but yesterday wasn't a hiking day. I did 45 minutes of Leslie Walk Away the Waistline and carried some boxes from my car to the storage unit. No mega burning today.  

I did Rodney Yee's AM meditations DVD this morning. Not heavy duty exercising but is sure stretched my muscles! I'm going for a walk shortly as well. 

I came across this picture of a thatched cottage in a village near where I'll be staying in Somerset, England. Took this photo in January of 2007, the last time I was over there. Thought I'd post it to give me happy thoughts of next month. 
 

On the road again

I've been blogging on SparkPeople and decided I ought to move to here so more people can follow my blog. So this one is from June 5th, last Friday:

I picked up my birthday present today. A new Macbook :) I've been a Mac fan for almost 20 years now, have always had Macs at home. They don't get viruses, they don't seem to have the problems that my work PCs have had.

This one weighs only 3.5 pounds--roughly equivalent to those fibroids I got rid of last month [hee hee]. And way more fun. I'm taking it with me to the UK of course so that when I find an internet cafe or wireless friendly library I'll be able to catch up with my friends back home. Funny to think about how we used to be patient with sending post cards and waiting for letters to arrive. Now it's all almost instantaneous as long as we have a connection; and golly do I get withdrawal if I can't find a connection!

After my down day yesterday I woke up this morning still feeling mopey. So I put on one of Leslie's cheeriest--and fastest--DVDs and by the end of 2 miles I did feel better. Went to the temple in Albuquerque and felt better still. Met up with dh's cousin and we had a quickie lunch in the cafeteria--terrible food so it's easy to eat little of it--caught up on our news and then I went and picked up my Mac at the Apple store. Headed for home, dh and I did another run to the storage unit and then we came home, had dinner and watched a couple of old videos. Joan Hickson as Miss Marple--wonderful!!

It's the almost final push tomorrow to get this house into semi-shape for moving out. Of course, I have Monday until Thursday to do stuff but I am still not back to 100% strengthwise. Find it hard to push a vacuum and to scrub out the bathtub. So dh will do that. And he has to heft the boxes into the car so that I can ask one of my hiking buddies to help unload them at the storage unit.

I still feel stressed about it; think I'll feel this way until it's over next Thursday night, we're out of here and at dd's for granddog sitting.