Note to Myself, Really

Let's see, about four times per year for the last twenty years...that would make this approximately my eightieth attempt to begin a walking program. They say eightieth time is the charm, right? But I've got a good somewhat solid (with the exception of that one week) month of walking under my belt now, and I think I'm over the initial start-up hump.

I began my walking program in September by rising at 5:30 and marching downtown in the dark, and I still do that if I can't squeeze in my walk after I drop the kids off at school. As long as I'm getting to bed fairly early, I like starting out super-early while the rest of the neighborhood is still tucked in. Sure, I stumble down the block bleary-eyed at first, but who really cares how you look at 5:30a.m.?

And all this early morning business has helped me realize a great nugget of exercise wisdom. Thou Shalt Make Time for Exercise First Thing or Thou Shall Certainly Not Exercise. My mind will get in the way and come up with all sorts of good reasons and excuses why exercise would be best accomplished tomorrow.

Another benefit? I don't have that nagging "oh I should exercise today" guilt. It's already checked off my list. Done! One less thing to feel crappy about!

And yet another benefit? Healthier eating choices all day long. Why undo that excellent morning walk by eating junk? It's just not worth it. I don't want to feel sluggish and tired, I want to feel energetic and vivacious.

Okay, one more benefit, and possibly the hugest: better mental health all day long. I have read time and time again that exercise gives you a mental boost similar to taking prozac (only cheaper and healthier) but I guess I never really stayed at any of those 79 other walking programs long enough to begin to reap the mental health rewards. It's true. When I exercise, I can count on not feeling down in the dumps. When I don't, it's pretty much a guarantee.

Wait, wait, I've gotta mention my awesome website find that helps keep me motivated. It's called MapMyWalk.com and I find it to be a very cool tool. They've got a google maps interface that allows you to quickly and easily make a map of the route you have walked, letting you know how many miles you have walked. You can even enter your start and stop times and weight to determine how many calories you've burned. And the training log keeps records of all this for you. I love it...it thrills me to see my calendar page filling up with walks and exercise logs.

M-I-C K-E-Y M-O-U-S-E

We've got a mouse in the kitchen. Aside from completely freaking me out, this is a real shame because the little guy is putting a crimp in my baking addiction. I saw him dart out from under the fridge late yesterday afternoon, and now any little noise or movement has me shrieking and heading for higher ground. I'm quite ashamed of myself, really. I'm trying to remind myself that it's just a teeny mouse, and it's not going to crawl up my pantleg (is it???) or anything. Kevin is away on business - why is he always away on business when we get a mouse? - so my dear neighbor Kerry set some traps for me. God bless all the trap-setting neighbors, every one of them.

(Eight-year-old Rachel saw it quite differently. She went huffing past me, looking like she had been crying. I asked her what was wrong, and she said "I'm very mad at you! How could you want to kill a little creature that is alive?")

I've got a pantry full of interesting ingredients, and I really want to be in that kitchen, kneading up some delicious bread. The aforementioned baking addiction seems to be bread-specific, with the occasional pizza crust thrown in for good measure. I'm really not a cookies/cakes/pies kind of girl. I'm all about the breads, both quick and not quick. Pumpkin bread makes the house smell amazing. Oatmeal bread is delish sliced and toasted for breakfast. I've even been experimenting with high gluten bread flour in those pizza crusts, and along with a super-hot oven, I think I'm close to unlocking the secrets of a good homemade pizza. And with an amazing pizza parlor four doors down, the homemade version must be quite good to pass around here.

Now if we could just catch that mouse before Rachel gets home from school, I could get busy in the kitchen. Hmmm, would it be too crazy of me to just drag the big stepladder into the kitchen and work up on it? Maybe I'll try that.