When I called my sister on Sunday to tell her I was going hiking, her mind immediately went to the fact that I easily get lost. She came up with a great idea. A modern day Hansel and Gretel trick, if you will.

She suggested that I take pictures with my camera phone as I hike so I'd have something document landmarks along the way.

So I did.

And it worked.

Thanks sis!

OK, I'm making that up, but it sure feels like it.

BJ went out golfing today, so I went for a hike. The weather here has been beautiful and I've been chomping at the bit to start my weekly weekend hikes. I usually don't leave the house with a plan as to where I'm going to hike because there are a LOT of wonderful recreational areas around here. I usually just tell BJ which way I'm headed (N-S-E-W) and then send him a text message once I've found the place. As an aside- oops, I forgot to do that today. Bad girl. Nobody knew where I was.

I found a new place today and eagerly started down the hill. The very steep trail, I might add. That's usually a bad omen for me, because it's better if I hike UP hill first, then go down hill when I'm tired. But just look at what was waiting for me at the bottom of the trail:




Once I arrived at the bottom of the trail, I wandered around the beach for a bit because the tide was way out. It's always fun to see what sort of sea life you'll find when the tide is momentarily out. After about a half an hour of that, I decided that I'd better head back up. I was about an hour away from home and still needed to go to the grocery store.

Let's just say, going up was MUCH harder than going down. I stopped several times and it took me almost three times as long to hike back up as it did to go down.

Right as I got to the top of the trail, there was a very fit looking couple getting ready to go down. Although my red face was probably enough to convince them that I wasn't exactly in tip-top form, I tried to hide the heavy breathing as I answered their question about where the trail went.

After answering their question, I wanted to prove what good shape I was in, so I turned and took a very quick and hard step right into a concrete post. It was about as high as my belly button and I ran into it so hard that I almost toppled over it. So hard that it nearly took my breath away. I'm sure they heard that loud UUH sound that came out of my mouth, but I'll be darned if I was going to witness them laughing at me. I kept RIGHT.ON.WALKING.

I'm already sporting a nice bruise the size of a soft ball, so I'm going to claim whining rights today.

whine....

Jennifer posted a very intersting question on her blog. Go answer it.

The question was, "If you could suddenly find out that one work of fiction was actually true, what book would you select?"

I really couldn't come up with anything, because my favorite books all have trials and turmoil, and I wouldn't want to see people really go through that heartache.

It's just after 7 a.m. here on a Sunday morning, and we're (or rather, HE is) watching the Battlestar Galactica series on Sci Fi channel. I asked him this question and I got the famous hubby eye-roll followed by, "Honey it's a little early on a Sunday morning for deep probing questions, don't you think?"

I laughed and told him that he's a lot of fun, and thanks for playing.

His reply? "Oh, OK, 'The Little Engine That Could".

Wow, I feel that we really connected this morning, don't you? heh.

I really hate that "I must start my diet on January 1st" resolution, so I've started this week. I've had a couple of fake-out starts to the diet, but I really started this week. BJ met me at my current weight just as I started dieting and I continued to lose weight gradually until we moved in together. Eating every night with him has done bad things to my weight. I've also become less active. Now I'm back to where I was when we met, and since I'd set the goal of never letting myself get bigger than I was when we met, I decided I'd better hop on the diet and exercise train. I refuse to be THAT WOMAN WHO GOT MARRIED AND THEN LET HERSELF GO. At least not 'til I'm like 90 or something. Then who cares.

I bought myself a couple of tools to help me keep on track. The first one is a mini trampoline. I love it. I can go really wild for a half an hour in front of the TV and get a great workout. I like it because it's quiet (so I can watch TV), small, and easy on these 45 year old joints. I also like the fact that I can take it out and put it away really easily. I vary between jogging, dancing and running so I know I'm getting some good aerobic exercise in.

I also bought a program for my computer that is FABULOUS. It's called BalanceLog. It gets a two thumbs up from me. I bought the version that I can put on my PDA and my computer. You can sync them together and even sync up with the web. So, no matter where you go, you can log what you're doing and eating. I've been religious about logging everything I eat, drink and do. I also logged my weight three times this week but I'll slow that down to once a week. I'm a bit obsessed with it right now.

The food database is HUGE. I rarely have to look anything up on the Internet. It supports lots of diets by showing how much of this or that (carbs, proteins, fats, calories, etc.) you've eaten so far, and how much you have left to eat for the rest of the day. Since lots of protein puts too much of a strain on my liver, I've decided to go the calorie route. I like the calorie route because I have a lot more choices and if I decide to make bad choices in the beginning of the day, I either don't get to eat so much at night or I'd better do some more exercise.

The exercise database is huge too. My personal favorite is the "personal leisure" category. I'll let you guess what's in that one. Let's just say BJ comes in handy if I'm out of calories and want a candy bar. EVERYBODY wins!

I like the fact that you can see your averages by day, week or month and that I will be able to look over my data (because I"m a data geek) and see how my food intake and exercise affects my weight loss. Really, that's a big duh, but it's more convincing when it stares at you in the face.

I've also decided to come out of the closet about this and make myself accountable every Friday on my blog. So, here's the week in review:

Exercise: 1/2 hour m-w-f on the trampoline
Water: At least 64 ounces every day
Calorie Average: 1261 per day
Weight Loss: 3 lbs.

About three weeks ago I was asked to create a class to teach people how to use a new tracking system created in Lotus Notes. Lotus Notes is not on my computer, I have never used Lotus Notes, and I have never set my eyes on this new tracking system. The only reason I agreed to it is because a) I thought I'd have a month to get this together; b) I'm smart and what I've seen of Louts Notes, it looks easy so I know I'll pick it up quickly; and c) it was my new manager that asked me to do it.

......All are very compelling reasons, especially reason c.

Last week, I was told that Lotus Notes should be on my computer "any day now", and I had until March 31st to complete the training modules. I was feeling a bit of pressure because the training modules need to include a) an overview of Lotus Notes (a program I have never used); b) how to use the tracking system (a system I've never seen); and c) several mock-up scenarios to input on the system (scenarios I've never been involved with).

Today, I still do not have Lotus Notes on my computer so have yet to use that program, let alone see the actual tracking system. Oh, and I was told that training had to be completed by 3/31. That means that not only do I have to create the training, but all of the people have to be trained. By 3/31.

Oh yeah, there's also an 88 page Word document to be converted to a web based manual so it's ready to go when the system goes live on 4/1.

If I can pull this off, I'm going to make myself a cape and some sort of groovy emblem to wear on my chest. Of course, I'll have to do that after 3/31 because I won't have time to even sleep before then.

No worries, I'll still make time to blog. I do have my priorities, you know...