I started the week in random mode and with a timely tag by Ann (random fact: she lives in a yellow house), it will end that way.
1. I live in a very dark teal-ish blue house with off-white and maroon trim. My sister painted her house almost the exact same colors. We need to do some paint touch-up this summer.
2. I just got my first MP3 player — a Mother’s Day gift from the girls. I had strongly hinted in the direction of my eldest — okay, I called her up and told her — that this is something I’d like but that a very important and useful feature on any model, for me, would be voice recording capability. That’s exactly what I got. Yippee! It’s all charged up and now I just have to read all about it.
3. My daughters’ birthdays are within 10 days of each other; further, they were all born in odd years. Their ages are all even during an odd year on the calendar, and all odd during an even calendar year; if I can remember the age of any one of them, it’s easy to calculate the ages of the two.
4. I usually have to think long and hard about how old I am. Turns out, I am often wrong. Math is not my best subject.
5. There was an email from QuitNet in my mailbox this morning and there was almost something random about that. I saw who the sender was and wondered for a moment what it might be about. Then I remembered — it’s an anniversary! I think it is a good sign that those not-so-random numbers — 790 days quit (that’s 26 months), 15,824 cigarettes not smoked, 4 months + almost 1 day of life saved, along with 2,750+ dollars (at least) — seem a bit random. Not to say that I still don’t miss smoking and think about it quite often, actually, and wish that I could, but it’s a wistful, dream-like thing now — I wish I could smoke cigarettes in the same way I wish I’d win the lottery and be a bazillionaire.
6. I borrowed a crochet book by Vanna White from the library this week.
7. I’m thinking of getting rollerblades to "walk" the dog. She’s overweight and needs more activity; ditto for me. My sister said that this was recommended by the Dog Whisperer (also putting saddlebags on the dog!). I have enjoyed rollerskating and iceskating in the past, but it’s been years; I’ve never rollerbladed. It looks like fun, but also dangerous. Tips & pointers welcome.
8. Several years ago I stopped carrying a purse because of neck and shoulder pain. It was really quite nice to be FREE. I have a small wallet, which fits nicely into most pockets, for "the essentials," and only carry my checkbook when necessary. Lately, though, I’ve found myself carrying tote bags that are often much bigger and much heavier than any purse, and they’re full of stuff that I "might need" but rare use!
Congrats again on the “not smoking” anniversary. Holli says thumbs up on the rollerblading and wants to know if you’ll come here and take her out for a spin too! Have a great weekend.
As to #7-get a helmet and elbow pads.
Congrats on #2 and 5!!
Nice list. Have a great weekend.
Every time I have roller skated I have gotten hurt. It doesn’t help that I am the clumsiest woman alive. Where protective gear. It’s best for all parties involved.
Re: rollerblading. Although a helmet and elbow (and maybe knee) pads are dandy ideas, I seem to remember reading somewhere that for those of us of A Certain Age, broken wrists are a common injury resulting from ‘blading. I don’t know exactly how you counteract that — if you wear wrist braces, does that just cause you to break your forearm in a fall instead? Maybe you could practice learning to fall safely — yeah, right, exactly how does one go about that? Anyway, have a great and safe time. Your dog will thank you 🙂
Yayyy for the no smoking thing! About the rollerblading thing, I’m a total klutz and no help there, but your new MP3 player would be great for your rollerblading!
I just told my oldest daughter I need help picking out an MP3 player, or something like that, I want to download books (“read” and knit)
Congratulations on being smokefree!
hum, Rollerblading? Lots of protective gear. (I lack coordination to do something like that. Most times I’m challenged to just walk without bumping into anything!)
Same problem with the neck here. I find that dumping out the totebags every so often and questioning if I really need to carry some of the stuff that’s found it’s way into the bag. Most times I don’t put it back in the bag. (Right now I’m down to only knitting in one of the bags!)
Re: #7 – /sigh Delurking for the dog. If it was just you, I probably wouldn’t have commented.
I did not have good luck roller blading (facial stitches and a lost tooth). I now run with the pooch(es) about 10 miles a day.
Use lots of protective gear. Get really good on the blades before taking out the dog. If your dog is large enough to pull you, you’ll need a harness for the dog’s safety in pulling. It will be harder to stop a dog wearing a harness (I now run sled dogs, feel free to ask questions), you’ll need good voice control rather than just tugging on a leash. And remember, you’re thinking about doing this on your blades – practice stopping. In my early days, the dogs dragged me (on my stomach)across someone’s yard once – I think there was a squirrel involved. (Fortunately, it wasn’t over pavement.) Just as an over-weight person shouldn’t start running while carrying weights (too much stress on the joints) your over-weight dog needs to start easy too (no saddlebags until he/she’s getting in better shape). If your dog can pull and drag you, you can NOT attach the leash to your person. You must be able to release the dog. (Reread above about being dragged across someone’s lawn. Think about traffic.)
Skip the mp3’s while there’s traffic around – just in the beginning – while you’re working with the dog.
And congrats on #5. Awesome!
No dog trainer has ever made as much sense to me as Cesar Millan. What really hit home was his reasoning behind daily walks: it’s not just the exercise, but fulfilling the dog’s need to roam with his pack (you).
Also, what really made sense to me was Cesar’s advice that the dog must be beside or behind you, a recognition that you are the pack leader. I thought this would be impossible with my two hard-pulling dogs, but the proper collar (Gentle Leader on big dog, nylon choke variation on small dog) and proper attitude (“I’m in charge” — just thinking it worked!) made all the difference.
I”m guessing that it will be much safer to rollerblade with a dog that doesn’t pull. I hope you and your dog have a grand time!
Congratulations on quitting smoking!!! You’re a star! I have dreams about roller blading smoothly all over flat and bumpy terrains. Good luck to you-wear protective gear. I don’t fall in my dreams, but then, I’ve never done it in person.
Congrats on your stats!! Yay that even rhymed! Be careful with the doggy rollerblading. I have a friend with a nasty scar from that.
Congratulations on being smoke free for so long! I tried to return to my old college habit, because I have missed it dearly, but just can’t stand the taste anymore. Oh well, guess I’ll just have to live with all that money I have saved….
A good list! Rollerblading scares the crap out of me. 😀
The random meme has been very enjoyable to me. I love reading about you and all the bloggers I’ve followed for awhile.
I’ll bet you have Happy Lungs now.