I crawled out of bed early this morning, and made it to the local pool for the end of the lap swim hours.  It felt so good to be back in the water, gliding along, working hard, and not re-injuring my foot.  Sadly, because the on-line posted times weren't accurate, I only got to swim for 30 minutes, but it felt wonderful while I was there.  Now that I have a current, correct time sheet, I know when their true hours are, and can't wait to go back! 

I did get a few 3-mile walks in over the weekend, and my foot is worse, so I'll stick to the Bow Flex and the pool for the week. 

Only 3 more weeks til I fly east and see my mom and sister for a week!  I'd be even more excited, except that school starts as soon as I return... and I'm not anxious for summer to be over.  Never!

Hi!  I'm back, and I'm not going to be down in the dumps anymore.  I have been so frustrated by life lately, with the boo boo foot, back pain and flu, (not to mention a cranky sick hubby), that I have allowed myself to get seriously negative. 

No more!  Yes, things have gone wrong (the sewer line is being blocked by tree roots, so we have no water til the plumber gets here late tonight... and it happened mid-laundry cycle.)  But I'm going with the flow (no pun intended), and relaxing through the rest of my day off.  It's pretty out, I'm relatively healthy, so no more complaints!

And in the morning, if we still have no water, I'll go to the local pool to shower and do laps while I'm there!   See, it's all good!

Bugs (viral) in the house, bugs in my brain... I typed in the wrong weight the last time I checked in here... and accidentally added 10 pounds to my weight.  Um, no thanks!   So, I got to 'lose' 10 pounds this morning.  Woo hoo! 

As for the bugs in the house - there are three of us living here, DH, his adult daughter and myself.  DH has a cold/chest virus thing going on, and his daughter and I are still attempting to lose the tummy flu. 

On top of this fun, both dogs are acting under the weather.  What my mom would refer to as 'plurpy'.   I'm pretty sure that's not a real word, but it sure is descriptive!

I'm going to find out the hours for lap swim for the local pool  (I'm too cheap to pay $4,800 for the country club's pool, even though it's a block away), so I can take advantage of the opportunity for non-impact exercise.  My heel isn't getting better at this rate - I'm having a tough time staying off it.  Life goes on, ya know? 

I posted here on Thursday, and saw it on my blog.  Now I pop on and it's gone?  Arg!  Don't know what happened, or where it went... guess the universe decided it was too boring to live?   Dunno.

Before I was distracted by the post in limbo, I was going to write a post titled "Three-fer"  

1. My blood pressure meds ran out, so I bloated up like the StayPuft Marshmallow Man. 
2. My plantar fascitis is acting up, so I'm spending my time limping to the fridge to get ice for it, then trying to sleep through the pain.
3. My heel pain is so bad, I apparently walked funny - now my back is out.
4. Oops... this is more than three.  Math was obviously not my best subject in school.  Anyway, I'm coming down with the flu.  Obviously, shaking hands with 150 people at the work wine tasting Thursday was a baaaad idea. 

I'm attempting to keep my good humor, and not eat my way through the house.  DH finished the ice cream, so I can't even stray with huge servings of low fat Edy's. 

I suppose it's a good thing that I REALLY miss exercising.  It's a healthy 'addiction', and I can't wait to get back at it.  But first, let the healing begin! 

Happy Independence Day!  I'm so happy to live in this country, to have the freedoms to choose our own paths.  I can't appreciate it enough.

As for exercise, I have bumped up my levels yet again.  I've been either running or bicycling 6 days a week, and walking as well, at least a mile (if not 4) with the dogs.  My right knee is beginning to feel it, so this morning, I did a hilly 5 mile ride in the neighborhood, and a 1 mile dog walk around the block.  Now I'll rest the knee, and hope it'll be back to normal tomorrow! 

Due to the local fires raging out of control, fireworks have been cancelled.  Guess I'll just watch a few 'holiday' DVDs, including "The Patriot" and "Independence Day" with the hubby and doggies.   A healthy grilled chicken with salad will be a great way to enjoy the day without throwing off my menu plan. 

Well, my big exam is over, so now I'm free to enjoy the summer!  I took CA's exam for First Year Law Students.  Because I passed the first year of law school online, it's a required test.  There is a 15-20% pass rate, so I'm not sure of the outcome, but I'll know by the start of school (the end of August) whether I'll be in year one or two of the local law school.

So, now that that stress, and the hours of studying are over, I can enjoy my... NEW BIKE!!!  I bought the bike three weeks ago.  Bad timing, as I needed to study, and didn't have the extra cash for it, but they were changing year models, and the price was going up big time.   I've been loving the bike ever since.  I've already put more miles on it than I did the previous bike - in 3 years!

Both DH and I sold our old bikes, so the garage doesn't look like a bike shop.   Between swimming, biking and running, I'm determined to make this a fun, fit summer!   With lots of good beach reading thrown in.  :) 

A few years ago, DH and I bought bicycles, as we lived near the great bike paths of Santa Barbara.   Apparently, we bought the wrong type of bike.  They're mountain bikes, but weren't great on paved paths and roads.  So we switched out the tires, and then the handlebars.

Well, it's just not working for me.  My stepdaughter just got a new Trek bike, so I borrowed it for a test ride, and fell madly in love with it.  It's just like riding when I was a kid... work, but FUN!  So, DH and I are going to attempt to sell our great, but wrong, bikes, and buy ones like my stepdaughters. 

So, the moral of the story?  Test ride the bike FIRST, before investing big bucks!  It saves years of fine-tuning, and sore body parts.  :) 

Last weekend, my stepdaughter and I walked the Miracle Mile for Kids, in Morro Bay.  It is a 10k benefiting foster kids in the area, so we couldn't miss it! 

It was a glorious day, and walking 6.2 miles on the beach while chatting makes the time/miles fly by.  We didn't set a land speed record, by any means, but it was fun, a healthy walk for us, and a good cause.

Next year, though - I will be running it!  I can run up to 4 miles now, but didn't want my step daughter to feel left out.   Next year, I will run the entire distance! 

... and no, I don't mean chugging beer.  ;)    I've been working out regularly the past few weeks, even snuck a few runs in.   I've also helped DH cut up and remove a Jacuzzi from our patio.  It was beyond resuscitation, so it's now in pieces in the dump.  The good thing about that, besides recovering the space on the patio - it showed me how much I've benefited from weight training.  I had the ability to lift and haul 1/3 of a hot tub with the hubby.  Yea!

I'm 10 days into my Invisalign treatment.  I've got 9 months to go, but am doing fine so far.  The best part of it is, that in order to eat, I have to take out the plastic dental trays, then brush and floss after the meal, and put them back in.  It sure cuts down on senseless snacking.

Now, it'll be interesting to see if my weight is down at the end of the 9 months... one can only hope! 

I disappeared for a bit, while my mom and sister were in town, visiting.  It was wonderful to see them, but now it's time for me to get back to reality.

That reality includes work, laundry, time with DH, and studying.  I'll never finish law school if I don't get in the study time!

The one thing I didn't give up on while we had company was exercise.  I walked and/or hiked almost every day with my sister - up to 6 miles per day.  Yes, we ate out, but I did manage to not gain any weight while they were here.  Which is most unusal for me. 

Now, it's time for me to get back on the bicycle, and get some mileage in.  And the BowFlex (and casebooks) await!