It was nice to get a little extra sleep. There’s a cold snap going on, so I had the heater on during the day up at 75. I woke in the night and was way too hot, so I got up to turn it down.
When I woke for the morning, I went outside prepared to get some mowing done. I topped off the gas tank, and then walked the mower over to where I wanted to start. It started right up, but then sputtered and died when I pushed the trim activation handle. It didn’t restart from a couple of pulls, so I decided it must be too cold for it. I hope that’s what’s wrong because I don’t want to have to get it fixed. A small herd of deer watched me from across the road.
Instead of finishing the last two segments of lawn area, I grabbed the electric trimmer and attacked the growth under the deck. The trimmer did better than I expected against some of the thicker plant stems that had sprouted up under there. I did have to stop at one point and use my hands, but that was because I found a length of barbed wire down there. I pulled that out carefully and then tossed it aside to deal with later. I found it easiest to sit on the dirt under the deck and keep the trimmer handle at its shortest length as I traversed the west side of the house. That’s when my phone fell out of my pocket, though I didn’t realize that until I had finished edging around the house and was wondering when the alarm would go off. It was merrily ringing the alarm from under the deck, and had been for four minutes by the time I found it.
I didn’t have a lot of time between showering and having to go to work. I got a bit frustrated because the apps wouldn’t start up for the shows I wanted to watch with breakfast, so I ended up not watching anything. That’s probably not a bad thing as I spent more time writing instead.
I had my first therapy appointment in two weeks this morning. I almost forgot about it, because I had a work meeting that ran a little late, and I was focused on getting a snack and using the bathroom. I had almost stepped outside to the porch to sit and snack when I remembered my appointment. I feel that I’m doing well overall, and my therapist agrees. I’m dealing with what I need to deal with, making space for my feelings, taking care of myself. I’m doing all the things. And I feel comfortable with the two week interval so far. We actually ended a bit early so I could go and sit on the porch and have my morning snack. It was lovely.
At lunch, I realized it was only so lovely earlier because I was in the lee of the house. The wind has been blowing fiercely all day, and when I walked to the mailbox at lunch, I was having to push against the wind as I walked. It was a cold wind, too, and blew my hat off, though my strings kept it from blowing away.
I decided that I wanted to complete the day’s Move U exercises before I went to the hot springs. So, after I ate my lunch, I started a timer and began to work through the week 3 Shoulders & Arms level 2 movements after doing the SA2 warm up. I did sets of 8, plus a set of 5 bicep curls (because that’s my good form limit right now with 20#). When it was time to get back to work at 1, I stopped the timer. At my 3 pm break, I started the timer up again and continued until I’d gotten past 16 minutes. Technically, it’s 15 minutes, but I go to 16 to ensure I’m getting 15 minutes of movement. There’s transition time between exercises that I’m not wanting to count.
After work, I ate dinner, and then headed over to the hot springs. The big pool got pretty crowded, but I was in the hot tub. There was one other regular who joined me eventually, but most people got into the hot tub and got right back out in a couple minutes. It was 106 degrees. I cooled off a few times myself by sitting on the lip of the tub and letting the wind bring my temperature down a bit. I’m still working my way through the hermit book. It’s nice to have a book to read in the hot tub.
After my soak, I went to the office to renew my annual pass. I love having a hot springs so close by, and I know if I didn’t have a pass I wouldn’t go as often. I think I go often enough to justify the cost of the pass, so I just went ahead and did it. I’ll probably go more often this winter than I did last winter since I’ll be able to drive myself. I hope my neighbors start up gain in the fall/winter. I do miss that socializing.
Watching Survivor is a way that I connect with Ambrose. I finally managed to finish the season that we started together and never finished, 46. And I’m going to keep watching, moving on to the next seasons, and hopefully getting back to watching it as it airs for the upcoming fall season. I find myself looking to “his” spot on the couch and making commentary while I watch.
My phone informed me today that on this day in 2017, Ambrose got flown out to work at Big Creek. He helped by gathering rocks and mixing up mud for the fireplace mostly. I had been wondering if I had any pictures of the cabins that burned down last summer, and there they were on my phone. I remember seeing that notice on Facebook from the Big Creek Lodge asking for volunteers to go out and help. He was always so very proud of the work that he did for the lodge. I hope I can bring my family out there someday.
