Wow, what a difference some outside temperatures greater than 32 degrees and a little sun can make. It's been 28 days since I've had therapy and I'm feeling fantastic.
The extra week off of therapy plus the warmer weather really put a pep in my step, but the flip side of that is that makes me dread starting up again. Friday morning I had a CT scan and will get the results today. It's kind of nerve wracking to have to wait three days to get the results and it's made everyone in the house a little antsy over the duration of the long weekend. My apprehension was manifested itself by waking me up at 5:15 this morning. The last time I had a (non-hospitalized) scan analysis the results weren't quite what I was hoping for. I'm certainly hoping for good news so keep us in your thoughts today.
Good thing I had that extra week off because last week was extraordinarily busy. I started by assisting Laela at Clintonville Academy with hanging decorations for the Valentine's Day party and dance. I also helped to chaperon the party. Mainly i merely assisted in moving/decorating the tables, but also played hall monitor during the game. Basically, I just had to keep the kids from running while they were participating in their photo scavenger hunt. The kids seemed to have a really good time. It was kind of bittersweet though since it'll be the last school Valentine party that Miranda participates in. Speaking of participating...on Tuesday I had the opportunity to keep score for the final Lady Cougars basketball game at Village Academy in Powell. The girls won a nail-biter 13-12 and finished the season 6-5. That's an amazing improvement over last year's 0-fer season. Miranda scored in the second quarter too.
Wednesday February 16th was absolutely gorgeous. The sun was shining bright and the temperatures climbed close to 60 degrees. It felt so good out the Indy and I went over to the Olentangy Trail and walked five miles. Let me state for the record that I'd be lying if I said the five miles was intentional. It wasn't. The landmark I had picked for us to walk to made the walk five miles. I thought it was only four. My Sportband was set to elapsed time rather than distance and I just assumed I was walking slow. Indy and I returned to the trail on Thursday and Friday too. We walked for four and a three and a half mile trips respectively. Laela accompanied us on Friday. I have decided that I'm going to try to walk one hour a day five days a week and see how that goes. I typically set distance goals for myself, but I think that I'll be better served by adhering to a time rather than a distance.
The Seamstress (my other motorcycle: a 1995 Suzuki "Savage" LS650) also made her first appearance of the season. She started up on the second try. I grabbed my jacket, gloves, and goggles and took it for a spin for about an hour. I didn't take it too far. I just made up a north easterly route and looped my way home. The ride on the Seamstress is completely different from the ride on Wheezy (2000 Buell M2 Cyclone) but not in a bad way. The seat height is much lower than Wheezy's, so much so that I can actually sit on it with my knees bent and have my feet flat on the ground. On Wheezy I'm almost tip toeing to have both feet on the ground. It also weighs about half as much so it's great cruising around town, but once you are on the highway it is really easy to push around. I just stuck to back streets and enjoyed the ride.
This week also found me reading my first book on my nook eReader. Laela got the Barnes & Noble nook for me as a Singles Awareness Day gift. The first book that I'm reading on it is "Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance: An Inquiry into Values" by Robert M. Pirsig. I'm really enjoying it so far and felt like I could have written the first chapter myself as it reflects a lot of my attitudes about long distance riding. I also read dead tree editions of Malcom Gladwell's "Blink: The Power of Thinking Without Thinking" and "The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make a Big Difference" over the last week. I really loved both of them.
I'm a little bummed to have the warm weather moving out already, but that little dose should be enough to keep me motivated to keep getting outside. Putting on a jacket isn't too hard.
