Wow - been here more than a week already, worked a week from my little desk here, and was so happy to see the weekend!
We decided to go into Reno on Saturday to run a million errands and I paid a short, surprise visit to Becca, daughter of my good friend, Kati. On the way home, it started to sprinkle, then rain, then slush, then..,big, fat flakes of white coming from the sky. Luckily it didn't stick to the road (although we rerouted twice to avoid much elevation, so who knows what it did over Mt. Rose). When we got home, it was snowing here as well, so I took the opportunity to do my laundry and watch a movie. Here's what the parking lot of the condo complex looked like:
Sunday dawned clear, but there was still an inch or so of snow on my car and plenty on the sides of the roads. Still, it was time to head out and get some exercise, so we went for a 3.5 mile or so walk around the village, to Raley's, to 7-11 to get a mango slurpee (sugar free - I am on a diet, after all!), and then back home. Here's what the amazing weather looked like, and for those of you who haven't yet met Ron and still think that he's a figment of my imagination, here he is:
So, my doctor thinks I should walk for 60 minutes per day, "preferably on an incline." I'm not quite sure what he means by this. I think that perhaps he thinks that I'm like his standard Palo Alto clientele, and can afford either a gym membership (which is $70 per month per couple MINIMUM here), or a treadmill (which wouldn't go all that well in our 600 square foot abode), or both plus a valet. I do walk on an incline - sometimes up the incline, sometimes down. I am in Incline Village, after all. It's ALL on an incline!!
Anyway, we went for another 4.2-mile hike today, at Martis Creek near Truckee. Mind you, please recall that it snowed for a few hours on Saturday. Today is Monday. I got a wee bit sunburned, and by the time we were done, it was really almost too warm to be hiking (but, to be fair, it was only in the mid or upper 60s). Great views, open vistas, a pine forest, a coyote, tons of bridges and boardwalks, the sounds of birds, crickets, running water, and trees whispering in the breeze. I am starting to understand why people live up here. It also helps that I am finally getting somewhat acclimated to the 6000+ elevations, and I don't feel as though I am gasping for air like a fish out of water every time I walk 50 feet.
So, now I have dinner in the oven, and am going to go read book or play Words or catch up on "Call the Midwife" or possibly all three at once. Tomorrow it's back to work days, so I have to fit in my free time while I can.
Well, I made it. We headed up the hill Friday, unpacked most of our stuff, got the rest unpacked and put away on Saturday, got internet installed, hooked up the wireless router and the Roku, tested my connectivity for work (dang, it works...), checked out the local grocery store, and I got a mailbox rented so I can receive mail.
While in the mailbox place, my five-minute task took about thirty minutes. Penny, the weekday customer service person, is on a crazy diet and can barely eat anything. She really sympathises with my new diet. Oh yeah, in addition to moving, I started a pretty restrictive doctor-controlled diet on Thursday. As I told my friend, Molly, Thursday afternoon, world leaders have it ALL wrong. They should simply put menopausal dieting women on the front lines. I was feeling very hair-triggerish on Thursday. Of course, when I proposed my new theory to my friend, Matt, he said, "That wouldn't work for long...the other side would simply send in a battalion of children carrying cheesecakes." Well said.
But I digress...anyway, Penny commiserated with me for a few minutes, then gave me some paperwork to fill out. The next customer came in, gave Penny a package to mail for him, and then asked her how much it would cost to ship a package weighing 150 pounds. I piped up, from the desk where I was filling out papers, "Why? Are you shipping your wife away?" Suddenly, I was everyone's buddy and we all started talking about whether holes would have to be cut into the container, whether food should be added, etc..
Then another woman walks in and Penny tells her she should tell me which restaurants in the area would be able to cook me up a truly healthy dinner if I wanted to go out (this was before I found out that Raley's has a mongolian bbq on site!). I got the low-down on all the local eateries, turned in my paperwork, got an address and a couple keys, and off I went.
And it has been like that all weekend - friendly people on the street while we are on our insanely long walks (complete with altitude-inspired heavy breathing), guys in the local Ace hardware giving Ron two screws he needed for a small repair her because heck, why ring up something that small?
Oh yeah, and the weather? Well, it was low 70s Saturday, mid-60s Sunday, mid-50s today, and...snow in the forecast for tonight. But the sky is SO blue, and the clouds are lovely, and the lake is amazing, and if I'm not inclined to walk here, I wouldn't walk anywhere. Except, that is, when my stomach is being really irritable because of the weird things I am eating. Last night, I said to Ron, "I don't want to be in a situation where I'm two miles into a walk and my stomach freaks out and I have to poop in the woods..." His reply? "Well, that would be good, especially considering that we aren't going to be near a woods..." (and no, no issues on that walk, thank God).
Anyway, tomorrow I have to get back to work (sigh), but have already decided that I am going to take a walk at lunch time as many days as I am able (which means when I have not already been booked into inhumane lunchtime meetings). No more days of sitting at my desk for 10 straight hours. There's too much to see outside! (Perhaps snow).
More news as it breaks.
Oh yeah, and per my friend Jenny's instructions, I have applied lotion EVERY day since I got here. I am trying to redefine myself, but not by having my skin shed itself every three days. :-)
