Intention

Neon Pothos
Originally uploaded by Kateri_.

Pictured above--my neon pothos, a souvenir of a field trip in Baraboo, Wisconsin, while I was at the Glen retreat in June. It was purchased at a fun and quirky floral shop called Wild Apples. The funky magenta sisal pot is so crazily out of sync with everything else in my house, and the color contrast between the chartreuse of the leaves (which really don't show very well in this photo) and the pot just make me smile every time I see it.

I've spoken here about getting more committed with my walking this summer. I've walked pretty regularly since about the late 80s--indulging extreme wimpiness in the coldest of winter but being pretty good about it otherwise. That pedometer was a great purchase and has kept me very motivated to take the stairs, to park a bit farther away, to take the long way. I've been journaling my walking faithfully since I bought the pedometer and each week's tally has averaged out to more than 10,000 steps a day since I started using it.

Today I took another step, no pun intended, and rejoined the local health club. Caroline and I had joined a few years ago, when she was living at home, right after graduating from UW. And I used the gym regularly until my job became full-time just about a year ago. I started going less and less. I just didn't think I could spare the time and finally dropped my membership last fall.

Every time I drove by the place I had twinges of guilt and self-recrimination. Walking is all well and good but I know that maintaining good bone density requires some weight-bearing workouts too. Last week I found out they had a special offer for members who had recently left and I decided the universe was sending me a loud and clear message. Rejoin.

So I did. The aim is to make it there at least three times a week to work the weights and machines. I imagine that, come winter, it may be more inviting to walk there too.

Feeling very good about this! I've managed to drop a decent amount of weight this year but I've kind of been slacking off this summer: maintaining but not losing. Time to get back on the program.

The super secret project is progressing but photos will have to wait for a couple weeks yet. I've also committed to making gift totes for a couple work-related events--a birthday and a goodbye. So those will get made this weekend. Good stash-reduction projects--I may drag out the box with the long-buried upholstery samples and dig into those for the totes.