Souped Up

Now I now the trick to walking fast. Walk six miles one day with a heavy load; the next day, walk, sans heavy load, a shorter distance and you'll feel like you're absolutely flying!

Flurry of Busy-ness First Day of 2009

Did three loads of laundry, made four dozen fennel muffins (after this, I'm through with muffins for a good, long while!) and did New Year's Day chores. New Year's Day chores consist of bagging up receipts from 1998 to take to the bank for shredding, creating a 2008 shoebox with last year's receipts, starting a new date book calendar and, most importantly, motivating spouse to get rid of the 2007 magazines that he never read to make way for the 2008 ones that he also won't read!

It's late afternoon. I'll go out this evening and walk under the starry skies. My energy came back today but my stomach is upset about something and threatens to twist. Let's hope it goes away.

Weather service says it's 43 degrees at the Los Alamos Airport - pretty darned warm!

Tomorrow we hike in White Rock with the White Rock senior center group. This will be spouse's first hike since the inflamed appendix business started. We'll see how he does.

After the hike, we'll pick up grandson at noon and spouse will take him to Trans-Lux in Española to see Tales of Despereaux.

Please, dear God, let Barack's administration contribute to world peace and to the health and prosperity of those who are less fortunate!

Dietetic Meal

When I eat at a sushi restaurant, I really am not able to get enough to eat because I refuse to eat white rice sushi. I ordered a separate bowl of brown rice (why can't they also make the sushi with brown rice?), a cucumber salad (I ate the rice and cucumber salad together - was good), miso soup and a yellowtail martini which is thin slivers of smelt egg speckled yellowtail sashimi alternated with thin slices of avocado all around the edge of a large martini glass and some marinated red cabbage in the middle. Was good but after 6 miles, I needed more. Ate two Clementine Cuties for dessert when I got home but still hungry!

Daughter and son-in-law enjoyed going to the sushi restaurant, though, for their first anniversary celebration and we enjoyed taking them there. They stopped by our house afterwards for some Gruet champagne. I drank a drop but it was too dry to taste good to me although it was a pretty dark pink.

Daughter and son-in-law will drive to Albuquerque tomorrow to eat at the Melting Pot fondue restaurant. Son-in-law says that his brother-in-law proposed to his wife at the one in Denver!

Exhausted

Walked on side of West Jemez Road to the Back Gate from Camp May Road. Took just over two hours for six miles.

My modus operandi for bathroom stops is to walk into one of the trailheads and hide behind my golf umbrella, timing it so I don't hear any vehicles. No one was parked at any of the trailheads.

I decided not to snowshoe in the area south of Pajarito Canyon trailhead today because it was too warm, the snow too old and getting thin in spots.

What I meant yesterday by feeling weak is that I'm sore all over. Maybe it's just from the resistance work I've done the past few days. In the what was I thinking department, I was pretty tired today wearing my 5 pound weight vest AND carrying a heavy daypack - dum, de, dum, dum!

I'm starving and will be pretty much a vegetable at the Origami dinner, for which I must get dressed soon.

Brain Dead

We took grandson today to Bradbury Museum exhibit, Brain Teasers, on loan from the Explora Museum in Albuquerque. It had a pretty lively crowd trying to do the puzzles. Neither spouse nor I showed any startling adeptness at solving the puzzles. Grandson gave up pretty quickly too. I went to the front desk and asked for the solutions. She gave me a 3 ring binder that had the solutions and hints. I managed to solve one from the hint alone but then tried a second one and just gave up and looked at the answer.

After that, I decided to turn in the book and go study the aerial photo of the Pajarito Plateau and the raised relief map of New Mexico in the Bradbury's lobby. We're so lucky to live in such a geologically astounding and mountainous part of New Mexico - right on the eastern edge of the Valles Caldera!

Meanwhile, spouse was watching with grandson a movie on stockpile stewardship. Grandson liked the graphics and computer animation but was less interested in the talking heads. I'm totally amazed that grandson watched the whole 15 minute movie!

In the history room of the Bradbury, I enjoyed the portraits and bio info on 5 hikers I know who worked on the Manhattan Project in Los Alamos.

Walked to Diamond Drive and back tonight. The sidewalks get better each night. I could see the lights of the grooming machines working on the slopes of the Pajarito Mountain Ski Area.

I'm not sure if I've picked up some germ or not. I'm getting chills and feel weak. I'll see how I feel tomorrow.

More of the Same

Santa Fe trip. Spouse will see surgeon again in a month and remains in a waiting pattern. It's really up to spouse; if he feels he's still having symptoms after about 2 more months, he can decide to get an appendectomy. For the meantime, he does feel better.

Spouse got glasses adjusted at Pearle Vision. My car got free rotation and balance at Discount Tires.

Shopped at Whole Foods. Got told off by employee about my sampling of olives, probably because I took too many samples and ended up not buying any olives (but made up for it in the rest of the store!) I told her thank you and didn't argue but next time I will still take samples but try to take less. Would be nice if they had samples out for people who don't want to eat cheese.

Took walk downtown to library. Pretty icy but didn't slip. Night sky beautiful.

We watch grandson tomorrow. Will take him out and about in downtown Los Alamos.

Almost done with Helen Thayer's Walking the Gobi. I like her simple, direct writing style, her sympathetic portrayal of the Mongolian nomads and how she makes you feel like you're along on the journey with her. Also, I like the way that she does her very best to take nature on its own terms and doesn't try to fight and conquer it. I need to remember that the next time I'm cursing a headwind when I'm snowshoeing! : )

Amazing that her husband was 74 when this adventure was undertaken! Those two really love each other to be able to get along so well through all the hardships of their journey. I ordered Three Among the Wolves today from interlibrary loan. I wish there were more than 3 books by her to read.

Well Lathered in Oil

Ate dinner at China Moon. I managed to find enough seafood, vegetables and fruit in their buffet to fill me up. It was good but all the seafood and vegetables had a sheen of oil.

All six of us enjoyed the dinner.

Grandson was ecstatic with his Star Wars Lego set.

Have to wake up at 7am tomorrow. Hard when you've been sleeping in until 9am! Spouse's appointment with the surgeon is tomorrow.

Sure hope the snow lasts until Wednesday and Thursday! That area west of West Jemez Road looks so inviting to explore on snowshoes!

Elk Playground

Walked West Jemez Road today, starting from Camp May intersection and going to TA-16 signs. Saw lots of signs of elk in area just north of Pajarito Canyon trailhead. It's almost like they are playing fox and hounds in that area!

If the snow holds for Wednesday and Thursday, I'd like to snowshoe the area south of Pajarito Canyon trailhead. It's open, with glades and bowls.

Closer to Valle Canyon, it gets really steep but I'd also like to try snowshoeing north from that area. I saw a diagonal ramp with some elk tracks going up. I was only in road walking shoes so couldn't explore it further.

The ridge on the west side of West Jemez Road is so wall-like in places. I wonder if it's a continuation of the Pajarito Fault. To explore beneath that ridge, I'd have to start early (for me) because the area gets in shadow in early afternoon and thus is very cold.

The walking was very pleasant as there weren't too many vehicles like there would be if the lab was open.

As I approached Valle Canyon, I saw a snowshoer coming out with his little dog. It was Bart and his mini-compact dog, Bridget. Bridget looked cold and wet. Bart didn't have any poles. He went up on the south side of Valle Canyon but said that they (referring to him and Bridget!) would have to do too much trail-breaking so he didn't go very far.

Soon we go to China Moon with daughter and her family and her father-in-law. It's to celebrate the last night of Hanukkah. Grandson will get final gift tonight which is a big Lego kit that he really, really wants!

Long Drive - Good Company

Woke at 7am. Spouse made decision about 10am that we'd risk driving to daughter's in-laws who live near Jemez Pueblo. Roads not too encouraging when we started it - snow covered to Pojoaque. Plowing was just beginning. Better between Pojoaque and Santa Fe - more slushy than snowy. By the time we got to Bernalillo, it was like we'd driven to Arizona - no snow, blue skies and sunshine but we could see to the north dramatic dark views of the stormy Jemez Mountains (or maybe to San Pedro Park country). Between San Ysidro and Vista Hermosa Road, weather was fine.

Spouse masterfully drove us all the way there and back. We dropped off son-in-law's Grandma in Rio Rancho. She's a lovely 85 year old woman who once lived in Los Alamos.

Daughter and son-in-law had to leave Christmas dinner early because grandson was sick. They took him to the emergency room in Los Alamos because he was wheezing and said he hurt all over. He has an inflammation of his airways or bronchioles. They took a chest x-ray, hooked him up to a nebulizer which is a mask to somehow ease his breathing and prescribed Prednisone to ease the inflammation. Poor daughter didn't even get a chance to eat her Christmas dinner. They drove back through the Jemez and the roads got a little icy around the curviest part of the road when the entered Los Alamos County.

We enjoyed our Christmas Day in the red rock country of the Jemez Mountains (I have the red dirt on my tires to prove it! : ) Son-in-law's family is really nice. We got to meet his sister, brother-in-law, niece and nephew for the first time. His Mom and step-Dad live in a beautiful straw bale house.

The southern Jemez Mountains are stunning. I looked at the topo map and the tall mesa behind the house might be an extension of Cat Mesa called Mesa de los Datiles. On the map, it looks like a cat's paw. There's a big canyon that parallels San Diego Canyon called Cañon de Cercado that runs along Cat Mesa. Such interesting country.

I walked 4 miles this evening, down to Diamond Drive. It was beautiful walking on the snowy sidewalks (not icy) on a Christmas night. I listened to Deliah on 99.5. When I got back, I did some shoveling, including for our neighbor. Our neighbor's son-in-law on the other side has been shoveling our sidewalk so, as advised by Deliah, I decided to "pay it forward", that is, to pass along the kindness extended to us.

Will sleep in tomorrow. Would like to snowshoe but it depends on when I wake up.

Blowing and Snowing

Grandson is eating a root beer popsicle right now. He's being dosed with Tylenol and cough strips. Antibiotics coming soon. He woke up with a temp of 100.5 degrees.

Won't be going to Bradbury for Brain Teasers exhibit today because grandson sick and it's snowing and blowing; but, on bright side, exhibit is in town until March 31, 2009 - gives us time! : )

Tonight Grandpa makes Boboli pizza for 3rd night of Hanukkah!

Grandma will soon retreat to bedroom/exercise-space to get Ripped! with Jari Love exercise dvd.