Posted on

Last Training Run

I just finished my last training run before Saturday’s race. Today’s training session was a thirty-minute treadmill session, which I thought would be easy. Perhaps easy isn’t the right word. I figured, however, that a thirty-minute treadmill workout after running 45-minute treadmill workouts would feel like a relief. Unfortunately, it didn’t. I think this is in large part due to running 45 minutes yesterday. Fortunately, I have two full days to rest my legs before the race.

Tomorrow I’ll do the upper body Sweat workout, and then on Friday I’ll do the ab one. The ab one isn’t super intense, so it’s perfect for the day before the race. In the meantime, I’ll keep doing yoga every morning and stretching at night. I’m doing everything I can to keep my legs and hips loose for Saturday. I definitely don’t need a harassing injury to slow me down; I’m pretty sure I’ll be slow enough on my own.

From 2020 to 2025

2025 Goal Tracker:

  • Run a 5K: still training, signed up for a 5k on 9/20!
  • Complete Kayla Itsines program: finishing 2.0 this week!
  • No afternoon Starbucks (except for travel/vacations): I made it into September and haven’t buckled!
  • Top performer at work: on it!
  • Travel: went to Vegas, but lots of work to do here. I’m tickled pink that we’ll be going back there in October to see Paul McCartney
  • Eat to lower inflammation: in progress
  • Read daily: in progress. I finished Pride and Prejudice on Saturday and am now reading Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
  • Get out of debt: in progress, but still poor
  • Financial independence: in progress, but still opt
  • If you’re not already following me on instagram, give me a follow!
  • ’Check out my newest partner, Zulay Kitchen. You can use the code Welcome43 to get 43% off.

How do you celebrate holidays?

I celebrate the holidays by spending time with the people I love most. The holidays are such a special time for me because it’s one of the rare times everyone is home. It sucks not having the kids around all the time, so having them home is amazing.

In addition to the family time, I enjoy baking all of our traditional family favorites. These dishes have really become the fabric of our holiday season. Each dish has a special connection to our families or our ancestors. It’s special to bake holiday cookies with the rolling pin handed down to me by my grandma, who was given it by my great-grandma. Keeping the culinary traditions alive is a way of always staying connected to our family and our heritage. I look forward to passing it on to the next generation.

Posted on

Adventure on the Mountain

Yesterday we had a wonderful adventure on the mountain courtesy of the Farmington Creek Trail – upper canyon section. Goalielocks, the Mayor and myself hiked this trail last year. However that adventure on the mountain went sideways when we got separated on the mountain. In fact, the whole reason I had chosen that trail was so we could rappel down to the waterfall. Obviously, since we got separated, we couldn’t safely rappel to the waterfall.

This time the weather was absolutely perfect. It was in the 60s when we started our hike, but it cooled off dramatically as we ascended the mountain. Last year, it was over 96 degrees when we hiked the trail. One thing this trail has is plenty of shade, which is awesome. The trees all around us were spectacularly colored. I definitely miss the fall colors.

The hike itself is a 3 mile up and back hike with an elevation gain of 950. It’s not an easy hike, but is bit overly hard either. It’s challenging in a good way. After the hike, both times, I felt proud of my accomplishment. This time the younger two patiently waited at the waterfall for us all to get there. I was a bit concerned they would try to rappel down to the waterfall without us.

At the turn around point is a beautiful waterfall. To get down to the waterfall, you have to rappel down a 50 foot rocky wall. Needless to say, it looked quite intimidating especially after the first half of the hike. The hubby went first to make sure the rest of us were able to make it down safely. Surprisingly, the descent was the hardest part.

Once we all made it down to the bottom, we explored a little bit and took some pictures. The temperature near the waterfall was probably in the 40s as the mountain water was quite cold. After taking some pictures and catching our breath, we headed back up the rock wall. The ascent was definitely easier, but I still had to sit and let my heart rate come back to normal.




The descent down the trail was much easier than the ascent. In fact, it really gave us an opportunity to drink in the beauty of our surroundings. Some of maple trees leaves had become a vibrant pink, while others had become a light peach color. The fall colors were absolutely spectacular up close. We also had beautiful views of the Great Salt Lake. The rain, the region got Tuesday night, cleared out the smoky haze nicely.

Unbeknownst to us, the real adventure was to begin as we left the trailhead. Apparently, the forest ranger had opened the trailhead in error. Upon realizing his error, he decided to lock the gates to the trailhead. That’s right folks, the ranger locked us and our fellow hikers in the Wasatch National Forest. Apparently, an old couple was leaving as he locked the gates. Initially, he told them he’d open the gates again at 6:00 pm. Eventually, he acquiesced and told them he’d open it once he finished his work in forty five minutes. It’s important to note the trailhead has no facilities, no benches, tables or bathrooms. Moreover, he could have let the old couple leave instead of insisting they wait for him.

By the time, we reached the line to leave it was already four cars deep. The whole experience was a bit disconcerting given we had all drank a bunch of water when we got back to the car. Eventually, we got sick of sitting, so we walked down to the gate to checkout the lock situation. Sadly the padlock was encase in a giant medal pole making it difficult to smash it open. As we, and several of our fellow hikers examined the gate, the Forest Ranger came back to open it up.

This ranger, who locked it and wouldn’t unlock it for the old couple, was wearing dress slacks, a white shirt and a forest service vest. Nonetheless, I can’t imagine the type of work he was doing on the road in that outfit. Honestly, it smacked of a power trip. After all, he opened the park in error. Upon realizing his error, he shouldn’t have locked all the hikers in the park.

Once we left the forest, we got gas and headed back to Ogden. We were all bit hungry, so we stopped and got everyone a burger and In N Out. It was the perfect amount of food to tide us over until dinner. Speaking of dinner, we headed to Rovalis the home of lavender lemonade for a nice dinner. The Mayor has been obsessed with this lemonade since he first tried it last year. We ended our night with a rousing game of hot seat.

If you go,

Uinta-Wasatch-Cache National Forest

Farmington Creek Trail

In-N-Out Burger

Rovalis

Posted on

Stir Crazy

Admittedly, I’m going stir crazy since I can’t workout or run. I had hoped to continue the BBG workouts, but I can’t fit my toe in my shoe. Moreover, the workouts contain a lot of plyometric exercises, which would might hard on my toe. In fact, I can’t even practice yoga at this point without putting too much pressure on my toe. Sadly, my workout equipment is currently only serving as my room’s decor.

The worst part of not being able to workout is having no outlet after a stressful day. Fortunately, today wasn’t overly stressful. It, however, wasn’t overly productive either. Needless to say, I’m anxiously awaiting the return of the busy season. Even if it means some seven day work weeks! Since I can’t run or workout, I’ve set aside time to meditate in legs up the wall pose. This definitely helps reset my mood and focus before I set out on my day.



In other news, Piggie has lost ten pounds since starting her diet in June (which is more than I can say for myself.). Obviously, the diet dog food is doing its job. One of the side effects of this new food is that her poop is as dry as saw dust. Moreover, she has to poop a lot more frequently and it takes her forever! Honestly, I find it quite bizarre. Hopefully, she will not need to be on this super expensive food for very long. 

Fortunately, this saw dust dry poop saved me from a Roomba poop apocalypse today. While, I took her out several times during the day. She went to the bathroom in the house while I was working. Unfortunately, this also coincided with the Roomba’s cleaning routine. This wouldn’t be our first Roomba vs. dog poop battle and it likely won’t be the last. In fact, I’ve switched the timing on the Roomba to mitigate the risk of these run-ins. Anyway, since her poop is sawdust dry that instead of smearing it everywhere it pushed it aside. Thank God!

Here’s a list of our day’s activities:

*I’m reading Wolf Hall, by Hilary Mantel.

*I still can’t run because my toe. I’ll be unable to run for at least four weeks.

*We’re tracking the Tropics here in Florida. The tropics are heating up again. Fortunately, it looks like none of these waves will be impacting Florida.

*Uber Eats delivered my coffee for me today and will do so until we get another vehicle. 

*For dinner, we had leftovers. We cooked enough Sunday and Monday to have leftovers for tonight. Tuesdays are tough as both boys have hockey practice on opposites end of South Florida.

*The word of the day is cookie dough. Let’s be honest, there’s is nothing better than cookie dough when you’re going stir crazy.

*I took my puppies including sweet Anakin for a. I put on his harness every morning. Otherwise, I have difficulty controlling him on the leash. He’s incredible strong and can pull me off balance, which is why I’m now wearing a boot to protect my poor broken toe.


Posted on

Thanksgiving Is Almost Here

Can you believe Thanksgiving is almost here? It seems like just yesterday we were ringing in 2019. Yet here we are ready to end the year with the fabulous holiday season. I’m especially blessed to spend it with my entire immediate family. This holiday will be poignant for us all as it marks the last holiday for which Jake will be a civilian. Who knows where he’ll be stationed this time next year. We will certainly enjoy the moment.

I started my day by sleeping through my alarm, which left me feel like I was behind all day. Graves’ disease sucks it often leaves me tried and jacks with my sleep for no good reason. Not to mention it makes me cranky, which my family can certainly attest to today.

Fortunately, my day started looking up the moment I got my coffee. We left Dunkin’ to get our groceries for baking, so we could get an early start. At which point, we got a text inviting us to the beach. How could we say no to that? Spoiler alert: we procrastinated on the baking and headed to the beach.

This, of course, did nothing for my constant feeling of being behind all day. However, the beach was again marvelous with beautiful skies and calm seas. You simply can’t ask for a better way to spend the day before Thanksgiving. It was a bit hot, so we didn’t stay too long.
Fortunately, Goalielocks’ BFF was there and he was having a blast. Unfortunately, that made the extraction from the beach quite difficult. We ended our beach day by me starting to back out of my spot before noticing the boys neglected to close the tailgate. Consequently, I needed to make a Dunkin pit stop on the way home to try and collect my sanity.

Before heading home, we headed to Publix in search of the perfect pickles for pickle. If there’s anywhere you so don’t want to be on Thanksgiving Eve in Florida, it’s Publix. I avoided this dumpster fire by dropping my mom off at the door and parking. To be honest, I was more concerned with getting home so I could eat before heading to yoga.

Wednesday’s are my tight muscle mobility class at Open Heart Yoga studio. My teach is amazing. The class has been incredibly effective in opening up my body post Graves’ disease. In today’s class, I’m pretty sure I fell asleep 3-4 times while massaging my back with therapy balls. These balls are miracle works for tight muscles and soft tissue. You must try them.

I left my mat completely serene and ready to tackle my evening. Tonight’s beautiful sunset added to my serenity.  During class my mom has text me to let me know the Publix pickles were sub par and couldn’t be used to pickle roll ups. I got home and we headed to Earth Fare to see if they had any quality pickles, but that trip was unsuccessful. Thus, we headed back to Target where we found the perfect pickles. Plus if you haven’t gone to Target twice in a day, are you even living?

We made our way home to start are baking. I started working on my cheesecake while my mom began to prepare the pickle roll ups. My mom made quick work of the pickle roll ups while I plodded my way through baking the cheesecake. Fortunately, my mom helped me start the vegan pumpkin coconut soup that I made for my brother and I. I’m not currently vegan, but I know my body won’t tolerate too much of the traditional Thanksgiving food.

Our evening of baking, will finally be over in about an hour when the cheesecake can go in the oven. I’ll start my Thanksgiving where I start everyday: Dunkin’. We’ll then head to my brothers’ house to drop off the goodies before heading to the Mayor’s 11:00 am game.

It was just over a year ago I went through radiation to kill my thyroid. A year later, my thyroid levels are stable. I’m hopeful that the symptoms of Graves will abate in the next year (although it could be 1-3 years.) Unfortunately, my health is not where it was before I got sick, but there is a light at the end of the tunnel. As I end my evening enjoying Agatha Christie’s Poirot, I am filled with gratitude for my family, my friends, healing and my life’s transitions.

Posted on

Memorial Day 5k

Better late than never, last Monday Jake, the Mayor and I ran the Memorial Day 5k.   This was my third race since being cleared to work out again.  Although I’m not sure my doctor will be thrilled when I tell her about it Tuesday, but we shall see. She did after all give me the clearance to exercise…

Race morning, I was filled with the usual pangs of regret as my alarm went off last Monday for the Memorial Day 5k.  After all it was 5:05 am and usually I’d get up, take my Synthroid and go back to bed for another hour or two before finally crawling out of bed. Meanwhile the bookends and I headed to Boca by 5:45 am to get our run on.  Fortunately, or unfortunately, this run started at 7:00 am, which sounds early, but is the only way to beat the South Florida heat.

mUq+wqXaThO0Kg73cCR7LQ

The run itself went really well.  Fortunately, there were no bridges to contend with like in the Mamacita Mimoas 5k two weeks ago.  The Mayor went out guns blazing, which is never a recipe for success when running distance.   We ended up running together for the first two miles before I ended up pulling away.  I was thrilled that I was able to complete mile 1 in less than 10 minutes.   It felt like a huge accomplishment.

IMG_0934

Mile two was slower, but not by too much.  It was difficult and the water stations kind of through of my mojo a bit.  They had stations every half a mile, which is nice, but it slows you down a bit.  By mile three, however, I was struggling.  In fact, an old guy with a limp, who was power walking the race passed me as we approached mile 3.  I cannot tell a lie: that was quite the hit to the pride.  I was resolute, however, that I would finish before him come hell or high water.  In the end, I had enough in the tank to finish before him and 2 two minutes faster than the previous weekend’s 5k.  Yay!

I quickly found Jake post race as he waited for me at the finish line.  The Mayor, however, took another four minutes to cross the finish line.  Apparently, he had made a friend along the course and took to socializing instead of running.  Nonetheless, he still covered the 3.1 miles and logged some decent cardio.  Afterwards, we waited for the mile run to finish, so we could watch Jake get his award for taking second place in his age group.  As for the Mayor and me, we were just happy to get our finisher pie.  We then headed home with our three finisher apple pies because that’s exactly what you need after a hard fought race.

Here’s our gear:
Shoes brought to you by Asics – my go to running shoe.  I love my Gel Kayanos and am on my fourth pair.  They’re the perfect shoe for serious runners.  My little man loves his Asics GT1000.  

My running pants and shirt: Call by Carrie Underwood Shop at Dicks Sporting Goods

20% OFF ENTIRE ORDER with code: WELLNESS20. Plus Free Shipping over $45! Pharmaca.com. Coupon Code: WELLNESS20

 

Posted on

Corporate Run

Last Thursday was the annual Mercedes Benz Corporate Run in Fort Lauderdale. I was excited to participate for my third running. This year was a bit different though since I haven’t run a 5k in over a year. Unfortunately, after tearing a tendon and a subsequent diagnosis of Graves’ disease, I was sidelined for what feels like forever!

Thankfully, my doctor was able to clear me for exercise once my thyroid finally stopped functioning in February. Yay! Nonetheless, a 5k was a tall order. I trained as much as I could, but with a hypoactive thyroid my energy is nonexistent. Meaning, instead of a normal, rigorous training schedule, my body needed 2-3 day breaks in between workouts. This itself represented a massive departure from my grandiose expectations for my recovery.

I was back at my doctor’s office early last week for my six-week check-in. She made some adjustments to my medication, which should help immensely. Honestly, the effortless weight gain, the absolutely no energy, the absolute exhaustion and the absolute inability to sleep properly have gotten old. On a positive note, my blood work supports my symptoms, which in my doc’s words “means we can fix it!”  My doc is a rock star and is taking good care of me through out my treatment. Unfortunately, it’s just part of the process as we figure out the right Synthroid dosing.

img_0612img_0595

She did reiterate my ability to work out, but added a caveat about common sense. Clearly, she doesn’t know me. I did ask about the 5k, to which she responded “I hope you lose – meaning I hope you walk.” As I got up to leave, we compromised on a solid effort in the first mile with common sense dictating mile two and three.

In the end, I was nervous and excited for my first 5K in over a year. I went into the race with reasonable expectations and the hope that I’d finish somewhat respectably. As the race neared, we entered the start corral, which was huge. The corporate run had over 9,000 participants this race. Fortunately, it was a chip to chip race.  Consequently, my time was not negatively impacted by being encumbered by mobs of people behind the start line. img_0615

It felt amazing to be racing again! The first mile went pretty smooth and I felt pretty good. As I promised my doctor, I was conservative over the remainder of my race. In the end, with my foot asleep and pride swelling in my heart, I crossed the finish line. While my heart was swelling with pride, my right foot was coming back to life, after falling asleep on mile 2, as I waited patiently for my post race free beer.

img_0598

My time this race was the slowest I’ve ever logged at a 5k, but it will forever be the one that gives me the most pride. After a torn tendon, a diagnosis of Graves’ disease, subsequent treatment and no exercise for nine months, my time of 37:23 is pretty damn good! Moral of the story, winning isn’t always about getting a PR every race. Sometimes winning is not being afraid to show up and do your best no matter what cards you’ve been dealt. 

img_0597

Lastly, I had to share this photo from last year’s race as it included Paul.   My associate director Paul was someone who embodied perseverance.  While he wasn’t with us this year physically, he was definitely therein spirit.  We miss you Paul!

Posted on

It’s Time For States!

It’s time for states!!! The vaunted state hockey tournament. The culmination of countless hours of practices, driving, off ice sessions and games is finally here. Fortunately, both of our boys are playing locally this year for states! Yay!! Unfortunately, we’ll be at the rink all weekend with nary a break.

Our tournament started with our U12 Panthers Gold taking on the undefeated Blackhawks Red. It was an exciting game. I had expected a lopsided affair, but it was 0-0 through much of the game. The Hawks put one in while on a 5-3 power play. Our squad didn’t stop their effort and kept it a tight game, but we couldn’t bury the puck. All in all it was a good game.

Well after my bedtime, Goalielocks’ U16 game was scheduled. Okay, maybe 9:50 isn’t my bed time, but by Friday night I’m exhausted. Fortunately, I packed my beta blockers so I could take the edge of my nerves and my heart rate. The game opened with a breakaway against Goalielocks and he came up with a huge save.

The rest of the game was back and forth. Goalielocks saw a lot of shots, but was on point. TK buried the puck early in the first to put us up by one. We netted another goal in the second putting us up 2-0.

The second period had me worried, but our squad stood strong. They ended up banging one in, but I couldn’t see what happened from my angle. When the period ended it was 2-1. Thank God for beta blockers.

As the third period got underway I was hoping for a quick goal to allay my nerves. I got it! #relieved. The team had some great offensive moments in the third period. Consequently, we went up 4-1. It was then that the wheels started to fall off for the other team. They took a 2-10 penalty followed by another minor penalty late in the third. Happily, the game ended a 4-1 decisive win for our Panthers Gold and my Goalie.

Now it’s midnight, we’ve been at work and school all day. Tomorrow starts early with a call time at the rink of 9:30. We have game all day and another late night at the rink. I’m off to bed to get some much needed sleep. Let’s Go Panthers!

Posted on

They’re Back From Quebec!

They’re back from Quebec!!! Thankfully, their early departure from Quebec City got them out before the snowfall started. I figured the big storm that hit the Midwest earlier this weekend would hit the Quebec area today. Luckily, we booked super early flights. Even so they were delayed an hour getting out of Montreal.

The later arrival gave me more time at the gym this morning. I feel like I’m fighting a sinus infection. Since I had no fever and no symptoms below the chest, I opted to hit the gym. I put in thirty minutes on the elliptical and was able to do 4.5 miles in that time. Happily, I can report my knees have improved dramatically week over week. Yay!!!!

img_0287

After finishing my run on the elliptical, I made it leg day at the gym. My knees feel much better, but I was careful to pick exercises that did not hurt my knee. I would usually do single leg cable kicks on leg day, but that brought too much discomfort to the knees. Consequently, I skipped the exercise.

img_0289-1

After my workout, I headed to the airport to pick up my boys. It was exciting to watch them land and taxi as I was driving down Southern towards the airport. I quickly parked, as quickly as one can when snow birds are involved, in the short term parking and headed into the terminal.  Fortunately, they were quickly off the plane and so were their bags. Yay! The Mayor wanted Wendy’s, but that was a hard no from both of us. Everyone was exited to see them back home especially the puppies.

img_0296

Unfortunately, my hubby had the distinct pleasure of getting to work on the broken items list right away. He immediately tackled the garbage disposal and was able to fix it quickly. Thank goodness! Next up was the air condition. I was pretty sure it was the capacitor that crapped out. Turns out I was right!! Thank you YouTube. He’ll pick up the part tomorrow, so by tomorrow night we should be in the business. Woohoo! It’s great to have him home!

img_0307

The rest of the afternoon we spent relaxing and baking. I made my first attempt at an “easy Kouign-Amann” recipe. I’ll be devoting a whole post to it tomorrow. I absolutely loved Quebec City. Moreover, I loved Brittany and Saint Malo. In 2011, we spent some time in Brittany and saw where Cartier sailed from when he discovered Quebec and the Saint Lawrence Seaway. The Breton influence on Quebec is unmistakable.

Speaking of French, I just finished volume one of Proust’s In Search Of Lost Time. While I wait for Amazon to deliver volume two, I’ve started Jane Austen’s Pride and Prejudice. At this point, I’m only ten chapters into the book, but I’m finding it quite enjoyable. I’m off the read, good night my friends!

Posted on

Peewee Quebec Day 4

Peewee Quebec Day 4 was full of hockey and Canadian whiskey. Officially, our boys went 1-1 today in their exhibition games. In their first game versus LSA France, they lost a tough one. It wasn’t even close.

The second game, they played a French team and won handily. It really was the first time this trip, they were able to get their offense going. Of course, my updates ceased in the second period, but that’s a whole different story my Hubby probably doesn’t remember. I love the team picture from the second game. My Mayor has his arm around one of the French players like they’ve been friends for years. This is why Peewee Quebec is the best experience for these kids.

Now back to my Hubby and the lack of updates in game two. One of the beauties of Peewee Quebec is that the kids are with the coach from morning tonight, so the parents are free to do as they please. This is even true if it includes drinking copious amounts of Canadian whiskey early in the morning.

Today has been bizarre. The moon is full and the weirdos have come out of the woodwork. I should have know how the day would track when leaving Dunkin’ this morning there was a man out of his gourd high. I mean, high! He was talking to himself like he was in the midst of a video game and acting it out. It was surreal. It reminded me of my childhood neighbor, who when he was five would pretend to be Yoshi from Mario Kart. Only difference is about 30 years and total lack of sobriety. This man was so out of it, he didn’t even notice me or the other customers leaving the store.

The day’s trajectory continued upon this bizarro path. When I didn’t think anything else could go sideways, I got a call from my friend in Quebec. My first reaction was panicked as I thought maybe one of my boys got hurt. Alas, my Mayor was fine and my Hubby has passed out after a tangle with Canadian whiskey. Oh boy….. In case you’re wondering the final score on that fight: Canadian Whiskey 1 Hockey Dads 0

To be clear, the caller was also far from sober. My friend was insistent that I give him the hubby’s phone code, so he could update his lock screen to gay porn. At 5:30 in the afternoon, this was just the call I needed. I asked if Hubby was okay and positioned, so he wouldn’t aspirate his vomit. To which my friend responded, I put him face down, you’re missing the point I need to update his lock screen. When I suggested he used My Hubby’s finger to open up the phone, I could literally hear the lightbulb going off in his head.

Shortly thereafter, I ended up speaking with his wife and my dear friend. She’s clearly a saint for a number of reasons (including last night’s recreation photo,) it today for checking in on my hubby while babysitting her’s. I’m pretty sure that’s not how she envisioned her Peewee Quebec trip. Nonetheless, she kept a watchful eye on my hubby and got some golden pictures. As for me, I was laughing so hard I was crying and that was exactly what I needed today.

Tonight My Mayor is taking in the QMJHL Ramparts game with his team at the Videotron Center. Meanwhile, back at the hotel my Hubby is “undrinking” the whiskey. Once my Mayor is back to the hotel, he’ll call home. He’ll tell me he had a fun day, but wants to go to bed and I’m preventing him from doing that. Tomorrow brings the second game of the tournament and a must win game. Perhaps I’ll even get updates through all three periods tomorrow.

Posted on

Day Two in Quebec

It’s day two in Quebec City for my hubby and my Mayor. Fortunately, I got to speak with them briefly last night. I say briefly because my Mayor was more concerned with getting to bed than talking to me. Nevertheless, it was clear they’re having a good time.

When Goalielocks and I went, I did a paparazzi like job documenting the trip. Based on a handful of pictures I received from my friends on the trip, I was starting to think I’d have to photoshop my Mayor’s head on Goalielocks’ body to ensure there was photo documentation of him being in Quebec. My girlfriend did send me a couple of gems. One of my hubby and other hockey dad up to shenanigans (no surprise here.) The other of my Mayor and one of his favorite people Jack.

Thankfully, the Hubby came through tonight with some great photos and videos. Unfortunately, the only picture of the Mayor he caught at Val Cartier (tubing place) was the Mayor in his natural state -i.e eating. The Mayor hit up the Patro for lunch today and was able to trade pins with Teams from Mexico, Japan, Russia and Quebec. Word has it that the Mayor’s quite the pin trader. Apparently, he’s absolutely unafraid to approach the other teams and coaches to secure pins and make trades. That my folks is why he is the Mayor.

My boys also headed up to the Winter Carnival, which we missed out on. Our fist couple of days in Quebec City had windchills -35- -45, so we missed it. The pictures make it look absolutely amazing. I particularly love the one of my Mayor trying to eat an ice sculpture. For those that know him, they’ll tell you the kid can eat. For the uninitiated, I can tell you he comes with three stages: hungry, hangry and satisfied for the moment. It is absolutely imperative that you try to move for hungry to satisfied for the moment. His hangry is mean!

While the boys had a blast up in Quebec City, Goalielocks and I took some time for nature. We headed over to Loxahatchee Wildlife Refuge for an afternoon of walking and photography. It took me a half hour to find all of my stuff, but only five seconds to realize my camera’s battery was dead. Oh joy!

It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon here in Florida with temperature in the low 80s and not much humidity. The Everglades are absolutely beautiful. They’re serene and calming with all the beauty nature has to offer.

I was chasing beauty and serenity, Goalielocks wanted adventure. He was certain he had seen a wild boar through the binoculars and was intent on following it. Fortunately, my mom sense (aka common sense) won out and we went the opposite direction.

This trip through the park we saw five gators that were pretty small. We went up to the fishing dock before leaving, but it had been closed down. There were no gators that could be seen although I’m sure they were everywhere.

I also took a trip to the gym. The movement is definitely helping my joints. Unfortunately, I still have quite a bit of pain in my left knee. My right knee, however, has improved markedly. I finished my workout with some ab exercises. I wanted to go back to lifting, but felt it would be too much stress on my knee joints. My new plan is to start next Sunday. Afterwards, I celebrated my run with a fresh ginger shot. Oh, how times have changed….

Here’s one more video of mini golf: