Let's talk about something else for a minute.

I have been working out pretty regularly ... in between work, packing and other trip preparations. I am still only running 2-3 miles at a time on my knee but I usually pair it with the stair master or elliptical machine or something like that. Hopefully that will help my knee heel, which it seems to be doing just fine.

But just for a moment I would like to talk about the trip in another manner. Parts of the trip are stressing me out to the point of no sleep. I had to start taking the herbs 'valerian' just to fall asleep at night. They work great by the way! I've tried working out a little bit extra to work through the stress, but I guess that doesn't work for everything.

The first thing that stresses me is that Josh isn't coming with us. While my every minute will be filled during the three weeks, I will miss him a lot. We have never spent this much time a part (I think 2 weeks was the most). Though we will hopefully have email to stay in touch. So while that stresses me out a little bit, there is one thing that has really been on my mind lately ... Granddad.

This will be the first trip where he isnt there to greet us. I know that last time (6 yrs ago) was less than an ideal situation since he was in a hospital bed, but this time we dont even get that. Any time we have gone to visit, he was the first person we would seek out. There were always big hugs, a cup of tea and cookies. Unfortunately he passed away on our last trip. And two weeks after that we came home, so it was easy to pretend that he was still there and just continue with my daily activities. But at the the time I didnt even consider that I would, at some point, come back.

My granddad and I were very close. I was lucky to have gotten to spend so much time with such a great man. He taught me a lot, especially about faith. When we would stay with him for extented periods of time, he and I were inseperable. But now what ... ?

One thing that scares me a little is that I will, at some point, need to visit the grave site. The question is, will I do it alone or with someone. Well, rather than being afraid of the action, it's actually the emotions it will bring up that I am afraid of. What if I start crying and all those emotions of when he passed away come back?

Anyway, that is just something that has been on my mind a little bit ... to the point that I am dreaming about it regularly. But other than that, I cannot wait for the trip! I can't wait to see everyone :)

Onwards and upwards fellow travellers!

Sometimes wheels are just nicer.

I went rollerblading today. Josh and I finally had a day off together and decided to make the most of the gorgeous weather, so I put on my wheels and he hopped on his bike. We went on the same trail that Pam and I run at least once a week. It's near the house and mostly smooth so blades wouldn't be a problem.

We had to take a quick detour at the beginning so Josh could put some air in the tires ... the bike had been sitting on the patio for a while and with the change in moisture and temperature over the past few months, the tires were over it. It was pretty funny though, because when Josh hopped on the bike outside the apartment he described it as 'trying to ride through mud' ... in which case I thought he was doing well to keep up with me! There is no way I would have been able to move the bike through mud  ;-)

For those of you wondering ... yes, I did wear plenty of sunscreen and didn't get burned  :)   I even wore a longer t-shirt to make sure I was completely covered. I never want to burn like that again!

So I decided to wear my Garmin GPS watch to keep an eye on the work-out. At one point we were moving at a 6-minute mile pace. All I could think was, "Oh my gosh, there are people in this world who run whole marathons at this pace ... and we are moving fast!" I couldn't imagine ever being able to run that fast. My fastest time ever is a 7.5 minute mile for 3 miles ... and had the race been longer, I am pretty sure I wouldn't have been able to keep up that pace!

The trail also went a lot faster. It was kind of nice for a change. There are days when I struggle to run that trail and here we completed it in an hour. Sometimes wheels just make a world of difference. Oh, and because there was no real impact on my joints, my left knee didn't ache at all :)  Hurray!

So yeah, I very much enjoyed the afternoon with my love. Sometimes it's fun to just get out of the house and enjoy the great outdoors! Though I wish we had time to do stuff like this more often. I want for us to be an active family rather than a couch potato family. You learn so much about another person when you are out experiencing new things together! Not to mention, of course, the health benefits. Exercise should be fun ... not a chore.

Anyway, a good day indeed! May there be many more to come!
Onwards and upwards my fellow runners ... even if you did choose wheels today!