Walking Through Retirement

Since Grandpa has retired, we have picked up the habit of walking.  Actually, we walk 2-3 times a day now and we take Sparkles (our slightly chubby weiner dor) along with us.  She loves it!  In fact during any given day, we may find Sparkles staring at us and whining.....wanting to go for "walkies". We've noticed her collar getting lose and I think I may have dropped an inch or two (I avoid the scale because it just irritates the heck out of me; I judge by the way my clothes fit me). I'm not sure what the total distance is that we cover each day, but I'm starting to know how Sparkles feels....it has become really 'addicting'. 

We try to change up the routes so it doesn't get boring.  In fact, sometimes we let Sparkles lead us where she wants to go; what corner to turn at or street to cross. We even venture out on 76th street where the cars move at speeds (NASCAR speed...I'm not kidding and I believe the speed limit is 35-40) that sometimes scares the heck out of me but Sparkles doesn't even flinch. That route is a nice long straight stretch.  Then we have the 'school route' or the 'long block'.  Now if we really feel ambitious, we go one way which gives us a good workout going uphill or if not, we go the other way and it's easier. Going around just our block is called 'short block' and we may do that once or twice around, depending on the time of day and how many other walks we have already taken that day. I want to start venturing further into the subdivision to give us some new, different scenery to enjoy.

Being the good doggie walkers that we are, I always carry a plastic 'doggie bag' and pick up after our dog.  It really is not that difficult to do AND wish more people would do the same!  Also, it has helped keep our stash of plastic bags down to a minimum and they no longer fall out of the closet door when we open it.  We may even have to go begging for bags soon.

It has been a habit well worth picking up.  It's fun, you get fresh air and exercise and when I'm walking with Grandpa, I don't think about stuffing chocolate in my mouth because I'm too busy yakking.  And, that's a plus too!!

It will be fun designing our routes once we move to Tennessee because I have the feeling this walking thing is going to be around for a while.