It’s been a minute

02/26/2025 I’m alive and well. The boys and I have had a rather boring winter so far. Trace came to visit for a long weekend. I picked him up at RDU (Raleigh Durham) about an hour away. I was so excited to see him. We didn’t do too much while he was here, we went out to eat a few times and really just hung out here with the pups.

He had an early morning flight which meant we would have had to leave at 4 to get him to RDU on time. I get so stressed worrying about getting up and getting to the airport on time that I got him a room and took him up the night before. He was able to get a good night’s sleep and was only a few minutes from the airport. It worked out, but I cried when I left him.

A week after he left my friend Terry (whom I met on Roatan and now lives there) came to visit. I picked her up at RDU also. We just hung out, did some shopping, went out to eat, and walked the Reedy Branch Trail with the dogs. I had walked the trail once before and have walked it several times since. It’s 1.5 miles each way and meanders through the woods. It’s really nice, the dogs like the different smells. My only complaint is there are no bathrooms and I always have to pee. One sunny day the boys and I walked almost to the other end and I really had to go, so I took them in the woods with me and peed. Luckily I didn’t pee on my leggings. I felt like a new woman afterward. We had a nice walk back to the car and afterward, we went to Burger King for hamburgers. I told someone I knew that I peed in the woods and they were horrified. She said, “You didn’t” like it’s not allowed.

One of the reasons I bought this house (sight unseen) was because of the huge field behind it. One of the times I spoke with the guy who hunts he said it would always be farmland and he would always hunt on it. Come to find out, he didn’t even own the land, and the guy who does sold it. They are going to build homes. All the more reason for me to leave NC.  Since deer season is over the boys and I are in the field several times a day. It’s a great place to walk, they can be off-leash and I get more exercise walking on uneven ground. Normally I don’t walk them in the woods, I’m afraid of copperheads (there is a stream) and rattlers, but with the snow and the ground frozen, we went into the woods. Being in the woods makes me happy. That was one thing I loved about Kentucky, all the woods. Guess I never really was a city girl.

Christmas came and went without much fanfare. I went to my friends home for dinner on Christmas day and when I got home, I started taking the tree down!

I always enjoy the Christmas tree and I always enjoy taking it down!

We had a few inches of snow towards the end of January. I had just joined the Y so I could go to dance/exercise classes. I went on a Tuesday and it was fun. Then the Y closed due to 2 inches of snow. Remember, this is eastern NC, snow is foreign here. They reopened on Friday so I went again and wow, what a workout. Then Saturday morning I woke up feeling a sickness coming on. I have gone 4 years without getting a cold or the flu. I do not get flu shots, they’re poison, and I’ve never had a COVID shot. I’ve not been sick once. But I was getting a cold and was not happy. I know being around all those people in the nasty germ-filled Y is why I got sick. It’s not that I live in a bubble and have no resistance, it was a germy place. I decided that I was done with the Y. I’m not really into being around a lot of people anyhow, I’m much more of a homebody and would rather be with my dogs than other people. I’ve ramped up my walking, hitting 10K+ steps a day, I exercise 3 days a week on the Bowflex and I’ve really put an emphasis on eating clean and loading up with the supplements and vitamins. I feel good, especially for being 3/4 of a century old. I haven’t had any alcohol since my birthday (Jan 3), (I was a one drink limit drinker to begin with) I only drink tea and water. I can honestly say I feel better than I have in a few years. I have a lot of energy, I’m rarely too tired and I’m sleeping 7-8 hours most every night. My only complaint is that Max full on ran into me the other day, my fault, I didn’t move fast enough. Max is built like a battering ram and he rammed my knee. It’s ok, I think. I’m still walking so we’ll go with it’s good.

Last week we had snow that was mostly sleet and then it got below freezing.  The boys and I walked the field, they were running and sliding on the ice. I had to dig my boot heels in to stay upright, it was difficult walking.

I’m grateful that winter has passed. We had some mornings in the teens. The boys and I walked around 7 every morning, no matter how cold it was. Once January rolled around and deer season was over, most mornings were spent in the field and woods. Today it’s 75 but it was 35 this morning. I’ll take the sunshine any day! I’m so anxious to garden. I cut my 3 crepe myrtles back this week. It’s a real pain because I have to bag everything and take it to the landfill. Sometimes the branches are so thick I don’t have the strength to just chop with my big loppers. I have to angle my body so that I can put one of the handles against my shoulder for leverage. It’s kind of tricky, especially standing on a step stool to reach the high ones. They’re done.

A friend from high school still lives in PA., we chat often. She has M.S. and is using a walker. She fell two days in a row and was unable to get up from the floor. She had to call the Paramedics to come help her get back on her feet. I feel so bad for her, I just can’t imagine. I wish I lived closer so I could help her.

I almost started to complain about how hard and exhausting it is to cut back the crepe myrtles, or weed whack, or plant… but then I realized, that instead of complaining about having to do it, I should be grateful that I’m still ABLE to do it. I have done some hard, “needing muscle” jobs here. I am so thankful that my body has held up well enough to accomplish what is needed. I’ll happily go to bed physically exhausted.

And last but not least, my neighbors on one side have been really nice. He bought me a big Petunia for Mothers’ Day and she gave me her pepper plant and a lavender. I bake and share with them (or else I’ll eat it all). For Christmas she bought me this wind spinner. Today I was able to get it sturdily in the ground and assembled. It’s in a great spot, it gets all the wind.

It’s nice to have nice neighbors. Makes having someone next door so much easier.

Signing off for this one, time to feed the boys.

XO thanks for reading.