S'Mores & Weenies & Wine, Oh My!

I don't feel so hot.

Jacob and I had a fun, albeit short, camping trip in the redwoods this weekend. A good old fashioned mother-son weenie/marshmallow roast with my BFF and our two boys. Laura tried her best, but with a couple of slow-to-heal broken ribs (thanks to whooping cough), sleeping in a tent, in the cold, was a little much. I can't believe she was brave enough to even TRY it!

We will definitely do this again when she's feeling better, but perhaps in a camp ground without so many decidedly "outgoing" squirrels and blue jays. Geeezzz, trying to eat a bowl of cereal felt like a scene from the Alfred Hitchcock movie, "The Birds": "Mom, turn around very slowly...you have 12 Blue Jays surrounding you!" It was scary. And the squirrels were even bigger and badder!

I actually got up early this morning and ran a mile or so to get coffee, then walked back juggling two cups of lukewarm, not so great tasting "camp store" coffees. But at least I ran a little.

I also experienced an "I Shouldn't Be Alive!" couple of moments. I got my finger caught in Jacob's sleeping bag zipper "fob"; an almost entirely closed metal ring (similar to a tiny key ring). I had reached over and yanked the zipper down to open the bag and when I pulled my hand away, the bag came with it. The little ring had punctured my finger and I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out how to un-attach myself from it. I tried pulling the piece of metal out one way, only to dig the other side in deeper. Then I pulled the other way, and the opposite side dug in deeper. I had to do a "one-two", back and forth, quick yank and pull to get it out, all the while trying to stay calm for Jacob (but starting to panic and using some "panic language"). Jacob was great though. He asked if he should go for help, and if there was any way I could stop bleeding all over his sleeping bag. Looking back, I suppose I could have carried the sleeping bag around with me until I figured out how to extricate myself from it. But at the time, it really felt like I might die (or at least pass out!) in that tent.

Anyway, now I'm home and feeling the affects of too much "survivalist fare": marshmallows, graham crackers, Hershey's chocolate, Jiffy Pop, Hot Dogs, Funyans and vino. I was diet-savvy enough to pack some "made ahead" whole wheat wraps and fruit salads. I ate those as appetizers while the fire was getting stoked for the dogs and s'mores. Not my original plan, but whatev.

TODAY, I went to Walgreen's and bought a new Memo Book (49 cents on sale!), and beginning tomorrow...I will once again log my daily calories and activities. I've kept (most of) the weight off that I lost prior to the wedding, but now I'm ready to start the next chapter of my journey - another 15 pounds by swimsuit season! (not this one, the next one). I'm also hoping it will make me "lighter on my feet" and improve my running ability! I do have that half marathon in October followed 3 weeks later by the Grape Stomp 10K!

Every day I either run, hike, or do yoga, so I'm not going to necessarily "restrict" my calories (that has never worked for me!), but I will try to keep it at a healthy 2000 a day and see how that works out.

I shall keep you posted!