A Good Start

I wanted to write something good because I have been posting so much whinny stuff and all the danger of finding the cave and the wild animals. Monday was a pretty good day in terms of work, exercise, and food consumption. At work, I graded some papers and recorded a bunch of grades in Canvas. This time of semester is always a particularly hard time for English profs. Papers come flooding in and exams are coming up next week and the race is on to stay off the bad list. Deadlines and not real. A four o'clock deadline for Thursday afternoon means you better have your grades in by ten that morning or you get on the list. The list is an email sent to everyone who works for the school, has worked for the school, has ever attended a class there, or who had driven by in a car. The list says, "These teachers have not submitted final grades." And then a list follows. I hate the list, and consequently I make a lot of errors in my rush to get the grades in before the real deadline which we really don't know when it is.

Besides a good day at work, I had a nice long walk. Of course "long" is a contextual word, as they all are, but it was my longest over the past several months. I hobbled 5.05 miles and then spent the rest of the evening grading papers and hanging out with the cats. What I did not do was eat. No, I didn't even take my protein shake but did without. This morning I awoke to the scales telling me I weighed 179.6. I know, I know, but I am in the fight and it is going right. That gives me a little kick in the pants that I desperately needed.

Today? I might take a ride on my mountain bike. Friday when we went to Jackson, I took the front wheel in to Indian Cycle and had it repaired. It was missing four spokes (!!!!) but now it's ready to ride. That will take some pressure off my knees and give me some variety in my activity. And then maybe Wednesday I can walk farther than Monday. God give me what I need to say no to excessive food. By the grace of God, I can do this.