Apricity West 5

October 11, 2024 - Friday

Did my walk, but skipped dancing today because we had plans to go to John and Eileen’s in Surprise for a visit and lunch at the Wolfhound - these boys love their Guinness. We all had the Guinness Batter Shrimp Basket, which was way out of line for WW, but I counted the points as best I could and stayed within budget using weekly points. That was our meal for the day. 

 

Cindy (line dance teacher) from Wyoming pulled in today, so we had her over for a cocktail and conversation. She and her bestie just got off of a trip to five National Parks within 10 days - Great Sand Dunes, Carlsbad Caverns, Guadalupe Mountains, White Sands, and Saguaro. Twenty down - forty three to go. She had great pictures and tales to tell about them. 

October 12, 2024 - Saturday 

Cindy and I walked and talked and I hit two miles for the first time in years. Yay! 

 

Pat, a recently retired SKP park manager who Rich knew, arrived across the street from us, so he went over to welcome her. Later, she stopped over to wait for her rig temp to cool down. She told us about her hero-ing journey from Tucson (2.5 hours) driving her rig while towing her car for the first time as a widow and retiree. Several things went awry before leaving, but along the way she had, not one, but two tire blowouts within 10 miles. She had to call her tow service for two separate issues within an hour! As we talked, she mentioned that she had a daughter who lived in Maine. I always ask the question, where in Maine as we have a family camp on a relatively small lake in a small village and yet so many people that I come in contact with know of or have history there. Sure enough, her daughter lives in Portland and she knows our town very well as she worked for Hannaford Supermarkets as a Scan Specialist and there is a store in town. That information led us to talking about the supermarket industry since my career was at Big Y Foods - we had similar career paths. We were both involved in opening newly acquired stores; we were both there for Y2K transition to 8 digit dates; we both got degrees later than most to do for our job.

October 13, 2024 - Sunday

Did our shopping right after my walk and stocked up on the WW appropriate fruits, veggies, chicken, and salmon. We both weighed in - not as much as last week, but the scale is moving in the right direction! Went to church online and just chillaxed the rest of the day. Practiced a little ukulele too.

 

October 14, 2024 - Monday

Walked, danced, sat outside for a change with temps in the high 80’s - it felt good. We even got to sit out after dinner for a while. 

 

October 15, 2024 - Tuesday

Walking a little later as the sun rises later and, thankfully, it has cooled down today - sweater weather at this hour. Of course, that changes as the day goes on. 

 

Did chair yoga which is a decent workout and then started cleaning the camper. Made my second corn and black bean relish as the first one was gone in two days with both of us eating it. ZERO points for this delicious option. 

Had an impromptu cocktail hour now that the weather allows us to sit outside comfortably. L to R - Cindy, Rich, Dee, Dwight…

October 16, 2024 - Wednesday

Tired today so did a little shorter walk before line dancing. Then went into the Elks for lunch - the turkey wrap is full of turkey breast, lettuce, tomatoes and a little cheese - no dressing. Delicious and healthy. Happy hour with Dot and Harvey on their patio - we had a lot of catching up to do. They have put Harvey’s Herkimer (NewYork) Diamonds on display inside. He made all of the flints as well. 

Outside is a nice exhibit of rocks found over the years…

October 17, 2024 - Thursday

Cool, crisp walk at 6:30am is a good start to the day. Later did chair yoga, followed by practicing uke songs with Joanne for the jam. It paid off - we did a decent job. Rich surprised us with playing harmonica for Red River Valley. Charles, who sold Rich his harmonicas last year, has picked up his guitar again and came with some sassy tunes that he did back in the day. It was great to see him surprise himself.