Day 98

Mike found out that he's going to get an extra 2 weeks of vacation this year, because he has worked in the office since the beginning of the pandemic, while many of his coworkers had paid time off.  So we decided that this is the year we're taking our epic road trip west.  We're planning to take a couple weeks to visit several landmarks, including Custer State Park, Mount Rushmore, the Badlands, Yellowstone, Rocky Mountain National Park, the Grand Tetons, and the ultimate goal...Glacier National Park.  My parents will be in Winter Park, Colorado, during that time, and I invited ourselves to stay with them a couple days and take them to Rocky Mountain National Park with us.  We're planning to leave in about two months.  So exciting!

I decided I should try to lose a few pounds before we go, because we'll be doing some serious hiking, and that would be a lot easier if I didn't have to haul all this fat along with me.  I did pretty well for a few hours, but then I fell off the wagon already and pigged out.  I'll start tomorrow.

I saw our wren couple flitting in and out of the birdhouse several times yesterday.  Hoping to see babies before we leave.

I had a bad brain day today.  On the way to the gym, I realized I forgot to bring underwear and a shirt to wear home.  This would have been a problem, because I wear my swimsuit there and would have had to wear a towel home. I came back and got those items and was pleased with myself for remembering.  Standing by the pool about to get in, I had a feeling that I was forgetting something, but I decided to think about it while I was swimming, to give my mind something to do.  I got in and immediately realized what it was.  I was still wearing my shorts, complete with tissues and gum in the pockets.  I fished those out of the pool and wrung and hung my shorts, because those are the ones I had to wear home.

It has been a very strange year.  The pandemic, the shutdown, the murder hornets, the race riots, people are tearing down statues because they're offensive to them.  There's a black bear roaming through central Illinois, and now I just heard there's a giant plume of sand heading for us from Africa that is going to lower our air quality and make the sky look milky.

Noah is working in Princeville, building an entire house.  What great experience for him!