Weekly Mileage #131 and the Temple Open House

Monday after I dropped off Ocean I ran 1.25 miles then hiked a couple more. It really is a good way to start the week.

Tuesday Mr M had another cortisone shot in his back, which meant he came to music lessons with us and we left from there for the VA hospital in Richmond. He can't drive immediately after the procedure, so I get to be the designated driver. It's a long, boring afternoon for the kids, but it went faster than the last time we did this, so it wasn't as bad as it could have been. So far this shot is working a little better than the last one (which was in a different location).

Wednesday Mr M had to take the day off work because of his procedure, but he felt he could handle some driving, so we drove to Raleigh for the temple open house. I drove on the way there, he drove on the way back. It was about four hours one way, and I wasn't confident that I could drive both ways, so sharing the driving was a good way to go.

After those two days of back-to-back driving I've realized that caffeine does help me stay more alert when driving, but Wednesday I was suffering a backlash from the sugar I had on Tuesday, which worsened my symptoms. So in the future, sugar free caffeinated energy drinks when driving rather than the Barqs Root Beer I had Tuesday and the Mt Dew I had Wednesday. A couple flavors of Reign aren't too bad and the splenda aftertaste is much more manageable than whatever aftertaste accompanies Monster and Red Bull drinks (which I can't stand). I guess it's a good thing I've never been big on caffeinated sodas. I don't think they'd be as helpful now if I had a caffeine habit. As stimulants go, there's definitely worse ones I could be taking.

Wednesday was a really long day- we were pushing it to drive there and back in one day, but we didn't have time to spend the night and come back Thursday. We expected it to be pretty slow on a Wednesday afternoon, but that was not at all the case. It was quite crowded and we had to wait awhile for our turn to take the tour. Ocean had a hard time controlling himself after so much time in the car, strapped in his seat. We saw similar behavior on our road trip this summer: he really needs to be able to run around and move and if he can't, he has a really hard time being calm and still.

While at the open house we ran into a family from our ward who happened to be there at the same time. We also ran into a couple who used to live in our ward, but moved to NC several years ago. They were volunteering as traffic help and shoe cover putter-onner. It was good to visit with them for a few minutes.

what our window has looked like since we got home from our road trip in July

Thursday we finally got the RV window replaced. Late last week they contacted me to say the original replacement had arrived damaged and had been re-ordered so we'd need to reschedule for the last half of October. Then Tuesday they said they might have the window in time to still install it on Thursday. Wednesday afternoon they emailed and said the window had arrived and we were good to go for Thursday. Part of me was looking forward to not driving anywhere Thursday, but the other part of me was happy to get the window taken care of sooner rather than later.

our shiny new window

We had originally contacted the insurance company to file a claim, but it was too late at night to do so. By the next morning we'd realized that it might be cheaper to pay out of pocket for the replacement window, just as we do when we replace a windshield. This isn't always the case, but in this instance, it was. We paid about $170 less than our deductible would have been.

River's adjustable banjo strap

Monday I'd finally made a leather banjo strap for River (we'd been borrowing a too-long guitar strap from his teacher for the past year), and while I was happy with how it turned out, I wanted to do a little more with it. Which meant that on Thursday I took it apart, put it in the Glowforge for a bit, then put it back together.

Saturday I finally got the garden boxes in place and mostly filled. The elders came over and helped, went to a teaching appointment, then came back for dinner. They did the hard work of digging the corner stakes in while I hauled rotten wood and dirt to fill the boxes (and logged 2 miles doing so). A little while after they left, we had a soaking downpour, which would have made their job so much easier if it had happened before they came. Ah well, I'm just glad it's finally done and I didn't have to do all the digging (Mr M would be flat on his back for a week if he tried doing the digging). I'll finish filling the boxes and let them settle over the winter, and come spring we'll just have to top them off before planting.

a <not-so-little> friend I found while shifting rotten firewood to the garden boxes

I have to remember to wear my filtration mask when messing around with rotten wood and other decomposing matter (ie anytime I mess around in the woods). I didn't on Saturday, and ended up with a splitting headache, just like every other time I've breathed in moldy leaves or whatnot. You'd think I'd have learned my lesson by now, but apparently not.

Weekly Mileage
Monday- 1.35 miles run
Monday- 2.25 miles hiked
Saturday- 2.00 miles walked
total- 5.60 miles

20 hikes towards #52hikechallenge
2.56 kayak miles towards #365milechallenge

92.35 outdoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
41.16 indoor foot miles towards #365milechallenge
80.0 bike miles towards #365milechallenge
216.07 miles total