Solvitur ambulando

(~The problem is solved by walking)

I did it. I put on my walking shoes and got my derriere out the door. This was an essential move for my happiness today.

For one thing, every single ding-dong day I tell myself I'm going to start walking again, and every day that I do not chips away at my personal integrity a bit. It does not, however, chip away at said derriere. I feel so much better when I honor the commitments I make to myself.

Conor gets bored in the house all day. I shake it up by moving from room to room trying to accomplish various tasks, but he's on to me, and he likes to go outside. So, into the stroller he went. He didn't even mind that I first hosed off the stroller with him in it. Kept him cool for the ride.

I do some of my best thinking while walking. And I have a lot of thinking to do. Yesterday I inadvertently hurt the feelings of someone I love by some things that I said. Unfortunately, this is not uncommon for me, and I'm working on it. Feelings are so delicate. I have always tried to be slow to offense and quick to forgive, and to cut people slack, and I can only hope that this may be returned in some favorable karma.

Also, my second wedding anniversary is coming up on Monday, and the issues of my first failed marriage, my second in-progress marriage, and our blend-ing (can't really say blend-ed because it's not in the past tense yet) family are abundantly on my mind. There's nothing like marriage to really show you how much work you still have to do in life before you can die. I am bossy, structured, and I know pretty much everything, so apparently this makes me a somewhat difficult partner. I'm not sure of completely why, since my way is usually the right way, but I'm trying to adjust and make allowances. I say all of this tongue-in-cheek, of course. God bless the men that have taken a chance on me! At least I'm a good cook.

During our walk, we stopped to look at all the dogs. Conor loves dogs. This was put to the test when on one jacaranda-lined street, I saw out of the corner of my eye an enormous Saint Bernard barreling across the street toward us. I quickly assessed the situation: Either he is very friendly, or a mom and a baby in a stroller look like appetizers. Fortunately, it was the former. Though he dwarfed the stroller, he was oh, so friendly, and Conor was charmed. After about three minutes, his embarrassed owner came out and apologized and called him back home: "Beast! Get on over here!" Hmmm...aptly named.

We walked through sprinklers, tried to guess what everyone was grilling for dinner, touched flowers, and waved at kitties. After about an hour, we headed back. Walking does a body and a mind good.

Adam isn't home. He started a new moonlighting job valet parking, and will be home late. Conor and I watered the grass, admired the growing sunflowers, and picked a few tomatoes. Now we'll whip up some dinner, put the boy to bed, and get some reading done. Walking saved the day.