Living Dangerously and Videos for Reminiscing

I had this past week off from work and that's always a dangerous thing at this point in my career. Our ever-changing plans are for me to work another 9 to 18 months but throughout the week I routinely found myself imagining what it would be like to not have to go back. I daydreamed of texting Tracee and asking her to please prepare my paperwork to process me out. More than once I made a list in my head of both pros and cons for retiring now but the results were always the same. I'm determined to stay put and keep feathering our nest. We're not quite there yet but we're close.

I would love to see Tammy be able to call it quits before I do. She's never been more frustrated with her job and I really don't like to see her stressed the way she's been.

Toby had a rough start to the week. He was hesitating coming down the stairs in the morning as if in pain. He'd haltingly take one step at a time rather than the usual blur his little legs make when he's hurrying to get to his food bowl. Typically, it's a race between Toby and Charlie to see who can get to the bottom of the stairs first. Toby will often nudge Charlie to the outside and force him up against the wall to slow him down while he goes for the win; it's sort of like a body-check in hockey. There's been none of that lately.

I called the vet and brought him in to be seen. She methodically checked out all of his joints before stating that she thinks he may have injured his right shoulder. She said it's possible that something may have fallen on him or that he may have taken a tumble down the stairs. We know that both Toby and Allie's eyesight isn't what it used to be so we're careful to turn the lights on for them when they're on the stairs. The vet gave me some pain meds for him and he's doing much better. I had them out for a walk this morning and he seemed to be back to his old self.

I got in a bunch of miles both walking and riding during my break. It was nice. I did one of my longer walks last Sunday of 15 miles. I've been doing lots of 8 to 12-mile walks but nothing quite that long. I was ready to get off my feet by the time I got home.

I used to ride in the evening oftentimes but somewhere in the last few years, I've gotten away from that, preferring to get my riding done earlier in the day. I made an exception last Wednesday night and took to the roads on the heels of rush hour traffic. I thoroughly enjoyed myself out there! I may need to make room for more of these evening rides to close out the day.

The 3rd week in July is typically the peak for our gardens and this year is no exception. I took a walk around our yard with both my Panasonic Lumix camera and my Sony Handycam to capture some images and video for the archives to look back on years from now. Maybe I'm a little odd but I've always been one who enjoys reminiscing. The ability to capture moments has never been easier and I'm certain that I'd be upset with myself later in life if I didn't take the time to record scenes from our lives now.

And so I do...