Off the Couch

The recent weeks of cold and snow have taken their toll. Usually I’m pretty consistent with getting off my butt and working up a sweat. But when there is snow and ice on the ground and it’s dark out, I find myself morphing into the ultimate couch potato. But now that it’s light until about 6:00 p.m. and the temperature was sunny and in the 50’s yesterday with more of the same forecast today, I have no reason not to get out and enjoy. Which is exactly what I’ve done the last few days. Monday I hiked Corkscrew. It was kind of scary muddy in a few spots, but overall not bad. And the views are tremendous. Yesterday I went on an awesome 45 minute run. (Don’t be too impressed - I only covered about 2 miles during that time.) And this morning Dan and I walked the river trail at 6:40 a.m. OK, my real motivation is to lose the 5 pounds I put on in the last month by Friday! But I’ll tell you what, putting in my ear buds, cranking up my classic rock songs and destroying another layer of hearing, while tooling around my ‘hood does wonders for my psyche. It smells like spring out! That muddy, wet-earth steamy aroma. And you can just start to make out a tint of green on the globe willows. I’m excited for spring, and I’m already making a list of yard and garden projects that need to get done. Anybody know a good gutter installer? How about house painter? But one of the best benefits of getting exercise is that it chills me out. And a chilled-out mother is SO much better at coping with the daily stress that comes with being a mom. So the more I run, bike and hike, the better mother I’ll be. And that works for everyone!