“One of the Most Important Days of My Life was When I Learned to Ride a Bicycle” – Michael Palin

I have been trying to keep the winter weight of, but seem to be fighting a losing battle. I did reduce the food intake when we finished the Grand Adventure, but obviously not enough. The pounds keep creeping on.

I have been working out on the trainer, but it is not the same as being on the bike outside – going somewhere or cycling for the fun of it.

I start my new job next week and I am hoping the weather improves sufficiently enough for me to ride to work. As some Norwegian guy said “There is no such thing as bad weather only bad clothing.” I know I can dress for the weather, but I really hate getting my bike dirty, especially after I have spent half the day cleaning it and making it look beautiful.

As I was feeling a little bit like a little porker, I decided I needed some other form of motivation. I bought a Vivo Fit – like the fitbit, only Garmin. I like Garmin products and the Vivofit has a watch as well. I can actually view the amount of steps I take as I take them. I also thought it would be fun to track how many miles I walk when I am working. The greenhouse is pretty big.

Anyway, I got it set up on Sunday and realized I could become a bit fanatical with this thing. After dinner I check how many steps I have taken and even if I have worked out on the trainer, I have to go out to make sure I reach my step goal. End of week one and I lost 1.5 lbs. Feeling good.

This week Ralf and I celebrated 31 years since we met. I know most people cannot pinpoint the exact day they met their husband but for us it was fairly easy. We met in Israel. Ralf returned to Canada on April 11, 1985 and we had met about two weeks prior to him leaving Israel. Amazing, we knew each other for about 10 days and were married less than 5 months later.

I joined him in Canada July 5, 1985 and we were married on August 14, 1985. We had only been together for about 7 weeks!! Thirty-one years later and I still fancy him.

Saturday we had a winter storm warning, snow squalls and white out conditions on the highway. We only got a dusting of snow but the temperature dropped to minus 14 over night.