Milestones

 Is it the weekend yet? Life seems to be a bit of a treadmill at the moment, although the two French presentations for this week are done! Those are my big stress points these days. I do rehearse them completely and look up any words that I'm sure about, but still! It's one thing to be rehearsing and quite another to live with the group for one hour. I also open the call a half-hour before, and I answer questions then. So that much French late in the day for me - well, it's working out OK, but it keeps me on my toes. 

And I think I have French sessions all the way to the end of November! It'll all work out!

I do NOT seem to be getting much sewing done these days. I finished another writing assignment yesterday, and I have another one to start today. Homework assignments need to be put together, and there are THREE classes this weekend. And then there's the Virtual Sewing Retreat. I keep forgetting to mention that. I'm good for one day, and then I forget to remind you the next. Sigh...............

I'll post the links at the end of this post. It's on Saturday night from 6 - 9 PM and all day Sunday, starting at 10 AM. So much fun and easy to stay in touch with friends around the globe! I love it. 

We were given the go-ahead that we can return to our in-person Monday sewing days if we want. Well, let's see  -- I could pack up all my stuff, set up a table for me and probably others, wear a mask all day, then pack up my stuff, take the tables down, and drive home. Or I could just go downstairs and turn on the computer. Which one will I choose? I think it's pretty obvious. 

It's not just about the time and effort to get there, but the convenience, and now we are not limited to sewing with those that can drive there. Anyone can join the Monday sewing group. I LOVE IT, and should you move away from the area, no big deal -- you can still join, and we've had two people who moved away join back! How cool is that? 

I may never go back to in-person sewing unless it's for a mini-retreat or one of our longer retreats.  It's a lot of work to set up and take down the tables, and we end up sitting with the same people week after week. On Zoom, we get to chat with everyone!

Do you have a pet? The price of dog food has risen. The last time (last month) when I bought food for Murphy, it was $86! Thank goodness we love that dog! 

Yikes --- dog food has gone up in price

As you know, Murphy has her stress bear, and so when I saw this at the pet store, it made me smile - a toy for anxious dogs. Although this is a bit different -- it has a battery-operated heart in it. Murphy doesn't need that -- she just needs something in her mouth! 

Anxiety bear for pets

I am working on homework for one of this weekend's classes, so I can't share that with you, so I thought I'd share some of the walking milestones. Yes -- even though it rained yesterday all day, I clocked the most KM (15.4) I've done in a while. I'm in practice mode -- if you go on for a week-long hike and you run into rain, you can't just sit and wait it out. You just move on! I had to walk to the mall and the library, taking a long way to do both. Why not!

I learned that from cycling. Obviously, the best days were those when you didn't have rain. The next best was when the rain started when you were on the road. At least the tent was packed up, and you were already cycling. The worst scenario was packing up in the rain and starting the day riding in the rain. Those days were not my favorite. But it all worked out -- I survived!

Little Bear is NOT fond of the rain, which is surprising since he lives in Vancouver. However, mean old me made him go out for a walk so he could do his business. 

Since walking is such a big deal, here's the status of my four active challenges. They all have a different purpose, and several of them are getting close to the end. 

The first one is my counter for the year. I set a goal of 4,200 KM, and I'm almost three-quarters of the way there. The second one is the group challenge where four of us are walking 10,000 KM. We started July 1 and are already at 30%. GO, TEAM, GO!!!  The third one is my Pacific Crest Trail, and I've almost done 10% of that challenge. It seems like I just started that one, but it was August 25 - right on schedule. And on my personal Walk across Canada, this was a goal that I set when I had no idea how these Virtual Challenges worked. I set up a personal walk, and I gave myself two years to complete it.  

So while every step counts towards all four challenges, they are set up for different reasons, and I do not consider them double counting. I love checking the stats first thing in the morning. I'm a bit obsessed with numbers. 

Here are some pictures of the various trips. 

This is the current scenery from the group walk across Canada. Even at 30%, we are still in BC. We walked up the west coast into the Yukon Territory and are now heading back down towards Alberta. But we'll spend almost 40% of the trip in BC/Yukon. Then we start across the country and will see more progress on the map. But the scenery has been pretty much the same for many KM. It looks flat, so it would be a good place to cycle, except that there aren't many places to stop. So you'd need support for sure. 

Northern BC

Here's my position on the Pacific Crest Trail. Right beside LA. It's hard to believe that just a few short KM from the near arid landscape is the huge city of LA. 

Pacific Crest Trail progress

And on my personal walk across Canada, I'm still on the ferry! It's a long way from Sydney to Port aux Basques, and I hope to be on land by early next week. 

On the "ferry" between Sydney and Port aux Basques

On that note, I'm out of here!!! It's a busy day (as usual). But first, here are the Zoom links for the weekend. If you're curious how it works, be sure to stop by for a few minutes and check it out. You don't have to stay the entire time. And it's so convenient -- no packing up, no sharing of tools, just sit and sew and chat or listen!!!!  Super loads of fun! And totally SAFE!!

Saturday, September 25  from 6 PM - 9 PM

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/89254233911?pwd=VGQrTnFybW1HMWpleHA4M2Q2NGVwZz09 Meeting ID: 892 5423 3911 Passcode: 982797

Sunday, September 26 from 10 AM - 8 PM

Join Zoom Meeting https://us02web.zoom.us/j/87246635892?pwd=VGY1cUUyLzRaRi9VUVV2ZWFINXc2dz09 Meeting ID: 872 4663 5892 Passcode: 440473

Have a great day!!!!

Ciao!!!!