Janet's Blog

A few days ago, Bill handed me a red box of chocolate covered cherries, wished me an early "Happy Valentine's Day," and pointed out that they were dark chocolate. Bill knows I've loved chocolate covered cherries ever since my grandpa started sharing his with me. You see, Grandpa was a rural letter carrier at a time when his patrons always left  small Christmas gifts in their mailboxes for their letter carrier. Since chocolate covered cherries were consistently available at Christmas time, and relatively cheap besides, Grandpa invariably ended up with several boxes. While he appreciated the thoughtfulness behind the gifts, he really didn't like chocolate covered cherries at all. So, his three grandkids benefited from his unappreciated windfall. Today, as I stumbled into the kitchen to take my morning meds, Bill handed me a large red gift bag with a shiny red bow on it. Once again, he uttered those appropriate words, "Happy Valentine's Day!" I thought...

It's been several years since I started walking, first a few days a week, and now almost every day, year-round. At first, I didn't really have a goal, other than to get some regular exercise. I took the dog with me because no one else in my family had any desire to walk with me--and I didn't want to walk alone. It wasn't long until I started using the health app on my phone to keep track of my steps. However, I soon realized that my chosen method wasn't very accurate because I don't usually carry my phone around with me at home. That's when I began to wear the free smart watch Bill had been given at some conference. Now, I'm on my third smart watch... I have been able to meet my somewhat arbitrary daily goal of 10,000 steps for three seasons of the year, but it is harder in the winter. I don't like to walk outside when the weather is cold and windy! Actually, my asthma and arthritis both act up in extreme weather, so I guess I have a good excuse to s...