Here We Go Again

Once again, sleep eluded me last night.  Oh, I got a bit more than I did the night before, but it still wasn't a good night's sleep.  I tossed.  I turned.  I got hot, and kicked the covers off.  I got cold, and pulled them back up.  I'd drift off, then wake up again, then drift off again -- until about 2:15, when I couldn't get back to sleep at all.  I finally turned on my Kindle and watched sea chanty videos until the alarm went off.  Thus, this post will be short, and probably very dull.

Good thing I only had an 8 hour shift today.  Even better, it rained, so I had an excuse to put off mowing. The only productive thing I've done today, besides the ever present laundry that is, is to finish Jessica's hat.

I've noticed the last time I tried, and this hat confirms it, when I knit using the helix method, my gauge is tighter than normal.  Next time, if there is one, I'm going to go up a size or two when doing the body.  This one is not as stretchy as I normally like my hats to be.   Still, unless Jessica has a gigantic head, it will fit her.

For those of you who don't know, or are new to the blog, I have two dogs, Rylea and Jesse.  Rylea is fat.  She will eat anything that doesn't eat her first.  This afternoon, she was eating food out of Jesse's bowl.  I stood behind her singing at the top of my voice, "I wish that I had Jesse's food!"

Don't ask.  Even I don't know.

Moving right along.  Not too long ago, ads began showing up in my Facebook feed for these virtual races.  Basically, what they are is, you sign up, pay the entry fee, just like a real race, then log your miles.  I know I walk a lot at work in the normal course of my job, so I headed out to Wal-mart and bought a pedometer.  The first day I wore it, I discovered I walked nearly 4 miles.

Now, in the interest of full disclosure, not all of that is walking per se.  I do a lot of stepping back and forth while at my stand, but hey, every step counts, right?  Right.

I finally bit the bullet and signed up for a race.  The app I chose is called Yes.Fit, and the race I walked is Mark Twain.  It was set in Hannibal, Missouri, and it's really cool, because the app has a map that shows you where you would be if you were actually walking the course.  You switch to the street view and see where you are -- or would be.  I mean, as if you were really there.  It also shows you historical landmarks, such as Sam Clemmons' home there in MO.

Once you finish the race, they mail you the prize you chose when you sign up -- either a medal or a t-shirt.  I chose the medal based on the statue of Twain as steamboat pilot.

It finally arrived, and is much nicer than I thought it would be. It was bigger than I expected, and heavier, and it has a nice, long satin ribbon.

It is not the cheap carnival prize I was expecting.  It's really nice.  Now, I want to sign up for another race.  Alas, my pedometer has had an unfortunate accident.  I was lifting a heavy bin of parts, and it smashed and broke said pedometer.  Wal-Mart doesn't have any more in stock.  I started to order one, but decided to wait to see if they'd get any more anytime soon. I checked yesterday when I went, and they still haven't gotten any in.  I guess I'll order one after all.  This time, I'm going to wear it inside my waistband. 

And I think my next race will be Zeus.  Or Nessie.  Or Dragons.  Or I may find another site and see what they have available. 

The hope is that these races will motivate me to get out and walk more. 

We shall see.