20,000 Days. Picture heavy

Walking, trying to get 20,000 steps in.  It's getting dark. My mind is racing with thoughts from today.  One of those is that the more I move, the better my brain works.

Home.  After sitting down, ready for bed, I look and my pedometer reads 20,906.  Should I get up and make it 21,000?  Going to write, it has been a busy day and I need to work in the morning. 

A few years ago, maybe more than a few, my daughter brought up that she was going to celebrate her 10,000th day.  Eventually that day came and she did something to celebrate.  At some point I looked up that information for me (Thankful for websites that make the math nonexistent) and found that today, September 22, 2019, would be my 20,000th day.  My calendar reminded me of this while I was trying to decide whether or not to get up or try to fall back to sleep. Maybe I could walk 20,000 steps today, I did last Sunday.  I got up, took a quick shower, and went for a walk.  One of the ladies I was staying with (we were in a hotel because of yesterday's event) went with me.  It was a beautiful morning.  I stayed out a little longer than her and had about 5000 steps before we went out with friends for breakfast.

There was the ride home which with stops probably took over four hours.  I tried to pace a little at each stop.  We got back to the house and one friend went home and I had to take the other to meet up with her husband.  We decided to meet up at Thrown Weapons practice where I got to practice throwing knives for a few minutes.  Then I left for a rail trail to get the rest of my steps in.  Two hours and 6.21 miles later I had reached my goal of walking over 20,000 steps today.  That is my accomplishment and a happy for today.  Other things include:

• Ideas with friends about the fashion show coming up in January.  The sitting royals choose a theme for people to design their middle ages garb into.  So one year it was favorite football teams and people designed an outfit that was within period but also somehow resembled the football colors or uniform.  It is a fun and imaginative way to be creative.  This year it is mythology.
• Viewing nature.
• Hitting the target (sometimes) when I threw the knives.
• Cinnamon roll French toast.
• That during my walk, no animals startled me tonight after it got dark.  Okay, there was a rather load splash in a pond, but not enough to cause alarm.
• I might get to go to Texas and see C, E and friends for Christmas!
• All the wild thoughts that have raced through my head today-the garb, alternate job possibilities, a possible Patreon or YouTube idea and more!
• Spots of orange and yellow are spreading through the trees.

Bird on a wire this morning.

This tree, wow. 

The MOON!! 

Evening and I am off on my quest for steps. 

And some pictures from yesterday's event.

Those Shoes!!

Former Baron and Baroness and the removal of their coronets.

(The queen had an eye infection and light was a problem.) 

The stuffed alter egos of K and myself. 

 The new Baron and Baroness receiving  their coronets.

Since K was sick and couldn't come, her stuffed alter ego attended court in her stead. 

And we had fun with that. 

So very much fun.

☮

Event Day

There are more than 200 photos backing up so pictures will wait until tomorrow.

Today was the Investiture in a Barony about 3.5 hours away.  Three of us drove up together and are now in an inexpensive hotel preparing for sleep.  My happy things for today are:

• Stories along the drive.
• The beginnings of foliage.
• K had me bring the stuffed sheep and llama-this was good on many levels, mostly the cuteness factor of having a stuffed animal attend court.
• Friends.
• Hugs. 
• A nice walk after the event to stretch the court legs and get my step count in.

The group's new thrones... more pictures tomorrow. 

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Friday!!

Tomorrow is a busy day.  K is sick so is staying behind.  Two friends are riding up with me to another Baronies Baronial Investiture.  We have gifts, it should be good.  Gifts that I forgot to take pictures of.

My happy for today involves work.  There were not the best moods at school today.  Which just happens sometimes.  And kids don't always want to get the things done they need to do etc.  Last class of the day though, was good.  It was Friday and somehow the kids (at least most of the ones by me) buckled sown and got stuff done.  It made for a very good end of the work week.

It was a foggy morning...

... 

For a while. 

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Happy Birthday Z

Sitting at the table, looking over the menu at the diner, it was hard, but I picked something more or less healthy.  Well, what I wanted to choose was the pumpkin and cream cheese stuffed French toast.  Instead I had a caprese omelet.  It included sides, but I got eggs and vegetables with the carbs on the side instead of just carbs and sugar carbs.  Gideon had trouble deciding, but eventually created his own omelet.  We had dinner out because today is Z's birthday and he wanted to have a night out with K and some friends.  Gideon and I had breakfast for dinner at the Red Arrow and then went to craft night. 

Of course I forgot to bring a craft, which is too bad because I have things I should have brought.  It was a good time though- remembering people that we haven't seen in a while.  I also picked up more gifts for the event we are going to this weekend.  Such awesome generosity from people in this Barony.  I will try to get pictures when everything is ready to present. 

So, happy things for today are dinner out with Gideon, the people of this awesome Barony where I live, and willpower (I resisted the pumpkin whoopee pie, too!). 

Studying the menu...

☮

Wednesday

One of the local SCA officers has been very busy and they put a list of people who play with the Barony of Stonemarche onto a file online.  The list includes the highest level award so that it becomes a little easier to look at someone to see if they have any awards.  This will make it so much easier than trying to remember everyone and looking them up, hoping that the spelling is correct.  This is a huge help for me (anyone) to be able to write people in.  Now I just need to make the time.

It has been a while coming but I think I have gotten back into a routine of walking enough to reach my step goal.  At least for a little while.  I'm hoping I will be able to keep up with it until the weather turns cold.   It has become a bit easier because I have been doing a lot of walking at work this year.  That has made the walks after seem far less daunting.  I am reading a book about the Appalachian Trail which might be helping to inspire me as well. 

The winter will be here soon and I have yet to climb a 4000 footer here is NH.  After looking at my calendar I am not sure if the time will present itself but I have a mountain in mind and just need to find the time and money to head north.  Until then, I'll try to keep walking.

The awards list and visiting with my friend are my happy things for today.  My friends and I got to visit, we went for a nice walk, had dinner and watched some shows.  It was just the relaxing afternoon and evening I needed.

☮

Evening Out

This evening I am going out for a little while so I am writing some earlier in the afternoon.  Ideally this should mean that I won't fall asleep, will think of things and will write well.  What is happening though is that I am sitting here and drawing a complete blank.  As I rewind my day I am remembering that I had some time during work today and I wrote.  I just did a verbal vomit onto the page of things going through my mind.  It was actually a rather nice break to the day.  And I was still working, just had to be in the room with some students and didn't have another task.  That is my first happy thing for today.

After work I was supposed to do exchequer things but that turned into us going out tonight doing totally not SCA stuff.  That is good though too.  I want to say that I don't tend to get asked places like that often, but it probably happens more than I am consciously aware of.   Getting asked is my second happy thing today.  Later I will write about it.

My third happy thing is that I have been thinking about my Bucket List lately and I am making plans to update it and change it up a bit.  Every once in a while I realize that there is something that I have always wanted to do, and sometimes I do this thing, usually I just talk about it though.  Either way, I want to be keeping better track of these things and maybe categorize them better and definitely LOOK at them more often.  Not looking at them means they aren't close enough in my mind to do them when I actually have the time.

And the number four happy for today is indeed the night out.  We went to a local establishment for Trivia Night.  I did better than I expected, but not as good as I would have liked.  Our team came in third place and I now know more about Hunter S Thompson than I want to.  

Random pictures from my walk to Trivia Night.

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Monday

My hope was to be asleep by now but, as usual, I got distracted.  It was a pretty good Monday.  It is amazing how hard it is to get kids back into a routine after just two days off.  Well, not just the kids!  After work I went for a nice walk with a friend from work.  We went on a rail trail by Lake Massabesic.  Something went wonky with Map My Hike, it only caught three of the four miles we walked.  When we turned, it read just over one mile, my friend's was at two.  When we returned to the cars mine was at three miles and hers four.  My pedometer got all the steps in though, I am over 16,000 for today, over 24,000 yesterday.  It would be really great if I am able to keep the step count up.

My happy for today is the fresh air, beauty and company for my walk today.  I also very much enjoyed my dinner and got to play a little Minecraft tonight (that would be the distraction).  😄

☮