Monday, Monday....

Beautiful day for a walk along the beach.

No school today. I am between courses. I showed up at 0645 in my correct uniform of "blues," waited around until about 0705 (studying my material for the next class, like a good Airman) then was dismissed for the rest of the day.

Now, what to do for the rest of the day? I had to be back on base at 1515 for PT so that left out any long distance trips. It was only 0830 by the time I got back to my room, changed, and finished wasting time on the computer. Nothing was really open.

I decided to go for a walk. I drove to the lighthouse and parked in the parking lot. I then proceeded to walk along the beach sidewalk. I walked and walked and walked. At about 0930 I realized I was pretty hungry and didn't think I could go on without food. Luckily, I came to a Waffle House. I had never been to one before but figured it was probably good. Not too bad, but to them "extra crispy" bacon means hardly cooked.

After exiting the WH I walked and walked and walked some more. Sadly for me, my sciatic was stabbing me. There's nothing to be done about that so I walked on. Around the same time, my HD (hip dysplasia for the non-dog people out there) began acting up. No, I have not actually been diagnosed with HD, and I don't think they call it that in people, but in dogs, it is characterized by hip pain and that's what I got, so that's what I'm calling it. The femur head grinding in the hip socket. Again, nothing to be done, so on I walked.

I had no destination in mind, but thought the Jefferson Davis House was probably a good goal. Along the way I came to Souvonier World. There was a sign on the door saying, "Pets Welcome- Must Carry." Oh boy, oh boy. I had a vivid image of me hoisting 60 pound Pie into my arms, struggling with the door, and staggering in- the whole time her tail going like crazy and probably clearing the shelves. She's be thrilled because now she'd be at face level- all the better for giving out uninvited kisses. In reality the situation would have been even more hopeless because if 1 comes, they all come, and even though Dottie is small at 40 pounds, Fancy is huge (for her breed) at 30 pounds, and I am fairly certain I cannot carry 130 pounds of three dogs into the store. But it is fun to think about.


The store that I did not carry my dogs into.


Grinning to myself, I went in and was surprised because not only were the items NOT overpriced, but they also had a huge selection ranging from cheesy to original, and lame to tasteful. I made a purchase or two then continued on my way. I think it was about this time my foot started to cramp. The TOP of my foot. As if I had been constantly walking with my toes up in the air, which I hadn't been. I tried loosening the shoe, but that didn't help. The only thing that worked was to take both shoes off and walk in the sand. Something about the shoe was causing the cramp, but other than taking the shoe off, I couldn't fix it.

Even though it was bright and sunny out (a nice day) the sand was not warm at all, and was actually a bit cool. Now I was actually getting close to the JD home, so despite the pain, I continued on until I came to it. I then sat on a bench on the beach and relaxed in the warm weather.

Eventually I put my shoes back on and headed home. Checking my watch I was surprised to see it was getting late. Drat. Now I had to pick up the pace to make sure I made it back in time for PT. I had to keep stopping to fiddle with my shoe to alleve the foot cramp. Eventually I found a way of making it tolerable. Now the purchases I had in my backpack were making my back sore. My goodness! What next? I'm thinking Garth Brooks had me in mind when he wrote that song. The bad news for me is I've been too young to feel this old for a while now. Although it is getting worse as I actually do get older.

I tried to keep the moaning to a minimum as I kept walking and walking and walking. I did make a short stop to get an ice cream treat from a gas station and a diet, caffine free Coke. (Is there even a point?) It was all very tasty but did not relieve my suffering.

Finally! I made it back to the car. Of course, I had to use the GPS to check how far I went. 8.2 miles. My mom could do 8.2 miles in her sleep. I am thinking maybe I should try some joint stuff because it would be nice to take a leasirly walk and enjoy it.

Once I got back to base it was time for PT with my new squadron. I was hoping it wasn't going to be the never ending squats and lounges that left me too crippled to make it up the stairs like last time. Nope. It was just run around the building complex twice for 1.5 miles and do your push ups and sits ups and you are done. Phew! I did my run (throwing in an extra lap and a half of jogging and walking since I do have my test coming up) then did the push ups and situps and limped off home. Now I want to crawl into bed with a full body heating pad. I think my electric throw that I brought along my have to suffice.

I got Grand Turino out of the library and am going to watch that tonight. With the electric throw soothing my aches and pains. Ahhh, bliss. (I hope.)

Oh wait- one other thing I did today was watch Conserving Energy on YouTube to get my Fancy, Pie and Dottie fix. Or is is FiFi, Fang and Fireball?

Happy Valentine's Day! If I was at home, I might be tempted to make a Valentine's video with the dogs.



Spotted on the walk, this RV with a sliding door on the slide out- and a porch! At first I thought the porch was an access ramp to view the slide out (it was on a sale lot), but no... upon closer inspection it is a porch. To transport, the railing folds down, then the porch folds up and protects the sliding door. Good idea but is it really necessary? Who wants to go through all that trouble? I also thought the legs supporting the porch looked a bit flimsy.