Somehow, I think Monk would approve

When DH asked me how my day was tonight, I told him that I hadn't been very functional today, and that all the coughing was beginning to drive me crazy even though (especially since?) I'm not the one doing the coughing.

Also, Baby E was extremely clingy today, and thirsty (for mama's milk, of course, after her near-nursing-strike all week), which made it hard to get much else done. It could be the several teeth beginning to break through her gums, or could be the scratchy throat and cough coming on.

So DH sweetly offered to give me a break tonight. Some time to myself.

Would I like to go out for coffee and some quiet time? Sit in the parked car in the driveway and read? Go shopping? Take a bubble bath?

Trying to decide what to do in such situations is always a challenge for me. With that much freedom on my hands, I simply don't know what to do with it. What is there to do, all by myself?


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I confided in DH that I had a burning desire to go out and buy something, anything. I wasn't sure what I wanted to buy, but I wanted to buy something. I was also craving chocolate.

He said, "Erm, maybe you should go somewhere where there isn't anything for sale."

Then he fished a Barnes & Noble gift card out of his pocket and suggested that I take it and spend the $5 remaining on it to buy something at the coffee shop in the bookstore, sit at a table and relax.

It was a great idea. But I didn't want to take too long away and the idea of spending half of my time out driving there and back just didn't sound ideal. And neither shopping nor eating seemed the best way to handle my restlessness.

The evening was perfect. It had rained earlier, but now the air was just crisply damp and clear, refreshing but not too cold. So I decided to go for a walk.

It was just the thing. Some fresh air and exercise might help my energy levels and general achy-ness. And a walk in the quiet evening air, by myself, at my own brisk pace? A perfect luxury.

So I walked around the neighborhood, greeting the neighbors, talking to God, enjoying the silence in which to think, and humming to myself a bit.

Toward the end of the lap, I started wondering what the distance was around the cul-de-sacs and streets that make up our subdivision.

So the second time around, I counted my steps. I'm sure the neighbors must have wondered at my muttering to myself as I hiked by. I was pleased to notice that it was about 100 steps per what would have been a block if we'd been in the city.

At the third corner, I realized I should be keeping count of the hundreds on my fingers. I wasn't sure whether I'd gone 300 or 400 steps, and the last straight stretch seemed twice as long as the others. I kept counting, stopping several times on my way back along the other side of the street to try to calculate whether I'd miscounted along that stretch.

When I got back home, I still wasn't quite exactly sure whether I should be in the 1500s or the 1600s. So, even though I felt I'd already had a pretty good workout, I did it again. Because I couldn't stand not knowing exactly how many steps it was.

From a particular line in our driveway around the subdivision, looping around the two cul-de-sacs, crossing at the ends of the streets (one a dead end) and coming back along the other side, I came up with the same count both times. 1,530 steps. Plus 26 steps each way from the front door to the driveway and back. If I cut the end of the street at the main road a little longer, I could make it an even 1,600 steps.

Now I just have to figure out how many of my walking steps are in a mile.

One time around at a comfortable walking pace takes me about 15 minutes. When I was walking regularly, I generally did a 20-minute mile, so that gives me a rough idea. But I think sometime tomorrow I'll step off 25 steps and then get out a tape measure.

Yes, I did find myself thinking of Monk.

I did greatly enjoy the walk, and feel refreshed by it. I'll have to make a habit of this walking thing.