Mr. B To The Rescue

Today's picture was taken in June at the Red River Gorge National Forest in eastern Kentucky.  This was a one mile loop trail to one of the many natural arches found in the gorge.  There are more of these natural arches found in Red River Gorge than in any other area of the world outside of Arches National Park.  

When Mr. B got home from his meeting last night, he almost immediately realized I was not in the best frame of mind.  After sharing with him my frustrations with not wanting to walk, he said, "what can I do to help?" In past years, he has been in a walking routine with me while out of school and during his July class, we have walked in the mall at 7 a.m.  The mall is on the way to his community college and after we walk, he just heads on to school while I return home.   Neither of us particularly enjoy that, and we had not established that routine this year, but he asked if I thought it would help for us to do that together.  I jumped at the offer, so at 7 a.m. this morning, we were walking the mall.  He is so supportive of my weight loss efforts and is always willing to do anything that will help.  I am very lucky to have him.  Thanks also for all the feedback from yesterday's post.  It helps a lot to know I'm not the only one in the midst of summer doldrums.  My hiking plans for Saturday are shaping up nicely and weather forecasters are even suggesting that high temps where we are planning to hike will only be in the upper 70s.  That, my friends, is music to my ears!

I met a friend for lunch today at Pimento's Cafe, a Panera type place with a few locations in Tennessee.  I know their menu well and planned in advance what I would order.  For once, I stuck with the plan, but here's the part of which I'm most proud.  After eating the first half of my Turkey Wrap, I realized I was full.  Normally, being full would've made no difference.  I'd have eaten the other half anyway.  But for some reason, today was different.  I looked down at the other half of that sandwich and thought, "I'm going to wrap that up and take it home for lunch tomorrow."  And that's exactly what I did.  This is a huge step for me and I am so proud of myself.  I remember thinking that if I actually made it all the way home with the other half of that sandwich, I couldn't wait to tell all of you about it.  While most people would think, "what's the big deal," I knew you all would understand! 

I shared some of the ongoing issues we are having with Mr. B's dad in this post a few weeks ago.  After that post, some things improved, but are suddenly headed downhill again.  I spent several hours this afternoon researching options because we all know some decisions are going to have to be made soon.  This is hard and it's all new material for us.  We just want to make the right decisions at the right time.  

When I chose today's picture, I knew I would have to add another at the end of this post to make it complete. Here is what you see when the sign indicates you have "arrived" at the arch in the first picture:

You could see nothing.  We kept trying to look off the edges to find the arch, but it remained hidden.  I had no idea I was actually standing on top of the arch.  All you could do was keep walking.  Following the path that opened up before you step by step.  Eventually, it curved back around and suddenly you look up and see the complete arch towering above you.  Only then do you realize you have already walked all the way across the top of the arch.  

The friend I had lunch with today is struggling with some past issues and current relationships.  We, as a family, are struggling with difficult decisions.  Even when it feels like you are blindly walking across the surface and making no progress, you just keep following the path until everything that was hidden opens up, reveals itself and you have a complete picture.   Isn't that what trust is?  Isn't that what those of us struggling with weight loss issues face every day of our lives?   I started this day by walking.  I'll keep walking along the path.  All the beauty that seems hidden right now, will soon be revealed.  And the Master Designer who designed the intricacies of that arch in the Red River Gorge, most surely knows what he's doing with me, my family, my friends and YOU!