Monday, November 15, 2010

Feelin' Groovy

Hannah Mountain Trail - GSMNP
November 13, 2010

Feelin' Groovy ..........well, of course I am.  Who wouldn't?  I've just arrived home after an incredibly relaxing massage, it is POURING rain outside, I've got the evening all to myself and please don't tell Karen after today's post at Waisting Time, but it's just after 5 p.m. and I already have on my purple fuzzy robe and PJ's.  To top it off, my beloved Lady Vols play their first televised basketball game tonight, so who could ask for anything more?   Maybe a pizza delivered right about tip-off time???  Nope, not even going there!

Mr. B and I enjoyed  a wonderfully relaxing Sunday after his marathon concert schedule Saturday and my 10.3 mile hike.  Our youth choir was singing in the service yesterday morning so having no responsibilities at church, we elected to attend via the televised version.  We rarely do that, so it was a treat to attend in the now famous fuzzy purple robe and PJ's!  Late yesterday afternoon, we did go out for a long walk, but headed right back in as the rain we are now experiencing was already trying to begin.  It has literally rained all day long and we look forward to more of the same tomorrow.  Thankfully, it isn't very cold so we aren't experiencing anything other than rain unlike our friends up in Minnesota!

I had a gorgeous hike on Saturday with one of my favorite hiking buddies.  We are unofficially trying to hike all the 900 miles of trails within the Great Smoky Mountains National Park.  Since I do not backpack, there are a few I'll never be able to do, but it's fun to mark them off the map with a yellow highlighter as I hike them for the first time.  Saturday's hike of 10.3 miles was 7.6 miles of new trail and 2.7 miles of trail I'd done before.  And it's also fun to help out my friend who DOES backpack and is much closer to hiking all the trails than I am.  I cannot describe that feeling that arrives about a mile or so into a hike, but it is such a sense of well-being and knowledge that I'm exactly where I'm meant to be at that point in time.  It must be similar to a runner's high.

Friday evening, I was faced with one of those difficult situation that you finally just accept the impossibility of it and move on.   We were invited, along with four other couples, to be the guests of some friends celebrating an achievement at The Melting Pot, of all places.  If you've ever been to one of these, you know that's it's a gastric feast of gigantic proportions.  Our host asked if he could do the ordering and I swear, I think he ordered one of everything on the menu.  This couple are dear friends and to have been picky or arrogant about my eating would've been rude, so I just chose to go with it.  I stopped at appropriate times during each course and am happy to say, I was not overly stuffed when we left.  But there was the little matter of the Flaming Turtle dessert course.  Put a warm vat of melted milk chocolate, caramel and pecans in front of me along with a plate of goodies to dip in above mentioned vat and what in the heck am I supposed to do??  

This is one of those weeks when Mr. B has something every night including Friday and Saturday.  Please don't tell him, but I'm looking forward to a week of singleness!!  Tomorrow evening, I'm attending a Aqua Aerobics class with a friend and Thursday evening, a class on nutrition with the same friend.  If we like the Aqua Aerobics class, it may be something we begin regularly on Tuesday and Thursday evenings.  

I'm incorporating several new things into my eating plan to try and shake things up.  I am ready to admit that I just plain got bored with the whole thing and forced myself to try staying in the box for a few weeks too long when my stronger self was shouting, "try a new shape - get out of the box."  I'm almost afraid to write this down, but the intuitive eating thing is kind of working right now.  Probably not for long term.  I know me and I need more structure, but it's o.k. just for today.  

So, here's how Simon and Garfunkel finished off Feelin' Groovy.   It works for me just fine..........

Got no deeds to do
No promises to keep
I'm dappled and drowsy and ready to sleep
Let the morningtime drop all its petals on me...
Life, I love you,
All is groovy

So, how's your Monday been?   Has it been a Feelin' Groovy kind of day? 

14 comments:

  1. Glad that the intuitive thing is working and that you had such a great hike. I would love to find something that makes me feel the way you feel from hiking. I could happily eat just the cheese and dessert courses at the melting pot. Yum.

    And you had me cracking up with your outfit:) Groovy day here too. You and I deserve a nice long stretch of getting out groove on!

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  2. Love it. Great post. It made me want to take my jacuzzi bath and hop in my flannel pj's. Can't do it, tho. DH is very much here tonight, and we have a date at the gym in half an hour. Our rain is coming tomorrow--we're supposed to get quite a bit.

    Your hike sounds great. 10 miles is quite a hike. I love the idea of ticking off all the various trails in GSNP! Even if you don't back pack you shd get a goodly portion of them.

    We got back latish last night, but it was fun to get the babies this morning. I missed them. I have several errands to do tomorrow morning (in the rain), but yes, I've had a good Monday and I'm feeling kind of groovy. I always loved Simon & Garfunkel.

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  3. Hi, Sharon! I know exactly what you mean about the 'hiker's high'. My husband and I have just crossed off all the waterfall hikes there and I'm ready to start all over again! Next year we hope to go to Cherokee and do some hiking there. He's trying to get me to do overnight hikes but I'm not quite ready for that, yet....

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  4. It was a pretty groovy Monday here, too. :)

    Fwiw, I think you made the right call at the Melting Pot. Sometimes you just have to roll with the moment. And to have passed up that turtle thing would have been criminal.

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  5. We did some trail running yesterday and I thought of you. I'm curious, how far do you live from the national park, is there an entry gate to get in where you pay to visit? Is it easily accessible? My friend took me to Cade's Cove while I was there and it was so cute but it looked like most people just drove through. Or at least we did and that was really the only part of the park I seen. I really want to go back someday.

    We live about an hour and a half from Yosemite and go every year (usually multiple times) but it's just far enough that it's not easily accessible. We have an annual pass, that helps make our trips more affordable. We did a lot of hiking in our last trip it was fun, even our 3 year old was doing moderately strenuous hikes. So much fun!

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  6. You sound like you are in a good place right now, Sharon! Enjoy!!

    I am not so sure about the intuitive eating thing (for me) - I avoid it, because "intuitive" got me to 327 lbs. I'm not doing anything to go back there! My intuitive self would've gone for the flaming turtle dessert ... and over-indulged on the cheesy goodness of the earlier course ... ahhhh, cheeeeessssseeee ...

    Ah! I have to stop myself. LOL The Melting Pot is a place we'd treat ourselves to, sometime in December, but we're not making any such plans this year (at least).

    Fuzzy purple robe? Pictures!! :D

    xxox

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  7. Feeling groovy here too! Just got back from the second walk of the day, the dogs are settling down, and I am about to don the pink fuzzy robe LOL. Right call on the turtle thingie.

    And IMHO (in my humble opinion) anyone who can hike 10.3 miles probably doesn't need to lose any weight! Youza. That's a hike and a half!

    Yay on your singles week. You've got some great activities planned.

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  8. You sounds busy but happy! It's nice to have some new things to try and if you can go with a friend - even better!

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  9. Ahhh, a favorite tune from my youth....

    And melted chocolate and caramel.... also a favorite from...well, always.

    I'm glady you had a great few days! It sounds like you did great.

    And days of temporary singleness--oh, how I need some of that!

    Deb

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  10. You know what you're doing, Sharon. A few days of intuitive eating may break the boredom.

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  11. My Monday was great! I cleaned house, ran errands, and got in a four mile walk at the mall. Why? Because that darned rain kept me from being outside!!! It was nice though. Christmas decorations and music helped get me in the holiday spirit.

    I know what you mean about getting that feeling while hiking. For me it feels like all is right in the world and I get this feeling of peace that comes over me. There's nothing like it. I'm still so new to hiking, but I already love it. I was just telling my husband this morning that I think my fitness goals for next year are going to include many more hikes with an increasing level of difficulty. Sounds like fun, huh?

    I'm also trying something new this week. Are you ready for this? Zumba!!! I feel a blog post coming on already. LOL

    Have a great day Sharon!!!

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  12. Yes, I do have a boyfriend-- it's a pretty recent development, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to mention it on my blog or not (Though I did really want to!). I'm not always sure how much "personal" stuff to delve into, even though my personal life factors a lot into my eating/weight, and how I feel about it. It does seem pretty funny that it took God moving me 400 miles to meet someone, and it was so God, b/c I met him at the church I started going to. :-) Thanks for the prayers!

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  13. I have been (an intermittent) hiker all my life thanks to my Boy-Scout-Leader dad and my three Eagle-Scout older brothers. I know exactly about that high you describe...and the "one with nature" feeling that it evokes. I miss it; rarely have the opportunity to hike anymore! Yesterday was my feelin' groovy day...went down on the scale and am fitting into my smaller pants again!

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  14. Sharon, you never cease to amaze me, and I'm so grateful to know someone who takes advantage of the thrills of the area you live in. Looking forward to seeing many photos of some of the hikes I've most likely never even heard of!

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