Going, Going, Gone!

Yesterday morning I wanted to go for a bike ride to get some exercise. I couldn't use my own bike because it needs a new tube so I tried using Nikki's bike because I used it the other day. Well, I did not get far before I hear this squeaking noise and it turns out to be one of the front brakes is rubbing against the wheel. I took it back home and looked at it and tried tightening things but to no avail. Since I had already gotten in my workout clothes I decided I would just got to the Rec Center and ride one of the bikes there. It would be the first time going to the Rec Center since before the pandemic began. It wasn't much different other than that classes are limited to a certain number (25 I think). Every other machine had a temporarily out of order sign on it to help us with social distancing. Also, there are two sets of stairs and they had signs saying the one by the front is for coming downstairs only. The one toward the back (by the weight room) is for going upstairs. I did my workout which was a lot more boring than if I would have been able to ride my own bike but at least I could count how many miles I went, which I think was either 5 or 6 (I can't actually remember!). When I drove in front of the Rec Center I noticed that the hospital had been completely torn down now and they were working on cleaning the last little bit of it up. So after I finished I walked over and got a few pictures. The last time I saw the building just a few weeks ago it was gutted and basically a skeleton but the tallest part of the building was still there. Now it's gone.

After I got home Garrett was anxious for me to help him with a project. He had found one of our extra trim boards from our playhouse project and wanted to make a backpack hanger out of it so that he and Jack could hang their backpacks in their room. Since Curtis went back to work yesterday it was I who needed to help him. Fortunately I had learned how to use the miter saw (not table saw like I originally thought it was called). I cut it for him the length that he had measured, which was 30 inches, and then we found some sand paper and worked together on sanding it out on the picnic table. Once he was happy with how it looked  and felt we had to make a trip to the store to find some hooks. We bought a bunch of other things too while we were there. Most of the hooks were gone so there weren't many to choose from but the ones he liked there were just enough. He placed them on the board where he wanted them and I helped him make sure they were fairly even. Curtis said his small drill bit broke so I decided we would just do the screws right into the board without a pre-made hole and we did it by hand instead of drill. We decided to wait for Curtis to get home to help him hang it on the wall since I wasn't quite sure where the studs were in the wall. Luckily, the board was just long enough to be able to screw it in 3 places to make it extra strong. It turned out pretty good!

Curtis and I had to make another trip to Home Depot in the evening to get a few more boards for our playhouse project plus some more wood sealer, wood cleaner (some of our fence has mold and mildew) and some new drill bits. I swear our neighbors are probably thinking we're buying all the wood in the store because it seems like every other day we're bringing more home but the end is near! After we were done there we decided to cheat our new eating schedule and get some frozen yogurt. I think we over did it though on the toppings because it didn't taste very good. We had salted caramel and cookies and cream yogurt flavors. Maybe it was just the salted caramel that wasn't good with the toppings because I liked the cookie flavor.  And when I say new eating schedule, I mean that we are trying to eat dinner earlier and not snack on foods after we eat our dinner. We're also trying to eat better during the day by not snacking so much on unhealthy foods. It's been tough but we're seeing success as Curtis has lost 7 lbs already and I've gone down a couple also. Since we cheated we decided we better make sure we walk even though it was raining lightly. We needed to get something from a guy in our ward so instead of driving, we walked! I still need to find better walking shoes but at least these ones I'm using are tolerable for now.

Today has been kind of quiet again. I did have to take both Garrett and Jack to see their uncle Casey (who's a dentist) to get some fillings done. This is the first time Jack had any cavities but they weren't deep enough to need numbing so he lucked out. Garrett wasn't so lucky! I keep telling the kids they need to brush their teeth so they don't have to go through these experiences but of course they don't listen unless I'm adamant about making sure they brush that night. They are old enough now though that I shouldn't have to be on their case every single day. One day they'll figure it out.

Curtis and I just got back (it's now evening/night) from going on an hour long walk. We just walked from our house up to Greenhurst and then cut across the golf course. The wind was blowing against us so it gave us more of a workout and it looked like there might be a storm soon but we kept going anyway. It was a little cold too but it was refreshing still. I'm enjoying all of these walks that we've been going on.

I couldn't decide which picture of Curtis to post. The sky looked really pretty in this shot but his face was dark. So I added both.