"I should go walking today," I told myself when I woke up. But I hadn't had much sleep and went back to bed after checking my email for a few minutes. I woke up a few hours later and got back on the computer. "I really should go walking," I thought, as I browsed a few websites. I was pretty hungry, though. I decided I'd eat lunch after I took a quick bathroom break. While I was in there, I stepped on the scale, just for the heck of it. For months now, I've maintained my weight fairly consistently, never going up or down more than about two pounds. But today? Today, I am four pounds lighter!

I haven't even been trying to lose weight, per se. I have sort of been trying to eat smaller portions, though it hasn't been at the forefront of my mind most of the time. And I definitely have been trying to be a bit more active. I've been making an effort to do more non-sitting-in-front-of-the-computer activities this week, and hey, it looks like it paid off!

All of a sudden, I felt extremely inspired! I ate my lunch, a frozen meal that turned out to be far yummier than I expected it to be. Then I thought to myself, the only way to start exercising is to just start exercising. I got dressed, pulled on my walking shoes, kissed Joe good-bye, and walked out the door.

I haven't walked purely for the purpose of exercise in a full week. But I figure, if I can keep a once a week exercise thing going, maybe I can motivate myself to increase it to twice or even three times a week. I mean, damn, I have to start somewhere, right?

I decided to take the same path I walked a week ago with Beth, when we had our little puppy adventure! I thought about those dogs a lot while I walked and all the fun Beth and I had with them. I love puppies and their sweet puppy kisses! As I was thinking about them, I saw a Jack Russell Terrier all by himself crossing a path perpendicular to mine, and immediately thought, "Again?!" Then I saw his nearly invisible leash waving in the air followed finally by the people walking him (about 15 feet behind). No puppy rescue today, I guess!

I walked at a brisk, steady pace, pausing now and again to take a picture or two. I love the simple quietude out on the trail, the mild chill in the air as I walk, and the beauty of the surrounding trees. Cyclists passed me in both directions as well as runners and people just taking their dogs out for a stroll. It was nice seeing so many different kinds of people outdoors, enjoying their Saturday afternoons.

I saw many scrub jays out and about, too, though none of them sat still long enough for me to take a picture. I put my camera away after giving up on one of them, and a moment later, he fluttered down, landing on a nearby tree. I went for my camera again, and he flew away. Then he reappeared, and I just laughed. "Trickster!" I said. It was like he was taunting me! Crazy bird. It was fun watching him and the rest of his little friends. Such pretty birds!

As I walked back towards home on the trail, I saw the entrance to the park where Beth and I let Vic play last time. In front of that was a small group of people standing around, chatting with their dogs. It was so funny seeing them all in a group like that. I saw a Beagle that reminded me of Minnie, one of the dogs Beth and I found last week. I immediately wondered if it was her, then quickly dismissed the idea. "Can't be," I thought, and continued walking. As I got closer, though, the woman looked familiar, too. So I walked up to them and said, "Is that Minnie?"

"Yes, this is Minnie," she said with a smile and quicly added, "Oh, HI!!!"

"It IS you!" I said.

Kathy turned to another woman and said, "She found my dogs last week!"

I asked how she and Minnie were doing as I received kisses from Minnie. I asked about Coco, too, who she said was doing great. We talked a little about training techniques (she's working on getting them both to come when called -- good idea!) and I gave her a couple of tips. Before I left, I asked if it would be okay if I took a picture of Minnie, to which the lady said, "Well, sure! Of course you can!"

It only took two tries before I got a pretty cute picture of her, and then the cutest thing happened! The furry little Pekingese came over and sat right in front of me. "Do you want your picture taken too?" I asked, and took a snapshot of him!

Then the other dogs came right over and looked right in the camera, too!! Photographing dogs has never been so easy! I couldn't believe I got these great pictures of them with such little effort. These pups were a bunch of hams!

    

I got kisses from Daisy the Aussie and a few more from Minnie before I said good-bye. Then I took a picture of (1) where we first saw Coco and Minnie playing in the grass and mud last week, as well as one of the (2) woodpile they played in briefly while I stayed with them and Beth searched for possible owners in the park.

(1)  (2)

I am so excited I got to see Minnie and Kathy again. That was really cool! I only wish Coco had been there, too! You never know, maybe I'll see them next week!!

I'm so happy I went out today! There really are so many good reasons to go exercising... Seeing all the beautiful trees, birds, and clouds. Getting involved in all sorts of puppy adventures! Meeting new people and their cute little dogs. And feeling wonderful at the end of it! I'm definitely going to keep this up! I mean, at the rate this is going, I really can't not go walking -- I'm too curious to see what I'll come across next!