Busy Busy

Sometimes when I look at the weekly calendar on the fridge I wonder how it is all going to get done. I feel grateful that my work is flexible, even if I'm working more hours than ever before, and that Ryan works at home. That really does help. We can't do it all, or at least do it all well all the time. But we try! This week was particularly full. 

Monday, Sam was triple booked with Y swim, then driver's ed and then high school swim practice, all of them overlapping 😜 And we only have one kid! How do others do it??!! Seriously. And I had a 5:00 meeting.

Tuesday was the same, minus the meeting for me. I got in a late afternoon walk around the school block. Breezy out! (2.6 miles walked)

By Wednesday, driver's ed was complete, but she was scheduled to drive after school, so that meant no Y swim. With high school season in swing though, it meant we headed to the Bowdoin pool for her 7:30 practice later in the evening. I got in an early morning road run complete with two eagles seen in the pine tree along Elm Street and a pretty glow as the sun rose over the river. (6.8 miles)

Thursday was back to "normal" with only Y and high school swim on the schedule, although I was down in Portland in the late afternoon for a work event. Got up extra early to ensure I got in a run before I headed into work. Ran out and back in Highland Green. Overcast and mild with no sunrise to be seen. (6.2 miles)

I was glad for it to be Friday, so I could take a bit of a breather from work stuff, do my typical Friday errands and get in a good run in the daylight! Of course the afternoon and evening was still filled with swimming 😝, and the morning was rainy so I shifted my run to be during swim practice. Turned into a pretty afternoon with pretty light over the Whiskeag and out in the cemetary. (6.0 miles)

Saturday was a rather dreary morning so I waited to head out for my run until around 9:00, at which point it wasn't raining but it was still not particularly nice out. Ran the cart paths and around. (9.0 miles) 

Saturday was also the first Y meet of the season! Sam swam well, especially after a long week, and then we were all happy to have a quiet evening at home.

Sunday, Sam was volunteering at the craft fair across the street, as the fair benefited the music program at school, meaning she was up and out the door before 9:00 am. I spent the morning reading and finally peeled myself up off the couch and got out the door around 9:45. Ran out along the Heath and on the cart paths before heading out on the powerlines. Very windy! (10.0 miles)

And then once I had picked up Sam at the craft fair, we headed right down to Yarmouth to Theresa and Dave's for the Raymond family Thanksgiving! It was great to see everyone and enjoy some yummy food, but whew! So if you see us and we are looking ever so slightly tired and frazzled, all of the above might be why! 😂😂

Mid-November

Monday was a holiday, so I made plans to go up and see Emily's new house (!!) and get in a run with her. It was so fun to see the place, and what a lovely view out across the lawn and to the water too! We ran from her door and did a loop up through Butler Head Preserve, where Ryan, Sam and I had hiked once during the pandemic. It is a nice little preserve with trails through the woods and along the water. It was a pretty morning to be out, although the trails were leafy and slow going. We took a few dead ends and each came away with a few ticks 🤬Also saw two separate dead deer sightings - the first seemingly the fur/hide and then the spine/ribs several feet away, the second a few patches of fur and what I think was the stomach/intestines 😱, but these were Iike two miles apart! Eww. There was a turkey vulture on guard in the trees near the stomach. Then we finished up with some quiet roads to round out the miles. (6.0 miles)

Ryan headed over to NH for work on Tuesday. The short work weeks are always a bit crazy but it just seemed like more was going on than usual. I took Tuesday as a planned rest day but then on Wednesday, I just did not get out the door to run in the morning  so I took a walk in the afternoon up at the Y during swim practice to at least get in a bit of movement. Brisk and breezy. (2.0 miles walked)

Thursday, I was up and out early for a run around Highland Green. Pretty morning light. Clunky legs. Two deer seen in the darkness. (6.0 miles)

Friday, I headed over to Pineland to meet up with Val and Mindy for a run. We ran Oak Hill, where the trails had been nicely leaf-blown. Good to catch up on a bright and sunny morning! (5.0 miles)

Was not feeling super energetic on Saturday morning, so what I had hoped would be a longer run turned into a slow, shorter meader. Cart paths and roads. (6.0 miles)

Sam went with Lauren and family down to Kennebunk for the football game, with the high school team in the states game, and then we met up with Mom and Dad for pizza at Nomad, as they are closing, which is sad. Their pizza is just so delish!

This morning, I was slow to get out the door and still feeling a bit tired, so took it as a sign to just keep the week mellow, so just did a nice loop on the powerlines, and will get back to running longer next week. Pretty morning. (7.0 miles)

We are off to Keri and Tyler's in a bit for dinner, which will be fun as we haven't all had a chance to hang out in a while! 

Rough

Daylight savings time, darkness by 4:30 pm. Hunting season. A devastating election result where millions of people chose hatred, fear and a rascist, irrational criminal as our leader instead of an intelligent, decent, thoughful, honest woman as our leader who would have brought those of us who cared hope, choice, freedom and a rational leader. Sigh. I mean, WTF? I seriously don't get it. And it is scary, sad and depressing. I know there are still good people out there fighting the good fight and that we can't give up and give up, but man. It's been a rough week.

Tuesday was a day off of school for Sam for election day as they use the high school for voting, so I worked from home in the morning before having to go in for a full afternoon meeting. Damp, warm and overcast. Ran the cart paths, as the golf course is now closed so it’s more available for later morning running, which is always nice! (6.0 miles)

After my meeting got out at 4:00, I headed to the polls to cast my vote. Hopefully anxious is how I'd say I was feeling. 

Sam was at driver's ed when I got home, and Mom texted soon after to say that she and Dad were headed to 555 for drinks and dinner at the bar to celebrate Dad's birthday, so Ryan and I joined them there at 5:30. It was a nice distraction from the election and nice to celebrate a second time unexpectedly with Dad on his birthday day! 

Alas, the majority of the country decided against any and all rational thought on Tuesday, and so I awoke to the news, which left me shaken and shattered and sad and scared. I headed out for a run on the roads in the darkness but felt horrible. Should I scream or cry? Honestly, really not sure. But it sure is exhausting. (6.0 miles)

Thursday, Sam had her first driving portion of driver's ed - a two hour drive! Woah! Can hardly believe she is actually now out there driving around. Crazy. Left work in time to get in a walk around the school block with Ryan before we had to pick her up. Cooler than the temps seemed to indicate and breezy. (2.6 miles walked)

Friday, I headed out for an early road run. Pretty morning light, and one eagle seen flying over the Androscoggin. (7.0 miles)

Then a lovely massage from Lauren plus some errands and work in the afternoon. Ryan headed over to New Hampshire for the weekend, and as Sam had driver's ed, it was a quiet night.

Saturday, I headed out around 7:30 for a run on the cart paths and down to the river. Cold, bright and very windy! (9.0 miles)

Then it was off to Target so that Sam could pick out a mini tree for her room and get all decorated for Christmas 😂💗🎄Bring on the holiday cheer!

Took a bit to get myself out the door this morning as temps weren't even in the 30s - brrr! - but nice morning once I got out, and managed to hit 40 miles for the week with this run, so things are looking up! Bright and sunny. with a thin sheen of ice on the Heath and three deer seen. (12.0 miles)

End of October & Bar Harbor Getaway

It was a busy week with the start of driver's ed for Sam (!!) and a late 25th anniversary (!!) getaway weekend up to Bar Harbor for Ryan and I. That is a whole lot of milestones!

Tuesday was a short walk in the darkness on a cold, calm morning to get in some movement before yet another work conference. (2.0 miles walked)

And so it was that Wednesday was the start of the running week. It was a dark, windy and rainy run on the roads through Highland Green with a lot of puddles and one deer seen. (6.0 miles)

Thursday, I worked from home so it was a late morning fitting it in kind of run. Nice and sunny. They are doing some logging between the powerlines and the connector to put in solar panels. Kind of a bummer as I liked that stretch of woods. (5.3 miles)

After work and swim practice, I dropped Sam off at Rohan's so the girls could go trick-or-treating. It was fun to see them dressed up and excited to go out on Halloween!

 

On Friday, I headed out early for a road run around town. It was soggy and weirdly warm out. (6.8 miles)

View on the way to the dump after dropping Sam at school. 

Then after a few errands and some chores around the house, Ryan and I headed off to Bar Harbor for our late anniversary weekend away. We stopped at Mason's Brewing on the way up for a yummy lunch and a beer, and then once we hit the island, we headed right to Great Head for a walk. It was a gorgeous afternoon, in the 70s and bright and sunny. And as always never a bad view to be had. (1.7 miles walked)

Once our walk was done, we headed to the Bar Harbor Grand, our home for the weekend. It was the perfect spot on an early November weekend. We showered and then headed across the street for dinner at Peekytoes Provisions. A delicious crabcake and salad for me, crab bisque and tuna tacos for Ryan, plus a few good glasses of beer and wine and a smoked ricotta chocolate mousse to finish up the meal. Yum! The perfect start to a fun weekend.

I headed out early for a run in the morning. Temps were 30+ degrees cooler than on Friday, with a stiff breeze to make it feel even chillier. Brrr. I headed down Main Street, and veered onto the Shore Path for a quick view of the sunrise before continuing on. I ran up West Street and turned onto Duck Brook Road to connect to the carriage roads, where I looped around by Witch Hole before retracing my steps back into town. Very pretty morning light. Stopped to take way too many photos, and those two glasses of wine certainly did not help. Definitely a meander 😂😂 Had to add on a bit of extra road in the end but got in the 10 I was hoping for. (10.0 miles)

Ryan was across the street in the little cafe enjoying breakfast, and I sent him off in the hopes of donuts, but the store was closed for the season, so I settled on the continental breakfast at the hotel, which really wasn't bad. Then we headed out for a drive and ended up at Hunters Beach. So pretty. We did a nice little loop down to the beach and up and over the cliffs. (1.2 miles walked)

Then it was back into town for lunch. I had hoped we could get poke boles at Aloha, but alas, like many other restaurants, they appeared closed for the season. So we ended up at Two Cats, which was not at all a bad alternative and entirely delish, just not the veggie-heavy light meal I had originally been thinking of 😂

From there, we headed out to hike Bald and Parkman. I totally recommend Two Cats and I totally recommend this loop but I may not recommend eating at Two Cats before hiking this loop 😂😂 So much food to try to digest while hiking uphill. Gorgeous afternoon. Cool and blustery with amazing classic Acadia views. Quiet trails too. (2.4 miles walked)

We headed back to the hotel after our hike to shower and relax for a bit before walking down the street to Havana for our fancy anniversary dinner. It was incredibly delicious and fun to finally eat there after so many years. Cheers to 25 years and many more to come! 💗🍸🍷

Wasn't feeling super peppy on Sunday morning, but had some miles to run, so chose a mellow route. Ran on the roads out to Great Meadow, Jessup Path and Hemlock Trail. Love the meadow grasses and birches along Jessup Path. Breezy and cool. Started and finished along the Shore Path for the ocean views. (7.0 miles)

Then it was across the street for a bagel sandwich and coffee before packing up and checking out of the hotel and going on one more walk before we headed home. We started over at Sieur Du Mont, hiked up and over Kebo Mountain and returned via Great Meadow and Jessup Path. Nice loop on quiet trails. Two deer seen as we hiked the trail along the Kebo Mountain ridge. (2.8 miles walked)

 

All in all, a really fun getaway with Ryan, and always great to get out and enjoy the island.  And many thanks to Mom and Dad for hanging with Sam while we were away!

Got back home mid-afternoon and after a few loads of laundry, some grocery shopping and a few things around the house, we headed over to Mom and Dad's to celebrate Dad's 80th birthday a few days early! We love you, Dad! 💕

It has been a busy month and went by quickly. With that, here is the monthly wrap-up:

October:
138.61 run miles
17.08 walk miles
0.0 XC miles

YTD:
1,212.88 run miles
256.98 walk miles
0.0 XC miles