A Better Person

When we first get to Door County, we always drive up to the tip of the peninsula.  We drive past all of our favorite things and remember all of our favorite memories.  We drive by Peninsula State Park where we have camped, biked, swam, kayaked, and gotten sunburned.  We drive past various restaurants, like Jo Joes, The Old Post Office, and Al Johnson's.  We drive past stores such as Tannenbaum, Wood Orchard, the Trillium Shop, and the Scandinavian store whose name I can't remember.  There is no real way to describe how I feel when we first drive through Door County.  It's like Christmas, and the first day of school, and how you'd feel when people yell "Surprise" if you had a surprise birthday party.  It's like that.   On this trip, it was no different.  My parents, sister, husband and baby all piled into my parents CRV and took the drive to the top and back.  There are people running, biking, sailing, and people are eating, drinking, slurping ice cream cones.  The mood is just .... happy.  I loudly exclaimed, "Door County makes me want to be a better person!!"  My family laughed, and my sister probably rolled her eyes. 

But it's true.  I've had some tough times in the past 2 or so years with body parts... specifically knees.  I tore my acl, had surgery, had trouble with the pin and my shin bone, got pregnant, had a pretty bad pregnancy (pre-eclampsia, seizures, migraines, not being able to breast feed, and was on crutches for 2 weeks for a knee injury that happened when I was 8 months pregnant), and a few weeks ago had more trouble with my knee.  It looks like surgery number 4 will happen this fall.  I don't mean to use these things as an excuse, but I've gained some weight.   And it's time to lose that weight.

Door County makes me want to spend more time outside and be more active.  So, I signed up for a 5 mile race at the end of Sept.  in La Crosse.  That might seem like a foolish idea being that I have two bad knees, but running is ok, things like jumping and landing, and tennis, or any activity with pivoting would be the problem.   So, if your read this blog, let me know what has worked for weight loss for you in the past!  Running tips would also be appreciated.  I know there's a lot more to losing weight than exercise, but that's just the part I'm letting you all in on for the moment.  : )  

And after all of that serious stuff, here are a few more pictures from my wonderful vacation.  I'll be writing a more in depth Door County post for those who would someday like to visit the greatest place on earth  : )