I’m not sure why I used that as the title of this post. There will be no more post-renovation life. There will only be activities outside of renovations.
While we didn’t make it to any of the actual hiking trails I mentioned in my last post, we did make a concerted effort to at least take a walk on the Pickwick Riverwalk Path, which is on AllTrails, but isn’t really much of a trail. It’s a paved path on the shore of the Des Moines River. The trail is a 6.5 mile out and back trail that originates less than 2 miles from home.
We decided to take the walk on Sunday morning, February 12. We parked in a small parking lot near Ottumwa’s small movie theater and climbed up the muddy embankment to the path. We made it about a mile to the Wapello Street bridge before deciding to turn around and head back. This was a first time out in quite some time so we just wanted to take it easy.
The following week, on February 20, we took a short, mile and a quarter stroll through our neighborhood. The half mile down our street is the home to three, count ’em THREE churches. Turning around the other way down our street, you’ll run into another one where our street ends.
I guess it’s safe to say, this is a religious neighborhood.
The following weekend was Brandy’s birthday. We had her parents and her friend Hilary over for fajitas and all the fixins. Hilary brought over a turtle pie of some sort and Sue brought an ice cream cake and a ton of chocolate, on top of the cupcakes I’d bought that morning. By the time the night was done, I was about ready to explode.
After that, Brandy and I committed to some lifestyle changes that we hope to stick to. We want to be more active, stop smoking and drinking unless socializing (i.e. not at home) and to eat better. We are not healthy people and there isn’t really any reason why we can’t be. With some diet and exercise, we could be in great shape, but as it currently stands, we’re both morbidly obese and have the health problems associated with that.
One of the rooms in the basement is currently a workshop, with a built in workbench and unfinished walls. The plan is to turn that into a kind of mini home gym. I’m planning on putting the treadmill in that room, along with the resistance bands I use when I get the workout bug all up in me. I will lay down horse stall mats from Tractor Supply on the floor and will finish the walls, install a TV and a good sound system and some sort of climate control measures.
Later on down the road, I wouldn’t mind getting some free weights, a squat rack and a bench. And for Brandy’s enjoyment, I plan on getting her a Bob punching dummy. She enjoys boxing and has asked for one in the past, but they’re a little on the pricey side, clocking in at a minimum of $370 (as of 2/27/2023). (Don’t know what I’m crying about, free weights and squat racks aren’t cheap either…)
Maybe Santa will bring it for her for Christmas. And who knows, maybe I’ll hit it around a little too.
This coming weekend, we will be making our triumphant return to Coralville/Iowa City/North Liberty. We have an appointment to get our haircuts and will be stopping by Costco and maybe Target while we’re out there.
The weekend after that, we will be heading out to Tucson so Brandy can visit one of her sites. We will be out there for about a week. It’ll be nice to cross another state off my fucket list.
Soon after that, my parents and Jarrod will be here, and we will be heading to Chicago for another baseball game. It’ll be nice to hang out for more than a day there. Mom has already paid for an AirBnB, I will be buying tickets for the game soon and will be flying Jarrod out on the same day as my parents. That will be an uncommon trip to Des Moines to pick everyone up.
Then, in May, Brandy is planning a return trip to Colorado. There are some cabins available in the town of Cimarron near Gunnison. It’ll be nice to get back into our travelling ways. My only real concern is having enough PTO available to be able to enjoy some of these excursions.
Eh, I’ll cross that bridge when I get to it, I suppose.
I’ve been up and going since just after midnight. Maybe making a post on here wasn’t the best idea, as exhausted as I am, but meh, whatever. It’s been a minute since I posted and felt like it, so that’s all that matters.
I’ll be back on here soon once our adventures start kicking in to high gear.
Until then…
-Phil