Making Adjustments

I heard an NPR report on the radio this morning, as I was driving back home from dropping my husband off, about the wondrous land of Colorado, the thinnest state in the Union.  The report was in conjunction with their ongoing report on obesity.  While it emphasized how the residents of Colorado are much healthier than the rest of the nation due to an athletic culture, access to all sorts of hiking, skiing, etc, and a higher concentration of health food stores and restaurants, unfortunately it too is becoming more obese.  One of the individuals quoted in the report said, "We're just such a fast-paced society I think, and everybody's in such a hurry, and the kids are ultimately the ones that are paying for it,"


I couldn't agree more.  As I made the torturous journey to and from my husbands office, I was overcome by the level of stress and aggression coming from everyone else on the roads.  It was 7:30am and apparently everyone was running late.  They weaved in and out of lanes without signaling, they cut each other off, and they sped and then slammed on their brakes.  It was pure insanity.  I asked my husband if that was normal.  "Yup, pretty much."  I decided to take Market St. back instead of the highway.  It wasn't much better, but at least the insanity was not at 70mph!  On my return journey, I passed the McDonald's across from City Hospital.  The line for the drive-thru  stretched into the street.  Wouldn't they have saved more time making a healthy breakfast at home instead of sitting in a drive-thru line for a greasy McMuffin?  Well, to each his own, I guess.  Personally, I don't know how people can do that every morning without going insane or getting violently ill.


Needless to say, I am rethinking our strategy now that we are a one car house.  That's right.  We ended up selling the Kia sooner than originally planned.  We said goodbye to it yesterday afternoon, with a tear in the eye.  It was a good car (far less temperamental than a certain Jeep) and will be missed.  However, its nice to have some extra cash in the bank and one less insurance payment to make.  


Unfortunately, since it looks like shuttling the Mr. to and from work isn't really going to, um, work, my ride plans will need some modification.  My new options are 1). Start my ride at 5am to beat the morning traffic in Akron or 2).  brave those dreaded climbs out of the Valley.  Of course, by "brave" I mean swallow my pride and get off and walk.  


In other news, retirement has been quite enjoyable so far.  I've been doing a lot of cooking, which I hadn't had much time for.  I'm also making excellent progress on getting the house ready for the realtors and movers.  Today (as soon as I'm done writing this) the Revenio and I will take the opportunity to check out the Valley.  


Hopefully, people driving down there won't be running late...