24 Hours of Personal Time

I'm not really in a good or chatty mood today. DH and I had a blow-out argument last night, and I'm just running things over in my head and contemplating. So, I'm just posting because I'm still here, but I'm giving myself 24 hours of personal time. I'll be back tomorrow. 

Mountain Peaks - Some Climb the Physical Mountains, Some Just Climb the Everyday Ones in Our Lives

I wrapped my week up with a virtual run through northern Italy to the back of the Matterhorn mountain, and then into Switzerland to get the front view. Of course, it being a mountain, there really isn't any "front" or "back" view. I term it that way because the Swiss side is the side I'm more familiar with. But it just took a quick glimpse and I knew exactly what I was looking at from Italy. Such an iconic mountain. 

The Matterhorn is so very iconic and recognizable. I loved 
seeing it on my treadmill screen this morning. I knew 
immediately what peak I was nearing. 

I admit that I've never quite understood those people who actually want to climb mountains in real life. I find the mountains we need to climb in our day-to-day lives to be quite challenging enough, but there are people, very talented and physically fit people, who want to challenge the physical peaks of the world.

K2 is the second-highest mountain in the world, only a 
small amount shorter than Mt Everest. It presents some 
very tricky climbs to summit, but it's a mountain, and 
for serious mountaineers, that's all that's important. 

 Expert climbers often want to climb the following five peaks: Mount Everest (of course), the highest peak in the world and K2, the second-highest peak in the world, and close neighbor to Everest.  The third peak is Kanchenjunga, also located in the Himalayas, but harder to get to which adds an extra challenge. Avalanches are a major problem on this peak, not just the altitude and general issues which are shared by all three of the peaks. Annapurna, also in the Himalayas, is the fourth peak for expert climbers. It is known for highly unpredictable weather patterns which can be so very deadly in those heights on those peaks. Finally, the fifth peak is ... the Matterhorn. Really? You might ask. But yes. the Matterhorn presents its' own serious challenges. It's incredibly steep and there is constant danger of rockfalls. 

Kanchenjunga is the third highest peak in the world. It's 

a challenging world of ice and snow with very unpredictable 

weather. In general, it's your typical Himalaya mountainside. 

It's a beautiful peak, though. 

Of course there are challenging peaks in every continent for serious climbers, but think about it. Are you going to toss a bunch of equipment into a bag, get a visa, and go and climb any of these? If you are, fabulous! I wish you the best of luck and skill at achieving your goal. But the vast majority of us will challenge our own peaks without having to invest in equipment and cold-weather gear. We're all challenged by the peaks and valleys of life. Life is just as unpredictable, holds challenges for each of us, and is every-changing from day to day. The best we can ask for ourselves is that we stick to the course, look at the longer goals while achieving the shorter ones, and be unafraid to reach out to others for assistance when necessary. 

Annapurna Masif is the fourth highest peak, and the 
fourth one in the Himalaya mountain range. It's also 
quite stunning. 

So, as we move into the weekend and I need to get into gear and get my latest story written and posted, I offer you this challenge. Live each day as an achievable challenge, and be unafraid to reach out to friends near and far for assistance if needed. We're all here for you, as we hope you will be here for us. Have an excellent weekend and I'll be back on Monday for the start of my "Two Weeks of Hell While Chickie is on Jury Duty" LOL. Slava Ukraini. 

Masks Are Now Optional, and WildFit Enters Its' Final Week

It's a day off for me today, and I have my usual noon Zoom call with my WildFit "Tribe". We're wrapping up Week 12 and entering Week 13, the final week of the program. I am amazed, when I look back on myself and that first week of uncertainty. Comparing Week 1 to now, on the threshold of Week 13, I'm astounded at the changes in my life and lifestyle. 

I never imagined how much WildFit would change my 
life, and how positive those changes would be. I'm 
very grateful that I found out about the program and 
decided to join it. It's been life-changing. 

I was a sugar addict - not as bad as DH, but still, I liked sweetener in my tea, a small spoonful of sugar on my oatmeal, a sweeter Margarita mix with my tequila, and the occasional cupcake treat from my local bakery. Now, my taste buds have been retrained, and a cherry tomato tastes so sweet! Sweet potatoes are almost too sweet, along with beets. The very idea of a heavily frosted cupcake or a piece of candy makes me shiver and would probably make me sick. It's not that I don't like sweet, it's that I don't like the fact that sugar or sweetener is in ABSOLUTELY everything. For example, I was looking at Heinz No Sugar Added Ketchup at the store on Wednesday and there, in the ingredients list was *Sucralose. Well, I don't know where the company came up with the "no sugar" label, because Sucralose is a sweetener. It's an artificial sweetener, but a sweetener nonetheless. So ... no. That ketchup won't work for me. 

I was hopeful that Heinz No Sugar Ketchup 
would be something I could add to my 
pantry, but no. As you can tell in the 
next photo, their ingredient list might not 
have sugar, but it has an artificial 
sweetener instead. Not an acceptable 
compromise. 

Next week we're diving intensely into "Living WildFit". How to deal within a world of large untapped fields of land-mines and pitfalls. It's been a heck of a ride and a wonderful experience. I'll be sorry to see the structured part come to an end. But I have other classes that are competing for my limited time, and I'll be grateful to be able to concentrate on some of them. I need 48-hour days, not 24-hour ones. Maybe I should opt for interplanetary travel. A different planet would offer me a different diurnal cycle - LOL. 

There are actually a couple of problems here. The 
"Natural Flavoring" which usually is chemical, not 
actually from nature, and the Sucralose* (not 
normally found in ketchup). I have no idea why 
that needed to be added. All things considered, I'm 
better off skipping this one. 

On that note, have a wonderful Friday. I hope your day is fulfilling and joyful. I'll be back tomorrow, and until then, please be kind, stay safe, and wear your mask if you feel it's necessary. Since mask restrictions were just lifted in my state, I'm undecided about whether or not to ditch the mask. But it's nice that we're doing well enough to put masks aside. Social distancing, however, is still in effect. 

Dang!! It's Just Cold!

Today I'm going to start sewing up my sweater. I want a larger flat surface for that, so thought I'd bring it to the shop with me. I can use one of the counters there to spread out a bit more than my sewing table at home will allow. Draping the finished knitting over myself yesterday, I think it's still shorter than I wanted, and might be a bit too long in the sleeves, but I really won't know dimensions until after it's laundered and blocked. I'll try it on after it's assembled and then I can make alterations on my basic pattern before beginning my next sweater. I would have started a new small project yesterday, but listened to a couple of Personal Growth podcasts instead. I guess it was too cold for me to even contemplate much movement - LOL. 

This is a photo of what's called a "Snow Roller" It's made 
when the wind pushes large snowballs. It's rather 
other-worldly, isn't it? 

These incredible formations are called 
"ice blossoms". They form in streams when 
the small droplets of water freeze on the 
exposed rocks. Stunning, aren't they? 

Because we're in a period of three days of double-digit negative temperatures, DH crawled into the half-basement storage space last night and set up the small space heater. We've learned that if we don't keep those pipes warm, we have plumbing issues. All of the plumbing for the bathrooms and kitchen are along the west wall in that room, and the room just doesn't get enough heat when it's this cold, even though we keep the doors open to the rest of the basement. We're staying below zero until Tuesday, with an expected -21F (-29.9C) starting our Sunday. We don't need frozen pipes to make things even more interesting. 

I'm sure most of us have watched ripples in a 
still pond after we've tossed a stone into the 
water. Here's the Ice Queen's version - ice 
ripples formed around stones. I just love 
the variation of colors and textures, so
thought I'd share. 

Normally I would have all sorts of things to share with you, but frankly, the temps have frozen my brain. Maybe I should look up some wonderful, cold photos to share with all of you. Yes, the temperatures are brutal, but it can be exceptionally beautiful as well. We're not getting any snow, just that deadly cold. So I'm off to find some lovely cold photos to share with you. 

This photo has been around for several years, but 
it's such a winner. This light house gets the water
 spray which builds up around it and hangs down
almost like a living thing. As I recall, the
lighthouse was located on one of the Great
 Lakes, but don't hold me to that. I could easily
be wrong. 

As always, please be kind, stay safe and wear your mask. If I don't freeze into a solid block of ice, I plan on being back here on Monday (in -20F temps) to continue my tale of cold. Have a great weekend! Have a Happy Valentine's Day.