Happy Birthday Dad!

Usually you would eat so much cake and ice cream (just to be polite of course) that you would complain and moan about it the next day.
I know, who would have ever thought that kind of thing would be missed.
The last birthday we spent together was exciting, dragging you up to the top of Pikes Peak one day and to the Royal Gorge the next (where you kept looking at the boards thinking they would shift at any second). We had 30+ people over to the house for a BBQ that night and everyone figured out where I get my smart-assed nature from. I miss you riding your motorcycle across Canada and turning south to stay here for a few weeks. There are a lot of things I miss.

So happy 67. It was too damn hot to make a cake but I had some horrible Keebler elf cookies instead.

It seems I'm always doing something dealing with prepping and working towards being a little more independent. If it's not a lifestyle then it will really seem like a second job, it's a lot of work and it can be a lot of hard work. I like lists, if I write it down I tend to get it done and it makes everything seem easier. A healthy lifestyle helps keep the energy levels up when the going gets tough. When the sweat was pouring down my entire body on Sunday from all the work I was doing in our yard and the in-laws... well I just kept on going. Sure it was over 95 degrees and there wasn't any shade but the stuff needed to get done. 6 years ago I would have stayed inside or given up on the work, my post Army physical and mental condition was soft. I'm not built like a brick or have a hollywood figure but I'm in better shape than most of those people who look better.

Physical and mental toughness can carry a person through most difficult times. Knowledge and previous experience (think practice) will help a person survive and hopefully thrive during even worse times. We keep working towards bettering ourselves in all aspects even if it sucks, and let's be honest, it sucks often. We would have enjoyed having dinner last night before 9:30pm, but we got a lot of things done and had to wait until it cooled off to run.

I'm running with my ultra runner friend again Wednesday morning, this time I'll be ready and hydrated for a nice 2 hour countryside run. She is super patient with my slower pace and really pushes me to work hard.

All my zucchini went to the neighbors, she had her appendix out and is finally getting back to normal eating again. We got her some flowers and a bag of zucchini, the perfect gift for picky eaters.
The yellow squash is coming in so I tossed some in the fridge and then robbed the tomato and sweet pepper bushes for more salad fixings. I'll probably grill the squash and zucchini (whatever I find tonight) with the peppers and maybe some steak tonight. Too bad the steak is so expensive and looks like crap at the store... maybe I'll just grill some canned tuna on foil while the veggies are going.