I had to drive my son back to Wilmington, NC and yesterday was my first full day.
I wanted to give you an idea of my ‘day’ so you would see that at 50 years old, as a former diabetic and formerly obese person… I am TRULY
THRIVING!!! … not just surviving.
A phrase that came to mind today and it certainly applies to me… I hope it does or will apply to you. Paleo has …
“added years to my life but more importantly, it has added life to my years!”
The Beginning …
I am in Wilmington, NC once again. My son goes to school here and I had to bring him back. I decided to stay with him a couple of days.
I dropped him off at class and then Ollie and I decided to spend some time walking the waterfront and down town areas… it’s a nice quaint town with beautiful views of the Cape Fear River on the waterfront.
Ollie and I walked around down town for over an hour which has nice hills above the river, it’s a nice place to “move slowly”. I will tell you that walking with Ollie ‘leashed’ is a chore. Apparently every step brought new aromas to be discovered. I have not taught him to ‘heel’ yet… so my arms and shoulders received a workout. :)
I have got to tell you a story about the picture of the waterfront. Prior to this picture, I had to clean up an Ollie ‘pile’ … and in the course of completing that task I accidently got poop on my finger. Next, in taking this picture… as soon as I clicked the button something hit my knee with a loud “SPLAT!”
I quickly glanced at my knee and then looked directly skyward… a large Seagull had deposited a rather large amount of ‘bird poop’ on my knee!!! I thought how lucky I was … it could have landed on my HEAD!!!!
Oh the burdens I bear … :)
Afternoon
I picked Brad up from school, it was raining. Since we had Ollie with us, we decided to look for a restaurant that had outdoor covered seating… that would allow a canine companion to stay with us. WE FOUND ONE!!!! Brad knew of a restaurant that had the outdoor facility that we needed but we weren’t sure if they would agree to the arrangement with Ollie.
We got lucky!! … the manager let us in as long as we leashed him, which we did.
I won’t name the restaurant because she said we were violating the health code but it was raining and no one else would be outside.
BONUS!?! … they had an outdoor, covered, PING PONG TABLE!!!
I had NOT played ping pong in decades. What originally started as a place to eat and chill outside… turned into a 4 HOUR Ping-Pong-Athon! :)
Eventually some of Brad’s friends came over … we had a BLAST!!! ARGH!!!!!
Consumption? Other than pork rinds, this was the only food I consumed all day. Brad and I split 18 chicken wings. I did drink several ‘low carb’ beers. By the way, the next morning I felt totally fine, no ‘reaction’ to drinking a wheat product.
Night
After FINALLY leaving the bar/restaurant, to be honest I was ready to call it a night. However, Brad wanted to take Ollie for a walk on the beach. We weren’t sure if we would have a chance to take Ollie to the beach before I left due to the weather and Brad’s class/work schedule.
Since it was not raining at the moment… we decided to take Ollie to the beach… at night.
I don’t have pictures of the event because it was dark by the time we got there… but it was a TOTALLY AWESOME TIME!
We went to a secluded and WIDE OPEN part of Wrightsville Beach, the south end, where the ocean meets the Inter-coastal Waterway … did I mention it was AWESOME!
Ollie ran … and ran and ran. Chasing seagulls and running back and forth from the waves… we laughed and played… so much fun.
Closing:
Honestly … two plus years ago I was miserable. I was a sick, obese person who had ‘given up on life’ to a large degree.
Today? … I am able to run, jump and yes… ‘run the tables’ at ping pong for awhile!
Being able to share moments like these are so special to me and I am so very thankful for being able to experience them… especially considering just a few years ago I had all but given up.
I am truly LOVING LIFE! I am TRULY THRIVING and not just surviving.
I wish you would join me…