I’m a bit sore today. The text from FitBit kind of summed it up: “You overachiever! You exceeded your goal by 2,667 steps!”

That wasn’t the plan. Nina wanted to visit with her friend Kathy who lives about a mile south of where we’re staying. So, I walked there with her and back by myself. Later in the afternoon she suggested that we walk over to Albertson’s as she wanted some apples. That turned out to be more than a two-mile walk round trip. Total for the day: 5.92 miles, 13,104 step, 6 floors (it seems like I’m forever going up and down the stairs!).

Then, on the way back from Albertson’s, Nina decided to jazz up the trip a little bit:

Life is good down here.

The weather in Chandler, Arizona has been (for us) delightful. Close by the house is a greenway path which is an easy walk. So, over the past week Nina and I have taken four walks sometime during the day. Walking is enjoyable once again and it’s pleasant to be outside strolling along. I have the Runkeeper app on my iPhone and, when I remember to do it right, keeps track of the time, speed, and mileage. Each day I’m setting “new” records … longest walk, longest distance in a week, fastest pace, and more. That’ll soon end as I’ll run out of available records to set.

I wish that the relationship amongst walking, calories, and weight loss were different and that walking had more effect on weight loss than eating. ‘Tis not so, however. That bag of chips I just ate a few minutes ago wiped out the last two days of walking. Not fair, I say!

The new grand daughter came home this afternoon. She’s quite adorable…. Grandmother definitely enjoys holding her! She came into a family with five half-siblings, the next closest in age is 10 years older than she is. She’s going to have a great time as a teenaged girl playing with her nieces and nephews. It’s fun to try and think what the world will be like when she has grown into her teen-aged years. What kind of technology will we have? What will travel be like? Will we have flying cars?? Probably not. Smart phones will probably seem rather quaint, though.

An interesting thing about the Chandler, Arizona area is that no one is from here. Everyone is from somewhere else. The folks in the pew in front of us in Church today are from Idaho Falls, with family in Pocatello.

She is quite likely our last grandchild! Madeline was born on December 28th at 12:17 am in Scottsdale, Arizona. She is a beautiful baby with bright, alert eyes and a piercing cry. I think she’ll fit in just fine with this family.

Madeline makes grandchild #21. We’re delighted to have been here for her birth and for her homecoming sometime today. Jaelene is mighty happy to no longer be pregnant!

Number 3 daughter, in Chandler, Arizona, is going to deliver a baby Real Soon Now. The due date isn’t until January … but the way she’s feeling tonight suggests the delivery may well be this year. I’m quite OK with that!

Meanwhile, we’re enjoying weather that’s warm enough to go on walks without coats and gloves. Tonight we’ll be ordering takeout. Contractions have begun. This may be the night!

I’m going on six weeks with no Church calling. I could easily get used to this! The highlight of the day was the Sunday School class. Excellent lesson, well prepared, and great participation. We also had snow squalls and wind most of the day, so that has to count as the low-light for the day. I’m very grateful for crock pots … the pork roast for dinner was delicious.

Ta ta for now!

Probably not a lot. The highlight was a nice soak in a delightfully warm hottub. The lowlight was getting out of the hottub with the chilly wind. Meanwhile, I’m very happy that I was able to walk up the steps from the garage in the house normally … one foot above the other, without having to pull myself up. Now, that’s some important progress.

Ta ta for now!