Dearest Rachel –
The title of this letter was originally meant to only be taken literally, but after the morning I’ve had thus far (and seeing that it’s already after noon, that’s saying something), it might just be a metaphor for something a little larger than that. If I didn’t know better as to what day it was, I would swear that it was a Monday today. Thank goodness it IS a Friday, as the saying goes – although it doesn’t matter to me all that much, since the weekends tend to be busier than the weekdays most of the time, at any rate.
Still, the literal part of this morning’s tale is quite true. After falling asleep last night in my street clothes (mostly because Daniel had done so first while we were catching up on a few videos that had accumulated over the last couple of days, and I wasn’t going to bother to change clothes for bed with him in the room), I resolved to make use of the fact that I was waking up in last night’s outfit and truly make it worth sending to the laundry by working out in it. Granted, come morning, I would swap out my flannel-lined jeans for my usual workout shorts, but otherwise there was no sense in putting on clean apparel just to get it sweaty and gross.
At one point, this would be a typical morning for me these days, honey, believe it or not. I’ve mentioned before how I prefer to get my workout in pretty much first thing upon really waking up, in order to get it over with – and “earn” that shower – before getting dressed and going about my day.
But ever since we we preparing to leave for Japan, I haven’t done a thing in terms of exercise. Oh sure, Daniel and I would generally be walking tens of thousands of steps every day while we were there (indeed, the only day we got in less than twenty thousand, if the health app on my phone is to be believed, was on the tenth, when we were to fly out. Even then, we still cleared ten thousand that day, heading out to breakfast and back several times), some of it even on an incline one way or another, but by and large, it wasn’t as strenuous as the deliberate effort I would make while back here (aside, perhaps, from the slog up and down through the mud path that led to the snow monkey park). At the same time, I wasn’t exactly keeping an eye on my weight, either; the only time I could properly weigh myself was when we visited the onsen on that same day (at which point, it didn’t look all that bad, but it was after doing all that walking).
None of which would be all that big of a deal except that, upon returning home, I had yet to resume my former exercise regimen. I didn’t go walking with Lars until the past Wednesday, over a week after returning. And until this morning, I had yet to do anything on the treadmill since getting back. So it was time for me to resume the usual grind, whether I wanted to or not; as it happened, I was at least dressed for the occasion.
I should mention, though, that even without making a point of exercising like that, I’ve at least been able to keep my weight in a reasonably narrow band. Apart from the usual effects of a more-than-hearty meal at the folks’ these past two Thursdays, I’ve been able to stay at or below the two-twenty-five mark; and this even with a Sunday blow-out at an all-you-can-eat hotpot place (although I had fasted over the weekend for a good twenty-four hours prior to that, so it rather offset). At the same time, I’ve rarely been able to get to, let alone under, the two-twenty mark, so take that for whatever you think it’s worth. In any event, I took this situation as permission to slack off a bit for all this time.
But all things come to an end, and after tipping the scales at the high end this morning, I felt it was time to get back to the grind. So I set up my usual podcast, and walked uphill for well over an hour in order to sweat off enough water weight to be satisfied with where I stood, weight-wise. From there, things proceeded fairly normally; after showering and getting dressed, nothing seemed out of the ordinary…
…but when I went to make myself breakfast, that’s when things went a little off the rails. You see, I’d been planning on making something similar to what we’d encountered over there for dinner (which, assuming it turns out okay – or even if it doesn’t, as it will be a misadventure worth recounting – will be the subject of my next letter, so keep an eye out for it, won’t you?), and as I wandered into the kitchen, I realized I needed to get a whole bunch of things out; the rice cooker, a casserole pan, some of the ingredients. After satisfying myself that I’d found everything I needed, and laid them out for use once I get home from the ‘office,’ I headed for the dining room, only to realize that I’d forgotten to do anything for breakfast yet, sending me right back into the kitchen for… whatever it was. Eventually, that got sorted out, but the morning was hardly over yet.
No, there was still the matter of taxes that I had to deal with. First of all, there was a check I’d written the other day (at about the same time as I’d written the payment for the new vehicle) for our property tax bill. This was more a matter of getting it to the local bank to register the payment itself; almost as easy as posting it in the mail, but with more assurance that the taxing authority has received the funds. But before that, I also had to check with Daniel about getting his taxes taken care of.
I’d intended to simply remind him to get his information downloaded from the various institutions where he keeps his investments, and leave him to take care of the matter. However, since he only visits those sites on these annual occasions, I had to walk through the process with him before I could leave the house. I do worry about what he’s going to do once I’m gone (although the last time I confidently predicted that someone would outlive me, that didn’t turn out as well as all that, did it?). At this point, though, it’s been more or less taken care of; it’s all part of the grind.
After a morning like this, it almost feels like I could use another vacation, honey. Good thing we have one lined up shortly, and pretty soon thereafter, you’ll be hearing about another plan we have. But for now, I’d hope you could keep an eye on us, and wish us luck as we go about the ‘normal’ routines of life. It seems we’re going to need it.
Letters to Rachel 