Getting back to normal

Well, the water seems to be clear and, um, water-colored again [as opposed to caramel-colored], the dogs have readjusted to being home from doggie camp, the laundry is all caught up and life is somewhat normal again.

Whatever that is.

I heard in an AA meeting once that normal is a setting on the washing machine that one rarely uses. Who wants to be normal?

Right now, I wouldn't mind a little bit of it.

First, for Marilyn, the full-length wedding outfit shot, in which Shrinking Knitter is sporting her best deer-in-the-headlights look:

Getting back in the groove after a trip – even a short one, and especially a momentous one – is proving to be difficult. I'm having trouble running. It was so-so-so easy to run in Las Vegas, with those long flat sidewalks and no humidity! Yes, it was hot, but here at home I feel like I'm walking in water. Out there I could start right out trotting and never even had to stop to catch my breath.

Here in the Middle of Nowhere? Not so much.

I was out for an hour Thursday and almost two yesterday, and I just can't seem to pick up the pace again.

As for weight training, I had increased the weights a couple weeks before I left, and was able to do two sets of 12 for each movement I do. Yesterday? One of 10 on two moves, and only two of 10 on the others.

So while I'm not starting over, thank goodness, I've sure taken a couple steps backward. It shouldn't take more than a week or two to reach my previous level, but I'm somewhat impatient about this. I like feeling strong, I enjoy running steadily. Even walking briskly feels like plodding along to me now.

Progress, not perfection. Right?