I actually have nothing to say. I guess that isn’t a good lead in for a blog, not one that will grab the reader’s attention and reel him in. But it’s true. So I started thinking about not having anything to say. Why is that?

Now I could write about how my body is tired. And it is. I’ve taken to walking my pup every evening for several reasons.

1 – He loves it and who doesn’t love making his dog happy?

2 – Its good exercise for me. I walk briskly (as advised by my ex-girlfriend/soccer coach). I tried jogging once night but she said I shouldn’t. So now I don’t. But it’s better advice than the doctors have given me since the stroke…which is to take it easy, no strenuous activity, blah, blah, blah. But (and I apologize if I’ve written this before but it still needs to be said) after the accident, I did somehow *insert devilish grin here* manage to gain some weight. Not a little weight. Let’s see if I can give some photo evidence.

Before accident:

After accident but before stroke:

As you can see, clearly a considerable amount of weight to be inflicted upon a generally petite person. I’d say an easy 50 pounds, right? What is that equal to these days in kids? A third grader? Now let me pull in another element. I have some 3 lb ankle weights that I wear when I’m doing laundry and the like (well I used to because Kelly and I lived in an apartment where the bedroom was upstairs so the weights had added benefits). And as tiny as 3 lbs may seem, I could actually feel the different muscles being used. Cool. Now let me bring it together…If I can feel the impact of 6 lbs of ankle weights, what on earth would make the doctors think that carrying around a third grader all day everyday would not be additional strain on my body. Wow – what a tangent.

3 – I need to get out of the house every now and then. My car is still in the shop and my mother is weird about letting me drive her car. Probably comes from knowing me and that Missy’s Law does really exist and doesn’t want to invite it to prove its existence in her car.

4 – I love the winter in Texas. Cold enough to feel it but not too cold to hate it. I like my nose being red and my fingers being stiff and that it only takes 15 minutes to reach a comfortable equilibrium afterwards

5 – I don’t limit my picking up skills to the additions my pup makes on people’s lawns. If I see a piece of trash, I’ll pick it up and put it in the poop bag. Why not? I mean the pup doesn’t mind since he’s already off sniffing for the scent of the last pooch. I don’t pick up every piece but I do what I can. And it makes me feel good.

So there are the five reasons I’ve started walking my dog at night. And as I’ve picked up the pace, my body has noticed and feels refreshingly more tired.

I also got on a kick yesterday and went out and trimmed my mom’s trees in her back yard. I would love to lie and say this was a selfless act of kindness, but no. Although the benefits did far outweigh my reasons for doing it. See, the limbs of this tree would hit the fence when the wind would blow. My motivation was to make the banging stop as both the tree and the limbs are fairly close to my bedroom window. Now the rationalization I make to seem less selfish is that the continual banging on the fence would certainly add wear and tear to said fence and make its lifespan a little shorter. Now mom doesn’t have any money (imagine little old lady living on disability) and doesn’t know the first thing about doing it yourself. I remember she said once, “The drain is backed up again. Now I’ve got to get the plumber out here.” I suggested instead of the pricey plumber she try some Drano or even one of those little snake things they have at home depot. We did and this is what she said, “Well, I’ll be damned…oh…uh, I’ll be a monkey’s uncle.” I get that she didn’t want to cuss in front of her grown child but before and after she’s called me a long list of names that are far worse than “damned.” And doesn’t being a monkey’s uncle just make you a monkey with extended family? [If you know the origin of this phrase, I’d love to be enlightened.]

Now I’m not saying I should go into the tree trimming business or anything but I was proud of what I did accomplish for a whim, with no gloves on, not using a ladder (after having a stroke ladders are frowned upon) and being only my 5’5″ self. But again this added to my body being tired. And today there are shoulder muscles I must’ve used that have been in the shadows for quite a while. Doing my daily stretch showed me that.

Oh yeah and yesterday I gave the dog a bath. Not a strenuous activity but with one person, it can be tricky trying to keep him in the sink while working the shampoo into the hair and keeping the water running at a nice comfy temp.

So there. That’s why my body is tired. Doesn’t seem like much (much like the 3 lb weights) but it makes little differences here and there. Anyway, I actually have more to say about not having anything to say but I’m going to break this one up so it isn’t as lengthy as I make them.