Today was the start of of my 45x30 and it went splendidly. I start out by walking north on Pine Grove to Irving Park. I head east on Irving to the lake front paths and then I take the walkers path that veers around the playground south to Addison. It took exactly 45 minutes. I don't know if I'd feel comfortable doing it by myself really early in the morning though, because it goes right along the empty golf course (the golf course seems so eerie to me when it is deserted). 

This month also marks the start of weight training three times a week. For now I'm planning that I'll do it on Tuesdays, Thursdays and then either on Saturday or Sunday. 

There are a lot of mile marks coming up for me this month and next. The workshops begin for Into the Pool begin on September 14th. I begin teaching October 6th, but the professional development seminars begin in two weeks. Dan and I are going to Disney World on October 9th. I'd like to lose another 10 pounds before Disney World. It's exactly five weeks away, which would mean I'd have to lose an average of 2 pounds per week. I'll be fine either way if I don't meet the goal, but it's fun to think about. Dan has said that we can make sure to work out each day that we're in Disney, even if it's just swimming laps in the pool or walking the whole park each day before we start going on rides.

I feel good about this week. I made the HG peanut butter fudge tonight, which is an excellent treat to have throughout the week. Dan is feeling under the weather, I think I gave him my cold from last week. :(

Dan and I wanted to watch some of the RNC tonight, but Gustav has interrupted coverage on all our news stations. They are predicting that up to other 5 hurricanes may hit New Orleans this week, which is pretty damn scary. We expected to turn the channel and be horrified by Republicans, not tropical storms! Just kidding, all you Republicans that I know and love.

Seriously, though. I truly hope that there can be a sense of unity in our country again instead of all the Republican versus Democrat crap that we are constantly wading through. At the end of the day, we're all just people with a lot of different opinions. There are even very few Democrats that I've found who believe the same things I do. One of the best things that Obama has said to date is that, "there is a difference between the way the world is and the way it could be. Most people are afraid to look at the areas in between." Well, he said it more eloquently than that, but I really agree. In fact, if you were to look at Blackbird's mission statement, I believe you would find very similar words. :) But I do think, with this election at least, that we do really need to consider the big picture (what absolutely needs to change). 

Rhetoric, go!