Happy Holidays

I had a good summer that included a trip to Italy, Austria, Switzerland and France with my niece. But I ended up eating too much gelato and Swiss chocolate.

I've just recently gotten back into control again -- just in time for Christmas! Luckily, I have no cravings at all. I'll be spending a week in Indiana with family and have every intention of staying low carb.

I am excited about The New Rules of Lifting for Women which I should have in the next couple of weeks. So I'll start that in January -- wonder how it will be different? I read that it is a 6-month program. The gym is expanding and may have some classes I like.

We found a new trail on Tiger Mountain last week. We didn't look at what the elevation gain was, which turns out was probably 1000ft. That makes a difference in how long the hike is. We made it back around 4:30 and it was getting pretty dark. I've gone through my map and colored the trails we've done with colored pencil. I highlighted the elevations. I found a waterproof envelope at REI to put it in so we can check it even when it's raining.

This is a link to the map of Tiger Mountain trails:
http://www.ci.issaquah.wa.us/files/issfamily.pdf

I picked up a backpack in Switzerland that has the bladder for drinking water and loops for my hiking poles. I'm packing that up with a light, knife, bandaids and other things. Maybe Santa will bring me some small binoculars. I'll pack my bird book and camera too. There's usually something cool to take a picture of.