Challenge Completed

Slightly over three years ago, I started a walking challenge on Dailymile. I've mentioned it here before - the challenge was to simply walk the 1,779 miles that the hobbits walked in the Lord of the Rings trilogy (no, I don't know how the hell that number was arrived at, or who did the math).

Yesterday, somewhere above the creek at work, in the company of 21 kids and 4 counselors, I completed the challenge. I didn't have a ring that I cared to part with, so nothing was flung into the crack of doom, but I felt a sense of accomplishment. Jeanine even managed to find me a proper shirt to wear for the occasion - a shirt that referenced walking to Mordor - which I found draped over my laptop when I got home from work on Monday. She's thoughtful like that.

For most of the challenge, I've been using Dailymile to keep track of my mileage, and in the last few months, I've added a Fitbit to my arsenal because Jeanine, being Jeanine, managed to get a couple of free Fitbits through an online trading group. I've found mine quite addictive. It definitely inspires me to move more.

Today, a scorpion crawled under it. Scorpions do that.

Here's a picture of one of the shoes that helped me finish the challenge. I tend to wear out my shoes quickly, or wear them wrong, like I'm doing in this instance. Photo by Honey Badger.

Finally, here's a picture of a mandala I helped a group of campers and counselors assemble in the forest this afternoon. I think that some of the boys were more excited at the prospect of destroying it afterward. Leave no trace.

Less pleasant is the fact that one of my coworkers was suddenly fired today. I'm not sure why. My coworkers are more like family than anything else, and we pretty much all feel that way, so there was a shocked silence when the news hit. We've been told that it's not related to our other recent troubles. Still, it was strange and sudden.