On Monday I did a little bit of soul searching and decided I'm not ready for Mt. Hood. I could probably go up there but I would struggle like mad and after my adventure at Mt. Defiance I know I have more work to do. I'm proud of what I did and I know I can do Mt. Hood with a little more work. And for the record, kids, I have been on a lot of the trails in the Gorge. Many of them were getting too easy.

I told my co-worker today that we needed to delay our trip and he first told me he was proud of me for my adventure to Mt. Defiance and then gave me a look and said, "Of course you do know this means you'll be going to the Ken School of Physical Fitness." I said, yes I understood but what can be much worse than putting 30-pounds in a backpack and doing the stair master for 30 minutes? (That, by the way, was my current workout. I would lift weights after the stair master) He gave me another look and said, "This will be hard and it will hurt. But you will lose weight and get stronger." I believe him. He used to do Iron Man triathlons and I don't think he has an ounce of fat.

So, that's my new adventure. I'm excited and happy and very confident in my decision. I will continue to hike some of the harder trails in the Gorge but I feel much happier about doing Mt. Hood. I now know I can.

My legs are still sore from Sunday but they don't hurt *as bad* as they did yesterday. As long as I stretch and keep moving I'm fine.

In other non-Mt.Hood related news, Ian should be home on Thursday and I'm very excited. The house is too quiet and I miss him. Grendel chilled out the second week into Ian's disappearance so he's been a lot nice to deal with.

I think there's some wine calling me. Must go. Can't neglect the wine.