I’ve decided it’s time to get back into a healthy post-work routine again – and start taking walks when I get home. When weather allows, I’m going to “try” to do at least a two mile walk on work days, and try to go a bit longer on days I don’t work.

I used to do mall walks in cold weather after work since I work in a mall, but…I’m not going to be wandering around in the mall unnecessarily during a pandemic. I’ll go to the mall to work – then go home. That’s it. I don’t go to Starbucks, I don’t go to get a buttery pretzel with salty nuclear cheese dip, I don’t laugh at the people waiting in line to get their overpriced phones fixed in the Apple Store. Sigh…this is my life now – no people watching in the Starbucks line (I used to enjoy having my lunch break near the Starbucks so I could hijack their wifi while eating my own food and ogle the coffee drones in their line…I can’t explain it, but it was strangely enjoyable to me). Nope, none of that, I just work…then go home.

Sometimes I’ll go to a bar, if we can finagle outdoor seating (it gets competitive for outdoor seats near the heaters at Original Gravity, which we found out yesterday when we went there for their all-day happy hour)! We arrived around 4, and got one of the last available tables closest to the ceiling heaters. Here are some pictures from our trip there:

Sad news – I talked to the brewer or owner (I’m unsure which) – and he said the “Mind Flayer” Belgian beer was NOT named for the D&D baddie, per se, but for the mind flayer from the “Stranger Things” Netflix series. Ah, close enough! I haven’t tried the beer yet, but I do plan to get a growler or two of it for Christmas Eve!

So yes, bundling up in winter clothing and braving the elements while drinking beer is about as close to “fun” as I’m having these days! I’m not whining, really – it is what it is. I’m trying to stay home as much as possible, and when I do go out, still stay the f— away from people as much as possible.

What was I talking about earlier? Oh yes, walks…. I’ll have the best success if I do the walks right when I get home and don’t allow myself to get TOO relaxed. Once I get changed into loungy clothes, I’m 99 percent less likely to want to put street clothes and shoes back on and take a walk (body in motion stays in motion, yada yada). I’ll have to get into a routine with that – shove some kind of snack at my face (I’m pretty hungry when I get home from work), have a glass of water, change into walkie clothes, grab my music player (unless my husband joins me).

I’m not giving myself any lofty goals, just want to start moving my ass more… because it’s “healthy,” right?