Silver Lining

It's a strange thing to keep a blog.  I've never done one faithfully in the past, or kept a journal for that matter.  I do read a lot of blogs if that counts for anything.  See, the thing is that you people out there reading this don't really know me yet.  There's not a lot you can tell by three posts.  So today I'll share a little history as it relates to this little story.

I have two little kiddos-- Samantha is 5 and Daniel is 4.  They are amazing and you'll hear me gush more about them in the future.  At the time they were born, we lived in New York City.  We moved there in 2002 and I fell in love with that city.  I loved the smells, the bustle, the buzz... all of it.  What I came to love also was getting around on my own two feet.  No car-- just walk.  Take the subway.  Walk some more.  After a while we decided it was time to leave NYC.  Everything I had come to love, I started to hate with two little kids.  Everything was just too hard with little ones.

So we decided to move to Buffalo, where my husband grew up.  Maybe I just fall for cities easily, but I love Buffalo too.  I never expected to love it... after all, it's Buffalo.  So we bought an old house (that requires our constant attention-- never ending projects) in a sketchy up and coming neighborhood that we can walk to a lot.  Around the corner there is an amazing coffee shop, a gallery, an Italian grocer, a lovely florist... you get the picture.  My office is two miles away from my home and we have one car, which may seem crazy, but we make it work pretty easily.  That is, except, when that one car is out of commission.  We are waiting on a part to come in and are without wheels this week. So finally I'm getting to the silver lining!  I have to walk to and from work.  In the cold Buffalo winter.  You would not believe how many calories that burns! Let's take a look.

See those circled spikes?  That's my walk!  In the morning I caught a bus part of the way, but I hoofed the whole cold two miles home (that dip is from my stop at the coop to pick up some food for dinner).  And it was a really great walk.  One that made me thankful that walking is an option.  One that made me thankful that I'm strong enough to do it.  One that make me thankful for the lovely neighborhood I walk through.

So yes, our one family car is not working this week.  But because of that I got more exercise, spent more time catching up with friends on the phone while walking, and got to enjoy my neighborhood.  So that's a pretty nice silver lining.