I'm Moving!

No, not moving to a new home. I keep writing these cryptic Titles!

I'm MOVING. As in - moving my body. Off the couch.

If you saw my previous post about losing weight, that's where this is coming from.

After tracking my food for a few weeks, it becomes apparent that it's not the food that is making me pudgy.

It is the fact that I'm not moving enough.

So I've started moving.

I joined Curves. My health insurance covers it! No money! Free! I was talking about it with a friend last Tuesday. And when I hung up the phone, I said - what am I waiting for?? I went and joined. I went 4 times last week: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday and Saturday morning.

No excuses.

Also this weekend, hubby and I did stuff. We went some places. We went to the farmers market together and walked around. I came home and planted lettuce. Today we went to a local festival (to check out the vendors), and walked around.

The key word: Walked. No, nothing strenous. But: not on the couch.

I knit - a lot. My little side business, Woolies, requires lots of knitting. And my day job requires me to be on the computer all day. Sitting. A Lot.

So I figure everytime I can get up and move is better than sitting.

I'm planning to get one of the old bikes hiding out in our garage into a functioning state.

And then there are my horses.......that is a long story involving a broken back and lost confidence. So we'll see....

The broken back is what got me into this current pudgy state.

But I'm moving.

And so is Myrtle, who still keeps trying to climb out of her habitat. :(

New friend needs a name!

We live in Arizona. Land of lots of different wild animals, and one of my favorites - the Sonoran Desert Tortoise. There are adoption programs, and I've always wanted to adopt one. But you have to build them a habitat - there are specific guidelines online. My hubby was never motivated enough to do it with me. I was never motivated enough to do it alone.

And then Saturday came along. And hubby was driving down a busy road. And what was trying to cross the busy road?? If he had not stopped, the next car would have driven over the tortoise.

So, guess what hubby brought home to me??


We were worried that if we put him back where we found him, that he would be killed. We debated releasing him back into the wild - maybe a state park nearby. We're still debating. To be honest. It doesn't seem right to capture him. But can you relocate them? I couldn't find anything online that told me. If this guy goes back to the wild, then at least I will have a habitat ready for the official adoption process.

So.....

After an entire weekend of moving rocks, gravel, railroad ties, slate, more rocks...after an entire weekend of babysitting Mr or Mrs Tortoise who was very insistent that he could climb over said railroad ties and rocks and then time after time ended up flailing on his back...my muscles are sore. We're tired. And we seem to have adopted a desert tortoise.

He/she is very busy. He can move much faster than you might think! He lets me pet him. He likes to sniff me. He stops and looks at me when I talk to him. He goes to bed at night in the shelter we made for him. He ate some of his food today. He pooped this weekend, very exciting.

You're allowed one tortoise per household. They live 100+ years. My guess is that this guy is maybe about 5-10 years old. After I get over my exhaustion, I'll look it up online to figure out gender and age.

He-she needs a name! I need suggestions! Myrtle the Turtle was
suggested and declined.

Help!

His habitat is not quite finished. We need to plant the rest of the desert grasses we bought for him. His winter (hibernation) habitat is not finished yet.....next weekend!

So please leave your name suggestions! Thanks!!

Do you like Turtles?

I love turtles. Sea turtles, snapping turtles, desert tortoises. When my youngest son was very small, we were walking on the NJ beach early one morning, and found a hatchling sea turtle. We put in our bucket for awhile, then good sense prevailed (we didn't have an ocean at home...) and we returned it to the sea.

Out here in the desert, you can adopt desert tortoises from the Sonoran Desert Museum (one of our fav places to take visitors). They live for a long time. Longer than you will live. So you then have to leave them to someone in your will. I've been bugging my hubby for years to help me build a turtle habitat, and get one. He's resisted.

I'm going to keep persisting.

Funny story: we came across one in the wild a long time ago; he was crossing a parking lot at Catalina State park. My hubby picked him up to move him to a safe spot, and the turtle peed all over hubby. :)

Anyway, I love turtles.

From Little Elfs Toyshop




From Dads Wooden Toys.

And you might see a Woolies turtle peeking out at you from the window.

So, how can I convince my hubby that we need desert tortoises?