"The Cleanse" and Rockin' Moms

So, if you are wondering what it is we do when we are not on the road, here's a little snapshot!

After returning from Las Vegas, we did "the cleanse". All of the kids did them, so just like blogging, we felt compelled to not be left behind. For 7 of the 11 days, we drank protein shakes and ate 1 meal a day (400-600 calories). The other 4 days, we drank this awful cleanse drink and ate "snacks" -- Six almonds and a "chalk-o-late" cleanse wafer. We both made it through and lost about 4-5% of our body weight each. The bad news, is that for each of the next 4 days, I put 25% of that back on, so by day 5 after the cleanse, I was back where I started! I lost a couple of those pounds and stablized lower than I started at, but it was a lot of agony for 2-3 lbs. of weight loss! I guess we have to look at the bright side--clothes fit better, and our cells are all purified of the toxins that had infested them.

On a "normal" day of retirement, you are likely to find us playing Guitar Hero on the Wii. We have aced the "easy" level, but can't seem to get "medium" down! Since Shaun can't rotate her left arm or hand, we had to set up a rig for her guitar using a keyboard stand. She uses the lack of arm rotation as her excuse for not mastering medium, I just lack basic hand/eye coordination and can't keep track of more than 3 notes at a time! We sit for hours in front of the game rockin' away. Shaun reads a lot, I surf the internet, mostly planning trips or doing investment research. Shaun works out every day, usually twice. She runs by herself, then goes over to Josh's and lifts weights or does more aerobics with him. I walk a lot and continue to do my 10K + steps a day and have gotten back in the bike saddle. We take advantage of all that Portland has to offer, including attending the Waterfront Blues Festival (and seeing Phoebe Snow live), going to a play "The Little Dog Laughed", going to movies, walking around town, having coffee, lunch or happy hour with friends, reading or whatever. The days go by really, really fast! This week we are attending classes at the Intercultural Institute Summer Conference at Reed College as guests of our friend April.

So mostly, we do a little of this and a little of that. It's so nice to sleep until we wake up (usually between 6-7 instead of 4-5 like we did when we were working) and just take life as it comes.