River Queen

Ok, so this post isn't about Tater Tot.  And it really isn't about rivers, either.  It's about how hubs and I are finally starting to get to the point where we can think about our personal goals and eek out time in the week to do things independently.  Hubs joined a gym and has been aiming to go three times a week.  This might be a lot, but his workouts are really short, he goes on the way home from work, and he's usually coming in the door by 5:00 on those days.  It totally works for both of us.  He also wants to get back into cycling and found a local cycling club that has group rides on Wednesdays.  He hasn't made it to one yet, but we're going to try to reserve Wed nights so he can.  

But what about me?  I have a bum knee that has put running on hold for the time being.  What else did I want to do to get myself out of the house for some exercise, fun, and personal time?  Paddling!  There's a very active local group here that does Tuesday and Thursday after work paddles on the lake out here by our house.  It's great because I do the reverse commute to get there and never get stuck in traffic.  To make it even better, Uncle Jon also loves paddling and makes it out for these trips as well.  And we recently hit a very lucky week where our friend, Derek, was in town visiting.  Jon has an extra kayak and, therefore, Derek was able to come out as well.  It was magical getting back out on the water (although I already had my first trip of the season with hubs).  Here we (Derek and I) are heading out to one of the many islands in the lake.

It was amazing getting to talk with each other without having to perform any baby duties.  In fact, the baby hardly came up at all and at times I felt like I was a single lady again having adventures like I used to.  The three of us were having such a good time catching up, that when the rest of the group decided to paddle off for dinner at a local marina, we stayed back on the island and paddled back to the put in on our own.  At the end it took us about 20 minutes to get a shot of the three of us that we all could agree on.  I haven't laughed that hard in a while.  

It was a lot of fun and on this occasion we were able to make it back to the house so hubs could also catch up with Derek.  Because it's a long evening, I only want to commit to doing it once a week.  However, knowing that I'm going to get out on the river gives me something to look forward to during the day if it's starting to drag.  I'm really glad hubs and I are able to do this for each other.