The new gym is going to work out, I think. Now I have to go through the pain in the rear end stuff of canceling my membership at Gold's, and joining Desert Sports. I think it will be good, especially once the guys start school on August 10.

Ron is getting all revved up for football and boy scouts and in preparation for these things, is changing his schedule from nine 9-hour days, to 8-hour days all the time. He won't have every other Friday off, but he won't be under the pressure to get in 9 hours of work, work out at the gym, organize boy scouts, and football coaching all in one day. He also has a big project at work that is due in November. I don't know how he is going to do all this, but I have started shifting things around. Andy, Benjamin, and Elias are now responsible for walking Redford in the mornings. This seems to be working out alright so far, but since we have had a huge amount of rain in the past two days, the wash is running. This amounts to a totally unreliable stream in the backyard and it makes me very nervous to think of the guys walking the dog out there. The thing is that the water comes rushing down from the mountains in a flash flood and you never know when it is coming. I don't think the guys are going to do the dog walking thing when the washes are running.

Yesterday, I had a guy come over and give me an estimate on cleaning the house. This makes me kind of uncomfortable -- the thought of someone cleaning my house while I sit and eat bonbons (even figuratively) bothers me. However, I have reached the end of my rope with the bathrooms and Ron always, always, always skips his turn (not that I can blame him since it is disgusting). So, the cleaning guy came over and said, very seriously, that it was going to take a long time to do the house. He estimated about 6 hours to go through the whole thing. He quoted me $125 for the first visit and then $80 every visit after that, if I maintained the house in between visits. I can do that! Especially if it means that I never have to go into the guys' bathroom again. I did that in preparation for the cleaning guy's visit and I am still traumatized. The only highlight I will relate is that there was a dead centipede in the trashcan -- 5 inches long and huge pincers.

Today, I went off to spin class (today it was 75 minutes, rather than the usual 55), and then shopped for Ron so that he would have everything he needed while I was gone. I am leaving Sunday morning for my big beach trip -- 6 days away!!! I did that stuff, and then the babysitter arrived and I headed off to my acupuncture appointment. Today, he did something new -- moxibustion. That means that he burned some herbs to (I hope) fix my cold and the fact that I have had to use my inhaler a lot in the past 10 days or so. I hope it works! I did feel pretty good when I left. He also used the acupuncture needles and stuck one in my scalp (that was new).

When I left there, I headed over to get my first mammogram. What an experience! It wasn't painful or anything, just a little strange to have someone lift up your breast and then compress it between plexiglass and then take pictures -- and several views too! Then I had xrays of my left hip and shoulder since they have been bothering me for awhile. I hurt my hip during the last triathlon (Memorial Day) and it is still hurting and I cannot run (not a huge loss). My left shoulder has been bothering me since January and I have no idea what I did, but lately, it has been ramping up in the pain department. I should get the results when I get home from the beach.

I won't be writing until I get home on August 4th. Keep checking back though, because Ron may put in an entry!