I have discovered that it is difficult to get 100 grams of protein with what one might call “normal food” without getting way more fat in my diet than I want. I went to Sam’s yesterday to buy groceries and while I was there, I bought beef jerky, protein drinks, and some salad add-ins that are high in protein. I also found bread with quinoa, chia, teff, and kamut. It also has 4 grams of protein per slice. And it is yummy. Problem solved.

None of that has anything to do with the photo. This is one of two turtles I encountered on my walk this morning. I think he would have fit in the palm of my hand. The other was partially in a hollow, and I think she was laying eggs, so I didn’t want to get too close and disturb her nesting. There was also a bullfrog, poison ivy (which I did not touch), and something huge that splashed in the pond. I don’t know what it was because I was busy taking the picture of the turtle. Also, rabbits and squirrels and birds. I was blessed today to take my 3,000 steps on a nature trail by the bay. It was a good way to start the day. It was already bordering on hot when I finished about 7:45, so I’ll be bumping that walk up until I find a sweet spot. I don’t plan to do the eventual 10,000 at mid-day.

I’ve spent a bit of time today refining my room. I’m not quite sure I will ever be done with that task, but I am down to small changes now, and each one adds to my satisfaction/peace when I walk into my sacred space. It is nice, after a period of time where everyone felt free to walk into my room at their whim, to live differently. Only three people enter without asking express permission, none of them live here, and they have all received blanket permission to do so. I can leave home without worrying that my room will be violated in my absence, my possessions purloined, and my sanctuary disturbed. Let alone being able to go to bed and go to sleep without worrying about who is going to walk in and see me drooling on my pillow. Yes, it has actually happened that a random teenage boy that I had never seen before walked through my room after I went to bed. I was not pleased. At all.

We’re going to the Orioles/Yankees game tonight: the four kids, a friend, and I. Hopefully I won’t crash as hard and as early as I did last night. I’ve still got a good bit that I would like to accomplish before 5pm, including cooking the take-along dinner we have planned. It should be a fun night. You know I live in Baltimore, so that means I root for the Orioles. But I’ve also been a Yankees fan since…many years. I’ll leave the park happy tonight, no matter what happens. Unless we get rained out. Then I will leave unhappy. And also wet.