Whazzup? Crabby Checks In

By Crabby McSlacker

Hey there!  So here is yet another post packed with slow-to-load photos that has nothing to do with health and fitness. Even though this is theoretically a health blog.

I mean, sure, I could try to turn this post into some sort of preachy "how to stay fit when life gets distracting" thing, but my advice would suck.

Because here's the secret to how I manage to keep up my exercise routine in the midst of many adventures and distractions and upheavals: By stubbornly prioritizing exercise, slacking horribly on other self-care and creative endeavors I should be pursuing, barely earning any income at all, and relying on the pragmatic, emotional, and financial support of my super-achiever, long-suffering wife.

Unless you've won the lotto or managed to procure a spouse like mine, I suspect my advice wouldn't be too helpful.  If I lived a normal life and wasn't so ridiculously blessed with undeserved good fortune, I'd probably have gotten about 3 minutes of exercise this year, and coped with stress and/or excitement by repeatedly sticking my head in a pail of Toll House cookie dough and washing it down with a vat of Two Buck Chuck. Instead, I've been hiking, ellipticalling, biking, swimming, doing HIIT, weight training, and even my own invented frighteningly weirdo exercises. I've been pretty much keeping on track fitness-wise, even if I do tend to undo most of it by eating like a pig.

So yeah, this isn't going to be advicey, just chatty. And as usual, it's just to put something out here to say hi, and try to entice some of you into letting me know down in the comment section what you've been up to and what you might be planning and what's on your minds these days. I miss you guys!

Anyway, what's been so distracting that I've barely made an appearance on my own damn blog in months?

Blame Travel?

Well, that's part of the problem, as we have been doing some of that.

In Canada we saw some pretty things,

And some weirdly-named things,

And some funny signs.

Damn, we totally forgot our mackerel!

Oh, and we spent the night in a Walmart parking lot in this little town, which I think could probably use little rebranding work:

And we generally had a whale of a good time.

Are there a bunch more pictures somewhere? You bet! But I'll spare you. Plus, most of the good ones are on my wife's phone and as is so often the case, we're a few time zones apart at the moment.

There have also been a couple of New York adventures. I get to go often enough that I stopped trying to photograph it much, but it's always a great place to wander.

That's not me, btw. Just a friendly random stranger procuring an emergency cupcake.

Blame a Hard-Partying Social Life?

Well, we did do some celebrating here and there.

We even went to Vegas!

But that was so NOT our hotel room.  We were there to celebrate my mother-in-law's 90th birthday, and she stays up later than we do and is way more fun.

So while what happened in Vegas can stay in Vegas, it didn't involve incarceration or million dollar jackpots or bankruptcy or random weddings to strangers or anything that would make a particular good story.

Of course, the travel continues so there's still a chance for something blogworthy to occur.  We've got a 25th anniversary trip to Mexico coming up soon, yay!

Blame the Novel I'm Supposed to Be Writing That Was The Reason I Said I Was Quitting Blogging?

Nah, I'm making really shitty progress on that. Though I have not given up. But it's really slow going.

So What's The Latest Distraction Besides Travel?

A totally insane, spur-of-the-moment, crazy-ass but exciting decision to buy a condo we fell love with. And get our current home sold before 95% of Provincetown decamps for the winter and no one is left to buy anything. So what if we happened to be traveling a good chunk of October and are going to be gone almost all of November? Oh and did I mention the place we are buying was built before 1900 and is located in a high-velocity flood zone? And it's a little funky in terms of the floor plan and needs some major renovation?

Note:  the real estate flyer said, quite truthfully: "The galley kitchen has the feeling of being on a boat!" However, as we were looking to purchase a home in which we could cook our meals, and not an actual sailing vessel, this was not a strong selling point.

Anyway, all this was not on the radar at all.  Here's what happened:

In late September we got a notice of a zoning hearing: the cute and tiny little cottages in the wooded lot abutting ours were going to be replaced by massive two story townhouse buildings looming right over us, filled with partying weekly renters. Oh, and all the lovely big trees were going to be removed.

This made us sad. We dutifully wrote grumpy NIMBY letters and rallied neighbors and attended hearings (it's still undecided). But in the meantime, it got us thinking: If our lovely quiet neighborhood was going to change, was there any where else we'd like to live someday?

How about... right on the beach????

So we started with the "maybe someday" conversation. And then had the "well, let's see what's on the market so we know how much we're talking and if we should even torture ourselves by fantasizing about it" conversation. And then the "OMG, this would be awesome, but fat chance!" conversation. Followed by the "so how much would we be willing to trade off in terms of space, noise, and privacy to live on the water?" conversation.

And then it didn't take too long before we got to the "what if we didn't wait 5 years but made a low-ball offer now?" conversation. Which then led into the "how high would we actually go if they countered our offer?" conversation.

Well, high enough, apparently.  We're in escrow, which is pretty damn exciting, but holy crap is real-estate stuff a lot of work!  Between getting our current place on the market, (chores, egad!) and figuring out all the forms and deadlines, and lining up contractors and preparing to move and store and pare down all our stuff, it's been a little hectic.

It's always been a fantasy to ditch the weeding and raking and clipping and hauling and just let the winds and tides handle all our yard work. And go to sleep to the sound of lapping waves...

And by late next spring, it may be a reality!

But we've watched enough HGTV to know we could be in for a whole lot o' challenges and surprises before we get to watch ships sail by over our morning beverages. Even the Canadians on HGTV end up all pissy and petulant at some point in the process, which is saying a lot.

So that's what's been up with us, sure do miss you guys!

What about you: did you go anywhere this summer or fall? Cultivate a lovely garden? Participate in an event? Purchase, rent or renovate something?  Make or maintain a healthy lifestyle change?  Would love to hear about it!