Me and my sister

Robbo was here for a couple of days. She always comes down about this time of year for a brief escape from he New Hampshire winter. We have bulbs popping up -- my first crocus bloomed while she was here -- and she has 2 feet of snow.
"I spend the entire winter contracted to preserve energy and stay warm," she says. "When I come here I can open up and breathe."
When we go hiking, she comments on the smell of the soil and the decaying leaves. Everything is frozen in New Hampshire.
But -- and I'm bragging a little here -- she likes to limit our hikes to 3 miles. I like to keep going. I can do 5 or 6 miles pretty easily still. She says her arthritis kicks up if she walks too far. Mine does too, but once I get to walking, I hate to stop.
We walked 16,800 steps Saturday -- a 3-mile hike and then shopping downtown. Asheville's a great walking town -- lots of hills to get the heart pumping.
Still, I have lost just 6 pounds since I started this weight-loss thing in January. It's frustrating. Robbo had three meals and two desserts Saturday. I had a bite of tiramisu and a bite of her frozen custard.
Peyton turned 15 on Saturday. I can't believe she's that old. I can still hear my son's voice the day she was born: "Oh, Mom, she's so beautiful." And she still is. Smart, too. She doesn't like to be called my precious angel the way she did when she was 3, and I'm not quite as cool as I was when she was 5. She would live at the mall if that were permitted, she loves country music, and she's eager to learn to drive. She's also developing into a pretty good cook. Hard to believe she's 15.