Day nine: Not as easy as I thought.

Easily on my fifth mile of the day, it was around noon when I realized this simple fact: “I’m exhausted.”

Buses don’t run on Sunday (which seems extremely old-fashioned and inconvenient, especially if you rely on buses for work) but I had decided that wasn’t going to stop me. My morning trek made Billy’s “Family Circle” maze look like a beeline to the playground.

I started off with a trip to church. Every once in a while, I get in my head that belonging to a church, and always the Catholic variety I recall semi-fondly from childhood, would be a great idea for the sake of community. My husband likes to point out the flaws in my plan.

The pope’s infallibility. Views on women and gays and abortion. The immaculate conception. Creationism. Jesus.

All things I might be able to overlook if not for the Christian right.

OK, so I have a few kinks to work out of my plan.

After mass I walk downtown for coffee and breakfast at the vegetarian coffee house.

Ahhh. That’s better.

I realize I left my phone at a park bench where I fed Penelope, return to fetch it, go home, walk back downtown for the art festival and back home when my realization happened.

When I thought about giving up my car for a month, I honestly didn’t think it would be that hard. I walk a lot anyway. More than the average person, although one plan to fight obesity tells people to take 10,000 steps a day, or walk about five miles, which seems like a lot because I’m averaging about three miles a day without a car.

Anyway, just walking was the only consideration I made. I did not factor in a baby who suddenly refuses to sleep through the night or a husband who recently lost his best employee and must start working 60 hours a week.

So what’s a good housewife/mom to do? I guess I’ll just keep on walking and hope I can drop 10 pounds in the process.

Maybe I’ll just pray on it.