+17,500

No, that's not calories or a crazy temperature. It's steps taken in one day.

Yesterday, I went with my husband to the fair. Our local fair has been going strong for the past 132 years. It's called the Canadian National Exhibition (the CNE), or, as we locals call it, the Ex.

Since the boys are both teenagers now, they go to the Ex on their own. They no doubt go on lots of crazy rides and eat lots of junk. I am not there to police them, no would I. When they're at home we eat healthy foods. Despite their love of junk (especially the younger one), I think we have instilled in them a knowledge of what healthy food is and making healthy choices. I am sure that as they grow older, they will put this knowledge to good use.

But back to the Ex: Besides having two great Midways (for little kids and adults/teens), the Ex also has several huge exhibit halls where you can buy everything from tacos to tie-dyed T-shirts and everything in between. When we go, we spend all our time strolling around and visiting the exhibit halls.

Our favourite place is the crafts hall. It specializes in artisans of all kinds. I bought a beautiful jacket made by a local designer that I will start wearing to work this fall. It's quite close fitting and I think it looks great. So does my husband. We also bought summer sausage from a local farmer. It's high in sodium but the trick is to eat a little piece every now and then as a treat.

We went to the food pavillon for lunch and shared a plate of mediocre Thai food and a bottle of water. We drank more water later.

Here's what we didn't try: deep-fried butter (Yes, this is a new Ex treat that took five years to develop and perfect. Too bad they didn't give up four years ago. People are going crazy for it, since it's new and different.) ; mini-doughnuts, sold by the dozen (Buy three dozen, get the fourth free!!); corndogs (the Toronto Star published a nutritional breakdown of the corndogs at the Ex. Frightening.); ice-cream waffles; funnel cakes; cotton candy, candy apples (yech).

My husband had an ear of roasted corn later in the afternoon. I had a few bites of it and it was great.

We also visited two exhibits: The History of Rock and Roll and Love, Longing and Lust, which the Ex's website describes as follows:

In this fascinating exhibit the CNE Archives explores the role that the CNE has played in bringing couples together since its very early days in 1879. Ranging from the Tunnel of Love, to fashion shows and advice for brides to be, to flirting on the midway, to winning stuffed animals to impress a girl, to seamier shows such as Striporama, sex at the EX has been around as long as the fair has.

Both exhibits were excellent.

By the time we got home, around 7 p.m., my pedometer read over 17,5oo steps.

And the best news? My hip feels fine today and my knee is not complaining any more than usual.