walk at lunch

We walked at lunch and took some pixs for a project I'm working on. I also took this picture of crocus blooming on College Hill in February.

another water tasting

Forgot my water bottle on my way to Bingo at the Fearless yesterday. I'm not normally a bingo player, but this is for the Boy Scout camp group that Jarrod belonged too. Grams made out well. Bonnie won and so did I. It was a good afternoon.

I got this at my favorite fancy water store, Walgreens. I had to stop and have a pix printed. This was called RESOURCE and the water was from a source in beautiful downtown....drumroll please...Bangor! It was bottled by Nestle in a bottle that was 50% recycled plastic. The graphi designer in me wants to comment on the great label.

It tasted good. It wasn't just flat and wet. It had minerals or bear poop or something in it to give it some flavor. It said "electrolytes".

Sadly I drank it while watching the Oscars. I drank birch beer at the Bingo.

bad girls

This is the weekend when every time we walked we ignored a sign. It was one of those weekends.

Yesterday we walked on a road that said "No Trespassing". The reward was the incredible view. The first time in the three or four years I've been doing training walks that I ignored a sign, that I know of anyway. But we can't make a habit of it. One day we will get caught and fined. Or worse. Look what happen to those hikers in Iran. We all know how that ended.

If you want to hear the story, ask, I will gladly tell. I just don't want to write it. The cyber police might get me. Yeah, I'm a little paranoid.

When we got home Lyd, Bonnie and I took Adonis for a 1/2 mile walk. Bonnie is a taskmaster. No sniffing and marking. Who was walking who is debatable.

He doesn't like other dogs and Lyd has been talking to the vet about it. Someone else was walking their dog, and he nearly pulled Bonnie over. But we got him calmed down.

Today, we walked in Bonnie's neighborhood. That's Bonnie, Sharon and I in front of her holly bush.

We headed down Maumee, and out Salisbury. Then we wove thru a bunch of side streets, and around the park. We left Sharon at the swings and kept going. We were going to come in the side entrance of the park, but alas there was none,  so we had to go all the way around.

We finally found Sharon, swung awhile, played on the METAL slide, and rode the dino. The comfort station were locked so we headed out the path to the street. It took us to the wrong side of a closed bridge. It didn't look like it was crumbling, and disobeying the signs again, we each crossed the bridge.

My brother Henry used to watch Cops. Sometimes they had had a "girl" edition and changed the lyrics to "Bad girls, bad girls, whatcha gonna do, watcha gonna so when they come for you". You can guess what was going thru my head as we crossed the bridge!

Then we headed out Lehigh and back to Bonnie's.

couldn't have said it better myself

If found this a few minutes ago on the UpGemini blog.

I am so glad my paleolithic cell phone does not connect to internet

hehehehe

walking fools

Bonnie emailed me shortly after I made the last post. She's in. We decided on April 1. I guess that makes us walking fools. My friend Betsy is also in. Just waiting to hear from Kathy and Lyd.

UPDATE: Kathy is in.

waiting patiently in nome

It's a chilly -17 this morning in "Nome". Still have ample supplies of hot chocolate for the gang when they arrive, but the whipped cream is gone. Wishing I would have brought some rum. David said he'd "ship" some marshmallows.

I have walked every day this week while waiting.

Back home, it was announced in the Morning Call that Bethlehem is getting it's own half marathon in mid-October. But it's for runners only. They printed the map in the paper. (Yes, I still prefer newsprint to internet for news.) It's a nice route with flat and hills. I cut it out. Might be a good training walk for the 100K. Even at 3MPH we'll be done in less than 4 hours.

What's nice is it is at home. If someone needs to drop out, they can hop on a bus or make a phone call.

Any takers?

nome, sweet nome

I made it! I've reached "Nome" for the Idita-Walk.

I walked 1049 minutes walking in 20 days, starting February 2 and I didn't walk everyday.

It's going to be a beautiful day in Nome. A little dark right now. The sun won't rise until 9:28 Alaska time. But when it does it will be a sunny day and reach 19 degrees. Right now it's 7.

Adonis, Megan, Dave, Kathy, and Bonnie—I'll see you at the finish line. I have hot chocolate...if I don't drink it all.

Photo of Nome, since I'm not really there, from this website.

walking the burbs

After today's walk, I'm less than 50 miles from "Nome" in the Idita-Walk. There is a small part of me that wants to go out there and just finish it. The larger voice keeps yelling, shut up and sit down. You've got a poop-load of work to do. I guess I need to listen to that voice.

Lydia was up to her eyeballs in paperwork today so she didn't go. However, she wanted to share some great news this weekend. She was chosen for the Bariatric Support Group fashion show, and she's down to a size 16. She is now officially thinner than me. That stings just a little. But I'm not willing to have surgery, so it is, what it is.

She also signed up for the First Stride program at the Bethlehem Township Community Center. I hope she learns a lot and burns lots of calories. Sharon and I did the program. If you finish all 12 weeks (Lydia there's homework!) you get a performance shirt and a pin. Our shirts were red. Graduation is a 5K.

I planned for a 4, 4.5, and a hair under 5 mile walk today. We ended up doing the four. Pretty much starting at Wegmans, heading down Stokes Park Road, a loop thru the subdivision that used to be Kohler's farm, up Jacksonville, and back Crawford. Bonnie needed the restroom so we didn't do the 1/2 mile or almost mile extra loop.

Walks in the 'burbs are fairly flat, rolling hills, so we could do some speed walking.

After walking, we shopped. Carts full of fruits and veggies and other healthy things. It begs the question, why are we still fat girls?

walking purchase park

Bonnie came before her tax appointment to walk 3-5 miles.  I wanted to do hills to build my stamina for the 100K.  So we headed up Bishopthorpe, then Graham into Salisbury. When we reached the top of the hill I had planned to go down one block and come back Jeter, then down Dodson and cross Broadway and up Dorothy.

Bonnie said, where does that street go. I said Walking Purchase Park, and before you knew it we headed down there. All the way down to the river and the railroad tracks. Then we had to come back up one heck of a hill.

So we changed the walk and went down Dotson, out Smiley/Stanley, down Lynn, across Broadway and home. It came out to 5 miles, and Bonnie was late for her tax appointment. Oops.

That walk, in addition to my walk with Sharon this morning, added an additional 165 minutes to my Idita-Walk total. I'm at 902 miles. Won't finish this weekend, unless I double walk again tomorrow. If I would have walked with Betsy Friday, I would have made it.

Wonder what the weather is like in Nome? Hope they are having a mild winter too.

Tomorrow we'll be doing another 3-5 miles.

february flowers

Technically they are weeds. They are part of my natural, no-maintenance lawn. But it's mid-February and it's blooming.

It was a perfect day to walk and hang out laundry.

wind in our face

I'm making sure I post today so Lyd doesn't hollar at me again!

Today we gathered at my house to walk at 10ish. Adonis stayed with Pat and Sharon. We headed up my street and out Sioux, then crossed Wyandotte and up the Eighth street hill into Lehigh's campus. Lyd was none to happy with me.

Then we wove thru campus, and went out Fifth to Hayes. All this time the wind was beating on our backs. When we reached the Greenway and headed west the wind acted like resistance. It was very cold. So we moved up to Fourth, so the buildings broke the wind a little. My original plan was to go down to third and up the hill and out Delaware so the walk would be four plus miles. Instead we headed straight, more or less,  home. Total was 3.3 miles.

I think our pace was pretty good for the first half. We mostly stayed together. It took about 70 minutes if you minus off the potty stop at Wendy's.


We took a couple of pixs on the Greenway. My camera battery was dead, so Lyd took them on her phone. We're all wearing our hats Barb made us.

We got home, rested a bit and Bonnie was headed to Bottom Dollar in the car. Lyd and Adonis also left. Sharon and I hopped into Bonnie's car and went to B$ too. Sharon got the groceries she needed and we wove our way home. I added another 30 minutes to my walking. My Idita Walk total is now 562. I'm half way done. Hopefully If I get 5 hour walks in this week, I'll be done next week this time.

Then I'll wait for the others to arrive. Unsure if Megan will beat me to the finish.

a very, very good day.

I went walking today with my friends Betsy in her South Whitehall 'hood. When we were done I went to the Wegman's by Trexler Park to get my prescriptions. I was dressed for walking. Pink sneakers, pink fleece. Pink scarf. By chance the bags I grabbed for probable shopping were also pink.

That Wegman's confuses me. It's so different from the others. I end up walking up and down every aisle at least twice. Needless to say my Rx was going to be 45 minutes. I shopped. First thing I bought were pink daisy's. Because I forgot to eat lunch I also bought a pink smoothie. (230 calories.)

I have a lot of pink in my life. I really don't think about it. I was walking back to my car and this car stops next to me. "Excuse me" she says. "I just wanted to tell you look so pretty, all pink." She then wished me a "Happy Valentine's Day" and pulled away.

It was a nice moment. I had no one to tell. So I'm telling you Dear Reader.

To make it even better, when I arrived home I had a real-live letter waiting for me. Handwritten and mailed.  A former Girl Scout was doing a writing exercise that asked her "to think about someone from my childhood who encouraged me to pursue my own interests rather than do what I was 'supposed to do' ". She picked me. Me! "You come let me play in the woods, when I was 'far to old' to be climbing trees and mucking about outside." ... "Thank You."

I wish I could bottle moments like that. But alas, I can't. Unpacking the groceries, the roomie screams "why did you f*cking buy flowers."

Back to reality.

flowers in february

Yesterday I walked at lunch time and encountered blooming flowers. I was so excited, I whipped out my phone and took a picture.

Otherwise trying to walk everyday. Though today I didn't. I helped my sister-in-law with her resume. I'm hoping to do a walking tape. It depends on how late I work tonight if it gets done.

On a sad note, I'm eating like there is no tomorrow. I must stop. Damn those Girl Scout Cookies and my lack of willpower. It might also be hormonal.

On a happy note, I'm at nearly 400 minutes for the Idita-walk.

found on facebook

This morning I opened up Facebook and found this comment from my niece and walking buddy Lydia.

"What no blog posting from yesterday's walk...I thought my bitchin would end up in it...lol You must be working on a lot of school work!"

No, actually I wasn't. I did indeed work a lot yesterday, but I also watched a movie. My new internet service has sped up my online class considerably (but I'm still thinking of moving up a level). Plus the new grading system has helped too.  I didn't post because I didn't think anything noteworthy happened.

I replied "Sorry. No, with the new internet service I actually get a few minutes of free time. I could have went for at least another hour. And more hills!"

I honestly could have. I was just barely getting started with the 4+ miles we did.

What's funny about this is that originally Lydia wasn't supposed to go along. She was to have a big date Saturday night. So I told Bonnie come whenever you wanted. Sunday morning a tired Lyd called and said "are we going walking?" I told her the time I thought Bonnie would be here. Then I called Bonnie to tell her not to hurry. She arrived and we waited. And waited. Odd because Lyd is often early. I called. "I'm on the "378 bridge". That's five minutes away. We get ready. 15 minutes later she arrived. She stopped at McDs for for her 11 point biscuit breakfast. She could have mentioned that when I called. Just saying. But then we would have given her flack.

The last time we walked she said she wanted to go up Sassafrass Alley. So I took her up. She didn't realize that she'd have to also go up Wyandotte Street and then down Frederick. And also, because she wasn't coming along originally, I made the route longer. I had planned 5-6 miles depending on how Bonnie felt.

Let's just say she did indeed do some "bitchin" during the walk. But then, we all do, a little bit.

I need to go for longer walks and soon. I guess on weekends I'll have to skip watching movies in the afternoon and walk instead. Need to build my endurance for the 1-day. 

bank opens

Not often we have a "grand opening" on the southside. Generally things just close. So the TD Bank building a bank in a poor neighborhood is exciting to me. I belong to a credit union and would never leave it, but it's nice to have a coin counting machine that I can walk to.

So I emptied my jar of coins into a plastic bag, strapped on the plastic backpack bag I got at the Apple store, and Sharon and I headed to the new bank. We took the scenic route. The pixs of of me and my coins. Turns out it was $112 worth! The first mile wasn't so bad. The second mile reminded me of the Avon, carrying my laptop. It got heavy.

We arrived at the bank and it was packed with workers, and some customers. They had a band in the parking lot, popcorn, beverages, games, and their mascot. People in suits were waving down customers. When we walked in everyone clapped and said welcome. It was a bit bizarre.

The customer service person helped remove the backpack and carefully showed me how the Penny Arcade worked. He gave me a bank and a coin purse. I bought (?) a CD, at a grand opening rate that was only a bit higher than the credit union. Something is better than nothing.

Back outside we got some popcorn, Sharon got coffee and we played plinko and won a really nice baseball cap and a key chain with the mascot on.

As we went to leave, Sharon said she felt like walking UP Wyandotte street to go home. So we did.

Welcome to the neighborhood TD Bank. Hope this is a sign that our poor, but wonderful neighborhood is coming back from the brink of H*ll. I hope the nice white walls and stone retaining wall remain graffiti free and that you are never robbed.

dumbf*ck parents

Sharon spent the night last night. We'll be going walking shortly. That new TD bank is opening at the five points. It will be one of our stops.

Before Sharon can do anything she needs coffee. So I went to the Wawa to get her some. There I met the dumbf*cks parent from hell. I tried the "mommy" look, the "really" look and the "disapproving" look. None worked. My friend Angel would have read her the riot act.

They pulled in about the same time as I did. Mom's overweight, but not horribly. The kids are maybe 6-7 and 3-4. I get to the coffee area, pour Sharon's coffee and turned around. I'm now facing the fountain drinks. The  7 year-old is pouring himself a blue 32 ounce Icee* drink. It not even 9 am.

He starts to pour the 3-year-olds Icee. She cries. She doesn't want blue she wants red. So he makes it rainbow. She's happy. I'm appalled. And frozen in my spot. Then he pours one for mom.

Next stop. The doughnut case for glazed doughnuts. The little one cries again. She wants a hot dog. She gets one and the boy gets a pepperoni and cheese cup.

They would have been better off with breakfast at McDonalds.

I got fat by myself. I made wrong choices. Not my parents. Hell, I was seriously underweight when I was a teen. These kids don't stand a chance in hell. They'll be fat teenagers. Fatter adults. And probably never be elderly.  

Obesity in America is not caused by fast food, HF corn syrup, and white sugar. They are just scape goats. It's caused by dumbf*ck parents. It's just another form of child abuse.


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*I have no problem with Icee's. I love them, especially the Slurpee variety at the 7-11. Haven't had one in years but I'd let my kid have a small one, on a hot summer afternoon, occasionally. Everything is okay in moderation. But frozen sugar is not breakfast food.

bubble tea

Last night I went to the lunar new year festival at Lafayette, with three of my four Chinese "daughters".  Zili sang (r-l), Yemai took photos and danced, and Luning came late. There was a lion dance, calligraphy, and food.

And bubble tea. If Pepto was green, it would look like Pepto. I stared at the punch bowl. I had no idea what this was and my other choice was Coke. Grabbed a glass and poured a little in. Tasted it. It was weird and oddly yummy. I filled the class. When I got to the end, I noticed the bubbles. Tapoica pearls.

Monumental night. I did not choose Coke.

Food services made it with cows milk. You can also use coconut or soy.  I found the basic recipe online.

1/2 cup chilled, cooked large tapioca pearls (if substituting smaller tapioca, use 1/3 cup) *
1 cup crushed ice
1 cup very strong chilled black tea (or orange pekoe tea or Lichee tea)
1 cup milk or to taste
Honey or granulated sugar to taste

heaven help me.

I signed up for the 100K with Michel. DC to Harper's Ferry, WV. That's 62 miles in 22 hours. I'm fairly sure I could do the 50K (30.2) but 100! I have no confidence at all. I just hope I finish alive with my legs still operating.

Michel says we're in this together. Hopefully his partner is picking us up at the finish line, or wherever else we drop. Otherwise I'll sleep in the streets of Harper's Ferry.

Who needs a bucket list when you barely an acquaintance with a daredevil Frenchman.

April 28. 3 am.  Start praying.