one door closes. will another one open?

This is not a walking entry. So my regular readers might want to skip it.

I hate change. If you look up status quo in the dictionary you'll see my face. Change is my personal enemy. I only change when I'm forced to. Today was that day.

If you don't know, I am a graphic designer. In this field people come and go every time new management arrives. Each time a new boss comes, you say a little prayer and hope you survive the reorganization.  I did that for 16 years. I was part time employee. I was safe. The trend is to keep part timers.

When I started there I had been recently laid off, and I was in grad school. I found the ad in the classifieds. It was one of the first jobs I applied for and I got it. It was the perfect fit. And I made a couple good friends there. In the years that followed, I hoped that I would be offered a full time position and it never happened.  But it was okay. I went to grad school so I could teach. It took awhile but I started to get some adjunct classes. Then online classes. That part time college job, partnered with teaching jobs, pro bono work, and a tiny bit of freelance kept me afloat. I had no benefits—no healthcare, vacation or sick days. Nada.

Last fall a new boss came. Then Christmas came and went. And New Years. I thought I survived. But I didn't. In February I got my marching orders. They had decided to buck the national trend and hire only full-time people. The part-timers would all become one person. Which would have been wonderful 10 years ago. Now,  I am no longer interested in being that person. I want to teach full-time. That was my goal the day I graduated high school. Life has brought me full circle.

I should be excited. I should be dancing in the streets. But I'm not. I alternate between being terrified and relieved. Relieved because for the last eight years or so I've hated every minute of it. But still, I didn't leave. How could I leave behind my old friend Status Quo? It consistently paid the bills and supported my walking adventures. I paid off school loans and save almost enough money for a new kitchen. (If you saw my kitchen you'd be saving too!)

But then I loaned family members all the kitchen money. I am a sucker for a hard luck story.  I couldn't bear the weight if someone I loved was homeless because I didn't fork up the cash. I am my mother's daughter. I can't say no.

Because of those decisions I have minimal savings. And I am terrified of being poor. I have read all these articles about adjuncts not making a living wage.  And have more expenses in the last year, than the previous 10. I have a car payment because of my crash last year. And I'm spending $400 a month on health insurance that covers little, because it was the cheapest one. Still looking for the Safe Auto-type plan that is affordable. The little savings I have left will be gone in maybe two years. And no new kitchen.

I've been trimming the budget since February. In May it gets the chain saw. Bottom line. I need to find more work.  I'll really miss those Jersey gas prices now.

I don't know how many of you are out there searching for a job, but looking for work in 2015 is a whole lot different than in the 20th century. To quote Dorothy, "Toto, we're not in Kansas anymore".

Since I received the news in February I have been developing resumes and CVs, getting transcripts, recommendations, and writing teaching philosophies. I have developed a professional online presence.  (Click here for Linked In and my portfolio on Behance.) I've registered and searched on my higher ed and regular classified ad sites. Looking for a job has become my job. The deadline for most full time teaching application came and went before my transcripts arrived. But I continue to look. Next time I will be ready.

In the meantime I am hobbling together my new, hopefully temporary,  reality—

I got a one day a week gig at a local arts center. It pays about half what I was earning before. But something adds better than nothing. And I can walk there. So I'll save on gas and wear and tear on the car. And never have an excuse not to exercise.

I've been accepted at publisher to do book covers. But so far no authors are interested in my work. My style is clean and simple. That is not the trend. If I can get one to say yes, maybe I'll get more. I'm concentrating on non fiction. If you have a manuscript and need a designer. Give me a call.

In the same vein, a former writer friend/colleague wants to start her own publishing imprint. If it happens, I could be the designer. I've already done the logo.

I already do some work for my former college's art gallery, and the director has assured me yeaterday that she'll still use me.

Finally, in an ironic twist, the former employer has re-hired me to work freelance to do a significant publication, three times a year. It was a large component of my former job.

Maybe there is no reason to be terrified. But I still am.

If anyone out there can throw me a lead I'll take it. Graphic design—print publications are my strong suite. Book covers. Art and theatre publications or catalogs are great too.

Do you need impeccible typography for your project? Then you know who to call.

Or teaching graphic design. Full time, adjunct, online—I can do it all. I can also tutor people in InDesign either as individuals or small groups. 

Like Larry, Darryl, and Darryl, I will do almost anything for a buck.

trail dames scavenger hunt

 Today's Trail Dames

I've know about the Trail Dames for a year or so. They are a woman's hiking group and they embrace everyone—big or small. Kind of a nice change. I've signed up for events int he past and always need to bail for one reason or another. Not today.

Today was a scavenger hunt in Doylestown. I've always wanted to do one in the Lehigh Valley. I learned a lot of what not to do.

The organizer was Theresa. A lovely lady, but a bit of a scatterbrain.  She divided us in two by alphabet, so Lydia and I got split. Lydia was in one group and didn't have as much fun. My group got along well.

So we had about 8 places we needed to find. A cemetery, the Justice Building, the Historical Society, the Mercer and the Mitchner, best place to get coffee that isn't a convenience store, Hargrove House, Civil War Museum, Fountain House, a historic marker, and the James Lorah Memorial Home. We also had to find the letters A-Z.

For A-Z our group chose objects. Angels, flags, shutters, plants, meters, that kind of thing. The other group looked for letters in the signs. More like the alphabet game you play on the highway. Then we met back at a pizza place for lunch.

It was fun, at least for me. Lydia might say otherwise.

 B is for Birdhouse. A really cool birdhouse.

 G is for Ghost Sign

 L is for Labyrinth

For more pixs go to The photo dropbox. I'll leave them there until Mother's Day.

Things I learned. Have a defined area to search. Have everything typed, not handwritten, on a tri-fold page so it's easy to hold. They gave us the building name and an address. I'd like something a little more vague. So in Bethlehem, I'd say a "Business or institution that is over 200 years old." You could pick from Central, Moravian, the chapel, Moravian Book Store, Moravian Academy .... Much more fun. I'd also specify that the letter had to start the word. Like Yoga Studio rather than Playground. We didn't find that out until 10 minutes before it was over.

 Team One

Sign in the pizza shoppe.

tuesday walk with bonnie

Bonnie and I are settling into a Tuesday / Thursday schedule. She came here today. The torrential downpours of yesterday are gone and the sun is warm and beautiful.

We did the Fountain Hill walk. Lot's of hills. Up my hill. Up Findlay. Up Moravia. Up Lechauweki. Up Moravia again. And then finally down, down, down. We went behind the Wawa, and up the trail thru the playground to Russel. Then up to Jeter, and finally down, down, down to Broadway. Of course there was one last uphill.

Because of the rain. Worms were everywhere. Fishermen would have been in heaven. 

I did not walk Monday. A boat, however, might have come in handy.

two walks in reading

Today we went to Reading...and didn't shop!

This weekend was the Wyomissing walk event. The start point was three blocks from the outlet. The registration table was set up in front of a garage, behind a hair salon. Kind of odd. But they were busy.

First stop was Sleepy Hollow playground. Several years I tried to find that park for the Fitzi's 5K and it was right by the outlets. I used to drive for a half hour looking for it. Now I know.

A lot of the area that we walked thru looked familiar because of doing all those 5Ks. The park that we walked thru for one. But we never went as far as the planetarium and the museum. Then we headed into town. And back to Vanity Fair and the start line.

After having our books stamped, we headed back to Sleepy Hollow to let the little one run around. There were not any big kid swings. ): So I made do with some of the other toys. Too bad this rope thing wasn't a little higher.

I also climbed the 76 stairs back up to the street. We usually park at the top of these stairs when we do the races.

After lunch we headed to Nolde State Forest for a second walk. The trail was much more natural. It was hard at times navigating the rocks and roots with the stroller. But little man was happy all day.

 Mother Nature was getting her green on. Though that daffodil was a little miss-placed.

All in all a good day. back to grading!

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Update: I guess I was tired, out of practice, or in the grading zone but I forgot to post the Bathroom rating. The Wyomissing walk was a city walk w/o bathrooms. They actually used the ones at the hospital. I can guess, with no uncertainty that the bathrooms were a I-5 or at the very least 4.5. It's a hospital.

The park was an indoor comfort station. It's rating was an I-3.5. There was bugs.

For those of you who don't remember, here is the scale:
Kind:
L   Latrines/outhouse
P   Port-o-potties        
I    Indoor                   

Scale:
0    Locked. My least favorite kind of restroom.
1    Disgusting/gross/foul, no running water or hand sanitizer 
1.5 Disgusting/gross/foul, running water or hand sanitizer
2    Dirty, no running water or hand sanitizer
2.5 Dirty, running water or hand sanitizer
3    Clean, no running water or hand sanitizer
3.5 Clean, running water or hand sanitizer
4    Very clean, no running water or hand sanitizer
4.5 Very clean, running water or hand sanitizer
5    Impeccable.

tuesday thru thursday

Yesterday Pam and I walked at lunch time. We stayed on campus this time.

Many departments have come together on campus to create something called Frankenstein 2029. It is described on the College's website as "Frankenstein 2029 is an immersive visual arts, theater, music, dance, film and media experience based on Mary Shelley’s gothic novel that challenges both the boundaries of live performance and what it means to be human in an ever accelerating technological world."

I have no idea what that means. But these are some of the art pieces that we found.

 365 leaves for 365 days of the year.

 Plaster "fingers" in a tree.

Plaster ice cubes in a fountain. We stacked them around the edges. The bench nearby said "Love thyself" in chalk.

 

There was also a protest of some sort. They had Frankenstein cookies. Yum.

 While walking Pam and I also made plans to do the Great Saunter on May 2. 32 miles around NYC.

Today, Bonnie and I walked around East Allentown. On Tuesday, we walked around South Bethlehem. We did the Lehigh University route.

finisher's certificate

My finisher's certificate arrived for the Ida-Walk. One year I will remember to capitalize my name when I apply.

monday mile 6:15 am

This is our first Monday mile since I found out about the program. Again, Angel's family wins. They were out at 6:15 am just in time for sunrise. The child has the PSSA's this morning and convinced mom to go out. "we did a leisurely 0.96 mile in 19 minutes. Had to be home by 6:30 for scrambled egg wraps."

The child needs to bring a snack for the testing. There's a contest for weirdest snack. The child who takes "weird" food for lunch including a chicken leg and sushi declared "mom, we are going to win this." Last I heard they were making candy covered chick peas.  (1st link is candy, second is chocolate)

Really, the other kids in the 5th grade don't stand a chance. They look like crap food and are nutritious. Sort-of.

Pam and I headed out to look at million dollar mansions on College Hill for our walk. I have no idea where we went, or really how far we went. We walked for about forty minutes. Two miles maybe?

Spring had sprung on College Hill—snowdrops, forsythia, daffodils, little purple flowers that were not violets...it was all in bloom. And people were out doing yard work.

Haven't heard from anyone else. Will post if I do.

dang the water was cold

I have no idea what the air temperature was today — 65 or so. Perfect weather for a Polar Plunge, right? Wrong. The water was 34 degrees. Until recently the quarry was still frozen.

The event was held to support the Jewish Community Center's aquatic program. The turn out was light.  Probably because of the rescheduling the day after Passover ended.

It's actually worse plunging into the bitter cold water than coming out into the cold air. It literaly stung like a bunch of needles. It was so much "fun" we went back in again.

They were actually encouraging us to jump in off the dock. Are you kidding?

The guy in the pix that is walking into Pam is encouraging people to get totally wet. I pushed him out of the way and ran like heck.

I'm wearing my event sock hat. Cute, right? It was a little warm for today. Someone else wore theirs and lost it in the water. Don't know if they retrieved it.

Pam's husband took a lot of pictures. A few are unflattering. If you want to see the whole crazy event, let me know. I'll show you. There are a few more on instagram.

Pam is part of a running group. They have found someone who makes running tutus that even have hooks on them for your water bottle. I've been meaning to make one, but maybe now I won't have too.

lager jogger 5k race day

Eryn, Angel and I left about 7am for Pottsville. There was not traffic so we arrived early. But the parking lots were all really full. Lucky for us they just opened the one behind the train station. Prime parking.

We were about 5 blocks from the brewery and headed up the hill to the block party. They were still setting up.

It was cold and windy. I'm glad I took my jacket even though I had to carry it. I think Eryn was cold.

 To keep warm we poked around and tried to stay out of the crowds.

When we came back down we encountered this fellow. He ran in this outfit. It was made from cardboard boxes.

Finally it was time to begin. I was hoping for 50 minutes. But who was I kidding. It was half uphill. I suck on hills. I think last time I described the course. Basically up a mile, down a block, straight a couple blocks, up a killer hill, up a small incline, up another hill, and then finally down for the last mile.

Angel was cooking. She took the Bonnie role and blew ahead. She had 11-14-16 minute miles and finished in 48+. With all those hills. AND had time to take pictures. Eryn and I finished in 57.

Then it was time to work our way thru the crow for our finisher's beers. Beer at 10 am is not bad. Though I wish I would have ate more! Unlike the last time the beer line was organized. Well actually there was two. And it was a fast moving cattle shoot. More like a water stop than a beer stop. You didn't even really stop.

A fun time for all. Or at least until Eryn noticed missed calls from her kid. Then she went into mommy mode. We never found out what it was about. His grandmother assured her things were fine. I'm guessing fighting siblings.

another fun weekly challenge.

This was discussed yesterday during my wellness class. A way to get people walking. It's called the Monday Mile.

The website describes it as "a fun way to jump-start your week with a healthy dose of physical activity. Walk, jog or run the Monday Mile with friends, family and co-workers, and enjoy positive health benefits while socializing with others and making a commitment to stay fit throughout the week."

Sounds like our type of event, right? And there's a ton of apps for you to download. I'm surprised I haven't seen this on FB. If you do it, send picx via email or text and I'll post them.


All the buttons were so fun I couldn't pick. Which is your favorite? Maybe each Monday I'll post a different one, until I run out.

national walk at lunch day!

It was so much fun April 1st, let's do it again. Even if it's not at lunch.

Same rules as the last time. Walk at lunch, then email/text me a photo and I'll post it. This is my last day at Lafayette, so I will certainly be walking for the last time at lunch with Pam.

Who's in?

For more info, click here.

yuengling light larger jogger, day one.

Tomorrow is the Lager Jogger 5k. Eryn, Angel and I are doing it. Packet pickup was today.

Our original plan was to walk the course, but we didn't have a copy. So instead we took the brewery tour and walked a lot of skinny stairs.

When we did this race in 2013 Bonnie and I took the tour, you can read about it here. It's a great tour but the group was huge. Maybe 50 people. That is a lot of people to herd around a 183 year old building. And the next group was just as big. The last time, there was maybe 10 in the group.

They still give you two full 6 ounce cups of beer at the end. And because the ice cream operation is up and running (by cousins) again, they were giving free samples of ice cream outside too. Be still my heart. Beer and ice cream before lunch. Life is good.

(They are doing a remodel of the old ice cream building. Wonder if it will be the plant once more?)

Angel took a lot of good photos. You can see them on FB or Instagram.

We walked from the Brewery down to the Ramada to pick up our race packets. It was pretty empty and went very quickly. I dropped my bib and the sensor set off the chip check computer. Angel scooped it up.

Afterwards we headed to the Maroon Sports Bar and Grille where Bonnie and I ate last time.  It wasn't open!

Not much is open in downtown Pottsville so we ended up walking back to the car and heading out of Dodge. We ultimately ate at a 5-Guys.

Tomorrow we head back at 7 am, or early. Race time is 9.

 When I arrived home from Pottsville, there was a hang-tag on the door that Edible Arrangements came and I wasn't home. They left it at Phillipes. This is the basket of fruit. beautiful, isn't it. Clearly we are taking fruit on the road trip tomorrow. I think the large multicolor things are pineapple.

It was from my friend Pam. We walk together at lunchtime Mondays or Wednesday. Or both. But my end date has been announced, so I'll finish up there on the 29th. No more walking. The card said "Hope we can do many more fun walks even if we aren't at Lafayette!" Of course we will. I heart my friends.

the shopping center workout.

It's kind-of like mall walking. But in a strip shopping center.

A few weeks ago a stone hit my windshield and it cracked. I've been delaying the inevitable. Today was the day.

I made arrangements with Bonnie to meet at the car dealer. We were going to park at the shopping center and then take the 3-mile loop around the block. But Mother Nature had other plans. It rained.

I needed to go to Giant. So we decided to park at Giant, walk under cover down to the pet store and go around the bigger stores. Up and down the aisles.

First stop was back to Marshall's, but they weren't open. Then it was to the pet store and they weren't open for another 10 minutes. So we headed over to Rite Aid and finally started. First Rite Aid, then the pet store, the dollar store, Staples (too a long time) and finally Giant, picking up groceries.

Now you might be laughing uncontrollably by now but we go almost 2.5 miles in! Not bad for walking up and down aisles.

And in all those stores only one sales clerk asked if were were looking for something. One.

from yesterdays event

Thought I'd share. Weights in the office. I can just see that.

I do 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, I used to do 6 before my colleague moved, 10--but no band, and 11 at lunch only.

wellness wednesday

Today was the annual spring wellness fair at the college. I always enjoy walking over to this event. Especially for the food. The give-aways are not usually shabby either.

This year it was different. They still had the chair massages—line too long, but there was about half the vendors that are normally there. I was really hoping to grab a new backscratcher. But alas, they weren't handing those out either. Mostly pens, water bottles, candy or lip balm—most of which I don't need.

I also didn't wait in line for the heel scan, sugar test or blood pressure. So all that remained was food ... and talking to Angel's husband.

Darrell was manning the college store's table. They were giving out leftover, free 150th Lehigh Lafayette tees. There was a lot left. Yankee Stadium had high minimums for merchandise. And it was really cold that day. I picked one up for the roomie. If she doesn't like it I'll give it to her sister.

The food was good. They had pita and artisan breads with a couple dips like humus and sun dried tomatoes. And there were slider style sandwiches with egg or tuna salad, turkey, ham, the usual's. The best thing was the lettuce cups with red quinoa salads, caramelized onions, and chicken in pesto. I could have eaten three. But that would have been embarrassing.

It's cold and windy and rainy today. Not great weather for outside walking. Especially when all I wore was a blazer. I thought it was spring!

My five day walking streak is over. I'll have to start a new one after the weather clears again.

Yesterday I looked at my numbers for the first time in a while, and all I could say was "wheeeeeeeeeeeeee!"