Getting my *&%$ together

It's clear by the number of posts in this blog, that I've been a lazy ass for months now. I have the entire summer off from a 9-5 job and that is going to change. Actually, I've already started hitting the asphalt more often.

So today I'm introducing Gayle's 8-week summer challenge. It runs June and July and it's a great time to do this. I'm off from work. I'm in control of the cooking AND the shopping.  The challenge was partially precipitated by a looming doctor's appointment in August and my annual Wellness Review for my health insurance. Everything I do impacts my costs. I just finished the questionnaire portion. Last year for existing "disease" areas I checked obesity and high blood pressure. I was a "moderate" risk. This year when I checked skin cancer the icon immediately turned red and changed to high risk. I'm doomed for high rates.

Here's the plan for anyone wanting to play along. Some of this I say every year.

Lose a little weight. I think 10 pounds in 8-weeks is doable, especially if I eat better and exercise more. Would 20 be good. You betcha.

Related to that I have to eat better. I've slipped back into my sugar/simple carb habit. That has to stop. The roomie loves carbs because she'll eat little else. When she cooks, she cooks lots of carbs and little else. Because she has few teeth she like ground and processed meats, especially sausages of every kind. She will not eat chicken. If turkey is made on a day other than Thanksgiving you'd better be prepared with the catchers mitt. She'll throw it at you. I'm serious. So I'm thinking every other day meat, and the intermittent days vegetarian. But I can't call it that. Oh no. That too would require a catcher's mitt and a lot more cleanup. No, instead you have to tell her that we are having "spaghetti squash with red sauce" and she'll be fine.

I'm going to also go back to keeping a food journal on paper, with a pen. Actually it will be in my sketch book. Not so much to track what I am eating but to kill the mindless eating.

I'm also going to try and drink one gallon of plain water a day, before I can have any other kind of beverage including fizzy water and tea. Just chug it.

I have several walking challenges this summer—the Montco Challenge, the AT, Volkssport walking, mywalkingforfun.com challenge, Allentown's Million Clicks, and of course, the Tail on the Trail.  Opportunities to walk are never an issue. Give me the right motivation and I'll walk anywhere. Doing other stuff is hard.

Angel and I were going to start last Thursday with Yoga Under the Stars. It's a Cedar Creek Park at night. Barreform in the old Globe Times building is having a free community class on Saturday at 2. We're also planning on going to that. If I can do it, I might just do it for the summer. Though it's a tad expensive. I really need to stretch and bend and get strong. Maybe it would jump-start it.

I need other Fitness Challenges.  Anybody have any ideas?

I have been doing much better taking care of health needs. Friday I went to the dermatologist and had two more moles removed. Again, I insisted, even though they said they are normally benign. That's what they said with the one on my face.

Finally, I am trying hard to use sunscreen. It's a pain. Most days I'll get it on once. It made my face break out so now I have two bottles going. But more importantly it's drying out my skin big time. Pretty soon you won't be able to tell me an an alligator apart.

A partner (s) in crime would be great. But I really need someone to keep me accountable. Someone that will email or text on a random Tuesday and want details on my progress.

memorial weekend sunday

Today's walk was just in Fountain Hill. I decided to walk up to the cemeteries to see if they were decorated for Memorial Day. They were. And I was pleasantly surprised to see that they were new flags, not last years. I was sure if Fountain Hill still had scout troops to do the labor.

 As I walked around Fountain Hills big public cemetery I noticed most of the brass markers were for the Civil War (GAR - Grand Army of the Republic), WWI and WWII. I couldn't find anything more recent. Except for this first cross shaped marker. It say "Cuba"? Cuba? My original thought was that JFK avoided war with Cuba. Okay, I was in 2nd grade, but my memories of historic events are usually pretty good. But then I remembered my history lessons and it really deals with Guantanamo Bay. We established a naval base there in 1898 during the Spanish-American War. So this guy must have been in the Spanish American war. He'd be mortified if he knew it was now a detention center.

 There's also three Jewish cemeteries on the hill. They were also decorated with flags.

At this point the guy mowing his lawn was starting to think I was suspicious. Really. Who walks around cemeteries taking pictures? I moved on and headed down Dotson only to find that Jeter Avenue was dug up and the road closed. I was not walking back up that hill. I crossed. Carefully. And headed down the hill

The pool wasn't open which surprised me but then I realized it wasn't noon. But the baby pool was dry? What's up with that? Maybe they fill that everyday since wee ones wearing diapers are in it and it only holds three or four inches of water.

As I went to cross Smiley Avenue I noticed the Fountain Hill triangle. So I walked over and took that pic too. then headed back, thru the thrift store parking lot and wove my way home.

Miles/Steps:  3.6 miles.
Bathrooms:   none
Wildlife:        Squirrels and birds, of course. And a chipmunk
Weather:      High-70s, bright and sunny.
$ Found:       zip
Extras:          Fountain Hills, hills, are the equivalent of 32 flights of stairs on my Fitbit.

thank heaven, for little boys

Yesterday Bonnie called. Do you want to walk tomorrow? I have my grandson. He plan was to go to Cedar Creek Park and use the stroller for a half and leave him to walk for half. That way he wouldn't get tired. As a bonus, there is a mega-park (officially called a destination playground) at the end where he could play. If he was good.

Sounds like a plan. We'll meet at her place at 9.

Get up, do a load of wash and pick up the phone. I do this every morning to see if I got my thousands of texts and messages. There is rarely any. Which is why I can't understand why the young people I hang with just can't seem to put it down.

This morning there was. It was from my sister-in-law who is raising her step-daughters kids. Yeah, it is wacky. Nothing about my family is normal.

Basically, the girl-teen wanted to go boating instead of babysitting her brother.  Could we watch her brother? He's 8.5. Aunt Pat is sick so I couldn't bring him here. I hatched a plan and took him with me. Bonnie wasn't a bit shocked when I arrived with another little person.

And we were off. We probably didn't arrive at the park till 9:30, and then had to get out the stroller and remember how to put it together. We headed across Ott Street to the Rose Garden side of the street.

 Bubba was always looking in the water for fish. Soon he got distracted by the fitness equipment. He finally asked what it was and I told him, and that it was for grownups—he was way too short to do anything correctly. No, I'm not! There is once side that is handicapped accessible and he was the perfect height for those. And he did as many as he could.

We were not far from Ott Street when the little man was getting antsy in the stroller. Perfect timing.

When we returned to the parking lot, we had water and cookies while Bonnie put the stroller away. Then we were off to make the loop around the pond. Bubba relished being in the big brother mode with his second cousin.

Little man was too short to see above the boards, and too short to see thru them. He improvised.

 We carefully played in the water.

And were fascinated by the ducklings.

Both boys behaved well and it was off to the park. We were there at least 45 minutes.

They will sleep well tonight.


Miles/Steps: 4.25 more or less. But at a snails pace. Little boys look and touch EVERYTHING.
Bathrooms:   I-3.5+ The indoor ones at the park are nice. (There are old outdoor ones too) The blow dryer is loud and funky looking. Since the park is for kids under 12 the sink should be lower.
Wildlife:        It was a fowl day. Get it? On the rose garden side a red-winged blackbird and a goldfinch. The older child kept hearing an owl. I heard it too. On the both sides of the park, we saw at least 14 pairs of mallards. Not altogether in one place--one pair at a time, for the most part. Then we encountered a male and two females with 5 ducklings. As the boys were totally entranced with the ducklings, there was an entire "sord" (it's only a flock when flying!) of mallards across the pond laying on the grass. Then we saw three more males. Finally, a gaggle of geese escorted by a swan. Which I think goes against nature. I could be wrong. Plus a regular assortment of common birds like sparrows and robins.
Weather:      Upper 60s and partly cloudy. Actually a pretty perfect day.
$ Found:       Zip
Extras:          The boys got along really well. The older one relished his mentor role.

volkssport walk, easton

Today was the Volkssport walk in Easton. Bonnie, with the wee one, was going to pick me up at 9:15 to go. At 8:30 it started to rain. She bagged. She didn't want the child sick, plus she's been fighting a cold for weeks.

I grabbed my raincoat and water and left. (One more Saturday walking in the rain and I'm going to call it a pattern.) When I arrive there were six people waiting to walk in the rain. And two more ready for the bike portion. Say what?

We headed out about 10:10. By the time we reached Jersey the rain had stopped. By the time we had crossed the toll bridge back I had my raincoat off.

It probably took 2.5 hours to do the route. I tried to be a informative tour guide but not a non-stop jabber tour guide. I think for the most part I succeeded.

Miles/Steps: 17,033 so far. Maybe I'll try and make 20K
Bathrooms:   None
Wildlife:        Crazed geese at the toll bridge. A lot of them. They had anger management issues.
Weather:      mid-60s raining and not. Overcast
$ Found:       
Extras:          I walked past a lot of really great trash for my art project.

walking thru the heat wave.

Wednesday began the heat wave. I walk a little around downtown Easton, but not really crazy far. Can't get sweaty for work. I did have to walk to the store for bottled tap water —Aquafina—because the water cooler was broken. Have you tasted Easton's water? Gross. Oh, and to make matters worse, I forgot my fitbit.

Thursday I was up before 6. It was already hot. I was going to walk first thing. That didn't work out. I came downstairs and the roomie reminded me of all the chores I needed to finish, plus that it was Thursday and I walk to the farm market on Thursday. Shit.

I did three loads of wash, broke the basket, and hung them out to bake. At 10, I drove the car down by the old Fabric Center and parked. From there I walked the Greenway (not shady) to drop off books in the Little Free Library. One the way I noticed a new mural being painted. (It might be done today. I'll post an after pic when it is. I think it will be BW.) Walked to the hardware store and then to the market and back to the car. I was drenched. I kept switching sides of the street to stay in the shade. I remembered to use sunscreen. Skin cancers expensive. I had to shell out—with insurance—about 2 grand. (BTW sunscreen gives me a rash.) Thank goodness for that horrible temp job.

When I returned home I turned on the computer to finally do some paying work and saw an email from the Allentown Hiking Club about a walk in Quakertown. It was on the 17th. I though yesterday was the 17. It started at 6 and was rated A+. That means flat as a pancake (or as flat as one can get in the LV) and under 6 miles. It actually said it was 3. Perfect. It wouldn't be so hot.

I arrived at 5:50 and nobody was there. I parked in the one shady parking space and waited. And waited. And waited. At 6:05 I thought I had the wrong place. I turned the data on, on the phone and looked up the email and clicked. Right place. WRONG day. It was Wednesday night. Poop.

So I walked around a bit and took pics of murals on the Red Lion corner instead. I was home by 7.

This morning I was out again by 6 am. I did the Fountain Hill loop. Again, making an effort to always be in the shade.

Miles/Steps:  I did about 4 Thursday, and am at 4 now. Hopefully going to take a walk around the block at about 7 to make my goals for the day. It is supposed to get cooler
Bathrooms:   None
Wildlife:        Squirrels and birds as with any urban walk. This morning a bunny kept me company. Apparently, we were headed the same way. Bet his mommy gave him a tongue lashing when he got back to the nest.
Weather:       91 or so, over 70% humidity, bright and sunny.
$ Found:       10¢
Extras:          OMG my allergies. I'm sneezing up a lung this week.

summer "fitness" plans

The perfect storm is gathering. My traditional classes are over. My freelance gig ends tomorrow. And I probably won't have an online class until about June 10 because they are transitioning to a new LMS. No teaching assignments until you are trained and I'm not scheduled for June 5.

What does that mean? Free time.

What else does it mean? It will need to be free or cheap.

The "Fitness Challenge" returns. I need to find something new and exciting. NCC is offering belly dancing and burlesque dance classes. These classes are multiple times and range from $40–$60. Basically $10 a class. Although one section of Bellydancing is already filled. So they must be popular. They also have boxing and Qigong (like Tai Chi) and all those crazy workouts that young people with good joints do. And my knees can't handle Golf. Not sure any of that is in the budget. Maybe I should pick one.

BarreForm has opened in the old Globe-Times building on the south side. That's another option. I have to stop in one day and see if they have a free trial class.

Any other suggestions?

Next up is the Volkssport Appalachian Trail challenge. You have to do 10 hikes on the AT in Pennsylvania. These will be challenging. Pennsylvania is noted for hills and rocks. I know once I did a section near the water gap and it took two hours to go up and 10 minutes to come down. I bought three books, one for Angel, the almost a teen, and I. It will be the almost teens job to keep me from killing myself. I think she'll be into these hikes because she likes the woods. Of course, bug spray and tick checks are going to be key.

Bonnie and Angel and I have been batting around this idea for a couple years — Park Fitness Courses. I was reminded today when we were at Jordan Park. I think Bonnie is game. Now that she's working a little I think Tuesday might be her "day" to explore with me.

Any other ideas? They need to be inexpensive and no more than 1.5 hour drive. I like a challenge, but let's not forget I have my mother's (and sisters) knees. Let me know in comments.

jordan and stevens parks, allentown

There is more than a building renaissance happening in Allentown. The parks department also appears to be having an overhaul. I've mentioned the signage before, but it appears they are upgrading the facilities as well.

Is the play set above not the coolest thing you've ever seen? And there was two. I so wanted to be 10 again.

Why the hell is she rambling on about Allentown Parks you might ask. It's because Bonnie and I participate in something called "A Million Clicks" thru the Allentown Health Bureau. Basically, they gave you a little clicker and every time you walk past you scan it. They want to reach a million clicks.  This year they added a couple more parks. We decided today to try out two of them.

We parked at Jordan Creek Park and walked up the 5th street hill and out Tilghman to Stevens Park. The park was not open, and some construction fencing was still up, but it had a total makeover. Thankfully the clicker was outside the gate.

Then we walked down Sixth to Jordan park, cut across the parking lot and were headed for the walking path. Then we saw an outdoor gym. It was condensed into about 50 feet of space. I nearly fell over.  Most of the "fitness" areas in parks are spread out over a mile or two. Do a station, walk a couple blocks, repeat. The one at Cedar Creek is handicap accessible. The one at Louise Moore is actually one and a half. Remnants of the old one remain. But outside of Cincinnati, I have never seen one condensed in such a small an area. Much like a child's playground would be.

And the best part? It was being used. At 9 am on a Tuesday morning.

The only thing we didn't like is that there were no instructions to use. You have to use your phone and go to a website. Apparently, they think everyone has unlimited data to watch videos. Wrong. I'm a wifi kind of girl.
 

They also were doing environmental things. For instance letting the weeds grow at the creek bank and having these pollinating gardens.

 After dropping off Bonnie I had some errands to do, including participating in democracy. I parked at one spot and walked to the others. And it was a free parking day. Whoo Hoo!

Miles/Steps:  4.3 includes the errands since they were on foot.
Bathrooms:   Didn't use. There was one port-o-potty at Jordan Creek. It's Allentown, so it was probably locked. I forgot to check.
Wildlife:        Squirrels and birds. Nothing too "wild" or unusual.
Weather:       Mid-70s, bright and sunny.
$ Found:       5¢
Extras:          My lawn boy didn't come home. I had the pleasure of mowing my own lawn. My hands hurt.

franco farm recreation area | get out lehigh Valley

 I went to edit my original post, and I deleted it. Even Lazarus could save it. I'm typing it over. Clearly, the first one was better.

Yesterday it rained. And it poured. And then it rained cats and dogs. It was a yucky day. I decided I'd go on the Get Out Lehigh Valley walk if the rain was light. The only problem is when I arrived it got heavy. Oops.

Nine other people showed up at this Get Out Lehigh Valley event at Franco Farm Recreation Area in Salisbury. Two of them were the walk leaders—Christine and Noah.

I knew about this place, at least in the back of my mind. Rachel Dietz had her first wedding here. All I remember of that event is the large white tents.  I wish that I knew there were trails here, even if they are only a mile. It's very close to Bonnie's, off Honeysuckle Road, and we could have walked here many times during her recovery periods.

According to the email that came Friday "Franco Farm, a livestock farm since the early 19th century has been a park since 1993. This 83-acre park has several ball fields, and a charming pond with many loud, active red wing black birds."

 Our walk was on "wide, lawn-covered paths through the woods" and if it wasn't pouring we might have had "a spectacular view of downtown Allentown". South Mountain has a reputation for being a great re-fueling spot for migrating warblers at this time of year. We were hoping to see some yesterday. But didn't. The original instructions said to bring binoculars. Last week they saw an American Redstart, a Black and White warbler, and a pair of Common Yellow Throat warblers.

 Instead, we saw a lot of invasive plants in the meadow area including Russian Olive aka Autumn Olive (Elaeagnus Angustifolia) and Japanese Honeysuckle (Lonicera japonica).  It makes me want to walk up to the old house and see if that was native honeysuckle or not.  We also saw trees wrapped in sticky paper. The sticky paper collects insects and then they go back and count the insects and the varieties. I often wondered how that was done.

When the walk was done, I was soaked. But I really didn't mind. I remembered at the last minute to take a picture of the sign.

Miles/Steps:  1.5 and I am being generous. That includes walking back and forth to the parking lot.
Bathrooms:   Didn't use. There was one, a handicapped port-o-potty
Wildlife:        None. It was pouring. Any animal or bird with a lick of common sense was trying to stay dry.
Weather:       Mid-50s, raining and pouring. I heard no "old men snoring".
$ Found:       None
Extras:          Christine, one of the walk leaders, used to live on Cherokee behind the Broadway Tavern. She even hiked at the FH Reservoir. Small world moment.

have art, will walk.

One of my former students is graduating from Moravian this term and her senior thesis show is hanging in the Payne Gallery. I think it's important for me to support these kids, so I decided to walk to the show. Thankfully it wasn't hot yesterday—the gallery doesn't open till noon.

Apparently, the show was not just for graphic designers. This piece was front and center as you walked in the door. It had just a little impact. Tracey's space was actually kind of small and tucked in a corner.

Walking over, spring was busting out all over. Actually, it was almost done busting, but I did manage to find a couple pretty examples.

The route: Up Bishopthorpe, out Seneca, down Cherokee, out Brighton to the bridge. Over the bridge, down 2nd Avenue, down Spring and up Main to the Gallery. Coming back Down Main, Spring, up the stairs over the bridge, over bridge, Wyandotte, Broadway home.

Miles/Steps:  2.5 It's not really that far, even if you take a convoluted route
Bathrooms:   didn't use
Wildlife:        squirrels, birds bunnies. everyone was out in full-force.
Weather:      mid-50s, cloudy
$ Found:       1¢
Extras:          The teens sitting on the stars didn't move. I climbed around them. After I got up one flight, they got up. Brats.
Extras 2:       When I arrived at Nativity churches corner a car was beeping at me. WTF? Then I noticed the man was scratching his butt. They beeped again. And then again. I was resisting all temptation to turn around and give them the finger. Later I found out it was Bonnie.

seven miles, 200 foot space

When my friend Angel first bought her Fitbit several years ago, she racked up 20K steps a day, just at work, in a small confined area. (She no longer wears it.) My niece worked on the floor/back room of a superstore and would rack up 16K a day. Just doing their jobs. That was before working out and before life in general.

I was always jealous. And for a while tried to compete.

After last night I totally understand.

Yesterday I sat on my butt a lot.  I walked to the farmers market, past the new mural and home. Maybe 2.5 miles round trip. I'm being generous.

I went to work and parked in the remote lot, like always, walked to my building, and was an hour early. I never sat down. It was an hour before I even got my sweater off. I spent the even going from desk to desk, and from my room to the adjunct office to the printing room. It was no more than 200 feet. Half of a square. I did this over and over and over. One trip was further. I had to go get more paper across campus.

In 4 hours, in one building, in a 200-foot space, I racked up about 5 miles. I nearly fell over when I looked at my Fitbit. And I finally understood what Angel and my niece had been talking about all these years.

After pretty much four days of this, when I got home I was mentally and physically exhausted.

This was on the whiteboard Wednesday night. That too was a 4-mile night. One more night to go. Then we can cue Alice Cooper—"Schools Out For Summer". But not for me. I have to learn a new LMS.

Miles/Steps:  15,011 steps. That's about 7 miles
Bathrooms:   I-1.5 The bathrooms in our building are disgusting.
Wildlife:        Do the walking dead count? It's the last week of classes. They look like zombies.
Weather:      mid-50s, cloudy, damp ... but it didn't start to rain till nightfall.
$ Found:       Found 3¢ on the way to the market. Nothing a school. 
Extras:          Closing night for gallery show so there was snacks!