an athletic adventure to close out the year — ice skating

 

My international students have done all kinds of crazy stuff while in America including sky diving. I offered them Christmas lights and they responded with NYC. Not in December was my reply. They came back with ice skating. 

The last time I did any kind of skating was roller skating with the teen, Angel and Darrell. I did manage not to kill myself. I thought I went ice skating around the same time with an international student down at the Steel Rink, but I can't find it so it must be a dream.

I picked them up and we went to Biryani City for lunch. They had no wait staff, so you ordered takeout, waited there, and then ate it there. I have no idea who cleaned off the table. I was in the ladies room when it occurred. The girls over-ordered as always and had huge bags of food to take back to the dorm. They got their food extra hot (4 chili's) and said it wasn't spicy enough. My mild food was burning my Pennsylvania German palette.

We went to the municipal rink on Illick's Mill Road. Pre-sales only so I ordered tickets on line. It was an experience. You can only order tickets if you live in the City proper, not Fountain Hill or the township, blah, blah. (It didn't say EVERYBODY had to live in city limits. The school is in the Township and the girls are clearly from the other side of the world.) There's even a map and my house is clearly in the acceptable area. Each time I put my address in it told me sorry Charlie, you're in Fountain Hill. Finally I clicked use the address I typed and it let me proceed. 

Public Skating was from 3-5. It did not take long for the place to fill up. We got our skates and S stood up and started walking like she still had her sneakers on. K was not quite as confident but within a few minutes was walking well as well. I stood up and was okay. walking was another story. I had to hold on to them or to the walls. It was clear I wasn't going to skate.

S went on the ice first and immediately fell. She got up and kept going. She probably fell30 times that first loop around. K fell and came back out to me. The second time they went out together and made a full loop around. K said she fell about nine times. S fell a lot less than she did the first time. I honestly think with a half-hour of coaching they be in the middle skating loops around the others. 

I dropped them at Goodwill to do some shopping. They were walking back to school. I went home not having exercised at all.

Weather:          0 C. The girls were very cold. Overcast, breezy.

no walking yet this week

It's the day after Christmas. I had a yummy dinner with my brother and his wife, her mother and sister. Other than that there was no celebration here. There hasn't been in many years, and golly I miss it. I have friends who talk about finding new traditions as their children leave the nest and how happy they are. But that doesn't apply to me. The new reality is a peace-keeping move. 

Thinking about it, actually, I guess there was a little more celebration. I took my Indian international students—a Catholic and a Muslim— to midnight mass at a church close to the school. It was a beautiful service, even if I was lost most of the time. The carol sing before the service was probably my favorite part. They had hand bells, strings, percussion, organ and the guy who sang O Holy Night knocked it out of the ball park. Most importantly K enjoyed it and was filled with all kinds of spirit when I dropped her at the dorm. According to Wikipedia only 3% of India is Catholic. Imagine our surprise when there was a Indian woman in the choir wearing a sari. The girls quickly tracked down the family and went over and said hi before we left. Since it is so close to school—about a mile — she's thinking of going on Sundays. 

Tomorrow we are going ice skating. If there is a god, please return me home in one piece. Visions of broken ankles...or worse... are dancing in my head.

On Wednesday I went to my friend Angels for mac and cheese, and to string popcorn for the little tree her daughter bought. The dog wanted to eat it off the tree so she had to move the chair.  And she did get lots of broken bits.

Christmas Eve I mad popcorn for dinner--yes that's a dinner here.My brother called and to reach the phone I sat the pot on the carpet. It was hot, and when I hung up the phone I went to lift it. It was stuck. I pulled hard and got it. It had burned a ring into the area rug, adhering the fibers to the bottom of the pot.

You can see in this photo where the carpet is missing fiber down to the backing mat. I tried immediately to clean it, but to no avail. Today I got the idea to heat the pot in the oven, hoping to soften the fibers, and maybe scrap them off. Unsure if the pot was even oven-safe and what kind of toxic fumes might happen, I did it very slowly and with the range hood on full blast.

I had cooked lunch in the oven and ate. I put the pot upside down in the warm oven for 3 minutes. That didn't work. I put it in for another two, still nothing. I turned the oven back on and put the pot in while it was pre-heating. In about three minutes I pulled it out and there was some movement. I put it back in for another three,and it worked! I think the pot is clean and usable again.

What else has happened in the last week. Nothing really. Thursday I hope to do a volkssport walk in Phoenixville. I've never done that one.

I've had a freaking cold the entire month of December and it just keeps hanging on. If there is a tissue shortage the problem is I'm buying them all. I am a snot machine.

Wish me luck skating tomorrow. I'm going to buy tickets now for the muni.

And maybe, just maybe, I'll clean up the dead bird in the cellar. The bird part is long gone, but my aversion to dead creatures holds me back from cleaning up the pile of feathers.

Photo stolen from FB: Hendricks Dave, Angel Ackerman, and the OLPH website.

what a twist

 Yesterday my brother sent me a text asking if I could pick up his wife at the garage. The back-up battery died on the Prius. I said sure. As long as it was after 10, I was taking our sister to the doctor.

Now when I take Sharon anywhere the list grows. Can we go to the bank, CVS, whatever. As long as it is enroute it's fine. Today we were on a time crunch. She was working. She left her client at 9 and said don't move. I'll be back before 10 with late breakfast. The plan was to get her a pancake wrap from Dunkin that she always remarks on during commercials.

The appointment was 9:15. We arrived at 9:10 and by 9;30 she was back in the car. The doctor's office is a mid-century ranch house with a horrible driveway. I park in the driveway so she doesn't have to walk far with her cane. We needed to go to the near-by bank and CVS, then stop at Dunkin. We would make 10 am easy.

I put the key in the car and it didn't start. She called her client. I called AAA. OMG what hell AAA is now. I dialed the number and my phone started beeping like crazy. I got no less than 3 emails telling me to text them. I had 27% battery. Hell no. Then I had to listen to the voice recording telling me to use their speedy text service, some other bullshit, and finally I got to the Dial 1 for this and that. My blood pressure was rising.

Finally a person answers. I explain the situation and tell her I have 27% battery on my phone. Calling me back may not be possible. She tells me someone would be there in 90 minutes. ONE AND ONE HALF HOURS. And it isn't snowing. I go in and ask if Sharon can wait inside. They said yes. She ultimately goes in.

AAA doesn't have white horses to save the day. They have white vans.
 

Ten minutes later Giovanni texts me that he's on his way. He'll be there in 20 minutes. I'm watching the percentage drop on my phone. He arrives. Comes with his little battery charger thing. It doesn't work. Tries multiple times. Still doesn't work. Shows me his gauge. The red line is almost invisble. He tells me the battery is dead. But keeps trying. He asks if I have jumper cables. He tries that. That didn't work. He gets a brandnew battery from the truck to jump from. That didn't work wither. It's gone.

So I said I guess the tow truck is next. Well no. He can sell me a battery right from the van. However, his last stop was a Ford Focus and he sold the battery to them. He only has one per type. He called a colleague. They couldn't come. Poor Giovanni had to drive back to the shop in Quakertown to get a battery and come back. He'd see me in an hour.

I went into the doctor's office and updated Sharon. I told her I had an hour to kill so I was going to do her other errands by foot. In wool clogs. First I walked to the bank, then cut across the Wawa parking lot, and headed toward the CVS. As I crossed the lot I saw the KFC. Well, if we couldn't take the client her pancake wrap, we could take her chicken for lunch. She'd be in heaven. I ehaded back to the car to wait.

Giovanni at work.
 

In about 20 minutes Giovanni came back with the battery. Ten minutes and $188 later the battery was installed. We stopped for the chicken and I had Sharon back to work in three hours, not one. 

But all her errands were done.

And I can still take my sister in law for her car.

Miles/Steps:     maybe a mile
Weather:          mid-30s, sunny
PPE Found:      I lost count there was so much. I bet I could have filled a tall kitchen bag.

 

i did it

 

I did it. I dragged my fat, unfit ass out for a walk today. I did not want to go. I spent the wee hours in my bed hoping and praying for an epic storm and that nobody would show up. But they did. And that is the best part about walking withother people. You're held accountable. Ya gotta show up.

When I arrived at the Hotel Bethlehem for the volkssport walk, people were there. I couldn't go home.

As everyone signed in and went upstairs for the restroom, I explored the decorations. They are pretty much the same every year but they are also larger than life.

The trees are enormous. The nativity is over the doors and is massive. There are trees that go past the balconies and wreaths on all the windows. It was very bedazzled. As was town.

I've had a cold off and on over the past 2 weeks. I think Pat and I keep giving it to each other. Every time I think its gone it comes back. I haven't walked seriously in along time. The lack of content in this blog supports that. I've had one blog post about walking since August.

The Bethlehem North walk goes to the Industrial Quarter and then up Monocacy Street to Moravian. It loops around Moravian, the archives and the seminary and heads out Elizabeth to Center. It returns to Market and then begins again for another 10K. I thought the Monocacy Street hill would kill me. But I made it and only stopped twice. If I would have been alone I would have headed back at Union Boulevard. I don't think that's even a mile.

I was the only one who did the 5K. 

I was parked on Market near Heckweilder. The 5K ends at Main. I went straight to my car. I didn't do the last block. When I sat down and allowed myself to relax, I thought I would caugh a lung out. But I didn't. 

The others continued on to the second 5K. past the unknown soldiers, armory (now apartments), around Sand Island, Payrow Plaza and the rest of the historic district.

Miles/Steps:  5K
Weather:      high 30s, sunny, breezy
Wildlife:       About a dozen geese

the swag came at least a week ago

 

This is my swag from this year's Tail on the Trail. It came Dec. 3. Thank goodness for chair yoga, Milly, and old lady exercise class or I would have never finished it walking. The original hat was tan.

Until last Wednesday, I hadn't done yoga since Pam's surgery around October 28. We went last week and it went okay. The instructor will be having her hip replaced in January so we'll have the sub that I like much better. 

Since I haven't been going to yoga, I've been taking Pat to the senior center for old lady chair exercise. She sits off to the side with Sharon and reports how much Sharon doesn't do. The demo's of Sharon exercising in the car on the way home are hysterical. I went to yoga last week she didn't go to class. Neither did I because I had this helluva cold I didn't want to give to the old people. I had already given it to Pat.  Unless Pam cancels out of yoga, Pat probably won't go to that class any more.

Tuesday, I took a Covid test and it was negative so I went to work. I also went for a mammogram. Everything was fine. Cross that off the list for another year.

I had wanted to go to the Audubon walk on the19th, but Pat talked me out of it. She knows how to push all my buttons. And it is crazy to drive 1:10 to walk for an hour. Even though I had spent Friday mapping out a trail to finish up the Montco Trail Challenge on the way home. So not only didn't I do the Volkssport walk, I didn't finish the challenge.

I need to find a partner in walking again.