walking update

The Idita-Walk starts on February first. Looks like I'm headed to Alaska alone this year.  Barb and Dave are staying home, Bonnie has radiation, Lydia is broke, and Megan is now full time, plus a baby. The Nome Nugget Inn will not be the same.

The Tail On The Trail is hinting at a winter challenge. I'll also be doing that.

Last time I miss-spoke. Or is it miss-wrote? It occurred to me today as I was walking. On Tuesday-Thursday school days I am not walking as much, but I am walking. It's the infamous walk around the block. Up Fiot or Sassafrass to Wyandotte, and then down the opposite hill to Broadway. Out Broadway to Bishopthorpe and home. Or vise versa. It's not far. Maybe a generous half mile. But it's difficult. I get about 12 flights of stairs with the hills. And the incline is only three blocks.

The sidewalks on Fiot are horrific. I try and walk in the street.

Then, I park the furthest away from school, and hike to my building on the opposite side of campus. Two ways. Again, not far, but also not sitting on my butt.

Am I making 10K steps? Not even close. But for January, I guess it isn't bad. I'm okay with it. The two challenges shall motivate me. I usually reach Nome in about 2 weeks. I need to beat last years total, even if it's by a minute.

Golly I miss my camera. Taking pictures was one thing that got me to walk.

I'm trying to eat better. I certainly am eating less. Angel is logging my food on myfitnesspal. I don't even have the log in. PROTEIN. Every day she says eat more protein.

I am trying to stay positive. Not easy for me. I am a real negative Nancy. But I am determined to stop making a mountain out of a molehill. A lot of other family and friends have it way worse than me. Be thankful for what I have. Not for what I don't have.

To that end, I've also stopped posting on FB, at least for a while. I've also started moving my more zealous friends to the acquaintance list. The negativity was bringing me down.

no, I haven't abandoned the blog

No, i haven't abandoned the blog. I have nothing to write about.

Today was going to be my big walk for the weekend. The sidewalks were icy. The rain was falling. It wasn't pretty. I stayed in.

Yesterday I walked in Fountain Hill. Pretty much the same route as I always take, lots of hills. Including the steep one into the woods at the Stanley Avenue Recreation area. (Aka Fountain Hill Playground.)

Friday I didn't walk. Pat had two doctors appointments and I had a trip to Lehighton.

Monday thru Thursday was the first week of school. I went out at lunchtime, but not far. Still trying to adjust my schedule.

My health insurance bill came. No cards. No instructions for a website. No book. It really is worthless. Maybe after the bill is paid?

Not much success on the healthy eating front either.  I am eating a lot less. I thought I was eating better. But the calorie app says otherwise. I'm eating all fat and carbs and not enough protein. All the protein I like is filled with fat. It's an endless cycle. I am doing much, much better not eating takeout.

I'm not even charting my food today. I ate potato chips and brownies. If I am eating this little and it 1500-2000 calories, I must have been eating 5000 before. Will start again tomorrow.

Tomorrow I am also back to three jobs. Let the merri-go-round begin.

center city allentown

Today I picked up Bonnie and we headed to downtown Allentown. It's been awhile since we've done that walk.

We parked at the Parkettes, and followed the walking trail along the Little Lehigh River, on MLK Blvd. At about 9th Street, we went up the WPA steps. This time we took the branch toward the Alburtis Meyers Bridge. (Happy Birthday A.M. Bridge! You look every bit your 100 years.) The steps are still in need of some love. Whole stairs are missing, and chunks are missing form others. The WPA did a fine job 70  years ago, but maintenance is sorely needed. Sadly, it probably will not happen. Ultimately, they will crumble, and closed. Penny wise and dollar foolish. Sadly, Allentown is not the only one practicing this philosophy.

I digress.

He went up 9th to Hamilton to check out the PPL Center Hockey Arena progress. They've made a lot. I saw this sign and had to walk against the fence. Call me a rebel. (I wouldn't have done that during the week with traffic!)

This is the Arena from the square. I'm guessing this is the front entrance, with the lovely curved facade. They are restoring the Dime Savings Bank on the right. They actually had to re-lay the bricks, one by one. Across the square, where the 1st National Bank was, a new, huge building is going up. Lots of changes in A'town.

When we reached 5th, we checked out the new courthouse (nice) and the addition to the art museum (still free Sundays, but doesn't open till noon. Boo.) Then headed down Linden to the waterfront. There we checked out America On Wheels museum. Bonnie's daughter and pseudo son-in-law are coming at Christmas, and he's a bit of a gear head. The perfect place to entertain him!

The it was under the Hamilton Street Bridge, past the orange car, and back to the car.

When I returned home, we went to Coca Cola Park for drive-by flu shots. Fun, healthy and free. My kind of event.

a-okay

My panic about the doctors appointment was unjustified. Everything was fine. I past all my tests! Now maybe my headache will go away.

my big, expensive mistake

I am not an optimist. I am a realist. And today is the anniversary of my brothers death from heart disease. What the hell was I thinking going for tests today?

Friday I go to the family doctor. When I was there the last time she wanted a BMP and an electrocardiogram. Or so I thought. I looked online and EKGs ran up to about $200. Doable. The doctor wanted baseline test because of my high blood pressure.

I delay everything as long as possible and today was the big day. I went and got the blood work done this morning. I signed up for their cash payment card. it cost $10 and the test was $20. Without the card it was $55. Pretty much a no-brainer. Now all that was left to do is wait and worry about the results. Did I mention I don't do well on tests?

When I returned home I looked at the slip for the EKG, and called the number. I wanted to schedule an EKG. They told me it was drop in, and where to go at Muhlenberg and where to park.

I left for work an hour early, headed to the hospital, walked up to the second floor. One nice thing about the Lehigh Valley Hospitals is there is art in the hallways. Of course I took took way too much time looking at art. I signed in. They gave me a beeper. The last time I was anywhere like that you had a pick-a-number, like at the deli. There was a lot of people, but they called me quickly. I did the paper work and she sent me and my beeper out to wait again.

Five minutes later the girl that registered me came out and said, this isn't an EKG, it's an ECHOcardogram. An ultrasound. Shit.  I had the choice to stay and take the test in a half hour or schedule an appointment and leave. I decided to stay because there was no way in heck I was ever going back. It would give the doctor one less thing to lecture at me about which is a plus. But as I waited I thought that sounds expensive. I was trying to squash my bolting instinct.

I walked in the room and saw this machine and the dollar signs started dancing in my head. My heart was racing. I was almost crying. I wanted to run out of the room topless. The realization of what was about to happen hit. I bet she took a 100 pictures in 15 minutes. At places I didn't even think were heart related. Maybe I should have paid attention in science class. I was there less than a half hour. I have no idea what was in those pictures but I'm terrified.

Online I've read the test costs anywhere from $250 to almost 5  grand. With my luck it will be the high end, not the low end. I have no idea how I'll pay a large test bill AND fix the hole in the kitchen floor.  Not to mention what happens when they find something.

I'm fat, halfway to 60 and have high blood pressure with a history of bad luck. The fatalist in me knows that they will find something. I have no medical insurance. I can't do disease. Every time my cell phone rings I'm going to panic. I called Bonnie on the way to the car hoping she'd calm me down. Got voice mail. I nearly cried.

Friday terrifies me.

50°F on January 16

No excuses not to walk today.

Okay, maybe last night's adventure was a good one, but as mama used to say "what doesn't kill you makes you strong."

Last night my shoulder hurt, and I had indigestion. I think. I had convinced myself it was a heart attack, especially after my right arm fell asleep. The more I stressed the more things started to hurt. So I doodled and watched NUMB3RS. Then I went to bed, determined I'd never wake up. I took my phone with me so I could call 911 as my last act. (But how could they get in the house?)

Needless to say I woke up and still had indigestion. So I had 2 "Greekers"* for lunch, they back talked for about a half hour and then did their magic. "Greekers" are better for indigestion than pricey drugs. Not exactly on the food plan, but a girl must do, what a girl must do.

Mid morning I decided to walk after lunch. I haven't been going far. I've been going shorter, harder distances. Today I walked down to 4th, went up the 4th St. hill, down to Ostrum and was going to the hospital to do the stairs before going home. Then I saw the parking deck. Never paid attention to it before. There are four towers with four-five flights of stairs. I decided to cut over, and go up and down each. The first was locked, but I did the others. Then I used the stairs thru the parking lots to get to the Main Entrance, and headed for the stairs. The hospital is a maze, and I apparently zigged when I should have zagged and ended up it the shorter half of the building. Only five flights. But it was okay. I did all the ones in the parking deck to.  (The sign was at the exit of the lot.)

Then I resisted the urge the nurse showed me to avoid the hill. (At the time, I was guiding mama downhill in a wheelchair. Gravity almost got the best of me.) I went up the hill and headed home. It was about 1.5-2 miles. It felt good.

If I'm going to do the 52 flights at the end of February, I need to get out there more often. Bad weather or not.

*Greekers--Hot dogs from Pete's Doggie Shop. They have a sloppy, spicy beef topping.

What the heck????

Today I got some really crappy news, again, from the doctor. So when that happens I head for junk food.

When I first found out I had high blood pressure it was a pizza. Today it was McDs. I had their new bacon Angus burger. It was good, and quite filling. Several hours later I'm still full. That, however, will not stop me from eating dinner. I am, if nothing else, an emotional eater.

So I ordered the food. I had a coupon for the Angus burger with a free medium fry and drink. Pat and I shared the fries. Pat took the Coke. I ate the burger, and she had a fillet of fish. Now I read an article recently about mandatory food labeling in states like New York, but I hadn't realize till today it was going mainstream.

Now, when I walked into McD's did I say to myself what healthy low fat choices do they have here? No. I wanted beef. Full fat greasy beef and fries. I was not looking for something healthy. I have NEVER walked into a restaurant of any kind looking for the healthy choice.

The McDs packaging had a full-blown Nutrition Facts on the bottom of the box, and a more graphically interesting version (the condensed version) on the side. That's what caught my eye as a designer.

What the heck? Is nothing sacred?

I read them today just because they were there. The calories disappointed me. I had bacon, cheese and beef and it was 790 calories. I would have thought it would be well over a thousand. About half were from fat. Shocking? Not really....beef, bacon and cheese. I'm surprised it wasn't more. The salt was high. That did surprise me.

Bottom line it was more or less what I expected. I didn't care. They could have those Facts printed as the wallpaper and I still wouldn't care. In Fact, if they were on the menu board I would probably look for the absolutely worse food, and order that. Just because I could.

Now I need to go get a Coke.