baby it's cold outside

Today I had an appointment at the car dealer for inspection, oil change, and to get my seat checked. I decided about 3 am that walking home from the garage would be a lovely idea. I'd get exercise, take a totally different route, and get the car done.

Bethlehem Ford is at the Allentown/Bethlehem border line in west Bethlehem. Across from the Lehigh Shopping Center. Near the old A-treat factory.Much closer to my brother's than my house.

It was 4 degrees this morning. What the heck was I thinking?

At seven I got dressed. All my long underwear was in the laundry, so I put my flannel pj bottoms back on, then covered them with my jeans. I have no long socks, so I put on regular socks, and then my pedi socks. They have no toes, so I inched them over my heal and scrunched them around my ankles. Then tucked the pj pants into them.

On top I had a long sleeve tee and a fleece. At 8, I added my blue coat and headed out the door. After dropping off the car, I added my hoodie over my coat, two pairs of gloves, my fuzzy hat, and both hoods. And a scarf. I was cold.

I always wanted to take a photo of the tile work on the Ukrainian Church.
Today I got the opportunity and the sun was not cooperating.
Can't complain. It's been a while since we have even seen the sun.

I headed out Union Blvd toward home. The sidewalks on the north side are just as bad as the one's in the hood. Lot's of those homes don't shovel either. What melted yesterday also turned to ice.

At 8th Avenue, I turned down and headed toward Broad. Out Broad to 3rd, then out Spring to 2nd. Over the 2nd Street ram, across the bridge, out Broadway and home.

I walked in the door about 1:40 later. It was about 3.5 slow miles. I was barely in the house when my roomie said: "The car dealer called. Your car is done."

I guess I should have just waited.

ice, ice, baby

February weather is just not cooperating. I picked a really bad month to post everyday. Today's trouble maker—ice.

I tried walking at lunch time. Little tiny shuffle steps. I stayed upright but didn't go far.

Every hour or so I jogged for a count of 100 at my desk.

I ran up and down the steps.

If I finish my online class early enough (school is cancelled, again) it will be time for Leslie.

slippery walk

Today, I walked two hours on some tricky sidewalks. Mostly, I stayed in the street when I could. I was spurred on by my disappointing number on the scale this morning. (+2)

I left here close to 11 to do errands. I headed up the hill, out Sioux, up Findlay and out Moravia. Then down Hertzog and Lechauwecki. While I was on Moravia a man passed me. He was walking and doing exercises at the same time. Productive, but really silly looking.

Once I crossed Broadway I headed to the Wawa to use the ATM for Pat. Then I headed out Smiley to Dodson and started up the hill. A car came slowly up the hill. It was one of my former students. I think he was going to offer me a ride, but I told him it takes work to keep this Rubeneque figure. He laughed and went on his way.

At Graham, I turned right and went down the hill, past the hospital and out Ostrum. At Brighton and Cherokee I headed up Cherokee and checked my fit bit — 40 floors and only 8k steps. Really? Is that all?

I headed down third to the alley before Broadhead and went thru the parking lot by Henry's apartment. Then it was out Broadway for some shopping at Ahart's. I divided the groceries into two bags and headed toward Wyandotte. Then it was up, up, up Wyandotte. This section had the worse sidewalks. At Sasafrass I checked the fit bit. Still not at 12K, and at 60 floors. I went down the hill, turned right and went right back up Fiot, and came down again.

I was almost at goal of 12500, and had 69 floors. Will try to get 75 before the end of the day. I'm also shooting for 15000 steps.

UPDATE: I've changed my Instagram name to . Now it matches the blog a little better. Thisismygymtoday works better as a hashtag.

i resisted the allure of donuts

 Did you see the news yesterday? Our local turkey farmers turned mega-developers have bought the land that will connect the D&L in Allentown with the D&L in Hanover Township. Be still my heart. Finally, you'll be able to get from point a to point b without a car. Of course it will be years before that rail-to-trail is done.

Today walk I knew would be a challenge. It snowed. It rain. It froze. It melted. It froze again. Sidewalks are not all bad, but corners are horrible.

I'm in Easton today, so I thought campus would be fairly good, and it was. But the streets around it were a mess. I decided that breaking my leg was not on the agenda today.

The post office is in the basement of Farinon.  I went down, mailed my packages, and went up to the second floor. I looped around and came back down. Out the front door towards Acopian. I skipped Hogg Hall because the porch is tile. Tile in winter is not good. In summer it's beautiful.

I reached Acopian and the sign in the window said "donuts and lutron". They were set up in the lobby. Handsome, thin, professional, young men offered me donuts. They weren't busy and had a lot left. But it wasn't noon yet. I went right past them and to the back staircase and up to the top (ground level is 3), around to the other end, and back down the 6 flights. Then it was back around and back up to the third. Walking past the donuts again! (photo credit)

I finished the loop around the quad and head out past the Arts Center toward Cattell Street. things turned ugly quick. I carefully made my way back to the "birds nest".

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.

it's a balmy 35 today.

I haven't walked much in the past few days. The bitter cold turned the sidewalks into skate rink. At least in my neighborhood.

Today it was a sunny and balmy 32 when I headed out around 12:30. The sun, however, was deceiving. It was still cold. Especially when the wind blew.

I did my typical hilly walk with minor changes. Instead of going up Fiot, I went up Ontario. I don't think that it is quite a steep. Maybe. (But I still achieved 35 floors today.) The sidewalks on Wyandotte stunk. Icy sidewalks and 8% grade do not mix. But I stayed upright. Then I went up 8th and thru Lehigh's campus.

I went down Taylor, and came back the Greenway. Out Broadway, Up Wyandotte and out Sioux to home. I guess it was about 2.5 miles.

I take a variation of this route often. There was just nothing new to take a picture of.

School starts again tomorrow. Vacation is over. Let the merry-go-round begin.

turkey's trotting

Yesterday was the Turkey Trot in downtown Bethlehem. This race is huge. There is probably 10K people entered. There are three categories—run, competitive walk, and fun walk. All were 5Ks.

Only Megan and I went. Bonnie was afraid of falling. Since she already had surgery on her hand, it would have been devastating if she fell.

The line began near the stone bridge at the Luckenbach Mill and wove it's way down to the log cabin. That's where the competitive walkers started.  The fun walkers started up the hill further. You can see the vast amount of people in the photo.

The route was also altered slightly to accommodate the snow and ice. No canal path. Instead we walked around the "fairgrounds" twice. It was a tad weird.

Megan looked at the clock when we started —it was chip timed—and it was about 2:45 when we crossed the start. It was 55:47 when we crossed the finish so we figured we finished in about 53:05. The official record says 54:18. I do not understand why.

It was cold, and Sand Island was icy. Our first and last legs were indeed quicker than the middle one. We watched for black ice.