ice floating on the delaware

The Delaware was beautiful this morning. Just after sunrise, with the light bouncing off the ice as it floated downstream. The banks were frozen with maybe a third of the width still running.

Sorry I have no pictures. I didn't want to walk over the bridge in my work clothes. Beside it would have taken too long. Instead I'll just wax poetic. I can only imagine what a real writer would do with the image.

It was an ordinary walking day. Lots of stairs, and walks thru two campuses. Not great, but I managed to get 6K steps so far.

I also registered Lydia and I for snowshoeing on Saturday. You had to register to borrow equipment.  I have shoes, but Lydia doesn't.

Tomorrow I'll try an more interesting walk. I guess if you do wild and crazy walks everyday, blogging daily would be fun. I'm actually looking forward to the end of the month and having quality, rather than quantity.

baby it's cold outside

It snowed maybe an inch last night. Okay. Maybe two inches. Clearly wasn't worth the end of civilization weather reports from last night.

At about 7:30 I went out to clear the snow. Shovel, might be too strong a word. It was single digits. And very windy.

This is what I wore. I probably looked silly.

TWO pairs of gloves. When I came back in I couldn't feel my fingers
Long undies, top and bottom
Long sleeve shirt
Pullover fleece
LL Bean coat with hood up
Sweatshirt with hood up
Fuzzy hat under all those hoods
And a scarf

Except for my fingers I was not cold.

I did the front, walked up the hill, around to the alley and did the garage and the back sidewalk, then went up the hill and came back down to the house.

After getting half that clothes off, I went out to make breakfast. Bonnie called. "Let's drive to the Poconos and go for a three mile hike." "Okay." Alas, she was teasing. But I really did want to go to the Poconos. Angel was picking the girl-child up from Moseywood. I toyed with the idea of hiding in her car and walking around lake Moseywood. (Supremely jealous of girl-child—snowshoeing, cross country skiing, sledding, painting snow—why don't they have adult weekend in winter?)

I did some work, then put all that clothes back on, and headed out at lunchtime for my walk. Alone. Lydia had been a maybe for today, but she called and said it was F@*&‡!G cold out. She was going to the movies instead.

I went down to Itaska, and wove my way to Broadway. Out Broadway and back up thru Lehigh.  One reason I chose the university is I knew the sidewalks would be clear. They were so clear they were dry.

Even the stairs were clear. So I took them.

At the top of the hill I headed out 8th Street toward home.

Sadly, it was barely two miles. I only have 7500 steps for the day, but I do have 38 floors. So I'll need to do at least 2500 steps in the house later. Unless I decide to bundle back up and head back out.

 The view from 8th Street

Oh, I weighed myself this morning. Up another two pounds. I think I'm going to stop watching what I eat. More exercise. Less and better food. I do not understand.

boom boom splat

It's snowing! A gentle, light snow. It shouldn't add up to to much this round. Another round is coming tonight that could bring anywhere from an inch to six inches. It's Valentine's Day and I'm sure the restaurants were booked solid. They'll probably lose money hand over fist. Me, I'm having leftovers. That's what we have on Saturday night.

Lydia and I planned to walk about 11. It was already snowing in the boonies, so she chose not to come.

I went out by myself about 2. Getting up my hill was no problem. Getting up Sassafrass was a horse of a different color. There is a five foot section that really steep. Cars often scrap bottom on it.  Normally it's no problem walking up it. Today I kept wishing I had my snow shoe poles with me. I could not get traction at all. I decided to give it one more try before I went a different way. I walked in old snow and it worked.

Up the alley I went. I turned left on to Wyandotte and came down Fiot Avenue. It was harder getting traction going down than up. I was taking baby steps. Before I could get out into the street, down I went. I went out into the street the first chance I had.

Finishing the hill, I decided on a shorter walk. I headed right on Sioux and down Ontario to Broadway. Once I reached Broadway it was back on the sidewalk, around the bank, and up Wyandotte back to Sioux. Once I reached Sioux again, back out into the street I went until I reached home.

Since I was dressed, I also cleared the snow.

The walk was only about 6K steps and 22 flights of stairs. Clearly, tonight I'll be walking in the house again.

and done

I also finished the Idita-Walk. Now I get to hang out at the Nome Nugget Inn and wait for Bonnie to arrive.  Thank goodness for indoor walking. Outside its tough this year.

Twenty-nine other people have finished. A lot of them have Volkssport clubs as their "group".

The actually Ididarod begins March 7 in Fairbanks this year because of lack of snow. But it will end here in Nome, as always.

It's only a few degrees colder in Alaska than it is here.

campus tour

Today was a busy day. I took my sister to the doctor, shopped at the supermarket and the farm, went to the post office, went to Jersey for gas (still a buck ninety five)... lots of running around. We left at 8:30 and didn't get home till noon. And there was still a load of laundry to be done before I left for work.

I was driving to work when I realized that I didn't walk. Poop.

Plan B. I'd take a walking tour of campus. It's not nearly as fun as it is at Lehigh, or Lafayette, or Villanova. The campus is only 40 years old (it used to look like a prison) situated on an old corn field. It has young trees, lots of parking lots, and a blanket of snow. Every building is covered with the exact same brick and concrete. 

 War memorial

 I knew this was a garden, but I didn't know it was medicinal.

 Quad. It's brick.

I took pictures with my iPod. I think my new camera went from a want to a need. These iPod pixs aren't very good.

This blog post a day is difficult. Hopefully it's nice tomorrow so I can walk on college hill.

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.

dang it was cold

When my friend Pam and I decided to walk today, it was a balmy 45 degrees out. What a difference a couple of weeks makes.

We planned to go to Cedar Creek (beach) Park off of Hamilton Street.I awoke this morning thinking, "does the city do winter maintenance"? The parks are heavily used, so I hoped they did. the backup plan was Trexler Park. I was fairly sure they plowed that.

As I was driving down Ott I could see the left side was plowed. Yes!

Pam was waiting for me by the pool. We headed east around Lake Muhlenberg. But when we went to cross the bridge quickly realized the other side was not done. We headed toward the sidewalk but that had drifted shut. We returned to the pool the way we came. After crossing Ott we went south towards Cedar Crest College. (All directions are totally random. Hopefully after hearing landmarks you can make your way around.)

After we went past the rear of the college there were city trucks working. They were pruning and removing trees. It was 30 degrees out. Maybe. Why? Seemed like a more appropriate job for spring, summer, autumn ... not winter. Pam had a great theory. Maybe it's true. Many of the trees run along the creek. Perhaps the banks of the creek are so soft and unstable that they do it when it is hard and frozen. And the trucks won't fall in. Sounds plausible. I'm sticking with it.

When we finished the loop at Ott, we decided to go around again.

As we returned to the pool, Pam told me the Allentown JCC was  having a Polar Plunge and was I game. It's supporting their aquatics program. She always goes with me on my adventures, so I said yes. Yes, I know. No spending money. Ya gotta do what ya gotta do.

On the way home I took a picture of this fellow on Hamilton, across from the park. Clearly he is a Phantoms phan. He's built on top of the snow bank and pretty hard to miss.

A friend posted this race on FB. It's in York. I am so tempted. How many times do you get to race around a giant shoe? I will resist. It's 3 hours away.

Sunday is the Tri-to-help Triathlon. I signed up to do this event, but my friend backed out. Not really interested in doing it alone. It's a two-hour drive. Probably will just skip it.

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".

yikes! i opened an instagram account

I opened an Instagram account last night. Yeah, it scares me too.

It all ties into doing social media/web for the walking group. If I'm taking pixs with my iPod, then they can be uploaded to Instagram and right to their FB page, I think. Maybe. I'll have Lydia help me.

Anyway, if you want to search for me my name is thisismygymtoday. Yeah, it does look more like a hash tag. Right now everything is generic. But I added 2 test photos yesterday. And they showed up.

It looks like you really need to be sure you want to post it. I do not see an edit or delete button, at least on my desktop. Maybe there is one on the iPod. The mobile interface is much more robust.

The only part of this that truly excites me is writing hash tags. I find myself glancing at the pixs and then just reading the hashtags. My favorite from yesterday is"wishicouldblastmymusicbutsomeoneisnapping"‬. I just need to figure out how to do it. I think you just write using the pound sign.

We'll see how it goes.

Today I substituted, so no time for a long walk. I was going to take the walking path around campus, but there is no winter maintenance. Maybe I should take my snowshoes with me to school. So I walked around and thru buildings and up the stairs. Somehow I managed to get 9K steps in. So last night, after dinner with a former Girl Scout, and putting in my final grades, I walked back and forth thru my house for the remaining 1K steps.


Mission accomplished.

Now I just need to do that everyday.

fat girl, shoveling

Last night it snowed. They were calling for 6-8 inches. I had thought about going and clearing it, but it was still snowing pretty heavy when I went to bed. There was maybe 3 inches.

This morning at 6 I go out to shovel. It is three inches of snow saturated by rain. It felt like it weighed a ton. The drain that I so carefully keep open, was covered in snow. So I shoveled that first. The water came like a river and it was two inches deep, for a while.

Messy. Messy. Messy.

We had a two hour delay for work which is great. I would have been late. It took well over a half hour to shovel that little snow. When I came in, I actually took my blood pressure. It was fine.

There will be no outside walking today. The sidewalks are icy and the curbs are awful. At work there isn't even a cut to walk thru. You get to walk thru knee high slush. Fun.

Update: I barely reached 5K steps Monday.

do you wanna build a snowman?

Everywhere we walked today we ran into three snowmen. 'Tis the season, I guess.

Lydia arrived about 11 and we headed downtown. Normally you can still park on Main Street at that hour. But it's Sunday, and there is a very large, active church there. There's no spaces for a mile. So we decided to go under the bridge (Festplatz). When did that become contacted parking? (And where do the "contracted" cars park during all the festivals?) We had to drive down Conestoga, out Union and back Old York Road, to park at the Luckenbach Mill. Craziness.

We started our walk in the historic area, then headed out the way we drove in. We came back Conestoga, and loops the small festival area near Sand Island. Then we went up Main to the Hotel Bethlehem, and back down the hill.

Sadly, our route was only about 2 miles and took over an hour. But we met lots of frozen friends.

After doing a few errands, then eating lunch, we took Adonis for his half-mile walk.

The Idita-Walk and Winter Challenge walking has official begun.

cold and windy walk

Big News! I was able to create a simple one-page website for the Liberty Bell Wanderers. It went live this morning. And it's still there. It hasn't crashed.  So relieved.

After that success I really wanted to walk and celebrate. I text Lydia to see if she was free. She was. So after walking the dog and making pizza for lunch, we did the south Bethlehem volkssport walk. In the process we discovered that Lydia only has one more walk to finish her thirty walk book. So we are doing it again tomorrow!

It was cold and it was windy. But otherwise bright and beautiful. We actually drove to the Comfort Suites start point.

When we arrived at the Greenway it was snow covered. Just the little snow from Monday. The larger snow from Saturday had been plowed. But it had melted and refroze and was really icy, so we left the Greenway and walked thru the adjacent parking lots all the way to Polk street. The we walked out Third to the casino. Then down and around and back First Avenue thru Arts Quest. It was 2.75 miles. Which considering my track record lately is pretty damn good.

Tomorrow begins the winter challenge and the Iditawalk.  So I have to step up my game.

Oh, the Penn State lion now has a hashtag—#ifoundthelion. I'm going to go look to see how many clones he has. Maybe, we'll go on a lion safari in spring.

coins to the bank

I've been seeing these signs all over town in the past week. Today when I was out walking I took the picture. Correct me if I am wrong. A patient obtains these items two ways—buy them outright at the drug store. Or get them at the drug store thru your insurance company. If you buy them with your money why would you sell them. If you get them thru the insurance company and sell them, isn't that insurance fraud? Not to mention really stupid and life threatening? (Unless, of course, you've changed monitoring systems and have a surplus.) Color me very puzzled.


My walk today was a simple square. First stop was to the bank at the 5-points. Both the coin containers on my desk were full, so I thought I'd walk them down and placed them in my canvas lunch bag. It wasn't too bad. I have carried heavier bags of coins. The grand total was just under $90. Not bad.

After leaving the bank, I headed up Wyandotte street to Sassafrass. I learned pretty quickly that is a bad idea during snow season. One sidewalk was shoveled above Sioux Street. And the block between Fiot and Sassafrass was downright horrible. I walked in the street. At 3 pm. Not smart.

So it wasn't a long walk, but I got out.

I managed to walk, even just a little each week.  Four days I even reached 10K steps.  Thank goodness.

The Idtawalk and the Winter Challenge begin Sunday. The winter challenge has two levels—30 miles in 30 days. Or 90 miles in 30 days. You know I'm going for the ninety.

On a different note, the new Liberty Bell Wanders website goes live tomorrow. T-E-R-R-I-F-I-E-D. Could someone remind me of why I volunteered to do this?

two bridges

Today I walked over the Hill to Hill and back the Fahy bridge, with a few errands in between.

I heart winter. I heart everything about it, except maybe snow days. We have to make those up, or I don't get paid. But it does add some challenges to walking.

As I was walking I thought (more times than I could count) that the city could raise all shortfalls by enforcing the laws. Mainly the one where you're supposed to shovel your sidewalk after it snows. For pedestrians it's beyond sketchy. There were more than a few times when I almost went down. I know that citation would be on my door the one time I didn't shovel.

Another problem for pedestrians is crossing the street. Even when the homeowner or business shovels to the corner the plow comes thru and closes it back up. If the property owner doesn't come back out and dig out, again, you get to scale humps of snow. Or worse, cold messy slush.

But if you are able to navigate those challenges. You get to see the frozen canal.

Or where cars have played spirograph in the empty parking lot.

Tomorrow we are to get another storm. I've heard everything from four inches to two feet.  time will tell. My snowshoes are ready.

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.

goal 6 achieved!

Today it snowed all day. Walking in the snow was wonderful. You can tell it's January. The Liberty Tax Lady Liberty mascots were out. There were two. One saw me snap the pixfrom across the five points. "Hey, xxxx, she's taking ur picture!" I am very happy that I don't need to do that to make a living.

Have you gotten your W2s yet? I think it's a little early to be doing taxes.

Yesterday I took two small walks. I barely reached 7K steps. But I did get 25 floors.

Today I did walk. In the snow. Ultimately I went to Ahart's and CVS. I mostly stayed off the hills because of the snow, so I only reached 17 floors.

Doing well with goal 6. Made a doctors appointment. He will yell at me because of my weight.  I did not expect to get an appointment Friday. I wanted the other female doctor. She's booked till mid-March. The guy I got is old. May have to work my way thru the practice to find one I like.

Also bought healthcare. I am now officially poor. I apparently make 3K too much to get any assistance.  My policy is $400/month, with a $4K deductible and $60 doctor co-pays. Pretty much I'm going to be paying twice what I paid before. Unless something horrible happens, I will never make the deductible. And now I won't qualify for the cash price. I'm screwed. However, it will make goal 2 easier to follow. At least the spend less part. Will need to see where I can cut more corners.

Goal 3 is a lot harder. Especially for a "people pleaser" and "enabler". (I learned these terms in Al Anon meetings when my sister was in rehab.) This morning someone called hysterical and hyper-ventilating. The car was repo'd. I caved. However, now that $400/month is a reality, I have no more money to cave with. Maybe it will be easier.

over the river

Today I did a maybe three mile walk. I left my house, headed out Broadway and up Wyandotte to the bridge. Then over the bridge to the Hotel Bethlehem I went. I had to change the "special programs" sheet in the walk box. (I just read on FB that my brother and his family were there for brunch. There was a lot of people there for brunch.)

Then I headed towards home with a stop at CVS and Aharts.  Then I headed up  Wyandotte hill to Sassafras, and home.

The pictures were taken at the Church of the Nativity.

soaked

Today we had the every popular "wintery mix". It snowed. It rained. It freezing rained. Sometimes it seemed like they did it all together. Since it rain now, I've decided not to clear my walks. It's supposed to be 60 tomorrow.

I kept stalling, but finally at 3 I had to go out. Because of the storm it would get dark early. I finally cracked 10K steps, and 25 stairs, using the Fountian Hill route. The downhills were more slippery than the uphills. Whatever possessed me to go down Hertzog is beyond me. I took baby steps and sort-of shuffle ran. I prayed the whole time I wouldn't roll down the hill head first.

When the trees go out to the curb, it's a clear sign that Christmas has come to an end.

short, but hilly

Today was another day where I was on my butt all day. A 2+ hour drive, a very long hairdresser appoint, and a fun trip to the car dealer. At about 1:15 I looked at my FitBit and I was still under 1.5K.

I was exhausted and had nothing to show for it. I finished what I was doing on the computer, and announced I was going out.

"Again?"

"Yes, I need to walk, My total is under 1.5K. That's horrible."

"You are just doing that to get away from me. I annoy you." [True, but not the reason I was going.]

Since I didn't have much time till it was back in the car for another 2-hour drive, I decided to do hills. I went up Fiot, down Wyandotte, up Eighth, down Brodhead, out Summit, up Wyandotte and home. Not very far but FitBit gave me 22 stairs, so it was pretty aerobic.

While I was out they were spraying saline for tomorrow's storm.

day 18—happy new year!

Personally, I don't get the "new year" holiday. Why should January first be any different than July first? To me, it is just another random Thursday, but I get off from work. Celebrating a new year goes all the way back to Mesopotamia in 2000 BC. And is apparently the most celebrated public holiday in the world. I think it's stupid.

To celebrate the new year I walked with Bonnie. We started at the Comfort Suites and grabbed the Bethlehem South volkssport walk paperwork. Then we headed over the Hill to Hill and did the same at the Hotel Bethlehem for Bethlehem North. We went up to Broad, down First and down Spring. then around the fairgrounds, and up Lehigh to the Fahy bridge. Across the bridge and back to the hotel.

I have no idea how far it was. Maybe 2 miles, perhaps a bit more.

The rest of the day was a whirlwind. We picked up Sharon at David's, came home and defrosted the freezer. Did two loads of towels (as a result of the defrosting). And did the Volkssport paperwork. Then it was time to make the pork and sauerkraut, which required a trip to the store. Finally run Sharon and Lydia home. Pshew.

Tomorrow will be worse. Take Lyd to and from Lehighton, hairdresser, and a trip to the garage. And I have to have my syllabus and the ADDY award entries done by the 5th.

So when does that vacation start? I have yet to open a book.