Happy Memorial Day Weekend ! !

Monday - May 30th.  Went to the city parade. I parked at the cemetary and walked about a mile and a half to where the Parade was starting.   Daniel was marching.   The kids looked great ! ! !   They had a very nice service.  My dad and brother went too.    I was glad that I went. :)   Visited my mom's grave site.   I'm sure she was smiling down at seeing her grandson marching so close to her resting place.   We all miss her dearly, but know she's watching over us.  Love you mom ! !

After the parade and service,   went back to the boat.   Went sailing for about 3 hours.  Thank goodness I remembered the sunscreen ! !   I think re-applying another time would've helped my nose not to be so 'red' as I type this.   So glad summer is here and we had a few days of sun in a row.   I didn't walk today as much as I should have, but tomorrow I'll get up at 4 a.m. and get 6 miles in before work.  Also, will get to yoga at work.     It will be a great way to kick off the work week !

Happy Memorial Day to all, and thank you to all the Veterans, Active service men and women and especially those who gave the ultimate sacrifice !    God Bless America ! ! !

Sunday - May 29th.  Went to church in the morning with Rebecca.  Hannah was there too.  The service was in the church versus the basement.  I think they're going to have the contemporary service there more often.  The drums are staying on the side of the altar.    It is always good to see / hear the musicians.   Pastor Don did an excellent service as usual.    There was a touching time when the congregation said goodbye to a couple relocating to Tampa.   It was very touching the heartfelt tears that were displayed.  While I didn't know the couple,  I got to thinking, this will be Dan next year when he goes off to college.  I'll miss seeing him at Sunday service most.   It has been an awesome year to see him play nearly every Sunday! I'm so proud of his dedication and commitment and service !   I didn't walk much today.  Mostly relaxed from the party. 

In the evening,  there was the Welcome Aboard party where we recognize and welcome new members.  Sadly, none of the new members, could attend.  It was a still a nice dinner and we got to safely watch the storm roll in.  I am always amazed and in awe of our Great Lake Erie and how fast the weather can change the dynamics of the lake.

After the storm,  Daniel and his friends went to the beach for a while.   At 10:00'ish me and Dennis went to let them know it was about time to go.    They were starting to get ready to go, and I though,  good.  we'll have some alone time.. maybe make out .. hahahahahaha...    Of course,  that was thwarted by the Eastlake Rescue and Technical Issue team coming to launch their dingy to help a disabled boater.     So much for some quiet alone time.  :-/ 

 It was interesting to watch the launching . It seemed there was no sense of urgency and once they got in,  they had no running lights, and only flashlights.    I was thinking, where are their large spot lights and running lights?  It is tough to see out on the lake when it is foggy/cloudy.   It seemed to take forever for them to get going.   I was praying for the boaters that were out there.    After about an hour of listening to them try to position the boat.. through lights on land etc,   the rescue team was running low on fuel.  They were calling in Mentor..   I wondered, where is the Coast guard?  were they already out? Away..? 

Saturday - May 28th.  my FAVORITE day of the year.    My precious children born on this day.  Truly the best gifts of all ! !     I managed to get 6.5 miles in before the Birthday Festivities.

Party at the club.  27 kids from my daugther's school   Thank goodness for my creative brother who had the games/entertainment covered.  The kids seemed to have a great time. Only two young men decided to go swimming.   I think they regretted it shortly after because it was chilly.   Daniel had to work,   but,  it was a good day for it.   The weather was nice and only a hand full of boats needing a pump out or gas.   Rebecca and I went home after the party.   She managed to get all her thank you cards done.   I got all my flower pots planted and two planters will need some flowers, but I'll get them Sunday or Monday.

 

Friday - May 27th

Friday Morning walk.    5 miles.    At the 1.5 mile mark, I found this fresh peel.   I had to stop and take a picture of it.  I was laughing when I looked at the time.  It was 4:45 a.m.   This was a relatively 'fresh' peel.  I thought to myself, is it fresh because of all the wet weather?  Did someone just toss it this early?   Such a funny thing to see on the sidewalk. 

4:45 a.m. Friday 5/27/2011 on Lakeshore Boulevard

Friday was a good day at work.  Pretty quiet as I think many started their weekend early.   I was excited to get home, to get things ready for Rebecca and Daniel's Birthday tomorrow !

Banana Peels... who would've thought you'd see more than a few...

So far, I haven't been listening to any music on my walks.   Part of this is for safety, part of it is to just decompress and let nothing be in my mind and see where it wanders.   On my walk to and from downtown Willoughby, that there were not one, two or three banana peels along the side walk, but a total of six in a 5 mile stretch.   I find it odd that they are just black shriveled up and tossed aside.   One can argue, they will disintegrate, but why are they there?  Is it the same person,  just tossing their lunch scrapes?  Is it more than one person that is discarding the peels?     I've taken alternate routes, and inevitably,  I am now finding .. you guessed it.   Banana peels here and there.    It makes me laugh every time I see one.   

Monday and Wednesday of this week,  I started waking up at 4 a.m.  I'm trying to get in 6 miles before work.   Monday, I was close with 5.4.  Yesterday I did 5.6.  I run out of time as I'm leaving the house at 4:15/4:20 and need to be back by 6 to get ready for work.      Tomorrow,  I will do a 6.2 mile venture.   I've also mapped a nice walk near the lake that will be 7.3.      The good news, is the past few mornings,  my legs haven't ached/been tired and it's only the lack of time that's stopped the walks.   

Saturday,  I'll be in Columbus for the Girls Regional Volleyball tournament.  I'm already scoping out where I can walk to get in at least 8 miles.     I think Sunday will be a nice restful swim in the hotel pool before driving back.     

The good news is.. while the scale isn't dropping as I'd hopped,  I am able to fit into a pair of jeans comfortably that I haven't been able to fit into for years.    Very happy about that. :)    

That's all for now..    hope the posts make you smile. and think.... Banana peels?  hmmm.. :)

Cheers for now.

-Rose

Beautiful Mother's Day weekend. :)

Two days of sunshine in a row ! !  What a great weekend.    The walking went very well this weekend.   Saturday,  10.6 miles (then maybe another .5 at the mall).    It felt awesome to walk in the sun,  until I realized that I didn't use sunscreen. :(    Note to self;  put sunscreen in my pack, along with tissues and a band-aid.     I walked to my hair appointment in downtown Willoughby.   Keri was surprised, but when I explained why I walked there, she was like way to go -- keep it up.    The walk home went quicker and I made better time.    The wind was at my back, so that definitely helped.

Mother's day was nice.  Went to the service where my son plays drums in the contemporary service.   I always enjoy it.    I had brought a change of clothes so I could walk home.  Only 5.6 miles.   
I had given Dennis a Dr. Oz strawberry french toast recipe to make.   It was just about ready by the time I got home in an hour and 45 minutes.   My daughter washed my car.   Son said he'll wax it when he can. (probably after school is over in  a few weeks).
My son needed to get a gift from the Beachwood mall,  so got a handful more steps in there.    

Good weekend for walking.    My total tracked mileage since February 1 = 312 miles.     They say the average 3day walker will train with 585 miles before the event.  I should be close or above that.  (If you'd told me a year ago that I would've walked 312 miles in 3 months,    My response would've been to laugh)   Now, I just look forward to the next walk. :)

Thinking of my mom and missing her.  Thanks for walking with me in my heart Mom.  You always give me strength ! :)  

Blessings to all mom's everywhere !

Cheers for now.

Yay For Yoga! !

I've been missing Yoga the last few weeks because I was doing a Junior Achievement class on Tuesday's at lunch and then there was always something double booking me on Thursday so I was missing it.   This week,  I made it to both the Tuesday and Thursday Yoga class at work.    I'm happy to say, that I really missed it !   The ability to stretch/relax and meditate all in that hour cannot be underestimated.   I'm very fortunate that it is offered at work.  They run the class from 1:05 to 1:50.  This gives me exactly an hour lunch, with time to change and get back to work.   It is really a nice benefit, and is so re-energizing!

For those of you who have never tried yoga,  I highly recommend it.    Coupled with the every other day walking,  it is a really good break for the muscles.   

To date,  I have logged 287.93 miles.    I'm happy with my progress and that it does seem to be getting less and less intimidating to do 5 and 6 miles.    I actually felt like the 6 miles I did yesterday,  I could've easily re-did.   The morning was a misty cool walk,  but,  if I had not run out of time, I would've did the same route.   In my mind,  that is a good sign . :-) 

I'm actually looking forward to this weekend and excited to see where I might go to do 8-10 miles. :-)

Will let you know how it goes.

Cheers for now.

Training walk with others in Mentor..

I did my first 3day Training walk today in Mentor.    -- Thank you Denise who coordinated the walk.  It was 7 miles.    If it wasn't for needing to get out to Geneva for Rebecca's volleyball tournament, I would've done another 'round', putting it to 10.5.  (Next time! :) )     It felt good to walk.  I was in a seminar all day yesterday and then drove home afterward (Cincinnati home = 4.5 hours).    I didn't get in many steps yesterday.   I did however, get a really good workout in the hotel pool on Thursday.   There wasn't a soul there, so I had the whole pool to myself.   My upper body/arms were feeling it the last two days.  

My tracking, has me over 260 miles now.    Every mile adds up!    Today was really neat as there were 12 of us.   We all had something pink on.   It was interesting to talk to the ladies, and get advice from others who've done the walk before. -Thank you Denise, Linda for the tips.     Marlene,   hope we meet again and can do another training walk!    Keep it up !

I'm happy that I made the walk with other ladies.  It felt good as we were walking and people would honk, wave, thumbs up or just toast their coffee mugs.   Was great to have the encouragement.

Tomorrow,  another volleyball day.  Hope that I can get another 7 or 8 miles in.  :)

Go- Spring !

Cheers, for now. :-)

-Rose

Easter will be a day of rest. :)

Good Friday - April 22.

The walk on Friday turned out to be very nice.   while it was raining and pretty chilly, I managed to walk almost 9 miles.  The only challenge was that my big toes started to get a little wet.  Upon arrival at home,  I found two big blisters on my big toes.  -- ouch --.      The walk was pretty interesting.
I paused to read some of the Historic signs in downtown Willoughby.  I didn't realize the W-E Tech Center used to be a medical college in the mid 1800's.   There was a fire that closed the medical school.  The people of Willoughby were not as successful in raising funds as Painesville, and thus in Painesville, the women's school opened (Lake Erie College).     The willoughby medical school had a great influence as to Case being strong in the medical field.     Who knew..

 I passed a gentleman waiting for a bus on Mentor Avenue.  I approached and said I sure hope the sun comes out soon,  he said something like he isn't going to wait in the rain again for a bus.   I told him to have a good day and kept walking.  He then called ..saying.. Hey,  you got a cigaratte.  I politely replied, no.  sorry,  just some water.   He laughed and said, oh, ok.    It struck me as funny,  as I just didn't fancy/picture myself as a smoker, or someone that would look like I would be carrying cigarettes.  

The walk was quiet.   I liked the sound of the raindrops top of my rain coat and head.  It reminded me of being in a tent camping and hearing the rain on the tent.   Very peaceful.  

Since I didn't have Sam with me and no music (I really need to get that old iPod to have something to listen to), I started to count my steps in between fire hydrants.   I started to wonder,  how do they know where/how far apart to place them.    Some of the distances were double the other.  I counted 312 steps between one set, followed by 389, then 180.   There didn't seem to be a reason why some were farther or closer together.   Perhaps I should ask a fireman some day, I wonder if they would know, or is that more a city water thing...   I then wondered how fireman know where the fire hydrants are,  or what if there isn't one near enough to a fire.   Just random thoughts.

The walk took about 2.5 hours.    I'm happy with the pace I kept.   Made it home about noon and still had th rest of the day to get ready for Easter. :-)

Saturday - April 23,  Rebecca had to go to her friends to work on their Health project.   I called my cousin Cathy up and asked if she wanted to go for a walk.   I was thrilled that she was able to.  We walked all around willowick.  My step counter read 13,000 steps.   I was glad with that.   Cathy's read over 10,000.  She was happy about that.      For the day,  I had 14,433 steps.    Tomorrow... I am not even going to wear the pedometer.  I will be enjoying Easter.   No Walking,  just having a nice time with family. :-)

See ya next time.

*Cheers*

First 10 mile walk- -

Sunday, April 17.   Windy, but sunny.   I decided to walk to the mall and then some.   4.8 miles one way.    My daughter Rebecca decided to go with me.   We set out at 11:30 a.m.    We arrived to the mall about 1 p.m.   We did a few errands, used the restroom facilities then set on our way.   She decided that she wanted her dad to come pick her up,  but that was after she stopped for a Starbucks.   She cracks me up.   :)   She was so happy to get a vanilla creme drink.  I kept walking and her and Dennis drove by me waving.   She had a big ole grin on her face while she was drinking and waving,  it made me sooo happy to see her smiling face and her waving as she passed by.   

I walked home and about .75 miles away (at that point, I had done 10 miles and was getting pretty tired.   Fortunately,  the wind was at my back as the whole walk south had the wind in our faces - resistance training? hahaha).   I momentarily thought to call for a ride for that last .75 miles,  then  my brother is driving down the street all smiles, flashing his lights, waving and giving me a big thumbs up.   Well,  that was enough to get me to finish.   My step counter read 22,850.    My highest step count.   When I walked in,  my daughter was like - Yay.. you did it.    I told her that if I said I wasn't sore, I'd be fibbing... she laughed and said,  well,  you have until July mommy,  you can do this.   Her encouragement was golden !     

Fortunately,  dinner was already made, so after I showered,  we took dinner to my in-laws and enjoyed a nice relaxing evening.

Monday - April 18th.   I woke up knowing at least 3 miles was needed.   While sleeping in would have been heaven,  the alarm at 4:40 got me up.  I managed to do 2.8 miles.   Not quite 3, but I was glad no procrastination. :-)   I wore comfy skecher shoes to work and tried to walk extra hall ways to get to meetings.  I occassionally will walk up a flight of stairs and back down to get to a meeting.   With all the sitting at work,  have to take advantage of the stairs and long hallways.   The good news is,  I can get to the third floor without being completely winded like a few months ago.   It's a good feeling. :)

Tuesday I did some weight training and stretching.   Wednesday was treadmill in the morning.   I realized that walking the treadmill is the most unsatisfying activity for me.   The open street/neighborhood walks are so much more gratifying.

I've been listening to a song lately a friend sent to me in a youtube. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rqI9GbC-ezo   It makes me smile to listen and sing along to.   Thank you for reminding me about this upbeat and cheerful song. :) !

Afterwork on Thursday, I was a bit rushed in my walk time so Sam and I managed to do a mere 3 miles before we had to pick up Rebecca from volleyball.    The 3day training program has Saturday and Sunday as an 8 and 10 mile walk.  I'm going to do that for Friday and Saturday instead and then enjoy Sunday - Easter. :)

April 22, Good Friday.  Never quite sure why it is called 'Good Friday'.   Jesus died for our sins on this day... Good for us,  but, not so good for him. I can't imagine the pain that his mother Mary endured watching/knowing the suffering her son went through for all of us.     I am interested in the choice of the word 'Good' for this holy day.   If anyone knows the reason for this choice of words,  please let me know. 

 Sam has a veterinarian appointment. The timing is perfect as she's not putting any pressure on her one hind leg.   Of course, everyone is blaming me that I did something to it on our walk last night. :-(   I'm sure Dr. Slobody will see why she's limping and she'll be as good as new.     I'll be driving to the Vet with Sam and Dennis,  but,  will be walking home.  According to bing's walking map it will be 6.8 miles.   I will have to add another 1.2 miles to that and I know just the spot to do that in downtown Willoughby.   There is a threat of rain,  so raincoat will be in order.    

Cheers for now !

p.s;  There was a green pickup truck with a couple in it that honked yesterday.    I didn't recognize it and could not see you due to the sun,    but, whoever you are.. thanks ! :)