Monday and Tuesday (days 6 and 7 of this challenge) were tough days. I already posted about my full schedule on Monday. Tuesday I had a gig after work. Needless to say you can’t do a lot of walking when you’re tied to a microphone cord. And it was rainy both days. Yuck.
But, I persevered and made my 10,000 steps each day. Woot!
Day 6 (Monday) = 10,001 The last 500 steps consisted of pacing my house.
Day 7 (Tuesday) = 10,147 I spent a half hour walking around Fells Point trying to strike up conversations with booking agents at other bars. We love playing Leadbetters, but some variety would be nice as well.
Today it is still misty and drizzly, but I have the day off from work. So I ought to be able to accomplish my steps without too much trouble.
In other news, Cecilia gave me a scare today. Somehow she managed to hook her front dew claw into her ID tag and she couldn’t unhook it. Thankfully I was 10 feet from her when it happened so she did not struggle long.
This is not Cecilia's paw. Her claws are white.
Once I unhooked her and we cuddled for a little bit it was time to go to work:
I can’t say it’s Cecilia’s favorite activity, but she is a trooper. Now both dewclaws are filed and (hopefully) no longer a threat to her safety.
On that note, Cecilia and I wish you all a safe and happy Thanksgiving.
Cecilia with her new stroller
Some pictures for your enjoyment today. Cecilia and I went for a walk with our new friend Bella.
Here we are at Bella's house
Bella and her mom came to the park with us.
Bella has LOTS of puppy energy!
Cecilia was a little overwhelmed by Bella’s puppy love.
Cecilia in her stroller
Here she is in her stroller ready to go home from the park. How cute is she?
After our walk it was time for breakfast. Apparently Cecilia was displeased with kibble this morning.
Feeder, this food is subpar.
I fixed it.
Potato bread, yummy!
I used to be so strict about not giving her people food, but ever since that tumor popped out, all bets are off.
Feeder, you're the BEST!
A piece of potato roll and she is a happy dog. Puppy love. I haz it.
Oh, and for those of you wondering about the 10×10 challenge, my total for Day 4 = 23,290.
Today’s total = 13,451.
It’s a LOT easier to get those steps in when you aren’t chained to a desk!
Tomorrow will be a big challenge for me. I have to be at work at 7:30am. And I have a meeting after work from 7pm – 9pm. I’m a little nervous about fitting in my steps! Stay tuned for the results.
What I forgot about walking 10,000 steps per day:
Walking with friends is so enjoyable!
Yesterday my friend Alaska and I did an early morning walk before work. I never would have gotten out there on my own, but meeting her forced me out of bed. I had over 7000 steps before I even left for work yesterday!
Total steps for Friday (Day 3): 13411*
*It would have been even higher, but I took the pedometer off before going out to dinner with my friend. Because while it is true that I am a huge geek, sometimes I try to camouflage it in public.
Today I went hiking with 3 girlfriends up at Oregon Ridge Park. I partly have Facebook to thank. Now I’m not a huge Facebook user. I refuse to poke people, play Mafia Wars, grow things on a mythical farm, collect eggs or send virtual presents. And I think the status updates can be very overused. I really don’t need to know that you’re headed to Starbucks, or that little Dylan has the sniffles. But I do post statuses (stati??) on occasion. Earlier this week I posted a status saying that I was contemplating a hike on Saturday. And 3 friends expressed interest in joining me. Yay! Hiking with a small group is so much more fun than going solo or with just one other person. More stuff to talk about, more people making observations, more people commiserating that this hill might just never end.
Don't these people look happy to be hiking together? And no, that's not us. I forgot my camera. Use your imagination and picture me here.
We had a great time and I’m at 13678 steps for the day so far. And that’s before I meet a friend for tennis this afternoon. I’m rocking on with my bad self today.
Hope your weekend rocks too!
What I forgot about walking 10,000 steps a day:
Rain really puts a damper on walking outside.
Fortunately for me, our rain was just a mist, so I did get out there with the stroller. But only because Cecilia and I had some errands to run. We walked to the library. And then we walked to the dog store for a gift. Because my neighbor just got a chocolate lab puppy.
Bella!
So cute! And so bitey! Bella is just adorable, but the best thing about her is that she makes me appreciate Cecilia even more. Puppies are kind of like babies: fun to play with for a while, and nice to give back to their rightful owners.
We gave Bella a squeaky toy and Bella’s mom got my favorite dog training book, The Latchkey Dog by Jodi Andersen. If you have a dog this book should be required reading. I learned so much from it!
Back to the 10×10 challenge. Yesterday was a a little tricky, but I got in 10,085 steps. Woot!
Awkward segue here.
Look! A picture of something crafty!
This is the apron I embroidered for my friend Sparkles. That name is kind of a joke from a super fun trip we took to Aruba several years ago. Sparkles had this lotion with
…wait for it…
sparkles!
My aren’t we original with our nicknames.
Please note the camera strap artfully arranged within this picture.
Clearly I have mad photography skillz
Here’s a picture of me modeling said apron. It really does look cuter in person. One of these days I should take a photography class. Or read the camera manual.
Surprise! Look who's in this picture
Cecilia and her tumor decided to join in on the photo shoot. I’m used to seeing the tumor everyday, but seeing it in this picture reminds me again of just how large it really is. It’s bigger than her little pea-head!
Bella, here’s hoping you never have a tumor. They are no fun.
What I forgot about walking 10,000 steps per day:
I have to be intentional* about it.
Act like this guy
My normal sedentary life gives me somewhere between 2000 – 5000 steps daily. To hit 10,000 I need to walk the dog more often, park farther away from things, do an extra loop around the Target (meaning a loss for both my weight and my wallet), etc, etc. Last night Cecilia and I (and the fabulous dog stroller) headed out at 8:30pm and didn’t get back to 9:30. And I still had to do those last few steps in my hallway!
Total for the day: 10,005.
Whew!
* Am I the only person who cringes when someone talks about being intentional? For some reason, that word brings up images of new age-y incense-burning uber-serious people talking deep thoughts and asking me to be present with stuff. But maybe that’s just me. You?
PS I apologize for the lack of adorable pics of Cecilia in her stroller. I can assure you it is just darlin’ plus, but we’ve been walking at night which does not make for great pics. Stay tuned.
Ever feel like this? And no, that's not me!
So I decided to create a quick challenge for myself. I plan to do at least 10,000 steps every day for the next 10 days.
Using my trusty pedometer.
Hello old friend
This isn’t hardcore life changing stuff. And that’s the point. I wanted this challenge to be both enjoyable and achievable. Because who wants to go into the holiday season feeling like a failure?
So if you see a person walking down the street with a dog stroller and a smile, that’s probably me. Be sure to wave hello!
I had a foster kid visit me this weekend for respite care. R is 11 years old, and this was his second weekend with me. Saturday we braved the drizzle and overcast skies for a trip to visit Cunningham Falls.
By 11am that morning I realized that coffee was a requirement. Our first foray off the highway was entirely unfruitful.
Our second stop found us here.
Juice does not run on this
Somehow I could not convey to the barrista that I required sugar free almond syrup in my latte. I ended up with a super-bitter latte-wanna-be which required three Splendas to be palatable.
Imagine my bitterness when this sign appeared at the VERY next exit:
Anyway. Moving on to the hike.
R had a great time exploring the tire playground.
We got an unexpected treat at the visitor center. There was an aviary with several large birds – owls, hawks, vultures. R had a question about one of the birds so we knocked on the door to ask the worker a question. Even though the visitor center was closed, the woman invited us inside the building and proceeded to give us a tour of every single animal inside! R’s favorite was the 45 pound snapping turtle.
My favorite was the barred owl.
We took the “challenging” course to the falls. It was only .75 miles, but it lived up to it’s description!
It was this rocky the whole climb!
R took this picture of the falls:
We arrived home tired and ready for a quiet evening. It was then that I learned to fear “Excuse me.”
The first time was during his bath. I’m downstairs making dinner while R is washing off the hike. I hear a little voice call “Excuse me!” I think he says that sometimes because he forgets my name, and this is the best way for him to get my attention.
I run upstairs and ask what I can do to help. And of course there’s a tick on his leg. Which I have to kill. And then reassure him that he’ll be fine since the tick was on him for only a couple of hours. And did I mention that I had to kill the tick? All by myself?
Tick shown actual size
Time #2: Bedtime. Lights out. I’m downstairs savoring the silence when it happens. “Excuse me!” I head up to his bed to hear this question: “Do you ever have mice in this house? Because I’m hearing a noise.” Well, as you can imagine, I’m a little sensitive about this topic. I lie in the bed with him to listen for the noise. I’m overjoyed to report it’s simply a zipper brushing up against the side of the dryer (we had to wash our potentially tick-infested clothes).
The third time I hear “Excuse me!” it’s because someone needs to complain about the volume of the dryer buzzer. To which I had to say suck it up. Because I can kill ticks and diagnose fake mouse noises, but I’ll be darned if I can figure out how to turn off the dryer buzzer.
Maybe I could if I’d had real coffee that morning. I blame you, Dunkin Donuts.
But wait! There’s more!
How fabulous are these?
Rain boots! And perfectly appropriate as we are dealing with Ida’s leftovers right now.
A few observations about this photo:
- Please note how my new rainboots match my dining room. Who is digging her some orange these days?
- Again, Cecilia with the nonchalant photo op. That girl never misses her chance for fame.
- The very observant among you will note Tropical Depression Cecilia forming next to the brown jug. Give it a few days and a full-blown Hurricane Cecilia will be visible. Don’t judge people.
But wait! There’s more!
Guess what came in the mail today?
Something from here:
I've never seen a gift box this color before! Squee!
It contained this:
There is a whole long story about this gift but I won’t bore you. Suffice to say that my college roommate Bama is the best!
And now, my birthday season is officially over.
The end.
No rhyme or reason, just a list of good things that make me happy.
1. My band had a gig last night that went really well. We tried out 3 new songs (covers, not originals – we’re not THAT good) that were all well received. Plus we had some really nice tips in the jar. And best of all, twice during the night the bar got completely silent. Honestly, the first time that happened to me I kind of got freaked out. Because I tend to think the worst sometimes. Then I realized that the reason was because people had stopped talking and were actually listening closely to us. How flattering! We play again November 24th, so if you are in the Baltimore area email me if you’d like to see us.
2. I have not heard a peep from my rodent friends. And I have a roofer coming to check for possible entry points on Monday (supposed to be today but it’s raining). Since I heard the critter on my second floor I’m assuming it came in through the roof. Plus, if it had come up from the basement or first floor it would have gone straight to the kitchen. Fortunately I have seen no evidence of anything amiss in my kitchen. God is good to me.
3. I’m hosting a foster kid this weekend for respite care and I’m really excited about hanging out with him. If the weather cooperates I think we will check out Cunningham Falls on Saturday. Yay for exploring!
Imagine me here
4. Book club is tonight and I always lurve me some book club! The women in my book club are bright, interesting and funny funny funny. I’m guaranteed to laugh out loud tonight – maybe even guffaw. It does my soul good. This month we read The Lace Reader. Interesting but not my favorite. I already put my review on Goodreads.com, so I won’t bore you with the details here. But if you want to link to me on Goodreads just let me know. I always love connecting with fellow bookworms.
5. I’m working on a crafty project for a friend’s birthday. Since it’s not for my sister, I can actually post pictures of it prior to Christmas! Here’s a hint:
This stuff makes me giddy
6. I had a fabulous time on my birthday hike. The weather was gorgeous. Friends from different areas of my life came and I had the joy of watching them make connections. Isn’t it fun when you can introduce new friends to each other?
Four intrepid hikers
Me and Tennis in a hobbit hidey hole!
God is so good to me every day. Tell me how he’s blessed you!
Last night I woke up to a strange loud noise. At first I thought it was raining. Then I thought that someone was trying to break into the house. Then I realized that the noise was coming from the wall between my room and the stairway. Apparently there was some kind of critter inside.
Please oh please do not be in my wall!
I banged on the wall and the noise stopped, then started up again.
I figured I was going to have something dead inside my wall. Nice.
What do you do? It was 5am, so I couldn’t really call anyone. I just got to sit there and listen to a rodent assault my drywall. Or wiring. Or whatever the heck might be behind that wall.
Flushing the toilet caused the noise to stop.
I’m not sure which is worse: thinking that something is going to die inside my walls, or realizing that said critter KNOWS HOW TO ESCAPE AND CAN COME BACK WITH ALL HIS FRIENDS!
Guess who won’t be sleeping too soundly anytime soon?
The stuff of my nightmares
Advice anyone? Please?
Oh. Guess who slept through the whole episode.
My fearless watchdog
Thanks for the help Cecilia.
