Happy Halloween! 22.38 total miles

Today is Halloween. Vinny's dad came by yesterday with the robot costume he'd made, and it is fabulous. It's also very impractical for wearing to school all day, so I had Mat pick up a hooded robe costume at Walmart, and I edited out the blood and gore on the chest and made Vinny an "alter-ego" costume for his robot costume. I did a pretty good job too, I think! I met Vinny and his dad at the school at 1pm for the parade they do and hung out until 3pm when school was out. We walked to Walgreens, running into Vinny's aunt and cousin on the way! The lady at Walgreens bought Vinny's treat bucket for him (thank you, nice Walgreens lady) and we were on our way. In the wrong direction. Being new to Springville, we didn't notice the directional signs until we were halfway down mainstreet. The "Safe Halloween" has a definitel flow of traffic, and we were like salmon swimming upstream. It was cold, and Nico was pretty unhappy. Vinny's dad decided he was going to go to the end and walk with the crowd. That was before we saw that the line was over a block long just to get started. Well, I bid my son and his dad fairwell, and headed home. So today, I walked a total of 1.43 miles.

Happy Halloween everyone!

Long walk home from school - 20.95 total miles

I picked Vinny up from school on foot today, and we took a long, roundabout way home. The total walk was 2.16 miles. I didn't end up walking yesterday because I went to church and was really disappointed in how robotic the whole service was, and now I have to go to a different church next week and continue my "church crawl" to find the right one for me and my family. So I was bummed, and since I parked badly (really close to someone else's door), I booked out of there, and got right on the road. Also, nothing is open on Sundays, so I couldn't even walk down mainstreet and try and have a cup of coffee.

So I think this local website is going to be a great way for me to meet some folks. I even have a person or two interested in walking! Lunch is this Wednesday, and then Thursday, I'm going back on Weight Watchers Core. It is going to be hard, because I just started using the breadmaker, plus the holidays are coming, but I guess that's no reason to eat like a crazy person. As a matter of fact, the one year when I did stick to my diet during Thanksgiving, was the only year I ever felt human after eating. And I ate a little of everything (key word being "little").

This year, it's just going to be me, Mat and the boys, so I'll be making a small turkey, stuffing (or dressing if you're so inclined), gravy, garlic mashed potatoes and candied yams (no marshmallows though, I don't understand that tradition!). One thing is for sure, I will NOT be making a green bean casserole. I never even heard of these until I moved to Arizona. I'm not a fan. Instead, I'll probably make some other kind of green veggie plus some kind of salad. I figure that I'll stay on program every day except Thanksgiving, and then, I'll count points, but I"m not going to beat myself about the head if I have an extra bite of pie. (Ohhhh yeah, I'm making homemade pie).

We are starting off Thanksgiving day with the 2 mile Health Run (and Vinny will do a kids' race that morning as well). I figure it's a great way for us to get out together and get moving. The more I think about it, the more I want to work toward doing real races (not that the fun walks aren't a blast!) I'm going to do the next March of Dimes walk in my area, and I'll keep looking for this type of event to combine philanthropy with fitness. Someone on Myspace posted this link about a father and son who compete, and I think it's one of the most inspiring things I've read/watched. Read the whole thing and take the time to watch the video at the bottom of the page.

Another thing I'm concerned about lately stems from my having watched Chernobyl Heart, an HBO Documentary. I think most people (around my age and older) remember when the Chernobyl disaster happened back in 1986. What I didn't realize was how that disaster continues to affect the people (and particularly the children) in that area to this day. If you want to learn more, visit the Chernobyl Heart film website and also check out the related charity site for Chernobyl Children's Project International. You can find the film on HBO and if you have DVR or Tivo, you can record it. It's not easy to watch, but I had no idea, and I hate being ignorant about the world around me. Anyway, if you decide to donate, post a comment so I know I'm lending a hand. Short of becoming a doctor and heading over there, I feel a little helpless over the whole scenario.

Anyway, I'm feeling good about my walk today, and though I realize I have not been as consisitent as I would like (or as I said I would be), I'm pretty proud that today:

I BROKE 20 MILES IN 22 DAYS!!!
(That's almost a mile a day!)

Daylight savings WHAT?

After twelve years in Arizona, it's no surprise that I woke this morning to total confusion. My alarm clock said it was 7am. My computer clock said it was 6am. My microwave said 7. My cell phone said 6. My thermostat said 7, my TV said 6. WHAT WAS GOING ON??? So I went to www.dateandtime.com to get an answer, and there it was: Sunday, October 29, Daylight Savings Time ends. In Arizona, because folks are bombarded by more sunlight than is humanly fair, they don't have DST. So, this morning, having decided to start my church crawl to find a church to attend, I thought I had to rush, and as it turns out, I have time to blog.

I found a cool site called www.UtahCountyMommies.com, which I'm hoping will be my connection to other moms in my area. So far, I've reached out to three moms, given them my name, number, and email, and so far, my track record of responses is 0/3. I wonder if it's because I'm not Mormon. I hope not. Because I'm a riot at mom's nights out.

I didn't walk yesterday, but I'm going to walk after church today, and check out the area surround the church in Payson. When I get home, my bread that I'm baking in my new bread machine (courtesy of a wonderful guy on http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ProvoUTFreecycle) should be done. Hopefully it doesn't turn out horribly because I don't know how to read directions through BEFORE beginning. I put in water, and then the dry ingredients only to discover it should have had powdered milk (I don't have any). I would have used regular milk, had I realized. Oh well, live and learn. That's all for now; I will post later!

Friday morning - 18.79 total miles

Last night I made myself a nice map to walk on www.mapmyrun.com (I LOVE this website) that is 4.25 miles. This morning, I decided to get a "little extra" in and walk Vinny to school. We got to the school intersection, and there was no crossing guard. Hmmm...strange. No kids on the playground, hardly any cars in the parking lot, no bikes on the racks. I asked Vinny, "Are you sure there's school today?" He assured me there was, but I guess he'd forgotten to give me the note. So, we hiked it back home. On the way, we collected fallen leaves, and today we're going to make a "stained glass" window out of fall leaves and waxed paper. I'll post a pic when we're done. So, I got in .84 miles so far today, and it's not even 10am! Go me! I'll be walking later too, but I need to find my scarf/hat so I don't freeze my ears off! Till then!

Well, since Vinny was home from school, I played it safe and opted for a shorter route today because I'm sure taking a six-year-old on a 4.25 mile walk is a recipe for disaster. So we walked 1.63 miles and stopped at the grocery store for milk and yogurt on the way. Vinny was great, and he even ran around in the Jr. High field for fun.

Speaking of yogurt, I have a new not-as-bad-as-ice-cream addiction: Yoplait Whips! I like the Chocolate Raspberry. It's like eating dessert, only it's yogurt, has only 160 calories, 4 grams of fat, and I guess the worst of it is the 23 grams of sugar and the 10 grams of cholesterol. Anyway, the texture visually is nasty, but it's great on the tongue, and tastes so good, my eyes are closed anyway! Try 'em, hopefully, I'm not the only one who thinks these are yummy.

I talked to my husband today, and he agreed to go on a 2 mile health walk on Thanksgiving Day in Provo. I would love to do this, and then, next year, maybe participate in the 5 mile run. I saw another fun run for the Nutcraker Suite, but you have to wear a tutu, and I'm not sure I can talk my hubby into this one. He's a good man, but that would take a saint! Anyway, I'm thinking of making my eventual goal to get trained for marathons. I don't think I'm aiming too high...I'm 33 for goodness sake, not 90! So we'll see how that goes. More tomorrow!

Calling all walkers!!!

If there are any other ladies in Springville, UT who would like to have a walking partner, I would love the company (Nicholas' vocabulary is limited to "Mama" and "Bubba", and so conversation can be a bit one-sided with him). I have nothing against walking with guys, but I think my husband would likely object, and besides, I'd feel weird talking about my butt as it shrinks or about lactation and the like with the opposite sex. I'm sure you understand. If, however, there is a gentleman (or more than one) that would like to get a group together, I'd be happy to facilitate a meeting page on my webpage (www.brainaim.com) if you like. I'm an equal-opportunity-exercise-encourager. Let me know...even if you're not up for every day of the week!

Finally...posting! - 16.32 total miles

I tried posting yesterday, and midway through a long, cleverly written post, my computer crashed. I was too frustrated to give it a second go, so here I am again. This time, I'm going to publish the blog and then edit it to add pictures. That way my computer does throw a hissy fit and I won't lose my work. I can assure you, however, that this post will not nearly be as cleverly written, and for that, I apologize in advance!

My Jersey trip went very well. I walked the dogs three times (which I think I've posted all three) and walked about a mile in NYC (I mapped what I remember walking, and it was approximately one mile. My uncle took me and my Spanish friends to see 'Ground Zero'. I'd never been, and it was a difficult thing to see. I took photos and found my elementary school classmate's name, Melissa Vincent, on the memorial wall. We visited the Winter Garden, which before I moved to Arizona might have been more impressive, since now it's just a bunch of palm trees inside a building. Finally, we visited the harbor, where I saw the Colgate clock (a huge clock across the way) and the Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island. (Two of my four grandparents came through there!) There were also sailboats with folks learning to sail. My uncle says it costs $1100 for three days worth of sailing lessons. I don't think I want to sail that badly. :)

Side story: Tonight, Mat and I went to (the hated) Wal-mart, and as we got out of the car, Mat approached an older lady unloading her shopping cart next to us and said, "I'm going to steal your cart from you." The lady started looking around almost wildly, so Mat said, "When you're done with it." She said nervously, "You've found me pretty defenseless". Then she noticed Vinny and I smiling, and then she laughed. "I thought you said you were going to steal my CAR!" She was mortified, and Mat (my half-Mexican, 6'3" husband) felt racially and/or size profiled once again. We felt terrible for having given her such a fright.

So anyway, tonight we had Vinny's parent/teacher conference. Mat dropped me and Vin off, and Vinny's dad met us there. The conference went very well, and Vin's teacher said he's reading at a second grade level in first grade! I gave Vinny the option of having his dad drive us home or walking, and he chose the walk (yay!) So we walked .42 miles home. It was a gorgeous, crisp night, and I really enjoyed walking with him. I wish he wasn't so big so I could get a double stroller and push both the boys on my walks, but he just doesn't have the stamina (nor do I, truthfully) to do a three+ mile walk. Tomorrow I'm FORCING myself to get back in gear, and Nico and I are going to walk with DADDY tomorrow. If he refuses (the verdict is out right now) then we'll walk at 1:30pm when he goes to work, and then just swing by to pick up Vin at 3pm. We should be able to get at least 3 miles in that amount of time.

I weighed in on my Aunt's scale in Jersey, and I was at 290 (with clothes & shoes at midday). Isn't it funny how we try to qualify why a number was so high? It's not like I wear lead shoes or a parka or that I ate three pizzas before weighing in. I'd say I'm probably around 285 in the morning sans attire if I had to make a guess. Nico, the little booger, weighs 18.5 lbs. No wonder my arms are always so tired! Hey! Time to start weights! LOL One step at a time....

Saturday in Jersey - 14.9 total miles

Can't post much. Walked half a mile today w/the dogs and my Uncle again. Will post more later!

October 18, 2006 - 14.36 total miles

Well, today was a semi-lazy day. I heard from my Spanish host sister, Elena, and her husband Antonio and we're planning to get together this weekend (while they're honeymooning in Manhattan). My mom has never met any of my Spanish host family (from 17 years ago) so this will be great for everyone. I went for a short walk with my Uncle Lou tonight (.54 miles) with the dogs. There was a short uphill section, then easy walking from there. No pics because it was around 10:30 at night! Anyway, since my walk was very short, my blog today will be too. Not sure what we're doing tomorrow. Oh! I applied online for a video game content writer position, and I got what I think is their version of a "call back". They asked for three more writing samples. If I get it, I can work from home. If not, I haven't lost anything but a few hours of writing which I need to do anyway. Until tomorrow!

New Jersey, Day 2 - 13.82 total miles

Well, I'm in New Jersey. I arrived yesterday, and got to walk with my Aunt Tina, Nico and my aunt's three dogs: Hunter, Rocky and Aster this morning. We went "around the block" which was 1.41 miles. The fall colors here are gorgeous, and I saw a gray squirrel for the first time in a LONG while. (Totally uninteresting to anyone who sees them daily, but a thrill for a displaced New Yorker). I have been eating as though I had someone else's metabolism, but I remain committed to making my dietary changes when I get back. I did take a few photos on our walk, but my aunt's computer doesn't have the card slot that my computer has, and I didn't bring my USB cord. I will post them when I get back. It rained like the dickens today, so if it continues tomorrow, I guess we are going to the mall so we can get a walk in regardless of the weather. I miss my husband and my Vinny, but Nico and I are having a great time visiting with my aunt, uncle and cousins, and this weekend, my Mom, stepdad, stepbrother and sister are coming too! I'll try to post tomorrow, but I'm not making any promises (other than that I'll walk!!!) Thanks for reading, guys, I really appreciate your caring about my personal mission!

Day six: October 14, 2006 - 12.41 total miles

Yesterday I didn't post because yesterday, I didn't walk. I had my older son, and the prospect of walking any kind of distance with both boys was just unfathomable to me, so I lazed the day away and felt like crap the whole time. Today, I decided that even though I had both boys, I would walk anyway. Just a shorter distance. We walked 1.44 miles. We saw the cars parked along Main Street advertising garage sales (this cracks me up every time, but it's a great idea). We went to the Art City Trolley, a nice little restaurant that serves fantastic salads. I'd forgotten about the e. coli thing though, so no spinach salad for me. I went with a garden burger instead with a chef salad on the side. (I didn't even sneak any of Vinny's fries!) After that, we walked to the video store, taking a few photos along the way. Last stop was the grocery store for some movie snacks, and we headed out. Problem was, it was windy as all get-out and it was raining just a tiny bit (not enough to even call a drizzle). To best protect both boys from the weather, I put on my wrap that I made last night (whoo-hoo! finally got that project done!) and put Nico in it. I zipped my sweatshirt over both of us, and put Vinny in the stroller. (He's a little big for it, but it did add to the cardio aspect of my walk!) We put the canopy over the stroller, and Vin held his kid's umbrella over the front. He kept saying how relaxed he was, and how fun the walk was. (For him maybe!) I had a huge umbrella for me and Nick, but it kept turning inside out because of the wind. I finally gave in, zipped the sweatshirt over his head and put the umbrella away. It was a long walk home, but we made it, and neither boy is turned off to the idea of walking again. The wrap was pretty comfortable (I was worried about the material I'd picked) and I'm not in excruciating pain from simultaneously carrying and pushing my sons. I realize my mileage is dwindling as the days go by, but I think my plan is going to be to walk every day, and to step up how far I go on the days I don't have to worry about Vinny (i.e. school days and weekends w/his dad). Now it's time to watch a movie with my boys. Just wanted to post so I didn't seem like a total slacker!

Day Four: October 12, 2006 -10.97 total miles

Today was a kind of whacky day. I didn't get to walk as much as I would have liked, but I didn't let my busy schedule prevent me from walking altogether. I had a 3 hour quilting class this afternoon, so afterward, my whole family walked to a pizzaria for dinner. I had a salad and some pizza, and then we took a long route home. Altogether, we walked 1.34 miles. So today, I broked the 10 mile mark! Tomorrow I may take the day off from walking, only because Vinny is home from school for teacher enrichment days and he was griping about walking a little over a mile. I don't think he'd be too keen on 3+ miles. I think we will at least walk to the park, so we're not being totally lazy all day. Until tomorrow then!

Day Three: October 11, 2006 - 9.63 total miles

Today, much like yesterday, I didn't feel like walking. I did though, and it went pretty well. I mapped a course that would go by my ex-sister-in-law's house so I could stop in and say hi. I underestimated the hill she lives on. Needless to say, I was a panting, sweating pile of "I'm never doing this again" by the time I got to her unnaturally steep driveway. I visited for about an hour, and headed home (downhill, which should have been easier, and was, but still had it's moments). I took some pictures of course, and really enjoyed the day. I walked 3.14 miles in 1 hour, 25 minutes (combined). Nico said his second word while we were coming home. It was "Bubba" which is what we call Vinny (Big Bubba [brother]). I told him we were going to go get Bubba from school, and he said Bubba several times. I called Mat to tell him, and ever optimistic, he said Nico will most assuredly say "Dada" sometime before fifth grade. A few minor notes about my walk today, nothing major. I was thrilled to find out that the prickly pods on the trees I've been seeing are chestnuts! I took before and after pics. I came upon a pond on my way, and about half-way past, a snake slithered away from me and into the brush. Startled me, but oddly, snakes are not something I'm afraid of, so I kept on truckin'. I was stopped shortly after by a big black chow who was not on a leash, and was eye-balling me hungrily. Perhaps my walking really has made me tougher, because he finally gave way and let me pass. My third reason for pause was the most heavenly smell I've smelled in a while. I pinpointed it immediately: an apple tree with ripe apples rotting in the sun (sounds gross, but it's cloyingly, wonderfully sweet-smelling. It reminded me of my summers across the street at a neighbor's who would make us clean up their orchard while they were supposed to be babysitting us. Free labor, I guess. Anyway, it was a nice change from the citrus trees in Arizona.

Nothing too scary to report as far as Halloween goes, but there was this completely freaky display that was way high up on the "just plain wrong" scale. I've got to get Vin in a few, so I'll end it there, but I'm looking forward to another great walk tomorrow.

I'm wondering how I'll keep going when I go to NJ next week. I guess it will be even cooler since the neighborhoods are all new to me. We'll see!

Day Two: October 10, 2006 - 6.49 total miles walked

I'm posting pre-walk today. I'm tired, but not feeling as sore as I'd imagined. Nico is sleeping, so I'm getting a late start today. Hopefully we'll be done before the forecasted thundershowers. Speaking of which, I went to my local mall's website, and conveniently, they have the mileage for walking the mall. 2.2 laps = 1 mile. So if I do 11 laps, that will be five miles. I'm keeping this in mind for days when it's rainy all day long. I don't mind the rain, but I don't want to bring the baby out if it's truly soggy.

I'm taking a different route today. Part of my interest in my walks is also getting ideas for neighborhoods since we plan to buy a house once our lease is up. I know there are some houses for sale in the area I'll be walking. I went to mapmyrun.com and freakily enough, my new walk (totally different area than yesterday) is also 3.14 miles. I guess the town is gridded out perfectly! Well, my walk alarm (Nico waking up) just went off. Time for a diaper change, bottle, bundle up and go! Be back in a bit!
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Holy crud. What a walk. 3.35 Miles. It took me 1 hour, 35 minutes. The walk I'd mapped didn't work out well in practice, so I wound up going a little farther than yesterday, but more slowly, so I guess I burned less calories. MAN, am I beat. I'm pretty sure I have a blister forming on my foot, but I feel fantastic. Yay for endorphins! Nico stayed awake for the entire walk today (he slept through most of yesterday. I took some pictures while I walked, to keep the blog interesting. Here's one of Nico ready to go in his stroller.

I also saw some interesting mushrooms in one persons yard. I snapped two photos, then saw a third, different mushroom, but figured I'd dawdled long enough photographing this person's lawn.
Growing up in NY, we never had interesting mushrooms like these, so I had to capture them for sheer interest's sake.

Also, the walk today, while long, was beautiful. Living in Arizona for the last 12 years, I'd have to say the thing I missed the most about NY was Fall. There is no real Fall in Arizona. But here it is, October, and Springville is gorgeous. I can tell there is still quite a bit of color changing to go yet, but here's a sample of what we've got so far:

Overall, today was an interesting walk. I love seeing how the neighborhoods transition from rich to poor, old to new, upkept to trashy. Hopefully all this walking will help me find the neighborhood Mat and I will want to purchase our home in. Speaking of which, I saw a house that was directly across from the railroad tracks and they wanted $189K for it. Um....I think just about any house that's got a train running through it's front yard should be priced well below market compared to a similar house that doesn't double as a tressle. Just my opinion.

Day One: October 9, 2006 - 3.14 miles walked

Today is the first day of my 2024 mile walk. Last night, I went to www.mapmyrun.com and plotted my course for this morning. The day started out poorly, and I was beginning to think something was trying to sabotage my efforts.

To begin, I woke up late, and Vinny got off to school about 10 minutes past the last bell. It's getting colder here in Utah, and I think we're all just a little too snug under our covers. I didn't even hear my alarm go off. I think it's time for Vinny to have his own alarm. I also scarfed down a chocolate chip cookie before I even realized what I'd done. Some breakfast. After dropping Vin off, I drove to Payless to pick up some walking shoes. I know. Payless is NOT the place to buy good walking shoes. However, since I have NO walking shoes, and cash is tight, I had to do something. I planned to spend about $30, and ended up not only getting a nice pair of leather walkeres, but also some nice gloves, since it's cooling off.

On my way home, Mother Nature must have been giggling, because it started to rain. Great. Now what? I got home, put on my shoes, and went to change Nico's diaper. Of course, it's a nice fresh load of #2, and then, to top off the experience, he wasn't finished yet. Yes, you understand me correctly. So, I've woken up late, been rained on, pooped on and now I'm going to walk three miles? Well, the short answer is, "Yes".

I grabbed my umbrella, rigged it to Nico's stroller so he wouldn't get wet and headed out. I went the opposite direction I'd planned to (trying to avoid the rain as much as possible), and walked 3.14 miles in 1 hour, 15 minutes. I ran into some minor physical obstacles (bad sidewalks, hedges so close to the walk that the umbrella would catch on them, and leg tingles - my legs aren't used to so much circulation, and they were itching like mad 15 minutes in) and some moderate mental challenges as well. If you've never heard of automatonophobia, I'm not surprised. It's basically the fear of manequins or representatations of the human form. For me, this means life-sized Halloween decorations send me into a full blown panic attack. As I rounded my first corner, I saw a very clever, detailed, terrifying display in someone's yard. It literally looked like a bunch of dead folks having a family reunion in the front yard. I considered crossing the street, but the street was too busy, and logic was on the side of safety from real danger vs. ridiculous-in-my-head-danger. Of course, I was unable to walk by without scrutinzing every ghoulish character, both in a train-wreck fashion, and of course to make sure they weren't going to get up and follow me. :)

My next challenge was a chicken. Phobia #2: Orniphobia - fear of birds. As those of you who know me know, this is not a totally unfounded fear, since I've been the victim of several bird attacks. Chickens just seem particularly territorial to me, and so I was nervous, but managed to scoot on by without incident.

Lastly, I passed a few horses on my way, and while there was a fence between us, horses are just so massive, they make me nervous (no full-blown phobia here, sorry). Anyway, two of the horses started to follow me along the fence line which made me simultaneously anxious and bemused. The gave up after a bit, and I pressed on.

I will admit, at one point, I almost short-cutted my way home. But I decided that if I'm really going to walk 2024 miles in one year, I don't want to have to do 384 miles my last week to catch up. I really need to do a little over 5.5 miles a day (2024/365=5.55 miles/day) to make it, so hopefully, once this walking gets my body in better condition, I'll be able to walk even further each day. It seems to me that since it took me only 75 minutes to walk three miles, I can certainly walk faster and farther as time goes on.

I will tell you that on any other given day, the obstacles I faced this morning would have discouraged me from even walking around the block, so I'm so proud of myself for getting out there and doing this. Until tomorrow!

'Twas the night before...

It is Sunday, October 8, 2006, and tomorrow I begin my voyage toward fitness. Over the course of the next 365 days, I will walk 2024 miles. I will do this by walking locally and tallying the miles, gradually reaching my goal - to walk the distance from my current home to my former high school. The choice of high school is not necessarily because I was fat in high school, and this is an "in your face, classmates!" type thing. I wasn't but 10 lbs over my "perfect weight" in high school, and I don't particularly look at that time as my "fat girl" period. I'm IN my "fat girl" period. After two children, and gestation diabetes with the second one, I'm about 285 lbs at 5'10" tall. (I'll know for sure tomorrow when I go to GNC to weigh in - me and scales don't get along, so I'll be skipping purchasing one!). So I've made horrific eating choices for the last slew of years, and I'm done. I bought a sweatsuit today with wishy-washy intentions of walking in it. But now that I've read Steve's website, (thefatmanwalking.com), I'm motivated. If he can do it, so can I. So although I won't be traipsing cross country and living in a tent, I will be doing the mileage, and I hope you'll travel along with me via this blog.

I will also be working on cooking and portioning for healthy eating. I'm not bad at this, but I tend not to do it on any kind of regular basis.

So, I will be posting my weight bi-weekly (to keep my spirits up) and my food journal and miles walked daily. Feel free to join me, or post your thoughts in response to my daily diary entries. Thanks for your support, and I look forward to the year to come!