Thank you RB

I've had my Fitbit ONE for 2 years. RB saw the Flex last week and liked that it was a wrist Fitbit and not worn on a bra (that's my favorite place to wear mine). So he bought the Fitbit Charge for me (it's also worn on the wrist like a watch) it's very cool and I'm charging it up right now. Going to take a quick walk around the block to see how it does for me and RB get's my ONE. Now he can see how many steps he's taking every day.

I've been working out at Planet Fitness, trying to get in shape for the Tour de Cure that I'm going to ride in again. I'm signed up for the 40 miles again and I'm hoping to do better than ever. The Cybex Arc Trainer is my favorite cardio machine and it's really working on my thighs - almost feels like I'm biking, but I'm standing not sitting. I'm thinking if I keep doing the hilly versions on it and adding to my time, I'll get my legs in the best shape they've been in a long time. Plus I'm doing the weights which is making me feel like a million dollars.

So...off on a walk I go, the birds are so vocal this time of year. The trees are budding and flowers are popping up, even though it's been pretty cool. God is good!

Warmer?

Hopefully it does get warmer towards the weekend. I have plans! Well plans that are contingent on the weather. I'm hoping to go to Cooperstown and clean up my Grandfather and Great Uncles grave stones and plant pansies. I'd also like to get on my bike and not freeze. Yesterday started out nice with beautiful blue skies, but clouds soon blotted the sun out and it was chilly.

Not much to say today. It's Monday - I have to go to work and praying that it's a productive peaceful day.

Have a good one!

Walk for Autism

Yesterday was the walk for autism at SUNY Poly in Utica. What a great day and turnout! I brought Gracie with me, I was kind of curious to see how she would do with all the people and things going on. She was utterly fantastic. There were about 5 kids that swarmed over her and she just laid down and let them pet and pat her. Lots of petting and patting and Dave trying to hold her like he holds his Gizzy - LOL - she didn't care for that much, but her way of showing that was trying to jump down.

She cleaned up a lot of the fallen popcorn in the gym, so I'm sure that helped the janitorial staff! :) I hope that they raised a lot of money and that David will get to have even more chances to do stuff outside of his normal comfort zone. He's autistic, his parents were told he would probably have it bad, but they and all of their helpers have made such a difference in David. He walked with Gracie and I and just loved telling her to catch up with everyone, we need to beat them, and telling her not to get muddy, to stay on the sidewalk and when she pooped - LOL that just made him laugh. It was so awesome to have him walk with us and hear my nicknames for Gracie - they made him laugh too. "Crazy Gracie", "Dooo", "Chuckle Butt", "Silly Girl", "GDoggy", "Gracie Girl", "Love Bug", "Baby Girl" and who knows how many others. It's a wonder she knows what her name is.

Then after - we went back to RB's house and had lunch and then the plan was to come home, do laundry, chill. Well I thought of another plan which included washing and hanging RB's sheets and blankets on my clothes line, bringing Gracie to my house and raking. She and I were outside for over an hour raking and cleaning up. Then we came in and chilled, but every time the washer stopped I was up and running again. It wasn't until we went back to RB's house that she dropped from fatigue. Poor thing. She was beat!

She fell asleep between my feet, didn't even flinch when the flash went off. Poor Baby Girl.

She was trying to sleep at my house, but too many different noises and I kept getting up and changing laundry around. 

April (snow,ice) Showers, bring May flowers?

On the way home from work today my car was getting pelted with small hail, then splatted with fat rain - snain - snow... and back to regular rain and back again to snain. Going from 86 in NYC on Saturday to 45 today - that's rough. It's been very damp and windy and I swore I wasn't going to turn on the furnace again, but when it hit 50 in here I had to. It was damp too and that somehow made it worse.

No biking outside yet, but on Saturday we do have the Autism Walk up at SUNY Poly. Gracie is going with me and we're walking with BP, EW and David. Should be a lot of fun - no rain forecast and it should be in the 40's around that time, just hope wind stays down. Grace will love all the people and attention.

Need to get to Hartwick, near Cooperstown to clean my grandfather and great uncles tombstones and plant Pansies. Those were my mom's favorite flower and they come back as Johnny Jump-ups the next year. My mom's ashes and Aunt Becky's ashes are both there (just some of them as they both wanted).

That's it for now. Time for shuteye....

NYC for the Day

Went to NYC with KS for the day. What a day it was - the weather was perfect down there! It got a little hotter than I expected, 86!

On the bus! Barely awake but ready for adventure!

Got dropped off at Bryant Park on 6th Ave. Blue skies!

Another view of the trees, NY Public Library (on the left) and high rises in the background.

Subway selfie under Penn Station

Just love this picture - the black and white seem suited to the old steel work that was done down in the subway tunnel.

Staten Island - looking back to NYC

Coast Guard riding along side the Staten Island Ferry. Kind of scary in some respects.

Lady Liberty

Freedom Tower in the background. I held my phone WAY over the side.

Skyline from the Ferry.

Two lovely British women we met on the Ferry. Liz and Val - very sweet and told us stuff about NYC we didn't know.

The view from our table top looking to the sky. This was Grimaldi's outside eating area.

The Best Pizza I've ever had! Fresh tomato sauce, fresh made mozzarella and basil leaves. Crunchy but not too much! So GOOD!

Bethesda Fountain at Central Park.

The Forsythia is in bloom at Central Park. The sun hit my camera in such a way that it's foggy looking.

April 2015

It's been a long winter. Cold, cold, snow and more snow. Spring keeps popping up a little at a time. I'm trying to get back in the swing of things - it's been almost a year since I wrote anything here. No excuse - just didn't have the words.

Just finished reading "Wild" by Cheryl Strayed. It has me thinking hard. I'm a lot older than she was when she took on the PCT, but in many ways (minus the drugs and sleeping around) I feel connected to her. I looked at the Appalachian Trail but I don't know who would go with me and taking Gracie, while it would be fun it would be difficult to carry her dog food. So another trail someone told me about is one in Northern New York. It is 130 miles give or take and this year I would probably just take on a bit of it. Or - I could bike more of the Canal Trail and maybe hike that too.

I'm trying to get in better shape. I'll never be skinny - never was a kid, always "thick" never really fat but kids aren't kind and always picked on me. But I'm realizing now that I am strong. I'm working on my arms and legs, using the arc trainer, sweating and getting my heart rate up. My bike is coming out soon. And I am going to move this summer. I'm going to be in better shape than I ever was in high school.

We've got a camping trip planned for Stillwater in late June, but RB and I are also talking about Moose River Flats. That would be awesome. It's different - drive right to your site, but you are in the middle of some pretty remote areas. We will bring our bikes, maybe our kayaks and we'll see what happens.

Traveling in June as well to Sacramento. I've already been thinking about water conservation and what I can do as a visitor to be more aware of my water usage.

And I'm just trying to be me again. To get out of the funk that hit me hard this winter and be the happy person that I usually am. I don't want to be stressed or angry. So.... going to be with nature and enjoy the spring and summer as much as possible.

I pray that all of you are well and have a great day, week, weekend, spring, summer, whatever....