VRBs week of 6/16/11

[Kathy B]

Haven't posted lately, but I have been getting in some good workouts. Yesterday the pedometer actually hit 20,000 steps! I have been doing a lot of running around for DD in addition to my exercise, and also working a lot. Almost hit overtime this week!

Good job on your walks, Les, and I hope you get some answers soon. Are you still having pain in your wrist or just not fully functional?

Robyn, kind of funny imagining that someone "won't let you run!" Sounds like a nice evening, though.

Mineaston, how great that you can ride your bike to do your errands! Talk about multitasking! Perfect timing for the weather to be wonderful at the peak of your concert and festival season. Enjoy!

Way to go on your 3.6, Vicci, and wow! I think it's great that your mom is running now and then during her walks...I can only hope I'll follow that example!

Susan, are the boxes all unpacked yet?

DD has been going at full speed since school let out, and I have been right behind her handling details. She took her ACT last weekend, is tutoring summer band in the mornings at the MS this month (for service hours), lead teacher for the second grade class at Vacation Bible School this week, and heading out of town Sunday for a week long camp. I am doing things like taking her to get a physical for camp, helping gather supplies, shopping for camp, etc... And there's nothing like getting home from work at 9PM to be greeted with "I need 2 dozen cupcakes for tomorrow!" This is why I usually have a cake mix stashed in the pantry. Pull out the KA, sister, it's time you learned!

Heading to MI for a conference Monday, so I will be a little scarce this week, too, but after that I think things will slow down a bit. Hi to Natasha, Heather, Carrie and everyone else. Have a great weekend!

[Leslie Ferguson]

Thanks for starting this week Kathy. It sounds like you've been really busy with DD and work this week. 20,000 steps on the pedometer - a lot of walking... Way to put DD to work making cupcakes when she forgot to tell you about them. How'd she do? I hope she doesn't need to go back to school to rest from her rest time.

I'm doing better with most of my injuries. But I'm still having troubles and pain with my wrist and thumb on my right hand (the one that took the brunt of the impact). The part that I don't understand is the pain in the back of my hand right at the joint. I seem to doubt that I'll get to the doctor before the 27th - a few too many things have popped up for next week.

I had hope to do a bunch of walking yesterday and today but had to go for dinner (I wanted to) with a classmate who just graduated and will be ordained tomorrow - a great meal of Indian food with good friends. Today was derailed - on my day off. I was actually planning on taking a nap and going for a walk. Derailed by a parishioner passing away. Visits with the family, talking with the funeral director, doing the initial leg work for the funeral (with creamains) at the end of the week next week, put a weird spin on my day.

Tomorrow I'll go to the ordination near Richmond then hope to get home in time to do some walking before getting ready for Sunday morning.

Happy trails and a shout out to the gang,
Les

[Kathy B]

5 miles to report this AM! Warm, but plenty of shade and a breeze made it manageable. Working the last part of a shift this afternoon, so that will take up the rest of my day.

Les, hope you get some relief and answers with your appointment. I went to a conference yesterday and learned that a local hospital here acually has a Hand Center! When you think about it, the hand is full of small bones, nerves, tendons and blood vessels. Any injury likely impacts multiple areas. A complex apparatus to say the least! Hope your visits with the parishoner's family went well...definitely a time when people really lean on their pastor.

DD's cupcakes turned out just fine. As a matter of fact, when she realized how easy it was, she made another batch the next day while I was at work. She had the kids decorating them and handing the out to all of the VBS teachers and helpers. More cupcakes to decorate = more fun, right?

Taking DD to her camp tomorrow, so don't know if I'll get anything in besides dog walks....we'll see....

[Leslie Ferguson]

Good job running this morning and I hope your shift this afternoon wasn't too terrible. That's a true statement - more cupcakes = more fun. Did you get anything besides dog walks in today? I bet DD had fun at camp today.

The family was happy to have me there and appreciative of my presence and calm in their moments of distress. It will be an interesting time with the wife - she's been married for 51+ years and I don't think she expected to have her husband pass away quite yet. Probably will be a long week making all the preparations for the memorial service but it will all be good.

Yesterday was a bit of a train wreck. The trip to Richmond too much longer than I expected: instead of 4 hours round trip it was closer to 6 or 6.5 hours. That derailed a lot of other things yesterday but the ordination was outstanding. But no walk because we're having typical weather these days... thunderstorms, thunderstorms, thunderstorms.

After a great day at church with a decent sermon about the Trinity I picked up a 2.75 mile walk before dinner. Not great but it felt nice to get out, even if it was humid.

Tomorrow the fun begins... happy trails all...
Les

[VictoriaL]

Thanks for starting the week, Kathy. 20,000 steps in a day sounds like an awful lot! And I get this wonderful mental image of you following DD around with a big ol' clipboard... Have a safe and successful trip to MI!

Les, I am fairly certain that I would have the compassion necessary for your job, but I doubt I'd have the energy. It sounds like a busy week ahead for you. Good job on the walk through humidity. That's the way of the outdoor exercise world in our part of the country at this time of year, isn't it?!
Oh, and you asked last week if I prefer pavement runs over trails. I have to say that I do better on pavement. I can run longer, and faster, even with hills. My trails are uneven and full of hazards (roots, stumps, grapevines that the deer lay across the trail while they hide in the nearby bush and giggle....). Also, I can go out early when running on roads, but trail runs are very wet in the morning.

I can finally report a run today, although it was a kind of a weenie one. 2.5 miles in 82 degrees and over 85% humidity. Ick. I've spent the past 4 days outside, weeding and planting, so there was no desire to do any physical activity above and beyond my daily chores. Funny how finally the landscape looks exactly like I've always wanted, but I'm almost too exhausted to appreciate it now! Aging. Double ick!

Oh, and although I was going to mention that I almost picked up a snake while on the trails today (I was clearing the paths of larger fallen branches), what I saw on our garage roof this morning trumps that.


Cuter than a snake, don't you think??? I've seen grey foxes in the woods, but never a red fox. I've been keeping a close eye on Spooky since I saw the coyote last spring, but now have added another level of watchfulness while he is outside. Luckily, he is also getting older so he stays close to home these days.

So, what have all of the other VRB-ers been doing this weekend???

[hrk]

Good morning everyone-
I have been doing some catch up on the threads while I was away.

Les- I am sorry to hear that you are still having pain in your wrist and hope you get some answers soon. It seems like your life has certainly gotten busy these days. How much did they end up raising from your DW's quilt?

Robyn- Sounds wonderful that your running is picking up and that you are in the upper group.

Mineaston- Good for you for multitasking- I find that is one of the best ways to get exercise with a hectic schedule.

Vicci- Glad to hear that the landscaping is looking good. Our hydrangeas have pretty magenta blooms on them and our veggies are starting to come in. My DS's see foxes by their school quite regularly, but never on a roof.

Kathy- Isn't it amazing how school madness seems to flow right into summer madness? Hope DD has fun at camp.

Well we returned on Friday from Florida. It was a wonderful week. The weather was hot during the day and of course humid, but that didn't seem to slow us down. We were at the Disney/Universal parks every day from pretty much morning until evening. My kids just kept going and going. I got one run in last Saturday but it was only 3 1/2 miles as it was very hot and humid by the time I got out, but I figure walking for 8 hours a day every day must be doing something as my legs were dead tired at the end of each day. What amazes me is I wear my good running shoes to the parks everyday and my legs are still tired, but I see so many people in flip flops etc I have no idea how they do it.

It is pouring here today so if I get in a run it will be on the TM, but I need to get back into a routine hopefully soon.

Happy Monday all.
Heather

[VictoriaL]

Happy Summer, everyone!!!

Heather, sounds like your trip was fun and busy (and the weather in FL probably got you accustomed to the hot and humid stuff that we'll be having in this part of the country for the next few months!). I agree about walking around all day (especially on hard surfaces) in flip-flops. Ouch.

Oh, and I've never seen magenta hydrangeas. They must be so pretty. My favorites blooming now are the mango-colored Asian lilies.

While the sun was out today, I did some more weeding. This will be it, though, for several days. Friends arrive at the lake house on Friday through Monday and I have a lot of prep to do. And packing. It's supposed to rain every day this week (2-1/2" so far), then stop on Saturday and be nice for the next few days-- fingers crossed!

I hope to get in a run tomorrow between downpours, then a few at the lake house if I can manage to get a handle on breakfast preparations and sneak out before everyone wakes up.

[Leslie Ferguson]

Heather - DC definitely prepares you for Florida. I seem to remember that I used to walk around a lot with flip flops on without issue. Maybe it has something to do with wearing them a lot. We raised ~$325 so far and we're going to sell more tickets later. That equates to about 160 tickets which doesn't sound like a lot but we did that in 3 hours at a fish fry where it was about 95 degrees. We were happy with the start and hope it's a sign of things to come. I love magenta hydrangeas but we had a decent mix when we grew them down here.
Vicci - Sorry about the rain and I love the picture of the fox on the roof. I hope you get a run in before you head to the lake and without getting soaked. I understand your not wanting to run on the trail in less than optimal conditions - no sense in taking a header when you don't need to.

It's been a wild week - funerals do that to you. Top it off with a huge wind storm that closed down a portion of the main road into and out of Chuckatuck yesterday. Only an issue because I needed to take the road to a meeting on the other side of town. The other problem was there was a fire at 3 houses - luckily little damage and no injuries. However not especially conducive to getting out for my daily walk. Today was a little better though - got a nice walk in, nothing too long but nice to be outside.

Tomorrow will include the final preps for Thursday's funeral - hopefully the weather behaves long enough to get the hole dug for the urn and make sure all the other things are ready. I'll even try to swing a walk to maintain my sanity a little.

Happy trails,
Les

[VictoriaL]

You've certainly been busy this week, Les. I hope that all goes well tomorrow and you then have a couple of days that are calm and peaceful.

The ceiling fans on the porch are running at full-speed, but the weather is so hot and muggy that it barely makes a difference. No matter, though, there are fireflies flickering their little lights outside and a toad is singing for a mate in the pond. What a nice evening.

I started a run this afternoon, but became distracted by... black raspberries! Not the best excuse, I know, but I was forcing the run anyway (87 degrees and incredibly humid) and had only a half hour to do this. When I got on the trails and started to see the berry-bounty lining them, I ran back home, grabbed a bowl, and picked a quart in about 20 minutes.





I have never seen so many before, and since we plan to leave for the lake house tomorrow, the birds would have probably eaten them before our return.

I've adjusted the dessert for Friday night. It will now be a black raspberry galette.

And now I must get in at least 2 running sessions while there. Really.

Hope that you all have a great weekend, and I'll join you on the next thread.

[Leslie Ferguson]

You've certainly been busy this week, Les. I hope that all goes well tomorrow and you then have a couple of days that are calm and peaceful.

Busy - not sure that wholly describes things. I'm about as ready as I can be and if this funeral is like the past 2 then all the plans I've made so far and the rehearsal will survive until the moment the service starts. Just then nature of the beast - but that's what makes thing interesting. I'm not sure I'd know what to do with a calm and peaceful couple days.

The ceiling fans on the porch are running at full-speed, but the weather is so hot and muggy that it barely makes a difference. No matter, though, there are fireflies flickering their little lights outside and a toad is singing for a mate in the pond. What a nice evening.

I have to admit that those two things are things that my west coast friends don't truly appreciate - fireflies and toads croaking at sunset. I was watching the firefly dance this evening while mapping my homily for tomorrow.

I started a run this afternoon, but became distracted by... black raspberries! Not the best excuse, I know, but I was forcing the run anyway (87 degrees and incredibly humid) and had only a half hour to do this.

And now I must get in at least 2 running sessions while there. Really.

Hope that you all have a great weekend, and I'll join you on the next thread.

I don't know - that many raspberries is definitely a good reason to take a break from a run. I hope that you do get your runs in this weekend at the lake and have a good time visiting with your friends.

Lots of weird stuff today - digging holes for an urn (actually a green marble box that is 7 x 7 x 10) and making all the final preps for tomorrow. I'm as ready as I'll ever be.

Happy trails and I'll see you tomorrow.
Les

[hrk]

Hey all-
Les- Thinking of you today and hoping that all goes smoothly.

Vicci-
Wow what a find. When we go to Maine in the summer, my boys love picking blackberries off the bushes and eating them right away. Have fun at the lake house.

Well I finally got in a run last night. It was cooler but still so humid. DH and I did about 4.5 miles and I felt like I was covered in sticky syrup by the end. But we ran at dusk and on the way home the fireflies were lighting our way which was very nice to look at.

Tonight we are taking the boys to the pool so no run tonight.

Also the presidential challenge I joined finished up this week and I got my award. So now I have moved onto the Presidential champions challenge. We will see what this one entails.
Happy Thursday.
Heather

[Leslie Ferguson]

Thanks Heather - it was a good day and a nice service. A little bit beat right now so I'm laying low for a while. Hard to believe I did my 3rd funeral in ~7 weeks today.

Time to sleep (early tonight).

Peace,
Les