Step counts and crafts

I know that step counts alone don't determine your ability to gain or lose weight, but it is nice to hit those goals every now and again.  Of course, if you also eat two donuts for breakfast, Wendy's for lunch, and ? for dinner, obviously the step count means nothing, but that's how it goes sometimes.  Do I always eat two donuts for breakfast? Of course not. Do I always hit my step count? Most definitely not anymore.  I used too, once upon a time.  Then I lowered it.  And still, I don't hit it.  But, do I hit my 150 minutes of activity/week? Yes.  So, at least I still have that going for me!  All that will change soon though, my step count will be going back up to 12,000, and my workout activity minutes will be doubling again.   Sometimes you just have to take it easy and wait it out, without letting it get to you.  Although, I probably could give up the donuts in the meantime!
So tomorrow is the first day of August.  I feel like it's been July forever, but also, I mean, really, August already?!  Not that I have anything against August, except that it means back to school season picks up and soon enough it's actually time to go back.  In fact, I had a dream the other day that I went back and met one of my new classes for the year, and they were terrible! None of them wanted to follow the rules, sit in their assigned seats, or participate in class at all.  Ok, that's not crazy out of the ordinary, but generally speaking, for the first few weeks of school even the seniors are a least a little bit well behaved.  Usually, the freshman are the unruly ones and that dies down pretty quickly too if you get a handle on it fast enough.  Perhaps it's because I'm not going back in September, but rather after Thanksgiving break, which is making it worse.  They're going to spend their first quarter with a substitute, and then I have to come in and take over, resetting everything, even if the sub did follow the entire 3-inch binder of plans I left him/her at the end of the year.  I haven't heard yet who my sub is, so that's all up in the air, but I'm really hoping it's someone who at least wants to be a teacher, or has some experience, and not just someone who is looking to kill some time.  Generally speaking, subs who want to be teachers are more likely to follow the plans and enforce the rules, whereas those who are just looking to kill time are more likely to be friends with the class.  Really though, I probably shouldn't worry about that at all, since it's not my problem until November, and I really can't do much about it!
Enough about school though.  Today I had to remake a craft from earlier this month because Ryan and I decided that it looked too much like a scene from Blair Witch Project the way it was.  Before, it was five crocheted dolls hung on crossed sticks, hanging from the ceiling.  So we agreed that maybe it would look better as a round hanging, instead of crossed sticks.  Which meant I needed to go get hoops to decorate.  That part was easy enough though.  I just got floral hoops from Michael's, threw some paint and glitter on them, and sprayed them with Mod Podge acrylic sealer.  Hopefully, that prevents the glitter from falling off because no one wants to be constantly sprinkled in glitter!  I haven't transferred the dolls over yet, but the hoops look awesome.  They're supposed to resemble a galaxy and I think they really do.  In fact, I'd go so far as to say I really nailed the galaxy paint look.  Go me!  I can't wait to see what it looks like when everything is attached and it is rehung.  As long as it doesn't look like the Blair Witch anymore though, I'm good with that.

See.  So cool!  

Guess who's back, back again

Sure, it's been almost two years since a post, but you know how these things go.  There wasn't much left to talk about, I felt like the running posts were all getting repetitive anyways.  But there have been a lot of life changes since then, so I decided to resuscitate the blog to get back some accountability for the future.  In the next few weeks, I'll be back to running again and I think throwing it all out onto the internet will help motivate me to keep moving.  Or not. We'll see.
We're also in the market for a new gym routine, either back to Title, joining the Y, or just sticking with Planet Fitness.  Lately, I've just used online PopFitness videos, which, if you haven't used, are actually really good.  There are all sorts of workouts available, with modifications even, so you can do them in your living room.  I imagine it's like Beachbody on Demand, without having to pay a ton or invest in Shakeology.  So, if you're like me and you want good workouts without having to join Beachbody, I recommend PopFitness on Youtube.  Most of the time you don't need any equipment either, which is nice. 
So, I have about 2 weeks before I can consider getting back into running mode, and probably about 8 weeks before I can actually start running again at all.  Those dates are fluid but good estimates.  In an effort to make sure I do get back out there, I signed up for the Baystate Half in Lowell on October 21.  My goal is to run/walk the route, with as much running as possible.  But, the last time I ran a half or any type of distance over 5 miles was back in January at the Louisiana Marathon.  So, there's a short training time in there which means a DNF is also a real possibility.  That's ok though, as long as I have the starting line in mind for now. 
As a quick catch-up on the running, since August 2016 I've done the Disney Marathon, the Stone Cat Trail Marathon, and a handful of half marathons.  Disney was fun, but really cold, so I would love to go back and do that one again, preferably with better weather.  I'd actually like to do the Dopey Challenge but it's expensive.  Plus, the year I ran the full they had to cancel the half due to weather, so I'm not sure I'd want to invest all that time just to be disappointed.  Maybe someday though. 
Outside of the running, it's been two years, of course, things have changed around here.  As a teacher, I left behind elementary school and moved up to high school History, which is where I've always wanted to be.  I made it through my first year of that and enjoyed the change, so I'm glad I did that.  We went on some exciting trips, most notably to Switzerland last year and Belgium/the Netherlands this year.  Our little buddy Nala walked over the Rainbow Bridge earlier this year, in February, and just a few weeks ago, we got a new rescue puppy, straight off the streets of Jamaica.  He's a real cute pup, but he is scared of everything, so getting him to do much is still a struggle.  Stella is still here and going strong though, you can tell she's not thrilled about the introduction of a new friend.  I also had my last coaching season this year, at least for the time being.  Maybe in years to come, I'll go back to it, but for now, we're going to be too busy with other life events for me to have to worry about coaching track.  If you can guess what our new life event is, great for you, if not, stay tuned and you'll find out in a just a few short weeks! And with that, I think we're all caught up!

The new pup

Stella living her best life

On the canals in Amsterdam

Our last big run together and Ryan's first half!  It was cold!

Breakfast on the river in Zurich

Disney 2017.  Yes, I was freezing in that costume, but I made it, there's no way I wasn't wearing it!

Skipper

Well I guess I'm officially a Wednesday night Woods Run Skipper.  Today I had to go into school to get a bunch of stuff figured out for the new school year and by the time I was done there, I had no interest in hanging around until 6:30 waiting for a run to start. So I went to the gym and then scooted on home.  Maybe next week I'll make it back to the Woods again.  Time will tell.

I did go for a run yesterday, around Horn Pond for a change of scenery.  It wasn't a terrible run, but it is a small loop, so I did it twice, but we all know how I feel about loops.  If you've never been to Horn Pond, there's one path on the back side, near the golf course/water treatment plant that basically goes straight up.  It's about a quarter to a half mile long and it is seriously a hardcore climb.  Mostly because it's just steep and continuous.  Obviously to make my run worth more, I started on that side and made it to the top.  Unfortunately I was turned back by a Momma turkey and her little baby turkeys.  They were crossing the path and I"m not fool enough to mess with Momma birds.  So I turned right back around and ran down that path again.  On the second go around I attempted the top one more time, because it's a nice view, even when it's cloudy.  This time the turkeys were gone and I got my view.  Then I had to go back down the other side, which is much harder than it should be.  It's a rocky path/small cliff that goes down in the same way the other trail goes up.  Steep and continuous.  If I had to compare it to anything to give you a visual, it looks like a place where a river or small stream would cut through.  But I made it down and back onto the trail no problems.


At the end of the run, I managed 5 miles and some short extra workouts on the side.  Tomorrow I think I'm going to try and run around the park near our house.  It has some nice trails, but they all seem short.  I've never really explored back there though, so it's possible that there are longer trails off the main loop.  Otherwise there's always the workout circuit at Manning Forest.  Until then, I might have a picture from my run yesterday, so you can enjoy that you lucky ducks.

Made it to the top.

Surprise second picture!

Beer Bouquet

Have you ever had that someone in your life who you've known for their whole life, but just can't figure out what to get him/her for a gift anyways?  Recently I came upon this problem as I tried to figure out the perfect gift for my cousin who turned 30 this July.  I know what he likes and doesn't like, but I just couldn't figure out a gift that would be good enough for a thirtieth.  After a while, I decided that it couldn't be something bought, it would have to be made.  And I know that one of his favorite things in life is beer, of any variety.  Eventually I settled on making a beer bouquet.  Which is exactly what it sounds like.  Now, I could go into detail about how I made it, but honestly, it was a hard thing to put together and it would be hard for someone to recreate by following a bunch of steps.  Rather, I recommend taking the general idea from the pictures provided and running with it on your own.  Of course if you're extremely interested in the process, you can let me know and I'll come back with an update.  Or, if you really want one, but don't have the skills to make one, you can let me know and I'll be happy to make you one for a reasonable price! Until then, here are the pictures, good luck!

Seashell Wind Chime

Craft 1: Seashell wind chime.  Perhaps you know from a few years back that I created a simple summer centerpiece by painting a bunch of seashells and putting them in a square vase/jar.  Well, I've used this centerpiece for the past few years and I felt like the shells weren't working to their full potential, so I decided to repurpose them into something new.  I came up with the brilliant idea of a wind chime, and I have to say that it came out pretty good.  It was a basic project.  I got a wooden letter G from Michael's, drilled four holes in the bottom and one on the top for a hanger.  Then I took 12 shells of varying sizes and drilled holes in those.  Pro tip: when drilling through a shell, use a masonry bit, not a wood drill bit, it will break the wood ones.  Anyways, so after the holes were drilled, I attached one shell laying flat to the G.  This shell was the base for the rest of the chime.  I attached the smaller shells, two to a line, on the four ends of the base shell.  I also attached a larger shell to the middle, as sort of a buffer, and added two shells to the bottom of that as well.  All in all, it came out looking real cute, and it sounds pretty when the wind blows, so it's a win all over.  For the sake of the craft, I'm including these pictures here.

Materials: drill, drill bits, letter of your choice, shells, fishing line, and a pencil to mark your drill spots.

Drill spots marked

Holes drilled

Ready to be attached

Final product!

Camp life

Last week/weekend was our annual Runyan/Troisi camping trip and it was just as good as I hoped it would be.  We've been going camping together for 24 years, sometimes for 10 days, sometimes for three, but we've always managed to get in at least one trip with almost everyone there.  There's a lot that goes into these camping trips and obviously a lot that can never be explained to an outsider, but I can't let the event pass without acknowledgement, because it was a real fun weekend, as the camping trips usually are at this point in our lives.

While I was at the lake I managed to get in a few short runs, 3 miles per run.  Conveniently, two laps around area 2, a lap around the lake, and the trail back to the site is just about 3 miles.  I liked doing the lake trail because it gave that added difficultly level of dodging rocks and tree roots, as well as snakes apparently.  Aside from running, I also did a lot of swimming, a little bit of paddleboarding, and one run across the actual lake, in water, from rope to rope.  Plus there was the usual family game night, S'mores making, and general hanging out around the fire that happens every trip.  So I probably could have/should have run longer distances, but I didn't.

Since I was camping and driving back and forth to see the Impractical Jokers, I didn't make it to the woods runs this week either, much like I figured.  Generally I would end this post here, but tonight I have a craft or two to add in.   So I'm going to add the photos from camping and then create two more short posts about the crafts. Enjoy!

After my run around the lake, I jumped in, because it was humid AF out there.

Michelle hanging at Diana's Bath

The top of the bath...sort of.

sunset sketch

Impractical Jokers

Muffin Lady Legacy.  Too bad not everyone was there for the picture...

And the original photo from our first year of camping. Look how much we've grown!

My legs, my poor little legs

They're sore.  I don't know. That's it really.  Ran a 10K on Saturday, mostly hills, because Gloucester, calves have been sore ever since.  Welcome to running.  I tried stretching, foam rolling, shakeout runs, more working out even, but still, they fire on.  I guess this is my life now.  Oh well.  But for real. I bought new shoes to see if I could eliminate the blister problem that my good old Hoka's were causing.  Plus, I found a New Balance warehouse that was close to the house and was having a 30% off everything sale, so why not?  I wore those lovely new shoes for the 10K and surprise, got a blister.  Then in a moment of clarity, I realized that I could feel the insole back under my toes, which is not where it belongs.  After the race I looked at the shoes and the insoles had slid way back leaving a nice little gap of at least 6 inches.  So I deduced that the blister problem isn't actually from the sneakers, but from the insole sliding around.  As a crafty person I figured a quick fix would be some super glue, so I got some, glued those suckers down, and 4 days later went for another run.  I used the same shoes, took them for 8 miles on the Battle Road just to see how well the glue held up.  Seems to have done a decent job, no blisters in sight. Sadly, I think the Battle Road causes my knee to hurt, something about whatever it's made out of, so that after 4.5 there was a mix of walk/running again.  Which is too bad because up until that point, I was actually doing well on this run, making good time and not being too hot, which is a change from the usual.  But now according to science, the heat dome is coming, so it's back to turtle pace I guess.  Well, turtle pace for me anyways.


Let's see, nothing else really happening here.  I did not run the woods yesterday because we took a day trip to White Lake instead.  Next week is my camping week, so I probably won't be running the woods then either, but that's to be determined.  We have tickets to see the Impractical Jokers next Thursday night, so I haven't decided if I'm going to come home Wednesday afternoon or Thursday morning.  Depends on the weather up there I suppose.  Other than that I've just been reading and coming up with ideas for crafts that I'm not actually making.  Oh yea, a groundhog ate all of my pumpkin and watermelon plants that were just starting to flower, so I'm kind of mad about that.  I just wanted to have a few nice plants.  Now I'll have to wait until next Spring AND make sure I get some chicken wire to keep the things out.   Although I read that groundhogs will chew through wood and wire too, so who knows if that's actually the solution.  For now I'm just going to be annoyed about it anyways.

Ok, done with that.  Here are your pictures for the week.

Woods run from last week.  Temperature provided for your entertainment.

Obama Face Swap.  Obama now looks like Kenny. 

Ohh hey new shoes.  

10K start

10K finish

Cousin face swap.  These are the only pictures I have right now, sorry!