Category Archives: just keep walking project

Travel plans

Posted in California, camping, just keep walking project, travel, Uncategorized by

Now that Christmas and NY are over, it’s back to my regular things.

I’m already planning some trips for us and what I’ve lined up so far is

  • Chico to stay at the Diamond Hotel( a restored old hotel) and dinner at the Red Tavern which is kinda fancy.
  • Yosemite and a stay at the Ahwahnee which is on my bucket list. Plus I’d never go to Yosemite during the tourist season. We did that camping when our kids were young and it was busy but not insanely so as it is now. We’re staying only one night due to the cost factor. It should be about a 3 1/2 hour drive so quite doable.
  • I still need to book the dates for Santa Barbara. I’m thinking early March which should be lovely down there. This will be 3 nights as it is too far just for 2 nights. Although we might just stay 2 nights and then the other night in Monterey as that’s about the half waypoint. ( it is a long drive)
  • April, I’m hoping we can get into New Brighton Stat beach and will look at that this weekend actually. It always books out that time of year so I don’t know yet.
  • Update on New Brighton. Just made a reservation for April so we’re set there. It’s after Easter and there were only a few spots with 3 nights. So I took one.
  • May has nothing, maybe camping?
  • June -nothing yet. Everything at nevada beach is booked:(
  • July we usually stay home
  • August nothing yet

The rest is open and I’ll see where we are.

 

Midweek musings

Posted in cooking, husband, just keep walking project, Uncategorized by

Yesterday was a busy one.

I canned more applesauce (5 jars). It’s not hard work per se, just time-consuming. For this applesauce, you don’t need to peel the apples, just quarter or half and then into a big pot. Cook until tender. Then you put thru a food mill.  If you do any canning a food mill is really necessary.  Then into the sterilized jars and water bath for 20 minutes.  Overall time is about 2 1/2 hours.

I also went to the gym and then Safeway for a few things.

When I got home I decided to can the tomatoes that were ripe. Again tomatoes aren’t hard it’s just time-consuming. I plop them in boiling water so the skins loosen up and then into the food mill. The result is fairly watery but I then cook the sauce for a few hours so it thickens. Then into jars and pints take about 35 minutes. I put 2 tablespoons of lemon juice in the pints as I read the amount for quarts.  Overall time about 3 hours.

Any canners out there with advice?? I’m assuming it’s okay. It tasted fine.

By then I was kinda exhausted. But later was on a roll and cleaned out the freezer of a bunch of stuff no one is going to eat and the fridge some too.

My dishwasher was packed with pyrex containers:)

I decided to not walk this morning even though I wanted to. I just felt tired and not too enthused to head out. Tomorrow will be fine. Plus I’m back to 5 days a week and my foot feels a lot better. Some days I feel some stress on the top of my foot where the fracture was.

Today, I’m going to do just a few errands in town. I need a bag of ground coffee from Starbuck for camping. I might go into Target for a few things too, but that’s not critical.

B is in Chico for co-op work so he will go to Costco for some of the stuff we need. I appreciate that he can do this as it saves me a trip down to Roseville.

All the house chores are done.  the bathroom zone is always fairly quick( 10 minutes) because it’s small and decluttered. We have a walk buddy in the park that was always there when we were…in the dark,rain,wind, etc. Starting about 6 months ago, we hadn’t seen him. Then he finally showed up and we stopped to chat, and turns out he fell in his shower/tub and BROKE his back.  So on our to-do list is take out the claw foot tub and put a walk in shower. Our tub is lovely but probably a danger for’ getting older folks’.  We only have the one bathroom so I will miss a tub. But better to miss a tub than risk a fall and broken whatever.

Dinner is unknown.

 

Almost fall.

Posted in books, cooking, just keep walking project, Uncategorized, Walking by

I so enjoy this time of year of late summer early fall. Of course, my birthday is in September so that’s probably why.  Although I think beyond the birthday thing it’s just a beautiful time with cool evenings and warm days. We sat out last night till 8:30 and it was still warm.

The garden is winding down and so is watering the garden.  Our water bill was quite huge due to watering so much when it was 100 + for weeks at a time. We’re already watering way less and that should drop the bill next month. I’m still picking green tomatoes so they can ripen in a box. Plus now I’m starting to cut the hard squashes. We have quite a few butternut and spaghetti squash. They will be nice in the fall and winter.

This year our apple tree is in full production so I’ll be making applesauce and pies. I’m going to make a pie today or tomorrow so I can see how it freezes and then defrost and bake. I’d like to experiment to see if this is the best method. Otherwise, it’ll be apple sauce canned.

This morning is a gym morning. We walked this morning as well so that puts me at 4x a week. I’m probably going to add a 5th day next week.  It’s great to be back out in the morning. I love moving first thing( well after 1 cup of coffee).

My latest drama is trying to get a certified birth certificate. We would like to get passports so that we can travel or flee the country if necessary( just kidding). So my  birth certificate is not embossed. So I figured no problem. I filled out the NYC form paid the fee and voila. Well, no the next day I get an email saying that my first name does not match the birth certifcate so it’s voided. WTF????  My birth name is Aurora Roxana Christina. I have never ever in my entire life used Aurora as that was my mother’s name. So I email back and say I have always only used Christina as my legal name. Nope!! he says, I have to have something with my legal first name. WTF??? I have absolutely nothing. So I’m supposed to email someone else. Such a simple thing and now it’s a f@#King problem. Leave it someone in NYC to be an asshole and screw it up.

Well, I guess I’ll see what happens.

I’ve read a couple of really good books this week. One is ‘Educated’, about a woman born in 1986 to an extreme Mormon family in Idaho. It is so eye-opening. It’s amazing she found herself and escaped. And she went on to obtain her Ph.D. Quite a story. The other is a Jodi Picoult, ‘Leaving Time’. It has a huge twist that is completely unexpected. Great characters.

Dinner is either nachos or leftover homemade ravioli. Not sure which yet!!

 

 

 

 

Picture perfect weather

Posted in cooking, home improvement, husband, just keep walking project, Uncategorized by

It is so idyllic out this week. Mid-eighties to low and just beautiful. We even had our first little fire outside in the firepit last night. You know the season has changed when we do that. Plus I made the first Lodge dinner too. I made a vegetarian chili with the Jiffy cornbread on top. Quite yummy.

Today was a gym day and it was so-so. I didn’t feel too inspired to try too hard. We are also walking 4 xs a week now. But yesterday in the garden my foot went wrong and I felt the stress fracture tweak. I sure hope it’s nothing and only a pull on the area. I’m sick of this foot thing.

My son is back at Sac State this week. It’s a long commute in heavy traffic but he’s sticking it out. I’m proud of him. His internship is hoping to bring him on permanent at some point. What a thrill for me. I just want him to have a secure job.

Not much happening this week although my highlight will be meeting my friend Sara for a coffee. We go way back and she is just a wonderful person.:)

We had a bobcat come into the yard and get one of our chickens yesterday. I was sad. But the fact is they are around and we do let the girls out during the day to roam. But this was right below one of our gardens so close. Then on the community facebook, I read, there were 3 other bobcat/chicken encounters. Quite unusual.

Other than that, Friday will be a Costco trip as I think there are only a few more days of this sale catalog and I was hoping to get a new electric toothbrush. If not they do go on sale regularly. Plus I need organic flour and some other things.

This coming weekend we (meaning my husband) are going to be pulling off the deck on the studio (where Z lives) and replacing the whole thing. It’s falling apart so needs to get done. With a 3 day weekend that sounds good.

Dinner is something taco or Mexican like. I don’t have it figured out yet.

 

 

 

Upset!!!

Posted in just keep walking project, Uncategorized, Walking by

I am beyond upset actually.

I did go see the PA and had an x-ray of my left foot. It is a F##king stress fracture and I am not to walk on it till I get a boot or something. I can’t even see the podiatrist till next week.  It’s supposed to take 6- 8 weeks to heal.  I’m hoping sooner. The funny thing is it would seem to get better one day and then hurt the next. But that maybe as the PA said, I just wasn’t letting the bone heal.

My foot pain started sometime around the first of the year as I have a few notations in my bullet journal about my ankle bothering me. then it seems it would feel ok. So I’m gathering the stress fracture occurred sometime then but initially, stress fractures cannot hurt and then proceed to hurt more. Which is what happened.

I don’t even know how to process this. Getting up and walking is a huge part of my life.

WEll, I’ll adjust in a few days and hopefully, I can get into this doctor next week.

I’ll be back in a bit once I emotionally and mentally adjust.

June must be my month of bad medical news as it was June 15, 2005 when the call came in that I had multiple myeloma.  Geesh… what a f##king bummer. Well, thankfully this is not cancer of another sort. But life sure throws some curve balls that totally take you by surprise.

Just Keep Walking is still on, just modified for a while.

 

Just a few thoughts…

Posted in books, cooking, husband, just keep walking project, Uncategorized by

The Just Keep Walking project is winding down. May 31 st will mark the 5 year anniversary of WALKING EVERY SINGLE DAY!!!  That’s 1825 days. So, of course, I will keep walking with my husband B, but I may not mention it much. It seems 5 years is a good point to wrap it up. I still need to walk every day as I have been rarely sick and I think moving first thing in the morning ( ok, after 1 cup of coffee) has been so healthy for me.

My daughters birthday is May 29 and we got her Audible for a year. She loves listening to books and such while working in the garden. So a perfect idea, actually, it was her idea:)

B and Zephyr should be home late from Las Vegas. I guess the Elton John concert was great and then I saw he was at the Royal Wedding today. He must have jet lag:)

No new projects yet. I’ve looked around the house and there’s not much that needs doing by me. There are a few maintenance things that need to be done but that’s B’s job as I cant do them. ( like putting up another rail in the bathroom). So I guess that’s all good, although I do like a project.

This morning I meal prepped a number of meals for the week.

  • garbanzo curry with peas, this will go over brown rice
  • baked tofu to add to meals
  • French lentil salad with carrots and herbs
  • pasta salad with sundried tomatoes,herbs,kalamata olives and goat cheese.

I might make some salmon too but not right now.

I’m going to go to the gym and then straight home to finish washing the dog beds. and I might do a quick vacuum.

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so true, so true….

My life is quiet, simple, and intentional.

 

Just keep walking update and Yoga…

Posted in Blood test, just keep walking project, Uncategorized, Walking by

So we are the last 60 days of this years walking goal. June 1st will be 5 years of walking every.single.day!!

So if today is the 4th then we have 56 more days to the 5-year mark. Honestly, I love getting up and walking right away( well with 20 minutes or so). I think it’s what has kept us so healthy for this last 5 years.  Well, apart from me having cancer but really I’m very healthy otherwise. Being in remission this last 2 years has been nothing short of extraordinary.  I get labs in a few days so I’ll know next week what my numbers are.

I’ve been doing yoga again and it’s been a month. I think I can bend a little farther but mostly it feels good to stretch. It’s not very long maybe 13 minutes at the most. I’ll probably try and make it 15 minutes starting this week.

My daughter suggested watching the new Anne (with an E) Netflix series and it really quite good. The pilot was well done and I think the series will be fun. I always loved the books and the first Anne of Green Gables series I think was on PBS. That was a great series too.

I’m off to the dentist for a dental hygiene cleaning.  Then I may go into Goodwill.

Dinner is spaghetti and sauce with salad. water-2045469_1920

I just love this picture!!

 

 

 

Just Keep Walking update

Posted in just keep walking project, Uncategorized, Walking by

Tomorrow the 30th marks 4 years and 6 months of walking every.single.day.

I went out at 5:45 am alone as B is in Chico working. The stars were lovely.

By the time 6:15 rolled around the sky was lightening up and it was pre-dawn.

I need new walking shoes but still haven’t ordered them. My North Face shoes are 2 years old in January. I was reading another blogger about the “Walking STore”, and how they take a computerized image of your feet and then recommend after that.  I may consider this as my orthotics in my shoes are 4 years old and I’m sure not doing anything.   The’Walking Store’ shoes are quite expensive but it’s probably worth it. Especially when you have foot problems like I do.

We’ll see.

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Walking in Tahoe at dawn.

 

Wednesday Stuff

Posted in just keep walking project, Lake tahoe, Uncategorized by

The Tahoe post was meant for yesterday, so I thought I’d add a brief wrap up of today’s things.

It’s raining and is supposed to rain all day and tomorrow. We walked with umbrellas but the flashlight was giving out its last rays of light so we cut the walk short.

I have a dental appt for my Invisalign and a cleaning.  Oh, joy! (kidding)

I’m off to the gym first before my appt and then come home and relax. After getting home yesterday, I saw a few areas that could be rearranged so I may play around with that. It depends on who’s hanging around the house and (ahem) in the way!

Dinner is mushroom stroganoff and a kale/mixed green salad.

I’m planning our Thanksgiving menu and it’s fairly simple.

Here’s another Tahoe picture. This is coming around past Sand Harbor.

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