Author Archives: Mama Cormier

Week One – Averaged Over 10,000 Steps a Day

Posted on by
4

….I’ve owned my Jawbone Up for almost a year

On August 29, 2014 I uploaded my new Jawbone Up to my iPhone and set a walking goal of 10 000 steps a day and 8 hours of sleep a night. I’ve struggled when trying to reach either of these goals throughout the year. I have reached both of them but never consistently and for some reason when I have a good walking day I don’t have a good sleep and visa versa. IMG_5601

Last week when I started writing about my walking goals I started to achieve them. For five days I walked 10 000 steps or more and I averaged 10 500 steps a day. This is the best week I’ve had since getting my tracking device.

My husband came home from the hospital today. I got a phone call at 7:30 this morning from K asking me to pick him up because he was being released. I quickly got dressed and drove to the hospital only to find K still in his bed. He wasn’t even dressed. He was still waiting for the paperwork to be done so that he could be released.

I walked to the other end of the hospital to get myself a coffee and something to eat. When I returned K had decided to get dressed but we still had to wait for final instructions before we could go home.

By the time we left the hospital and picked up K’s pain medications from the drug store it was almost noon and the day had really started to heat up. The dog and I hadn’t been out for our walk but I knew that we wouldn’t get very far in this heat so I waited till this evening to go for our ‘long’ walk.

I’m glad I waited. I had managed to get in almost 5000 steps just watering the garden, doing laundry and going shopping. I knew that to reach 10 000 steps I would have to do the entire length of the park and back again. It was starting to get dark and I notice a sign warning about the coyotes that are in the park so I decided to stay on the walkways that were more frequently used by the public. It was nice changing up the route and seeing different parts of the park. When we finally got home I had added over 6000 more steps for a daily total of 11 100 steps.

Here are a few of the sights we saw on tonight’s walk.

Sunday Trees – 196

Posted on by
4

…..thanks to Becca Givens for hosting Sunday Trees

On one of our walks this week we spotted this tree in the park and thought that the leaves were already turning colour. Upon closer inspection we discovered that pink colour on this unusual maple tree came from the keys.

IMG_5794 IMG_5795 IMG_5799

The Hardest Day Yet

Posted on by
13

…..one would think that the worst was over

I’m not sure why today was so emotional. My husband’s surgery was successful and he appears to be on the mend.

The morning started with text messages from the hospital from my husband. When was I coming? How was the dog? Breakfast was awful. I need a good cup of tea, etc. etc.

There were several emails asking about the outcome of the surgery that I felt I needed to answer right away so that people wouldn’t worry. Frances needed her morning walk and frankly so did I. It was a beautiful morning and I could tell it was going to be a warm day. I wasn’t going to take the dog the full distance today but I thought that I should go as far as the beach so that she could have a bit of a swim and cool off. Of course she loved it and she found a couple of spots to roll in.

After making sure that the pets had food and water for the day I grabbed the paper and K’s recharged iPod and headed out the door. I stopped at the local farmers’ market which was on the way to the hospital and I foolishly neglected to buy some parking time in the lot I parked in. I picked up a few things that I thought K might enjoy and when I got back to the car I found a ticket under the wiper blade. Rats! and I was only gone for about 15 minutes.

When I got to the hospital, K had already eaten his breakfast and lunch and he really wasn’t interested in the goodies that I brought him. I took them home again. Even though it’s only his second day in the hospital I know that not being able to get out of bed is becoming increasingly uncomfortable for my husband and it made him a little bit irritable. At least the oxygen tubes were gone. The one thing that he did appreciate was the big cup of tea that I brought in for him.

I left the hospital shortly after I arrived so that K could get some rest and I needed to do some laundry at home. I talked to a couple of friends who gave me moral support and my daughter sent me a reminder about a race she wanted me to participate in with her. I decided to register and take advantage of the early bird special. I haven’t run very much in the last year so I thought that having another fitness goal might be just the thing I need to get me out of this slump.

My daughter also asked me if I wanted to join her and J for dinner after visiting with her Papa so I accepted. I made another trip to the hospital. K was in a better mood. A friend of his had come by for a visit and when A and J arrived they brought J’s father along. What a nice surprise. My husband was truly touched.

The girls and I left for dinner and we promised to save some pizza for my husband. We walked from the hospital to the restaurant and had a very enjoyable meal. I did save half my pizza for K but when we returned to the hospital it was already pretty late and he asked my to take the pizza home and save it for him there. He will enjoy it when he comes home on Monday. It’s in the freezer as I write this so that I won’t be tempted to eat it.

The day certainly ended on a brighter note than it began on and I managed to walk 12 000 steps. Hopefully tomorrow will be easier. My daughter and I have already planned to visit my husband together, just before noon and then spend some time together in the afternoon. We’re hoping to get in a little bit of driving practice before she takes her test this Tuesday and maybe do a little bit of gardening.

Wishing you all a lovely Sunday. Cheers!

A Day of Waiting and Just Over 8000 Steps

Posted on by
8

…..a day in the hospital makes walking difficult

On Friday my husband went to the hospital to have his surgery on his lung. It was raining in the morning so we didn’t get out with the dog for a walk, not even a short one. When we did get to the hospital around 10:00 the waiting began. First in the reception area,  then in the area I like to call the ‘holding area’ and finally in the Family Waiting Room.

After blood work, standard tests, visits from the surgeon, the anesthesiologist and finally the OR nurse, K got up from his comfy chair and walked to the operating room. Before he left our youngest daughter came to keep me company and then my friend AB showed up. The doctor said that the procedure would take about 1 1/2 hours so we decided to go to the cafeteria for a bite to eat.

We returned in what we thought was plenty of time only to discover that the doctor had come to see us while we were out. We had to wait until he finished another surgery on someone else before we could find out if K was okay.

At around 3:00 the good doctor saw us and the news was good. K had done well during the surgery, no complications and the growths appear to be non-cancerous. Yay! We have to now ‘wait’ for the results of the biopsy to be sure but the doctor said he was cautiously optimistic.

When K was admitted to his room, our oldest daughter arrived and we all had a short visit with the patient. He looked remarkably good. He was alert, had good colour and was very talkative. After a short visit we all left so that he could get some rest and I drove everyone home.

My youngest daughter stayed with me and we went back to the house to take Frances for a walk. We didn’t walk as far as we would normally but I did manage by the end of the day to get in just over 8 000 steps.

I’d like to thank everyone for their kind thoughts, good wishes and prayers. My husband is already back to his old self and has been texting me to bring him a good cup of tea this morning.

Cheers!

Over 14 000 Steps Yesterday and Already Over My Goal Today

Posted on by
7

….the last two days have been good walking days

Yesterday I posted that walking 10 000 steps takes effort. By the end of the day I clocked in at 14 826. Most of those steps came from our morning walk where we covered about 5 miles or 8km.

This morning we did the walk again but went a little farther. By the time we got home I had walked 11 000 steps. Later this afternoon we’re visiting friends to see their new home and I’m hoping we’ll go for a walk to check out their new neighbourhood.

My fear is that tomorrow may not be a good walking day. It’s the day my husband goes to the hospital for his surgery but we’re hoping to get out early in the morning and get in some walking for the dog’s sake.

Here are a few more photos of things we saw on our walk today.

IMG_5788 IMG_5791 IMG_5795

Onesies Art

Posted on by
3

….at the baby shower guests were invited to decorate white onesies with personal messages and art

Our daughter, A, has never been too excited about party games but for her sister’s baby shower she acquiesced and found a fun activity for people to participate in. Actually she found three activities but I’d like to share the onesie project with you.

We weren’t sure if people would gravitate toward this task because it did require some thought and creativity. Surprise, surprise….people loved it. First of all A went out and purchased about a dozen plain white onesies in a variety of sizes. She was able to get them for about $3.00 a piece. You also need fabric markers and cardboard for this project.

A and J cut up cardboard to fit inside each onesie so that the marker would not bleed through to the back. In the backyard a work table was set up and people went outside throughout the afternoon and created their masterpieces. When they were all done, G, the mother to be, judged them all and picked her favourite. The winner went home with a bottle of wine. It wasn’t an easy task (the judging that is) and some of us who organized the shower quietly took ourselves out of the mix and made sure that our designs didn’t win. I had already won the matching game, my sister had won the guessing game and A and J felt it wouldn’t look good if someone else in the family won another prize.

All the finished onesies were put on a clothesline to dry. I forgot to take a photograph of the finished pieces but my daughter kindly photographed each individual onesie from her home and sent them to me. By the way she photographed them after she washed them so it’s good to know that the marker didn’t fade in the wash.

Which one is your favourite?

Walking 10 000 Steps Takes Effort

Posted on by
7

….but it’s very doable

When I’m at school I normally walk anywhere from 4000 to 6000 steps during the day, just walking from room to room, walking around the yard during recess and walking around the library putting away books. It’s those last few steps to reach my goal of 10 000 steps that takes effort.

Yesterday I found myself doing a lot of errands, using the car. There was a lot of waiting involved and by the end of the day I had barely clocked 4000 steps. In the evening I took a walk around the block with the dog and then I drove to the mall to do a bit of shopping. I parked farther away from the store than I needed to and I tried to walk around the mall after my shopping was done but I had left it too late and the mall was closing. In the end I only walked 5380 steps.

This morning, as soon as I woke up, I put on my running shoes and went for a long walk with my husband and Frances. It was a beautiful morning, even though the sky to the west of us looked pretty ominous. We walked to our favourite park and instead of going back the same way we came we took a slight detour to add some extra distance. When we got home I was surprised to see that we had already reached my goal of 10 000 steps and it was only 10:30. Ideally, now I should be able to add another 4000 to 5000 throughout the day as long as I don’t spend too much time on the computer or with my renewed hobby of knitting.

Here are a few images of what we saw on our walk this morning.