Walking 10 000 Steps Takes Effort

Posted on August 12, 2015 by Mama Cormier

….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.

No More Excuses!

Posted on July 1, 2015 by Mama Cormier

….well I can always find more excuses

I’ve been looking forward to going to the cottage for months and I’ve been off school since Friday and I still haven’t made it up there. What’s wrong with me? Well nothing actually. I have some good reasons for not being there yet.

On Sunday my very good friend, AB, was having one last party at her house before she moves to her new condo. She’s been in that house for over 30 years and we’ve had many a celebration there. It was great seeing a lot of the old faces from past parties and we also celebrated AB’s birthday.

On Monday we had to wait for the guys from the appliance store to determine if our new washing machine should be replaced. They were there less than 5 minutes but it was at the end of the day. They delivered the new machine today.

Before the appliance guys arrived I did some shopping and I purchased flowers for my containers in the front and back yards. I don’t know why but I always leave my planting till well into June. Of course I couldn’t go to the cottage with that weighing on my conscience. I also renewed my membership for the concert series and mailed the cheque.

Today I filled up the car with gas. Tomorrow is a holiday in Canada so I wasn’t sure if the Costco gas station would be open. The store is closed for sure. I also filled one of our propane tanks to take with me and I purchased two large bottles of water and a few supplies that I will need for my trip.

At home I cleaned the bird cage, cleaned the debris off my lawn (branches and leaves that had fallen during Sunday’s rain storm), pulled a few weeds, and swept the porch, sidewalk and the street in front of our house. Actually I couldn’t believe that I was compelled to sweep the leaves off the street. It seems that I kept finding jobs to do that kept me from getting in the car and driving north.

After the new washing machine arrived today I did a couple of loads of washing. It seems to be working just fine. I went for a long walk with the dog, helped my husband make dinner and then watched the FIFA Women’s World Cup game.

Well I think I’ve run out of excuses to not go to the cottage. Except that my oldest daughter called tonight and thought I was driving her to the airport tomorrow night. She’s okay with me not doing it but I’m feeling a little guilty.

My husband won’t be coming with me tomorrow and I hate opening the cottage by myself. I have to take the board down over the main door, move the fridge and connect it to the propane tank and set up the BBQ. Then there’s checking all the rooms for evidence of rodents and possible water damage from all the rain. I have to clean out the water barrel and fill it up and put away the food, make the beds and sweep the floors.

Once this is all done I can relax, assuming that no problems are lying in wait for me to fix. Of course I could stay home and not go up until my husband is able to join me but that could take another week or more. I think I’ll have to chance it and go up on my own. Wish me luck. By the way, I have no electricity or wifi connection so it may be a few days before I can post another article.

Time for a Good Cleaning

Posted on June 27, 2015 by Mama Cormier

….when things start to go missing you know it’s time to clean

The first official day of my summer holiday and it’s pouring rain. Luckily I got out for a bit of a walk this morning before the skies opened up. The boys came over early enough to cut the grass as well and I got a little bit of weeding done.

My daughter A and her partner J ran a 5km race today and I missed it. They also lucked out and finished before the rain started. My daughter finished her race in 27 minutes and J (her first race ever) completed it in 33 minutes. Very impressive!

Unfortunately we didn’t get out in time to take in the Farmers’ Market. By the time we got there it was teaming with rain and most of the vendors had already packed up and left. We headed back for home but stopped at the top of the street and had a coffee at the Portuguese Bakery. Our son texted us from Paris with a photo of him and his fiancé at an outdoor cafe so my husband took a photo of me with my latte and sent it back to him.

My husband’s caption: Enjoying a latte from our own Paris cafe in beautiful New Toronto.

Notice anything different about me in this photo? Well I’m not wearing my glasses and not because I’m vain (I am a little bit). Remember when I said that ‘when things go missing it’s time to clean’? Well it’s my glasses that I’ve lost. I know that I wore them home on Thursday because I drove home and I would never drive without them. I do have prescription sunglasses and I wore those yesterday and today when driving but I’m really stumped as to where I’ve placed my regular glasses.

Since we’ve been back I have been cleaning the kitchen, going through my school bags, turning things upside down and looking in the most unusual places and I still haven’t found them. I’m afraid I’m going to have to go on my hands and knees and start looking under things, like my bed, night table, living room couch, and bathroom vanity. The only reason I haven’t I haven’t done it yet is because I fell a few weeks ago and I injured my right knee. The only time I feel any pain is when I kneel on it. A few times I’ve forgotten about it, especially when I go to bed. I can’t crawl into bed because I get a searing pain in the knee so I have to sit on the bed and swing my legs over the edge.

Well there are still a lot of places to clean in my house so I guess I’d better get back to work. The rain still hasn’t let up. If you have any suggestions as to where my glasses might be drop m a line.

Cheers

Sure Signs of Spring

Posted on March 22, 2015 by Mama Cormier

……March 20th marked the first day of Spring

The snow has melted in this part of the world but the east coast of Canada has been hit with more snow storms and we’re talking about a lot of snow.

I’m thrilled that Spring has finally arrived even though the signs aren’t always obvious to the naked eye or to exposed skin. This morning when I woke up I could see that it had snowed last night. Nothing significant but enough to know that winter isn’t done with us yet and if that tiny bit of snow didn’t convince you, the cold wind certainly did.

Later in the day the sun did warm things up a bit but walking into the wind did make the trek a little uncomfortable. I, however, was on a mission to find signs of spring that I could record with my camera.

Much of the plant life still harbours the brown tones of decay but the sun added a certain warmth and brought out a richness to some colourful naked branches.

One of the signs of spring was the hidden treasure that lay inside the snow all winter and now appeared everywhere. Hardly photo worthy though. On our way home we looked up and I saw my first robin of the season. I have noticed that the birds are singing more brightly in the morning when I wake up and the squirrels are more active in the backyard.

I was hoping to see signs of new growth coming up through the ground but It wasn’t immediately obvious. When I returned home I walked up to the front garden and pushed aside a few leaves and lo and behold I found my crocus starting to push up through the ground. Spring is definitely here despite the cold and gloomy forecast for April.