Day 2 - Albany Child Support

I'm not done running back and forth. They wanted his address. I gave a COUNTY ORGANIZATION the city and state and they said they couldn't serve him unless I had the zip!

THEY COULDN'T LOOK IT UP? If my phone had internet, I could've had it in two seconds....
I'm afraid this is going to be a lonnnng battle!

I might even be driving back there to sit amongst the wonderful achievers I was subject to be near yesterday. You see, there is also a Treatment court there, where drug addicted parents can get "help". There were alot of fidgety, snuffling, pajama-pants and wife beaters-with-sideways-hats wearing people there... it seemed there were alot more of them than parents who were there for a noble reason.

I even went so far as to find an aerial view of his house on Google Earth, they are getting a printout of it so they CAN'T mess it up!

Tomorrow all I am doing is painting and reading blogs allllllll darn day (not really, but that is my goal!)!

this weekend I will post Part 1 of your Albany Walk with Vicki :) . I have some cool pics for you!

BIG HUGs to you great people who have offered me commiseration and support... and I can't wait to sit and read blogs tomorrow morning... it's been almost a week. My Tweeter is getting rusty, too!

My Wow OMG walk yesterday

I took the best walk yesterday. I walked with Ray to the Hudson via a gorgeous route of breathtaking views, cared-for lawns, trees that held some of the best berries we've ever eaten, butterflies lighting on vibrant blossoms, baby bald eagles, magestic blue herons, and enjoyed an amazingly brisk breeze that graced us from the river all the way back :).

I'm taking my camera next time. I try not to, bc it slows down my heart rate, but just HAVE to share!

I took a 5 mile Walk yesterday

Walked over 5 miles... actually 5.23... Yes I did! It was H O T out, too... My fiance and daughter trudged along with me. I was rewarded by some beautiful sights, and decided to share the ones I managed to get a good pic of with you:

There's a magnificent red-tailed hawk

a gorgeous lily and the home stretch!! quite the walk :)

A New Walking Goal for the next 30 days

As some of you may know, I am an avid walker and use http//:www.mapmywalk.com to track my walking mileage, my weight, and also to help challenge me to do more.

I have a friend on there that I met on the site that is pregnant (with her 3rd child) and walks about 75-100 miles a month! She's in Canada but that doesn't stop her from inspiring me here. Well, she has to slow down now, is due in a little over a month with her new son, and has dropped her walking goal from 100 miles to 75 this month. How could I NOT try harder?

I did 50 miles in the last 31 days, and have just signed up to do 75 in the next. I will be tracking my miles on mapmywalk.com, but you can also see my walks on the right of my blog, in the little "My Workouts" widget, if you're interested.

It's also fun to keep a camera on hand. This rose is actually a picture from one of my walks where I knocked on a door and asked a pleased lady if I could snap a shot of her gorgeous rose :).

I hope maybe I can pay my Northern friend's inspiration forward and get someone else moving. Once you develop a routine, it really is addictive! It's also fun to challenge yourself to do more.

Another nice perk... if you put your phone on "silent"... it's a nice way to get a mini-vacation from the daily grind/obligations/stressors ... if not for a few miles, at least for a few minutes :) .

What the HAIL?

Today it was hot... then the sky turned almost black and it rained for about 58 seconds and then suddenly the sky turned into a pellet gun, shooting off leaves and pummeling flowers with hail that was as big as cherries.




It's just so wierd to have sweated my patootie off on my daily walk early in the day only to be sitting here wrapped in a blanket to ward off the chill after the rain of ice balls.
Here are some pics. We live in an apartment complex where one side looks like a campground and the other a swanky 70's communal living paradise (not!). Please notice my neighbor Patty's chair filling with ice :)

Walking

I've been walking lately. ALOT. Being an artist is a sedentary lifestyle unless you MAKE yourself get up and get going.

After I had my kids, I lost 87 pounds just from walking an extra 5-10 miles a week. Now that I'm 17 years older, and have to lose the weight again, I'm finding it's not so easy. I have seriously cut back on my food intake, but I DO miss eating what I want. So, I am hoofing it again.

I'm also using a really cool website for incentive. It's called MapMyWalk.com. I'll be putting an app that streams my latest workouts here on the blog, too.

Please send me big huge amounts of positive energy. I am very uncomfortable with my weight and would like to feel light on my feet again ...

I hope you check out the site. It tracks alot more than workouts. It also tracks your weight, BMI, heart rate,water intake, even morale!

Vicki