September Goals...

September is going to be a busy month...

I have set the following activity goals: 

• AVG 12000 steps per day 
• AVG 5 miles per day

This is a stretch goal for me; I admit it, I am out of shape.

I have signed up to walk a 5 k on September 14. My goal for this 5 K is to beat my previous sponsored 5 K record of 55:57.  I am working at it.

I have planned a girls (Mom-Daughter) getaway weekend for my birthday weekend.  Sorry sons, but if I invite boys I have to pay for an extra room...I am cheap and saving for a trip to Belize.

Yes, I said Belize.

I will also be helping my oldest son pack up his office and residence as he prepares to move to Belize in early October.

I am so excited for him and and his girlfriend.  They are making their dreams come true.

And I have a reasonably priced dream vacation destination in my future; Belize in December is looking more like reality every day.

I promise to do my best to not to be the mom/mom-in-law from hell when I visit:)

Searching for a gym...

In mid July, when I realized that I was actually going to keep the goal I set of walking 10000 steps a day, I decided to reward myself with a gym membership.

When I look for a gym (I have done this a time or two in the past), I look for three things, in order of importance:

• A lap pool (for water walking)
• In indoor track (for walking in inclement weather)
• Accessibility (hours of operation/proximity to residence)

I found two gyms (with the above requirements) in my area:

• The Natatorium in Cuyahoga Falls  
• Akron General Health and Wellness Center - North

I love the Nat; I used to frequent that place when I lived in the falls years ago.  

• PROS: Familiar, lots of free programs to members, awesome aquatics centers, member's guests are allowed  at  reasonable rates; best hours of any gym with pool; pay as you go monthly rates; walk in enrollment;  etc, etc.
• CONS: A few miles from my apartment in the opposite direction of work.

In all fairness, I needed to check out AG.

• PROS: Very close to my apartment; 3 locations to use.
• CONS: Higher rates than Nat; hefty enrollment fee; less open hours; appointment needed to sign up; no month-to-month option; etc, etc.

Yeah, I chose the Nat.  

Not only do they offer all of the above, they have on-line membership renewal, receipt availability, sign-in tracker, activity calendars....WIN-WIN. (I love technology.)

A piece of advice to AG: Asserting that an enrollment fee keeps your rates down does not fly when your yearly rates after the enrollment fee are more per month than the Nat's rates for monthly, non-resident, non-senior members.

Well, I best go make use of that membership....

What I did on my summer vacation...

I was shocked to realize that I last posted almost 4 months ago...
Damn...what have I been doing?  Not  sharing on my blog, obviously.

Summer has come and gone.

It was not overly eventful or exciting....but lazily enjoyable.

I have made a change in my extra-curricular activities. 

At the beginning of summer I was using the few extra bucks I had each paycheck to visit one of  the local racinos conveniently located on my way home from that thing called work. However, losing a few bucks within a few minutes was doing less and less to relieve the stress of the workday.

I like the racinos because they are somewhere I can go by myself and not feel out of place by myself and not spend too much hard earned money.

But I do like to get something back for the little bit of hard earned money I spend; something more than just a few minutes of play time.

I decided I needed to find a new activity that I could do by myself or with others that was reasonably priced and helped relieve stress.

I took a walk to think about it...and kept walking.

After that walk in late June, I decided two things:

• I set myself a July activity goal of 10000 steps a day.  That goal seemed reasonable until I tried to keep it. It was a little harder than I anticipated.  But I did keep it and set the bar a bit higher for August: AVG 11300 steps and 5 miles per day. August is done and goal achieved. Yay me.
• I decided to not play my aforementioned play money and save it for a gym membership. I spent July walking and shopping for a gym.

I am feeling better even though the scales are not showing a loss.  Maybe the after-walk ice cream is not such a good idea....

Oh well, one small step...

Happy Moms' Day....

Happy Mom's Day to all  Moms, GrandMoms, Moms-to-be, Pet Moms and those who are "Like a Mom".

I love being a Mom.

Maybe a little too much...

Say anything negative about any one of my kids or about how I raised them and the bitch in me is released. Now I am well aware that my kids are not perfect and that I am not the perfect Mom, but I really do not need or appreciate anyone pointing that out to me. Doing so definitely presses one of my Hot Buttons.

But Hot Buttons aside, I enjoy every phase of being a Mom - from pregnancy through helping and watching my children grow into the fine young men and woman they are today...

And I am thankful that I have three awesome kids who make being a Mom rewarding and fun.

I have so many wonderful memories and look forward to making many more with each of them.

Not worthy of sainthood...IMHO

A fellow co-worker said something to a few of us the other day that reminded me of advice I often give to my kids. He said: We choose to be happy....

How true.

We cannot always choose the lot that life throws at us, but we can choose how we react to it.

I need to start choosing better... 

A lot has been happening in the last couple of weeks....

A lot of sad news has been passed my way....

And some other crap has been going on that bothers me enough that, even with the sunshine, I cannot seem to get out of the funk that I have been in the last few months.

I am not going to write about all of it, because a lot of it is personal and it does not do me any good to dwell on it.

So I am going to go for a walk in the sunshine.


But, before I go for that walk, I do feel the need to say a few words about something n today's news that is bothering me ...

How the hell does anyone think it is OK to canonize a person who covered up for his pedophile employees?

Of course, some John Paul fans would have us believe that he did not condone, participate in, or even know about the coverups.

Or that he listened to and believed his middle management team who insisted the accusations were false.

I am not buying it.

What kind of leader does not look into those kinds of accusations and makes sure he/she gets to the bottom of them????  

It is not like there was only one of them.

I got to say I lost a lot of respect for Pope Francis today - he could have put his foot down.

The balancing act does not cut it...

Excommunication would have been more appropriate...

Just my opinion, but I feel better having expressed it.

Thanks for listening.

A feel good moment...

So, work is still work and I am still part of the same team trying  to fix things that are broke...

We are making some progress....

I think...

It is hard to tell at times.  

We had a management review session of our proposal Thursday which got a lot of positive feedback.

And then Friday we were reminded of several things we "missed" in our proposal.  I clearly remember some team discussions where we decided these "misses" were out of scope. And me, being me, brought that up, out loud.  Apparently, I remember wrong - or at least not right enough worth mentioning, because no one else admitted to remembering the discussions.  They did not say they did not remember them; they just did not say anything at all.  Someday, I will learn to just nod my head and not look the fool.

Anyway, we have a lot more work to do this week. I am not complaining - at least I still have a job for the time being.  

And the team I am working with is an ok group.  We get along for the most part and even have a little  fun. We have been together a little over 2 months now.

 A few weeks ago, we participated in a mandatory workshop - one of those all day drink the kool-aid sessions.  The final activity of the day mandated that we tell the team about some life-changing event we have lived through. 

My first response was NOYFB...and I pretty much said that.  I did not want to tell any of these people, most of whom I had met just a couple of weeks earlier,  about anything that has been life changing for me. And I was not sure I wanted to hear their 10-step stories - at least not in a team setting.  

But rather than risk losing my major source of income, when it was my turn, I went with this.... 

I do not feel comfortable with this activity and I am not going to share a story from my life with you.  But I will tell you that I have three adult children that I am proud of and have learned so much from. I am proud of them for making their own way in life  - doing their own thing. They each have an entrepreneurial spirit.  Watching them grow, I have learned that even though all kids are different and each mature in their own way and time, they do find their way, even if it is not on the same path that I or their Dad would have chosen for them. 

There was the usual moment of silence after the confession.

One day this week, as I was leaving our team "war" room with one of  my teammates,  he told me that my little spiel at the workshop got him thinking about his relationship with his kids. He said he started to feel better about himself as a parent, accepting that it is ok that his kids are not doing things the way he thinks they should do them. He said he had been wanting to thank me for that....said it was like a church experience. 

Wow,  what a feel good moment.  It made me thankful that I did not go with my second response to that activity and tell some made up, heart-wrenching, total  BS, Mental Poo-worthy story.   (Sorry, Rodney, I couldn't help myself.  I think of BS and I think of you and Perhaps I've Said Too Much.)   

Also, I am assuming this guy's church experiences are better than mine.  

We have Day 2 of the workshop later this month.  Lord, help me.

So much for that blog fodder...

I have been a little disturbed this past week believing that the Westboro Baptist Church actually requested that the public not protest at the funeral of their founder ....

Not that I would have anyway....

I live nowhere near Topeka, thankfully...

And I hope I would never stoop so low.

But it has been bothering me that they would have the audacity to even make such a request...

And tonight I was ready to blog about it.

And then,  I thought to myself, maybe I should check that claim out....

Thank you, Inquisitr, for setting me straight....