Boy loves his bike

Avon Walk recap

Last weekend Midge and I walked 39.3 miles with the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer.  We also each raised over $2000 in donations.  Today Ben, Arlo and I were walking around in Manhattan and my knee started hurting.  It was killing me last weekend.  So I found myself wondering why the heck I'm considering walking those same 39.3 miles again next year.  ;)

October 15, 2011

These first couple pictures are from the halfway mark and the finish of Day 1.  We officially walked 26.2 miles that day, although I might argue it was longer, plus there's the .9 miles that I walked from the MTA to the opening ceremonies...  We were re-routed to avoid delays with the Occupy Wall Street demonstrations.  Midge and I didn't know each other all that well, but after 2 days and 40 miles, I think she's great!  :)  It was a wonderful experience doing this walk with her.  By around mile 24, I was hurting.  For some reason I hadn't realized we were going to be walking on city sidewalks with all the other yahoos that are in the city on a Saturday!!  I had figured we'd walk the length of the city by the rivers a couple of times and be done with it.  But no.  We walked up the west side, down 9th Avenue, through the West Village, Soho, over the Brooklyn Bridge, back over the Manhattan Bridge, meandered back and forth up the east side.  There was so much pedestrian traffic and so many stop lights that I'm sure we would have been done about 2.5 hours sooner without so much stop and go.  But we made it!! 

October 16, 2011

Day 2, a little slower, and we made it!!!  :)

Finished!

Relaxing with a good cup of tea

Days like today I don't have much time to sit back and relax.  Work is busy, work is being done in our apartment (Tropical Storm Irene water repairs), Arlo needed a little more parent time at playschool coop, Muta needed some company while locked in the bedroom during apartment repairs, etc.

Whew!  Now Arlo is napping, Muta is napping, Ben is at the studio, the workers are done for the day.  I still have piles of work to do.  But first--it's time for a cup of tea.  :)

My friend Dana made this mug for me in 1999.  It's been my favorite mug since.  It's drizzly and gray today, so some decaf tea with a slice of lemon is exactly what I needed.

Weekend weather forecast

The weekend weather forecast looks good so far! 

Screen grab of local weather, from weather.com

Let's hope it holds and rainy, gray Thursday and Friday get it out of their system in time for a lovely Saturday!  I've got a long walk ahead of me this weekend, and I'm hoping this forecast is right!  :)

Walking for a cure

In June of 2002 I walked 39.3 miles over the course of two days, with the Avon Walk for Breast Cancer, to raise awareness and funds in the fight against breast cancer.  The actual walking part of it wasn't incredibly difficult, although 26 miles in one day is pretty far!  But walking with a sign on my shirt that said "in honor of my mother... Patricia Lieber  June 30, 1949 - June 11, 1992" that was the hardest part.

 

I walked alone, except for the people I met along the way.  And I must say it was an incredible experience.

This weekend I'm going on that same fundraising walk, another 39.3 miles.  But this time I'm thrilled to say that I'm walking with my mom's cousin, Midge.  She also lost her mom to breast cancer.  I'll have a ribbon in my bag with the names of everyone I've known who has been affected by this horrible disease.

Here's to hoping the end is in sight, and that my child and his generation won't feel the affects the same way we did.  I'm "in it to end it!"

"Have the courage to follow your heart and intuition."

Jonathan Mak

I know we've been hearing a lot about Steve Jobs lately because of his recent passing, but wow, the guy has a pretty inspirational story!  Of the quotes I've read, this one really stands out to me:

"Your time is limited, so don't waste it living someone else's life.  Dont be trapped by dogma--which is living with the results of other people's thinking.  Don't let the noise of others' opinions drown out your inner voice.  And most important, have the courage to follow your heart and intuition.  They somehow already know what you truly want to become.  Everything else is secondary."

A few days ago I was thinking of my life, what I'm doing, the big picture, etc.  I found this document that I wrote nearly 4 years ago.  At the time I printed it up and posted it around the house.

i want to be a
french speaking
yoga teacher
artist
mother
who makes extra money
doing something practical.

I still don't have my life all figured out, but a few years later, I guess I still feel sort of the same way.  I'm closer to some of these goals, further from others.  But it's time to reassess and get moving on it!  Yeah!