January 2013 pictures

January was a busy month.  I drove to Roanoke, Virginia to spend some time with my Grandma Margie on her 101st birthday.  I then when to Tennessee to run/hike in Frozen Head State Park.  I spent the weekend camping and hiking with Shannon and we had an AWESOME time running, laughing and getting muddy.   Too many pictures as usual and they are not in much of any particular order.

Found this on the side of the road while I was running right near two schools.

Bless them, "will opening"

Is it politically correct to have a sign that says "black authors"?  Perhaps in SW Florida it is!

I stopped in Georgia and Chad and Chrissy put me up.  I almost stole their boxer Mosely



Very creative Christmas decoration in the Punta Gorda library!

Never leave me unattended in the doctor's office.  I play with all of the toys and steal rubber gloves.

101 year old Grandma Margie!

TV remotes in hotel rooms are notoriously dirty.  Here's my solution, wrap them in the bag that they put out for ice.

Love it, Super 8 cares about my mile a day!

Blew out a tire, not just a flat, total blow out.  Met the nicest people ever during the blown tire incident.   Someone followed me off the highway to tell me what happened.  A guy came right over and put my spare on.  Took it right to tire place and was in bed within 2 hours.  Awesomeness!

One of the sweetest people in the world.  Wish I took after her!

My Grandma

19 degrees is what I came from, 80 is where I am now.  I prefer 80 in the middle of winter.

Sunset by my house.

Penny smashed nearly beyond recognition.

Skava a blue and gold macaw at the Parrot Outreach.  I am volunteering here now so you will see too many pictures of birds soon.

  

Largo is sweet and loveable

Can't remember this beauty's name but he's got a good home in Miami now.

Toad in my driveway.

I changed a bird cage and this was in the bottom.  There's no end to what amuses me.  Pretend you're a 13 year old boy and you'll see what I'm talking about.

Sunset by my house

Foggy day in Tennessee

Ahhhhh yes, Jiffy Pop and car camping. Fab!

Sunrise coming through the privacy screening on our lanai.

December 2012 pictures

Yes, entirely too many pictures. 

Met with J in Tampa, she's got AI and we went out to lunch.  We were comparing pill containers.  Oh the fun things the chronically ill do!

I live in a different world now.  Instead of people driving 4 Wheelers and snowmobiles down the road, in Florida it's people driving wheelchairs.

Camel cookies humping.  Merry Christmas!  Thanks for the laugh H!

Creatively placing the advent calendar characters.

I don't have to worry about how evil I am, found a coupon for ETERNAL LIFE in my local coupon book.  Whew!

Dolly opening her Christmas present.  I've become the crazy dog lady.  Dolly's got her own FB page and is on RunKeeper as well.

I sent my son a Christmas tree, here it is.  I don't know why there's TP on the table too. 

Ahhhhh, Christmas trees and palm trees!



Downtown Punta Gorda





Niece and nephew so cute and loving their Christmas $



Teenie Tiny Florida deer in Orlando, FL

 


Sandhill Cranes.  I love them and the way they sound.  They winter here in FL.  In Idaho, they summered.

Frogs love to stick to my window in the early hours of the morning.

One of my favorite places to see the sunrise, the public pool during lap swim.



This is a shirt someone was wearing in public.  Titusville, FL to be exact.



Mike Melton, RD of Ancient Oaks, giving the "prerace meeting".  He said, "See this green flagging, follow it."  Short and sweet!

Will J at Ancient Oaks

Stu Gleman and I at Ancient Oaks.  Stu began AO 14 years ago.  Great race!

Guy running in a kilt at AO.  I love wearing a skirt while running so seeing a guy wearing a skirt while running made me smile from ear to ear!

Despite vomiting, being dehydrated and ending up in the ER while in NJ, I still had a sense of humor.  Excellent treatment by Dr. Vogel in the Valley Hospital ER.  Besides great medical treatment, he brought me a soda and cup of ice.   Amazing!

My awesome running buddy while I was in NJ, L.  I used to babysit his mom when she was his age.

Radburn, NJ.  A Hanukkah car topper.  CLASSIC Fair Lawn/Radburn, NJ!!

I went to NJ to help a girlfriend get her house livable.  I did what I do best, make lists, do things, yell at people to do things and cross things off the list.  Mission accomplished.

The neighbor behind my friend's house in NJ had this in their yard.  I put the camera over the fence and took the picture.  I was cracking myself up over the naked lady with a baby in her lap!



I am the crazy neighbor.  50 degrees, hair unbrushed, wearing a shearling coat, pajamas and drinking coffee while walking the dog.

One year of running a mile a day and three years of walking a mile a day!

On February 13th of 2010, I decided to walk a mile a day as a measure of gratitude for my ability to walk. 

In December of 2009, I discovered I had a stress fracture of my femoral neck.  I was unable to walk, let alone run for six weeks.  This was quite a blow mentally and physically as I had recently finished my first and only 100 mile run.  I was devastated.  In addition to devastation, I was having trouble with my thyroid.  Injury makes me very hypothyroid, I get tired, cry, snore, get sleep apnea and swell up like a balloon.  December, January and part of February were very hard months for me and for my family.

Inspired by Colleen Woods, I started "streaking".  In 2010, it was just walking.  In 2012, inspired by Steve Tursi, I decided to begin running a mile a day.  Although it's been hard to do at times, it's been worth it.

I feel that running or walking each and every day is VERY helpful to overall health and well being.  I know I sound like a broken record.  Try it and let me know!