marathons

We all enjoy a good marathon, right? A movie marathon, or a tv show marathon, maybe a dance marathon, you know the fun marathons.

Well, if I add up all the miles I have run in 2013, I have run 13 and a 1/2 marathons. Yes. I kept track and counted up all the miles I have run since January 1st. I ran 350 miles.

I could run to Cincinnati. I could run to Milwaukee and back. Which means I could stop off in Chicago. I could run to Buffalo, New York! That's how far 350 miles is from Grand Rapids.

Does it mean I'm going to run a marathon any time soon? Nope. I have my sights set on an actual, legit 5k. And the annual .1k but as far as running 26 miles all at once, like in one day. No thank you. Running the 3.1 miles is enough. Halfway through mile two I want to stop. I cannot imagine doing that twelve more times.

Now, to put a finer point on it, I also kept track of how much I have shoveled (and when I didn't do either of those and I ran inside, but since it was in place, I kept track of time, and that isn't impressive).

Are you ready?

925 minutes.

That's over fifteen hours this year that I shoveled snow.

Isn't that crazy? Half of that has been during this month. The other minutes added up in November, January and February.

I won't have to write it down on a calendar anymore. There's an app for that. And there's a fancy device too. It's called the Nike Fuel Band.

This is the Christmas present I received from Greg. It counts calories, steps, Fuel (Nike's version of keeping track of my activity), it has a clock on it, and when it syncs to my phone I can log specific activities, like shoveling! It's meant for full-body motion, so while I can wear it during yoga, it's not going to respond the same as when I shovel snow. It's the newer, updated version though, it noticed when I ran the vacuum! 

I'm really excited about this gift. And, as Greg pointed out, it was serendipitous because my phone died last week and now I have an iPhone. I can use the app and sync activities, which I would not have been able to do on the old phone. 

It's all about staying active. You don't have to have a fancy Fuel Band to do so. Make it your goal or resolution, just get moving.

hand-stamped cards

Now that our cards have been sent and Christmas has passed, I thought I'd show you the pictures of the cards I made. Because I promised you (and all the internet) that I would.

Enjoy!

 Because I took this photo landscape, it doesn't look right in portrait. So just tilt your head or your computer screen. (outside)

 (inside)

 (outside & envelope)

 (inside)

 (outside & envelope)

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  (outside & envelope)

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  (outside & envelope)

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  (outside & envelope, there's no picture of the inside because it was blank)

  (outside & envelope)

  (inside)

  (outside & envelope)

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  (outside & envelope)

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  (outside & envelope)

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  (outside & envelope)

  (inside)

  (outside & envelope)

  (blurry inside)

  (outside & envelope)

 (inside)

2013 decorations before and after

As I mentioned in my post yesterday, I had to re-appropriate the tree decorations. First, are the before.

 The tree before the leaning...

 The mantle and stockings (Santa brought Bill a new personalized Star Trek stocking).

 The nutcracker suite.

 These are the after pictures. Starting with additional ornaments on the mantle (they're probably difficult to see, they're tucked in the garland).

 More ornaments hanging from the light fixture.

 Ornaments nestled in a decorative bowl (birthday cards and gifts are the extra stuff around it).

 The garland on the hutch was bare, now planes and crocheted ornaments adorn it.

 And ornaments are hung with care, wherever a hanger can be supported, including the drawer pulls.

 Look carefully, cars are hanging from the top shelf!

 Yes, Juliette is alive. She loves to sprawl across the vent. The Muppet ornaments were moved to the bookcase.

 This is the doorway into the dining room. The ribbon is hung when the decorations are put out, then the cards are added as they come in the mail. This is the first year both ribbons (see photo below) were filled to the max. This did not change with the tree situation, I just didn't add them before.

 This is the doorway into the side entry and kitchen. More cards stapled on ribbon!

 The stair case (and a better shot of a few of the cards).

Me, playing with my camera and a close-up of the bells on the garland on the stairs. The choice of ornaments varies from year to year. Some years I hang the Noah's ark collection (and other Biblical themed ornaments) on the stair garland. Sometimes with the bells, sometimes without. Some years I hang the Santa collection. This year I stuck with bells only.

undone

I was going to post pictures and write about Christmas. I still will. But for now, I'm sitting here, eating breakfast as fast as I can (and typing as fast as I can) before the tree falls. Yes, our tree is leaning. I swear I'm watching it move. This is not good.

Yesterday, I swore I smelled cat urine. Bill pointed out that decomposing Christmas tree has a similar smell. He could not smell cat pee. Any time I was close to the tree, the smell intensified. I finally conceded that it must indeed be the tree.

And now it leans. So the rotting must have led to the leaning.

We have a dire situation on our hands (at least for the tree's sake and the ornaments). I must undecorated the tree. Something I had not planning on doing until Epiphany, or at least next weekend.

Pardon me while I go finish my breakfast and start the less than cheerful process before nature does it for me.

A night in the gardens

I took a walk around the gardens tonight.

I started inside. I didn't stop and pay much attention to the trees, because when I was there in November they had many of them set up. And, because Meijer Gardens is open late on Tuesdays, it was crowded. 

I checked out the train, because there is always something special about seeing it at night.

(Please forgive my very amateur photos. I tried to change settings, but clearly I don't have them just right for clarity in dark spaces.)

Then I went into the large conservatory. There is a giant star hanging in the tallest part of the room.

Then I bravely wandered outside. This giant tree greets guests as they emerge from the warmth of the indoor space.

Then there's this sculpture called, Mad Mom. She's covered in snow, I liked the effect it had.

I walked into the Children's garden where silence greeted me instead of the usual happy cries of children. Colorful lights fill the area, creating a different effect.

From there I wandered out into the sculpture park. I tried to capture the snow fallen scene around the horse… but I'm still working on those camera settings.

Just before I walked by this sculpture, a horse drawn carriage passed me by, carrying guests through the  sculpture park as part of the holiday festivities. The jingle of the bells on the horses, the silence created by snow and the singing of the carriage riders transported me to a different world.

All was calm. And all was bright. Lit by twinkling lights. The voices of the singers carried on, even when they were out of sight.

And then I caught a glimpse of the full moon.

I tried to photograph it…

But I couldn't capture it's splendor.

I'll end with this photo. This is the waterfall. I love how the snow changes everything. If I listened closely, I could still hear water rushing under the snow, cascading down the rocks.