Although technically, it wasn't a blizzard (no high winds), the storm of the year certainly dumped a lot of the white stuff to classify it as one of the worst in the history of the state of Maryland and District of Columbia. If you've been following bjarvis's reports, you know that we got about 24-30 inches of snow, lost our power for approximately 25 hours, shoveled out our walk and our neighbor's walk, and survived. All in all, it has been an interesting 60 some hours. Here are some more pictures:

This is a picture of our front stairs leading to our walk. Those lovely Magnolia branches are usually 6.5-7 feet off the ground, that's how much snow and ice have accumulated on its branches.



Again, these tree branches are usually quite a distance from the power and phone lines that are connected to our house. Fortunately, very carefully, we were able to knock enough snow off of the branches to raise them up out of the danger zone.



kent4str'e  minivan and bjarvis' Civic buried in our driveway. My little Cobalt was put in the garage. Good thing because it would have been lost under all the snow.




The homefront:



Our neighbor's cars. Two of them are Corvette's which are USUALLY under canvass covers. Unfortunately, not this time.



A view of our backyard. The fence and the compost fencing are both between three and four feet tall. Guess we won't be composting stuff for awhile.



Back porch rail, hot tub and propane grill. You can barely see the top of the propane tank through the snow.



Our neighbor standing in front of his third Corvette - this one's covered with canvass as well as snow.



Our Magnolia, covered in snow and ice. It's NOT happy!





This is what our neighbor's rhododendron looks like in full bloom - usually mid May



This is what it looked like yesterday. Unfortunately, we discovered that it split in half today - right down the center. We don't know if it will make it or not.



And finally, my brave husbands - kent4str getting ready to hit the tree - literally, he was going out to knock the snow off of some of the higher branches to get them off the wires.



And bjarvis, standing next to the chest high snow drift by our driveway.




If I had to be stranded somewhere without electricity and heat, I'm glad it was here with you....... Love ya, cuyahogarvr.

Current Mood: contemplative

The first time I fell in love with "Bolero" was in 1984 and it was because of this performance:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E8obUdxnTlc

This was also back when I was strongly attracted to tall, blond, clean-shaven men.

Current Mood: contemplative

No surprise - the BIG news story on CNN is "the BIG ONE" setting its sites on the Mid-Atlantic - a.k.a. HERE! They even talked about this "weather event" on ESPN.  They're still not sure of the path it's going to taking, but all of the scenarios predict significant accumulations for our area. The question is - accumulations of what???? Basically, it will all depend on the north/south direction of the storm and the temperature of the area it hits. In other words, we could be looking at one to two FEET of snow or a deluge of freezing rain and/or sleet.
Personally, I would prefer the snow. It's much easier to deal with and much easier to clean up after.

On the bright side, I was able to run my six miles in 52 minutes, 24 seconds - a new personal record. If my calculations are correct, this averages out to one mile every 8 minutes 34 seconds. I'm pleased since just a couple of weeks ago, I was averaging a nine minute mile.

Current Mood: contemplative

.... not happening today. I figure spending an hour brushing off cars and shoveling our and our neighbor's walks is enough of a workout for today. Besides, I DON'T HAVE to be out and about, so leave the roads to those that do like the plows.

Current Mood: contemplative

If you're running full speed on your treadmill...
and you have earbuds in you ears....
and I can STILL hear your music OVER the gym's piped in music, even though I'm three treadmills away from you...

then your F***ing music is too F***ing LOUD! MORON!

Yes, I did politely ask him to turn it down, even though I had to shout at him to get his attention.

Current Mood: contemplative

While running this morning, I was watching CNN. ( I get two choices, CNN or ESPN, depending on which treadmill I get on) A piece came on about the DC marriage law that is presently before Congress.  I'm not exactly sure what it was about, but I'm sure it had something to do with the !@#$%^& Congress-persons that are trying to block the law from taking affect. This got me thinking about the state of "marriage" in my immediate (me and my siblings) family. Consider these statistics:

my older brother and his wife have been married for 40 years. Their son has been married to a woman for 7 years and their daughter has been living with a male partner for 10 years. She has stated that she has no plans to nor interest in marriage.

my oldest sister has been  married to an @$$%*!^ for 47 years and fortunately, they did not have any children.

my middle sister and her husband have been married for 42 years. Their son is divorced (one son), their older daughter has been married to her husband for 14 years (two kids), and their younger daughter has been living with her boyfriend for 10 years. They have no plans to get married.

my youngest sister has been married to her husband for 37 years. They have three children - two boys and a girl and none of them have shown any plans or interest in getting married.

my younger brother has been married to his wife for 35 years and their children - a boy and two girls, have also shown no interest in getting married.

Now, my kids - two girls and a boy - were raised by me and my male partner from the time that they were 11, 9, and 8. In other words, they spent a majority of their lives in a home run by a committed male couple. For most of their lives, their "parents" were two men. Of my children, the older girl got married in 2008, my son got married last October, and my younger daughter is engaged to be married on May 29, 2011.

 Tell me again how my being in a long term loving relationship with another man (or men as the case may be) is a danger and a threat to other people's marriage? From these examples, it looks like long term relationships between a man and a woman are not conducive to raising children that are interested in marriage.

Just a thought/Just an observation.

Current Mood: contemplative

While in high school, my fellow honors English students and I had to memorize a piece of literature every month to six weeks. These could include anything from the balcony scene from "Romeo and Juliet"  (but soft... what light through yonder window breaks.... it is the east and Juliet is the sun. Arise fair sun and ......) to the final guillotine speech from "A Tale of Two Cities" (It is a far, far better thing I do...). Most of them have been lost including Marc Antony's Caesar Eulogy, but one item has stuck with me throughout the years. Don't know why, but here it is:

Resume
Razors pain you
Rivers are damp
Acids stain you
and drugs cause cramp


Guns aren't lawful
Nooses give
Gas smells awful
You might as well live.

I have to admit, I don't remember the author, but I could probably find it out there on the web somewhere. Yep - it's Dorothy Parker.

Current Mood: contemplative

One of our square dance friends asked me to forward this to interested parties. Since I'm not familiar with the Oakland/Bay area I thought I'd post something here. Our square dancer's sister is the organizer.

A Benefit for Equal Rights in Marriage

Fact Sheet

 

Date: Saturday, February 6, 2010

 

Venue: Uptown Body and Fender, 401 26th St (between Broadway & Telegraph Ave), Oakland, CA 94612

 

Anticipated Attendance: 200-250 throughout a 4-hour event

 

Time: 8:00pm – Midnight

 

Description: Benefit dance event to raise awareness and funding for equality in marriage in support of efforts to gain marriage equality rights in the State of California, removed by the passage of Proposition 8 in November 2008.

Presented By: Steps On Toes

Theme: “Going Uptown” leveraging the vibrancy of Oakland’s urban cityscape and its diverse community.

 

Program: This high-energy dance event will be open to the public, and held from 8:00pm – midnight February 6, 2010 at Uptown Body Shop in Oakland, CA.

With Guest Emcee, Molly McKay, National Media Director of Marriage Equality USA®, a large dance floor will be open to all for dancing to the upbeat sounds of a local deejay playing a variety of music types.

Ticket Purchase: Tickets are $35 per ticket in advance online at www.dance4equal.com, with a $10 discount for a purchase of two or more tickets. Tickets may be purchased at the door for $35 per ticket.

Beneficiary: Event ticket proceeds and non-attending donations will go to Marriage Equality (www.marriageequality.org). Marriage Equality USA, is an all-volunteer, national non-profit organization whose mission is to secure legally recognized civil marriage equality for all, at the federal and state level, without regard to gender identity or sexual orientation

Event activities:

-          On-going dancing to sounds of Deejay Ductor Ezra

-          “Spotlight” Dances featuring Bay Area professional dancers

-          Professional Swing dance lesson taught by Laurie Ann Lepoff of Steps on Toes

-          Raffle prizes to be awarded to guests (in attendance) throughout the event

-          Silent auction to raise additional contributions

-          Photo “booth” with theme-appropriate “vignette” where guests can be photographed at nominal charge with proceeds to the beneficiary organization

-          Food and beverages to be donated by local purveyors. There will be no sale of alcoholic beverages. 

Tickets (price to be finalized 12/20) may be purchased online beginning January 1 and at the door for a slightly higher price.

Fundraising Goal: $10,000+ net proceeds

Location:

Uptown Body Shop is a highly sought after venue in the East Bay for events. Its hip urban design will allow a capacity of 200 guests, with dance floor in place. Decoration theme will feature large black and white photographs of GLBT couples.

 

Attire:

Recommended attire is festive and suitable for dancing! (Shirts required)

 

Sponsors of Goods and Services:

Steps on Toes is seeking sponsorships for donation of goods and services for this event. Sponsors will be mentioned in all promotional materials, and on-site at the event, with a Sponsor Station set up where sponsor promotional materials can be placed.

Contact:

Laurie Ann

laurie.ann@stepsontoes.com

 

 

 

 

 

Producer’s Mission Statement:

I believe that the salvation of the world lies in creating societies where love trumps fear, and want to build a world where love is honored in its various forms and baseless fears are systematically confronted. If bigotry is just a learned response to fear of that which is different, then perhaps when people who are afraid begin to see, day by day, that same sex couples are just as boring, or interesting, just as committed or prone to problems, just as ordinary as everyone else, they'll begin to look at themselves and wonder what the fuss was all about. These are extraordinary times.  I believe the time is now.

 

- Laurie Ann Lepoff, Producer and Owner, Steps on Toes

Since it's that time of the year when most of us set goals and/or resolutions for the New Year, today I took the time to reflect on things that I have accomplished in 2009. I did this while I was running, so they do have a "fitness" thread through them.

2009 brings to an end my eleventh year of jogging. I initially began jogging and riding a stationary bike because I was planning on taking a couple of  "Adventure Travel" expeditions that included some heavy duty cycling. Well, those have come and gone, and I did do a couple of more hiking trips, but I'm still jogging. If there ever needed to be proof that running is addictive, here it is. When I started, it was tough, and it was a real challenge doing it two or three times a week. If you would have told me in January of 1999 that I was still going to be running in 2010, I would have laughed at your through my cigarette smoke.  Fortunately, I quit smoking and I worked in a building that allowed me free access to a fitness center, so I could hit the treadmill before or after work, or during lunch. Because it had a shower facility too, I found my best time to run was during my lunch hour. I really had no excuse, so here I am, beginning my 12th year of  running.

Now I belong to a gym and I run 6 miles on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and 4 miles on Tuesdays and Thursdays for a total of 26 miles a week - my Marathon. Okay, so it takes me five days to get the entire 26 miles in, but since I can't run outside (sciatica) and I can't fathom running for 5+ hours straight, I run my marathon my way.

Over the last couple of weeks, I've pushed myself to beat my best time. I've been stuck at a plateau of running an average of a 9.5 minute mile. Beginning in December, I just started pushing it a little bit more so much so that I'm now running  my 6 miles in 53 minutes/18 seconds - roughly a mile every 8 minutes, 53 seconds. In other words, I broke my 9 minute mile ceiling.

Now, for 2010, I want to improve my time to an average of running an 8 minute mile. That's 6 miles in 48 minutes. I don't foresee increasing my distance, I like the way it feels right now, but I would like to increase my speed - just because.
For 2010, I would also like to get my overall cholesterol number more consistent. Right now, it fluctuates between 180 and 220, so I'd like to see it settle down around the 180 mark - without statins.

Which leads me to the next question - Why do I run? Well, in order of priority (believe it or not):
1.) It keeps me sane - really it does. Ask my husbands
2.) I can eat all the pasta and pizza I want. I swear, the red stuff in my veins and arteries is really tomato sauce.
3.) In the past few years, my blood pressure has never been higher that 125/70, as a matter of fact, lately it usually hovers around 117/65. My doctor calls this "excellent", especially since my family has a vast history of hypertension.
4.) My resting pulse is right around 65.
5.) I am able to get my overall cholesterol level down under 200 - not as low as I'd like, but it's better that 300.
6.) I still can...... My doctor and I have resolved that as long as my joints are arthritis free and my muscles hold out, running is good for me. Every couple of years he sends me in for knee and hip x-rays to make sure everything is clean, and so far, I'm arthritis free - something neither of my parents could say at my age. Of course, I also watch my steps and make sure I'm on firm footing because the last thing I want to do is fall and break something. Again, so far, so good.

So here's to a good New Year - wherever it may lead.

Current Mood: contemplative

...or "Bubba" as my son refers to him. I tried to convince him that "Budha" was a much nicer nickname because you rub his belly for good luck and this kid loves to have his belly rubbed (gee, I wonder where he gets that from). I still call him Kevin.

Current Mood: contemplative