I "Yearbooked" Myself

One of my colleagues on Facebook posted a new profile photo that has his friends buzzing. It looked like fun, so I made a new yearbook photo, too. Well... it could have been my yearbook photo ... And it was so much fun, I made another one, too!

I'm a Rosie Wall Walker

I just returned from a whirlwind visit to Hawaii - had to use-or-lose a ticket I bought last summer. My intention was to visit for Aunt Jo's birthday, and maybe persuade her to invite us to Sunday brunch at Pohai Nani. I discovered that she'd been hospitalized after falling several times, and had had an emergency hip replacement. So, I spent the better part of each of three days with her, getting her discharged from the hospital, admitted to the Pohai Nani Care Center for rehabilitation, and then sharing cupcakes in her room for an early birthday celebration. There is no phone in her room, so D and L got her a cell phone and now she's in touch with the world again.

Everyone else was fine - I had good visits with Mom and Mary; never saw the beach this trip and didn't visit the library, either! Left my laptop at home, and had a wonderful time!

And while I was in Kailua, L, C and I participated in the tenth - and last - independently-run Rosie Wall Memorial 5k race. It started at the Recreation Center right behind the Kailua Fire Station, ran down North Kainalu right past Mom's street to Kainalu Elementary School, around the school, and back to the Rec Center. C was 2nd in her age division, L was 3rd in hers, and I was 2nd in mine - in the men's category! When that teeny little error was fixed, I was 6th in my women's age division. We each got a t-shirt and a white rosebud. Results are here.

Next year, the Rosie Wall Memorial will be the 5k part of the Windward Half-Marathon.

Curves Stretcher

So DW invited me to come to her Curves gym in Carmichael to see this "stretcher. None of the other 4 Curves locations had one, so I was curious. Turns out, this construction is a circuit for post-workout stretches that duplicates what I've been doing on the floor, plus additional stretches. I took the photo to show to the owner of my Curves Pocket location, in hopes that one day she will install one, too. DW is right - it's a satisfying end to the 30 minute strength circuit.

The Crocker is Free on Sundays

This afternoon, we wanted to do something besides housework, so M and I drove downtown to the Crocker Art Museum. Admission is free on Sundays between 10 a.m. and 1 p.m. - and I thought, since M is interested in clouds and landscapes, we could see how the masters tackled those subjects.

This second picture is a detail from a much larger painting, showing an encampment above the river. We liked the two dogs enjoying the shade in the tent. After spending an hour or so in the galleries, we stopped by the gift shop, where I purchased a silk cell-phone case and a silk fan.

Summer's Winding Up

Lazy, hazy days of summer? Well, mayby hazy; certainly not lazy!

L returned from London on time with lots of photos, which she promptly uploaded to MySpace. She says she has them on the laptop on her desktop, and will move them into the "shared" folder so others NOT on MySpace can also see them. She enjoyed the trip: found King Lear "awesome", and was most impressed by Windsor Castle. The "Eye" was operational and she took the ride. (It was closed for repair when P visited a few years ago.)

She jumped right back into lifeguarding the day after she returned, and has been keeping otherwise busy with her summer homework: books to read, movies to watch, and fundraisers to attend. Oh, and she also has been asking for driving practice. She's doing really well, but I still get nervous when she accelerates towards brake lights ... And we've already been shopping for school supplies - filled a bag at OfficeMax and got the 15% discount.

I've decided to try another - shorter - walking race. I've made reservations for a trip to Hawaii this month, and am waiting for the registration form for the 5k Rosie Wall Memorial run/walk. It begins at the Kailua Fire Station, goes along North Kainalu to the end of the road, and back. It begins and ends just a block from Mom's house, so it couldn't be more convenient! I'm thinking that I should practice in the heat, because that's going to be the challenge: heat and humidity.

I set a new personal goal of shedding another 10% of my current body weight. I've been mostly successful during the last 3 weeks, but we had a going-away party this week at work, and I had pieces of BOTH the chocolate cherry and the carrot cakes. But I discovered my Curves workouts are worth a few more exercise points than I thought - wish they were enough more to cancel out the cake - but no. So I've got to walk more and be vigilant about choosing healthy foods.