Coasting into Spring

As we go through the arduous last days of classes before Spring Break, with everyone overworked, stressed-out and sleep deprived, I have to say taking a stroll or ride out on the greenway on Wednesday was such a refreshing release, and I'm hoping my classmates felt the same. As the weeks progress out of the icky darkness of winter's clutches into that uplifting stretching of daylight we are graced with thanks to the time change, it occurs to me that I am in good company this spring semester. How many of us commented that we had no idea we'd been walking so long on Wednesday that not even halfway down the trail we'd have to turn back in order to make it to our next class on time?

As the ideas for our project (I'm in the CDI group) begin to coalesce into something (we hope) that is of significance and presentable, I am happy to realize the good company I am in on this journey into spring. My group, my classmates, all appear to be embracing the challenges of understanding the information and making simple lifestyle changes with open minds and hardy senses of humor. Basically I'm taking this blog post to thank everyone for making the work of this semester as enjoyable as it can be - hey, it's still work after all! I've enjoyed getting to know my group and classmates and feel grateful to Dr. Allen for tossing us out into the sunshine when we probably need it most.

Happy Spring Break! See you at the end of March :)

Spring Time :)

I'm so excited that it's starting to get warmer outside, because now I actually am excited about being able to get outside. Our class went on a walk/ bike ride on Wed. that was a blast, it was nice to be able to get out of the classroom and get out on the Salem Creek Trail. We even saw some sort of muskrat type animal hanging out in a patch of water, but it was kinda unfortunate that said patch of water smelled like a porta-potty :(

For spring break we are going to Charleston SC. And we're staying on a little island there, so I'm interested to see if biking plays a larger role in the lives of the locals there. I feel like if I live on a two mile long island i'd ride a bike too.

Hiking

I think maybe my son has been instilled with a love of nature and being able to enjoy spending time in the natural world. Early this week we had snow, rain and then it all started melting again so we had muck and mud. On Saturday, we had sunshine and the result was that my son wanted to be outside. We trimmed shrubs, bushes and trees trekking around in our rubber boots, decided against playing soccer in all the muck and mud. We ended up taking a hike on the trail we use mostly in the summer time, that we call the cellphone tower road. In the summer time there are so many different types of plants, flowers and animals that bloom along the sides of this trail. Usually in July or August we have masses of butterflies, so many that you can't see the bushes underneath. There are also all the wild blackberry bushes that make for very good eating and jam. Off we went on our little jaunt, putting in 4-5 miles with parts of the trail being on a steep incline. Making it to the top is hard but definitely worth it. Maybe we'll try Big Bald if the weather dries out more in the next few weeks.

As for the daily plate, I've not actually tracked my food intake using the website. I try to track my and my family's eating through the use of a weekly menu. We try to make it catchy around here, so we have Meatless Mondays, Taco Tuesdays(traditional Mexican food), anything Wednesdays (meaning leftovers out the refrigerator or freezer, Seafood Thursday (seafood of different kinds and some new dessert which turned out to be secret chocolate cake made with beets this week), Pizza Friday (we make it all ourselves using a Naan bread for the pizza dough and different types of flour), Souper Saturday, and Finger Food Sundays (fruit and veggie trays). Maybe next week I'll post a sample menu.

On a side note, so looking forward to Salem spring break. Florida, here we come!!! Hopefully, we'll be able to take in some historical sites in St Augustine, visit the Timucuan Ecological Preserve, the Everglades, some hiking, swimming and who knows what else. Have a fabulous week everybody.