Another day indoors

That's me amid the tangle of technology by my TV set as we tried to follow along with an exercise DVD today.

Until we can get back on the road, we're trying creative ways to exercise. Today was the DVD and doing crunches and weights with the exercise ball. We tried photos with the ball, but they turned out badly. We are pretty good about avoiding pictures of each other that are particularly unflattering. We discovered a photo of someone leaning back on an exercise ball makes their torso look gigantic in the foreground! We will have to be more creative. :)

I should have asked Bethany to get a photo of my cat as she kept rubbing my nose (the cat, not Bethany) while I was lying on my stomach. Apparently, Zelda was confused by the sight of us lying on the floor with our limbs askew.

Bethany is off tomorrow because she works on Saturday, but we may try to work out a bit Saturday if I'm in town.

Wednesday's "nice" mystery photo, above, was of the secondhand store Twice But Nice on Beltrami Avenue downtown.

Area Voices doesn't seem to want to accept the photo, so I will try to update later.

Have a great weekend! :)

-- Laurie

Posted by: trailmix on 3/11/2010 at 8:29 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Tags: bemidji, exercise, hiking, local, minnesota, news, outdoors, walking

From the trail to the living room ...

Well, our walking has run (ha! -- that was unintentional) into a bit of a hitch.

We walked as normal on Tuesday (well, "normal" being cut in half because of my knee problems), then I went to the MeritCare Walk-in Clinic. More on that later.

Bethany found us a good place to rest at RiverWood bank!

I tried to get some photos of the St. Patrick's Day display in the Goodwill window, but the reflection was too strong. It seems the only times our window pictures turn out well is when the reflection itself is as interesting as what we're taking a picture of.

I did find this very nice St. Pat's sign in a downtown window -- complete with a lucky pot o' gold -- but there was one small problem.

"What's wrong with this sign?" I asked Bethany.

She frowned for only a moment before realizing what was missing.

I guess it shows that we're always proofreading. It would be a lot easier if all the text we had to edit was big like this!

With the warmer temperatures and the rain we've had lately, there are lots of areas where there is hardly any snow at all. We don't think it will stay that way through spring, but wouldn't it be nice?

After our walk, I went to the Walk-in Clinic, where I didn't have to wait as long as I expected -- less than the hour they predicted. The doctor poked and prodded and turned and bent -- while admonishing me to relax my knee, which is hard when you're anticipating pain! :)

In the end, he said it could be the medial collateral ligament or arthritis and sent me for an X-ray and a physical therapy appointment. And he said I should probably avoid walking until I know more.

I said I'd kinda rather the MCL, because except for more severe cases, arthritis is pretty much "sucks to be you." (I suppose that's a bit harsh.)

Since I didn't write this on Tuesday night, I am covering two days.

So on to Wednesday ...

Tae-Bo for Two

Since I wasn't supposed to walk, we stayed inside today and did Tae-Bo (the regular workout) and I did what I could keep up with that didn't involve my left leg. So all the boxing stuff was fine, but no kicks.

Bethany, however, was kicking up a storm. Heck, above it looks like she's kicking Tae-Bo guru Billy Blanks in the head!

It was a good workout and we agreed that we really need to work in some upper body exercise even when we're back to our regular walking.

At left, Bethany is doing her favorite part of Tae-Bo, the cool down! It's very relaxing and has calming music.

I have to say that while I tend to balk at the idea of personal trainers (the real kind as well as the ones in Wii Fit and EA Sports Active), I like Billy Blanks in these videos. The exercise is very high-energy, but the motivation is more low-key and not in your face.

At my physical therapy appointment today, I was back to being poked and prodded and twisted and turned, this time by a physical therapist who pulled out a diagram and pointed to the MCL as a likely source of the pain on the inside of my knee. I have another appointment for Tuesday and some exercises to do and we'll see how things look then.

He didn't say not to walk, but did say to cut it down.

"Like six blocks instead of twelve?"

But it turns out it's more like three instead of six.

When we were done, I discovered my door had popped open and I couldn't find one of my cats. When I saw he was halfway up a tree and seemingly struggling to get down (the only other time he's climbed a tree, I had to get up on a chair and hold up a pillow for him to step out on), I went back inside and got the camera, but he made his way down before I could get there. Above, Max is making a run for the door. Apparently he didn't like being stuck in the tree.

Today's mystery photo is one of those times when the picture in the window actually works:

 Our last entry into our How Well Do You Know Bemidji game was the sign for the Beltrami County Jail.

 For Thursday, we plan to walk for a few blocks, get a few photos, and exercise indoors again. Maybe we can work on those abs!!! We could use some of the exercise ball tricks we learned when we tried the Six-Pack Abs class through the Parks and Rec's Passport to Fitness. Now all I have to do is find my second exercise ball and get some air in it.

Have a great rest of the week!

-- Laurie

Posted by: trailmix on 3/10/2010 at 5:22 PM | Comments (2) | Permalink

Tags: bemidji, hiking, local, minnesota, news, outdoors, walking

Another day, another mile

Good afternoon!

I have a strange opening for this blog today, but hang with me, it does have relevance...

My husband said to me on Sunday, "I need new pants." He was sad that of all of his jeans, only two are really wearable for work (he's one of those super lucky people who are allowed to wear jeans to work M-F; I get very jealous of this).

In response, just to be disagreeable (sometimes I argue just for fun), I told him that I only have a total of two pairs of jeans.

To which he said, "Well, how many pairs of pants do you have in all? And skirts?"

And while we never did really come to any great resolution on that particular manner, I did think of the conversation this morning while I was getting dressed. And I thought, How come I haven't worn any skirts this winter? And, considering the recent weather, I decided today to wear a skirt to work.

Five hours later, I remembered exactly why I don't wear skirts in the wintertime: Because I like having the second layer of pants while walking!

It was, I believe, 35 degrees outside while Laurie and I were walking today. I was comfortable enough, but my lower half was a bit colder than I am used to.

I guarantee that come tomorrow, unless it is magically 65 degrees, I'll have my two layers on.

***

Ha!  Ya' think someone was playing a bit of a prank on the Headwaters School of Music and the Arts!?  (The three letters usually spell "art" for those who don't quite get what I'm saying...)

This is sad, but this was really the only interesting thing we noticed today. I'm sure there was PLENTY to see and do - by the overcast sky was kinda' dreary, which probably put me in a dreary mood.

One of these days we'll both be healthy and happy and walking lots again ... just in time to complain about the heat, I'm sure. If I do, though, remind me of my cruddy moods in the wintertime. I'm the type who would ALWAYS prefer it 95-100 degrees over any temperature that begins with a "negative" or "minus" (i.e. -20, or even -1). I'd probably take 100 over 30, too, if I were to be honest.

***

The answer from Friday's Puzzler, as Bob correctly guessed, is that it's the hood ornament to a Jaguar. Which, coincidentally, used to be my favorite vehicle. These days, I'd take anything nicer than my 180,000-mile Focus.

Today's Puzzler didn't turn out too well. I tried to do what Laurie does sometimes: take letters from a word outside of a building. But mine got kind of hard to read. The letters are an I and L (as in Illinois, but that has nothing to do with the Puzzler).

Have a great night!  (I know I will! I have a Monday night off! No City Council!)

- Bethany

Posted by: trailmix on 3/08/2010 at 2:42 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Tags: bemidji, hiking, local, news, outdoors, walking

It's starting to feel like March...

Mushy roadways, slushy sidewalks ... it's beginning to feel like March.

I'm not saying the "s" word quite yet, because March is far too unpredictable. Heck, two years ago we had those three snowstorms in April (I suppose people around here will be saying that to their grandchildren and great-grandchildren just like old people in Crookston talk about that day in June when it snowed).

I'm a day late in writing this blog entry. We walked on Friday, but I got busy at work and forgot to write, and didn't remember until 11 p.m. at home. Since the photos were at work, I figured I'd wait a day and come to the office to write.

We met this sweet pooch, whose I *think* is a she. I thought her owner called her Emma, but Bethany wasn't sure if it was Emma or Emmet.

We were walking down the side of the street when she started following us, coming up to us gingerly, not sure if she wanted to be petted, but really wanting it on another level. We ended up having to grab her by the collar so a pickup could get by and then we led her across the street to her owner.

Here is Bethany obliging my request to jump on this dirty snow hill near my house, although I couldn't quite get her in the air. She does look like she's about to straighten up to do a ski jump, though. I guess this would be the bunniest bunny hill of ski jumping!

Today's mystery photo above is quite mobile. You might see it in various places around town.

Thursday's puzzler was of the showy lady's slipper on the Minnesota Nice sign downtown.

Have a great rest of the weekend! I'm heading out to watch Alice in Wonderland at the Bemidji Theater with my granddaughter.

-- Laurie

Posted by: trailmix on 3/06/2010 at 5:50 PM | Comments (2) | Permalink

Tags: bemidji, hiking, local, minnesota, news, outdoors, walking

And, we're back!

Yay for some warmer temperatures!

OK, I know, for most of you, you've probably been enjoying the weather since at least Saturday. But for me, my kid got ill Saturday and didn't really come out of it until this morning. Thus, I had a few unexpected days off of work  earlier this week (although I did, of course, still come in to cover city council on Monday).

So, yeah, while Laurie and I can certainly be lazy from time to time, this particular stretch of couch potato-ness can be blamed on my daughter.

But today, we managed to get together and do some downtown sidewalk walking - and thanks to the warm sun, the sidewalks were not treacherous at all! Rather, the ice/snow mix from the past few months was slushy. It was kind of welcome.

Well, it was welcome for me, anyway. Laurie, however, is still fighting off some knee pain and found the unevenness of the sidewalks difficult, so about halfway through, we began walking on the streets.

Just look at that blue sky - and the ever-growing puddles! It's nice to see standing water!

I noticed a lot of this while walking downtown:

I kept seeing caution tape on poles. And it was kind of bugging me because I couldn't figure out what it was for.

But then I saw this:

I'm guessing that the tape is another reminder to beware of pedestrians in crosswalks.

***

For some happy news for today, I offer this:

Yep, apparently Chocolates Plus is celebrating its 25th anniversary. Very cool. Laurie and I, not surprisingly, love Chocolates Plus. Granted, we both really love chocolate, so that probably goes without saying...

***

Today's Puzzler comes courtesy a downtown business sign:

***

And, yes, Rita got the correct answer from last week, where the dots were from the MPR logo:

Thanks for keeping us in mind! We've really missed walking, so we're going to try to keep it up on a more regular basis. We'll see what happens...

- Bethany

Posted by: trailmix on 3/04/2010 at 1:54 PM | Comments (0) | Permalink

Tags: bemidji, local, news, outdoors, walking