Mother, Run, Hike

Back in 2004 I had the absolute pleasure of working one of my favorite jobs. I was a Student Support Specialist for the Migrant Education Program, it sounds like a fancy tittle, but most of what I did was work with students who were considering post Secondary Education, and help run a High School student group. The most amazing thing about the student group, was that we did dance performances at different events. And I got to teach those performances! I would get paid for going with the students to performances, but not for teaching the dances, I volunteered that time. We had three different groups, one was traditional Mexican dances, another was more modern dances, like Cumbia, Salsa, Merengue and Banda Music, the last was some basic Hip Hop and Reggaetton . I taught the Mexican Dances, cumbia, salsa, Merengue and Banda. The students would research the other stuff. The group got started when we participated in the parade for Oxford's 250 anniversary. Everyb...

Good Morning world! How is everybody today? I hope you had an awesome weekend! I'm linking up with  Holly and Tricia for the Weekly Wrap post.       School is one week away from starting, my kid is done with summer camp and enjoying some well deserved spoiling quality time with his Tia and Unkie... aka, Sister #3 and Brother #2. I will be spending my day with him tomorrow, and I'm excited to make pancakes and sleep in... I haven't slept past 6:30 am in two weeks!   Anyway, here is some training numbers   Monday : Zumba, and Hill training ( 3 miles ) Thursday : 5 easy tempo miles with Fleet Feet running group and weights Friday : 4 mile interval training Saturday: Zumba with Denise, weights with Roger and 3 mile hike. Sunday : 12 mile long run   Totals Miles : 12 Zumba : 2 Weights : 2   We are repeating the soaked in sweat theme again, because this week was crazy hot and humid again.   Monday Roger tortured m...

Good Morning World! How is everybody doing today? Here at trying to finish some audits... and trying to wake up, hopefully I finish my audits before I wake up! Today I'm bringing you Five Friday Favorites for this week 1. Fresh Air: Not A Feminist ? Caitlin Moran asks, Why Not? First off, Terri Gross has the voice of an supremely intelligent angel, with great questions for her guest. Even thought this interview is old, I enjoyed it. Caitlin Moran, the author of the hilarious book How To Be A Woman, talks about being a feminist, and how as women, we are automatically a Feminist. If you haven't read her book, check it out! It is funny, thoughtful, and makes excellent points. 2. Fobia: Hoy Tengo Miedo. I am currently in love with the voice of the lead singer of this band. 3. Hecho En Mexico - In 2012 this beautiful film/ documentary/ musical was released about Mexico. I've seen it 3 times, and love it! I had forgotten almost all about it, when this song  fr...

Today is Enrique Bunbury's Birthday... my phone reminded me early in the morning. So I decided to finish this post as a celebration of his birth! It took me a long time to get to write this, mostly because I wrote a long long post that went into a very detail account of what every song was. So I scrapped the whole thing and starting fresh, because the only person interested in this many details about the concert is me . This is the continuation of this post . In case you missed it... here is the short version: We drove to NYC, we parked in Staten Island, walked about 20 blocks, got lost on the subway, arrived to the concert venue to a line around the block.         We arrived and found our spot in the middle of the crow. New York City Bunbury Concert crowds are very rowdy... by the time the show starts some are drunk, some a high and they are not afraid to push, shove, kick and grab to get to the front. My sisters hate that . This year we got ...

I've been running for almost 4 years, and in that time, I have never had any issues with any creepers on my training runs. I've been fortunate to be training with my fiancé, who is a black belt in aikido and is most of the time running behind me, or next to me.   Last week, as I was getting ready for my early run the next morning, that I would be doing alone around my neighborhood. Roger told me the story of Karina Vetrano, who was found dead  in Queens . He suggested that I took the knife he gave me, and reviewed with me again, what points to go for if somebody attacked me. I hate carrying the knife, but the story scared me and I attached it to my shorts. Then last Sunday, he was telling me again of two other runners who we killed while out for a run. What hunts me about this killings is that they happened in broad daylight! Karina Vetrano was out running around 5:00 pm. Vanessa Marcotte was out running around 1:15 pm. Alexandra Brueger was out running at 2...

Good Morning world! How is everybody doing today? I hope you are having a great week of training, summer and life. I'm linking up with  Holly and Tricia for the Weekly Wrap post. and Let me say, Happy Birthday to the Weekly Wrap! Also linking up with Wendy for the Running Treasure Hunt ! This week was a little exhausting! We did lots of stuff, and I'm still tired. Training Tuesday- 4 temp Miles Wednesday - Zumba with Denise, Speed work and track exercises 1.5 miles Thursday - 3 tempo miles Sunday - 10 Miles long run I was not in a good mood on Tuesday... and almost scrapped the whole running thing, but I shook it off and went for 4 miles in Camp Hill. Wednesday after Zumba, I accidentally was all pinked out before going for sprints and track exercises. Roger injured himself half way through our sprint work out, and we called it a night. I was 6 sprints short. Super early Thursday Morning run w...

Recently, the Republican Presidential Candidate Donald Trump was visiting the Harrisburg / Mechanicsburg Area... .basically, my hood. A few days after his trip here, he said that the Harrisburg Area looks like a war zone.    I have lived in the area for over 10 years, and I can testify that this is completely incorrect. Yes, I recognized that there are areas that are struggling, and where there is poverty and crime, but Harrisburg and the neighboring towns, are resilient, peaceful and a great place to live and raise a family. Here are 5 Places I love and are great to visit in the Greater Harrisburg Area, this is not a ranking. 1. City Island - Part of Harrisburg, home of the Harrisburg Senators , and the City Islanders . During the summer families flock there for Baseball games, soccer games, mini golf, kayaking, canoeing, SUP. All year long, a lot of us go there for runs, for walks, for races, to ride the train, to see the horses, to park thei...

A couple of weeks ago, Roger and I wanted to do a short hike. So we did like we always do, found our PA State Parks Map and found something close by. We picked Caledonia State Park close to Gettysburg Pa. The direction on the phone directed us to somebody's backyard... Not good! But because sometimes we put our brains together, we did find the park 15 minutes later. We parked by the Thaddeus Stevens Furnace and Trail and walked a bit to the park office. We got a map, and use the restroom. The park office was beautiful! Fun fact: Did you know that Thaddeus Stevens was a Radical Republican who was a huge advocate of abolishing slavery? He was more progressive than President Lincoln, and after President Lincoln's assassination, he continued to push to protect the rights of Former slaves. Bet you weren't expecting a history lesson today! We were looking for the long and difficult hike path, but couldn't find it. We did see a lady cooking by the day picnic ar...