Family – Page 18 – Into the West

Saturday Stroll Around the Plaza

Rachelle and I spent Saturday morning participating in the Kansas City Heart Walk. Getting, there, proved to be more of a challenge than the actual physical exertion.

I woke up at my usual time (between five and five-thirty in the morning). I came downstairs to find Rachelle asleep in the hide-away bed in the living room. I gently shook her awake enough to ask her when she had gotten to sleep. She mumbled something about two (or maybe it was three) in the morning. I let her drift back to sleep.

I finished off the last bit of a box of cereal and started reading Insurgent by Veronica Roth, a recently released sequel to last year’s Divergent. The hardcover edition I checked out from the Kansas City Public Library is a strange size, being shorter than most of my other hardcovers, but still thick. The font is adequate in size, but almost double-spaced on the page, so I can breeze through quickly. I reached Chapter Eight and page 87 before putting down the book to prepare for the Heart Walk. Time to try waking up Rachelle again.

I shook her awake again at 7:15 a.m. and she asked for another fifteen minutes. I gave her another twenty or so and finally got her up and moving at about a quarter before eight. I needed to leave soon, as the warm-up for the walk began at a quarter to nine, and we still had to drive from Lansing to the Plaza, which takes thirty to forty minutes most days. We pulled out of the driveway at five minutes to eight.

The Building I Work In — Plaza Colonnade building (where I spend most of my weekdays)

We encountered no traffic of any kind on K-7 or I-70 or even US-71. As we approached the Plaza from the east, we began to see evidence of the walk as people (walking) and cars converged on Theis Park, the staging area for the Heart Walk. Since we were arriving so close to the start of the Walk, parking near the art gallery was non-existent and most of the walkers we saw were walking from the west and the parking garages at the Country Club Plaza. I opted to park in the parking garage at my building, which overlooks the intersection of Ward Parkway and Brookside Boulevard.

Rachelle and I walked a couple of blocks from the parking garage to Theis Park in about five minutes. We didn’t have time to stop at any of the sponsors’ tents. We wove our way through the crowds towards the north, where we could hear someone announcing the top five teams for fundraising for the event. I had no idea where my team was supposed to gather, and in fact only saw one other person from where I work briefly pass me in the crowd. We reached a spot just north of the Information Booth, and waited for a few minutes.

Before the warm-up, a local artist led us in the National Anthem. Then, someone led us in a quick jazzersize warm-up, most of which I couldn’t follow because I could not see the stage well enough to determine what stretches and exercises I was supposed to be doing. I did the best I could under the circumstances.

Soon after the warmup, the announcer told us to start walking, and we all did. Rachelle, and I, and several thousand other people took over the streets around the Nelson-Atkins art gallery. Rachelle and I had already planned on walking the longer route. By the time we walked up, around and down past the art gallery and along Brush Creek to where the 1 mile route diverged, thirty minutes had elapsed. That’s a slow pace! But with the press of so many people, even using the entire street, we couldn’t have increased our pace without resorting to rudeness.

The walkers committed to completing the longer three mile route stretched out along Brush Creek’s north side. I really dreaded this portion of the walk as Brush Creek can be odoriferous on good days. Since the sky stayed overcast and the wind gusted, neither Rachelle and I suffered too much.

We climbed out of Bush Creek on the west side of the Plaza, headed north to 47th street, and proceeded east. As we approached J.C. Nichols Parkway, I asked Rachelle if she wanted to continue to the finish line, which was just a couple of blocks beyond Main Street, or turn right and walk the two or three blocks to my building. She didn’t care, so I opted to head back to the building. Interestingly, while our first mile took thirty minutes, we completed the last two miles in a bit less than thirty minutes (a pace we’re both more used to walking).

We returned to the parking garage and left the Plaza behind around ten o’clock. We made one brief stop in the Legends area, to purchase tickets to Sunday’s Tbones baseball game. Our local minor league team just celebrated the opening of their tenth season in Kansas City last Thursday evening.

Rachelle and I had a good time walking with many other Kansas Citians in the Heart Walk. I want to thank all my sponsors for supporting me and the American Heart Association. Your donations fund critical cardiovascular disease research and education. I am also proud to work for an employer who takes an active part in the community’s health and wellness. I thank them for sponsoring not only a team, but most of the three mile route I walked Saturday morning.

Oh, and in case you’re wandering about my step statistics for this week, except for the two days I was either in Texas or driving back from Texas (after attending my daughter’s college graduation), I exceed my goal of 7,000 steps per day, especially on Saturday (which totaled 13,531 steps):

Graduation North Texas Style

A week ago Friday, Rachelle performed for family, friends and faculty at her senior voice recital:

Rachelle Moss, Senior Voice Recital (click photo for rest of album)

Saturday, the actual commencement ceremony held in the UNT Colliseum:

RayaBeforeCloseup — Rachelle Before Commencement (click photo for rest of album)

Saturday evening, her graduation party, hosted by her friend and former landlord, who also stayed up all night Friday to barbecue ribs and brisket:

Rachelle About to Cut Her Cake — Rachelle After Commencement (click photo for rest of album)

Good food. Good fun. Good times. Great memories.

Remembering Roxy: Did a Horse Just Gallop by?

Roxy might have been related to a camel. As far as we could tell, she only drank water from her two gallon dish once or twice a day. When she decided to quench her thirst, she could easily drain half or more of the water from said dish. And if we happened to be watching a television show or movie, we had to pause it because we could not hear anything over Roxy’s obnoxious slurping. It reminded Terry and I of Monty Python & the Holy Grail; specifically, the knights use of coconuts to simulate the sound of a trotting or galloping horse.

Terry remarked that he could hear her drinking half a house away, beyond a closed door and down the stairs in the band room. Rachelle remembered being able to hear her slurping while standing outside the house with the door closed. I just remember worrying that she would cause her stomach to torsion. We lost one of our previous Rottweilers in the prime of his life to that malady.

I don’t fill up the water dish nearly as often now. Apollo, stealth dog that he is, sips water silently from the oversized (for just him) water dish. He might be quieter than Roxy was, but he drips more water on us (deliberately or so I believe).

Steps Shortfall

As I predicted, I reached my goal of seven thousand steps per day only one day (Tuesday) out of seven last week. I got close (within five hundred steps) on Thursday, the day I walked around the UNT campus with my daughter.

I’m off to a better start this week, reaching almost ten thousand steps last night on a post-sunset walk with Apollo and my daughter around our Lansing neighborhood.

Only three more days until I walk in the KC Heart Walk this Saturday morning. You still have time to donate to the American Heart Association and support me.

Thanks and have a heart healthy day!

Remebering Roxy: Mother’s Day 2007

Five years ago, my daughter, Rachelle, wrapped up her senior year of high school. This year, the day before Mother’s Day, she graduates from college, which is probably the best present a mother could ever receive and I am truly thankful Rachelle persevered, am proud of her achievement and excited for her future adventures and dreams.

Back in 2007, Rachelle spent her senior year creating beautiful art, including a large self-portrait in oils that hangs in our great room next to the fireplace, several 2-D pieces, and another oil portrait of Roxy. She also received a I rating at the Kansas State Music Festival for her solo.

As a special Mother’s Day gift back in May 2007, Rachelle painted a portrait of Roxy in oil on gesso masonite, using the photograph I took below (in August 2005) as a basis for her painting. She finished it in just three days. This photo (below) of Roxy is one of my favorites, and spent months as my Windows wallpaper back in 2006.

The portrait of Roxy hangs in a place of honor in my kitchen/dining area and is almost the first thing you see when you walk in my house.

I even managed to include it in an updated avatar profile picture I took with my cell phone. I spent the rest of that Sunday afternoon updating all my avatars at various social networking sites, replacing the one I had been using (a closeup of Roxy from last fall) with the more recent one you see to the right. At least this way, people can recognize me and I can still provide a tribute to my favorite ditzy Rottweiler, Roxy.

Today marks the second month anniversary of Roxy’s death. We still miss her and continue to think about her often.

My Walking Week

I did very well the first week of May, managing to meet my goal of 7,000 steps six out of seven days:

I took Sunday off from fitness because Terry and I celebrated our 26th wedding anniversary two days early.

Monday, Apollo and I took our longest walk of the week, an hour long meander around the neighborhood at dusk. We saw a few flowers and a strange small dog with a pink mohawk who got very excited when Apollo walked by the front yard on the sidewalk. Pedometer: 10,790 steps

Killer pink pooch — Click photo to see the rest of the album.

Tuesday, Apollo and I took a brisk forty-five minute walk around the area. Pedometer: 7,941 steps

Wenesday, I knew I wouldn’t get a chance to walk Apollo in the evening because Terry and I were meeting a couple for dinner and a concert after work. So I took half my lunch hour and walked around the park behind the American Century towers on the Plaza. Pedometer: 7,640 steps

Thursday morning, I took Apollo on a short pre-dawn walk for thirty minutes. My vanpool is leaving later now (at a quarter to seven), so getting up at my normal alarm time of five o’clock leaves me quite a bit of time to get some exercising in before getting ready for work. And, it allowed me to mow part of the lawn in the evening. Pedometer: 8,313 steps

Friday evening, Apollo and I walked for thirty minutes or so, and saw a pretty nice sunset and the almost full ‘super’ moon. Pedometer: 8,810 steps

Saturday overflowed with activities. I mowed most of the rest of the yard (push mowing for an hour). I cleaned house (more steps vacuuming and toting things up and down three flights of stairs). I ran errands (shopping). Apollo had a play date with a potential adoptee at the dog park (date didn’t go well, but I got more steps in). And I still took him for a walk that evening, for about a half an hour. Pedometer: 11,309 steps

The second week of ‘in training’ for my walking regimen to prepare for the KC Heart Walk seems to be a success. I’ve increased my activity. This week will be a challenge, though, to get enough walking done. We’ll see how well I do and how dedicated I remain to my goal (and to increasing that goal) of seven thousand steps each day. Especially since I didn’t get to walk at all on Sunday thanks to spring thunderstorms. And to show you I wasn’t the only lazy one in the house, here’s a photo of Apollo eating his supper … laying down.

Remembering Roxy: Digestive Black Hole

My last two posts on Remembering Roxy dealt peripherally with her main fascination with anything remotely food-like. Actually, let’s be completely honest, Roxy had an overriding addiction to food and anything closely resembling it. She had a particular obsession with paper products (paper towels and facial tissues, but not toilet paper … thank goodness!) and never passed a trash can she didn’t like (or that she didn’t want to root around in).

Roxy, like most if not all of the Rottweilers we’ve had over the years, lived for meal times. She was incapable of self-feeding herself (I’ve heard that some other breeds of dogs actually know when to stop eating and therefore can have more food put in their dish than they would likely (or should) eat at one meal). Most mornings, I would measure out a cup or a cup and a half of dry dog food and wait for Roxy to settle down (either sitting and laying down). Then I would dump the food in her dish, stand back and give her the signal that she could proceed. By the time I walked over to Apollo’s dish with his cup of food (a matter of a couple of steps), Roxy had finished her breakfast. I ignored her and gave Apollo his breakfast, encouraging him to eat it (unlike Roxy, you have to cheer Apollo on or he won’t eat). I’d then let Roxy out, and watch Apollo watching (and sometimes growling) at Roxy to keep her from snatching away his breakfast (which she would try to do if Apollo got distracted). Never mind that Apollo probably wouldn’t eat it or would take his own sweet time to consume his breakfast, he was not going to let Roxy anywhere near his dish.

I remember one weeknight when the band was over for practice and Terry demonstrated Roxy’s snarfing ability for the disbelieving guys. She convinced them of her food ferocity.

Several times over the years, if Terry or I forgot to close the door securely to the band room (where we kept the fifty pound bag of dog food and the dog dishes), Roxy would wait for Terry to take a nap and sneak downstairs for a snack. We could always tell when she’d succumbed to her stomach, not only because the dog food bag would be tipped over or otherwise disturbed, but also by the evidence of her distended belly. Roxy never learned to resist the bottomless pit that was her stomach, even though she would suffer for most of the day.

During the year before we rescued Apollo, Roxy would clear the kitchen counters for us whenever we left her home alone. She particularly liked my fresh baked bread. Terry got so frustrated with her they got into a scuffle over her behavior. I learned to put the bread (and anything else remotely edible) up in the cabinets with the plates before we left the house. Roxy eventually learned we weren’t going to let her starve and she didn’t need to raid the pantry, the counters or the trash can.

Earlier this year, we put a damper on her feeding frenzies by purchasing a slow-feed dog dish. As you can see from the photo to the right, the center of the dish is raised up, forming an O-shaped trough narrow enough that Roxy could not get her entire snout down into the dish. Any food put into the dish had to be lapped up with her tongue. That doesn’t mean she didn’t try her best to circumvent the dish’s designers. The very first time I fed her in the dish, she picked it up by the rubber seal around the bottom and shook it to dump the dog food out on the floor. Soon after that incident, the rubber seal stayed off the dish so Roxy couldn’t find any way to grab onto it and turn it over.

Both of Roxy’s dishes stand empty in the corner of the band room now. The bag of dog food I bought at the end of February still has plenty left in it. Most days I can only get Apollo to eat one meal, unless I bribe him with a can of ‘beef cuts in gravy’ dog food. You can tell he’s lost some weight, but some of that may be the both of our increased physical activity with my walking regimen. Every morning, I miss not putting the food in her bowl and making her wait, impatiently and with the drool polling on her paws, until I let her have at her food. You could definitely hear the sound of the wind created by the vacuum left in her empty dish a split second later.

Sweet Surprise

I came home last night to a sweet surprise waiting on my dining room table from my wonderful husband: Beautiful roses, a thoughtful card and a gift card to my favorite local clothing store. I thought I’d share the flowers with friends and family here.

Since Terry hasn’t been feeling well the last few days, we relaxed around the house, watching an episode of Chopped All Stars we’d recorded on the DVR and a couple of last week’s Jeopardy episodes. We ended the evening playing nine holes of Frisbee golf via Wii Resort Sports. Just like we did last year when we played real miniature golf, we tied (one under par for both of us).

Tonight, provided Terry feels up to it, we will meet up with a couple for dinner and attend the annual KCKCC Jazz night at Spirituality and All That Jazz, hosted at Unity Temple on the Plaza.

Here’s more on tonight’s performance:

Kansas City Kansas Community College Jazz Extravaganza

KCKCC Big Band, Latin Concert Band & Vocal Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Jim Mair, Jurgen Welge & John Stafford

A full night of Jazz is in store by the Kansas City Kansas Community College Jazz Department, under the direction of Jim Mair. They will be showcasing their 17-piece Big Band Jazz Ensemble, and the 9-piece Latin Jazz Band. These groups have performed at the Montreaux, Switzerland Jazz Festival and are the first and only Community College Jazz group to perform at the New York City JVC Jazz Festival. They’ve also received invitations to play at the Puerto Vallarta, Hawaii and Morocco Jazz Festivals. They will also be featuring the chorales of the #1 Vocal Jazz Ensemble in the Kansas City Metropolitan area directed by John Stafford.

Number Twenty-Six

Terry and I celebrate 26 years together today. May Day! (it’s an old joke with us).

Happy Anniversary to my wonderful hubby. Love You!

Click here for last year’s ‘Way Back Machine’ post I wrote for our 25th anniversary.

The Odds Are Against Me

All I have to do is look up my family tree to find plenty of incentives for fighting heart disease. None of that crossed my mind initially when I signed up at work to participate in the KC Heart Walk next month. I just thought it would be fun to walk with some coworkers.

But the more I thought about my inherited medical hodgepodge, the more concerned I became. I decided to take a closer look here at my previous couple of generations of blood related ancestors to get a better picture of why staying active and eating healthy is the best prescription for the rest of my life.

My father and mother, both born in 1942, are both still alive and kicking. In fact, you can’t keep my father out of the trees. His hobby lately is helping a neighbor cut down trees and split it into firewood and stack it for drying, storage and eventual sale. My mother started taking blood pressure medicine last year after a couple of scary trips to the E.R.

Grandma Juanita (1915-2005) and me at my high school graduation (May 1983)

My maternal grandmother died in June 2005, of congestive heart failure, but she still managed reached the age of ninety. Granted, she needed bypass surgery for a decade before she died. I spoke to my aunt Saturday and she also told me her mother was diagnosed with aortic valve stenosis before she died, which could have been treated with surgery (and a valve replacement) but Grandma didn’t want to have any surgery done.

I never met my maternal grandfather. He was born in 1888 and died in the mid 50s … of a heart attack.

I did meet my maternal great-grandmother (in the late 60s or early 70s). She was born in 1886 and died in February 1973 at the age of eighty-five. According to my aunt, my great-grandmother passed very quickly, her body basically shutting down (not specifically heart related).

My mom was one of six children, three boys and three girls. Her oldest sister passed away in 1987 of congestive heart failure at the age of fifty. I’ll turn fifty in just a couple of years.

Her younger sister received bypass surgery (quintuple) in the fall of 2001 and is still doing very well eleven years later. My Aunt Melody continues winning the battle against cardiovascular diseases, becoming a nearly daily regular at her local YMCA.

My aunt's wedding photo from the early 70s. Front row (left to right) my cousins Charles and Brandi, my brother Danny, my cousin Anne and me. Middle row (left to right) Aunt Hyla (1937-87), Grandma Juanita (1916-2005), my Mom. Back row (left to right) Uncle Harry and his wife, Rene, Groom Willard, Bride Melody (my aunt).

And that wraps up the maternal side of my genetic heritage. Moving on to my father’s family …

My paternal grandmother died two years ago in June, also of congestive heart failure, but she passed very quickly within a week or two. Up until a month before she died (at the age of eighty-eight), she had been living on her own in an apartment in an assisted living center. I believe arthritis proved her greatest bane for the last few years of her life, but she did also fight the usual suspects (heart disease).

Grandma Doris (1922-2010) and Grandpa Ralph (1920-1992) with my brother (the baby) and I in the last 60s

My paternal grandfather (not shown in the above photograph) passed away in March of 2003, but his death was not specifically heart related. He remained active in his community, as a Shriner and a musician, until the day he died.

Sitting on my Great-Grandfather Hodge's (1902-1975) knee for my first birthday. My cousin Toni peaking around behind me.

My great-grandfather, a much loved pastor in the small Kansas town where I grew up, died in the Summer of 1975, from a heart attack. According to my dad, Grandpa Hodge wouldn’t admit he was having heart trouble; he kept insisting it was the flu, because he had been an athlete and stayed active most of his life. Strangely, he died in the same hospital where I was born a decade earlier, in Winchester, Kansas. Grandpa Hodge loomed large in the first decade of my life. His passing devastated his church, the community and especially his family.

His first wife, Marie, passed away in 1949 of cancer. She immigrated (during or shortly after World War I) from the town of Stallupönen, in East Prussia.

***

I am encouraged that many of my female ancestors made it successfully into or through their eighth decade. If I can stay ahead of the genetics with healthy eating and living and regular exercise, I just might be around to annoy my great-grandkids over the next two or three decades.

I joined the American Heart Association‘s Heart Walk to promote physical activity to build healthier lives, free of cardiovascular diseases and stroke, and to beat the odds I’ve been dealt by those who’ve gone before me. Your support greatly appreciated.

Did you know that heart disease kills more people in America each year than any other disease? And that stroke is a leading cause of disability and the No. 4 killer?

Just 30 minutes a day of physical activity can lead to a stronger, healthier body. Take a small step toward better health by being physically active just 10 minutes 3 times per day.

Be Heart Healthy, American Heart Association