Minarets and More: A Walking Tour of Cairo

Sharing a slideshow that I produced using Vuvox.

I went on a three hour walking tour in Cairo from Tahrir Square to the Citadel. Whew!

Aches and Pains

So I don't have to ask myself about the aches and pains because I know the true source of the issue. But I thought I'd share w/you so that you can learn a lesson or two and not suffer as much as I am suffering.

I promised myself that I would practice more Pilates this year. Well, I've certainly kept that promise to myself. Since February, I've been doing Pilates twice a week (unless I'm traveling). This is not your typical Pilates. No, this is machine Pilates. I love my gym. It's like a cute little boutique gym. There are no more that six members in a Pilates class at a time. But the machines are wonderful - it's does not seem like work or exercise at all; quite relaxing.

But Pilates is not the reason for my aches ... no, occasionally on Monday afternoons I talk a walk through the neighborhood w/some of the girls from the gym. The neighborhood, mind you, is a bit hilly, meaning, we usually begin our walk by asking "should we take the big hill or the big, big hill?" All of the hills are gargantuan! That is the cause of my aches and pains, well, that and after the 45 minute walk (this is not a stroll) I then went to the gym for a Pilates class.

No complaints, right - no pain, no gain - except I am not striving for a goal, just some consistency in my workout regime.

My advice to you ... get your workout on, just spread the workouts out evenly ...

Feeling like I'm making progress

So I've been a bit of a busy body lately.

For some reason, I've gotten into the bad habit of staying up late - like 2 a.m.; then I usually get up by 9 a.m. I need more sleep and as a result I usually end up taking a nap. But I've had a few napless days lately.

Here's what I've managed to accomplish:

• Went grocery shopping
  
• 30 minute walk through the neighborhood (lots and lots of hills; almost got bitten by a dog and almost got hit by a car-twice)
• awesome Pilates class on Tuesday morning (another class tomorrow afternoon)
• completing the semester; graded final projects; completed grading for one course
• made lots and lots of cards (for submission, of course)
• walked to the nearby shopping district to get some shopping done (very refreshing; just can't buy what you can't carry)
• started working on my next article for Craft Critique
• ran the sweeper
• finished reading "After the Dance"
• paid some outstanding bills (like the cable bill where I have not received a paper bill for months; I only know that it is overdue when I receive the overdue bill - crazy)

There is more, but some of it is just too personal and I am not going there.

Lovin the Sunshine

I'm currently living in Pittsburgh. The weather is okay; really, it's just fine. We get all four seasons. But some days I just don't see the sunshine enough.

Well, I was on Spring Break and at the last minute (4 days in advance), I decided to travel to Los Angeles. How cool was that? Nothing but blue skies and sunshine. Total bliss.

However, it was nice to return to The 'Burgh and get a nice dose of sunshine and warm temps too. So much so, that I blew what was supposed to be a rather productive day. I worked out briefly, ran some errands, went rollerblading, then took a nice brisk walk, then did some reading outside and I also got some crafting done. Maybe that's why the sun does not come around more often for me...

Oh, and I did knock off one of my New Year's resolutions: to travel to a city that I have never been to before - no not L.A., but I went to a resort in Palm Desert which is about 90 minutes from L.A. Gorgeous. The picture was taken in Palm Desert. Love that.

Two Feet in the Graveyard

Graveyard, originally uploaded by timmredpath.

I was talking to my friend the other day and she randomly asked me where I was. I told her that I was at the cemetery. It's not really as weird as it sounds even though I was not there to visit a particular person.

You see, I visit the local cemetery at least three times a week. I go there to run/walk. Again, it's not as weird as it seems; at least not around here. This was not my 'regular' thing, but here's the story:

A few years ago, I was training to run a half marathon. I was training w/a group and it was at the beginning of Winter. So we mainly ran on the treadmill at the local YMCA. However, if you are training for a marathon, at some point you have to (or you should) get out and run on some race-like surface. The ladies I was training w/knew the area quite well. They ruled out the county fairgrounds (which I still have yet to visit) and agreed on the cemetery. Of course, I got the time wrong for the first session and by the time I found the place, they were finishing up, so I had to (well, I guess I could have bailed) run in the cemetery alone ... ooooooh.

That's the story, so now I go there frequently. There are lots of positives to going to the graveyard to run/walk:

1. It's quiet ands serene
2. Usually, no pets allowed
3. Usually a smooth surface
4. Very few obstacles in the way
5. Oh, it's free

There are however, some disadvantages to using this particular venue:

1. Some time drivers tend to drive fast and they don't really expect to see pedestrians
2. You need to know the cemetery hours (I was almost locked in a cemetery once a while back when a friend and I went running there; I guess I am not really new to using the cemetary as a track, huh?)
3. You have to watch out for old creepy guys (and old creepy gals for that matter)

So, that's my no cost recommendation for today! Get to running!