NWMM Day 17-30.

So.  Here I sit on the on the morning of the eve of the last day of no-Walmart-month. We have done pretty well so far, only going to Wegmans, Sav-a-lot, Tops, and a lot of local establishments.  We have had a trip or two to Target, and a couple of trips to the Savers Thrift store in Henrietta.  All in all, and interesting month.  Here are some little things I (we) learned...

- Tops doesn't (regularly) carry prepackaged balloons.  If they do, no one in the store knew where, and so I ended up buying them (un-blown up) from the flower station.

- It is possible to get most of what you need with out going to Wal-Mart.  You may end up spending the same when it comes to gas driving to different places, but I think if it had been summer, we would have biked a bit more, and saved there too.

- Sav-a-lot on a Friday night is just as bad as Wal-Mart, in terms of crowd and attitude.  I did the shameful "excuse me, sorry..." when I almost bumped into someone's cart coming around a corner, and I got a death look.  Scary.

- I see different people,  a different clientele, at other places.

- I take different routes, obviously, but that I also means I notice other things, and get to know my town better.

- There is no "right" place to shop.  We started frequenting Felt Frish Amish store, and it's funny - some  stuff is definitely more "natural," but some items I assume are just bought in bulk and repackaged.  It's funny to see 100 packets of Splenda (not that I buy it) in little plastic containers instead of a box.  I don't presume to know much about the Amish way, but it's...interesting.

Conclusions?  I don't know if I have any.  Will we go back to Wal-Mart?  Probably.  There are some things you just can't get somewhere else, and it doesn't make sense to.  I mean - if I need paper, I'm not necessarily going to expect to see it at the farmers market, but if I want truly fresh produce and meat, I am going to look locally first.

From left: Tom, Tom, Mickey, Melanie, Matt, Sheryl, Brian, Me, and Randy (I mean Jack...)

In other news - the Mighty Niagara Half Marathon went well.  I took it easy, and had a good time, and enjoyed myself.  I still went faster than I originally intended, but I felt good.  Everyone in our group finished, and finished well (That's me in the bright orange calf sleeves.  I am told that you can't miss 'em.).  I am very proud of them, even though I know that it wasn't necessarily me that got them through it.  Our Run for God ministry is doing some great things for people, and God has put us in a great place to keep going!

The finishers medal.  It took someone else saying
it to make me realize it's a guitar pick.  The bands
on the course were GREAT!

Adam and Mrs. Wadhams

Personally, I am thinking about where to race next, now that I a not doing the Empire State Marathon.  Where can I put my training to use?  I am looking at the Dirt Cheap Stage Race, a 2-day event with 3 different race lengths, and exclusive goodies for people who register and do all 3 parts - a time trial 3 miler, a 5.5 run with an "infamous" stair climb, and an 11 mile trail race.  Should be interesting...

AND...on Tuesday I will be 35.  Halfway to 70, Lord willing.  Today, we are celebrating jointly with my sister in law, whose special day was a few days ago, and is NOT turning 35.




Lastly - ADAM LOVES KINDERGARTEN!  Here he is with his teacher Mrs. Wadhams.  Last night we were "reminiscing" about when he was born, and the heartache I had for him in the hospital, and I am sitting here thinking of how far he has come, and how he has grown into a God-loving, responsible, young man.  I love him more than just about anything on earth.  Wow.

No Wal-Mart Month, Days 11-16; GOD IS GOOD!

Seeing as I haven't posted any new entries, I'll give try to give you a quick run down, without using too many words...so some events may be out of order!

It was a pretty busy week.

Tuesday - Beginner Band First Lesson night.  Spent 45 minutes at home between work and coming back to school.  Good news, though - I have more beginners this year!  After First Lesson Night, it was off to "Crawlers" - a bible study with some friends (but not before stopping at Tops (semi-local) for some snacks, seeing as dinner was quick).  Home by 11.  Fell asleep in a chair, then stumbled into bed.

Wednesday - First Day of Band and lessons for my 5th Graders (or, in the Harry Potter universe, "Second Years").  Went well, but busy day.  Felt my voice getting hoarse, and my back started to ache a little.  After school, I had coffee with a good friend, and we chatted about my decision to NOT do a marathon this year, and about lives, and wives, and everything in between!  It's nice to have a man-friend that I can open up to.  Thanks, BK.

Thursday - "normal" day at school except for my voice got a little better, but my back started hurting more.  Stopped at Sav-A-Lot on the way home for some little things.

Friday - My back is starting to hurt more by now.  Like, hard to bend over kind of pain.  I had intended to run a few times this week, but life, and back pain, and rain (was that Thursday?) got in the way.  Also meant to mow the lawn, but put it off as I started to feel worse.

Saturday - Saturday morning I was feeling okay - the back pain had abated a little, so I decided to join the half-marathon crew of Run For God for a 7 mile run.  I took it easy (as in, 10-minute-ish average pace.).  Then we were off to Adam's first Tae Kwan Do class of the season.  By this time, my back actually felt pretty good, but I knew it was going to hurt later. So I scheduled a massage with my LMT Darlene, and she tore my muscles off!  It definitely did not feel better right away, and by the time bedtime rolled around, the pain was worse.  But in between, we took off to Wegmans for organic goods, dinner (freshfreshfresh), and stopped at goodwill to both explore (we'd never been in there) and to find Adam a pink shirt for school.  When we got home, and everybody was settled, I fell asleep in the chair, and stayed there, cause it was less pain than getting up!

Sunday - Woke up sore, but kind of limber.  Took it easy with the standing and sitting at church.  But while praying, I realized that I could pray for my own healing, so I did.  Flat out asked God to heal me, my back, and to forgive me for my selfishness over the last few months.  Within an hour, I felt like I could move 10 times better than the previous day.  By the time lunch was over, I was ready to get out and mow the lawn (Which I had put off since who knows when...), and do some chores, and play wii with adam, and put laundry away and...well, you get the picture!

GOD IS SO GOOD.  I know that I can chalk a lot of my healing to Darlene, but God (and Lisa) were telling to me to go to her.  God puts people in our lives to guide us, but it is still our choice to follow through or not.

So, I felt good enough to take the family out and do some "shopping" we had been meaning to do since before school was back in.  We went to Kirby's farm market, and Rockin R Ranch, an brought home some great local produce and meat.  For dinner, we had BLT's, and mine really was a true BLT.  Just bacon (from Wegmans) lettuce (from Sav-A-Lot) and orange tomatoes (from Kirby's)!  Oh, and a little mayo, too!  What an awesome meal.

My REAL B-L-T...

By the way - stuff we got today:

Kirby's (total of approx $20)

2 Onions

2 Green Peppers

1 Half-Gallon Cider

3 Hot peppers

1 Italian Frying Pepper

1 Hungarian Pepper

1 HUGE head of fresh cauliflower (want a recipe?  Just ask...)

A Chrysanthemum

2 Orange Tomatoes

Rockin R Ranch (about $80 - that seems high, but this is natural, organic, and HIGH quality, and not that much fdifference price wise from what you would pay for premium cuts in a WM).

2 pkgs delmonico steaks (2 in each)

2 medium size roasts

5.5 pounds ground beef (which, BTW, all their beef is Black Angus)

2 pkgs Pork Chops (2 in each)

There is nothing like buying local - you know where it's coming from.  I trust the people I buy from, and they can tell me about where their food comes from, if not from them.  I firmly believe that we can head off, slow down, and fight back against, most of the common afflictions if we just cut the junk out of our diets.

So, thanks for joining me for No Wal-Mart month, or at least reading about it!

No Wal-Mart Month, 8-10.

September 8th - Took Lisa and Adam out to Mendon for the SummerFest Races put on by YellowJacket and FleetFeet.  Lisa won her age group...again!  Adam ran a 1/4 mile kids race, and ran the whole time!  We stopped at Wegmans on the way home (yay Wegmans!) and picked up some fresh fruit (ever had Kiwi Berries?  Cool little guys...).  Then I went to a parade in Hamburg, played sousaphone, and came home.

September 9th - Had a great time at church.  Quick trip to the local Sav-A-Lot, then came home, and put in a lot of work around the house, garage, and shed.  Took about 5 hours!  

September 10th - First Monday back to school.  Adam LOVES kindergarten.  Did I say that already?  Today he had art class, and came home with a blue dot on his nose, and a masterpiece on his paper!  Just before leaving school, I got a call saying that mine and LIsa's new glasses were in, so we traveled to LeRoy (we don't give up good practitioners, no matter the distance) to pick them up.  

The New Specs...

We stopped at Arby's on the way home (way better than other fast food...I always get salads, and theirs always taste good).

So 10 days, and we are doing fine.  Really enjoying trying to find other ways around getting what we need.

In other news, yesterday was supposed to be my first day back running.  I was going to go after school, but we went and got our glasses.  I was then going to go when we got back, after Adam was bathed and dressed (it was my turn), but on the way to get our glasses I started getting a SERIOUS tickle in my throat.  By the time we got to the eye doctors, I was sneezing, my nose was running, and my throat hurt.  That would make for quite an uncomfortable run...

So....I canned it.  And I have come to the realization, that maybe I shouldn't do a marathon this year.  All these little things, pointing me to that conclusion.  I kept thinking I needed to do a marathon, because people were expecting me to.  But that was my own pride and ego talking.  It's not like I needed to prove I could do one.  I just wanted (and still do, really) to do a faster one.  But I think God is leading me elsewhere at this point.

My mates and I have been facilitating a Run for God program at our church.  We have been training up some others to do a half-marathon, and they have been doing really well.  I have been asked by a local pastor (not my pastor) to see if I could come up with a program for a conference.  So, ya know, maybe this running thing has never been about me.  (Isn't that what I've been saying to others all along?  I guess I just never told myself that).

So, no marathon this year for me.  There.  It's official.  I am just going to concentrate on the half marathon, supporting my fellow trainees, and maybe do some other short races and work on speed for the rest of the fall.  Then I need to make sure I maintain a base over the winter (that was my downfall this year I think).  Then who knows what next season will bring...(?)

NWMM day 6 and 7.

Walmart free for 7 days!

Though yesterday (day 6) I did need to get some stuff for my classroom/office that I didn't have any budget money for, so I ended up going to RiteAid, which is on the way to school, instead of going the opposite direction to WM.

Today is day 7, and after school we will be going out to dinner (a first-friday-after-getting-back-to-school tradition since we've been out of college and working) and picking up Lisa and Adam's race materials for the Fleet Feet SummerFest races. Adam gets to pick this year, and he picked Longhorn Steakhouse. Kid's got taste!

The last few mornings we have been trying to use up some store-bought eggs so we can get to the farm raised, but we have been using the fresh tomatoes and peppers (from Adam's "other" mom) for breakfast and dinner.

As for running - I'm taking the week off, and I might try to get a long run in this weekend, but if I don't, I am going to try not to stress about it. Overtraining is a real thing, and I did it. So - time to back off, enjoy my family, and get back into it next week. If a marathon doesn't happen this year, I'll have to be okay with that. Thankfully I haven't registered yet - we'll have to see what the next few weeks bring.

Adam LOVES kindergarten, and his teacher Mrs. Wadhams. He is so excited about everything. I hope he keeps that enthusiasm.

Lastly, my God stuff for the day. God is our coach. He is my trainer. I saw a FB meme about "when all else fails, do what your trainer told you to do in the first place." I think God was telling me to slow down. I ran. Then he sent friends to tell me to slow down. I ran. Then he brought it on my heart and body in a big way, to slow down. This time I listened. God takes care of us, if we let him. It's not always some big revelation, or epiphany, or "Come to Jesus" moment. Sometimes he just wants to take our hand, pull us back, and tell us to rest. Just. Rest.

Thank you, God. I'm all ears...

NWMM DAY 4 (yesterday) and 5 (today).

Nothing too major yesterday. The friend who watches Adam (actually Adam says that she is his mom when we aren't there!) gave us some tomatoes, peppers, and a watermelon from theirs and a neighbor's gardens. We were back at work without students yesterday, so Adam played with one of his best friends all day.

Today was back to work with students, and no plans to hit any big retailers today. We are still surviving on food and household stuff bought previously to September 1, from various sources, including Walmart. My hope is that we can continue this through September. It's funny though - I find myself saying quite often "I can just run down to WalMart and grab (insert needed item here). But now I have to think and plan a little more.

***UPDATE:  Since coming home today, I learned that a fellow teacher in Lisa's building gave us EGGS!  Home raised, cage free eggs.  She does this regularly, and we missed it during the summer!***

You know, another great resource here in Albion (and any community) is the closest library system. Since August, I have not bought any books. I have been borrowing from our newly built library building (and the library institution has been in Albion for a long time, but now it's so much more accessible) and have even "borrowed" ebooks through it as well. What a great local resource for families. They have been having regular programs for kids and Adults, concerts, and contests, too.

Please feel free (if you live in the vicinity of Albion - it doesn't really make sense otherwise...) to join the Albion Area Locavores group on Facebook! There has already been great discussion and help!

NWMM day 3...(yesterday, Sep 3)

The day started off as a "rest" day for me. After a little bit of a leisurely morning, we all set off for the ROC for some activities. I played Sousa for the Mark Time Marchers in the ROC labor day parade as we were the band for the union my brother in law is president of.

Meanwhile, Lisa and Adam went to the National Museum of Play, and I met them there after the parade for
Lunch. On the way home we did stop at Wegmans, and here is my rationale.

Wegmans is locally owned and based. They try to carry local brands, and they carry a wide selection of organic items. We know some folks who work at Wegmans, and they really enjoy working for the company. I know Walmart employees, and they don't. I don't mean that to be generalizing, because there will always be unhappy workers in any company.

That being said, we also are making an effort to foster and promote local buying, trading, and services. I started a Facebook group (Albion Area Locavores). Already folks around here are sharing their resources and knowledge. It's great!

Keep checking back for info on how it's going...

No Wal-Mart Month, day 2!

(Right now I am in day 3, so this post is about YESTERDAY!)

The day started out nice - went for an 18 mile run!  

As much as I love my running group, it was nice to be by myself.  There is a certain glory in being by yourself, early in the morning, with hardly any traffic, running on backroads.  The world is waking up at the time that I run, and it is very cool to watch the sun rise, birds start chirping, and the environment just come alive.  I was surrounded by God's glorious creation yesterday morning (as I am all the time every day, but like I said, there is something special about early morning...).

After that, we went to church, and what a wonderful church family we have.  I felt very moved (perhaps it started on my run) and very emotional during the worship service yesterday.  I can't describe in words how it feels to know that God is in ALL things - and works through ALL things, for the good of those who love him.

After church we zoomed down to Arcade to redeem a voucher (Groupon, or something) for our annual Arcade/Attice Railroad Train ride.  In a few years, Adam probably won't be as excited to go, but for now, he still loves it!

Adam practices balancing on the railroad track.

On the way home, I started thinking about dinner.  I wanted some roasted cauliflower with parmesan and bacon.  I knew I had all the ingredients for it...except cauliflower.  So I was watching the farm stands on the way, but didn't see cualiflower, or see it advertised.  So when I got home I went to our local Sav-A-Lot and got some fresh (not frozen) cauliflower.  Now granted, it was Dole brand, but it was the best I could do on short notice, and I didn't go to Wal-Mart!

No Wal-Mart month, day 1...

No problem today! Went to a race with Lisa in ROC, and then to Olcott Beach, where we were lucky to get a parking spot, and Adam went on some of the old-tyme rides. On the way back we stopped at our new place of the summer, Feltfrish Amish Market. Picked up some soup mixes, cheese, bacon, and other little assorted goods...

So today was nice. We enjoy the market. Tomorrow includes more "local attractions" after church, and perhaps some nice home time!