Morning Walk April 26 2008

From: Mary

Stats from the 4/26/2008 walk -

Attendees -Mary M., Tony, Bob, Bonnie P., Julie Marie, Deborah, Dale & Banjo, Val, Keith, Mary D. and Susan.

Julie and Mary D. each went - .6 mile = 1.2 miles
Bonnie P. went - 2 miles
Dale and Banjo went - 2.2 miles
Marie, Deborah, Mary M., Susan, Val, Tony, Bob and Keith - 3.1 miles each = 24.8 miles
Saturday Total = 30.2 miles
Year-to-Date Total = 962.2 miles

Miles to go to hit "2008 miles in 2008" - 1045.8 miles

At the Weight Watcher meeting Liane recognized those of the Nameless Walking Group that did the JDRF walk last Saturday. She gave us Gold Stars to wear on our T-Shirts. Deborah reported that The Nameless Walking Team raised $1320.00 in donations. There were lots of us at the meeting that had on our Nameless Walking Group T-Shirts. We had our T-Shirts on today.

It was a nice morning for a walk. Before we walked Betty, The Banker, took donations. Betty is getting really heavy. I think we need to count how much "Moo-la" she has in her belly and see how much we have toward our "2008 in 2008" Party. We are almost half way to our 2008 Mileage Goal!! We are Amazing! We discussed our efforts to getting the litter in the ponds and on the ground cleaned up. Mary will be contacting Susan, at the Expressway Authority, next week with information on where we have seen the litter.

News from the Group -
Susan Fillmon was back with us after having had a bad cold. Bonnie F. was not with us. I got an e-mail from her after I got home saying she and her husband were babysitting. I think they have 3 grandchildren. She said that it really takes her and her husband both to look after all of the kids. I an not sure how old the children are, but at any age grandchildren are a handful. Bonnie P. got some good pictures of what look to be baby ospreys in the nest at the corner of Providence and the Parkway. Bonnie also has great pictures of the litter, both on Wednesday and today. Most of the same litter was still there today that was there on Wednesday.

By now I assume everybody knows that Tracy and Tim had their baby boy, Timothy. Mom and baby are home now and I am sure things are pretty hectic at the Manchesi household. Jean is very happy now that she is a Great Grandmother and according to Bonnie P. Tom and Cindy are excited about being Grand Parents. Tom is so glad that there is now another male in the family. We wished Bonnie P. a Bon Voyage and safe travels, today. She leaves for a 7 day Caribbean Cruise tomorrow, with her son and his family. Bonnie is very busy in May and we won't see her on a Saturday again until May 24th the Saturday before Memorial Day. She will be doing her Fishing Tournaments on the weekends. Pam is in Chicago this weekend visiting her Mother and should be back next Saturday.

Wednesday Walks -
Starting on April 30th, the Wednesday afternoon walkers will be meeting just inside the Food Court Entrance of the Mall at 3:00 PM. We will walk three loops of the mall and that will gives 3 miles. Wednesday's Evening Group will still meet at the usual place at the start of the Parkway Trail at 6:45 PM.

Evening Walk April 23, 2008

Four things of note came to my attention on Wednesday evening.

The first is that it crossed my mind that our group is a very good thing and is touching a lot of lives. When something can make a positive difference in lives it should be celebrated. I celebrate you all for making the commitment to yourselves and to each other.

Secondly, Bonnie informed us that Cindy's daughter Tracey gave birth to a fine baby boy. Congratulations to Tracey and her family. I'm sure we will get more details by Saturday.

I walk on the Brandon trail several times a week, yet I was pretty oblivious to the shear volume of trash, bottles, miscellaneous debris and the mess that the lawn guys are making all around the ponds. Mary brought this to my attention with the assignment that she gave us to photograph the garbage and take notes. In addition to the challenge of getting someone to address the problem, I think we should try to find a way to make everyone who enjoys the trail more aware of the damage that is caused by littering. Maybe our new shirts could address this issue with a slogan printed such as "Keep The Brandon Parkway Trail Beautiful For Everyone....Don't Litter"

The fourth thing that came to me is how much Mary and Tony bring to the Nameless Walking Group. In their absence yesterday I realized that all the basic things we do like track mileage and keep the roster of attendees along with most of the posting as of late is being done by Tony and Mary. Thank you for all you do Tony and Mary. Hope you had a great time at EPCOT yesterday.

The following information is subject to review. Please check your information closely and make sure I accounted for your evening accomplishment properly.

Attendees were: Gary, Bob, Bonnie, Dale & Joan along with Banjo, Kathy and her son Joshua, Deborah, Christine and her dog (name unknown), Marie and her mom Dot. Eleven humans and 2 dogs all together.

I believe that Dale and Bonnie walked from the start to the fountain and back. This counts for 4 miles.

Bob, Gary, Joan, Joshua, Kathy, Christine, Deborah, Marie and Dot walk from the start to 60 and back. This counts for 27.9 miles. The dogs, although they definitely put in the steps (both walked to 60 and back) don't get credit because they are.....well....dogs!

In total human miles are 31.9 which should be added to our cumulative miles which brings the total to 925.8

By the way, did I mention that Cindy's daughter had a baby boy! How wonderful is that?

Later................

A test from Smilebox including the garbage

Make a slideshow - it's easy!

4/22/08 Brandon Pkwy

From: Mary

We will be over 900 miles with the Wednesday Evening Walk Totals!!!!!

Here is the mileage update for 4/22/2008

Pam walked to Route 60 twice on Saturday & twice on Sunday = 9.3 miles
Joan walked 2 miles on Monday evening = 3.0 miles
Tony and I walked 2 miles each on the trail today = 4 miles
Marie and Christie walked to Route 60 and back this evening = 6.2 miles
Joan and Banjo walked to Route 60 this evening =3.1 miles

Year-to-Date Total = 893.1 miles

Miles to go to hit "2008" - 1114.9 miles

Tony and I walked on the trail from the start to Fountain at Lakewood in search of the unidentified wildlife in the pond around 8:30 AM this morning. We didn't see anything but birds and 6 other humans. Tony took some pictures.

I received an e-mail back from Sue at the Expressway Authority asking me to give her specific location of the litter in the ponds and the grounds along the Trail. Sue said that they have been making an effort in the last 2 weeks to get the trail cleaned up. It is good thing they didn't have their Earth Day Celebration on the trail, it would have been embarrassing. Since Tony and I won't be walking tomorrow, I have asked Gary, Bob and Deborah to take notes and take pictures of the litter, so I can send her the information she requested and we can get the trail cleaned up. While we were walking this morning there was a aluminum can and cigarette box right on ground right by the trail. If this doesn't work we may have to have a Brandon Parkway Trail Clean-up Day.

We will not be walking with the group tomorrow. We are going to EPCOT to the Flower and Garden show and staying over Disney tomorrow night. We will see you all on Saturday.

From: Mary

Updated mileage for the JDRF walk - Tonia Patterson, her sister and neice = 9.3 miles

Sunday, Joan and Dale walked 1.5 miles on the Parkway = 3.0 miles

Year-to-Date Total = 866.2 miles

Miles to go to hit "2008" - 1141.8 miles

Map of the JDF Walk

From: Mary

Kathie and her son Josh walked 4 miles on the trail this evening bring our total miles to: 853.9 Miles!

We have only 1154.1 miles to go to get to "2008 in 2008" !!!

Kathy and Josh also saw the "unidentified wildlife form in the pond". Tony and I are going to check it out on Tuesday morning and see if we can get some pictures for the blog.

4/19/08 JDF Walk

Saturday JDRF and Parkway Walk Total = 42.6 miles
Year-to-Date Total = 849.9 miles

Miles to go to hit "2008 miles in 2008" - 1158.1 miles

From: Marie

It was a very small group this morning at the Brandon Park Way. Marie, Julie and Dale. Bonnie had to leave the meeting early to go have her blood work done so she couldn't take our pictures this morning. It's a shame she couldn't be there because Dale and I walked to the fountain and on the way we saw something really weird looking on the way there. In the pond around where we usually see the little bunny, in the water was what at first we thought was a couple of turtles, but as we walked down to the bank and got closer we could see it was not turtles. We stood there for a few minutes trying to figure it out they looked like little snouts, or paws sticking up out of the water, it was too murky for us to see clearly. Then Dale thought maybe it was a couple of baby Nutria's. We are still not sure, because as we were watching they went down to far in to the water. There were about 4 or 5 little things that kept coming up. I wish Bonnie would have been there with her camera. There were not a lot of people there this morning, maybe we saw 5 people the whole time. I hope you all had a good time and a good walk, can't wait for the pictures and to hear all about it.

From: Mary

We had a really nice time at the JDRF walk, today in downtown Tampa. Those walking were -
Jennifer and Christine both of which go to the 9:00 AM Saturday WW meeting, Tina, Deborah and Pam who all work at Time, Inc, Pam's two sons Foster and Johnathan, Mary M., Tony, Gary, Bob, Bonnie, F. and Val. That made 13 of us for a Total of 40.3 miles walked. We walked for the St. Pete Times Forum down Bayshore and back for a 5K - 3.1. miles. There were lots of participators, but no one at JDRF announced the final count of walkers or how much money that raised. The food was good before and after the walk and plenty of it. There were 2 water stations along the walk route. There were lots of companies handing out promotional trinkets. They had string strap backpacks, so we all filled up on the free stuff. We got comments about our T-Shirts for some of the other walkers. They thought it the name and the T-Shirts were neat.

We have less than 1200 miles to go!! WOW! We are right on track to make our goal by the end of the year!!!

4/16/08

From: Mary


6:45 PM Walk Attendees - Mary Murphy,Tony, Gary, Bob, Bonnie P., Marie, Butch, Deborah,Dale & grandson, Joan, and Kathie
Tuesday & Wednesday Total = 40.6 miles
Year-to-Date Total = 707.30

Miles to go to hit "2008 miles in 2008" - 1200.7 miles

Susan has been sick with a cold and decide not to walk on Wednesday afternoon. She will be walking in the JDRF Walk and wants to be feeling tip top for that. We had a record attend the 6:45 PM walk. There were 11 of us plus Dale and Joan's grandson in his stroller. I can not remember the little guy's name, so Bonnie P.don't feel bad about forgetting people's names. Today ( April 17th) is the little guy's 4 th Birthday. Joan is taking today off from work to spend the day celebrating her grandson's birthday with her daughters. Joan said that they have not decided what they are going to do. Butch is Deborah's x-husband. After the walk they were on their way to the Mall. They are working on a photo album from their daughter's wedding. Bonnie got some good wildlife pictures. There was a heron and the our rabbit, Robbie (short for Robert if male, Roberta if female) . Al, the alligator and his pal are gone from the first pond. Last night we did not see any turtles in that pond. It was a really nice walk, cool but not too cold. There were no misquotes flying around us when some of stayed after to talk.

4/12/08 Walkers

From: Mary

Here are the stats from the 4/12//2008 walk -
Attendees-
1-Mary Murphy, 2-Tony, 3-Gary, 4-Bob, 5-Bonnie P., 6-Julie,7-Marie, 8-Deborah, 9-Dale & Banjo, 10-Drema, 11- Russ and Mathew, 12-Val, 13-Keith, 14- Kathie, and 15-Mary D.

Saturday Total = 37.4 miles
Year-to-Date Total = 766.70
Miles to go to hit "2008 miles in 2008" - 1241.3 miles

We were all really proud of Bonnie P., she was the lucky recipient of the weekly drawing for the traveling journal last week. She faithfully journaled and lost 5 pounds last week! She is on a roll now and will keep up her journaling habit. You go Girl!

We had a well attended walk this morning. A lady passerby on a bicycle took a picture of everybody with Tony's camera. The weather was nice not too hot. There was a beautiful wood stork, but none of the photographers got a picture of it. Bonnie did get some great pictures of the Osprey and its nest which are at the intersection of the Parkway and Lakewood Ave. The bunny rabbit was at is usual place eating grass. Marie and Julie kept their Perfect Attendance record. They are amazing. Drema's son Russ and little grandson joined us. They are a great addition to the group. Russ was planning to go home and mow the lawn after the walk.

Betty, the Banker Cow, was back and took donations. She is getting heavy. No one has counted the donations. We are saving for the "2008 Miles Party" in 2008.
Karen is the only member who does not have her T-Shirt. Mary will contact her and see about getting Karen her shirt.
Susan was missing this morning. She is such a regular. Mary and Tony saw her on Wednesday and thought they would see her this morning. Mary will e-mail her to see what is up. Marie's son Kenny is in Tampa General and hopes to be home on Monday. We will keep him in our prayers. .

JDRF Walk News -

Deborah says there is still time to sigh up for the walk on April 19th. If you can't walk but want to donate you can log on jdrf.org. From that page click on JDRF Walks. On the Walks home page is a "Support a Walker" box. Enter first and last name and the team name is Nameless Walking Group and then select Florida as the state and click on "Find Walker". It will them bring up the walker's name which you click on then click on "Donate to this Walker". It will then bring up a screen to fill out to make the donation using a credit card. Follow the directions on the screen from there.

For those going to the Walk we will be wearing our Nameless walking Group T-Shirts to the walk. Those who are going to Walk from the Weight Watchers Meeting, we are planning to car pool together. Deborah is going to check on what the parking situation will be at the St. Pete Times Forum that morning.

We are excited about this Walk, since we will have our T-Shirts on display for everybody to see in an organized walk. For those who are not attending the JDRF walk, be at the Parkway Trail at 7:15 AM as usual for the Saturday, April 19th walk.

4/9/08 Walkers

4/9/2008 Update From: Mary

Year-to-Date Total = 729.30 miles

Miles to go to hit "2008" - 1278.7 miles

It was warm and sunny with a little breeze when we left on the walk at 3:00 PM, today. There were only the three of us. Wayne is suffering from a sinus infection and was home resting. After we got back to the start Susan, Tony and I discussed that it will soon be to warm to walk at 3:00 PM outside. We don't want to give our walks up this summer, so were are going to head to the mall and walk there. Mary is going to measure the distance in the mall so we can accurately record our miles walked.

It was cooler on the evening walk. We were glad to have Bob and Gary with us. Bob's wife Chris is recovering very well from her surgery. Bob is back at work. Gary had returned to Florida from his Mother's Memorial Service in New York. Bonnie had her camera and was a little shutter bug. She is still having allergy issues and is going to a specialist toward the end of the month. Bonnie's family cruise is coming up and she wants to be in good shape for that. Dale and Joan joined us with Banjo. Banjo was enjoying the walk, and didn't want to go very fast. Joan was still feeling the effects of her fall on Friday, so she and Dale only went to the fountain. On our way back from Route 60, Mary, Tony, Bob and Gary met Derma and her family. They were walking to the Oakfield. intersection. There was Liza, Russ and little Mathew in his stroller, along with Drema. I am not sure if Liza is Drema's daughter or daughter-in-law. They all live in Riverview. Deborah was late arriving to walk. She drove her new car and we all got to see it and Tony and Gary took pictures. Deborah reminded us to sign up for the JDRF walk that is on April 19th.

Mary will have the T-Shirts with her on Saturday for those who have not picked their's up,

Joan speaks again.......

I though everyone would appreciate this one. :)
Subject: Why do men die first?

Why do men die first? This is a question that has gone unanswered for centuries, but, now we know. It requires a bit of explanation, first:

If you put a woman on a pedestal and try to protect her from the rat race ... you're a male chauvinist. If you stay home and do the housework ... you're a pansy. If you work too hard ... there's never any time for her. If you don't work enough ... you're a good-for-nothing bum. If she has a boring repetitive job with low pay ... this is exploitation. If you have a boring repetitive job with low pay ... you should get off your lazy behind and find something better. If you get a promotion ahead of her ... that is favoritism. If she gets a job ahead of you ... its equal opportunity.

If you mention how nice she looks ... its sexual harassment. If you keep quiet ... its male indifference. If you cry . .. you're a wimp. If you don't ... you're an insensitive bastard. If you make a decision without consulting her ... you're a chauvinist.

If she makes a decision without consulting you, she's a liberated woman. If you ask her to do something she doesn't enjoy ... that's domination. If SHE asks you .. it's a favor. If you appreciate the female form and frilly underwear .. you're a pervert. If you don't ... you're gay.

If you like a woman to shave her legs and keep in shape ... you're sexist. If you don't .. you're unromantic. If you try to keep yourself in shape ... you're vain. If you don't ... you're a slob. If you buy her flowers ... you're after something. If you don't ... you're not thoughtful. If you're proud of your achievements ... you're full of yourself. If you aren't ... you're not ambitious. If she has a headache ... she's tired. If you have a headache . .. you don't love her anymore. If you want it too often .. you're oversexed. If you don't ... there must be someone else.

Why do men die first? Because they want to.

4/5/08 Walkers

From: Mary

The Nameless Walking Group's Mileage update for 4/5/2008 based upon Bonnie's information. Yes, it was Kathie who Bonnie was not sure of the name. Bonnie took some really great pictures. Here are the mileage calculations -

Jean and Julie each walked .5 miles for a total of 1 mile
Keith, Karen Kathie and Bonnie each walked 2 miles for a total of 8 miles
Susan, Deborah, Marie, Cindy, Lisa and Val each walked 3.1 miles for a total of 18.6 miles

Saturday Total =27.6 miles
Year-to-Date Total = 688.05 miles

Miles to go to hit "2008 miles in 2008" - 1319.95 miles

Tony and I were very glad to see that Val, Keith, Cindy, Jean, Lisa, Karen and Kathie were back on the trail. We have missed them.

We are planning to walk on Wednesday April 9th at 3:00 PM and 6:45 PM. Now that the weather is getting really warm and sunny, we are looking to move the 3:00 PM walk to Westfield Brandon Mall. I have to get accurate distance measurements for the mall. I hope to do that this week, for now however, we are planning to meet at the trail for the Wednesday walks. We should go over the 700 mile mark with the Wednesday walks.

From: Bonnie P.

Here is today's walk. You guys were missed. There were 12 in attendance - Julie, Jean, Susan, Deborah, Marie, Keith, ???(think it might be Cathy), Cindy, Karen, Val, Lisa, and Bonnie (the order in the picture, except for the camera operator of course).

Val and Marie lead the way, followed by Deborah, Susan, Cindy, Lisa, (is it Cathy)???. Jean and Julie both stopped at the first bench and chatted, Karen trudged onward and Keith and Bonnie brought up the rear with many stops along the way for Kodak moments.

Here is the breakdown of the mileage and I think it is pretty close. Rather I'm giving you how far each one went and you can go from there.

Susan, Deborah, Marie, Cindy, Lisa and Val all went to 60 and back.

Keith, Karen, (is it Cathy)??? and Bonnie to the fountain and back

Jean and Julie to the first bench at big Al's pond and back.

Walking Route on Google Earth

4/2/08 Walkers

The Day Shift - Mary M., Tony, Bonnie F., Susan and Wayne walked 15.5 miles.
Night Shift - Bonnie P., Deborah, Mary M., Maria, Tony, Bob, and Gary walked 19.5 miles.

Year-to-Date Total = 660.45 miles

Miles to go to hit "2008" - 1347.55 miles


It was 87 degrees when we left on the walk at 3:00 PM, today. The afternoon group worked up a sweat getting to Route 60 and back, but we made it . We discussed what we will do in the middle of the summer. Mary is going to check on accurate distance calculations for walking at the Westfield Brandon Mall. Bonnie F. is really excited about leaving on Saturday for Hawaii. She will be back for the JDRF walk on April 19th. Bonnie and her husband are cruising around the Hawaiian Islands for 11 days. The evening group was fortunate that it was a few degrees cooler by then and cloudy. So cloudy that.it rained on the way back to the trail start. Boonie P. was protecting her camera under shirt, but did not pass up any Kodak moments, even if it was raining. Mary had the T-Shirts and gave them to Deborah to distribute for those walking on Saturday. To our surprise Bob joined us. Chris, his wife, is home and doing well. Bob needed a break from his nursing duties, so he came and walked with us. He and Gary carpooled. Gary got really wet, since he was the last to get back to the start. We thought we might have to send out a search party to look for him.We were all just standing around after the finish pictures, when a down pour came and sent us scrambling to get to our cars. The rain certainly added a little excitement to our walk.

Our New Shirts

Mary in the New Nameless Walking Group Shirt.