Today we got brave and climbed one of the tallest buildings in town. It was 17 flights up and 17 flights down. 
Obsessing
I’ve been climbing stairs for six days now. I’ve defiantly become more aware of stairs. They seem to be everywhere. Any time, I see a pair of stairs I make a mental note. I might want to come back and climb them. For example, we had to go to a large sporting good store. They had a lovely set of stairs with a large aquarium to look at while you climbed. I climbed up and down 13 times while the hubby looked for his item. In the end, he decided it was too expensive, and I got to know the fishes in the tank next to the stairs very well. In case you are wondering, no one ask you what you are doing when you climb up and down and up and down. It is very large sporting store and folks are too busy looking at their tents and fishing bait to care.
The View from the Top
The fun thing about walking flights of stairs is you can find new places to walk. So far,I have climbed stairs at my in-law’s house, a local high school, the mall and a fancy hotel. My favorite place has been the fancy hotel. The Accountant and I just walked into the hotel like we belonged there. The lobby was beautiful with fresh flowers and plush furniture. The hotel staff was friendly and the decor was modern. However, the stairs were a different matter. They were kind of hard to find and were painted in that 1970’s red color you see in old photos. We had to walk down several hallways before we even found the stairs. The stairs were located inside, but did not have heating. They were very cold. It was like they cut the heating to save a few dollars. Apparently, people who pay $200 a night for a hotel room take the elevator. The view was nice at the top of the stairs. It was a fun adventure.
My Legs are Sore
My legs are kind of sore. Who knew that climbing stairs could make one’s thighs throb? I’ve read that things always seem worse before they get better. I am hopeful that by the end of this challenge my legs will not hurt as much when climbing stairs.
Day Two
Today the Accountant and I did our stair walking outside. After the third flight, I thought about picking something different for my 2nd challenge. The eye patch idea my brother gave sounded very appealing when my legs started to burn. I have defiantly not climbed stairs in a while. I survived the 13 flights today, and I have wobbly legs to prove it.
My 2nd Challenge: An Introduction
When you tell people you have started a challenge blog, they give you all kinds of suggestions for your next challenge. My favorite idea came from my brother. He wants me to wear an eye patch, and look like a pirate for next 13 days. No offense to pirates, but I have a hard time imagining myself as a sword fighting buccaneer on the hunt for gold. I’ve decided to walk up flights of stairs. 13 flights each day to be exact.
Why Stairs?
The Practical Reason
According to my fitness book, you can burn 470 calories per hour walking stairs. Walking up and down stairs seems like a good place to improve my physical fitness. Physical fitness is a key component of most self-help books. You must master your physical body in your quest for success.
The Philosophy Reason
Stairs take us places we want to go. For example, if I am at the book store at the mall buying another self-help book, I need to take a flight of stairs to get the department store to buy a lipstick. Stairs represent change and growth. Artists paint stairs in pictures to make us ponder and think about a journey. Stairs can be a metaphor for something that is hard but achievable.
Wish me luck on my 2nd 13 day challenge.
What I learned from My First 13 Day Challenge
Thirteen days ago, I decided to become my own self-help guru. My first challenge was to eat dinner at home for thirteen days. Twenty-one days seemed too hard, but thirteen sounded doable. And it was doable. I did it. Here is what I learned on my first challenge.
Eating at home equals dishes.
Fast food sounds better at 5:30 p.m after a long day of work than any other time.
It takes planning to accomplish any goal. Eating dinner at home requires planning.
I have a lot of food in my freezer that I don’t remember buying at the store.
Stay tuned for tomorrow’s post. I will be starting my 2nd 13 day challenge. In case you wondered, the Accountant and I bought a make and bake pizza to celebrate that we survived the first 13 day challenge.
Challenge One Eat Dinner at Home
Today I ate dinner with my family. It was fun to see my brothers, sister and their kids. I enjoyed it. We ate at home and had a great time.
Challenge One Eat Dinner at Home
Yesterday, we were very tired. We knew we needed to eat dinner at home for the challenge. So, we had cereal. Thank you Cheerios. I’ve been looking at my pictures. Our meals started off like a cafe. I even put a table cloth on the table. Now, we are eating cereal. I think I need to recommit to my 13 days of eating dinner at home. We only have a few more days.
Challenge One: Eat Dinner at Home
I’ve learned an important algebraic equation.
+ 
= 
Eating dinner at home will mean that you will do more dishes.
my 13 day challenge 