Thursday, August 28, 2008

Exhaustion

Lordy am I tired.

Although I was more tired yesterday. I think I am burning the candle at both ends this week. Tuesday, even though I had Monday off, felt like it should be Thursday.

I was out of the house Tuesday am before 6. Drove 2.5 hours to my destination to find that the supervisor I was supposed to meet there, was not there - he had something come up, and didn't remember to tell me... so I talked with the folks that were there, and did some inspections, went to the yard office, caught up on some e-mail, then drove back to my meeting with my vendor in Eden Prairie. The meeting went well, then we went to dinner. We had an Ahi tuna appetizer, and since I wasn't that hungry after that, I had two side dishes for my dinner - roasted root vegetables and rosemary mushrooms. Can we say yum? Okay, so I had a few beverages. And some cheesecake too.

Wedensday, because I skipped my scheduled run on Tuesday, I got up at 4:30am to get in 6 miles before my meeting at 7am. Then it was out doing some inspections and audits in the yard, and working on an emergency response plan with one of the supervisors. About 2:30pm, I could barely keep my eyes open. So I went home and crawled into bed with Eric, and napped for a bit. After he left for work, I started gathering stuff together for the upcoming camping trip, and discovered that my stepson had not returned the tent that he had borrowed a couple of weeks before. You kind of need a tent when you go camping. So I trekked over to his house, and then made a trip to the grocery store for supplies.

This morning, I folded and put away 3 loads of laundry, and emptied the dishwasher before heading to the office.

And this evening, because I need to drive to Superior in the morning to be there for a 9am meeting, I thought I should get in Friday's run tonight.

5 miles. felt like I was running through sludge. There is a reason I run in the morning - because in the afternoon/evening, I feel like I just tank. The scary thing is, I did it in under an hour. About 6 weeks ago, I was doing good to cover that distance in that time. Perspective!

But I'm just drained. Feel like I have no energy. I suppose it does not help that I'm hungry, but I just don't feel like eating. Nothing sounds good. Gazpacho I just made? Nah. Tabouli made with fresh tomatos from my garden? Nah. Ice cream? Nah. Granola bars? Nah. Pizza? nah. It just kind of sucks - I don't know what's up with me.

Anyway, gotta pack up for camping!

~a

Monday, August 25, 2008

The game

today it was: figure out what we can get on Anneke's shirt.

We have:

Blood. from a lovely blemish on my chest that was just cranky...
Buffalo sauce. from a dropped piece of chicken dipped in said sauce
Water and napkin crumbles. from trying to remove the buffalo sauce
Beer. because I couldn't not spill my beer. Got my shoe on that one too.
More water. My water bottle top was not on tight, so it leaked. Go figure.
Greasy crumbs from cheese curds. Luckily, they didn't leave spots
Milk. Because there was just not enough there already.

I took the day off of work today, and I spent the day at the State Fair with my parents. We wandered around the grandstand booths, went to listen to some polka, watched a program celebrating minnesota's 150 years of statehood, saw the big pumpkin, watched the parade, and wandered on machinery hill.

It was fun. I ate too much, but what the hell, right? It's the state fair. And I had to see what else I could potentially spill on my shirt, right? I guess it is counter balanced a tiny bit with all of the walking we did. And the 3 miles I ran this morning (in 31 minutes, thankyouverymuch!).

Yesterday (Sunday), I played domestic goddess - I changed the sheets on the bed, picked up and straightened the guest bedroom (because my parents were coming to stay the night). Cleaned the bathroom. Decrapped the dining room table and put on the tablecloth my mother just made me. Sorted and did a few loads of laundry. Cleaned the kitchen. When mom got to my house, we prepped and canned some tomatos, made some picinic lunch, and headed out to a dedication ceremony then a "family picinic". We left the house for the two last activities at a little after 12 noon. I think I was motivated!

Tomorrow will be coming way too early, and will be filled to the brim. I am meeting with one of our supervisors and his crew out near Glenwood. They start at 6am. will NOT be there then, but I know I will be leaving the house at the butt crack of pre-dawn. Then I have a meeting with a vendor in the afternoon, which will then include dinner. Last time we did this I got home at 8:30pm... The rest of the week will be spent catching up on things at home, because I am going camping with some friends to Madeline Island over Labor Day weekend. Just don't want to hang around for the RNC all that much, being that we LIVE in St. Paul....

Lots of excitement.

~a

Wednesday, August 20, 2008

Swimming

After my run this morning, I felt like I had been swimming.

Yuk and double yuk to the heat and the humidity.

But, slow and easy does the trick. 5 miles down this morning. Wasn't sure if I was going to be able to run the whole thing, but I did. I was just slow... about 57 minutes.

Today, I spent most of the day in the office. It felt odd... like I hadn't been there in a while. Oh wait, that's right, I haven't.

Tonight, it's off to the grocery store to get a bunch of stuff. Like cheese. And vinegar. I don't think I have gotten any groceries for about three weeks - with all of the food in the freezer, and the stuff we have been getting from our farm share, and with me traveling and not eating said food, I just haven't gone. I think Eric might be suffering for it, but he's not complaining, much. His request was fruit: Nectarines, plums, etc.

My friend is getting married on Saturday. I kind of had it in my mind, back in February, that I would lose enough weight to wear my hot red dress to the wedding. Just not gonna happen. It's that whole treading water thing. Weight wise. I don't know why I can't be bothered to make an effort. I start out well in the morning, with my pep talks to myself during my runs... and then I just chuck it out the window. Not sure what needs to change.

But life goes on. Not like it's the end of the world - and I'm healthy. Do I really need more than that?

~a

Tuesday, August 19, 2008

Relaxed running

Well, I guess I did push myself a bit this morning, but after I was done, I was so energized and relaxed all at the same time.

3 miles. 32 minutes 23 seconds. I know, in the whole scheme of things, that's slow. But I broke the 11 minute mile barrier. I think that made me happier than anything.

Today, I drove to Glenwood for a meeting. They had nicely moved it from 9am to 11am, so I didn't have to leave at the butt crack of dawn. I even had enough time this morning to make coffee and eat some breakfast before I left. And the other success: I didn't break down and get DQ on the way home after not getting anything resembling lunch until well after 3 (hard to eat when you are on a locomotive, waiting for a signal to change...) but instead, went to Subway and got a Turkey sub and some Flat Earth chips. I don't know - I just have no desire whatsoever to do the whole weigh/measure/limit thing. If I'm hungry, I eat. And I am trying to stick to the healthier choices and just leave it at that.

And with the running, I'm feeling much better, stronger, healthier - and my pants seem to be fitting a little bit better.

And on another note, the job interview has been moved to the Thursday after Labor Day. I could have done it on the Friday, but that's my birthday.

Not much else going on, except the State Fair starts on Thursday, and I won't really see my hubby for those 12 days of insanity. Since he works from 5pm to 8am. The only thing that's nice about that is all of the overtime he makes.

Tomorrow, I have a 5 mile run on the schedule. Hopefully it won't be as warm as it was this morning.

~a

Monday, August 18, 2008

Weekend whirlwind

It was a full weekend.

Saturday, I got up early and drove to where my running group was meeting. I was there early so I could get in my long run and try and finish when the others did. 10 miles. And I ran the whole thing (well, jogged...) in under 2 hours. My Garmin told me that I burned over 1500 calories. I actually felt really good about the whole thing, and my knees were not hurting at all, which was a definate plus!

Then it was home to finish a garter for my friend... her shower was in the afternoon, and I made some gazpacho, and packed up clothes for the pool, and an overnight stay and my Renassance gear.

The shower was a pool party. It was really nice to relax and float in the pool. I even fell asleep on one of the loungers by the side of the pool. It was a fun time, and much food was eaten and adult beverages drank. There was even a break in the action to see the relay team with Michael Phelps win the gold. You wouldn't think of a bunch of women yelling and cheering at the television - but there we were!

Sunday it was up and out to the Renaissance Festival. Where it was stinkin' hot. Almost to the point of being unbearable. It was great seeing all of the folks I haven't seen since last year, and to do some catching up.

We had one customer that was just hilarious - without him even trying... he walked up to our beer booth, and I could see that he had been drinking/eating some sort of blue raspberry concoction. I told him to stick out his tounge - which was completely blue. I asked "How was smurfette?" which got a bit of a laugh. Because he looked youngish, we carded him. He hands my friend an ID, and we are looking at it... and I ask "you're under 21?" because over the picture, it says UNDER 21, and he starts getting all flustered and sputtering "I'm older than 21!" and my friend then asks "and you're a girl?"

He had given us his girlfreind's ID.

He was pretty embarassed over the whole thing, but took it very well.

We all laughed over that for the next hour.

Since it was really dead, we ended up leaving at about 5:30, so it was nice to get home earlier than expected. I ended up working on the "damn afgahn" that I am planning on giving to my friend for her wedding next Saturday (different friend than we had the party for this weekend), and I managed to get it to the point that all is left is the border. Thank God it is almost done. It has been a really slow pattern - I don't think I will ever make this one again - thus the damn afgahn! The plan is to get it finished tonight, then to work on a new Renaissance outfit.

On another note - I have a job interview on Tuesday the 26th. The posting said it was up to 50% travel, with maybe half involving overnight stays. To my accounting, that would be about 25% travel... 'cause if you say that out of the office is travel, I travel at least 75% of the time. And this job would be travel within the state only. I can live with that!

Anyhoo - it's off to think about making some dinner. Exciting stuff, since I probably haven't done that for two weeks because I have been traveling for work. (See how that works?) Home for dinner. Nothing better.

~a

Monday, August 11, 2008

Hills

I seriously thought about crawling back into bed when the alarm went off at 4:50 this morning. No that is not a typo.

But, I got dressed in my workout clothes, putzed a little, and headed out the door at 5:15. Hills were on the menu today. About a mile warmup, then I ran up the long hill by the water resevoir by my house. Definately killer - it's about 1/4 mile long and steep... and did 4 repeats.

4.3 miles in all today. And I feel strong and motivated now.

Yesterday, was a day off of working out, but I did manage to vacuum, brush the cat (who has been trying to hack up hairballs), clean up all sorts of cat barf, clean the litter, did all the laundry, and worked on my renaissance costume. And I prepped food for the grill that Eric then put on the grill for dinner: Burgers and corn. Yum.

And with that, I am off for the shower, get ready for meetings at work this morning, then I amd driving to Fargo. For three nights. Somehow, the stars aligned, and three of my S&H committees are having meetings this week in the Fargo area - one on Tuesday, one on Wednesday, and on Thursday.

I'm bringing exercise clothes, and the afgahn I need to finish, so that's what I will be doing in my free time. Along with watching some olympics. I was going to try and hold out, I hate how I get sucked into watching all that TV.... but what the heck, it doesn't happen all that often, and what else is there to do in Fargo?

Ta
~a

Thursday, August 07, 2008

Closed due to vandalism

That was the sign on the bathroom in the park I ran through this morning.

It just makes me sad when things like that happen. It's a nice park, with a playground, and a fishing dock, and a nice trail around the lake - yet a few people have to screw it up for everyone.

And yes, I was out the door, and running at 5:30 this morning. 5 miles. 57 minutes. And all is well with the world.

Of course I was not feeling that last night when I finally got home at 9:30pm. I was so mentally and physically tired. And feeling a lot of self-hate, since I ate breakfast and lunch at McDonald's and for dinner, I had a small blizzard from Dairy Queen. Ah, the wonders of eating and driving. I know I could have made healthier choices, but I just had a "screw it" attitude yesterday.

I got rejection notices from both jobs I interviewed for a couple of weeks ago. So I have applied more places. I just don't want to travel (driving) as much anymore, because all I do is eat crap.

And that's about all I have to say - have to get to work to get prepped for a meeting.

ta
~a