I need it for motivation. I do so much better if I have a deadline in hand. Or perhaps a plan that is laid out that I need to follow... well, that and a goal.
I'm not sure what I am trying to say. I got out of bed yesterday and went for a run. I was thinking I would do the same thing this morning, but I got to sleep after midnight last night - Eric got home from fishing at about 11, and then it was time to chat a bit...
I guess I need to have something I am working towards. Something big. When I had the half marathon in front of me, I knew I had to train in order to do it. The next race I am signed up for is a 5K in September. And I have the attitude that a 5K is nothing, a walk in the park, so to say. I'm considering doing a duatholon in August. Run-bike-run. But I have not signed up for it yet. I want to start going to spinning classes again. I stopped when I started concentrating more on my running. And I need to start again.
And the eating. I have written down what I have been eating since Monday. It has not stopped me from eating whatever I feel like eating in the evening. Why is that? I had one OP core day. The rest was just, to put it mildly, crap. I think when I do core, I need to incorporate more fruit and milk-type products - I just need to cut down on the empty carbs.... but not cut carbs out alltogether. Last night, I did avoid the beer that was offered and stuck to water, but then we went out for Mexican food, and the chip basket was right in front of me. I know, I know, don't make excuses.
There was a funny story from last night though - I went out with some friends of mine that I have not seen in a while. We get out on the patio at the Mexican place, after having drinks somewhere before that, so we all ordered soft drinks and water. Diet Coke with a lime, Sprite, Diet Coke with a lemon, Coke with a lime, water. Waitress starts to leave, turns around, and says "Well, I normally wouldn't ask, but the stings are out - Can I see an ID?" We all kind of look at each other, and say okay, but I asked why she needed to see an ID if all we were ordering was pop... she misheard the Coke with a lime, thought she heard Carona with a lime. She's a little embarassed about the confusion and leaves. We start making jokes about how now we get carded for soft drinks - 'I'm sorry, I'm going to need to see your ID. Oh, you're too old to be drinking a caffinated beverage this late at night, I'm afraid I am going to have to cut you off!'
It was pretty funny. Or you had to be there.
Tonight Eric is taking me to see The Devil Wears Prada. I am giddily excited about going to see the movie. I even spent too long at the computer last night watching clips from the website. And taking one of the stupid movie quizzes. And he said something about Chinese food for dinner. Perhaps I will actually stick to moderation instead of trying to stuff myself.
I'm going to try and unearth my bicycle out of the basement and go for a long ride tomorrow. Every time I do it, I remember how much I love riding my bike. I do need to get a new bicycle helmet though. Mine I think is about 14 years old. You are supposed to replace them every 5 years or so...
Feels like it is supposed to be a long weekend. Yet, I don't have Monday off, so it will be pretty much the same old weekend drill for me. With an extra day off next week. On a Tuesday. Yeah, that pretty much sucks. Not that I will hate having the day off, but I won't get to relax at all, as we are planning on driving up to my parent's house for the day. Then we will get to deal with holiday traffic. Oh joy.
Anyhoo, that's what's up with me. And you?
~a
Friday, June 30, 2006
Thursday, June 29, 2006
Have not dropped off the face of the earth
I just have not felt like writing anything lately. My life is pretty unexciting, and I have nothing inspirational on my mind at the moment.... just busy with everyday stuff, mostly work.
I did make some inroads into some home projects last weekend though. I actually got my ass out of the house to go running on Saturday morning, then proceeded to totally sabotage myself at our Jaycee board retreat on Saturday afternoon/evening. I am not even sure what I had to eat that day, I just know I drank enough, and sat in the pool for way too long and ended up coming home and feeling completely bloated and miserable. Perhaps I should take this as the kick in the ass that I have been needing.
So Sunday, I finally hemmed the draperies I have been meaning to do for at least 6 months. I needed to let them hang to see how they woud need to be hemmed.... yeah, but not for that long. I also did the alterations on my friends clothes, and I put the decorator fabric over the roman shades in our bedroom, and even though they are not the most perfect thing in the world, I think they look great!
Eric even shocked me the other day, and got out the vacuum and vacuumed the living room and the hallway. And he did dishes yesterday morning. I asked him if he was feeling okay.
Eric has taken the boat to work today, so he will be going out fishing this afternoon after he gets off of work. I am going to take advantage of my time alone to get the house shaped up a bit more... the bathroom could use a good cleaning, and I have laundry that needs to get dealt with. A bicycle ride might not be out of the question either.
I have started writing down the food that I am eating too. Not that I am keeping to a program, but I will approach it with baby steps. I would just like to get back into the smaller sizes that I have in my closet. Sucks that I can't wear the cute shirts and pants I have.
Anyway, I need to get going, lots of stuff going on in the office today, and the President and CEO will be in for a visit sometime today - best to get in at a decent time.
Later y'all!
~a
I did make some inroads into some home projects last weekend though. I actually got my ass out of the house to go running on Saturday morning, then proceeded to totally sabotage myself at our Jaycee board retreat on Saturday afternoon/evening. I am not even sure what I had to eat that day, I just know I drank enough, and sat in the pool for way too long and ended up coming home and feeling completely bloated and miserable. Perhaps I should take this as the kick in the ass that I have been needing.
So Sunday, I finally hemmed the draperies I have been meaning to do for at least 6 months. I needed to let them hang to see how they woud need to be hemmed.... yeah, but not for that long. I also did the alterations on my friends clothes, and I put the decorator fabric over the roman shades in our bedroom, and even though they are not the most perfect thing in the world, I think they look great!
Eric even shocked me the other day, and got out the vacuum and vacuumed the living room and the hallway. And he did dishes yesterday morning. I asked him if he was feeling okay.
Eric has taken the boat to work today, so he will be going out fishing this afternoon after he gets off of work. I am going to take advantage of my time alone to get the house shaped up a bit more... the bathroom could use a good cleaning, and I have laundry that needs to get dealt with. A bicycle ride might not be out of the question either.
I have started writing down the food that I am eating too. Not that I am keeping to a program, but I will approach it with baby steps. I would just like to get back into the smaller sizes that I have in my closet. Sucks that I can't wear the cute shirts and pants I have.
Anyway, I need to get going, lots of stuff going on in the office today, and the President and CEO will be in for a visit sometime today - best to get in at a decent time.
Later y'all!
~a
Friday, June 23, 2006
Back in the saddle again
I feel like I need to start over.
Again.
Yeah. I felt so good after I did the half marathon. I told myself that I would not use that as an excuse to slack. Yet I have. I have not run for a week, and I am feeling sluggush and way less toned than I did earlier.
It's been a week of bad eating, and no exercise. NO WONDER I feel like a lump. I doesn't help that I decided I needed to try on some swimsuits this afternoon. Yep, really feelin' like a pudge.
My ass is going running tomorrow morning. No excuses.
So as I was driving today, muching of baked Doritos. (Well, at least they were baked...) I was thinking about all of the silly little phrases I have, kind of like the inside jokes with people. There are quite a few. Ones that I use in the oddest situations, or just out of the blue - so I thought I would write them down:
"Have fun stormin' the castle" (When someone is leaving)
"It was great, it was much better than Cats, I'd see it again and again" (When I am being facetous about liking something, or when something was rather boring)
"It's a bwack Isusu Twoopah!" (Think of a Brooklyn accent - I say this when I want to make a friend of mine laugh)
"Nobody likes a skinny Santa" (yep, when I am trying to get someone to try something, or just when I am eating too much)
I know there's more, but I hear DH has just gotten home, and we have an early morning tomorrow.
Yeah, and 10 points if you can figure out where they came from...
~a
Again.
Yeah. I felt so good after I did the half marathon. I told myself that I would not use that as an excuse to slack. Yet I have. I have not run for a week, and I am feeling sluggush and way less toned than I did earlier.
It's been a week of bad eating, and no exercise. NO WONDER I feel like a lump. I doesn't help that I decided I needed to try on some swimsuits this afternoon. Yep, really feelin' like a pudge.
My ass is going running tomorrow morning. No excuses.
So as I was driving today, muching of baked Doritos. (Well, at least they were baked...) I was thinking about all of the silly little phrases I have, kind of like the inside jokes with people. There are quite a few. Ones that I use in the oddest situations, or just out of the blue - so I thought I would write them down:
"Have fun stormin' the castle" (When someone is leaving)
"It was great, it was much better than Cats, I'd see it again and again" (When I am being facetous about liking something, or when something was rather boring)
"It's a bwack Isusu Twoopah!" (Think of a Brooklyn accent - I say this when I want to make a friend of mine laugh)
"Nobody likes a skinny Santa" (yep, when I am trying to get someone to try something, or just when I am eating too much)
I know there's more, but I hear DH has just gotten home, and we have an early morning tomorrow.
Yeah, and 10 points if you can figure out where they came from...
~a
Monday, June 19, 2006
Nine minutes
According to the online race results, I ran the half marathon nine minutes faster this year than last. My finish time (gun time) was 2:33:23. Which means I finished two hours and 33 minutes after the gun went off. Of course I did not cross the start line for a bit after the gun went off. I will just have to wait to get my postcard, I guess, to see what my chip time was.
Friday, my DH took a half day of vacation to go with me to Duluth, to cheer me on, etc. We had been up quite late the night before, at the Twins game, so about halfway there, he asked me to drive while he rested. Which was fine with me, as I knew that he would be driving home the next day. Traffic leaving the Twin Cities was pretty nutso, but it cleared up pretty well, and we made decent time getting there. I picked up my race packet, then we headed into the spagetti dinner. Masses and masses of people there.
After that, we left and I showed Eric a spot near the DECC (where I would get dropped off the following morning, and where the race would finish) where he could do some fishing to kill the time when I was running. From there, we went to Superior to where we would be staying for the evening. Eric made nice with the people we were staying with, as I looked through my packet of information. I guess I was pretty self-absorbed at the time, I don't remember talking all that much. Seems to me I did the same exact thing last year. Is it bad form to ignore your hosts when you are getting prepared for a long race?
Anyway, I was completely tired at about 9pm, so I headed off to bed, setting the alarm on my cell phone. Eric joined me pretty quickly after that, and we drifted off to sleep. For some reason, I woke up in the middle of the night, paranoid about getting up in time, and had to wake up Eric to tell me what time it was, as I was not close enough to my phone to see it. It was about 2:15am. I was awake for probably half an hour, then fell back asleep. Woke up with the alarm at 4am. Got dressed, packed up my stuff, and we were out the door by 4:30am. The busses were to pick up participants between 5:00 and 5:20 am to take us to the start of the race. We got there at about 4:40, and I got on the first bus. It filled up quickly, and we were on the road and to the start area at about 5:10. Over an hour to race time. So, I sat on the side of the road, before the starting chute with a group of women, chatting and stretching. At about 5:45, we dropped our sweats to be transported to the finish area, and got into the starting chute, where all of the port-a-potties were located this year, to go before we started the race.
Then it was waiting, waiting, waiting for things to start. I was standing with one of the people I had been sitting with earlier, trying not to freak out with the crowd around me. Yep. I'm not claustrophobic, but I am afraid of large crowds of people standing around. I made friends with a group of 6 people who were behind me that gave me a semi-circle of space to be in... That and my headphones with Lorena McKennitt playing in my ears helped immensely. Seriously, my heart was pounding and I was breathing heavy more from the crowd of people, than from being nervous about the start of the race. Seems like it gets worse as I get older too...
Finally, they played the Canadian National Anthom, then the Star Spangled Banner. Then I guess the starting gun went off. I was too far back in the pack to hear it. Everyone just started moving forward. Jog, walk, jog, walk. Then to the start line. Like a lot of people, I reached up and slapped the overhead banner, and I was on my way.
To be perfectly honest, I don't remember a lot of the race. It was foggy, so there was not a lot to look at, and I was listening to my headphones, kind of in a zone. Mile 1 went by. Mile 2 went by. Mile 3, I stopped to use the port-a-pottie again. Mile 4, Mile 5 was where senic 61 joined express 61, then across the Lester River into the East side of Duluth. There were quite a few spectators there. Mile 6 water stop was the first place I walked (besides the pottie stop). Mile 7, Mile 8... my longest training run was 8 miles. Kind of hit a bit of a wall there. 5 miles to go. I told myself, I can do 5 miles... walking, running, getting to Lemon Drop hill. I made myself jog to the top. At that point I did walk to the side and stretch my hamstrings.
Where did mile 9 go? Mile 10, my time from the gun was 1:55 or so. That's about the time I heard "go Anneke!" Eric had decided he was going to watch the race and cheer me on at that point, then would move further ahead to see me closer to the end. Mile 11, getting into downtown, running on bricks, hearing all of the people cheering the runners on. Where was the mark for mile 12? Turning to run towards the DECC, up the viaduct, then down. Here comes the first wheeler from the marathon. (As it turns out, that was about the time I was running past Eric, so he was distracted from seeing me at that point). Turning the corner by the lake, seeing the woman who was down on the curb with medical attention... thanking the powers that be that it was not me.
Then I turned the corner to the last stretch. Running. Tired. Could not pick up the pace at all. Having one of the race officals shouting that we were all winners. Seeing a group finish in front of me, then me by myself... they announced my name for all to hear. Seeing a time of 2:33:23 on the timing clock. Getting my finsher's medal.
I did it.
Perhaps next year, the marathon.
~a
Friday, my DH took a half day of vacation to go with me to Duluth, to cheer me on, etc. We had been up quite late the night before, at the Twins game, so about halfway there, he asked me to drive while he rested. Which was fine with me, as I knew that he would be driving home the next day. Traffic leaving the Twin Cities was pretty nutso, but it cleared up pretty well, and we made decent time getting there. I picked up my race packet, then we headed into the spagetti dinner. Masses and masses of people there.
After that, we left and I showed Eric a spot near the DECC (where I would get dropped off the following morning, and where the race would finish) where he could do some fishing to kill the time when I was running. From there, we went to Superior to where we would be staying for the evening. Eric made nice with the people we were staying with, as I looked through my packet of information. I guess I was pretty self-absorbed at the time, I don't remember talking all that much. Seems to me I did the same exact thing last year. Is it bad form to ignore your hosts when you are getting prepared for a long race?
Anyway, I was completely tired at about 9pm, so I headed off to bed, setting the alarm on my cell phone. Eric joined me pretty quickly after that, and we drifted off to sleep. For some reason, I woke up in the middle of the night, paranoid about getting up in time, and had to wake up Eric to tell me what time it was, as I was not close enough to my phone to see it. It was about 2:15am. I was awake for probably half an hour, then fell back asleep. Woke up with the alarm at 4am. Got dressed, packed up my stuff, and we were out the door by 4:30am. The busses were to pick up participants between 5:00 and 5:20 am to take us to the start of the race. We got there at about 4:40, and I got on the first bus. It filled up quickly, and we were on the road and to the start area at about 5:10. Over an hour to race time. So, I sat on the side of the road, before the starting chute with a group of women, chatting and stretching. At about 5:45, we dropped our sweats to be transported to the finish area, and got into the starting chute, where all of the port-a-potties were located this year, to go before we started the race.
Then it was waiting, waiting, waiting for things to start. I was standing with one of the people I had been sitting with earlier, trying not to freak out with the crowd around me. Yep. I'm not claustrophobic, but I am afraid of large crowds of people standing around. I made friends with a group of 6 people who were behind me that gave me a semi-circle of space to be in... That and my headphones with Lorena McKennitt playing in my ears helped immensely. Seriously, my heart was pounding and I was breathing heavy more from the crowd of people, than from being nervous about the start of the race. Seems like it gets worse as I get older too...
Finally, they played the Canadian National Anthom, then the Star Spangled Banner. Then I guess the starting gun went off. I was too far back in the pack to hear it. Everyone just started moving forward. Jog, walk, jog, walk. Then to the start line. Like a lot of people, I reached up and slapped the overhead banner, and I was on my way.
To be perfectly honest, I don't remember a lot of the race. It was foggy, so there was not a lot to look at, and I was listening to my headphones, kind of in a zone. Mile 1 went by. Mile 2 went by. Mile 3, I stopped to use the port-a-pottie again. Mile 4, Mile 5 was where senic 61 joined express 61, then across the Lester River into the East side of Duluth. There were quite a few spectators there. Mile 6 water stop was the first place I walked (besides the pottie stop). Mile 7, Mile 8... my longest training run was 8 miles. Kind of hit a bit of a wall there. 5 miles to go. I told myself, I can do 5 miles... walking, running, getting to Lemon Drop hill. I made myself jog to the top. At that point I did walk to the side and stretch my hamstrings.
Where did mile 9 go? Mile 10, my time from the gun was 1:55 or so. That's about the time I heard "go Anneke!" Eric had decided he was going to watch the race and cheer me on at that point, then would move further ahead to see me closer to the end. Mile 11, getting into downtown, running on bricks, hearing all of the people cheering the runners on. Where was the mark for mile 12? Turning to run towards the DECC, up the viaduct, then down. Here comes the first wheeler from the marathon. (As it turns out, that was about the time I was running past Eric, so he was distracted from seeing me at that point). Turning the corner by the lake, seeing the woman who was down on the curb with medical attention... thanking the powers that be that it was not me.
Then I turned the corner to the last stretch. Running. Tired. Could not pick up the pace at all. Having one of the race officals shouting that we were all winners. Seeing a group finish in front of me, then me by myself... they announced my name for all to hear. Seeing a time of 2:33:23 on the timing clock. Getting my finsher's medal.
I did it.
Perhaps next year, the marathon.
~a
Friday, June 16, 2006
The point of no return
You're engaged, you're committed, then things go to hell and what can you do?
That could be said about a couple of things.... I went on my run this morning, and wouldn't you know it, things just started moving... I had to run into a gas station to use the rest room. What convenience stores still require a key to access the restroom outside? Yeah, this one did. The key was attached to a rubber scraper. I just shudder to think about what had accumulated on that thing...
Well, I am going to Duluth tonight, to get my race packet, to start the race at 6:30 tomorrow morning. Yesterday, I was starting to wonder if that was actually going to happen. I got a message from my running buddy, who was going to go with me anyway, but not run, that she was not going to be able to go with me. And the place we had planned to stay was no longer available either, due to some unforseen circumstances. But I said to myself - dammit, I am going to go.
I looked on line to see if there were any "reasonable" rooms available, but yeah - not paying over $200 for a hotel room for a night. I tried the parents of my best friend from high school, but crap has taken over their household (they run a photograpy business) and it would have been difficult for them to let us stay there (we could have as an absolute last resort).
Finally, I talked to my parents, and my dad made a call to a former co-worker of his that still lives in Superior who will graciously be putting us up for the evening. Eric will be going with me to cheer me on. I still would have gone by myself, but this is much better. You know, after you run 13 miles, you really want someone you actually KNOW to congratulate you.
Wish me luck. Think about me at 6:30 CDT as I am starting out!
~a
That could be said about a couple of things.... I went on my run this morning, and wouldn't you know it, things just started moving... I had to run into a gas station to use the rest room. What convenience stores still require a key to access the restroom outside? Yeah, this one did. The key was attached to a rubber scraper. I just shudder to think about what had accumulated on that thing...
Well, I am going to Duluth tonight, to get my race packet, to start the race at 6:30 tomorrow morning. Yesterday, I was starting to wonder if that was actually going to happen. I got a message from my running buddy, who was going to go with me anyway, but not run, that she was not going to be able to go with me. And the place we had planned to stay was no longer available either, due to some unforseen circumstances. But I said to myself - dammit, I am going to go.
I looked on line to see if there were any "reasonable" rooms available, but yeah - not paying over $200 for a hotel room for a night. I tried the parents of my best friend from high school, but crap has taken over their household (they run a photograpy business) and it would have been difficult for them to let us stay there (we could have as an absolute last resort).
Finally, I talked to my parents, and my dad made a call to a former co-worker of his that still lives in Superior who will graciously be putting us up for the evening. Eric will be going with me to cheer me on. I still would have gone by myself, but this is much better. You know, after you run 13 miles, you really want someone you actually KNOW to congratulate you.
Wish me luck. Think about me at 6:30 CDT as I am starting out!
~a
Wednesday, June 14, 2006
40 minutes, 39 seconds
That's how long it took me to run my 4-mile route this morning.
The race is on Saturday. I am nervously anticipating the event. I have even started to visulize some of the landmarks I remember from last year as I run. I just want to finish with a halfway decent time, and finish healthy.
My bonus is that I am planning on going to a wedding reception that night. I might have a few AP's to spend on cake that evening, hmmmmm?
Work is kind of nutty. Waiting for some people to get here to work on some things related to the accident. And to top it off, we had another serious incident yesterday. But with the first happening, I am still in town, rather than on my way to North Dakota, which if I was, I probably would not be going to the race this weekend. And the fun never ends.
So I finally looked at the Sunday newspaper last night. Sometimes I read stuff, but mostly I just look at the ads and pull out the crossword and Suduko to do in bed to relax at night. There was a section in the paper talking about how to get a better fit on a bra. One of the things I hate are women who wear a bra that is too small, and they get a "double breast" you know, when there are two bumps where there is only suppose to be one? They also talked about a "triple breast" fit. Yah, where it not only overflows out the top, but also out the bottom... I really hope I never get to witness that one!
So what are some of your clothing pet peeves?
~a
The race is on Saturday. I am nervously anticipating the event. I have even started to visulize some of the landmarks I remember from last year as I run. I just want to finish with a halfway decent time, and finish healthy.
My bonus is that I am planning on going to a wedding reception that night. I might have a few AP's to spend on cake that evening, hmmmmm?
Work is kind of nutty. Waiting for some people to get here to work on some things related to the accident. And to top it off, we had another serious incident yesterday. But with the first happening, I am still in town, rather than on my way to North Dakota, which if I was, I probably would not be going to the race this weekend. And the fun never ends.
So I finally looked at the Sunday newspaper last night. Sometimes I read stuff, but mostly I just look at the ads and pull out the crossword and Suduko to do in bed to relax at night. There was a section in the paper talking about how to get a better fit on a bra. One of the things I hate are women who wear a bra that is too small, and they get a "double breast" you know, when there are two bumps where there is only suppose to be one? They also talked about a "triple breast" fit. Yah, where it not only overflows out the top, but also out the bottom... I really hope I never get to witness that one!
So what are some of your clothing pet peeves?
~a
Monday, June 12, 2006
And another country heard from
I have not dropped off the face of the earth. Really.
It's been kind of a hectic week. With the weekend's activities and all. I had oodles of stuff to catch up on at work - then I was planning on getting things done on Sunday when things pretty much went to hell in a handbasket.
And I am serious about that.
If you don't know, I do safety work. You hope that you do injury prevention, but sometimes people get hit, literally. We had a near fatality on Sunday. Basically an ATV and a semi-trailer got into a head-on collision. Who do you think won? So the last couple of days and the rest of the week are going to be spent on dealing with that.
Running on Saturday was not so good. It was another off day. Sunday, I was going to go in the afternoon, but there was this thing that happened at work that I needed to deal with... Today, seriously, rocked. 4 miles in 41 minutes. And I kept telling myself that I needed to slow down and take it easy. I just need to keep it up, to stay at this level. The race is on Saturday. I was giving serious consideration to not going, because the runs were really starting to be sucky, but today was just incredible. I felt on the top of my game, and then some. I am so glad that I went to the physical therapist.
With that, I'm off to cuddle with the birthday boy. Well, his birthday is tomorrow, but I can start wishing him a happy birthday tonight!
~a
It's been kind of a hectic week. With the weekend's activities and all. I had oodles of stuff to catch up on at work - then I was planning on getting things done on Sunday when things pretty much went to hell in a handbasket.
And I am serious about that.
If you don't know, I do safety work. You hope that you do injury prevention, but sometimes people get hit, literally. We had a near fatality on Sunday. Basically an ATV and a semi-trailer got into a head-on collision. Who do you think won? So the last couple of days and the rest of the week are going to be spent on dealing with that.
Running on Saturday was not so good. It was another off day. Sunday, I was going to go in the afternoon, but there was this thing that happened at work that I needed to deal with... Today, seriously, rocked. 4 miles in 41 minutes. And I kept telling myself that I needed to slow down and take it easy. I just need to keep it up, to stay at this level. The race is on Saturday. I was giving serious consideration to not going, because the runs were really starting to be sucky, but today was just incredible. I felt on the top of my game, and then some. I am so glad that I went to the physical therapist.
With that, I'm off to cuddle with the birthday boy. Well, his birthday is tomorrow, but I can start wishing him a happy birthday tonight!
~a
Wednesday, June 07, 2006
Freakishly cold
I hate my cube. It has to be the coldest spot in the whole office. I should just quit trying to wear summer clothing to work, and instead pull out my wool pants and sweaters.
Seriously. I pulled out one of my measuring gadgets (sling psychrometer anyone?) which has a thermometer on it. 66 degrees. Farenheit. No lie. Last summer I would go for long walks at lunchtime to warm up. At the end of my day, I climb into my warm vehicle, and sigh in relief. The really sad thing, is that my area is cold in the wintertime too.
Enough of the complaints.
The Physical Therapy last night seemed to go well. The therapist measured the flexibility in my ankles, and the left was about 10 degrees less than the right. This is what was causing the problem - apparently the tendons around the ankle bones are too tight, therefore I don't have the flexibility in the ankle to do a proper stretch of the calf muscle. So she worked on mobilizing the ankle, and it appears to have much more flexibility today. Hopefully that will help to clear up the problem. Not sure why the ankle was acting that way - the therapist said that she ususally saw stuff like this after an injury, but I don't remember injuring it at all. I also had her take a look at my running shoes, and she said that they were good, looked in good shape and had a lot of good support. One of the bad things is that I am getting a bit flat-footed. I used to have high arches. I guess that is another good reason for wanting to loose weight - less pressure on the feet to prevent me from going more flat-footed.
I was planning on going for a run this morning, to see if things were feeling better, and if I could get a better stretch. I have two alarms set - my cell phone, and the alarm clock. I ususally hop out of bed to turn of the cell phone alarm, then wait for the other to go off before I get up for good. So when I climbed back into bed after the first alarm, Eric decided he needed to snuggle with me. Yeah, a run is not nearly as nice as snuggling with my husband. Ever. Therefore, I need to get my rear in gear and go for a run this afternoon.
Food yesterday was okay, but not great:
Breakfast: smoothie with banana, cherries and soy milk
Lunch: Taco bar. Lots of refried beans, lettuce, tomatos, chips and salsa
Dinner: Chicken Strips, popcorn, and beer.
Tonight, hopefully I will be making the tuna steaks I put in the fridge to defrost, but we have a suprise birthday party to go to at 6:30. Between work and the run I have planned, that does not leave a lot of time for food preparation. And I know that Eric will not be doing it. We talked about having him make dinner one night a week, but I am not sure how that will work out, as really, I won't eat a lot of the things he likes to make. Me not eating beef, and him not liking a lot of veggies makes it difficult... the other night I made him bratworst and leftover mashed potatos, and I had leftover honey mustard chicken with rice, with steamed carrots and parsnips. He would never think about making me a meal that was totally different than his, or if it was something that he would not eat, he would not cook it.
He's still a good man. I'm sure some of my habits drive him nuts too.
On that note, I need to get to some work stuff - I have at least 3 meetings tomorrow I need to prep for, and for some odd reason, people have decided this is the day that they need to call me to ask questions.
~a
Seriously. I pulled out one of my measuring gadgets (sling psychrometer anyone?) which has a thermometer on it. 66 degrees. Farenheit. No lie. Last summer I would go for long walks at lunchtime to warm up. At the end of my day, I climb into my warm vehicle, and sigh in relief. The really sad thing, is that my area is cold in the wintertime too.
Enough of the complaints.
The Physical Therapy last night seemed to go well. The therapist measured the flexibility in my ankles, and the left was about 10 degrees less than the right. This is what was causing the problem - apparently the tendons around the ankle bones are too tight, therefore I don't have the flexibility in the ankle to do a proper stretch of the calf muscle. So she worked on mobilizing the ankle, and it appears to have much more flexibility today. Hopefully that will help to clear up the problem. Not sure why the ankle was acting that way - the therapist said that she ususally saw stuff like this after an injury, but I don't remember injuring it at all. I also had her take a look at my running shoes, and she said that they were good, looked in good shape and had a lot of good support. One of the bad things is that I am getting a bit flat-footed. I used to have high arches. I guess that is another good reason for wanting to loose weight - less pressure on the feet to prevent me from going more flat-footed.
I was planning on going for a run this morning, to see if things were feeling better, and if I could get a better stretch. I have two alarms set - my cell phone, and the alarm clock. I ususally hop out of bed to turn of the cell phone alarm, then wait for the other to go off before I get up for good. So when I climbed back into bed after the first alarm, Eric decided he needed to snuggle with me. Yeah, a run is not nearly as nice as snuggling with my husband. Ever. Therefore, I need to get my rear in gear and go for a run this afternoon.
Food yesterday was okay, but not great:
Breakfast: smoothie with banana, cherries and soy milk
Lunch: Taco bar. Lots of refried beans, lettuce, tomatos, chips and salsa
Dinner: Chicken Strips, popcorn, and beer.
Tonight, hopefully I will be making the tuna steaks I put in the fridge to defrost, but we have a suprise birthday party to go to at 6:30. Between work and the run I have planned, that does not leave a lot of time for food preparation. And I know that Eric will not be doing it. We talked about having him make dinner one night a week, but I am not sure how that will work out, as really, I won't eat a lot of the things he likes to make. Me not eating beef, and him not liking a lot of veggies makes it difficult... the other night I made him bratworst and leftover mashed potatos, and I had leftover honey mustard chicken with rice, with steamed carrots and parsnips. He would never think about making me a meal that was totally different than his, or if it was something that he would not eat, he would not cook it.
He's still a good man. I'm sure some of my habits drive him nuts too.
On that note, I need to get to some work stuff - I have at least 3 meetings tomorrow I need to prep for, and for some odd reason, people have decided this is the day that they need to call me to ask questions.
~a
Monday, June 05, 2006
Wow! You have big calves!
As said the man as I was walking in downtown St. Paul last Wednesday night. I was walking to my car after getting something to eat with my friends. We had gone to the Body Worlds exhibit at the Science Museum earlier.
I had dressed in a cute little flirty skirt (which is getting too big for me, btw - the running is paying off, if not in actual weight but size) and this guy who was carrying a clipboard for some reason or another, and talking to a woman on the street, decided to tell me that I had large legs. My response: "I'm a runner." He then tried walking after me, calling "Hey! Big calves!" I just kept walking. Like anyone would feel like that was a compliment!
I have taken several days off of running again. I plan to get up and run again tomorrow morning - and hoping that my left calf will be nice to me. The good thing is that I have a PT appointment tomorrow afternoon to work on getting back some of the flexibility in that ankle/calf.
Food again has been kind of haphazard. I don't think that I am eating to excess, but have really only been eating when I am hungry. Today was a really hungry day, but I was pretty healthy. Oatmeal for breakfast, a lean gourmet frozen dinner for lunch with extra veggies, a WW yogurt, and an apple, snack was light popcorn. Dinner I had some leftover honey mustard chicken (which I made) with rice, and steamed parsnips and carrots. For desert, I had 3 shortbread girl scout cookies.
This weekend, it really was too hot to eat much of anything - but I think I made up for several of the calories in beer. Our Jaycee chapter was pouring beer at the City Pages Beer Fesival, and then after the event finished, we all kicked back and popped several of the leftover "samples." I am glad that Eric was driving... but I would not have had as much if I had been driving.
Sunday I helped out lining up the Grand Old Day parade. Let me tell you, some people can be complete idiots. Two of us were stationed at the end of the street to head off traffic on Grand Ave, because that is where the parade was lining up, and where the parade route was. It was a one-way street, which half went to Grand Ave, and the other half was a freeway entrance. I can't tell you how many people did not follow my turn-around directions, but instead figured that they would just go the wrong way on the one-way street. We were there with a couple of police reserve officers, but since they are reserve they don't have the authority to ticket anyone. Otherwise, there would have been a lot of tickets! One of the most fun things about the day was that I was assigned one of the golf carts to use, so I got to drive up and down the alleyway, and to cart people from place to place where they needed help.
Just a week and some before my race... I hope I don't make a fool out of myself, and that the PT will help with the leg cramping.
On that note, I am going to veg for a bit and get to bed, so I can get up with the sun to go running...
~a
I had dressed in a cute little flirty skirt (which is getting too big for me, btw - the running is paying off, if not in actual weight but size) and this guy who was carrying a clipboard for some reason or another, and talking to a woman on the street, decided to tell me that I had large legs. My response: "I'm a runner." He then tried walking after me, calling "Hey! Big calves!" I just kept walking. Like anyone would feel like that was a compliment!
I have taken several days off of running again. I plan to get up and run again tomorrow morning - and hoping that my left calf will be nice to me. The good thing is that I have a PT appointment tomorrow afternoon to work on getting back some of the flexibility in that ankle/calf.
Food again has been kind of haphazard. I don't think that I am eating to excess, but have really only been eating when I am hungry. Today was a really hungry day, but I was pretty healthy. Oatmeal for breakfast, a lean gourmet frozen dinner for lunch with extra veggies, a WW yogurt, and an apple, snack was light popcorn. Dinner I had some leftover honey mustard chicken (which I made) with rice, and steamed parsnips and carrots. For desert, I had 3 shortbread girl scout cookies.
This weekend, it really was too hot to eat much of anything - but I think I made up for several of the calories in beer. Our Jaycee chapter was pouring beer at the City Pages Beer Fesival, and then after the event finished, we all kicked back and popped several of the leftover "samples." I am glad that Eric was driving... but I would not have had as much if I had been driving.
Sunday I helped out lining up the Grand Old Day parade. Let me tell you, some people can be complete idiots. Two of us were stationed at the end of the street to head off traffic on Grand Ave, because that is where the parade was lining up, and where the parade route was. It was a one-way street, which half went to Grand Ave, and the other half was a freeway entrance. I can't tell you how many people did not follow my turn-around directions, but instead figured that they would just go the wrong way on the one-way street. We were there with a couple of police reserve officers, but since they are reserve they don't have the authority to ticket anyone. Otherwise, there would have been a lot of tickets! One of the most fun things about the day was that I was assigned one of the golf carts to use, so I got to drive up and down the alleyway, and to cart people from place to place where they needed help.
Just a week and some before my race... I hope I don't make a fool out of myself, and that the PT will help with the leg cramping.
On that note, I am going to veg for a bit and get to bed, so I can get up with the sun to go running...
~a
Thursday, June 01, 2006
Meanwhile, back at the ranch...
Holy mother of pain.
My left calf is killing me. I think it hates me. Really.
I woke up this morning before my alarm. Which was quite a feat, since it was set for 4:10am. I wanted to go for a longer run this morning before my 7:30 meeting. My calf hurt a bit yesterday after my 5-mile run, but I thought I would stretch a bit and it would be fine.
Yeah. Not fine. I was planning on going 8 miles this morning, but it ended up being 5. With me stopping a number of times to stretch, and then more walking than I would have liked. Top it off with the rain that started 2 miles into my run. So, soaked, too early in the morning, and in pain. Quite the trifecta.
Funny enough, I had made a doctor's appointment for today to have him look at my right knee. I fell on it in February, and it still hurts to kneel on it, and I have this funny fluid-like swelling below the kneecap. It is a pre-patellar bursitis. It does not really interfere with much, but I wanted to know what was going on. He offered to give me a lidocane and hydrocortozone shot to reduce the swelling, but 2 1/2 weeks before my half marathon, it was not worth the risk of an adverse reaction, or the risk of an infection. I also had him look at my calf, and now I have a PT appointment for next week, to deal with the tightness. The doctor's note says that I'm a marathoner.... I just saw that.
The doctor called me a marathoner. Holy crap.
So next week, I guess they are supposed to do some sort of ultrasound therapy and stretching to loosen up my "siezed" muscle (my terminology). And they should look at the bursitis to see if there is some sort of non-invasive treatment that can be done.
I guess it's the NordicTrack for me for a bit, to keep up my endurance. Seems to me that did not aggravate the calf. Plus if I do it at home, I won't have far to go if I need to stop. I need to do it, because for gosh sakes, I'm a marathoner!
~a
My left calf is killing me. I think it hates me. Really.
I woke up this morning before my alarm. Which was quite a feat, since it was set for 4:10am. I wanted to go for a longer run this morning before my 7:30 meeting. My calf hurt a bit yesterday after my 5-mile run, but I thought I would stretch a bit and it would be fine.
Yeah. Not fine. I was planning on going 8 miles this morning, but it ended up being 5. With me stopping a number of times to stretch, and then more walking than I would have liked. Top it off with the rain that started 2 miles into my run. So, soaked, too early in the morning, and in pain. Quite the trifecta.
Funny enough, I had made a doctor's appointment for today to have him look at my right knee. I fell on it in February, and it still hurts to kneel on it, and I have this funny fluid-like swelling below the kneecap. It is a pre-patellar bursitis. It does not really interfere with much, but I wanted to know what was going on. He offered to give me a lidocane and hydrocortozone shot to reduce the swelling, but 2 1/2 weeks before my half marathon, it was not worth the risk of an adverse reaction, or the risk of an infection. I also had him look at my calf, and now I have a PT appointment for next week, to deal with the tightness. The doctor's note says that I'm a marathoner.... I just saw that.
The doctor called me a marathoner. Holy crap.
So next week, I guess they are supposed to do some sort of ultrasound therapy and stretching to loosen up my "siezed" muscle (my terminology). And they should look at the bursitis to see if there is some sort of non-invasive treatment that can be done.
I guess it's the NordicTrack for me for a bit, to keep up my endurance. Seems to me that did not aggravate the calf. Plus if I do it at home, I won't have far to go if I need to stop. I need to do it, because for gosh sakes, I'm a marathoner!
~a
Tuesday, May 30, 2006
Are you sure it does not grow on trees?
Money, that is.
Well, so driving to my parent's house on Sunday, towing the new boat, the Jeep started to overheat. And then it did - overheat. We stopped on the side of the road, added some fluid to the radiator, waited for things to cool down a bit, then started up again. 5 miles down the road, in a town, thank goodness, it overheated again.
Yep, it was almost 90 degrees. So I called my parents to come and "rescue" us - they could tow the boat, and we would just drive the Jeep without towing anything. And that worked. But, we had been planning on purchasing a new vehicle sometime this year - this was just kind of the last straw.
We are now the proud owners of a Ford F250, with a diesel engine. This sucker will be able to tow anything, and laugh in the faces of any wimpier vehicles. And it should do us well when we drive to remote parts of Canada on our fishing trip in July. And the AC works.
We just have another car payment now. And it's gonna hurt for a bit.
We don't have it just yet - since we were not intending on doing this over the weekend, we did not bring the title with us, and the Jeep needs to be cleaned out. The guy at the dealership said that we can pick it up whenever, and that they would have it for us with a full tank of gas. I said to him "please dont! Please don't fill it with gas!" And we had a good giggle over that one. Nothing like a tank of gasoline to ruin a diesel engine. We are now a diesel family, with the Jetta TDI, and now the Ford F250. It might be a bit more for the fuel, but we will get better fuel economy than if they were gasoline engines. Yep more than you needed to know. More than I ever thought I would know.
And off to earn something, since really, it does not grow on trees!
~a
Well, so driving to my parent's house on Sunday, towing the new boat, the Jeep started to overheat. And then it did - overheat. We stopped on the side of the road, added some fluid to the radiator, waited for things to cool down a bit, then started up again. 5 miles down the road, in a town, thank goodness, it overheated again.
Yep, it was almost 90 degrees. So I called my parents to come and "rescue" us - they could tow the boat, and we would just drive the Jeep without towing anything. And that worked. But, we had been planning on purchasing a new vehicle sometime this year - this was just kind of the last straw.
We are now the proud owners of a Ford F250, with a diesel engine. This sucker will be able to tow anything, and laugh in the faces of any wimpier vehicles. And it should do us well when we drive to remote parts of Canada on our fishing trip in July. And the AC works.
We just have another car payment now. And it's gonna hurt for a bit.
We don't have it just yet - since we were not intending on doing this over the weekend, we did not bring the title with us, and the Jeep needs to be cleaned out. The guy at the dealership said that we can pick it up whenever, and that they would have it for us with a full tank of gas. I said to him "please dont! Please don't fill it with gas!" And we had a good giggle over that one. Nothing like a tank of gasoline to ruin a diesel engine. We are now a diesel family, with the Jetta TDI, and now the Ford F250. It might be a bit more for the fuel, but we will get better fuel economy than if they were gasoline engines. Yep more than you needed to know. More than I ever thought I would know.
And off to earn something, since really, it does not grow on trees!
~a
Friday, May 26, 2006
Some things I realized on my run this morning
- When it's warm I need to remember not to start out too quickly
- Get up earlier if I want ot get in more miles
- sleeping husbands are distracting... I just wanted to kiss his neck and snuggle rather than running
- The running bras work better when they are dried in the drier, rather than hung to dry (I read I should do this in Running magazine)
- When I start out too fast, I end up having my left calf cramp.
- Stretching the calf repeatedly and running slowly is the only way to get rid of the cramp.
- I thought quoting movie lines as blog titles would be fun - but I really know lines from only a few movies, and that gets dull pretty quickly, and ends up being no fun.
- I would rather run in the rain than in high humidity. It was quite humid and nasty this morning.
- I ran 4 miles this morning - If I add another 9, that would be a half marathon.
- I need to stick to spandex running shorts, whenever I wear the floppy nylon shorts they annoy me by riding up
- I covered the distance in 42 minutes, even though I stopped, stretched and walked some. I definately started too fast!
- I'm going to run my race on the 17th, and not let things beyond my control influence my actions. I'm a big girl, and I can run by myself.
- If I don't want to carry my digital music player, I can put it under my ballcap. Why did I not think of that before?
- Getting up and running, as hard as it is to get motivated, is totally worth it when you are done!
Thursday, May 25, 2006
Life in general
I am not as motivated to run as I was. My friend who was planning on running with me, is not going to be running the half marathon. Life has just intervened with her, and she does not feel that she will be ready to run. I guess this is what happens when you are a single parent with four children, and two jobs.
Although, one of the jobs was as a WW leader... and she is now "on leave" because she is not at her goal weight. I know it sounds harsh, but one of the stipulations about working for WW is that you need to maintain at goal, or if you don't you need to work at getting back to goal. And I know from experience that it is hard. You need the time to be able to do it. And the drive and motivation. I just hope that she will use this as an opportunity to get some "me" time for herself.
I just know that I have not run a long race without her, and she was always my cheerleader and motivatior at the end, telling me that I could do it. I am actually not sure how well things will go without her. But, you never know until you know, and you will never know if you don't try.
My eating has been all over the place lately. Like last night - I got home and made some squash fries. And drank some of the leftover punch from the party (Rhubarb punch made with Splenda and diet soda though, so very low in calories). Then I decided I wanted a treat. Reached for the frozen yogurt (better choice than the ice cream) and loaded it with toppings... pretty much negated the choice of frozen yogurt. Although, at the study session that evening, I avoided the cookies, chips and seven-layer dip. And when I got home, I did not eat the pizza that Eric had made for himself. I had two glasses of water, then a snack bag of healty pop kettle corn, and when the water was not helping with the hungry feeling, a 100 cal granola bar.
Carbs and sugar anyone?
I am planning on getting to the Y to run on the treadmill this afternoon. It's supposed to be rainy, and I plan on only doing 4 miles, which is doable on the treadmill. I also want to push myself a bit, and up my speed some... plus I probably should use the membership since I am paying for it!
Dinner, I would like to cook the tuna steak I have defrosted in the refrigerator... but I have a Jaycee general membership meeting at 6 tonight - not sure if I can fit cooking into the schedule at this point. I know there will be appetizers at the meeting... but again, carbs and fat anyone?
*sigh* what's a girl to do?
I am also a little worried about trying to get a run in this weekend. Eric and I are heading up to Duluth on Saturday morning to go fishing, and we will be staying Saturday night. I will just need to strap on my shoes and motivate myself to run early, before he gets going/ready to go.
I guess the most impressive thing I have to say is that even with all of the food detours, I am still at a holding pattern of 180 on the scale at home. 20 pounds over my goal. But hell, I can run seven miles...
~a
Although, one of the jobs was as a WW leader... and she is now "on leave" because she is not at her goal weight. I know it sounds harsh, but one of the stipulations about working for WW is that you need to maintain at goal, or if you don't you need to work at getting back to goal. And I know from experience that it is hard. You need the time to be able to do it. And the drive and motivation. I just hope that she will use this as an opportunity to get some "me" time for herself.
I just know that I have not run a long race without her, and she was always my cheerleader and motivatior at the end, telling me that I could do it. I am actually not sure how well things will go without her. But, you never know until you know, and you will never know if you don't try.
My eating has been all over the place lately. Like last night - I got home and made some squash fries. And drank some of the leftover punch from the party (Rhubarb punch made with Splenda and diet soda though, so very low in calories). Then I decided I wanted a treat. Reached for the frozen yogurt (better choice than the ice cream) and loaded it with toppings... pretty much negated the choice of frozen yogurt. Although, at the study session that evening, I avoided the cookies, chips and seven-layer dip. And when I got home, I did not eat the pizza that Eric had made for himself. I had two glasses of water, then a snack bag of healty pop kettle corn, and when the water was not helping with the hungry feeling, a 100 cal granola bar.
Carbs and sugar anyone?
I am planning on getting to the Y to run on the treadmill this afternoon. It's supposed to be rainy, and I plan on only doing 4 miles, which is doable on the treadmill. I also want to push myself a bit, and up my speed some... plus I probably should use the membership since I am paying for it!
Dinner, I would like to cook the tuna steak I have defrosted in the refrigerator... but I have a Jaycee general membership meeting at 6 tonight - not sure if I can fit cooking into the schedule at this point. I know there will be appetizers at the meeting... but again, carbs and fat anyone?
*sigh* what's a girl to do?
I am also a little worried about trying to get a run in this weekend. Eric and I are heading up to Duluth on Saturday morning to go fishing, and we will be staying Saturday night. I will just need to strap on my shoes and motivate myself to run early, before he gets going/ready to go.
I guess the most impressive thing I have to say is that even with all of the food detours, I am still at a holding pattern of 180 on the scale at home. 20 pounds over my goal. But hell, I can run seven miles...
~a
Wednesday, May 24, 2006
Ice Cream
Why do I love you so much? You are cold, and creamy, and sweet, yet you don't last very long, and when you are gone out of my dish, I just want more.
We hosted a wedding shower for a couple of friends of ours last Sunday in our back yard. It was an Ice Cream Social theme. And since we purchased the ice cream, we kept the ice cream. It is now in our downstairs freezer, calling my name. Well, I suppose it does not talk, but I definately know it is there. Monday, I went for the vanilla, and added some rootbeer to make myself a rootbeer float. Yesterday, I went for the chocolate, and had that with marshmello sauce on top of it. I guess my only redemption is that I refrained from going for a second serving - told myself I was limited to water for the rest of the night - which worked.
The issue is, it is still in my house. And I know I won't just dump it, because that is wasteful, and I know at some point my husband will eat it.
Moving on. Went for a run this morning. It was 65 degrees when I left the house at 5:30. Quite a difference from the 40 degrees it was on Sunday morning! It was actually a pretty nice morning for a run, there were quite a numeber of people around Phalen. I walked a couple of times and sipped some water, but I completed 7 miles this morning in 1 hour and 14 minutes. I can live with that. I just need to be able to double it. That's what the next couple of weeks will bring, working on my endurance. I want to be able to run most of the half marathon. Or all of it, with the exception of walking through some of the water stations. My pep talk of late has been "gut it out, you know you can do it... it's just a mind game!"
And I definately wore the wrong outfit today. I thought I would wear something spring-like, since it is going to be another nice day outside. I should know better - my cubicle is always cold. So I am here in my cute outfit of a jean skirt, sandals, and a sleevless shirt, wearing a jacket, and I have my wool blazer over my legs, drinking coffee to stay warm. I really wish they could figure out how to regulate the temperature here.
On that note, I am off to grab another cup of coffee. MMMMM, I love coffee.
~a
We hosted a wedding shower for a couple of friends of ours last Sunday in our back yard. It was an Ice Cream Social theme. And since we purchased the ice cream, we kept the ice cream. It is now in our downstairs freezer, calling my name. Well, I suppose it does not talk, but I definately know it is there. Monday, I went for the vanilla, and added some rootbeer to make myself a rootbeer float. Yesterday, I went for the chocolate, and had that with marshmello sauce on top of it. I guess my only redemption is that I refrained from going for a second serving - told myself I was limited to water for the rest of the night - which worked.
The issue is, it is still in my house. And I know I won't just dump it, because that is wasteful, and I know at some point my husband will eat it.
Moving on. Went for a run this morning. It was 65 degrees when I left the house at 5:30. Quite a difference from the 40 degrees it was on Sunday morning! It was actually a pretty nice morning for a run, there were quite a numeber of people around Phalen. I walked a couple of times and sipped some water, but I completed 7 miles this morning in 1 hour and 14 minutes. I can live with that. I just need to be able to double it. That's what the next couple of weeks will bring, working on my endurance. I want to be able to run most of the half marathon. Or all of it, with the exception of walking through some of the water stations. My pep talk of late has been "gut it out, you know you can do it... it's just a mind game!"
And I definately wore the wrong outfit today. I thought I would wear something spring-like, since it is going to be another nice day outside. I should know better - my cubicle is always cold. So I am here in my cute outfit of a jean skirt, sandals, and a sleevless shirt, wearing a jacket, and I have my wool blazer over my legs, drinking coffee to stay warm. I really wish they could figure out how to regulate the temperature here.
On that note, I am off to grab another cup of coffee. MMMMM, I love coffee.
~a
Monday, May 22, 2006
A week in review
Well, not quite a week, but close enough!
A funny thing happened to me at Jaycee convention... well, actually several funny things happened that weekend - this one was one that stands out. I was wandering around on Friday night, after getting in rather late, and the theme this year is "Catch the Wave". So of course the socializing that evening was a "beach party" theme. I was wering a silk flower lei that I had gotten somewhere. My friend, Paul, sees me in the hallway, looks at my chest (or in that vicinity) and asks "Where did you get those?" I, being me, replied, while cupping my "girls", "I've had them all of my life." Yep, you would think that he would know better, since we have worked many an hour together at the Renaissance Festival. There were even several witnesses to his embarassment. And, of course, I won't let him forget that one!
So moving on... I am feeling much better, thanks for asking. I ended up going back to my hotel on Wednesday evening last week, and staying in for the entire evening. I like the hotel I was staying at, because they do a "happy hour" with appetizers, so I did not have to go out and find something to eat. I made use of the veggies and dip, and some Gardettos. I know, an extremely healthy dinner, but I was satisfied, and did not stuff myself - and avoided going to a restaurant for a dinner that I was not hungry for.
Thursday, I did get up and run on the treadmill before my meeting. Even though the calibration on the hotel's treadmill is still off, I went for a time rather than a milage. I needed to start somewhere. I could even breathe rather normally. The meeting on Thursday lasted quite a bit longer than I really wanted - I was hoping that I might be able to see my parents on my way through, and get some healtier food at their house, but I decided I would rather get home. So when I started getting a bit hungry, I stopped for some fast food. Yep. But, I thought about it, and got the grilled chicken, and since I wanted something sweet, I got a small strawberry shake. I got the bag of food, pulled back on the freeway, and discovered that they had put fries in my bag, even though I had not ordered them. Thought to myslef "Bastards!" while shoving a fry into my mouth. I then had a talk with myself. I did not order fries, so even if they were in the bag, I did not have to eat them. I unwrapped my chicken sandwich, and ate that. Slowly. Put the chicken wrappings in the bag, and started sipping on the shake. Did that until I felt full. I crunched up the top of the food bag, and set it away from myself, and had one or two more sips of the shake and was done. Eric was quite suprised that I brought him home more than half of a strawberry shake, and a full carton of fries. I think I actually dealt with that situation quite well.
Friday was a nice evening. Eric and I got ready and went out for a "date." We drove to downtown Minneapolis, and had a lovely dinner on the sidewalk of the Local, an Irish pub. It was so great sitting out and people watching, and enjoying the company of my husband. I had been gone travelling for way too long. We then did something that Eric wanted to check out. I'm almost embarassed to say what we did, but we went to the "Sexpo" at the convention center. It was pretty lame, actually. He did not know what to expect, and I was not expecting much... there were a lot of shopping displays that you could have found at one of the local stores, and a floor show that I felt, highlighted how desperate some people were. We stopped at one booth that was doing chair massages for $1 a minute, so I got a 10-minute massage. It was more of a teaser than anything. Quite sad. Ususally when I tell people that they need to really dig in, they believe me, this was more like a little fluff and buff. When I told him to go deeper into the knots, he did not quite beleive me. And then he asked when I was going to make an appointment for a full hour. Can we say "not"? Both Eric and I agreed that it was a waste of money. Oh well, now we know better.
Saturday was spent at the house getting things ready for the shower we were hosting on Sunday, and I also moved the computer into my office upstairs. Now that my stepson is gone, we are working on orgainizing the upstairs rooms into an office and a guest bedroom. I will be excited to get everything more organized.
Sunday, I got myself motivated to go for a run. 5 miles. I only walked for about 3 minutes, and only once. Not bad for the 3 previous weeks of non-exercise. June 17th will be coming upon me very soon, and I need to get some endurance if I am going to do the half marathon in any sort of decent time. I think at this point if I beat last year's time, I will be happy.
This morning, I also got in another 5 miles. It went pretty well, even if it was a bit cold this morning. My goal is to run every day this week. It does not appear that I am traveling, so I should be able to do it. I have even asked Eric to kick me out of bed in the morning - which he did this morning. Good thing too, as I have a tendancy to not get up and exercise on Monday mornings...
And that's about the excitement of my life!
~a
A funny thing happened to me at Jaycee convention... well, actually several funny things happened that weekend - this one was one that stands out. I was wandering around on Friday night, after getting in rather late, and the theme this year is "Catch the Wave". So of course the socializing that evening was a "beach party" theme. I was wering a silk flower lei that I had gotten somewhere. My friend, Paul, sees me in the hallway, looks at my chest (or in that vicinity) and asks "Where did you get those?" I, being me, replied, while cupping my "girls", "I've had them all of my life." Yep, you would think that he would know better, since we have worked many an hour together at the Renaissance Festival. There were even several witnesses to his embarassment. And, of course, I won't let him forget that one!
So moving on... I am feeling much better, thanks for asking. I ended up going back to my hotel on Wednesday evening last week, and staying in for the entire evening. I like the hotel I was staying at, because they do a "happy hour" with appetizers, so I did not have to go out and find something to eat. I made use of the veggies and dip, and some Gardettos. I know, an extremely healthy dinner, but I was satisfied, and did not stuff myself - and avoided going to a restaurant for a dinner that I was not hungry for.
Thursday, I did get up and run on the treadmill before my meeting. Even though the calibration on the hotel's treadmill is still off, I went for a time rather than a milage. I needed to start somewhere. I could even breathe rather normally. The meeting on Thursday lasted quite a bit longer than I really wanted - I was hoping that I might be able to see my parents on my way through, and get some healtier food at their house, but I decided I would rather get home. So when I started getting a bit hungry, I stopped for some fast food. Yep. But, I thought about it, and got the grilled chicken, and since I wanted something sweet, I got a small strawberry shake. I got the bag of food, pulled back on the freeway, and discovered that they had put fries in my bag, even though I had not ordered them. Thought to myslef "Bastards!" while shoving a fry into my mouth. I then had a talk with myself. I did not order fries, so even if they were in the bag, I did not have to eat them. I unwrapped my chicken sandwich, and ate that. Slowly. Put the chicken wrappings in the bag, and started sipping on the shake. Did that until I felt full. I crunched up the top of the food bag, and set it away from myself, and had one or two more sips of the shake and was done. Eric was quite suprised that I brought him home more than half of a strawberry shake, and a full carton of fries. I think I actually dealt with that situation quite well.
Friday was a nice evening. Eric and I got ready and went out for a "date." We drove to downtown Minneapolis, and had a lovely dinner on the sidewalk of the Local, an Irish pub. It was so great sitting out and people watching, and enjoying the company of my husband. I had been gone travelling for way too long. We then did something that Eric wanted to check out. I'm almost embarassed to say what we did, but we went to the "Sexpo" at the convention center. It was pretty lame, actually. He did not know what to expect, and I was not expecting much... there were a lot of shopping displays that you could have found at one of the local stores, and a floor show that I felt, highlighted how desperate some people were. We stopped at one booth that was doing chair massages for $1 a minute, so I got a 10-minute massage. It was more of a teaser than anything. Quite sad. Ususally when I tell people that they need to really dig in, they believe me, this was more like a little fluff and buff. When I told him to go deeper into the knots, he did not quite beleive me. And then he asked when I was going to make an appointment for a full hour. Can we say "not"? Both Eric and I agreed that it was a waste of money. Oh well, now we know better.
Saturday was spent at the house getting things ready for the shower we were hosting on Sunday, and I also moved the computer into my office upstairs. Now that my stepson is gone, we are working on orgainizing the upstairs rooms into an office and a guest bedroom. I will be excited to get everything more organized.
Sunday, I got myself motivated to go for a run. 5 miles. I only walked for about 3 minutes, and only once. Not bad for the 3 previous weeks of non-exercise. June 17th will be coming upon me very soon, and I need to get some endurance if I am going to do the half marathon in any sort of decent time. I think at this point if I beat last year's time, I will be happy.
This morning, I also got in another 5 miles. It went pretty well, even if it was a bit cold this morning. My goal is to run every day this week. It does not appear that I am traveling, so I should be able to do it. I have even asked Eric to kick me out of bed in the morning - which he did this morning. Good thing too, as I have a tendancy to not get up and exercise on Monday mornings...
And that's about the excitement of my life!
~a
Wednesday, May 17, 2006
Death on Toast
Well, that's how I felt yesterday. My mother agreed that I looked like I was not feeling so well. I hate being sick. (cough, hack, sneze)
Evil cold.
I had a bit of a sore throat on Sunday as I was puttering around the house, getting geared up for another week of travel. I was almost in tears thinking about leaving again. It is so tiring and frustrating trying to get my crap together when I am not home to do it. And yes, on Sunday there was stuff in the sink that had been there since the previous Tuesday. And, I could tell that nobody had wiped down the kitchen counters since I had been gone (Tuesday through Sunday). I called Eric out on that - I told him this is why we are having ant problems. I also told him that if he kills/squishes an ant, he needs to remove the carcas, as dead ants are really disgusting to find on the kitchen counter at random intervals.
Monday, the cold attacked with a vengance. I had to go into the office, but tried to stay to myself most of the time, and ended up going home a bit early to veg on the couch, under several blankets. I had not eaten much for most of the day (was not hungry) so when I got home, I was doing the lightheaded low blood sugar walk... so I made a couple of sandwiches, ate some cookies, then made myself a smoothie. Thankfully that took care of the problem. I also decided that I would not leave on Monday eve, rather I would get up and go in the morning to my meeting that was being held about 2 hours away - and started at 7:30 am. Eric actually went to the grocery store with the list I put together, and did a pretty good job. The only issue was that he expected me to put the groceries away. That ended when I fell over trying to put something on the lower shelf in the refrigerator... and was just feeling too weak to get up without help.
Got up Tuesday, finished packing, and got on the road. Later than I expected, but they were fine with when I got there - I had a section to present, and it was to be done later in the meeting. After lunch, I left and drove to my parent's house, where my mom told me I looked terrible. So, I crawled into their guest bed, and slept for 3 hours. I guess I needed it.
And of course, I have not run. Hard to run when you cannot breathe. And when you feel like crap. And when you barely have strength to stand up after sitting in a chair for a bit. Could I whine any more?
Needless to say, I don't feel 100%, but thankfully I am feeling better today than I have been. I am working on materials I need to present for my meeting tomorrow morning. In Valley City, North Dakota. Such a glamorous job with exotic locales...
I am going to see if I can get motivated to walk or run on the treadmill at the hotel this evening. Should be a pretty low-key night. I might even get to watch Alias - even though I am also recording it at home. I finally figured out how to record stuff with the timer (we've had the DVD recorder since January).
And I'm off to read about critical task analysis.
~a
Evil cold.
I had a bit of a sore throat on Sunday as I was puttering around the house, getting geared up for another week of travel. I was almost in tears thinking about leaving again. It is so tiring and frustrating trying to get my crap together when I am not home to do it. And yes, on Sunday there was stuff in the sink that had been there since the previous Tuesday. And, I could tell that nobody had wiped down the kitchen counters since I had been gone (Tuesday through Sunday). I called Eric out on that - I told him this is why we are having ant problems. I also told him that if he kills/squishes an ant, he needs to remove the carcas, as dead ants are really disgusting to find on the kitchen counter at random intervals.
Monday, the cold attacked with a vengance. I had to go into the office, but tried to stay to myself most of the time, and ended up going home a bit early to veg on the couch, under several blankets. I had not eaten much for most of the day (was not hungry) so when I got home, I was doing the lightheaded low blood sugar walk... so I made a couple of sandwiches, ate some cookies, then made myself a smoothie. Thankfully that took care of the problem. I also decided that I would not leave on Monday eve, rather I would get up and go in the morning to my meeting that was being held about 2 hours away - and started at 7:30 am. Eric actually went to the grocery store with the list I put together, and did a pretty good job. The only issue was that he expected me to put the groceries away. That ended when I fell over trying to put something on the lower shelf in the refrigerator... and was just feeling too weak to get up without help.
Got up Tuesday, finished packing, and got on the road. Later than I expected, but they were fine with when I got there - I had a section to present, and it was to be done later in the meeting. After lunch, I left and drove to my parent's house, where my mom told me I looked terrible. So, I crawled into their guest bed, and slept for 3 hours. I guess I needed it.
And of course, I have not run. Hard to run when you cannot breathe. And when you feel like crap. And when you barely have strength to stand up after sitting in a chair for a bit. Could I whine any more?
Needless to say, I don't feel 100%, but thankfully I am feeling better today than I have been. I am working on materials I need to present for my meeting tomorrow morning. In Valley City, North Dakota. Such a glamorous job with exotic locales...
I am going to see if I can get motivated to walk or run on the treadmill at the hotel this evening. Should be a pretty low-key night. I might even get to watch Alias - even though I am also recording it at home. I finally figured out how to record stuff with the timer (we've had the DVD recorder since January).
And I'm off to read about critical task analysis.
~a
Monday, May 15, 2006
Slacker
Yep. That's my new name.
I am a slug. It has been determined.
Okay, best of intentions. Got to Calgary, figured I would go for a run on Tuesday afternoon. Yah, not so much. Turns out, the dinner that we were previously not invited to, they decided to add another table to include us (us being all of us lowly safety advisors). So I went out to dinner, with the open bar. WAY too much good food. (Why did they put us next to all of the deserts, so I could SEE how yummy they looked?) My only redemption was that I went straight back to the hotel to bed, and got up on Wednesday morning to run on the hotel treadmill. It was great that the exercise room was open 24 hours a day. Bad news was that I only manged 3 miles.
So, that day. All sorts of meetings. Meetings from 8 to 5:00, with a working lunch. Since I managed to eat both a muffin and a cinnamon roll, I avoided the deserts and cookies. With the time change and weird eating times, I started getting hungry at about 4:30, so I ate a granola bar in the back of the room. Then my vendor took me out to dinner that evening. That blueberry cosmo was divine!
Thought I would get up and exercise on Thursday. Didn't happen. Went in for breakfast and ate eggs, and potatos, and fruit. More meetings. Someone brought in donuts/muffins. Around 10am I succumbed to a jelly-filled muffin/fruit tart. (Where do they come up with these evils?) And the evil (translated: incredibly yummy) bars from the previous day were brought in to compliment my lunch (veggie wrap and greek salad).
Another trip to the bar on Thursday for "team building" before our "team dinner". I had a beer and at least 500 ml of wine. (we got two splits, but my co-worker did not drink as much as I did...) and back to the hotel after 9pm for the third evening in a row.
Friday, well, I woke up at 1:30 in the morning, and was up for about 45 minutes, feeling a bit heartburny (and with good reason... with all of the CRAP I had been eating), and had to be packed and out of the hotel catching a cab a little after 6am. Therefore, no run on Friday, either! And I was not able to catch any breakfast or coffee, before I needed to get on a conference call at 7am. It was supposed to be short. It finally wrapped up at 8:40, and I really felt since I was over an hour late for our day of meetings, I could not take the time to get something. When they finally gave us a break, I was nearly ready to eat my arm. And I really hate it when that happens. So guess what I purchased to tide me over? Cheetos. Are they not the breakfast of Champions?
Yep. This is what happens when I travel to Calgary.
More about the weekend later.
~a
I am a slug. It has been determined.
Okay, best of intentions. Got to Calgary, figured I would go for a run on Tuesday afternoon. Yah, not so much. Turns out, the dinner that we were previously not invited to, they decided to add another table to include us (us being all of us lowly safety advisors). So I went out to dinner, with the open bar. WAY too much good food. (Why did they put us next to all of the deserts, so I could SEE how yummy they looked?) My only redemption was that I went straight back to the hotel to bed, and got up on Wednesday morning to run on the hotel treadmill. It was great that the exercise room was open 24 hours a day. Bad news was that I only manged 3 miles.
So, that day. All sorts of meetings. Meetings from 8 to 5:00, with a working lunch. Since I managed to eat both a muffin and a cinnamon roll, I avoided the deserts and cookies. With the time change and weird eating times, I started getting hungry at about 4:30, so I ate a granola bar in the back of the room. Then my vendor took me out to dinner that evening. That blueberry cosmo was divine!
Thought I would get up and exercise on Thursday. Didn't happen. Went in for breakfast and ate eggs, and potatos, and fruit. More meetings. Someone brought in donuts/muffins. Around 10am I succumbed to a jelly-filled muffin/fruit tart. (Where do they come up with these evils?) And the evil (translated: incredibly yummy) bars from the previous day were brought in to compliment my lunch (veggie wrap and greek salad).
Another trip to the bar on Thursday for "team building" before our "team dinner". I had a beer and at least 500 ml of wine. (we got two splits, but my co-worker did not drink as much as I did...) and back to the hotel after 9pm for the third evening in a row.
Friday, well, I woke up at 1:30 in the morning, and was up for about 45 minutes, feeling a bit heartburny (and with good reason... with all of the CRAP I had been eating), and had to be packed and out of the hotel catching a cab a little after 6am. Therefore, no run on Friday, either! And I was not able to catch any breakfast or coffee, before I needed to get on a conference call at 7am. It was supposed to be short. It finally wrapped up at 8:40, and I really felt since I was over an hour late for our day of meetings, I could not take the time to get something. When they finally gave us a break, I was nearly ready to eat my arm. And I really hate it when that happens. So guess what I purchased to tide me over? Cheetos. Are they not the breakfast of Champions?
Yep. This is what happens when I travel to Calgary.
More about the weekend later.
~a
Tuesday, May 09, 2006
Leavin' on a Jet Plane
It's about time to clear out of my office, and head for the airport.
I have a lunch packed: Some guacamole I made last night with very ripe avacado, ff sour cream, lemon juice, garlic, and some salsa salsa (a tastefully simple product), some baked whole wheat tortillas chips (baked them last night), apple, orange, ww yogurt, and some water. I also packed some granola bars, but those are to stash in my bag this week so I won't end up wanting to eat my arm in my meetings when they don't give us healthy snacks at breaks.
I put it in my lunch tote. As I was getting ready to leave, I realized I had a small paring knife in the front of the bag. Thank goodness, scene at airport security avoided! (Thanks Snackie for your story... it made me think a bit more!)
I did not write about what happened to me on Friday night... I think it's kind of funny. I came home after my Jaycee function to find the side door open with Eric's keys in the door. I wasn't sure what was going on, so I wandered around my house with the phone in my hand, to make sure there was not anyone there. I got into the bedroom, and I noticed that the suitcase that Eric had packed was still sitting there. Yes, my darling husband forgot to bring his suitcase on his weekend fishing trip. It's not like when you forget to pack underwear, but to forget your whole suitcase? I called him on Saturday morning, and asked "Did you leave in a hurry or something?" and I also asked how long I got to make fun of him for this stunt. He said "well, probably forever!"
Silly absentminded man!
With that, I am off to the Park and Jet.
~a
I have a lunch packed: Some guacamole I made last night with very ripe avacado, ff sour cream, lemon juice, garlic, and some salsa salsa (a tastefully simple product), some baked whole wheat tortillas chips (baked them last night), apple, orange, ww yogurt, and some water. I also packed some granola bars, but those are to stash in my bag this week so I won't end up wanting to eat my arm in my meetings when they don't give us healthy snacks at breaks.
I put it in my lunch tote. As I was getting ready to leave, I realized I had a small paring knife in the front of the bag. Thank goodness, scene at airport security avoided! (Thanks Snackie for your story... it made me think a bit more!)
I did not write about what happened to me on Friday night... I think it's kind of funny. I came home after my Jaycee function to find the side door open with Eric's keys in the door. I wasn't sure what was going on, so I wandered around my house with the phone in my hand, to make sure there was not anyone there. I got into the bedroom, and I noticed that the suitcase that Eric had packed was still sitting there. Yes, my darling husband forgot to bring his suitcase on his weekend fishing trip. It's not like when you forget to pack underwear, but to forget your whole suitcase? I called him on Saturday morning, and asked "Did you leave in a hurry or something?" and I also asked how long I got to make fun of him for this stunt. He said "well, probably forever!"
Silly absentminded man!
With that, I am off to the Park and Jet.
~a
Monday, May 08, 2006
Another weekend of good intentions
And that's just what it turned in to. Intentions. No good follow-through.
I made an appointment for my friend to come over at 10am on Saturday morning, she wanted some Mary Kay, and I am going to alter a couple of pieces of clothing for her. I figured that would give me plenty of time to get up and run then get ready. Not so much. I woke up, then snoozed in bed for a bit, and next thing I knew it was 9:15.
Then I thought I would meet my friends for a quick drink at noon, then go home and get stuff done. I had such a good time sitting on the patio, and catching up with my friends, I did not make it home in the afternoon. By the time we had dinner, I figured I would just go and meet some other folks at another bar to watch them sing karoke. I got home at 1:15.
So Sunday was a day to sleep in, and to nap. I got myself motivated to do stuff around the house somewhere around 2:30 in the afternoon. Once I got going, I was fine, but I still did not go out and run. I need to do that. Two weeks of slacking is not good. I was doing so well, and now look at me. And with all of the mindless eating and adult beverages, the scale is back up again.
I leave for Calgary tomorrow morning, and will be there until Friday. I am hoping that there are some good places to go running from the hotel, or that they actually have a decent exercise room. It's a hotel that I have not stayed at before, but from what I hear, there is a path that goes by there that I can hop on to run.
Why is it that I do well, then I sabotage myself?
Wish me luck for the week!
~a
I made an appointment for my friend to come over at 10am on Saturday morning, she wanted some Mary Kay, and I am going to alter a couple of pieces of clothing for her. I figured that would give me plenty of time to get up and run then get ready. Not so much. I woke up, then snoozed in bed for a bit, and next thing I knew it was 9:15.
Then I thought I would meet my friends for a quick drink at noon, then go home and get stuff done. I had such a good time sitting on the patio, and catching up with my friends, I did not make it home in the afternoon. By the time we had dinner, I figured I would just go and meet some other folks at another bar to watch them sing karoke. I got home at 1:15.
So Sunday was a day to sleep in, and to nap. I got myself motivated to do stuff around the house somewhere around 2:30 in the afternoon. Once I got going, I was fine, but I still did not go out and run. I need to do that. Two weeks of slacking is not good. I was doing so well, and now look at me. And with all of the mindless eating and adult beverages, the scale is back up again.
I leave for Calgary tomorrow morning, and will be there until Friday. I am hoping that there are some good places to go running from the hotel, or that they actually have a decent exercise room. It's a hotel that I have not stayed at before, but from what I hear, there is a path that goes by there that I can hop on to run.
Why is it that I do well, then I sabotage myself?
Wish me luck for the week!
~a
Friday, May 05, 2006
Fantastic Friday
Much as I did not want to get out of bed this morning... I was feeling a bit sluggish, because I got to sleep later than I like... but I did it anyway, and put on my running gear. Procrastinated a bit more by kissing my husband who was waking up, then got myself motivated to get outside.
It was a lovely crisp morning, and I had dressed perfectly for the temperature. I got my music going, and started out at a slow jog. I was thinking about running my 3-mile route. But, it was such a great morning, I ended up doing the 5-mile route. Not what I had planned last night, which was 7, but not bad. It was such an invigorating run. Everything felt right, and the time passed by pretty quickly. When I got back to the house, and clicked off my stopwatch, it told me I had done it in 50:53. And it put me in such a good mood this morning. It might be overcast outside, but I feel alive and happy here!
I finished an interesting book last night. I picked it up on my last visit to the library. The title was "SAHM I Am". It was kind of a different style of writing, as it was all e-mail messages to and from a group of women on an e-mail loop. It was entertaining, and engaging. When I first started reading it, I was not sure that I was going to like it, or to be able to keep the characters straight, but I ended up really enjoying it. One of the characters went through an upheaveal in her life, and needed to find a place to stay, and four of her close friends that she only knew through e-mail, each offered her a place to stay at their homes. It makes me think about some of the friendships I have made through blogging, and reading people's blogs.
Eric is gone all weekend, so I am planning on getting some stuff done around the house - laundry, cleaning, perhaps some yardwork. I am in Calgary most of next week, so it all needs to get done before I leave. And the backyard needs to get shaped up someting fierce - we are having a couple's shower on May 21st. We went to Menard's last night, and purchased some resin chairs to replace the ones that Eric destroyed by dropping a tree branch on them. Sheared the arms of the entire stack. We also got a rectangular resin table. That way we can set out more stuff, and be able to sit at the patio table.
We also had a discussion about money last night, which I think went over okay. I made my point quite clearly, and Eric seemed to be pretty receptive. We are both on "allowances" which means that we have a set amount of money that we get each week. I have been saving, Eric has been spending... which is fine, until he wants to do somethig that reqires more money than what he gets each week. I told him that where we want to be is to save up some money for those larger events, rather than always playing catch-up. Makes sense to me. And now, I think he sees my point. Let's hope he remembers it!
Anyway, my coffee cup is empty. Must. Go. Refill.
~a
It was a lovely crisp morning, and I had dressed perfectly for the temperature. I got my music going, and started out at a slow jog. I was thinking about running my 3-mile route. But, it was such a great morning, I ended up doing the 5-mile route. Not what I had planned last night, which was 7, but not bad. It was such an invigorating run. Everything felt right, and the time passed by pretty quickly. When I got back to the house, and clicked off my stopwatch, it told me I had done it in 50:53. And it put me in such a good mood this morning. It might be overcast outside, but I feel alive and happy here!
I finished an interesting book last night. I picked it up on my last visit to the library. The title was "SAHM I Am". It was kind of a different style of writing, as it was all e-mail messages to and from a group of women on an e-mail loop. It was entertaining, and engaging. When I first started reading it, I was not sure that I was going to like it, or to be able to keep the characters straight, but I ended up really enjoying it. One of the characters went through an upheaveal in her life, and needed to find a place to stay, and four of her close friends that she only knew through e-mail, each offered her a place to stay at their homes. It makes me think about some of the friendships I have made through blogging, and reading people's blogs.
Eric is gone all weekend, so I am planning on getting some stuff done around the house - laundry, cleaning, perhaps some yardwork. I am in Calgary most of next week, so it all needs to get done before I leave. And the backyard needs to get shaped up someting fierce - we are having a couple's shower on May 21st. We went to Menard's last night, and purchased some resin chairs to replace the ones that Eric destroyed by dropping a tree branch on them. Sheared the arms of the entire stack. We also got a rectangular resin table. That way we can set out more stuff, and be able to sit at the patio table.
We also had a discussion about money last night, which I think went over okay. I made my point quite clearly, and Eric seemed to be pretty receptive. We are both on "allowances" which means that we have a set amount of money that we get each week. I have been saving, Eric has been spending... which is fine, until he wants to do somethig that reqires more money than what he gets each week. I told him that where we want to be is to save up some money for those larger events, rather than always playing catch-up. Makes sense to me. And now, I think he sees my point. Let's hope he remembers it!
Anyway, my coffee cup is empty. Must. Go. Refill.
~a
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