180

I was completely stressed out and overwhelmed last night.

I thought, hey, I'd go through the practice questions they give you for the exam in the application materials, and have a low-key evening, to bed early so I would be fresh in the morning for my certification exam.

The questions were hard.

And I couln't figure out what they were looking for, or what direction to go in. And I still got the answers wrong when I looked at the solutions (ok cheating) in the back. 55% was my score on the practice exam.

I just wanted to cry.

So up this morning, make some coffee, eat some breakfast, get ready to go... then I thought I should have some documentation for the test which I couldn't find for a bit... then I had 40 minutes to get to West Bloomington by 8am. I knew I was in trouble when the freeway sign said it was 17 minutes to get to my exit, and it was 7:47am...

I was a terrible rush hour driver. Swearing, yelling, cadjoling the traffic to move a bit faster, and almost ending up in tears again. Following my directions after the exit, in the parking ramp, went out the wrong door... then ended up RUNNING through the parking ramp to get to the testing location. Yeah. If you are more than 15 minutes late, they won't let you take the test, and you forfeit your $310 registration fee. 8:12am, I walked through the door.

Whew.

5 1/2 hours later, 1 potty break, with the timer on the test telling me I had 50 seconds left, I clicked the "submit exam" button on the screen. It told me:

Result: PASS

Again, I almost cried. With relief. With joy and happiness. With a huge grin on my face. I now get to put letters behind my name: CSP. Certified Safety Professional.

Called my husband, he was very happy. Called my parents. Mom said she was proud of me. I'm just so happy/relieved right now. So glad it's over. So glad I passed. So glad I don't have to do it again.

The only question is:

What next?

~a

Back in the Game

a week later, I go for another run.

And again, it feels great to get out in the morning and accomplish something. I was going to go last night, but I had a meeting at work that lasted, it seemed, forever, and by the time it was done, all I wanted to do was eat some dinner and get some studying done.

Yep. Studying. I haven't said a lot about it, but I am taking a certification exam on Friday. So I can officially put some letters behind my name. Cross your fingers and wish me luck, will you?

The weekend was fun. My sister was really suprised, and a little freaked out by me showing up - I walked in the front door, and found her on the patio out back with my parents. When she saw me she jumped up and gave me a big hug, and asked me what I was doing there... it was fun.

So we helped her get all ready for the party, and I spent a lot of time in the kitchen, making sure there were drinks available for all of the people. I did break down, and have a little bit of wine, even though it's not June yet, but I just had one glass. And lots and lots of water.

On the way home, sitting in the airport waiting for the flight to be called, I looked around... and saw someone I knew. It's so weird when that happens. Sitting there, wating to get on the same flight was Lucas, someone I know through the blogger network. She has family that lives in the Tulsa area too... not something that we knew about each other, so it was kind of a shock.

Anyway, I need to hop in the shower and get off to work. More meetings....
~a

Blek

I'm getting sick.

and it sucks. Coughing and congestion. Fun and excitement.

I talked to my boss today about career planning. And the direction that I want to go in - and he seemed amenable, and he would look into how I could go in that direction.

I know, it seems cryptic. But I don't know what will happen. I'm still leaving my options open, because it would still mean travel, but it would be less driving.

And eating today kind of sucked. Not that I ate lots of crap, I just ate too much food in general. And I didn't go running, because of this damn cough.

Boy aren't I the cheerful one today?

~a

A wild hair

I somehow got one...

Reading my e-mails, I got one for last minute travel deals, so I thought - hmmmm wonder what it would be to go to my sister's for the weekend.

So $402 later, and a flight and a rental car all paid for, I am going for the weekend. My sister is having a party for the family celebrating "99 years of life". My sister was planning a suprise birthday party for my BIL's 40th birthday, which was in September of last year, but with his horrific accident and recovery, he was lucky to get out of the inpatient rehab to have dinner out with his family on his 40th. So after my sister's 40th, and to celebrate that John is recovering (he's back at work and everything) and my two nieces are 8 and 11, they are celebrating a total of 99 years.

But she doesn't know I'm coming. My parents, who will be there, know I am coming, but I am just going to show up on her dorstep on Friday evening.

We're that kind of family. For my mom's retirement, I suprised her with my sister. For my bridal shower I was suprised by my sister being there. So I will suprise her in Oklahoma.

And on the exercise eating front. It's actually been a pretty good week. I am feeling a lot better about myself. My mother is calling it "mindful eating" and making healthy choices and being happy about it. Like today - I met my co-worker for breakfast at his hotel. And I had oatmeal. At the meeting where they had decadent pastries, I had mixed fruit. For lunch, I had a turkey sandwich, and avoided the potato chips and the cookie, and for dinner, when we went out, I had a salad with grilled chicken, and stopped when I was full. And I am feeling strong and in control.

And I like it.

May it continue. Tomorrow, I shall run again. And it will be GREAT!

~a

0530

Yes, that was the time I went out my front door to run.

3 easy miles. And I ran the whole way. Not fast. I am not working on fast right now - I just want to get in some milage, and work on my target heart range.

It was a beautiful morning, I had great music in my ears, and it was nice to get out and clear my head. I couln't sleep last night with all of the stuff running through my head, so that makes it doubly good that I got my rear out of bed and out the door to run.

I believe I am going to sign up to do a duathalon in September. 2 mi run/22 mi bike/2 mi run. At some point I think I would like to try a triathalon, but right now I don't have a good place to swim on a regular basis. Yes, I have a friend with a pool, but it's kind of short for laps, and it's a good 20 minute drive to get there.

This week has all sorts of meetings, so eating will be a challenge. Not that it's never a challenge, but you know - it's harder when you have no say in the food selection. Add into it the donuts and rolls they seem to always put out. Note to self: bring own fiber bars and fruit.

that will be all.
~a

Green?

My mother and I went to the Green Expo at the State Fair grounds on Saturday, and sat through a talk on freezing and canning vegetables. It was interesting, but geared towards the folks that had never done anything of the sort before. My mother who has had a garden and has canned food since before I even remember doing it, was having a small conversation with the lady sitting next to her - answering the questions she was asking about canning.

But, we both learned at least one thing, so it was worth it.

After the workshop, we did a little walking around the exhibits, but there were way too many people there, so we left.

It was a good thing there was another day, because I wanted to see some more of the booths. I had looked through the program and there were some things that I wanted to look at yet. So I talked Eric into going the next morning, getting there earlier (before there was too many people there).

And I got it. One thing that will make my life easier/better: the BagEwash

I took it for a test run in the dishwasher, and it worked like a charm. Now I can get rid of the pile of bags on my kitchen counter, waiting for me to handwash them.

Yeah. I'm weird. I get excited over odd things.

Now I just need to green up my diet.

~a

shiny new toy

Last night, after making lemon cookies and coconut bars for my husband*, I put the cadence/speed monitor on my bicycle... but it was late at that point, so I didn't try it out with the Garmin.

But tonight, after my outing to get Mother's day cards, and a plant for my grandmother, and some items at Target (brought my own bags again! I am trying to see how long I can go without getting another bag at a store) I got on my cycling clothes, and headed to the basement to watch Grey's anatomy and ride my bike with the new toy. I couldn't get it to read on the watch, so I had to find the Garmin user's manual to see how to set the darn thing.

And then it started working! Yay me! I biked 46 minutes, burned 799 calories, and went over 12 miles. Not bad.

Tomorrow, after work, I am going to St. Cloud to pick up my mother, and she will be staying here so we can go to the Green Expo on Saturday morning. My dad has a meeting Saturday morning, then he will be coming to the 'Cities, and we are having a family-type get together in the afernoon at my aunt's house. My other aunt, who lives in Ohio will be in town for work, and we are going to visit and catch up. I'm bringing a caesar salad. I have the romaine and the parmesan, and I am going to try my hand at caesar dressing made from scratch. Should be interesting.

I seem to be getting into the whole unprocessed, prepare from scratch food lately. I REALLY want to get myself a yogurt maker. Part of it is because I am cheap. Part of it is because it's healthier. And part of it is because you can't recycle the yogurt containers you get from the store. I think I'm going a little nutty with the "green" thing, but hey, what can I say. We read the book The World Without Us, by Alan Weisman for book club in April, and even if some of it is exaggerated, there's got to be some truth in in it. And every little bit helps, right?

Anyhoo, Eric wants the computer, so I'm off.

~a

*So when I was putting away the leftover stroganoff last night, I asked Erid if he would be eating it for lunch the next day. His answer - no, because we are having a cookout and a potluck, and I need to bring something to share... To be fair, I did volunteer to make him something because I knew I would be home, and I like baking, but still - some warning would have been nice. And it was better than the typical male offering of a bag of chips