31 May 2009

A nice Sunday

Yesterday was a whirlwind - airport, flight, airport, flight, drive on unfamiliar highways in semi-familiar territory, quick change and then to Mass. Yep...full Mass in the middle of the afternoon and then commencement. It's was a full afternoon and I was ready to sleep by 7.

But I got to go to Baskin Robbins last night and got my Daiquiri Ice - which has changed colors and doesn't quite taste the same as I remember - still good, but not quite right. And then I crashed hard.

Today was extremely low-key. We just had the nephew's grad party and my brother has a pool so it was a nice pool party kind of event. Too bad it's super windy here. I just hung out with my sis-in-law's family, had some homemade stromboli and a couple rum and cokes. Now I'm tired again and ready to sleep. Tomorrow will be another early morning, drive on now semi-familiar highways, back to the airport for flight and flight and then mow Mom's lawn.

I'm tired. Aren't vacations supposed to be relaxing? :)

30 May 2009

Why?

Why would anyone in their right mind (or left mind for that matter) be up at 3:33 in the morning when they aren't at a party, aren't drinking, or aren't on a very good date?

Only someone insane like me.

WHY did I pick the earliest flight possible? I have no idea. Craziness ensues.

29 May 2009

Almost a full day

Wow, I was doing so well today until about an hour ago when my brain seemed to crash. It's 1620 when I'm typing this and I haven't gotten much accomplished in the last hour. What's bad is I have a lot to do and Boss1 is leaving for a week. Not good. I should be out running too, but I'm still a little scared about my knee. I have to get over that though as Marathon Training begins on Monday. Woohoo!

I've also been getting into my head again and my self-doubt and lack of self-confidence and esteem are flowing rapidly today. Why? I don't get why I get this way. It's just stupid stuff I'm thinking, but it just picks away at my brain, nagging me until I just want to scream. Of course it would all be solved with simple questions and answers, but the the self-doubt flares again and causes me to be scared of what the answers may be. Dumb, I tell you. I'm just dumb.

I'm off to the land of crabs and football this weekend. My oldest nephew is graduating from high school so I'm flying out to see the family. It should be a lot of fun, albeit a very short trip. I just have to follow through on my promise to go back again later this year. Maybe MS will come along on that trip since he can't this weekend.

28 May 2009

Refreshing!

I slept on the right side of the bed last night, just to switch things up for a change. That put me closer to window which I always leave open during spring and summer until it gets so hot that I can't stand it.

Well I'm not sure how cold it got last night but I woke up to 39 degree temps. Perfect! I slept so well! I love cool temps as long as I can stay nice and warm under the covers. Ahhhhh....

So now I'm refreshed and ready for the day. I have a lot to get done today so I better get going. Go, go Gadget Motivator!

27 May 2009

Not too bad

Today I was actually fairly motivated. It helps when I get to work late because then I'm on the go from the get-go. Not that it's good to be late as I'll have to sign an hour for that, but oh well.

Tonight I went to my nephew's baseball game. He was pitching to start and he did really well. Sadly though, they lost and so he was sulking after the game. I worry about him when he gets like this. One of his friends does this during the game when he makes a mistake and then it effects (or affects - I always get those wrong) the rest of his playing. Hopefully Zach will realize that it's a game and there's always room for improvement. He'll be okay.

It was cold tonight though. 60 degrees and a cold wind. But tomorrow - it's supposed to be in the 80s. Nice. I need to run tomorrow. I haven't since the almost marathon, so I really need to get out. Here's hoping! :)

26 May 2009

Uh oh...

So I haven't been to work since noon last Thursday...and surprisingly...

I've loved this.

This is not a good sign. I have really enjoyed not being at work. I did stop in once Saturday to pick up some paper I had left there and checked messages (much to MS's humor and dismay) and again to do a little switcheroo yesterday. But I haven't even thought about work as an, "OMG, I need to go back to work!"

Maybe it's because this weekend has been so full and fun that I haven't needed to miss work. Or maybe it's because I have enough to do on my own that work doesn't need to encompass my life anymore.

Whatever the reason (since as I'm rereading those they sound a lot the same) it makes me a little worried for tomorrow when I go back to work for the week. I need to be and stay motivated. I have a lot to do and I've been putting it off, which is not good.

But until then, I'm going to enjoy my last day off and get some things accomplished.

25 May 2009

Memorial Day

Today is a day we honor and remember our veterans who went before us and gave the ultimate sacrifice.

Today is the day I go to the cemetery where my Dad is buried as well as his father, my uncle and Dad's Godfather. There's a lot of history at that place. It's by the church where my parents were married, where some of my friends parents had their funerals, and just a lot of memories.

After the service this morning I got to catch up with Pat who is the pastor there now. It was a lot of fun to see her again. We were in sem together and graduated together.

Then it was off to Mom's to mow her lawn. I talked her into vacuuming out my car while I did that. Then back to home to clean and do laundry. MS called because he needed oil for his car and he was at work so he couldn't leave. So I picked that up and got to see him this afternoon for awhile. That was fun to see him in his workplace for once. Luckily it was quiet so we got to talk for awhile.

Then Mom and I headed out to shop for a dress for her for this weekend. I'm not as skilled at this task as KC and SBK are, so I'm not sure what we picked out is what mom will be comfortable in. We actually got her a dress to try something different, but now I'm having second thoughts. Should I be doing that when I encouraged her to try it on? I don't know.

Now, I'm just tired, but I need to get a few things finished so I can go to bed and sleep in peace. Tomorrow will be another day off but not as much work, which will be nice.

I hope you all had a great Memorial Day. It's a great day to honor our loved ones but it's also a great day to spend time with loved ones.

24 May 2009

Sunday is not a day of rest anymore

Since Saturday was a bust with the wedding, MS and I spent all of today getting caught up on our projects. And since we're both early risers, we started early.

Chris came at 8 to finalize the wiring for the sprinkler system. We were close, we just didn't know the open versus closed wire and it was probably good to have him look over everything anyway. We'll be setting the heads and getting that ready to go on Tuesday. YAY!

Then MS and I finished planting the rest of the 45 trees and bushes we had to plant. We had done most on Friday, but we had just under half to finish today. That's a lot of holes to dig, to fill, to water, to stake. But they will look stunning when they are grown - 5-20 years. :)

After that, MS wanted to drag the yard so he could seed. I was going to ride shotgun on the John Deere but there was no room. So I let him go and I started harvesting rocks. For whatever reason, this yard has rocks - and a lot of them. Big rocks. Like softball size rocks. So I grabbed a bucket and went where he had gone over to start picking. I got through half the yard in 5 hours and still missed a bunch. I did manage to fill the plastic bins around the five trees. From here on out the rest will go around the culvert.

But now my lower back hurts...really bad. And I got a little burned on my back since I decided to wear a tank so I wouldn't get a farmer's tan. My arms look good, but my back is really sore.

It's a good thing we can laugh about this. Last week I had to aloe MS's back since he burned his entire back from just having his shirt off for about 4 hours one morning. So he gets to laugh at me since he kept telling me I was going to burn. Oh well.

The good thing - I did beat him at cribbage tonight. Of course he let me win because I didn't quite see Nobs at the end, until just before he started counting, and that was the last point I needed.

23 May 2009

Fun day and a photo

Today MS's friends got married, and since he was best man we, of course, had to attend. :)

It was a full day. We had our list (literally you know...I mean, I live by lists) and we ran some errands this morning, and then we headed to the wedding location for photos and so on.

It was weird to be back in the wedding circuit again - pinning flowers, moving chairs, taking photos, and of course critiquing the wedding. :) It was fun though.

So here's a photo. I think we looked pretty good. :)

22 May 2009

Busy day

Dug and filled way too many holes today with trees and bushes... tired.

21 May 2009

Great link

I put this on my facebook page, but I need to put the link here too.

This is awesome!
I love it!

A great Friday

Yes, I know it's Thursday, but in my world, it's Friday!!! Yay! This afternoon started my loooong weekend. I don't have to be back to work until Wednesday. I'm so happy about this.

So after quartet rehearsal, I took KC back home with me to look at the dresses SBK and I picked out last night. We ended up deciding to go with the one SBK said I shouldn't wear to the wedding. I just feel more comfortable in it, I get to wear my comfortable shoes and I still look good. I'm really excited about it. The other one we picked out would work, but we really need different shoes and handbag.

After that I went down to MS's to help with some of our projects. We hooked up the sprinkler system and then measured out and flagged where we're going to plant trees and bushes tomorrow. Tons o' fun. He's out with the groom for the wedding this weekend and so I'm at home cleaning tonight. I'm actually really glad that I get this time to do some things I need to do. My apartment, for as little as I've been here lately, has really gotten messy. It's clean now!

So as soon as Friends finishes on TBS I'm going to shut the boob tube off and read for awhile. MS is coming over after they get the groom all happy-go-lucky. But I'm not waiting up for him. I'm so tired, I'm really going to welcome this time to rest and relax. Tomorrow will be a busy and tiring day. :)

20 May 2009

Catching up again

Wow...it has been a long time since I've "blogged" while at work. Today seems to be the day to do it. I've been really behind in my writing and it's not that there isn't anything going on in my life, because there is, I just haven't had time to write. I'm not at my computer at home much these days, which is okay. Initially I was really feeling the loss of not checking all the blogs everyday, but I'm kind of okay with not doing that. It used to eat up an hour of my time each night, and that was just skimming and replying. Then I got hooked into Facebook and then Mafia Wars (thanks, Joel) and my evenings were shot. Amazingly, now that I'm not on the computer all the time I'm feeling happier, freer even. That's not to say I don't miss catching up on what my friends are doing, but it doesn't seem like a chore or necessity as much as it did. Now I can read because I want to.

Anyway, I've always been hesitant to write about my personal life here. I'm usually pretty vague, not always using full names of people and I will continue to do that because anonymity can be a very good thing. And I like to keep my life separate but it's hard to do that all the time. Maybe if I was writing a book or something I could, but I'm not right now so I feel like I should be sharing.

So here it goes - *big breath in* - Of course...now as I start to type this I think, why am I being so secretive and nervous about this. It's not that big of a deal. :) lalala

A few months back K encouraged me to get back out into the dating world. God bless her because she has had to put up with me and my whining for a long time. I'm really grateful that she and E pushed me to do this. So I opted to try Match again since I already had a profile started there, I just needed to do some serious updates. I did and over the past 6 months I have met 5 men, talked with a few others, and am now dating one of the best.

It's been a big step for me because I've never been much of a dater. In high school I kissed one guy (freshman year) and he was so slobbery it just turned me off. I went on two dates - one was a blind date for prom, the other a pizza date with a guy I met at work who made fun of me for eating my pizza with a fork. In college I was a little more adventurous, sort of dating a couple different men before settling in with Jim for the long haul (I thought). When that ended after a year and with him cheating on me, I kind of got a bad taste in my mouth.

I took an 8 year hiatus before really settling into dating again. Granted I had a couple month long experiences which weren't worth the effort, but did keep me in the game, so to speak. But then I met DLE and we dated for 6 months. Another really bad taste after that one - which is a story I won't share but those who know me know that one. So again, a hiatus.

A little over 3 weeks ago I met a wonderful man, MS, and we have really hit it off. It's been non-stop fun and as long as I can stay out of my head and quit comparing him to all the other idiots I've been involved with things will continue to be great. We have a similar sense of humor, like the same things, he's very driven and motivated which is good for me (it's rubbing off on me too), and just makes me feel good about me. And what's great is that he wants to be with me - I mean, he actually calls to spend time together.

Anyway, he's been really good for me and I'm really happy. Boss3 says I'm smitten. I think he may be right. :)

Well, Saturday MS and I are going to his friends' wedding. It should be interesting as I'll get to meet the friends for the first time. Tonight I went shopping with SBK for a dress. I ended up with three dresses and a shirt, as well as makeup and shoes. Maybe I can finally become the dress woman I have wanted to be. The good thing is that I can wear one this weekend and the other next weekend for my nephew's graduation. It's a good thing I'm not a real dress woman yet - it's expensive!

But I also got a Nikon Coolpix camera for my handbag. I love my Nikon D40, but it's hard to carry around all the time. So this will be a nice point-n-click to have around. Hopefully I can get some decent pictures of me this weekend. :)

So that's a quick wrap up. I need to make a strawberry-rhubarb crisp tonight before my rhubarb goes bad. Hopefully I'll find time to write tomorrow, but I make no promises anymore. :)

19 May 2009

Must.

Be.
More.
Motivated.
Tomorrow.

Tomorrow is my last day for a week at work. I'm excited for that but I really need to get motivated to accomplish things. The last few days (weeks) have been crap.

Please send good thoughts! :)

18 May 2009

Weekend recap

Alright, so I know I haven't really written in awhile, and I know you can never really make up for that but I'm going to try anyway.

Friday
Friday night I headed up to the marathon town to pick up my race packet. Before I went I got a little girlified because I've been trying to be more of a girl lately. I think it threw Debbie off a bit. I picked her up at Super8 and we headed to the student union for packet pick up.

I'm either running too many races or I'm just really memorable. The guy who runs All Sport Central here in town was there and saw my name and said, "Oh hi!" just like he did last week at the 10K. He said, "You know the drill" as he passed me my chip and bib. Yep! I've been thru this a time or two.

After that Debbie and I found the starting point and then got her Subway before I headed back home to see MS briefly for the night and then sleep. MS was sooooo tired from working 4 days in a row on his yard that I had to tease him a little. "Why, MS, Why are you soooo tired? You haven't done ANYTHING all week long!" He laughed and said, "You're about this close to having a broken nose." :) Ah, so sweet. :)

Saturday AM
Saturday started well. I got up on time, got dressed and ready, and then headed out a wee bit late so I didn't get my starbucks and had to drive a wee bit fast to get there. I got to the park with 11 minutes to spare, 5 minutes before the National Anthem was sung, so I had 5 minutes to finish getting ready and get to the starting line. Luckily this isn't like TC and there are only 300 runners tops.

The race started out well. My first mile was 10:40 even though I was a little tight. Then I settled into my 11-11:30 pace. I was doing well through the first 6 miles then it started to get a bit iffy. My right knee really tightened up and started to scream at me - well not at mile 7, but by mile 10 it was screaming. I could barely walk through that mile (of course the steep up and down of the hill during mile 9 didn't help). 11-13 were better but by the time I hit the mid-way point I was done.

I kept thinking that the stupidest thing I could do would be to keep running and end up with a scoped knee like MS. But I also kept thinking how I would let people down if I did stop - myself especially. I really did/do feel extremely small for ending when I did. I could have made it, it would have sucked and I wouldn't be walking today, but I could have made it.

So now I have to take a little rest and then get my mind set in for really training beginning June 1 (at the latest - next week would be good too). MS and I talked about P90X in June and I think that would be a great idea. I need to do something.

Saturday PM
After the race, Debbie went shopping while I showered, cried and iced. Joel IM'd and wanted to go to lunch so he joined Debbie and I at Champps. :) We had a really good time, eating, drinking, watching some baseball and talking a lot. We moved to a local pub after that and then on to a local baseball game. It was an insane afternoon and evening, but a lot of fun. It really helped to take my mind off the race, at least it did when my knee wasn't flaring in anger. :)

Sunday
Sunday AM I headed to MS's to help put manifolds together for a sprinkler system we're working on for his yard. Tons of fun. Then I met up with the ever-fabulous Karen and Joel again for lunch. We hit a new place in town that was really good. I'll have to go back sometime.

After lunch, Karen and I ditched Joel to go shopping. Funny enough, my knees felt great, but my quads were really sore. That made for an interesting shopping experience, but we had a lot of fun. She found a coat, I got some jeans and my hair cut, and we ate junk food. Always a good night.

Then back to MS's to see how the day's projects finished up. I have to help harvest rocks later this week so I wanted to see how bad it really was. Yeah, it'll keep me busy. :)

Monday
So now we're to today. I worked today so I can have a long weekend with the holiday. Not sure why since I don't have any plans as of yet, but I'm sure something will come up (STS). I was supposed to go walking with SG tonight but Mom called and needed her lawn mowed before it gets windy and then rains as the forecast states. So I headed up there after work and mowed the lawn with her crappy mower. :) At least I got some exercise in today.

I'm feeling better about the whole race, or lack thereof, today. I'm still disappointed in myself that I stopped, but I am glad I made it as far as I did and tat I was willing to listen to my body that was yelling at me. It's a good motivator to get on a real training program, drop some pounds, and get ready to make a change again. I can do it. I just need to start now.

17 May 2009

Another funfilled day...

More to come... I promise! Monday will be full of words and stories. :)

16 May 2009

A day full of ... something

I will write more about this tomorrow, but for now let's just go with this:

Today was UGH. Then Laughter. Then Baseball. Weird mix, but it works.

15 May 2009

One last night of walking normal

Mom's surgery went really well and she went home today. I dropped her off about 90 minutes ago and then came home to do laundry for the weekend. I figure after tonight I won't be able to walk very well, so it'd probably be good for me to have clean clothes, just in case.

Tomorrow is my first marathon this year. I'm excited and nervous. I have to get my race packet tonight and be at the starting line at 0630 tomorrow. Freakin' early, if you ask me, but whatever. It should be good.

Ms. Debbie came down to help me schlep, so I'm going to meet with her tonight and do a hand off. I have my plan, which is always important, so tomorrow should go okay...as long as my legs and hips keep working.

14 May 2009

A quickie

Okay...get your mind out of the gutter. It's not like that.

I'm just writing super quick here to stay on top of my blog, but mostly because I won't be back until tomorrow at some point. Mom had surgery today and it went very well, but I've been spending most of the day in the hospital. She kicked me out a couple hours ago so she could nap and I could run some errands. But I'm going to head back shortly to stay with her over night.

It's been a long day. I had a blog post ready earlier but I didn't write it down, so I'll have to think about that one again. OH...nope. I remember.

We finally got the TV to work and I was flipping channels and landed on Mr. Rogers. I love Mr. Rogers. This episode he (and we) learned about a different instrument I had never known. It's a glass harmonica. This thing is wicked cool and invented by Ben Franklin. What an amazing instrument. I loved it!

Okay, now I'm done. Back to the hospital.

13 May 2009

Far behind

I'm so far behind on my television. That should be a good thing - that I'm not glued to the set all the live-long day. And I just realized that I missed my class tonight. Whoops.

Anyway, I missed the season finales to so many of my favorite shows. And what's funny is that I don't really care that much. It's kind of nice to not be tied down to them, though I am kind of curious about what happened. It's an interesting paradox.

Tonight I'm doing a quick load of laundry or two and picking up mom. She's going to stay with me tonight so we can make it to the hospital early tomorrow. She's having surgery tomorrow - nothing evasive, but still a little worrisome nonetheless. So I'm taking a couple days off to spend with her.

Then Saturday will be the marathon. I'm really excited for it. I'm telling you all this now because there is a good chance I'll forget to blog for a few days. I tend to do that these days. Sorry.

12 May 2009

A nice evening

Okay...so I know I'm really far behind on my blogging. Bear with me, please!

Tonight was a great night. After work, despite the crappy weather, I headed home to change into other work clothes, picked up some chicken and headed to MS's. We were going to harvest rocks and finish putting in edging but since he had been working since 11 and it was 7 by the time I got there, that was a no go. We ended up having a nice evening meal, a game of cribbage and then falling asleep in front of the tv...you know. The usual. :)

It was an odd day though. I have not been motivated at work but at all. I don't know what's going on or where my mind is, but it's not good. I have so much to do but I don't know why I'm not focused! Help me focus!!!

11 May 2009

Baptismal Day

As opposed to Abysmal Day. :)

34 years ago today I was Baptized. I know this may seem odd, but I really like this day. I usually celebrate this instead of my birthday. One year my friend got me a whole water themed gift bag - Aquafina, a rubber ducky, a sea smelling candle and a couple other things. It was really cool.

Anyway, happy Baptismal day to me. :)

Looooooonnnnnggggg Day

After a late night last night, the last thing I should have been doing was driving 4 hours in a car. But I did anyway.

Today I headed to the Cities for my monthly massage therapy appointment. I need to emphasize that this really is therapy - not just a fluff and buff. I have some major kinks in my back and forearms from work, and my legs and feet from running. So this isn't always relaxing, but it is always beneficial.

So basically, I drove up, met with Keith for a couple hours, then drove to my brother's up north to drop of SIL's framing project I put together for her and watch Jake at his soccer game. I'm finally home and dead on my feet. I really need sleep.

It's marathon week, which is always tough. I need to watch what I eat, make sure I'm getting sleep, and get a couple short runs in to at least stay limber. Add to that my mom's surgery on Thursday and the fact this is a marathon in the middle of the month - which is really throwing me off for some reason. It shouldn't but it is. I'm just hoping that this week will go well and that Saturday will go very well. I would love to beat my time from last fall, but it's a different course and a different time, so we'll have to see. Maybe I should just hope to finish. :)

10 May 2009

A nice Sunday

For those of you, all 5 of you, who actually read this blog and noticed I didn't post yesterday, despite what the timestamp says below, the reason I didn't was because my computer was jacked up last night when I got home, so here you go.

I love Sundays. I so should have gotten more done, but I'm feeling pretty good. Saturday late afternoon I had started my clothes project - going through my drawers and closets and even bins trying to sort through what clothes I really wanted to keep, what could be put in storage, and what could go to Goodwill. I have a TON to go to Goodwill - a lot of stuff I just don't ever wear and why keep it if someone else can wear it. I also have a lot of t-shirts that I'm just going to cut for rags because I'll never wear them, even for work projects, so I might as well just cut them up. I need some more rags around the house anyway.

So today I finished up the clothes project after church and my run, and then proceeded to do two loads of laundry and read parts of a couple books. I'm reading Once A Runner and then started HP:5 again because I can't quite remember how the story went anymore.

The bad thing is I also fell asleep and didn't go to the movie with Mom. But it was such a nice day, spending the afternoon in the theatre wasn't really appealing. MS called around 4:30 and we met up at Home Depot to do get some specs on a few projects. We ended up at Menards as well and then headed out for subs and cribbage. Truly a full and relaxing evening. Loved it.

I need more days like this. Of course I need more productive days like I had Saturday night too. Hopefully after the marathon on Saturday, when I can't really move a lot anyway, I can go through magazines and papers and get rid of some more. Then it will be on to books. Uffda...books. :) Oh well, it needs to be done.

09 May 2009

For the sisters

This morning I drug my fat ass out of bed and ran a 10K. It was the breast cancer run that's held each year on Mother's Day weekend here. It's been getting bigger each year and this year was no exception. Over 4500 people signed up to do either the 10K, 5K, 3mile walk or 1.5 mile walk. Insane!

So my friend Joel and I carpooled together and ran together (sort of...he's tall and fast, so I just watched him go). I was really happy with my run - 1:08:23, which equates to an 11:01/mile pace avg. Nice.

It felt good to get out and race again. I'm always better about it when I can and when there are people I know there. Next weekend I'm running a marathon. I haven't trained very well for this, but I think I can make it. A couple of my friends signed up for the 1/2 instead of the full. They are the smart ones I think.

Then my sister, niece, her friend, and our Mom got together for lunch and painting of pottery for Mom's Day and my niece's belated b-day present. Tons o' fun. :) I painted a tumbler this time and I think it'll turn out nice. It'll be good when I go to Starbucks. I just need to figure out how many ounces it will hold.

After that I got to pick up a couple framed items I put in a couple weeks ago. One is for my SIL with her certificate of training for the police force. It got a little bigger than I think she or I had planned. I think we could have trimmed down a bit of the matte, but oh well. And the other was a print for work which turned out nice.

Now I'm going to take a mini-nap and then start sorting clothes. I need to purge again. I'm just feeling the clutter upon me and i can't take it anymore. Goodwill will love me soon. :)

08 May 2009

Running for the soul

I took the afternoon off today, which was really nice. I needed to get out of the office for awhile. Granted I was in a seminar for three days last week, but I still had to go into work and worked late a couple of the nights to catch up on things. So I wasn't really gone.

But after a great lunch with my coaches from the seminar, I picked up my race packet for the 10K tomorrow, then came home and ran a short 2.25 myself. It was raining and perfect out. A little chilly, but it felt good.

Running also helped me work out a few issues in my head. I'm really messed up when it comes to relationships and I'm not sure why. I really need to call that therapists number...this is getting ridiculous. I need to make a point of it on Monday. Of course when I get around to thinking about calling that's usually when I'm feeling pretty good about myself. :) It's like getting into the tub and the phone rings.

Anyway, I need to get out of my head. I really do. When I can do that and just experience what I'm experiencing (natch), I have a great time. I need to get there.

Well, that will be one of my tasks for tonight. We'll see how I do.

Oh and if you're bored between 8 and 9:15 CDT tomorrow morning, I'd really appreciate some prayers or happy thoughts sent my way. :)

07 May 2009

Road ID

I finally did it! I signed up for Road ID. I'll finally be safe when I'm out running. I'm really excited for this, I don't know why I waited so long. If you're a runner, or biker, or outside person - get one! This is awesome!

It's days like this that remind me why I'm a runner. The weather was absolutely perfect today. A slight breeze, 72, a few clouds in the sky to break up the blue monotony - just me, my shoes, my skirt and my thoughts. I worked out a lot of things in my head and had a great 3 miles doing it. My splits made me happy. 10:34 for the first mile; the second mile I walked a bit and still made it in 12:02; third mile 10:55 running into a head wind for a little bit. So overall about a 11:12 avg mile, which is good for me. As my boss would say though, "I love it when a plan comes together."

I also realized today that I really miss the noon run I used to do all the time. Not that running at night with SG is bad, because I love that too - it's usually cooler, it's a nice way to end the day - but it's also the end of the day and after a hectic day the last thing I usually want to do is run. But running at noon gets me out of the office for a little while, I get to enjoy the daytime weather, and I'm ready to get back to work when I return. Lunch is a trick, but I can usually make that work too (if I plan right, which I didn't do today).

I need to do this more. I need my runs. I really shouldn't be skipping these. Now - on to the ice!

06 May 2009

Today's favorite quote

"but, for my input, Mike's lucky :D"

05 May 2009

Tuesday ramblings

"It's not the little engine that could, it's the little engine that deceived itself."
said by Tim Don after I explained my mantra of "there is no hill, there is no hill" while running the last mile yesterday which had two steep hills.

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"I need something real to eat," she said after popping four M&Ms in her mouth.

I'm hungry today. I know why, and MS gave me crap about this last night. I'm not eating right again. He said he couldn't understand why I wasn't this \O\ big around when I'm running all the time and hardly eat. I'm not taking my own advice that I gave K a couple weeks ago. I've cut down my intake - "too busy" to eat breakfast, shoveling lunch in while working, kind of having a dinner after a run. I'm not eating enough. Dammit, Jim.

I think my fear is that I'll start eating more often like I should, but I won't exercise enough so then I'll just be eating and eating and then I'll get fat, and I can't do that. I need to find that balance. Part of what would help is if I made my meals like I should and had my snacks ready to go (like celery and PB, yogurt, etc) so I wouldn't have to think about it all.

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Sanitize the passion
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My boss now talks to himself. He never used to, but after 2 1/2 years of working with me, he now does. It's quite humorous. :)

04 May 2009

9 days

They say it takes 21 days to make or break a habit. I find it amazing how quickly life can change in just 9 days. A person can go from sad and depressed and unsure about the future or the past, to happy and excited and confident that the future will be great and the past is behind them.

It amazes me that I am said person. And I hope the latter part continues moving forward. :D

03 May 2009

Crossing fingers

Here's hoping tonight is a great night and that tomorrow my apartment gets clean. Now if my apartment would get cleaned while I'm out having a great night...that would be even better.

02 May 2009

Freakin' weird day

It was a work day today, which I was kind of glad about because having been at the leadership training this week I'm really far behind on tasks.

The bad thing was I didn't really work today. I networked, as I told Boss1. Luckily he networked a little too so he wasn't too upset.

So I decided to stay late because the work I needed to do is easier done when I'm alone. I cranked up my Upbeat Playlist and sang while I found some order to my chaotic existence.

Then I got to work. But two forms in, one of my mentors came in while talking on his cell. He shut my hall door and then shut the interoffice door between Boss1 and I and sat down to talk.

Can I just say, I was scared out of my mind when he sat down? It's not that I was worried I had done something... well yes I was a bit... but I have never seen him like this. It really scared me.

So we talked. Two different hats came out initially. One that scared the shit out of me - mostly because he was acting on behalf of someone else, but also because of the content; the other because the situation was just wrong. And then the third hat came out - the friend and coach.

We ended up talking over 2 hours trying to come to a place where he felt better. We got close. And it felt good to be able to help him. At one point he said, "Honestly, I've been looking for someone to talk to for a long time about this." That made me sad because he and I have always been able to talk, I thought, but it took this training we were in this week for him to really trust me.

And then tonight on FB, EB IM'd me (how many more acronyms can I get in a row?) that she was stressing out. I did my best to talk her down. Hopefully I did.

Now, I need to go nap. I'm so tired and I have another long day ahead of me. But I can't wait. Life is good.

01 May 2009

DC part II

Diversity Champions course has ended. But the work is just beginning.

Today we had to write a letter to our self. We'll get this letter in 6 months and we can see if we have accomplished what we wanted and if we're in the same place we are today.

Part of our fears is that we'll keep the momentum up for a week, maybe two, maybe even a month, but then it will all fall to the wayside. I was doing the cribbage thing with MS tonight and he started lamenting that it sounded like a lot of other committees that gets started and you have meeting after meeting and nothing ever happens. I had to say, "Please don't deflate me right now, I'm really excited for this." He looked into my eyes and realized I was serious, and agreed.

But just talking to him, who has no stake in our organization or even knows much about it...even HE was skeptical.

We have a lot of work to do.