Wednesday, September 30, 2009

I Want Wednesday

With the Michigan football team doing so well (4-0), I've decided I need a new sweatshirt to add to my wardrobe. This one will do just fine!

Or this one will do too...tough decision!
Either way, I better act NOW if I want one of them because that awesome Tigers sweatshirt that I wrote about a few weeks ago is no longer available and I'm crazy bummed out about it. Boo!
I have been contemplating getting the 30 Day Shred for a while. It's probably the only way I could incorporate other exercise into my routine since I could do it at home, although E would protest since I'd have to use the LR television. It's the only one with a DVD player and he does love his cartoons. I'd probably have to do it at 10pm anyway. *sigh*


I'm still wanting a new printer. I'll take this nice HP Photosmart All in One. Mine works but it's gotten fussy when I want to put a full piece of cardstock through it. Also, now that we both have laptops, it would sure be nice to have a WIFI enabled printer so I wouldn't have to move documents from my laptop to my desktop in order to print them - such a pain.O has been wanting a GPS system for our cars for as long as I can remember. Honestly it would have been quite handy when he first moved here as it would have prevented many frustrated phone calls from him reporting that he was lost. Either way, with his job, he's always going to new places, so it would be nice to have. We like this one because we can move it between vehicles.And lastly, I really want to get this super cute bean bag chair for E. Look at that - it already comes with his name on it, but we want it in red. LOL!! He'd have his own special place to sit because right now he sits on either the ottoman, the floor or a cushion from the couch...which is super cute but still, his own spot would be better.

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

woot!


Thank you to Valerie for passing me the Kreativ Blogger award. This award is pretty much the same as the others...which means you have to list seven things about yourself that people might not know. I'm not sure there are 7 things I can list that most of you don't already know...but for those of you are new out there...here we go.

1) I am an only child.

2) My new love is iTunes movie rentals. I can sit in bed after E is asleep, put in my headphones & catch up on some movies. I've sort of made it my Sunday treat, as I certainly cannot do this every night.

3) I am crazy nervous about the presentation I have to give next week @ work. I despise presentations. I'd rather rip my finger nails off (well, maybe).

4) I love to bake, but I'm not a fan of cooking.

5) I'm going to have to start staying up a lot later in order to catch up on my school reading. I'm so far behind...

6) Mondays & Fridays are my favorite days right now because those are the days when I am home with E.

7) I was quite happy completing my 3.1 mile run tonight, even though it was with shin splint pain THE ENTIRE TIME.

I'm not big on picking people for awards, so if you want it, grab it. Have fun!

Monday, September 28, 2009

running sucks!

~i'm 4 full months into this running crap.

~i started with the hopes of (1) getting into better shape and (2) losing the remaining baby weight.

~neither has happened. I have actually gained weight & my clothes do not fit me any better, so why the hell should I continue this? and don't say the weight gain is muscle unless you want me to smack you. 4 months in, it's NOT muscle!!

~the month of september has completely sucked for my running. that last weekend in august just did me in.

~i keep getting the left leg/calf pain. it was gone for one week in september when I actually got in one or two 4 mile runs, but otherwise it's been there & prevented me from running farther.

~i only ran 1.58 miles today. that is freakin' embarrassing!

~it seems i need at least 2 days of recovery after running on pavement/asphalt. I ran/walked on Saturday @ a local park and today almost immediately my left leg began to ache along with some shin splits. what joy.

~i want to quit!

~it's a good thing I already forked out my $$ for the WDW Princess 1/2 because otherwise I would NEVER run another day in my life. it's certainly NOT fun and clearly is NOT working for me in other areas.

~it's looking like I'll be the very last of the Bloggerdash contestants to finish that race. heck, maybe i'll be the very last contestant period. now that would be humiliating.

~running sucks.

p.s. Dawn, can you please secure a wheelchair for me on the afternoon of March 7th as I will likely be UNable to walk after that stupid race!!!

p.p.s. Who's idea was this anyway? Someone please hit me over the head next time I think I have such a (un) brilliant idea. Thank you.

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Gap Casting Call

I'd love it if you can take a minute to please vote for Ethan in the Gap Casting Call.

You can even vote EVERY day if you like (which would be SOOO awesome!)

You DO have to register to vote - I know that's a pain but it's pretty quick & painless.

Click here to vote!

Thanks a MILLION!!!

thankful for...

~i certainly post (more than) my fair share of ranty/complaining posts and so today I bring you a post of things I am thankful for....hold on to your seats!!

~i am thankful for the lady in line behind me at walmart last weekend who GAVE me a full box of Size 4 Diapers that she had in her car.

~i am thankful for the lady i met today when i went to the operation bootcamp which actually did not take place (boo!) so instead her and i walked/ran twice around the 2.1 mile trail there at the park and had a great chat.

~i am thankful for break & bake chocolate chip cookies. quick, easy & delicious.

~i am thankful for "finding" new songs that i LOVE...like "find out who your friends are" by tracy lawrence, "back in this cigarette" and "truth" by jason aldean.

~i am thankful for Grey's Anatomy being back & that I got to watch 90 of the 120 minutes of it uninterrupted & in peace & quiet. truly a miracle.

Friday, September 25, 2009

meow

~just some proof that I do still own (2) cats. ever since E came into the picture, well poor Milo & Hula have taken backstage to the camera. I used to take pictures of them all the time. Now, not so much. So the other day while playing around with new lovely Canon SLR I took this one of Milo just hanging out on the couch...his usual spot.

~I'll have to work on getting a good picture of Hula to post here.

Thursday, September 24, 2009

bullet point review of crappy stuff

~Thank you to all of you for your comments regarding my suspicious situation. I think I'm going to just let it ride itself out and see where it goes. I did forget to mention though that this person is also getting rid of a lot of their possessions - just things around the house that they feel they do not need....this has been going on for a few months now...that's sort of a bigger sign to me than any of the others. We'll see what happens. As they say, only time will tell.
~Remember these super cute shoes?? Yeah, well, I ordered them in an 8 and they were too small. So then I got an 8.5 and well, they fit length-wise but are too wide!! They gap mid-way thru my foot and aren't made in a narrow fit (which I've NEVER needed before) so I finally came to terms with the fact that I'm just not meant to have them. So sad!! I really really like them! and needed them!

~I've decided to challenge myself to drink ONLY water for ONE entire (painful) week (longer if things go well). That means NO Diet Dr Pepper in the morning and no more Diet Orange at night. It also means NO more Iced Chai (gasp!)....I'm hoping I can pull this off...to bad it's not Lent season. Today is day #2.

~Of course drinking all that water is healthy and since I'm feeling ridiculously UNhealthy, fat & gross lately with my running struggles and my recent not-so-brilliant idea to hop on the scale...well, hopefully the water-drinking will make me feel better.

~As for that dreaded scale...remember when I told you about all the moms who told me once they finished nursing their children completely, the last of their baby-weight just "melted" off....yeah, I'm talking more than 8-10 people told me this and so well, I was sort of banking on that happening for me, especially with all the running I was doing. Well, because either the stars are all aligned against me or someone has cast an "always be fat" spell on me...I've actually GAINED 3-4 lbs in the past couple of weeks!! That is unbelievably wrong in so so so many ways. It certainly doesn't help me stay motivated to keep running. Heck I might as well just lay on the couch every night eating Bon Bons at this point...that's way more fun than running! Oh AND my boobs are smaller, so where in the heck did that weight go...apparently it just relocated to another part of my body. Oh lucky me. If I read about another new mom who just can't get the last 5 lbs off, I think I will scream. I'm dealing with 20(freakin)lbs here people....the same 20 lbs that came off quite easily back in 2005 when I first starting running. How is it that I go from running ZERO miles per week to 12-15 miles per week and STILL don't lose any weight?!?!

~and please please PLEASE don't say "muscle weighs more than fat" - I've heard it 1,000,000,000 or more times and having been an athlete practically since birth, I know that. At this point however, there should have been some weight loss or at the very least some changes in how my clothes are fitting.

~So thanks to both the scale and wearing a pair of khakis last week that I hadn't worn since April only to find that they don't fit ANY better than they did back in April makes for one very depressed person here. I think I may look into having my jaw wired shut, even though I watch pretty closely what goes in, I must be doing something wrong.

~on a slightly brighter spectrum I will be taking part in a FREE Operation Bootcamp workout on Saturday morning. they are offered every Saturday, but I'm not sure if I can go EVERY Saturday or if it's a one-time-freebie thing...I'm thinking it may be a one-time-only deal...too bad I can't afford the $300/MONTH tuition to participate. It would definitely jump start my body into doing something!!

~I seem to have this problem lately of comparing my life to other people's lives. Facebook is the devil in this regard. I should probably just quit visiting that website, but that's not so easy. To me it appears that everyone else in the world is so unbelievably happy & life couldn't be better for them. I also hear it around me so it's not all FB. I'm sorry if this is 'woe is me' sounding but really, can I ever get a break? I'm tired of feeling like my life SUCKS but you know what?...in my eyes it really does. (yes, I know it could be worse, but it's always been better, so i'm simply wishing that things would at least go back to "better"...) no freakin' wonder I never know what day it is, all my days are the same...school/work/home, school/work/home and the weekends are home/walmart OR home/barnes & noble...how UNexciting. I never meet anyone new so I have no friends here. all the people in my counseling program @ school are MUCH younger than me so there's no connections there and well, I have no other social outlets. I'm ready for 2010 (I said that same thing last year about 2009) and hope that it proves to be better....hopefully in my practicum & internship I end up meeting some people closer to my (old) age.

Rant over.

Wednesday, September 23, 2009

I Want Wednesday...

I just love this shirt. It is QUITE appropriate for me as I chug along at a ridiculously slow pace which I don't anticipate getting much faster come March. I want it in white though...that way it matches any pair of shorts I wear AND more importantly, doesn't show my massively huge post-run sweat marks. I wore a grey shirt to a 5K recently, let me just say it wasn't a pretty sight afterwards. Shirts can be found here -they have hats & stickers too and a bunch of HILARIOUS phrases.
I like this one too...but I think I like the first one best & just may have to treat myself!!!

Can't really think of much else I want these days (miracle)...well that is within reason anyway.

Tuesday, September 22, 2009

suspicious

~i have a suspicious scenario to present...please let me know your thoughts.

~i suspect that one of my family members has a terminal condition but has chosen not to disclose it...that is fine, however...i'm suspicious because...

~contact with this person has INcreased over the past few months

~this person also calls more often than they used to.

~this person has made significant changes to their diet but continues to practice unhealthy habits as well.

~this person has also made changes to their overall living situation in an effort to decrease monthly costs (or paranoid-me thinks maybe to have MORE money to leave behind).

~so i hope that i'm over-thinking it here, but this person is getting up in age, so I guess it's a possibility but I just wouldn't have thought it was their personality to keep something like that a secret.

~i hope i'm totally wrong here, but this continues to cross my mind!!

Monday, September 21, 2009

post by numbers

1-days of class this week. my tues/thur class is canceled all week. woohoo!

2-papers completed this weekend. hooray!

4-miles i ran today. pain free, but not as easy as previous 4 mile runs. hopefully getting back on track - although I was LESS than motivated to run at all.

31-people who took my survey.

22-people who took my survey & don't watch Grey's Anatomy. I was shocked.

36-points out of 40 that I got on last Wednesday's exam/quiz. i was pleased as i thought i did much worse.

70-days left in the semester...not that i'm counting or anything. :)

400-dollars for a plane ticket to DFW on 12.26...E and I may be going to visit my aunt & cousins since our plan to all be together ON Christmas is not going to pan out. hoping for a fun & healing visit. expensive flight though...hoping it goes down a bit before I have to buy.

Sunday, September 20, 2009

"It's Been Said" 5x5 Mini Album Kit

I'm so excited to announce that I've finally managed to put together my first mini-album kit. I have been wanting to do this for some time now.

It's up for sale in my Etsy shop.





Thursday, September 17, 2009

more stats!!!

I remain buried in school work....hence, my 2nd request for your help...please complete the simple 4 question survey for my Stats class!!

Please click here to take survey

Thank you kindly!

Tuesday, September 15, 2009

stretched way toooooooooo thin

~i'm really confused with my school situation this semester.

~i had 3 classes last semester and only have 2 this semester, yet i feel crazy stretched for time.

~nothing else has changed. i still work 20 hrs per week in my GA position.

~why the freak do I not have enough time for everything i want/need to do?

~well, the only 'addition' to my schedule is the running, but I don't think i can truly say it's taking up *that* much of my (study) time. i typically don't run at times when i could be studying anyway.

~i feel really overwhelmed right now, sort of like i'm drowning, you know, my head is just barely bobbing above water. i can't remember ever feeling this way last semester.

~i started off the semester in a hole too, so that's not helping the situation...by that I mean, I usually go study on Sundays, but I missed the first Sunday because it was my birthday. I only got a few hours in on the 2nd one because that was the day of the mid-day 5K race and the 3rd Sunday was Labor Day Weekend and we went out of town. Last Sunday was truly the 1st Sunday where I went to the bookstore as soon as the opened...but then I didn't get "full" cooperation in the house and I was picked up from the bookstore at 3pm...way sooner than I would have liked.

~E's uncooperative bedtime situation is not helping as it's taking me ALOT longer to get him to sleep which ultimately cuts into the time I use for reading and studying. usually by the time I get him to sleep I'm too tired to stay up and read.

~I'm going to attempt a late night tonight. I would call it an all-nighter but I know that will never happen. In fact, I've never had to do that in my entire collegiate life (thank goodness). I do plan to stay up until at least midnight though. I have an exam/quiz (apparently one in the same, according to the prof anyway) tomorrow night.

~it's also a ridiculously busy week @ work, which is VERY uncommon. I guess Fall semester is busier than Spring. I had 2 events to attend today and my supervisor is heading up a job fair of sorts on Thursday so i'll be consumed with menial tasks associated with that all day Wed and then be working the event after my class on Thursday morning. I don't mind, but it just figures that when I could use a little extra study time, the work load piles up. bad timing.

~oh and then there is a (huge) presentation they want me to give on Oct 7th. i'm SO NOT a fan of giving presentations, especially when it's on material that I do not feel that I am an 'expert' on. i feel like I have to agree to do it though. it would look bad if I don't. but i also don't want to get up there & make an a$$ out of myself. two other GAs were supposed to help me with it, but lucky for them, they have class that conflicts with the presentation schedule....so it's basically been 'dumped' on me. oh joy. maybe RxBambi can send me some Valium. that may be my only chance for getting thru it somewhat successfully. a few slurred words never hurt anyone, right? in this scenario anyway.

~i hope that in 2 weeks or so the load will be lighter as I'll have a few of the assignments that are due later on out of the way....hopefully.

~things sure were a lot easier when i had less responsibilities. I hate that my study time takes away from E because I really miss spending time with him. ultimately, going to school sucks when you have kids. not a day passes that I don't wish I had pursued my master's long ago. hindsight is 20/20. (i say that a lot too).

~in a last ditch effort to cram for my test tomorrow, i went up to B&N tonight with a plan to study for 2 hours. I didn't even last one hour and came home. i felt SO guilty. I guess that's what they call Motherhood.

~my reader is 650+ and well, honestly I don't care. the posts will be there when i have the time, but I have taken a step back from reading blogs & may have to do the same with posting until things calm down for me.

~hasta luego amigas.

Monday, September 14, 2009

His Best Dance Moves

Try not to laugh too hard...apparently whenever this commercial comes on, E starts to bust out the dance moves. Enjoy!! It was hard to contain my laughter...ignore the snickers in the background.

a new relationship!

~I will be starting a new relationship this evening. It will be a very intimate relationship. It even involves bubbles and hot water. My jacuzzi tub has been grossly underused but tonight that will end. I'm going to run up our water bill and fill that baby up in a hopeful effort that my legs will enjoy it.

ETA: I guess I live in a 3rd World Neighborhood because we didn't have enough HOT (freakin') water to fill up the tub to where it could be therapeutic. Damn!

~I had hoped to run 3 miles tonight. I have had 3 days off from running. Less than 1 mile in the left calf and foot pain returned. I pressed on and did some walking but quit at 2.25 miles. To say I'm frustrated is an understatement. If I had a better area to bike ride in, I would give up entirely on the running and convert to being a cyclist. I would! But since that is not the case, I will press on. I also don't have a way to transport my bike to ride elsewhere, so again, running it is.

~I just canceled out of the 5K I was signed up for this Saturday.

~Despite the 4 hours of studying @ B&N on Sunday, I remain WAY behind in my reading. I wanted to stay @ the store longer, but we won't really go into that. I WILL be spending significant time there next Sunday though. I was able to finish my Stats Correlation project and for those who wondered, there was a very WEAK (.202) correlation between blogging and Twitter use amongst the 20-29 yo who completed my survey a few weeks ago. Honestly, I thought there would have been a stronger correlation. I have a test on Wednesday. Not sure what to expect on that one. The syllabus says "exam" and the prof keeps calling it a "quiz"...those are 2 VERY different things in my head!!

~I watched The Number 23 last night on iTunes. I did the $2.99 rental - pretty cool feature if you ask me. It saved me a trip to Blockbuster and that makes me happy...not to mention it was cheaper that BB would have been. Anyway, I have a do a review paper on it with a focus on his OCD on the number "23". As for the movie, I give it 2.5 stars out of 5. Not too exciting really.

~Well me and my sore legs are going to the couch now.

Sunday, September 13, 2009

virginia

~feeding Marcos, the goat~

~this roasting marshmallow thing is really fun~

~yum! marshmallows!~

Saturday, September 12, 2009

my grandma


~you would be 93 years old today.

~instead you've been gone from my life for almost 15 years.

~you are missed every single day.

~i would do anything for just one more day with you.

Friday, September 11, 2009

TGIF

~thankfully yesterday was really my friday and thank goodness because I felt quite overloaded in this short week.

~I am SOOOO far behind on my school reading...like WAY behind. I am hoping to make a dent in it on Sunday, but that might not pan out as I had hoped. My mom has bronchitis which means she likely won't be better by Sunday, which then means, she won't be able to watch E. it really frustrates me that O boohoos about watching E for more than a few hours on Sundays while I go study. I told him that this is what I needed to do way back before I started back to school. heck, in my opinion, he should feel lucky that I don't also go study 1-2 nights per week AS WELL, because we all know that I can't possibly get everything done on Sundays. so i'm not going to get my hopes up that I'll have ALL day to study on Sunday because then i'll just be let down when it doesn't work out, but I am going to insist on having at least 5 solid hours at the bookstore. he'll just have to suck it up!

~my dad's condo sold and he already bought a new one....so E, my dad and I are off to see it today. the condo is in a 10 unit complex and he actually hasn't seen INSIDE the one he offered on, so he's unsure as to whether it's full hard wood floors or has carpet in the bedrooms like the one next door. he doesn't really care, but still wants to see the exact unit that he is buying. it's about a 90 minute drive from my house so we'll end up having lunch out there as well and make a day of it. should be fun. as long as E cooperates. ha!

~i guess the state fair has begun. O wants to take E to see all the farm animals and ride the (nasty) fair rides. I'm good with the animals, but fair rides creep me out, or maybe the people who run the fair rides creep me out, not sure. so that will be my saturday afternoon i imagine.

~in the running world...I ran 2 miles on Wednesday night after class and then did another 2 miles today after I got home. I'm taking Friday off. the calf pain is not gone but it was slightly different during today's run. more of a tight feeling vs. pain. i really like the 2 mile runs because i am done in about 22 minutes and that seems so quick compared to the 4 miles in about 45 minutes or so. i wonder how i'll feel after 90 minutes of running....hahaha...if i ever get to that point.

~have a good weekend!!

Wednesday, September 09, 2009

what a pain!

~so I ran last night. after work. on campus. it sucked. big time.

~i hit the 1 mile mark & my left calf & foot decided to scream at me. this is really annoying because i'm finally NOT winded & can keep running, but now my body doesn't want to cooperate. this pain first reared it's ugly head on the two 5K race weekend. honestly, since that weekend my running has gone downhill. strange though as I've had sufficient rest days. i'm super frustrated to say the least. i wish my lungs & my legs would get on the same freakin' page!! i'm also crazy discouraged. i keep having thoughts that I wasted the $140 I spent on the WDW 1/2 marathon because i feel like i'll never finish it. it's not that I want to win it-hell! I'm not stupid...I know that will NEVER happen, but I sure would like to put up a respectable time (for me) of (well) under 3 hours.
~photo disclaimer: NO. that is NOT me in the picture. I am much fatter & have shorter hair.

~on the bright side (if there is one) I finally tested out the Garmin 305 that I (thought I) so desperately wanted....just saved myself $160!! I knew it was BIG, but it's crazy BIG. Also, I think my wrist size is between the notches on the wristband because it was either too tight or too lose and kept moving on my wrist which annoyed the crap outta me. also, the band kept coming out of the silver thingee & so i feared that if i didn't keep checking it, i would lose it. i may have to look in the market for a smaller version. i probably don't need all the bells & whistles this one has anyway. So since I'm fore-going the I Want Wednesday post...I guess this is I Don't Want Wednesday...in regards to the watch anyway.

~i have been toying with the idea of getting a running partner for some time now. it would be a way to get more outdoor running in and hopefully more miles as well. I have potentially found someone but she is at the very beginning of her training, so we will re-connect in a couple weeks. Also, since our schedules are crazy, we would probably only run together 2 times per week, sometimes three. and i may even end up with a new friend-gasp!!

~let me apologize now for being SO behind on my blog reading....I have 500+ in the reader right now and well, barely enough time to pee lately...

~today is O's birthday. he's 36 going on 12. i have class tonight so won't get home 'til a bit after 8pm and then we'll have cake, or maybe he'll have some, I really want to do a short 2 mile run on the tmill to restore my confidence. then maybe i'll have cake. hee hee!!

~on Thursday I am going to an elementary school to observe a special education classroom as well as to conduct an interview with their school counselor. should be an interesting assignment. i'm trying to get a jump on things and get some of this "busy-work" outta the way.

~i also have to watch a movie that involves a disability of some kind and do a short critique/film review paper. I have chosen to watch "the number 23" with Jim Carrey. Have you seen it? Thoughts?

~thanks again to all who completed my survey a couple weeks ago. i aced project #1 and now on to project #2, which I can use all the same data. I will be seeing if there is a correlation between the # of hrs spent blogging and the # of hours spent Twitter-ing amongst the 20-29yo bloggers. I would have hypothesized that they are correlated pre-data collection, but I no longer think so. I was truly surprised that so many of the 20-29 age group bloggers don't Tweet. :(

~A Thousand Miles by Vanessa Carlton just came on my Slacker Radio and I must say that I really like that song. I digress....

~i finished reading "Time of My Life" by Alison Winn Scotch last night. It was good. I give it 3.5 stars. I only gave it 3 on Good Reads, but that is because 3.5 isn't an option and 4 was too many. It gets high marks for originality...it was quite different from anything i've read before in regards to the overall plot. I also found that I could relate (um, alot) to Jillian, the main character. Check it out if you like. I think you'll enjoy it. And it was a fast read. I'm NOT a fast reader and I finished it quickly, reading most of it this past weekend. Next up for FUN reading...I really want to read The Alchemist, but I don't have a copy of it right now, so instead I'll probably read either The Vanishing Act of Esme Lennox or The Girl She Used to Be. Both are sitting on my nightstand. Cannot decide. Ooohh...maybe I'll set up a poll and let YOU choose!!! Please vote!

Cry Out to Jesus

While I'm not a big listener of Christian music, there is some that I like. Third Day is one of my favorites and this song has been on my playlist lately...some parts hit a bit closer to home than other parts.

To everyone who's lost someone they love
Long before it was their time
You feel like the days you had were not enough
when you said goodbye

And to all of the people with burdens and pains
Keeping you back from your life
You believe that there's nothing and there is no one
Who can make it right

There is hope for the helpless
Rest for the weary
Love for the broken heart
There is grace and forgiveness
Mercy and healing
He'll meet you wherever you are
Cry out to Jesus, Cry out to Jesus

For the marriage that's struggling just to hang on
They lost all of their faith in love
They've done all they can to make it right again
Still it's not enough

For the ones who can't break the addictions and chains
You try to give up but you come back again
Just remember that you're not alone in your shame
And your suffering

When your lonely (when you're lonely)
And it feels like the whole world is falling on you
You just reach out, you just cry out to Jesus
Cry to Jesus

To the widow who suffers from being alone
Wiping the tears from her eyes
For the children around the world without a home
Say a prayer tonight

"Cry Out To Jesus" by Third Day

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

back to reality

~i am back from VA. it IS nothing short of a miracle as O and I pretty much wanted to kill each other in the car on the way home. next time he asks if I want him to go with E and I on a weekend trip, instead of being NICE by replaying "sure, if you want to", I'm going to be blunt and say "No, I'd much rather go alone" Thank you very much!!

~on a brighter note, I got some super cute pics of E feeding Marcos the Goat, so I'll post them as soon as I have a chance. E LOVED Marcos the Goat!!!~what is the freakin' deal with these shorts? every.single.female on this campus has them. they may be comfortable, but they are way too short & skimpy for me or for the freezing cold classrooms! Geesh!

~i have not run for 4 days! that is the longest NO-run span since I began on June 2, 2009. Not good. I had planned to run @ the VA Tech campus over the weekend, but that didn't happen because (1) i didn't know the way there & didn't want to get lost on my way through all the country roads and (2) it was freakin' chaotic @ my sister's house & there was no way she could get away to take me since we already had our girls day out on Saturday. Boo!! I really wanted to get a run in too. So instead, I've lugged my running gear to work with me today with the intention of running after I get out of work. My co-worker loaned me her Garmin watch and I still haven't used it so I feel sort of forced to run outside, which at this point is probably better than going home & running anyway.

~i'm ridiculously behind in my school reading and somewhat undisciplined to get caught up too...while @ home that is. if I could go to the bookstore every night after work then I would easily get caught up. but since we all know that would go over like a lead balloon, I will remain 3 chapters behind in both classes. not good. i am planning to spend the ENTIRE day at B&N on Sunday though. My mom already volunteered to take E for the day so if O boohoos about it, then at least I have mom in my back pocket. Thank goodness!!!
~i want these!! no, let me re-phrase that, I NEED these!! If you recall a while ago I posted that I only have 2 pairs of shoes that I wear to work in the colder months, a brown loafer and a black loafer, both the same style too. How boring am i?!?! I am so *NOT* the typical girl with a gazillion shoes...although I wouldn't mind being her!! I think these shoes would be super cute with khakis and much more comfy than the loafers. What do you think? I'm all about comfort here!!

Thursday, September 03, 2009

i am happy...

~i've been inspired by the fabulous Fidgeting Gidget and am determined to devote an ENTIRE post to things I'm happy about...it will be a GRAND challenge to say the least...as i'm pretty much at the lowest point in my life so far...so here goes.

~i am happy that i have a totally awesome & amazing dad & he's actually even more amazing than your average dad because he's really my step-dad. but he is the dad "he didn't have to be" ...you know, like that country song. he is the one who introduced me to softball, walked me down the aisle and danced with me to "i loved her first". There is other big (happy) news related to my dad and I but i'm going to keep it personal. for now, anyway.

~i am happy that i have a great blogging community of friends, because, let's be honest folks, without all of you, I'd really have NO friends at all. and i'd still be using a crappy motorola razr phone too. tee hee!

~i am happy that in just SIX more months i will finally be meeting IRL the lovely Dawn!! We have been blogging buddies for at least five years now and our RL meeting is long long long overdue.

~i am also quite happy that I will also be meeting Brandi, The Optimistic Pessimist and Beth at the same time. Rumor has it that Fidgeting Gidget and Rachel are also working hard on joining the Bloggerdash 2009 Event!! Woohoo!! And I sure hope they make it there because I really want to meet them!!

~i am happy that a new GA in the office shared some VERY valuable practicum/internship knowledge with me. she is a great resource. hooray!

~i am happy that we have a brand spankin' new Chick-Fila on campus...even if they do not have diet dr. pepper and the lines are really long.

~i am (super) happy that in two more months we will be done paying on two separate bills. it will be SO nice to get rid of them and have a little more breathing room in the pocket book. especially since all overtime was cut for O.

~i am happy that my (three hour) deposition is completed. my lawyer said i did well so that's a good thing. i'm also happy that I maintained my composure and didn't fly off the handle @ the lawyers doing the questioning.

~i am happy to have the opportunity to go to VA this weekend & hang out with family, albeit, crazy-family, but family none-the-less. someday i should do an entire post about them, but then again, maybe not. anyway, it will be nice to be "in the sticks" and relaxing a bit. and the pedicure with my (step) sis on saturday will rock too.

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

weekend plans & more

~looks like we'll be heading to VA this weekend - to my (step) sister's house. it should be fun. I really cannot "afford" to lose the study time, but well, it'll just have to be. I'll try to read some on the way there. initially only E and I were going, but this morning O said he's planning to come along as there is NO work this weekend, being a holiday weekend and all. i don't think I need to voice my feelings/opinions on all of that...if you've been reading for any time at all, you know how I feel. hopefully there will be so much going on that things will go smoothly. my sis and I are planning to get pedicures together on Saturday. hooray for that! also, i'll need to squeeze a run in at some point and the roads by her house are pretty dangerous for running, so we'll hopefully head over to VA TECH and run there. Campuses are always fun for running...well as FUN as running can be, anyway.

~i feel somewhat guilty about this vent, but it must be said and hopefully i'll feel better afterwards. my mom is on a perpetual diet & has seemed to be much more committed to it since marrying current husband (another story, another day). she works out with a trainer 2x per week and additionally at home. they've also recently started some carb elimination thing and she has mentioned that the lbs have been coming off of both of them since. she also goes to WW and often reports her results to me. the other day she mentioned that she has some pants that are just WAY TOO BIG for her and that she'll pass them to me (oh yay) to wear until I get back down to my pre-baby shape & weight (which at this point I think may never happen). I'm sorry but it is very hard for me to celebrate her accomplishment WITH her (or even fake joyfullness) when I'm struggling SOOOO much to lose even one effin pound - and she KNOWS how frustrated I am. I guess it's just me and I'd be a bit more sensitive in discussing this topic with me, if I were her. And when I share my frustration with not having lost ONE SINGLE POUND since beginning my running (3 months ago) & quitting nursing (2 months ago) she usually responds with "keep at it, it will happen"....not really the most motivational statement ever made. I love her dearly and we are VERY close, but this is a sore spot for me right now and I wish she would recognize that. I really don't want to tell her not to share her weight loss progress with me because that would just be mean.

~because I like to burn the candle at both ends, I am participating in Shimelle's Learn Something New Everyday Class for the month of September. Yesterday was (obviously) the first day...I am making a small 6x6 album and the idea is to do a small layout everyday about what you've learned that day. The challenge for me is that there are many things I may learn/observe that I don't necessarily want to document or well, aren't meant for eyes other than my own...so I'll have to put a little bit of additional creativity into it. Here is my layout from yesterday 9.1.09...oh and after I scanned it, I stamped the date on it, so you don't see that here...
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I'm trying to stick to a green/blue/kraft(brown) color scheme, so we'll see how that goes throughout. I'm also using ONLY product that I already have. There will be no buying of new product...it's NOT in the budget. I'll have to scan & post the cover to the album tonight or tomorrow...it's similar to Shimelle's but still different.

~I'm also trying to step outside of my scrapbooking "box" as I feel a bit behind the times...and well, I would really like to work on being published again...it happened a few times long, long ago and I imagine it is likely more difficult now due to there being less publications out there, but it sure would be nice. I probably don't have a snowball's chance in hell at it, especially since I don't typically run out and buy the newest products/papers, but i suppose it's worth a try anyway. *sigh*

~then again, maybe I won't really try. it seems like too much effort & if I were really good at it, well, it would come easily...instead putting pages together is ridiculously time consuming and occasionally even painful.

~i know i said i wouldn't mention it again, but i do tend to ruminate on certain things and I'm really bummed about my "forever lost" blogs again....they would be so FUN to read right now.

~a friend at work loaned me her Garmin 305 GPS watch to try out..it's the same one from my I Want Wednesday post a few weeks ago...so I'm excited to see all the fun stuff it can do! Too bad it can't actually DO the run for me too. :)

I Want Wednesday

Well, it turns out when I really sit and think about things...there are a lot of things I want...who would have though?!?! LOL!!

Under Armour Compression Shorts...I've been operating with only one pair, which is at least 8 years old, and well, that makes things difficult when they are gross & sweaty and I have to wash them in a hurry so I can use them again. Did I mention that they probably have no real "compression" strength left in them? Oh and I wear these UNDER another pair of shorts...there is NO way I'm out there running in JUST these - way too revealing. No one needs to see all of my fattness!!

All this time I've been running with cotton socks...turns out I should be using some Dri-Fit type fancy schmancy socks...so I guess I should pick up a couple pair and start using them. Typically my feet are soaking wet when I finish and I'm only doing 4 miles right now...I can only imagine what they will be like after 13.1 miles IN FLORIDA!!

I would like a big ol' bag of this PAL bubble gum. It is so freakin' yummy and seems like they are only around come Halloween time, but I've yet to find a bag of ONLY the gum (like the picture). They are usually packaged with a bunch of other candy that I don't need or want. Boo!! At least this year I will be able to take them out of E's Halloween loot without any complaints from him. That will only last another few years I'm sure. Take it from me, this gum is ALOT better than SuperBubble or DubbleBubble. It just is!


Another LIFE IS GOOD t-shirt to add to my ever expanding collection. I am truly addicted to these t-shirts. They are wonderful. The best part is that they aren't UNISEX and so when I buy them in an XL and I'm not tripping all over them since they aren't down to my knees. They fall at the VERY spot they should. A perfect fit. I don't always agree with some of their slogan's and such (like the "optimism" shirt)...but they are still cute and comfy and well, that's what matters most of the time.

Tuesday, September 01, 2009

just stuff

~a few people have inquired about the 5K I did on Sunday. If you weren't on Twitter, then you don't know that the race was quite painful. The course, thankfully, was flat, but because I ran the other 5K on Saturday, I was not 100%. At about the 1 mile mark, my calves began to "scream" and I was forced to walk. That is VERY early to walk for me and herein began my disappointment and realization that there would be no new PR...which I had hoped for. I felt GREAT prior to the run, it wasn't until I started running did all the pain start up, which I suppose makes sense. So in all, I had to walk QUITE A BIT on Sunday and my time was 39-something. Humiliating really. But they didn't use chip timers, so it's not entirely accurate, but it was definitely slow. I haven't decided if I'm going to run tonight or not. I took Monday off, of course.

~I have my deposition on Thursday morning. I cannot wait 'til it's over with. It's supposed to be somewhat nerve-wracking...so I hope I can remain calm and just answer their questions and get outta there. Just when I thought maybe the end was in sight for all this, my lawyer is not deposing the opposing side 'til Oct 15th...so we'll be waiting around another 6 weeks for nothing. Lovely.

~that's about all I have this morning. my computer @ work is ridiculously slow and is wearing on my last nerve, so I better just hit "publish post" and be done with things.