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Sunday, August 24, 2008

Making It Happen

I mentioned a few weeks back that I had decided to sign up for the LiveStrong Challenge. I had worked out a bit of a training schedule to get myself ready to walk (or run if I so desired) the 5k at the end of October. Needless to say, after one excuse or another I hadn't gotten very far on my training and I was getting frustrated with myself because of it. While trolling around on the internet one night, I stumbled across the website for a local marathon training program. After reading the information on the site and emailing the program director, I decided that this was a program I could do. The program is called Round Rock Fit and is based on a marathon training program called USA Fit. Fortunately for me, there are different levels of training based on your pace, if you are training for the half or full marathon, or if you are a walker. I decided to join the walking group. Between my knees and my back, I wasn't sure my body would be able to handle the running and I think I will be more comfortable with the walking anyway. Based on the information provided on the website, I was prepared to attempt a 1 to 2 mile walk. Once I got there and started going (at 7:30 on a Saturday morning I might add) I found out that we would be starting with a 3 mile time trial. Now the 5k is just slightly over 3 miles so when I mentioned this to my coach, he told me not to worry because I would definitely be prepared for the challenge in October since I would be doing 3 miles my first day and would be up to much more than that by the time I actually completed the 5k. I was certain there was no way I would be able to finish 3 miles on my first time out or that if I did, I would be really hurting by the end of it. Well, I am proud to say that neither is true. Not only did I finish the 3 miles but I did it in 50 minutes which is just under a 17 minute mile pace. I personally think that is really good for someone who is just starting out. I felt really accomplished when I was done with my walk and now I am excited about the program and optimistic about what it will do for me. I don't know if I am actually going to try to do the marathon. Right now I am just focusing on getting in shape but I may change my mind closer to time for the race in February after all I will be capable of doing it by the time I finish the program. I may do it just to say that I did. We shall see.

Thursday, August 14, 2008

Ready or Not

I was supposed to have a date tonight. I cancelled. Why? I am not really sure. I have been on a bit of a dating hiatus recently mostly because I haven't found myself really being attracted to anyone. I know it has been more than a month since the last time I went on a date. It has partially been due to a lack of interesting prospects and partially due to my own personal issues. I have realized that I was trying too hard to find someone after Shawn and I split up and I don't think I was ready to move on yet. I think I need time to be me and get used to it just being me again. It took me some time to realize that and that has been what the last six months have really been about. It goes back to something J said to me right after we broke up and that was that I couldn't lean on him. It wasn't until I moved into my house that I realized how much I had tried to do that not only with him but during the short period of time I dated James. Since I have moved, I have had to take care of everything myself. The more I have been on my own the more I have wanted to remain on my own. However, my eHarmony inbox has exploded recently. For the first time since I joined nearly a year ago, I have found myself with several interesting prospects. So now I have to decide if I am ready to take the step that I am obviously dreading. The breakup with J was so hard on me that I think I am guarding myself because I don't want to go through that again. But I know I have to put myself out there again if I am ever going to find someone to spend my life with. So ready or not here I come...stay tuned.

Saturday, August 9, 2008

Amazing Feats of Puppy Bravery

I am a well trained human in the eyes of my dog. I let him on the furniture (because he is calm when chewing on a bone on the couch next to me) and I let him sleep with me (because I like have his warm little body in the bed). One might say that Maverick is in charge in this house. Recently Mav has been in the bed with me if he is in the room with me at night rather than sleeping in his own bed on the floor. I had convinced myself that he couldn't jump up on the bed because he couldn't get the traction he needed to get the running start to make it up on the bed. Well, last night my sweet boy decided to prove me wrong. I climbed in bed last night preparing to settle in for the evening. I was going to read a bit and then lights out. Well, I decided Mav needed to sleep in his bed so I didn't help him up on to my bed. Apparently Maverick would have nothing of that. Next thing I know he had backed up a bit and was bounding up the side of the bed. Had I not be sitting there to catch him and help him the rest of the way up, he probably wouldn't have made it but not because he didn't give it his best effort. I guess it is going to be harder to break him of the habit of sleeping with me than I thought. The question is who likes it more...me or him?

Monday, August 4, 2008

Today's Crazy Headlines

My Google Reader is setup to feed me news stories from the newspaper and a news channel in both Mobile and Austin. So I tend to stumble across some rather interesting stories that make me wonder how people determine what is truly news. Also, I start to realize that there are some truly bizarre people in this world. So I give you today's crazy headlines.

PETA Wants Freezer Body Billboard
Let me start off by giving you a little background related to this headline. There is currently a man in Mobile who is charged with murdering his wife nearly 4 years ago and stuffing her body in the freezer. The body was discovered when one of his 8 children accused him of rape and police searched the house. On top of this, the man is a preacher! Now PETA wants to use this to their advantage by promoting that "All Meat is Murder" and posting a billboard in Mobile showing a leg on a plate. Frankly, I think this is just wrong and distasteful. The whole situation gives me the creeps. I can't believe that any organization would try to use such a sad, twisted, and disturbing story to their advantage.

Parents Leave Child at Airport
The story behind this is an Israeli family with 5 children accidentally left their 3-year old in the Tel Aviv airport while in a rush to board a flight to Paris. I know that 5 kids are a lot to keep up with but I can't imagine not noticing that I don't have my child. The truly sad part is that neither the parents or the other 4 children noticed the 3-year old was missing until the airline officials notified them in the air that their child had been found. Seriously, how can you miss something like that?

Chef: Sorry for Suggesting Poison Plant in Salad
A British celebrity chef (whom I had never heard of) mixed up the names of a member of the spinach family and a poisonous plant in a recipe he included in Healthy and Organic Living. Remind me never to eat anything this chef prepares if he doesn't know his safe food from his poisonous plant. Yikes!

And for the best of today's crazy headlines:
Man Calls 911 Over Sauce-less Sub
That is right, folks. A Jacksonville, FL man was so angry that his sub at Subway was missing the spicy Italian sauce he called 911 not once but twice. The second call was made because the man believe that the police were not arriving fast enough. The (smart) Subway workers locked the man out of the store when he left to call the police. Of course it was the man who was arrested for making false 911 calls rather than the Subway employees for not making the sandwich correctly. Now...correct me if I am wrong but don't you watch them make your sandwich at Subway? So doesn't that mean the man should have noticed that the sauce was missing before receiving his sub? Just me...I must be the crazy one.

Hope you enjoyed today's crazy headlines. Stay tuned for more as the world only gets more odd as the days go by.

Sunday, August 3, 2008

Puppy Patrol

No dish towel is safe in my house. If I try to hang one from the oven handle or dishwasher handle, it is on the floor in ten minutes. That is if Maverick doesn't decide to run around the house with it. As soon as it gets it in his mouth and I realize what he is up to, off he goes. Now that the boxes are out of the dining room I don't have a way to block him in so instead I have to find another location to corner him. His path goes something like this. He hops up on the love seat, across to the couch, and then hits the ottoman before diving off to land in the foyer and dash through the kitchen and around the dining room table. Somehow I just end up standing there turning in a circle until either he drops the contraband or I get him in between the couch and love seat. Tonight he got the dish towel and once he finally dropped, he ran to the couch and grabbed the remote instead (my dog loves electronics). What do I do? Grab a treat and head to the back door knowing that he will drop the remote once he reaches the door because he is more interested in going outside and getting the treat. The better question is why do I keep torturing my self and keep trying to hang the towel? I guess I keep hoping that one day Maverick will break this habit and I won't have to chase him to recover my dish towel. Guess its a good thing I only use it to dry my hands and not on the actual dishes.

Saturday, August 2, 2008

Busy Bee

So I have been hard at work trying to finish putting my house in order. I know I have been in the house 3 months now. One would think I would be unpacked by now. But with all the issues I have had from furniture being on back order to lack of assistance with putting together said furniture to the closet collapse, it is not a surprise that I am still sorting and organizing. fortunately great strides have been made this week in accomplishing the near impossible task of being completely moved into my new house. I managed to get all the boxes moved from the kitchen so you can actually walk across the entire room and open all cabinets (and the dish washer and oven) without hitting anything. This also allowed me to put together the table and baker's rack which take up the open space in the front of the kitchen across from the pantry.
I also had some come install the Elfa closet system I purchased from the Container Store to replace the old closet on Friday. This has vastly improved my ability to unpack. Now I can store things in my closet without worrying about everything falling on me and I can hang my clothes up again. So I spent my day today loading down my closet with all my clothes and whatever else I have decided to store in there. It is great to have everything organized again.
Also, my coworker, Alisha, helped me put together my dresser so I now have drawer space for all my underwear and such. Needless to say, I have been busy as a beaver working to get all this stuff put up. This also got me motivated to move the boxes that were taking up space in the dining room to the rooms that they belong in. So now when I am ready to work in those rooms everything will be in there. My goal for the weekend is to finish organizing my bedroom and bathroom. I am more than half way there but I have to finish laundry at the same time. I feel like I can get it all done tomorrow. Then I will hit the guest bedroom and the office. The garage is my last beast to tackle because that involves getting rid of all the boxes and packing materials I have been throwing in there as I unpacked. Once that is done, it is garage sale time. I can't believe the amount of random crap I have accumulated. Hopefully the weather will have cooled off a bit by the time I am ready for the garage sale.