Movin on Up

Well, last Friday I moved up at work. I'm on the top of the building looking down on creation. I can hear the rain on the roof. It's so quiet up here. Even the AC doesn't hum in this part of the building. My new desk is sparkly and clean. I got rid of a lot of junk. I feel cleansed! New start, new perspective. I had been in that last desk since 2006, so it was definitely time for a change.

This move nicely aligned with some personal things I've been working on... and that is that I am now on my 10th day with no carbs or alcohol. Well, I did have a tiny portion of a vodka and water on Saturday. It was so disgusting that I could not even finish it. Anyway, the results thus far of this cleansing are:

• increased energy
• elevated mood
• springing out of bed in the morning
• lack of hunger
• cessation of emotional bingeing binging (how do you spell that) and pantry raiding
• the third digit on the scale has gone DOWN from a 8 to a 9. (do you know what I mean - one more lb. until it's a 10-lb. decline) I realize some of that is just the natural fluctuation of my weight but whatever, I am counting it cuz it keeps me on track!
• pants fitting better

I owe all of this to my darling husband. He is doing this with me, and without him as a teammate, I surely fail.

Oh. And, every day since April 30th, I have arrived at work before, at, or 2 minutes past 8:00 a.m.

That's all - adieu. TTYL!

PS - received a box of cupcakes yesterday, and there are still the full dozen in the box. No sabotage!!

Weepy 2

And I JUST realized I never wrote my name on my passport.

Weepy

So we had a Volunteer Fair at work today. Like 30 non-profits from around the area came and set up booths in the atrium for meet and greet with employees/prospective volunteers/donors, etc. They have this little passport thing; you get a stamp at each booth then there's a chance to win prizes. Encourages participation, see? I don't normally really have time or desire to do these things, much less time or desire to become a volunteer. But, I was feeling lucky today, and really just wanted a prize, so I went. I went to every single booth and got my passport stamped. (On my 2nd to last booth, I read the instructions and saw that you only had to get 5 stamps in your passport in order to be up for prizes. But I digress.) I spoke to each table for at least 3 minutes. Except the "Be A Mentor" table; I straight up told them I have no desire to be a mentor; it will be a wonder if I can manage to raise my own child to 18. But anyway, I was shocked at how much I teared up. I started crying at like 10 of the booths. Camp Happy Days (camp for kids with cancer). MUSC Childrens Hospital. HALOS - saving abused and neglected children. I even cried about the Fields to Families one (harvesting local crops and taking them to soup kitchens and shelters) because, for that one, I envisioned Ansley being a little strawberry picker volunteer. Anyway, it was just a big cry fest and I don't know what that was all about.

So, I am going to pick one, and try to fit some volunteering in at some point. Need to get Ansley on board with that too.

I also found a good one for JW - - I think he would make a superb Junior Achievement instructor!!!

Nighty Night!

DNF Update

There were 73 finishers in the 10k. Even smaller than I estimated. And, I would have probably come in 2nd place in my age group.

Coulda, shoulda, woulda.

But here is my joyous start; #173. I was sporting my new running skirt!

DNF

Got up at 5:30am so that I could drive 35 miles to Seabrook Island for a 10K Saturday morning. Arrived with 45 minutes to spare, and 45 minutes to be consumed by no-see-ums. I am covered in bites!

Felt great to start this race. Hadn't run in like a week, due to this thing on the bottom of my foot that I will not elaborate on. It was like 65° and humid, but not a problem. I had ample time in an air conditioned restroom. I stretched and warmed up a bit. I felt great and was totally ready to go when the gun went off.

First mile was fabulous!! I was doing about a 9:30 mile I think, and I found 2 girls to pace with. Just after the first mile marker, I started to feel a vague tightness in my right calf, from my ankle up to the top of my calf. MOO. Strange, but not something that made me slow down or anything. Just around the 2 mile marker, though, I distinctly felt something pop or snap. Within my calf muscle. Pulled over immediately to try to stretch it, but it was not like anything I'd ever felt before so I was worried. .3 mile later was the water station, which I kind of walked to, and told them I would need a ride back to the start. I dropped out. I quit.

It was embarrasing. It was very disappointing. I cried and I felt like a loser. So ridiculous, now looking back on it. Stupid thing to cry about really. But I know that continuing would have been a BIG mistake. Just sucks because I was feeling SO GREAT up until this moment, and I know I would have had a good time, and possibly even come in under an hour. And I wanted to see the rest of the course!!! SHIT! That sums it up nicely. Shit.

So, I spent the rest of the weekend pea-bagging and heat-padding, alternately. UGH. It did point out to me that there may/will come a time when I can no longer run. And to stay focused on the positives - I am SO glad this happened in a tiny race (I mean there could not have been more than 150 people at this race) and at a shorter race (I would have been so upset if this had been one of my halfs).

OK that's all on that.

Enjoyed the rest of the rain-drenched weekend. Enjoyed some wine. Some Twilight. Some Paranormal Activity 3. Some sushi. A gymnastics birthday party with Ansley, which will  lead to her Summer Gymnastics Class :)

And that's it!! Laters!

Hoppy Times

Super fun Easter weekend, 2012. Friday, school was closed, so Ansley and I had a free day off! Despite it having been in the 80's and sunny for weeks prior, Friday was (as I like to claim) 30° and snowing. Well, truly it was 55° and raining.

We started the day off at the Casa de Waffles.

Then a cozy afternoon of napping in mommy's bed, followed by dyeing Easter eggs.

Saturday, all 3 of us went to the Aquarium in the morning, followed by another luxurious nap in mommy & daddy's bed, and then cupcake making.

Sunday, we went to 7:30 a.m. mass. Ansley was very well-behaved. And this is her Easter look.

And, one final nap in mommy and daddy's bed, then off to the beach!

Pictures speak thousands of words, so that's all I got. This was really just an exercise in blogging w/ photos. Clearly, lots more to be learned about how to properly place photos!

oops I did it again

Worst. Bridge Run. Ever.

As usual, I have my excuses things I attribute my poor performance to.
- needed to pee, had to stop to pee during the race
- too hot
- playlist sucked
- hungry / famished

But, also, this time there were legitimate problems with the race.
1 - delayed 1 hour. not only were we delayed 1 hour, but we were told every 5-10 minutes that we would be starting in 2 minutes, or starting in 30 seconds, or starting in 5 minutes, for real this time. serious mental destruction.

My view for the first hour of the race:

2 - it really was hot and humid, and since we started the race about the same time I had been expecting to finish the race, it was full on sunshine.

So, I really struggled on the bridge. Walked a lot. Disappointing. My chip time will say 1:07:58, but since I took out the time it took me to stop to pee, I am going with my official time of: 1:06:20. 6 minutes and 21 seconds worse than what I was hoping for.

But, on that note, race season is officially OVER!! Very pleased with adding (2) 10Ks, (1) 15K, and (3) Half Marathons this year. I think it's good progress, and more than I've done in a good long while. Looking forward to some good races in the Fall, and moderate training over the summer time. Keep it moving.

Surely I can talk about something other than races and my obession with weight.

Spring is in the air. First beach day was this past Sunday, though we went in streetclothes like Mexicans at Coney Island.

First TRUE beach day is hopefully this coming Friday, Good Friday. School is closed, so we will lube up early and beat the traffic. I love that I can lounge while she runs and plays now. Good age. She's still afraid of the actual ocean, but we can just set up near a gully and she's content for hours. Not that us pasty white folks can stay for hours.

Signing off now. The more often that I write on this blog, the more chances it has of becoming interesting at some point. Stay with me, folks. PEACE.