Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Real Quick...


For those of you who follow my rantings and ravings, and also speak to me on a regular basis, know the fiancee is an actuarial student. Today, he passed his second exam - the one he has been stressing over for the better part of a year...HOORAY!!! I have my original man back, and he no longer has the Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde thing going on. Too bad I have a MT Seminar tonight and will not be able to enjoy his new found freedom and return to sanity. I will be sure to make up for it over the weekend...

Tuesday, September 23, 2008

Less Negativity...maybe.

On Friday, I had a miserable day at work. It was just plain frustrating. Instead of letting myself be a duck and letting it roll off, I sat and stewed in it all weekend. On Sunday, I came to a realization that being negative only adds toxicity to your life. I have enough problems controlling my stress levels, the last thing I need is added work drama on the two days of the week that are supposed to be relaxing. (Let's all pretend for one minute that we don't have cleaning, catch-up shopping and other random things we are committed to on days that we don't go to the job that has some sort of monetary gratification) Yesterday, I made it a point to be positive about everything...when I felt myself starting to slip into the "why me" mode, I simply became a duck. I find that it actually helped a little bit. So I went home feeling quite lovely, had a Mexican dinner and went to try to get my fingerprints taken. (for the third time, and this is another story) Well...I'll be back again today, because I failed to read the directions, and forgot a very vital part of the package...my cashier's check. Lord knows you can't trust anyone these days so we need money orders and cashier's checks to pay for things. So I cry out "Oh, for the Love of Pete," and quickly turned to the lady helping me and said, "Oh, that wasn't directed at you."


Now normal me would have gotten into the car and peeled out, heading home at mach 5. (1 701.45 m /s - looked it up...thanks wikipedia!) Instead I channeled the negative energy into normal energy and went to the gym for a wee bit, swam a half a mile and sat in the steam room. I just let all those little beads of sweat carry all the angry out of me. I giggled a little bit as I pictured an angry face falling and shattering on the tile - I think the others in the steam room thought I might have been in there just a bit too long.


For the first time in weeks, I went to bed and fell asleep without staring at the wall for hours letting all the angry little thoughts manifest themselves into some gigantic scenario. Usually I see myself homeless, jobless, friendless and fat. Last night I saw my pillow and crashed. Could it be a lack of the negative? Maybe. This experiment is still in the developmental stages - we'll see how long it lasts. I was up before the sun this morning (5:00 a.m. down here) and ran three miles - easily.


Here is a picture my sister sent me last night of Christmas Eve in 2005. I see I'm drinking beer and have drunk eye. No, my sister doesn't have drunk eye, she is missing one. Maybe I am subconsciously being sympathetic?

Wednesday, September 17, 2008

It's Official!

Today Fiancee and I received the good word that my sister-in-law to be and her husband will be joining us for the the half marathon in January. This is good, because I need all the motivation I can get, not to mention I'm extremely excited to see them.

I have been running pretty much every night, and please don't lecture me on the dangers of running everyday, I know what my body can handle. I hope to eventually work up the mileage and the amount of cross training I do. Baby steps, baby steps. I even started a training blog...and to further the motivation - I will not allow myself any new clothes until I have been consistently training.

I was thinking about this half marathon during my run last night when my iPod died. (The stupid thing has a pathetic amount of battery life after charging) I got to thinking, would my iPod last me through a half marathon, because I will be the one they have to come around and pick up in the trolley because I will not finish in the time allowed (4:30). Then it came to me...it is the Rock and Roll marathon and there are bands littering the route...would I really need my iPod? This could be a very amazing thing, since I have yet to find a pair of running earphones that do not kill my ears...My sister and I have strangely formed ears, and the normal iPod earphones just don't fit. I was glad to find out this was a hereditary trait. Seems the sister and I have several unpleasant hereditary traits in common.



Now...it is go time. My motivation is up, my expectations are low...what else could spell success.

I'll keep you posted on my progress...for now, here is a picture of my wee nephew on his first birthday...gotta love the blue frosting.

Thursday, September 4, 2008

Summer's gone...

And I couldn't be happier. My winter is my proverbial summer...hiking, camping, swimming, running, training for half marathons (a goal I set before I decided I was no longer setting goals - and now my future sister-in-law and her husband may be making a trip to Phoenix from the Windy City to run it with us) No worries, I'll be sure to post the pictures.

I had been doing really well, running every other day, swimming in between, but then the monsoon hit...I mean this literally. We lost power and an entire night of sleep and it appears it blew my motivation away in the hundred mile an hour wind gusts.

No update on the wedding planning...I feel as if I have everything done that I can at 6 months out. Plus, there are more pressing matters to attend to. 2008 has not been the best year, and frankly, I can't wait to see it go.

Pictures next time...

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

Here We Are Again!

I had this blog sometime ago...and with the inspiration of my dear friends, I have decided to once again start it up. Last time I blogged, I remember writing about becoming a modern-day Pheidippides and a triathlete supreme to boot. I was becoming a knitting extraordinaire, attempting my first sweater and knitting baby hats for all the little babies in my life...those little babies are now one and a half and one year, and my sweater? Half done, wrong size and tangled under my bed in a plastic bin.

Goes to show where life can go. I am engaged now and planning a wedding in March. I say "planning" because I have a sneaking suspicion my fiancee and I will be running off to elope before this year is over. A nice beach wedding sounds wonderful!!! (and not the "beach" on which I currently reside)

As a change to my blog from two years ago; I am not setting any goals - forget what the self-help books tell you. Goals make you think you can do things that are neither physically nor mentally possible. So far I am still an assistant - though no longer at an engineering firm, but a Golf Association...I am going to school to get my certification/Master's degree in Cross-Categorical Special Education...my track record on getting through post Bachelor's Degree programs hasn't exactly been successful, so I'm taking it one day at a time.