Happy 17th Dating Anniversary!

It was 1996 and I was in college. It was February and I met a boy through a friend. He seemed nice and we hit it off the night we met. We chatted a few times on the phone and saw each other once or twice. He tried asking me out to the Valentine's Dance on campus, but I had to attend a forensics tournament for class and wouldn't be back in time.

That didn't deter this boy. He asked me on a date after the dance. He asked me for February 29th, I asked if we could switch it to the 28th. I wasn't thinking that the 29th is only once every four years and I should have gone with it. I was thinking that I wanted to go home. I had my bags packed and I while I wanted to go out on a date with the boy, I wanted to cut class Friday and go home Thursday night. He agreed to the switch.

We had our first date at a restaurant called Mookies. We had a nice little table for two on a very quiet night. It was Ash Wednesday. The boy had a burger, I had a salad as I had to avoid meat. We had a really nice time. It would be the last I saw of the boy until after Spring Break.

That date would lead to many more. It would lead to spending the rest of my college years on his arm, attending movies, dances, dinners, parties, etc. It would lead to the boy moving to NJ. It would lead to a December 30th engagement. It would lead to a December 29, 2001 wedding.

So today, 17 years after the boy and I went on our first date, I say Happy Anniversary Brian! I appreciate you were willing to reschedule that date. And I look forward to going out to dinner with you at the place where we first sat down to dinner.



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Fun weekend!

As you know, I headed to Milwukee, WI on Friday to visit my friend for her birthday. My flight out was a bit late (30 minutes), but wasn't too bad. I always find traveling alone odd. I have to remember that I must bring all my stuff with me at all times because I have no one to leave it with. I had no troubles thanks to an Information Desk employee who gave me a plastic bag to put my liquids in and helped determine which of my liquids needed to go in the bag so I could take my suitcase through security rather than having to check it. Thanks Baltimore!

Going through the airport, I needed to stop for lunch. Everywhere I thought to eat I realized would have had meat and being a Friday in Lent that was a no-no. Kinda crazy. I ended up with cinnamon sugar pretzel nuggets from Auntie Anne's. Always yummy!

My flight was totally uneventful and I arrive in Milwaukee a tad late, but nothing major. My lovely friend Kim met me at the airport and we quickly headed home. We already had dinner reservations, but we were waiting for her husband to head out. We made our 6:30 p.m. reservation at Bucco de Beppo. I had never eaten there before. Wow. It's kinda crazy. Servings are family-style and huge! We ordered garlic bread as an appetizer, which was yummy. Then we ordered two plates for three people. We ate half of each. Seriously! We all were carb loading and we only got half of those plates eaten. We packed the rest up and headed home.

Saturday morning we were up and ready to run at The Pettit National Ice Arena. My first visit and it reminded me of college. Not that my college had an ice rink or that I ran in college, but you put your bags on the large bleachers around the rinks and trusted that no one would take your stuff. My college was just like that. We all had different mileages to go and run at different speeds, so we did our things and ran. I had 5 miles, which equaled 18 laps. It went well, though all the turns did make it hard on the hips. We all were walking kinda funny at the end of our runs!

After our runs, we headed home to shower. It was much needed. LOL! We all basically lazed around most of the afternoon, then got ourselves ready to head out for Kim's birthday at Screaming Tuna. It's a sushi place, which is not my thing but Kim is a good friend and checked for other options making it perfectly fine for me.

I had a very yummy Reisling and dinner was tasty. Dinner was also tasty. I was very impressed and it was HUGE!

Blackened Tilapia

blackened tilapia topped with an edamame succotash 

served with garlic mashed potatoes & seasonal vegetables

Totally recommend this place honestly. What I appreciated about it was the acceptance that not everyone is a sushi person. There were many options that were not sushi, even non fish options. 

After Screaming Tuna, we headed to Cuvee the Champaigne bar. 

See those two tables in the bottom right of the photo? That's ours. LOL! There were six of us and we just sat around trying different drinks and having lots of fun. It was lovely that Kim's friends were so inclusive and made me feel like they were my friends too. Here's a pic of Kim and I.

From Cuvee we called it a night. Kim had run 18 miles in the morning and we were all getting a tad bit sleepy. 

Sunday morning we got up and hit Trocadaro for brunch. It is one of their favorites and oh, it was yummy!

We started out with doughnuts covered in cinnamon and sugar.

Breakfast consisted of stuffed French Toast. Oh yum! I was even surprised and happy that it came with potatoes. Gotta get those carbs in! LOL!

After brunch, we decided to hit up Great Lakes Distillery for a tour. Milwukee and Wisonsin in general is known for it's breweries, so Kim thought a distillery tour would be different. And who doesn't like different? We had a blast! We had a pre-tour cocktail, then headed downstairs for the tour. It was short, but free so it was all good. Then we did the tasting where we had a chance to taste all the liquors they make. We had a really fun time with the tasting, then went back upstairs for a drink. We had no where to go, so why not?

And in typical Milwaukee fashion, we headed across the street for some Mexican! 

It was very tasty and we had a good time playing with the little boy at the table behind us. The food was good, the prices were really great, and it was right across the street from the distillery!

We headed home after finishing up our quick meal to crash. It had been a busy day and we decided to chill out and watch the Oscars and eat pizza.

Monday we relaxed at the house and watched tv in the morning before heading out to lunch at The Melthouse Bistro. Grilled cheese! I had a yummy thick grilled cheese made with Cheddar, apples, candied apples and chips. It was delicious!

The rest of the day had us just chilling at home watching tv. I sadly headed to the airport to come home about 5:00 p.m. My flight was at 6:50 p.m. and the Milwaukee airport was quick. I got my boarding pass at the airport, then went through security. My carry-on got searched, but I got to keep everything and I went off to my gate. Turns out we had a small flight (55/110 seats) and we would have our choice of seats. Yup. It was nice!

We arrived in Baltimore on time and I met up with hubby in baggage claim. We grabbed my bag and headed back home. With no dinner, we stopped at the diner for a bite, then we got back about 1:00 a.m.

I had a really fun time in Milwaukee with two great friends! It's always sad to have a good time end and to leave friends. But, I would rather have the memories than not.

How was your weekend? Have any fun adventures?

      

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Pettit National Ice Center

Pettit National Ice Center

Saturday morning is long run day. This week long run means 5 miles. Just because I'm in Wisconsin doesn't mean I'm not running it! My friend Kim is the one who convinced me I could run. That I could race. So, this morning we're heading to the Pettit National Ice Center to run. She's got 18 miles to run and I've got 5. Wow. That sounds pathetic... She's in training for a marathon, so her long run should be longer. This is how I'm making myself feel better after realizing how sad my 5 miles is...

We'll be running here

No bibs for us, but we'll be running around the ice rink. I'm looking forward to running a track that has an ice rink in the middle! Until I went searching for a photo, I honestly anticipated the track being raised above the ice. This should be fun!

I may go more than 5 miles just because Kim has so many miles to go. But, I'd be fine doing my 5 and waiting for her to finish. I love trying new things!
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Heading West

Milwaukee, Wisconsin

 

I'm heading west today to visit my friend Kim for her birthday. Well...it was yesterday, but I'm going today to help celebrate with her. I joke that I'm going from cold to frozen temperature wise. My boss even told me to tell her to move somewhere warmer. LOL!

 

There is just something about seeing a good friend to put you in a better mood! 

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I'm over it

Yea, I'm over it. February that is. I've been thinking about it and I'm pretty sure I just want this month to end. It has not been a good month at all.

I've gotten off track with my food.

I've gotten off track with exercise.

My Pooka's back legs became paralyzed (but are doing much better!)

I saw someone's dog run over in the street.

My boss spoke with me twice about work related issues (left a document on the copier and I talk too much to patrons in the search room).

My trainer favors my husband.

Those are the biggies. I know I should counteract those with some positives to show that February really wasn't all that bad. I've got very little...

Going to celebrate my friend's birthday in Milwaukee this weekend.

Pooka's legs are healing. He's walking and climbing again, even if jumping is taking a bit longer to come back.

Spent the weekend with my cousin (19).

So, I'm all for February coming to an end. Mentally it has not been a good month. I need to wipe the slate clean and move forward. Yea...yea...I know. There is still a week to go in February. I'm hoping that by writing this now, that I can make the rest of the month better. Maybe just getting it out of my system will be what I need to turn the rest of the month around and end strong. Let's hope!

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Sleep

Higgy the cat has no trouble sleeping

The last couple of nights have not been good for sleep. I'm not sure why. Monday night I went to bed at my normal time (midnight) and just had a heck of a time sleeping. I'll admit to sleeping on the love seat. I hadn't showered and the bedroom was freezing. It was the better option in my opinion. Took me forever to fall asleep on a piece of furniture that I have fallen asleep on many a time, intentionally and unintentionally.

Then last night, ugh. Went to bed around midnight again. This time though, I had to be up for work in the morning. I couldn't fall asleep....at all. Took til after 1:30 a.m. to actually fall asleep. Brain was just whirling with weird, unimportant thoughts, including why am I not falling asleep? Then, I woke up a couple times because Pooka (the cat who is finally getting the power of walking back) found something to chew on...right next to my head! I had to grab him to stop him from chewing in my ear. Then I woke up at 4:00 a.m. Wide awake. At this point (sorry hubby!) I couldn't fall asleep because hubby was snoring. Around 4:30 a.m. I almost just got up and said the heck with this! But, I thought about it and decided that resting would be better than being awake for 2 hours. I did manage to fall back to sleep until my alarm went off at 6:15 a.m.

This happens probably once a week, sometimes twice. It's really annoying, especially on nights when I work the next day. I spend my entire day on my feet - photocopying and pulling 40-50 pound boxes off shelves. Not the type of work you want to be tired for.

Any advice? What works for you when you can't sleep? Do you have a nighttime routine that helps you sleep?

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8 - 30 - 4.5

8 mile run

30 minute trainer session

4.5 mile bike

I'm thinking I went a bit overboard yesterday. I needed a long run over the weekend, but it didn't happen so I figured I would do it Monday. I went to the park and ran 8 miles at a local park. My mileage for the weekend was 10, but I just couldn't run around the park one more time. LOL! I was happy with 8 miles. 

At 6:30, hubby and I met with our trainer for 30 minutes. We did a fairly easy routine, then spent the rest of the time doing core work. Sadly, most of it involved legs which was not happening after an 8 mile run. Some of the stuff I just couldn't do. The legs were just not cooperating. 

After the trainer session, we hit the stationary bike to help with the soreness. We started doing this after our trainer sessions about a month ago and it has drastically cut down on the amount of soreness we have over the next two days. It doesn't go away totally, but it is much more manageable. We cycled 4.5 miles in 25 minutes. 

Today, I'm feeling a bit sore. Not awful, but I can tell I worked out yesterday. I'm thinking yesterday was a crazy workout day. Really not me actually. I'm hoping that the pounding I took over the course of the day though helps strengthen my legs for the half. The last time I ran 9 miles, it took almost 2 hours and 10 minutes. This time, 8 miles took 1 hour and 46 minutes, which if we take my mile pace and add one for 9 miles, I would be under 2 hours. Not a bad increase in a month. I have about a month until Shamrock. I really want to keep a 12:59 pace. Yesterday was a 13:19 pace. I'm getting there. Hoping I can bring my pace down a bit in the next month and I get a boost from those running around me.

How was your Monday workouts? Did you have a good one?

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Motivational Monday

I'm not giving up. I'm just starting over.

This is me. I've been at this for years. I started trying to lose weight when I was probably 12? Maybe 11. I've never reached my goal and it's been over 20 years. There were a few years that I didn't care all that much; I gained about 35 pounds during that time. 

I believe this is an important thing to remember. I may not be perfect. I may not have it all figured out, but I'm not giving up. I keep going. I keep trying new things to find what works. I may have a bad day, but I try to turn things around the next day. 

I will reach that goal. I will hit my goal weight. I will work on what makes me happy; what helps me be a better person. I'm not there yet, but I'm not giving up!

What about you? Are you starting over this Monday? Are you debating between giving up and starting over?

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Working on some music

Working on some new tunes for my runs. I generally don't worry too much about what I listen to, just that I have something to listen to. Last Sunday during my run I had the Top 10 count down on the radio and lots of the songs were upbeat, which helped me run a bit faster.

Thinking about that, I decided to go find some new songs to add to the Nano. Here's what I've got so far:

"I Love Rock 'n Roll" - Joan Jett and the Blackhearts
"Like A Virgin" - Madonna
"Girls Just Want To Have Fun" - Cyndi Lauper
"Flashdance" - Irene Cara
"Livin On A Prayer" - Jon Bon Jovi
"Push It" - Salt 'n Pepa
"Straight Up" - Paula Abdul
"Bust A Move" - Young MC
"My Name Is" - Eminem
"Poison" - Bell Biv DeVoe
"Getting Jiggy With It" - Will Smith
"Informer" - Snow
"Unbelievable" - EMF
"Blaze of Glory" - Jon Bon Jovi
"Do Me" - Bell Biv DeVoe

I'm still working on my list, but this is my start. I found the "Greatest Hits" of Will Smith on iTunes and think I'm gonna download the whole thing. So much fun music!

What about you? Have you updated your playlist lately? Any old school music make the cut?

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Lack of focus

Elizabeth the kitten is out of focus. It's not her fault, it was the photographer's!

Lack of focus. That would best describe my week. It started out well. I had that great sub-60 minute 5 mile run. That was awesome! I had a good training session with my trainer Monday night. Afterwards I signed up for a spin class on Tuesday. I spent the weekend cleaning the house for my cousin to come up this weekend. Things were going along swimmingly.

Tuesday, spin class was canceled because the instructor called out. Fine, but could you tell the people signed up for the class? One of us had to go down to the desk to ask about it. Ugh. I did do a walk/run/walk on the treadmill and 20 minutes on the elliptical before heading home.

Wednesday? Wednesday was awful. That's really where things all went down hill. On my way into work I saw someone's dog get run over and killed by a car. I was there when the owner watched his very tiny brown dog run into the path of the on-coming car. I heard his cries as he realized what happened. It was awful. I'm a huge animal person and to see this has to be one of the most traumatic things I've ever seen. Then when I got into work, my boss told me we need to cut down on the chatter in the public areas so people can concentrate on their research. Basically he means me. I chat with our researchers, explain what's going on, ask how they are, etc. In the past, I've been told this is a good thing. At the staff meeting on Monday (which I did not attend because I only work Wed/Thurs/Fri) it came up that there is too much chatter and we have to stop. There were a couple other little things at work too, which made me an emotional mess.

Thursday was Valentine's Day. I work only half a day, but it was stressful. I had specific instructions from my boss on what to work on, but I couldn't get to it due to patron requests and copying. I'm not sure how he's going to react to that. The evening was lovely though. Hubby and I exchanged presents (roses, yea! Chocolate, our favorite pretzels and a gift card to Amazon), then hit up Pizza Hut for dinner. I know, romantic. :) See, in college neither of us had much money. So, we would go to Pizza Hut, my favorite pizza for dinner on Valentine's Day. Not overly romantic, but since it was my favorite pizza... On years V-Day is during the week, it's where we go for dinner.

And today is now Friday. I have a ton to do before my cuz comes over tomorrow. I have a 10 mile run in the morning. At work, I have to face my boss about not getting what he wanted done yesterday and I have no back-up for paging. Another stressful day. I really need a day to relax and not deal with anything.

Sorry for this post being such a downer. I'm kinda needed to get that out. Hopefully with it all written down and out there in the universe, my body will calm down and I can get back to business.


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Happy Love Day!

Today is Valentine's Day here in the U.S. I'm dedicating this post to those people and things I love.

Hubby and I celebrating out 10 year wedding anniversary in Negril, Jamaica.

Higgy, Pooka, and Elizabeth - the best kitties in the world!

 

 College friends!

 

Internet friends!

 

Running

 

Books

 

Photography

 

Traveling...

 

...and traveling companions!

 

I know today is traditionally a day of romantic love, but whatever! My husband knows I love him...but I have other loves. I feel like a rich person having so many special people in my life and so many things I love to do. I know I am lucky and blessed. So, Happy Valentine's Day to you! Whether we're friends IRL or on the computer, I am so happy to have you in my life!

 

 

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Ash Wednesday

If you are a Christian, today is Ash Wednesday. Well, even if you aren't a Christian today is Ash Wednesday. It is the beginning of Lent and according to Catholic Online "it is a season of penance, reflection, and fasting which prepares us for Christ's Resurrection on Easter Sunday, through which we attain redemption."

I'm not going to go all preachy on you or anything. I'm not a big fan of people who constantly push their religion on others. I am not that great a Catholic honestly. I spent 12 years in Catholic school, but my family never really went to church except for major holidays (Christmas/Easter). But, for some reason Lent always stuck with me and I follow through on the giving something up for Lent each year. In the past I have given up meat, sweets, and soda. The sweets were the hardest.

This year, I decided to do something different. I believe I will reduce my sweets intake, but I want to do something more than that. I want to do something positive this year. So, instead of finding things to give up, I'm going to pray the rosary each day and I am going to pray for someone each day of Lent. I want to do something for others, not just myself. I'm hoping my small efforts can make a difference for those that I love.

Do you give something up or try to do something positive for Lent? Have you made your Lenten Resolution yet?

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Fat Tuesday

Today is Fat Tuesday or Mardi Gras or any number of names you want to call it. Basically, it's the last day before Lent starts and if you're in NOLA there is one last parade down Bourbon Street. It's a day of excess to make up for the next 40 days of restriction for Lent.

I'm debating whether to have a donut or something today. I am going to a spin class tonight and I want to get a 30 minute run (on the treadmill) in afterwards. I wouldn't feel bad at all grabbing that last donut before Lent. Tomorrow I'll share what I'm doing for Lent, but I can say one of my goals is to cut back on sweets. I've given up sweets in the past, so this year I want to do something different. So, I'm not doing the sweet thing. This year I want to do something positive rather than something negative.

What about you? Will you be having that last hurrah before Lent today? 


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Motivational Monday

You can't start the next chapter of your life if you keep rereading the last one.

Being a huge fan of reading, this quote seemed appropriate. It's true, it's hard to move forward if all you keep doing is looking backward - back at your mistakes, back at your missteps, back at your wrong decisions. The more you (and I really mean I) keeping looking back at all the times you (I) didn't meet a goal, run that race, hit a time, or just feel like you let yourself (myself) down, you can't move onward.

I need to remember this. A mistake does not define me as a person, it is a learning experience. I've learned a ton of stuff in the last few years. I've academically learned enough to be awarded an MA in American Studies. I've learned how to clean historical documents. I've run my first (and 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and soon to be 5th) half marathons. I've realized I'm not a good hot weather runner and should avoid it at all costs.

Of course, I have lots of lessons still to learn. I have to learn to give myself a break in terms of my weight. I have to remember that I'm good at my job. I have to remember that even a bad workout is better than no workout. I have to remember (this will sound pathetic) that people like me and that I have friends who care about me. If I can close the chapter on my doubts, I am sure the next chapter will bring untold joy and happiness?

What chapter in your life would you like to be able to close? What do you want the next chapter in your life to be about?

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What a great day!

Today has been a crazy day! Let's back up for just a few seconds. I got my January Get Out & Run medal for running 9 miles in January. I'd been wondering when it would arrive and really hoped it would be yesterday. I'm all about the bling these days.

With Snowstorm Nemo or whatever the news people were calling it, I knew we weren't to get much. I did think we would get a little bit and so didn't sweat getting up early to run my 5 miles on Saturday thinking the people where I run wouldn't have shoveled their sidewalks yet. Woke up late, no snow. Doh! All that thinking for nothing.

So it fell to today to run my 5 miles if I was going to at all. I decided since it was 5 miles, I didn't want to figure out a 5 mile course in the neighborhood I normally run in. I have a nice 3 mile course, then I run into Mt. Wolf for longer runs. 5 miles is kinda a pain to finagle. So instead I went to the park I first "learned" to run at and ran there.

When I got there, I had everything I use to run with - Nano, Road I.D., Garmin. I was all set. Until I realized Garmin wasn't charged. 5 miles with no Garmin. Oh the horror! Thank heavens my new Nano had a run function that I could use instead. Phew!

Turned on the run function on the Nano, got the radio on, and ran. In circles. Fun. As I was running I realized Garmin was about .5 miles ahead of me, which is fine since I realized this early on.

I am a run/walk/run lady. I usually run half a mile, walk a minute, repeat. Today, I guess Garmin being uncharged messed with me and I start walking at every quarter mile. I didn't realize this until I was about 3/4 of a mile into my run. But, I think this might have been a good thing. I started seeing that I was recovering and keeping my pace better with those 1/4 mile breaks rather than 1/2 mile breaks. I went with it. Why not?

Turns out that might have been the best thing ever. I was running much faster during the run portions than I remember running before. I was puffing, but that's ok. It happens. It's called running. I had to go with what the Nano said for 5 miles. I'm not 100% sure my final 5 miles are accurate, but whatever. I'm going to take it. Please check below.

So, my Nano says:

5 Mile Workout

February 10, 2013

Duration: 59:29

Start Time: 10:50 AM

Finish Time: 11:53 AM

Pace: 10'44" mi

Distance: 5.54 mi

Cals: 701

Know what that means? The first ever sub-60 minute 5 miler!!!! PR baby! And I'm now in a much better mindset for Shamrock. I still don't think I am going to PR the half, but I might PR the 8k on the Saturday. I'm thinking I can do this! I can run both races and be fine. Woohoo!

And to make this day better? My Higgy cat didn't seem good last night. He slept for more hours than I can count and when we did get him up he cried when we touched him. He was so out of it. He's almost 15 and has hyperthyroid. I was scared he wasn't going to make it through the night. This morning? He's awesome! Bounced back from whatever upset him last night and is his regular ole self!

Then! My Pooka who's legs went paralyzed last Friday took his first unassisted steps today! He walked maybe a total of 20 steps, but that's 20 more than he's taken in the last week!! He is back on the road to walking on his own. So thrilled!!

So today was a good day.

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2013 Weekly Weigh-In

My scale does  not read that. LOL!

It's Friday, the day I normally weigh-in. Last month I kinda weighed myself randomly though the month, with no rhyme or reason to the day. This month I decided to go back to my Friday weigh-ins. They've worked for me in the past, why not keep doing what's worked?

 

To me, at home, I take all clothes but my undies off when I weigh-in. In winter that's awful cold around these parts, especially because we have to keep the door to the bathroom closed due to cats who like to climb on the sink and knock stuff off! So, I hit the bathroom, peed, got naked (wow, this is sounding like a porno or something!), and got on the scale.

 

My scale is on carpet, which it shouldn't be. But, the bathrooms in my house for some reason have carpeting. They came that way when we bought it and we just haven't gotten around to changing that. So, I always weigh myself more than once just to get the same number. I figure whatever that number is, as long as I got it twice, should be close to accurate.

 

So, this morning, I lost close to 5 pounds from last week my first go 'round. Ummmm...can't image that's true, so back again. Second time I was down 2.5 pounds. Well...maybe. I could buy that. But, I needed that number twice. The third time showed I weighed the same as last time. That I could believe. Tried one more time and got the same weight. So, it appears I have not lost any weight in the last week...but, I haven't gained any either. To me, major accomplishment. 

 

Why do I say that? Well, sure I would rather lose weight than stay the same, but with my poor kitty going paralyzed in his back legs last week I wasn't making the best food choices early on. I skipped the gym Friday night and my long run Saturday. I didn't start eating well again until Tuesday and I didn't go to the gym Thursday night because I was in a foul mood. Yea...yea...I know exercise helps. For me, it would not have. I just wanted to get home before 8:00 p.m. and do nothing. And I did.

 

So, there ya have it. No weight change in the last week. Though there has been major Pooka improvements. He can now move both back legs, even if one isn't fully functional. He's eating and using the litter box. His tail has some movement (finally). He's trying to escape when you bring him out of the bin we're keeping him in. He responds to the touch when you squeeze his back paw. So, major improvements. He goes back to the vet for follow-up today. Fingers crossed things are going in the right direction!

 

When do you weigh in? Is staying the same better than gaining?      

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