It's been a while

It's been a while. I know I fell off the face of the internet around these parts. It wasn't intentional. I got busy, then I ran a few races, then I had that post-race slump {like most runners}, then I went through a really fast interview process that ended with me starting a new job, I've been helping friends plan their wedding and reception, we've been fighting for Lizzie who was diagnosed with diabetes, we've been running around busy on our weekends {like usual}, and hubby has been traveling more for work, which is a little rough since I'm back to working full time.

All these items probably need a better description, but I'm not going to get into all of them in one post. I'll expand on them over the next few weeks and try to get caught up. My husband mentioned months ago I haven't done race recaps in ages and since this past spring had three half marathons and a 10 miler {first time ever!}, I need to do those too.

I wanted to get back on, say hello, and let you know you'll be hearing from me again. I will try not to disappear again for so long.

Hope all is well with you!

Chat soon!

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A bit of an update

So hello. How've you been? What cha been up to?

Me? Ahhhh...yea...well...I'm still alive, I just haven't been doing much that I felt you'd want to hear about...or more accurately, I wanted to share with you. Not that I've been robbing banks or anything, but I've not been doing a great job of being healthy and active. And when I'm not, I don't feel like I should be blogging. Yea... 

Anyway... here's the quick run down. I'm hoping getting back into the whole blog thing will inspire to get back to other things.

• I am not running the Philly Half Marathon in November. Why?
• I am in physical therapy for hip pain that stems from my back issues. I decided I want to get my back and hips in as good as I can before pushing myself to 13.1 miles. 
• We went on vacation for a week, which hampered blogging...only because I didn't pre-write anything to post. LOL! Vacation kinda snuck up on me. It seemed so far away, then all of a sudden IT WAS TIME TO GO! I'll share what we did soon. :)
•  My birthday was Wednesday. This getting older kinda sucks, but the alternative is worse.

So that's my life in a nutshell lately. Sorry it's been so long. What have YOU been doing?

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Friday update

What a week it was! I weighed in for the first time in ages last Friday and saw I gained about 6 pounds in a month. Yea. Ugh. So, I realized it was time to take some action, accountability, and stop making excuses. I wasn't 100%, but I made some progress this week.

I laced up the ole sneakers for the first time in about 2 months and hit the roads!

I went out for a short 2 miler just to do something since I have a 5k Sunday night and I didn't want that to be my first run. I ran at 3:00 p.m. in 85* weather. Not ideal by any stretch of the imagination. Seriously, don't do it. My time was 27:36. Not great by most peoples standards, but about average for me, so I didn't lose too much in my 2 months off from running and my month off from the gym.

Speaking of the gym, I went back Wednesday night. Did a simple walk on the treadmill for 30 minutes (1.5 miles, yes that equals to a 3.0 mph pace), then hit the stationary bike for 35 minutes and got 6.49 miles (which is a tad bit above average). While biking my TRX instructor came over and asked if I didn't love him anymore since I missed 4 out of 6 weeks of classes. So, I had to explain my lovely 5 week illness, to which he completely understood. I was a tad bit surprised, but apparently he had something similar last year. Phew! Told him I was easing back into things and he said that was a good idea. He also told me my job on Thursday and Friday is a workout and it's ok to skip the gym on those days. Heehee! Sweet!

I didn't log in my food the way I should have this week and I didn't eat 100% on track, but it was much better than it's been. Honest. This week I want to get back at tracking. Baby steps...baby steps.

What does this mean? It means about a 2.5 pound loss from last week. Yea! I don't remember exactly my weight, but I know the whole number, just not the oz. I'm happy with this. It's a step in the right direction and with a few more tweaks to the diet and exercise, I should be back on track.

How did you do this week? What were your goals? Did you meet them? Do you have a plan for next week?


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So far a nice start

After the week before Christmas, where I gained 5 pounds (yes 5 pounds in a week) and a Jamaican vacation, where I gained another 5 pounds, this month has turned itself around.  I have lost 7.8 pounds of that and could lose the last 2.2 by the end of the month, though I would think that's pushing it.

Hubby and I joined the local YMCA and I have done a pretty good job of getting my butt there!  The first week, I managed to get there Tuesday through Thursday where I did my two 30 minute runs on the treadmill, used the bike and took an abs class.  This past week I made it Monday, Tuesday, and Thursday.  I had Monday off, but I still got there and used the bike and elliptical.  Tuesday, I hit the treadmill for a 30 minute run and the bike for 30 minutes.  Skipped Wednesday for no good reason... Then Thursday did 25 minutes on the bike and took a kickboxing class.  AWESOME class!  Looking forward to doing that one again!  Today, I have to do a 6 mile run on the indoor track because Mother Nature decided 5" of snow was a good idea yesterday...

I'm working harder at planning meals ahead of time so we aren't always running for sandwiches.  Sometimes the meals are planned and we change what's on the schedule, but overall we are getting better at not going weekday to the store for something.  That's a  plus.  Saves a bit of money and gives us more control over what we're eating.

2011 was a pretty good year for me health wise.  I'm hoping 2012 continues the trend!

 9th wedding anniversary 2010

Hubby and I December 28, 2011

End of week wrap-up

Well, it's Friday again. Time to see how I'm fairing.  I'll be honest, it was a rough week.  I ate more than I should have and skipped my "long" run (3 miles) last weekend.  But, I tried to make up for it the rest of the week.  I ended up getting both of my weekday runs in (which I haven't done in about 2 weeks); yea!  And Thursday's run rocked!  I did 2.30 miles in 30 minutes, which is my second best distance at that time ever.  And I didn't really feel like I was trying to run fast.  Maybe that means I'm speeding up in general?  And at the end of the week, I was down a pound.  I'm still 1.4 pounds up from before vacay in August, but I'm getting there.  I would really like to see a 1.4 pound loss this week to get me back to where I was mid-August.  Fingers crossed!

We had some nasty weather here in the Northeast.  The county I live in  has been on the national news because of it!  Which is kinda crazy.  If you saw anything that said York, PA that's me.  We had some driveway issues.

This is what the driveway and yard looked like during the day on Wednesday.  Lovely, no?

Then on Thursday night, I headed off to get my 30 minute run in.  I wasn't sure I could because I really expected the skies to open up again and pour.  I lucked out and was able to get my great run in.  But, I took some photos of the Conowago Creek on my way home.  Not so great for the people who live on its banks.

The Conowago Creek flooded over its banks.  To the left of this image in a house.  Basically, the Creek destroyed their backyard.  While it looks like it reached the house itself, I'm hoping that it didn't cause them too much trouble.

There is a little tributary that comes up between two homes that's just a little bubbling brook normally.  Thursday, it was almost to the road.  Hubby believes the house to the left of this photo may have damage to their shed, but I think both houses are high enough up to not have damage, at least I hope so!

We live on a dead end road.  At the end is one house on the river with a big circular turn around area at the end.  The Creek is usually a good 10 feet from the road under normal circumstances.  On Thursday, you couldn't see the turn around at all.  Thank heavens the people at the end of the street really have their house up high because the creek was pretty well up their front yard.  I wasn't the only one who wanted to see what it was like.  I followed someone else down the street who was checking it out, and then someone came right behind me. 

When I got home, I decided to take some photos of our driveway.  We have a gravel drive that when it floods, we lose gravel.  And did we ever!  Check out the ruts that the rain and flooding caused!

You can see the ruts on either side of the driveway here.  There is a small circular hole in the front on the image as well.  They don't look too deep here,  but they were a good 3-4" deep!

Here's that circular hole I mentioned. 

See those ruts?  You can really see the depth as you look further into the photo.  Just crazy!

This is the only part of the driveway we can cross.  This is the part where the water comes up due to the little stream going through the front of the house.  In the left part of the photo you can see the driveway just lost a good 2-3" of dirt and gravel.  You can really feel it when the car dips down when driving across.

We are also dealing with some seepage of water into the master bedroom.  Apparently, it came up through the floor and messed up the carpeting.  We have a big dehumidifier in there with two fans working to dry it out.  I have a feeling we're going to have to spend some time in there cleaning.  Fun.

Dealing with the remnants of Hurricane Lee has not been fun this week.  Though, we are lucky.  Most of our stuff is cosmetic and we are fine.  But, the people in Harrisburg and Hershey have been nailed pretty hard.  Hershey Park's ZooAmerica lost two of its bison due to the quick on-set of the floods.  There are some photos on Facebook of how bad the flooding at HersheyPark was.  Having been there quite a bit over the past 15 years, it's hard to fathom.  So, while our issues at home are annoying, they are small compared to others.  Say a little prayer for those still dealing with the aftermath of Hurricane Lee.

Another Weekly Update

In one sense, this was a pretty boring week.  I haven't really done much out of the ordinary.  We had a Revolution game this past Monday, but we're season ticket holders so that's not new.  I went to the archives this week, that's not new.  Was really lax on the exercise this week, not too exciting there.  So, really a quiet week.

The most exciting part of my week (which would belie the above clip art graphic) was the two days I spent encapsulating 1865 Civil War Muster Out rolls.  That was FUN!  Tuesday, I spent the afternoon taking average size muster rolls through the encapsulator (sounds like an impressive piece of machinery, huh?), then we trimmed the excess plastic off and rounded the edges.  We got through about 10 of them.  Not too shabby.  Then Thursday afternoon, we learned how to do over sized Muster Rolls.  They do not fit the neatly pre-cut plastic we used on Tuesday, so instead we had to cut the plastic off a roll.  Very neat.  We got through 8 of them on Thursday, but no trimming or rounding.  The larger the Muster Roll, the longer it takes to encapsulate.  I really, really enjoy doing this.  Sadly, due to the interns officially finishing up today, there is no more Muster Out rolls in my future.  Though, I may try to convince the person in charge to let me do some.  It may work because she likes me.  ;-)

And since that was the most exciting part of my week, I'll get onto the exercise and fitness portion of the post.  LOL!  I'm down another 1.2 pounds this week for a total of 14.8.  Ugh.  So CLOSE to 15 pounds!  I wish I had drank one more glass of water or did one more workout.  I know that sounds dumb, but come on!  So close to 15 pounds!  I'm averaging just under a pound a week, as I've been at this since early May, so 16 weeks.  Wow.  I wish I were a little further along, but 14.8 pounds off is better than not losing it OR (heaven forbid!) gaining it!


Total Down Since May: 14.8 (Doh!  So close to 15!)
Total Loss for Dec. 23 (19 weeks): 37.4 (ACK!)
To Go: 22.6
Exercise: 29 exercise points/3,492 calories burned

I've got a 5 mile run this weekend for my half marathon training.  Haven't done five miles probably since my last half marathon!  LOL!  But, I think I can handle it.  Wish me luck!!

Another end of week recap!

Here we are again, Friday.  Ahhh...Friday.  Such a nice day.  One of my favorites actually.  Time to recap the week's adventures!

Had a great running week so far.  Last Saturday did my lovely 3 mile long run of half marathon training.  Went well.  Hot, but well.  Had two more runs of 30 minutes this week.  Tuesday's run was amazing!  Kept me in a good mood all day!  Thursday, well Thursday wasn't as good, but it was a moral victory for going out there.  Tomorrow is a 4 mile run.  I think I can handle that.  ;-)

Tuesday night we hit the Rail Trail again for a Sunset Scramble ride.  This time we started at Gladfelter's Station and rode north into York.  It was odd riding the opposite of our normal route.  We usually start somewhere and ride south.  We stopped at the Colonial Courthouse in York for a private tour.  One of the main reasons we decided to go on the Sunset Scramble.  LOL!  The bike ride totaled 15.2 miles, not bad for a day with a 2 mile run in it.

We had a nice tour guide who's father spearheaded the campaign back in the early 1970s to build a replica of the original courthouse.  The original was built in 1756 and was located at the intersection of George and Market Streets in downtown York (it was called Centre Square then).  In 1841, the citizens of York decided to tear down the courthouse.  When the bicentennial of the US came upon the nation, the York Bicentennial Committee decided to rebuild the courthouse as a tribute to York's Revolutionary roots.  Did you know the first formal government was established here?  Yup, those good ole Articles of Confederation was designed and signed here.  It was also the first time the country was referred to as the United States of America.

Inside of the York Colonial Courthouse.  The bench at the long table against the wall is original to the 1700s.  (Sorry for the crappy quality, my cell phone isn't as good as it thinks it is.)

 

Tuesday and Thursday I had the chance to learn how to deacidify and encapsulate historic documents.  Fun!  Tuesday was the deacidication day, where I used the machine to spray 1865 Civil War Muster Rolls to keep them from getting any worse.  The solution applied keeps the paper in the same condition it is in now for the next 100 years.  In reality, we didn't deacidify anything, we just added a solution to keep it from getting worse.  Then on Thursday we encapsulated the documents we deacidified on Tuesday.  This was a really neat process and simple to do (once you learn how).  We got through about 7-8 of the documents.  This coming week, we're going to work on getting the rest encapsulated.  Pretty neat stuff.

I hit up the Lancaster County Photography MeetUp on Thursday night for a presentation on Sports photography.  I just love taking sports images.  Baseball and football are my favorite.  I have photographed a 5k for a local fire company.  I had a good time doing that and may be doing that again this year.  Learned a few things about sports photography and enjoyed the presentation.  

And it was a successful week in healthy eating (and obviously) exercise.  :-)  Down another 1.4 pounds since last week.  Slowly but surely getting there.  And to top it off, I tried on a pair of jeans that didn't fit anymore...that now fit!  Love when that happens!  Course the weather is too warm to wear them anytime soon, but the point is, they fit.  :-)

Total Down Since May: 13.6
Total Loss for Dec. 23 (20 weeks): 37.4
To Go: 23.8

Exercise: 37 Activity Points/5,139 Calories Burned

Weekly Round-Up

Thought I would change things up a bit.  Change can be good.  :-)

* Last Saturday had a fabulous 12 mile bike ride on the Rail Trail.  We keep improving our time, which I'm happy about.  No photos this time around.  We haven't hit anywhere on the trail you haven't seen before. 

* Still working on adding mileage to my days.  This week, my walking total was 10.5 (I believe).  Stupid me forgot to add the mileage to my log.  I have the amount of time, but not the distance.  Note to self - write down distance too!

* Had a really good time at the Atlantic League All-Star game at Sovereign Bank Stadium on Wednesday night.  The Revolution really impressed me with their execution.  Awesome job guys!  I got to enjoy the President's Race and get my photo taken with Teddy!

* Because I'm a big Teddy Roosevelt fan and know all about how he has not won a single race since 2006, I contacted the Let Teddy Win! blog to see if they would want a recap and photos.  They did!  Check it out!  I got credit and my photos were used!!  Nationals racing presidents at the All-Star game

* Archives work keep going well.  Having fun.  Enjoying the people I work with.  I paged this week, researched some 1918 Influenza Epidemic, helped re-box incoming documents, and helped go through paperwork from Ed Rendell, the previous governor of the State of PA.  Never a dull moment!

* Had another successful week on the weight loss front.  Down another 1.2 pounds last week.  Woohoo!  Down a total of 11.4 since early May.  I'll take it!  Just 25.8 pounds to goal!

* Had a nice Friday evening with friends.  Enjoyed some good food, good conversation, and good friends.  A good way to end the week.

* Saturday we hit up the trail again.  This time we managed 15 miles.  :-)  Longest ride yet!  And in 1:29:07.  It makes me laugh that we added on 3 miles from our first time on the trail and we're still about the same time.  Apparently, we're getting faster.  Yea!

* After our ride, we hit up Central Market in town.  We were going to get Maple Donuts, but by the time we arrived, they had closed.  We got iced coffee then tried out the Student Run Bakery from the local culinary school.  Pretty darn good!  And they were really nice to boot!  I think we may have found a great place to get a post-ride snack.

What to look for this coming week (hoping by writing it down, I get back here more often!):

* An interesting comparison of Weight Watchers original points and Lose It!

* Race review of the Harrisburg Mile

Friday Update

What a week!  A long holiday weekend, lots of exercise, archiving, getting drenched.  It sure was adventuresome!  LOL!

The holiday weekend had hubby and I hitting the Rail Trail here in town twice.  We decided to check it out on Saturday since it's a great place to ride without having to worry about traffic/cars.  Saturday we managed a nice 12 mile ride, starting in town, reaching just beyond the Howard Tunnel, and back.  Not too shabby!

How nice is this? The scenery is awesome and with all the shade, it's so much cooler than being out on the streets or at the park!

 Howard Tunnel - A little scary going through since there's so little light, but a really neat feature of the Rail Trail.

Saturday and Sunday we had holiday BBQs.  Had a lovely BBQ with a friend and boating in the early evening.  Then we anchored the boat and watched fireworks.  How's THAT for fun?

Monday brought us back to the Rail Trail for another ride.  This time we parked at a different station and managed 14 miles (in the same time we did 12 Saturday.  Go us!).  Had a really nice ride again.  A little stickier than Saturday, but I'm telling you, that canopy of trees really helps!  Had an enjoyable ride.

Hanover Junction Museum - Abraham Lincoln changed trains at this stop in November 1863 on his way to Gettysburg to give a speech.  ;-)

I look like such a dork!  Riding the Rail Trail.  I brought my own water bottle along since it was hot and I knew we were aiming for 6-7 miles one way.  Hanover Junction was great as I refilled my water bottle there for the return trip!

In archiving work, I finally finished off the George Washington research I had been doing and got that in the mail.  Phew!  Wednesday, I paged for the research room, which is such fun!  Basically, if you come in to do research, you look up the information you want, write it down on a call slip, then either an archivist or a volunteer goes into the big tower and gets it for you.  I spent a lot of time going up and down the tower getting boxes, maps, and books.

Pennsylvania State Archives

I also got to get back to my 1918 Influenza research.  I know I'm weird, but it's fascinating.  I'm currently looking through patient admission records through the War Department and determining how many were admitted for Influenza.  July and August had maybe 4-5 people a week.  Late September picked up with 20-25 per week.  I'm now up to October 6th and the number of patients being admitted is up to 40 a day.  I really enjoy finding information on the Influenza Epidemic.  

The weather around these parts have been HOT.  But, I have been trying to up exercise by walking more throughout the week.  I've arrived a little earlier in the mornings to the archives so I can add some miles in.  I then head out at lunch for a 15-30 minute walk, depending on how much time I have.  And then in the afternoons I try to do the same, walk a little bit more than just the half mile to my car.  In a normal week, I would walk 3 miles.  This week, with some concentrated effort, I walked just under 7.5 miles.  Not bad.  It would have been more had a deluge of rain with lightening and thunder not opened up on my head Thursday.  As I left the archives, on the advice of the National Weather Service at 3:30 p.m. rather than at 4:00 p.m., it POURED.  It was supposed to start raining until 4:00 p.m. (thanks NWS!).  I got soaked.  I suppose it wouldn't have mattered adding in that extra half a mile, but the thunder and lightening were a bit scary.  But, not bad for trying to add some miles in during the week!

And all of this comes to the lovely surprise of losing 2.8 pounds this week!  Yea!  So, since the beginning of May, I'm down 10.4.  I'm very happy with this.  I have a goal weight in mind before we hit Jamaica and I want to hit it.  I have 27 pounds to go!  23 weeks to lose 27 pounds.  This equals out to 1.16 pounds a week.  That seems manageable.  Let's up so!

Weekly and June Update (Finally!)

I was going to post this the other day, then I saw someone else posted a 6 month/halfway through the year recap and thought that was a good idea.  So, here's the Weekly/June update, even if it's a few days late.  :-)

1. Lose 2.5 pounds - nope. Stayed the same this week, so I missed my goal by 1.5 pounds.  5.2 pounds total for June.  I suppose that's not a bad monthly total.
2. 20 miles running - Got this  one!  Very happy with that since I hate running in the heat.  So, 20 miles isn't bad.  Had the ill-fated duathlon this month, as well as the Baltimore Women's Classic 5k.  It's good to have races on the schedule to keep me moving.
3. 50 miles biking - Missed it by this much.  47.5 miles biking this month.  Sooooo close... It's ok.  47.5 miles biking is still a good number.  :-)  I'm not going to complain.

A few other highlights in June:

* Learned how to mend historic documents!  
* Climbed to the top of the Capitol in Harrisburg.  Awesome!
* Officially been running races for 2 years.  BWC was my first 5k two years ago.  Two years ago I would have fallen on the floor laughing if you were to tell me I would run a half marathon.  So much has changed in two years!
* Signed up for my third half marathon - Shamrock Half Marathon in Virginia Beach next March
* Oh, and for good measure, I signed up for the Shamrock 8k the day before in Virginia Beach next March

Not a bad month!  I really need to focus a bit more on the good stuff rather than the stuff that didn't go as planned.  That's a lot of really good things happening and I might have missed it if I got caught up in the not hitting my weight loss goal for the month or my biking goal.  Keeping positive.  There's a goal for ya! 

Friday!

It's Friday!  Woohoo!  I've always liked Fridays, even when I wasn't doing anything (like the last 2 years) because even if it meant nothing to me, at least hubby wasn't working.  But, now with the archives, Fridays are great again! 

It was a busy week at the archives.  Monday, I learned how to mend historic documents.  Which was awesome!  Tuesday, I spent my day doing research into documents written by or to George Washington.  Yup, that George Washington.  Wednesday, I spent the morning researching some more, but also learning to page in the research room.  This means, when people come into the archives to research, I head up into the Tower to grab the box or carton they want to look at.  So, looks like I'll be adding that to my duties as well this summer.  Thursday, I continued working on the Washington papers, then spent the afternoon cleaning Civil War muster out rolls.  What a fun week!  There's always something new and fun going on.  :-)

We had a bit of a scare this week with Elizabeth.  She's our little kitty, who is generally pretty unadventuresome.  The other evening, hubby couldn't find her.  Which isn't that unusual.  She tends to sleep alot and sometimes hides when she does so.  But, he was in the kitchen and started hearing noises in the ceiling.  So, he asks if I've seen her and since I hadn't, we started wondering where she could be.  He heads upstairs to the bathroom and sees the cabinet door open and Pooka staring into it...straight into a hole in the wall.  Turns out our unadventuresome kitten had crawled into the hole and was wondering around inside the walls!  I grabbed the treat bag, called her name, and shaked the bag.  She came out.  Phew!  Silly little cat!  We are now being more careful with that cabinet.

Elizabeth the Kitten, who crawled into the walls of the house this week.

On the never-ending battle to lose weight, I am down another pound this week.  Finally!  I am in the next 10 pound range!  I haven't seen numbers like these since May 2010, before we headed to Europe.  Shesh!  I'm very happy to be here and am hoping to keep going.  I have 27.6 pounds to go by the end of the year.  It's totally doable!

Thought I would update the goals for June (because I tend to forget I set goals).  Not too shabby!

1. Lose 2.5 pounds. - down 1 this week, 1.5 to go
2. Run 20 miles (I'm already at 13 for the month.) - up to 16 miles, with a 5k this Sunday
3. Bike 50 miles (I'm already at 38 for the month) - up to 47.5 miles 

So, not too shabby with those goals.  I see hitting goals 2 & 3.  We shall see about goal 1.  I don't mean to sound pessimistic, but weight loss seems to be coming in 1 pound increments lately.  If I miss my goal by .5 pounds, eh.  No biggie.  It's still a loss and that's what matters in the long run.  But, I'm going to try hard to hit that 1.5 pound mark by Thursday!

A quick update

Hi All!  Hopefully this email will be a little less depressing/preachy than my previous two.  LOL!

So, I never followed-up on my mileage count from May.  With May being National Running Month, I set a goal of 20 miles of running.  After two consecutive months of 5 miles each, it seemed like 20 was a reasonable goal to set.  And it was.  Had I followed my duathlon training to the letter, I would have easily hit 20 miles and kept going.  Sadly, I missed the 20 mile mark by one measly mile.  Had I been keeping better track of my mileage in light of my personal challenge I would have gotten by butt out there and ran an extra mile.  Ah well. Lesson learned.  When setting a challenge for oneself, remember where you are throughout the month in relationship to that goal.  LOL!  I'm not down on myself about it though.  I got in an additional 14 miles running in May than I did in the previous two months each, so it was a marked improvement.  And, I got in an additional 63 miles on my bike, for a total of 82 miles.  I can't complain about that!

Interning is going fabulous!  It is the first time in my life when I get up in the morning and look forward to going into the "office."  I've learned so much in just the few short weeks I've been there and there's so much more to come!  I've been researching the 1918 flu epidemic in Pennsylvania, which I have been loving.  It is so fascinating to me.  I've had the opportunity to see the 1681 Charter given to William Penn by King Charles II, which is amazing!  I've worked with documents from the 1700s, 1800s, and early 1900s.  I've learned to clean historic documents (1865 Civil War Muster Out rolls).  Yesterday, the interns and I went on a field trip to the Railroad Museum and the Cornwall Iron Furnace. Both incredible places!  Monday (June 20th), there will be a session on how to mend historic documents.  Wow.  The mending is the next step in conservation process of documents after cleaning.  And on the 27th, we will have the unique opportunity to climb to the top of the Harrisburg Capitol Dome.  It is a rare opportunity and apparently no other set of interns have had the chance.  Eeeee!

The weight loss is going fairly well.  I had 4 weeks of maintaining, which was frustrating, but I just had to keep in mind that it wasn't a gain.  But, in the last two weeks, I'm down 3.2 pounds, for a total of 6.6 since early May.  I'm not quite where I would like to be, but eh.  The numbers going down is more important.  I've started using Lose It! to track what I'm eating.  It's been good so far.  By answering a bunch of questions, it eventually helps you determine how much you want to lose, how many calories a day you need to reach that goal, and when you should reach it.  My goal weight (if I stick to the plan) should be hit about November 12, 2011.  So, we shall see.  I still use Daily Mile to track my workouts, which I really do like.  Slowly, but hopefully surely, I'm on the right track!

Heading North this summer to Montreal with hubby and a friend.  Booked the hotel, so excited for that.  The hotel looks nice and we're in the Old City part of town.  :-)  Any suggestions on what not to miss in Montreal?  I'm also getting excited for our 10 year anniversary trip to Jamaica.  Eee!  Hard to believe we've been married almost 10 years.  Crazy!  ;-)

So that's what's up with me.  I suppose I could set some goals for the rest of June....

1. Lose 2.5 pounds.
2. Run 20 miles (I'm already at 13 for the month.)
3. Bike 50 miles (I'm already at 38 for the month)

This and that

Not a year end review yet...it's coming!  And some goal setting as well to come, but again, that's another post for another day.

This is just a run of the mill, update, which obviously has been sadly lacking.  LOL!  As you may recall, months ago my sweet, adorable little Neon busted it's transmission (seriously, it did it all on it's own.  Even the mechanic wasn't sure what happened!) and I ordered a new car - a Mazda2 Touring to be exact.  Well, we got the call the Mazda was in on December 23 and on Christmas Eve morning I brought home a 2011 Spirited Green Metallic Mazda2 Touring.  Still getting used to it - the color (not yellow!) and just the car in general.  Sadly, it lost it's lovely shininess 2 days after bringing it home, it snowed.  I'm not complaining about the snow - we had a dusting compared to Philly and NY, but it did mess up my pretty new car.  Bah!

Christmas Eve, hubby and I went to mass, then home for dinner...just the two of us.  When we do Christmas at home, it's a nice tradition we have.  We had a yummy Cheddar Turkey Casserole and Bruschetta.  Oh. So. Good.  It was nice to sit at the dinning room table with the tree lit and candles going.  It really is a nice little tradition.  After wards, we headed to the living room and PRESENTS!  We were very lucky in our presents this year.  We both received some lovely items from Santa.  Apparently, he gave us the benefit of the doubt this year.  ;-)  After some cookies and wine, it was off to bed for us!

Christmas morning, we were both going to run, but we didn't.  LOL!  Instead we made a yummy home made breakfast of Belgium waffles, bacon, and coffee with eggnog.  Yum!  Believe it or not, that took most of the morning!  It was the first time with the waffle maker, so we had a bit of a learning curve.  But, in the end, we had a wonderful breakfast.  We cleaned up and headed to the in-laws for Christmas dinner.  We were spoiled there with presents and had a lovely dinner of lasagna.  We chipped in with a yummy maple caramel bread pudding for dessert (great job hubby!), then played some dominoes.  By this time it was well past 10:00 p.m. and I was exhausted, so home we went. 

Sunday morning, we both got up and ran.  I got a whopping 6 miles in!  Woohoo!  For my Saturday runs, I'm actually on plan with my training for the Disney Half.  Not bad.  It's those pesky weekday runs that are tripping me up.  After than lovely run, I ran a few errands and then did nothing.  It was nice after the busyness of the previous few days.

On Tuesday, we headed to Atlantic City to celebrate our 9th wedding anniversary.  We've been going to Harrah's Atlantic City for the past few years to celebrate.  It's a really nice, close getaway that has a fabulous pool.  :-)  We shopped a little at the Pier Shops, then hit Game On! for dinner and the Eagles game.  One of the two didn't go so well...and it wasn't dinner.  After the game, we headed back to the hotel.  We were both tired.

Wednesday, up we were to have our quick breakfast and then lie peaceably at the pool for hours on end.  It's so lovely.  We got a good 5 hours of pool time in.  The pool has a huge glass dome on top which allows sunlight in and the temperature is kept at a oh so wonderful 82 degrees.  Ahhhh...it was heavenly...  At about 4:00 p.m., we packed up our stuff, showered, then headed to one of our favorite restaurants The Continental.  Dinner was devine!  Champaign-o-rama to start with home made hummus and pita.  Dinner was cheesesteak eggrolls and edamame.  Fabulous!  We headed out after dinner, gambled a bit (I won $13.80 on a 15 cent bet!), drinks at Wild Wild West, and then home. 

Sadly, this morning we had to pack it all in.  But, before we did so, we hit the delicious Harrah's all-you-can-eat breakfast buffet.  I've messed up Operation 20 so badly that the buffet didn't even bother me.  Started with a tasty pineapple with granola mix.  Then had scrambled eggs, potatoes, bacon, an apple crepe, and a bite of country sausage.  Then the desserts...there are so many...and they all look so good...I ended up with 2 pieces of fried cheesecake (oh.my.God.), a tasty key lime pie (individual), and a peanut butter/chocolate concoction.  I believe we rolled out of the buffet.  LOL!

We headed home about 11:30 a.m. and arrived home about 4:00 p.m.  We cuddled our cute little Lizzie kitten, then picked up Higgy and Pooka from the kennel.  Both of whom seem to be doing quite well.  :-)

So, it's been an eventful week, with one more little detail I forgot to mention.  One of the two jobs I interviewed for made me a conditional offer of employment.  So, I will be gainfully employed come January of 2011.  I start Monday, January 10, 2011 and will be a fund raiser.  I suppose it's hard to get past when that's what your experience has been.  So, I guess the end of 2010 turned out to be better than the beginning.

I will do a year-end review soon, but until then...Happy New Year!

October Recap

Wow.  Where has the time gone?  Seriously?  It seemed like just yesterday the month was beginning, my birthday was freaking me out, and I had to run in a marathon relay.  And now?  The month is over, I'm still somewhat freaked out about my age, and the relay is over.  What a month!

It wasn't all roses however.  I had a hard time keeping up with the eating healthy bit.  I'd do well, fall off.  Start again, fall off again.  It seems like a bad cycle.  I got back into the groove at the end of the month, but Halloween hit and oops!  It did not go so well.  I'm back on the program today, hoping to minimize the damage from Friday.

The relay went great, as you know.  The only issue is I'm still having right leg pain.  I don't know why.  It's really strange because I've never had a running injury before.  I don't know whether to say screw it and run or keep babying it in the hopes that time will help.  Ugh.  I guess I better make up my mind soon since it's been 2 weeks since I ran.  And I may have some interesting news regarding running soon.  Still working on the details on this one.

The photography is not going as well as I had hoped.  I really thought I would have some sessions by now, but nothing.  I keep the blog updated 3-5 times a week with new photos (mostly without people in them) just so people keep seeing it, but no one wants a session.  Need to think of new ways to get the name out there.  I need this to start going.

Work or lack thereof.  Had several resumes go out over the last couple weeks.  One resulted in an emailed survey, one resulted in an interview, one resulted in a we're starting phone interviews the week of Nov. 15th, and one resulted in nothing so far.  So, we shall see.  Really hoping for the one with the phone interviews.  It's a three-year contract position, but I'm ok with that.  A lot can happen in three years.  If you have any prayers in ya, or positive thoughts, I could sure use one or two towards this.  It would give me the chance to combine my experience with my MA.  *fingers crossed*

So, what does the end of the year hold?  I don't know.  There's two months til 2011.  Which seems crazy.  The year's go faster and faster.  Hoping for a job.  Hoping for a great vacation again.  Hoping the photo thing takes off.  Hoping to finally lose the weight.  And at the end of the year, celebrate my 10 year wedding anniversary.  Now THAT'S crazy too!

Good First Day

Well, I did it.  Got through Day 1.  Phew!  I have a hard time letting go of the bad habits I've sunk back into, so trying to correct them on Day 1 always is a challenge.  And I did it...sorta.  I wasn't 100% perfect, but I was 95% perfect.  That's not bad.  :-)  I drank all my water, yea!  I exercised for 30 minutes (thanks Wii Fit)!  And I was almost on points.  That's where the 5% came in.  I couldn't handle the end of the day.  I ate too much during the day and didn't have much left for the end of the day.  So, I had a 100 calorie pack of pretzel sticks and 5 Hershey Kisses.  Not great, but much better than I've been.  So, Day 1 is in the books and it was a good one. 

I've also been working hard on my photography business.  Came back from the conference in Las Vegas and am so full of ideas and motivation!  I've learned how to add pages to my photo blog, which I am sooo excited about!  I am open for business in a small way.  If you're interested in a photo session, let me know.  I'm up for it, but real advertising will start at the end of the month.  :-)  I have a deadline now and one I'm working really hard towards.  I think this can work.  Woohoo!

Oh, and I bought new running sneakers.  Which implies I should go out and run again.  I say again because the weather in my neck of the woods has been awful for the last month/month and a half.  I can't stand running in the heat. So, I've kinda backed off.  Well, I needed new running shoes, so I headed over to Dick's Sporting Goods and bought a new pair.  Now I feel like I need to get my butt out there.  Which I do, because the Baltimore Marathon Relay is coming up in 59ish days.  The shortest leg is 5.7 miles, which is .7 miles longer than I've ever run before.  And I'm sure I'll get either the 6.3 mile leg or one of the two 7 mile legs.  Guess I should get my butt in gear, huh?

10.2

What an interesting number you might be thinking.  It's not exactly even, but not that far off.  It could be anything, really.  It could be how fast I run, it could be how far I ran, it could be the number of books I read in May, it could be any number of things.  In reality, it's the number of pounds I gained from March 5 through June 3.  Sucks, huh?

I thought about it and in one sense, 3 pounds a month with a 2-week European vacation thrown in there doesn't make that sound all that bad.  But, that also means that if I kept going at that rate, I would have regained all the weight I lost over the last year by November.  And that would SUCK. 

So, I went back to WW on Friday to get back on track.  I weighed in and really wasn't too surprised at the number on the scale.  Well, I was a tad.  I thought it would be higher.  So, I suppose that's a happy surprise.  And I had a goal of loosing 4-5 of that by this Friday.  And then the weekend came.  And I know that goal isn't going to happen.  I am still anticipating a loss, but not as large a one as I initially thought.  The weekend was more brutal than I thought it would be.  But, I'm still trying and I'm going to have a loss, even if it's that .2 pounds up there.

So, I'm back on the WW wagon.  Not going gang busters, but I'm back and hopefully will get into the swing of things over the next few weeks and will see the scale move down...and down...and down...

General Update

Diet

Yea, Sunday didn't go as I planned.  We ended up eating pizza and breadsticks after sitting on our butts all day.  Saturday night's party knocked us on our butts! LOL!  Monday wasn't too bad.  Ate a piece of Island Rum Cake for dessert, but other than that, I was ok. 

Exercise

I totally bailed on Sunday.  It was a Wii Fit day and I just couldn't get motivated.  Ugh.  I don't know what's up with me this week.  I did use the Wii Active Monday, so that's at least something.  I have my run (which looks to be on the treadmill today) and the Wii Active workout still to look forward today.  Fun.  I will make up for Sunday's laziness tomorrow with a workout.  Not sure what right now, but something.

Employment

I applied Sunday night for a temporary part-time fundraising position.  Yea.  Right.  There is nothing out there that I am either qualified for or want to do...and I really don't want to go back to fundraising, but I do have the qualifications for it, so I check it out.  Ugh.

In more positive news, I have been doing more research into starting my own photography business.  I read Running A 21st-Century Small Business yesterday and got lots of good stuff from it.  I searched out some blogs and found a fantastic one with lots of great information and resources.  I am actually going to email and thank her for her blog.  It just really helped me feel more confident in my decision to do this.  Recently, I've had people question my decision to do this and her blog really put my mind to ease as she gave the same answer I did as to why I should start this up.  So good to have validation.

So, that's where things are today.  I have a feeling Friday will show a gain from this past weekend.  I have to get better at eating on the weekends.  The previous weekend I tracked each day and even though I went over, I had the flex points all figured out and I lost 2.8 pounds.  This weekend, no tracking.  I am sure there will be a gain.  Ugh.

7 Pounds

7 pounds. That is the amount of weight I have lost since July 2009. Yes, 7 pounds. I have lost it, gained, it lost it, gained it....you get the drift. I was thinking of that last night before bed. I am down a total of 31 for the year, but the VAST majority of that came before July 30th. That wedding was a sure fire incentive to loose, then it all went to heck. I don't know what happened. I'm slightly...alright, more like severally...disappointed in myself over this. In 4 months, I have masted 7 pounds. In the six months previous? 24. Wow. What a difference.

So, I need to buckle down the rest of the month and really focus on those 5 pounds. While 13 pounds in the second half of the year isn't note worthy, it sure beats 7 pounds in 6 months.

And I started this with a great 30 minute treadmill run today. The weather did not bode well for an outdoor run, it was snowing when I woke up, so I jumped on the treadmill. Lately, the home treadmill and I have not been friends. I have not been able to get in a good 30 minutes without having to stop about 25 minutes in. And today I didn't think we were friends still. I really just wanted to stop. But, then I started thinking how I have lost only 7 pounds since July and I forced my self to run the WHOLE 30 minutes. And I did it. I ran 30 on the treadmill today. My goal is to run Monday and Wednesday this week too, either outside or on the treadmill. There is no reason why I can't get in a 30 minute run no matter what the weather looks like outside.

And with that being said, hubby signed us up to run in the Jingle Bell Walk/Run for Arthritis next weekend. I'm looking forward to it actually. They have the cutest logo and you get a long-sleeve t-shirt. :-) I'm really, really excited about it. Hoping to run a 42 minute 5k, which would be my best time EVER. Wish me luck!

It's been awhile...

It has been a rough couple of weeks. It all went off track after a fun weekend in Atlantic City and just never got back on the rails. Food was the culprit, which tends to be the case. I will say, I had great exercise the following week in Philly. Loved the gym at our hotel! The treadmill had it's own, personal fan. What could be better??? I did an HOUR on the treadmill. Who does that?!?

Thanksgiving went well. It wasn't a complete gorge-fest. It could have been better, but it was much better than normal. I kinda went off the deep-end the rest of the weekend, though. :-( I was all set to change the way things were going Sunday, but yea, that didn't happen either. Ugh.

So, I am changing that today. I decided to have a day of fasting. I know people aren't always a fan of it, but I needed something drastic to break the cycle I got into. My hope is that starting tomorrow, I can get back to boot camp, which has been extended until Friday. While I doubt I have lost ANYTHING more in Nov., I can hope that fasting and boot camp this week will keep me even.

December's goal is an additional 5 pounds. It's doable. Just keep reminding me of that...

Thursday

Two posts in one day! Aren't you lucky! LOL! Actually, I decided to put Thursday's update today, so I can tell you all about my gain in the morning when I weigh in. I'd hate to one up that with a silly daily update.

It was an eh day. I didn't do too bad eating-wise today. Maybe one too many snacks, but overall, not too bad. I had my blueberry cereal this morning. Yum! And a nice cup of tea, it was gloomy. Lunch was awesome! I took a Granny Smith apple in quarters, covered each with a quarter of Reduced-Fat Colby Jack cheese, and toasted it in the toaster oven. Man! That was great! I am so excited because honestly, I was getting tired of my lunches lately. I did so well the last month or two, but I need something new. This was perfect. I then had more dried cranberry and apples. Yum! Dinner was take out - Sheetz. I had a turkey ciabatta with lettuce, tomato, onion, sweet peppers and pickles. So good! Dessert was just a piece of Hershey's dark chocolate and a 100 calorie Oreo bar from Little Debbie. I will admit, I think I snacked a little more than I should have. I had a couple cookies. Shhh! don't tell anyone!

Exercise was supposed to be a run, it never happened. I spent the bulk of my day cleaning the entry way, living room, and dining room of my house. Maybe that will count? Maybe? So, I may run tomorrow, I may not. We shall see. I have my race on Sunday and I don't want to tire my legs out too much before then. I would LOVE to run a better time than my first, but eh. Running the whole time and finishing is still what's most important.

Alrighty. I'll check ya out tomorrow when I tell you how much I gained this week. See ya then!