Week from…

I’ll let you fill in that blank but it was not a fun week around my parts.  I’ve felt like crap all week and work has completely sucked.  Girls on the Run has been way more stressful/taxing than I anticipated when I signed up to volunteer and I’m just overall not feeling like I am accomplishing anything lately… Every day I go into work, I contemplate just quitting and then proceeding to sell my house and move away.  (It’s a delusional world I live in )  Also, this election is making me the crabbiest person in the WORLD! I have now resorted to only watching recorded television (to ff through commercials), changing radio stations in the car and unfriending/unfollowing people on twitter and facebook.  Obviously things could be much worse but still… bad week.

So anyways, I have not done a random Friday post in a while but this week I felt like returning to a fun Friday post to celebrate the end of this week!

1) My new favorite show is Top Gear.  My dad is obsessed with this show and I watched a few episodes when I was home last weekend and now I am hooked!  I think the hosts of the show are hilarious and it makes me want to move to London!  I got suckered into trying out Amazon Prime for the year ($20 off with the amazon credit card!!!) and was happy to find I can watch it there!  And a new season too which I might have to share with my dad when I am home in the near future

2) Girls on the Run is really a struggle this week.  It’s probably bad to complain about volunteering but we have some girls in our group who are just a challenge.  It’s so hard to feel like your time is being well spent when you get such disrespect from children who are 8-10 years old.  I would never talk to anyone (old or young) the way they talk to me and disrespect my requests to stop talking when I am talking but no dice.  The majority of the girls are really nice and sweet and cooperative but the bad ones really pull the whole group down.  It’s times like this I am very thankful I never pursued being a teacher or youth group leader… It’s also very frustrating because the other leaders just don’t want to deal with it… awesome.  I’ll just keep trucking along and hope I’m making some kind of good impression on them!

3) I got a manicure last Friday as part of my “work retreat” but it only lasted 5ish days and now I am kind of missing it  I am not the type to paint my nails but for whatever reason, it made me feel a little more pulled together this week when everything else seemed to be falling apart.  I think I need to make a trip to target and get some new polishes.

Witch nails!

4) Speaking of Target!  My poor pup is getting a Halloween costume  I know he does not really appreciate being dressed up but costumes are too funny I can’t ever resist.  This week the costumes were on sale at Target so I ordered him 2 for a whopping $7 out of pocket!  I had a $5 giftcard to use up + my target debit card gets me free 2 day shipping and 5% off each purchase.  Hard to beat that!  Now I have to decide which costume for this year… Skunk or Astronaut

5) Speaking of skunk… last week a lady came to work smelling like a skunk!  Please tell me people are normally smart enough to stay home from work when they stink?  I am starting to loose faith in the human being’s ability to think clearly.

6) I’m going to try my hardest to get in 7-8 miles of running this weekend.  I think it’s finally time to stop offering myself the opportunity to woos out of long runs and just do it.  7 to 26.2 by January 13, 2013… Why does that always seem so discouraging!?  At least I know I can do it…

7) I think I am ready to join a running group!  That sounds like such a dilemma in my life, no?  (side note, why does blogging instantly make me feel like a drama queen?  cheap therapy, right?) I really want to focus on doing local runs next year and I think the savings on registration fees alone will be enough to make it worth it + I have the potential of group runs which might help me stay/get motivated to run better again.  (Birthday present idea hint, hint )

8) I may have registered for another race… I told myself no more for this year but then I happened to see a 15k Turkey Trot in two weeks that cost a whopping $12 so I “had” to sign up.  I’m shooting for winning a free turkey by being closest to my predicted finish time.  I went ambitious and listed 1:35:45.  We’ll see how loud I am laughing at that finish time in a few weeks.  Must stop.  Can’t stop.

9) Speaking of races, I am also doing a fun run 5K the weekend before with my blogging buddy Allison!  It’s a monster dash so this weekend I will be brainstorming a costume to wear  Preferably not featuring any kind of head gear this year… Might have to make a Goodwill trip this weekend – hehehe!

10) I’ve completed week one of my NASM personal training certification!  I am LOVING it so far and can’t wait to tackle week two this weekend.  I love the mix between reading and watching short video recaps and can’t wait to get more into everything!

11) Yesterday I happened to be reading Mama Pea’s blog and saw a comment about a button she had for Compassion International which is an organization that allows people to sponsor children in impoverished areas with a monthly donation.  After seeing that, I was reminded how even though my week seemed “bad” at least I have the basic necessities like food, water and a safe place to live.  I’ve been meaning to sponsor a kid for years but never bit the bullet but yesterday, I just decided to go for it!  I picked a little 5 year old boy named Jose and it was his birthday yesterday  If you are ever looking for a good charity to donate too, this would be a good place to look!

I think that’s enough for today.  Too much whining, too much random but it is what it is and it’s Friday! Hope you’ve had a better week than me and that everyone has a good weekend, me included

Your turn: Most annoying thing this week – go!

(and you are not allowed to say me)

Friday.

This week was weird.  People got on my nerves repeatedly and I had to bite my tongue more times than I can count.  Good thing I really don’t have to deal with too many people at work.  The amount of people I do have to deal with is plenty… But anyways, here are my random weekly happenings!  I feel like it was a pretty boring week but at least it’s now the weekend (in like 10-12 hours…)

1) I actually have a backyard now!  Having had a weed garden for 3+ years has been fun but I am happy I now don’t have to look the other way when I walk out my back door!

I guess it was greener back then though!

2) I am pretty sure I have decided that being passive aggressive is one of my least favorite personality traits in a person and yet, I am always the one who wins when someone wants to play that game.  At work someone has been pulling that shit for at least the last year and I officially one upped said person on Wednesday.  #score

3) The Olympics have started to bore me… I really liked watching swimming and gymnastics to a certain extent and some track and field but the way they are showing it now has just totally lost my interest.  I feel like every time I tune into NBC, it’s either Track Cycling (stupid), Beach Volleyball (stupider) or Polo (wt?).  And when track and field comes on, it’s like on for 5 seconds and then over because they run so damn fast.

Plus this just pissed me off. Seriously, you messed up and still get silver. Be thankful for that and your team GOLD. Brat.

4) Tomorrow I am planning to run a 5k.  I’m not really sure how well this will go as I’ve run a total of like 20 miles in the last two weeks but at least I’ve gotten in 2 3ish mile runs so I know I can do it.  And I know I won’t be the last because it’s a run/walk!  I’d like to set a new PR but even that may be asking too much for my current condition… although my old PR is like 35 minutes so it’s not super speedy or anything.

5) All I’ve wanted to eat this week is Pancakes.  Breakfast, lunch dinner, that’s always what first jumps into my head.  That or peanut butter + jelly with BBQ potato chips.  Clearly I have a very advanced palate.  I’m not really sure what that means I am short on dietary-wise but I’m thinking it means I have an excuse to carbo-load for a 5k  In all honestly, I will likely have them for breakfast and dinner today because I am too lazy to cook any real food and that’s about the quickest meal option I know!

Carbs are so good!

6) My stupid sciatica issue is acting up again… It was feeling better until acupuncture on Tuesday.  That used to make it feel better but now, not so much.  I guess that’s a sign that I can stop going.  I certainly won’t miss the 35+ min drive each way!  At least now I know that’s what it is so I won’t let it stop me from running because that just makes it worse.

7) I’d wanted to sign up for a bike ride at Road America next weekend but didn’t want to go alone so I tried to talk my sister into it but she was not having it.  Now I find out McDreamy is going to be riding it.  I’m not the hugest fan of Grey’s Anatomy but I still think it would have been cool to bike with him!  And it is a multiple lap type event so he would pass me at least once if nothing else!  Oh well – it will probably be ridiculously crowded now and I am not a fan of crowds so it’s probably for the best!

Oh look, he’s on a bike!

8) I’m bad-habiting again…I have always had an issue with biting/picking at my fingernails and I know it’s gross but I mess them up without even realizing I am doing it!  It’s time to bust out the finger tappies I think… I am mentally 6 years old someday.  Normal people my age get manicures, I just need to get fingernails back

9) I am reading Emily Giffin’s Where We Belong right now and really liking it so far.  It seems quite a bit different from her other books but it’s a good change so far!  I’m interested to see where this story line leads.

10) I am totally addicted to the ABC Family show Beverly Hills Nannies.  As someone who for a few minutes contemplated being a nanny post-college if I didn’t find a job, I think this is even more interesting!  I can see so many parallels to my own babysitting past in some of the stories although on the show they are so much more dramatic than in my real life  Also, one of the nannies is from Wisconsin but has clearly been Beverly Hillized just a little so she sure does not remind me of people ’round these parts!

I can’t even imagine!

That’s all I got this week!  Hope you have a good weekend in store where ever you are!

What do you think of McKayla’s attitude at getting silver?  Understandable or Unbelievable?

Friday Facts.

This week lasted forever.  I got frustrated repeatedly by how SLOW it was moving.. it was like a constant let down of Yeah, it’s Thursday… Nope, just Tuesday.  I even took a half day on Tuesday to meet the cable installer at my house but that did nothing for helping this week pass.  Luckily, it is really, truly, finally Friday!  So let’s get too it – random (potentially useless) information starts… NOW!

1) I have cable again!  It’s been three years of just having antenna TV but I finally decided to just bite the bullet again and try cable for a year at least!  I have been enjoying catching up on watching all my favorite cooking shows as well as Bravo shows.  I’m sure that says something about me but oh well  I’m still getting used to the fact that I don’t have to watch the commercials on a recorded show anymore!  I caught myself watching them the other night totally forgetting I can FF!!  I am clearly way too excited but little things like this

2) My dad put my 26.2 (and 13.1) stickers on my car!  I finally feel like my bumper is complete

+ a Chicken!

3) I got a very exciting package in the mail on Tuesday… a sampling of Kit’s Organic Fruit and Nut Bars! These bars are made by one of my favorite running related companies, Clif!  I tried the cashew bar for a snack yesterday and it was delicious!  I loved the texture and flavor!  (So much better than a larabar imho!!!) I’m excited to try the other flavors although I did sacrifice one for sister to try… she’ll have to fill me in on how the Peanut Butter one tastes  I don’t think these are in the store yet but I am hoping they show up soon around here because I need to buy some more, asap!

4) I am growing more and more fond of the Jackie Warner Personal Trainer Circuit DVD that I got a week or so ago.  I did the lower body 15 the other night and man, most of the moves where new to me moves and did they ever make your muscles cry!  Sister decided she wanted to try the upper body DVD and actually LIKED IT!  Coming from my sister who refuses to enjoy weight lifting as much as I refuse to enjoy yoga!

5) I’m planning to head to a running shoe store this weekend to try to find some shoes that will help my legs feel better running… I won’t buy any shoes if they feel really heavy because I know those end up causing me shin splints but I am hoping they can get me shod in some lightweight yet sort of supported/cushioned shoes.  Fingers crossed… I need to break this “I can’t run” cycle soon!  I might also try some real compression socks to see if that helps any?!

6) I broke down and agreed to get my landscaping cleaned up in my yard… this is something I have been putting off for three years but finally just got suckered in by my lawn mowing services deal to clean up my yard and make it not look like a weed covered waste land.  Yes, it will be more money than if I just did it myself but in all honesty, I will NEVER do it myself.  I really, truly hate doing yard work for some reason.  Hopefully within a week or two, I will have a much pleasanter looking backyard!  And a certain little dog will have some new plants to water!

It’s hard to imagine this is actually looking pretty good at the moment. Much lower on the weed takeover scale than at the beginning of the year…

7) THE OLYMPICS START TONIGHT!!!!  I am so excited and the opening ceremony was the first thing I set up to record on my DVR  In case you are not aware, there are two pretty cool looking apps for the Olympics found here and here.  I know what I will be doing this weekend…

8) The weather really interfered with my bike riding this week!  It was either stormy, hot as an oven + really windy or too dark when I wanted to try to get out.  I’ll have to make up for this fact with riding both days this weekend at some point!  I did get out on a short ride on Wednesday which included me almost falling over again.  When will this get easier??  I feel like it’s better but then I pull a stunt like Wed and I wonder… but maybe the “almost” part is key to proving I am improving?  No new scratches and bruises to report = success?

9) It’s been a bad hair month.  Me + humidity = Ms. Frizzle.

10) My cell phone is dying….. I want an iPhone but I cannot justify the price tag as of now.  Are any other “smart” phones decent??  Any recommendations?

I think that’s all I got for ya this week!  Yeah, Friday!

What are your favorite running shoes??  (And why are they so darned expensive…)

Quite the Week.

I don’t know why but this week has been exhausting.  Or at least this last half of the week.  I’m going to go ahead and blame the weather because after 3ish months of sun, it has been gloomy and stormy for the last few and it must be hard to adjust to that, right?  Probably just an excuse but I’m gonna go with it!  Since it is finally Friday, that means it’s time for me to expel all my random thoughts and happenings from the week!

1) So my bike ride on Monday was all happy and fantastic.  Well, let’s just say that feeling was a little short lived… When I tried to go for a ride on Wednesday, I first spent about 30 minutes trying to inflate my bike tires and only succeeded at DEflating them.  Then once I finally got going and across the scary busy street that I always panic when trying to start when crossing, I was stung by a bee!  And then proceeded to fall off my bike in my frantic hurry to remove the bee from my arm.  I bet I made quite the site!  Luckily I am not allergic to bee stings since I don’t remember ever being stung before!  But man, those suckers know how to leave a mark!

2) The Bike is also now 2:0 in causing me to fall off my bike… Last night I was practicing clipping my pedals in and out and well, I tipped over and skinned up my knee and bruised my hip.  Nice.

These are now all scuffed up They look innocent but they really know how to make me nervous…

3) I was also all excited to get cable on Wednesday only to call to confirm my appointment and find… I didn’t have one.  No work order set up.  Excellent.  So now it’s another week before that can happen and I wasted time off of work.  Also, it’s now going to be $20/month because apparently the person helping me before was totally not in the game.  I really am convinced Time Warner is out to make people’s lives more miserable.  For whatever reason though, I just can’t find an acceptable alternative so I have to put up with them

3) This weekend, my mom, sister and I are going to Billy Elliot!  I watched this movie on Netflix awhile back and it’s a really neat story.  Sister also saw this play when she was in London and loved it!  I am excited!

4) The Olympics start next week!  I am very much looking forward to this and at least cable “Should” be hooked up by then so I can record my favorites!  Winter Olympics are my ultimate favorite but Summer Olympics are for sure growing on me.  I am excited to watch swimming, track & field, running, cycling, diving, gymnastics, etc, etc.  There are are a few events I really get bored to death by but for the most part, I’m fascinated that people can be so good at such weird random sports that are not really considered “professional” and therefore make them a ton of money.  It’s clearly their love of the sport that keep them going!

But WHAT are these things?!?

5) And since I seem to be very London-focused this week, I am currently obsessed with Lyle’s Golden Syrup.  Have you had this?  I first had it when I visited sister in London and had not purchased it since.  Well, a week or so ago I impulse bought it and remembered why I love it to!  It’s like caramel sauce with one ingredient – sugar!  Not exactly a healthy food but man, it makes everything taste just a little bit better!  Try it on waffles, cereal, ice cream… you know, pretty much anything!

6) There is a special at Sweet Tomato’s this weekend.  WHY is this place so far away!!  I need to move…

7) And since apparently I am now thinking about food… Pesto + fresh mozzarella makes the best anything.  Pizza, sandwich, burger.  You name it, those two things together makes it amazingly delicious!

8) I finally broke down and purchased a car wash on Wednesday.  It them proceeded to storm when I was at acupuncture and negate any good I did there – oops!  Maybe the drought around here would have ended sooner had I went to the car wash sooner…

9) Sister sent me a link to this article about curing back pain.  I at first thought it was kind of wacked but then read through some of the 400+ 5-star ratings on Amazon.  Is a $6 book really worth a glowing review unless it actually works?  I think I need to order this book… Maybe it will work on my leg pain as well?  99% of the time I am convinced I am making shit up about my aches and pains but the pain is real so this concept actually kind of explains why that would happen.  Time to cry uncle on this bs my “subconscious” is telling me and see if it does anything. Ha!  Losing $6 is not really the end of the world if it does nothing…

10) One more thing for today!  I happened to look up some search terms that brought people to this blog recently.  Here are my favorites.  Hope they can give you a little chuckle!

“justin bieber i had a good day but I think we need to move on now” – yes, I am pretty sure he’s not worth losing sleep over!

“cold coffee we heart it” – yes, me too!

“body pump blah” – yeah, I fell ya there!

“at 20 miles I wished I was dead” – oh I am sorry!  I didn’t though

“remote control cars” – huh?

“how to make something with just cocoa pebbles and peanut butter” – who needs to make something?  Just pour the pebbles in the jar and grab a spoon! – and 5 people have found this site by googling “cocoa pebbles”  Wow, sad image that paints!  But now I want some!

That was one of my more random Friday’s but that kind of fits this week… One weird thing after the next!

Your turn!  What Olympic sport are you most excited for?  Any fun plans for this weekend?

Five Day Week Friday.

It was no fun having a five day work week this week after last weeks awesome 3.5 day week due to the Fourth of July!  I could totally get on board with having every Wednesday off of work!  Keeping the dream alive…  But since that is not likely to occur anytime soon for me, I’ll just have to suck it up and be super excited every Friday!  Even though it was a five day week, it did seem to go fast.  Here’s what I have been up to!

1) Not running that’s for sure.  We’re up to 19 days off now but whose counting?!?  Oh yeah, I am.

2) I have actually been doing very little exercise these past few weeks to try and resolve my leg and back issues.  Yoga, easy weight lifting and walking is where it’s at!  I really do miss sweating though.  Hopefully soon!  I am relatively confident that my leg pain is actually shin splints or something like that.  I noticed I have gotten a bad habit of walking on my left foot funny and I think that has led to to these other problems.  Ankle stretches have commenced.  And acupuncture seemed to help.  Plus icing and ace bandage wrapping.  #oldlady

3) My poor little puppy dog had 4 teeth removed on Wednesday.  He’s such a sad pathetic little guy now.  I imagine he is in quite a lot of pain but he also has great acting skillz and likes to play the guilt card to.the.max!  Hopefully he is up for some treats and a picnic this weekend.  For some reason he decided it would be fun to wake me up at 3am this morning so thanks for that, dude.  Payback?

4) I almost got side swiped driving to work on Wednesday.  Apparently laying on the horn and trying to avoid getting hit just solicited a wave from the offending party.  Yes lady, Hi.  Clearly that is why I was honking at you.  #somepeople  Thank goodness I was not hit by her or anyone else in the vicinity.

5) Don’t tell sister but I heard a Justin Bieber song on the radio the other day that I didn’t have to frantically change the station to avoid listening too.  This is not good folks.  #belieber

6) We are getting cable again on WEDNESDAY!  I am such a nerd but I am so excited to have access to food channel again to see Pioneer Women’s new show (or will be new to me) as well as Real Housewives so many of my other cable channel favorites!  Somehow it will only cost me $20 more per month to add TV.  Apparently I have been getting ripped off for the past 2+ years because my internet price was “outdated”  #geethanks  I will also conveniently have cable before the Olympics starts.  Whoot!

7) I am in the process of finally cancelling my gym membership.  But apparently they are the slowest people to respond, ever!  We are going on 1 week and I have gotten 2 emails.  It’s about an every other day thing I guess.  Gold star in customer service for Gold’s Gym…

8) I’m signed up to help with another half marathon, the Full Moon Half in my parents town next month!   Maybe next year I will be back in the land of the running and can participate.  Maybe. #dreambig

9) I didn’t want to participate in Runner’s Worlds #RwRunStreak earlier this summer because I know my legs would never tolerate such a thing but a fellow Wisconsinite, Allison, has started a #FitStreak!  This includes doing something active every day for the rest of the summer.  She is not officially starting until Monday but I’m starting yesterday Even if I am the only one!  I’ve also found out she’s running the same half in Appleton that I am planning to do!  (well, she will be running, I have no clue to be honest )

11) Totally random but breakfast used to be my FAVORITE meal of the day.  Lately I have been struggling to find anything that sounds really good in the morning.  Darn warm weather ruining oats for me.  Today I managed to make this recipe that I saw Cait make the other day.  I’m not too sure how well it will turn out because of course I did not really follow the recipe…   I made it gluten free by subbing in 1/2 oat and 1/2 brown rice flour.  I also used flax instead of real eggs, 1T of coconut butter instead of 8T of earth balance + a little applesauce and I have no idea what condition my yeast is in.  It could be interesting later when I cook them.  They’re probably not nearly as tasty as Cait’s version with a stick of buttah but oh well!  Paula Deen would not be proud. #alwaysastickofbutter

Edited to add: this was the epicest fail of all time.  Gross, gross, gross.  And resulted in adding to the horrible start to my day.  Now I am horribly tired and hungry.  Lesson learned, don’t try something new on a weekday without a solid back up plan.

12) I was literally reading this post with my jaw dropped yesterday.  People are so incredibly rude it’s really disgusting.  My number one pet peeve in this world is people being rude.  Seriously, people.  Treat others as you want to be treated and the world would be a better place.  And what about the gym really brings this behavior out in people?  This is the #2 reason I am dropping Gold’s.  All these weight room junkies think they own the place.  #howrude

13) It’s Friday the 13th. #yourewelcomeforthatmemo

Now I am off to try to get through this Friday the 13th!  It started WAY too early thanks to a certain little dog.  He-he!  Have a good weekend!

Is it really?

Friday today?  I have seriously thought it was Friday at some point every single day this week so I’m a bit skeptical.  You would never guess that Monday was a holiday so this week was technically “short.”  Sure felt long to me!!  So happy that today is finally FRIDAY and to celebrate, here is a recap of what I have been up to these past few days (as if you really care )…

1) Another long run tomorrow.  I am shooting for 18 miles but we shall see.  I am so over long training runs right now and just want to stinking finish a marathon!  Since my last long run was about 4 weeks ago, I don’t think I can rely on that run to see me through 26.2 3ish weeks from now.  Darn it!

2) It went from 90 degrees on Monday to 48 degrees yesterday.  Thank you Wisconsin for gracing us with your hot flashes this year.  Please do not schedule one for June 24th.  Thankyouverymuch.

3) I am finally reading a book I want to keep reading and reading and have a hard time putting down!  I have no idea what said book is called but you know, baby steps!  It’s been almost 3 months since I was really into the book I was reading! Ha!

4) It’s only about one week and one day until my next race!  A 10k planned before the whole marathon fiasco.  Hopefully this one both goes as planned and also does not royally mess up this royally messed up training cycle  15,000 runners are registered for this compared to 300-500 for my marathon.  We shall see what is less stressful

5) Sister and I are currently embarking on a no dessert until the marathon challenge!  I eat way too many sweets around my long runs so I am trying to avoid them for the next 23 days.  But who is counting?!  ”They” say it takes about 21 days to break a habit so we shall see if this breaks my marathon induced ridiculous sugar habit!

6) I skipped out on a shortish run yesterday when I realized I already had 12 miles in this week with 18 planned for Sunday.  12+18=30 which is really the highest I ever trained during this process.  Some may say this is not enough but I still figure it’s probably better not to push things too much with three weeks to go.  That and I did a number on my legs trying to run back to back days…

7) Apparently WordPress decided not to publish the post linked to above… thanks WP.  I was also too lazy to update it yesterday when I realized it and just posted it.

8) I made this bread again last night.  I <3 this recipe so bad!  Not betting it lasts the weekend…  It worked perfectly both times!!!

9) Speaking of the weekend, this is my only “free” weekend for the next month or so.  Why does that make it seem like this month is going to fly by!?  Heck the summer fly by?!

10) I have not been to the gym in three weeks.  And I don’t miss it at all!  I actually kind of dread it now.  I think it’s time to stop forcing exercising at a gym when it’s so much more fun to me to do it at home!

11) In lieu of skipping pump last night, I did the Upper Body Weight Circuit DVD with Shaun T.  How did it take me this long to discover that DVD in the Insanity pack?!

12) For the past 4 years, my resume has listed that I was on the “Honor Role”… wow Kinley, really!?  Excellent grammar right there.

Sorry that was a lot of random and no pictures this week!  Hopefully I will have a good recap of a long run tomorrow but you never really know!

Happy Friday!

Friday?!

Really?!  Man, this week went fast.  No complaints by any means, just an observation  Probably helped I was a slackey who did not work on Monday!  I could most certainly get used to 4 day work weeks every week.  In fact, I think that might be the best idea ever!!  But since I do not control the work week concept, I will probably have to settle for 5 days weeks for the time being… but anyways, since it’s Friday, it means its time for me to list off a bunch of random crap!  I know you are excited, Or not?

1) I am breaking up with Starbucks.  I have to just cold turkey quit.  I get lured over there, week after week and then get a drink, can’t sleep, etc., etc.  For the past few months, I have been getting decaf but that still spins me up.  Like really bad… either Sbux’s “decaf” is not so de or the barista’s at the sbux near my work are easily confused between full and de?  I have $3.20 left on my sbux card that I will save for “emergencies” but for now, I’ve just gotta quit…

Good bye my love. It was good while it lasted. It’s not you, it’s me. Promise.

2) Acupuncture is going really, really well. My back pain is like 5% of what it was a few months ago and my anxiety seems to be about 15% of my original feelings.  I am now also taking a serotonin supplement so that ought to make me spit out rainbows and butterflies here shortly…  or maybe just not fire and flying monkeys…

3) Tomorrow is my last long run in training for my upcoming marathon.  How did this happen already?  I swear I just signed up for this thing… I don’t really plan on setting any new land speed records tomorrow but hopefully I’ll at least finish in one piece?!  Maybe the happy pills will kick in right about mile 15 and carry me through!

4) Speaking of coffee, (we were, weren’t we?) Dunkin Donuts is the best.  I love it.

I REALLY want a glazed old fashioned to go with my Dunkin’s in the mornings… darn it!

5) Can computer routers go bad?  I have had mine for 5ish years and I have to reset it almost every single day… it’s really annoying.

6) What’s not annoying you ask?  Coming home to a freshly mowed lawn that you did not have to worry about!!  Best money I will ever spend!  (Yes, I am THAT lazy about yard work…)  Although if I had this, I would be half tempted to “mowcycle” my own lawn…

7) Sister and I are still totally obsessed with Lost.  It terrifies me to the point I don’t want to leave the room/fly over an ocean again yet also makes me kind of wish I lived on a deserted island all at the same time.  Like Hurley said in one episode “We get to sleep in every morning so that’s a plus!”

Not to mention you would have a terribly attractive doctor there to take care of you

8) Last weekend on our road trip, sister and I played the license plate game.  We spotted 40/50 states.  I have still been looking for the last 10… Alaska, Hawaii, Montana, Wyoming, West Virginia, New Hampshire, Delaware, New Mexico, Rhode Island and Nevada.  Come on people from these states.  You NEED to get out more.

9) I have so many things I want to blog about related to running but I have been totally lacking the time to type anything out!  Maybe this weekend I will be able to get a little ahead of things so I can document my taper time adequately!

10) Remember last week how I mentioned Pfunky Griddle make you own pancakes?  Oh my goodness.  If you are every going to Nashville, please do yourself the ultimate favor and EAT HERE EVERYDAY FOR BREAKFAST!!  These pancakes are the best pancakes I have ever had in all my life.  And they were gluten free!  (they also have regular cakes too though!)  I have been dreaming about these cakes for a week and I want to move to Nashville just so I can eat here again and again and again.  I am now on a quest to recreate these pancakes at home… and build a table that has a griddle in it…

Drooling… I want these NOW!

11) Clearly I am a fan of coffee and pancakes.  Together that would be an even better thing.  Maybe, just maybe, I will go make myself some pancakes now!  Friday breakfast time!  And obviously I am out of stuff to randomly type so I will just quit now before it gets more pathetic…

Have a good weekend!

Long Time No Post.

So sorry about that disappearing act over the past 7 days!  I have absolutely no clue what happened to this past week but I am glad it is Friday once again!  Since I have not posted at all this week, it should provide me a few items to include in my Friday random post, right?!

1. So last weekend it was Easter.  Sorry if you missed that memo but you can probably still find some 50% off candy at the store?!.  I went up to my parents house for the weekend and was completely unproductive the whole weekend and it was fantastic!  My mom, sister and I did manage to pull together an awesome Easter dinner that included delicious ham, mashed sweet potatoes, lemon asparagus and deviled eggs.  We still have ham left in our freezer but I am not complaining!  I also think I have reached my sodium limits for the year… oh well.  Good thing I can sweat it out

2.  Also, I made this adorable cake for dessert on Easter.  I used this recipe and it turned out dense but delicious.  The frosting was cream cheese and not healthy at all.  Just the way frosting should be!

3. Backing up to Saturday, I managed to pull my act together and run 12 miles.  For whatever reason, this was the most painful run of my whole training season.  I felt like a weak little baby running the whole time.  Not sure what is up with this downward spiral of energy during running but I am NOT a fan…  I have now revised my goal for Nashville to = finish.  This was a hilly route by my parents but Nashville is also hilly so I am assuming similar results (hopefully not worse).  We shall see how that goes!

4. Following my less than spectacular running weekend that also included 4 painful miles home from Church on Sunday, I was to the point of swearing off running every again and just giving up on the Marathon.  Then it was Tuesday and I realized I was stupid and just having a “boo hoo hoo, I can’t run fast enough” party for myself and moved on.  I am now at in the final stage of grief, acceptance.  I ain’t no Kenyan…

5. Monday and Wednesday I had acupuncture appointments.  I am still not sure about these things… I feel SO much worse the next day but then better the day after…this is supposed to stop happening after awhile but I am not sure how long this will take for my body to “get over”.  I also had a rather disturbing bruise pattern on my back after having some bizarre Chinese Cupping thing done.  I’m sparing you from showing pictures.  You are welcome.

6. At my appointment Wednesday, the acupuncturist and I discussed results from a little personality/brain imbalance quiz that I took over the weekend. Apparently I am ultra-sensitive and semi-hypoglycemic.  Real world examples = clothing tags are “picky” and when I am hungry, get out of the way!  Case in point on the first part, when I was laying on the table for my treatment on Wednesday, I could feel my heart beating… not racing but beating and it was driving me nuts.  This was all before the discussion so he then brought it up and was like “Most people would just ignore something like that but you are not able to switch thought and move on”.  Ok, great.  Now I have more evidence that I am psychotic…

6. There are like 36 days left until my Marathon and I feel totally and completely unprepared and undertrained.  I feel like I have not logged that many miles each week but I still have been managing to complete the long runs but is that the most important part?  I have been very hesitant to run any more this training cycle because of my nagging back pain and foot pain.  I really hope I can shake this crap and get back to my years of “injury’free” running.  Like seriously, never had an ache or a pain for 5 years before this!  What the heck!

7. In connection with 6, I broke down and bought some new, more cushioned, shoes.  I know the name of this blog is Better Off Barefoot but maybe that is not the case for me after all…  I mean if you think about it, I didn’t run around barefoot as a kid so why would my “natural” state now be running that way?  I think it might be time to accept the fact that this was one of those “sounded logical and worth a try” ideas that didn’t pan out for me… We’ll see what these new shoes can do for me.  I ended up ordering Mizuno’s Wave Rider 15s after reading Tina’s gushing over them post the other day  I walked around the block with them tonight and they felt HEAVY but hopefully they help correct my current leg issues…

8. I no longer am following any actual “training plan” but just doing what I can when I feel like I am up for it.  The goal this weekend is 18 miles but we shall see what the pains say when I wake up tomorrow morning… erg.

9.  It was national grilled cheese day yesterday and has me craving a grilled cheese SO bad!  I have been trying to avoid dairy lately but I might have to cave and have one this weekend… with a cup of tomato soup.  There is no other way!

10. I royally pissed off the dog on Wednesday and Thursday by having the disgusting-ness that is Garlic Mustard sprayed in the yard and therefore, the dog was not allowed on the lawn.  If looks could kill, I would be dead right now…

11. I might finally be figuring out a trick to keeping me from being a ravenous beast during the day at work… avoid a morning snack?!  For some reason, if I have a snack in the morning, I can’t stop eating ALL.DAY.LONG.  But if I have a larger breakfast and larger lunch, no problems whatsoever.  This was proven yesterday when I wanted to eat everything and anything in sight after having a 10am Larabar.  Lesson learned.

12. This post is crossed over the line toboarding on rambling so I will shut up now!  Hope everyone had a great weekend and has something fun to look forward to this coming weekend!

Anything exciting on the docket for you this weekend?  I’m playing catch up on everything to prepare for two out of town weekends coming up!

Last Friday.

Ok, not the last Friday EVER but the last Friday of March!  Can you believe it?  I know I sure can’t…1/4 of 2012 is already over!  It’s been an interesting year thus far and to be honest, I’m not really sure what the rest of the year is going to be like :S… If nothing else, it has been going fast  And since it’s Friday, it is now time for my weekly random post!  Not that the rest of my posts are anything but random but you know what I mean…

1) I have been working on a project at work that has been taking WAY more time then I thought it would that is requiring me to pretty much be a detective.  I am not detecting anything interesting however but it’s still kind of fun to shuffle through records from the 1800′s and 1900′s!  I know I missed my calling as an FBI Agent.  Is it too late to change career tracks?

2) On the running schedule tomorrow… 20 miles.  Me=Freaked Out!

Especially dead skunks... I smell them all the time. And raccoons...they creep me out.

3) I just got back from a short walk and it is now raining and thundering.  That is what I call good timing

4) I can cook many things but eggs are something I have still not perfected… 50% of the time they are delicious and the other 50%… disgusting!  I attempted to make eggs last night for dinner and ended up with the most disgusting slimy pile of muck.  Delish!  How can I not get this figured out?

5) A month or so ago I bought a Living Social coupon for a consultation and initial treatment for acupuncture.  I finally braved up and made the appointment!  It’s Tuesday… I am scared

6) Sister got me totally craving the lemon loaf from Starbucks yesterday… Now it is all I can think about and I cannot eat it  This weekend we may try to recreate it!  I’ve tried before though and it just can’t quite be done… This was one of my favorite foods before gluten became evil…

7) I’m really getting sick of my gym.  As nice as it is, Body Pump is kind of getting old and I hate running on treadmills.  I’m wondering if I should save my monthly payment and just buy my own treadmill and some more weights for at home… Maybe after the new release of Pump comes out it will get better??  I don’t know…

8) I want to run a race real bad.  After a totally unsatisfactory 10K two weeks ago, I have been wanting to run for real so bad!  Good thing Nashville is only about a month away although that seems so far!!

9) I want to order some compression socks!  I just have no idea what brand is best and not $100… Running makes me even more of a dork than I really am…

10) A Class Action lawsuit was filed against Vibrams the other day.  I read the complaint and don’t think I have read anything stupider in my life.  These people allege that Vibrams told them they would run better/safer by using Five Fingers and they didn’t so clearly that is Vibrams fault.  I want to sue Nike for telling me they can make running shoes when all they do is hurt me and my feet.  Maybe I will file suit against them!  People are way to sue happy in this country, it’s really ridiculous.  It’s called common sense people.  Go get some.

I guess that is probably enough random for today  Hope you have a good Friday and hopefully (knock on wood) I will be back with a 20 mile recap tomorrow?!?!?!?

Better than Yesterday.

Today has GOT to be better than yesterday… I don’t know if it can get worse but I am really hoping not to test that theory.  Thursday started out by me somehow kicking my computer off my bed in the night and smashing my Garmin ANT stick for my watch into about 4 or 5 pieces.  They don’t work when that happens… Later that afternoon, I found out I had totally messed up an order I placed for an iPAD!!!  I have been so excited to get it but it just will not get delivered because I keep messing things up!  THEN, someone stole my Starbuck’s re-usable iced coffee cup from work and finally, I came thisclose to smashing into some idiot driver on my way home from the gym because she just HAD to turn left in from of me and the other driver’s with the right away after the light turned green.  Excellent.  But Thank God for ABS.  I may have less tire tread today than yesterday but at least I still have headlights…  So anyways, now that I am done whining about my bad day yesterday, here are some random things that I am looking forward to!

1) MY IPAD!!!  If it ever actually gets here that is… I ordered the old version after the new one came out and the price went down because let’s be serious, I will probably not notice the difference.  I am not the most technological person you will ever meet… But per my Sister, my life will change after I finally get it.  Who knew a little tablet could make such a difference but I think she has a point because just look what happened when I got an iPod.  Can’t live without that now!!

Is there an app for getting it delivered... that's what I want to know!

2) Tomorrow Sister and I are planning to head to Madison to run the Shamrock Shuffle!  It has been much too long since I ran a race and I am really looking forward to it!  This goal is very ambitious but I would like to finish in less than 52:17.  This will be a full 4 minutes off my current PR in the 10K from the Sugar Mill run in Hawaii but I really think it’s not that far fetched.  I ran 6 miles in 51:49 on Monday and 51:19 on Wednesday… May the Speed be With Me!

3) While in Mad-town, we are hoping to visit Willie Street Co-op.  Last time we were in Madison for the Haunted Hustle, we stopped here and found the world’s best gluten free desserts and also an awesome gluten free fresh pizza crust!  I am really hoping they have these things this weekend!

4) The Hunger Games comes out in a WEEK!!  I am super excited and glad this date came up quick!!  Sister, pre-order tickets for Sunday maybe?

5) The weather!  It has been Spring like finally and appear it is going to stay like this for the next few days!  Of course tomorrow it might storm for our race but I would not expect anything else.  But hey, rain is better than snow?!  Or at least warmer…

6) Did I mention… Someone STOLE this from me yesterday?  I think I may put up posters at work…

7) I had another weird dream last night… my parents kicked me out of my own house.  They told me they wanted it and there was no room for me.  What does THAT mean?

8) Sister said they are building a new Trader Joe’s in my area.  This is maybe the best news I have heard recently because the one we currently have is in a mall with SERIOUS parking issues… it will be so nice to pull into the parking lot and walk in the store without having to risk your car getting hit trying to park, life crossing in front of cars or walk 2 miles to get there!  Whoop!!

9) We are closing in on two months until my Marathon!  Somehow between now and then, I still need to tackle quite a few REALLY long runs… including 2 20 milers.  Yikes!  But for now, I am really looking forward to only running the 6.2 part tomorrow!  Ha!  Put um together and what have you got?

And on that ridiculous note, Happy Friday!  I’ll hopefully have a race recap to post about tomorrow!!  And also HAPPY ST. PATRICK’S DAY!  Please Shamrock Shuffle responsibly