07.31.09
Batten down the hatches!
Sorry folks I completely blanked on updating the blog yesterday. I’m sure y’all just cried yourselves to sleep over that, all 12 of you. It was a pretty busy day at work yesterday, combined with the fact that I really had nothing to update on anyway. I’ve been a good girl lo these past three days. HA! Such a long, hard trip it’s been.
It’s batten down the hatches time in TEOTH-land. This summer we’ve been free-wheeling with the money, taking trips and going out to eat, which has put us in a hole it’ll take a few months to get out of. This morning I paid all of our bills from July and we’re now completely broke, and we will be again next month when I pay those bills. That means we have no choice on whether or not we want to go somewhere/buy something/go out to eat. It’s just not a possibility anymore. It’s too bad, ’cause I’ve really gotten used to living beyond my means. Heh.
My first week of spring training is almost over, and I have to say, the first week was laughable. Tomorrow morning I’ve got a 4 mile run with 3 hill repeats. Three! I don’t know if I can handle it! I joke, but really I’m enjoying how easy this week has been. The rest of the training isn’t exactly difficult either, but at least it’s not laughably easy like the first week has been. The first week is always easy in order to ease you into the training. I get it. I’m ready for next week!
07.29.09
Trivia FAIL.
Because eating greasy food while answering questions with a bunch of strangers is SO MUCH FUN, that’s why. We went to Midway for trivia night with the Canadians and, although we crashed and burned on trivia, we had a pretty fun time! We got barely any of the questions right and actually ended up leaving before the last round because we were tired, we all had to work in the morning, and we were second to last. No point. But we still got to discuss the questions, though, which is my favorite part, so I was happy. I was also happy with my cheeseburger and tater tots. SO good. Just the way I like ‘em, too. Yeah, I might be well on my way to heart disease, but IT WAS WORTH IT. Heh.
Today and tomorrow are all about repentance in preparation for the weekend. I am hoping to not go overboard again this weekend, and hopefully my guilt over going out every night for the last several days will rein me in. This is a vain hope, but I hold on to it anyway. Because I’m not smart.
In other food news, we’ve been talking about seafood on my neighborghood message board lately and it’s got me totally feining for good seafood. Which is impossible to find in the ATL without spending a mortgage payment on a meal. What I’d LIKE would be a nice big plate full of freshly harvested, steamed clams, but I would take a piece of fish flown in from some coastal region. Alas, I fear that’s a pipe dream. Boo.
07.28.09
Day one is a success, which is then completely undone by cheese dip.
Day one of spring training went, not surprisingly, just fine. A 30 minute tempo run? I can do that with one arm tied behind my back. Heh. It was so easy, and I had so much time to kill before Dice was done, I hopped on the elliptical for a while. I know from the weekly training guide that it’s supposed to be easy at first, but I’m already at a much higher fitness level than that so it’s not just that it’s easy, it’s that it feels like cheating. Plus I need to burn more calories if I’m going to keep from packing on the pounds.
Why would I worry about packing on the pounds? Because we went to Holy Taco last night. I’ve said it once, and I’ve said it many times since: Mondays suck, and you need something to look forward to. For me, I usually need to look forward to cheese dip. And guess what? It works! Heh. And guess why else I would worry about packing on the pounds? Because we’re going to trivia tonight! Whee! Why stay home and be healthy when you could be eating greasy food and and answering random questions with a bunch of strangers?
07.27.09
Spring training in July!
I had a great weekend, not too busy but lots of fun. Friday night we went to beer club at Midway where I had a pretty decent reuben and tater tots. We got to bring Jack, which Dice was thrilled about. We didn’t stay long because I had to get up in the morning to run. Which I did, thankyouverymuch. Got up Saturday morning and ran around the neighborhood; not very far but it felt good to be out in the early morning. Then Dice and I did some chores at home, he cleaned the gutters and I swept and cleared the front walkway and part of the driveway. Then we went down to Macon to have drinks and food with Miguel before he departs on the next phase of his life, being the oldest undergrad at GA Southern. Heh. We were home again around 8:00 pm but too tired to do much. We went to the Glenwood for drinks but soon came home again and went to bed. Sunday is my relaxi-day, I like doing as much of nothing as possible, so that’s what I did all morning. In the afternoon we went to P’Cheen to watch the Formula 1 race from Budapest. Exciting race, especially with what happened with Massa during qualifying! After that we went grocery shopping and then had a lovely dinner at the Shed. We sat at the bar and Dice had the moules frite which he scarfed down and I had the pork schnitzel with mashed potatoes and summer squash. Very good! We sat next to a nice woman from Britain who talked Dice’s ear off about the old country. Tons of Brits in the ATL!
Can’t believe it’s already the last week in July. That’s so crazy. Since when does time move so fast? God, I sound old.
Today I am starting Hal Higdon’s spring training, even though it’s not spring and I’m not training for anything. But it’ll be a good way to not have to think about what or how I’m going to workout every day. Plus it’ll force me to do hill repeats and speed work, which I don’t like to do. The best part about it? The first couple weeks are SUPER easy. Heh. Today, for instance, is the first day and all I have to do is a 30 minute tempo run. HA! I find that hilarious!
07.24.09
Yay for Friday!
Heh, so yesterday I was wondering why the site traffic to my blog was so high, and it occurred to me this morning that it’s because of all the searches for “total eclipse” to find information of the total solar eclipse that happened yesterday. Folks, if you find this here blog by accident when what you really wanted were some cool photos of the solar eclipse, my humble apologies!
The good news is that it’s Friday and thus no amount of caffeine that I ingest before 10:30 will affect my sleeping patterns after my predicted two glasses of wine this evening. Friday is a good day!
I neglected to mention yesterday that I managed to catch a Red Sox game Wednesday night on ESPN, only to watch them crash and burn. The Sox were airing a young pitcher who looked nervous and didn’t pitch well. Which is sad, because I always like to see new blood being developed. Let’s hope he gets his crap together eventually. The worst part about it is that they lost to the Rangers. Bleh. Which made them a game and a half behind the YANKEES in the AL East! DOUBLE BLEH! *Jenka does not like.*
Weekend plans? Tonight we’re going to beer club, first time in a long time. Tomorrow we’re going to Macon to see Miguel before he moves SO far away to some other town in Georgia. And Sunday we have an F1 race. Busy, but not super busy, there should still be some relaxi-time. Plus running tomorrow, which WILL happen no matter what my state of affairs are. So there!
07.23.09
Wee changes.
Ray and I were having a conversation this morning about how it feels like Wednesday today, but it’s Thursday. And what a pleasant feeling that is. I know, we have such substantive conversations, don’t we? You’re jealous.
About a year or so ago (I guess it could be a year and a half, don’t really remember) I switched to decaf coffee. I did this because I love coffee, and this love has manifested itself in a desire to drink several cups a day. But I also don’t sleep. Ever. And I thought maybe it had something to do with the caffeine. For a while I was keeping it to fewer than two cups a day, but still not sleeping, so I had a brainstorm: switch to decaf, and I can enjoy my coffee without worrying whether I’ll ever get to sleep 12-14 long hours later. So I did, and I actually started sleeping a TINY bit better. But since then my consumption has crept back up to, I don’t know, somewhere between 4-5 cups per day (it’s hard to count because I never drink the mug more than halfway because at that point it’s too cool so I fill up again in order to warm up the beverage. Temperature issues!) and I have again not been sleeping well. It could be other things, and it could be the caffeine. Yes, folks, most mass-produced decaffeinated coffee actually retains up to 50% of the caffeine of full strength coffee. Since the coffee I drink is provided free at work, I’m not about to go out spending extra money on special caffeine-free decaf. Thus I am going to have no choice but to cut back, again. Boo.
In fitness news, it’s no secret that I need a shake-up. I’ve been trying to add in weights and lunges and other cross-training attributes, but it doesn’t make me look forward to it any more and it certainly isn’t helping my poor outcome. So starting on Monday I’m going to start Hal Higdon’s spring training workout. Hal Higdon is my favorite running coach, and his website provides dozens of completely free training schedules, complete with thought processes and best practices. People who have never run before can easily be introduced in a safe and effective way. Truly a humanitarian and selfless effort on his part. Anyway, since I’m not in training for any race and yet I need help staying at a decent fitness level, the spring training workout is perfect. The mileage is low but it will definitely help me on speed, force me to do hill work (which I detest) and shake things up a little. I had been thinking about doing a month-long challenge, but this is three months and will provide a good basis upon which to start training for the Arlanta half marathon in November. I will update each week on how successful I am in following the workouts!
07.22.09
Balance is a battle that I sometimes win. Briefly.
And repentance continues with good results. Go me! I think it’s funny how I’m always rewarding myself for 24 full hours of healthy living. I do realize that some people manage to do that every day, not just Monday-Friday or whatever. However, I also think that those people maybe have different goals from mine. I think they value good health over everything, whereas I appreciate the value of a good time as well as good health. It’s the balance between those two goals that I have trouble with. Constantly. The good news is that I used to not have any trouble at all, and at that time I was tired, fat, broke, irritable and either drunk or hungover all the time. So a balance struggle is definitely an improvement.
Let’s be honest though: I’m still irritable.
Things that are ironic: the only reason why I know the cleaning lady has been in my office is because she leaves hair on my desk. I clean my own office every single day, so really all she has to do is empty the recycling bin. And drop hair on my pristine desk. Maybe I could get her to come to my house and include her castoff with the cat hair. Good times!
Special shout out to Paulie: Happy birthday! Hope the next year brings you health and happiness!
07.21.09
Repenting for Atlantacation starts TODAY.
Well Atlantacation proved to be even more fun than we had originally planned. Yay! Friday evening Ray, Jaz and I went out for girls night. Fortunately girls night included booze and good times, unfortunately it didn’t include very much food for me, so although I had a great time that night, the next morning I wasn’t feeling the good times anymore. It officially sucks to get old, yo. So the morning was slow but I was all better by the afternoon when Ray and I went to the Mets-Braves game where we watched the Mets totally spank the Braves in what turned out to be the only game they won in the series. Is it too early to prove a Francoeur Jinx? While at the game we happened to sit next to two brothers, originally from New Jersey but ATLians now, who are die hard Mets fans and funny and witty to boot. We had a great time chatting throughout the whole game, and we’re lifelong buds now. BFF FOREVER! Heh. After the game Ray and I went home where we were late for a Commune dinner over at the Canadians’ house. As our contribution I had made a big mess of macaroni and cheese earlier that day and brought it over so they could enjoy it while we were at the game. So we showed up late but the party was still going and we had a wonderful time eating and chatting with the rest of the Commune. Sunday morning was a lazy day, Ray and I went running and she left in the early afternoon to return to Macon. Dice and I went to Brick Store in the late afternoon but I wasn’t hungry so I didn’t partake of the delicious pierogies, unfortunately.
I did pretty well on the food front this weekend, although by “pretty well” I mean only 3/4ths of the amount of food that I have been eating on weekends lately. I am pleased about any kind of improvement. Although I’m still repenting most of this week, starting with today. Because last night Dice and I went to Stella for dinner, heh. I had the pasta special, which was rotini in a cream sauce with bell peppers, peas and ham, basically a carbonara with a very boring twist. The sauce was good and the veggies fine, but the ham, which was supposed to pack a kick, didn’t. So the whole dish was bland when I was expecting a smooth sauce with a ham kicker. The good news is that I only ended up eating half the dish, whereas if it had been really good I would have eaten the entire plate! Trust me, half the dish was still enough to keep an entire Somalian family full for a week. So the rest of this week is all about repentance and continuing my good routine at the gym. Although I’m behind on mileage for the month of July, last week was a good running week and hopefully this week will continue the trend.
07.17.09
It’s Atlantacation time!
And yet another Friday is upon us, hallelujah and praise cheeseness. It’s a beautiful day outside, 85 degrees and sunny. Yeah, it’s pretty humid, but otherwise perfect. My week wasn’t very exciting, but I lived through it just fine. I’m so brave.
Wednesday I didn’t do much of anything except spent almost 3 hours at the gym because it took Dice so long to get there. When I am skinny and buff we can blame it on him. Heh. Last night the entire Commune went to the Taste of East Atlanta Village event which was a huge success! We each bought 10 tickets ($1 each) which turned out to be way too much and we ended up having a whole pile of unused tickets at the end. Fortunately we ended up at the Glenwood where they were offering 5 ounce beers for tickets, so we just cashed them all in for about 20 beers. Heh. The evening was very humid so walking around and eating hot food was uncomfortable, but most of the food was delicious and made up for it. Then we finished the night by playing shuffleboard at the Glenwood. So fun!
Ray has already arrived for the weekend and what she’s calling her ATLANTACATION. Because she’s too poor to actually go on vacation, but at least Atlanta is an hour away and it feels like vacation. She’s got a myriad of plans, some of which I will join her in and others which I won’t. The highlight for me will be the Mets game tomorrow and then dinner at the Canadians’ tomorrow night with the Commune. Otherwise, various errands and happy fun times. ATLANTACATION!
07.15.09
Red Sox make another good showing in the ASG!
All right, in case you were wondering (but not enough to look it up yourself) a tablespoon of peanut butter typically has 80-90 calories in it. And most people, or experts, or whoever, have decided that 2 tablespoons is the normal serving size. Considering 1 tablespoon of peanut butter does NOTHING for me but propel about 18 more tablespoons of peanut butter into my mouth, I would have to conclude that a peanut butter granola bar that manages to satisfy the PB craving in 90 calories would be preferable.
Now, maybe it was the peanut butter granola bar that I ate approximately 2 hours before I went to the gym, or the extended relaxation time over the weekend (read: sitting on my ass) but I had the most BLISSFUL run last night. I sailed through almost 7 miles and could have done more but ran out of time. Considering how lame my running has been lately, that’s fantastic. I’ve been averaging about 5 miles per run, but it’s been such a struggle. Let’s hope for my sake it was the magic of the peanut butter!
Dice and I finally got around to watching the first episode of season 2 of True Blood. Holy heck. That show is crazy. Some of the images are just so disturbing that I’m sure that I’ll be thinking about it while trying to fall asleep at night. Usually disturbing images stay with me for years, and are yet another factor that impedes my sleep. I was half way correct last night, some of the imagery stayed with me but fortunately it wasn’t any of the queasy parts. The sex is still pretty hot, thank you HBO. Also, Jason seems to have lost a ton of weight, if that was even possible. His neck looks cavernous! He looks like a younger version of cancer-fighting Patrick Swayze.
Did anyone watch the All Star Game last night? GO American League! They rock. Papelbon played set-up pitcher but also got the win. He did a great job, and then Rivera made the save. I know Rivera is a Yankee through and through, but credit where credit is due, he’s the best closer in baseball. You can’t fault the Yankees for being smart enough not to trade him. Other Sox players did well in the game, too. Read all about the game here.
