PROductive day!

Don't you just LOVE being especially productive? I'm not usually what anyone would call "productive" on the weekends, but today was different. And I even slept in! I'm not even usually very...hm..."focused" isn't the word, and neither is "organized." I AM usually focused AND organized. Well, maybe those are the words, but only on weekends. I'm very focused and organized during my working hours, and I'm a hard worker; I get my work done. But I guess I'm only those things when I need to be, and weekends are NOT the time that I need to be. 

Except for today. In about three hours, I went from the South end to the North end of town, and back again. I got gas at Costco (geez, the line for gas at that place goes on forever), picked up some dog food, dropped off some rented movies (and picked up the horribly uninteresting "Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy"), and got groceries (among other things) for the week. All within about three hours. Crazy. Oh, and while technically Mr. Man helped, I also did laundry. 

He did dinner, though. Beginning to end. No help from me at all. I don't know what it is, but food that HE makes always tastes ten times better to me. He really knows what he's doing. I realize that this really does require a picture, but trust me: it would do it any justice anyway. Picture this: a bed of mixed greens, including spinach, lettuce, and arugula; and on top, pineapple chunks, slices of mini red, orange, and yellow bell peppers. And perfectly seasoned salmon. And it's all topped with a spicy and a sweet olive oil. Oh, heaven!

Speaking of Mr. Man... We've got a bet going this week. I'm not sure WHY exactly, but I bet him that I could make it out the door by 6am every morning this week. It's not an exact thing, more like out the door by 6:05 or so (he gave me a little slack). Also, I'm trying to exercise in SOME way each of those days. Starting tomorrow morning. Monday is always pretty difficult for me.

What do you think, will I do it? Do you think I will exercise Monday through Thursday morning? Do you think I will leave the house by 6:05 every day?

What time do YOU leave for work in the morning? 

Do you work out in the mornings, or wait until you get home?

Fresno day out!

Nothing quite measures up to a day that starts picking up your besties, talking all the way to the Nordstrom Rack in Fresno, where you find some much-needed summer clothing for cheap.

Then, you go to lunch. At the best BBQ place ever. And you have the best, spiciest lunch ever.


And you get flipped off by one of said besties. All in good fun: I took their picture without permission anyway. Ah well...that was just the beginning.

After lunch, it was Sam's Club, where I found this great reminder that I still haven't seen some pretty "classic" movies. And if they star Jack Nicholson, I must see.



Someone might have begun to think I was just trying to take a picture of his butt. Sorry, no. Just because he usually straggles along with me, does not mean I'm trying to capture your butt on film.


Shopping concluded at Trader Joe's, and I am so excited for the things on our menu this week, because of this place.


Eggplant. Heirloom tomatoes. Vino. Dried mango, sans sugar. I need to do some serious soul-searching in regards to my snacking the past few weeks. Hellooo, overboard!

What are your favorite not-so-guilty, go-to snacks? I think I may have overdosed on whole, raw almonds. Oh, but they are sooo good!

John, Paul, George, and Ringo!

Yesterday was amazing, starting off with a late start, a breakfast on the go, and a bike ride.


Hello! I was ready for a night on the town! Because I won the tickets, anything extra we did (just dinner) was chalked up as "cheap."

Dinner was great: Eureka Burger! I'm a big fan of un-orthodox (I guess that's the word) foods. Mr Man says that pizza, for example, just shouldn't have chicken on it (I disagree). So this burger-and-booze joint was right up my alley. I got a burger with jalapenos and (dah-dum!) a fried egg on it. Yummy. Totally.

No, actually, I'm not kidding.


The show was great, complete with drunk chicks that we bet would take off their tops. They didn't do that, but they switched seats after intermission and got kicked out. They may have been high as well, just not sure.

We didn't get home until around 11, which is way past our normal bedtime, but we made it. Eventually.


Spotty even took it upon himself to cuddle us to sleep (read: he stayed on the bed until we got way too hot, and kicked him off. Either way).

Do you eat unusual foods? Whats your favorite "unusual" food? Do you like chicken on pizza?

Yay for the weekend!

So much stuff planned for this weekend! In order of excitement, building to a crescendo:

7: Re-arrange the master closet, so that I have MY corner, and he has his.

6: Running! This is still exciting, but not quite as exciting as the other things happening this weekend.

5: Bike ride tomorrow morning with Mr Man, and an old co-worker of mine, who's a co-worker of Mr Man's now (he hired her).

4: Roku! We got a great deal on woot the other day, and guess where it's going? The room I use upstairs! I have big plans for that thing.

3: Take-out dinner from Strings tonight, for our Thursday night date night. I've been soooo craving their lasagna in a puff pastry! Yum!

And a tie for #1:
1: Cruising around Fresno with our two best friends! Big plans to hit the apple store, Sam's Club, and Whole Paycheck (and we'll likely eat somewhere, too).

1: 1964, a Beatles tribute band, is playing in Fresno this weekend, and I won tickets from a radio station I listen to. Just driving home last night, it was a commercial, and I called the number. Easy as that, I got 'em.

I'll definitely take tons of pictures to document all of the fun festivities!

Re-affirming

What's a Freudian slip?

It's when you say one thing, but you mean your mother. And today, I'm experiencing a lack of frustration. Wait. Stop. Strike that. A lack. Of. Motivation. And that makes me frustrated. There it is.
 PS
So I've thought about WHY it is, exactly, that I've struggled so much over the past two or three weeks, so I developed a plan of action. I'm very, very goal-oriented, and I've heard so many times that it takes somewhere between 20 and 25 days to develop a habit, so I'm giving myself 25 days on the calendar (starting tomorrow) before I re-assess my training plan. 

For now, my goal is to run five days a week (Tuesday through Friday, and a long run on Sunday), averaging at least 20 miles per week, but increasing until my ultimate goal of at least 30 miles per week, for a total of 1,000 miles this year. So far, I'm not too far behind; it's still an achievable goal, for sure. I just have to keep at it.

I'm goal oriented, too, so I had to go think up a "prize" for myself, and it's a GREAT prize (for me, anyway): If I run at least five times per week for the next 25 days, my reward is...

REGISTERING FOR A SECOND HALF MARATHON THIS FALL!

It's a fitting reward, no? It isn't a food thing (because, while motivating, can kind of defeat the purpose); it isn't a "buy" thing (I have too much stuff as it is, and I don't really want to spend a lot of money for stuff I don't need); it's perfect. Earn a good time. Sounds great to me!

Now, to find out WHICH Fall half marathon! 

Any suggestions in the Central California area?

PS - Living in Central California has a lot of benefits: the ever-changing agricultural scenery, the small town, everyone-knows-everyone feel, the fact that you can drive two or three hours in ANY direction in order to find yourself in another place entirely: Coast! Mountains! Desert! City! Bay Area! The bad thing, though: it's super hot, and it stinks almost constantly, and there's not much to do here, at least in the immediate vicinity, besides spending money in one way or another.

A weight

I have seriously slacked off since the half marathon March 11th, and I've gained somewhere around five pounds; not a huge big deal, I understand, but it's something, and I want to fix it. So. 

I never even try to wake up so early on Monday mornings, but starting tomorrow, because it's so hot, I'm all over it. Yuck. I'm dreading that alarm, but I really want to look and feel like I did when I was training for that half. 

Heeeeere's SUMMER!

Blech. Last weekend was rain and hail, with cool temperatures. People even wore jackets and coats and hoodies! This weekend was a litItle different, though: highs in the upper 80s, high humidity. Record highs. Weather warnings, even. Craziness.

I run past this park a lot, but today it was still a little flooded from the storms last weekend.



It was super hot today, even though I got out of bed way before I wanted to this morning. I got up just so I could run when it would be cooler than the afternoon, but even so, by mile two, sweat started pouring down my face and (because I forgot my visor) into my eyes. I hate that stinging sensation when sweat gets in my eyes.



So, in order to help remedy my painful situation, I slowed, and eventually walked. Not because I was sore or tired. Not because I was hurt. No. I was afraid that I would puke, and maybe even pass out, given my state of exhaustion in the heat. I'd rather slow down, even walk, rather than get hurt, someone calls an ambulance, whatever.



Still, I hung my head in shame, knowing that walking was NOT what I'd set out to do. And I looked at my shoes. My lovely, beautiful Brooks Pure Connect RUNNING shoes. My mom did not give those to me for my birthday for me to walk around in them. So I started running again, only stopping for traffic lights (I know, I'm such a kill-joy, living by the rules).

There's only one thing to do after a boiling hot run where you think you might die like today: watch The Hangover and drink coffee. Yes, I am just that kind of crazy. Run. Shower. Coffee. Movie. With the doggy, of course.

Yeah, baby!

Because it's gotten so hot this week, T agreed to run with me this morning. I did not want to get out of bed, but I did it anyway, and had a really great run.

I ended up negative splitting the whole thing. I know it was only 3.something miles, but at least it was something. My first mile was 9:47, the second was 9:45, and the third was 9:40. Made me proud!

Plus, I have this great attitude thing going on today, but maybe that's only because it's my Friday. Either way, I love it. I feel great! I hope I can wake up early enough tomorrow to run before it gets hot.

Wahoo! I did it!

I did it. Again. I woke up and ran today. This morning, when my alarm rang at 4:30, I sat up (okay, a little slowly, half-heartedly), got dressed, and ran.

Two and a half miles was okay, but how great would it be to run five miles before, and five miles after work? Ten miles a day? Hello! That would be so awesome. Maybe a new goal had just been set.


It was already a nice temperature (mid-50s?) when my feet hit pavement so early, but I was rewarded with a great moon as I finished my lap.

What else is there to see when it's pitch black, and you're trying to keep going, not looking at your cell phone...? I swear, I'll find something else tomorrow morning, when my alarm goes off at 4:15!

Try again

It's 10 pm, Sunday night. Once again, I didnt run today. I started off great last week, until the extreme weather (and tornado!) warnings started rolling in, and the reason and thunder woke me up Wednesday morning (and all through the night).

This week, though... It's gonna be different: I'm going to run on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Saturday, and Sunday mornings. St least three miles at a time. And next week, it'll only increase. First by number of days (I'll add Friday morning), then by distance (my ultimate goal is five miles most days, with eight to ten on Sundays).

How do people manage do many parts of life: work, social life, school, leisure,.kids, hygiene...? I know, I know. A lot of people don't manage all of those things. Some people have help, in the form of daycare, or family that lives close. Or they don't have a social life. Or they don't work.

Maybe I just need to realize that, in reality, nobody really does "have it all."

Why I'm going to Disney World

Begin doing what you want to do now. We are not living in eternity. We have only this moment, sparkling like a star in our hand and melting like a snowflake. Let us use it before it is too late.
- Marie Beynon Ray

It's because I don't want to regret not spending enough time with the people I love so much. And I don't want Mr Man to regret not spending enough time with his loved ones, either.

Tonight, and every day, I still miss X. I realize more and more that he may have looked at me in the same way that I looked at D. I hope he didnt feel like I treated him the way D treated us.

Rainy morning

I slept only off and on last night; I blame Mr Man, because I don't feel quite as comfortable without him around. But, when my 4:15 and 4:30 a.m. alarms went off this morning, they were completely and totally rejected, because it was raining! And not just sprinkling like normal, but real, actual RAIN. Like, downpour. RAIN. And because I'd slept so fitfully, I took advantage of the situation, and slept in.


I even managed to get gas on my way to work, plus drop off a dvd from the other night. Total score.

Tonight, it's another fun-filled evening with my besties, S&C! Yay!

...and it was everything I thought it could be

I woke up to my alarm this morning. You know, the one that goes off at 4:15 that I've ignored every day for the past month or so? Yeah, that one.

I didn't ignore it today. Instead, I laced up and ran for somewhere around 3.5 miles. It wasn't cold, but actually really nice weather, and I felt great!

Still, when I got back and started to get ready for a shower, I realized I had four big blisters, one on each big toe, and one on each second toe.

I'm aiming for a double today, but I'm not sure if I can pull it off, since yesterdays high was around 80°. Way too hot...until I get used to it.

On my own

What would you do with 48 hours of alone time? Well, 48 hours, minus 8+8=16 hours for sleeping, plus 11+11=22 hours of working...? So that all boils down to...48-16-22 is...10. What would you do with ten hours of alone time?

Well, I'll tell ya what I'm planning: a night out with my besties, followed by going to bed early, so bump up the sleep total to...20? (I know that's never how it turns out, but I'm gonna keep on dreaming!) That still leaves me with an evening on my own. What to do?

How about what I used to do, consume large amounts of Double Stuff Oreo cookies and milk? Not an option, since it's SO not worth it. Especially the chocolate cookie part. If you ask me, Oreo's missing the boat, not selling the white stuff by itself.

 

I know what'll happen, though: I'll come home after ten hours of work, turn on my computer and an episode of "Intervention," and I won't snap out of it until it's at least nearing 10:30 pm, at which point I'll call Mr Man, say I was just going to bed, can't keep my eyes open another minute (because my laptop battery would be drained by then, so I'll turn it off), and proceed to read in bed for another 30-45 minutes, until I REALLY can't keep my eyes open.

At least Mr Man doesn't leave until tomorrow. That way he can kick my butt outta bed when my RUN alarm rings at 4:15 am. This week is the week. I'm going to run. Three outta the four workday mornings (yeah, I only work FOUR days a week, suck it!)