Who knew 5th graders had so much energy?

Not me, that's for sure. Today was the first Girls on the Run that I was able to attend. We have twenty girls participating in the program at our school. They are really cool kids, but after an hour, I was so tired it wasn't even funny. I'd forgotten how excited kids that age get about the little stuff. It was fun to watch.
Today's lesson talked about keeping promises and being true to yourself and your word. A very good lesson to learn, although I think that it went right over some of the kids' heads...especially the part about respecting others and listening attentively. They could all repeat the GOTR Promises back, but as soon as they were done reciting them, they were immediately filed away in some dusty corner of the brain. Maybe as they get used to the program they'll remember some of these Promises and do a better job of following them?!!?
The running portion of the program consisted of two miles with a partner around the track at the school. Most of the girls ran, but some of them didn't quite make the two miles, as they were more interested in picking grass and catching up on the socializing. That's okay though, as long as they had fun. It looks like we've got a couple of real runners in the group though, including one kid who's planning on doing a children's triatholon this spring.
It was an interesting afternoon, and I'm glad I've decided to get involved with it.

This week has just flown by

So, first things first...how the heck did it get to be Thursday already? Not that I'm complaining, I'd love all of my work weeks to go by so quickly, but I really have no idea where this week has gone.
I've had quite a few good runs this week. Namely, yesterday's and today's. Granted they were only three miles apiece, but they really went well. For the past several weeks I've been so incredibly tired by the time I get halfway through my run that I've really had to struggle to finish them. But the past two runs have gone very well. I'm tired afterwards, but not exhausted. That's a good thing. It must be the new shoes. I saw that Sports Authority had my Asics GT2110s on sale for fifty percent off. So I bought a much needed new pair. That's probably the only good thing about model changeouts, is that the pair I've been using gets drastically marked down. I only bought one pair even though they had several because I figured my feet might widen out with the pregnancy and then the extra shoes would be worthless. I wanted them in lime green, but somehow they only had one lime green shoe out of the pair they had. I'm not really sure how that happens.
We told my parents about the baby on Sunday. They were over the moon to say the least. My mom is already talking about the shopping spree she's going to be going on. This is gonna be one spoiled baby. I told my godmother and grandma's on Monday. My godmother and mom's mom were psyched. My dad's mom, not so much. I really think that she thinks I'm too young. I don't think she realizes that I'm going to be thirty in just over a year. (I'm pretty sure there's some undiagnosed dementia there somewhere.) Her exact response to the question how would you like to have a great grandbaby was: That's nice, how's Max (the dog)? Yeah, you're totally thrilled, I can tell.
I told my boss today, and he was suprisingly nice about it. I even managed to convince him that it would be much more economically feasible for him to allow me to roll the remaining fourteen days of vacation that I have coming to me this year into next year (my hire date is August 1st) and use them as part of my maternity leave. So it looks like I'll be getting seven weeks PTO and three weeks non-paid. What a relief. I thought this was going to be a huge battle!

What a busy weekend

This weekend has been a whirlwind of activity. Friday was my husband's birthday, so after work we went out to dinner. Friday while I was at work, he had been at the car dealership talking to them about trading in his car for the Mazda Speed 3. It just so happened that they were pulling the exact car he wanted off the freight truck when he got there. Since there will only be 5,000 of these cars shipped to the US this year, we decided that he should go ahead and do the deal. So Saturday morning, we spent two and a half hours at the car dealership. I have no idea why buying a new car takes such a long awful process, but I've really come to loathe doing it. But now we've both traded in our old rides for new ones in the past twelve months, so we shouldn't have to do this again anytime soon.
Then Saturday afternoon we went down to the Fox Theatre to see Stomp. It was awesome. I'd seen it before, but this was the first time my husband had seen it. It was definitely money well spent, and our seats were awesome. My only complaint was the fucker next to me, who although he was a tall guy, was not a fat or muscular guy...he spent the majority of the production sprawled into my leg space, my arm space, and just generally being a little too close for comfort to me. We then went to the Cheesecake Factory for dinner. I had the mahi mahi, hubby had the cashew chicken and we took home some coconut creme cheesecake. Yum!
Today he got up early and painted the room that we're turning into a nursery. It's a pretty shade of yellow, almost goldenrod. He had the paint custom mixed to match the border. It turned out very nice, now we just have to put furniture together (the crib and changing table arrived Friday afternoon). Then we went to our favorite deal an AM movie for four dollars a ticket. We saw Breach, about Robert Hanssen and the FBI. It was okay. Nowhere near as entertaining as last week's Hannibal Rising. But for a total of eight dollars you can't hardly go wrong.
The afternoon was spent running, cleaning house, paying bills, organizing crap, and various other assorted chores. We're supposed to head over to my parent's house for dinner in a few minutes. It's supposed to be the celebration of hubby's and my mom's birthday and we're planning on sharing the news with them. I'm sure they'll be excited, but I can also see my mom getting really pissed off that we waited this long to tell them. Oh well, you can't please everyone.

Ughhh and yeaaaa

First the ughhh part of this post. I am violently ill...still. I feel as though I'm never going to stop puking. I actually had a streak of about four days where I went without puking, but today is the third day in a row that I'm back on the throwing up every two or three hours train. This sucks. I have to keep telling myself it'll be worth it in the end...
On to the yeaaa portion of the post. Valentine's Day was pretty awesome, even though dear husband had class and we didn't really get to celebrate. He did send me some pretty flowers to work though, and all of the baby's bedding arrived on my doorstep yesterday. Baby shit is so freakin' cute. We picked a green and yellow set (since we-or at least I, want the gender to be a surprise)with a circus theme, I love the little monkeys (of course). My inlaws, who live out of town sent us a really cool gift as well. They sent a very sweet card saying how excited they are for us and a monitor to listen to the heartbeat at home. I've been playing with it, but so far haven't been able to find the shrimp's heartbeat. I'm not concerned though, as the instruction manual states that you should be a bit farther along than we are before attempting to use the monitor.
On the running front, we got four to six inches of the white powdery crap (no, not that white powdery crap) on Tuesday morning, so our first GOTR meeting was cancelled. We tried to reschedule for tomorrow, but the kids are off school, then next Tuesday half of our girls have a mandatory orchestra practice, so that's a no go as well. At this point it looks like we'll be getting things rolling a week from tomorrow, so I'll be missing the first session. I'm disappointed with that, but what are you gonna do?
I've been running a bit, only three miles five or six days a week, but that's plenty. I'm still having some plantar fascitis like symptoms in my right foot. Some days it feels normal and other days it hurts like hell. I keep trying to convince myself that I just need to treat it already, but I keep finding excuses why not to do it. Enough already, right?

Best movie ever...

Well, that might be a slight exaggeration, but it's certainly one of the best movies I've seen in many, many months. And considering that there was a time during which we saw at least one movie a week, I should say that there was some stiff competition.
The movie in question is Hannibal Rising, the story of Hanibal Lecter's boyhood. It rocked. That's really all I can say about it. It was by far the most entertaining movie we've seen in the recent past.
We were pleasantly surprised to find out that the AMC theater at Chesterfield Mall, which we normally don't go to, because we have to drive past three other theaters to get there, does a really cool deal. If you buy tickets for a movie that starts before noon on any Friday, Saturday, Sunday or holiday, it only costs four bucks a ticket. You really can't beat that...now, if they would just cut us a deal on the popcorn...

Not nearly as much fun as I thought it would be...

Damn you smart bloggers. Yeah, I thought this would be a fun way to tell my secret...but the Good Doc managed to out me in just under ten minutes. What a freakin' record. Either I'm not as stealth as I thought I was, or you guys are way to intuitive.
For the record everyone guessed right. The newest member of the family will be joining us in August. We're stoked. Now if I could just get past this feeling like I'm going to rolf every five minutes thing...
Needless to say, not only is my spring race been wiped from the slate, but so has any chance at a repeat appearance in the Windy City this fall. I'm okay with that though, I really was feeling burnt out on competition, and I really did get a big ouchy on my foot when I attempted to up the mileage in December before finding out that we were expecting.
I wanted to tell weeks ago, but thought that it would suck if something not so stellar happened. Now that we're past the first trimester (as of today...go me!) and we've heard/seen the heartbeat I'm feeling much more confident. So, there you have it.
I think I'm going to name the baby Stepnesonaner....after my so smart blogger buddies. Think I can convince Dear Hubby of that?

Wanna play a game?

You know you want to. There's no prize for winning, unless you count the satisfaction which comes from gloating about your supremacy over the other players. (Which is always my favorite part of any game anyway.) This game is called I've Got a Secret.
We've all got secrets, and I've been sitting on a huge one. I don't think I've given away any clues in my recent blog posts, but then again, a very astute reader may beg to differ with me.
Some of you already know my secret, and you are not allowed to play...just up and telling is not allowed, and will earn you the unrivaled wrath of K-Jo, so if I already let you in...keep your outh-may ut-shay! (I love Pig Latin...I think we should all use it more regularly.)
Guessing may commence...


NOW!

I am so sick of snow

Just when the old stuff gets just about all the way melted, in comes another load. Last night I was watching television...live not Tivo'd, and the weather guy came on saying that there were flurries in portions of the western viewing areas. I thought he was making stuff up. Then I took the dog out, yep, color me stupid, apparently it'd been snowing for quite awhile, as there was about a half inch of powder on my deck.
I wouldn't mind snow if I didn't have to go to work. I just don't like driving in it, even though I'm only four or five miles from work, and I have four wheel drive. You can never tell what the other clowns on the road are going to do.
I've had a busy week, but I've managed to get all of my runs in thus far. I've only been doing little three mile jaunts on the treadmill, and I seem to have ruined my ability to get out of bed and get my run in before going to work, but at least I'm geting it done. I've been having additional problems with my right foot, again. This is different than the pain I had early though. Different location, different type of pain. I think I might just need new shoes.
I'm enjoying my time on the treadmill so far. It's amazing how quick those miles fly by. I don't really have to focus on them, and I've not been finding as many excuses to not run as I was when I was trying to run higher mileage.
I recieved my school assignment for my Girls on the Run team today. It looks like I'll be coaching 3rd through 5th grade at an elementary school in Chesterfield. There are two other women coaching with me. So far we've got ten girls signed up, we're hoping for fifteen total. I'm excited. Hopefully it'll be a fun experience, and who knows, maybe next year I'll try to get a school started out in my neighborhood. How cool would that be?

Something that needs to be said

Because every single one of us needs to hear it/read it/type it. Here it is: Running is not the only thing that defines us. We are not just Runners. We're husbands, wives, great friends, sisters, brothers, daughters, sons, parents, and coworkers. We have a myraid of different talents, many strengths, and weaknesses (even if we don't admit it).
We're so much more than just ordinary runners...we're people who run.
My life, for the past year or so has been exclusively defined by my training schedule. I stressed over missed runs, I constantly calculated how much faster I needed to go to set a new PR, and I agonized over bad runs. I've forgotten why I loved to run before I "got serious" about it.
This post has been triggered by things that I've seen in various assorted RBF'ers blogs over the past several weeks. I've seen really good runners, who love to run, forget about the joy that they feel when they're pounding the pavement. I've had my own meltdown and read about the results of at least three others. This concerns me.
Running, for me, hasn't always been about winning my age division and getting faster. It used to be a healthy way to manage my weight, blood pressure, and deal with stress. Lately though, it's become something that, although it's still managing my health, it's causing me some undue stress. This is bad, cause we all knows I already gots enough stress in my world.
So, I'm revisiting the issue of running for fun. I'm going to try to make it a lower stress activity. Having said that, I'm not going to be racing at all this spring...not even a 5k here and there. This is going to be tough for me, as my competitive nature tends to rule my life, and I really love race shirts. I'm going to try to reconnect with the fun side of the sport and not get swept up in how fast I can get where I'm going. The joy is in the journey right? I'm going to focus on being grateful that I can run and try to share that with others through volunteer work with groups like GOTR and the local marathons (who always need aid station volunteers).
If I'm lucky and play my cards right, maybe next year at this time I'll be ready to run a big race again...and maybe next time it won't run my entire life.
Oh, and for those of you who've changed your priorities for this race season, there's no shame in that...good for you for having the courage to do what's right for you. You're not letting any of us down, but rather setting a great example of how to do the right thing. You're all runners in my book.

Anybody miss me?

I've been a lazy, lazy blogger lately. I find that my daily life isn't really blog worthy when I'm not running...somehow I feel unfulfilled to blog about things other than long runs, LT paces, and race times...
But today I have a story. I've talked in the past about getting involved with the local chapter of Girls on the Run. I went to a coaches' training session today. Let me just tell you, if you've ever thought about volunteering with this group, you should totally do it. Today's session was about forty coaches/assistant coaches from the St. Louis area. The local chapter brought Molly Barker, (hi Molly-apparently she's read my blog before, I feel so special)the founder of the program, in to talk to us. She is an amazing human being, and this program is one of the most fantastic programs I've ever been involved in.
I'll get off my soap box in a minute, but if you've ever been a young girl, especially one who suffered from self esteem issues or caved to peer pressure, this is your chance to make a difference in a young girl's life. Seriously, check the program out. I cannot say enough good stuff about them. I can't wait to see how I can make a difference for a girl who might be just like I was then.
Even if you can't commit two days a week to practice, think about volunteering to be a race buddy (a one hour comittment). This is going to be a rewarding experience for a lot of people, and not just the girls you're helping.
Okay, on to the other stuff. I've been running a little lately. I've been feeling okay, but I'm definitely out for the spring season races. I'm taking it slow. I'm doing about three miles five or six times a week, and I've dropped back down to nine minute miles. Who am I trying to kid by saying that I liked those eight minute miles? The only good thing about those was getting my run done faster. I'm going to try to step back and try to remember how to run for fun. I'm done for a little time with the worrying about my personal records and getting faster. Let's just have fun again. How awesome will that be?
My rant for this week is Subway...the sandwich shop. I really think there should be a rule that you can't order more than one sandwich per person between the hours of noon and one in the afternoon. No kidding, I stood in line for thirty minutes yesterday waiting for my sandwich...the jokester in front of me had an order for his whole damn office. Patience is not one of my virtues. It was all I could do to keep from pimp slappin' his ass. 'Nuff said.

I'm back...with a real post no less

I've been pretty preoccupied with my other life (outside of blogging) lately. I've been trying to get some medical stuff sorted out, which we'll discuss shortly, and I've been trying to decide if I really want to commit to working with Girls on the Run this spring, and I've been trying to get my shit together at work.
Let's address the medical issue first: I have had a plethora of regular doctor appointments lately, nothing exciting, just run of the mill crap. I was supposed to have a test done on Tuesday. I left work at my regularlly scheduled time (gotta love half day Tuesdays) and drove down to the doc's office. Where I promptly found out that the tech who was to do my test (who happened to be the only person in the office trained in this procedure) was sick.
Supposedly they tried to call me...at nine in the morning. Doesn't it stand to reason that a relatively young, generally healthy individual like myself might not be home at nine on a weekday morning? That I might, I don't know, be working?!?! They didn't have a good answer as to why they didn't try to reach me on my cell. So I rescheduled for today, I was really fine with rescheduling...right up until the point that the receptionist got snotty with me and told me that "It was really important that I was on time, as they were doing me a favor, and squeezing me in between two other patients." I wanted to ask her if that was really necessary, since I obviously respect other people's time as I was fifteen minutes early for the appointment that they cancelled on me, but I bit my tongue. Don't want to get a reputation as one of those patients.
Topic number two is Girls on the Run. I really want to get involved with this group, but I'm kind of scared of the time comittment involved in it. The training session is next weekend, so I figure I'll go to that and see what it's all about and then decide from there what I'm going to do. They're supposed to be bringing in the lady that developed the entire program to do the training, so that should be kind of cool.
Lastly, I really need to get my work shit together. We hired a new marketing genius to take some of the pressure off of the clinic directors, but I have a tough time relinquishing any control to anyone else...however qualified he or she might be. I'm really going to have to learn to back up and let her drive the bus. I did a good thing earlier this week. I went to a chamber of commerce meeting last week (read really big snooze fest-but I won the 38 dollar door prize so not all was wasted) and I met this woman who does community relations for a local retirement community. She and I figured that we might be able to develop a mutually beneficial relationship in that I could recommend her facility to the geezers I treat, and she could allow me to come in and do "educational programs" for their residents, thus increasing my name recognition. I actually passed this info on to the marketing guru to set it up for me...yeah for me for giving up control! Hopefully she doesn't screw it up.

How many of you?

According to this website there are 667 other people in the United States with my name. How f'ed up is that? I knew this last name was too common when I married my hubby(-:
This weekend was a nice relaxing weekend for us. The weather forecast called for several inches of ice to fall between Friday night and tomorrow morning. It started icing while we were at dinner on Friday night and I'd say that we got about 1/4 of an inch of ice...just enough to cause some major damage to some of the older trees in the area, and of course to bring down some power lines. We were only without power for about two or three hours late last night, others in the area have been without power most of the weekend.
This afternoon it started raining while we were out at the grocery store, and I'm certain that this rain will be turning into freezing crap as it gets colder later today, it could make for an interesting Monday morning.
I'm planning on taking it easy for the remainder of today and probably going to head to bed early so that I can try to get a bit of cross training in before heading to work tomorrow morning. One can only hope...

For those JT fans who missed the SNL sketch...

It's hysterical, but not at all safe for work. No need to thank me.

Rabbit, Rabbit, Rabbit

I'm going to have withdrawal trying to get into Rabbit's blog. I'm always amused by her life, but unfortunately, every time I try to go there today I get this site for knee exercises instead. Huh. Where should I visit instead?

Just another manic Monday

Monday, Monday...let me count the ways that I hate you.
1. I could not sleep worth crap last night. I spent so much freakin time awake during the night that I was tired all day, thus one bad night negates all the good sleeping I got done over this past weekend.
2. Creepy walk in patient. I'm pretty sure he's an axe murderer...or maybe just that guy from the second Silence of the Lambs book(Red Dragon). Fun fact for the day: That book (and movie) was actually based in St. Louis, thus making this theory totally possible.
3. Irritatingly annoying office staff lady. Why is today of all days the day that you decided to get your tuberculosis test done? They're open all week....Monday is a madhouse here. I really can't answer the phones, schedule patients, and treat patients all by my lonesome. That's why you're here freakazoid.
4. That's actually it I think.
Hope everyone else's day was better than mine. I'm headed to the couch to vegetate!

So much for that idea

Yeah, that New Year's resolution...the one to be a more consistent blogger? Not going so well, as you can probably tell. I've been really feeling like the back end of an old dog lately. By the time I get done working every day, all I really have energy for is coming home and laying on the couch. I'm hoping that I'm going to start to turn the corner here pretty soon.
I've been trying to find a little time for cross training, and so far I've managed to force myself onto the stationary bike about five or six times this week. (That doesn't sound so good does it? Oh well, you know what I mean.)
I'm firmly convinced that my feeling ass-like has something to do with being unable to run. This weekend I was in bed by nine thirty both nights and I slept until nine thirty both mornings. You would think that this much sleep would top off the tanks and put me back to feeling 100%, but you'd be wrong for thinking that. As I sit here typing now, I'm really contemplating a nap. I suck.
On other fronts, let me just save you all some time...don't go see the Good Shepherd. You'd think this movie would rock, and the previews certainly made it look like it rocked...but it didn't. In my world, this movie is tied with Syriana as biggest waste of film ever imagined.
I sat down to watch it thinking that I was in for a real treat. Three hours later, I walked out of the theater asking my husband "what the hell was that?" I pride myself on being a fairly intelligent person, and I seriously could not follow this damn movie. Plus, Angelina Jolie is not believable as a fifties housewife. Dirty homewrecker, why don't you go adopt a third world country?

Okay, I know I said no to New Year's resolutions...

but I'm making one anyway. It's going to be one that all of you, my faithful readers (all six of you) will thoroughly enjoy. I'm resolving to blog more days than I don't blog. That means at least four days a week, every week, for the next fifty two weeks. Oh yeah, I can tell you're excited!
And since I'm not running, you'll have to satisfy your crazy selves with brief glimpses into my rather mundane life (monkey sightings excluded from the mundane list).
I do not yet have an update, no monkey sightings were made today, even though the Max was on MonkeyWatch all day today. It's going to be tough to spot that booger when I'm at work all day...hmmmm, this is a whole new dilemma. Must brainstorm. Is it too obvious (or creepy) if I set a video camera up to record their house all day?
In other news, my patients were completely amused by my alleged monkey sighting, although more than one patient did draw the conclusion that I must have seen a dwarf in a fur coat and not a primate. Ask yourself, is a dwarf in a fur coat really that far removed from a small chimp anyway? Both would be amusing, although the chimp would be far less disturbing....
Speaking of patients, I received a cool thank you today from one of my patients. This patient is a sweet old man (albeit an old man who sounds disturbingly enough like the dirty old man from Family Guy who is always hitting on Peter). Anyway, I digress. He had some gift cards to a local bookstore and insisted that he never bought from this store, as he likes the little mom and pop shops and feels like this behemoth of a bookstore is slowly driving mom and pop out of business, so he gave me the gift cards. Which totalled over fifty dollars. How nice is that? I've got my eye on a couple of things including one or two items for patient education in my office, but you can bet your sweet ass I'm gonna be buying myself a treat as well. Nice people rock!

Is that a monkey in your front yard?

Or is your toddler just really hairy? I was not hallucinating or high yesterday morning when I thought I saw my across the street neighbor helping a chimp into the front door of her house...even though I haven't seen it again since then.
I haven't had the chance to ask her what the deal was, but I think I know what a monkey looks like, and I'm pretty sure that she has one. So all day today, I've been watching for another glimpse of the monkey. Every time I pass a window that looks out onto the front yard, I'm searching for the monkey. Thus commences MonkeyWatch 2007.
I'm going to see that damn thing again, this I promise you. And when I do, I'm taking pictures. I've got to have some kind of proof that there really is a monkey living across the street from me.

Happy New Year!

We just got back from our New Year's Eve dinner. We went to the Melting Pot, which is a fondue restaurant. We go almost every New Year's Eve to this restaurant, and even though we love it, this is the only night of the year that we go there. It's such a production to eat a meal there.
They bring all of the food to the table raw, and there's a little hot plate like thing in the center of the table that they put a pot of boiling beef stock based liquid onto. You skewer and cook all of the meat in this pot of stock before you can eat it.
We had lobster, fillet mignon, chicken, beef tenderloin, shrimp and a couple of kinds of ravioli. They also bring a cheese fondue to start the meal and finish it with a chocolate fondue for desert. We gorged ourselves to the point of feeling like we're going to explode.
As for the rest of the night...who knows? Some of our neighbors are planning a get together, but that probably won't start until around nine...and the way I feel now, I may be sleeping by then. I know, how lame am I?
We're not to keen on going over there anyway, as the men hang out in the garage playing darts and the women sit around the kitchen gossiping. I like good scoop as much as the next gal, but after a while it gets old. Can't the conversation have some substance already?
So, if we make it to midnight, great, but if not oh well, it'll still be 2007 tomorrow morning either way. Although if we stay home, I'll probably feel a lot better the first morning of 2007 than I would if I went out anyway, right?
Hope everyone has a great evening!

Bad blogging monkey...

So I've been AWOL for the last week or so. Between work, dentist and doctor appointments, and trying to get my house back in order; I've just not had time. Every night I think "Self, you need to blog today" and every night I manage to convince myself that sleeping is more important. Who'd thunk it? I've been exhausted all week. But after an early to bed on Friday and late to rise on Saturday morning, I'm feeling a bit better. A repeat performance tonight and all should be well in my world, I hope.
The short version is:
1. I haven't been running. Doc's orders. I either have a ruptured spring ligament or a stress fracture. Nothing shows up on x-ray, but that's not necessarily conclusive. The Rx: Rest, immobilization, and revisit the issue in six weeks. Ughhhh, that throws a spring marathon and probably a spring half marathon out the window. So perhaps we'll be looking at a summer race? Or just waiting until fall. On one hand I'm disappointed, but on the other I'm okay with it. Do you know how much more time I'm going to have?!?!? I'm sure extra time will lose it's novelty in a week or so.
2. I'm finally getting to where I feel like I've recovered from Christmas. I took the tree down today, and dear husband helped get the outside stuff down and put away. I was particularly glad to get this done, as it's slated to start raining here and continue for something like a week (which really means two or three weeks) and I hate to be one of those fuckers that still has Christmas shit up at Valentines day.
3. I've sufficiently gorged myself on cookies, candies, and cake that I think I've cured myself of my sweet tooth. Just typing those sweet delights out makes me a little nauseous. This is a good thing, as I weighed in just over four pounds heavier this morning than I weighed last Saturday before Christmas. God knows, I gotta get on the clean eating bandwagon if I'm not running, those extra calories aren't going to burn themselves.
So, that's the summary in a few short paragraphs. I'm getting myself back on track with the blogging business, effective now.