Friday, November 30, 2012

13 in 2013

Today on Facebook I came across this challenge:  13 in 2013!  The challenge is to run 13 races in 2013.  I figured I might as well do it since it fits so nicely with my blog name lol.  Even if I only do virtual 5ks I'm still doing it!! :)  Now to make my list.


Friday Friday Friday!

Well, the weigh in last night didn't go as well as I hoped.  I did lose 4 pounds, which is great!  However, someone lost 8 pounds....5% of their body weight.  I really wanted that $40.  lol.  I really a big fat cheeseburger to drown my sorrows in too, but I settled for a turkey sub.  I did have chocolate though.  A LOT of chocolate.

I picked up our Christmas cards yesterday.  I know you're dying to see them yes?  After I ordered them I realized that husband will probably hate them.  I think that's an added bonus!  ;)



Hubby has been out of town all week and gets home tonight so I took this morning off work and cleaned up the house.  I even made banana bread!!  Can you please tell me how Milo can manage to look astonishingly cute while messing up my trash pile?? (Don't judge my trash pile!  I have 2 monsters kids.)



Also, he's a creeper.  I was shaving my legs in the shower and noticed 2 little orange eyes peeking in at me.  It's okay though, he's a cute creeper.

I'm hoping to convince hubby that we should go out for dinner tonight.  One of the local restaurants is doing a Cajun boil and I haven't had crawfish since we were in Louisiana this summer!




Thursday, November 29, 2012

Hopped up on the juice.

Weigh in is tonight!!!  I didn't mention it before but I'm participating in a weight loss competition locally.  I had to pay $40 to participate and whoever loses the largest percentage each week gets $40 and then the overall winner gets $160.  I needed some motivation!!  Anyhow so I'm trying to keep it to liquids today lol to help with the weigh in.  My tummy hates me right now too so liquids are probably better anyhow.  For breakfast I had a Shakeology chocolate shake. I had gotten 3 samples of this in my last klutchclub box.  It's good.  I like it, doesn't have as much of an aftertaste as other protein shakes.  Here's what came in that box. (Hint - hemp hearts are AWESOME.)

I had to run to Wal-Mart (the horror!!!) today while the kids were in school instead of running because I had to pick up the stuff for their advent calendars!!  Boy child got a Lego calendar and girl child is getting makeups and other girly type things.  When I got home I was starving so I busted out my juicer and made lunch!!  I drank 1 carrot, 1 apple and 1 pear.  Yum!! 

 I'm a little nervous about the weigh in!  I want the moneys!!!  I'll let you know how it goes.  Cross your fingers and toes!


Or if you could do this; that'd probably work too.

What's Wrong With This Picture?

Let's play a game of spot what's wrong in this picture!!!

Tuesday, November 27, 2012

Back on the horse...

So, this morning I had pretty much convinced myself that I was not going for a run.....I was tired and cold and tired.  I was really tired. Then I started thinking about a breakfast burrito......So, I thought if I want one of those I better run or else my entire day of calories is blown!!  The plan was to pick up the burrito after dropping off daughter's class pet back at school (It didn't die!!!), but I drove right by Durango Joes and thought...yea I don't NEED  a burrito.  I had to run to the store real quick and get some gloves though and ear warmy band thing because as I said I was COLD.  I also got some cottage cheese and apple cider tea. YUMMMY.

perfect for grumpy cat mug!

I also found these things:


I grabbed them because they were just $1 and I thought they might be good to keep me from snacking while working.  These suckers taste just like eggnog!!  Awesome!! I had one and I felt like I just had dessert.

When I got back home I headed out for my run immediately before I lost motivation.  I started the 5k to 10k training program.  It was 10 minutes of jogging alternating with 3 minute tempo runs.....definitely different for me.  It was hard.  I was going to try and do a virtual 10k in January, but I think that might be too soon!


Reading List

Since it's Bookish Tuesday I thought I'd share with you some books that I love.  You know the ones that get hung up in your brain and stay with you forever, or at least for years?



1.  On The Road - Jack Kerouac: This is the first book that "changed my life." I read it while I was in high school and I LOVED it.  Rabidly loved it. I reread it a million times and made notes in the margins, etc.  I tried to reread it recently and the grammar/writing style drove me up the wall.  I could not get past the first few pages.  :(  In high school I remember embracing the stream of conscious writing in it......but I guess if you proof read 8 hours a day as your job then it's harder to embrace it.  I read quite a few of his other novels and liked them a lot also (back in the day).

2.  The Winter of Our Discontent - John Steinbeck:  This was another I read in high school (I spent all my free time in the library searching the card catalog for weird books).  Now, Steinbeck is a TIMELESS author.  I've been meaning to re-read some of his books.  (Travels with Charley - hint Charley is a doggy, Log From the Sea of Cortez - I always wanted to be a marine biologist, East of Eden - think family saga).

James Agee

3. A Death in the Family - James Agee:   I remember I stumbled upon this one in high school one night while looking through the encyclopedia (yea...I don't know.....this was before we had a computer).  The picture of the author caught my eye, he looked so interesting.  I must have drawn his portrait in art class because I specifically remember studying this picture.

4. Vampire Chronicles - Anne Rice:  I feel like this is so cliche, but this is another book/series that I read in high school that absolutely blew my mind.  I remember standing in the book aisle in Wal-Mart looking for a new book to read, when a woman also looking suggested I read Interview with a Vampire. I can still remember the way those books smelled.  For me, it was my generation's Twilight except for not as candy ass ;).  I tried to re-read this series a few years ago and I couldn't stomach the flowery writing and seriousness of it all.  :/  I have read other books by Anne Rice since with no problem.  In fact, I am contemplating reading her book The Wolf Gift.

5. Sookie Stackhouse Series - Charlaine Harris:  Yes I know, not really the same caliber as Steinbeck, and it's another vampire series, but I still love Sookie.  :)  This series is quite lighthearted at times.  A lot of tongue-in-cheek humor. This series is a more recent find, as in within the last couple of years. (Google - Eric Northman.  You're welcome.)

6. Lara - Bertrice Small - This is book one of the World of Hetar series.  I really did not want to put this one on the list.  Why? Because it has smutty parts.  Because the author also writes for Harlequin.  However, these books have hung with me since I read them (about a year ago).  They were good.  They were not my usual fare, outer space, fairies, etc...but for some reason I want to re-read them.  I keep wanting to say that they are stuck in my craw, but that just sounds horrifying.  Side note- When I was in high school my aunt gave me a paper grocery bag full of Harlequin romance novels.  I remember sitting beside my window and reading that entire bag of books within a couple of weeks.

Lastly, what am I reading now, right this very second?  I am reading the newest book in the Dulcie O'Neil series, Malice in Wonderland.  It's good, although it hasn't kept me hanging on like the previous books in the series.  It's another paranormal series - although with the humor I appreciate.  The author, H.P. Mallory, has also written another series (Jolie Wilkin series) that is equally as entertaining and somewhat reminiscent of the World of Hetar series.

I hope I didn't bore you to death!  I <3 books, and I love to talk about books.  :)  I have a run planned for this morning so I am sure I will update later with that!

Monday, November 26, 2012

Grumpy mug

Here's my new favorite coffee mug!

Monday Morning You Sure Look Fine!

Happy Monday! (Pat yourself on the back if you got that Fleetwood Mac reference.)  I'm finally caught up on blogging.  Whew.  I have discovered something amazing.  My new favorite breakfast/dessert/snack.

Cottage cheese with cranberry sauce.
Seriously amazing stuff!  On Saturday I started really monitoring my diet.  I have 30 pounds that I need to lose and it's time to get down to business!!  I was going to start with the 3-Day Military diet, but after day 1 I wanted to eat my arm off so I switched over to counting calories. So far so good!  Weigh in is on Thursday night, so I will let you know.

I STILL have not run since the Turkey Trot. :(  I have been having some major negative self talk going on. The bottom line is that I am really embarrassed with my poor performance.  Should I let that get me down? No, of course not!  Easier said than done.  The plan is to start the 5k to 10k program tomorrow.

Last night I decided to make a running shirt out of my pie doodle.  :)


It is a performance micro-fiber shirt, but you can also change the kind of shirt it's printed on if you aren't a fan of micro-fiber.  

Turkey Day Recap



Okay!  I'm finally ready to post about turkey day.  :)  It was really a fabulous day.  We had dinner at our house and invited our neighbors over.  We had amazing food.  Seriously awesome food.  Hubby made a beautiful turkey that was perfectly moist.


I made 2 pies, and burnt both of them....woops, and our neighbor brought a cheesecake that melted on the counter. ;)  They all tasted good though!  If we're being honest, by the time we got to the dessert we had all imbibed a few glasses of wine and did not care about the state of the desserts.  After dinner was cleared from the table we decided to play a game.  We found this one in our closet:


It was seriously hilarious!!  I have no idea where we got this game, but I haven't laughed that hard in a while.  I lost all my body parts except my head and still managed to win the game!  And as it turns out the best way to kick open a door is NOT utilizing the donkey kick method.

As tradition dictates we put up the Christmas tree the following day.  When we were hanging the ornaments I said to hubby "Didn't we just do this?!?!"  This year really flew by!


My Dad made this ornament for us :)
This is Milo's first Christmas so he basically thinks we installed a giant kitty toy for him.  This morning hubby found him asleep on the branches midway up the tree.

do not see me.
I hope your Thanksgiving was equally as amazing!  :)


Sunday, November 25, 2012

Being Lazy!!

Sorry I STILL haven't done my Turkey Day update post.  I'm being lazy on the blog/running front.

Today we went shooting out in the hills and then came home and I doodled.  Fun times!!


Here's my doodle for today.  :)  I was hungry.  Can you tell? I did add it to some stuffs on my Zazzle store.  



Saturday, November 24, 2012

It's Caturday!!!!

I plan on posting about Thanksgiving, etc....but right now I'm catching up on work.  So here's this to tide you over:

Your offering pleases me.

Thursday, November 22, 2012

HAPPY TURKEY DAY!!!


Happy Turkey Day all you turkeys!!  Have a great day and enjoy yourself!!  I plan on it!  Too much food, friends and wine! ;)

Wednesday, November 21, 2012

Ooops!

Yesterday I told you I would post a picture of girl child's class pet, but I forgot.  Here it is!

Milo is quite entertained....

closer....


I hope it survives the weekend.....

Also, there's this:

kittyfeets!!!!



Happy Almost Thanksgiving!!

Where's the shocker??? ;)


Thanksgiving is one my favorite holidays!  There's no money/present buying stress, just food and family/friends!  We are doing Turkey Day at our house tomorrow with some neighbors because our families live far away.  I'm looking forward to it!  They aren't awkward we kind of know you neighbors, they are almost family neighbors! :)  I got a head start on cleaning last night, (i.e., I folded our Mt Everest of clothes while watching UP) so I should be able to finish up tonight.  Tomorrow morning I hope to get in a run (Carry a Thankful Heart virtual 5k!!) before I start cooking like a mad woman.

Yesterday was a really hard day for me....as I mentioned Saturday's race is really bothering me.  So much so that I have decided not to do anymore races for a while. Hubby said that avoiding them is not really a good solution, but that's all I got right now.  He has a theory that the anxiety of all the people there screws up my performance.  I don't know how much of that screwed me up on Saturday, but right now I'm just going to focus on running but no races (i.e., with my tail between my legs, for now.)

Back to Turkey Day - Here's the menu :

- Turkey - hubby's area
- Sweet Potato Casserole - with marshmallows on top noobs!
- CORNBREAD dressing - I'm from the south.
- Bread stuffing - Hubby is not from the south so he prefers this variety (WTF?)
- Cranberry sauce - I'm content with canned, but neighbor is bring the real deal.
- Green bean casserole
- Giblet gravy
- Pumpkin pie
- Chess pie
- WINE.
- WINE.
- WINE.





Tuesday, November 20, 2012

Need hugs...


Apparently today is National Hug a Runner Day....how appropriate.  I need hugs.  I'm still pretty down on myself about the race on Saturday.  It really did a number on my confidence.


I am not running today because I have tons of stuff to do to get caught up this week and get ready for the holiday.  During the time that I would normally be running today I have to go pick up my daughter's class pet because we are keeping it over the holiday......I will post a picture later of this "pet."  

Since today is Bookish Tuesday I wanted to tell you about a book I read recently......

I read On The Island by Tracy Garvis Graves a few months ago.  I picked it up because it was new and it was on the New York Times Bestseller List. 


I think they are also making a movie out of this one right now too.  It was a good read, and at the time I really liked it, but it does have some controversial material.  It's about a teacher/tutor and her pupil that get stranded on a deserted island.  Over the course of a few years the pupil grows up and they fall in love.  It's all on the up and up and legal (lol), i.e.,  the pupil is 18 when they first start their relationship.  At the time I really loved it.....then afterwards I kinda felt cheap and used.  I have this theory that smutty/easy books are like a one night stand.  They are awesome at the time and lots of fun, but then the next day you feel dirty and cheap.  I'm not sure what the distinction is with this one because it's certainly not full of smut....I'm confused. LOL.  Anyhow, I'm not saying it's not a good book, because I did like it!  Basically, if you are looking for an easy read that will suck you in then this is a good choice.  Just don't be surprised if you're doing the walk of shame the next morning.  ;)  

Monday, November 19, 2012

Mondays.....

Good morning!  That weekend was WAY TOO short!!  I'm so not ready for Monday.  My body still hates me for the hilly 5k on Saturday and I still haven't recovered from being up all night Saturday with a sick kiddo.  No run for me today, just working and cleaning.  hooray.

Yesterday, I cleaned and went grocery shopping for all the stuff we forgot on Saturday.  Husband went duck hunting and brought home a greater Canada goose!  I begged him to clean it at home so we could see it intact.  It was so soft, like a pillow.  I may or may not have laid my head on a dead goose's belly.  Such a gorgeous animal.  I know that a lot of people do not agree with hunting, and that's fine.  I obviously do not have a problem with it IF you do it legally, respect the animals and take only what you are going to consume.  I even took pictures of it, but I'll spare you those  ;).  Instead -


Sunday, November 18, 2012

Happy Sunday!

Good morning!!  I slept in a bit this morning because girl child was up until 3:00 am puking, and my body still hurts from yesterday's Turkey Trot debacle!!  Girl child is better this morning thank goodness, and I am just crossing my fingers no one else gets sick. One round of vomit laundry (when you are already way behind on laundry) is more than enough thank you.

Today I am going to TRY to catch up on my cleaning and hopefully fit in a short, 20-minute run.  I am starting the 5k to 10k app on my phone.  I will leave you with the AWESOME painting that I found at Goodwill yesterday.  (Hubby hates it, but I MAJORLY LOVE IT!)  It makes me want to bust out my paintbrushes again.  :)

Hanging proudly in the kitchen.
I told Steffi over at Almost Healthy Life that I would do her 10 Things I Love About Myself challenge.  I meant to do it yesterday, but wasn't feeling the love.  :/  Here goes:

10 Things I Love About Myself

  1. My sense of humor.  I may be the only one laughing, but dangit I'm funny!!
  2. My green eyes, even if they are getting a few TEENY wrinkles around them.  
  3. I love that I can make a mean pan of cinnamon rolls.
  4. My love for reading.  
  5. My appreciation for art.
  6. My curly hair! 
  7. My new-found love of running.
  8. My love for details. 
  9. My love for adventure.
  10. I love that I love kitties.  Kitties are the best. <3


Saturday, November 17, 2012

hohum......

So, I haven't really wanted to post today.  I am still pretty mad at myself about this morning's 5k.  I was hoping to at least run it under 40, but my time ended up being 42:26.  I could NOT run the entire thing.  There were some hills that kicked my butt.  :(  I went into it feeling pretty confident and came out of it feeling really crummy.
pre-race
lining up at the start.

Finishing...
On a positive note, the girls from my running club who also ran did much better than me!  :)  (By like 10 minutes lol)  I'm really proud of them!

After we took pictures, got water and caught our breath, we went to find our free "lunch."  (It was 10 am and I don't eat before a race, so I counted this as breakfast!!)  We thought it was going to be a BBQ lunch but it turned out to be......turkey!  (I guess that's a big duh since this was the Turkey Trot).  I didn't think to take a picture until I ate some.  

Best turkey breakfast I ever had....
The little muffin was pumpkin or carrot or spice or something, but it was delicious!  Hubby said the teeny muffin was worth the entire trip....not sure about that.  After we ate I just wanted to get out of there.  So, we headed to Goodwill to check for ugly Christmas sweaters and milk glass.  No luck on those two things but we did find an AWESOME painting (hubby disagrees) and a replacement lid for a pot that we had lost.  Hubby thinks that the lid we found is actually our lid and we accidentally gave it to Goodwill.....LOL.  There might have been a Sangria at lunchtime and some Kahlua and coffee involved in the rest of the day.....

Sangria at the Greek restaurant!



Friday, November 16, 2012

Turkey lurkey!!!

Hubby picked up our packets for the Turkey Trot tomorrow!!! According to the map in the packet there's a BRUTAL hill about midway through!!! Yikes!!



Thursday, November 15, 2012

Doodley Thursday

I am pretty sure I have mentioned before that I work from home.  I have to sit in front of this computer for 8 hours a day (theoretically lol).  Also, I'm pretty sure I have ADD.  I struggle with distractions and Facebook is a HUGE problem for me.  I started using a web site called Keep Me Out.  You set it up to limit your access to the sites that you waste time on.  I started doing it yesterday and it worked really well!  Until I spotted the pen and paper on my desk......


Doodling is better than Facebook right??  Feel free to judge my grocery list.  ;)  


Don't think I'm going to run today.  Just going to try and catch up on my work and stay toasty inside.  Happy Thursday!!  One week until Turkey Day woohoo!!!! What is on your Thanksgiving menu?  

Wednesday, November 14, 2012

Socks rock!!

I had a great run yesterday.  I totally DID NOT WANT to go out and do it.  It was chilly and I just wanted to be lazy and warm inside.  So, what did I do?  I asked for motivation on Facebook, and it worked!! Some days you need 15 people to yell at you to go run.  ;)  Once I got out there I was glad I did!  Then I PRd again! WOOT!


While I was running I was thinking about how much running has helped me to accept myself, flaws and all. "I need to lose weight - eff that I can run 3.1 miles!"  "I have a hard time focusing at work - eff that I can run 3.1 miles!!" And so on. LOL this is the inner dialogue that goes on while I run.  Also, I look at my shadow and think "Those curvy thighs and hips aren't fat!  They are SEXY!!"  ;)  

post-run sexiness ;)
I'm pretty sure this great run was all because of these gems: 





Tuesday, November 13, 2012

THIS!!

This made my morning:

<3 Gunny!

Bookish Tuesday and free yoga!

One of my favorite things to do, after running of course, is reading.  I am madly in love with my Nook Color.      However, my favorite kind of books to read are generally paranormal romance (??I have no idea why??) or smut!  I'm not opposed to reading other kind of books, but let's be honest here...I have limited time that I can devote to reading.  I read to relax.  Plus, haven't you ever heard the saying "smut is good for the soul???"    No? Maybe I made that up.  I figured I should take one day of the week to review books or talk about what I'm reading or some such thing.

So, this week I will tell you about a non-smut book I read recently that I LOVED.  

Wild by Cheryl Strayed.  This book really spoke to me.  It was a fabulous read about a woman who hikes the Pacific Crest Trail in an effort to "find herself" after several major life tragedies. I definitely recommend it! I read it and then declared to hubby that I was going to go hike the Pacific Crest Trail too.  Bless his heart he humored me.  :)  I realized my goal was a bit lofty and decided to start working towards being able to do something like that if I wanted to.  I think this book really planted one of the first seeds that pushed me towards running.  Cheryl Strayed has another book out that I have downloaded on my Nook but have not started reading yet (too busy reading smut).  

The second thing I wanted to tell you guys about today is free yoga!!  Steffi over at Almost Healthy Life has started doing yoga videos on her blog!! Her blog is a recent find of mine, but it's one of my absolute favorites!! She makes it all seem not so intimidating!!  So, go check her out and do some yoga!!

Monday, November 12, 2012

Happy Veteran's Day!!

I hope everyone had a lovely Monday.  Happy Veteran's Day!  Thank you for your service veterans!

This is my Papa.  He served in the Army in WWII.  
My hubby is also a veteran, but I'm sure he wouldn't appreciate me sharing his service pic.  :)  

So, yesterday we went to the bowling alley and the casino!  I was super excited to go play the slots.  First we went bowling.


I did so awesomely at bowling I didn't even get over 50 on all ten frames!!  Wait, bowling is not like golf you say?  Hmmmm.  The kids had fun at least (mostly laughing at my gutter balls).  Then we hit up the slots.  I was doing fabulously and had my machine up to $100 bucks!  I was on top of the world.  Then I lost it all.  :(  Hubby said that once you double your money on a machine you are supposed to change machines.  Why did no one tell me this!?!?!  I want my moneys back.  I'm still really sad about it. 

When we came home I went for a run.  It was FREEZING!!  All my jiggly parts felt like blocks of ice when I got home, even though I was burning up.  It was an awesome run and a PR!!!  

Take that dirty, evil slot machine!!



Then, there was pie!!  Pumpkin pie!  :)  

omnomnomnom
I did not run today, just worked.  I was supposed to go to  PiYo class but it got cancelled.  Tomorrow is a run day and I gotta find my long running pants tonight and wash them because it's officially TOO cold for running capris anymore! BRRRR.



Sunday, November 11, 2012

Sunday Funday!

First of all I woke up to this Milo made Cat-Shaming!!


My life is complete.  Not really, but you know.  :)

Then hubby said he wants to go to the casino today.  Fine with me.  They even have a daycare center there so we do not have to get a sitter!  (I promise is not skeevy lol)  After that we will hit up the bowling alley in the casino to make the kids feel better for making them stay at the casino daycare. :) Come on big money!!!  I was going to run today, but playing slots is way more fun.