Love doesn't = Logic

Definitely a nonrunning post: Heads up, men folk, this one might bore you... :P

Like June, I don't want to say too much right now about THE movie but I will talk about the show that said so much to us gals. I don't know too many women who didn't watch at least some of the episodes. I don't know too many women who didn't see themselves in one or several of the four characters. For me, it was so "fresh" & my passion for "girly" stuff was suddenly ok since I do consider myself somewhat of a "tomboy".

I never watched a single episode until it was like in it's 3rd or 4th season. I would catch an episode every now & then & LOVE it, but didn't watch it on a regular basis. I didn't have HBO at the time anyway. My boyfriend (at the time) & I rented season 1 & watched it in one weekend. WE WERE HOOKED! Once we had rented all the seasons & had got caught up to the current season, which was probably season 5, we started setting aside THE night to watch it at his house. He would even download a bootleg copy off the internet beforehand & burn it for me.

My goal was to see the movie with some fabulous women & I did. I think we ALL loved it. I fought back tears in parts of it. When I get Hannah to go back with me because she HAS to see it, I may allow myself to cry then, who knows.... ha! We're talking about doing the "Sex and the City" 3 hr tour on our trip. The bus takes you to about 40 different places where they filmed the show. They run a clip from the show before you hop off the bus so you know what you are looking at & then you get off for pictures. For die hard fans of the show, it sounds cool! We plan to take plenty of pics on this tour for sure. They take you to the bar where they filmed the scenes with Aiden & Steve. They take you to Carrie's stoop & to the shop where Charlotte bought "something" that she became addicted to... You girls know what I'm talking about. ha!

If any guys are still reading this blog, I'll let you in on a little secret. We, women, all see ourselves in these characters. Yes, women really do think, talk, act, interact like this when you're not around. (most of us do anyway) You all would certainly learn a lot from the show. Every episode was centered around a certain subject that every single woman goes through, from breast cancer to dating younger men. You name it, they pretty much covered it at some point. I learned it was ok to have some of these thoughts in my head being single after a decade with a man that was supposed to be my soulmate. I learned that it's not ok to put up with some things but other things aren't so bad. It's not a man bashing show at all. These women celebrate men, especially the men that "get" them. I know Samantha sure has celebrated enough men! Samantha is the one that we all wish we could be more like but then again, we'd have to think more like men. Carrie never lost hope, but yet lived in reality. Charlotte sugar coated everything, never lost hope of meeting her true soulmate, & in the end found the unlikely candidate. Miranda was the hardnosed one stuck in a cloud of negativity because she was so incredibly busy with her career.....and then ends up a single mom for a while.

Some episodes that stood out for me include the "Rabbit" & the one where Carrie got dumped by that loony writer via post it note. You just had to laugh! I've been a Sarah Jessica Parker fan for years. I'm probably only one of a few people who remember her shortlived tv show, "Square Pegs".
Nobody else could have played the SATC character "Carrie Bradshaw' like she did......nobody. That fact that Sarah is married to Matthew Broaderick just makes her even more cool to me. I always think of him when I have my "Ferris Bueller" days. :)

Theme: Love is not Logical (at least that's what I got out of it.)
Gals, what did you get out of it? I'm curious....
Forgiveness: It takes a huge heart & open mind to learn how to forgive certain things, let alone move on from them...especially from those who've hurt us. Sometimes you just don't know why you should forgive but you know you just have to do it.

If you are a fan of the show, it's a mustsee! Go see it alone if you have to or go with fabulous people like I did.

That darn cat, my first 11.2, & "Hello Lova"

At approximately 3:30am, Zorro wanted to play & it was not cute at all. The poor thing has been alone for most of the week & he's dying for some attention. I didn't get to the 'boro until after 7pm last night & I was in bed shortly after 9pm. I didn't have time to play. The Heusers had a TON of mail so I sorted it out for them & much to my horror, a pretty good sized box was sitting on the front door steps! (delivered yesterday)
I also cleaned out Zorro's litter box. Being the dog person that I am, I had never done this....not fun, but I love my Hannah & there's not much I wouldn't do for her. Zorro tried helping me clean it out which only hindered me. He has totally not been like he was last weekend. He's clinging to me like a little child holding onto his mother's legs. I will have to give tons of belly rubs until tomorrow. The good news is that he didn't binge eat as much as he did earlier in the week but he did try getting into a bag of Sunchips I had on the bar. Sneaky little thing! :P

I got out the door this morning shortly after 6am to meet Jill at Percy Warner to run the infamous 11.2. As Jill's blog says, we met Trent & one of his friend's who's celebrating his 39th b-day. If I heard correctly 39 miles?!

I have been looking forward to this run for a while. For some odd reason, I just never made it here to do it, but I'm bored with the streets of Tullahoma, Tim's Ford, & Murfreesboro's greenway didn't appeal to me. I've run it before & it would have been too hot today. You see the beauty of the 11.2 is that it's almost totally shaded. I felt a few breezes come through too which thrilled me to the bone. Being able to breathe out there was fabulous! Jill is fabulous & entertaining, too. We talked about the "Manning hater", how some people are unbelievably naturally FAST, a "Barbie", a few men who's names will not appear here, etc... ha!

I felt good for the most part. At times, I felt my pace go down like "my old self" & then I'd hit a hill & slow down. I'm a good candidate for the "Galloway" program. Walk hills/Run flat & downhills because that's what I did for the most part today. I'm not knocking Galloway because I've had many doing it pass me like lightening in races. I've got to get more hill crazy, though, & the 11.2 just might do it for me. Next weekend will definitely be another Moon Pie training run for me because I need to really find my "mojo" for that course IF I decide to run it. It's close enough that I don't feel like I'm wasting too much gas/time doing it.

Jill's garmin said 1 hr 57 something? I'm just glad it was under 2 hrs. My garmin's battery was dead this morning. I thought it was charged but no big deal. I meant to grab the heart rate monitor last night but totally forgot. Oh well....great, wonderful, NEW experience & I will do it again. IF I get into NYC, I'm going to run the HELL out of the 11.2. I'll be seeing a lot of my Aunt who lives fairly close there & I hope to see more of the E.Nasties, too. Fun group!
Thanks again, Jill, for pulling my JLo on the course.

I'm going to join a few FABULOUS people later for "Sex and the City" at the 4pm showing. June has me pumped after reading her blog last night. I may be so fired up that I have to go drink a martini & buy some sexy shoes!

Braggin' Aunt Lisa

I couldn't help but put a blurb here about my 13 yr old nephew, Austin Jay. The kid is brilliant. :) My sister got a call from the school this week about him. The last time she got a call, he had stress fractured his ankle in basketball practice so she was like, "What now?!"
He's such a great student that she & Mark never know what he's doing in school until they see the report card. (Straight A's in honors courses in middle school) Much to her surprise, the school had him on the phone asking her if she wanted him to bring home his 1st prize saving's bond of $100 or should she pick it up? He wrote an essay on what it means to be patriotic to him. I cannot wait to read it. My sister & Mark have not even read it yet!!! They never have to proofread anything for him. They had no idea he had entered it into a contest. I have to wonder if he mentions his dad going overseas. I know it was really hard on the boys when Mark would deploy. Austin knows what it's like not to have dad around on his birthday or home on a major holiday.
Anyway, I told my sister, jokingly, that he gets it from me. I was always told in school that I could write well. We both laughed but hey, it's true. :P

Man, I miss my boys!

23 years ago....

....I walked the line at THS ('85).
(insert the Bryan Adams song "Summer of 69" here). FUN TIMES! :)
I remember my friend, Christy, & I had on short dresses under the hot red robes. We had been traumatized by the tyrant Coach Carden that we had better not wear dresses that would stick out from under the robes. We made sure of that by wearing SHORT white dresses. I'll never forget that idiot nearly bringing Dede B. to tears by yelling at her about her dress as we passed through the fence to the football field. I wanted to punch him. (She of all people had been through enough that year & year before with the loss of her brother.)

This year, the only graduate that I know of is Wayne & Erin's daughter, Katie. I just heard from a coworker that due to the condemned stadium bleachers, they're having the ceremony in the "sweat-atorium" gym.

I suddenly feel so very old. :(

June is looking Fun & Busy

June 7th/8th:
I will run the Moon Pie course again on one of these days even if I have to do it alone. Why? It's peaceful, it's NOT Tullahoma, & there's a cool ice cream shop I can hit at the end. (I'm not helping with Mach Tenn this year.)
I may stop by the Soapbox derby to take some photos of my friends who help every year.....Ted J. & Coach Lester usually help load & weigh cars. Terry Q's son is usually in a car flying down hill too. It's pretty cool to see boys & girls ripping down Sonic hill!

June 14th/15th:
I booked the white water rafting trip that should have happened last year with Patti. She broke her big toe right before she left MI last year & I had to cancel at the last minute. The Ocoee is mild. It's not a rough rafting trip at all but I usually end up screaming because I'm a big wuss anyway. I did the Upper one year that has the '96 Olympic course on it. Last year we did the Middle. This year it's the Middle again. One day, I want to do the FULL day trip. It's so BEAUTIFUL! :)
Not sure what long run I'll plan for that weekend but it will have to happen on the 15th.
(Or Friday the 13th!)

June 21st/22nd:
Weekend of the Moon Pie 10 miler. So hot, so hilly, so humid, but everyone who's addicted comes....it's a must do. I'm still trying to find the "mojo" to do it. I had thought I would just volunteer the whole time instead of running it. Either way, I want to be there. In my mind, it's a "requirement" to be there!

June 28th/29th:
I'll be off a week during the 4th. June 28th will start the 3 day NYC excursion. When we get back late on July 1st, I'll probably crash for 2 days straight. I'm debating if I'll enter a race for the 4th. The one & only time I've ever done the Franklin Firecracker 5k was in '05. Patti & I did it. It was so HOT that I dry heaved about 30 feet from the finish line. I'll never forget the people standing at the finish line area looking at me like I was going to pass out. Patti just about passed out for real. I had to rub ice on her to get her to come back to life. Scary! I usually do the Marine Corp 5 miler on Arnold Air Force base around the 4th. It's been scheduled for the 5th this year! Who wants to race 5 miles after being out late looking at fireworks & possibly drinking?! I bet there's a VERY low turn out this year, who knows...
I really want to go to the Nashville fireworks this year on the river if I can wrangle some people into going. I have never been because I'm usually on Tim's Ford lake on a boat.

The Mask

.......isn't working for me! I wore the mask while mowing this afternoon for the first time. After about 30 mins of it, I ripped it off. I could not breathe in it. It made my face sweat. Maybe I need a thinner, looser one? Who knows.....oh well, I tried.

I may have mentioned this before but I'm now over a month with NO migraines. I have saved $40 on Relpax migraine meds this month. That's $40 extra for my gas tank. Yippee!!

Workout: 1.5 hrs of sweating in the yard.

Friday: Rest (the civic will get an oil change/tire rotation & balance tomorrow)
Saturday: The ever popular 11.2 with some fun, cool people.
Sunday: Not sure....

Have I mentioned how giddy I am about watching the "SITC" movie this weekend? After I watch it, I'm going to drink a martini with more cool people. I may even get out a pair of my coolest shoes to wear to the movie. Sounds gooberish? Well, get over it! :P

Green Tea Kit Kat

As I was sitting here staring at spreadsheets, someone gave me 1/2 of a green tea kit kat. It's awesome, but full of sugar, no health benefits from the green tea at all. :( So glad it was only 1/2!

Zorro is MAD!

When I got to Hannah's, I found quite a few things that Zorro had drug into the living room. (Two bears & a bathroom rug to start with!) I would have taken a photo of it for Hannah if I had not been a hurry to get out the door. They had a ton of mail. I think their wedding proofs came in from FL. They'll be so excited!

I also noticed Zorro's dry food dish was completely empty. He hardly touched it while I was there for 3 days. Could he be binge eating? ha! Maybe he misses his brother, Stanley. The dog is in the kennel & he's probably pissed, too. Animals, they have personalities that are just too funny at times.

I thought to myself, "What the heck, drive on up for a Wed night E. Nashville run." Hey, I'm all about change! I've run there before back in late Jan right before the plague hit me. (The sinus infection that took 2 months to go away!) It's pretty hilly. The first leg was 3.72 according to my garmin & the last leg was 1.85. I have not even looked at my pace yet but I tried to push it down the first 2.5. I got the crap in my throat & Chuck was kind enough to let me use his Memorial Day shirt to spit on & wipe my face. I had forgot my rag! :(

Met some great people, some I remembered from the Jan run & I've met at races. Jill suggested I start using my heart rate monitor. I admit, I've been too lazy to take it out of the box. I've had this particular garmin since Sept & never used the monitor!

I believe just about everyone decided to go into a bar across from "Bongo Java". The name escapes me right now. 2 for 1 beers...too bad I don't like beer. I lived in Germany for 2 yrs & never even tried their beer. I drank water & headed home. Fun evening! :)

Tomorrow, the yard will have me all over it! :P

One month from today........

I will be spending 3 full days exploring the "Big Apple". Am I excited? Yes, but I get excited about everything! :)

I will know before I go June 28th if I'm in the NYC marathon.

Yes, June, my fingers are still crossed with ya! :) I can't get this song outta my head.

If not.....Nov 16th, San Antonio, here I come...

PS. on the photos of Chuck....

We had to convince Chuck to cover up the patriotic speedo for the blog photos but man did he ever run super fast in them at the race. (kidding!!) :P

Feeling Fat...

I cannot wait to hit the elliptical, crunches, & weights tonight. My body is craving some toning.
NO "American Idol" to entertain me so maybe I'll push harder than I have recently on the elliptical. I need to give my right shin a break from running anyway.
The swelling has come & gone many times over the last couple of months. I've ignored it since I had the sinus/allergy issues preoccupying me. Somehow not being able to breathe overrode a swollen shin, but that's getting back on track.....positive thinking, Lisa!

Zorro grabbed my legs as I was leaving Hannah's house last night. It's like the cat knew I was leaving for a few days. I felt so guilty. He misses his mommy so tomorrow, I'll head back up right after work to check on him, the house, & the mail. I may head over to E. Nashville to run with a group (or run way behind them!). I think they're just doing 6 miles anyway.

Thursday: I think the yard will be calling my name Thurs afternoon. I have to do it then or wait till Sunday afternoon.
Friday: Rest
Saturday: I really need to get in a minimum 9-10 miles......or maybe the 11.2 finally.
Can't wait to see "SITC" this weekend! :) "Hello Lova..." Carrie Bradshaw

Memorial Day Dash 5k, plus 4.13, & goofy stuff...

Well, where do I start? It was eventful to say the least. I managed to pull a 28 min 5k time with at least 3-4 stops during the 3.1 mile course, which was NOT flat. :( I had a bit of an upset stomach this morning so I ran literally on "empty". It was HOT, HUMID, & my heart rate was through the friggin' roof. I noticed first thing this morning that my right shin was inflamed a bit which was annoying, but hey, I got out of bed to do something "fun".

I got 2nd in my age group. Not many FAST women were there but plenty of FAST kids!
I'm not sure what to do with the Nashville history books I won...I'll skim through them & give them away, I guess....

Reiko pulled out 2nd in her group. She did very well this weekend! She doesn't want to go back to Michigan. (Hey, I can't help it if my out of state friends/relatives have too much fun & don't want to leave.)
Chuck got 2nd in his age group. He did very well this weekend at both Urban & the dash.
I won't go into the details but he's a complete nut. :)
Thanks again for guiding us through a few more miles this morning, ChuckEastNashville. :P

We added 4.13 hot, humid, slow, & somewhat hilly miles to our total today after the awards. Tom P. joined us & added a little more. While he was gone, we decided to get goofy with the camera.
See below.

Confession: I will be crosstraining my a$$ off tomorrow to work off the fries & milkshake I had after we ran. (Plus everything else that wasn't exactly good for me this weekend!)

All in all, a great day & so much FUN!!! :)


Reiko & Chuck posing with the age graded awards we won, the books I won as a door prize, & the Memorial Day shirt. Hey, we had to find something to do while waiting on Tom. ha!


I'm blaming the heat & humidity for this... ha!


I want to go back to BB Kings on a Saturday night. Great food!


Too much food, not enough hurricanes!

More photos from the wedding...

Beautiful, delicious cake & a very happy couple. They're in Orlando this week. :)

Arlene & her son, Tony. He walked her down the trail.

John & Arlene under the gazebo during the "I dos". :)

The Iris Garden at Ellington Agricultural Center, 5-25-08.

This was taken of Arlene & me before she was to walk down the trail to the Iris garden. The green was so pretty with her green eyes.

They're going to talk about a lot of pot holes.

I was a complete slacker today...big time REST day for me. :)

I finished off the day with the Dempsey movie,"Made of Honor". Not really a chick flick because it was from a man's point of view. It was interesting how it brought out the fact that people are attracted to each other on different levels. For instance, these two main characters did everything together but date or sleep together. They were truly best friends. When one was off somewhere, the other missed them so much that they would call & talk about the pot hole that they saw a week ago that got filled. When you want to tell something to someone that's so mundane, meanless, unimportant, & that person is the opposite sex, you know you have something special.
Patti was right. She said it ranks right up there with "Pretty Woman". Dempsey doesn't play "perfect" in this movie & that was another thing I liked about it. :)


Today, my dear friend Arlene, became a Mrs. She is 60 & John is 45. They met 2.5 yrs ago on a personals website & have been talking about pot holes ever since. :)

The wedding was at the Ellington Agricultural Center in the iris garden under a gazebo. I had never been there & boy, what a nice place! It's funny what's tucked here & there around this area that I've never laid eyes on ever. It was a very simple ceremony with close friends & family. John was beaming & Arlene was her usual cool as a cucumber self. I got there early enough so I could spend some quality time with her before she walked down a wooded path to the gazebo. She wore a light green suit to match her beautiful eyes. I have way better photos on my camera that I'll post tomorrow. These grainy ones are from my cell.


I've been joking with her for a week now about getting her to throw the bouquet at me. At one point, she said for me just to grab it off her arm at the end of the ceremony. ha! She & I have shared so many war stories about EVERYTHING it's not even funny. I'm so glad she found her best friend. Before I left, she didn't throw the bouquet, she handed me the bouquet. I almost cried. She is by far one of the best people in my life. I don't know what I would have done if she had never been there for me during my divorce. She is one of a few people who yanked me up by my boot straps & told me to snap out of it. It's been a wild ride of laughter ever since. :)

CMM Security Blankie n' stuff

Me with Yoko Ono...I mean, Reiko. :P

Nobody can accuse me of throwing in the towel. I need it too bad!
I'm still reeling over the fact that I had a better pace on MP's course on Sunday than today's friggin' 10k.
...and Sunday's pace included walking up the BIG hill & messing with a turtle. Ah well...let it go, Lisa, just let it go... This too shall pass.... I just think I've been too sleep deprived lately & that's my own fault. Burning the candle at both ends never works out for me. It catches up with me & kicks me in the tail. Did I mention that I tasted the salt water that I flushed my sinuses out with during the race this morning? NICE! I don't think I've got the hang of that yet because not all of it drains out.

Aside from feeling tired, I've got other things I need to get back to doing. I'm going to add in the tempo runs again SOON. I lost track of that with all the sinus crap. With my heart rate & breathing all whacked out today, it sure showed that I've not been doing any tempos. Also, I need to be eating more potassium rich foods. I believe I get enough calcium with all the yogurt, skim milk, & ice cream I eat. The legs cramping at 3am was just plain annoying & I'm stupid for not paying more attention to my diet lately. Sure, I'm watching what I eat but eating in order to "run" is important too. I had a peanut butter & low sugar jelly sandwich for breakfast, a sip of powerade, water, a couple of sports beans, & 2 enduralyte pills before the race. I wasn't hungry at all during the race, no stomach issues, but I have to wonder if I'm actually eating to run. I have the type of body that can go up & down by a few lbs just by cutting back on food intake during a very short period of time. I've found the moderation point to watching what I eat but I wonder if it's enough to run on.... Am I getting what I need to recover from this winter/spring of hell? The only major change has been cutting out the red meat. Go figure? I bring my lunch almost every single day to work. Last year, I was eating out a lot more during lunch & it was not always healthy yet I had a lot less health issues going on, less issues with running, etc... Strange!

I noticed that the fluid stations had absolutely NO gatorade today. I was craving some electroylytes by mile 4, otherwise a very well directed race.

We're not late night drinkers...because most of us have stuff to do tomorrow, but it was another nice night out on the patio. We ALL had a blast! Only one Hurricane for me & two cups of coffee. That's the ONLY reason I'm still up. EYES WIDE OPEN!

Hannah called me from an airport, don't really know which one but she said that Jeff Fisher flew from Nashville to AZ & then to CA on the planes with them. He was meeting one of his new recruits for some fight in CA (boxing?) & to play golf. He was a bit vague with them at first but then warmed up to them during the flight. (Hannah is not shy about asking questions! ha!) As they parted, he wished them a happy honeymoon. Wonder if he recognized her from all the stalking, I mean cheering, we do before, after, & during the games. :P Ahh, good times...

Tentative Long Range Plan:
Tomorrow: Sleep, Rest, Relax, enjoy Arlene's wedding & if there's time, head to the MAC for some cross training.
Monday: The Memorial Day Dash 5k & adding some hot miles with ChuckEastNashville....
Tuesday: Cross training
Wednesday: Possibly back up to the 'boro, may find a group to run with...
Thursday: Run with Carla and/or Chris
Friday: Rest
Sat: Hope to find a long run group in Nashville

Oh my...surprise

I wasn't as bad off as I thought...9:50 pace. As much as I walked my JLo over those hills downtown, I just knew I had a 10+ min pace today.

I'm doing something I rarely do tonight, drink with friends! Hurricane at Mimi's cafe' anyone?

Semi good morning...

I didn't mention until now on here that I was going to do the Urban 10k. I have my PR on this hilly, hot course believe it or not (52:43) which won my age group last year. (Not many showed up for my age group last year!) As expected, I bonked hard.

The weather seemed just a tad bit cooler than last year but my legs were not feeling it. I had told Reiko on the drive in that I woke up at 3am with both legs cramping. (not enough potassium) I just felt tired. Kirby told me yesterday that I looked tired. So, who knows...I was just tired & not in the mood to race a 10k, I guess...

I could not push my pace down enough to get the "crap" going in my throat so that was a plus. No spitting at all for me at this race but I believe I ran slower this morning than I did on the Bell Buckle Moon Pie 10 mile course this past Sunday. Go figure? I just didn't have the "go-go" juice in me for some odd reason. My legs felt like lead weight on the hills so I walked almost every single hill but the first one. I could feel my heart rate going sky high on the hils so I backed off, BIG TIME! :(

Last year I held an 8:31 pace on this course. This year I was struggling to hold a 10!!!! I know it's silly for me to admit this but even if I had run last year's time this year, I would not have placed. The faster 40-44 yr old women showed up this year. (sorta made me feel better about bonking, which is stupid, I know....)

We hit every major hill in downtown Nashville. It's a great course if you are hill trained, no sinus/allergy problems, & light legs. I actually like it but it didn't like me this morning. I didn't throw up & that's a plus. Kind of funny when the first thing people say to you after you finish is, "Did you throw up?" No throwing up because it was basically a 6.2 slow training run for me. Did I enjoy myself? YES!

Congrats to Reiko on her first 10k race. A hot, hilly first for her & a 3rd place age graded award, too, 56:22. She rocked it! She caught me around 3.5 miles & she never looked back. I am so damn proud of her! She got a nice drawstring bag, a certificate, & tech shirt. Chuck won his age group. I'm so jealous of his 1 hr massage. I didn't get that last year when I won my age group! :(

Monday, we are doing the Memorial Day Dash 5k at 8am. We've joked about dressing up for this race in red, white, & blue because they are giving away $100 cash to the best patriotic runner. After going in several places this morning, we can't find anything in those colors to run in...gesh!

Got a text from Hannah as she was boarding her plane. She & Jeff ran into Jeff Fisher while waiting in the Southwest line. She got her pic taken with him. I told her to send it to me. What a way to start out a honeymoon! They are Tahiti bound.

Conversation with Deb

Me: Just a quick reminder, if I don't get into NYC's marathon, I'll be coming in for the San Antonio half the weekend of Nov 16th. Is Mark doing it?

Deb: (annoyed) Funny you are asking because we had a heated discussion last night because he brought home the flyer for it. I told him that Nov 16th is our anniversary & that he never seems to be home for it. He's always been TDY somewhere! It's our 17th wedding anniversary!

Me: Oh Debbie, just bring the boys to the finish line & we'll celebrate your anniversary after the race.

Deb: Oh, okay.


She's so easy! ha! :)

very encouraging....

Hello size 4 this happy friday morning....

My security rag....

For the last 4-5 months I've been running with a rag to catch the "crap" ya know...wipe my face, mouth, & any other body parts that happen to catch the spit. My rags are usually one of the country music marathon rags they have out (usually soaked in ice water) at the finish line. It's my comfort blanket! Maybe I should start running with my thumb in my mouth too.

I did a 4 mile heated run tonight out East. When I got to Macon, two dogs jumped through their electric fence & ran with me for about 1/2 a mile. What is it with me & dogs lately? I'm a huge "dog person" but this is ridiculous. I didn't have time to be hauling them back to their owners in the civic. They were huge. One would run up & poke me in my side with his nose. Cute but I wasn't in the mood to play like I did in Bell Buckle. Thank goodness they didn't follow me out of Macon.

East Middle was having some sort of "thing"...possibly graduation for the 8th grade. Nobody accused me of "running away" from graduation tonight.

"Grey's Anatomy" 2 hr season finale tonight.......cell is off! :P

My favorite David won!!!

I was not feeling the 6 miles tonight so I bailed at 4.3. The first 2 miles felt heavy, the last 2.3, I tried to push down the pace. The crap came up & I freaked Reiko out when I was spitting. ha! Not pretty!!! Well, hey it's only been a week on the antihistamines, nasacort, & sinus flushing.

So, I punished myself by heading to the gym for 1 hr 50 mins on the elliptical & "American Idol". I have to admit, I wouldn't know Bryan Adams or George Michael on the street if I saw them. They have some age on them for sure. The entire show was really GOOD! They had the top 12 singing with various artists.

I almost screamed while on the elliptical when David Cook's name was announced. I think he won by 12 million votes. I voted twice last night for him! (Yeah, I'm a goober!).
...and to think he was with his younger brother who was going to try out, but instead he tried out. I'm still ticked off that they aren't coming to Nashville. :(

I did something goofy today at work that made a Japanese guy laugh. I did my "I Dream of Jeannie" imitation with my pony tail. He laughed & busted out with "Barbara Eden!" Funny what is so universal.

oh, I almost forgot....

It's been nearly a month since I've had a migraine & I hope I'm not jinxing myself. I usually get about 2-5 a month! Don't know what's up but maybe it's good "karma". :)

My opinion...because I LOVE Rock n' Roll...

I finished the yard just in time to watch tonight's battle of the "2 Davids". All season long it seemed it was inevitable. (and hey, it was easy to get addicted with a strike going on!)

David Archuleta has a voice like an angel. He's been very solid but he is no David Cook. He can win that's for sure but I just don't think he deserves it. I think the major difference is that the teeny boppers are voting for David A. He's a cutie! I just don't see me buying anything that he puts out. Unlike David C., who can sing ballads & rockin' songs, David A. just seems to do mostly slow stuff. I kept waiting for him to sing something that rocked. Oh well.....they both will probably get record contracts, I would hope. This was by far the best season since Kelly Clarkson won. I LOVE her!

Keep in mind this is coming from someone who listens to Aerosmith, 3 Doors Down, Madonna, Daughtry, Bon Jovi, Elton John, Eminem, Sheryl Crow, & basically anything that gets my heart pumping. If I want to go to sleep, I'll go to sleep...David A's voice is just that mellow to my ears. Sorry! :P

As I type this I realize Kristi Yamaguchi is in the top 2 on "Dancing with the Stars". That's no big surprise! I've not watched much of it but I hope she wins. I know a woman in the office who is big on Jason Taylor. NFL Man of the Year...he plays for the Dolphins. I jokingly told her that she should know now that I don't just go to the football games just to watch the game, gesh!

We are going to run 6 miles tomorrow & then I'm going to watch David win....which David, who knows.....

Ok, I can now reveal that Hannah's not only got a new marriage but a new job. She's going to work for the Mars company as a buyer. This place seems really cool from her description. They are expanding in the Cool Springs area. Apparently, they not only sell candy & gum but they have a line of pet food. You are allowed to bring your dog to work as long as it sits by your desk all day. How cool is that??? If she likes it, she's going to keep her ears open for anything I might be interested in... I checked their website & didn't see anything other than Customer Service Reps. Yuck!

I'm really looking forward to a LONG weekend......and it's only Tuesday. :)

Size is relative

You all know you can't really pay attention to what the tags say in your clothing, right? I know I don't because I can wear one brand perfectly in an 8 but the next day I put on another brand in an 8 & it falls off of me. I've been trying to watch what I eat (seriously) since the first of the year, but only lost maybe 3-4 lbs. Being short, that little bit makes a difference. Most of my 8's do not fit anymore. So, I'm bringing out the size 6 stuff. Yeah! My goal is to get into a few 4s that I own soon & be able to wear them very comfortably. I've not worn a 4 in a couple of years so it's time to slim the JLo down & get back to them.

Forgot to wear the mask last night in the yard. I'm suffering a little this am...oh well... I have to run right next to freshly mowed grass anyway without the masks! :(

Tonight will be semi rest:
Finish the yard & relax

Tomorrow: Tentative plans to run with Reiko, Chris, & Carla

They are hitched!

May 17th on Coco Beach two lovely friends of mine made a promise to each other...

Isn't she lovely? I have had photos of her in this dress for months but couldn't post them because I was afraid Jeff would read the blog. :) I can't wait to hear all the details. It was immedate family only with a reception in TN in June & one in MI soon to follow.

Tonight's workout:

3 easy miles at a 9:32 pace (right shin is sore from pounding downhill)

30 mins elliptical (slow)

crunches

arm weights

45 mins push mowing the yard

More weekend stuff...

Arlene was given a shower in Gladeville off 840 Sat afternoon. I'm not even going to describe the cake the hostess made because it's a male body part so you all know...ha!
It was nice meeting some of the people she works with or has worked with... She & I met like 10 yrs ago when we worked together in the Purchasing/Procurement Dept of the TN Correction Academy in Tullahoma. (No it's not a prison. They just train people to work in prisons.)
I spent 7 yrs at this job & Arlene is one of the most precious people that I met through that place. Some people you just click with & I'm lucky to know her. I'll be going to her wedding next Sunday.

I had taken Reiko with me to the shower & she had fun. We had made plans with April in Murfreesboro at Mimi's Cafe. Nice night for eating on the patio. Next Sat, we may go back there & actually drink a hurricane. I've been there a couple of times & the hurricanes taste just like they do in New Orleans. Yum!!!



Fast forward back today:
We had an adventurous little jaunt in Bell Buckle. As we left, Chris drove us through Wartrace. The Walking Horse hotel has a restaurant that I want to go to one day when NOT sweaty. I took this photo below of their advertisment outside. :P

Reiko & I did go back for a late lunch at the Bell Buckle Cafe so she could check out the shops.


Busy weekend & I'm tired. Looking forward to the season finale of "Desperate Housewives" tonight. (not answering cell for 2 hrs!) ha!

I just noticed that Bon Jovi is on "60 Minutes" tonight. Looks like footage from the Nashville concert in the previews. Cool!!!

Me, Carla, Chris, Reiko, a snapping turtle, & a dog....

What a great morning to run the Bell Buckle moon pie course! We started out at the public bathrooms slowly at 9am. We came upon a snapping turtle after the 5 mile point. I probably lost almost a minute just messing around with it trying to get it to move out of the road.
At about mile 3, a mixed lab started running with me. She finished up 7 miles with me back in town. She was so patient with me when I crawled up that infamous hill. I actually walked backwards up the darn thing for the most part. We took her back where I picked her up after we gave her water. She was too funny! She definitely kept me company. :)
I'm so proud of Reiko. She had never run more than 6 miles in her life before today. She managed to run about 10 miles in around 1:43, I think... I finished in 1:37:46 with Carla about 2 mins behind me. Reiko was not that far behind her. Chris finished in 1:25. According to the 305, it was a 9:47 pace for me. I'm slowly creeping back....like a turtle with a dog chasing it!

more later.......

Ran 5.25, got yelled at, pilates, etc....

Met Reiko this am & led her over to East area. The plan was for 6 miles @ 10 min pace but she was late. (Reiko, I'm busting your late ass out, ok. :P )

As we took off some lady yelled at us. Apparently, the Middle School cheerleading tryouts were this morning. Everyone was dropping their girls off. I guess this lady thought we were trying to run away from cheerleading tryouts because she said something about how she thought we were trying out, etc... It startled me but then I laughed!

It was NICE, breezy, cool, & I could breathe. We did Macon & Tara without the loops. We got in 5.25 in 9:36, I think....it felt easy. We did pilates class & rode the bikes slowly for 30 mins. We ran into Linda W. who cuts my hair, does my face, etc... Reiko made an appt with my Salon for a glycolic peel on Tues. ha!

After grabbing lunch in the Coker building, we're headed to Arlene's shower & then dinner with friends. So far a productive day. :)

Unless it's a downpour in the am, I'm still heading to B.B. to run.....it may be just me & my shuffle, who knows.... Life is Good!

Sleepless night.......

I don't know if it was the new antihistimine (that I'm supposed to take at night) or the 2nd cup of coffee I had around 3pm yesterday, but I had a hard time getting to sleep. I'm so glad I don't have much going on tonight because I may come home & nap before going out for dinner. :(

It's called Xyzal (levocetirizine dihydrochloride). I hate drugs! I'm such a light weight with stuff.
The Lodrane 24 made me too drowsy, but I'm not so sure about this stuff. I definitely need the coffee today, though. Gesh!

This is a REST day for me. I'm going to hit a minimum 3-4 miles in the morning before pilates. We're still targeting early Sunday as another Bell Buckle trial run. I sure hope I sleep well Sat night.

In the sweaty gym....

Because of the steady rain right after work, I had to hit the gym.
I put the deathmill on the standard 1% incline to make up for not being outside. blah, blah, blah...
I managed 5 miles in 48:20 (I took two 1 minute walk breaks to wipe the sweat off so I could see!). I walked another .25 for a cool down then I did a few light leg weights.

I dread tomorrow's b-day lunch at work...always a bunch of BAD food that's BAD for you. :(

Time for a hot bath & some "must see tv" McDreamy. I know it's a girlie movie but I want to see his new movie, "Made of Honor".

Yes, everyone, I have one of those things that blows salt water through my nose. I feel like I'm trying to drown myself but it seems to help.

I tried out the new socks & they are thinner than my usual Thorlos but I do like them. They are "Feetures".

ahh...sinus flushing....

I should have done this years ago.
Still too early to see any results simply because I've not run since Tues afternoon. I'll know in a week or so if there's improvement in my breathing. I'm holding off on the acid reflux meds for a little while to see if the sinus stuff gets gone & I feel better.

Wednesday's cross training n' stuff...

I leave work at work but tonight, I cross trained with little, coworker Reiko at my gym. She got there late but we chatted it up on the elliptical before I rushed home to "American Idol". :P

My work out:
1 hr 20 mins elliptical
crunches
free weights on arms
lots of stretching

As predicted, Syesha is out, but she is so "golden". Great voice & she seems so genuine.
Next week is the finale with the the "2 Davids". "Grey's Anatomy" & "Desperate Housewives" will end soon. Those are my only "must sees". I'll catch up on "The Office" & be a little more productive after my workouts now. :P (maybe I'll start answering my cell at night! ha!)

American Idol's David Cook

David Cook on American Idol sang, "Don't want to miss a thing" by Aerosmith.
They should give him a prize for just looking good! He does facial hair & lips well. :P

Looks like Syesha Mercado will go but not because she's not good that's for sure.
I keep hearing that David Archuleta will win but who knows....all his songs sound the same to me. If he does it will only be because all the preteens voted for him.

I found out that American Idol's tour will not come to Nashville. Bummer, I would have paid good money to see this group. Oh well...

5.8 in P.W.

Wow, it was crowded! I didn't wear the 305 but Steve said that I finished it between 58-59 mins. I'll take it considering, I walked most of mile 3, yesterday was 9.16 miles, & Saturday was the Bell Buckle course. Just cross training tomorrow...

Ferris Bueller's Day Off at the Allergy Clinic

I headed to Vanderbilt's Allergy Sinus clinic at about 7:10am from my aunt's house. I will say that I was treated really WELL from the time I stepped into the place until I walked out the door. The pricks & needles were not too bad, although the tiny needles made my arm bleed like crazy. Blahhhh! Blowing into the machine & watching the lines go up & down on the screen was a trip! ha! The Respiratory therapist was cheering me on to blow long, slow breaths to get it to register well on the machine. You would have thought he was cheering for Vince Young to run into the end zone. ha!!!

I don't have all the paperwork in front of me but in a nutshell, I am allergic to several trees & lots of grass! I'm also allergic to dust mites. I've got to buy the bedding that repels them. It was also brought up that the "condition" in my throat may be acid reflux. I was given a prescription for that, along with one for an antihistimine & nasal spray. (I'm the queen of prescription nasal sprays now!) I have to irrigate my sinuses twice a day with warm salt water. So, we have a starting point anyway. My follow up appt is on June 24th at 2pm. If things have not got better by then, they want to take blood & check my thyroid. The scan on my sinuses showed only a very slight deviated septum but 40% of the population have deviated septums. That's not the problem.

I made a quick trip to the new "Team Nashville" store which is just right up the road. They have so much room now! I bought some new moisture wicking socks that they were raving about. I don't have them in front of me either but if I LOVE them, I'll sure brag about them on here. :)

I met Arlene downtown at Demo's for lunch. She's getting married in a few weeks. With her job change with Metro, the wedding, & honeymoon plans she seemed very tired. I'm attending her bridal shower this Saturday at 4pm for a few hours in Lebanon. So, no races for me this weekend, although Strawberry Stride seems interesting. (I've never done it) I just don't think I want to drive that far for a 5k & then have to get ready for a shower. Reiko, MI coworker, is in so we'll hit pilates & log some miles early Sat morning. (I know she read this during lunch! ha!)

I have plans to meet Steve near the Stone Gates of P. W. for the 5.8 route before heading home. I hope I can do it without much stopping/spitting. I'm not feeling any soreness from my run with Chuck but P.W. has the HILLS! Tomorrow I will start the whole antihistimine, sinus flushing, nasal spray routine. The acid reflux meds will start when I get to the pharmacy in the next few days.

Here's the shocking thing:
I've shrunk 2 whole inches. A year & a half ago, I was just under 5 ft 4 inches tall. I'm not even 5 ft 2 in!!! I weighed 123 lbs this morning. No wonder I look like a humpty dump. So, the new goal is to drop below 120 because I feel too fat to be this short. :(

Sinus draining "Ferris" is off to run.......

9.16 miles & 916 calories, while spitting in Shelby Park

Thanks Chuck & Audrey. :)
I needed the push that's for sure.
Shelby Park felt cool in the shade, tons of bikers, some runners, & people walking dogs.
I could feel the Moon Pie hills from Saturday's run in my calves & quads so I walked up to the bridge & then we walked some at the skate park. Overall a nice little jaunt.
Andrea stayed with us for 4 then she finished her 7 miles back at the parking lot.
Chuck twisted my arm for 9 miles. :P
According to the 305, it was 1:27:51, 9:36 pace, 9.16 miles
Tomorrow.........D - Day! Please give me my breathing back, dear God.

Dirty nails, windy, cross training Sunday...

I planted a few things while fighting the wind today. I prayed that the expensive mulch would not blow away. That stuff has got expensive along with everything else!

The Texas family went tubing today even though the water was just barely above 60 degrees. They had fun! The Spurs need a win tonight so I know what they'll be watching.

I'm still staring at my Quest Expeditions card. I'm trying to coordinate a white water rafting trip in early-mid June before the credit expires.

I headed to the gym for some good, long cross training. Sometimes, I feel like my body just screams for the weights. If I don't do at least one day a week of light weights, I can feel it. It was the kind of burn that felt good. I did some light leg & arm weights, crunches, & stretched. I also did 35 mins slowly on the bike & 1 hr 5 mins elliptical. Felt Good!

Happy Mother's Day to EVERYONE

I am not a mother, but I've been told that I would have made a great one on more than one occasion. :) Jill's blog got me thinking a little more about Mother's Day this year. I admit the holiday makes me miss my dad's mom, Hazel, (better known as Hatie).

Hatie was the definition of a grandmother. She sewed for a living for most of her life, raised two boys & a girl. She farmed, belonged to the Eastern Star, loved to travel, had HORRIBLE allergies (thanks Hatie), & she could cook up a storm. She & my great grandmother made mouth watering biscuits & fried pies. Hatie could quilt, crochet, make curtains, make little girly dresses (for me!), frilly pillows, etc... You name it, she could make it. She made me a monkey that I took into the operating room when I had my tonsils taken out in the 2nd grade. She did the alterations on my wedding dress, she made my wedding album out of the scraps from my wedding dress, & she made things for craft fairs. This talent did not carry over to the grandchildren, unfortunately. ha! I'll never forget the day she gave me her very first wedding ring that my grandfather gave her. He, apparently, gave her several. ha! It is probably over 70 yrs old now & it's probably the most valuable thing I own. It's a size 5 or 5.5 & fits my wedding ring finger perfectly. During my divorce, I took my own rings off & wore hers simply because it was comforting. :)

Hatie came from a hard working, middle class family in Tullahoma. Her dad ran the local saw mill & her mother owned the very first beauty salon. (the only one between Nashville & Chattanooga for a while) Hatie said she worked hard for her mother in that salon, which was near Clayton's shoes & Fast Jacks for you locals. She once told me that people thought they had a lot of money but she said they worked really hard for what they had. She & her siblings knew the value of a dollar.

When I was born, my mother lived with her in laws. Hatie helped take great care of me. I cried a lot. I was a preemie & a very sick baby for the first 6 months of my life. Mom nearly died with me when she had me 12-2-66 & then a month later I nearly died. Hatie is the only one who would ever talk about it. She told me that she walked the halls of Vanderbilt for 3 weeks wondering if she was going to take me back to her house. When we were growing up, if we got sick or had snow days, we usually ended up with Hatie or my great grandparents who lived next door. I really miss her a lot. She gave us the traditions that we will remember for the rest of our lives. She had this huge, LONG table in her dining room that everyone could sit at for Easter, Thanksgiving, & Christmas dinners. I thought it was the biggest table in the world when I was little. She would also take photos of us in front of her Christmas tree every year before handing out gifts on Christmas eve. She could be a goof ball at times & made us laugh. She got on an exercise kick in her late 60's & bought a huge adult tricycle. She looked so funny riding that tricycle up & down the drive way. It had a basket on the back of it. ha! I have those pictures.

Hatie developed Alzheimer’s after my grandfather died in 2000. (She had been taking care of him for years.) She died in Jan '06. I could not bring myself to sit through her funeral. I later heard that my Tullahoma nephew who was 11 at the time cried his eyes out, so I know it was best that I had not gone. I did however make it up there before the funeral started. I put a photo that she took of us one Christmas in front of her Christmas tree in her hands with a note that said, "Thanks". It was fitting because I knew we were the light of her life.

My mother, Elaine, had a much different life, much sadder life... She grew up in Manchester living with her grandmother & younger sister. She later lived with her older sister, Aunt Mary, before marrying my dad right after high school. My mother's parents were definitely not "Ozzie & Harriet" or even "Ozzie & Sharon"...if you know what I mean... Grandpa Harris was an alcoholic & to be perfectly honest, I don't remember much about him, except that he didn't talk much, was skinny, & always tried to give us shiny coins. My mother's mom escaped him to live in Michigan (hence the fact that I have tons of Michigan relatives! ha!)

Long story short, with the screwed up childhood my mother had, it's a wonder she's a functioning adult today. I won't go into the fact that she's borderline diabetic, overweight, & depressed most of the time, but I do remember a happier mom. She made sure we had everything we ever wanted. I cannot gripe about either one of my parents depriving me of anything, seriously. We were not spoiled by no means but my sisters & I never wanted for anything & that alone made my mother happy. I think mom did ok with raising us knowing all this about her. We, all three, turned out GREAT!

Mom used to love poodles (we had several), she loved the stuff Hatie made, she loved dressing us up in the latest fashions, & she STILL loves Longaberger baskets. She's a collector & that's putting it mildly. ha!

We had a black miniature poodle named Francois. Mother allowed me to dress him up & push him in my doll buggy around the yard. (yes, there's pictures) Imagine three little girls yelling for their dog in their southern TN neighborhood, "Francois! Francois!" We had a Pierre & Jock too.

Mom also enjoyed the fact that we went to a church that had buses, called the "Joy bus". She would get us dressed up, have the bus pick us up at home, & then she'd drive behind and/or next to the bus all the way to church. I was slightly mortified to say the least. She could be a goober that's for sure. I'll never forget us nearly rolling backwards down Sonic hill in her volkswagen that dad very stupidly bought her knowing she couldn't drive a stick. I never screamed so loud in my life!

Mother isn't that goofy woman today but she is the type that would give you the shirt off her back & then some. For instance, she took a leave of abscence from work to take care of my Tullahoma nephew when he was born due to my sister's illness. I hope one day, Dylan, knows what all his grandmother did for him. Mother works in a nursing home. She's been there since 1989 & loves it. It's her life now. When she finally retires, I have a "secret plan" to take her, Aunt Mary, & Aunt Judy to Dresden, OH to the Longaberger plant. God help me when I do that because it will be like driving 3 Miss Daisy's. ha!

Mom is in her early 60's but acts much older. She & I have little in common. I guess I tend to take after my dad's side of the family with my interests, personality, & frame type. I look at my hands, arms, & feet & I see my dad's side of the family. I do have my mom's hair & eye color, though. There's a lot of Dutch on that side of the family.

Long story short..... I love my mom & miss my Hatie today.
To my San Antonio sister, I call you "Bree" as joke but you are truly one of the best mom's I know. Happy Mom's day, Deb!

I hope everyone's Mother's day is great. :)

Busy, Productive couple of days...

I somehow managed to squeeze in the yardwork between late friday/early Sat morning. After having dinner with a friend, I got about 75% of my push mowing done before darkness fell friday night. (Happy Mother's Day mom, your yard is looking beautiful!!)

Sat morning, I finished the yard & headed to pilates class.
I then went to Salon Allure,(Linda & Gena's new salon since they closed down Studio 2000). I got a little pampering done then I bought mulch. Somehow that sentence seems so wrong! ha!

Carla & Chris both were interested in running Bell Buckle today but both got sidetracked at the last minute. Steve did show up, thank God. He & I started shortly after 5pm. It was hot, humid, etc... We should have been shot running at that hour but I've run the course under much more miserable conditions. Luckily, God made it overcast for us after 2 miles & it was bearable. I did my usual stopping & starting, which became more frequent with the hills on Happy Valley. Why is Happy Valley road never that happy? :P Anyway, Steve pulled me along even though he stayed way ahead of me for most of the run. I would have been a lot slower if he had not been there. I did my usual negative split believe it or not, but the overall pace for me was just 10:31. It could have been worse but man, oh man, it has been BETTER!! Last years training run with the Murf. pacers was much faster for me.

After we finished, I got a diet coke & nutty buddy. Talk about undoing the good... I went into a store & bought a very cool flower ring. :) Happy Mother's day to me!


We somehow got a table in the Bell Buckle Cafe. What a lively place that was, gesh! They had a band in there. We sat outside in a little porch area with a cat. Too funny! I fed it some of my cornbread. I ran into someone I know that I had not seen in forever. You know how that goes...you look nasty & you see people you haven't seen in a while, but it's usually in Walmart when this happens. Great food & company, btw.
We closed down the cafe.

Good Times!

Some B.S., some Galloway, & me

Ok, is it wrong that I'd like to scream every single time "Grey's Anatomy" breaks the Meredith/Derek characters apart? It's just stupid & OLD. I mean how much gas are they going to milk out of that storyline, gesh?! Just get to the bottom of their relationship problems & go on with it. No more B.S. ABC.

I am admitting something here. I'm looking forward to the Vandy allergist appointment BIG TIME. After the rain, I ran 4.26 miles with an overall pitiful pace of 9:27. That included at least 6 short 10-25 sec walk breaks to get my heart rate down, clear my throat, & breathe. Is this a version of the Galloway program? :P I want this problem solved. No more B.S. with the gunk in my throat.

I finished out the workout with some stretching, crunches, & 30 mins on the elliptical machine.

It was an uneventful day at the office. I didn't steal anyone's obnoxious, ringing cell phones, throw them in the ceiling, & call them nor did I organize a 5k for the office. ("The Office" fans know what I'm talking about.) I HATE that this show is on during "Grey's Anatomy" now. I'll catch the repeats in the summer, I'm sure.

The mysterious "ratings" have suddenly disappeared. Odd?

TGIThursday!

"The View"

There are so many people on business trips this week that it's rather quiet in the office, until us gals started gabbing. (meaning that we've discussed EVERYTHING the last 2 days) It amazes me at what others view as "ok". For instance, the issue of voting. I know there's not that much to choose from this year but I am one of those that believes in using that "right". Another topic was pertaining to someone's 14 yr old going to the prom with her Senior boyfriend. I believe everyone's different but if you suspect your 14 yr old could or would have sex on prom night, chances are you are right & she's probably already "done it" anyway. Sorry but it doesn't take prom night to cause "that" to happen. The woman who has this fear claims to trust her daughter. My question to her, "Where is the trust?" Yeah, I know...I have no children but this is the same woman who says she won't vote either. ha! We've talked about child rearing, husbands, past husbands, sex, gas prices, trans fats, music, etc... All I know is that I do enjoy these people, love them dearly but you won't find me hanging with too many of them in my free time. Let's face it, we are around the people we work with 40+ hrs a week. Do we really want to see them on weekends? ha!

Tonight I ran with Carla & Chris 5 miles. Chris finally took off & left us. Carla & I pushed our pace down the first 2.5 of it beyond our talking pace. I started gasping for air & spitting, of course. The last 2.5 we slowed it down. I took a couple of short walk breaks & Carla checked on Erin. With all the short stops, we ended up with an overall 9:48 pace. The first 2.5 were probably close to 8:50 pace, who knows...

They're kitchen is like 90% done & looks great! Chris B's work schedule has changed so now we'll be squeezing in our training runs on the weekend, too. I really hope that once I clear this mess out of my body, I can start pushing my pace down with him. Maybe he'll turn both Carla & myself into our old, faster selves. I swear at one point I think he called us "old ladies" but couldn't swear to it. ha!

I finished up my evening with 1 hr 25 mins ellipical (slowly) watching my dreadlock cutie pie get voted off "American Idol". Bless his heart, he has struggled the last 2-3 weeks. His angelic face & charisma have kept him "safe". I'm going to miss Jason Castro. :( I am glad Syesha is in the top 3, though. That girl is fabulous.

Got an email from Ticketmaster that Def Leopard is coming to the Sommet Center Aug 1st. I'm not going, of course, but man, what a band they were back in the day with their one armed drummer & "Pour some sugar on me". I'm such a geek.....I LOVED that song! (and still do!)

Patti is definitely not going to NYC at the end of June. She just can't get the time off work this late in the year. Her dentist needs her. He's shutting down the office the week after the 4th this year. Patti's only one of 2 hygenists in the office.
I know one thing, time is flying & when Hannah gets back from the honeymoon, we really need to plan the itinerary. I actually found the website to the "museum of sex" in NYC. ha! Now that would be interesting, educational, & I wonder if they allow cameras inside...ummmmm

What's up with this rating system below each blog? Are we going to vote on each other now? The next "American Blogger".
Happy Hump Day folks!

Everybody got a haircut...

The hedges that is...
After getting a nail out of my left front tire & then meeting Scott late at the house, I decided I'd throw myself into the hedges (not literally). After two hours of Scott, his chain saw, me, & my electric hedge trimmers, it looks so much better! I didn't have time to clean everything out of the grass but that's what the lawn mower is for later this week or this weekend. No running at all tonight, unfortunately, but tomorrow......I run...

Just another "manic monday"...

Man, you can tell that I'm a fan of the 80's/early 90's, hence the "Bangles" song title. There was a time that I could identify what I was doing, what state I was in, who I was with, etc...just by hearing a song from the years 1983-1991. Odd what stays in the memory bank. All Garth Brooks older stuff reminds me of my years in Texas. Bobby Brown's "My Perogative" reminds me of Schwabach Germany. All of Whitney Houston's early stuff reminds me of college. Bryan Adams reminds me of my High School graduation. Jody Whatley reminds me of the first memory of arriving in Ft. Hood, Texas, driving down Rancier Street, & having some racist hoodlums yell at us for our choice of Jody Whatley on our radio. I knew I'd hate that place after that incident! Thank goodness my husband had the good sense to put his hand over my mouth & push me into the floor because I was ready for a fight. I don't know why this is on my mind. Maybe because I called Patti & sang, "I'll be there for you" into her voice mail on my way to the gym. I still have Bon Jovi brain going on, folks, sorry...

My workout was total cross training...1 hr 5 min elliptical SLOW, some stretching, free weights on my arms, & yoga ball crunches. My legs felt a little stiff, not sore, just stiff.

I know one thing, I cannot wait to find out IF I'm in NYC because everything will revolve around that day IF I'm in... IF I'm not, it will open up so many other possibilities for the Fall that's for sure. Fellow Blogger June said she found out around June 9th that she didn't get in last year. I sure hope she & I both get in because it would sure be nice to know another runner there. I've told Patti that it's perfectly ok not to meet me there IF I get in because she's never been to NYC. She'll want to sightsee & I'll be all about the marathon. She was thinking the same thing & understood. Hannah & I are trying to talk her into joining us at the end of June for the "all girls" 3 day thing. (it doesn't look good for her getting the time off from the office) :( I'm telling you, I'm ready for that trip. I'll be off the entire week of July 4th anyway. I'll probably come back & sleep for days because I don't see us sleeping much with all that we have planned. :) Which brings me to the fact that the "Sex & the City" movie is coming out soon. I'm trying to organize a girl's group from work to all go together. (Or I'll drag a man to it!) ha!

Tomorrow, I'm getting some half dead bushes cut down in the yard. I hope to run around the neighborhood after we're done. It was rather nice realizing that it was still daylight at 7:30pm tonight. I LOVE IT!

Something that resembles "jogging/walking"

Carla, Chris, & I met at her dad's for about 7 miles. I ran the first 4 ok but then I had to take some short walk breaks to do the usual sinus stuff. My legs seemed to loosen up from yesterdays jaunt on the trail.
My eyes started stinging so Carla offered me some of her tissues. I thought it was just sweat in my eyes but I sweat in my eyes a lot! They don't sting on every run, ya know... Odd? I had a sneezing fit afterwards, but decided to head to the gym for a slow 30 mins elliptical, some light leg weights, & stretching. I wanted to go to sleep in the yoga room, which means I am a bit sleep deprived.
I woke up this morning at 6:30am with one side of my head hurting. The right sinus cavity was aching. I cleared it with the Veramyst & applied a hot pad to it. I felt horrible so it's a wonder I got outside at all today. I told them that if they had not ran today, then I probably would not have run by myself. So, all is good. I just need a good HOT bath now. Got a good sweat going in the sun. Such a gorgeous day! We had a little breeze keeping us cool but it would have been good to just sit in a lawn chair with a book today. I don't know why that didn't enter into my mind! :(

Right now, I'm not that sore from the trail race, just a little stiff if I sit too long. Tomorrow will be a total cross training day for me. Tuesday, I've got my dear friend, Scott, coming over to cut down a couple of bushes that are taking over the house. I may run a few miles in the neighborhood after he leaves or I may just work in the yard. Wednesday, I have tentative plans to run with Carla & Chris. Chris has had a schedule change at work, which means he'll be available to run the evenings more. Yippee! Thursday is up in the air, I may get ALL the mowing done. Friday, will be my longer run of the week. I've got too much going on to run Saturday but I do plan to be in pilates for the first time in a few weeks.

I survived my First REAL Trail race...

I'm dang tired! It's been a LOOONNNGGG day & I'm finally at home! :)

Wild Thang made my heart sing & it opened my eyes to the difficulty of trail racing. I can certainly see how it can probably make you a better road racer. Thanks to the rain, I could breathe for the most part but my nose ran all the way out to the turn around point. I couldn't push my pace down enough to get the "conditon" going so I only had to spit the crap up a few times. I have a whole new respect for trail runners. Asphalt is much EASIER for me, anyway.

I didn't really enjoy the scenery simply because I was jumping over slippery rocks, trying to avoid the poisonous stuff growing, & trying to hold my footing in the mud. I caught my shoes a couple of times on rocks, slid a little, but all in all it was a blast even though I had to "focus" on every foot strike. I ran right through the water provided it didn't look too muddy. (I walked the slippery bridge!) There were points where I looked down at my shoes to check to see if there was cement attached. ha! It really took a lot of effort for me not to fall. I told Carla that it felt like I did aerobics today. I'm glad I did it because it sure made me use some leg/hip muscles that are WEAK! My first 9 mile Wild Thang was 1:39:01. If I do it next year, I sure hope I get closer to 1:30. (maybe I won't have allergies or mud to deal with next year!) They had a hose available so we could get the mud off us, thank goodness. :)

I was impressed with the post race spread. The striders even had boca burgers on the grill for those who wanted them! So, yes, they are better off the grill. I did get more Morning Star burgers. The Tomato & Basil Pizza burgers ROCK!

Rainy Sat morning ahead...blahhhh!

Any hints on how to run on a muddy, rainy 9 mile trail will be greatly appreciated. :(

This afternoon I ran just over 5 miles out East area. It wasn't pretty. I truly appreciate the gift of oxygen this past Sat. The CMM 1/2 could have been a lot worse for me. I gagged at mile 2.8 & then again at the 3.5 mile mark. I probably had to pause, spit, & rinse the thick stuff out of my mouth several times. I lost count. So, I'm grateful for Sat as slow as it was.... Bring on the tests!

With the rain coming in friday night & more than likely early am...who knows what will happen. I won't be pushing my pace down enough to cause my "condition" to flare up. My only worry is breaking something. If I show up with wrist & knee guards on do you think anyone will laugh? ha! I broke my right wrist roller blading in '03. I had 4 screws holding my wrist together for 5.5 weeks. I've mentioned it before on the blog. It was "frankenstein wrist". The screws were sticking out about an inch or two above the skin. I kept it wrapped well so they couldn't be seen. I don't want to EVER go through that again. I don't care about the mud, my pace, or even the lack of breathing. I just don't want to break anything. :)

I finished up at the gym with 30 mins elliptical slowly & some badly needed stretching. My abs & arms were sore from last night's work out.

"Grey's Anatomy" is on... I've got to mentally run my finger's through Patrick Dempsey's hair for a while... TGIThursday everyone!

Oh and to be fair....

Looks like they took the photo from an aerial view. Our legs look like they are about a foot long. ha!

Me, with my usual look of "being drug behind a truck".

This was the slowest 1/2 I've ever done, slow as molasses that's been kept in the frig but oh well...I was breathing thanks to the rain. :) Dreading the May 13th appt at Vandy, but maybe it will solve my sinus/allergy issues once & for all. (finger's crossed)

Missed the results show, but glad Syesha was spared. She's a much better singer than Brooke. Next week, surely the pretty boy dreadlocks will go.