Happy Halloween!!!!

1st off, GOOD LUCK to Lana & Michele in their 1st Ironman. They are both the definition of determination, self sacrifice, & sheer guts! I cannot wait to read the race reports.

2nd of all, MUCH GOOD LUCK to June in the NYC marathon. She's survived a job loss, hurricane, & marathon training in the heat/humidity of Houston. Congrats on the new job, sister! I hope you have the time of your life in the city I love to visit. Rock those burroughs!

3rd of all, it looks like I'll go down & get a lower level ticket from a scalper on Sunday. I cannot wait & I may even wear my jersey & Drew's pants on Sunday.

4th of all, looking forward to seeing Joe S. in his inmate costume complete with Dallas Cowboy Star (Pacman Jones). We'll have fun! :)

5th of all, it's scary to see myself in this get up. I see my nephews not me! Weird!

More pics to come as the day progresses........Paris Hilton just walked in, Cat in the Hat, a doctor, cowboy, & now we're all waiting on BB. I suspect he's coming in as a drag queen.
Oh my God, Pimp Daddy BB showed up with a gold tooth. (Sorry, pics taken with blackberry! click to enlarge) Ryo on the "down low". Ride 'em cowboy, John C.!
"Word to yo mutha!"
I'm sending this to BB's dentist! Eeeewwwww!!!!!!!
Ryo (in bag) Mr. Ono (blues brutha) & BB (Pimp)
Paris & her pimp.
Joe S. as Pacman minus the braids. :P

So much for spreading the wealth....

Every network except ABC had the informercial on last night. That left over campaign money could have been better spent, gesh! Is there a law that says ALL campaign money MUST be spent? Shouldn't the democrats save it for a future candidate to use? (Sorry, I don't know how all this works but it just seems so WASTEFUL to me!) Why not put the leftover on the national debt, give it to some charities, the military families who REALLY need it, etc... I don't want to hear another word about Palin's clothing, seriously.

After my much needed adjustment & massage, I did some ab work & the elliptical. The elliptical is not hurting my shin at all these days. I can finally get back on my favorite gym machine. Incidentally, the Manchester Rec Ctr is getting all new equipment in Dec. They are auctioning off the old treadmills, ellipticals, etc...

I did the early morning spin class today, which is usually 45 mins. We had a substitute who made it an hour. I do plan to get to Harvey's tonight for more calorie burn. I NEED IT!

TGIThursday!

"Away" Game 11/27/08

These are tucked away in a super secret place (just like last years Indy "away" tickets)

My one "away" game plans are sealed!

Dr. Leif & I came to the conclusion yesterday that Thanksgiving day would be a nice time to get Vince back into the game. Afterall, it will be like the Titans are playing Tullahoma High School. So, if Vince goes in during the 2nd half it will mean that Fisher took our advice. Still trying to get him to return our calls, dang it!

Thank God....

I'm not too fat for Drew Bennett's 2005 game pants. (uhhh, for Halloween costume, of course)
Since I couldn't drink my water without dribbling it all over the me & the floor, I chose to skip spin class. (I couldn't feel the right side of my nose or mouth.) I did 65 mins elliptical, 35 mins walk/jog, & some weight machines at Harveys.
Leif (dentist) said he was sitting 2nd row, 50 yrd line lower level behind Peyton so of course they had to choose him for TV wearing his ORANGE. :P I told him to look for Patti & me on Thanksgiving day. I need hints for a sign. Asking Finnigan to marry me may sound stalkerish, don't ya think?

The view of 7-0 from my bed.

The angel & devil fought on my shoulders yesterday. This time it was over whether to go to the game. I had the cash in hand to go down there but the thoughts of fighting traffic, leaving work early (I've had to do that a lot lately), missing my work out, & getting back really late kept me home watching it from my bed under an electric blanket. It's just not the Colts year...they were due for a bad one & this year, apparently, it's finally the Titan's year. What a game! I got several phone calls & text messages from folks asking me if I was there. I ended up yelling in Joe S.'s ear a few times since we basically watched the 4th qtr together over the phone. There's a delay with comcast that charter doesn't have so I was seeing plays a few seconds ahead of him. Weird!

I'm on a quest for a blue wig for Patti for the Detroit game. We have to try to make ourselves camera worthy. Maybe they'll let us in the parade in Detroit, too. :P

Last nights work out was the usual Monday... I did ab work, 20 mins elliptical, & headed to the 45 min spin class. Class was fairly full & Paul S. showed up. It was a good sweat.
I felt like someone was holding a hose over my head, I was sweating so much. After cleaning off my spin bike, I tore out of there like a bat out of hell trying to get home by kick off. I barely made it. I live about 25 mins from the Rec Ctr now. I'm starting to wonder if I should take the Normandy lake road in for the early morning spin class & go home that was from the Rec Ctr. Driving that road in the dark scares me, though. Ummm, some experimenting is in order....

After I get a filling replaced this afternoon, I may head to the 1 hr spin class depending on how I feel. Two years ago when I had this SAME filling replaced, I felt drained & went home so we shall see.....speaking of my dentist, I saw him on TV last night. Right after the news did a stint on Peyton at UT (showing him leading the UT band in "Rocky Top"), the camera went to a guy in UT garb. It was Dr. Leif Swanson, my dentist! I laughed. I can't wait to tell him this afternoon that I saw him. Too funny!

Thanksgiving Day tickets are bought!

I looked at stubhub this morning to see if anyone had dropped more lowers on the site to sell. Low & behold, I got 2 lowers for $60 each (commission & 2 day shipping included). I basicaly got these 1/2 price since Ticketmaster is selling the same tickets for $120!! Detroit sure is proud of their lower level tickets at Ford Field. LP Field sells theirs anywhere from $64-74 from what I have seen.
Patti & I are set!
Sec 122, row 38. If there's any empties closer to the field, we're moving!

Go Titans!

Another productive, fun weekend.

I started out the weekend by spending my friday night with charter, hanging up some curtain rods, curtains, & grocery shopping. Ah, the excitement, I just can't stand it at times. :P

Sat morning, I went to spin class to work up a good, hard sweat. I had not seen this instructor in a while so she asked me if I ever got my bike. Since I got the bike I had not been to the Sat morning spin class. She is HARD, let me tell ya!

After class, I took my sweaty self Goodwill & flea market shopping. I found a beautiful carnival glass, HUGE, candy dish that reminded me of my grandmother. I had to have it & it was only $20. I know in an antique store it would have been at least twice that. I did a little Christmas shopping, found a small, nice wooden table, & at 11am, I looked at my watch realizing that Jill and Terry Q. were about to take off on the Halloween Hunt 5 miler. I was sad because I couldn't run it this year. :(
Both got age bracket awards. Yippee!!!! Pretty good for Terry Q. who just ran a marathon last weekend.

I mulched leaves, finished some things around the house, & baked. YES, I do crack open the oven every once in a while believe it or not. I feel like I had a very productive Saturday overall.

Shin update: I spoke too soon about it not hurting. It felt "stunned" by the time I left my desk on friday afternoon. The backs of my quads were really sore. The last time I had that feeling was in the middle of the Urban 10k in May. I do not like that kind of feeling because it tells me something is still wrong. It's not a good soreness if you know what I mean. So, the jury is still out. I've decided that I'll let the X rays speak for themselves on Nov 6th before I try to run again but oh what a feeling.....I miss that good sweaty feeling of a run.

Speaking of sweaty, YES, Paul S. & I did finally get out on our bikes this afternoon for a HILLY, WINDY 23 miles. After spending some time dealing with a bike pump that was of NO use to me, we left from Waggoner Park, to UTSI, then Woods Reservoir, & back to Waggoner. I have learned that running into headwinds going UPHILL is no fun but it's worse when you are on a bike. I was zapped! My monday night spin class may be a bit of a struggle tomorrow but I'm glad we did it. Check out Paul's new bike! Cool!

A pic of Terri on her birthday

My very good friend, Terri J. on her birthday. She's taught me a lot about bikes & hanging blinds lately. :P

Some photos from the gymnastics exhibition Oct 16th

Ok, I finally downloaded some photos from Pam's birthday outting at the Sommet Center. The pics, obviously, don't do the gymnasts justice. They are amazing athletes.
Men's Bronze medal Olympic team
The Hamm brothers doing a syncronized routine.
Nastia Liukin & Shawn Johnson
Liukin on the bars
Shawn Johnson on the beam

I cracked.

Well, as you know I've been cracked pretty much all year (didn't know it till June) right on the front of my shinny, shin, shin...

The devil made a deal with the angel last night at the gym. I allowed myself to run ONE mile on the deathmill. I held it to a 10 min pace even though (much to my surprise, I probably could have done a 9:30 mile). I'm not as out of shape as I thought. Thank you, spin class!!! I knew I could do a mile but thought it would be more like 11 minutes with a lot of huffin' n' puffin'. I could have kept going, seriously, but I walked the 2nd mile at a 15 min pace, then I took off on the 3rd mile. At .34, I felt the shin going into shock so I started walking. (maybe it's all in my mind) As of right now as I sit here at my desk with the bone growth stimulator machine attached, it's NOT sore. I can't tell I ran on it at all. (fingers crossed!) So, maybe I'll test it again over the weekend. Hey, I'm just thrilled I made it a mile without dying. I've not run one step since June 3rd until yesterday.

Yesterday's workout: (early morning spin at 5:30am)
Last night I spent 65 mins on the treadmill, 20 mins on the elliptical (low impact), & did my yoga ball crunches. If this nasty weather continues through tomorrow, I may head to the Sat spin class rather than get the bike out on the roads. I have a mental list of things that I really want to get done this weekend. From now till New Years, it always seems like a race to the end of the year, especially once I know I'm leaving town.

Happy Great Pumpkin weekend folks!

Feeling dehydrated & like "Hell" (not really!)

I can't seem to get enough water down lately. Even my skin is dry but that usually happens when we start getting cold snaps. I feel like I should dunk my entire body in lotion.

I got to thinking.....The last time I was in Detroit was for Thanksgiving in '05. I had thought it had been Aug '01 since my last visit up there. Guess I blocked it out! ha! You see we had one heck of a snow storm up there the day of Thanksgiving. Cousin Susan, Patti, & I drove over to Hell, MI in the snow storm. Somewhere I have a photo of us standing in front of a sign that says, "I've been to Hell, MI and back" & we're standing in 2 feet of snow! I have a refrigerator magnet that I got there. They have a very cool 5k there that Patti ran once. The race shirts say. "I ran through Hell, MI".

I did the 45 min spin class early this morning & I'll probably head to Harvey's if my dinner plans don't pan out. I'm now on a quest to lose about 5 lbs by Thanksgiving. Seriously.

I've talked a few folks in the office into dressing up for Halloween so the Titan's gear I bought at Training camp will get used. I'll be wearing a jersey with "Smith" on it & the Drew Bennett pants. I'll be an "inactive Titan's player". :P

Well, it's official.

I stopped beating around the bush about it & bought my round trip ticket to Detroit for Thanksgiving. I have family there but the Titans are playing at Ford Field on Thanksgiving day so it was just way too tempting. Patti & I (possibly Hannah & Jeff, too) will be the loudest, most obnoxious visiting fans Ford Field has ever seen! Watch for us on tv. I'm going after those cheap lower level tickets on ebay that the Lions fans don't want. Go Titans!

Spooky Spinning & I HATE charter

1 hr spin class included some "spooky" spin music along with an empty bike that suddenly started spinning. Odd? :P I was going to do some ab work but it seems I overworked them last night. My abs were SORE! I got halfway through some yoga ball crunches & had to stop. I jumped on an elliptical for 15 mins instead. Tomorrow will be weights at Harvey's.

Terry Q. survived Denver's marathon, barely... He said he had stomach issues from mile 8 onto the finish so it was one of his slower marathons (4:13). Another state is checked off his list & that's what's most important to him. Denver's marathon has roughly 10,000 participants with a huge relay race with it. I believe he said it finished at the state capital. He's targeting Mississippi next. Go T.Q.!

I'm fighting with charter again or so it seems...got home to the cable not working in the bedroom. Works fine in the livingroom but apparently the bedroom got shut off. Weird! It was working just fine when the dude got here this morning! (The last charter guy tapped a hot wire while I was moving in on the 1st visit. Guess it takes 3 visits to get ALL the service working!) Charter needs some heavy competition in this area. I just hope the Tullahoma Utility Board's service is actually good. My plan is to wait till they get it going & work out their kinks before I decide to switch over. So, on friday, I have to get back to the house as soon as I can after 4pm.

A ride with Paul S. on Saturday may be doable. He just got a new bike & like me needs to get used to his pedals. So, I may head to pilates in the morning & then meet up with him for a good 20-25 miles. :)

Late start to my Tuesday...

I had to come in late to work today because of charter. They installed the line underground on friday, which now explains the red paint on the grass. I now have "legal" cable & the internet is up & running. Whoo Hoo! I now feel "complete". ha!
I made good use of the time by having Pam (who dropped by) help me put the center leaf in the kitchen table. I did laundry, swept the leaves off the porch, & watched the CBS morning show. They did some stint on Todd Palin. Forgive me Palin haters but that woman has one HOT husband. He's so handsome! :)

Last night's workout was productive & I hope tonight's is even more so...it's time for me to get back into some serious working out. If I get the "go ahead" to run after Nov 6th, I'm going to throw in some miles on Mondays, Wednesdays, & the weekends. Of course it will be a shuffle/walk sort of thing, I'm sure. The last time I had this much time off from running was Fall 2003. Back then I went from a 10-11 min pace to a 9 min pace within a month on my little 3 mile runs. We shall see what happens....I am hopeful. No races will be planned until I'm back to at least my early '07 pace! I plan to keep as much of the spinning in my workouts as possible & when weather permits, I do want to get out on the bike on the weekends.

I still haven't got a Denver marathon race report out of Terry Q.
I'm sure he had fun as usual.

My "unbusy" weekend

My goal included getting the last two blinds up. They are up. I organized the office, moved the desk, threw out the rest of the boxes, & organized some old race t-shirts. Even though I gave away & threw out a ton of race t-shirts a while back, I still have way too many that I don't & will never wear.

On Sat, Terri J. & I got out around noonish for a 21.5 mile leisurely bike ride to UTSI & Woods Reservoir. It was fun but getting used to the pedals is going to take time. I toppled over when I came to a stop at the water where cousin, Faith, got married a few years ago. I knocked some skin off my left knee, skinned the side of the handle bars (the black tape), & jammed the crap out of my right ring finger. On what I don't know, it happened so fast. I can get my left foot out easier than my right which tells me the right pedal is slightly tighter. Other than that it was uneventful. We ate mexican & drank margaritas afterwards so I felt better. :P
I'm going to join the Highland Rimmers for some rides. Ron & Fran B. ride some with them & I've known them for years through Billy W. Ron has told me to get a bike & he'd ride with me. So, now's the time! And big news, Carla has a hybrid bike on order from MOAB! Can't wait to get out with her.

I was brave enough to snap a photo of Estill Springs road while riding. ha!
The view of the lake at Woods Reservoir where Faith got married. Taken after I recovered from my goofy fall. Just gorgeous out there this time of year!

I early voted friday. I believe the election has pretty much been decided for weeks now & now that General Colin Powell has thrown his support behind Obama it's definitely a shoe in as far as I can see... I will be glad to see the signs come down & maybe the blocked blogger will find something more positive to do other than go against my wishes of NOT linking his propoganda on my blog. This person is still whining that I used my right to block. Gesh, get a life!

I have a Colin Powell story regarding my ex husband. After 1/1 Cav came back to Katterbach, Germany after the Gulf War, my ex was chosen to carry the colors of the unit in a huge military parade. Powell shook his hand & told him how much he appreciated his hard work. You would have thought Gary had met the President. If there was ever a time during my 9.5 yr marriage that I was proud of Mr. Smith, it was that time. He was instrumental in avoiding a "friendly fire" episode that could have killed his former roommate & friend, James Quinn. (Quinn & I are still in contact to this day.)

I'm not going to say much about the Kansas City game because the fair weather fans are saying it for me. ha! I will say one thing, "Rookie of the year: Chris Johnson"!
Hannah & I have agreed that the Indy game is just not doable for either of us but we are looking at going to the Green Bay game on the 2nd of Nov. It was a BAD Manning week so maybe we have a chance to beat Indy on the 27th. Green Bay will give the Titans a run for their money for sure.

Hannah & Jeff came back Saturday from a scuba diving trip in the Honduras. She said that the locals were rioting in the streets because their electric bills got jacked up enormously. She said it was pretty scary but that they didn't see it first hand since they were in a remote area for diving. Most big planes were blocked from leaving the runways so it was questionable that they'd get to leave on time to get back to work. Yikes!
She asked me about trips to plan for in '09. I told her that if I got into the NYC marathon next year, that would be my BIG trip. I think she'll come with me. Other than that, my GPS system will get me to a beach somewhere I'm sure. So, here's to some long term planning for '09, God willing the shin is 100% healed! For some really odd reason I wanted to take off on it & test it this weekend. I got it in my head I just wanted to do a quick 2 miles to test it. It was like the devil sitting on my right shoulder & an angel sitting on my left arguing. I don't know what came over me! Other than the 21.5 mile bike ride, I did walk for 65 mins on a treadmill last night & I did the elliptical for 20 mins on low impact slowly. (I felt guilty after drinking baileys & hot chocolate during the game!)

I finished "It's not about the bike. My journey back to life." Loved it! I find it interesting that Armstrong would not be alive if he had not got advice from a Vanderbilt doctor to go to Indianapolis for treatment. Go Vandy!

Tonight:
45 min spin class & some ab work

Olympic Greatness

Little boys & girls sometimes grow up to be Olympians as we all know...look at the cereal boxes on the shelves right now. I have a huge corn flakes box in my kitchen with Michael Phelps on it. :P Pam & I saw "greatness" last night. We saw the BEST gymnast in the world. (Nastia was on the corn flakes box a few weeks before Michael.) :)

Nastia Liukin, Shawn Johnson, Chellsie Memmel, Blaine Wilson, Paul Hamm, Morgan Hamm, & the list goes on....

I don't have photos downloaded yet but I definitely didn't get many good ones anyway. With the lights, smoke, & fast pace of the event, it was very hard to get anything worth keeping. I will try to find some to post eventually.

We could have done without Jordan Knight (Mylie Cyrus wannabe) & the band KMS.
Pam & I actually laughed until we had tears in our eyes during those performances, seriously!
I told Pam that I felt like we were watching the Disney channel on a Sat morning & that we needed to be in our pajamas with a bowl of cereal in front of us.

As for the Olympians.......well, they were just Fabulous! I'm so glad we went!

Long Day

A HUGE congrats to June on her new job!
I can't wait to hear more about it.
New York City's marathon is calling your name, girlie.

Today:
Up at 4:30am
At Rec Ctr by 5:15am
5:30am Spin class
At work by 7:20am

Leaving at 4pm to pick up Pam at her mom's house
Going to eat around 6pm
Then to Sommet Ctr by 7pm for the 7:30pm 2008 World Tour of Gymnastics Superstars!
I will probably get in bed by 11:30 or midnight but oh what fun we'll have.......
(I'm at work on fridays by 7am so there will be lots of coffee drinking tomorrow. :P)

The Bell Buckle craft fair is this weekend. I'm thinking of asking Terri J. if she wants to ride out there on bikes. Not sure she'll want to ride that long & be in that busy traffic so that may be something for the future to do when there's no craft fair going on....
Not sure I'll head over there to look around or not. I've been to that HUGE craft fair a million times over the years. I just don't need anything. The last time I went, I ate my way through it. ha!

Powered by Snickers

I'm going to admit that I ate a snickers bar yesterday at about 4pm because I was craving one BAD! The 1 hr spin class was killer & I made myself work that candy bar off & then some...
The Tues spin instructor swears he's going to download new music. Not that we hate his Industrial Metal but we've been listening to it for months. We all verbalized some suggestions. :P
My suggestions: Aerosmith, Bon Jovi, Daughtry, AC/DC, 3 Doors Down, Maroon 5.......

I did some ab work, spin, stretched, & headed home. This afternoon, I'll be getting a late start since I'm going to the chiropractor & Kirby. I'm going to enjoy every second of that massage. It's got postponed last week. So, weights & some walking tonight....

I started reading "It's not about the bike" last night. In the 1st chapter, Lance Armstrong dives right into how he found out about his cancer, how he ignored pain, etc... It's been on my "to read list" for a very long time. I got it off amazon "used" for 1 penny. Shipping was $3.99. I love amazon for book buying!
I doubt I watch much of the debate tonight. I plan to get to bed extra early. Tomorrow morning is the early spin class & a late night watching the Olympic Gymnastic team at the Sommet Center. I hope they pose for pics & autographs before the event. Looks like the Hamm brothers are healthy & will participate. As if any of you didn't already know....I LOVE THE OLYMPICS! :) I seriously do hope there's a trip to London in my future for 2012. Guess it will depend on the economy & my situation. All I can do is just plan for it because you just never know... :P

No room in the pool for me....

Apparently, the fall pool schedule allows for deep water aerobics instead of shallow water aerobics on Monday afternoons now & all lanes were full so no aqua jogging for me yesterday. I don't see much aqua jogging in the near future for me unless I do it AFTER spin class, go early in the morning, or do it at DW Wilson when the pool is officially open. I need to ask Ted J. about that. Anyway, I did some much needed ab work, stretched a little, & did the 45 min spin class. I cooked up a good sweat that I definitely needed. I'm still trying to get back into the groove of things.

Tonight:
1 hr spin
more ab work & stretching

Wed:
Chiropractor/massage appt
Weights at Harvey's & maybe some walking

Thurs:
5:30am spin class (45 mins)
(no afternoon workout, I'll be with Pam at the Sommet Ctr)

Friday:
Rest (hang last two blinds, possibly)

Saturday:
I want to get out on the bike!!!

Check list gets a little shorter...

I managed to get just about everything done on my check list this weekend including getting the bike tuned up. Alex put a new springy screw on the front wheel, adjusted the gears, etc... He said that I should probably bring it back in about 1.5-2 months from now for another adjustment. He gave me a quick lesson on front tire removal & attachment. I needed that lesson bad! I was unscrewing the tire way too much & putting it back on way too tight! I ended up with Keo pedals. He put me on a trainer & had me practice for about 15 mins. I can get out of them quicker than I can get into them, which is fine with me. So, this weekend, along with another check list or two, I'm going to get out on the bike locally. I had tossed around the idea of Natchez Trace but I need to get used to the pedals first. (Plus, I'm already heading to Nashville on Thur for the Gymnastic Olympians at the Sommet Ctr with Pam.)

I managed to make it to the company picnic long enough to get my name in the hat for drawings & pick up free lunch before heading to Pro Cycling. At one point in the weekend, I had Terri J. helping me get the "too tight" tire off & doing blinds again. Ted J. was helping me move furniture. I'm so grateful to have a lot of local, helpful friends during this move. Especially Terri J. She's a master at putting up blinds. The woman has even repaired her roof all by herself!

Lots of work to do, lots of loose ends, but I got a lot done this weekend. It pained me to know there were so many races on Saturday, though. Looks as though some did "doubles" with the Octoberfest 5k & the 11am state park trail race. I called Terry Q. to see if he did the trail race but he opted to stay local & not risk injury. He's running the Denver marathon next weekend. Wayne called me after he finished Chicago. He survived the heat. Obviously, it wasn't as bad as last year but it still got unseasonable hot. I'm starting to think that they should bill Chicago as a "hot marathon".

Until I know what's going on with the stress fracture, obviously, I'm not planning anything. I will know Nov 6th where the degree of healing is at this time. I do know that I wore some flip flops on some concrete recently & the shin ached afterwards, Not Good! Time will tell.......

Tonight: the usual 35 mins aqua jog & 45 min spin class

Maybe I am really a girl!

I spent the better part of the night (until Grey's Anatomy came on), putting away clothes & organizing shoes. It is totally insane the stuff I have & to be perfectly honest, I go through my clothing, shoes, purses, coats at least once a year to purge things. It's not like I shop a lot. I HATE shopping, unless it's at Fleet Feet. ha!

Goal for the weekend:
Do some light landscaping
Get the rest of the blinds up
Get the other bed up
Get the livingroom in order
Get a handful of springy screws for the front bike wheel from Alex
Get pedals!!!!!!

Check Lists

I keep a mental check list of things that I need to do.
I keep a mental check list of things I know I absolutely need to do.
I keep a mental check list of things that I'd like to do.

Of course I have to prioritize & many times I find that I plan too much & reach a state of exhaustion. For example, I will run poorly because I've got too much going on which leads to not enough rest. Then injuries happen, etc... You get the picture. I'm rarely sick except for the sinus issues & an occasional migraine. I'm sure they're related somehow but a big part of it is hormones. I do feel fortunate though, healthwise. After not working out much at all the last week, I weighed last night. No change in weight! Whew! Not that I was stressing over it but that's been my main goal since I stopped running June 3rd because of the fracture. I refused to gain weight. When you go from burning on average 600-800 calories a day to who knows how many, it does something to you mentally not just physically. I'm so grateful for the spin classes. The smartest thing I've done physically all year is join the Rec Ctr. I may even have a whole new set of folks to run/ride with in the future. The Thurs morning spin instructor asked me for my cell this morning so she could call me whenever they get a group ride up sometime. :) That will definitely be something worth putting on my "I'd like to do list."

Under the "absolutely need to do":
I have made up my mind that until the economy improves, I'm not planning a whole lot of expensive trips anytime soon. I cracked open my 401k paperwork recently & I almost had a stroke! For 2009, I am going to register for the NYC marathon again. Surely to goodness the stress fracture will be 100% before registration ends in May. If I am healthy & I get in, that will be my BIG trip of '09 for sure. If I go anywhere else, I will have to put my GPS system to good use in the car even though I'm not a fan of driving long distances. I've got an open invitation to Boston, MA to visit with a very old friend, Brian. Again, something else for the "I'd like to do list." At age 41, knowing that what little I do have for my retirement is a joke, I've got to start doing something else. I'm tempted to talk to a financial advisor. 2009 is going to be the year that I start taking my future seriously (jobwise & investment wise). It's not like I'm married or have any children that will take me in during my old age. As a matter of fact, Elaine, Patti, & I have a plan in place to take care of each other when we're all retired. We all may move into Elaine's cabin in Lynchburg! ha! If one of us falls in the bathtub, (she's has 3-4 bathrooms!), at least someone will be there to get the other up. Seriously, I'm thinking like this at age 41. Who's going to pick me up when/if I fall & break my hip at age 80ish? My great grandmother fell off a chair in her kitchen in her middle 80's while cleaning a light fixture over her kitchen table. She broke her hip & never walked again. She lived another 2-4 yrs but never returned to her feet to clean anything again. She had great grand daddy & everyone else to help her but it made me sad even as a teenager to see her go down like that knowing how active she had been prior to the fall.

My point is....this is my line of thinking now in my 40's. Otherwise, life is good right now. No major complaints about anything. I have my "check lists" in place & I'm busy as heck right now. I still have tons of things to put away at the house this weekend but I will make time for some fun. :)

PS.
(FYI, there's a stomach virus going around! Beware!)

Let it rain, let it rain, let it rain....

Since I will be digging in the flower beds this weekend, I'm so glad it's finally raining. That bed looked dried out & hard like concrete. I'm going to plant a couple of small bushes, some mums, & throw down some soil & mulch. Nothing fancy, just add some color. I love landscaping. Like I've said before, I'd rather be outside than inside any day. I'm no decorator. The office proves that because it looks like the Titans & a running store puked in there right now. :P

Ahhh, the debate....let's face it, everyone that is voting has probably made up their mind by now. I think it went very well & I totally cracked up at Tom Brokaw. I did manage to stay up for the whole thing. I'm feeling 100% better than I did yesterday & the day before. I believe the spin class revived me. I could tell I had not been on my bike this weekend. I could tell I had not had a good sweat in a week. I could tell that my abs had not had a good workout in a week. It was nice not being the only woman in the Tues class, too. (Nice to see you, Lana.)

Tonight I'm heading to Harvey's for some much needed weights. Not sure exactly what my plan is but I do need to get home & get a few things done tonight, plus I'm getting up early for spin class tomorrow.

The San Antonio Christmas (Dec 22nd-27th) can't get here fast enough for me. Avery, the youngest nephew, is growing up so FAST! I can't wait to play air hockey with him, listen to him read, & walk the dogs with him.

Happy Rainy Hump Day!

Allergy/Sinus Problems: ugh!

As the afternoon went on yesterday, I felt like I was fading. My head started hurting, sinus cavities radiating pain, etc.... I started feeling bad by 4pm. When I went to the car a 5pm, I decided that my usual Monday night workout wasn't going to happen. I did a few quick errands & went home. The migraine pill kicked in enough to where I could mow the yard. BAD IDEA! The backyard wasn't bad but the front was nothing but dust & weeds. I think I breathed in & ate most of it. After I flushed out the sinuses & did the nose spray, I went straight to bed. I was so busy on Sat that I never knew until this morning that Vandy beat Auburn. I laughed all the way to work on the cell with Ted J.

This is one day I'm glad I don't live/work in or around downtown Nashville, BUT I'd give anything to be at Belmont tonight. :)

God willing I don't feel worse today, I'm going to the Rec Ctr for some ab work & spin class. If I end up missing tonight's workout then I'm calling it a week.......a week of regrouping & rest.

Pedals/Wheel update

Talked to Alex at Pro-Cycling just now & told him about what happened. My heart sank when he told me that the little springy screw was not a necessity for riding. Turns out it is to make it a smoother ride & provide some "give" in the tire rotation, etc... So, anyway, whatever...
He assures me he has plenty of them around & he's going to give me a lesson how to put on & take off that freakin' tire. He's just about talked me into some different pedals, too. They are very much like the "speedplay" & he has them in stock. I may be heading up there this Sat to spend a few hours with him getting used to the pedals & the art of tire removal/replacement. He offered me his cell phone just in case something freakish like that happens again because he said "If you had called me, I would have told you to go on to the ride." but all I had was the store number. Anyway....I feel better now, I think.....

I came to work today to REST.

The "ride" that never happened:
First of all the move went GREAT but I waited too late to load my bike up in the car friday night. So late that when I tried to put it in with the front wheel on it just woudn't go in & rather than take it inside where there was light, I tried to take the wheel off in the back of my dimly lit trunk. For some reason, I felt & saw a tiny little screw with a spring on it in my hand & of course it fell into my trunk. So, after spending more than enough time looking for it, I gave up. I was tired, irritable, & sleep deprived. I went to bed mad at myself so I slept maybe 3-4 hrs. When it got to be daylight around 6:30am, I looked again but never found it. I figured that I would not take a chance of driving over to Fayetteville, starting the ride, & having my front tire go flying off. It just wasn't worth it to me knowing how much work I had ahead of me for the weekend. So, I ate the $25 entry fee, stayed home, & worked my tail off. There will be other "rides" & there's always next year... Sure I'm sorely disappointed but I overbooked myself this weekend & I should have know better. Carla & Chris didn't go. Paul S. & Jessie did go but only did 15. She had bike issues, too. Ramona (Paul C's coworker) called me at 7:45am looking for me. I was bummed but I didn't have time to be bummed too long. :P

The move that did happen:
I want to thank Scott U., Elaine S. & her husband, Sam S. Without them in my life, I'd never get anything done, seriously. I told all 3 of them as we sat in my living room floor drinking beer (I drank water) that they were more like my family than just friends. We laughed & moved & laughed & shoved & laughed & unpacked & laughed over & over again... After not seeing my couch for 13 months, I wanted to pull a Tom Cruise & jump on it. We moved everything out of my storage unit in roughly 4 hours. These guys are efficient! We had my car, Scott's van, & Sam's truck. At one point, Scott almost backed over Elaine with his van. Scott has a bunch of Obama stickers on the back of the van & all I could scream was, "MOVE, Obama's backing up!" ha! We celebrated our FAST moving skills at "Uncle Buds" where I devoured a whole bowl of white beans all by myself. Yum!

I had moved most of my small stuff by myself last week. About 80% is unpacked & I even lined some shelves. I think I washed about 8 loads of laundry. I ended up having a nice conversation with a guy who used to live up the street from us when I was about 10 yrs old. He reminded me that I used to babysit his kids. Monica is now 32 yrs old & her brother Matthew is almost 30. I'm so OLD!!! Needless to say it was Grand Central Station at the house & I was on my cell so much that I had to wear my ear piece all weekend.

The break I did take on Sat night:
Yesterday was Terri J.'s 49th birthday. She dropped by & helped me hang a few blinds. She's an incredible person & such a sweetheart. I can't wait till she & I can get out again on our bikes. We decided to take a quick trip to Cracker Barrel for her birthday Sat evening. The staff embarrassed her by singing happy birthday. I got a pic but have not had time to download it off the camera. Yesterday, I crashed hard but got up & got busy at a decent hour. I cleaned floors & hung up clothes while watching the Titans & Ravens brawl in Baltimore. Even little Finnigan lost his cool. Derek Mason (I have his jersey that he signed a few yrs ago on the ramp) got in his face over something & all hell broke loose with Finnigan & Bullock having words. In the end, the score was 13-10 with a "boys in blue" win. I hope my neighbors didn't mind the screaming.

Speaking of neighbors:
So far so good, you can hear a pin drop at night. The lady on the left has a small shitzu (sp?) that stays inside at night & some sort of exotic bird that she has out on her screened in porch. Elaine & Scott heard it first. After a while, it is annoying if you are outside but I can't really hear it inside. Scott seemed fascinated by the lady & her bird. Elaine said, "Well, I know what we could eat for Thanksgiving dinner!" (Elaine didn't share Scott's enthusiasm for the bird.) :P
On the other side, the guy has an old bull dog that we rarely saw. Sat morning, when I drove up, he walked up to my side of the fence & mustered up a good little "woof" to let me know I interrupted his quiet morning pee. Then he turned around slowly & went about his business. The house directly behind me is empty & I hope it stays empty.

Tonight I'm going to get in my aqua jogging & spin class. I'm doing very little the next few days other than cleaning. The rest of the blinds need to go up & I still have dishes to unpack. My table cloth for the kitchen table has yet to surface but a favorite pair of jeans that I mistakenly packed 13 months ago appeared. The rest of this month will be busy that's for sure.

Hannah & Jeff were in Waterford, MI this weekend.
They hooked up with my cousin, Patti. See photo below.
They hung out in some hockey cafe' & went to a cider mill. Thanksgiving in MI is still up in the air for now but a lot can happen in a few days to a week. Good Lord, I'm proof of that.

Tired

I moved two car loads of stuff after work & signed the contract. This house looks brand new on the inside & has that "new house" smell. The very first house I bought near Ft. Campbell had this smell. It's like the new car smell. ha!

I pretty much stopped in time to watch the debate. I'm seriously impressed with both. The media was calling it a "draw" pretty much. Palin can hold her own. I watched some of the interview with Geraldine Ferrarro afterwards & even she admitted that she did ok. Both seemed very respectful of each other.

Speaking of respect I told a fellow blogger/former runner not to post his political opinions on my blog. MY BLOG is not for that. While I was moving, I get an alert on my blackberry where he posted a link on the post where I wrote about reading "Faith of my Fathers". He had been warned once before so I've blocked him & taken his blog off my read list. There's a reason this man can't get a woman, he's very disrespectful of others when it comes to HIS political opinions. Can you imagine?! Ugh, needless to say, we all have an opinion about this election & we all need to respect each other's views. No matter what happens, we're all in this together anyway. I just hope everyone uses their right to vote because if there's anything I don't want to hear is someone complaining who never votes. As Madonna used to say, "Rock your vote!"

I'm leaving at noon to work my butt off, but I've decided that by 8pm, I'll be getting ready for bed. I'm so excited about riding tomorrow it's not even funny. After that I have the rest of the weekend to be super busy. I think I see some mexican food mixed into all this chaos this weekend, though.

Happy Fall Yall!

Still switching gears

Last night after inspecting the new carpet & dropping off a car load of items, I did head to Harvey's for some weights & much needed stretching. I suddenly felt tired but did almost all of my machines & free weights for my arms. My arms are pretty much where I want them, toned. I'm not looking for ripped.

As far as my legs go, upon looking down at them I've watched them take on an ever so slightly different shape recently. The muscles above my knees look a tinsy more defined from my view now. NO running at all & spin class has change my body just a little bit. I wonder what the combination will do when this fussy shin finally decides to fill in the crack that I know in my heart is still there. I've been told that for some people biking can make you a better runner. We shall see some where down the road....I'm going to test that theory. :P

I love the weather the past two days. This is weather that I usually thrive in while running. I hope those that do the upcoming half marathons appreciate it because the Oct 1/2's of '07 were miserably hot. I pray Chicago's marathon doesn't have the same cruel weather as last year.

This morning's 45 min spin class rejuvenated me. I'm thinking that during the winter months, I may hit the Tues am class along with the Tues evening class. (2 hrs of spinning in one day won't kill me. I did do it once & live to tell about it.)
This afternoon I'm moving 2 more car loads & loading up my computer all before the VP candidates debate starts. I've decided that the front room next to the livingroom is going to be an office.

Work has been extremely busy this week but I like being busy at work anyway.
With everything that's going on, I'm ready to bring on the weekend. :)

Running on adrenaline

The excitement of the "Leaves of Lincoln" ride & the moving is catching up with me. I'm an adrenaline junky anyway so this is all making me even more hyper. After a tough 1 hr spin class last night, I skipped the aqua jogging. I spent the better part of an hour packing up my car with various things. I'm taking a car load over & sneaking it into the laundry room. Maybe it won't be in the way of the carpet layers, who knows.... I'm just glad to have a big laundry room for once & that's where the Fuji will be staying.

I've already started thinking about a new route to ride over there. I'm fairly close to the exclusive "Fairways" subdivision now. I can bike my old run route all the way out to Country Club & then out to East Middle. It will take longer to get to the base but I'm trying to build a strong ride base anyway & there are hills out there! A 2009 century ride is definitely on my "to do list".

It's a good thing Terri J. didn't register for "LOL". She fell asleep on her couch late friday night & when she woke she realized she needed to close a blind. While still half asleep, she somehow managed to hit one of her toes on something. It's black n' blue & she's pretty sure it's broken. OUCH!

Tonight's workout will be cut short of what I normally do on Wednesdays. I'm only going to do some stretching & weights. I will be hitting the 5:30am spin class tomorrow morning, but I'll be moving stuff after work. Friday afternoon, Elaine (another adrenaline junky) insists she doesn't need a man to help me move my couch. My couch is bulky more so than heavy. I won't argue with her if she says she can help. She has 10 acres with a 3,000 sq ft cabin on it in Lynchburg. She has worked like crazy renovating that property over the last 2 yrs. She is a freak when it comes to home improvements. I wish I had that much talent, patience, & know how. It sure is nice to have her as a friend because let me tell you, I could write a book on how much she's been an influence on my life. She is nearly 50 & like an older sister to me. I won't do her an injustice by taking blog photos of her during the move but she's a beautiful green eyed blonde with a green thumb & a love of all animals. She has personally nursed two baby squirrels back to health. (Just call her "Elly Mae") :)

Should make for a busy, fun, tiring weekend ahead. yeee haaaa!