Foiled again

Today has been a long day.  I can't express how good it feels to be sitting down and to be done for the day. 

Yesterday I made it to the gym and then headed home to quickly change and eat (and shower, don't worry) and then went back out for 8:30 drama practice.

Drama is really not my thing, I just got roped into it because they needed more people.  It's fun and I'm enjoying getting to know new people but since it's not really something I'm passionate about... when you tell me practice goes from 8:30-10:30 and then not actually start til 9:20 and then keep us there til 11:30... I am not a happy camper.

We got a "lecture" at the beginning of practice about how the drama team at church is a ministry and we need to be willing to make some sacrifices.. which I agree with, but I just feel that keeping us so late is taking advantage of us.  Scheduling extra practices if we need them - okay, but stick to your schedule.  Be responsible and let us go when you said you would let us go or at least tell us that practice is open ended and will probably go late. 

Granted, most of the starting late part is the fault of the drama team members which is really frustrating.  I'm always on time, usually early for things and people being late is one of my big pet peeves.  It's rude to make someone else wait on you.

Anyways, all that to say that I wasn't in bed until 12:00 and then I woke up once at 1:00.  When my alarm went off this morning I turned it off and turned over.  I was supposed to go running today but I was just too tired.  I'm glad I got the extra sleep but I just really wish I had been able to run because there's not time tonight and there won't be time tomorrow... I just know I won't be able to make it up.  Pre injury missing a day wasn't a problem cause I could run further to make up for the missed day but now 6 miles is pretty much my limit.

I did have a really great day babysitting though

I love ALL of the kids I watch but these are by far my favorites.  I'm allowed to have favorites since I'm not a mom ;)

I've been watching them for 4 or 5 years.  I watched stayed over for a few nights with the boys (there's three) when S was born and then again with the boys and S when A was born and got to see both the girls in the hospital. 

Look how big S has gotten.  :) (this is her about 2 years ago?)

After babysitting I came home and got ready to go to the gym.  I was planning to be at the gym for about an hour and then go straight from the gym for a run. 

When I got to the gym I realized that I was supposed to teach ballet today.  It's a long story but the basics go something like there was a miscommunication and I thought I wasn't working this week and had a week off but on my way to the gym I stopped in at the dance studio to double check on the dates... and realized I was working today.  Unfortunately I had no makeup, no ballet shoes, no clothes other than gym clothes... oops. 

Thankfully I had a decent amount of time.  I did 3 miles on the elliptical and then headed home to get all my stuff.  Once home I quickly changed and headed out again.  I meant to bring my gym clothes with me so I could finish my workout after ballet but I left them at home.

Of course, the clothes I teach in are pretty much yoga clothes and I can certainly move in them, they're just sooo hot.  I did end up finishing my workout but it ended up being too late to run and I didn't have the appropriate clothes anyways.  Foiled again!

So much driving today, too many activities, and preparing to pretty much repeat today tomorrow.  As a matter of fact, my main task for tonight is packing up for all of my activities for tomorrow so that I don't go crazy tomorrow morning and end up forgetting crucial pieces, usually clothes/makeup/shoes get left behind and I have to "make do" which is hard when you forget your shirt.

Stumble Upon

Hey Everyone


Well, Sunday is quickly turning into what it always does: “I want to nap all day” day. I laid down at 1:00, planned to sleep til 1:20. At 1:20 I reset my alarm for 1:40 and at 1:40 I set my alarm for 2:00. By that time I gave up on resetting the alarm and just slept. I got up at 2:15. Obviously I should have given up on the resetting bit a long time ago. Unfortunately now I feel like a zombie and it’s started pouring again which just makes me want to go back to sleep. Or sit around eating all day. Where do these thoughts come from?

I got in late last night, I think it was around 12:15 and then I was up this morning by 6. It’s funny, that doesn’t sound like much to me but for those of you that can’t count, that’s 5 hours and 45 minutes. Obviously not ideal but more than I thought it was before I actually counted which makes me think I don’t really need this sleep.

However, I had an usual amount of trouble while getting ready for church this morning.  Perhaps this is due to lack of sleep?

Mascara on and...

"Achoo"... lovely

And then there was the problem of what to wear

Cute, right?

Yeah... no, not so much

I have no idea what this is.  I've had it before several months back when I was training for the marathon.  It's sort of like a bunch of pimples but  you can't pop them and they're really itchy - oh, and it's only under one arm.  Gross, right?  I don't know what really solved the problem but I tried to wash my underarm with facial cleanser and then when I ran I put glide on my underarm.  I guess I know what I'll be doing again...

Since that was out of the question I ended up with this

And ended up being super hot.  Jeans and summer in Florida just don't mix.  Even inside...

This morning I found this wonderful and magical website. Have you ever heard of “Stumbleupon.com?” It’s pretty magical. You input several of your interests and then the website comes up with articles and websites and videos according to your interests. One of the interests I selected with Holistic Health and I’ve seen several websites now about natural household remedies and one on herbal remedies. I don’t know how I feel about herbal remedies because I’ve never tried them but just based on head knowledge and how I base many of my other eating decisions, I would much rather use something that occurs in nature than something that chemists create in a lab.

One website on natural remedies provided a caveat that I really appreciated:

“Know when you need something more conventional. Alternative medicine can be a fantastic way to prevent illness or treat more common ailments, but there’s no shame in going to the pharmacy if the alternatives aren’t working for you.”

Stumble Upon lets you give a thumbs up or a thumbs down to each website that it shows you and the more you rate the more tailored the articles will be to your interests. I don’t know if there is any way to revisit the sites you like though. There probably is a “favorite” button somewhere but I can’t find it so I feel like I’m just breezing through these articles and won’t remember much of what I read.

A few times I’ve been directed to very decadent recipes – Hello, twix mini cheesecake muffins? I’m not sure what interest I selected that led Stumble Upon to select these recipes for me. Sure, they look good but there is absolutely nothing redeeming about these recipes. Also they definitely not vegan. However, I feel bad giving them the thumbs down. They’re good recipes I’m sure… just not for me. At all.

And then there are videos like this:

I mean, common, who doesn’t love a dancing walrus? It’s just that’s not what I want stumble upon to show me. I’m sorry for giving you the thumbs down walrus :(

After watching random videos like the dancing walrus, I decided to stop by the gym… hey, I gotta get my moneys worth outta that thing. Besides, it’s like 100 degrees outside.

It was sooo crowded. My gym has three different centers around town. We have the main facility which is huge, one on the west side of town and then a women’s center. I usually go to the women’s center because it’s so convenient. It’s 15 minutes away from my house and literally 2 minutes away (walking) from the dance studio where I work.

On Sunday only the main facility is open and I just happened to pick the time when they were having a zumba class in the open basketball courts. That meant lots of loud music and lots of yelling and clapping. I’m glad they were having fun, and honestly it wasn’t that bad but wish I had picked a different time.

I did a mile on the elliptical but for some reason the ellipticals at the main center seem really hard to me and I can’t make myself do more than a few miles. One time I did 8 there… not sure how that happened since I can’t seem to do two at a time anymore.

So then I ran 4 miles on the treadmill. After the treadmill I was going to ride the stationary bike for about 30 minutes but they were all taken or broken. There are so many there I don’t even know how that’s possible but by the time I got to the third one and it was missing a pedal I just gave up. I regret that decision now just a bit but there’s always tomorrow ;).

Speaking of tomorrow, and this whole week, I have a very open schedule. This all could change and it probably will but I’m a little unsure of what to do with myself. Productive productive productive, that’s my wish for this week.

Well, I could probably go on talking about nothing really but before I bore you to death I’m going to quit now. Don’t forget to stop in tomorrow for Music Monday! I’ve got some fun songs to show you! :)

I should go to title making school

Happy Saturday!


I’ve had a very full week and it’s nice to have most of the day to relax. I originally planned to wake up early and go for an early morning run but when my alarm went off and it was pouring outside I turned over and went back to sleep. I had been expecting the rain and was going to run in the rain anyways but my half unconscious, groggy, just awakened self is not very good at coming up with reasons to do things I don’t exactly want to do. It’s only my fully awake self that is good at pushing myself to do hard things.

So I slept in until 7:30… and I feel lazy. What is wrong with me? I guess I got my morning mojo back if 7:30 feels late to me. I slept for about 10 hours last night which was heaven, but I certainly don’t feel refreshed. It’s like I got too much sleep and now I’m just groggy. Also, my stomach is feeling unsettled. That probably means I had too much chocolate hazelnut butter last night (true story) but it’s making all of the plans I had seem pretty impossible. Clean? Do P90X? Go to the gym? Yeah… how about lay in bed all day? Of course whenever I do that I just feel awful by the end of the day.

This evening I’m going to be babysitting for a family I’ve never babysat for before. I’m always nervous the first time around. Of course I want to make a good impression and I’m not the most outgoing person so I always struggle to find things to say to the parents. I’m watching 1 year old twins tonight; that is a first for me. I probably won’t be there long before it’s time for their bedtime but I’m sure everything is more complicated with twins. You can’t feed them both at once… well, okay, you probably can but I don’t know if I can and then you have to change one and then change the other and then put one down and then put the other one down. It just seems so complicated, although, I guess technically I do it all the time just with siblings of different ages.

If nothing else, it will be an experience. Hopefully a good one :)

Even though I didn’t feel like it I did P90X arms and shoulders. I kept it on pause the whole time and just skipped scenes to see the titles of the exercises and then did them without the DVD playing along. I like P90X but sometimes I just don’t feel like listening to Tony Horton’s voice. My music is better.

Then I forced myself to go to the gym.

I’m always (mostly) happy once I’m there. It’s so quiet on Saturdays… I guess cause all these other people have lives, but anyways, I like it. I can jump from machine to machine and there’s hardly anyone to bother. Note: By jump from machine to machine I do not literally jump from elliptical to treadmill, although I might have to add that to one of my workouts. Some days it’s just easier for me mentally to do a mile on the elliptical, 10 minutes on the treadmill, a mile on the elliptical, 30 minutes on the bike, mile on the elliptical – yes, that was my workout for today.

Some days I’m able to completely focus on my workout and really enjoy it. Today was not one of those days. I thought about chips for a good portion of the workout, no lie. So of course I had to stop at the store and buy some chips. I try to stay away from chips because I could eat a whole bag in one sitting. I sometimes have chips when I babysit but I rarely buy them. I think I’ve bought chips on all of 3 occasions. Well anyways, after the gym I stopped at Publix and bought… you guessed it, chips. I got other things that I needed too but I ended up with Stacy’s Multigrain Pita Chips because they’re sooo good and then I bought veggie sticks. I know there are really not any redeeming qualities about either of these choices but I could have bought worse. Here’s hoping I don’t inhale both bags in one day.

I have about an hour until I have to leave to go babysit so I’m going to go and try to make myself look presentable, time to make a good impression!

Rainy Day Dilemma

It’s been raining a lot here and apparently it’s supposed to be rainy all weekend. That means… my first real run in the rain! I’ve only done it once before and that was only like a mile. I’m ready to suck in up and go for it!

In the meantime, I’m feeling like snuggling up in bed and reading for the rest of the day. My only problem is that I have so many good books I want to read and I can’t decide. If only I knew how to read multiple books at once – and I don’t mean switching back and forth, I’ve got that one down.  No, I mean literally read more than one book at a time. That would be a cool super power. Just imagine how handy that would have been during college.

One of my favorite authors ever is Madeline L’Engle. I don’t care that most of her books are technically children's books, they're so good and I’m obsessed. I haven’t read the Wrinkle in Time series recently so I’ve decided to read through them again. Then I “liked” Free Books for Kindle on facebook and everyday they post a ton of free books. Very tempting. I could easily add 10 books a day to my kindle but then I would just get depressed cause I wasn’t reading them.

Before the rain hit Rachel and I did stadiums.

 

 You would think by this time that I would get the hang of these self timer photos

A little better, other than the "I'm still mostly asleep" look on my face

Today was so much better than Wednesday. I’m not sure if it was mental, physical or both but I rocked it today. Wednesday I was dying and skipped my last two but today I did it all with time to spare.

Then I headed out to watch C

For 5 hours…

He’s really fussy and will only play with a toy for about 2 minutes before he starts fussing again. He doesn’t like to be held and he doesn’t like to sit and he doesn’t like to be put down… it’s difficult. I wasn’t sure how 5 hours with him would go but everything went really well. He started fussing as soon as his mom got home which made me feel really bad because overall he was pretty happy with me.

I had originally planned to hit the gym on the way home but my desire for caffeinated coffee won out. I have to have my last cup of caffeinated coffee before 3 or I won’t be able to sleep at night. Well, the coffee was great and I’m mostly glad I stopped at home but now I don’t want to go back out again. It’s rainy, I’m sleepy and my bed is just so comfy.

I read a quote… somewhere this week. It’s specifically about running but really you can apply it to anytime you don’t really feel like working out:

We rarely regret the runs we finish, only the ones we skip

Okay, so I totally botched it… but that’s the gist of it.

After repeating that quote several times to myself I finally pulled myself out of bed and hit the gym

All I felt like doing today was cardio so I walked for 30 minutes on the treadmill and read A Wrinkle in Time

30 minutes and 3 miles on the elliptical – watched The Real Housewives of Orange County reunion… part 2. Part of me hates all those shows and then part of me loves them because there’s always drama. It doesn’t matter when you tune in, if you’ve never watched any episodes before or watch them out of order – there’s just always going to be drama and I guess train wrecks are entertaining to watch? Because I am a horrible human being…

20 minutes on the bike while reading

I was actually really enjoying myself on the bike and I would have stayed for a lot longer but Rachel told my dad she wanted to use the car and that if he brought it to her at the gym that I would give him a ride home. So nice of her to volunteer my services. I agreed and said I would text him when I had about 20 minutes left to go. Then he texted me when I wasn’t even half way through and told me he was 10 minutes away. I did the bike anyways and then picked him up and brought him home. I think he said “well, I didn’t want you to have to wait for me”… as if I couldn’t find something to do at the gym ;)

I stopped at The Fresh Market on the way home and picked myself up some Kombucha! They were buy one get one free so of course I bought 6 of them. If I wasn’t so tired I would go and look up the link to the place where I read that you should only have a small serving of Kombucha a day, not a whole bottle. It’s going to be really hard to limit myself I think.

For dinner I made myself some roasted brussel sprouts. I had a bunch that were about to go bad so I cooked them all up. I’m probably the only person who does this but I usually eat my brussel sprouts with mustard. Today I decided to try them with guacamole but there wasn’t enough to cover all of them… so I added in some mustard. That sounds really crazy but it tasted so good! If you don’t like brussel sprouts you should totally try them with guac and mustard.

One of my favorite things about blogging and reading other healthy living blogs is that it makes me feel much more normal. I am telling you, I can count the friends I have on one hand that have a similar lifestyle to the one I’m trying to lead and who wouldn’t think I was completely out of my mind for coming up with a meal like that.

That being said… I still sometimes worry about things like pregnancy cravings. Are they real? If I’m eating stuff like brussel sprouts with guac and mustard NOW what the heck will I be eating when I’m pregnant? Disclaimer: I am not, nor do I plan to become pregnant anytime soon.

Is there any foods or combinations of food that you have and love that other people think are really weird?

Friday = Nap day!

It’s a sad day when you reach Friday and all you want to do is go to bed by 8 o’ clock. I am such an old person. I just can’t handle this staying up late thing.

Originally I had today off but last night when I was babysitting these guys

Obviously the toy is much more exciting than I am

Dang, it's hard to get everyone to look at the camera at the same time!

Their mom asked me to stop by for a few hours today. So this morning I took C to stay and play at a gymnastics place. I get paid to jump and run and climb and chase after him for two hours or so. I love my job.

I planned to hit up the gym afterwards but failed. Kind of like this gym photoshoot from yesterday.

I took 3 exactly like this

2 like this

Finally!  Now if only my face wasn't so creepy.  No wonder all the kids think I'm hilarious.

I bring my workout clothes with me pretty much everywhere now because I would rather stop there while I’m out then go home and make an extra trip. However, I often wimp out at the last second and end up stopping at home and making an extra trip later. I should have just gone…

Can I just say, I’ve started to purposely time my gym trips to coincide with Ellen, the show… not a person – have to clarify because when I told this to Rachel she laughed and said “I didn’t know Ellen worked out.” I told Rachel that I love watching Ellen when I worked out but I had a hard time not laughing out loud while on the elliptical. I don’t know why she thought I was talking about a person; that would be such a mean thing to say!

So anyways, I watch Ellen, try to stifle my laughter, and generally end up going a lot longer than I would sans Ellen.

Rachel’s dog Tyson is over visiting this weekend. I’m not exactly a dog person but Tyson is really cute. I can only take so much of him though (or any dog for that matter).

I’ve learned that babysitting skills do not necessarily translate to dog sitting skills. I’m fantastic at watching a baby and/or a young child and making sure they don’t get into things – tangle themselves in cords, eat roaches crawling on the floor, etc. Yes, I’m great at these things. I just keep forgetting that Tyson needs the same kind of attention. My room is obviously not puppy proof. His favorite toy in my room is all of the untied trash bags I have laying around. I find him chomping away on already chewed bubble gum that I had thrown away. So gross…

I also have a hard time getting him to stop crying when my mom leaves the house. He likes her way better than me. I don’t know how but I’m pretty sure he knows that I’m not a dog person. Don’t get me wrong, I am never mean to dogs, I pet them and I talk to them, I just prefer cats and animals who aren’t as dependant on me as dogs are. Anyways, he just doesn’t like me as much as he seems to like other people. So as soon as my mom leaves he starts crying (not whining, crying) and I have such a hard time getting him to calm down. I call to him and he won’t come and then he’ll finally wander back to my room and just stare at me while I’m sitting in bed. I tell him to jump up but he won’t. I’ve finally been able to get him to curl up and just chill out for a bit.

Bed hogs.  Where am I supposed to sleep?

Sort of…

Unfortunately, now all I want to do is take a legit nap. I’ve been perfecting my power napping skills and have gotten pretty good at less than 20 minute naps. That doesn’t mean I don’t want to sleep longer though…

Any fun plans for this weekend?  I'm super lame and don't have anything planned.

How many cups of coffee does it take?

I’ve got a busy day ahead. I had a really great day yesterday and ended up being really productive. Ish… my bedroom and car are both still messy.


But on the workout front I rocked it. I dyed my hair and then I went shopping and spent a lot of money. Story of my life.

I shop a lot at Plato’s Closet which, if you don’t know, is a gently used clothes store. I’m really cheap and Plato’s is perfect for me. However, I generally try on 20 items of clothing and find one item that I actually want. It can sometimes be disappointing when you really like something on the hanger but when you try it on it looks like crap… and then that happens 20 times. Yesterday I hit the jackpot though. I would get up and count how many things I got but I’m too lazy. I got a lot.

I also stopped at Target. I bought some workout clothes and went to the gym after Plato’s and wore some of my new purchases. You know that warning that a lot of clothes have, “wash before wearing?” Well… I generally don’t follow random rules like this “don’t remove tag,” “wait 15 minutes after taking to drink,” etc because I don’t understand the why. If the why was explained and I knew that it was really important to follow the rules than I would. Well… unfortunately my disregard for rules left me with a lovely teal tint to my skin. It makes sense, I just never would have thought of it. Apparently the dyes can bleed if you get sweaty and then they might just stain your skin and you might not be able to get the color off of your skin.

I got really crazy last night and stayed out until 11:30 PM. I’m pretty much always in bed by 10:30 at the latest. I’ve been known to head to bed at 8:30 if I’m tired and have an early morning coming up. It wasn’t by choice though. I’ve joined a new drama group at my church. I was sort of roped in without any foreknowledge of how late the practices would go (or that they often go 30-45 minutes later than they’re supposed to). Once I was there and had practiced with them I didn’t feel like I could leave them just because they had a late finishing time. Next time there’s a good chance I won’t be joining them though.

So I got home at 12 and hopped right into bed. I’m not sure why but if I’ve been out driving it doesn’t really seem to matter how tired I feel, I seem to have a harder time falling asleep than usual. It probably didn’t take as long as I felt it did but I doubt I fell asleep before 12:15. I’m thinking more like 12:30. So when my alarm went off at 4:15 (I know, I’m a crazy person) I convinced myself that I would lay in bed awake for a few minutes before pulling myself out of bed. I’m not sure how I’m able to convince myself that this works because it never does. An hour later… I awoke and realized I had fallen back asleep and forced myself out of bed.

All I can say is, today is going to be a coffee day - preferably organic and freshly ground ;).

Where is the grass the greenest?

Hey guys, it's been awhile.

I've had an interesting couple of weeks.  Last you heard from me I had mentioned that I was having strange calf/shin pains.  Well those strange pains/tightness escalated pretty quickly and at the beginning of May my lower leg let me know that running on it was no longer an option.  I grudgingly decided that a week off was a good idea.  I assumed that after a week of completely resting I would be feeling much better and would be able to jump right back into running.  Unfortunately, by the end of the week I hadn't done any exercise and my leg was actually feeling worse.

After a lot of research I decided that what I was feeling must be a stress fracture.  Stress fractures take about 4-6 weeks of rest to heal.  Lets just say that facing the fact that I wouldn't be running for over a month was not something I wanted to accept.  I hate doctors and tend to avoid going at all costs, especially when it involves being there for hours on end or travelling from doctor to doctor which is what I would have to do to confirm the stress fracture.  I haven't gone yet but hopefully will make it in soon so I can either confirm or deny my self diagnosis.  In the meantime I'm "resting."

After my first week of rest I was really down.  I assume it was the lack of endorphins and the idea that I wouldn't be able to do what I love for a long time and that it was completely my fault that I was in the situation in the first place but I was just so bummed.  I know I have a lot to be thankful for.  A stress fracture is really pretty minor compared to some running injuries.

After a lot of thinking I decided that I was going to have a good attitude about the whole situation and take it as an opportunity to examine some things. 

I don't want to get into it too much but after years of struggling with an eating disorder running has really saved me.  I care much more about fueling my running than about staying thin or losing weight.  I know that running has been really good for me mentally, physically and emotionally.  However, I've allowed it to become an idol in my life.  I spend a lot of my time and energy thinking about running and trying to get better at running.  I usually tell myself that it's okay because it's such a positive alternative to where a lot of my energy and thoughts went before.  What I really want though is to spend as much time and energy getting to know the God who I claim to love.  I should be spending as much time talking to God, reading the bible and getting stronger spiritually as I devote to running.

So that's where I started.  This helped my attitude immensely. 

So where is the grass the greenest?  The grass is not always greener on the other side. It is greenest where you water it.

From there I talked to Rachel who works at a gym in town and she got me a free month membership.  Since then I've been spending a lot of time at the gym.  Me and the elliptical are getting to know each other pretty well although I certainly wouldn't call us friends.

 

It feels SOOOO good to sweat again

 

At the beginning of the week I could only make it through about 3 miles on the elliptical - I tell myself i can run for miles and miles on end so why can't I make it more than 3 on the elliptical.  I don't know but I'm working on in.

It IS kind of nice to be able to go whenever I want and not just be restricted to really early morning or evening.  I can go before work, after work, that awkward 45 minutes between jobs.

 

And I'm learning all sorts of new skills...

 

Like how to take pictures of myself in the mirror  

  

And how to balance the camera on the door for the automatic timer self pics

I miss running and I don't think that's going to change but I'm determined to make the best of this time off, strengthening my spiritual life and some hardcore cross training.  Best of all - I'm learning to rest before I'm forced to rest.  I love my body and I'm going to take care of it.