Husbands are Fun

Tonight I had to run home before heading off to the gym. This was my biggest mistake. Not eating my 3:30 Yogurt was another mistake. Stopping for the missing ingredient for dinner tonight may have been the mistake that started it all. It only took 15 minutes but it reminded me how hungry I was.


I got home with all intentions to go to the gym. I even changed into my gym cloths. As I was getting ready to head out the door Pat said he was going to start (finish really) the remaining laundry. This would leave dinner to be started when I got home. Because it's better to encourage such behavior from a husband I volunteered to stay home from the gym to start dinner (very hungry). He agreed but stayed behind watching me cut up all of the veggies.

It wasn't until he expressed surprise that I was cutting everything that I said; 'Isn't that part of me starting dinner and you starting the laundry?'

'Oh right'

He didn't realize that that agreement did in fact mean he needed to start the laundry and not supervise my cooking ability. Once it was pointed out that it did imply that he would start the laundry he got right on it. Getting home just in time to find the curry and add it himself (he is afraid that I will not add enough and leave the whole mixture bland). Lucky for him my taste buds are getting used to the spice of this dish because he does make it fairly hot. (but please don't tell him as he will then just add more and i'm afraid my mouth will melt).

On a work note someone from the freehold office (an hour away) was sent home because his wife has a confirmed case of the swine flu. I must say It is not so common yet so it was pretty surprising.

Running Again

Today was the first day I went running and it felt ok. I guess considering how last week went it was pretty good. I only did one lap and because i could not find my watch i do not have the time, I do know however it was not fast. but it felt good to be running again and the weather was great dispite the predictions.



To finish up my workout Pat and I played tennis. We are not getting any better but it is loads of fun. That's all that really matters anyway.

Working hard

Nope not me. As I went to the Grocery store Pat washed quite a bit of the laundry. He even folded and put some of it away. Then he grilled dinner. I put the groceries away then cooked the side dishes. Because I didn't work out (hopefully my last day of staying off of my foot) I seemed to have lots of extra time tonight.

I actually sat outside on the back porch to enjoy the weather as it is going to get cold and rainy again. Cold is good for running outside. Rainy is no fun at all.

What a great day.

Beautiful Day

Keeping off of my foot is giving me an excuse to get me enjoying the outside. Sitting outside and reading while Pat is manning the Grill is fun and relaxing. I hope we can do that allot this summer/spring/fall. 2 days of being off of my foot has paid off and the blister is looking pretty close to healed!

Disaster

We got back Saturday around 4 or so. I turned on the AC because it was a little worm. I then forgot about it and went about some cleaning. Apparently Pat kept turning it down I didn't notice. About 7pm I realised it was pretty hot so I went to turn it down, It was already set pretty low so I started to worry. (Pat was way ahead of me).

We put the chin chillers in the cage (from the fridge so they were nice and cold) and started to discuss what we could do to keep our chins cool. The best option I could come up with was to go out and get some fans. It was supposed to get down to 60 that night and hopefully we could blow some of that cool air in (the fans themselves wouldn't help our girls).

It helped very little actually. By morning it was 79 inside (60ish outside). That's with 2 fans and all the windows open, the bedroom seems drafty in the winter but obviously as the temperature did not change even with the fans on and windows open.

Surprisingly the AC kicked on in the morning, what a relief.

Today is the first of a few days of staying off of my foot. I'm hoping the blister will heal soon now that I am wrapping it up and staying off of it. Saturday Afternoon I took the bandage off thinking I wasn't running any more and all of the cleaning I did had it almost full again. I'm done messing around with it.

My first 5K

I got to see the end of the mile race. It was the most heart breaking thing I have ever seen. Their was a boy in first about 4 feet in front of a girl, at the last moment he veered off course (i have no Idea why). His family caught his attention and got him back on track but not before the very confused second place girl passed him. He had first place and he screwed up. Needless to say he was very unhappy. I would like to know why on earth he left the path right before the big sign that says FINISH (boldly). Pat says he was upset for a while. I would have been upset too if that were me!

Now onto my race.

Here is Pat and I before the race.

Notice that I am using him as a pack mule as he was not running. He was also the designated photographer. I may need a new photographer. This is the photo of the start of the race. No he was not trying to be artistic. He thought he had 2 photos of the start, this is it. I kind of like it.

The race started off good, too good. My first split is 9:15 seconds unofficially. I felt great! once I started the feeling that I could pass out (nerves) left me.

Unfortunately the "frequent" water stops that they mentioned on the website really meant only ONE for the whole 5K. I was terribly thirsty by the time I hit the one mile mark. the next half mile or so went by but I really was upset that I decided not to bring my own water. Once I got the water I stopped to drink it, I really had to finish it, I should have had more. Unfortunately the water was directly out of someones hose. It was gross. Just after the water station was the u turn. I was momentarily confused as many people kept going. It turns out they started the 5K and 15K together.

I ran with a lady for another half mile or so. At the 2 mile mark they read our split at just over 16 minutes, I laughed and said his watch was way off, she agreed. She dropped back on the big hill near the end. I almost kept going but then the nausea hit. It was too powerful to actually keep going. I had to stop as I was gaging. I walked until it had mostly passed (about the top of the hill imagine that). The rest of the race was somewhat a struggle but mostly because my stomach was still a little unhappy.

I finished the race 32.17. Here are the photo's of me approaching the finish line. None of me at the finish line as the camera battery died 1 minute after the following photo's were taken. (It was full when we left). I had the energy for a better finish but not the stomach so I was very disappointed.









What I learned;

1) running after a cold is not easy or fun
2) bring my own water
3) Sunblock is good (though the excess sun really came from the mineral show)
4) Eat more before the race, I'll have to ask Angela what she eats before she runs.
5) consider wearing shorts
6) have pat take more photo's and make sure he has a fresh battery

and optional wear a watch

After the race we went directly to a mineral show that was roughly in the area. We drove through Hackettstown and saw 23 Garage sales (and one sign for a garage sale). It must have been garage sale day in Hackettstown. The Rock show was nice and though I would really like less rocks in the apartment Pat is at least buying smaller rocks.

I guess I should have known

The sneezing started today. I should have seen the cold coming but I was in denial. It really is a great place to be. My nose will be the only thing running today.

On the other hand it was take your kids to work day today. While I did not do the craft this year I did bring in bagels for all. They were appreciated but not nearly as fun for me as the craft. Next year I'll be back on my game.

Pat comes home tomorrow. While I have missed him I feel that I did not take full advantage of his absence. I really wanted to take longer workouts and clean more around the apartment. If I'm going to get a cold then he should be home to take care of me. Next time I'll tell him that he can't travel if I am going to get sick that week!

Tired

Last night I had a bit of a soar throat. Today I was exhausted. 30 minutes slowly jogging on the treadmill was all I could muster. All I could think about was going to sleep. I hope I'm not getting sick and maybe just have a little tiredness left over from traveling last weekend.

I haven't even done any extra cleaning this week (as I normally do when Pat is out of town). Instead I workout, shower, Eat, and watch TV. What an exciting life I lead!

Blister

After almost a week and a half ignoring my blister and another half to go before the 5K I have realized that I have to do something. Monday I went out and purchased medical tape to go with the bandages that I already have. I have found a great solution for my blister.

1) wash the blister (taking grandma's great advice here)
2) Put the first bandage directly on it, no air or space
3) place part of a cotton ball
4) Wrap with medical tape (fairly tight)

This has allowed me to run while no re irritating the blister. So far the last 2 nights have been pain free with a lot less swelling. Thought only 20 minutes were running tonight as I was tired and slow outside today. Thank goodness the elliptical was free!

Hopefully it will be gone soon!

Home again

I arrived home just as Pat was walking out the door. After a great weekend in DC with out my husband I will now have a week at home with out him. That's just the way it happened.

He actually delayed going a few hours to be able to say hi to me. One day I would like to leave DC after lunch but it seems that the drive will always get me anxious enough to leave very early.

I did not get lots done today. Some dishwasher action. Some grocery store action. I still can't find a tailor near my apartment (which I did attempt, half hearted but still).

I had high hopes for today. It was beautiful all weekend and I just got a new camera. I wanted to take it to the rose garden and take some before photo's, even better if I found the perennial garden. Alas the rain kept me inside. So you get no photo's from me.

Photo Pratice

Yesterday was so bad on my foot I decided to take it easy today. After a delicious Sunday brunch My aunt took left for home. Jason and I wondered off for some photo practice. The Asbury Methodist home has some great flowers out.

Here are my favorites.

Gardens

Today started off great with Lillie bringing Evelyn over. I got to play and take some photo's (which will be posted later). The highlight of the morning was when we put Evelyn down on the bed and sat really close to each other. Her eyes moved from my face to Lillie's and back a few times. She didn't cry or fuss but she did look a little confused, like she was processing who is who. It was so cute Lillie had to reconstruct my melted body to go to the gym.

I had a good workout. 15 minutes on the recumbent bike and 30 running. If my darn blister hadn't started to get worked up I would have kept going it felt so good. I hadn't done anything to wrap my toe because it doesn't always hurt and I hoped today would be one of those days. It wasn't.

I stopped to get bandages with dad and Lillie (they had their own shopping lists). We were heading for the garden and I would be walking allot, I gave it a try. Unfortunately I didn't do enough to bandage it up. I lasted long enough to push grandpa around the park though the last hill was a doosey. (thankfully Grandpa has patience and was in good spirits even though we went off-roading and I tool lots of time to get him up the hill). In all it was a great day at the park followed by a evening sitting on the couch icing my toe.

I wouldn't have traded any of it.

Left is a Photo of my beautiful Evelyn and her real mommy!

Below is a photo of a pretty tulip (left) and my father and Jason Taking pictures of flowers (right).

Today

It started off well enough. I got tons done at work. It didn't take me long to get through the usual grind so I moved on and got some receivable work done. Then I tackled my desk which has not been cleaned in ages! Though I was anxious to get on the road it was a great day.

Then I left the building.

Sniff. What on earth is that awful smell?

Oh look it's the wine I purchased for Dad, it burst open. Great my passenger seat drank most of it, that could cause problems for me. I spent a good 10 minutes debating weather to go home and switch cars or drive with the windows down. It was a windy ride. I kept thinking that I should change my mind but it is a fairly short drive. Their was a slight wine smell in the beginning, mostly though rancid fruit was what I smelled.

Actually at about the 3 hour mark I realized it smelled allot like rancid apple. Actually that is exactly what it smelled like.

I would like to know who put the crisis line right on the Delaware Memorial bridge entrance. I have never liked the bridge and ever sense I caught the beginnings of a anxiety attack on the top it has been the 2nd worst part of the drive. That sign got me thinking and almost Gave me a panic attack, great. Too bad I did not write down the phone number. It must be the climb of the bridge as no other bridges bother me!

The other part of the drive that sometimes gives me some anxiety is the tunnel. For some reason it is easier for me to take at night. During the day it seems so dark and uninviting and small. At night it is significantly brighter and easier to take. I should just find another route to grandma's house, but some of these trips the anxiety will go away.

Two Peas in a Pod

I have a nasty blister on my foot. It is on the side of my pointer toe. This is unfortunate because I am not sure what pair of shoes gave me the blister and it is hard to wrap to keep my big toe from rubbing on it and making it worse. Today I thought it would help to try a different pair of shoes hoping they would be very comfortable. This was my first mistake.

I did not bring a back up pair in case they ended up being even more painful. I'll bet you can guess what happened. By lunch my foot hurt so bad that I went to Walmart over lunch to see about buying a new pair of shoes. I found a great pair of gray flats ($6 great deal). I also purchased a pair of socks which also helped a little. my poor foot hurt until i got home!

Unfortunately it took 1 1/2 hours to get home for some unknown reason one of the roads was very backed up. When I did get home Pat was going to Grill. The charcoal was in the trunk of my car where i keep the oil. the charcoal took an oil bath and became unusable. Apparently that was not the biggest issue in the grilling for the night as the pork was looking not so good. This (Finally) leads me to the title of the post.

We ordered take out for dinner. Pat ordered the food for us and quickly became immersed in reading articles on the Internet. 10 Minutes after he ordered the food he asked me if I had put the Pork in the oven.

I looked at him a little stunned and asked him what he just said.

As he repeated himself it dawned on him that the food was ordered by him just a few minutes ago. At least we both got a good laugh.

Running

Last night I ran outside. I was supposed to run with a friends dog. Unfortunately as friendly as this dog is she has severe separation anxiety. The owner told me to just run and she will eventually be happy. I made it less then 25 Ft before her collar came off. Lucky for me she was close to her owner and when I called the owners name she came right out and grabbed her. she tightened the color and I was going to try again but the dog thought better of it and I was afraid to that point of loosing the dog.

So I ran alone. But I still got a best time 38:46.25 seconds for 3.8-4 Miles. I am happy with the time and look forward to my first 5k. It is in Clinton (very country) and should be a beautiful run. I really want to run it in less then 30 minutes but their are hills on this course and I'm afraid of how that will affect me, or really of how much it will slow me down.

I also have a mysterious blister on my pointer toe (left foot). I have no idea what shoes caused the blister and thought it was getting better the run tonight agitated it a little. The shoes i was wearing did not hurt at all yesterday when i was running. someone please tell me how to fix this with out purchasing all new shoes.

Happy Birthday

Today is Pat's 31st Birthday! I wished him a very happy birthday when he woke up and gave him his gift (it is a coffee grinder). I figured he may use it this morning. Apparently he was out of coffee. We were supposed to go to Trader Joe's this weekend but he didn't want to drive that far. So pat got No coffee on his birthday.

During lunch I went and purchased his gift from my parents, his favorite coffee from Kona. This I will give to him tonight. It is too bad he did not have it on his birthday day. I also got some wine. We opened a bottle Friday that was sweet but flavorful so I had to go get more.

Dinner was of course his choice. Lucky for me he chose grilled steaks. I started the grill (with a charcoal chimney it's super easy!) and he took it from there. We had pasta and fresh (but not home made bread, thank you Wegman's for the dough) to go with the steaks. I even opened a bottle of red wine. This is a very uncommon occurrence for a weeknight but it felt festive. After topping it off with cheesecake from Wegmans we called it a night. We eat late what can I say.

RIP Camera

Today I took advantage of the great (yet cold) weather and went to get a preview of my favorite Park. and hopefully take some photo's of the flowers that have started to bloom. I was a little disappointed in my Park. It had 3 Flowering Trees as well as plenty of daffodils, but not much else going on. I however did not make it to the sensory garden. You see my camera is broken. It's light sensor is way off and I would have to switch to full manual and keep guessing to get the correct exposure. (way to much time for each photo). Below are the photo's.

I ended up not going to look for the Perennial garden they have in the same park but instead ran off to shoprite admitting my defeat. I was looking at getting a new camera a few months ago but have recently realized that mostly I need a Point and shoot camera, nothing fancy (for now).

Cannon is coming out with a new waterproof/shock proof/cold proof camera and I was hoping to wait it out and see how the reviews went. Seeing as how i have no camera right now and it's not even out now it is not an option.

The good news for the day is we did make it to Wegmans which is a treat.

Rained Out

The Rain Finally came sometime during the night, and stayed almost all day. The gym was not open leaving me to wonder how I would get any exersize at all. Errands were put off in favor of laundry and It appeared that I would not even leave my apartment today.

Lucky for me the sun came out.

I had no interest in running. I do not own a bike. Walking wasn't enough. Then I remembered, I still have my roller blades (that really needed to be used). It had been forever.

It was wonderful!

Almost Perfect Friday

I spent the entire commute in to work thinking how it was so unfair that it was soo beautiful out while I was to be at work (and during my commute). It was supposed to rain Friday night. You see I had a vision of how my perfect Friday would go;

I would get home and the weather would be sunny. I would grab a glass of wine and watch Pat grill our dinner. I figured we would eat inside as it would still be chilly out. Then just hang out and enjoy the evening.

Then the weather forecast made me see a very different scenario. No grill. No hanging out outside. Stuck inside.

I must have checked the weather 5 times to see if it would change, it didn't. It was sprinkling when I left work. Miraculously as I drove home It went away, completely. I got home to slightly cloudy but nice enough weather. Pat was already grilling the ribs. I cooked up some Pizza roll appetizers and opened my wine. I sat out by the grill and chatted with pat as he grilled our dinner. I got the sides ready and we had a nice Friday dinner in.

Exactly what I wanted.

No more weather reports for me, from now on I'll just look out the window!

Behind Pats Back

Our Grill is up and running as of tonight! Pat decided to break it in a day early despite my assurances that he wasn't a real man if he didn't grill in all weather. The porkchops had only marinated for 24 hours and this rub/marinade normally sits for 2-3 days so I was worried that the full flavor would not come out. Pat went out and got a backup plan, baby back ribs. Excuse me while I go drool.

I called my dad to see how long they would take to grill and my dad said between 3-4 hours for the best ribs. Um it's a work night I do not stay up that late to eat dinner. After I got home and we started the grill I let Pat know what my dad had said. Apparently that was going behind his back. Getting advise before we mess up is not the correct order in this house. He tried to act all hurt but really he was fine (that's my story). Grilling was all he needed to forget that my father knows best!

After a short workout I had the best grilled porkchops that I have had in a long time! All that was missing was a glass of nice wine, maybe tomorrow.

Impatient

Today the new floors that I ordered for the girls cage came. I was soo excited they were delivered when I was on my way out to the gym. I signed for them then handed them over to Pat, who assured me that he would not open the package. It was open in one corner so I peaked in.

The PVC was very thin. Much thinner then expected. I spent the first 30 minutes of my workout on the elliptical trying to figure out if they would work or if I had just wasted that cash. Being so far from the cage and not having really seen the sheets I was wasting my effort. The elliptical was moving and i was on it, but I'm not sure i was really exercising.

I couldn't go home after only 30 minutes even though I really wanted to get the cage put together. So I jumped on the Treadmill (which i had avoided earlier because I thought time would go backwards while i was on it). I had a great run! The time flew by!

After getting home I put one half of the cage together to see if it would work. Pat was worried the floor would be too slippery. So far so good. Tomorrow the bottom floor will be placed in and hopefully they will last a long time.

Running Rocks!

I was back on the treadmill today and had a great workout! Surprisingly I run faster of my own accord then I do on the treadmill. I wonder if this is covered in a sports psychology class because I would love to know why that would be. Maybe because I'm timing the laps or maybe because I have no idea how fast I am going until I am done. Either way It is a sign that I should either be turning up the speed on the treadmill or running outside more often.

Lazy Sunday

I seem to have been bit by the lazy bug on the weekends lately. Today I skipped the gym in favor of going with pat to pick up the corolla from his work and getting breakfast. The grocery store was on the way back so we stopped then (knowing we would not likely go back out today). This ended up being a really good thing.

We played Tennis today and were just as bad as last time. It was just as much fun too! Unfortunately I was cooked after 45 minutes. I'm not sure if this tiredness had anything to do with my morning medicine being taken hours late but I was done playing. After lunch I took a 2 hour nap again pretty out of character for me on a weekend that we haven't been driving lots. but once the grogginess wore off I ran a long lap to finish waking up and to help me feel less lazy. I didn't time it which was probably a good thing. It was the never ending lap, really really slow.

At least that lap warmed me up and got me moving, I had lots of cleaning to make up for! I even got most of it done.

ICK!

It was very windy and cold today so I chose to run inside on the treadmill. I was supposed to get a call around 7-8 am from Coach (i don't' know his real name so this is what I'll call him). He stood me up! The nerve. I had to wait until 9 am to get my workout in and because of the wait and my hunger (and my MP3 battery dying, would you like more excuses I can come up with them) my workout was no where near as good as Fridays. Thought it was decent instead of horrible.

Laundry and hockey took up the most of the remaining time today. Not so much a fun day.

Just as the 2nd game was starting I decided to run the errands that I was avoiding. Apparently shopping at Walmart is the thing to do in my neck of the woods on a hopping Saturday night. The other 'fun' stores were not as busy. By the time I got home Pat was sleeping (his team was loosing). So the day of hockey was over!

Rabid Chinchilla Runners

or Running Rabid Chinchilla's
or Rabid Running Chinchilla's

This was decided to be a great name for a running group. I was on the phone with my coworker when I saw a photo (google images) named rabid chinchilla, the chinchilla in the photo likely was not rabid. Though I did not pet it.

It was the name of a hockey team. I think I can improve on that concept. My coworker whom I was on the phone with at the time also liked the Idea, Running was the only sport we could agree on (I'm too much of a wimp for roller derby, the original idea). I'm going to have to come up with a logo. Why? Because I can!

I'll make Angela join because we'll need someone that is fast! (it won't require much from her, nothing at all really). I'm thinking that her being a sister in law bestows some sort of obligation for her to Join.