10 K- Actual

I set my goal based on my 5k, it was just under 2 times my 5k. My goal was to beat one hour.
I thought this was realistic for me as I have been working to bring my time down and doing longer runs. Normally for races breakfast is skipped. It is hard to eat even hours before running. Risking a bad run, I tested my theory that I could do better if breakfast was consumed. I think it helped a lot!

David complained the WHOLE ride over, the 10K is apparently not his favorite race. He was so anti 10K that we had to take the long route to the race as he missed the exit we needed. This was a good mistake as we got to see part of the course, not exactly the same as running it but I think it helped.

Lucky for me David had not been training as he should have for the run. That meant both David and Angela would be running with me. I have been trying to pace myself but it has proven difficult and unreliable. Having David and Angela to pace off of helped allot!

They were nice enough to act as my own personal support crew during the run. When we took the first mile out at 9:22 I was very worried. Good thing Angela was there, when I expressed my worry all she had to do was ask how I was feeling. When I said fine she advised me to keep it up and not worry about it. I'm glad I did.

My first 5K split was 29.00 a PR for me. Around Mile 4 I took off my 2nd jacket and despite her shock at my ability to run with a tank top on, Angela was nice enough to carry it (I would have asked David but he was tired). I crossed the finish line at 57:30.00. I do not have an official time as the generaters for the timing system went out for a good chunk of the race.

10 K

I am spoiled. The weather in NJ has been beautiful. My weekends have been spend running outside. No warm jackets or pants, just a light jacket to keep me a little warmer until I get going. Maybe it is the weather but I have been getting faster and looking forward to the upcoming 10K.

Last night as I was tempted to pack my bike helmet, a realization struck. I am going to Rochester. The beautiful weather around here is in danger from an incoming cold front. The weather has not been 'nice' for months. I am mentally prepared for a 10K in 50-60 degree weather.

Tomorrow will be a high of 44 and rainy. Perhaps it will work to my benefit, this will be interesting.

Royal Followings

I am not a person that normally follows celebrity gossip. Occasionally I will open an article on the MSN celebrity section, but not very often.

For some reason this whole Kate and William's engagement is fascinating to me. I have read more articles on their engagement and wedding planning then I care to admit. This of course struck me as I was reading about their upcoming wedding date.

At least the craziness will end in April.

Will Power

They say it is like a muscle, you need to use it to strengthen it. I say you should pick your battles.

Today I left work 30 minutes early (I mis-timed my swim and got in to work 30 minutes early). This got me on the road before the worst of the traffic giving me time to do some returns. I started at Target where I had one return and did not have to wait long because the nice guy was applying for a credit card and thought it may be a while (I only had one item). As we were waiting for the cashier to finish with the lady before us he was talking about being excited for his first card. He asked what they thought his limit would be.

I explained that it depended on his credit and such. He hoped it would be $500, he was ready for a shopping spree (who knows where this is going?). I just could not hold my tongue. I told him that he should not spend more then he could pay off in one month. This did nothing to reign in his excitement as he assured me he had a decent paying job. I let it drop and said a prayer for his future finances.

Then I went to one of my favorite stores, Bed Bath And Beyond. What cook can't spend LOTS of time and money there? I did my return and after a quick look around I left. With out buying anything. And I soo wanted to!

Heavy Lifting

We have the 5 gallon water coolers at work. I use a lot of water weather for drinking or making oatmeal so I have no problem changing the Jug (and I am perfectly capable). It is often out or close to out as lots of coworkers also drink their share of water.

Today the Jug needed to be changed and I got there just before another lady. She is a very nice lady and was insisting that she change the water instead of me. I had already lifted it about half way but told her if it was her exercise for the day that she could do it. She made it seem like it was so I placed the Jug back down.

She proceeded to place the new jug on the cooler saying that she should do it because it was to heavy for me!!! I should say that while she is not by any means old she is not only older then me but also much more petite.

It was all I could do to not laugh. (and next time I'll just do it).

Cookie Connoisseur

Pat's favorite cookie had always been the Girl Scout Thin Mints. He could eat a whole box the day they came in. The cookies I ordered finally came in today. I called Pat right away letting him know that he had a surprise coming to him tonight, he was excited.

The first thing I did when arriving home was to break out the cookies (risking a 'no cookies before dinner' fight). He thanked me and continued with the dinner prep. I jumped in to help and we had it done in no time.

After dinner the Thin Mints still went untouched. Wondering what was going on I asked if he was going to open a box. He said he might later. Wanting a chocolate chip cookie myself, I offered to put some home made cookies in the oven. This he JUMPED on.

Apparently he prefers the home made cookies. This is cheaper for us, but really bad news for the Girl Scouts.

A First

I have officially finished my first double digit run. I was supposed to do it yesterday but I was going so slowly and having to stop to use the rest room so often (to much tea) I scrapped the run after 4 miles. Today I was not messing around.

I grabbed some Poweraid and a granola bar and headed out to the park. It is a 6.6 mile out and back so some of it was repeated. I'm sure it would have been better if I had repeated one bigger segment instead of 3 smaller ones but it all got done.

I was still slower then I normally go but given that my inexplicable case of nerves before the run, it was probably necessary to keep my heart from exploding. After I had finished 7 miles and saw my heart rate back up to 200bpm I realized that the strap of the monitor was around my waist. I have no Idea what it was reading but when I got it on correctly my heart rate went back down. I may have run faster if I didn't think my heart rate was so high to begin with (though I may just have been stuck on slow this weekend).

Pondering

I am currently pondering a new goal in my life. While I am not ready to commit, I only have 360 days to get ready. It will be another month before a commitment will be made then it will be posted on the blog so backing out is not an option.

In the meantime my Garmin came in yesterday and I am slowly figuring it out. It can be a little moody but we will come to an understanding. Today will be our first workout together. Hopefully it will be a good run.

Birthday Girl

I started my day out with an interval run. It ended up being pretty short as measured by mileage. Apparently I spent extra time on the weight end of the deal because it was much later then I had planned when I walked out of the gym.

On the way home I stopped at Trader Joe's for some of the Mini-Yellow Rose bouquets they were selling (I was told they were Grandma's favorite). Unfortunately they were sold out BUT they had great autumn bouquets I purchased the one with the yellow rose I was looking for. It was very pretty. Upon checking out the cashier commented on how pretty they were, I told her they were for my grandmothers birthday. She then gave me a bar of chocolate to give to Grandma as well. I was SO excited!

Grandma spent the rest of the day getting birthday calls and cards (and some more flowers). At brunch we were 2 of 3 dressed in costume (not counting the 'kids'). It was lots of fun.

In the afternoon Susan and BJ came over. Susan cooked us some Pasties for dinner, they were very tasty. Unfortunately the Redskins lost. I completely missed the Saints game. I fell asleep shortly after Brisan and Susan left for the night.

Grandma wears me out!

DC Weekend

What a Great day! Any day that finds me spending time at the puzzle table with my grandmother is in my top 10! The puzzle chosen is so hard. It is a photo that consists of black and different shades of grey. It does have 2 features with some color on it but the are small and stand out, thus they were already completed. We did manage some progress but not much.

After the Puzzling I went to check out Lifetime in Rockville (or is it Rockland?) Any how it was a good bit smaller them the Lifetime in Berkeley Heights and much to my disappointment they did not have a pool. In the end it was a good thing as I ended up running 8 miles, my longest to date. As long as the weather holds out that 10K could be fun.

After my workout it was time to watch the Purdue game. With the late start and lunch right away, the first half was missed completely by me. I didn't feel too bad as my team did not show up for the first half. After the 3rd period I called dad and conceded the game. It was very bad and I did not want to waste my time in DC watching a game my team did not show up for.

It was much more fun playing on the computer with Grandma!

We ended the night with out going back to the puzzle table, it did not get the best of us though. We will be back tomorrow!

Subdued

Today was the office Halloween celebration. Not a lot of people dressed up this year, it was a little disappointing. I skipped the dress up this year as well, Extra candy was eaten to make up for the lack of costume. The lunch was delish and my share was definitely eaten.

The costume was skipped because I did not want to deal with it on my drive down to DC. It is not such a bad ride and to make it even better I had dinner with an friend that I had not seen in years. It was a nice way to break up the drive.

All around I ate my share of calories today, and not many of them were healthy.

Foiled

I have been looking at the Garmin 405 and 405cx for a while now. It is a very expensive sports watch. I started out reading reviews and saving my pennies. It has been a year or so since it's release and now I'm starting to shop.

Amazon had it for about 125 off and I thought that it was time. Fortunately for me when I put it in the virtual shopping basket it increased in price. Not by much mind you but Just enough that I thought I would wait and find a better deal. The awesome deal I found next on Fat wallet cut the original price in half. I had missed it by Months!

Today I found the watch I want for 150 off the price and I was READY to buy. I even was willing to try out the membership at Costco (money back guarantee). Into the store I marched, ready to buy. It broke my heart when they told me that they only accept American Express and debit cards. I use Visa and don't carry that much cash.

Once again I left empty handed. But I am optimistic and will get the watch this weekend.

Wimpy

It took me over 4 minutes to get into the water today. That's half of my warm-up easing my way into the cold water.

I did get the worst lane, it is the end lane with the stairs leading into it. It just asks me to ease in. Who am I to say no?

The workout itself was pretty good. Though I do have one gripe.

Before my last set I got out of the pool to go to the bathroom. Four of the 5 lanes were unoccupied (including the one just left by me). When I got back, maybe two minutes later, someone was swimming in my lane. This would not be strange if it were not for the MOUNDS of stuff that was left behind at the lane. Why would someone given the choice choose the one lane with stuff crowded at the end with 3 perfectly empty lanes to choose.

Being stubborn, I jumped back in my lane and waited for him to come to my end. Lucky for me he just moved over. He acknowledged that he should have known that I would be back.

Fail

So the potatoe did not do the trick. Lucky for me the pool was clear so I only had one source of blurryness today.

Looks like I really need to go goggle shopping!

The great potato experiment

The lifetime water has been very cloudy lately. Combining that with the goggles anti fog coating wearing off and it has been almost impossible to see. Last time in the pool I almost swam into the wall on a few turns. It was not pretty.

Inspired by Bob's snorkel shop (their anti fog drops specifically), I hit the Internet for some ideas to help me see better. Sometimes you find gold when you search google. I sure did this time. Apparently my answer was easily found in the grocery store and it was much cheaper. As long as it works anyway.

The simple russet potato was my answer.

Step one) Clean and dry the goggles
Step two) clean the potato and cut off a little chunk
Step three) rub potato on goggle lenses
Step four) let dry
Step five) buff off the cloudy layer (do not wash off)

Enjoy a few fog free swims!

Here is hoping it works.

Hawaii- Day 3

Another day at the Volcano. Another hike over the lava fields, this time the Naulu trail.

We had to wait to fill out the paperwork, the office opened at 9am. We passed the time at the Thurston lava tube, an easy 1/2-1 mile walk to and through a lava tube. We had seen it before but today we were so early that we were the only one's on the trail. It was a great expierence.

After that little warm-up the office was open to fill out the paperwork. The ranger thankfully told me that sneakers would be ok on the trail, in fact the are sometimes better then hiking boots. My blistered heals thanked her!

On the way down we were greated with this:

Needless to say we had to drive half way back up to get cell service to make sure it was safe to go hiking. It was, the sign was from last week.

The hike itself was neat because it was over both a-a and pahoe-hoe lavas. The a-a seemed like it would be slightly harder to get through. It was so much easier because the path showing us the way was much clearer. We even got to see the old chain of craters road. it was so strange turning the corner and popping out onto what was left of a road!

The forest of this portion was much wetter then yesterday. We were disapointed in the end, unable to see the feature we wanted to see. At this point I was nervous to go any further (as we did not know how fat it would be) and I was soked. We turned around and marched back through the forest. (It was a nother half mile to the Right, Pat of course wanted to go left so I'm glad we turned around).

I was happy once we got out of the forest to change into my very dry shorts. My shoes however I was stuck with.

Lucky for us we lost the trail with in sight of the road. This may be where others had lost the trail as well as their was a path for us to follow, it was just not the correct one. I was just happy to get off of the lava!

Happy Anniversary (times 6)

Wow 6 years already! It is a little crazy to me that on our 6th Anniversary we are back on the Big Island. I always told Pat that Angela would have to make it to the Ironman Here to get me back on the big Island. Pat owes her a big thank you. Well so do I . . .

THANK YOU ANGELA!!!

We are celebrating with an interesting combination of one of my favorite activities (hiking) and one of Pat's favorite things (Volcanoes). The morning was spent at the local farmers market. The BEST find on the island. It was small but loaded with prepared meals, fresh fruits and vegetables. They were at great prices and it saved us the truble of cooking and cleaning. My favorite buy of the day was my purple sweet potatoes.

After puting the food away we vent over to Volcanoes National park. We had to spend some time hiding from the rain in the visiters center but it gave us time to fill out the necessary paperwork (for the hike) and looking over the educational displays. Once the rain let up a little we took the oppurtunity and hiked the Napau Trail over the lava fields. This took us to the Pu'u Huluhulu look out. We went on a little further just because we could. It was a nice 3+ mile hike where we got a pretty good view of the surrounding lava fields. It was nice that some of the trail went through the surviving forest. It gave me a nice break from the lava.

Dinner was at a nice Thi resteraunt. I even liked Pat's dish. This was unusual because it has nuts in it, I love nuts just not in dinner foods.

Hawaii- Day 1

We made our flight on time with only one real regret. The breakfast selections at the airport were not great as the restaurants were not yet open. We had a stand that Pat purchased a microwaved breakfast sandwich and I got a scone. I was kicking myself for not packing a breakfast. (the scone was delicious, but healthy would have been preferred).

We were lucky on the first flight to not only be in a newer plane, but also to gave a row of 3 to ourselves. I slept for as much of the flight as I could. I'm not sure how Pat put up with my stretching out and using him as a pillow, but I'm grateful that he did. It seems that he is not much of a leaner when it comes to sleeping on airplanes. Lucky me.

The second flight was PACKED! It was a much older jet, all this shrinking leg room in newer planes is bologna. We had about 2 inches past our knees. The newer plane we were just on had much more legroom (and bigger seats).

If you have never been to the airport on the Big Island allow me to fill you in on what is soo cool about it. It is a fully open-air facility. Once off the plane you are outside enjoying the wonderful weather. You can even smell the flowers as you walk to the baggage claim area.

Once on the island we wend strait to Huggo's on the Rocks. It is the only place I know of that you sit on the beach to eat/drink. We got to enjoy the ocean and food to welcome us back to the big island. It was a great find on our honeymoon, we couldn't make it through Kona with out a visit!

After fueling (ourselves) and picking up some supplies we were off again. This time to get Pat some coffee so he could make the drive safely. It was a 2 hour ride to Volcano where we spent the first few days on the island. We pulled into a coffee farm Just after closing, the were awsome enough to sell us a cup of coffee anyway. Thank Goodness!

Newley-wed bliss

For our honeymoon we did a park and ride at the Best Western in Newark. For our current trip to Hawaii we chose to do the same thing. It is not much more money and we don't need to worry much about traffic.

As we pulled in to the hotel I had to wonder how much being a newly wed had factored into our liking of the hotel. It is off airport as are all of the hotels servicing Newark airport. This one however is just off route one on a fairly industrial street. The excitement did nothing this time to hide the iffy-ness of the hotel. (On a random note the front entrance was under construction 6 years ago. It is still under construction this visit. I'm not sure what they are doing but it is quite the project!).

The room itself was actually very nice. We had our own living room and big (flat) screen TV to enjoy for the hour or so before turning in for the night.

Ms Piggy

I should say Mrs. Piggy. My appetite was crazy tonight. I started off my huge dinner with a half pint of Ben and Jerry's Ice cream as we were cooking dinner (Taco's YUM). It got put away so the veggies would be cut in time to make the taco's.

Lucky the taco's were done in record time, again I stuffed myself silly. I ate 2 fully stuffed taco's they were huge. Not another thing could fit in my stomach. At least not until the dishwasher was emptied and reloaded, the food was put away, and the girls were packed for their time at the breeders house. Then as I sat down to relax Ben and Jerry came over to hang out. . .

I finished the pint.

I'm mildly impressed.

Long Run

Friday I read that it is good to get a longer then usual run into my routine. So today I gave it a try. The life time treadmill was where this run took place. it is an accomplishment to me to run so far and in a relatively good pace. I was finishing up with some weights when I had to run downstairs to grab a bite to eat (not that i would have fainted, but food was needed). Usually food is avoided at all costs before and during a workout, but it was almost over.

After I did LOTS of stretching. I need to throw more of that into my routine. it is the easiest step to skip yet very important.

I read by the pool as a reward, giving my new sunblock a try. (It was the new spray bottle kind). It worked great. I am happy to report no sunburns. Though after my shower it felt like I had something plastic on my back. It was really annoying and puzzling as it didn't feel as strange in just my swimsuit. I'll use it again for my days at the pool but not if someone else is there to put on the real stuff.

After my workout Saturday was a quiet night in, it was a great day. The girls seem to be over their ordeal.

Finally

Today we were able to pick up the girls. Apparently pinky just settled in as we drove over. She had spent the last 3 days hiding and periodically barking. I'm glad to get her out of an environment that she finds stressful and back home to the big cage in the air conditioning.

I can not wait to have a 2nd bedroom to chinchilla proof and put a window unit in as a backup. This was scary and I never want to have to worry about it again.

Always listen to your wife

Pat and I had some pineapple as a pre-dinner snack. It was fresh and sweet, just delicious. Because Pat was grilling the final few pieces were left for him.

It would have been the perfect desert if it were not for the tons of Ben and Jerry's in our freezer (it was a very good sale, so naturally i purchased t compulsively). Were were well into our desert of the various ice creams when I realised pat had not eaten the pineapple left for him.

I told Pat that we should just put it into the refrigerator as it would not taste good after the ice cream. Pat gave me the best 'you just want to eat the last few pieces yourself, I'm not letting you get away with it' smug look. And popped one in his mouth. . .

The thing about pineapple is, after eating anything sweet it just tastes bad. It is like orange juice after brushing your teeth only worse. Pat had to find this out the hard way.


Probably because I went in early to the gym we can not pick the girls up today. The A/C is working yet making a noise. both myself and the breeder are early to bed types and we still have to wait for the maintenance people to come fix the problem.
A few moments (it is a very delayed reaction) his face crumples up in disgust. He wastes little time swallowing the remains to get it out of his mouth. Of course I am laughing almost to the point of tears at this point. It was necessary to point out to him that if he had listened to me he would not have gone through that at all.

Fur Coat

They came today to look at the air conditioner. One of the first things they did was change the filter. Pat said it looked like 10 chinchillas had left their fur behind.

The vents were the next to be cleaned and that pat did not see, I can only imagine.

With the whole system cleaned it still did not work. The chins will have to stay another day and we will have to deal with the heat. Last night was not so bad with the fans on, hopefully tonight will be ok too.

Air Conditioner

Last night the air conditioner finally went. It was on it's last legs for a while and we had not called it in yet, as it still worked unless we did anything to stress the system. Last night we regretted that. Lucky for us it was cool over night so we turned the fans on and opened the windows to let the cool air in, by the time we awoke it felt like the A/C was working again.

Unfortunately it was not. I almost called out because it was going to be HOT and the chinchilla's would die if left in that kind of heat. Pat was getting home early and we thought the A/C was working so of to work I went.

Pat got home around 12 and found 2 very hot chinchilla's as the a/c had either stopped working or it had never started working again. Pat grabbed some ice and blew the cold air onto them and they seemed to perk up. Thankfully our neighbor came home shortly after and let us hide them in his bathroom (he has 2 cats) for a short term solution.

It took quite a few calls as the Breeder who normally looks over the chins was out of town to locate 2 people that could take them in. One was closed at 6PM thankfully the other was another local breeder that could take them after I got home from work (Pat's car does not have a/c). We got them all settled in and were checking out some of her babys when one escaped and was chased by her dog. Pinkey was not happy. She hid and spent the next 10 minutes barking. She was having a rough day.

We left hoping she would settle in after a while.

Booked

Our tickets to the big island have been booked! to celebrate we had an Hawaiian themed dinner. Pat had tuna and we had lots of fresh Pineapple for desert. I am in heaven with all of this fresh fruit in season.

I love the summer.

Changing Fortunes

Mom, Dad, myself and the W's went to Dinner and the RPO together.

Dinner was at PF Changs, one of my favorite places. The food did not disappoint! I normally skip the fortune cookies as I do not eat them, today I wanted a fortune. I took one of the cookies and opened it. Apparently i was supposed to run into the person I was meant to be with. Unfortunately that was not the fortune that came true.

Both Mom and Mrs. W got the same fortune, their luck would change. They both said they were having good luck so far and this was not a good fortune. Thus it is the one that came true.

On the way to the concert from dinner we sat in loads of traffic. It took 45 minutes to go 5 miles (or less) to the concert parking lot. Then for the first time ever parking was not free. (on the upside we did have the cash on us). Once parked it was a short walk to the ticket takers. Signs everywhere announced yet another negative change, no outside food or drinks. No longer can you pack a picnic to enjoy the concerts. A past time both families had previously enjoyed. we have no idea if it is just for this concert series or if it is for the venue.

We sat down just in time for the music to start. The music was ok (the first half was not as great) but the second half and the fireworks more then made up for the first half.

The ride home was interesting. Mrs. W took us the back way to pick up the car to avoid traffic. One of the roads was closed taking us well out of our way. For the second night in a row I went to bed LATE.

Despite the change in luck I had a great time and would do it all again.

Day off

Every week i take one day off from the gym and spend some extra time with Pat. With the World Cup going on we have been spending time practicing Pat's favorite (for now) sport, Soccer. Try as I might I can not find a league to get him into but we have fun kicking the ball around just the two of us (and i do NOT want to join a league myself).

We had a great day together!

Conquered the mountain

We have conquered the mountain. I think pat wanted to name our gigantic laundry pile. With Pat starting a few loads yesterday it made today a little more manageable and i did squeeze some leisure sun/reading time in.

I also made Grandma Monette's Potato rolls (whole wheat) so that I could try the soft butter out of my new butter dish. it keeps butter soft and good for up to a month! And it is GREAT for fresh baked bread. I am going to figure out how to keep track of the water that needs changing, but that should not be too hard!

Planning a Trip

Angela has had a goal of doing the Kona Hi Ironman for a few years. At some point I told my husband that the only way I would go back to the Big Island would be when she made it, (it was just a matter of time).

Angela has reached her goal to make it to the Iron man in Kona on October 9th. I read it on her blog this morning and almost jumped out of my seat cheering. This is funny because yesterday was checking her times holding my breath, how much sense does that make? Anyway I immediately went online to find ticket prices. They were twice what we paid last time.

I got home and told Pat Angela's great news and his eyes lit up. He was not going to pass up this opportunity. I will keep checking the price of the tickets and hopefully will find a deal. Hawaii here we come.

Lady Leisure

Today I drove up to Berkeley Heights to Lifetime. It is a long drive that i do not do often on the weekend.

It. Was. Worth. It!!

I got a great workout in then it was time to hit the pool. After a brief soak in the hot tum, I sat and read by the pool until I got hungry then ate the picnic lunch I packed for myself. (Thank you Grandma for turning me onto those AWESOME rolls). Then I sat by the pool and read some more! Of course I did go in the pool on several occasions (I love the water slides).

After all of this relaxing, Shopping was in order. (I did buy 2 bikinis). I didn't get home until 5:30, it was a full but wonderful day!

Inundated

Today is Chinese Friday! Normally I eat at my desk and play a little on the computer, or lately just get work done.

The Lifetime Fitness pool is open and today I decided to give it a chance (for relaxing, normally i swim laps in the pools). I could not believe how crowded it was. I was expecting a crowd on the weekends but during the week? It was crazy. They had no chairs open and I had not prepared like I would for Saturday (I have a lawn chair I was going to bring to ensure I had a comfortable place to read and lounge). I think that chair will stay in my car for the duration of the pool season.

Hopefully the Kids will go on to summer camp and less people will come during the week, but if not I am ready with my own chair.

wardrobe malfunctions

I have always been very forgetful but the last few days it seems to be a little worse. Today for example I forgot to bring in my work shoes. My flip-flops are just not cutting it. Unfortunately time was short today so going to the store for new shoes was out of the question. I look more then a little silly with my baby blue flip flops on in the office. My car will have a permanent pair of heals for just this occasion, white. it may not look good with every outfit but it will match most outfits.

To make today's outfit even more spectacular, (how can you top flip flops in the office?) I have a hole in my elbow. This is the 2nd day in a row. The pink sweater from yesterday was set aside because of the hole, yesterday AM it was not remembered why it was set aside and on it went. I hate the feeling of the hole on my elbow.

You would think that after yesterdays hole I would have checked the sweater today. Nope. Today my elbow has some breathing room once again (though less as it is a smaller hole). Maybe tomorrow I can shop up at the office looking decent.

Car Issues

Today I went for a rutine oil change today only to find that my hood latch was no longer working. They had to access my engine by reaching nder my car and prying it open with a screwdriver. The reapair is a 30$ part but they want over $200 in labor.

I hope my Father in Law really likes me because he will be working on one of my cars again.

Criminal

I was looking forward all day to swimming in the outdoor pool after work. it is in the high 80s and sunny! The pool had other ideas. It was closed due to an earlier chemical imbalance. Though it was straitened out the water had to cycle through and the outdoor pool was closed for the afternoon.

For some reason this also meant that children felt they needed to swim in the adult lap pool, and by swim I do not mean laps. They were driving me crazy (I must be getting old)!

puzzeling

One of my favorite things to do at grandma's house is to go down stairs to the puzzle table and sit with her (and sometimes her friends) and work the puzzle. Most of the time the puzzle is challenging but not horribly bad. Today the puzzle was challenging! It was of a candy jar with random stuff thrown in. The colors were similar throughout the puzzle. The worst part was when we finally finished it a piece was missing. sigh!

Then onto brunch to celebrate our victory at the puzzle table. Dinner was delicious! My grandma knows how to through a brunch.

Unfortunately after brunch it is time for me to get going. I hit some traffic but in all it was a smooth drive and arrived home just in time for dinner. Perfect timing!

Mount Vernon

Today could not have gone better! Grandma and I took our time eating breakfast and getting ready to go. the drive was relatively traffic free (and I love the George Washington Parkway, it is a beautiful). Grandma got a kick out of the GPS Recouculating every few blocks toward the end, I'm not sure why it was hell bent on us getting off the parkway when it took us right there!

Here are some photo's of our adventure. . .

It surprised me that they had a working blacksmith on the property (now). I expected the people to be charicters, reinforced by the fact that the blacksmith's cabin was relativly cool on the side we walked in. When I noticed the guy was covered in sweat I had to go over and investigate. A window was stratigically placed so us guests could see what he was up to. The fire tipped me off that he was real. The lady watching over him said that he made all of the nails and iron work for the property.

In honor of fathers day George himself graced us with his presence to give a his history. After we were done learning we jumped in for some photo's. His outfit must have been very uncomfortable as it was not made out of cotton (wool I think). He was hot!

Here is George speaking to Grandma.

And a photo of the house from the Patomic. It is a little blurry but one of the better one's.

Cellphone saga

For the first time in all the years that I have had a cellphone I had never washed it. Until today. It is a very good thing I was planning on replacing it soon. It is strange that i went months with out a car (sharing one with pat) but after 3 days with out a cellphone I was going crazy.

I am normally very good about checking my pockets before washing jackets and pants. Apparently the drive home was tiring enough that after checking all of the pockets in the laundry that was left for today to do, I did not think one bit about grabbing my jacket from the ride and throwing it in the proper color basket with out checking the pockets.

At least I have an idea of what I want.

The Princess and the Pea

Last night I felt like the Princess and the Pea.

I fell asleep with my phone in my pocket and it did not stay there all night. As a matter of fact it found a place right beneath me and decided that it was comfortable. though it could have been more uncomfortable it did wake me up, not enough to think clearly mind you. I placed it right back into my pocket.

It again did not stay there but found that nice little spot under me.

Thankfully the next time I awoke I had the smarts to move the phone to my purse and keep it out of my pocket.

Masters part 2

Tonight is looking like I once again will skip the group thing. 2.5 hours is a lot of time to pass, then I would not get home until 10 PM. I looked at apartments in the area to see if they dropped at all. They have not they start at 1300/month. Even though I would get at least 1 hour of my life back and live much closer to my expensive gym I just can't do it.

It is looking like I am meant to be a solo swimmer.

Masters Swimming

I was so excited to learn that Lifetime had a masters swimming program. It was going to be so great swimming with other people again. Even the start time of 7:30 could not dampen my spirits.

today was to be the first time I swam with the group. It was perfect as I had a dentist appointment to pass some of the time. when I got out and headed strait to the gym I realised exactly how annoying this was going to be. It was another 1.5 hours before it started.

I swam alone (ish). Maybe Thursday will be better, but it is doubtful.

Happy Birthday

Today is Pat's 32nd birthday, I skipped the gym to spend a little more time with him and suggest going out to eat as he likes to eat out. Surprisingly he skipped the eating out and opted instead to grill for us. I like that he cooked me dinner on his birthday (I did cook the vegetable and couscous).

I got him the cologne he used to wear along with another that he might like. Unfortunately for me my parents showed me up and got him coffee fresh from Costa Rica. He loved it, not that he didn't like my gift but it was not as good as the coffee.

DC s. Newark.

The cherry blossoms in DC are a known attraction. Newark is jealous of this fact. They boast that their Park has more trees and more variety then DC. In short they want to be better then DC.

We went this weekend to check out the trees in the park (it is one of the safer sections). Actually the fact that that needs to be clarified takes points from the Newark Park.

Pat read that the park was to be peak when we visited. I am unhappy to announce that it was not even close. Very few trees had full blooms and most were not really blooming at all. We parked roughly in the middle of the park and watched the bikers get ready for their race. as we were walking to find a map of the park we saw a referee (maybe unofficial) sitting on a motorcycle. I couldn't help but point out the unjustness of the situation. Lucky for me he has a sense of humor.

We finally found a fairly large group of trees and a better parking lot when I decided I was sick of the purse I carried as it would not stay on my shoulder. We walked back to pats car and after throwing my purse in the trunk drove over for a better parking spot. We actually skipped the other spot in favor of a lot near a building touting all of the reasons Newark's blossoms are better then DC's. Apparently Newark was first to plant.

After the park Pat and I went to a Portuguese BBQ place and it was delish. We ended up taking it to go but it traveled well (except for the pound of french fries we got with the meal).

In my book DC wins.

Easter

After weeks of looking for my perfect Easter lunch and finally finding it one week before my date with grandma, Easter is finally here! We spent the morning Puzzling and made lots of progress. 20-30 pieces remained when we went up to get ready for our brunch. The puzzling sufficiently distracted us almost making us late for our brunch.

Thankfully we arrived (just) on time and got a nice table by the window. I always enjoy brunch at grandma's house and today was no exception. After filling ourselves with ham and cookies and other great food we made our way back to the puzzle table where it took Mary Lou, Grandma and I almost 45 minutes to get the puzzle finished! It is a truly hard puzzle indeed when the last few pieces are soo hard!

Unfortunately i had to go home, the only upside is the weather was nice.

Memorial Mall

Or at least that is what I think the park housing all of the memorials in DC is called. That is what I have been calling it. (It is officially the National Mall).

Grandma and I got up and out the door early, by 7:30. We were on a mission to see the pretty cherry blossoms. Traffic was very light until we got onto the roads surrounding the park then we had to look for a parking spot while dodging cars (and a few people). It actually was not that bad of a drive around the park. We had a great view for when we could not go anywhere. We got 3/4 around the park when we found our parking space. We had to wait for the guys to finish their conversation and take apart their bikes (which was quite the task). It was worth the wait!

We were a short walk from the reservoir and trees. on the way was the construction site where Martin Luther King's memorial will stand. We snuck a peak but their was not much to see they were just breaking ground.

Grandma found a park bench to people watch while I took some photo's and then we had one taken together (and I took one of her). Then we made our way to the Franklin Delano Roosevelt Memorial. It was nice but LONG. It had lots of nice waterfalls and pools for children to play in (and then get yelled at as it is not allowed).

Our plans to drive by the white house were thwarted by the police who would not let me take a right hand turn onto the road I needed, having to take a left we chose to go back and run our errands.

Ready for Easter!

I finally found the Easter dress that I had been looking for. It was online at Fashion Bug, on a whim I visited the website and found 2 options. One ended up looking not that great in person, the other was just what the holiday/season asked for!

It was worth the trip but after the shopping trip, a detour and a trip to the pharmacy I got home at nearly 8:30. Eish that is not enough time to relax (or start packing). I did model the dress for pat and he liked it.

http://fashionbug.lanebryant.com/dresses-skirts/best-sellers/floral-surplice-dress/15150c15190p59184/index.pro
Is a link to the dress for those that want to see it.

Now I need another way to distract myself until the weekend trip to DC, I can't wait!

Perfect spring day

Happy first day of spring! Today was 75 and sunny. I spent the morning running a few errands and the early afternoon reading in the sun. Guess what I forgot? The sunblock. To make matters worse I was wearing a dress with some strange lines (that thankfully spared most of my chest).

Dinner was PF Changs out on the deck!

I LOVED TODAY!

Learning the A/C

I'm up a little later then normal today. Pat is in bed trying to sleep. Apparently it is too warm.

Pat comes out of the bedroom, 'any idea why it is so hot in here?'.

'Is the A/C on?' - me

'I just turned the heat off. . . but it is set below 70.' - pat

'Did you turn the A/C on?' - me

'No' - pat

'They are two different systems you have to actually turn the A/C on. . .' - me

I here an oh as he goes back to bed with the A/C on. (unfortunately the windows do not actually cool down this apartment, it is the strangest thing.

My swim today;

250 Warm Up

4X (

3x50 (IM by set) 1:00 (.50 free)
2x100 IM 2:00?
3x50 (IM kick by set) 1:15
50 cool down)

3x100 Pull 1:50

250 Cool Down

Leave the clocks alone!

This morning was the worst I have been in a long time. Pat had to practically KICK me out of bed. (which is very brave on his part). My brain has been mush all day and all I want is for the clocks to be correct. I would rather have more light in the summer, I am more then happy to not touch the clocks again.

When I was at Purdue they did not change the clocks, Guess what? the world did not end. Apparently they started changing the clocks and the state/people were expected to save money. They spent an additional Billion dollars! Those for changing the clocks blame the spread of central air. I say it is bologna and we should leave the clocks alone from here on out!

Pi

I was searching Google for something (I swear I spend hours a day on google) and noticed it's very mathematical title.

So I asked Pat if he knew what the occasion was. Apparently today being the day of pi was a big deal. Pat heard all about it on the radio for a few days ahead of time. I must have missed that memo. He let me know it was the day of Pi, how nice.

I asked him if it was the 14th. He replied yes.

A few minutes later he got it. 3/14 = 3.14. I'm pretty sure he had to pass a good amount of math for his degree not sure how they skipped that chapter.

Memorial Service

Today was Grandpa's Memorial Service. I started pacing about an hour before the service. With about a half hour left I went downstairs to get out of Grandma and Judith's hair (not that they said I was bothering them). I pretty much paced around the puzzle table. no one was around to be annoyed so I was set.

I arrived at the service to see a few people already there. The food had been set up by the caterer and flowers placed by my uncle. Aside from the Grotenhuis side of the family, the Historical society, Palisades and Anne and Mike sent some very pretty flowers. It was very nice. Probably the perfect amount of flowers.

The service was beautiful. Grandma could not have done a better job picking out the readings and songs. My mom gave a eulogy and almost made it through the whole thing with out crying. She even got a few good laughs. Afterwords a few people told me they learned something about Grandpa from my mother, That was awesome to hear (and I hope I passed it on).

I cried my eyes out at the service and now I am ready to remember him for who he was and remember all the good times we had together.

Partners in Crime

Grandma and I have been getting into lots of trouble this weekend. It started at the hospital, they all left us unattended. I noticed an (open) container that read 'reusable sharps container'. I immediately asked my grandmother what a reusable sharp may be. (the only thing I could think of was surgical equipment and that was definitely not the case. so we wandered over together and peeked in the (already open container). It was a little too dark, we couldn't see well and I was ready to give up seeing no other options. That is when Grandma came through for me and found a flashlight in the room. As she was shining the light in the container we hear the nurse (in a panicked voice) 'what are you looking for? did you loose something in there?'

No we replied, we wanted to know what a reusable sharp was. As we were explaining to the nurses what we were up to my mother came back to the room. Apparently it was the container that was reusable. While My mother tried to reassure the nurses that because she was back she would keep us in line, Grandma pointed out that she was the one in charge!

Tonight we went on an espionage mission. The puzzle in her building was done so we went to the next building over to see what they were working on. On the way we found a dime for her collection. Their was a puzzler working furiously on that puzzle. she was very nice and told us all about the set of 10 that they had finally finished. They were confirmed as doozies (my word).

After the puzzle it was time to go, we both had to recharge for another adventure tomorrow.

One Scouts Honour

Marshall Grotenhuis passed away last night surrounded by his family. His last breath was peaceful and he did not suffer.

He was the best grandfather a girl could ask for. He had a passion for life that all who knew him could see. He passed some of this on to me through many of his hobbies, most of which I still pratice today.

One of the biggiest memories with my grandfather (and grandmother) was our many camping trips as we were growing up. Letchworth was a favorite, they would often meet us there. I still enjoy camping and while I do not go all over the country like my grandfather with his young family, I still enjoy a great camping trip.

The camping was often coupled with hikes in the woods. Being the boyscout that he was he could inentify plants and such for his curious grandchildren. Sometimes he would point out plants to us if we had not noticed them yet. Hiking is still a big part of my life. Luckily it can be done almost anywhere, Even NJ has many state parks with hiking trails. Stonybrook, another park we frequented growing up, Had waterfalls to be splashed in and few nice trails to choose from. Until I moved out of Rochester I would drive down for the afternoon just for the hike.

I never realized that my love of photography may have come from him. That is untill my grandparents went through all of the slides the took over the years. It all makes sence now. I knew he took photo's but did not realise that he actually developed his own film (before I was born). It is something else to develop your own photo's (though it may have been out of necessity for him). With digital (that he did not get as much into) prints are not as often and slides are likely printed even less. I will miss the old fashoned slide projectors (untill they get stuck anyway.

Grandpa took his scouting seriously. You couldn't walk through his garden with out getting a badge (seriously, he planted part of his garden so his scouts could earn a badge). His honor lies with in each of his family members and those who knew him.

Swimming

I have to get creative when I am posting a swimming workout again. If I don't I'll have 300 posts titled swimming but for now I'm sticking with the status quo.

My workout last night.

250 warm up
5*50 Kick ?
5*100 Freestyle 1:40
5*50 Fly ?
5*100 Pull 2:00
5*50 Free .45
250 Cool down

I should have cooled down after the fly set, it Killed me! or I could have done the fly set last, but where is the challenge in that? I still can't believe how slow I am now. But it was a great workout to start off the month!

Best Compliment EVER!

First my workout.
200 Warmup
5 x 100 Free 1:40
5 x 200 IM 3:45
50 Cool Down
5 x 100 Pull 1:45
250 Cool Down

Today was a swimming day. I took the middle left lane for my workout. I was nervous because I had a ambitious IM set planned. Their was a gentleman next to me in the middle lane. He mentioned how he was getting lapped on both sides today. I laughed and told him not to take it too personally. He didn't. He did ask who I swam for. He said I was too good and had to be swimming for someone. I let him know that I had not swam on a team for years but thanked him for the compliment.

It made the rest of the IM set a little easier.

Food Hangover

Today I am suffering from a massive food hangover. It has been a few weeks coming. Not only did I eat lots of Junk on our weekend getaways, but I treated the week and a half in between like a giant food free for all as well. Today is the day that I pay for all of the crap I have eaten. At least I forsaw this coming and packed very healthy food for today.

How many days does it take to undo all the bad I have done in the last 3 weeks? Hopefully only a few!

first for the year

Today was a beautiful day! I took the opportunity to run outside. After a warmup on the elliptical I ran a short lap around the neighborhood (1.8 Miles). The sidewalks in the actual complex were all plowed, though the puddles kept me on the street for most of the run. The ones in the street behind us were hit and miss. Some of the homeowners shoveled them, others did not. In all it was worth it and made me miss running outside.

Running with the 4 or so inches of snow on the ground and snow mountains everywhere were was rather strange.

Pansy

The last 2 days I have been a complete pansy. I don't know if it is a traveling hangover or what but I just can't get my head into my workout. Today I only swam 1500 yards. Normally once I get going I enjoy my workout and get into it, not today. I. Felt. Every. Yard.

I made to to my bare minimum goal and took 5 minutes in the jacuzzi, I didn't deserve it but since I was not doing a full workout I had the time. I like it but don't have the patience to just sit there, not for long anyway.

If I'm not into it tomorrow I'm taking the day off and starting fresh Saturday!

1/2 Snow day

NJ has received lots of snow this last week. The last snow day (a Saturday) I took advantage and baked my little heart out. Today was a free half day off of work and I took advantage by dragging Pat outside to make a snowman.

Swimming workout

I jumped into the pool again and had a very ambitious workout. not measured by how hard I was planning on working but by the fact that I was doing a set of 200's. I was going to have to keep careful count. I'm pretty sure I only lost count for one, I consider that a victory!

my workout was. . .

300 warmup
6 x 50 Kick (1:30)
5 x 200 Free (3:30)
5 x 100 IM (1:30)
6 x 50 Pull (1:00)
200 cool down

I'm glad to have a pool to swim in again. I missed swimming.

Chinese Friday

We order Chinese every Friday. Normally I pass on the fortune cookies but today I wanted a fortune. It read;

The thought that leads to no action is not thought- it is dreaming

Interesting.

Last night I went out to buy a few ingredients for dinner. Green pepper and onion. When I got home I put the bag on the chair and cut up one of the green peppers. Pat went to prepare the onion only to find that it was already bad.

Today I got home and went to put the plastic bag away. It seemed a little heavy. I looked inside to find the onion I purchased last night in one piece.

I asked Pat where he got the onion last night, apparently he found one in the fridge. It had to have been at least 2 weeks old.

Swimming

Today was supposed to be a swimming day. I had a great run and wanted to follow up with a great swim. Unfortunitely when I packed my bag for the ski trip I had to remove all of my swimming stuff. When I repacked I did not put my cap and goggles back in my bag. Not even my back ups. This was thankfully discovered before I squeezed into the suit.

A stroke of luck provided my MP3 player was still in my purse (though the battery only lasted 45 minutes). I'm just grateful it was there to get me through most of my workout.

New Jersyian

I am officially a New Jersyian. We are supposed to get a snow storm tomorrow starting around 12ish. Because of my last 2 experiences driving in the snow here (both less then 2 inches) I was not excited to do it again. After consulting with my co-worker I decided to ask if we could work at a rental branch near my home as to not have to drive home in it.

That idea was rejected. I realized how far I'd come. When I first moved here and heard the schools closing before any snow had fallen and they were counting on a foot I was shocked. I couldn't stop laughing. 6 years later I realize that NJ does not believe in snow plows or salt. It is dangerous business driving in NJ if so much as an inch has fallen. Here is hoping my drive home is well before the snow starts to fall!

Drive Home

We stopped near Killington for breakfast. Unfortunately the store I wanted to go to was closed when we passed it, we moved on, it was not likely worth the wait. Breakfast however was worth the stop. I tried the pumpkin pancakes this time and they were good! (though the french toast was better).

Then Pat drove strait home. It seemed like a longer drive during the day (maybe because I would have loved another day to ski). We got plenty of time to do 4 loads of ski laundry. That will be a huge help this weekend. I don't want any laundry in my way of cheering on Breese and the Saints!

Sugarbush Continued

Even better!!

Last night on top of making snow they got 3-4 inches of the natural stuff! We found the trail much better today having skied it home twice yesterday. and for the first time this trip we actually had to wait a few minutes for the ski lift to open! (I should note it opened 30 minutes later on weekdays). We were the first on a few different trails which is pretty neat!

It was a little distracting to see the fresh snow fly over my ski's but other then a few squeals of delight in the early runs I was successful in not letting it distract me. It was the perfect day. Fresh snow, warmest of the three days, and I had a few trails picked out as favorites, the only thing i would change is the fact that it was the 3rd day and I was starting to fatigue.

I started out the morning with a few strong runs then went to Organgrinder to try out my first purposeful black diamond (others were accidental or coerced). It was a great trail hindered by a few frozen granular patches I could have spent all day!

After lunch Pat and I wondered over to Mt Ellen. Allot of her trails seemed to be closed which was a bummer. It was an economical option ($45 or so instead of $88 for both). if it was fully open I would definitely spend one day at the big mountain and the other just at Mt Ellen. Unfortunately around 230 I started to fall over allot. It was time to go in and sit by the fire.

I got to see an Ermine popping in and out of his snow tunnels. he amused me until Pat came in and we went beck to the condo to sit next to the fire (or in Pats case as far away as possible).

Sugarbush

Today we awoke fairly early, ok VERY early. For some reason this did not get us to the slopes as the lifts opened. Instead we were taking our time cooking breakfast and getting dressed. The dressing part takes extra time when you have so many layers (and their was the debate of how many layers we needed. I think we did go for the extra layer, yesterday's memory was fresh after all.

It was only 30 minutes or so after the lift opened and we were delayed further when leaving the condo looking for our Ski Out trail. Apparently Pat was given bad directions (or directions to the lower flat trail). Lucky it was a short hike up to the other trail once we found it. Our second run found me my favorite trail which happened to be a black diamond. that's right, Pat was hiding the experts only sign the first run and it was not overly steep. His gamble paid off (I should note, Pat says he did not stand in front of the sign) I loved the trail. Actually it is a lot like the end of my favorite trail at gore (Twister). It made me think I wanted to try a black diamond. My first one where it was my idea and completely on purpose. I found a trail called Twist. It was fate I had to love it being so close in name to twister. Pat laughed but agreed. Normally I would send Pat down first but I decided we would go together.

Lucky for me we had to ask for directions. Enter Bill. (Seriously I actually remember the guys name). It was an ungroomed trail. Likely icy. He asked what we were looking for. I said I was Just starting out on the black diamonds and really liked waterfall, I was looking for a diamond with a bailout and not super long steep a little broken up. Boy did he deliver.

Lower Organgrinder was a great trail the upper part was a little icy or I would have tried the whole thing. It was just what I was looking for.

After tiring ourselves out we skied home, it would have been better if the trail was not just a sheet of ice. I was tempted to walk it but toughed it out and told Pat he would have to pick me up tomorrow night!

Pretty/Scary

We made it to the hotel last night around 11:00 PM. Pat said he could have finished the drive but I'm glad we did not.

We relied on the GPS for directions today, I printed directions to get up to the other mountain. We changed our plans last minute and I figured that the directions I printed were no good (they were, the mountains were 15 minutes apart). This was a mistake. Everything was great as we drove through lots of little towns. They were so nice, not that we stopped we were on a mission.

We started going up and Pat figured we were in the valley we needed to be, though he was a little worried we did not yet see Sugarbush. The ride was beautiful. If we hadn't figured out how big of a mistake we made I likely would have great photo's. Instead, as we were going up higher in elevation and the roads became more slippery we realized we went the wrong way. We were going OVER the mountain we were about to ski. Lucky for us it was good weather and the only snow was the stuff already on the roads. It was slippery and we had a few minor heart attacks as the car could not go over 1mph for the last mile or two of the ascent. I even saw a truck slip a little on the way down. My traction control automatically kicked on but scared pat as a flashing light (neither of us knew at the time it was the traction control kicking on, actually we are still just guessing since it flashed so quickly). He was not sure my car could handle the climb. My car showed him UP!

Less stressful but just as disturbing, I learned my car not only reads negative temperatures (it was -3 when we got up) It can read them into double digits. It was -13 at the summit. It made for a very cold day of skiing. I was grateful as the snow is 'natural' at Mad River Glenn. This means no grooming. Grooming breaks up the surface and softens it. This prevents ice from forming. It was an icy day at the mountain. I spent quite a bit of time warming up at the lodge.

7:45

Indeed the day of the trip is the best time to pack, even better if you scrunch it all in that morning before work. (which is better then his old habit of wating until that night right before we leave). Pat is always a last minute packer. It annoys me but as long as it does not delay the trip. . .

So this morning we got up and Pat cleaned the girls cage, I emptied the dishwasher so we would be ready to go when we got home. Then Pat started packing. I tried to not let it bother me and did a very good job until he started asking me where things were. EXACTLY why packing last minute is a very bad idea. I looked and did not find what he wanted so I went to work. I hope he finds what he is looking for and also that nothing is forgotten.

The skiing looks like it will be pretty good. They got pummeled yesterday and are looking to get more Saturday night/Sunday. It will be a long drive tonight but worth it for the weekend!

Psychotic salt truck

It took me 2.5 HOURS to get to work today. It was a mess. We had a unexpected snowstorm (this is NJ an inch of accumulated snow counts as a storm). As I left my apartment I saw the tiniest of flakes and figured the ride would be mostly fine. I should have known better.

I was not 10 miles into the drive when the snow started to accumulate. Not long after that it started to get slippery (I wish I had taken the hint and turned around). I got to 287 only a little later then normal. It was slow from the beginning but a few miles in I see a salt truck using the U turn. I was happy they were going to do something about the melting refreezing roads. Oh how wrong I was.

He slowly made his way into the middle lane (blowing the salt to the left). He swerved over slightly as if he were going to get over into the right lane. I hoped both myself and the guy in front of me could pass him (the salt was going mostly left and behind him, not helping me at all). Every time the guy in front of me got a little close to him he swerved over a little. I thought maybe he was trying to get into the right lane but was afraid to hit the guy in front of me. Eventually the guy in front of me managed to pass the salt truck.

As I drove to the right of the salt truck he swerved 1/2 in my lane 1/2 in the middle. I backed off to let him in front of me. He moved back into the middle lane. Then I drove over to the shoulder now worried about driving near a salt truck in inclement weather driven by a maniac. He drove all the way into the lane that I abandoned. Worried about driving on an icy shoulder and being smashed by the salt truck I relented hoping in the 2 miles or so that I had left he would not take the exit that I will, or that I could pass to the left as he seemed to let the people to the left by.

He does take my exit which is essentially a long ramp that splits at the end. It is 3 lanes wide. This time he is not satisfied with tying up the right 2 lanes, he wants all 3. I figured this out when I went to pass to the left. He responded by hanging half out of his salt truck waving his fist and pointing me back in my place. He swerved at will between the 3 lanes until it went down to 2 lanes which confined him a little. The kicker is that he stayed left which sprayed much of the salt onto the SHOULDER. I was so glad to be rid of him when he did not get onto 78 in front of me.

Morning

Today I thought I was starting my morning off on the right foot I left my apartment early and everything. On the way to my car I noticed that my pants looked brown instead of the black, intended. So I ran back upstairs to consult Pat and check them in inside lighting. We determined that I did indeed choose black pants and was on my way again.

Then I stopped for gas. I was one day away from really needing it but I owed the guy $.50. I couldn't stop yesterday as I was running very late and Monday he was not there. So I pull up and tell him to fill it as I reached for my wallet.

I grabbed my purse, no wallet. I had taken it out to make a reservation for the ski trip this weekend. I luckily had plenty of time to stop him, but he chose to pump $1.00 into my tank, I guess in case I was that low. It would have been nice had I not needed the time more then the money. I tried to pay him (I did have $1.50) but he told me to pay when I had my wallet as I was coming right back.

I made pretty good time driving back to my apartment to get my wallet.

I started the day on the wrong foot, when I got to the office my sick co-worker drove me nuts. I hate that she comes to work sick. I really hope she doesn't give it to me as I am skiing this weekend! At least she did have to go home as her kid was sick this am and the school called telling her to pick her up. Less germs for me to catch.

Swim Workout;

200 Warm up
5x100 Free 1:50
5x50 Pull 1:00
5x100 Free 1:45
5x50 Pull 1:00
5x100 Free 1:40
300 Cool down

Lane Hog

Last night I swam with the worst lane hog! Lucky for me it was near the middle/end of my workout. I got out to go to the bathroom and when I came back she had moved my stuff to the corner of the lane and put her stuff smack in the middle of the lane (claiming it as hers perhaps?). Anyway when I got back I jumped right in and moved my stuff over a little (but left hers in the middle.

She seemed a little shocked I'm not sure why as my stuff was in the middle of the lane where hers then resided. Maybe she thought I left it behind? I dont' have a problem sharing a lane but I do not circle swim unless I have to. (unless you are actually swimming the same workout at the same pace it sucks). so in a bossy move on my part, I told her to swim on the left half and i would stay right.

Apparently she could not or would not do this. She often swam in the middle of the lane and even kicked me. I'm thankful she is not that strong of a swimmer. A breast-stroke kick can hurt if they are good at the stroke.

Lucky for both of us a lane opened next to ours and she moved over. I used to think I was not good at sharing lanes, but now I realize that unless I'm doing breast-stroke or butterfly I don't hit people and I stay on my side (except for that time in Florida which I accidentally switched lanes and ended up swimming with a different team for a 50 or so.). Even then I'll break my stroke if I see them coming as to not hit them.

Swimming Workout

Today I did not actually write myself a swimming workout. Normally this would be a very bad thing. Originally I was just going to swim for 45 minutes strait to see how far I could go, but as I was loosing count for the 2nd 500 (and the fact that I broke it into 500's anyway) I decided to do 4x5oo. The first was done in 10 minutes, the second in 9:40 (thought i may have done more or less because I lost count). The third was done in 9:00 and the last I finished in 8:00.

It was probably the best unplanned swim I could have asked for!

On a more fun note the Hotel for this weekend is booked and I am ready for a long ski weekend!

Surprise Dinner

Mom and Dad R came for a visit today. We figured they would get in late so were discussing dinner when they called to see what mischief we were up to. So we went to pick them up and had a great dinner at O'Conners. Their were lots of fishermen at the restaurant. It is a very good restaurant and not a well kept secret (though we did not have to wait despite not having a reservation. Anyway we were thrilled to see them a day early!

Tomorrow they are going to the fishing show.

1500

I recieved the CD in the mail of teh christmas photo's. 1500 (just under) photo's from 2-3 cameras in a week. That impresses and delights me. My evening will be spent going through photo's.

Or not. My inlaws are coming and we really need to clean the apartment. They are his parents, maybe he should clean it up!

Taking a Step Backwords

I found an old workout book last night and looked it over. I realized a few things.

I really wish I had kept more of my workouts. This notebook must have been a team thing that lasted a few months. It contains what I ate as well as my workout for the day. Very handy now that I am swimming again. I could look at it for inspiration, that is if not for my other realization.

I am VERY slow. one of the first workouts has me doing 100's on 1:20 seconds. descending. If this were tried now I'm sure I wouldn't make even the first one! It is amazing to see how much I used to swim compared to what I can do now. (though i do have 1/2 the time).

I'm thinking I will start a second blog with my diet/workout though I'll try it out here first to see how much I like it. Maybe I'll make my life easier and add it to the bottom of every post and stick to workouts only. In that spirit her is tonight's swimming workout;

200 Warm up Done
10x25 sprint 35/40 rest 30 second interval!
100 cool down added
8x50 IM 10 second rest 1 minute interval!
5x100 Pull 1:40 1:50 Interval
8x50 Kick 50 seconds 1:20 Ish
100 cool down added
200 Hard (for time) 2:59, getting better
500 cool down 300 cool down

It should be interesting, for me anyway.

Excitment

Today was great skiing weather! It was fairly warm, the snow was packed powder.

Though one of my favorites was closed for racing training (the only trail they do this with) and another was in no shape to be skied the rest of the trails made up for it. For the most part the trails were not crowded at all. I did hear reports through the day of people getting injured and tried to ski well before or after the mini crowds that tend to ski together. For the most part this keeps accidents to a much smaller number. Today though my luck ran out (well not entirely).

I was skiing down a Intermediate trail when another skier flew past me only to stop at a strange point. I changed my trajectory a little to avoid being in his path. He shot by me again a little close for comfort, but I was glad to be rid of him when I was unexpectedly run over by another skier (I think it was a Skier). She ran over the back of my skis and hit me nearly in the middle of my back. I'm not really sure she could have avoided me, she was that dead on.

She apologized right away and we made sure we were both ok. Thankfully we were fine as it was a low speed crash. Pat said my fall was one of the most graceful he's seen. I did a few more runs and then called it quits as i was a little sore.

In all it was a great skiing day, with a minor unfortunate incident.

Gore Mountain

After thinking about nothing else for the last week, tonight was the night. Pat and I drove up to North Creek. The tickets were in my hand and ski's in the back of the car.

Pat drove the first section while I tried to nap for my section. I did get a little sleep before I was assigned the task of getting us to Albany, lucky for me it was only about 80 miles. 80 uneventful miles. After Albany Pat took over the driving and I stayed up keeping him company (awake). he had plenty of coffee though and had no problem with the end of the ride.

We stayed at the Valhaus. It is a nice but cheap room feet from the access road. We got a room with Adirondack furniture which put me in the skiing mood even further!

Best Invention Ever

My remaining purchases arrived. Specifically my RX goggles. They seemed comfortable (though I did only put them on for a short time) and they work. I should be able to see the pace clock from the far end of the pool with out squinting or guessing! I am so looking forward to trying them out. I'll let you know how it goes.

My swim tonight other then being partially blind was good. I did lots of IM work! and by lots I mean 100 Yards. I need to look at my old workouts to see how much I used to swim. It seems like 2x what I manage now. 2700 yards today in the pool and I need to figure out a way to keep better count so I can split it up a little better. The sets i am swimming now are of 50's and 100's, in groups of 500's easy to keep track of but I would like to do longer sets. Alas none of the swimming sites sell counters for individual swimmers, Other people must need them as well, It is not possible to be the only one that looses count between what lap and set you are on.

Maybe i need a team, but I like swimming on my own.

First Shipment

the first shipment of my online purchases came in today. Unfortunately not the swimming stuff, but it was nice to get a few pairs of the shoes that I ordered. They both fit well and looked nice. This shopping on line for shoes is great! I hope my luck keeps up!

Milestone

Today I reached another milestone in my retirement account. It seems as though the market has recovered at least a little. It was a nice surprise and hopefully it will last!

The rest of my day was more scatterbrained. I could not concentrate on anything so I chose a workout on 3 different machines hoping to stick with any workout today, it worked. I started on the stair climber. I had not used this machine before and it is a machine that I will not use again on a less then focused day. It requires concentration. Then the elliptical machine an old faithful for 20 minutes. I can always get my workout done on an elliptical!

I finished up with the bike. I dislike the bike. Don't get me wrong stick me on a bike outside and I will be happy, inside even with a TV it stinks!

I'm just glad it is Friday.

Blizard

By NJ standards they are calling for a blizzard (2-3 inches). Normally even this wouldn't affect my life but today they announced a casual day. How I love casual days!!! I stay warmer and happier all day in my jeans.

To add to the joy of my day I left 30 minutes early. True it was to go to a Dr's appointment but it was early just the same. I fully expected the Dr to yell at me because I had discontinued a medication and neglected to tell her (I did mean to call). Apparently tiredness is a side affect of the drug so she understood. She suggested I change around my medications to take the offending one at night but if the side affect continues I can just discontinue it.

Now I am at home awaiting the storm! (and missing a real snow storm).

Cleaning

Normally I clean only on the weekends (kitchen not included). Somehow this week the apartment is full of clutter. Today I chose to start thinning it out. something about coming home to a disaster of a living room is torturous. Especially after a good workout! I just want to relax.

So I finished putting away the laundry that was left (Pat's t-shirts are left for him). As well as looking through some of the clutter on the coffee tables. It looked a little better and I felt a little better. After cleaning the girls cage and the kitchen it was time for an episode of house. I am mostly done with the 3rd season. It is a great way to relax now that I have the portable DVD player that was a good purchase, if only I could get the car charger to work it would be perfect.

Purchases

Today was a shopping day for me. I wanted anti chlorine shampoo, body wash, and conditioner. This took me to a discount swimming site where i could have saved $10 over amazon (I checked myself) but I fell victim to an involuntary shopping spree. After adding deck shoes (Athletes foot can't be great), swimsuit cleaner by speedo (how many years of swimming I got through with out this product, not sure why i felt the need to purchase it), a few backup swim caps then I found what I had been wanting all along (I just did not know it). Prescription goggles.

To be able to see the pace clock with out squinting or guessing. I'm in love already.

I did talk myself out of some other stuff like pull buoys, paddles and a kick board. Maybe later but for now the pool has all but the paddles.

Then to my shoe mission. I needed new work shoes. I hate shopping for shoes. This weekend was very unsuccessful in this department. Determined, I found not 1 or 2 but 5 pairs of shoes. I may never need to shoe shop again!!! My wallet hopes so.

With all of my swimming purchases in mind, I hit the pool. Though my swimming is soo much slower then I had imagined, It felt great. As an experiment I did a final 200 all out for time and ended exactly at 3:00. Sad. At least it was at the end of the workout.

First workout fo the new year!

It was so crowded in the gym today. People were starting out strong on their new year resolutions. I am a little worried about how crowded the pool will be tomorrow.

The cardio room was pretty full but still had plenty of machines to go around. I stepped on a treadmill and it took me forever to get warmed up. I "ran" for 40 minutes then finished up with another 20 on a funny looking step like machine by Cybex. It is an interesting machine that I will use again but not too often, the treadmill just feels like a better workout.

I wonder how long the resolve will last!

More Mountains

No not more skiing unfortunately. Due to traveling and holidays we have neglected our laundry duty. Today was the day of reckoning. It took 10 loads despite the fact that most everything was clean coming back from Christmas break. It had been way too long.

In between loads of laundry I also accomplished baking Rustic bread (that was a little overdone) and chocolate chip cookies. I wish I could use my talents for good but some how baking is just more my thing. Cooking a great meal is not as much fun though maybe someday when I have more time (like if I commuted less) I will get into cooking meals.

New Year

Welcome to 2010.

Today was the perfect day for us. On the way up the mountain we stopped at a local ski store and purchased discounted lift tickets. We arrived at 9:30 at Belleyare and still got in the closest parking lot, we knew then it was going to be a great day.

It didn't take long to get dressed and on the slopes. The high traffic areas were icy but the trails off the beaten path were pretty nice. I hit all of my old favorites and it was not long before I had my ski legs back. I hope for a nice snowy winter in VT and NY. No I'm not including NJ as there is no where good to ski.

We arrived back in time to shower and go to bed early once again.