1) I'm finally getting my AWFUL sleep pattern under control!!! Yay!!!
2) I have been the worst at cooking in the last week. Absolutely horrific. If you don't ask me how many times I cooked, I'll tell you no lies.
3) I need a big change in my life. I'm feeling stuck.
4) And now for an unnecessarily long recap of my long run. Saturday, I ran out of my front door with a goal of going at least 11 miles on a wandering route through one of my favorite neighborhoods. I've done multiple short runs from my house but this was my first time attempting a long run from there. It was also the first time in a while (if ever??) that I tried eating shot bloks in lieu of actual food i.e. oatmeal with molasses and raisins or a peanut butter bagel or peanut butter sandwich. Oh did this bite me early. I wanted FOOD. Duh. I know myself. Other people can run on empty or near empty and not eat during but this is not me. Reminder: Only fix things that aren't working. No matter. Training is the time to try ridiculous things.
Knowing I would have to return on an uphill (a pretty evil and steep one at that), I wanted to start out very conservatively. But as cold as it was (46 degrees), my summer version of almost fast for the beginning of a long run (12:30/mile) felt excruciatingly slow. I knew if I could stay at that speed for a few miles, I could pick it up in the middle and end and finish strong up to my door. Except... at mile 4.5, I saw a lady from my running group running with one of her other running groups (she's in THREE) and she invited me to join them at 11:15 pace. I knew that might be a little fast for a long run but I was (as always) game to give it a shot. I felt better about it because I had banked some time early on.
Sometimes the pace felt easy and awesome, other times it felt utterly ridiculous and wretched and not, like you may think, just on hills. The hills felt mostly okay. I was able to keep up with others and recover pretty nicely which felt GREAT! I think the biggest problem that I wasn't as aware of at the time was the incessant variation in my pace. When I looked at my chart, I was going back and forth between 10s and 12s pretty constantly for 5.5 miles. How exhausting! I got tired just looking at it! If we'd actually stayed closer to 11:15, I probably would've been fine.
But I was overjoyed to break off from them once I finally looped back to a street I recognized about 10.5 miles in. I knew I was over 2.5 miles from home but I wasn't sure on the exact distance and I was nearing TIRED. And smelling lots of bacon and sausage scents wafting out of houses over those middle 8 miles. (No, I wasn't hallucinating!) I entertained myself by imagining I would knock on a door and ask for some bacon. LOLOL It was nice running off from a familiar route onto an unfamiliar route and not having to worry about how to get back. It would've been nicer if I could've been bothered to pay a little more attention so I can replicate it! LOL
It didn't take long for me to REALLY be ready to be done. Like another mile ready. But by this point I was approaching my favorite section of downhills. I told myself I EARNED those downhills and I wasn't about to start walking now! I kept giving myself goals of a little farther, a little farther until I got to the rudest uphill toward my house and ended it at 12.85 miles. I thought about getting to or surpassing my farthest ever distance of 13.1 and decided I was so tired it wasn't even worth it. At one point I said, "How annoyed will you be if you don't do it? It's only XX farther!" But my body said stop. And I don't regret it at all. I walked the last mile home at approximately 700 minutes/mile pace squinting like a crazy person as sweat burned my eyes. This doesn't happen during my runs but after? MY EYES!!
And now my left quad absolutely hates me. It's so achy and angry! I've prescribed yoga for myself and maybe another day layoff Tuesday depending on how much my quad does/does not cooperate. If it's at all tight like it is today, don't worry! I will sit myself down! I'll get in plenty of miles on Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday. Saturday will probably be 13 but this time at MY PACE!! Overall, I still consider this a good run because I completed it and learned some things. I also think I've stumbled on the strategy I want to use. Starting over half marathon pace (HMP), then dropping 10 seconds every three miles until I'm under HMP, sprint to the finish. I've also revised my goal down from 2:45 to 2:37 (12:00/mile). My race is December 1st. 40 days away!
10.22.2012
10.17.2012
35 Before 35
Yay!!! New goals!
1) REALLY learn to swim. I can float, I know what the strokes look like and I might not drown in a pool but yeah... it ain't pretty! Let's make it pretty!
2) Go parasailing.
3) Go waterskiing!
4) Have at least two children... Let's all pray for twins, thanks. I've always wanted them. I used to read books about twins and other multiples from about 4th grade on. AND I just found out girl twin in French is jumelle. That is way too close to the pronunciation of my name for me to say it's anything but a sign! :)
5) Read 26 more classic books.
⁃ a. The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. DuBois
⁃ b. 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez This is my bf Stace's fave book. I love Marquez's Love in the Time of Cholera so I'm not sure why I have avoided this book.
⁃ c. Soul on Ice by Eldridge Cleaver
⁃ d. Ain't I A Woman?: Black Women and Feminism by bell hooks
⁃ e. Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
⁃ f. The Art of War by Sun Tzu
⁃ g. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig
⁃ h. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
⁃ i. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
⁃ j. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott How I've gone so long w/o reading this in its entirety, I don't know.
⁃ h. A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor
⁃ i. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
⁃ j. The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain
⁃ k. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
⁃ l. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
⁃ m. Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee and Walker Evans
⁃ n. The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac
⁃ o. The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
⁃ p. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
⁃ q. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
⁃ r. You Can't Keep a Good Woman Down by Alice Walker
⁃ s. The Delta of Venus by Anais Nin
⁃ t. Gift of the Magi by O. Henry
⁃ u. Lady Chatterly's Lover by D.H. Lawrence
⁃ v. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
⁃ w. Emma by Jane Austen
⁃ x. Moby Dick by Herman Melville
⁃ y. Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
- z. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.
6) Pay off a student loan.
7) Take my mom on a trip out of the country.
8) Create a family tradition. I think an annual trip to the beach and/or out of the country would be amazing!
9) Maintain a budget for one year.
10) Read My Utmost for His Highest every day for a year.
11) Save $10,000 toward a house.
12) Eat a non-breakfast vegetarian meal one day per a week for a year.
13) Start a garden.
14) Go to Mexico (preferably with Rashan).
15) Learn to skateboard. Lol!
16) Take skiing lessons.
17) Go on an international cruise. I went on a river cruise of a few hours while in the Netherlands in 2000 but I want to cruise that lasts at least a few days.
18) Ride in a hot air balloon!
19) Make cheese. I saw Rick Bayless do it and now I want to do it myself!
20) Go trapeze-ing! Yessssss!! That sounds sooooo awesome!
21) Go to Taste of Chicago.
22) Win an major award for teaching or documentary.
23) Go paintballing!
24) Visit 5 new states.
25) Go to the Caribbean.
26) Run a half marathon.
27) Run a marathon.
28) Brush up on my French to become conversant again.
29) Reactivate my membership in my sorority.
30) Go to a Carolina Panthers game.
31) Run a race in another country.
32) Go to Vegas.
33) Complete a triathlon.
34) Complete a race to the top! You run up the stairs of a skyscraper. Sounds fun! Also, I'm gonna need some stair practice!
35) Complete my 30 Before 30 List. LOLOL
Any goals you want to hit?
1) REALLY learn to swim. I can float, I know what the strokes look like and I might not drown in a pool but yeah... it ain't pretty! Let's make it pretty!
2) Go parasailing.
3) Go waterskiing!
4) Have at least two children... Let's all pray for twins, thanks. I've always wanted them. I used to read books about twins and other multiples from about 4th grade on. AND I just found out girl twin in French is jumelle. That is way too close to the pronunciation of my name for me to say it's anything but a sign! :)
5) Read 26 more classic books.
⁃ a. The Souls of Black Folk by W.E.B. DuBois
⁃ b. 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez This is my bf Stace's fave book. I love Marquez's Love in the Time of Cholera so I'm not sure why I have avoided this book.
⁃ c. Soul on Ice by Eldridge Cleaver
⁃ d. Ain't I A Woman?: Black Women and Feminism by bell hooks
⁃ e. Gulliver's Travels by Jonathan Swift
⁃ f. The Art of War by Sun Tzu
⁃ g. Zen and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance by Robert M. Pirsig
⁃ h. Treasure Island by Robert Louis Stevenson
⁃ i. Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen
⁃ j. Little Women by Louisa May Alcott How I've gone so long w/o reading this in its entirety, I don't know.
⁃ h. A Good Man is Hard to Find by Flannery O'Connor
⁃ i. In Cold Blood by Truman Capote
⁃ j. The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain
⁃ k. As I Lay Dying by William Faulkner
⁃ l. Midnight's Children by Salman Rushdie
⁃ m. Let Us Now Praise Famous Men by James Agee and Walker Evans
⁃ n. The Dharma Bums by Jack Kerouac
⁃ o. The Lottery by Shirley Jackson
⁃ p. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf
⁃ q. The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
⁃ r. You Can't Keep a Good Woman Down by Alice Walker
⁃ s. The Delta of Venus by Anais Nin
⁃ t. Gift of the Magi by O. Henry
⁃ u. Lady Chatterly's Lover by D.H. Lawrence
⁃ v. Wuthering Heights by Emily Bronte
⁃ w. Emma by Jane Austen
⁃ x. Moby Dick by Herman Melville
⁃ y. Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
- z. The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain.
6) Pay off a student loan.
7) Take my mom on a trip out of the country.
8) Create a family tradition. I think an annual trip to the beach and/or out of the country would be amazing!
9) Maintain a budget for one year.
10) Read My Utmost for His Highest every day for a year.
11) Save $10,000 toward a house.
12) Eat a non-breakfast vegetarian meal one day per a week for a year.
13) Start a garden.
14) Go to Mexico (preferably with Rashan).
15) Learn to skateboard. Lol!
16) Take skiing lessons.
17) Go on an international cruise. I went on a river cruise of a few hours while in the Netherlands in 2000 but I want to cruise that lasts at least a few days.
18) Ride in a hot air balloon!
19) Make cheese. I saw Rick Bayless do it and now I want to do it myself!
20) Go trapeze-ing! Yessssss!! That sounds sooooo awesome!
21) Go to Taste of Chicago.
22) Win an major award for teaching or documentary.
23) Go paintballing!
24) Visit 5 new states.
25) Go to the Caribbean.
26) Run a half marathon.
27) Run a marathon.
28) Brush up on my French to become conversant again.
29) Reactivate my membership in my sorority.
30) Go to a Carolina Panthers game.
31) Run a race in another country.
32) Go to Vegas.
33) Complete a triathlon.
34) Complete a race to the top! You run up the stairs of a skyscraper. Sounds fun! Also, I'm gonna need some stair practice!
35) Complete my 30 Before 30 List. LOLOL
Any goals you want to hit?
10.15.2012
Monday Mindspacing Vol. 151
1) I have at least 5 gift cards with $.94 to $5 on them... to 5 different stores (Crate & Barrel, Express, Container Store, Macy's, Madewell). Does that make me a failure??? If so, does it help that I've used every last penny on every Target gift card I've ever had? LOL
2) The comments on some of the most popular blogs I read have me convinced the popularity is just not worth the headache. Why are people so mean???
3) Lord help me. I'm so jealous of everyone who has run a half marathon in the last 3 months. SO JEALOUS!!! Can I say I'm appalled at the prices of these races, though? So appalled. The NY Marathon is $255. Totorture challenge yourself for 26.2 miles. Other marathons are about $60-100. Considering the logistics (road closures, security and timing being top concerns) surrounding a race of this distance, I don't want to but will almost allow $90-100 but anything over that is highway robbery. Many races are too expensive, period. That's the real reason I've only done a handful of races this year. Even with 5Ks and 10Ks at $25 to $45 on average, it starts to add up and unfortunately, it's just not in the budget.
4) If you've run during the heat of the summer, your time gets a huge boost when the temperatures drop in the fall. I can't tell you how exciting and gratifying that is to watch in myself! With running (like so much else), consistency is key. Your body will adapt to what you're asking it to do if you just keep running consistently. Really! I looked back at my times over the last year and I've dropped 2 minutes per mile on my slowest days. SOOOO exciting! :)
5) Last week I surpassed my goal of reading 52 books this year. Woohoo! That's due in large part to the 8 books I read in January and September and 7 each in February and March. I'm now at 54 books and going to keep going. Do I create a new goal of 60 or 65 or just wing it? I think I'll wing it.
6) I'm going to post my 35 Before 35 list this week. YAY!!!
7) I also start working as a poll worker for early voting this week. EXTRA YAY!!! How did I not know they paid people for this?? I volunteered to help with kids voting when I was a teenager and loved it.
8) I've already started planning my menu for Thanksgiving... I can't help myself! It's just over a month away and I got a Thanksgiving issue of a food mag in the mail last week so I feel justified! Thank you, food magazine publishers, for fueling my obsession!
9) My film got into another festival! Yay!!!
10) The best thing about starting work this week (after money)? Returning to a normal sleep pattern!! I'm so sick of sleeping a few hours at a time. It's absolutely ridiculous and I can never stop it until I have a reason to leave the house at a normal, non-running, hour.
11) In my shout out to new shows I like, I left out "Ben & Kate." I dig it! :) Of old shows, New Girl is amusing, Dexter needs to kill someone and "How I Met Your Mother" is frustrating me like no other! OH MY GOODNESS TAKE ME TO THE MOTHER AND SHOW THIS DOGGONE BARNEY WEDDING!!!!
12) Don't tell anyone... but I've heard some pseudo holiday sounding music & I'm tempted to break out my Christmas music already. I know, guys! I know! But I just can't help myself! I'm proud I've made it this far! I've been known to pop out the Christmas music in September for the year and randomly in March or July. I'll try to make it through the week but I make no promises! (Just talking about this means I probably won't even make it through the day. LOL)
2) The comments on some of the most popular blogs I read have me convinced the popularity is just not worth the headache. Why are people so mean???
3) Lord help me. I'm so jealous of everyone who has run a half marathon in the last 3 months. SO JEALOUS!!! Can I say I'm appalled at the prices of these races, though? So appalled. The NY Marathon is $255. To
4) If you've run during the heat of the summer, your time gets a huge boost when the temperatures drop in the fall. I can't tell you how exciting and gratifying that is to watch in myself! With running (like so much else), consistency is key. Your body will adapt to what you're asking it to do if you just keep running consistently. Really! I looked back at my times over the last year and I've dropped 2 minutes per mile on my slowest days. SOOOO exciting! :)
5) Last week I surpassed my goal of reading 52 books this year. Woohoo! That's due in large part to the 8 books I read in January and September and 7 each in February and March. I'm now at 54 books and going to keep going. Do I create a new goal of 60 or 65 or just wing it? I think I'll wing it.
6) I'm going to post my 35 Before 35 list this week. YAY!!!
7) I also start working as a poll worker for early voting this week. EXTRA YAY!!! How did I not know they paid people for this?? I volunteered to help with kids voting when I was a teenager and loved it.
8) I've already started planning my menu for Thanksgiving... I can't help myself! It's just over a month away and I got a Thanksgiving issue of a food mag in the mail last week so I feel justified! Thank you, food magazine publishers, for fueling my obsession!
9) My film got into another festival! Yay!!!
10) The best thing about starting work this week (after money)? Returning to a normal sleep pattern!! I'm so sick of sleeping a few hours at a time. It's absolutely ridiculous and I can never stop it until I have a reason to leave the house at a normal, non-running, hour.
11) In my shout out to new shows I like, I left out "Ben & Kate." I dig it! :) Of old shows, New Girl is amusing, Dexter needs to kill someone and "How I Met Your Mother" is frustrating me like no other! OH MY GOODNESS TAKE ME TO THE MOTHER AND SHOW THIS DOGGONE BARNEY WEDDING!!!!
12) Don't tell anyone... but I've heard some pseudo holiday sounding music & I'm tempted to break out my Christmas music already. I know, guys! I know! But I just can't help myself! I'm proud I've made it this far! I've been known to pop out the Christmas music in September for the year and randomly in March or July. I'll try to make it through the week but I make no promises! (Just talking about this means I probably won't even make it through the day. LOL)
10.08.2012
Monday Mindspacing Vol. 150
1) Remember how I look forward to being a grandma more than a mom (more fun)? Rashan and I have decided upon our names as grandparents. I was going with Grandma until he said he wants to be Pop. So I'll be Nana. Nana and Pop goes together. :)
2) When I was going running the other day, Rashan was smiling at me randomly. I said, "What??" He said, "My wife is beautiful." SWOON!
3) I'm so glad tv is back! But Thursday is a crazy TV day for me. Yikes! Anyway... New shows: I like "The Mindy Project" and "Go On." "Partners" was okay but I can't see it lasting. "The Neighbors" amuses me. "The New Normal" is still wretched but the little girl's Little Edie (from "Grey Gardens") was magnificent! "Guys with Kids" is a fail. Worst? "Animal Practice." Never watch it. I'm secretly obsessed with which shows get cancelled with. Secret's out.
4) If you haven't seen the premiere of "The Office" yet, skip this.... I'm so sad Dwight's not the father. :((((( I love them together. That episode started wrapping up too much stuff for me. I'M NOT READY!! But Creed has been cracking me up this season!
5) I get strange desires for food. No I'm not pregnant. This isn't new. But I'm ever more susceptible to commercials and food shows. It's ridiculous.
6) My left ankle is being intermittently mean to me. Make it stop.
7) I read several blogs where people put nut butter (healthy bloggers love the term nut butter) on waffles. I cooked two waffles, put peanut butter between them and topped both with syrup. YES, LORD! The bloggers were right! Bless them.
8) We get a Trader Joe's here on OCTOBER 26TH!!! YAY!!!! I haven't lived in a city with a TJ since 2008!! I'll probably get a job hundreds of miles away a week before they open. LOL I'll take the trade-off. Hopefully it will be in a city where TJs is also just 6 minutes away!
9) Nearly no one gets this about me but... I almost hate running with music. It's an unnecessary distraction for me. I only use it occasionally when running alone and then low enough that I can hear my surroundings. With other people, I'm chattering. In a race, I'm working hard and absorbing what's happening. A lot of people find music helps them in rough patches. That is when music most irritates me. I'm always like "SHUT UP!!" And rip out the earphones. I know! Extreme! Before I started running, I was a "leave the gym if you don't have your ipod" kind of girl. I'm not even sure how the change began but it was somewhere in my 3rd month of running.
10) Somehow I forgot to mention I lost my race porta potty virginity at the BGR! race! All of my other races had non-porta bathrooms available. I hadn't used a porta potty since softball at age 8. What a difference! Spacious, with toilet seats & paper and HAND SANITIZER!! And since it was dark and there were no lines, free of trauma. Hallelujah! (And you're welcome for sharing!)
11) I'm reading the new J.K. Rowling novel mostly because it got terrible reviews. LOL I'm a little over halfway through and I must say, there's nothing like a 500-page book where the first 100+ pages are a slog of too many characters. Yes. Yes, I mean this book.
12) I'm going to be a poll worker for early voting this year. Can't. Wait. We had an orientation with the temp agency that does staffing for the county. It was supposed to start at 3 and last about 30 minutes. I was there at 2:50. A woman strolls in at 3:04. Orientation actually started at 3:10. This man walks in at NO LIE, 3:28. 3:28!?!? We started 10 minutes late and you're still an additional 18 minutes late??? What if it started on time and actually lasted 30 minutes?? Mess. I expect many much more delicious stories. Oh the blog fodder!
2) When I was going running the other day, Rashan was smiling at me randomly. I said, "What??" He said, "My wife is beautiful." SWOON!
3) I'm so glad tv is back! But Thursday is a crazy TV day for me. Yikes! Anyway... New shows: I like "The Mindy Project" and "Go On." "Partners" was okay but I can't see it lasting. "The Neighbors" amuses me. "The New Normal" is still wretched but the little girl's Little Edie (from "Grey Gardens") was magnificent! "Guys with Kids" is a fail. Worst? "Animal Practice." Never watch it. I'm secretly obsessed with which shows get cancelled with. Secret's out.
4) If you haven't seen the premiere of "The Office" yet, skip this.... I'm so sad Dwight's not the father. :((((( I love them together. That episode started wrapping up too much stuff for me. I'M NOT READY!! But Creed has been cracking me up this season!
5) I get strange desires for food. No I'm not pregnant. This isn't new. But I'm ever more susceptible to commercials and food shows. It's ridiculous.
6) My left ankle is being intermittently mean to me. Make it stop.
7) I read several blogs where people put nut butter (healthy bloggers love the term nut butter) on waffles. I cooked two waffles, put peanut butter between them and topped both with syrup. YES, LORD! The bloggers were right! Bless them.
8) We get a Trader Joe's here on OCTOBER 26TH!!! YAY!!!! I haven't lived in a city with a TJ since 2008!! I'll probably get a job hundreds of miles away a week before they open. LOL I'll take the trade-off. Hopefully it will be in a city where TJs is also just 6 minutes away!
9) Nearly no one gets this about me but... I almost hate running with music. It's an unnecessary distraction for me. I only use it occasionally when running alone and then low enough that I can hear my surroundings. With other people, I'm chattering. In a race, I'm working hard and absorbing what's happening. A lot of people find music helps them in rough patches. That is when music most irritates me. I'm always like "SHUT UP!!" And rip out the earphones. I know! Extreme! Before I started running, I was a "leave the gym if you don't have your ipod" kind of girl. I'm not even sure how the change began but it was somewhere in my 3rd month of running.
10) Somehow I forgot to mention I lost my race porta potty virginity at the BGR! race! All of my other races had non-porta bathrooms available. I hadn't used a porta potty since softball at age 8. What a difference! Spacious, with toilet seats & paper and HAND SANITIZER!! And since it was dark and there were no lines, free of trauma. Hallelujah! (And you're welcome for sharing!)
11) I'm reading the new J.K. Rowling novel mostly because it got terrible reviews. LOL I'm a little over halfway through and I must say, there's nothing like a 500-page book where the first 100+ pages are a slog of too many characters. Yes. Yes, I mean this book.
12) I'm going to be a poll worker for early voting this year. Can't. Wait. We had an orientation with the temp agency that does staffing for the county. It was supposed to start at 3 and last about 30 minutes. I was there at 2:50. A woman strolls in at 3:04. Orientation actually started at 3:10. This man walks in at NO LIE, 3:28. 3:28!?!? We started 10 minutes late and you're still an additional 18 minutes late??? What if it started on time and actually lasted 30 minutes?? Mess. I expect many much more delicious stories. Oh the blog fodder!
10.03.2012
Broke Phi Broke
Early this morning I watched the latest installment of ESPN's "30 for 30" series: Broke. It had in depth interviews with athletes who literally lost millions of dollars, ending in bankruptcy and millions of dollars in debt for some of them. While it was a fascinating train wreck, like the director of the film, I was surprised by how much I empathized with the athletes. Yes, it is unfathomable to earn and lose 40 to 100 million dollars. Even 10 million! But a lot of them were duped by family and friends, sometimes their own parents. Can you imagine your mother giving you a 25,000 bill for raising you? On your birthday? According to one anecdote, this actually happened. While technically I know people have toxic relationships with their parents, it still shocks me.
Another downfall was generosity. I love giving people things I know they'll love! Basically these men (every athlete interviewed was a man... I would've liked to hear from some of the women) didn't know how to say no. No, I can't pay your rent. No, you can't have $200 or $300 every month for YOUR child support (not their own children) or car payment. No, I can't pay your cell phone bill. No, I can't support five households until I can't support one.
Mostly I tried not to make judgments but some of it was just plain stupidity. STOP MAKING BABIES WITH STRANGE WOMEN!! Don't spend a mortgage on jewelery. BUY HOUSES OUTRIGHT WHILE YOU CAN AFFORD IT SO YOU AREN'T HOMELESS WHEN YOU CAN'T. BUY A NORMAL-SIZED HOUSE!!! No one needs a 52,000 square foot house. No one. Somehow they forgot or never realized that 1) it all adds up and 2) the money ends.
At the end, I didn't want to spend any money. Okay. I wanted to spend $10 this week and the next one. I know this is an extreme reaction but I'm a spender. I like buying and having stuff. But I don't ever want to be the athlete version of myself: tens of thousands of dollars of income and nothing to show for it. Do you know the last time I bought an item of clothing not tied to a free gift card? Me either. I'm pretty sure it's been more than a year. I want an award.
Thank God my parents drilled into me the evils of credit cards. I have one credit card that could be paid off in less than a paycheck. My debt is from student loans. This period of unemployment has reigned me in but over-spending happens in every income bracket. I'm glad Rashan is extremely level-headed about money even though and ESPECIALLY BECAUSE I want to be reckless sometimes. God knew what he was doing when He placed him in my life. I will have my moments again but if I plan well, I should be able to go a lot farther than I ever have before.
Another downfall was generosity. I love giving people things I know they'll love! Basically these men (every athlete interviewed was a man... I would've liked to hear from some of the women) didn't know how to say no. No, I can't pay your rent. No, you can't have $200 or $300 every month for YOUR child support (not their own children) or car payment. No, I can't pay your cell phone bill. No, I can't support five households until I can't support one.
Mostly I tried not to make judgments but some of it was just plain stupidity. STOP MAKING BABIES WITH STRANGE WOMEN!! Don't spend a mortgage on jewelery. BUY HOUSES OUTRIGHT WHILE YOU CAN AFFORD IT SO YOU AREN'T HOMELESS WHEN YOU CAN'T. BUY A NORMAL-SIZED HOUSE!!! No one needs a 52,000 square foot house. No one. Somehow they forgot or never realized that 1) it all adds up and 2) the money ends.
At the end, I didn't want to spend any money. Okay. I wanted to spend $10 this week and the next one. I know this is an extreme reaction but I'm a spender. I like buying and having stuff. But I don't ever want to be the athlete version of myself: tens of thousands of dollars of income and nothing to show for it. Do you know the last time I bought an item of clothing not tied to a free gift card? Me either. I'm pretty sure it's been more than a year. I want an award.
Thank God my parents drilled into me the evils of credit cards. I have one credit card that could be paid off in less than a paycheck. My debt is from student loans. This period of unemployment has reigned me in but over-spending happens in every income bracket. I'm glad Rashan is extremely level-headed about money even though and ESPECIALLY BECAUSE I want to be reckless sometimes. God knew what he was doing when He placed him in my life. I will have my moments again but if I plan well, I should be able to go a lot farther than I ever have before.
9.29.2012
30 Before 30 Update Pt. II
Find part I here. And here's the rest! There are fewer things crossed off of my list but I feel better about this half.
16) Find a church. Not just any church, one that speaks to my soul. Sigh. I haven't even really been trying lately.
17) Prepare a six-course meal. I added this so late that I forgot about it! I need to make up an occasion to make this happen... Hmmm... A Saturday?? :)
18) Learn how to hem clothing (on a sewing machine). It's such a mess that my grandmother is a seamstress and I can't do this!
19) Play laser tag! My mom is anti-toy guns so we weren't allowed to go as kids. As I got older, I always wanted to and never did it. Plus this seems like a stupid thing to have on a 35 before 35 list. LOL Since I didn't do it before 30... I guess it's basically on that list! And I'm cool with that. I don't feel too old to play laser tag!
20) Make a house a home via decoration! I'm itching to do this! 'Twill be awesome when it happens! Our place is so small and I'm so ready to move on from here that I don't have a desire to decorate.
21) Tour a brewery! :) [7/14/10] Sooo fun. I liked this even better than the winery! Let's do it again!
22) Find my perfect shade of red lipstick. [12/24/10] I don't wear it often but I love it when I do!
23) Make AND KEEP a budget. I've done some budgeting for our household but not enough to feel like I can consider this a success.
24) Take a dance class for some dance you have to get pretty for!
:) [8/22/12] This was just okay. It was a salsa class at a bar. Rashan
was too self-conscious to dance with me because there were so few men
there. It was weird to dance with someone other than my husband with him
sitting right there. I'll be back.
25) Read 10 classic books: [12/17/10] I enjoyed this so much that I multiplied the number for 35 Before 35!
a. Pride & Prejudice [6/6/10] LOVED IT!! I will read this many times!
b. Oliver Twist [8/14/10] Liked it a lot. The neat wrap up was rather ridiculous at the end. My 2nd e-book.
c. Catch 22
[5/15/11] A historical fiction about a WWII bombing squadron from the
officers' and fliers' perspectives. I really hated reading this. It
was out of sequence and went in circles so you heard the same story with
different details two or three or four times. Incredibly frustrating
at times. Moderately interesting at others. It took me months to finish
this month. I'm so glad to be done. Good riddance.
d. Catcher in the Rye
[1/13/11] I can absolutely see why this one was banned. I don't
particularly enjoy being cursed out the entire time I'm reading a book.
It was a pretty easy read. Very stream-of-consciousness which I was
actually far more tolerant of than I've ever been before.
e. Grapes of Wrath
[8/20/11] Loved it!! OMG I didn't expect to like this book about the
dust bowl migration but I did! It's a classic for a reason! He
skillfully interweaves general migration stories with the tale of the
Joad family-- complete with a strong matriarch and a likeable murderer.
Right!? Loved it.
f. The Great Gatsby [5/2/11]
It's the story of a mysterious man living among the filthy rich. The
cadence of the writing felt off to me from the beginning, I didn't
particularly connect with any of the characters. It all felt
frivolous. I can honestly say I didn't enjoy this book.
g. Invisible Man
[12/17/11] Slow start but really sped up after the first 150-200 pages.
Made me want to read a literary critique. How often do you get to say
that??? Have I EVER said that??? LOL
h. Lord of the Flies [12/2011] It was just okay. I wondered more about what happened to the boys AFTER they left the island.
i. Their Eyes Were Watching God [12/4/11] Loved it! Such an amazing love story.
j. Uncle Tom's Cabin
[7/15/10- Slow start, intriguing & at times infuriating middle,
shark-jumping end. My first e-book. That experience alone was an
adjustment.].
26) Go to an opera! [10/5/10] I'll go again! With my mom this time!
27) Get my name in the newspaper. [8/2011]
A local paper covered a class I taught at an area high school. I
originally wanted my name in the paper five times but this will do!
28) Enter a food competition with my own recipe. [7/31/11] Entered a Taste of Home breakfast recipe contest. I never heard back but I want to enter more competitions.
29) Watch AFI's Top 100 movies.
When I put this on the list, it felt like a chore. And sometimes during
the process it felt like a chore. But I also came across some great
films I never would've watched.
[12/28/11]
30) Get a job I love. [8/15/10] I'd never had
one of these. I've been happy for periods of times at my old jobs but I
can't say I'd ever had a job I loved until I became a teacher. Now let's go find another one!
16) Find a church. Not just any church, one that speaks to my soul. Sigh. I haven't even really been trying lately.
17) Prepare a six-course meal. I added this so late that I forgot about it! I need to make up an occasion to make this happen... Hmmm... A Saturday?? :)
18) Learn how to hem clothing (on a sewing machine). It's such a mess that my grandmother is a seamstress and I can't do this!
19) Play laser tag! My mom is anti-toy guns so we weren't allowed to go as kids. As I got older, I always wanted to and never did it. Plus this seems like a stupid thing to have on a 35 before 35 list. LOL Since I didn't do it before 30... I guess it's basically on that list! And I'm cool with that. I don't feel too old to play laser tag!
20) Make a house a home via decoration! I'm itching to do this! 'Twill be awesome when it happens! Our place is so small and I'm so ready to move on from here that I don't have a desire to decorate.
23) Make AND KEEP a budget. I've done some budgeting for our household but not enough to feel like I can consider this a success.
9.27.2012
30 Before 30 Update Pt. I
I have a hint of 35 Before 35 for before we get into how I did with my 30 Before 30. One of the 35 things I want to do? Finish my 30 Before 30 list! :) That includes some things from the 30 Before 30 that I knew ahead of time I wouldn't be able to complete and migrated to that list and the things still outstanding.
I didn't finish the list which I'm kind of okay about but y'all know I like setting and achieving a goal. I knew by June that I wasn't going to be able to finish this list by August 23, 2012. Some things were cost prohibitive but here's what I accomplished and how I feel about it. The stars are all the things Rashan refused to do with me. LOL It got kind of long so I'll post part two tomorrow.
1) Get married. :))))) [7/1/11] Obviously this is one of the happiest things in my life! One year later, it still feels like just the beginning (of course) and at times like we've been together a while. I love navigating and getting to know our life together.
2) Get one of my films into a festival. [8/25/12!!!] Yay!!! Super extra awesome news! We're so excited!
3) Go skydiving.* I've always wanted to do this! And I definitely still will.
4) Ride a mechanical bull for at least :08. How ridiculous is it that this is still on my list? It should've been one of the first things I got done! I just knew it would be! Ah well. If there was a non-sketchy place in town that had one it would be done.
5) Go on a helicopter ride. I CAN'T WAIT for this!
6) Go white water rafting.* My sister definitely said she'll do this with me. Yay!
7) Use my passport again. It's been 10 years!! My passport expired in May 2010... Clearly one of those cost-prohibitive things. I'd love to get it done before the end of the year. COME ON, JOB!
8) Read the entire Bible. [Started 5/31/10][Finished 10/20/11] I loved this and didn't at the same time. I have multiple different approaches throughout the 18 or so months it took me to complete this. First I just took the verses from "Our Daily Bread" and read the entire chapter, 2 chapters per day. Then I decided if I got really into a story, I could read as many chapters as I wanted. That worked for a while. If I read early in the day, before I did anything else, I noticed a positive effect on my day. Then I had a bit of a faith struggle. One thing I didn't expect as I proceeded, I felt less strong in my faith and it was freaking me out. There were things I just didn't agree with or understand I felt like no one could make me understand it. My mom said it was normal.That made me feel better... but still concerned. This entire year, I've read only sporadically. I'm still unanchored. What I'm doing is not working. I need a change.
9) Run a 5k. I've been saying this for years so it's time to actually do it!! [10/16/11] Wow. I soooo had no idea how this would change my entire life. This one goal has shaped the biggest non-Rashan-related change in my life. I run to feel calm and happy. When I know my body needs a rest day, I take it but it can be like TORTURE!! One day off, okay. Two??? My body starts whining and my brain starts begging for it. No lie. So crazy. And awesome. Since I created this goal, I've done four 5Ks. I'm super excited about what's to come!
10) Take a cooking class. There have been multiple free cooking classes in my area WHEN I'M OUT OF TOWN!! CONSPIRACY!!
11) Go wine tasting in North Carolina Wine Country. [8/23/11] Fun! I definitely want to do more!
12) Cook my way through Tyler's Ultimate cookbook. It's achievable by sheer volume (there are about 100 recipes) but still difficult enough because of the techniques required to be interesting. And with some of those ingredients, it will be a true stretch of my ability to follow a recipe. I'm still working on this but I've completed 60/100. This book has definitely helped me grow as a cook. I'm confident I can make absolutely anything if you give me a recipe. Except fried chicken. I failed at that and beef stew. But banged out some technically difficult dishes. Nuts. I have too many that I liked to start listing them here but we learned that Rashan doesn't like fruit with meat. I'm more open to it than ever before. My mother-in-law is OBSESSED with the ultimate french onion soup. I'm now required to make it every time I see her. I like cauliflower now! I don't think I'd ever had it cooked before. There were a ton of things I'd never had before this book but I think that's my favorite standout! Oh! And I never would've thought I'd make barbecue sauce but I made TWO and both were amazing!
13) Go to a gun range and shoot it out!* Don't ask what IT is! Lol. I've been looking forward to this for a good 10 years. This will absolutely happen in the next five.
14) Work out 3xs a week for a full year. [7/24/12] I'd done it before (for almost 2) and I wanted to do it again. When I made this list, I was in such a workout rut. I had just lived minutes from a FREE gym and gone a handful of times. Running definitely kept me on track with this goal! I had a two-day week last month and I was a little disappointed but I know missing a few days isn't going to derail me. Lifestyle change.
15)
Run a 10K. I would never have imagined I'd be bitten by the running bug
enough to want to do this before 30 but I really do! [3/17/12] And now I've done three 10Ks! :)
I didn't finish the list which I'm kind of okay about but y'all know I like setting and achieving a goal. I knew by June that I wasn't going to be able to finish this list by August 23, 2012. Some things were cost prohibitive but here's what I accomplished and how I feel about it. The stars are all the things Rashan refused to do with me. LOL It got kind of long so I'll post part two tomorrow.
3) Go skydiving.* I've always wanted to do this! And I definitely still will.
4) Ride a mechanical bull for at least :08. How ridiculous is it that this is still on my list? It should've been one of the first things I got done! I just knew it would be! Ah well. If there was a non-sketchy place in town that had one it would be done.
5) Go on a helicopter ride. I CAN'T WAIT for this!
6) Go white water rafting.* My sister definitely said she'll do this with me. Yay!
7) Use my passport again. It's been 10 years!! My passport expired in May 2010... Clearly one of those cost-prohibitive things. I'd love to get it done before the end of the year. COME ON, JOB!
10) Take a cooking class. There have been multiple free cooking classes in my area WHEN I'M OUT OF TOWN!! CONSPIRACY!!
12) Cook my way through Tyler's Ultimate cookbook. It's achievable by sheer volume (there are about 100 recipes) but still difficult enough because of the techniques required to be interesting. And with some of those ingredients, it will be a true stretch of my ability to follow a recipe. I'm still working on this but I've completed 60/100. This book has definitely helped me grow as a cook. I'm confident I can make absolutely anything if you give me a recipe. Except fried chicken. I failed at that and beef stew. But banged out some technically difficult dishes. Nuts. I have too many that I liked to start listing them here but we learned that Rashan doesn't like fruit with meat. I'm more open to it than ever before. My mother-in-law is OBSESSED with the ultimate french onion soup. I'm now required to make it every time I see her. I like cauliflower now! I don't think I'd ever had it cooked before. There were a ton of things I'd never had before this book but I think that's my favorite standout! Oh! And I never would've thought I'd make barbecue sauce but I made TWO and both were amazing!
13) Go to a gun range and shoot it out!* Don't ask what IT is! Lol. I've been looking forward to this for a good 10 years. This will absolutely happen in the next five.
9.22.2012
Race Recap: BGR! 10K
This race included a whole weekend's worth of events. I have a goal to run a race in all 50 states. I have my Georgia 10K! 2 states down, only 48 to go! LOL If you're wondering how (we'll ignore why... obviously because I'm nutty!), I want to visit all 50 states anyway so I'll make some of these visits combos!
The night before the race, I attended an awards banquet with delicious food. I had mushroom tortellini, fettucini with summer squash, turkey meatballs, a salad with mixed greens, cheese, lite caesar dressing and grilled chicken. Dessert (right) was a chocolate cup filled with fruit & yogurt. Very yummy!
The speaker was a 75-year-old body building champion.
AMAZING body! And so inspirational! She did one-legged push-ups at the banquet. I'm sayin! I'm definitely trying to be that fit in 45 years! Can I get an amen??? I was getting chills and near tears at the banquet thinking about how two women started a blog three years ago and in just the last 18 months it's grown to more than 70 running groups around the nation serving tens of thousands of women. And I was there to witness & participate in the inaugural race & honors dinner! AWESOME!!
After the banquet, I went to a mixer for group leaders very briefly since it was already late and I had to be up at 5 to prep for the race. I would've loved even more time with them. Such a wonderful experience to talk with other women from across the nation who are helping their communities! I might have sneaked a half glass of wine. MAYBE. LOL I have never had any alcohol the night before a race. Playing fast and loose!
Rashan & I got back to our hotel around 10:45. Before the banquet, I'd laid out my clothes and set up the coffeemaker so the only thing I had to do in the morning was press brew. I was so keyed up I didn't think I was going to be able to sleep. It didn't even matter that I'd only slept for 2 hours the day before. (I sleep horribly up to two days before races.) But I was pleasantly surprised to fall asleep before 11:30. I woke up with a start thinking I'd slept through the race. This is how my brain wakes up on race day. I grabbed my phone and saw it was only 3:08. The race is at 7. It's too early to eat or do anything else but surf the web so surf I do.
A sampling of my manic race morning tweets:
1) And I've now been up almost an hour. At this point I'm kind of scared to go back to sleep! As usual! Lol
2) I don't enjoy sleeping in king sized beds but these pillows are giving Rashan a run for his money under love of my life status.
3) I want some eggs. And toast. And a pickle. What the... Everybody watch out after the race. Eating all the food!
4) The 5k starts 30 minutes after the 10k. I'll be interested to see how finishing next to 5kers affects my race. In the best way, I hope!
5) I'm getting crazy hungry but I don't feel like getting out of bed. More races should start at 7 p.m. instead of 7 a.m. I would love that!
6) When Rashan gets up, he'll be so happy he wasn't to recipient of this chatter. Lol I'm always on 10 in the morning.
7) Let me clarify: RACE morning! Lol Important distinction.
All of those tweets were within 20-30 minutes. CRAZY! Rashan usually hates how peppy I am pre-race but this morning he was actually awake at 4 a.m. and fine with my energy! YAY! I brewed my coffee, ate a peanut butter sandwich & showered. Somehow I was still rushing to leave by 5:30. INSANE!! I grabbed some of our hotel's free cookies for Rashan as he got the car. Since I already had on my race bib, the hotel staff definitely heckled me. LOLOL "You're gonna have a cookie before the race???" LOL! No!
We hopped in the car and headed to Atlantic Station. We parked and took a quick picture! :) I love my number one race supporter! He tolerates a lot of my crazy running chatter. I literally talk about running every single day. Considering he has no interest in running, it is a wonderful thing that I married a very patient man! :)
As you can see, it was DARK. Why? Because it was 6 a.m.!! This is wrong. Running and traveling are the only things that get me up at that hour. Despite my night owl tendency, I am a ball of energy all morning on race day and this race was certainly no different! There might have been even more excitement in honor of this historic event!
I thought about my goals again. A) 1:09:00 B) 1:10:00 C) Personal Record so 1:13:45 or faster. There was a BEAUTIFUL rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner. After that we couldn't hear anything happening on the stage (we didn't know there was a prayer until people closer to the stage said, "Amen") so we actually missed the start. I was turned around facing the stage when the people from my running group were like, "Oh. I guess we're starting." I turn around and people are streaming through the start line. Um. Okay.
It turns out the 5K and 10K were starting at the same time
after all. I was soooo excited to be running! Hence my blurry shot of joy! :) All of my phone pics look like this while I'm running. LOL You can KINDA see the sun was just breaking the horizon. Even though I don't like being up that early, I love sunrise! And because I worked overnights in Pittsburgh, they always remind me of my time there. I saw the sunrise 5+ times a week for 3 years. It never got old. Look at God.
The first mile, we were running out of Atlantic Station. It was mostly flat and/or down hill. I ran with one of my group members for a few minutes and chatted with her and assorted random people. Do you see those town homes off to the right? I commented on how hilarious it is that people were asleep inside, some of them likely with no idea that 3000 people were running past. LOL Can you imagine waking up to that?
Shortly after, we hit the first mile marker. At this point I feel like the race might be short because I haven't heard a one-mile notification from my phone. Then a few seconds later it goes off. Cool. Except I'm moving way too slowly. I always do this in races. I'm so conscious of not going out too fast (and crashing and burning the later miles) that I go out too slow. Drives me nuts. I wrote my pace times on my arm again so I know I need to pick up the pace a little. I'm about 2 minutes under pace. Heading into mile two, two guys were calling out the 5K/10K split... no signs. Several people missed the split and went on the wrong course. Impromptu longer/shorter race distance? Not awesome. I run 5Ks and 10Ks completely differently. 5Ks will now be all out the whole time. If I drop a little at some point, fine, but I'm going all out and hanging on the best I can. Back to the 10K... I was certain I was on the right course (going up a good sized hill as far as steepness) and still felt a little nervous. Not too long after, we hit the two-mile marker. I glance down at my arm. Yikes! Still too slow! Like 4-5 minutes too slow. I speed up a little more, knowing there are a good number of hills still ahead.
There were very few people on the course as we ran through Georgia Tech's campus but at one point, there were a few workers sitting along the side. They were silently amused so I heckled them to cheer for us. LOL Apparently we also ran past a frat house with beer cans scattered across the lawn and a kid passed out on a leather couch. Whaaa??? LOL I so wish I'd seen that! I fell out when I saw this picture! I wonder if he ever woke up during the race...
When we hit mile 3, I see I've picked up a little time but was still under pace. I speed up a little more and think about my idea of hitting the hills at pace and taking the downhills and flats a little fast. I also decide I'm having such a great time at this race, encouraging people, chatting (Cute shirt!) and soaking up the atmosphere that as long as I PR, I'm good!
Mile 4 was a blur but I glanced down, saw I'd picked up still more time and was getting very close to being back on pace. But I knew I'd need to pick it up again. The hills were rolling but not too bad. Definitely not worse than anything I'm used to running. [I heard the Floridians were MISERABLE. This makes me really REALLY want to run a half marathon or full marathon in Florida! :)] I decided at this point that not only would I run faster and do my fastest miles of the race for the last two, but if it didn't hurt a little at the end, I wasn't doing enough.
I had my own water with me so at each water station, I'd skip the first people handing out water while deciding whether or not to take water then grab from the last person. I accidentally poured water all over myself while trying to drink and run at every station. LOL This made me really glad I had my own water. It felt hotter than I was expecting out there. Nowhere near what I'd been running in all summer but hotter than expected.
At the 5th mile marker, I tried to enjoy some downhill and flat stretches knowing from the course elevation chart that there was still a monster ahead. Not too far afterward I heard someone who had run the route in practice say, "Last hill!" Oh HECK YEAH! Except.... from the bottom, that hill was EVIL-looking. It loomed ahead, long and steep. But I can do ANYTHING for one mile. A lot of us yelled out things like, "LET'S GO LADIES!" and "KILL THIS HILL!!" It was awesome! Then I bounded up that hill, encouraging people as I passed them. Then I ran out of breath to do any more talking. This is probably also where my cramp began. There were people along the hill encouraging all of us, too. It was amazing! I recovered by slowing a little at the summit but I knew we weren't that far away so I picked it back up. At this point I knew the race course was definitely short because I had to do a lot of weaving to go around people walking and I still was coming in under mileage. No matter, I was going hard all the way in!!
It started really hurting as we approached Atlantic Station. OH MY GOODNESS I HURT! I had an evil cramp for the last half mile or more of the race. Worst cramp of my so far short running life right under my right rib cage. NOTHING helped. As evidenced by THIS face heading into the last few turns. LOL
I promise you I was feeling like I was NEVER gonna make it to the finish line. Were there 100 turns in the last .3 of the course??? I kept expecting to see it around the next corner as I'm sure someone LIED about. WHY ARE THERE SO MANY CORNERS??? AND WHY DID YOU SAY THE FINISH LINE IS RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER??? At least the next picture looked more like I was gunning!
As you see in my pace & elevation chart, my pace has a steady (slight looking) downhill slope. Each mile of this race was faster than the previous. My intended pace was 11:06. I ran the last two miles at 10:50 and 10:42 respectively. And (my version of) SPRINTED across in 10:30 in the last tenth of a mile for a 1:10:32 finish. I was ECSTATIC!!! And hurting.
My running group cheered for me as I crossed the finish line on one side. Rashan was on the other. Both got a pained wave. OH MAN it hurt! CRAMP!!! I limped over to the food to grab a banana. Thankfully by the time I finished the banana, the cramp was mostly gone. I turned both of my ankles in the first mile of a 7-mile run the week before the race and my left ankle was angry with me post-race. But a few minutes later I saw K. Rock. Yay!
I cheered in the rest of my running group then checked out the post-race party for a few minutes and right before I left, ran into the co-founder of BGR! How awesome! Yay! Weekend made!
Then Rashan & I headed to Another Broken Egg with the interweb crew, Patti, baby Ty, Naima & Bakari. Great fun and deliciousness! Now that I eat during my runs at real intervals, I'm no longer starving at the end. It actually took me a while to finish this Mardi Gras omelette with smoked andouille sausage, red peppers, crawfish & scallions topped with tomato hollandaise. Quite tasty.
Oh and Rashan... this man... It's been a long time since he/we went somewhere and had to beat the women off with a stick. Every time I turned around to ask him to take a picture for me, some woman had already conscripted him for her own pics. Generally not a big deal but mildly annoying. Where is my photog??? I saw him taking a picture for a group, took my own pics, then looked back again and was like WHAT THE??? This chick is POSTED UP on the wall solo having him take pictures of her. Ma'am... He later told me she made small talk, "You from here?" "Why are you out here today?" "I'm here supporting my wife in the race." "Oh. That's nice." Side eye. He also ducked two former coworkers and a girl he dated a couple of times. That part made me laugh. Oh to have seen the girl he dated! Wedding ring flash, "I won!" LOL J/k j/k But I was irked by the woman who made him her personal photog. Have a seat.
Early morning tweet recap: The 5K had no effect because it started at the same time, I'm pretty sure the wine had no effect on my race and a week later I have still had 0 pickles. Well I had chips on a burger but I want a pickle spear! Overall? Great weekend!
The night before the race, I attended an awards banquet with delicious food. I had mushroom tortellini, fettucini with summer squash, turkey meatballs, a salad with mixed greens, cheese, lite caesar dressing and grilled chicken. Dessert (right) was a chocolate cup filled with fruit & yogurt. Very yummy!The speaker was a 75-year-old body building champion.
 |
| Me & the amazing body builder post-race |
After the banquet, I went to a mixer for group leaders very briefly since it was already late and I had to be up at 5 to prep for the race. I would've loved even more time with them. Such a wonderful experience to talk with other women from across the nation who are helping their communities! I might have sneaked a half glass of wine. MAYBE. LOL I have never had any alcohol the night before a race. Playing fast and loose!
Rashan & I got back to our hotel around 10:45. Before the banquet, I'd laid out my clothes and set up the coffeemaker so the only thing I had to do in the morning was press brew. I was so keyed up I didn't think I was going to be able to sleep. It didn't even matter that I'd only slept for 2 hours the day before. (I sleep horribly up to two days before races.) But I was pleasantly surprised to fall asleep before 11:30. I woke up with a start thinking I'd slept through the race. This is how my brain wakes up on race day. I grabbed my phone and saw it was only 3:08. The race is at 7. It's too early to eat or do anything else but surf the web so surf I do.
A sampling of my manic race morning tweets:
1) And I've now been up almost an hour. At this point I'm kind of scared to go back to sleep! As usual! Lol
2) I don't enjoy sleeping in king sized beds but these pillows are giving Rashan a run for his money under love of my life status.
3) I want some eggs. And toast. And a pickle. What the... Everybody watch out after the race. Eating all the food!
4) The 5k starts 30 minutes after the 10k. I'll be interested to see how finishing next to 5kers affects my race. In the best way, I hope!
5) I'm getting crazy hungry but I don't feel like getting out of bed. More races should start at 7 p.m. instead of 7 a.m. I would love that!
6) When Rashan gets up, he'll be so happy he wasn't to recipient of this chatter. Lol I'm always on 10 in the morning.
7) Let me clarify: RACE morning! Lol Important distinction.
All of those tweets were within 20-30 minutes. CRAZY! Rashan usually hates how peppy I am pre-race but this morning he was actually awake at 4 a.m. and fine with my energy! YAY! I brewed my coffee, ate a peanut butter sandwich & showered. Somehow I was still rushing to leave by 5:30. INSANE!! I grabbed some of our hotel's free cookies for Rashan as he got the car. Since I already had on my race bib, the hotel staff definitely heckled me. LOLOL "You're gonna have a cookie before the race???" LOL! No!We hopped in the car and headed to Atlantic Station. We parked and took a quick picture! :) I love my number one race supporter! He tolerates a lot of my crazy running chatter. I literally talk about running every single day. Considering he has no interest in running, it is a wonderful thing that I married a very patient man! :)
As you can see, it was DARK. Why? Because it was 6 a.m.!! This is wrong. Running and traveling are the only things that get me up at that hour. Despite my night owl tendency, I am a ball of energy all morning on race day and this race was certainly no different! There might have been even more excitement in honor of this historic event!
I thought about my goals again. A) 1:09:00 B) 1:10:00 C) Personal Record so 1:13:45 or faster. There was a BEAUTIFUL rendition of the Star-Spangled Banner. After that we couldn't hear anything happening on the stage (we didn't know there was a prayer until people closer to the stage said, "Amen") so we actually missed the start. I was turned around facing the stage when the people from my running group were like, "Oh. I guess we're starting." I turn around and people are streaming through the start line. Um. Okay.
It turns out the 5K and 10K were starting at the same time
after all. I was soooo excited to be running! Hence my blurry shot of joy! :) All of my phone pics look like this while I'm running. LOL You can KINDA see the sun was just breaking the horizon. Even though I don't like being up that early, I love sunrise! And because I worked overnights in Pittsburgh, they always remind me of my time there. I saw the sunrise 5+ times a week for 3 years. It never got old. Look at God.The first mile, we were running out of Atlantic Station. It was mostly flat and/or down hill. I ran with one of my group members for a few minutes and chatted with her and assorted random people. Do you see those town homes off to the right? I commented on how hilarious it is that people were asleep inside, some of them likely with no idea that 3000 people were running past. LOL Can you imagine waking up to that?
Shortly after, we hit the first mile marker. At this point I feel like the race might be short because I haven't heard a one-mile notification from my phone. Then a few seconds later it goes off. Cool. Except I'm moving way too slowly. I always do this in races. I'm so conscious of not going out too fast (and crashing and burning the later miles) that I go out too slow. Drives me nuts. I wrote my pace times on my arm again so I know I need to pick up the pace a little. I'm about 2 minutes under pace. Heading into mile two, two guys were calling out the 5K/10K split... no signs. Several people missed the split and went on the wrong course. Impromptu longer/shorter race distance? Not awesome. I run 5Ks and 10Ks completely differently. 5Ks will now be all out the whole time. If I drop a little at some point, fine, but I'm going all out and hanging on the best I can. Back to the 10K... I was certain I was on the right course (going up a good sized hill as far as steepness) and still felt a little nervous. Not too long after, we hit the two-mile marker. I glance down at my arm. Yikes! Still too slow! Like 4-5 minutes too slow. I speed up a little more, knowing there are a good number of hills still ahead.
There were very few people on the course as we ran through Georgia Tech's campus but at one point, there were a few workers sitting along the side. They were silently amused so I heckled them to cheer for us. LOL Apparently we also ran past a frat house with beer cans scattered across the lawn and a kid passed out on a leather couch. Whaaa??? LOL I so wish I'd seen that! I fell out when I saw this picture! I wonder if he ever woke up during the race...
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| Good morning? |
Mile 4 was a blur but I glanced down, saw I'd picked up still more time and was getting very close to being back on pace. But I knew I'd need to pick it up again. The hills were rolling but not too bad. Definitely not worse than anything I'm used to running. [I heard the Floridians were MISERABLE. This makes me really REALLY want to run a half marathon or full marathon in Florida! :)] I decided at this point that not only would I run faster and do my fastest miles of the race for the last two, but if it didn't hurt a little at the end, I wasn't doing enough.
I had my own water with me so at each water station, I'd skip the first people handing out water while deciding whether or not to take water then grab from the last person. I accidentally poured water all over myself while trying to drink and run at every station. LOL This made me really glad I had my own water. It felt hotter than I was expecting out there. Nowhere near what I'd been running in all summer but hotter than expected.
At the 5th mile marker, I tried to enjoy some downhill and flat stretches knowing from the course elevation chart that there was still a monster ahead. Not too far afterward I heard someone who had run the route in practice say, "Last hill!" Oh HECK YEAH! Except.... from the bottom, that hill was EVIL-looking. It loomed ahead, long and steep. But I can do ANYTHING for one mile. A lot of us yelled out things like, "LET'S GO LADIES!" and "KILL THIS HILL!!" It was awesome! Then I bounded up that hill, encouraging people as I passed them. Then I ran out of breath to do any more talking. This is probably also where my cramp began. There were people along the hill encouraging all of us, too. It was amazing! I recovered by slowing a little at the summit but I knew we weren't that far away so I picked it back up. At this point I knew the race course was definitely short because I had to do a lot of weaving to go around people walking and I still was coming in under mileage. No matter, I was going hard all the way in!!
It started really hurting as we approached Atlantic Station. OH MY GOODNESS I HURT! I had an evil cramp for the last half mile or more of the race. Worst cramp of my so far short running life right under my right rib cage. NOTHING helped. As evidenced by THIS face heading into the last few turns. LOL
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| Trying not to die! (I'm in all black w/the shades) |
As you see in my pace & elevation chart, my pace has a steady (slight looking) downhill slope. Each mile of this race was faster than the previous. My intended pace was 11:06. I ran the last two miles at 10:50 and 10:42 respectively. And (my version of) SPRINTED across in 10:30 in the last tenth of a mile for a 1:10:32 finish. I was ECSTATIC!!! And hurting.
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| This chart is rude. It felt way worse way closer to the end. |
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| My mom said we look like high schoolers. LOL! |
Then Rashan & I headed to Another Broken Egg with the interweb crew, Patti, baby Ty, Naima & Bakari. Great fun and deliciousness! Now that I eat during my runs at real intervals, I'm no longer starving at the end. It actually took me a while to finish this Mardi Gras omelette with smoked andouille sausage, red peppers, crawfish & scallions topped with tomato hollandaise. Quite tasty.
Oh and Rashan... this man... It's been a long time since he/we went somewhere and had to beat the women off with a stick. Every time I turned around to ask him to take a picture for me, some woman had already conscripted him for her own pics. Generally not a big deal but mildly annoying. Where is my photog??? I saw him taking a picture for a group, took my own pics, then looked back again and was like WHAT THE??? This chick is POSTED UP on the wall solo having him take pictures of her. Ma'am... He later told me she made small talk, "You from here?" "Why are you out here today?" "I'm here supporting my wife in the race." "Oh. That's nice." Side eye. He also ducked two former coworkers and a girl he dated a couple of times. That part made me laugh. Oh to have seen the girl he dated! Wedding ring flash, "I won!" LOL J/k j/k But I was irked by the woman who made him her personal photog. Have a seat.
Early morning tweet recap: The 5K had no effect because it started at the same time, I'm pretty sure the wine had no effect on my race and a week later I have still had 0 pickles. Well I had chips on a burger but I want a pickle spear! Overall? Great weekend!
9.17.2012
Monday Mindspacing Vol. 149
1) The BGR weekend was amazing! I'm so proud to be a part of this organization. I got to meet all kinds of interesting people! Recap coming this week but it will require my phone working to get the photos (see below).
2) I don't like sleeping in king-sized or twin beds. Full is fine but a queen is the perfect size for me.
3) Have I mentioned lately how much I love that Rashan is my family?? Le sigh. He's great. That man made me laugh ALL.DAY. Sunday! I seriously stopped at one point and was like, "What is wrong with me???" and "You are in rare form today!" :)
4) Driving in Atlanta made me realize how much I miss driving in Atlanta. The city is so alive! But not in an overwhelming way.
5) I murked my phone yesterday. I didn't sweat on it nearly as much as I usually do (what usually makes it rebel) so my only explanation is that as I was trying to drink and run I poured water all over it. Strangely, it was working most of the day after the race, then it gave up yesterday evening and won't work today. Que???
6) Reading this book about Le Cordon Bleu filled with French I mostly understood made me really want to REALLY learn French. I've lost a lot of stuff. Long lost Jameil fact: I won the French award in my high school all three years I took it. Essentially my French teachers chose me as the best student in the school in French I, French II and French III. I don't think I ever got below a 95 on a single test or quiz. I LOVE FRENCH! & I want that old thing back! Ah ah ah! (Say it like Jay in "I Know")
7) Another long lost fact: I never get it when people talk about high school like it was the best thing that happened to them. High school was fine and even somewhat fun for me but LITERALLY the second I looked out the window of my Hampton dorm room, high school faded to black and paled in comparison.
8) When I heard Beyonce's new song a few weeks ago, I felt betrayed by her stans. Y'all want to tell me about every time she goes out with her baby but the thing she's famous for, you ignore??? Fix!!
9) There was a period where I wanted to move from calling my mom "Mommy" but didn't like Mom. She hated Ma. I stuck with Mommy and still call her that at 30! Mother when she's working my nerves. LOLOL!
10) Whenever I have to call people out in my leadership positions and do it generally instead of by name, the people I'm NOT talking to always apologize. This amuses me.
2) I don't like sleeping in king-sized or twin beds. Full is fine but a queen is the perfect size for me.
3) Have I mentioned lately how much I love that Rashan is my family?? Le sigh. He's great. That man made me laugh ALL.DAY. Sunday! I seriously stopped at one point and was like, "What is wrong with me???" and "You are in rare form today!" :)
4) Driving in Atlanta made me realize how much I miss driving in Atlanta. The city is so alive! But not in an overwhelming way.
5) I murked my phone yesterday. I didn't sweat on it nearly as much as I usually do (what usually makes it rebel) so my only explanation is that as I was trying to drink and run I poured water all over it. Strangely, it was working most of the day after the race, then it gave up yesterday evening and won't work today. Que???
6) Reading this book about Le Cordon Bleu filled with French I mostly understood made me really want to REALLY learn French. I've lost a lot of stuff. Long lost Jameil fact: I won the French award in my high school all three years I took it. Essentially my French teachers chose me as the best student in the school in French I, French II and French III. I don't think I ever got below a 95 on a single test or quiz. I LOVE FRENCH! & I want that old thing back! Ah ah ah! (Say it like Jay in "I Know")
7) Another long lost fact: I never get it when people talk about high school like it was the best thing that happened to them. High school was fine and even somewhat fun for me but LITERALLY the second I looked out the window of my Hampton dorm room, high school faded to black and paled in comparison.
8) When I heard Beyonce's new song a few weeks ago, I felt betrayed by her stans. Y'all want to tell me about every time she goes out with her baby but the thing she's famous for, you ignore??? Fix!!
9) There was a period where I wanted to move from calling my mom "Mommy" but didn't like Mom. She hated Ma. I stuck with Mommy and still call her that at 30! Mother when she's working my nerves. LOLOL!
10) Whenever I have to call people out in my leadership positions and do it generally instead of by name, the people I'm NOT talking to always apologize. This amuses me.
9.12.2012
Race Prep
*whispers* OBSESSION...
I'm always thinking about running but it's even worse heading into a race. Going into a race, my obsession reaches heights known only to the crazy (aka other runners). A few weeks (yes WEEKS) before every race, my obsession begins to ramp up. What will I wear/eat/do/pace/eat for every mile of my run. (LOL Don't you love that eat is on there twice subconsciously?? Leaving it! I mean I do need to think about pre- and mid-race food!) I go back and forth on my expected pace and what I believe I can do. I've still only raced at two distances, 5K (3.1 miles) and 10K (6.2 miles), despite training for a half-marathon (13.1 miles). My last 5K was so long ago that I definitely need a tune-up.
Saturday I was running with some faster ladies in my group, chatting away with my pace notification intentionally off so I could test my speed (I use the Runkeeper app on my phone) but keeping an ear out for overall time at each mile marker. I was sooo excited that we were averaging under a 9:40/mile pace for the first 3 miles. HOW COOL IS THAT?!! Especially considering how conservatively we went out! We won't talk about how painful the last 3.6 miles were as a result (well just a little... I had to talk myself out of walking for a good mile and a half... it didn't help that the woods had my app off by ALMOST AN ENTIRE MILE!!! 0.9 miles off is HORRID!!) but that means I definitely want to shoot for a 30-minute 5K the next time I run one.
Pacing for a 10K is notoriously tricky because it's a longer distance so you don't want to go out TOO fast and burn out before the end, but it's short enough (compared to a half-marathon or marathon) that if you go out super slow, you can't make up that time. I know this under-pacing too well from my first 10K. I'm always afraid of going out too fast and not having anything left at the end. In that race, I had WAY too much left at the end. Since I was aiming for a half-marathon (that didn't happen), I've been running way over 6.2 and haven't actually practiced at 10K.
One ofa million many schools of thought is that your long runs should be slow. At least 1-2 minutes per mile than race pace. I follow this almost to the letter... then forget to pick up the pace during a race. UGH!! This is part of why many training plans have you do what are called tempo runs. Basically for a few miles in the middle of your long run or in a longer (but not necessarily your longest) run, you run at the tempo you expect to race for several miles (more miles the longer your goal distance). I tried turning off the pace notification for an 11-mile run with the
faster ladies a couple of weeks ago and ended up running about 2 minutes
PER MILE faster than long runs with my former running partner (we still
run together very occasionally) and a minute per mile faster than alone.
HUGE confidence booster! So that 11-miler was essentially a long tempo run. (And awesome!) If I ran 11 miles at one pace, could I conceivably run 6.2 one minute faster per mile?? I'm betting on doing that.
Pretty much everyone agrees that running over distance (longer than the length of your goal race) makes you faster at that distance so I have that working for me. But not practicing 6.2 has still made me a little uneasy. Nevertheless, I've set my goals -- a) PR i.e. faster than 1:13:46, b) faster than 1:11:00, c) faster than 1:09. Because I haven't run 6 miles much in the last few months, I have no idea if I'm aiming too low. I have a feeling I might be but only time will tell.
After feeling pretty proud of my pacing and strategy for my 2nd 10K, I know I absolutely MUST have a plan for where I want to be at each mile. I've played with a few different ideas for this race but my final strategy? I STILL DON'T KNOW!! The one I'm most leaning toward is to go out a little fast but not at top pace to use the first mile as a warm-up of sorts, then kick it up for mile 2 OR 3, go all out from 2 or 3 on and try to hold on to my fastest possible pace. I want to KNOW I left it all on the pavement. What do I have to lose? I'm confident that my training has prepared me to PR. If I botch this race, it will be another thing I learned from. But the plan is to conquer!
Do you see all of the stuff running through my head??? No wonder I sleep horribly before races! I don't know if any more than 3 people who read this cared about this post but if you read it, I thank you anyway! :)
I'm always thinking about running but it's even worse heading into a race. Going into a race, my obsession reaches heights known only to the crazy (aka other runners). A few weeks (yes WEEKS) before every race, my obsession begins to ramp up. What will I wear/eat/do/pace/eat for every mile of my run. (LOL Don't you love that eat is on there twice subconsciously?? Leaving it! I mean I do need to think about pre- and mid-race food!) I go back and forth on my expected pace and what I believe I can do. I've still only raced at two distances, 5K (3.1 miles) and 10K (6.2 miles), despite training for a half-marathon (13.1 miles). My last 5K was so long ago that I definitely need a tune-up.
Saturday I was running with some faster ladies in my group, chatting away with my pace notification intentionally off so I could test my speed (I use the Runkeeper app on my phone) but keeping an ear out for overall time at each mile marker. I was sooo excited that we were averaging under a 9:40/mile pace for the first 3 miles. HOW COOL IS THAT?!! Especially considering how conservatively we went out! We won't talk about how painful the last 3.6 miles were as a result (well just a little... I had to talk myself out of walking for a good mile and a half... it didn't help that the woods had my app off by ALMOST AN ENTIRE MILE!!! 0.9 miles off is HORRID!!) but that means I definitely want to shoot for a 30-minute 5K the next time I run one.
Pacing for a 10K is notoriously tricky because it's a longer distance so you don't want to go out TOO fast and burn out before the end, but it's short enough (compared to a half-marathon or marathon) that if you go out super slow, you can't make up that time. I know this under-pacing too well from my first 10K. I'm always afraid of going out too fast and not having anything left at the end. In that race, I had WAY too much left at the end. Since I was aiming for a half-marathon (that didn't happen), I've been running way over 6.2 and haven't actually practiced at 10K.
One of
Pretty much everyone agrees that running over distance (longer than the length of your goal race) makes you faster at that distance so I have that working for me. But not practicing 6.2 has still made me a little uneasy. Nevertheless, I've set my goals -- a) PR i.e. faster than 1:13:46, b) faster than 1:11:00, c) faster than 1:09. Because I haven't run 6 miles much in the last few months, I have no idea if I'm aiming too low. I have a feeling I might be but only time will tell.
After feeling pretty proud of my pacing and strategy for my 2nd 10K, I know I absolutely MUST have a plan for where I want to be at each mile. I've played with a few different ideas for this race but my final strategy? I STILL DON'T KNOW!! The one I'm most leaning toward is to go out a little fast but not at top pace to use the first mile as a warm-up of sorts, then kick it up for mile 2 OR 3, go all out from 2 or 3 on and try to hold on to my fastest possible pace. I want to KNOW I left it all on the pavement. What do I have to lose? I'm confident that my training has prepared me to PR. If I botch this race, it will be another thing I learned from. But the plan is to conquer!
Do you see all of the stuff running through my head??? No wonder I sleep horribly before races! I don't know if any more than 3 people who read this cared about this post but if you read it, I thank you anyway! :)
9.10.2012
Monday Mindspacing Vol. 148
1) The day after I wrote the fall imminence post, I had a (Dogfish) pumpkin ale. It was good. Could have been more pumpkin-y. It still made me feel sad. What didn't make me sad? My brother taking me out for a fancy early dinner where I had said ale. Twas great!
2) I'm running my 3rd 10K in Atlanta this weekend! Yay! My what just happened here (if the race goes poorly) goal is to PR. That means faster than 1:13:46. My realistic goal is 1:10. My beast mode goal is 1:09 or faster. I'm soooo excited! Especially because one of my Atlanta homies is running the 5K that day. Yay!
3) I tried this concentrated "flavor boost" chicken broth from Swanson. I HATE it. It smells and tastes of burned rubber. I'm going to call that a product fail.
4) Too many fashion bloggers at NY Fashion Week are trying too hard to be unique at the cost of personal style. I'll leave you alone if I normally think you look crazy but you usually look mostly normal and you're in left field this week. Ma'am...
5) I read two books in a row that mentioned Nora Ephron's 1983 book, Heartburn. Isn't that weird?? So I checked it out from the library and I quite enjoyed it! Short, quick read.
6) I made a pork loin last night that has me back on team pork. For a while everything that wasn't bacon, ham or sausage smelled and tasted disgusting to me. This herb-marinated loin recipe from Ina Garten? Re-converted! *Note: I did the 3-hour marinade vs. the overnight and it was amazing.* But I think I'm still done with pork chops.
7) You know what would be nice? A break from non-essential people! I would be really, really happy to not have to be around anyone but the very specific people of my choosing for a whole week. That would be great.
8) I wish I liked yoga. It's supposed to be so good for you and it bores me to tears.
9) I know I owe you a 30 Before 30 update and a look at my 35 Before 35. You shall love it! :)
10) I need more eggs in my life. Rashan stopped eating them over a year ago and it's slowed down my egg consumption. This is sad. I need to fix this post haste!
11) Okay I love Christmas more than most but TALK OF CHRISTMAS CARDS NOW?!?! PEOPLE!! IT MUST STOP!!!
2) I'm running my 3rd 10K in Atlanta this weekend! Yay! My what just happened here (if the race goes poorly) goal is to PR. That means faster than 1:13:46. My realistic goal is 1:10. My beast mode goal is 1:09 or faster. I'm soooo excited! Especially because one of my Atlanta homies is running the 5K that day. Yay!
3) I tried this concentrated "flavor boost" chicken broth from Swanson. I HATE it. It smells and tastes of burned rubber. I'm going to call that a product fail.
4) Too many fashion bloggers at NY Fashion Week are trying too hard to be unique at the cost of personal style. I'll leave you alone if I normally think you look crazy but you usually look mostly normal and you're in left field this week. Ma'am...
5) I read two books in a row that mentioned Nora Ephron's 1983 book, Heartburn. Isn't that weird?? So I checked it out from the library and I quite enjoyed it! Short, quick read.
6) I made a pork loin last night that has me back on team pork. For a while everything that wasn't bacon, ham or sausage smelled and tasted disgusting to me. This herb-marinated loin recipe from Ina Garten? Re-converted! *Note: I did the 3-hour marinade vs. the overnight and it was amazing.* But I think I'm still done with pork chops.
7) You know what would be nice? A break from non-essential people! I would be really, really happy to not have to be around anyone but the very specific people of my choosing for a whole week. That would be great.
8) I wish I liked yoga. It's supposed to be so good for you and it bores me to tears.
9) I know I owe you a 30 Before 30 update and a look at my 35 Before 35. You shall love it! :)
10) I need more eggs in my life. Rashan stopped eating them over a year ago and it's slowed down my egg consumption. This is sad. I need to fix this post haste!
11) Okay I love Christmas more than most but TALK OF CHRISTMAS CARDS NOW?!?! PEOPLE!! IT MUST STOP!!!
9.05.2012
Torn Between Two Lovers
I don't like super hot weather and that means I LOVE FALL! But for the first time ever... I'm not ready for summer to be over. I made a sad face as Rashan ripped my birth month off of our giant wall calendar. I know there are good things to be had in fall. I just know it! But let me have the last gasps of summer! Please! Fresh tomatoes that actually taste like something, strawberries, peaches, white nectarines, squash & zucchini! Do you even know what an expert I've become at dicing squash and zucchini? I get into a zone and just go. Tis a beautiful thing! I weep for you, delicious summer produce! Don't leave me so soon! I love you! I'll be good! I promise!
Most of all, I'm not ready for pumpkin ANYTHING. No pumpkin recipes, no pumpkin spice lattes, no pumpkin beer. GUYS!! I saw a pumpkin beer display ON MY BIRTHDAY!!! AUGUST 23RD IS TOO EARLY FOR PUMPKIN BEER!!! I was so offended. I still am! I love all of these pumpkin things in October and November but it was 90 degrees on Sunday! And it's supposed to be 91 on Friday. It's not time!
(I am secretly REAAAAALLY excited by how much cooler my runs have been lately. After running when the heat index was over 100 (Yes I know I'm crazy), I'm excited to get back into my absolute FAVORITE running season. Spring is rough because your body thinks 75 is a horrible temperature to run in after running in 40s and 50s, summer is MISERABLE with highs in the mid to upper 90s, our mild, mostly snowless 40- to 50-degree winter was quite bearable, but fall? A MIRACLE OF LIFE! JOY OF JOYS! FALL RUNNING I LOVE YOU!!! But don't tell my summer produce-loving food brain I said so. It's still NOT READY!!)
Most of all, I'm not ready for pumpkin ANYTHING. No pumpkin recipes, no pumpkin spice lattes, no pumpkin beer. GUYS!! I saw a pumpkin beer display ON MY BIRTHDAY!!! AUGUST 23RD IS TOO EARLY FOR PUMPKIN BEER!!! I was so offended. I still am! I love all of these pumpkin things in October and November but it was 90 degrees on Sunday! And it's supposed to be 91 on Friday. It's not time!
(I am secretly REAAAAALLY excited by how much cooler my runs have been lately. After running when the heat index was over 100 (Yes I know I'm crazy), I'm excited to get back into my absolute FAVORITE running season. Spring is rough because your body thinks 75 is a horrible temperature to run in after running in 40s and 50s, summer is MISERABLE with highs in the mid to upper 90s, our mild, mostly snowless 40- to 50-degree winter was quite bearable, but fall? A MIRACLE OF LIFE! JOY OF JOYS! FALL RUNNING I LOVE YOU!!! But don't tell my summer produce-loving food brain I said so. It's still NOT READY!!)
8.28.2012
Thinking Aloud...
I missed Monday Mindspacing so you're welcome for today.
1) I hate seeing people gathered for national blog events and there are 0 non-white faces. Alllll of the bloggers in the U.S. and you can't diversify AT ALL?? When it's a big company, I write them to complain.
2) Remember how I JUST talked about the show 3 Days to Open? Why did I read that he only did 6 episodes and he won't do any more because they're too exhausting? WHY, BOBBY?? WHY?! Tease.
3) Rashan was off for my birthday... FOR THE ENTIRE WEEK!! It was glorious! Here we are at Tuesday of the next week and I'm still not ready to relinquish him to the world. I love our cocoon. The fact that we have a ball with just the two of us at the house? Awesome. For now, let's pretend I'll do a birthday recap of all celebrations...
4) The worst thing about mommy bloggers is their guilt and over-analyzing when they're doing NOTHING WRONG. Make the best choices for your family. Don't apologize. Eliminate those unnecessary people who make you feel guilty.
5) Do you guys watch the Tia & Tamera reality show? We love it! It also makes me want twins even more one day! I've wanted them since I was 9!
6) At my family reunion I found out my grandma really wanted twins. She didn't get them. But her son had twin girls (my first cousins). One first cousin has twin sons. Another first cousin has twin grandsons. GIMME MY TWINS!!
7) R.I.P. to my 2nd toenail on my right foot. It has succumbed to running. Slamming my toe into my shoe over hundreds of miles this year is the culprit. It turned black first. When the replacement nail finished growing in, the other one fell off. Since I kept it painted, it wasn't terribly noticeable. The replacement nail is raggedy, though. Immediately painted.
8) I ORDERED NEW RUNNING SHOES!!! YAY!! Thanks to my mom for the birthday money!
9) I've been furiously applying for jobs. I get these flurries of inspiration and do a bunch of them at once. The most annoying thing is that most of them are with colleges or universities and they all have similar application systems requesting the same information over and over with no overlap. I can't just my resume and cover letter. I have to also type in my employment & education history with descriptions and dates and times and people ad nauseum. Let's end this by getting me a fantastic job by the end of the month, mmkay? Thanks, God!
10) I'm supposed to be doing something for someone else... they dragged their feet and now I don't feel like it anymore...
11) There is so much mundanity on twitter, an overabundance of stupid picture quotes on facebook and proselytizing on both. Thank God for the unsubscribe button on facebook. If there would be no bad blood, I would follow 17 people on twitter (instead of 75) and friend 8 people on facebook (instead of 450 or so). Those might be slight exaggerations but go with that. I don't even want to hear the opinions on every topic of the people I love most let alone X person's (usually ill-informed) chatter. Have a seat! *steps down from soapbox*
12) Why can't I stop myself from checking stacks of books out from the library? Because I get absorbed into browsing the stacks (judging books by their covers) and pick up everything that looks interesting. I always have to literally shake myself, say "OKAY!," close my eyes, point my body toward the exit and walk to stop grabbing books. My current faves are memoirs. Can't get enough! They're like extended blogs!
1) I hate seeing people gathered for national blog events and there are 0 non-white faces. Alllll of the bloggers in the U.S. and you can't diversify AT ALL?? When it's a big company, I write them to complain.
2) Remember how I JUST talked about the show 3 Days to Open? Why did I read that he only did 6 episodes and he won't do any more because they're too exhausting? WHY, BOBBY?? WHY?! Tease.
3) Rashan was off for my birthday... FOR THE ENTIRE WEEK!! It was glorious! Here we are at Tuesday of the next week and I'm still not ready to relinquish him to the world. I love our cocoon. The fact that we have a ball with just the two of us at the house? Awesome. For now, let's pretend I'll do a birthday recap of all celebrations...
4) The worst thing about mommy bloggers is their guilt and over-analyzing when they're doing NOTHING WRONG. Make the best choices for your family. Don't apologize. Eliminate those unnecessary people who make you feel guilty.
5) Do you guys watch the Tia & Tamera reality show? We love it! It also makes me want twins even more one day! I've wanted them since I was 9!
6) At my family reunion I found out my grandma really wanted twins. She didn't get them. But her son had twin girls (my first cousins). One first cousin has twin sons. Another first cousin has twin grandsons. GIMME MY TWINS!!
7) R.I.P. to my 2nd toenail on my right foot. It has succumbed to running. Slamming my toe into my shoe over hundreds of miles this year is the culprit. It turned black first. When the replacement nail finished growing in, the other one fell off. Since I kept it painted, it wasn't terribly noticeable. The replacement nail is raggedy, though. Immediately painted.
8) I ORDERED NEW RUNNING SHOES!!! YAY!! Thanks to my mom for the birthday money!
9) I've been furiously applying for jobs. I get these flurries of inspiration and do a bunch of them at once. The most annoying thing is that most of them are with colleges or universities and they all have similar application systems requesting the same information over and over with no overlap. I can't just my resume and cover letter. I have to also type in my employment & education history with descriptions and dates and times and people ad nauseum. Let's end this by getting me a fantastic job by the end of the month, mmkay? Thanks, God!
10) I'm supposed to be doing something for someone else... they dragged their feet and now I don't feel like it anymore...
11) There is so much mundanity on twitter, an overabundance of stupid picture quotes on facebook and proselytizing on both. Thank God for the unsubscribe button on facebook. If there would be no bad blood, I would follow 17 people on twitter (instead of 75) and friend 8 people on facebook (instead of 450 or so). Those might be slight exaggerations but go with that. I don't even want to hear the opinions on every topic of the people I love most let alone X person's (usually ill-informed) chatter. Have a seat! *steps down from soapbox*
12) Why can't I stop myself from checking stacks of books out from the library? Because I get absorbed into browsing the stacks (judging books by their covers) and pick up everything that looks interesting. I always have to literally shake myself, say "OKAY!," close my eyes, point my body toward the exit and walk to stop grabbing books. My current faves are memoirs. Can't get enough! They're like extended blogs!
8.23.2012
*AHEM*
I'M 30!!!! My mom would tell you I'm not here yet since I was born at 11:04 p.m. To this I say PSHAW! Welcome to the world, baby Jameil! :) I'll have more on this later!
8.15.2012
A "3 Days to Open" Review... Of Sorts
It's no secret that I'm quite addicted to food television. I like competitions [Iron Chef, Top Chef, Top Chef Masters, Around the World in 80 Plates (this one could have been better), Next Food Network Star, Next Iron Chef, Throwdown]. I like narrative stories (Fat Chef). I like makeovers & takeovers (more on that in a minute). I like travel shows (Diners, Drive-ins & Dives; Man vs. Food; Heat Seekers). It's pretty nuts. The thing that keeps my addiction in check is that I can't watch any of
them on an empty stomach or I will eat us out of house and home.
Shockingly, though this addiction started with cooking shows (Rachael Ray, Giada De Laurentiis, Tyler's Ultimate, Boy Meets Grill, Barefoot Contessa), I don't actually watch many of them anymore. I don't have the patience to sit through the half hour when I could just get the recipe and make it myself. They share good tips on the show that you won't get with the recipe but ehhh... it hasn't been worth it to me lately.
So my latest obsession is "3 Days to Open." I've come to the conclusion that every consecutive Bobby Flay endeavor will only serve to make me like him more. How awesome is he!?!? Very! The premise of this show is a struggling restaurant is opening in three days but is a complete and utter mess. He comes in to tell them all of the things they're doing that will lead to certain failure, then show them how to fix them. Pretty awesome. You can see how generous he is. These restaurants have many many things in common. Some of these things are so basic that the fact that they've missed them makes you think these people have probably never cooked for someone before, let alone eaten in a restaurant. It's so baffling that Mrs. Count (tumbleweed over there...) and I had a lengthy twitter conversation about how it would go if we had 3 Days to Open. It started with a basic, nay, obvious (?) statement and devolved from there. LOL
Mrs. C: Let me get this straight, your restaurant opens in 3 days and you haven't tested the menu yet? What exactly have you been doing?
Logic will get you NOWHERE! IF they have a menu, sometimes they don't have recipes or don't know how to cook, or have a chef, or...
Mrs. C: I think I'll open a nacho stand. In the mall. Next Friday. I'll start planning tomorrow.
Jameil: Okay... but don't research which mall until Tuesday. Forget to arrange care for [your one-year-old son] Judah, too.
These people always forget or completely ignore some basic details. Procrastination is awesome!
Mrs. C: And I'll get my parents to empty their retirement to fund my dreams! This is such a great plan!
Jameil: LOL! Don't forget to make your sister do all the work for free, without thanks.
There is a heavy reliance on other people. Of COURSE you need help from your family/friends but they are often asking way, WAY too much. There's also always at least one person working at the restaurant (usually for free) who has no idea what his/her role is. These poor people wander around wringing their hands and worrying over your poor planning. Select this person as the one you treat the worst. They can take it. After all, you're probably related! Family has to love you even when you show your entire backside, don't they? At the very least, you have carnal knowledge of the other person and that can usually get you pretty far in any business, yes? Yes? Someone say yes. It must be true because I've seen it on tv!
Jameil: Before I sanction this, I need to make sure you're not working with anyone with any restaurant experience. Not so much as McD's.
Mrs. C: Not at all. My 10-year-old niece wants to be a chef. Can I get her to help me after school?
They never have restaurant experience and sometimes "hire" (remember to use this word loosely!) a bunch of other people who don't have restaurant experience.
Jameil: Yes! Make sure you mention this as part of your business plan!
Mrs. C: Business plan? I don't know what you mean.
Jameil: It's that napkin you wrote your restaurant ideas down on last night.
Mrs. C: Oh, I had to use that to wipe Judah's hands. I think I remember most of it anyway.
Jameil: No big deal. No one reads them anyway. Especially with your parents' money!
Unlike housing, it must still be really easy to get business loans. There is often little evidence that anyone has ever even heard of a business plan, let alone had to create one.
You would think knowing this formula, the show would be less interesting. IT NEVER IS. I have loved every episode for the crazy of the "restauranteurs" and the awesome of Bobby. And can you believe it? I still want most of them to succeed.
Shockingly, though this addiction started with cooking shows (Rachael Ray, Giada De Laurentiis, Tyler's Ultimate, Boy Meets Grill, Barefoot Contessa), I don't actually watch many of them anymore. I don't have the patience to sit through the half hour when I could just get the recipe and make it myself. They share good tips on the show that you won't get with the recipe but ehhh... it hasn't been worth it to me lately.
So my latest obsession is "3 Days to Open." I've come to the conclusion that every consecutive Bobby Flay endeavor will only serve to make me like him more. How awesome is he!?!? Very! The premise of this show is a struggling restaurant is opening in three days but is a complete and utter mess. He comes in to tell them all of the things they're doing that will lead to certain failure, then show them how to fix them. Pretty awesome. You can see how generous he is. These restaurants have many many things in common. Some of these things are so basic that the fact that they've missed them makes you think these people have probably never cooked for someone before, let alone eaten in a restaurant. It's so baffling that Mrs. Count (tumbleweed over there...) and I had a lengthy twitter conversation about how it would go if we had 3 Days to Open. It started with a basic, nay, obvious (?) statement and devolved from there. LOL
Mrs. C: Let me get this straight, your restaurant opens in 3 days and you haven't tested the menu yet? What exactly have you been doing?
Logic will get you NOWHERE! IF they have a menu, sometimes they don't have recipes or don't know how to cook, or have a chef, or...
Mrs. C: I think I'll open a nacho stand. In the mall. Next Friday. I'll start planning tomorrow.
Jameil: Okay... but don't research which mall until Tuesday. Forget to arrange care for [your one-year-old son] Judah, too.
These people always forget or completely ignore some basic details. Procrastination is awesome!
Mrs. C: And I'll get my parents to empty their retirement to fund my dreams! This is such a great plan!
Jameil: LOL! Don't forget to make your sister do all the work for free, without thanks.
There is a heavy reliance on other people. Of COURSE you need help from your family/friends but they are often asking way, WAY too much. There's also always at least one person working at the restaurant (usually for free) who has no idea what his/her role is. These poor people wander around wringing their hands and worrying over your poor planning. Select this person as the one you treat the worst. They can take it. After all, you're probably related! Family has to love you even when you show your entire backside, don't they? At the very least, you have carnal knowledge of the other person and that can usually get you pretty far in any business, yes? Yes? Someone say yes. It must be true because I've seen it on tv!
Jameil: Before I sanction this, I need to make sure you're not working with anyone with any restaurant experience. Not so much as McD's.
Mrs. C: Not at all. My 10-year-old niece wants to be a chef. Can I get her to help me after school?
They never have restaurant experience and sometimes "hire" (remember to use this word loosely!) a bunch of other people who don't have restaurant experience.
Jameil: Yes! Make sure you mention this as part of your business plan!
Mrs. C: Business plan? I don't know what you mean.
Jameil: It's that napkin you wrote your restaurant ideas down on last night.
Mrs. C: Oh, I had to use that to wipe Judah's hands. I think I remember most of it anyway.
Jameil: No big deal. No one reads them anyway. Especially with your parents' money!
Unlike housing, it must still be really easy to get business loans. There is often little evidence that anyone has ever even heard of a business plan, let alone had to create one.
You would think knowing this formula, the show would be less interesting. IT NEVER IS. I have loved every episode for the crazy of the "restauranteurs" and the awesome of Bobby. And can you believe it? I still want most of them to succeed.
8.13.2012
Monday Mindspacing Vol. 147
If you're tired of hearing about sports or the Olympics, you may want to skip this post... or skip around in this post. It's sport-heavy! :)
1) It turns out I care a lot less about the men's marathon than the women's marathon. I found myself fast-forwarding through large swaths of the men's whereas with the women's I was glued to the screen! The men's race didn't get truly interesting for me until the last few miles. No matter the sport, it's sad to see people lead the entire race and drop back to third or worse.
2) For over a month I've really, really, REALLY wanted some Ethiopian food... but the closest restaurants are an hour and a half away. :*(((( SO MEAN!
3) I don't want to get to the point in my running where I care more about not stopping than not peeing on myself. You'll pee on yourself while running TO NOT STOP!??! And these are even people who don't have a hope of winning the race!! Yeah... I'm not about that life.
4) Another Olympics development: I still love synchronized swimming. The difference between the top and bottom is amazing! I'm no longer quite so generous in my feelings toward rhythmic gymnastics. The ribbon? Amazing! All the rest of it? Ehhh. The team competition (which I didn't even know existed before last week) is like watching a circus performance. Too much going on.
5) I'm shocked that I'll be 30 in less than 2 weeks. It's so weird. I went browsing at the mall with Rashan. He said one shirt looked young, "That doesn't look 30." That made me sad. I definitely think there are things I'm too old to wear but a shirt!? Jesus wept. Then at Banana Republic, he said another dress looked "like something Blanche Devereaux would wear." WHY WON'T HE LET ME BE GREAT!?!
6) I blocked, unfriended, hid or unfollowed everyone on twitter and facebook who spoiled some part of the Olympics for me. It's been a wonderfully quiet few weeks. Many of them were long overdue for a separation and won't return. I feel much better!
7) Olympics announcers are so annoying. I will never ever see a "bad" start in track or swimming unless someone starts a full second after the gun or straight up falls. Showing it 700 times from 800 angles isn't going to change that fact. One thing they got right? 4th place is the worst place to finish at the games. So close! Yet so far away...
8) You'll be happy to know my sister-in-law finally posted a picture of the kids! Her self-portraits still outweigh kid pics 10 to 1 but I'll take whatever scraps I can get since that's obviously the best I can hope for.
9) If you want a controversy to go away, you should probably do your part and stop talking about it.
10) Rashan is definitely an introvert while I'm wholeheartedly an extrovert but he gets much more restless from sitting in the house. This makes no sense to me.
11) I enjoy Jimmy Fallon immensely. I need him to let his 50Shades jokes go. Daily for months? That's enough.
12) Did you watch the preview of the new show "Animal Practice"? Terrrrible.
Happy Monday!
1) It turns out I care a lot less about the men's marathon than the women's marathon. I found myself fast-forwarding through large swaths of the men's whereas with the women's I was glued to the screen! The men's race didn't get truly interesting for me until the last few miles. No matter the sport, it's sad to see people lead the entire race and drop back to third or worse.
2) For over a month I've really, really, REALLY wanted some Ethiopian food... but the closest restaurants are an hour and a half away. :*(((( SO MEAN!
3) I don't want to get to the point in my running where I care more about not stopping than not peeing on myself. You'll pee on yourself while running TO NOT STOP!??! And these are even people who don't have a hope of winning the race!! Yeah... I'm not about that life.
4) Another Olympics development: I still love synchronized swimming. The difference between the top and bottom is amazing! I'm no longer quite so generous in my feelings toward rhythmic gymnastics. The ribbon? Amazing! All the rest of it? Ehhh. The team competition (which I didn't even know existed before last week) is like watching a circus performance. Too much going on.
5) I'm shocked that I'll be 30 in less than 2 weeks. It's so weird. I went browsing at the mall with Rashan. He said one shirt looked young, "That doesn't look 30." That made me sad. I definitely think there are things I'm too old to wear but a shirt!? Jesus wept. Then at Banana Republic, he said another dress looked "like something Blanche Devereaux would wear." WHY WON'T HE LET ME BE GREAT!?!
6) I blocked, unfriended, hid or unfollowed everyone on twitter and facebook who spoiled some part of the Olympics for me. It's been a wonderfully quiet few weeks. Many of them were long overdue for a separation and won't return. I feel much better!
7) Olympics announcers are so annoying. I will never ever see a "bad" start in track or swimming unless someone starts a full second after the gun or straight up falls. Showing it 700 times from 800 angles isn't going to change that fact. One thing they got right? 4th place is the worst place to finish at the games. So close! Yet so far away...
8) You'll be happy to know my sister-in-law finally posted a picture of the kids! Her self-portraits still outweigh kid pics 10 to 1 but I'll take whatever scraps I can get since that's obviously the best I can hope for.
9) If you want a controversy to go away, you should probably do your part and stop talking about it.
10) Rashan is definitely an introvert while I'm wholeheartedly an extrovert but he gets much more restless from sitting in the house. This makes no sense to me.
11) I enjoy Jimmy Fallon immensely. I need him to let his 50Shades jokes go. Daily for months? That's enough.
12) Did you watch the preview of the new show "Animal Practice"? Terrrrible.
Happy Monday!
8.12.2012
Movies 2012: Weeks 29-31
All caught up on my movie posts!
Week 29: July 15-21, 2012
100) This Is Not A Robbery. A documentary about an elderly man who robs banks for fun. Extra nutty. Full of his own storytelling and anecdotes from people who knew him and witnessed his robberies. The bouncing in the story line was a little confusing at times toward the end and the actual end was a bit repetitive. I definitely didn't feel like we needed to hear a wrap up from every person we'd already seen. But still a great watch. 3.9 stars
101) The Baby Dance. Lara Dern plays a married woman pregnant with her fifth child, forced by poverty to give it away. She was good as was the girl playing her daughter. Stockard Channing as the adoptive mother was also good. The men were annoying periphery. Melancholy film but it did a good job of holding my attention. 3.4 stars
102) One Day. Anne Hathaway stars in this film about the relationship between a working-class girl and a rich guy on the same day year after year. Interesting enough, harmless movie. Patricia Clarkson takes a sweet role as the cad's mother. Hathaway's British accent, though? Wretched. 3.4 stars
103) Friends with Kids. Lots of stars dot this movie about unattached best friends who decide to have a child together after seeing the wrecks children made of their friends' marriages. It shows the back and forth of their relationship over the years. Enjoyable if at times predictable. 3.9 stars
Week 30: July 22-28, 2012
104) Little Children. Kate Winslett stars as a bored suburban mother who begins an affair to spice up her life. It also follows her lover and assorted other characters in their neighborhood. I loved the omnipotent narrator. More than watchable film. I enjoyed it. 4 stars
105) The First Year. A documentary about first year teachers at in a Los Angeles school district. I love/hate how naive they all are. I love that they have the optimism, hate that by now they're probably no longer teaching or are seriously jaded. I'd love an update. This film focused on problems with students which made me a little uncomfortable. They used full names. There wasn't any blurring of faces. I wonder what privacy discussions the filmmakers had. I can't say I loved this film. 2.4 stars
Week 31: July 29- August 4, 2012
106) Man on a Ledge. A film about a cop who goes out on a ledge to prove his innocence. Meh. Action-esque and mildly interesting but full of overacting which ultimately detracted from the total impact. 2.9 stars
107) Chocolat. A film about a woman who moves to a small French town with her daughter, turning it upside down. Too precious. It tried far too hard to be fanciful which gave it an air of desperation. It almost felt like a Disney movie. 2.9 stars
108) The Big Year. Jack Black, Owen Wilson & Steve Martin play three birders who are all looking to have a "big year" -- a year where one man sights more birds than any other man. Surprisingly amusing. I watched this on a lark (LOL) and just happened to enjoy it. 3.7 stars
109) Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law star as Sherlock Holmes and his best friend Dr. Watson off to solve another case. Amusing but I had difficulty paying attention. I loved RDJ's character, though. 3 stars
110) Grease. Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta star in this musical about teenagers who fall in love over the summer and the circumstances that bring them together and push them apart. Cute. A lot more vulgar than I expected. I was a little surprised how many of the songs I recognized. I can't get "Summer Lovin" out of my head now! 3.8 stars
Week 29: July 15-21, 2012
100) This Is Not A Robbery. A documentary about an elderly man who robs banks for fun. Extra nutty. Full of his own storytelling and anecdotes from people who knew him and witnessed his robberies. The bouncing in the story line was a little confusing at times toward the end and the actual end was a bit repetitive. I definitely didn't feel like we needed to hear a wrap up from every person we'd already seen. But still a great watch. 3.9 stars
101) The Baby Dance. Lara Dern plays a married woman pregnant with her fifth child, forced by poverty to give it away. She was good as was the girl playing her daughter. Stockard Channing as the adoptive mother was also good. The men were annoying periphery. Melancholy film but it did a good job of holding my attention. 3.4 stars
102) One Day. Anne Hathaway stars in this film about the relationship between a working-class girl and a rich guy on the same day year after year. Interesting enough, harmless movie. Patricia Clarkson takes a sweet role as the cad's mother. Hathaway's British accent, though? Wretched. 3.4 stars
103) Friends with Kids. Lots of stars dot this movie about unattached best friends who decide to have a child together after seeing the wrecks children made of their friends' marriages. It shows the back and forth of their relationship over the years. Enjoyable if at times predictable. 3.9 stars
Week 30: July 22-28, 2012
104) Little Children. Kate Winslett stars as a bored suburban mother who begins an affair to spice up her life. It also follows her lover and assorted other characters in their neighborhood. I loved the omnipotent narrator. More than watchable film. I enjoyed it. 4 stars
105) The First Year. A documentary about first year teachers at in a Los Angeles school district. I love/hate how naive they all are. I love that they have the optimism, hate that by now they're probably no longer teaching or are seriously jaded. I'd love an update. This film focused on problems with students which made me a little uncomfortable. They used full names. There wasn't any blurring of faces. I wonder what privacy discussions the filmmakers had. I can't say I loved this film. 2.4 stars
Week 31: July 29- August 4, 2012
106) Man on a Ledge. A film about a cop who goes out on a ledge to prove his innocence. Meh. Action-esque and mildly interesting but full of overacting which ultimately detracted from the total impact. 2.9 stars
107) Chocolat. A film about a woman who moves to a small French town with her daughter, turning it upside down. Too precious. It tried far too hard to be fanciful which gave it an air of desperation. It almost felt like a Disney movie. 2.9 stars
108) The Big Year. Jack Black, Owen Wilson & Steve Martin play three birders who are all looking to have a "big year" -- a year where one man sights more birds than any other man. Surprisingly amusing. I watched this on a lark (LOL) and just happened to enjoy it. 3.7 stars
109) Sherlock Holmes: A Game of Shadows. Robert Downey, Jr. and Jude Law star as Sherlock Holmes and his best friend Dr. Watson off to solve another case. Amusing but I had difficulty paying attention. I loved RDJ's character, though. 3 stars
110) Grease. Olivia Newton-John and John Travolta star in this musical about teenagers who fall in love over the summer and the circumstances that bring them together and push them apart. Cute. A lot more vulgar than I expected. I was a little surprised how many of the songs I recognized. I can't get "Summer Lovin" out of my head now! 3.8 stars
8.06.2012
Monday Mindspacing Vol. 146
1) Rashan compliments my ... sweeping. Like the hardwood floors. Really? Sweeping? I feel some sort of way about that. And not good.
2) This week's 2 a.m. baking yielded cinnamon cayenne butterscotch brownies. I took this basic recipe (leave out the 2nd set of ingredients... frosting... YUCK) and added cinnamon, cayenne and butterscotch chips. Sounds like kind of a lot, right? It worked! The you didn't taste the cayenne until you finished chewing. It hit you on the finish. I've heard about the interplay of chocolate and spice many times on food shows but experiencing it at my own hand? Pretty cool!
3) Have you guys watched "3 Days to Open" with Bobby Flay? That man is AWESOME! Every show he appears in makes me love him a little more. Spoiler alert: This chick opening a LOUNGE wanting to serve vodka & cranberry? VODKA & CRANBERRY??? I can mix that up standing outside of the liquor store. (LOL... envision your above average, fit, college-educated woman standing outside the liquor store mixing the most basic drink ever... what a vision!) But really, why would I need to go to a lounge for that???
4) I haven't gotten enough quality runs in lately. That changes Tuesday! AKA tomorrow! Can't wait!
5) I need a big juicy burger at least twice a week. Cooked medium, cheese required! The rest of the ingredients are wide open!
6) I'm getting a little burned out from the Olympics. Watching 4 hours per night MINIMUM (probably 6 hours throughout yesterday) will do that to you. The women's marathon was AWESOME! I'm definitely doing a marathon next year! But sheesh. I need a break... after I watch Gabby on uneven bars tomorrow night. My current fave gymnast on my fave apparatus. I'm there! Seven million qualifying rounds and any team sport i.e. basketball, beach or indoor volleyball or soccer? Miss me. I could really do a whole post on my Olympics proclivities...
7) I really hate Olympics spoilers. The tape delay is our reality. I know social media exists but I still want to be able to enjoy the races in prime time. I've unfollowed, hidden or unfriended all spoiler-y people on twitter and facebook. I'll be back after the Olympics... maybe... if I remember.
8) Some people really abuse the retweet function of twitter. I really don't need to see every irrelevant conversation. Along that vein, if you're sharing other people's ideas more than 20xs per day, maybe you need to find a way to make gossip your profession. Ouch. That was way harsh, Tai.
9) I haven't gotten my "do something drastic/crazy" desire out. I don't know what will make that go away but it hasn't happened yet.
10) My secret obsession? Googling half marathon race recap. I do it at least once a week and read all about the races of people I will likely never meet running in places I will likely never run. I love it! ... Except when I happen upon the blog of someone who rarely or never runs or runs a distance I've worked really hard at and they casually throw out a first time finishing time I will have to TRAIN LIKE MY LIFE DEPENDS UP ON IT to even approach. SOMEBODY'S LYING! BUT... If you're going to be that good on your first try, please, please do me a favor and don't treat it like it's not a big deal. If it really didn't matter to you, you probably wouldn't bother mentioning what you have to know is a good time.
11) I'm the head person for my local running group... which leaves me with a ton of facebook friends I don't want to have. Coming to a run once doesn't mean we should be facebook friends. Can we not? But I don't know how to say this without coming off rude or standoffish. I'm glad you're enthusiastic! But I don't feel like my life should be an open book to you because Iwas recruited volunteered to lead a running group.
12) The last couple of weeks have presented runs with some sort of torture. When I had an AMAZING run in Charlotte (finally averaging under 11 minute miles - 10:44 - on a 3-mile course that compared to where I usually run felt flat), I smelled Krispy Kreme doughnuts (yes, SPECIFICALLY them!) at the start and finish!! A week ago, I smelled bacon rounding into mile 6. I almost ate one of my running partners! Then Sunday, someone was grilling burgers. These are not phantom smells! You should have heard us exclaiming each day. LOLOL
2) This week's 2 a.m. baking yielded cinnamon cayenne butterscotch brownies. I took this basic recipe (leave out the 2nd set of ingredients... frosting... YUCK) and added cinnamon, cayenne and butterscotch chips. Sounds like kind of a lot, right? It worked! The you didn't taste the cayenne until you finished chewing. It hit you on the finish. I've heard about the interplay of chocolate and spice many times on food shows but experiencing it at my own hand? Pretty cool!
3) Have you guys watched "3 Days to Open" with Bobby Flay? That man is AWESOME! Every show he appears in makes me love him a little more. Spoiler alert: This chick opening a LOUNGE wanting to serve vodka & cranberry? VODKA & CRANBERRY??? I can mix that up standing outside of the liquor store. (LOL... envision your above average, fit, college-educated woman standing outside the liquor store mixing the most basic drink ever... what a vision!) But really, why would I need to go to a lounge for that???
4) I haven't gotten enough quality runs in lately. That changes Tuesday! AKA tomorrow! Can't wait!
5) I need a big juicy burger at least twice a week. Cooked medium, cheese required! The rest of the ingredients are wide open!
6) I'm getting a little burned out from the Olympics. Watching 4 hours per night MINIMUM (probably 6 hours throughout yesterday) will do that to you. The women's marathon was AWESOME! I'm definitely doing a marathon next year! But sheesh. I need a break... after I watch Gabby on uneven bars tomorrow night. My current fave gymnast on my fave apparatus. I'm there! Seven million qualifying rounds and any team sport i.e. basketball, beach or indoor volleyball or soccer? Miss me. I could really do a whole post on my Olympics proclivities...
7) I really hate Olympics spoilers. The tape delay is our reality. I know social media exists but I still want to be able to enjoy the races in prime time. I've unfollowed, hidden or unfriended all spoiler-y people on twitter and facebook. I'll be back after the Olympics... maybe... if I remember.
8) Some people really abuse the retweet function of twitter. I really don't need to see every irrelevant conversation. Along that vein, if you're sharing other people's ideas more than 20xs per day, maybe you need to find a way to make gossip your profession. Ouch. That was way harsh, Tai.
9) I haven't gotten my "do something drastic/crazy" desire out. I don't know what will make that go away but it hasn't happened yet.
10) My secret obsession? Googling half marathon race recap. I do it at least once a week and read all about the races of people I will likely never meet running in places I will likely never run. I love it! ... Except when I happen upon the blog of someone who rarely or never runs or runs a distance I've worked really hard at and they casually throw out a first time finishing time I will have to TRAIN LIKE MY LIFE DEPENDS UP ON IT to even approach. SOMEBODY'S LYING! BUT... If you're going to be that good on your first try, please, please do me a favor and don't treat it like it's not a big deal. If it really didn't matter to you, you probably wouldn't bother mentioning what you have to know is a good time.
11) I'm the head person for my local running group... which leaves me with a ton of facebook friends I don't want to have. Coming to a run once doesn't mean we should be facebook friends. Can we not? But I don't know how to say this without coming off rude or standoffish. I'm glad you're enthusiastic! But I don't feel like my life should be an open book to you because I
12) The last couple of weeks have presented runs with some sort of torture. When I had an AMAZING run in Charlotte (finally averaging under 11 minute miles - 10:44 - on a 3-mile course that compared to where I usually run felt flat), I smelled Krispy Kreme doughnuts (yes, SPECIFICALLY them!) at the start and finish!! A week ago, I smelled bacon rounding into mile 6. I almost ate one of my running partners! Then Sunday, someone was grilling burgers. These are not phantom smells! You should have heard us exclaiming each day. LOLOL
8.05.2012
Movies 2012: Weeks 23-28
My goodness! I can't even tell you how I got so behind in posting these!
Week 23: June 3-9, 2012
84) The Facts of Life. Lucille Ball and Bob Hope star in this 1960 film about a couple having an affair when they're both married to other people. Funny at times but mostly meh. 3.3 stars
85) The Full Monty. A group of unemployed British men decide to raise money by baring all in a revue for their town. Cute and amusing if at times unnecessarily round about. 3.6 stars
86) Le Divorce. A young American (Kate Hudson) travels to Paris to visit her expat sister (Naomi Watts), who's in the midst of a messy divorce. It floats back and forth between French and English. Horrible, horrible acting all around. Matthew Modine makes an appearance as a distraught man in a role that makes absolutely no sense. Just a horrible mess. The cap was the floating purse scene at the end. Horrid. 2 stars
87) We Were Here. A documentary film about how the AIDS epidemic ransacked San Francisco's gay community with interviews from leading activists, clinicians and gays. Some really heart-wrenching stories of people losing all of the friends they'd made in their first years in the city. It went back to back from riveting to dragging. The beginning was one of those dragging times. It also felt like a "very special episode" at times, something that was exacerbated by poor musical choices. There were moments where they pulled back on the emotion or cut off emotional moments in a way that truncated some of the power. I'm sure it was a conscious decision on the part of the filmmakers. Maybe so it didn't feel like one endless crying jag but it was a detriment at times. There was also extreme overuse of fade outs, dissolves and slowing of frames as a transition between stories. There were some great characters hampered at times by the storytelling and editing. 2.5 stars
Week 24: June 10-16, 2012
88) Man on Fire. Denzel Washington stars as the bodyguard for a Mexico City girl (Dakota Fanning) who gets kidnapped, sparking his crazy revenge plot. Pretty awesome! I love crazy, honey badger don't care Denzel. 3.7 stars
89) A Little Bit of Heaven. Is the opening credits too soon to declare a movie stupid? Kate Hudson stars a movie that shoves a whole whole lot of cliches before the credits fully began to roll. Maybe it's not so much the number but the eye-rolling nature. The voice over as you lay in bed. The OMG I'M LATE jump from bed. The best friend who's probably too hot to be anything but gay. The bumbling mess. It's not like I went into this expecting a masterpiece but being able to predict lines? AND it was way, way, WAY too long! Aye. 2 stars
90) The Debt. Helen Mirren stars as the female member of a trio who took down a vicious Nazi scientist and the debt she was forced to pay decades later. Kind of interesting but far too long. 3.2 stars
Week 25: June 17-23, 2012
91) Jeff Who Lives at Home. Jason Segel and Ed Helms star in this comedy about two brothers, one who's slightly successful and the other who lives at home. The stay-at-home brother (LOL) spends this movie on his date with destiny, searching for meaning behind a seemingly insignificant event. Very fun watch. It was a bit ridiculous at times but I was okay with that. 4 stars
92) Cinema Verité. This film is a fictional take on the PBS documentary "An American Family," widely recognized as the first reality tv family. It covers the messy struggle between the filmmaker and the family and the aftermath of the show's airing. That struggle and the aftermath really made this film. 4 stars
93) Red Tails. The fictionalized story of the all-black WWII air escort pilots who had to fight racism at home, then abroad just to get into the air. Horrible, HORRIBLE acting. So horrible and over the top that it was impossible to watch for enjoyment. A true disappointment in telling a great story. 2 stars
94) The Grey. Liam Neesson stars in this film about a group of oil riggers who survive a crash in the Alaskan wilderness only to be attacked by a band of huge wolves who see them as a threat. Ugh. Way way too long and worst of all, the least satisfying end I've seen in months. 2 stars
95) New Year's Eve. Let's throw 900 stars in one film. The most cliché film to come out this year. You could predict the end of the film from the beginning of each character group's scene. The only "surprises" were which stars were connected to each other in the film. 2 stars
Week 26: June 24-30, 2012
96) Teen Witch. Horrrrrible 1989 film about a girl who finds out she's a teenage witch and uses that to get the star athlete. Wow. I wondered if I would've liked this as a kid but it was really, REALLY bad. 2 stars
Week 27: July 1-7, 2012
97) Flipped. Rob Reiner directs the story of a kiddie love story set in the mid-20th century. Boring. Devoid of color in the roles of its actors. 2 stars
Week 28: July 8-14, 2012
98) The Help. Emma Stone plays the author of a book about domestic help in Jackson, Mississippi. I could not believe her as a Southerner because of her other roles and distraction from that awful wig. Viola Davis stars as the first maid to join the book in an Oscar-nominated role. Though Davis showed a "quiet strength," I can see why she didn't win. I thought throughout, she's getting typecast. The strong, matronly, long-suffering mother. I can see more of why Octavia Spencer won a best supporting actress award for her role as the cantankerous maid but still a rather stereotypical role. I enjoyed the book. The movie was fine. 3 stars
99) Safe House. Denzel Washington stars as a rogue former CIA agent who shows up at the U.S. consulate in South Africa after a decade off the grid. Ryan Reynolds becomes the man who has to guard him. Oh Reynolds. So laughable in this role. At no moment did I believe he was a capable or even really passable match. Not even when he was somewhat of a match in the script. I couldn't stop seeing him in "Just Friends." If you've seen this movie, where he fat suits it up in his love for a girl, you understand why the idea of him as a match for bad Denzel is hilarious. Rashan said he could only thing of his show, "Two Guys." LOL Poor Ryan. This film was too long at nearly two hours. There were too many action scenes with little to advance the plot. I know what you're saying, "Too many action scenes in an action movie???" Just make something happen with the plot during or afterwards. 3 stars
Week 23: June 3-9, 2012
84) The Facts of Life. Lucille Ball and Bob Hope star in this 1960 film about a couple having an affair when they're both married to other people. Funny at times but mostly meh. 3.3 stars
85) The Full Monty. A group of unemployed British men decide to raise money by baring all in a revue for their town. Cute and amusing if at times unnecessarily round about. 3.6 stars
86) Le Divorce. A young American (Kate Hudson) travels to Paris to visit her expat sister (Naomi Watts), who's in the midst of a messy divorce. It floats back and forth between French and English. Horrible, horrible acting all around. Matthew Modine makes an appearance as a distraught man in a role that makes absolutely no sense. Just a horrible mess. The cap was the floating purse scene at the end. Horrid. 2 stars
87) We Were Here. A documentary film about how the AIDS epidemic ransacked San Francisco's gay community with interviews from leading activists, clinicians and gays. Some really heart-wrenching stories of people losing all of the friends they'd made in their first years in the city. It went back to back from riveting to dragging. The beginning was one of those dragging times. It also felt like a "very special episode" at times, something that was exacerbated by poor musical choices. There were moments where they pulled back on the emotion or cut off emotional moments in a way that truncated some of the power. I'm sure it was a conscious decision on the part of the filmmakers. Maybe so it didn't feel like one endless crying jag but it was a detriment at times. There was also extreme overuse of fade outs, dissolves and slowing of frames as a transition between stories. There were some great characters hampered at times by the storytelling and editing. 2.5 stars
Week 24: June 10-16, 2012
88) Man on Fire. Denzel Washington stars as the bodyguard for a Mexico City girl (Dakota Fanning) who gets kidnapped, sparking his crazy revenge plot. Pretty awesome! I love crazy, honey badger don't care Denzel. 3.7 stars
89) A Little Bit of Heaven. Is the opening credits too soon to declare a movie stupid? Kate Hudson stars a movie that shoves a whole whole lot of cliches before the credits fully began to roll. Maybe it's not so much the number but the eye-rolling nature. The voice over as you lay in bed. The OMG I'M LATE jump from bed. The best friend who's probably too hot to be anything but gay. The bumbling mess. It's not like I went into this expecting a masterpiece but being able to predict lines? AND it was way, way, WAY too long! Aye. 2 stars
90) The Debt. Helen Mirren stars as the female member of a trio who took down a vicious Nazi scientist and the debt she was forced to pay decades later. Kind of interesting but far too long. 3.2 stars
Week 25: June 17-23, 2012
91) Jeff Who Lives at Home. Jason Segel and Ed Helms star in this comedy about two brothers, one who's slightly successful and the other who lives at home. The stay-at-home brother (LOL) spends this movie on his date with destiny, searching for meaning behind a seemingly insignificant event. Very fun watch. It was a bit ridiculous at times but I was okay with that. 4 stars
92) Cinema Verité. This film is a fictional take on the PBS documentary "An American Family," widely recognized as the first reality tv family. It covers the messy struggle between the filmmaker and the family and the aftermath of the show's airing. That struggle and the aftermath really made this film. 4 stars
93) Red Tails. The fictionalized story of the all-black WWII air escort pilots who had to fight racism at home, then abroad just to get into the air. Horrible, HORRIBLE acting. So horrible and over the top that it was impossible to watch for enjoyment. A true disappointment in telling a great story. 2 stars
94) The Grey. Liam Neesson stars in this film about a group of oil riggers who survive a crash in the Alaskan wilderness only to be attacked by a band of huge wolves who see them as a threat. Ugh. Way way too long and worst of all, the least satisfying end I've seen in months. 2 stars
95) New Year's Eve. Let's throw 900 stars in one film. The most cliché film to come out this year. You could predict the end of the film from the beginning of each character group's scene. The only "surprises" were which stars were connected to each other in the film. 2 stars
Week 26: June 24-30, 2012
96) Teen Witch. Horrrrrible 1989 film about a girl who finds out she's a teenage witch and uses that to get the star athlete. Wow. I wondered if I would've liked this as a kid but it was really, REALLY bad. 2 stars
Week 27: July 1-7, 2012
97) Flipped. Rob Reiner directs the story of a kiddie love story set in the mid-20th century. Boring. Devoid of color in the roles of its actors. 2 stars
Week 28: July 8-14, 2012
98) The Help. Emma Stone plays the author of a book about domestic help in Jackson, Mississippi. I could not believe her as a Southerner because of her other roles and distraction from that awful wig. Viola Davis stars as the first maid to join the book in an Oscar-nominated role. Though Davis showed a "quiet strength," I can see why she didn't win. I thought throughout, she's getting typecast. The strong, matronly, long-suffering mother. I can see more of why Octavia Spencer won a best supporting actress award for her role as the cantankerous maid but still a rather stereotypical role. I enjoyed the book. The movie was fine. 3 stars
99) Safe House. Denzel Washington stars as a rogue former CIA agent who shows up at the U.S. consulate in South Africa after a decade off the grid. Ryan Reynolds becomes the man who has to guard him. Oh Reynolds. So laughable in this role. At no moment did I believe he was a capable or even really passable match. Not even when he was somewhat of a match in the script. I couldn't stop seeing him in "Just Friends." If you've seen this movie, where he fat suits it up in his love for a girl, you understand why the idea of him as a match for bad Denzel is hilarious. Rashan said he could only thing of his show, "Two Guys." LOL Poor Ryan. This film was too long at nearly two hours. There were too many action scenes with little to advance the plot. I know what you're saying, "Too many action scenes in an action movie???" Just make something happen with the plot during or afterwards. 3 stars
8.01.2012
Birth Month!!
THIS MONTH I TURN 30 YEARS OLD!!!!!!!
August 23 is the day the world changed forever! You're welcome!
Y'all know I LOVE my birthday so let's begin the celebration today! Know how I've already started? Applying for two more jobs. Operation employed by 30: Let's go!
August 23 is the day the world changed forever! You're welcome!
Y'all know I LOVE my birthday so let's begin the celebration today! Know how I've already started? Applying for two more jobs. Operation employed by 30: Let's go!
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