My Knee Hurts and Other News

Tyson defeats Abby's Military of Baby....she is not happy....Tyson is.

My knees hurts as does my foot....it started a couple of weeks ago and it is taking its time getting better. The Sunday before last I tried to wrap both knees and run. It hurt so bad I was crying so I started walking. Last week I ran one mile on Tuesday and did 3 miles on the eliptical...no pain. Thursday I skipped the climate run and used the treadmill so I could stop when it started hurting. I did 3 miles with insignificant (not to be confused with none) pain. Today I tried to run my knees, my foot hurt (the same pain as last year), matter of fact my entire body hurt. I am going to chalk it up to exhaustion and try to ice and take tylnol in hopes of making the pain go away.

Grandma Mae is returning to Floriday today. We had a wonderful visit!

Recap of events:

Thursday: Mae arrives...went to Arnis for dinner. I ate like a pig.

Friday: Hooked up with Mae and went to Battleground to TC's at lunch for a killer tenderloin...then had a family gathering of around 19 people in the evening. I kept it simple...hot dogs, hamburgers, (hand spanked by your's truely), pasta salad, watermelon and chips. My family kept saying, "Where is all the food" I told them after going to TC's and having a giant tenderloin that I was not hungry so cooking for 19 did not excite me much. We ended the night by playing scrabble.

Saturday: Started the day with Biscuits and Gravy at Aunt Denises...then took Mae on a yard sale excursion. We told her we did not good bargins because she was bedecked in diamonds so the people thought we had money and therefore would not go down in price so that we could afford yet more jewelry. I told her it is the yard sale way to wear just plain jeans and tee shirt...no jewelry....that way people will think we are destitute and much more likely to bargin with us... Went to Aunt D's for a family birthday/reunion party...However, Mom ended up in the hospital that night and was unable to attend...neither did her hospital helpers...Kendra, James and Tasha. Mom came back to spend the night at my house while she came down from her morphine high.

Sunday: Chicken and Noodles at Aunt D's house....just sat around till around 9:30 chatting and such.

Monday: Dinner at my house. Hahahahah I was in control of the meal...the food Nazi...no carbohydrate festival of noodles, potatos and rolls...we had Grilled Chicken, Baked Potatoe, Corn on the Cob, watermelon and a beautiful tossed salad...and diabetic jello cake for dessert. I have found if you do not set out potato salad the family will actually consume greens...of course I had to lure them to the salad with shredded cheese and bacon bits...but at least I was able to sneak greens in on them.

Okay more details later:

Busy Life

The Penalty for waking up Grandma at 6:00 am. His first 5k walk!


Yesterday 3 mile run (in the middle of the afternoon no less) granted it was on the treadmill but that I actually followed thru with a missed morning workout was amazing! Then 8 mile bike ride in the evening. As you may or may not know, my daughter in law had open heart surgery a month ago. She has had a rough recovery but hopefully is on the mend. This week I took a vacation week to give her sister a break. Her sister has been absolutely fabulous coming over every day to help take care of Nat and the baby. I have been going over on Tuesday and Friday mornings which means no morning workout...which equals flabby thighs and tummy. Today my plan is to swim after I leave their house today. Tomorrow morning her sister will be coming in the morning so I don't miss my climate run and I need to go get my drivers license reviewed.





Lessons I have learned:





After the mini do not get pumped up and do even more workouts then normal. I did this because I was suffering from the mini high...now I am paying for it with sore knees. I am having to ice, wrap, and stretch because the hog jog is coming up and I don't want to miss it.





Babies do not care if you are tired when they wake up when it is time to get up it is time to get up (you would think I would remember that after 3 children...but the memory fades).....and they do it so cute how can you not get up. I made the BIG error of bringing Adam to bed with me at 3:00 am. At 6:00 am he stuck his little face in mine and when I ignored him he pulled himself up on me....by my hair. Okay so I was awake at that point. He had coffee with Grandma then he did a 5K walk. Matter of fact he took total walks over the weekend of 6 miles....go Adam!



Tyson: Has informed me he wants to do the Mini when he is 12 and he needs to start training. This should be interesting as he hates running. However, I have done and will do the Mini for 2008, his paternal Grandma said she is doing the mini now, and his uncle and brother will be doing it next year...so Ty has the Mini fever. He has asked me to start coming over to take him for little runs...I will keep you posted. I advised him that it is hot, sweaty and hard to run...he says he does not care...so Tyson get ready.....

Oops time to get to Nat's...will post more later...suffice to say...I need to get some hard workouts in because the Hog Jog is right around the corner.

Mini Pictures

A picture of a picture of the mini...don't ask me why.


My after mini ride back to Lafayette. Good thing I wasn't driving.

This is how crappy somebody looks after running 13 miles. Jerry would not let me wear my medal to church despite my pleas.

Look how tired and happy I look. My friend Leo is the tall gentleman in the dark blue running next to the crowd.


Yes, while I am out running the mini...this is what my family is doing.

Long Promised

Adam giggling. He must have a secret. NOTICE the hair growth!

Hanging out the Uncle James and Aunt Tasha

A triathelete in the making. He can swim, he can bike...now he's gotta run.

Adam says, "Come in Carissa spring me from this contraption Grandma keeps putting me in".

Only the real cool grandmas do this.

Grandma and Carissa getting ready for a swing

A Little Light on the Workouts/Ended with a Bang

Last weekend was a grandchildren packed weekend. My little guy spent Friday night and Saturday day with us. He was initiated into the world of garage sales and he did GREAT! He hung out with Grandma and Aunt Tasha all morning! He did not start getting cranky until about 12:30 when we went to the grocery store. So to be out from 8:00 am to 1:00 being carted around without being in the least bit cranky was awesome. I did find that it is very hard to hold a baby and push a full shopping cart...I guess my big honking biceps come in handy.

Monday: 4 miles and power hour....no evening exercise...spent time with grandchildren

Tuesday: Watched my grandchildren in the morning ( my daughter in law had surgery and needs a little help with the children till she is recovered), nothing in the evening due to rain.

Wed. Lifted and Swam.

Thursday: 5 mile climate run...56 minutes, 1 1/2 mile walk in the afternoon

Friday: nothing in the morning (grandchildren), 1 1/2 mile walk in the afternoon, nothing in the evening due to being grouchy.

Saturday: Dejunked my upstairs room because I have been promising my husband I would do it "after the mini". It took all day but you can now walk thru the room and the Goodwill received my unwanted junk

Sunday: I hope to do 5-6 miles this morning and if I don't take my granddaughter to Aunt Hee Hee's picnic will ride my bike there.

I AM BACK....HA did 6.05 miles in 67 minutes...averagepace per calculator 11.4 per mile. whoooo hoooo but no wonder I felt like crap at the end....the end was puke mountain.....thought for sure I wasn't going to make it...but no stopping up the hill....chugged up it like our old Dodge Ram use to then did a slow jog cool down around my block to make my total of 6.05! Finished my run...ate some breakfast and off to church.
Home from church, over to Aunt Hee Hee's for Amanda to tell us all the good news that she is expecting a baby! Congrats Amanda and Roger!
Back to church in the evening...biked there and back for total biking miles on Sunday of 6 miles.
Found that with biking to church I was able to stay away all thru the Sermon...I think I might be on to something...stationary bikes for worship!
Time to go to power hour...I am not slacking on the workouts like I did this last week...since I can't work out Tuesday morning. I am going to drag my tired butt to the Y after work. I'll update you all on the results of THAT!
Have a great day!

My Head Doth Explodeth!

Good day I say!
1: Awesome Climate Run...setting a personal best for Kimmie 5 miles in under an hour! Go Kim Go! Leo said 54.? . I hope he is right and his little gadget is not broken! If so don't tell me!
2: Got Kudos from the Powers that Be at Work!
3: Got told that my pants were getting baggy!
I am now very full of myself and intolerable to be around. By the time I left work my head was so big I could barely make it thru the elevator doors and now my neck hurts because the strain of holding up my big head has been exhausting.
Totals for today: Ran 5, walked 1 1/4, Biked 6 1/2 and did a little lifting.

This weekend is mother's day...so I am ready....Children, Grandchildren....I am ready to be adored and cherished and treated as a queen (something I most certainly deserve on account of my wonderfulness).

I will be posting pictures soon. I have some incredible cute ones to post!

Upcoming events: Amber will be in a show this weekend. You can buy tickets at the door on Saturday night! Grandma Mae arrives June 7 and will stay thru Tuesday! Save some time for Grandma Mae! I will be taking off Friday and 1/2 day on Monday. Aunt Denise will be off 1/2 on Thursday. Hog Jog 10k for Me on June 14? Zoo run 5k in July, and the Kossuth Street 5k in July, Grandma and Grandpa Kaufman in Michigan will be having their 40th anniversary.
Birthdays (May/June/July): Amanda, Amber, Grandma Casey, Grandma Mae, Grandma Sue, Natasha (in alpha order).
July 4th (fireworks at my house, carryin lunch/dinner).

That's all for now folks!
Quote of the day, "I am loser tee hee tee hee" I can't really explain this but it was funny as heck and you just had to be there....spoken by Jill in reference to my self disparaging persona.

Mini Magic

Okay I have determined that either A)I did not work hard enough at the Mini or B) There has been some major mini vodoo magic going on. Other then Saturday of the mini (when I fell asleep in the van on the way home and then got in the door and took a 2 hour nap) I have felt all kinds of energy. Sunday got up at 6:00 am went to the grocery store, returned home by 7:30 am to take a shower, eat breakfast and get ready for church, returned home from church watched not one but two grandchildren (and a great time it was!), then returned one grandchild home, kept one to take to church with me, went to evening service, returned home, played with the remaining grandchild till his mommy and daddy returned home around 9 ish. Monday, started a little sluggish, half heartedly walk/ran 1 mile, half heartedly did ab work, then by the time I got to work the energy kicked in...went for a mile walk on my lunch break, came home ate dinner then went on a 6 mile bike ride. Tuesday got up did a little lifting, ran 3 miles (at my fastest time in quite awhile! and I could have run further!), came home after work took a 6 1/2 mile bike ride (and picked a route with two killer hills), took Baby Adam for about a 3/4 mile walk, came home packed my lunch and got ready for tomorrow...now I am blogging. I thought after the mini I would be worthless for a week but I feel pretty good...the real test will be the climate run on Thursday! If I make it then I know I am stronger! Okay better get to bed...no use pushing the envelope....

I FINISHED WITH A SMILE

I DID IT! I DID IT! I DID IT! I would jump up and down but my knees are stiff. It was incredible and painful and I am doing it again next year. Mile 1-5 felt pretty good. I could breathe, nothing really hurt and my 5 mile was like 1:01 which is about average for me now. Suprisingly no real problem controlling my breathing...oh and side note I ran with NO MUSIC. After much encouragement to just enjoy and relish the experience. I left my headphones in the car. Headphones to me are like a pacifer to a baby! So it was a tough call to leave them behind. I did not regret it until the last mile and looking back I think even if I had them it would be unlikely they would have helped. The track miles were horrendously tedious. Nothing to look at but track and other tortured souls. My husband asked if I kissed the brick. I told him there could be no brick kissing because I would have probably laid down and taken a nap. Every once in a while I would glance over to the sidelines at the track to see the perky young teenage cheerleaders cheering for us. The cheer I liked the most was when they said something like "walk it run it we don't care" and then something about just doing it. I was in my "Kim far away zone" at that point... its the same look I get when I am on the treadmill or my Thursday runs. Any way I just walked thru the water breaks up to that point. After the track it started to get rough. That was right in the 8-9 mile part. It was very helpful that Leo marked it for me in Lafayette miles. He would be like okay we're at the 4th Street hill mark on our Thursday run. Then he would say okay were at Teal Road. That really kept me from panicking! The last couple miles I had to walk some because my legs felt like lead. Strange though...the breathing that has been an ongoing problem for me was not a problem today....The last 1/2 miles was very rough then the last 1/4 mile all I remember is I was smiling and thinking "I am gonna finish..I gonna finish", I could see the finish line and they called my name over the loud speaker! I had to ask Leo is that our finish...because I could not believe I was finally there. I felt like bursting into tears when I crossed under. I am so happy that my friends encouraged and encouraged me to do this...because this I was filled with this incredible feeling of joy! Next year my goal is 2:40 and I will not start in Corral V.

Highlights:

Dinner the night before: Hooked up at PF Changs with Leo, Maggie, Jeff, Karen, Glenn and two other couples that I can't remember their names. I think one was Leo's nephew....I am tired right not I can't hardly think....Good food and excellent company!


Stay girl stay: Leo parks me in the corral. Points to a spot tells me to stand right there while he goes to the back to give something to his nephew in a back corral..yes there were just a few corrals behind us. I see Dana, Mike and Cathy they wave and yell. I run over to them all excited to see my friends. I get hugs and well wishes! OH NO I have let my spot. When I look over Leo has returned and is standing in the spot shaking his head! I bid Danna, Mike, Kathy and Russ farewell, asked Danna and Kathy to please drag me to the finish line if I collapse (and to please make sure my shirt stays down to retain my modesty) and high tail it back to my spot with explanation as to why I strayed. Hahahahahaha

I was not looking around at the start of the mini just walking to the start line staring ahead, trying to decide what on earth was the matter with my brain for signing up and I glance over and there was my family! I was so excited to see them.

My shirt: I had several people comment on my fat picture on my shirt and it was most encouraging and made me not want to quit. Thank you to Rebecca for coming up with my logo!

The bands were great on the sidelines! I heard some Guns and Roses, Mellencamp, Poison, Areosmith...all the music that makes a girl of the 80's happy. We did hear one band and ohhhhh they were horrible.

I was advised by Leo at the beginning there would be lots of hooting and hollering and laughter but after the track it would be silent just the slapping of shoes on the pavement. It was true! No laughter, no hooting, no hollering...just slap slap slap...it was very strange.

Silence of the Kim: Few words were spoken by Kim on account of I had to concentrate. But my friends are use to that...they know when I am done I will make up for the running silence. Maybe someday I too will be able to chatter! I think this is the longest stretch I have gone with out talking aside from my dental surgeries.

Big Girls Galore: I found my big girls. I was content.

My family: I love you so very much and am the most blessed woman in the world for having you! Thank you for all your love and support. Especially thank you to my husband who has put up with my training for months and months and listening to me rattle on about my corns and callouses (yes Honey I am gonna get that pedicure). And putting up with my early to bed early to rise schedule. Thank you Kendra for doing dog duty...thank you Tasha and James for sleeping on the fold out so I could sleep in the nice cushy hotel bed and thank you Jerry, James and Tasha for sitting for hours waiting for me to finish!

Proud of all my Y Friends. I am beaming with pride for all my Y friends! I love each and every one of you and you have greatly enriched my life! Thank you for encouraging me to be all that I can be!

Giant Dessert: On the way home from Indy we stopped to eat and I had a giant dessert and then felt sick sick sick. A couple of times I thought I was going to have to ask Jamie to pull the van over but I paid 5.00 for that dessert and I did not want to waste it by throwing it up. FYI: try the blonde brownie from Applebees....

Things I have Gained/Learned from the Mini:
Gross Item: If you are constipated...run a mini!
Thursday climate runs do pay off.
I will not die after doing 13.1 miles
10k's no longer scare me. I might still be last but the distance no longer scares me.
I wanna do another...not anytime soon though...but I am gonna work my butt of this summer and get stronger.

Random Thought while doing the Mini: Every time I saw a pit stop I kept thinking "This is just like in Georgia and Florida when you see all those Stops that sell the Oranges and Pecans" I think this thought might have been oxygen deprivation or dehyrdration induced.

Scary moment: After the finish I went to go to the bathroom (see Gross Item above) and then I started to get dizzy and bleck feeling. My blood sugar went bump so I had to sit down...hoping I could hold off on that bathroom issue...and eat some jelly beans. It took a minute to get my brain wrapped around that I had to get the jelly beans out of my pocket and into my mouth and about 7 minutes to recover and then I was as right as rain! I kept looking around thinking boy I wish my family was here because I really don't feel good and that I should have had someone at the finish have my meter. Next time I will eat some jelly beans at the last 5k mark.
Okay that is all for now cause I am tired. My son has my finish on video and he is putting it on his blog. I will let you all know when it is up so you can see what pain/happiness looks like!
Signed
13.1 miles and happy!

I am gonna make a great looking Corpse

Am I ready for the Mini?

Maps generated
Suitcase mostly packed (spending the night in Indy tomorrow)
Fat Girl Tee Shirt Ready ( made a shirt with my fat picture on it and the logo "One More Reason to Run")
Lucky food packed (peanut butter and honey)
Lucky socks packed
Lucky Sports Bra currently in the washer ready to go in the dryer
Lucky Shorts...packed (are you starting to see the trend....I don't have skill so gotta have luck)
Hair Colored..........why did I need to get my hair colored and cut? cause when I sweat all my gray roots stand out and because I wanna look great in my casket after I keel over dead 20 feet from the finish line. If someone sees me laying on the ground please roll my corpse to the finish line so I do not get a DNF.
So I guess that means I am ready for the mini (that is once I get my lucky bra packed).

Current Mood: Slightly panicked. I did feel a little light headed for a few minutes when I saw the mini coupe but I managed to overcome it by thinking thoughts of non mini things.

Quote of the day: Kathleen my hairdresser, "Color by Kathleen, Body by the YMCA". Said upon my quip that she should put an advertisment on my shirt for the mini.

Mini Meltdown

Every time I think if the mini I feel faint. For that matter every time I hear the word mini I feel faint. Seeing mini things makes me feel faint. I almost sure the stress and fear prior to the mini is going to kill me. I am scared for the following reasons:

I won't be able to keep up with Leo
I will have to walk more then run
2 burly men will exit the slow bus and grab me and forcibly shove me into the "You ain't moving fast enough" bus.
It will be hot
I will have to walk.I will have to walk I will have to walk. I dont wanna walk. I guess after writing this I have my fear narrowed down to fear of failure....I think walking is failure...therefore I will fail because there is no possible way I can run the whole thing. Okay what happened to my I am going to walk/run the mini and be proud of it? Ahhhgggggggggg
Time to go do my 3 mile run.....

11.33 miles

Today, despite being tired and unmotivated and dehydrated I drug my rear out of bed for a run. The first half was very strong only 3 1 minute water breaks and then somewhere around mile 7 I lost it. I ran out of water, I was thirsty so thirsty (my own fault I only took about 8 ounces of water with me). Managed to get in 11.33 miles average pace of 13.3 minutes per mile. The last mile was mostly walking with my tongue hanging out of my mouth but I finished. I really think for long runs I need to have someone with me to help me keep a slow steady pace. So after the mini I will be begging one of the climate run teams to go on longish runs with me 6-8 miles on Saturday or early Sunday morning! It is lonely running that long by myself...its not that I want to talk but I just want someone there. Maybe I should get a dog...no a dog is too fast that would kill me.
During this run: I was thirsty, tired, my music was driving me crazy, I wanted to hear it then I didn't (headphones off, headphones on...over and over and over), my cell phone (in my pocket) banged against my quad and gave me a little bruise, my foot hurt, my knee hurt, my head hurt. I ran past someone's little yard pond, thought about sitting in it, decided they would call the police if they saw a middle aged sweaty woman with headphones sitting in their pond. Ran past burger king, thought the smell would make me puke. People kept staring at me. I wanted to scream at them "Hey can't you see I am striving for health and fitness" "Fat girls need exercise too!" Chanted to myself "I am never doing another mini again" Told the FAST runner that went past me that I was too fat and old to do this. He smiled gave me a thumbs up...I wanted to break his thumb off and slap the smile off of his face, but he was going to fast. At mile 9 thought about calling my daughter to pick me up. Mile 10 started to cry and whine and moan outloud. Mile 11 began to believe I was actually going to make it (by this time my running had become a walking/very little running). However, the "I am never doing another mini chant" became louder and faster in my head. Final.25 mile wondered why on the eath I was doing this and wondered how much I could get off ebay for my mini entry and hotel room, and also wondered why I didn't cut thru VP drive to get home faster. I see my house give one final groan of pain and sprinted toward my steps. Final Destination (home) began to think about how to improve next years training.

GI BABY

Baby Adam is now 7 months old and he is army crawling all over the place. However, he will scream at you if you do the following: continue to move the item he is crawling for over and over and over...he is smart...he knows we are messing with him.

Jerry and I bought new bikes last night...alas they are not nice bikes just a level above the cheap cheap bikes...but it is a bike none the less. We are looking forward to getting some rides in. Hopefully I will find a bike buggy this summer at yard sales so I can take Adam for a ride! I get tired and bored with walking at night so biking will be a nice change. I don't think I have had a new bike since I was a kid.

Running: 5 miles on Thursday, again, I hope not to jinx myself, but I actually enjoyed it more then it hurt (not alot mind you). No stopping and I went so much faster up 4th Street Hill...slow compared to other people but very fast for me! Probably the fastest ever! This summer I am going to work work work so at least I don't hold people up! My mini panic has set in. I think I am nuts and they don't let you WEAR HEADSETS! So this Saturday I am going to try to run without my headset...okay maybe it will be in my pocket but Iam gonna try not to use it.

Scales: Tra LA LA and the scales have been moving in a downward direction....yeah! I am within spitting distance of hitting my first mini goal...matter of fact I may spit and reweigh....perhaps that little bit of saliva will push me back!

Question of the Day: "Do you run naked" No that was NOT a question as to whether I have been running up 4th street hill in all my naked glory but rather a question about whether I eat before I run. Question by Karen. The answers are No and Yes, in no particular order. I will leave you to figure out the order. Hint: There have not been floods of people exiting the town in a panic. The Eye Doctors (yes I can't spell the real term this early in the a.m.) have not been overbooked due to a rise in sudden blindness....hope that helps.

Gnawing My Arm Off

I am making a valiant effort to lose 20 pounds. So far 5 down and not one but two people noticed! Now that is a morale booster. One person mentions in then you think yeah right who can tell, but two people...now that is validation...go Kimmie! However, the side effect of attempting to lose weight is an unending hunger. I am so hungry I could gnaw my arm off...except for I got one big honking bicep and I think it might be a little stringy and tough. I woke up in the middle of the night starving and just had to lay in bed because I HAD enough to eat at dinner and there was no reason for me to eat anything else. So I laid in bed and counted the hours till I could get up and have a cup of carb controlled hot chocolate...very little fat, trace sugar.... but very yummy. These are the following changes I have made to try to shed some of my fatness....keep in mind...small changes...because I am already suffering in my yummy food deprived life: Red Meat once a week...fish, chicken and pork the rest, gave up my whipped cream on my sugar free pudding, make my sugar free pudding with 1 cup of skim milk and 1 cup of water (instead of 2 cups milk), count my pretzels for snacks..I get 25 mini pretzels (20 is a serving but I really love pretzels), not eating my weight in desserts on the weekends, avoiding multiple dining out experiences on the weekend, No bacon at all during the weekdays...Wed is always eggs and bacon night...I have eggs and whole wheat pasta and vegtables, No more graham crackers, resumed afternoon walks at work, and finally I do not go back for mulitple helpings of meat under the "I need protein to make me run faster theory" (this theory has been proven utterly useless but I still insisted on standing by it!)Those are my changes and while they are not much I am grateful that the scales have gone down 5 pounds and am anxious to see the other pounds follow behind it.
Signing off
Food Deprived and Suffering!
SOS: I need a cookie!

Daytime Victory

Yesterday 7.23 mile mostly running and 2.65 walk. Well this weekend I had every intention of doing a long run. However, the IRS stood firmly in the middle of my path. Taxes are due tomorrow (due to today being emancipation day) but my taxes were not completed. In fact they were not started, not my 2007 quarterly or my 2006 personal. I knew that if I waited till after my long run then I would be too tired and worn out. If I did them before it is likely I would bale on my long run...which is exactly what happened. So Sunday morning I got up, realized my check book at 100 + error and I had bills to pay...again long run first then too tired to do my financials or financials then risk not getting my long run in because I will get drowsy in church and be to tired to go later. I had every intention of leaving right after church, took my clothes and everything, but when I got out I was overcome with this almost like hangover type of exhaustion ( I call it my sitting in church syndrome)so I opted for coming home and napping. I napped for an hour and a half then decided I had to get my slacker rear up and if nothing else go for a long walk. Well I got out and started feeling better so I was able to do 7.23 mile run which was mostly running. I even, on my own choice, came up 4th street hill to come home. I MADE IT UP IN BROAD DAYLIGHT! The hill is NOT easier in the daylight! I thought it might be, but it looked just as horribly long in the daylight as it does at 5:30 in the morning. So anyway I got home, took a 15 minute bath, then immediatly hoofed it to church which was how I got my 2.65 mile walk in. I was suppose to walk home too but they had a VBS meeting that went till 8:00 and so by that time I was starving for dinner so did not think I could wait to eat till I walked home. This morning, due to my late afternoon run and walk, I am kinda stiff so I think I will hit the water.
Saturday night: Baby Adam went to his first Miller Carnival. He had a great time. He won the cake walk two times, won two prizes in the kids raffle, I won 15 worth of movie gift certificates and free popcorn and drink coupons, a golf shirt, and a blue ink pin. We were there for around 2 1/2 hours, then we trooped back to my house to have Chili, german chocolate cupcakes, and the turnovers that Baby Adam won in the cake walk.

Accomplished this weekend: 2006 Taxes, 2007 quarterly taxes, Miller School Carnival, a little laundry done, Checkbook Error found and corrected, Bills paid, Filing done, Grocery shopping done, church attended...so I guess I had a pretty good and busy weekend.
Oops once again late to swimming!

Beginning Meltdown

Yesterday I got in the mail: MY MINI CONFIRMATION BOOKLET. I held it in my hand and there was no panic. Until I opened the booklet and begin to read. 13.1 miles what was I thinking? Am I insane? There was information on first aid stations, hydration stations, what to do in case of emergencies both human and weather, how to find you family amid thousands and thousands of people. It also included the dire results of losing your mini confirmation book, starting the mini early, losing your chip AND going slower then the required pace of 18 minutes per mile. By the time I was done reading my booklet I was feeling faint (good thing I was in bed in my pjs), I felt like I was going to puke and I had a desire to flee far far away from Indy. So now I am having some SERIOUS doubts. Not even the lure of free cookies and country music at the end of the route has made my terror abate.

Tax Meltdown: I finished our personal taxes from 2006. They are ready to sign and insert my check for payment because evidently claiming 0 all year long is not adequate to cover my tax liability. Uncle Sam wants me, no demands me, to deplete my meger savings to give him more money so our Congressmen, Senators, and the President can live like kings and dine on exotic foods and expensive wines, while I live in the middle of gang territory and eat generic hotdogs. No..just kidding... I know my money goes for good....like studies of the mating habits of Honey Bees..... So now that the personal taxes our done I have begun our first quarter 2007 taxes. After staring at the Estimated Tax Worksheet I have decided that my brain hurt and I went to a tax site and found tax software that will do all the thinking for me. I just have to data entry.
Runs: 3.25 miles on Tuesday...pretty good..no stopping...last mile was by far the fastest (don't be impressed I don't go that fast in the beginning!) 5 miles on Thursday and it felt...dare I say it...not as painful.... no stopping.....I did not struggle with my breathing as much...wasn't any faster but I could actually breath during portions of this run and was able to occasionally burst furth with a sentence or two. I am mostly a silent on my five miles...I can either breath or talk but am incapable of doing both. I am constantly amazed by those that can chatter way during their runs...oh and really really jealous.

Okay off to the Y for Power Hour. I was gonna swim but I have swam the last couple of weeks and I am starting to feel like sponge bob. I think if someone hugs me I am gonna squirt water out of every pore.
Long Run/Walk this weekend. Wish me luck! There will be no gatorade.....

ANNOYING ISSUES and DAMAGE I HAVE DONE

It is true. I am a walking Shleprock and I have PMS misery:

1) Burnt popcorn at work so that our entire office reeked and people kept asking what was that smell.
2) Been canceled by my homeowners insurance due to our being the victim of vandalism
3) Been denied by companies because of my vandalism claim
4)Possible lost a parking permit (that does not belong to me) (not sure if I lost it or it was never given to me). I had to go up and beg a replacement before the person I borrowed it from gets back in town...but not even sure if she even gave it to me or we just talked about it....grrrrr
5)Got pulled over by the police for speeding...though I did not get a ticket but a stern talking too.
6) Was publicly humilated by being pulled over as it was on 4th Street and numerous people I knew saw me and passed the word around.
7) When getting pulled over told the police that my purse was in my trunk...so had to open my trunk...which then everyone that passed me thought my car was getting searched
8) Had to have baked potato while my husband had bacon. This cause alot of emotional distress. Further distressed when baked steak day I had baked fish. (I need to lose 10-15 more pounds)
9)Have lost numerous things this week that I have just laid down for a MOMENT!
10) Had a doctor's appointment for a check up. Despite losing weight I have a severe doctor/scale phobia.
12) My car needs lubed so my car creaks and moans the entire time I am driving it...It is annoying and embarrassing
13) Been generally cranky and short tempered and not willing to joke or kid around....my poor husband has had to bear the brunt of this as he has been in a playful mood and I HAVE NOT! He was joking with me the entire walk we took on Monday and all I did was whine and snarl at him. I say this to him "DO NOT POKE THE BEAR"
14) Found out I have to pay 830 in federal taxes despite us claiming 0 exemptions. Does it not stand to reason if you are claiming 0 that you should at least break even?
AND FINALLY FINISHED OFF MY WEEK WITH THE FINALE
15) Almost killed my dog and injured my husband.....I gave her a piece of chicken breast..which normally she would eat no problem(yes I know you are not suppose to give the dog table food but she is in kidney failure and has a bad thryoid and has lost tons of weight and we have to get her to eat anyway we can...and she turns her nose up at the very expensive food we bought from the vet that is suppose to help her...so she is losing even more weight) Well come to find out that she is losing teeth...we found one on the floor the other day.....so she could not chew up the chicken breast chunk that I give it to her and she swallowed it whole...where it got stuck....she was heaving, frothing at the mouth, gasping so hard her rib cage was totally sunken in and dying in front of my eyes. My husband (who stays cool in the throes of trauma) tried to give her doggie heimlech (spelling?) and then he and I turned her upside down and shook her...nothing...she was frothing at this time...he tried to pull it out but it was too far down her throat...which when he was doing this got bit very hard!. Finally he prayed and then started rubbing her throat trying to push it up and then she gagged and coughed it up. I was terrified! After this we determined that she likely has not been eating the expensive dry stuff because she can't chew the hard pieces... she does not have many back teeth...however those canines are sharp and still there...that is proven by the holes in Jerry's hand! So now she is on wet dog food and I am not giving her any table food unless it has been put through the blender first. Suprisingly enough she still loves me after my attempted doggie manslaughter. Poor girl...she is such a sweet loving dog!
This was not a good week for a woman with major PMS issues!

My runs were good this week.
3.25 miles on Tuesday...no stopping to walk
5 miles on Thursday no stopping to walk (though it was a tremendous feat just to drag my rear out of bed...the only reason I did was that I cannot tick off the one person that is going to help me thru the mini)
10.85 miles yesterday. There absolutely WAS walking during this one. I also have determined there is not one place in town to go where I am not going to get hills. I did not set out till 8:30 a.m. so it was very hard for me because I am not use to running at this time of day. I am an under the cover of darkness person. The sun never hits my face. So I was contending with Mr. Sun in my eyes and baking down on the top of my head AND people staring at me. They were probably wondering if they should stop and call for medical help as I am sure I looked like I was dying. I also made the mistake of taking gatorade with me which made me cramp up really bad. The last time I drank gatorade was at the Zoo Run and it did the exact same thing to me. I guess I better just stick to water and lifesavers for the sugar. I am also tring to find a little bottle to transport honey as my stomach can handle that. I always eat a tablespoon of honey before my Thursday runs.

Well I better get cooking. I invited a few people over for dinner and I don't think they will be impressed if I served bologne sandwiches and pringles. So I better get the turkey breast cooking.

Running out of Time

The mini is so very close and I am so ill prepared. This weekend I have a 10 1/2 mile scheduled. It was suggested that from now until the mini I do my long runs at the same time as the mini is that way I get use to running at that time. I can see the logic in that. So instead of running under the cover of darkness as is my usually practice I will be setting out this Saturday at 7:30 a.m. Blah! I have been promised that at the mini I will have fun, that I won't be last, and that I will want to do it again...hmmm I am somewhat skeptical.

Spring Fling: Spring Fling went well and all the children seemed to enjoy themselves! This was Adam's and Carissa' s first Easter Egg Hunt! Poor Tyson he is the oldest child in the family and he is looked upon with total adoration by my neice Abby, so she follows him around and around. He is not so thrilled with that but will put up with it. He is already followed around by his little sister and pretty soon Adam will likely be following him around. I told Tyson when he was little he use to follow Amber around and she too hated it. And years ago......Amber use to follow Kendra and Amanda around...yes they hated it too. At any rate..I had a wonderful time being surrounded by my grandchildren and neices. Baby Adam spent the night with grandma and we had a fun time. However, he has Grandma pegged in that if he whimpers and looks up at me with his big big eyes slightly filled with tears that Grandma will pick him up and cuddle him no matter what time of the night it is.

Time to go swimming....

Woof Woof says the Fat Old Labrador

This morning my run went very well. 5 miles no stopping, not even on Puke Mountain. However, as I was running, or more aptly described as trotting, behind Leo (who has the patience of a saint), a visualization popped into my poor oxygen deprived brain. I thought I must look somewhat like an old fat labrador that is being taken on a run by its owner. I am always behind, panting, gasping and my tongue is hanging out of my mounth. I probably would even stop to drink out of a mudpuddle if I thought I could get back up again.

Okay hightlights from this mornings run: I was last again! Even though Jeff and Kris stopped at the VP to get a gatorade they still beat me in....how sad is that...people went SHOPPING and STILL BEAT ME! I hang my head in shame.......sigh..... However, the upside is that I saw their back sides a tiny bit longer then I usually do. I tell you I can identify every person I run with by just looking at their back side because that is all I ever see. I find it ironic that the very thing I am absolutely horrible at is the very thing I love. Side Note: Trying to run to Christine Aguilara's "Aint No Other Man"almost killed me...I better stick to ballads.

Updates:
Last Week: Running Good! No stopping on my 3.25 mile or my 5 mile and on Saturday I did 10 on the treadmill (cause we were out of town at a hotel on an interstate). I did 10 minutes run, 1 minute recovery. However, at least twice I snuck in 2 minute recoveries. I found 10 miles on the treadmill to be horrible and hope to never have to do that again. I got a blister because on the treadmill you foot tends to strike in the exact same place time after time. Outdoors you don't get that because of variation of the ground. I also swam several times over the weekend. My food was good on Saturday but I lost it on Sunday and ate like a pig...of which I am still suffering the consequences of.

Mini: The Mini is fast approaching. I have not yet hit the panic zone but look to start melting down by the second week of April. Leo has been so kind as to bump himself back to my slow corral so I do not have to be by myself. Not to many people would be willing to sacrifice their own time to help someone else achieve a goal and I am so very grateful for that. Ahhh I must have taken my sensitive pill again.... My husband, my son and my daughter in law will be there to witness my total humiliation. I just hope I can cross the line with some semblance of dignity...preferable on my feet and not crawling across the line. I would also like to not puke when I cross the line...oh and not to be last or next to last. My luck I will end up crawling across the line and puking just as the newspaper photographer snaps a picture for the front page of our local paper. I can see the headline now....Local Woman Perseveres, Then Pukes.

Grandchidren: Carissa and Tyson came over the weekend before last. Tyson learned how to play Bunco. I love Tyson...he is the only one that will play games with me. He is very bright and can pick up games in a snap...and he is learning to play a mean game of scrabble...of course he is learning at the foot of the master. Carissa is very mobile and darting all over the place. Her favorite game was "Take everything off Grandma's Coffee Table" followed closely by "Remove all videos from Shelves".
Baby Adam is sitting up and he tried his first bite of Grandma's mashed potatoes. He was not sure about the potatoes. He just let them ooze out of his mouth....hmmm he must take after Grandpa's side because Grandma's side never lets a carbohydrate out of their mouth.

Upcoming Event: Spring Fling on Saturday. A day of fun and lame games with Grandma. I think they only put up with the lame games for the Reeces Cups.

Remark of the Day: "Whoooooo Hoooooooo" Yodeled by Karen as we took off at the Y doors at 5:00 a.m. My response, "I think this is gonna kill me"

Better then I thought

Saturday: Finally got to meet Runner Susan! Met up with her and her sister Amy and had a wonderful time. I have decided I need more girls nights out!

Sunday: 9 miles. Should have done 10 but as I was going to be very late had to skid in at 9 miles. I overslept and then still had to get up and make applesalad to take to the church carryin before I went for my run. HOWEVER, my 9 miles were really good. I was doing about 15 minutes with a 2 minute walk recovery! Much much better. I did it in about 1:57. So my time is getting better. I just slow down so much on the second hour but that is okay...strength is building up I can feel it...I was not really sore. My knee was just a little stiff because I did not put my IT band on after the run...but did not hurt really bad! I was more disgruntled from the large amounts of time I was sitting at church. Sitting for long periods always makes me irritable and tired and it was a very long day at church.

Today the plan is to do a small walk at lunch then one this evening!

High Points of my weekend:
Friday: Having dinner with Baby Adam, Kendra and Lucas and my Mom. I fixed what I thought to be a most delicious meal!
Saturday: Shopping with my hubby in the A.M., My son brought over Ty and Carissa for a visit! Yeah! Meeting up with Amy and Runner Susan
Sunday: Running 9 miles with what I thought to be very little effort(compared to my usual run...probably caused I slowed it down to go further). Ty coming to church with us!

Oops going to be late again!
Will post some pictures later!

VICTORY OVER PUKE MOUNTAIN

I DID IT! I DID IT! I DID IT! You all getting that I DID IT. Finally after months and months I made it up 4th Street hill with stopping. In fact I made it thru the whole 5 miles with no walking at all...not on any of the hills! Yeah Me! I was slow but that was okay! Then Friday I was in NO PAIN, which means.....I AM GETTING STRONGER. I have been told time and time again if I am faithful to the climate runs they will make me better. 1) I am running with others that will help push me and 2) The Hills will make me stronger and 3) I will not get skittish while running with others. For some reason when I run with more then 2 people I get all skittish and kinda sick to my stomach. I think the nausea comes from being nervous because I know I will be last and I hate to be last.

Today or tomorrow I have to try for 10 miles. No I have to DO 10 miles.

Now to start my busy day today!

Hostile, Giddy and Bewildered

Those were my mood swings for yesterday. I think I need extra extra extra strength midol. In addition, I have felt sarcastic, mean and nasty and then I when I was taking a walk last night and glanced over in the window and I saw a short squat tubby middle aged woman, discovered it was ME and THEN I WAS DEPRESSED. It is crucial for my well being that I remove 20 pounds of unsightly pudge from my body asap (which was why I was out walking). I need to start walking at lunch again but now we have cable in our break room and it is all I can do to pull myself away from The Young and the Restless. So I must, as sad as it makes me, says goodby to Victor, Nikki, Kay and Jill and begin my afternoon walks.

Sunday: 9.19 walk/run. Not to bad considering I had a belly full of Honey Bunches of Oats (which I will never buy again due to its yumminess factor!)
Monday: Power Hour but not full effort due to my walk/run Sunday. I was all tuckered out.
Tuesday: A little lifting and a 3.25 mile run. Kept a nice steady pace. Kept a good pace by telling myself that 3.25 is nothing compared to 9.19 mile. I did only .25 mile walk to warm up in the beginning..no more walking. Then my husband I did a 3.75 mile walk in the evening...which I was behind him 90% of the time because 1) my legs were tired from my run in the morning 2) I have PMS weight weighing me down 3) My corn was on fire!

Wednesday: Swimming this a.m. which I am going to be late for if I don't quit blogging and ,hopefully, if the the young and restless does not lure me away, a 30 minute walk this afternoon and perhaps a little walk after church.

Okay time to swim...the pudge will not be removed by sitting at my computer desk...though a girl can dream...

A TALE OF A BRAVE WOMAN

On a dark and cold morning (6:30 a.m. Sunday to be exact) a middle age but extremely attractive woman (somewhat Jessica Simpson looking) steps out her front door to be greeted by an arctic blast. Despite the dark and the cold she bravely puts one foot in front of the other as she descends her front porch steps to the sidewalk covered that is covered with a thin layer of ice and snow, all the while her minds screams "ARE YOU NUTS? THERE A POT OF COFFEE ON IN THE KITCHEN!" Her mind continues to resist for it knows what torture her body is about endure. The woman is strong. The woman is brave. She completely ignores the screams of panic her mind is emitting and begins to jog slowly down the street. The houses are unlit (as most of the people in her neighborhood are slackers). It is a silent environment but the woman knows this not because the silence is covered by the sounds of her own uncontrolled breathing and Conway Twitty crooning softly "Hello Darlin". As her breathing becomes yet more labored she decides that surely she will die from oxygen deprivation but nothing not even passing out from lack of oxygen will deter our heroine from her long training run. At one point the woman stumbles she recalls a fellow runner advising her to pick up her feet when she runs. She painfully calls her quads into action. They rebel but she offers them a deal. If they agree to pick up her feet she will allow them to have a 7 minute 3 minute ratio for the duration of the 8.07 mile run. The quads, while reluctant to work, realize the wisdom in accepting this deal. This extremely attractive (somewhat Jessica Simpson looking) woman is no longer stumbling. Her breathing becomes less labored. Lorretta Lynn beguns to sing of the misery of a having a misbehaving husband and THEN the only sound the woman hears is the sound of her own breathing. She pulls out her MP3 player in disbelief. The words "Battery Low" are flashing vengefully at her. Oh no! This cannot be! Her mind screams in horror at the thought of the duration of the run being with music. She panics. She knows the battery is cold (after all it is only 17 degrees outside). She opens her mouth and breathes on the battery in hopes of breathing new life into it. The battery does not respond....it is dead. She contemplates calling on the cell phone to request that someone bring her a new battery. She realizes that if she does this not only will the battery be dead but she would be as well (as her family, like her neighbors are slackers). In disgust she crams her headphones into her pocket and continues on. It is dayight now. Her labored breathing is mixed with the sounds of birds chirping. She has a desire to shoot the birds unless they can chirp something by Reba McIntyre. Onward she goes. Past Burger King, where the smell of bacon is wafting though the air. Her son's house is not far away, but she knows, she will not be met with open arms and a cup of coffee this early on a Sunday morning. Her daughter's house is next, again she does not stop. She knows her daughter will tell her if she wants coffee to jog back to Burger King and get some. The woman feels very sad indeed that no one in her family joins her on these early morning execursions or even says "Please stop by and I will give you nourishment on your journey". A solitary tear falls down the woman's cheek. Oh no! She wipes it away and realizes that it is not a tear but the sweat of her brow. She wonders how can one sweat when it is 17 degrees. Her wrists having been exposed to the elements are now red and wind burnt. She wonders if she is getting frost bite. Can one die of frost bite? She decides not to fret over frost bite as it will probably be the oxygen deprivation that kills her. Finally finally she comes to the main road. What will it be? The big hill on the bridge with the fun filled down hill or the flat road? The sidewalks are snow covered and icy going over the bridge. She pictures falling and then hurtling over the rail to her demise. The woman turns toward the flat road. She has chosen her path. The home stretch is near. Her quads have served her well under the agreement. She now turns on her quads and says there will be no more 3/7. The rest of the route will be finished with no walking. Her quads do not complain but her lungs claim her to be a traitor and a liar. In protest they begun to burn and threaten to collapse. She begs. She pleads, "Surely surely you can handle the rest of the journey" Her lungs begun to heave but she sees her house beckoning her, she decides she can breathe when she gets home and picks up the pace and speeds toward her front porch. The middle age but extremely attractive woman (somewhat Jessica Simpson looking) skids to a stop. She has made it. She is alive. She takes a deep breath and begins her cool down stretch.

Stay tuned for next week. Will the woman make it thru 9 miles or will she suffer oxygen deprivation and keel over dead?

Winter Sleep Coma

What a better way to start a post then with a whine....I AM SICK OF WINTER! I DISLIKE THE COLD DARK EVENINGS! I come home, I make dinner (sometimes my honey makes dinner as he has for the past two nights), clean up the dinner dishes (okay he cleans up..what a great husband) and then I GO UPSTAIRS AND GET IN BED AND DO NOT MOVE TILL MORNING. Which means I burn exactly NO calories in the evening. I want some daylight, I want to move around and feel alive in the evening but the dark cold evenings have the exact same effect on me as Tylnol PM. Okay enough about that...

Semi Running: In all honesty I can't call what I do running because 1) I am not fast and 2) I walk time to time....but here goes the rundown for the week: Monday 8 miles consisting of .25 mile walks then .75 run on the machine of death and boredom a/k/a the Treadmill, Tuesday 3 miles probably spent at least .75 of that walking...maybe a little less. Thursday...now that was depressing...5 miles and lots of walking. I don't know what was wrong with me because I was way worse then usual. I believe it may be because of the 8 miles on Monday so this weekend I will definetely do my long run so I am not stuck with making it up on Monday. The plan for me is to be fresh for the Thursday Climate Run. Thanks to Tink and Turtle for staying back with me and not getting frustrated because every time they turned around to check on me I was walking. Of course when they turned around I had to start running again...Perhaps they should have run backwards the whole way to keep me moving. No running today other then the small bit in Power Hour and my hope is to do a long run on Saturday morning...early so I can actually have a Saturday.

Swimming: Wednesday...I swear I worked harder at swimming. I told my friend Jill...she looked skeptical.....hahahahah everyone should have a friend that will call you out when you are slacking. My favorite Jill swimming quote, "Waa, get moving".

Hunger: I am suffering from unending hunger. I think my stomach is eating a hole in my body. I am eating plenty believe me but I am like a bottomless pit. That is one of the reasons I am up at this awful hour of the night. I woke up hungry...can't eat...want fudge, want cookies...want anything sweet. Can't eat...trying to take my mind of hunger by blogging...it is not helping...I am wondering if the Candy Cane ink pen in my pen jar would taste good. It is a long time till breakfast....sigh

Okay I am going to bed because this obviously is not working as my hunger has not decreased one iota. I will probably end up chewing on my sheets.......

Slacker on Sunday, Motivated on Monday

8 miles on Monday (on the dreadmill). 1/4 mile walks 3/4 run (okay a slow run but a run never the less.)Over and over and over again for 8 long dreary mindnumbing miles. I go slower because I am going longer and have to build up my base miles. This morning just 3 miles and lifting...good thing because those 8 wore me out. Ate good yesterday (really good) but woke up in the middle of the night thinking I was going to perish from hunger. My stomach was actually cramping. I ate 2 banannas and went back to bed and then felt okay till I had to ice down my stupid diabetic foot. There is nothing worse then having to slap a bag of ice on your foot in the middle of winter...the summer...great...the winter...AGGGGGGG. Ooopsss got to go to the Y and then off to work to earn my bread and butter...I mean earn my cauliflower and apples.

New Photos

http://www.flickr.com/photos/66516599@N00/?saved=1

Photos by Grandpa Jerry

Slip Sliding Away

Busy week:
Monday: Took the Girls to Olan Mills (this is family code for Mammogram). The girls' pictures turned out well...look to see one on our 2007 Christmas Card. Last year when I took the girls to Olan Mills the photographer said that the girls were very photogenic. That made me positively giddy AND then she said, "They are very fatty and those are the ones that take the best shots" My hopes of being compared to Jessica Simpson were once again DASHED!

Tuesday: Good day at the Y. Treadmill for 5 1/4 miles. 1/2 mile of which was warm up walking...slow but steady plodding.

Wednesday: Blah pool day. I did not drown and I managed to make it thru the first 20 minutes of class without getting my head wet. That was noticed by a fellow workout buddy and she informed me that I was slacking in the pool.

Thursday: I have rejoined the CLIMATE RUN TEAM. It was slick and I fell twice. Once before I even left the parking lot and I was walking! The other was probably at mile 3 or 3 1/2. The first fall was on the back side but the second fall I fell frontwards...skinned my knee and now it has a tiny little bruise but one that I proudly display as my "Workout Injury". It was around 5 miles. I had to walk numerous times because I have been a slacker and have not been running outside that often (mostly inside on treadmill). Note that I did whine and complain the entire 5 miles. My complaints were as follows: It was slick, I was tired, I could not breathe, my legs felt like lead, it was hard, the route was too long, I did not know where we were going....waa waa waa. I feel sorry for Leo who out of the kindness of his heart stayed back with Ms. Pokey AND had to listen to me whine and complain. The others despite the ice made awesome time. I feel bad when I hold people back but I am oh so thankful for the people that patiently plod by my side.

Now you might ask why I started the climate runs again. I will tell you PEER PRESSURE. The very thing I spent years teaching my children to ignore is the very same thing that got me out running. I guess I would jump off a bridge if all my friends were doing it.
Note: I may still be a teacup but I am NOT a cupcake.
Okay enough about that...finished my day up on Thursday by having years erased off my appearance by dousing my head in brown dye at the hair dresser. Nothing makes a woman feel better then coming out of the hair salon with the gray banished from her head.

Friday: No spinning because this is the week in between sessions. I went to sign up and was told there were no more bikes available so now I am at the mercy of the slackers not showing up for class so I can grab their bike. I did go to Power Hour and Julie did a class that she called "Arms to Die for" By 10:00 yesterday I could not even use my stapler and I was reduced to sucking my coffee thru a straw to avoid picking up my coffee cup. So my legs are sore from the climate run and my arms are sore from Friday so I am pretty much crippled up. Ended my day by Baby Adam coming over to see his Grandma and Grandpa and he was all kinds of happy. He is over his cold now and feeling good. We got out the toys but what he really likes is when I lay on my back and hold him up in the air but unfortunately for me he is teething so holding him over my head is similar to standing in the rain forest.

Saturday: Had planned to do spinning. But realized that quarterly tax time is looming and I have nothing compiled. I have to bake a birthday cake, wrap a present, and make a birthday dinner for my husband and somehow get to the grocery store. Not to mention I am wallowing in filth and desperately need to clean my house.

Sunday Agenda: 8 1/2 mile run walk, church, nap and whining.

A couple new pictures of my guy are getting posted. Hopefully Ty and Carissa will be over tonight so I can get some pictures of my best buddy and the little princess. Spring Break is coming up soon so I will be taking a day off so I can do a something with Ty. Perhaps Chuckie Cheese?

Quote of the Day: "Come on Kim if you fall again you can quit...if we let you" By Jeff after my stating that I was going in to do the treadmill when I slipped and fell in the parking lot.

Photos

http://www.flickr.com/photos/66516599@N00/

Candy Bars, Snow and Frozen Sports Bras

Busy busy. I don't understand how I have no children at home anymore but I have less time? Have I become inefficient?*though my husband would argue that I have never been efficient* Have I become lazy? Who knows? All I know is that I need to clone my self to get everything done.
Updates:
New Job: Well sorta of new. Started the end of October. It is a high paced job with lots of room for growth. It is interesting and there is always something new on the agenda. I have also discovered that when your brain is over 40 it resents having to learn new tricks.

Workouts: Lacking since October but I have kicked in again. Back to spinning and running and power hour. Last Sunday though I ran out of time to run so had to squeeze something in Sunday evening. Ended up squeezing in a 8 1/4 mile walk. (why a walk see paragraph below re: overeating) Yes, that was 8 1/4 mile that was not a typo. Thru the snow I tromped....People in this town are lazy and alot of them do not SHOVEL their walk despite the snow removal ordinance that calls for snow removal within 6 hours...so now they have a lot more to shovel as between Tuesday and Wed we got 17 more inches...and walking in snow tires a person out very quickly....okay back to workout talk. I have made peace with my having to walk/run the mini. I am training but I do not feel that my body will be in the condition it will need to be in to run the entire 13 miles. Training continues..... Thursday I did a solid hour of slow running (and I do mean slow) I kept it between a 12 and 13 minute mile. I figure speed is not the thing for me right now on the long days I just need to keep moving. Okay so that is it for workout..aside from letting you know that I LOVE SPINNING.....

Kitchen: My dear dear husband has installed a new countertop, kitchen sink and backsplash in my kitchen. In addition, he put down new tile and put wainscoating up on 2 walls. I did not know what wainscoating (and not even sure I am spelling it correctly) was on account of my lack of inner Martha so he had to explain to me what wainscoating was. I then informed him I would not like it. He said I would and put it up anyway. I like it! That is annoying that he is almost always right when it comes to decorating. However, he was wrong ONE time when he was painting the outside trim. Other then that he has been right everytime.

Grandchilden: What sweethearts. Baby Adam spent Friday night with us. Poor little guy has had a cold for over a week but he is clearing up. He still has trouble sleeping because of stuffiness but he was not grouchy when he got up at night. He was just all stuffed up and needed to be upright. He can roll over and gladly showed off his new trick for Grandma and Grandpa. He also loves it when Grandpa says :"Adriaannnnnnn". What can I say we were watching Rocky! My daughter brought over some cute toys for him to play with but Grandma said he needed to play with measuring spoons, measuring cups and plastic cookie cutters. He also sat in my portable high chair for the first time. Aunt Denise bought it at a yard sale. It has a tray and the seat straps on a regular chair. It is nice because I don't have this big bulky high chair hanging around. I am posting pictures on flickr..please check them out. Poor baby he has his own Paparazzi and probably has retina burn from all the flashes.

***Someone has a birthday coming up soon*** Hint: He is cute, funny, smart...that should be enough to give it away....final hint his name begins with the letter "T". This special person also needs to make time on his social calendar for someone who loves him that would like to take him to see a movie. And special kudos to him for his awesome scrabble playing skills.
Carissa: Got her first taste of Grandma's homemade mac and cheese. She ate it with great gusto....She also seemed very interested in scrabble but I think she did not want to build words as much as she wanted to yank the board off the table and watch the cubes fly everywhere.

Overeating: Yes a topic just on that. I have determined there are several situations that I should not be a part of
1. Carryins: I ate like a pig last Sunday afternoon at our church carryin, which explains why I was walking 8 1/4 miles instead of running. Baptist woman can cook! Oh and so can Pentacostal, and Catholic woman...not sure about Jehova witnesses or Mormans...perhaps they should have a carryin and invite me so I can inform you of that. We also had a work carryin...guess what....those woman can cook too (they must be of the before mentioned faiths). I did very well at this carryin. My boss made a soup that was healthy and low fat so that I could enjoy the luncheon too! There were cookies galore and it took ALL my mental willpower to stay out of the cookies, breads and cupcakes (not to mention the dips and chips and crackers).
2. Being snowed in: For some reason being snowed in increased my appetite by 1 million percent! Mix that with a little PMS and you got a receipe for disaster. I will not mention the number of candy bars I ate. Candy Bars are forever banned from this house unless it is for the holiday exemption. It is a good thing the city buried my car under a pile of snow because at least I got some calorie burning. But I think I would have had to shovel every walk in Lafayette to break even calorie wise. I was a very bad girl that day.

Further thoughts on overeating: You can't just hide food from me...its got to be locked up. For some reason when Jerry hides things I just accidentally come across it. NO truely that is the case. One time I was looking for my slippers and was on my hands and knees looking under the bed and I glanced over and on the very lowest shelf of his night stand was a plate of cookies shoved all the way to the back. Now normally that would be a safe and secure place because 1) I never dust 2) and when i do dust I usually only dust the shelves people can see when they are standing upright!. Ialso found the little mini candy bars in a basket on top of the fridge being conceled by a loaf of bread being on top of them (plain white bread which I never eat), but I was looking for my glucose meter and thought Imight have thrown it on top of the fridge. So I was on a chair looking at the top of the fridge and there they were! So I found them....so I ate them. One time I found a can of nuts in my husband's clothes closet...okay granted I was deligently searching for those nuts but I found them. I have yet to find the giant box of fish crackers that he hid but even if I found them at this point they would probably be stale as I bought them in November.
I need to get a bank safe and install it in the house for food!

Dogs: Boring but of interest because the vet told me that Lizzie had lost weight and we had to keep and eye on it. Yes, she is active. Yes, she eats. This is a first in our family. No female (human or animal) in our family has ever ever been told by a doctor that there is a weight loss problem and that they would need to eat more! Usually both doctors and vets say to us "Too fat...need to get some weight off"

Quote of the week:
"MY SPORTS BRAS ARE FROZEN IN A LUMP" spoken after pulling my sports bras out of my gym bag after it had been left in the subzero weather all day.

Please see the pictures posted!
Have a great day!

2 Hours is a long time

I did my 2 hours on the treadmill Sunday morning in 6/4 minute intervals at a faster pace then the week before where I did blocks of time...then I walked 15 ran 50 and walked 45. This time I moved the speed up and did intervals of 6 minutes run/4 minutes walk. My treadmill did not like doing 2 hours and it was making all sorts of sounds. I don't know if it was in protest of me being on it or that 2 hours was even too long for the poor machine. Next week I will do intervals but I will likely change them to .75 mile intervals and .25 walks and do 2 hours. The next week I will do 2.15 hours. My goal is to be able to go for 4 hours by then end of March/beginning of April. The mini is scaring the crap out of me. I have spent many hours contemplating selling my spot to some lucky person...then the crazy Kim steps in and talks me out of it.

My week:

Friday: Game night with my friends from the Y. Great Fun
Saturday: Grocery shopping at 6:00 a.m. Home to read my Giant Manual for work. To Walmart to buy Mom a bday present, home to make cookies and homemade mac and cheese, fish fry and games at my daughters, and kept my neices overnight.
Sunday: Up and 2 hours on the treadmill...go Kim go. Got the girls up and ready..which I forgot how hard that was...thank goodness for my husband who makes Sunday morning breakfast every week. To church where I valiantly fought the sleep virus. Home to pick up the girls stuff, dropped them off, picked up my sister and Mom to go out for Mom's bday lunch...back home where I promptly laid down on the couch and did not move for the rest of the evening...I did not even go to church..I could not move I felt like a rag doll. I more or less watched the Super Bowl...when my eyes were opened.
Monday: No Y sigh.....finished reading my giant manual so I could turn it into work.
Tuesday...sitting here typing need to get my lazy rear out the door to the Y.

I SUFFER AND NOT SILENTLY

Why I suffer:
1) I am going thru intense cookie and candy withdrawl.
2) It is cold outside and I still have to run anyway cause the mini is about 12 weeks away. Yesterday was Brrrrrrr cold!


I have also determined that I don't run well under the following conditions: cold, heat, rain, snow, ice, hunger, exhaustion, to much sleep, to heavy of a meal the night before, PMS, POST MS, cookie withdrawl, morning, noon, evening or night...hmmmm

Mission Accomplished

50 minutes run on treadmill
60 minutes walk on treadmill
45 minutes spinning class
2 hour of wandering around Walmart
GO KIM GO!
I thought for sure I would be sore and unable to walk today but feel good and my knee does not hurt anymore then if I had run 2 miles so all looks well. However, I am not going to think I am all in the clear until tomorrow morning because I tend to get my stiffness and soreness on the second day. I think for my knee I have to make sure I stretch it after every activity and then keep it braced for the rest of the day when I use it hard. I am pretty sure I have an IT Band issue going on....Did anyone realize I was a doctor?
Baby Adam: Got his first pair of shoes yesterday and I found him and awesome 4 piece sports outfit for $7.00 on clearance! What a bargin! He put up with the shoe on and off thing really well but then he started getting irritated with us. Baby Adam does NOT suffer silently, when he has had enough he lets us know!
Posting some new pictures on Flickr...please check it out....

If it weren't for bad luck I'd have no luck at all

That title is not entirely accurate because we had some awesome news. Jerry's medical procedure came back with good results. The downside to that is that we still don't know quite what is wrong with him. So the doctor will move on to the next thing but we are so thankful to God that there is no cancerous colon. I thank all my wonderful friends and family who kept us in their thoughts and prayers!
Okay now to address the title of today's blog. For some reasons things I have been touching have just been breaking for no apparent reason. I am a SHLEPROCK. For those of you that have been deprived of the really good cartoons. Shleprock was a character in the later Flintstones when Bam Bam and Pebbles were teenagers. Poor Shleprock everytime he walked passed things they would collapse or burst into flames etc....So for no apparent reason my digital camera will not work. I used it one day and put it nicely back in the case and next time I used it...nothing...I tried everything...new battery, cleaning the terminals...dead dead dead and at that same point my computer went down...well first my internet went down just out of the blue for no apparant reason and in an attempt to fix that the computer crashed. Okay there was more to that...perhaps I deleted important files to the running of my computer but it still crashed....then Thursday after returning home from the hospital I went to get in my car and it would not even turn over...just right out of the blue..right in front of my house. So my husband called the Sear's roadclub so we could get it towed to the shop and the lady on the phone FROM SEARS ROADCLUB asked my husband how he was going to pay for the tow...and he said,"Wiiiiith my Sear's roadclub which I have already paid for" DUH LADY! OH and the CAR COST ALMOST 400 TO REPAIR..SO NOW MY BUDGET IS BROKE.
Okay the whining was fun so now I am going to make a list of things that are irritating me....

1) Why do I fall asleep in church? I can run or not run, get up early, sleep in late and I STILL FALL ASLEEP IN CHURCH. A couple of weeks ago I took a stacker and drank 3 cups of coffee and still FELL ASLEEP!
2) MY DOG STINKS BAD....LIKE NASTY OLD TUBE STOCKS WORN IN THE MIDDLE OF A HEAT WAVE and the more hyper he gets the more stench he emits. I bathe him and in a day or so it is back...blah Horsecoat Sharpeis stink!
3) My insurance man came over to look at my house due to the garage fire (arson August 2006) because the company is thinking about dropping us...he says should be okay and then Friday leaves a cryptic message on my machine about "Where were going to go with this". Friday afternoon...could he not have left this message on Thursday so I am not dwelling on this all weekend.
4)My knee....I want to be an athelete...my knee is not in agreement
5)My house is dirty and unorganized. I am a bad housewife. I am surprised my husband does not divorce me on grounds of 'Disorganization and Laziness" I want it to be clean..truely I do...I just don't want to be the one to do it.
Okay I better stop because this list could go on and on so now 5 things I am grateful for from this week.
1) My husband and that my husband got a good report on his medical procedure
2) Baby Adam's sweet smile when Jerry and I were feeling down
3)My new kitchen cabinet that my husband put in for me this week...he also ordered my new sink, countertop and another cabinet. We will be doing flooring shortly
4)My one good knee
5)That it was only a starter in my car and not the whole engine and that if my car had to break down at least it was polite enough to do it in front of my own house.
UPDATES:
Baby Adam: Says Da Da
YMCA: Back to spinning and back to some light running. Looking at time right now since the Mini is coming up. I need to be able to run/walk for 3 1/2 hours so for me since speed is not a factor...finishing is the goal....I am looking at time during trainings. Tuesday 30 minutes, Thurday 40 minutes....today is 50 minutes and one hour walk and then one hour of spinning...ouch my body declares in advance. I did find that after I ran on Thursday and kept it wrapped all day that I had very light knee pain as opposed to "I aint walking up stairs because it hurts to darn bad" pain.

WARNING SOME PEOPLE MAY FIND THIS INFORMATION OFFENSIVE

***Sugar Free Products will give one GAS*** Use these products with care*** Gas Mask may be needed****

Running in a Winter Wonderland

Snow is falling and Kim was running. Well more or less running. I was moving swiftly. I have not worked out on the weekend for at least 12 weeks. I decided last week enough with the sitting on my rear so Kendra and I went spinning. So this weekend I spun on Saturday, accompanied by my beautiful daughter Kendra. Last night I told myself okay Kimmie you are gonna get up in the morning and do a walk/run. Got up this morning 5:30. Looked out the window just appeared cold. Told myself I would go at 6:00. Husband gets up and I asked him if he would like to accompany me on a walk/run. He points to Vandal Cam and says, "Not in that stuff" I look SNOW SNOW SNOW. It was not snowing a half hour ago! CRAP I DON'T WANT TO RUN IN THE SNOW!The mental whining began and for once my body did not participate it in the whining. It was solely a mental mutiny. So my body took over and took me into the back room to grab my stuff. I put on my yaks/got my mittons (a gift from my mother in law who said she read an article that runners should use mittons as opposed to gloves...made the gift extra special that she bought it for that reason!) and went out in the SNOW. It was lovely...quiet...could just hear my feet crunch in the snow...beautiful, peaceful and I got this fabulous feeling of wonderfulness that not only did I run but I ran in cold snowy weather when most people were laying snuggled under their blankets. So now I feel very unslug like as I spun yesterday and ran today..granted it was only 2 miles but I did something.
Time to run a warm bath and my wonderful husband is fixing me a yummy breakfast. I will try to post some pictures later today and my sweet grandchildren!

Wazzzzzz Up

Okay I was trying to be cool with my title but it just ain't working but here's whats up anyway:

Running: I STINK. Due to my slackage because of knee pain for the past month or so I have regressed back to beginner. I did 3.64 miles on Thursday...okay I walked/ran 3.64 miles on Thursday and it was HORRIBLE. My corn was screaming at me. My lungs in protest shut down on me. My mind was was chanting over and over "I am not doing this" "I want coffee" "I hate you" I had to once again argue with myself and tell myself that I am slacker not to mention a HUGE WHINY BABY WITH FLABBY THIGHS. I thought I was past all this argument between my will and my traitorous mind and body but guess not. At any rate I am starting from scratch and it makes me furious.

Mini: Due to my knee pain. I probably won't be able to make my goal for the mini but that is okay I am still going to do it and if I have to walk/run thru the entire thing I can live with that.
Okay I lied I can't live with that but I will deal with it. Okay I won't deal with it well. I will probably whine for six months afterwards but what the heck that is what my blog is for.

Knee: Knee pain is improving..slowly but improving I can now go up and down the stair almost straight instead of at an angle. Heel pain has diminished rapidly.

Spinning: I have resumed spinning. I LOVE SPINNING. My daughter joined me on Saturday. She says she now can't sit down, stand up or climb stairs. I laughed. She says she will see me there next Saturday. She is her mother's daughter. Hurt her and she comes right back for more.

Food: A good clean weekend for Kim. I am going to try really hard to get off some weight and and try to weigh in around 155 or so by mini time. I was strong on Friday. Despite the "please pick me up and call for Pizza" vibe that my phone was sending out. I refrained. I had some scrambled eggs and a lowfat waffle with sugar free maple syrup for dinner. Saturday I got up and had 2 slices carb control bread and one tablespoon of reduced fat peanut butter then went to spinning. Once again stood strong and did not buckle to the "go out for lunch" habit. Came home and scrambled eggs and had a pancake with fat free syrup. Yes this is more then what I eat during the week but that is okay because it is ALOT less then what I usually eat on the weekends. I had shrimp and rice with snowpeas for dinner. Sunday got up really really early and ate some Fruity Cheerios so had to forego my Sunday morning bacon. This made me very very sad as I have had a lifelong love affair with bacon. I had some chex mix for a snack when I got home from church. It has like 4 grams of fat and 120 calories. For lunch I had two wheat tortilla with some cheese and peppers. Cooked with pam not oil...a little dry but good. Side of salsa and lowfat sour cream...repeated for dinner with some sugar free reduced fat mint chocolate chip icecream with sugar free chocolate syrup and 2 table spoons of whipped cream. I know that sounds like alot but compared to what I have been eating it was like a starvation diet. Over the holidays I have been routinely consuming large amounts of Cherry Kisses, Nuts, Cookies, cookies and more cookies. Matter of fact one day around Christmas. I had a plate of cookies for breakfast, had more cookies for snack, ate a plate of cookies for lunch and had cookies for dinner. So my only consumption that days was COOKIES. BAD KIM! So go Kim go for a good weekend. Like I have said before it is all about habit and routine for me. When I am out of a routine I eat like a pig. I am sort of like a horse....put a bridle on me and I do well. Take that bridle off and set me free and I run wild.

Okay enough about food. Plan today is to pick up Ty and take him bowling...but first spinning and power hour.

Baby Adam: Went to church for the very first time. He did great in Sunday school. He sat on my lap and just was so interested in his surroundings. He was arching back so he could check out the HUGE ceiling fans. He loved the singing. During church he went to the nursery. When I went back I asked if was he a good boy and she said he was excellent as long as she was singing to him...which just so happens she sings in the choir so she got her practice and he got to hear a pretty choir lady sing to him. Baby Adam is a very happy morning boy!

QUESTION OF THE DAY: Why must I have a mind that is athlete but a body that is a slacker?

My most frequent thought for the week: "I STINK" mostly thought while working out and really it wasn't stink I said but the word I really said sounds trashy and I don't want anyone to think I am just another trashy hoosier woman so I substituted the word "stink" HINT take out the tin and put in uc and that is what I really said but like I said I am not a trashy woman so I won't actually write it.

Colts Excitement

The men folk are giddy over yesterday's Victory. Please note the food that is crucial to football...Crackers, Cheese in a Can, Summer Sausage and Sliced Cheese. I thought the Chex Mix added a nice touch but they turned their noses up at it. FYI to all football ignorant woman. The men folk must wear the exact same clothes for the next game so the Colts win again. The jersey CAN NOT be washed. My daughter and I inquired as to whether the "wear the exact same thing" rule applied to underwear and socks. It does not! The rule only applies to shirts and hats. No other shirts and hats may be added. So James who forgot his Colts hat is forbidden from wearing it at that next game. Boy there is alot of rules to football watching! I tried to get some action shots of them jumping up and down and waving their arms in the air (which they usually do) but I got bored and left to go to the sporting goods store to buy my patella band.

Photos of Christmas

http://www.flickr.com/photos/66516599@N00/

Christmas is over and the Goose Has Gotten Fat

I love the holidays but this year I am mightly glad we are through them. This has been an eventful holiday season!

Updates:
Running: No running on the weekends since the second weekend of Thanksgiving. So back to my weekend runs this next weekend! I was going to run this weekend but could not due to dental surgery (see dental surgery update below). Not only has Christsmas Shopping stood in the way of my running but a very sore knee. I purchased a patella band last night. My knee is not that excruitating but bad enough that running on it is not that pleasant. I can walk well but going up and down steps is a killer. It feels stiff....So I took this week off from running and went and bought my band so I will start back easy on Tuesday. I am going to start spinning again because I really miss it. I will just find a way to fit it in my schedule. The summary of my non running is my thighs feel flabby and loose and my belly shakes and yes just like a bowl full of jelly, my jeans feel uncomfortable and I miss that used up feeling. Even my power hour workouts I have not gone full blast. So now back at it with full force...except the running due to knee recovery will introduce running back gradually. So I will start updating my side bar. Hopefully next weekend I will go get a new bike (as my previous bike was damaged in the garage fire).

Dental Surgery: My bone grafting on the left side of my mouth was done on Friday. Today it just feels like someone socked me in the jaw and my mouth does not want to open all the way. So $6,080 later I have a fairly good mouth. My insurance should pay about $1,500 of the $3,080 I had to pay for the left side which is better then nothing! I special thank you to my friend Jill who left me a gift of soft foods. What a thoughtful friend she is!

Christmas: It was so wonderful Christmas Eve to have all my lovely family around me. Abby looked adorable and sweet in her little Christmas dress and Carissa looked like a little Christmas Princess in her green velvet Christmas dress. Adam wore a baby's first Christmas outfit and I must say he looked extremely cute and adorable. Tyson was aglow with Christmas excitement and came in waiving his $$$$$$ of fake money he got for Christmas at his other Grandma's house. I love seeing that look of excitement on his face! To begin our festivites Amanda read us a lovely book to help us keep in mind what Christmas is really about. We had a wonderful time as always. Christmas Day G-ma Carnahan, James, Tasha, Lucas, Kendra and Baby Adam came to join Jerry and myself. We opened gifts and then had a delicious lunch (Heavenly Ham yummmmmy). I don't care if a Heavenly Ham does cost $50.00. I work hard all year and if I want a Heavenly Ham on Christmas day I will have one as long as I can afford one!

New Years Day: We had a nice lunch and played board games all afternoon. We played my two new games Fact or Crap and Uno Spin...both fun fun fun! I am a big fan of games and wish we played games more often. I think in Feb I am going to have a Chili dinner and have everyone over to play board games.

Carissa: Is now 1 year old. It is amazing how much they grow in one year. She is walking and playing and laughing. We went to her birthday party on Wednesday and boy did she love cake!

Upcoming Events: Family Girls night Out: Kendra, Denise, Amanda, Tasha, Natalie, G-ma C and any of our friends (must be over 18). Lets get together for a night of bowling and dinner or movie and dinner. If anyonoe has any better ideas throw them out there! We need some bonding time!
Ty: Grandpa and I will pick you up on Martin Luther King day and we will have fun day...what sounds fun to you???

Upcoming birthdays: Jerry and Mom in February and Ty in March.

I had Baby Adam for the night and expect him to wake up at any moment to be fed. He sleeps really well through the night but he makes alot of little sounds. The first couple times I jumped up to check on him and then figured out those are just his sleep sounds so then I would just listen to them to see if they got to be "I want someone" sounds. (Which it only did one time and then it was not a "I want someone" sound it was a "I want my Pacifier" sound.) I was so scared that I would sleep thru his cries but no I popped awake at the first little sound, so did Grandpa Jerry. All those times he slept thru our children crying I bet he was faking because he heard Adam! Jerry is such an amazing Grandpa! Adam is one lucky lucky boy because they are going to have lots of fun when Adam is older and Grandpa teaches about outdoor stuff!

That is all I have no current raves other then the Governement shutting down for President Ford's death. Yes he was good man but come on he got paid to be president. It's not like he volunteered and did not get any compensation. We didn't need to bring the goverment to a grinding halt! I am not just saying this because I had to work..really it did not impact me directly except for I did not get my usual delivery of credit card offers and my "your subscription is going to expire soon" notices. I just think it was gigantic waste of money and time.

Please pardon any typo as this is very early and I have not yet consumed my full cup of coffee. I have to go and rescue Baby Adam as Grandpa wants to wake him up and play with him. I had to tell him "NO waking the baby"

Have a great day everyone! I love all of you! Not just my family but I hold my friends close to my heart as well!