Randomness
Running
Took an unscheduled day off yesterday. My leg was bothering me. Felt ok today. . . until after my run. Maybe I need to take it slower. I'm just so close to finishing my training! Seeing the light at the end of the tunnel makes me want to speed up. It's why I sprint at the end of a run too. Did 2.5 miles straight today. With a walking warm up and cool down I covered a total of 3.14 miles, or a hair over a 5k. My time was better than my race time in January. That's encouraging. I'm not feeling the need to work so diligently on speed training just as soon as I can run 3.5-4 miles now. Which is making me feel like it's ok to slow down a little as well. Instead of trying to squeeze in 5 runs this week to make up for last week, I'll just start next week with a 2.5 mile run. That's probably a better way to do it anyway. Rest, ease back in where you left off, then increase mileage. I'm really going to work on my stride too to see if there's something I might be doing wrong that's causing my leg pain. Although the pain is much less today than it was Tuesday, I've stretched it extra carefully (especially since I now know a stretch for my lower calf muscle) and I'm icing it a bit. I do not, repeat, DO NOT want shin splints!
Reading
I've been doing an awful lot of it online lately. Various articles and information gathering and such for no particular purpose other than to know the information. Picked back up on My Life on the Run this morning though. This morning my neighbor called to see if I'd come over and sit after taking Jonah to school so that she didn't have to wake the baby up to take her daughter to school. So, I took the book with me and a very large glass of water to get hydrated for my run, both mentally and physically. Ironically, I read the Badwater chapter. Coincidentally, this year's Badwater just ended yesterday (and it's now the Badwater 135). As I laced up my shoes to drag myself out into 85 degrees and overcast, I pushed myself with the thought that Yasso did 146 miles in 130 degree heat that literally turned the soles of his shoes tacky so that he had to keep swapping pairs over the distance. Looking forward to reading the rest of this book. . . FINALLY! Taking some time off of the Anne Rice though. Armand is not holding my attention as much as the others, though since the attention was fading in Memnoch as well, I'm wondering if I don't just need some different subject matter after 5.5 books and get interested in it again with some space. I hate to leave a book unfinished though, so once I'm done with Yasso, I'll probably go back and finish at least Armand up. Of course, by the end of each book, I'm then ready to start the next in the series. So it goes I guess. Feeling the urge to read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass again. Could probably finish it in an afternoon if I wanted to set one aside for it. Also need to pick up The Two Towers and start on it again with the book discussion coming up next month. As far as Jonah's new books, we're burning out on them faster than I had hoped. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem the least bit interested in the Beatrix Potter books. Either their too long or, well, I don't know, maybe too girly? It's been Christmas in July though, since he won't let me put away the set of 12 Christmas Golden Books. He really seems partial to the Richard Scarry books though, so we might have to get more of those.
Body Stuff
I've lost 3.8 pounds since July 4th. I've gained .5 inches on my waist since Jan 21st (the last time I measured), but lost 2.5 inches from my hips. I'm literally working my butt off, heh. I'm back to logging my food and I'm coming in well below my caloric allowance (even for my weight loss goal), but I can't seem to cut out more fat. Might have to switch to skim milk and *gulp* stop eating cheese. :( Might have to start making my own granola, too. There would be less fat, salt and sugar in it if I made it, I know. Or, I might just have to run more. ;) I'll definitely try that first. I must say though, on days when I run, it is no problem for me to get in my 8 glasses of water. Tuesday I actually drank 16 and today, I'm working on 10+ already. I've just been really thirsty and I'm not peeing every time I finish a glass, so I obviously need it. I try to drink at least a pint or two before going on my runs when I don't have the stroller to carry water. And it's pretty common to down a pint or two within an hour of getting back as part of my cool down.
Kid Stuff
I really need to set aside time everyday to work with Jonah on potty training or we're never going to move forward on it. Something's got to give.
Dragon*Con
Had my first Dragon*Con dream last night/this morning. Room arrangements. Yeah, riveting, heh.
Gardening
Finally got the grass ridden garden finished with mulch and landscaping fabric. Set the stepping stones in sand which was a really good call, if I do say so myself. Need to get another bag of sand to do the front stepping stone, I think. Then mulched over the sand so it looks all nice and contiguous. Finished the last four bags up with a nice big storm rolling in. Thunder and lightning and everything. Kind of thrilling. . . sort of. . . not really. Unfortunately, just a day or two later, there's grass coming up like crazy again. . . through the landscaping fabric. . . through 3 inches of mulch. *sigh* But even still, the patio seems a nicer place now that it's all in. Needs a border (just a low profile one to keep out the grass from the sides), but it at least looks done. Everything is needing some maintenance. Glads are almost done and need to be deadheaded. Dahlias need to be deadheaded again too as do the osteospermum. About time for another dose of fertilizer all around as well and weeding in the front bed is desperately needed. Having trouble getting my zinnias in the back to withstand the dogs eating them all the time. Seriously? Had our first raspberries a week or so ago. YUM! Need bird netting to make sure we get the most out of the rest of the bush. Had our first tomato about a week or so ago too, one of the orange blossom ones. Super sweet! Put it on a barbecue chicken pizza with some vidalia onions. YUM again!
Food Porn
Speaking of barbecue, we got creative with all the meat we had leftover from our July 4th gathering. Rib tacos and barbecue chicken pizzas. Then we made chicken salad with another one of the chickens and had some chicken sandwiches and that took care of the rest of it. I don't think we'll be smoking anything for a while now, unless we find something very different to smoke (salmon maybe? veggies?). I've probably got some other stuff in a backlog. Honestly, what I'm making tonight, though very simple, looks lovely and tastes fantastic. Spinach fettuccine bathed in pesto, mingled with toasted walnuts and a nice little slice of softened goat cheese on top. Served with a salad, you can't go wrong!
Organizing
The office is sort of the epicenter of clutter in our house. If it doesn't have a home elsewhere, it probably winds up in the office. This is frustrating, especially since I've been working in a space that's just big enough for my chair and just enough room for my laptop and my jewelry supplies spread out on the desk. If I wanted to sew in there, it couldn't happen. If someone came to visit and wanted to stay with us, we'd have to clear it out (in other words, moving things to our bedroom and stuffing the closet much like we did for Steff a few weeks back). I'm sick of it. Our major problem is lack of storage. We need shelves and shelves and shelves. A smaller desk and a nicer sofa sleeper or something would be nice too, but shelves. I'd be happy with shelves. Shelves above the desk. More shelves in the walk-in closet (it's not huge, but it's walk-in). Shelves anywhere we can find to put them. I want things off the desk and out from under the desk and out from under the futon and in some sort of semblance in the closet where it's not an ordeal to pull something out of there. Oh, and a file cabinet, 2-3 drawers. We're using file boxes right now from when we moved. Not working. Now granted, I need to declutter the files. There's a lot of stuff in there now that I'm sure we don't need anymore. There are about a million declutter projects in this room. Certainly enough to keep me busy for a while. I've been putting it off. I do this about once every six months or so and trim more stuff out every time. This time, it's long overdue. Plus, I Want To Sew Damn It! So, I'm now at the point where I'm pulling everything out of the room. The hall is not a pretty sight right now (but Jonah's room and our room look great at the moment, funny how that works). I'm hoping by the end of the weekend to have some sort of order and some SPACE in here. Also, the carpet desperately needs to be cleaned in here, which will happen tomorrow after the rest of everything is hauled out.
Beer, Barbecue and Blowin' Shit Up
Last but certainly not least, we had some members of the Smial over for Fourth of July as well as our brewing friend Jonathan. Jonathan and baka_san had come over in the afternoon to brew/hang out. Jonathan left after the brewing was over and came back with a huge package of artillery shells. Chris had gotten a couple of packages too, as well as some Roman candles and some big packaged things that basically turned out to be like lots of Roman candles taped together. So, after dinner, as it started to get dark, they set a couple off. Then mother nature decided it was her turn and a thunderstorm rolled in, driving us all inside. But, it settled down after a while, enough for spectators to mass in the garage and those willing to get drizzled on when out into the cul-de-sac to blow shit up. Was a lot of fun and we're already strategizing next year's purchases (skip the bottle rockets and Roman candles and things that turned out to be like Roman candles and buy only artillery shells and some sparklers for Jonah). We had lots of great food, of course too. Chris smoked four chickens and I braised two racks of ribs. I was pretty disappointed by the ribs though and I think we've figured out why they didn't turn out as falling apart as they usually do. We've never cooked them with the pizza stone in there and we had the oven up a little higher earlier in the day for Doug's yummy cobbler. I think there was some extra residual heat in the stone we didn't account for making them a little tougher than usual. They still tasted great at least. It was a lot of fun and I didn't even miss not seeing the downtown fireworks this year. :)
Took an unscheduled day off yesterday. My leg was bothering me. Felt ok today. . . until after my run. Maybe I need to take it slower. I'm just so close to finishing my training! Seeing the light at the end of the tunnel makes me want to speed up. It's why I sprint at the end of a run too. Did 2.5 miles straight today. With a walking warm up and cool down I covered a total of 3.14 miles, or a hair over a 5k. My time was better than my race time in January. That's encouraging. I'm not feeling the need to work so diligently on speed training just as soon as I can run 3.5-4 miles now. Which is making me feel like it's ok to slow down a little as well. Instead of trying to squeeze in 5 runs this week to make up for last week, I'll just start next week with a 2.5 mile run. That's probably a better way to do it anyway. Rest, ease back in where you left off, then increase mileage. I'm really going to work on my stride too to see if there's something I might be doing wrong that's causing my leg pain. Although the pain is much less today than it was Tuesday, I've stretched it extra carefully (especially since I now know a stretch for my lower calf muscle) and I'm icing it a bit. I do not, repeat, DO NOT want shin splints!
Reading
I've been doing an awful lot of it online lately. Various articles and information gathering and such for no particular purpose other than to know the information. Picked back up on My Life on the Run this morning though. This morning my neighbor called to see if I'd come over and sit after taking Jonah to school so that she didn't have to wake the baby up to take her daughter to school. So, I took the book with me and a very large glass of water to get hydrated for my run, both mentally and physically. Ironically, I read the Badwater chapter. Coincidentally, this year's Badwater just ended yesterday (and it's now the Badwater 135). As I laced up my shoes to drag myself out into 85 degrees and overcast, I pushed myself with the thought that Yasso did 146 miles in 130 degree heat that literally turned the soles of his shoes tacky so that he had to keep swapping pairs over the distance. Looking forward to reading the rest of this book. . . FINALLY! Taking some time off of the Anne Rice though. Armand is not holding my attention as much as the others, though since the attention was fading in Memnoch as well, I'm wondering if I don't just need some different subject matter after 5.5 books and get interested in it again with some space. I hate to leave a book unfinished though, so once I'm done with Yasso, I'll probably go back and finish at least Armand up. Of course, by the end of each book, I'm then ready to start the next in the series. So it goes I guess. Feeling the urge to read Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass again. Could probably finish it in an afternoon if I wanted to set one aside for it. Also need to pick up The Two Towers and start on it again with the book discussion coming up next month. As far as Jonah's new books, we're burning out on them faster than I had hoped. Unfortunately, he doesn't seem the least bit interested in the Beatrix Potter books. Either their too long or, well, I don't know, maybe too girly? It's been Christmas in July though, since he won't let me put away the set of 12 Christmas Golden Books. He really seems partial to the Richard Scarry books though, so we might have to get more of those.
Body Stuff
I've lost 3.8 pounds since July 4th. I've gained .5 inches on my waist since Jan 21st (the last time I measured), but lost 2.5 inches from my hips. I'm literally working my butt off, heh. I'm back to logging my food and I'm coming in well below my caloric allowance (even for my weight loss goal), but I can't seem to cut out more fat. Might have to switch to skim milk and *gulp* stop eating cheese. :( Might have to start making my own granola, too. There would be less fat, salt and sugar in it if I made it, I know. Or, I might just have to run more. ;) I'll definitely try that first. I must say though, on days when I run, it is no problem for me to get in my 8 glasses of water. Tuesday I actually drank 16 and today, I'm working on 10+ already. I've just been really thirsty and I'm not peeing every time I finish a glass, so I obviously need it. I try to drink at least a pint or two before going on my runs when I don't have the stroller to carry water. And it's pretty common to down a pint or two within an hour of getting back as part of my cool down.
Kid Stuff
I really need to set aside time everyday to work with Jonah on potty training or we're never going to move forward on it. Something's got to give.
Dragon*Con
Had my first Dragon*Con dream last night/this morning. Room arrangements. Yeah, riveting, heh.
Gardening
Finally got the grass ridden garden finished with mulch and landscaping fabric. Set the stepping stones in sand which was a really good call, if I do say so myself. Need to get another bag of sand to do the front stepping stone, I think. Then mulched over the sand so it looks all nice and contiguous. Finished the last four bags up with a nice big storm rolling in. Thunder and lightning and everything. Kind of thrilling. . . sort of. . . not really. Unfortunately, just a day or two later, there's grass coming up like crazy again. . . through the landscaping fabric. . . through 3 inches of mulch. *sigh* But even still, the patio seems a nicer place now that it's all in. Needs a border (just a low profile one to keep out the grass from the sides), but it at least looks done. Everything is needing some maintenance. Glads are almost done and need to be deadheaded. Dahlias need to be deadheaded again too as do the osteospermum. About time for another dose of fertilizer all around as well and weeding in the front bed is desperately needed. Having trouble getting my zinnias in the back to withstand the dogs eating them all the time. Seriously? Had our first raspberries a week or so ago. YUM! Need bird netting to make sure we get the most out of the rest of the bush. Had our first tomato about a week or so ago too, one of the orange blossom ones. Super sweet! Put it on a barbecue chicken pizza with some vidalia onions. YUM again!
Food Porn
Speaking of barbecue, we got creative with all the meat we had leftover from our July 4th gathering. Rib tacos and barbecue chicken pizzas. Then we made chicken salad with another one of the chickens and had some chicken sandwiches and that took care of the rest of it. I don't think we'll be smoking anything for a while now, unless we find something very different to smoke (salmon maybe? veggies?). I've probably got some other stuff in a backlog. Honestly, what I'm making tonight, though very simple, looks lovely and tastes fantastic. Spinach fettuccine bathed in pesto, mingled with toasted walnuts and a nice little slice of softened goat cheese on top. Served with a salad, you can't go wrong!
Organizing
The office is sort of the epicenter of clutter in our house. If it doesn't have a home elsewhere, it probably winds up in the office. This is frustrating, especially since I've been working in a space that's just big enough for my chair and just enough room for my laptop and my jewelry supplies spread out on the desk. If I wanted to sew in there, it couldn't happen. If someone came to visit and wanted to stay with us, we'd have to clear it out (in other words, moving things to our bedroom and stuffing the closet much like we did for Steff a few weeks back). I'm sick of it. Our major problem is lack of storage. We need shelves and shelves and shelves. A smaller desk and a nicer sofa sleeper or something would be nice too, but shelves. I'd be happy with shelves. Shelves above the desk. More shelves in the walk-in closet (it's not huge, but it's walk-in). Shelves anywhere we can find to put them. I want things off the desk and out from under the desk and out from under the futon and in some sort of semblance in the closet where it's not an ordeal to pull something out of there. Oh, and a file cabinet, 2-3 drawers. We're using file boxes right now from when we moved. Not working. Now granted, I need to declutter the files. There's a lot of stuff in there now that I'm sure we don't need anymore. There are about a million declutter projects in this room. Certainly enough to keep me busy for a while. I've been putting it off. I do this about once every six months or so and trim more stuff out every time. This time, it's long overdue. Plus, I Want To Sew Damn It! So, I'm now at the point where I'm pulling everything out of the room. The hall is not a pretty sight right now (but Jonah's room and our room look great at the moment, funny how that works). I'm hoping by the end of the weekend to have some sort of order and some SPACE in here. Also, the carpet desperately needs to be cleaned in here, which will happen tomorrow after the rest of everything is hauled out.
Beer, Barbecue and Blowin' Shit Up
Last but certainly not least, we had some members of the Smial over for Fourth of July as well as our brewing friend Jonathan. Jonathan and baka_san had come over in the afternoon to brew/hang out. Jonathan left after the brewing was over and came back with a huge package of artillery shells. Chris had gotten a couple of packages too, as well as some Roman candles and some big packaged things that basically turned out to be like lots of Roman candles taped together. So, after dinner, as it started to get dark, they set a couple off. Then mother nature decided it was her turn and a thunderstorm rolled in, driving us all inside. But, it settled down after a while, enough for spectators to mass in the garage and those willing to get drizzled on when out into the cul-de-sac to blow shit up. Was a lot of fun and we're already strategizing next year's purchases (skip the bottle rockets and Roman candles and things that turned out to be like Roman candles and buy only artillery shells and some sparklers for Jonah). We had lots of great food, of course too. Chris smoked four chickens and I braised two racks of ribs. I was pretty disappointed by the ribs though and I think we've figured out why they didn't turn out as falling apart as they usually do. We've never cooked them with the pizza stone in there and we had the oven up a little higher earlier in the day for Doug's yummy cobbler. I think there was some extra residual heat in the stone we didn't account for making them a little tougher than usual. They still tasted great at least. It was a lot of fun and I didn't even miss not seeing the downtown fireworks this year. :)