Dipped In Love

I hope everyone had a warm and romantic Valentine's Day. I had fun creating and receiving a few happies myself. My valentine and I made the most of the weekend even though he had thrown his back out and I ended up with a bad cold. I was also able to share the love with my aunt by dipping these gigantic strawberries in chocolate and adding a dab of love who then shared them with her sweetie and friends.

Now here it is President's Day, I'm off work and curled up nursing said cold. I think tomorrow I will incorporate a dip in a vat of sanitizer into my curriculum. Now that's sharing the love, right?

Snow Day....AGAIN!!

We got for really real snow! 4" of pure fun packing white stuff. And since I don't have any 2 legged children, I took lots of pictures of my 4 legged ones. They had so much fun chasing snowballs, eating snow, and finding treats in the "Dirty Ol' Snowman". Of course, I had lots of fun too. I haven't made a snowman in sooo long. This makes our third snow day in four weeks. I LOVE being a teacher.

SNOW DAY!!

Well, it wasn't really a snow day, more like an icy mess...but a day off none the less. This is our second "Snow Day" and its rare here in Memphis much less to have two in the same month.

Our first one was a complete bust when we barely got a dusting of snow. But funny thing about that was they closed the schools the next day because it was simply too cold not because of road conditions. Then, "White Death 2010" came two weeks later. For two years in a row, we have gotten a slippery mess of this stuff just after my birthday and I get the benefit of enjoying a few more days off. This time, it was not horrible but enough to cripple this poorly equipped town that almost kept us in. (When one has a 4x4, one tends to want to "play in the snow".)

Speaking of my birthday, Michael and his family gave me a new digital camera. There is a long and funny story as to why this is so auspicious (I'll save that for another post) and I thought this was a great opportunity to check out what the camera can do. The pictures at the top were taken the day after all the sleet/rain/snow descended upon us and just before it started melting. Not too bad for a little point-n-shoot. When I grow up, I hope to have my own DSLR to play with.

I do hope everyone else has survived their winter storms and are getting ready for the spring. Now that I have a new digicam, I'll find all kinds of things to post!!

A Giraffe And A Half

In honor of Akili, the newest addition at the Memphis Zoo born January 28th, I wanted to share my giraffe experience with y'all. This was taken about 18 months ago. Having a chance to meet such a majestic family was one of the greatest moments of my life.

The Run That Almost Wasn't

Ever have one of those days where you start with your road paved with good intentions and by the end of the day the only thing you want paved is the pathway to your couch or bed? I was so there. I postponed a run that should have been done on Monday and told myself and others on Tuesday I have to get my miles done. Still had myself convinced even at the end of the work day and in the car on the way home.

And then...it happened. I walked in and put my stuff down. And then... I sat down. And then, I put my feet up. Yeah, there would be no running at this point. We had dinner plans for the evening and I was already hungry. So my now soon-to-be-ex husband (just kidding dear) announced that we should go to the gym to get it out of the way before our friendly rendezvous. In my mind he was stabbed at least 25 times with my dagger eyes. He goes to properly prepare for the gym and I stood in the doorway protesting. And then I actually thought I could prevent him from walking thru the door in an attempt to thwart his evil plan! Damn man was entirely too persistent and then I lost the battle with a case of the giggles.

So begrudgingly, I get myself together and in the car. And trust me, there were no nice words coming from my mouth for the entire 2.3 minutes it takes to get to the gym. I got on the treadmill while that man ran on the indoor track upstairs. For every lap he went by me, he gained a new imaginary wound and was the recipient of several dirty looks.

All this drama was for 3 MILES! That's it. That's all I had to do. Got it done and actually felt satisfied at my completion of a scheduled run and was even glad to have gotten it done. And do you think I would give that man the satisfaction of knowing that he had anything to do with my sense of accomplishment? OH HELL NO!!! But, I guess I gotta love him anyway.

Geared Up

Ok, 2 out of 4 runs for my first week. Not great but not bad either. With the incredibly frigid temps this week, I hit the gym for my long run instead of outdoors (again)....crazy, not stupid! My long run was supposed to be 7 miles but with only a single 2 mile run logged for the week I decided on a shorter run. I woke up thinking to myself, "Self, let's do 3 miles at a faster paced then scheduled". I got myself ready and thought, "I'm gonna do 4...yeah 4 would be good". Got to the gym and on the treadmill (not my idea of a good time) and pushed it to 5. Yeah, I patted myself on the back, and then I took an hour long bath.

Tomorrow starts week 2...oh what fun...I can't wait...can you? =)

Baby, It's FREAKIN' Cold Out Outside!!

I picked a fine week to start training for the Germantown Half Marathon with only 11 weeks til race day. The temps have to be the coldest here in Memphis since I moved here in 1992. Holy Cow!! I can handle some cold weather but my face is so frozen while I'm running that I couldn't feel my lips or nose, or the snot running down for that matter.

It was supposed to be any easy run...2 miles at a 14:30ish pace. It had to be the most painful run I have ever done. I swear my lungs grew icicles that refused to melt. It took the better part of the night and a 20 minute circuit workout to thaw. And I have so often said that winter is my favorite season...OY! (Sad part is, it still is and always will be!) Tonight is a 5 mile run with speed work. You can bet your long underwear I will be doing it inside the gym since there will be a whopping 1" of snow coming to Memphis!!

To break things up a bit and not burn out on just running (4 days a week according to my handy dandy Runner's World training schedule), I plan to have 2 days of swimming and at least one Spin class each week. I also decided to try my Aunt's "Warrior XFit" circuit training class 2 days a week. It's a very intense and fast paced 20 minute workout that leaves all your major muscles groups screaming "What the @$%#". I survived my first workout and enjoyed my first "win". I posted the link to the site in my list, so check it out.

Well, those are my objectives and psychotic moments of the week so far...check back to see if I survived the first full week of exercise or if I have become frozen in time...or in the middle of the street.

New Year, New Decade, New Beginning

First things first...Happy New Year to you!! I do hope last year was good to you and may this year be better.

I originally started this blog as a way to keep y'all updated on my adventures and endevours (mostly the running thing I was gonna do). Then life got in the way.

We've suffered some losses in 2009 that many of you know about and we've had some moments to celebrate. Our saddest moment was having to say goodbye to our sweet boy Juneau who was laid to rest in August from a very sudden illness. He was a beloved part of our family for 11 of his 12 years. While the sadness gets a little less, he is greatly missed everyday. We were given some more bad news when Michael was let go from his job in October and he's had a difficult time finding work in his career field of Architecture. He's even been looking in other cities outside of Memphis so I'm not sure if, or when, a move will happen for us.

Well...enough of the unhappy stuff and on to the celebrating. We added a new member to our zoo. His name is Cash and I posted a new picture of our revised family. He has made himself comfortable in his new home and the girls (Nakita and Gretchen) get along well with him. He and Gretchen are both 2 turning 3 soon so they help to keep Nakita, who's 14, young.
We also have had some firsts in our house. Michael trained hard and completed his first full marathon (26.2 miles) and I, with little to no training, completed my first half marathon (13.1 miles). We were both a bit disappointed in our results but proud we finished.

Which brings me back to my original objective with this blog. I'm not that into making resolutions (only cuz I'm not so good at the dedication of keeping them) but I decided I would like to work on some improvements.

So here is my plan (not necessarily in this order):

• Budget Better- we've been working hard together to make that mighty dollar stretch and I have finally learned I can be good at this!!
• Follow Thru- I plan to train (starting Jan. 4th) for another local half marathon in March which will lead up to my first possible full marathon in October in San Francisco.
• Weekly Blogging- I am taking a cue from my friend who just had a baby and is documenting each week with updates and pictures. (I just know y'all are dying to know ALL ABOUT MY LIFE!!)
  

So there ya have it. I will post pictures as I see fit and pester you with emails to check me out. Hey, if "Libilibis" can do this, then I know I can!!

Love to y'all in the new year. Now...hold me accountable for my said actions! =)

Somewhere In Between

I never know the true distance I run using my iPod's Nike+ thingy. We (my TNT group) set out to do 8 miles and if I add up my "two runs" (some how I reset the dang thing in the middle of the run), we did 9ish. I know its always been a little off but somewhere in between, we did over 8 but less than 9. Hmmmm, go figure!

But despite the miles, it was a great day. Those of us that met up this morning happened to be the half marathon training team only and these girls are the very reason I'm still on the move. I won't be with them in October but they've asked me to keep meeting them for the Saturday runs. I was so excited and moved that they still want me to be a part of the group. So when an opportunity presented itself today, I was able to get a picture of us.

This was a good week all around for me. I started taking a Spinning class and I got back in the pool for some lap swimming (I swear, the swimming never ever feels like a workout). Looks like I'm turning into a gym rat afterall....(shhh, don't tell Michael, but I actually might start liking this stuff...one day!) And I finally hit my 20lb mark. Only 30lbs more to go by December.

Well, that's all for today...gonna go and enjoy the spoils of my workout...a tall glass of chocolate milk! Enjoy your weekend.

Where The Sidwalk Ends

All through grade school to high school, I owned and read (multiple times) all of Shel Silverstein's books and my most favorite was his collection of funny, odd, weird poems in "Where The Sidewalk Ends". As an only child and a classic nerd during my academic years, I could always count on this book to take me away from reality.

Now some 20 years later, I thought of that book as I went out for a run. I couldn't go to my usual place and I thought of going to a paved path that I've only been on once before. So I parked and ran towards what I thought would be said path. But I followed the road I was on til...the sidewalk ended. And off I was on my own adventure of trail running. Having never been trail running, this took a bit of getting used to. But lemme give you a bit of info..Most people who run, love it. My husband is one of those people. I, on the other hand, don't love it, not sure its a strong like yet. My relationship/courtship with running is more or less in its teenage years of "does he like me? How 'bout now?"

Trail running takes a bit more outta ya because of the terrain (der) and I did great concentrating on the trail and where I was going and what was ahead. Ultimately, I multi-tasked, yet another unusual accomplishment. I spent very little thought and energy on how long the run was going to be and questioning "am I done yet?" Even listening to my iPod (with only one ear bud and the volume low), I found myself listening to the buzzing of the cicadas and enjoying the shade of the trees and squishiness of the sand and mud. I reached my turn around point and then...I was done. I hit the pavement and it was like I was immediately shoved back into reality and there was life waiting for me.

Do I love running after today? No, but I got to hold his hand for short while and I felt comfortable. As with ALL relationships, this one will take time, effort, and patience. I'm good with that! So go find where your sidewalk ends, you may be surprised where it takes YOU!