It's Patriot's Day here in New England where the Boston Marathon runs on the second anniversary of the bombing. Cool weather with some rain will make it a tough run.
It's a day that I annually bemoan that I've never been a runner, much less a marathoner. I used to think that one day I'll train and run the Boston Marathon but I've given up that fantasy. Hats off to those who do.
Eating and exercise are going well for me these days - still recovering from a snacking my way through a house repainting a few summers ago. What plops back on easily doth take its sweet time going away.
I'm out in the rain all week. Dinner walks every night so more of a challenge. The dog is sick again - her own doing. DH is going to be late every night. He's quit is job and is doing the wrap up of all the loose ends.
I've decided I'm not going to cook dinner this week - just eat soup every night from cans. DH can fend for himself. I am tired.
Just eating an early lunch here which I'll have time to digest before tearing off for a translation meeting. Last two classes of the university semester tomorrow. We're translating a passage from Il barone rampante by Italo Calvino. The book's about Cosimo who, after a teenage spat, spends the rest of his life in the trees. It's quite possible, it seems. Something to consider.
The weather is lovely and I saw my first swallow last Thursday.
It's HOT down here in Florida. Heat index of 102 this afternoon I heard. Had a busy weekend and am feeling really weak and tired today. Field trip (programming competition on Saturday all day). But I knew I'd be sitting around all day so got up early (4:30) and ran first. Then Sunday rode bikes with DH, 41 miles. Then donated blood in the afternoon. Forgot that I donated the blood and ran this morning, but didn't feel that great so only went 4.3. Then when I got home saw the paperwork from the blood donation and thought "oh shoot! forgot about that, shouldn't have run today!"
Bill, as a new runner, I'm amazed at those that can run that far! IDK if I will get to that point. But I am shooting for a half marathon later this year.
I've done a few 5k races but have never really been able to run the entire race. I think only once I did run an entire 5k, but it was slow going. These days I prefer a slower sport. I have done a workout two days in a row! This is me getting back on the bike if you will.
Meanwhile I have a tomato stealing dog. Both Saturday and Sunday I caught him with a perfectly ripened tomato in his mouth. Now normally I'll give him a little tomato her and there but when he steals it, it is taken away. Those are MY tomatoes, darn it!
Today is my in-law's anniversary and I had planned a wonderful dinner for them last night (lobster mashed potatoes with braised boneless spare ribs). We enjoyed it without them because MIL was sick in bed all day.
We're expecting a windy cold spell later this week. The temperature is to drop about 20 degrees from what we've been seeing. It will be a welcome relief and might bring a little rain. But the wind is a problem as we've had two wildfires in the area (one still burning this morning).
The weather sure is different in different parts of the world, huh?
I booked my NEXT cruise (leaving in just two months!) and checked the weather for Alaska. It looks cold and miserable. I'm hoping it improves by June. Wondering if it'll even be worth bringing a swimsuit at all for sunbathing.
I hope your MIL is ok Allison?
Sharon-- make sure you eat and hydrate well for a few days! I always feel puny for a few days after donating. Which reminds me-- it's probably time again.
I'm feeling worn out myself this morning. My fave bikram yoga teacher was teaching all three classes yesterday. She hasn't taught in probably a year. She has personal problems and lives a few hours away so she only comes once in awhile to teach. I took the 9 am class, and loved it so much that I went back for the 4 pm class. I'm feeling it today. Very sore and tired. I bathed the cats and the dog yesterday. Every time I bathe the cats (not often), they clean themselves till they vomit, so I had that when I tried to go to bed last night (on my bed of course). Then I woke up during the night hearing vomiting (which I never did find-- hopefully it wasn't productive). This morning I am dragging....
Happy (??) Monday everyone! Here's to a productive week with positive outcomes!
Hats off to my DAD, who is running his 3rd Boston marathon (2nd consecutive) at age 65. Go Dad!!!!
I'm up on the scale the last 2 days, after a Th-Fr all-day conference and then an afternoon baby shower yesterday. I ate healthy meals overall but more sugary snacking than usual. Hope it doesn't stay up...
For today, I'm planning cereal in the morning, stir fry in the evening, and a big veggie salad for lunch with garbanzos. Hope it's ok to post my plan here, helps me think through plans and food prep so I won't get derailed and chose convenience foods instead.
I now have a crazy week after two clients booked me last minute for dinner walks. Two dogs in one house and 3 in the other. They live around the corner (literally) from each other so I'm going to combine all of them into a big group. Fortunately the cat sit ends tomorrow and DH is taking Trixie Thurs. and Fri. for the afternoon walk. I will be tired and cranky most evenings but it's not totally overwhelming.
The good news is that my kitchen reno looks like it's going to happen. I'm checking references this evening on one contractor who I really liked at the interview. If it's all good then I think I'm going to hire him. Hoping for a decent sized kitchen sink in July!
Cold, rainy night. I drove home through fog, glad I had soup in the refrigerator ready to reheat. One of my direct reports is quitting to go work for a startup. So that means this current round of hiring, in which I'm looking for two new people, will be succeeded by yet another round of hiring, and I'll be training three new people through the summer.
It makes me want to find another job myself, but I want some stability while I work on rehabbing this leg. Today I made another baby step in that I didn't bring my cane to the office and walked without it. I am now much slower and more thoughtful at walking, and on steps; I feel badly for the people behind me, as I once also had that impatient NYer walk.
Hi all! Work has been crazy as usual. I feel like I get one crazy week and then one normal week, so I'm only checking in here every other week.
Next week my daughters will be 2 years old! When did that happen?? I'm not going to dwell on the fact that I still have 17lbs of baby weight and instead going to dwell on the fact that I have two beautiful, joyful daughters who have come so far from tiny preemies in the NICU to big healthy toddlers.
There will be birthday cake. Not sure how much yet -- we're having a birthday not-party (playdate with a few people and some family) for them that will probably have cake or cupcakes, then another thing on their birthday itself which is a Wednesday with just the grandparents. I should probably get to work on figuring out what the heck I'm going to do for cake.
Wt is back down a bit today, whew. Officially below red-line. I really notice a difference based on what I eat even more than what I don't eat. Lots of low fat, high fiber foods=maintenance, even if I throw a slice of cake in with it here and there.
My dad finished under qualifying time, so if he wants to run again next year, he can without qualifying again. WTG! At 65, he finished the marathon in 4hrs 5 min.
For today, lunch will be a salad with garbanzo beans, dinner stir fry. Last night, we ended up having blue-gills cause DH and DS caught 9 small ones. They were tasty! We had them with lots of cooked greens and some canned corn.
Dagmar-- exciting! What are you doing besides the sink? You said dh quit his job. Quit, quit? Is he getting another job?
Jessica-- time does fly! Wow! I wouldn't look at it as 17 pounds. I would look at it as 8.5 pounds each-- barely anything! I joke that it took me 16 years to lose the baby weight as that is when I finally took the weight off.
Saef-- that is a big step! Pun intended!!
I'm hoping today will be better than yesterday. I did double workouts on Sunday and I think it just wiped me out yesterday. I was sore and exhausted and drug myself through the day. My brain wouldn't work and I was in a fog. I could barely stay awake in the evening though I did drag myself to the gym and did an hour on the elliptical-- thank goodness I'm hooked on Prison Break or I never would have gone.
Slept like a log. Weight is up a pound. Not sure what the deal was but I'm chugging a venti Americano and hoping for a more "with it" day. I need to meal prep, do laundry, etc. at home so I can't have another evening like last night or my week will be all thrown off.
Michele I'm doing a facelift of a tired old kitchen, rather than a big reno. We have two really small strange sinks which cannot be plugged with a regular strainer stopper. One even has a drain cover WELDED on to it. I'm tired of washing anything larger than a salad plate in the basement laundry tub so I'm replacing the "doll" sinks with one large one with a drainboard and the tap with one with a sprayer attachment. There will be a new countertop to replace the old one which has been burned several times by pots (we think) and has raised rings on it as a result. And the plastic (!) backsplash will be replaced by real tiles and grout. I'm also putting down new sheet vinyl flooring and will probably have to replace the subfloor and floorboards under it. We are putting in undermounted lighting on the cupboards.
I think it will look quite nice after it's done. Whoever moves in next can tear down the house and rebuild it. We don't have the budget for that so we're making it reasonably pretty and quite functional for the remainder of our time here.
Dagmar, your reno sounds smart and well-planned! One of the things I dearly love about my kitchen is that I held my ground on a huge sink - both sides of it can each fit a full cookie sheet flat in the bottom. Or a 14" skillet with its handle. And oh, what I would give to have the cash available to rip out the floor tile and replace it with a high-quality sheet vinyl. The tile is murder to stand on, awful to clean even when freshly sealed, and fatal to anything that falls on it (assuming it doesn't crack too). I am ga-ga about before/afters - will you take some pictures and share them? Pretty please?
DS15 has departed for a 5-day Memphis trip with his show choir colleagues. They are attending the National A Cappella Convention. And the spouse is back in KY for work this week. Me, 2nd interview on Friday and needing a lot of head time to process whether or not I need to/would/should take the job when they offer it. And they will; long story short I've done that job before and had a reputation for being really good at it. On top of all that, I've hit the weight loss trail with intent. Sleep and great nutrition are on the top of my priority list this week (where they should always be, but y'know).
Maintainers Weekly Chat April 20 - April 26
Just eating an early lunch here which I'll have time to digest before tearing off for a translation meeting. Last two classes of the university semester tomorrow. We're translating a passage from Il barone rampante by Italo Calvino. The book's about Cosimo who, after a teenage spat, spends the rest of his life in the trees. It's quite possible, it seems. Something to consider. 
When did that happen?? I'm not going to dwell on the fact that I still have 17lbs of baby weight and instead going to dwell on the fact that I have two beautiful, joyful daughters who have come so far from tiny preemies in the NICU to big healthy toddlers.
Sleep and great nutrition are on the top of my priority list this week (where they should always be, but y'know).
