Month: February 2011

Sloppy Sunday

Sunday was another dreary day, at least in the AM. 

I woke up, FINALLY got started on catching up on my Google reader.  Ate some oatbran and waited for the gym to open.

I was feeling better, but my energy was still pretty zapped.  I got in a decent 1 hour of full-body strength, but it wasn’t as good as I would like.  I am amazed by 2 men I always see on Sundays in the stretching/abs area where I roll my legs.  They are both SUPER bendy.  I want to be like that.  The one man is at least 65 and can do the splits.  blows.my.mind

After  gym, I went to Academy to see if I would get lucky and snag my shoes on clearance.  Nope, not a chance 😦  Then picked up a few things at the grocery store, and headed home.  I then did a massive prep for the week.  Trying to modify my eating a bit for the first half of the week, seeing if I can at least make some progress with feeling somewhat normal. 

I have no idea where the rest of the day went.  I cashed in some birthday gift cards and bought myself a gift online.  Dan disappeared to the gym for 2 hours.  (I LOVE THIS!).  Someone is addicted to weights, hehe.  I know I did laundry and some cleaning.  However, like every Monday, I sit at work and feel guilty that the house is still not clean.  Yes.  That is what I dwell on when I am supposed to be working on Mondays.  I need a cleaning lady.  Hint, hint.

I helped Dan with a few of his office projects and finally began hanging decor (what I could do alone, since he was busy) in the master bedroom.  I will eventually get that room decorated!  I need help leveling and measuring the rest of the items.   Maybe Friday, which is the next evening either one of us has somewhat free.  It’s just not something on my list of priorites but it does drive me nuts that it’s not done. Another thing that drives me nuts is 2 drawers broke on my workout clothes dresser, I tried fixing it myself several times.  Dan just wants me to get a new dresser.  I just want him to drive a bunch of screws or something into that sucker and make it work!  I think he should fix it while i’m gone this weekend 😉

Hoping for a somewhat sane week at work.  I need to start getting ready for the weekend ahead.  I’ll be honest, while I know the relay is going to be a ton of fun, I am VERY nervous.  Nervous that i’m not going to perform well and let my team down.  I really have no reason to think that way, i’m just a worrier.

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Sensational Saturday

RUN

I picked my sister up and we drove on down to the lake.  Decided to lock our stuff up at the gym first before running.  Or not.  Morning girl at the gym decided to be 20 minutes late.  I was quickly losing motivation to run, didn’t help that I didn’t feel great.  It was already hot and humid, luckily no sun.

Eventually we got our gear stowed and set out.  She did the 4 mile loop, I did the 7 with some add-ons.  My goal had been 11, but because we were now 20 minutes behind schedule, I settled for 9.  On the trail detour I made a friend.  This is her business Backyard Fitness Austin.  I don’t usually run with anyone or people I don’t know, but Allison was a gem!  Totally made miles 4-7 a little more fun to learn about her, her business, and her 5 children.  Can you believe she has FIVE kids?  I want to look half that good after one!

FUN

Did I mention the reason we were pressed for time is that my BFF was driving in to town from San Antonio?  I hadn’t seen her since November and she rarely comes to Austin.  She made the trip since our sorority alumni function got cancelled in SA.  I was so happy she could make the trip, because I was bummed our function wasn’t happening.

I didn’t realize IH35 was closed though, luckily I guided her into downtown over the phone.  She met us at Whole Foods, so she could get some fun new things to try.  I forget how much I love the Flagship store, but what a freaking money suck it is.  I spent $35 on not a whole lot, but it was stuff I can’t find anywhere else.

We made our way over to Santa Rita Cantina because #1-I love it, #2 I had a Groupon to spend.  Since I wasn’t feeling so great still, I had the Santa Rita Pescado, instead of the enchiladas or pork loin that I had really wanted.  I love the fish, but it’s been a while since i’ve had a good enchilada out.  Everyone’s food was fabulous of course.  Good conversation and catching up. 

We then did a little retail therapy.  After a few stops, we found matching neon pink tank tops for Diva Dash.  None of us are really pink girls, we’d wanted purple, but for the price and cut, this worked.  (I HATE clingy workout shirts) and if I am going to get wet and/or muddy, I wanted it to be cheap and not clingy.  It actually took less time than I thought to find a shirt that looked good on all of us, especially since the 2 of them actually have chests, lol!

Before we knew it, it was getting late.  She needed to get home to her hubby who was getting off of work, and sister and I were EXHAUSTED.  I dropped sister off at her car and made it home.  Busted out 2 of my purchases from Whole Foods for a snack.  Nacho Moms Vegan Queso (I got the fire roasted one) and Lentil Chips.  Both were pretty fabulous and gluten free!

That is the only photo I took all weekend.  I didn’t even take any photos of the girls having fun 😦  Fail, total fail.  No wonder I have no photos of anything.

The rest of the evening was pretty chill, I was exhausted.  Dan and I made lazy dinners.  I had nachos topped with veggies, cheese, and black bean burger.  Dan made pizza since we didn’t do pizza night this week. 

Caught up on a little DVR and called it a night 🙂

MIA….again

Getting back on track tomorrow with blogging.

It’s been a rough few days. I haven’t been feeling well at all since I got back from my work trip. I’ve worked out but it’s been a struggle. I’ve run once. This is all very much not like me.

Dan is out with our friends right now. I told him to go without me. We had a fun dinner and concert planned with friends. instead, I’m lying on the couch, watching DVR. I just barely ate dinner, which is also not like me, I can’t stand to eat late.

Going to do some thinking over the weekend. Going to come up with a game plan. I can’t see the new Dr until mid-May. I’m actually thinking about going gluten-free for lent to see if it makes a difference. I don’t know what else to do 😦

Tuesday Things to learn

Thanks to Tiffany for posting this!   ABCs of me 🙂

A.   Age: 30

B.    Bed size: full

C.   Chore you hate: Ironing.  I try to buy clothes that don’t require it.  The ones that do, rarely get worn

D.   Dogs:  none, but I want one.  Dan says I have enough fur-babies right now

E.  Essential start to your day:  breakfast.  No breakfast or a crummy one throws off my day
F.  Favorite color: Blue
G.  Gold or silver: Silver.  
H.  Height: 5’5
I.  Instruments you play: nothing.  I am musically dumb
J.   Job title: program specialist, whatever that means
K.  Kids: Just Missy and Chanel
L.  Live: Texas, always have
 M. Mom’s name: Carolyn
N.  Nicknames: M, Mel, Missy, Bunny, Missy #1
O.  Overnight hospital stays: never
P.  Pet peeve: not nearly enough room to go into all of them.  Currently it’s people who fly beneath the radar and get away with being lazy
Q.  Quote from a movie:  I can’t actually think of something at the moment!
R.  Righty or Lefty: Left
S.   Siblings: In real life, 1 little sister (x2, she’s a sorority sister too), and then I consider my BFF Michele a sister (also a sorority sister). 
T.   Time you wake up: 4:30-5:30 during the week, I sleep in on the weekends which is usually until 6-6:30
U.   Underwear: yup, wearing them
V.    Vegetables you dislike: can’t really think of one
 
W.   What makes you run late: getting distracted
X.    X-rays you’ve had: Teeth/mouth, hand (for the drill incident)
Y.    Yummy food you make: everything, lol!
Z.     Zoo animal favorite: I like the cats, especially the little ones
 
Re-post this, please!  These ABCs are fun to know about my fellow bloggers!

Monday madness in Mesquite

Headed North for a conference Monday-Wednesday.  It’s going to be a LONG week!

We arrived, but it was a scary trip.  Nothing like someone who is used to driving a 2 seater sports car, driving a 15 passenger van at 80.  Did I mention they are easily distracted?  I tried to sleep about halfway through, figured i’d die in my sleep that way.

I’ve never been to a Grandy’s.  Pretty certain I don’t want to go back.  I did not select our lunch location.  I know better and know I need to speak up.  Worst chicken sandwich I’ve ever had.  It was also in the ghetto.  I was afraid my last meal was going to be a nasty one.

We arrived and checked in.  I’m on the top floor of the hotel…my key didn’t work…twice.  We got everything set up although it took FOREVER.  Too many technical people trying to do something that should have been easy.  *Sigh*, nothing is ever easy.

At least I got Texas Roadhouse for dinner.  LOVE their pork chop with a sweet potato and their mixed veggies.  It’s one of my favorite go-to travel meals.  Glad I was able to convince our driver and the passengers of that one.   And they got to enjoy their beer and steak.  Win-win!

I like to wait until we are actually on our trip, so I can get snacks included in my expenses.  Decided to find a Walmart after dinner.  We found the ghetto.  I got my snacks.  Co-workers were more than a little po’d because turns out that Walmart is in a dry county, lol!  Didn’t bother me, I just wanted peanut butter, almonds, drinks, and greek yogurt, and I got what I wanted 😉

After all of that, it was pretty late when we got back.  Figured out I needed to wake up at my regular 4:30, because I needed to be working at 6:45.  Talked to Dan, turns out we both aren’t feeling well 😦  Wonder why he’s been sick more this season?  I’d think working out and eating better would help with that (even though the gym is germy which may be a downfall).  I told him goodnight and we were both off to bed.

Tuesday ought to be another adventure, lol!

Giving

Sometimes it’s better to give than recieve.  Or in this case, better to give than run.  I love the Austin marathon and everything about it….except running it. 

I have never run any of the Austin marathon race day races (full, half, 5K).  Oddly enough, i’ve never had the desire to.  No idea why.  I am just content with volunteering for it.

  This morning I did gear check which was really fun and fast-paced.  Got to see many of my ARC buddies when they came to drop their stuff, which was nice.  Loved seeing so many friendly faces and getting to wish them good luck 🙂

When I was done, I was off to cheer.

The course was a little different this year.  REALLY congested.  Over 12K people running the half, 6K for the full.  Mile 2 was my first stop, right in front of the capitol, nothing as beautiful as thousands of people running in front of the prettiest and most grand building in Texas!

The weather was not nice.  Too warm, too humid.   Yuck.  To make matters worse, the sun came out and heated up quite a bit.

I had to take a photo of this sign.  I am pretty sure if I was running, the sight of “50 meters to go” would totally piss me off.  I can see it’s 50 meters, the finish line is in plain sight, haha!  Then again, I hate being told ___many miles to go.  I can count, I know exactly how many it is.

And if for the people who add “only” before that statement, yeah, annoys me even more.

Anyhow, not ideal racing weather, but most of my friends did really well.  Jim BQ’d but then again, he pretty much does for every marathon he runs. 

On the way back to my car, it was food truck heaven, just in case you wanted a snack after 13.1 or 26.2…

Yes, like 4 blocks of Congress Avenue worth of food trucks!  I am pretty sure we have more food trucks per capita than any other place on earth.  We even have villages of them.

I am a strong believer in volunteering.  Races cannot be successful without great volunteers.  If I don’t run and I don’t have a conflict, I try to volunteer where possible.  If I can volunteer AND race, i’ve done that many times before too.

When I run, I try to thank volunteers profusely.  They are the reason that the race you are running is operating as well as it is.  Volunteers make good things happen.  They may have helped plan that race, stuffed the packets, helped with registration, did packet pickup, set up race day food and water, monitored the course,  handed you a medal, picked up your trash, etc. 

NEVER TAKE THE VOLUNTEERS FOR GRANTED 🙂

Finally Friday!

LIFE

It’s been a heck of a week for sure.  Slammed at work, but I still managed a good week of eating and workouts.  I powered through my to-do list at work this morning, because I’d hoped to get no special assignments and burn some comp time that I needed to get rid of.  Even though Friday is usually the most hectic day of the week and there were a few hiccups, I was able to go home at 1.  FOR JOY!

I came home, ate my giant stir fry lunch, watched 2 episodes of “I used to be fat” and took a nap.  I’m still tired.  Probably because I’ve slept horribly every night this week 😦  No bueno.

On tap for the weekend:

~Supposed to go out tonight.  I know though that when i’m ready to leave, no one else will be.  I just can’t stay up all night anymore and function.   With my sleep being off and wanting to run tomorrow, this doesn’t seem appealing really.  My buddy Megan can party all night and then PR a half marathon the next morning.  That is SO not me.

~Long run on Saturday. 

~Visit marathon expo, see if I can snag some good deals on new shoes.  Work the ARC booth if they need assistance.

~Dan is playing golf Saturday afternoon at the club in our neighborhood with some friends.  I should probably use the opportunity of an empty house to clean it.  Everyone knows I HATE leaving town with a dirty house.

~Volunteering the super early shift at the marathon clothing drop.  Then i’ll be cheering!  I hope to be able to park near the Gold’s downtown, so after all of that, if I am still awake, I can get a little work-out in.

~Make Dan some grab-n-go breakfasts.  I think this time I’m doing a few weeks worth of mini-quiches.  Made some this week and they turned out pretty well.  Need to make several variations.  Trying to get him more involved in putting together his snacks and breakfasts.

~Make Dan’s dinner ahead of time for Mon and Tue since I’ll be away for work.  I’m thinking maybe his mom’s lasagna, half a batch, lightened up.

~Pack for my work trip.  I’ve been told to wear jeans.  Works for me, I hardly ever get to wear jeans!

~Research the hotel and area we’ll be in.  I didn’t get to pick the hotel, it was booked and selected for us 😦  I know they have free breakfast though, which almost certainly means oatmeal!

~My usual Sunday of chores, with volunteering at the marathon thrown into the mix.  Ought to be a little pressed for time, but worth it!

Things I like Thursday: fab new recipes

Love some of the new things I’ve had in the last week! 

I made up this baby last week: Orange-almond tofu stir-fry

Baked tofu which was marinated with onion flakes, orange marmalade, red chile flakes, and garlic.  Stir fried with tons of veggies and a palm-full of slivered almonds.  It was SO good and very easy.  I estimated it was about 5P+.

Turkey, bean, and vegetable chili

Photo borrowed from WW site.

Things you will need.
1 pound Turkey, ground, 93% lean/7% fat, raw
1 medium onion, chopped
2 clove garlic cloves, minced or the appropriate amount of pre minced garlic
2 large carrot, chopped
2 stalks celery, chopped
1 medium yellow pepper, chopped
1 item medium bell pepper, orange-variety, chopped
1 Tbsp chili powder
1 Tbsp paprika
2 tsp Durkee Ground Cumin Seed, or other brand 1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp cayenne pepper, optional (I used about a teaspoon)
29 oz fat-free, reduced-sodium chicken broth
29 oz canned diced tomatoes, with mild green chiles

15 1/2 oz canned kidney beans, rinsed and drained
15 oz fat-free canned refried beans


Spray a 12-inch sauté pan with cooking spray; set over medium-high heat. Brown turkey and break up the meat with a wooden spoon as it cooks, about 10 minutes; drain and set aside.

Spray a large pot with cooking spray and set over medium heat. Cook onion, stirring occasionally, until soft but not browned, about 5 minutes.

Add garlic; cook, stirring, 1 minute. Add carrots, celery and peppers; cook, stirring occasionally, for 5 minutes. Add chili powder, paprika, cumin, oregano, salt and cayenne; stir for 1 minute.

Stir in broth, tomatoes, both types of beans and turkey; bring to a boil. Reduce heat to low and simmer, uncovered, stirring every 5 minutes, about 35 minutes total. Yields about 1 1/2 cups chili per serving.  8 servings at 5P+

Not-so-homemade or new

And last night’s dinner, which I didn’t make and wasn’t new, but I loved it just the same.  I had a birthday coupon to Zoes Kitchen, so I picked up dinner for us.  Greek chicken marinara for Dan and grilled chicken dinner for myself.   LOVE their food, we only have 1 in town and it’s not close, so I went the long way home to go get it.  This was Dan’s first time trying it and he liked his.   Added a pita and some extra veggies to mine (comes with greek chicken (4P+), rosemary white beans (3P+), and roasted veggies-1P+).

 

 

I’m breathing, I think

I am still alive.  Work is sucking the life out of me.  That’s where i’ve been.  Since last Friday, i’ve been slammed.  I’ve worked late Monday and Tuesday.  Wednesday was just exhausting.  Today I am in meetings all day long.  Tomorrow I am hoping to FINALLY get actual work done and get no special assignments.

And then I go out of town for work Monday-Wednesday of next week.

I usually read and write blogs either before work or during lunch.  Since Friday I have worked out in the AM and not taken a lunch break.  I’ve eaten while I’ve analyzed paragraphs and paragraphs of legal jargon.  YUCK.

I hope to return to regular blogging today.  I need to do Things I Like Thursday.

I will keep trying to remember to breathe.  Is it June yet?