New Year's Resolutions

I was going to write a post about how I never make resolutions and then, out of curiosity, I looked at my blog archives from last January and, apparently, I made several resolutions last year. The good news is I succeeded at one of them, which was to run more. But the other two were huge failures (be organized and be more adventurous with fashion). I’m not even going to attempt being organized this year – it’s a lost cause. So here are my resolutions for 2010 that I hopefully will not immediately forget about.

Run a half marathon. Since running was my only successful resolution of 2009 why not continue with it for 2010? I plan on signing up for the race next week and seriously start training this weekend. I’m actually excited for this. I’ve always wanted to be able to run a half marathon and, more than that, be the type of person that would run a half marathon. Now I am that person! I just have to keep reminding myself how wonderful it will feel to cross that finish line. Along the same lines I want to diversify my fitness routine. Try swimming more and take more classes at the gym.

Project 365. I got a fancy new camera last January and I haven’t been very lax about using it. My goal this year is to become a better photographer and I figured the best way to go about this would be with lots of practice. With all that practice I’m sure to get better at composition and lighting. So I plan on taking at least one picture every day. Obviously, to succeed at this resolution I will need to get in the habit of carrying my camera with me everywhere and also uploading my pics once a week. I also think it will be fun to look at the pictures next year as a way of reviewing 2010.

Career Decision. This isn’t so much a resolution as a MUST DO. I have to start interviewing next fall so I really need to figure out what kind of job I want and what kind of company I want to work for. I’m sure I’ll be blogging about it because it has been weighing heavily on my mind lately.

I am really really looking forward to 2010. Mainly because I’m getting married. Did you hear me? I’M GETTING MARRIED. I’ve been engaged for six months and yet I still feel the need to shout that every time I say it. Here’s to a fabulous 2010 – Happy new years!

Motivation for the new year

Then last night I went to the gym to run a 4-miler on the treadmill. The first mile went great. Then the second mile I started to get shin splints and stomach cramps all at once. Two things that rarely happen to me. I kept pausing the treadmill to stretch and drink water, but nothing was helping. So I quit at mile 2. I have NEVER quit a run early before. I felt shitty about it all night. I should have at least walked the other 2 miles. Oh well, time to start over and forget about it.

Luckily, Runner’s World posted an article today about how to stay motivated so I decided to write down my favorite ones from the article here so I can refer back to it when I need a little extra push (some I tweaked slightly to fit me personally).

Create a blog. I’m already doing this! This is all about publicly declaring your goals to create accountability for yourself. In that vein, I fully plan on running 4 miles tomorrow and 8 miles on Friday.

Forget the watch. I have become way too attached to my Garmin. I can’t even imagine running without it. But I found on a 10 miler I did a week ago that when I didn’t look at it constantly and actually relaxed I ran at a faster pace. So I need to become more relaxed and start making running fun again. On a related note, I think this is partly what went wrong last night – I was pushing myself too hard and if I had just slowed down I’m sure I would’ve finished the 4 miles.

Sign up now. Signing up for a 5k is how I originally motivated myself to start running. I’m very competitive so this always helps me. I really need to sign up for the Seattle Rock n Roll half before I chicken out or they sell out. I signed on to do it a couple weeks ago and then got sticker shock when I saw how expensive it was. But now I have Christmas money so I NEED to get on that. I know that’ll get me off my ass. The fear of failure really is the ultimate motivator.

Think Fast. Runner’s World’s suggestion here was to run the first half of your run slow and then run the second half fast. I definitely need to try some runs like this because so often I don’t pace myself very well and am dying on the second half of the run. It would be a nice change of pace to have extra energy at the end of the run.

Download new music. I know if Kesha’s song Tick Tock came on my iPod as I was running my pace would increase. Or promise yourself that if you go for your run you can purchase that song you just can’t get enough of when you get back.

Remind yourself. It always helps me to remind myself how far I’ve come both mentally and physically since I started running regularly. I may not be at the weight I want to be at, but I am proud of my body because I know what it’s capable of. I love my legs now even if they are ridiculously short because I know how strong they are. I always make a point of thinking about how confident and great I feel when I finish a run.

Treat yourself. When I am having an especially hard time getting my ass out the door I promise myself a treat when I get back. Chocolate milk is the best treat because it’s good to drink after a run and who doesn’t love it?

Honeymoon Bikini. This is the obvious one. Swimsuit season is just around the corner. I’ll be on a honeymoon this summer and I fully intend to look hot while on it. I plan on hanging a pic of my dream swimsuit in my office to serve as a constant reminder.

Don’t Pause. This is a big one for me. I need to just jump out of bed and go for a run – I tend to give myself too much time to talk myself out of it.

No Regret. My mantra: You’ll regret it big time if you don’t run and laze around on the couch instead.

Try New Trails. Change up your route. I think I’ll try the park across the street (I don’t know why I haven’t run there yet…) and Green Lake would be a big treat for me (great people watching).

What motivates you to get out the door and get your ass in gear?

For Brandy

We interrupt the regular blog program for a very important message from the amazing Brandy. Please read it and think about it. If you feel so inclined, please copy and paste the below post onto your own blog to spread the word and keep the good karma, thoughts and prayers flowing.

My name is brandy. And I have a blog.

And a plea.

I use my blog to showcase the crazy I meet everyday, share the stories of the kids I teach and document my love for tequila, dairy products and the abdominal muscles of Ryan Reynolds. Rarely do I talk about personal issues on my blog- as personal as the dude that I adore (who I actually met through my blog- single ladies, let that be a very good reason to blog, the possibility of meeting someone as wonderful as my man), but I need your help. And it involves my dude.

He's a guy who made math comics for my class, so they would love learning about addition. He's the kinda guy who sends my friends gift cards when they are having hard times, who remembers every story I ever told him, who was the first person I celebrated with when I got a teaching job. He's the guy who sent flowers to me at school- dozens of my favourite pink roses just because he loves me. He's a guy who has spent a year patiently explaining (and re-explaining) everything there is to know about football during the important games when silence is preferred. He's made me word puzzles and comics and stayed up late playing Scrabble with me (even though I beat him almost every time). He's listened to me cry about school and family and jobs. He is everything I never knew I needed and everything I always knew I wanted.

The holidays have hit us hard. He's recently been told he may have something called multiple myeloma- an incurable cancer, that gives a person an average of five years of continued life. Though this news has came as a shock, he continues to be exactly who has always been- spending his time worrying about me, rather than worrying about himself. He's the most selfless individual I know- (he stayed late on Christmas Eve to work, so his co-workers could leave early) and a post like this would never be something that he would promote or encourage but when I'm overwhelmed and feeling helpless, the blogging community has always given me tremendous support and comfort, two things I desperately need at this time.

As I write this, the future is uncertain and we aren't sure what's happening. He'll need to see an oncologist soon, to verify what's going on in his body. My hope is that everyone who reads this think positive thoughts and if you are a person who prays, could you add him to your list? (You can refer to him as 'brandy's hot awesome dude'). If you don't pray, please keep him in your heart.This cancer is only a possibility and I believe that the prayers and positive thoughts of people can make sure it never becomes a reality.

I want to give a big thank you to the blog owner who scraped their original blog plans and graciously put this up. My goal is to get as many people as possible to see and read this post. If you are reading this and want to help, copy and paste my plea into your blog or send a link through twitter, so more people can keep him in their thoughts. I would be so very grateful (even more grateful than I am to my friend who first showed me the picture of Ryan Reynolds on the cover of Entertainment Weekly. If you haven't seen it, google it. You. Are. Welcome).

I realize this all sounds dramatic, a Lifetime movie in the making- but this is life. Right now. And I'm throwing away any hint of ego and am humbly asking for you to pray or think kind thoughts. If you are able to pass this on, thank you and if you know anything regarding MM- please email me (my email is on my blog). This isn't a call for sympathy or a plea for pity. It's just one girl hoping you can think positive thoughts for the person she adores. If my current heartache provides you with anything, let it be with the reminder that life is short, love is unbending and no one knows what could happen next. Maybe it is silly, but I really do believe that positive thoughts can make a huge difference. Thank you for reading this and if you haven't already? Please tell someone you love them today.

I did.

Turns Out I'm Illiterate

I was thinking last week that I wanted to start having more posts about cooking on here. I love to cook and am always trying new recipes so I thought I could share with the three readers I have what recipes work and what don’t.

So this weekend as I went on a baking frenzy and in the back of my mind was the thought of what recipe could I blog about. The first difficulty I encountered was taking pictures of the steps. I don’t know how the Pioneer Woman does it! It must take her ages to cook when she has to take pictures of every step.

The other difficulty was that everything I made was a disaster…well, mostly everything. First, I made cookies called Oatmeal Scotchies on Saturday. When I read the part of the recipe where it called for one cup of butter in my head I read 1 stick of butter. I didn’t catch my mistake until after the cookies were out of the oven and finished and then had an epiphany where I realized it was supposed to be TWO sticks of butter. Oopsies! Chuckles has assured me they taste fine despite the lack of butter. I personally am not a fan of oatmeal cookies so I am not a trusty source for an unbiased opinion so I really don’t know if they’re ok...people seem to be eating them. But the point is I can’t be trusted to give advice on cooking.

Then on Sunday I made Deep Chocolate Cheesecake Bars. The first step was to melt an entire bag of chocolate chips. Then it said beat cream cheese and sugar. So I beat the cream cheese and sugar with the chocolate. Big Mistake. The chocolate was supposed to be added later – I think it really messed up the consistency. It was a bitch to mix that’s for sure. It seems to be ok, but I’ve only had one so I am reserving judgment on those until later when I can pawn them off on unsuspecting family members.

Finally, tonight we are going to a potluck and I was going to make a pear, bleu cheese, and walnut salad for it. I always make candied walnuts because (do I really have to explain?) candied walnuts are always better than toasted walnuts. I decided to try a new recipe for it because the last ones I made weren’t pretty enough for me. Sure they tasted good, but they just didn’t look like it – I wanted them to be shinier. So I made them from a new recipe that had glowing reviews and poured them on some wax paper to cool and when I went to put them in a container later they were completely stuck to the paper. So obviously I fucked up and the worst part is I have no idea where! But they sure are shiny…

So if I were to do cooking posts on here they would all most likely be a lesson in what NOT to do. My coworker told me not to stress about it because I have been very tired and stressed and therefore flaky lately and that is why I can do nothing right. My reaction to this flakiness has been to drink four times the amount of caffeine than I normally do, which, unfortunately, is only making the situation worse…oh well, only 3 more days til Christmas.

Do NOT mess with my sleep!

I was reading an article on Runners World the other day about how people find time in their busy lives to workout. I am a total sucker for articles like this because I often find myself in the mindset that I am too busy to do anything and then I read these articles and realize that my life is a piece of cake compared to these other people. For example, there was one woman who had four young children and worked full time and to get her runs in she would get up at 4:30 in the morning!! Isn’t that the

So I thought why can’t I get up at 5:30 in the morning to work out on those days when I have work and then school afterwards? Anybody who knows me knows that I love love loooooove to sleep in. In fact, I will outright YELL at you if you try to get me up earlier than I need to. I might even hit you. Who am I kidding? I would definitely hit you. Maybe even with brass knuckles.

So I immediately threw that idea out the window and decided that a much more reasonable strategy would be to stay up late and go for a run. The problem is next week staying up late to work out just isn’t an option. So I am entertaining the possibility of getting up early.

I have basically given up on the idea that I will be able to run on Christmas Eve or Christmas and the fact that I even thought about running on those days makes me think that I am quite possibly losing my mind.

Anywhoodle, I have decided that my goal is to work out at least 2 days next week. What with multiple birthday and Christmas parties I think it will be quite the challenge. AND to fulfill it I will HAVE to get my ass out of bed early one morning. Hopefully nobody will get hurt in the process.

In case you’re wondering why I am posting so much about my boring exercise routine it’s because I have found that it motivates me to keep at it when I blog about it. Basically I take motivation wherever I can find it and go with it.

Give me the biggest omelet you got

I ran my first 10K this weekend. It was Saturday morning and I spent Friday night at a Christmas party at a winery in Woodinville. I assured myself going in that I would leave early and only have one glass of wine. That didn’t so much happen. The wine was just so tasty!

I eventually made it home just after 10 pm and downed some water and ibuprofen. Luckily, I didn’t feel that horrible the next morning and my running buddy, Linda, and I ran the 10k no problem. I really wanted to finish in under an hour and we ended up finishing at 1 hr and 33 seconds. I blame this on the fact that I failed to double knot my shoelaces so we had to stop twice for me to tie my shoes. I easily wasted thirty seconds there.

Our pace was pretty good for the first half – we were consistently under a 9:30 pace (pretty freakin’ good for me). Of course this meant that I really struggled during the last two miles. I kept thinking this is just NEVER going to end. Our average pace for the last three miles was probably more like 9:45.

Anyway, I’m really glad I did it even if it was below freezing out. Afterwards we met a college friend of mine for a delicious brunch at a place called Wild Wheat in Kent. I had the biggest bacon omelet EVER. It was absolutely insane. Anywhoodle, I’m already looking for my next race!

Why Must I Be a Poor Student?

I’ve been window shopping all morning on the interwebs, which is alternating making me happy to look at all the pretty clothes and sad that I have no money to buy any of them, but a girl can dream right? So I thought why not make everybody suffer with me! I have a Christmas party this Friday and while I will wear some old dress or skirt I’ve had for years here’s what I wish I was wearing:

I LOVE this Octopus bracelet from Anthropologie. Of course, it is way over my jewelry budget at $198, but I think you could wear it with a simple LBD and black shoes and it would make the whole outfit interesting instantly. I love fun accessories for that reason alone.

I think this 7 for all Mankind Asymmetrical dress would be perfect for holiday parties – Simple with just a little bit of embellishment on the shoulder. I would definitely wear a skinny black belt around the waist to give it a bit of shape.

And to complete it a pair of simple black pumps by Michael Antonio with a ruffle along the edge. Surprisingly, these are affordable at $50, but they don’t have my size. (My bank account is grateful.)

Well, that’s my dream outfit for this Friday night. What are you lusting after this holiday season?

Some Rambling Nonsense

I filled out my class evaluations today and for the first time since I started graduate school I gave both my professors glowing reviews. They were both interesting and explained everything clearly, not to mention, managed to make two subjects that had the potential to be excruciatingly boring fascinating. Because of this I am almost sad to see this quarter end for you never know what kind of nightmares I’ll have to deal with next quarter.

I say almost sad because I have never had so much reading assigned before and, therefore, have never been so behind before. That and when I turned in my legal paper rough draft I was told it needed “extensive rewording” which gave me heart palpitations because I don’t handle criticism well.

It also makes me nervous because, while normally I’d be looking forward to a leisurely break this break will be the complete opposite of leisurely thanks to Christmas and wedding planning and my life is only going to get more busy in the next nine months. On the positive side this means they’ll go by fast, which is good because I am very impatient and ready to get married.

I am also looking forward to getting back to training and exercising more regularly. I get so caught up in studying for finals because I’m crazy and think that anything less than 100% is a big fat FAILURE that everything else in my life has to take a backseat for those two last weeks in the quarter. So starting the 13^th I am going to start seriously training for my half marathon and I really can’t wait!

I wish I could make time this weekend to run because the temperature here took a severe and sudden drop this week and I would like to get some experience running in the freezing cold before my race on the 12^th. Unfortunately, I am afraid that 10K will be my first attempt at running in the snow. So at this point I am just hoping I am able to run it. I asked Chuckles to get me some runner’s cleats just in case it’s really icy.

Well…those are my rambling thoughts for the day. It’s pretty representative of how all over the place my head is lately.

Trying to be a runner

I’ve been running regularly for over a year now and have seen a lot of improvement in my speed and form and yet I still don’t feel like I belong to the “runner’s club”. I read other running blogs and runners world forums and feel pathetic that I have yet to run even a half-marathon.

Of course, I know this shouldn’t bother me at all because everybody has to start somewhere. Regardless, when I see other runners out on my run I always feel my pace speed up a little as I try to prove myself.

I went on two runs this past weekend in an attempt to burn off the Thanksgiving calories and they were difficult, painful runs. It was quite possibly the amount of booze I drank on Thursday or the biting wind, but by the last mile of my nine mile run on Friday I was barely able to walk.

And (I warn you – this might be TMI) it was also difficult to run because there was a distinct possibility that I might shit my pants. I know I am not the only one that has this problem on long runs and the best advice I have found on runners’ forums is “Run near toilets”. Great. Advice.

Anyway, as I was walking up the hill toward my car a girl was running towards me with a runner’s belt, skinny runner’s body, and judging eyes. Yes, Judging Eyes. Because I was walking. It took all my willpower not to yell, “It’s because I don’t want to shit my pants! Lay Off Lady!” Yeah, take that.

I'm Thankful for Wine

I rarely use Thanksgiving as an opportunity to think about what I’m thankful for. Instead, I see it as an opportunity to eat a helluva lot of food and sit in front of the TV all day and while this year really isn’t that much different, as in I’m still going to eat a lot, there were reminders about why I am thankful for many things in my life.

First, I was reading Postsecret on Monday and there was one secret that stood out to me:

It made me so grateful that I have such a great support system around me - a great family, friends, and fiancé. I just can’t imagine going through life all by myself.

Then yesterday on my way to the gym after work I was listening to an NPR story about soldiers coming home and how a family whose son had died was at the homecoming anyways as some sort of closure and they were sobbing. So I was sobbing, of course. I got some weird looks when I got to the gym from my body pump instructor who said hi to me and then quickly walked away because it was so painfully obvious that I had been crying. It was Awkward and if it hadn’t been Thanksgiving week I would have skipped.

But, seriously, I am so blessed with my wonderful parents, my bossy big sister (I’ve grown to love the bossiness about her…especially as she takes over wedding planning) and her family, and my amazing fiancé.

Also, I’m thankful for my ability to walk forever in heels. I think I was born to wear heels. Thank god because it makes up for my short legs, which I am NOT thankful for. Although, I am thankful I can run on them.

Ok…I’ll stop now. What are YOU thankful for? Mashed potatoes? Booze? Larry David?

Hooker Boots

So I really like the idea of thigh-high boots, but, at the same time, am unsure how you pull them off without looking like a hooker ala Julia Roberts in Pretty Woman. I suspect that they only way to wear them is over leggings or skinny jeans. Neither of which I wear because I feel like they only look good on girls who are a size 2. Although…I’ve been tempted to get some leggings lately, but I would always wear them with a dress (as if that somehow makes it ok).

I think in the pics below that Hayden Panettiere and Cameron Diaz really pull them off, but is it just because they’re hot celebs?! Or can a nobody pull them off? If so, how?

And, it has to be said, they look incredibly difficult to get on and off so would I end up wearing them constantly? To bed? In the shower? Not to mention, what if they’re so tight they cut off circulation to my legs? So, what are your thoughts on thigh-highs?

Dreamboats

I was going to write today about gift guides and recycle the age old topic of how utterly difficult my dad is to shop for, but luckily I came across this article that lists literary characters the author would get down and dirty with, which is waaaayyy more interesting than Christmas shopping.

Of course there are a few on the list I disagree with. Specifically - Carlisle Cullen? Puh-lease. If I were to sleep with any character from Twilight it would be Jacob. Who in their right mind would choose Carlisle over Jacob?! And, for that matter, who would choose Edward over Jacob?! You’re a nutjob if you’d pick Edward. I’m sorry if that seems harsh but those are the facts.

However, I wholeheartedly agree with Gilbert Blythe. Oh, how I love him. Nummy. I’m drooling just thinking about it…Rhett Butler is another one. I just think he has to be a-mazing in bed. I can’t believe how stupid Scarlet was to not figure it out. Once again, who in their right mind would pick Ashley Wilkes over Rhett Butler?! SCARLET! I wish I could slap her silly.

I also have one character I would like to add – Laurie from Little Women. I was devastated when he didn’t marry Jo because Jo is a stupid stupid lady (I was going to say bitch, but I don’t hate her that much no matter how hard I try) and married Amy instead. Obviously, Jo didn’t deserve him because she didn’t know what she had and Amy didn’t deserve him because she was a little snot. I might be biased thanks to the fact that he was played by Christian Bale in the movie, but I really did love him in the book. In fact, I refused to finish the book the first time I read it when I realized that Jo wasn’t going to end up with him. Jesus, I’m getting myself all hot and bothered just thinking about it.

So what literary character are you dying to bump uglies with?

Pineapple Police

I participated in the Pineapple Classic this weekend for the second year in a row. I was on a team with my friend, Linda; the Sandy Bee-yotches. I know, we’re dorks. It’s a fun race – it’s a 5K obstacle course. There are walls to climb over, tubes to crawl through, and nets to climb across. Needless to say you end the race covered in mud.

Well, this year I was lucky enough to have an asshole following me throughout the course. First, there was the wall that had no footholes and was so tall that even with a running leap I still couldn’t touch the top. As I tried to do a running leap and failed I shrugged and turned to walk around and saw AH give me a distinctly dirty look. I tried to shrug it off thinking I had just imagined it.

Next were the dreaded monkey bars. I didn’t even attempt these last year. It still boggles my mind that I could do this at any point in my life. This year though I at least tried it. It took me three tries to even grab a hold of the stupid bars (in case you haven’t figured it out yet I’m a tad bit shorter than your average female). When I finally did get a grip on them my hand immediately slipped off and I consider myself lucky that I didn’t fall flat on my back in the middle of a mud puddle. So I said, “Screw it!” As AH behind me said, “What you’re not even going to attempt it?!” I answered with the same dirty look he gave me earlier.

So throughout this race every team has to carry a pineapple with them and every time we got to an obstacle Linda would stick it down her pants to free up her hands. And, yes, it was as funny as it sounds. At the second wall as Linda stuffed it down her pants I told her that she didn’t have to stretch her pants out this time she should just throw the pineapple over the wall and pick it up on the other side. AH interjected here and informed us that you are NOT ALLOWED to let the pineapple touch the ground EVER. I told him there was no need to worry we’d already been disqualified multiple times so SUCK IT. I didn’t actually say suck it out loud because I have no balls.

Next was the net that we had to climb up and over. I watched as Linda climbed up it with a pineapple stuffed down her pants and when she had climbed over the top I started climbing up it. When I got to the top I swung my leg up and over only to hear AH yell, “Thanks for not kicking me in the face!” Shouldn’t he have been farther down the net knowing that I was going to have to move my leg that way to climb over the top?!

So…yeah…that’s my rant about AH at the Pineapple Classic. I really did have fun on it and will do it again next year. But seriously it’s supposed to be a fun and crazy race – people running it shouldn’t appoint themselves the Pineapple police, instead, they should be encouraging everyone else. Like the people at the second wall who cheered for me when I made it over because I still had to stretch like crazy to reach the top despite the footholds.

Happy Veterans Day

My grandparents recently moved from their cute house in Ballard where they had lived since my mom was in high school to a retirement complex. At first they had resisted the idea of it, but once they had visited the place a couple times they decided that they would be crazy not to move there.

Now that they’re there they fit right in and love it. My grandpa plays in a band that has gigs at various parties around the complex and my grandma goes to cooking classes and is routinely stopped by random people and asked if she is the violinist’s wife.

Anyway, I’m telling you all about this because every Veterans Day I think about my grandpa and how grateful I am for him fighting in WWII. To say he is proud of being a member of the Marines Corp would be a drastic understatement. So at this retirement place they have a little entryway which they can decorate and here is my grandparents:

So, yeah, he’s proud to be a marine. As he should be.

Slightly Crazy

I always joke that I have a slightly obsessive compulsive personality. I don’t mean that I have to check 7 times if I turned the oven off or that I compulsively wash my hands, but that I am a complete slave to my routine. Sometimes I think that my routine is all that is keeping me sane. I can be so engrossed in my routine that it interferes with my life. For example, around midterms and finals I will get super stressed about not having enough time to study or write papers, but instead of asking for help from Chuckles in doing my laundry or grocery shopping or cooking dinner I will insist on doing it all myself. Because how could I possibly get through a Friday morning without going to the grocery store? Or you can’t seriously think I would let somebody else touch my dirty clothes? The thought alone makes me start hyperventilating.

It’s not just my routine, but I always need my CD’s and shoes to be arranged in a certain order and if somebody even thinks about changing it I will Flip. The Fuck. Out. Anyway, I wasn’t planning on boring you with ALL of my neuroses today…The fact is that my routine has been thrown into a complete tailspin this past week and it is ALL I CAN THINK ABOUT. While writing about Enron the only thing going through my mind is “I don’t know what we’re doing for dinner tomorrow night” and next thing you know I’ve written that exact sentence down right in the middle of a paragraph about auditing legislation. It takes me approximately a minute to get out of my chair because I’m concentrating on the fact that I can’t, at the moment, do laundry at my house.

The reason for all the changes is GOOD, but I can’t seem to get past the change itself. We are having our kitchen and utility room floor retiled and getting a new stove and Chuckles is repainting those rooms. Good things right?! Especially the stove because I have been known to complain about our lack of a vent.

My complete reliance on routine could quite possibly be the most annoying thing about me. I definitely hate that I can be so inflexible about how things have to be done. I guess I hope that by writing this out I can see how utterly silly I’m being. Does anybody else rely on their daily routines to a fault and, if not, how do you live?!

Adventures in Running

I don’t really have any interesting stories to share from this summer or at least none that come to mind except for this one. I started to become much more serious about increasing my miles per week this summer and increasing the lengths of my long runs. As I increased my long runs it became harder to run in Edmonds thanks to all the hills that were absolutely killing me. I’m not kidding – it wasn’t just the resulting shin splints, but the heart attack that was inevitable after running 8 miles and having the entire last mile be up a hill that made crawling seem like my best option.

So I started running the Burke-Gilman trail along Lake Washington, which can be quite crowded, but flat therefore worth it. Not to mention the people watching is always entertaining. Also, some of the houses are insane. I mean there really are some people who have tons of money and NO TASTE.

Annnnyway, this particular day was in August and it was easily over eighty degrees out and about a mile into my run I noticed this man riding his bike down the trail and instead of wearing the usual bicyclist uniform of full on spandex he was wearing jeans and a leather jacket. As he got closer I realized he was shouting something at me and I thought maybe he needs directions…although why anybody would need directions on a trail is beyond me, but I turned down the volume on my ipod and here, word for word, is what he was shouting (I could never forget this – it’s etched forever on my brain):

“Hey, Stupid Lady! You think running will make you a better fucker? It won’t! You’re a horrible fucker!”

And that right there is the most exciting run I have been fortunate enough to experience...although, I keep hoping to run into him again.

It's Pretty Much My Favorite Animal

I hope everybody had a fabulous weekend. I was quite busy studying for a business law test I have tonight and watching the Hawks get their asses kicked. I didn’t get to go to any rocking Halloween parties because I’m an old lady who doesn’t leave the house if it’s later than eight instead I spent all day at a coffee shop in downtown Edmonds inhaling caffeine and memorizing the different legal defenses for negligence.

While I didn’t get to get all dressed up and go to a fun party (even my Grandpa got to go to a Halloween party!) I was still able to see lots of adorable little kids. Edmonds shuts down Halloween night for kids to trick or treat and just as I was packing up my books a young family came into the coffee shop to get hot cocoas and one of their kids was dressed as a liger. I kid you not. It was the cutest little girl with blond girls and if I didn’t have a shitty camera with a broken phone I would’ve taken a picture. I just thought it was so utterly cool and original that she wasn’t a princess.

I really hope that if I have a little girl one day she doesn’t insist on being a princess. Not like I’m one to talk considering my favorite costume from when I was little was Snow White, but that’s only because I didn’t know Liger was an option.

When I left the coffee shop I could the streets were already full of families and kids ready to start the festivities. It was at that point that I realized that there is no other day in the year that quite makes me want to be a mom as much as Halloween does. I needed a quick fix of a tantrum throwing kid to get me back on track, but, unfortunately, I did not see one screaming kid all night. What are the chances of that? Seriously?

Once I got home Chuckles and I left to go see my nephews and wish Jared a happy birthday. Given the boys’ obsession with Star Wars this was the second year in a row their costumes had a Star Wars theme: Jared was Anakin Skywalker and Matthew was an Ewok. I know I’m prejudiced, but they were pretty damn cute…and funny. Every time Jared posed for a picture he put his hand up, which apparently means he is using the force on you. So that was my overly exciting Halloween, I know you’re oh so jealous. And I have to ask the question I’ve been asking everybody over the last week: what was your favorite costume growing up?