October

As tired as I feel, I would say this month has kicked my arse pretty darn good.  However, upon thinking about all that I have accomplished this month, I’d like to think that I kicked October’s arse...if October had an arse to be kicked.

I pulled three overtime shifts and had a court hearing.  That was 32 hours of extra work.  Which made for short weekends.  Then I had two weeks of intense training, which left me with a one day weekend and a two day weekend.  I had to wake up before the crack of dawn for two weeks and I was on time each day. THAT alone makes the entire month a success.

The class was unreal.  The amount of math I’ve learned (and applied successfully) in the past two weeks is more than I did in all of high school and college combined.  I impressed myself by how well I did.  And just like every other time I’ve learned something new and exciting, it left me wanting more.  Hopefully I will be able to take another class come Spring.  I also managed to complete my yearly self-assessment and complete my open-enrollment paperwork!

I stayed pretty consistent with running given the crazy work schedule.  My eating has been atrocious.  I have no will power around Halloween candy.  I’m giving myself tomorrow and then it’s back on track.  I must eat better if running is going to be put on hold by this...

Yes, I know it’s ugly.  My feet are ugly in general so I made the picture small to lower the eww, gross factor.  My awesomely bruised toe came as the result of a morning I’d like to forget.  Yesterday I was attempting to get in the shower and didn’t lift my right leg high enough over the tub.  I smacked my poor foot right into the edge of the tub.  The loudest popping/cracking noise ever came from my foot.  After cursing, crying, and showering, I looked down to see my toe already turning blue and swollen to about twice it’s size.  

The swelling has gone down quite a bit today.  I went to the Dr. this afternoon and she said I likely dislocated it.  She yanked and pulled and twisted and deemed me in line and good to go.  I now have a toe splint and Dr.’s orders not to run for a couple weeks.  Fabulous!  I’m going to have to get creative with exercise to make up for my lack of running.  

As for my Friday evening at home alone...I’m going to watch Blue Bloods and NCIS: NY and try to use up a few more apples.  I’m also going to work on cleaning up my desk so that I can (hopefully) be more productive with my various projects 

Fall and running

Normally the words fall and running shouldn’t go together.  Even with Brinkley by my side I can proudly say that I’ve never fallen while running.  That would suck.  I read a blog on Tumblr about a vet in CA.  She runs with her dogs.  Her and her doberman took a hell of a tumble the other day during a run.  She posted pics of a her road rash to her chin, arm, elbow, hands, and knee!!  Ouch!  She said something about having her leash wrapped around her arm.  That to me reads as an accident/tumble/trip-up/fall on your face in public crash waiting to happen.  

Brinkley and I use a buddy leash to run.  I have a leash like belt that goes around my waist.  And there is a separate leash that goes from the belt to Brinkley’s gentle leader.  If he sees a squirrel he can’t resist, when he tries to dart or yank, he’s pulling at my center of mass (new technical term I’ve learned this week) and not pulling my down by an arm and throwing me off balance.  I can stop in my tracks and Brinkley has no choice to stop in his tracks too.

Brinkley does so well with the buddy leash that sometimes I forget I even have it on.  He keeps right in line with me with some slack in the leash that I catch myself wondering if I could magically take it off without him knowing, if he’d continue to run right beside me.  If he knows it off, he’d be twenty feet in front of me, clearing my path of all squirrels and rabbits.

This afternoon we had a perfect fall run.  We ran down sidewalks layered with leaves and dodged leaves fluttering down from the trees like snow.  It was a great way to wind down from the day.  Week two of training is pretty intense.  We had one person wash out before lunch time.  I’m hoping the run cleared my mind enough to help me sleep equation free!

The rest of the night is going to be spent reading apple recipes, researching Daniel Allen, and watching Castle!! 

Week Two

Week two of training starts in less than an hour.  I’m ready but I’m not.  I could use one or two more days off.  I’m eating breakfast and drinking coffee trying to wake up.  The trash truck is making an obnoxious noise outside.  What an absurd hour to be picking up trash in an apartment complex - everything echos off the buildings and makes the sounds that much more obnoxious.

Milo is the only one who was willing to get up with me.  Brinkley spread out on my half of the bed like I’d been cramping his style.  Two more days and I’ll have more bed room again.  Brent flies out on Wednesday morning.  I was thinking Thursday.  

The weekend was a busy one.  Brent and I went to the range on Saturday to shoot guns.  I needed to sight in my rifle for deer season or my brother was going to disown me.  Things went well.  I’m starting to get feeling back in my right shoulder!  I’m horribly out of practice and will be lucky if I hit the broadside of a barn during hunting season.  Brent and I are strategizing though - we’re going to see about joining one of the nearby ranges so we can go more frequently.  I want to shoot some western style competitions.  I need a little lever action .22 or something.  

We hit up Sportsman’s Warehouse yesterday.  I needed more ammo and I was hoping to find some orange.  It was slim pickings in the orange dept. but I was able to find some Latte hard candies so it wasn’t a complete waste of trip.  Ha!  I also found some new sunglasses for narrow head!  Serious, finding sunglasses is as bad as shoe shopping - hardly anything fits!

We ate at Buffalo Wild Wings for lunch yesterday.  We watched the last quarter of the Broncos game while we were there.  It was pretty cool to see.  I’m not much of a football fan but seeing an underdog who everyone has been rooting for all season come back in the last three minutes was pretty darn cool.  That’s the only time football is worth watching.  

Anywho, has some fall fun at mom and dad’s last night.  Picked some apples from my dad’s tree!!  Not sure yet what I’m going to do with all of the ones I brought home but they sure are yummy!  We also made some rice krispy treat pumpkins!  I’ll try to take a photo before we eat them all.

And now I must hurry up and get ready for work.  Blah.

Four Too Many Feet

Brinkley is a bed hog.  This combined with my endless dreams of equation after equation means that I’m operating on little sleep lately.  I was planning on going to jujistu again tonight but I’m so sore from Tuesday night and my run last night that I can’t hardly walk or sit down.  Adding to the pain didn’t seem like a wise thing to do.

I got home with time to accomplish a few tasks that have been lingering.  I got my work self-evaluation done.  I have to upload it to the work system tomorrow.  Not sure it will get me a darn penny but it was required so I did what I was told.

I also caught up on some TV I’ve missed over the past week or so.  CSI: NY was awesome last week!!  It was predictable but awesome!  I’m glad the whole investigating team is back together again!!

Thankfully, I don’t have any homework tonight.  We were pounded with equation after equation all day long.  Part of me thinks I should study for the test tomorrow but part of me thinks if I don’t have it now I will not have it by tomorrow afternoon.  It’s pretty crazy how much I can figure out from just a few pieces of information.  I’d offer up an example but I hate to think how impossible it is to come up with math symbols on a computer.

I think spending time inside the building all week is playing with my sinuses.  I’m used to being out and about with the fresh air.  My nose was running all day.  Now it’s starting to get all stuffy and runny together.  I hate it!  I blame the inside air because otherwise I feel just fine.  Nyquil is in my future.

Level II

My one day weekend flew right by thanks to errands and cleaning.  The Level II class has started out on the right foot - review!!  My review prior to class helped immensely.  Homework only took 3 hours rather than 6.  Woohoo!  I hope all of the days go by as fast as this one did - whoosh, day over!

I had plans to run after work.  But homework meant I got home a little too late too run and I was ravished by the time I did get home.  Brent and I went to Macaroni Grill.  Then I felt guilty about eating so much that I rode the recumbent bike for an hour and 15 minutes while I reviewed by answers on the homework.  I have no idea how many calories I burned but it was certainly better than nothing!

Tomorrow night I have jujitsu so we’ll see if I can ditch out of homework time early enough to make it to class.  I hope so!!  I definitely need the break from all of the equations.  I’m afraid of dreaming about equations and getting no sleep so I’m going to take some melatonin to help me get some good, uninterrupted sleep.

As for anything else new, there’s not much.  Work, work, and more work.  I’m behind and will be very far behind by this class is over.  Follow-up is not easy to when I’m in class during normal business hours.  I also need to finish my self-evaluation for the year.  Good times ahead.  Blah.  

I’m sad October will be over before I know it and I haven’t had much time to enjoy it.  It will be cold November and all the pretty leaves will be brown and stuck to the wet ground.  So sad.  

I got new work boots!  I should try wearing them to class a few days to start breaking them.  I was hoping to find a cheaper pair but alas, my big ass, skinny feet still pose problems when finding suitable shoes.  Imagine that!  I also got new socks.  I should be set for winter!

Well, I’m off to shower and off to bed.  Have a good Tuesday, everyone!

One More Sleep

Brinkley and I have ran five miles in two days!  We have a weekly total of 8.3 so far!!  Tomorrow is a rest day.  Well, getting up at the crack of dawn to head to the airport doesn’t exactly make it restful but that’s okay because Brent’s coming home!

I wonder if I dress Brinkley up in costume if I can get him into the airport??  Maybe I should make up a fake service dog vest.  I’m sure there is something illegal about that.  Oh, well, he’ll just have to wait until we get home.  Brent flies through the night so he’ll probably sleep all day tomorrow.  

I’ve been debating taking Saturday off.  Sgt. said I could take it if I wanted it.  It may be good for my sanity considering all of the math and homework I’ll have bouncing around my head the next two weeks.  I’ve been reviewing my Level I crash investigation stuff... all of those equations... eeck!  At first I panicked and thought I forgot it all but it’s slowly coming back to me as I work my way through my notes and homework.

Well,  my messes are cleaned up.  The trash and recycling has been taken out.  My piles of dishes washed and put away.  The counter tops are 409-ed.  The place looks pretty darn clean considering I haven’t had much time at home lately!  Now, we’ll see how it looks in two weeks!

I’m headed to bed for one more sleep until Brent comes home!!  The coffee pot is set to start brewing before I do!  It’s DIA or bust first thing in the morning!!

Early To Rise, Early To Bed

My early morning overtime shift means I’m nodding off at 9 p.m.  Brinkley and I are headed to bed shortly.  We managed a 1.5 mile run after work.  I almost talked myself out of going but put on my running clothes before I thought about it much longer.

Brinkley was relieved to get out and about.  I had a weird cramp in the bottom of my left foot which made things a little uncomfortable.  It’s still there so I’m going to massage my foot before bed.  Fun times.  I feel like a fat cow lately.  My runs haven’t been challenging.  I’ve been doing the bare minimum.  

The scale isn’t going anywhere and I’m not feeling any fitter.  I think it’s time to step it up a little bit.  Or maybe a lot.  I can’t let fall and winter lull me into inactivity!!  Blah.  I must avoid the junk food.  Which is ridiculously hard, especially seeing how I filled up the treat bowl yesterday when decorating.  Dumb move.

Ok, sleep is always a good start.  I’m planning on doing the lake route in the morning so I better rest up.  Third cup of water is down the hatch!

Good night!

Back To Work Too Soon

My short weekend is over.  It flew right by and all I can think about this early in the morning on what is normally my day off ... I can’t wait for bed time.  I am not a morning person.  I find myself heading straight for the coffee when I don’t get enough sleep, which turns into an evil spin downwards towards caffeine dependency.

I know its going to be a long day when as soon as wake up, I’m telling myself I’ll go to bed early tonight.  Blah.  The good news is the weather seems to be warming up a little bit, which makes working outside a bit more tolerable, if not enjoyable.  Today will be my last overtime shift and I’m thrilled!  I’m glad I’ve grabbed some extra cash while I had the chance but I don’t think I’m going to make a habit out of it.  I enjoy my time off way too much!

I managed to get some cleaning done yesterday.  I got some Halloween decorations out too!  It’s hard to decorate in a small place - every space is kind of used for something.  I can’t wait to have a house with more room than I know what to do with it!

Do you like my lamp?  That was my Monday crafty.  **Pats self on back**  I may have to do something similar for Christmas - snowflakes, gingerbread man, tree?  I also put up my graveyard in the bathroom.  I’ll put up pictures of that another day.  Speaking of graveyard, here’s a picture of the graveyard cake we decorated on Sunday...  

Isn’t my mom creative?  She always has something fun for Moxon to do when we’re out there visiting.  And something fun for Moxon usually means something fun for Auntie Worm too!!

Well, it’s time for the inevitable.  I’m off to get ready for work.  The first of five days.  Only one day off this week before two weeks of training.  But, and this is a big BUT, Brent comes home on Thursday morning so that makes me and Mr. Miles, two very happy campers!

Fall Has Arrived

This, right now, is my time of year.  Fall.  It’s my time to reflect, give thanks, and prepare to hunker down for winter.  In just the last few days the weather has turned unpredictable - a true sign of fall’s official arrival.  The sun pops out and makes it feel like summer and without warning the clouds will roll in with the spine shivering wind and ice cold drops of rain to make it feel like winter.  Every tree is turning colors now.  Yellow and red are overtaking the green with each passing hour.  

One gust of wind can remind me of Halloween night as a kid.  Covering up for the bitter cold and marching around the neighbor trick or treating, running up and down driveways over crinkling leaves until our cheeks (face and butt) went numb.  The glow of Dad’s cigarette in the street was like a beacon in the night.

Anywho, Brinkley and I spent the morning cleaning.  Actually, I did all of the cleaning.  He only supervised.  Tomorrow we’re decorating!!  We may go for a run through the leaves but that’s it!  I have another day of overtime scheduled for Tuesday so Monday is Let’s Be Bums Day!!

For now, I’m off to celebrate Mom’s birthday!!  And get it in some Moxon fun time!

He's Gonna Be A Star

Brinkley Miles & Co was invited to join BlogPaws, a blogging community part of BlogHer.  What does that mean?  The possibility of thousands or millions of readers.  Some advertising which can mean money.  And the possibility for free products to review and giveaway.  This is kind of a big deal in the blog world but I’m still reading the fine print and between the lines.  

What to do, what to do?  Brinkley loves attention that’s for sure.  He can lure in any person who is in his presence to give him free lovings.  He’s sly like that.

Anywho, that’s something new on tap today.  We’ll sleep on it.

Speaking of sleep, Brinkley is getting way too comfortable with his sleeping arrangements while Brent is away.  This morning I woke up and was completely sideways.  Brinkley had pushed me counter-clockwise all night long.  Him and Milo were happily spread out on the bottom two-thirds of the bed.

When I asked Brinkley if it was necessary to push me that far out of his way, he did his morning stretch across the bed and poked his wet nose right in my face proving he could take up even more room if he wanted to.  I guess I should be grateful I didn’t wind up on the floor.

Mr. Miles is going to have a rude awakening come a week from tomorrow!  Brent will be home and be expecting his half of the bed.  Maybe I’ll just climb onto Brink’s new Martha Stewart extra support dog bed.  It’s super soft!  I’m sure I’ll sleep great!

Tuesday Tidbits

•   I love this and this.  They have been added to my Christmas list. 

•   I want to take a Bob Ross painting class.  If I can find one offered on a Monday or a Tuesday, I may just do it!

•   Fall TV is in full swing and I couldn’t be happier.  Castle and NCIS:LA are my two favorites so far this year.  PanAm is pretty good.  I think it has a lot of potential.  I also started watching Against the Wall on Lifetime.  It’s based in Chicago - I can recognize things!! 

•   I’m trying to come up with a good Halloween costume idea.  Any ideas??  Anyone?  Bueller... Bueller? 

•   Brinkley and I had a lot of fun today.  We wandered through the canyon looking for great views and long sticks.  We found both!  I just need a few more supplies and I can start my project!!

•   I finally made it back to jujitsu tonight.  It’s been a month or so since I’ve been.  It was brutal.  I may not be able to walk tomorrow.  But it felt great to get back to it.  We did a drill tonight with blind fold attacks that was a lot of fun!  I think we should do things like that more often!

•   I’ve been too tired to read lately.  Which is a darn shame considering I have a lot of good books around to keep my occupied.  Yes, again with the lack of routine.  Blah.  I’m ready for November just so I can have some normalcy with my weeks. 

•   Brinkley has gone to bed.  Apparently had a long day and I’m not entertaining enough for him.  He better not take my pillow.  

•   The iPhone 4S was announced today.  It’s now interactive.  I want it.  I also want an iPad.  Want, want, want.  Damn mortgage.  Hmm, the past two Mondays were for mortgage money, the next one for something fun??  I kind of like that logic!

Money Mondays

For the second Monday in a row, I worked an overtime shift.  A full ten hour shift as overtime doesn’t come around very often so I’m taking advantage of the opportunity while it’s available.  I don’t mind the extra cash.  I like to shop while on vacation and I’m still hoping to pay off my 2nd mortgage by the next tax season.

I’m still waiting on word as to whether or not OT is available next Monday.  I’d like a three day weekend before my two weeks of training at the end of October, but I also know it’s easy money and I can suffer through October to put away some money.

My extra work has left me feeling routine-less.  My morning runs are inconsistent.  I ran this evening when I got off work.  It was really work to run as the sun was going down.  The air was filled with so many different smells.  In two miles, I got whiffs of barbeque dinner, grilling hamburgers, Domino pizza, cinnamon sticks, and wet leafs.  It felt like fall and I’m proud of myself for not talking myself out of it when I finally got home from work.

It’s easy to convince myself to get out and run because I feel like I’m neglecting my dog lately.  Tomorrow we’re spending quality time together.  I’m in search of willow branches and fall colors.  Cross your fingers for me!

Race for the Cure 5k

A few months back my friend, Bryn asked if I run in the Race for the Cure 5k with her.  I was thrilled!  I’ve always wanted to run with someone!  Having the race set out months ahead of me was a great motivator to keep trucking along and doing the best I could each week to keep running.

I got off work last night and hopped in the car for Bryn’s.  It was a short night of sleep before the alarm went of at 5.  We were taking the light rail to downtown and needed to be there for the 7 a.m. start.  7 a.m. is crazy early for a race.  Most 5ks that I have run have started at 8:30.

We filed out onto the bridge for the start.  The crowd for the run portion wasn’t too thick and we were able to cross the start line within a few minutes.  The first quarter mile was a bit congested but it started to thin out once the fast runners disappeared down the course and the walkers migrated to the back of the pack.

I thought I was going to die about mile 1.  I had the worst cramp below my left lung.  I kept at and started breathing deeply and by mile 2 it had gone away and I was starting to hit my sweet spot, where I’m breathing normal and my legs feel fresh!  We had a great view of the sun coming up over the city as we turned towards downtown.

Before we hit the final stretch we had to go down an off ramp and up an on ramp.  Those on ramps are steeper than they look!!!  The 3 mile mark was at the top and we were almost done!!  There were lots of people lining the streets at the finish!  The stop watch official time was 38:39.  That’s not bad considering we started off slow in the crowd and took two very short walk breaks.

We were very proud of ourselves!!!  And it was a lot of fun.  The weather was great and we got lots of awesome goodies once we crossed the finish line!!  Saving 2nd base is a great reason to wake up early!!

Thanks, Bryn!!! It was a blast!

More views...more food

After our boat tour, Brent and I walked over to Navy Pier.  On the way, we passed a really cool building that had pieces of other buildings and rocks in it.  We touched the White House!  

Navy Pier was kind of disappointing.  There wasn’t much to it but restaurants and a few unimpressive shops.  I’m not sure what we were expecting but I think it’s safe to say that we wouldn’t go out of our way to go back to Navy Pier any time soon.

We did enjoy the view of Lake Michigan and the setting sun over the city.  It was peaceful.  And not very busy.  

We ate dinner at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. on the pier.  Neither of us had ever eaten there before so we made it a point to go there for dinner.  The decor was all Forest Gump stuff.  We got some yummy drinks with souvenir glasses and Brent ordered up some gumbo.  I tried the gumbo, a first for me.  It was pretty tasty!!

Brent ordered up some shrimp.  Not much of a seafood person myself, so I had some spicy chicken sandwich.  It was really, really good!!  Sweet potato fries too! MMMmmm!  The best part was definitely dessert... warm chocolate chip cookie with ice cream!!  We demolished it!