That time of year

Seeing more lights each night. This one was tucked deep into a neighborhood!!




Felt cruddy most of the day. Pumped myself full of EmergenC, Vitamin D, green tea, and water. I'm in bed "early" after taking some NyQuil. Here's to hoping I can fend this beast off!

Lots of rambling and photos

Ok, boys and girls, let's play catch up.

Thanksgiving was delicious all the way around.  I enjoyed the day off and stuffed myself.  And I got round two of turkey day when Brent came home.  We stuffed ourselves and played Skip-Bo with his parents.

It's a good thing I got some turkey trotting in on Thanksgiving (both of them).  First up was the Loveland Turkey Trot on Thanksgiving with my friend Ashley.  A set a PR - 31:39!!  It was a cold morning but not super chilly.  The race worked its way through a neighborhood and down a bike path.  Some areas were pretty narrow and made it hard to pass people, which I was doing a lot of during this race!!  I also ran a 5k on Sunday morning... on my own.  No funny looking t-shirt.

Before Thanksgiving, I went to the new museum with Moxon.  We had a blast.  I can't wait to go back!  Mostly because I want to watch Moxon play drums.  He's got some mad skills.  It's all in how you hold the tongue!

Moxon's Gear Micky - reminded me of the Mouse Gear store in EPCOT

I also got a lot of scrapbooking done.  I finished Moxon's birth pictures and moved further along on the Chicago road trip pages.  Progress, people!!  I'm loving it!  I wish I could leave all of my stuff up and out so I can keep making progress.  I can't do that though - I have to pack it all up and find a place to store everything because we have to set up the Christmas tree!!!!

I did pretty good in the running department last week.  I ran eight miles and then I had my double 5k runs.  That's 14 miles for the week.  That made me feel very productive.  I also cooked myself a nice, healthy meal after running 8 miles.  And soaking in ice cold water.

Yesterday Brent and I did some running around.  He's decided on his vests for the wedding and placed his order.  He's going with Filson.  Once the vest comes in, we'll go tie shopping.  Oh boy!  While down in Denver, we stopped by IKEA.  That was fun and exhausting.  The place is huge - HUGE.  I was tired from all the walking.  We ate some sweedish meatballs and lingonberries from the IKEA cafeteria.  Everything was delicious!!  It very much reminded me of eating in the Norway pavilion in EPCOT.

I'm starting my new running week off on the right foot (hardy har har).  Even though it was super cold this morning, I didn't talk myself completely out of running.  I went to the indoor track at the gym and ran for an hour and fifty minutes, which is at least 9 miles.  NINE miles!!  It's all entirely mental - if I would have stopped when my body started getting achy, I only would have made about 6 miles.

I made another scrumptious meal as a reward for my many, many miles.  Chicken, sweet potato fries, and corn!  And some pear crumble for dessert.  It was all very, very good.  I should cook more often.

And with all of that rambling, I'm somewhat caught up.  I'm working on making some tea now.  I've got some sniffles and light chest congestion.  It's probably a very smart thing that I didn't spend two hours running outside in the cold.  Now if I could just keep boosting the vitamins and minerals maybe I can beat this thing before it hits me harder.

I'm Baaaaccckkk!!!

We have internet again!  We have internet again!

It's been almost five days without cable or internet.  I may or may not have been having withdrawals.

As for this Sunday morning... I'm waiting not so patiently for temperatures to warm up so I can go for a morning run.  Then we're off to Brent's parents' house to celebrate Thanksgiving.

I have lots to catch up online.  Yah!  So excited to connected again!

No cable

My cable is out. This is becoming more frequent with Comcast. It's driving me nuts.

I have pics to post and blogs to post but with no WiFi, that makes it hard!!

Busy day done

Overtime shenanigans started my weekend. It was a beautiful morning!! I was glad I didn't have to bundle up in long underwear to survive the morning!

Brink and I went for a walk when I got home. There were lots of people out and about doing the same thing.

After our walk I headed off to Target which turned into a much longer adventure than I hoped. It took me and hour and half to select photos from two different memory cards. I now have hundreds of photos for scrapbooking, which is exactly what I did when I got home.

I worked on some Moxon baby pages!! Gosh, he was a cute little baby!! I'm going to get the baby pics done and then work on the Chicago/Ohio trip!! I have a game plan so that's something!!

And now I'm headed to bed. Tomorrow is long run day and I'm crossing my fingers everything goes smoothly!!

Friday, if only

It would be wonderful if today really was MY Friday. Today was long and tiring. I'd vent but it's all work related and the details of work shenanigans don't see the light of day on this here blog.

I'm hoping to get a decent night's sleep. I'd like to get a 5k run done in the morning.

I just read on CNN that American Chopper is ending this season. I didn't realize that show was still on TV. It was considered a docusoap. In other words, you could go months and months without seeing an episode and the same crap (fighting between Jr. and Sr.) was still going down. Too bad they both let money, fame, and ego get the best of them.

Random political rant... Sen. McCain is a fricking moron. One minute he is bitching about how an investigation needs to be done and he wants answers about Benghazi. And then he doesn't even go to the damn committee meeting to get said answers. And when someone calls him on this ridiculousness, he says he doesn't comment on how he spends his time and it's nobody's business. Ummm, you're paid by the public, pal. It's YOUR JOB and it is our business if you're wasting taxpayer dollars. And if you're going to accuse people of dropping the ball or lying then you damn well better serve your country and SHOW UP to get the answers you demanded. A-hole. God forbid you get real facts that will make you shut your pie hole!

Switching gears... heard on the radio there was another oil rig explosion in the gulf. While Brent doesn't work on an off-shore rig, he does work around oil wells and uses equipment that can go boom. BIG BOOM. Nuclear boom. He doesn't cause me to worry. It's the boneheads he works with that make me worry. Safety takes a backseat all too often when it's about billion dollar profits.

Ah, and good news for us, mortgage rates are at an all-time low, 3.3%. I'm crossing my fingers they stay that low for the time being. Like I said, I'm crossing my fingers. Cross your fingers too, please. Thank you.

And I'm off to fill up my water bottle one more time and head to bed. Night, all.

New Phone App

Blogger finally updated it's phone app so I'm mixing it up and giving it a try.

I talked myself out of a 3 mile run this morning. 27 degrees?!? Remind me to never sign up for a January half marathon again. Next week I'm going to plan on hitting the treadmill for a 3 mile run. I think tomorrow is going to be a little warmer so I'll get in another outdoor run this week.

I'm currently riding the recumbent bike and catching up on CSI. It feels good to use some different muscles. And it's tiring. Oy.

Change Out

I've been slowly chipping away at my To Do list. I got my scrapbook pages on the wall changed out to Christmas pages! I can't believe how much Mox has grown already!!




I'm still organizing scrapbook stuff. Brinkley food is almost done cooking. And I got some groceries tonight, including a .58/lb 14lb turkey for future Brinkley food.

I'm very sore from my long run yesterday. Very sore. I should probably get to bed soon. Me and Brink are going to run two miles in the morning. No ifs, ands, or buts.

Yummy

Chicken burgers - I'm addicted. The best part - low in calories and each packs 20g of protein. They are delicious!!!

Lucky Seven

I knocked out a seven mile run this afternoon. I honestly didn't expect to run that far. I was thinking four or five. But I got out far enough and figured I would just complete the same seven mile loop as I did last time.

I forgot my Garmin watch so I thought it best to stick to one of my known loops. I listened to three podcasts so based on those lengths, it took be about an hour and a half.

I took a cold bath but didn't have any protein powder to make a recovery shake. And boy am I feeling a difference. My legs are so sore already!!!

I'll take it though and consider it a good run. I've struggled greatly to stay consistent and days and days pass between runs. Hopefully I can buck up and get things done right!! We're 60 days out from the half marathon. Let's hope the impending Winter stays on the mild side. It can turn nasty when we get back from the race!!

Morning Coffee

I have finally have a day at home to catch up on things.  I kicked it off by sleeping for almost 12 hours. I'm up moving around now and trying to figure out how to best utilize my time while I eat my oatmeal and drink my coffee.


I had a great trip down to Denver for a baby shower and some scrapbooking with Heidi and Bryn!  I'll snap some pictures of some completed pages while I'm putting stuff away today.  I need to get stuff organized and put away because the Christmas tree sits along the wall where I store my scrapbook stuff.

I have to make some Brinkley food at some point today.  And I'm going to pack a few boxes of randome stuff to make some elbow room.  We are bursting at the seams around here!!  I'm also going to take advantage of mid-day temps and go running.  I'm not sure how far I'll run because I haven't run in many days.  I should probably be smart about getting back into a routine.

I guess I should stop typing and start doing.  I have a cup of caffeine in me now to help get my going!!  Have a great day!

Snow

It's arrived. I'm not ready. This is my least favorite time of year. I hate the cold. I hate the wet snow. I hate when it's cold and snowing wet snow.




Blah.

Thursday Tidbits

• I'm officially getting run over by November now too.  I haven't done laundry in weeks.  I have few groceries.  I'm lacking sleep.  I need to make Brinkley food.  And I need to get back on a running schedule.

• I'm getting some scrapbooking time this upcoming weekend and need to prepare/pack.  I have no clue what I want to work on... I'm so far behind on scrapbooking that I will more than likely never catch up.  It certainly will not stop me from trying though!

• I worked overtime shenanigans this morning.  Up before the sun for the 4th time this week.  It's been forever since I went running - almost a week, I think.  Crap.  I told Brinkley he needs to make sure to drag me outside for a run in the morning.  

• Remember Brinkley's eye infection?  It will not go away.  It clears up for a few days but then it gets all gross again.  I think it has something to do with the evergreen shrubs outside.  I'm going to have to go to the vet to get more eye drops soon.  Maybe they will have another solution for me??

The Wait Is Over

May I find the will to survive this season with limited waistline expansion.

Morning Coffee

Interesting find this morning.... in addition to November being NaNoWriMo, it's also NaBloPoMo on BlogHer.  National Blog Post Month.  Or maybe they do it every month and I just discovered there was a party going on without me. 

Prompt for today is... "Tell us you favorite quotation and why? 

Oddly, my quotation involves a little bit of reverse psychology on myself.  "Good things come to those who wait."  My Dad used to say it to me when I was growing up.  When we were out fishing or hunting, it would always make an appearance.  It stuck with me over the years.  In junior high, I had to write out a quote in horrible calligraphy for an art class.  That's the quote I chose.  I think it applies to many things because patience is most definitely a virtue.   

However, I think believing in patience as a solution to achieving anything is misleading.  Dreams don't come to fruition by doing nothing; by waiting around and waiting around and waiting around.  Sometimes waiting is the last thing a person should do.  Years of your life will fly by if you sit around just waiting on something to come your way.  When I get frustrated about things not happening or patience not producing, I look at what can be done to alter the path.  Persistance is more important than patience.  The quote not only reminds me to be patient but also to be persistent..

As for the rest of the morning... I'm sipping coffee from my I Like Ike mug and grumbling about how sore I am.  Defensive tactics was much more of a workout than it felt like yesterday.  Everything is sore!  I guess this just shows the benefits of cross training more than anything.

I'm off to shower and get ready for work.  It will be my first day back on the street in almost two weeks.  This should be interesting!!