Looking Back on 2012

2012 was a pretty good year.  I accomplished things I never thought possible.  I had set some goals last year and met most of them. 

Totals for the year:

Miles Run--476.05 (unless I run tonight)  This is down from the previous year of 600 miles.  Somehow in my deluded mind, I thought I could run 1000 miles in a year and that was my goal.  ha.  good one.  I guess I never really broke that down into what that means per month because there no way this girl is going to average 83 miles a month!  Maybe if that's all I did, but trying to keep up with tennis, swimming and biking--that is just not going to happen. 

Reasonable goal for 2013--550

Miles Biked--220 miles.  Last year 164, the goal I set for myself was 250.  Close enough.  Yay me.

Goal for 2013--maintain and shoot for 260. 

Miles Swam--54!  Last year I swam 22 and my goal was 50!  That means I'm probably about 30 miles away from the 100 mile club at our local YMCA.  That's pretty exciting stuff for someone who couldn't swim 10 lengths without stopping just 2 years ago. 

Goal for 2013--join the 100 mile club at the Y.  End the year with 60 miles of swimming.


December totals 2012

Miles Run--37.65
Swim Yards--10,000
Tennis--5 hours
Bike Minutes--190
Weight Training--70 minutes

I didn't race much this year, but what I did, I loved!

First place finish in a local YMCA sprint tri!

Ran into some friends at the Beach to Beacon 10K

Conquered this ocean swim to complete my first olympic length tri!

One of my proudest accomplishments yet.

We managed to get in some non-running fun as well.

Oh!  and ended the year with one last race--the Operation Jack Satellite Run 10K.  19 degrees out and we knocked out 6.2 like nobodys business.

If I got to run with this crew all the time, I think I might want to do a marathon.....


That's all for 2012.  I wish you all a happy, healthy and wealthy New Year! 

Snow, Hair and Shit

Umm yah, so we are getting hammered by snow.  And here I sit.  At work.  Actually working.  Strangely enough, people are still showing up for their eye appointments.  I have no help--technician or optician (read: I have to do everything) so that kinda stinks.  But at least it's been worth the drive in. 

The view from my office window. 

So even though I am still seeing patients, there has been some down time for me to ponder life's mysteries. 

Like why I can almost grow a better moustache than my husband.  I mean, it hardly seems fair that even without the benefit of two functioning testicles, my facial hair continues to grow.  Damn you French heritage!  I am seriously considering getting that laser hair removal treatment. 


Or why on a snowy day when I can't get to the gym to exercise, I just want to:

And I mean ALL THE FOOD.


Or why this cracks me up so much:

ALERT:

The Therapy pool will be closed for the rest of today, Wednesday December 26, due to a Biohazard.

It will re-open at its regular time, 5:00am Thursday morning, weather permitting. Please check our website for cancellations and updates due to weather tomorrow, 12/27.

There will be no Family Swim tonight due to the pool closure.

Sorry for the inconvenience

Sent via email from one of the local YMCA's. 

Someone shit in the pool, so sorry you can't have your water therapy tonight. 

Have you tried laser hair removal?  Expensive?  Does it work?

Did you ever miss a swim workout because of a bolivian steamboat?

Most Awesome Weekend

This weekend goes down as one of the best ones ever.  For sure.  In fact, Christmas could be over right now and I think everyone in this family would still be pretty darn happy.

We surprised the kids with tickets to a Celtics game on Friday.  We took them out of school a little early so that we could get down to Boston in time to drop off the dog at my mother-in-law's house and pick up my sister-in-law who was coming with us.  Everyone was pretty excited just to go to Boston, let alone go to a Celtics game!

We got to Boston in no time at all--there was no traffic--it was all heading out of the city.  We had gotten there really early so we had plenty of time to kill at the pro shop at North Station.  The kids all picked out a souvenir--Manimal got a Celtics warm up suit, Princess picked out a stuffed Lucky that turns into a basketball and Sissy picked out a Celtics scarf.

So crazy that we actually ran into some people we knew from Boothbay Harbor.  Seriously?  What are the chances of that?  North Station is a pretty large subway hub in Boston that is also the home of the Boston Garden.  There were people everywhere and we run into the one other family from Boothbay that is there for the game too.  Weird.

I had purchased a family pack from the Celtics directly and they mailed me a 'credit card' that holds your tickets and they just swipe it as you go it.  I paid $189 for 6 tickets which is a deal and a half because I couldn't find anything online that was less than $80/ticket.  Even for nosebleed section.  So we knew that we were going to be way up high.  But that was fine.  The kids didn't care where we sat.

So we headed in to get to our seats.  The usher beeps our card and the thing says Not Valid.  The usher next to him tries to beep it and again Not Valid.  Holy shit.  I am Not Happy right now as we just drove 3 hours to get there and my tickets are NOT VALID?  Ok, so we go down to customer service and try to figure out what was wrong.

I had originally bought tickets for Jan 4 but then found out Sissy had a basketball game that day so I called right away and they switched the tickets to 12/21.  Or so I had thought.

As the guy at customer service was checking our card, it said the tickets were for 1/4.  Thankfully, I had my emails saved that said all was switched and was able to show him on my phone.  For once that piece of shit phone actually worked.  After some internal talking and figuring, we had 4 tickets in one spot and 2 tickets in another spot.  Both were, no joke, about 14 rows back from the court!

SCORE!

This is where we were sitting.  You can actually see that it is Paul Pierce.  And yes, they are tall as shit.

Thank you, thank you for that ticket screw up!  Un-freakin'-believable.  The kids are so spoiled now.  They won't want to watch a Celtics game any other way now.  We were directly behind the press seats, which no one showed up for, and therefore, we sat in.  You could see how tall they were, you could see their actual faces, the sweat, everything.  Just fabulous.  I want to go to a game like that every month.  We got to meet Lucky, the Celtics mascot, we were on the jumbo tron twice, we got those balloons that you wave when the other team is shooting foul shots, I swear it was like VIP.

The family pack was a pretty nice deal just by itself.  We also got a $20 gift card, and 3 packs for the kids that were full of sweat bands, sunglasses and other celtics stuff.  Well worth the money.  I think we'll purchase another family pack for a game later in the year.

The kids all decked out in their Celtics stuff.

The next day was the day that I promised Princess that I would finally take her to the American Girl Doll store.  Finally.  I promised this for her birthday.  Which was in May.  Yes, I get mother of the year.    But the bottom line is, we were finally going.

Thankfully, she really didn't want to do the tea-with-your-doll thing.  And she didn't even want to have her doll's hair done.  So, we just shopped.  Not much to talk about that trip, just make sure you bring your wallet.  Nothing is cheap and nothing is on sale.

There was a Cheesecake Factory next door so after an hour or so of AG fun, we went there for lunch.   It was a yummy lunch for everyone else.  I got fish tacos and they were just ok.  The cheesecake, on the other hand, was fabulous.  I guess that's why it's called The Cheesecake Factory and not The Fish Taco Factory.

Four different kinds of cheesecake--top left chocolate raspberry, tiramisu, lemon raspberry and my favorite the apple strudel.

Holy freakin yum.  If you ever go there, get the carmel apple strudel cheesecake.  It is spectacular.  That's $30 worth of cheesecake in that picture.  A bit overpriced but at least it tastes good.

I started this post before Christmas but never got around to finishing it so now it's Christmas night.  I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and I'll have another post tomorrow about the holiday.

Merry Christmas!

50 Shades of Chicken

A mishmash of random stuff that has happened to me this week:

1.  Not even 8 minutes into my morning, my first patient made these two comments:

"Well, at least you aren't getting fat"
"This must get so boring for you"

Seriously.  What the f is wrong with people?  at least I'm not getting fat??  umm... thanks?  Is that how I'm supposed to respond to that?

To the second comment--why yes, this IS incredibly boring to me.  That is why I chose this as my life's work, so I can be bored every second of every day.

2.  This cookie might be the cutest of all Christmas cookies I have ever seen.

 So freakin' cute.

3.  Or how about that moment you realize that your cheap hair elastic has leaked it's dye all over your hair?

See the lovely blue-ish tinge?  Right above the ragged split ends?

This is an excellent look for an eye doctor, don't you think?  I'm hoping my patients are either blurry enough already or the dilating drops will get them so they don't notice.  Dark rooms are my friend.

Or how about that same moment when you realize how bad your hair looks?  Double whammy for me today.


4.  One of my co-workers gave this book as a gift at our Christmas party yesterday. 

A cookbook that is written in the style of the 50 Shades of Grey book.  Pretty freaking funny.  Mustard Spanked Chicken, Dripping Thighs, Erect Chicken and Chicken with a Lardon.  An excellent joke (kinda) gift if you need one.  The actual recipes looked yummy!

What is the cutest cookie you have seen this holiday season?

HBBC Week 4 Recap

I have to say I feel a little bit like this is so stupid to even bother writing about when so many tragic events have occurred.  However, I don't need to rehash everything that has happened.  We all know what happened, we all are grieving in our own way and we all do not want to give that pathetic piece of trash anymore air time than what he is getting already.  I want to remember the innocent souls that were lost and focus on them.  Twenty beautiful babies and 6 brave adults.

Charlotte, Daniel, Olivia, Josephine, Anna, Dylan, Madeleine, Catherine, Chase, Jesse, James, Grace, Emilie, Jack, Noah, Caroline, Jessica, Avielle, Benjamin, Allison, Mary, Victoria, Anne, Lauren, Dawn and Rachel. 


____________________________________________________________________________________


Week 4 Review

Monday--1 hour of tennis, 10 minutes on spin bike and 10 minutes with weights = 8 points
Tuesday--4 mile run = 4 points
Wednesday--nothing
Thursday-- 1 hour of tennis = 6 points
Friday--4.85 mile run = 4.85 points
Saturday--nothing
Sunday--40 minutes on bike trainer = 4 points

2 days of 7+ fruits veggies = 2 points
4 dog walking days = 2 points

Week total = 30.85

Worst week yet, but also my most hectic week.  We had kid's stuff every evening during the week, dance dress rehearsal Friday night, basketball and two dance rectials on Saturday (add in a puking kid in the wee hours of Saturday am just to make things fun) and indoor field hockey tournaments for two girls on Sunday (early morning, of course!).  I forced myself to get on my bike trainer last night so I wouldn't have three goose eggs for this week. 

This indoor field hockey club is pretty darn fun for the girls (and me!).  I had a great time watching them both play.  Sissy plays for a U14 team and Princess is playing for the U12 team.  Sissy had a goal in one of her games and her team won the tournament.  Princess' team had two ties and two losses but still they did a great job.  She played goalie for the last 3 games and those were the two tie games.  She was blocking shots left and right and as we sat there, the parents around us were commenting on how little she was but what a great job she was doing.  Each time she blocked a shot, the crowd would cheer!  It was really great for her because she is the one who doesn't do sports.  So to have people cheering for her, well, I was just proud and glad for her to hear that.  The last game, not as good-- she had 6 goals go by her, but I guess you can't do well all the time, right? 

Here she is getting the goalie gear on.  It's a little big.... lol

So this week is a quiet week as far as activities go.  Dance is done until the new year, so is field hockey and there are only two basketball games this week and then that's done until next week.  We have a big surprise coming up but I won't say anymore because of certain folks that might be reading... I'll fill you in next week. :)


I hope this week finds you all well, thankful for your blessings and ready to celebrate the holidays!

2012 Can Just Go Away

Overall 2012 was a pretty good year, but like every year, sometimes there are things you wish you never saw/heard.  Here are a few of those things for me:

1.  Honey boo boo.  I cannot believe that show ever had a following.  I hope it goes away and never ever comes back.

2.  My blackberry and the shitty wifi that came with it.  What a waste of $30/month to have it.  It took forever to connect to anything and the screen was so small I couldn't see a damn thing.  Not that my new Android phone is much better...

3.  The story of Kate Middleton's hospitalization for 'acute morning sickness'.  Oh please.  Seriously?  Why is this news?

4.  Any and all Adele songs.  I swear I must be the only person on this planet who does not like her music but really, to hear it every hour on the hour on every radio station you turn to is a little much.  Go away please.

5.  The Red Sox.  This year was dismal.  Depressing.  Embarrassing.  And now Youkilis is a Yankee?  Will the misery ever end?

6.  Anything Kardashian.  nuff' said.

7.  All that Keep Calm and Carry On poster shit.  Or Keep Calm and Whatever.  What the fuck is that anyway?   Stupid.  This one is my favorite.

8.  My plantar fasciitis.  Please be gone and never come back.

9.  Or how about when people ask you your opinion on something and then either do the complete opposite of what you suggested or proceed to tell you all the reasons why that won't work.  Wtf did you want my opinion for then?  Just leave me the hell out of it. 

10.  To go along with number 9 above, (and this probably won't mean anything to anyone but eye doctors) Vision Plans can just go away as well.  I don't know how it makes any sense at all to separate vision from your medical health and why an eye exam can't continue to be included as part of medical insurance.   Just another way for insurance companies to charge the patient more and pay the doctor less.

11.  Political rants on FB, twitter, radio, tv whatever.  I am so glad that shit is over with.  I don't care which party you support--they are all crooks and liars who are looking out for their own pockets. 

What from 2012 do you never want to see/hear again?

I'll leave you with a cute parody of Gangnam Style.  The chickens kill me..  lol

HBBC Week 3 and other stuff

We are now beginning the 4th week of the Holiday Booty Buster Challenge so it's time to recap last week.  Here are my totals for the week.

Monday 1 hour of tennis = 6 points
Tuesday 5 miles run = 5 points
Wednesday 5 miles run = 5 points
Thursday 1 hour of tennis = 6 points
Friday rest
Saturday 50 minutes lap swimming = 5 points
Sunday 3.6 miles run = 3.6 points

+3 points for 7 veggies/fruits in a day
+5 points for FB check in
+3 points for dog walking 6 out of 7 days

Total points for the week = 41.6

Last week I finally went back to the dentist after a month of suffering with pain in my jaw and now below my ears after having all the dental work.  It turns out because one of the teeth that he had to rebuilt was a little bigger than what it should be, I was altering my bite to accommodate it and then caused TMJ.  TMJ is basically inflammation of the jaw joint.  Which, if you didn't know, is unbelievably painful.  For me, it feels like I have the worst ear infection ever.  Crazy pain just below the ears.  So, he ground down the larger tooth so that my bite is more like it used to be and hopefully, that will allow the jaw joint to heal as I'm chewing more correctly. 

What a strange thing that is, to have to think about how you chew and to try to do it correctly and evenly.  It's one of those things you never think about until it doesn't work properly. 

Since the diagnosis, I have been able to make sure to unclench my jaw and relax and I have had a few pain-free meals.  I do feel like it's getting better but like anything, it will take time to go away completely. 

lining up for promotions.  Manimal is in the black gi.

This weekend my son had his testing for jiu-jitsu with promotions afterward.  We weren't sure if he was getting stripes for his current belt or a new belt.  He received this belt just 5 months ago and so I kinda thought that he might be getting stripes.  But Professor surprised us all when all the kids in his group received the next belt up!  Manimal is now a yellow belt!  He was very surprised and proud.  He looks so god damn cute!

Professor giving him his yellow belt

nice long belt because they have this one for a LONG time... lol

Then afterwards we went over to Professor's house for a holiday party.  We ate too much and stayed out too late but had a great time. 

Just two more crazy weekends until Christmas and we can go back to normal.  Whatever that is. 

Are you keeping your holiday eating in check?  Keeping up with exercise?

Have you finished/started your holiday shopping?

November Review

Time to look back on November.  Another month that just flew by.  I'm pretty sure that my kids are going to graduate soon with how quickly time is flying by.  Remember when you were 8 and the days seemed to last forever?  When a week was so long and a month was like a lifetime?  I'm not sure when the distortion of time perception changed but I think it was somewhere in my 30's.  Around the time I had kids.... Hmmm...  When my time wasn't my own anymore.  But I digress.

So anyway.

Miles Ran--50.5  Second month in a row of breaking 50!  Yay me!  As long as the weather cooperates, I should be able to keep up running at lunch time.

Bike Minutes--135 Not that much this month.  Something had to give I suppose.

Swim Yards--7000

Weight Training--0  oops.

Tennis--5 hours

Races run--Nothing official but my family and I did do a Turkey Trot 5K on Thanksgiving.  It wasn't timed and was really just a fun run to help raise money for the local food pantry.  It was a lot of fun and I can't wait to do it again next year.

Current Excitement--There a lot of exciting things going on in my world right now.  Sissy's basketball team is undefeated right now 5-0, so that is pretty exciting.  They are playing the other undefeated team tonight so we'll see how that goes.  Princess has decided to join the u12 field hockey team that Sissy is playing u14 for.  They have practices and games all at the same time so that is super convenient.  The coaches are excellent and I'm thrilled to have the girls learn more and me too for coaching next year. 

My heel is doing great!  No pain to speak of.  I don't know whether to credit this to my Mizuno sneakers, the Rock Tape or just good luck.  Whatever it is, it feels great and running is not an issue at all. 

Boiled dinner.  I made boiled dinner last night and I forget just how much I love that!  Turnip, carrots, cabbage, potatoes, and kielbasa all boiled together in one large pot.  What's not to like?  Why, yes, Amanda--I DID make my 7 veggie goal for today!  I have crazy, smelly gas but whatever.

Current Annoyance--the aftermath from having my cavities filled continues.  My jaw aches all the time, I am 15xs more sensitive to cold than I was and my ears are now aching.  Something is not right.  I hope I'm not having an infection--well, actually, I do hope it is an infection because then I can just take antibiotics.  If it isn't infected, then that probably means I need a crown and/or root canal.  Neither of which is fun.  Or cheap.  Gah.  Take care of your teeth people.

Current Book--Hunger Games for the second time.  Still a good book. 

That's all to report this month!  Half day for me today AND it's sunny and warm!  Bonus! I'm headed home to go for a run then off to watch Sissy play ball!  Have a great day!

HBBC Week 2 Check In

Just checking in with my weekly post of how I am doing with HBBC.  Not a great week for running miles--the weather and my schedule just didn't allow for it.  But I was able to get grab a few last minute sessions on my trainer to make up for the missed run during the day.  Here's last week's schedule:

Monday-- 1 hour cardio tennis = 6 points +1 point FB check in
Tuesday-- 4 miles = 4 points +1 point FB check in
Wednesday--30 min spin = 3 points +1 FB check in
Thursday--1 hour cardio tennis = 6 points, 40 min on bike trainer = 4 points + 1 FB check in = 11 total
Friday--no exercise
Saturday--2000 yds swim = 5 points
Sunday--50 minutes on trainer = 5 points

2.5 points for dog walking 5 out of 7 days. 

Only one day with 7+ fruits and veggies +1 (I'm so bad with that...)

I won a bunch of great coupons for free products that I'm so excited to try.  Although I forgot to bring them shopping with me yesterday.... doh.  Next week..

Tomorrow I should have the November totals.  I'm excited to see how many running miles I got in!  I think it was a pretty good month.  I hope your December is off to a great start!

Christmas in Dream World

Lots of folks are posting their wish list for Christmas.  It has items like new running sneakers, a Garmin,  race fees paid etc.  That's all fine a good but two somebodies somewhere get to split 500 million dollars from the Powerball lottery.  That's a lot of freakin' cash.  So just in case those somebodies are looking for a someone to waste their cash on, I'm going to have a list ready.  Here's my Christmas list in Dream World.

1.  This tri bike-- Quintana Roo CD0.1 Ultegra

On sale!  Right now for only $2800!  What a steal!  Sooo pretty in pink.

2.  Endless Pool--starts at $20K.  Why not dream big?

Who wouldn't want to swim endlessly right in the comfort of their own home?  How else am I going to get better?

3.  Waterproof Ipod Nano

So cute!  So practical! Only $375!  It's a bargain!  Waterproof though.  Brilliant!  To be worn while using the Endless Pool.  Or in your Half Marathon that rains the entire time.

4.  Vendetta Fullsuit Wetsuit by Xterra for $800.

I would like it to look like that when I'm wearing it as well.  The website says, "If you are an average swimmer, the Vendetta will make you great!".  Yes, please.

5.  I would also like this sleep number bed please.

A split king is only $5700.  I'm not sure what a split king is but it was more expensive than the california king so it must be bigger and better in some way.   My current bed is like a bowling alley in that there are two gullies where we each sleep and a large hump in the middle.  Cheap ass bed.

6.  Oh, and as long as we are dreaming big, I need a new one of these:

2013 Honda Odyssey.  Loaded please.  The touring elite version is a mere $43K.  But I will get every penny's worth out of that.  My current Odyssey is 7.5 years old and is 2000 miles short of 200,000.  I drive the shit out of it.

7.  Season tickets to the Boston Celtics!  Courtside or a suite preferred.  It looks like those sell for around $500 a ticket on the ticket sales sites and I'll need 6.

8.  Iphone 5.  I want an iPhone so badly.  Please someone get me out of this dreadful contract with US Cellular so I can switch to Verizon and get an iPhone.  And join the civilized world.  It's a small price to pay at $1000.  It's less than the bike!

9.  OMG yes PLEASE!  A training camp in Kona with Lance Armstrong, Chrissy Wellington, Craig Alexander, Dave Scott, Greg Welch and Jimmy Riccitello.  $25,000 AND the proceeds go to Juvenile Diabetes Research?  Win win!  I don't care if he's a cheat.  He still knows how to bike!

10.  And after all that training with my new gear and friends ^^^^, I'll need a vacation to Australia.   We'll just round that up to $15,000.  That way I'll be sure to have enough money to do all the things I want to do.  Visit my friend who lives there, Great Barrier Reef, Nemo--you know, all the usual down under activities.


And that, my friends, is my Christmas list in dream world.

PV Body Package Arrives!

About a month ago I read on another blog about PV Body and found it interesting.  Basically, it's like a subscription for cute fitness apparel.  But at a lower price.  To sign up, I went on their website and took a short quiz about my particular style.  I also had to give my sizes for tops and bottoms and once a month PV Body will send you a package of one top and one bottom of fitness wear.  It can be yoga pants, tank tops, fitness shorts--whatever.  The brands vary as well.  The total value of the package is supposed to be in the $140 range, but the cost of the monthly subscription is $39.95.  A good value, right?  I had even gotten a 20% discount from the blog that I signed up on so my first month was about $32.  I figured any two pieces of fitness apparel was worth that!

Initially I had a little difficulty getting my order, and had to email them to see if I had placed the order correctly.  It seems they were missing some information about what colors and styles I preferred and had left a phone message to get that information.  I didn't remember getting a message but after some thought I recalled a message on my answering machine that I ended up deleting because it was so fast and garbled that I couldn't understand any of what the person was saying.  I think that was probably the message.. 

Anyhoo--once it was straightened out via email things moved along nicely.  I received my package yesterday:

I came in this very pretty pink package and Princess pronounced that I had received a package from Santa.  She was pretty excited.  I asked her how she knew it was from Santa and she said the package said so!  Return address said Santa Monica.  Maybe Santa Monica was Santa's sister... 

Inside the package was a Nux tank top and American Apparel capri pants.

I actually like both things.  The man who helped me via email did warn me that the sizes run small and that I might want to switch my shirt size to M when I said I wore size 6.  So I was glad for that.  The capris, however, look like they are going to be a bit small.  I probably should have upped that to a large...

I wasn't familar with either brand so I looked them up and both pieces are current and on their websites to purchase right now.  The tank is listed at $42 and does not have a bra lining--it's just the tank.  The capris are listed at $48 dollars.  I was a little disappointed that the total is below the $140 value that they advertise on PV Body, but I did only spend $32 so I do feel that each piece is worth at least $16, so it's not a total rip off. 

According to their FAQ page, I am able to return the whole set if I wish or switch out for a different size.  You are not able to keep just one piece of the set and return the other.  I will likely change out the capris for the Large unless my daughter likes them and wants to keep them.  I do think they will be too small for me.

The material of both is very soft and I do love that.  I also love how both pieces were made in the USA.  I'm not sure if that will be true of all the gear that they send out, but it was of these two pieces.   The colors of each aren't something that I'd wear together but I would wear separately.  And I did choose bold colors or black and white for my preference.  These are definitely bold!

Overall, I'm happy with my first round of fitness apparel from PV Body and will give them another month or two before I decide if it's worth the monthly fee.  According to their website, I can cancel at any time or just suspend for a month or two.  I would like to see if I get higher valued items in other shipments or if they just send stuff on the lower end.  If it is more like a $90 value, then that is what they should advertise.  This shipment is a full $50 less than what they are promoting.  But as I said, still worth the $32 I spent.

If you want the 20% off you can trying snagging it from my facebook page.  Somehow, I can't get the link to work here.  But I shared the coupon there.

Have you tried PV Body or another site like it?

I'd love to see what you got--send me a tweet or email with your goods.

Christmas Cards = Done!

I have used Shutterfly.com for I don't know how many years to order my xmas cards and family calendars.  They have excellent sales this time of year and I can always find a coupon code to save a little extra. 

This year, there is another way to save $10 on your next order!  Just embed the special code they give you at checkout into your blog or website!  Easy peasy.  I still need to order my calendars so now I'll have another chance to save $10. 

Here's a little sneak peak at my xmas card.  Shhh!  Don't show anyone!

Stationery card

View the entire collection of cards.

If you haven't tried out Shutterfly, go take a look!  Lots of things are on sale and you can get some unique gifts for everyone in your family.

Thanks, Shutterfly, for the chance to have another discount on my next order!

Holiday Booty Buster Challenge 2012

I signed up again for the Holiday Booty Buster Challenge (HBBC) hosted by Amanda at Run to the Finish.  It is a great way to keep motivated to exercise daily and eat right because you earn points for all the exercise you do and extra points for eating your veggies!  Like last year, Amanda has so many prizes for those that participate.  All those points add up and at the end of the challenge, prizes will be awarded to those with the most points.  But best of all, we will stay fit and hopefully, not gain any weight over the holiday season.

This week thus far points are as follows:
Monday--50 minutes of cardio tennis = 5
Tuesday--4 miles run = 4
Wednesday-- 4 miles run = 4
Thursday--3.5 miles run = 3.5
Bonus points for Thanksgiving run with kids +2, cleaning points +1
Friday--50 minutes of lap swimming = 5
Saturday 0 rest day.  probably should be minus points for all the crap I ate today.  ugh.
Sunday--3.5 miles run = 3.5 and 40 minutes of swim = 4
There are also points for walking and I walk my dog every night so I'm going to count that as well.  We go about 1/2 mile so +3.5 points for the week for dog walking.

1 day of eating 7 fruits/veggies = 1

I also earned 4 bonus points for tweeting, posting on FB and putting the logo on my blog.

FB participation points +3

I need to do a little better with the fruit/veggie thing.  I'm fine with the veggies and get up to 4 but beyond that, I'm terrible with having fruits for snacks instead of junk.  Ah, you can't be perfect all the time, right?

I think you can still sign up if you want to participate.  Just head to the link above and follow the directions.  There are plenty of prizes to be had still.

What are you doing to stay fit this holiday season?

Thanksgiving Run

Thanksgiving is easily one of my favorite holidays.  Four days off in a row.  Excellent food.  Plenty of time for exercise.  Family.  I love it.  I just love it.

The day began with getting the bird ready to go in the oven at 7:00 a.m.  We bought a freshly slaughtered (monday) turkey from a local farm store so it wasn't cheap it would be all natural.  Husband was being teased by the deer out hunting so it was up to me to get it ready.  After the bird was in I got all the veggies ready and in pots to be cooked later.

We were all heading down to the Y for a very low key Turkey Trot.  There was no registration fee, just a suggested donation to the local food pantry.  There ended up being quite a few people who showed up--maybe around 70?  Kids, moms, dads, dogs, kids on bikes, moms with strollers.  It was great!  There was a 5 or 10k option and you could walk or whatever.

The whole family came!  Sissy, Princess and Manimal on his bike.

It was an untimed race, no prizes.  Just the 'prize' of knowing that you gave to the food pantry and burned calories before your dinner.  It was perfect running weather--mid 40's.  My family did the 5K.  I would have done the 10k but I wanted to stay with Manimal and I wasn't sure he could do a whole 6 miles on his bike.  Turns out, he probably could have.  The girls ran with their friends.  I kept time and when I finished, I turned around to find the girls and run back with them.  I was somewhere around 26 ish.  Sissy finished around 27, Princess around 30 minutes.  So proud of them!

This race ended up raising $1600 for our local food pantry!  I think this just might become a yearly tradition.  What a great cause and a great way to help it.  So proud of our community.

Hubs had gone down to the boatyard to get the last of our lobsters that were crated up.  He cooked all 18 of them so we had lobster as our appetizer.  Not too shabby.  My husband's mom, two sisters and brother were all joining us and we had a really great dinner.  We all had a moment before dinner to say what we were thankful for.  It's nice to say and to hear those things.  I love them all so much.  My family.

Did you do a Turkey Trot today?

Happy Thanksgiving! 

Tiny Towel

This fabulous warm (ish) weather here in Maine has been great for being able to get a run in at lunch time.  When the sun is out, even if it isn't, it's so awesome to be able to get lace up and head out before a crazy afternoon. 

My office has a shower so it's easy to clean up quickly after a run and usually I'm pretty prepared and have a towel on hand to dry off with.  Today--not so much.

I had brought home my towel from yesterday to be washed and didn't pack another one.  Oops.  Thankfully, I had a hand towel that I got from the Maine Marathon that I didn't race.  See here if you don't know what I mean.

Anyhoo, this towel is about the size of a large facecloth.

That's a magazine next to it so you can see the size. 

Somehow I managed to dry myself off with that thing.  I suppose it was better than using paper towels.. or returning to work all sweaty.

Good thing I didn't wash my hair.

What I've Learned--Monday Listicles

This week's topic from Northwest Mommy is 10 Things I've Learned in 2012.  Since we are supposed to learn something new everyday, I guess I've probably learned at least 10 things this year, right?  Here goes.


1.  Just last week I learned that you need coolant in your car in order to have heat.  Who knew? 

2.  Sometimes making less money but having more time off is better than making more money and having less time off.

3.  I am getting old.  Despite my best efforts, time is still ticking.

4.  If something in my house needs repair and I want it done this year, it's best to hire someone.

5.  I am capable of doing things I never thought possible.

6.  I am incredibly lucky to have children that are healthy and happy.  Events that have occurred this year to others remind me how precious health and happiness are.

7.  I will never have furniture in my formal living room.  Almost 4 years in this house and it's full of legos and now my bike trainer.

oh and zhu-zhu pets.  can't forget those.

8.  Spaghetti squash is an excellent pasta substitute.

9.  Gangham Style and Hammer time go well together.

If you don't want to watch the whole thing--skip to 2:54!

10.  Mountain Dew is really bad for your teeth.  Well, my teeth, specifically.  5 root cavities and $1000 later, I have learned this.

What have you learned this year?

Social Media Safety?

So my eldest kiddo just turned 13 last week and I finally caved and let her have a Facebook account because she was old enough.  Strangely enough, FB has an age requirement of 13 but there are sooo many kids that have accounts that are not 13.  Much to my daughter's annoyance.  Mostly because she couldn't have one.  But I am pretty much a rule follower so no FB until 13.

So anyway, she has a FB account now and that certainly brings up some issues that we haven't really had to worry about before.  No friending (friending--like that's even a word) anyone you don't know.  Make your account private so no one who isn't your friend can look at it.  Don't write anything that you wouldn't want the whole school to see.  Don't post any pictures of yourself that you don't want your whole school to see.  Friend your mom so I can keep track of what you are saying.  Give me your password so I have access to your account.  Don't ever plan to meet anyone in real life that you 'met' on the computer.

Did I forget anything?  Kinda scary how almost anyone has access to your child via FB or the computer in general.

Then I kinda thought about the example I set for her regarding MY Facebook/internet use.  Do I practice what I preach?  Ummm... not so much.

I have plenty of 'friends' on FB that I've never met in real life.  Through my blog, running, reading other blogs and Team Tough Chik, I have probably around 20 friends that I've never even met.

My account is certainly not private.

I do follow the advice of not posting pics or status updates that I wouldn't want everyone to see.  Yay for me! +1

I have actually planned to meet and have met in real life some folks that I 'know' only via the internet.  I've had the pleasure of meeting Jen of milesmusclesmommyhood, Jen of runningwiththegirls and Carrie of mainemomontherun.  I thought nothing of it.  And they are really awesome people!  I'm so glad that I did meet them.  And there are plenty others I would love to meet.

How safe is that exactly?  Do you ever think about how someone may possibly be misrepresenting themselves online in order to take advantage of you?  I don't.  I never think like that.  I almost always assume that everyone is being as honest and real as I am.  And living in Maine, the crime rate is pretty dang low so I really never think about my safety.  Kinda scary, if you think about it.  Not exactly the message I want to convey to my daughter.

But on the other hand, if I were paranoid and worried that everyone was out to get me, then I would miss out on meeting some really cool people.

Where do you draw the line?  I guess for kids, the caution line is set really high.  Children are so easily taken advantage of and/or manipulated.  The line for my teen is me being a social media nazi.  Until she's old enough to make mature decisions regarding that, there is zero tolerance for any variations of the above rules.

This is really a new problem for parents.  like me!  Internet, like we know it, has not been around that long and FB is relatively new.  I would be really interested to hear how other parents are protecting the privacy of their children (or not) and how to go about keeping them safe online but also not creating a paranoid kid.

How do you keep your kid safe while online?

Are you paranoid about internet predators?

F***ing Dentist

Dentists suck.  There are no two ways around it.  Anytime you need to go to the dentist, it sucks.  I seem to have this weird attachment to my teeth however, so dentists are a necessary evil. 

Today was the last round of "clean up of rot tooth Michelle's mouth".  Thankfully.  Only two cavities to fill today.  ugh. 

Got the usual round of novacaine jabbed in the gumline the floor of my mouth and sat around and waited for the numbing to begin.  Tongue was gone, side of face gone, well, we thought we were ready.  And then the drilling begins.  And ZING.  Nope, not quite numb enough. 

Round two of novacaine shot. 

waiting for my face to numb up.  the assistant finally left the office so I could get a pic without looking like an idiot

Finally, my ear was even numb (what a weird feeling that is) and we were ready to go. 

I was a little more prepared this time and brought my headphones so I could listen to Pandora when that freakin' drill was ginding away inside my head.  So f***in' loud.  I swear it feels like he is drilling to China in there.  So the music helped.  I just cranked it up when the drilling was happening and turned it down otherwise. 

I was sitting there cursing him the entire time he was working.  SOB.  Ass.  F***er.  This sucks.  You Suck.  F**k off.  Bite me.  No, wait.  Let me bite you. 

But really it was my own fault.  F**k you Mt. Dew.  Why do you taste so good but are acid on my teeth??  Why? 

We almost had to abort the cavity filling and head straight to a crown, but somehow he was able to rig some medal thing around my tooth so he could fabricate a wall.  Because the side of my tooth had rotted away.  Nice visual.  I know.

One hour and $450 dollars later, my mouth is free of decay.  Time to crack open a Mt. Dew.  JUST KIDDING!   well, not really..  One small sip won't hurt...

Before and After

Before

After

Happy girl.  Happy Birthday pretty girl.  I love you.

Words for Wednesday

I can't do a bridge.  You know.  Like a back bend but just pushing up from the floor.  I used to be able to.  But now I'm pathetic.  I was trying to entertain myself while listening to my 7 year old read so I started doing crunches and then thought to myself--let's try a bridge. 

clearly NOT me

I managed to get my legs up but I could not for the life of me push up with my arms.  wtf.  I can do 40+ pushups but I can't push myself up into a bridge??  Maybe it has something to do with the lack of flexibility of this 40 something.  Oy. 

So, I think I'm going to see if I can improve on this.  I'll see if I can get Sissy to take pictures of my progress so you can laugh at me see how much I'm improving.  Hell, I may as well try to improve my split too.  My current 'split' is more like a V so it can't be much worse.  I can only get better from that.  Stay tuned.



Birthday party for the new teenager (tomorrow is her birthday!) in the house on Veteran's Day. What better way to celebrate our Veterans than having 8, yes I said eight, tweens stay over night at my house.  Double oy.  This may require me to break out the wine or whine.  Either way I'm nuts.  These crazy people around here seem to thrive on having sleepovers for their kids.  They make the rest of us look bad. 

Sissy:  Mom, can I have 8 girls over for my birthday? 
Me:  pardon me, did you say 8?
Sissy:  yes, eight.  Jane's mom let her have 10 over last weekend!  why can't I have 8?
Me:  Jane's mom is clearly an idiot.  Jane's mom must have been in the wine.  Jane's mom did?  Really?  huh.  Well, I suppose. 
Me in my head:  fuck.  My one day off and I've ruined it.

I'll let you know how all that turns out.

Can you bridge?  How old are you?  It doesn't count if you are 20 and haven't had kids.

Ever host a sleepover for 8 hormonal girls?  How'd that work out for you?

October Review

I can't believe we are into November already.  Seriously, where does the time go? 

Miles Run--53!  woot!  first time I've broken the 50 mark in awhile.  The sunny weather during the week has made it possible to run outside during my lunch hour and that's where I've been able to get about 8 extra miles a week.  I'm going to keep that up as long as possible.  I really enjoy taking that time in the middle of my day.  It clears my head and I get to be outside.  Lunch run = winning!

Bike Minutes--250  I guess having the trainer at home has helped.  Even getting on it one or two times makes a big difference in my number. 

Weight Training--50 minutes.  ick.  Pretty low as I have been skipping my visits to the Y in order to run outside.  Therefore, little to no weights.  I need to try to incorporate this into my schedule at home.  As the weather gets crappy, this should go up as I'm forced indoors to exercise. 

Swim--6000yds  Yay to the Y being open on Sunday now.  It is soooo much easier to head over on a Sunday afternoon with the kids than to try to rush to get there after work on Friday.  I should be able to keep this up consistently throughout the winter. 

Tennis--6 hours.

Good month overall. 

Races--none.  Just the rat race.  Soccer, field hockey, basketball and life.  phew.

Heel pain--little to none.  Running freely and without pain or changing my gait.  Thank you Jesus.  The only time I even notice a mild pain (2 on a 1-10 scale) is at night when I get up to pee.  A little stiff then, but that's all. 

Current Books--Kitchen House is excellent.  Could not put it down and finished in about 2 days.  I don't know why, but I am fascinated by stories of slavery and how they overcome (or don't).  Kitchen House is one of those books.  Really, really good.  I'm now reading Round House and it's good as well, but a little slower reading. 

Current Tunes--I haven't downloaded anything for awhile now as I am using Pandora most of the time. 

How was your October? 

Halloween, Teeth and Field Hockey

Three Things for Thursday!

1.  The kids had such a fun time last night for Halloween.  We got a later start than usual because Sissy is playing on the jr. high basketball team and they had practice until 4:30.  Which meant rush home, shower, change and head out as fast as possible. 

This was the first year she was planning to trick or treat with a group of girls rather than her family.  But being the over-protective parents that we are, we were right behind them with the other kids.  The town allows the tweens to go downtown and spray shaving cream everywhere (on stores and on each other) and then it gets cleaned up the next day.  I guess this is to avoid kids wanting to go egging and really causing damage.  Thank goodness, she didn't ask to do that because I'm pretty sure we'd be the one uncool parent who said no.  Unsupervised 12 year olds just aren't what we are all about. 

Here she is with her 'things'.

Not bad for homemade costumes!  Sissy is Thing 1.

Princess went as little red riding hood and Manimal was a knight in shining armor.

Of course the costume required red lip stick!

 

Handsome boy!  and yes, my porch and door do need some attention.  They are rotting away.  The new door is sitting in the garage waiting, waiting, for installation....  someday.

2.  Yesterday I had some fillings done at the dentist.  Apparently, drinking Mt. Dew daily is not good for your teeth.  Huh.  So, lucky me, for 1 1/2 hour I had the pleasure of having 3 of my teeth drilled and filled.  I'm not sure there is anything worse than that drill.  I don't mind the little one they start with but the big one that removes all the decay (nice) just about sends me over the edge. 

I don't care what you dentists say.  The dentist is WAY worse than the eye doctor.  WAY.  It's not even close.  There is nothing I can do here that has you clenching in your seat for 90 minutes!  Maybe for 20 seconds when I take the eye pressure, but that's it.  20 measley seconds. 

My shoulders and back hurts today from all the clenching I did yesterday.  Next time I should engage my core.....

3.  Field hockey is done.  I'm glad and sad all at the same time.  I had such a fun time with these girls that I can't wait to do it again next year.  Although, I'm glad that it's only 8 weeks.  Just enough time to have fun but not get on each other's nerves.  In case you were wondering, this is the cutest field hockey team ever.

Princess as goalie.

4.  If you haven't done so already, you may want to head over to Amanda's site and sign up for the Holiday Booty Buster Challenge (HBBC).  It's a great way to try to keep off the holiday pounds and possibly win some prizes too!  Here is the link if you are interested.  I'd be forever grateful if you said I referred you.  There are over $3000 available in prizes so chances are good, you might win something.  Even if you don't, you win in the end by staying motivated to exercise and eat right!

Oh wait!  I guess that's 4 things.  Sorry.