Wednesday Listicles

Lucky you, oh faithful blog readers!  You get two posts to read today due to the blogger gods hating on me yesterday!  Today's post is a fun one that I stole from Kim at (Just) Trying is for Little Girls that she stole from The Good Life.  I liked the topic, so I'm jumping on the bandwagon.  Yee haw!  She called it Monday Listicles, but I'm getting to it on Wednesday so it's going to be Wednesday Listicles for me!

wow! did you see how good I am with photoshop?  I should work in print design...

This week's list is about your top ten strange/funny/unusual/interesting jobs you have had in your life.  If you are too young to have had held 10 jobs, then write about ten crazy tasks within your job or just come up with your own job-related list.  I am most certainly just barely old enough to have held 10 jobs so I will do my best.

1.  My first job ever was a gas attendant.  Remember those?  Those people who used to pump your gas for you so you don't have to get out of the car?  Yes, that was my first job.  My step-dad was the area manager for the oil company so it was pretty easy to get the job.  I was 15?  Something like that.  When I started, everyone could wear shorts in the summer when it was hot.  For some reason, after I started working there, the company rules changed and we all had to wear long pants.  I'm not sure why....... hmmm.

2.  McDonald's drive thru queen.  Oh, yes!  I rocked that drive thru!  Crazy enough, I really didn't mind that job.  I loved working the drive thru.  When you were assigned to drive thru, you got out of all the stupid jobs like changing the trash, and restocking napkins. 

3.  Tennis instructor for the town recreation department.  Fun job.  Teaching little guys to play tennis.  Lots of chasing and tossing tennis balls.  But plenty of time in the sun. :)

4.  Work study job in college counting drosophila flies (aka fruit flies) in a biology lab. 

Holy freakin' tedious and BORING.  I learned right then that I wanted nothing to do with research. 

5.  Waitress for 3 summers in Bar Harbor at the Bar Harbor Inn.  This is the big Inn on the water with all the windows downtown.  The.  Best.  Job.  Ever.  No kidding.  With the exception of my current job, this was the best job I ever had.  Hands down.  I lived right there for $25/week taken right out of my paycheck.  My bedroom was the very top window just below and to the right of the flag on the roof.

Not too shabby huh?  Not to mention, if it were sunny and nice, I would make at least $100/day, up to $300 if it was a double.  I took every single shift I could and would work 3 doubles a week, if they let me.  I love Bar Harbor and I loved this job.  I waited on Pam Shriver one summer--they had two lobster rolls and two ice teas.  I held on to that credit card receipt for years because it had her signature.

6.  Sandwich maker for Pat's Pizza.  Pat's Pizza is a pretty famous pizza place here in Maine that originated in Orono, near University of Maine.  You could get a cheese pizza for like $2 when I was in college.  So, you can imagine that it was pretty dang busy.  Best thing about this job was we got to eat whatever we wanted.  No one cared.  Except my ass and my scale.  I think I gained 10lbs working there.  Worst part of the job--Pat was a dirty old man (like 90) who smoked cigars all through the joint. 

7.  Typist in college.  This was before the time when everyone had their own computer and could type.  I used to type up reports for people (mostly dumb football players).  I charged $1/page.  Pretty easy work really.  The football players got a bonus because I would basically rewrite their poorly written work.  I just couldn't stand to type grammatical, spelling errors or just shitty work.  I would fix it so it sounded normal.  I should have charged extra for that. 

8.  Optical sales at a chain store in the mall.  This job I didn't like very much even though it was part of my profession that I was studying for.  The main goal of this job was to sell glasses, with a high price, whether they needed it or not.  I hated that aspect of the job.  The Upsell part.  I just felt like I was cheating people.  Some of the crap they sold there was just crap and they made you pay extra for scratch guard but then didn't put it on.  Stuff like that.  One good thing--it was right near Cinnabon so I would have a Cinnabon and Mt. Dew for breakfast every time I worked.  Breakfast of champions!

9.  Cocktail Waitress/Waitress at a very popular bar/restaurant in Boston.  The job itself was just a waitressing job.  Give people food and drink.  But the exciting part of this job was that the place was a bar that had live entertainment on the weekend and it was packed--it was one of the fun places to go out to on a Friday.  So, it was like being 'out' but not spending money or getting drunk.  *bonus*  Oh, and I made good money too.  *double bonus*  The bartenters that worked there had been there for years.  Some of them were lawyers that stayed on after they passed the bar because the money was so good.  Those bartenders would make $300-400 on a Friday night.  EACH! 

I once waited on Jose Conseco there when he was doing a radio broadcast live from the bar.  He is an arrogant ass.  I did not like him at all.

10.  Optometrist!  My profession now and most days I love my job.  I get to be my own boss and help people too.  The 8-4:30 schedule isn't too bad either.

Now, go!  Make your own list and then you can link it up to The Good Life HERE.

Virtual Challenges Recap/New Threads

I just finished up two different virtual challenges this week.  The first one was the HBBC hosted by Amanda at Run to the Finish.  I don't know how I placed in the challenge, not the winner--I do know that, but that doesn't even matter.  I really enjoyed this challenge because it kept me active every single day.  Every day I wanted to make sure I had some points going on the board.  I never wanted to log a zero for the day.  How's that for motivation?  I may just keep this 'challenge' going on, but challenge myself to keep a certain number of points for each week.  I also liked this one because it gave you a bonus point for eating 7 fruits and vegetables each day.  I think I only earned that extra point 3 or 4 times, but it did keep me trying to eat more fruit to get to the magic number of 7. 

My last week of Holiday Booty Buster Challenge went like this:
--12/31 40 minutes of swim = 4 points
--1/1 8 mile run = 8 Double points for a run that day = 16 +1 (fruits/veggies) +1 (participating in Resolution Run) = 18
--1/2 1 hour of tennis = 6 + 1 veggies = 7
--1/3  1 hour of spin = 6 + 1 veggies = 7
--1/4  4 mile run = 4
--1/5  30 minutes spin and 60 min tennis 3 + 6 + 1 veggie = 10
--1/6  50 minutes of swim = 5

All in all a pretty good week. 

This overlapped with KDub's 70.3 Half Ironman Challenge which began 1/1 and ends tomorrow.  You had to complete a half Ironman in an 11 day period.  For those not in the know a 1/2 ironman is:
2100 yds swim
56 mile bike
13.1 mile run

I completed this challenge today.  Yay me!  The bike part was the hardest for me.  1 hour on the spin only equaled 16 miles so I had to get to the spin bike a bit more often than my usual.  Here is the total for how that went:

1/1--8 mile run 1:12
1/3--16 miles on spin bike 60 minutes
1/4--4 mile run 35:12
1/5--8 miles on spin bike 30 minutes
1/6--2100 yd swim in 44 minutes
1/7--10 miles on stationary bike 31 minutes
1/8--3.1 mile road race 24 minutes
1/9--8 miles on spin bike 30 minutes
1/10--16 miles on spin bike 60 minutes

I am an Ironman!

I know.  Not really.  Just let me wallow in my dream land for a little while...

Karen will choose a couple of random winners from those that complete the challenge so I have a chance to win something.  (probably the only time I will ever have a chance to win something by completing an Ironman...)


Lastly, I got some new running gear in the mail today!  I received an email from Running Skirts advertising a sale they were having on some of their skirts.  So, of course, I felt the need to make a purchase!  Ordinarily, because I am frugal (read: cheap) $72 for a capri skirt is a little high priced, but the sale price brought it down to $43 which is reasonable.  Here is the cute little number I purchased.

of course, that is me modeling it.....ha

I know!  Awesome, right? It is even better in real life.  The material is so soft and comfy and I love the pockets on the side.  I will be Miss Stylin' at the next race I run in.  I just need to find a cute top to match now. 

I also got just the skirt (with athletic shorts underneath) and a tank top.  This will have to wait until much warmer weather.

I got this one in the blue with yellow on the side and a yellow tank to match.  You should be able to see me from a mile away.  This should assure that I don't miss out on any photo taking at the finish line again.  Cute

bright outfit = good race photos, right?

I might have to start a Running Skirts Collection.  Do you suppose they take children as payment?  I have three.  I could spare one or two….  I kid.  I kid.


*Addendum*--this post was written yesterday but due to either blogger error or computer idiot error (or both), I lost half this post and had to rewrite it multiple times!  Then it wouldn't save what I rewrote.  Talk about an aggravating day!  So, I apologize if this post lacks my usual clever writing style and wit.  (Go with me.  I'm still in dream land.  You know, the place where I am witty and have completed an Ironman?)  It's hard to be witty when you've written the same thought 4 times.

Frozen 5K/Underwater Music

I ran in my first race of the year yesterday.  It was the Frozen 5K in Scarborough to benefit the local cross country/track team.  I had seen the race on coolrunning.com and thought I might try to make it if it didn't interfere with family stuff.  The hubs and the kids all went 4-wheeling with hubby's friends and they were going to be gone all day.  Fortunately, unfortunately, no wives were going.  boo hoo.  That left me with the whole day to myself.  So, I sent a text to my friend to see if she wanted to meet me to run the race.  It was about 80 minutes away from my house so I packed my stuff and headed, waiting to see if she could come.  If not, then I had a bunch of stuff that needed returning/exchanging and I would take care of that instead. 

I didn't hear from her for a bit and then after about 30 minutes she texted me back that she had just got to church and wouldn't be able to make it.  So I thought I would bag the race and just shop instead.  (All this while I'm driving toward Portland--where all the shopping is.)  Well, as I got closer, I thought about it more and decided that I was just going to do the race anyway.  What was stopping me really?  The kids and hubs were going to be gone all day.  Why couldn't I do the race AND the shopping?  So on kinda a last minute whim, I drove to the high school and signed up. 

It was a pretty easy course and the weather was pretty accomodating.  A bit more wind than I like but just the right temperature.  Mile 1 = 7:36.  Holy crap!  That's pretty fast for me.  But I felt great so I kept with it.  Mile 2 = 14:40.  Even better.  Finish = 24:01.  New PR!  Yay!

As I'm running, I am aware of a person behind me from about 1.5 miles in.  Sometimes she would be closer and sometimes she would be further back, but she was right there the whole way.  (I know this cause I need to spit a lot when I run, so I'm always checking that I don't spit on someone.  I know.  I'm nice and classy like that.)

So, anyway, we get to the final stretch and I look and she's right next to me.  All of a sudden, I'm pissed because she's not going to pass me right at the finish.  I say, "Oh no you don't" loudly and speed up to make sure she doesn't pass me.  Oh, yes.  I said that in my out loud voice.  Like this was the freakin' Olympics or something.  It's a stupid little 5k fundraiser.  WTH is wrong with me?  I totally felt like a jerk afterward.
but I did beat her.  neener neener.


On a less competitive note, we have this fabulous new pool at our local Y and there are speakers that are in the pool walls so that when you are swimming (if they have the music on) you can hear music underwater!  That was pretty cool, I do have to say.  But a very weird thing--I wear ear plugs when I swim because I can't stand water in my ears.  So, when my head was out of the water, I couldn't hear the music (even though it was playing in the speakers out of the ceiling).  But when I went underwater, I could hear the music clear as a bell!  Even with the ear plugs in!  I know there is some physics class that I must have missed that should explain this, but pondering that very concept kept my mind busy for just about 1000 yds.  In water = very clear music even with ear plugs in.  Out of water = muffled music through ear plugs.  Still pondering that.

Have you ever said something out loud running that was meant to just stay in your own head?

Any ideas on the underwater ear plug thing?

For New England Runners!

Just a quickie post today to share an email I got today.  I received an email to register for a group called running4free.com.  It provides information to local races and links to register directly, but more importantly, there is no extra fee for online registration!  It doesn't look like every race in our area is particiapting, but there were about 10 listed through April.  Maybe it will gain more popularity and more races will join in. 

I like the idea of everything being listed in one place, but more glad about the fees being the same.  It would irritate me when there was an extra fee for online registration.

Anyhoo, if you are interested, here's the link:
http://running4free.com/

Have a great Friday!!

Not keeping up with the Jones'

My heart broke a little last night.  I cried inside for my daughter.  My eldest daughter (who is 12) was sad and crying last night because of Christmas.  This was the first year that she realized that some other families get bigger, more expensive, and just more things for Christmas. 

You may or may not know this about me, but I do not like Christmas at all for this very reason.  Christmas has been warped and distorted and disfigured into something not at all what it is supposed to be about.  I refuse to participate in the disgusting consumerism and waste that is Christmas now.  I budget and plan to spend around $300-400 per kid on the holiday.  I think that is reasonable and doable and it's what I choose to do.  I know others do waaaaayyyy more than that and that is fine.  It is just not fine for my family. 

The kids were happy with their gifts this year, the big gift was a Wii.  This is a huge deal in our family because we have never had any video games.  My husband and I don't like what they do to kids and the time that is wasted sitting in front of the TV or screen playing.  The kids do have a DS which they use mostly for car rides and plane trips.  So the Wii was a huge step for us and the kids were super excited. 

That is until this week.  When everyone goes back to school and the first question out of everyone's mouth is, "What did you get for Xmas?".  I guess the big gift around this area was the Kindle Fire which multiple kids in multiple families each got.  And apparently the Wii is pretty unimpressive to those that already have them.

So she is crying to me, sad about all the other cool gifts that the kids at school were bragging about getting and jealous (she admitted this feeling to me) about what she didn't get.  --Here's where parenting is really hard.-- 

How do you explain that Christmas is not about things?  It's about family, and friends and spending time with them and giving to others.  (which we do, but I really feel now, that we need to do more.  And something more meaningful, like donating time rather than just money.)  Christmas is about being thankful for what you have.  And sharing your good fortune with others.  I went on with telling her that there are always people who are going to have more, and always people who are going to have less.  We choose to spend less of our money on 'stuff' and more of our money on experiences like taking trips, going to sports camps, boating, fishing etc. 
 
Even as adults we still deal with this.  That person who get a new car every year or two.  Or always has the biggest tv going, or the newest clothes, shoes whatever.  You just can't keep up.  Nor should you feel the need to. 

I'm sorry and glad that she is learning this lesson.  Sorry that she has to feel sad about the gifts she received.   Sad that she feels like what she has isn't enough.  When in fact, she has more than enough and is so much more fortunate than she realizes.  Glad that she was able to talk about her feelings with me.   Glad that I think she understands, even if she still feels sad. 

Do you keep up with the Jones'?

Are you the Jones'? 

Parents:  Have you had to have this discussion with your children?  How did you handle it?

Year End Totals

Even though I did my best to come up with 2011 totals, I'm sure they are off a bit as I didn't start this blog until 2/11 and I didn't keep a running journal until sometime in May.  Even still, I'm kinda happy with my milage this past year and will be looking to set new goals for 2012.

Miles Run in 2011--600 (approximately)  I had to guestimate for January so it's probably a little low.  However, I'm pleasantly suprised that it's higher than 500. 

Milage Goal for 2012--1000  This shouldn't be too difficult to obtain if I continue the routine I'm on right now.

Spin Minutes for 2011--2625  If you assume ~ 16 mph then that equates to 164 miles biked. There is definitely room to improve in the biking department. 

Bike Milage Goal for 2012--250.  That seems like a reasonable amount to obtain.  I need to actually get on a bike and bike on the road.  That would make this goal a lot more fun to reach.  Maybe I'll try the bike portion of the Dempsey Challenge this year.  That would be something new for me.  I've never done strictly a bike race before. 

Swimming Yards--47,800  (I put this number in yards cause the number is so high and sounds better... lol)  That equates to about 27.2 miles.  That's pretty darn good, really!  This is also taking into account that our local Y pool was closed until October and I had to drive 20-30 minutes to get to a pool for most of the year.

Swimming Goal for 2012--I think 50 miles is an obtainable goal.  That assumes at least 1 mile of swimming each week and I'm doing that pretty consistently lately.  I woud like to get into that 100 mile club sometime this year but I won't make that an official goal.  Doubling my milage is more reasonable. 


Some awesome firsts for me this year!

--First sprint triathlon with one of my best friends.

wonder twin powers!  activate!

I may have just dated myself.....

First in age group!  woot!

--First 10K

--First and most awesome trip to Grand Canyon!!

--First 1/2 Marathon

sorry no pictures because it was pouring like a son-of-a-gun and my family was at my daughter's basketball game and the stupid race photographer didn't get a picture of me.  But I'm not bitter.  Really.  Much. 



I can't wait to see what 2012 brings!

December Review and Resolution Run

December turned out to be a better month for me exercise-wise than I realized!  Even though the holidays were a stress-inducing nightmare really relaxing time, I was still able to keep my fitness and remain active.  Here are the totals for the month:

Miles Run--21.2 eek.  That is pretty pathetic.  This darkness morning and night has really put a damper on my ability to run.  Next month will be better.  I promise!

Minutes on Spin Bike--305  Way up on the spin minutes!  At least I am still getting some quality time on the spin bike.  I should really kick ass in the bike portion of my spring tris, right?

Swim--13,100 yards!  That is almost 10 miles!  Holy crap!  That is pretty good, if I do say so myself.  If I am sucking in the running department, I am really making up for it in swimming and biking.  Again, like November, the kids are just loving the new pool and want to go swimming all the time.  They are all old enough that I can just ignore them let them do their own thing in the pool, while I get my laps in.  In fact, my lap swimming is becoming infectious.  Two of my kids, Big Sissy and Manimal, are swimming their own laps and keeping track so they can join the 100 mile club too!  Sissy has somewhere around 40 laps and Manimal is at 20.  They may be out of high school by the time they reach 100 miles, but I am so glad and proud that they want to try! 

Tennis--7 hours played.  Pretty consistent with the previous month.  If she's holding the class, then I am there two times a week.  If you have a cardio tennis program near you, you should really try it if you are looking for something different to add to your routine.  It really helps with your quickness. 

Weight Training--110 minutes.  This is up a fair amount from last month as well.  If I can keep this up, I should be in pretty good shape for all my races this spring. 

Races--None this month.  I hope to do one in January but we'll see.  This is the one month that we don't have something every stinkin' weekend.  That all starts in February when AAU basketball starts.  If a race is convenient, then I'll sign up.  Not a huge priority right now.

Current Book--I never ended up reading Little Bee, so we will have to try again this month.  I'm also going to begin reading Trespassor by Jack Dorion.  I really enjoyed his first book The Poacher's Son as did my husband, so we bought his second book.  He is an author from Maine!  *bonus*  I love supporting people from Maine.

Current Song--no new music to report.  Still same old, same old.

Current Happy Thing--we have a closing date for our house!  Yay!  We are set to close on 1/18.  Right now we are trying to get last of the big things out of the house.  We (by 'we' I mean my husband and two teenaged boys) moved the million pound woodstove and my stairmaster out yesterday.  Maybe I will actually use the thing if I set it up inside.  Today the hubs is taking apart the swingset and hopefully moving that.  Then all that is left is some stuff under the deck and random paint cans etc. 

Current Healthy Food Find--I am so enjoying the spaghetti squash!  I add it to about everything in place of pasta.  You may remember my recipe here, that replaces the actual spaghetti with the spaghetti squash.  If you haven't tried it as a pasta substitute, then you should.  It is a super easy way to add vegetables to your food, and not really taste them. 


Lastly, I participated in the Resolution Run yesterday held by Amanda from Run to the Finish. ! You had to run at least 1 mile on New Year's Day.  Well, here in Maine, it was an unbelievable 48 deg outside.  And sunny!  Imagine that!  It was a Christmas New Year's Day miracle!  So I took full advantage of my family sitting on the couch watching the Patriots, and went for a run.  It was going to be a 5 mile run, but then I got going and it was warm so I took off my jacket and stashed in the the guardrail and continued on.  I got to my 5 mile turn around point and decided to just do the loop instead, which was 6 miles.  Once I got back to my driveway, I then had to keep going to retreive my jacket, which added another 1.5 miles!  So, I got a 7.5 mile run in!  Awesome!  My longest run since my 1/2 mary in October.  I am a little sore today, but it was great to know that I can still do it.  Plus, it gives me double points in the HBBC!  ha!  bonus!

I did take pictures which I will try to post later if I can get them off my ipod.  I don't have an email account linked up to the ipod so getting those photos to my work computer is a little trickier.  I'll work on it this afternoon.  Thanks, Amanda for hosting the race!

How was your December?  Did you accomplish what you wanted to?

Is your new year off to a good start?

Happy New Year to all my bloggy (and regular) friends!