I've recently started running again and it's going very well. Three years ago, when we moved to this area, I had decided to train for a marathon. I was really enjoying running long distances - and I was well on my way. I had a running partner who lived just down the street from me - she and I would meet at 5:30 a.m. to go for 4-5 miles -- it was often dark at that time of morning, so it was great to have a partner for safety and company. Also during that time, I had a really crappy job where my bosses had no work for me to do, so it was no problem for me to take 2-hour lunches to go run for 6 miles and then lift weights, shower, etc, and get back to work. I was running a LOT.
I was running too much - so much so that I hurt myself really badly. Thousands of dollars of physical therapy badly. Badly enough that my longest run ever was 16 miles and my only race was a half-marathon. It was a real disappointment that I wasn't able to run that marathon. It has taken a very long time for me to heal and to learn how to take care of myself when running - I think I'm there.
It feels really good to run, both when I'm at it and the other 23 hours of my day. I'm slowly working on adding distance - I'm much more interested in distance than speed - and I'm now up to about 16 miles / week. Without pain.
I'm gonna run a marathon at some point, dammit. I want a bumper sticker that says 26.2.
Tuesday, August 15, 2006
Tuesday, August 08, 2006
Crisis in the Office
I am out of chocolate.
I keep a bar of dark chocolate in my desk drawer so I can have a little bit every afternoon. I finished it last Friday. I was not in the office yesterday because my hormone levels are out of control and I was feeling really sick.
High hormone levels + no chocolate in the office = it could get real ugly around here.
I keep a bar of dark chocolate in my desk drawer so I can have a little bit every afternoon. I finished it last Friday. I was not in the office yesterday because my hormone levels are out of control and I was feeling really sick.
High hormone levels + no chocolate in the office = it could get real ugly around here.
Friday, August 04, 2006
Catching up
Last week I got an email from someone who knew me in high school. One of my high school pals (one of the few who knows how to find me) keeps an email directory of some of our classmates online and he keeps all the women's maiden names there. Occasionally, some blast from my past will find me there and we get to catch up. However, last week, I got an email from someone and I could not remember who this person was.
I vaguely remembered his name, but couldn't see his face. That led me to want to look in my senior year book. However, when my birth parents divorced and sold the house that I grew up in, the box with all those books and photos in it got lost - I didn't live there any longer and didn't think to rescue it. So before I wrote back to this fellow, I decided that I needed to get my hands on that year book. I finally had the brilliant idea to go to the source - I tracked down the current year book sponsor at my high school and asked if there happened to be any extras of my year lying around. You know what?! One's on its way to me now!
But since this email was growing old in my in-box, I decided to just reply and hope that I could get some more clues about this once-friend. I wrote back, said it was good to hear from him, sent him some brief details of my current life, and a photo of me and Sparkelstone at our wedding (slyly thinking that it would encourage him to also send a photo, while also very clearly setting the boundaries of this correspondence. Sparkle says this guy is doing a Hi Fidelity thing here.). Well, he didn't take the hint about sending a photo, but he did write back and included some details that made me remember him. He was in 11th grade when I was in 9th grade and he actually took me to his prom! I had completely forgotten about that episode!
It was fun to catch up a little and to learn about the path his life has taken. His eldest daughter is now 15 - one year older than I was when I went to prom with him. Most days I don't feel how much time has passed - but damn, that brought it home.
This whole email and the subsequent search for my year book has inspired in me a desire to reconnect with some old friends. I had a group of girls who really meant the world to me for a LONG time in my life and I would love to know how they are. I wonder what they're doing, where they're living, what adventures they've had. The danged thing about looking up old girlfriends, tho, is that most of us don't have the same last name that we were born with. And me, I don't even use the same first name that all those girls would know me by.
I vaguely remembered his name, but couldn't see his face. That led me to want to look in my senior year book. However, when my birth parents divorced and sold the house that I grew up in, the box with all those books and photos in it got lost - I didn't live there any longer and didn't think to rescue it. So before I wrote back to this fellow, I decided that I needed to get my hands on that year book. I finally had the brilliant idea to go to the source - I tracked down the current year book sponsor at my high school and asked if there happened to be any extras of my year lying around. You know what?! One's on its way to me now!
But since this email was growing old in my in-box, I decided to just reply and hope that I could get some more clues about this once-friend. I wrote back, said it was good to hear from him, sent him some brief details of my current life, and a photo of me and Sparkelstone at our wedding (slyly thinking that it would encourage him to also send a photo, while also very clearly setting the boundaries of this correspondence. Sparkle says this guy is doing a Hi Fidelity thing here.). Well, he didn't take the hint about sending a photo, but he did write back and included some details that made me remember him. He was in 11th grade when I was in 9th grade and he actually took me to his prom! I had completely forgotten about that episode!
It was fun to catch up a little and to learn about the path his life has taken. His eldest daughter is now 15 - one year older than I was when I went to prom with him. Most days I don't feel how much time has passed - but damn, that brought it home.
This whole email and the subsequent search for my year book has inspired in me a desire to reconnect with some old friends. I had a group of girls who really meant the world to me for a LONG time in my life and I would love to know how they are. I wonder what they're doing, where they're living, what adventures they've had. The danged thing about looking up old girlfriends, tho, is that most of us don't have the same last name that we were born with. And me, I don't even use the same first name that all those girls would know me by.
Wednesday, August 02, 2006
The "P" Word
I am a do-er. I'm a planner and director - I'm very good at setting goals and then making things happen so that I can get where I want to be. That is, I've been very good at those things until this year.
This year, I've learned the hardest lesson - that just because I've made up my mind and I like the timing, things don't just happen. And really, I think I get it. Really. I'm not just saying that I get it so the Universe will ease up. I'm cool.
Sparky and I moved into our house just over 2 years ago. When we did that, we immediately started trying to make a baby. Well, it's been 28 months now and there's still no baby on the way. That's had some hard moments. I even had a couple of months when I was trying to talk Sparky into saying that we just wouldn't have kids - that we'd be DINKs for the rest of our lives. I'm so glad that Sparklestone already had a great command of the P-word because he just wouldn't go for it. We're still trying and we've made a deal that if I'm not preggers after 2 more assisted tries, we're gonna adopt a baby. Or four. And then I'm sure I'll get pregnant.
We've also been trying to sell our house in this seriously cooling-off market. Only we didn't have any idea how cool the market was getting when we listed our house - so we had a bit of anxiety over the fact that it took 2 months to get an offer. Then after getting the offer - get this - the buyers didn't settle. That's right, they backed out of the deal after 2 stinkin' weeks of being in default of contract. So our house is back on the market. We had a week of serious bile - serious bile - but what are you gonna do?
July was a tough month, but we're just plowing ahead. I can't control everything. You hear that, Universe? Now you might as well start cooperating b/c I'm not fighting anymore anyway.
And speaking of patience, I'm a little astounded that blogspot still has my blog active. Dang.
This year, I've learned the hardest lesson - that just because I've made up my mind and I like the timing, things don't just happen. And really, I think I get it. Really. I'm not just saying that I get it so the Universe will ease up. I'm cool.
Sparky and I moved into our house just over 2 years ago. When we did that, we immediately started trying to make a baby. Well, it's been 28 months now and there's still no baby on the way. That's had some hard moments. I even had a couple of months when I was trying to talk Sparky into saying that we just wouldn't have kids - that we'd be DINKs for the rest of our lives. I'm so glad that Sparklestone already had a great command of the P-word because he just wouldn't go for it. We're still trying and we've made a deal that if I'm not preggers after 2 more assisted tries, we're gonna adopt a baby. Or four. And then I'm sure I'll get pregnant.
We've also been trying to sell our house in this seriously cooling-off market. Only we didn't have any idea how cool the market was getting when we listed our house - so we had a bit of anxiety over the fact that it took 2 months to get an offer. Then after getting the offer - get this - the buyers didn't settle. That's right, they backed out of the deal after 2 stinkin' weeks of being in default of contract. So our house is back on the market. We had a week of serious bile - serious bile - but what are you gonna do?
July was a tough month, but we're just plowing ahead. I can't control everything. You hear that, Universe? Now you might as well start cooperating b/c I'm not fighting anymore anyway.
And speaking of patience, I'm a little astounded that blogspot still has my blog active. Dang.
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