Archive for December, 2007

What day is it? Ah, Thursday. Almost to the weekend. Yesterday was my half-day of work and due to Doc having an appointment our schedule got flipped to morning hours. That means I had yesterday afternoon off. Nice. I got home and was at a loss of what to do with myself. No school work, no cleaning. And as ya’ll already know, I’m not a big tv watcher so I didn’t want to sit and watch tv. Uh. Okay. File Cabinet! I could go through the file cabinet and get rid of outdated, not-needed paperwork. Never fear. Heidi can always find something to do. I was in the middle of organizing and purging while jamming out to some music, when David came home. I was surprised to see him home already. Whew! Time flew. That meant it was time for our run. Due to the cold and snow we’ve found that running at night has been the way to go during the winter. It takes a bit of tweaking with your schedule, but it’s worked.

We debated as to what route we should run. The side streets are still slushy so we were going to try to avoid those at all costs. We decided on our route which we hadn’t done in awhile. Basically an out and back route on a decently traveled road. In order to get to the heart of the route we had to travel down a side street. Not fun. Slushy also means slippery. But by the time we got to the main road we were fine and took off. For the first time we ran our entire route in the street. If you could see our sidewalks, you’d understand why. On our morning runs we tend to run certain parts of our routes in the street but you’re not dealing with traffic at 5am, meaning you can run down the middle. Being a decently traveled road we had to stay as close to the side as possible, meaning we were running on an angle almost the entire time. That’s tough on your knees and hips for sure. When we hit our halfway point and turned around we also ran into wind. So not only were we battling traffic and running on an angle, we were battling wind coming off the lake. It was a hard run. A run where I thought I was going to have a horrible pace. It almost felt as though I was running in place. But to my surprise my time wasn’t bad. Huh, well that’s good.

Last night was a “date” night for us. My generous ‘rents watched the kids while we went to the movies. I know what most of you are thinking, “the “kids” are dogs, why do they need to be watched?” Well, Viking’s been going stir crazy as well. He’s been whining to go outside but once he gets outside he doesn’t go far with the snow. And with having hardwood floors he can play but it’s not as fun since he can’t grip well. The ‘rents have carpet and both the dogs live it up when they visit over there. So we couldn’t decide what to do….take the dogs over there to run or go to the movies and leave the dogs here. Well, the ‘rents offered to pick them up and take them over their house while we did our thing. Kill two birds with one stone. That also gave Sloopy someone to play with. Needless to say both of the dogs slept quite well last night. Thank you so much mom and dad!

We went to see the movie Enchanted. Quite cute. I guess it’d fall in the category of chick flick but it was funny at the same time. A good family movie. David will even admit that he liked it. But I have such a great husband. Of course, for many reasons, but one thing he’ll do is watch chick flicks with me and not complain. Believe it or not I think he actually likes them at times.

This morning David had to go into work early but I got up with him to get a run in. I had my route in my head, got all geared up, and went out. I didn’t even make it to the end of the street and had to turn around. The slush had turned to ice. There was a ton of black ice too, meaning once I hit a main street I’d still be chancing it. Not worth it. I came back in and did some pilates. Maybe the roads will clear even more today and I’ll be able to fit in a run tonight. If not atleast I’ve done the pilates. I’ll admit I wasn’t complaining too bad when the roads weren’t acceptable this morning….my right hip is killing me and I can only guess that’s from running on an angle yesterday. When I started running I didn’t know it’d be this adventurous. Little did I know…

There’s ice still on the ground meaning no running for today, again. David was so gracious to surprise me yesterday with a pair of YakTrax in hopes to help me out. They are things to put on your shoes that help you grip ice/snow. However, all that was available was the walker version meaning they probably aren’t strong enough to withstand constant pounding from running. Ah well. He tried and I’m truly thankful. As of now I have an email into Erika and hope to get a reply soon to know what she recommends. She told me a few weeks back about a specific brand, but the name has left my mind. By the time I get them the snow will have melted and I won’t need them. But at least I’ll be prepared for the next snowfall.

Christmas is coming. What does that mean? Holiday parties. When I think of Holiday Parties, I think stress. Thankfully we only have one gathering. The thing is, it’s the stressful to go to one. Actually, I enjoy them thoroughly. It’s the preparation that’s stressful for me. No, not the cooking, cleaning, etc. It’s the trying to find something to wear. I know 9 out of 10 people could care less what I’m wearing, but it’s still something I dread thinking about. The bottom line is I don’t dress up. I have no reason to dress up. I wear scrubs when I work, which is 5-6 days per week, and I work 12 hour days. What does that mean? I live in my scrubs. When I get home I don’t change out of my scrubs and get all dolled up. If anything, I hop in the shower and get cozy in PJ’s and head to bed. And on my off days it’s jeans and a t-shirt or sweater. Gone are the days that I dressed up for school at least 2 days a week. I couldn’t imagine a career change at this time. Not only would I hate dressing up everyday but I would have nothing to wear. And when I say nothing, I mean nothing. You open my closet and 3/4 of my clothes are scrubs. No joke.

The only time I dress up is usually for family gatherings. And that usually requires a purchase of a new outfit. Having already worn an outfit for the last gathering, Heaven forbid I would wear it to the next. Then add on top of that, with my ever changing weight none of the clothes ever fit. I always have every size on God’s green Earth in my closet, BUT the size I need. And you know I can’t just walk into a store, pick out an outfit and have it be perfect. Oh, do I wish that were the case. I think dress pants are even harder to find than jeans. They will fit perfectly around the waist but will drag on the ground (and that’s with 3 inch heels!). And it’s not something that you can easily rig with safety pins or something. We’re talking about 3 inches on the ground. But if I go with the petite sizing, they’re high waters. Then you have all of these gorgeous dresses for the winter season. All with no sleeves. Right. Like I’m going to got out in a dress with no sleeves. What are they thinking?

So basically what it comes down to is for anything that I must dress up for, I have to go out and purchase an outfit that by next season/year I cannot wear due to already having worn it or size. I hold on to it for a few years, which crowds my closet, and then finally get rid of it. What a waste. And as stated in a previous post, I’ve recently become more aware of my wastefulness. I am truly thankful for all I have, but I look at it all, especially clothes-wise, and it hurts my heart. By being more aware of my wastefulness shopping is definitely not as fun anymore but at least I’m aware of it. Instead of buying it just because it’s cute I go through the “do I need it?” questions and 99% of the time it’s answered with a “no.” I think I’ll just stick with my scrubs and jeans for the time being. Try to simplify. Only give me the bare necessities, in all aspects of my life. I’m not there yet, nor will I ever be. But I can try.

As for this weekend’s family gathering. I have no idea what I’m going to wear. I think it may just be jeans. This I do know, my closet has gone through it’s purge for this month and it’s nice having space. I think I’ll keep it that way.

Good Thursday to ya’ll. The weather cleared up enough for a run this evening. Whew. I needed it. It wasn’t a stressful day from work but I was determined to get out for a run. I was all pumped coming home from work, jammin’ in the car, then when I got home I hit a few snags. I wanted to try my MP3 player out for the first time during a run. I didn’t change the ear buds before going to Hawaii but determined while on the trip I needed to change them to a smaller size. So I went to change them and do you think I can find the 2 extras sets provided? Nah, of course not. Frustration. Don’t you hate it when you put something in a safe place so you won’t lose it and then you end up losing it anyway? This drives me crazy! I still chose to take my MP3 just to try it out. Then I forgot my Garmin walking out the door. That’s what happens when you’re out of routine, you forget things. I went back inside and grabbed it. Then it wouldn’t pick up a signal. It took so long that I ended up back inside….why freeze outside while it waits to pick up a signal? I was truly frustrated at that point along with being hungry. All while being determined to go for a run. And at that point I knew I truly needed that time to myself, even if I had already worked a 12 hour day. It finally got the signal and off I went.

Running with music/MP3 player is definitely different than what I’m used to. It may take some time getting used to….getting the perfect volume, figuring out where to put the thing (it has a clip and most of my clothes have a pocket for such a device but I want to be able to change it if need be. I ended up wrapping the excess earphone cord around the unit and held it. You also have the constant “thump, thump, thump” in your ears from the cords moving.

I started out with Shrek 2′s “I Need A Hero.” Then it was Dirty Dancing Havana Nights’ “Do You Only Want To Dance?”, then it took off to Michael Sembello’s “Maniac” Awww yeah! Kickin’ it up a notch. All I could do was think of was the new Kia commercial with the guy dancing to Maniac. Eminem’s “Til I Collapse” started up but I had to change it….too slow at the rate I was going. I finished up to Israel Houghton and New Breed’s “Favor Of The Lord” I was definitely moving at that point and even debated whether to go longer, but I had David waiting at home (He had already run) ready to watch some Pirates 3 (we only started the special features tonight due to time).

I was pumped to see what my Garmin had to say but was also ready to have disappointment if I hadn’t kept as good of a pace as I thought. Well, I had a pleasant moment when the Garmin read that I had one of my best times to date. Sweet. Maybe I will stick with the MP3 player. It definitely kept my mind going. It’s also amazing how much noise you realize you make. Maybe people won’t understand me…but with the earbuds in it’s almost like wearing ear plugs and you hear the breathing noises you’re making. I thought to myself, “Do I always breathe that loud? Is it noticable to those around me?” Weird. I wonder what the player will have in store for me on my next run. Oh what fun. No more mental MP3 for me!