I'm a killer...

On our ride home tonight a baby bunny ran out in front of me and there was nowhere to go.

I cried.

Then I came home and gave Brunswik some extra cuddles and kisses.

I feel awful.

It's raining. It's Pouring.

I wish I were snoring!

Rainy days like this make me sleepy. Who doesn't get sleepy when it's so gloomy outside? It makes you want to spend the whole day in bed with a good book and a nice soft blanket. Days like this are very good for taking naps.

I love to take naps. Sleep is very important to me. I think the recommended amount of sleep for adults is something like 5-6 hours. They say that a child needs the most sleep to function and adults need the least amount. Well, I don't know who these scientists are or who they are performing their sleep analysis tests on, but they have never met me or anyone like me.

I need a minimum of 7 hours of sleep in a 24 hour period if you don't want me to be a raging cranky pants. I prefer my sleep to come in one long string of 7-8 hours while it's dark out. But that doesn't always happen, so I have to get it other times. That's where my naps come in. Naps carried me through college. I took naps on a regular basis. I even planned them out. I'd write them in my planner. 8 o'clock class, 9 o'clock class, study break, 12 o'clock lunch, 1 o'clock nap, 2 o'clock class.

I also do not like to be awakened from my nap. If you do, you'd better watch out! I am a morning person and enjoy getting up early, but wake me up from an afternoon nap before I'm good and ready and I will beat you down! Or I just won't respond at all.

Once, my first year of college, I was taking a well earned nap before dinner. I had closed my curtains and crawled under my covers and fallen fast asleep. The dining hall opened at 5 o'clock every night, and Andy was always one of the first in line. If you know men, you know that you shouldn't mess with their eating schedule. Otherwise, food consumes their thoughts and they are unable to function as human beings until they are allowed to eat.

I don't remember what had been happening during this particular day, but apparently it had been very taxing because I was out. So out, that when Andy called me to go to dinner and I answered the phone I didn't know who he was. I didn't know where I was, much less who was on the other end of the phone. This is how it went:

RingRing, RingRing, RingRing

I pick it up

Me: Hello?

Andy: Hey! Are you ready to go to dinner?

Me: (trying to figure out what dinner is) Ok.

Andy: OK, well I'll meet you downstairs.

Long pause

Me: (still very confused) Who is this?

Andy: It's Andy!

Long pause

Me: Who?

Andy: Your boyfriend! Andy!?!

Long pause
And then it all came rushing back

Me: Oh! Is it time for dinner? OK. I'll be down in a minute.

At this point we had been dating about two and a half years and the fact that I couldn't remember him was quite a kick to the ego. Once we both got jobs as RD's and had keys that allowed us to get into each other's apartments he would just come in and wake me up with a kiss on the head. Smart move honey, smart move.

Triumphant!

I just finished my 20 minute run.

I'm elated that I finished it and didn't die.

I'm also exhausted because I just ran 20 minutes non stop.

Week 6, here I come.

Herpes of the face

I have a giant cold sore in the middle of my lower lip. It's grotesque.

The freak show will be here all week ladies and gentlemen. Get your tickets at the door.

8 minute run!!!

I ran for 8 minutes straight today! Twice!!

My workday was extra stressful so I came home, changed clothes, and went straight to the track. I usually wait until about 7:30 or 8 so the temperature has cooled down and things are mostly in the shade, but I just needed to blow off some steam.

It's was a lot hotter today than it had been. I believe the thermometer said 85 when I left home, but one thing you can always count on up here in the mountains is a breeze. So my run wasn't too bad at all, and I didn't nearly die like I thought I might.

Although, my earphones kept falling out because my ears were hot and sweaty. I've got to get some new ones soon. No doubt about it.

Tweetsie Pictures

Here are some pics from the Tweetsie trip I took with the fam Saturday. Enjoy!

The flower child and the wild child

Why is that thing in my face?

Ridin' a horse

On the train

He's a Nana's boy

Mamaw on the trainWatching the ground fly by
I went to college with this cowboy

Not another Batman review...

Actually it is, but it isn't like most of the raving reviews I've seen.

Andy and I went to see The Dark Knight this afternoon. I think I'm the odd man out here when I say that I was disappointed. I will not go into a lot of detail for those of you that haven't seen it. If you would like to see my opinion of the movie you can read it over at Jenny's blog. She pretty much said it all.

I have another disappointment to interject though. I'm not so excited about the dark twists and turns that are being taken in today's superhero movies. They did the same thing with Spider Man 3 as they have done with The Dark Knight, though it's admittedly more intense in the later. I understand that the movies are being made to follow the comic books more closely. My issue is that it seems like these darker, more intense movies are being marketed for all ages. The Dark Knight is rated PG-13, but who's kidding who here? What kid doesn't want to go see Batman catch the bad guys, 13 or not? It just seems like these movies have a lot of psychological undertones that children wouldn't be able to understand. In The Dark Knight they aren't undertones really. It's as much a psychological thriller as it is an action movie. But then you go to the toy store and there is an entire isle dedicated to these superheros. So who is really to blame here? They film industry or the toy industry?

I don't know, and nothing has really happened for anyone to be blamed. It's just a concern I have, and I'm going to have to leave it up to good parenting (assuming that still exists) to determine if a child is ready to see this movie or any other like it. But, if I had a child right now, I would be making the decision to NOT let him/her go to see The Dark Knight.

Although, there was a preview for a new Pixar film that I would like to see, even in my childless state.

Congratulations Shannon and Khuong!!!!

My good friend Shannon got engaged to her boyfriend of two years yesterday afternoon!!! Congratulations guys!! I'm so excited for you!!!!

Shannon and Khuong at our wedding

Busy day

I just got back from doing Week 5, Day 1 of the C25K program. I feel really good. I went to the park today instead of the college track and I could definitely tell a difference in the two tracks. I'm used to running on a flat surface covered in rubber, and the track at the park has neither of those things. I didn't take to long to adjust to the hard pavement, but integrating hills into the workout definitely made it more of a challenge. I think I'm going to start using the track at the park more often, just so I don't get too used to running on flat land.

I've got a lot going on today so I need to go get showered. I'm going to Tweetsie Rail Road with my Mom, Mamaw and niece & nephews this morning/afternoon. Then we are cooking dinner for Andy's parents and their friend Ann. We're having pizza on the grill. Yum!

Week 4, Day 3 C25K

I just finished week 4!! I'm feeling better and better each time I run. Next week is going to be a challenge, but I'm confident that I can do it.

1st run/walk with the ipod.

My ipod came in yesterday!! Hip hip horray!! I pink puffy heart that little black piece of technology. It's very cool and I don't know why I didn't get one before. We are definitely going to have to get Andy one of his own because he has plans to fill my new little friend with golf podcasts.

I do think the ipod helped with my workout. I've been tired this week, so my pace hasn't been up to it's usual slowness. The past two workouts it's been super slow. But having music seemed to make the time pass more quickly. The ear phones hurt my ears though. They are too big and they don't fit well, so I'm going to go in search of something different.

Also, I keep telling myself that I'm going to get up early and do my workout before work. That just hasn't happened. I've felt like crap the early part of this week and only this morning did I wake up feeling normal. So maybe tomorrow, but I don't mind going late in the evening either. Last night I went at 8 and it was nice. There was a good breeze and the sun was behind the mountains which made for a much easier workout.

The kindness of others...

never ceases to amaze me. Andy and I are blessed beyond measure.

That is all I'm going to say right now. I'll share more at a later date.

My man is coming home today!!

Woohoo!! It's been a long 3 1/2 days without Andy. I've done a lot to entertain myself, but life just isn't the same when he's gone. I've been watching a lot of movies to help distract me. I rented "Penelope" and "Pirates of the Caribbean 3" on Thursday. "Penelope" was very cute. It's not Oscar worthy, but it's a good story and has a good message. Two thumbs up! "Pirates" was just ok. I was very disappointed in the ending, and I thought it was just way too long. It's 10 minutes short of 3 hours and I got tired of watching it. That was kind of upsetting because I really enjoyed the first two.

Yesterday I went to see "Mamma Mia" by myself. I like going to movies alone sometimes. I really enjoyed "Mamma Mia". I don't often like musicals made into movies because I feel like the music doesn't fit. I get tired of them singing and wish they would just get on with the story. But this one wasn't like that at all. I thought they did a really good job of making the music part of the story rather than just plopping some songs in there and calling it a musical. Anyway, I recommend it as a girl's movie. Guys aren't going to get into this one too much.

I got up this morning and did Week 4, Day 1 of C25K. I alternated 3 minutes and 5 minutes of running with walking. It went pretty well. I meant to get up early and go before the heat set in, and I even set my alarm, but I just couldn't bring myself to get out of bed at 7. So I ended up at the track about 20 after 9. I usually don't go when the sun is shining directly on the track and I know that slowed me down a little. And I haven't run 5 minutes non-stop yet, so that was a struggle. But I made it through and I feel good. Mornings are busy though. There were a lot of people there and I prefer a less busy track while I'm jogging/walking. I'm going to try some different times in the morning and see what is the least active time. I'm not sure if Andy is going to join me anymore. He really misses cycling and hasn't been since we started this. Today marks the 3rd day that I've gone alone and I don't mind it now. I did when I first started the program, but I think I'll be fine. I enjoy going alone now that I'm a little more conditioned. And my ipod should be here in the next couple of days so I'll have that to keep me company too!! I can't wait!!!

Week 3, Day 3 C25K

Week3 is complete!!!! I survived, and it didn't give me nearly as much trouble as I thought it would. I feel pretty good after tonights workout and I'm looking forward to a night of relaxation now. I got kind of a late start because Christina came into town today and we had an early dinner and then spent way too much time browsing around the mall. But it was really good to catch up, so I didn't mind the delay in my workout. I got it in just before dark and that's all that really matters.

Week 3, Day 2 C25K

Our internet is down at home so I didn't get to post this last night. It's been on the fritz for a few days and it looks like we are going to have to call the cable company. I'll have to wait on them to show up in a four hour window, and when they finally decide to grace me with their presence they'll take about two seconds to hook up their little machine to tell me that some cord or another went bad. Then they'll give me this look that says, "You mean I had to drive all the way out here to replace a cord? Why couldn't you figure that out for yourself?" Or he'll fancy himself my knight in shinning armor and give a different look that says, "There you go little lady I fixed your problem for you. How about a hug and kiss?" Either way, I'll shoot him a look back that says, "This is why we pay your company the big bucks. So just replace the cord and go away." Can you tell that I am so looking forward to a visit from the cable repair man?

But I digress. My intent was to discuss my C25K progress to date. I went for my workout last night all alone. Andy came home and declared that he was just to tired to go workout and he needed to rest a night before 4 days of golf. Then I declared that if I was going alone there had better be dinner waiting for me when I got home. We decided that he would go get a rotisserie chicken from the grocery and make a nice big salad. So off I went.

At first I thought I would have a change of pace and go somewhere else. We have been using the track at the college because Andy has bad knees and the rubber coated surface is easier on him. I drove to the park and was greeted by a slew of cars. There was a birthday party happening at 7:00 at night and there were about 20 kids running around. Now in a large park that would not be an issue. But our park is mini sized. It usually fits our one stop light town quite well. But 20 kids makes for a crowded park and not a good workout as I would have spent more time dodging them than actually exercising.

I turned around and went back to the track. It was empty and so I started my workout. I actually feel much better than I have been. It seemed like I was going at a faster and more consistent pace. I like week 3 much better than week 2. Stopping and going so often about killed me. Running for longer amounts of time is much better and it gives me hope that I will in fact be able to run non stop for 30 minutes by the end of this. My knees are almost completely healed. Horray for good shoes! My left one just gives me a little trouble now and my right doesn't hurt at all. My right ankle, on the other hand, is starting to cause some problems. My old injury from two years ago is rearing it's ugly head. Not to the point that I can't jog, but I definitely notice the pain. I decided that I need to get an ankle brace to help support it until it builds up strength to support itself.

I finished my workout and drove home only to find an empty apartment and a missing husband. When I looked at my cell phone I saw that Andy had been trying to reach me for quite a while. He had been to three different grocery stores to find a rotisserie chicken, to no avail. I felt bad that he had done that. I didn't mean for him to go on a wild goose (or chicken) hunt. So, since I needed an ankle brace I just went to meet him for dinner in town and then went to get my brace. Hopefully it will help. We'll see what happens tomorrow.

And suddenly I'm free

It seems like our summer has been packed with an unending list of appointments. We've had lots to do, places to go, people to see. It's funny to me because I don't remember a summer that was so full of plans. Summer has always been a lazy time of year. And I've always enjoyed that. And this upcoming weekend was packed out in keeping with the trend.

We didn't have anything set in stone, but at some point we were going to have Andy's parents up for a visit (Jack & Kathie, if you are reading this don't think you aren't still welcome this weekend. You can come entertain just me if you would like) and then we were going to be entertaining Julie and Frank who were going to be staying in the area for a while. But now, as hump day is half over, I find myself starting down the barrel of what's left of the week into a very empty and plan free weekend.

Andy got a call from Trevor asking if he could play in the member-guest golf tournament this weekend at his country club. The words "for free" came into play and Andy was totally up to the challenge. Free golf Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday? Hell yes, he said. Not to mention all the other free shenanigans that go on there. You see, Andy played in this same tournament last year, but seeing as how he hasn't picked up a golf club since then, when Trevor originally asked him this year Andy declined and encouraged Trevor to find someone who would be a better partner. Enter Brent. Another friend in their large circle. Brent paid his entry fee and was all ready to go for this weekend. Enter Brent's appendix. All this adds up to Andy's free golf weekend and Joanna's golf widow weekend.

But all was not lost. Julie and Frank were still going to be here and if nothing else they could have dinner with us on Sunday night after Andy got home, right? Enter Julie's poor daddy, Philip. You see, Philip is a very handy man and at the moment he is using his handy man skills to build himself a new house. Last night while he was working on said house he somehow managed to seriously injure his right hand. I don't know the full details of the accident, but his hand got caught in something resulting in two broken bones and a large portion of skin being pealed back. Yeouch!

Philip is going to be ok (thank goodness!!), but now Julie is committed to taking care of her poor dad in his time of need. He lives alone and, since he only has one functioning hand at the moment, can't fend for himself. So his loving daughter has brought him to live with her for a week and a half. But as you can imagine this has put a damper on her and Frank's plans to visit the fair western part of our state this weekend. She is doing everything she can to keep their little vacation in tact and provide Philip with the care he needs. But things aren't looking good.

The last two weekends have been plan free as well, but I don't remember the last time I had three (count them three!!!) free weekends. Whatever will I do with myself? I'm kind of sad though. Especially since the other busy weekends have involved us traveling and this one had us staying at home the whole time. That is a rarity for us.

For now it's just me and my bunny this weekend (and four taxidermed deer, which is another post entirely), unless someone would like to volunteer to keep me company.

And for the stalkers out there who would think to come take advantage of me in my vulnerable state, keep in mind that I live with a viscous attack bunny. Have you ever seen Monty Python and the Holy Grail? Yeah... like that.

Week 3, Day 1 C25K

I feel like today was SOOOOOOOOOOOO much easier than the last couple of weeks. We have started jogging for longer lengths of time. We alternate 90 seconds of jogging and 3 minutes of jogging this week. 3 minutes is so much better. I don't get tired out as easily. It's great.

My knees are still slowing me down. I got proper shoes on Thursday last week, but my knees are still trying to heal from the damage I did to them in the wrong shoes. And my feet are trying to break in new shoes. Things are getting better, but there is still pain. My body feels great from the knees up.

I also got mad today because Andy gets so far ahead of me. He runs with me at the beginning and then he starts to pull ahead. I feel like it gives me false hope. It makes me think that I'm getting faster but really he's just taking smaller strides. I also know that his strides are twice what mine are, but that still doesn't make me feel better. He better watch out though because once my knees don't feel like knives are stabbing into them I'm totally going to smoke his ass.

Week 2, Day 3 C25K

I want to die.






That is all.

My body is rebelling.

Last night Andy and I completed Week 2, Day 2. It' seems to be getting easier. I'm not out of breath as easily and the time seems to pass pretty quickly. I think I've even noticed a change in my body. But holy hell do my legs hurt. I said before that my knees were hurting. Well, they didn't stop hurting. And the pain had translated into my shins and ankles. I think I'm tensing up from the pain in my knees and causing the rest of my legs to work harder. Different shoes might help, so I'm going to go in search of the perfect running shoes.

Andy thinks it's because my body isn't used to this and I should just work through the pain. I have conflicting feelings about that. While it's true I haven't had any trauma to my knees and I've never had knee problems in the past, I don't want to crunk up my body. My legs have always been the strongest part of me and I don't understand why this is happening now. I want to complete this program and continue running afterwards. I'm committed to it. I started it and I want to finish it. Just not at the expense of my knees. In all honesty, this morning they don't seem to be hurting as much. Just a little pain. So maybe Andy is right and they just need to build their strength back up. If anyone out there in cyber land has any knowledge or thought to pass on please leave me a comment.

In other parts of my body... my sweet tooth has been giving me quite the fit lately. Every other part of me says, "No! Resist the sugar! We are trying to get fit here!!" But that damn sweet tooth just won't shut up.

I've actually done pretty well considering that my love for all things sweet has been an all consuming part of my person ever since I can remember. And I've never gotten sick off of sweets. It seems like everyone has some story or another of when they ate to much of this or that and threw up all over the place. Not me. I've never eaten myself sick from sweets. Or from anything for that matter. I'm the thinnest fat person I know. Don't you worry though, it's been catching up with me the past couple of years. My middle is considerably larger than it used to be. Andy even suggested that once I start to loose weight my knees probably will stop hurting. For the good of our marriage I ignored that comment.

But alas, my sweet tooth and my love for baking are winning against my will power. I've been in the mood to bake lately. I'm thinking of having a baking marathon this weekend, and then promptly sending all the sweets to Alpine with Andy for all those college students to fuel themselves on. I will, of course, be keeping a couple for myself, but just a couple.

Last night I had a craving for lemon bars. I was browsing cooking blogs yesterday and I saw a picture of the most delicious looking lemon bars I have ever seen. Damn people and their fancy cameras that take pictures that make you want to lick the screen. As I didn't want to make a trip to the grocery store for all the fancy ingredients that went with that delectable picture, I looked up a good 'ole Paula Deen recipe instead. Quick, easy, and delicious, with enough butter to clog a major artery over night. So I whipped up a batch of Paula's lemon bars. I took them out of the oven right after I got dressed to go run. They were my incentive to finish the workout and not give into my throbbing lower limbs.

So without further ado, and because I started this blog with the intention of it being a cooking blog, here is the recipe:

Lemon Bars (FoodNetwork.com, Paula Deen)

Crust:
2 cups all purpose flour
1 cup confectioners sugar
pinch of salt
2 sticks butter, room temperature (plus more for greasing)

Preheat oven to 350. Grease a 9x13x2 baking dish, set aside. Mix together the first three ingredients, then cut in the butter until the dough becomes crumbly. Press the crust into the bottom of the baking dish. Bake for 20 minutes.

Filling:
4 eggs
2 cups granulated sugar
6 tablespoons all purpose flour
6 tablespoons fresh lemon juice (that's about 3 large lemons, but I used the kind out of the plastic lemon b/c I didn't have that many lemons on hand)

Blend all the ingredients together and pour over pre-baked crust. Put it back in the oven for another 25 minutes. Sprinkle with confectioners sugar before serving.

I recommend letting the bars cool at least 20 minutes before you try to serve them.

The lemon bars were very good. The only complaint that we had was that they sometimes seem more sweet than lemony. Next time I'm going to add some lemon zest into the crust mixture so that can be infused with lemon flavor too.

Week 2, Day 1 C25K, repeat.

Andy and I got busy (read: lazy) last week and we only completed two of the days in our C25K program. So we decided to just do the whole week over. We just finished the first night (again) and my knees are putting up a battle. I don't know what is wrong. I've never had knee problems. And they haven't hurt until today. They have been hurting at work though, especially if they are bent for a long period of time. So I'm going to try and keep them uncrossed and not tuck my feet under me. We'll see how it goes. It could result in back pain because my back has never been real happy about me sitting in the same position for a long period of time. Hope and pray that my body is just trying to adjust and this isn't it's way of telling me to knock it off.

My long weekend was nice and relaxing. I had a long to do list, of which I only got a couple of things done. But it was nice to have some extra time away from work and to just relax. Andy worked the whole weekend, which was kind of crappy, but that's the job and it doesn't happen every weekend.

He did manage to get off early Sunday and we went to see Wanted. We never go to the movies, so this was quite the night out for us. We got popcorn, a drink and two types of candy. The movie was good. I would watch it again. Probably not in the theater, but something has to be Oscar worthy for me to pay that much again to see it. Since our $1 theater closed we are cheapskates about the movies.

I finally managed to get some wedding pictures framed this weekend!! They are propped up on the mantle until we decide where to hang them. But, hell, after two years I finally have something in a frame! Woohoo!!