It's that time again...

New Year's Resolution time! Do you make them? I usually don't, unless I need to motivate myself to do something...and this year, I have motivation in the form of an extra 5-7 lbs that have taken up residence on my hips since my half marathon in October. Not enough weight that my clothes don't fit, but enough that those same clothes are juuuust a little tight. So, my New Year's Resolution this year is to actually get my lazy ass moving at the gym or outside running at least 5x/week. I'm hoping the sweet ass running tights I got at Road Runner Sports with some Christmas $$$ will help my motivation...I wore them yesterday on a 5 mile run and wondered what I ever did without them :D

I also need to rededicate myself to eating better (instead of indulging my weekly Wendy's craving)...which is going to be difficult with the very large bag of candy currently sitting in my kitchen. Thanks, Mom, Dad, and in-laws :P If you know me, you know I love chocolate and tend to binge on it...but that has.to.stop. Since I don't do well with multiple resolutions, though, I'm not officially making eating healthier a resolution...just something I need to do.

As part of my effort to get my butt in gear more, I actually tried a yoga class tonight (on top of the hour of cardio I did at the gym earlier). Admittedly, it was because my friend Anne talked me into it (and didn't tell me it was a 75 minute class)...but it was pretty much what I expected it to be. I am fully aware of the fact that the strength in my upper body/core is seriously lacking, and yoga just reminds me of this fact and that's something I need to work on. Plus, I've read a lot of stuff that says yoga is beneficial for running, so there you go. Double bonus! I can see myself going again...especially if my peoples are going.

So there you have it! Now, time to sit with the hubs and dog, watch some football, and complain about having to go back to work tomorrow (I've been off for four days). I really can't complain, though, seeing as I have another four day weekend starting on Thursday. Hooray for regular day off (Thurs) followed by day off b/c office is closed (Friday)!

PS-Anyone have any suggestions for good, semihealthy appetizer recipes? We're having people over for a New Year's Day football watching bonanza (Capital One Bowl, Rose Bowl, and Sugar Bowl, oh my!) and I need to avoid binging on crap if I can help it :)

A recap

of the last month...because I am a lazy, lazy blogger.

-Post 1/2 marathon aftermath: pretty uneventful. The end of Daylight Savings Time has wreaked havoc on my ability to run after work, and since I hatehatehate the treadmill my running has been limited to Thursdays (my day off) and the weekends. Thankfully, Mother Nature has been pretty cooperative, but that's not gonna last long. I need to get over my hatred of the treadmill, though, or my running is going to go to crap this winter, and I don't want that. I did a 5k in Westerville this weekend and finished in 26:15ish which is pretty good considering my recent laziness and the uncooperativeness of my legs, and have the Turkey Trot coming up on Thanksgiving...so no more slacking off! I have found it way too easy to talk myself out of going to the gym lately, and that neeeds to stop.

-Speaking of Thanksgiving...it's on Thursday? This coming Thursday?! Holy crap, where did this year go? Gah, less than a week until we drag out the Christmas decorations for the Stanley Christmas Decorating Bonanza 2009...which equals Jason and I seeing how much decorating we can do in the time between when I get home from the Trot and when we have to start getting cleaned up to go to Uncle Mike and Aunt Shari's for Dinner #1. However, this year we'll have to relocate the loveseat and will also have Georgie underfoot, so it should be interesting. Dinner #2 will be at my parents' house, and includes my parents, their two dogs, Jason, me, our dog, my sister Alli, her boyfriend Joel, Alli's two cats, Jason's mom, AND his two sisters. PARTAY at Mom and Dad's house! It'll be a crazy mix of humans and animals, but a great time nonetheless.

Other than that, things have been pretty quiet around here. Jason's good, Georgie's good, the house is good, work's good, and I have thusfar been successful at dodging any germs that have floated my way...so yay! I will try to be better about updating, but sadly (or maybe thankfully) life just hasn't been that blogworthy lately :P

Pain. I has it.

What were YOU doing at 7:30am on this lovely, cold Sunday morning? Probably sleeping in your nice warm bed, you lucky bastid. Me? I had been up for 2 1/2 hours already and was standing out in the cold with approximately 14,999 of my closest friends, getting ready to start my second half marathon.

Me and my bright ideas, right?

So yeah, I did the half version of the Columbus Marathon today. My sister and her boyfriend did the full. Silly people. It was godawful freaking cold at the start but fairly pleasant once the sun came up. I did a valiant job at keeping pace with my speedy companions, and finished in 1:55:42. My goal was to beat my time from the Pig in May (2:01:02) and I did just that. So hurray! Plus, my parents actually saw me finish, and my ma was able to meet me after I got out of the food line (hooray for Krispy Kremes, Rice Krispy treats, and potato chips) and give me my nice warm postrace clothes. We then wandered around until we found my dad, and proceeded to Rise and Dine for breakfast and warm beverages. Lucky for us, we had plenty of time to eat and make our way back toward the finish to catch Alli and Joel. Al had to make a pee stop, and poor Joel was having leg cramp issues (it was his first full marathon) so their pace had slowed a bit but they both did great.

My mom took a lovely picture of me running by on my way to the finish. I look like a gazelle. But, my camera is upstairs. And I don't think I'll get off the couch for the rest of the night. So that picture will just have to wait.

Please think of me tomorrow, as I painfully shuffle through seeing a full day's worth of kids. If my productivity hadn't been SUCKING lately (damn you, flu season) I'd pray for cancellations. But bad productivity=needing kids to show up, no matter how much pain I'm in. At least I'll have the ibuprofen that my sweet husband is currently picking up for me. Hooray anti-inflammatories!

Three weeks...

'til my next half marathon...eep! When I did the Flying Pig 1/2 in May, it seemed like training stretched out forever...not that it dragged, just that it was nice and stretched out. And today I realized I only have three more long runs left until the race! Craziness I tell you. One of those long runs was supposed to be today, but Mother Nature decided to be uncooperative so I'm running tomorrow.

Otherwise, life is good here. House is good, new job is good, married life is good. I wish I had something to rant and rave about, but right now, I don't. So here are some Georgie pics instead...

"Mom, why can't I drive?"

I love my yard!


Not as much as I love chewing on my monkey though!

Football, schmootball...I'll just nap on Mom's feet instead!

Thankful Thursday...aka a few of my favorite things

This post was inspired by a post with a similar title from my friend Andrea at This Year's Love. Said title got me thinking about things/people/places I am particularly fond of right now, and why. Plus, Thursdays are usually Thankful Thursdays on a message board I frequent. And I'm killing time before I get in the shower (yes, I know it's 1:15 on a Thursday. Hooray for days off!). So, in no particular order...

-My hubby. Even though he annoys the crap out of me on a fairly regular basis, he is damn funny and keeps me on my toes. Plus, he loves things like South Park, Supertroopers, and Transformers as much as I do, and will watch them with me anytime. Even though we just watched it the night before. Oh yeah, and he's cute.

-My dog. We do NOT know what we did before Georgie found her way into our lives, and it's only been five months. She is the greatest little snugglebug ever, and loves everyone and everything that she meets.

-My family. They're a little nuts, but whose family isn't? In the end, they stick by you no matter what...even if they think you've lost your mind and are rolling their eyes at you when you're not looking.

-My/our friends. I say "our" because Jason and I have amassed quite the amazing group of mutual friends, thanks to our time served at Champps. Between our mutual friends and the friends we had BEFORE there was a Lori and Jason (believe it or not, there was such a time), we have the most amazing group of friends ever. They are endlessly loyal, and will stop to help each other out in a heartbeat.

-My house. Even though the light fixtures are outdated, the previous owners obviously loved yellow paint a LOT, and the downstairs bathroom needs to be remodeled something fierce, it's the perfect house for us. And after 7 months and 90+ houses of searching, we BETTER have found our perfect house.

-My job. Not just because I get to help kids, but because I don't have the same slightly insane productivity requirements that I had at my old job, I don't have to deal with a school contract in addition to clinic stuff, and the computers are a LOT faster :P

-Having Thursdays off. I had Fridays off for two years, and thought life couldn't get any better than that, but after two weeks of having Thursday off I have seen the error of my ways. I get far more done...when I'm not slacking like I am now.

-FOOTBALL SEASON! Now, by January I will be so sick of football it won't even be funny, but for now I'm pumped. Nothing says fall to me like the start of OSU football season.

-The end of summer/start of fall. I get to drag out my fall decorations, pumpkin scented candles, and Sweet Cinnamon Pumpkin anything. Plus, the weather is GLORIOUS.

-Farmer's markets. I always end up spending all the money I allotted myself, but end up with all kinds of goodies. Plus, it gives me the opportunity to buy more organic and/or locally grown stuff, which we're trying really hard to do more of. And it's so much cheaper than organic food at the grocery.

I could go on all day, but that's the stuff I'm particularly loving/thankful for right this second. We all need to remember to stop and think about this stuff from time to time...puts things in perspective.

Helloooo, August!

Or should I say, goodbye August? Because it's the 18th already, holy crap!

What's new with me? Let's see here...
-I started my new job yesterday, working for a local children's hospital at a couple of their close to home/satellite centers. What does this mean, you ask? Not a lot...I'm still making kids talk for a living. But now, I have my own office, get to do allllll my paperwork online, and I GET TO WEAR SCRUB PANTS AGAIN! Trust me, after over a year of wearing scrubs followed by almost two years of NOT being allowed to wear them, this is a big deal.

-Laura and Eric get married on Saturday...yay!!! I went up to Put in Bay with the girls for Laura's bach party a couple of weekends ago, and definitely left part of my liver on the island. And that's okay. I found a fabulous dress (white with a black/gray leaf pattern) at Macy's on Sunday that will go fabulously with my bright blue wedding shoes and purse...SO excited to get to use them again!

-Saturday wedding (and staying at a hotel) mean that Georgie gets to stay with my parents Sat night/Sunday AM. THIS, in turn, means that Jason and I are babysitting my parents' dogs Max (85 lbs of mellow golden retriever/lab mix) and Molly (70 lbs of NOT mellow golden retriever) next weekend. These two + Georgie = almost 200 lbs of dog in my house. Whoooo needs a dog fix?

-Not much longer until football season, yay! Granted, by New Year's I'll be sick of it, but right now I can't wait. Especially since Jason and I got USC tickets, thanks to his awesome grandpa...I can't wait!

So...that's about it. Off to figure out what to wear to work tomorrow...scrub pants perhaps?

Some thoughts...and some dog pics

As of this past Sunday, Jason and I have been married for one full year. 365 days. Wheeee! Here's what I don't get-when we first got married, so many people told us that the first year of marriage would be the hardest one. Um, if the rest of our marriage is as easy as the first year was, we'll be set. Yeah, we had minor spats, but nothing that we didn't have before we got married. You don't clean enough (his gripe), if you want me to clean more then YOU get to clean the bathtub every once in a while and do you even know how to use the tub cleaner? (my gripe)

You get the idea.

I also feel that living together for two years before the wedding helped the transition from "engaged" to "married" be considerably more smooth. When we got back from Yellowstone, it was like "Okay, we're married. Back in our apartment, with all our same stuff (we were storing the wedding gifts at my parents at the time), but really life doesn't feel all that much different." And yeah, I have a new last name. And we have lots of new stuff, which is amazing. But I feel like not having to deal with the stress of moving in together and learning each other's annoying habits (ie clean freakness or allergy to cleaning the bathroom) on top of adjusting to the fact that you are stuck with that person for the rest.of.your.life made things a lot easier.

(And yes, I am saying that while my husband is somewhat of a neat freak, he HATES to clean the bathroom. I mean, hatehatehate with the heat of a thousand suns. I could tell you some gross stories, but I won't, just in case you're eating.)

Since we just hit a year of marriage, this also means that it's been a year since our trip to Yellowstone. Easily one of the most amazing places ever...I would go there again in a heartbeat, and hope to do so before we have kids. Or when they're small enough to pawn off on my parents.

How does one celebrate your 1 year anniversary, you ask? Let's see here...I got us tickets to see Journey on August 26th. YAY!!! We also had a kickass housewarming/anniversary celebration party. For us, kickass meant a shitload of food, a keg of Bud Light, and 156 jello shots. Plus the four cases of beer our friends picked up after the keg was kicked...at 1130pm. Mind you, we TAPPED the keg at 6pm. So I'd say the party was a rocking success, if these pictures of our tired Georgie and Jeff's tired puppy Ozzie are any indication...

The day after...

They're so sweet when they're sleeping!

Okay, so I'm a BAD blog mom

It's been over a month since I updated this bad boy?! Really?! I knew it had been a few weeks, but damn. So, on with the updates.

House-We now have furniture in the living room AND the family room! Woohoo! We got a kickass new sectional, chair, and coffee table for the family room, and moved the couch, loveseat, and table that were in the family room upstairs to the living room. We lovelovelove the new stuff, and so does Georgie :D I'll post links to pics, once the store's website decides to quit being a painintheass.

We also have a shiny new chain link fence, which is AWESOME. Georgie is finally learning that she CAN go off the deck and into the yard without one of us right there, so woohoo for that. Speaking of the deck, we finally got around to replacing the rails of said deck (they were in horrible shape) and it looks SO much better. I'll post pics once we waterproof it...which we were going to do today, but Mother Nature has decided otherwise. Biotch.

Dog-She's fantastic. I took her to get her toenails clipped yesterday-since Jason and I are big ol' wimps, we let the vet's office do it. She did phenomenally, and officially weighs 40.3 lbs. So she's put on 7 much needed pounds in the last three months, and is just about the perfect size. Needless to say, we ADORE her, and she's doing great! I'm lazy and haven't uploaded pics, but I will soon.

Work-is work. Kids telling me about their Rey Mysterio masks (he's a professional wrestler, for those of you who don't know), kids grabbing my hair, kids hitting themselves in the head...the usual. On the upside, no poop, puke, or bloodshed...and that's all I can ask for.

Life in general-pretty damn good. Ol' Boy and I hit one year of marriage next Sunday (aaah!) and are celebrating by throwing an anniversary/housewarming party. Hence the need to waterproof the deck. My anniversary gift to him is tickets to the Journey concert next month...and I managed to wait exactly 10 minutes after I ordered the tickets to tell him :D We're both pretty pumped- "Don't Stop Believin" was the last LAST song at our reception, and holds a special place in our hearts.

On a running related note, the half marathon I'm planning on doing here in town is October 18th. Meaning I have to start training soon...booo! At least I don't have to worry about any huge hills this time.

Aaaaand that's 6 weeks worth of updates crammed into one post...I promise I'll be better about posting. At least, I'll try :D

Whee!

Busy busy weekend...

Friday, went to Costco with my BFF Melissa and her kids, then tried to figure out how to get some pics from Melissa's ancient computer onto a USB drive (with no success)

Yesterday, went running, hit up Value City Furniture and Anderson's with Melissa (sans kids, courtesy of her parents' very generous offer to watch the kids all day), went over to a friend's parents' house for a cookout (also with Melissa, after her mom encouraged her to hang out longer :D), then to the Filling Station to watch the Cavs lose

Today, gym, hanging out with the dog (who has the runs, courtesy of gorging herself on Kibbles and Bits while we were at the cookout last night-it's what their dogs eat), finished my progress reports, and am heading over to my parents' for dinner in a bit. So like I said, whee!


We are hopefully creeping a little closer to deciding on living room furniture...and getting the backyard fenced in...and all the other little stuff we need to do around here. None of which will be getting done next weekend, since we are going out of town with friends for a much needed minivacation. I can.not. wait...we need a break! Georgie will be going to Grandma and Grandpa's for the weekend, and will likely be even more spoiled than she already is :D

Man, is it REALLY Sunday already?!

I am...

the Queen of No Willpower. How do I "celebrate" a rest day off from running/the gym? With a Spicy Chicken sandwich and small fries from Wendy's, of course! And it was damn good, too :D

This rain needs to stop...otherwise, my running shoes won't see the light of day until Friday, if they're lucky.

Mulch Monday=great success. I got 7 of 9 bags spread while Jason cut the grass, he put out one bag while I admired the coating of mulch dust+sunscreen covering my limbs, and took care of the last one plus the four bags of pine chips we got to go under the top part of the deck today. Pictures to follow, when I get around to taking them. What I SHOULD have taken a picture of is the hot mess that I was following the fun of Mulch Monday. When I say "coating of mulch dust+sunscreen", I mean COATING. Talk about disgusting. I swear, nothing makes you appreciate a shower like being stickyyuckydirtygross.

Once we got clean, we took Georgie to the toy store (aka Pet People) to get some new bones and food, stopped at Rita's on the way back, and ended up cooking out with our friends Chad and Bev. Mmmm, food. And yes, we got Rita's BEFORE dinner, because that's just how we roll.


Now, a funny from school today, courtesy of one of my third grade girls...

A: "Guess what, Mrs. S?"
Me: "What?"
A. "I'm wearing a BRA!" (mind you, I see no problem with third graders wearing bras if they actually need them...this particular third grader does not.)
Me: "Oh, really? That's cool."
A: "Yep, me and my mom went bra shopping this weekend...I'm going to be JUST LIKE Hannah Montana!"
Me: "Sweetie, that's great...but your dad isn't Billy Ray Cyrus." (Someone has to be the realist here.)
A: "No, he's not. He can't sing at ALL. D'you think he'd grow his hair like Hannah's dad? Wait, never mind...I don't think he has enough hair for that."

Believe it or not, I'm really going to miss these kids :D

Maybe, just maybe...

I don't have a black thumb after all! Meaning I haven't killed any of the above flowers yet (even though I really haven't touched the roses, those were there before we moved in).

Plus, I got to wield the electric hedge trimmers and tone down the bushes that line our deck.

And played in the yard with Miss Georgie.

I also bought a new vaccuum and tested it out by sucking up all the dog hair I could, picked up pruning shears and a sprayer for plant food, washed all the bed linens and towels (the dog is now currently leaving more hair on the bed by napping on my pillow, darn her), pruned the dead parts off the rosebushes and played with the dog some more, and am in the process of doing more laundry. All in all, a productive day. And I still have a speech eval and IEP to write up for school on Tuesday. Yeeha!

Check back soon for an account of Mulch Monday.

I'm bad.

Really, really bad. I am a horrible blog mommy, please forgive me :D Here's the recap of the last few weeks...the (semi) short version, at least.

The Pig-went great! I emerged free of major injuries, which was my main goal, and finished in 2:01:02. My very lofty time goal was 2 hours flat, so I'm really happy with my time. The funny part is that my sisters did this same 1/2 marathon 2 years ago, and both finished in 2:01:01. If only I'd hauled ass a little more!

Georgie-is the greatest dog ever. She is currently sleeping in our bed at night and not in the crate...turns out she's a little bit of a bed hog, but no worse than Jason :D Speaking of J, he thinks she's ready to leave out of the crate when we leave the house, but I just don't know if she's ready yet. She still hasn't had any accidents in the house or chewed up any of our stuff (except for bits of mulch and sticks off the bushes), so that's a good sign. She has also gotten over her fear of very large dogs and doesn't growl at them anymore unless they're playing, so that's GREAT. Hooray social skills! We are having a fabulous time spoiling her rotten.

House-also great. I got some impatiens and gazanias planted a couple of weeks ago, and have impatiens and a little herb garden in hanging baskets off the deck...and they're not dead yet! We DO need to mulch...meaning Jason needs to call Mr. Mulch to see about getting some delivered. Plus, we have quite the laundry list of stuff that NEEDS to get done ASAP-getting fencing estimates and fencing in the back yard, putting another railing on the deck steps (there's only a railing on one side, and there needs to be one on each side), powerwashing and staining the deck, putting in paver stones for the fire pit, and buying patio furniture. First and foremost, though...WE NEED LIVING ROOM FURNITURE. Why the urgency, you ask? Well, some people decide to celebrate their first anniversary with a nice quiet dinner or weekend away with their spouse. Not us. We figure, what better way to celebrate an amazing day topped off with an equally amazing party by...having another party! So, in the event that we can get the house party ready in two months, we will be having a housewarming/first anniversary/for shits and giggles celebration. That's IF we get all this done. I think this weekend is going to be "tough love talk" time with the hubby...with us working opposite schedules (he's usually off Mon/Tue/Wed, and I'm off Fri/Sat/Sun), we NEED to have a game plan.

So...let the fun begin!

Wow...really?

This time next Sunday, I will have officially completed my first half marathon. Ho.ly.shit. It's been this far off THING, for lack of a better word, but it's really coming. And will be here next Sunday. I think I'm ready, training wise. I followed my training program to the T (well, with regard to running what distance what day, except for the week after Easter when I was fighting off my sinus infection). However, there is one way in which I am NOT ready...what am I going to WEAR for the race?!

You can stop laughing now. This is actually something I worry about. I know what shorts I'm going to wear, what socks, what shoes (duh), and what long sleeved shirt I can bear to part with when I get too warm. I have it narrowed down to two sleeveless tops, and whichever top I pick will determine which sports bra I wear. It's either going to be pink top with white sports bra, or vice versa. Decisions, decisions...

At least the weather is supposed to be glorious-long term forecasts are predicting high temp of 69 for race day, and low temp of 53. Seeing as the race starts at 6 FUCKING 30 IN THE MORNING (aaah!), I figure the race time temps will be closer to 53 than 69. At least, I hope so.

Regardless of how I do and how sore I am or am not, I am SO glad I took next Monday off work. Because if I AM sore, the last thing I'm going to be able to do effectively is chase kids around and make them talk all day.

In other news...Georgie is PHE.NOM.IN.AL. Seriously, greatest dog ever. No pottying in the house, no more keeping Mommy up at night (fixed by moving her crate into our bedroom), and slowly improving social skills. Meaning, she didn't growl at ANY of the BIIIIG dogs (those are the only things she growls at) yesterday. We met Shannon, her husband Bryan, and their dog Oakley at Antrim Park and Georgie did fabulously with allll of the doggies she met, regardless of their size. Then, we met Jen at Highbanks Metropark for a walk today, and she did great with all the doggies there again :D YAY Georgie! Who, I must say, is exhausted. She's probably relieved that Mommy goes back to work tomorrow, and she can go back to taking it easy with Daddy again.

More news...we still have not really tackled any of our big yard projects yet. I planted a herb garden in a window box that hangs off our back deck, so that's a start. We have a variety of projects that won't be hard to do, we just have to get our butts in gear, go to Lowe's, and buy some shit. So, yeah.

Aaaaaand, that's all I've got. More to come after the Pig next weekend! (assuming I don't keel over)

Seriously?

So, starting last Weds, I had five days off to look forward to. Had a little sore throat at work on Tuesday, but no biggie. Between getting Georgie Weds night and not getting much sleep that night and the next, my sore throat escalated into a full on cold. Snot, coughing, whole nine yards. Once we got Georgie's sleep issues under control (thanks to moving her crate into our bedroom) and I started sleeping more, I started feeling better. So what do I do? Run nine miles on Saturday. Hey, I've got a half marathon in three weeks! Still, not the greatest idea. Feel tired, but better all day Saturday. Get up Sunday, go to church and then brunch. Diane (Jason's mom) comes over after brunch to meet Georgiegirl, we go on a walk, then I take a nap.

THEN the fun starts. I wake up from my nap with serious chills. No bueno, seeing as I had on a sweatshirt, jeans, and socks, and was burrowed under a blanket. So I try to get up and move around, and put some laundry away. No problem, until I find myself depositing the rest of my brunch into the toilet. The chills were replaced by a lovely fever, topping out at 104.something, which is SO not like me at all. Poor Jason was freaking out :P We got the fever down, I called off work this morning and went to the nearest CVS Minute Clinic. Diagnosis=sinus infection. Got a 10 day dose of amoxicillin and headed back home.

Why this has to happen WHILE I'M ON VACATION, I'll never know. Such bullshit.

On the upside, Georgie is a great snuggle buddy :)

I haz a dog!

Excuse me, I mean WE haz a dog. As in Georgia Sue. Aka Georgie. Aka Peanut, Pudding Pop, Sweet Girl, Puppy Girl, etc. The dog has more nicknames than she has days spent at home with us.

So far, things have gone REALLY well. We got her from Second Chance Humane Society in Johnstown, and since she was a stray brought there we had no clue what kind of life she'd had prior to coming to the shelter. However, it wasn't hard to figure out that whatever life she had, someone taught this sweet girl to sit, shake, and go potty outside. So far, no accidents, she LOVES her toys, and smelling all the new smells on walks in our neighborhood. Georgie is also a couch potato-she loveloveloves to snuggle on the couch with Jason or I. She is not yet a HUGE fan of her crate, but will just whine for a couple of minutes every half an hour or so. This kept me up half the night, but Jason slept right through it, the bastard.

We haven't fenced in our yard yet, but will be very soon. In the meantime, she's digging being out on the 30ft cable we have anchored in the yard, and would sit out there and rip yellow fuzz off her tennis ball if we let her...but only if one of us was sitting outside with her :D

In a nutshell, she's pretty great. So far, it looks like we got REALLY lucky here, and are totally head over heels in love with her. I mean, how can you NOT love this face?

I's a slacker

Wow, Feb 22nd was the last time I posted? Shit.

So, what's new, you ask? Not a whole lot, hence my lack of posting. Let's see here...

Work-three weeks 'til spring break, yay! I took the Weds and Thurs off that week, so I'll only have to be in the clinic Mon and Tues and then have five days off. It's going to be glorious, especially since...

WE'RE GETTING A PUPPY! Probably in the next month, but not 'til after I/we get our taxes done. We'd like to time it up with my mini-vaca, so hopefully that'll work out. We were thinking of doing invisible fencing, but I go back and forth b/t thinking it's a good idea and feeling bad for the poor doggy when it gets zapped :( So, we'll see about the fencing. It's definitely going to be a shelter/rescue doggy, probably some sort of beagle and or lab mix...preferably lab, as beagles can be major food whores. But either way, we'll be happy.

What else? Hmmm...week 5 of Pig training is pretty much in the bag. This week was 5k race weekend (it was supposed to be next weekend, but I couldn't find any 5ks in town...so I moved it to today). This means no long run this week, YAAAY! I did the Flannagan's 5k, which I did with Alli and Julie 2 years ago while they were training for the 1/2 Pig...and actually got a new PR! 24:55-HOLY SHIT! I am more than thrilled with my time, seeing as this was the first race I've actually done by myself, meaning without Alli or one of my friends dragging me along. So woohoo! Next week's long run is 6 miles, which is a distance I've done before so I don't anticipate it being horrible. After that, I get into the 7, 8, 9, 10 mile runs, which is farther than I've ever gone so it's probably going to suck big fat donkey balls. Oh well, c'est la vie.

Things have been pretty quiet around here-Jason just started bartending at the restaurant he's been serving at, and is already making great money (more than he made bartending at the place he used to work at). So that makes him happy and therefore makes my life easier :P The only thing that sucks is that he's now working more nights, and as we all know I work days. So we don't see each other all that much (awake, anyway) during the week. But we've been through that before, so it's not so traumatic.

OMG I love HGTV. I may not get off the couch all day.

I hate Sundays

Seriously. They suck. I had a perfectly productive weekend that went WAY too quickly. Good dinner out with the girls on Friday, cleaned out my car and the green bedroom and met my parents and sister for dinner yesterday, and did a 2 hour spinning fundraiser for cancer awareness and had friends over today. Now, I need a nap. And food. 2 hours of spinning will do that.

Week 2 of 1/2 Pig training is in.the.bag. 10 weeks to go...ack! It's been pretty low key so far-the long runs are 4 miles and I'm used to running at least that on a regular basis. This week, I bump the Sunday runs up to five miles, which still isn't a killer for me but will still be a little more difficult. I just want to get through this half marathon without hurting myself...finishing in a respectable time would be a bonus.

I get to go to Cinci next weekend for my friend Jess's baby shower, and hopefully having dinner with a friend along the way. Hopefully, my sister's satanic cat doesn't try to kill me in my sleep :P

What's wrong with me?

I have baked things TWICE in the last week. TWICE. I don't bake. Ever. But apparently I've had a wild hair up my ass lately. So...here are the fruits of my labor.

Last Saturday's Applesauce Oatmeal Craisin cookies...

aka the cookie amoeba. I made the dough portions a leeeeetle too big. Plus, no one told me that subbing applesauce for the oil in a cookie recipe makes them kind of sticky. And that I'd have to peel the cookies off the foil veeerrrrry carefully. But still, they were good. Even Jason says so, and he's not afraid to tell me that something I made tastes like crap. You may think it's harsh, but I call it love. Besides, when he does inform me that I've made yet another failed attempt at cooking, I usually already know it. And if it's just b/c I like it and he doesn't...then fuck him, more for me!

Today's fun...Diet coke cake. Specifically, cherry coke zero and chocolate cake cupcakes.

These have not had the husband test yet, but they'll pass. These things are fucking GOOD. I've already had two, and am resisting the urge to eat number three. I slightly overfilled the cupcake wrappers, but who ever said that was a bad thing? What I love about this recipe is that its literally idiot proof. Mix one can diet pop of your choice with one box cake mix of your choice. Bake according to directions on box. And that's it. IMO, they don't even need icing-at least, mine don't. Amazing, and semi-healthy. Meaning, the fact that I want to eat all 12 cupcakes is totally okay.

Maybe this baking business doesn't suck such big fat donkey balls after all...

Scenes from my house

Tomorrow is my district's third snow day in a row. Yeeha!

Makes ya think...

I borrowed this from a blog I read. Okay, stole. Either way, here goes...

1 minute ago... I was C&Ping this.

1 hour ago... I was sending Jason off to poker night.

1 day ago... I was getting ready to watch 24.

1 month ago... I was doing the HOORAY for Christmas dance.

1 year ago... I was totally stoked for my wedding, and booking our trip to Yellowstone.

1 decade ago... I was a senior in HS, trying to decide what I wanted to major in. B/c EVERYONE who goes to OSU has their major declared right from the start...at least, that's what my dad claimed.

2 decade ago... I was getting ready to move from Cincinnati to Michigan. Damn, that was 20 years ago. I also wore skirts.all.the.time.

5 minutes ago... I was thinking "Wow, a 2 hour delay tomorrow would be cool."

5 days ago... I was marveling at the pretty snow.

5 months ago... I was adjusting to newlywed life.

5 years ago... I was taking the GRE for the third time and getting my grad school applications out.



AAAAAND-hooray for President Obama! Though I didn't get to watch the inauguration live, this was still a pretty sweet day. Yay for democracy!

YAY!

Big dork alert here...but Star Trek: Enterprise is back on HDNet! It's strange, I've never been into the various Star Trek shows or movies...but Jason and I are ADDICTED to Enterprise! Maybe it's because Scott Bakula's character has a supercute beagle on the show, I don't know.

Also, yay for Costco! Melissa and I made our monthly trip there last night, and I lovelovelove that place. Seriously. We now have more food than you can shake a stick at, and that's okay.

A big non-yay goes out to Central Ohio's current weather. It's fucking cold, man. And snowy. I like days off from school, but this is getting ridiculous. I haven't run outside in almost a month, and I miss it. (No, I am not hardcore like my sister. It's too cold, plain and simple). This weather makes me want to sit inside and eat...and that will make my butt get big. So, no.

That's all I've got for now...life just hasn't been THAT interesting lately :)

I got double tagged...

by Simi and D ! So I get to find the 4th picture in the 4th folder whereever I store my pictures (in this case, my jump drive), and then explain it. Here goes...

Snort. Marengofest 2005! Jason's best friend's (that's him in the hat) parents have a house in Marengo, and for a few years they would have their kids and all their friends up to the house around Memorial Day for a birthday party (for Jason's best friend and one of their other friends) slash all around drunkfest. Marengofest always starts out as a chill day cooking out and drinking beer, and ends in...4am games of flip cup, which is what you're seeing here. Good times, good times.

And nowww, I tag...

Manday

and

Meghan

You're it, ladies!

Updates and other randomness

But first off, a rant. HowTF do Columbus weathermen get away with telling us to expect 3-5 inches of snow on Saturday, only to see us get some freezing rain and a dusting of snow? I mean, I've learned to not put much stock in weather reports, but they really screwed the pooch on this one. Those bastids got my hopes up for NOTHING!

However, it was butt-ass fucking cold this weekend, so I actually got a lot of little stuff done around the house-unpacking random boxes and finding homes for the stuff that was in them (picture frames, candles, etc.), laundry, blah blah blah. Plus, I got some stuff put in the stand alone bar counter we picked up from Melissa's neighbors Mike and Rebecca when they moved to Chicago, along with a coffee table and fire pit (pictures to come, eventually). Hooray for being productive!

Today begins Week 2 of the back-on-the-diet bandwagon. It helps that I'm taking part in two "Biggest Loser" contests-one at work, and one with a Columbus-based women's message board that I frequent. Not so much because I have a lot of weight to lose (I'm only about 10 lbs from my goal weight), but because I need to be held accountable...and these contests will hopefully help keep me accountable for what I'm eating and how much I'm working out. AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNNNDDDDD I officially signed up for the Flying Pig 1/2 Marathon (the first Sunday in May, in Cinci), so I need to make more of an effort to eat healthier. I'm trying to remember to log what I'm eating on Sparkpeople, but this tends to go to crap once I eat something that I KNOW isn't going to be listed (like the fries, horseradish sauce, and bites of roast beef dip sandwich I just mooched from Jason :P). Still, I'm working on it.

J's new job is going well. He's DEFINITELY far happier than he'd been at the last place he worked at for the last couple of years, AND he doesn't have to work until 2am EVER.AGAIN. This makes us both infinitely happy.

You wanna know what else makes us infinitely happy? The 24 premiere is on tonight...finally! Yee-ha!

Me=12 year old boy

Jason and I are watching the South Park movie, and giggling like preteenage boys. This is AWESOME.

Plus, my baby sister is home from the f'ing bayou...YAAAAAAAAY Julie!