the bridge run tonight was really great.  surprising really, since i was feeling so *blech*on the way out there.  i ran further up the bridge than i have been before walking the rest of the up.  i then ran hard down where i encountered a sidewalk closed sign with tape all around it.  so i veered off and took a longer path down toward the college before turning around and running back to the bridge where i walked up again.  i met hubby at the top and he turned and went back with me the rest of the way.  i ran hard down, walked while i grabbed and drank my water cup, and jogged back to the parking lot.  i really felt great about it.  and i felt like i had been faster.  even though i added a little (very little) distance on the other side of the bridge, i was almost back up to the top of the bridge before meeting up with any of the two-lappers.  it also seemed like the camaraderie was very high tonight.  not only did i get smiles and words of encouragement, but it seemed to be the night of the high-fives.  six or seven guys wanted their hands slapped as we passed.  which was nice… a bit odd and i badly wanted some hand sanitizer from exchanging sweat with so many guys… but it was a nice, uplifting gesture. 

sadly, my “runner’s high” was to be short lived.  i got home, turned on the tv, and discovered that showtime has been taken away from me.  i am so frickin bummed about this.  they play the funkiest movies but i absolutely love their shows.  i’ve been counting down the days to dexter‘s new season because i’m a total dexter addict.  and this season of weeds hasn’t even ended yet.  and i was just getting caught up on californication.  i really, really hope that it comes back in the next few days but i’m doubtful.  seriously, folks, i cannot even tell you how sad i am over this.

… keep your friggin mouth shut!

so we went to our plaza to jog some laps around the loop trail last night.  there were three guys there setting up a stage at the amphitheatre so we went around them and did our first lap.  on our second lap, they were sitting around talking when we jogged by.  one of them felt the need to holler “whoa!  slow down there speed demons!” as we passed.  talk about going from zero to fuming. 

just so we’re all on the same page… i know i’m slow.  i freely disclose that to anyone and everyone.  i lament it in all of my running posts.  but you know what?  i’m doing the best i can.  i’m pushing my body to stretch its limits.  and i certainly don’t need some fricknut sitting around on his @$$ discouraging me. 

i altered my route the next two laps to add some distance and avoid passing the $(&%)# again.  when it was all said and done, i jogged 3.5 miles.  it was slow but i jogged the whole way.

funny how my first day back off the phones coincides with my first day of renewed lunch activity.  can i get a WOOHOOO!?  unfortunately, it has been so long that i was intimidated at the thought of going to the gym so i headed to the pool instead.  i swam for thirty minutes straight.  i did either twenty or twenty-four laps.  i was rotating one lap each way of freestyle-ish and one lap each way of backstroke-ish (i don’t actually know how to swim properly so it’s my own version of swimming – i won’t be racing phelps anytime soon but i shouldn’t drown either).  i know that i did at least five rotations of each but i sort of lost count and i think i actually did six.  either way, thirty minutes of cardio activity made for a hot and tired me. 

now for the rant… 

it’s winter so there are lots of snowbirds here.  i’m generally fine with that (other than the fear of an open spark on the elevator when there are a dozen oxygen tanks in a confined area).  the old folks like to gather in the pool with their noodles and stand around in circles talking.  hey, no problem.  however, to me, common courtesy would dictate that when you see someone start swimming laps, you move to one side of the pool in order to get out of their way.  no, not these old people.  instead of moving to avoid being in my way, they actually spread out to be MORE in my way!  unfreakingbelievable.  i started off hugging one side of the pool trying to avoid them and ended up having to zig zag down the middle of the pool carefully navigating between them all.  and let me tell you how difficult that is when i’m swimming on my back.  frikking rude snowbirds.  i should have plowed over a few of them!  apparently they didn’t raise kids to have manners a century ago. 

*i would apologize for offending any elderly readers that i may have but i really don’t feel like having lived longer excuses people from being courteous.  you know as well as i do that they’d be griping up a storm if some whipperschnapper were getting in their way.  come to think of it, i’ll bet they were complaining about me because i was rippling the water.  bunch of jerks.

would you go into someone’s home and use their razor? would you be okay with someone using yours?

i believe that i am an extremely accomodating hostess. i pride myself on it, particularly since it was not necessarily an example that was set for me growing up. i go out of my way to make people feel at home when visiting me and i really and truly hope that they do. there are very few things that i have zero patience for as a hostess but am far too kind to say anything that would make my guests feel unwelcome. for future reference, if you may ever be a guest in my home: DO NOT use my personal items, DO NOT completely snub a meal that i have prepared, and DO NOT UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES touch my thermostat – my husband isn’t even allowed to touch that.

that’s really all i care to say about that.

what a frikkin week. after a very long week, we went to our favorite night spot last night but the band wasn’t our gig and the night ended with a very nasty scene. we went back to the dance floor for “sweet home alabama” – you know, with it being the national anthom and all… and there was this blond frikkin %(&#@)%* using her straw to spit her drink all over me and this chick next to me. and we’re looking at each other like wtf?! but i’m willing to shrug it off because apparently this chick has had too much and is easily amused. whatever, i’m having a good time. and then i’m dancing with my wonderful alabaman hubby and suddenly this chick poors her drink all over my #$)%&#%@ head! see you next tuesday!!! i really wish that i had jumped up on the #(%&#@!! rail and punched her in the #(%&(#% face! instead, i stood there in shock until the song was over. i was cold, wet, and angry and i just wanted to go home. we came home, showered all the nastiness off, and went to bed. today, i tried to be positive. i slept in, went to the gym for a really long, great workout, came back to make breakfast (so what if it’s the afternoon!), layed around, went to the pool, and now we’re getting ready to go hang out again. maybe that’ll make this week a better week. other than my hubby’s abandoning me again this week.

wth would you go into someone’s home and slap pieces of wood down on their brand-frikkin-new dining room table?!! and then go sliding them all over the place?!! j@ck@$$!!!

after a very tiring, sad, and trying week, we are finally back home. it feels so good. we worked from granny’s one last time yesterday. it felt odd to be there all day just the two of us. most of her stuff is gone already, all of the pictures are off the walls (there were tons of photos of her family on every wall). when we started to pack up our stuff, we both started crying – it was like watching them close the coffin all over again. visits to wedowee will never be the same. on the way home, we had more of the continuing appliance saga. i can tell you this much: i will never again set foot in a sears store. i wouldn’t buy a pair of socks there. if i had ty pennington’s home number, i’d be raving to him because i bet he could get a manager to call us back. anyhow, my blood pressure shoots through the moon when i get started on sears and our lack of kitchen so i’m not going to bother getting into it. it’s enough to say that it does not look like we will have anything more than a refrigerator and toaster oven (that we were forced to go buy because of sears) in our kitchen in the foreseeable future. SEARS, YOU SUCK!!! we got home late last night and it felt like a weight was lifted. luckily, my birthday present from my hubby is the month of february (i know, pick the shortest month, why donchya). he has promised that, barring another emergency, we are staying home to get unpacked, settled, and relaxed for the whole month. that may be the best birthday gift i’ve ever gotten.

i tell you, there’s just nothing about this move that has been easy. today we’re dealing with an appliance fiasco. you’ll recall that we bought all new appliances back in december and sold the brand new ones that came in the condo. since we knew we were going to be out of town for the last couple of weeks, we set the delivery date for today, as well as the pickup for the others. that’s over three weeks since we ordered. i got a call late saturday night letting me know that they would be delivered between 09:30 and 13:30. this morning, i got a computerized call letting me know that the range we ordered would not be delivered until the 28th. gee, thanks for the notice. especially since we’re not going to be here again next week. after i was just about done fuming over that, the phone rang again. it was a person this time letting me know that only half of our appliances were there and did we want to have those delivered today or just wait until the 28th to have it all delivered. ticked does not cover it. we ordered these a month ago! it’s not like we went in there this weekend and said deliver it tomorrow. luckily, the appliances that they are able to bring today are the fridge, washer, and dryer. since our old appliances are getting picked up in about an hour, we absolutely had to have a fridge to transfer our food to and we’re about out of clean clothes too. i’m so pleased with my new appliances. they are so pretty. i did a load of laundry already – kid with a new toy, i am. i was very entertained with watching the washing machine go (front loader) and i was astounded by how quiet it is. for those who were priviledged enough to have experienced randal’s old washer, you’ll know why. that stupid thing shook and shimmied and you could hear it miles away. i’m still ticked that we don’t have a stove, microwave, or dishwasher. but at least we got the important stuff. although i’m not sure how we’re going to cook for the rest of this week. woohoo, no cooking!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY, KATIE!!! hope it’s a good one for you! and now i’d like to take a minute or several to gripe. we just finished lunch. granted, it was just sammiches but i went to special efforts for them sammiches. i ask my wonderful hubby, “how was your sammich?” “it was fine,” he replies. fine? fine! that sammich was made with fresh, hot, just-out-of-the-machine, homemade sweet bread! fine. it was freeken fabulous is what it was! that was no month-old, hard and stale merita loaf bread from the fridge. no, it was a gourmet sammich right here in your own flippin living room! men!!! and he wonders why i hate cooking. /tangent. so, yeh, happy birthday to you, katie.