tuesday:

ran 2+ miles around our plaza’s park.  i really need to do something about measuring my progress but i felt like i was faster.  i forgot to even look at the clock before we got out of the car but my figuring is that i was down to nearly a thirteen minute pace.  who knows.  all in all, it was a super sucky run.  i REALLY did not want to start.  and i never got to the point where i wanted to keep going.  it was hotter than heck and ridiculously bright.  i think the only reason my pace was better (if it actually was) is because i was trying so hard to get it over with.  i was upset that for all that pushing and suckitude, i didn’t even get to do my third lap.  we were a bit short on time since we had folks coming over for a poker night.  next week i’ll have to get an earlier (and, therefore, hotter) start so that i’ve got plenty of time to finish my full workout.

wednesday:

yoga at the running store.  they did an audio only thing this week which was tough for me because i totally depend on watching the video to see what i’m supposed to be doing.  i felt far more uncoordinated than usual.  i gawked at my fellow yogaers trying to make my body twist into the same shapes as theirs.  speaking of gawking, we had an audience as well.  about halfway through the cd, i started to notice people looking in the windows.  it was a huge group of asians, totally cupping the windows to look in.  they watched through one side, walked around the corner and watched through the other side (right behind me).  it was highly uncomfortable.  seriously, they watched us for close to ten minutes.  it was one whole series of exercises.  we even called mello out to chase them away and but they wouldn’t leave.  it was very odd.  the workout itself was pretty tough for me.  there were some balance exercises i just couldn’t pull off at all.  and the last track was abs, which wasn’t really hard for me, but it was tough.  the sadistic voice on the cd must have had some learning difficulties because her counting was drastically slower than ours.  she said we were going to do fifty bicycle crunches but she didn’t count aloud.  by the time she got to fifty, i had done well over one hundred.  and i feel it today… not that that’s a bad thing. 

*NOTE:  this post was started saturday but i was too busy to get the pix and publish it.

since we’ve got folks coming over tonight, we decided it was time to finish the wall project in the living room.  i finally narrowed my sunsets down to six, got them printed and framed, and they are on the wall.  i think they look very nice (even if the prints did come out way too dark).  i still would have liked a 3×3 grid better but i couldn’t find enough frames.  i bought all of the ones here and in orlando!

so i took a chapter from one of my college psych courses into my run last night.  i recall reading about a study on happiness once.  they were doing a study on the power of positivity and they had some college students describe a series of pictures.  then they had them bite a pen between their teeth and describe the pictures again.  since the action of biting a pen in their teeth simulated the muscles of a smile, they found that the descriptors were much more positive on that go-round. 

for some reason, this popped into my head on the bridge run last night.  i made a conscious effort to force my face to contort into somewhat of a smile throughout my run.  granted, two weeks ago was just a horrible run for me, but i managed to shave 2.5 minutes off of my run (same course) this week!!!  i started the run with absolute dread.  i had a headache all day yesterday and then we got there way too early so we were just standing around…  i really was not into the running.  however, when we got started, i went ahead and forced myself to smile, i concentrated on my music, i made happy comments to those who i met coming back (i’m always the back of our pack), and i made it.  i never felt like “oh my God, i can’t go any further!”.  i never felt like i had to stop and walk.  i just kept going and i was fine.  i wouldn’t call it effortless, but it was my easiest run yet.  and i felt good.  after i went through the college, i started back to the bridge and i knew how far it was.  i started climbing the bridge and i passed by most of the pack but i felt fine.  halfway down the other side of the bridge, my hubby caught back up to me and slowed down enough to jog back with me.  we were the last ones back but it felt so good not being alone.  and i was thrilled that i had cut two and a half minutes off my time.  that’s the best improvement i’ve ever seen!

we made it to yoga last night after some grocery shopping (how happy am i to finally have milk after four days of withdrawal?!).  it was a fast paced routine with a lot of upward/downward dogs that nearly killed my back.  and rocking… what was with the rocking?  anyhow, not even halfway through, i was sweating like mad trying to keep up with some of the crazy moves, a few of which totally showcased my complete lack of balance.  i like yoga so i keep hoping one of these days i’ll get better at it.

despite my painfully pounding head, i had every intention of getting my tuesday night run in.  i (not so) patiently waited for hubby to get off the phone (less because i was waiting for him to stop working so we could run and more because he’s a ridiculously loud talker and did i already mention my head?).  we donned our running apparel, went down to the car, and headed toward our plaza.  traffic in that direction was crazy on our road, which is fairly normal, so i headed in the opposite direction to go the back-route.  when i got to the back road, the traffic in that direction was just as terrible.  i’m not sure exactly what was going on but it appeared to be cutting down to one lane so i pulled an immediate u-turn and headed back home.  some would argue that i could have gotten out of the car and started running down the road.  however, after the frustration of a failed effort even though i was feeling bad to begin with and then the added frustration of being inexplicably unable to parallel park upon returning home, i was done.  i decided that it was better for me to come back upstairs, take a handful of motrin, and eat some dinner.  judge me if you will, but i stand by that decision.  and now i’m about to take another handful of motrin and go to bed.

for your calming pleasure, i present…

my backyard.  looks inviting, doesn’t it?  i sure would rather be down there floating around with those folks than up here working.  i heart my yard.  i love how work and worries just seem to disappear when i walk out on my balcony and look out at this.  a yard like this is great for blood pressure!

as if being home wasn’t great enough… the pool was empty at lunchtime!  it was chilly and super windy but it was so nice to swim again.  i did thirty lengths of the pool; one half mile.  it felt really good.  and tiring.  i hope that it’s empty again tomorrow.  i miss the lunch-swimming.

thursday night, i enjoyed dinner and conversation with my friend katie and her family. 

friday afternoon, i was thrilled to get hubby back.  we were going to try to get out and do something for our anniversary but by the end of the day, i had coughed myself into a migraine.  instead, hubby helped BIL move and set up their new summer kitchen and i popped a bunch of motrin and dayquill.  just as good.  after dinner, the adults soaked in the hot tub a bit. 

saturday, sissy and BIL left town and we became honorary parents to three chilluns.  although one of them left after a few hours for a night out with his friend’s family.  we took the other two out for dinner, ice cream and a movie at the dollar theatre, which is actually the $2.50 theatre (stupid inflation!). 

sunday morning, we took the chilluns to church and then dropped the eldest off at a friends for an afternoon of boating.  we took the other two back to the house and spent the afternoon out at the pool.  nephew had a couple friends over so even though we lost one of our chilluns, we netted one extra.  sissy and BIL got home around 16:00 and, after a few minutes of catching up, we loaded up and got on the road. 

overall, it was a nice week in orlando.  not the best for getting out and visiting around since i felt so crummy most of the time we were there but i had some good quality time with my sissy’s family and my cousin.  mostly though, i wanted to be home.  it is so strange that, after all of these years of being on the go, we finally have a home that we don’t like being gone from.  it was beyond wonderful to get home last night.  and even more wonderful today when we awoke to find a lovely cold front and clear water in the gulf.  i don’t ever want to leave!

dear husband,

five years ago, you made me the happiest woman alive when i walked down the aisle and saw that smile on your face.  i am so blessed to share my life with you and i thank God each and every day for bringing us together.  you are the best part of me.  HAPPY ANNIVERSARY!!!

with all the love in my heart,

your wife

it’s been an off week for orlando visiting.   between being sick and hubby being gone, i’m just not super motivated to be social.  i’ve spent a lot of time hanging out with sissy’s family, which is always a joy.  yesterday, i finally started to feel better.  the sinuses cleared up and i coughed a lot in the morning but even that was lessened throughout the day.  last night was poker night at my cousin’s which is the night i look forward to most when i’m down here.  i am honored that stryker always shows up when we’re in town even though i hear he never shows up anymore. 

i choose to steal the pic writersblock posted because i'm so amused at all of us geeks with our laptops open while playing poker (although the pic was taken before the cards and chips hit the table)

yes, we were all partaking of our various geekyness throughout the poker game; my cousin and i played a game of scrabble on fb while taking everyone else’s poker chips (she finally won when we all went all in, with four side pots, and a bunch of nothing cards).

when i got back to my sissy’s i briefly visited with her and BIL before heading to bed where i was up until 01:00 unable to sleep.  and then i awoke out of a sound sleep right around 02:30 for a severe coughing fit that lasted until close to 04:00.  i’m sure i had the whole house awake listening to me hack up my spleen.  after coughing myself into a massive headache, raw throat, sore chest, and pulled muscle in my back, i finally broke down and took some OTC cough medicine.  within fifteen minutes i had quieted down enough to start trying again for sleep.  it was just a miserable night.  i guess hubby is lucky he wasn’t here as i would have certainly kept him awake.

it seems when i’m sick, i sleep even less than normal.  this means that twice in the last three days, i have been wide awake at 06:00 and willing to go running.  unfortunately, i can’t seem to breath in the mornings.  either i’ve been all stuffed up or, like this morning, i started to get up and went into a major coughing fit.  these conditions are just not conducive to running.  i wonder if i’m so willing because i know that my lungs and sinuses will win?  i am, however, mulling over the idea of going over to my cousin’s ridiculously early on wednesday to run and then spending the rest of the day utilizing her house as a satellite office so that i’m there good and early for poking!

my sting-ray-flu has hit the road.  i carefully cultivated it all last week so that i could bring it to orlando with me.  as planned, it flourished over the six hour drive down here so that i was feeling far more lousy when i got here than i had during the week.  i have made efforts to spread it around to all of my sissy’s family as well as other relatives and friends, as chronicled below.  you’re all welcome!

saturday sissy’s family accompanied me and hubby to my dad’s for a nice lunch and visit with him and his wife.  saturday night’s plans got postponed due to hubby having to get some work done so we popped in on my cousin instead. 

sunday we went to see my friend’s first house.  i loved her sense of pride as she showed us around and i am impressed with the improvements that they have already made in the last month.  i wish them happy, happy days in that home.  the rest of sunday was lazy.  we got back in time for splashy pool fun but i chose to nap instead.  when i awoke, i went down and sat next to the hot tub while hubby, sissy, and BIL soaked.  no way was i getting in a hot tub on a 94° afternoon!  the rest of the evening was passed with dinner, a bit of the magic game, and a movie.

i didn’t even go to yoga wednesday night because i felt so crummy.  we did go to the bridge run last night though and it seriously kicked my butt.  turned out i was much less up for it than i thought. 

i was in a pretty good mood when i started since i found some animals to watch on the backside of the pond.  and i had a big smile when a strange man was walking toward our group and several of the men-folk stopped and turned to watch me and make sure the man kept on walking past.  it was nice to feel so protected.  and then i felt like i was actually a bit faster on the first leg since i was already heading downhill when i met the first group coming back over the bridge.  that’s never happened before so either i was going faster or they were all going slower (which, unfortunately, is a possibility since most of them are doing the half-iron this weekend so they are tapering down but i prefer to think i was being a speed-demon). 

at the other end of the bridge, it all started to go downhill, so to speak.  i decided to add some distance by veering off through the college and circling back up to the road.  this was a mistake.  it seemed like it took forever to get back to the bridge and i was wary because i was by myself (no worries, cousin, my pepper-spray was tucked safely inside my purse back in the car) and no one knew where i had gone so there would be no men-folk watching protectively if strangers passed.  by the time i finally started climbing over the bridge again, i was done.  i’m talking D-O-N-E.  i wanted so badly to walk.  luckily, my hubby must have seen my struggle and, instead of finishing his second lap over, he turned and slowed drastically to jog with me all the way back to the car.  it was so nice to have company when i was feeling so shot.  he kept telling me i was doing great and i could make it.  he was highly encouraging even though i couldn’t stop gasping out expletives.  and i did make it back to the car without slowing to a walk.  based on the overall time and my assumed pace, i’m guessing i did between 3.7 and 3.8 miles.  i’m not sure if it was feeling crappy or the fact that i didn’t do my tuesday run that made it so much tougher.  i really think that the tuesday run helps on thursdays.

i gave an awful lot of consideration to doing my tuesday night run tonight.  really, i did.  and then the whiny laziness won out.  my throat hurts.  my head hurts.  waaahh, waahhh, waaahhh…  i did go to the plaza but instead of going to the park to run the loop, i went to target to buy some sympathy cards and then walked to penney’s for some towels.  just as good as a three+ mile run.