Archive for October, 2009

2009
31
Oct
12:44

W.A.R.

   Posted by: arcanai    in getting healthy

really, the bulk of my exercise was walking all the stairs on the cruise ship.  i don’t do cruise elevators.  so we climbed up and down stairs several times a day, sometimes seven flights at a time.  i know it doesn’t sound like much, but it adds up and i could feel it.  that’s my story and i’m sticking to it!

  morning lunch evening
sunday      
monday      
tuesday    7 mi walk  
wednesday  30 min vigorous snorkel kicking    
thursday      
friday      
saturday      
2009
24
Oct
12:41

W.A.R.

   Posted by: arcanai    in getting healthy

i’m on vacation, give me a break!

  morning lunch evening
sunday      
monday      
tuesday 30 min vigorous snorkel kicking    
wednesday      
thursday   4 mi walk 30 min vigorous snorkel kicking
friday      
saturday      
2009
18
Oct
6:52

heading out

   Posted by: arcanai    in Nuthin' Special

we’re up and getting ready to head out on vacation.  for the first few days, we’ll be playing with my sissy and BIL.  i don’t think we’ve ever spent more than an evening of adult time with them so i’m looking forward to some fun!  while on the cruises i won’t have internet but i’ll do my best to post something in between.  no parties while i’m gone, kids!!!

2009
17
Oct
21:47

W.A.R.

   Posted by: arcanai    in getting healthy

meh.

  morning lunch evening
sunday      
monday     4 mi run
tuesday      
wednesday      
thursday      
friday      
saturday      
2009
12
Oct
22:24

whataweekend!

   Posted by: arcanai    in family time, getting healthy

seriously, i’m not sure i’ve ever had a busier or more tiring forty hour period as friday/saturday.  after work on friday, we made the drive down to orlando.  we got a late start and made a longer-than-normal dinner stop in tallahassee so our arrival was later than i had hoped.  hubby fell asleep after eating so he got a four hour nap while i finished out the drive.  we made it to my sissy’s by 00:30 but it was around 01:00 by the time we got our luggage in and got into bed.  though i was exhausted, i was unable to sleep so i angrily tossed and turned until the alarm went off at 04:30 – yes, we purposely got up after just 3.5 hours in bed.  my cousin picked us up at 05:00 and drove us out to clermont to meet up with her team for hills training.  there’s a residential street out there with a hill they call “big bertha”.  it seemed to be about the same height as our bridge but much less gradual.  i did it twice and only made it about a third of the way up each time before settling into a walk.  really, though, it wasn’t the incline that got me, it was the decline.  i was fine pushing myself up the hill but going back down killed my knees.  the first time down, i ran it full tilt and it hurt my knees.  the second time, i walked down in a zig-zag pattern and it still hurt my knees so i chose not to do a third repeat.  i did, however, run several of the side streets and ended up running a good bit of that side of the neighborhood, so i got in some pretty good mileage that way.  of course, i can’t say with any certainty, but my guess is that i did just shy of seven miles – by far my longest run to date.  and even with all of the hills (there were more hills than just bertha) i felt fine.  go me!  after the run and cool-down, we headed back to my cousin’s where she cooked breakfast for us and her family.  mmmmbaconandeggs.  when we left there, we walked the mile or so back to my sissy’s to refill our water bottles, change shoes, and be off to the next activity:  cheerleading!

niece1 decided to give cheering a try for the first time this season.  and she must be pretty darned good because she had her mom and siblings, three grandparents, and an aunt and uncle there to watch.  she was absolutely the cutest cheerleader out there!  and very spirited – i heard her over everyone else.

look at that form!

look at that form!

getting great air!

getting great air!

after her game, dad offered to grab some pizzas and come by the house for lunch so we had a nice lunch with him and his wife before heading to nephew2‘s flag football game.  i’ll take this opportunity to point out how bloody hot it is in orlando right now.  i don’t know the actual temperature for our 06:00 run this morning but i can tell you that within the first two minutes of the run, i was drenched in sweat.  as hot as the bridge was on thursday, it is ten times hotter and stickier here.  ugh.  since we were tight on time between breakfast and getting to niece’s cheer, we didn’t shower and change.  and i felt a little funny about that.  but after sitting for an hour in the heat at her game, i was pleased with the decision.  thankfully, sissy has a nifty stadium tent that they brought to all the games to keep the direct sun off of us but the air was still stagnant.  i stayed drenched all day long.  and i stank something fierce.  but my family loves me anyhow and allowed me to remain under their tent.  anyhow, back to the narrative at hand… nephew had some great plays and his team won. 

totally intimidating the other team

totally intimidating the other team

going for it!

going for it!

there was another game between nephew2‘s game and nephew1‘s game.  we all sat around in the heat a while, getting eaten alive by ants, and then sissy, the kids, and i made a slurpee run just before nephew1‘s game started.  he played awesome as well and also had a win.  i can’t believe how grown he’s getting.

look at that MAN barreling down the field

look at that MAN barreling down the field

great pass!

great pass!

after that game, we got a “recess”.  we all came back to the house and jumped in the pool!!!  the adults mostly stuck to the hot tub to rest their weary bones.  it was a welcome respite and gave me an opportunity to show off cobalt.

nephew<sup>2</sup>

nephew2

niece<sup>1</sup>

niece1

nephew<sup>1</sup>

nephew1

i ♥ cobalt!  after the pool fun, we made a quick dinner of various leftovers and got showers (way overdue, let me tell you.  we had to take our clothes down to the laundry room because after leaving them in our room while swimming, the stank slapped us in the face when we opened the door!) and then headed to the kids’ halloween dance.  niece1 dressed as a puppy, nephew2 dressed as tebow, nephew1 was too cool to get dressed up – i guess you could say he went as a teenager!  sadly, hubby took the pix there but had the wrong setting on so they all came out terrible blurs.  you can take my word for it that there was a lot of cuteness there.  the dance was put on by the organization that does the cheerleading so all of the different cheerleading groups performed a dance number, which was really fun.  niece1, of course, did fabulous.  the two oldest groups were much more choreographed and impressive but i was astounded at the provocative moves and costumes.  these kids are all thirteen and under!  we also got to meet nephew1‘s girlfriend, who is in the oldest cheerleading group, for the first time.  it was amusing to see how they acted around each other.  they’d get within three feet of one another, look in opposite directions, smile out of the corners of their mouths, and then go different ways.  LOL.  i’m so glad to see that they have so much innocence left.  their “dance” consisted of texting each other from opposite sides of the gymnasium all night.  really, he spent almost the whole night with us old fuddy-duddies.  nephew2, on the other hand, spent the night dancing with a group of the second-oldest cheerleaders.  he was totally a ladies man!  niece1 just had a good time hanging out with her friends.  we made it home in time to watch the last bit of the gators game and then i finally got to go to bed after forty straight hours of being awake.  haven’t done that in years and it is much harder than it used to be.  we laid down in bed and both let out a huge sigh.  said i to hubby, “they do this every weekend!”  i just couldn’t do it… three kids going 90 mph in three different directions all the time.  gracious!

so anyhow, as tired as i was after my forty hour waking binge, i slept a whopping four hours before waking up and tossing and turning the rest of the morning.  insomnia rocks!  /sarcasm.  luckily, sunday was a much calmer day.  i gave up and got out of bed at 09:00 and started working on making plans.  i was hoping to see my brother since i haven’t seen him all year but i called both him and his wife and got voicemail on both.  i did make plans with my friend jenny to get together with her and the hubby for dinner.  that left us the rest of the morning and afternoon to do some much needed resting up.  and make a kohl’s trip.  dinner with friends was healthy and fun and we were in bed at a decent hour.

2009
11
Oct
14:50

W.A.R.

   Posted by: arcanai    in feelin bad, getting healthy

eh.  it really wasn’t a good week but i did run my farthest distance to date.

  morning lunch evening
sunday      
monday      
tuesday      
wednesday     swam 20 lengths of pool
thursday     5 mi bridge run
friday      
saturday 7 mi hilly run    

 

i was actually feeling really good yesterday because of that seven miles.  i was all kinds of “go me!”.  until i went to get dressed last night and found that a pair of shorts that fit me fine last week were incredibly hard to fit into.  it’s so disheartening, folks.  every time i think i’m taking steps forward, i get slapped back.  i don’t understand it.  i truly, truly don’t.  and all i want to do is cry.

2009
9
Oct
19:37

cirrus’ first outing

   Posted by: arcanai    in Nuthin' Special

cirrus has made her first pubic appearance at a wendy’s in tallahassee on our way to orlando.  yay for hot-spots!!!

 

img_0789

2009
8
Oct
12:23

making headway

   Posted by: arcanai    in Nuthin' Special

i’m not sure why, but i have been doing a really lousy job of preparing and packing for our rapidly approaching travels.  doesn’t make sense since i’m so stinkin’ excited about vacation.  really, we are so badly in need of it.

i think part of the problem is that we’ve had some complications arise with our departure.  a month or two ago, we were told to hold the 10th open for our friends’ party.  in the last week, that has turned into the 11th.  for those playing along without a calendar, that’s sunday.  originally, it wouldn’t have mattered because we weren’t going to leave town until next weekend, when we are officially on vacation. however, a business trip for hubby has changed that. when we still thought the party was saturday, we were planning on having fun with our friends and then getting up sunday morning to drive down so that we could catch my dad on our way into town.  however, now that the party has moved, we either have to skip it or drive down very late sunday night, making monday a nasty work day.  we love our friends and really hate to miss this, especially since we missed the last big shindig due to our mt leconte hike.  so… we’re torn.  add to that the fact that my dad is bummed that he won’t see us this weekend and my cousin is bummed that we won’t be tortured with her this weekend… it’s all feeling a bit stressful. 

i have finally started making some progress though.  the laundry is all done (will probably need to do another tiny load after the run tonight).  i have gathered important documents such as our passports and the cruise docs.  i have downloaded all pix from the memory card and ensured that they are all backed up on a secondary drive.   i even cleaned out and organized my purse in preparation for moving back to my old purse, which cirrus will fit in comfortably.  still to do either now or by the end of next week:

  • decide when we’re leaving
  • figure out what we’re going to do with the plants to keep them from being completely dead when we get back
  • gather all snorkel equipment and make sure it’s all clean and ready to use
  • get packed for business and vacation
  • pick and purchase excursions
  • go to the library to look for audiobooks
  • straighten up house and clear off balcony
  • make hotel reservations for south florida
  • figure out our travel arrangements for south florida
  • get hubby’s help with meeting preparation
  • benefit enrollment
  • refill prescriptions
2009
4
Oct
21:22

the good, the bad, and the necessary

   Posted by: arcanai    in Nuthin' Special

two weeks until vacation.  i can’t even express how ready i am for some quality time off.  it really has been a long year at work.  and only one week until we head south.  hubby’s got a business trip the week before our vacation so i’ll be hanging with my family and friends while he’s off slaving away. 

the downside to all of this?  i don’t do well with exercise when i’m away from home.  not that i do all that well here either.  but i really, really need to. 

so if anyone wants to encourage me to be active while i’m in orlando and on vacation… it would certainly be both needed and appreciated.

2009
3
Oct
21:06

W.A.R.

   Posted by: arcanai    in getting healthy

well, that’s starting to look a bit better, right?

  morning lunch evening
sunday      
monday     swam 40 lengths of pool
tuesday      
wednesday     swam 40 min open water
thursday     3 mi bridge run
friday   swam 40 lengths of pool   
saturday     3-4 mi walk
2009
2
Oct
11:48

don’t play with your food

   Posted by: arcanai    in creatures in the backyard

i just watched a dolphin play cat-n-mouse with a very large, white fish.  the dolphin circled the fish causing the fish to swim in tight, frenzied circles on the surface of the water.  this went on for about two minutes before the dolphin triumphantly jumped up through the circle with the fish in his mouth and then took some victory leaps out toward deeper water.  i so love my backyard!

2009
1
Oct
21:56

breaking the bridge

   Posted by: arcanai    in getting healthy, happy things

i actually had one more post i wanted to backdate but i really needed to post about tonight’s run so i have to jump current.  tonight was… fantastic!  the weather was gorgeous.  the sun was shining but the fall breeze buffered it and it was already starting to set when i was on my way back.  i don’t know why but i just felt good.  from start to finish.  even though i was having terrible wardrobe malfunctions.  which makes no sense because i’ve never had problems with this skort (i’m used to it with the other two because they are still too small for me) but tonight the shorts kept riding up constantly.  it was annoying and slowed me down but it didn’t bring my mood down.  i kept a good, even pace all the way over and was at 18:49 when i turned around, a little less than a minute shorter than my “first split” last week.  i walked for about a minute going back up (mostly because i was having such fits with my skort) but otherwise “ran” the whole thing.  and i felt great.  no pain, no discomfort.  i was breathing heavy but not uncomfortably so and my throat got a bit dry so i was happy to see the water table on my way back (oh yeh, i walked another 30-40 seconds there).  i even saw dolphins in the bay.  i’ve never seen anything out there but birds and boats.  i had the biggest, goofiest grin on my face watching those dolphins come toward the bridge and disappear under me.  i did some uphill sprints and i was feeling so good on my way back that i was able to pick up my pace the rest of the way after the water stop.  i even sprinted the last little piece after crossing the red light.  my time tonight was 38:34.  i finally broke forty, on my own, and i did so by a minute and a half!!!  that averages out to almost a twelve-flat pace.  over the bridge!  i was showing my watch off to everyone.  i really didn’t even feel like i had pushed myself.  most importantly, i enjoyed myself.  truly.  i had a fun run tonight!  i never thought i’d feel that way about an activity that i spent my whole life despising.