Friday Mishmash

I may have mentioned a time or two how I've started knitting (audience: oh REALLY???).  I haven't found many knitters in my community - obviously they exist, or the local knitting store wouldn't be in business - but the other day I was in the waiting room at my dentist (no cavities, thanks for asking) and a woman sat down near me and started knitting in the round (using a double strand of yarn, no less) - I swear, it was all I could do to not immediately accost her with questions...as it was, I tried to not stare too much.  Luckily for her, I was called in for my appointment fairly quickly.  I really need to find a knitting group!

And in knitting news (nice segue, right?), I finished two windmill bags this week - a regular-sized bag, and a mini-me.  Of course, it wouldn't be me if I didn't screw up, and I did - on BOTH.  Same problem - I get one I-cord going the wrong direction.  So...that makes me three for three with that error - at least I'm consistent?  I've started another one - let's see if I can get through it without messing up.  Honestly, with the I-cord, all it takes is for me to lay out the bag and double-check which direction to go...but by the third panel, apparently I think I've got it under control and don't check...and then I end up with the "Doh!" realization later on.

Pink, for a special girl - full size and a mini!

I thought the smaller one would be sweet as a doll bag, but it turned out a little larger than I expected.  Plus, I should have shortened the handles...oh well, I'm still figuring all this stuff out.  Still, it's cute, right?

********************

One nice byproduct of my Sit and Knit diet (besides the actual knitted projects) is that I've discovered some good British television shows...Downton Abbey was one, and last week I started watching Doc Martin, after years of hearing my mother talk about it.  Now, I knew it was something about a doctor, but of course I always associated it with clunky shoes.  It's good!  And luckily, there are a lot of episodes to catch up on, plus it's still on the air.  Sweet!

********************

The word verification on Blogger has been bugging me for a while now - TWO words?  Half the time I can't even see the letters correctly - I give it a try, but if it doesn't work, I don't end up leaving my comment.  And now?  I noticed that along with a wobbly word, there was also a picture of numbers.  What's next, a symbol that I have to describe?  I know I sound like a cranky old lady, but for crying out loud, if you have word verification on your blog, please turn it off.  I haven't had it for years and I promise you, I hardly ever get spam comments (not that this is a challenge, any spammers that might be reading!)(who am I kidding - they don't read - they just go back a year, pick a random post, and leave a link to their art website)(yeah, I don't understand the mindset behind that one, either), and if you do get one, it's easy to delete.

********************

Just because it's pretty:

 

Mini carnations (my fav - yes, I am a cheap date) in my mini disk pitcher

Just because it cracks me up:

 I heer you mom, but I wait for my friend.

Paco, waiting patiently as he stares at the fence, where moments before his buddy Ginger, who was running around with him in the front yard, had slipped under.  He sat and stared, looking around, but never moved, until she got tired of our backyard and came back out to play.  Then they ran around again - too fast for me to get a good picture, but they had a good time!

********************

Tomorrow is my birthday, and I'm starting my 49th year off with a 4.5 mile run...because, why not, right?  I'm also trying to bribe some of my running club peeps to come run with us (unfortunately some will be on vacation - lucky girl Julia is going to Cabo!) by offering ice cold watermelon as a post-run treat - we'll see if anyone is crazy enough to get up super early on a Saturday.  Should be fun, regardless.

Have a great weekend!

Wednesday Workout Update

My long run on Saturday was a rough one - I tried a couple of new things and let me tell you, they did NOT work out like I'd hoped.  I could bitch and moan about the weather, too - but let's face it:  I live in Texas.  It's hot.  End of story.  We ran 4.5 miles, as planned...what wasn't planned was a mini breakdown around 1.75 miles in.  But after a little hissy fit (Jeff can be SUCH a diva!), I made a couple of adjustments and the rest of the run went much better.

I started off wearing a Frogg Togg Chilly Pad around my neck - I saw a woman with one after the Wolf Pen race we did last month and was amazed at how cold the towel felt, even after she'd run a 10K.  So I bought one for Jeff and I.  Well, it does stay cold, I'll give it that.  But it was bulky and heavy around my neck, plus it bounced around.  I tried tucking it into my shirt but that didn't really help.  Plus, I think the extra weight contributed to my feeling suffocated, and my breathing was back to the mess of panting/panic breathing that I thought I had gotten over.  Combine that with my hat feeling wrong (I think I had my ponytail too high and the hat didn't sit right), which in turn kept hitting the top of my sunglasses, which kept sliding down my nose (thank you, sweat), and I was ripe for a breakdown.  Luckily, it was short-lived - I was able to stop, readjust, take off the damn towel (and wipe my teary, sweaty face - the towel was cool, I'll give it that), take off the hat, and get back to running.  Which went fine until I stopped for my "Gu at Tu" (thanks to Kim for coining that phrase!) - I was low on my favorite flavor, Chocolate Outrage, so I tried a different one - Espresso Love.  Now, I love everything coffee flavored, but this GU was too strong for me - I couldn't even gag it down.  Now I know - use what works, and what works for me is chocolate.  Another lesson learned.

The one thing that was great about this not-so-great run?  My legs.  I don't know if it was the extra carbs I'd eaten for the last couple of days, or just that I've been running so often, but I didn't even notice them until close to mile 4.  That was a nice realization - if I can get my lungs and emotions in order, my body should be good to go the distance!

Before...

 Looking at the picture, I can see that my hat was on funny.  And that towel...no.  Just no.

And after:

Thumbs down to this run; 

Wait, let me wipe the burning sweat from my eyes; 

OK, maybe it wasn't so bad - after all, I just ran 4.5 miles.  Thumbs up!

********************

Monday, Jeff and I woke up and ran 2 miles.  Struggled a bit with my breathing again - what is up with that?!?  Dislike.  Later in the day, we headed out for sno cones, and actually walked there.  Yes, it was 92 degrees, but we walked in the shade most of the way, and really, it was less than half a mile each direction.  One thing about running is that it's made me realize how easy it is to cover some distance by foot.

Tuesday, Jenny and I ran 2 miles.  It was funny - we were talking a lot as we ran, and at one point I was pretty breathless and said "I have to take a break" and started to walk, then glanced down at Ricky Bobby, saw that we were at mile 1.78 and said "I can't walk now!" and we started running again, with Jenny going all gung-ho trainer on me..."we'll run, no talking!" - which is what we did, and what I needed to do.  It would have been silly to stop so close to 2 miles.  Sometimes, I just need that extra push.

Tomorrow, Erica and I have 2 miles scheduled...seems to be the theme of the week!  And then, I'll run a bit with Jenny - Erica and I run easy, so another little bit should be fine.  Dribs and drabs all add up to stronger legs, though.

Memorial Day

Continuing to enjoy the long weekend with Jeff - we had a long run on Saturday, saw The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel in a packed theater where, as Jeff joked, many Jitterbug phones were turned off at the beginning of the movie, ate fresh corn on the cob and watermelon for dinner, checked out some new running routes, and today have a short run on tap, followed by more relaxing, enjoying the warm weather, and quite possibly, a sno cone later on.  Life is good, and I'm grateful for those who gave so much in the service of our country.

Der Misher und Der Masher

Don't ask me why I'm channeling the Swedish Chef - I blame too much time alone.  Luckily, Jeff's class for next week was canceled so he'll actually be in town for the whole week...I joked in an email to a friend that he'll probably expect unreasonable things, like dinner every night.  What??  You mean a couple hard-boiled eggs, some cheese and a mega-ton of watermelon won't cut it?  Geez.

********************

Speaking of watermelon, I am happy to report that despite the mid-90 degree temperatures, I'm staying well hydrated with watermelon.  Lots and lots of watermelon.  YUM.  Now if the price of cherries would drop just a smidge, I'd be in fruity heaven!

********************

My hydration also took the form of a sno cone...and not just ANY sno cone, mind you, but one that happened to match my pedicure.  Obviously I like blue:

The polish color is China Glaze's Towel Boy Toy; the sno cone flavor is blue coconut.

********************

There was some big excitement in my town yesterday - a 17-story building was imploded!  I think just about everyone got up early and came out to watch it fall...how often do you get to see something like this happen, on purpose, after all?  A little backstory:  this was built in 1980 as a Ramada Inn and apparently was THE premier hotel in the area.  Even my running buddy Jenny remembers taking homecoming pictures on the grand staircase - all the big events were held there.  But, it was sold several times and fell into disrepair, and for the last few years it was an eyesore with broken windows and massive neglect.  It sat right across from the university and made for quite the ugly sight.  Finally, some developers bought it and are planning an apartment/retail complex.  But first, they had to take down this building, and what better way than with explosives?  It was interesting watching them get the building ready - they took out all the furniture, windows, insulation, etc, and toward the end, you could see through the building.  The implosion was scheduled for 6:30 am yesterday - I put my camera on a tripod so it would be steady, zoomed in pretty close, and was lucky enough to get a couple of good shots as it came down.  I was about a mile and a half away, just for reference.  Here's the pictures (I ran them through a photo-editing "boost" to brighten them up, as the sun was just beginning to rise and it was still pretty dim):

Now you see it...

 

 

 

 

BOOM!  Now you don't!

The demo people said beforehand that it would take 7 seconds for the building to fall - and they were right!  I couldn't believe it came down that fast.  If you're interested, click here to see lots of videos of the Plaza Hotel implosion.  Afterward, a little girl who was standing near me said "that's the first time I've seen something like that" and I told her "me, too!" - her eyes got really big as I think she realized how lucky she was.

********************

It doesn't hold quite the excitement of an implosion, but still, I was pretty dang thrilled to finish my windmill bag this week.  The handles came together quite easily, and we ended up wrapping the yarn on the opposite side for fun.  I like it and think it will be great for holding a knitting project, or a change of clothes, or who knows?  I feel so accomplished, having completed this:

 Close up of the wrapped handles.

 

 

 Bottom of the bag.

********************

We have a three day weekend ahead, thanks to Memorial Day on Monday.  I know, you're probably thinking that every day is like a weekend for me, but this will be extra nice - it feels like the official start of summer.  On that note, I'm thinking that (even more) watermelon and corn on the cob will be on the menu - hey, I just came up with dinner! ;)

Have a great weekend.

Wednesday Workout Update

Jeff was still out of town over the weekend, so I lined up my Half Homie, Julia, to run 4 miles with on Sunday.  She and I started together in our running club nearly two years ago, and I always love it when I get the chance to run with her.  Sunday was no different - we took off, chatting and just enjoying the morning...a pleasant run interrupted only once by Julia's warning of the very large, freshly dead snake that I was close stepping on, and my ensuing shriek.  Hey, whatever gets the heart rate elevated, right?

We share a love of purple as well as a love of running. 

********************

Jenny had a busy day ahead of her yesterday so we ended up meeting very early (6:30 am) for our run - actually, I don't mind getting up so early, and the temperature difference between then and 8:00 am is usually significant, so we are probably going to continue with this start time.  Of course, it happened to be about 74 degrees when we ran, but it should have been in the low 60s.  Ah Texas...it's survival of the fittest when it comes to outdoor exercise for a good portion of the year!

********************

What has been working for me lately:

• Running without music.  I have my headphones on and my iPod ready to go, but I haven't turned it on for the last few long runs...never thought I'd want to run without my crazy playlist, but don't have any need for music right now.
• Listening to sounds - my breathing, which for the most part has been much better on the panic/anxiety breathing front, and also, footsteps.  It's especially noticeable when I run with someone and can hear the cadence of our footsteps as we run - it's a neat sound to zone out to.
• My new water bottle (by Fuel Belt) - it doesn't leak!
• Don't laugh, but taking a GU at mile 2 of my long runs seems to help.  I know, another thing that "serious" runners would think is silly, but I can't eat before I run, no matter how early I wake up beforehand.  My last two miles are always faster than the first two, so it must be the GU, right?
• Training journals - actually, I've been using one for almost two years now.  Just got my new one; I like keeping track of my running (and for a while, my swimming) in them. 

 

Oldest one is on the bottom; newest is on top, ready for me to fill in!

Anticipation and Appreciation

It's taken me a long time - too long, really, to appreciate myself.  It's not just a self-esteem issue, although that has been a big part of my life...and I'll get to that in a minute.  But I remember how, as a child, I couldn't wait for the next thing - a birthday, moving up a grade in school, going on the next campout - life was fun, but the next! best! thing! was just around the corner, I was sure of it.  Of course now I look back and think "why didn't you relax and just BE in the moment"?  A hard concept for a child to grasp...or maybe it was just my personality.  Any case, that was pretty much how I continued to move through life, anticipating the future and the next great thing.

Cut to May of 2008 and my weight loss...those of us who've been habitual dieters are quite familiar with anticipation, be it stepping on the scale or trying on a smaller size in the dressing room - things that can all turn out good (yay! the scale moved down/I fit into this new size!) or bad, when sometimes I didn't see what I'd hoped for.  And then, all of the work I'd put into this seemed pointless.  All of my prior victories on the scale and in the dressing room were forgotten.  I was still overweight, I was never going to get there, this was just dumb.  Rarely did I appreciate how far I'd come, and enjoy where I was at that moment, because I was always anticipating the next amount of weight that I should be losing, or the next smaller size that I could be fitting into.  That momentary thrill of a new low weight or a new smaller size was just that - momentary.

I spent most of my adult life letting myself be defined by a number either on the scale or on a clothing size tag.  Which, logically, is completely ridiculous.  But a number was something that anyone could quickly understand - and even now, when I'm asked how much weight I've lost, I still say a number, because that computes to most people.  Back when my "weight problems" started, as a teenager, I spent many years convinced that I was overweight and would be happy if I could just see a certain number on the scale.  Of course, I look back on pictures of those years and see how low my self-esteem had to have been, to think that way.

I haven't weighed myself in nearly a year.  I honestly do not care what I weigh right now.  This body is so much more than a random number on the scale, and I have never been happier than when I finally, finally realized and accepted that.  The same goes for clothing sizes...back when I was busting out of my size 24 clothes, I was thrilled to fit into progressively smaller sizes.  But now, thanks to a few years of being able to wear normal sizes, as well as seeing the absurdity of the variety of sizes that fit me (the tops that I bought when I was shopping with my mom last month were size small, medium, large and petite extra-large), I really don't care what number is on the label - I'm just thrilled that I can shop for clothes, find things that fit, and have options about what I buy. 

So this is where I am, four years into my journey to fit - and it really has become about being fit.  I have a body that is now capable of doing physical activity.  I have a body that looks cute in clothes.  I have a healthy-enough lifestyle that is allowing me to maintain my weight loss without having to be stringent about every morsel I eat.  I am in the best shape of my adult life.  And I'm determined to enjoy it now - I'm not going to make the anticipation mistake any more, because I sure don't want to look back in five years and think "why didn't you appreciate where you were?"   Today - right now - it's enough.

In case you think I'm exaggerating, here's a few pictures of me when I needed to "lose weight":

In costume for my tap dance recital at age 19.  See how I was trying to cover my huge thighs?   I remember being grateful that the t-shirt covered up the rolls in my stomach, too.  Yep.  The ship has sailed on those legs - too bad I didn't appreciate them back then.

Shortly after I graduated high school - 18 years old and feeling quite large.

I put this one in because I remember the guy I was dating at the time wanted to buy me a polo dress from Land's End, and I was horrified at the thought of how that jersey knit would show every fat roll on my body.  I know, I want to slap me, too.

My hope for you, whether you're just partially into your weight-loss journey, or nearing the end, is that you will stop and enjoy where you are, right at this moment, and not worry as much as I did about the final number.  Because I doubt very much that our (far in the future, hopefully) obituaries are going to include our final weigh-in.

Friday Mishmash

After four years of blogging, I finally reached my photo upload limit.  I blame my week-long Beach Palooza recap (side note - I just reread those posts - dang, that was fun!). Nah, it's all good - basically I've used Blogger for free for all this time; now it's going to cost me $2.49 a month for the photos.  Well worth it to support my crazy habit!

********************

Speaking of four years of blogging, thank you so much for the sweet comments on Monday's post.  I love that not only did I hear from my regulars, but also from some people who I had no idea were reading my blog!  Which is nice, because sometimes I wonder if it's just me and the same 10 readers...now I know - there are more, they just rarely comment.  Which is perfectly fine by me - I get "comment overload" when I read blogs and don't always comment, either.  I'm just glad y'all are here, whether you say anything or not.

********************

I finally got Jeff his medal hanger!  It took me forever to figure out what to have it say - I had the word "tenacity" floating around in my head, as that described how he was toward training for his first half marathon, but it wasn't long enough for the hanger.  I got some great suggestions from many of you and those eventually led to "TENACITY + SWEAT = MEDALS" - I worked with Joel at Allied Medal Displays to get the sizing and symbols right - as usual, he was wonderful to work with and I can't recommend this company enough if you want a really special medal hanger.

 

Sorry for the flash - it's the only way I could get the shot without the shadow of the letters on the wall.

 A runner's wall.

********************

Sometimes I struggle with how much to put "out there" on this blog, because it's fairly easy to figure out where I live, and what stores I might be talking about...and I really try to not speak bad, publicly, about small businesses - I know that it's not easy being a business owner, and they are only human, after all.  I said all that to say that things did not go well with the last class on my windmill bag - suffice it to say that when we started to sew up the sides, it became apparent that something major wasn't right.  And you know, after paying a decent amount of money for the class and the yarn, I was pretty peeved because honestly, I could have made those kinds of mistakes on my own and spent the class fee on something fun.  Sighhhhh.  We ended up leaving our bags with the instructor at the store so she could figure out how to fix them.  I had additional frustration because I'd already started a second bag, so I knew that one was messed up as well.  I was able to pick up the first bag a day later, and brought the other one in so she could take the two panels apart and get them reattached in the correct direction.  So now I'm supposed to do on my own - sew up the side panels - what we would have done in class...and we'll have yet another class this coming Tuesday to deal with the handles.  One of these days, this bag will be finished, but for now, this is what it looks like:

Not any different from last week!

Here's the second bag I started - I used some different yarn (that I already had) - it doesn't have the texture like the yarn in the first bag, so I did the seed stitch on the pink, for variety.  Guess what I discovered?  Seed stitch is kind of a pain - it's boring, but you have to pay attention or you'll mess up (note the hole near one edge - oops, but I'm not too worried about that, as it should be hidden once I sew the panels together).  Anyway, it's a good thing I discovered that I'm not a huge fan of that particular stitch, because I was considering doing a baby blanket with that as the border - which would have driven me crazy.

Pink for my favorite girl, who I'll be visiting in about 6 weeks!

I finally decided to do a diagonal baby blanket for my next project - I played with the pattern over the weekend making a washcloth, and liked that I could pretty much zone out while doing it, and still end up with a nice design.  Here's the start:

With every row, you increase by a stitch until you get to a certain number, and then you start decreasing all the way down to the point...for such a simple pattern, it sure looks nice!

This is James C. Brett's Marble Chunky yarn - it comes in huge skeins so I only needed two.  This color is Rosebush and it will sort of stripe/pattern itself as I knit.  I like mystery yarns like this, and can't wait to see what the finished blanket ends up looking like!

********************

I saw this on Facebook yesterday and had to share - it describes, with absolute perfection, how my brain looks at math:

********************

Have a great weekend!