July 26, 2011

Normally I don't complain about business. But I have to admit that in this case I'm willing to complain out loud. Bell Brothers, you guys need to give some of your drivers, specifically this driver, a lesson in courteous driving.

On my way home from work last night, this guy tried to sideswipe me...twice. The first time I had to change lanes to avoid being hit and the second time I honked at him because he was about to change lanes into the side of my car. Then he tailgates some poor guy down the freeway. Naturally, he got of the highway at the same exit that I did and I snapped his picture at the stoplight. Once the light turned green he proceeds to do 55 in a 45. Strike three. Clearly he has some bugs that really needed killing. Me, I just needed to get home without getting killed or maimed at the very least.

Anyway, enough of that. Happier things await. Hubbs, my Father-in-law and myself went to see our local minor league baseball team, the Sacramento River Cats, play last night. Hubbs god mother had tickets she couldn't use and gave them to us. We had great seats just to the left of home plate.


I love going to see the River Cats play. The games are always good, the stadium is nice and the view of the field is awesome. I love that you can see the iconic Tower Bridge from just about anywhere in the stadium. It was a good game with lots of action and the Cats crushed the Reno Aces 10 to 1. I worked on my Alpine Glow sock during much of the game. I completed the gusset and most of the foot. All that stockinette makes for quick knitting.



July 25, 2011

What's new? What's new? What's new...hmmmmm. Oh yeah, I have pink hair!


I never thought I would be the kind of girl with pink hair but here I am. I have pink hair and I love it so much. Sorry for the crappy cell phone pic but it's hard to take a picture of your own head in the mirror. At least I didn't make the duck face.

July 20, 2011

Hard work spotlights the character of people; some turn up their sleeves, some turn up their noses and some don’t turn up at all.
-Sam Ewing, humorist

Oh my gosh, what a weekend. I’m so tired I need another day off to recover from my days off. And that’s after I went home early from work on Friday. Here it is Wednesday and I’m still trying to finish a post about last weekend. Good grief.

We were slow and I was feeling blah on Friday so I took the afternoon off. Ran home, had lunch, a glass of wine, watched some TV, and then took a nap. Glorious, just glorious. But that was the end of my relaxing for the weekend. I ran Bridge to 10k, Week 2, day 1 on Friday. Good run, actually great run. I could have lived without the horrible head wind that resulted every time I turned toward the west, but other than that the temps were in the low 70’s and there were no weirdo’s and no dogs.

Saturday Hubby and I drove the 2 hours over to my mom’s house and replaced a fence for her that was falling down. We also visited with my Grandmother for a while. I had knit her a pair and a half of socks for Mothers Day and I finally finished the second one. I also had knit her an additional pair of socks and surprised her with that. It’s always good to see my grandmother. We stayed for dinner and then drove the 2 hours back home. It makes for a really long day with all the driving and the physical activity and then the driving again. But the visit with my family was good.

Sunday began in a very relaxed state. Got up at 7am, Hubby suggested we go out for breakfast. Hit our favorite breakfast spot, Cassidy’s in Elk Grove. I got the 2 egg, hash browns and whole wheat toast breakfast for $2.99. Huge breakfast for $3! After that we did the grocery shopping and then I started working my garden. I was out there for a few hours, filled the yard waste call almost to the top. Got Hubby to pull down the satellite dish that we no longer use since we got cable and he helped my move a bunch of pots from around the front of the house to the back. Then for some insane reason I decided to trim the rose bushes in front of the house which lead to me cleaning out the flower beds in the front too. I didn’t finish that part because the grass was touching my legs and I was getting so itchy that I was about to lose my mind. So I went in showered and then started on the inside chores. Laundry, my dreaded foe, as well as cleaning the kitchen. Ugh. But I also gave myself a pedicure and a manicure which I really needed.

I never did finish the inside chores because Hubbs wanted to run some errands in town so off we went. He needed a light weight sleeping bag for an upcoming camping trip. After going to three places we finally found him one and I found a running skirt. Right now I only have one and have been hand washing it after my runs so I can wear it again. It gets pretty gross by the end of the week. Everywhere we went I checked to see if they have running skirts but only Sports Authority had one. It’s a pink Nike skirt but it doesn’t go with my baby pink top so now I’m on the lookout for a new white shirt. I’m hoping that with the new article in Runners World about women’s running fashion more places locally will start to carry more women’s fashion. Shorts are ok but I feel more comfortable with my hind end covered by the skirt.

Sunday I also ran Bridge to 10k, Week 2, Day 2. It was a horrible run. I had pain in my right knee and around my ankle bone on the inside of my left leg. I wasn’t able to focus on anything other than the pain the entire run. I couldn’t wait for it to be over.

I was exhausted on Monday. Took a cat nap after work. I never do that but man was I tired. This week is the beginning of my new work schedule. Since it’s summer time, it’s getting too hot for training runs in the evening after work. Thankfully my boss is super flexible and she allowed me to change my hours on Tuesdays & Thursdays to 8:30 – 5pm. This allows me to get up at 4:30 or 4:45 and still have my training run in the morning. My regular hours, 7:30 to 4pm, don’t allow for that morning run. I’m still working those hours on Monday, Wednesday & Friday. It makes for a weird work week and I definitely have to know what day of the week it is all the time.

Yesterday morning, I finished up week 2 of B210k. It was my first morning run. I discovered two things; 1. It’s dark at 4:45am and 2. Not all the street lights are on at that time. There were quite a few very dark sections. Otherwise, the run was great. 60 degrees, no real wind and no pain. That’s a win, win, win for me. Sometimes in the afternoons the winds come out of the west so hard it feels like it’s pushing me backwards. Ugh. Headwinds suck.

Tomorrow is the beginning of week 3. It’s a 17 minuet run, 1 minute walk repeated 3 times. The run sections are 2 minutes longer then week 2 but I don’t think it’s going to be a problem. Honestly this far I haven’t felt too challenged by the run program unless I’m having an off day or pain or something. The only thing I don’t like is just about the time I get into a really good grove it’s time for a break. I’ve been tempted to run through the break but I’m afraid that I’ll burn myself out. I’m trying to trust the program and just go with it. I don’t want an injury from pushing too hard.

July 11, 2011

Monday has not gotten off to a bang like I had hoped. I always have high hopes for Monday mornings and they never pan out…I’m sure that part of that is that my day is always ruined by the fact that I have to go to a job that I’m miserable at. Stupid job. When are my lottery winnings going to come in?!?!!!! ;) I also forgot my date book this morning when I left for work and it’s driving me crazy. I depend on that little black book so much. I keep thinking of 101 things that I need to take care of an I have nowhere to write them down so they don’t get lost! How’s a girl supposed to organize her life without her date book?!?

My Hubbs is a lucky man. He always is winning stuff in contests or getting great deals on things…not to mention that he married me. ;) I really need to get him to start buying lottery tickets when the jackpot is a big one. We really could use some money right now and a bit of good luck. My washing machine has been making a terrible racket for a while now when it runs the spins cycle. I finally made an appointment a couple of weeks ago to get it looked at and on
Saturday the repair guys came to look at it. They were there for about 2 minutes and they knew it was going to be a hefty bill. The estimate was over $800 to fix it. They recommended that we just buy a new machine since they cost about that anyway.

Ugh. How do you pick out a new washing machine?! I called my mom, mom’s know everything. She suggested I decide if I want a top loader or front and which features I want. I have a front loader now and they’re more efficient then the top loaders so I think that I’m going to get another front loader. Mostly I want a high capacity washer. Hubbs work clothes can make a big load and its sometimes pretty dirty and muddy. Otherwise, I just want a delicate cycle for my girly under things and my running clothes. Beyond that, I don’t really care if it has steam or whatever. I don’t do dry cleaning so I don’t think I need to “refresh” my clothes. I just wash them.

So that was the big excitement for my weekend. Other then that I didn’t do much. I finished knitting a pair of socks for my Gram. Pictures to follow soon. Did some grocery shopping. Did the laundry (washed, still need to fold it and last week’s too).

I didn’t run a single step over the weekend either. I slept late both days. I intended on getting up when Hubbs got up on Sunday (6am, he had to work) but I never heard the alarm and barely woke up enough to kiss him when he left…and immediately fell back asleep until almost 8am. Lazy. So lazy. But that’s ok, it’s supposed to be much cooler this week then last so I should be able to run after work. It’s going to be in the mid-80’s, which is so much better than the 100+ we had last week.

I’m seriously considering talking to my boss about switching my normal schedule of 7:30am to 4pm to be able to work 8:30am to 5pm on Tuesdays and Thursdays so I can run in the morning before work. Now that I’ve gotten used to it, I actually like running in the morning. It’s cooler and gets my day off to a good start. I’m more awake at work in the mornings…notice I said in the mornings. Afternoons are a bit more sleepy but that’s ok. I talked to Hubbs about it and he isn’t thrilled about it because I won’t be home until later in the evening but he said he was ok with it. The only way I’m going to agree to this is if my boss agrees to let me go back to 7:30am to 4pm when the weather cools off and I don’t need to run in the morning anymore. I hate missing a run because it’s still too hot to run at 7pm. Maybe I’ll try to talk to my boss today about it. Who knows, maybe she won’t agree to it since it’ll make for a weird schedule for me. I don’t know, we’ll see I guess.

July 7, 2011

Book #43 of the 50 Book Challenge...

City of the Dead by Brian Keene


From Goodreads:

This terrifying new novel picks up where The Rising leaves off after a plague has turned nearly all of America's population into zombies.


My take:

3 out of 5 stars. Meh. It was ok. Nothing really to write home about.

July 6, 2011

Book #42 of the 50 Book Challenge...




Day by Day Armageddon by J.L. Bourne






From Goodreads.com:


START INTERCEPT


SPORADIC NEW REPORTS INDICATE CHAOS AND VIOLENCE SPREADING THROUGH U.S. CITIES. AN UNKNOWN EVIL IS SWEEPING THE PLANET. THE DEAD ARE RISING TO CLAIM THE EARTH AS THE NEW DOMINANT SPECIES IN THE FOOD CHAIN.


INTERCEPT COMPLETE


SURVIVOR,
In your hands is the handwritten journal depicting one man's struggle for survival. Trapped in the midst of global disaster, he must make decisions; choices that ultimately mean life, or the eternal curse to walk as one of them.


ENTER IF YOU WILL INTO HIS WORLD. THE WORLD OF THE UNDEAD.


My take:


5 out of 5 stars. Loved it. I love it so much that I picked this book up from the library on Friday and finished it on Saturday. Loved it. The format is in the form of a journal which made it different then any other zombie book I've read so far. Great descriptions and interesting characters.

July 5, 2011

I don't know why I quit working my Larch. I finished the second pair of socks that I'd been working on for my grandmother on Sunday night and was trying to figure out what to work on next. I pulled out Larch and realized that I'm almost done with the second sleeve and then I just have to block, seam and doing the finishing for the collar and the buttons for this to be finished.


Picture by Savory Knitting


I started this on January 30th and I'm pretty sure that I haven't done anything with this since some time in February. I'm working on the sleeve cap for the second sleeve now. I love the yarn and the color I chose, Berroco Ultra Alpaca Light in Candied Yam. It's a beautiful deep orange color and the alpaca content makes it soft and warm. Of course it's currently in the 100+ degree weather around here but it'll be beautiful this fall.


Sometimes I'm such a dunder head about finishing stuff.

July 1, 2011

I like goals. It's fact. I like lists and things I can check off. I like planning ahead. I want to know what's next. Now that my Couch to 5k training is coming to a close, I figured that I should be looking forward to what's next. It's true that I'm already planning my 10k training but I need something more. 10k training can proceed at my own pace with time off for injury or laziness or heatwaves.

I've had my eye on a 5k for a few weeks now. It's not until September 11 but that's plenty of time to get training runs in and work on my speed. Gotta beat that PR of 33:43 from the 5k Foot Pursuit on June 18th. Today I decided to go ahead and commit myself to the September 11th Memorial 5k Run. I've paid my price of admission and I'm in.




This race benefits the Sacramento Area Firefighters Widows and Orphans Fund, The Sacramento Police Widows' and Orphans' Aid Association and the Star 6 Foundation. All really good causes. From the description on the home page of the race, it sounds like it's going to be a huge race. They're planning on handing out flags to each running as they cross the finish line to be planted in the lawn to represent the 3000 people who died during 9/11.




The course is described as flat and fast but honestly, looking at the course map I can already tell you it's not flat. Part of the route is the same as the 5k Foot Pursuit. Between miles 2 and 3 is that same long up hill section that had most of mile 1 from Foot Pursuit. I know that I'm going to be doing some hill training before this race. Now if only I knew where to find some hills.




Besides train, the only thing I can do now is pray for cooler weather in September. It can still be pretty hot around here in September. But this year our weather has been so strange, as evidenced by the rain from last Tuesday (in June!). So I'm hoping that it will be cooler, especially since the race doesn't start until 9:11am which is kinda a late start time.




I'm looking forward to this race and hopefully beating my PR from last race.