Marathons

Is it me, or does it seem like EVERYONE is running marathons? Part of me wants to make fun of them and thier bandwagon approach to exercise but the other part of me wants to join in on what is apparently fun. Since I gained my holiday weight early this year I think I will lean towards the latter.

One marathon girl told me that once you get past the first mile without stopping you can do just about any distance. There's something about getting into the stride of breathing and focus that really gets you past that 10th mile. Well then, I tested out her theory today.

(Disclaimer: don't try the following at home if you hate sweating)
I went to the gym and decided that it would be a good experience to see how well I'd do running a whole mile without stopping at a reasonable speed. I haven't done it since the 12th grade and lets face it---back then we were all athletic rock stars.

There was a real rush of confusion when I hit 0.4 miles and I started to tire. I wanted to quit. I wanted to stop and swear them all off. But then something miraculous happened---I kept going. Sure my left knee stung with a pain I am not sure is normal for people under the age of 50 and I couldn't breathe very well but something inside of me said "What the heck are you doing? Of course you can run an entire mile!" Well, that little voice was all I needed to run through the pain which eventually subsided.

I made it. It felt amazing! And the marathon girl was right it really wasn't that bad after the first mile. I guess I see now what the craze is about. Sure there's pain and suffering related to the run but really what's worth anything without a little bit of trial and tribulation? And lets face it, I really did feel like a rock star all over again (even though it took me 7 minutes more to get there).

I walked away from the gym and picked up a flyer to a local 5k. Maybe this wagon isn't such a bad thing to run after. Its called the Turkey Trot. How tough can it be? ;)

A Good Mechanic

Here's an excerpt from my Yelp Post that I thought I should share for those of you who have experienced bad auto service:

I was referred to Raineri Automotive from a friend so I called them because my locks were acting up. Alan, the owner, took my call and promised to research the issue on the Internet that day. That afternoon, he told me that no car like mine had ever had that problem, EVER. He then asked me a bunch of questions related to my car's colorful life history and determined that the problem was due to my after market alarm system.

He said that since I bought the alarm in town that I should go back to the alarm guy and tell him to fix my problem since it was his installation that was causing the issue. Alan could have told me that I had a fuse issue, or he that he needed to diagnose the problem in person, or even that a ghost was messing up my locks and the only way to exorcise this ghost was to pay him $1,000.

Not Alan...this good mechanic saved me time, possibly money, and the inanimate soul of my vehicle.

Good Advertising

Now isn't this the funniest think you saw all day? Guess where it is? In front of a bar! Ladies, pack up the car and call your friends, we have a plan.

Spring Infusion

I know I haven't written for awhile but that's because I've been lazy. Chilly winter nights, car trouble and really good TV have been keeping me in hibernation. Aside from the aforementioned car trouble, nothing really has happened. Oh but for the baby elephants...but that's a whole new tale to tell. Anyway, this past weekend marked with gorgeous weather, planted flowers and double date nights has infused me with energy!

Husband and I have so many projects planned for the spring that I can't seem to stop working and planning and shopping! I need to stay focused and just work on 2 things at a time though. I think the average person says one thing at a time but I'm quite anxious to get started so we'll see how this two thing at a time works. I'm going to tell you my plans so that hopefully I actually do them. Make spring wreath for the front door, put up pretty fence, plant a palm tree, buy patio furniture, scrapbook from the last trip, finish Grandma's birthday present and plant lots of flowers!

Here's our latest outdoor projects that I can check off the list:

We worked on the fruit trees: As mentioned earlier we basically have a small orchard in our backyard which husband has been maintaining daily. I'm quite the dead beat orchard owner. However, I decided to help out over the weekend and whoa, I didn't know what I got myself into! I was shovelling, watering, clipping, and eating fruit all weekend and boy was my arms tired.

Planted flowers in the front yard: I know that I should try to plant perennials that don't have loads of pollination but really, they just aren't as vibrant as annuals. I said, "What the heck" popped a Zyrtec, put on my gardening hat, sunblock, and pretty yellow gardening gloves and got to work on my gardening pad. On the other hand, Husband put on lawn mowing clothes and started digging in the dirt with his BARE HANDS! Men are so different than women aren't they? We had loads of fun, chatted with the neighbors and ended the day with beautifully planted flowers and a 18 pack of Guinness.

Here's some of our finished products :)

the planner

Isn't it funny how when your on a long vacation you miss home but then as soon as you get back into the groove of things you start planning another trip? If you don't do that then you may not relate to this blog because that's just what I do. I don't thinking my restlessness is because my Life As Normal is dull or anything, I think I do that because my vacations are awesome. I can't seem to wait for the next adventure as the last one just fuels my addiction for more.

I could be one of those travel junkies. Lol... Its a good thing I have a job. Life like this isn't free! Of course I have met people in Santa Cruz (you know the kind) that claim that you can travel the world while never having a job but then those people are always asking me for money.

A friend of mine with similar traveling passions was asked by her concerned mother if she was going to be one of those people that work to travel. She replied, "YES, and what's so wrong with that?"

I think the real question is where have you gone lately?

The year of the...

I know its just facebook and email, but I have to say that it felt really good on my birthday to open up my phone and literally watch it crash as it attempted to load all my birthday messages. I expected the day to be dull and I expected none more from the year itself but I feel that the overflow of birthday wishes foretells something more... This will be the year of spending time and recognizing the gift of friends and family.