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Training Update: X Training

I'm updating you on my training sooner than I thought because I made myself a training log and (for some dumb reason) I designed it to go from Monday – Sunday. Anyhoo … .aAmazing amazing week. I feel like I really hit what I wanted. Hope I can keep it up.

The one goal I'd set that I didn't accomplish was running outdoors again. Considering the weather we've had to contend with and everything else I've accomplished, I will let it slide.

What have I done since last Tuesday?
Wednesday: I went for a 50 min swim. I wanted to do 60, but I was running late.
Thursday: After our disasterous Weds night (Tabby throwing up), I could not get up and took this day off
Friday: Ran for like 30 or 40 min (honestly can't remember)
Saturday: Did 2 miles at my top speed with a 3 min break between miles, then lifted weights … and then did a 60 min step class. This was admittedly a bit crazy, but I hardly ever get this kind of time to myself and I over did it. Advil and I were bossom buddies Sunday.
Sunday: the training schedule said 70 min run (oops, it actually said 60, but I can't read apparently), and I was sort of doubtful after yesterday, but I am super proud to say that I did it!!!!! and I ran (basically) the race distance as well, so yea … awesome week.

And you better believe I took today off. I'm training … I'm not suicidal. This week I plan to keep it up and get an outdoors workout in. Unfortunately the weather looks as abysmal as the past week (if not more so), but it's a goal, right? Plus I want to get one more strength workout in. Continue reading “Training Update: X Training”

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Wow. Weekend

Usually I comment on how quickly the weekend went, and this one is really not an exception other than I must say that we accomplished A LOT.

Friday I took a half day and stayed with Tabby who was still getting over her bug/shots/whatever. We played and napped and had a nice day. And when Matt was done with work, we headed off to get dinner and run a couple of errands. We realized as we were getting to Noodles and Co that we had forgotten the diaper bag. But stubborn folk that we are, we pressed on. So at 8:30 we were to be found in the grocery store parking lot changing a diaper that had lost containment. I keep a diaper wallet in my car for such occasions and we had purchased a t'shirt on clearance while we were at the mall, so yea … it wasn't a total disaster.

Saturday I got a long spell of lovely “me time” at the gym (more on that tomorrow) while Matt and Tabby had some Daddy-Daughter time. Then we had a lovely breakfast out and Tabby and I had a lovely nap. After naptime, it was crunch time, getting ready for a BBQ with my parents and our friends and their boys. Matt had had ribs slow-cooking over night and we made up some side dishes. I attempted a dessert that blew up in my face (I am so pathetically distracted when Tabby is fussy). But a grocery-store run later (we needed propane anyhow) and we had pies instead. And the evening was just about perfect … yummy food (even the store-bought pies) and the best of company.

After beautiful weather, today we awoke to cold temps and a dusting of snow. Not the end of the world I just hope it didn't kill our budding lilacs!! We had more errands to run, and then Matt and I apparently lost our minds and decided to attack our fridge and pantry. Four (?!?!) hours and four trash bags later, our food stuffs are much more organized.

Now I need a really good night of sleep.

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12 Month Checkup

We finally got Tabby in for her 12 mo checkup on Wednesday. They had plenty of appointments (they always do), but between her party and having friends in town, etc. we chose to put it off because she *always* gets sick when she has a checkup.

Her checkup was fine. She's right on track for everything and weighing in at 19 lbs, 2 oz and she's 28 1/2 inches tall, putting her at 22nd percentile for both height and weight. She was supposed to get 4 shots, but since we have a history of autism in our family I wanted to space them out a bit and not overload her little system. For the record, I have no idea if any of that makes a difference, but I figured it couldn't hurt. She also totally won over her doctor by asking to be held by her (i.e. putting her arms out to her). Apparently pediatricians don't get this much… go figure.

So the appointment was fine, and she had her preventative tylenol, but like clockwork, she got sick that evening. She was fussy when she went to bed and then woke up in the middle of the night and could not be consoled. We brought her to bed with us and she proceeded to throw up all over us … and the bed … twice. We changed the sheets and our clothes and tried to go back to sleep. She ended up in her pack 'n' play in our room and was restless all night. Yesterday we kept her home. She was feverish, sleepy and very clingy and fussy. She seemed to be improving last night though. We'll hope for a better day today.

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Mexican Beef & Rice

 

adapted from Parenting.com

Ingredients
1 envelope taco seasoning mix
1 cup salsa
1 cup corn kernels
1/2 cup lowfat cheese
3/4 pound lean ground beef
1 cup dry instant rice
1 1/2 C water
pepper
lettuce & tomato to serve

Directions
In a large skillet, brown ground beef over medium heat for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally to break up the chunks. Drain off any fat. Add taco seasoning mix, water, salsa, and corn; cook, uncovered, stirring until mixture boils.

Stir in rice and pepper; cook for 1 minute. Remove from heat, cover, and let stand for 6 minutes.

Fluff rice-and-beef mixture with a fork. Sprinkle with cheese, cover, and let stand for 2 minutes, or until cheese melts. Uncover and serve with lettuce and tomato.

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A Chain of Links

Firstly, thanks for all the great support on my training. It's great to get such nice feedback… very motivating!!

Moving on… It's exhausting coming up with stupid titles for my link posts. I'm just not that smart or creative!!! But I do have some excellent sites, articles, etc. gathered since I last posted. Hope you enjoy!!

Kids' Stuff
* I laugh every single time I look at the Jack Potty … what a weird and fun idea!! via Ohdeedoh
* I love this article from Zen Habits about streamlining life with kids … has good ideas and interesting points
* Ohdeedoh points out a new book, Porn for New Moms. This is not dirty, just photos of good looking men saying things like, “You look gorgeous already, but how about you treat yourself to a mani pedi while I watch the baby.”
* I love the Toolboxes that Sally Shim created for her boys for Easter
* Heheh … it's kind of like a flea collar for kids … a bug repelling bracelet! Via Parent Hacks
* Adorable paper play things to print and assemble via Ohdeedoh

Yummy Stuff
* Sage advice on making Chewy Caramels at the Kitchen
* A reminder about how fast and good homemade can be
* Recipes from Kashi, including Chocolate Peanut Butter Go Lean Muffin Bars and Asian Lettuce Cups via Slashfood
* How to make Hollandaise (I have yet to do this successfully) at the Kitchen
* Planning and Planting a Kitchen Garden at Lifehacker
* Caramel Walnut Banana Upside Down Cake 'nuff said Continue reading “A Chain of Links”

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Training Update: Hitting the Pavement

Well training is going pretty well, I think. I have been ramping up my times if not my speed. Honestly, I'm not all that concerned with speed. This is my first event and if I can just complete the whole 9k at a reasonable jog, I'll be ecstatic. So I've been taking time in the evening and running on the treadmill for longer periods. I already get up at the crack of dawn and just can't fit longer runs in early, so I'm doing them in the evening, but our weather has been iffy at best, so me and the treadmill and Tivo have been spending lots of QT. I ran for over 50 minutes last Friday and have done a couple more 40+ minute runs one on Sunday and one yesterday. This of course has ramped up the distance a bit … I ran over 4.25 miles on Friday and over 3.5 the other times.

I feel really good about this, but I need to get more practice with the ups and downs of the real world and with the jogging stroller. I've only been out once since I last reported in. It was a gorgeous 60 degrees when we left the house and we made it a good 2 miles or so. Apparently that entire time the wind was kicking up and the sky was looking ominous behind me (I wasn't looking back) and by the time we hit the midway point and turned around it had gotten pretty nasty … windy and cold … Tabby was pretty ticked at me and screamed the whole way home. I know this sounds kind of weird, but those of you who have spent anytime in CO will know … the weather here can turn on a dime. It's very impressive and a bit obnoxious.

So the running seems to be going well. But I'm a bit disappointed in the rest of my training … I should be hitting weights 2-3x/week, but I cannot find my motivation for this. There just don't seem to be enough hours in the day and I'm honestly quite bored by weights right now. All this, plus the crazy schedule we've been keeping lately and I haven't done weights in 2-3 weeks!! So right now I'm planning to hit the pool a couple of times a week since water adds resistance. I also have a Stroller Time DVD with a weights portion that I can pull out in the evenings for an at home workout. But I know that none of this is as good as a real weights workout, so I am going to make it my mission to fit in one before the end of the week … as well as another road run. Wish me luck!

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Date Night Funnies

As long as I've known Matt, he's loved to go to comedy clubs. Turns out there's one really close to us, about 15 min away called Wits End. It's kind of a random place for a comedy club: sort of in a strip mall, but it turned out to be really great. And we loved the comic we saw. Steve Hofstetter. He's billed as the “thinking man's comic” and I think he pretty much lived up to that title … which is one reason I enjoyed him so much … a little poo humor goes a very long way with me and if that's all a comic's got, they'll lose me quick. But this guy had good topical humor and made us laugh so much we had tears in our eyes.

Here's his channel on YouTube … if he's going to be near you, I really suggest you check him out. He's probably the funniest comic I've seen since Lewis Black.

And of course it was great to hang out with my favorite guy. We got to see the show, get some sushi and pick up baby girl from my parents' house. Boy does she have them wrapped around her little finger. We picked her up at 9 PM. She was sitting on the counter in her diaper getting spoon fed yogurt (or was it applesauce?).

Yep … everyone had a lovely evening.

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Happy Easter

Hi all! Hope your Easter weekend was as lovely as ours was. This was Tabby's second Easter, but she was a bit more interested in the proceedings this year than last. We started the morning off by opening her Easter basket. The Easter bunny left her a bit of candy and some small bits and bobbles: new socks, Dora the Explorer bubbles, chubby crayons, bath coloring tablets, a cinnabon lip balm, etc. She got to eat a chocolate peanut butter bunny … which she enjoyed quite a bit.

While I ran, Matt and Tabby had breakfast and made up some potatoes for lunch. After a little breakfast, a nap, and a shower, we put Tabby's Easter dress on. Lisanne and family had sent her a darling dress for her b'day and I knew right away it woudl be perfect for Easter … and it was! Soon after we headed to my Grandma's. Usually we do an egg hunt with all of the kids, but most everyone was away on spring break and Tabby isn't quite there yet, so we just enjoyed lunch with everyone and had a nice visit.

Despite a very busy day, Ms. Tabby had no notion of napping when we got home (though Matt and I were more than ready). But I got a nap in while Matt and Tabby played and we had a nice quiet evening at home, digging ourselves out from under a pile of laundry.

Shortest weekend ever.

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Au Gratin Potatoes

 

Ingredients

1 sprays cooking spray
1 Tbsp butter
1 medium onion(s), thinly sliced
2 Tbsp all-purpose flour
2 cup fat-free skim milk
2 pound Yukon Gold potato(es), thinly sliced
1 cup low-fat shredded cheddar cheese
1 tsp table salt
1/4 tsp black pepper

Directions
Preheat oven to 375°F. Coat a 2-quart covered baking dish with cooking spray.

Melt butter in a large pot over medium heat. Add onion and cook, stirring occasionally, until onion begins to brown, about 5 minutes. Stir in flour; add milk slowly, stirring. Add potatoes and stir to mix. Bring to a boil. Stir in 3/4 cup of cheese, salt and pepper.

Pour mixture into prepared baking dish and level out surface. Bake for 1 hour, uncovered. Cover and bake until potatoes are fork-tender, about 20 minutes more.

Change oven temperature to broil. Sprinkle remaining cheese over potatoes. Broil 6 inches from the heating element until the cheese is golden brown, about 1 to 2 minutes. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before slicing into 8 pieces.

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He… heheh hehe

I have mentioned (indirectly) the employee rewards company that I have contact with in my workday. We use this company to supply rewards for our laborers and carpenters and I interface with them 2-3 times a week. Our relationship with them is only about 4-5 months old and yet in this amount of time we have had 4 representatives. And not to be rude, but they are an incompetent lot. The sorts of people that one has to explain things to. Multiple times. I have to prompt them for updates on our orders. I have to call to make sure they got my emails and everytime we switch people, stuff slips through the cracks. I am basically their babysitter.

But most recently, the events have taken a humorous turn. Because not only are they giving us incompetents to work with, they are now also giving us porn stars (well Bond Girls at least) to work with. Our last two reps have been named (I kid you not): Chl.oe Melo.nson and Chris.tina Ch.erry.

Really, I couldn't make this stuff up.
Have a splendid weekend!