Year End Wrap-up

2009 has finally come to an end. I can hardly believe it. This year, like many others, have gone by way too fast. It seems like yesterday we were preparing for the Y2K bug. And now we're entering the 10's.  I had so many great expectations when this year started - Didn't we all? I can honestly say that I am ready for this year to end.

What happened in the 09:

• I didn't run a 5k race, but it is still on my to-do list for 2010.
• I tried to write a novel and failed. It's harder than I thought.
• I started a book blog and I love it! I should have done this years ago.
• I went to a Nora Roberts book signing with my favorite gal pal Court.
• I decided to grow out my relaxer and go natural. No more creamy crack for me.
• My new favorite store is Trader Joe's. Can't believe I'm just now discovering it!
• My dad finally retired. Woo hoo!
• We went to St. Maarten for our summer vacation.
• This is Darrius' last year in elementary school!
• I left my old company during a recession and high unemployment (what was I thinking?!?) to start fresh at a smaller, lesser known company. Despite second guessing myself, I believe I made the right decision.
• My uncle lost his battle with sickle-cell anemia.
• My cousin got married.
• Hubby finally opened his franchise.
• We elected an African-American President
• The world lost a great entertainer - Michael Jackson - as well as other great actors, musicians, celebrities
• We are still at war

Farewell 2009. I think the consensus is that the year started off with great hope and expectations but quickly started stinking towards the middle and end. I know many are ready for this year to end and to start anew in 2010.

My wish for 2010: Peace, Love, Joy and Blessings!

Happy New Year!

Telling it like it is

The other night, I was watching MTV Jams. They were doing some type of countdown - the Top 9 of 2009. Darrius comes in just as Beyonce's "Video Phone" video starts playing. This is Darrius' take on the video and Beyonce.



Darrius: Hmph! Every since she married Jay-Z, Beyonce's been showing her "stuff" a lot.


Me: (giggling) Beyonce's always shown her stuff. She always wears skimpy outfits.

Darrius: Not like that. Lookit. She's wearing the one-piece outfit. She shouldn't dress like that when she's married to Jay-Z.

Darrius continues watching the video for a few seconds.

Darrius: I feel sorry for Jay-Z, having people look at your wife and all that and she ain't wearing any clothes.

Slowly shaking his head, Darrius exits - stage left.

Here's Beyonce "showing her stuff" with Lady Gaga in "Video Phone"

Merry Christmas!

The best of all gifts around any Christmas tree: the presence of a happy family all wrapped up in each other. - Burton Hills


Merry Christmas everyone. May Peace and Love be your gifts at Christmas.

New Music - Running Playlist

Even though I haven't been on the treadmill in two weeks, I have rearranged and added new songs to my Running Playlist on my iPod.  The 5 songs that I'm really feeling right now are:

 Bad Romance by Lady Gaga - I know people find her weird and don't understand the appeal but I love her music. I look past the crazy costumes and appreciate her for the great dance tunes that I workout to.

Evacuate the Dancefloor by Cascada - I love dance music. I think it's the best kind of music to workout to. For some reason, this song takes me back to the 80s. I don't know why. Maybe it's the synthesizers? Anyway, I love it!

How Low by Ludacris - I'm not a hip-hop fan. At least - not a fan of the new hip-hop. But I love Ludacris. You can't go wrong with Luda in your playlist.

Say Something by Timbaland feat Drake - This is an example of a song I hate that I love. I am not a Drake fan but I love Timbaland. He's a great producer and he produced the hell out of this song.

Pretty Girls by Wale - Wale is from the DMV. It's a great song with a mix of hip-hop and Go-Go.

Where have I been, you ask? Well, let me tell you...

Sorry! I know it's been two weeks since my last post. It's the holiday season and life has gotten in the way. You know how that goes. I haven't trained since my last post which completely sucks because that sets me back. By how much? I won't know until I hop back on that treadmill. Last week I was lazy; pure and simple. I felt so bad about my laziness that I thought I could make up for it by going to the gym over the weekend. But Mother Nature had other ideas. We got hit with a buttload of snow starting Friday night and ending Sunday morning. The only exercise I got was digging out my car for 2 hours. My back is still recovering.

The first couple of days after "The Blizzard of 2009" (That's what the local media is calling it. So dramatic!) driving was still treacherous due to the melted snow re-freezing overnight and many sidewalks had not been shovelled. I rushed to get home before the sun went down. Once inside, I knew I wasn't going back out.  I have to manuever around black ice and chunks of unshovelled snow that has chunks of ice underneath. Once I get to my car, I have to make sure I don't bump into the 3 foot pile of dirty snow that's next to my car. My point in mentioning all this is to say that I can barely get to my car in the morning to drive to work without it being a process. There's no way I'm making a second trip outside to go to the gym. Plus, it's Christmas week. I've missed out on 3 days of shopping because of the snow. I have a lot of catching up to do. My goal is to be back in the gym this Saturday. Yeah, we'll see about that.

I hope everyone has a Merry Christmas and Happy Holiday!

It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas...

Over the weekend, we got slammed by a snowstorm. I was hoping that the meteorologists had it wrong like they normally do. But no, this time they got it right. By the time the storm was over, we were buried under 18 inches of snow. Yuck! I am not a fan of snow. I am not a fan of winter. Living in the DC area, we are not used to this much snow. It's very rare they we get hit this hard. Or this early. Our "snow months" are end of January and all of February. The last time we had a major snow storm like this was in 2003. So I guess we can say we were due for another one. Of course, the Christmas-y people were so excited and happy because we're going to have a white Christmas. Who says Christmas has to be white? A song? Whatever! My son is ecstatic because his Christmas vacation started early. Our county decided the hell with it, let's just not have school Monday - Wednesday. Wednesday was going to be an early dismissal anyway. I decided to stay home from work today because...well, just because. I cleaned off my car yesterday. It took two hours and it was not fun. I slipped and fell TWICE. The second time I fell, I hit my head on the snow shovel handle. This is why I hate winter and think that snow is evil.

Somewhere underneath all that white powder is my car.

As you can see, I'm thrilled to be out in the cold and snow.

Of course he's cheesing, he doesn't have to do all the work!

Because I was home today, my son harassed me to finally put up our Christmas tree. So I gave in. I mean, it is the week of Christmas and I guess I should have something to put the presents under. We have a cute little 4 footer (we live in a condo so I refuse to buy a "real" tree) that already has lights on them. I always add a strand of lights because I like a bright tree.

Now I need to finish my Christmas shopping. Was going to finish over the weekend, but the Blizzard of 2009 but a damper on those plans. Ugh! This is why I hate winter.

I'm hoping to get an infusion of Christmas cheer pretty soon. I don't want to be The Grinch on Christmas day!

12 Days Until Christmas

I am not in the holiday spirit. Just call me Scrooge or The Grinch. Every time I hear a Christmas song on the radio, I immediately change the station and say "Ugh!" in disgust. I haven't started my Christmas shopping. I haven't decorated or brought out the Christmas tree. It's still sitting in the storage area, packed neatly in it's box. No, I don't do real trees. Never have, never will. I've decided that since it's getting close to D-Day (Christmas Day), I'm going to try to make the effort to be more cheerful and joyful. I figured I'd start with a blog post about my favorite Christmas movies and songs.

Christmas movies:

I watch this movie every year. It is a must see. I consider it a classic. My favorite part is when the squirrel jumps out of the newly chopped down Christmas tree and causes chaos and mayhem in the Griswold household.

I remember watching this movie for the first time in elementary school. It was right before school was out for Christmas break and we watched the movie in class. A classic holiday movie. How many kids tried to lick a flag pole after seeing this movie?

I thought this was a great take on the Charles Dicken's classic. Bill Murray was hilarious in this movie. And I love the Al Green and Annie Lennox duet "Put A Little Love in Your Heart".

This is not a traditional Christmas movie but it is hilarious! It's raunchy and Billy Bob has to be the worse mall Santa ever. I can't give any of my favorite quotes - this blog is a rated PG

Will Ferrell is Buddy the Elf. He finds out he's adopted and is looking for his real dad. This role was made for him. It's funny, heartwarming, and embraces what Christmas is all about. My favorite part is when he's introduced to the mailroom and says: It's just like Santa's workshop! Except it smells like mushrooms... and everyone looks like they wanna hurt me... Love it!

As you can see, I don't like the traditional Christmas movies. I love movies that make me laugh.

Here's some of my favorite Christmas tunes:

1. Jingle Bell Rock by Bobby Helms - I love this song because it's upbeat and it always puts me in a good mood.
2. I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus by The Jackson 5 - My favorite line is: I'm gonna tell my daddy. Whenever I sing along, I giggle afterwards.
3. Give Love on Christmas Day by The Jackson 5 - The title says it all.
4. This Christmas by Donny Hathway - This is the African-American family Christmas song. I guarantee that it is played in every black home on Christmas Day.
5. Silent Night by The Temptations - Whenever I hear this song, it reminds me of being a kid, living in Memphis. The Temptations added some soul to this otherwise traditional Christmas song.
6. The Christmas Song by Nat King Cole - I'm going to cheat a little and say the entire album is one of my favorites. My dad plays this CD every year while we're at the house on Christmas Day. This IS a classic Christmas album that everyone should own. You can't go wrong with Nat King Cole.
7. All I Want For Christmas Is You by Mariah Carey - The song is catchy and upbeat. I like any Christmas song that I can sing along with and not sound like a hoarse toad.
8. Santa Baby by Eartha Kitt - A sexy Christmas song.
9. Last Christmas by Wham! - My love of George Michael will never end. It's a pop Christmas song for the brokenhearterd. "Last Christmas, I gave you my heart. But the very next day, you gave it away."
10. Carol of the Bells - I love seeing it performed live. I love the many layers of this song. You have to have a great voice to sing it. Unfortunately, I don't. So I sing it vicariously through the great choir/chorus groups who perform.

There's my list of my favorite Christmas movies and songs. I'm hoping this will slowly get me in the Christmas spirit. I hate being Scrooge! It's no fun.

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!

Black Girls Run! I have my t-shirt!

I discovered this blog via Twitter. I think the title says it all.  During the week of Thanksgiving, the ladies over at BGR (Black Girls Run) were having a contest. They wanted to know how the reader and/or their family have shed (or plan to lose) those Turkey Day calories. The most interesting, unique, hilarious, realistic will be chosen. The lucky winners would win a BGR hoodie or t-shirt. You could enter the contest via twitter, facebook, email or leaving a comment on the blog. I decided to leave a comment. This is what I said:

I am a black girl trying to become a runner. My New Year's goal for 2009 is to run a 5k race. It's almost the end of the year and I have yet to do it. I'm always starting something but never finishing. My goal is to run that 5k whether it be this year or in 2010. I'm going to do it. My plan for Thanksgiving is to hit the gym in the morning and do an hour of cardio. I know that I need to create a calorie deficit early!! It's all about portion control. A spoonful (not one of those big wooden spoons that my mom still has hanging on her kitchen wall..haha) is enough to appreciate the taste and satiate the craving.

And guess what??? I won! Woo-hoo! It was my big wooden spoon comment that had them laughing. 

My t-shirt arrived yesterday. It's cute and girlie. I can't wait to wear it once the weather warms up and when the tee doesn't fit so tight around my gut. *sigh* So my BGR tee will be sitting in my drawer until March or April. Which gives me mucho motivation to keep at it with the 5k running and healthy eating! I want to look good when I'm sporting this shirt!

Here's me with my new tee!

I love the back. I can't wait to show it off!

Family and Pizza Night

Every year at Franconia, the 6th grade class hosts a fundraiser. This fundraiser always coincides with the Book Fair. The school orders pizza and sells slices or whole pizzas at a discounted price. There's also a bake sale where you can buy cookies, brownies and cupcakes for $.50. The purpose of this fund raiser is to raise money for the 6th Grade Promotion Ceremony and the 6th grade gift. Every 6th grader is required to sign up for a "shift" to help set up, sell pizza and baked goods or clean up.The fundraiser is held in the cafeteria. Darrius and I have gone every year. Last year, while sitting in the cafeteria and eating our pizza, Darrius was telling me how excited he was about working the fundraiser when he becomes a 6th grader.

Darrius taking an order

Cheese! Mr. Pizza Man

We had a great time. I bought D two books at the book fair (of course they weren't chapter books). And they were serving my favorite pizza - Papa John's.

On a roll!

Well, if you consider going to the gym two days in a row a "roll". I managed to dragg myself out of bed again this morning and made it to the gym by 4:30. My plan was to walk on the treadmill for an hour. According to my friend Courtenay (who's a former personal trainer), I should walk on the treadmill for an hour at least twice a week. Unfortunately, I didn't get the gym early enough to do the full hour. So instead, I walked for 45 mintutes, did a quick ab workout and stretched.  It's only Tuesday; I'll get those 2 hours of walking in one day this week.

I like working out in the morning because it's done and I no longer have to think about it. But the one downside (although there's many - haha!) is that working out in the mornings wreaks havoc on my hair. I take a luke warm to almost cold shower to try and cool my body temperature. And most of the time it works. I'm no longer sweating and can get dressed without feeling yucky. But it seems my head has other ideas. By the time I'm ready to do my hair, it is soaked with sweat. I have a wet/dry flat iron so that helps cut down on the time. But that means I have to run the flat iron over my hair at least 3 times before it's dry. Now that I've decided to let my relaxer grow out, it takes even longer to do my hair. I may have to sport "wash-n-go" look even though it's winter time and I really shouldn't be going outside with wet/damp hair. Almost making me rethink the idea of growing out my relaxer. I just need to figure it out. If I have to rock a ponytail most of the time, then so be it.

Week 4 - Update #2

This week I'm going to continue working out to Week 4 podcast. I dragged myself out of a warm bed this morning and went to the gym. It was 4:30am and 29 degrees when I got in my car. My leather seats were cold, my steering wheel was freezing and I had frost on my windows. Morning workouts during this time of the year totally sucks. But I did it and I'm proud of myself.

I still haven't bought new/better running socks. I'm afraid of the stores/malls. Crazy people are out there doing their Christmas shopping. I just don't have the patience to deal with the crowds and the craziness. I may end up ordering them online. I believe that's the only way I will be able to keep my sanity.

I also started back to weight training. Weight training (strength training - whatever you want to call it) is essential for weight loss and preventing injury. Today I trained chest and back. I'm sure I'll be feeling the soreness by tonight. I may have went a little overboard.

This week's motivational word: CONSISTENCY

p.s. The last 5 minute run kicks my ass! The only time I don't look forward to the end of a workout. :-)

Running Socks

I am in desperate need of a good pair of running socks. I bought some socks about 4 months ago and I hate them! I went to Modell's because the Sports Authority at the mall near my house had gone out of business. Modell's has to be the worst sports store out there! Well, at least the one near me. If any store should hae gone out of business, it should have been Modell's. So, I walked into the store and there was no A/C. They had fans positioned throughout the store. This was in mid-August and it was hot! The store was unorganized and dirty. Customer service was non-existent. But I was desperate. There wasn't another store that was close by that I could go to. I could have went to Dick's Sporting Goods but it's 30 minutes away and I would be stuck in evening rush hour traffic. After 10 minutes of walking around the hot, dirty store I finally find the running socks. The selection was small and limited. The only brand they carried was Under Armour. I grabbed a pair and go to the counter to pay them.  Fast forward to the next day and I'm trying out my new running socks. And they completely suck! They are too thin, it feels like the material is rubbing against my skin. And it feels like my feet are moving around in my shoe.  It makes running uncomfortable. I'm already not looking forward to getting on the treadmill. Knowing that I'm going to have blisters on my feet by the time I'm done doesn't help the situation.

This is similar to the sock that I purchased.

I actually prefer not wearing socks when I workout. But I hear that's not a good thing to do. I hate it when my feet are hot and sweaty. It's more uncomfortable than wearing running shoes without socks. I've been searching Nike's website to get an idea of what kind of running sock I want to invest in. I'm also going to check out running sites. I have a friend who's an avid runner so I'm going to pick her brain about what kind of socks she wears. Hopefully I can come up with something. My feet are in desperate need of good running socks.

2009 Goals Revisited

There's just 30 days left in 2009. Whew! I can hardly believe the year is almost over. I had grand plans for 2009. I had a list of 9 things I wanted to accomplish this year. Did I succeed? Can I cross out everything on my list??  Let's see.

1. Run a 5k race. I'm still working on that one. I have not been consistent with my training. I have let laziness get the best of me. I haven't given up. If I run a 5k this year, then I am happy. If it doesn't happen until 2010, I'm okay with that too.
2. Read a Great American Novel. Mission accomplished. I read The Great Gatsby. And I plan on reading many more. Over the summer I bought To Kill A Mockingbird for $1.99. It is one of my all-time favorite books.
3. Be a better world citizen. This is something I try to do daily. It will forever be one of my goals.
4. Stop sweating the small stuff. Still easier said than done. I still have my moments but I'm more cognizant of when I'm doing it and I check myself.
5. Stop using negative phrases. I think I've gotten better. I'm not completely sure. Maybe I should start recording myself?
6. Take a writing class. I haven't signed up for one YET. I tried to make up for it by signing up for National Novel Writing Month. Ugh! It was so hard for me! I used to write all the time, off the top of my head with no problems. I can't tell you how many times I wrote and deleted what was on the screen. I will definitely try again next year.
7. Decide what I want to do with my career. A work in progress. I did switch jobs and am working for a new company. So far, so good. We'll see what happens when the "new car smell" wears off.
8. Finish swim lessons. I haven't even attempted this one. This will be on my list for 2010.
9. Continue to improve. Ongoing year after year.

That's where I stand with my goals. It's been a crazy year. It's been a busy year. I'm looking forward to 2010 and all that it will bring.

Week 4

Hello! I'm still here. There hasn't been anything new to report. I've been sporadically training. A couple of weeks ago I hurt my ankle. I don't know how. I just know after getting off the treadmill, my left ankle started paining. I went home and iced it up. I probably should have soaked it instead. The following week I trained one day only. My ankle felt fine while I was on the treadmill but the moment I stopped, it would start hurting again. I don't know what's wrong with it. I'm still have the same issue as of today but I choose to ignore it. I'm sure that's not a good idea and may end up regretting it later.

This week I started the Chubby Jones Week 4 podcast. I don't like this one that much. The music sucks and the sound quality is terrible. I can barely hear the host, Mia, when she's cueing for the next run. I'll stick it out though because I am not ready for week 5.

Here's the Week 4 workout:
5 min warm-up
90 second walk
5 min run/jog
90 sec walk
3 min run/jog
90 sec walk
5 min run/jog
5 min cool-down

This totally kicked my butt this morning. I enjoyed it. I just wish the music was better. During the podcast Mia did admit she didn't pick the best music. Let's hope she has her act together for week 5.

Today is December 1st. 2009 is almost over and I haven't run in any 5k races yet. Will I be able to run a 5k before we ring in the New Year? Who knows? Time will tell. I have 30 days to figure it out.

World Aids Day

To raise awareness and support the 33 million people living with HIV/AIDS, find ways that you can learn, act, and give.

http://www.worldaidscampaign.org/
http://www.google.org/world-aids-day-2009.html




This is dedicated to my cousin. May he rest in peace.