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.