Metro

Yesterday on my way home, I was sitting at the back of the metro listening to my iPod and slightly dozing off. When I first got on the train it was a little crowded. When I saw the man in the long trench coat standing, I didn't think much of it. I did find it odd that he was standing in the middle of the train, holding on to the back of a seat that someone was sitting in. Whatever floats your boat, I guess. After two stops, the train pretty much emptied out and there were lots of empty seats. But "trench coat" guy continued to stand in the same spot. As the train ride progressed, I started thinking that this guy was creepy. I kept wondering why won't he sit down? There were plenty of empty seats. I felt sorry for the lady that he was standing behind. If I was her, I would have gotten up and moved elsewhere. It was too creepy for me.



I decided to sneak a pic of the "Creepy Trench coat Man". As you can see, plenty of empty seats at his disposal. He didn't sit down for the entire 22 minute ride. Weird.

Spring is in the air

Spring has finally decided to make an appearance fter having our first snow storm on March 1st (still can't believe it). There's still snow on the ground but hopefully the meltdown will start soon. Today it's in the mid 40s and sunny. Tomorrow it's supposed to be in the high 50s almost 60. And by Sunday it's going to be 70 degrees! Hallelujah! All of the now brown snow should be melted and gone by the start of the new week. Not only that, I will be able to finally get my car washed! Woo-hoo! I can't believe I'm excited about washing my car but I can't take another day driving in filth. I can barely see out my windows.

Here's to looking forward to a nice, warm sunny weekend. Yay!

First Winter Storm...in March!

This has been a mild winter. We've barely had any precipitation. The most know we've had since December was 2 inches - and that's pushing it. We've had frigidly cold temps which has really sucked. So we've all been praying for an early Spring. I was so excited when it was finally March 1st. I was thinking Spring is right around the corner. Woo-hoo! STOP! Not so fast said Mother Nature. She had other ideas.

We get our first major snow storm on March 1st. The meteorologists were predicting 4-8 inches in Northern Virginia. What the hell? It's March! We should not be getting snow. That time has passed. Uh no, it hasn't. It started with freezing rain/sleet Saturday night into Sunday. The snow started falling Sunday evening. Fairfax County Public Schools announced at 8:30pm Sunday night that schools were going to be closed Monday. So I guess this storm is going to be serious.

I woke up this morning to a Winter Wonderland. Snow was everywhere and it was still coming down. I couldn't believe it. It's March! No time for snow! I guess Mother Nature wasn't listening. The good thing is I didn't go to work today. Yay! The bad thing is, I have to go to work tomorrow. And missing a day from work is like missing 5 days. It takes the rest of the week to catch up. Great. Something to look forward to.

Darrius measured the snow on our balcony. We got around 5 inches in our area.


I then gave Darrius my camera and told him to take some pics.







By the end of the week we're supposed to be in teh 60s. Hopefully the snow will melt quickly. I have no desire to look at it for longer than a week.

I hate winter! Hurry up Spring.

Vandalism!

My car is dirrrty! Yes I put some extra "r's" in there. That's how dirty my car is. I don't think it's been washed since October maybe September. I've been trying to get my car washed since 1/1/2009. But something always happens to prevent it from getting done i.e. weather, laziness, forgetfulness. This week I had to take my car to the dealership to get my rear tire replaced. When I made the appointment online, I made sure to note that I want my car washed. When I called to confirm my appointment, I made sure to tell them that I wanted my car washed. When I bought my car back in 2007, I bought the VIP Service Package. That meant I had free oil change and filter change, discount on parts and labor, free inspections, tire rotations, and car washes and a plethora of other stuff that I can't remember. I haven't taken advantage of any of the VIP amenities that I have paid for. So when I dropped off my car I made sure to tell the fella at the service desk that I needed my rear tire, driver's side, replaced (I drove over a nail and was slowly losing air. Of course the nail was on the side of the tire and they couldn't plug the hole. Thus having to get a brand new tire.) And I told him that I wanted to have my car wash. I dropped my car off at 7am so they were going to have my car all day. It might as well get cleaned while in their care.


I call the dealership around 3:30 that afternoon to find out if my car was ready. Of course it wasn't. It was next in line to get looked at. Seriously? I asked what time will my car be ready. They say 4pm. Ok. I'll be there around 4:30 to pick up my vehicle. I arrive at the dealership. My car isn't quite ready. Of course it's not. So I wait for another 10 - 12 minutes. They finally call my name. As I'm walking up to the service desk I'm thinking: They had better washed my car. And guess what? THEY DIDN'T!!! My car was still filthy dirty. I was not happy. I didn't make a stink about it because at that point I just wanted to pay and leave.


I go pick Darrius up at school and when I walk back to my car, this is what I see:

What kind of bird poop is this? It looks like mud. There's grass all in it. Completely gross. For some reason, this just added insult to injury. My car is already a dirty mess and then a bird goes and drops a grassy bomb on my hood! I guess I should be happy that I hadn't gotten my car washed. I would have really been pissed!

Yeah, Yeah I know

I've been lazy...again! No excuses for it. None whatsoever. I did run yesterday which I am happy to announce. But I'm still not being consistent like I need and should be. Yesterday I used the mini-gym at my job. I was bored sitting at my desk and decided to break the monotony by going to the mini-gym and working out. How sad is that? I went due to boredom not because I was gung-ho about training. I guess it doesn't matter what the reason is just as long as I went. I had a good workout - 30 minutes. I'm going to head back to the mini-gym today.

I promise to really get back on track next week. Next week is March and I haven't made any progress in regards to running. That is not good. The first 5k that I want to run is in April! Will I be able to do it? I hope so. We shall see...

Lent

Today is Ash Wednesday - the start of Lent. I'm not a super-religious person. I don't even know if Southern Baptists celebrate Ash Wednesday/Lent. I haven't been to church since we moved to Virginia back in 1985. I do believe in God and I do think religion/spirituality is important but I have a problem with "organized" religion. I think my issues with it stem from being brought up as Southern Baptist, having a preacher for a grandfather and going to church every Sunday and seeing the hypocrisy of the people sitting in the pews. It left a bad taste in my mouth. With that being said and despite my religion issues, I decided it would be a good idea to give up a "vice" for Lent. I used to do this every year but fell off the wagon about 5 years ago. I figured I'd give it a shot this year. This goes along with my 9 goals for 2009. Things I want to do to make me a better person. So I've decided to stop talking about people. Anyone who knows me knows that talking about and making fun of people is my thing. It's what I do. It's how I get my laughs and kicks. But it's also not nice and I really need to stop doing it. And one day I'm going to be talking about someone and they're going to be right there. I've never been very discreet when it came to my trash-talking. My husband hates it. Especially since he says that I don't know how to whisper and that the person I'm talking about can probably hear me. Not good. And again - not nice.

I'm hoping I can stick with this beyond the 40 days. I am a nice person but I sometimes do not so nice things. I'm letting everyone know that I'm giving this up so if I slip up, I will be called on it. I tell my son all the time that it's not nice to talk about people. I think it's time I took my own advice.

Back on track

I've been M.I.A for two weeks but hopefully today is the first day of my return. Last week I was sick. I started feeling better this week but by the time I was ready to get back into the gym, I had a migraine...for TWO days! I woke this morning with remnants of my migraine but I ignored it. Nothing was going to stop me from going to the gym.

When I hopped on the treadmill, I felt like I was back at square one. I decided to take it easy so I walked for 3 minutes and ran for 2. I did this 4 times for a total of 20 minutes. I was winded and sweating by the time I was done but I was happy that I was able to do it. I didn't start feeling tired until the 18 minute mark which is good. After that I weight trained and then walked on the treadmill for another 2o minutes. I didn't want to over-do it and hurt myself.

I feel great and hope that nothing else happens to derail me!