Gold Star for Me!

Yay! I'm so happy! I woke up at 4:15 this morning and went to the gym - accomplishment #1. I then weight trained for 30 minutes - accomplishment #2. But my biggest accomplishment was that I ran/walked for 20 minutes. And I ran for half of that! 10 big ol' minutes. I am so excited. That's a huge deal for me since I have not been training consistently. It felt great. I felt great! I actually ran long enough to get that "runner's high". Mayjah!

Yesterday I was having the worst day at work. It was one of those days where I wanted to pack up my stuff and leave. That. Damn. Bad. When I've had one of those days, the first thing I want to do is eat unhealthy comfort food or have a glass of wine (or a glass of any alcohol that's available).  But I told myself I was not going to fall into that trap. Before leaving work, I had decided that I was going to take my frustrations out on the treadmill. By the time I got home and sat for awhile, the desire to go to the gym ebbed. I still needed to de-stress and unwind. So I read a book and watched Glee. I didn't gorge on junk food. I didn't let my stressful day control me. I found more productive ways to relieve my stress.

So far I'm on a good path. I am determined to stay on that path. I can't let work or any outside forces derail me.

Wake up call

Saturday I was getting dressed for our Kings Dominion excursion. I pulled on my DKNY jeans (1 of 2 pair that actually still fit) and proceeded to put on my socks and tennis shoes. As I was working my foot into my shoe, I heard a ripping sound. I pause and try to figure out where the sound came from. I check my shirt to see if I'd ripped a sleeve or the hem. My shirt checked out fine. I then looked down at my jeans and moved my legs around. That's when I saw it. On the inside of my right thigh, a hole near the seam. I sighed and got up and took my jeans off. I felt like crap and wanted to crawl into bed and feel sorry for myself. I knew this was going to happen eventually. I have two pairs of jeans that I wear. I bought them 2 years ago. All of my other jeans are either too tight or I can't get them over my hips. Rotating the same two pair of jeans, there's going to be some wear and tear especially with my fight thighs rubbing together when I walk But the thing is, I refuse to buy new jeans. I have at least 10 pairs of perfectly good jeans in my closet that I'm currently not wearing. And why? Because I haven't lost the weight that I've been pledging to lose for the last 5 or so years. It's frustrating and this hole is the punch in the face that I need. I'm over it. The second pair of jeans is going to only last for so long. I have a $90 pair of Lucky Brand jeans that I haven't worn in a year and a half because they are too tight and cut off my circulation. What a waste!

So my tendency right now is to go hard and extreme. I know that's not the way to go about it because it would mean I wouldn't be able to stick with it. Right now I'm telling myself that I should start working out twice a day, 7 days a week and eat a super low-calorie diet. None of this is realistic and it's doomed for failure. Instead I'm going to make a promise myself that I'm going to consistently workout and eat healthy. Slow and steady is the key to successful and long-term weight loss. This hole is going to be a constant reminder of my goal and what I need to accomplish. I'm going to dig those Lucky Brand Jeans out from the back of my closet and hang them up so that whenever I'm in my closet, I will see them, looking pretty much brand new. And know that I will be wearing those jeans again...SOON!

Kings Dominion

Yesterday was my company (ICF International) picnic. The picnic was held at Kings Dominion. Darrius has been looking forward to this for over a month. Earlier this week I checked the weekend weather. It was showing rain for Saturday. Uh-oh. I was hoping they were wrong. I continued to check the weather daily and it didn't change. I told Darrius about the rain and he asked if my job could move the picnic to Sunday. Ha! I wish. The idea of being out in the rain for numerous hours was not how I imagined I would be spending my Saturday. Also Saturday was the premier of the Halloween Haunt. So of course Darrius wanted to stay for that.

We made our trek to Kings Dominion - me, Alfred, Darrius and two of his friends (Jaylin and Jacob). It rained all the way there. I wanted to turn around by the time we hit Fredericksburg but decided to keep on trucking. When we arrived at Kings Dominion, it wasn't raining but it was overcast. I prayed that the rain would hold off for as long as possible. The boys went off and did their own thing (as 11 yr old boys do) and me and Alfred went to the pavillion to get some FREE food. LOL!  The weather held up pretty well. It drizzled off and on. I only got on two rides - The Scrambler and The Ricochet. And I am ashamed to say that I screamed on the Ricochet. I am not a thrill seeker and rollercoasters are not my friend. The Ricochet wasn't even a big rollercoaster. But I acted like a punk anyway. Oh well. I provided Alfred with some entertainment and laughter.

 

Alfred and Darrius in line for The Volcano.

Around 5pm the drizzle turned into a steady rain. We stuck it out for as long as we could. We stayed until after 7pm so that the boys could see a little bit of the Halloween Haunt. By the time we left we were all soaked. Wet, tired and with aching feet we made our way back up 95 and headed on home.

Scary clowns set up around the park. I hate clowns. They've always scared the crap out of me.

They had smoke coming out from all over which made it difficult to see. And combined with the rain, it was hard to take any pictures.

I would love to go back to the Halloween Haunt and experience it in drier weather but with the cost and the drive, I don't know if it's really worth it. If someone has any tickets they'd like to give away, I'd be more than happy to take them off your hands!

Living Dead in Dallas

This is Book 2 in the Sookie Stackhouse series. The book starts with Sookie finding Lafayette dead in the backseat of Andy Bellefleur's car. Sookie learns that Lafayette had recently attended a sex party and thinks that may have led to his death. In the meantime, a new supernatural being is introduced. Sookie is attacked by a maenad and Sookie and Bill go to Fangtasia to seek help and information from Eric. In return for his help, Eric asks Sookie to use her gift to help find a missing vampire in Dallas. Road trip! 

The majority of this book is centered around Sookie being in Dallas looking for the missing vampire and dealing with the fanatic religious group Fellowship of the Sun. We learn about other supernatural beings when Sookie is rescued by more shapeshifters (the kind that howl at the full moon). When Sookie returns to Bon Temps, she still has to solve Lafayette's murder. Even though in the first book, Sookie laments having her gift (or disability as she calls it), in this book, it comes in handy and makes her valuable to a lot of people.

Season 2 of True Blood is based on this book. Again, I was confusing the TV show with the book (since the season finale just aired a couple of weeks ago).  I'm looking forward to reading Club Dead - Book 3. I won't have True Blood to muddle my mind and will be able to read it with a clear head.

The book was a little slow in some parts but I finished this book a lot quicker than I'd expected. I think because I just wanted to get it over with so that I can read Book 3.

Fall into Reading Challenge 2009

I found another reading challenge for me to join. Oh boy! Happy days!!

This is how the Fall into Reading Challenge works:

This challenge is hosted by Katrina from Callapidder Days. I found the challenge post via Bookmagic.

1. Make a list of books you want to read (or finish reading) this fall. Your list can be as long or as short as you’d like. (Also, feel free to modify your list during the challenge if it’s not working for you.)
2. Write a blog post containing your list and link it to this post.
3. Get reading! The challenge goes from September 22nd through December 20th.
4. Check out other participants' lists and add to your own to read someday pile.
   

Write a post about your challenge experience in December, telling us all about whether you reached your goals and how Fall Into Reading went for you. But remember: this is a low-pressure challenge that should be fun. As long as you do some reading this fall and enjoy it!

Still here

Okay, so I didn't participate in the 5 miler last Saturday. I'm really bummed and disappointed in myself.  I was tempted to give up this ruse of becoming a runner since I wasn't making the progress I expected due to my inconsistent training. But then I thought about it. I'm not going to let this get me down. I'm still determined to become a runner and to run a 5k. Come hell or high water.

I went to the gym this morning and ran a little. I've realized a break - no matter how short - is detrimental to my training. I can't afford to take too many consecutive days off. It's a constant setback. So my training schedule is going to be this: Run/walk every other day for 20-25 minutes (50% runnning with 50% walking to start) and build up from there. Hopefully this will help me with staying consistent so I won't feel like a failure.

Darrius' first picture

I was cleaning out my closet and came across my pregnancy journal. While I was flipping through the pages, a picture fell out - my sonogram. I'd thought I lost it. I remember the day I had the sonogram as if it was yesterday. I was so anxious to find out the sex of the baby. My doctor said, tentatively, that it was a girl but she wasn't 100% sure because she couldn't see the "kibbles and bits" that clearly. She might as well have told me, "Yes it's definitely a girl" because I started telling everyone I was having a girl. Surprise! It's a boy. I think subconsciously I suspected I was having a boy because I did not have a girl name picked out.

I have several more closets to clean. I'm anxious to see what other treasures I will find.