Much to be thankful for . . .

Whew!  Where is my life going??  I know I always say that I like when things are busy, but holy moly.  I’ve been falling asleep before my head hits the pillow at night lately.  And when my alarm clock goes off in the morning, it’s like a punch in the face.  Good morning!  But complaining is not going to occur in this post.  Oh no.  While I’m generally a very thankful person year-round, due to this wonderful holiday that is upon us, I’d like to mention a few things I’m especially thankful for currently.  Here goes:

1)      No traffic on my 7am commute to the city this morning, cutting it down from a 50 minute commute to a 25 minute commute.  It’s amazing how much better your day can be when you don’t begin it by pulling your hair out, stomping on the brakes, and saying (yelling) words that you don’t really like to say at other drivers.

2)      Thanksgiving dinner #1 of the week with great friends last night. Even better, I didn’t think I was going to be able to make it due to research obligations, so it was a very pleasant surprise when recruiting ended early and I was able to get my green bean casserole-lovin’ butt over to dinner.  I think it was a much needed blow-off-steam kind of night for all of us.

3)      An 8am research participant appointment on my first day of Thanksgiving break . . . . . . . . .okay, that’s a lie, I’m not especially thankful for that.  But my excitement about what the rest of the day has in store is powering me through!

4)      My extra snuggly devil dog and Mr. Miles this morning.  It made lying in bed for a few extra minutes after my alarm went off that much sweeter.

5)      Painfully inching my way back onto the running bus.  I went for my first run in 6 weeks on Saturday.  I had to warm up for 60 minutes on the bike, stretch for 10 minutes, and then walk for 10 minutes before I actually felt prepared to run the 10 minutes I had planned, but I will do whatever it takes.  And those 10 minutes of running were both incredibly amazing and humbling.  I think I might have made it a mile in that 10 minutes.  It feels so awkward running after not doing it for so long.  Yesterday I ran/walked for 60 minutes, with only 20 minutes total of actual running, and today my calf muscles feel like they ran a marathon yesterday!  It’s rough going from being in the best shape of my life less than 2 months ago to struggling through 20 minutes of running, but I’m just thankful for the ability to get out there at all, and for what running brings to my life.  And I have an intense desire to get into better shape than the best shape of my life, so I will continue to hit the pavement, no matter how hard I’m breathing running 8:00/mi for 20 minutes or how much my leg muscles scream the next day.   Now if only I can get my feet to cooperate . . .

6)      Vanilla frosting.  Seriously, it’s wonderful what a scoop of vanilla frosting can do for you.  Having a stressful moment?  Relax with a scoop of vanilla frosting.  Having a happy moment?  Celebrate with a scoop of vanilla frosting.  Hungry? Feed that hunger with a scoop of vanilla frosting.  Tired of your usual chocolate animal crackers? (Pssh….like that actually happens.  But if it ever would for some strange reason…) Dip them in some vanilla frosting.  Vanilla frosting really is the answer to many of life’s common problems.

7)      Not being arrested.  I’m such a rebel, so this really is a miracle. Ha! Last weekend, I was fortunate enough to spend some time in the great city of Tulsa, OK.  I worked the RunHers booth at the Route 66 marathon/half-marathon expo, and then played water girl (well, electrolyte girl) for some great friends who were running on Sunday.  I was very lucky to have Scott’s mom’s bike to ride around, as I don’t get around too quickly these days.  I saw all of the Team OK Runner boys between mile 8 and 9, and provided them with some Nuun.  Then I raced back to the finish to watch Jerry and Scott dominate the half-marathon field.  Then I raced back to mile 8 to search for the water bottles that were dropped so that I could give Stephen another bottle between 18 and 20 miles. Then I realized I couldn’t actually get to 18-20 miles unless I raced through the city.  Anyway, I finally met up with Team Ok Runner (Jerry and Scott were blocking wind for Stephen at this point) and rode along side down the lonely stretch of marathon course on Riverside.  On the way out to the turn-around point, a  very friendly (ha!) police man on a motorcycle informed me that unless I had a “race tag”, I would need to get off the course.  Now, let me just say that there were about 10 people on the course at this point, and I was not in anyone’s way, as I was riding on the shoulder of the road practically.  So I just said “Okay” and kept riding along.  Well, wouldn’t you know we moseyed on by the same police officer on our way back up Riverside.  He again informed me that I would need to get off the course.  I informed him that I had a VIP bracelet from the race director and was told that would get me anywhere I wanted to be, and he told me he didn’t care.  I realize policemen are supposed to be there for our safety, but I get really irritated with the many who are really just on a power trip.  So, again, I gave him my half-hearted “Okay” and kept on biking.  He then proceeded to fire up his motorcycle (seriously dude, it’s a marathon.  Get on a bicycle and work off some of that spare tire while you’re on-the-job), flipped on his lights and rode along side of me until I had an opportunity to turn off onto a side street.  Those opportunities are few and far between on Riverside, so I was escorted for a nice little stretch.

8)      I’m thankful for a lot of things and this list could go on and on and on. And on.  But, I will stop.  Of course, only after mentioning the one thing I’m most thankful for in my incredibly blessed life:  my family.  I hit the jackpot in the family lottery, let me tell you.  As I write this, my mom, dad, little bro and sis are on a 1,089 mile journey to spend Thanksgiving with me.  That’s a lot of miles.  Especially for my long-legged sister (she’s 5’11 or something crazy like that; I’m by far the runt of the family), who’s probably complaining about how she needs to stretch her legs out, and my very astute brother who can sense when any of us family members are on the brink of annoyance and then press the exact buttons that push us over that brink.  Haha!  It makes me laugh just thinking about it.  And my mom has probably had to have 12 bathroom stops already (my dad too, if he’s drinking his Volt Zero).  And my dad has probably driven over the rumble strips many times already checking out something they are passing by—much to my mom’s distress.  And I absolutely love all of these things about my family.  Especially since I’m not in that car right now. J  I’m really bummed that my older brother had to stay behind to run the family business, and that I won’t get to spend the holiday with him, his wonderful wife, and two of the most beautiful little boys I have ever seen. I don’t even think that I’m being biased when I talk about my nephews that way.  They really are gorgeous kids! 

Tomorrow, my family and I will participate in the OKC Turkey Trot, with my mom, sis, and bro running and my dad and I walking, followed by a delicious Thanksgiving dinner and some football watching.  I love this holiday!  I hope everyone has much to be thankful for and enjoys a wonderful holiday weekend!

Highway to the danger zone

Exciting things about today:

*Free breakfast AND lunch thanks to having the opportunity to hang out with Dr. Margaret McDowell from the NIH this AM (only my nerdy science friends may appreciate the dorky cool significance of this) and then listening to Dr. McDowell’s presentation to the College of Allied Health over lunch

*A new episode of Glee tonight

*My wonderful lab neighbor Ashley found--and sort of stole in an entirely acceptable way-- a cookie for me, which is awesome since one element so very obviously missing from my boxed lunch was dessert . . . and I don’t function without a mid-day dessert

*Susan Boyle released a new CD

Okay, that last one was a joke.  Well, she really did release a cd.  I just don’t really care.  But Hellogoodbye does have a great new cd available for a free listen on AolMusic if you’re into that sort of thing.  It’s actually fueling this blog post as we “speak”.

I spent most of yesterday pouting because my weekend was not nearly as awesome as I had hoped.  However, looking back, I’m ashamed of my behavior, and realize that really it wasn’t so bad.  Let me explain.   I knew for awhile that I was going to have a 3-day weekend, so I had all of these dreams and fantasies about sneaking out of town for the weekend or at least doing something exciting.  A typical week for me consists of working or going to school Monday-Saturday, which leaves Sunday to catch up on all of the school work I don’t have time to do during the week.  So knowing I had an extra day for once this entire semester, I was hoping to do something exciting to relieve stress and refresh so that I could attack these last few weeks of school with a newfound energy.  Anyway, my weekend went more like this:  Since it’s football season and no one works Saturday’s at the store during football season apparently, I had to put in a long shift.  However, I knew in advance that that would be the case, and that was not what made the weekend not go as planned.  I guess I just never made solid plans, which lends itself nicely to having nothing happen.  But that’s not entirely true.  Saturday night, I did have a fun dinner with the wonderful Larabees whom I miss very much even though they now live in the same state as me again.  This is how the night played out--the adults talked (Jason, Andrea, and Scott) while my little ray of sunshine (Jaden) and I played.  We built a really awesome Lego house, complete with a horse that stood outside.  Be jealous.  Then she gave me a bunch of her Halloween candy.  It was pretty much the best night of my life.  Want to make my day?  Give me candy.  Ha!  Seriously, it was a lot of fun, and just the stress relief I needed. 

Sunday, I woke up early and watched the NYC marathon while sipping on coffee.  It was exciting, but kind of put me in a funk.  If I don’t run soon, people, I will . . . well, there’s no telling what I’ll do.  I need to run.  Soon.  And that’s all I have to say about that.  I also watched the Packers embarrass the Cowboys over beer and appetizers (okay, and eventually dinner—I like to eat, alright!) at BJs.  Go Pack Go! J  And Monday I visited Forward Foods for the first time since living in Norman.  It’s a neat little store.  They have a lot of cheese.  And they have these amazing chocolate coffee bars.  Yum.  I also experienced my very first Pint Night at The Abner . . . and then went to the Y for an interval workout afterwards.  The person on the bike next to me could probably smell the beer coming out of my pores. I only had one, but I’m a lightweight, after all!  I did get this really awesome mug at Pint Night that I won’t actually be able to use if it has liquid in it because I won’t be able to lift it….it’s big. 

Oh, I also spent some time at the bookstore yesterday—one of my favorite past times—and got this really cool book about famous quotes and the stories behind them.  Most of those who know me know that I’m borderline obsessed with quotes (I’m easily inspired), so this is a very cool find for me.  Stay tuned for future posts of quotes that I read in this book.  Now, before finding this very adult-like book, I spent the majority of my bookstore visit in the kids section playing with the pop-up books and checking out the cool games that they sell.  I was fascinated for a good 45 minutes.

I’ve been trying to not complain about my lack of running, since where does that get me, anyway?  Except for in a mood.  So let me just voice my discontent over this instead—why do cops feel the need to sit on the side of the road during rush hour?!  Seriously, rush hour traffic will regulate speed itself.  You don’t need to sit on the side of the road and perpetuate the stop-and-go traffic.  Which leads me to my next question.  Why do people slow down to 30 miles per hour on a freeway when they see a cop?  They deserve to be pulled over.  Talk about dangerous.  Today this was especially frustrating, because as I made my way into heavy traffic, what comes on the radio but none other than Kenny Loggins and “Danger Zone”.  Top Gun was one of my older brother’s favorite movies when we were growing up, so I know it well.  When that song comes on, I’ve got a need for speed--my Elantra transforms into a motorcycle, and I have an intense desire to squeal my tires and tear off into the sunset (or sunrise, in this morning’s case).  So, listening to that song was incredibly anxiety –inducing and painful while I inched past a cop going 20 mph on 35-northbound.  I’m only half joking about this.

Presentation 1 of 3 was completed today.  It went alright, I think.  Thursday, I present to a running group at OCCC about nutrition while training for a first 5K.  I designed my presentation to be sort of funny, so I’m excited to give it.  Well, funny to me.  Am I one of those people who laughs at my own jokes, even if they aren’t funny?  Perhaps.  Please just be polite and give me the courtesy giggle.  I won’t know the difference, since I will be laughing hysterically at my self-perceived witty-ness.  And on Friday, I have to be more serious--I’m presenting some interesting research findings at the OUHSC College of Allied Health research day.   Pretty exciting stuff.

My family arrives in two weeks to celebrate their first Thanksgiving in the great state of Oklahoma.  SUPER EXCITED!!!  I think we will Turkey Trot it up and then my mom has inquired about Black Friday shopping, so that may just go down, as well.  I’m hoping my mom, sister and I do our annual Christmas cookie/candy baking, too.  We make about 1 million calories worth of deliciousness in just a few short hours.  It’s quite amazing, really. 

Only 4.5 weeks until I finish my coursework for this dietetics program—I know my classmates are equally excited.  Bring on the holidays!

Tuesdays are better than Mondays

Tuesdays are better than Mondays.  So much better.  Mondays mean driving to the city in rush hour to make it to class by 9 am—although, the traffic isn’t nearly as bad as it is when I have to be to the lab by 7:30.  Mondays mean class straight through until 6 pm, except for an hour for lunch.  Lately, Mondays mean at least one exam that I just couldn’t find the motivation to study for over the weekend.  Last night, Monday meant freaking out when the laundry I stayed up late to do came out of the dryer more wrinkled than it entered because I couldn’t find one more quarter to make two dryer loads instead of stuffing everything into one.  If you want to see me overreact, hang around me when things don’t go my way at the end of a very long Monday.  But Tuesdays . . . Tuesdays are good days.  I’m not overwhelmed or tired from a long week yet.  Tuesdays usually mean sipping coffee in the morning instead of frantically running out the door, to-go mug in hand.  Tuesdays mean catching up on homework and work at the lab.  Tuesdays mean a few new free songs on iTunes and new albums to listen to at AOL Music.  Tuesdays mean getting to the Y early enough that I can have my own lane in the pool and I can use all the weight room equipment I want without having to wait. I hate waiting.  I hope this particular Tuesday (as in today) means chatting with my 5-year old nephew on webcam and my brother and sister-in-law, too.  This particular Tuesday meant getting an acceptance email for a doctorate program I applied to.  Even though I’m unsure of what my future holds, it was still really exciting to get that email.  I have options.  I like options.

You know what other days are good?  Fridays.  And Saturdays.  Sundays aren’t half bad, if only I could rid myself of the sense of dread I have about the impending Monday.  Last Friday, I took a personal day.  Which really just means I wasn’t on the schedule at the store, and I decided not to drive to the lab.  I was feeling very overwhelmed with things by the end of last week, and a personal day was just what the doctor ordered.  I stayed in bed until my body naturally woke up, instead of rising to the awful sound of my alarm.  I power cleaned my apartment.  I walked to the grocery store instead of rushing in my car, as usual.  I rode Scott’s mom’s bike along side of him as he ran (which really was only pleasant for the first 40 minutes or so—I give cyclists a lot of credit, because that is just plain uncomfortable!)  I enjoyed cheap beers and half-price appetizers during Happy Hour at the Library.  Scott and I bought $20 worth of junk food from Big Lots (I realize we are disgusting) and watched episodes of Dexter all night.  Now that’s a good Friday.  Saturday started with a quick trip to Panera for coffee and a snack followed by a full day at the shop.  Saturday’s at the shop are usually crazy, and I like crazy.  Well, I don’t like the Five Fingers clientele crazy, but I like the busy crazy.  I will save you all from my Five Fingers rant.  After work, I got a marathon session in at the Y and went to Louie’s to enjoy a beer while catching the end of the OU game.   And Sunday, I was fortunate enough to watch the second half of the Packer’s victory.  We ventured up to The Cross Eye Moose Sports Cantina in Moore.  The burgers were awful, there was one extremely loud and obnoxious guy sitting alone with his bucket of beers (wearing a Packer jersey, I’m ashamed to admit), and my Diet Pepsi tasted funny, but all that matters is that the Packers won!  Wooooohooooo!  We needed that victory. 

This week’s schedule is fairly light compared to usual, although I did have one of those dreaded Monday exams yesterday (notice I didn’t mention anything about studying in my weekend—oops).  I made it through the exam fine, and managed to end my follow-up appointment with my counseling patient in less than the 30 minute time limit today, so I’d call the week a victory so far.  Next week is a doozie with speaking engagements on Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.  But we gain an hour this weekend and I have Monday off, so all that complaining about needing another hour in the day will just not fly this time.

Today I see the doctor again about my foot.  Things seem to be going better, although I don’t see myself running for a bit yet.  However, my new goal is to be able to jog a 5K by Thanksgiving day, so that my mom, sister, brother and I can enjoy a Turkey Trot together when they come down to visit.  Heck, I will walk it if my dad wants to join in on the fun.  I’m really looking forward to spending a rare Thanksgiving with the fam.  My mom is leaving me to preparing the dinner—yikes.  I do baked goods, not real food, so I hope they will be satisfied with a Turkey-shaped cake.  Or Turkey shaped cookies.  Yum.

Happy Tuesday all!