Just Because...

just thought i would revisit this post;-)

Ostrich (NYE '07)

I really don't know what title I should use for this post...Ostrich was so kind to throw a party at his place for NYE but I've got an unfortunate "party favor," no it's not some strange cootie- get your heads out of the gutter.

I stopped by Ostrich's house around 10:30 or so after I had been at a party that was hosted in a parking lot, this totally brings back memories of NYE in high school. The downfall this evening is it was in the 30's a little chilly for my blood. Get to The Shire and there is tasty guacomole dip- yummy, and tons of other little foodie items. As the evening progresses Ostrich keeps pulling things out of the oven. The last thing was a spinach & artichoke dip. I was stoked, grab my little sourdough bread scoop and dig in. Let me preface that I'm standing by some people that don't know me very well, God Bless Them and there are tons of other people I just don't know at all. Bite into my bread thingy this dip is so effin' hot and what happens the dip super glues to the roof of my mouth. The curse words running through my head are frightening. I can't get it unstuck at all. I turn towards the kitchen another wad of people i don't know. I'm now facing the wall as my eyes well up with tear. Dear God It Won't get off the roof. I'm freaking out & if my mouth weren't full of food I would scream bloody murder. Finally I find a way to un-stick this f*n dip from my mouth and a blister immediately forms. GRODY!!! Who gets a blister on the roof of their mouth????

It's now Wednesday and putting anything remotely warm in my mouth still burns like heck...this may be a 2nd degree burn for all I know. I know one thing for sure I'm not standing near the food table at parties anymore. It still hurts to eat, more importantly it really hurts when i try to drink my coffee...

Thanks Ostrich, Really!!!

Kenny + Rendering/Annoying= A+

Who knew it was possible...that I could make an A+ on my rendering. I didn't like them so I really had no expectations. However, the following pic got me an A+ and a compliment from my professor. I'm learning in the design world of teachers nothing is good enough. Trust me I'm well aware of how picky I am but these people make me look like a pleasable (not sure that's a word but you get my drift) person. Goodness gracious. Well, without further ado the A+ is...



PS- Rudolph's kitchen was an A. Not too shabby if I don't say so myself!!!

PPS- IPM it probably is crooked. Depends on how I run the 24X36 page through the plotter (the shrinking part) if it will come out straight.

Kenny- Rendering/Annoying

I've been wondering what takes up all of my time where I don't even have 1 hour to deal with laundry...it's dawned on me that my rendering class controls my entire world. I have been hunched over my drafting table since 9am today...it's now 6:30pm. I did take 1 1/2 hours to run AND shower. The world is a better place since I did both run AND shower. The sad news is I started the rendering part of this project on Thursday and I'm still not done. We have to render 2 of the same drawing. If I wasn't at work between thurs & now I was rendering. I was supposed to do LAB for my run this weekend, yep, you guessed it didn't happen. This is the point of every weekend where I get thororoughly annoyed. How much time is enough??? To top it off this drawing sux ass!!! I'm tired and need to run a few errands. I will post this scary kitchen...it looks like I hurled highlight and shades all over the place but I get into trouble if I don't do it...Personally i think it looks better with less, whatev!



I'm going to get a pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream. I've earned it;-)

Kenny- Project 2

Ok, since the current drawings I'm working on for Monday's class are about to kill me I thought I would torture you 4 kind souls once again;-) BTW- thanks for the kind comments...they were nice!

I am now going to tell you all about my first large project in Design Development (the course I took in a 5 week session of summer school). This is a courtyard designed for a dentist's office. The obstacles given to us are a running path straight down the middle of the building (being a runner I thought piece of cake I get this). Next obstacle is a 16ft of mass (WTF?) that you can only cut a 1/3 into or move. This made NO sense to me whatsoever. Thank goodness we had to draw plans of our ideas before the actual building was to take place. This saved me bookoodles of money and the headache of having to restart the damn thing. I couldn't wrap my head around this dumb ass blob thing Nance kept referring to. I would like to say I was NEVER operating on all 4 cylinders during this 5 week period. Sleep- well 4 hours a night seemed like a luxury. Ok, this explanation is going to be super long so as always skip to the pic;-) Next hurdle is there has to be 2 walking paths through the courtyard, excluding the running path, needs to be this column ass thing you can't cut into, 2 separate rooms or cornered off and one of the rooms needs to be a meditation area...this is one weird courtyard.

without further ado I will introduce my final courtyard piece. The blue piece of paper on one of the walls is a water wall...ew and ah if you must;-p

PS- before I load the pix...the crap around the courtyard is the dentist's office.
PPS- it's cut in 2 because we had to do a section view which means building the 2 pieces separately, hence the reason they don't fit perfectly together.

Ok Kenny...

You asked for it;-)

Kenny seems to think it would be a great idea to show the 4 people who check my blog what I do while in school. I will post these things that I've taken pictures of...they will probably be hard to see and the lighting on them well, not so great;-p

I'll start from the beginning, way back in Jan of '07. My very first 'concept' board. Apparently we make these to show clients to hopefully woo them into using me as their interior designer. The best news ever for me at least is I LOVE putting together concept boards. Something about it just makes me happy;-)

Before loading these suckers let me preface that they've been sitting up in my loft getting quite a bit of sunlight so they aren't in the stellar condition they once were. No, really at one time the looked fantastic. Ok, just humor me!!!

On to the summer school projects and introduce the very sharp cutting tools which to this day I still have all 10 fingers and toes. I consider this a major success in my life especially since one of the projects I will post was built on NO sleep.





The above project was my introduction to various materials I will use to build models during my adventure in school. Needless to say these are very kindergarden. The first day Nance (professor that taught Design Development) mentioned some very foreign words to me.

Nance: "Class the next project we will be using chipboard, foamcore & bass wood."
My thoughts: chip WHO???
My next thought: bass and I'm back in the 2nd grade down at the pond fishing. Yes, people i couldn't figure out how bass could make wood. I didn't say I knew much about design other than that's what I want to do so quite a few words are foreign to me. Foam core I knew. whew!!!

That's all the torture I have for today...stay tuned as I will slowly but surely reveal some of my projects. Next semester there will be more house models...so exciting I know!!!

I Don't Wanna

I honestly can't do anymore homework today...nevermind that my drawings won't be complete for tomorrow's class, I just can't do it. The sad thing is I know my professor is going to give me a 'B' whether I bust my butt or half-ass the project so I've decided not to kill myself over this and now I'm just procrastinating.

December 11th this semester will end then I get 4 free weeks and I have no intentions of using my brain.
DISCLAIMER- I can NOT be held accountable for anything I say or do from Dec 11th- Jan 13th. Consider yourselves ( all 4 of you) warned!!!

One of Those Days...

Today has been absolutely fantastic. I'm guessing it has a little somethin' to do with the cooler weather. This morning started with the PP workout consisting of the Warhurst. The Warhurst and I have a love/hate relationship. I hate it everytime I see it pop-up on my schedule but fall madly in love with it once it's over. Today would prove to be no different. I won't bore you with the details all I know is the demons are getting quieter each time I run this route and I actually think I'm getting faster. I am amazed I didn't topple over when running the Deep Eddy mile. I don't know what happened to my form but I will say I looked more like a 2 year old just learning how to run, flailing all my limbs everywhere, not so great when there's no light. I'm so thankful noone was able to witness my attractive running style and even more thankful that I didn't turn/break an ankle. Somehow my legs managed to get under me for every wacky step back there.

My other fantastic news for today is I got to register for spring semester and I only have classes on Tues/Thurs for spring. I realize I'm the only one that gets/cares about this but this is THE perfect schedule. 9:30am- 6:15pm are you kidding me!!! I only have to drive to SM 2 days a week. YIPPEE!!! Last bit of good news I got into Studio 1...this is crucial in order for me to graduate on time. Usually there is a waiting list for this class but no sir I'm in like flinn (no idea how to spell that last part...you get my drift)

Now if only I would sit down and work on the 2 big ass drawings i have due. Hmmm, I guess it's one step at a time and the procrastination will have to wait it's turn;)

Boo

Unfortunately, today's race wasn't meant to be. The poopie doop feeling I had yesterday was a nice strong sinus headache that kept getting worse. Around mid-night I told myself if I woke up with the headache still pulsating in my left eye extending to the back of my head I would NOT be getting up for the race. You guessed it around 4:45 I woke up with headache still intact and had to make an executive decision not to race. The last thing I need right now is a full on sinus infection;( A quick text to my partner in crime, Jon, letting him know I wouldn't be there.

I'm sure I donated to a worthy cause!

Pre-Race

For some odd known reason I feel like racing this weekend. The majority of my running friends will not be doing the IBM 10k and still I wish to run it. No idea why I wanna race, these things stress me out and it's a 10k a distance I don't like to race. Moving along to the e-mail I received from Coach Ruth this week. Friday is an important night for rest. Go to bed early or if have to stay up late sleep in. Ok, I'm already off to a wrong pre-race start. I worked late Friday night, read on my feet the entire time, and met a friend at 7:30am for our pre-race run. I might have gotten 5 1/2 hours of sleep. Oops. Top that with the fact I feel like poopie-doops today. I'm hoping it's just allergies and can be gone by tomorrow morning. I really wanna give this race everything I've got. I'm not looking for a huge PR I'm well aware of the racing condition I'm not in at this moment, but seriously I wanna run hard. At the moment my legs feel like jello.

Let's go back a bit for the 2 people that read my blog. Remember when I had to get a new hard drive and somethings didn't get backed up. Well, I had forgotten about the tunes dear, precious Wiley had given me. Yay!!! new tunes that I haven't heard in awhile. I'm totally stoked I've been reloading them for my race play list (seems more important than my current school project, wouldn't you agree?) So tomorrow's race is all about enjoying my new found tunes at full blast while enjoying a new course. If I PR it will be icing on the cake. At this moment I'm just looking to run and hopefully not serenade any runners running near me;) I've been known to randomly start singing out loud with the shuffle. Hell, I can't hear me how am I supposed to know I'm out of key???

E-mail Response

My response to C's e-mail today.

Do you dare ask how I am???

It's safe to say this has been a meltdown week for me and it's only Tuesday;)

1 flunked test in AutoCAD- he said it would be easy but funny I think my test was written in Chinese.

Rendering (perspective drawing class)- we always have a sh*tload to do in here, but i enjoy the class so I usually don't mind. this is the class i broke down in...lucky male teacher. thank goodness he likes me.

thursday- test in building codes. i'm skipping 1 class for sure tomorrow in order to study. there has to be something wrong with that statement???

aren't you glad you asked;)

I believe it's safe to say school is kickin' my arse!!! I honestly don't know how people pull this off. I'm going to make this happen!!!

Simple Things = Happiness

AHHH!!! Is all I can say at the moment. Thank goodness I have internet at home again. This morning I decided to check my TX State e-mail, which is something I rarely do since all it ever has are construction updates. However, today was extremely different. I only have 1 class on T/Th and it's smack dab in the middle of the day and a short lecture class at that. Well, this am I have an e-mail from my professor cancelling class due to some knee injury. SWEET!!!

Looks like I don't have to battle the weather afterall;) I feel a nap comin' on!!!

Does It Have To Be This Hard

Why is going back to school at the ripe 'ole age of 34 so hard??? I've moved cities several times to places where I don't know anyone, no home & no job...i consider that way easier than the school thing.

I've started my first full semester and I'm hear to tell you it's going to kick my ass. I won't bore you with all of the details but let's just say finding parking at TX State is enough to put someone behind bars or in the hospital. I now just wear my running clothes in order to get to class on time. I consider this my own personal boot camp...running with a backpack bigger than me and whatever else is needed for rendering.

I also started working last week. I'm doing catering for 34th St. Cafe and I have forgotten how labor intensive this stuff is topped with a non-breathing outfit (totally elevating my sex appeal in this get-up) in this heat...tons of fun. I never knew I could sweat this much. I realize I'm a runner but I'm pretty sure in the past 72 hours I've sweat 1/2 the water out of my body. I think my feet are still pulsating from all of the running around/standing for countless hours over my first weekend of work.

The tough part of all of the above is I don't have any idea how all of these puzzle pieces are going to fit together. I'm exhausted and it's just the 2nd week of school. I managed to get my lazy bum outta bed for my track work-out this morning and my eyes are leaking their so tired. Unfortunately, sleep is one of the first things to go and this is a problem for someone who likes her 8 hours of z's.

My other sad realization for today is I won't be doing a marathon this season. I'll need to downgrade to a half. In a sick & twisted way I'm extremely sad about this but I have to be realistic...it just doesn't fit on my over flowing plate and I really need to relieve myself of some of this pressure.

Ewwww!!!

Wiley- in answer to your question have I let go of the blog...yes, I have. I really have to pick and choose my battles these days with the school thing. Yes, I will be using the school excuse for the next 2 1/2 years;)

For today I had an eeewwww moment on the trail. We took off this morning at 6am (I'd like to mention that I'm out of school this week- I would also like to pat myself on the back for getting up before 6am to run). Our plan an easy 4 miler. There were 3 of us so I'm on the outside lane and I try to be aware of people coming the other way so I can either drop back or speed up to give the other peeps room. Granted I can't see in the dark so this is a hit or miss...no pun intended, which will make sense in a few. Today we are cruising along chatting away when boom dude runs right smack into the right side of my body. We have been running for maybe 5 minutes so I'm not nasty yet but this SCRAWNY dude was SLIMY...i was running in a sports bra so had nothing to wipe his nastiness off of me. G-R-O-D-Y. Maybe I shouldn't run on the trail this week;)

Just to continue with the eewww theme for today. I'm at Green Muse working on my computer because I still haven't gotten internet at home. There is an old dude sitting at the bar thing right next to me facing me for some odd known reason. The place is empty with tons of cushy places to chill, but no he's sitting here facing me doing nothing...well, almost nothing, he just let out a nice sized belch. What is it with me today. It's not even 9am and apparently it's going to be one nasty day!

Letting Go

Letting Go...when do you know it's time to let go better yet, how do you let go? What do you do when you know someone that you've considered a close friend no longer wishes to be your friend? How does one handle this situation? Do you send an e-mail, snail mail, call them on the phone or just ignore it until the pain goes away??? This is a friendship nothing romantic...the romantic endings I know how to handle...I let them go.

I don't even know where it all went wrong. I know something that may have triggered a little uncomfort but to me if a true friendship it was totally manageable. Maybe I was just a bandaid until whatever this person was looking for was found then I would no longer be needed. I don't have an answer I just know everytime I run into this person it hurts...I don't like sadness and it seems to be hitting me hard this year. Maybe this is part of the change/transition I have to deal with and I'm not real sure how to. All I know is I want this pain to stop. It's on my mind way too much and honestly, I don't have space for this not so great energy...

Sorry, I just had to get this off my chest.

Random

I have quite a few random thoughts that run through my head constantly...none related to the other the majority come from observations I make throughout my day.

Today I'm at the Green Muse studying to take the practical part 0f my bartending stuff as you can see I'm holding my part for the procrastinating I love to do. 2 posts in 1 day. Note- I'm technically certified to bartend but finding a job in this industry is a tad tricky hence the reason I went to a bartending school- so they could find me the job. Back to the random. I'm sitting in a corner with an outlet (need new battery in order to be unplugged) and the majority of the place is empty with tons of places to plug-in and/or sit. There is a gal sitting in the comfy couch next to me sharing my outlet...no biggie. Random dude walks in cases the joint which is somewhat empty and he chooses the chair next to me which will sandwich me in to my corner. If I need to get up for anything I either need to perform acrobatic movements or bug him everytime I need to go to the bathroom. Yes, this random thought totally boggles my mind.

The Simple Things in Life

I swear the simplest things in life make me soooo happy!!! I love a good night's sleep. I'm not kidding when I call that love. After a great night of sleep I walk around announcing how happy I am for that rest. Last night would be no different. 9 full hours of sleep. I think I was out within a nanosecond of my head hitting the pillow. I woke up this am and thought ahhhh!!!

I won't lie that I'm a complete nerd when it comes down to me and my z's. The challenge of it is I also like to get up early so needless to say I'm usually in the bed with a book by 9pm...and I wonder why I'm single;) Not really but that's a whole 'nother blog.

This summer I came to the oh, so sad realization that sleep a full night of sleep will be few and far between until December 2009...that's when I graduate. The next 2 years are going to be a huge challenge. Some of my projects require me to skip an entire night of sleep i can assure you this is not pretty, not pretty at all.

I apologize in advance (this apology is good for the next 2 years) if I seem a tad cranky. I don't mean it I promise I just don't function well when under less than 8 hours of sleep.

8 Days In

8 days into this new "birth year" and I'm here to tell you we're not off to a good start;( My mood is a tad fed up at the moment. I will not go into all the boring un-fun details but I will tell you about the un-fun thing that nearly broke me...I think they say something about the straw that broke the camels back or something of that nature.

Let's go back to the beginning of June when the trackpad on my precious iBook decided to freeze up. I wanted to drop dead at that moment until I realized I could buy a mouse and still use the computer. Side note- when the trackpad isn't working don't get all techno and buy a wireless mouse because you still can't use the computer to download the wireless software to make the mouse work...yes, I did this. Well, the month of June was slammed with class/building stuff so I opted not to send my computer to Apple until school was out. This will prove to be my brightest decision all year;)

Long story just getting longer- I decided to send my computer in this week. I knew to back everything up which I had half-ass been doing but got serious about it Sunday late night. This will prove to be dumbest decision all year;( Send computer in Monday back in my hands on Wed. I immediately notice how CLEAN my keyboard is (you really shouldn't eat and work on your computer at the same time, right). While computer is warming up I decide to read the repair notes which mention they put in a new hard drive, cool I backed everything up. I start the long ass process of re-loading all backed-up files until I got to my main one, the one i refer to as my brain. Insert CD and all it says is blank. NO!!! Of course thinking I'm smarter than the computer I reboot the whole thing. Load CD again...BLANK!!! I will spare you the profanity I was screaming at the top of my lungs. My fit didn't last that long because I was immediately heart broken. All pictures, portfolio, resume, and all excel spreadsheets gone this thought made me nauseous.

The 2 things that kill me the most are my photos and my spreadsheet on all the books I've read. Yes, I'm anal but when you read as much as I do I can't remember which title, author and plot go together.

I have now wasted an hour blogging and catching up on blogs instead of studying;)

Procrastination 101

I really think I should be a professional procrastinator. I'm extremely good at it. I've gotten rid of my wireless connection at home to cut down on my internet time and ways to procrastinate. As you can see today it's not helping me so much. I'm at The Green Muse using their internet when I'm really supposed to be studying for my bartender exam I'm taking this afternoon. Nevermind the big ass project I have to build this weekend. So far I have spent about 60 hours (in a 5 day period) on my project that is due this Monday and the sad thing is I have a good 20 or so more hours to go. I love school I really do it's just going to be an intense 2 years!!!

For the record I've wasted an entire hour perusing the net...guess I should get to bizness!!!

3 Bitchy Volunteers

Let's just say Joey got 3 bitchy volunteers this morning for the Rogue water stop. At times some may have considered this an understatement;) It was the Brendas and me. 1. Brenda- a.k.a M. 2. Brenda- a.k.a 5'10". Just to keep you from getting super confused.

Our morning started at a whopping 4:30. Get to M's house where 5'10" is picking us up. Both 5'10" and I discuss that we wore our sports bras in order to change...poor M couldn't understand our conversation at all. This will make more sense in a bit. Sorry, M but I'm throwing your 'lil ass under the bus.

When one volunteers for a triathlon you may consider taking out cots to your area the day before much like the athletes take their bikes the day before the race. If you're not at body marking you will definitely have time to catch a few more z's before you're put to work.

First things first we go to volunteer check-in to get our much "needed" t-shirt. 5'10" and I were smart enough to plan ahead for the change without frightening the other women participants (don't ask me why it's an all female race). M, wasn't comprehending our earlier discussion on the sports bra, therefore we got the luxury of being blinded by the brightest & whitest bra I have ever seen in my lifetime. For sure if she's ever lost she can use the brighty whitey as her mayday signal. Ok, this gave us a good laugh...sounds like we're alive at this point.

Well, good thing we got to our water station when we did...we only got to sit around for about 2 hrs. The funniest thing is we have a few "over water achievers" who were itching to fill water cups at 6:30am. Come on people the race doesn't even start until 7 am and we are at mile 2 of the RUN!!! Again this gave us 3 bitches a good laugh.

Finally, we've got some athletes. M and I are ready with our water cups. M looks at 5'10" and says "don't you wanna get some cups???" 5'10" looks at her with utter disgust "uh, NO!" As if she could be bothered with such trivial things. This may have been the funniest thing ever.

Next on the list is my inability to release the water to an athlete. I was always taught to make eye contact with the water person so they knew you were taking their cup. Apparently, triathletes are very zoned. It may have been the 2nd gal to come through and she didn't have the look of "I'm taking water from you" so once I turned my head she decided to make a go for the cup in my hand which happened to be the same time I was rescinding my offer of water. Oops, hope it didn't mess up her time too much. At this time I realize I'm going to have to work on my release techniques. (Side note I've decided to wean myself off of caffeine- today may not have been the best day to start) Again the Brendas and me are in a fit of giggles because we can't get a pass-off rhythm and challenged probably isn't a strong enough word to describe us.

My favorite thing at races is a picky athlete. I have finally found my release water groove and as I'm passing to a gal she looks in it and says there's no ice. Are you kidding me??? NO WATER FOR YOU (Soup Nazi style). I swear people say the darndest things.

I'm real sure by the time we got to Freebirds for lunch I stunk to high heaven...get me a shower!!!

1 WEEK DOWN

Whew! What a jam packed 1st week in school it was...way too much. So many projects that sleep was at a minimum, therefore, last night was all about catch up time. 10 full hours, ahhhh. Granted it had a lot to do with my practice ride for the UT cycle study and not being able to eat/drink anything (except for water) until 1pm. I felt like I had the worst hangover of my life without any alcohol being involved. Yes, that really is strange.

If I stop and think about this week of school which apparently is the equivalence of 1 month in a regular semester it's been fun. I have put together joints, built structures and am now working on reversing a picture. The structure stuff has been the most fun for me, and I'm proud to announce I haven't cut-off any body parts yet;) I think my favorite cutting material at the moment is the bass wood. Possibly because it looks most like unfinished wood. The chipboard was relatively easy to use as well, but I could only find it in a grey color and I really like color options.

I will admit time has not been on my side this week and it won't be on my side next week either. I got the bright idea of signing up for bartender's school that started this week too. What was I thinking??? It will be done next Friday then hopefully I can breathe/sleep again. What am I doing for a work-out at the moment? My cycle study and that may be it for 1 more week...I could have sworn summer was about good lazy fun. Clearly there is something wrong with me;)

Here We Go...

Oy, school started today. Lemme tell you that 8am start time down in San Marcos sure is early. I think they lured me in with the easy schedule of last semester. Yes, I realize it's summer so we're cramming a ton of stuff into a 5 week period.

My first project has some heavy duty cutting tools in it. I'm hoping not to lose any body parts since I won't have my wits about me for the next 5 weeks. It reminds me of my 6th grade art class and my first experience with the Xacto knife. I can hear Mrs. Johnston telling us now don't put your hands in front of the knife to hold the board down. What do I do??? Put my hand in front of the knife to hold the board down. What do I manage to hold together while chasing down Mrs. Johnston for some paper towels or something to keep my body parts in tact, my left thumb. Let's just say she was a little less than thrilled with me that day. Honestly, are both thumbs necessary?

Some other un-exciting news in my world. Today was my first day for the UT Cycle study. This was just to get my VO2 Max. Friday is a test run and I have to fast 12 hours prior, so I will be attending class on an empty stomach and no caffeine. It's going to be an interesting way to end my first week back at school.

VO2 Max- 45.4
Weight- Nunya
Height- Dear Lord I knew I was short but seriously...this is ridiculous, so again nunya. In my world albeit it's a small one I'm 5'7". It's my world remember!

Life Altering Moment

A small one I can assure you, but I've been told it's the little things in life that make you happy. Today is one of those small thing happy days. Let me just preface this with the fact I'm not a techi so I tend to be a tad slow on the uptake of certain cyber-lingo things. Again, today is no different.

I read various blogs/boards and have seen the acronym LMAO quite a bit. One day a friend of mine responded to one of my posts with LMAO. I e-mailed him to find out what it stood for, no response. Today as I'm reading Joey's blog all of a sudden Maggie's response hit me like a ton of bricks. LAUGHED MY ASS OFF!!!

My world can go on;) Seriously, this made me happy!!!

Could It Be

I just may have fallen in love with my bike. I'm probably jumping the gun a bit much like I do in my love life or lack there of;) I really think it could be love for me and Belle, not the lezbot kind of love (not that there's anything wrong with that) but my bike's name is Southern Belle and Belle for short. Maybe some day I'll write about her name, for now will stick to the cycling.

I managed to ride 42 miles last week outside. No, this is nothing in comparison to my cycling peeps but I've got to start somewhere. Panther was kind enough to give me weekly mileage goals to get me ready for the Katy Flatlands which I will be doing the 62 mile ride.

Yesterday I rode by myself for the first time granted it was on the Veloway which means NO cars but still I went out and entertained myself. My plan was to get in a few laps before Lulu joined me to hit the Autobahn.

When riding the Veloway it is likely one will see quite a bit of "wild" life out there. You may wonder why they have a yellow warning sign about crossing snakes. I am here to tell you it's there for a reason, there really are crossing snakes. I don't know why this came as a surprise to me, I am known to attract them. I spotted one yesterday on a curve no less. I can't guarantee my steering on curves but managed not to hit this one. I'm sure it's just a matter of time before I way-lay one. Argh!!! Me and my so called life with the reptiles. At some point I will blog about my history with these scary creatures;)

KAPUT

My legs are officially kaput. Yesterday involved another 2-fer. I knew after the first work out my legs were beat but did that stop me from the second part of the day's work-out. Hell no!

5:30am met my running peeps for what was supposed to be an easy 10 miler. We usually do this run on Friday but since everyone is out of town this weekend we upped the day for the longer run. I don't know what happened but for some odd known reason this run turned out to be more of a "race" pace. Legs dead by the time I got home.

The second work-out was to be a bike ride, keep in mind I'm just getting "back in the saddle." I e-mailed Lulu secretly hoping she couldn't make our afternoon ride;) No such luck. So I plopped my lazy butt on the couch to "rest" until it was time to head to the Veloway.

It's official I've finally clipped into the bike and happy to report I didn't take Coop or Lulu out during the ride. Now, when it came time to clip out I had to keep pedaling until I figured out which side I was most comfortable in getting out of. I swear I slowed down to 5mph before I decided on the right foot.

Katy Flatlands here I come!!!

Brick #2

Apparently, what I considered to be a brick on Friday 10/10 was really just a 2-fer, meaning I worked out twice in one day. Whatever, LuLu said it's a brick as far as she is concerned. I tend to agree with her.

Today was a combo of a 2-fer and a brick. Today started with the Mother's Day Trail Race. This consisted of 2 loops on the Moonshadow trail. If you missed it this year I highly recommend it for next year. I took it easy since breathing seemed to be optional for me this morning.

This afternoon I met up with Kris & Erin for a 2 mile run followed by swimming/not drowning. So today was my first day in the pool since last summer. I wouldn't call my pool experience last summer swimming necessarily, but today was a new day. We swam at Stacy Pool which apparently is 32m as opposed to the normal 25m. The first lap pretty uneventful the laps there after just involve me trying not to drown. I swear at one point on the way back down the pool I must have snoozed or something because the next thing I know I'm sinking and in need of oxygen...what a pretty site this must have been. I'm pretty sure I came out of the water flailing my arms and choking on water with my hair all in my face, now I know why I need to put that heinous swim cap on. I'm so glad Kris was there to chat with in between laps. The continuous swim was not on my to-do list, Erin. There was a cute boy in the lane next to us which made drowning worth my time. ;)

10/10 BRICK

You read that right Ladies and Gentlemen. Today was my first official outdoor brick. Granted the 10 mile run was at 5:30am and the 10 mi bike was at 3:30pm, everything was outside.

Yep rode the bike for the first time in 2 years. Lulu was kind enough to meet me at the veloway and we went for 3 full loops and 1 mini loop. I'm not gonna mislead y'all I did ride in my tennis shoes as geeky/dorky as that is I needed to remind myself which gears did what and being glued in was not part of my learning equation.

I'm officially worn out today. When the alarm went off at 4:45am my legs were already tired. Hello, my feet hadn't even hit the ground. Something tells me the beer, wine & margarita the night before may have had a little something to do with this but whatever, I pulled it off. I think it's time for a Tecate.

I will be clipping into my pedals on Sunday...I'll keep y'all posted;)

Buh-Bye Spring Semester '07

It's official. Spring Semester '07 done!!! My art professor was very impressed with the improvements I made and how many drawings I had completed for today. Honestly, improving was going to be simple. I was going from hangman to an actual drawing. I was excited, not that I plan to show anyone any of this. Just sayin.'

Also, I went to see Zane today at Jack & Adams for my bike-fit. He made some adjustments to the seat which puts him in God-like status in my eyes. Took some pressure off some serious body parts;) I can't wait to pick her up tomorrow and hit the road. I advise the rest of you to stay off the road. Consider this a kind warning;)

The best news of all...I've worn my sunglasses 2 days in a row. I may just crack a beer for the occasion!!!

I LOVE YELLOW

Honestly, I have nothing to report other than I love the yellow sun!!!! I was starting to think I'd never see it again. I had to go sit by the pool and just absorb some good 'ole vitamin d. AHHH!!!

There is one more day I also thought would never get here...end of spring semester. Tomorrow at 10am I can kiss spring '07 good bye. YIPPEE!!!

Random notes- I actually ran 5 days last week which included one 10 mi run. Who knew any of this was still possible? We're back for the month of May. I have no idea how it's going to work for the month of June. I've got class M-F starting at 8am...yuck!

Last but not least- my bike will be tuned up come Thursday. You may want to stay off the road;)

What's Not My Calling

Well, I spend a lot of time wondering what it is I should do with my life. They say figuring out what you don't like or things you're not good at is just as important. I can say with absolute certainty drawing is NOT MY CALLING. Granted I wasn't expecting to be an undiscovered Van Gogh but seriously the lack of my skill is quite frightening. The good news is for my curriculum we only need 1 basic drawing class...whew!!! I'm going to show you what I'm currently working on and I'm bored to tears with this thing. I seriously wish we could splash some of these things with color...the charcoal thing gets a tad boring!

Next Wednesday is my critique in drawing. We've got to show our professor complete drawings. I'm trying to get several finished. Argh!!! It takes forever and it's torture. I have one I really like but it's huge. Once I finish it I will actually post it. It's really hard to tell what in the heck I've got going on in this one but my professor loves vine charcoal. What the heck is vine charcoal you ask...a raw stick of charcoal. Talk about messy. I walk away looking more like a mechanic than an "artist." It's hard to draw straight precise lines with this stuff...granted the professor doesn't like that but I really like things to be clear and I swear this drawing I'm about to show you looked much better as a penciled drawing. Keep in mind this isn't complete I'm just sick of drawing for the moment.

Amazed

I'm amazed with myself today. Yes, I have the right to be self-absorbed on occasion. I admit I stayed up late and watched all of the bachelor so I didn't get a whole lot of sleep before my early am run. I must say I'm amazed at everything I managed to accomplish on little sleep. Pam, Jane & I met at the rock at 5:30am sharp (Jane is really doing well with the time thing!). We took off for a 5 mile run which was surprisingly nice. Afterwords I went to the gym to lift weights, this is something I'm dedicating myself to this summer. I then hit the grocery, washed clothes and cleaned my house all before noon today. I'm patting myself on the back as I type this. For the afternoon I went to Book People to study for my final and of course I had to buy a book on the way out. Confession- I am dangerous in a book store;)

Tomorrow up for another 5:30am run...it's time to turn this into a habit!!!

Random Thoughts

It's the final night of the posting war with Buzz, thank goodness;) This will also be my final post for this month obviously. Again, thank goodness;) Curious to see if he has 4 or 5 posts just waiting for him to hit the publish button and beat me...that would actually be a smart move and not one I intend to pull.

TV- I'm not one for watching tv with the exception of Greys Anatomy...leave me to my McDreamy ok, other than that I honestly don't need the thing. With that said I will confess I've been watching parts of The Bachelor this season. The only reason I am watching is because I know Andy from my SF days and yes, he really is a nice guy that happens to be super hot at the same time, go figure. The one thing that always baffles me about this show is the women. Do they honestly think they are going to find true love or is it the potential Hollywood discovery moment? As I type this last statement I realize they may actually think they can find love on this show. Have you ever noticed the majority of these women are in their early 20's with a few that cross the 25 threshold and one that's 30 or 31. The one that's crossed over to the dark side of her 30's gets the boot within the first 2 episodes it never fails. I'm sure no strange man is worth being stuck in a house of a bunch of young Ms. Thangs and their catty selves. Although the young Ms. Thangs are very entertaining not to mention great for ratings...the things they will do to get their man. It makes me cringe and laugh at the same time. 5 more minutes and it's on;)

Unfortunately, I will not be able to watch the entire thing as I've committed to meeting 3 of my friends at 5:30am for a run. What was I thinking? I don't even have class tomorrow so technically I have no reason to get out of bed. Reason- I've been extremely lazy since the marathon and I'm watching my muscles disappear into thin air. Gettin' back on the work-out wagon.

Blogged Out

I know Buzz is kickin' my ass in the blog war but as the title says I'm blogged out. There are some stories I could tell but really just not in the mood. At this point I'm just trying to stay somewhat even with Buzz. He's at 12.25 (you tube is only .25 of a post) and this teenie tiny paragraph will put me at 12.

I am excited to announce I did my first brick last week. Thanks to Lulu for making me feel lazy she inspired me to get off my lazy bum and hit the gym. I did 22 min on the spin bike and a 2 mile run. I must say I really liked it. Actually I ran the run much faster than I had planned. I guess this has something to do with the high cadence on the bike making me want to keep moving my feet at a similar pace. I do have a lot of work to do on the bike before hitting the pavement with Amber & Lulu as they are getting much stronger and well, I haven't been on the pavement in a few years;) Oh, well it's time for a new challenge!!!

Bring it on!!!

It's Really Going to Happen

Dear goodness I think it's really gonna happen. Argh!!! We're coming to the end of semester and I was thinking I'm safe I'm going to get through basic drawing without drawing a nude model, Yippee! My friend who is in Interior Design with me said when she took basic drawing they had a nude model everyday. My response, eeww, gross. Horrors, seriously. Today was the first day we started discussing the human body. I start counting how many more classes we have to figure out if it is humanly (no pun intended) possible to get to where we would need a nude model. As I'm doing the calculation Ms. Goody-Two-Shoes pipes in how cool it would be to draw one, has she lost her mind? There is no way I can do this with a straight face, are you kidding me? I barely got through the reproductive chapter in Biology class in high school and I'm pretty sure I haven't matured much since then. Seriously, when we were drawing the human figure today and the teacher mentions the wrist lines up with the crotch, I like to have fallen out of my chair I thought it was sooo funny. Crotch is only a word imagine a nekid (some may spell this as naked) person that I have to look at and draw. We all know the people that volunteer to be nekid (naked) in public are not good nekid (or naked). This just goes without saying. Good Grief!!!

The Mexican Martini

Lately, I have had some strong cravings for a mexican martini. Now the challenge here is finding places that serve good ones. Let me tell you, if you order one and it's bad you could be scarred for life. I may need to start a list of places where not to order them, Freddies for example...save yourself some money and stick to their margaritas. You can thank me later for this nugget of info.


This weekend I had to stay in like a good Samaritan and study or catch up rather on all of the reading I have not done for a final that I take on Wednesday. Some things about me haven't changed;) Now taking my cue from a friend of mine that finds time each and every weekend to sprinkle in some fun even though she has tons of work to crank out, I got the bright idea to walk over to Curras for you guessed it a mexican martini ( I remembered they have a pretty good one). Not to worry I took my books with me and am proud to announce that I cranked out a few chapters of reading/note taking. I highly recommend combining a good martini with the mundane tasks one has to deal with over the weekend. I must say this helped me to condense my note taking and leave out the trivial stuff that I can't ever decide if it's important to know or to discard.

Eventually I conned another friend to come meet me so I could have another martini and 3 later I rolled down the hill back to my house;)

Safety Question

I've been riding the bus to school all semester and today as I climb on board there's a new older gentleman behind the wheel. He looked a tad frail especially in comparison to the dude I'm used to driving. The bus was full today so I was stuck in the seats that face one another which means I'm going to be bouncing around and eventually land on one of my neighbor's lap. There's nothing to hold onto.

As I was sitting there I got to thinking why don't buses have seat belts? This makes absolutely no sense to me. That's a lot of lives in this little bus drivers hands. If you've ever been on IH-35 between ATX and San Marcos you've seen a number of flipped over vehicles...what happens if the bus flips over or goes sideways? That means flying bodies. Basically, you're either going to go flying elsewhere or get squished into grits. I really can't wrap my head around this one.

These thoughts brought to you by your Cruise Director, class dismissed!

Body Marking

If you ever want to see/touch a ton of hot bodies at once I highly recommend body marking for a triathlon. Now there are a few sacrifices to this rewarding experience such as getting up at 4:30am on Sunday; obviously this cuts into your exciting Saturday night plans but all for a good cause right? The alarm will go off and you will wonder how much you had been drinking when you agreed to do this. Your next thought will be how important are Maggie and Joey? Does the I'm too tired excuse work? Ok, so just a few more snoozes to think about where all of my cold weather clothes might be and I'm up.

5:20am Erin & I are off.

I will say up until today I never understood the reason for men to shave their arms & legs. Today I got it. Let's just say it's much easier to get a clear number on smooth skin. There were a few hairy hairy dudes that I thought I would never get their number on them. Obviously they can't completely help it but there's nothing wrong with men waxing. Just sayin.'

I did get to mark Desiree Ficker; she was #5!

Final Design Project

Finally, we're getting to the end of semester. My first semester back in school and oh, about 5 more to go. What's sad is I'm ready for this semester to be over. I really like it don't get me wrong, but the classes I'm currently in are all part of the preliminary curriculum which includes a very wacky/bizarre teacher.

Our final project for my design class is due next week. We're building a habitat on a 12X20 board. The idea is to build something one would never live in and to be super creative. Think Alice N' Wonderland or Hanzel & Gretel. Ok, sounds easy but once you factor in wacky teacher it has to be her type of creativity. Basically, any rough drafts you showed her she nixed. I opted to stop showing her what I was doing. I'll plead my case during presentation (this worked for my other project and I got an A). I just made a mental note of things she doesn't like- toothpicks, popsicle sticks, anything cutsie, funky colors and balanced. Apparently, creativity is all relative???

Now the real challenge begins once I start to glue/stick this thing together. Let me tell you they've got some strong adhesives on the market these days. There's this stuff called sticky back foam that feels and looks flimsy. I'm hear to tell you looks ARE deceiving. Whatever you do don't let it drop to the floor. I made this mistake and wasn't paying attention until the other day I decided to clean the previous project off of my kitchen table only to realize sticky back foam is super glued to the floor. I now have a new textured flooring;)

WAR PART 2

Alright, this is serious business Buzz!!! Our war has taken over our e-mails at this point. For those of you with gmail you know what I'm talking about. Your "chat" friends where you can write little one liners. Buzz and I don't bother with the e-mails anymore we talk through the 1-liners of our gmails. You may call us 2 mature adults with serious procrastinating issues. Personally I think Buzz is looking for more publicity or has serious attention issues, maybe a little of both. Notice the past 2 posts I have had are all about him and for anyone that doesn't know him my blog has become ultra boring. Keep in mind I've got to post like a maniac in order to win and we didn't set any guidelines about our posting other than a title with a YouTube video counts as .25 of a post.

I would like to note that Buzz is having 2 separate wars right now and their both with strong women. I don't know why he wants to take on a losing battle for himself this makes no sense to me???

I honestly need to work on my final project for my design class...I don't wanna;(

WAR

Apparently, I'm in a posting war with Buzz who knew. His blog is listed to the right of this blog and no I don't know how to link. I get an e-mail from him today saying he's at 6 postings and to take that. I immediately click on his blog (I can't believe I'll admit to this during a time of War) because he really is funny. He's calling a title with a you tube video a post. I totally disagree with him, but being the generous person I am I gave him .25 for the post so really he's only posted 5.25 for this month. I'm going to kick his ass!!!

Mimosas & Woodrows

I know it sounds really strange but Woodrows has a killer FROZEN mimosa. Honestly, I can't recommend them enough. Jarvis Girl and I discovered these luscious things on Saturday night, so taking our cue from Erin (side note- when Erin finds something she likes she goes back several days in a row) we promptly returned on Monday night to enjoy them again. I must say they are very tasty especially when your allergies are in high gear.

Was I supposed to go to core last night? yes. Did I? No. Laundry list of excuses- 2 major ones allergies killin' me and 2 major projects due this morning.

What do I do with a text from Jarvis about Mimosas NOW? Y-E-S. Did I get both projects done before 10pm? Yes. Did I get a good nights sleep? Hell Yes!!! Can I answer my own questions on my blog? Of course I can. ;)

Now I'm off to class!!!

Frozen Indoors

Seriously, I ventured out this morning to get some things for these projects that are due on Tuesday. It's frigid out there! Yes, I know all you Texans already know this. My point is I'm still in my coat indoors and have been here for 2 hours. I've also agreed to go to a friend's bbq this evening surely we get to stand inside while Gareth grills our food. He's a guy he can handle the cold. I totally think this is fair.

How does one motivate in this weather? Don't even ask me about my working out or lack there of. Erin I will be seeking motivation from you this summer when I take a long break from running;)

I guess I should get back to the projects or I'm going to really hate life tomorrow!!!

T-I-R-E-D

I have no idea what is going on with me but I'm extremely tired these days. The sad part is I can't fall asleep at night for the life of me. WTF??? This is annoying considering I'm a gal that likes her 8 hours of z's.

Yesterday I came home from an ultra long day at school, major project due that I've been working insane hours on (ok, not Jarvis insane, but Cruise Director insane)and I could barely hold my eyes open. I refuse to take a nap at 5:30pm considering that would definitely wreck havoc on my sleeping pattern or lack there of. I managed to stay somewhat awake until 9:30pm and slept until 8am. What's sad is I would really like to take a nap right now. It's 3pm.

I'm sad that I had to miss Creamy Flava last night. He puts on one heck of a show. Mayonnaise can you please forgive me?

The Latest

I realize I've been a little slow in blogging these days, but seriously I haven't had much to say. However at this very moment I may start laughing out loud.

The joys of being a student means I get to go to coffee shops in the middle of the day to "work" on my homework/projects. It took 3 places before I could find a table next to an outlet...seriously, is this entire town independently wealthy with no job, a zillion students without afternoon classes, or a running ton of unemployeds. I'll let you decide. Anyway my point of deciding to blog is I'm outside at Austin Java on 12th St. This was the only table and it's windy making my homework difficult to hold down. However, I now have entertainment. There is an old man sitting at the next table who is either deranged or homeless and quite possibly both. He's sitting over here mumbling non-stop I decided to be polite and turn towards him to make sure he wasn't asking me a question only to see he is staring off in the distance clearly talking to himself. Thank goodness I really don't feel like entertaining at the moment. Apparently, he's done talking to himself because now he is panting. Maybe he's panting at the dog sitting at the table across from him. All I know is this hysterical.

The life of a student;)

The Bike

To bike or not to bike...that's actually a silly statement. I own a bike, a good bike mind you. Granted the tires are extremely flat and I haven't ridden it since it rode on the back of my car when I moved from San Francisco to Austin 2 years ago. Wow! It's been 2 years since I've been on my bike. That is sooo sad. Lately, my running buddies are all blogging about their bike rides/events and it's making me want to get on my bike again. I'm not a strong rider. It's pretty safe to say I suck at it, but one can't get better if they don't keep at it. Keep in mind I only started riding the last 6 months I was living in SF and haven't been on the bike since.

My challenge is I am a control freak and I like to know everything that may potentially go wrong beforehand. I find these things to work in my favor...every worst case scenario I can dream up rarely comes true. I realize this is more than you ever wanted to know about me;)

Geez, where do I start with my bike drama...let's see- bikes are ultra light these days. I know this is a major selling point but I tend to disagree. This scares the crap out of me. I swear if I blink my left eye first my bike is headed left...again I'm not in control. I'm glued to the thing thanks to clipless pedals. I really like to bail on a moments notice and these new pedals don't allow bailing as an option. I think this has something to do with me being commitment phobic. We'll leave the commitment issues alone for now. Last but not least I think my bike has a zillion different gears. I can vaguely remember me never being able to get in my middle chain. It was either little chain or big chain and no I have no idea what any of that means.

Lulu I am going to take you up on your Sat am rides at the Velloway once I'm done with 5k/10k stuff (May). Coop may need some earplugs. I can't be held accountable for the amount of f-bombs I may drop while riding or falling over while standing still. Yes, I've perfected the standing still one second blink you're eye and I'm on my ass in the next.

Secretly I look forward to biking. I need a new challenge and something that's going to push me to a new level.

FINALLY!!!

I had a fantastic work-out today...FINALLY!!! I was seriously concerned as you can tell by today's earlier post. I wasn't wanting to run anymore and that excess energy was a bit much, but today it was a turn of events!!!

40 minute easy run and I loved every minute of it. I did weights and abs...the last one is a miracle in itself. Somehow I can never motivate to work the abdomen even if it's bathing suit season...ahhh is all I can say!!!

I'm back!!!

What To Do

Ok, so once it was taper time for the marathon I was in serious runner burn-out mode. I was tired of getting up before the rooster crowed, the insane weekly mileage, being dead as a doornail every Saturday and not drinking that much trying to be the good samaritan all of this was getting onto my nerves.

Now marathon training/race is over and I couldn't be happier...the only problem is I have all of this excess energy and not sure where to direct it. I want to take a break from running but am a little concerned that nothing else will get rid of my aggression the way running does. No perverted comments please!!! This past week was spring break and I managed to drink myself into oblivion more than once...don't get me wrong Jarvis and I had a grand time but if I continue at last week's rate I will need a liver transplant before my next birthday;)

The next non-running challenge is my inability to sleep as well as my muscles spasming out all night long. Just when I think I'm about to fall asleep my right leg starts bouncing around uncontrollably which sends me into a fit of giggles (please don't ask my why this is funny) and guess what back to square one in trying to fall asleep again. I do need 8 hours of sleep but lately it's closer to 5 and I'm not a nice person when sleep deprived.

Now what???

Spring Break

All I have to say is the student life is about to get fun...starting at 3:30pm today I will be on spring break;) Who knew this could be soooo fun???

Ok, so the fun is just starting up until this week it has been project/drawing hell. Monday thru Thursday I'm a witch on her broomstick all stressed out which leads to drinking insane amounts of alcohol on Thursday and hungover all of Friday...so much for Friday being my errand day and potential money making day.

Now one of my professors has the audacity to give us a project to do over the break so my paying her back is not going to class today. Our projects are never due the day she says their due. This drives me bananas. Seriously a deadline is a deadline. Anyhoo- this will not get in the way of my spring break/SXSW plans!!!

Bring on the Party!!!

Stressed Out!!!

This is an understatement. I will not bore you with my thoughts because they are far from fun or kind for that matter. My moods are so across the bored I can barely keep up with myself...possibly because I was taking a running break after the marathon, this never proves to be a good idea. Somedays I wish my life story was written with all of the answers so I could quit making the wrong decisions. Do not give me the "life's not easy" crap, I find this to be annoying!!!

I was surfing some blogs today and ran across another poem that I like and had forgotten about. This actually helped my wacky mood and I continue to plod on making decisions and not worrying about the outcome...this little engine can!!!

Note- It's long and a little mushy, so if you're not the mushy kind don't read it;)

The Invitation

By Oriah Mountain Dreamer

It doesn’t interest me what you do for a living.

I want to know what you ache for

and if you dare to dream of meeting your heart’s longing.



It doesn’t interest me how old you are.

I want to know if you will risk looking like a fool

for love

for your dream

for the adventure of being alive.



It doesn’t interest me what planets are squaring your moon...

I want to know if you have touched the center of your own sorrow

if you have been opened by life’s betrayals

or have become shriveled and closed

from fear of further pain.



I want to know if you can sit with pain

mine or your own

without moving to hide it

or fade it
or fix it.



I want to know if you can be with joy

mine or your own

if you can dance with wildness

and let the ecstasy fill you to the tips of your fingers and toes

without cautioning us

to be careful

to be realistic

to remember the limitations of being human.



It doesn’t interest me if the story you are telling me 

is true.

I want to know if you can 

disappoint another 

to be true to yourself.

If you can bear the accusation of betrayal

and not betray your own soul.

If you can be faithless

and therefore trustworthy.



I want to know if you can see Beauty

even when it is not pretty

every day.

And if you can source your own life 

from its presence.



I want to know if you can live with failure

yours and mine

and still stand at the edge of the lake

and shout to the silver of the full moon,

“Yes.”



It doesn’t interest me

to know where you live or how much money you have.

I want to know if you can get up

after the night of grief and despair

weary and bruised to the bone

and do what needs to be done

to feed the children.



It doesn’t interest me who you know

or how you came to be here.

I want to know if you will stand

in the center of the fire

with me

and not shrink back.



It doesn’t interest me where or what or with whom

you have studied.

I want to know what sustains you

from the inside

when all else falls away.



I want to know if you can be alone 

with yourself

and if you truly like the company you keep

in the empty moments.

Race Day!!!

**Disclaimer- this is super long so brace yourself, skim or don't read...luv you mean it;)**


The day I thought would never get here...4am game on!!!

Didn't get much sleep the night before not that I expected anything different. I did sleep 10 hrs both Thursday and Friday night. Have I mentioned how important sleep is to me???

Back to race day- the morning was exciting while putting everything on, double checking my list of things to walk out the door with...I'm texting and e-mailing my runner friends who are up & responding...gotta love race day emotions! Before race start pretty uneventful- this is a good thing;)

My one complaint for this race is the starting coral, seriously walkers need NOT be in the front. Everyone has a right to race but if you're slow, you know who you are, move to the back of the line!!! I crossed the starting line and I'll be if I didn't have to go around a line of walkers. I decided to just jump into oncoming traffic, this always seems like good idea to me;) I figure I can jump back on the right side of the cones once I see Johnny Law who is waving my back in...whatever;)

Let's just say the first mile I was busy rearranging all the crap I had on. Gu bouncing everywhere that I thought for sure were going to cause my shorts to drop to the ground, definite problem...tuck all 8 into the shorts, damn those packets are sharp I'm too nervous to feel anything at this point I know I will pay for this later, and I do.

I'm not going to torture you with a mile by mile play just the miles I think I can remember. My plan was to gu every 4 miles. We're hitting the 4th mile and my thumbs aren't functioning at all. I have to stop jump out of the way to get the first one opened...this is NOT how I want to start my race...now, I've got cranky girl (this is me) to deal with. The good news is I hang a right onto 5th street and immediately see Silke & Bobby who start screaming for me...this puts a smile on my face...100 yards and it's the first spotting of Tim and Kenny, ok, things ARE going to get better. My coach said things will change throughout the race.

I can't find my marathon goal pace (MGP) for the life of me. I've got a pace band on that I can't look at just can't take that pressure right now. I'm trying to remember everything my coach said to think about...my brain is like mush and we're not even at 6 miles. Mile 7 is our first hill on Veterans Blvd...not too bad. Hit the hills on Enfield & Exposition at this point I knew it was going to be a long and rough day. Mile 10 there are the people I've been training with (Pam, Kim E., Mark) going bananas for me...I love my cheerleaders...again a smile on my face. I told that handsome man I could enjoy this;) At mile 11 I come to terms that my A goal of 3:40 (Boston Qualifying time) is out the window...I choose to focus on the good and keep putting one foot in front of the other and keep a smile on my face. I was going to fake it until I made it to the end, which is exactly what I did.

I honestly, felt like crap up until mile 13 at which point my coach is in my head saying things WILL CHANGE at this time I said yes, they are GOING to change. It took a few more miles until rhythm finally set in, granted not at the pace I wanted but it was rhythm and flow that I need to keep me moving. I was focusing on the sidelines, the posters (my favorite- toenails are for sissy's), the kids giving high 5s. Anything to distract my mind from what I was actually doing and keeping me from thinking how much longer I would be torturing my body. I honestly wasn't sure how I was getting to that finish line or if I would get there. I told myself at the start I would NOT let the demons in or tell me I couldn't do this...I was in charge and not taking no for an answer...this proves to be a good decision because it took every ounce of strength I never knew I had to get this race done!

At mile 18 I was starting to go cross-eyed...I wasn't sticking to my gu/hydration plan, shame on me. However, once we got to mile 20 I knew I could get to the end and at the time I thought if I can just keep this under 4 hours I'll be satisfied. My first marathon was a 4:04 finish.

Mile 21- I see Tony's smiling face which I'm kind enough to throw him a sweaty shirt to keep. I can be soooo generous at times;) Ruthie has a new megaphone which she's screaming my name- I LOVE IT!! This is perfect timing because I know I'm hanging a left on Ave. H and it's a slow steady incline...have I mentioned this course NEVER stops climbing...someone mentioned elevation starts to drop at mile 18 but somehow we're constantly climbing...this is over my head.

My favorite cheer section, other than the finish line, mile 22 as we're turning onto Red River...those spectators were going NUTS...I got the chills running through there. Anna, another Rogue, was screaming for me and ringing that cowbell. Honestly, we need more cowbell;) Thanks Anna- it meant the world to me!

Mile 24- Jane (aka Banana) on her bike turns around and rides beside me for the entire mile...this makes me perk up, get into form which always helps the running. She's telling me I look HOT! Honesty, need not apply;) I love it!!! Mile 25, this is going uphill mind you, Panther tells me I look beautiful, again honesty, need not apply;)I'm lovin' it!!!!

We're down to the final mile and I dug deep, picked up the pace and took off!!! Coming around that capital people are fighting to hold on and others telling them no seriously, it's all downhill from here. There are fellow Rogues screaming for me and almost in my face at this time I can't wipe that smile off my face. I'm rounding the capital onto Congress and there they are, my training buddies (Pam, Kim E. Mark) again going bananas screaming for me, I'm just trying to hold it together at this point and count down the blocks to the finishers shoot.

I got 'er done by the skin of my teeth. My B goal turned out to be keeping it under 3:50- final time,according to my watch, 3:49:59.

I honestly couldn't be happier with this race. It was a tough course, great weather and I had fun;)

Can One Have Fun While Running a Marathon?

A few days ago I was exchanging e-mails with a very handsome man that I don't know very well and am pretty sure he's a big playboy. Flirting is good for everyone;) For some odd known reason he offered to run part of the marathon with me. Remember I said I don't know him very well so I took this as a strange offering but one I wouldn't pass up since I'm not sure what I'll feel like in that last 10K.

The more I thought about it the more I realized I didn't want to share this moment with him. I don't know how he runs or if he's even fast enough (humor me on the fast part), can he handle it if I get emotional or more than likely as I get bitchy towards the end. Running for me is very personal. I want to share this moment with the people I've been training with, people I've trained with in the past, friends that have had to listen to me bitch, moan, and groan for the past 6 months, the strangers that come out to cheer their loved ones on, volunteers & the people I'll meet on the course. These are the people I want to share this moment with.

I did get lucky and this handsome man will be out of town. The whole point of this post is he said I hope you have a fantastic time. He stopped himself and asked "Can someone have fun while running a marathon"? This question made me smile and without hesitation I answered yes, one can have fun while running a marthon. I love this question and it came at just the right time as my nerves are on high and I become obsessed with every little aspect of the race the question slows me down and reminds me to enjoy it.

BRING IT ON!!!

What's My Purpose?

I'm talking about my purpose for the AT&T Marathon not my life purpose...that one I don't think I'll ever figure out. We'll keep this post simple.

Tonight was our pre-marathon dinner where Coach Sisson gives us a "sermon" before the marathon. He had 5 key points to think about over the next 7 days the main one for me to figure out is my purpose for this race. Apparently, qualifying for Boston is not deep enough. I tend to agree with him on this one.

I'm not sure that I know how to define my purpose for this race. I think it has more to do with me driving myself through the pain/hardship mentally, to not give up when the going gets tough, to keep putting one foot in front of the other no matter what my brain is telling me, and more importantly to trust myself ("trust in your training, Frank"). I've done the mileage, driven the course, visualized the course (this thing is unforgiving), now I just need to show up, execute and enjoy it. That last part sounds sick I know but if you've run a marathon you know what I'm talking about. Six months of training comes down to 1 day- ENJOY IT!!!

It's going to be a great race!!!

Taper Time

As they say all good things must come to an end...I realize that sounds bizarre once you see that I'm talking about marathon training. Don't get me wrong the training is often brutal and tiring but taper is crazy time for me.

Taper brings out the beast in me. My cravings for junk/fattening food gets out of control. I kid you not I had a big huge family size bag of plain m&ms last week as well as a pint of mint chocolate chip ice cream. Not to worry it wasn't at the same time. I rarely eat like this except for now. The need for insane amounts of alcohol escalates- I think there is a fear of not ever having another drink again- 2 weeks can seem like forever. Sleep can't get enough of it. I wouldn't be surprised if I was asleep by 8:30pm tonight. Last but not least an easy 30 minute run feels like I'm running a marathon. This one freaks me out the most...I start to wonder how the heck I'm going to run another 3+ hours on top of this.

The final kicker for today's taper madness...I checked our running forum to read a post from a speedy nerd in our group- we'll keep him anonyomous this go 'round. He apparently goes to some website to see weather conditions 15 days in advance. As of today Feb 18th will be about 57 degrees- with wind and rain. Honestly, this isn't anything I want to know about quite yet...I'm crossing my fingers this is just a wrong prediction from the weatherman. A girl's gotta have hope;)

Rogue Tough!!

Rogue Tough is what I'll need to be come marathon day. This morning we did a marathon goal pace run (aka- mgp) on the course from miles 8-16ish. Lemme tell you this section of the course is going to require some serious focus and positive talk to myself...if I'm lucky I'll be able to torture Jon with my psycho-babble to keep us/me going. Those rollers on Exposition are annoying and make slight inclines seem flat, this is honestly what we thought this morning once we took our left on Jackson...Today was mentally tough I started breaking down and it's pitch black, I can't exactly "see" what I'm doing. I battled the bad thoughts and overrode them, which was very necessary considering the last stretch was Great Northern (aka- lab course). I swear we can get rid of that road...I can't think of a worse stretch of road in this city...I'm sure it has something to do with the fact I'm only on it when running...SURRENDER ME NOW!!!

I must say I heart my coaches- Ruth & Steve. They've been stressing out this week after driving the finalized marathon course and have changed our work-outs to make sure we've spent enough time on the course on foot and getting as much mgp pacing in as possible. This morning wasn't scheduled to be on the mid-section of the course and they changed it. It was a little tricky considering it's a "work-day" and this was a point to point run...For those that don't know Ruth & Steve they both have trucks and oh, yeah we had to ride back with them in these tiny trucks back to our cars. Finally being short has paid off- I was blessed with riding on the inside of the truck. Yes, there were poor souls in the back and those that were super "unlucky" and rode with Steve you were stuck on Mopac and taking the longest route back to your warm vehicle.

Oh, yeah- I'm ROGUE TOUGH!!!

3M Perfect Day for a Race

Sunday was a perfect day for a race...

I really didn't have a time goal in mind for this race since I knew I wouldn't be going all out. My main focus was not going out to fast and really work on the mental aspect of my race.

I woke up at 4:30am ready to rock'n roll. Get to the race, immediately run into my training buddy, Jon. A few of us head out to do a mile warm-up then deal with all the minutia before the race starts. I think we had about 2 minutes to spare then we're off. I have given Jon permission to call me out when I start pushing the pace in the first few miles. I kept my eye on him and when he passed people I passed. This is difficult for me. I always end up with runners that have funky strides or bizarre head bobbing and I need to get away from them fast. Yes, I'm learning to ignore this and just hold steady, thanks Jon;)

I totally missed the first mile marker and my hands were so frozen at mile 2 that I couldn't stop my watch so the first 3 miles look as if I ran a steady pace. I know this to be balogne. I am so pace challenged it's pathetic.

My Coach, Sisson, had broken the race down into 3 miles segments for the mental aspect of the race. This happens to be the hardest part for me. I really focused on everything he had talked about especially when we were in the North part of town. For some odd known reason running races through neighborhoods is so distracting to me. I kept telling myself to hold steady.

I kid you not when I say today was a great day for a race. I never got bored, made sure to smile for all the cameras and have perfect form (I really am that vain) and just enjoyed everything. Like I said earlier I didn't go all out and definitely left some speed in the tank, wasn't even sore on Monday;) This isn't my big race I was looking for self-confidence and let me tell you I found it. Boston will be mine!!

Shout-out to my fantastic cheerleaders- Erin, Maggie & Joey on the bike. Kenny- even though I had to yell at him to cheer for me. Jarvis girl near the end, Anna & Bobby for one final push to the finish line. Y'all were awesome!!

Mile Splits
1-3 mi- 8:16
4 mi- 7:49
5 mi- 7:35
6 mi- 8:06
7 mi- 8:00
8 mi- 7:58
9 mi- 8:04
10 mi- 8:10
11 mi- 7:46
12 mi- 7:37
13 mi- 7:39

Total- 1:44:22 PR Baby!!!

I'M RICH!!!

Ok, that's an all out lie but I did find some random money. I love it when on occasion pockets have money folded up in them. Out of all things today a fleece vest that has a pocket in the back, reach in to pull my phone out and some folded paper. Now this wasn't just any old folded paper this was green paper, you guessed it money. Perfect timing I'm out of cash. 1 errand out of the way;)

School Has Changed

Wow! I've been out of school for well, let's just say a while. Things have changed so much it's insane. The obvious thing is the cell phone & Ipod world. Everyone is on the phone or plugged into their phone or Ipod...ok, so that's a minor one. The student center has Hip-hop playing on the loud speakers, plasma tvs everywhere (this blows my mind) and the food choices are overwhelming. When did Pizza Hut come to school? Maybe I'm just a backassward Cajun that is slow (don't answer that one) but things are different and I'm diggin' it!

Question- when is the last time you were listening to the Beastie Boys during lab? Yeah, it really makes the un-exciting lettering project go a little faster when you're groovin' to the Red Hot Chile Peppers. Oh, yeah all of my professors allow cell phones just put them on vibrate and step outside. Obviously, I have some cool professors this go 'round. They are all very approachable so bizarre and fantastic. I don't know maybe because my class size is less than 20 students per class. This is very different for a gal that went to LSU where the average class size was more like 200 students. It is just mind boggling.

Now for the not so great changes in the school world. I apologize ahead of time if I offend you but it's my bog.

The downside of our fast pace "school" society is the influx of the vending machines EVERYWHERE. I'm talking every building and on all floors. The coke machine is the 20oz size cokes, apparently, we need more caffeine? The junk food make my eyes wanna bulge right out of my head. Trust me the reeses peanut butter cups are way to close for comfort if you know how sweet my tooth is. It's been quite a fight not to put a lot of money into the junk food since I'm rarely around it. This weekend will be figuring out the food situation. I am ultra hungry all the time.

So what I've noticed in the college world is it's not the Freshman 20lbs anymore it's looking like 30lbs+. Maybe part of high school graduation should require a nutrition class. I really feel sorry for some of these people that just don't understand how to eat or what to eat. There is a reason we are such an obese society. I'm sure this was all discussed in the Super Size Me movie, but I haven't seen it.

I have survived my first full week of school. Yipee!!

Oh, My

Wow! Today was my first full day of school. Holy Toledo do I have my work cut-out for me.

I'll start from the beginning (this will be long)...
The Bus Ride
I had visions in my head of what the bus ride would be...sipping my coffee while reading, studying or catching up on some z's. Let's just say that's not what this bus ride was about. Granted I hadn't thought much about it other than someone else doing the driving. I'm the last pick-up before heading to San Marcos. Guess what- a packed bus. Now I will say the seating on this bus is NOT very efficient it's more like a city bus. Single row seating facing center until you get to the back door then finally they do double seats. This really didn't make sense to me since we would be on I35. I don't think safety is on their mind for this joy ride. You guessed it I got to stand up the whole way...Oh, Boy!! Have I mentioned the weight of my backpack? Let's just say me and the backpack just might weigh the same.

I will say there were some interesting peeps all around me. The guy behind me has been doing this for a while and says in about 6 weeks it will thin out due to people dropping classes. I'm pretty sure all the grey hairs onboard will be with us for the duration;)

First Class
ID1321 (Interior Design)- I honestly didn't know what this class was about there wasn't a description of it when signing up I just know I have to take it in order to get into the program full-time. This is a class & a lab. We haven't been to class yet, it was lab this morning. I think the ice storm had our professor a tad stressed out. She was a little frantic about us completing the "lettering" project by Thursday. Seriously, I have horrible hand writing and after 33 years of this bad hand writing she wants me to have this changed/perfected by Thursday to turn in. Ok, onward to the next class/lab.

Drafting- again I don't know what this entails other than some weird ass rulers, triangles, lots of pencils and me going cross-eyed. Yes, we actually have rulers that part is to be read from rt to lft (this is normal in my small world) and shares a different set of numbers that you read from rt. to lft (this I don't consider normal).

I am worn out this evening and missed my speed work-out this am so I get to do that early shirley and on my own;)

School

Finally, school has started. I've only been to 2 classes so far due to last weeks freak Ice Storm so we haven't had a true first class. You remember the first few days of school it's all about the syllabus and going over the professor's expectations of you, the student and the best part checking out your classmates. I still have a class to go to for the first time tomorrow morning...I hope it's not another laundry list of art supplies. Don't get me wrong I love the art store just don't need to be in there for long without a body guard. Atleast I'm getting a little wiser in my older years; I just hand the sales clerk my school list and follow her around...this keeps me from wandering around aimlessly to buy fun supplies that I will NEVER use.

Just so you're not totally clueless on the school situation I'm going to Texas State and Austin Community College (ACC). An extra student id;) I'm taking as many courses in Austin that will transfer to TX. Today was my first morning at ACC. This is going to be interesting. It's a basic drawing course so there are all walks of life taking it. I also, chose to take this early so it was bizarre to me that it was even full considering most "artists" are night owls. Ok, I may be questionable right out of the gate since I'm an early morning person.

Now the next thing I have to work on is my study time. I'm going to buy a calendar this evening so I can keep an eye on this. Yes, I'm totally old school on the paper calendar. I have plenty of Palms that I've never used. Let's just say if another guy tries to give me one of these electronic devices again I'm dropping him on the spot. I DON'T WANT ONE. I need something that is large enough to see the entire month and no the 5pt font of a Palm is not legible for me. Yes, I'm blind.

Once I'm organized Ostrich will have to come over to put my table together for me;) I've asked him to help on Friday...I may have to bribe him with some booze!!

SNOW in the ATX

Bizarre to use the word snow with Austin, TX, but I'm here to tell you it's true. I actually ventured out in it today. I don't want my rump to go numb 2 days in a row. I actually broke out my ski gear in order to go outside. Who knew one would use such clothing in Central Tex-ass. I really have nothing more to say so I'll just post a photo or 2 to prove the weather conditions;)

Numb Ass

Seriously, my ass is so numb from sitting on it ALL DAY LONG!!! I kid you not. I read an entire book today. This was supposed to be a holiday, not an ice storm day. Tomorrow is now cancelled and I'm down to 1 bottle of red wine, how could I let such a tragedy occur? I must have gone insane atleast temporarily.

My observations for the day. I did have the weather on all day. I get a kick out of watching our newscasters get amped up about the weather...dear goodness there must not be much to report on these days, which is a good thing I guess. Anyway back to my observations...Daytime Television- ok, if you're looking for some comedy (unintenitonal I'm pretty sure) you should catch some soap operas. I confess I was into the soaps when I was in college. What cracks me up is all the same actor/actress' are still on them. It's possible they've changed the actual soap they work for but really they are all the same. In my opinion these people didn't have much acting going for them (don't get me wrong I'd take their paycheck in a heartbeat) but seriously, could there be a bigger group of monotone people on the same show??? The biggest change I can see is the introduction of botox. In my soap watching days botox wasn't around, that has changed. Expressing emotions for monotone people is challenging enough but throw in some botox and it's a site to see. I wonder if it feels like their face is moving...one should ask the doctor prior to the shot perhaps???

Yet another tragedy to report- McDreamy did not win whatever award he was up for on the Golden Globes...this calls for a refill on my wine

Shell Shocked

Well, I've done it. I registered for my classes today at Texas State. I think I'm in a state of shock. Don't get me wrong I knew I was doing this but at the time it was just in my head, now it's real and complete with a student ID. I must admit I took a good pic;) After so many bad photo id's I came prepared...make-up, hair, the works and the maroon backdrop looked good with my sweater. I swear I'm not that vain. I guess this means I can get discounts to movies...is that right? This is what I look forward to, the student perks. Now that I'm a much "wiser" student and the one footin' the bill I'll be taking serious advantage of all aptitude tests any career advice they offer all of the things I ignored on the first go 'round. Things are different this time ...I hope this reflects in my grades as well. I can't believe I'm doing this.

Now to get on the part-time gig. I think I need to open a bottle of wine;)

Cheers

S-L-O-W-D-O-W-N

or kiss Boston goodbye. That's the choice I have to make. Obviously, I'm going to choose to slowdown out of the gate. I swear I take off like a bat out of hell and die at the halfway point...kinda like a dog.

The funny thing is I didn't let today's race bother me even after my coach called me the P -word. Not because I had a bad race, but because I mentally gave up at mile 14. He's right I've got to want it. Once I got home and was able to go through my mile splits there's a good reason for mentally letting go...I was running a good 13-20sec faster than mgp for the first 9 miles...I even spotted a 7:58/mile...HELLO my mgp is 8:20, big difference. Needless to say I ended out w/ an 8:44/mi pace...pathetic!! I did finish in the top 10 of my age group...

My body is healthy, strong & ready for this race. Boston is mine for the taking just need to tone down the first 10 miles and I'm in!!

I will say this about the race I got soooo friggin' bored. Seriously, all those peeps on bikes I think I need someone to ride beside me w/ a dvd player that would really help my mental game. Clearly, I do NOT need to go internal, it's the kiss of death for me;)

Also, I need to give a shout-out to Tim, Panther, Lulu (even though she didn't have a pitcher of margaritas), Cindy, JJ, Ruth, Steve & spectators I don't know...y'all ROCK!!

OMG!!!

Honestly, there are times I wish a nose was velcroed (not sure of spelling) on & off. I swear mine has been running for 24 hours straight. How much sleep did I get last night? Well, let's see it was done in 15 min. increments (again not sure of the spelling). It was as if I was a new mother with my nose waking me up constantly for sneezing or to be blown. How much mucus can one have? Yes, I realize this is disguisting but I'm starting to think my brain is leaking out of my nostrils.

Actually, my biggest concern is tomorrow's exciting 20 mile race. Imagine my nose running and stopped up. I'm going to need every air passage available in order to survive this thing. As if hills, pastures & wind weren't enough of a challenge let's just get rid of the nose. Seriously, who needs it? However, if I get to choose between stopped up or running i'm choosing to be stopped up. I don't think I can carry enough kleenex to cover this monstrous problem. I bought some allergy medicine today and not sure it was all that helpful. Maybe the cedar will disappear before tomorrow...I have no idea how the allergens actually work so I'm just going to hope for the best.

Update on the rooftop of my mouth- I still have to eat on the right side of my mouth. There are still missing parts on the left side that are ultra sensitive...OSTRICH!!!