When?

Okay.  I'm still running.  I am not so religious as the C25K program dictates.  I don't always make it 3 times a week but I pretty consistently make at least twice a week.  I am up to running a miraculous 28 minutes at a go.  Who would have ever thought that?  At my age?  God, I am ancient and running 25 minutes 2-3 times a week.  I never did that in my 20s let alone in my ... whatever.  I am signing up to run in a 5 K next month.  E wants to join me.  If nothing else I know I can walk that far.  So far the farthest I have gone in one of my runs is just under 2.5 miles.

But...

Yes, there is a but. 

But I don't love it.  A (virtual) friend of mine started running at about the same time (admittedly I am about 15 years older..god!) and she says she loves it.  But me...don't love it.  I don't want to think about running.  I have to talk myself into it almost every day (it's only 30 minutes; you can do anything for 30 minutes; it's not gonna kill you, etc.).  During the run I am constantly checking to see if I am at halfway; can I turn around? how much farther?, etc.  Okay, afterwards I am always glad I did it.  I am not sure if it is an actual physical 'good feeling' or if it is just mental, knowing I am doing something good for my heart.

What I want to know is: When am I gonna love it?

Fitness Tales...

I have just started week 3 of Couch to 5K.  I have not skipped a day nor have I walked instead of jog/run.  A few times I have almost literally had to kick my butt to get out there ('...c'mon, fatass...it's only 30 minutes...'), but I made it.  Today when I started it was 94 and had cooled off to a balmy 93 by the time I had finished.  But I handle the heat better than I do cold and snow and ice.  It will be interesting to see if I can keep it up in the wintertime.

I  have also been following the advice of the esteemed DoctorMama.  She advocates S L O W I N G D O W N...especially for us couch jockeys.  She says to run so slowly that people may point and laugh at you...an arthritic sloth is the way she puts it.  So I am running for time only.  I have no idea how far I am running (even though I run on the track at the local middle school, I am so addle-brained that I lose count of my laps after 2 or so) and I am going so slowly that I am certain I saw a snail laughing the other day (pointing with its little antenna).  This has, so far, not stopped me.

Yay, me.

Darwin at work

We should all be thankful that this guy removed himself from the gene pool.  Hopefully he hadn't yet procreated.

Couch to 5K

I'm doing it.  Day four.  I'm still alive.

Stolen post

I stole this picture from Sweetney. What I really want to know is what the heck does Sasha do for a living???

Not that I'll win but...

I'm gonna enter a contest; I'm gonna enter a contest... And you can too! Yes, you too can win an iPad. Just go to Iambossy.com and leave a comment. That's it! Leave a comment maybe win an iPad. It's offered by Brad's Deals (which kinda sounds like a cool thing anyway).

I want an iPad.

(They (Iambossy & Brad's Deals) don't know me from Adam...I could drop off the face of the earth today (or tomorrow) and they wouldn't know or care. I just wanna win an iPad...not that I will but...)

At eight

I finally made a video for E's eighth birthday. Take a look at it and let me know what you think.

(This one is bigger)

Skin care

Saw an ad that consisted of the following text:

Skincare Miracle

Age specific skincare is a revolutionary breakthrough in beauty. Click on the link below to learn more about skincare solutions made just for you:

I'm in my 20s

I'm in my 30s

I'm in my 40s

I'm 50 or older

This is kinda bugging me. Every 10 years (according to this ad) you should change your skin regime. Am I wrong that I interpret this ad thusly?

I'm in my 20s - my skin is young and firm and you all envy me...admit it.

I'm in my 30s - I'm still fabulous and young and perky (wait...was that a gray hair?)

I'm in my 40s - I'm a little grayer with a few character lines (no, not wrinkles)

I'm 50 or older - I'm nearly dead...who the fuck cares?

Can you tell I have entered the 'over-50 no-man's land'?

I love my hometown but...

WTF, Seattle???

Happy Birthday

Happy birthday to me. Today is my birthday. How old am I? I had my first child at age 47. He just turned 8. Do the math.

Yes, I am old. My crow's feet have crow's feet. Mostly I am okay with it. I like myself. I like my family.

Friday Favorites - Roads to Moscow

I. Love. This. Song.

This is probably one of the best songs ever written. Al Stewart is a poet and a storyteller as well as a fine musician. This song has some of the most intricate acoustic guitar you will find outside of the classical guitar style. I think the studio version is more haunting but I also love this live version (the only studio version I could find on Youtube adds some funky sound effects esp. at the beginning that don't add anything and, in fact, detract from the music).

I first heard this song in 1973 or 1974. My first thought was I needed to figure who this musician is. Then I heard another song "Nostradamus"... another great song. Whose song is it? Al Stewart. I became a fan immediately. I have seen him in concert about 3 times back when I lived in Seattle. The first time was a mostly acoustic concert. The next had much more orchestral backing and the last time was in a very intimate setting (he is going to be in Edmonds the end of January...wish I still lived in Seattle).

Here is "Roads to Moscow." It is the story of a Russian soldier in WWII. The words are haunting and the guitar evokes images of smoke and snow and desolate landscapes.



The following is one of his more recent songs, "Hanno the Navigator". Older, grayer, but he is still sounds great, is still writing songs that have real words that mean something and that tell a story. I still love him.

2010 in One Word

Since some bloggers are trying to sum up the year 2010 using one word, I thought I would try this as well. It is hard to think of a single word though so I am going with a hyphenated 'not-horrible.'

It started out pretty well. My manager came through just after the first of the year and asked if I was still interested in getting on as a permanent employee. So that was good. Then I didn't hear for a long time and asked my manager why I hadn't heard anything. They were didn't want to pay me what I am worth. That was bad. Then I got a great job offer where I could work from home, got great pay with full benefits. That was great! Then the contract I was hired to work on was cancelled (after a single week). That was bad. Fortunately I hadn't quit my original company yet. That was good. Then that company changed the direction of their business model and let me go. That was very bad. Then I got my current job (great pay and full benefits). That was good.

We got to finish out second grade for E in Pennsylvania. That was good. He started third grade with the same kids as last year. That was good too. During the year he played soccer, football and hockey. That was good. We had to leave PA before he got to finish his football season. That was bad. We got to go to our nice Florida house. That was good. We got to play in the pool and play in the park and ride bikes around the trails. That was good. E got to ride his bike to school. That was good. We had to leave after only a month. That was bad. I was employed. That was very good.

So, we had to move 3 times last year. That was very bad. I was employed almost the whole year with just a bit over a month break between positions. That was very good.

That is why the year 2010 gets rated 'not-horrible.'

2010 Wrap-Up

I am copying Linda over at All & Sundry. I took her list from last year and edited it a bit.

So here is my 2010 wrap-up:

1. What did you do in 2010 that you’d never done before?
There must be something but I guess it was so unremarkable that I can't remember it.

2. Did you keep your new year’s resolutions, and will you make more for next year?
I'm not a big new year's resolution kind of person. This always seems to imply that if you want to fix something you need to wait for a special date to begin the process. That just seems dumb. If it needs fixing, then fix it!

With that being said, I want to lose some weight and get my hip fixed.

3. Did anyone close to you give birth?
Yes! My neice had her beautiful baby, Ava Danielle, in July.

4. Did anyone close to you die?
No, thank god.

5. What countries places did you visit?
We met B's brother, SIL & their kids at Hershey Park and had a very pleasant day there. We went to Washington, DC and got to be all touristy-like. We moved back to Florida and then came to Indiana. Really exciting. I had a few interview trips (Houston, TX, Iowa, North Carolina) nothing special.

6. What would you like to have in 2011 that you lacked in 2010?
A bicycle; a hip replacement so I can say goodbye to constant pain.

7. What dates from 2010 will remain etched upon your memory, and why?

• March 8th – horrible car accident
• November 8th – started new job

8. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
I got a new job with great pay and great benefits.

9. What was your biggest failure?
This really isn't my failure...but the work-at-home job didn't work out unfortunately (the contract I was going to work on didn't get won by the company). I also didn't get a permanent offer from the company I was working for (they didn't want to pay me what I was worth, twits!).

10. Did you suffer illness or injury?
Other than the chronic hip pain, no. I broke my elbow just at the end of 2009 so that doesn't count. E broke his ankle in May. I got bad seatbelt contusions and B broke his finger in our horrible car accident in March (we soooo could have been killed then).

11. What was the best thing you bought?
Hmmm...this is difficult. I am cheap and don't spend a lot of money...well, we bought a new car (see above for why we needed a new car).

12. Where did most of your money go?
Stupid mortgage on a house we can't live in.

13. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
The job that fell through. It would have been perfect...great pay, great benefits, work from our house...*sigh*

14. What song will always remind you of 2010?
Song?

15. Compared to this time last year, are you:

a) happier or sadder? Happier
b) thinner or fatter? About the same...maybe a tiny bit thinner (maybe only in my mind).
c) richer or poorer? Just a bit richer

16. What do you wish you’d done more of?
Relaxing. Doing fun family things.

17. What do you wish you’d done less of?
Quarrelling with B.

18. How did you spend Christmas?
Quiet Christmas at home.

19. What was your favorite TV program?
Eh...don't really watch TV... I've been watching Lost on Netflix

20. What was the best book you read?
I have really read a lot this year but there is nothing really memorable. I just finished Pretty in Plaid by Jen Lancaster...I love her books.

21. What was your favorite film of this year?
That would presuppose that I went to see current films.

22. What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you?
Nothing. I am 35...no, wait...I am 50-something. I am old.

23. What one thing would have made your year immeasurably more satisfying?
To be able to actually live in one of the houses that we own or to sell the house in Idaho (I can almost physically feel this as a weight around my neck).

24. Who did you miss?
I miss my family. We will be travelling back to Seattle in March for my nephew's wedding. I am looking forward to seeing everyone then.

Wordless Wednesday - Tall

...is what my boy is...

Wordless Wednesday - the Start of Football Season