TTT

1. Thanks to TMB and Lesley for dropping by yesterday with their coachy opinions! You both had excellent points. I obviously understand that marathon training is a new ball game compared to half training; I know my mileage will have to be kicked up a notch (or 5...). I just need to find the balance that's going to work for my circumstances.

2. My calves are tight, and my legs feel.... Tired? What the heck, legs? You've done better in the past, stop whining!

3. XLMIC, who is coming down for Long Beach, offered to let me bunk in her hotel, walking distance to the finish line. The timliness of the offer was astounding - I had JUST decided I wanted to see what hotels are available!

and that, folks, is why I'm in love with the Internet. How else would I meet strangers who are instant friends?

"In our rich consumers' civilization we spin cocoons around ourselves and get possessed by our possessions."

There's a dirty, dirty rumor going around that I have will-power of steel. What, with my frugalness and such.

Let me put those rumors to rest.... here's a list of far from frugal things that I can't give up...

1. The iPhone. I heart my phone. It's expensive, even after switching to a lesser plan... Around $150/month for two lines. We kept our number from Florida for our families, so it's still a local number for them. I use the map constantly. The apps... ohmygod the apps. I can check class times at the gym, movie times, restaurant recs, AIM, Facebook, weather, lolcats, Epic Fail, Pandora, IMDB, my white noise for sleeping, FML, Craigslist!!! So much... and the pictures. Lord. Granted, the camera really could suck less (no flash? Really, Apple?!), but when it works, it's a great shot.

2. Disneyland. We have annual passes for the kidlets and myself. Mine I paid for up front, and.... actually is coming up for renewal soon (note to self). But for the girls, we just did the monthly payment option for SoCal residents... Comes to $20, and we go probably once a month. We loved Disney World in FL, and while this is a distant, distant runner up in the awesomeness race, it's a great way to kill a day.

3. Starbucks. I have cut back, from a bazillion trips a week, to just once or twice. But it makes me sad.

4. Perfume. I love love love Michael Kors, and just dropped $70 on some (even after my $25 gift card). But, in just 2 business days, I'll smell oh so pretty. (I mean, I smell fine right now, but. This stuff is pure magic.)

5. Internet. We could have dropped the internet when we dropped the cable... our neighbor has unsecured network, apparently. But... I'm not an interwebs stealer.

6. Going out to eat. I love it. LOVE it. If I could swing it, I'd eat out all day, every day. Sadly, neither my wallet nor my waistline would appreciate it. So... we still do this, once or twice every few weeks. The H prefers to keep it down to once a month. I think Sunday breakfast out is heaven on earth. We compromise and head out about once every 2 weeks. Sigh.

So. That's it. My deep, dark, non-frugal secrets.

Now, if I wanted to, I *could* cut those things out but.... why? Why would I? I mean, I could if I NEEDED to... I have and I would again. But I'd be pretty pissy about them ;)

And in full disclosure... I don't do this out of some sense of nobility, or responsibility, or anything else good. If I had my way, I would own heaps of stuff. HEAPS. I would do LOTS of things, and stay in pretty, shiny places. This is done out of necessity. It's a necessity I've come to terms with, despite my protests.

So... it's not MY ideal situation. I recognize that I have more than enough to survive, and I'm pretty lucky in that respect. I also recognize how shallow and... well, elitest I could be. I'm not even entirely sure I don't WANT to be shallow and elitest.. I kinda think it might be fun. But that's not where I am... THIS is where I am.

And if THIS means that I have 3 great kids, and cars that run comfortably to get me to a job I like, and a home to live in that is SAFE, and food to eat at the end of the day... I'm gonna make the best of THIS.

“The Internet is a giant international network of intelligent, informed computer enthusiasts, by which I mean, "people without lives."......

....We don't care. We have each other."

It's no secret to anyone who knows me, that I heart all things interwebs based.

I Facebook like it's going straight out of style. I spend a good amount of time on a particular message board that I love. I blog-hop. I read reviews. I watch tv and movies. I chat with people. I make fun of people. I laugh at LOLCats. Fail has become part of my vocabulary. I plan things. I meet people. I'd be lost without it.

I've never been one to need or necessarily WANT friends. I'm fine hanging out alone. When I moved to Cali, I came here alone - the rest of the fam followed about six months later. I had some time to kill.

One of the chicks on that message board lived here, so we started getting together occassionally for some drinks. That turned into jalking on the beach (wherein we pretended to exercise, but really it was just a long walk to the bar). Now we hang out regularly, gym together, and my kids adore her, and the boyfriend.

I found a super cool hiking group on Craigslist. My first time meeting them, we were supposed to do a group trip to Joshua Tree. We were carpooling, and I met them at some 7-11 off the freeway in OC. I get there, and it's these two dudes hanging out.

I rode out to the desert with two random guys from CL and lived to tell. It was pretty great, even.

I like doing things alone, but stuff like hiking... really is better with a group, especially if you're new at it, like me. So, because of the internet... I got to do something I would have never done otherwise.

My ex-roommates broke my car mirror off a few months back. You know what I found online? A step-by-step way to put a mirror back on a 2001 Dodge Stratus. And I did it. All by myself. Tools, and wires, and all. Me! Me who hates getting her oil changed because it's a "Boy Job". ME!

It's also thanks to the internet that I am in Cali. A recruiter in Long Beach found my resume online, and thought I'd be a great fit. I got the call on a Thursday, interviewed Tuesday, was offered the job on Friday, and moved exactly 1 week later. Done. And I couldn't be happier. I love living here.

I find super awesome books to read on Amazon.com, thanks to their "Other people who picked this also picked...." And then I use these reccommendations to seek out that same book at my public libraries (frugal!).

I learned to bento from a chick on my favorite message board, and then learned even MORE about it on lunchinabox.net. Then! Thanks to her Bento Locator, I found a great Japanese market super close to me, which I love.

Another chick I met on that message board came out for a "girls weekend" in May, and has been back twice... Once with her kidlet, for The Weekend of Awesome. She's thinking about moving (and I bet she'll find her job online!), and I realllly hope she does, 'cause she's rad.

This past Christmas Eve, I had dinner with those two chicks, and the Russian's boyfriend (whom she met on that same board. Stalker.), and then we spent the night wrapping my kids' presents and drinking beer. It couldn't have been more perfect. Well, except Squirrel could suck less at wrapping. Suck. Less.

A few years back, on a different message board (that I really don't frequent any more 'cause of a change of ownership. Yeah, Bravo, I'm lookin' at you!), I went to Manhattan all by myself to watch a tv show. Yep. That's right. Sure did. But I met some cool folks (Hi, Phil! Call me!), and had a blast... and dude. I took on Manhattan by myself.

Anyway. The point of all this is, plenty of folk think people hanging out online are weird. That's valid. Perhaps we are. But y'know what? I've found people who are ALSO weird, who like the same stuff I do, and we like each other, and have fun. I've done stuff I wouldn't have done otherwise with the help of the web. I've learned to come out of my shell a bit, and make friends. And so it might sound silly, but... I've proven things to myself, and others, about.. what I'm made of.

So. Suck on that, haters :)