Ten Thing Tuesday?

1. To complete my Operation Jack rambling, I did participate in the satellite run option, and put in my 8 miles on the treadmill at home after my volunteering was over. Seriously, at the beach from 6am-2pm, then on the treadmill at 5:30? It sounded terrible, and I almost put it off another day. But I managed to bully myself into going, and it turned out to be AWESOME. Easily my best run to date. I felt great, I felt fast (for me), I rarely felt like I might die. When I was done, I really felt like I could keep going.

2. I might even say, that I might enjoy running, if all runs could be like that one.

3. The winner of the OJ61 was This Dude. Fascinating.

4. My new Starbucks drink is a non-fat misto with 2 pumps caramel brulee. The counter girl today wrote non-fat mocha with 2 pumps on my cup in error... but it's REALLY good.

5. I am working on weasling my way out of working tomorrow. Don't tell.

6. I think I talked the H into the Safari Park Half Marathon! He will do the 5K through the San Diego Wild Animal Park with the kidlets, and I will do the half... It's 2 weeks after the Princess half, which is PUHLENTY of time, right?

7. I'm also trying to convince Becka @ 50 Half Marathons in 50 States to bring A and join us :D.

8. #1 turns 12 on Sunday. TWELVE. Every year, I wonder how I got old enough to have a kid THAT old.

9. Instead of presents, she asked to "go somewhere". She hasn't really determined her somewhere. I'm a little nervous. FroYo? San Diego? What is it going to be?!

10. In LESS THAN TWO MONTHS, I'll be at Disney World! There's also a race happening, I hear.

People are sooooo nosey....

I think I have a stalking problem. I find people's blogs, and then can't stop reading. I will literally just read the ENTIRE thing, start to finish. And then I feel like I'm a little creepy, because now I know their whole life story (or whatever they put out there), and they don't even know me. I have refrained from commenting on two-year-old posts, so that probably helps.

Does anyone else do that?! Is it just me?!

Anyways.

I LOVE being tagged in stuff, 'cause then I don't need to think about an interesting topic. Thanks, Little Fruit Fly!

1. Who inspires you with regard to running?

No question, Becka at http://50halfmarathonsin50states.blogspot.com/. We "met" several years ago on a non-running site, and I remember seeing these pictures of her all teeny, and how much WORK she always put into maintaining that. And I remember her freaking out a little bit about running her first race, and how awesome she did. Then I met her in real life, and dude... the amount of food that that chick can eat is impressive. And yet she stays super teeny, because she runs unbelievably.

But seriously, she did it, and she kept doing it, even when it was hard, and I'm so proud of where she's gone with it. I want to be like her when I grow up.

Plus, A is realllly cute and fun.

2. Running with music? Running without music?

With, almost always. My playlist is eclectic, but it's exclusively songs that I know all the lyrics to, so I can sing along. Weird, I know, but it works for me. The only exception to this is if I'm on the treadmill during Good Eats or Top Chef :D

3. Do you have any fantasy race/event that you are longing to participate in someday?

The ONE race I've been DYING to do, even before I could be bothered with running, is the Disney Princess half. Before that started, it was the Disney World half. That's really my sole motivation right now... I told H I wanted to do it, and he kind of implied he didn't think I could. He's changed his mind, which is fun... but even more fun is ME being right AND racing at my favorite place on earth.

4. Think back to grade school ... who was your celebrity crush?

Oh! Johnny Depp!

5. You finally meet your grade school celebrity crush .... what do you do? What do you say?

Ouch... this is tough! I don't know what I'd say, honestly, I'm shy and it would probably be awkward. :D.

6. We don't hear about these guys enough .... Pets! Do you have any? Names? Type? Do they sleep in your bed? Are they in the family Christmas card??

I guess kids don't count? Sadly, no pets. We used to have a Boxer, when we had a big house and giant yard, but when we had to move into an apartment with no yard, we gave him to a good friend who had the heart and the space for him :(.

(Baby might kill me in 15 years).

Now the tough stuff.... I'm tagging...
Hungry Runner Girl (I'm a little obsessed with her blogs, she cracks me up)
Brilliance Wasted
Marilie's Musings

Your questions:
1. Who would you most love to run with, and why?
2. What's your DREAM race - where, temps, condition, what are you wearing, etc. Let it all spill!
3. Favorite food, and least favorite food, and why?
4. Would you rather get $1000 cash, or a gift from your SO?
5. Are you done with holiday shopping? Did you stick to your budget?
6. Proudest moment of 2010? Biggest goal for 2011?

Three Things Thursday

1. My friend Becka is in Greece for her FIRST full marathon, and she's going to be so awesome :). I'm so proud of her!

2. How is running going?! Well... Today is NOT REST DAY, which means I'm running tonight. And, I'm a little psyched about it! I think I'm broken. Or, at least, coming around ;). I did 2.5 miles Tuesday, and thought I might die, which seems to be a recurring theme. Hopefully that settles down tonight.

3. This conversation between the H and I actually happened last night:
Me: So I'm looking at flights... I can fly red-eye out on Friday, and back Monday morning?
H: Fly where?
Me: For the Disney Princess Half?
H: Oh. That's not here? I thought it was at Disneyland.

:blink:

Apparently, I wasn't super clear about how super, super psyched I am to get this training DOWN and hit the Princess Half. You know. The one in FLORIDA.


and... I know it's 3 things, but here's number...
4. The arrangement I made with H and myself.
a. If I do the Turkey Trot 5K without walking, under 34 minutes, I get the pink argyle hotness from Running Skirts.
b. If I do the Make Room for Santa 10K without walking, under 1:15, I can register for the Princess Half.

Can I call myself a runner now?

So, I've NEVER been super athletic, ever. I mean. I took personal fitness twice in high school, 'cause I refused to run. I have done races, I've run/walked all of them, some pretty successfully... but never, ever have I really run. Ever.

But I've been coveting these running skirts, and then I tried to tell H I wanted to run the Disney Princess half next spring... and he scoffed at me.

So I bribed myself, and told myself I could buy a skirt when I run a mile, straight through, and don't stop to walk. If I can do a 5K straight through by the November race I've registered for, I'll do the Disney trip. I figured, these are good goals. I have - literally - never, ever run more than half a mile at a time, ever, and that was only right before the CDM5K Snork and I did in June. Then I stopped running, until, like a month ago.

Then. Last week? I ran 3/4 of a mile. And I was shocked - SHOCKED! - texting poor Squirrel, as if my 3/4 compares at all to her millions of miles a week. (Who, BTW, just reviewed what seems to be the most magical sports bra ever, and I think I need a Zensah Sports Bra, like, yesterday.)

Then!! Last night?



I'm not even sure how that happened. But it did. IT DID!

"Happiness is not a possession to be prized, it is a quality of thought, a state of mind"

Prepare, this is gonna be long.

I've been slacking on this particular post, but I'd like to present....

Poo free hair, one month!

I have switched up my normal routine of a vinegar rinse, and moved to a rosemary rinse. And it's magical. And, the rosemary, is locally grown and brewed into tea at home. Win!

I tried adding grapeseed oil to my baking soda/honey mess, but it was creepy, and didn't make a difference in the hair. I DO use grapeseed oil for frizz control sometimes, and it is pretty great.

Secondly..

I've completed week two of no meat. Aside from a tiny sample of a chicken tamale at the Farmers Market the second weekend, no meat has been touched. Well, that's a lie, I cooked chicken last night, but didn't eat it. Veggie and brown rice stir-fry for me, thanks!

I tried a lentil sloppy joe recipe for the first time last week. I've never cooked with lentils before, so it was an experiment for me. First lesson, holy hell does 1 cup of lentils make a LOT of food. I made everyone stay out of the kitchen while I cooked, and waited until we were starving, thinking that would at least incent them to try it.

The devious plan worked for #2... She started chowing down immediately.

#1, however, poked it, and declined. Punk. I liked 'em, but I'm old and stuff.

A few days earlier, the kids requested tacos... so I made myself a separate batch of lentil... stuff. Lentils, onions, red peppers, purple potatoes, cumin, oregano, etc. Not bad, really. Everybody else looked at it all crazy like, but... their loss, right?

And, finally, succes part 3....

#2's birthday was last week, and I took advantage of that time to practice my baking. I'm going to digress a second, but when we moved, I was really worried about how they'd cope being... away from everyone. I mean, our entire family, both sides, live in Florida, so it's kind of like we're here, all alone, y'know? My cousins (the P's) came over, as did the Snorks, and we had a fun dinner, and opened her present, and played video games, and it was marvelous, and not the sad, lonely affair I was concerned about. I am so, so sappy happy. Anyway. /Digression. She requested a chocolate cake, with chocolate chunks, and chocolate frosting. Dear god, diabetes what!?

But I made it, and it was pretty rad. Mr. Snork babbled something about flour and eggs making good stuff and who knew, so I'm going to call it a success!

Which makes a great segway to... the Corona del Mar 5K that is quickly approaching. Snork and I have been running our route the last few weeks, and have improved our time each attempt, which I am super pleased with. I've gotten some new Brooks Adrenaline's from Runners High in Irvine, which are heavenly on my shin splints. I personally didn't need to be fitted, because I've been loyal to the same shoe/brand for ages, but I watched them fit some other people, and... these folks know their business.

Perhaps equally as exciting as our being rockstars and kicking a 5K's ass, is Mr. Giraffy and Mr. Snork have been practicing "together"... by which I mean that they run separately from us, and hang out at the finish line bonding until we are done. Admittedly, our time might be better if we stopped petting flowers and trying to take pictures of humming birds, but... then it wouldn't be as much fun, right?

I made my regular run to the Farmers Market Saturday, with just Baby - 1 & 2 have decided it's no longer fun. I just adore this market - there's something comforting about know exactly where your food is coming from, and when it was picked, and how it got there, and talking to to the dude who knows that this batch of tangerines is a little rough, and he might only have one week left on them.

Baby goes to help me pick flowers.

I'm super excited that my friend Squirrel is coming to visit next week (NEXT WEEK!) for Weekend of Awesome... I intend to try to get her to stay in OC this trip... it might work this time. She's also raising money for AHEPA to run in the 2010 Athens Marathon. She's remarkable, and, I've said it before, but when I grow up, I want to be her. Donations accepted by clicking this link, if you're so inclined.

“When things get tough, don't move. People and pressures shift but the sail remains the same no matter where you go.”

I think I've mentioned my distaste for exercise before, right? Nothing has changed. I still don't care for it. However, I care even LESS for being fat.

I also dislike dieting, so... I choose my battles with my body. Eating what I want (mostly) vs. elliptical...

Ellipti-win.

I've been pretty sucky with the gym, despite my declarations for "sucking less". Snork ditched me to ride bikes or something in Moab, so I thought for sure I'd have a super-suck gym week.. But, despite her absence, I made it there 3 times last week. Short trips, 'cause of kidlet care issues, but... trips none the less.

Day 1...

Day 2....
Day 3...

Three times... Woot! I don't really remember the last week that 3 times happened.

I've yet to bring my gym stuff to work with me, where I could run up to the 24 Hour 5 minutes away on my lunch break, but really, I don't even take a lunch. That seems like a plan destined for failure right from the start.

My friend Squirrel, that chick is a gym nut. I cannot even fathom how she does what she does, but.. when I grow up, I'd like to be like her.

Anyway. So, what has this week taught me? That the gym buddy system, when it fails, is Snork's fault. Because, obviously I'm plenty motivated without her.

(I kid, really, I do. The gym buddy system is awesome, if difficult to coordinate sometimes. If you can gym-buddy it, I highly suggest it. It helps to be accountable to someone else. Of course, it REALLY helps more when said someone else is motivated to gym, even when you're not.)

Anyway. I'm also making a more concerted effort to pay attention to what I'm ingesting. I was getting annoyed last week that I gained a pound. And then I thought about what I'd been scarfing down all afternoon, sitting at my desk, and realized... it's really a miracle, and I ought be grateful that it's JUST a single pound. I'm gonna try to food diary this up, for the next week or so. After this week, I have A Plan, that I'll share in another blog post.

Today's consumption so far, has been...

• One slice whole wheat toast, 1 tbs peanut butter, 1 tsp strawberry preserves
• GINORMOUS salad with various lettuces, cucumber, peppers, goat cheese, and roasted beets. It was pretty, even!
  

• A carrot muffin. It was big. Oops.
• A mini Hershey's bar.
• A "everything" multi-grain cracker. Just one!
• A tangerine.
• I haven't yet, but I might as well throw this in, 'cause I'm gonna in a second... blueberry fat free yogurt (also, gluten free, but I don't think that matters).

I haven't determined what is coming for dinner yet. It was supposed to some sort of leftovers, but the kidlets have been IM'ing me with requests on how to re-heat said leftovers, so I'm not sure there will be anything left for dinner. Hm.

I'm not sure if this is good, or bad, or what, but... it's at least documented, so next week, when I pop in here all complainey like about gaining a pound, I can say, hey, maybe I should have left that muffin on the table where it belongs.

ETA:

Dinner? Mac and cheese. From a box. Electric orange cheese and all. Plus, desert was a half of a personal serving of dulce de leche Haagen-Dazs. Wow.

"A man can fail many times, but he isn't a failure until he begins to blame somebody else."

I had a pretty simple goal to Suck Less this year. I mean, really, it's not that hard to do, right? Just do ONE teeny thing better, and you've already accomplished it!

I've been pretty bummy lately... March was The Month of Sucking More. Gym was a fail, work was pretty sucky, frugality was non-existent. It was a pretty rough time, overall. I mean, Cruising with Snork was awesome, but the rest of the month? Suck.

So, right now, I'm going to to focus on what hasn't sucked this month. Focus on the little things, and eventually, they add up, right?

Awesome recent events, things, thoughts, etc:

REI dividends went out last week, along with the member 20% off coupon.... which equals new hiking shoes for me! Woot!They're actually trail running shoes, because I have this idea that I might... run? On trails? Laughable, I realize, but it could happen.
But they're pretty rad. I think. I haven't tried them out yet, 'cause I just got them yesterday, but I wore them to work today (yes, they looked at me funny), and I think we have a winner!

We went to Disneyland a few weekends ago, and it.was.packed. We did hit up King Arthur's Carousel, which Baby is a big fan of....
She suddenly decided - despite dozens of previous rides - that she's terrified of Pirates of the Caribbean.... Sigh. She'll have to just suffer, 'cause I heart that one. She'll get over it, right?

I mentioned before that I found this super rad farmers market, really close to my house, with all types of locally grown goodies... such as these blue pumpkins.
I have no clue what they taste like, if they're worth trying, but I love finding fun, new produce, particularly if it's a fun color... like blue.

I finally got some decent hiking in last weekend. The H and I hit the Laurel Canyon trail at Laguna Coast Wilderness Park. It isn't my most favorite trail ever, but it's close, and parking is $3 (vs. $15 at Crystal Cove - which IS my fave). The good news is, it's wildflower season, so even this mediocre hike was saved by... POPPIES!!
I cannot express, in words, how much I adore poppies. For no real reason, really, but they look so fresh, and happy, all floating about colorful-like.

I also found these super pretty things, which are apparently called Lupines? Thanks, random hiking dude.
I'm trying to get out to Joshua Tree this weekend, so hopefully the flowers will still be in bloom, and my shoes will be awesome!

My friend Squirrel has booked a trip for Weekend of Awesome Part 2 in May... I couldn't be more psyched about that!

I actually made my lunch at work, even though I really, REALLY wanted to buy something warm and toasty off of the lunch truck today. Instead, I chowed down on some salad and half a turkey sandwich on wheat. Downside to this, is after tomorrow my heavenly goat cheese will be gone. Upside, it gives me a reason to hit the farmers market this weekend.

I'm going to post out here, for the world (or, like, all 10 of you reading this, including my sister) to see.... tomorrow, I am Gymming with Snork.... Thursday too. But Friday, and any other day that I can't (kidlet issues), I will pack my gym stuff, and ACTUALLY use it during my lunch hour. It's a radical idea, I know, but it could just work. I mean, that 5K isn't gonna run itself, right?!

Suck less, Heather. Suck.Less.

For Squirrely....

Chicken tortilla soup. I swear it's easy, even if there are "ingredients".

I usually make this with what is leftover from a whole roasted chicken. This week, I had a plethora of bone-in chicken breast, 'cause it was on sale for something like $0.77/lb, so... that's what I used. It only took one for this recipe.

Ingredients:
Chicken - I used about 1-1 1/2 cups shredded
1 Green bell pepper
3 stalks celery
1 med onion
5-6 cloves garlic
1 tsp chili powder
2 Tbs dried parsley
1 1/2 c crushed tomatoes (ish - I just used about half of a 28 oz can)
3 c chicken stock (ish, again - I just pour until it looks right?)
Salt and pepper to taste

So. Season chicken - salt and pepper. Brown in about 1Tb of olive oil, in a heavy bottomed soup pot.. thing.

While that is browning, chop up the bell pepper, celery, onion, and garlic.

When the chicken is browned, remove from pan, and add the vegetables. Add parsley and chili powder, and salt and pepper to taste. Sautee until onions turn translucent.

Add the chicken back to the pot, and add crushed tomatoes, and chicken stock. I usually have my own chicken stock on hand, but since I didn't make this out of leftover chicken, I don't... in those cases, I love this brand... Low sodium FTW!
The liquids should just barely cover the chicken.
Bring to a boil, and lower heat to med. Continue to simmer for about 20 minutes. Remove chicken from the pot, and shred. Re-add the chicken, and simmer another 5-10 minutes.

I usually fry my own tortillas, but this time I had a bag from Trader Joe's... lazy all around. Serve topped with shredded cheese, salsa, and tortilla chips.
All told, about 45 minutes until complete.

Just for kicks, here's a cost break down on this...

Chicken - $1.25
Bell pepper - $0.49
Celery - $0.99 for the whole... thing, and there's still 2/3 left, so.. $0.33?
Onion - $0.25
Crushed tomatoes - half can - $0.75
Chicken stock - $2.00
Garlic - full head was $.33, so... $0.15?

I'm not adding in the stupid things, like salt, pepper, chili powder, 'cause.. it's stupid.

We could have had this for dinner twice, so counting Baby as a half meal each time, total of 9 meals came out of this.

Total, about $5.22. Round up, even, to $5.25, and it comes out to $0.58 per meal. Not bad!

Even taking into account the fact that I frugally sucked this week, and the leftover soup is sitting in my fridge and needs to be tossed, it's only $1.16 per meal.

AND, when you consider that this is usually made with leftover chicken, and home-made stock, well. It's practically free.

“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 :)