between here and now

Google Reader

2011-09-24T23:48:00.001-05:00

You know what I love? Google Reader. This has to be one of the best online tools. It allows me to keep up with 100+ blogs and sites, without clogging my inbox. Anyone who knows me knows that I am constantly behind on my email, so anything that alleviates that issue is a blessing.

If you haven't tried it out, I highly recommend it!

This week’s running plan

2011-09-05T00:01:00.001-05:00

I’ve been terrible at keeping to a running plan lately. We’re currently training for the Dallas Muddy Buddy, and I want to train for a half-marathon after that (I need to hurry up and pick one!). It’s a bit discouraging to get my weekly update from Daily Mile with this:

So, here’s my running plan for this week.

Monday – rest
Tuesday – Easy 20:00
Wednesday – Cross Train 1:00:00
Thursday – Easy 30:00
Friday – Rest
Saturday – Long 45:00

I’ve been averaging about 8 miles a week (I hadn’t really gone 13 days without running, I just hadn’t updated the site) and I want to get my mileage up. I also need to get in some time on a bike. It’d be nice if I could hit the trail with our mountain bike, but I’m more than happy to participate in a spinning class at the gym. We are paying for the gym (and it’s still 90 degrees outside in the evening around here), so spinning will be my cross-training this week.

That’s the plan, now let’s do it!

Trail Running Fail?

2011-09-03T23:43:00.000-05:00

Would you call this a trail?

Even though it is named “Brushy Creek Regional Trail”, I don’t consider a paved walkway to be a trail. The paved section was added to the trail a couple years ago. The original section is appears unpaved, though it may actually be something like crushed granite (i.e. not just a dirt path…though it certainly looks that way).

Anyways, I decided to hit the trail as part of the RunChat trail challenge (even though this wasn’t a true trail). There are a couple points to consider as you read this:

1) It was about 11 am before we made it to the trail, and the temperature was already 90 degrees and rising.

2) We haven’t run more than 2.5 miles this summer.

The first half of the run was nice – the trail is slightly downhill for the most part and very shady. There are a couple steep uphill sections, but these were a nice challenge between easy sections. After one mile, though, the shade went away.

We finally decided to turn around when we passed the 2 mile marker. There wasn’t any shade to be found further down the trail AND we had to run back through a very long section of direct sun and heat.

For the first time EVER, Roxy got into the creek without any prompting. In fact, I got the impression that she was eager to get into the water as often as possible after the first cool dip! She never rolled around in the water, but I think she would have liked it if I’d splashed some water on her. It would have been nice to have a longer leash so that she could explore a bit more. I’m hoping that she may change her mind about the water so that we can do the Doggie Du Dash next year.

Overall, it was a hard run and my pace was terrible. I wasn’t alone – Roxy didn’t seem too concerned with keeping up a good pace either. I don’t consider this a true trail run, but it was good to run a new route outside of our neighborhood. It was also my first time to attempt to run with my iPhone so that I could take pictures. In the end, we ended up doing almost four miles.

We were both hot and tired by the end. I brought a gallon of cool water for Roxy and a bottle for me, but I was pleased to see these water coolers set up at the trail head. Thanks Rogue Running!

I should have taken a picture of Roxy during the car ride back home. She looked quite comfortable lounging in the front seat with the a/c blowing cool air in her direction.

Updating my 101

2011-09-02T18:38:00.001-05:00

A couple years ago, Istumbled across the Day Zero Project. I love lists, goals, and trying new things, so I quickly started working on mylist. I set it aside when I realized that most of my goals didn'tactually fit with who I really am (as in not the "me of my dreams").

I had mentioned it to afriend, and she picked it up last year. I was re-motivated to start my ownlist, so I got back to work at creating my own list of 101 things to do (isn'tthat a wonderful number?!). Unfortunately, I was eight months pregnantwith our first child. I was unsure what life would be like when twobecame three...but I put a list together.

So...here I am (again)working on my list of 101 things to do in 1001 days. Here'sa link to my current list (via Google Docs).

What would you recommendas a goal for a working mom of an (almost!) one-year old? What do youthink is not realistic?

Quotable

2011-09-01T08:25:00.001-05:00

Climb the mountains and get their good tidings. Nature's peace will flow into you as sunshine flows into trees. The winds will blow their own freshness into you, and the storms their energy, while cares will drop off like autumn leaves.
- John Muir, 1838 - 1914

Quotable

2011-08-29T21:53:00.001-05:00

My recipe for life is not being afraid of myself, afraid of what I think or of my opinions.

Eartha Kitt

Book Review: Created to Be His Help

2011-08-24T09:35:00.000-05:00

I received this book as a wedding gift more than four years ago. I attempted to read it several times, but found it difficult. I was never able to make it past a couple chapters. I swapped it through Paperbackswap last week, so I thought I should post a short review of it (a VERY short review).

I REALLY wanted to like this book. It is beautifully packaged, with pretty drawings and images on each page. The book itself is aesthetically pleasing. However, each chapter seemed redundant of the previous one, and I didn't find the ideas to be easily applicable.

I didn't think the book really addressed the circumstances that I've faced in my marriage. I work full time and anticipate working full time for the foreseeable future. Both my husband and I see our marriage as a partnership, though I am working on being submissive (not my best characteristic).

Although I do agree with her basic view of marriage (wives be submissive to your husbands), I didn't agree with everything she believes and neither does my husband (whose opinions reign supreme in our home). I guess I'd say it's good in theory, but not in application.

Great Squirrel Rescue of 2011

2011-08-09T08:48:00.003-05:00

*I originally posted this on my family-focused blog, but decided to load it here after getting grief from my readers (aka “family”) about using the wrong year – I forgot it was already 2011. This is a result of being an auditor; I’m looking at 2010 events while it is currently fiscal year 2012 but actually still 2011. I think that would confuse anybody.

That is what this event shall be called throughout history. Yes - the "Great Squirrel Rescue of 2011".

It is currently 2011.

It involved a squirrel. And a rescue.

You'll just have to take my word on the "great" part.

When I got home from work last night, Roxy was barking erratically in the backyard. At first, I thought it was her usual shenanigans - there are squirrels running across our roof, birds flying overhead, a plane somewhere in the sky. Roxy considers any of these acts to be an invasion of her territory and cause for immediate action.

I promptly yelled at her to calm down and stop barking. She trotted to the backdoor, with a somewhat urgent expression on her face and ran two laps around the living room. I realized she was too hyper to be allowed in the house while Huck was crawling around on the floor, so I let her back outside.

The repetitive barking immediately began again. Huck and I decided to check things out.
Roxy was trotting around a very narrow corner of the yard, pointing her nose in the corner every couple moments. She was barking directly at the corner. Lo and behold, there was something there!

We found little baby girl squirrel, curled up in the leaves. Her eyes weren't even opened yet! We immediately grabbed my phone to send a picture to hubby with the question, "can we keep her?!"

I did some quick research on what to do. I made Roxy come inside and gave the momma squirrel some time to reclaim her little girl. Unfortunately, there was no such luck, which might have been a result of the large dog that'd just spent untold hours barking and potentially pawing at the little thing.

I found a local rescue operation (more accurately to say an animal-friendly couple) that would take her. I explained the situation and they said to bring her over as soon as possible. When hubby arrived home, we loaded her into a shoebox (it was a heart-wrenching exercise) so that I could take her to the squirrel rehab.

I won't mentioned what hubby suggested we do with baby girl squirrel. I'm just glad that I found her first!

*Photo design and editing is contributed to Instragram. Great app!

This is only a test

2011-08-05T20:06:00.001-05:00

I'm testing the BlogWriter Lite app for the iPhone. It's gotten rather poor reviews (2 of 5 stars), about the same as the full version. I don't want to spend money on something that doesn't work (who does?).

So did it work?

Math Blogs?

2011-08-02T13:02:00.000-05:00

I don't really care for math blogs (or anything beyond basic math), so I wanted to help balance the results of this poll:

Shortest Survey Ever

Take a minute and answer for yourself!

2011-07-13T16:38:00.000-05:00

"I see my path, but I don't know where it leads. Not knowing where I'm going is what inspires me to travel it.” ~ Rosalia de Castro

Trees

2011-07-12T17:51:00.000-05:00

by Sergeant Joyce Kilmer

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;

A tree that looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree that may in Summer wear
A nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree.

“Nothing is happenstance…”

2011-07-01T13:43:00.001-05:00

“God, in his sovereign grace, has made it so that you read and watch and hear all that you ever read and watch and hear.”

I certainly hope this is true. I’ve been grounded recently by things I’ve seen and heard.

The loss of a friends’ baby girl. She only lived for 26 days after she was born. She was on a ventilator for the entire time (save her last few hours on this earth). Her brain, hear, lungs, kidney, liver and limbs didn’t work correctly. It was a miracle that she lived as long as she did. She is now experiencing the glory of God’s presence. The loss for her parents, though, is immense.

An old friend’s wife, Erin, who almost died from blood loss after the birth of their child. The doctors performed a hysterectomy to save her life, but this means she’ll never give birth to another baby.

The letter from the children’s home that we support that shared the story of a boy whose mother died from substance abuse when he was six. Her last words to him were “I’m dying and it’s your fault.”

A request through our church’s prayer chain to pray for a single father who hung himself at his apartment over the weekend. He’s in critical condition. If he dies, he’ll leave behind a young daughter and a fiancé with two little boys.

At the time, I wonder “Lord, why do these things happen?”. After some time has passed though, I can see that “nothing is happenstance.” These events have an impact on my life.

Our friends’ loss helps me to see the blessings in my life and to marvel at the extent of their faith. Erin’s passion to adopt a child, instead of wallowing in the loss she’s experienced. She’s working hard to raise money so they can adopt a little girl.

The letter encourages me to pray for the children at the children’s home. I wonder if there is a child out there without loving parents that we could welcome into our home, to show them how much God loves them. The prayer request makes me think about my own struggles with depression.

All these things have deepened my relationship with our loving Father. I do not know why bad things happen. I only know that there is an almighty Creator who cares for me, and for you.

How I lost 55lbs … and you can too!

2011-06-24T07:43:00.001-05:00

Here’s my ten step program for weight loss. Don’t worry – it’s easy! If you’re a woman, of course. Plus a few other caveats. And the standard disclaimers do apply…results not typical, individual results may vary. Blah, blah, blah…

But enough about that, onto how it’s done!

Be a woman. This is essential, especially for step 2.
Get pregnant. See why step 1 is essential?
Gain 50 pounds by eating fried chicken, barbeque, pizza and chocolate ice cream. Limit vegetables and anything with much fiber.
Give birth to an almost nine pound baby.
Breastfeed and/or pump as much as possible. Burns lots of calories!
Complete Phase 1 of the South Beach Diet. It’s a bit of a beating, especially the first time around and after you’ve become addicted to carbs after step 3. However, it really works, so I recommend it.
Repeat steps 5 and 6. It’s hard to balance the two – your body needs carbs so that you can do step 5, but too much carbs prevents weight loss. Slowly, but surely, your body will figure it out. At least, mine did.
Drink lots of water. As in, your body weight or more.
Exercise periodically. Once or twice a week should be enough.
Eat at least two Snickers bars a day. I don’t know why this part works, but it certainly worked for me. I’ve lost five pounds since I started this practice last week.

So, obviously, this is not a real weight-loss program. I was thinking back to my journey of weight gain and weight loss over the past couple years and thought I’d share my story. I use an app to track my weight, and it graphs my progress. I’m quite proud of having been able to lose the weight I gained when I was pregnant, but I have to give a lot of credit to genetics.

And when I say “ a lot”, I really mean A LOT.

Hi, my name is...

2011-06-08T14:25:00.000-05:00

...Emily, and I'm addicted to books and reading.

I'm not sure if it's really a problem, but it might be a bit of an obsession. My favorite place to go in my free time is the library. I often stop by Half Price Books during my lunch break. My "to read" list is always growing, never dwindling. There's not enough time in the day to read all the books on my list, though I someday hope to make a dent in the list.

Except people keep writing books! There are so many great books that have already been written and so many more to come...

B is for Baby stuff

2010-09-30T11:20:00.001-05:00

B is for Baby stuff, originally uploaded by eanconetani.

Y is for Yellow

2010-09-28T22:27:00.001-05:00

Y is for Yellow, originally uploaded by eanconetani.

Aperture f/5.6
Shutter 1/1000
ISO 400
35mm

Z is for Zapatos

2010-09-26T23:03:00.001-05:00

Z is for Zapatos, originally uploaded by eanconetani.

Aperture f/14
Shutter 1
ISO 1600
29 mm

Does our word have to be English?

H is for Harvey

2010-09-24T22:31:00.001-05:00

H is for Harvey, originally uploaded by eanconetani.

Aperture f/4
Shutter 1/8
ISO 800
24 mm

O is for Oleander

2010-09-23T19:54:00.001-05:00

O is for Oleander, originally uploaded by eanconetani.

Aperture f/8
Shutter 1/25
ISO 400
21 mm

V is for Visibility, lack of

2010-09-23T18:29:00.001-05:00

V is for Visibility, lack of, originally uploaded by eanconetani.

Sky

2010-09-20T20:39:00.001-05:00

Sky, originally uploaded by eanconetani.

Aperture f/22
Shutter 1/320
ISO 1600

G is for Gifts

2010-09-17T22:15:00.001-05:00

G is for Gifts, originally uploaded by eanconetani.

C is for Curious

2010-09-16T23:17:00.001-05:00

C is for Curious, originally uploaded by eanconetani.

V is for Vase

2010-09-15T20:47:00.001-05:00

V is for Vase, originally uploaded by eanconetani.

Aperture f/5.6
Shutter 1/6
ISO 1600
55mm

R is for Red

2010-09-14T22:50:00.001-05:00

R is for Red, originally uploaded by eanconetani.

Aperture f/22
Shutter 1/30
ISO 400
55mm

Life is a bit crazy this week so I'm not working as hard to get good shots. Any feedback on how to make a picture of a fire hydrant better?

P is for Patrol

2010-09-13T21:04:00.001-05:00

P is for Patrol, originally uploaded by eanconetani.

Aperture f/11
Shutter 1/10
ISO 400

F is for Flower

2010-09-12T20:12:00.001-05:00

F is for Flower, originally uploaded by eanconetani.

Learning to use manual mode:

Aperture f/5.6
Shutter 1/20
ISO 800
55mm

W is for Water

2010-09-11T23:03:00.001-05:00

W is for Water, originally uploaded by eanconetani.

Aperture f/3.5
Shutter 1/20
ISO 400

L is for Light

2010-09-10T23:14:00.001-05:00

L is for Light, originally uploaded by eanconetani.

M is for "mmm....mini bundt cake..."

2010-09-09T20:48:00.001-05:00

M is for "mmm....mini bundt cake...", originally uploaded by eanconetani.

Q is for Quiet

2010-09-08T21:56:00.000-05:00

Q is for Quiet, originally uploaded by eanconetani.

T is for Tree

2010-09-06T09:54:00.000-05:00

T is for Tree, originally uploaded by eanconetani.

D is for Dog

2010-09-05T09:53:00.000-05:00

D is for Dog, originally uploaded by eanconetani.

A is for Aloe

2010-09-04T09:53:00.000-05:00

A is for Aloe, originally uploaded by eanconetani.

September 3, 2010

2010-09-03T21:57:00.000-05:00

September 3, 2010, originally uploaded by eanconetani.

September 2, 2010

2010-09-02T21:57:00.000-05:00

September 2, 2010, originally uploaded by eanconetani.

September 1, 2010

2010-09-01T21:58:00.000-05:00

September 1, 2010, originally uploaded by eanconetani.

August 31, 2010

2010-08-31T21:58:00.000-05:00

August 31, 2010, originally uploaded by eanconetani.

August 30, 2010

2010-08-30T21:58:00.000-05:00

August 30, 2010, originally uploaded by eanconetani.

Deer Park Embroidery

2009-08-27T13:54:00.001-05:00

Deer Park close up
Originally uploaded by glazedangel101

I LOVE this embroidery! Unfortunately, i haven't been able to track down the pattern and since my drawing skills leave much to be desired, I may be out of luck.

Oh well - except it certainly is beautiful and would be a great way to learn the stitches (thought maybe not for my first attempt).

July 21, 2009

2009-07-21T21:58:00.000-05:00

July 21, 2009, originally uploaded by eanconetani.

July 13, 2009

2009-07-13T21:59:00.000-05:00

July 13, 2009, originally uploaded by eanconetani.

Blog Stalking and Cool Contests

2009-07-01T13:41:00.001-05:00

So, I'm kind of a blog-stalker (ugh, I hate being a lurker). I currently subscribe to about 86 blogs, but I rarely (if ever) leave a comment. Some because the blogger is a personal friend, so I just make the comment when I see them next. For others, it feels intrusive to make a comment – like I’m snooping into their personal life. But, I guess that’s kind of the point of having a blog, huh?

I love Google Reader because it makes it less obvious that I’m not working while at work. However, sometimes it gets a little out of hand:

“From your 86 subscriptions, over the last 30 days you read 344 items, starred 9 items, shared 0 items, and emailed 0 items.”

I’ve read 344 items? I guess that’s why it feels like I never have enough time in the day?

I like finding people I can relate to, such as Emily (I describe myself as a “jack of all trades, master of none” since I want to do everything, and my current obsession is running); people I admire, such as Laura (From being a “non-athlete” to a Marathon Maniac in two years? Totally awesome) and MissAllycat (how you handle the crazy work hours and athletic ability is amazing); and people who are freaking hilarious, such as Vanilla and Nitmos (no explanation needed – just check out the links). And that’s only related to running!

I also read blogs related to crafting, cooking, shopping – you name it, I read it!

One of the blogs I started reading lately is Chic Runner, who is doing a contest for a $75 Zensah prize pack. She did a review of the arm sleeves (maybe they’d motivate me to get out of bed to run during cold winter months?) that I found interesting. I’d only seen the arm sleeves one time before – on (what’s her name) during the Boston Marathon. At that time, I thought they were probably limited to the professionals, but now I have visions of myself running through the ‘hood wearing my pink arm sleeves…beautiful!

Plus, I love running skirts. I realized at one point that I only wore skirts while playing a sport (golf or running) but never to work or at any other time. I have to admit – the little shorts underneath make them so much easier to wear. I think the pink running skirt looks adorable!

In an effort to enter this contest and leave behind the lurking, I’m going to officially enter the running blogging world. I think to do that, I’ll need to update this baby with more than just food and vacation updates, but with running updates too. Heck, I should probably just update it in general. Baby steps…

Just Desserts

2009-04-22T01:38:00.000-05:00

I love desserts. I think this is mostly because I love sugar, but I also love food. Especially foreign food. Not foreign food from the local restaurant, but food that is foreign to me but common to the area where I'm currently located.

First, Brazil.

This is actually a picture of my entire meal, but please focus on the blob of white in the top center of the picture. (I just noticed the props to the hotel of course, which was the Tryp Campinas. Very nice!) The dessert I ordered was chocolate ice cream with strawberries and Chantilly. Chantilly is kind of like whipped cream, but lighter and vanilla flavored. Thank goodness for Google so that I could figure out what everything meant, since the entire menu was in Portugeuse. I'll save comments on the sandwich for another post (it was also very good).

Now, this isn't really dessert but more like junk food. Still I really enjoyed it! My coworker and I went to the local grocery store to find some "local candy". I say “local” because it is made by Kraft.
The Lacta stuff is made by Kraft and it’s a variety pack of chocolates. The Aneis de Cebola taste kind of like Funyuns, but more like chicken bullion . Taeq are cereal bars. I don’t have the package for the chocolate wafers (lower right) because I split it with my coworker. I got the Twix because I wanted to see how it was different; disappointing – no difference, they taste exactly the same. The Trident was an impulse purchase at the register.
Next, Morocco. Oh, Morocco, how I love your desserts!
I'm sorry to say that I did not get a picture of my first dessert, which was a wonderful little dish with raspberries and cream. When I saw the dessert options at the hotel bar, i knew that the trip would awesome.
I did get a picture of my second dessert, though, and many more after that. So, I will spare you from my exclamations of how delightful each one was. Needless to say, they were all delicious, which explains the extra ten pounds I brought home on my hips.

Fruit plate from the Thai restaurant in Casablanca:
Creamy lady fingers dessert from the lounge at our hotel:

Strawberry flavored dessert from the cafe outside work:

Strawberry tart from the cafe outside work:

Fruit sherbert with room service:

Fruit plate with room service:

Raspberry dessert with cream and sherbert from the French restaurant in the hotel:

Chocolate goodies in my room:
The last picture is of the treat that was left in my room along with a thank-you note and a burlap bag of scented soaps. I wish I'd taken a picture of the setup on the bed, but I was too tired and worried about my flight home. A couple of the pictures are from when I ordered room service; I took pictures of most of my meals, too, but that'll be a separate post.

Goodbye sheepskin rug!

2008-11-28T09:03:00.002-06:00

Those were the words that I heard as hubby let Roxy in after we got home from enjoying Thanksgiving with family.

Several years before we met, hubby took a trip to Eastern Europe with a friend and each brought home an authentic sheepskin rug from Krakow, Poland. These rugs resided under the liquor table in hubby's duplex for a couple years until he moved back to Austin. The rugs smelled horrendously and were relegated to the garage, and were occasionally used as a cat bed when the cats decided it was cold enough to endure the smell.

My in-laws were cleaning out their garage, so we brought the rugs home to live in our garage. I figured Roxy would love to use one either in her bed or the living room, but work would need to be done before they were allowed in the house.

(Note: we have both of the sheepskin rugs because hubby's friend's wife refused to allow the rug into her condo because of the smell. It was a small condo - a small cat could stink up the entire place, but that's another story - but she didn't want it even after moving into a 2,000 sq foot house! Yes, they smelled that bad.)

So, one afternoon, I hauled one of the rugs into the guest bath and washed it in the tub. I couldn't get all the smell out, but it did seem to make a big difference. After i squeezed as much water out as possible, I put it into a trash bag and hauled it to the back yard, where I draped it over the grill to drip dry.

The next day was Thanksgiving. I checked it, but it was still terribly wet so I left it to dry for another day. After dinner,we even spent about 45 minutes discussing the proper way to clean and care for a sheepskin rug.

"Goodbye, sheepskin rug!"

I wondered what he meant, so I peeked my head out the door to discover this:

I walked further outside and looked around the corner towards the gate and saw this:

I spent the next 30 minutes raking up all the fur. There was no skin to be found. I'm not super disapointed that the rug is gone. I guess if it hadn't happened now, it would've happened eventually. Plus it means that Roxy also had a good Thanksgiving day:

Bruised, but not broken

2008-11-28T08:12:00.000-06:00

These are the facts.

It was a beautiful afternoon a couple days before Thanksgiving. The dogs were outside enjoying the weather while hubby got ready to go back to work. Suddenly, we noticed squeals and growls coming from the yard, so hubby went to check. He came back with our little dog in his arms and they both appeared to be covered in blood.

Scene of the crime:

This may look like a relatively unexciting scene, but the key item to note is the new plant stand being used to raise up the dog food dish.

The victim:

Yes, he looks innocent, but don't be deceived. This sad little doggy was the instigator.

The culprit:

Yes, I think you can take this doggy at face value. What you see is what you get!

The injury:

It appears to be nothing more than a little cut, but this thing was a bleeder. Every time he shook his head there would be blood splatters all over the carpet:

I never thought I'd seriously be asking "how do you get blood stains out of the carpet?" It took a good two hours to get the ear to clot, and another hour of scrubbing to get the spots to barely visible.

After further discussion of the facts, we believe that the injuries were most likely not caused by the Roxy, the alleged "cuplrit", but were accidently inflicted during the scuffly on the hard pavement. Harvey, the alleged "victim" claims otherwise, but was noted attempting the instigate another incident later that evening.

Harvey was not deterred from trying to get Roxy's food the next day, and he missed dinner because he was caught sneaking her food several times in the afternoon. I'd hoped that maybe the incident would break him of the habit, but no luck.

Needless to say, there will not be any more unsupervised play in the yard if food is sitting out.

Happy 4th of July!

2008-07-03T10:49:00.001-05:00

Mandles

2008-06-25T00:22:00.000-05:00

The candle for men. Smells any man would love.

http://www.buymandles.com/

(Be sure to click on "See the Commercial")

Funny Stuff

2008-06-20T09:56:00.000-05:00

Funny graphs:

http://graphjam.com/

Not so funny graphs:

http://perotcharts.com/

More funny:

http://video.msn.com/video.aspx?mkt=en-us&vid=b7868024-777d-492f-9a7c-8a64d7a4dea6

Graham, this one's for you...

2008-06-19T20:54:00.000-05:00

Colorado Races

2008-06-19T12:06:00.001-05:00

Sometimes I really want to move to Colorado. It's got mountains, skiing, golf, etc. It's also got bizarre races:

Four on the Fourth 4k - sponsored by the Avery Brewing Company, the winner wins his weight in beer
Denver Gorilla Run (5.6k) - each runner receives a gorilla suit to run, which you get to keep (!)

Unfortunately, I already have plans on the dates of both the races so i won't be able to participate. There's always next year, though!

Size 22 Shoe

2008-05-19T23:57:00.000-05:00

So, we were at the golf store last week and there was a size 22 shoe on display. I couldn’t resist having my picture taken:

Skunk!

2008-04-23T15:40:00.001-05:00

Yes, that black spot is a skunk in the picture:

I've never seen a real skunk before, so I had to take a picture. We were playing golf and this was the last whole. We were waiting to hit off the tee I saw it. I was afraid my ball would land near it, in which case, I'd drop another one in the area so as not to actually go near the animal. Fortunately, my drive was straight, and the skunk eventually wandered off. It was an exciting day!

I'm still amazed how well the picture came out.

Happy Earth Day!

2008-04-22T10:06:00.000-05:00

So, what is Earth Day?

Here's a good explanation: http://green.msn.com/Articles/article.aspx?aid=357.

What can you do?

Well, any of the links under "It Ain't Easy Being Green" (bottom right) will have lots of suggestions. But for those of you who want to keep it simple, here's a few suggestions from my friend, Katy:

"Let’s celebrate Mother Earth today. Here’s a few ways to show your mother some love:

1) Turn off the light switch when you leave the room (or your cubicle or the broom closet that you might be working in)
2) Bring your lunch to work…not only do you save gas, but you also save cash!
3) Re-use drinking cups…for those of you in the office, I suggest that you head down to Campisi’s [in downtown Dallas] for lunch and get one of their re-usable cups…they are the perfect size!
4) Plant a tree on your lunch break.

Reduce, re-use, recycle!"

Veggies

2008-04-19T23:13:00.000-05:00

As reward for volunteering at the community farm, I got a box of organic vegetables. I think it is a pretty good deal, since I really need to get more veggies in my diet and it would be good to try new kinds. I was raised on the standard fare - broccoli, squash, peas, green beans, carrots, etc. Stuff like chard, beets, kale, kohlrabi, etc are foreign to me.

I spent most of my time on the farm harvesting beets, which was surprisingly easy. They grow close to the surface of the soil, so you just have to grab the leaves and pull. So, here’s what I got in my box:
Tomatoes, obviously.
Arugula. Not sure exactly what to do with this. The last time I had arugula, I ate it with some grilled sardines. It was a very smelly, although tasty ordeal (the sardines were the smelly part).
Pea tendrils. My best guess is to add these to salads. They don’t seem to have a long life, so maybe I’ll have just an arugula/pea tendril salad.
Beets. I have NO idea what to do with these, especially after hubby told me he hates beets! He was worried that all we’d get would be beets, so I would be jipped.
Spring onions. I cut one of these up and used them in the cacciatore. Pretty good, although very small. I have three remaining, so I’ll try to use them in a salad or something.
Not sure exactly what this is, but after some quick internet research, I think it is kale. My best guess on what to do with it is to put it in some kind of soup.
Broccoli. I found several catepillars in this stuff, one which was weaving his coccoon. I felt bad ruining his day by destroying all his hard work, but I wanted to eat his intended dinner. I washed it, cut off the florets, and microwaved them for about four minutes. They were a little bitter, but still tasty.
Garlic. Fresh.

P.S. I moved this over from another blog I had for a while so I need to update the links to the pictures. Hopefully, I'll get to that soon!

Word of the Day

2008-04-17T12:06:00.000-05:00

Today's "Word of the Day" is Weltanschauung [VELT-awn'-shou'-oong] . It means:

a comprehensive and usually personal view of the world and human life: "Selfless people don't fit into Sean's Weltanschauung -- he doesn't believe they exist."

Yeah, I'll try to use that in a sentence today.

Source:

http://www.vocabvitamins.com/

OMG!

2008-04-07T12:46:00.000-05:00

Things are looking up:

"After months of speculation and rumor, the Kids are coming back. A well-placed source tells PEOPLE exclusively that New Kids On The Block are indeed getting back together."

But, geez, they are getting old!

"Eighteen years later, they're still "Hangin' Tough." The oldest "Kid," Jonathan Knight, now a real estate developer, will turn 40 later this year. Since the band's demise, former members Donnie Wahlberg, 38, and Joey McIntyre, 35, have seen acting success, while Danny Wood, 38, has worked as a music producer and Knight's brother, Jordan, 37, has continued to record. "

Here's the original article: http://www.people.com/people/article/0,,20174022,00.html

For those wanting to get more info and tour dates, here's their website:

http://nkotb.com/blog/2008/04/nkotb-to-headline-z100ny-zootopia/

My first 10k!

2008-04-02T08:55:00.000-05:00

Sunday was the Statesman Capital 10k in downtown Austin, TX. It was my first 10k. And it was awesome!

It was very odd to run surrounded by hundreds of people. Odd, but pretty cool. It was amazing to think about how many people were out there trying to do this. There were people of all ages, shapes, and sizes. I don’t know how many people raced, but 6500 people completed the timed race. There were tons more who did the fun run. You can see the pictures of the huge crowd online at the Statesman website (http://www.statesman.com/sports/content/cap10k/index.html).

It wasn’t as bad as I thought it would be, but I should have put in more mileage before the race. I’d been doing 45 minute runs, which put me in around 5 miles each time; I should’ve pushed myself to keep going a couple times to reach 6-7 miles. I finished in 1 hour and 15 minutes (5533 out of 6566 timed racers). I didn’t run the entire way, so I know that I can beat that time next year. I’d like to finish in under an hour next year, preferably around 45 minutes or so. It’s something to work towards!

The first half had more hills than the second, but it was motivating to run towards the state capital. Also, there were bands playing around every corner, so it gave me some extra bounce in my step. The most motivating was the high school band playing the Rocky theme at the 3.5 mile mark. People really cheered for that one.

It was very rainy and started pouring just before the race started! It drizzled for most of the race, so the water misters they had set out were not as refreshing as the cold rain. Chris brought our doggy, Roxy, out to the race to get some experience around crowds of people. He told me afterwards that he had about 20 women come over to talk to him! I had several people ask me to pet her after the race, too, so I know that she got lots of time to meet new people. I’m still working with her to make her a good running partner; it’s taking a lot longer than I’d hoped, but she is only four months old. That's a picture of us after the race.

This was really fun to do, and I hope to do it again next year. I was thinking that I might try to do the White Rock Marathon Half-Marathon this year. I want to do a marathon someday, and I think that now is probably better than later.

T-Shirt

2008-03-31T14:13:00.000-05:00

This t-shirt is perfect for my spreadsheet-crazy husband:

http://www.palmercash.com/product.asp?3=1157

I got it for his birthday. I think it is the best gift I've ever given
him.

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

2008-03-17T16:19:00.000-05:00

For when...

2008-03-13T17:18:00.000-05:00

...your life feels too black and white:

http://www.moma.org/exhibitions/2008/colorchart/

New York Fashion Week

2008-02-06T14:02:00.000-06:00

You can never know what to expect:

Creep me out...

2008-01-11T12:01:00.000-06:00

These have to be the creepiest statues I’ve ever seen. I’m not sure who thought they were a good idea, but I think they should re-think that decision.

Apparently, the “artwork” is called “Learning to Fly” by Lori Norwood. I imagine the name is supposed to inspire hope in the hearts of young children visiting their local public library or playing in the park across the street. Personally, I think it is more depressing in that it inspires me to imagine a post-apocalyptic world reigned by zombie children.

But maybe that’s just me.

“Our house is a very, very fine house…”

2007-12-14T16:50:00.000-06:00

(You all know the tune, right?)

I'll light the fire
You put the flowers in the vase
That you bought today

Staring at the fire
For hours and hours
While I listen to you
Play your love songs
All night long for me
Only for me

Come to me now
And rest your head for just five minutes
Everything is good
Such a cozy room
The windows are illuminated
By the sunshine through them
Fiery gems for you
Only for you

Our house is a very, very fine house
With two cats in the yard
Life used to be so hard
Now everything is easy
'Cause of you
And our la,la,la, la,la, la, la, la, la, la, la.....

Our house is a very, very fine house
With two cats in the yard
Life used to be so hard
Now everything is easy
'Cause of you
And Our

I'll light the fire
And you place the flowers in the jar
That you bought today

http://homes.realtor.com/realestate/cedar+park-tx-78613-1091403836/

Fun Times

2007-09-06T20:34:00.000-05:00

Austin is very concerned about conserving energy.

I’m happily typing away at my computer when, all of a sudden, all the lights in the building are turned off. In order to get them turned back on, we have to call facilities and request that the lights be turned on. However, in order to do that, they need the jack number, which is located on the phone jack, under the table, in the darkest corner of the room. This leads to me crawling under the table while two of my coworkers shine the light of their cell phones on jack so that I can read it. Ten minutes later, the other room’s lights are back on but we are still in darkness. I call the guy back to complain that our lights are still off. As I’m reading off the jack number again, I notice the light switch is set to “off”. We flip the switch, the lights come on, and I quickly tell the guy that the lights have suddenly come back on.

How embarrassing.

I figured out that the lights go off every day at 6:30 pm, so I sit, ready to make the call to facilities as soon as the lights go off, next to the phone at exactly 6:29. It’s hard to read those numbers in the dark. There’s got to be a better way.

Weird news for the day

2007-08-22T16:07:00.000-05:00

Bizarre World Record

School Bus Driver Gets Lost, Takes Elem. Students On 60-Mile Detour

And finally:

Police say man injures self during argument

A furniture store employee reportedly injured himself Saturday during an argument over whether turkeys can fly.

The 36-year-old Niles man and his furniture store co-worker were driving when the argument began, according to a police report.

The Niles man became angry and told police he tried striking his co-worker with a coffee mug. But the co-worker stopped the truck abruptly, causing the Niles man to hit his head on the windshield.

This apparently angered the Niles man, so he began striking himself with the mug and then blamed his injuries on his co-worker when police arrived.

After questioning, he eventually confessed to inflicting the injuries on himself, the report said.

Bad Poetry Day

2007-08-18T22:25:00.000-05:00

In celebration of “Bad Poetry Day”, here is an exceptionally bad poem.

"Ode to This Great Shampoo" by The Weasel

You waited so long on the shelf, Shampoo
Thinking nobody'd probably ever come to buy you
But then I strode into that Walmart there
Wondering what to use on my hair
And then in aisle 7 I just suddenly knew
That what my hair needed was you, Shampoo
So I put you next to the Doritos bag then filled the cart
With other stuff I bought and then I left Walmart
Back at home (my sweet, sweet crib),I pulled you and opened your lid
I poured you out, into my hand
Your smell was fine, not too bland
I waited and waited, for like, an hour
Then finally knew it was time for that showerI got my hair really, really, really wet
Then put some of you in it and let is set
Lather, rinse repeat your label said
And that's why my hair is so cool on my head
I bet you never thought back on that shelf, Shampoo
That you'd wind up here, in this bathroom, did you?

Bad poetry sure is bad.

Great time waste

2007-08-15T17:20:00.000-05:00

Just in case you have any free time is these “non-busy season” times.

http://www.pibmug.com/files/map_test.swf

Enjoy!

Batty in Austin

2007-07-27T16:09:00.000-05:00

Okay, Austin is really into the whole bat thing:

http://www.roadwayevents.com/RoadStar/Events-cat.asp?media1Id=840

It’s even the name of the hockey team: http://www.icebats.com/

For Your Friday

2007-07-27T11:05:00.000-05:00

I hope everyone has had a great week. Just an FYI. If you are ever
looking for an idea for a present, I'd suggest looking at a registry or
asking the person directly. Sometimes creativity is overrated, such as
this idea from a friend of Chris':

http://www.cleanishappy.com/

One day I was bored...

2007-06-24T00:59:00.000-05:00

...so I created this blog!