Running and other updates

I am on track for the 1/2 marathon. I have found I need to take my inhaler before I leave the house and head for the gym. If I wait until I get to the gym, this is not enough time for it to start to work. I also have to stretch my left calf muscle longer than the right. I can't take the chance I will reinjure it. My Dh bought me a garmin. It has a heart monitor. It should be here this week. I am really excited to run outside with it. Dh wants to try it too!

I haven't stitched at all this week. I always seem to have so much to do for school. I hate this overwhelmed feeling I have and not having personal time in the evening to work on my stitching. This week promises to be just as crazy as last week. It is Catholic School's Week and of course there are toooo many events planned and no time to do the other things I need to do - like the required math assessment.

Need to go to 11 AM Mass this morning. Hannah has to give tours after church. I was a bum and didn't sign up to do it. She has another nasty cold coming on. She hacked all night. On Thursday she had outdoor recess and got hurt. She has a bruise on her check, ankle and hand. She was run over by a boy. Thankfully, there was nothing wrong with her back.

1/2 Marathon Training

I am currently training for a 1/2 marathon. I started last week, but I did not train as seriously as I should. Tomorrow is day 1 for my co-teacher Anne. We are running it together. I have decided to follow her plan, so even though I started last week, tomorrow is day one of the new plan. I need to eat better and work harder. Starting next Sunday, I will be doing longer runs to practice for it. I think Dh is going to buy me this. It is a little bigger and more expensive than what I had in mind, but it is actually better. It can also be used online to analyze your running stats.

No school tomorrow, but I have an inservice. I am dreading it. I would love just a day to work on all the things I need to get done. I guess that day is called Sunday.

Surprise! Mother knows best!

Dd's science fair project is due tomorrow. I put Dh in charge of it. I am not a scientist. I don't like to do science things unless it involves cooking. He has a science degree, I don't. There is a reason why I don't teach science. I nagged suggested all Christmas break that they work on it. I bought the board and the other supplies. Finally last weekend it all came to a head, there were tears (Hannah) and frustration (Dh) on this project. They realized that once again, Mother does know best (won't they ever learn). This whole week has had them both scurrying around trying to get it all taken care of. Tonight is the putting together of the display board. Thankfully, my hobbies have once again proven to be a gold mine for project assembly. Another example that mother does know best and that hobbies are beneficial for all people.

The weather today was frightful. I woke up to -15. I went to the gym and all those new year resolution people were still there. I didn't get my treadmill. Instead some big loser dropout person had snagged it. I was grumpy, and dragged him off had to settle for one that does not do intervals. I guess that is the reason I took January off from the gym last year. I hope those people quit soon. I want my treadmill back. I guess I need to get there earlier than 5:05 AM if I want it back.

MIA - Lost week!

I feel like I lost last week. It was the longest week ever and I feel like I wwent through a million years of torture. Even though I worked all through break, I still could have used more time. I hate that feeling.

This week will be better. Though I was a crab monster yesterday. I feel somewhat more human today. I hope...

My LK Boo club arrived yesterday - 3 charts, 6 designs. I ordered the linen and thread pack too. They are sooo cute. I can hardly wait to start. I have these round robins hanging over my head though. They are screaming stitch me, stitch me! The cherub is killing me. I have ripped twice now. Why is something so cute, such a pain?

I seriously started training for the 1/2 marathon yesterday. I have to run 2 miles every other day right now. I have student council on Tuesday mornings so it is tooo hard to get to the gym, pick up the kiddos that need rides, and make it too school by 7:30. So I didn't go this morning. I feel cheated...

More later. Just realized the time.

Change

Change is hard and painful even. I have a lot of habits that are deeply ingrained in me. I had a hard time resisting the lure of a cooking magazine yesterday. I really, really wanted it. I didn't let myself get it, and I was mad at myself. Did I need it? NO, but the want was really strong. I am like that with cross stitch. I have this HUGE desire to stash. I have tons of projects, yet I go and look and want and buy. My only saving grace is that there is no LNS here. I have to order online to get the designers I want. I don't remember the last time I went to Michael's or Hobby Lobby and bought one. I buy floss there and sometimes linen at Hobby Lobby.

I took Hannah and Gabby K. to see "Marley and Me" last night. It was good, but they both gave it a 7 out of 10. Hannah thought the book had to be better and wants to read it to make sure.

Today will be more of the same, grading and such. With a little housework and grocery shopping thrown in for good measure. I am making a menu plan for the week and a list. If it isn't on my list, I don't buy it. I am going to the gym this evening ~ well probably late afternoon after Van goes to work.

A new Hobby Lobby just opened and Hannah needs some things for her book project so we might head over there this AM to check them out. I do have a couple of floss colors I need...

30 lbs by July!

I need to lose 30 lbs. I have already lost close to 50, but I need to lose more. I want to enter my 40's better than I did my 30s. I have so much more energy now than I did a year ago, but I want more. I am recommitting myself to getting healthier.

I went to the gym this morning. In 30 minutes, I ran 2.6miles and burned 388 calories. Thanks to my asthma and the cold I have acquired, I am now coughing, a lot. Lesson learned: use inhaler before working out.

I am now off to school. I have to grade papers, write lesson plans, and all the other fun things associated with school. I have a HUGE list to make it through. My goal is to have it all done before I go back on Monday. New quarter/semester, new start. Fingers crossed on this one.

I was up at 3:50 AM so I stitched for about an hour on Bushel and a Peck before getting dressed and heading to the gym. I have forgotten how relaxing stitching can be. I think I am going to do this everytime I can't sleep.

New Year's Day and the beginning of the change...

As always, with the beginning of the new year, people rush around to make their resolutions. My gym will become overcrowded for the next couple of weeks and then those people will flitter away as they lose their passion. I am going to spend the next 31 days focused on making some lifestyle changes for the better.

I read or heard that if you spend 30 days trying to change a habit, then it can change. That is what I am hoping to do.

• I would like to work on my spending habits. I am a very impulsive shopper. I want to change this. I buy cookbooks and cross stitch and other things, even when I don't need it. I am going back to making my lists. This helps me control it. I am better when I do that. This will also help me not be wasteful.


• Health ~ I want to work on losing the extra weight I still have and training for a half marathon in May. I want to eat healthier and not out as much. I am back to menu planning and writing down what I eat.


• Family ~ I want to work on developing a better relationship with my middle sister. We are not close. It saddens me that it is this way.

These are the main ones for now.

NEW YEAR'S EVE:

We could have gone to a couple of parties, but I really didn't feel like going to the "drunken bashes" that both would turn into. Plus the one I was invited to, I figured there would be people from school I would rather not have to deal with. Neither of my partner teachers were going nor any of the other people I hang with at school. DH didn't really know any of the people going to the one he had been invited to so we just decided to go out to eat and then watch Mama Mia (a Christmas present). I stitched while we watched and sang. It was an enjoyable evening!