I know it's been a while (to the music of Britney's Break the Ice)

Priya has started a blog and so I told her that maybe that would make me update mine. I'm currently waiting for Sam's mother to come over with their dog, Maggie, so Sam and I can dog sit her. We're supposed to meet outside at 8pm because she doesn't have a cell phone.

In the mean time, I'll see if I can catch you up on what has happened in the past 4 months.

I started to work part time back at LDI the week before my triathlon. The timing was pretty good since I had already done most of my training and the week before my arm was still healing from my crash so my training wasn't to intensive. I hadn't do two-a-days in a while.
I swam, biked and ran in my triathlon and almost cried when I finished because I was either so happy it was over or happy that I was able to make it to the end. My elbow had healed near completely about a week before the race so I had a little bit of time to practice in the pool again but shin splints had still been a problem. I was in the beginners swim group at the triathlon and the water was warm. Yes! There were people in there doing the doggy paddle and the back swim thing that is my usual swim. But I hadn't taken swim lessons for nothing. So I did the free style as taught to the end of a lane and then waited to catch my breath before continuing to the next lane. Race coordinators or whatever they are called would tell me that I could skip ahead a few lanes without being penalized. But like I told the guy who was resting in my lane with me; "I'm not giving up, I'm just resting." He agreed. Once the swim was over, I was happy. The biking wasn't bad but my nose was running constantly. Luckily I had a hankie with me so I had to keep it in my hand the whole time since tucking it back into my shorts wasn't efficient. I was just worried though that I would need my whole hand to break or turn hard but the hankie would be an obstacle getting a good grip of the handle bar. The run was last. I ran for a while but was tired and since shin splints had been common before the race, I wanted to make sure I would be able to run around the track to the finish line. So I took a break in the middle of the run and walked. I finished in about the middle of the pack. Ken-ichi was like 9th and Sam was 36th out of 400 and some.

Maggie is here now. She's panting hard trying to adjust to the new surroundings.

I started back full time at LDI on June 1st. People ask how many people are left but its hard to say because physically there's 6 full time but one of them is admin and another is IT and 2 other people above the 6 are part time. So you can say there's between 4 and 8 people. We've been busy until this week, I thought. But there are many little tasks this week keeping me on edge that my days are chaotic and I cant wait to go home and clear my mind. I kind of miss being laid off during the summer. Being laid off in winter didn't have many perks because I couldn't spend my time outside. Summer is flying by now and I still haven't had my fill of it yet.

I moved in the end of May or beginning of June. I was supposed to move out of the town house in the middle of June but Megan made me mad so I moved in with Sam early on a weeknight. Sam and I moved me in by ourselves. It was spread out over a few days and weeks so no one day was too hard for just the two of us. Living together is going great even though people don't believe me when I say that. Our only issue is laundry. I cant do his because I never do it right. That's fine with me then, I was just trying to be helpful. Since I work during the day and he works in the evening, our lack of actually spending time together in the apartment might be making living together easier than it would be if we were both here at the same time. He will be home around 10:30, typical as every other night. His days off are Sunday and Monday so we try to spend Sunday together and I leave work at 5 on Mondays so I can come home and play with him. We go to the gym together on Mondays so that is 1 hour we aren't actually together.

I go to BodyJam at Golds where I joined when I moved in to the apartment. Fitness First didn't have BodyJam so I'm glad to have some variety other than BodyPump and Pilates. But the Pilates schedule at Golds isn't good so I have yet to be there. BodyJam has been challenging but I'm hoping that in the 6 weeks a routine runs, I'll be able to pick up some moves like Priya. The last routine had Buttons by the PCD and a song by the BEP and this one has Womanizer by Britney. I cant remember the other two too well and Womanizer is more of a bee bop move/dance which I wouldn't be able to use in the club. There's only 4 weeks of this routine left so maybe the next routine will have a good song and moves so I can pull it out on the dance floor. But I haven't been out dancing in a while so even if I do pick up some moves, I don't know when I'll be able to use them. I found that having a boyfriend makes me less likely to go out or stay out late because I'm not trying to pick up anyone and if I'm not out with Sam, I don't want to stay out long so that I can come home to see him.

Sam and I have been to the beach twice this summer. The first time in June it rained for 2 of our days there and the day we were leaving it was nice so we got some sun then. And then we just went for the day this past Sunday with Dave and Gina. Sam and I waited till Saturday evening to make our final decision on going since the weather had a 30% chance of t-storms for Sunday afternoon and we didn't want to have another rainy day at the beach. We got plenty of sunshine and are now satisfied with the beach for the year. But I forgot my camera so we're a little upset that I didn't get any pictures of our trip besides the ones we took on Sam's cell phone. We have a pool at our apartment so we can continue our tan there.

Maggie is snoring now so I guess she has calmed down enough to sleep.

I'm going to take the multiple choice sections of the LARE in September so I have been focusing on studying in the evenings when Sam is working. Wednesday is a good day for that since I don't have a gym class except that today, one of the companies leasing space in our LDI building hosted a BBQ after work and I had 2 margaritas so that wouldn't make studying very productive.

Crash!

Megan did ride my bike along with me while I ran my run yesterday morning. But my run didn't go well. It was hotter out that I thought and so I overheated probably half way through so I stopped and walked for a bit and then ran again but I stopped running short and walked the rest of the way home. Long sleeves was a bad idea. Megan didn't stay with me the whole time so she was waiting for me by our house and we went over to Giant to get some groceries for supper.

Annette came over in the early afternoon to help make cookies and then Sam came over a little later. I had supper prepped so Sam and I went on a bike ride to 4 mile run and then the Mt. Vernon trail. It was delightful except for all the people on the trail. I had many issues passing people on the trail. I wasn't as aggressive as Sam because I'm still getting comfortable with my bike. The weather was beautiful and the flowers and trees were blooming and it seemed like summer because I was wearing shorts and a tank top.

We had planned on riding by the new apartment on the way home. We had lost most of the crowd on 4 mile run trail on our return trip and nearing where we would cross Glebe to go see the new apartment. But we didn't make it there. Sam was in front of me and we both were looking to our right at where our future shopping center and Sam's Golds Gym would be. Sam decided to slow down to turn to go see the shopping center and I ran into him and flew off my bike. I landed with my hands but nothing seemed broken. Just some scrapes on my left side and a jammed left arm. I had my helmet on but luckily, it wasn't needed. A guy who lives next to the trail heard the crash and brought me water and band aids. Nothing seemed broken and the sky was looking stormy so we had to continue the ride back to my house including the hard hill. I took Sam to an alternative hill in hopes that it would be easier. I made it to the top without stopping but I couldn't put pressure on my left arm and hand so changing gears was hard.

When we got home I put frozen veggies on my arm and we had supper. After supper we watched a movie and I sat on the couch with my arm wrapped in some frozen veggies, ace bandage and a sling. My wrist seemed to hurt the most so I put the ice towards my hand. But when I tried to get ready to shower, my elbow was really hurting. After my shower I applied frozen shrimp to my elbow since it was slightly swollen and in pain. Since I don't have insurance anymore, Sam and I decided that if it was worse in the morning, he would take me to the doctors. I slept on my back and right side last night and this morning it wasn't worse. I put some more frozen veggies on my elbow and my wrist was feeling better this morning. As the day goes by, my elbow is extending its range of motion. I can use my arm more but can't extend it too far. I'm glad its doing better because I didn't want to repeat my broken collar bone again. Sam looked up my injury online and determined that I sprained my elbow. I wont be able to go swimming for a few days but might be able to run tomorrow. I hope my triathlon training doesn't suffer because I'm getting down to crunch time.

Game night

Yesterday morning I went to the pool. It wasn't as crowded and I expected but there also weren't any babies to watch. I got in a shallow lane with another dude and once I got in, he stopped so we could discuss if we were going to swim in circles or each take a half of the lane. He was trying to find out how long I was going to be swimming so I told him that I'm just a beginner and doing the mini tri. So then almost each time I got done a length or lap, he would have a tip for me. Most of it was the same as Chuck but I was getting frustrated because I cant keep my butt and legs up higher because they are meaty and heavy and stuff. I swam for almost 45 minutes but was done so I got out and thanked my lane partner for his tips and told him that they are all overwhelming. He gave me his email address and told me he would give me a private swimming lesson free of charge. I told Sam this when I got home and he told me to never talk to him again because he is just trying to get in my 'pants' (I like to use 'suit' instead since I was wearing a swimming suit and not pants). Oh, and I got water in my ear...again.

I was going to go up to see Steph yesterday afternoon once she got home from a funeral. But to get a head start, I left my house before she called to say that she was on her way home since it takes probably an hour to get up there. I was about 15 minutes away from my house when she called to say that it wasn't going to be a good day to hang out. So I immediately called Megan to see where she was because she was going to play with Melanie. I came back to the house and put on some make up and did some of my hair and then we left for Mel's. After Megan and I got to Mel and Roy's, we went over to Sarah and Matt's to play games and have supper. Usually I don't like to play games because like Monopoly and Risk, they take hours to complete one round or like some card games, they are boring. But the rounds went fast and they were fun so I enjoyed it. We also watched Mel and Roy's wedding video since I didn't attend it. It was a long video but I can now pretend like I was there. Megan and I expected them to be done socializing at like 9 since they are all old and married now but they aren't like that and apparently stay up late on Saturday nights.

I will probably go on a run today. I told Megan that she can ride my bike while I run around the hood. Megan is currently prepping cookies and Annette is coming over later so we can finish them. I then have to go to the grocery store because I'm making supper and having a movie night with Sam, Megan and maybe even Annette.

I can hear birds chirping so even though its cloudy, it still seems spring like out. And as I write this, I think it is getting sunnier out. Yay!

Trip to Costco

I met Priya at Costco this morning. It was very busy for a Friday morning. We were both expecting it to be less crowded than it was. It was a successful trip. She kept me from buying too many things that weren't on my list. My list only had Gatorade and 10lbs of chicken on it and I ended up buying like 6 items including a Birthday or Christmas present for Megan. After I checked out, my receipt said that the Vitamin Water that I got is for kids. But the ingredients said 'electrolytes' and that is what I was looking for. When I got in my car to leave, I was hot and put the windows down and opened the sun roof.

It felt springy out so when I got home I went through the fridge and freezer a bit and started some laundry. The smell of spring put me in the spring cleaning mood. After lunch, I got ready for my bike ride. It was warmer but still partly cloudy so I wasn't sure if I should wear shorts or not. Aaron responded to my invite to ride along with me but he was going on a hike today so he didn't want to go on a ride. I looked up 4 Mile Run trail online. It wasn't too clear but I got the basic gist of where to get on it and where to go. I went the opposite way to the trail today that I took to get home last time. It was nice to ride on the trail because I didn't have to worry about cars and intersections and stuff. I could even see the new apartment from the trail. So whenever Sam and I move, we will have easy access to it. I hit a few swarms of bugs along the way but luckily my sunglasses kept them from getting in my eyes. I just had to make sure I kept my mouth shut. The trail met the Mt. Vernon trail and I had the option of going north or south. So I went north along GW parkway and stopped at Gravelly Point where I watched a few planes take off and gave my head a break from the helmet. I did the reverse trip back. The same hill that got me last time, got me this time again. I had to get off my bike and walk it for a little bit so I could catch my breath. I have to look for an alternate path to avoid it next time.

Tomorrow morning I'll have to go back to the pool. It will be crowded but hopefully there wont be any parties and I wont be involved in any collisions. What I do in the afternoon is still up in the air. If Steph responds to my email, I might hang out with her. Or I might go with Megan to Mel's to play with married people. We shall see.

Last Class

Yesterday I woke up with a major crick in my neck. Since I already knew I was skipping body pump, I decided to go workout in the afternoon to allow time for my neck to loosen up. So I picked up some heat pads at the store and put it on my neck for a few hours until I went to the gym around 4. I wrote Megan an email about my neck and ironically she had a kink in her neck too and had a heating pad on hers at work also. Suck a twin thing. I did a brick run at the gym not knowing if my neck would allow me to do both the bike and the run. My neck was fine but my run was rough.

I had planned on making curry when I got home from the gym but I thought about a McDonald's fish fillet sandwich so I had no craving for curry anymore. After I showered I headed to McDonald's and then onto Evening Star for 'Screw the Economy' Smack down with my fellow laid off former co-workers. Come to find out, Megan also stopped at McDonald's and got a fish fillet sandwich too. Yesterday must have been a high twin connection day. We didn't stay out too late and Priya was disappointed because she was ready for a major smack down.

Since I did a brick run yesterday, I wasn't sure what to do for a work out this morning. So I went to a Core and More class. I hadn't been to pilates in a while because of my stroke clinic class and I figured Core and More would be a close substitution. And I think it was. I made my curry today since I didn't yesterday and then I prepared myself for my last stroke clinic class. Chuck was back tonight but didn't realize that it was our last class until we thanked him at the end of the night. I re injured my blister on my big toe from the flippers and Chuck gave me some tips to improve my stroke but some of them are hard to actually do while in the water. I also told him about the pool being short but he said he didn't know and that it is only slightly shorter than 25 meters.

I had two collisions tonight in the pool, I guess to make up for not having any during the rest of the class. I was on a roll doing the back stroke with my flippers on and ran into the wall with the top of my head. My lane mate was there so I told him to let me know if I start bleeding. Later on then, he was on my side of the lane when I was doing the back stroke again and he ran into me. It didn't effect me too much and he apologized for being on my side and was out of breath.

I'm going to go over to Sam's in a bit and we are going to eat popcorn while watching HGTV. Sounds like a thrilling night. He asked if we were going to watch a movie since we were having popcorn, and I told him no.

Tomorrow morning I'm going with Priya to Costco. The only thing I have on my list is 10lbs of frozen chicken breasts and Gatorade. Shes going to take me back in a few months once Sam and I move into the new apartment to stock up on bulk items such as toilet paper, paper towels, Kleenexes and other stuff.

Now that I have my bike and tomorrow is supposed to be warm and sunny, I asked Aaron if he wants to go on a bike ride. But I'm still waiting for his reply.

My body is tired now.

Breaking and entering

This morning I went to the craft store to return and then repurchase picture frames that I bought like 2 weeks ago but I thought are cheaper this week. After I got out there and the cashier rang them up, we realized that what I paid for them the other week was actually cheaper than they are this week. So that was a wasted trip.

I then went for a bike ride today. It was chilly again so I waited till after lunch and I packed a bag with my keys and phone in it and took my bike outside. I started to ride down the street but realized that I needed my sunglasses so I returned to my house and realized that I didn't have my bag on my back so my keys were inside the locked house. I considered riding into Megan's office and getting her keys, that wouldn't have been a problem. But I remembered that the side window on the house wasn't locked. I plopped down my bike in the front yard and slid up the screen and then the window and fell in the house under the blinds. I didn't think it would be so easy to burglarize the place so I locked the window after I got in. I hope no one saw me climbing into the window. I got my keys and back out I went. I mapped out my route trying to stay away from dangerous roads. I wanted to go about 10 miles but my route was only over 6 miles. I started mostly on the sidewalk dodging shrubs and poles and when the road was wide enough, I rode along the shoulder. There were some actual bike lanes on the street that I rode in and felt most safe. And since I'm one of those people who are likely to hit a bicyclist, I considered what moves to make from that perspective. I went over to Aarons place to see if he wanted to ride with me but as I pulled up, he drove off in his car. So I called Priya to see if I could stop by but she didn't answer her phone either. I had drifted most of the way on the first half of my trip but started to sweat and work hard on the second half. That one hill was tough but actually made my ride into work out rather than a joy ride. When I got home I took a break and put some pictures into my frames and made some egg salad and waited for my stroke clinic.

We knew Chuck was going to be out of town today, but our sub who looked familiar and I think is a lifeguard said that Chuck was sick which is why he couldn't make it. They didn't get their story straight. The sub read our instructions from his phone and we started off similar to Chuck but after the warm up, we had to do 4 laps or free style, then back stroke then breast stroke. I think that was all Chuck told the sub to have us do so we were allowed to do whatever we wanted then. Obviously, I continued doing freestyle. I was at 4 laps and saw the sub standing at the end of my lane. I thought he was going to tell me they were closing but instead he told me I could continue swimming until they closed. Well, duh. I knew that and he interrupted my laps. So I told him I was going to do one more. I did my final lap and was considering doing another one but the lifeguard got down so I figured my time was up. I was feeling good about my progress for the triathlon until the sub said that the pool is only 20 meters long and not 25. I was trying to do the math in my head to figure out how many lengths that is but it was too much thinking to do while I was swimming. So when I came home I did the math and so now I have to do 12.5 lengths (6.25 laps) in order to get a full 250 meters in for the triathlon. I wish Chuck would have told us that weeks ago. Our last class is on Thursday so after that I'll focus on freestyle when I go on my own time. Tomorrow night I'm going out with the rest of my laid off friends to 'celebrate' so I'll be skipping body pump. I might try a brick run in the morning then.

Bought a bike

I'm now the proud owner of a new hybrid bicycle. Sam and I had lunch with his folks yesterday (see picture of Sam and Maggie) and then we started our task of looking for bikes for the triathlon. We visited three stores and discovered that our budget was low and that a hybrid would be more reasonable than a road bike. So after a break from comparison shopping and a drink at KFC, we returned to the second store to buy our bikes. But Sam's had already been sold to someone else. Luckily there was a different and cheaper bike so he got that one instead. Sam was nice enough to split the total price of the two bikes with me since his bike was cheaper. I got a helmet too. Its subtly girly. I never had a helmet before since there aren't many cops in the country to catch me riding my mountain bike without a helmet. After they tuned up our bikes and we actually got to leave with them, we were both tired but didn't want to waste the nice day. So we rode them down to Shirlington and ate. But we don't have bike locks so we sat at a booth next to a window and had the bikes leaning on the window on the outside to watch for anyone to steal them. After we returned to my place, I stored my bike under the window in my dining room and behind the dining table. Since we paid more for the bikes than we were planning, I told Sam that we wont be able to have curtains in our new apartment. We are running out of place in our new apartment already and haven't even moved in yet but now we will be storing our bikes in there. Until then, Sam has to keep his bike in his bedroom since his roommate has o.c.d. and wont allow it in the living room or hallway. Since Sam and I were tired, we watched a movie and called it a night. But he wanted to have popcorn with the movie and I didn't so he was upset with me.

I looked at my bank account today and found out that the bike store charged me 3 times as much as they were supposed to but after a few phone calls, 2/3s of that should go away in 3-5 days.

Today was pretty but still cold. So I went for a run at the gym. This afternoon I wanted to go outside and take pictures of the pretty flowers since the sky was actually blue and the lighting was good. I got some quality pictures out of my excursion. But spending time outside made me want to ride my bike. I had body pump tonight so I will ride my bike tomorrow if i can find a good route and then have my stroke clinic class tomorrow night. Which reminds me...MY WEIGHT LIFTING GLOVES HAVE RETURNED. Megan got dressed for body pump tonight and came down stairs and told me to guess what was in her pockets. It was my gloves. I wore her jacket one day to body pump when it was warmer and when she didn't go along, so I must have left them in her pockets when I put her jacket away. I now have 2 pairs in case I loose one. And Sam isn't mad at me any more for losing the pair that he gave me for my birthday.

Shopping and swimming

This morning Megan and I went to Macy's One Day Sale and I got dishes for the new apartment. I wanted to get a set of pots and pans too but the deal they were having wasn't good enough for me. Then we came back home and met Aaron and went to Joann's Fabrics, etc. He wants to replace the cushions on his couch but the foam at Joann's is more expensive and not what he is looking for but he was very entertained by all the things you can buy and do at Joann's. We returned home again and then Megan and I walked over to Giant to get groceries. We always get more stuff than we plan on and our tote bags we take along end up heavy and we have additional plastic bags to carry back too.

After lunch and a nap, I saw on the pool calendar that there was a gap in classes so I went over for a swim hoping to have a lane to myself. Wrong. When I checked in there were a group of 8 girls about 6 or 8 years old. And that wasn't all of them. There was a birthday pool party and I could hear screaming from the locker room. There were a ton on screaming kids and even some crying ones in the entry ramp and first lane so I got in the third lane with another woman but then moved into the second lane because it was empty. But after I swam to the other end, a life guard was opening up my lane for the pool party. So I made some gestures at him and then went back over with the woman in the third lane. I did mostly freestyle but saw her doing the breast stroke so I mocked her to see if I could figure out how to glide. After a bit more of freestyle I took a break to relieve the goggle pressure on my eyes. I used the kick board but got mad because I couldn't go anywhere with it. So I resumed freestyle. I find that towards the end of my workout is when I can do laps better because I tire myself out and go slower which uses less energy so I have more endurance. I did about 2 laps with an above water turn around and breath between lengths and figured I would push myself and continue to see if I could make it to 5 laps. At some point the woman left my lane and 2 men joined me. And an old lady joined the kids in the first lane to swim. One of the men in my lane hit me as he passed me. I was getting angry because of the pool party making my lane full and my goggles getting blurry. And I was sure that someone would pee in the water and I could get sick from drinking it. So when I finished my 5th lap, I got out. 250 meters! I can now do the tri.

The clocks in the pool area aren't right or working so I wasn't sure how long I spent swimming until I got back into the locker room and read the clock in there. I swam for 50 minutes which surprised me because I thought it was only like 30. I got in the sauna to dry off and to dry my cap since I wasn't in a hurry to get home. I only had a towel around me as the instructions say but there was a 5 year old little boy in the woman's locker room washing his hands. He looked into the sauna as he left and luckily my towel was covering everything or he might have seen more than he was prepared to. When I left the sauna and went to the locker to put my clothes on, I had to be careful to cover everything in case another little boy came in. It wouldn't be my fault but I would probably be accused of something.

I returned home to eat and now to chill until I shower and get ready to go out tonight for Keeley's birthday. Its not too bad out now, hopefully the weather will stay nice.

Application and ride

This morning I found an ad in the Washington Post for a sales position at a florist/nursery center. Its a hike from where I lived but I figured that applying couldn't hurt. The ad said to go to one of the locations and apply in person. So I got dressed and drove into D.C. I got off track of my directions, as usual, and Sam's phone was dying so I couldn't call him. Luckily the area looked familiar and I had a map in my car so I found the place. I only had enough change for 22 minutes in the meter. I filled out the application and was supposed to talk to the guy who hires but he was busy so I left my application there and am supposed to be contacted. I made it back to my car after meter expired but the meter maid hadn't made it to me yet. Good thing the hiring guy was busy or I might have gotten a ticket. I back tracked to get home having to make a few loops around blocks and u-turns to get in the right direction and on the right streets. But I made it without having to call Sam.

It was lunch time when I got home so I took the afternoon off besides making some brownies and then pasta for supper. I called Sansa about my mp3 player acting up and the woman on the phone told me how to delete all the songs off of it. So I also had to delete all the songs that I downloaded from rhapsody off my computer too so that I wouldn't put them on my mp3 player again. After I uploaded 'good' songs to my player, Megan and I went to the gym for a bike ride. She thought we were done at like 4 miles but I told her we had to do 10. We continued on a different bike but she quit before I was done. Tomorrow I have a lot of things to do and will try to get to the pool to have a weekend practice. We will see.

Play dates with the girls

I went for a run around the 'block' yesterday morning. The weather was nice and I wanted to get a short run in before Priya picked me up to go get her wedding dress. I think map my run said that my 'block' is 2.4 miles. It has some hills and valleys so that made it tough. And my mp3 player was acting up wanting me to renew my subscription but I don't want to and so it kept shutting off. I had to hurry and shower but was ready when she got here. It didn't take very long for her to get her dress but I was there to make sure they did it well and to see how the bustle works. We wanted to spend some more time out since it was sunny so we wandered to some of the other stores in the strip mall. Priya says we are 'those' (older) people now who go shopping in the middle of the day. She had to be home by 3 to watch her Soaps so I came home and napped before I had to go to body pump. My arms were tired so I didn't use quite as much weight.
Today was similar. The weather wasn't as nice and it was wet out but I wanted to get a quick run in before Shivanee showed up after lunch to go to the Washington Home and Garden Show. It started raining more as I was running but I had no short cut home and my mp3 was still acting up. After I showered and Shivanee came, we picked up Priya and then met Sam to park in his garage and to take the metro to D.C. We took our time at the show to make it worth while for our entry fee. But I don't even know what the fee was for because all we got for free was like product magazines and advertisements and crap. There were not discounts or giveaways or even a raffle. We all spent $5 there. I got Megan a pig ring and Priya and Shivanee each got a baby orchid. I had Priya drive by the new apartment yesterday, so today I drove by with them to show Shivanee it and to see how to get to Priyas from there since we will be able to play when I move.
Shivanee and I were tired and hungry when we got back so we stopped for some sushi and then I took a rest before my stroke clinic class tonight. Class tonight was similar to Tuesday's. We started with flippers again which made my blister from Tuesday upset. And then I did medleys for the rest of the night. But my breaststroke still wasn't working so I told Chuck I was giving up on it. He said something about doing what I know or focusing on swimming what I can or something like that. I think this meant for me to focus on freestyle since that is what I need to get better at. Chuck ended class early again but I mumbled at him that I was going to keep swimming since I don't like to get in, I try to make each practice long and worthwhile. I kept swimming until the rec center closed and I was the last one out of the pool. When Chuck ended class, I worked more on just freestyle but I tried breast stroke one more time and it worked better so I stopped trying it then so I wouldn't get frustrated again. Chuck isn't going to be there on Tuesday and I was worried what we are going to do without a teacher. But he said that we will have a sub and that he will be back on Thursday.

Sticky buns

I made sticky/cinnamon/pecan buns this morning so I didn't have time to go to the gym between the bread rising. But I think that is an acceptable reason. I made sure I had enough of all the ingredients this time so I made a lot of goo but might have cooked it too long because the goo turned into caramel. When the sun came out this afternoon, I planted some pansies outside too.

At swim class tonight, there weren't too many people so we each had our own lane. I guess people were out drinking for St. Patty's day. I wanted to go out drinking but the class got in the way but I am wearing green now and am going to have a beer with Sam later when he gets off work. Chuck started us off with flippers which were a lot of fun and really move you through the water. So when I took them off I didn't feel like I was going anywhere. But they gave me a blister so it was good I didn't have to wear them anymore. I spent the rest of the night doing a medley of freestyle, back stroke, breast stroke and then freestyle again; repeat. But I cant to the breast stroke anymore. I used to be able to do the breast stroke before I could do freestyle and Chuck called me a natural at it. But I am glad that I can do freestyle better now and not the opposite. Chuck says I'm doing great with freestyle. He saw that my breast stroke wasn't going well but I need to ask him again next time how to glide again because I'm not and even though its supposed to be a 'resting stroke' I am definitely not resting during it. So I'm frustrated that I used to be able to do it better and now I don't know how to glide.

Megan came along tonight. She wanted to watch the babies but the babies come during the day so she only got to watch me and the older people in water aerobics. She said I am rigid in the water. I told her that is because I'm supposed to stretch and rotate and stuff so I probably over emphasize the moves.

Catch up.

I ended up not doing much of anything on Saturday besides putting together a photo book of Sam and my first year together. I felt guilty but figured I deserved a day off. I went for a swim on Sunday morning. I went to a lane that only had one guy in it so I stood next to his bag thinking that he would take the other side since his stuff was over there. But as I stood at the edge of the pool, contemplating getting in, he swam up and stood at my feet in the water. I'm like "Hello! I'm standing here. Get to your side and share the lane." So I went over to the 1' of deck space between his bag and the lane marker and got in there. He stayed on his side of the lane and then when the class got out of the first 2 lanes, I moved there. When the guy got out of his lane, he picked up what I thought was a snorkel and extended it into a cane. The guy was blind or at least had bad vision! No wonder he wouldn't get out of my way.

I was then in the 'free swim' area which includes the entry ramp and first two lanes without dividers. There was a father and his little boy playing in the entry ramp so I stayed along the lane divider doing my laps. More families started to come and fill in the free swim area. I asked a lifeguard if another class was starting, he said no. My goal was to do 1 full lap. I finally realized how to slow down like Chuck said and I managed to do 2 full laps but took a quick break and breath between the lengths. During my final lap, there was a father and his child at the other end of my 'lane.' I figured since they had all the rest of the free swim area and all I wanted was 3 feet next to the lane divider that by the time I go to the other end of the pool, they would move. But they didn't! I had to stop short so I wouldn't swim into them. At least another father had the decency to tell his child to 'swim over here to stay out of this nice lady's way.' So I was bitter and went into another lane that had just opened up and swam back to the other end and got out.

I had water in both ears this time and when I jumped to get it out of one, I could hear it going further into the other side. This was very annoying but I remembered how Mom would pour peroxide in our ears to clean them out when we were younger. So I had Megan do that to me and 'bam!' No more water ears. I'll have to do that again next time since obviously I'll get water stuck in them repeatedly.

Sunday afternoon/evening, Sam and I were meeting some his work friends to go out for Mexican food and margaritas in D.C. We took the metro so we could both drink even though Sam didn't like the margaritas very much the last time we had them. I had my fill of food and drinks and Sam even had more. Even though the weather was rainy, it wasn't too cold so we walked back to the metro but after our next transfer, the train was not coming for a while so we hopped in a cab to come the rest of the way home. That made a quick ride of it.

Today I had plans to have Thai with Priya and Aaron. I hadn't figured out how or when to get my morning work out in though. So I hurried to the gym for a run this morning then met them for lunch. I had been craving pad Thai since we had been talking about getting it. I feel satisfied now that I had it. I stopped at the grocery store on the way home to get ingredients to make sticky buns and tomato basil soup but while I was there the pad Thai must have kicked in because I felt sleepy and depressed. I got some ice cream too so when I came home I took a nap and then had a banana split. And then Megan picked me up to go to body pump. I feel better now.

Refund city!

Since I don't have a real 'training' schedule for Fridays, and since I was tired and my legs were sore from yesterdays workouts, I decided to go to the gym this afternoon rather than this morning. I had been putting off doing my taxes because I owed money last year and since I am on a limited income now, I was postponing having to pay anything. But I have been taking care of tasks this week and Megan got money back on her taxes, so I figured I would do mine this morning since I was putting off the gym. Well I got $963 back from the feds and $6 back from VA. I always get suspicious though why the difference is so much. Especially because there was one part of the taxes that asked me how much I spend on retail items that were not taxed. I put $0 but it wouldn't except anything less than $1. So I changed it to $1. Not sure about that one. I hope I don't get audited. So now I can afford to buy a bike for the triathlon and can say that I'm using my refund for all my other tri purchases (swim suit, caps, goggles, running shoes, stroke clinic classes, mp3 player, pool passes...). I should add it all up to see how much money I have left from my refund and put the rest towards purchases for the new apt. I already bought an area rug so there's one thing that it went towards before I even got it.
Just did the math. I still have $500 to spend and I can spread that out pretty well. Woo hoo!

I still wasn't ready to go to the gym so I took a nap. I woke up and realized that it was getting late and I wanted to get to the gym before people come after work. I took my sudoku book to do some puzzles while I took a casual bike ride on a stationary bike. The puzzle was going well until I turned up the bike level to 5. I started to sweat more and couldn't concentrate on the puzzle so I gave up on it. I watched Oprah and listened to my music until my 10 miles were up. I then hopped to a treadmill but was only going to do 1 mile since I ran yesterday but my shoe came untied and I only made it to .8 miles.

Not much else planned for tonight. Megan and I have a lot of milk so we are trying to use recipes that call for a lot of milk. I believe that macaroni and cheese is for supper. I want to make tapioca but need tapioca to make it. And then later I'll go see Sam when he gets home from work.

bike rentals

The cost of this super sprint triathlon is really starting to add up. Sam looked up bike rentals today and the place he found charges $50 a day. And we would have the bikes for 2 days. That's a redic amount of money just for a day! So we talked about just buying bikes since they shouldn't cost too much more than that and we can use them this spring and summer to cruise. We just won't have much room in the apartment to store them.

Can't hear

I went for a run on the treadmill this morning. The guy at the front desk at the gym has started to say 'hey' to me as if we have talked before. I guess because I have been coming in often, he thinks that we are friends. Either that or he thinks I'm not. I then had my stroke clinic class again tonight. (Repeat from Tuesday). Tonight I got there early to give myself more time to get in the pool. The water felt warmer, or else I just didn't feel pressure to get in fast with Chuck standing behind. Tonight we did our drills first (I started my drills before Chuck got there) and then did some free style with the kick board and the 'pool buoy' and then on to the real free style and then we added in some back stroke. My right arm can do the back stroke better than my left side but Chuck says that will improve.
At one point, I thought I was supposed to be waiting for another guy to catch up so Chuck could tell us what to do next so I made small talk with Chuck. He asked where I was from and I said Maryland and he guessed from 'the mountains.' Correct! He asked if I wanted to go to the deep end. I wasn't sure if he was asking me out on the date (like 'down town') or just asking to see if I wanted to go down there because I wouldn't have to share my lane. I responded by talking in circles but ended up saying that I would go since he convinced me that I can tread water and wouldn't drown. He then asked if I wanted to learn how to dive. I told him how I used to be able to but didn't for years and now when I try I end up going in feet or belly first so that was a definite 'no' on learning how to. But I guess we are saving the deep end for another night since he didn't tell me to go down there tonight. Then I spent the rest of class doing free style to one end of the pool and then back stroke back. Chuck says I'm improving and will be ready for open water in no time in which I replied 'never!' Well that wasn't quite exactly what I said but similar. Chuck disappeared and came back in blue jeans to say by and then left. We just kept swimming till the life guard blew the whistle for the pool to close.
I got water in my ears again. But this time they don't just hurt, I cant hear either. Annoying. After I changed into dry clothes I headed to the exit but stopped to watch the last minute of the ACC tournament on a TV in the lobby to see my Terps beat NC State. Go Terps!
Tomorrow if I have enough energy I'm going to try another brick run. That's about all I have planned.

Walkin in da hood

Monday night I went to body pump and then I ran 2.5 miles yesterday (Tuesday) morning and then I had my swimming class last night. So my body is tired. At class last night, Chuck just had me doing free style mostly. And he apologized for pushing me (to tears) last week. But it went better last night. My breathing was better unless someone in another lane created waves then it made breathing harder. I got my hair cut/trimmed yesterday when I was all sweaty from my run and since it is 2" shorter, I couldn't get it to go into my cap. But after it kept getting all over my face, I put 2 pony tails in and got it in my cap. Water kept getting in my left ear and now it kind of hurts. I hope I'm not getting an ear infection. Chuck says I'm making progress but that I still need to slow down. My legs still sink and i tried to get him to tell me how to fix that and he says that if i slow down, I wont tense up so much and my legs will stay up or something. We'll see. I'm not as exhausted after a length. I was going to go swimming this morning for more practice but my thighs and forearms are tired so I decided just to go on a walk around the hood since it is warm out today and then be rested up for body pump tonight. Star Magnolias are starting to bloom and some people were out working in their yards. I wonder if they thought I might be spying on them to break in later. But I dont think I look like that kind of person especially with my little girl hair cut. I'm kind of itchy now and feel like i have bugs on me.

I went and bought a pair of weight gloves yesterday to replace the ones that Sam got me for my birthday. So I get to wear them tonight. I'm still hoping to find Sam's when I move out.

I was 'in the country' this weekend. I was going to attach a picture of me as Sara Lee (think Grease's Sandra Dee) from Friday night's 50's and 60's Family Night at church but that takes effort. The weather was nice and so Mom and I played outside on Saturday. We didn't go on our bike ride again because we couldn't get the compressor pump thing to start to pump up our bike tires. So we cleaned up the flower beds, washed our cars and dyed mom's hair.

I had to hurry back down yesterday (Sunday) because Sam and I had an appointment to sign the lease on our new apartment. We ended up getting a really good deal with 2 months free on a 12 month lease and all other fees waved and another $400 off. But since Sam is moving in a month before I am, he will get to take advantage of the first month free. He said he will give me a discount then to make it up to me. We went to his parents after that for supper and to check out the furniture they are willing to give us. They have a lot of couches but the ones they are willing to give us aren't ideal. They have wooden arms but the cushions are basically pillows so I can easily make covers for them. And since I came straight from my rents and then signing our lease, I didn't have time to make dessert and Sam's mother called me out on it. So i defended myself saying was in h-town till 2 pm and then went straight to sign the lease. I guess next time I'll know better. Stop at Giant or somewhere like Sam suggests.

I went to the pool this morning. The water was cold again so it took me a while to get in. I started off sharing a lane with another girl. I started off using the kick board like Chuck has us start. But I was getting exhausted just by that and then when I tried it again later, I was kicking but not going any where. I started with the breast stroke again but didn't 'glide' as usual. I then just practiced free style. I breathed well but still got exhausted at the end of each length of the pool. So I would stand or sit on the edge for a few minutes to catch my breath and then do it again. I paced myself with the people in the lanes next to me to make sure I was going slow. But I passed a girl in one lane once rather than staying with her. I stayed there for 45 minutes. That's about all I can stand. Babies were in the shallow end so I watched them on my breaks. I'm glad I can time my breathing and strokes now but wish I can go more than one length before having to take a break. My form isn't that good either so I'll ask Chuck what/how I need to improve on.

Now I need to find something in my kitchen to eat and maybe go outside for a little bit before the weather downgrades again.

Maybe third times the charm

I just got back from my second stroke clinic. Let's just say it didn't go so well. The instructor didn't realize that he didn't teach us free-style when he told us to do free-style down the pool and back stroke back. So after I went my 2 strokes and then began to drink water. I got up and waited to say "Chuck, we don't know how to free-style." So he was like 'oh, I thought we did that.' So we spent the rest of class doing free-style. He individually coached each of us on our weaknesses. He knows that I'm afraid of getting water up my nose or drowning. He said we just need to relax and I'm supposed to breath out of my nose. So I got better at coordinating my breathing with my stroke without getting water up my nose but I would be completely exhausted when I got to the end of the pool. He told me not to get frustrated but he knew I was because I couldn't hold back the tears in my goggles. I told him that I get out of breath and he asked why. I told him that my boyfriend says my legs sink so I use more effort to kick. He said that its good that I know what the problem is and that he can see my back tense up when I start to struggle to continue swimming. He said that he doesn't even kick that much and for me to go slower. But if I do that then I will sink and drown because I'm not kicking and not stroking as fast. If only the triathlon had the breast stroke instead of the free-style because he said that I'm a 'natural' at the breast stroke. I passed one of the girls when we were doing our breast stroke warm up drills.
So at the end of the class, Chuck said that the more practice I do the more comfortable and less tense I'll get. But in order to keep practicing I have to be able to keep swimming but I cant because I get exhausted and do one more stroke then come back up for air and continue with that pattern. I told him I wish the triathlon had the breast stroke because I am comfortable doing that. He asked when my triathlon was and I said April 19th. He kind of did an 'eek' gesture and suggested that I come in to practice when we aren't in class. I guess Tuesday's class didn't set the trend of good things to come.

On another note, Sam and I visited an apartment on Wednesday that we couldn't see on Monday because of the snow. Let's just say that the tour didn't go very well so it made it easy to choose which apartment we want to lease at. I went to body pump then last night and I was feeling those squats.

I went for a run this morning but my hips and ankles and calves were not having it. They were sore from body pump so I failed my run.

The plumber then came this afternoon (instead of tomorrow morning) and found the leak. So this was going to allow me to go to the gym tomorrow morning and then drive home to h-town tomorrow night for 50's Family Night (Grease theme) at our church. But a plumber estimator guy is coming at lunch time tomorrow to estimate how much it will cost to replace the bathtub and shower. Not sure if I'll fit the gym in or not. But I warned Mom that we have to go on a 10 mile bike ride on Saturday. She gasped and asked if we could go slow. I mapped it out and it is more than 3 laps down and back our road.

First stroke clinic.

I just got back from my first stroke clinic class at the rec center. I went early because I knew it would take a few minutes to convince myself to get in the water. The Marlins (elementary school kids) were still having their swimming class so I didn't know where my class would be. But after the Marlins got out, their lane opened which the lifeguard told another guy was for the stoke clinic. So I got in that lane and the guy who was teaching the Marlins was my instructor too. No one else for my class was showing up so I got to show the instructor my free style and tell him what I am struggling with and my goals. He says that I am too tense and need to slow down and eventually said that I will be easy to train or something like that. Two more people finally showed up to the class so he had to check their skill and then gave us little drills. I only drowned once on my back with my kick board. We worked on the breast stroke (frog) tonight which I can do better than the freestyle except that I don't glide which is when I'm supposed to take my break which means I would probably tire myself out if it was part of the triathlon. I only chocked myself a few times but got plenty of my saliva in the water and then wonder who else has done the same thing and that I'm getting their saliva in my mouth. Yuck. Class was 45 minutes but didn't seem too long. Now I just have to wait for my anxiety to kick in for class on Thursday. And I have water in my ear...sucks.

I went for a run at the gym this morning to make up for not doing anything yesterday or Sunday. It was cold and hard getting out of my snuggie this morning to get dressed though. But after my run, it didn't seem too bad out. And it was even harder to think about putting a swim suit on and getting in the pool when it felt like 1 degree outside.

Sam and I are going to check out one last apartment community tomorrow morning. We went to see it yesterday but they wouldn't show us any of them because of the snow. Hopefully we will be able to decide then which apartment works best for us. I'm proud of us for agreeing so far on which places we like and dislike. This is a good sign (I hope without jinxing us). And then its back to body pump for me tomorrow night. It feels like I haven't been there in forever.

Happy Hour, Brunch and Snow

Friday night I asked Megan if she wanted to get pizza for supper. But she said that Annette wanted to go to a Mexican restaurant. So I was excited to join them for margaritas. But they weren't planning on going till 6:30 which is late for happy hour. I was hungry and it was only 4:30. I heard that my former co-workers were going to happy hour then so I drove in and met them for what I thought would just be 1 drink before going to meet Megan and Annette for Mexican food. One drink turned into 4 once Megan and Annette joined me at happy hour. We adjusted our Mexican restaurant location to one within walking distance. Megan ordered us all a margarita there which I wasn't planning on. And as usual, we hardly touched the food we ordered. We talked with our waiter a bit and he told us to come there for happy hour next time and then stay for supper. Sam was getting off of work in about 2 hours and since none of us were in any condition to drive, we walked to Annette's where I waited for Sam to pick me up and Megan and Annette passed out around 9:30. By that time, I was sober enough to follow Sam to his place where my car wouldn't get towed.

I didn't have many plans for Saturday except to get groceries. So Megan and I went on a thorough shopping excursion and stocked our fridge back up. I knew I had to go to the gym some time but since I didn't have anything planned, I went on a 2.5 treadmill run in the evening while Megan was getting ready for a date. Towards the end of the run I was staggering a bit but pushed through.

Yesterday (Sunday) was a busy day. Megan and I were having brunch with Priya at Amber's new house. Priya was picking us up at 10am but luckily I was only making/taking mimosas and Megan and I prepped her egg casserole/stratta/fritata the day before so we only had to bake it in the morning. Poor Priya had a late night the day before attending a wedding until the early hours of Sunday and I was concerned she would be hung over or sleep in past 10. But she was good and did neither of the two. She even made her food dish on Sunday morning. The light snow that had fallen on Saturday night didn't bother any of us, but made it a little messy when we got to Amber's new house because we didn't want to make a mess. Amber had stayed up late too finishing decorating and prepping her house for visitors. After brunch and catching up, the four of us went to see He's Just Not That Into You. It was a good movie but made me want to call Sam when we got out. I guess to confirm that He's Just That Into Me. We did the whole Sunday matinee showing so the tickets were cheaper and the theatre wasn't full.

After Priya dropped Megan and me back off, I only had 1.5 hours to prep supper for Sam. He was coming over at 6 and bringing a movie. So I obviously didn't have any time to go tot he gym. I made Caesar salad and supreme pizza minus mushrooms on Sam's portion. We watched Babel which I don't recommend and couldn't watch again. It was long and drawn out and just not a very nice movie.

Sam and I have plans today to go shopping for clothes for him and apartments. We were worried about the 5"-8" of snow they called for to disrupt those plans. He needs me to help him buy some new gym clothes and maybe some button ups. We were planning on having a lunch date at Chipotle also but postponed that. He called Marshalls and I called all of the apartment places to make sure they are still open. And they are. The apartment leasing offices seemed surprised that I didn't think they would be open with 5 inches of snow on the ground. Well I'm not taking my car anywhere today, so that includes the gym again. Sam said that I could go on a walk outside to make up for it. Megan and I went out for a bit this morning but it was still snowing and the wind was blowing it in our faces so we didn't stay out that long. Sam is going to pick me up soon so we can start our errands for today. He has a jeep cherokee and looks forward to that one day a year that he can use his 4 wheel drive. But our parking lot looks like the snow has melted off of it already. Hopefully he fulfilled his need for driving driving in already this morning because there isn't much left on the road (at least right here) for him to play in.

One length!

Yesterday I did what Sam (says Kenichi) calls a brick run. I biked 10 miles and then went directly (after wiping down my bike and getting a drink of water) to running on the treadmill. I only ran 1.5 miles though because I didn't want to pass out. I then walked another . 5 to cool down. I sped up my run some too because it was going so slow but I don't think that that is the best idea after biking for 10 miles. I decided that I can build up to the 2.5 mile run after the biking later. After watching all the calories that I was burning on the bike and treadmill, I went to Safeway to get some Gatorade to rebuild my electrolytes level. Luckily with my new Safeway card, I was able to get them on sale. Do you know they have different types of Gatorade? Like ones for the morning and for the evening and for after work outs and stuff. I stuck with Rain and the bottles says 'no excuses.' Its berry flavored and a purple/pink color which seemed the most like me. Last night I went to Pilates then to stretch out all my muscles. I skipped the leg kicking portion of the swimming movement and just paddled with my arms so that I wouldn't mess up my swim training.

Surprisingly, my body felt good/fine this morning. I waited till 2 again today to go to the pool in hopes that I would have my own lane to myself. But there were a bunch of high school kids taking up 2 lanes. I asked the front guy how long the 'kids' (I felt weird calling them that because I don't fell like I'm far from their age) were going to be in there and he said they just got in. I struggled but got my cap on using a mirror in the locker room. I found a lane that had a lady in doing laps. The water seemed cooler today and she said that it was only bad for the first 3 minutes which is usually true. I started out using the kick board and doing laps. But even with my feet making splash, I still struggled to get to the end of the pool without having to catch my breath. At one point I think I figured out how to just kick with my knees and not my hips. The lady in my lane would pass me but I got my own lane soon. After warming up with kicking and testing my breathing, I started off to do the real freestyle. But got frustrated after pushing off multiple times but not making it further than 1 stroke before drowning myself. Had another cough/gag moment. I got upset because I was doing worse than last time. I probably could have gotten in trouble for it but I made a big angry splash in the pool out of frustration. And I am usually in the lane closest to the lifeguards so they can probably mock and track my progress. Its been the same 2 guards all the times I've been there and each time I go back with a different outfit; 2 piece-1 piece-1 piece with goggles and finally today; 1 piece with goggles and cap. Since I couldn't go very far I would keep trying and doing little spurts till I made it to the other end of the pool and then come back. I watched other people swimming with ease and it looked like they would go on their side when they took a breath and one woman would breath out of the side of her mouth to prevent water from getting in I guess. I would mix it up with the kick board when I got mad and I was getting ready to get out soon so I decided to do one last lap swimming. I didn't kick off this time because the momentum doesn't help and I never know if I'm supposed to breath out of my nose or mouth (thought about asking the life guard). But this time I started and it got sloppy and I'm sure it wasn't pretty but I made it to the other end without stopping! Yay! I wanted to end on a high note but had to get back to the other end of the pool. I was out of breath though, probably because I actually held my breath and didn't put air into my lungs when i took a breath or Sam would say it was because my legs weren't parallel with the rest of my body. But I can only focus on one thing at a time. And that time it was breathing. So when I started back to the other end, I couldn't make it the whole way because I was out of breath still. I got out then so that I wouldn't try for more and get upset if I failed. Hopefully the stroke clinic instructor can help me with my breathing. Now just 9 more lengths and I'll be ready for April.

Pool, tar and bananas

Just got back from swimming about an hour ago. I spent a little more than a half an hour there this time. I decided to skip body pump tonight to go swimming this afternoon rather than this morning to give my body time to rest. Most of the elderly folks must do their laps in the morning because there were open laps when I got there. I finally had my own lane! I jumped in the pool faster than usual because with the whole swimsuit, theres less skin to touch the water and get cold (except my back). I didn't know how to put my cap on so I had hair in my face. There aren't any instructions on the packaging. I'll go back on Friday and I think I have to put the cap on while my hair is dry. I tried to remember what Sam taught me and to practice each part of the swim. The first few times on the kick board were hard since I didn't have Sam to hold my heavy butt and thighs up. I had to stop a few times during my lap to kick my body back up to the surface. But the last length of the pool I almost made it the whole way focusing on using my core to keep my body up. I'm supposed to keep my legs loose and kick from my knees not my hips which is a problem for me because I've been taking Pilates for 2 years and we are trained to kick with straight legs from the hip. I tried to do the real swim but after about a quarter of a length I would get all caught up and would either start to drink water or keep my head up to catch my breath when it should be back under the water. This is the most frustrating part now, trying to coordinate my breathing and stroke so that I can go a whole length without stopping to spit out water or to catch my breath. I had to do one of those hack coughs in the middle of the lap once and I'm sure the others appreciated it. I did figure out though that I can swim about half a length underwater holding my breath but then when I come up to take a breath I get mixed up and have to stop. I don't think holding my breath the whole time is the best idea. So it took me about 3 tries to get the whole way down the length of the pool this way. I watched other people in the pool and they are like spinning their head all the way around to breath and can go slow. I don't know how they do that. A little boy threw up on the pool deck too. Luckily it wasn't in the pool or I'd probably have to get out. Classes start next week so hopefully that can show me how to coordinate my breathing and stroke. When I took my goggles off, my eyes can't focus on far distances so I would have to look only a few feet in front of me. Its similar to the quality of seeing that you have when you are staring. This can't be good since I have to bike after the swim part of the triathlon. I had to sit down for a few minutes before I got in my car to leave the rec center.

When I left for the rec center, they were doing stuff out in the road. Painting lines and stuff which means they are going to dig or something. When I got home they are pouring asphalt. But we still have water. Mmm, the smell of tar...

I wanted a snack when I got back from the pool so I stopped at Safeway to get some bananas to make a banana split. But I put gym pants on over my suit and had a wet butt area on my pants. I wonder if other shoppers saw that and were concerned. I found the bananas at the store but they were green. I think even more green than Amber likes. Usually theres at least a few that are yellow but there was only one miniature little guy who was yellow. So I pft around and found a hand that had some that were close to yellow. I got cool whip too for it. And I finally asked for a club card so I could take advantage of the discounts. I don't think the guy behind me in the 15 items or less line appreciated the extra time I took. But the problem is that they don't have key ring cards, only a big one. But the cashier told me that I can cut out the bar code and hook that onto my keys.

2 down, swimming to go

My back was tired and I didn't know if it would be a good idea to go run with Annette tonight or not. But Sam said it shouldn't be a problem so I decided to take it easy. Annette and I met at the rec center and all 4 treadmills were taken so we both hopped on a bike. My legs were tired and sore so I had my bike on a low setting just to keep them moving without too much resistance. We weren't biking too long before 2 treadmills became free so we moved over to run. I was planning on running 2 miles today but since I worked out so much today and yesterday, I decided just to run till I wanted to stop. Well I didn't want to stop till I made it 2.5 miles. So much for taking it easy. The treadmill is old though and I kept hitting my fingers on the bar in front of me, cracking my knuckles. I beat Annette done since she was running 5 miles. But she was mad because she doesn't believe the distance on the treadmill.

So I've accomplished my mini triathlon distance on the bike and the treadmill, now just for the swimming part which I realized is 20 lengths of the pool, not 10 like I had thought it was (heavy sigh). I have to swim tomorrow so I was watching the people in the pool tonight as I waited for Annette for examples. There were kids in a swimming class and they were doing pretty well in the free style except for the one little girl in the slow lane. She got passed by other kids in her lane as she struggled to go anywhere with her stroke. I imagine that girl as me.

Watching food network right now and Alton Brown on Good Eats is making shoo-fly pie. Its was created by the Pennsylvania Dutch so he took a little trip to Pennsylvania and gave the brief history of the Pennsylvania Dutch. They aren't from Sweden, or the Netherlands, but are German (deutsch) who left their country for religious persecution. Just some history for those who didn't understand my Fastnacht day.

body sculpt

I was planning on going to pilates tonight and a run on the treadmill this morning but Annette asked if I wanted to go to the rec center tonight while she ran. So I rearranged my schedule and found that my gym had a Body Sculpt class this morning at 10:30. I read the description and it seemed like that would be a decent alternative to Pilates and that way I can run later with Annette. Well the class was more like a mild version of Body Pump and you need coordination and balance for it. There are a few older ladies in it so I felt a little weird. We did squats, lunges, abs, chest presses, biceps and tricep dips as well as other things. And she stuck a little pilates type stretching onto the end. My body was tired from my work outs yesterday and so I was looking forward to pilates stretching me out. But instead I worked my muscles again. Hopefully they can recover for my swim tomorrow morning. My head kind of hurts now. I better hydrate up for tonight and I think i'll have a Boost too for energy.

I still cant find my weight lifting gloves. I looked in my car and they weren't in there. I'm not giving up on the though. Unless I left them at the gym and they were thrown out of the lost and found before I looked in it last night for them.

I'm finding that my unemployment checks are not keeping my checking count at a comfortable level and I don't want to start dipping into my savings. So the gym is looking to hire a membership sales person. I don't have any sales experience but I am 'fitness oriented/focused' and if the job pays enough, I might take it. I was going to talk to the gym manager after my class this morning but she wasn't in. So I'll send her an email about it to see what the hours and pay and responsibilities are.

Fastnacht Day

Went home on Saturday morning for Fastnacht Day. Sam and Annette joined us to help us 'celebrate' the holiday. It was a tiring day because we made 3 batches of donuts. Sam is concerned he is going to get fat from eating them. We made the typical glazed as well as cinnamon and sugar coated and Dad melted chocolate icing to ice a few. Grandma kept count and I think we made around 200. But we made holes as well as the regular donuts so I'm not sure if that includes holes or not. I was planning on taking a bike ride to get some kind of training in but it was cold so Sam and I went on a short 4-wheeler ride around the yard. After the nap that followed making donuts, we headed over to Heidi and Brian's house for supper and to celebrate Brian's birthday. We ate a lot there too and then played a game of Clue. Its actually a fun game. I was worried that it would be like monopoly and takes days to play but we played 2 rounds before leaving. I won the second round. Sam headed back down on Saturday night but Annette stayed and went to church with us on Sunday. The three of us came back down to NOVA on Sunday afternoon.

This morning I went to Sam's gym with him to practice swimming. I had all my swim apparel this time. The pool was small but the water was 84 degrees which is slightly warmer than my pool and they were playing classical music for entertainment. There were some discouraging moments but Sam showed me all the proper techniques so that once I get better at kicking and breathing and floating, I'll be able to tie them all together to swim. My problem now is that my bottom half sinks and I get a lot of water in my mouth and nose because I haven't figured out how to syncronize my breathing and strokes. We actually spent 45 minutes in the pool and then hopped in the hot tub before leaving.

I also went to body pump tonight but my legs were tired. And I can't find my weight lifting gloves that Sam got me for my birthday so that is a little upsetting. Tomorrow I'll do some cardio and pilates. Then its back to the pool on Wednesday.

Quitting and Donuts

Yesterday I went to the gym to ride a bike since I skipped body pump last night to go to happy hour. But I wasn't very motivated. I had decided to watch news in the morning because I have been sticking with HGTV and Food Network for a while and haven't been up to date on my current events. That was a bad idea though because I heard that the unemployment rate is going to increase till 2011. Which put me in a bad/upset mood and I didn't feel motivated to workout. So I'm going to go back to watch HGTV and the Food Network again.

A former co-worker, Theresa came up from Florida yesterday for work so we gathered people to go out to happy hour. It was fun and everyone stayed around till after 10 which surprised me since most of them had to go to work this morning. I didn't have to go to work but I did have to go to the pool.

My swimsuit hadn't arrived yet so I put on my two piece once again. Sam told me to focus on using a boogie board and kicking. I didn't hesitate too long before jumping in the pool. I took off on my boogie board but didn't make it a quarter of a lap when I realized that I wasn't going forward anymore. So I walked back to the wall and tried again. The same thing happened. I was still kicking but not moving. Frustrated, annoyed and upset, I got out of the pool, got dressed and went up to the front desk to see if I could get my money back for the stroke clinic class because I didn't want to swim anymore. I can get my money back if I write a letter. I called Sam upset when I got home and told him that I am quitting the triathlon. He said I'm not and that when he goes to the pool with me on Monday and helps me and when I start my classes it will get easier. But I don't like getting in the pool enough to motivate me to get in it just to get upset and go no where each time.

I sulked for most of the afternoon and my swimsuit, goggles and caps arrived. I tried on the suit but it gives me a double butt. You know, the suit cuts my cheeks in half giving me 4 butt cheeks. Not sure if I should return it and get a bigger size or not. I told Sam I will try it on for him to get his opinion but I bet I already know what it is. My old camera arrived today also from Olympus. I was hoping to use my old memory card in my new camera, but come to find out, the new camera takes a different kind of card. If I knew that I could have gotten a card last week and have taken more than 8 pictures. I'll get a new memory card tonight so I can take lots of pictures this weekend when Sam comes home with us for Fasnacht Day , a Pennsylvania Dutch holiday celebrated on Fat Tuesday when they make donuts to use up all their fat and grease before Lent. Megan is also bring her friend Annette up who wants to see the country. This should be fun.

Uncomfortable responses

I went to the gym with Sam this morning. I ran a bit on the treadmill and then we did his ab circuit. He is going to take me to his (other) gym on Monday where there is a pool to show me how to properly do the freestyle so I'm not wasting all my energy doing 1 lap badly. Apparently I have to put my head underwater without getting water up my nose. We'll see about that. I told him he has to confirm that the water temperature is at least 82 degrees or I wont get in it. I don't think he will though. His friend (who's gf is the one who started this whole mini tri thing) and his roommate are planning on doing our super sprint triathlon with us. This means more pressure on my to finish it and on Sam to do his fast.

When I got home there was a 'boil your water ban lifted' news press stuck in my door. Finally. I had to skip body pump tonight to go to an ASLA happy hour/open house where I thought I might hear about a job opening. Shivanee decided to come along earlier this week. She attended a job fair at UMD this afternoon but there were no firms hiring l.a.s. And instead of going home and then coming down here later, she came straight to my place to wait for the open house. But unlike last time, neither of us napped today. We drank our fair share of free alcohol and responded uncomfortably to the 'where do you work?' questions. I knew a good amount of people there and former coworkers so I was able to be sociable and enjoy myself. Only on the way out did we get a job tip. Shivanee and I shared a half chicken dinner and then I brought her back to my place so she could go home (or somewhere else). I have another happy hour tomorrow so I have to reschedule my gym workouts. Shivanee is considering making tomorrow a repeat of today and might come hang out with me again and then attend happy hour.

Gerber baby

I picked Megan up at the airport last night at 10 and when we returned home we had no water...again. So I went out to the hole that the guys were still digging in and the foreman saw me and said "She's pissed again." He said that the water should only be off for a few minutes this time and definitely not be an all day thing like Sunday. He said something like "Lord help me" or something like that. I told him I wanted to make sure because my sister had to shower. Luckily I had already showered. So he sent his apologies to my sister. But it was after our bedtime so I told Megan to shower in the morning. I was awoken at 1am this morning with a lot of noise coming from the pipes. If I didnt assume it was the water coming back on, I would have thought that someone was trying to break in. It was more like a few hours and not a few minutes for the water to come back on as he stated. But we have had water all day today and I haven't seen the work crew at all.

I went to the pool by myself this morning. It was less crowded so I got in the first lane where it wasn't reserved for just swimming laps. There was an older lady with some noodles doing water aerobics in the lane with me. And in the entry ramp next to my lane was a mother and her 2 kids. One was a boy about 5 years old and the other one was an adorable baby girl who I will estimate is somewhere between 12 and 18 months. I want to kidnap her. She kind of looks like the Gerber baby with a round face, strawberry blond hair, rosy cheeks and blue eyes. She had a little swimsuit on with a ruffle and liked to climb in and out of the pool and splash and 'talk' like a little person. I told her mother she is adorable and she replied that she is a hand full. She helped to motivate me to do my laps so when I got back to the end I could make faces at her. I wanted to get a long swim practice in today but couldn't do more than 1 lap continuously. And I would go to the end of the lane and stand for a bit to catch my breath and do it again. As I got tired my form would get bad and I would drink water. On my last lap my body gave up on so I made it back to the end of the pool swimming on my back. I only spent about 15 minutes there but I wanted to spend atleast 30 minutes there. I squeezed the baby's fat thigh as I walked by her family to get out of the pool. I'll have to keep increasing my cardio so I can breath easier in the pool. And hopefully my swimming gear and stroke clinic will help too. I need to be able to do 10 laps, not one.

I made lasagna this afternoon before Pilates and am about ready to bake it. I bought an oven thermometer today because I am positive that the oven doesn't heat to as hot as it says it does. I've tried to make a few meals lately and have had to bake them for twice as long as the recipe says to make sure that it is baked thoroughly. Well I just preheated the oven to 375 and the preheat buzzer went off. But the thermometer says the oven is only 275. That is off by 100 degrees! No wonder my meals have been taking so long to cook. But I'll fix it now with my correct thermometer.

"Water Main Break"

(a continuation/update from yesterdays blog) Sam and I had our Valentines date last night and I wanted to shower at 4 to get ready. I hadn't heard too much noise outside from the work being done in the road so I checked for water but still had none. So I put on sneakers and a sweater and stormed out to the hole they were digging. I asked the foreman when were going to have water again. He explained to me that they still had to dig more and replace the pipe. So I asked 'not for a while?' He said not for a few more hours. Angrily I packed a bag with shower supplies and my tooth brush and went to the gym where the water pressure was surprisingly good and it reminded me of college. Sam picked me up around 6 and we were going to stay at my place after supper unless there was still no water. When we got back at 11 pm, they were still working in the street and there was a 'boil your water' letter stuck in my door. I checked and still had no water. Its ironic that they would tell us to boil our water even though we didn't have any water to boil. They are still doing work in the street but we have water again. It would have been nice if they gave us notice or some kind of information yesterday morning to let us know for how long they estimated we would be without water. Especially since it was a Sunday and most people don't work and because people might need to work today and would appreciate taking a shower for work. Yes I am bitter because there was similar work within the past month which cause me to be without water for a few hours on a weekday without notice. I want to do laundry and dishes today but don't know if the water will stain my clothes and if the dish washer will leave bacteria on my dishes.

On another note. Sam gave me a Snuggie for Valentines day last night in addition to the baby rose and box of chocolates on Saturday. A Snuggie comes in very handy for me since I do a lot of lounging these days. We went to Faccia Luna where there was a wait. We weren't expecting so many people on a Sunday night. After dinner we met up with one of Sam's friends and his gf for drinks and that place was busy too. Finally we figured out that people were out because today is a holiday and people have off. If I was still at my former employer, I would have to work today though.

Digging A-holes!

They are digging in the street again and it's SUNDAY. So after I used the bathroom this morning I realized they cut off our water when I went to wash my hands. It wasn't too long ago that they had it shut off before without notifying us residents. At least that time was a weekday when most people would be at work. Lucky for me this time, I brushed my teeth at Sam's this morning. I was tempted to ask 'when are you idiots going to be done?' but instead I speed by them in my car.

I decided to go on my run at the gym this morning for a change and because it is cooler and because I didn't want to give the guys who turned off my water any excitement. My goal was to run 1 whole mile without stopping. It took me a while to get the settings on my treadmill right and I still didn't have them the way I wanted but I ended up running 1.5 miles easily. I walked a little more to cool down then. Some girl a few treadmills down from me threw up. But none of the people next to me seemed to mind or get sick themselves.

I returned home to eat a turkey sandwich and then wash my hands with a Lysol wipe because my fingers were messy and I have nothing else to wash them with. Watching Star Wars 1 now. I never was into Star Wars but saw the one with the teddy bears when we were younger and it is something that I can hopefully fall asleep too. I haven't been able to take naps lately and tonight is Sam and my Valentines date so I want to have energy for tonight. I've created my mini triathlon training schedule and the last thing to do is to pick out my suit. Found a good website and sent it to Sam to help me pick out a style. I need to pick it today so it will come before my first stroke clinic class in March.

I'm (and Sam) supposed to be in St. Pete Beach, FL this weekend attending a friend's wedding today but once i got laid off, I cancelled my plans. I picked out a card this morning for them though. A lot of the wedding cards reference me attending the wedding and 'today' so they were no good. I ended up getting a pretty valentines card which works great and Sam signed his own name for the first time in 4 weddings which we gave a gift together.