Birthday Trains and Firetrucks
My nephew’s birthday is this weekend and we are going for a party. I always get the best presents. Mostly because my sister buys the thing he wants and then I give her money. She loves to shop and I really don’t. Then she wraps it up and calls to tell me how much. She left me a message last night, so I’m all done!
His favorite things at the moment are trains and firetrucks, which is so like me, because I love firefighters and guys in uniforms! I bring it up because I created an awesome play list on his behalf. I thought of it while I was doing the traveling roads one and now I have an excellent excuse to roll it out today! It’s sunny and 80° here in Chicago. Throw on some cute shorts and run your lazy butt down past the firehouse, we have exercising to do.
In honor of my nephew and our shared interests, here is:
It’s hot.
And because there was so many darn songs, I threw in a little “Extra Heat”
FYI, I know you want to know…he’s going to be four (4) this weekend.
(Firefighters are still hot, even if he doesn’t care.)
Dinosaurs Alive!
We were there. It was awesome. Dinosaurs are cool. It’s the new exhibit at Brookfield Zoo. Took pictures and posted them below.
The signs around the area are hilarious and I love them. I’m using this one to make a t-shirt so I don’t forget what I’m trying to do…
Registered!
To go to school! It’s official and all that good stuff!
I sat on my couch until 12 Noon and then drove to the school. The Orientation/Registration wasn’t until one, but I didn’t want to be late for any reason. Now, that might sound crazy to you, but I was not the first one. There was probably 10 or more people waiting already! Freaks alive! We are a nervous bunch! But I’ll tell you, from my personal experience alone, I worked my ass off for three years going to work all day, and school at night. I studied until all hours and weekends and breaks at work. I got the best grades I could and the highest scores. I cried tears over this stuff, just to get to THIS point. Now I have two more years of specific nursing studies and I can’t relax now!
I pretty much burned up 3½ hours of adrenaline, nerves and sweat at the school registering, paying, filling out all the forms, and buying uniforms and books. I was shaking so bad I could barely hand the cashier my money. I checked and double checked everything I might need before I left. I have to start class next week and I have no room for error. Walking out of the school, down the steps, towards my car, after it was all over, I called the BF to tell him I was official, and I could barely leave the message. Once I got to the point of being scheduled and paid for, I was crying. I hung up and just let it flow. It was 80 degrees outside and sunny as hell and I felt relieved and happy. Sunshine and tears were burning my eyes and itching my cheeks and maybe I looked kind of strange, but it’s ok. There’s enough sad things to cry over, for sure, so when something is overwhelmingly good and it’s something that you really really wanted and got…then when else can you cry?
So, in the end, I went home and waited for my kids and BF and my second brother and wife and we went and ate pizza and drank beer! It was a lovely end to the day!
And as an extra bonus, I got an awesome body massage from the BF after the kids were in bed! Unexpected and sooooo nice and a happy ending. It was a good night.
That’s enough mush for now. I have to go and stare at my very first actual nursing textbook; Contemporary Nursing: Issues, Trends & Management, some more. I’m sure I’ll dread even looking at all my books in about 6 months, but for now, I just want to carry it around and keep it close.
After that, (the book is sitting next to me on the couch), I have to run over to the Target and buy like, 5 more alarm clocks, so I’m not late going to classes.
Alright, that’s really all about it. Mindless posting for the rest of the day and week until I can’t find the time to do it anymore. I’ll probably go run at some point too. Gotta keep up the training and it burns nervous energy.
Thanks for hanging through the goo until the end!
Thinking about…
Being good…
Monday morning and the weekend is over. Kids are at school and BF is at work. It’s pretty here in the big city and I have been up since 4:30 a.m. thinking about the future. And the past. And the right now. Got a big cup of coffee, checked some e-mail, and wasted as much time as I could until…
6 a.m. when I worked out with Jillian for 45. Circuit training. I am so bad at this type of exercise. I think that I am so strong until I have to prove it with various exercise positions using weights and bending and lifting, and then I realize I am weak and kinda lazy. Plus, my heart is beating out of control, I’m sweaty, my arms and legs hurt, I can barely drink my coffee and I think…yeah right…this just is a lot of WORK!
I, far and away, prefer running. It’s easy and I can go slow or fast. I choose the lazy level. I mean, I prefer it, but I’d rather do neither. I wish I was one of those naturally tall, skinny people that eat french fries and say, “Oh I’m so hungry; I forget to eat all the time; I just get so thin if I don’t eat at least 8 meals a day…blah blah blah.”
But at least I am healthy-er…and I do feel like a bad-ass after I lift those weights. I like seeing the bicep muscle. Round and cut like a little scoop of ice cream sitting on the top of my upper arm. I like the round shoulder and the tight back; Unfortunately sitting on the couch just doesn’t develop the look I want. And speaking of the look….
Let’s go WILD! Run Wild! It’s over. The day started, raining, at 6 a.m. when we left the house. By the time we got to the start line at 8 it was warming up, rain stopped, and the sun even came out. My sister and I finished at the exact same time. One minute faster than our last 5K in December. Took us 33 minutes. That probably doesn’t sound super fast for 3 miles, and it’s not. It’s actually slow. It’s mid way through the usual pack that signs up. But I’m not racing to win, maybe next year…it’s alot of time to shave off and train for speed. I can run a fast mile, but not 3 in a row! But the Zoo was awesome, the animals were out, and the people were friendly and happy to have us.
The only thing I was wrong about was the ease of the actual running. I thought it would be a breeze because we were running in the zoo. Like it wouldn’t be like running at all. “Wooh-hoo we’re in the zoo!! I’m just running and looking at the animals!!–Oh! is the race over already?? Didn’t even feel like 3 miles!”
No, not quite. The zoo is cool, but running three miles is still running three miles. Doesn’t matter where you’re at, you still have to MOVE.
So next up…Warrior Dash! This is the reason why I got my lazy butt up and out of bed at ungodly hours to do exercise and why, hopefully, I will get up all week and do more of this “circuit training” and keep running in the afternoons. The Dash is about 4 miles, plus obstacle course work; so I’m going to need a little more in the trunk to haul it up and over cars and buildings and stuff. And I need to step up on the diet front. I have been eating far too much junk. I even feel kind of sick from it all. So it’s back on a combo of Extreme Fat Smash (click on it for a review) See the Book, HERE, and Body For Life. (Site) It’s all low-fat, lower cal, protein and carb balance type eating. I like to mix them up and find the perfect mix of healthy and weight loss. I want to drop about 20 more pounds before I tackle the Dash. It’ll be alot easier to throw myself over things if there is less of me to lift up. Better on my legs too, and I’ll look really ripped! Ha. Pre-first-marriage weight here I come. Gotta have something to aim for! I’ll keep a little running list for you’re amusement. Right now: Pounds lost: ZERO (0). Haha. 9 (full) weeks to go! Wish me Luck! (And my sissy too! –and her hubby–she’s doing it with me. It’s how we’re spending her birthday! It’s not all just exercise–there’s beer at the end and a cool hat!)
Anyway, after that we’ll be doing the Scenic 5 (five mile run) in the town I live in. It used to be 10 miles, but the town changed it for some reason or another, and now it’s 5 miles. Either way, it’s in September, Labor Day Weekend, so we will have an event a month to keep us in training for the fall. (And that’s how we’ll be spending MY birthday! Aren’t we a fun family?!?) I’ve done the 10 miles and it’s hard. I figure five has got to be a little better and I’ll actually be fit this time around so I won’t feel like I’m dying! Next year we are planning on tackling the bigger races—the ones that use words like, marathon…and tri-athalon….and insane distances….
Well, that’s enough I for now. I ate my first meal; Yogurt and a measured bit of granola. Now I must vacuum and get to the store for groceries and things for the week. Kids need lunches and the BF and I need our specific foods. The Body For Life and Extreme Fat Smash (click on it for another review) plans use regular food that we all eat, just modified for us. Eggs, milk, bread, chicken…it’s the same food, cooked leanly and with rice instead of potatoes. The kids eat it too, I just tweak it down (or up) in portion and fat content for the ones who need it. That was a diplomatic way of description. I’ll have to remember that for the future.
I made up a real nice playlist series too…being good, being bad…made me think of angels, devils, God and hell…But to combine them all gives you a 99 song playlist—which is fine–I like them long—but for typing sake I broke them up into categories for specific flavors. You can pick your best (or worst) or combine them all for yourself. The categories are these:
Posted below just because that’s how I do it. Strangely, there are few songs about God. He/She/It/They, might be mentioned in some, but it’s hardly the star subject. People seem to like Heaven and Angels and they like the Bad Guys, however you call them. Makes better music right?? And you can dance to it.
Ready, Set…Go!
Final Training Day
Sorry I haven’t posted anything for awhile, but I have been in intensive training mode since yesterday after my mom left my house. It’s Thursday night and let me re-cap my pre-race week:
Ran Tuesday afternoon: 3.6 miles.
Ok. That’s it. I ate like crap Tuesday night. I ate crap Wednesday. (It was pouring anyway, and I planned to skip the run so as not to fatigue myself or cause undo injury–fancy race talk). I even had Starbuck’s with my mom in sympathy for her ailments. (But, I did have it skinny with no whip–wimpy–I hate it when the healthy habit follows you around even when you don’t want it to)
Since the BF went out with friends and work people, I took the kids to McDonald’s, on the condition, by Stevie, that since Mason got to pick Wednesday, she could pick Thursday, which she picked Friday’s. And that worked out well for all of us and it makes a nice string-together sentence. Poetic. Wednesday, Thursday, Friday….
So you see the schedule I set for myself. Rigorous. So McD’s (dinner) is Big Mac, Fries, Sprite with a few nuggets for good measure. Then the Blues Brothers movie. Two hours of digestion. Then on to my playlists. I was working for you behind the scenes, as they say.
Thursday AM and I had every intention of getting up and exercising with my main girl Jillian Michaels. Don’t be fooled by the “beginning” aspect to this tape I have, my arms are getting rounder and cut and I do this workout much less than I want to. But the BF doesn’t have to go in to work until later today, so everybody sleeps until the last possible moment.
I did walk the kids to school—so I got that. However, I think I might have canceled that out, plus some, when I got in the car back home and drove to McDonald’s (again–but breakfast–notice the distinction) for some of those delicious Burrito’s for myself and a Sausage McMuffin sammy for the BF. Every good deed ya know??
So then after the BF left for work, I watched Regis and Kelly, as usual, and then 50 First Dates. I’m sorry, but I am a sucker for that movie. That KIND of movie. Funny, romantic, but not overly mushy, dramatic, unbelievable, blah blah blah. I know, but the time just ran away after that. Those movies on tv with commercials take like 3½ hours to watch. What was I supposed to do? Quit? I already committed. Love stinks.
So, I just did laundry and paid bills and goofed on the internet. Finished up another playlist—you all are so lucky. You could run for miles on what I got in the hopper. By this time, the BF was home. Short day.
So finally, one hour before the kids are due home, I got some of that… “exercise”, if I ain’t being too subtle. (That’s actually a borrowed phrase from the D-listed guy—love him!) But I did get in a workout. (Like a double work out, really, because the BF’s friend kept calling until he picked it up–start and stop–start and stop, etc…)
Kids are home now. Homework done. Off to Friday’s, as promised, on Thursday. I ordered the low-fat lettuce leaf with spritz of vinagrette and a lemon water….yeah right. I had some new Cosmo Margarita that trendy place came up with, and paid TEN dollars for it. NOT worth it! It’s basically a weak-ass Margarita with cranberry juice. They bring it out in a giant Cocktail shaker–packed with ice and pink liquid and let you pour it yourself. I got 2 “drinks” out of the Tumbler thing, into my smaller glass, HALF rimmed with salt…but whatever…Lesson learned. Stick to straight shots in the car before going inside and you’ll do a lot better.
My food was Mac N’ Cheese. Ultimate Showdown Style. I like Guy Fieri, and the whole Friday’s concept, I’m even a Give Me More Stripes member…I don’t know what I get, but I include it every time I pay, and I get e-mails every now and then. Maybe you have to go every week or something to really reap the benefits…I’ll never know. Anyway, the only reason I ordered Mac N’ Cheese is because I saw Sunny Whats-Her-Name make her best Mac n Cheese EVER on her Food Network show. So I already had that in my head when I saw it on the menu. Not great. Sunny’s looked better. Oh well, the little Spicy Pumpkin Mini Muffins were good. I shoved them in my mouth and dinner was over.
Tomorrow looks to be more of the same. I can’t run because I am chaperoning a field trip for my daughter. Eli’s Cheesecake Factory! Part of the final lesson on Economics and the Business Fair. A tour of a real, successful business! And we get lunch and cheesecake…so what am I to do? I have to go and participate. Haha.
Actually, we’ve known about this for awhile and I am glad I get to go. I was worried that with my unknown school schedule I would have to miss it, but luckily that madness starts NEXT week!! I am bursting for real!!
So back to now, it’s 10 pm. I’ll just Run Wild on Saturday–no big deal–I’ve been running enough that 3 miles is hardly a sweat-breaker. I seriously never thought I would be able to say that in my whole life. To just be fit enough to run at will. That’s a good thing because the Warrior Dash is after that, and I do have to train a teensy bit more…so more extra buffness is in my future.
I’ve given my fingers a pre-typing warm up tonight with a few games of Bejeweled. The Gem Game. I love it. I used to love it until 3 in the morning. It’s actually what I used to do all night before I started doing this.
My BF reconfigured the code on the game so that he could get 1.3 million points in Action Mode by increasing the points you get with each gem line you make. Then he changed it back and I have been struggling ever since to beat him fair and square using my advanced gemming skills. And I did it tonight! One million six hundred thousand, plus, points! HA! No cheating! Just an eye for the colors and fast reflexes. It’s good to be the Queen.I should go put those fast fingers to use somewhere else…
Maybe later. I have things to throw on the internet. Cool Words, Quotes, Picture Dictionary, another Story from my son! An action one!
But first, a playlist. I’ve had it for a bit now. I created it for my daughter and her friends. Ten years old and just learning how to navigate the phone-call-answering-machine-voice-mail-conference-call thing.
Two of Stevie’s friends called here, together, using 3-way calling, when we weren’t home, and proceeded to leave six, (6), yes, six, long-ass messages on our answering machine. Apparently calling six times in a row is the way to get someone to pick up the phone even if they’re not there. It wouldn’t have been so bad if they just hung up, but they had conversations with each other while still hooked to our phone.
I’m actually surprised the answer machine tape, recorded all of the calls. It was like 20 minutes of talking. Her two friends talked about going to the library and where they were each at, with the occasional shout out to Stevie like, “Hey girl, are you there? Pick up the phone!” Then right back to their conversation. At one point, the first girl asked the second girl how long it had been since she actually CALLED Stevie on this number. And when the second girl said a few months, the first girl was like, “OH Dang–this might not even be her number!!” But do they hang up? No! They go on to tell us what numbers they are calling from and how they can be reached for the rest of the night.
It basically ended with the first girl telling the second girl, and I quote: “Khatana, you ain’t fly.” Then crazy, crazy laughter and finally, “Stevie call me.”
CLICK.
Thank God.
So, long story short, for all Stevie’s home girls that think they are cute, this is for you:
Khatana, You Ain’t Fly!
It’s Wednesday, so it must be raining again.
And it is! What a shock. They said 70’s with storms later in the day, but it has been raining since early morning. The only variation is how hard it’s raining at any one time. Ooh–Update! Thunder and lightning now!
Plus, I had to take my mom to the doc again, and it likes to rain on those days too. Chicago was doomed from dawn.
Mom is done. I am not running today. Only 3 more days to Run Wild. I’ll probably do another quick run tomorrow and hang it up for the week…It’s not like I’m going to get any faster. Watch the diet and avoid alcohol and I should be fine for Saturday morning!
Anyway, I’m home, sitting in the rainy-day-dark and getting ready to post my son’s story. He wrote me a story! It will be scanned and then translated for you to read. I just finished watching a Stevie Nicks mini-concert on the television so I can get back to work here. Busy busy… She’s my favorite in case you were wondering…my daughter’s name might have been a clue, but you never know—depends on your age and musical persuasion.
Anyhow, Mason first, with the story.
Then Stevie, with my very favorite homework assignment she gets: Picture Dictionary!! It’s words and definitions that she has to draw pictures for. I think it’s cool and so creative. She thinks they’re terrible. Either way, they’re all scanned in and ready to go.
Music later. I have a good play list too—dedicated to my daughter’s hilarious friends…I’ll work it in somewhere.
Story below:
Mother of the Year
Well, I have to hurry. My son will be home in a few minutes and he has to go and cut the BF’s Mom’s grass…?? Anyway, since he has been working so hard cutting three lawns weekly and keeping up with school and basketball, and only complaining very minimally, I thought I would help him out today and cut our back grass.
Yes, very helpful. As I was cutting our grass, like I used to do all the time, I seem to have broken the automatic drive on the mower. That’s the part that spins the front wheels to make cutting a little easier. Moves the machine forward for you, and you just keep it straight.
Well, that part doesn’t work anymore, and I couldn’t fix it.
As a bonus, though, I got quite a workout, since that mower is extremely heavy and hard to push around our hilly lawn. Yay me.
And now my son will have a chance to work extra hard today because of me. I don’t know, maybe he can fix it. Maybe the BF can later.
At any rate, it doesn’t matter for the present moment because it don’t work NOW!
So, I thought I’d just post another running list while I wait for the wrath of my 11-year old dynamo.
I should have just went running for exercise like I planned and left the yard work to the boy. This is the Run Wild specific list. It’s long because I combined Wild and Crazy and the Jungle into one list. Wasn’t sure how many songs there would be. Turns out, ALOT.
Here it is: Running Wild & Crazy (Possibly in the Jungle)
Is It Just Me?
Or does this ad for Reebok seem a little…wrong??
This was in Glamour Magazine, and probably other ones, but it seems like the ad agency/Reebok might have been trying too hard to be…hip? relevant? finger-on-the-pulse of single ladies…or marrieds (whatever)…doing the “WALK OF SHAME” ??? Or was it a joke…slip it in and see if anyone notices?
I don’t know. It’s probably just me…but that line seems REALLY out of place.
Monday. All is well in Tree-velle
Mother Nature saw fit to spare my trees and me this year of throwing off any more of their limbs into my back yard. Maybe it’s because I already have a forest of limbs ready to cut up; or maybe I’ve been extra good; or maybe, the Rotation of the Earth, Atmosphere, and Global Warming just couldn’t muster up enough high velocity wind to knock any down this weekend; (???) Whatever the reason, I feel relieved. It takes me all summer to get rid of what is already there…just in time for next year….but we won’t go there right now.
As for the other Mother…me…my day rocked from top to bottom and is rolling on today. Sounds corny. Looks corny typed but I’m having writing issues. I’m working on it with a Miller Lite and some leftover pizza. Stay until the end of the post, it should be real good and sappy.
Where I left off: Sat. PM.: Waiting for Mom and sister. They arrived, and we went to the restaurant. The food was not as great as it could have been for the money, but it was gigantic! Please click on the food item to see a snapshot of said entreé:
QUEEN FILET w/ GIANT VEGETABLES
The Dirty Martini, I had, however, was excellent. Skyy Vodka and Bleu Cheese Olives–(yum–not gross like you would think)
We gave the Mom our present–digital camera–now everyone on Earth finally has one!
I gave my sissy her little present: CLICK HERE!! She’s so silly.
We ate, we drank, we went home. I went to bed.
Sunday: Kids are delivered to me by their other Aunty (Dad’s side) who had a 6-month Halloween Party–fully decorated, scary movies, costumes, etc…she’s a bit of a loony…Saturday night. I was immediately given my Mother’s Day presents; two gifts my children could barely keep a secret since buying them for me on Thursday night.
Drum-roll please….a Candy/Chocolate Pizza… AND… a Toaster!
It doesn’t look like much typed out, but believe me, when I unwrapped the big box handed to me by my son, a toaster was the LAST thing I was expecting to see. I laughed so hard I was crying. The reason it was funny is because the toaster we have, (had), just started toasting weird this past week, like Monday. It burned one side and didn’t cook the other. My son was not happy. He likes perfectly toasty toast. But he never even said anything. Then 6 days later–there it was: New toaster! It’s ingenious. His poor girlfriend/wife.
Anyway, that picture is below. I was told that I keep posting the same pics so I need to get more creative. Thanks boyfriend! Helpful criticism is always appreciated.
After the presents we went to the Monee Reservoir in Monee, IL and fished for a few hours. It was windy and chill and kept trying to rain on us. The BF is the only one that caught a fish. Picture here: BLACK CRAPPIE
We over-enthusiastically bought two boxes of NightCrawlers (in the fridge–yuk) and a dozen minnows. The guy gave us alot more though, so we took them home and fed them to the Oscars. An exciting day for all of us!
Then we motored on over to El Famous Burrito. Very delicious guacamole and the BEST Chicken Quesadilla. It’s not on the menu so you have to ask for it specifically–but it’s the best thing they have there! Especially if you get it later in the day, with all the soaked chicken in that magic red grease juice. My kids love it with fries…
Night time. Bed time. School time…moving into Monday AM: As soon as my kids were dropped off I zoomed over to the post office to pick up my very important Certified Letter. I missed the damn thing by a few hours on Saturday:
My acceptance into Nursing School for Fall!! Thank god. Four more semesters and I’m done. Four more really tough semesters. I’ve been going to school part-time, work in the day, school at night, for the last three years to get to this point…the adventure begins….
Kids, if you are reading this…go to school RIGHT AWAY. How ever you can get there! Do not get a full time job (unless it’s like 100K +), get married, have 2 kids, get divorced, turn 40 and THEN decide that maybe school is the way to go. It’s do-able when you are older but easier when you are younger. Please, please, please, listen to me!!
So, I got my letter. I’ve read and re-read the thing 100 times. Took pictures. Stared at it while waiting for the BF’s Mom at the doctor’s office, and thought about it the whole time I ran around the Forest Preserve Trail today; 3.6 miles of happiness. Not SO hard to get around this time…
And here I am. Finishing this. Beer is almost done. One last drink….It might not seem like much, to some, but it is for me. I’m going to be a nurse.
Here is my playlist for the day. Used it today. It’s called, “Pretty Beautiful.”
That’s just about right.
Happy Mother’s Day
Saturday version.
Wind was howlin’ a few hours ago and I was worried, as I always am on Mother’s Day Weekend.
The trees in my backyard tend to shed their limbs on this weekend EVERY SINGLE YEAR. Not exaggerating. It’s been going on for at least 8 years now. Sometimes the branches are relatively small and scatter across the grass. Sometimes they can be medium and fall on the neighbors garage or across her driveway onto her house. OR, they can be Large–like half a tree—and drop the entire length of my backyard taking the electric, phone and cable lines with them, as pictured above.
My “garden” is now a Zen Stick Retreat, where I go every summer to saw big branches into smaller pieces until they fit into the yard-waste bin and/or fire pit until they are all gone. The chance of new limbs falling is equally proportionate to the amount of sticks already on the pile. The greater the sticks already on the ground, the smaller the new ones will be. So I try to get rid of them s.l.o.w.l.y…
Eventually my three big trees will be three big trunks and I won’t have to worry anymore. Except for maybe lightening….take them down right at ground level. But that hardly ever happens…haha (nervous chuckle) Right?
Breakfast with the BF Mom is over and dinner is up next with my Mom. We are enjoying palate-cleansing Peanut M&M’s until my sister and mother arrive for the drive to the restaurant. The wind has died down and it’s still now…but there’s one more day to go.
I’ll update tomorrow and let you know if the tree-trend continues… Gaze upon the picture below of my stick pile. Feel the tranquility and enjoy the rest of your evening.
just shy of pretty 