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:
Running Wild & Crazy (Possibly in the Jungle)
1. Welcome To The Jungle / Guns N’ Roses
2. Crazy Train / Ozzy Osbourne
3. Crazy Bitch / Buckcherry (NC-17)
4. Crazy / Aerosmith
5. Crazy / Gnarls Barkley
6. Crazy In Love / Beyoncé feat. Jay-Z
7. Crazy / Patsy Cline
8. She Drives Me Crazy / Fine Young Cannibals
9. You’re Crazy / Guns N’ Roses
10. Crazy Little Thing Called Love / Dwight Yoakam
11. Crazy For You / Madonna
12. Crazy Ex-Girlfriend / Miranda Lambert
13. Crazy / Pat Benatar
14. Let’s Go Crazy / Prince
15. Crazy / Seal
16. Crazy / Simple Plan
17. I’ve Always Been Crazy / Stargunn
18. Crazy On You / Heart
19. Jungleland / Bruce Springsteen
20. Real Wild Child (Wild One) / Iggy Pop
21. Deuces Are Wild / Aerosmith
22. Wild Horses (Live) / Alicia Keys & Adam Levine
23. Wild World / Cat Stevens
24. Wild Night / Martha Reeves
25. Wild Heart / Stevie Nicks
26. Wildfire / Michael Murphey
27. All The Wild Horses / Ray LaMontagne
28. Wild Thing / Tone-Loc
29. Wild Horses / The Rolling Stones
30. Youth Gone Wild / Skid Row
31. Wild Wild Life / Talking Heads
32. The Girl’s Gone Wild / Travis Tritt
33. Wild Night / John Mellencamp
34. Born To Be Wild / Steppenwolf (but I have The Mooney Suzuki version)
35. Wild Thing / The Troggs
36. Jungle Love / Steve Miller Band
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.
Running Mild on an equally gorgeous day in Illinois
It’s Friday. If you read my post from Thursday, you’ll remember that I was running wild yesterday. Today, not so much. My playlist:
is awesome. But not enough. The forces of feminine nature are working against me today, and there is no remedy beyond time.
I was stiff and tired and felt heavy and broke down. I trudged along though because of the shining beacon of waxy hope I set up for myself and you, faithful readers: the quest for the crayons!
I started to lose faith somewhere between the 1¾ and 2 mile mark, when suddenly…there it was! The first crayon. A Red one! Non-crayola.
Was I crazy? Was I delusional in the heat yesterday? One stinking red crayon?!? I swear there were 8 or 10 or 12!!
Two miles in, I rationalized that the storm had driven them off the trail and into the side grass and weeds and that was it. Gone forever.
And then, looking like a sign from a bright sun god: Orange and Yellow!
A little further: Blue and Blue and Green. Then Brown all alone. Right in the middle of the path.
Then nothing for a little while. I figured that was it because I couldn’t remember how far along I had seen these crayons.
Just before 2½ miles, I saw one come into my vision. White! (Can’t see the word in the actual color–sorry!) I don’t even remember seeing that one at all.
But, no black. I know I saw it. because I was thinking of the 8-box of Crayola’s and it was the only one missing. (Purple too, but that was obliterated; crushed to waxy shards on the cement, so, sadly, I left it there to die in the sun.)
Oh well. Let’s just finish this damn run so I can go home. I feel like a thousand pounds running in a tornado uphill carrying a backpack full of lead…you know, amusing myself with descriptions of my struggle to survive the wilderness and all that…
I can see the 3½ mark just up ahead. Get ready to kick it up and sprint that last tenth of a mile…here I go…STOP!
There it is!! The Black crayon! It’s only half but who cares?? I was so happy I stopped and picked it up and looked around and probably looked crazy. Crazy girl carrying a plastic sandwich bag filled with broken crayon pieces. I guess I need a hobby, but I’m telling you I felt good and happy, and I got out and exercised so it wasn’t all bad.
Thus concludes my colorful story. You never read such a gripping tale of lost dreams, vanquished hopes, joyful discoveries and ultimate gratification, in life and love and all its mysteries. Inspirational AND inspiring; via the humblest of all school supplies.
And you thought your kids crayons were just for coloring. Picture is below.
9 Reasons to Drink More Coffee! Best Internet Tag For The Weekend KickOff!
This is a Yahoo Post, by Lucy Danzinger of Self magazine. It has lots of words and extra links, so instead of trying to summarize, I thought I’d just steer you to it and you can judge for yourself.
I’m a big coffee drinker too. I drink it first thing in the morning and sometimes the last thing at night. I bring it to the gym with me. It may be sick, but I’m not alone.
Before any of the races I run I only drink coffee, no food. I figure it works for me every other day I’m not about to change right before I have to run for the public. I don’t want to be the barfer or the medically-treated.
This article will help defend you against the non-coffers, offering many good points to make when they are trying to get you to drink some vitamin water and wheat germ.
Anyway, grab a cup and click this: 9 Reasons To Drink More Coffee!
Running Wild in Illinois on the Best Day of the Year so Far
I love days like today. They have everything in them.
Sunshine. Blue skies. Cloud scatter. Tight breeze. Ever-so-subtle, atmospheric-scent in the air; And finally, the storm itself.
Moving in fast from the South and darkening and covering the blue with ominous grey and green. We didn’t care because we were already in and done with our day.
I mostly sat around all morning, and after Regis and Kelly (still hooked I’m afraid) I flipped channels and Sweet Home Alabama was on. I don’t care what you say. I’ve seen it 20 times and I’ll see it 20 more. If they show it, I’ll watch it. Cut-up to hell, but I don’t care. It’s too romantic and it spoils real life and love for the rest of us, but we all like to dream.
“Aw hell, nobody finds their true love when they’re 10 anyway”
So then my neighbor came over and asked me to help her move some plant potters and once I got a whiff of that outside I figured I’d better get out and enjoy it before it feels like a wasted day. So I did.
But first, I took a few pictures of her Frankendog. The dog had some surgery (she’s fine–just surface removal) and she looked so funny I thought I’d capture it forever. And of course share with you. Pictures below.
Then I hit the trail. Kind of slow, but at least moving. Listening to The Warrior playlist.
Check it out if you dare. Have to keep motivated. Have to go out and shake it tomorrow too. I am about to do some major damage to my gut this weekend and I need to be pre-prepared.
Friday night’s a free-for-all. Undetermined.
Saturday A.M. The BF’s Mom for breakfast. Saturday P.M. My Mom for Dinner. I’m sure there will be drinking. That’s what gets you is those alcohol calories. To the brain AND the bum.
Sunday A.M. Kids are home and we are going to need lunch. Possibly breakfast. And definitely dinner.
I guess I could show some restraint and just suck it up and eat healthy, but you know, I’m actually drinking right now typing this post and I’d rather just work out extra hard after, than miss something good right now.
Mother’s Day starts tonight for me! Hold up, I have to go fix another drink. brb (ha! NOW I know what that means–only took 6 months to figure that one out)
Ok crisis diverted. Back to the plot. While running I came up with a few ideas. First off, this post. I do my best thinking and pre-writing while I’m running. You might disagree…sister?? Best is questionable if this is the result, but I find it amusing and I’m only slightly buzzed.
Then for a playlist. “Running Wild and Crazy, possibly in the Jungle” I haven’t worked the details out on that yet, but it’s next. Depends on how many “wild” and “crazy” songs there are. So I thought I could throw in the “jungle” for filler. Got a great opener….
This is a funny thing while I was running today. At about the 1 and ¾ mile mark, I started seeing crayons on the ground. You know, Crayola crayons. Just laying there. First a yellow, and orange…a few moments later red and broken blue showed up, then a quarter mile on, here’s purple, brown, green….who’s missing? Oh yeah…black. Nope. Here he is. Made it just under 2 and ¼. Last guy to be dropped out of the box I guess by some poor kid walking around with his parents. I wonder what the thought behind bringing crayons to the Forest Preserve trail was anyhow?
When I go tomorrow, I’m going to pick them up when I see them. Usually stuff is still there after only one day. It did rain, but it was pretty hot during the day and some of them looked like they were melting to the ground when I saw them. Hopefully they won’t un-stick in the night and roll off the path in the morning. If I get them, I’ll post them! Something to look forward too! Hang on for one more day!
And I thought of another playlist–crayons, naturally. Like the colors–red, yellow, orange…etc. I’m working on that too.
After the trail I took the kids to the store. I really DID have a grocery list, although I’m not going to write down what it was.
Ok, ok, just real quick (for Amanda): Card for mom, yogurt, granola, Tums, brussel sprouts, cauliflower, cheese sauce for Stevie’s school movie night, ketchup, Mountain Dew (also for Stevie), hot dogs, hot dog buns, baked beans, a little gifty for my sissy, and four, half-pound each, fat-ass burgers.
Like I said, Mom’s Day is early here.
When we got home, I put the stuff away, packed up Stevie’s stuff for school, and the kids went and played outside for a few.
Mason had bought flower seeds at the store, some Chinese Lanterns, that he thought looked cool, so he and Stevie went and found four different potters to put them in.
Then it conveniently rained, and they came in and watched Family Guy. I know it’s bad and not for kids, but it’s just SO funny. Besides, they learn new stuff. I can’t teach them everything.
With dinner over, my kids got transported to another store by the BF to purchase gifts for myself and the step-mom. After hiding the gifts in a location I must know, so that I don’t go looking there for 3 days, they are sleeping.
I am drinking.
The boyfriend is playing Mafia Wars.
Last game of the night: Lights off and laying down.
I am about to wrap this up with no words of wisdom, no extra pictures and no playlist.
Oh you. You know me too well. Here’s a blue sky–above; a tip–right here: Don’t stand up in a canoe. Don’t do it; And a killer playlist–below:
(It’s “comprehensive”—but please, let me know what possible song did I leave out??)
Give me a devil-horn-hand-gesture and let me pass out. Vodka Rocks! Woo-hoo!
Rock & Roll RockStar
1. Rock And Roll / Led Zeppelin
2. So What / Pink
3. Rock Star / Nickelback
4. Rock Me Amadeus / Falco
5. Rockin’ Into The Night / .38 Special
6. Juke Box Hero / Foreigner
7. Party Like A Rockstar / Shop Boyz
8. We Will Rock You / Queen
9. Rock Around The Clock / Bill Haley & His Comets
10. Rock ‘N’ Roll Lifestyle / Cake
11. Rock ‘N Roll Train / AC/DC
12. Rockstar / Hannah Montana
13. Rock ‘N’ Roll Fantasy / Bad Company
14. It’s Only Rock ‘N Roll (But I Like It) / The Rolling Stones
15. Rock ‘N Me / Steve Miller Band
16. One More Big Time Rock And Roll Star / Stevie Nicks
17. It’s Still Rock And Roll To Me / Billy Joel
18. Rock This Town / Stray Cats
19. Old Time Rock And Roll / Bob Seger
20. Rock The Casbah / The Clash
21. For Those About To Rock / AC/DC
22. Rock N Roll Band / Boston
23. So You Want To Be A Rock ‘N’ Roll Star / The Byrds
24. Rock You Like A Hurricane / Scorpions
25. Wanna Rock & Roll / Cross Canadian Ragweed
26. Gold / Stevie Nicks with John Stewart
27. Rock Star / N*E*R*D
28. Rock ‘N’ Roll High School / The Ramones
29. Rock And Roll Is King / Electric Light Orchestra
30. Crocodile Rock / Elton John
31. Heart Of Rock ‘N Roll / Huey Lewis & The News
32. Rock And Roll, Hoochie Koo / Rick Derringer
33. Rock Me Tonite / Billy Squier
34. Rock ‘N Roll Is Here To Stay / Sha-Na-Na
35. After The Glitter Fades / Stevie Nicks
36. Rock And Roll Ain’t Noise Pollution / AC/DC
37. The House Is Rockin’ / Stevie Ray Vaughn & Double Trouble
38. R-O-C-K In The USA / John Cougar Mellencamp
39. Rockin’ In The Free World / Neil Young & Pearl Jam
40. Let It Rock / Kevin Rudolph & Lil Wayne
41. Rock And Roll All Nite / Kiss
42. I Wish I Was A Punk Rocker (With Flowers In My Hair) / Sandi Thom (had to throw it in–it’s good–trust.)
43. Shooting Star / Bad Company
44. It’s A Long Way To The Top / Jack Black
45. Your Mama Don’t Dance / Poison
46. I Love Rock N’ Roll / Joan Jett & The Blackhearts
New and Improved, EXCITING Website! This is the BEST and MOST interesting page EVER!
My sister doesn’t think my web-blog is interesting. She wants to know just what is so “great” about…this…”Just you writing down all the boring dumb things you do everyday? Who F****** cares?”
Well.
Even after all my shout-outs to her and her favorite sports baseball team, her mad hair cutting skills, her awesome kids and hubby, her parties that are only slightly lame but with fabulous food, AND on the day she comes to pick up HER dog that I have been watching for ONE WEEK so she could go to the Dells for the “weekend”, and she tells me I basically suck. Nice mouth.
(A picture of her dog is below. Named, Juneau. At least he’s cool.)
So in honor of her and spicing up this post, I am going to relate the story of how I almost lost a limb yesterday dangerously cutting logs with an old rusty circular saw, no safety goggles and inadequate insurance coverage!
My boyfriend thinks its pretty gruesome too. It’s so terrible that I don’t think any small children should even be NEAR the computer while you are reading this, they’ll sense the horrific nature of the text wafting off of you and have nightmares for weeks…my children were right next to me at the time of the “incident” and I cannot be responsible for any more children suffering the same type of trauma mine experienced. I won’t be a part of it. I WON’T!
No, no, no…I can’t post it. I just can’t!
This is the stuff of late night tv movies after too many drinks, when you’re all alone in your house, towards the end of a long, hot, summer; uncomfortable in the sticky heat, with the windows open and no wind; darkness so thick it feels heavy and wet; involving vampires, werewolves and creatures from the Black Lagoon. Full moons and blood everywhere; pasty men and pastier women: all bad lighting, scratchy film and shaky sound. It’s TOO unbelievable.
Instead, I am going to type out my to-do list for today.
Trust me, it’s equally frightening and double exciting. Ready?
1. Walk kids to school
2. Do laundry
3. Clean bathroom
4. Dust
5. Vacuum house
6. Clean kitchen/utility floor
7. Paint trim
8. Call school about appt.
9. Call Mom
10. Get snacks for Stevie’s Movie Night at school
11. Input CD’s
12. Run trail
13. Take kids to Cheerleader’s Competition for support, as part of Basketball Team
14. Answer call from sister, telling me what an A**hole I am. (That’s the frightening part!)
Thanks Amanda for all your support! You can’t see it, but I’m flipping you the BIRD! (Exciting too, huh?) As promised.
I Love You!
Be sure and visit this site tomorrow where I’ll be posting my GROCERY list! You DON’T want to miss it!
Next Up…RUN WILD!
It’s a 5K at Brookfield Zoo, in Chicago. Only two weeks left not to embarrass myself. The run is awesome! We get to be in the Zoo before it opens and then run the race on the Zoo grounds and then hang out at the Zoo all day if we want! It is going to be so much fun! I won’t win or anything, I just participate as fast as I can.
So I went out running around my favorite outdoor track in the forest preserve. I swear those trails are the best thing the Park Districts/Counties have ever done. I love them. This particular one is perfect for me because it’s 3.6 miles so it covers me for everything. If I can make it around there I can make it….well, you know. After that is the Warrior Dash! 6K Plus. I’m just training to run—I’ll probably just wing it for the rest of it. How do you really train for crawling over cars, or thru the mud? I guess next time I’m at the Forest Preserve I could run through the little swampy areas and then start jumping over everybody’s cars parked in the lot…I’m sure I’d be VERY popular after that. “Hey! I’m training for the Warrior Dash!!” is what I’ll be shouting from the back of the police car. People just don’t understand!
It’s beautiful today. 72 and sunny in the burbs and I just couldn’t sit in the house at the computer, or on a treadmill at the gym. But I’m back now and posting up for the race and then some new scanned in things for another fun post!
We are still following Extreme Fat Smash but we keep getting derailed in the middle of the week. You would think it would be easy to eat pretty much nothing and move on with your life, but less food means more planning. But I’m not knocking it. I think it works really well. I am the same weight as I was last week, and I’ll admit that I cheated on the food and did not exercise to the book. Luckily, if you live pretty well, normally, you can deviate to the dark side somewhat and not throw the whole cart off the path. Another mini philosophy break.
Here’s a mini tip on yogurt eating:
I like to mix in granola, which technically is not on the list but if you work out extra hard and buy a good product with good ingredients, I think its worth the extra calories. Plus it really makes you feel like you are getting a good meal.
Anyway, I like to let it sit a bit to get the granola to a softer consistency, like cookie dough, but with bite. Today though, after I put the yogurt and granola together I got distracted with a phone call and the kids and it sat extra long. IT WAS EVEN BETTER! I mean, like really good. It was almost the texture of oatmeal with lumps. Tasty, delicious, granola lumps. Still firm enough to chew, but with none of the hard edges. Try it and see what you think. If it sounds gross, just try it anyway, you might be surprised!
And I also ate a hard boiled egg. I just love those too.
It’s supposed to be a good week so here’s to 4 more days of running the trails and eating smart. Hopefully I’ll go into this race at my lightest weight since before I had my children. A girl can dream.
just shy of pretty 