The training begins...

This week marks the first week of my 10 week (the longest 10 weeks of my life) training schedule for the Indy Half marathon. There's some sort of weird draw to wanting to run again with 35,000 other runners and see if I can beat last year's results (2:06). If anything else at least I'll be in a closer corral... maybe instead of S I'll be in Q. That alone would be an accomplishment! Although, now that I think about it, that placement would be a result of last year's accomplishments... so crap... looks like I'm going to actually have to work hard to beat my time. I surprised myself last spring at how dedicated I was to training. This worries me a bit this year because I'm already starting to watch (from the couch) that dedication go floating by the way side.

I'm a little nervous starting out this week. I'm not up to my pre-training training stamina (pre-training is the training needed to survive the training) but hopefully I'll be able to jump back into it after the first few weeks. This is the schedule that I have found that works best into my lifestyle and the website (http://www.marathonrookie.com) offers some great advice on strengthening, over coming injuries, and how to mentally prepare yourself for race day. What mentally prepares me for race day? The chocolate chip cookies at the end. Seriously.

10-Week Half Marathon Training Schedule

Week	Mon	Tue	Wed	Thu	Fri	Sat	Sun	Total
1	3	Rest	3	3	Rest	4	Rest	13
2	3	Rest	4	3	Rest	5	Rest	15
3	3	Rest	4	3	Rest	6	Rest	16
4	3	Rest	5	3	Rest	8	Rest	19
5	3	Rest	5	3	Rest	10	Rest	21
6	4	Rest	5	4	Rest	11	Rest	24
7	4	Rest	6	4	Rest	12	Rest	26
8	4	Rest	5	4	Rest	9	Rest	22
9	3	Rest	4	3	Rest	8	Rest	18
10	3	Rest	3	Walk 2	Rest	13.1	Rest	21.1

This year I have also decided to run a few races before the Indy Mini on May 2nd. I'm running The American Heart Association's 15K downtown in March and I'm also planning to sign up for the Illini Half Marathon in Champaign April 11th. I'm sorta procrastinating, OKAY, I'm TOTALLY procrastinating at signing up for that race only because its only 3 weeks before the Indy Mini. I figure if I get all the races out prior to the summer then I can relax! I'm more of a fair weather runner, 40 - 75 degrees are about MY ideal running conditions, anything other than that... it's pretty much a no-go. I guess that's what the gym's for... who am I kidding, the gym is for sipping cocktails by the pool and people watching!

Since Heather recruited me last year for the Indy, I've decided to start my own recruitment. I've managed to sucker (I think) Paul into running the Illini race with me and Ben's cousin, Casey, has already signed up and started her training for the Indy race. So I'm trying to make this a family affair, mainly because I want other people to suffer too. Wish me luck!

Still Blushing

I'm giggling just thinking about this post but I'm going to try to get through it and be mature...

So I enjoy reading mindless books and this week I started a new one, one that mom gave me to read: Lipstick Jungle.

So far it's a pretty good book. I'm only on Chapter three, which, so far, is a pretty hot chapter! I found myself at the TGIF's airport bar blushing and giggling like a school girl at the descriptive sexual escapade that the main character was having with a Calvin Klein underwear model.

I sat back to see what others would see if they glanced at what I was reading and words like, blow job, ripped panties, nipples, seemed to be very prominent on the page, as if they were almost bolded. I think the sentence that made the guy next to me ask "Doing some deep reading, huh?" and made me actually laugh out loud was,

"In a few quick seconds, he unzipped his pants, releasing a rock-hard penis (okay, it was a cliche, she thought, but there really was no other way to describe it), the proportions of which appeared to be slightly bigger and longer than average."

You're blushing now aren't you?!?

I'm blushing for two reasons; one, this is so dirty and I'm in public! And two, my MOM gave me this book to read!

Honestly though, this book is about successful women in the fashion industry but, my GOSH! Needless to say, my three hour layover in ATL was the fastest three hours ever! It's definitely shaping up to be a book I would recommend to my friends. Enjoy!

What Valentine's Day means to me:

It's not about flowers, fancy dinners, sappy Hallmark cards, or chocolate candies.... well it's kinda about the chocolate. But for me, Valentine's day should be spent doing stuff that you both enjoy and have fun, with no regrets about how much you've spent doing it. No, I don't feel this way because I didn't get flowers, it's because we've already done the expensive dinners as well as the heart shaped pizza on our fine china. In the end, comfort is the way to go!

This Valentine's day we decided (again) to opt out of the gift buying and card making and just spend the weekend doing whatever we felt like, whenever we felt like. Okay, so this really isn't any different from any other weekend, but because it was Valentine's Day weekend, it was!

Saturday we got up, had breakfast, played several vicious games of ping pong, watched some tv, and at about 2:30 decided we better get out of our PJ's and shower so we can go to a movie. Yes, we attended the senior citizen time slot of 4pm.... saving money on a matinee show makes me feel like we figured out a way to stick it to the man. We saw "He's just not that into you" It was OKAY, cute but if you haven't seen it, wait for it on DVD (and then, better yet, rent it at the library for free). We, of course, snuck in Milk Duds and Riesens for our pre dinner desert.

After the movie, I was craving some home cookin'. Where else can you get some meat-loaf, mashed potatoes, corn, and applesauce than Cracker Barrel. Sadly, they were out of the meat-loaf, so Ben and I decided to order the Ol Timer's Breakfast and had everything prepared the same way. Sweet, I know. So we dined on eggs, turkey sausage, and hash brown casserole by the light of an oil lamp and the entertainment of jumping golf tees on a triangle shaped block of wood to determine who's "just plain dumb."

It was such a fun night, we got dressed up to go out, but saved the expense of the over priced meal and actually paid more for the movie than dinner!

Sunday we decided we hadn't had enough of the love-fest so we headed over to the local university campus to run in a 2 mile race called The Labor of Love. To keep things interesting and upbeat (that's what marriage is about, right?) we decided to tie ourselves together with caution tape and run in the "Ball & Chain Division." The idea sounded like a lot of fun, but with the 30 degree weather and the first mile going past us at a time of 7:00 minutes, I was deciding I had had enough of this holiday! We finished with a time of 14:43 and are still awaiting results to see our placement in the division. Our team effort resulted in a 39th place finish in the male category and an 18th place finish in the female category. I'm just going to go ahead and say it, I kicked some major butt!

So overall, it was a GREAT Valentine's Day weekend. I'm still craving my home cookin', so we may have to do it all over again...without the running, of course.

I Love...

- Benjamin - Hobbes, just my cat, no one elses - chocolate chip cookies - my mom and how scary it is that I'm like her - hanging out with friends - Chili's chips & salsa, margaritas - sitting in the sun - people watching - that my brother and I are friends - traveling - going barefoot - eating out - drinking wine - watching movies - entertaining - playing with my neice & nephew - running on the beach - playing games - golfing with Ben - my dad and how he's never met a stranger - spending an entire saturday in my pjs - smell of coffee - grilling out - McDonald's sweet tea - vacations - being married - going to the pool - that I'm still best friends with my best friends from high school - that my parents and in-laws are friends - shopping - wearing flip flops - pedicures - the color of fall - the smell of spring - a hot shower - the $1 spot at Target - Subway chocolate chip cookies - the smell of fresh cut grass - the way black and white photos capture character - quiet summer mornings - eating ice cream - sitting by an outdoor fire - life - girl's weekends - friends blogs - the color pink - my bed - "The Office" - waking up without an alarm - singing while running - ...

SOLD!

What does 2 dozen chocolate chip cookies, two glasses of wine, and a tall glass of milk have in common?

All necessary components to help me make it through the week, or I should say the last 24 hours. YES, I consumed 24 cookies in 24 hours - don't judge me!

This Sunday we got an offer on our house in ATL that has been on the market 23 months. It was a VERY low offer but we are willing to work with anything at this point. We countered and the buyers had until 6pm Monday night to accept.

5:30pm on Monday I get a call from my realtor, we have another offer...HOLY SHIT...two offers in 24 hours and it only took 23 months to get them! They were the same offer, but one of the buyers wanted to take advantage of us and the other was willing (it seemed) to work with us. She had shown her daddy the property, so to me that meant.... :::Southern Accent::: "Daddy I MUST have this house, don't you want your little angel to be happy?" :::Southern Accent:::

This brings us to Tuesday where paperwork was faxed back and forth between us (me mostly, Ben was out of town -- CONVENIENT) and continued through Wednesday. Tuesday night was a long night....I spent hours thinking about how we didn't want to lose this buyer, but also didn't want to lose the shirt off our backs. This market is a tough one and there is no point in rehashing the offer we passed on in October of '07 that would have been 30K more than our bottom line today. At the time we thought those people were unreasonable to not even meet halfway and now look where we are! But like I said, no sense in rehashing.... but just think I could have had a new car, or went to Italy, or...STOP IT! STOP IT! Lesson learned!!

Finally at 5:00pm on Wednesday I get a call from my realtor telling me "We have a deal, consider it sold!" I slept like a baby last night which is hard to believe given the amount of calories consumed in such a short amount of time. But today I woke up to find the sale agreement in my inbox on email waiting for our signatures.

The appraisal and inspection are the only things looming for us now. I don't think we have too much to worry about, but it's really nothing another batch of cookies won't help...I should probably have another one of those just in case. I would like to think I've (we've) been incredibly patient with this whole process, most days forgetting about our lil vacation home in Hotlanta, but I have to say I feel a million (or 200K) lighter!

So March 10th is the big day, and I'm actually really excited for the new home owner. We loved our house...the dinner parties, family gatherings, lazy weekends, neighborhood socials, the house we raised our kitty in... I just hope the new homeowner will make as many great memories as we did.

Everyone, please toast with me.... "To a wonderful 1st home, to unforgettable memories, and more importantly... to a fuller savings account!!"

Update

Good news! I'm 98% sure I still have a job. While it may be with a company that just put all my friends out of a job, it's still a job.

I have to admit it's a little bitter sweet. Part of me was looking forward to finding a new job, a new profession, meeting new people. I was also hoping to find that job and bank double income with my severance for a few months but not before taking time for myself. Time that would have been spent laying by the pool, sipping cocktails, doing yard work, running in the middle of the day, and getting excited for the new adventure ahead.

But the good news is, all of those things can still be achieved with my current job, just not in the order listed or during the same day. But the important thing is, I can still do them, continue on with my lifestyle and not have to make sacrifices because I'm unemployed or learning a new trade.

Black Monday

Today Macy's dropped the big bomb. They announced the centralization of all their regional buying offices into one based in NYC. This means my boss and all my friends lost their jobs today and mine is still potentially up in the air. In total approximately 7,000 jobs will be cut.


I think what makes me so mad is this quote from our CEO:

"Reducing our workforce is an unfortunate outcome of the current economic environment, and I am frustrated that so many of our people will be unable to move forward with us as we proceed into a very exciting future for Macy's and Bloomingdale's," Macy's CEO Terry Lundgren said in a statement.

How can a CEO be excited about the future of their company after what just took place?

I'm also mad at this vicious circle that our economy is going through. Whether it's selfish or responsible, you save money rather than spend it on materialistic things in order to feed your family and pay your bills. But perhaps, in actuality, you should be spending money to help fuel the economy and to keep yourself and others employed. But I am one of the selfish/responsible ones that have cut needless spending and as a result may have cut off my nose in spite of my face.

I'm hoping I get good news later this week, but I'm still sick to my stomach for my friends and other co-workers who have to go home to their families and cope with today's turn of events. I'm typically an optimistic person but today took a lot of wind out of my sail and I feel like this economy is going to get much worse before it gets better.