Training

I think it's been a while since I really did a post about training so I'm steppin' out and steppin' up! No more shoplifting antics to discuss. And no rashes to date!



The 1/2 marathon is a lovely thing! I am really enjoying this training schedule. I love the weight training, I love the cross training and I even love the running which I guess is a good thing seein' how..........yeah............um............hum................it's a running race!



One of my Disney marathon training partners from last year is repeating that whole scene in Jan. '08 and she just started her official training schedule. She e-mailed me today and asked what my long distance was for this weekend so maybe when can do it together. She said "I need to do 8"..............well good for you! I e-mailed her back and said "I need to do 7, but one more won't make any difference"! Then I thought about that. She's just starting her program. She's about 3 weeks into it. I only have 4 weeks left. She's doing 8, I'm doing 7. I really do like this 1/2 marathon idea!!!! This time last year I was on her same training schedule. About 8 weeks into the program, I couldn't run due to an injury. That's just not right! I really do like this 1/2 marathon thing.

I've been able to do some cross training that I haven't done in a long time. Tonight I got on exercise TV, my new favorite thing in the world. I did some cardio workout that was just hysterical. I laughed so hard at myself. This......guy....wait.....girl?.......guy?.....wait.........

well, I just don't know, but this person had it all mixed up. He/She was a real party dancer. It was called Cardio Party.

Let's take a trip back to my freshman year in college.

Our basketball coach made it mandatory that we take an exercise class one day a week, and lift one day a week. I took a weight lifting class for credit, and took an aerobics class at the Y. It was like Lucille Ball on ice skates. All feet, no rhythm, no idea about blocking steps and box steps, and quick ball changes...........it was just a mess. It was a mess tonight too. I laughed so hard and hit that rewind button about 5 times, and still could not keep up! It was fun though, and I got my sweat on!

Ran my 7 scheduled miles on Sunday from the Harbor to my in-laws house. It was a great run. I was relaxed and really enjoyed it. Ceito said it was more like 7.5, which is even better. And, get this............I really could have kept going. It just felt good. Ran along the lake and the water was pretty and blue and the sky was clear. Very nice. And the music..........gone, I'm so over it. It just doesn't work for me anymore. I'm to the point where I want to hear myself breathing so I can control it and feel it. So, I'm pretty happy about that. I remember when I first started doing road races and I would look at the "real runners" and notice that they didn't run with things on their ears, and I thought...........one day I'm gonna run without things on my ears, and feel good about it. I'm there sistaaas!

The last thing to mention is a bigun. I met another swimmer at the Y who is just crazy. She is organizing a swim from Presque Isle, PA (east of here) to Canada. It's about 28 miles. Yep, 28 miles! She's asked me to go along. I said, "and ride in the boat?" I got "No, you're gonna swim"!! "Oh, okay, I'm in" So, next summer I will be swimming with 10 other swimmers across the little ol' pond called Lake Erie to Canada! I'm pretty excited about that.....wait......I'm pretty nervous about that! My biggest fear in triathlon is swimming. I can pound it out with those lane lines, but dark, cold, deep, fishy water, it just freaks me out! So, this will be nothing more than open water swim training full on. We will be swimming about 2 miles at a time, then resting and back in. Hummmmmmmmmm, sounds like good Ironman training. Minus, the people swimming over top of you and punching you and kicking you and peeing in the water in front of you!

I'm out!

Stupid Bra Rash

Ethically speaking I am pretty square. I never cut corners in regards to patient care, paying taxes, or in any area of my life.

I've pretty much always done everything on the up and up. I remember shop lifting some candy when I was about 5 years old, and I remember even more readily the embarassment I felt when my mom forced me back into the store before we even left the parking lot. You can read me like a book. My mother knew I had done something, and she sent me back in to make it right.

I cheated one time in school. It was 7th grade history and I had all the presidents written on the palm of my hand during a test. Pretty stupid! Especially since I asked to go to the bathroom right after the test. Teacher read me like a first time reader chapter book! Busted.

So, Imagine my current dilemma......I'm at Dillard's department store on Friday night. The kids were with grandpa and grandma and Ceito was at the football game. I have been needing some new girly necessary undergarments forever. This was the night. I was headed in to try on some dreaded bras. I hate trying on bras. The sizes are stupid and I'm a 'tweener so nothing fits right. I did try a 'tweener bra on but even that stupid thing was too big! Anyway, I finally found one that was acceptable, just so ya know! So, after that task I decided to check out the end of season sales racks. I found some great tops, a little white jacket, cute little shoes, and a skirt, along with the stupid bra. So, I was feelin' pretty good. Felt like I'd made some good bargain choices and it was already 9pm closing time so I headed to the check out. The girl at the register looked at my items and said,

"you don't happen to be paying with cash do you?"

"why yes I am paying with cash"

"well, I can give you a better deal then"

"great, Okay, bring it on"

"only thing is, you won't have a receipt, so you can't bring anything back"

"that's fine, i tried it all on, it all fits, even the stupid bra"

"great"

She bags all my stuff, looks at me at says, "how 'bout, ummm 50 dollars?"

"Sure, that sounds great" The stupid bra was 20 dollars just on it's own stupid self! I figured in my head it would all be about $100.00 before I even got to the register. So, I handed over my 50 dollar bill and was super excited! Leaving the store, I even saw someone I knew and told them about my good deal. They were excited for me. We both figured that the girl didn't want to ring it up on her drawer since in was closing time and she probably already tallied out her sales, so she gave me a manager's discount. DUMB, NIEVE, STUPID ME!!

I got home and excitedly told Ceito all about my great shopping trip. He looked me square in the eye and said......

"You know that girl has your 50 in her pocket right now don't you????"

It hit me like a deer running blindly into a car.......you idiot, you just shop lifted with permission!

I have always just expected everyone around me to be on the up and up. I give everyone the benefit of the doubt. So, I went on to explain how it was closing time and she just didn't want to change her sales tallies. But, then I realized she didn't open the drawer, she didn't put the "pop labels" on the back of each item (Dillard's requires these for returns). I had just shop lifted!

I've come to find out that our Dillard's is closing on Nov. 1st. I think I may have run into a disgruntled employee who could care less if she loses her job. I thought about calling the store today and telling them about it, but I'm not sure that would resolve anything. I feel pretty cheap, but I also just don't have any idea what to do with this situation. I've worn some of the stuff already, including the stupid bra, and have resolved to leave it alone.

I'm sure that my skin will burn every time I wear one of the articles of clothing, or I'll break my ankle when I wear the shoes!!

I may even develop a rash from the stupid bra.

Yep, I'm a shop lifter!

My Favorite Recent Pictures

Big news over the weekend........Winks lost 2 teeth in one day!!! It was non-traumatic and actually non-dramatic which surprised Ceito and I. We were sure the first sight of blood would send him out for the count, but he handled it very well. Although, apparently a buck a tooth is NOT the going rate these days, as he expected $5.

This man truly is amazing! He is fun, loving, confident, passionate about life and just down right happy! I'm always amazed that God sent him to ME. Wow, life just wouldn't be what it is without this man! Love ya Ceito!

Went camping over Labor Day Weekend. This picture was taken at the sand volleyball courts, which really is just a great big sand box for these guys. The boy on the bottom in a year older than The Bug and his mother is in the picture below. We have decided that they would make a very nice couple in the future! Both are very sweet and pretty easy going kids....actually that could really be a dangerous situation!


My professional mentor, colleague, confidant, and friend! This lady is one of a kind!

Practicing for his Sunny-D advertising shot!

Here's one shot of the new do on The Bug. She still loves it and mommy is pretty happy with it too!

This was at a recent wedding of a cousin of Ceito's. It was a fun night, and don't we look cute?



Action shot of The Bug's new do......very aero don't you think?
I just was foolin' around and thought this was a good shot of my nostrils!

First Day of First Grade!! Oh what a day! His teacher is diabetic and she explained to the class that sometimes she has candy on her desk in case her blood sugar goes low. If she feels bad she may have to eat some candy, or take a blood test! Apparently the word "blood" make Winks faint! He passed out, fell out of the chair and hit his head on the floor. His teacher said he got right back up, straightened his glasses and sat back down in his seat! Poor kid! Everything is ok now, but he really gave the teacher a scare! We have been dealing with this for about a year now and medically he checks out fine. Just a sweet little spirit who doesn't care to hear about or see body functions! He once passed out while I was ready Dr Seuss' "Inside Your Outside"...a book all about the inside of your body. So, medical school I guess is out! That's a good thing in my opinion!!

Out for now!

Pass the check book....make that the credit card.....ohhhh, just give me a box of kleenex!

So I have a new best friend.

She is a friend I had in high school some.....huh, humph....yeah, 20 years ago.

She was a sweet, kinda sneaky friend in high school, one of those girls who didn't say much but when she did it really had a lot of uumph behind it.

She is funny and sassy as a remember too. She's the kinda girl who would catch you off guard.

She caught me off guard on Friday!

She lives in KONA boys and girls, yeah K-O-N-A, Kona, Hawaii - that little place where they have that great big race, THE race, the finish it even if you have to do a little do-do in your pants race. I don't care what kind of triathlete you are you want to be at this race just to say you saw it! Well kids...........I've been invited!!!!

Yes my friend just happens to be tooling around our alumni web site picks up my blog address and takes a peek, finds out I'm one of those freaks that like to do that kind of race that just happens to bike past her house TWO TIMES, and sends me a little e-mail!

So, I'm at school and get this e-mail from her and I start flipping out. I think I may have peeed by pants a bit even. "you can stay at our house and I'll even feed you", "the bikes go past the house 2 times" ........ I was envisioning me and my Ceito sitting on a little blanket, enjoying a little drink of something with an umbrella in it watching all the legs go by......too exciting!

"Of course we'll come!!" "I'll just check on flights".......................ohhhh you have got to be kidding me, I'm going to see it live.............no way, I'm too excited.................get...................... out................the..............credit...........card....................BAM........$700.00each!!
put.....the....credit.....card....away!.....................and pass the kleenex box!!

Darn those teacher salaries!

So close!

She'll send pictures which I'm thrilled about. I'm glad I've re-connected with her, and I'm oh so grateful for an awesome offer. Just can't swing that right now. And that's okay......'cause she'll still be my friend.........

next October!