Chilkoot Chubby

Working Out the Paper Work

2012-01-10T14:04:00.000-08:00

I'd be updating this blog if I had done anything even remotely active in the last week. But I haven't. Well, I've gone for lots of walks. While there has been rain this winter, there has also been a lot of dry periods and it's even been, dare I say it, down right sunny!!

When I do get to step away from documents and website re-designs (not for here, sorry), I've been more concerned about seeing friends than being active. I have a couple of friends visiting from Switzerland so they get priority over running.

I hope all four of you are having a great 2012!

Pete and Repeat Went Into A Store...*

2012-01-02T13:04:00.000-08:00

I sat down last year and set some very do-able goals. Then I had a knee problem so the TC 10K was not do-able. Then I decided to Ireland so I cut out the hiking one and the second running one. Then I was lazy so I cut out the weight-loss one.

In short, despite making sure that my goals were realistic, I failed to account for the fact that I like to use excuses as a reason to not do things. Well, I'm back to being able to run (I was actually back to that before Christmas but the holiday season is not a good time to try and set up good habits. It's a time-of-year-too-busy-thing, not a grandma-molasses-cookies-thing, I swear) and looking at my 2011 goals. Easy-peasy, they're going to be my 2012 goals.

Easiest yearly goals I've ever set. And in case you don't feel like actually going back to the old post:

1. Run the TC 10K in 1:15:00 - I'm going to change this to 'run a 10K'. I like the TC but it's stupid crowded and I don't know if I really want to be pushing myself through throngs of people for a time goal. Over the next few days, I'll research other 10Ks in the area and make a decision.

2. Run the Gunner Shaw 10K next November - The ultimate trail race in Victoria. Don't believe me? Read this. Doesn't that sound like ridiculously crazy fun times!

3. Hike the Juan de Fuca Trail - From last year's post: This one was put on hold last year due to other events. It won't be put on hold again. Hey, last year me, yes it will. But Ireland was worth it. Let's try this again, shall we?

4. End the year within 15 lbs of my weight goal - Totally do-able if I'm not a complete twat about it... again.

Now, who wants to start a pool to guess when I'll give up the first one?

*Anyone else remember that joke from yesteryear?
Pete and Repeat went into a shore. Pete came out. Who was left?
Repeat.
Pete and Repeat went into a store... and so it goes until the recess bell goes or your friend walks away (or punches you).

2011-12-25T08:04:00.000-08:00

I was intending to get another post up before today but the season got away from me. Plus, I've been putting most of my energy into recalling 25 things I love about the holidays which seems like a much better use of my time than discussing whether or not I've made strides in my goal.

I'm in Nanaimo waiting for the youngest member of the family to get out of bed before we begin the festivities. In a matter of hours, I will be back in Victoria for dinner with my mom. If you celebrate, a very Merry Christmas to you. If you don't celebrate, happy Sunday!

Back is Back To Good! And FMM

2011-12-19T11:33:00.000-08:00

Just checking in for Friend Makin' Monday and to pass on that I have been pain-free in my back for about three days. I haven't even had the occasional soreness-in-that-area which makes me super excited! Dance is back on the agenda for 2012!! With Christmas going ons and what-not, I don't have too much to share. I've been pretty good this holiday season save for Saturday night when my free pouring host kept refilling my glass while I was too busy chatting to notice. I swear I wasn't sticking my wine glass out in front of him on purpose.

If you're new to Friend Makin' Monday, you can find the guidelines here.

FMM: Have you ever?

1. …traveled outside of your home country? If so, where? USA, Mexico, Ireland (lived there), UK (all four countries), France, Belgium, Netherlands, Germany (lived there), Switzerland (lived there), Austria, Italy, Cuba, Tanzania (lived there)

2. …performed on stage in front of at least 1,000 people? If so, share some details! Not for over than many people, no. But I do love being on stage.

3. …watched an episode of Jersey Shore? Yes

4. …baked a cake from scratch? If so, what’s your specialty? I prefer baking cakes from scratch, but my specialty is actually pies, not cakes. I've never not had pie crust turn out perfectly, even when I was 14 and didn't have everything so I improvised with whole wheat flour and a metal baking tin. It wasn't until I was older and tasted some less-than-stellar homemade pie crusts that I realised how lucky I am that that was the baking super power I inherited from my mom.

5. …worked in a grocery store? No.

6. …dated someone who was your best friend first? Best friend no, but a few of them were friends first. 7. …made a difference in someone’s life during Christmas? I volunteered at the Food Bank a few times growing up and I adopted a family with two co-workers one year.

8. …been on TV? Yes. It's an episode of COPS my mom won't ever forget ;) Kidding! But I have been on TV.

9. …had cosmetic surgery? No.

10. …learned a second language? If so, what else do you speak? I used to have decent travel French and Spanish and I'm working on getting them back. I achieved fairly high levels of fluency in German and Swahili when I lived in Germany and Tanzania respectively. When I put my mind to it, I can pick up languages fairly quickly. It's the keeping them up so I maintain that level that causes me problems.

Getting Antsy

2011-12-13T18:34:00.000-08:00

I've hit that point with my back where I'm pretty much back to normal but every once and a while, I move a certain way and the spot twinges a little. Nothing serious, nothing last, but just enough to remind me that I recently injured it enough to require the heating pad. It's that annoying part of injury recovery: I feel like I should be able to do everything I did before the injury, but I'm terrified I'm going to aggravate it like I did last Sunday.

What's a girl to do?

Well, if you're me, you debate about making a low impact workout plan for this week and then decide 'to heck with it; I'll plan next week because I've got coffee dates with friends from Switzerland this week!' So, instead, you take the longest route possible from Fernwood to Cook St Village and back again. Granted, I broke the walk up with a two hour coffee stop, but that's not the point!

I've been really good about making sure I get out for a walk every day even when my back is sore. I can only think of five days since I hurt it where I didn't get at least 20 minutes in so I'm pretty happy with myself about that. It would have been so easy just to say 'injured, sitting on the couch, thanks' but I didn't. (I may have treated myself to some 'injured, need chocolate, thanks' on one or two occasions, but that's also not the point!)

While I'm still not really to jump back into high impact exercise at the moment, I'm definitely ready to ramp up the intensity of some low to medium impact exercises.

But next week, when I don't have coffee plans with friends from Switzerland.

Time to Celebrate... with Raw Food?

2011-12-08T11:18:00.000-08:00

After all my complaining about my back on Monday, it's pretty much recovered. It's still sore but it's sore on the level of where it was before I picked up the bag of garbage so I'm back to being able to shave my legs and feed my cats. I had a fear when I aggravated it that I'd be back to the start in healing but it appears that was not the case. So while I'm not about to go out and dance the samba, I'm very happy that the return to the heating pad was just a blip in the radar!

Still, I'm not going ice skating at lunch today with Lisa and the crew because of my back so it's still boo-urns over all.

In case it hasn't been obviously clear when reading this blog (and if it isn't, you're probably just skimming), I'm a geek. That is part of the reason why I read the Discover magazine blogs. Every once and awhile, the blogs cover topics which clearly have implications for this blog (and any healthy living/weight loss/running/non-science blog out there) such as with today's post, Why Calorie Counts Are Wrong.

Okay, okay. So I 'Fox News'd' the title a bit, but I thought it was an interesting article about how cooking foods often releases nutrients in them that would otherwise be indigestible thereby increasing the calorie count of that food. I'm filing it under "food for thought".

And just to emphasis that I'm a geek: I read that article, wrote down the book title, and then checked to see if my local library had it. ::pushes up nerd glasses:: Because that's the sort of thing one reads over the holiday season.

FML and FMM

2011-12-05T11:24:00.000-08:00

We're going to start with a pity party. I went to pick up a rather full garbage bag yesterday, aggravated the injury in my back and woke up in pain every time I moved in bed last night. I scared my cat, Tosio, twice because I involuntarily yelled out from the pain. She was less than impressed! Back injuries really suck. SUCK!

(This would be the part where you throw the ticker tape.)

Much of today's plan includes the couch, the heat pad, pain killers, a couple of crappy movies, and an oh-woe-is-me attitude. Because oh, woe is me. I have cat food all over my kitchen floor because I couldn't bend over to put in in the dish. Oh the upside, I also feel absolutely no obligation to clean it up. I can't bend over and my cats will find it all eventually. It's kind of liberating.

Actually, maybe this whole back thing isn't so bad after all!

On the upside, I've put all my posts about Ireland on a handy dandy travel page over here. There will be a travel guide type post coming shortly but for now, it's all about me.

I haven't taken part in Friend Makin' Monday in a while. If you've done this before, you know the guidelines. If you haven't, you can find them here.

FMM: I am...

1. I am good at… crafting, dancing, cooking, and finding the positive.

2. I am happy when… I'm doing any of the above, or I'm hanging out with my friends, or I'm enjoying a cup of tea. I'm generally a positive, happy person.

3. I am working on… finding a job and a couple of cross-stitch patterns (it's my first time creating a pattern; here's hoping it works).

4. I am interested in… learning as much as I can about a variety of topics from history to science to sports to politics. I crave knowledge.

5. I am always… up for a laugh.

6. I am enjoying… a cup of tea... and getting ready for Christmas.

7. I am in… pain. I'm also in Victoria, BC.

8. I am reading… Ship of Fools by Fintan O'Toole and History of Ireland by Malachy McCourt (Frank's younger [and funnier]) brother.

9. I am concerned about… a lot, but right now, mostly about my inability to bend over.

10. I am looking forward to… being pain free and Christmas with my family.

Please Place Your Seats In the Upright Position...

2011-11-28T12:43:00.001-08:00

...because the crazy is taking off.

Remember when I said "let's run a marathon in Donegal in 2013"? Yeah, I don't either but apparently I did. I think I was too busy listening to Ciaran McMenamin's sexy, sexy voice to pay attention to what I was typing. (That man needs to start doing books on tape STAT! It's probably the only way I'd ever make it past the first four chapters of Twilight.) I also mentioned it to a few people in real life, partially in jest and partially in "wouldn't that be fun" until three of them (serious runner types) challenged me back to make it happen. And could I plan a tour of Ireland while I'm at it?

With three actual runners interested in attending the race and two friends who just want to come along to cheer* (and ~~drink in the pubs~~ tour the island), I've started looking into what it would take to make this a possibility. While I know that September 2013 is a looooong way off, getting people thinking about it now (and possibly saving) will hopefully make it easier to get people to commit to it when the time comes. (If the time comes, there are still no guarantees at this time.)

For the reason why I picked Donegal of all the places in Ireland to do a marathon, it's all about the beautiful ~~pub~~ countryside and people. Plus the run looks like a fun, low-key event with hilarious race rules. Also, the eyes of the cow medal light up. They had me at "[a]nyone consistently getting in the way of cows behind them will be be beaten!" and now they've got a light up participation medal? My heart just skipped a beat!

If this does go ahead, please understand that non-runners will also be welcome. My hope is that we can find a nice balance between a small-ish group but making it large enough to be able to work out some travel deals so I'll probably aim for 12 people. Again, this is just to get you guys thinking about it.

As for my current state: back is getting better but it's still slow going. Legs are still very smooth considering what they were like after three weeks of no shaving. I have decided to rewatch all the extended Lord of the Rings** movies because I'm a giant dork and the nights are getting dark so early. This is after I finished watching the entire Underworld trilogy (even the crappy 2nd one which I only watch because Scott Speedman - who can't act, let's be honest - runs around shirtless for most of it). Sadly, that pretty much has you up to date on my life right now!

*and this isn't counting people who've expressed interest but not an actual commitment to coming.

**that's right, extended. I'm a hard-core nerd, yo!

It's a Miracle

2011-11-26T11:51:00.001-08:00

I was supposed to have a big blogging day today (mostly over here) but then plans got in the way and now I have to go be social. I know! How dare my friends expect me to actually want to see them?!? This is why I prefer my imaginary friends: they are always on my schedule.

Okay, okay. So it's nice to see people and be social and productive and, and, and... but I did have to pop on to pass on some very important information: after three weeks of not being able to bend over, I CAN FINALLY SHAVE MY LEGS!!!!

Perhaps that's an overshare but I'm just so happy to have smooth legs again that I don't really care. This is obviously a sign that things in the back department are improving. This week: smooth legs. Next week: back flips! That's how it goes, right?

I hope you all have a fantastic weekend with your own WOO-HOO!! moment.

Injury Update

2011-11-21T13:22:00.001-08:00

Having never had a back injury which has taken this long to heal, I started getting nervous that I had done some serious damage. I mean, it's over two weeks since and I still get out of bed looking something like my grandpa did when he was in his 90's. The most recent person I know with a back injury had to have surgery she did so much damage and 16 months later she still doesn't have full motion back. That thought kept circling in the back of my mind every time I felt pain back there.

The one positive is that the period of sustained back pain (as opposed to the 'only when I move the wrong way' pain) is now limited to the first two hours after I get up. Surely, that's a step in the right direction. I sent an email to a friend of a friend who's a physiotherapist about expected recovery time. Subsequent emails throughout the course of this morning have made me feel much better that I haven't actually done anything serious, and now I have a few handy-dandy exercises to do along with some light-stretching/yoga poses.

The downside is that week three of my goals looks exactly like week two... and week one... and probably like week four, if I'm being honest. Injuries suck. Instead of bore you with "hey, I'm aiming to walk... again!" for the next two weeks, I'm going to hold off on officially posting goals until they're of something more exciting... like 'bending over without groaning'! Because right now, that would be really exciting for me. [See previous comment about injuries sucking.]

In the mean time, expecting posting to be sporadic and/or a pity party. Feel free to bring the ticker tape.

Holding Steady

2011-11-15T17:25:00.001-08:00

Other than two days when I decided not to walk (once due to my back being sore again, once due to driving up island to visit family), I rocked last week's goal. Sadly, my back is still a bit of an issue. While I'm still noticing improvement, my injury is in an annoying location that I tweak anytime I sit down or bend over. Full recovery is going to take longer than I originally hoped.

Boo-urns.

It does, however, make writing this week's goals very simple: walk 20 minutes every day... again. I'm going to up the ante a wee bit and add two easy sessions of yoga. I'm hoping it will help with the back issues.

The downside is that I'm lacking in blogging mojo because you can only talk about not being able to do things for so long before you feel it's better to just shut up. Curse you, back pain! CURSE YOU!

Goal: Heal Quicker!

2011-11-07T12:41:00.000-08:00

Last week I set two simple goals: don't skip dance class, and go for a long walk. I went to dance class... and then failed to do anything else for the rest of the week. Even my at-home goals suffered because it's hard to crochet when you're lying on your back or clean out your fridge when you can't bend over.

I have a very quiet weekend, what with the laying on a heating pad and all. While my mobility has vastly improved, bending over is still pretty much a no-go area at the moment (so is sitting up without back support). I tried a bit of a walk on Sunday to meet up with my mom and by the end of the 20 minutes, I knew that I had reached my limit for physical activity for the day. Boo-urns! I had thought I was getting better but that was a wake up call.

I had to revamp my list of fitness goals for this week as one of the goals was weight training. It's really hard to work around back pain. I can't just work upper body because of a knee problem or lower body because of a shoulder issue. Also, not being able to walk for extended periods of time... also difficult to work around.

Sigh. So much for my 'off to a good start' gumption.

Still, the pain won't last forever and I can still do small things so I'm committing to walking for 20 minutes every day. It's not much but it's something and I'll adjust as the back improves. It's just something to make sure I don't spend the whole week sitting on the couch!

If my back feels better sooner rather than later, I'll throw 2 yoga sessions onto that list but I don't want to push myself too quickly.

"Back" At It

2011-11-03T12:35:00.000-07:00

I almost didn't go to dance last night. I hadn't slept well, I was cranky, and it was pouring. It was an argument with myself but I dragged my wet, sorry ass up the stairs to the dance studio still not entirely convinced that I had made the right decision. There is something almost addictive about the sound of djembes and doundouns.

We started by going over the sofa dance (it's the name of the rhythm of the hunter's dance. Get your minds out of the gutter, you sickos!) before breaking into two groups and and performing for each other. When it was my turn to perform, I gave it my all. The other dancers noticed, the drummers noticed, and I fed off that energy. Even when we reached the end and I just wanted the dance to end but Pete (the lead djembe) decided it would be more awesome to just keep playing but faster, I kept myself going.*

When the song ended, I wandered over to the seated dancers and jokingly collapsed on the floor. As I 'fell', I felt something shift in my back. When I went to get up, I felt it shift further and my back cried out a little. I figured I work the pain out over the next 30 minutes.

No such luck. I couldn't twist in either direction without pain. I excused myself from the dance floor to sit down and stretch. I couldn't sit without pain, I couldn't bend over without pain. In short, I could stand incredibly still and that was about it.

We had a business meeting for Matoto after the dance class and I tried to fix the back pain with the consumption of beer. Dull the pain, all that jazz. Either that's only a myth or I didn't drink enough ;) I would have had a bath with Epsom salts when I got home (how did injured people function before Epsom salts? Seriously, how?) but I haven't cleaned my bath since before Ireland (I'm a shower girl) and there was no way I was bending over to clean it.

I popped a few pain killers, laid down on the heating pad and promptly got "Bullet with Butterfly Wings" stuck in my head. Because that's what everyone wants running through their head when they're in too much pain to get up and put on music: Smashing Pumpkins. Although it did kind of fit with my whole 'I'm pissy and in pain' mood.

While my back is feeling better (and I was finally able to bend over and clean up the hairball in the hall this morning), my level of mobility is still limited. Walking is fine for short distances, but I look like I'm 87 when I try and turn, bend, or sit. Damn, squats are out? Shucks!

Now, I think it's time for another back pain beer!

*In set West African Dance (as opposed to the traditional circle dance), you do the one move (or collection of moves) until the djembe plays the break and you move to the next move. Be nice to your drummers, people. If they hate you, they can keep you stuck in one move for-ev-ah! I was about two moves away from yelling "play the f*cking break" at Pete last night... and we get along!

Goal Slacking

2011-11-02T15:32:00.000-07:00

I have finally set my fitness goals for this week: have my fitness goals ready to go for next Monday!

Obviously, I'm as awesome at this whole 'goal setting' thing as I am at this 'staying on track' thing.

I actually did set a few fitness goals this week but they were small because I set a lot of non-fitness goals and I didn't want to bog myself down with lists. I still have to write 'thank you' letters to everyone we stayed with in Ireland (yes, write as in pen to paper with my best penmanship), I need to go through my spice cupboard and my fridge and clean them out, I need to find a job, I want to bake some Zupfe, I'm working on a craft project involving spray paint, I'm trying to set aside 30 minutes a day to crochet, and I stupidly decided to give Nanowrimo a shot... again.

I looked at the list above and wrote down the following fitness goals: don't skip dance class, and go for a long walk at some point. I'm aiming big this week!

Despite the lack of concrete fitness goals for this week, I have spent a lot of time thinking about what I really want out of the six months (the length of my journal) so while I have been lackluster in actually setting my weekly goals, they've never really been that far from my mind. I've gotten them figured out for next week and will be doing some of them this week (doing yoga in the mornings, for example) but I don't want the added guilt of not achieving them when I already have a full plate.

I may be the only person who has to write 'write to-do list' on her to-do list.

Happy Halloween

2011-10-31T18:34:00.000-07:00

There was supposed to be a post today about goals that I'm setting.

But instead of writing it on Sunday night, I caught up on all the jobs I didn't do when I slept in Sunday morning (hello Saturday night Halloween party!).

No worries, I could just write it this morning. Wrong. I dealt with an incredibly slow computer while I uploaded Ireland photos over on the other blog. Almost three hours later (seriously, slowest... upload... ever!), I just really didn't care to look at a computer screen any longer.

As a result, five hours later, I'm recovered enough to give you a Happy Halloween post. I'm going to hand out candy at/with my parents (because no one ever comes to my apartment and I get a free dinner out of the deal).

I'd feel guilty, but all this stems from being social and choosing to have fun with friends on Saturday night instead of staying home so I could get up early to write a blog entry. Sometimes blogging loses to having a real life :)

Happy Halloween!!

Random Ramblings

2011-10-27T15:14:00.000-07:00

Random One: About two years ago, I entered my first blog giveaway (on the now defunct Get Fit Chicks). Amazingly, I won. Amazingly because a) it was the first time I ever entered a blog give away and b) I never win anything. A few days later, I received The Ultimate Workout Log in the mail. It looked pretty awesome. I put it to the side with the idea of starting it when I started my running program.

It just ended up collecting dust.

A few months later, I dusted it off and thought that I should really start using it. You know, I'll just wait until after my birthday when I can give it a good start.

More dust.

I've taken it out and dusted it off again. This time, no waiting until I'm ready to start or I have a program in place, I'm using it right away... starting Monday. It's divided into days of the week and I hate starting things in the middle. Plus, it gives me a chance to figure out how I'm going to go about sharing it on here. See, I'm doing all this for you guys ;)

Random Two: In an attempt to pretend I haven't left Ireland, I've been rewatching season four of Primeval on Space so I can listen to the rough 'good morning sunshine' sounds of Ciarán McMeanamin's voice. It was hearing his voice while watching season four last March that started me on my 'I have to go back to Ireland' kick.

I want this man to read me bedtime stories.

Random Three: I obviously need to check out my blogger stats more often. Four of the top seven google searches which have brought people to this site have some thing to do with the Italian football (soccer) team. I don't even LIKE the Italian soccer team. I made fun of them in that post.

Random Four: In searching for races in Ireland that I might want to be a part of I came across the Mooathon in Co. Donegal. Not only can you be kicked out because you wear something other than white and black but they encourage you to wear cow bells, cow horns, and any other cow-esque items you can find. Also, it ends at a beach... in Co. Donegal! It's quite possibly the greatest race possibility I've ever come across. I know that the 2012 race is too soon for me (both fitness and money-wise), but anyone interested in joining me for 2013? You get to dress up like a cow and run a marathon!

Free Pass Equals Less Ass

2011-10-23T12:04:00.000-07:00

As so often happens after travel, I got horribly, horribly sick upon returning home. Oh recycled plane air, how I hate you! Pity me, people. I went on an awesome trip, came home and got sick ;)

I gave myself a bit of a free pass while I was in Ireland. While I didn't go crazy and eat an Ulster Fry for every breakfast, I did have one twice. (Black pudding, white pudding, fried everything? Hells ya!) I might not have had a pint every night of the week, but I did let the two best bartenders in the country serve me multiple pints on multiple nights.

Why do I say this? Because somewhere in my three weeks of enjoying traditional Irish food and debating exactly which bar serves the best Guinness, I actually lost weight. Obviously, I need to travel more often! I'm putting it down to the incredible amount of walking that I did during my time there.

I may have also gotten inspired while I was in Ireland and looked up half- and full marathons in various locations around the island. Of course, the inspiration may have been more about looking for another excuse to visit parts of Ireland in which I don't have family. Say, the beautiful County Donegal, for example.

I'm feeling better so getting back into the swing of regular workouts is goal number one for the upcoming week. In the meantime, the first few days of travel are recapped here and here.

We Now Return to Previously Scheduled Programming

2011-10-17T13:28:00.000-07:00

I'm back. I kind of hate that fact but my overly affectionate cats are making it a little easier. Although I could do without the cat drool.

I've posted a few pictures over here for your viewing pleasure. Proper recaps are coming but I've just spent two hours cleaning out my reader feed so I'm a little computered out at the moment. Plus, I'm awaiting a few photos from my travel companion before I start getting into that.

Sadly, my running shoes suffered a fate worth than death on the trip (they got so wet they held the same potency as mustard gas and the UN sent in troops to deal with removing them to a safe site away from human smell) so a return to running will be a wee bit delayed but hopefully I can get around to replacing them very, very soon.

Cheers!

One Week Count Down

2011-09-18T11:36:00.000-07:00

Today is my one week countdown to my departure. Along with being super excited, I'm looking at a 'to-do' list which seems to grow every time I turn around. If I didn't know better, I'd think my cats are adding items to it when I'm not looking. But that's ridiculous because they don't have opposable thumbs; they can't hold a pen!

Just because she steals my place in bed doesn't mean she'd write on my 'to do' list, right?

Of course, sitting in a coffee shop so I can update my blog doesn't really help with getting things crossed off the list but it's all part of today's plan. No, seriously. The coffee shop is on the way to Michael's craft store which is on they way to my dad's. Part of the plan.

I will pop in again tomorrow for Friend Makin' Monday but that will probably be it for posts until I'm home. Still, I'll be around and creeping on other people's blogs because ~~without them I have no social life~~ I like to keep up with everyone else.

Just admit we're your only friends so we can go back to ignoring you.

If I do post at all while I'm away, it will be over here but don't hold your breath as I'm hoping I can just disappear from the online world for the three weeks I'm away. So I guess this is just a pre-emptive 'thanks for sticking around'.

Cheers!

It's a Good Sore, I Swear

2011-09-15T15:25:00.000-07:00

I can't bend over today.

Putting on my pants was almost impossible.

In fact, if I didn't have a coffee date with a friend, I could very well still be pantless as I write this.

It's all because of dance last night.

Well, it's because of my inability to control my joy over dancing again that I went at it a little hard.

So hard, in fact, that when it came to the last dance through of the three moves we've learned so far, I just stopped. I do occasionally push myself harder than I should and end up marking moves (doing them without the jumps, hops, and energy I normally do them with) but I just full out stopped. Stood up with a big smile on my face and just watched everyone else.

I'm so happy that dance lesson season has started up again.

Except I'll make sure I don't push myself so hard next time.

Can't Keep Me Away! FMM

2011-09-12T11:27:00.000-07:00

I purposely post to say I won't be posting much but of course I have to post for Friend Makin' Monday! So if I say I'm going to post tomorrow, it usually takes me about a week to do it. If I say I won't be posting, I do it in less than 24hours. Well played, self. Well played.

Anyway, if you're new to Friend Makin' Monday, you can find the guidelines here. If you're old hat at this, let's do this!

FMM: All About Me

1. What are your talents? I'm musically inclined (I play multiple instruments, dance, and thrive on musical theatre) and I have yet to meet a craft project I haven't enjoyed.

2. What is your best habit? Oh, good question. I honestly don't know. I'll have to think about this one... and never get back to you on it. [EDIT: I look for the positive in everything. I read this poem often and try to live by it. I have seen enough bad in this world that I do not want to add to it.]

3. If you had to be stuck with someone in an elevator for 8 hours, who would you want it to be? I've been working on a piece about Irish history recently so right now I'd want to be stuck in an elevator with John Hume. Ask again next week, my answer will change. There's so many interesting people in the world, it's hard to pick just one.

4. Share one odd fact about you that we’d never know to ask. You mean beside my fear of scarecrows on TV? Alright, I cut my pinky open on a meat slicer. I have a scar and a slight lack of feeling in that pinky.

5. What’s your latest project (work, home, whatever you care to share?) I have a couple of craft projects on the go. Namely, I have a rash of friends having babies and those blankets won't crochet themselves!

6. If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be? I have a couple of scars that I wouldn't mind seeing gone.

7. What do you do in your spare time? Read, craft, write, dance, daydream

8. What is your biggest pet peeve? When people lack respect for other people. I know that not everyone is going to like everyone, but that doesn't mean you can't treat them with decency and respect.

9. Why do you blog? I don't know. I enjoy writing and I enjoy being the centre of attention. Blogging just seemed like a natural move :)

10. Are you tidy or messy? I tend to be a mix of the two but I'm trying to work on being more consistent with the tidy.

11. What’s the last song that played on your iPod? Whiskey in the Jar (Trad. Irish song, this recording by Jimmy Sweeney). I'm just trying to get in the right mood for my trip!

12. Do you cook? If so, what’s for dinner tonight? I do cook, however, tonight I have plans to get together with my travel partner so there will be no cooking.

13. Do you like sports? If so, list your teams. Love sports! Favourite teams of favourite sports listed below but I also occasionally catch up on tennis, hurling, and cricket results.
Hockey: Vancouver Canucks, HC Davos, Belfast Giants
Soccer (or real football): SC Freiburg, Vancouver Whitecaps, Bolton Wanderers, Bern Youngboys
Rugby: Ireland National Team, Wales National Team

14. How often do you read and/or watch the news? Every day. I was about 12 before I realised the radio has more stations than just CBC so I'm a bit of a news junky.

15. Did you stick to your new Year’s resolution this year? If so, elaborate. Instead of resolutions, I set goals. I'm on target to hit some of them.

16. What are you looking forward to most in the remainder of 2011? I leave for Ireland in less than two weeks. I have a week there by myself to visit with my family and then my friend Al is joining me and we're going off to be tourists. This will be the first time I'll be a true tourist in Ireland and I'm beyond excited.

17. Shoes, sunglasses or handbags? Shoes. I tend to lose sunglasses and I hate having to switch everything between handbags.

18. How do you feel about sleeping on satin sheets? No me gusta. You can't curl up in satin sheets. I'm a cotton sheet girl all the way.

19. Do you sing in the shower? Surprisingly, given my willingness to sing everywhere else, I don't sing in the shower. I also try to keep my showers to 5 minutes so that doesn't leave much time for singing.

20. Describe yourself in one word. Oddball.

All Quiet on the Blogging Front

2011-09-11T10:50:00.000-07:00

Just a head's up that things will probably be pretty quiet on here for the next little while. Between getting everything sorted for my trip in two weeks and then going on my trip for three weeks, I don't anticipate a lot of time for blogging on both blogs.

If I do blog while I'm in Ireland (which I don't plan on doing which is why I'm pre-writing a bunch of posts!), it will be over at Writings from a Nobody so if you want to keep up on how many pints of beer I've been drinking with my cousins, check out that blog. (Recaps of my trip will be over there as well.)

Not to say that I won't be posting over here at all, just that I'm removing any sort of blogging schedule until Oct 17. There may very well be a post on here, say, this Thursday about the joy of West African Dance. Or there may not. I'm schedule-less!

Hello Fall! Sort of!

2011-09-07T15:08:00.000-07:00

September arrived and so did Victoria's fall weather. Don't get me wrong, the days are still gloriously sunny and hot. But the evenings are cooling off and my jackets have been pulled from the dark cobwebbed corner of my closet.

My apologies to any arachnophobes who may be reading this.

Okay, there weren't really cobwebs but I hadn't been back there for a while.

It's that awkward time of year when you either suffer through being cold in the morning, or you wear a jacket only to have to carry it around after 9:00am. For the record, I suffer through being chilly. I have an aversion to carrying jackets when I don't have to (like putting up with being a tad cold for my 20 minute walk into work so the rest of the day is gloriously jacket-free).

Of course, I'm not really that sad about the arrival of fall for two reasons.

1. I'm going to visit the famdamily.

Any excuse to post ridiculously ~~embarrassing~~ cute photos of my cousins/brother.

2. West African Dance classes start up again!! (Yes, I just shamelessly linked to the best dance school in Victoria/Shawnigan!)

The instructors getting down during our Pub Night at last year's Denbaya*.

I still have a week to go before classes actually start (in fact, I have exactly one week) but I've been running through the dances I do know in anticipation for the first class. And do I ever plan to 'bring it' to that class. I'll show those newbies how to move their T&A! *snap*

I was feeling like a bit of an impostor in the beginners class by mid-way through last year. Not only was I decidedly not a beginner after a year of classes, but I also come from a dance background which many of the other students don't. In a strange-backwards move, I started hiding at the sides of the classes and stop helping other students when they were confused about moves. I had a fear of becoming 'that girl', the know-it-all who thought she could teach the class.

But then three different newbies I've run into over the summer (it's Victoria, running into people is what we do) expressed how appreciative they were to have me and the other not-really-a-beginner in the class because a) they couldn't always see our teacher and they knew that standing near either of us meant they'd have someone else to watch and b) we've gotten over that new-student fear so we hoot and holler during cross floor and performances like the Guineans do and it always makes everyone feel good to hear people positively yell while they dance.

So I'm looking forward to my Wednesday night classes with a renewed excitement that was missing last May when I opted not to do the summer session.

*Denbaya means 'family' in Susu, the language of the coastal people of Guinea. It's also the name MoonDance gave to their weekend 'mini-Guinea' they host every two years-ish. It's a long weekend of drum and dance lessons with various Guinean teachers. In short: it's a lot of fun!

Friend Makin' Monday: Happy Labour Day!

2011-09-05T11:32:00.000-07:00

Quick pop in for Friend Makin' Monday. That Labour Day sun isn't going to enjoy itself! And sadly, my apartment isn't going to clean itself either.

Guidelines found here!

FMM: Favourite Things

1) What is your favorite food? BBQ'd BC salmon gets me every time. I love BC salmon. Outside of BC/the Pacific Northwest, salmon just isn't as good.

2) What is your favorite childhood memory? There's so many of them! Ireland beating Romania is one I've talked about on here. Making Kahlua with my stepmom and her grandma. Making Christmas cookies with my mom following great-grandma's recipe. Camping on Gabriola Island and building sand castles with a swimming pool (large clam shell filled with water) for the princess to have a morning swim in. I honestly can't limit it to just one favourite, but I think the Italia '90 has had the biggest long-term affect on me, so we'll go with that one.

3) What is your favorite way to burn calories? Dance. Specifically right now, West African Dance. Love, love, love it.

4) What is your favorite mode of technological communication? Phone? Text? E-mail? Tweets? Texting or e-mail.

5) Who is your favorite actor/actress? I don't really have one. I tend to rotate through actors that I like and there's plenty that I have great respect for and will watch pretty much anything they put out, but I can't say "I like this one the best".

6) What is your favorite lip color? If I wore lipstick more often, I'd know off the top of my head. I had to root around in my purse to find the one colour I currently own to see that it's called "Classic Wine". I don't know if I'd say it's my favourite but I do like it and wouldn't hesitate to buy it again. (Generally, I prefer to play with my eyes and then just throw on some lip gloss.)

7) Who is your favorite historical figure? Only one? Then I guess I'd go with Dr. David Livingstone. (This is an impossible question for a history nerd to answer, by the way. I will be debating my answer with myself for weeks to come.)

8)Who is your favorite athlete? Trevor Linden. I even named my cat after him.

9) What is your favorite TV network? I used to spend a lot of time watching Space, Discovery, History or the Comedy Network but I didn't really have a favourite. Now I'm cable-less so I just really like any channel which streams for free.

10) What is your favorite site on the web? My google reader! I also like news sites (CBC being my main one) and social media (hello, facebook). Lately, I've become a good friend with Bus Eireann and we're pretty much on a daily-chat basis.

Taking the Weekend Off

2011-09-03T14:23:00.000-07:00

It wasn't my intention to totally slack on both the writing and the working out this weekend, but THR is in town from Vancouver, I'm going to my mom's to be all crafty, and the weather is fabulous. Yeah, just call me 'slacker'!

Plus, THR and I discovered that Al has never seen Shaun of the Dead or Hot Fuzz.

Obviously this has to be rectified... preferably over a bottle of wine (or two).

John Cleese and I hope you have a fabulous long weekend.

See you on the flip side.

I Think I Have Too Much Time On My Hands

2011-08-31T12:53:00.000-07:00

Okay, show of bloody hand prints: who took a couple of screen shots while watching Shaun of the Dead last night just so they could make one stupid visual joke on their blog?

Riiiiiight. Show of stabbed hands: who then decided to watch Hot Fuzz and also make screen shots 'just because'?

Of course, if you know me in real life then you know that when I watch Shaun of the Dead and/or Hot Fuzz I must eat a cornetto. (Except we don't have cornettos in Canada, we call them 'drumsticks' for some silly reason, but it's the same thing.)

Hmm, perhaps it is this tradition which keeps me looking more like Nick Frost and less like Simon Pegg (well, that and the whole ginger thing). At least Simon occasionally takes a break from the cornettos for a cuppa.

And why could I possibly think spending three hours just doing screen shots would be worth it? Because I wanted to say that despite the length of time it is taking for my hand to heal, at least I know that I won't turn into a zombie as a result of it.

*Spoiler Alert: Pete gets bitten on his hand in the same general area as my injury (except on the left, not right... hold on a tick...)

There we go. So, he's bitten in the same area as my injury. He turns into a zombie. I, after a week of pain in that area and no death of myself of which I'm aware, have yet to become a zombie and there is definite improvement in the pain level. We are safe from the zombie apocalypse for now. Also, it's okay that Pete turned into a zombie. He was a prick.

The great thing about my hand getting better is being able to run again. I know I've said this before but I never ever thought I'd be someone who would enjoy running, never mind, miss it when I can't do it. Whether it's running with a partner so we can get some good gossip time in, or if it's running by myself with my tunes cranked, I love running. Also, it's such a great and cheap way to get fit.

So while I still need to constantly work on making better choices and saying 'no' more often, being able to run makes the occasional indulgence of mom's chocolate-chip-coconut-cookies a little less guilt-ridden.

Oh, how I admire his ability to say 'no'.

If this journey has taught me anything, it's that there's no shortcuts to fitness and health.

(It's my blog and if I want to put in jokes which reference the film I'm taking pictures from, I can do that.)

Two little notes:
1) I have occasionally been asked what my obsession with the writing team of Edgar Wright-Simon Pegg is, and it boils down to this picture. There are two people with guns behind the bar. Read the sign. If that doesn't make you giggle, then I don't know if we can be friends.

2) This post is for Marie who is about to run her first half-marathon in October. She's one of the few people who loves these films as much as I do. Marie's parents are from Wells, where Hot Fuzz was filmed. At the time of filming, this was the only stop light in the entire town. (It might still be, I just don't know for sure.)

And thus concludes this edition of "Andrea Needs a Hobby so She Stops Doing Screen Shots". Cheers!

Quick Update

2011-08-30T14:54:00.000-07:00

Proper post coming ~~soon~~ tomorrow, but I just wanted to share my exciting news: I can run without my arm tingling!

I headed out for a quick run last night and after10 minutes of running, my arm felt fine. The thumb itself is still sore but much better than it was. Truth be told, it feels so good that I forget and re-injure it by picking up something a little too heavy.

But I can run again!! YAY!!

Thumbs Up to Running

2011-08-25T11:57:00.000-07:00

It seemed like an innocuous event. I reached for my bag and my thumbnail, which needed trimming, hit the wall with such force that I used words which I can't repeat on this blog. If I had been at work, the words in question would have required another 'sensativity training' session.* Still, life must go on so I picked up my bag and continued about my day giving no more thought to the injury my left hand had sustained.

The next morning, I woke up to a really sharp pain where my thumb meets my hand. It was so bad that I couldn't do any yoga poses that required putting weight on it. Downward Facing Dog became Um, I Think I'll Skip That Step.

Still, the pain was gone by Friday evening and I had no problems lifting my glass of wine.

Saturday morning, the pain had returned during the night and when I went to pick up my cereal bowl with my left hand I almost dropped it. I felt a few twinges in my wrist. This is not good.

I used my left hand/arm as little as possible on Saturday. The most strenuous thing I did with it was lift my wine glass, hold my rummy cards and play some piano. Okay, maybe that last one wasn't a great idea with an injured hand. Sunday morning found my whole left arm in various states of numbness and pain. This is really not good.

I returned to Victoria after my weekend up island and tried to return to a normal schedule. I was still modifying my yoga but the numbness and pain from my elbow to wrist subsided. I only noticed my thumb when I picked something up.

I went for a run.

Ten minutes into my workout, my arm was tingling from my elbow to my wrist and my thumb had gone completely numb. I'm no doctor but I'm pretty sure that is a big STOP sign. So I did just that. I walked the rest of my route and by the time I returned home, my arm had returned to normal.

My thumb is getting better. Every day I have more movement and less pain so I know that it is mending but running is on hold for the week. Again, I'm not a doctor but that sort of tingling can not be good! I've given my thumb an ultimatum: it has until Monday to be able to handle running or I'm going to the doctor. I enjoy the doctor as much as my cats enjoy the vet** so I'm hoping that my body understands this on a molecular level and speeds up the healing.

In the meantime, more walking and modified yoga are in my future.

But this isn't just a post to let you know about my lack of movement this week, it's also a morality tale: cutting your nails is an important step in keeping up your running!

*I have only had to do one of these training sessions after one co-worker accused another of harassment. For the record, I was not involved in the incident but everyone in our department had to attend the session.

**My cats actually like the vet and her friendly, quiet office because there's lots of things to explore and she's very calm and quiet. It's the car ride that they despise. They yowl like I'm skinning them alive. Still, I stand by my analogy because they hate the overall experience.

FMM: The Last Thing

2011-08-22T18:57:00.000-07:00

I woke up to some sad news this morning so I need a post to take my mind off of it. Thank goodness for Friend Makin' Monday.

Guidelines are here.

FMM: The Last Thing

1) What is the title of the last book you read? The last book I finished was A Dance with Dragons. I'm currently reading The Origin of Species and Lonely Planet: Ireland.

2) What is the last movie you saw in a theater? Winnie-the-Pooh (and I went to see it on a Saturday night. Feel free to judge me.)

3) Briefly describe the last person you saw today. I'm in a coffee shop as I post this so that's a little hard. Prior to that, I met up with Allison to discuss our upcoming trip. (Insert 'squee' here!)

4) Which store did you most recently shop in? Other than the coffee shop, I stopped at London Drugs for kitty litter.

5) Who’s the last person you spoke to over the phone? My mom. Phoned to tell her I was home safe and sound from the wilds of Nanaimo.

6) Where’s the last place you vacationed? Proper vacation would have been Tanzania in 2007 (well, the two two week holidays I had while I was living there) but I've done a few weekend trips to Vancouver and Nanaimo which feel like mini-vacations (and I'm heading on my next vacation very soon!)

7) When was the last time you kissed someone of the opposite sex? A little over a month ago.

8) What’s the last thing that made you laugh? My pathetic whine while disagreeing with something my stepmom said during rummy which then caused the two of us to laugh so long and hard that we cried. Oh, and Al and I laughed a lot this morning but I don't remember over what.

9) What’s the latest app that you downloaded on your phone? I don't have a phone you can download apps to because I'm cheap but if I did, I'd totally download the app that lets you make a phone call.
10) What’s the last kind thing you did for someone? I gave Terry (the bubble man) computer lessons yesterday when he was having problems with his laptop.

Fitting in the Family Time

2011-08-18T11:29:00.000-07:00

Once I finally came back from the I'm not 20 and can't drink like that anymore ledge, I had a good week. Conflicting work schedules have left me running on my own but it hasn't slowed me down. I think that's always my biggest fear when I'm responsible to myself... Myself can be pretty f*&#ing lazy.

I was hoping to work in some swimming this week but after being called into the office pretty much all week, I haven't been able to get out to the lake. It's a catch-22: work = money to play but not the time to play.

*sigh*

I think we can all agree that sometimes being a grown up sucks. Still, there's a few more weeks of outdoor swimming weather left. I know I'll make it out there for a relaxing dip!

I've been trying to incorporate more yoga into my routine mostly to help with flexibility. While I wasn't working, it was easy to wake up at 7:30, do a 30 minute session, and still have my day started by 9:00am. When I have to leave the house at 7:20 to get to the office on time, it's a bit more difficult. As a result, I've only had one session this week. I've only been doing it for three weeks but the lack of it on my third week is already making me a sad panda.

Y U No Yoga? And Y U Mix Memes?

In amongst all the working and running and yoga-ing (totally going to call that a word), I've been enjoying my summer. My stepdad's family is visiting from New York. They're originally from Northern Ireland so we enjoyed a wonderful evening of talking about the GAA, Armagh vs. Tyrone, and how we're all distantly related to each other (short story: my uncle's wife's mother is their father's cousin. Did you follow that?)

Apparently Armagh/Monaghan family trees look something like this.

This weekend, I'm heading up to Nanaimo for more family socializing. I debated bringing my running gear for all of five minutes before deciding against it. My stepmom lives in a very hilly area so my runs always turn into walks. I'll just plan on a longer walk, followed by a cuppa and a round of rummy.

My stepmom and I take our rummy games very, very seriously. There's a good chance at least one of our games will end in blood and gloating.

How dare you go out while I have two aces in my hand!

All in all, the summer has shaped up to be pretty awesome.

I Hurt And Not From Exercise

2011-08-14T14:05:00.000-07:00

I had plans to blog today. I also had plans for three blog posts over here.

I also had plans to leave yesterday's BBQ no later than 8:00pm.

Some how I found myself doing the running man in the middle of the road at 10:30pm as I made my way towards the bus stop.

And the only true blog post I succeeded in getting up was the pre-written post.

There may or may not have been alcohol involved in causing my plans to go astray.

I'll leave you to figure that out for yourself.

Forever Part of Jackie's Army

2011-08-11T16:00:00.000-07:00

For the past two months I've been getting cravings for McDonald's. I've never been a big MickyD's eater so it was really not big deal to stop eating it altogether almost five years ago. Since then I've had it once (because it was that or a 15euro eggs, toast, and bacon at Schiphol Airport at 8:00am). I've occasionally lamented the lack of their no-nutritional-value-probably-laced-with-cocaine fries but then I cut up a potato to make oven fries and I'm just as happy.

Plus, if I eat at McD's too often, Mac tells me I'll remain a fat chicken forever.

This most recent craving, however, kept coming back. About once a week I'd find myself saying "but you'll like the dinner I made for you once you eat it" and like a resigned child, my craving would huff off into a corner until it was ready for the next round. Last night, I finally caved.

That's pretty much how I ate the fries.

I walked to the Raunchy Ronnie's closest to my apartment and ordered a meal. I sat down to eat it, realizing that the burger was so dripping with fat/oil/teenagelinecooksnot/grease that my fingers almost became translucent. Ugh. But I had ordered it and, I have to admit, it tasted good going down. It wasn't the most satisfying meal but it shut up my craving so I'll take it.

Actually, I think my burger had even more grease.

About 20 minutes after I got home my stomach felt awful. I still pretty much felt like ass this morning. Thank you, Golden Armpits, for reminding me why I was never really that big of a fan in the first place. And now I have a blog post for the next time I have a craving and the passage of time leads me to think how bad could one meal there be?

NOTE TO SELF: DON'T EAT THE MCD'S OR YOU WILL FEEL LIKE THIS!

Note to readers: Guess who suddenly realised she can make

her own screen caps when she watches movies on her laptop?

Over on Healthy Tipping Point today, Caitlin asked another round of 10 personal questions. The last question was about your three happiest moments. One of my moments was when Ireland beat Romania in 1990. The funny thing is that I almost didn't include it as a memory because I didn't think a sporting memory from when I was 10 should really be one of my happiest moments. But you know what? It is.

I wrote about the game on its 20th anniversary but I know I've picked up a few new readers since then so while you can find the full post here, I'm reposting a shortened version of it on here. I will fully admit that just reading the post again made me cry.

Italia '90 is the first World Cup I really remember watching. I have vague memories of a World Cup party prior to that, but I couldn't tell you who was playing or what the score was. Italia '90 was so burned in my memory partly because I was 10 and finally able to actually follow sports and partly because it was Ireland's first time at the World Cup. As I have mentioned before, my dad is an Irish immigrant. As much as I love Canada, when it comes to soccer (and rugby), Ireland is my team. Italia '90 made sure of that.

...Ireland made it past the Round Robin stage. They were slated to play against Romania, at that time a dominant force in the soccer world (not so much now) and the general agreement was that 'the boys in green' had had a good run but it would be coming to an end.

My dad had invited a few friends around to watch and to follow it up with a BBQ.[...] It was a tense game, Romania attacking aggressively and Ireland building a defensive wall which rivaled the Berlin wall. Despite Romania's best efforts, not a single shot made it into the net and the teams were forced into extra time. [...] After extra time did nothing to change the result, a penalty shoot-out was inevitable.

Romania was up first. [...] The players would walk from the centre circle were they had to stay between kicks, place the ball where they wanted, and then score. [...] The score stood at 4-4 as Packie Bonner, Ireland's goalie, took his place on the goal line. He dropped his head and said a prayer (I know because he crossed himself when he was done) as Daniel Timofte strode up to the ball and got ready.

... Packie guessed right on that last ball and he stopped it. My dad let out a loud yelp of joy as he jumped out of his seat. I remember being on my knees, not fully believing what I was seeing. I was waiting for the referee to call back the penalty shot for some unknown reason, to give Daniel Timofte another crack at it. Thankfully, my imagined doom was just that, imagined.

As David O'Leary walked up the field towards the goal, I got to my feet never once taking my eyes off the screen. This was it. This was our moment. [...] He ran on the ball and kicked it straight into the back of the net. A cheer erupted from our living room, and in the moment of celebration, my dad took his full glass of red wine and threw it at our freshly-painted white wall. There was jumping, screaming, hugging, singing, dancing, yelling, laughing, and a couple of toasts. Ireland had done the impossible. They were going to the quarter-finals.

[...]

June 25, 1990 was the day I became a soccer fan. I had played soccer and I enjoyed soccer, but I had never loved soccer like I did that day and have since. I watched Ireland lose the next game to the host team, Italy. I watched in USA '94 as Ireland lost to Holland in the Round of 16 and as Roberto Baggio (Italy) placed a penalty kick so high above the cross bar I wondered if he needed glasses. I watched the final of France '98 while having lunch with my mom when France beat Brazil. Ireland had failed to qualify so I was cheering for the host country (this, of course, was prior to the Handball Henry debacle which will now ensure I hate France for the rest of my natural life). I watched Manchester United win the Treble on the world's tiniest TV while befriending the front door staff at a hostel in Paris. I watched Thun almost hold Arsenal to a tie in a pub in Thun. I hosted a pancake breakfast for the final game of Germany '06 and felt my jaw drop as Zinedine Zidane did the unthinkable to Marco Materazzi. All these memories in my life, all these important moments, tied into the beautiful game all because Ireland beat Romania in penalty kicks. What would have happened if they had lost?

[...]

I have come to believe that there will never be a sport moment in my life as sweet as Ireland's win over Romania. Soccer, hockey, rugby, there will be no game, no matter how important, that will stay with me the way that game did. Twenty years later, I watch a video about it and I tear up with pride at that moment. I talk about Italia '90 the way older Canadians talk about the '72 series. I reference that game like it was somehow pinnacle to the entire game of soccer and not just the island nation of Ireland. My children will know how important that game was, and likely my grandchild will too, because it really was that important.

Summer Weekends and Belated FMM

2011-08-09T13:24:00.000-07:00

I had a wonderful summer weekend. A day spent up island and Shawnigan Lake and another day spent lazing in my friend’s sunny backyard while we celebrated her 30th. As much as spring and fall are my favourite seasons, summer definitely does have its moments.

I made sure to go for a swim while up at Shawnigan (in amongst drinking the incredibly strong drinks our family friend poured. I don’t think the man knows what a short glass is) and it reminded me that a) swimming really is an awesome workout and b) I really love lake swimming. There’s not much left of summer but I’m motivated to try and make it out to Thetis for a few morning swims. (Early is the key for Thetis before the crowds descend on it.)

I was back to my scheduled workouts this morning and got a rude reminder halfway through my run why you should always make sure you're well hydrated. Both my calves cramped up and felt like they had turned into rocks. I stretched them out by walking the second run section but let this be a reminder to you: as much as you feel like hitting snooze, get up and drink that pint of water you planned on before going for a run!

Yesterday was Friend Makin’ Monday (guidelines here).

The theme was letter to your future self and as much as it made me giggle to contemplate leaving:
Dear Future Self,
I hope you got your shit together.
Sincerely,
Me
I figured a proper response with some thought behind it was the appropriate thing to do (no matter how much I like to giggle). As a result, I’m a day late but some thought actually went into this so I guess it was worth the wait.

Dear Me-Sometime-In-the-Future (let’s say 10 years),

I’m not going to lie, I’m struggling to be the person I know you deserve me to have been but I hope that you’re happy with where we ended up. Remember that 10 years ago from when I write this, this is not where I thought I would be either but the journey’s been awesome so I’m happy with it.

I hope the adoption went relatively smoothly. What country did we end up deciding upon? I’ll keep my fingers crossed for a West African Country to open up their adoption laws so you can keep the child immersed in their culture through Mohammed, Manimou, N’nato, Abouboucar and the extended MoonDance family. How about the possible plans for a second adoption? Yeah? Nay? Still debating?

I hope you’re the regular multi-day hiker that I want you to become. That’s something I always assumed I would become as a child, and it’s a dream that I don’t want to give up on. Not yet. Not until my knees give in. Or my back. Or some other required body part. And have we climbed Meru yet? Or at least made plans to head back that way?

Did we ever run that marathon? Even more important, did we travel somewhere for a really awesome marathon? I'm keeping my fingers cross that we've done the Drei Laender marathon. I mean, come on. Three countries in one race? Kind of awesome! Built in excuse to hangout with the Hostettlers, Fuchs and Villigers? All awesome!

This is Bodensee (or Lake Constance) that you run part way around for the Three Country Marathon.

My friend's adorable boys are not included in the race package.

And you know how much I love the apartment I’m in right now but please, please tell me you’ve got yourself sorted and have a house (rented or otherwise) with a yard and that you’ve gotten a chocolate lab from the SPCA and named him (or her) Murphy. Because Murphy is just the perfect name for a chocolate lab and beer drinkers will get the joke. Scratch him behind the ears for me. Oh, and maybe make some of those treats that Ian said Thompson loved so much. Don’t argue with me, just do it. And don’t let him terrorize the cats too much (if they’re still around in 10 years).

Doesn't the Chocolate Lab look like a tall pint of Murphy's?

Please don’t have lost your amazement at the wonders of the natural world. Does thunder still make you smile? Do pictures of lava flows still excite you? Does a starry night still take your breath away? Please say they do.

And please tell me that you still sing to yourself when you think no one can hear you and that you bust out the dance moves when the feeling strikes you. Don’t worry about embarrassing your children when you do this in front of their friends. You grew up with your dad doing that and you survived. So will they. In fact, it might even help to make them even more awesome.

Also, have you single-handily negotiated peace in the Middle East yet? No? You should get on that. I’m too busy to deal with it right now.

Sincerely,
Me (from 10 years ago, which is really right now when I write this, but not when you read it, you know what? I’m just going to assume that we’re all on the same page with this and close these parentheses.)

Observations

2011-08-04T10:20:00.000-07:00

I’ve been waking up with the sniffles since Monday morning. A quick shower and a cup of coffee and the sniffles are usually gone but when I woke up Wednesday morning, the sniffles were there as well as a dull ache in my left ear. Along with the dull ache was a dulled ability to hear from that ear. I was supposed to go for a run at 9:00 but the idea of jostling my head around really didn’t appeal to me. I texted my running partner and we turned our run into a walk up and down a large hill instead.

I was proud of myself. Once upon a time, I would have just cancelled any sort of activity if I feel like I did that morning. But I didn’t. I changed what I was doing but I still got out there and worked hard enough that I was satisfied with my effort. I was also very happy that my ear cleared up by noon. One of my biggest rational fears is hearing loss. I will take losing my sight over losing my hearing any day of the week and twice on Sunday.*

I’ve been trying to take the stairs as often as possible in my apartment because four flights of stairs adds up, but sometimes you just don’t want to. Like last Tuesday. I took the elevator and ended up flirting my way up the four flights with an attractive young man. For the record, flirting with hot men is good motivation for getting in shape. Okay, so it wasn’t so much that he was hot but that he was observant enough to know that I must have had a stressful day at work.

(“Is it really that obvious?”

“Yes. You look like the day beat you down.”

Well, he was right. My unit is undergoing a re-org which means desk moves to a less than ideal location and leaving behind some wonderful friends, so Tuesday was a wee bit stressful. I would like to point out, however, that he told a complete stranger that they looked tired. Tact is obviously not his strong suit.)

I want to put his observation skills to the test and see if he can notice a change in my figure next time we meet (as we seem to ride the elevator together every few months). Also, he seems like a hockey guy and now that I don’t have cable or the Internet, a hockey guy just down the hallway who works roughly the same hours I do would be really convenient.

Just putting that out there, universe.

And did I mention that he’s easy on the eyes?**

*My biggest irrational fear is that a scarecrow is going to come through my TV screen and sing to me. Don’t laugh! I know it sounds silly. That’s why I called it irrational.***

**Plus he’s in construction which is a bit of a *rawr* factor for me. He can build and fix things! How attractive is that?

***I’m not making this up. There is a certain Doctor Who two-parter which I have to watch with all the lights on and my teddy bear held strategically in front of my face.

Falling Off the Face of the Earth

2011-08-01T11:41:00.000-07:00

My lovely neighbours who left their wi-fi unlocked appear to have moved out of our apartment building.

I'm hoping that one of the new people moving in also leaves their wi-fi unlocked but in the meantime I'm going to have to up my coffee budget in preparation for regular trips to the coffee shop to post.

Still, I can't really complain. In the four years that I've been "borrowing" their internet connection, I've saved myself roughly $2000 in monthly fees.

So, a big thank you to my neighbours I never met. You've been awesome and I'm going to miss you~~r unlocked wi-fi~~.

Stinky Travel

2011-07-29T12:09:00.000-07:00

In case you missed my big announcement over on the other blog I'm going to Ireland* for three weeks in a little under two months. This is the first time I've been 'home' in 10 years. Prior to that, my visits averaged out to every three years (and usually about six weeks long) so to say I'm excited is an understatement. I'm euphoric at the thought of seeing my aunts, uncles, cousins and cousin's children.

For the first time ever in my travels, I want to make a concerted effort to remain active. I've researched a few gyms with drop in options near locations I know I'll be staying but I'm not really a gym person. What I really want to do is run at least five times while I'm gone (ideally more than that, but that's my minimum). Keeping that in mind, I hit up MapmyRun and plotted out a couple of 5K routes from the houses I'll be staying at. This way I'll have no excuse not to run while I'm there other than "I'm lazy". Well, and maybe "I'm hungover".

I purposely cut off my starting location so you can't stalk me in (Greater) Dublin ;)

PS. So Irish people don't laugh at you, Dun Laoghaire is pronounced 'Dun Leary'.

These plans are all fine and dandy but it brings me to another issue: I'm travelling, moving fairly often, and I don't want to have to do laundry every other day but I also don't want to bring five (or more) different shirts just for running. That's a lot of space in my bag (which is already being taken up by my dad). Also, all those stinky shirts will just make everything else stinky. My big question is: does anyone have any tips for handling workout clothes while travelling?

In the meantime, I'm off to enjoy the summer weather we've finally received and make the most of my August Long Weekend. I hope you all have a wonderful weekend whatever you get up to.

*For clarification, when I say 'Ireland' I am referring to the island and not the country despite the fact that I often say 'country' for ease of understanding by those I am talking to. My 'Ireland' is the north and south. This is not a political statement, it is merely a lazy person's way of saying 'the Republic and the North' when she has family on both sides of the border and always goes to both.

Tackling the Healthy Living Mountain

2011-07-25T11:26:00.000-07:00

Normally I'd do a little ramble prior to starting the Friend Makin' Monday but today's topic excites me and deserves it's own post because I get to talk about my favourite subject: ~~ME!~~ Tanzania (and travel). So, without further ado, it's FMM!

Guideline: Answer the question on your blog, link to it in the comments over at All The Weigh and then comment on other peoples. So simple the Geico Gecko could do it!

FMM: Defining Moments

Was there a defining moment in which you realized that you needed to lose weight? If so, will you elaborate? (If you experienced this moment in some other area of your life, please feel free to share that too!)

My plane touched down at Kilimanjaro International Airport at 10:30pm. Once we left the lights of the airport, the absolute darkness of the place hit me. There were no street lamps and the only thing we could see was what as illuminated by the headlights of the Landrover. I thought the excitement of my first day would keep me awake but after two days of travel to get there, I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

Kara and my shared room until the volunteer quarters were completed. (I was the far bed.)

My first real look at my surroundings was the next morning when I rolled out of bed at 6:00am. I groggily wandered my way up to the Baby Home (fancy word for orphanage) for my first day of work. The first thing I saw was Mt. Meru beyond the compound walls.

Hand's down, this is the picture that most makes me ache for Tanzania.

Meru in the background, Baby Home on the right.

Every morning I looked at Mt. Meru as I made my way to the Home and I'd smile. It was my morning ritual. Even once we moved into the volunteer quarters and could cut into the home through the back door, I still walked the long way around so I could see Meru. It became my mountain. I searched for it from bus windows when returning from my holidays. I stared at it while contemplating life over a Coca baridi (coke cold). I wondered what the view was like from the top. While tourists to Tanzania talk about wanting to climb Kilimanjaro, I dreamed of Meru. For the first time in my life, I had to choose not to do something specifically because of my weight.

View of Meru from Deb's house. Her property ends at the start of Arusha National Park.

The kicker is that there is a very good chance I could have climbed Kilimanjaro but Meru was definitely beyond me. Kilimanjaro is not a physically difficult hike but it's a high hike. I am not saying it's a walk in the park, you still need to be relatively fit, but 90% of the time it's the altitude that does people in. If you have altitude experience and/or you take it slowly, you'll probably succeed.* Meru, however, is a difficult hike. The snob in me knew that for climbers, there's more climbers cred (if that actually exists) in saying you've done Meru than Kilimanjaro. This is one time I wanted to be a snob.

Mt. Meru and Jacaranda from roof top bar in Arusha during a day off.

When you summit Meru, you do it just before sunrise and then watch the sun rise over Kilimanjaro. I longed to do that. I still long to do that. And then I'll hug the ground and whisper sweet nothings to my mountain. You think I'm joking but I probably will do just that.

Unless there happens to be a nest of siafu near by. In that case, I'll whisper sweet nothings from the safety of my hiking booted feet. I've been bitten by them and they hurt!!

Every once and awhile, when I get into a 'why bother?' mood, I pull out my pictures of Meru and go through them. I honestly don't know if I'll ever get back to Tanzania (there's just so many awesome places I want to go to) but I want to know that if I do, I won't have to let Mt. Meru pass me by again.

Sunset on Meru

*My biggest piece of advice for climbing Kilimanjaro is this: each day you spend on the mountain raises the cost of the hike by a ridiculous amount (park fees alone are $100 per person for a 24 hour period) BUT it also greatly increases your chance of making it to the top. If you do not have a lot of altitude experience, take your time and choose a longer route. You may balk at the extra money the longer route costs but if you don't summit, then all your money will have been for nought.

Like a Fish

2011-07-21T10:43:00.000-07:00

I love Chicken Run.*

I've been floundering lately with being healthy. I feel like a fish out of water. I've been reeled onto the deck and I'm flopping all over the place to get back into the water but to no avail.

While I sat down in late January and made a plan for fitness goals this year, I then promptly injured my knee and all those plans went out the window. I gave myself a 'free pass' for the months I wasn't able to run. While I'm back into the running, I've taken my sweet time sorting out the other healthy aspects on my life. My plans for cross training have been spotty and my healthy eating has changed on a day-to-day basis.

After my run yesterday morning, I started formulating my get-fit plan. I went through all the workout plans I've downloaded over the years, tossed a bunch, kept a few, and started writing up a schedule for the workouts.

After a bit of thought about food, I decided to follow a six week eating plan. I'm not one to advocate following a 'diet' or strict eating plan because I don't think it teaches you a healthy relationship with food, but I need a kick in the butt right now. Hopefully this will give me the one I need.

Partially because I still have a few kinks to work out and partially because I like things to start on Mondays, I won't be starting all this until next Monday. Which is a good thing because it means I can have a beer while I listen to Justin** (and Ian) tonight at the Bard and Banker and that at some point this weekend I can get an ice cream cone and watch Chicken Run while lounging in my pajamas.

After that I'll stop flopping aimlessly on deck and start flopping towards the ocean.

*I was living in Germany when it was released there and it made me deliriously happy that in German it's called Hennen Rennen. It rhymes!!

**Someone needs to update his site to show tonight's performance...

A Cra(m)ppy Friday and FMM

2011-07-18T12:34:00.000-07:00

I headed out for my run on Friday night but about halfway through I got a really bad cramp. Cramps in my legs or sides are nothing new and usually when it comes to my walking portion, I just take a moment to stretch it out and then carry on. This cramp, however, was different. It was in my tummy area. More specifically, it was around the uterus area so I quickly stopped the running and just walked the rest of my route.

TMI warning!

I have been very lucky in my adult life that I don't cramp at any point during my menstrual cycle. Having a few friends who are almost confined to bed for a day or two, I am very happy that I don't. But when I suddenly start cramping for no discernible reason, it gives me cause for concern. A friend had a cyst on her uterus about 8 months ago and this thought flashed through my mind when the cramping started. When my running partner mentions uterine cysts, I felt my stomach drop. Every possible worst case scenario went through my mind before I pulled myself together and rationalized that it probably just was a wayward cramp given that my period was to start in four days.

I returned home with some chocolate milk (because that makes everything better), made a hot water bottle and curled up on the couch for the evening. After a few hours, the pain subsided and by the next morning it was totally gone.

Here's to it just being an unusual blip on the radar!

Anyway, it's Monday so that means Friend Makin' Monday!

Guidelines, etc here!

1. What do you like most about yourself? I'm a positive person with a great sense of humour.
2. List three characteristics that you like to have in your friends. Kind, Loyal, Upbeat
3. How often do you brush your teeth? When I wake up and before I go to bed. I'll also brush if I'm about to go out for dinner or if I ate something stinky (I can't help it, I love garlic in everything!)
4. If you could travel anywhere today, where would you go? Now that Ireland's booked, I'd be willing to go anywhere I could get a ticket to. South-East Asia or back to Africa are high on my list.
5. Have you ever met anyone from the blog world in person? Yes.
6. What is the last show you watched on TV? I don't have cable so 'on TV' would be the Simpson's when I was at my mom's a week ago.
7. What kind of perfume/cologne do you wear? Puma Aqua
8. How long ago did you complete your last workout? Due to a busy weekend, it was my thwarted Friday run but I'm heading out shortly for a workout :)
9. What will you eat for dinner tonight? Stir fry probably. Honestly haven't gotten that far in my through process today!
10. Share something fun that you did over the weekend. I met someone from my dad's home county!! I went to see the new Winnie-the-Pooh movie (which was so cute!) with my friend, E.

Laziest. Post. Ever.

2011-07-15T17:51:00.000-07:00

I don't usually post just so I can crosspost from my other blog but I just wrote about something over there that I'm excited about and wanted to share.

Cheers!

How Out of Shape Am I?

2011-07-14T21:51:00.000-07:00

I went to turn off my alarm clock yesterday morning and I pulled a muscle in my arm in the process.

I'll give you a minute to let that sink in.

Reached for the alarm clock...

...pulled a muscle.

Wow!

In my defence, I was facing away from said clock with two sizable kitties sleeping on my legs. (My cats are Maine Coons which means they are of the large-and-in-charge variety.) Rolling over wasn't really an option unless I wanted the hairball of death coughed up on the bedspread. Some slight hyperextension may have occurred. (It totally did; I felt it the exact moment when my elbow went that little bit too far.)

It was pretty much back to normal within a few hours but there were the occasional twinges when it reminds me of what I did. Usually when I go to lift something heavier than my jacket.

I've tried to explain to it that I'm sorry, could it please stop twinging? But it's having none of it. Maybe I should have just faced up to the hairball of death.

Summer arrived in Victoria, stuck around for about a week, and then decided it was vacation time. From a let's-go-do-sh!t point of view, I'm really bummed. From a hey-we're-running-outside-three-times-a-week point of view, I'm actually okay with it (just don't tell my fellow Victorians). I'm not a heat person and running with an overcast sky and a temperature that struggles to routinely hit 20C is fine by me.

Still, I would like to go camping at some point this summer (in the sense of "summer is a specific time of year", not "it's summer weather. Because it's totally not!) and for me camping = tent (because I'm old school, yo!). There's nothing fun about camping when the weather's like this.

Except maybe the built-in excuse to stay in your sleeping bag and just drink all day.

Worst Workout Partners Ever.

2011-07-10T21:58:00.000-07:00

Meet Linden (light) and Tosio (dark).*

My little kitties recently turned 8 years old. As they get older, they're settling down. Their idea of activity is running to the food dish, eating three bits of kibble and then running back to sit beside me on the sofa while I type. Save for the occasional lap around the apartment while playing tag, they're very lazy cats.

Except for last Thursday night.

I went to bed later than I intended (thank you, Phil Plait) but was still on track for roughly six and a half hours of sleep... until the above innocent-looking-schadenfreude decided to play tag for twenty minutes at 4:00am. And this was no ordinary tag, this was hissing tag. They even hissed at me when I got out of bed to try and calm them down!

By the time they wrapped up the game at close to 4:30, I was wide awake and never did get back to sleep. I crawled out the door to work as the two little ~~devils~~ darlings decided to forgo their usual follow-the-food-lady-to-the-door routine and just sleep on my bed. I swear they were taunting me.

I texted my running partner and cancelled Friday's run. With only four hours of sleep, I was doubting my ability to walk home never mind going for a run. We did end up going for our run on Saturday morning, but Friday night was given over to sitting in a movie theatre instead. (I saw Super 8. I really enjoyed it and would recommend it but I don't know if it deserved all the rave reviews everyone was heaping on it.)

The only problem is that it's three days later and I still haven't really caught up on the sleep due to a busy weekend. Here's hoping I catch up tonight so I'm ready for tomorrow's run. If they wake me, I'm going to duct tape them to the wall.*

*They're named after hockey players. I almost named them Merry and Pippin. In hindsight, that would have been a better choice given their complete inability to comprehend what's going on around them.

**I'm not really going to do that.***

***I may, however, do something like wash their blanket because I know how much that pisses them off.

If My Unmarried Biological Mother Hadn't Gotten Knocked Up...

2011-07-06T17:34:00.000-07:00

I've just returned from my completely unplanned over-a-week-long non-blogging holiday. In short, oops! I'd love to say that the lack of blogging was due to being insanely busy and always on the go and just not having enough time to sit down and put ~~pen~~ fingers to ~~paper~~ keyboard, but I've already admitted elsewhere that this is not the case.

I even missed this week's Friend Makin' Monday... which is okay because the question was about your fourth of July plans and I'm Canadian, so... my plan was to spend it like any other Monday (crying in a corner wishing I was 20 years younger and had no responsibilities).

I did, however, keep up with running. It's been nice to have a running partner again, both for the social aspect and the accountability. (Speaking of social, I should probably get her a blog name... I know tonight's topic of discussion!) During Monday's run she mentioned that she never would have believed a year ago that she'd be running. This got me thinking about the decisions I've made which have landed me at this point in my life.

(I'd like to say 'great minds think alike' but really, coincidences occur in the blogging world. Caitlin at Healthy Tipping Point wrote about this same idea this morning.)

Eventually, it became a fun game for me and I've started going back to look at some of the larger decisions in my life and things they have yielded which I may never would have otherwise discovered.

For example:
If I didn't decided to move to Tanzania four years ago then
I wouldn't have looked for an African community in Victoria to be apart of when I returned then
I wouldn't have found MoonDance then
I wouldn't have learned about Matoto then
I wouldn't have met AC then
I wouldn't be going to a baby shower in two weeks.

If I didn't accept an invitation to meet a guy in Switzerland (who ended up being my first real love) then
I wouldn't have studied German in university then
I wouldn't have met E then
I wouldn't have had someone to hike around Thetis with two weeks ago.

If I hadn't decided to blog then... well, the unknown results of that are still being discovered :)

How about you? What unexpected or interesting end results have your decisions brought you?

Missing: Summer (Also, it's FMM today)

2011-06-27T11:49:00.000-07:00

Woke up this morning to find that the beautiful sunny weather was once again just a tease. I don't know what's up with this year's summer weather but I'm starting to think that perhaps we should start listing it as 'missing' on the side of milk cartons and paper our neighbourhoods asking if anyone has seen it. There are some people trying to hang on to summery dresses and shorts but the reality is that the majority of people are in pants and jackets today. My only real concern is that I really, really, really hope the rain clouds don't open up before or during this evening's run.

It's that time of week again: Friend Makin' Monday! If you've never played before, you can find the rules here.

FMM: What’s in Your Fridge?

1. List a few common items that can always be found in your fridge. Milk, various produce, cheese, eggs

2. What kind of milk do you drink? Skim, I have a slight issue with specific types of dairy so anything else gives me tummy troubles. (cheese, yogurt, and ice cream, thankfully, do not cause this issue!)

3. Do you prefer fresh or frozen vegetables? Fresh although I keep a bag of mixed frozen vegetables in the freeze 'just in case'.

4. What do you currently have to drink in the fridge? Water, milk. I'll occasionally buy orange juice (although I'm very picky about the type I'll buy) but the only things I drink with regularity are water, tea, and coffee.

5. How often do you clean out your refrigerator? Not often enough. I've stopped buying stuff unless I have a specific plan for it so that's helped with keeping the fridge pretty clutter free so I can get away with fewer cleanings. (Clean smarter, not harder!)

6. What’s the healthiest thing in it right now? The veggies for tonight's stir fry.

7. What’s the most unhealthy thing in it right now? Reese's Peanut Butter cups. My cupboards gettoo warm for chocolate in the summer. This way, I can have one and know that the other two will survive for future treat dates.

8. What do you wish you had in it that you don’t have now? I made a 'Mexican Sangria' a few years back (with a white zinfandel) and when the sun comes back, I wouldn't mind a big pitcher of that sitting in my fridge.

9. How often do you shop for groceries? I do a 'big shop' about every two weeks and then supplement with mini-trips (usually produce) about twice a week.

10. What’s the weirdest thing in your fridge right now? BodyShop Vitamin E Rosewater face spray and BodyShop peppermint foot spray. Try putting a refreshing spray in your fridge. On a hot summer's day, it is the greatest feeling ever but it does raise a couple of eyebrows when someone else looks in my fridge.

A Weekend of Walking

2011-06-26T14:20:00.000-07:00

Thanks to a niggling cough on Friday, my run once again turned into a walk. It worked out for the best in the end, however, as I was able to come home, change and head right back out again. I had a fairly epic walk, got caught in a freakishly quick sun shower, and was still home in time to watch Vancouver's first round draft pick. And by 'watch', I mean 'have my twitter set to the live #NHLdraft feed'.

Saturday morning, I headed off to Thetis Lake with a friend to do the Upper/Lower Thetis Trail. Despite a few menacing clouds, our time at Thetis was gorgeously sunny and warm. I'd have pictures of the hike except my camera is still on holidays without me (although it is currently on the ferry so I'll have it back soon!) so I guess I'll just have to go out and do it again.

Saturday evening was a Matoto social at Vista 18 followed by our June board meeting. I often forget about Vista18 when it comes to nights out because I find it a wee bit on the pricey side for food but to just sit and chat with some friends before getting down to business, it was perfect. I was even a very good girl and kept my promise to my mom that I wasn't going to drink any beer after the fairly healthy week I had.

However, the word 'mojito' may have crossed my lips.

And now I'm off for another long walk and then dinner (BBQ steak--yummy!) at my mom's. It's been a good weekend, and it really helps that summer is here (and this time, I think it might stay).

A Kick in the Pants

2011-06-23T11:59:00.000-07:00

I had a less than stellar Wednesday both health and general life-wise. By the time last night rolled around and I settled in to post, I was feeling sorry for myself and felt that everyone else should share my pity. I was going to post and I wanted to whine... a lot. Before starting to whine and vent online, I checked my feeder to find this post from Susan.

Susan is one of the first healthy living bloggers I found when I first started this journey. I learned a lot from her fitness posts, followed her adventures as she moved from New Brunswick to Toronto and back again, felt helpless as she talked about her shattered elbow, and secretly decided she was my hero when she did an entire dinner themed around beer.

I can not even imagine what must be running through her mind right now but other than sending positive thoughts there's not much I can do about it.

And just like that, all my complaints seemed so minuscule, hardly worthy of the time to type them, that I never posted. So I had a bad day, who doesn't from time to time? It's time to pick myself up, put on my big girl panties and deal with it.

Because that's what Susan would do for something as trifling as a head cold.

Rambling Thoughts and Friend Making Monday

2011-06-20T12:18:00.000-07:00

First off, if you're not reading The Great Fitness Experiment Blog, you're missing out on healthy hilarity and I pity the life you must lead. Okay, maybe not quite, but still... At any rate, she had an interesting post last night about a To-Do List vs. a To-Be List. It got me thinking and right now I think you all should read it. And then when you're done that, just keep refreshing the page to see her hilarious pictures in the top right corner. (The tutu ones gets me every time.)

After a few days of miserable cloud and down right chilly temps, Summer appears to be back in Victoria. I have prematurely called it 'arrived' before so once bitten, twice shy. We are currently experiencing summer-like weather. Hopefully it will stay for longer than three days.

I officially start running with my new running partner tonight (assuming she gets my confirmation email. Come on, live online like I do guys!) which is exciting. It will just be nice for running to become a social activity again. I love listening to music while I run, but it kills me not to be able to dance along to it. I get enough looks when I run normally, I don't need to be known as that-slow-running-girl-who-does-jazz-hands-while-she-runs. Although now that I say it, a shirt with "I run AND I do jazz hands" would make me pretty darn happy.

So, it's Friend Making Monday over on All the Weigh so that means I've got a bunch of questions to answer :)

Rules are simple: answer, post, link here (more detailed rules are there as well), comment on other people's posts.

FMM: Yes or No?

Do you use coupons? Very rarely. I should really start using them more.
Do you like football? No. It's one of the few sports I honestly have no interest in.
Are you in a relationship? No, unless my cat purring sweet nothings in my ear counts.
Is your phone always within arm’s reach? Yes. Otherwise I lose it because I leave it on vibrate. It's next to impossible to find a phone that's on vibrate!
Do you like thunderstorms? Love 'em.
Can you cook? Yes.
Are you – or have you – lost weight? ::looks at blog banner:: Yes.
Do you know how to read a map? Yes. I'm old school when it comes to travelling; I have never used GPS or SatNav or any of those devices to find my way around. Never will if I can help it.
Do you wear makeup? Yes, but not every day.
Do you read regularly? Does CBC and BBC online news count? I've actually made it a goal to read more books and so far it's going very well.
Are you publicly affectionate? Sometimes. I'm very aware of where I am and that plays a big part in my willingness for PDAs.
Do you like picnics? Yes! Thankfully there's lots of parks in Victoria to picnic in!
Do you have a/c? No. Victoria's weather is fairly temperate so if I did have a/c I'd probably turn it on for two days out of the whole year.
Have you ever been out of the country? Yes, both to live and travel.
Do you know how to ride a bicycle? Yes.

Back to Real Life

2011-06-19T18:47:00.000-07:00

First off, I finally put up the new banner which I slaved over for minutes. MINUTES! I took me longer to make the cup of tea I consumed while working on it. I'm not totally sold on my own tag line but it was all I could come up with before I had to take my hands off the keyboard for another sip of tea. Maybe I'll change it, maybe I'll...

...Tea break!...

...leave it as it is.

I visited NHL.com today doing some thinking on a possible idea I'm having when I saw this:

Ugh. It made me throw up a little... even though, in the end, Boston was the better team (but don't tell anyone I said that).

I wasn't as unhealthy while I was in Vancouver as I had assumed I would be. The loss meant less beer than I anticipated, and the ensuing riot meant that no wine was consumed once I returned to my friend's. The general malaise brought about by watching the riots and doing zero physical activity, however, has continued through the weekend. In fact, I haven't cooked once since I got home Thursday night. That will end tonight though.Well, technically it ends tomorrow as tonight is just a salad. No cooking involved.

I was happy for the little break for 'real life' but it's time to get back at it.

Disappointment

2011-06-17T00:26:00.000-07:00

I've been very vocal that I'm a Vancouver Canucks Fan so I wanted to share my thoughts on the riots last night. I wrote about it here.

I'll Be Better Next Week?

2011-06-14T19:44:00.000-07:00

I got a super productive kick on Sunday night at about 9:00pm. The next time I checked the time, it was technically Monday which made Monday a huge wash for me. On just a little less than six hours sleep, I went jean shopping on Monday only to find that my favourite store didn't have any full length jeans for the rest of the season.

Bad thing #1.

The Canucks lost.

Bad thing #2.

I once again failed to blog because, well, bad things #1 and #2 but me in a really foul mood.

Bad thing #3.

But I will get the hang of this "post on these days" schedule eventually. Say like, after tomorrow when the Canucks win the cup :)

Speaking of which, I won't be posting tomorrow because I'm going to Vancouver for the game!! Not that I'll be at the game because I don't have $1000 to just throw away on a ticket, but I'll be in Vancouver which means that tomorrow night's run will be replaced with beers.

In short, this is not going to be a healthy week for me.

But if the Canucks win tomorrow it will all be worth it.

Not Following the Plan

2011-06-12T18:29:00.000-07:00

When I woke up Saturday morning to a dark cloud hanging over the very park I was supposed to go for a hike in and my hiking partner texting about a stumble the night before which had aggrivated her calf muscle (perhaps a few too many beers during the hockey game, hmm?), all my well thought out weekend exercise plans seemed to fall by the wayside... again.

I still got out on Saturday morning but instead of a challenging up-down, I did a relatively flat urban hike so I could stick close to shops I could duck into if it started to rain. It never did rain. In fact, it turned into a beautiful day for a hike. *sigh*

I also spent Saturday pretending I was a lumberjack. Yeah, you read that right. My dad's property backs onto a forest. Between the encroaching overgrowth and the tree that got tired of standing upright, there's a lot of work to be done around the house. I love the sound of a chainsaw and the smell of fresh sawdust. It reminds me of my childhood (and all the hippies in Victoria just gasped).

Pretending one is a lumberjack works up quite the sweat. I might have to suggest it to various workout groups around town. (And if they happen to clean up my dad's property while getting their workout... BONUS!!) It works up such a sweat that I decided beer was in order. So did my Big Bro. We stole it from Baby Bro's stash. We're good siblings like that.

I headed out for a walk today with a friend and I've picked up a new running buddy. It does mean that I'll be starting the running training over again because she'a beginner but yay for a running buddy. I've been lacking in one since my last one moved on me (although I still love her very much and think she's a fantastic lady even if she does insist on supporting stupid hockey teams like the Flames).

So, in short, I failed to do a single one of the workouts I set out to do but I still had an incredibly active weekend. And now that it's raining, I'm going to reward myself by sitting in a dark theatre :)

Also, GO CANUCKS!!

Hockey Makes Me Lazy

2011-06-09T09:59:00.000-07:00

According to my self-imposed blogging schedule, I was supposed to blog last night. Well, you know what? The Canucks were supposed to win last night. Perhaps not surprisingly, who wants to blog to say "I drank two beers during a losing hockey game and now I feel like I completely wasted those calories because the Canucks lost!" If they had won... totally different story. So, in short, perhaps too much of how I'm feeling right now is wrapped up in how a sports team is doing.

At least hockey will be over soon.

Then I've got two months until my feelings of self-worth are tied to soccer games. (Go Bolton and SCFreiburg!)

I officially received my "you didn't make it for our two free months and then video testimonial" email today but with the email was a ticket for four free BellyFit classes. As one of my reasons for going out for this was it was an opportunity to try the classes for free before I put down money for them. Can't complain with four free classes! I'm torn between trying four different classes or the same class four weeks in a row. Decisions, decisions!

Summer has official arrived in Victoria which means that getting out and getting active is much easier. It also means that I'm having to play around with running times because immediately after work is starting to get too hot for my Irish-offspring blood (I don't do heat. I just don't.) but sitting on my couch lends itself to and never getting up again. I have been debating about trying before work runs but then I remember how much I hate getting up in the morning. Decisions, decisions!

Of course, the best way to make these decisions is over a cup of tea so I'm going to make myself one and contemplate.

Someone Has a Case of the Mondays

2011-06-06T19:21:00.000-07:00

I know you all have been waiting with baited breath all day so I will put you out of your misery: I have not heard back regarding the BellyFit Free Classes so I am assuming it's a 'no'. That's what I get for babbling like a brook during the interview! Oh well, at least I have a Canucks game and a beer to help me get over my disappointment. Hmm, perhaps not the healthiest way to get over it...

(UPDATE: It's the end of the second period and the Canucks are really not helping me get over my disappointment right now. 4-0? What the fuddle duddle? I shortened my run today to be home in time to watch them!)

I keep seeing this ad on my facebook:

And I just wanted to say that I don't think liposuction and a full-time personal trainer are "2 old diet secrets". Just a thought.

I found an interesting article on the Discover Blogs about feeling fuller if you believe you're eating more calories than you are. It seems that there have been a lot of studies lately regarding the roll of the mental aspects of weight-loss and I find them all fascinating. You always hear "calories in, calories out" but what if there are mental tricks you can apply to your eating to make it easier? If you really could help yourself along by "thinking yourself thin"? (Not that I believe you can do it just by thought but that it could help.) Bad pun alert: It's definitely some food for thought!

I'm here all week. Tip your waitress. Good night, folks!

Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah, Blah...

2011-06-05T22:54:00.000-07:00

After a lackluster Spring with heavy snows in March and endless rain in May, Summer has finally arrived on Canada's West Coast. It was hot and sunny this weekend. The perfect kind of weather to get out of the apartment and ~~work on your tan~~ slather yourself in sunscreen!

I was supposed to run on Saturday morning but after a jarring pain in my right heel Friday at work, I decided on a long walk instead. The pain was gone but I'd rather not chance it with the pounding on pavement. Plus by the time I returned to my apartment to grab my laptop and take up semi-permanent residence on my local coffee shop patio/sidewalk, it was HOT!

Note: I just want to get a "holla!" for my local coffee shop. They let me sit for five hours on a $2 cup of coffee and didn't say a word except to wish me a good day as I left. It's a busy place and seating is at a premium. They are good, good people who serve good, good coffee!

Today I did something a little crazy. I auditioned to be part of a DVD recording for BellyFit as a member who gives before and after testimonial. Free BellyFit classes for two months? Hells to the ya I'll be on camera! I made myself look presentable but not too different than I do when working out (okay, maybe I don't wear mascara and eyeliner while working out but other than that...) and headed off to the audition.

I was hoping that my natural instinct to babble when I'm nervous would somehow disappear between leaving my apartment and arriving at the studio. Yeah, that didn't happen. During the interview, they had to cut me off twice because I was giving too much information to the questions.Yikes! I will find out tomorrow whether or not I get the two months of free classes so keep your fingers crossed and I'll try and keep my mouth shut.

Well, That Was a Quick Trip on the Healthy Wagon

2011-06-01T22:28:00.000-07:00

My new posting schedule says that I need to post tonight but instead of being all "I went for a run, I was a good girl, I was healthy", I'm going to tell you how I sat on my mom's couch, ate a full turkey dinner, and watched one of the best hockey games I have watched all season. End-to-end, beautiful hockey. Tonight was what the Stanley Cup finals are all about!

You can not fault Thomas for this goal--he and Luongo put on clinics tonight--but when the other team does a

textbook tape-to-tape set play...

[Source]

It did get my heart going so I'm sure that totally counts as a workout, right?

No?

Fine. I'll be better tomorrow.

But right now I'm going to dance around ~~in my underwear~~* and think about how the Canucks are three wins away from the Stanley Cup.

Then maybe I'll get some sleep.

*what? I didn't want to get cat hair on my dress pants so they came off the minute I walked through the door.

I'd Blow the Trumpets But They're Probably Rusted

2011-05-30T22:45:00.000-07:00

So, it's been a while since I posted. Like, a long while. I'd like to say I was unable to post because I was abducted by aliens who took me to their home planet where I was put forth as a political candidate but ultimately lost my chance to be come supreme ruler of the universe to a short, blue reptilian from the planet Quarnt but I'm sure you'd figure out that was a lie.

Plus, I've been posting over here so obviously I still had Internet access during the inter-universe space journey-travel-thingy.

I've been an avid reader of fitness/healthy living/food blogs during that time, I've just been lacking the motivation to keep my own up.

But that changes today.

I'm going to start a posting schedule so I have no excuse to say "I'll do it tomorrow" (I am nothing if not a fabulous procrastinator!) and I'm changing things up on the site in the hopes that it will re-energize me with my dedication. (Ahem, the current new look is not permanent, I just needed a change rightnow! and there were no cobweb themes which I thought would be hilarious given my lack of posting for other a month.)

Fitness-wise, I can tell you this: after a knee injury sidelined me early this year, I am finally back to running (and there was much rejoicing throughout the land).

Fun, let's get this blog rolling again wise, I can tell you this: I've been reading All the Weigh for well over a year now but I've never participated in the Friend Making Monday... until this week. The premise is simple: answer the questions, share the link on All the Weigh, ~~and then drink a beer~~ (apparently there's only two official steps).

This week, there are no questions, just an A, B, C list of your own making, so... (added note: It was hard to think of 26 separate and alphabetical ideas to talk about!)

Asparagus: I thought I hated asparagus until I moved to Germany. Turns out, my family never ate it growing up. I introduced my mom to it. We both love it. Funny the things you decided you don't like for no good reason when you're a child.

Brothers: I have a step-brother, a brother and a half-brother. I tell people I have three too many but I love them dearly and don't know what I'd do without them (especially my Baby Bro but don't tell him I said that).

Claire: I tell stories and refer to myself as Claire, forgetting that most people know me as Andrea. It's then really awkward to explain that I wasn't lying about my name.

Doctor Who: I love this series more than I can ever explain. It makes the eight year old inside me happy as well as the 31 year old.

Elephant: One almost killed me! Okay, it didn't almost kill me. But it did charge me and I was justifiably scared.

Family: I remember having to do a project for French class where we had to do a family tree and then present it to the class. Most people took less than five minutes. At eight minutes, my teacher cut me off and said that I had sufficiently demonstrated my ability to discuss my family in French. That's what happens when your mom is one out of six and your dad is one out of eleven.

Game of Thrones: I'm obsessed with this HBO series right now. I've just started book four in the series and I'm really happy with the adaptation HBO did. (Plus a fair number of the actors are easy on the eyes... even if some of them do make me feel like a cougar.)

Heatherdale Ale: Quite possibly my favourite beer at the moment.

Ireland: I'm going back to see my family for the first time in 10 years this fall. Prior to this 10 year break, I used to go back every three years like clockwork. I can't begin to tell you how excited just the thought of this trip makes me.

Job: I have met some of my best friends through my job. I've also met the scum of humanity through it as well. My office is an interesting mix-bag of people.

Kitties: I have two of them. They are the cuddliest beings on the planet but only for me or if you've sat in the same place on my couch for at least an hour.

Laugh: This is my most favourite thing to do in the whole world.

Monkeys: I hate them. They are the raccoons of warmer climates. Anyone who says otherwise has never had to live in a monkey zone.

Nineties Dance Moves: My dance moves of choice for weddings. I'll do the running man for you sometime.

Ocean: Growing up on an island, I need to regularily smell salt air or I go a little stir crazy.

Pillow: This is one of the words I say 'funny'. Growing up with both an Irish father and stepfather, there are a few words that always make people pause when I talk: pellow (pillow), Chooseday (Tuesday), batry (battery), Arlund (Ireland) are the most common.

Quadra Island: It was at Rebecca Spit on Quadra Island that I learned that ocean water was salty. I still cringe at the thought of the big handful of water I scooped into my mouth on purpose. Ech. Yuck.

Rowdy: We had a donkey growing up called Rowdy. My dad bought a trap; we'd hitch Rowdy to it at Christmas and go carolling to the neighbour's houses. I swear I grew up in Victoria.

Saxophone: I played alto sax in High School band. I was a band geek. Last year, my high school started an alumni band. I not only joined up to play again (after 12 years of not looking at my instrument) but I also volunteered to be on the committee for it. I am proud of my geek cred!

Tosio: My favourite hockey goalie in the world (even if I don't support SCB--Hopp HCD!). I loved him so much I named one of my cats after him yet very few people in North America have ever heard of him.

Usa River, Tanzania: Living here presented me with some of the most difficult moments of my life. It also gave me some of my happiest memories.

Vancouver Canucks: WE'RE IN THE STANLEY CUP FINALS, BABY!!!! I have waited for this for the last 17 years (that was the last time we made it). So happy about this.

Wood: My dad's house was heated by a fireplace in the living room and a wood stove in the master bedroom. I was about 10 before I learned that most kids don't spend their weekends chopping and stacking firewood.

Xeric: Growing up in a rainforest region, I don't do well in xeric climates (which is a word I learned specifically for Scrabble).

You: I think you're pretty freakin' fantastic. Just thought I'd let you know.

Zürich: I hate the place (like anyone who has ever had the pleasure of living in a part of Switzerland that isn't Zürich).

Soon Back on the Bandwagon

2011-04-15T21:35:00.000-07:00

Today is the first time this week that I have come home from work and not had a nap. It is safe to say that I am on my way back to the lady of the healthy. Still, I'm feeling less than stellar so instead of meeting my mom at the gym tomorrow morning for a workout, I've planned out a leisurely-but-hilly hour long walk then I'll meet her afterwards for coffee. I'll get a workout in and see my mom. That's the combo I really care about!

The upside is that despite being under the weather, I still lost weight at this week's weigh-in for the OH&S at work. Here's to keeping that up this week!

I Had Been Doing So Well

2011-04-11T21:40:00.000-07:00

I was down at my OH&S weigh-in last week. In fact, I was second for percentage of body weight lost.

I went to aerobics on Saturday morning and my knee felt pretty good afterwards (although I did keep my lateral movements teeny-tiny just to be on the safe side).

I ate out twice this weekend (a birthday dinner and a birthday breakfast) and although I didn't restrict myself, I was fairly smart about my food choices (perhaps not so much with my drink choices).

And then it hit me. The dreaded lurgy which had glanced out at my two weeks ago hit me full force by Sunday evening.

I'm angry because I haven't been sick in over six months. That was when a summer flu went through my office and pretty much hit everyone at least twice. I went all winter without actually getting sick. Now? The weather is finally starting to turn and I just want to crawl into bed, pull the covers over my head, and go to sleep.

I hate the lurgy.

Tru dat!

2011-04-04T21:39:00.000-07:00

Sometimes you need a day off.

Tomorrow is my birthday.

It's also the day my parents come home from 2.5 months in Peru.

So I'm having a beer tonight because tomorrow I'll be too busy talking to my mom to actually drink any beer.

I also decided not to work out tonight because it got in the way of my beer drinking schedule.

Priorities. I've got them, they just might be a little skewed.

Fit In OHS!

2011-04-02T13:43:00.000-07:00

Operation Hot & Sexy (OHS) had its first meeting on Thursday. We set up in the office of one of the members on our lunch break only to find out that the scale had gotten knocked around and was out by roughly 10 lbs. I know what you're thinking: maybe all of you just weighed more than you thought you did. Well, we were all consistently 10 lbs heavier than we thought and I know that if I was actually that weight, I wouldn't need a belt on my current pants. (Not that I use a belt, I just walk around pulling up my pants constantly.)

In trying to pick a gym with a pool for knee friendly exercising, I had completely forgotten that April was Fit in Fitness month. Access to 14 fitness centres for $25? Sign me up! Oh, that's right, I already did. Over all, my knee has been feeling much better with the stiffness and nagging moments of pain coming and further and further apart. Still, I like the idea of sticking to low impact workouts for the moment. Better safe than in pain!

My fitness activity for today is an hour long walk to The Blue Nile for dinner before catching the Salmon Kings' last game of the season. The only down side to tonight's plan is having to say no to a delicious Tusker beer.

Matoto's Ten Day Event

2011-03-30T23:10:00.000-07:00

For those of you who don't follow both my blogs, I am on the (volunteer) Board of Directors for a Victoria-based non-profit called Matoto Multicultural Arts Society. On Monday, we started our Ten Day Event to try and raise $10,000. We are almost done building the school in Kubian, Guinea that we started last year and now we need to fill it with chalkboards, desks and teachers. I have linked to our Ten Day Event on the left hand side (that over sized button that you can't miss) and you can read a more indepth post about it here. I am on the Team Moondance if you want to donate directly to a team, but you can also donate just to the event in general.

From myself, the members of Matoto, and from the villagers of Kubian: i nu wali. Thank you.

And So It Begins!

2011-03-30T22:49:00.000-07:00

The work Biggest Loser starts tomorrow. We decided we didn't really want to put "Biggest Loser" (or BL) on our work calendars so we had a coffee meeting on Tuesday to think of other possibilities. You are looking at a proud participant of the OHS Committee. Nope. That's not Occupational Health and Safety, although we do have one of those, it's Operation Hot and Sexy! Really looking forward to these upcoming OHS meetings!

Here's hoping eight weeks from now, I walk away a few pounds lighter and a few bills heavier!

Hello Blog!

2011-03-25T22:40:00.000-07:00

I had a good chat with a friend on Wednesday who's also done the whole 'get healthy/fit' thing and when talking about my knee, she casually asked "have you thought about swimming?" You know that moment when you visualize a little animated character walking over and kicking an animated brain? Just me? Okay then... well, even if I am the only person who visualizes that, I totally had that moment. Swimming. Such a simple solution minus needing a pool and having to actually wear my bathing suit.

The pool part isn't so hard--I just need to pull up my big girl panties and pay for it--but I have a love hate/relationship with bathing suits. It's not even the 'big girl tiny fabric' issue they always like to play up in magazines and books. In fact if I could walk around in my bathing suit all day, I probably would. It's an awesome cut/design which totally holds the "girls" in place and easily makes me look 10 to 15 lbs lighter than I am. My problem is getting out of a wet bathing suit. Even when I was in shape, I hated that part of swimming. I don't like the feel of pulling it off. *sigh*

Big girl panties.

Being a f*ing adult.

Right.

As soon as this weekend is over, I'm looking into a monthly membership to a pool so I can keep up cardio while my knee figures out how not to hurt all the time.

I've also joined a Bigger Loser friendly competition at work. The winner is guaranteed at least $80 (more if people miss weigh-ins and/or gain) and I know two women in the group that are awesome. The three of us together tend to be a gong show even when we're sober so if nothing else, I'll get a great ab workout while we laugh at the weigh-ins. We officially start April 1st and go for 8 weeks but we decided to have a group coffee date on Monday to sort out the details, like why can't I wear my winter jacket and ski boots for the first weigh in and then my bathing suit for the last one?

I was a little hesitant about doing this with coworkers but then I realised that being in the same building will make it that much easier to sabotage their efforts by sprinkling weight gain powder on their lunches.

Good night, folks!

Dear Knee

2011-03-16T21:46:00.000-07:00

You kinda suck right now. Sorry, I meant you really suck. I can't run. I can't do lunges or squats. I even have problems walking some days and you don't seem to be getting better. I wear the brace as much as I can without going crazy but it limits my mobility and makes stairs a real pain in the butt. Plus it starts to itch if I wear it for too long.

I'm too young to need new body parts.

I'm Not Going to Lie to You, Marge...

2011-03-08T20:00:00.000-08:00

...I've been a little bummed lately and that's why I haven't been posting. I keep thinking my knee is getting better and then I have to squat down for some reason at work and a sharp pain notifies me that it's either not better or that I just re-aggravated it. I'm pissy and upset and frustrated by it all. I've had to accept the fact that my 10K time goal is not doable for the TC10K in the amount of time I have left even if *snap* I was better tomorrow and could start properly training. Instead, I'm going to look for other 10Ks on the island or in the Lower Mainland in the late summer or fall so I can give my knee time to heal without feeling the added time pressure.

In the mean time, I've finally broken down and accepted that I obviously need a knee brace. It makes me feel old when I wear it but if it helps, I guess I'll keep my complaints to myself.

Apparently the World Is Flat...

2011-03-02T07:25:00.000-08:00

...and I dropped off the edge of it.

I am still alive, I've just been pissy and upset about not being able to work out so anything I wrote for this blog just became an angry rant (which can be a very fun time but not this time). Happily, I went for a run last night. Perhaps 'slow dragging of my barely breathing carcass' would be a better description than 'run', but I did it and I didn't die. More importantly, my knee didn't give out on me.

There's hope yet!

Jiminy Cricket

2011-02-20T10:27:00.000-08:00

My ultimatum of Friday has come and gone and the verdict on my knee is it’s better but it’s not healed. While pondering why my hip and back got better but my knee didn’t, I remembered an innocuous incident getting out of the shower. A small little slip as I was transferring weight caused my left leg to slide and twist away from me. That was Friday morning when the knee pain became constant. I feel better knowing the why. It’s not some phantom injury sustained just because I’m old.

My knee is still sore so I’ll stay off the running for another week, but I refuse to spend another week just sitting. I didn’t even go to dance last week and that irritated me to know end. I have a few low impact (i.e. no jumping and very little squatting-type motion) at home workouts planned as well as a couple of longer walks. If the weather stays like it is today, I’ll need very little convincing to get out for my walks!

In my exercise boredom of the last week, I started looking around online for group sports to possibly join over the summer. Initially my plans had been for a recreational soccer or baseball team. Usually, I’m out doing something physical by myself or doing something social involving sitting and beer. It would be nice to have a healthier balance of the two during the beautiful summer weather. Somehow I ended up on the cricket website.

I say ‘somehow’ but I know exactly how. I went to see Out of the Ashes at the Victoria Film Festival (excellent film by the way) and ended up sitting beside a few cricket players from Australia. Hunky men with accents can pretty much cajole me into doing anything so I sent off this email to the women’s team:

I know the upcoming season is a few months away yet but I was just looking for some general information about it; mainly, if someone joins and has no experience, do you teach them what the heck they should be doing or do you enjoy just watching them flail about while taking bets on how long they'll last? Also, costs, equipement/outfit requirements. You know, things that a complete novice should probably know before joining. I'm a thirty year old girl who just thought learning to play cricket would be a bit of fun. I think I held a cricket bat once. I was about 8 so my memory is a little hazy. I think my dad was trying to teach us about cricket but making daisy chains was much more interesting. And I occasionally drink at the Sticky Wicket. Obviously, if those are my cricket qualifications, I really do mean 'complete beginner' when talking about my cricket level.

If that doesn’t have them beating down my door to get me to join, I don’t know what will!

Question: Do you enjoy team sports?

To Knee or Not to Knee...

2011-02-16T17:37:00.000-08:00

I am once again handicapped in my workouts because of my knee. I slept badly one night and woke up with a sore back. When my knee and hip on the same side of my body started to ache later that same day, I figured it was because I was walking oddly because my my back.

The back pain cleared up within two days, the hip around the same time, but the knee pain lingered... and lingered... and here I am one day shy of two weeks later and my knee is still very sore. Last week I pushed through it because it was sore but it didn't hurt. I went running on Tuesday morning and Thursday evening (with the Swede) and although it felt a little sore the day after, it always felt great during the run and immediately after.

Saturday, however, I cut my run short because my knee didn't feel right. It didn't hurt, but I didn't want to push it any further. I ended up just going for an extended walk.

Cut to Monday. I treated myself to lunch at Pig as I hadn't been to their new location (although I was a very regular customer at the old hole-in-the-wall). While waiting for my to-go order to be called, I dropped my key pass on the ground. I squatted down to pick it up and the pain was so intense that my eyes welled up with tears as I gasped loudly enough for a few heads to turn towards me.

Tuesday, the same thing happened when I squatted down to check on my cat who was having some problems coughing up a hairball. I think the noise I made in reaction to the pain scared the hairball out of her.

Today, well today it aches every time I stand up. This is not good.

Dance and running are (temporarily, I hope) cancelled while I ice like crazy. I'm giving myself until Friday and if it's not better, I'm making a doctors appointment for next week. This is something that needs to be solved, not just for running but for for life in general.

Sport-tastic Weekend

2011-02-06T15:48:00.000-08:00

This weekend is a huge one for sports: Six Nations Rugby!!! Oh, and apparently some thing called the Super Bowl is happening this weekend as well. Beyond the occasional game of flag football, I am not an American football fan. Rugby, hockey, ~~real~~ ~~football~~ soccer, those are sports I follow.

That's my baby brother holding the ball. Bloody knee and two guys hanging off him,

his tenacity ended in a try and then he converted it. That's my sport.

Seeing as Six Nations games were all played on Friday and Saturday, I figured I'd use the Super Bowl as an excuse to head to my local coffee shop and sit for five hours in relative quiet and just read. I mean, isn't every one else at a Super Bowl party? Apparently not. I forgot that I live in an artsy-fartsy community. Everyone and their dog was at the coffee shop, so I grabbed a coffee to-go and returned home.

On the workout front, I kind of fell of the wagon this past week. Whereas the week before was off the wagon because I actually had other priorities, this past week was off the wagon because I was lazy. Lazy is what got me into this mess in the first place so I'm going to have to work on that. The upside is that my new (possible) running partner told me why he didn't follow the path to professional soccer: knee injury. Hopefully that keeps him running at a slower pace.

Here's to a better workout week and Ireland taking France by five points next weekend!

Run It Like Beckham

2011-02-01T21:17:00.000-08:00

I think I may have found a new running partner. I say 'may' because he offered to join me but he also hasn't seen me run. I have informed him that he is in no way going to be held to his promise of running with me more than once, but secretly I hope he will continue to run with me because I miss having a running partner. Plus, running with an in-shape Swede will help me feel like I should be out there when I see tiny little girls prance by.

For some reason, people always think I meant to say 'Sweden' when I tell them I lived in Switzerland.

Just so we're clear, I have never lived in the land of the Swedes... only the land of awesome chocolate.

That's right. I'm importing my running partners now! That's how I roll. Who doesn't want to be friends with someone who might possibly have a couch I can sleep on in an awesome not-here location in my future travels? The Swede and I met at dance class and over the past five months have become friends. He found out about my running goals and kindly stepped up to help me. Awesome! Well, kinda...

See, the Swede was on track to become a professional footballer (soccer player, to most of you) when things didn't work out and now he travels instead. Let me repeat: PROFESSIONAL FOOTBALLER. You know, like these guys:

This is the only time I have looked at the Italian soccer team with something other than disgust.

I dislike the Italian team. As I drunkenly told an Italian one night "the Italians are the biggest opponents to soccer becoming a Summer Olympic sport because they'd never be able to field a soccer team and a diving team."

Something tells me that he and I probably have different ideas about what it means to go for a 'run'.

At Least I Danced

2011-01-28T21:39:00.000-08:00

Despite only having one formal day of work this week (today), it has been a long week. Physically, I didn't do a whole lot. Of course, BFSD (Bad Fish Sunday Dinner) really didn't help as it took until Wednesday to feel normal, but if I'm being honest it was a combination of laziness and other priorities. I am on the board of a non-profit and we have our annual weekend retreat up to Shawnigan tomorrow. I'm on the planning committee which is organizing and facilitating this event, Exciting? Yes. Stressful? Only when I stop to actually think about it. I still made sure I got out for longer walks but I was okay with letting the running slide this week. The deal I made with myself was to get back to it on Sunday and I know I'll stick to that.

I did, however, make it to dance on Wednesday. I know I say this at least once a month on here, but I can not stress it enough. I LOVE my West African Dance class. I loved it even more when another student cornered me after class for a quick comment. "I wanted to tell you that I love watching you dance. There's just something about the way your body moves, like there's a joy in it or something. I love the cross floor work because I really get to watch you and I could watch you do these steps for hours."

How could I not love that comment? It still has me smiling. My body loves to move so much that other people can see it. Sometimes I need to remind myself of that.

Life Lessons

2011-01-24T17:14:00.000-08:00

Lesson #1: If the fish seems like a little sketchy, don't believe "it will be fine once we cook it." It won't be and you will spend what was supposed to be a productive day, well, not being productive.

[Source: NBC]

Absolutely Nothing To Do With My Goals

2011-01-23T21:45:00.000-08:00

One of the things I've really enjoyed about blogging finding other blogs I enjoy reading. When I started doing Chilkoot Chubby, I stumbled into the new-to-me world of healthy living blogger and was amazed how many there were. Initially, I really did stumble. I'm still not totally sure how I ended up even finding the first dozen although I do believe that too much coffee and a twitter feed may have been involved.

One of the earliest blogs I started following was the Great Balancing Act written by Susan. I've been ~~stalking~~ reading her blog for roughly a year now and it's been a great source of information as well as a great jump off point for other blogs to read.

A while back Susan mentioned in her comments that elephants were her favourite animal. Someone else said something about them being gentle giants. Having been in a car when an elephant started to charge it, I had to chime in. I told Susan that I would tell her the story some day. Today is Susan's birthday. If that's not as good a day as any to tell this story... you can find it here.

Nobody But Me

2011-01-20T12:58:00.000-08:00

I have mentioned missing my running partner. Not only do I miss having someone to chat away the workouts with, but I miss having someone to keep me accountable. To be honest, I'm lousy at staying accountable to myself. Myself is often willing to give up accountable to be lazy. There is one reason, however, why I have enjoyed not having a running partner: being able to change up my workout plan without having to consult anyone else.

I was supposed to go for a run today, but after a run on Tuesday and West African Dance on Wednesday, I just really wasn't feeling the cardio. It also didn't help that Tuesday was depressingly grey as is today. Wednesday, the one day I had indoor cardio, was blindingly beautifully sunny. Really, Mother Nature? Really?!?

I padded around my apartment with my cup of tea in hand trying to talk myself into going for the run when it hit me: why not do my at home workout today and go for my run tomorrow? So I pulled out an old ab-centric workout from my bootcamp days and did exactly that... as soon as I finished watching Blue Bloods.

I miss you THR, but today was probably the first time I was ever happy that you're in Vancouver.

Now, if I can just make sure that I actually do go for my run tomorrow.

Heels, Water, Nothing Can Stop Me!

2011-01-16T16:46:00.000-08:00

I had to skip my formal workout plans on Friday night because I had social plans to see The Laramie Project with a friend. Still, with all the walking I did that night, I clocked 4 kms in heels. Some may argue that this wasn't a real workout but those people are most likely men so *pfffft*.

I was back into the running today. It's amazing how much my runs improve just by making sure I'm properly hydrated before I head out. Amazing or just common sense, it's a thin line sometimes. The weather was less than cooperative so I was proud of myself for actually getting out of the house and going. Mother Nature seemed to understand my internal fight with myself and stopped the light rain about 3 minutes in. What I failed to understand was that this was so she could save it up and drench me in the last five minutes.

Under that puddle is the sidewalk.

Thanks to Jenny (whose blog I lurk on), I found out about the X-Weighted Challenge. After taking a look around, I signed up. It didn't take much convincing to get THR to sign up as well. Where would I be without my partner in crime? I'm still trying to sort it all but so far I like what I see.

Unplanned Skating

2011-01-13T21:07:00.000-08:00

After a fabulous social weekend and high plans for what I was going to accomplish this week, I started Monday morning off with a tumble on some ice while walking to work. A ground sprinkler system had gone off at some point during the night. Victoria had been hovering around freezing for a number of days and so the run off created an ice rink effect. My options were: walk on the road and into on-coming traffic, clamber through thigh-high bushes, or walk on the ice.

The ice probably only covered about a 5 meter length of sidewalk but I tumbled twice, once landing on my left knee and once on my right wrist. Neither injury was too bad but my knee did stop me from running on Monday and Tuesday. Instead, I went out for a long walk on Tuesday around the neighbourhood. I picked my time well because I wasn't in the door five minutes when it started to snow.

By Wednesday I was right as rain, as they say, and back to West African Dance class. Today, I headed out for my much delayed run. I didn't drink enough water before I headed out and that became immediately apparent when my calves started to seize up. Still, I pushed on through and completed the run I set out to do. Granted, I wasn't running much faster than I walk by the end of it, but that was because of my calves. My bad. I know better.

Water in general is one of those areas I need to improve on. I'm really good for a few weeks and then I'm really bad for a few weeks. I need to be consistent and I know that. I'm better when I drink enough water; my energy is better so my workouts are better, I eat better because I'm not mindlessly snacking (I'm mindlessly drinking down my H2O), and my skin feels better when I'm hydrated. Three very simple reasons for drinking water and yet I still struggle with it. Guess what my goal is for this week?

The Best Laid Plans of Mice and Men

2011-01-09T22:36:00.000-08:00

My plans for this week went horribly askew when I decided to have an incredibly active social life. Truth be told, I wasn't too upset about this to begin with as I was horribly sore on Thursday and Friday from the workouts earlier in the week. By this evening, however, I was feeling frustrated with my lack of real movement.

One of my social evenings was watching other people be active but I've been told that doesn't count.

Despite the vast amounts of sitting and talking I did, I did make an effort to make good food choices so it wasn't a total slide backwards. It was hard given that most of my socializing involved going out to eat but I'm concentrating on the positives: I stopped when I was satisfied, I opted for the healthier option on most occasions, and I limited my beer intake to only three pints (which is very little seeing as I was at a hockey game one night). I wasn't perfect but I was happy with my choices.

Another social evening was watching an awesome friend sing awesome songs.

My vocal chords got a good workout that night.

Five nights in a row of social engagements plus a day time engagement on both weekend days is not the norm for me so I know that this type of halt to my activity won't happen again for a long time. I also know that I need to figure out how to balance being social with working towards my goal. I can't stop being social just for the sake of making it easier to stay healthy and plan my workouts. After all, I want to listen to my friend play his amazing songs and I want to enjoy a beer while I do it even if it's supposed to be a running night.

PS. I can't link to my favourite song because he doesn't have a video for it--hint, hint, Justin!-- but you can go to his site and listen to it for free. It's called "Oh Susanna".

What Doesn't Kill Me Makes Me Sore

2011-01-04T23:21:00.000-08:00

Monday was my first foray back into running. It was sunny and clear and just a little bit crisp which made for beautiful vistas but slightly icy sidewalks. I headed out as late as I could but even at noon patches of ice persisted to hang around in the shade.

Almost took a spill on this patch as I walked home with coffee at the end of my run. Oops!

It felt great to run again. I followed the run-walk pattern set out for me and although I could have run further, I was happy not to push it too hard the first time back. Still, I needed a little challenge so I ran up the stairs at Craigdarroch (Not Really A) Castle twice. They're not overly long or difficult but it was enough of an added challenge to get me huffing and puffing that little bit more.

See? Not really a castle, just a big ass house made of stone.

I felt a bit sore this morning (because I somehow forgot to stretch my quads after the run. Seriously, how did I miss those?!? I got everything else.) but it was a minor ache and so I pushed on with today's plan: an at-home work out. Instead of trying to come up with a workout on my own as I did in the past, I trolled the healthy living blogs I frequent and found Susan's At Home Workout she had designed for her sister.

I was familiar with most of the moves and I liked that no actual equipment was required, so I made a few adjustments (squats instead of squat jumps), blasted my workout mix (as Susan suggests), and started with the jumping jacks. It quickly became apparent, however, that I had overlooked one very vital piece of information: exactly how much Susan hates her sister.*

The workout was brutal. I'm not in great shape so that plays a part in this, but I did each section three times through like I was supposed to and when it got to the 'now repeat again from the beginning' I collapsed on the floor in a heap and decided that I'd had enough for today.

It occurred to me that I knew all these moves but the names I use all have expletives in them. The lack of those vital words lulled me into a false sense that this was some how easier. Doesn't 'mountain climbers' sound less intimidating than 'f*#&ing mountain climbers'?

This is my preferred method of mountain climbing. Männlichen, Switzerland.

As I lay crumpled on the floor quoting Shakespeare** and preparing for my inevitable demise, it dawned on me that I hadn't watched the new Hawaii Five-O episode from the night before. What if there was a gratuitous shirtless scene with Alex O'Loughlin which I was missing because I was slowly turning into cat food on my floor?*** That one little thought got me off the floor, stretched and showered. Thank goodness for the life-saving properties of a hot man's abs.

*Disclaimer: I'm sure she doesn't really hate her sister. Well, maybe a little.
**Just humour the crazy lady and smile; physical pain (good or bad) makes me quote the first four lines of Sonnet 29 and I don't actually know why. I've been doing it since high school.
***There was not, alas, a gratuitous shirtless scene in this week's episode. *Sigh* Fingers crossed for next week!

2010 is Going to Be My Year. Wait, What? 2011?

2011-01-02T21:51:00.000-08:00

I have a habit of haphazardly setting resolutions. January 1st rolls around and I think "I'd like to do this" so I set it as a resolution and then don't actually bother to think about how I'd like to make that happen. It's all fine and dandy to say "I'd like to climb Mount Everest" but if you don't bother taking any steps towards making that happen, you might as well be saying "I'd like to build a working TARDIS". (Actually, you'd grow a working TARDIS, but that's a discussion for another blog.)

This year, I wrote down a few resolutions (or goals, which ever term you prefer) and then thought long and hard about how I plan to accomplish them.

1. Run the TC 10K in 1:15:00 - I had a goal of running it in 1:20:00 last year. For a first time runner, I took 12 minutes off my best walking time and figured I could do that. Well, an unfortunate bottom-of-the-foot blister at around the 6K mark put an end to that goal but it had been within fairly easy reach up until that point. This year, I'm going into running knowing that a) I can run and b) I like to run. I'll just make sure I wear better socks this time.

2. Run the Gunner Shaw 10K next November - I wanted to do this this year but it occurred at the tail end of my hip problem when I hadn't been running for almost two months. It is not a race you want to enter into unprepared.

3. Hike the Juan de Fuca Trail - This one was put on hold last year due to other events. It won't be put on hold again.

4. End the year within 15 lbs of my weight goal - This is do-able. In fact, my actual weight goal is totally do-able in 11 months if I lose at a healthy rate without ever hitting a plateau or having a week where I gain, but I want some leeway on this. I don't want to worry about not reaching a certain number if I decided to have the fries instead of salad once and while. Also, I hesitate to set an actual number for my final goal because a lot of it is how I feel. Feeling and being healthy is more important than the actual number on the scale, so 15lbs puts me within spitting distance of all the numbers I would consider as a 'final' number. The easiest way to make this happen is to set lots of short term goals for myself. Weekly. Monthly. Whatever they are, I need to set them and go after them. It's really easy to slide when you think "I still have 11 more months before that goal comes up" but not so easy when you think "I have four weeks". Expect to see a lot more short term goals floating around here.

Has anyone else set some interesting resolutions/goals for this year?

Another 365 Day Come to a Close

2010-12-31T16:58:00.000-08:00

Christmas has come and gone and so to has my experiment with mentally over eating to prevent actual overeating. I made a concerted effort at this on the Sunday prior to Christmas when my mom and I made (Great) Grandma's Molasses Cookies. On the bus ride over to my mom's, I imagined eating 30 of these cookies. I picked each one up in my mind, felt the weight of it in my hand, took the correct number of bites and chewed. Around the twenty-first one I actually started to feel nauseous. I made it to 25 before I elected to stop because I just felt too sick. I'm all over trying the mental experiment, I'm not all over throwing up on a bus to complete it!

My imagination didn't do these delicious cookies justice!

I would like to say that the experiment was a success and in a way it was, but not for the reasons that I think the original experiment was successful. The original experiment had people eating less because they felt full of the item of food after imagining eating it. I ate fewer cookies that I did in previous years because this experiment was running through my head the whole day. Every time I thought about eating a cookie, I thought about my experiment results and opted not to. In the end, I had a grand total of three cookies over 8 hours. That's why I'm calling it successful even if not in the way it was intended.

Christmas Dinner ends with Lemon Meringue Pie. I love traditions!

I did fairly well over Christmas in general when it came to food. I did enjoy a few sweets but they were generally few and far between. After a relaxing Christmas Eve/Christmas Day with my Big Bro at our mom and stepdad's (and a visit to my dad's), I headed up to Nanaimo on Boxing Day for some time with my stepmom and Baby Bro. The rain in Nanaimo kept us indoors more than we had originally planned but that's okay because we had Sherlock and Doctor Who to watch and Rummy and FIFA 11 to play. Also, staying at the house meant a very limited amount of food to be consumed so I was happy with that aspect of it.

Even the Aloe plant got some festive lights.

Every year I make resolutions. They're usually concrete goals with vague ideas of how I'm going to achieve them. This year, I'm changing that. I've written up a few resolutions, now I'm siting down and mapping out how to make them a reality. A few of them are health and fitness related so they will be making it onto here soon but for now, I need to get ready for my rocking night in! That's right, I'm staying in. I was supposed to go to a friend's house party but while coming home from a board meeting last night at 9:00pm, I realised that I haven't been home for longer than a few hours (not including sleep) in the past eight days. My next two weekends are pretty full so tonight I'm just going to cuddle with my kitties and watch a few movies. Right now it's a toss up between Hot Fuzz and Office Space.

Happy New Year Everyone!

Christmas is Coming, The Goose and I Are Getting Fat

2010-12-19T11:17:00.000-08:00

Christmas is coming, the goose is getting fat

Please put a penny in the old man's hat

If you haven't got a penny, a ha'penny will do

If you haven't got a ha'penny, God bless you!

It is safe to say that the end of 2010 did not go as well as the start. Knee problems then a hip problem then getting knocked sideways by a flu have left me sliding backwards as far as my goal go. Clothes that were loose are feeling a big more snug. There are a few shoulda-coulda-woulda moments in the last three months, but I also cried on three separate occasions from the pain and discomfort in my hip so I'm not going to beat myself up about it. I'll just pick myself up and move on from here.

I attended a Christmas get-together in my apartment building last night. Our awesome building managers put out quite the spread along with their homemade wine and kid-friendly punch. I came away from the afternoon realising that other than a grand total of five plain chips I ate very healthy. Maybe the holidays don't have to be a worrisome time of year!

I am making Grandma's Molasses Cookies with my mom today. Grandma always had these cookies all year round so I'm not quite sure why it became a 'Christmas Only' cookie in our house but they're one of my favourite traditions of the season. To be honest, this is one treat I always overindulge in so I've already started mentally eating my 30 molasses cookies and seeing if it stops the random snacking throughout the afternoon.

Mindful Eating

2010-12-09T18:24:00.000-08:00

I went for a 'run' on Sunday and again on Monday evening. I use the term run very, very loosely as I have pretty much lost any sort of cardio I had and found myself struggling after a few minutes. It reminded me very much of my first couple of times out running with THR last January. It was such a struggle and I remember thinking that I would never been a runner. My one saving grace this time around is that I know I can be a runner. I love it now and as much as I struggled, it will get easier and I will be able to push myself further. My hip, which I was worried might be sore after two days, felt fabulous. Running is officially back in my workout regime.

I have made no secret of the fact that I am a geek (or nerd, dork, dweeb... I'll answer to any variation thereof) both on here and on my other blog. As a result, my RSS reader is filled with both health and fitness blogs as well as science-geeky blogs (that's the technical term). Today in my reader, I found this article about mentally overeating the food you're about to consume so you eat less of it. I, of course, found this fascinating.

When I think about the mental aspects of eating, it's about the choices I have to make. How do I make a salad seem exciting when those fries smell sooo good? How do I convince myself that I'm satisfied when there's still food on the table/plate? Is it possible, however, that I've actually been overlooking a simple step to help control my eating?

I wanted to read more about the study, but the link provided in the article goes to the study and you have to pay to read it. It's $15US just for 24 hours access. Not going to happen. Still, the article has given me a lot of food for thought *rim shot* about how much I may have overlooked the mental aspect of weight loss. It's definitely a self-experiment that I'm going to try out over the next few holiday weeks. At the very least, it can't hurt to try, right?

Question: Do you have any mental tricks you use when it comes to food?

I'd Jump For Joy But I Might Break Something

2010-12-01T22:59:00.000-08:00

Somewhere over the very busy past five days, I stopped limping and started walking like a normal person. My hip is still sore, but it's that dull ache from over-compensating it for so long and that seems to get less and less every hour. I had my ergonomic assessment on Tuesday and regardless of if that was the cause or it was just added to an underlying issue, I'm really happy I had the assessment done. Even after just two hours in my adjusted workspace, my body was feeling better.

I was really looking forward to taking my much-less-sore hip to West African Dance tonight except I was out very last last night at a very awesome Leonard Cohen concert so I came home, opened my email and fell asleep sitting upright on my couch. That's what 5 hours of sleep does to me.

When I awoke 40 minutes later (with my fingers still over the proper keys, I may add), I decided a short walk was in order as I missed the dance. I didn't go to far, but I walked for 20 minutes then even ran for 2 minutes. I am very happy to report that there was no pain. It did feel a little tender and sore, but gone was the tear-inducing pain of my last running attempt. Could this be it? Could my days of feeling like an invalid finally be over? Could I actually be back to regular runs before the end of 2010? Could Ross really be the one for Rachael after all this time?

I don't want to get my hopes up too high but my body isn't 100% yet (and given my track record, I'm sure I'll pull a back muscle tomorrow) but things are definitely looking up.

Proud Sister

2010-11-29T18:51:00.000-08:00

I just wanted to take a moment to shout out to my Big Bro who did the Gunner Shaw this past weekend. I wish I could have been there to cheer him on, but between a board meeting in the morning and helping Lisa set up in the evening, there just wasn't time to make it out to Thetis Lake. I finally got to check out the results today and he did awesome. His finish time put him at just under 15 minutes after the leader. Props to the awesomeness that is my Big Bro!

Forever and always my hero!

Do As I Blog, Not As I Do

2010-11-28T22:49:00.000-08:00

After all my big words about paying closer attention to my eating and being extra healthy because I couldn't really exercise at the moment, I went and had what was arguably the worst eating weekend in six months. It wasn't so much the eating that was bad, it was the drinking. Lots and lots of drinking.

A very good friend of mine, Lisa, recently bought her first home and so we celebrated with a rather raucous housewarming. After living in Tanzania, I stopped drinking. I still have the occasional glass of wine with dinner or the odd beer while watching a hockey game, but I no longer keep alcohol in the apartment 'just in case' nor drop $50 just in alcohol on a Friday night. Living in a conservative country will do that to you.

I made up for my lack of drinking on Saturday, let me tell you. I was asked to open a bottle of wine around 5:30 and pour three glasses. I spent the rest of the night opening bottles and filling any glasses in view including my own. When I left shortly after 10pm, there were six empty bottles of wine and only four people drinking from them. I honestly don't know how much of them I had consumed but I'm going to guesstimate it was around 'a lot'.

My one saving grace in all of this is the knowledge that I wasn't the only one who was that drunk. I won't give details because I'm not that mean, but I think it's safe to say that there will be a lot of people staring at the ground as they walk around work on Monday.

The only healthy thing I did was hang out with healthy people who've run marathons, won Ironmans, and rowed with the Canadian National Rowing Team. Does that count as being healthy? No?

I'll be better this week. Really.

Menu and Blog Overhaul

2010-11-26T22:56:00.000-08:00

I'm not going to lie, I'm in a funk. My right hip still hurts... a lot. The ergonomic assessment I was planning on this week didn't happen because a big dump of snow hit Victoria and apparently it's more important to shovel and salt the walk-way in front of our office so people don't slip and actually break a hip then it is to fix my new chair. I know, I know, 'the greater good'. I have an appointment for next Tuesday so fingers crossed it goes well and I'll soon be able to walk without limping (which ranges from 'barely noticable' to 'why doesn't that lady have a cane?' depending on the day).

Despite the snow, I've walked to work every day. Depending on how my hip is, this might be

the only exercise I'm able to get in so I'll be damned if I'm going to let a little snow stop me...

even if a few of the drivers did skid through the crosswalk on my light.

The funk probably started back in September with my knee issues, but that had a solution, an end date. Plus I was still able to continue with lots of my activities, it was really just running that was a no-no. With my hip, I don't have an end date. I had to feebly hobble two blocks to the gas station and back for milk the other night. There is nothing like not being able to cross the street before the blinking hand pops up to make you feel like some sort of invalid.

What's a girl to do?

Well, how about start looking a bit closer at her eating habits which had fallen of track. I committed the cardinal sin in healthy eating and stopped paying attention to what I was eating for large chunks of the day, usually the chunk of the day that includes lunch... sometimes morning coffee break... occasionally afternoon coffee break... possibly even breakfast if I hit the snooze button too many times. At least I kept my dinners healthy!

Does this count as a book for my monthly reading challenge? No? Drats!

If I can't exercise, I'm going to have to be very conscience of every single item I put on my plate. I've decided to treat myself like I'm five. I've pulled out the Weight Watcher intro books and I'm going through them again. I'm taking notes. It's the equivalent of taking notes while reading Dr. Seuss (Grinch hates Christmas) but I'm going to do whatever it takes to get this information to become so ingrained I have no excuses for making bad choices.

The other thing a girl can do to help get out of a funk is spend some time playing around with blog layout. With my sore hip, it's a lot easier than playing around with my furniture layout.

Question: How do you get out of a funk?

Pray For Mojo*

2010-11-21T10:08:00.000-08:00

The whole hip thing has me pretty bummed. I have been writing and rewriting a post for four days about losing my workout mojo as a result but I've even lost my mojo for writing about it. With my knees I had to stop running but other activities were still on the table. With my hip, not only is running off the table, but depending on the day so it walking or dancing or yoga.

There is, however, some good news at the end of all this. I think I may have found the culprit. We got these new ergonomic chairs at work and that's when my hip problem started. I also notice that I find I slump over to my right side when sitting at my desk but I never did with my old chair. Armed with this knowledge, I spent a huge amount of time on Thursday and Friday trying different positions. My hip has felt better but it's still sore. I'm hoping an ergonomic assessment this week will be the end of it. Then hopefully I'll get my mojo back because I need to write about the awesomeness which is Swiss comfort food:

I know it doesn't look like much but it has bacon, potato, onion, apple and pear in it.

It is the sweet and savory stew to end all stews!

For now, however, I'll get my mojo back through material goods. Today's purchase: Leonard Cohen tickets!

*Obligatory Simpson's reference. If you don't get it, watch this.

The Hip Bone's Connected...

2010-11-11T12:01:00.000-08:00

I skipped flamenco on Monday night because my hip was still really bothering me. By my Tuesday walk home from work, my hip problem was affecting my knee and my ankle. I didn't think I was compensating that much for my sore hip but I spent Tuesday night lying on my floor because my knee and ankle hurt when I stood and my hip and knee hurt when I sat. Damned if you do...

I took it really easy on Wednesday. I wore the most comfortable, supportive pair of shoes I own and I took the bus to and from work. That part really pains me because I live a 20 minute walk from my office. I couldn't even walked 20 minutes. I haven't been out on it yet today (I nixed my plans to go to a service, opting instead to remember at home, because I really didn't want to be limping around in front of the veterans. "Hey guys, thanks for your service. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go be a total pansy ass because I have a sore hip.") but so far today it feels pretty good so I'm planning on a long walk this afternoon.

Stupid Body. Be Less Hurty!

2010-11-07T15:15:00.000-08:00

I was super pumped to head out this morning. Not only was it a bright, clear, mild morning, but thanks to the time change I was ready to head out ridiculously early (well, for me on a weekend, it was ridiculously early). I'd be able to get a run in and still be home in time to do everything I wanted today.

I was supposed to do 8 sets of run-walk. I finished the first run feeling good but as I walked my right hip started to ache. I got through my next run still feeling great but when I started to walk again the pain returned. As the running felt okay, I stretched a bit more and took off again but when I returned to walking I was limping.

It was sore as I made my way home but it ached less. Then I went to lunch with my mom and by the time we left, I could either limp when I moved my right leg forward or I could put it far to the right of my body causing me to toddle down the road like a little old lady. Now I'm home and stuck on the couch with ice on my hip. Oh, please, please let this be temporary!

Special Running Buddy

2010-11-06T00:23:00.000-07:00

I headed out on my run Thursday night and all I could think about was how much I wanted it to be over. It was late. It was dark. It was cold. It was wet. I hadn't had dinner yet. I had no running partner. I hadn't managed to make a run mix for my mp3. It was a struggle to get out the door but I knew I'd feel better when it was over.

Despite knowing that my body secretly wanted to go for the run, I still grumbled while doing my warm up walk. Despite being over a block away, I could hear my couch screaming my name. I wanted to turn around and run back to it, but then I saw something moving in the bushes on the other side of intersection and out stepped a young buck.

He walked across the road towards a doe which had been hiding in the shadows. Being a doe after my own heart, she flirted by leaping away from him and towards me. He followed and that's when I started to get nervous for them. It's a dark intersection with roads that bend into it and these cute little deers are running around don't have the funky LED turtle lights hanging off them. Thankfully a passing car had the same thought that I did. They put on their hazards and we haphazardly shepherded the buck and doe back towards the park.

That moment made the whole run for me. It made getting off my couch and out the door worth it. I had a smile on my face until I got home and pretty much all the way to bed.

Thanks Bambi! I'm planning on running again on Sunday morning. Perhaps you and Thumper could join me.

Not a Lot to Say Tonight

2010-11-02T21:18:00.000-07:00

Just that I went for a run and it was fabulous. I'm going to hurt tomorrow but it will be a good hurt and I will love every moment of it. Yay for the return to running!

Bring It On, November

2010-11-01T22:52:00.000-07:00

If October has taught me anything, it's that time can fly even when you're not having fun. It's not that October was a bad or depressing month it was just busy, busy, busy and not really with socializing. It was also the month in which my plan of spending New Years in the Yukon watching Corb Lund was dashed. I would like to point out that I was mature and didn't quit my job just so I could go (which I really, really, really wanted to do). Instead, I just complained about it to everyone who would listen and even a few who wouldn't.

My fitness plans and goals for October pretty much fell by the wayside by Thanksgiving. Between not being able to run and missing my workout partner who now lives in Vancouver, my desire to get my butt out the door suffered and I willing let other things take priority. That all changes tomorrow when I put my running shoes on for the first time in five weeks. Getting the okay to run again was definitely a highlight of the past month.

November is going to be my month to cowboy up and get all the things done that I didn't get to in October... but first I'm going to listen to a little more Corb Lund.

Anyone else feel like October went by waaaaay too fast?

Cats Are Evil

2010-10-31T10:04:00.000-07:00

I was going to go for my first run today since the doctor's okay. I wasn't planning anything big, just to head out the door and see how far I could make it. I wanted to see exactly how much of my endurance I had lost in the five weeks before I start doing a more structure running schedule this coming week. Mostly, I wanted to go for a run just to get out of the house while the weather is still as beautiful as it is today, before the rains return. I was so excited about getting out and running that I dreamt about it twice last night.

Then this morning, my cat got underfoot while I was getting out of bed. I landed on my right foot at a strange ankle and had to limp to the couch. It's nothing serious--it's already better than it was an hour ago--but it's sore. I've already had to take one extended break from running, I don't want to have to take another. I'll just go for a walk this morning instead and wait until Tuesday to start my running.

Stupid adorable cats.

The Verdict Is In...

2010-10-26T18:04:00.000-07:00

Guess who got the all clear to start running again? I'll give you a hint:

I've been instructed to ease back into it, but I can start running again!!

It's Like Chrismas Eve... But Not.

2010-10-25T20:24:00.000-07:00

No pressure, but if there is a Santa Claus, tomorrow I get the okay to start running again. I've noticed that my knees don't feel funny as often so I'm hoping that's because of the exercises and not the lack of running. A friend was trying to convince me to do the Gunner Shaw 10K Memorial at Thetis Lake at the end of November and after reading about it, I was pretty bummed to say no. I just don't have enough time to get ready but a true cross country race where you get dirty, cold and scrambling over rocks, through puddles and across logs? It looks like fun! Definitely one to put in the calendar for next year. (And if you've ever run it, share some stories.)

Wish me (and my knees) luck tomorrow.

Come On, Brain, [Insert Activity] Builds Character!

2010-10-20T20:21:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I wish I could shut my mind off. Obviously not for important things like breathing and swallowing my own saliva, but for those awesome things that you want to do, you know you should do, but your mind is just too lazy to do.

Tonight was West African Dance night and my own mind almost talked me out of going. I didn't sleep well last night, I had a crap day at work, and all I wanted to do when I got home was watch Hawaii 5-0 and hope to see Alex O'Loughlin's abs... and I almost did just that.

You have a bunch of writing you have to do.

You have nothing ready for dinner and do you really want to have to start cooking when you get home?

You should upload those photos for your piece on Alberta.

You missed vacuuming on the weekend.

Maybe you should just have a nap. You only slept six hours last night.

Alex! O'Loughlin!

My mind had more excuses than a five year old who doesn't want to go to bed (it may have even used the five year old I-don't-wanna as well) and I found myself sitting in a funk, watching my clock creep closer and closer to leaving time. I jumped off my couch with minutes to spare, dressed while using the toilet (try doing that without getting pee everywhere, gentlemen!), and raced off to class.

Even just with the decision to get my butt in gear, I found my mood elevated and I didn't feel so tired. By the time I got to class, I was singing out loud to my mp3 player (even serenaded a few people on my walk to class that's how good I was feeling). I gave my all in that class--as I always do because it's impossible not to--and I ended up sweaty, out of breath, and craving more. I left the class feeling like life was awesome and I should go for a walk. So I did.

To a coffee shop.

Where I got delicious decaf coffee.

And dinner.

Okay brain, now we can watch Hawaii 5-0.

*****

Anyone else have problems convincing their brain to workout? How do you handle it?

I Counted Sheep So Many Times, I Knew Them By Name

2010-10-16T15:37:00.000-07:00

It has been a really bad week for healthy choices and workouts. It all stems from the fact that I did something to my sleep pattern last weekend and it messed me up all week! Bah! I was finally forced to take a sleep-aid (*ahem* a hot toddy, to be exact) to get myself back into my normal pattern.

My internal clock is really good at resetting itself. I attribute this to all the travel to Ireland I did growing up, but it causes problems for me now because if I stay up too late for two nights in a row, I'm hooped. My body will think that's my new bedtime. Last weekend, I was up past midnight on Friday and Saturday so despite being in bed at 10:00pm every night this week, I'd toss and turn until 1:00am. Morning yoga got skipped in favour of more sleep, after work workouts became internal struggles over doing more and flopping on the ground in a dramatic fashion, and dinners had to be ready in less than 10 minutes because I couldn't be bothered to stand up for any longer than that.

I don't like sleep aids if I'm not actually sick because I have a fear of becoming dependent on them. For me, this fear is pretty irrational (like my fear of moving scarecrows) because I can honestly count the number of times I've used them on one hand. (When I'm sick, however, I will down NeoCitran like I think it's water.) A Hot Toddy on Thursday night was my compromise. I'm pretty sure that after I finished the Hot Toddy, I could have slept anywhere. Sort of like this guy:

Heyna sleeping in mud puddle, Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Tanzania

I really wish I had done it earlier in the week because Friday was the first day I did not feel lethargic and grumpy. Friday night's workout was the only one where I really felt like I kicked butt too. Coincidence? HELLS NO! I'm looking forward to being back on the sleep train this week and seeing how much better my choices are because of it.

How do you react to a lack of sleep?

Thanksgiving

2010-10-11T16:56:00.000-07:00

If you read both my blogs, you're not seeing double. This post appears on both of them.

What am I thankful for?

I am thankful to my birth mother for choosing to give me a life she could not provide.

Me at 5 weeks

I am thankful for my parents who never let me doubt how much I was loved.

Dad, Mom and me

I am thankful that I have two brothers who are both pretty awesome in their own rights.

Little and Big Bro about eight years ago

I am thankful that I was born in country where my gender was not seen as a reason to not educate me...

Graduation

...or disallowed my participation in sports.

Soccer as a teenager

I am thankful that I know my extended family even though they all lived plane rides away.

Me and Cormac on a family trip out to Donegal

I am thankful for all the amazing places I have travelled in my life.

Trinidad, Cuba

I am thankful for the opportunities I've had to live in some of these amazing places.

Freiburg, Germany. Mein Universitaetstadt.

I am thankful for the people I've met who have helped shape my world view.

My going away party in Tanzania. I'm the only non-Muslim at the table.

I am thankful for living in a country where political discord amounts to little more than name calling in the House of Commons.

Political Message along Falls Rd, Belfast

I am thankful that I am privileged enough to be able to give back.

Dinner time, Usa River, Tanzania

I am thankful for all my friends who make life a little bit more worth while.

Looking forward to a hungover train ride back to Victoria after a girl's weekend in Parksville.

What are you thankful for?

Classically Inspired

2010-10-06T22:10:00.000-07:00

It's been a great week so far for the moving and shaking. I've had a busy week with barely enough time to watch Beauty and the Beast last night but I feel so great after all the activity I've been fitting in. I don't know if it's because I'm coming back after being sick or if we did a lot more leg work than normal in the flamenco class on Monday, but my legs were aching so much on Tuesday.

I uploaded a bunch of classical music to my mp3 player over the weekend and I really wish I had done it sooner because I forgot how much classical music makes me want to run, jump, turn, dance, leap, kick, twist, and just generally move my body. I went for a walk on my lunch listening to Tchaikovsky's Montagues and Capulets (it's the music at 1:30) and I found myself wanting to do grand battements down the sidewalk.(That's a fancy dancer-ish way of saying I wanted to goosestep, but can't you hear why?)

When I listen to the classical music, my body just reacts without my even noticing. I walk taller and smile more, for starters, but I also caught myself doing the chassé as I walked around my office. It's obvious to me that I need to add some classical music into my workout mix... or I need to convince the powers-that-be to put some treadmills in the Royal Theatre.

See? They totally want to serenade me on my runs! [Source]

What types of music do you listen to while you workout?

Focus on the Positives and Recommit

2010-10-03T22:18:00.000-07:00

I'm finally ~~back from the dead~~ over the chest/head cold which has been keeping me pretty low key for the last week. It's been a tough two weeks--I was told to stop running, I lost my workout buddy to Vancouver, I was viciously attacked by my own respiratory system--and I have to admit that at one point, I felt like giving up on the getting healthy. Then a few friends were talking about next week's marathon which I will no longer be participating in. That really didn't help the crummy.

As I got over my cold, I also got over my 'oh woe is me' feelings and decided to focus on the positive:

Running is temporarily on hold while we sort out what's up with my knees. The doc is very positive that I will be back at it soon and that nothing long term has actually happened to my knees.
I'm still allowed to dance and that makes me the happiest when it comes to cardio. I will be plante-tacon-ing and djole-ing once a week for the foreseeable future.
Before the attack of the irritated bronchial tubes, I was doing well with the 'at home' workouts. I know what needs tweaking when I start them up again this week.
I have a new walking partner.
My eating has been very clean throughout my illness and I know I can continue that through the next couple weeks.
Beauty and the Beast comes out on DVD on Tuesday!

Okay, so that last one isn't health/fitness related but it's a positive, darn it!

At the start of September I began writing a contract with myself as a guide to keep myself on target with my workouts and eating. Somewhere along the way, it went from being a simple contract with a few guidelines to a fully annotated Encyclopdia AndreaClairicus. The original thought was in the right place and I want to go back to that. I have a rough draft of it done so I plan to do a quick rewrite of it and then it will be up on here for everyone to see... as soon as I'm done watching Beauty and the Beast.

Because Stockholm Syndrome rocks!