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Dearest Obie -
Good luck tonight. Don't let that dickwad rattle you. You're so much better than that. He'll dig himself a hole too deep to climb out of soon enough. Just keep talking about your plan, and it will all come together. Make me proud!
Love,
Christine
- Mood:
amused
I realize that the majority of my friendlist here on LJ will give a rats ass about this, but bear with me - you already know I'm from a different planet so just smile and laugh and be excited for me, okay?
PHISH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Hampton VA, March 6-9!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
HOLY @!#%(@$^_)!@$*&^%{_@!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
*faints*
- Mood: excited
Well, now the two of them, people I consider friends as well as co-workers, are pressuring me into combining the T4T efforts with the green challenge, saying I should ask people to donate more this year so I can buy only "green" organic, eco-friendly toys.
SERIOUSLY? It's really unlike me, but I am So. Not. Down. with that idea AT ALL. I don't mind getting a few things like blocks and puzzles and wooden cars, but the whole lot? We're usually talking about $300 worth of toys that I go and buy at 3 in the morning at various Black Friday sales, so I can get as much bang for my buck as possible. These kids get almost NOTHING. For many of them, this is their only toy. For the babies, great. Fine, no problem. But when you KNOW that little first grader girls out there just want a Barbie so they can play Barbies with the rest of their friends, and this is their ONLY chance to have one and feel "normal," do you REALLY think they're not going to be disappointed with some organic cloth doll instead? Isn't their life enough of a disappointment, without having some priveleged person "telling" them what they shouldn't and shouldn't play with?
I mean, I get it. As a consumer, we have to change the types of things we're demanding, in order to force manufacturers to give us more green choices. We 'vote' with our money. But for some reason, this really goes against my gut feelings, it makes ME feel like a 6 year old girl who got underwear and mittens instead of a Cabbage Patch Kid. Do I really have the right to be "principled" on behalf of people who are so, so less fortunate?
Helloooooo molehill, the mountain called and said don't even bother... (ie, I know, I'm being a bit overly dramatic here, but it's MY 'thing' ~ so am I being overprotective here, or are they pushing it?)
- Mood:
bitchy
Anyway, I need to buckle the fuck down and:
* Start logging again at SparkPeople. Must be accountable for everything I'm shoveling into my fat maw. GET OFF THE SUGAR!!!
* Stick with the training program. Skipping the "little" runs is NOT going to do me any favors come race day.
* STUDY and get DONE with 3rd grade and move on already. Hello, still have a whole biology text to get through after the elementary stuff is done. Get cracking on outline for incas/mayans/greeks etc and their contributions, explorers & settlement of the New World, and geography.
* get Obama paraphenalia. I don't think that's spelled correctly. Too damn bad.
* WORK. (feh.)
- Mood:
busy
I also signed up for the Philly Distance Run on 9/21 - which means I get at least 3 Philly trips in as many months :) Between the DR, Trey, and the Marathon, I am feeling the Brotherly Love these days! Just don't even think about asking me to be a Flyers fan, m'kay?? Because that, THAT WILL NEVER HAPPEN.
It's too bad I'm going to miss The Who when they come around, figures they'd hit the tri-state area while I'm in FL! Can't have everything, I suppose.
So you know how I ordered my pottery wheel splash pan from Oriental Trading Co.? They sent *half* of it to me (it's 2 pcs that snap together to catch the water/clay when I throw pots, FYI). Ummm, how does that even happen? So I called, they scheduled shipping of a new *whole* one, and gave me return instructions. I got it, along with a huuuuuge package of "Graduation 2008" buttermints (LOL, er, ???) and then just called me today for a little survey about my order. When I was done talking to the Really Nice Lady, she told me she'd be sending me a $10 GC! Sweet, because they still have a shipping credit to issue for my return too. You know what this means?
FREE GLOWTOYS!!!! :)
Not musically related, unless you mean percussion on our roof, Here Comes Hannah. The fun should start tonight, should properly rain out the Office Picnic I planned at the local thoroughbred racetrack (which is fine, because as much as I literally AM The Social Committee -of 1- for my office, I really don't care to socialize with any of them!!), and make the trail really muddy for my 12-mile run on Sunday. I'm sure IKE will follow within a week or two - which means I should have saved my Baking Extravaganza for these Rainy Days. Oh well, I have LOTS of studying to do. I also have 2 cords of firewood to stack (I started last night after dinner and stacked until it was too dark to see the woodpile that's taking up our ENTIRE driveway - it was like eating a salad from Cheesecake Factory - you keep trying and trying but never make a dent in the damn thing!!!). Yeah, not going to happen in a tropical storm.
Did I mention, FREE GLOWTOYS?? Because, FREE GLOWTOYS! :)
- Mood: amused
I should go out to the car and grab the headphones from my mp3 player (gym bag is in the car, even though I didn't make it to the gym this morning, oops.)
I have a lot of feeeeeelings right now and I don't want to talk about them but I don't want to not talk about them either. Gah. Rainy day sadness while the sun still shines.
- Mood:
okay
Slept in until 9:30am (unheard of!)
Packed up things I need to return (wetsuit's too big, art place sent me HALF of the splash pan I ordered. Duh.)
Got B and I into a PhotoPass Share for Disney
Paid my water bill
Registered for 2 of the 5 Praxis II tests I need to take
Did a load of laundry
Prepped the grocery shopping list
Gave the kid a bath
Cleaned the playroom like SEVEN times
Uhhhh
I need to decide when to do my long run - today? tomorrow? It's kinda huuuuumid out.
Which reminds me... What do you call a fish with ten eyes?
Fiiiiiiiiiish! ;)
I need to focus on about 4 hours of work today, and then I'm done until Wednesday. Sweet.
Nicole - Thank you! The jeans fit, I nearly died of happiness (esp. in light of the Old Navy debacle - which is not as bad as I initially thought. Another pair of the same size and style, but different color, actually fit the way I remembered them fitting in the dressing room. So I'm not totally crazy - Old Navy is!!) The jacket will be great for running - did you need the address you left in the pocket? ;)
It's very dreary here today. Zach is watching Cars - I'm shocked it's even playing, considering the depth and magnitude of scratches on the DVD.
I also got his red dragon costume in the mail yesterday. It just BARELY fits,if he grows a centimeter, it's done. I also think it's going to be WAY too thick for FL in October. *scratches head*
I'm also, once again, completely and totally STUCK on what to do for his birthday this year. Can I just say, ONCE AGAIN, how difficult it is to do a November birthday for a kid?? There's totally NOT enough room to have a gaggle of 5 and 6-year olds running around our house, the weather is NOT condusive to an outside party, I DETEST Gymboree and The Rat Place and even if I put my violent opposition to All Things Arcade-like aside, those kinds of parties are SO DAMN EXPENSIVE it makes me want to cry. We will be in Disney 2 weeks prior to his birthday - a) how are we supposed to top THAT, and b) I will NOT have $400 to hand over to some crappy game room place for 20 insane little people to run around for 2 hours, eat shitty pizza, get hopped up on frosting, and come home with a zillion plasticrappy "toys" that break in 30 seconds. I'm not even exaggerating about the $400 for two hours, either. BounceU, PlayNation, Jungle of Fun, Gymboree, Twist-n-Shout - $395 for a 2 hour party. Some of those don't even include favors or cake. Insane. Thankfully, I'm only going through this mess now because it's his 5th birthday - there won't be anymore "big deal" parties until he's 10 (all the inbeteween celebrations are going to be small, at home, maybe sleepover kinda things). Ugh, maybe this one will be too, I don't know. Less expensive options - McDonalds (the playplace in our town is TINY and I HATE McD's), Jenkinson's Aquarium (maybe, but the only weekend time slot is Saturday from 10:30-12 - early!!), Swingtime (mini-golf place that has an arcade, meh), Build-a-Bear (how many bears do we need??) or the mall arcade (will have to check this).
Gah. Maybe I'll just take the money and buy "him" an air hockey table ;) Not like we have room for it... I wonder if you can rent one...
- Mood: aggravated
I'm so NOT allowed to go shopping by myself anymore. At least, not for pants. Did the Old Navy $12 jeans thing on Saturday, picked up 4 pairs for myself in the 'Sweetheart' style because the lower-rise 'Flirt' were laughably plumber-like, and the other 'Diva' style is an even LOWER rise so I wasn't going there. Anyway, I got 3 in size 10 and one in 8 - the 8's were a little muffin-toppy but I'm working my numbers down on the scale so I thought a buffer would be nice. Plus, these things shrink like mad most of the time so I'm sure with a few washes the 10's are going to snug up a bit.
I hope.
Because I'm wearing a pair today, and they're HUGE on me. Like, how did I NOT notice in the dressing room that I have a spare 3 inches in the waist, and that when I sit down, it's "HEY!! Woah, it's COLD back there!!" I'm practically sitting on the waistband, it gaps so much. WTF??
And this is easily the THIRD time I've done this. The last time was a pair of jeans from BCF, and I swear they were lovely in the dressing room, but when I got them home, I could easily pull them off without unbuttoning them. Again, WTF??
And of course, I never notice this until after I've de-tagged and washed...d'OH!!
- Mood: frustrated
So, I think I will be spending the bonus $10 on items for the food pantry - they have a bin near the exit, and I typically spend a few bucks on a jar of peanut butter or a bag of rice or a box or two of pasta, I'll just bump up my "few bucks" to $10+ and call it a day.
I'm not sure I need a new bag either, so if I don't find anything impressive at eBags, I'll use the GC to buy a backpack for a kid and donate it to a shelter or Toys for Tots or something.
voila.
- Mood: content
Oy, who know grocery shopping could make me feel all bad and guilty inside.
Today's circular had a whole Proctor/Gamble schtick, where you buy $25 of P&G stuff and get a printy-register coupon for an eBags GC on the order of $20. They ALSO had a dealio where, if you buy $50 in P&G stuff, you get a $10 printy-register coupon for your next shopping visit.
Guess who didn't buy a lick of P&G items, but still was handed BOTH coupons with her reciept. Yep, lucky me. Only, poor lady in front of me, who probably planned on either or both of those things (she had an assload of MFR coupons and looked like an Organized Shopper).
Soooo, do I use both of these little bonuses? I feel bad, but there's no way to track the lady down (or is there, there are several codes on these things and I suppose they could be tied to her "Super Duper Bonus Buy More Stuff" card??). Do I use them and shut up? Do I throw them away and pretend I never had them? I won't be going back until next week, where I could check with Guest Services, I suppose...but then what do I do, mail them to her?? What a pita. Or am I totally overthinking this? :)
- Mood:
curious
ETA: don't get me wrong, babies are great... for OTHER people! :)
- Mood: amused
- Mood: amused
SEVENTY-TWO days until our Disney vacation!!! :) Even though I took the day off to hit Great Adventure with the fam yesterday - it was fun, but it's... well, it's GA - I am still in need of a full-on fantasy vacay. In fact, I'm in a kind of crappy mood, so I really need something to look forward to.
My list for the weekend:
* Go to the library, finally get a library card and borrow whatever books they have from the "What your X-Grader Needs to Know" series (ILL the rest) to start studying for the Elementary Praxis II.
* Register for all the Praxis II tests (no joke, I need to take FIVE of them between November and March).
* Hit up Home Depot for bolts for the pottery wheel, measure & buy moulding for the downstairs family room, get mums for the deck planters. Get new front wheel for wheelbarrow.
* Plan dinners next week, check out farm stand on Rt. 9 and see how absurd prices are. Grocery shop.
* Stalk eBay some more for Zach-to-School clothes.
* Order splash pan for pottery wheel. Order new insoles for running shoes. Contemplate ordering plans to build Zach a swingset/playset.
* Pull out tomato & pea vines and plant mums in their place.
* 4-mile run and spin class tonight, 3-mile run Saturday, 9-mile long run Sunday.
(strange, I can't get the bulleted list function to work...)
- Mood:
bored
Sunday - after restful sleep wherein I was not disturbed 10 times by someone tossing, turning, getting up to open windows, getting up to turn the fan up, getting up to close the windows, getting up to pee, etc... I made Z and I some french toast, and we headed to the farmer's market in Red Bank. Now I have local organic sweet corn, golden squash, watermelon, blueberry & lime jam (so good!) - and HAD, past tense, a nice zucchini (now 2 loaves of z-bread) and 2 organic vegan strawberry glazed donuts (zach and I made short work of those in the car on the way home!). The corn will turn to chowdah later this week. :) We grocery shopped, I cooked, stalked eBay for Zach-to-School clothes, and now we're loafing. He's telling me there are polar bears in the closet. Poor thing, with nary a penguin snack to be had for miles. Perhaps I should offer him some watermelon??
- Mood: amused
Happy Friday y'all :) and thanks to everyone who shared their $0.02 on Dysons, except Rachel, who called me retarded. Go stub your toe. ;) I've lost 4 lbs so far and there are 15 more that need to get the hell offa me. *pthththt*
- Mood: geeky
- Mood: relieved
That's not to say I won't be spending money :) But every weekend is Hey, Let's go to Big City or Hey, Let's Go to Amusement Park or Fair or Event that is A Four Hour Drive and Guarantees We'll Be Eating Out Again and Then We Can Hope the Housecleaning Fairy Will Come and Take Care of Everything For Us! Ugh.
I am only too happy to do some house-tidying, some working out, some Farmer's Marketing, maybe do some canning, brewing, baking, dinner-freezing, finish up the craft room/clean the garage (since there won't be a big, stinky motorcycle in it!!), do some Back to School shopping for me and Zach, take him to the playground, drink lots of iced coffee, make up a study plan/workout schedule for the next couple of months... ahh, it will be good!
- Mood: accomplished
- first, there's this chick that I know from some local races that's also on the Tri website were I log workouts. She's a Little Miss Know-it-All, and it drives me CRAZY so I'm cordial but distant. I ran a 10K race with her once and she did NOT. shut. up. the entire time. Anyway, I had a really good training run last night (7 miles) which included a little walk break to suck down a gel (it was a chocolate one, and for those of you not aquainted with these little goopy packets of Omph in a Pouch, the chocolate ones tend to be thicker than the fruity flavors - more like frosting, less like jelly. Dig?). I'm *totally* fine with taking short recovery walks during long runs and during longer races - plenty of reputable training plans have a run/walk pattern built in, and many people with better running Skillz than I walk the water stops at races. But Ms. Know-it-All apparently knows better than people who have been running marathons for twice as long as she's been ALIVE, and leaves a comment on my log saying I've got to "learn how to run while taking gels." No, I most certainly do NOT. Go peddle your snooty advice elsewhere, Missy, for I will continue to wear my reflective orange triangle with PRIDE!
-sub-point of contention: I'm sick of hearing about "other runners" who bemoan the demise of the Good Old Days when marathons had time limits of 4 hours or less. What's it to YOU if I'm still out on the course two hours after you've finished, showered, taken a nap...whatever?? If it's because my completing <insert X endurance distance race here> means we can both have bragging rights come Monday morning at work, well then YOU are the one who needs to work on your jealousy/elitist snob issues, it don't mean a THANG for me!
-second point: I was reading a certain chick runner's blog that had been linked by a rather well-known triathlete's blog, and was enjoying said chick runner's blog when I stumbled upon a post wherein she rants about women who run in running skirts. She went on and on about What's the Point and Feminism Blah Blah Blah and I was rather disappointed, because I enjoy running in a running skirt , it's FUN, god forbid, and (see previous point/sub-points above) why do YOU care what I wear when I run??
I must have missed the Life is Serious day in gym class. Too busy square dancing?
- Mood: amused
The rest of my sci books are sitting on my dining room table, just waiting for me to Pause & Refresh!! The Biology book, the last of the 4, came yesterday and it weighs OH about a MILLION pounds. No wonder I have freakin' spine issues, schlepping oversized textbooks around during my formative years. (Now I just schlep binders and laptops and .... ok, same thing.)
But that's the good thing. The bad thing is, I'm MAD today and want to kick something. HARD. It's an Angsty Fat day, and I'm pissed. I want to eat everything in sight, which wouldn't help matters any, now would it? Why does my body have to be such a contradiction?? I did my Oly tri on Sunday, beating last year's time in the same event/location by 6 minutes. Not bad, though I had hoped to do better. But man, when I do tris, I feel like a SupahFox. I'm Queen Shit, get outta my way! And then, I see the pictures. Oh, the humanity!! Fat, fat, fatty-fat FAT!!! What the hell? How can I do all the training I do, and still need a Backup Beeper??? Gah. This SparkPeople thing better do it's magic, or I'm going to have to throw myself off a bridge.
Unfortunately for that plan, fat floats.
- Mood: angry
