Half

So last winter I tried to learn to love running. My brother, beloved SIL, and a few friends are all very into it. It seemed like such a cool thing to be involved in, and good for you too!

Alas, after 8 weeks of training, I still HATED running. Passionately. So that endeavor was ended.

The past couple of weeks, I have felt inclined to be more active, but I didn’t know what I wanted to do. I like tennis, but I only play outside and in warm weather.

Brian’s friend from law school gave me an idea. She and a firiend’s mom walk in races.

Now walking I can be on board with.

5K’s, 10K’s and semi-annual half marathons. And they are not simply strolling. There are time limits on these races, so no dragging feet (but not freaky speed-walking either).

My first event is on New Year’s Eve. A 10K that starts at around noon. This one is only for walkers, so the time limit is longer.

Next, a 5K the Sunday after St. Patty’s day. A short one, only a little over 3 miles, but there is beer at the end!

Finally, my first half-marathon on May 23rd. I have fundraised my registration fee and will be posting a link to my fundraising site once my registration is complete. All proceeds go to benefit the University of Maryland Greenbaum Cancer Research Center.

It is such a good cause. I mean, who among us has not been touched by cancer in some way.

So I am on my way! I have started my training. I do 2.2 miles 3 days a week, and 4 miles on Saturdays. 12 weeks before the half marathon I will step up my training.

It’s such a nice social thing to do too. I walk with my husband and sometimes with friends, and I have friends all lined up to do my races with me.

I am also having loads of fun shopping for gear! I already had some from my venture into running, so there is not lot I need. But I am going insane researching what to get!

I already have:
1- pair of regular running shoes, Nike Free (love!)
1- pair of trail running shoes
1- pair of running tights
1- pair of running capris
3- short sleeve tech shirts
1- long sleeve tech shirt
1- light tech hoodie
1- pair of tech gloves
2- awesome Moving Comfort sport bras

I just ordered (with $ I made on ebay!!):
1- Pearl Izumi Insula Jacker (Ebay, orig. $145, I got for $30)
- It is wind and water resistant
- light weight
- insulated for warmth
- vented
1- racing beanie ($12)
1- tech vest ($25)

I still need and need opinions about:
*- pants to layer over the tights when it is freezing out
- preferably water and wind resistant
* 1 or 2 more long sleeve tech shirts, maybe mock-neck?

I especially need to do this to make sure I don’t gain poundage from all of the baking I have been doing!!!!

Cocooning

I left my house twice in 4 days. Once to go get provisions from the grocery store, the other to see New Moon with my friend (don’t judge me!).

I had so much fun ‘playing house’ during this holiday weekend!

I prepared most of my Thanksgiving meal on Wednesday night, leaving only the chicken and stuffing for Thursday. We had:

Garlic and Herb Roasted Chicken
Garlic and Dill Mashed Red Potatoes
Blanched green beans in a vinaigrette
Spicy sausage stuffing
Spiced rum apple cider
Deviled eggs (courtesy of brother and SIL)
Pies (courtesy of local church, purchased by mom)

It was great, very low key, and with no parents.

Friday I slept until noon, and schlepped around the house, feeling sorry for those poor people fighting the lines at the stores. I baked bread and didn’t get out of my pj’s.

Saturday I went to the store and baked cookies, bread to have with cheese, and bbq chicken pizzas from scratch (even the pizza dough) for my husband and his friends while they had a ‘jam session’. My house is now the official ‘cool house’ for the boys.

Sunday, watched some TV, crocheted some, went to see New Moon and then made more cookies when I got home.

It was painful when the alarm went off this morning, summoning me to work. How I would love to be at least a part-time stay at home wife!

No worries, I like my job and the human interaction is better for me than talking to Mr. Jingles all day. Though that was fun, we had lots of mommy and baby boy time. There is nothing in this world like the unconditional love of a doggie.

So now, emerged from my warm cocoon, I am surfing the web for Cyber Monday deals.

Anyone have any luck with a 4-6 cup coffee maker?

Giving Thanks

I give thanks for:

* KitchenAid Mixers for working hard so that I don’t have to.

* Oxygen Bleach for cleaning everything!

* Pasta Roni, for when I just can’t think of anything else to make.

* Ebates.com for paying me to shop online

* Retailmenot.com for making it cheaper for me to shop online.

* My friend’s mom, for teaching me how to sew.




* My other friend’s dad, for helping us build a fence.




* Coffee:)




* The blogging pioneers who are striving to bring simplicity and what was good about ‘the good ole days’ back to today.

* Having a good job, when so many don't even have a bad job.

* Owning my own home

* Having all of my parents and grandparents alive. Most of my friends are not able to say this. I even have a 98 year old great grandmother alive! Good news for me, longevity runs in the family.


* Mr. Jingles, the wonder dog. He makes me smile every single day, even when I don’t want to.




* My husband. For being supportive, understanding, helpful, loving and just plain adorable. For being my best friend and sparring partner. Oh yeah, and for putting up with me when I am grumpy or crazy…which is often!

* To you, for reading my blog. Even if you never comment. Thanks for being here!


Have a safe and happy holiday!

Odds and Ends

I shot my boss in the face with a nerf gun this morning. He is not pleased. Its not like I was aiming for his face, and it didn’t hurt him. He has been whining lately that he needs someone to “just shoot me”. So after weeks of his whining, I did what he asked, just like any good administrative assistant should!

So things are slowing down on the homefront. Almost all of our little renovations are done on the inside. All that is left is to re-floor the basement, and that is not a top priority. Brian will be refereeing basketball this winter to pay for it.

So now my home is just how I want it. I had thought at one point that I would like to replace the mustard yellow laminate counters, but have decided against it. My kitchen is so cute and cozy the way it is. The counters are retro I’ve decided. And its true, they are original to my 1953 abode.

Starting in the spring we will start on the outside of the house. We will be putting up a fence, starting a garden and playing around with lining the walkway with stone. Siding will need to be replaced at some point, but its in decent condition and will do at least until the new windows are paid for. And our roof is only 10, so we are in good shape!

The KitchenAid Mixer is my new baby. How did I live without it for so long? Easy, I didn’t bake! And whenever I tried, it didn’t come out right. Now I know why. All of a sudden all of my baking endeavors are coming out so much better! Oh, and I got the Willow Blue color mixer…the same color as my trusty Subaru.

I have been crocheting like mad since I finished the house stuff. I am just a person that needs to have busy hands I think. I have made 3, almost 4 scarves for my family for Christmas. And I just purchased yarn to make a throw blanket for my bedroom. I even went online and experimented with different stitches, but I think I prefer the ease of a good ole single crochet stitch.

So nothing really exciting, just a whole lot of mundane wonderfulness. I couldn’t be happier:)

Comfort Zone and Comfort Food

I ventured out of my comfort zone of chicken and pasta and made chili last night. Brian loved it and left me nothing for my lunch today. Here is the recipe in case you are interested.

1 ½ Lbs browned ground turkey
1 can red kidney beans
½ diced yellow onion
1 can diced tomatoes
¼ cup chili powder
½ tsp cumin
½ tsp cayenne pepper
1 tsp salt
½ tsp oregano
½ tsp black or white pepper
Lots of garlic

Simmered in cast iron pot on low for 30 minutes.

Eaten with angus beef hot dogs.

Awesome Buys and Old-Fashioned Giving

I hate buying Christmas presents. And in all honesty, I don’t really like getting them. Unless of course, the gift is thoughtful and especially if it is home/handmade.

I am so done with commercialized Christmas. Commercialized ANY holiday actually. What happened to Thanksgiving? We seem to go straight from Halloween to Christmas every year.
I suppose our society does not think much of giving thanks for anything. Spoiled, ungrateful and yet full of expectations.

I am rebelling.

I have been rebelling for a few years now.

No Christmas anything until Thanksgiving dinner is over. No movies, decorations, music or gifting of any kind.

That has been the rule in my home for a while now. However, I will admit that I just cheated, but more on that later…

We even stopped giving gifts a few years ago and opted instead to donate to animal shelters. I don’t think everyone was thrilled with our choice, but I think its great. No one we know really needs anything, and if they do, they can go buy it instead of getting me a gift.

This year, though, I will be giving a little something else. I addition to our donations, I will be baking goods for family and friends. They get to choose from a small list what they would like, and I will give them a little recipe card to go with it. If given enough notice, I will even prepare the baked goody in advance of a party they would like to bring it to.

This leads me to my little cheat. I bought my own Christmas present early this year. Since I am baking so much now, my arms are killing me from all the mixing. So I found that Kitchenaid sells their Artisan Mixers refurbished on their website for about 50% of the MSRP. And I found a coupon for free shipping.

I do not feel guilty for this cheat! At least I hope not to after I repeat this mantra enough times…
I also scoped out the sewing machine that I think I want. It retails at Hancock Fabrics for $179, but I found an ebay retailer willing to sell me one (new and with warranty of course) for $99 and free shipping. I haven’t purchased it yet, but I think it will end up being mine in the end.

Oh yeah, I was supposed to be enjoying a November spending freeze…

Whatever, I paid off my credit card, haven’t purchased clothing in about 4 weeks and still manage to sock away about 1/3 of our weekly paychecks into savings. Screw the spending freeze.

What are your plans for the upcoming holidays?

Lost Arts and Anti-Feminism

I have recently become enamored of the 1950’s. My house was built in 1956. And I found 2 really great blogs that are experiments in living the lifestyle of the 40’s and 50’s.

I don’t want to go so far as to live all aspects of my life as if I were transported to the past, but I would really like to incorporate a lot of the ideals and skills that were present then into my current 2009 life.

Things to Keep
1950’s
* Always looking nice
-It’s a little depressing to see people schlepping around in sweats and t-shirts. It doesn’t take any more time to put on real pants.
-Taking the time to do hair and fix the face. Not because we are expected to, but because it just makes you feel good to look put together.
-Not staying in your PJ’s all day. No excuse other than illness.
-Baking from scratch.
I just started doing this. It tastes so good and gives such a feeling of accomplishment
-Saves money and can be healthier
-Cooking more instead of going out.
Same sense of accomplishment, saves money, makes the house smell good.
An excuse to get out candlesticks, or buy vintage ones like I just did.
* Staying home
-It seems to be the norm today to be overworked and stressed. I don’t know about anyone else, but I would love to work part-time and use the rest of my time volunteering and keeping house.
*Self-Reliance
-It seems that few people in my generation and younger have many useful skills outside of the workplace.
-I have friends who can’t even sew on a button
-I want to cook for myself, do my own laundry and mend (and possibly make) my own clothes
-Why pay someone to do the things that I can do on my own?
* Sense of Community
-Ladies clubs, I just started one that meets once a month and we have coffee and discuss things we are up to and the things we want to be involved in
-Volunteering, I am donating blood, crocheting squares for Warm Up America and applied to work at the hospital one night a week

2009
*Computers
-Blogging anyone?
-Internet shopping for used items, better prices, and selling your handmade wares
* The option to work outside the home
* The option to not have children without being thought of in a certain way ( though people still do sometimes think that way)
* Equality in the workplace: not 100% there yet, but ‘we’ve come a long way baby!’
* My Dyson Slim (ahhhh)

Things to Ditch
1950’s
* Girdles
-I can’t get into it, though I do like the hose and garter belt…sexy!
* Keeping house because it is a woman’s place.
-I love to keep house. I don’t know how much I would love it if it were my only option.
2009
* Online Social Networking Sites
-I may be in the minority, but I HATE these things. I see so many people waste so much time on them. Please, if you are my ‘friend’, pick up the phone and call me. Write me a letter. I will not follow you on twitter.
I think Social Networking Sites have their place, but from what I can see, they are misused and way overused.
In a time when we have so many ways to connect to people, the statistics say that we are feeling more isolated than ever. Maybe because we are holed up in a computer room instead of out with real live people.
* Having-It-All Syndrome
-I see no need to have a full-time career, a brood of children, a happy husband, a dog and still have time to be Mary Poppins. I don’t see how it is possible. And for those who do accomplish it, when do you sleep?

How about a little bit of balance? There is way too much pressure to have and do it all. And then we end up having to hire people to do have of it, and we don’t even get to enjoy what we have…

It’s upsetting to me to read articles online about how looking to the past, to want a more simple way of life is anti-feminist. I don’t think it is at all. Women who choose to live their lives in this way are doing just that, making a CHOICE. That is what feminism is all about. These women are not being caged in or oppressed, that have taken a look at all the options that are open to them, and they have said yes to the ones that make them happiest and most fulfilled.

I couldn’t be a full time stay at homer, but I respect the choice of those who do. Just like I respect the choice of those who work full-time, part-time, have children or choose not to have children. They are ALL valid choices. There is no one right path to being a liberated woman.

My future plan? Once Brian’s law school loan is paid, I want to scale back to working 3 days a week. I then want to volunteer at the hospital 8 hours a week and then keep house the rest of the time. Tending a garden, cleaning, making dresses and baking pies are all things that I never knew I loved to do until recently. Sure, we will need to make sacrifices and keep a budget in order for me to stay home part-time, but its worth it for a little bit of balance and a whole lot of happy.