The State of My Head

Oh don’t worry, this entry isn’t going to be that heavy.
Actually what’s going on in my head is a lot of congestion. I’ve had a cold since Friday that just does not seem to want to let up. After much deliberation (because I really, really hate taking antibiotics) I made an appointment to see the doc tomorrow morning before E. and I leave town for my parents’ house.* I have no specific symptoms of an infection, beyond the cold that won’t let go. In fact, I have been working out hard the past day or so.** But every February and August I get a sinus infection like clockwork so it seems a likely culprit.
Oh, that reminds me that I was going to rinse my head out with a warm saline solution. Good times.
On a brighter note, go read this. It made me smile real wide. The past few weeks I’ve been discovering a lot of new (or at least, new to me) bloggers and I’ve really been pleased with some of my new regular readings.

*E. and I are leaving tomorrow for Ohio to visit my family. I have not mentioned it because I don’t want anyone to make a big deal out of it. So, please don’t.

**I have upped my bicep curls to 25 lbs (!!), shoulder presses to 35 lbs, and I can tell I need to increase my bench press from 55 lbs pretty soon. Those numbers may seem itty bitty, but considering where I started and the fact I never thought I’d do curls with 20 lbs, I am thrilled. Also, I can run 30 minutes straight again. Unfortunately, my trainer said this is a great opportunity for me to run longer and harder and faster before the 5K. Somehow I knew she’d say that, despite my hopes that she’d tell me to go hang out on a boat or an island for a week…

What Would You Do If…

This question doesn’t come out of thin air, it actually comes from a conversation I had with someone recently. And it has nothing to do with Lisa’s situation. There’s a whole other reason it came up but…well, I can’t spill the details. Sorry.
If you knew you had a deadly disease, and a finite time to live although you didn’t know exactly HOW finite (i.e., how many weeks, months or years you had left), how would you live?
Would you take a hedonistic approach, and do anything you wanted whenever you wanted because time is short?
Or would you put more thought into it, and try to make the best decisions possible with the time you have left?
Would you put yourself first? Would you put others first? Would it be all about you, or not?
Let’s say this disease, for now, is not inhibiting your day to day life. What would change?
I like to believe that I’d take the time to really examine my life and make the most of it. Of course, I’d want to do things I hadn’t done. But I like to think I’d be more concerned with leaving a good mark upon the world should I depart it anytime soon. And my practical side would probably parse out the things I can and cannot do based on my lifestyle as it stands. I’d still have bills to pay. I’d still have friends and family and E. to consider.
The worst I might do is eat whatever I want, but even then I think my practical side would kick in with the belief that eating well just might make me last longer.
We could all go at anytime, true. But it seems we don’t make these decisions unless something threatening is starting us in the face.
So, what would you do?

Every Day Meme

I know memes are usually an indicator of nothing better to post about, but I found this one pretty deep when I sat down to work on it. I even went and consulted my 43 Things list for ideas.
Courtesy of Sizzle…an interesting exercise in examining your goals…I won’t tag anyone but I will encourage Savy to take a look at it based on her current conundrum.

Every day, I would like to:
1. Be grateful
2. Compliment someone
3. Drink less caffeine
4. Clean up the dishes

Every week, I would like to:
1. Run at least 7.5 miles
2. Eat fish for one dinner
3. Spend some time drawing
4. Cook something from scratch.

In three months, I would like to:
1. Have about 30% more money in savings
2. Switch up my exercise routine in a big way
3. Have seen the dentist
4. Be on the way to passing that stupid PHR exam

Before next year, I would like to:
1. Pass the stupid PHR exam
2. Get my weight down into the 130’s
3. Use up my credit for an art class at Lill Street Art Center
4. Do the Resolution Run with A. at the end of December

In two to five years, I would like to:
1. Figure out what I really want to be when I grow up
2. Be as physically fit as I am now, if not moreso
3. Have visited California again
4. Be reading books a lot more frequently

Before I die, I would like to:
1. Raise children
2. Get a pilot’s license (preferably when I’m an old lady, because that would be cool)
3. Open my own bakery or coffee shop
4. Learn to play piano on my very own piano

Enter to Win: The Dorkathlon!

Good times over at Elizabeth’s blog.

Success!

Before frosting:

After frosting:

They came out pretty darn good. There was something a little off about the dough to me…tasted a bit yeasty or too flour-y or something…next time I might add more sugar. Because you know, all that gooey frosting just isn’t enough. :p
You can find the recipe I used here.
You’ll note that a lot of reviewers recommend adding additional flour. I used an extra cup and that was about right. Or it was the reason the dough was off…hmmmm…

Other Things I’ve Been Up To

So aside from the fact work at large is slow but I am still really busy, here are some other things that have been occupying my time:

• Yesterday I almost-easily (because come on, running is never easy) ran a little over 25 minutes, or close to 2.5 miles.  I am so on track for the Komen 5K! I haven’t started my fundraising yet because, admittedly, I’m a little paranoid that something awful will happen and I won’t get to the race.  Nothing bugs me more than people who fundraise for a cause and then don’t go through with the race.  I say that because it happened once after I gave someone a very generous donation, and while crap happens, the reality is an awful lot of people train for an awful lot of things and I already have a hard time parsing out my donations fairly.  If I’m going to give, I’m going to give to someone who is actually going to go through with it.  So, I don’t want to be a tremendous hypocrite should I end up randomly ill in a week. 




• I may also do the Light the Night Walk for the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society next month.  I figure if I do, I’ll give people the choice to donate to either or. 




• Last night I took the I-Go Honda Civic out to Target. I am so in love with this damn car.  I drove the Prius once, and it was okay, but I really like the way the Civic handles.  And the newer models are so sleek.  A lovely car.  Okay, I’m not buying a car anytime soon.  I think. Heh.




• I’m starting on the dough for some homemade cinammon rolls today, to be shared at breakfast tomorrow with E. and friends.  Why?  Because I could, and Saturday is usually my indulgence day.  I hope they turn out aces.  If so, I’ll share the recipe.




• I’ve been on a cooking/baking jag again.  Monday I made a big batch of banana muffins and homemade spaghetti sauce.  Since then I’ve kind of been too tired to do anything fancy, but let’s face it, the cinammon rolls are a pretty good project.  Plus my sink was overflowing from all the cookware piling up in it.




• I woke up with a nasty sore throat and headache, but I’m feeling a bit better with Sudafed and tylenol.  I think it’s the beginning of a minor cold.  Tonight I’m going to the gym to weight train with E., figuring I can rest all day tomorrow.  Tomorrow evening, I’m going out to dinner with H. and S. because S.’s sister is in town.  I’ve known her for awhile (she even went to the same university as we did) and she’s a doll.  So I’m looking forward to seeing her. 
  
  What are you up to this weekend? 

Picture Pages, Picture Pages…

I’ve been busy this week.  Real busy.  And also, tired, real tired.  Plus a little sick to my stomach today.  Plus a lot disillusioned with humankind this week.  That could just be hormones, though.
Anyway, the Kodak EASYSHARE is a misnomer.  Loading the software, downloading my pictures, and then putting them into folders and resizing for the web was definitely not easy.  Sometimes I long for the days when we took our film to the photo lab, or even better, developed it ourselves.  Not to mention every Tom, Dick and Janey didn’t fancy themself a photographer back then. 
See?  Bitter this week.
On with the show…some shots from the Botantic Gardens from the weekend…

Little Updates

Just a few notes on the latest…tonight I am really for real going to install the software for my digital camera so I can share photos I took over the weekend…really!

• E. and I declared the weekend one “just for us.”  I suppose to outsiders it seems like we spend a lot of time together, but this summer our time together has often been broken up by illness, unexpected and expected trips, parties, and social as well as other obligations such that we rarely got to just do whatever we wanted on no schedule whatsoever.  And, ya know, we’re going on to year number 2 here.  It was really, really nice and I think it had a wonderful impact on our relationship.
• This time included a trip to the Chicago Botanic Gardens, where I took some pretty pictures.
• I’ve had some problems with my hamstrings and calves the last couple weeks, and I think I finally gathered enough evidence this weekend to blame it on the fact my favorite summer slides have holes in the bottom.  Eep.  Buying sandals this late in the season is an exercise in frustration, especially when you wear the most common women’s shoe size.  Finally I just bought these Merrell’s online today (which I tried on in a too-small 7 over the weekend at a shoe store).  I figure I’ve still got about a month of summer 2008 and all of next summer to wear them.
• Despite these problems, my running is picking up.  I’m chugging along now at a pretty good clip, and I’m confident I’ll be up for the Komen 5K September 27th.  This week I’m repeating last week’s training, but I feel lazy for doing so.  That may also be because I was so relaxed/mellow/groggy yesterday that my weight training, while on schedule, was (as Cartman would say) weeeeeak.
• Things are slowing down in general at work but somehow my workload is staying about the same it’s been all year.  Yes, this is good, but between you and me I was looking forward to things getting a little quieter.  However, between the urgent shoe purchase and serious spending on birthday gifts for both E. and my Mom, my checking account is grateful for the hours.
• Tomorrow E. and I are going to our 2nd (and final) ballgame of the season with H. and S.  Now I feel like I haven’t spent much time with mah girls lately.  Things are just never fully in balance around here.

Flintstones, Thank the Flintstones…

When I was sick earlier in the summer, I started taking Flintstone Gummies with Immunity Support.  There were a couple reasons for this.  I normally took One a Day vitamins, but I wanted to see if the immunity support would actually DO something (adults can take 2 so as to get a fuller dosage).  Also, I was taking about 4 different kinds of pills in addition to the ones I already take daily and I could not STAND the thought of having to take another damn pill.  Since these were gummies, I could just chew them after a meal and it didn’t feel like I was taking more freakin’ medicine.
Recently I started taking the Flintstone Gummies again because I felt like I was fighting off a summer cold that some of E.’s friends had.  My diet has adjusted back to what it was like before I got sick, and I feel like that alone is keeping my daily nutrition up (plus I eat a lot of sweet potatoes, which are vitamin powerhouses) so I wasn’t so worried about the One a Day’s.  I’ve just kept on taking the Flintstone Gummies.
Well, I’ve noticed a few things lately.  My hair is REALLY soft.  My skin is…well, I don’t wash my face every night so never mind that.  But my nails…notorious for peeling, cracking and breaking before they ever get to a respectable length…are long and STRONG.  I’ve had polish on and off of them for over two weeks now, which I think is some kind of record for me.
So, the moral of the story?  Flintstone Gummies for healthy hair and nails.  My new #1 beauty secret!*

*The vitamins are actually high in vitamins A and E, both recommended for healthy hair and skin and nails.  I suppose you could just take A and E supplements but they are not GUMMY and don’t come in CUTE SHAPES!

Ah, City Life (and general humanity)

Three things I saw this evening while walking to and from the grocery store:

• A man riding a bicycle with a backpack strapped to his chest like a Baby Bjorn with a kitty cat peeking out the top. 
• A man in line behind me with 3 bags of frozen mini corn dogs, and 3 boxes of frozen mini Morningstar veggie corn dogs.  Somebody REALLY likes mini corn dogs.  Or is hosting a theme party.  In which the theme is…mini corn dogs.
• A deaf couple having an argument in sign language. 

There was also a women standing in front of the Giordano’s near me dressed in a beige suit, with matching beige shoes, staring at the moon.  I walked by and she said, “Isn’t the moon beautiful tonight?”  Well, yes, it was, so I sort of uneasily said, “Uh huh…”  And she said, “God is truly great” and started walking toward me and I picked up pace and hurried away.  My guess is she was either a Mormon or a cult recruiter. 
I drank three Diet Cokes to try to stay up late enough to do housework and watch gymnastics and I’m still tired.  Blargh.  (however, this is NOT sickie tired, just …dang, it’s Thursday night, I’m tired)

ETA:  Best wisecrack I’ve heard yet about the Chinese gymnasts–they need to be carbon dated and disqualified.  Hee.