Slackin'

I realize that I haven't posted since Tuesday, and that wasn't even a remarkable post but rather just a goofy photo of a cat.  (Don't worry: today's crazy-cat-lady picture is coming at the end of this post.)  But when I look back on the week I've had, it's been insane!

First, Wednesday was a normal Wednesday of teaching from 7:40-12:30, followed by a meeting until about 1:45, followed by parent-teacher conferences from 4:00-8:00.

I look like a real professional.  :)

After conferences, I headed out a with a good friend/colleague who received some not-so-great news, and I did damage control we talked it out over tequila and beer.

On Thursday, I fully intended to run four miles, but...that didn't happen.  Instead, I slept in and kind of lounged around before heading to parent teacher conferences from 12:15-8:00.

Interestingly, this is probably going to be my St. Patty's Day outfit as well - minus the yellow heels, plus some black flats.

After conferences, I headed out with some of my good work friends, including ERB, my running buddy.  I wasn't going to go because I knew how busy my Friday was going to be and I kind of just wanted to go to sleep, but I'm so glad I did: we had entirely too much fun.

Yesterday, I headed out to the nail salon and - just as I suspected - was there for the majority of the morning.  I love, love, love this place because they always do the absolute best, but they are not super speedy.  Check out my new nails:

They are peach polish topped with glitter tips, a la this inspiration from Pinterest:

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I think it probably looks better with gray polish, but I. love. it.

Right when I got home I went out on a 4.5-mile run with HLM and my friend Amber.  It was a run-walk, which I was totally okay with, especially since it was approximately 8,000 degrees out and we didn't have any water.  The lack of hydration wasn't bad at first, but by mile three, I was dying.  And because it's March and supposed to be freezing rather than steaming, none of the water fountains downtown were on.

Ugh.

But it was a beautiful, beautiful day.

After the run and a quick lunch at Star Bar (where I had French fries!!! Apparently I forgot that I'm going to be in a bikini tomorrow!), I took a quick nap and then ran some errands.

BFF came over with dinner and helped me pack - along with this little guy:

I'm so glad she was here to help.  I think half of my closet would've been packed otherwise.

So now I'm all ready for the Bahamas.  And I can't wait.  We leave tomorrow at 6:30 a.m for the airport and should be lounging with an umbrella drink in hand by 4:00 p.m.

Eeeeeeeee!

Tee Hee

I'm too tired to write a real post, but I'll leave you with a funny picture this evening:

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I mean, after all, I promised you a crazy cat lady photo in every post, didn't I?

You're welcome.

And sweet little kitty-cat dreams.

Yesterday

Did anyone else just launch into the Beatle's song?  No?  Just me?  Okay.

Well, let's talk about yesterday.  I did not like the time change - not one bit.  I couldn't fall asleep until past midnight on Sunday (largely due to talking to an old friend who just so happens to be two time zones away), and 6 a.m. came way too soon.  So, I jump-started the day the best way I know how: with a trip to Bruegger's.

I wish I hated that place.

I know I don't have to tell you (or the Bruegger's employees) my order anymore, but humor me: a skinny zesty egg-white sandwich on five-grain everything plus a large hazelnut coffee.  K thanks.

As usual, that hearty breakfast kept me stuffed until lunch - when I finished off my calamari bibimbab.

Side note #1: seafood dishes are generally much tastier the day they are prepared.

Side note #2: there wasn't a whole lot of protein in that bibimbab, which caused me to be quite hungry later that afternoon.

Crossfit yesterday was seemingly easy.  We had a 21-15-9 set of handstand push-ups (and by "handstand push-ups" I really mean normal "girl push-ups"), triceps dips, and regular push-ups (again, by "regular push-ups" I really mean normal "girl push-ups").

Initially, we thought that we only had to do 21 handstand push-ups, 15 triceps dips, and 9 normal push-ups.  Then we realized that no, we had to do 21 of all three, 15 of all three, and nine of all three.

Duh.

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Side note #3: I believe I am going to have to try and incorporate crazy cat lady photos in every blog post.  You can thank me in advance.

(But that's pretty funny, right?!)

After working out with S-man, I headed to Gray's Lake for a four-miler.  It was absolutely gorgeous outside - but quite windy!

Clearly I need to start bringing my actual camera - not just the crappy one on my iPhone.

I made it around the lake once (two miles) pretty easily, but there were two very brief walk breaks.  The second time around was a bit more difficult.  I made it another mile, and then thankfully, P called to say that she and her son were on their way.

Let me tell you what makes running wayyyyyyyy enjoyable: "racing" a six-year-old who's on training wheels.  We were jetting around the lake like crazy people.

And, I ended up doing about 4.8 miles in a little less than an hour.

Also, we saw bald eagles.  Check this out:

Seriously: a real camera would come in very handy in times like these.

If you look on the branch sticking out into the blue (descriptive, I know), you can see a dark brown speck.  That's the bald eagle.

I swear it was a lot closer in real life.

Fun fact: bald eagles' nests are approximately five feet in diameter.  I demonstrated this to the six-year-old by lying down in the middle of the trail and telling him that the nest would stretch from my nose to my toes.  He was pretty impressed.  Or at least a good actor.

For dinner last night, I whipped up a double batch of white chili.  A good friend had a loss in the family, so I brought him dinner and kept two servings for myself.  It was, as usual, delicious.

And that, my friends, was yesterday.

Stay tuned, and in another couple of hours you can see a recap of today.  It will be - of course - hugely entertaining.

There's No Place Like Home

It took Dorothy a massive twister, a trip through Oz, near captures by the winged monkeys, and countless run-ins with the Wicked Witch before she realized the truth.

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There's no place like home.

And that is exactly why I headed hOmaha for the weekend: I was a psychotic mess for a couple of weeks, and I straight-up needed my mom and dad.

And they were there.

With booze.

On Friday, we munched on cheese and crackers and wine - lots of wine - while my parents tried to figure out what exactly was wrong with me.  (I'm not sure we really came to a conclusion, other than the fact that I'm just a hot mess.)

And then my mama made ruebens, courtesy of the Abs Diet, that were delicious.  I think I'm going to need to invest in a griddle...

We drank yet more wine, and then I suffered through my taxes.  My dad may beg to differ, but I did them mostly by myself.  It turns out that they were a lot easier to do when I only had one job - and zero glasses of wine.

On Saturday morning my mom and I headed out to Zorinsky (it's a lake again!) for a 3.8-mile jaunt.  It was a beautiful day:

We mostly walked, but we did quite a bit of running as well.  I'm so proud of my mom and how fast she's recuperated from various injuries.  She'll be running miles upon miles before we know it!

I was starving when I got home, and my dad took me out to lunch.  It was really nice: we don't get a lot of one-on-one time, so it was really special that he asked if I wanted to go out to lunch.  I have the best pops in the whole wide world.

We headed to a brand-new-to-us place: Bailey's, on 120th and Pacific.

The entire menu looked absolutely delicious, but my dad and I both opted for eggs benedict, which seemed to be their speciality.  My pops ordered the Guerrero Benedict, that came with chorizo, refried beans, cotija cheese, and chipotle hollandaise.

I had the special, which was a typical eggs benedict topped with hash browns, avocado, and what was supposed to be turkey Canadian bacon.  Unfortunately, it was actual ham (which totally grosses me out), so I tossed that to the side.

After lunch, we ran a couple of errands and then headed home.  I took a brief snooze, met our friend's new pooch (so cute!), and then my favorite shopping buddy and I headed to the mall and to World Market.

I wasn't going to buy anything, but as usual, I succumbed to Express - and bought pretty much the most beautiful maxi dress ever.  Unfortunately (and due to Express's horrible website), you'll have to wait for pictures from the Bahamas before you see it.

Don't worry: that's only five more days.

Jealous?

Speaking of the Bahamas, that was the reason behind the trip to Whole Foods: I needed a supply of ginger to alleviate the motion sickness that I'm fearing.  I bought ginger mints (four packs!) as well as Ginger People candies.  I might have to go track some more down, though, because I'm fearing I may not have enough to tide me over for five days asea.

I guess we'll find out!

For dinner, the 'rents and I headed to Maru, an amazing Korean grill.  My mama and I started with a couple of spinozas (pictured above), and the three of us shared a couple of sushi rolls:

Spicy California & Dynamite

For dinner, I opted for the calamari bibimbab:

This meal is served in a granite stone bowl that is super hot and literally still sizzling and cooking the food as it is set at the table.  The rice bakes onto the bottom and gets brown and super crunchy, so the servers recommend mixing it up immediately.  It's also served with three side dishes:

I believe these were some sort of spicy potato, kimchi, and another type of slaw.

It was - as you can see - a phenomenal meal.

After dinner, we headed home and watched the world's worst movie.  Dead Like Me is an absolutely amazing TV show that I highly recommend to everyone (seriously: it's clever, endearing, and hilariously snarky).  The movie, on the other hand, was ridiculously stupid.

My mom and I quickly tuned out the whole thing and started Pinterest-ing, but my dad was bound and determined to finish the entire thing.

Pops headed to Vegas early Sunday morning, so my mom and I headed to brunch after lounging around for a few hours.  We hit up the Jackson Street Tavern in the Old Market.

(Funny story: we had to call the hostess from outside the restaurant because their front door was locked!  And they were wondering why business was slow!)

For brunch, I ordered the California Omelette: mushrooms, avocado, spinach, and havarti.  It was served with wheat toast and a side of fresh fruit.

It was oh, so good.

After brunch, we headed to the Joslyn, my mom's art museum, to see the Egypt exhibit - To Live Forever.

Ever since I was a little bitty girl, I have been absolutely fascinated with Ancient Egypt.  I took an Egyptian art class in elementary school and made my own cartouche, the Field Museum in Chicago has always been my favorite, and my first tattoo was even an Egyptian hieroglyphic.

Needless to say, this was an awesome exhibit, and I loved it.

Also, we had to stop and see my Little Dancer - my all-time and forever favorite piece in the museum:

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A load of laundry later, I was headed back to Des Moines - but with a much happier heart than when I last saw it.

My mom had this bookmark waiting for me on my bedside table.  My nana made it, and that is a flower that she pressed and a beautiful sentiment written in her calligraphy: "Home is the place of renewal and safety, where for a little while there will be no harm or attack and, while every sense is nourished, the soul rests."  As soon as I got home, I framed it and put it next to my bed as a constant reminder of how lucky and thankful I am that my parents are so close, so amazing, and by far the most wonderful human beings I know.

There truly is no place like home.

Beastin'

Before anything else, I have to tell you about my workout for today.  It pumped me up.

First, I did Crossfit with the boys.

Side note: I absolutely love these guys.  S-man has always been my brother-from-another-mother, and O and I have been friends for several years, but we've definitely been bonding a lot more over these crazy workouts.  Today when we were getting ready and stretching and wandering down to the weight room, S-man said that I was pretty much his third sister, and since O said he didn't have any siblings, we decided that we were a good little trio.

Today we did five rounds of the following:

• Seven dumbbell clean squat thrusters (squat to pick up the dumbbells, thrust them to your chest as you stand up, squat again, thrust them straight over your head as you stand up)
• Ten pull-ups

For the first exercise, I used 15-pound dumbbells for the first three sets, and then I moved up to 20-pound dumbbells for the last two.

I was a sweatin' girl!

For the pull-ups, we first had our hands super wide, then we gripped underhand, then we gripped overhand, then we gripped central (there were bars that were perpendicular to the normal pull-up bar that we used), then we gripped wide again.  We used the machine that assists, and for the first three sets, I did "eight weights up" from the bottom, and for the last two sets I did "nine weights up" from the bottom.

(Clearly, I have no idea what that means, but I know that the higher you have the stick-thing, the harder the pull-ups are.  I think I need to actually keep going up, though: while my pull-ups definitely weren't cake, I don't think they were hard enough.)

Someday, I will do an unassisted pull-up.

After Crossfit, I went to Y-Pump with HMA.  It was a tough class, and I know I'm going to be sore tomorrow.

In case you were wondering, this is pretty much the hardest hamstring exercise ever:

Don't believe me?  Go.

Now, let's rewind.  I started my day bright and early by heading to Bruegger's for a Skinny Zesty Egg-White Sandwich and a cup of hazelnut coffee.  I'm telling you: try one of these sandwiches.  They are so, so good - and, they keep me full forever!

Instead of teaching today, I had an all-day training provided by the grant that I coordinate.  And that's all I have to say about that.

I will tell you, however, that lunch was disgusting.  We started out with a decent Caesar salad that was pretty much swimming in watery dressing (wow, I must've been a bit hungry if it was "decent") and a Fazoli-ish breadstick.  Then we got the main dish: bow-tie pasta topped with plasticky Alfredo sauce and pan-fried chicken.  I ate about three bites before deciding that I did not want to waste that amount of calories on something that tasted like that.

Note to self: always bring a Kind bar, an apple, some almonds, something - and a book.

After, my principal (who is pretty much a rock star and one of the most amazing women I know - and I'm not just saying that because she gave me a Dove chocolate after lunch) and I headed back to school for a faculty meeting.  Thankfully, there were treats - you know, since I basically didn't eat lunch.  I ate a chocolate cookie and a bite of a pumpkin bar.

Yum.

Then there were the two workouts to burn off those sweet treats, followed by a trip to Palmer's for my Wednesday night meal of salad and fruit.

From there, I immediately went to bowling - for my Wednesday night drink of Bud Light.  Tonight was fun, largely since I bowled really well.  I got my average all three games and bowled almost my best game ever.  (I can't believe I just typed those last two sentences: I am such a nerd.)

Also, we play cards while we bowl (there are lots of rules that I'm not going to go into here), and check out the last hand in poker:

Mark and I had the exact. same. hand.  I'm pretty sure that happens, like, never.  So, we split the winnings and each won ONE DOLLAR.

Be jealous.

Today, I did not step foot in my house for 14 hours.  I am exhausted.

So, I am going to sign off and hit the sack.

Peace out, yo.

Observations

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Yesterday, I wore no makeup at all.  One of my best friends/co-workers said I looked "radiant."

Today, I wore mascara.  One of my students said that I looked depressed.  Another said that I looked really pretty with no makeup (and of course when I say "said," I really mean shouted in front of the whole class during my lesson).

Despite looking depressed, I believe I'll be lazy and not do makeup more often.

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After hours and hours and hours a few minutes of research, I found quite possibly the best cure for terrible, horrible, no good, very bad blisters.  Are you ready for it?  Zinc oxide.  Guess what product has that as its number one ingredient?  Desitin.

Yep: you can clear up your blisters and your baby's diaper rash - all with the same magic ointment.

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It is hard to get back into running, even after just a brief respite.  While the crater on my arch didn't necessarily hurt any more while I was running than it did while I was walking (thank you, Diaper Rash Cream!), it still felt like a rod was being jammed into the bottom of my foot with each step.  Since there wasn't any friction due to my increasingly amazing tape skillz, I figured a short jaunt would be okay.

HLM and I headed out for a quick two-mile jog and ended up going just over two-and-a-half miles.  We did a great job jogging the first mile or so but then walked/jogged off and on for the rest of the route.  It was a beautiful day outside (but the wind was something fierce), our muscles were tired from yesterday's Y-Pump, and we were both just kind of...blah.  Plus, as usual, we had a lot to talk about.

It was a nice run.

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I am so thankful that I am so involved with Planned Parenthood, an organization that I so whole-heartedly support.  This evening, I was invited to a board meeting for the new Friends group, and it was great.  We got straight to business over wine and cheese, and then we sat around for a couple of hours and just chatted.  It's so nice to be around like-minded individuals of different ages and backgrounds.  I'm really looking forward to getting more involved with this particular group.

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Apparently it's necessary to sync your iPhone more than once every three months.  Whoa: that took forever.



And now, a note:

I apologize for the lack of "healthy living" posts the last couple of days.  I will be back tomorrow with your regularly scheduled boring programming of what I shoved down my pie hole, exactly what my exercise was, etc.

I know you're waiting with baited breath.

But until then, g'night.

And...She's Back

Lately I've felt like a pity party was much more convenient than blogging.  Moreover, I would have had nothing positive or uplifting to say, so I decided to spare y'all my gloominess.

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You can thank me later.

Part of why I've been bummed the past week is because my foot is still a hot mess, thereby greatly inhibiting my training.  I have not been able to run since my girls and I rocked out 3.7 miles last Tuesday.

Instead, I've been working out with two of my colleagues doing Crossfit in our school weight room.  We S-man checks out the Workout of the Day (W.O.D.) on the Crossfit site, and then we head to the weight room to crank out a 15-20 minute workout.  And holy moly: it is ridiculously hard.

On Wednesday, we did 25 push-ups, 50 knees to chest from the pull-up bar, 75 push-presses, and 300 jump ropes.  On Thursday, we did three sets of a 300-meter row, 20 ball throws, and 10 pull-ups.

I kid you not: I could not move my arms until Sunday.  It was that killer.

I did not workout on Friday, Saturday, or Sunday - and it did not feel good.  I was just highly unmotivated and feeling super down in the dumps, and since I couldn't run or do really anything on my feet, I just decided to do nothing.  And while I wasn't eating horribly, it wasn't my normal Abs Diet grub either.

Bad idea.

Today, my girls and I went to Y-Pump, and I feel like I'm going to be a hurtin' girl tomorrow.  It was a great workout as usual, and it felt awesome to get back in the groove.  Also, my eating was relatively back to normal with a Kind bar for breakfast, a huge salad for lunch (minus the turkey), and two wedges of veggie quesadilla (leftover from yesterday) for dinner.  I also just chugged a glass of skim milk and, I'm not gonna lie, may have another.  I don't drink a lot of milk, but when I get the craving, I really get it!

Tomorrow, I have a 3.5-mile run scheduled, but I honestly don't know if my foot is going to allow it.  I definitely don't want to injure it more: after all, I need to be healthy for training, and I want it to be fully healed prior to my salt-water excursion in a couple of weeks.  :)

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I can't wait.