Race Schedule and Results

Monday, January 26, 2009

While the cat's away...

The mouse learns a lot! :)

Tom's been gone in California since early Thursday morning and it's been a busy couple of days. I have a brand new appreciation of Tom's job within our company because wow... it's a lot of work. I'm sure he has found shortcuts and whatnot that I haven't quite acquired, but I feel like he does so much more than I could ever imagine. And of course I'm so worried that I'll mess up, which is funny, seeing as how I'm the "owner" of the company.

I've also learned that Buddy, our oldest dog, is a pain in the rear end when Tom's gone. He's completely housebroken, but pee'd in the house 4 times within the first 24 hours of Tom being gone and cried non stop!! I think more than anything, it was a sign of rebellion toward being left with me! I cried the first morning when Tom called. How will I ever be able to be a mom if I can't even tame my dogs? HA! He's gotten better, but he's still a stinker!

I've gotten a ton done though around the house - had some girlie movie days, made more applesauce for the freezer, made muffins (Fiber One Apple Cinnamon muffins are awesome by the way!), done laundry, visited with friends and family, shopped, worked, slept, worked out... I feel like I have such a huge amount of time to do things without Tom here. I wonder why that is? HA!

Training is going well. I'm starting week 3 of marathon training. It's pretty tame right now... max of 8 mile runs at one time. I did a tough 7 miler on Friday and was lucky to get outside before the snow came this weekend. It was actually 45 degrees which was a nice change, although it was windy!!! I felt pretty sluggish, but finished strong and felt good that I was able to get it done alone. This is a new concept for me - training alone! Yesterday I hit the gym for 1.5 hours and it was really fun - I kind of just escaped in my own little world for a while and got a good workout in.

All in all, it's been a good few days alone, but I miss my hubby so much! :) Guess I'm spoiled being with him all the time! Luckily he comes home tomorrow! YAY!

Wednesday, January 14, 2009

I don't totally hate winter

It's freezing cold today - like 15 degrees without wind chills and the snow is coming down like crazy. This is the kind of winter that I like in Ohio. When it is just gray and slushy, like normal Ohio winter days, that's when I get blue. How can I complain when this is what I see looking out my sunroom window?

Makes housesitting at the inlaws even better - they have a 2 story stone fireplace in their log cabin on 7 acres in the woods and a hot tub out back. And we get paid to stay there! It's rough, but someone has to take care of the house, dogs and cat! Now if only there were hills in Ohio to get some skiing in! My skis have been unloved for over a year now... it's been too long! :(

I've had a tad bit of free time (not much... I squeeze it in when I can) but I took on a new project that a girlfriend of mine got me into. Liz made the most adorable barn star for a friend at our Christmas exchange and I instantly wanted to be as talented as Liz. Although she's way ahead of me in terms of ability (she distresses hers and all kinds of good stuff) I took a stab at two and am pretty proud of myself. Here's one for our bathroom

And a little sneak peak for Kristen's kitchen... I'm pretty proud of myself! :) Thanks Liz for the inspiration (and instructions!)

Monday, January 12, 2009

Tag, I'm it...

Liz tagged me....here is how it goes: go to your 4th folder (where your pictures are stored - On the Dashboard page of Blogger, at the bottom, click on Picasa Web Album - this is where all of your uploaded blog photos are stored) and find the 4th picture….and post it. Then explain it. And tag 4 people.


This is from the Wendy's International Triathlon 2007. I was just getting into tri's (this might have been my 3rd race ever) and obviously I was so happy that I finished! Little did I know that a year later I would be training for an Ironman and 2 years later, would BE an Ironman! :) I also thought this was a cool race because I was number 549 - my lucky number is 5 and Tom's is 49. We always hope to get numbers with some combination of those 3 numbers but this is the only race so far that I've been that lucky!

I tag - Kristen, Carolyn, Borsch and Kathleen :)

Saturday, January 10, 2009

Wow -

So I thought I'd get back into blogging and I've totally slacked. I just read one of my girlfriend's blogs and she said that she is slacking too so I don't feel as horrible. Guess life hasn't been all that interesting to write stuff - either that or I'm knee deep in dung and don't have time to post much (in hind sight... it's probably a mixture of both!).

Training sucks. There, I said it. I haven't done squat and I feel like a lard for it! My marathon training officially starts Monday and I'm actually really excited. I guess it's because I know I can't slack once I have a plan that needs to be followed. When I don't have anything planned and on paper, I don't do anything. ;) That's not 100% true - I've been biking and running sporadically but I'm NO WHERE NEAR race shape. I'd probably come in dead last if I raced anything today. Did you notice that I haven't done any swimming? Yeah... that's tough. Tom got me a bathing suit for Christmas and of course I had to return it because it was WAY small (God bless him for that). I ended up exchanging it for the same one in a different size, and then ordering another one in just a different color. Sadly I've used the fact that I haven't gotten the exchange back yet as my reasoning for not getting in the water since... well let's just say that it's been a long time! They will come this week so I won't have that as an excuse anymore.

It's so funny how after doing an Ironman, my 45 minute workouts 4 days a week are so hard and I feel like such a slug. People laugh and say that it's healthy for me to be like this, although I'm so hard on myself. I feel like I should be working out 7 days a week, but that's just not happening. I do November Ironman races for a reason! :)

Life is good though - I'm busy with work. We took our house off the market. It's just not time (although the thought of moving to the Southeast side of Columbus still lingers... don't worry!) Maybe next year... I've take over the chair position at the local hospital fund raiser. It's going to be a little more work than I probably anticipated, but it's event planning and that's my secret love so it works. I went last night to a belated Christmas gift exchange with 6 fabulous ladies and had a ball. We did a secret Santa and I loved it. Being out with the girls is such a nice change of pace after a busy week - so much so that I found myself still gabbing away at 11:30 at night and we were an hour away from home. It's so worth it! And one of those dear friends is going to be coming with me to WW meetings starting Thursday so I'm excited for that - company at a meeting where I don't feel 100% comfortable is always a good thing... I'm still the "skinny" girl at most meetings, even with 17 pounds to lose! Wowzas...

Friday, January 2, 2009

I have seen this in a couple of blogs and really liked it. Hope you enjoy it as well.
  • What did you do in 2008 that you'd never done before? Learn to accept me for me. I still struggle with it a little, but I can look at myself and be proud of what I see and who I am a little more because of last year.
  • Did you keep your new years' resolutions, and will you make more for next year? I honestly can't tell you what mine were - I guess I didn't keep them. I didn't really make resolutions, but goals for myself, my company, etc.
  • Did anyone close to you give birth? I think Liz is the only person
  • Did anyone close to you die? no - thankfully!
  • What countries did you spend time in this year? The FP - Tahiti, Raiatea, Bora Bora, Ta'haa
  • What would you like to have in 2009 that you lacked in 2008? I wish I had hit 50 in my dealer count with work. I really had a bad year in getting new customers and that's a goal for 09.
  • What dates from 2008 will remain etched upon your memory, and why? 11/01/08 - I became and Ironman!
  • What was your biggest achievement of the year? Finishing the Ironman with a smile on my face
  • What was your biggest failure? My lack of "go-get-em" with regard to work.
  • Did you suffer any serious injury or illness? No - I'm very blessed for that
  • Whose behaviour merited celebration? My hubby always should get kudos for his love and patience with me - I know I'm not easy on him sometimes.
  • Whose behaviour made you appalled and/or depressed? There are a couple of people on Tom's side of the family that surprised me. Biggest was probably my sister in law's. She's a very little person and it took a rough year to realize that. I think some of the situations with her really opened my eyes to how other people in his family really feel. It's a sad and hard situation.
  • Where did most of your money go? Bills, stuff I didn't need like tri gear and clothes! :)
  • What did you get really, really, really excited about? Racing - for once it was fun to really push myself and the results of my efforts were definitely in my favor!
  • Compared to this time last year, are you:

a) happier or sadder? happier

b) thinner or fatter? hum... maybe a little fatter, but that will change now that the holidays are gone!

c) richer or poorer? um... I dunno. I guess the same.

  • What do you wish you'd done more of? worked
  • What do you wish you'd done less of? played
  • Did you fall in love in 2008? I fall in love all over every day - sappy but true
  • Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year? Hate's a tough word. I dislike VERY much my sister in law. I think she's doing a lot of stupid things which will only hurt her and her children down the road. It's a lonely road without family and just because kids are involved doesn't mean that what she's doing is acceptable.
  • What was the best book you read? The Last Lecture
  • What did you do on your birthday, and how old were you? I was 28. We were in Vegas for my b-day last year. :)
  • What political issue stirred you the most? The whole campaign was pretty interesting. It's the first time that I really took time to get involved. I think I was finally mature enough to know that the results either way would affect me.
  • Who did you miss? I have lost contact with a few friends from Huntington and high school that I wish I was in better contact with. It's never too late though right?
  • Who was the best new person you met? One person? That's not possible. I met 6 great new girls and their hubbies/boyfriends. They have become unbelievable friends in a very short time. Steph, Liz, Rhiannon, Trisha, Em and Christina - I love you girls! Tracy and Jim are two triathletes that I'm honored to know - they are ranked in the world, yet as down to earth as they come. Someday I hope to keep up with them!
  • Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned in 2008. You really only get one life. Tom says this all the time and I really took that to heart this year. It saddens me when people do things that they aren't happy about because they think that they have to. Surround yourself with people you like, do things you enjoy, and remember that you only get one lifetime to do what you want.