One of my favorite lines...

...from a song, "Every new beginning starts with every beginning's end'...at least I'm pretty sure that's how it goes. I suppose I could look it up, but really it's close enough for me.

Yesterday I woke up sad, I sat in bed for 2 hours crying on and off while watching One Tree Hill. The waves of grief are unexpected and unprovoked, they just happen. I asked T if it ever happened to him and he said yes, but not as often as it used to. I'm the same way, except it lingers...for days. Like right now, choked up. Part of me thinks that it silly to grieve like this for my pup, but the other part knows that it is okay. I think it started on Friday evening when I said to Sydney, "You're going to have a new best friend soon!" and then it hit me...again. Eh, can't control everything in life right?

Here is a picture of the new baby...

Isn't he cute? I'm sure he's going to be a trouble maker, just look at that gleam in his eye! We haven't named him yet, that will be determined after we meet him and play with him.

Okay...let's see...on the job front I'm out and looking. Putting myself out there and seeing if I can catch anything good. So far I have scored two interviews and one very informal lunch/interview. Not bad. Better to look while you're still employed. And at least I have an up to date resume now!

On the exercise front it has been a struggle. Work is getting in the way, hence the job search. I signed up for the Olympic distance Tri in March so really...I need to get on the stick. (Or the pool, bike and road!)

OH, pizza just got here....I'll have to post more later! Peace out Peeps!

If I only played the lottery

Of course that would be wasting my money. I mean, my odds would go up just by buying it, but really...yeah, I have better things to waste my money on. LIKE - a new puppy. We're getting closer to 'the one' and we should find out this weekend which one we'll receive, when he'll arrive etc.

Okay, so on the exercise front I'm getting better! I made more than 1/2 of my workouts last week and although this week is starting out terrible I have faith that I will make more than 1/2 this week as well. They'll just be crammed in to 3 days. Bring on the doubles! Work is just kicking my ass right now and I feel like I can't catch a break. Paycheck, must remember the paycheck...and the benefits help as well. I should go workout RIGHT NOW, but I'm exhausted from sitting on my ass all day working. Sad, sad, sad. Yesterday I worked about 12.5 hours, left work at 8pm and went to the gym. Did an hour swim workout and arrived home after 10pm. Couldn't get my ass OUT of bed this morning to workout and now I'm tired again. Vicious circle. I'll be swimming, biking and running tomorrow. Maybe. At least swimming and biking. I have a long run Saturday and don't want to tire my legs out too badly...which is going to happen anyway if I do a double tomorrow...so why not go for the triple? Yes, this is how my brain works. Are you spinning yet? Did I mention that I signed up for my first tri of the season? Yep, on March 26th I'll be doing the Champions Olympic race. Again, I should be at the gym right now...

Food is going okay, could be a lot better. I go from not eating enough to eating too much junk. I mean, overall my diet is pretty good...if we compare to most Americans these days. I don't eat fast food very often, I actually portion out my ice cream, I cook at least 5 nights a week and my biggest treat meal is pizza. Not too bad right? Then there are days like today...I started out good with oatmeal and then I had this incredible craving for a doughnut! I never eat doughnuts as they really make me feel sick after I eat them...but one of my co-workers went out and got me a cake doughnut. THEN they brought in BBQ for lunch, Rudy's for those of you that live in TX. Good stuff. And THEN (yes, sadly there is more) I overdosed on coffee today (you didn't think it was possible for me did you?), forgot to drink water all day and when I got home (just a little bit ago) I ordered pizza for dinner...although it is all organic gluten free pizza....haha.

Two weeks until our life is turned upside down. Two weeks until I get to smell puppy feet and puppy breath. Two weeks until I'm up every 2-3 hours for potty breaks and the first sleepless night because the new baby will miss his momma and litter mates. Two weeks...is not a lot of time my friends.

Well, I'm sure hoping that the pizza will be here soon. I'm a hungry, hungry hippo right now. Alrighty, I'll be talking at you all later! Peace!

Inspiration or motivation

What drives you? Is it being inspired by something or motivation to complete something....or are they linked?

Right now I'm trying to get motivated to get back in to my workout routine, but find myself struggling. I have a spectacular supporting cast of family and friends. My husband seems to know what I need before I do, or rather reads my mind. Maybe that is the 15 years of being together? Does it finally pay off?? Haha. No, really he's great and has been so good to me through this little period of grief. I have my friends are always there telling me that they are inspired by me (I'm sure not currently) and the other friends that try to get me to do this race or that race.

Last year I had a specific goal. I was motivated by that goal and inspired by other people that had already completed that goal. It was to do the Texas Tri-Series. Starting in February I knew all of the dates, had my calendar all set up and had the BIG race pegged for October 17th. I worked diligently throughout the summer, in the hot weather, through the humidity, through any obstacle that came my way. It was a tough year, but well worth the end results.

This year...I have no athletic goal in sight. I'm wishy washy about any race that people bring up. And I refuse to do a race because of FOMO (the Fear Of Missing Out.) I'm not afflicted with this 'thing' that most athletes are, I'm still (in my head) not an athlete! But seriously, maybe it was my mom asking of me (please...she was TELLING me) 'If everyone else jumped off of the bridge would you do it??' And of course the answer was no and it's still no. People have tried to guilt me into doing races...doesn't work. So here I am. Without a true goal.

One of my oldest friends, we're talking like Elementary through HS friend, told me: "I need to read your blog to get some workout motivation!" And I was thinking...'Oh my, if she reads my blog right now she's not going to get much of anything!'

What to do, what to do... Ideas? Anyone?

Oh, and a nice side note - I'm pretty sure I screwed up my shoulder. It is either my rotator cuff or I tore some of my pectoral muscles that attach to the shoulder. Having it worked on right now, haven't seen a Dr yet. BUT this is putting a damper on my swimming progress. I swam last night, did 1hr, nothing fast but got in 1900 meters.

Wow, just re-read this. Very random post.

To be more random - we're getting a puppy. He'll arrive the week of February 3rd, that is when he'll be 8 weeks old and can travel. SO, T and I won't be doing much in the way of traveling this year. Having a 'new born' at home, can't leave 'em. But, we're very excited to have two dogs in the house again. Syd will get some much needed company and we'll be taking the next steps in trying to heal our hearts.

Okay, enough for now. It's raining outside so I am setting up my stationary trainer for my bike (trying it inside this time!) and will pop in a movie. Hopefully the hours will fly by.

Peace!

2011 - A new year - A new hope - Just new

Yep, new. New goals for the year, new perspective, new appreciation for life's delicate balance.

Goal 1 - Try to blog more consistently! I use this more for myself than anything, kind of like an online diary (sadly)

Goal 2 - Do something athletic this year. A new race perhaps, a new practice...yoga maybe?

Goal 3 - Don't sweat the small stuff. I work on this every day

Goal 4 - Love myself, appreciate what I contribute to life and appreciate my body for what it is

Goal 5 - See more family this year

Goal 6 - Keep on the debt smashing train, we've made it through year 1!!!

That's all I have for now. These are very broad on purpose. We don't make resolutions in our house, but goals...something to work towards.

I stopped training for the 1/2 marathon in February. I thought I was over my little buddy's passing, but I wasn't. I'm not. But I'm healing with time. I still cry, but it hurts a little less. I try to explain it to people, but unless you've had that one special being in your life you may not 'get it.' And that's okay. Trainer gets it, he lives it, so he's there with me. We talk a lot about it, every weekend, every time we're sad. This is good, this is healthy, this is how I'm going to heal.

Work stinks. My boss left the company. He resigned...and for good reason. Hopefully my job will change somewhat this year, but right now I'm just putting my head down and doing what I need to do. I get in at 8, I take a lunch (well, I try anyway) and I leave at 5...kind of...or 6...or whenever my customers don't need me. I guess I'm trying to conform to the 'I am just doing my job' kind of worker instead of the 'whatever we need to make this successful' worker. If you were in my shoes you'd understand. Anyway, stressful.

Working out. Like I said, it's been interesting and I just haven't been doing it. My precious Coachy Coach is working her tail off trying to get me motivated so we decided that the next two months of workouts will be based on just doing it, getting back into a routine, loving it once again. My longest run these days is 8 miles, my most comfortable run is 4-6. Swimming has been non-existent, but I start Masters Classes this week. I go to a yoga workshop tonight, hopefully. And cycling has been a hit or miss. I still love it, I just dislike getting ready for it and riding when it's not perfect out. :)

Any goals for 2011? Anyone? Bueller?

Peace to all of you. May we all have a joyful and prosperous New Year!

Coming up for air

Patterns - life is all about patterns. I've been looking at my history and discovering patterns. Such as...when someone in my life passes away I become ill. I don't know if that is due to the break in routine of my exercise schedule or just my body's response to grief. Either way I've been ill since Friday, getting better both mentally and physically every day.

Sadly, I think I grieve more for the loss of my little buddy than I did my grandparents. It makes sense though, doesn't it? He was a constant in my life. He wasn't in my past memories, he was present, he was life itself. Not to say that my life revolved around my dog, that is absurd, but he was in the here and now. I don't know if dogs grieve for one another, or if they comprehend really what has happened. But it seems that Sydney is grieving...or that I'm just projecting it on to her. :)

The time has come where I need to come up for air and really start living fully again. I need to stop going home after work with the intention of working out and just sitting on the couch instead. Lucky, lucky me though...I have a great support team that seems to understand.

I have a wonderful husband, who is taking the loss hard as well, trying to motivate me and doing little things for me that I really appreciate. Example: I bought a basil bunch a while ago, it had the roots and everything, I put it in water to preserve it and kept meaning to pot it, never got around to it...but lo and behold it was done when I got home last night. I never even asked. I have a coach who reads minds, as I was stressing about missing so many workouts, and writes and tells me that we'll get through this and to do what I can right now. I have friends, both old and new, who seem to know when I need to hear certain words, who are there for me if I choose to call...countless friends. I am so blessed.

So thank you to my support team, all of you, even the ones who don't read my blog...like my husband. :) I couldn't make it through times like this without you all.

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Training - As I stated above it's not really great, however my intentions are there.

Currently I'm training for the Austin 1/2 marathon and the time I'm shooting for is going to be a challenge! My fastest 1/2 marathon was in 2007 at the 3M Half, time was 2:29. The hardest course that I have done is the Nike San Francisco 1/2 and my time for that was 2:36. My goal??? 2:15 Yikes! I can do it, I know I can. I just need to follow my plan, do my workouts and believe in myself.

After that I'm not sure what I'm going to do. Coach C has me riding and swimming as recovery days during the run season so I won't lose those completely. I have no idea what tris I want to do next year. Right now I have no desire to do any, but we'll revisit in a while. I'm going to be very selective next year, volunteer a lot, but just do a 2-3 tris. One, budgeting constraints and two, I enjoy training more than I do racing. :)

Well...time to get going for now. I'll be on more often (sorry about the lapse in blogging the past couple of months!) Peace out kids!!

Goodnight my little buddy...rest in peace

It is with a very heavy heart that I share with you that Gunthar has passed on. I realize now how much I relied on him, more so than he relied upon me. He was in every way my baby. He picked us to be his caretakers, his 'parents', his world. He was the first of his litter to venture outdoors, taking that first step with confidence. At the tender age of 5 weeks he chose us.

He was the best kind of dog, loyal and loving and a little bit naughty. He liked to 'help' me cook, meaning that he was glued to my hip looking at everything that I was doing, hoping to get a morsel of whatever it was that I was cooking. He loved to go on his walk everyday, just as he loved to get up on the couch or bed and laze around with us.

You can barely see him here as he blends in with the couch so well. The worst part (for me anyway) is that this happened while we were on vacation. The pups went to the kennel on Saturday, we left Sunday (there is no drop off on Sunday) and he passed on Sunday afternoon at approx 2-4pm, we're not sure when. We had just landed and picked up our keys to the condo as T got the call. We knew it was bad news because the kennel never calls us, but I never expected this kind of news. As T was taking the call I started shaking and say, 'Please no, please no...' over and over again. I was bargaining with God or anyone who was listening, but it was too late for bargaining. He died of bloat, what Sydney had just a few months ago, that we were very, very lucky to catch. You lose them within an hour, if you even get that much time. I just weep for him as he died in pain and alone, not knowing what was happening to him. I weep for Sydney as they've never been apart for more than a few days when she was in the hospital.

It did not seem real. We couldn't pick Sydney up until today because of the holiday. So we just went on with life on Thursday night and Friday as if everything was the same as we left it, that we would pick up both the pups Saturday. It was just before we left for the kennel when T put away Gunthar's food bowl and left only one of the water bowls out that it started to hit me. Something small, a detail that I teared up over, reality was coming fast. I cried silently all the way to the kennel and wept openly as Sydney came out from the back...alone. They handed us his leash and food, I put it in the truck as Sydney jumped into the back as if to say, "Okay, let's get the hell out of Dodge!" And I wept all the way home. She came in the house and could smell him so she checked out all of the rooms. Everything about this was breaking my heart.

He was a great pup, a strong and loving soul put into a dog's body. My baby boy.

The Blogging Project - Day Thirteen

A Fictional Book

Didn't we cover this? I guess that was 'My Favorite Book' post. So, I'm just supposed to write about a random fictional book? Maybe just fictional books in general.

I love fictional books, they take me away from reality (not that my reality is that bad) and into a dream world. My favorite 'fluff' books are historical romance novels. I know, I know...so typical, but I love reading about London society in the midst of war. I always wonder what kind of standing my family would have had. I'm assuming that we would have been of the working class with land out in the country, farmers or the like. The books are easy to read and fulfilling because almost all of them have a happy ending. Yep, sucker for happy endings OR sequels where we find out more about the characters in another book along the way.

Other fictional books, the Merry Gentry series by Laurell K. Hamilton, I know I've mentioned her before. Awesome books about good and evil...and sex...I know, you're shocked. Um, I used to read Dean Koontz until it was a little out there for me, James Patterson is awesome with anything he writes, Patricia Cornwell...so many, so many... I just finished A Great and Terrible Beauty and I could go get the book to cite the author, but it is upstairs and I'm downstairs and feeling kind of lazy on this Saturday morning. It was decent, I like the content...it ended abruptly, but then I saw that there is a sequel, so I'll have to find that and see how it ends.

I do like dramas, such as Good Grief and Water for Elephants, books along those lines. But some of the heavier stuff I just don't enjoy as much. I'll read it, think about it, but really give me a fluff book, a cup of coffee and a pastry and I'm in heaven.

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In other news:

I had to get new compression stockings yesterday, mine are about 4 years old and have lost what makes them valuable. My athlete friends believe that they understand the compression thing, they don't, unless they have medical grade compression that is for something other than recovery, maybe that's not a fair thing for me to say... I guess mine are for recovery, the recovery of circulation and a damaged valve. I spent the better half of last night trying not to get into the 'this really sucks that I need these' depression. I just have to be firm with myself and remember: 'There are worse fates, you are not dying, you have two legs that are functional, and you live a pretty damn good life.'

Life, gotta love it, I know I do.

On the training front. I'm not doing TOO bad this week. I missed a run and decided to forgo the second swim, BUT I met with my new coach!!! I'm so excited for next season. We met on Wednesday for lunch and kind of mapped out my first 'A' race for next year, which is the Austin 1/2 Marathon. This style of coaching will fit me better, I believe anyway. Warning, I'm about to sound like a parrot that repeats itself! In every other aspect of my life I LOATHE being told what to do, but with this athletic stuff I need a firm hand and lots of direction. Left to my own devices I discovered (the hard way) that I mash all of my training into a small window, I get it done, but then need more recovery and the cycle keeps repeating itself.

With this new training regime I will get a weekly schedule that is already mapped out for me. And I report back and someone is looking over my shoulder and giving me frequent feedback. VERY excited. I'm staying with the T3 team on the weekends and joining a gym. This way I can do what I need to do with a facility that is just a couple of miles away. At first I felt guilty, but then I remember that this is my life and I need to do what fits and is good for ME.

Goals for next year:

-Become a stronger runner

-Volunteer a LOT

-Be very picky with races

-Keep it fun and light - I do NOT make money doing this...I pay to do it

-Be selfish with my training (this will be the hardest one)

Alright, time for me to feed my crazy cold weather loving pups and then head to the new Natural Grocery Store that opened up this week! Peace out Peeps!