jogging # 38
Dec. 12th, 2010 11:56 amIt was supposed to rain all day today. This morning it was damp but not raining! And also about 60 degrees outside. F and I went for a good 30 minute run. It felt great. I'm even happier because we've been eating like holiday hogs all weekend--a tree trimming party Friday night, and my parents' holiday party yesterday, so absolute tons of food. Hooray for jogging. Off to eat some leftover tomato pie now and maybe go buy a Christmas tree if the weather holds out.
jogging # 37
Dec. 1st, 2010 11:15 amYesterday I got up early and was at work by 7:45 so that I could leave early and go jogging after work. It worked out really well: it was kind of chilly in the morning, but when I got home at 4:30ish it was 60 degrees out. I had a nice twilight jog and was so warm that I even pulled off my fleece, tied it around my waist, and jogged in just my tank top. Running felt good last night.
After running, I worked on poetry for a while and got together a submission of five solid poems to send to a journal. Slowly but surely getting the new work ready to go out in the world. We'll see if the world wants it.
Today, of course, I meant to do yoga first thing, but I really really didn't feel like it. Instead I worked on my manicure and shaved my legs.
After running, I worked on poetry for a while and got together a submission of five solid poems to send to a journal. Slowly but surely getting the new work ready to go out in the world. We'll see if the world wants it.
Today, of course, I meant to do yoga first thing, but I really really didn't feel like it. Instead I worked on my manicure and shaved my legs.
jogging # 36 / Thanksgiving plans
Nov. 24th, 2010 12:23 pmI'd been planning to go jogging this morning, but last night it was so nice out walking home, and then I checked the weather and saw that today's low was supposed to be 31, so I thought jogging last night might be a better idea. It was a good jog--I went my usual route and cut through the park, but then I cut over to the right and went up the hill over there to take the long way. Then I stopped at the Co-op for apples (no pockets in my runnin' pants, so I hid a $10 in my sneaker). Somehow I managed to drop my change all over the floor twice while checking out, making me look like a crazy person (but the first time she handed it to me funny, and then the bottom of the grocery bag broke and everything fell out). I walked the rest of the way home from the Co-op and even took off my fleece and walked in my tank top to cool off.
The apples I bought are currently in the crock pot turning into applesauce. Yum. Tonight I'll also do some baking--definitely gingerbread, and maybe pumpkin stuff too. I'm excited about the gingerbread because this year, instead of using my man-shaped pan, I'll be using the amazingly awesome dinosaur-shaped pan I got at a yard sale last summer. A gingerbread dinosaur! What could be more fun?! I ask you. Then, I really want to do pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, and since that only calls for half a can of pumpkin, I usually make pumpkin bread at the same time to use up the rest of the can. But all this would mean a lot of baking and mixing tonight, resulting in an awful lot of yumminess for just four people tomorrow, but it's never gone to waste and pumpkin bread for breakfast for the next few days is in no way a bad thing.
Tomorrow F and I are going to get up at a decent hour and go to the 9:30 yoga class at Enso. It'll be F's first trip and Adam is teaching the class--I think F will like him. Then it's home to shower before heading up to my parents' for the day. I'll be bringing the applesauce, the baked goods, and the fixings for corn pudding (a single batch, since Mom can't eat it). I also need to bring measuring tape (for nefarious purposes) and laundry. We'll possibly change our sheets, just because laundry is free and plentiful at my parents' house.
We're considering whether to stay overnight at my parents' to get up early for the traditional Black Friday mall trip. We don't even need anything from the mall really--the trip is traditional because JC Penney's gives out free little snowglobes every year, and we always go to get them. Then we walk around the mall a bit, maybe stop at Starbucks for peppermint mochas, and when it gets too crowded, we go to Burger King for breakfast. This is the tradition. It's a great me-and-my-parents thing but it's a little different now with F in the picture.
At first we were thinking we weren't going to do the Black Friday morning thing. Then it occurred to me that we've been sleeping pretty badly lately due to our heat kicking on and clanging--it wakes us up at least twice a night, but always at 5AM, which is the crappiest time to wake up when your alarm goes off at 6:10. Last year the clanging seemed to subside a bit after the first month or so, or else we just got used to it, but we're not used to it yet this year and we're both grumpy about it. So I said, if we sleep over at my parents' house nothing will clang. F said, yeah but then we have to sleep on an air mattress that will squeak every time we roll over, to which I answered that we can take our brand-new wedding registry really nice air mattress with us instead of using my parents' air mattress, which does squeak and which leaks air just a little bit and therefore dips in the middle. We haven't tried our brand-new wedding registry really nice air mattress yet. And it's not like we'd have to take a lot of extra overnight stuff with us; we're already taking all our laundry, we can just wear clothes out of that, and my parents have shampoo and toothpaste and stuff. So I think we're actively considering the possibility.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone celebrating it!
The apples I bought are currently in the crock pot turning into applesauce. Yum. Tonight I'll also do some baking--definitely gingerbread, and maybe pumpkin stuff too. I'm excited about the gingerbread because this year, instead of using my man-shaped pan, I'll be using the amazingly awesome dinosaur-shaped pan I got at a yard sale last summer. A gingerbread dinosaur! What could be more fun?! I ask you. Then, I really want to do pumpkin chocolate chip cookies, and since that only calls for half a can of pumpkin, I usually make pumpkin bread at the same time to use up the rest of the can. But all this would mean a lot of baking and mixing tonight, resulting in an awful lot of yumminess for just four people tomorrow, but it's never gone to waste and pumpkin bread for breakfast for the next few days is in no way a bad thing.
Tomorrow F and I are going to get up at a decent hour and go to the 9:30 yoga class at Enso. It'll be F's first trip and Adam is teaching the class--I think F will like him. Then it's home to shower before heading up to my parents' for the day. I'll be bringing the applesauce, the baked goods, and the fixings for corn pudding (a single batch, since Mom can't eat it). I also need to bring measuring tape (for nefarious purposes) and laundry. We'll possibly change our sheets, just because laundry is free and plentiful at my parents' house.
We're considering whether to stay overnight at my parents' to get up early for the traditional Black Friday mall trip. We don't even need anything from the mall really--the trip is traditional because JC Penney's gives out free little snowglobes every year, and we always go to get them. Then we walk around the mall a bit, maybe stop at Starbucks for peppermint mochas, and when it gets too crowded, we go to Burger King for breakfast. This is the tradition. It's a great me-and-my-parents thing but it's a little different now with F in the picture.
At first we were thinking we weren't going to do the Black Friday morning thing. Then it occurred to me that we've been sleeping pretty badly lately due to our heat kicking on and clanging--it wakes us up at least twice a night, but always at 5AM, which is the crappiest time to wake up when your alarm goes off at 6:10. Last year the clanging seemed to subside a bit after the first month or so, or else we just got used to it, but we're not used to it yet this year and we're both grumpy about it. So I said, if we sleep over at my parents' house nothing will clang. F said, yeah but then we have to sleep on an air mattress that will squeak every time we roll over, to which I answered that we can take our brand-new wedding registry really nice air mattress with us instead of using my parents' air mattress, which does squeak and which leaks air just a little bit and therefore dips in the middle. We haven't tried our brand-new wedding registry really nice air mattress yet. And it's not like we'd have to take a lot of extra overnight stuff with us; we're already taking all our laundry, we can just wear clothes out of that, and my parents have shampoo and toothpaste and stuff. So I think we're actively considering the possibility.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone celebrating it!
jogging # 35 / yoga # 104
Nov. 19th, 2010 11:04 amF and I went jogging Wednesday night. It wasn't too cold and I was actually a little overly warm in my fleece. It gets dark fast now.
Yoga # 104
Friday November 19, early morning
45 minutes
3395 minutes total
Good yoga practice this morning. I've been slacking off lately (even before the honeymoon). Today I did weights, including some rowing-like exercises, and I also started doing the tiptoe exercise to build calf muscle--with all the yoga and cardio over the past year, plus the fact that I've haven't gone to a gym or done any kind of leg press things since maybe fall of '08, my calves have gotten skinny. It kind of weirds me out, and my favorite boots don't fit anymore, so time to build back the muscle a little. Then six sun salutations, all my standing work, squats, and some seated poses.
Yoga # 104
Friday November 19, early morning
45 minutes
3395 minutes total
Good yoga practice this morning. I've been slacking off lately (even before the honeymoon). Today I did weights, including some rowing-like exercises, and I also started doing the tiptoe exercise to build calf muscle--with all the yoga and cardio over the past year, plus the fact that I've haven't gone to a gym or done any kind of leg press things since maybe fall of '08, my calves have gotten skinny. It kind of weirds me out, and my favorite boots don't fit anymore, so time to build back the muscle a little. Then six sun salutations, all my standing work, squats, and some seated poses.
jogging # 34
Oct. 26th, 2010 11:20 amI had to go jogging extra early this morning because I had to catch the 7:54 train to work for an early phone meeting. (And it was a good thing I did, because I ended up having to call the guy 15 minutes earlier than scheduled!) So I was outside at 6:20 AM, which is what I was doing all summer, but it's very different being outside at the end of October than it is in July. It was DARK. The bedroom windows were lit in some houses, but mostly it was quiet. Car headlights were really blinding. I was hoping I might see the deer in the park, since it was so early, but even though the park has lampposts, it was so dark that the deer could've been dancing around right under that tree there and I wouldn't have seen them. Also, lampposts in the park do not make it safe to run in the park in the dark. I was trotting along, thinking how neat it was to be in the park in the dark, and I missed a step and twisted my ankle. Ow. It was the kind of ankle twist that works itself out after a few steps, not a serious twisted ankle, but still. I stopped jogging and walked for the duration of the park. (And I was on a nice path with lighting--I do not know how the heroes of fantasy novels survive when they're escaping bad guys by running away through the woods at night.) Anyway, a decent enough jog I guess. It was also pleasantly warm this morning, but I wore a long-sleeved shirt and sweatpants, neither of which were necessary. Better to be warm than cold, though.
jogging # 33 / BuffyBuffy
Oct. 18th, 2010 08:40 pmFinally. It's been three weeks, I was a giant wuss. It also got a lot colder since the last time I was out. I couldn't remember my earmuff rule and so didn't wear earmuffs. Turns out my rule was earmuffs if under 65 degrees, and it was like 61. Lesson learned, ears now warm. F came out with me too. We are perfecting the art of speaking in short phrases while out of breath. About a 25 minute jog total.
Last night F and I finished watching season 5 of Buffy. I cried. I always cry. F, knowing there are two more seasons to watch, just said something like, so they bring her back somehow then?
We are also almost all the way through season 1 of The Big Bang Theory, and a few episodes in to Doctor Who (where Doctor = Christopher Eccleston). Both of these are extremely fun to watch and do not make me cry. I expect to pick up again with Buffy season 6 sometime, but maybe not till after Christmas. I also find myself missing Angel lately, but F has expressed a pointed lack of interest in going there. I'm wondering whether I can press season 1 on him anyway. Also, there's Star Trek--now that we're married, he can't get away. Time to make it so!
Last night F and I finished watching season 5 of Buffy. I cried. I always cry. F, knowing there are two more seasons to watch, just said something like, so they bring her back somehow then?
We are also almost all the way through season 1 of The Big Bang Theory, and a few episodes in to Doctor Who (where Doctor = Christopher Eccleston). Both of these are extremely fun to watch and do not make me cry. I expect to pick up again with Buffy season 6 sometime, but maybe not till after Christmas. I also find myself missing Angel lately, but F has expressed a pointed lack of interest in going there. I'm wondering whether I can press season 1 on him anyway. Also, there's Star Trek--now that we're married, he can't get away. Time to make it so!
jogging # 32
Sep. 28th, 2010 06:20 pmIt was kind of rainy this morning so I skipped my usual jog and just went to work early. Then at work today I found out I have an early meeting tomorrow, so I'll need to get to work early tomorrow too. I didn't want to skip my jog this week, and since I know I have too much going on this weekend for jogging, I decided to go out after work. Best jog I've had in weeks.
I listened to my VNV Nation playlist instead of my usual playlist, and that made a big difference. I got all nostalgic for going out dancing and spent most of the jog enjoying the music and mentally planning out when I could possibly go dancing again (seeing as I have no one in Philly to go to a goth club with, this would involve getting Heather or Lisa down to Philly on a Wednesday, or traveling to NYC or Boston myself, so the prospect entertained me for most of the jog). I haven't been out to a goth club since 2006. I'd so have to go shopping.
Also, I realized that, when I'm jogging to a song with a strong beat in 4:4 time, my left foot naturally wants to come down on the 1, and when I'm aware of getting off beat my body frantically tries to get back to it. Ah, the lessons of marching band. It never really leaves us.
Time for a shower.
I listened to my VNV Nation playlist instead of my usual playlist, and that made a big difference. I got all nostalgic for going out dancing and spent most of the jog enjoying the music and mentally planning out when I could possibly go dancing again (seeing as I have no one in Philly to go to a goth club with, this would involve getting Heather or Lisa down to Philly on a Wednesday, or traveling to NYC or Boston myself, so the prospect entertained me for most of the jog). I haven't been out to a goth club since 2006. I'd so have to go shopping.
Also, I realized that, when I'm jogging to a song with a strong beat in 4:4 time, my left foot naturally wants to come down on the 1, and when I'm aware of getting off beat my body frantically tries to get back to it. Ah, the lessons of marching band. It never really leaves us.
Time for a shower.
jogging # 31 / yoga # 91
Sep. 27th, 2010 09:29 amSince I missed my regular jog last week, I got up a little early on Saturday morning to go jogging then. Nothing exciting, pretty standard. It was warm enough out that I had to wear shorts (yuck).
Yoga # 91
Monday September 27, early morning
45 minutes
2860 minutes total
I had a good yoga practice this morning--mostly standing work, also weights and squats.
Yoga # 91
Monday September 27, early morning
45 minutes
2860 minutes total
I had a good yoga practice this morning--mostly standing work, also weights and squats.
jogging # 30
Sep. 14th, 2010 01:39 pmF came with me on this morning's jog. The deer did not want to meet him. The squirrels, which are usually ubiquitous, so much so that they don't even garner a mention on my Wildlife Report, were almost all in the trees today, freaking out about autumn. The sidewalks were covered with acorns and shells.
jogging # 29
Sep. 9th, 2010 12:04 pmI saw the deer family again today. The fawns are getting so big! I wasn't expecting to see them at all--I was thinking that I wouldn't see them again until after we fall back for daylight savings time--so I wasn't even looking when I started cutting through the park, but then out of the corner of my eye I saw these two white tails go dashing across the field. The two fawns are almost as big as their mom now, but they still have the fluffy white fawn tails. They hid behind their mom and they all looked at me. I love the deer.
Today was the first day in a long while that I needed to wear a long-sleeved shirt and pants on my jog. It was pleasantly cool.
Today was the first day in a long while that I needed to wear a long-sleeved shirt and pants on my jog. It was pleasantly cool.
jogging # 26
Aug. 22nd, 2010 05:56 pmF and I slept in till almost 9:00 yesterday morning before we went for a jog. I made him follow my normal route so we wouldn't go too far like we sometimes do when he picks the route.
In other news, we each spent 2.5 hours yesterday and almost 2 hours today working on writing. I have a crapload of new poems. I have never had this many new poems before. My project while F is out of town next week is to assemble a book manuscript. Can we say, dang?
Dang.
In other news, we each spent 2.5 hours yesterday and almost 2 hours today working on writing. I have a crapload of new poems. I have never had this many new poems before. My project while F is out of town next week is to assemble a book manuscript. Can we say, dang?
Dang.
jogging # 25
Aug. 12th, 2010 10:06 amJogging, my friends, was exciting this morning! I got started a little late, so my plan was to cut through the park as usual and then take Harvard Ave straight home to save a little time (rather than going over by the co-op, which is my usual route these days). So I cut through the park, and there's a bunny who hops right across my path, his little tail all white flashing around. I'm delighted. And I turn and head up Harvard Ave towards home, and there's a deer. A deer is just standing there at the corner of Harvard and Amherst, like she's waiting for a taxi or something. We are shocked to see each other. I say good morning, and she looks nervous, but I keep on going and we keep on looking at each other and then I'm past her looking over my shoulder. I'm thinking, awesome! I love it when I see a deer. So I get a little bit past the intersection and I stop and look back, and I guess once I was past she gave the signal because out of the woods on the other side of the street come running two fawns. Then run over to her and they start nursing. At this point I am stopped dead in the middle of the road looking back. Then a car starts coming up Harvard Ave towards us, and I am immediately worried about the deer, but the driver must see them because the car slows way, way down. The deer take off, not into the woods, but up Amherst for some reason. Maybe they wanted to stop by the co-op. When they're out of sight I turn and start jogging again towards home. After a minute the car that slowed down starts up again and goes slowly past me. The driver is an old lady and we smile at each other.
The rest of my jog was totally thrown off and I had to walk the last block and a half home. But it was really awesome to see the deer.
The rest of my jog was totally thrown off and I had to walk the last block and a half home. But it was really awesome to see the deer.
jogging # 23 / Saturday in Swarthmore
Jul. 31st, 2010 04:50 pmF and I went jogging this morning. It had been since (checks) July 13 since I jogged (I was sick the week after that, and this week we had some late nights and also my birthday, so I didn't go this week, and I really wanted to get back out there). We jogged for a while (out past the school and then looping back past the school again) and then walked the rest of the way home. We were out for probably 45-50 minutes total.
When we got back, we ate breakfast, then cleaned the kitchen. Since our kitchen has recently been a flood zone and construction area, we needed to do a big clean, and we did--the top of the fridge, side of the fridge, the entire stove top, taking everything off the counter and scrubbing it down, etc. We didn't even get down to cleaning the floors, which is tomorrow's project. All the countertops are all shiny now, and we were able to put some stuff back on top of the fridge.
After cleaning, we took a walk into town. On the way we dropped off my wedding dress at the dry cleaners. It's been sitting in a plastic bag in our bedroom since the wedding, because I honestly don't know what to do with it and I don't want to even think about it, but the guilt about leaving it sitting there crumpled up in basically a trash bag was really getting to me. We decided just to get it cleaned and not to do the whole preserved-in-a-box thing. Our dry cleaner is really nice--he said that if we had an old sheet at home, he could sew it into a dress bag easily and that would be better for the dress than to be in a plastic garment bag, so that's what we're doing. The preservation box is really expensive, for one, and also I don't know that I necessarily want to preserve the dress forever, or that we've got room to store a huge dress box. I don't know what I want to do with it. I love the dress so much, but obviously I'm never going to wear it again. Right now I can't conceive of getting rid of it, but in a year I might be okay with that. I could donate it or take it to the bridal consignment shop or sell it on ebay. If I did that, then the whole expensive preservation thing would be kind of a waste. I can't imagine that I would want to just keep it, preserved, forever. I love the dress, but I love it too much to let it go to waste like that and I'd rather know that someone else was enjoying it than have it sitting around doing nothing. And my dress, while beautiful, is very much MY dress--I can't imagine that my future offspring would be interested in wearing it. So just getting it cleaned for now seems like the best option, because then I can hang it up in the office closet until I decide what to do.
After dropping off the dress (and the rest of the dry cleaning), we walked up to the farmers market. Today we also knew there was a barbecue festival in town, so we planned on having lunch there. We picked up our farmers market stuff then got our barbecue. OMG. We each got a two-meat plate: I had the chicken and the beef brisket, and F had the ribs and the pulled pork. We also each got two sides: I had the corn on the cob and the grilled vegetables, and F had the spicy collard greens and the baked beans. Everything was absolutely delicious. We also each got a piece of cornbread. All the meat was so tender it was falling off the bone, and I was easily cutting my beef brisket with a plastic knife. I even tried F's pork and liked it, and even his baked beans weren't bad (two foods I don't traditionally like at all). We sat under a tree and ate, and then just sat there a while watching the people and listening to the band. It was absolutely lovely.
When we got back, we ate breakfast, then cleaned the kitchen. Since our kitchen has recently been a flood zone and construction area, we needed to do a big clean, and we did--the top of the fridge, side of the fridge, the entire stove top, taking everything off the counter and scrubbing it down, etc. We didn't even get down to cleaning the floors, which is tomorrow's project. All the countertops are all shiny now, and we were able to put some stuff back on top of the fridge.
After cleaning, we took a walk into town. On the way we dropped off my wedding dress at the dry cleaners. It's been sitting in a plastic bag in our bedroom since the wedding, because I honestly don't know what to do with it and I don't want to even think about it, but the guilt about leaving it sitting there crumpled up in basically a trash bag was really getting to me. We decided just to get it cleaned and not to do the whole preserved-in-a-box thing. Our dry cleaner is really nice--he said that if we had an old sheet at home, he could sew it into a dress bag easily and that would be better for the dress than to be in a plastic garment bag, so that's what we're doing. The preservation box is really expensive, for one, and also I don't know that I necessarily want to preserve the dress forever, or that we've got room to store a huge dress box. I don't know what I want to do with it. I love the dress so much, but obviously I'm never going to wear it again. Right now I can't conceive of getting rid of it, but in a year I might be okay with that. I could donate it or take it to the bridal consignment shop or sell it on ebay. If I did that, then the whole expensive preservation thing would be kind of a waste. I can't imagine that I would want to just keep it, preserved, forever. I love the dress, but I love it too much to let it go to waste like that and I'd rather know that someone else was enjoying it than have it sitting around doing nothing. And my dress, while beautiful, is very much MY dress--I can't imagine that my future offspring would be interested in wearing it. So just getting it cleaned for now seems like the best option, because then I can hang it up in the office closet until I decide what to do.
After dropping off the dress (and the rest of the dry cleaning), we walked up to the farmers market. Today we also knew there was a barbecue festival in town, so we planned on having lunch there. We picked up our farmers market stuff then got our barbecue. OMG. We each got a two-meat plate: I had the chicken and the beef brisket, and F had the ribs and the pulled pork. We also each got two sides: I had the corn on the cob and the grilled vegetables, and F had the spicy collard greens and the baked beans. Everything was absolutely delicious. We also each got a piece of cornbread. All the meat was so tender it was falling off the bone, and I was easily cutting my beef brisket with a plastic knife. I even tried F's pork and liked it, and even his baked beans weren't bad (two foods I don't traditionally like at all). We sat under a tree and ate, and then just sat there a while watching the people and listening to the band. It was absolutely lovely.
jogging # 22
Jul. 13th, 2010 02:31 pmToday I narrowly managed to not get rained on. It started thundering right before I left the house, but I was already dressed so I figured I'd go anyway. I cut the jog a little short but I was still out for a good 20 minutes. Apparently I now run faster than a thunderstorm!
My new haircut was a bit of a challenge to deal with, but two pigtails and a headband managed to get it under control adequately. And it's still better than having a long sticky ponytail hanging down my back and getting everywhere.
In other news, I went to the Social Security office this morning. Name = changed, and I was in and out in less than half an hour. It pays to get there before they officially open and also to have paperwork done in advance! Next project: DMV.
My new haircut was a bit of a challenge to deal with, but two pigtails and a headband managed to get it under control adequately. And it's still better than having a long sticky ponytail hanging down my back and getting everywhere.
In other news, I went to the Social Security office this morning. Name = changed, and I was in and out in less than half an hour. It pays to get there before they officially open and also to have paperwork done in advance! Next project: DMV.
jogging # 21
Jul. 8th, 2010 09:10 amFire alarm went off at 4:10 AM, stopped about ten minutes later, then went off again at 4:27. Our building's fire alarm must be automatically linked to the town fire department, because we heard the town fire horn go off twice (or possibly three times) in conjunction with our building's alarm going off. It's ridiculous.
But I still got up in time for my morning jog! And I was absolutely dripping with sweat afterwards! Not having been an athlete as a kid, I wasn't used to that at all. It's hot out there!
But I still got up in time for my morning jog! And I was absolutely dripping with sweat afterwards! Not having been an athlete as a kid, I wasn't used to that at all. It's hot out there!