See Jane Run...

I have a new goal for this year.  (Well, for the first HALF of this year at least.)  I am going to run a 5K.  I know, I know...it's not a MARATHON.  But for someone who has become as unfit as I have over the last year or two, this is a big deal to me. 

The seed was planted for this when a cruising friend of mine (hi Brandi!) got herself off her couch and started training for a 5k.  She did it through a website/application called Couch to 5K.  I saw her posts that kept popping up on her Facebook page, following her progress.  At the time, I thought, "Good for Brandi!"  I knew she was trying to drop some weight and I thought it was a great goal for her.  I was excited for her the day before Halloween when I saw her post her pictures from her first 5K. 

Fast forward four months to me sitting in my living room on my couch, reading a book.  For some reason in the middle of reading, I had a realization hit me.  I am SOOOOO out of shape!  Okay, I didn't just realize this.  It's been creeping up on me for awhile now.  (We all remember the muffin top?  That should have been the first sign.)  So when I thought about this last night, that weird little part of my brain that remembers stuff I didn't realize I remembered told me that there is a program out there to help a beginner like me get back in shape & have a goal to work towards.  I did a search for the Couch to 5K program and started reading.  This sounds really good!  I got out my phone and did a Marketplace search for the Android application and found the free C25K Lite.  (The more advanced version costs money but not only a couple of dollars--so if I don't like the free Lite version, I may decide to use the other one.)

While on the Couch to 5K web site, I noticed that you can do a search for 5Ks in your state.  I put in Idaho and lo & behold the See Jane Run Women's Half Marathon/5K came up.  Oh..My...God.  It's actually called See Jane Run!  How can I NOT do this?  Even better, it's just two days before my 43rd birthday.  What a great way to celebrate my birthday, by getting fit and feeling like I really accomplished something!  (Not to mention the race ends with chocolate & champagne, lol!)

So there's a reason for me telling you all of this....I want to be held accountable.  I figure the more people I tell about it, I can't slack off and not do it.  People will hopefully ask me, "How's it going with your C25K program?"  I am one of those people who is often driven by worrying about what other people think of me.  If I know that people will think I'm a big fat quitter for not seeing this through, then telling everyone about it definitely helps.  Progress updates will be posted to my Facebook page through the C25K application. 

I hope I have a good sports bra....

Too Big For The Bed...

My dog Zoe is a Dachshund/Border Collie mix.  I know I posted a story about how she came to be part of our family at one point, but try as I might, I can't find that post!  Grrrrrrrrr.....  Oh well, I'll get over it.  Basically she looks like a Standard Dachshund (larger sized than a Mini) but with slightly longer legs and shorter ears.  Did I mention she looks like a sausage?  She's a little...uh..."big boned" right now.  Yeah, we're working on that.  (We'll be taking lots of walks when the weather warms up).

 

So since she's a little on the "large" size, she tends to sometimes try to fit in places that aren't necessarily a perfect fit for her.  Case in point:

I bought this bed for her when she was smaller...not only in size relative to her age, but also in size relative to her girth.  I'm not sure why I've kept it--maybe it's like when we women save a pair of smaller jeans, determined that "someday" we'll fit back into them.  I love how she's just kind of spilling out onto the floor, completely oblivious that we are snickering at her from across the room...

Or....maybe she isn't so oblivious....

Way to make it work, Zoe.

Strange Fact #1

When I was a kid, I didn't like raisins because my sister told me they were monkey boogers.

Happy New Year....

A friend of mine doesn't call his New Years resolutions "resolutions"...He calls them "intentions". I like that idea because we all know that we start off the new year with the best of intentions--they just don't always stick. So, with that being said, here are some of my intentions for this new year:

1. Eat healthier
My son has been a vegetarian for over a year now and I've honestly been inspired by him. I'm not saying I'm going to throw away all the beef in my garage freezer (I love steak way too much for that!) But in researching vegetarianism and learning to make vegetarian-friendly dishes for him I've discovered that I love a lot of the wonderful flavors in meatless meals. I realized how many tasty things you can do with vegetables besides just heating them and plopping them on your plate next to your meatloaf. So although I'm not planning on giving up meat, I definitely plan to add more vegetable-based dishes to my meals.

2. Get more exercise
Yeah, I know....this is one that everyone says they're going to do. But I am in the middle of an honest-to-goodness freak out about what has happened to my body lately. After years of never having much fat on my body, even when I was pregnant with my son, I am now dealing with the "muffin top" syndrome...and the reality that I am collecting fat around my middle like a hungry squirrel storing up nuts for winter. My Wii Fit game is gathering dust on a shelf and the last time I laced up my walking shoes was several months ago (although I try to attribute this last phenomenon to the colder winter months.)  Maybe it has something to do with the days in my early twenties when I worked at a health club and taught aerobics three times a day (after riding my bike to work), but I have always kind of prided myself on being physically fit.  I can honestly say that this is the most un-fit I've been in all of my adult life.  This must change.  I guess it will kind of go hand in hand with intention number one.  If anyone out there who happens to be in close proximity to Nampa is looking for a walking partner, let me know!  (It's so much easier to stick to these things when you have someone else who wants to do the same thing and can hold you accountable.)

3. Be more self-confident
I'm not sure when it happened, but somewhere along the way in my life I started caring way too much about what other people think about me.  And I started second guessing myself a lot.  I'm sure it was somewhere around those awkward years during junior high school when I overheard the boys at school talking about me...("too bad about her face")...Or maybe it was when I was a single mother and was so worried about making the wrong decisions, afraid that I would permanently ruin my son's life.  Possibly sometime during my first marriage when my overweight husband used put-downs as a protection mechanism to lash out at others before they could do damage to him. 
Regardless of when it happened, I know I need to change this.  I need to be proud of who I am.  I need to remember that I am very knowledgeable when it comes to what I've learned on my jobs over the years.  I need to realize that even if I make a "wrong" decision about something, it can usually be fixed.  If I have to ask someone about something I don't know, it's not because I'm stupid but because I'm most likely dealing with something new.  I am woman, hear me roar!  Ha ha....(Okay, now I need to get that old early 80's Enjoli commercial out of my head....we all remember that one, don't we?)

4. Learn something new
I want to learn how to knit.  I guess technically this wouldn't be something new because my mother taught me how to knit back when I was 16 years old.  I attempted to knit a scarf for a guy I knew who road a motorcycle (for some reason my 16 year old mind thought that a man on a motorcycle needed a scarf).  I think I was a little bit ADD back then because I got tired of it quickly and it ended up being only about two and a half feet long.  I remember giving it to him and he just kind of tied it around his neck like a giant bow tie.  But now that I'm older, knitting seems like a great way to pass the time when I don't have a book to read.  It also seems like it would be very relaxing, once I get the hang of it again.  So be forewarned friends and family--next Christmas you may all be getting hand knitted hats, scarves & tea cozies!

Happy New Year! 

HP Printer Giveaway!

As some of you know, I am a HUGE fan of Pioneer Woman, Ree Drummond. (See link to her blog in my blog list...)
Well through December 31st she's doing a giveaway contest for a free HP Printer! Check it out here:
Pioneer Woman's HP Printer Giveaway
Now, if you don't want to enter because you want to give me a better chance to win it, then that's okay. ;) Seriously though, good luck to all who enter!