So, things have been busy here lately and I have not found much time to write anything. The weather here is miserable today and I think we should all stay home on days like this. We had company over last night so it ended up being later than normal and I did not get up to run today. I needed the sleep, at least that is what I am telling myself. My long run last weekend did not go as planned but I feel okay with that since I have a race coming up this weekend. I plan on just getting in some miles this week, nothing to difficult. We are all well and looking forward to weather that is a little bit nicer!
Circus Visit
Cross something fun with LO off my list for this week. Yesterday the circus came to our very little town so I decided to take her just to see what it was all about. About a week ago two free passes for children made their way to my desk at work and I noticed them yesterday and decided spur of the moment to ask a friend if she and her kids wanted to go with me. I am glad that I did, although, you can imagine a small town circus would be small. That is exactly what it was but it was just enough entertainment for me and LO. They had two animal acts, a low-wire act, aerial acrobatics, trampoline, juggling and of course clowns. It may not have been what I find entertaining but listening to all the children laugh and get excited was worth it. I am sure it is difficult to make a circus work is this economy but there is still something magical about it to children.
It was held in the National Guard Armory which was nice since it is cold where we live. The lighting did not make for good pictures but they show a few of the acts that we saw. They did two performances yesterday before moving on to the next town. There were quite a few people there, more than I expected. I am not even sure who the people were that put it on. I am glad that we went, it would be a shame for circus’s to become a thing of the past. We were there for about two hours and spent $14.00 on a ticket for me, cotton candy to share for me, and a balloon for LO. A little expensive for the ticket but considering it was right here and it was a decent show I am glad we did it.
I even managed to fit in some strength training before we went over to the circus. I followed two DVD’s from the ChaLEAN Extreme series. I followed the Burn Circuit 3 followed by Ab Burner. I am trying to be more diligent in fitting in some strength and core work so I was happy to fit that in. The weather is nice outside right now so I am getting ready to get out of the office for a break and try to fit in a run. I am so grateful for the flexibility to do that. I am just trying to fit in my running when I can right now. I am hoping my schedule slows down for a bit so I can get back to “normal”. I don’t see that happening anytime soon though.
Gloomy Tuesday
The weather is gloomy and chilly in my world today and I can’t seem to get warm. My mood is not gloomy though. I got up early and got my schedule run in. I did 5.5 miles and my schedule called for six so I am calling that good enough. I got to play with LO all morning long and then it was off to work for me since I have a sitter for LO this afternoon. With the beginning of a new month comes lots of reports to print, payroll taxes to file and pay, and bills to pay. Always fun a chore, but it does feel good to cross things off one by one.
I am a big list maker. At ay given time I have three or four lists going. They usually fall under a few different headings like grocery list, work to do list, house chore to do list, and a general things to remember list. I am working on becoming more organized about this since I don’t always have the list on hand that I need as a reminder. I am trying to use my calendar attached to my work email account and phone more as well as use a check list app on my phone. I have tried CrossItOffLite from the iTunes store on my iPhone. It is a free app and I like it for the most part. I am looking for other ways to make things simpler. Is there anything from Google that will help with this?
I should get back to my work to do list now. Still have a few things that needed crossed off. Like filing the big stack of papers I have generated today. It is leaning quite a bit and about to fall over onto my desk. Hope everyone else is having a great Tuesday!
Favorite Super Bowl Commercial
Favorite Super Bowl commercial
I am not a Dodge fan but I do think they had the best commercial during the Super Bowl last night. Did any of you see it? I liked this one the best because it touches on a personal issue for me and it is not common to see something like it. I have read some of the comments that this commercial is generating and I think that even if you are not a Dodge fan it was great placement to represent farming during such a popular broadcast. While farming is not as labor intense as it has been in the past it still requires long, hard days of work. There is no set schedule of working from 8 to 5 and then having evenings off. When field work needs to be done and the weather is right 12-16 hours days are more common. When you have cattle that are calving you are up several times a night to check on them. You don’t get days off, the animals need to be taken care of every day of the week. The people who are willing to put in the work do it so that other people can eat. So, while I am not an owner of a Dodge vehicle, I fully support and appreciate the commercial that helps represent the farmers in this country in a positive light.
I stayed up to watch the entire game last night and thanks to the delay from the power going out it was a lot later evening that I anticipated. I was glad I watched the second half since it was much more interesting than the first half. I didn’t think there were as many good commercials as there usually are but since I was chasing around a little one I didn’t see all of them. Today I did get in a quick three mile run and I am not getting caught up on house “stuff” while LO is napping. Happy Monday everyone!
New favorite snack
Let me introduce you to my new favorite snack. It is nothing crazy or fancy but I am really liking it. It is yogurt with cacao nibs and goji berries on top. For a long time now I have not really enjoyed eating yogurt which is what happens to me when I eat a food every day for three years of my life. This is a refreshing take on an old favorite for me and I am loving it. I got the idea from reading some other blogs and have been wanting to try it for a while. I am glad that I did.
The Super Bowl is tonight and I am going to try to make Buffalo Chicken Dip just because. I have not had it in a long time and have a craving for it. Anyone else have big plans for the game? Who do you want to win? I personally don’t follow either of the teams closely but if I had to choose one I would pick the Ravens.
Quiet Saturday Evening
We have been so busy for the last several months that I have been in desperate need of some quiet time relaxing at home. When I started feeling burnt out this past week from running, work and socializing I knew it was time for me to become a recluse for a night or two. Thus the reason I am typing this post on Saturday evening when most normal people are out having a good time. My husband had made plans to have “the guys” over to play cards and I decided that it was the perfect opportunity for me to catch up on things that I have fallen way behind on. Like reading and writing blog posts, reading a good book, painting my nails and watching a good basketball game. I think I married the one guy in the world who doesn’t like to watch sports. It is unfortunate because I really like to watch sports and there is a really good basketball game on tonight.
So my evening has not worked out exactly how I thought it would. I have had to deal with the dogs running around the house like mad because of all the people here and an extra little kid running around long after my own had gone to bed but that is okay. I am still taking what I can get. I am not obligated to entertain anyone and refuse to feel guilty if I am somewhat antisocial. I am making my way through the things that I wanted to do for myself tonight and am ignoring the laundry and dishes that need washed. I may not get as much reading done as I would like and I might not see every minute of the game but that is okay. I am already feeling less frazzled (I love the frazzled like a frazzled thing bit of one of my LO’s books).
I ran 11 miles this morning and felt good. Not great but good enough. I actually was only planning on doing 10 miles but was involved in what I was watching on tv so I ran an extra mile. I have not been as consistent with my training plan as I would have liked this week so I am hoping to get back on track next week. I need to be better at incorporating some more strength work and stretching. I can feel my hips tightening up as I am typing this.
After my long run it was just a nice relaxing family day. Playing and lunch time. LO took a good nap while the husband and I caught up on some tv shows that we were way behind on. After nap time LO and I have been pretty much on our own while hubby got ready for cards and such so it was kind of an impromptu girls night for us. Hope everyone else is having a good weekend and successful long runs!
Fun Friday
Busy day today. Had a play date with some long time mom friends and their new little ones. LO had a good time playing with some new toys. She was having so much fun that when I tried to put her down for a nap she fell asleep quickly screamed and fussed and refused to take a nap for fear that she would miss out on these exciting new toys she was discovering. I tried to rock her to sleep which worked until I put her back in her temporary bed and she woke up again. Oh well. She played quite well by herself while the other babies were sleeping so I didn’t worry too much about it. I am just glad she had fun. I also have met one of my goals for the months of January and February. We have had play dates for each month. Hope everyone has a great weekend!
