5.27.2011

June Book Club


If you love love love reading like I do, check out crazyrunninglegs site about her June Book Club selection.

Click right here to go to her post about it.


I just downloaded the book onto the Kindle and I'm excited about devouring it over the long weekend.

From Amazon.com

"Amazon Best Books of the Month, May 2011: In the Garden of Beasts is a vivid portrait of Berlin during the first years of Hitler’s reign, brought to life through the stories of two people: William E. Dodd, who in 1933 became America’s first ambassador to Hitler’s regime, and his scandalously carefree daughter, Martha. Ambassador Dodd, an unassuming and scholarly man, is an odd fit among the extravagance of the Nazi elite. His frugality annoys his fellow Americans in the State Department and Dodd’s growing misgivings about Hitler’s ambitions fall on deaf ears among his peers, who are content to “give Hitler everything he wants.” Martha, on the other hand, is mesmerized by the glamorous parties and the high-minded conversation of Berlin’s salon society—and flings herself headlong into numerous affairs with the city’s elite, most notably the head of the Gestapo and a Soviet spy. Both become players in the exhilarating (and terrifying) story of Hitler’s obsession for absolute power, which culminates in the events of one murderous night, later known as “the Night of Long Knives.” The rise of Nazi Germany is a well-chronicled time in history, which makes In the Garden of Beasts all the more remarkable. Erik Larson has crafted a gripping, deeply-intimate narrative with a climax that reads like the best political thriller, where we are stunned with each turn of the page, even though we already know the outcome. --Shane Hansanuwat "

Anyone else an avid reader?  Any recommendations?  Right now I'm on a YA kick, just finished the Hunger Games trilogy and waiting on the final Maze Runner book.

5.25.2011

Weekend Update....

Yes, I realize it's Wednesday and I admited earlier that I'm a slacker... so here we go.

I took Friday off from work so I could travel down to Corpus.  It's such a wonderful fun drive going from Houston to Corpus.  Let's look at all the sights....

Wow, exciting stuff
This is like an hour later... 
Even the GPS is bored.

Then this happened.....
You gotta be kidding me....
Sigh.  Although my incident isn't nearly as traumatic now that hubby has dropped his iPhone in the pool... 

Made it to Corpus Friday afternoon and of course, realized I forgot to pack something (I realized it 15 minutes into the trip... but that's way too far to turn around.... duh) so I stopped at Target.  I forgot that it's completely normal to be attacked by seagulls when walking into stores....  I had no idea that Target could be so ghetto.  It almost scared me in there... They claim to be remodeling but whatever.  Since I was kidless I did have to hit up the clearance racks and managed to grab a cute purple zip up hoodie jacket for $5.  Score! 

Met with the group, got our gear (shirts, numbers, etc.)  went back to Dad's house and chilled.  A good blogger would've gotten some more pictures but obviously that isn't me.

Our shirts were very cute... I'll have to con the hubby into take a picture of me in it sometime. 

The morning of the race was relatively organized thanks to the convenience of cell phones...  We all met up in the parking lot of HEB.  I was running leg 4 of the race through the military base so I got to walk to my hand off point.  The rest of the group had to get on busses to get to their points. 

The actual race itself was well organized.  There were over 2,500 teams and an estimated 16,000 runners.  There are six legs to the race, each leg was approximately 4 miles (mine was 4.69) and the total race was 26.2 miles.  The idea behind the race was to honor the military since it's always run on Armed Forces Day.  Armed Forces Day is on the 3rd Saturday of May... May in Corpus is hot... Wouldn't you think this would make race organizers reconsider the timing?  I suppose since this was the 36th running of the race they were set on the date... whatever.

By the time my leg was set to run it was 9:45, the temp was up to about 84 and the humidity level was 100%.  100%? how is that possible?  It wasn't raining.  It was ridiculously hot.  I wanted to stop after 10 minutes into the run.  I managed to finish with only walking through the water stations.  (Which they had at each mile marker... so awesome)  I'm a military brat and former spouse (only cause he's not in the service anymore, not that I have some mystery ex-husband) so it was nice to be able to run around the base where I spent a good amount of time as a child.  I even sent hubby a picture of the craphole apartment he was living in when we first met.

uhhh... so glad we moved up in the world


So I finished my leg, handed off and then had to walk 2 MORE MILES to get to a spot where they were even letting cars get close. 


Ha ha sorry bastards, you still have to run and I'm done...  Oh wait, I have to walk 2 miles?

I took this picture because there was a helicopter landing but I don't think you can even see it... 

Found my group and then we proceed to go pick up #5...  note to #5, take your phone with you next time, it's impossible to find you without it (I really don't know how groups did this before cell phones).  We managed to find everyone and then we headed out.  I got dropped off at Dad's house and then....

I GOT THE HELL OUT OF TOWN!!! (plus i missed the kids)

5.24.2011

I'm a slacker...

I actually want to post a recap of my weekend and the Beach to Bay Marathon Relay I did but I'm being a slacker and not moving very quickly at getting my pictures off my phone.  I pulled my camera out of my bag on the trip to Corpus and I got the "battery is exhausted" message...  Ugh.  I hope to have something up tonight or tomorrow talking about my wonderful adventure (that is complete sarcasm there folks...it sucked.)

5.18.2011

What was I thinking?!?

Back early in the spring I decided to run this:
THE 36TH ANNUAL BEACH TO BAY RELAY

The race is held in Corpus Christi, Texas which is where I grew up and went to school at and ultimately where I met my husband.  It is also the hell hole Reese's so accurately describes.  I lived in the city from age 8 til almost 20 and I can honestly say I would never want to live there again.  Amazingly during the whole time of living there I never once witnessed this race, the Beach to Bay Marathon Relay.  So when my best friend's brother asked me if I'd like to be a part of his group I was like, sure... Seriously, I'm just a medal whore and I wanted another one... I figured this might be easy.  I forgot to think about what Corpus Christi is like during May. 


That's a LOW of 77 on Saturday.  A LOW of 77 that will probably happen around 4 am.  My leg of the race is probably going to be around 9:30 or 10 ish...  By then the sun will be up and blazing on me and making me wish for a swift death. 

So wish me luck, hope I don't die and I'll let you know how it goes.

5.14.2011

Workout update

This was my running schedule this week:

Monday - 20 minutes easy
Tuesday - 25 minutes easy
Wednesday - OFF - did Monday's and Tuesday's run 4.09 miles
Thursday - 20 minutes easy
Friday - OFF
Saturday - 3 miles (group run) - 32:48
Sunday - OFF

Not too terribly bad considering the cold during the early part of the week.  Then on Thursday it actually rained in Houston and it confused me so badly I wasn't sure how to deal with it.  (Houston hasn't gotten any rain in way too long... and you know you're a homeowner when you worry about this kind of thing.)

5.11.2011

Oh no they didn't.....

Aren't our little girls tormented enough to be perfect.  Sketchers has come out with Shape Ups for girls now. 

Add really likes Sketcher shoes (she is 3) but I think this is getting a little ridiculous... What do you think?

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/health/do-little-girls-really-need-shape-up-toning-sneakers-2482670/

I was running....

So last week I joined a group that is focusing on preparing for the San Antonio marathon (which I've been signed up for a long time ago).  The group gets together and does the long runs on Saturday and speedwork on Tuesday.  On Sunday we get our schedule for the running we are supposed to do while we are on our own.  (Speedwork won't start until later this month.)  Here's my schedule for this week:

Monday - 20 minutes easy
Tuesday - 25 minutes easy
Wednesday - OFF
Thursday - 20 minutes easy
Friday - OFF
Saturday - 3 miles (group run)
Sunday - OFF

Since I was sick on Monday and Tuesday, I think I'm going to double up those workouts and knock them out tonight.... and try out the Garmin.  I'm going to be a dork and wear the phone too and see which one (the Garmin or Nike+) is closer to actual mileage.  I think I'm going to have a hard time in the beginning phases of this training as the "on your own" runs are in minutes and not miles.  I've always tracked miles and planned miles.  I'm going to trust their knowledge and try to keep to their schedule as much as possible.  I've looked out to the future and am already nervous about the 21 mile run... sounds impossible.

On a different note.  Anyone read this today?

http://finance.yahoo.com/family-home/article/112715/shutting-kids-out-family-fortune-wsj?mod=family-kids_parents

It's about a guy who died back in 1919 and didn't want any of his fortune to be distributed until his grandkids were dead.  The money is just now being divved up.  How royally pissed would you be with your parents if they somehow pissed off your grandpa so much that he wouldn't even give his money to the spawn of his own kids? 

5.10.2011

Is this noticeable?

Think I can get away with wearing this all the time?  It's not that noticeable right? 

Quit reading that stuff in the background, that's proprietary information. Ha!

So the cold totally took over and I'm taking one more day off from running.. I feel like such a slacker.  Maybe I should work on my take home final that is due tomorrow... that'd be so unlike me doing something ahead of time.  OR I could go watch Glee...  Decisions decisions.

Any other Gleeks out there?  I'm also addicted to the Good Wife.

Sick! Sick! Sick! and a Garmin

I hate being sick.  I'm gonna blame it on those kids at preK... must've been all those kid germs flying around the room and they finally got to me.  I can handle my own kids germs but the large crowd of kids kicked my immune systems butt!  Yesterday I went to work with no makeup, hair looking like a nest, and glasses... (no pictures, I don't exist when I'm sick.)  I went through so many tissues...  this is what my desk looked like.

Okay, not really, but I went through a lot of tissues.  The only saving grace of having a cold is the sneezing.  Maybe I'm a weirdo (and I probably am) but I love to sneeze.  I'm one of those people that does the one and a half sneeze, where it's like I get halfway through the sneeze and it just fizzles out. 

Last night I had to endure this head cold while taking my Advanced Accounting final.  I'm so glad that class is finally over, what torture.  I know the people I sit next to actually cringed when they saw me walking in with my red nose and a box of tissues.  Whatever people...

I broke down yesterday and bought myself a Garmin Forerunner 205.  It's out for delivery right now, I'm making sure to clear some time on my calendar today to play with it (at work).  You better believe this cold isn't getting in my way of going out tonight and testing it out. 

So, do you have a Garmin?  Do you love it?  I was using the Nike+ app on my iPhone but I'm annoyed with it.  How about sneezing?  Anyone love sneezing like me???

5.07.2011

Marathon training with USA Fit

Today was my first day to start marathon training.  I've signed up to train with USA Fit Cypress out here in the boonies of Houston.  I was previously a self trained idiot and decided that for the full marathon I was going to NEED someone to hold me accountable and basically tell me what to do.  I signed up for their annual membership so I'm going to be hurting all year long.  (the good hurt, I keep telling myself)


That's me in the middle in the purple.

Listening intently to the introductions
It was a good morning.  I met a bunch of great running people and am excited about starting training for the full marathon in November. 

We've been warned that our group organizer will hound us down if we don't have a hydration belt or some sort of way to keep hydrated.  Any recommendations?  I've always just thrown Gatorade or water in the grass around my loop and grabbed it as necessary when I ran past.

Muffins with Mom

Yesterday little man's class hosted a party for all their mom's.  It was super sweet.  The kids helped bake muffins and made us cards and painted on tiles. 

Is it me or does he seem slightly embarassed?



Look mom, I made you a card. It's got good guys and bad guys...

Had to get one more shot on the way out.
What is everyone doing to celebrate Mother's Day?  We are going to grill out and have a pool party.

5.06.2011

Invention?

If anyone can make this happen, I'd totally buy it from you!  The other night I was deliriously tired (get used to hearing that cause it happens 6 out of 7 nights..).  I suffer from the coldest feet in existance. (seriously, I dare you to challenge me to a cold off...)  So every night, no matter what I have to put socks on before going to bed.  However, most of the time if I wake up in the middle of the night I am hot and have to rip them off.  So I told my hubby, "wouldn't it be great if they made socks that you put on and during the night they just kinda crawled off your feet?"  And I continued, "or maybe you could make some that started to dissolve slowly after they came in contact with air?".  At this point he rolled his eyes and turned off the light and let me go to sleep.