Sweatin' it out at lunch.

Thursday 13

1. The majority of my time and energy these past few weeks has been dedicated to bathroom remodeling...and as I type this, it's still not done!  The goal is to have it finished by the weekend.  Cross your fingers!!

2. If I never again have to remove wallpaper that would make me a very VERY happy girl.  But if I do, or should anyone ask, fabric softener works wonders. Nay, miracles!

3. This week has been my first week back on a bike since, well, a long time.  Long enough that I'm not sure when my last ride was.  And I only got on a bike this week because it was work related.

4. I miss exercise endorphins.  The days that I have ridden this week I felt like a much more together girl, more like the person I was 6 months ago and less like the stressed out basket case I have become.

5. Next week, in fact one week from today, we are jet-setting to visit one of my bestest girl friends Jamie.  I am so excited.  

6. My foot/ankle still hurts.  On the infamous 1-10 pain scale, I would stay I am still hovering around a solid 5 all the time, with occasional forays into the 6's and 7's.  My insurance DENIED the pre-authorization of the Prolotherapy and PRP.  What's the next step?  I don't know.

7. I want to start planning out my 2010 race schedule, but I hardly know when I will be able to start running again.  And seeing as I had my sights set on a run focused year (half marathons and a  fall marathon) I don't know what to do.  Grumble.

8.  My weight has officially reached the point that I do not want to get on a scale. Nope, won't do it.  It's not like my clothes don't fit, I haven't gotten to that point yet, they just don't fit like they use to.  Or I want them to.  I just need to find some sort of exercise that I actually like doing (and am allowed to do) and get at it.  End of story.

9. I'm not sure I understand all the New Moon hype.  I guess that has to do with the fact I never saw Twilight.  I've been told I will be seeing both and soon.  Ok, I guess I have some vampiring to do.

10. Have you ever been given the most off the wall unsolicited advice?  The kind of advice that makes no sense?  It's be like me, the vegetarian, telling the meat eater what red meat tastes best.  Yeah, that's the non-sensical mumbo-jumbo I'm talking about.

11. Insomnia has definitely set it.  I think it's a combination of things, but the end result is a serious brain numbing lack of sleep.  I'm awake and thinking about all sorts of everything at night because I can't shut my brain off and sleep.  During the day I am a barely functioning version of myself.  I think that brings me back to #4 and #8.  I need me some exercise.

12. I turn another year older this weekend.  For oh so many reasons I just don't seem to care about it though.  Like, another year has gone by and what have I accomplished?  How have I grown and become a better person?  What do I have to show for another 365 days gone by?  Not enough to celebrate.  And then there's the disaster that was last year's birthday.  The last thing I want is to relive that debacle.  Let's call the whole thing off.

13.  I promise to be a better blogger.  I will write more.  It will have meaning, or at the very least be entertaining, and it will happen on a much more regular basis.

This is how I came back to find Burton after I got up to shower this morning. What a lazy bum!

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Thursday 13

1. After a web brief hiatus I am back.  I don't really know where in particular I went, but where ever it was I didn't seem to have a whole lot of internet-ing time.

2. I wish, now a few days later, that the bathroom remodel was looking better but alas, it is not.  I am still chiseling away at those damn moths and their papery back.  We've got some epic plans to repair the other wall on Saturday.  Wish us luck!

3. I cannot seem to get over my fixation with running lately.  I believe the obsession to stem from the fact that it is the one forbidden activity at this point.  I really want to get back at it tho.

4. We've started to plan out our race schedule and plans for next year.  Monona 20K and Madison Half Marathon in May, with our first marathon in the fall.  And of course there will be a few triathlons on the sched for me and some epic bike events for W.  I am excited!!   

5.  In 3 weeks today we will be on our way to NYC to visit and spend some quality time Jamie....not to mention check out the latest at MOMA, The Guggenheim, FAO, Tiffany's and so much more.  I haven't been to NYC in over 10yrs and W's never been there so we are pretty darned stoked for this lil adventure or ours. 

6. Our new furniture gets delivered tomorrow!! TOMORROW!!  That's right, no more futon for a couch. 

7.  Lately I have been scouring the all of the local thrift shops on a regular basis just waiting to unearth the most fantastic retro dinning table and chairs.  I am ok with the chairs and stuff being mismatchy, I just want wood and for it all to be in good shape.  Is that so much to ask for?

8. Have you ever been given the most random advice from the most unqualified of sources?The sort of unsolicited random advice that makes you go really??? is that for real???  Sort of like me the vegetarian who won't even touch red meat telling the avid meat eater how to cook a steak.  It just doesn't make sense.  Yeah, that's all I'm saying.

9.  Change is in the air my friends.  I can't say what or when for certain, but it's there.  And it feels good.

10. Now that it is get cold out and the snow is a-coming I am love love loving my garage usage.

11. I am over half way to hair long enough to donate again and it is driving me crazy.  I want donate it, and I've been growing it out for months now, but I am so over long hair.  I am suppose to go in for a trim in 2 weeks and I am hoping I stay strong and just trim, not cut.

12. It's birthday month again for so many wonderful people in my life: my mom, my grandma, my cousin Erynn, my work partner in crime Ron, and the fantastic man in my life, to name a few.  I am sending month long happy thoughts to all the November babies out there.

13. I am glad I have reached 13 because my hands are so very cold typing.  Brr, brr, brr!  I am cold and done typing for the time being!

I HATE MOTHS!

The moths I am refering to here are the gawd awful moths that cover the wallpaper in our bathroom.  They. are. HIDEOUS.  And they seem to be affixed to the wall with super glue.

So this past weekend we ransacked Home Depot to pick out a new vanity, mirror and cabinet for the bathroom.  My job, this week, was to get the wallpaper down. Easy-peasy, right?

WRONG!!!

Apparently whoever put up the funky wallpaper didn't seal the drywall before slapping it on so these mothy goodness is permanently bonded to the skim coat over the drywall.  But said skim coat only goes half way up the wall.  Why? I don't know exactly, but the upper half is finished and the bottom half is, well, not.  And to add another fun little step to this project is that the shiny moth part of the wallpaper is pulling off of its paper backing...adding yet another step to this process.

And when I took down the medicine cabinet (with a little help from handy man extradinaire and my bff Ryan) we noticed that they had a jacked up way of installing that too.  The short of it is that we now have to replace a portion of the drywall and maybe a stud or two.  Yeah.

So what was suppose to be a week long project has gotten much much longer.

The new hope is to have the moths down and the walls repaired by the end of the weekend so that I can paint next week.  And minimize the time with out a toilet (which needs to be removed to repair the wall).

Who needs to go to the gym when there are house projects?!?

I've been derailed

Er, wait, is that right?

After months of everything hurting (and most things still not feeling great), being advised against doing the majority of the things I love doing (hello, running), and just generally letting myself go, how in the world do I get back on track?

I've been cleared to bike, swim, and do short stints on the elliptical.  But now that I am ok'd to do that I don't even want to.  I am still sore and I am always tired.  And all I want to do is go for a run.

It's my favorite time of the year to run.  The air is cool and crisp, it's dark and quiet out.  It's running tight season!!  And I can't run yet.  Sad tights haven't even made it out of the workout clothes bin.

I've got a whole laundry list of exercises to do from my physical therapist, and for the most part I'm actually doing them.  I'm not sure that I'm doing some of them right.  Like the aero squat one leg balance thinger.  Her theory is that the biomechanics of my run are all wonky, starting up in my glutes, which causes me to stick out my hips weird (possibly the culprit behind my IT band issues) which pulls on my knee, and with each strike it causes my arch to collapse which, as it collapses, pulls on my posterior tibial tendon and consequently my dewclaw. Woah, that's a mouth full.  The tricky part about fixing biomechanics is that when you are so use to doing something it's awkward and hard to stop doing it.  But I have to do the exercises to strengthen and correct the issues so that maybe I will get to run again....some day...

But in the mean time, how do I get myself to the gym to do the things I am allowed to do?!?

(more soon.....life, home improvements, and everything else)

Halloween...and everything else!

Wyatt showing off his new Game Bibs before we headed to the Badger game.  I also think he may have been trying to shake the rest of the leaves off the tree so we can rake and be done with it already!

At the game, in our matching bibs.  

It was windy, overcast and chilly, but the Badgers prevailed!

After the game (and a 2+ hour nap) it was time to lion-a-fy myself for the night.  The costume was waaaaaay more work than anticipated, but turned out pretty darn cute.  Even Burton put on his skeleton costume!  

We decided pictures with the pumpkin from Tom and Renee's wedding were in order.  

(Carved pumpkins  make possibly the cutest centerpieces ever.  Who knew.)

Don't worry, I'm a vegetarian. The cow is safe!