Weekend weather advisory: Global warming ahead!

Today is almost over, I couldn't possibly tell you what I've been up to all this time.  Here's my best try:
6:3--- way too early My alarm went off.
7:15am Running Beth and I headed out for a torture session *ahem* hill run.  She found it worse than last time and I found it better than last time, both because we knew what was coming.  It can be sort of awful running up hill for two miles, but fun as hell to run back down!

After the run I made an awesome breakfast.  Thing thing about eating a big breakfast is it always puts me in the mood for a morning nap.
1030-1230  Totally took said nap.
130-ish I really started to regain consciousness and noticed the SUNSHINE outside.  It was calling me!  Come outside.  It's nice.  You know you'll like it.  So I headed out for what turned out to be a seven mile walk.  It was gorgeous and sunny.

I headed around Lake Hiawatha and then along the creek all the way to the Mississippi River.  The creek is so un-frozen that all the ducks are there.  Playing.

It was so sunny.  I took all these shots just to prove it was actual sunshine creating shadows and not just an awesome Photoshop trick!

It got a little chilly on the way back.  (Being out in the 40* weather for over two hours does eventually take a toll.)  I was on the shady side of the street and walking into the wind for a while there.

3:30ish I got home and made spaghetti because I was starving.  You see how I hadn't eaten anything since 9am.  Now I just looked up and it's almost 6pm.  Wow.

I don't know what the rest of the weekend holds, but as long as this weather report is accurate, I'm sure I'll go out and explore more of it.

See some posts from January 2011 to understand how insane this is and what the weather should be right now.  For example: January 23rd 2011, January 18th, January 9th and January 3rd.  Or go outside and enjoy the weather!

Gah! What year is it again?

An update from around the internet:

• I love this article.  Best test of leadership - what happens after people make a mistake?  I screw up all the time.
• It's January so the gym is nuts.   Zumba looked packed about like that.
• My pooky bear: for some reason this made me think of you.  I have no idea why really.  I think it was more random word association than the actual topic.
• Thanks to Shinedown - Sounds of Madness for coming on my iPod and making me stay on the treadmill a few extra minutes.
• Apparently, all I need to go to get hits on a post is to say my iPod died. 40 of you? In 3 days?Leave a freaking comment why don't you?

One last day of vacation - running music edition

Some of my favorite songs for running and gym workouts that my iPod is currently in love with.   (You know, the only iPod I have that still works):

• Low - Flo Rida ft T-Pain.  I know, and I'm sorry.  But it is a great beat for a run.
• Not Afraid - Eminem.  A ridiculous number of Eminem songs grace my iPod on long runs.  I know they're not good out-loud words.
• Midnight Hour - Reflection Eternal feat. Estelle.  I think I read about this song on someone else's blog.  Yeah if it was yours!
• We Found Love - Rihanna Feat Calvin Harris.  Rihanna is another artist whose songs are all over my running playlists.  PS - just ignore the first 0:50 of this video.
• Every Teardrop Is a Waterfall - Coldplay.  Maybe the only Coldplay song on any of my music playing devices?  Sorry.  Not really a fan.
• Bonus - this one isn't on my iPod yet, but it's clearly heading that way:  Shake It Out - Florence + The Machine  Oh Florence, how I love you.

Today - I did almost nothing.  Seriously.  I lost count of the number of naps I took.  I did make it to the gym.  I found a spot in the parking lot.  On a Monday night at 6pm.  WIN!  I did Circuit Class.  We only had 23 people and several of them were new.  We'll see if they're back next week or if once was terrifying enough.  I stayed for Pilates.  We have a new teacher half of the time and she loves the full roll-up as much as I do.

Tragedy!

Oh, oh, the humanity.  My iPod is dead.  The little nano is the definitely the iPod that's taken the most abuse over the years, and I'm including the one I threw in ice water several times.

Now, on to my weekend:

Friday I worked because I'm a team player.  Actually, I showed up at work, conquered my email Inbox and then had to leave the office to fix an issue we're having with a remote access/wireless card.  I was not required to come back.

 
I took a walk around Lakes Nokomis and Hiawatha where there are still thin ice signs that the fisherman are ignoring.  The city is ignoring them too because they're starting with the hockey rinks.  Qat Lady and I hit the Cleveland Wok for dinner.  As always, my goal was to have a dinner entirely of fried food.

Saturday started with a fantastic run with Running Beth along the Liz Loop.  I don't think we'd had a Liz Loop maybe all year.  (It's been rough.)  I, um, medicated my stomach before the run which turned out to be awesome.  I thought I'd be dying by the end of the run but I felt great.  Beth's dog was mildly tortured by running past the off-leash dog park and not getting to play but he was fine as well.  I was thrilled to learn my body will still move 7 miles without too much protest.  Maybe this Flying Pig thing could work?

I spent most of the afternoon on the couch.

Saturday evening was quite interesting.  I mentioned over Christmas I went to my parents "church".  The old minister (Reverend? What's the difference?) from that place in Cincinnati is now at a church (again, I use the term loosely; faith community might be better) up here.  Everyone kept asking how he was. 

I got a wild hair up my ass and decided to see the New Year's Eve service at this place in Golden Valley where Reverend is now.  The service was a 'burning bowl' ceremony.  Flash paper is involved and perhaps the funniest moment of the entire year was when this tween-age kid in front of me (there were five tween-age boys sitting in front of me all night) says to the other four "flash paper burns longer if you lick it".

Although the most random event was when this women sits down next to me about 10 minutes into the service.

Lady: Is anyone sitting here?
Me: No, go ahead.  ::Stops, looks at woman::  Is your name Catherine?
Lady/Catherine: Yes.
Me: Did you used to work at the Youth Science Center?  ::Totally staring by this point::
Catherine: Yes.
Me: My name is Liz, I used to work with you.  Do you remember me?

Totally random.  This lady had, shall we say, a bad exit from the museum.  (I'm thinking it was about grant money, not job performance?)  Her husband has since got a job in California that he loves and she comes back and forth.  We talked for a long time after the service catching up.  Totally random.

Catherine and I both said hi to Reverend after the service.  He remembered the one time he met me several years ago, right when he'd moved up here so WIN for him I say.  He totally remembered my parents as well, which was unsurprising but very nice.

At the end of the service snow was coming down hard so I opted to go straight home instead of my Pooky bear's for glogg.  I went about 40mph on the express ways.  The roads hadn't iced over yet, it was just hard to see because the snow flakes were the size of pizzas.

Sunday I woke up late, had breakfast even later and then spent the morning and part of the afternoon in my PJs.

I hit the gym around 2:30p and found out just how iced over the roads and sidewalks really were.  Wow.  I tried to replicate the treadmill workout from last week but didn't quite do as well.  I didn't make it the full hour, only lasted about 45 minutes.  I walked on the treadmill and did the rowing machine too.  It's the last day of calm before the January Gym Crazies really descend on the place in full force.

The sadness in my day occurred when I got on the treadmill and tried to turn on my iPod.  No success.  The treadmill actually has an adapter for iPods so you can control playlist and volume with the big machine buttons and the treadmill couldn't wake the iPod either.  Oh dear.  I had my phone with me which also has music on it so I resolved to work out and then investigate later.  At home I tried with the computer, the dock, and just a USB plugged into the wall.  iPod will not wake. 

I got this guy in 2007 and took it with me on 90% of my runs and gym workouts between then and now.  This photo was taken a couple years ago, when the top to the iPod started coming off.  Seriously.  I beat the hell out of this thing.

I cleaned a little when I got home and then talked to the parents.  I think it's weird I didn't tell them about seeing Reverend last night, but I'm also okay with it.  I totally did not want the discussion.  Mom was busy watching that new show on ABC about the fairy tales (if it's not Castle I'm totally not paying attention) so we didn't really talk too long anyways.  Dad just wanted to know if I knew what happened to the wheat berries.

Wordless Weekends

Yeah for Minnesota fishermen getting their ice fishing huts up.  Those thin ice signs are just a suggestion anyways!

 Under the Cedar Ave bridge.

 Why does Target think this is a good price for Pepsi?

 Let it snow!

A death in the family - this guy wouldn't turn on at the gym today.  It might finally be dead.

2011 - year in review

January was a rough month.  My salary and hours were cut at work and it was cold.  Very cold, made running quite a challenge.

February Things got mildly better with both the work situation and the snow situation.  Although the snow situation was just a mirage because there was more to come on that front. I also had a nice trip home and got visits with both Alicia and Grandma. 

 

March The snow just did not quit.  By March it was getting a little old.  Then I got really sick.  Sinus infections happen all the time but having crap in my lungs was new.  I remember a day at work when I made one of the nurses listen to my lungs for pneumonia.  It took a long time to get my lungs back for running after that.

April was a month for vacations.  The weather in Minneapolis was still protesting with the occasional snow so it seemed best to be elsewhere.   There was the time I went to Kansas for a relay race that's almost as wild as Ragnar.  Then I went to New York part 1 and part 2 and the month ended with me in Cincinnati preparing for a Flying Pig Half Marathon.  That trip also lead to one of my most read blog posts ever.  Yes, I totally check.

 

May finished out my trip to Cincinnati and a nice Flying Pig (maybe in 2012 I'll run the full marathon?!?).  The month was a little about running but mostly about catching up on work and not traveling.  Although it will mean very little, because I didn't provide too many details, this still stands out as one of my favorite moments in my entire friendship with Amanda.

June was the month the long runs really began for race training.  May went from snow to heat.  June just cranked it up several notches, although I do have a memory of needing actual shoes (not flip flops or sandals) on my birthday.

 

July we suffered through the Minnesota State Government shutdown.  I personally passed my clinical licensure test and then had to wait several extra weeks for the actual license because the state was shut down. And I got to go to Kentucky for a big party.  Win for me!  July was also the month I grew a set and tried Pilates.  I can't believe it's been that long.  I'm glad I did, I've tried several more classes since then and liked them all.

 

August I did not blog a ton.  Probably because I was out doing long runs.  Or really long runs like this one!.  So much fun!  As a bonus - here's our team's video:

Or go here to watch.

September Marathon training had peaked and I just had a few runs left before the big day.  I remember that run.  Sometimes it's such a relief to only do a 12-miler.  Oy.  I also ran and majorly PR'd the Bolder Dash 10K.  Those PRs are going to get harder and harder from now on I think.

October I always think of in terms of the marathon sucked by the way, but lots of other stuff happened too.  There was Apple Picking in unseasonably warm weather.  (Still unseasonably warm right now...)  Then there was a trip to Cincinnati part 1, part 2 and part 3.  With the hilarious follow up: I'm back in town and my car won't turn on.

 

November started with a reunion from my college days.  The month ended with me apparently agreeing to a fundraising project and a trip to Dublin?  Did I mention there's a marathon and a goal of losing weight again?  Also, Thanksgiving was great!

 

December has been a rough month.  Quite a few people (friends, colleagues, family) are sick or have a loved one who is sick.  Why is there so much cancer right now?  We had some snow, it warmed up.  The lakes froze, then unfroze.  So it's been up and down.  I had a great Christmas with the family and am thankful for that.  We'll see what wonderful things 2012 brings.

Previous years in review: 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010. 

Cincinnati Christmas - Days 7 and 8

Monday was kind of a blah day.  I woke up (like this) and felt like I had rocks in my sinuses.  This sucks.  I kind of grumped around all morning lamenting my state of affairs.

In the afternoon Dad took me to the gym with him.  I did a great workout which somewhat loosened up my sinuses.  This is the "Cincinnati Sinus" effect most people know.  Oy.  I did an hour workout on the treadmill which nearly gave me a heart attack.  I did an interval of five minutes running between 10:30 and 9:30 miles and 2 minutes walking around 3.4 miles/hour.  I don't usually run anything below an 11:00 mile.  Then I did the elliptical for 30 minutes and a bike for 40 minutes.  My digestive issues are still with me too. Lovely.

By evening my stomach was finally ready to accept food.  It hasn't been normal since Dreidel Dash.  We had lots of leftovers.

Leftovers: done!  The Jicima leftovers and cauliflower leftovers were the best.  There is still a tiny amount of chili left (which I should remember for later).

Today I was felling mildly better because I'd found the allegra.  They sell the generic over the counter now.

Jenny and Doug collected me around 10am and we headed over to the Krohn which has an admission fee this year.  We were glad we got there early because we had plenty of room but the line for tickets was crazy by the time we left.

After the Krohn it was Skyline time. When is it not Skyline time?.  We found the new Skyline on McMillan, one confusing door down from its former location on said street.  After lunch Jenny wanted to go to the mall because she is a glutton for punishment.  We headed up to Kenwood for a remarkably fast trip.  Afterwards we stopped for dessert at my request.  Black raspberry chip is one of the flavors that doesn't reliably ship to Minneapolis yet.  I love Grater's!

I lounged around most of the afternoon because I was sans automobile.  Mom and Dad come home and took me over to the Green Dog Cafe for a great dinner with great coffee.  Then I headed down to Kentucky for a visit with Grandma, whom I hadn't seen yet on this trip.  If your name is Aunt Mary, you may have a postcard with this picture heading your way!
 

 

Cincinnati Christmas Day 6 - CHRISTMAS

Oh, I love Christmas!

830ish We woke up and did family presents.  I didn't have many to open, but I got some nice stuff and some hilarious gift certificates.  It was fun to watch Mom and Dad open their presents.  I had fun picking them out and glad they enjoyed them.

 
930 The cooking begins. Today was waaaay less stressful than yesterday. Our menu was one course, and the only appetizer was the Blue Cheese Port spread from last night.  We had chicken salad, cucumber salad meh, roasted potatoes hell yes you are!, and melon and proscuitto.  I ate 90% of the melon and prosciutto.  We had a fruit plate for 'dessert'.

1100 The company arrived and we ate, opened presents and generally hung out.  Jimmy, my cousin, is a total racist.  Perhaps this is why I only see you once a year?   Jimmy's girlfriend, Jennifer, is very nice and I think I'd like her if I spent more time with her.  My Uncle Jerry is nice and he sees Mom and Dad a lot now, which is something that has ebbed and flowed over my lifetime.

2ish Nap Time  I thought about going for a run but after two days of cooking, I looked at the couch and was asleep before my body was horizontal.

 

4ish or 5ish We headed down to Kentucky for the awesome tradition of Christmas Spaghetti.  Mark Chef Mark made raviollis and homemade pasta for Uncle Tom's sauce.  Yum!  I also wound up with a plane ticket and vacation date to Florida WIN for me!.  I played with all the kids and had basically a wonderful night.  Highlights include feeding Maximo a popsicle, playing with Luke with the present I got him, and the end of the night when Ben finally let me hold him!

 

Picture is unrelated - yes, that is a Q-tip in the wine opener.  The wine opener requires the Q-tip to function. 

I had help form the kids to take pictures.  Adults will do anything for a 4 year old with a camera.  Luke also practiced taking pictures of his feet, something I've totally been known to do as well.  Click HERE for more information.

 
At the end of the day  I finally got to talk to Amanda and hear about her Christmas thirteen people! which went really well too.

Cincinnati Christmas - Day 5. Christmas Eve!

Early - Oy  I knew there was not going to be running today.  I made bacon and eggs for breakfast.  I found myself disatisfied with the bacon I got yesterday.  Boo.

Shopping trip - day 5  This was another grocery shopping trip.  Mom and I hit Fresh Market for a few fun things and Dad not rushing me through the store  and then we stopped to see JoAnn and her fabric.  I'm having an issue where a blue jean button keeps popping out and then my pants are coming down.  It's an old crappy button, not because I'm fat.

 Walking in the sunshine I wanted a family walk today.  Mom wanted not to be on the dirt/mud/gravel trail to Ault Park.  We settled the matter by walking through the neighborhood.  Mom and Dad were bundled up and lamenting their 'no hats' decision.  I was in a fleece and sweat pants and just fine.  Southerners!

 Let the cooking begin  I cooked most of the afternoon.  Dad "helped" my doing the Brussels Sprouts. I took him an entire hour to prepare the sprouts for roasting.  If you'd listened to me we would've been done 40 minutes ago.
The menu was as follows:

• Appetizer 1 - Blue Cheese Port Wine spread.  I've heard this gets more alcoholic the longer it sets so tomorrow's spread should be even more awesome.
• Appetizer 2 - Jicima and Cucumber Chili Spears.  I think I ate the whole bowl.
• Appetizer 3 - Tangy Cauliflower Salad.  Yum.
• Main dish 1 - Vegetarian Chili.  I had this on the burner most of the day and transferred the pot to a smaller burner an hour before dinner.  I think that was a mistake because it was colder than I wanted.
• Main dish 2 and 3 - Roasted Brussels Sprouts and Roasted Sweet Potatoes
• Dessert White Cheddar and Apples and a fruit plate.

Company!  Everybody come over and we ate.  Then I played with one of my favorite people in the entire world.  I'd show you a great picture but he basically doesn't hold still.  Ever.

 All the 'family photos' are blurry but this one is too cute.  Auntie - I want to play!

Aunt Barb got an iPod Touch for Christmas and was trying to learn how to use it.  Hilariously, the kids have to teach Uncle Tom first so he can teach her.  I referred Aunt Barb to the article that said to leave the operating instructions for all gadgets in the bathroom because studies show that's where the real learning occurs.

 This may be the least blurry of the family pictures.

 Showing off for the camera.

 I will eat ice because I'm teething!

It's 1037 now.  I feel like it's about 1AM.  I am exhausted.  The program for Christmas is to get up, do presents and then start cooking about 930am although that will be a lighter cooking job.  I'm hoping I can get in a run sometime before we head to Kentucky.