Twighlight and Running

Twilight
I went and saw Twilight…the much-anticipated film. Of course going in I know that books are always better than movies…but I loved the book so much I had to see the movie. And I was completely disappointed. I’m not sure they selected the best actors for this movie. Bella seems like she was struggling to get words out half the time. The constant licking of the lips drove me nuts..I just wanted to yell “get some chapstick” Then there was one part where she was suppose to be looking “lovingly” at Edward…and the they zoomed in really close to her face….first thing that jumped in my head was porn....she looked just like a porn star about ready to jump in and get her self some. It didn’t look like love to me Ugh!!! Irritating!!!

The special effects sucked as well. There was one part where he grabbed Bella and tossed her on his back and started to run through the forest. It kinda reminded me of that texting commercial where the guy is running on a track and his body still and his legs were moving really really quickly. It was the same type of effect. Almost reminded me of a low budget movie.

I would suggest anyone who thinks they want to see it…wait for video!

Running update
So I’ve only been running for 3 weeks now and I can’t believe how far I’ve gotten. Today I actually ran about 1.8 miles with little pain. I never expected to run that far this quickly.

The first time I ran, I just about died running ½ mile..which was only 3 weeks ago…now I’m running 1.5 without to much trouble. My lungs don’t scream at me anymore. My legs, from the knee up, don’t burn anymore…I’m still working on my calfs, but that will come!

I woke up this morning, after a really rough night of sleep…I’m going back to my waking up every 2 – 3 hours…it sucks. Anyway, it was raining when I woke up…I just shook my head and figured we would run inside. Nope, we braved the misty rain and ran outside. It was about 32 degree…which to my surprise is a really good temperature to run in.

So this Wednesday I will be running by myself as Dawn is leaving to visit her parents for the Thanksgiving holiday….I still question if this is the safest thing for me to do…but I’m going to do it, however I will take my phone with me..just incase.

My goal for this Wednesday is
1) get my butt out of bed
2) keep a steady pace ( I have a bad tendency to speed up)
3) Complete 2 miles without stopping to walk.

Let’s cross our fingers and hope that I make this!!!

Doggie update....with other stuff!!!

Doggie update:
OK, Jazzy is doing fine. She will go back to the vet in 3 weeks for a follow up visit. The vet was not able to remove all the teeth...so the teeth that were left he cleaned really well and wants to see how she will heal in the next few weeks.

So for now, I have her on soft food (which I have to share some with the other two dogs) and I have her on antibiotics and pain meds. So she is happy as can be right now.

Running
I think I have gone completely crazy.

About three weeks ago I contacted a friend to see if she would help me run 3 miles. (partly because I want to do the sprint triathlon next year ) I have attempted to run 3 miles in the past but have not been successful. Training myself we never a good idea:)

Anyway, I called my friend up and she was excited to get me started. So for 2 weeks, going on 3 weeks, I have gotten up at 5:30am and met her at 6:15am to start our run. Now, it's not so hard to get up at 5:30....the hard part is it's freaking cold outside. This morning when we ran it was around 30 degree. I dont' like the cold...so why am I doing this again? Anyway...I'm doing this..plus I like the way I am starting to look.

To keep me motivated to run I have signed up for a 5K on December 13...so I only have 3 1/2 weeks to work up to 3 miles. I'll keep you all posted on my progress.

Bloggers Meet
OK, I had to get this on in to....I've been doing so much it's hard to keep up my blog with everything I do. But this was a very rare occasion to meet other bloggers out in the world.

A small group of us met up this past weekend in broadripple. First time to meet face to face. After several months of following others blog it was fun to meet the person behind the blog. My BF participated as well. I'm happy he went...it would have been weird to meet complete strangers alone! But after meeting them I realized that they are all "normal".

So we met at this little pub for foods and drinks. I already had dinner so my BF ordered an prezel appetizer and split it with me....yummy! I had a little to much to drink at first....which means I had one glass of cider. I ordered a second but after a few sips my BF had to finish for me.

Then me moved on to this bar. We all sat and chatted a bit more and then someone decided it was time to leave...and thank goodness we left. My BF ended up parking on the street because it was free. However we didn't realize was a not parking zone.

As we were walking out we saw for flashing lights of a cop car...no big deal right! Wrong, the cop car was blocking the street that we parked in. The old lady parking lot attendee made mention that they tow cars for parking on the street.

We said our goodbye really fast and as we were walking toward his truck there was a tow truck trying to turn around on the street. I look at my BF and said "RUN". We ran to his truck, jumped in and took off....just in time because there was a second tow truck trying to back up into the street and block it. But we pulled up so quickly that the tow truck had no choice but to let us out.

I'm talking if we were 2 seconds later and he would have been either towed or fined. All I can say, is whoever decided to leave....THANK YOU!!!!!

Anyway, it was a good time. It was nice to meet everyone. I hope to meet everyone again.

That is it for now. It's hard to catch up when you get behind.

Poor doggie

So I'm a little sad this afternoon, because I had to take my Rotti into the vet and get the rest of her teeth pulled. Now I will have a toothless Rott!!

The worst part is I called the vet a little after 10 to check on her and they said that she is in surgery right now and the vet doesn't know if he will be able to pull all the teeth. He thinks it will be to painful to have them all taken out at once. WHAT!? I know she had 5 teeth he was going to pull. I'm spending around $200 already, this included the teeth extraction, pain shot and anaesthesia. Then we added antibiotics and additional pain pills. And now he is saying that I may have to bring her back?

I don't have another $200 for another round of teeth extraction. I'm starting to think about her quality of life and is it worth it all. It's not like I can give her dentures so she can have her standard food and chew on bones. Although I think she swallows her food whole right now.

The fact is...Jazzy is getting very old, has night blindness, has trouble moving around because of joint issues (probably arthritis) and just recently I've discovered lumps on her belly.

I called back to see if they were able to remove the rest of the teeth and the vet was at lunch. So I have to call back later. I'm not going to put her through this again...and if he didn't remove the decaying teeth.....I'm going to be pissed.

I think they play on peoples emotions and try to get every little dime they can....so this leave me with the quality of life she will live and the finacial obligation as she gets older. I know what needs to be done...I just can't do it.

Florida Trip

Wow, it's been a while since I actually could update my blog...I've been so busy, plus I got really sick this last week and could barely take care of myself. But, I'm much better now and ready to get my life rolling again.

So the week of November 3 I went with a group of girls to Florida. It was so fun and relaxing. We had no plans for anything but laying out on the beach and reading books. Sleeping in as late as we could, however I'm "old" and ended up getting up at 7:00am every morning. I even continued my running schedule:)



This is the view from the hotel...just a short walk to the beach. It was a fantastic location.




This is me in front of the beach. Unfortunately even with all my effort of applying 50 SPF sun lotion I still managed to burn my back. You can't tell in this picture but I actually have some sun....call me pale.

These are the girls that I went with.

While I was laying on the beach in a one piece (notice all the other girls had two pieces) that was purchased about two or three years ago at walmart. I decided that I was looking good enough to put on a two piece. So we all took time out to go shopping and look for a swim suit for me and a couple other girls.

I found one and it was reasonable cost. It was great. We went to this shop where this lady knew what she was talking about when it came to swim suits. I tried on a couple on and then she gave me this one that, when I looked at it I was thinking there is no way this will look good on me. I went ahead and tried it ( something I learned from What Not To Wear....LOL). I stepped out of the dressing room and the reaction on my girlfriends face said it all.

I LOOKED GOOD! so I bought it and it felt good to go out on the beach in a two piece. It's been over 20 years since I felt like I could put on a two piece....yeah, I'm feeling good!

I also, for the first time, swam in the ocean. I've been to the ocean before and got my feet wet, but I've never actually swam in the ocean. It was great! My next step will be taking surf lessons next time.

Anyway, had a great time and enjoyed every minute of my Florida trip.

Just to summarize my trips this year: Pittsburgh, New York City, Mediterranean Cruise, South Dakota, Florida. I think I am done traveling for this year. Might do a quick ski trip in Dec but it depends.

I VOTED!!!!!

I voted today!

I stood in line for 1 hour just so that my voice can be heard. I place my single vote hoping that in the big picture it will matter. I'm hoping that months of debate, researching, listening and reading has given me the ability to vote for someone who will be the best choice for our country and I hope that he will be selected as president.

It doesn't matter who I voted for...the fact that I got my butt out of bed this morning at 6:00 am and stood in line and voted, is what matters. The fact that I voted for someone because of their leadership, morals and skills and not because of any other superficial reason makes my vote matter.

Goodwill outlet....Really?!

Busy, busy weekend. Costume party Friday night, Skeet practice with a 20 gauge Saturday afternoon until about 5pm…..my shoulder is really soar. Shoe shopping for a good pair of running shoes on Sunday.

Fun fun weekend, however the most bizarre thing I saw was a Goodwill outlet store. Yep as we were going shopping for my running shoes we came across this large building and there was a huge sign that said GOODWILL OUTLET STORE.

I looked over at my BF and asked him to stop in there…I just had to go in and see what a goodwill outlet store looked like.

It was actually pretty simple. You walk in and it’s just a large open space. To the right there is furniture and bikes and all the other large items. To the left there were rows of blue totes on wheels, which held clothing, books and other small items.

It was like a zoo in there….people were rummaging through all the blue totes and moving quickly. There was no stopping these people…if you get in their way they didn’t have a problem pushing through you. Everyone had a cart full of cloths…I mean heaping…some people actually had two heaping carts full of cloths and other items. The price was insane….it was something like: 1-20lbs (cloths) $1.59. That is a lot of clothing for $1.59, however I’m not sure I could shop there…it was to crazy and I don’t like shuffling through to totes. And it smelled funky! Kinda like dirty laundry.

However, I think it is a good thing to have. There are people out there who are struggling and this is a perfect place for them to shop. It’s also a good place to shop is you are trying to support a charity that give cloths to others in need…like a shelter for abused women.

Anyway, even though it’s a good thing…it still struck me as odd, almost an oxy moron.

OK, outside of the goodwill experience….I attempted to run this morning. Met a friend this morning at 6:15 and began to run….ugh, I am not a distance runner…so this was difficult. She had a 2 mile run mapped out for us and we started. At first it wasn’t back and then we were reaching the ½ mile mark and I was huffing and puffing and weezing. She just chatted along like we were shopping at the mall and I was almost on the verge of dieing. It was quit funning when I think about it. But, I have to say, she didn’t let me give up…she kept encouraging me….our goal was to reach that ½ mile. We did!

She let me know that the only thing I need to work on is my distance and we can worry about speed later. So first thing is first…..I need to be able to complete 3 miles without dieing and hacking up a lung. Well, really the first thing is to complete the 2 miles without walking and with out hacking up a lung. Then I can move to 3 miles.

After I complete the ½ mile we started the interval training…where we switch from walking and running. At the end I was happy it was over…but it also felt good. There is a 5k in Dec that she suggested that we sign up for….So, I’m thinking what the heck. Might as well have a short-term goal to reach….my long term is a sprint triathlon.

One step at a time….it will all come together.