Wishful Thinking Thursday with Nota!

My buddy Nota has a new blog meme starting today, called Wishful Thinking Thursday. She even made a fancy shmancy button for it.




As she explains, Wishful Thinking Thursday is about crafting your perfect day in your head. How your morning would have gone and how your afternoon and evening will be - what would have made you happy. No limitations.

So here we go!

First of all, I check the ESPN Scoreguide on my phone every morning while I brush my teeth. I would have woken up to find that the Yankees had mounted a huge come-from-behind victory in the top of the 9th after I turned it off - beating the red sox and taking the lead in the AL East.



Actually, back up. First of all, I would have remembered that I had a morning meeting off-site and I would have set the alarm clock a little bit later so that I could have slept in (although, if I had done that, I wouldn't be able to write this post. things that make you go hmmmmmmmmm).

In that case, back up again - since "anything goes," I wish I hadn't had a morning meeting, at all. Heck, I wish I didn't even have to get up and go to work today.

So let's go back, shall we?

I would have slept in until 7. That's a good time for me, I wake up rested but not overtired. Then add in the thing about the Yankees miraculous comeback. Toddler Charlie would sleep in until 9, so that I could go out for a run. I would do my 15 mile long run and get it over with so I that I don't have to worry about drinking too much or eating the wrong things when we go out for our anniversary dinner tomorrow night. It would be a 100% enjoyable run, 60 degrees and dry, and leave me feeling confident about the Air Force Marathon coming up in 17 days.

Then I would come home and find that Husband and Toddler Charlie were both up and ready for the day, and had decided to go on adventure together, leaving me at home with an entire day to myself.

I would take a long shower, put on a tank top and my gray yoga pants, and plant my ass in a chair on the deck with Bossypants, by Tina Fey, which I've been carrying around since Saturday waiting for a chance to start.



I would take a break from reading around lunchtime, when I would have some walnut-grape chicken salad with a thick slice of cheddar cheese on a rosemary olive oil bagel from Bruegger's.

Then I would resume my deck-sitting and finish my book. The Charlies would return home after stopping for Adriatico's Pizza on the way home from their adventure. We would sit on the deck and eat pizza and drink Pumpkin Ale (or milk, for Toddler Charlie).



After dinner, we would ride bikes outside and make chalk drawings in the street.

Charlie would go to bed with only one trip to the potty, and then Husband Charlie and I would watch X-Files reruns on the couch while we drank our wine.



Mmmmm, David Duchovny....

That sounds pretty awesome.

Parenting Fail

It was only a matter of time - Charlie was playing grocery shopping at school yesterday, and when his teacher asked what was on his grocery list, he said "apples and beer." #stellarparenting

Guess we make too many beer runs with him in the car.

Insanity is a Humbling Experience

18 days ago, I ran 26.2 miles in 4:13:00. A week later, we popped in Disk 1 of the Insanity workout program. I felt pretty good about my fitness level and my endurance. I was about to have my ass handed to me.

If you're not familiar with Insanity, it's another program from the Beachbody people, the company that produced my beloved P90X. Insanity is a completely different type of hell than either P90X or marathon running. It's based on High Intensity Interval Training, which roughly translates to "Shaun T is going to make you work until you can't feel your legs and you melt, a whimpering heap, into the puddles of sweat that have collected on your basement floor."



These workout tapes are deceptive. The first month includes a set of workouts that are only about 40 minutes long. 40 minutes of cardio work? That's nothing. I can do that in my sleep. Yeaaaaaah, not so much.

The program started with a tape called Plyometric Cardio Circuit. Yes, PLYOMETRICS. The same type of exercise that caused me great embarrassment during P90X. We pushed play, and Shaun T started right in with the workout. We jogged in place, did a million jumping jacks, a million more heisman plyo moves, some heisman 123s, butt kicks, high knees, and mummy kicks. We finished the first circuit, which was about 3 minutes worth of ass-kicking, and then got a 30 second water break. Rinse and repeat, rinse and repeat. 10 minutes and two repetitions later, and I'm already soaking wet from head to toe and ready to die. And that was just the warm up. 30 minutes later, we were ending with Level 1 Drills - stand up, jump your feet back into plank, do 4 push-ups, 8 counts of plank run, jump your feet back in, jump up, and repeat until you puke.

Like this, but he's doing it very slowly for the purposes of demonstration.



We won't even talk about the Skis and In and Outs.

Wow. WOW. I thought I was in better shape than that.

Because I've been asked, I haven't decided if I'm going to blog about Insanity the way I did about P90X. I'm leaning more toward doing some kind of "Fitness Friday" theme, more generic posts about things I'm doing and things I like and articles that I've read about health and fitness. Maybe every other week. It's something that I find interesting, but not something that I'd want to dedicate an entire blog to. Besides, I'm not really all that hard-core. I still like to sit on my couch and watch TV and eat junk food. And drink beer. Can't forget about the beer.

30 Day Song Challenge - Week 5

Welcome to Week Five of the 30 Day Song Challenge! This week's topic is "A Song that is a Guilty Pleasure."

I chose this week's topic in honor of my marathon playlist, which also happens to be the reason for the lateness of this week's blog post. I know, I should have been a good blogger and written it ahead of time, but my mind was full of marathon-weekend excitement. More on that to come later this week!

My running playlist is hard evidence that I'm stuck in the 90s. I have everything from Beastie Boys to Kris Kross, Young MC to MC Hammer, Salt and Peppa to Vanilla Ice. And those aren't my guilty pleasures. I'm not the tiniest bit ashamed to admit that I totally rock out to Sisqo and Sir Mix-a-Lot while I run up the steep hills of Cincinnati.

Nope, not one little bit. In fact, I've even been known to get up and do my own rendition of Ice, Ice Baby on Karaoke night.

So what DOES constitute a guilty pleasure for me?

Ke$ha. Yes, Ke$ha. The "dollar sign girl." I remember the first time I heard one of her songs on the radio - it was that god-awful one about brushing teeth with bottles of jack and going for guys who look like Mick Jagger. I thought to myself "Who IS this lady, and WTF is WRONG with her??"

Then I saw her on TV, and my confusion grew.



It was like Mungojerrie meets Jem and the Holograms.



But after a while, I found myself tapping my hands on the steering wheel and singing along. Oh, no.

Then I heard it. "Take it Off." A total party song that I just KNEW my old clubberific roommate from college would have been all over if it had only been on the radio 10 years earlier.

And it was catchy. And it had a beat. A great beat for running. A great energy for running hills. And oh my goodness, it was so much fun to turn the car stereo speakers up way louder than a 29-year-old should and sing along to the (pretty awful) lyrics. (not with Charlie in the car, of course)

So here it is, for your amusement.



Because come on, we all know of a place that fits the description. Glitter on the floor? I'm so there. Well, not really. In fact, maybe I like this song so much because I never was a clubberific party girl. My roommate would spend her Friday and Saturday nights getting all dressed up in tube tops and halters, heavy eye-shadow, curlers, blah blah blah. I was perfectly content to drink cheap keg beer with the guys across the street, who were much more Dave Matthews than Ke$ha.

In real life, you'd be hard-pressed to get me to admit that I'm a closet Ke$ha fan. Please don't tell my husband that I spent 99 cents to download the single. He still thinks it was Rage Against the Machine.

So have at it! Next week's Song Challenge will be "Favorite Song from a Movie Soundtrack."

Shuffling

I'm an admitted brand whore. I have certain brands that I'm loyal to in many aspects of my life - I love my Chuck Taylor sneakers, I love my Droid, I love Ben & Jerry's (you'll rarely find any other pint in my freezer). I even have a statistical solutions brand - I will always be loyal to SAS over SPSS. I'm just as particular about my beer. I'll drive miles out of my way for a coffee from Dunkin Donuts before I hit the Starbucks down the street. That's just how I am - I find something I like and I stick with it.

I also practice brand abstinence. I've always been a PC, and somewhat self-satisfied that I managed to make it through life without succumbing to the beautiful-yet-trendy Apple iProducts. Yes, I was perfectly comfortable in my geekiness, even if Justin Long is way more pleasant to look at than John Hodgman. (Really, back in the day, Justin Long as Apple would have been my boyfriend. True story.)



All that changed on Saturday, when I bought my iPod Shuffle. Not only did I cave and buy the iProduct to begin with, but when I started playing with it and realized that the playlist function on Winamp was almost completely incompatible with the Shuffle, I did the unthinkable. I uninstalled my beloved Winamp and replaced it with... dun dun dun... iTunes. And I feel dirty, like I've been sneaking around with my best friend's husband. Or with Justin Long.

But really, look at how cute it is!



So small, so pretty, so SQUARE. And the Genius playlist functions? Well, they're freaking genius. Ew, I can't believe I just said that.

Friday Fragments

Friday Fragments is brought to you by Mrs4444!

Did you SEE that Jet game on Sunday?? What a freaking game. It was unfreakingbelievable. I felt like I needed a drink after all was said and done.

Can't wait for this weekend's game. J-E-T-S Jets Jets JETS!

I miss blogging. The last two weeks have been super busy and my time spent on the interwebs has been pretty much nonexistent. It's all good though, because I've been busy getting things ready at work for the deployment of our new website. I'm really excited about it. Once the finishing touches have been made and it's live on the site my world will slow back down again.

Next Friday I'm going to be part of Beantown Baker's Friday Favs program. I've been working on a post for the last week or so, which is weird to me because I don't usually write posts in advance. I tend to blog just when I feel like it and have time and random thoughts floating around. Look for it next week, and check out the rest of her blog while you're over there for a lovely collection of recipes.

Snowpocalypse is upon us again. The local news station has a user feedback spotlight on their broadcasts, where they share some of the comments and posts they get on their Twitter feed and Facebook pages. This was one of the ones they showed yesterday:

Back from the store with 3 cases of beer, a carton of cigarettes, and a tank of gas. All stocked up and ready to go.

Really? You couldn't find ANYONE else to include?

Are there any runners out there? I've discovered a site called Daily Mile (actually, I stole the link from For Slow Kids Everywhere) that lets you track your training and post with other local and national runners. It's my new favorite website. If you're a member over there or decide to join, come and find me!

Did you watch The Office last night? It was, hands down, the best episode they've had in a long, long time. I hope the rest of the season is just as good. I haven't laughed out loud like that over a TV show in quite a while. I chose Erin for my QOTW this time, to go along with the new year and the resolutions that so many of us are making.

Erin: My goal was to learn a new word every single day. And I must say, that it is going immensely.

Have a great weekend!

Friday Fragments

Friday Fragments is brought to you by Mrs4444!

TGIFF! Yes, there are two Fs there. For good reason.

We finally got our oven. It's awesome! I'm going to break it in with some Nutella Chocolate Chip cookies for this weekend's cookie swap.

So far the weatherpeeps are calling for snow tomorrow. I'm going to be hellapissed if this is the one time they're right and it seriously interferes with my cookie plans.

NOTHING gets between a girl and her christmas cookies. NOTHING.

Yesterday I drank way too much coffee, thanks to visiting the office coffee machine at 7:30, a trip to the coffee shop at 9, and a co-worker bringing me a cup of the SB Christmas blend around 11. I was WIRED. I thought a beer would help to counteract the effects of the caffeine, but didn't think about the fact that I hadn't really eaten all day. I'm a cheap date. One Blue Moon and C has to drive us home.

I hate it when people brag about how brilliant their kids are, but if you're going to gush about how your 2 year old is destined for Mensa, at least use spell check so you don't end up sounding like an idiot, yourself.

"She is a mocking bird and is also showing us that she is very cleaver."

Really? She's cleaver? I guess intelligence isn't genetic, after all.

Did you see the crazy news released by NASA yesterday?

My conspiracy theory is that we've already had contact with other worldly beings. Maybe the X-Files was just a way for the government to test the waters to see how people would react to alien stories.

Just kidding. Or am I?

Dunkin did a study on how people eat their gingerbread person cookies. According to their research, 64% of people start with the head.

The full article provides a quote from a real, live scientist: "If one chooses to bite the head first, it indicates an achievement-oriented individual, a natural leader, who won't take no for an answer. If the initial bite is the right hand, it reflects an individual who tends to be skeptical and pessimistic, while those who initially bite the left arm have a flare for creativity and are more extroverted. Those who first choose the legs tend to be more sensitive, reveling in the company of others."

So that's the problem in society today. 64% of us are achievement-oriented and won't take no for an answer. So much for compromise.

I don't eat gingerbread people, or anything shaped like any living thing, so what does that make me? I guess crazy, because I've been that way since I was 3, when (according to the lore of Original Bean) I cried because I didn't want to eat a chocolate bunny at easter. It made me too sad. OCD! Whee!

I had to laugh when I saw this headline yesterday - Working Moms are Stressed Out – But so is Everyone Else

I'm sorry, but how is that NEWS?

Here's a little tip: If you have BIG NEWS to share, don't let those closest to you (or those who think they're closest to you, very close family, anyway) find out about it on Facebook.

Next week I'm going to talk about my favorite gifts that I've ever given. C's birthday present from this year is at the top of my list, so if you love a geeky guy who's into gadgets, come back and check it out. You won't be disappointed.

Have a fantastic weekend!

Possible Possibilities

We're meeting with a realtor this week to see about putting our house on the market. I've blogged in the past about how much I miss New Jersey, but that's not where we're headed. Contrary to everything I ever thought I would do, we're interested in moving out of our current home and into another one in the Cincinnati area. I've mentioned this before, so this isn't a new revelation or anything, but super suburban living just isn't for us. We're just not cut out for living in a cul-de-sac. We're not house people. We're definitely not lawn people, everything I plant dies and I don't have the time or patience to keep trying. We don't fit in very well with our neighbors, either - they're the type that mow their lawn multiple times a week and trim their hedges to perfection with a tiny pair of scissors.

 

I'm more of a "sit on the deck with a beer" kind of girl, I guess. It's also a neighborhood full of church-going conservatives and Milford as a whole is just very, very white. I want some diversity in my 'hood, to be around people who share both similar AND differing worldviews. Somewhere like I grew up.

If you had told me 10 years ago that I would be living out in the 'burbs I would have laughed in your face, but here I am. I crave that semi-urban existence - being able to walk to the grocery store (or even better, Findlay Market or a farmer's market) and walk to restaurants and stroll through the city.

So we're going to put our stereotypical suburban nightmare (which is probably a dream home for plenty of people, especially since we back up into a pretty nice view with no one behind us) on the market, and start looking for a condo in a more urban setting. We're considering downtown Cincinnati, where there's a fantastic revitalization taking place, and some surrounding neighborhoods. We're even **gasp** considering Northern Kentucky. I just have to get past the mental block of living there. Even though the northern border isn't really very Kentucky-ish, the thought of having a Kentucky driver's license makes me feel even further away from my Northeast Corridor roots.

I'm trying not to get too excited about the possible possibilities, but it's hard not to get my hopes up when I'm chomping at the bit to get out of here. We'll have to see what the realtor says about where the market stands and how our house compares.

** WTF was up with death making an appearance in the Paperboy game? And this guy? We always used to wonder if he was breakdancing or trying to take his pants off. **

Friday Fragments

Went for the zoo last night for a wine tasting party. It was the best evening out I've had in a looooong time. Yay for good wine, good food, and good friends!

After the wine tasting we visited our old college bar for a beer. It was fun to sit out on the deck again, reminiscing about how awesome it was to be in college and comparing crappy-apartment stories.

I think that as we get older we underestimate the importance of having close girlfriends. Especially close girlfriends who have kids, and bonus if the husbands get along well, too.

As much as I'd like to move far, far away some day, I like that we have such a great network of friends and that Charlie plays so well with their kids. To this day I'm friends with people I've known since I was a baby, and it's kind of fun to think about whether that could be the case with Charlie, too. We joke about it, but how funny would it be if he's already met his future prom date? She's a very cute little blonde girl :)

We started watching the Harry Potter movies again. We just finished Order of the Phoenix the other night. I can't believe I have to wait until November to see the first part of Deathly Hallows! I can't handle the anticipation. I'm not a very patient person.

We found season 3 of the X-Files on ebay super cheap, so that will have to hold me over.

Baby shower for one of my oldest friends tomorrow! I'm on the Party Planning Committee and it's going to be lots of fun.

Off to Dunkin and then to work! YAY FRIDAY!!


Office quote of the week

This is way back from the season 1 episode about Health Care. Thought it was fitting, given my new job and all, which I am still incredibly excited about :)

"In the wild, there is no healthcare. In the wild healthcare is 'Ow, I hurt my leg. I can't run. A lion eats me, and I'm dead.' Well, I'm not dead. I'm the lion. You're dead."

Thankful Thursday

Because I have zero time for original material this week, I'm stealing a blog meme from Steph at The Adventures of Goober Grape and Monkey Man.

Thankful Thursday

1. This morning I watched the proceedings from the launch of the Community Health Data Initiative that took place in Washington, DC yesterday. Not only did it remind me of the "Lunch Party" episode of The Office, but it made me even more thankful for my new job. I'm thrilled to be a part of something great that's going to help so many people, rather than worrying about the bottom line of big companies and how they can squeeze a few extra bucks out of their customers.

It's kind of a big deal. Huffington Post said so. Lots of data coming my way, and you all know how much I love data!


2. Even though I'm so excited to be starting a new job, I have to say how thankful I am that I was able to work with such amazing people at my old job. I'm really going to miss them, and I know that some of us will still be good friends even though we're no longer co-workers.

This is us. We ooze awesomeness.

You know you're jealous of our sweet matching shirts.


3. I'm thankful for a plethora of Office reruns. Watching older episodes (like the one where someone leaves "a package" on the floor of Michael's office) gives me hope that the writers will redeem themselves and the final season will be a hilarious return to their roots. After the disappointment of last season, I have to cling to something.

4. The Dunkin Donuts down the street. After spending a few days in Alabama with no Dunkin Donuts (and no liberals, and no heathens, but that's another story), I realize just how lucky I am to have a Dunkin so close to my house where I can get my caffeine fix.

5. Woodchuck Summer Cider. After the disappointment that was the pine-sol-like Spring Cider I was a little apprehensive, but it was all worry for nothing. My friend Alison told me it was safe to try, so I picked up a 6-pack when we got back into town on Monday. Had to stop at Kroger for the necessities after being away for so long. Of course, by necessities I mean Woodchuck and beer. Can't come home to an empty fridge, especially after having a shrieking toddler in the backseat for the last 2 hours of a 9 hour road trip. The website mentions that it includes hints of New England blueberries. Just another thing I miss about living in the Northeast Corridor. Sigh.

I'll have to snap a picture of the actual bottles in my fridge later.

21 Weeks and Imagine Whirled Peace

21 week picture:




I had my first "stranger comment" at Fresh Market on Friday, so I guess it's becoming more obvious by the day.

This week's ice cream flavor is Imagine Whirled Peace, a frozen tribute to John Lennon. From the Vermont guys: "When Ben & Jerry’s wanted to talk about peace, we couldn’t think of a better person to exemplify the message than John Lennon. Through his art and lyrics he imagined a world without war and asked us all to ‘Give Peace a Chance’. We hope this whirly mixture of toffee cookies and fudge peace signs enlightens your bellies and souls and makes you ask what you can do to promote peace in your lives."



Very appropriate flavor for the week, considering we watched the movie "Across the Universe" last night, a movie set to the music of The Beatles about the love, politics, music, and war during the Vietnam Era. Doesn't sound like something Charlie would like? Well, it wasn't, but I liked it anyway. Poor Charlie. What a trooper. I keep telling him it was payback for Beerfest.

To the point: My top 3 Ben & Jerry's flavors have been cemented for a number of years now: Coffee Coffee Buzz Buzz Buzz, Mint Chocolate Cookie, and Half Baked. Given the introduction of this new flavor there may be a shakeup at the top levels in my ranking book. This ice cream is freaking phenomenal. It might finally make up for the loss of Deep Dark Chocolate and Holy Cannoli, two flavors whose time in my grocer's freezer was cut short far too soon. The toffee cookie chunks are plentiful and the chocolate peace signs provide the perfect textural opposition to the ice cream itself. I think it has taken the place of Half Baked in my all-time top three. Get thee to your local store and taste a pint yourself. (Pint, that must be a convenient size. Pint of beer, pint of ice cream. I guess I've just traded the former for the latter for the time being)