January 28, 2013

Back on Track

Marahon shoes
Marahon shoes (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
This past Saturday T and I ran a 5k at the Zoo. We also got to see my brother and crash at his house. It was awesome! My brother G came to cheer us on and I hope we inspired him to get back into running himself. They used little orange tags on our shoes for timing and my husband said he was going to keep it on his shoes for a while to remind him of his goals. We also got super-cute long sleeve shirts.
Running through the zoo was amazing! We saw elephants, meerkats, tigers, a cougar, a lynx, kangaroos, and lots of exotic birds! A trainer gave the elephant a little flag and it waved the flag as we went by. It was so cute! My favorite part was rounding a corner and glancing up to see a cougar standing on a ledge above my head. It was in an enclosure of course, but it was still exciting! My crazy imagination turned it into a dangerous and dramatic moment and I think it gave a boost to my speed.
Cougar conservation depends on preservation of...
Cougar conservation depends on preservation of their habitat. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
My husbands favorite animals were the kangaroos. They were hopping around like crazy! It was especially nice that the race didn't start until 3pm. Even though it was in another city, we didn't have to leave our own apartment until that morning. As hard as I try, early morning exercise just doesn't come naturally to me! After the race, we goofed around for a little while taking pictures and trying snack samples, including some delicious veggie chips.
We were also super impressed by the people who won awards, including an amazing lady in her 50s who had started the race right next to us! She finished in less than 30 minutes and is my new hero. They actually had a little 3 place podium for the winners to stand on, so that was cute. They also fed us! There was some great pasta with alfredo and/or marinara sauce waiting for us and it was delicious! It was also fun to sit down, relax, and chat a little with the other runners.
Oh, right. Our time. We clocked in at 44:03. Not our best, but a good start to the new year. I also wonder if we might have lost a little time slowing down to look at the animals. (It was worth it.) I'm already excited about our next race on February 16th! We will be aiming to finish that one in 40 minutes or less. First step? Running Week 4, Day 1 of Couch to 5k this afternoon! Allonsy! 


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January 23, 2013

Women

english: This is the american HBO brand logo. ...
So everyone keeps talking about this new show "Girls".

It's really getting on my nerves.

To be fair, I haven't watched this show. It's on HBO, and seeing that I don't even have regular television, it would take some effort to acquire it and watch it. Also, none of what I've heard about it so far motivates me to make said effort.

But it seems that everywhere I turn, someone is talking about it and they won't shut up, so I am adding my two cents.

So in the very first episode, main character Hannah is at dinner with her parents, talking about her internship. I have dinner with my parents frequently, and usually quite enjoy it, especially when they are kind enough to pay for my food. Hannah and her parents are discussing her internship. Personally, when I was 24, I had moved past internship and was working full-time, sometimes 40+hours a week. However, internships can be very useful, positive things.

WHSAD Senior Student at Summer Internship
WHSAD Senior Student at Summer Internship (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
But then she asks her parents for money. As I mentioned before, when I was that age, I was busting my butt at a full-time job so that I could pay my own rent and afford cat food and the like. I had my own health insurance. If my parents were paying for those things, I would be actively busting my butt looking for a job so I could pay them back. Have I never asked my parents for money? Absolutely not. There are times they've helped me with a lot of things. But I always paid them back and I always tried every other option before asking for their help. And when I did, it was only for essentials. My husband is the same way.

Hannah's friend is bored with her relationship. That's fine, all relationships can get stuck in a rut and such. She tells Hannah that "His touch now feels like a weird uncle". I guess I should be glad that I don't have any weird uncles. At least not weird like that. Ugh. Anyway, continuing, Hannah's friend says "...I can feel him being so nice to me, and it makes me so angry." Um...what? Someone being nice to you makes you angry? You're going to have a horrible life, dear. Being bored in the relationship doesn't necessarily mean that something is wrong with the person you're dating. Sometimes it just means that you need to switch up your routine a bit. I mean, give the poor guy a chance. Have you even considered talking to him about this? Of course not. Communication in a relationship? Madness!

Hannah then replies to her friend with some nasty language that I won't even bother quoting here. Even when I do talk to my friends about sex (which I do) I do NOT talk like that. I know very few people who do and those are not people I want to be around. I also do not talk to my friends while either of us is in the bathtub. Sorry guys, most girls don't do that sort of thing together. 

Hannah's friends eat dinner at 7pm. I have totally done this, seeing that I sometimes don't even get off work until 6:45pm. Now, the more important part of this is the diversity, or lack thereof. I hear that Dunham has already been criticized for this, but I have to admit, given where the show takes place, it's a little odd. I am of the same race and sexual orientation as Dunham, but I live in the American South. It could arguably be called the opposite of New York City. My husband is half-Hispanic, my best friend (though she doesn't live here) is Chinese, and my other best friend is homosexual. Seeing that Lena Dunham is a reasonably intelligent person who should be aware of the demographics of the setting she has chosen and the overwhelming propensity of the media to focus on homogenous people, this could easily have been averted. Perhaps simply with colorblind casting, or not just casting her friends.

So all that said, I just don't see what people love so much about this show, I really resent it being presented as 'the voice of a generation' (especially MY generation), and I am sick to death of hearing about it.

But maybe I'm just weird. Maybe I don't fit very well into my generation. That's okay. I'm cool with that. I'd rather be a grown woman than a girl anyday.
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January 20, 2013

Awesome weekend

Image representing Netflix as depicted in Crun...
Image via CrunchBase
The apartment is a mess. We hates it, precious! I suppose that's what happens when I spend a night away. At least I helped my Mom strip the sheets from her bed. I can definitely tell when I visit her that my Flylady routines are rubbing off on her. It is great to see.

T and I managed to squeeze in a run yesterday before I went to my babysitting gig. Since we slacked off over the holidays, we dialed it back to week 3, day 3 of the Couch to 5k program and we'll be progressing from there. I had leftover French Onion soup for dinner and it was actually better the second time. Thanks husband! I also wore the new purple blazer my Mom got me for Christmas. It was very comfortable!
English: french onion soup, as photographed at...
English: french onion soup, as photographed at the Woodhaven House in Rego Park, NY. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)

This morning T and I watched the TLC show My Strange Addiction on Netflix. I have to admit, it was a little disappointing. Learning about the addictions was interesting, but the program offered little information on the reasons for it and completely glossed over the treatment. I would have really enjoyed more details on that.

The original Dungeons & Dragons set.
The original Dungeons & Dragons set. (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Today is Dungeons and Dragons day. I'm really frustrated that I wasn't able to get my sword back last session, and now we have to play a silly game involving keeping a councilwoman from being assassinated and stopping a riot. It's still the only way for my rogue to get her sword back, so she'll go along with it until she gets what she wants. She also might get a lecture from a teammate on attacking them in order to solve a puzzle. But it solved the puzzle! We wouldn't even have gotten this far if she hadn't done that, so I considered a Crowning Moment of Awesome for my character, Dezirinda.

I really enjoyed visiting with my Mom Friday and Saturday. I was also able to watch a friend of mine audition for a play. It was so funny to see her on stage in the same theater where I performed in my first play. (As a tree.) I was also able to see one of my eighth grade teachers and her daughter, who I babysat when I was about 14. Now that I am older I can't believe she trusted me with that responsibility when I was so young!
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January 16, 2013

Girl

Serial killer H.H. Holmes
Serial killer H.H. Holmes (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
Today I bought a new bikini. It's very hard for me to find swimwear that fits properly and doesn't make me look like a skank. Hopefully by the time Memorial Day rolls around, I'll be able to fit into it properly.

I talked with Anna today about further education. I told her that if I ever went back to school, I would try to get a bachelor's degree in criminal justice. I believe I have to hold my Dad at least somewhat responsible for this. He used to leave true crime books all over the house when I was little. I would read anything and everything, including those books. He tried to remember to pick them up, but I had already read about serial killers and the like. I was kind of an information sponge back then and I still have an odd fascination with trying to figure out why terrible things happen and how to prevent them.

Sunday we went to lunch with two friends, one of whom will be moving soon. It was really wonderful. Many silly stories were told and much laughter resulted. We were also able to see an old classmate who is getting married soon and recommend the wonderful dj who did our wedding. 

We have been talking about road trips and other places that we want to visit sometime in the near future. England and France are on the list, as well as Alabama, where a friend lives. It would be wonderful to pile a bunch of people in the car and drive at a leisurely pace, stopping where we want and arguing over music. 

I got the day off today, because of the ice. T came home early today too. He did some decluttering today and was overall very helpful. We were able to talk about some really important things with minor conflict and that made me really happy. 

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January 14, 2013

My boring life

Laundry
Laundry (Photo credit: Bilal Kamoon)
Grab your milk and bread! It might sleet! OMG!

I need to stock up on groceries anyway. So I can make amazing things like pork with black beans. Poor T has been fending for himself lately concerning food, and he's been incredibly patient and gracious while I get my bearings again after the holiday season.

Laundry is going to eat my soul.

I have been reading things online about antidepressants that make me very angry and frustrated at how people will shoot their mouth off when they don't have all the information. I wish the penalty for that would be taking a course in BioPsychology. But my further thoughts on that are for another entry.

T and I had an incredibly full and fun weekend. Yesterday we gave blood. (Okay, maybe not that fun.) However, I was excited because sometimes my iron is too low to give and this time it was 14.1, whatever that means. Either way, it meant I could give, which is nice, because it's frustrating to drive all the way over there for nothing. Even if T does get to bleed. Always. It's disgusting. On Saturday we went to see The Hobbit again with my Mom, who liked it. I also got to geek out and tell the people behind us that the way the people in the Pacific Rim trailer controlled the suits was probably based on Evangelion. Friday night we took an eighteen-year-old to her first concert.


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