Sunday, December 28, 2008

Changes

"Step, step, side to side"

Small steps, derriere under.

"Round and round. Dip and Glide."

Breathe in through the nose two steps; out through the mouth for two more.

"Separate. Bring it back."

Relax the shoulders.

"Now let me see you do the love slide."

Keep the arms in close.

Sadly enough, it was R. Kelly rather than J.T carrying me through mile three tonight.

The focus on form though has been the theme of each run I have been on since re-entering my own little jog world. I have realized one thing, that pre-hip mess there was no thought into form. It was natural, easy and part of my routine. No conscience effort was required.

So, through hard work, determination and practice my approach to workouts will change. I will grow and change. Less focus on the form and more focus on the function of what I am doing. Once the form becomes emeshed into my runs again, then I can start to grow and change in other areas like pace and distance. Are you starting to pick up on the repeated use of the word change here?

Recently, I was challenged by someone with the view that "people don't change. We are who we are and there is nothing that can be done about it." Mind you, in nearly the same breath this person explained to me that I had changed drastically over the past several months.

But, for a moment I would like to get on my soapbox. Everyone is capable of change. We change and grow continually in our lives. If we aren't growing and changing, then we become stagnant, boring people.

Now, I will agree that change is uncomfortable for many and not usually an easy thing to endure. But, it does happen. And sometimes, just sometimes, you might be pleasantly surprised that the growing pains endured results in a growth in our lives that is immeasurable. But, we have to be willing and open to the effort required.

So, I will continue to diligently sing my running song like so:

Breath in through the nose for two. Out through the mouth another two.

"I know one things for sure..."

Derriere under. Small steps.

"...I'm gonna put on my dancin shoes tonight."

Tighten the core. Shoulders down and relaxed.

"...then I'mma hit the door. And go out and step the whole night through."

and know that one day, I can get back to running along to the pace of J.T. serenading me with Sexy Back without having to other focusing on anything but how I am really bringing sexy back!

Back in the game

So, I've been a little checked out for the past couple of weeks. But, I am slowly coming back around and getting back in the game. Tonight I feel strong! Well, I felt strong a little earlier when I got back from a fantastic run. After 9 long months of waiting I am finally able to pull out the sports bra and lace up the tennies. In March the doc told me I had a "femoral neck stress fracture" which is fancy for a really screwed up hip. All in all it involved a lot of pain, sleepless nights and pent up frustration and stress. And over the ocurse of the last 9 months I used it as an excuse to become blatently lazy. The legs are jello. The core is soft and a little larger than a few months ago. And just when I thought the stamina would be amiss, I go for a little run.

Ten, twenty, thirty minutes go by and I was still going. YES!

You see, I have this love/hate relationship with running. (More so pre-hip mess since absence truly does make the heart grow fonder) Most of the 'hate' part stems from building endurance. It's hard work. And I am not sure sometimes how much I really enjoy the hard work. But the past couple of runs I have had have really surprised me. Stamina does not fade as fast as muscletone and strength apparently. Praise God! I'm not pulling off any marathons anytime soon. But, possibly a 5K in the near future.
Post jog. Feeling strong.



Wednesday, December 3, 2008

Oh Christmas Tree...

...Oh Christmas Tree, how faithful are thy branches.

I put up my Christmas tree Monday. It is an artificial tree that was purchased on a bargain about 5 years ago. For whatever reason, I continue to put myself through the agony of putting this monstrosity together every year all in an effort to save money. Well, of course, it is a beautiful tree and I truly enjoy it all once it's done. But, I love real trees too. And I say every year, "next year I am going to retire this thing and get a real tree."

So, Monday morning at 8am I head up to attic and take down the bare center pole that look much like the erected center pole of the Aggie bonfire. Then I managed to lug down 4 big plastic tubs full of branches for the tree. No, I do not have one of those artificial trees in three parts that slips together nicely with the lights strung ever so perfectly. Can you start to feel my pain yet?

About 9am, I begin the process of putting the branches on the tree. Each row of branches requires the necessary fluffing and stringing of lights before going to the next row of branches. The years have taught me that this is the best strategy for tackling this thing. At noon, I put the last top of the tree on and string the 12th and final strand of lights.

I also added these new little red things that I purchased this year at a great little discount Christmas warehouse treasure in Dallas. Once applied to my tree, I just kept thinking of ballet tutus. Not the image I saw in the store that screamed "buy me!" Your thoughts are welcome on these, because I'm still not so sure about them.

Later in the evening, Griffin helped me add the rest of the decorations and we basked in the glory of our beautifully decorated tree, admiring our handiwork and reminiscing about all of the special ornaments and storied behind each one.



Now for the kicker. On Tuesday afternoon, I turned the lights on to show a friend and enjoy the ambiance for a little while as I was preparing to entertain a multitude of ladies with dinner and an ornament exchange. I left the room for a brief period and then walked back and noticed the entire tree was dark, no lights. Zip. Zero. Not a single strand was working.
Immediately I fall to my knees and crawl behind the tree to fiddle with the switch and plug at the outlet. Contemplating how this could have happened. It is quite a feat to manage plugging in so many lights each year without overdoing it and burning out a fuse or something. But, after several years I just thought I knew all of the tricks to prevent any issues from occurring.

Needless to say, my tree was dark for the ornament exchange. And as I sit here and type this and stare at it, I am severely bummed about the lack of brilliance that only comes with the twinkling little lights.



No lights. Bummer. My dilemma now is do I attempt to fix it? Undertaking that endeavor just exhausts me to think about it, but I can't imagine no lights for the next three weeks!

Tuesday, December 2, 2008

"Snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes.."

Today is my last day to be off of work from the Thanksgiving holidays. My mini-vacation hasn't consisted of much more than hanging out around the house and catching up on some much needed cleaning. But, I did get the Christmas tree up which is quite a chore definitely to be elaborated on in the very near future . I actually feel like my brain has returned to some sense of normal functioning power since the test last Friday. For a couple of days, I was very worried. There were serious verbal malfunctions occurring like grammatical errors, inability to complete a thought in a sentence, insane amounts of discouraging words and a severe overuse of strong and very profane words. But, alas sentences are flowing more freely and correctly and my thoughts and words are much softer. Getting back to normal feels so good.



In light of the season and a request from my sister, I am adding a list of things I 'heart.'. Not my normal thing to do for the family, but here goes:

My kitchen cabinets would look so great with these knobs and pulls.

And dinners would taste so much better when served in these dishes.

I tried this coat on the other day and fell in love with it. And nothing beats a great pair of basic black wool pants.

Of course, these are my favs, but these look comfy too.

Love running in these shorts and a monitor like this one would have me running with a smile on my face.

Fell in love with this dress the other day. And it could be finished off with this shade of color perfectly, except I'm out.

This clock for the kitchen would keep me on time, along with this one for the bedroom.

Sipping on this, this or this from these (or these might be more practical) makes a fine ending to a long day while watching a favorite movie or two.

My dentist truly loves the oral care provided by my current toothbrush, but it's a little worn and outdated. The new and improved version would be a fun bonus.

And these fun little clips will help keep my charms in place on one of my very favorite bracelets.

I could go on and on forever with things that I adore and think I need or just would love to have. But most of all if I could just have a visit from Mr. Cool Weather, some fantastic, warm food and be surrounded by my family laughing and making memories, I would be set. Have a feeling that wish will come true!