6:39 PM

The times they are a changin'

Broke the 40 minute mark today! Was red for more than 40 mins afterwards too. I'm now doing 3s and 2s - 3 min runs and 2 min walks. I'm still debating the Run for the Cure or holding off for the Halloween Howl...or doing both.

Most recent run: 3.1 miles (5k) in 39 mins 45 secs.

8:50 PM

An 8 yr old's perspective on what to look for in a husband

Tonight I called my nephew to wish him a happy birthday and to hear his excited description of his dirt bike and protective gear. While we were talking he told me that I should get a baby puppy; preferably a chocolate lab. When I explained that I couldn't be home to take care of a puppy because I had to work he said that then I should get married so that the husband could look after the puppy....because he wouldn't have a job for the first few days...

Part of me was concerned about why my nephew thinks that new husbands come without jobs but I set that aside to ask him a bit more about why I should have a husband. Some quotes from that discussion follow:

"I think you should marry a really nice guy this time."

Fair enough...I'd tend to agree with that. So I asked him more about what this guy should be like...

"He should be polite and have good manners. And he should have lots of money."

I suspect that the money requirement comes about because every time I am asked to come for a visit "right now!!" I explain that it costs a lot to come on the plane and that I have to work and can't just take holidays whenever I want because I wouldn't get paid or I wouldn't have a job for long.

So, excuse me while I go update my online dating profile:

Seeking very nice guy with husband potential. Must be polite and have good manners. Able to take time off to raise a puppy based on secure financial status and independent wealth.

....oh yeah, and good with precocious nephews.

6:39 PM

What are we running from?

Well I am back to the gym again after almost a week off...I was interrupted by a cold and the return of the dreaded shin splints. I really wish I knew how to get rid of those. The other thing I get part way through my run is a stitch in my side...suggestions for getting rid of either are welcome!

So now that I'm back at it, I think it's time to find a run - preferably a 5k run since that's what I work my intervals around completing. I just made the leap from 1 min runs and 2 min walks to 2 and 2s. My walks are at 3.8 mph and runs at 5.4...whatever that means. I generally do weights after I run mostly because I think I get a better run in that way but have heard that I should do my cardio last...like anything else fitness or nutrition related it seems to depend on who you ask.

There is this one http://www.arres.ca/mayors_race.htm which is coming up a little fast for my liking but would be doable at a less than stellar pace. Maybe at 3 and 2s? (that's 3min running and 2 min walk intervals)

And there is a 3k called The Halloween Howl http://www.events.runningroom.com/site/?raceId=3927

And last year the one I did was in early November and was the Jingle Bell run. It sleeted and snowed during the run so it was quite the initiation. My time was terrible but I was pleased to finish!

So...any takers to train for a 5k wherever you are?

I recommend the very funny book, The Non Runners Marathon Guide for Women by Dawn Dais. And no, I do not have marathon aspirations but her training schedule and Bridget Jonesesque diary entries are more motivating for me than a hard core coach.

Most recent run: 3.1 miles (5k) in 41 mins 30 secs.
Cool running gear: nada

8:38 PM

Camping take 2!

I headed out camping again this past weekend...most things in working order but a few more tweaks to make as always...it's a lot like the house really! This time I was losing the bumper on the trailer when I got there - you can kind of see the odd angle that the spare tire holder is at in my pic - I took the spare off to try to take the weight off and hoped bungy cords would hold on the 2.5 hr trip back on the QE2....there would be nothing like losing a 4x4 metal bumper in heavy highway traffic to put you on the news!

This time there were no services at the site, outhouses and only 2 coin op showers for I'd say 100+ sites. Pretty rustic as camping goes. On the other hand, the treed sites were really nice and there was a small beach with a nice lake.


Camping is different here...I've never been woken up in a MB campground to the sound of a loud generator. Alberta is like Texas...they like everything bigger and louder here. And motorized - you're nobody without a quad, dirtbike, snowmobile and 4x4 to take out into the quiet and pristine wilderness!

In other news, I have started back on the gym wagon. The first time was just plain awful. It is slowly improving...I need to fit back into some jeans again!

Most recent run: 3.1 miles (5k) in 42 mins 20 secs - and that's all 2 min walk and 1 min run intervals (with a few 2 min runs when I can manage it) which isn't where I want to be but the pace is decent to build on.

11:36 PM

It's a "transitional period" not a midlife crisis!

It is a truth universally acknowledged that when one part of your life starts going okay, another falls spectacularly to pieces. ~ Bridget Jones

Well I went to see a psychic the other night with a friend. Going for a coffee and movie would be much cheaper but it sounded like an interesting outing and I figured what the heck! She doesn't call herself a psychic...something more along the lines of energy flows and auras and a whole bunch of other terms which I had never heard and seemed like a nice woman who reminded me a bit of Loulou's mom.

As I listened to my friend's "reading" I was quite cynical and thinking that some of it seemed a bit vague to me although related to her - she was going back to school, she did have a child etc. When it came to my turn it was different than I expected...still a bit vague but very different from my friend's reading and pretty spot on in some ways. I'm not going to get into details but one of the things she talked about was that I was in transition in all of the areas of my life which was unusual for me. NO FREAKIN' KIDDING! In the past I've always joked that I can get 3 out of 4 areas of my life going well but there is always one area in flux or going crappily (I know it's not a real word but it works). And yet lately, it's like everything is up in the air - not lately as in the last few weeks, more like lately as in the last 12 months. Career, love life, home and friends/family.

I will say that I fought it initially. For a girl who seemingly chooses to change things up quite regularly (18 moves? 20 moves?) I can't say that I embrace change wholeheartedly. Change I can control or am choosing is one thing; change that happens to me....not my idea of a good time and I fight it kicking and screaming. Now however, I almost feel like I am settling in to letting what will be, be.

I mean after you find out your husband is a sociopath and find out all kinds of horrendous things, think you may not be able to hold onto your home and do but with a mortgage larger than anything you could ever imagine, work like a madwoman almost 24x7 and have your "I just want the best for you as your friend" boss punt you from your job, feel like you've lost touch with some friends and do not seem to be gaining many new ones, what can be next? At the very least the next things to come along have a much higher bar to reach to shock me.

Look, are you and Cosmo in on this together? Because every time I see you, you seem to go out of your way to make me feel like a COMPLETE idiot. And you really needn't bother: I already feel like an idiot most of the time anyway - with, or without the fireman's pole.

Who knew that not knowing could be so freeing?? And almost fun...I've gotten back to some renos - have a bit of a girly bedroom, considered selling to move to the city, considered moving further out for cheaper housing, wondered about living in the states, gone camping solo and been a curiosity in the campground, have been out on a few dates, stopped dating, continued to date online, sold the Aztek, bought a zippy little Mazda, drive too fast with the sunroof open and belting out 80s for the ladies, had a bit of a fling with a 23 yr old, lost a job I thought was my future and that consumed me, flirted badly with the 28 yr old at the Home Improvement Warehouse - now you know why I keep painting!, am now working a job which requires no after work hours concern from me and gives me every other Friday off for more pay, lost weight, gained weight, started another tattoo, considered buying a truck, considered buying a camaro, dreamt of winning the lottery (so I wouldn't have to choose between the truck or camaro), got my divorce papers and laughed when I saw that they were printed by a dot matrix printer, debated having a child, started researching adopting, thought about moving home, thought about digging in, wished someone would move out here, wondered if I could learn to surf this winter, and strangely through all of this am not feeling totally panicked that I have no definite plan or plans for any of it. And most days I am not sure I am really 36....I mean where did the last 10 yrs go?? I could use a do-over for some of it...

But she informs me that things are going to get clearer in the next 2 months. Of course, just when I was starting to feel comfortable in limbo!

Resolution #1: uggg - will obviously lose 20 lbs. #2: always put last night's panties in the laundry basket. Equally important: will find nice sensible boyfriend and stop forming romantic attachments to any of the following: alcoholics, workoholics, sexaholics, commitment-phobics, peeping toms, megalomaniacs, emotional fuckwits, or perverts.

11:40 PM

Toughest day in a while

Saturday....had to make a decision to put Moxy down. Strange how such a small cat filled a house.