athletic cool points

I posted about my lack of hydration causing me to not get to the level of athleticism that I wanted. (My sister did too, but I can't link because she had a weird stalkery creepy). We received recommendations on drinking water while running. I don't want to carry water, or hide it in my mailbox (even though I have done that), so that left me with getting a water belt, but oh, the dorkiness. Yesterday, Mr. P and I went out to do a 5K run and I realized that dorky or no, I was going to have to suck it up and get a water belt, athletic cool points be damned. It is hot here already, and honestly, it is STILL not that hot yet.

So we head to Academy Sports. I don't know that I have ever publicly decried my love for sporting good stores. And Academy Sports? In my opinion, the grand pubah of sporting good stores. The shoes, the camping stuff, the boating stuff, even the fishing stuff. I love looking at it all. Well, right as you walk in there are the displays of the cutest.workout.stuff.ever. and I always say to Mr. P, "I think at the end of the summer I will fit into said cutest.workout.stuff.ever." Yesterday, on a whim, I went to the $4.98 rack. There was an XL Nike running top that had potential. I told Mr. P to walk away as I was about to be embarrassing and I proceeded to pull it on OVER the clothes I was wearing. Guess what?

+200 athletic cool points for wearing a LEGIT running top, that in Mr. P's words, "Doesn't look that bad". (In his defense I said, "Not my best look, but it fits.")

(Please ignore my 4 month old picture organization project that has set up permanent residence on the dining room table).



Now, do you see the silvery-grey belt? That is my Ironman Hydration Belt. Check out the view from behind...that glowy part is the little purse thing, then there are water bottles on either side that are holstered and you can pull them out and drink whilst running. yikes.

- 700 athletic cool points for wearing a fanny pack with water bottles to run 3.1 miles.

I head to the park to attempt a 5K, knowing full well that I am 500 athletic cool points in.the.red. Noone else running had even a water bottle, let alone a double holster. One dude didn't even have an iPod--how hardcore is he?

But guess what? I was able to complete my 5K...every K or so, I whipped a water bottle from it's holster and took a drag. I completely warded off cotton mouth.

I decided that diminished athletic cool points are WAY LESS important than diminished chances of dying of dehydration. In that spirit, I am awarding myself 1,000 athletic cool points for getting out there and running 5K before I went to work. OH. and I have moleskin on a 'tender spot' on my foot, that adds 50 athletic cool points.

So overall, I am in the black on athletic cool points: 550 athletic cool points.

I am bad ass. Yeah motherfuckers, I have a water holster and I don't care who knows it.

twenty years

twenty years.
two hundred forty months.
one thousand and forty weeks.
seven thousand three hundred and five days.

Wow, I have been married for seven thousand three hundred and five days, which FYI is 50.32% of all the days since I was born. Yes, I did figure that out in Excel.

Changing Mindset

For any of you who picked up running (okay, let's be honest JOGGING) for the primary purpose of weight loss, how have you gotten over the hump and turned that into running to be an athlete? I ask because I am a consistent 4K'er. I have done 5K's, but find myself in the last two weeks stopping short, since that still is enough for pretty good calorie burn. My latest 'excuse' is cotton mouth, I am seriously thirsty after 2K and by 4K it is ridiculous, I can barely swallow. It seems a tad ridiculous to have to strap on a water belt for freaking 5K, but it has gotten HOT, and I am a pretty sweaty person when I exercise. For you super running chicks, do you stop your time if/when you have to stop to drink water? I know in a road race that all counts, but to figure out your pace? Or to have your Nike girl happier?

Speaking of weight loss, I took my Fat Test this morning, and somehow I dropped .8 lbs, to get my score to a 87.23%! I have been skating by on my merits the past couple of weeks, and it is time to get back in the business of changing my life for the healthy, healthy, healthy good. This week, Mr. P and I are going to add a spinning class to our repetoire. (Mr. P got to choose this addition, I chose Body Pump, which we are sticking with as well!) I am looking forward to a new workout.

In other Fatty News, in December I signed up to take part in the Biggest Loser Blog Edition, and today was my final weigh in for that challenge (which started two weeks before I started taking my Fat Test). During the challenge I lost 37 lbs in 16 weeks, and found a great new set of bloggers that have the same struggles that I do, and I think that has made a huge difference this go around.

recovering

Last week was an emotional rollercoaster. After getting the great news Monday, we celebrated. After the horrific Wednesday, we commiserated and mourned and we have moved to the recovery phase. Some of you may think I have gotten to the recovery stage too soon...honestly, I just can't do the sad thing for very long, I can do it DEEP and FAST and DEEP again, but I don't have the stamina to sustain. I loved my dog. I hate that she is gone, I had her for 38% of my life, and it is weird not having her around now. I have read and re-read my post about her and all of your wonderful, comforting comments and cried at least once every day, until today. Today I remembered that she also used to sleep in the bathtub, (we figure it was the only place she could keep cool in our tiny Texas duplex), and I smiled.

During all of this, I didn't count points and kind of fell apart from a health perspective. I tried to make some healthier choices (I drank Michelob Ultra and ate veggie pizza, mmm. Not buying those as the 'healthier choices' ? yeah. so anyway...), and I managed to get out and run 3 times. I provided myself with excellent rationales the whole.week. Even until just TWO minutes ago when I had a 100 Calorie pack of Orea Cakesters and some fruit snacks even though I am not hungry. I just wanted it, and damn it, insert excuse here, I am going to have it.

I am mad at myself now that all those other emotions aren't in there to fuck with me, it is going to suck to have to lose the same weight AGAIN next week that I lost last week, but that is the way the Oreo Cakesters crumble.

On a related, but sort of completely different note: Thanks for being there for me. My sister is great support, and Mr. P rocked as well, but my Dad, well, he wrecked his truck, and my mom, well, she let me talk for 4ish minutes before we talked about her dog that died (which for my mom is actually quite good), so it was really, really amazing to know that there were 28 people across the world who felt bad that Nala died with me. I switched to Google Reader during my crappy days, because I wanted to read, but didn't have the words to comment other than, "thanks for saying you were sorry my dog died" and that was getting pretty depressing, even though really, really thanks for saying that.

Some of you did some pretty cool things that I loved reading about, even when I was feeling pretty sorry for myself:

Bea, I LOVED that you decked out as Batman and friends...that 5K time was rocking. AND, I have a picture of me and Mr. P with Rick Perry outside our duplex. Seth McKinney (TAMU center) lived next door and his dad and the gov were BFF.
Ashley, those crepes look SO good, and I am so happy for you that the little brother called to tell you about his successes, that means a lot.
Kilax, I hope I get to the point where I need to refuel with Jelly Bellies, not oxygen! What do you do about water? I am parched after 2K every.single.time.
Nilsa, it is really cool that you got out there and helped in that neighborhood...I need to get involved like that, and thanks for the reader tutorial.
Tara, your garden makes me GREEN with envy. I love it. LOVE it. AND, thanks so much for the commercial, it made me laugh.
Tracy, I love your photo comparisons, it is crazy how time goes by so fast.

Look how presumptuous I am that these bloggers will actually read this post...now it is kind of making me nervous and antsy that I am being too presumptuous. There are many more comments I want to share, and other bloggers did some cool stuff too, and I plan on spending some time tomorrow catching up with everyone.

I needed the time away, but I missed you guys!

my dog

my dog died today. my dog who was always the sidekick, never the main dog and never seemed to care. my dog who ate out of the catbox every. single. day. my dog who dug for chipmunks, always determined, yet never successful. my dog who loved sleeping under a Christmas tree so much, we started leaving our silver tree up year round for her. my dog that was so sheddy, that to vacuum the living room we had to empty the cannister. TWICE. my dog who was supposed to have an inner ear disorder, but really had tumors. my dog who would lay on anything you left on the floor; a towel, a sock, a plastic tablecloth:

the universe does NOT want us to take holiday.

Tonight after I finished cooking dinner and had called the boys to get their plates, I saw that Mr. P was getting paper towels and a plastic bag...he was cleaning up dog poop. Our older dog pooped on the floor and she NEVER does that. Then she staggered away, and when I checked on her, her eyes were twitching back and forth and she was tilting her head and panting. After we ate, I was afraid she was in pain, so we took her to the vet school emergency room. I was sure it was over for her. I was crying, Mr. P was trying to comfort me, but he was scared too, and it sucked.

The prognosis is canine peripheral vestibular syndrome. This is GOOD news. Nala (yeah, we got her the summer that Lion King came out) is staying over night at the vet school and will see a doggie neurologist in the morning to confirm the diagnosis. We really want this diagnosis to be correct, as the other choices are cancer or brain tumor and she is 15 years old.

We had just decided on a quick trip to Disney to celebrate our anniversary since Vegas got cancelled for a sick boat. Now Disney is cancelled for a sick dog.

I think the universe is telling us to stick close to home.

message received. will do.

7-2

7 FOR me making progress towards promotion and tenure. 2 not.* YAY!!!! This is the first positive vote I have ever gotten. There was even mention that it is likely that I am the *best* researcher in the department. Still some moaning and groaning about my teaching evaluations that are in the 'good' to 'very good' range (opposed to 'very good' to 'excellent'), but overall, people are ready to give me tenure. AND nobody made a motion to have me fired (like they did last year, where THREE people supported that plan). Whew. What a freaking relief!

You guys rock at the good thought delivery. I owe ya big time.

*(The two NOs are dudes that I bowed up against years ago and they are not. letting. it. go.)

100%

NO, NO. Not a 100% on my Fat Test, I got a 87.52% (down another 2.4lbs) on that, but a 100% on my wellness meter. It took a week, but I am back to good as new. No more Sicky McGoo.

On Wednesday I decided I was over being sick, and if maybe I could try some mind over matter. I was still feeling not so great on Wednesday but tried a jog. I got about halfway and thought death was imminent. On Thursday, I did two mile jog, that went okay. Then I went to Body Pump, the first half went really well, the second half....not so much. Then Friday we headed out camping, and I felt pretty decent, with some sniffles. Saturday, a little better. Yesterday, I did a 2.25 mile jog, and Body Pump and they felt GREAT.

So thanks for all the well wishes on feeling better! They worked.

Now, if I could impose just a bit more...today is the "meeting" of the mucky mucks on pre-deciding my tenure fate. I did manage to get acceptance number 8 last week, but still have some unresolved issues on acceptance number 7, so haven't gotten too excited. It might just have to be a 7 replacement. So, if your brain is spare a few thoughts for whatever reason, how about a positive thought this way? I should get the official word by the end of this week.

float plan.

When I took the boating safety course you have to take to get your license, I learned that one rule of good sense is to file your float plan with a friend or neighbor so in case you don't return, they know where to dredge the lake to find your skeleton.

I figured I would just tell you guys...we are headed out on the boat. We have packed up our camping gear, some yummy (and point friendly) camping food, some water proof cards, the radio to listen to tunes and the Braves game, and we are just about ready to head out. If I don't check in by Sunday...come find my skeleton. (My kids and sister read this, they will know where to send the skeleton dredging boat.)

OH, but before we left, I wanted to thank you all for your outrage over the fatty bashing by the airlines, and advice regarding my lunch date. At this point I am leaning towards going to the lunch....Mr. P wants me to go and "get closure"...read, flaunt what we have done with ourselves.

Yes, the high road.

ETA: No need to call 1-800-Skl-eton, we made it home safe and sound. Had a perfect 24 hours on the lake...we saw a regatta, pretty fancy, and a scorpion, not so fancy. Going out now to buy candy, soda and pizza for our kiddos...tonight is prom night and the highschool kid didn't really want to go, so the college kid is hosting a 'dance party' for him. We are providing the refreshments!

I don't want to get bumped.

This article has my guts in turmoil. I thought I was afraid to fly before, now I am petrified.

What if the attendants look at me and KICK ME OFF THE AIRPLANE?

I have no flight scheduled until the end of July, but even at a good rate of loss, I will not be a waif at that point. Now, not only do I have to worry about dying in a fiery crash, but I might die of embarassment when I get asked to buy two tickets, or made to wait for a whole other flight.

Don't get me wrong, I know that my size should not infringe on the rights of other people. I get that. It isn't the policy that I don't like...it is the realization that I may be an example of why they wrote the policy in the first place that kind of takes a cheap shot to the ego.

Let's do lunch

Last night I got a Facebook email from one of my college roommates stating that she has found our other roommates (there were 5 of us in an apartment), and that three of us live within 90 miles, with me living smack dab in the middle. She wanted to know if I wanted to do lunch with this geographical trio in the next couple of weeks. um. I dunno.

What seems to be the quandry? First, let's give everyone a name. I will be HP, we will let Mr. P stay Mr. P, the finder of roommates will be Media, and the third of the geographical trio will be Engineer. I was clever and used their jobs/majors as their names. I am swift like that.

The last words Engineer said to me 20 years ago was, "I said you could have DINNER with him, not MARRY him." Then I think she may have called me something that rhymes with bore. or kitch. or flut.

I must admit, mine and Mr. P's beginnings were less than auspicious. Engineer had a friend visiting from her home town. They went out to a local bar where visiting friend picked up a young, young Mr. P, and they brought him to my apartment, where I proceeded to kick him out, because he was a Stranger and all. He sat outside on the steps until they were tired of arguing with me and took him back to the Air Force base.

The next weekend, Engineer started hanging out with Mr. P. So he was around. Over break (when Engineer had gone home, and I stayed to work), Mr. P called me every.day. to ask me for Engineer's home phone number. EVERY.DAY. Then after a week of that, he asked me out. At this point he was kind of growing on me, and he wanted to provide me dinner. I was a poor college kid, so I figured, what the hell, I wanted to go have some dinner. Engineer was in her home town so I called her, and she said, "You know, that would be doing me a favor...I don't really have time for him."

When she came back to school 6 weeks later, Mr. P and I were a done deal. Engineer was NOT pleased. Then about 2 months later, I was knocked up, and we decided to get married. Engineer was even LESS pleased, and the aforementioned conversation took place.

Now Media and Engineer want us all to have lunch. I am sure I don't I want to, because I have seen Engineer kiss my husband, and that kind of skeeves me out. I like to pretend he was all virginy when I met him, and that he has only EVER had eyes for me. Even more twisted, I prefer to think Mr. P fell in love with me at birth (even though I wasn't born for two more years, and we didn't meet until I was 19 and he was 21). whatever. Sometimes, like right now, I wonder if it is all insecurities bound up in all this fat I am carrying around.

Engineer and I were roommates, but never really "friends", so I haven't missed her, but Media really wants this to happen. Would you go?

Also, am I the only nutball that cares about the "priors"?

(As an aside, I know I am ridiculous, Mr. P loves me, and really, as soon as we met, he was pretty much mine for the taking, but still.)

Hotch Potch of Sucktitudery

The dream of being neighborhood BFF's with my sister was officially crushed today when the flake out lady who owns the house that WE.PAID.A.DEPOSIT. on decided NOT to rent it out afterall.

She called me yesterday and asked for my latest credit report and my tax return (even though I already showed her my W-2). I left her a voicemail saying I wasn't totally comfortable handing all that over to an individual, but call me back so we could work it out. No call back. Mr. P called her this morning. No call back. Mr. P rode by there today to see if she was there and called her. She finally called back and said, yeah, it is too much to hire a management company, and I don't want to EVER come back here, so I am going to sell it. Mr. P said, what are you asking for it? She didn't know. whatever. I feel like I want to push the issue...I gave her a deposit. We had an agreement. YOU MUST RENT IT TO ME. But then again, she is such a flake, I am not sure I even believe she will have moved out by the time I need to move in, so we are probably better off. But I already picked out the furniture. bitch.

Mr. P is on his way to pick me up, there are two other possibilities that we will look into. One has a pool but is more rent than we are paying now, and they aren't sure about pets, so boo to them. The other only has one bathroom, and is already potentially rented to some girl. Super boo to that.

I am still feeling like crap, and I JUST sat through a meeting that started like this:

Professor A: I don't care what anyone says, he is a communist.
Professor B: A terrorist for sure.

Me: (worried something happened this morning while I was watching Friends DVDs and sleeping off my DayQuil) Who?

A&B (in unison): The president.

Me: Of?

A&B: THE U.S.

Me: (in my head) Fuck. Why do I even WANT to live here?

PLUS, I know I am sick, and have a flaky red nose from all the blowing, and watery gooey eyes, but damn, Chick Fil A, I thought you thought I was special.

sickadoodle

I woke up early, early on Easter morning with a dreaded cold. I am stuffy, sore throat, body achey. It is the type of sick where it is feasible to function, but miserable to do so. I am working on getting my shit together to go teach today. I can't take any medication, makes me too fuzzy, and I am teaching querying today, so I need to be able to think. I kind of wrecked Easter for my family, I never even put my contacts in...and if you know me, I ONLY wear my glasses for the 30 minutes I am awake each night after I take my contacts out.

I was hesitant to take my Fat Test today, because after Saturday's 5K (39:38!!!!), I was NOT on my best food behavior. Yesterday I had 7 Laffy Taffy's, 1 Cadbury Egg, and a half a box of Velveeta Shells and Cheese. NOT healthy, healthy, healthy.

Somehow though, I lost 3 lbs, which puts my Fat Test score at 88.39%!

I am aware that I am going to be seeing the repurcussions of the weekend in a day or so, so I am back on my best healthy behavior. (Doesn't hurt that I have no appetite due to the afore mentioned cold).

Friday Hotch Potch

Last month I went and checked out a rental house for my sister and happened upon another rental property .1 miles away. Yesterday we went and looked at it, and it is pretty cute, and we took it. It felt naughty...like Mr. P and I were preparing to shack up...we picked out a house based ONLY on what we want and need, with no regards to school zone, bedroom size (except master), etc. We have only lived alone together for 5 months...the 5 months from when we got married until when the college kid made her appearance. I picked up the highschool kid from school right after we made the decision and he had his cap and gown and graduation invitations. Things are happening so so fast.

Mr. P and I took the day off today. We went out to lunch, then watched Slumdog Millionaire and Marley & Me. Afterwards, we decided we wanted to make taco salads for dinner so we headed to the store. Today was the first day since embarking on this healthy, healthy, healthy journey that I have really, really wanted sweets. Everything just looked so damn good, cookies, candy, cake, pies, candy, candy, candy. It was brutal. I seriously debating skipping dinner and eating an ENTIRE jar of marshmallow fluff. I went so far as to calculate the points (15, by the way). I was serious. It was bad. So bad that while we were in line I decided I better chew a piece of Extra gum to help with the cravings. Mr. P was standing ahead of me and he turned around and saw me chewing. He said, "WHAT are you eating?" I said, "Extra gum." He started laughing and said, "Man, I thought you were eating a candy bar."

To try to curb my cravings, I baked an angel food cake and subbed crushed pineapple for the water. I made a mixture of blackberries, strawberries and blueberries, and will top it all off with Cool Whip. I hope it works.

A new donut shop opened and it isn't that far off the 5K route we are doing tomorrow morning. I would hate it if I got "lost".

and so. we wait.

I just turned in my 'book'. It is a 3-ring binder that contains all my course syllabi, grade distributions, student evaluations, publications and working papers. Over the next few weeks the 11 people in my department who have tenure will peruse it, then will cap off said perusals with a very closed-door, hush-hush, secret squirrel meeting to discuss those of us who do not have tenure. The tenured will then vote on whether they think us untenured are making satisfactory progress towards getting the tenure. Then, in a month or so, I will have a meeting with my department head and I will get the 'results'. Let me tell you, I so feel for those American Idol contestants...just TELL ME ALREADY.

So now I am a bit shakey and my insides are mush. You know what the fun part is? This is just the 'prelims'. I put together my 'book' for realz in September.

Now that I have turned it in, there is nothing left to do but wait. So, OrangeUGladys and I are about to head out to jog around campus and try to remember why I ever thought academia was a good idea.

Broken.

First the boat broke, now my iPod.

I have become diehard when it comes to my scheduled runs, and on Sunday, that bit me in the ass. I started a jog, and the bottom dropped out and I got soaked...and so did my iPod. MintyLou was fine when I got back inside, then yesterday morning...nada...the damn thing would not. turn. on. I ended up having to jog my 1.25 miler prework workout without any music. oh man. It bit.

I wish I could say I was more upset that I broke it. I have been not so secretly lusting after the new orange iPod nanos. I look at them, and smile at them, and lust after them everytime I see them. It is downright obnoxious. I am Apple's target market...I LOVE their gadgets. I kept thinking...if MintyLou doesn't recover, I probably can get a new one...



After work yesterday Mr. P picked me up so that we could go watch the college kid present her research at an undergrad research forum. It was pretty neat. There are these salamanders that field guides say are "identical" and her research demonstrates that in fact, that is not the case. Tonight we go back to see if she won an award. That would be cool. (ETA: SHE TOTALLY WON her division. A plaque and $100!)



But, back to iPods. When I got in Mr. P's truck, look what he had for me:

Let me introduce you to my new jogging/gym BFF: OrangeUGladys. I love her. We did a 5K earlier today, and I think I ran a bit faster with her latched onto my arm.

I have learned my lesson. If in the future I insist on rainy jogs, I will stuff OrangeUGladys into my bra for safekeeping!

What a difference a week makes.

Since Monday is Fat Test day...I took it...AND

I let my A in being a Fat Fat McButterFat slip away, and I scored a mere 89.49%!! Apparently the chip I carried around on my shoulders all of March weighed in at about 3.8lbs. Which if you recall, is more weight than I lost all of March. ALL. OF. MARCH.

Other differences between last Monday and today?

~My house is CLEAN. company. clean. organized. awesome.
~Mr. P and I got our groove back.
~I am back to getting work done, real, solid work.

This is in spite of two bits of news that could have derailed the whole damn thing:

1. A test they asked me to do for my 'conditional acceptance' did not turn out well. NOT good news. Could potentially trash my whole paper. I did a mini-freak out, but after I took a quick jog! and thought it through, I realized I don't think I did it quite right, and I am not convinced it is actually the right test to run. Still has me a bit unnerved, but I can't truly believe one statistical test stands between me and tenure. If it does, then this is not the school for me anyhow.

2. Boatie is pretty sick. And it is going to be expensive to get her fixed. So...we trashed our plans for an AnniVEGASary. We hit the big 2-0 this month, and we were going to fly to Vegas and renew our vows. Really it is a no-brainer for us...4 days in Vegas, or all summer of boating?

Well, I better get going and get a quick run in before I head to work...I still have a BUNCH of failing to be fat to do!!

Just sit right back...

...and I will tell you a tale, of our boat conking out in the middle of the lake today. The first three hours out on the water were amazing. We road around, we anchored and read magazines and listened to music. I even jumped in for a "polar bear swim", the water was 62.5 degrees, which was invigorating for the 30 seconds I was in the water!

We were headed to the island we self-named (where we typically camp) to see what changes occured over the winter, and all of a sudden, she shuddered (the boat), and quit. Mr. P tried a few things, figured out what was wrong, knew he couldn't fix it, and we called for a tow. It was sad leaving our baby boat at the lake, but she had to stay to see the boat doctor tomorrow. We came home, and now Mr. P is on his way back to the lake to cover her up since we are supposed to have another bout with rainy weather.

This incident made me really appreciate how attitude makes a world of difference. When my dad had a boat if it broke down he got all freaked out and everyone got tense because he was so upset...it was awful. Today, while I knew Mr. P was upset, (he thinks if the boat breaks he has let me down), I just told him..."You know we had a great couple of hours, and if she were going to break, better it be just us, with nowhere to be, and money in the glove box to cover a tow." He agreed. So instead of sitting around tense and upset, we soaked up some sun and listened to music during our time anchored waiting for the tow, then enjoyed our ride back across the lake.

The boat would be broken either way, but because we both stayed positive, the day will go down as a very, very good one. I am a little sunburnt, a little tired from all the air, and very, very much liking April way more than March!

ETA: I called my sister because I thought it was funny that we both commented on another blog at the exact same time, and she asked me how boating was now that I have lost some weight. It was crazy the difference that 25 pounds made. My booty fit in the captain's chair, AND after my swim I pulled myself right back up into the boat without needing Mr. P to pull me in!

I am kind of easy

The people at Chick Fil A really dig me. Tomorrow, I hope my sticker says, "Awesome".