Knocks Me Off My Feet

There's a new world record for the marathon. 2:03:59.

I can't even imagine going that fast. I've seen how awesome the elites look when they run, absolute poetry in motion, but to have the world record time for a marathon is just incredible.

Yesterday's song:
Lemonade - Blind Melon



PEACE

(photo - Washington Post)

Lemonade

So...
If life gives you lemons, you make lemonade.

If life gives you chocolate cake you...


...have an impromptu Chargers party and re-celebrate my son's birthday with more friends... Of course this called for a trip to the store for more beer, mixers and more food to grill. We went from just the 5 of us to about 20 before the first half of the game. The Chargers won the game.

It was a great day.

We still have chocolate cake left over. There was a lot of cake.


Friday's song:
Orange - 10,000 Maniacs




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Orange

Yesterday's song:
Tangled Up In Blue - Bob Dylan

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Tangled Up In Blue

Last night my husband and I went on the Gallery and Wine Walk. It's an annual event in La Jolla and somewhat like an open house for participating art galleries. Wine is served at each art gallery, and food at some, which makes for a more relaxing and happy stroll through downtown La Jolla. We even ran into several people we knew, such as the stretch coach from our track club, long time friends, and a few of my husband's business contacts. One of my favorite galleries on the route was the Morrison Hotel Gallery, a "Fine Art Music Photography Gallery." I've been there a few times before, but it's always fun to look. There are some great candid and composed photos of music legends and bands, many from the 1960's and 1970's, such as Joni Mitchell, Jimi Hendrix, Robert Plant, Bob Dylan, Tom Petty, The Doors, and so on. I also enjoyed strolling through the other art galleries and appreciating art in its many forms. It was a great evening to get away for a few hours and forget about the leaky the water heater and the state of our
economy.

EDIT

Activity:	Walk
Date:	09/26/08 10:58 AM
Distance:	3.35 miles
Time:	0:59:02
Speed:	3.4 mph
Pace:	17' 39 min/mile
Calories:	315

Yesterday's song:
Jalapeno - Big & Rich - Katiefeldmom



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Jalapeno

I made Mexican Chicken Soup and Jalapeno Cheddar Corn Bread for dinner tonight. I just happened to be watching The Barefoot Contessa and realized I had all the ingredients for that particular meal, so I made it. I like recipes that you can sort of use what you have on hand. I did cheat with the Jalapeno Cheddar Corn Bread, though, and used a mix, and added the jalapenos, cheese and green onions. It was still yummy. Yes, I'm not supposed to have dairy, but I had a tiny piece with a lactaid tablet. I would consider the soup relatively clean when it comes to macro nutrients, ratios, and such, but the yummy cornbread blew everything off track. It's OK, though. A little splurge now and then is a good thing.

Yesterday's song:
Mixed Bizness - Beck

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Mixed Bizness

I met with the endocrinologist this morning to review my tests. Everything came back normal, but due to the type of injury I've endured, they're suggesting I go on a medication to help build bone for a couple of years as a preventative measure. Before I start the meds, they need to do one more test, and I think that will be it, unless that test comes back abnormal.

Yesterday my son mentioned that he had a pretty good birthday. We went out for sushi and he had his first legal beer, the Chargers won, he went out with a friend and ended up showing some big and burly college guys how to change their flat tire (my son is a stick, so that made him feel all strong), and made it home early enough for cake and the obligatory song.

Back to reality... Our relatively new water heater is leaking... a lot.

Yesterday's song:
Angel Of The Morning - Juice Newton - Barbie2be



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Angel Of The Morning

21 years ago ... It was 2 AM, pouring rain, thunder and lightning caused power outages through out the city, and I go into labor. 4 hours later (and no drugs) I had a son. He was two weeks late, and went right to sleep after he was born. Today is my son's 21st birthday! Since he has a full load of college courses and it's a Monday, there won't be any big drinking and shenanigans. He's not a big drinker/shenanigans guy, though. He mentioned something about wanting to out for sushi with us tonight. By the way, he's still NOT a morning person.




Since a couple of you have asked, here a picture of the ring given to me by my husband's second cousin. It just occurred to me that it's about the same color as the September birth stone.






Yesterday's song:
No Complaints - Beck

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No Complaints

My husband's uncle and second cousin have been here for the past few weeks and return to Brazil tomorrow. I do have pictures of them, but every time I think to upload the photos, my husband has his camera and is not home.

We took my husband's relatives and parents out to dinner last night. I sat next to his second cousin. I was admiring a beautiful ring she had on. It's a cabochon, royal blue faux sapphire stone in a silver setting. It's very pretty. I had mentioned that the ring was lovely and she just smiled and nodded with an "obrigado," which means thank you in Portuguese. We went on about our dinner, conversation was lively. I managed to pick up bits and pieces of the stories being told. I know about 10 words in Portuguese and can understand tons more, but enough to get the gist of a conversation. After dessert, Michael's second cousin wanted me to hold out my hand. She put the ring I had admired on my index finger and said the ring was a gift for me. *GASP* I was floored. She said the stone symbolized peace, strength and foresight. I was rendered speechless. At first I thought she was just showing me the ring, but she insisted that it was for me. Of course I thanked her and kept saying "wow." I'm still saying "wow." What a sweet gesture!

Today was also the annual thunder boat races on Mission Bay. The sounds of the race boats resonated through out the neighborhood. It's sort of like NASCAR on the water. We could see a few of the boats in the distance as they raced by. This made for an exciting day for my grandson because "those boats go really, really, fast!" The loud roars of the thunder boats, uh, races resume tomorrow morning.

My son turns 21 on Monday. For his birthday he wanted a 2 day pass to Street Scene, September 19 & 20. For a few years it really wasn't held on the streets, but in stadium parking lots. This year it's back Downtown, on the streets. There's several stages with several bands scheduled to perform. My son was interested in seeing Beck, pictured here, but there's plenty to see and hear. My son mentioned that after one of the bands finished playing, the lead singer came up to him, shook his hand and said "thank you for rocking out!" Sorry, I can't remember which band it was, but my son thought that was pretty cool. Since my son turns 21 on a Monday, he has no plans to go out drinking. He has classes that day and I'm sure he has plenty of studying to attend to. Don't worry, I won't let his birthday go unnoticed. You know there's a cake to set a blaze, a song to be sung, and cake to eat. I just love celebrating birthdays.

Yesterday's song:
Atomic Dog - George Clinton and the Funkadelicks - Run-DMZ

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Atomic Dog

Activity: Walk
Date: 09/19/08 11:43 AM
Distance: 2.15 miles
Time: 0:42:26
Speed: 3.0 mph
Pace: 20' 00 min/mile
Calories: 197

More walking was on the plan today. Other than a lost dog who barked at me and didn't want any assistance, and passing by a few runners, it was pretty uneventful... But you know what? Uneventful can be a wonderful thing. Life is good.

My lab results are complete, and I have an appointment with the endocrinologist on Tuesday morning. I was able to view my results on-line, but I honestly have no clue what the numbers mean. They do show what a normal range is, and my results all appear to be with in that normal range, but there may be more to those numbers than I know.

Yesterday's song:
Walking On Sunshine - Katrina and the Waves - Be A Good One



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Walking On Sunshine

Thursday is half day at the elementary school and my day to pick up the grand kid. Since it was a gorgeous day, I decided it would be worth the extra effort to walk. The school really isn't that far, not quite 3/4ths of a mile. I figured I could do an out and back walk, and it wouldn't be too far for the grand kid, either. I know he can walk further than 3/4ths of a mile at one time. As we were walking home he kept questioning "how are we going to get home?" I just told him that we were walking. As we walked and turned down a street he commented, "my mommy doesn't go this way, she goes THAT way!" As we approached our house, he exclaimed "we made it!" Perhaps in the eyes of a 5 year old that is a long walk, especially since Disneyland or Sea World isn't involved. As for my walk, my stats looked like this:

Activity:	Walk
Date:	09/18/08 12:26 PM
Distance:	1.44 miles
Time:	0:27:37
Speed:	3.1 mph
Pace:	19' 21 min/mile
Calories:	136

The walking is getting a wee bit faster, but I wasn't going for speed since I had some time on my hands. It took less than 10 minutes to walk to the school, and longer to walk back with the grand kid in hand.

I've finally received some news about my DEXA or bone density test. My numbers are in the normal range for my age. I've also been referred to an endocrinologist. His assistant called me today and asked a zillion questions about my health and running history. She had my file and the basic information that I'm a marathon runner and was injured, perhaps while training. She also added that the doctor found my case interesting since I'm younger than most hip fracture patients, healthy, watch my nutrition and workout. You know what that means? More tests! (It's about time!) As soon as I could, I went down to the lab today and they took blood for more tests. The tests are varied, from thyroid tests, tests for wheat/gluten allergies, hormone levels, and so on. It feels good to finally deal with someone who can look specifically at my issues with a plethora of tests, and not just second guess. It's true that these tests could also be inconclusive, but the fact that they're finally testing me makes me somewhat happy.

By the way, I slept well last night!

Yesterday's song:
Hello Moonglow - Heart


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Hello Moonglow

It's already Wednesday, but just barely. I can't sleep at all. It's weird because all day yesterday I kept feeling like I wanted to crash, but I couldn't, due to having tons of miscellaneous things to do. Now I just can't ease into sleep. I have my Ipod plugged into my head so I don't disturb anyone. My mind just won't shut off and I can't relax. I'm even drinking a cup of Sleepy Time Tea. It's not working.

Tuesday evening I went to an estate sale. One of my friends asked me to go with her, and I obliged. The home is in my neighborhood and we didn't have that far to go. The sale wasn't exactly open at the time but the owner was just anxious to let go of whatever she could sell, so she opened the house to my friend. This was agreed upon earlier in the day, since my friend couldn't stay at the estate sale at the earlier times. As we were looking around at the stuff and some passive conversation with the owner, I found out that the owner and her family knew my grandparents, my father and his siblings. This house she now owns originally belong to her grandparents. Her grandparents were best friends with mine. I remembered their last name, but just vaguely. She remembered attending a holiday dinner at my grandparent's house and how big of a deal it was. I don't remember her, but my grandparents were always inviting various friends to our family holiday dinners. She remembered my uncles and my father very well. Oh, and to top things off, my friend was a student of my uncle. It's such a small world. As for the sale, I purchased a couple of yards of fabric for $5.00. My friend bought a bunch of stuff and spent way more than I did. I already have plenty of junk, er, stuff of my own that I should get rid of.

There's plenty of random thoughts going around in my head, keeping me from sleeping. These thoughts are not earth shattering, I just have plenty to think about.


Yesterday's song:
Just Because - Jane's Addiction

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Just Because

Photo taken by my son. Yes, those ARE his shoes.

Yesterday's song:
Bend and Snap - From Legally Blonde, The Musical

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Bend And Snap

I gave the New York City Ballet Workout a try today, and I feel so uncoordinated. (I was yelling at the TV monitor, "slow down, I didn't get that part yet!") The workout really isn't that difficult, but I'm still working on getting strength back in my leg and it doesn't want to cooperate the way it used to. I also had a hard time doing floor exercises that required being on my right side, and that was a little bit painful. This workout will be good for getting my hip flexors to move better, as they're still a bit tight. This workout will be a good precursor to getting back into weight training as well. I thought I could jump back into heavy duty weight training, but not at this time. Running will follow, too.

Yesterday's song:
We've Got A Big Mess On Our Hands - The Academy Is...

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We've Got A Big Mess On Our Hands

Not only does September mean the end of summer and the start of school, it means the kick off of birthday and holiday season in my family. I've attended 2 birthday parties this weekend, then my son turns 21 on Monday, and Tuesday is yet another birthday. Birthday season in the family and close friends circle goes from now until the end of January, then it tapers off a bit. I love celebrating birthdays.

I'm not sure what happened this weekend, but it looks like a tornado hit my house. It's a mess. I think what has happened is that my husband decided to take on some home projects, which is great, but he's not too good about putting everything back exactly the way it was. *sigh* Guess what I'll be doing tomorrow? Yep, putting away everything and hoping it will help burn off some cake calories from the weekend birthday celebrations.



Friday's song:
Searching - Mary J.Blige

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Searching

I'm in a quest to find some sort of workout plan I can do right now. I'm revisiting the New York City Ballet Workout. It was a birthday gift, but at that time I was about 3 1/2 weeks post op, still taking pain killers, and the music on the NYC Ballet Workout put me to sleep. The workouts aren't overly complicated, but I can honestly see how sticking with this workout for several weeks can result in a more toned body -- provided I follow a healthy and low fat nutrition plan. What I really want to be doing is serious weight training, but realistically, it's not in the cards in the moment. Working on poise, flexibility, posture and grace isn't such a bad thing. I'm hoping all that will help when I do get back into weight training.

Anyone else watching season 5 of Project Runway? This season my favorites are Stella, Leanne, and Korto. I was liking Kenley until the Avant-garde challenge, where she just wouldn't listen to the judges and became rather whiny while defending her design. It's kind of weird, but none of the guys stand out for me this year, although I sort of liked a few things Joe put together, such as the tight fitting jumpsuit for the drag queen challenge, and skort outfit in the Olympic challenge. It will be interesting to see who wins this season. Bravo has already posted pictures from the contestant's collections, and Leanne's collection is my favorite.





Yesterday's song:
The New Style - The Beastie Boys

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The New Style

I found a pink, gigantic men's t shirt in size 4X at Marshall's today. It cost a whopping $3.00. You could easily fit four of me in one of those t shirts. I bought the shirt with the intentions of restyling it into something else, like a skirt. There's plenty of fabric. I might be able to make two garments out of it. I also can't fathom a guy wearing this particular pink t-shirt, especially a 4x kind of guy. I guess that's why it was on the clearance rack. By the way, that's my daughter holding up the shirt. We're about the same height and size, just so you can get an idea of how big the shirt is.

Yesterday's song:
Spiders - Systems of a Down - Barbie2be

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Spiders

Spiders are industrious little creatures. I wiped spiderwebs and dust off of my grandson's outside toys just a few days ago, only to find spiderwebs on them again. This time I wiped off the webs and the spiders, hosed off everything, used soap, scrubbed and rinsed. Just so you know, spiders don't stick well to Dawn dish soap, and I used gloves, sticks, and long handled cleaning brushes. Even though spiders do have their place in our ecosystem, they just creep me out.

I was going through some pictures from the first cruise my husband and I went on. It was about 5 years ago, and I think that's at a turtle farm on Grand Cayman Island in the Bahamas. The thing that struck me is that I had some muscles going on in my arms, even though it doesn't show up in well the scanned picture. Where did my muscles go? There's always something to work on, and I know to get those arms back I need to do some heavier lifting. It's not gonna happen with high reps and low weights, which is all I can do right now. This picture got me thinking to how things were for me just 5 years ago. I was physically in the best shape of my life, and probably the most healthy I had ever been. I'd like to get back to that point again, preferably before 50, which is just about 9 months away. The whole injury/surgery thing really set me back. Prior to all of that, I was doing OK. I know I had things to work on, but I felt good. I'm not sure what steps I'll take to get back on track, but I know I need to stick with some plan. So much to ponder. So much to research. I did Body For Life in the past, but since I really can't be doing high intensity interval training, I need to figure out something else. Nutrition is the easy part for me. It's the rearranging the weight training that will be the key. After my surgery several people told me that I would lose weight. I didn't lose weight. I didn't really gain weight, either. I only lost muscle. I know getting back to where I was just 5 years ago will take time.

Yesterday's song:
Gotta Keep Moving - Kellie Pickler

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Gotta Keep Moving

• Range of motion
• Walking
• stretching
• measuring range of motion
• more walking
• walking correctly
• ultra sound massage
  
• Bone density tests results

Yeah, I had physical therapy this afternoon. Everything is progressing and my range of motion is great, according to my therapist, R. However, pain just goes with the territory. Pain will come and go. I'm just waiting for the pain to go away more than come back. R was able to access my bone density tests and my numbers are all in the normal range, which is good, but leaves the question as to why the injury happened in the first place. I'm guessing there will be more testing. I see R in about a month. I still feel so far from running, though. I feel so doughy...













In yesterday's post, I had mentioned something about my grandson putting toys away. This task is still a work in progress, but we're getting there. It's currently much better than walking through a room that looked like a tornado hit it. You all know what I mean! *wink*


Yesterday's song:
Just My Imagination - The Temptations - Run-DMZ

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Just My Imagination

E - "Can I play with my race track set?"

Me - "Only if you pick up your other toys first."

E - "OK."

The toys are picked up and put away neatly. The race track comes out of the storage bin in the closet and is set up on the living room coffee table.



Me - "It's been a long time since you've played with that track set. Do the cars need batteries? They seem a little slow."

E - "Imagination doesn't need batteries."





Yesterday's song:
What Would You Do? - The Isley Brothers - Barbie2be

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What Would You Do?

I've just read a very intriguing, in depth article in the October 2008 issue of Runner's World Magazine, about a man who decided to have part of his leg amputated with the hopes of returning to running. I can't get this story out of my mind. The guy was a competitive runner in college, but due to an unfortunate accident and nearly losing his foot, he had to put off running for several years. He began running again with his wife, which progressed to running in events again. Unfortunately, the old injury pains became too cumbersome, and made running and walking unbearable. He decided to have the injured leg amputated. Can you imagine having to make the decision to amputate part of your leg? I was glued to this story. How far would you go for the love of your sport? The story is quite inspirational and I highly recommend reading it for yourself. There's so much more to the story.

I also realized how much I need to learn about amputees and having prosthetics. I honestly had no clue. I am now enlightened, but there's so much more to learn.

Yesterday's song:
Same In Any Language - I Nine



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Same In Any Language

I learned something new today. You know how people tell you to say "cheese" when they're taking your picture? In Brazil they tell you to say "cheesy." At least my husband's Brazilian relatives say "cheesy." We asked them if there was a Portuguese language equivalent to "cheese," but they insisted that it was "cheesy." His uncle and second cousin are here for a few weeks from Rio de Janiero, Brazil. I actually witnessed my husband speaking Portuguese. It's amazing how quickly the language came back to him, sort of like riding a bicycle. You never really forget.

Yesterday's song:
Good Morning - Kanye West

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Good Morining

I kept meaning to post something yesterday, but I ran out of steam early. I feel like I'm fighting off a flu bug or something. I was thinking it was allergies, but it isn't. Even a trip to Costco did me in. I've been hearing others talk about how tired they feel, as well, so it's not just me. I suppose it's the start of cold and flu season, especially now that school is in.

My grandson's best friend is Jacob and it's a popular name for that age group. I'm still not sure why Evan decided he wanted to be called Jacob that day. I still think it's kind of funny.

I went with my daughter to drop off Evan at his school this morning. I haven't been to an elementary school since my son attended one. Amazingly, not much has changed for the morning routine, and I suppose that's a good thing. Parents were dropping off their children, the crossing guards were out at each corner, teachers were outside their classrooms prior to the bell ringing, students were gathering for the morning assembly, and so on. It was an amazingly pleasant morning. Instead of being driven back home, I walked. It's only a 3/4 mile walk back home. It would have been nice to say that I ran home, but I'm still not up to that. I took my phone with the GPS to track my walk, but I forgot to turn it on. I guess I was caught up in the being back at an elementary school thing.


Tuesday's song:
Kindergarten - Faith No More - Barbie2be

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Kindergarten

Backpack with lunch ready to go?
Check.

New sneakers?
Check.

Favorite t-shirt with the Chevy on it?
Check.

Teeth brushed?
Check.

Obligatory first day of school picture?
Check.

Introducing yourself to your teacher and new classmates?
Check. No, wait... un-check that...


Today was the first day of Kindergarten for the grand kid. Everything went well except one thing. He told everyone that his name is Jacob. His name is actually Evan. I'm not sure what's up with the name thing, but it was kind of funny. He even had the teacher calling him Jacob. Luckily Mommy set the record straight.

Yesterday's song:
Stranger in Paradise - Tony Bennett

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Stranger In Paradise

Well, OK... I obviously did not adhere to Blog365. I had a few unexpected things going on, such as computers not working, babysitting, and a few social engagements.

My energy levels have been zapped this past week and I'm not sure what's causing the fatigue. That's not totally true -- I'm guessing the fatigue could be an allergy thing. I'm not over eating, I'm just eating the wrong things. Maybe I was pushing it a bit when I thought ice cream would be a good idea -- we were on a cruise in a tropical paradise. We were on a vacation, and the rich vanilla ice cream with cherries just called to me, along with the other dairy based desserts. I did have those enzyme tablets for the lactose intolerant, and since the cruise I've been trying to incorporate some dairy back into my diet. Now I'm showing signs of fatigue and asthma. Bummer. It has to be the dairy. As of tomorrow, I'm back to being dairy free. *sigh*

As the sun sets and the moon rises...

...I wish you all a wondeful September.

Friday's song:
Memory Of Trees - Enya

PEACE