Old Soul

Yesterday, I went to a continuing education seminar for my industry. I always love attending because: A) I get 6 credit hours, B) I get to see old co-workers, and C) they have a holiday party afterwards. :)

Anywho, I sat at a table with two of my old co-workers. I was talking to one, I don't even remember what we were talking about, but she asked me if we were the same age. She's about 41, I think. I told her no, that I'd be 37 in January. She said, "you have an old soul."

She is not the first to tell me that. And I don't take offense to it at all. I think because my brothers and sisters are so much older than me, I've always been that way. About 10 years ago I had a different co-worker (who worked with us as well) tel lme that I was the "oldest 26 year old she ever met." LOL!

Sometimes I do feel like I was born about 7 years past my time...LOL. I like old school music, old school tv shows....you name it. I mean, don't get me wrong - I DO appreciate things from today, especially the technology. LDR teases me all the time about my gadets (iPHone, iPad, etc). But to me, it just seemed like my siblings just had an easier, much more simple time when they were growing up. The ones that are married got married pretty young, and they didn't seem to face all the dating shenanigans and things that I've faced over the past few years.

Do you ever feel like you belong in another era?

Friday Fun Facts

Well, maybe not facts so much as thoughts from me. :lol:

--This morning I got ready without the tv or radio on. I actually enjoyed the silence. Gave me time to think and do a little walking meditation.

--While I was perusing one of my favorite blogs, I thought it was about 6:50 (per my watch). Looked at my phone and it was after 7:00. Looks like the battery is dying. I'm hoping there is a jewelry store on my side of town that sells Tag Heuer's and can therefore send my watch for service. If not, I'll have to drive all the way to Carolina Place Mall.

--I had to scrape ice off my windshield this morning. Hello, fall.

--I've come to the conclusion that my cat lives under my bed. She's scared of the house. That's all I can break it down to...there's no explanation. LOL! I think she comes out during the day to play periodically, because I put her cat toys away but when I come home, they are in random places. But for the most part she goes under the bed before I leave, and when I come home she comes out from under the bed. I think I'll have a chat with the vet.

--I will see LDR in 29 days. :)

--Tomorrow I'm going to the Statesville Hot Air Balloon festival with one of my co-workers and her daughter. We went last year. We're going to go early so I can go down and get close up pics with the balloons.

--I have a lot of work to do today and no motivation to get it done. :/

--These cool morning temps have made me realize it's time to pack away the summer clothes. That will be my project when I get home tonight. I'm quite sure there are a lot of fall/winter clothes from last year that I can't fit, so I will probably have to go shopping at some point.

What are your plans for this weekend?

One Rant, Coming Up!

So...most apartment complexes charge a pet "fee" here. Which is different from a pet "deposit."

The fee is you paying for the privilige of having a pet on premises. The deposit would be used to cover cleaning or damages when you move out. If the charges are less than what your deposit was, you get the balance back.

If your lease says "fee," then you're just azzed out and they can charge you an additional $145 for "pet treatment" of the carpet...even though they got your $250 when you moved in. They make a profit off every tenant who has a pet that doesn't really do any damage.

I think that's bogus! If my pet damages the apartment you should absolutely charge me for it. And you SHOULD do the pet treatment on the carpet. I'm in total agreement. But to just charge $250 for GP?!? And the fact that North Carolina allows this foolishness is just... #iCant

The things we do to make money in America. Sigh. At least tell folks up front - look. Put away about $145 'cause that's what we're going to charge you to treat the carpet when you move out. Regardless of this $250 pet FEE you just handed over. At least then, it would feel like you gave me the courtesy of using some Vaseline. &*^%%#@(!!!

As I said, this is a rant...because it's in the lease and there's nothing I can do about that. I've already paid it. I just felt like ranting. That's my disclaimer for the legal eagles who may peek in. :lol:

Sunday Randoms

RANDOM BRAIN DUMP in 5...4...3...2...

Some of my new neighbors continue to remind me on a daily basis why we cannot rise as a people...

I miss having a Starbucks right up the street. When you have to get in the car and make a lengthy drive, suddenly the latte is not as important. LOL

The Cardiac Cowboys aka the Dallas Cowboys continue to give me chest pain.

Having to choose between the Eagles and the Redskins today was like having to choose between beets and pickled beets. I kinda wanted the Redskins to win. And the bamas let me down.

The other day at the dentist my BP was 110/66. SCORE! That's yoga, baby.

I think I've either strained or torn some of the muscle in my calf. It hurts to even touch it, and I noticed earlier today that it was a bit swollen. I will probably have to go to the doctor. I wish I was comfortable with a sedentary lifestyle, because these injuries are for the birds.

Girls' Night In was great! We never did watch the movie we had planned to watch. We ate, drank wine, talked about natural hair care, and watched crazy YouTube videos. Everyone had a good time. Not sure when the next one will be since the holidays are coming up. But I definitely want to do another one as I had two ladies who could not make it.

I have become obsessed with vacuuming my carpet.

Bogey has been here 2 weeks and every day she acts like it's her first day at the rodeo. Bless her heart. She's just petrified of every little noise or thing.

It's coming up on a year since my grandma and my dad passed. Sometimes it feels like it was just yesterday.

I still haven't deleted my dad's info from my phone. :(

It's jeans week at work. That will make my life much easier this week, wardrobe wise.

Tomorrow morning I have my final walk through at the old apartment. If these folks even think about trying to charge me for stuff that is normal wear and tear we're gonna have issues. LOL

When Chris (maintenance guy) was here, he thought my HairVeda CoCasta Shikakai hair oil was soap and tried to wash his hands with it. LOL!

A Different World

I knew that renting a house was going to be a different world from renting an apartment. First and foremost, I have a yard now. I have zero yard maintenance equipment. LOL! And even if I had it, I'd have nowhere to keep it because I don't have a garage or a storage shed (this was built as a starter house during the housing boom).

Secondly, there are a TON of kids in this neighborhood. I mean, a ton. I don't mind people's kids when they know how to act, but some of thse hellions have jumped straight off the screen from "Bebe's Kids." They look at you like you're in the wrong when you're driving down the street, even though they need to get the h*ll outta the way. I blame this on the parents that always seem to be missing in action. Sigh.

Third, is the amount of time it takes for them to respond to a maintenance request. They have one maintenance guy named Chris. He hails from Detroit. They are apparently working him like a hebrew slave because he wasn't able to make our appointment yesterday at 5:30. That actually worked out well, because I was stuck in traffic due to an accident. But note that I put the maintenance request in shortly after moving in on 10/1. Yeah.

So Chris arrived this morning a little after 10:30 and promptly went to unclogging the tub and sink drains in the master bath. I know you're probably thinking, why didn't you use some Drano? The type of drain that's in this tub is screwed in and you can't just lift it out. He had to use pliers. Not to mention the isht that was in there when he pulled it out. He told me he's found Barbie legs in drains before. LOL! I did not stay there for the whole cleaning process, but when I walked back in all this gunk was sitting in my tub before he rinsed it down. Needless to say, I'll be bleaching the tub tonight. O_o

I showed him the ill-working fridge they threw in here. When I first saw the unit, I was excited. Side by side fridge and freezer, in door ice and water dispenser. Then I discovered that the ice maker and water dispenser don't work. OK then. Not a big deal. Never had one before, don't need it now. Then I opened it up, and it became clear that this was a used unit. Again - not a huge deal, I'll just need to clean it out well. But when you give me a fridge that doesn't get cold enough, now we got a flag on the play.

It builds up a layer of ice on the back of the freezer, but none of that seems to make a difference. So I pretty much have a refrigerator where the freezer should be, and a refrigerator that's relatively useless. He told me he'd email the property manager (who is on vacay in the Bahamas - must be nice!) and let him know. He started talking about getting a unit similar to what I have. That's when I had to step in and call the 30 second time out.

Listen, dude. I just need a freezer-on-top unit that WORKS. As in, a new one. Tell the owner of the house to use some of the rent money I paid him PROMPTLY on 10/1. LOL! I don't need anything with bells and whistles. I simply need frozen food that's frozen, and cold water when I need it. Not soupy Ben & Jerry's and lukewarm juice.

So, we'll see how this plays out during the week. Property manager is not due back from vacay until Thursday. In other news, two little boys who are TRYING to be useful members of society stopped by today and asked if they could mow my yard either today or tomorrow for $20. I like it when kids are doing positive things, so I accepted their offer. Especially since it's time for a mowing. We'll see how they do. :)

MIA...again

I apologize for being gone again! It's been hectic. Just finished up my family reunion on my mom's side, and I'm working on the family tree for both her side and my dad's side. I've also been trying to switch to Word Press, but I haven't really figured out how to use everything over there. Very overwhelming - lots of bells and whistles. I consider Blogger easier to use right now...so I think the switch is on hold. I'll let you guys know.

What's everyone been up to?

Dear Messiness

Dear Messiness:

I have seen a lot of you over the past 2 weeks. First, you pop up as a crazy chick spending way too much time worrying about what's going on with me and LDR. She called herself wanting to tell me about somebody that LDR talked to briefly IN THE PAST, that we both know and speak with now. We're all cool. It was in the past, not a serious relationship, and we all have our own lives. So...exactly what did you do by revealing that info - that I already knew, other than make us laugh at you and officially check you off on the list as certifiable?

This afternoon, Messiness, you made two appearances. First, in the form of a co-worker who just FINALLY realized, that another co-worker has been smiling in his face, but talking smack behind his back. Um...if she spent so much time talking to you about others, why wouldn't you think she was talking about you TO others? Oh well, I tried to break it down to him so that it could forever and consistently be broken. Maybe he listened. But probably not. My guess is that he will let you jump all into the middle of the situation. I wash my hands of it. I've said it before, and I'll say it again: we're here to do a job. We don't have to be friends. We don't even have to speak outside of hi and bye. You gotta know who to exchange pleasantries with vs. who you can talk to. That last group of people is very small. Sometimes it doesn't exist at all.

The second appearance involved a complete IDIOT disparaging the mother of his child via his blog. Really, dude? Really? So...what are you going to do when your child gets older, and is able to Google and see this mess? And really, you're going to put somebody's FULL GOVERNMENT NAME out there for the world to see? And their job info? I just can't. If that wasn't the Spirit of Messiness Past taking over someone's body, I don't know what is. Just sad. What kind of example are you really setting? Not to mention, you've really just made yourself look like an azz, in an attempt to make her look like one. Good job! Messy begets messy, but I hope she stays on the high road.

Verily I say unto you, Messiness: GET THEE BEHIND ME! I don't wanna see you no more this week or this month. Shoot, I don't wanna see you for the next calendar year! I've done my best to remove some of your influences from my life, but it's inevitable that you'll pop back up. But I just simply CANNOT with you. Stress is not good for the health. I don't need any more gray hairs or facial wrinkles from the Whiskey Tango Foxtrot frown that comes with you. GO AWAY.

That is all.

Signed,

Marilie

Where's Our Snow?

Over the past few days, parts of Buffalo (the south towns) has been killed with snow. It started snowing yesterday in Syracuse. I keep seeing all kinds of updates on FB. Apparently, they are having a snow day today. Uh, that NEVER happened when I was growing up. OK once. During the Blizzard of '93. We rarely missed school because of snow. We missed it once in elementary school, because the entire city was covered in ice. For the most part, we were going to school. Suck it up and put on your Moon Boots and your Freaky Freezies gloves.

It's been cold here, but no snow. When I got up this morning, it was about 28 degrees. I had to sit in the car and warm it up for 5 or 6 minutes, so that was always nice. I was sleepy when I left the house, but once I stepped out into that cold air, it was on!

I just wanna know, where's our snow? It's been a minute since Charlotte had a good snow storm. I'm ready. Mostly because everything will just shut completely down here...lol.

What's the weather like in your neck of the woods?

Le PEW!

So, tonight was Cardio Funk night. Somebody in class took the "funk" literally. If you smell like 7 skunks BEFORE class starts, that is a problem! Handle that! If you got to take a shower before you come to class, so be it! And then on top of that, your breath smells like 4 cloves of garlic. When Vincent Price said, "...the funk of forty thousand years..." this is what he was talking about. No. No, no, no, no, no.

I have burned her image into my head for future reference. I will never stand next to her again in class.

I will take two showers in her honor tonight. O_o

In other news, my co-worker came to class tonight. Bless her heart, she had a time keeping up. But I kept telling her not to worry about it. That was me in my first class. But 4 weeks into it, I know most of the routines. Although he did pull out some I hadn't done before tonight. I hope she's not intimidated and that she will come back. She said she had a lot of fun.

Andre said that he is going to have a class on New Year's Eve. I will soooooooo be there. He told us, even if there are only 10 people, we WILL work out. I have a feeling there will be WAY more than 10. I'll be sure to get there early to get my coveted spot in the back.

I'm almost finished packing. I did most of it yesterday. Working on toiletries, etc. The airline cancelled my flight. I got home from work and had an automated message: "your flight has been cancelled." Nothing else. Uh, I need some more info?!? I called and they got me on a different one. At least now I don't have to be at the airport at the butt crack of dawn. More like the arm pit of dawn now. But its cool. Time to go home and celebrate grandma's life. :)

Yes, There ARE Dumb Questions

Are we just getting sillier by the minute? I mean the country as a whole. Or maybe it's just the cross-section I deal with on a daily basis. Phone conversation I just finished up:

Me: May I speak with John Smith?
Female on the phone: He was supposed to leave at 4:00 but let me check if he's still here.

:::places me on hold:::

Female: Nope. He's gone for the day.
Me: OK, may I leave a message?
Female: Hold on.

:::places me on hold again:::

Male pics up: How can I help you?
Me: I was holding so I can leave a message for John Smith

:::gives him all my contact info:::

Male: So...you want him to call you back?

:::crickets chirping:::

Me, in my head:

No. I want him to take the note and wipe his butt with it. Of COURSE I want him to call me back! Really? Are you really asking me this? Why do you think I'm leaving the message??

Honest to God. I simply CANNOT with people sometimes!

Assumptions

In the car, on the way back from lunch, I turned the channel to XM 70s on 7. What can I say - I love old school music.

They were in the middle of this song:



I love this song. Always have. And although some re-makes should be avoided, I think Intro did a good job with it, before Kenny Greene's untimely death:



For the longest time, I never knew who sang the song. I always heard it played on R & B stations, so I just assumed it was some random Black, R & B artist. Later, I learned his name was Bobby Caldwell.

Imagine my surprise when I looked him up this year, and this was him:



Uh. Yeah. Bwaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahahahahahahahaha! That's what I get for assuming!

Outside The Box

Some things, I generally do like everyone else. Other things, I like to step outside of the box and do my own way.

Yesterday, LDR and I were talking about about weddings again. More specifically, what we would want to do. Now, my favorite color is blue. Has been forever. For some reason he is stuck on fall colors. I DO like fall colors. It's my favorite season. There's nothing like a decor with burgundy, green, yellow, and burnt orange, put together in the right combination. But would I want that for my wedding?

At one point he emailed me this blog link. I'm not sure which dress or outfit he was looking at, but this one caught my eye:



I thought the color combo was really pretty. I started looking up other Indian wedding attire and really liked what I saw. Of course, their traditional wedding color is red. I don't know that I'd want red, but I guess it would depend on the shade of red.

I thought this website had some pretty things as well, such as this dress:



I don't want my belly out, though. I guess I'd have to learn how to wrap the sari.

Anywho, just some things I was thinking about. I just know I'm not wearing white.

Speaking of, do you know why people started wearing white dresses? It's probably not what you think. Unless you're a history major/history buff, then you probably already know the answer. If not, read here.

Happy Wednesday!

ETA: I forgot to mention, LDR said he would wear sherwani if I went this route. Sweeeeeeeeeeeet. :)

Is It Monday?

I see it's going to be one of THOSE mornings.

1. Tossed and turned last night in my sleep. No restful sleep = bad start to my day.


2. I get to work and hang up my clothes in the locker room, preparing for my work out. I look over into the shower and the shower head is hanging down. Someone has broken the plastic piece that holds it up. Later, this was problematic when I actually tried to take a shower. I was knocking bottles down and it was just a calamity of errors trying to get out of there without wetting up the whole locker room floor.


3. I get into the workout room and I can't get the TV remote to work. The batteries are dead. The TV is up on the wall where only the Jolly Green Giant can reach it. Thankfully the remote for the DVD player works the TV.


4. I jump on the treadmill, realize I'm thirsty. I look around - no water bottle. Why? Because when I took all my breakfast food up to my desk, I left it there. So I had to jump off the treadmill, run up there and get it, and didn't get started on my workout until about 6:35 - 6:40am. I had planned to get started at 6:15.


5. The Blackberry is doing a remote software update and this thing has yet to get fully updated. I promise you it's been at it for about 2 hours now. Hurry up!

Look here, Tuesday. This is NOT COOL. I'm gonna need this day to be back in order by lunch time!

Really?

I always notice weird stuff. And now that I just got this Altima, I check it out periodically and notice different things. It probably stems from my days at the insurance-company-that-shall-remain-nameless, when I used to work in the field inspecting vehicles.

This morning, when I was getting out of the car, I checked my VIN tag. I had been wondering when the car was actually manufactured...again, like I said - just weird stuff that only I would care about. :lol:

Next to the VIN tag, I saw this:



It's kind of blurry, but it tells you a few things:

1. The vehicle seating capacity is 5 persons - 2 in front and 3 in the back.
2. The combined weight of the occupants in the vehicle should never exceed 899 lbs.

There's also some info about the tire size and tire pressure, but not relevant to this blog so we're moving on. :lol:

So I started thinking: who neeeds to be told that only 2 people can sit in the front? Isn't that sort of obvious with the 2 bucket seats? And then, if you weighed 180 lbs, and 4 of your friends weighed 180 lbs, and y'all decided to carpool, I guess you'd be 1 lb over the limit. Does the car just fall apart? Do the tires flatten? LOL!

I just can't imagine someone sitting around thinking about the weight of their vehicle occupants. I wonder how long they've had that tag on their vehicles? I bet someone filed a lawsuit about something relating to this. That's how most of the "common sense instructions for dummies" tags end up on products nowadays. Things that you scratch your head and get confused about why there even has to be a warning, no doubt somebody has filed suit.

And those were the random thoughts in my head this morning. :)

Sage Advice

One should probably NOT get up before dawn, do 35 minutes on the elliptical, work all day, and then go to Cardio Funkytown class from 7pm - 8pm. Especially if one has plantar fasciitis.

That is all. :lol:

Now We're Cookin'...

They couldn't install my XM, but at least they put my tag holder and Dallas Cowboys tag on the front of my car. Now we're cookin' with gas!



What's on the front of your car? Sorority tag? Favorite sports team? Or are you in a state where license tags are on the front and the back of the car, like in NY and VA?

So...yeah. Day 5.

I'm writing this from the Starbucks in Concord Mills. I'm here waiting to get the XM radio installed by Best Buy (cheaper than the dealer. They took the wires outta Maxiniti for me, but wanted to charge DEALER LABOR to install in the Altima. Uh, no. Rat Bastids.)

Well - of course, as I was finishing that, Best Buy called. So I'm finishing this from home.

Day 5 observations:

*I hate to admit it, but I'm a bit more productive at work without the shenanigans of Fb and Twitter.

*Clearly, I need to carry a book with me for the next 26 days! I had all this lag time while I was waiting for the car. I could have tweeted like a mad woman! Instead I sat in Starbucks looking forlorn. :/

*These two college girls talked NON-STOP the entire time I was sitting in Starbucks. Did I talk that much when I was 20?? Jesus.

*These Dead Sea Cosmetics folks are gonna learn to stop flagging me down from their kiosks. I will make you waste time and product doing a demonstration on me. I told you in the first 10 seconds that I make my own stuff and I'm happy with what I got. But if you want to exfoliate my wrist, knock yourself out. Oh - I'm gonna need to see the ingredients list before any of that touches me. Thanks.

*The guy who installed my XM was named "Shirley." I'm sure it was a derivative nick name, but I hate I didn't ask what his actual first name was.

*Yesterday, I found 2 gift cards in one of my wallets. One was a Victoria's Secret gift card that my friend Korin gave me for my birthday. In 2007. Yeah. The other was a Banana Republic gift card my old supervisor gave me for Christmas...in 2008. ::::hangs head in shame:::: Free money!! $30 and $25, respectoively. I am the proud new owner of 5 pairs bikini undies from VS, and 2 Banana Republic shirts. Score!

Hope you had a good day!

I Am Yet Alive

Hiya blog world. I'm still alive. I don't have much to blog about right now. I think I've gotten so used to condensing my life into 140 characters or less for Twitter, and into status updates for FB. So writing anything longer than that requires more thought and effort than I'm willing to give.

I'm sure if I REALLY thought about it, I'd have some things to blog about. Like, my trip to Vegas in May...where one of my BFFs lost her dayum mind. And how I nicknamed her Janet from the Muppets because of the ridiculous fake eyelashes she had plastered on her face. I have pics and I most certainly could describe the sights, sounds and crap load of FOOD on that trip.

I could also talk about my trip home to NY. My first time seeing LDR for an extended period of time, since March. I could talk about how we met each other's families, all the fun we had.

I could talk about how my dad's cancer is back, so he's gearing up for his 3rd battle with this disease...but I don't really have all the details yet. And thinking about how frail he is right now just makes me sad, anyway. :(

I'm also getting ready to cut my hair. I just need to figure out if I'm going to a stylist or a barber to get this done. I will post pics of my hair once it's done. I'm really hating my skin right about now, so I haven't been in a rush to post many photos, either.

I haven't done a road race since the CPCC 5K, but I was running regularly up until my trip to NY. Just getting back into the swing of things. Might be developing plantar fascitis in my right heel. Sigh.

So, as you can see, plenty of blog fodder, but no motivation to post any of it. Maybe if I tweet and FB less, I'll blog more. Hmmm. Something to think about.

I hope everyone is having a fabulous spring/summer so far. I'll try to get back here soon with a good post. Smooches!

Blah

Sorry to go MIA, guys...life's been kinda "blah" lately. My energy level is down. The fact that it's snowing pollen is NOT helping much. I haven't been able to run much because on my last 4 miler Monday, my left leg tendonitis flared up so bad that it had me in tears. My left foot was going numb towards the end of the run...I had to stop and walk. I took a whole week off. Monday (4/5) I ran again, but only 3 miles, and on a course that was relatively flat. So far, so good. It's sooooo hot right now. I had gotten so used to running in the cold, it feels crazy to run in the heat. One thing for sure - I need a boat load of new workout gear, which is not going to be cheap.

My mom picked out the car she wants, but now the credit union and Honda are giving her the run around on the financing, now that she's retired. I wish I could be up there to see what's going on, because I'm only getting details from my brother. I'm not quite sure how her retirement income works. She was getting part of my dad's social security, but she said something about that stopping once she retired. I don't know. This is supposed to be a relaxing time, and I bet she's up there in a ball of knots. :/

I just ordered some tangerine butter and some green tea butter from Oils By Nature. I can't wait to try them out. Tangerine oil is supposed to be great for acne treatment, so we shall see. Once I can get the break outs to stop, I can get concentrated on the hyperpigmentation.

I've started using the oil cleansing method on my face. For someone with a very oily t-zone, this seems so counterintuitive. It's been 3 days, and so far so good. I must say my skin feels hella soft. I haven't really gotten any new break outs on my face (the break outs I referenced above were with regard to body break outs on my back, shoulders and chest). I'm using a mixture of castor oil (hexane free) and organic extra virgin olive oil. I started with a 50/50 mix, but I think I will go with more castor oil and less olive oil in future mixtures. After two weeks I think I should have a better handle on how my face is going to react, and I'll be sure to write a post about it.

That's all that's going on in my world. Hope everyone is having a great week! :)

Tuesday's Randomness

Yeah, so...I haven't had much to say that was cohesive. So I haven't blogged. But somehow, I can feel Serenity_23 giving me the side eye because I haven't blogged. :p

Let's see:

LOVE AND HAPPINESS: LDR will be here in 9 days. I need to plan some activities for us. But since I don't go out that much, this might be a challenge. I think I'll take him to House of Jazz, or maybe Wine Up. Would like to find a poetry reading in the area, or maybe some NeoSoul. I know we're going bowling, because he has thrown down the gauntlet, and I'll have to whoop his tail once or twice since he's talking smack. :)

RUN FORREST, RUN! I had two really great workouts this weekend! On Saturday I set out to run 5 miles. I guess I didn't get the memo, because none of the running group was there. It was sunny, but cold. I had my gear on and was ready to go. I ran the first three miles at a 10:07 pace. That's moving, for me. I felt a bit winded, so I walked fast for .25 mi to bring my heart rate back down some, then ran the last 2 at 10:13 pace. My left calf/Achilles started to get sore during the last two miles, and I just wanted to get it over with. But I'm proud I pushed myself to that pace. One day I'll be able to run it without the .25 walk in between.

On Sunday, I said that I was going to do a 3 mile recovery run at a slower pace. But something in my mind kept telling me that I was going too slow, and I ended up finishing in 30:27. Go me! I would like to do a 5K this year in which I finish in 30:00 or less. I think I can get that done. I'd like to run at least 4 miles today. We'll see how the weather holds up. I'd definitely like to run it outside and not on the treadmill. Hear my plea, Mother Nature!

CAN I GIVE THESE BACK? I've gained like 10 lbs over the last month or so. Not cool! These need to go back where they came from. Even if I concede that the elliptical has helped build some muscle in my legs, it's not all muscle. I can tell by my midsection. I feel like I need to do some type of cleanse to get rid of my cravings for sweets. I've started on my new Organic Life Vitamins, as well as my Chia Fresh Daily Fiber. I know I don't get enough fiber in my diet. I've found I hate this mixed with oatmeal, but love it in my smoothies. I need to figure out how to work in the second serving, as you need 2 tablespoons per day. I've also started my Barlean's Lemon Zest Omega Swirl Fish Oil. It actually does taste great! Unlike the Organic Life Vitamin which I simply CANNOT drink without mixing with a little bit of juice. Anywho, I'm trying to get my inside right, while I work on the outside.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YA: My BFF's birthday is on March 1. LDR's is on March 2. I'm not worried about him, 'cause I can give him his present when he gets here. I'm trying to figure out what to get my BFF. I don't want to just send her a gift card, although she loves NY & Co as much as I do. She's losing weight and I'm sure she could use some more items from there in her new size as well. Whatever I get her, has to be done between today and tomorrow so I can mail it in time for the 1st. Any suggestions?

That's all I got! Hope everything is A-OK in your world. :)