This and That

This is Stella:

This was our welcome home yesterday:

That means it's a good thing she's cute or else she'd be homeless.

This is my newest obsession:

That means a little squirt and bottled or tap water is transformed into something magically delicious.

This is a secret:

That is something about which I will blog more later.

And this is a typcial Dillypoo response to seeing a spider:

Happy Tuesday!

Survey Says

I spotted this running survey on Lori's blog. She found it on Jess's blog. I'm feeling a bit blog blocked today, so why not?


What is your favorite type of cross training?
Walking and doing light weights with stretching and core exercises. If I had a pool I'd probably swim.

What is your favorite song to run to?
The Harry Potter nerd in me runs to Ministry of Magic, a wizard wrock band. The non-HP nerd in me runs to Lady Gaga, Pink, Katy Perry and Adam Lambert. You know, chick rock.

What brand of shoes do you wear?
I keep going back to Nike. My newest pair is the Nike Air Pegasus+ 28. Just do it!

Do you wear a hat when you run?
Only if it's sunny. Putting sunscreen on my scalp gets messy.

What temperature is your favorite for running?
55-70 degrees and overcast.

Do you have any big races coming up?
The Professor and I will be out of town for the fourth of July and I'm looking for a race to run while we're gone. I'm also training for my first half marathon in December.

What is your favorite distance?
I can run 3-4 miles comfortably as a daily or semi-daily run.

Are you a morning, noon or evening runner?
Definitely a morning runner! I'm trying to get back in the habit of running at 6:00 a.m.

Do you run solo or with a buddy?
I prefer solo but I have a buddy new to running who I like to run with on occasion. There's also my running group, but I'm usually zoned out with head phones during group runs.

What's your favorite post run snack?
Bananas and fruit smoothies with a scoop of whey protein powder and yogurt. Yum! Cools me down and powers me up.

What's your FAVORITE race?
I've only run in four organized races, so I don't have many to compare. Probably The Cowtown since it was my first 10K.

Do you wear a Garmin?  If not, how do you track your runs?  
Nope. I use the Nike+ GPS app on my iPhone. The Professor frets if I'm out without my phone, so may as well put it to use.

What is your least favorite race?
Of my four, probably this year's Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure. It was a 5K on a humid day with a freaking killer hill I was NOT prepared for.

What race is your favorite medal from?
The Cowtown! It's my first and only medal.

Who is your running idol?
The awesome Ms. Bitchcakes! I've followed Sheryl's blog for a couple of years now, we reached goal on WW about the same time and she was my inspiration for running. 

How long have you been a runner?
Officially? Since January of this year. Unofficially? I started jogging short distances while out for long walks two years ago. I ran my first 5K by accident last Thanksgiving. It was an accident because I only ran the whole distance so I could get to my heated car faster. It was freezing cold that day! But the experience made me realize I could run long distances without dying. 

Do you run with your engagement/wedding ring on?
Nope. The only adornments I wear are my Road I.D., earbuds and a runner's belt to hold my phone.

What's your favorite workout? repeats? long runs? tempo? fartleks?
A solid run outdoors that pushes me just a bit farther or faster than the previous.

Friday Silliness

I got the giggles last night while The Professor was trying to watch tee vee. He kept turning up the volume to drown out my hysterics as I explored videos uploaded by my new video hero, klaatu42's Talking Animals Channel.

My favorites (be prepared to laugh yourself silly):

Welcome to Canada!

Cheeseburger Heaven

Some days you just need a cheeseburger:

I usually reserve burgers for days when I've really earned them, like after a big run. Today was not one of those days. Today was simply a Thursday that screamed for a burger.

So The Professor and I drove to the south side of town to the only Five Guys burger joint in Fort Worth.

Mmmmm! So delish!

And yes, I paid for my double cheeseburger with fries in full:

That's right. A Five Guys cheeseburger cost me 23 precious Club WW points! 23 points I didn't have, but it was so worth it!

Checking Out

I think I'm one of the last people on the planet to carry a checkbook. On more than one recent occasion, a cashier has had to call for help to complete my transaction because I wrote a check.

Like tonight.

I dropped The Professor off at the bookstore after dinner and dashed into the bath store a few doors down. We parted ways for this errand because hell to The Professor smells a lot like Bath & Body Works.

Doing my best to focus on the task at hand (buy shower gel) and not dawdle by sniffing everything in the store (because hell to The Professor is also waiting for Dillypoo while she shops), I selected three bottles and headed to the back of the store to check out.

Which is where the cashier looked dumbly from my check to the register before panicking. He had no clue what to do.

Luckily, the other cashier had more experience and was able to walk him through it.

Cashier No. 1: "Um....um....um...What do I do with this?"

Cashier No. 2: "Enter her phone number and e-mail if she wants to get coupons. Do you want to get coupons, honey?"

Dillypoo: "No, thank you."

Cashier No. 2: "OK. So enter her phone number and hit this key and then put the check in here. Not like that...like this."

Cashier No. 1: "Um...um....um..."

Cashier No. 2: "And tell her we can print all of the information on the check if she doesn't want to write it out herself."

Dillypoo: "If I didn't want to write it out myself, I'd use a check card."

Cashier No. 2: "Oh, right! (silly giggle)"

One of my co-workers razzed me recently about my preference for writing checks. Dillypoo is evidently one of a dying breed. Or old-fashioned.

Or just old.

But I love my checkbook! My parents gave me the leather cover eons ago:

It's so old that the design on the front is barely visible and I need to have the seams re-sewn. Again.

It's also older than my sassy co-worker.

I don't write checks for everything, though. I think on-line Bill Pay is one of the best things EVER. I just don't trust check cards. It's too easy for Dillypoo's faulty memory to lose track of the account balance. And seemingly too easy for unsavory sorts to steal my money.

Just as Velcro replaced shoelaces and e-readers are replacing books, it seems like plastic cards are slowly killing the checkbook.

But Dillypoo isn't giving up without a fight! I'm going to continue carrying my big, ancient checkbook and writing checks for groceries and shower gel until my bank stops issuing them.

Oh, goodness! You don't think my bank will stop issuing checks? Aaagghhh!

What If

Guess what Dillypoo did on Sunday? Give up?

Not a damn thing!

Well, I got caught up with laundry, but that's pretty much it. Dillypoo spent quality time lying on the couch watching a Say Yes to the Dress marathon on tee vee.

I'm still feeling the after effects of last month's royal wedding.

My new, non-work schedule keeps me busy throughout the week, so I feel I earned a day of rest:

Monday - run after work

Tuesday - strength training before work, Club WW after work

Wednesday - run before work

Thursday - strength training before work, run after work

Friday - work out hiatus

Saturday - morning run

Sunday - morning strength training

I worry I may be doing too much, though. When I first began exercising, my mantra was to not start anything I wasn't willing to continue doing. Which is why it took almost two years to go from walking a mile on a treadmill in my dining room to running a 10K race.

And because I took my time to acclimate to exercise, I'm now enjoying a physical high of eating healthy, being fit and feeling great. But I wonder how long it will last before I crash.

Of course, I hope I can maintain my new lifestyle and attitude, but what happens if I can't? What happens if I slip back into unhealthy habits?

What if I decide to drive through a drive-thru for a quick meal, something I haven't done in more than two years?

What if I get bored with running?

What if I get injured?

What happens if I start regaining the weight I worked so hard to lose?

It's these fears and questions that keep me going to weekly Club WW meetings, maintaining my food journal and setting new fitness goals. 

And they keep me blogging, because maybe by documenting my journey, I'll be able to stay the course and not stray back to that 202 pound girl who got winded going up stairs or walking across a parking lot.

Coincidence?

One of my crazy California Cousins sent me this yesterday:

I think I love the outcast relatives best. I mean, check out the color coordinated outfits and hats:

Do you think whoever dressed them did it on purpose? How else do you explain The Hat?

Don't get me wrong, I LOVED Princess Beatrice's fascinator. It looked great on The Donald:

I read that Bea is auctioning it for charity. I may have to place a bid.

In other news, my dance with vertigo the other day seems to have been temporary. Thank goodness! The cure is almost as bad as the problem. To knock the rocks (calcium deposits) trapped in my inner ear loose, the doctor presses a vibrator to my head and then tilts me up, down and around.

It's a nauseating ride not unlike a rocket fired roller coaster, except not as fun. Vomiting is a real possibility. And then I get to sleep sitting upright for three nights.

As if I were wearing that hat:

Dizzypoo

The world is spinning today.

And it's not much fun.

Dillypoo has inner ear issues. I'm partially deaf in one ear and experience occasional bouts of vertigo. My last episode was almost four years ago, though, so today's spinning is a bit unexpected.

And unwelcome.

Things aren't that bad...yet. I'm hoping it doesn't get worse and just goes away.

In the meantime, Dillypoo will sit quietly at her desk and try not to move around much.

It's Mother's Day Already?

Last Wednesday I let out a yelp at work because Mother's Day was just four days away. How did that happen? I thought I had another week!

So I called The Professor:

Dillypoo: "Mother's Day is THIS Sunday!"

The Professor: "It is?"

Dillypoo: "Yes! We need to order flowers for your mother and I need to call mine and see what she wants to do!"

The Professor: "Okay."

Then I called my parent's house:

Dillypoo: "Dad! Mother's Day is this weekend!"

Daddypoo: "Who is this, please?"

Dillypoo: "Who else calls you Dad?! Where's Mom?"

Daddypoo: "She's not home yet. Try her cell phone."

I finally tracked my mother down in her car:

Dillypoo: "Hi Mom! Sunday is Mother's Day. What would you like to do?"

Mom: "Your father and I are driving to Tennessee. We won't be home."

Dillypoo: "Great! We can celebrate next Sunday as I had planned! Why are you driving to Tennessee?"

And so Dillypoo got a reprieve and maybe, just maybe, I can get a reservation next Sunday at my Mom's favorite place for brunch.

Assuming my parents can make their way home from their Big Adventure to Tennessee. They're meandering their way through Mississippi and Louisiana trying to find roads open that lead west.

A spontaneous road trip across Old Man River when it's flooding may not have been the best idea, folks!

Happy Mother's Day!

Just Do It

I started my long-distance training this week. My newest goal is to run a half marathon on December 4.

Dillypoo is getting a wee bit nervous. See that schedule over there?

<====

Those numbers are the MILES I have to run each day. The Monday, Tuesday and Thursday runs are after work. Saturday runs are in the morning.

Ack!

The first of my concerns: As summer progresses, I'm not sure I'll be able to run three nights a week.

It's a certainty I won't be able to once August gets here. Work will be too demanding of Dillypoo's time by then.

Second, I'll have to start running in the morning to keep up with the training once work gets busy. Which means I'll have to get up around 5:30.

A.M.

Although Dillypoo is one of those annoying morning people (just ask The Professor), 5:30 a.m. is not a happy hour, even for me.

Third, I have to start running the equivalent of a 10K at least once a week beginning in June. That's only a month away!

If I think about it too hard I start to hyperventilate. 

And I'm having weird dreams, always a sure sign I'm worried about something. In one dream I ate an entire box of CheezIt crackers without tracking the points. I was being stalked by weirdos in another. I'm not sure what the CheezIts means (guilt maybe?), but the stalking by weirdos means I'm avoiding something.

Like the instinct to Just Say No to this suicidal training schedule!

But then I calm myself down and repeat my favorite personal motto: JUST DO IT!

Yeah, I know that's actually Nike's thing, but it's got me over and through many a hurdle in the past. And I'm counting on it to get me through this!

I'm linking this post to Brandy's fantabulous Fat Ass Friday linky thing. Check her out!

Royally Funny

Giggle, snicker, snort!

I don't know where my buddy Casey finds these things! Check her out for more awesome tidbits.

Feeling Pink

My frigid visit to the doctor two weeks ago culminated in a mammogram exam last week.

Dillypoo is 47 years old. My maternal grandmother had breast cancer and I'm considered an "at risk" candidate for it, so I get a mammogram every year.

And every year I get a call after my mammogram asking me to return for a second exam because my first one indicated something suspicious.

This year was no exception. My first exam was last Wednesday. The nurse called me on Thursday to report something suspicious and schedule the second appointment. She wanted me to come in on Friday, but I told her I had a wedding to watch.

Yes, I have skewed priorities.

We compromised and I went back for a second squeeze test yesterday. I wasn't worried. Two mammograms is routine for Dillypoo.

Except this time they asked me to wait after the x-ray for a third test and consultation with the doctor.

At which point I started getting a little nervous. This was an unwelcome deviation from routine.

As I waited to be escorted to the next exam room, I thought about my grandmother and how she survived a mastectomy only to die from metastasized cancer 20 years later. I thought about my friend's wife currently fighting the disease, and other friends who fought battles with breast cancer.

I felt a pang of guilt that I didn't do any fundraising when I ran in last month's Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure.

And I thought about my two year journey to become a healthier Dillypoo and found irony that at the time in my life when I am the fittest and trimmest ever, I could possibly be told I am also the sickest.

I thought about all of this in the five minutes I had to wait before the third test.

The doctor who examined me was kind and explained he wanted a closer look at something unusual in my left breast. He felt confident it was just fatty tissue, but he wanted to make sure.

I wanted him to make sure, too, and I craned my neck to watch the monitor as he proceeded with the ultrasound.

The screen was an incomprehensible fug of blurry images, but my capable examiner could read it. And happily, he found nothing sinister. He did, however, tell me I have "messy breasts" with a lot of fatty deposits.

Yet more irony in that the only fat giving me grief these days can be found in my shrinking boobies.

He suggested that next year I ask my OBGYN to send me for a diagnostic mammogram, which means I can have the first, second and possible third exams during one appointment instead of two.

Sounds like a plan to me.

And in the meantime, I'll continue my self exams.

And so should you.