I think I've lost my mind...

In addition to the 5K I signed up for (it's a week from Saturday... EEK!!) I registered for a Boot Camp Challenge session yesterday.

Seriously, what the hell was I thinking???

I'm horribly out of shape.

And the class meets twice a week at 5:45am and on Saturdays at 6:45am.

Have I mentioned that I am NOT a morning person? Quite the opposite, in fact. I prefer staying up late and often find myself starting a huge project, like laundry or house cleaning at 11pm. And I love Love LOVE sleeping in.

I proudly exclaim to husband every weekend, after rolling out of bed at the crack of, um, 10:30am that "sleeping in is my FAVORITE!"

So. I obviously need to make a lifestyle change if I expect myself to be up and ready for an intense workout pre-sunrise. Or fake an injury to get out of it altogether.

I kid.

I figured I might as well start my new routine this morning, even though the class doesn't start for 3 weeks. And I've got to get my ass in gear and train more diligently for the 5K. Alas... alarm went off at 7:30 this morning.

Uuuuggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh.

Somehow I managed to get out of bed, narrowly avoiding stepping on Miles, make my across the room, get dressed and get out the door.

Not so bad thus far.

Then I started my run. I stupidly picked a loop this morning that starts on a pretty major incline. I barely made it to the top. After the hill from hell, my run wasn't so bad. I managed to make it about 1.7 miles before dying. I wasn't happy with myself for having to stop and walk but I seriously thought I was gonna pass out.

Damn you, irregular heartbeat.

I walked the remaining .3 miles back to the house. Miraculously though, my time was great. Before I tell you how I did, let's please keep in mind that I'm a slow runner. And when I say slow, I mean slow. I'm not trying to be all "woe is me, I only run a 9 minute mile... Gawd, I'm so slow." I really am slow. I expect to come in close to last place at the race next weekend. So much for self-confidence ;)

Last year when I was running regularly, my pace was between 12 and 13 minutes a mile. That seemed perfect for me. I could maintain my pace and run for 3-4 miles.

This morning my pace was just over 11 minutes a mile. And that included the walking. I really don't understand how I've picked up my pace so drastically... especially with the 5lbs I've gained since last year and the lack of a regular fitness routine.

I blame this increased speed however, for the fact that I haven't been able to make it farther than 2 miles on a single run so far this season. I really need to regulate. If I don't get my pacing under control, I don't think I'll be able to finish the 5K running. And it would be a total embarrassment (to moi) to have to walk with all of those people watching. Maybe I should invest in one of those runner's watch thingies. Anybody have any suggestions??

I did it.

I signed up for my first ever road race.


On June 5th, I will be joining thousands of women in the Friehofer's Run for Women in downtown Albany.


Thankfully it's only a 5k.


I'm excited and nervous at the same time. I've really been slacking in the running dept. this year. I blame the weather. Because one, I don't do cold, and two, I hate treadmills.


For about a week and a half (I'm awesome with committment), I was at the gym just about nightly, forcing myself to run a 5k on the treadmill. The first couple of days were fine. After that though, I would've preferred a punch in the face. Talk about boring.


Last night I dragged my butt outside (yay for nice weather!) and managed to run a whole... wait for it... 1.56 miles. And it took me 20 freaking minutes.


FAIL.


My goal for the 5k is to finish in under 35 minutes. Not gonna happen at this rate. I'm going to attempt a 2 mile run tonight. So if I don't appear tomorrow, please come search the side of the roads in my neighborhood ;)

Bathroom Re-Do Two

Remember this post? I finally decided to act on it, in an attempt to mask my bathroom's hideousness.

~BEFORE~

Unfortunately, this picture actually makes it look kind of attractive. In a red-headed step-child kind of way.

Being the impulsive person that I am, I made the decision one morning last week, mere minutes after waking up, to make a drastic change to the bathroom.

Drastic and semi-irreversible.

Pre-breakfast decision making is not something I would recommend.

~AFTER~

Two hours to prep, measure and tape, three hours to paint.

Not terribly happy with the outcome.

All I see is a circus tent.

I think the stripes are much too wide.

Although in my first inspiration pic, I love the broad width of the stripes. I guess vertical as opposed to horizontal can really make a difference. I was undecided... Husband voted for vertical. Decision made.

::SOURCE::

I love this inspiration room. The clean, simplicity of the black and white is so attractive. Maybe if I narrow my stipes down I'll come closer to this look. If black wasn't such a bitch to paint over I'd probably already have done it.

::SOURCE::

Although it's gonna take a lot more than a few strips of paint to turn my neglected 50's era bathroom into something respectable.

Anyone want to volunteer a tip or two?

Or a few thousand dollars to start completely over? ;)

Non-blogger of the year.

If there was an award for lack of posting, I'd easily win.

I've been terrible with the posts lately. I have quite a few things I'd like to ramble on about but truly just haven't felt like it. There have been far more important things to keep me occupied lately.

Like eating.

Apparently Miles gave daddy "money" for Mother's Day to buy me something. Not Bella and Miles. Just Miles. According to daddy, Bella is a bad little girl and didn't think I should get a Mother's Day gift. He's funny, isn't he? Hopefully he doesn't play games like this when we have actual children ;)

Anyway, "Miles" gave me a shiny box of Jelly Belly jellybeans. MY. FAV. Pick a night from the past week. Any night. I can guarantee you would've found me on my couch in my fun (i.e. stretchy) pants with the box of Jelly Bellys next to me and the computer open on my lap looking up Jelly Belly recipes. Yes, I am a dork. But did you know that if you combine a Chocolate Pudding JB and a Very Cherry JB is tastes JUST like a chocolate covered cherry??? I found it more than amusing to try different combos until I wanted to explode.

I've also been a little more than busy with work lately.

Good excuse for the lack of posting, right? At least I'm doing something productive and making money, right? Eh.

Work gets in the way of everything fun. I'd really prefer to win the lottery.

So. Posting.

Like I said earlier, I do have quite a few things to tickle your brain with. Let's see how many I can get through in the next two weeks. Who wants to set the over-under?

A little preview...

1. The brother's wedding
2. Lots of home improvements
3. The countdown to my first ever road race. i.e. the day I might possibly die.
4. A new recipe or two

Please don't hold your breath for these posts. I wouldn't want to be held responsible for your demise.

I knew it.

Hi, my name is Carolyn and I'm a cereal-aholic.

I seriously LOVE cereal. Can't get enough.

The thing is, I don't eat it for breakfast. Ever.

I eat if for dessert. Almost every night.

And if I'm out of milk? I eat it dry. That's dedication, people.

I've taken a lot of crap over the years for this habit of mine. Apparently it's "weird" to eat a breakfast food for dessert. Screw you haters, I now have proof that I'm perfectly normal ;)

While reading an article from "Eat This, Not That" today, I came across this little paragraph:

"That said, [cereal] can make decent desserts. One study published by the American College of Nutrition found that among late-night snackers, those who chose cereal took in fewer calories than those who made other choices, and ultimately they wound up losing nearly half a pound of body fat per week. That doesn’t mean you should switch to an all-cereal diet, just that cereal is a better evening snack than you might think."


Look at that! Cereal is helping me get skinny. The American College of Nutrition said so.


How nice of them to stroke my ego. I always knew I was better off eating a giant bowl of cereal than a piece of cake. Or box of Girl Scout cookies. Or bag of jelly beans. Now if only I could limit my portion to the amount recommended on the box, we'd be in good shape. ha

Week in review.

So apparently I'm not the super fantastic blogger I strive to be. Sorry to disappoint. I know it's hard to let a week go by without reading about my awesomely fabulous life.

Per usual, I've been busy.

I am super important. Remember?

Since I really have nothing exciting to ramble about today, here are some of the things I've been doing lately. Don't get too excited.

David Gray.

If you have don't know who he is, go to the store now and buy his albums. Do people even do that anymore? Or is it all about iTunes? I wouldn't know. I haven't bought a CD or a song in years. But seriously. David Gray. AMAZING. This was my third time seeing him in concert. Even the plague couldn't keep me away.

Fundraiser.

Let me rephrase. I was at a fundraiser but did not fundraise. No, I take it back. I helped to raise $2,500 by parading around the room modeling a gorgeous antique ring that was up for auction. Really should've gotten a manicure before the event.

The fundraiser was a dinner/silent auction/live auction to benefit the husband's father's foundation that sends Indonesian students to culinary school. Hence the Indonesian fans pictured above. Please ignore the fact that I have 14 chins and focus on my lovely friend Jillian.

Chicks dig me.

At the above mentioned event, I was... gasp... hit on by a la-dy. I wish I could recall the details but I was slightly (and by slightly I mean greatly) intoxicated at this point in the evening. I was flattered but politely informed her that I don't swing that way. Anymore.

Now your wheels are turning, right? ;)

I kid. I kid!!

Somebody stop me.

I CANNOT continue to think I can party like a rockstar. Two day long hangovers are not my friend, no matter how many times they try to come around and visit.

After above event (this was a long day...) we went home with the bright idea to drink more! SMRT, we are! The husband's bff and his date came back to the house with us. Damn you, peer pressure! I probably would've been a good girl and gone straight to bed if we didn't have house guests. But then I wouldn't have been a proper hostess, right?

We stayed up way too late and drank way too much. When I awoke for work in the morning, I decided against showering and went to work with the ever-stylish "last night's hair and makeup" look. I think I'm starting a new trend with this one. You should try it. It really takes no effort at all. I also awoke to find pizza boxes on my kitchen counter. Oy. It was one of those nights. Damn fourth meal! I didn't even remember eating you!

The fancy car!

The husband is out of town today til Sunday so I get to drive his shiny new car. Yay! At least I get something in exchange for being on my own all week, right? He's on his way to DC for lots of fabulous eating and drinking, then headed to NYC for a boys' weekend. Should I be scared? Probably.

The pups.

My little munchie-faces have cost me a ridiculous amount of money lately. We've been to the vet far too many times in the last few months. So to make them feel better, I set them up with a nice little photo-shoot. It only took about 18,000 tries to get a good one. And I know they enjoyed every minute of it.

Think Miles is trying to tell me something? (Probably something along the lines of "please get rid of this pestering Bella creature")

Because this is quite possibly the cutest picture of two dachshunds EVER, I thought I'd submit it to one of my favorite blogs, Friday Puppy. You see, every Friday, cute pups from all over get the shot at becoming famous. Hence the name, Friday Puppy. Too bad they haven't picked my mine yet. Sorry M & B, guess they're not feeling the love.

Work.

Blech. Seriously, can somebody rig the lottery to make my numbers hit? Please? I'll give you a cookie!

It's not really that bad. I just like to complain, but you already knew that. My position is actually growing, giving me more responsibility, more hours at the office (woo hoo!) and (hopefully) eventually a pay raise. That being said, I'm truly looking forward to the opportunity. Being a commissioned salesperson since literally the day I graduated college, having a salaried position is nice for a change. 'Cause, you know, I kinda like money.

Of course I'm still out there selling houses too. That's my true love. So please buy one from me. Mama needs a new, um, landscape.

Speaking of...

The neighborhood eyesore.

Otherwise known as My Yard. Our yard is so embarassingly desperate for a makeover that I submitted pictures of it to the Today Show's America's Most Desperate Landscape contest.

Don't be a hater. I know you're jealous of our hot little house. Doesn't every kid grow up dreaming of a barn-red house with a dingy stone facade, dead trees and zero curb appeal? If that's true, we really scored with this one!

And here we have what was formerly a lovingly cared for garden. Of weeds. A few flowers have begun to sprout and I can't wait to rip them out. (Random recycling bin thrown in the yard and ladder leaning on the side of the house for your viewing pleasure. I know, you're thinking, "Gawd, could they be anymore WT?!")

Now this is hands-down the BEST part of the yard. Who wouldn't love an old chicken wire fence that's held up by tree stumps. Fence posts are too good for this beauty! And the trees must really be enamored with it because they've actually started to grow their bark around the fence in a sweet embrace. This is one love affair I'm not sure I can break up.

God I hope we win this contest.

Done!

Happy?

I think I caught the plague.

I haven't felt much like blogging lately. I blame the incessant snot/phlegm takeover that's currently happening in my body. This has been a BAD winter for illness. I'm like a germ incubator. Husband says it's because I don't take enough any vitamins and have a love affair with hand-sanitizer.

Apparently this makes my immune system deficient.

I'm starting to think he's right. (I'm never gonna hear the end of that statement)

I started the winter off with a fantastic case of stomach flu. I followed that up with a cold so bad that I thought I had a double ear-infection and strep throat. Nope, just your run-of-the-mill-three-week-lasting-annoying-want-to-run-myself-over-with-a-truck cold.

Then I had a whole 5 days of normalcy. Hot damn! Then bam. Another f-ing cold. That I'm currently battling.

I'm going to war with this one though. It almost ruined my much-anticipated David Gray concert last night. Fuck with Easter all you want, cold. I don't mind hacking my way through Mass and pouring enough wine down my throat at dinner to stifle you temporarily. But leave me feeling like such crap that I have to leave work early to force myself to nap in order to be able to keep my eyes open through Mr. Gray's show?

Not cool.

There was no way I was missing the concert. I feel sorry for the people who had the unfortunate luck of sitting in front of me. Just because my voice sounded like crap didn't stop me from screaming my brains out to "Please Forgive Me" and "You're the One I Love". Take that, cold. Hope you enjoy your slow death by DayQuil.

Now please excuse me while I go sneeze on my coworkers.

Eh, maybe next time.